//------------------------------//
// Water Shortage 
// Story: Pokémon: Equestrian Adventures 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

"Iron Tail!"

"RUSH!" Hopper roared as his tail began to glow, the Velocirush spinning around next.

"Tore!" Riptide leapt with his tail now wrapped in water, both tails now clashing. The two attacks now pushed each other back, the force from the blow making the sand around them swirl as the others cheered from the side.

Flash and the gang were continuing their journey to Appaloosa City and Flash's fifth Equestria Gym Challenge. Having said goodbye to Shining Armor, Flash decided to take this opportunity do a little training, this time being Hopper and Riptide doing some sparring.

"Quick Attack!" Hopper nodded as he charged, his body slightly glowing.

"Spran!" Riptide countered as he unleashed a stream of water from his mouth, though it hit the ground instead of Hopper. But as this happened, Hopper's paws struck the soaked sand, only to come to stop as the sludge made him sink. Seeing the opening, Riptide thrust a Rock Smash into the trapped Pokémon, catapulting him out of the quicksand. "Vel!" he screamed, flying over to Flash's feet.

"You okay?" He asked as he knelt down, patting Hopper on the head. He let out a moan as he got, his legs wobbling as Flash helped him stay stable. "Maybe that's enough for now." He turned to Riptide, "Nice work bud."

"Tore," he replied before the three began to move over to the others, who were all sitting in the shade of a large rock.

"Hopper's definitely getting better," Twilight added as she handed him a water bottle. "You thinking of using him in the next gym?"

"Maybe...." Flash took a swig before flipping the lid to give to Hopper. "It depends on what type of gym it is. If it's a type Hopper will have trouble with, it might not be a good idea."

"So Fighting or Ghost?" Doc noted as he took a long gulp from his water bottle.

Spike did the same thing, only for his eyes to go wide. "Uh...guys?" the others turned to him, Spike now holding his water bottle upside down. A few drops plopped out as he commented, "We might have a problem."

The others looked back at their bottles, grimacing as Twilight took out her journal. "Looks like our battle with Team Shadow made us thirstier than we thought."

"We need to find a spring and fast," Doc continued, "Before we all turn into dried up prunes."

"I'm looking now," Twilight flicked through the area, her eyes darting around, "There. And it's not too far away. About a mile and a half."

"Great!" Flash returned Hopper and grabbed his bag. "Let's get going. I'm already starting to feel a headache from the heat." The others nodded in agreement as they followed Twilight through the sandy wasteland. It was another thirty minutes before the spring finally came into view.

"Finally!" Spike cheered as they spotted some trees in the distance, he and Peewee running in a full sprint, "Last one there's a Slowpoke!"

Flash was about to race after him, only to come to a stop as he saw Riptide blankly staring at the area, "Hmm? What's up buddy?" He watched Riptide now point at the trees around the lake, Flash grimacing as he saw what he meant while Spike reached the edge.

"Bonzai!" He yelled before leaping, curling himself up before he and Peewee fell out of sight. However, a sudden cloud of dust appeared next, Spike's voice now unleashing a loud 'ouch!'. The others raced over to the edge and looked down, now seeing a Spike and Peewee sitting in a dried up crater. "Well...this sucks."

Doc let out a laugh, "This should be a good lesson to you about looking before you leap."

"Looking at what?!" Spike yelped as he picked himself up, both now beginning to climb out of the sandpit.

"Try the trees," Flash pointed to the plants, all now seeing the leaves all dried up and shriveled. "If they're in that state, the water must have dried up a while ago."

"This isn't good," Twilight looked back down at her journal. "There isn't another oasis around here for a good ten miles. There's no way we'll get there before we collapse from dehydration." The boys all gulped at her comment, Spike and Peewee's eyes shrinking as they knew they were already thirsty.

But before they could comment about it, Riptide stared down at the dried up lake as the fin on his head began to vibrate. Flash turned to his Pokémon, raising an eyebrow, "Riptide?" The Spranitor didn't respond, instead leaping down into the sandpit as he began to wander around, "Buddy? What ya doing? Anything wrong?"

