How odd...

[Lee]

Akriso narrowed her eyes, circling above the grimer. <Oh, it was rude, and so was that. I am NOT stuck up. I just have more sense than to live in a pile of goop. > She didn't bother to ask the grimer if he had seen anything of any interest. He wouldn't tell her, and Akriso wouldn't believe him if he did. He'd probably tell her there was something under the muck just to have her go under it. She wouldn't get dirty-a plus of being a ghost-but it would certainly be horrid.

[MorriganFearn]

The grimer was fed up by Akriso's attitude. He wasn't used to standing on ceremony, and didn't like it for the most part. So he decided to teach the snobby ghost type a lesson. One blobby arm reached into the muck. It came up again, with plenty of vile green ooze coting it, and held in the purple fist. That poisonous sludgy muck was quickly tossed at Akriso in a sludge attack.

[Lee]

Akriso gasped as the sludge hit her, and fell into "punish the dirty creature" mode. Plus, she was simply too angry to handle it anymore. Thank heavens Zach hadn't met him, and probably would never meet a grimer. Grimer and Muk did not belong anywhere near her beloved trainer. Even if he did act oddly.

Floating lights appeared around her, the same shade as her softly glowing eyes as her angry grew, and then they began to float around the grimer, as she evoked a Will-O-Wisp attack.

[MorriganFearn]

The grimer fliched as his inner gooze warmed uncomfortably, but that the usual feeling he had when there were gasses in the sludge. He bubbled with laughter, smirking at the ghost.

<Wuz zat supposed to hurt? Yer pathetic!> he spat another glob of much at Akriso, before wincing again. The gas she had given him was actually a little painful.

[Lee]

Akriso had the uneasy feeling that all this sludge was going to make her sick, and she would have to leave this strange place early so that Zach could take her to a pokemon center. Because she was fairly certain that she was slowly getting poisoned, and unless she found a pecha berry or an antidote in here, that wouldn't be good.

What did happen if you fainted, away from your trainer and pokeball? She'd have to ask someone someday...But then, who would know?

She started to fade away, though not because she was fainting. She was blending into the shadows of the building (which were quite extensive in such a gloomy place), preparing to use Night Shade. Admittedly it wasn't night, but it didn't have to be. It just couldn't be bright light and no shadow.

Her shape reappeared quickly and starkly right next to the grimer, as she attempted to attack him once more. Normally she would have cursed her opponent by now, but then again, normally she would have been able to rest and heal right after the battle, and she wasn't sure she would be able to. Having been a trainer pokemon for a while, she had gained the knowledge that sometimes you /shouldn't/ curse your opponent. The revelation had, frankly, amazed her.

[MorriganFearn]

((Haha. I love the explanation for the ghosties obsessive use of curse. ;D))

The gas bubbling up in the grimer's stomach was really hurting, now. Really, really hurting. He grumbled, and burped, which didn't relieve the mounting pressure at all. The feeling was uncomfortably warm, too. His dark, gloopy cheeks were flushed.

Then his surroundings turned cold. He gasped, feeling as though his skin had frozen, and was dripping up against the pull of gravity at the same time. While this was happening on the outside, his guts were boiling and bubbling with heat and gas on the inside. He belched, spewing smog all over the room. He had no idea where the annoying shuppet had wandered off to, but at least it would help relieve the pain, right?

Another stab of agony hit his gut, and he slowly slid deeper in the sludge, grimacing. Cripes this hurt!

[Lee]

Akriso paused, still mostly faded away, and watched the grimer with interest. It seemed to be in a great deal of pain, and she had the dislikable image of him blowing up in her face. Grimer could survive that, she was certain (they just had to goop themselves back together, didn't they?), but she still kind of felt sorry for the thing.

Until she felt her own burning sensation in her body. If she had had veins, she would have described it as if little needles were in her blood. As she didn't, it was simply painful /everywhere/. Poison had never been something she'd been very stoic against.

