Near a sewer entrance in Gringey City.
The smell in the air was becoming even thicker; Ash felt as though it was penetrating right through his gas mask.
Ash furrowed his brows tightly.
He watched as several massive Muk slowly squirmed before his eyes. Their purple-black, slimy bodies reflected a greasy sheen in the dim light.
...Speaking of which, what's quite interesting is that... Pokémon like Grimer and Muk are not particularly aggressive.
Especially the Alolan Form Muk; their personalities can be described as quite friendly.
...Provided they aren't hungry, that is.
Right now, this group of Muk that had entered the city was actually quite easy to deal with.
"Pika pi..." Pikachu stood on Ash's shoulder, also wearing a small mask, the electric sacs on his cheeks faintly flickering with sparks. Misdreavus floated on Ash's other side, curiously sizing up these big fellows that didn't look very 'delicious'.
Miss Misdreavus hated this kind of dirty stench, but she was currently encased in a plastic bag.
So it didn't matter at all~
"Alright, big guys."
"This isn't where you should be staying. We have to find a way to guide you to a more suitable habitat..."
Ash muttered to himself while thinking of a countermeasure.
Dealing with Muk was inherently a thorny task.
They bore no malice.
But their habits and very existence would cause an impact on the urban environment.
He couldn't just solve it by killing them, right?
That wouldn't be very good.
However, just as he was preparing to act, a scene caught in his peripheral vision instantly made his nerves go taut.
In the deep shadows of the sewer.
A filthy, sneaky figure wearing a hoodie was pulling handfuls of something that looked like specially made feed from a large bag and scattering it toward the group of Grimer.
Even more alarming was that while scattering the bait, the person was consciously guiding the Muk toward the deeper, more complex pipe networks of the sewer system.
...At a time when Gringey City is under attack.
...There's actually someone dragging down the city's governance efforts?
Alarm bells rang loudly in Ash's mind.
"What is he doing?"
Pokémon are magical creatures with all sorts of bizarre ecological habits.
Take Grimer and Muk for example.
They were originally born after polluted sludge on the seabed was irradiated by X-rays from a strange moon.
And their method of reproduction is even more unique.
They can reproduce via Pokémon Eggs through mating like other Pokémon.
But at the same time, under specific conditions—especially when energy and nutrients are sufficient—Muk themselves can also produce new, smaller Grimer through fission.
Just like cockroaches; seeing one means there is a huge swarm.
In short, this is a considerably troublesome Pokémon.
This discovery made Ash feel his scalp tingle, a chill shooting up his spine.
If someone were secretly rearing and continuously feeding Muk inside the sewer system... the consequences would be simply unimaginable.
Muk and Grimer aren't picky about their living environment at all; on the contrary, the dirtier the environment and the richer it is in garbage, the more of a paradise it is for them.
And how could a human city, especially a large one like Gringey City, not have a massive and complex underground drainage system?
That place is simply a heaven for them to breed!
Even if the sewer's discharge pipes are strictly isolated from the outside world, it's the same.
This kind of initial protective design can only guard against brainless Pokémon like Grimer, but it can't guard against humans intentionally causing sabotage.
Originally, when designed, Grimer, Muk, Trubbish, and Garbodor were strictly restricted to the garbage dump.
Once a scale is formed.
If the Grimer population expands exponentially inside the sewers, they might corrode the pipes, block the system, and even trigger more serious public health and environmental issues.
By then, trying to clean it up would be ten times, a hundred times harder than now... or perhaps impossible to solve at all.
More importantly, compared to the garbage Pokémon in the landfill...
...If these Grimer and Muk start eating shit.
...Ash felt that even he couldn't stand that.
The entire city filled with Grimer and Muk that grew up eating shit?
Oh my god!!
How could such a horrifying thing exist!!
A broom dipped in shit makes one as invincible as Lu Bu. Just thinking of a city's unrivaled Lu Bu... presumably, the entire Gringey City would be ruined by then.
Like Lu Bu reborn. A toilet mop dipped in shit.
A Grimer's body composition is determined by the food it eats.
"I must stop him!" Ash instantly made a decision in his heart.
He absolutely did not want that kind of despairing future.
If he had to live in that kind of city...
If he had to solve that kind of problem...
Guh—
He'd rather just die.
Just thinking about that future made his scalp go numb.
Perhaps sensing Ash's gaze, the figure secretly feeding them stiffened, then abruptly turned his head.
Under the hood was a slightly panicked and wary face.
