Swamp of Death!

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One of the boys sighs, "That doesn't matter, we all got punished as a team, you have to come with."

She gives a single hollow laugh, "No, I'm done. You can clear out the pit yourselves! I'm going to visit Illia. Remember her Bruno? The girlfriend you left for Dead if not for Gym Leader Max."

The girl with long black hair and a white hoodie stalks her way out the front doors.

"I told you not to bother her."

"Can it Sean… Let's just get this done."

"How?! Those Ghosts just take off from her Shiftry, they'll laugh at your little Morgrem."

"Then we'll just battle them the old fashion way, let's go."

The two boys exit as well.

Well, "Thanks for the info again Sean."

Once our pokemon are seen to and Citro gives us the text confirming Zinnia made it to our room, it's time to find her contact in the village.

Again I can't help but take in the picturesque scene of the traditional architecture buildings surrounding the small lake. The soft rumble of dozens of waterfalls pouring into the waters while the largest cascades behind the Pokemon Gym. A river flows beneath the suspended building before a smaller drop into the lake.

It takes us a while, nearly an hour of playing tourist through the village. On the opposite side from the Pokemon Center, we find the alleyway. Marked with the graffiti we were told to look out for, between a silk shop and ramen kitchen.

The middle of the alley is a grate over what sounds like one of the many streams that pour into the lake. Slivers of light from shaded windows are the only thing keeping us from tripping over trash. Jane nearly stepped on the first Trubbish we encountered.

Thankfully Naomi didn't jinx us by commenting, 'that at least it wasn't a Grimer.'

"Over here," whispers a man holding open the back gate of a two story shack.

I get a better view of him in the light of the lantern he's hung on the porch. He's half a head shorter than me, balding, slightly cracked glasses barely resting on his beak of a nose. Amber eyes nervously check down the alley both ways to see if anyone is watching. Looks like he's traded the trademark lab coat for a fishing vest and rubber boots.

"Hurry come in," closing the gate behind us, he darts to the back door, "Don't mind the mess, I think this place has been vacant so long no one remembers who lived here."

True enough, the wooden floors of the house have several holes. A hole in the ceiling reveals the rafters of the second floor. A line of webbing catches the light of the lantern.

Professor Cosmo hesitantly asks, "Y-you're not t-taking these girls out into the jungle are you?"

Before the two teens can answer I jump to the point, "If that is where you're taking us, then yes. Zinnia told us you had something she needed to see in person."

"Yes, yes, the ambient Type Energy in the bog is so thick it scrambles electronics." He sighs, "I can't very well present the league with a poorly drawn sketch as evidence."

Oh yippee, a bog. Now I get the rubber boots.

"Got any more of those boots?"

The girls are already rethinking this whole, tagging along stance.

"Well yes actually, but I really don't think they should accompany us. There are swarms of pokemon the deeper in the jungle we go."

I turn to Jane and Naomi, "You heard him. Still want to do this?"

Both nod immediately.

Watts blows a stray hair from her face, "We told you, no more running off alone."

Cosmo gives up resisting and opens a side closet revealing a whole array of spare equipment. Most importantly, a whole box of extra boots and a few black ponchos hanging up. He also grabs several cans of Repel spray and passes them out.

Jane whistles at finding bins full of High Potions, Antidotes, Awakens, and Para Heals.

"Who's paying your bills professor?"

"The taxpayers." He's still digging in the box for a pair of boots that'll fit Naomi.

Once we're kitted out like walking pharmacies in a sporting goods store, Cosmo leads us back out to the alley. It's only a little bit farther before the buildings stop against a rock face. Water pours from somewhere up above and onto the grate like the saddest, pondless water feature.

A Wooper startles at our arrival and darts into the waterfall, disappearing from sight.

Cosmo chuckles, pulling his poncho hood up, "Well, follow that Wooper."

He steps right into the cascade, then he's gone.

This is a sad replacement for platform 9 ¾.

"Well then, you're up Jane."

"What?!" the redhead squawks in a whisper, "Why me? You go!"

Naomi jumps forward into the unknown.

"Shit," I grab Jane's hood and toss it over her head, "Come on tuff girl."

Pulling up my own, I dash into the water. A few more steps and I stop to check out the crack in the cliff we've entered. It goes a few more feet up and is just wide enough I can spread my arms out to touch both sides. The water ripples around my shins.

Jane slams into my back with a yelp.

"You closed your eyes, didn't you?"

"Shut it old man."

Naomi calls back, "Hey, let's go. I'd rather not lose our guide."

She's not too far ahead at the exit to this secret passage, holding vines to let in what remains of the daylight.

Her worries didn't account for the snail-like pace at which we find the professor carefully clamoring down a rocky slope. Granted the coat of moss over everything makes the boulders slippery.

We still catch up in just a minute.

"Is it safe to talk normally now? Or does the big, bad, gym leader have spies in the trees."

"Yes, it's fine now" Cosmo sighs, "It's less about spies and more so the endless small town gossip combined with thin walls."

