@Scytherwolf; @Soups

Episode 49: Hot Springing a Leak!

"You're sure you want to continue competing in Contests?" Ash asked as the group continued down the road a few days later. "If you ever want to look into battling or storytelling, we can teach you."

"It's okay..." Dawn assured her companion. "I've had a few days to think about what Satomi and Zoey told me, and I think Contests is where I want to be."

"Okay..." Ash replied before telling Diddy "Let's see you try Heat Wave!"

[HAAAAAAH!] Diddy cried as he charged the fiery wave and launched it into the sky.

Ash was surprisingly calm as the wave dissipated some moments later. "We got it to form and launch that time--that's progress."

[But when can we get to the point where it stays formed?] Diddy sighed. [No matter how hard I try, it dissipates before it gets to the target!]

"You're getting very close." Ash assured his frustrated Chimchar. "Heat Wave is a powerful move, but I think we need a little more work on focus. So this time, try to picture what the full wave looks like. Picture it flying to your target."

[Got it!] Diddy smiled, now in a good mood again.

"I hate to interrupt the training session, but you may want to hold off until we get to the next town." Brock interjected, prompting Diddy to stay his next attempt. "If we don't hurry, it'll be too dark to travel, and we'll have to camp out in the open."

"Not that I mind camping in the open, but I'd much rather stay in an inn or Pokemon Center." Dawn smiled.

"Yeah--I've been wanting to try some of that body wash in Zoey's gift basket." Ash agreed. "Oran Ginger sounds nice..."

"Well, she tried to pick scents that would be appealing for both me and you guys." Dawn replied. "So nothing overly flowery or smelly..."

"The sooner we get to a Pokemon Center, the sooner we can hit the showers!" Ash grinned.

"I'm afraid hitting the showers is gonna have to wait..." Brock sighed as he thumbed through the guidebook. "There is no Pokemon Center in the next town."

"Maybe not..." Dawn suggested. "We can go to an onsen close to here, that a good friend of mine and her family runs. Even the Pokemon can enjoy a hot bath."

"Lead the way, then." Brock smiled, allowing Dawn to walk out in front.

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"....round the corner, and we're here!" Dawn smiled as the group approached a large building with a variety of springs around it.

She noticed an auburn haired girl setting out some etiquette guides by the entrance. "Leona!"

"Dee-Dee, hi!" the girl smiled, making Dawn bristle.

"I'll let that go for now, because I know you meant well." Dawn mused as she embraced her friend. "These two are travelers from Kanto who are supporting me in my Contest journey--Ash, a master trainer..."

"Hi!" Ash waved.

"...and Brock, our navigator and loremaster extraordinaire." Dawn went on.

"Pleased to meet you." Brock smiled.

"You guys, this is Leona--we've been good friends since we were very little." Dawn explained as the auburn haired girl waved hello.

"I wanted you to win the Solaceon Contest." Leona began. "You did great with the Visual and the Dance competition. But that Marta person clobbered you in the Appeal competition."

"Don't remind me..." Dawn muttered before changing the subject. "How are things at Itsuyado?"

"Unusually slow for this time of year." Leona explained. "If you feel the water, you'll know why."

Tarina bounded off Brock's shoulder and batted at the water, only to rear back in surprise. [Yeesh, it's cold!]

Ash winced as he dipped a finger in the water. "That is weird...why aren't the hot springs hot?"

"See, a week ago, the spring stopped receiving water." Leona explained. "Since the spring is fed from a pipeline leading down from the mountain, Mom and Dad decided to hike up and inspect it. If the situation doesn't change soon, Itsuyado will have to close."

She shepherded a small brown pig-like Pokemon to her side. "Luckily, I have Tundra here to help me find another spring."

Dawn decided to read up on the small pig-like Pokemon sniffing in the grass:

"Swinub, the pig Pokemon. It has a very sensitive nose. It can locate mushrooms, berries, and even hot springs buried under ice.

Dawn smiled as she pocketed her Pokedex. "Hey, Leona, remember the time we stood up to Andre, the tough kid?"

"Yeah..." Leona mused. "Not only was he teasing the other kids and making them cry, he claimed the Mankey bars all to himself! I will never forget the look on his face when you said we'd both tell the teacher!"

"Why don't we channel some of that teamwork to find the hot spring?" Dawn offered.

"Okay!" Leona smiled. "Tundra, lead the way!" she called to her Swinub.

"We're coming too!" Ash and Brock were not far behind.