Twilight hummed as she stared at the Spranitor, "Hmmm...you know, it's possible that Riptide's sensing water."

"He can do that?"

Doc did a small nod as he responded, "Many amphibious Pokémon have evolved a way to sense water, even if they can't see or smell it. It's kinda important since some have to stay wet in order to survive."

Flash took this chance to jump into the pit with Springer, both moving over to Riptide as he crawled along the ground. "Find anything Riptide?"

"Tore..." Riptide nodded before looking down at an area of the pit. "Nee..." he took a deep breath before breathing out, "Tore!" He shot out a Water Gun that hit the dried up sand, causing it to grow damp before a small puddle formed. When he stopped, the three watched the water slowly sink into the ground. "Tore!" Riptide cheered as he started digging.

"What's he doing?" Spike asked as the others walked down into the pit.

Twilight clapped her hands, "Of course! The aquafier that fed the lake must be here! If we can find it, we might be able to get the lake to start up again."

"So what are we waiting for?!" Flash added as he knelt down and started digging alongside Riptide, Springer doing the same. The others quickly followed suit, slowly starting to uncover more and more sand, the group now making a sizeable hole. Heat and exhaustion began to hit them at this moment, their throats becoming scratchy and their heads growing damp with sweat. In response, the boys took off their shirts while Twilight removed her sweater vest.

But after almost forty minutes of digging, resulting in a four foot hole, it happened. As Flash scooped some more sand into his hands, he suddenly found them growing wet as dirty water began to ooze out. "Yes!" He cheered as he watched the water begin to fill the hole, the group now turning to climb out of the now filling waterhole.

"Nice!" Twilight commented, "It should dilute once it fills the lake. We must have unblocked something that was stopping the flow." But as she said that, the water stopped raising. "What?" They then saw the water slowly begin to drain, making her yelp out, "No!"

"Now what's happening?!" Spike added, only for the group to suddenly yelp out as they felt something new. Looking down, they saw the sand under their feet shift, sucking all of them into the pit. "Whoa!" Spike yelled as he saw sank down the fastest, now feeling the pit into a quicksand-like bog. "Help!"

"Dang it, I'm stuck!" Flash grunted as he tired to pull his legs up, only to feel the sand tug him down.

"We all are!" Twilight cried out, the group now feeling the sand crawl up to their waists. Seeing this, Twilight yelled, "Quickly! Get your Pokémon out before-eep!" She felt her waist get sunk into the sand, unable to get to her Pokeballs.

"Twilight!" Flash yelled, only to see Springer whine out next.

"Ri!" Springer yelped as he and Peewee were now stuck with just their heads above the sand. Riptide wasn't far behind, his shoulders about to dip below the surface.

"Hold on!" Flash told his partner, trying to move over to the Riolu, only for both Springer and Peewee to completely sink. "NO!" He screamed, only to now feel his feet give out, the group now being sucked under the surface. "GYAH!"

Before he could react, Flash could feel his body sliding through a cloud of sand down into some kind of tunnel. He kept trying to move, but the sand kept his body restrained. The grains were now getting into his eyes and mouth, making him gag as he kept falling, only to find himself suddenly in midair.

"Huh?!" he yelped before gravity pulled him down, his voice now letting out a long scream as he heard the rest of his friends doing the same. And as they continued to descend, he closed his eyes, ready to go splat...only to feel a splash of water instead. His eyes shot open, now seeing he was in a pool of water, his friends realizing the same as they began to get back to the surface. And as their heads reached the surface, gasps and deep breaths followed as Flash asked, "Everyone okay?"

"I got sandy water in my ears," he heard Spike moan.

"I...I think we're okay," Twilight added as she squinted her eyes, soon rubbing them as she then stared at her glasses, "Thank goodness I didn't break them."

"Ri..." Springer groaned behind his trainer, Flash turning to him while seeing two more Pokémon.

"Wagon."

"Tore."

Flash let out a long sigh of relief, only to look up and see a small light come out of the ceiling, "What the heck happened?"

"We must have fallen into the cavern that was used to supply the water to the oasis," Doc answered as he scanned the ceiling, "The water must have been trapped in that tunnel until we unearthed it, which caused the ground to finally collapse with us on top of it."

