Welcome to Gaia! ::

I was quick to help the local Nurse unload the sick Pokemon into the Pokemon Center with Rala's assistance. Afterward, when the Nurse spoke of a reward, I told her that my job wasn't done, and that there were still sick Pokemon out there. Surprised at how accepting she was of that answer, I got back in the ambulance and drove off.

"All aboard," I told Sub when Cera and I made it back to the rest of the team, pressing a button to open the back doors of the vehicle before stepping out to help with getting the abominations in the ambulance.

Sub watched as Terashi and Cera arrived with the ambulance, the doors swinging open as the vehicle came to a stop. "Hey, you missed out on Plasma's genius plot. Long story short we have to stop them from wiping out the local Grimer population. As Lykas here so adequately put it they think Grimer are something other than sentient piles of sludge and intend to 'purify' them in a Pecha berry concentrate flood through the sewers." Just repeat that plan made it sound even dumber to Sub. Who thought this up?

"Let's get these two in the back of the ambulance, don't need them rampaging again in the middle of the city." Sub said as he looked down at the pair of knocked out Muk, one multi-colored, the other purple. He would then release Legrande, the Drapion attempting to pick up the pile of sludge with his pincers and while it took a few tries as the mass kept slipping eventually he would get it inside the ambulance. "...you're going to need a bath. Why didn't you pick up the other one?" Sub commented as Legrande was now covered in purple goop.

"Head on down and scout ahead, Lykas. Terashi, I'll assume you can show us our own way into the sewers so lead the way." Sub said as he recalled Legrande and got into the passenger's seat of the ambulance. "...whoops, forgot that other Muk, the rainbow one."

Appearing late to the party, Dan managed to find his way to the others. It had been a while since he'd been to Castelia City, but it was never hard for him to find his way in the big city. Especially if he was looking for his teammates; he just had to follow the explosions. "Huh. The dock got blown up. Well that's- What the hell?" Dan paused mid-sentence, looking at the multi-colored Muk before him. What was it this time? Some form of hyper Poke'rus? A Mega-Evolution? "Uhh... Okay?" he muttered, watching as Leslie scooped the goop up and put it in the back with the other Muk he was more accustomed to seeing. Dan hopped in the back with her for now, not wanting to get left behind.

Terashi wouldn't have to drive too far as they soon arrived at the bottom of a mostly dried up canal, said canal mostly used to drain rain water and non-hazardous waste back into the ocean. The canal was lined with several barred up tunnels to allow the liquid to flow out but to prevent people from getting in. All of them were barred save one which looked like the bars were pulled apart, this was the one they stopped in front of.

"Man, you smell that? Smells like stagnant water." Sub complained as he got out of the water, being cautious of stepping in one of the sources of that smell, the various puddles of water around the canal. "They must have entered through here." He commented as he eyed the bent bars."Hold your nose cause here goes nothing." With that said he took a deep breath and entered the sewers through the twisted grate.

The inside of the sewer system smell just like he thought it would, far worse than any Muk he had ever had the misfortune of sniffing. As they walked along the side of the sewage canal in the tunnel there was a noticeable lack of sewage and liquid in general, most of it seemingly dried up or reduced to puddles. "Must be building it up for the big release." Sub mused aloud to himself as he pondered why it was relatively dry.

A little further in they would come to a turn in the sewer, the relatively uneventful sewer becoming much more 'exciting' as they took the turn.

"Think they are about done? This place stinks." One Plasma grunt said to another as a group of them were apparently standing 'guard' but were instead playing cards. Looked like that collectible card game all the kids were into these days. "Probably, I mean- hey! Who are you guys!?" One of the Plasma grunts shouted, the others jumping to the feet as they all took notice of the Snagems.

"Let's skip the introductions. What you are planning is not just dumb but it's dangerous, you're going to kill all those Grimer and Muk once you flood this place." Sub told the grunts, said grunts just staring at him and each other for awhile as if trying to compute his words.

"Whatever! You're just another human trying to stop Plasma's noble efforts to save Pokemon from the corruption of mankind! At arms, brothers!" The apparent lead grunt shouted as they all took out Pokeballs and prepared for battle.