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Elsewhere, Jupiter smiled as she admired a large and majestic building taking shape. "This is it...the Ginga Onsen! With five different springs, and a private bath for Lord Cyrus!"

"He can bathe in it all he likes when the new world comes." Mars agreed as she set aside a blueprint and some tools. "The grunts are gonna love it, too!"

She looked over to find the group approaching. "Can't you read?" she grumbled before gesturing to the construction sign. "This place is still under construction!"

"Under construction? Then why have my family's springs gone cold?" Leona demanded.

"Listen up, girlie--we dug the hot spring by hand, so there's no way we'd be stealing your water." Mars shot back.

Piqued, Leona knelt down by one of the springs and sniffed the water. "Hey...this water is exactly the same as ours! You have so been diverting the hot spring water to use as your own!"

"Oh yeah, where's the proof of ownership?" Jupiter snapped. "Water's a public resource, you know."

Leona was about to retort back when Brock motioned for her to listen. "A theory on my part. If the Galactic admins tapped into the same water source that your family does, it wouldn't matter whose water it was. It would be the admins' water by right."

Just as the group turned to leave, Leona spotted a small blue humanoid Pokemon crawling from the pipe. "Dewdrop?"

"Oh yeah--Dewdrop is your mom's Wooper, right?" Dawn remembered as Ash read up on the small amorphous Pokemon:

"Wooper, the water fish Pokemon. When walking on land, it covers its body with a poisonous film that keeps its skin from dehydrating."

"If Dewdrop's here, then Mom and Dad must be here too!" Leona gasped.

She spotted a man and a woman with similar features to her approaching the group. "Mom! Dad! Dewdrop's here!"

"Good work, sweetie pie." the man smiled as he hugged Leona. "I see you enlisted some friends to help us solve this mystery..."

"Did you guys find anything?" Leona asked.

"Well, when we checked the pipeline, we found another pipe attached to ours, diverting water away from the hot spring." Leona's mother explained. "I sent Dewdrop along the line to see where it went, and it came out here."

"That means the admins DID steal the hot spring!" Ash confidently declared.

[Any last words?] Tintri smirked as he charged a Thunderbolt.

"Yeah...hope you brought your bathing suits and swim trunks, cause you're getting wet!" With that, Mars pressed a button, summoning a spider-like mecha!

"Oh no..." was all Dawn could say before the group went flying back from the force of the water jets.

Brock coughed up some water before asking "Everyone okay?"

"I think so..." Ash sputtered. "Okay, Tintri, new plan! Use Iron Tail!"

[HIIIIIIIIIIII-YAAAAAAAA!!!!] Tarina was not far behind Tintri, but a wet spot sent her tumbling down a hill into a puddle. [Brock, I'm sorry...]

Dawn watched as Brock carried Tarina to safety minutes before the mecha fired another water blast. Say...maybe if we froze the water somehow, or overheated it...

"Leona, tell Tundra to dig a hole under that machine!" she called. "I have an idea!"

"Okay!" Leona called back. "You heard Dawn, Tundra--go dig the biggest hole you can!"

The rapidly growing hole caused the mecha to tumble, spilling hot water all over itself. "Okay, Lola! Use Ice Beam to cool the hot machine!"

"Here!" Brock hurried over with an arrow, and dipped the head into the cold blast.

"I see--ice on an already frozen target does double the damage!" Leona smiled as she watched Brock take aim at the now frozen mecha.

The group held their breaths as Brock fired the sparkling blue arrow. An explosion and the admins' screams confirmed that he had hit! [Great shot!] Tarina smiled as Dawn and Leona celebrated.

"Now that we have the admins out of the way, the next step is getting all this water back where it belongs." Brock smiled as he went to assist with the pipes...

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"Woo-hoo!" Ash cried as he dove in the hot water some hours later. "This is WAY better than a shower!"

[I'll say...] Tintri smiled as Tarina drifted past him, her hat and cloak in a neat pile on the grass with the others' clothing.

"I can't thank you enough for saving the onsen." Leona smiled as she emerged on the patio overlooking the main spring. "As thanks for your help, your stay is free."

"Aw, it was nothin'!" Ash smiled.

Dawn looked over at Brock with a grin. "Fancy showing off your material at all?"

"Sure!" Brock smiled.

Excited, the Pokemon paddled over to edge of the spring, near the chair Brock was relaxing on. "Once the great warrior-miko Kanade was traveling along the coast when she encountered a funeral procession." Brock began. "It turned out the priest of a nearby village had died, and the elder asked Kanade if she could serve in the village until a new priest was sent from the Aiiro City...."

To Be Continued...