Continuing their journey to Hoof Town and the Hoof Cup, our heroes have arrived at Horseshoe Bay. There, they would catch a ferry and enjoy a luxury cruise before getting off at the halfway port and walking the rest of the way. But since their ship was set to leave for another two hours, our heroes were simply looking around the port town.
"Beautiful..." Twilight whispered as she looked through a store window. Inside were a bunch of different types of jewelry, bracelets, necklaces and tiaras, all made of coral. She then sighed as she saw the price, "Buying even one of these would put me in debt for the next fifty years."
Flash, who had been looking in the window of the next store, glanced at the prices before raising an eyebrow. "How does this store stay open with those prices? You'd need to be a millionaire to buy anything."
Springer nodded in agreement, only for the doors to open. From out of store stepped a finely dressed couple with the woman wearing a pair of coral earrings, the store's owner following them. "Thank you for your continued service," he told the couple as they left. "We hope to see you again."
"You will," the woman replied.
"Your store is half the reason for our year's cruise tour," the man told him. "All our friends love your work."
With that, the two walked off as Twilight turned to Flash, "That answer your question?"
"A little..." Flash grumbled with a sour look on his face.
Further down the street, Spike and Peewee were also looking around. "Hey...boy, you there." Spike turned to the source of the voice and saw a man dressed in a white shirt, black pants and a white headband. He was standing in an alleyway, behind a crudely built stall.
"You talking to me?"
"Terr?"
"I am. I want you to take a look at this Pokémon." He pointed down at the table he stood behind, which Spike now realized was actually a water tank. Inside was a red fish like Pokémon Spike had never seen before.
"What is it?"
"The king of all carp. A Magikarp."
"And?" The man laughed as he pulled the Magikarp out of the tank before holding it out to Spike, the teen taking it, only for it start wriggling around. "Hey! Calm down!"
The man laughed again, "See how healthy it is?" He leaned over with a greasy smile, "Just between you and me, this Magikarp is like a Pokémon goldmine."
"Goldmine?"
"Right. You see, it lays one thousand eggs at a time. You sell each of those eggs for say...a dollar, and you'll have one thousand dollars easy. And if you keep breeding and selling 'em-"
"I'll be rich!" Spike yelped with dollar signs appearing in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, removing a dollar. "I'll take it."
"Hold on," the salesmen told him with a raised palm. "The dollar thing was just an example. I sell for a much higher price."
"How much?"
"How much you got?" Spike frowned but held out his wallet, which the man reached out to take. But before he could, someone swooped the wallet out of Spike's hand.
"Hey!" Spike turned to see Doc holding his wallet, the older teen glaring at the man.
"Nice try you grifter, but we're not falling for your scam." He took the Magikarp from Spike and dropped it back into the tank, soaking the man as he began to push Spike away.
"You'll regret not buying into this business!" The man cried.
"No we won't!" Doc called back. "Now get out of here before I call officer Hard Case!" That seemed to put fear into the man, who quickly began to pack up while Doc explained to Spike what he had just saved him from.
With that out of the way, the four of them began to make their way over to the port where their ship was docked. They soon spotted it, a large white cruise ship with a yellow stripe running along the edge and a red and black chimney near the back. The lot marvelled at the ship as they stepped onto the dock, looking forward to the trip they were about to undertake.
"This is gonna be awesome!"
"Don't you know it Spike," Twilight assured him before pointing over at the gangplank. "And there's where we get on." They ran over to it and met a sailor suited man standing besides it, a look of worry on his face. "Excuse me," Twilight held up their tickets. "We're here for the cruise."
"Oh...I see. Well...er...I guess you can board."
Doc walked in front of her. "Excuse me, but is something wrong?"
The sailor did a long gulp, "I guess. You see...this cruise may have to be cancelled."
"WHAT?!" The teens and their Pokémon all cried out. "Why?!"
The sailor pointed to the end of the port, the others following his finger and seeing the problem. Horseshoe Bay was actually crescent moon shaped, with a sixty meter gap between the two cliff edges that were connected by a suspension bridge. "The bridge is broken. We just got word from the operator that it won't go up."
"Which means the ships are trapped here," Twilight added. "That's not good."
Spike looked up at her sister, "Isn't there something we can do?"
