EP257

Lapras of Luxury (Japanese: ラプラスのうた！ 's Song!) is the 257th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on July 18, 2002 and in the United States on July 26, 2003.

Blurb
''Ash and friends return to New Bark Town, but before Ash is able to register for the Johto League Championship, Professor Elm sends him on an errand to retrieve a Pokémon egg from a nearby marine Pokémon laboratory. At the laboratory, Ash and friends meet up with a young researcher who uses the supersonic waves from a Lanturn to detect the singing voices of traveling Lapras. She hands an egg over to Ash, asking that he deliver it to Professor Elm. When a school of Lapras arrive, one of them begins calling out to Ash. It turns out that this is in fact the very same Lapras that Ash parted ways with in the Orange Islands. Their reunion is cut short when Team Rocket arrives and kidnaps this Lapras along with all of its friends. Unsurprisingly, Team Rocket fails miserably, but when their Gyarados submarine is caught up in a whirlpool, it drags Ash's Lapras's mother and the leader of the Lapras along with it. The researcher's equipment cannot detect the missing Lapras over the roar of the whirlpool, but magically Ash's Lapras and its mother are able to communicate through Lapras-song, allowing Ash's Lapras to find its missing peers.''

Plot
and are returning to New Bark Town, but before Ash is able to get there to register for the, Professor Elm sends him on an errand to retrieve a Pokémon Egg at the Marine Pokémon Laboratory. At the laboratory, Ash and his friends meet a young researcher who is in a hurry and uses from a  to detect the singing voices of traveling.

As Ash watches a herd of Lapras from shore, two adults separate from it, one of which approaches Ash. Ash realizes it's his old buddy, his that he caught at the Orange Islands, and its mother. It's then revealed that the young researcher's name is Naomi and that she is studying Lapras migration routes and is the director of the Pokémon Marine Laboratory. Naomi also mentions that Professor Elm told her that Ash will be coming and will retrieve the Pokémon Egg and that's why she knows Ash's name. Ash asks Naomi if she spends all her time studying Lapras migration, Naomi confirms this and that she has been studying Pokémon Marine Biology, a study of the living patterns of marine Pokémon, she also says that this knowledge improves human life too. Naomi discusses Lapras migration and why they can navigate so quickly. Naomi says that they can somehow be able to know from a great distance away when the water temperature and season is perfect for them to return. They then share this information with the other Lapras with an outstanding speed and she figured out that the key of solving it is in Lapras' voice. Then Naomi plays the traveling song that Lapras sing when they travel and they figure out that supersonic attacks can actually pinpoint their location but plans to capture the whole herd of Lapras so they can rent them out with. Naomi shows and explains the Egg's history and how she got it. Meanwhile, Lapras calls out for Ash to play with it.

Ash and Pikachu are then shown riding Lapras, and the three of them are enjoying being with each other again. Off to the side, Lapras' mother watches as they play, looking pleased.

But they suddenly hear the cry of a Lapras, and it is revealed that the whole herd of Lapras was caught in a net, set by Team Rocket. When Ash and Lapras arrives as well as, and Naomi, James sends out , and Ash tells Lapras to use  but James tells his Weezing to use  first. Team Rocket then manages to escape with the herd. Luckily, because of 's ability to locate the other, they can follow Team Rocket, Misty and the others follow by using a submarine. Team Rocket uses their secret weapon to boost their speed, leaving Ash and the others behind. Misty calls Ash to transport to their submarine and follow Lapras underwater.

Team Rocket is relieved that they have escaped Ash and the others, but suddenly something strikes their submarine and see the Lapras herd working together to escape from the net. A Lapras manages to break the net and release them one by one. Shocked, Team Rocket strives to get to the surface before the other Lapras can escape. Before doing so, Team Rocket notices that there is a bunch of cyclones ahead and with only two Lapras are left in the net, they're caught up in the cyclone along with the submarine.

