Roy looked at the mission and rewards, his eyes lighting up.
"A Magnet?"
"This is good stuff!"
"Although Pikachu already has a Light Ball, if there is a second Electric-type Pokémon in the future, this Magnet will come in handy."
"A 20% power boost is quite substantial."
Just as he was thinking, Nurse Joy suddenly looked up at him.
That look was very strange.
Although it was their first meeting today, she just felt that this man was particularly reliable.
Especially trustworthy.
There was a strange sense of familiarity.
"Um..." Nurse Joy bit her lip, "Could you please help?"
She spoke subconsciously, even she was a bit surprised.
She wasn't usually like this.
Although she wasn't very reliable in her work, she wouldn't just ask a random passerby for help.
But today, for some reason, looking at the man named Roy in front of her, she just felt she could rely on him.
Roy looked at Nurse Joy.
Her big, watery eyes were full of anticipation, and her long pink hair was scattered messily on her shoulders.
Her nurse uniform was still wrinkled, and the neckline was wide open.
It revealed a large area of fair skin and black lace underwear.
She stood there in such disarray, looking at him with anticipation.
Roy took two extra looks at those plump breasts, then nodded.
"Fine, I'll go take a look."
Nurse Joy immediately breathed a sigh of relief, the panic on her face fading a little.
"Thank you! The power plant is on the north side of the city; just follow the main street and you'll be there!"
Roy grunted and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Delia called him, "I'll go with you."
"No need." Roy waved his hand, "You and Nurse Joy wait at the Pokémon Center and see if there's anything you can help with."
Delia thought for a moment and nodded: "Then be careful."
Misty also came over: "Roy, you have to be quick! I don't want to stay in this pitch-black place for too long..."
Roy smiled: "Don't worry."
He turned and walked out, looking back when he reached the door.
Nurse Joy was still standing at the counter, busily and clumsily tidying her clothes.
The streets outside were still gray.
After the power outage, the whole city looked even more gloomy.
The streetlights were all off, and the buildings on both sides were pitch black.
Only a few households had lit candles, with faint light shining through the windows.
Roy turned on his flashlight and walked north along the main street.
Pikachu followed at his feet, its little paws stepping on the wet ground, making a pattering sound.
"Pika Pika~"
It called out twice, meaning to ask if Roy knew where the problem was.
Roy looked down at it: "I have a rough idea."
He remembered the power outage incident in Black Cloud City from the original story.
It was a problem with the power plant's cooling system.
A pile of Grimer was blocking the water intake, causing the generator to overheat and shut down.
As long as that pile of Grimer was cleared away, the power could be restored.
And...
Roy narrowed his eyes.
He remembered that among that pile of Grimer, there seemed to be a leader with good potential.
If he could capture it...
He didn't have a Poison-type Pokémon yet.
It would be perfect to strengthen his team.
Thinking of this, he quickened his pace and hurried to the power plant.
After walking for about half an hour, he arrived at the power plant.
The tall factory building stood there in the darkness like a silent giant beast.
Several staff members were standing at the factory gate, pacing anxiously.
Seeing Roy approach, a middle-aged man in work clothes came up to meet him.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Roy directly showed his Trainer ID: "I am Roy, a Trainer from Pallet Town. I heard there was a problem with the power plant, so I came to see if I could help."
The middle-aged man looked him up and down, somewhat skeptical: "You, a Trainer, what help can you provide?"
"I guess..." Roy said calmly, "Is it a problem with the cooling system? Is the water intake blocked by something?"
The middle-aged man was stunned.
"How did you know?"
Roy didn't explain, just said: "Take me in to see, I can probably solve it."
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The whole city was experiencing a power outage, and the higher-ups were urging them. They, as technicians, had been searching for a long time but couldn't find the problem.
Since someone was volunteering to help, might as well treat it as a last resort.
"Follow me."
The middle-aged man turned and walked into the factory, with Roy following behind.
Entering the factory, it was pitch black inside.
Only a few emergency lights were on, emitting a dim yellow light.
The air was filled with the smell of machine oil, and an indescribable strange odor.
Roy wrinkled his nose.
He was very familiar with this strange smell.
It was the smell of Grimer.
Just as in the original script.
The middle-aged man led him through the corridor to the area where the cooling system was located.
"It's here." The middle-aged man pointed to several huge machines: "The generator overheated and shut down. We checked for a long time and suspected that there was a problem with the cooling water circulation."
He pointed to the pipes connected to the machines: "But we haven't found exactly where the problem is."
Roy squatted down and shone his flashlight on the pipes.
Then he walked forward along the pipes.
Walking to the wall, the pipes went through the wall and led to the water reservoir outside.
"Is the reservoir over there?" Roy asked.
The middle-aged man nodded: "Yes, it's outside."
"Let's go take a look."
Roy took the lead and walked out.
Outside the factory, there was a huge water reservoir.
The reservoir was covered with iron bars to prevent anyone from falling in.
Roy walked over and shone his flashlight into the pool.
