Continuing his Equestria Region journey, Flash Sentry has set his sights on the Trottingham City Gym. As such, Flash and Springer were now exiting the forest, only to come to a stop as they spotted a small town in the distance with a river running by it. This sight alone made them both leap for joy. "Alright! We finally made it to Trottingham City!" Flash exclaimed before turning to his Riolu partner. "You ready for a Gym Battle bud?"
"RIOLU!" Springer cheered, mimicking his trainer's motions.
Flash looked back at the town, only to notice something as he tilted his head at the sight. "Wow, Trottingham City sure doesn't look like a city."
"That's because this isn't Trottingham City." They turned around to see Twilight and Spike walking up to them, Twilight shining a smirk on her face. "This is Stratusburg Town."
Both Flash and Springer's faces fell, causing Spike to laugh before turning to his sister. "So, how much further is Trottingham City?"
Twilight thought for a moment, rubbing her chin as she did. "Well, the fastest way to get from Stratusburg to Trottingham, would be by going through the White Tail Woods. And that's about a two day walk."
"Two days?!" Flash yelped before slumping down in disappointment, Springer mimicking his pose. "That's like...two more days than I want it to be! I wanna challenge the gym now!"
"Ri!"
Twilight and Spike both laughed at this before walking ahead of the two. "Oh come on Flash. The sooner we get into town to restock supplies, the sooner we can get back on the road."
"Alright...." Flash moaned as he and Springer started walking. But as they started, the duo's ears picked up a sound. It was the sound of something rustling in a nearby bush.
"Ri," Springer growled as he got into a battle stance.
"Hold on Springer," Flash told him, his hand slowly reaching for Skyler's pokeball. "Whatever that is, being hostile might provoke it. Just keep your guard up."
"Ri..."
Twilight and Spike moved back over to Flash and looked over his shoulder, both worried after what had happened with the Movine. And as the rustling continued, the four of them became more and more concerned.
That is, till a certain figure walked out of the bush and said, "Aquana."
The four all breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the water lizard Pokémon as the Aquana smiled up at them.
"Is that the same Aquana from before?" Spike asked as he pointed to it.
"It has to be," Twilight replied, "Aquana are way too rare for us to run into two different ones in such a short time." As she said this, Flash pulled out his pokedex.
Name: Aquana
Category: Water Lizard Pokémon
Type: Water
Info: It's strength lays in its strong tail, which it uses when swimming. The fin on its head helps it detect water in even the driest location, while also helping it swim through strong currents.
"So it's a good swimmer, huh?" Flash said as he put it away.
Twilight stepped up to the Aquana, leaning down with a smile. "Thank you for helping us before." The Aquana smiled up at her, causing Twilight's eyes to suddenly go wide, as if some idea had struck her head. "Wait...are you? Oh no..." The Aquana nodded back, still smiling. This caused Twilight stand back up, only to put her hands on her head and start pacing on the spot as she chanted, "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no..."
Flash, Spike and Springer shared a confused look. "Uhh...Twilight? Wanna fill us in?"
Twilight turned to them, pure panic on her face as she pointed to the Pokémon, "Don't you see?! This is the Aquana from Professor Celestia's Lab. It must have followed us."
The three of them looked down at the Aquana, quickly realizing she was right. "Oh yeah. Can't believe we didn't notice before." Flash commented as he walked over and crouched down, soon patting Aquana on the head, "How you doing little guy? Why'd you follow us?"
"Aquana!" the water lizard Pokémon happily replied. Seeing this, Springer walked up next, the two soon talking. Then, the two grabbed hands, spinning on the spot and laughing as they did.
Flash chuckled at the sight, "They look like they're having fun."
"Flash!" Twilight yelled as she pointed at Aquana again, "Don't you see what a big problem this is?! Professor Celestia must be worried sick!" She once again began pacing on the spot. "Oh, what do we do? What do we do?"
Flash looked down, only to see the ground already wearing down from the girl's pacing. Seeing this, he leaned over to Spike and asked, "Uh...does she do this often?"
Spike nodded back, "All the time. She does it so much at the house that it literally makes grooves in the floor. Heck, mom and dad kept getting angry at her because of the new carpet they'd have to buy for her room every time she made a full marathon of grooves in the carpet."
