Feng Che finally broke through the dense forest and stepped into the Poison Marsh. The air changed instantly, heavy with the stench of rotting silt and stagnant water.
Below him, the swamp was a patchwork of muddy pools, bubbling with foul gases. Croagunk and Toxicroak lay across the sludge like lazy "salted fish," their cheek pouches inflating and deflating with low, rhythmic croaks.
Croagunk is a dark blue, frog-like Pokémon with orange cheek pouches that store poison. In battle, they inflate these bags to emit an eerie sound, intimidating foes before striking with venomous fingers. Its evolution, Toxicroak, is more aggressive, featuring a red vocal sac under its chin and sharp claws on its hands and heels that drip with toxins.
"The outskirts are already crawling with Level 20 to 30 Toxicroak," Feng Che noted. "Good thing I prepared the Sweet Scent."
He tossed a tube of the specialized lure onto the mud. As the thick, sweet aroma dispersed, the surrounding frogs were instantly drawn away, clearing a path for him.
On the other side of the marsh.
A muscular Rocket recruit kicked a lunging Croagunk, sending it into a state of paralysis. "Dammit, Monkey! Why did the Boss send me here? It stinks, and these Poison types are hideous."
"Bear, the Boss said this place is deserted and dangerous—the perfect spot for a Gold Chest," replied a lean man with a face like a macaque.
The two were Monkey and Bear, their Rocket codenames. Monkey was the same person Feng Che had seen on the recruitment bus. They were currently sitting atop a massive Muk.
"Even my Muk smells like roses compared to this air," Bear complained.
"Lucky for us you're a specialist in 'Pressure Point' strikes, Bear," Monkey remarked, looking back at a pile of paralyzed Croagunk and Toxicroak twitching behind them. "It makes capturing them and picking the best ones easy."
Bear beamed with pride. "It's a family legacy. Even a Salamence or Tyranitar can't escape if I hit the right spot."
"Then why join Team Rocket?" Monkey asked.
Bear's expression darkened. "League investigators wanted our family's secret techniques. When we refused, they labeled us 'poachers' and slaughtered my kin. I survived because I was out hunting. I can't fight the League alone, so I joined the only organization that can."
Bear wiped away a stray tear. Monkey sighed, thinking of his own daughter. He had joined because he couldn't afford the exorbitant League hospital fees for her treatment.
"Anyway," Bear composed himself. "Let's keep looking for the ruins. I feel a strange shift in the marsh's energy. We have three days. If we don't find it by then, we have to pull out."
Feng Che watched the marsh bubble with dark green gases. It was a deathtrap—one wrong step and you'd sink into the mud, the toxins killing you within days.
He stayed on the back of Arbok-Ditto, whose large surface area allowed it to glide over the sludge. Linoone stood on Arbok's back, keeping watch.
Poof!
A green bubble burst near them, releasing a cloud of miasma. Feng Che felt dizzy for a second before his high-grade antidote kicked in.
Suddenly, two Grimer erupted from the sludge, their mouths agape.
"Linoone, Slash! Ditto, Ice Fang!"
Linoone used Arbok as a springboard, its claws glowing white as it cleaved a Grimer in two before bouncing back. Ditto-Arbok lunged, its fangs encased in frost, and bit into the other Grimer.
[Ditto: Disgusting! It tastes like old garbage! Pew, pew!]
Ditto's face wrinkled in a comical expression of disgust. But the minor skirmish was like poking a hornet's nest. A massive Muk leader emerged, roaring orders to dozens of surrounding Grimer.
Pokémon: Muk Level: 38 Ability: Poison Touch Evaluation: A literal trash collector. High durability, but lacks complex skills. Good for clearing kitchen waste.
"Thirty-eight is too high for a brawl here. Run, Ditto!"
Ditto slithered at top speed, leaving the sludge-monsters in its wake. Feng Che and Linoone held on tight as they dodged volleys of Sludge Bombs launched by the angry Muk.
Meanwhile, Alice and Tianchen were in a far more dire situation. They had discovered an ancient underground structure, but were now surrounded by a sea of Ekans that seemed to move like soulless puppets.
"I hope Kongjian saw the markers," Alice said, her forehead matted with sweat.
"I hope he knows how to get in," Tianchen added, his eyes glowing a faint blue. He was a specialist in ruins; he had joined Rocket specifically to find this site—rumored to be a temple for the Mythical Pokémon Jirachi.
Tianchen planned to use the Nine-Star Alignment to break through his bottleneck as a Psychic. "We've gathered most of the chests in the area, but without Kongjian's 'special method,' we can't open them."
Tianchen used Disable to freeze a volley of poison needles in mid-air, but the strain was showing. A thin trickle of blood began to run from the corner of his eye.
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