"So how are we supposed to get out of here?" Spike asked as everyone now stared up at the hole.

"Maybe Steeledge or Owlicious could fly us out," Twilight suggested.

Doc shook his head, "No, the tunnel's too narrow. They won't be able to get through it with their wingspan."

"So we're stuck?" Spike finished, the others nodding.

But as they began to debate on what to do, Riptide dunked his head underwater. He then saw a tunnel just a bit under him, seeing it was more than big enough for everyone. However, he saw it was also quite dark to see anything, but he could feel a current pull him in. Knowing this would be enough to help them get through the tube, he swam back up to the surface.

"Tore!" He said as his head popped out of the water, "Spran!"

"Hmm? What's up Riptide?" Flash asked as he turned to his Pokémon, "You find something?"

"Tore!" Riptide spun around and flicked his tail at Flash. The trainer quickly caught on and grabbed it, then held his other hand out.

"Everyone hold onto each other." Seeing where this was going, the group held onto his hand as Riptide swam down. The could feel a current almost instantly ensnare them, all pulling them down the tunnel. They could feel a blast of pressure as Riptide kept pulling them along, feeling themselves swim for a long time until the tunnel started glowing green.

They then got to a temporary surface, Twilight asking, "What is that?" as they kept swimming down the pathway.

"Some kind of luminous substance?" Doc guessed as another minute passed, only to raise an eyebrow as he saw the light get closer, "Moss?"

"Luminous Moss," Twilight added as she reached up and pulled some off the roof. "It's a very rare item. It's said to increase a Pokémon's Special Defense when they're hit by a Water-type move." Everyone stared at the moss while the current continued to push them down the tunnel, the moss's quantity increasing by the second.

"Wait..." Flash muttered out as they now felt the tunnel pull them harder. Feeling the force of the pull, his eyes shrunk as he knew what was coming, "Uh oh..." he turned to the others, "We got trouble coming! Everybody hold on!"

They did as told, clutching onto the person closest to them...only for the tunnel to suddenly shift into a downward slope. Speed kept increasing as the water pulled them, all screaming as they kept clutching each other, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" they kept yelling as they flew down the tunnel. The green moss flew past them now, making the tunnel look like something out of a sci-fi movie, only for all of them to suddenly be in midair again.

Screams kept happening as they found themselves now crashing into yet another lake. A tremendous splash happened next, the group quickly resurfacing as they all started a marathon of heavy breaths and gasps. And as they did this, they soon saw they were now in a giant cavern, one that was about a mile wide. This lake was the biggest of several, all interlinked by winding canals that ran through the cavern. Several large pillars came up from the floor and were connected to the ceiling, each pillar having light producing crystals sticking out of the sides that partly lit the cavern up. The luminous moss from before was also growing from the ceiling, helping light up the cave. There were also several more tunnels covering the walls, some on ground level while others were several feet in the air.

"Wow..." was all Spike could say.

"It's like something out of an adventure book," Twilight added.

Doc let out a long pant as he said, "Maybe...but it won't be as amazing if we can't find a way out of here."

The others grimaced at this, Riptide shrinking down in the water. Flash saw his Pokémon let out a whimper, making him turn and pat his head, "Hey, no one blames you buddy. Don't worry, we'll figure out something."

"Rio ri!" Springer added as he swam up and patted Riptide's back, the Spranitor trying to smile back. But as Springer did this, his ears suddenly sprang up, making him yelp, "Ri?"

"Springer? What's wrong? You sense something?" The others saw him spin around, his eyes darting back and forth. Flash then felt a ripple in the water, making him look down as he saw a semi-shadow swim around them, only to disappear. "That's...probably not good. We should get out of the water." The others nodded, quickly swimming to edge. But as they did this, the shadow slowly followed them, only to shoot out a blast of water out of the surface.

"HURRY!" Doc yelled as he reached the edge first. He then spun around to grab Spike and Peewee, pulling both with a mighty tug. Flash, Twilight and Springer were next while Riptide kept watching the shadow. And as he did this, he saw the shadow vanish, seeing it dive deeper into the water...only for the creature to fly straight out of the water.