"Wow..." Flash replied as he stood back up. He then went over and grabbed her by the shoulder, "Twilight, relax. Breath in," Twilight did as she was told. "Breath out," again, she did as she was told. "Now, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go to the local Pokémon Center, find a phone, use it to call Professor Celestia, and explain the situation so she can give us Aquana's Pokeball, and then we can send it back. Sound good?"
As he said this, Springer noticed Aquana look sad at that statement. At the same time, Twilight managed to get her breathing under control, then nodded in agreement. "Right, good idea."
"So where can we find a Pokémon Center?" Spike asked.
"Stratusburg town should have one," Twilight explained before turning back to town, only to point at a building with a red rooftop. "Right there."
"Good." Flash commented as he bent down and picked up Aquana. "Let's go."
One transition to Stratusburg Town later...
Soon enough, the group arrived at the center and stepped inside, only to be greeted by a woman with white skin, pink hair and wearing a nurse's uniform. "Welcome to the Pokémon Center." she said with a bow, "I'm Nurse Redheart. How may I help you?"
"Hello," Twilight replied while holding Aquana, "we were wondering if we could use your phone?"
Redheart nodded and directed them over to an area with a bunch of green computer like devices. Twilight soon went to one of the phones, typing away as she turned on the phone's main screen. A few moments later, the screen switched to show an image of Professor Celestia. The woman was sitting in her lab, holding a plate and fork while eating something.
"Professor, we have a-are you eating...cake...in the morning?"
Celestia realized who she was talking to, her eyes flicking from Twilight to the dessert on the plate. "Of course not," Celestia quickly replied as she moved the plate out of the camera's view. "So, what can I do for you Twilight?"
Twilight frowned before lifting Aquana into view of the camera. "We kinda...picked up a hitchhiker."
This caused Celestia's eyes to go wide before giggling at the sight. "So that's where Aquana went. I was looking all over for it."
"We're so sorry Professor," Twilight told her as she placed the Pokémon on the floor. "We didn't realize it was yours until a little while ago."
"It's okay Twilight. Aquana's young, so of course it'd be curious about the outside world."
Twilight nodded back. "Well, if you send us its Pokeball, we can transport it back."
"Of course," Celestia replied before walking off screen for a second, the sound of tapping keys following her departure. "Luckily, my new transporter system arrived yesterday. One moment..."
Twilight stepped up to a device next to the phone as it suddenly lit up and unleashed several bolts of energy into a bowl. The energy quickly took shape, and when the light faded, a Pokeball could now be seen in the bowl. Twilight picked it up and showed it to the camera, "Got it professor."
"Excellent," Celestia replied as she returned to the screen.
Twilight turned back towards Aquana. "Now, we'll just return you and-huh?" the professor assistant's began to blink at the sight as she then noticed that the aforementioned Pokémon was now gone. "Aquana?"
She, Flash and Spike all glanced around, but the water lizard was nowhere to be found. "It's gone!" Spike yelped as he kept shifting his head back and forth. "Where'd it go?!"
Celestia frowned at this. "This isn't like Aquana at all. Sure, it's been stubborn before, but never to this degree."
In that moment, Nurse Redheart stepped over to them. "Excuse me. Sorry for butting in, but I just saw an Aquana rush outside. Was it yours?"
Twilight didn't reply. Instead, she raced past the nurse, quickly exiting the building. Seeing this, Flash turned to the computer screen. "Sorry professor, we'll call you later when we find it."
"Okay." Celestia replied before cutting the call.
Flash, Springer and Spike quickly followed Twilight outside, the girl calling out. "Aquana! Aquana, come out!"
Flash was about to call out to it as well, but a bulb went off in his head as he then pulled out a Pokeball. "Skyler, come on out!" He tossed the ball in the air and it unleashed a red light, which took form and faded to reveal the Chickling.
Skyler took to the air and turned to its trainer. "Chick?"
"Skyler, we need you to look for the Aquana from that Movine encounter. Its somewhere around here."
"Chick!" Skyler replied before taking the to sky, quickly scanning the nearby area. As it did, the four began to run around the town, looking through everything including digging through bushes and searching behind buildings.
"Excuse me?" The group looked around, only to see a familiar face wearing a familiar uniform. "Can I ask what you three are doing?"
"Officer Hard Case!" Flash said with a smile as he walked over to him.
