After leaving Officer Jenny.
Ash and his two companions pushed their bicycles, advancing with difficulty through the increasingly thick and pungent air. Finally, they spotted the white building that remained conspicuous even against the gray city backdrop—the Gringey City Pokémon Center.
"We're finally here..." Ash was expressionless.
"Pika... Pika..." Pikachu mimicked the sentiment.
"I want to wear a respirator..." Misty held her breath, her face turning blue.
"Just endure it for now, just in case," Brock said with a nasal voice, feeling as if his sense of smell was about to fail completely.
They did have gas masks in their backpacks, but using them now felt like a bit of a waste. Looking at the situation, it was clear that buying one here would not be easy.
The automatic doors of the Pokémon Center slid open.
A gust of filtered, relatively fresh air mixed with the scent of disinfectant rushed toward them, nearly moving the three to tears.
As expected, it was still safe inside the Pokémon Center.
Compared to the chaos and decay outside, the interior of the Pokémon Center could be called an oasis of order, yet the atmosphere was by no means relaxed.
The lobby was packed with people.
Most were Trainers with their Pokémon, exhaustion written all over their faces, along with some citizens waiting anxiously.
Nurse Joy, leading nurses and her Chanseys, hurried back and forth, weaving between the various people and Pokémon in need of help. Although one could see she was trying her best to maintain a professional smile, it was hard to mask her deep fatigue.
Ash and his friends managed to squeeze to the front desk and presented their Pokédexes to complete the registration.
"Nurse Joy, the situation outside..." Ash couldn't help but ask during the gap in registration.
Nurse Joy looked up, rubbing the space between her eyebrows, her voice carrying a hint of raspiness: "You are Trainers who just arrived, right?"
"The situation... is as you see it."
"Officer Jenny should have already told you; the root lies with those Pokémon at the suburban garbage dump."
She paused, pointing to one side of the lobby.
There stood several open cardboard boxes filled with a large number of anti-gas respirator masks.
"These were allocated by the League, to be distributed free of charge to all Trainers participating in maintaining order and citizens in need."
"I suggest you definitely put them on. The air outside... inhaling it for a long time is bad for both your bodies and your Pokémon. Breathing the stench enveloping the city for a short time is fine, but if it's for a long period, it's hard to say."
Misty picked up a respirator. It felt very light in her hand, seemingly made of special materials capable of effectively filtering most harmful gases and odors.
"Even the Pokémon Center needs to be equipped with this..." she muttered in a low voice, her mood complex.
Whether Poison-type Pokémon are strong or not is a rather abstract question.
Especially this kind of Pokémon whose primary type is Poison and is composed of inorganic substances.
If biological Poison-type Pokémon use toxins to cause death to enemies, then non-biological Poison-type Pokémon are much more abstract.
"Are those garbage Pokémon very strong?" Brock was more concerned about practical battle issues.
Pewter City once had similar problems, but they disappeared after waste was processed as much as possible.
How should one put it?
Before waste processing technology was developed, human domestic waste could only be piled up in landfills. And as long as garbage piles up, garbage-type Pokémon will naturally be born.
Although it is not easy for powerful Pokémon to be born among garbage-type Pokémon, if one is indeed born, it is extremely troublesome.
Nurse Joy shook her head, her tone carrying a sense of helplessness.
"No, quite the opposite."
"If we are talking solely about combat power, whether it is Grimer, Muk, or Trubbish, Garbodor... most of them have mediocre strength, singular attack methods, and lack effective combat power and intelligence."
These types of Pokémon indeed aren't very smart, possessing basically only instincts.
But because of this, they are even harder to communicate with.
"Even for a rookie trainer, as long as they can overcome... er, the psychological and physiological discomfort, and command a Pokémon with a type advantage, defeating them isn't difficult."
Even if a Muk is more powerful, because it has no brains... being constantly blasted from a distance by a Water-type Pokémon using Water Gun will scatter it.
This is probably species advantage.
Of course, if someone is foolish enough to attack with fists at close range... there is a high probability they will be crushed by the Muk.
