Chapter 6 Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio!
"So why do you call us, Professor?" Ash asks as he and Golly are now at the lab, and Kukui smiles and says, "You see, as a regional Professor, I have been asked to give out starters to new trainers in the Alola Region. However, there is actually one left and I think you might be interested in taking care of it."
Golly asks, "What is it?"
As Kukui steps aside, Ash and Golly are surprised to see a Popplio. Rotom says, "Popplio, the Sea Lion Pokémon. A Water type. Popplio can control water balloons, and works hard so it can make bigger balloons."
"Wow... Lana has a Popplio, but I didn't know that it is a Starter Pokemon in Alola..." Golly says.
"And what do you know, its ability is Liquid Voice." Rotom says. "All Sound-based moves like Disarming Voice, Hyper Voice are Water-Types."
"Wow..." Ash says.
After taking the Popplio and leaves, Ash finds Pikachu and Rockruff playing in the sand. Ash says, "Professor Kukui, we'll be going now."
Golly scratches Rockruff's chin and says, "We'll be going, Rockruff."
"Rockruff feels comfortable if you scratch it on the chin. Data updated!" Rotom says.
"While you're busy saying those things, Ash and Golly are already off with Extreme Speed." Kukui says.
Rotom gasps as he quickly chases after them, Ash and Golly notice Lana and Popplio at the bay and they greet them.
"Alola!" Lana says as she notices the Popplio in Golly's arms. "Is that a Popplio?"
"Yeah, Kukui gave it to us. We'll see you at school!" Golly says as Lana nods, while turning back to Popplio, who continues to learn the water balloon.
In school, Ash and Golly greet the others as Golly puts Popplio on the table while Ash opens the backpack, only to find Rowlet coming out from it and rolling to the fence.
"I was wondering where you have been." Ash sighs.
"He was in your bag again." Rotom says.
Lillie notices the Popplio and says, "I see you caught yourself a Popplio as well."
"Yeah. Professor Kukui told us that it was a Water Type Starter Pokemon in Alola, and since he was left behind, he asked us to take care of it." Golly says.
"Rowlet is also a Starter Pokemon if you don't know." Mallow says.
"Wow..." Ash says.
After Lana and Kukui arrive at the classroom, they start the class. Once it is done, Kukui says, "The extracurricular lesson tomorrow will be on interacting with sea Pokemon. We'll be going to the ocean!"
"The sea...sounds great." Ash says.
"The Trump Card to interacting with sea Pokemon is a Fishing Rod!" Kukui says. "And when dealing with the ocean, Lana is our expert!"
Lana stands up and says, "Yes!"
"Tomorrow, I'd like you to act as their special teacher." Kukui says. "Good luck, Lana."
"All right...I'll do my best." Lana says.
"By the way, Lana, weren't you fishing when we first met?" Golly asks.
"She's a fishing master." Mallow comments. "She knows a lot about sea Pokemon as well."
"That's incredible." Ash says.
"Well. I love sea Pokemon..." Lana says.
"If we're going fishing, that means we'll have to touch Pokemon... Will you be alright, Lillie?" Sophocles asks.
"Don't worry, with my process of touching Sylveon and Delphox already, I think I can touch them without any problem!" Lillie says.
"Oh? You can touch Delphox as well?" Ash asks with delight.
"Yeah. Though there is still a slight problem with Pangoro..." Lillie mutters as Ash's Popplio suddenly jumps onto Lillie's lap, causing her to turn into a stone instant.
"Sorry, Lillie!" Ash says while taking the Popplio back.
"You have to be careful, Popplio." Kukui says.
"I-it's quite all right..." Lillie says while wiping her sweat.
"Well, then, don't forget your fishing rods tomorrow, everyone." Kukui says.
"Did he say fishing rod? I don't think I have one..." Golly pales.
"Well, we only have one in our house, if I let you use it, it will be me who doesn't have one...This is really annoying..." Ash sighs.
"Don't worry, I can lend you one." Lana says. "In return, can you show me all your Water Type Pokemon at your place?"
"Oh yeah, Ash and Golly have captured almost every Water Type Pokemon, right?" Mallow asks.
"You're right about that." Ash says with a small sigh. "But not all of them are at my house."
Lillie also decides to come as well, so the four of them are now at Ash's house, after greeting Aurora, they manage to find some Water Pokemon at the sea. There are Kingler, Crawdaunt, Milotic, Floatzel, Jellicent, etc.