The police officer raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"
"We met in Canterlot City," Twilight told him.
"Remember? The Champagoon incident?"
The cop's eyes filled with realization. "Oh, you must be talking about my cousin."
"Cousin?" The three of them asked in unison.
"Ri?"
Hard Case reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. "My cousins are all police officers, plus we're all identical, plus we're all named Hard Case." He showed them the photo, which had a dozen or so perfectly identical men wearing the same uniform.
The four looked at the photo in amazement as Flash commented, "Wow. I've heard of family resemblance, but that's pushing it."
"It's kinda weird if you ask me," Spike added.
"Riolu." Springer finished, nodding in agreement.
Hard Case put the photo away and glared at the group. "Now, can you three tell me why you're loitering around here?"
"Oh, we're not loitering. We're looking for an Aquana. It ran off and we've got to send it back to its owner."
Hard Case stroked his chin. "An Aquana huh? Hmmm...I think I remember seeing one earlier."
"YOU DO?!" The three cried in unsion.
"Ri!"
"Yes, I remembering seeing it running out of town. It seemed to be heading for the Stratusburg Dam."
"A dam?" Flash asked, blinking at the statement.
"Makes sense that a water Pokémon would head there," Twilight said as she readjusted her glasses, "Officer, could you tell us how to get to this dam?"
Hard Case nodded and pointed in one direction. "The river in that direction. Follow it upstream and you can't miss it."
"Great," Twilight said before running ahead of the boys. "Come on guys, let's get the professor's Pokémon!" Spike quickly followed and Flash turned to Hard Case before bowing.
"Thanks."
"Ri," Springer did the same before the two started following their friends.
The four eventually found the river and followed it upstream for about twenty minutes, eventually finding what they were looking for. It was a large canyon like area, where a large hydroelectric dam could be seen. From out of the center, a funnel of water shot out and flowed into the river that they were following.
"WHOA! That thing's huge!" The boys said as they got closer.
"It is impressive," Twilight commented as she scanned the dam over. "But we're not here for sightseeing."
"Right. We're here to find Aquana." Flash looked up into the sky, where Skyler was still flying. "See anything Skyler?"
"Ling." Skyler replied with a shake of its head.
"I'm sure Aquana's around here somewhere," Twilight told them. "Just start looking."
"On it," the boys replied as they stared back at the river. It was then that they heard the sound of a bush rustling, causing them all to look up, only to see that it was coming from the other side of the river. From out of the bush leapt a rodent like Pokémon that stood at around two feet. It's body was mostly light brown, with dark brown stripes on its stomach, back, forehead and tail. It had puffy cheeks, bucked teeth and seemed to stand on four feet. "Chop. Munk. Chopmunk." it said as it chewed on a piece of wood.
"Whose that Pokémon?" Flash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Chopmunk
Category: Gnawing Pokémon
Type: Normal
Info: Using its sharp teeth, it can cut off tree branches, which it uses to decorate its burrow home.
"It must live around here," Twilight commented as she watched the Pokémon continue to eat its snack.
"It's kinda cute," Spike added.
Then, the bushes rustled again before something else stepped out. This Pokémon looked similar to Chopmunk, only it was twice as big, standing on two legs and had an introverted color scheme. It's cheeks were even puffier and had light brown stripes on them, along with stripes running down its arms. It had an even darker brown stripe running down its back to its tail, which was completely dark brown. It front teeth were large, almost half a foot in length. "Munk!" it said to the Chopmunk, "munk, munkarve."
Flash held up his Pokedex again.
Name: Munkarve
Category: Razor Tooth Pokémon
Type: Normal
Info: The Evolved form of Chopmunk. Its super sharp teeth can cut through some metals. Because of this, these Pokémon a renowned for being partnered with craftsmen of all types.
Flash smirked as he put the device away. "Chopmunk and its evolved form, Munkarve."
It was then that more Chopmunk and Munkarve came out of the bushes, all moving closer to the river and taking a drink. Spike then pointed at the whole group, "Look at them! Its a whole mess of these guys. Not only that, they're all so cool!"
"They are, aren't they?" The group spun around to see a man step out of the bushes. He had light blue skin and dark blue hair, and was wearing a gray jumpsuit. He shined a big smile as he said, "Hello there. My name is High Tide, head of dam security."
