Toxic Workplace

The sun was just barely visible behind all the thick, purple smoke, showing up as a just slightly brighter circle than the surrounding sky. It gave out enough light for even the bottom of the gulch to be bright enough to see, though it certainly wasn't one of those pleasant bright and warm days one might experience elsewhere. The tall, rocky walls on both sides trapped the smog created by the various Poison-type Pokémon, gently wafting in the air and poisoning everything that couldn't stand it. Indeed, if there had ever been any plant-life in the gulch, it was long gone by now, dead and buried.

Luckily, the poisonous fog was constantly trying to rise up into the air, leaving most of the bottom relatively safe. Not entirely out of the danger, but the visibility was much better and a Pokémon – unless very tall – didn't have to constantly breathe the smog in. For small Pokémon like Varda and Riolu, it was helpful – but they still didn't have a pleasant place to rest after their long journey.

The bird Pokémon was always happy to help Lance, his leader, in any way he could. Traveling to new locations also was a great way of trying to find his home, but he was quite sure that this wasn't where they would find that! His nostrils were burned by the stinging scent of poison, even though his sense of smell wasn't the greatest. The chemicals in the air didn't really ask questions. Varda, luckily, wasn't very tired. The journey was long, but he had his wings, so he didn't have to walk the entire way.

"Phew," the Swablu breathed out in relief as he waddled on the barren ground, but it soon turned into a small cough. The air was quite putrid and difficult to breathe at places. Were they really even supposed to be here...?
"How are you doing, Lance...?"


Current Energy: 20 (36 -16 from entering)

Lance looked around at what was probably a healthier place long ago. What had happened to cause this kind of pollution, he didn't know. But it was terrible, and he didn't like thinking about it. He looked up at the giant cloud of toxins and pollution. It was so thick, he couldn't see anything but a small, dim glowing sphere, which he took to be the sun. He then looked at Varda after he had asked how he was doing. "I'm doing ok...I think. Anyways, why did w-" Lance coughed. He wish he didn't have to breathe this stuff. "Why did we come here again?"

Varda seemed to grow a bit concerned as the other Pokémon coughed, his eyes narrowing a bit as he furrowed his brow and tilted his head, causing the floppy feathers sticking from his head to flop over with gravity. Lance still claimed to be alright, so... He was just going to accept it until he saw a sign proving it otherwise. He did, however, feel a bit more worried when it seemed like the Riolu didn't know why they had wandered out here in the first place.

"Um, well, we were exploring," the bird chirped as he started to explain. It was Lance's idea to go out today in the first place, wasn't it? He probably would have gone on his own if the Swablu hadn't joined him for the day!
"...This doesn't look like my home at all, though. There was no... Well, this," Varda glanced at Lance as he spread open his fluffy wings, motioning at the thick layer of smog above them that seemed to almost be motionless. There was no wind to push it in any direction.

"You wanted to look for some berries, but... I don't think we'll find any here. It doesn't really look like anything grows here, but we could still find something nice!" He added and reassured the leader of their exploration team, not wanting the Pokémon to give up when it looked like they wouldn't find what they were after. Maybe they wouldn't, but they could find something better!

"Well, I already knew berries wouldn't be here. But something else may be. Think about it; all this pollution may have came from some kind of factory, and if there was a factory here, then some items they made must be here too. Items that aren't found anywhere else." Lance looked a bit sad. "If a factory was here...I wish they didn't cause so much pollution..." He was carefully breathing now, trying to not breathe in the smog. "Anyways, let's hurry up and find something. I don't want to spend too much of our time here..."

Varda nodded as he listened to the other Pokémon wondering about what kind of potential things they might find in this place. He couldn't help but smile, noticing how cheerful Lance seemed to be despite their dreary surroundings! It was rather contagious. But he wasn't entirely sure what a factory was... Other than that it would made items.
"How does a factory look like?" The little bird chirped as he started to hop forward, feeling a bit better than a moment ago.

"If you see anything that looks like it, then we should probably go there!" The Swablu continued happily, his eyes scanning their surroundings. Honestly, all he could see was smog and the tall rocky walls enclosing them in a small valley.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what a factory looks like, but I know that most of them cause a bunch of pollution." Lance said. "Luckily there are very few factories that exist, and hopefully they'll stop working as well, or at least find a way to stop polluting the land around them so they don't end up like this." Lance kept walking for a bit, then spoke up again. "Varda, do you got an Oran berry or anything like that? I'm feeling a bit weak."

[Energy: 17-16(entry)=1]

Varda cooed as he listened to the explanation, amazed at the knowledge their leader had. Then again, considering that he had lived such a sheltered life, it was no surprise that he didn't really know anything. He didn't think that he liked the sound of these "factories", though...
"I think Poison-types can do this too," the bird chirped as he glanced in Lance's direction, mostly thinking out loud. He had seen such Pokémon create poisonous clouds, after all!

The two kept walking in silence for a moment before Lance spoke up, wondering if the Swablu happened to have any food on him. The little bird stopped and turned to look at the other Pokémon with a big smile, happy that he was prepared for once! This was exactly the kind of a reason why he carried so many things with him in his bag!
"Yes, hold on!" Varda tweeted as he opened his bag and dug for some good, offering two Oran berries in Lance's direction with his wing,
"Here you go!"

Bird carried out 1 launched of one Venen Gulch :

"Thanks Varda." Lance said, grabbing the Oran berries. "If we are going to find some items, we need to keep our strength up." He ate the Oran berries, feeling his energy return. "Ok, let's find some stuff." He said cheerfully. He didn't know how that would be possible though, since the smog was hiding the terrain around them, as well as the items. "Just be careful about what you touch. Seeing on how this place is covered with poison smog, some of the items may be contaminated with poison. And some poison pokemon may live here too.