"Hey everyone!" Ash yells, and the Water Type Pokemon all rush towards them. Lana has stars in her eyes and says, "So many Water-Type Pokemon!"
"I know." Golly says, "Everyone, this is Popplio, he is going to be a new member of our family."
The other Pokemon like Samurott and Blastoise are interested in the newcomer, and they start to play in the sand, with Lana's Popplio also joining in the fun.
"By the way, Lana. When we saw you this morning, you were practicing with Popplio to make balloons?" Ash asks.
"That's right." Lana says. "That beach was my favorite spot. Since it was where I met Popplio."
Lillie says, "Really?"
Then Lana starts to recall how she was fishing until she noticed Team Skull bullying the Popplio. She commands Lapras to use Ice Beam on them and freeze them, then she saves the Popplio by throwing the rod and pulling it to her and getting it treated at the Pokemon Center.
"That sure is an interesting story." Ash says.
Lana notices the Greninja and she asks, "And what about your Greninja? How did you meet him?"
Ash says, "I met Greninja as a Froakie back in Kalos, he was one of the Starter Pokemon, but a lot of people often send it back to the Professor because he seldom listens to trainers. It is after the Garchomp incident that Froakie decides to become my Pokemon."
"Oh yeah, that sure brings back some memories." Lillie says. "Ash and Greninja sure are strong back then."
When Ash's Popplio notices Lana's Popplio making water balloons, it wants to try it out as they are doing them, but the balloon pops, and some Pokemon like Pikachu and Corsola are soaking wet.
"When Popplio gets better at this, we'll let you guys get inside the balloon as well." Lana says.
"She can do that?" Lillie asks.
"I have a dream to go inside a massive balloon and explore all over the sea, underwater. And then, I just might meet deep-sea Pokemon that nobody's ever seen before!" Lana says.
"That sounds great, I think I want to try it as well." Ash says.
Rotom says, "But Popplio is normally incapable of making anything but tiny balloons..."
"They'll never know if they don't try." Golly says. "Lana and Popplio can do it."
"That reasoning is utterly illogical..." Rotom comments.
Then Lana decides to try it out as Popplio starts to make the giant balloon, it is getting bigger and bigger.
"Impossible! It's expanding at 150% of the normal rate!" Rotom says.
"She's never made one this big before!" Lana exclaims.
Just then, the balloon explodes and all of them are soaked in water. Rotom says, "It really did defy logic..."
"Great...now we're all wet..." Lillie mutters.
After looking at the Pokemon for a while, Ash, Lillie, Golly, and Lana are going to Lana's house, and they also notice Lana's Lapras.
"It is my family's Ride Pokemon. I was riding it the first time we met." Lana says.
"I see." Ash says.
After getting into the house, Lana is greeted by her two sisters. Lana says, "These are my sisters, Harper and Sarah."
Just then, they all see Pikachu and start to play with him, causing Pikachu to be a little annoyed.
"Harper, Sarah! You're annoying Pikachu! Stop it." Lana says.
"It really is a Pikachu?" Harper asks.
"I saw one in a book! It's super cute in real life!" Sarah adds.
"Pikachu is a popular Pokemon in the Alola Region." Rotom says.
"Isn't that great, Pikachu?" Ash asks, but Pikachu mutters, "No...way..."
"Is he your boyfriend?" The two sisters ask Lana, whose face becomes red. "N-no! Absolutely not!"
At the same time, Golly can somehow feel jealousy from Lillie, and she is sweatdropping a little. It is a good thing that Pikachu lets out a Thunderbolt, causing all of them to get shocked that they stopped. After picking up the Fishing Rod, all of them return back to their homes.
The next day, everyone is already at the boy, Ash notices Lillie's protective suit and says, "Um...Lillie...what's with that?"
"With this, I can fish and ride the Ride Pokemon without any issues whatsoever." Lillie says.
"If you say so..." Ash says with some concern.
"Now Lana, from here on out, you're the teacher." Kukui says.
"Yes! Um...Well..." Lana is a little shy and she asks, "Do you all have fishing rods?"
Everyone shows their Fishing Rods, and Ash notices Sophocles' and he says, "What's with your fishing rod?"
"This is my Hyper Rod! It's strong enough to withstand even a Wailord. With its Super Reel reeling in its prey at a speed of 300 rotations per second!" Sophocles says. "All of this combined in the Fishing Rod of Dreams: Ultra DX Master 02!"