Twilight stepped up to him. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle." She pointed to Spike, "this is my brother."
"I'm Spike."
"And I'm Flash," the teenage boy told him before pointing at Springer. "And this is my partner, Springer."
"Ri!"
High Tide nodded back. "Nice to meet ya. Now, what can I do for you all? We don't get a lot of people around here."
"We're looking for a Pokémon. Have you seen an Aquana around here?"
High Tide thought for a moment. "I don't think so. Though if its a water type, I think I know where it might be. Follow me." He turned around and motioned them to follow. Soon, the group entered the dam and took an elevator, which dropped them off at the very top of the dam.
"Wow!" Spike said as he rushed over to the edge of the dam and looked down. "Talk about high."
"Just be careful Spike," Twilight told him.
High Tide laughed at this. "He's fine." He said as he moved over to the other side of the dam, the others following to see a giant reservoir of water.
"That's a lot of water," Flash said as he looked over it, Skyler landing on the railing nearby.
"It sure is," High Tide explained as he tapped the railing his fingers. "Before this dam was built, this entire area was covered in water. Now its been condensed to the river, allowing those Chopmunk and Munkarve to have a place to live and Stratusburg Town to be built."
"Cool..." Flash said as he looked out at the reservoir. Here, he noticed something slicing through the water's surface, which he pointed to. "Hey look!" The others looked over at the object and recognized it as the fin on top of Aquana's head.
"Thought so," High Tide added as he stared at the sight. "Many water Pokémon come here to swim in the reservoir."
"AQUANA!" Twilight called out, causing the water lizard's head to pop out of the water and look at them.
"Ak,"
Twilight pulled out its Pokeball and pointed it at Aquana. "Return!" The ball fired a red beam, but Aquana ducked back underwater to dodge it. Twilight growled at this as she shot the red beam again. "Get back up here!"
"Celestia wasn't kidding," Flash said as he scratched the side of his head. "That thing is stubborn."
Under the water, Aquana swam around as it approached the wall of the dam. But as it did, the Pokémon's eyes went wide as it saw a new sight.
Back on the dam, Twilight waited for Aquana to surface. She had just fired a few more beams from the pokeball, all while still growling at the water, "You can't stay under there forever. Come out this instant Aquana!"
Flash leaned over and whispered to Spike, "Man, your sister can be scary when she's mad."
"Tell me about it," Spike replied with a small nod.
In that moment, the water broke and Aquana's head appeared. "Aquana! Ak, ak wana!" he yelled, his fins flapping all around in a panic.
"What's wrong with it?" Spike asked as he pointed at the water lizard.
"Doesn't matter," Twilight said as she raised the Pokeball. "Back in the ball." But before she could fire another beam, Flash placed his hand on it, pushing it down.
"Hold on Twilight. I think he's trying to warn us of something."
Twilight glared at him. "Like what? Like he doesn't want to get back in his pokeball?!"
Flash ignored her glare as he looked back at Aquana and then down below the surface of the lake, "Only one way to be sure."
"Be sure of what?" Twilight asked him, only to see him take off his jacket and then pull off his shirt. The sight made her face heat up, "Ahh! What are you doing?!" She yelped as she looked away, her eyes closed.
"Oh relax. You can look."
Twilight slowly turned around and creaked her eyes open, only to see Flash was now wearing a pair of dark blue swim trunks. "Were you...wearing those under your normal clothes?"
"Never know when you need to go underwater," Flash told her before turning towards the lake. Before anyone could ask what was going on, he and Springer leapt into the water with a loud splash. Seconds later, they surfaced and swam over to Aquana, the two grabbing its head fin. "Show me."
Aquana nodded and pulled the two underwater. The two held their breath as they went deeper and deeper underwater, eventually arriving at the spot Aquana had been earlier. It was here that they saw what the water lizard was worried about. A large crack, almost as big as Flash was tall, could be seen in the dam's wall.
Seeing this made Flash's eyes go wide before Aquana pulled him and Springer back up to the surface. As soon as they broke the water, the two took and deep breath before swimming to the edge. "There's a large crack in the dam," he told them.
This caused High Tide to go wide-eyed. "How large?"
"Almost my size," Flash replied as he pulled himself up and began to get redressed. "And I'm betting its gonna get bigger."
