Chapter 17 Western Waterway
While heading west to the Western Waterway, they find that Crolea is there waiting for them.
Crolea: You did it, Ash, Lillie! Thanks!
Ash: Crolea, so what was that all about?
Crolea: Sorry for asking you to do that out of the blue and giving minimal context, but I had a very good reason. If you're wondering, those people are from an organization called Team Portal.
Lillie: So what is this Team Portal and what do you know about them?
Crolea: The snazzy dresser named Barker is one of their admins. Basically, they took up jobs at the Game Corner and pocketed some of the prizes for themselves. Team Portal has been in a "gathering resources" phase for a while now, and the Game Corner offers valuable prizes.
Ash: That sounds much like something Team Rocket will do...
Crolea: This one was small-scale, though. Only the Game Corner was really affected by this. And Barker is a sly one...He paid the Game Corner back for all the prizes stolen and made it seem like his agents were people he recommended the job to that acted on their own. Still, that's one less place being targeted by Team Portal, and it's good to start small and work your way up.
Ash: Then why can't you just take care of them on your own? Why do you ask us for help?
Crolea: (Frown) It's because I am working with Team Portal. (Noticing the two people's surprised faces and being annoyed.) Before I continue, let's deal with that knee-jerk reaction of yours.
She suddenly sends out Ursa, her Stufful, and Lillie decides to battle her considering that Ash had his battle against Barker. She goes for Gliscor to battle. Gliscor goes for Sky Uppercut, which deals a lot of damage to Stufful. Stufful goes back with the Return, and it causes Gliscor to take a lot of damage.
Lillie: (Thinks) She's doing it again...not need to communicate to battle...If that Return attack does a lot of damage...then it must have a higher friendship...but to think she is a member of Team Portal...
She has Gliscor uses Acrobatics, which eventually defeats Stufful in the end.
Crolea's second Pokemon is Astra, her Gothita, and Lillie switches to Scrafty to battle. Crolea has Gothita use Fake Tears to lower Scrafty's Special Defense stat, and then it goes for Double Slap, hitting Scrafty a lot of time.
Lillie: Use Crunch!
Scrafty charges and then it bites on Gothita hard, and it is defeated in the end.
Crolea's third Pokemon is Alien, her Inkay, and Lillie switches to Ninjask to battle.
Ash: So far Crolea's three Pokemon are the same in Virima Library...but I think she is going to use more Pokemon...
Inkay uses Hypnosis on Ninjask to make it falling asleep, and it uses Psywave to keep hitting the Pokemon. In the end, Ninjask wakes up and uses Fury Cutter to deal much more damage. But Inkay goes for Swagger to let it hit itself in confusion.
Lillie: Use Bug Bite!
Lillie has Ninjask use the move, and it defeats Inkay even though it is still confused.
Crolea: I still have two Pokemon, so don't think you have won already. Go! Star!
Her fourth Pokemon is a Staryu, and Lillie decides to go for Electrike. But Lillie is surprised to know that Staryu goes for Reflect Type, which makes itself an Electric Type like Electrike.
Ash: This won't be good, electric moves become not very effective...
And after dealing some damage, Staryu uses Recover to heal itself, but in the end, Electrike goes for Bite, which defeats Staryu.
Crolea: My final Pokemon is this one, go! Core!
Crolea sends out an Onix, and Lillie widens her eyes in surprise. She goes for Slowpoke to battle. With the Water Pulse, it deals a lot of damage. Onix is going for Rage, which damages a lot to Slowpoke, but it is a good thing that it has Slack Off to heal itself, and then another Water Pulse defeats the Onix.
Crolea: (Noticing Ash and Lillie calm a little) And now that that's out of the way... (Recalls Onix.) I work with Team Portal because I'm keeping an eye on them.
Lillie: (Sighs in relief) I see, so you are being a spy. We thought we were going to be enemies and we are worried.
Crolea: My mom is Ceolis' Steel-type Gym Leader. Her name is Alumia. She's incredible with machines, and that's what attracted Team Portal's attention to her. I don't know what Team Portal is planning. My mom turned them down, making her the first of two Gym Leaders to do so.
Ash: Two Gym Leaders...who is the other one?
Crolea: That's not important for now. Since they're still trying to determine if I'm a spy, I have less authority than a normal member, though my battling ability is on par with the admins.
Lillie: Maybe you are stronger. I can feel it. The way you don't need to give out commands to battle proves that you are stronger.
Crolea: (Nods) Thanks. Well, I can feel the emotional states of others. It's part of why I don't even need to give my Pokemon instructions when I battle. It's not just living beings. I can also sense the mood of places and even inanimate objects. The Dyserean Desert hasn't felt the same since I met them...it's felt anxious like it's waiting for something. I wonder if there's a connection. I think that's everything I had to tell you. See you, and watch out for Team Portal. They know you now. I should be careful my cover isn't blown too.
Ash: Yeah, we're counting on you to give us more information about Team Portal.
Crolea: (Leaving, but then thinks of something as she goes back to Ash and Lillie.) Oh, there's one more thing. On the topic of sensing emotions from places, I'm feeling some nervousness from further up, near the Cave of Resolve.
Lillie: Nervousness from near Cave of Resolve? What do you mean by that?
Crolea: I'd like to check out myself and help out, but I think it'd be better for me to hide out for a while since Team Portal just left the Game Corner. Meeting you here was already a risk, but I owed you for following through with my request, and I want to explain the situation. Be careful, and until next time!
After that, she leaves for real this time, and Ash and Lillie are now continuing on their path.
Ash: Cave of Resolve? Is there a place like this?