The girls manage the thick jungle well enough. Jane accidentally grabbed a Weepinbell's vine while Naomi managed to snag her poncho on something new every few minutes.

Otherwise the trek is surprisingly sparse of pokemon. The only other occurrence being a trio of Pansage crossing our path in the canopy above us.

"Shouldn't we see more life out here? There were lots of bird pokemon along the road in at least."

Jane speaks up while dodging a big mud puddle, "Something must scare them off, like an alpha pokemon's territory."

I help Naomi over a fallen tree as wide as she is tall, "Wouldn't the territory be crawling with unevolved forms of the line?"

Cosmo talks over his shoulder, "We'll be there in just a couple more minutes. Be careful, it starts to slope down again here."

As soon as I step to the rock he hopped down from, I smell something awful.

Jane and Naomi don't quite catch it until I help them descend a couple more yards.

Watts dry heaves a bit, "What in Arceus' name is that!"

Having had a minute to think, "Rotting meat and decay."

The professor whispers up just loud enough for us to hear, "You'll start seeing those swarms I mentioned soon. Stay low and quiet, we don't want to draw attention by battling our way into the bog."

Oh joy.

Cosmo climbs down another fallen tree and dismounts onto a rock barely breaking the surface of the water that has flooded the jungle floor. He begins carefully advancing along some memorized route of stable logs, roots and rocks.

The poor guy almost falls in when a giant purple and green moth startles into flight from a hollow trunk he just landed on.

Naom shivers, "I hate Dustox, their eyes creep me out."

We proceed along the worst smelling game of the floor is lava, careful not to slip on any moss or algae covered rocks.

Jane hops up on the same stump as me and points ahead towards Cosmo. Her voice actually cracks a little, "That's not a log."

The professor is now taking very slow steps along the spine of a rib cage taller than himself.

Naomi points into the water off to our left. A shattered skull of a T-Rex or something like it rests just beneath the surface of the murky water.

"Down!" Cosmo's warning just ahead of a purple cloud drifting our way.

Helping the girls back down to the roots of the stump, we get a better look as the anomaly flies by. Dozens of Gastly crackle and hiss in an erratic herd.

Wait.

The cloud twists on itself, turning to circle the stump before lowering to the water surface and coming to a halt before me. As one they salute, "Ghastly!"

"Evening fellas, glad to see you doing well." Jane punches my arm and I can only laugh nervously, "We're just passing through, so carry on with whatever you were up to."

Professor Cosmo scrambles back to us and the Ghastly take up a defensive position between us! Hissing a collective, "Hassssst!"

"Ah!"

The man almost stumbles into the bog in fright.

"Whoa, Whoa, he's with me!"

Relaxing, the small ghosts begin a curious orbit around our party.

"Kurt," Cosmo is still whispering, "Why are they just listening to you?!"

Um…, "Cause I'm Awesome."

… Naomi punches my other arm, causing the ghosts to giggle with glee.

He straightens himself out while collecting his thoughts, pauses, "Fine, I won't pry." pushing up his glasses and having that look that suggests he's figured something out, "However this changes things drastically."

Cosmo points to the swarm, "Poison or Ghosts?"

Oh, he thinks I'm a Type Master I bet. Not really far off I guess. "Ghosts."

With a nod, "Ask them to show us the densest part of the boneyard. Oh, and I guess it's safe to bring out your own pokemon now."

I guess some of them would find this place fun. My pick is pretty easy.

In a flash, Blue appears with that unnerving child like giggle. The, not so little anymore, Phantump tips their wooden witch hat and begins darting around to explore everything.

Jane sends out Marowak, Te Ka. Naomi tosses out Argo the shiny Whimsicott. While Marowak seems untrusting of the other ghosts, remaining by Jane's side, Argo begins attempting to herd the ghost swarm like a backwards sheep dog.

Blue, as always, is the best at finding things. As we continue further into the bog, all sorts of interesting sights cross our path. Not just more varieties of living pokemon, but the bones. Naomi's tablet glitches erratically, so it's best left to the Professor to play tour guide.

"That serrated wing bone is from a Druddigon… Those smaller skulls are from a Hydreigon. The barrel shaped sections over there are a Shelgon's shell case."

Naomi carefully balances along a log right behind me, "I'm noticing a theme here Professor, and this bog seems like an odd place for so many dragon remains."

A playful Haunter looks to be sneaking up on her to startle her into the water. My death glare makes him raise his hands and back off while disappearing.

I did notice that any of the Ghastly swarms lead by a Haunter seem to keep their distance rather than fly closer to us.

Another common pokemon is Dreepy, the Dragon/Ghost, lending more credit to Naomi's observation.

Cosmo takes a careful leap to a larger mound of dirt that rises above the water level. His shoes scrape the mud revealing it to be a massive Tyrantrum skull.

"Ah! Well, yes, this is what I wanted to show Zinnia." Spreading his arms out, "These bones aren't here naturally! They've been disposed of here. You can tell by how randomly they rest. Not a single intact set of remains to be found. It's like someone tossed out a bag of bones into the bog."

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