"That's bad. If the dam bursts, Stratusburg Town will be wiped away." High Tide said before rushing towards the elevator. "I've got to warn Officer Hard Case."
It was then that Spike remembered something. "What about the Chopmunk and Munkarve?"
This question made the others go wide-eyed. "They'll be wiped away too." Flash grimly replied, "We've gotta warn them. Come on!" Flash commanded as he followed High Tide to the elevator, Springer, Skyler, Twilight, Spike and Aquana following after them.
Unbeknownst to them, the crack was slowly growing.
One elevator ride later...
When the group finally exited the dam, they found that the Chopmunk and Munkarve were still across the river. Seeing this, Flash got to the edge of the river and called out, "Hey! You've gotta get out of here!"
The Pokémon all looked up at him in confusion, only to for Springer to speak up next, "Ri! Riolu ri, ri Riolu!" He explained to them, pointing to the dam. The Chopmunk and Munkarve all had their eyes grow wide as they turned to the giant structure that protected them and their home.
"You all have to get to higher ground!" Twilight added. "If you stay here, none of you will survive!"
"You'll get swept up by a tidal wave!" Spike finished.
"Ri!"
"Chick!"
The Chopmunk and Munkarve all nodded to each other, signaling to leave their home. But as they did, their ears sprung up as they heard a new sound. There, they all looked up at the dam, only for horror to cover their face as they soon saw a tiny crack appear. That is, till-
SMASH!
A large section of the wall collapsed in an instant, water flooding out as the rock crumbled. The stream struck the ground behind them, creating a new river that now trapped the Chopmunk and Munkarve on a small island.
"Oh no!" Twilight screamed as she put her hands to her head. "They're trapped!"
Flash looked down at the pre-existing river, checking how strong its current was. But before Flash could get a proper look, another loud smashing sound caused them all to turn and look towards the dam. This time they saw that the actual water release tube had been damaged by the breakage, causing the area around it to crack until it gave out. With this, the flow of water tripled, causing the rivers intensity to increase and make it impossible to cross without drowning. The Chopmunk and Munkarve huddled together, a necessity since the piece of land they were currently on was beginning to get smaller and smaller.
"What do we do?" Spike asked. "They're gonna drown in that flood at this rate!"
Flash turned to Twilight, "bring out Owlicious! Now!"
Twilight nodded and pulled out her Pokeball, which she tossed into the air. It unleashed an opening red light, which took form and faded to reveal the Psychick. "Psy!"
Flash turned to his Chickling. "Skyler, you and Owlicious fly them over to this side of the river."
"Chick."
"Psy!"
The two flying types quickly flew over the river, both grabbing onto a Chopmunk. They began flapping their wings as hard as they could to slowly lift it into the air. They managed it, but the humans could tell it was putting a strain on the two.
"This isn't going to work," Twilight said as she watched the birds fly the Chopmunk across the river at a slow pace, the water now shrinking the island. "Those two aren't strong enough. They'll never get them all over in time."
"And they're struggling with Chopmunk," Spike added. "How are they gonna lift the Munkarve?"
Flash began looking around again, only to see a large thick tree by the riverside. A bulb went off in his head as he ran up to the column of wood, tapping it as he judged if it was long enough to be a bridge for the bank the Pokémon were stuck on. As he measured it, he motioned for Springer to follow him, "Hmmm....I think this will do." Flash looked down at his partner, "Alright bud, I'm gonna push this thing forward, I need you to use Force Palm on the bottom to break this tree."
"Ri!" Springer yelled before jumping between the tree and the river, only to notice someone next to him. He then saw that it was Aquana, obviously wanting to help. "Ri?"
Aquana nodded back, causing Springer to smile. The two then turned to the tree and got ready as Flash stood on the other side of the tree, placing his hands on it. "Alright guys. Let's do this!"
"RI!"
"AQ!"
The two Pokémon attacked the tree in unison, Springer using Force Palm while Aquana pounded it with his tail as Flash began to push the tree. But as he pushed, he felt no movement despite the damage the Pokémon had done. "Again!" Flash commanded as he continued to push forward, his palms feeling the Pokémon attacking the pillar of lumber. "Again!"
