Scene #5780: MM: Shocking

Owner	Pose
Count Kord	The problem Athela has been tasked to solve is simple. There is a generator deep in the sewers beneath the region that the Volt gang calls home in Konigburg, a generator they cannot get to because of the Pokemon populations that have infested the tunnels. Few of the gang officers are skilled enough to reach the generator on their own, and so they need someone to secure a route and clear out the pests along the way, with whatever means she deems acceptable. The Pokemon that live down there are foul and hostile, and so it's unlikely that she'll feel bad about this. Thanks to Staren's mapping efforts, she has been provided with a basic map of the sewer with a more current layout than the older versions. There's an awful lot of poison-type Pokemon down there, though, and the first is something that she may not enjoy spotting down here. It isn't a Muk... It's... A Swallot. But it's behaving strangely. It stands in Athela's way, and shows a great deal more intelligence than the typical Pokemon. And there's someone else there, too... a man in ragged robes, holding a rusted iron broadsword. His face is shadowed with a mask. He stands with the Pokemon, blocking the way deeper into the tunnels.
Athela Valemore	On one hand, Athela was moderately glad for things to have turned out this way. She was a woman of action and would much rather do a 'sidequest' for this sort of thing than rely on trying to negotiate alone. Not really a skill she has had to learn with her rural upbringing, at least not to the degree of what would be required to go try to deal with aristocrates. Don't really envy which of the group finally went to do that. On the other hand, it's a sewer. Now in itself noxious gunk and grime wasn't that big of an issue. She has dealt several times with the Bug Moor, after all, and that is a huge swampland full of mud, mire various vicious Poison and Grass types. Yes, Grass types. Remember how many Grass pokemon are based on -carniverous- plants, or part of a plant/animal hybrid. But that was naturally disgusting. The fact that a sewer was that gross and it was -manmade- meant it was disgusting on an entirely different level. She doesn't want to think of what the shlomp clinging to her boot heels is composed of -besides- garbage. It's enough to make one almost miss less modern conveniences like outhouse chamberpots. She likely smelled the Swalot before it ever came into view. Sprite sure did, recoiling with a hiss and her fins clenching together much the same way someone would scrunch up their nose in disgust. A hand rests on the hilt of her sword at her side, but the thought of needing to fight is briefly held back when Athela gets close enough to see the robed figure with rusted weapon. And his face... is that a mask, or just the shadows from the lack of lighting clarity down here? She's not entirely sure. So instead the young knight stops a few paces away, Vaporeon heeling at her side. "Pardon me, sir, but we need to get through here. Could you kindly extradite your pokemon from the pathway?" Never hurts to ask first. Even if it rarely ever works. It's the polite and honorable thing to do.
Count Kord	The sword-wielding figure hefts the weapon up to hold it by the hilt by both hands, and begins slowly tromping toward Athela. His movements are slow, methodical. She can see his eyes, faintly under the hood of his robe. The Swalot follows, and begins gurgling as if it's about to-- It horks up a vile blast of acidic purple and green gunk that washes down the tunnel toward Athela. It smells absolutely rancid, and it may, in fact, be a Toxic attack...! And, for some reason, the man that was advancing got hit by it but didn't seem too startled by the effect... what is his deal!? Not a lot of room to see what happened to him for now, only room to react to the gross attack!
Athela Valemore	As we were saying about how it never seems to work. But as it rarely does is probably why Athela is already ready when her anticipation sense starts going off at the gurgling. Her hand tightens to draw her sword, but at the same time the other is raised to reveal the aquamarine gemstone already held in it. It surges briefly with mystic energies revealing it to be a PokeJewel as it results in her Samurott manifesting in front of them. Lancer immeadiately rears up on his hindlimbs and tail, forelimbs crossed over chest and snarling as the Toxic blast slams into him while Athela and Sprite duck behind him. Rancid smoke and globs of vile splatter spray past... But being the Steel-type clad Bayern version of Samurott Lancer is undaunted by Toxic's poisoning effect, even as the filth is burning into his armor some. As the assault starts to taper off he pulls his limbs apart, pulling the spikes from the armor on his forearms in doing so. A blade of water manifests from one, and a swing sends a watery slash through the air at the Swalot. Athela looks out as she partially stands, watching the robed figures movement. "That was a very rude response to us asking politely!"
Count Kord	There isn't a lot of time for witty quips. This isn't just a simple assailant, and the water that slashes through the air hammers into the Swalot with the sound of a copper drum getting struck by a hammer. Its body doubles forward, and when it straightens up again, it shows off the core of metallic flesh that chips and crumbles under the impact. It drools acid from its mouth, and lurches to the side somewhat, like a proper undead creature, as its balance is thrown off. It's a Hollowed Swalot. It lunges for Lancer, and tries to grapple the Samurott... and opens its maw wiiiide and tries to drag him right into it, with physical strength that this species isn't meant to have! And its during this that something else happens-- The robed figure's body is revealed, because of the acid that washed over him harmlessly. He's dressed head to toe in rusted armor, the type that the gate guards at the edge of Konigburg wear. His face is a rusted mass of metal, like a statue come to life, and his mouth twists open in a soundless howl. He chops at Athela with the force of a pneumatic piston, blowing air around as the weapon slices in an erratic pattern! It's coated with that venom the Swalot expelled earlier, making it extra dangerous and disgusting!