Everyone gasped as the creature seemed to hover above them, a long glare on its face. It looked like a Pokémon they'd all seen before, Kelpool, but much bigger. Its body was mostly light blue, with patches of pink around its body. It had a green fin on its fish-like tail that now had a seashell design with pink running along the edges. Its seaweed like mane had pink lines running through it as well, this with the vines coming off its legs. Those legs also had pink on them, starting at the hoof and going up to halfway to its knees. It also had a pair of transparent pink fish-like fins coming off its back, looking like wings that were likely to help with swimming.

As the aquatic equine Pokémon flew through the air, it looked down at the intruders as it kept glaring at them. "Kelp..." it neighed before opening its mouth, "KELPIE!" It shot out a long steam of water, the attack coming at high speed.

"Look out!" Twilight screamed as they tried to run, only for Riptide to leap out of the water as it spun around and blocked the attack with an Aqua Tail.

"TORE!" He roared as he smacked the attack away, the water dissipating as both fell back into the lake.

"Riptide!" Flash yelled as he and Springer ran back to the edge, both not even seeing the Pokémon's shadows.

"What was that thing?" Spike asked next.

"Its a Lokelpie. But what's one doing here?" Doc responded as Flash took out his Pokedex and typed the name into the search function, the image of the Pokémon they had just saw appearing on screen.

Name: Lokelpie
Category: River Dwelling Pokémon
Type: Water/Fairy
Info: The evolved form of Kelpool. Living in giant lakes, they communicate by singing. It is said that this Pokémon served a Legendary Pokémon, who they go to whenever they hear its voice.

"But why's it attacking us?" Flash asked as he put his dex away.

"It must think we've come to cause trouble," Twilight replied as she turned and pointed to one of the pillars, "Look! What's that?" The others followed her finger, now seeing a Crawlder walk outside of the pillar.

"What's that doing here?" Doc asked before spotting several more Crawlder trying to blend in with the rocks of the cavern.

"Hey, look at that!" Spike added as he pointed at another lake. They turned to now see a Wooper's head above the surface of the lake, the Pokémon yelping before pulling itself back into the water. Everyone blinked at the sight, only to start looking around as they started to see a plethora of different Pokémon located in the cavern. Rock-types like Geodude, Roggenrola, Dwebble and the Crawlder lined the walls and floor. At the same time, the many lakes were filled with Water-types like Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Quagsire, Barboach, Whishcash, Chinchou, Lanturn, Goldeen and Seaking. There was even some grassy areas, which had Paras and Parasect. While they saw that, Woobat and Swoobat then flew above them, some hanging from the ceiling.

"It's an entire underground kingdom," Doc gasped before looking back at the lake. "And that Lokelpie must be its protector."

Flash gulped as he heard that, making him turn back to the lake as he saw two shadows dance around under the water. "Riptide..."

Down below, both were swimming around at top speed, Riptide firing with a Water Gun while Lokelpie countered with its Brine attack, its entire body becoming wrapped in water before tackling Spranitor. "Tore!" He cried as he was thrown backward, getting dangerously close to the bottom of the lake. But before he hit the floor, he spun around and landed on his feet before propelling himself upward. "Nee!" His feet glowed as he spun around to kick him, Lokelpie tensing up as he stared at the attack.

"Lock!" It roared as it dodged the attack, spinning around and slamming Riptide several times with its tail, the Spranitor flinching before getting smacked up to the water's surface. "KELPIE!" Lokelpie then launched another Brine, the water pushing him right through the surface, the Spranitor crying out in pain as he flew out of the lake.

"TORE!" He screamed as he broke through the water, making him land on the edge of the lake.

"RIPTIDE!" Flash yelled as he and Springer ran over, the trainer skidding to his knees as he caught his Pokémon in his hands. "Riptide, you okay?" the teen yelped, clutching the Pokémon in his arms. The Spranitor replied by barely opening his eyes, groaning in pain just as Lokelpie shot out of the water again.

