Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 19: Emergency

It was rare that Amber and Trip shared a day off. They took Camden for a picnic in the University of Orre's scenic grounds decorated with palms, cacti and fountains. Zubat usually hated sunlight, but the new member of their family was too attached to Camden to stay in its Poké Ball.

'It'll be good for her,' Alfie assured them over a video call, 'She has to get used to it as a Zubat, or it'll bother her as a Crobat.'

He would know. He must have been Zubat's #1 fan, although that wasn't hard. Few people chose it as a favourite Pokémon.

Camden and Zubat abandoned their sandwich to chase a wild Pidove through the sprinklers. Zubat certainly seemed happy to be out. Water slopped from its ears and Camden's hair onto the picnic blanket and food when they plopped back down. Trip grimaced.

'What's that smell?'

He tried to wriggle free of Amber's grip, but she was too used to his flailing. She held him still to check his shoes.

'Have you stepped on a poo?'

'No.'

'Done a poo?'

'No!'

Trip checked Zubat, but it was already learning not to behave as it did in the wild. Amber sniffed her arms.

'I think it's the water. Minging! I'll have to tell someone.'

She tried to wipe the smell off Camden, Zubat and herself with wet wipes, but it was so pungent it lingered. She didn't want to go home already. They only just set out their picnic... though no-one wanted the soaked food, other than the Pidove who snatched Camden's half-eaten sandwich.

It wasn't just them. Amber's phone rang. The only exceptions to her 'do not disturb' mode were Trip, her sewage worker colleagues and, in light of the raid at the lab, Jovi. She still had a normal ringtone. The theme that played when Cipher kidnapped Professor Krane in the Gale of Darkness movie was reserved for sewage emergencies.

'I only just dealt with the last wet wipe invasion...'

Trip was as surprised as Amber. 'What's Teslor flushed now?'

'If it's him, I swear...'

The colleague who called, Trefor, sounded like his whole body was shaking as much as his voice.

'A-A-Amber! Help! Help!'

'What? What's happened?'

'The – the – the – the Pokémon! They're full-on rampaging!'

'Are you sure it's the Pokémon...?'

'I'm certain! I took a Sludge Bomb to the face!'

'Sludge Bomb, Sludge Bomb!' Camden cheerfully announced before Trip shushed him, 'Sludge Bomb!'

'Are you OK, Trefor?'

'I am, but...'

Amber was admittedly baffled. Trefor was the quietest of her colleagues, but since Amber insisted on treating the Pokémon like residents rather than blockages, they happily coexisted even with the clumsy workers. The Sandile families, who were once suspicious of humans since neglectful Trainers were the reason they ended up in the sewer, weren't even bothered by Pofty and her crew.

'But – I'm gonna need help. A lotta help, Amber.'

She sighed. 'Sorry, Camden...'

'It's OK,' Trip said with a resigned smile, 'We'll go take a shower, I guess. C'mon, Cam. Mommy has to go fight some poop.'

'Poop!'

They packed the picnic back into their reusable Wail-Mart bag. Coaxing Camden into his car seat took longer. It was only a five minute drive to their apartment block, but traffic was bad. Amber got out and ran. She and Charizard charged back out in their overalls to meet Trefor and two more nervous colleagues, Jerome and Pera, near the stadium.

'What's the situation?'

'We got massive blockages all over the city.'

'Wet wipes...? Train car? Boltund bus?'

'No, no. It's all sludge. We're gonna need our masks. The place is full of Poison Gas.'

'The fuck?'

Trefor was still shaking. 'I – I don't know, Amber. All I know is I opened the manhole and got hit by Sludge Bomb. I cleaned it off and put on my mask and tried to go down, but two Krookodile blocked the way and tore off my pants. There were all kinds of weird noises down there... and the cops called HQ 'cause the ground was shaking.'

'Alright, then... let's go.'

They fastened their masks and cordoned off the area. Pera's Golbat dived in first. Poison-types were immune to any of the gases or substances that could harm humans, but it was dragged immediately into the fetid sludge by the Krookodile who attacked Trefor. Everyone stood back for Charizard to blast it unconscious with Heat Wave. It burned through the sludge blocking their way, but that released trapped gases into the air outside. Pera yelled at onlookers to stay back. After Amber's episode of Orrean Ambitions aired, they were too curious. She released her Dragonite to clear the air with Haze.

'Stay here, Dragonite.'

Amber passed her gas monitor to Dragonite. 'If things start looking dodgy out here, you know what to do.'

Charizard pulled Golbat from the slime, but it was unconscious. Pera hastily revived it. Trefor ducked to avoid a leaping Venonat. Their overalls were pelted with Sludge Bomb. The perpetrator was the mother Muk who happily waved to Pofty's crew. Amber tried to comfort it. It only attacked. Charizard had no choice but to restrain it to allow them to pass. A Krookodile charged. It was unusual to see any of the Sandile family this close to the main manhole. Amber threw a Quick Ball. Krookodile was sealed inside. She could question it and release it later.

Pera tripped. Helping him up, Amber expected to find a foreign object, but she found the unconscious body of a Krokorok. She narrowly avoided stepping on a motionless Grimer that, at first glance, appeared to be a pile of sludge. She gently nudged it. It didn't move. More unconscious Krokorok, Grimer and Raticate increased from scattered bodies to piles of them as they walked on. The blockages weren't foreign objects. They were pure sludge. The mask muffled Amber's voice.

'The Pokémon exhausted themselves to produce all this... incredibly quickly, because it's still fresh. No more than two hours old. I think they were trying to stop something, or someone getting in... or getting out.'

'A kid?' Trefor suggested, 'Curious about the Sandile or something?'

'If it's a kid, we need to hurry! All this gas could've suffocated them!'

Though Amber doubted one curious Trainer, or even several, upset the Pokémon this much. They used to deliberately block pipes because the sewage workers treated them as inconveniently feral objects – or simply because the Dark-type Sandile family were mischievous – but it was on a tiny fraction of this scale and they quickly came around upon being treated as residents. The few conscious Pokémon they came across attacked. It wasn't out of aggression or even a desire for mischief. They were afraid.

'Once we've cleared all this, we need to help these Pokémon. Some will need the Pokémon Center.'

Trefor nodded. 'No wonder they're all out cold if they produced all this sludge so quickly...'

'This was no kid,' Pera said, 'It was no regular Trainer, either. Some strong-ass Trainer came down here and did something that terrified them. But why? What do Cipher have to gain from scaring Pokémon in a sewer?'

Pera's colleagues didn't question his assumption that Cipher were the culprits. It went without saying. The only question was, as Pera asked, what in the world they had to gain from frightening Pokémon in a sewer.