"Hold on!"
Chilly water flew up and doused everyone's hair as Squirtle and Starmie raced down the Ko River, their human companions holding on to their backs.
"This is amazing!" Lia cried, holding on to Starmie's left side. "You've trained Starmie really well if it's this strong."
Misty, who was on her Pokémon's right, grinned. "Starmie's one of my oldest friends," she explained. "I've trained with her ever since I was a little girl, so she's ultra tough."
"I hear that," Ash said happily, who held on to Squirtle's orange shell with his left hand and splashed the cool liquid over his head with his right. "I've been away from Squirtle for so long I forgot how he can even lift me!" His tiny turtle laughed as it kept going.
As the three took off down the clear river, Tracey and Brock walked together to the grassy high point of the locale's riverbank, Azumarill and Marshtomp swimming behind the others. Tracey put a pair of binoculars to his eyes and surveyed the scene downriver. The waterway and rivebank sloped down into a U-shaped basin with two outlets at the left and right, the former going all the way to Kau Cove—a seaside town south of Feron Grove—and the latter going further into the woods.
"With the time we have left," Tracey said, checking his watch and then the right outlet. "We've only got time to check out where the right side leads. It's shouldn't be too far into the woods."
"Right, but we should be able to quickly notice if there's anything there," Brock added. "If this flute is anything like the Dino Crystals, our Power Coins should react. And the sooner we find it, the sooner we can squash Rita…" he paused to move his shoulders back and forth rhythmically. "Which means the sooner we can get our groove on."
"Still got Eliza on the brain?" Tracey asked, chuckling and taking his sandals off, getting ready to dive in the water with his Azumarill. "Man, if you were any different, you'd be frightening."
Brock playfully tapped Tracey's shoulder as he took to the water; Azumarill and Marshtomp had since come up to the riverside. "Still with the Halloween jokes? What would be frightening is if that Communicator electrocuted you when you're in there."
"Don't worry! These are waterproof!" Tracey called as he latched on to his water rabbit and took off downstream.
Marshtomp smiled wide at its trainer, who kicked off his tennis shoes and proceeded to walk down to the riverbank to check on his friends. Before the water Pokémon could join him, it saw something out of the corner of its eye—a gray alien-looking figure quietly scuttling up behind Brock. One of the thing's arms was fashioned into a rocky blade, hoisted back and ready to run the human through.
Letting out a loud croak, Marshtomp ambled over to the being and tackled it to the ground, making it roll near Brock's feet.
"Huh?" the tall boy uttered, looking at the fallen Putty at his feet. "Guys, we've got company!"
The busy teenagers instantly turned their attention to the upper part of the shore, where several Putties were charging the Ko River and the other civilians on dry land.
"Oh no…" Misty said. "Starmie, use Swift Attack!"
The huge purple starfish leapt out of the water and summoned five bright, star-shaped projectiles from its center gem, hurling them at the goons menacing the innocents. Swift stunned them momentarily, giving the people a chance to run.
Lia let go of Starmie and swam to the basin's shoreline. She bolted up the sloping riverbank to join Brock, who was facing off with three Putties at once. He had taken down one with a stiff side kick and a running high knee, but one of the others had caught him from behind and let its partner backhanded him across the temple. As Brock doubled over, Lia side-rolled over his back and started assailing one of the foot soldiers with three types of elbow strikes: rising, reverse, and falling. As the young woman turned, another Putty launched a flying kick at her shoulder blades, sending her right into Brock, who just got his arms up to keep her from falling.
"You okay?" Brock asked, rubbing the side of his head.
"Yeah, thanks," Lia answered, taking his right hand. "But I think we should work hand-in-hand."
Brock nodded, and the two rose to their feet, clasping their hands and turning to fling each other at two advancing Putties, halting them with kicks. Brock took his free hand and gripped one by the arm and, rotating with Lia, tossed it into its comrade.
"Nice moves, partner," Lia said.
Brock clapped her shoulder and turned to see Tracey ducking blows from Rita's minions, backing up to one of the towering trees and narrowly dodging a swipe from a Putty's blade arm, one that cut it clean in half. Tracey nimbly pushed himself up to two of them, punching one in the sternum and another in its rough-hewn face, but two more kicked the boy right in the gut, picked him up, and tossed him back into the river.
"Marshtomp! Mud Slap!" Brock commanded. His Pokémon readily obliged, digging into the wet earth near the Ko River and blinding a few Putties with torrents of mud. A few of them jumped into the river, half to try and wash their crimson eyes and half to continue their assault, but Tracey and his Azumarill were ready. Holding onto the water rabbit, the trainer knifehand chopped one near the neck, sending it below the water. While Azumarill sprayed a few Putties with its powerful Water Gun, Tracey took off his headband and put it around the head of another nearby goon as they kept cruising downstream. He pulled the sopping-wet piece of cloth far back and let go, smacking the Putty square in the eyes and all the way into the drink.
"Great job, Azumarill," Tracey congratulated, seeing that the Pokémon's targets were either collapsing or fleeing. Azumarill made a happy exhalation, and they went to join the others.
Misty and Ash had since went upstream to the right side of the Ko River, where Putties had swam in order to menace more people.
"Alright, Hydro Pump!" Ash shouted. Squirtle immediately retracted its head, arms, and legs into its hard shell, soon releasing powerful acquatic blasts that propelled it and Ash above the river and onto the shore, dousing some Putties and pushing them back into the river. Starmie spun in the air and went into the water, mowing over them. The young human duo squared off with four other Putty Patrollers, Misty cartwheeling around one and tossing two punches and a spinning backfist at another. Ash performed the same maneuver, except he disabled one opponent with a spinning hook kick and floored it with a jump side kick. After finishing that foe, Ash quickly raised his left arm to block an axe kick from another Putty, but the thing jumped up quickly and struck Ash down with a blow from his boulder fist. Fallen, and in danger of being crushed by another falling boulder, Misty picked him up by the arm and executed an underarm turn, sending Ash to clothesline another Putty.
"I'm sure you know that move," Misty said, flashing a good-natured smirk.
Ash returned the look and twisted Misty around, dipping her with the swing move known as the Manhattan. Misty kicked up one of her feet to meet the face of the Putty that tried to murder her friend, knocking him out.
"Yeah, but this is the only other one I've got down," Ash said, chuckling along with the girl.
As the two surveyed the landscape, they saw their friends and Pokémon finally dispatching the rest of the gray clods. With a flash of gray light, the Putty Patrol disappeared in defeat.
Starmie and Squirtle came up to the shore, eagerly coming up to embrace their partners. But before anyone could say any words of congratulations, a sharp, bright flash shot across the Ko River and smashed into Starmie's red center gem, shattering it. The flash boomeranged back across the water, toppling Azumarill, leaving a huge bloody gash across its side. Before the teenagers could continue screaming in horror or tend to their creature companions, they saw the glowing object fly to the hand of someone behind the trees; it was a familiar angular sword, locked in Scorpina's claws.
"No more outside help," the lady warrior said, her teeth bared in a menacing grin.