"I guess we're doing this..." Sub simply sighed as he got one out of his own.

(Battle and restrain a Plasma grunt. They use any of the following Pokemon, no set amount you have to battle: Patrat, Purrloin, Sandile, Krokorok, Scraggy, Trubbish, Woobat, Timburr, Gurdurr, Dwebble, and Blitzle. You may snag one Pokemon if you wish. Evo Points will be given.)

Lykas would find himself on the other side of the Plasmas, well away from them in fact. It was relatively quiet where he was yet the smell was so bad that he probably didn't even consider how quiet it was, the hybrid too busy trying to ignore the smell more than likely. His latent ability to sense water however would trip, the hybrid sensing a large body of water up ahead and if he knew his Grimer and Muk he would know that they liked water, or his nose would tell him that the smell was stronger up ahead and so he should probably follow that.

"Bat bat!" Cried a swarm of Zubat as they rushed out from the darkness ahead of Lykas as he followed the source of the smell and/or towards the water he sensed, both coming from the same direction. The Zubat seemed spooked by something and yet agitated. While most of the Zubat went off and left Lykas alone a few more would decide to try and take a bite and suck some of his delicious liquid out of him. They did seem rather skinny and apparently very thirsty.

He really should have thought twice before jumping in the back with a Muk. Thankfully they didn't drive for too long, though Dan was practically gagging trying to keep it together. Once they came to a stop, he burst from the back, gasping for air...though he wish he hadn't done that either. "Agghhh! It's just as bad out here! Ughh..." Stumbling to the side of the ambulance, he leaned against it, continuing to fight the good fight against throwing up. "No...No I smell anything but that. Don't know how you are, actually" he answered Sub, slowly coming around. Of course they were going into the source. Right. There wasn't much else he could do but suck it up and head in behind the others. Inside, it smelled just as bad, if not worse, in the back of the ambulance. Fortunately(?), Dan was getting somewhat used to it, enough to refrain from wanting to empty his stomach. They traveled further and further into the sewers, he quickly taking note of the absence Grimer and Muk, the cause of the foul stench. Probably something to do with the lack of water too, which was also odd. Before long, the team would find the troublemakers themselves, chatting it up and playing card games. Where was the urgency here? At least they seemed serious about trying getting rid of them.

"Alright, so we're battling" Dan shook his head, sending out his Shelgon to fight the Krokorok that belonged to the Plasma Grunt before him. The croc moved first, summoning a sand tornado from the filth of the sewers around the pod, preventing him from moving without injury. "Do not. Let that stuff. Touch you" Dan warned, not looking forward to scrubbing the dragon clean. With all those cracks and crevices, it was already a chore on a regular basis. Left immobile, the reptile lept at the dragon with wide open jaws, dark energy oozing from his fangs. "Flamethrower!" Dan commanded, an blast of flames coming from Shelgon's mouth, breaking through the hazardous dust around him and going directly into the croc's open mouth. The fire seemed to get rid of the Sand Tomb and left the enemy Pokemon frantically squirming on the ground. Yeah, fire probably didn't taste so good. Dan would; however, refrain from using it again given the burn smell not mixing well with the stench. Then again, what would? Shelgon lunged forward, taking advantage of the opening to striking with a glowing claw of dragon energy. Unfortunately, the Dragon Claw missed, Krokorok nimbly rolling out of the way while the claw dug deep in the concrete ground. Instead, it was the enemy who advantage, opening its dark maw yet again to latch on to the cocoon. The dragon flinched, swinging about trying to get the Pokemon off of him with no success. It seemed everyone liked to take advantage of that blind spot of his, but it never seemed to work out for them either. "Double Edge to the wall" Dan instructed, pointing to the wall beside him. Charged with a basic energy, he lunged at the wall, smashing the sand reptile between the wall and his rather hard bod. The crackling energy made sure Shelgon took damage from the attack as well, but it was well worth it. As he back away, Krokorok had finally let go and fell limp to the ground.

