Chapter 18: Tallboy, Tower of the Sparkle Water
"Alright, we're going to Seaside Kingdom," Ash decided. After their long stay in the Metro Kingdom, Ash, Clemont, Toadette, Pikachu and Barkley were on the Odyssey on their way to the next stop when Ash chose.
"We're going to Bubblaine!" cheered Toadette. Cappy found the brochure before giving it to Clemont.
"Here you go!" he offered.
"Thanks, Cappy!" accepted Clemont. Finding the keys of the Seaside Kingdom, Clemont read into it. "Here are the keys: Gasp at the sight of all four fountains spraying into the Glass Tower; Refresh yourself with the fizzy delights of Bubblainian seawater; Play in the action-packed volleyball tournaments."
"Of course, we don't necessarily have time for volleyball," Ash said. "Though, I'd prefer tennis. It's speedier."
"I'm more for volleyball," Toadette corrected. "But we do need a pair of teams and we don't have one."
"Right, let's just focus on the mission at hand." Ash nodded. The Odyssey arrived on a beach in front of a cliff with the sea in front. In the middle was a giant glass urn. Four automated fountains surrounded the urn. Stepping off, the group took a breath of seaside breezes. "That's a pleasant smell. Say, seawater's fresh, right?"
"Nope, seawater's actually saltwater," Toadette clarified.
"Oh. So, how is the Sparkle Water made with this seawater?" Looking out to the ocean, he saw the fountains not running. "That's strange. Why are the fountains not going off?"
"I was told it happened before as Mollusque-Lanceur drank the Sparkle Water. We need to activate the switches again." The name made Ash and Pikachu blink.
"Mollusque-Lanceur?"
("Who's that?") asked Pikachu.
"He was sent by Bowser to drain the Glass Tower of the Sparkle Water," Toadette briefed. "The Bubblainians were in a panic when Mario showed up with Cappy to defeat Mollusque-Lanceur." Cappy emerged to look at the situation.
"So, we have to activate the four fountains again and fill the Glass Tower," he summarized.
"Pretty much," Ash nodded.
"And that's how we get the chest with the Power Moons," Cappy added. Ash and Pikachu blinked before looking hard into the Glass Tower. Part of a chest was visible.
"Not a bad place to keep it," Ash grinned. That's when whirls of propellers got the attention as Clemont and Barkley joined up. Barkley growled at the sight of airships with Iggy's and Wendy's busts. The airships circled above the Glass Tower.
"Iggy and Wendy…" noticed Clemont. Iggy's airship reached a white tower. Iggy hopped down from his airship and to the tower.
"That tower has a warp pipe to scale through the seaside," Cappy informed.
"Meaning that Iggy wants to block access to that switch!" believed Toadette. That's when Clemont's snicker was heard.
"So, I can finally prove my work in this," he grinned. "The future is now, thanks to science!" He presented a blue scuba suit with an astronaut-like glass helmet with a hose protruding from the crown of it and a packet attached to the back of the suit. "I figured this would happen, so with Toadette's help… I created a new suit for underwater travel. I call it the Endless-Air-Supply Wet Suit! The tube on top will allow endless oxygen for anyone wearing this to stay underwater for as long as they need. Should the tube find no oxygen, the air-tank in the back is charged, not to mention that the hose can refill the air for such an occasion." The complicated process made Ash giddy with excitement.
"Science is so amazing!" he cheered.
"I wanted to say that's just a scuba suit, but the addition to it makes me want to see it in action," Cappy shrugged.
"Let's not waste any more time and get us going!" urged Toadette. "So, Clemont will go after Iggy while I go with Ash finding the switches to get the fountains going and get the Power Moons." Clemont applied the suit onto him before walking into the sea as Toadette led Ash and Pikachu up a canyon entrance where snail-like creatures wearing red berets found the trio approaching.
"So, have you come to fix the fountains?" a brown snail-like creature asked. His mustache was brown, and his spiral shell was white. There was also a pink snail-like creature wearing a shell necklace and a light tan shell.
"We are, Bubblainians," Toadette confirmed.
"That's great, because we see trouble with those airships," the pink Bubblainian pointed out.
"Yeah, we need to get those guys hosed down," Ash assured. "Do what you can to stay safe."
"Same to you," the brown Bubblainian replied before Ash's group raced up with Barkley staying in the back. Rolling spiked balls raided the slope Ash's group tried to climb. There were a bunch of crates that stood in the way.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" instructed Ash.
("Okay!") agreed Pikachu as he leaped into the air. It slashed the crates with Iron Tail like a sword. The blockage cleared; a large red button was in front of a ledge.
"There it is!" cheered Cappy. "Let's slam that button before we move on!" Complying, Ash jumped and stomped the button. A couple of seconds passed when one of the fountains began spraying again. "One down, three to go!"
"And we'll need to hurry!" urged Toadette. Looking, Ash saw Wendy's airship approaching. It reached the ledge where Wendy, her golden rings on her arms and pink stiletto heels stepped off.
"So, you're the boy who's causing havoc against my brothers," she studied as Pikachu and Barkley growled to her appearance. "Not as glamorous as Mario, but I can help in that department."
"Oh, you can?" wondered Ash.
