1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 86: Tower of Waters

We left the Tower of Darkness with Urshifu walking beside me and Alice's Kubfu walking beside her.

The path down Challenge Road felt different from the climb up. Yesterday, my Kubfu had gone into the red tower small, nervous, and determined. Now Urshifu's steps were heavier, quieter, and surer, but he still glanced back whenever Alice's Kubfu paused to study the road.

Alice noticed it too. "You are watching over her."

Urshifu lowered one fist, eyes steady on Alice's Kubfu, "Her path is not mine, so my strength now is staying silent while she finds it."

I nodded. "That might be harder than fighting."

Alice smiled softly at him. "Thank you. But he is right. This one is ours."

Her Kubfu looked up at the distant blue tower, then pressed both paws together. The Tower of Waters waited beyond the Forest of Focus and Challenge Beach, shining against the sea like it had been carved from a wave and left standing.

We crossed the Training Lowlands first. Sharpedo cut through the water nearby, and the wind carried the damp smell of the sea. Alice's Kubfu watched the fins without hiding. She still leaned close to Alice, but she did not turn away.

In the Forest of Focus, we slowed enough to avoid getting lost. The trees were familiar after our mushroom search, but every path seemed to twist differently when we were not racing a trial clock. Sunlight filtered through leaves, and the forest sounded calmer than before.

"Yesterday, this place felt like a maze," Alice said.

"Maybe it was," I answered. "Or maybe we were moving too fast to understand it."

Alice's Kubfu touched one paw against a wet root and stepped over it carefully. She had learned from the beach, the cave, and the cliff. Now she was using all of it without being told.

By the time the trees opened toward Challenge Beach, the Tower of Waters stood clearly ahead.

The blue tower reflected the sky, but it did not feel soft. It felt patient. That made me think of water wearing down stone, not by rushing once, but by returning again and again until the stone finally changed.

Alice stopped at the base and looked down at Kubfu. "Ready?"

Alice's Kubfu pressed both paws together and looked toward the blue doors, "The water path feels wide, but I want to learn how to move without being swept away."

"Then we learn that together," Alice said.

A dojo student waited in front of the Tower of Waters.

The tower doors reflected Alice and Kubfu in thin blue lines. For one breath, Kubfu looked smaller in that reflection than she did beside Alice, and I wondered if that was another trick of the tower. Water could show a shape honestly, but it could also stretch it until doubt looked larger than truth.

Alice noticed Kubfu staring at herself and stepped into the reflection beside her. "That is only one angle. We will find the rest inside."

"Hello, Ash and Alice," he said with a bow. "Master has already sent word. This is the Tower of Waters, the special training ground where Kubfu learns the true essence of water."

Alice nodded. "I am here to challenge it."

"If you wish to climb the tower, Kubfu must be the only Pokémon on your team," the student explained. "Once you enter, you cannot leave until you defeat five opponents or are defeated yourself."

Alice removed her other Poké Balls and handed them to me. I accepted them carefully, feeling the same weight Alice must have felt when she held mine at the Tower of Darkness.