Chapter Fifty-Five: Listening to the Oracle of Arceus (False Edition)

“How distant are we talking about?”
Joy Jing handed the documents to Zhu Suihan. “You can read the details yourself; this is a copy.”

“This is an exchange program, open to outstanding students about to graduate and some breeders from within the League. Joy Academy is just one of the participating parties.”

“It’s basically a way to deepen mutual understanding, using this as a stepping stone to further expand diplomatic relations.” Joy Jing continued, “You don’t need to worry about the specifics—they’re just empty political gestures. What you need to know is that as the head of the Academy, I’ve managed to secure a spot for you.”

Zhu Suihan understood immediately. “Director, you’re amazing—the best in the world!”

“Now, now, I’m not quite at that level yet.” Joy Jing accepted the praise with a pleased smile. “But I’m starting to think this is more like a memory awakening for you. No one produces research results that quickly.”

“Still, your past experiences seem a bit complicated. Fragmented memory recovery like this is more likely to cause trouble for your mental state than help. I know you work hard, but I suggest you don’t push yourself so much in the future. Make sure to give yourself some time to relax, alright?”

Joy Jing waved at the Beiming Ball hanging at Zhu Suihan’s waist. “Lapras, I’m leaving the important job of protecting your trainer to you.”

“Laaap!”

Lapras emerged from its ball, head held high and chest puffed out, pushing Zhu Suihan a little to the side with an air of utter confidence.

Leave the trainer to me!

No problem at all!

...

“Good thing these buildings were designed with Pokémon in mind, or you really wouldn’t be able to move around in the hallways,” Zhu Suihan remarked, flicking through the file in his hand. “I’ve taken a day off; the rest of the time should be enough for us to finish going through all this.”

“I’m really looking forward to our second partner.”

“Lap! Lap!”

Come on, little dragon’s sidekick!

Back in the dorm, Zhu Suihan went to prepare Pokéblocks, while Lapras—the clever yet rather illiterate companion—was leafing through the documents.

Can’t quite understand all the words?

No problem, there are pictures—those are easy enough.

Due to her physique, Lapras could only lower her head and turn the pages slowly, but she managed. Before long, she spotted her own kind in the thick stack of pages.

?

“Lap! Lap!”

“I’m coming, just using up the last of the materials for Pokéblocks,” Zhu Suihan said, glancing over. “Oh, your kin, huh?”

Seeing Lapras on the page, Zhu Suihan immediately knew which region they’d reached.

The Alola region—the place that would become Ash’s second home in the future.

Back then, during the Journeys arc, the episode where Ash was crowned Champion in the Alola League was jokingly called the one time the writers finally did right by him.

If you look back to the first Alola League Champion—which was also Ash’s first regional championship—the discussions only multiply.

For the fun of it, everyone agreed that Ash calling Professor Kukui “Dad” was entirely justified.

Zhu Suihan put down the files, resting his chin in his hand, deep in thought.

If his memory served him right, back when Ash stayed at Professor Kukui’s house, there was never any follow-up, even after Kukui got married. Then, by the time of the Journeys arc, Kukui and Burnet even had a child together.

It’s like in some long-running anime: one moment it’s all hot-blooded battles, the next—bam, “Two years later—” flashes on screen.

Back to the matter at hand.

Take Kanto and Johto for example—Lapras is considered a rare Pokémon there.

But in the Alola region, perhaps because of strict protection policies, their numbers are abundant.

The Alola region has rightfully classified Lapras as a special species, which helps relieve ecological pressure a bit as well.

Zhu Suihan curled up on the sofa. Lapras circled around behind, peering over her trainer’s shoulder with curiosity at these so-called Pokémon from distant lands.

“Ha, just as I thought,” Zhu Suihan recalled the time he was researching in the Kaji Gym.

“The intranet already has detailed data on Mega Evolution, but only one report on Alola’s natural energy.”

This so-called distant region basically starts with Alola; Kalos and the League must already be as thick as thieves. As for ‘distant,’ the term makes sense—not so much in geography, but in culture and politics.

“Let’s see, the Alola starters—that’s normal,” Zhu Suihan said. With only Lapras beside him, Zhu Suihan was rather casual about these small details. Don’t ask—just blame it on memory recovery.

There’s the muscleman Incineroar, the regal Tsareena, and Primarina.

Zhu Suihan felt a bit conflicted.

The last one, well—you’d never guess its gender ratio from appearances alone.

A simple 87.5% says it all about the peculiarity of its species.

It’s not that Zhu Suihan was prejudiced, but such gender distributions gave him a clear sense of disconnect.

