In the dark sewer, the air was damp and oppressive.
Even wearing a gas mask, that peculiar scent—a mixture of rotting organic matter and chemical agents—still managed to permeate slightly. This was especially true just now, when Ash's movements had been quite vigorous.
Riyong was bound by the power of Misdreavus's Curse, leaning against the cold concrete wall. The expression on his face was a mixture of unwillingness and a near-fanatical obsession.
...In short, he didn't look like a normal person.
"You don't understand..."
"You don't understand at all what Gringey City used to be like, nor do you understand what the Muk and Grimer have sacrificed for this city!"
Riyong's voice carried an agitated echo.
Ash didn't rush him; he simply stood quietly opposite him. He knew that although the man before him was acting radically, he might be able to provide key information.
Pikachu crouched vigilantly on his shoulder. Misdreavus, encased in a plastic bag, floated curiously to the side.
"Over a decade ago, Gringey City was the industrial pearl of Kanto!" Riyong's eyes seemed to see the distant past. "Factories ran day and night, chimneys stood like forests, producing all kinds of materials needed by the League... Prosperous, busy, but a price was paid."
His voice lowered, carrying a trace of deep regret. "Factories discharged wastewater and residue without restraint."
"The sky was always gray, the rivers were dyed in many colors, emitting pungent odors, and even the seawater at the estuary became turbid..."
"This city almost became a dead land."
"People began to flee, factories closed down, and prosperity turned to emptiness in the blink of an eye, leaving only dilapidated factory buildings and this thoroughly polluted land."
Riyong's voice grew lower and lower as he spoke, his mood seeming to plummet as well.
Ash imagined that scene. A city of despair, consumed by its own development. This was starkly different from the other clean and bright cities he knew.
"And then?" Ash couldn't help but press, "The Grimer..."
"They were born from that polluted sludge on the seabed!" Riyong's tone suddenly took on a flavor that was almost fanatical. "It was this land that gave birth to them!"
"They were here from the beginning, crawling along the seaside of this city... and then the miracle began."
His voice became excited. "They started devouring those headache-inducing industrial wastes and cleaning up the sludge clogging the river channels!"
"Their bodies were like something born specifically to purify this land!"
"Although the process was very slow, the sky did indeed turn back to blue bit by bit, and the rivers began to flow again, even if the water quality was still terrible..."
"...It was them who gave Gringey City a second life!"
The world of Pokémon is extremely magical. Perhaps the birth of garbage-type Pokémon is just a part of the era. As times progress, even more Pokémon will be born into this world.
Ash looked thoughtful. "And after that? The city revived?"
If what Riyong said was true, then the Grimer population indeed had a grace upon Gringey City.
"Sort of... but it was no longer an industrial city," Riyong's tone carried a note of mockery. "The League said they found a new development path, positioning this place as the garbage disposal terminal for the Kanto region."
"Trash from Saffron City, Celadon City, Vermilion City... and even cities further away, is transported here by cargo ships for landfill, sorting, and partial recycling."
Due to energy issues—which are not an issue in this world as there are plenty of Electric-type Pokémon to provide power—waste-to-energy generation has no future. The final practice is centralized piling and burial.
"Grimer and their evolved form, Muk, as well as Trubbish and Garbodor who later adapted to the environment here—they became natural garbage disposal workers!"
"They devour the trash, transforming the massive amounts of waste into a part of themselves, maintaining the city's operation!"
He suddenly raised his head, staring at Ash with burning eyes. "But what about now?"
"The League came up with some bullshit new technology! Saying something about more efficient, more environmentally friendly disposal methods!"
"The trash being shipped in is less and less every year!"
"They are trying to burn the bridge after crossing it!"
"They want to kick us and the Muk aside!"
Riyong's voice trembled with anger.
Although the League was still transporting large amounts of garbage here overall, after the new technology was pointed out, some cities also wanted to solve their garbage problems themselves. After all, assuming there is no shortage of energy, the cost of turning waste into treasure is unexpectedly low.
Since that's the case, why send their own city's garbage to other cities?
Gringey City could process the garbage and then resell it. From the League's perspective, it was a classified division of labor and cooperation between different cities... which could also be considered compensation for Gringey City's past contributions.
But from the perspective of certain cities, it was different. Garbage that could be processed for 20 pokedollars. Spending 20 pokedollars to ship it out. Then buying it back for 20 pokedollars.
This back-and-forth was purely operating at a loss.
After all, it was under the League's leadership from the very beginning that the various cities shipped their garbage over. Grimer and Muk would gradually die out due to a lack of sufficient food after the city evolved.