"Lock!" it roared, Springer quickly getting in front of Flash as he got into a battle stance. A blue aura swirled around his paws, ready to strike, only for Twilight to jump between them.

"Wait!" She cried, Lokelpie's next attack stopping for a second as she continued, "Please, we're not here to cause trouble." She flashed her palms at him, the Lokelpie still growling as she then leaned down, "Listen, you probably think we came here to cause trouble, but we didn't. We're only here because of an accident. The oasis we were trying to get water from dried up, and when we tried to dig it back up, we fell down here. We haven't come to cause anyone any harm, we just need some water."

"Kel..." the River Dwelling Pokémon continued to growl, about to summon some more water.

From the side, Doc and Spike grimaced at the sight, only for a bulb to shine over Doc's head, "Twilight!" she glanced over at him, "Bring out Shine. It might listen to another equine Pokémon."

"Right, good idea!" Twilight replied before taking out her Pokeball, "Come out Shine." The ball unleashed the Galarian Ponyta, who shook her entire body before looking up at Lokelpie. The Water-type's eyes narrowed as it grumbled at its fellow equine.

The two then began to talk in their own language, none of the humans understanding any word. And after a few minutes, the two turned to Twilight before Shine ran over to jump into her arms. "So Shine," she gave Lokelpie a nervous look, "we good?"

"Lock..." it replied while doing a slow nod, still doing a small growl as it eyed each one of the group. But as it looked back at Shine, the pony nodded back at him, making it nod again. It then turned to the cavern and began to sing, the music it made causing everyone to feel soothed and relaxed.

The Pokémon felt the same way as they came out of hiding, all gathering around Lokelpie as it began to explain the situation to them. As it did this, the trainers noticed the nervous looks on the Pokémon beginning to disappear, the Wooper waddling up first, which Springer turned to took and waved, "Riolu ri."

"Wooper?" It replied while tilting its head, only to give a giant grin back. "Wooper!" It spun around and raised its tail, Springer raising a paw and high fiving it. The rest of the Pokémon quickly followed suit, a few minutes passing before Spike, Shine and Peewee were now playing tag with the ground dwelling Pokémon while Flash and Springer were swimming with the Water-types.

Doc and Twilight decided to stay a bit away, both studying the cavern as they looked over the different plant life and the light producing crystals. "Fascinating..." Twilight whispered as she tapped on the crystals. "Hmm...if I had to guess, these crystals must contain certain chemicals that mix together to make light."

"Like glow sticks," Doc added as he picked up some of the liverworts. "It's impressive that plant life could grow down here. The artificial light from the crystals must work great for their photosynthesis." He then spotted a Paras scuttling over, the gym leader smiling before holding the leaf out to it. It hissed happily before taking the leaf and munching down, the two chuckling at the Pokémon's now happy face.

As this happened, Riptide was leaning against a water side rock, watching everyone enjoying themselves. He wanted to join them, but he wasn't in the mood after that fight with Lokelpie. But as he did this, the water horse leapt out of the water and landed atop the rock he was leaning against. The two shared a look before both turning away, not saying anything to each other.

"This place is awesome!" Flash cheered as he pulled himself out of the water and walked over to the two, "No wonder you fought so hard. If I thought this place was in danger, I'd sure fight to protect it."

"Kelp..." Lokelpie added while nodding in agreement.

Flash then moved over to his stuff and grabbed a towel to dry himself off with. "Listen, I know you'd probably prefer us to not be here for too long...so you mind showing us how to get out of here?" Lokelpie raised an eyebrow at this, Flash seeing this before saying, "Well, since you've got a bunch of Rock-types in here, there must be some way to get to the surface. I doubt they came in the same way we did."

"Lock..." Lokelpie replied as it dived into the water, gesturing for them to follow. Flash, Springer and Riptide soon followed, quickly finding themselves at one of the smallest lakes on the far side of the cavern. Lokelpie then pulled itself up out of the water and pointed to a hole in the wall. "Kelpie."

Flash moved over to the hole, looking through it to see a tunnel filled with the luminous moss. The moss soon vanished a few yards in, Flash now seeing that the tunnel was curved upward about a hundred yards in. "So if we go through here, we'll eventually come out back at the surface?"