In the real world, species continuity would be no problem, of course.

But fixed gender divisions within a species are rather unsettling.

“Hmm, even Jangmo-o is here?”

The famed fighting dragon—though, unfortunately, with a ‘certified powerhouse’ label.

“This is a pretty deep partnership.”

In the real world of Pokémon, no matter where the starters hail from, the rules are basically the same: breeding is moderately difficult, but their final evolutions are all top-tier battlers.

And each has its well-defined population, even in the wild.

Since Alola is sending in Jangmo-o, surely the Indigo League won’t be stingy—there should be plenty of strong candidates.

“Hmm?”

Zhu Suihan’s hand paused as he spotted a green monkey holding a small stick.

Ah, that’s right—Rillaboom.

That one’s always paired with Incineroar for jokes, which sometimes leads to confusion about which generation they belong to.

By the way, for those less familiar with the games, the generational divisions can be murky—especially since the so-called ‘first anime’ actually covers both Generations I and II, and ‘Advanced Generation’ jumps straight to the third.

Galar is generous, or perhaps just abstract.

Starting from Galar—or even earlier, from Alola—you can see the rise of the “when in doubt, make it Dragon-type” trend.

Zhu Suihan showed Lapras.

“Appletun—this one produces delicious, sweet jam, and its cycle is better than Shuckle’s by far.”

“Lap! Lap!”

Lapras shook her head, nudging Zhu Suihan’s already-turned page with her nose.

“You mean Milcery? That one too, true.”

Zhu Suihan skimmed through the pages—these seemed to be native Pokémon from Alola and Galar.

He wasn’t sure how many regions would participate in this activity, but presumably, the local League’s unique Pokémon would be plentiful.

There was no sign of Paldea—perhaps the two sides weren’t ready to negotiate, or the League hadn’t announced anything about Paldea yet.

“Grimmsnarl and Dragapult?”

Of course, the ‘dragon’ here referred to Dragapult, not some manic figure from the Distortion World.

“The Forest Witch is here too—those Galar folks are interesting. I wonder how many times this event has taken place.”

If it’s a wild Hatterene, that’s a true Forest Witch—earning its recognition is no easy feat.

Zhu Suihan put down the documents and leaned back, locking eyes with Lapras.

“So, who should we choose?”

“Lap? Lap Lap?”

Isn’t this something the trainer should decide? Why are you asking me?

“I’m just respecting your opinion—alright, the truth is I’m utterly indecisive and have no idea which one to pick.”

Zhu Suihan shrugged. “Honestly, I want all of them. I have this urge to sweep the whole plan.”

Lapras: ?

“Lap! Lap!”

Wanting everything will only hurt you!

“You’re not wrong—and our wallet probably couldn’t handle it anyway.”

On the pages featuring some of the fiercer Pokémon, there were clear warnings: trainers participating in the program needed to be careful.

Besides sending Pokémon eggs, some of the Pokémon were already juveniles at the very least.

With their own worldviews, it was a reminder for the League to carefully select trainers to avoid incompatibility between them and their Pokémon.

Since this concerned his second companion, Zhu Suihan perked up and began analyzing the options with Lapras.

“Lap?”

“No need for that; we already have a Pokémon rental service for riding. Corviknight is out.”

“Lap?”

Zhu Suihan shook his head. “Grimmsnarl is great, but I just can’t handle all that body hair.”

“Lap!”

Lapras, annoyed, shot a Water Gun at Zhu Suihan’s head.

If you’re going to rule out everything, at least give me two options to veto!

With her peculiar abilities, Zhu Suihan felt rejuvenated—other than his thoroughly soaked hair.

“Alright, let’s go for the most random approach—leave it all to fate.”

He snapped his fingers. “I’ll cut out all the Pokémon choices, toss them into the courtyard, and you’ll use the high-pressure Water Gun technique I taught you. Whichever one you hit, that’s our pick. How about it?”

Lapras: ?

Choosing your partner with an attack? That doesn’t sound very reliable.

Lapras nudged Zhu Suihan. “Lap Lap.”

You really don’t need to worry about my opinion. No matter who the second partner is, I’ll always be the big sister! Dragon will get along with anyone!

“I’ll return the sentiment—I’ll pick a partner, but I’ll always consider your feelings.”

“I won’t shortchange a new companion, but I won’t shortchange you, either. A team that does isn’t meant to last.”

Zhu Suihan smiled. “Since neither of us can decide, let’s let Arceus choose for us.”

Lapras lifted her head proudly. “Lap!”

I think you just have decision paralysis!

“That’s a good excuse—I’ll use it on you next time.”

“Lap!”