Muk itself is a pile of sludge with no vital points; physical attacks are ninety percent ineffective.
This is true even for the Alolan Form Muk.
Those things that look like claws and teeth are actually toxin crystals... not only will you be poisoned upon touching them, but it also doesn't matter even if you shatter them.
Or rather, the Alolan Form of Muk is only called that because the era in which it appeared was in Alola.
In essence, the Alolan Form Muk is no different from a normal Muk, it's just that the chemical toxins inside its body have undergone a crystallization reaction.
This is different from the Alolan Form Raichu.
Alolan Form Raichu can only evolve in the Alola region, belonging to a regional special variant.
But the Alolan Form Muk is not... this thing can be born in any place with a lot of garbage.
A Trainer resting nearby, still covered in stains, heard their conversation and couldn't help but interject with a complaint:
"The difficulty lies in the aftermath of defeating them! You can't really use lethal force on these guys!"
"There are strict orders to avoid killing them as much as possible unless lives are threatened."
"Who knows how many toxic substances are hidden inside these Poison-type Pokémon? Once their bodies are destroyed within the city and leak out, that pollution would be far more serious than when they are alive and walking around!"
"And that is indeed the truth..."
"These types of Pokémon are truly filth monsters..."
Speaking to the end, this Trainer couldn't help but roast them.
Muk is covered in sludge from head to toe; just touching its footprints leads to invasion by toxins. It is said that the traces they pass over have deadly poison seeping in, and no grass will grow for three years.
One could say they are more harmful dead than alive.
After all, the toxins within a garbage-type Pokémon depend on the environment they live in.
If it were ordinary muddy ground, then those ordinary Grimer would simply be mud.
But Gringey City used to be an industrial city... so it's hard to say who knows exactly what toxins are inside these Muk.
The same goes for Garbodor.
They will bioaccumulate toxins from the environment.
Another Trainer also added with a deeply empathetic look:
"Flush them with water?"
"They are essentially a collection of sewage and sludge. Scattering them makes it even more troublesome. Sewage flows everywhere, and cleaning it up is deadly."
"Burn them with fire?"
"Don't mention it! The gas produced from burning... even wearing a respirator can't block that stench and irritation. It's simply manufacturing poison gas!"
"Close-quarters combat?"
"Muk's body is like slurry. Punching it is like hitting cotton, and you'll get stuck. It's disgusting to death!"
Actually, for close-quarters combat, one really has to send out inorganic-type Pokémon.
But even if inorganic Pokémon aren't afraid of poisoning, it's still hard to fight.
And even if they aren't afraid of poisoning, who knows what chemical components are inside those Muk?
Even Rock-type and Steel-type Pokémon might be corroded.
In a sense, the most suitable type to deal with them is the Ice-type.
The water content inside a Muk is very high.
You can freeze them into popsicles and then transport them away directly.
But the problem is that this living area is not a place where Ice-type Pokémon survive in large numbers.
The number of pure Ice-type Pokémon captured by Trainers is also relatively small.
Water-type Pokémon can indeed use Ice-type moves like Ice Beam.
But the intensity requirement for this is relatively high.
Ultimately, there is a question of what one is good at and what one is not.
Although the anime didn't show this point.
But in the setting, it is indeed like this.
Garbage-type Pokémon are actually very 'strong'.
In short.
Disgusting!
Highlighting that they are extremely difficult to deal with.
"Sigh..." Nurse Joy sighed.
She concluded: "So, currently the most effective and most commonly used method is to use Ice-type, Steel-type, Rock-type, or Psychic-type Pokémon—abilities that can produce substantial impact force without causing large-scale pollution—to drive them away, knock them back, and force them back into the range of the suburban garbage dump."
"But this process... is very grinding. It's like cleaning up a pile of sticky garbage that can't be beaten broken, can't be smashed to pieces, and constantly emits a foul stench."
Although it seems like a venue for Ice, Steel, and Rock types.
Our very versatile Psychic-type can still lend a hand at this time.
Directly using Confusion to lift these garbage-type Pokémon up and then throwing them back is the most effective approach.