With it down, the Grunt recalled it and released another Pokemon to combat him. Dan recalled Shelgon and pulled out a different Pokeball, though he hesitated to throw it out. He just caught Jangmo-o and didn't get a chance to train with him yet. Given how feisty the little one was... "Err, on second thought" he mumbled, swapping the ball for another in his pocket. Instead, Axew came out to do battle with Gurdurr. "Scary Face!" Dan called out, the tiny dragon's glowing red eyes shooting fear into the heart of the Muscular Pokemon. Opportunity made present, Axew sped forward with Dragon Claw first, crackling with energy as he attacked. Surprisingly, the Grunt had Gurdurr use Bulk Up, using it's flexing muscles to absorb the blow and boost its stats. Not good. It tried to use Dynamic Punch, the force of the punch even being felt by Dan from such a distance. If not for the decrease in speed, the dragon would not have evaded the attack. Already, Axew was preparing a green ball of draconic energy in his mouth, unleashing a Dragon Pulse when Gurdurr approached. And yet the fighting type kept coming, fighting through the pain and slamming a glowing hard fist into the smaller Pokemon. Axew could feel the air escape his lungs as the fist sent him flying back near his trainer. Nothing was working and the thing was charging at them both now! "Looks like we got no choice. Axew, we're using that move!" Hearing this, tiny one sprung up, looking at his trainer in disbelief. If it had come to that... The dragon nodded and summoned a surge of dragon energy around him. His eyes glowing red, the reptile met the incoming Dynamic Punch with Outrage, knocking the fighting type back with a barrage of punches and kicks. Gurdurr barely had time to get back to his feet, the small green ball of rage jumping on top of it and viciously raining blow after blow in its chest. Dan disliked this move personally because of how brutal and animalistic it made his Pokemon. But at the end of the day, it bore results; the enemy down for the count.

"Good. Now-" "HyyaaaaaaH!" the Grunt shouted, coming at Dan's side with a brick in his hand. With a simple sidestep and outstretched leg, he'd let the man trip with his own momentum. Drawing his wooden sword in the same breath, he'd smack him in the back of the head with a rather loud "CRACK!". The Grunt laid unconscious on the floor, down and out...but that wasn't all. "What? I broke it?! Aww crap! Not again!" Dan groaned, seeing the hilt of the wood break from the handle. Great... Yet another sword broken.

Two of the Zubat were struck and dazzle the Aurora Beam, them and the other bats deciding to follow the lead of the group and split. Lykas tasted watered down anyways, wasn't worth it the blood suckers decided.

With the Zubats gone Lykas would be able to proceed, the way forward a straight shot through. As Lykas continued the smell would become worse and worse, almost unbearable. Eventually the hybrid would find himself in a wide open room with the source of the smell, a giant pool of stagnant water, at its center. Now he could see why the sewers were dry as he would note the dams between the pool and the canals, someone had raised the dams.

There didn't seem to be anyone here but Lykas could sense something very large but where was it?

I stared at the advancing Plasma with a Trubbish in front of it, taking note of the fact that we were standing in the middle of a sewer. Was this really the safest place to battle? Well, maybe for that Trubbish, but...

Shrugging at myself, and deciding that the Plasma Grunt could probably not care less about that despite claiming to care about Pokemon, I cupped Sauron's ball with my hand, planning to let it out to battle. Jangmo-o had other plans, as it let itself out of its ball.

I sighed as Jangmo-o roared at the Trubbish. "I guess I can't fault you for wanting to battle. I haven't really had time to train you lately. Alright, then, Jangmo-o. Lower their defenses with Screech, for now. I know you would prefer a fair fight, but we need to get these fools out of the way as quick as we can."

I covered my ears as Jangmo-o complied, filling the air around us with the loudest squeal it could muster. I did this with the hopes that Trubbish would be easier to defeat.

Its trainer, however, was not impressed. "Psh. Screaming isn't going to accomplish anything. Trubbish, get rid of these fools quick with Explosion!"

It knows that move!? I thought to myself, feeling a bit panicked. Trubbish, however, just turned to its trainer with a confused look on its face.

