Sludge for Blackthorn

„Okay, this is just disgusting“, Kurai sighed, staring down at the sludge he was currently knee deep inside of. The bellowing laughter of Pesky rose all around him, finding it awfully funny how the Noivern-fusion had taken one step forward and immediately stumbled down into the swamp that made up the majority of murkhaven.

Beside Pesky slithered Caesar, who looked at his trainer with an expression of pure disapproval. Kurai knew better than to expect his snake-pokémon to join him in the trenches, so he simply huffed and tried to flick away some of the sludge off to the side, before trudging forward. „And you‘re certain you‘re not a swamp monster? You blend in so beautifully“, Pesky jeered, already having found a treestump across what once must have been quite the lovely lake. As Kurai walked, his legs dipped deeper into the sludge, but it wasn‘t as if there was much more to be done by now except flap his wings to avoid even further sinking.

Kurai glanced up, watching as Caesar followed after Pesky, rather choosing the safe way than joining his trainer in the murky waters. Right behind the long snake followed Thommy, balancing on all four legs along the water. „Seriously? Not even the grass type wants to join me in the water?“, he teased, further continuing to walk.

“Course not. If it isn‘t a Dewgong, nothing could thrive in here“, Pesky immediately said, leaning down to pick up Thommy after Caesar expertly passed the trainer by snaking around the tree and taking the lead. Thommy immediately just allowed himself to rest back against his trainer with a quiet yawn, just happy to chill back. „See the positive though. You got an excellent place already to take a few samples.“ With a grin, Pesky threw down one of the plenty of glasses they had brought.

Kurai was quick to catch it, careful to not accidentally let go as the sludge clung to his arms. He was pretty sure that he could hear the cackle of Caesar, glaring up at the snake that stared down at him, then focussed on filling the glass with some of the murky water. „Seriously, this place here is anything but fun“, he mumbled, quick to close off the glass properly.

Once it was, he threw it up and watched as Caesar caught it in his maw, careful to not accidentally break it. Then the snake-like fusion pulled its head back up and towards Pesky, who took the glass and eyed the water inbetween. „I do wonder if it could be purified. Have you heard the legends of Suicune?“, he asked, before he slid the filled glass into one of the pockets of his jacket.

Kurai looked back up, then huffed when he finally felt the ground below his feet rise again. Finally at the end- “Yes, of course. The legendary Pokémon that is said to travel across the lands and purify dirty lakes and seas.” With a soft snort, he pushed himself up once he’d reached the riverbank, just as Pesky jumped off the treestump. 

Pesky grinned back at Kurai, setting Thommy back down on the ground just as Caesar followed. “Yeah! Kinda a surprise that it didn’t come here to purify anything - would be perfect for its paygrade.” He chuckled softly, then looked back at Thommy. The Bulbasaurfusion was still happy to just rest, but with an amused grin, Pesky opened the bottle back up after getting it out of the pocket again. “Think a grass Pokémon can purify it?”, he asked, eyeing his Pokémon.

Almost immediately Caesar shuffled far away from Pesky, gaining a confused look from Kurai, who was still dripping with murky water. “You’re no grass Pokémon, Caesar”, he chided, then looked back at his roommate. “And I doubt you should do this to poor Thommy.”

“I mean, you never know until you try”, Pesky simply said with an amused grin. “You wanna try, big boy?” Thommy blinked lightly and looked up at his trainer, then simply let out a light yawn and placed himself down on the ground, the bulb on his back glowing for a moment. Apparently that was enough for Pesky, because he now leaned down - and dumped the entire glass of murky water into Thommys bulb.

With big eyes, Caesar, Kurai and Pesky then watched the Bulbasaur and Kotora fusion, while the bulb began to glow. It was clear that Thommy was trying to do something, but… whether or not he knew what he was doing, was dubious at best.

Then, any movement stopped. Confused, Caesar slowly nudged forward - and pet Thommy a bit along the head. A moment later, Thommy simply turned onto his side with a tired groan, the still very murky water quickly released back from out of the bud, nothing purified and only sinking back into the ground.

Slowly, Caesar glanced back at Pesky, the look both accusatory and very much amused. Pesy then looked back at Kurai with a grin, handing him the glass once more. “Alrighty - grab some more drinks for us, while I take care of my Pokémon”, he chuckled, walking to Thommy who let out an unhappy whine the moment he was picked up.
Kurai narrowed his eyes for a moment, eyeing the glass and then looking back at the sludge. “I’ll make you eat that.”
“Nope, that’s for Professor Blackthorn!”

“Hush!”