Twilight and Spike watched as they did this, trying to figure out how they could help. It was here that worry covered Twilight's face as she kept switching her focus between the tree and the trapped Pokémon. "Oh no....they're running out of time. They're not gonna-wait!" She looked down at the Chopmunks that Skyler and Owlicious had saved. She then pointed to the tree and yelled, "Chopmunks, please help us! Use your teeth to help break that tree!"
The Chopmunk shared a glance at each other before turning back to her, giving her a nod. "Thank you," Twilight said before they all rushed over to the tree. "Flash, let the Chopmunks help!"
Flash turned to her, only to see the Chopmunks jumping onto the tree, slowly biting away at the bark. Seeing this, he turned to the others. "Good thinking. Okay, once they've weakened the tree, we'll all push this thing down together."
They all nodded and turned back to the Chopmunks. There, the Gnawing Pokémon continued to eat away at the wood as Twilight, Spike and Flash grabbed the trunk of the tree. As they did, Springer and Aquana prepared for one last strike. "Okay, they just about got enough." Flash said as they all got into position, "on three. One...two...THREE!" The humans then started pushing while Springer and Aquana struck the bark with all their might. And as they did, the tree made a resounding-
CRACK!
"TIMBER!" Spike cried, as the tree's trunk finally gave out and began to fall forwards, Springer and Aquana leaping out of the way as it collapsed. As it hit the ground with a thud, they saw that it now formed a makeshift bridge that the Chopmunk and Munkarve could use to cross it.
Flash moved over to the bridge, where he saw the Pokémon staring at it. "Climb across! Come on!"
The Chopmunk and Munkarve stared at the bridge, then at the river as they continued to shake at the sight. Fear had taken them over, as the water around them had them horrified. "They're scared," Twilight commented as she turned to Flash, seeing a plain frown on his face. That is, till he suddenly jumped onto the bridge, Springer on his heel. "FLASH! What are you doing?!"
Flash ignored her yells as he and Springer quickly arrived on the other side, hopping off and crouching down in front of the Chopmunk and Munkarve. "It'll be okay," he told them with a reassuring smile. "We'll help you. You just need to slowly get across."
"Ri," Springer added before jumping onto the bridge, showing them how easy it was to cross.
A Chopmunk watched the Riolu, its legs no longer shaking. Then, it began to move forward, climbing onto the bridge as it followed Springer, "That's it," Flash reassured the Pokémon, "Just keep moving and you'll be safe."
Soon enough, they had a line of the critters crossing, some still looking a little afraid as they shook while trying to stop themselves from looking down. And as they did, Twilight began to grab them one by one at the end of the bridge, comforting them as well, "It's okay Chopmunk, you're all okay."
"But its still not safe here," Spike added as he pointed to the forest behind them, where there were hills beyond the woods. "Go through there and get to higher ground."
The Pokémon nodded and started to make their way through, the rest still crawling across the bridge. Flash smiled as the last few Pokémon climbed onto the bridge, but that smile faded as he felt his shoe beginning to grow wet. Looking down, he saw that the piece of land they were on was starting to really take on water. Flash then turned and saw that there was one last Chopmunk with him, refusing to even look at the bridge as fear had took the Pokémon over. He let out a small breath as he bent over and picked up the Chopmunk, holding him to his chest. "Don't worry little guy, I'll get you across." With that, he stepped onto the bridge and slowly made his way across, which was difficult since he could not use his arms to stabilize himself.
"You can do it Flash," Twilight told him. "Its just a little further."
Flash nodded as he continued to make his way over, his hand clenching down on the scared Pokémon, "I'm coming. Don't worry little guy, we're gonna-" Flash didn't finish his sentence, as his ears heard another resounding crack from the dam. As he did, a fresh wave of water slammed into him.
"WHOA!" Flash cried as he wobbled off the tree trunk, his footing now gone. As he fell, the water blasted Chopmunk flew out of his hands, only for his palms to grab the bridge. But it was too late-
"CHOP!" Chopmunk cried as it fell into the water and was swept away.
"NO!" Flash yelled as he tried to reach out to grab it, but it was too late.
"Chopmunk!" Twilight yelped as they watched it be swept away.
"What do we do?" Spike added, panic in his voice.
Before anyone could suggest anything, a certain Pokémon suddenly leaped into the water. It was Aquana, who shot like a jet into the stream. "Aquana?! What are you doing?!" Twilight screamed in horror, panic racing through her as she saw her mentor's Pokémon swim through the deadly water.