Flash turned to Doc, "Think you might be able to work your magic?"
Doc stared out at the bridge, a little intimidated since he had never worked on something that big. "Hmm...I can give it a look over." The others all nodded with smiles, the group soon heading to the control station.
It took quite a while before they could get there, needing to go all the way around the C shaped harbor until they located the building next to the bridge. And as they arrived there, they spotted an Officer Hard Case talking to a man in a hardhat. "What's the hold up?!" Hard Case asked in frustration. "We've got a lot of ships that need to get in and out of this port, so we need this bridge up and running!"
"I'm sorry!" the man replied while twiddling his thumbs. "I've done everything I can think of to get it to lift, but nothing seems to be working."
"Excuse me..." Doc walked between the two, "Sorry to interrupt, but maybe I can take a look at the controls."
Hard Case raised an eyebrow at him. "Who are you, and what makes you think you can fix it?"
Flash took this moment to step up beside him, "This is Time Turner from Trottingham City. He's the genius behind the city's tech. If he can't get this bridge running, then no one can."
Hard Case hummed for a moment, then turned to the worker to ask his opinion. "Right now, I'd accept any help."
Hard Case nodded before turning back to the group. "Alright kids, go give it a shot." They all smiled as the worker lead them into the control room.
Doc removed his coat and put on his specs, "Okay, so what exactly is the damage?"
"Well, that's the problem," the work crouched down and opened one of the panels. "There doesn't appear to be any damage. I've double, triple and quadruple checked everything, but...its in all working order."
Doc hummed as he lit it up with his torch. "Hmm....yup. He's right. Everything's fine in here." He stood up and looked over the controls, attempting to switch the machine on. The device powered up and everyone watched as the bridge outside began to shake, only for it to go dead. "Huh. I see...its a lack of power."
"Power?" Hard Case asked.
"Something's preventing the electrical power to flow into the bridge and its controls. Even if a machine's working perfectly, without power, its nothing but a giant paper weight."
The worker smacked himself on the head. "Idiot! Why didn't I think of that?!"
"But there hasn't been any other reports of the town losing power," Hard Case reminded them.
Doc nodded, "which means whatever's causing the power outage is at a source that only the bridge is drawing power from. Do you have any electrical plans?" The worker quickly ran out of the room, returning a few minutes later carrying a large pile of rolled up papers.
They each took one and unrolled them, revealing a series of differently colored lines on each one. The maps came together like a jigsaw, creating a outline of the port's electrical system. Flash, Spike and Hard Case had no idea what they were seeing, but luckily Twilight, Doc and the worker did. "Here," Twilight pointed at a yellow line, "this line is what powers the drawbridge."
"Which means our gremlin is in there," Doc added as he took the map and rolled it up. "Let's head down and see if we can fix it." They all nodded and prepared to head out, the worker the only one not going as he needed to open the bridge as soon as it was back on line. Doc handed him a ear piece so they could talk before they headed out. They soon found a manhole cover and opened it up, revealing their entryway into the underground. But as they got there, they found a new problem. The tunnel was pitch black, completely devoid of light.
Hard Case took out a Pokeball and pointed it into the tunnel, "Jolteon, come!" The ball unleashed a blast of red energy, which took form to reveal the yellow and white Eeveelution. "Use Flash."
"Jolt!" Jolteon's entire body lit up, illuminating the tunnel in an instant.
"Alright..." Hard Case looked at a bunch of different colored pipes around the tunnel. "Now, which was do we go?"
Doc pulled out the map and scanned it, "Hmmm...this way." he began to lead them through the underground passageways, the twists and turns easily confusing Flash, Spike and Hard Case, but Doc was easily able to direct them. And as they travelled, Doc and Twilight kept an eye out for damage to any of the pipes. But no matter how far they went, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. "We're coming up to the generator."
"Generator?" Flash asked Doc.
Twilight raised a finger. "The town is powered by several hydroelectric generators, which draw in water from the ocean and use it to produce electricity."
Doc nodded in agreement. "Since nothing seems out of the ordinary here, that likely means the fault is close to the generator itself."