Sure enough.
At the water intake of the pool, a large pile of Grimer was blocking it.
Those purple, mud-like objects were piled together, blocking the intake tightly.
The water couldn't flow in, so the cooling system naturally failed.
"Found it." Roy pointed to the intake.
The middle-aged man leaned over to look and gasped.
"This... is this Grimer? So many?"
His face turned pale.
Things like Grimer, although not strong, were very troublesome in large numbers.
And that smell...
Just getting close, he could smell a foul stench.
The middle-aged man gagged and quickly covered his nose.
"This... what should we do? With so many Grimer, we can't clean them up..."
Roy ignored him and continued to observe the situation in the pool.
The flashlight beam swept back and forth over the pile of Grimer.
Then, he saw it.
In the deepest part of the Grimer pile, there was one that was significantly larger than the others.
Its color was also deeper, a dark purple.
Two small eyes were shining in the darkness, and it was obviously the leader of this group of Grimer.
Roy curled his lips.
"It's you."
He turned to the middle-aged man and said: "You step back, I'll handle it."
The middle-aged man was stunned: "Just you alone?"
"That's enough."
"Pikachu." Roy pointed to the pool, "Use Thunderbolt!"
"Pika!"
Lightning flashed across Pikachu's body, and then its whole body erupted with dazzling golden light.
Zzzzzz...
The electric current jumped in the air, making a harsh sound.
Then, a thick column of golden electricity shot out from Pikachu and slammed directly into the Grimer in the pool.
Boom!
Thunderbolt hit the Grimer, and their purple mud bodies were instantly covered in electricity.
Before the Grimer could react, they were convulsing from the shock.
The Grimer let out harsh screams, their bodies twisting and deforming in the electric current.
Purple mud splattered everywhere.
The middle-aged man watched, dumbfounded.
This... this is too ferocious, right?
Took them all down with one hit?
Roy didn't stop.
He knew that the leader hadn't fallen yet.
Sure enough.
After the current dissipated, most of the Grimer lay limp in the pool, having lost the ability to battle.
But that dark purple Grimer Leader was still standing stubbornly.
It was smoking all over, its body scorched by the electricity, but its two small eyes were full of ferocity.
The Grimer Leader let out a roar, and its body suddenly expanded a circle.
Then, it opened its mouth and spat out a ball of purple sludge.
Sludge Bomb!
Roy's eyes narrowed: "Pikachu, dodge!"
Pikachu kicked its little feet and easily dodged.
The Sludge Bomb hit the wall behind, blasting a hole the size of a washbasin.
Purple venom splattered, and the wall was immediately corroded into a scorched black area.
The middle-aged man shrank back in fear.
Roy remained calm and continued to give orders.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu turned into a white light and rushed in front of the Grimer Leader instantly.
Then, its small body slammed into it hard.
Bang!
The Grimer Leader was knocked backward, and a dent appeared on its body.
But it quickly regained its shape and opened its mouth to counterattack.
"Use Thunderbolt again!" Roy ordered.
This time the distance was closer, and the current was stronger.
The Grimer Leader trembled all over, and smoke began to rise from its body surface.
It let out a scream, its body finally unable to hold on, and it collapsed.
But those small eyes were still full of unwillingness.
Roy looked at it, his mouth curling up.
Being able to withstand two Thunderbolts of Gym-level, the potential is indeed good.
Subsequently, Roy took out an empty Poké Ball from his waist and weighed it in his hand.
Then, he aimed at the Grimer Leader and threw it.
The Poké Ball drew an arc in the air and accurately hit the Grimer Leader.
With a flash of red light, the Grimer Leader was sucked into the ball.
The Poké Ball fell to the ground and shook a few times.
Ding-dong.
With a crisp sound, the Poké Ball stopped moving.
Roy walked over and picked up the Poké Ball.
A string of information immediately appeared in his mind.
[Pokémon: Grimer]
[Type: Poison]
[Level: Lv35 (Superior)]
[Potential: Elite Four Level]
[Ability: Poison Touch — Contact attacks have a 30% chance of poisoning the opponent.]
[Moves: Sludge Bomb, Mud-Slap, Toxic, Poison Gas!]
[Special Enhancement: None]
[Held Item: None]
Roy's eyes lit up.
Elite Four Level potential!
Although it couldn't compare to Pikachu's Champion level, it was still good.
And it was already level 35, which counted as Superior combat power.
He happened to be missing a Poison-type Pokémon.
Now his team configuration was more complete.
However...
Roy looked at the Poké Ball in his hand and sniffed it.
A foul stench wafted from the ball, making him frown.
"Damn, this smell..."
He quickly held the Poké Ball further away.
The smell of this Grimer was too strong.
He could smell it even through the Poké Ball.
Is it that the greater the potential, the greater the stench?!!
Roy had a headache.
It couldn't just keep smelling like this, could it?
He thought for a moment and suddenly remembered the perfume Janine gave him in his backpack.