"Kelp," Lokelpie replied with a nod.

"Sweet!" Flash turned back to him, "Do you mind if we fill our water bottles before we go?" This question made Lokelpie grimace, Flash raising an eyebrow at this. "What's wrong? You seem to have plenty of water, don't you?"

Lokelpie just turned to another area of the cave, the others following its sight, only to see nothing out of the ordinary. "Is something wrong?"

"Lock..." Lokelpie dived back into the water before swimming to another canal. The others followed after it, Twilight now seeing them follow the Pokémon.

"What's the matter?" She asked once she had caught up to them.

"Well, I found us a way out," he pointed at the hole before looking back at Lokelpie as it swam. "But when I asked if we could fill our water bottles, he looked like he was worried. I think something's wrong with their water." Twilight mirrored his frown as they followed the water horse down a canal.

And as they came to a stop, the first thing they all noticed was that the ground was wet, caused by the water from the canal overflowing onto the floor. They then turned to the reason, which was a giant boulder twice as tall as the trainers, that had been jammed into a hole leading to another tunnel. The group could easily tell that the tunnel was meant to carry water out of the cave, but couldn't due to the rock.

"That's strange." Twilight commented as she moved up to the boulder, "What's this doing here?" She then looked back at cave, following the canal to see how the lake was being fed by canals connecting to other lakes, "I see..." She pointed at the waterfall feeding the large lake, "So the water comes in from there and feeds all these lakes before eventually draining out through this tunnel. That's how this cave keeps from being flooded" Lokelpie nodded. "But because of this rock, it can't drain out." Lokelpie nodded again.

"Huh. That's no problem then." He turned to Riptide, "A few Aura Spheres and Rock Smashes ought to get rid of it." Springer and Riptide nodded in unison before turning back to the rock, only for Lokelpie to jump in front of them.

"Lock!" it yelled as it shook its head.

"I don't think this rock's the problem." Twilight added as Lokelpie nodded in agreement. It then let out a loud neigh, making them blink until a Wooper and Quagsire ran over.

"Lock, Lokelpie kelp," it told the two, both nodding as Lokelpie turned to the visitors before pointing to the waterfall. "Lock," he then pointed to Wooper as the Water-type used Water Gun into the canal. "Kelpie," it shook its head before pointing to Quagsire, which it used a more powerful Water Gun into the canal.

Flash, Springer and Riptide all the just stared at this, the trainer saying, "I don't get it."

Twilight hummed at the sight, her brain quickly putting the pieces together. "I see." She pointed at the waterfall and turned to Lokelpie, "You're saying the waterfall's not producing enough water, aren't you?" Lokelpie nodded while Flash tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Twilight turned to him while pointing at the lake, "The waterfall usually produces more water than it is right now, which fills the lakes to the standard they are now. But for some reason, the water amount's gone down and can't fill the pools fast enough." She patted the boulder blocking the wall, "That must be why this rock's here. They put it there so the water wouldn't drain away, allowing the pools to stay filled." But as she said that, she turned back to the Lokelpie with a long frown, "However, that also means you'll need to unplug this hole soon, or the entire cavern will eventually be flooded."

"Kelp...." Lokelpie sighed while nodding one last time.

"But that'll mean the water will drain away," Flash added.

Twilight grit her teeth as she nodded, "That's right. It's a catch twenty two. Leave the hole blocked and the Water-types would be fine, but everyone else would be forced to eventually leave. But if the hole's unblocked, the Water-types will be in serious trouble."

Flash scratched the side of his head, turning to Doc who was on the other side of the lake, "We should tell Doc. Maybe together we can find a way to fix this."

"Agreed."

One explanation later...

"I see," Doc hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought, "That is a problem. I must say, it does explain why the oasis was dried up. The water level weakened to the point it couldn't reach the aquafier."

"So what do we do?" Spike asked next.

Doc turned to the waterfall, "We find out why the water's depleted."

"How?" Flash asked, only for Lokelpie to let out a neigh. They turned and saw it, a Quagsire, Wooper, Whishcash and several Lanturn gather together in the waterfall lake. "Uh...I think it wants us to get in."