The initial League didn't want to see these meritorious contributors die like that, so they forcibly mobilized garbage from various cities for classified disposal processing. Most high-ranking Trainers silently allowed this.
This was the League's perspective.
"Without enough garbage, what will the Muk eat?"
"They will starve to death!"
"This city was built relying on them, and now we have to watch helplessly as they perish?"
What kind of logic is that!
From Riyong's perspective, this was the situation. As for how much of this rhetoric was emotional and how much was biased, Ash still needed more verification.
Ash fell silent for a moment, digesting this information.
From Riyong's point of view, this indeed looked like a betrayal. Ash also summarized the news from this information—the League had indeed done a lot of what it should do; the Kanto League had already tried its best.
But some things cannot be solved just by trying one's best. After all, garbage accumulation and such... the entire world's energy is in surplus... every city actually has excess energy that can be used to process garbage.
Finally, Ash asked a very practical question: "But... Riyong, don't you think... they are very smelly?"
"Living in such an environment, aren't you uncomfortable?"
This was the most direct feeling Ash had along the way, and it was also the reason why the vast majority of people could not tolerate Gringey City. The population of the entire city was already much smaller than before. Gringey City had declined.
Unexpectedly, Riyong froze for a moment, and then actually let out a short laugh. That laugh sounded somewhat bizarre in the empty sewer.
"Smelly?" He tilted his head, seeming to carefully savor the word. "At first, I was a little unaccustomed to it..."
"But after a long time, you'll discover that this smell... is actually not bad."
Riyong said this very candidly, but this made Ash struggle to keep his composure.
Ash: "...?"
Pikachu: "Pika?"
"...?" Even the floating Misdreavus blinked her eyes in confusion.
Riyong seemed to fall into some kind of memory, his tone becoming somewhat ethereal: "That is the scent of life, the trace of struggle, the proof that this city and its guardians are closely connected."
"Every subtle change in the smell represents different wastes being decomposed, being transformed... This is a kind of... hmm, very fulfilling fragrance."
Riyong spoke his feelings. He really thought so.
Ash was instantly speechless. He looked at Riyong's serious, even slightly intoxicated expression.
He finally confirmed it... the person before him was a thorough, uniquely tasteful Muk enthusiast. He couldn't understand it, but given that the other party hadn't directly harmed anyone besides secretly luring Muk into the city, he could only reluctantly say, "...Alright, I can't agree, but I respect your... preferences."
Anyway, Ash certainly couldn't agree with the other party's methods... he would still have to catch him and send him to the police station later.
Hearing the word "preferences," Riyong seemed to relax even more. He felt as if he had found a kindred spirit, even though Ash wasn't one.
Riyong's chatterbox opened completely: "Hmph, I knew ordinary people couldn't understand. But it doesn't matter, the members of our 'Sludge Friends Society' all understand!"
Riyong seemed to have no filter on his mouth, saying everything. This easily allowed Ash to obtain the intelligence he wanted.
"Sludge Friends Society?" Ash keenly grasped this new term.
"That's right!" Riyong carried a few hints of pride. "We are a group of people who truly understand and love this city's history!"
"We miss that era of roaring machines, and we are even more grateful for everything the Grimer clan has done for this city!"
"We meet regularly, share insights, and research how to better coexist with them..."
He spoke incessantly, obviously full of affection for this organization.
"...So we resolutely oppose the League's current plan!"
"They just want to turn this place into another clean but featureless ordinary city!"
"They forgot their roots!"
"We demand that a special protection zone be designated outside the city, to build large sludge ponds and regularly dump processed garbage suitable for them to eat!"
"We must guarantee that the garbage disposal plant occupies a core position in Gringey City's planning; it absolutely cannot be cancelled!"
"This is respect for history, and repayment for kindness!"
This was Riyong's goal and demand. The other various actions were just means to an end.
It was hard to say if this behavior was excessive, but they were definitely a minority group within the entire city. Ash felt that most people probably didn't want to live together with Muk.
It was just that as Ash listened, the doubts in his heart didn't dissolve but instead grew larger and larger.
Missing the past was understandable, and being grateful to Grimer also made sense, but this kind of organized behavior with clear demands, even going so far as to adopt methods that disrupted the city's existing order to achieve their goals... this was a bit off.
He finally found the key point of the problem! This so-called "Sludge Friends Society" was probably not that simple.
Would an ordinary hobbyist club do things like secretly feeding and inducing Muk to breed in the sewers, aggravating the urban crisis? This looked more like a premeditated, organized act of pressure.
