Chapter 21: Gringy City
Lyra and her companions arrived at a place called Gringy City. Lyra was carrying Cubone in her arms, with Pichu and Pikachu perched on her shoulders. The Pokémon she had with her at the moment were Pichu, Pikachu, Cubone, Cresselia, Butterfree, Shiny Vulpix, Rapidash, Shiny Ditto, Vaporeon, and Espeon.
Lyra did not like Gringy City; it was a heavily polluted place with thick gray smoke rising into the air.
"I don't like this place," Lyra said bluntly. "It's filthy and polluted, and there's a real stench in the air."
"I hate it too," Misty agreed. "There seems to be nothing but factories, and there are no people around."
"This city used to be a livelier place," Brock noted, "but they went overboard with the factories. The pollution eventually ruined the air and water."
"Come on," Lyra urged. "Let's find the Pokémon Center. I can't stand staying out here, and I don't find this place safe for Pokémon either."
Misty and Brock agreed, and they headed to the Pokémon Center immediately. It was quite late when they arrived, and Nurse Joy was not happy to see them out at such an hour. Lyra, Misty, and Brock booked a room and went to bed.
"For once, I'm glad to be inside rather than outside," Lyra remarked.
"So am I," Misty agreed. "The sights and smells of this place were making me feel sick."
"I suggest we leave immediately as soon as daylight hits," Lyra suggested. Brock and Misty couldn't have agreed more.
Just then, all the lights in the Pokémon Center went out.
"What happened?" Lyra groaned. "A blackout?"
Lyra, Misty, and Brock went to investigate and found Nurse Joy looking worried and upset. There were several Pokémon in incubators, and without power, they were in grave danger.
"If the power doesn't come back on soon," Nurse Joy said, fearing for her patients, "these Pokémon might die."
"We need to sort this out at once," Lyra declared.
Lyra, Misty, and Brock left the Pokémon Center to find the source of the power failure. They ran into Officer Jenny, who told them, "I've been trying to contact the power plant, but no one is answering."
Officer Jenny pointed them toward the power plant, and the trio rushed over as quickly as possible. It didn't take them long to find the building; it was the largest structure in Gringy City, featuring massive chimneys belching thick smoke.
"Something tells me this is where most of the pollution comes from," Lyra observed.
Misty noticed a stream nearby and recoiled. "Ugh, look at that. This water is as filthy as the air." The water was a murky greenish-blue.
"Come on," Lyra said. "Let's enter the building."
What they didn't see was a purple sludge living in the stream, though Lyra sensed something strange with her Aura. The inside of the power plant was pitch black, but luckily the gang had torches with them.
"Okay, what should we do?" Lyra asked.
"I suggest we find the main power room," Brock replied. "There might be people in there."
Just as they were about to search for the room, they encountered a gray, spherical metal Pokémon with horseshoe magnets on its sides and a single large eye. It had three Phillips-head screws on its body—two near the bottom and one on top acting like an antenna.
"Hey, it's a Pokémon," Lyra said, reaching for her Pokédex.
Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon.
The electromagnetic waves emitted by the units at the sides of its head generate anti gravity, allowing it to float.
"Hey," Misty said, "you don't suppose this Magnemite caused the blackout, do you?"
"I don't think so," Brock answered. "I don't think one Magnemite could do that by itself."
"Hey Magnemite, I don't suppose you know what happened, do you?" Lyra asked.
Magnemite stared at Lyra, then suddenly froze and flew off in a hurry.
"Hey, what happened?" Lyra asked, confused.
Just then, Brock caught a whiff of something foul. "Hey, do you smell that?" he asked, holding his nose. Lyra and Misty smelled it too and recoiled in disgust. Behind them stood several slimy, amorphous blob-like Pokémon made of living purple sludge. They had large eyes with beady pupils and gaping mouths with gray tongues.
"These things must be why Magnemite left in a hurry," Brock said.
"Yuck, they stink!" Misty added, holding her nose.
"What are they?" Lyra asked, checking her Pokédex.
Grimer, the Sludge Pokémon.
It was born when sludge in a dirty stream was exposed to the moon's X-rays. It appears among filth.
Lyra was disgusted by the smell but stayed quiet, knowing that insults might anger the Grimer. Unfortunately, Misty yelled about how terrible they smelled, which immediately enraged them. Suddenly, a much larger, sticky amorphous sludge Pokémon appeared among the Grimer. It had an enormous mouth and strands of ooze connecting its jaws.
"That doesn't look good," Lyra said, pointing her Pokédex at the new arrival.
Muk, the Sludge Pokémon.
The evolved form of Grimer. A toxic fluid seeps from its body that instantly kills plants and trees on contact.
Muk ordered the Grimer to charge at the gang.
"Now you've done it, Misty!" Lyra shouted as they all turned to run. Around a corner, they ran into two men in blue jumpsuits who worked at the plant.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" one of the men asked.
"Getting away from the Grimer!" Misty shouted back.
The men saw the sludge Pokémon as well and led the group into the main power room. Brock quickly shut and locked the door to keep them out.