They continued their trek until they suddenly found themselves bathed in light, making them up the tunnel to see the source. They soon found themselves inside a giant rounded chamber with a large pool of water at the bottom. In front of them was an X shaped bridge that was connected to the tunnel they had just come out of, along with three others around the edges of the chamber. Coming out from the center of the pool was a giant metal rod that went through the center of the bridge and up to the ceiling. "Well...end of the line."
"So where's the generator?" Spike asked.
"This is the generator. We're inside it's water intake." Doc pointed at the water, "See? The water is being jetted into a bunch of turbines," he then pointed at the pole in the middle of the room. "Those turbines spin that pole, which in turn spin the dynamos that create electricity."
"Cool."
"But the generator looks completely fine," Hard Case added with an irritated tapping foot. "So what's causing the power outage?"
"Good point..." Doc looked up at the pipe that was coming out of the tunnel they'd just exited and saw nothing. That is, till- "There!" He pointed at a part of the pipe, the others now seeing a large hole that exposed the wiring. "That looks bad, but I don't see any reason why that would cause a power outage."
The others thought for a moment, only for a bulb to click in Flash's head. He then took the walkie-talkie out of Doc's pocket. "Hello, you there?"
There was no reply for several seconds, only for a few crackles to sound out, "I'm here. Did you fix the problem?"
"No, but could you try to open the bridge?"
"Right away." The worker's voice cut out, seconds before the generator started to make noise.
"What's happening?" Spike asked.
"The electricity being stored in the generator is being summoned to the bridge," Doc replied as he kept an eye on the broken piece of the pipe, but saw no issue. However, something else suddenly caught their attention.
CLANG!
They all spun around to the source of the clang, following it down to a hole that was in the wall a few feet below the tunnel they had came from.
"What's that?" Spike asked next.
"That's an overflow relief drain. Its for when the turbines are broken or under maintenance, and prevents the water from flooding."
Flash turned to Doc, "But why would it make that-"
"LOOK!" Twilight screamed as she pointed at the hole, the others looking back in time to see something come out of it. What it was, was a giant plug-like construct. It was about the same size as Spike and was white with two yellow prongs coming out the end. And as the giant plug fully emerged, they saw it was attached to a long white cord that was as thick as they were from shoulder to shoulder.
They watched as the plug and cord slithered up the wall until it reached the hole in the pipe, no one daring to make a sound as the prongs got closer to the wires. And when they finally made contact, the prongs began to spark. Seconds began to pass as the sparking continued, soon ending as the plug detached itself from the wires and retracted back into the drain it had come from.
Everyone just stood there, blinking at the sight. Unable to respond, the silence was broken by the walkie-talkie crackling. "Hello, you there? The bridge is still down. Did you find out what the problem was?"
Flash raised the device to his mouth, "Standby." He cut the call and turned to the others, "What the heck was that?!"
Twilight did a long, loud gulp, "That...was a powerful sea dwelling Pokémon. The Sparaken. I've only ever read about them in books, but I'm sure that was it."
Flash pulled out his Pokedex and typed the name into it, an image popping up on screen a few seconds later. The Pokémon was a squid like creature with five of the long tentacles they had seen. It's main body was yellow with a pair of round black eyes below what appeared to be a giant light bulb on the top of its head, which appeared to be shining brightly.
Name: Sparaken
Category: Plug Tentacle Pokémon
Type: Electric
Info: Despite living in water, its not a water type. It's five powerful tentacles can drain power from other machines before unleashing a powerful electrical surge, giving it the ability to both constrict and electrocute its opponents. If it were to run low on power, it's physical strength would deplete.
"How big is this thing?" Spike asked as he looked at the picture, remembering how big the tentacles were.
"About eleven meters from top to the end of its tentacle," Twilight replied with shiver down her spine. "It's body is about five meters, and the tentacles are another six."
"But what's a Sparaken doing here?" Hard Case asked.
"Not sure. They're suppose to be...well, deep sea Pokémon. They usually hunt Gyrados and other Pokémon of that size."
Doc, who had been staring at the hole the tentacle had appeared from, finally spoke up. "Whatever the reason, its the cause of the power shortage. Its stealing the power from the drawbridge for itself."
"Then we need to find it and get it out of here," Flash added. "Anyone have a clue on how we get down there?"