When Janine gave it to him, he thought it was useless.
Now it seemed, it was like rain after a drought!
Roy quickly rummaged through his backpack for the bottle of perfume and sprayed a few times on the Poké Ball.
The faint fragrance covered the stench, and it was finally acceptable.
He breathed a sigh of relief and put the Poké Ball away.
Then he looked at the pool.
The remaining ordinary Grimer no longer had the strength to resist.
They all lay limp in the pool, letting the staff clean them up.
Roy said to the middle-aged man: "The problem is solved, you can restore power."
The middle-aged man was still standing there, and it took him a long time to react.
"Oh... oh! Okay! I'll go restart the system right now!"
He turned and ran into the factory, his steps much lighter.
A few minutes later.
The roar of machines came from the power plant.
The cooling system restarted, and clear water flowed into the pipes, carrying away excess heat.
The generator began to run, and electricity was re-transmitted to every corner of the city.
Roy stood at the entrance of the power plant, watching Black Cloud City in the distance light up bit by bit.
The streetlights came on, and light shone through the windows of the buildings.
The whole city woke up from the darkness.
[Ding!]
[Black Cloud City power outage crisis has been resolved!]
[Mission completed!]
[Reward distributed: Magnet has been placed in the system backpack!]
Roy opened the system backpack and took a look.
A U-shaped Magnet lay quietly inside, its surface flashing with a faint blue electric light.
Magnet — After holding, Electric-type move power increases by 20%.
Good stuff.
Put it away first, and use it for the second Electric-type Pokémon later.
Roy closed the system and patted Pikachu on the head.
"Well done."
"Pika Pika~"
Pikachu rubbed against his hand happily.
When Roy returned to the Pokémon Center, the lights in the hall were all on.
Nurse Joy was busy behind the counter, rearranging the Pokémon that were halfway through treatment.
Seeing Roy push the door in, her eyes lit up.
"You're back!"
She trotted up to meet him, her plump chest swaying up and down under the nurse uniform.
This time the clothes were buttoned up, but one button was still misaligned.
The neckline was slightly open, and the edge of the black lace inside could be seen.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Nurse Joy smiled happily, "The power was restored just in time, the Pokémon inside are all fine!"
Roy nodded: "That's good."
Delia and Misty also came over.
Delia looked Roy up and down to make sure he wasn't hurt before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Did you solve it?"
"Yeah, the water intake of the power plant was blocked by a pile of Grimer." Roy said, "It was fine after cleaning it up."
"Grimer?" Misty wrinkled her nose, "That thing smells terrible..."
As she said this, she suddenly smelled a faint stench.
"Huh? What's that smell?"
She leaned close to Roy and sniffed.
"Roy, why do you have a weird smell on you?"
Roy smiled helplessly: "I just captured a Grimer, the smell is a bit strong."
"Captured one?" Delia was a little surprised.
"Yeah, that one had good potential, so I captured it."
Misty stepped back in disgust: "You stay away from me, it stinks..."
Roy chuckled and deliberately leaned closer to her.
"Ah! Don't come over!" Misty screamed and hid behind Delia.
Delia shook her head with a smile and reached out to rub Misty's head.
Nurse Joy watched from the side and couldn't help laughing out loud.
"You guys really have a great relationship~"
As she spoke, she walked behind the counter, took out an air freshener from the drawer, and sprayed it a few times at Roy.
"Spray it first to suppress the smell."
A faint fragrance permeated the air, and the stench was finally not so obvious.
Roy took a deep breath: "Thank you."
"You're welcome~" Nurse Joy put the air freshener back, "After all, you helped me, it's only right."
She leaned on the counter, resting her chin on her hands, and tilted her head to look at Roy.
"By the way, you guys came to this Black Cloud City, not just to capture Grimer, right?"
Misty shook her head and said: "We came for supplies. By the way, Nurse Joy, I see this city is quite large! Why is it so deserted?"
Nurse Joy shrugged: "It was very lively when there was a big industrial development in the past."
She pointed to the gray buildings outside the window.
"But later... it was over-developed, the pollution was serious, and the environment got worse and worse."
"The scenery is bad, the air is bad, and there are many pollution problems that haven't been dealt with."
"The locals who could leave have all left, and Trainers from other places don't want to come either."
She smiled self-deprecatingly.
"So, that's why my Pokémon Center is so deserted."
"Usually no one comes at all, so I can only sleep to pass the time."
Misty suddenly realized: "No wonder you were sleeping all day..."
Nurse Joy chuckled and scratched her head.
"Anyway, there's nothing to do~"
As she said this, she suddenly remembered something, turned around, and picked up the registration book from the counter.
"By the way, you guys want to recover your Pokémon, right? Now that the power is back, I'll do it for you right away!"
She opened the registration book, picked up a pen, and looked up at Roy.
"Give me the Poké Balls."
Roy took off a few Poké Balls from his waist and handed them over.
Nurse Joy took the balls and turned to walk to the treatment room.
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