Athela Valemore	Well, bollocks. I mean, coming across Hollowed at some point wasn't in itself a surprise seeing as they were hunting clues to a potential resting place for one of the damned golems. If anything this adds some credibility to Kord's suspicions. A Hollowed city guard would also explain how they could possibly sneak into the city, especially coming in through the sewers. But there really is not to speculate on things right now. As the Swalot surges towards them Lancer does much the same, throwing his armored bulk towards the Swalot to intercept it. Which makes more of that eerie metallic clatter as the two collide.. but not being the 'natural' thing the Swalot isn't so easily budged as one would be. Not to mention Lancer's only got so-so traction on land, and despite his efforts it's not hard for the monster to grapple with him to try and pull into it's horrific maw. Athela barely has time to tuck the pokegem back away before the rusted knight is upon her, grabbing Resolute Blade with both hands and counter-swinging to knock his strike away. Though the fiend's inhuman strength is enough to throw her akilter with the impact, not to mention splatter acid everywhere. She's off her footing even as the weapons collide again and again, between the erratic swings and the splaying poison. "Sprite, rear guard," she snaps over her shoulder to the Vaporeon, just in case there's more of these corrupted down here. "Lancer, jam it!" Then turns back to her own fight just for a swing to slam into her midsection, sending her stumbling backwards. Good thing for armor!... but that acid is going to eat through it eventually if she keeps getting hit like that. She readjusts her grip, and then in a sudden burst of speed rushes back at the rusted knight. If one had the time to look closely they'd see she's not actually running but sliding along the ground on a ripple of water beneath her feet much the same way Water types propel themselves with Aqua jet. Responding to her command as the Swalot is trying to pull him in Lancer turns the blade of one of his swords into ice instead, and thrusts it through the open maw much like his name implies, trying to expose the cold more directly to its inwards instead of smashing through the exterior.
Count Kord	Clank! Clack thunk! Even the sword seems to be unnatural, far more solid than it should be, but the Resolute Blade is much more tough... Each impact causes a resounding metallic song that echoes throughout the sewers. Sparks fly and promptly ignite the toxins that cover the man's body, which does a lot to slow him down as his body begins to glow hot red. The elemental steel that comprises his body doesn't play well with fire, as one might expect! But it isn't enough to do permanent damage. And her next strike catches him in a vulnerable spot, knocking his body apart like scrap metal. The rust crumbles within his body, suggesting that he's probably one of the older golems in the Cult's control, and his body falls, inert. The Swalot fairs similarly. The ice sword spikes through the core of its body, and pierces its acid-generating stomach. The creature gurgles and thrashes as whatever internal structure of its body is eaten through by its own toxins, and then it falls limp and begins to crumble as well. It wasn't experiencing pain, though... it was angry. These things can't feel pain. The Volt gang didn't mention these things earlier. All they said that there were Pokemon down here. The generator is up ahead...
Athela Valemore	Athela Valemore pulls Resolute Blade of the crumpling form of rust and metal, taking a few deep breaths as she steps back... And regretting it as the reminder of how foul it smells down here comes back with it. The Swalot doesn't last much longer thanks to the strategic strike, just takes more time to dissolve away and melt off into the rest of the sewage. "Everyone else okay?" Sprite bobs her head as she returns to her master's side. Lancer gives a grunt of confirm, though his whiskers remain bristled warily. "Yeah, agreed." Athela responds to his body language as she pulls out the copy of Staren's map to review. "That might not be the worst down here. Be on your guards.... Between this and the Volt Gang's directions, we should go this way." She points, then puts the map back and starts walking, Resolute Blade still held ready in one hand and Sprite following. Likewise Lancer keeps his hilt-spikes gripped, tromping as best as possible on just his hind legs. Fortunately he's not slow per say on land, just a bit more plodding and lumbersome. It's possible the Volt Gang didn't know, Athela muses. They may of only encountered the Swalot and not realized it's elderitch nature. Or mistook the soldier for a Golurk posessing a discarded suit of armor. There's a lot of possibilities. Some may be worth asking the gang boss when she does manage to meet with him.
Count Kord	Thankfully there isn't a lot more to run into. The directions she received, combined with the map of the sewers, leads her to a generator room. It seems that the way is clear so far. Or it would be, if there wasn't something else that was an immediate problem down here. Because, you see, the generator has a problem that needs to be diagnosed. It's bright red, and has a big manic smile on it, and a pair of blue eyes. It crackles with energy and billows smoke from its crystal-powered insides. A pair of ghostly red arms with jagged structure shovel fuel into its sharp-toothed maw, and it pauses in mid-snacking to stare toward Athela in surprise. It's a Generator Rotom. It doesn't immediately attack. It just looks at Athela in wary curiosity.