"No," Doc held the map up, "but I might be able to find another route leading to the same place." He muttered under his breath for several seconds, "Hmm...alright. Follow me." He then took off, the others following.
"Jolteon!" Hard Case ordered, his partner unleashing a bright light that filled the next tunnel they went down. They soon found themselves running down some stairs, only to stop when they found themselves ankle deep in water.
"What the?!" Spike yelped as he felt the water sink into his shoes.
"This can't be good," Hard Case added.
Doc continued to lead them through the flooded tunnel, which happily didn't get any deeper, and eventually stepped out into an area and pointed to the right. "Okay, that should be it."
"Spar...rack!"
They all froze at that sound, Spike whispering, "Is that?"
Twilight nodded at this, "That's likely the Sparaken. Be careful everyone. Sparaken are highly territorial. It won't like us being here."
"Sounds like the Sharazor all over again." Spike moaned as Peewee mimicked his expression, "Are all deep sea Pokémon like this?"
"It depends. Though Sharazor is more violent and loves picking fights compared to a Sparaken. Either way, its dangerous for a whole group to go into its territory."
"Then we should go in one at a time," Flash suggested before stepping up to the rounded exit, slowly staring into the chamber. The chamber was about twenty meter in height, though most of it was currently underwater, and was lit by the large opening that the sun was streaming through. The sound of crashing waves filtered in from this opening, along with the occasional bit of seawater.
But what caught Flash's attention was the chamber's occupant, the eleven meter squid Pokémon he'd seen in his Pokedex. But this one had a few differences, with only four tentacles out of the water while the light-bulb like head adornment was barely making a spark. "Spar..."
"There it is," Flash moved back while the others glanced to see it one at a time. "So what now?"
"It has to have a reason for being here," Doc said as he pointed at the exit. "That opening's large enough for it to squeeze through."
"Maybe it can't leave," Twilight suggested as she stared at it's bulb. "Look! That's where it stores it's electricity, but its barely showing a spark."
Spike turned to Flash. "Didn't the Pokedex say that when it's low on juice, it gets physically weak?"
"It did," Flash looked back out into the chamber. He stared at the Sparaken for several seconds, only to turn to Doc, "You still got those goggles and rebreathers?"
Doc nodded and reached into his bag, pulling out the box containing the equipment.
"Flash..." Twilight slowly asked as she watched him put them on, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to go take a look underwater," Flash replied while taking off his jacket and shirt.
"That's not a good idea," Hard Case told him. "If that thing sees you, it could fry you with one bolt."
"I doubt it has the power to do so," Flash countered before quickly diving into the water, all making sure that the Sparaken couldn't see him. He swam as fast as he could to the bottom of the pool, glad that the goggles helped him see in dark water. Once he had reached the bottom, he turned and swam up to the Sparaken. He had to be weary of the tentacles, which were splashing in and out of the water. It was here that he found himself beneath the Pokémon's body and saw its yellow beak.
But then something else caught his attention. The Sparaken's fifth tentacle, or at least what he could see of it, was pinned beneath an assortment of large rocks that prevented it from moving.
"That's it." Flash whispered into the rebreather.
But it was this moment that Flash's presence had been detected, which resulted in the Sparaken's tentacles slithering up behind him before releasing a quick spark between the prongs. The spark was all Flash needed to notice of the incoming attack. It was here that the teen spun around, his eyes going wide as the plug charged at him. He then barely managed to duck under it, his legs kicking furiously as he tried to get away. But as he did this, a flurry of tentacles covered the area, all trying to find him. Then, when one of them shot past him, he used it as a spring board to repel away, the Sparaken feeling the push before looking down in that direction as it submerged itself underwater.
Now seeing its target, it shot all its prongs that it could, Flash barely able to stay out of his reach. But as he tried to get away, a bolt flew through the water, knocking Flash in the back. He cried out in pain, accidently let his rebreather escape his mouth as he came to stop. It was here that Sparaken wrapped its tentacle around him and began to drag him under. With his rebreather gone, Flash's lungs began to burn as they emptied themselves to the water.