"Alright..." Doc, Spike and Twilight quickly changed into their swimwear before getting in the water. After Doc handed out some rebreathers, Flash, Springer, Riptide and Twilight grabbed hold of Lokelpie while Spike grabbed Quagsire and Doc grabbed Whishcash.

"Now what?" Spike asked, only for the Water-types to suddenly pull them toward the waterfall. "Whoa!" One by one, each of them dived underwater, only to shoot outu of the lake and start swimming up the waterfall in a flashy sprint. Lokelpie was at the front, Whishcash and Quagsire behind it with the Lanturn and Wooper bringing up the rear.

"They're using Waterfall!" Doc gasped as they reached the top. Once there, Flash let go and grabbed hold of Riptide as they continued to swim up the slide-like tunnel. And when they reached the top of the slide, the Lanturn spaced themselves out, lighting their orbs on the end of their antenna, filling the tunnel with light. Now being able to see, the group soon found themselves returning to the chamber that they fallen into earlier.

"At least now we can see," Spike pointed out as they began to look around. The light from the tunnel they had fallen through was gone due to the sun moving. Because of this, the Lanturn were here, illuminating the area, which included a second tunnel that they all saw was where the water was coming from.

"There it is. Let's go," Flash added as Riptide pulled him and Springer up the tunnel. The others followed, soon making their way up the passageway. With every few feet, the passageway grew larger, and after a few hundred meters, they found themselves upon a new wall.

"I think we found our cause," Twilight noted as the Lanturn lit up the wall, now showing a familiar sight. It was another giant boulder blocking a passage, Flash now ducking under the water and with the Lanturn's help, he saw the entire situation. The passage floor was square shaped while the rock was round, which showed two small gaps at the bottom that allowed a limited amount of water through.

"So that's the problem," Doc commented after Flash had explained everything.

"But how did it get here?" Spike asked, Twilight humming as she took a closer look at the tunnel.

"The boulder must have been pushed down the passageway by the water flow. Best guess is that it was part of the tunnel, but water erosion caused it to break away. Now the passage has gotten too small for it to pass through, leading to it getting stuck and blocking the flow of the water."

"Gotta wonder how much water's dammed up behind this thing," Spike added as Flash knocked his fist on the rock.

"Well, know we know what we gotta do," he turned to the others. "Destroy this thing. Twilight, what do we gotta do?"

Twilight adjusted her glasses as she pointed at the rock, "Alright, first thing to do is heat it up."

"Leave that to us!" Spike cheered before patting Peewee. "Incinerate!"

"Terr..." Peewee breathed in, "WAGON!" A powerful fireball flew out of its mouth, striking the rock as its surface began to heat up.

"Now we need to cool it down," Twilight added as she turned to Lokelpie and the Water-types. "Go for it." They all nodded before firing a bunch of water attacks at the red hot surface, steam blasting off the rock as it was rapidly cooled. "Now, burn it again!"

"Incinerate!" Peewee fired another blast of flames, the Water-types doing their attacks a second later. They kept doing this again and again, heating and cooling the rock in quick succession. And as they did this, the boulder slowly began to creek and melt under the pressure. And after the eight cool down, Flash spotted a crack form on the surface.

"There!" he pointed at it while turning to Springer and Riptide, "Aura Sphere and Rock Smash!" Springer formed the energy ball before throwing at the rock, Riptide leaping while his legs began to glow.

The Aura Sphere exploded off the rock, the Spranitor's attack following right behind. "TORE!" He swung his foot and smashed it into the boulder, pieces flying off from the blow.

"Alright!" Flash cheered while looking at the others, "Again!"

"Incinerate!" Spike ordered, Peewee launching the fireball as Twilight gave her directions.

"Now! Water attacks, full force!" The Water-types launched their attacks as the fireball hit the damaged rock, super cooling it before Springer and Riptide launched their attacks again.

"RI/TORE!" Once again, the Aura Sphere exploded against the rock before Riptide's feet smashed into it, causing the crack to get bigger as shards kept flying off.