Focusing, she committed herself to the attack, plummeting the temperature. Hopefully it'd freeze the grimer's sludge, but whatever it did, Akriso was fully focused on causing as much pain to the grimer as she could.

[MorriganFearn]

((Nar... I hate to say it, but I am an idiot, the last attack was not a smog attack, as grimer can't learn smog, they learn poison gas. )

The cold bit into the grimer's body, and he yelled in terror, suddenly seeing what looked to be a cleaning solution dump suddenly into his goo, swirling around, separating him--

The sludge pokemon shook and shivered, singking lower and lower into the slime before finally succumbing all together, and floating away on the ooze, his eyes and mouth horribly separated like a picaso painting.

There was weak clapping from somewhere up in the rafters, and a shout of: "You go, girl!" from somewhere in the smoggy gloom. Clearly some people were glad to see strangers. Especially if said straingers were up to trouncing bullies.

((You know the drill:

Akriso has defeated a level 31 grimer
Akriso gains a level
Akriso is now level 31
Akriso can learn Shadow Ball
Remember: only 4 moves per pokemon))

[Lee]

((Not an idiot. Just a mistake. ))

<Oh. Oh dear.> Akriso shuddered and looked away from the disturbing picture the grimer had turned into, looking up and around for the source of the clapping. While it was nice being the good guy for once, she still had a slight problem. Poison and all that.

<Antidote...Pecha Berry...Either one would be good right about now...> Piercing the smog she tried to find one, floating along slowly in her search. If she had to, she would give up, but she would rather she not. She'd yet to find anything interesting for Zach!

[MorriganFearn]

<Ooh, I don't like those,> the voice said, before addressing someone else in the purplish haze. <Viney? Do you know of any?>

<I think some of the sunkern have them,> a scratchy voice said and suddenly five vines shot past Akriso, and sunk into the sludge. <Or was that: I think sunkern have some of them? And did you call me Viney again?>

<Always do,> the voice sounded gleeful, and out of the smog bobbed a round ball, which jetted more poison out of his body in excitement. <Hello! Hello! How are you?>

<She's poisoned, if I remember right,> the scratchy voice called from beyond the cloud that the koffing exuded. <Hey, got one!>

Behind Akriso a vine rose. In its grasp was a pale and fuzzy pecha berry, clearly visible in the light of the lab.

[Lee]

<You know, I really would like to know who my benefactor is...> Pausing, she shrugged, so much as a ghost could. <But in any case, thank you greatly.> Though some of the conversation had been lost on her, it was hard to miss the pecha berry floating behind her.

At least it had made some noise, while situating itself back there. Curious about where the pokemon it belonged to was, she carefully removed the berry from it's grasp, floating it in front of her. Sure, her 'psychic' powers couldn't be used for battling, like a psychic pokemon, but ghosts had to have some means have grabbing things!

<Truly, thank you again.> Akriso was much happier now, since she could safely continue her search for something that Zach would like. If she'd been one of those poor pokemon with multiple personalities she probably would have been disgusted at the amount of devotion she showed to a trainer who was scared out of his wits of her.

[MorriganFearn]

<Viney's kinda stuck where she is,> the koffing replied, bobbing all around Akriso. <Most of them are.>

A vine whip hurtled out of the smog, and bopped the poison type over the head. <And we keep telling you not to come so near, since you make the air impossible to eat,> a different voice complained, although still in the scratchy tone that "Viney" used.

<Aw, but you know I love you guys,> the koffing protested.

<Yeah, but we wish ya didn't,> was the derisive reply.

<Whatever,> the koffing bobbed around, and stuck out his tongue. Then he bobbed back again, and grinned at the ghost type. <So, whatcha looking for? Can I help? Pretty pleeeeease?>

[Lee]

Akriso was purely delighted with the scene playing out before her. It was safe fun, and the koffing, while almost as bad in appearance as the grimer, was far more polite. So polite, she could put up with the gas leaking out of him. And this 'Viney' character...Absolutely adorable!