That is, till they all watched the Pokémon do what it did best. Without hesitation, Aquana swam through the current, shooting past the Chopmunk in an instant. It then spun around in the water, its head fin now sticking out of the water. Seeing this, the Chopmunk saw the fin and clutched onto it with everything it had.
"YES!" Twilight and Spike cheered as they watched Aquana swim towards Flash.
"Great work!" He added as he reached out to them and grabbed Chopmunk, the two slowly crawling to the end of the bridge while Aquana swam back to shore.
Once They were safely away from the river, Twilight looked over Chopmunk and Aquana. "They're both okay," Twilight assured them all. "They're all okay."
Everyone sighed in relief as Flash crouched down, patting Aquana on the head. "That was awesome little guy. The Pokedex wasn't kidding, you're a strong swimmer."
Aquana blushed as Flash scratched its head. "Aquana..."
"Everyone!" The group looked up to see High Tide rushing towards them. "I've done everything I can, but there's nothing I can do to stem the flow of the water."
They looked up at the dam, all of them seeing it crack up more and more. Soon enough, the whole structure would give, unleashing all the water and sweeping the town away.
"There as to be something we can do to stop it!" Spike yelled as he pointed at the dam. "Come on, you all have to have some kind of-"
But the boy didn't finish his statement, as in that moment, they heard the sound of an engine. They turned to see a police bike racing towards them, it driver being Officer Hard Case, who pulled the bike to a stop not too far from them.
"Hard Case," High Tide said as they moved over to the officer. "There's nothing we can do. We have to evacuate the town."
"It's already in progress," Hard Case replied as he got off his bike. "But I've come to try and stop this."
"How?"
Hard Case chuckled at this. "You don't think I didn't foresee this event possibly happening?" He pulled out a Pokeball. "I've got a Pokémon here that can help us. Vaporeon, to my side!" The Pokeball opened up and unleashed a stream red energy, forming and fading into a Pokémon.
Standing infront of them was a dog like Pokémon with a marine like design. It's body was light blue, with dark blue ridges running from its back to its dolphin like tail. It had a webbed collar around its neck, along with fish like fin shaped ears and a large dorsal fin like appendage on its head. "Vay."
"Whose that Pokémon?" Flash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Vaporeon
Category: Bubble Jet Pokémon
Type: Water
Info: One of the evolved forms of Eevee. Vaporeon underwent a spontaneous mutation where it grew fins and gills that allow it to live underwater. As such, this Pokémon has the ability to freely control water.
Hard Case pointed at the giant target in front of them. "Alright partner, aim at the dam and use Ice Beam!"
Vaporeon leapt into the air as a sphere of light blue energy appeared in front of its mouth. "VAY!" It cried as what looked like light blue lightning flew out of the sphere and struck the river, causing the water to turn to solid ice. The ice grew bigger and bigger until it reached the dam, soon encasing it in ice as well.
"WOW!" The others exclaimed as they watched the ice stop everything in one go.
Hard Case chuckled again as he turned to them. "That'll stop the water, at least until we can repair the dam."
Everyone sighed in relief. The day had been saved.
Several hours later...
The sun began to set as the group returned to the Pokémon Center, all exhausted from a hard day's work. After the dam had been frozen, Hard Case had taken statements from all of them before they kept an eye on the dam. If it looked like a section of Vaporeon's ice was beginning to melt or crack, they were to report it to Hard Case, and he would have Vaporeon reinforce it.
It wasn't until an hour ago that a construction crew arrived, and began work on repairing the dam, allowing the teens to leave and head to the Center.
"Oh dear..." Redheart said as she saw them step into the building. "You all look like you've been through a lot."
"You have no idea," Flash moaned as he and the others headed over to the phones, Aquana following them this time.
As they did, Twilight redid her call to Professor Celestia. The professor soon reappeared on screen, once again holding a plate. "Professor, we...are you eating cake again?"
"Don't be silly," Celestia replied as she quickly moved the plate out of view. "So, I'm guessing you found Aquana?"
"We did. It was so much more trouble that you could possible imagine."
"I see. You all do look exhausted." Celestia commented as she looked them over, seeing little energy on even Spike's face. "Very well, go ahead and send me Aquana."