It's better than using physical contact.
Theoretically, the most suitable people to come for support right now are Sabrina or Lorelei.
But let's not mention that Sabrina probably isn't in Saffron City right now.
Even if Sabrina were in Saffron City, it would be impossible to ask her to come and deal with this stinking trash.
—League Official: Miss Sabrina, could you trouble yourself to deal with some garbage?
—Sabrina: ...You blind thing, turn into a doll for me.
As for the other Elite Four member, Lorelei?
—League Official: Miss Lorelei, are you available?
—Lorelei: I'm in the Orange Islands. Ghosting calls.
Probably something like that? Laughs.
So the League officials can only go and ask for help from a certain someone who plays with poison.
But specifically when he can come is another matter.
Even if this place, as a gathering ground for Poison-type garbage Pokémon, seems like something arranged by that person.
But who can understand what these strong people are thinking?
Ash was deep in thought.
It sounded like the difficulty of the matter didn't lie in how powerful the enemy was, but in the extreme restrictions on the handling methods and the nauseating nature of the process itself.
This was more like a test of endurance and will, rather than a pure contest of strength.
—But... the Team Rocket that Meowth mentioned.
—Since those guys are here, it's impossible for them to do nothing.
—Where are they hiding?
Registration complete.
After receiving respirators and some basic antidotes and burn heals.
The three left the Pokémon Center, put on their gas masks, and rendezvoused with the Officer Jenny who was waiting for them.
"You understand the situation, right?" Officer Jenny looked at them, her eyes filled with apology and expectation.
"Right now, we really can't allocate enough manpower. I'm afraid I need the three of you to split up temporarily and be responsible for patrolling and expulsion tasks in different areas."
"Once you discover an invasion by garbage Pokémon, try to prioritize driving them away. If you encounter a large-scale gathering or a situation difficult to handle, use the communicator to call for help immediately."
Although they had some concerns about splitting up, the three also understood the current emergency.
Especially after determining there were no powerful Pokémon.
To say it's dangerous, it really isn't that dangerous.
It just feels like being used as coolie labor.
Everyone has become a garbage cleaner.
At this time, unless the destructive power is strong to a certain limit, otherwise there isn't much difference; type compatibility is what's most important.
Among the three, the one with the highest compatibility is Brock, because of the Rock type.
Next is Misty. Although Misty's Starmie's main type is Water, its secondary type is Psychic.
Especially that Psyduck, whose talent for psychic powers is also not bad.
Ash's side mainly has to rely on Misdreavus.
It's just that Misdreavus's image right now is a bit abstract.
Ash used a plastic bag to bag Misdreavus up... anyway, Misdreavus doesn't need to breathe, as long as contact with the outside air is cut off, it's fine.
Ash even sprayed a little perfume inside the plastic bag, significantly alleviating Miss Misdreavus's mysophobia.
After reminding each other with a few "Be careful"s, they followed different officers and set off toward their assigned areas.
Ash was assigned to the east side streets near the industrial district.
Misty was responsible for the warehouse district near the river in the south.
Brock went to the west, a zone where residential areas and small commercial streets mixed.
It sounds a bit ridiculous to say.
But the three were already considered top-tier among the Trainers in the city.
Although Gringey City is currently threatened by garbage-type Pokémon, it used to be protected by garbage-type Pokémon.
Precisely because there was a large gathering of garbage-type Pokémon, there were no attacks on the city by wild Pokémon or the like.
After all, just as these Trainers feel garbage-type Pokémon are hard to deal with... and this is with humans having the support of hospitals and Pokémon Centers.
If wild Pokémon were to fight these garbage-type Pokémon and get poisoned, there really would be nowhere to cry.
[Author's Note / System Message]
When you can't figure out how to make a game's optimization any worse:
The city map of Pokémon Z-A is a single model without any segmentation.
It contains 355,002 vertices and 252,799 faces.
And because the entire map is one whole model,
The model culling technologies existing on the market are all unusable.
Which means that for every second you open the game on this map,
You are using your machine to render the entire map.
____
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