Ash's Lapras locates the herd and they follow the other Lapras. As Ash's Lapras shouts underwater to signal the others that help is coming, the herd manages to reply back, and Lapras is relieved. Suddenly Ash and company along with Naomi notices that a couple of Lapras are missing, Brock worries that the two missing Lapras might be caught in the cyclone. Ash's Lapras tells the herd to follow, saying it has heard something, but Naomi doesn't detect anything within the radar's range. The herd communicates with each other to guide their movement and fight the strong current, while signaling for the missing two. Naomi suddenly gets something on her radar: the two missing Lapras singing the herd's travel song. Naomi is amazed, realizing that they can distinguish the wordings of their song even when there is so much background noise and they can hear the songs of their friends from miles away, farther than radar can detect. Naomi notices that they are headed for a nearby island.

On the island, Team Rocket is exhausted but still have the two Lapras in the net. The herd suddenly appears out of the water and Naomi's submarine also appears. But before they can retrieve the two missing Lapras, Jessie and James sends out and  and Brock chooses to send out  to battle against Team Rocket. Brock orders Crobat to use which hits Weezing and Arbok. As Naomi and Misty strive to release the two, before doing so, stops them but Ash tells  to use  at Meowth. Ash, Misty, and Naomi release the two and Lapras and its mom are happy to be reunited again. Arbok and Weezing were ready to attack but stopped by the herd of Lapras, and they, along with their leader, use in order to freeze Team Rocket's Pokémon. Ash commands Pikachu to use to blast Team Rocket off. The herd of Lapras are now safe.

At the end of the episode, Ash and his friends are proud of Lapras. The leader of the herd asks Lapras to take over the lead and Naomi explains that the leader was so impressed by how Ash's Lapras had taken charge of the situation the day before that it decides to "hand over" its leadership duty. Ash and his Lapras say goodbye to each other then the herd sets off to travel. Naomi gives Ash the Egg, Professor Elm had asked for him to bring the Egg at his lab as soon as he possibly could, Ash and his friends now say goodbye to Naomi and her. And so with the Pokémon Egg safely at hand and his memories of Lapras on their mind, our heroes continue their journey to Professor Elm's lab in New Bark Town and the Johto League.

Major events

 * is briefly reunited with his.
 * Ash's Lapras becomes the leader of its herd.
 * Ash is asked to deliver a Pokémon Egg to Professor Elm.
 * Brock's Crobat is revealed to know.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Professor Elm
 * Naomi
 * James
 * Professor Elm
 * Naomi

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international),  (Japan)
 * (formerly )
 * (Naomi's)
 * (multiple)
 * (formerly )
 * (Naomi's)
 * (multiple)
 * (Naomi's)
 * (multiple)
 * (Naomi's)
 * (multiple)

Trivia

 * uses the submarine again, complete with boosters.
 * The episode title refers to the phrase "lap of luxury".
 * In this episode, Team Rocket uses a of their motto.
 * This episode marks the first time that is reunited with a Pokémon he previously released.
 * This episode is featured on Volume 15: Lapras from Viz Media's series.
 * Music from Pikachu's Vacation and The Power of One can be heard in this episode.
 * Riding on Lapras is also used in this episode.
 * This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias.

Errors

 * In the English dub, Ash tells Lapras to use "Cold Beam" instead of.
 * When Ash and catch up to Team Rocket, Ash prepares to battle with, saying, "Pikachu, ready?", yet he's also holding a  in his hand, implying he was going to use another Pokémon.
 * Brock's Crobat uses in this episode. However, Crobat cannot legally learn the move in the games.
 * When the   and, they are seen frozen together, but when Pikachu uses , they are separated.
 * When Pikachu uses Thunder, even though isn't out of his Poké Ball, he is seen blasting off with Team Rocket.
 * When Ash is running on the beach while Lapras is swimming, Ash is seen running without shoes; later he has shoes on.
 * Jessie's Arbok constantly has two tongues; one ordinary and one snake tongue.

Dub edits

 * In the dub, 's states that they haven't seen Lapras since "we were in the Orange Islands". However, this is an error of its own, since he was with Professor Ivy in the Orange Islands during Lapras's brief tenure on Ash's team; was traveling with Ash and  at that point and Brock had never seen Lapras.

In other languages
Wiedersehen mit Ärger EP259 EP257 無印編第257話 精灵宝可梦 第258集