[Energy:1+20=21]

LanceTheDragon carried out 2 launched of one Venen Gulch :

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Varda looked quite happy when he was thanked, fluffing his feathers. He felt quite proud of himself, being so well-prepared! This was what it meant to be a good explorer, he was certain. The bird nodded at the Riolu's words of wisdom, letting the Pokémon to eat the berries in peace. He wasn't hungry yet, so he started to waddle a bit further from Lance, curiously looking around the dreary environment. He didn't dare to stray too far, making sure that the two could see each other.

The Swablu kept hopping along, poking at the rocky walls. Lance's warning ended up coming a bit too late as something wet touched the tips of the bird's wing, causing him to slowly pull it back. Some kind of purple sludge was clinging to his feathers.
"I found goop!" Varda exclaimed happily, waving the ball of grime in the air.


Current Energy: 19 (20 -1 from the item)

Lance watched as Varda went a bit farther out, making sure that he didn't travel too far away. When he was about to try to fan the smog in front of him with his blue hat (Which he wears to nearly everywhere, and it has the effects of a stamina band, thanks to fusion) He heard Varda, seeing him waving the strange ball of sticky goop in the air. "Wow, that looks like it's been eaten by a Grimer than was spat out...but it doesn't look like it could do any harm, just don't eat it." As Lance walked next to Varda, he stepped on something, hearing a small 'click', and before he could react, he found himself feeling stronger than before. He found a TM near his feet when he searched the ground, but that wasn't the source of the strange energy-giving...thing. He really didn't know what strange things were in here. Taking the TM off the ground, he put it in his bag, and looked around for anything else.

[Energy: 21+5=26](Item energy cost cut to zero due to stamina hat)

Varda seemed awfully proud of what he found, even though it was probably quite disgusting in most Pokémon's eyes, sticking to his feathers like that. At least Lance didn't berate him for picking it up, and that was good enough for the bird. He opened his bag and tried to scrape most of the goopy slime into it, carefully trying not to pull his feathers off at the same time. Of course he would save something like this. It could be treasure! Or someone could need it. Who knew. He promised not to eat it like the Riolu said, nodding happily.

The Swablu continued to hop along happily, not even feeling a little bit tired as he continued to search the nooks and crannies of the tall rock walls around them. Occasionally the poisonous smog seemed to waft closer to the ground, causing the little bird to flap his wings to create an air current that would – hopefully – push most of the stuff out of their faces.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Varda chirped as he noticed the other Pokémon pick something up out of the corner of his eye.

Bird carried out 1 launched of one Venen Gulch :

"Well, I found a TM, though I don't know what it is..." Lance told Varda. "If it's something I can learn, I'll consider learning it; otherwise, I may sell it." He thought he heard something in the distance, but ignored it. "Maybe the smog is tricking my brain..." Lance thought to himself. He hoped so. Any other noise besides him and Varda couldn't be good news.

LanceTheDragon carried out 2 launched of one Venen Gulch :

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"Oh, that sounds good!" Varda chirped happily as Lance spoke of what he found, quickly scurrying over to see the TM his friend picked up. To him, all the discs that had moves hidden in them somehow looked the same, he really had no idea how they even worked... But they did, somehow! And they were nice and pretty in the way they reflected all the light and seemed to have multiple colors – too bad the thick smog around them seemed to stop the sunlight from reaching the TM Lance had...

"Do you know what it is?" The bird cooed with a tilt of his head, curious. Even if many things looked the same to him, he knew that there were Pokémon who were able to tell them apart. Knowing how much their team's leader knew already, it was possible that he knew the answer to this question, too!

A sudden roar echoed through the gulch, causing Varda to perk up as he looked around. He didn't see anything except for the smog and the roar's echo was still ringing in the air around them... But that was when he started to feel the tremors of the earth, heavy footsteps coming in from behind them.


Current Energy: 10 (19 -9 from the enemy encounter)

Lance heard something roar, and it sounded too real to be a illusion. But he couldn't see anything through the thick fog. He did see Varda perk up in response to the sound, so it was officially completely impossible for that noise to be fake.

"Sounds like we have some company..." The Riolu said.

He felt the ground below him tremble, as if the Earth itself was afraid of what would happen next. Lance was slightly worried. This enemy must be huge, bigger than both him and Varda. It wouldn't be easy defeating whoever this foe is...

Varda turned around, seeing a dark silhouette approaching through the poisonous fog obstructing their vision – but whatever it was that was getting closer seemed to be able to see them instead... Maybe? Was it even possible? The large shape certainly was coming in their direction and sounded very angry, and there wasn't anyone else around... Unless they couldn't see that, either! The fog certainly was seeming like more of a hindrance to them right now if those who wished to hurt them were able to use it to their advantage!

The mist eventually parted just enough to reveal a tall Pokémon standing on two legs, some kind of blue Pokémon with large ears. The bird had never seen a Pokémon like that before, but it certainly looked like a strong and ferocious creature indeed! It didn't seem like a smart idea to stick around.
"Um, maybe we should get awa–" The Swablu started with a quiet voice as he hoped Lance's plan would be to escape as well, but another tremor from another direction caused the bird to almost lose his balance. The poisonous mist was suddenly pushed aside by the impact of something dropping down on the rocky ground from above.

Looking behind him, Varda saw yet another Pokémon having appeared to the scene, this one looking like a skunk of some kind. But another thing he noticed was that the two strange Pokémon suddenly looked very confused as they looked down and noticed the much smaller Swablu and Riolu, almost as if they hadn't seen them before. And well, that made sense! The two of them were so small that the thick fog could easily swallow them up and make them more or less invisible!

Whatever it was, it seemed like they had managed to get in the middle of two angry feral Pokémon about to fight...