"Understood." Twilight then turned to the water lizard and pulled out its Pokeball. "Okay Aquana, time to go home. Return," Aquana's eyes went wide at this, the water type leaping out of range from the incoming beam. Seeing this, Twilight shot two more beams, "Return Aquana, return this-hold still!"
"Aquana!" the lizard cried as it dodged the Pokeball's energy beam for a fourth time.
"Stop that and-glug!" Twilight tried to say, only to get a Water Gun to the face. As the water drenched down her being, her eye twitched as she glared at the Pokémon. "I'm not in the mood for this Aquana! Return now or else!"
"AQUANA!" Aquana cried again, shooting another Water Gun at her face.
"BLAUGH!" Twilight yelped as she try to shield herself. But as the water now dripped down her shirt, a low growl could be heard from her mouth. "Aquana…." Flash, Springer and Spike all let out a gulp as they saw the next sight. It was pure rage, all of it overtaking Twilight as her hair suddenly turned into a fiery blaze, instantly drying her at the same time. She pointed the pokeball and screamed, "GET IN YOUR POKEBALL THIS INSTANT AQUANA! DO IT NOW OR-"
"Twilight!" yelled her mentor's voice through the monitor, causing Twilight to come to a halt. "Calm down!"
"Professor...." Twilight mumbled as she turned to the monitor, the fire in her hair now gone. "I'm sorry, I-"
"Twilight, take a deep breath and calm down." As Twilight nodded and did this, Celestia glanced at Flash, "Flash, could you show me Aquana?"
"Sure." Flash replied as he knelt down next to Pokémon, giving him a curious look. "Something tells me you don't want to go home, do you little guy?"
"AQUANA!" Aquana cried as it threw its stubby little arms around his leg, nodding as tears went out its pleading eyes.
Flash blinked at this, only to tilt his head, "Wait, do you want to come with me?"
Aquana's eyes were now a waterfall of tears as it nodded it's head rapidly.
Twilight and Spike both just stood there in shock while Celestia giggled at the sight, "It seems Aquana left the lab because it's chosen you as its partner. A good choice if you ask me."
Twilight turned to her mentor. "But professor, Flash already has a starter Pokémon."
"Maybe, but if Aquana wants to be Flash's Pokémon, then we have no right to refuse it." She turned and gave Flash a wink of the eye. "How about it Flash? Are you willing to take Aquana along with you?"
Flash turned from her to Aquana, seeing its pleading eyes still on him, its lip quivering as tears flowed down it. He just shook his head as he picked the water lizard up with a smile, "You really have to ask? Of course you can come with us."
Aquana's eyes grew wide, only to hop out of Flash's hands and hug his chest. "AQUANA!"
Everyone smiled at its happy cry, Celestia quickly typing away at the machine next to her, "Then its settled. If you could place his Pokeball and your Pokedex into the transporter, I'll register him as your Pokémon."
"Sounds good to me." Flash commented as him and Twilight did as they were told.
A few beeps and boops later...
"There you go, Aquana now belongs to you." Celestia commented as she transferred the pokeball back, "I'll be counting on you to take care of it."
Flash nodded at this. "I won't let you down."
"I know you won't." With that, the screen went black and everyone turned to look at their newest teammate.
Flash crouched down so he was at eye level with it. "Now, there's just one thing left to do." Aquana gave him a confused look, tilting his head at his new trainer. Flash then shined a big cocky grin, "I gotta give you a cool nickname."
"Yeah! And its gotta be something awesome!" Spike added, "I mean, did you see how he swam through that riptide? It was epic!"
"Riptide?" Flash said out loud before smiling. "Yeah...Riptide." He turned to Aquana. "What do you think? Riptide sounds like a cool name to me."
Aquana continued to look up at his in confusion, until it smiled back and nodded. "AK!"
"Riptide sounds good to me," Twilight agreed.
"Me too," Spike added.
"Ri!"
Flash smiled as he picked the Aquana named Riptide up. "Then Riptide it is. And together, we'll take the Equestria Region by storm."
"Aquana!" Riptide cheered with a nod.
And so another adventure ends, with Flash gaining a new partner in Riptide as a result. What adventures will the two of them have now that they were together? The only way to answer, was to stay tuned.