But just as his brain started playing the terrifying drowning music from his favorite childhood game, an Aura Sphere shot through the water and hit the Sparaken's tentacle. Flash pushed himself free of the death grip the second the tentacle loosened, but that didn't change the fact he was about to take an involuntary breath of water. Luckily, Springer swam down holding the rebreather he had lost and shoved it into his mouth. Flash took a massive breath while Springer turned to Sparaken, soon creating a pair of Aura Sphere's that he slammed together.
The following shockwave knocked the incoming tentacles back and propelled the Pokémon and its trainer through the water, the duo hitting the back wall as Sparaken started to recover. When it did, it shot its tentacles again, only to reach their limit a meter or so away, allowing the two to swim back to the surface.
They soon broke through the water as their friends grabbed hold and dragged them out of the pool, Flash removing his goggles and rebreather before erupting in a fit of coughing. "You idiot!" Twilight yelled at him, "You could have been killed!"
"Maybe...but at least I found out why the Sparaken is here. It's trapped." This statement made them all blink in confusion, Flash seeing this and started his explanation.
"It's tentacle is trapped under some rocks?" Doc asked, Flash nodding.
"That explains it," Hard Case replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "There was a storm that hit the town a few days ago. It could have washed the Sparaken and the rocks in here, probably knocking it out."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "And while it was unconscious, it leaked all its electrical power."
"So when it came too, it didn't have enough juice to free itself from the rocks and escape." Everyone nodded at Spike's final assumption. "So...what do we do?"
"We have to free it, but doing so is gonna be tricky. I doubt it'd simply sit back and let us swim under it, or listen to us if we try to say we want to help." Hard Case added as they all began to think about what they could do. That is, till Springer snapped his paws as an idea popped into his head.
"Ri! Riolu!" he reached up and un-clipped an empty Pokeball from Flash's belt.
"Huh?" Flash asked as he took the Pokeball, "What are you trying to tell me?" Springer rolled his eyes before pointing at the Pokeball, then at the Sparaken before performing a throwing motion. "Wait...you want me to try and catch the Sparaken?"
Springer nodded. "Riolu!"
"That's brilliant Springer!" Twilight said while clapping her hands. "Even if Flash doesn't mange to catch it, being sucked into the Pokeball will easily free the Sparaken."
Flash smiled as he enlarged the Pokeball and jumped out into the chamber where the Sparaken was watching. "Alright, here goes." He pulled the ball back, "GO POKEBALL!" The ball went flying at the plug tentacle Pokémon, getting closer by the second. But before it could get close to Sparaken, two of its tentacles shot out of the water and grabbed it between the prongs. "WHAT?!"
They others were just as shocked, only to then watch as the Pokeball sparked for several seconds until Sparaken released the ball, the sphere falling into the water before sinking.
"What...just happened?" Spike slowly asked.
"I think the Sparaken drained the Pokeball's energy," Twilight replied with a huge frown.
Hard Case sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This just got a lot harder." The Sparaken turned its attention back to the group before raising one of its tentacles, which it slammed into the water to cause a wave of to fly at them. "Look out!" They rushed back into the tunnel, all just missing the wave. "Now what?!"
Doc shook his head and pointed at Hard Case's Jolteon. "Time for a new approach. We give it what it needs."
"Come again?"
"Sparaken needs electricity to increase its strength and free itself. So lets give it some."
"Brilliant!" Hard Case stepped back on into the chamber with his partner. "Jolteon, use Thunder!"
"Jolt..." Jolteon leapt into the air as it tensed up, "EON!" With that outcry, the Lightning Pokémon unleashed a massive burst of electrical energy. The lightning bolt flew at the Sparaken, who raised its plugged tentacle to intercept the attack.
Everyone watched as their plan seemed to work, Sparaken's light-bulb head slowly filling with light. Then when Jolteon's attack ended and it landed beside Hard Case, they waited to see if they had given it enough juice to escape. The Sparaken began to pull at its trapped tentacle, only to suddenly cry out in pain. "SPARAK!" That pain caused it to accidently release some of its electricity, which flew into the water.
Everyone gasped as they saw it coming their way, preparing to electrify the water they were standing on. That is, till Jolteon leapt in front of the lightning. "Jolt!" he yelped as the electricity struck its body, only to show no damage on its body.
"That was close," Flash added.