"I believe so," Wendy figured. "So, I still adore Mario, and I don't have anything for you… but that doesn't mean it can't be helped. It just requires you…" She pulled out a wand, cocking it back across her body. "TO STAY STILL!" She whipped her wand forward, rings speeding at the group.
"Noivern, Talonflame!" he called forth as he threw two of his Pokéballs. "I choose you!" The balls opened up to release Talonflame and Noivern as Ash dodged the rings. "Talonflame, take Pikachu!" Ash sprung back to his feet and leaped up, stomping Wendy's head and off the cliff where Noivern followed with Toadette and Barkley on his back. Ash flicked his cap to Noivern, capturing him again. Wendy recovered and turned to the Pokémon.
"Oh, you'll pay for that!" she scowled. As she returned to her airship, Clemont found a cavern while the hose floated above the water's surface. Looking ahead, a pipe was found.
"Ah, that might be how to get up from inside," he believed. "Thanks to Toadette and her procedures, this is working like a dream."
"But I'm here to make it a nightmare!" sounded Iggy. Clemont heard and turned to Iggy in a personal submarine. "I heard that Ash has company, but you don't seem to be all that strong." Clemont scoffed to Iggy's threat.
"Just because I'm not as strong as Ash is," he started. "I have plenty of power to ruin your time." Iggy sneered to Clemont's claim.
"We'll see how you can do that!" he challenged. Clemont began to think.
'Why did I just do that?' he minded. 'I think the only Pokémon that can work is Helioisk, but he's more of a desert Pokémon than one for water… but I know that Ash would do something like this.' Clemont retracted the hose for air and relied on the pack for now as he swam into the cavern near the seabed. Iggy followed. Above water, the Pokémon landed on an island which was covered in splashes of lava. Toadette felt the need to speak up.
"Ash, we need to clear the lava spots!" she warned. Ash had an idea. With a second to store energy, Ash shot out Boomburst that blew the lava spots and reeled purple octopus-like creatures surrounded by a bubble of water each. Toadette seemed surprised with the effort. "Great! I wish you didn't hurt those Gushens." Finding the next button, everyone landed, and Ash popped out of Noivern.
"Yeah, that might've been a little much on that," he sighed as Noivern staggered. "I mean, they look cool." Ash leaped onto the button. Pressed, a second fountain sprayed. Looking as Talonflame flew with Pikachu around, the Glass Tower was slowly filling. "Alright, it's getting filled… but we need the other two fountains to work while we're in a hurry." Noivern straightened out and turned to Ash, looking back at him. "Get Toadette and Barkley out of harm's way." Noivern nodded before Ash helped Toadette and Barkley back on board the Sound Wave Pokémon. He flew off back up the cliff-side as Wendy in her airship arrived.
"You like being the slippery one, huh?" she scorned.
"I just like moving a lot," Ash teased. Wendy launched another ring, but Ash jumped out of the way before flicking his cap and capturing a Gushen. 'Okay, let's understand how this controls…' With Cappy's help, the Gushen gushed water from below, propelling himself to Wendy who ducked out of the way.
"He's definitely worse than Mario," she muttered as she propelled her airship. Meanwhile, Iggy propelled his submarine in his search for Clemont.
"Okay, tinker boy!" he teased. "Where are you?" Trolling, Clemont appeared in Iggy's sight.
"You know, my inventions tell me what I do right and wrong," he mentioned. "So, it allows me to figure out how other things work… and fail." That's when Iggy's submarine had a shake. A minute later, it fell apart. Iggy scrambled to put a helmet on his head as he faced Clemont.
"Guess the tinkering part should've been left to the side," he remarked. "It won't do much to stop me and my other thing: Magic!" He brought out a wand, making Clemont ready for anything. Suddenly, the cavern walls shook. Clemont and Iggy looked around. That's when the giant maroon eels burrowed out of the walls. Clemont and Iggy gawked. "Maw-Rays!?" Hearing Iggy, the eels turned to the two. They shrieked in fear and swam to the pipe. Both entered it to avoid being devoured by the giant eels. They popped out from the top as the Gushen reached the third button while avoiding Wendy's magic rings. However, the water around the Gushen dried up nearing an island with another button. The Gushen was brown and gray, but Ash popped out of it and landed on the button. Another fountain activated.
"Good work, Ash!" shouted Clemont.
"Yeah, great work, Wendy!" mocked Iggy. With him distracted to the other Koopaling, Clemont reached and pressed the last button. The last of the fountains turned on, the Glass Tower began to fill. From the cliff-side, Toadette and the Pokémon awed Ash's and Clemont's work around the Koopalings.
"Not bad for those two!" she giggled as the Sparkle Water filled the Glass Tower with the chest. Suddenly, a giant came out of nowhere. It landed on top of the Glass Tower as it was near full. It was a giant purple octopus with short tentacles, wild blond mustache and curls of hair to its sides of the rotund head. It also wore a hat and an ascot.
"SPARKLE WATER FOR ME!" it shrilled as it brought out a giant bendy straw. Barkley barked angrily at the giant Gushen.
"Mollusque-Lanceur!" realized Toadette. The Koopalings, Ash and Clemont eyed Mollusque-Lanceur, the roadblock to get the Power Moons to save Serena.
TO BE CONTINUED...