The reason is, don't look at what they say. Look at what they do.
This extremely radical behavior was obviously not the work of kind-hearted people.
...Of course, it was also possible they were being used. For example, by Team Rocket.
Ash felt that the Team Rocket Meowth mentioned as having come to Gringey City might be doing something similar, acting as the financial backer behind the scenes.
Riyong looked at Ash, who had fallen into deep thought, thinking his "heartfelt words" had finally moved him, and a look of expectation appeared on his face.
"Well? Now you understand, right?"
"We aren't destroyers; we want to save the true soul of this city!"
"Let me go, and we can fight for the rights the Grimer deserve together!"
Riyong felt that the Ash before him could be persuaded, and could even join his group. This was an inexplicable affinity. Otherwise, normally speaking, he wouldn't have divulged so much.
Ash raised his head, looking at Riyong with a complex gaze. This person might have his convictions, and perhaps he truly believed he was doing the right thing, but his methods were wrong, and the motives of the organization behind him were likely far more complicated than he knew.
...It wasn't completely impossible for Team Rocket to do good deeds. But the probability of Team Rocket doing good deeds was indeed relatively low.
Ash had always believed that rashness was indeed closer to bravery than cowardice. But he also deeply understood: "Rashness without thought often only leads to a worse outcome."
He couldn't just let behavior that might endanger the safety of the entire city slide based on a one-sided story.
"Riyong," Ash spoke slowly, his voice sounding somewhat muffled through the mask. "I'm very grateful you told me this. I understand your feelings for this city and the Grimer..."
Ash was thinking about his phrasing. If it were for a piece of trash like Cross, he would indeed have no psychological burden. But in this current situation, Ash was more conflicted.
A smile appeared on Riyong's face; he thought he had succeeded. But Ash's next sentence froze the smile on his face.
"But, sorry." Ash still spoke his thoughts.
"Wha—"
Before Riyong could react, he saw a ghostly light rise once again in the eyes of the Misdreavus on Ash's shoulder.
An irresistible drowsiness instantly submerged his brain like a tide, his eyelids becoming as heavy as if lead weights were hung on them. It was Hypnosis!
It had to be said that Psychic-type moves were truly useful. Even Misdreavus, a Ghost-type, liked to use Psychic-type moves very much; Confusion was a typical example.
Riyong tried hard to open his eyes, wanting to question Ash, but his consciousness had already sunk into darkness. His head tilted, and Riyong leaned against the wall, completely losing consciousness.
"Mai mai?" Misdreavus floated in front of Ash, calling out as if claiming credit, indicating the mission was complete.
"Good job, Mengmeng." Ash patted her gently. "Partner, we have to take him to Officer Jenny. This matter must be handled by the police."
Ash's stance was different from Riyong's. Ash was a League-registered Pokémon Trainer, and having been mentored by Professor Oak, he held a proper League standpoint. He couldn't stand solely on the side of Pokémon or solely on the side of humans.
He would only stand on the League's position, and the League's position was—the harmonious coexistence of humans and Pokémon. Anyone who hindered this should be run over. No matter who they were.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, expressing agreement.
Ash looked at the unconscious Riyong, his mood somewhat heavy. He believed the parts of Riyong's words regarding history might be true; the Grimer clan perhaps really did make contributions to Gringey City.
But the solution was absolutely not to drag the city back into the quagmire of the past using this extreme method, nor was it to have an organization with dubious motives manipulating things in the dark.
Team Rocket might not do bad things, but it was unlikely that Team Rocket wasn't doing bad things.
So, how to balance history, ecology, and urban development, and how to properly settle these Pokémon that relied on garbage to survive... this was a complex social issue. It required the League, experts, and citizens to discuss together and find a scientific, humane, and sustainable plan. Not achieving goals by creating chaos.
Ash felt that this kind of problem couldn't be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach.
"...Really. Compared to these troublesome messy matters, I feel that simple Pokémon battles are easier."
Ash hoisted Riyong up, taking Pikachu and Misdreavus back along the original path toward the sewer exit. Fortunately, the guy wasn't too heavy. Ash also helped him recall those two Grimer.
The dim light stretched their shadows long, and footsteps echoed in the silent pipes.
Ash knew that finding Officer Jenny was just the first step. Regarding the "Sludge Friends Society," regarding Gringey City's polluted past and difficult present...
He still didn't know the full picture. Even if he knew the full picture, he still had to come up with a solution.
Anyway. Big headache.
____
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