"Well then, please mount your Riding Pokemon." Lana says. "Besides Lapras, Wailmer will also accompany us to the fishing spot."
Except for Ash who uses his own Lapras, the others are using the school Pokemon, considering Ash and Golly have a Rock-Paper-Scissors last night and Ash won.
Now that they are in the ocean, Ash also secretly asks his Pokemon to accompany them, but they are all hiding underwater.
"This is the spot. There are all sorts of sea Pokemon. Some live in shallow waters, others in the deep." Lana says. "This is a mystery spot where both kinds of Pokemon intermix! You can even hook Kyogre here!"
"Kyogre? Are you serious?" Golly asks.
"That's right! The Legendary Pokemon!" Lana says.
"No, you can't! Come on, Lana. Don't joke." Mallow says.
"Maybe you can, but that Kyogre might be ours." Ash says. "I mean, since I'm here in Alola..."
"Right, you have all the Pokemon." Kiawe says.
Then they start to fish for Pokemon, and Lana is teaching them how to fish some Pokemon, and she reels an Alomomola, Corsola, Luvdisc, and others. As for Ash, he fishes out a Basculin, he says, "Oh, you've come all this way here."
Basculin nods as Ash gives him a Poke Food. Golly also reels in the Gorebyss and does the same.
"Looks like your Pokemon swim all the way here..." Kukui says.
"I did tell them that we'll be fishing and maybe feeding some Pokemon. Though I was surprised to see them wanting to come and be fed." Ash says.
"Like trainer like Pokemon." Golly says.
"Don't forget you and I share Pokemon, Golly." Ash says as Golly is feeling a little embarrassed.
As for Kiawe and Sophocles, they are not fishing out anything. Kiawe explains that he is a Fire-Type user, and Sophocles is still typing on the monitor of his rod. Just then, they hear screaming and Lillie yells, "I fished out something!"
As she reels in, a Milotic appears. Ash says, "Wow, you found my Milotic!"
Everyone is also surprised to see the Milotic since it shouldn't be found in this kind of area. But Lillie is having trouble reeling in and Ash decides to save her. "Lillie! Calm down!"
Just as he tries to jump onto Lillie's Lapras, Milotic accidentally bumps into Ash, causing him to take the hit and send him flying.
"Oh no! Brother!" Golly yells.
Kiawe notices the rocks and says, "Oh no! Ash will crash into the rocks!"
Lana says, "Popplio! We have to save him! Launch the balloon!"
Popplio creates a balloon that is 10 times bigger than normal and Ash bounces on it, even though he is safe from the rocks, but the balloon breaks as Ash is still falling. Just then, much to their surprise, a Bewear suddenly rushes towards Ash and grabs him while finding a small beach and puts him down.
"Bewear?" Ash is surprised.
"A Bewear who runs across the ocean surface? Data updated..." Rotom adds.
"What are you doing here?" Ash asks.
"Food." Bewear says.
"Oh, you are here for the Pokemon Food as well..." Ash sweatdrops.
"That's enough! Time for a break!" Kukui says after sighing in relief at Ash's safe landing.
Once they get to the shore, Milotic gives Ash a sad look, and Ash says, "Don't worry, Milotic, I know you weren't mean to do that. You were just hungry."
Ash feeds the Milotic while it nuzzles back at Ash. Then Ash turns to Lana's Popplio and says, "And thank you as well, Popplio. You were really cool."
"Looks like she's the MVP for the day." Kiawe says.
"Indeed." Golly says as Lillie nods.
"I feel like "MVP" might be pushing it a bit..." Sophocles says, but is cut off by Mallow, "You have a problem with that?"
Sophocles says, "No...it's just..."
"I was really moved!" Mallow says.
"Unbelievable. The expansion rate was 1000% of the balloon from yesterday..." Rotom says.
"How's that, Rotom?" Ash asks. "I told you that both Lana and Popplio can do it."
"Saving Ash really helped Popplio to Shell Smash." Kukui says. "That was excellent."
"This is exceedingly illogical..." Rotom says.
Then they want Popplio to make another balloon again, and this time Ash manages to get into the balloon, but the balloon pops, and Ash falls into the water, with Milotic quickly saving him.
"Oh, it seems you'll have to Quash your enthusiasm...it's not complete yet." Kukui says, and they all laugh in the end.
Here is a new chapter, even though Team Rocket isn't here, I still want to explain about the whole funny Bewear stuff and the Popplio's balloon. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the Mall.