Twilight nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Thank Arceus for Jolteon's Volt Absorb ability." She then turned to Sparaken, "looks like it's tentacle's still injured. Trying to pull it free is just too painful for it."
"So what do we do now?" Spike asked next.
Hard Case let out a long sigh. "No choice. We need to remove the rocks ourselves."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Flash yelped as he pointed at the Pokémon. "The second that thing sees us, it'll either zap us or try to squeeze us into jelly."
"We have to find a way to draw its attention," Doc replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Some of us will need to distract it while the others go under and remove the rocks."
"Okay...I sure hope there's a plan with that Doc."
Doc just shined a huge grin, snapping his fingers as he remarked, "Don't worry. I've got it." He motioned for them to move in closer, allowing him to whisper his plan into their ears.
Thirty minutes later...
The Sparaken continued staring at the tunnel entrance, waiting to see if those intruders would come back. But as another minute passed, the Pokémon let out a long sigh, assuming that it was finally alone.
"Steeledge!" It looked up at the large opening it had originally fallen through, right as four Pokémon flew into it. Leading the air assault was Steeledge, followed by Skyler, Owlicious, Peewee, and in Steeledge's talons was Jolteon. The four Flying-Types dive-bombed the electric cephalopod, who began to throw its tentacles at them.
And as they began dodging its attacks, Flash, Twilight, Springer and Riptide leaned around the corner. Flash and Twilight were in their swim wear, Twilight talking into a walkie talkie. "Okay, phase one has begun."
"Good. Begin phase two."
They nodded before putting the walkie talkie away and all but Riptide equipped goggled and rebreathers. Once done, the four carefully dived in the water, trying to make as little noise as possible. As such, the Sparaken was completely oblivious to its new pool mates as it fired a stream of lightning at the Flying-Types. Steeledge then held up Jolteon, the electricity harmlessly surging into it to keep the Flying-Types safe. Both Steeledge and Skyler's wings then glowed before unleashing their Air Cutter attacks, Sparaken raising its tentacles in defense as the air blades bounced off them. Owlicious fired its Confusion attack next while Peewee shot a Dragon Breath, the two attacks also bouncing off as the squid continued to defend itself.
Down below, Flash, Twilight, Springer and Riptide reached the bottom of the pool. Looking over at Sparaken, they saw it still hadn't noticed them, allowing Twilight to go over to the rocks and check the damage to the tentacle. It seemed nothing was broken or infected, which meant if they got the rocks off, it wouldn't need any further treatment.
She gave Flash a thumbs up and he nodded before turning to his Pokémon, the three nodding before turning their attention to the rocks. Springer formed an Aura Sphere while Riptide's fist glowed in preparation of using Rock Smash. They launched their attacks, smashing into the rocks while Flash and Twilight worked to remove the smaller boulders. The Pokémon repeated their attacks again and again, shattering the rocks or splitting them into smaller ones that the trainers could move.
Back above the water, Spike, Doc and Hard Case had climbed down to the outside entrance of the chamber and looked inside. There, they saw Jolteon and the Flying-Types still soaring around, the four tentacles dangling in the air as the Sparaken kept yelling at the Pokémon.
"Spar!" Sparaken yelled as it got a lucky shot on Peewee, slamming its tentacle into the Terragon and pinning it to a wall.
"Terr!"
"Peewee!" Spike yelped in fear, "Get out of there! Use Bite!" Peewee heard its trainer's command and quickly sunk its fangs into the tentacle.
"SPARAK!" It cried, loosening its grip on Peewee. As it did this, Steeledge threw Jolteon up before drilling into the Pokémon's other tentacle. Once as it hit, it flew back up and caught Jolteon before it hit the water, Owlicious following up as it pecked at another tentacle.
"Things seem to be going well," Doc commented. "Let's just hope Flash and the others are able to free that tentacle before they're found."
"Agreed. But I hate sitting here and not helping."
"More people means more chance of being found officer," Doc told him. "This is our best bet, as long as the Pokémon can keep it distracted."
"Wing!" Skyler unleashed another Air Cutter, Sparaken using Thunder Wave to defend against it. Skyler growled at seeing its attack being deflected, only for Sparaken to unleash another Thunder Wave. Seeing this, the Wingust flared a Double Team, dodging it just in time.