"We're almost there!" Flash added as he looked back at everyone. "One more time!"

They all nodded in response as Spike yelled, "Incinerate with everything you've got Peewee!" The Terragon took a massive breath before launching the biggest fireball he could muster, super heating the damaged rock.

Doc then turned to the Water-types, "Try and make this the strongest water pressure you can make."

"You've got this," Twilight added, all nodding as they launched their water attacks. A giant cloud of steam to form next as they all struck the boulder, Springer and Riptide now readying their attacks.

"DO IT!" Flash yelled, Springer tossing the orb into the air.

"TORE!" Riptide jumped up and this time slammed his glowing feet into the Aura Sphere. The force of the two attacks combining sent the Aura Sphere flying into the rock at twice the speed, striking the rock with a massive explosion...which made the entire tunnel start to shake.

And when everything settled down, everyone stared at the boulder, now seeing more cracks growing as Spike spoke up, "Um...should we go again?"

"No." Twilight instantly replied, her eyes squinting as she glared at the rock, "Wait..." She leaned in as she focused on the boulder's cracks, only to go wide-eyed. "Water." As she said this, a trickle of water began to seep through the cracks in the boulder, now realizing it was being pushed through from the other side. And as it did this, one crack fully broke up, a full stream coming out.

"Yes!" Flash cheered, "The boulder's breaking apart!"

"That's not good." Twilight replied, making the others turned to her, only for Doc to grimace.

"Twilight...are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She nodded back, making Doc gulp as he slowly backpedaled, Twilight doing the same as he continued, "If the only thing keeping all that water back is the rock, then when it breaks..." Everyone slowly turned back to the rock, now seeing more holes appear, horrified looks appearing on their faces as they turned away.

"RUN!" They screamed as they grabbed onto the Water-types before they began swimming as fast as they could down the tunnel, only to feel the tunnel shake again. Looking back, they now saw the boulder shatter, a tidal-wave coming next. Everyone gasped at the sight, all screaming as the wave caught up to them, "WHOA!"

And as the water shoved them down the current, all the humans were glad they got their rebreathers on as the world began to spin as the stream took them. It wasn't long till they were being slammed into the sides of the walls, only for the water to suddenly explode, the group flying over the lake, "AAAAAAHHHHH!" they screamed, only to land with a loud thud into the lake, everyone surfacing a few seconds later while gasping for air.

"Everyone okay?" Doc asked first, Spike's head now shooting out of the water.

"WOW!" He exclaimed while shaking his head, whipping his hair around. "Can we do that again?!"

"NO!" Twilight yelled before growling at Spike while he started to giggle as he saw her hair be turned into a wet rag.

They then turned to the waterfall, seeing the flow now being ten times its normal amount. As this happened, the Pokémon in the cavern began to cheer, the group smiling before getting out of the lake. Once they had dried off and changed to their normal clothes, the cavern's water system equaled out to its normal amount. Lokelpie then let them fill their water bottles up, now making sure they were ready to head back up to the surface.

"Welp, its time we got going." Flash said as they stood in front of the tunnel leading out of the cave, Lokelpie nodding back while saying thanks in its own language. "Eh, it was no problem. We're always here to help any Pokémon."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Now that the water's unblocked, everyone's better off. Your home's back to normal and the oasis should be filling back up as well."

"Everything is as it should be," Doc added before staring back at the cave, "It's too bad we can't tell anyone about this place. I'm sure lots of researchers would be interested in it."

Spike shook his head, "I think this place should stay a secret."

Twilight nodded again, "If people knew about it, it would only be a matter of time before someone would find a way to ruin it. That's almost an inevitability with humans."

"Yeah..." Flash sighed, "Better this place be left a secret. Only the Pokémon deserve to have it."

"Kelp!" Lokelpie replied before turning to Riptide. "Lock," he then held up a hoof. Riptide stared at it for a moment before smiling and holding up his fist, the two pumping before the group headed up the tunnel. As they left, they called back their goodbyes and let them echo back.

Their errand to gather water had evolved into an amazing adventure in a secret underground ecosystem. Now one can only wonder what amazing adventures await our heroes next, as the journey continues