"Why is there a blackout?" Lyra asked the workers. "It's causing trouble at the Pokémon Center. The Pokémon there might die without power."
"It's because of the Grimer," one man explained. "They've plugged up the water intake, and our generator won't spin without the water flow."
Suddenly, loud bangs echoed against the door. "Oh no!" Brock cried, struggling to hold the door shut. "The Grimer are trying to get in!"
"You kids are Pokémon trainers, right? Use your Pokémon to fight them," one worker suggested. "If you do, they might run away and the generator will work again."
"Okay, let's do it!" Lyra said. She sent out Butterfree and Espeon and ordered them both to use Psychic, since Psychic-types are strong against Poison-types.
Then, an air vent above them popped open and the Magnemite from earlier reappeared.
"Are you here to help us?" Lyra asked.
Magnemite nodded, and was soon joined by more Magnemite and several Pokémon that looked like three Magnemite linked together in a triangle. Lyra looked them up.
Magneton, the Magnet Pokémon.
The evolved form of Magnemite. Its heavy gravitational power allows it to float, and it can emit powerful magnetic and electric fields.
The Magnemites and Magnetons fired powerful Thunder Shocks at the Grimer. Both the ones at the door and the ones blocking the water intake were hit. The Grimer fled, the water began to flow, and the power surged back on. The workers were delighted and immediately returned to their machines.
However, Misty realized the Muk was still there. Lyra had Butterfree and Espeon hit it with Psybeam, followed by Thunder Shocks from Magnemite, Pichu, and Pikachu. When Muk tried to move again, Lyra told Pichu to use Volt Tackle. The attack blasted Muk into the sky and out of sight.
With the crisis over, Lyra asked the lead Magnemite if it wanted to join her. It agreed, and Lyra successfully caught it.
The next morning, the trio spoke with Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy before leaving.
"The Grimers and Muk were in the stream because the water is as filthy as the city is," Misty pointed out.
"Yeah, this place needs a real cleanup," Lyra added.
"If you clean up the air and water, the city will be as good as new and much livelier," Brock finished.
"We promise we will," Nurse Joy smiled.
"Bye, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny!" Lyra called out. But as she turned to leave, something grabbed her, causing her to fall face-first.
"Oww! What? Who grabbed me?" Lyra whined. She turned to see her "attackers."
One was a cream-colored bipedal Pokémon with red markings and a plus sign on its cheeks. The second looked identical but with blue markings and a minus sign. The last two were pink, feline Pokémon with crescent-shaped markings on their faces and tufted ears.
"Plusplusle!" "Minminun!" "Nyaaa!" they chirped.
"Hey, what Pokémon are they?" Brock asked in wonder.
"I don't know, but they are so cute!" Misty squealed.
"Ouch... let's find out," Lyra said, holding her X-Dexter toward them.
Plusle, the Cheering Pokémon.
It loves to cheer for its fellow Pokémon and creates sparkling pom-poms by shorting out the electrical current from its palms. Found in the Hoenn region.
Minun, the Cheering Pokémon.
It cares more for its teammates than itself. Its electrical current promotes blood circulation and energizes its target. Found in the Hoenn region.
Skitty, the Kitten Pokémon.
It gets completely caught up in pursuing any moving objects that catch its eye. Found in the Hoenn region.
"Oh," Lyra said, "so we have a Plusle, a Minun, and two Skittys."
"Yeah, but why did they grab you like that?" Misty asked.
"I think they want to go with you, Lyra," Brock answered with a smile.
"Take them; they are still wild Pokémon," Nurse Joy explained. "I found them injured and treated them. Other trainers wanted them, but they refused to go. It seems they were waiting to choose their own trainer, and they picked you."
Lyra's eyes widened. "Really? I don't mind at all." She smiled at them, but then she sensed the Aura of one Skitty was a bit down. She realized why. "Skitty," Lyra called out to them, "which of you doesn't like to battle?"
"Nya," one Skitty replied.
Lyra smiled and rubbed its head. "It's okay, little one. I don't like forcing Pokémon to battle if they don't want to. How about you stay with my mum? She'd love to have another companion."
The Skitty brightened up immediately. "Nyanyanyaa!" it exclaimed, waving its tail.
"Alright, I'll take that as a yes." Lyra took out four Poké Balls. "Okay everyone, in you go! And Skitty... I'll tell Professor Oak you'll be staying with my mum." They all nodded and entered their Poké Balls. Lyra placed a moon-shaped sticker on one ball to mark it for her mother.
Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy thanked the kids again and bid them farewell. Meanwhile, at the lab, Professor Oak received Lyra's Magnemite and was impressed by her rare finds. When the other four arrived, he was even happier to see the Hoenn native Plusle, Minun, and Skittys. He immediately sent the marked Poké Ball to Lyra's mother and began his research on the others.
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Author's Notes:
1. I think Magnemite would have been a great Pokémon for Ash in the anime.
2. I didn't want Lyra to capture a Muk like in the anime, so she got four Hoenn Pokémon instead!
Thank you for reading this chapter!
See you in the next episode of Pika Ball Z! ⚡