"The heck do you mean, you don't know it?" the Plasma grunt said as I activated the Pokedex feature of my SNAG.

"You haven't trained it enough, yet," I explained, when I saw its surprisingly vast moveset despite the fact. "Pokemon gain power as they practice their moves. Just like humans, Pokemon need practice to learn new things."

"Man, stop lying!" the grunt scoffed. "The boss said that Pokemon are all-powerful!"

"They can be, if you train them right," I added. "Nothing in this world is free, kid. Nothing worth having, anyway. If you want to get strong, you have to train. Same goes with Pokemon."

"Man, what a gyp," the grunt sighed. "Whatever. It doesn't matter what Trubbish is capable of, I still have to stop you. Use Toxic Spikes, Trubbish. Stop him from switching out!"

I smiled as Trubbish scattered poison-tipped caltrops around us. I had no intention of stopping Jangmo-o from getting the training it so desperately desired. For a moment, though, I wasn't sure how to proceed. Then I remembered Bagon and my smile widened. "Headbutt, Jangmo-o."

Jangmo-o rushed toward the Trubbish and leapt, landing head-jewel first on the creature. Trubbish seemed hurt by this, but kept from fainting, not wanting to disappoint its trainer any further.

"Trubbish, use Acid Spray on that weird dragon thing!" the Plasma Grunt shouted. Trubbish complied, spitting a corrosive substance that covered Jangmo-o from head to toe. While his scales didn't melt off, Jangmo-o certainly didn't seem comfortable being covered in that.

"Jangmo-o," I said, catching the attention of the Dragon-type. "It looks like this guy only has the one Pokemon. So, it should be safe to use Dragon Tail. Go ahead."

Jangmo-o nodded before lunging at Trubbish, smacking it with a tail covered in Dragon energy. Trubbish was knocked back considerably by the attack, but wasn't forced back into its ball as a result. It did, however, take a considerable amount of damage.

"Aw, jeez, this thing's getting weak already," the grunt huffed. "Trubbish! Pull yourself together and stick to the plan! Sludge Bomb!"

"Protect, Jangmo-o!"

Though it took a little bit for Trubbish to gain its bearings, it eventually shot a ball of sludge from its body at Jangmo-o. The move was based on Trubbish's Special Attack, while I knew that Jangmo-o's Special Defense had been lowered earlier. Fortunately, the time it took for Trubbish to gain its bearings gave Jangmo-o plenty of time to erect a barrier to block the Poison energy of Sludge Bomb with, saving itself from damage.

Unfortunately, however, Jangmo-o's patience had worn thin, and it rushed at Trubbish after the Sludge Bomb had been blocked and landed on it head-jewel first ala Headbutt without being asked do. Despite the move not being as strong as it could have been if I'd asked Jangmo-o to use it, it still dealt significant damage, leaving Trubbish on the verge of fainting.

"Man, this bites," the grunt whined. "How am I supposed to protect this choke point if my worthless Pokemon can't defeat anything?"

"You lost one battle," I growled, "and you give up entirely on a creature that is - as we speak - risking its life for you? And you call yourself an activist for the rights of Pokemon."

"Man, don't look at me!" the grunt argued. "I'm just a grunt. I don't know what Plasma's trying to accomplish here. I just do what I'm told!"

I sighed, procured my last regular Pokeball along with my Snag Machine from my duffel bag, and plant the ball firmly in the crevasse atop the Snag Machine, activating the device afterwards. "Your position might be pitiable," I explained, "But I can't tolerate a trainer that doesn't give their all to support those that risk their lives in their trainer's name."

The grunt eyed the Snag Machine wearily. "What are you doing?"

"In a way," I said calmly as I removed the newly-created Snag Ball from the Snag Machine. "I suppose you could call this 'Pokemon Liberation'."

With that, I threw the Snag Ball at the Trubbish, exhaling as the creature was absorbed into the device. "Dumb~/~," the grunt smirked confidently. "You can't catch a Pokemon that already has a trainer - wait, it went in!?"