The Sparaken glared up at the multiplying enemies, beginning to fire lightning bolts as it wiped them out one at a time. But as it was focused on the Double Team, Steeledge, Owlicious and Peewee flew behind it, all firing a Steel Wing, Confusion and Ember.
"Spar!" it cringed in pain before firing another bolt of electricity. Unfortunately for it, Jolteon hopped between it and the Flying-Types, absorbing the attack.
Back below the water, Flash and Twilight were close to getting the tentacle free. Riptide had smashed another rock in half, the teens grabbing the pieces and throwing them to the side. They were very thankful for the rock's buoyancy, or they wouldn't have been light enough to move.
Things seemed to be going well, until Twilight moved a rock without realizing it was holding several more up. And as she removed it, they all fell onto the Sparaken's trapped tentacle.
"SPARAKEN!" it roared as it felt the new pain, Doc going pale as he saw the Pokémon dip its other tentacles into the water.
"Guys!" Doc yelled into the walkie talkie, "Get out of there! It's found you!"
The two heard the warning, the duo quickly picking up the pace as they tossed more rocks aside. Subtlety no longer mattering, their Pokémon started hitting every piece of rubble possible. But as they did this, Flash saw one of the plugs coming for Twilight. Reacting quickly, he kicked off the ground and pushed Twilight away as the tentacle wrapped around him.
The others gasped at the sight, giving the other tentacles the opening to wrap around them as well, dragging them away. And as they struggled to get free, they looked down at the trapped tentacle and saw there only one large rock left that needed to be removed. Seeing this, Springer got his paws free and formed the biggest Aura Sphere he could make, tossing at the rock. But due to the water, the Aura Sphere moved much slower and began to shrink. They all feared it might fade before reaching the rock, only for it suddenly strike, exploding and turning the rubble to dust.
"Spar?" Sparaken yelped as he froze in place, making the others fearful that something was going on.
Then it began to move, pulling away from the spot it had been stuck in for so long. It gently lifted the once trapped tentacle, now no longer feeling any pain. And as it breached the water, it stared at the tentacle, its reflexes instinctively lifting the other tentacles, soon revealing the still trapped Flash and friends.
Flash saw the surprise on Sparaken's face, causing him to take out his rebreather and say, "See? We were just trying to help you. So how about you let us go, and then you can head home?"
It turned its stare at them, blinking until its grip suddenly stopped. The four then slid down, plopping into the water before turning to the exit as it began to pull itself out of the chamber. Spike, Doc and Hard Case moved out of Sparaken's way as it came, so getting outside. There, it began to bathe in the sunlight that it had lost for so long, Flash and the others managing to climb out after Sparaken as it began to wade into the ocean.
And as it disappeared into the distance, it was consumed by the water, not looking back even once. Seeing this, the five humans and their Pokémon breathed a sigh of relief while some fell back onto their rears. "That...was too close," Flash panted.
"Indeed," Hard Case added before turning to them, "But you've all done this town a great service. Thanks to you, Horseshoe Bay can resume having visitors. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Twilight gave him a small nod, "Well, there is one thing."
"Yes?"
"Don't tell the drawbridge worker its fixed until we get back to port. We really need to catch our ferry."
Hard Case chuckled with a nod, "Sure. But please hurry, we don't want the ships to be too delayed." They all nodded before beginning their trek back to the port.
Later...
As the ship finally pulled away from port, Flash and his friends all stood at the front deck. They watched as the boat sailed through the now open drawbridge, preparing to set sail out to sea.
Doc then tapped his pocketwatch, "You know, despite all the trouble it caused, Sparaken actually turned out to be okay."
Flash shrugged at this, "Yeah, and you couldn't really blame it.
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well, Hard Case is going to talk to the ones in charge of that chamber and see if they can install a grate."
"That should stop any more Pokémon from getting trapped down there," Spike added. "Unless they're tiny. There's not super angry tiny fish Pokémon that exist, right?"
Twilight giggled at his question, winking at her brother, "Eh, I wouldn't worry about it."
It was here that the ship went through the drawbridge, the vessel now sailing out into open water. It had been an action packed day, but the heroes were now seaward bound. Who knows how many great adventure awaited them as they sailed through the vast sea. You'll have to stayed tuned to find out