Suddenly picking up on something, Akriso blinked. <Eat? Air? How do you do that? Do all plant pokemon do that? I didn't know!> She had led a pretty sheltered life, and for the most part a great deal of the independent pokemon avoided her while she was at the lab, since she had that whole mothering complex-though she hadn't known why she was avoided for the most part. This meant, sadly enough, she knew little about pokemon species beyond her own ghostly relatives.

<Umm...> Looking skeptically at the koffing, she couldn't help it. He was just...adorable, even if he didn't look it. His actions were enough to get her motherly little heart all twisted up. <Well...I suppose so. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. Something for Zach-he's my trainer. He's a bit odd though.>

[MorriganFearn]

<Of course we do. We eat air and soil nutrients -- and around here, those aren't easy to come by. Fresh rain is a plus, of course. But that's not as often as we'd like,> the smog covered Viney answered Akriso's question.

The koffing, in the meanwhile, hopped around, using his jets to keep fairly level, with a thoughtful expression on his face. <Well, hmm, humans are sooo difficult -- AHAH! Does he train any grass types? There are some miracle seeds around here.>

[Lee]

Akriso thought for a moment, digging through her memories. Being trapped in her pokeball most of the time, she hadn't conversed with the other pokemon all that much. <Hm. I think...Yes. Yes, he has an Oddish.>

He wasn't exactly training the little grass-type, currently, since he was busy with his Group 3 pokemon...
But then again, he'd have to /sooner/ or later, if he wanted all the badges.

<Well. I'm terribly sorry about that..Um...> Knowing that the vine pokemon didn't like the name the koffing had given to it, Akriso wasn't sure what to call it, and so trailed off on her comment.

[MorriganFearn]

<Just call her Viney,> the koffing told Akriso cheerfully.

There was suddenly a hollow tap, as seeds began to pelt at the koffing in a thin stream. <Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean the Viney comment!> the koffing said, bobbing out of the way behind Akriso -- and the bobbing away from Akriso, because it wasn't nice to get a guest hit by Bullet Seed because you were hiding behind them.

He should have worried, as the seeds had stopped. He turned and grinned suddenly at Akriso. <That's it. Hey, V-Lady, do you know where more Bullet Seed TMs can be found?>

[Lee]

Akriso would have made some remark to the flying seeds, if the koffing hadn't suddenly come up with the brilliant plan of finding a TM for her trainer. It was perfect! <Oh, that would be wonderful!>

Floating next to the koffing, she waited almost impatiently for the grass pokemon to reply, although she did a fairly good job of containing herself. Distraction by thinking about coming and visiting this nice koffing (and the rather mysterious "Viney") was a helpful strategy.

[MorriganFearn]

<Bullet Seed? There's one between the floor boards underneath us,> came the reply, after a long period of thought. <It's stuck, though. Our vines can't wrap around the disc.>

<Heh, no problemo, V-Lady!> the koffing replied cheerfully, <I can do anything!>

<You don't have hands,> the mysterious pokemon pointed out with a sigh. <And I really wouldn't trust a TM disc to your mouth. Your fangs might puncture it.>

<Hmm, you're right,> the koffing replied looking thoughtful. <This is a knotty problem, and we should have a plan of action! Do you have hands, Miss?>

[Lee]

Akriso blinked, thinking about it for a moment. <Hands? Well, not physical ones. I meant, I have 'ghost' hands. Kind of like psychic powers, only I can't attack with them...> It was odd, really, how close psychic pokemon and ghost pokemon were, in some aspects.

<But then again...I am a ghost...Could I go and see what is keeping it stuck, and maybe that'll help, if I can't get it loose somehow?>

[MorriganFearn]

<It's just trapped by the floorboards, we think,> "Viney" told Akriso from her poisonous cloud. <It fell there when the end table disintegrated in the last earthquake. No one touched it -- you don't go around playing with unknown TMs, but the other two TMs contained Bullet Seed as well before some of my colleagues triggered them while trying to bring them back up. Such a waste. Still, it shouldn't take much to get that one loose. It's not possible for you shuppet to learn Bullet Seed, is it?>