He saw Ash and the Pokémon beside him, especially the Pikachu on his shoulder poised for action, and immediately realized the matter might have been exposed.
"Tsk, a meddlesome brat!"
The man cursed in a low voice, hesitating not a moment to abandon enticing the Muk further. He turned around, intending to flee into the depths of the sewer along his predetermined route.
"Stop!" Ash shouted. How could he let him run away so easily? "Pikachu, use Thunder Wave to stop him!"
"Pika—chu!" Pikachu reacted extremely fast, the electric sacs on his cheeks bursting with fine, dense golden currents.
A wave of weak electromagnetic radiation instantly spread out, aiming to paralyze the opponent's ability to move rather than cause damage.
Well, Pikachu himself didn't want to use electricity that was too strong.
You have to realize he was wearing a gas mask on his face right now.
Just the thought of the mask getting damaged by high-intensity discharge was something even Pikachu himself couldn't bear.
However, the man seemed extremely familiar with the sewer terrain.
With a duck of his body, he drilled into a side tunnel. The Thunder Wave struck the concrete wall, sending up a few sparks.
As he ran, he quickly fished out two Poké Balls from his waist and threw them backward without even looking.
"Come out!"
"Block them!"
Red light flashed.
Two Muk with slightly different forms appeared in the narrow passage.
Their body color was primarily green.
Thankfully it wasn't shit-yellow.
"They're actually the Alolan Form!" Ash's heart tightened.
This form of Grimer is also classified as a special Alolan regional variant.
Even though theoretically speaking, they can be produced anywhere in the world.
Who asked Pokémon to be such magical creatures? Wherever it's registered is where it counts, right?
However, this form of Grimer doesn't smell too bad, which can barely be counted as a good thing, right?
Ordinary purple Grimer smell very bad.
But colorful Grimer usually have a very light scent, and some have no smell at all.
As soon as these two Alolan Grimer appeared, they spread their slimy arms, attempting to block Ash and Pikachu's path.
"Hmph, you think this can stop us?" Ash's eyes narrowed; the opponent clearly underestimated his strength.
"Pikachu, they aren't strong. Use Thunder Shock!"
"Watch the power control!"
Although this was a sewer.
But actually, the ventilation was quite good, so there definitely wasn't any methane prone to exploding here. This wasn't some deep-layer sewer.
It was simply a sewer right under the roadside.
There were many storm drains nearby.
Even the sewer everyone was in right now was mainly for passage and flowing sewage.
"Pika!!"
Fine, fragmented golden electric light surged forth from Pikachu's body, instantly illuminating the dim sewer.
He controlled the voltage intensity well, preparing to increase it gradually.
The current accurately hit the two Alolan Grimer.
They let out dull "pu pu" sounds, their bodies trembling violently amidst the electricity.
Their viscous bodies didn't seem to have excellent resistance to electricity; they barely struggled before they were shocked into limpness, turning into two puddles of slightly twitching mud, having lost their ability to battle.
There was no helping it; the water content in a Grimer's body is too high.
"What?!" The man fleeing ahead heard the commotion behind him.
Looking back, he glimpsed the two Grimer he had released being instant-killed in a single encounter, and a look of unbelievable shock appeared on his face.
He obviously hadn't anticipated that this Trainer with a Pikachu would be so strong.
With this delay, Ash had already rushed over like an arrow released from the string.
He had already learned psychic powers in Saffron City and mastered Agility.
Some time ago, he had even learned Aura with Lucario.
And all of these had been fused together with Shandou's help, allowing him to exert his full power.
So Ash's current speed was extremely fast; in just a few strides, he closed the distance.
Seeing that escape was hopeless, a trace of viciousness flashed across the man's face, and he seemed to want to fish something else out of his pocket.
But Ash wouldn't give him another chance.
[Mengmeng, use Curse to bind him!]
Since Ash was wearing a gas mask, he chose to communicate telepathically with Misdreavus.
Running at high speed while wearing a gas mask did make breathing a bit difficult... speaking was even harder.
"Mai mai~!" Misdreavus let out an ethereal laugh laced with mischief, her eyes glowing with a ghostly purple light.
A stream of invisible Ghost-type energy, carrying an ominous aura, silently wrapped around the man's limbs.
The arm he had just raised instantly became incredibly heavy, as if filled with lead.
His whole person seemed to have sunk into an invisible mire, his movements becoming extremely sluggish and stiff.
Finally, he was rendered completely immobile, with only his eyeballs still able to turn in terror.
Ghost-type Pokémon are just that terrifying.