Athela Valemore	Athela is so occupied in musing over things that she steps into the generator's room without really thinking about it until Lancer holds out his forelimb to stop her. "Oof... wha--" Sprite hiphops in front of her, then half crouchs and bristles her fins like a fox would it's hackles. Then when Athela actually looks at what her Pokemon are responding to she notices the generator has eyes to go with it's unusual coloring. "Oh." For a few moments she stares back just as warily. A ghost type posessing the generator? Not what she expected. Rotom was such a rarity outside of Konigburg due to how the pokemon has so thoroughly adapted to the city's revolution of industry, so even seeing them while passing through the city before the thought of it being part of the issue had not really occured to her. ... But did that mean the Hollowed had just been waiting there knowing the Gang would eventually send someone like her down here to investigate? Maybe hoping for more city dwellers to convert... Though that doesn't answer if the Hollowed were here looking for Registeel as well... "Be careful," she mururs to her companions. "It's an Electric type Ghost." Not the best thing to be facing a bunch of Water types. That said Athela resheaths her sword to look less intimidating, and takes a few slow paced steps towards the posessed machinery. "Excuse me. I am sorry to interrupt your... meal. But your inhabiting of that machinery is interfering with it's operation, and there's numereous people in the city relying on it for their well-being."
Count Kord	The Rotom calms down as Athela visibly sheaths the weapon. It looks momentarily unsure how to respond to the friendly attitude. Humans are usually hostile to it, and water-types are usually afraid of it. But this noble knight approaches it with a diplomatic attitude. It smiles at her in a more sedate way, because it does appreciate the calmer approach. It sets its crystal snacks down... it looks like it was eating some common energy crystals. It lifts its hand up to its mouth and its energy aura emits a gentle shape above its head spike. ? It looks around the chamber, and notices the thick cable that it had accidentally disconnected in its fervor to inhabit this bit of tech. It reaches out and grasps the cable, and jams it back into place with a loud ZZZOT, and then fire billows from its mouth and it gives a loud "WOOOOAH!" and vibrates violently. But then it calms down and begins leisurely pumping electrical energy into the grid. "Sorry," it says, in a cheery, child-like voice. Ghost-types talking is fairly normal. "I don't usually see humans down here! Hehe."
Athela Valemore	And sometimes taking the talking approach does work. Granted Athela is arguably better at dealing with Pokemon than she is a lot of people, but we're still taking the point. She smiles when the Rotom responds positively to it, and seems to realize it's own innocent mistake. Though she jumps back when it surges and spews flames for a bit from reconnecting to the grid. Explains what happened... and while there is no way to confirm it she suspects that the Hollowed somehow learned of the issue and waited to ambush whoever came down to investigate. But waited for someone 'important' which is why they just bothered the Volt Gang with their pokemon? A lot of questions left yet. Hopefully they can get some answered later. "Thank you." She looks at the Generator Rotom, and then the pile of fuel it was eating. "Do you need your supply moved closer so that doesn't happen again?", she asks.
Count Kord	The Generator Rotom says, "Oh, no! I can just do..." A little fire-based tongue sticks out, and it makes a metallic grunt of effort, reaching out with an energy hand. Then the pile of crystals moves closer, radiating psychic energy. It then pops some into its mouth and gives a "Bwah!" noise. "You're nicer than those trainers that live down here!" it tells her, "Creepy weirdos using toy pokemon." Cultists. "They tried to beat me up!" Hmph! It appears that the cult really is hiding underground, somewhere. But the Rotom stops responding to chatter after this, apparently falling asleep. Its snoring sounds suspiciously like a rumbling motor.
Athela Valemore	Creepy weirdos using toy pokemon. That about sums up Team Golem, as if what they just encountered wasn't already a confirmation. Though that not being an isolated incident isn't exactly ensuring, though it does provide a few more answers. Athela briefly bows, as do her pokemon mimic the gesture to their best ability. "I am a knight of the Swords of Justice; my duty is to protect pokemon and people alike... and hopefully they will not bother you so much now that we have destroyed the one lurking about nearby. Just please, be careful to not unplug yourself again?" To which the Rotom dozes off. Impossible to tell if the snoring is from itself or the generator reverting back to a more normal state with it slumbering. Either way, it's hooked up and the grid should be getting power once more. "Come," she motions to her companions as she turns to walk back out. "Let us go report our success and see if we can't get a few more answers." They know the cultists have been working down here, but what else they may of done or been is still a mystery. There's still a likely chance the Volt Gang Boss will know more. And if they know where the cult has been, they might be able to narrow down their own search.