Lillie: That is just up ahead after the Western Waterway. (Looking at the Map) You realize that, unlike other regions, there is no such thing as Route 1 to Route whatever the number is in Ceolis Region. Every place has its own name.
Ash: I can tell. That makes Ceolis different from the other regions."
But before that, they decide to check the Storage Room of Game Corner to see if Team Portal has left any clues.
But as they get there, they find a lot of Electabuzz there. They decide to ask the Electabuzz about what they have found since they know how to speak Pokemon.
Electabuzz: Our first order of business will be cleaning up the mess that group of thieves left behind. Fake plants are laying on the ground, chairs leaning sideways, and a pile of books that belongs on that shelf over there.
Ash: That really sounds like a mess. (Ash and Lillie walk towards the second Electabuzz.)
Electabuzz: Working here means we get a discount on how many coins we need for the prizes! I actually got this special limited-edition prize for 5000 coins! But a trainer is more likely to have a use for it, so you can have it if you want.
Ash and Lillie widen their eyes as the Electabuzz gives them a Mega Stone, and not just any other Mega Stone, it is a Pikachutite.
Lillie: So not only do you have Charizard that has the stone, even Pikachu has the stone...
Ash: Now I really need to find a way to get a Mega Ring...
Back in the Western Waterway, the weather is now raining. Ash quickly takes out an umbrella, but Lillie is panicking.
Lillie: Oh no! I didn't bring my umbrella.
Ash: It's fine, you can use mine. It's big enough for the two of us.
The Pokemon they can find in the grass on the route are Bidoof, Psyduck, Ducklett, Lotad, Poliwag, Surskit, Wooper, Buizel, and Chewtle.
Ash: You know, Lillie. I think I will like to have a Swanna on my team.
Lillie: (Confused) Why? I mean, Swanna is beautiful...but why?
Ash: Because it is beautiful, and I remember when I battled in Unova, it can use an Aqua Ring that even blocks all Electric moves.
Lillie: (Surprised) That happened?
Ash nods, and he has Pikachu battle a Ducklett on the road, and Ducklett being Water and Flying Type, is weak to Electric attacks, especially in the rain, so Ash uses the chance to capture it.
Ash: Though I wanted to have a Swanna, training a Ducklett might be a headache for me as well.
Lillie: Ducklett is naughty by nature, that's what you want to say, right?
Ash: Yeah...What about you, Lillie? Do you have a Pokemon that you want to capture?
Lillie: (Notices a Wooper walking past) I think I'll capture a Wooper.
Lillie sends out Meganium, by using Slam, which deals damage to Wooper, and then Lillie uses the chance to throw a Pokeball, capturing it.
Lillie: I think that a Quagsire might be good to train, even though I already have a Water and Ground Type like Seismitoad.
Then Lillie spots a Chewtle, as she approaches it, it suddenly bites Lillie's hand.
Lillie: (In pain) Hey! Let go of me!
Ash and Pikachu are helping Lillie by taking Chewtle out of his hand.
Ash: This is Chewtle, it likes to bite. We have to be careful.
Lillie nods as she also tries to capture it with the help of Meganium, who uses Stun Spore to make it confused, and then throws a Pokeball to capture it.
And by training for a while by fishing in the water, Lillie evolves Wooper into a Quagsire, just by having it battle the Pokemon in the water: Poliwag, Bibarel, Tympole, Basculin, and even Quagsire.
They also fish some Pokemon, there are Goldeen and Tympole by using Old Rod, Carvanha, Qwilfish, and Basculin by using Good Rod, and Tympole, Basculin, and Qwilfish using Super Rod. But neither of them is interested in Ash and Lillie, so they just continue moving forward on the road.
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see Crolea's mother is actually the Steel Type Leader of Ceolis, and that Crolea is acting as a spy in Team Portal. Though she mentioned a nervous feeling near the Cave of Resolve, what does she mean? I hope you like this chapter, and in the next chapter, we will be going to Cave of Resolve.
Ash's Main Pokemon: Snorlax, Noctowl, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Heracross, Lucario, ?, Hawlucha, Sirfetch'd, Pidgeot, ?, ?, Ducklett, Noivern, ?, Beedrill, ?, ?, ?, ?, Naganadel, ?, Donphan, ?, Krookodile, ?, ?, ?, Tyranitar, ?, Gigalith, Lycanroc, ?, Butterfree, ?, ?, Leavanny, Vivillon, ?, Gengar, Shedinja, ?, ?, ?, ?, Diglett (A), ?, ?, ?, ?, Melmetal, Charizard, ?, Infernape, ?, Talonflame, ?, ?, Mantyke, Feebas, Samurott, Greninja, ?, Exeggutor, Sceptile, Budew, ?, Decidueye, ?, Pikachu, Flaaffy, ?, Rotom, Tynamo, ?, Mr. Mime, ?, ?, ?, Espurr, Dottler, Lapras, ?, Glalie, ?, ?, ?, Dragonite, ?, Garchomp, ?, Goodra, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Pheromosa
Lillie's Main Pokemon: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Scrafty, ?,?, ?, Xatu, ?, Gliscor, ?, ?, Muk, Dustox, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Quagsire, Torterra, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Carbink, ?, ?, Ninjask, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Forretress, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Torkoal, ?, Torracat, Raboot, Slowpoke, Feraligatr, Floatzel, Seismitoad, ?, Chewtle, Venusaur, Meganium, ?, Serperior, ?, ?, ?,?, Electrike, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Ninetales (A), ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Exeggutor (A), ?, Altaria, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Cufant, Clefable, ?, Whimsicott, Florges, ?, ?