"Success!" Ash stepped forward with a stride, firmly grabbing the man's arm to prevent any further strange movements.
"Let go of me! You brat!" The man struggled, but his body was bound by the power of Misdreavus's Curse, and he couldn't exert any strength at all.
His face was filled with anger and confusion, but mostly unwillingness regarding his predicament.
He stared dead at Ash, especially at the Misdreavus floating to the side, and growled low: "You... what did you do to me?"
"Why can't I move?!"
"I clearly... I clearly should have extremely high poison resistance!"
Anyone who dares to mix with garbage-type Pokémon wouldn't have poor poison resistance.
Grimer and Muk themselves are extremely dangerous Pokémon.
Too poisonous.
However, if specially bred, there are breeds that are completely non-toxic and odorless to humans.
This kind of pure Grimer is very suitable to be kept as a pet.
It's just that the rearing conditions and difficulty are very high; one careless mistake and it turns into a polluted Muk.
The captured man's words carried intense confusion and a trace of imperceptible arrogance, seeming extremely confident in his own poison resistance, believing ordinary means simply couldn't subdue him.
He actually thought he had been taken down by some toxin.
...This also showed that this person didn't have much knowledge; he actually failed to recognize that Misdreavus was a Ghost-type.
Hearing this, Ash raised his eyebrows slightly, catching the key information in his words.
Extremely high poison resistance?
This seemed to explain why he dared to make close contact with and feed Pokémon like Muk, which were inherently toxic.
The mucus secreted and gases emitted by Muk indeed often contain various toxins; perhaps the bodies of long-term contacts would generate a certain tolerance?
It's also possible that those who couldn't handle it are all dead.
"Poison resistance?"
Ash's gaze swept over the opponent's posture, which looked somewhat comical due to his inability to move.
"You think Misdreavus used poison?"
"It seems your understanding of Pokémon is still quite shallow."
He patted Misdreavus's small head, and Misdreavus swayed her body smugly.
Ash continued to explain: "Misdreavus used Curse, which is a Ghost-type move!"
"It directly affects your spirit and life energy, making you feel exhausted and heavy, thereby binding your actions."
"This is a completely different matter from whether your body can resist poison!"
"No matter how high your poison resistance is, what use is it against the energy erosion of a Ghost-type?"
There is a fact that must be admitted: Ash is actually quite chatty, sometimes having a bit of an explanation fetish.
Especially when he feels the situation is relatively safe and there is no threat.
The man's pupils constricted violently; his face first showed astonishment, then revealed realization and a hint of defeat.
"You are very long-winded!"
"Really meddlesome."
"If you have something to say, say it quickly, or else just take me to Officer Jenny!"
A bit like a hooligan, acting like a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water.
"Huh?" Ash also found it ridiculous; indeed, meeting many people means you'll eventually meet weirdos. "I'm the one who wants to ask you, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Ash's mood, however, did not relax in the slightest.
Catching a specific executor was certainly important, but the hidden problems behind this were even more worrying.
Who instructed him to do this?
What is his purpose?
Besides him, is anyone else doing the same thing?
The Muk that have already been guided into the depths of the sewers—what is their situation now?
Could they have already started fission reproduction?
"Gringey City has fallen to this state, yet you still want to help the Grimer breed?"
"Once their numbers explode, this city is finished, okay!"
Ash was very certain that the intelligence of these Grimer and Muk was far inferior to the Tentacruel from before.
If one says Tentacruel could still live in harmony with humans under the constraints of agreed conditions.
Then these Grimer and Muk cannot do that.
Because they don't have enough brains.
"What do you know!" Seemingly stimulated by Ash's words, the man's voice grew louder.
"This city was built relying on Grimer and Muk!"
"Then on the day this city no longer needs Grimer and Muk, this city should also be destroyed!"
These words made Ash feel inexplicably baffled.
Is there another secret hidden behind this?
But clearly, his intelligence came from Officer Jenny and was verified by Nurse Joy.
That means it is indeed correct intelligence, but is something hidden?
"...I indeed don't know much, so can you explain it clearly to me?" Ash didn't rush to argue.
If he could learn more things, that would be even better.
"?" The man was also somewhat confused by Ash's reaction.
"...You seem different from the other Pokémon Trainers I've met?"
"Hmph... forget it."
"My name is Riyong."
This mysterious guy finally announced his name.
A spear dipped in shit, whoever gets poked dies.
A water gun filled with piss, whoever gets sprayed screams.
Getting off work like the wind, whoever gets hit goes crazy.
____
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