Frontline Mission #14

Jackson was walking down the familiar Brookfell path that led towards the lower portions of the city. His partner pokemon, Atlas, was walking behind him. The typical sounds of machinery and working miners were absent. The unusual quiet made Jackson uneasy, especially as he remembered how busy the mines always were when we worked there.

The reason for the silence was a lack of power throughout the entire city. Emergency power was keeping some systems functioning, but any non-vital machinery had been shut down. As it was getting later in the day concerns were also growing about a very dark night growing closer.

The trainer soon saw the power plant come into view, sitting on a large rocky cliff. Although the city predicted the power outage had something to do with the plant, no one was really sure exactly what was causing it. For this reason Jackson had been sent to investigate. His knowledge of electronics and machinery were sure to come in handy with finding the source of the problem.

A worker greeted Jackson and unlocked the wire gate with a key before swinging the door open. The entire plant was surrounded by fencing with warning signs all over it. The trainer had already received some warnings about potential hazards by city workers before he had set out.

Once he got through the gate he still had to walk further in order to reach the actual buildings. The plant certainly wasn’t small as he saw a large complex of roads, a larger structure, and several smaller buildings. Large cylinders came through the ceiling and large cooling cylinders were scattered around the place. White clouds were still coming out from the cooling cylinders and smoke came from the stacks.

Jackson wasn’t really sure where to start as he stopped and looked around. His pokemon stopped at his side, his ears perked up as he looked around curiously. “Do you smell anything buddy?” The trainer asked as he looked down at Atlas.

The blue and white pokemon began to sniff around at the nearby rocky ground. Once he lifted his head and looked at Jackson he knew that the noctyena hadn’t picked up a scent.

“Well, just try to keep sniffing around as we go I guess.” He advised. Jackson started with walking along the roadways that surrounded the buildings. As he walked Atlas’ ears were perked up and nose wiggling, staying alert as his trainer had asked him to. 

They walked past the cooling towers as they continued on their search. Both of them still had yet to pick up anything that would be out of the ordinary or explain the lack of power. Now that the outside had been searched, Jackson thought it was time to start exploring the building.

As he approached the metal structure the task seemed very daunting. It stretched over a large amount of space with a maze of hallways. Jackson also knew that various rooms like offices and control panels would be in the building. With how close nightfall was getting he wasn’t even sure if he could explore the building before darkness set in. This also didn’t include searching any of the smaller buildings if he needed to.

“I think we’re going to need some help…” Jackson said as he took out three pokeballs and threw them towards the ground. In front of him and Atlas more pokemon appeared.

The first one was a delta ghost turtwig named Shadow, who was a purple color with black cloud markings and a scraggly twig on his head. Next to Shadow was a totodile/growlithe fusion named Chompy. Chompy was blue with fluffy tan fur around his neck and sprouting from his head. He also had red stripes and spikes along his back. The final pokemon of the group was a lappa/phanpy fusion named Mari. She was a teal color with orange plating and spots.

“Alright guys.” Jackson started to explain as his pokemon were taking in their surroundings. “We’re trying to find the source of a power outage. I’m not exactly sure what we’re looking for, but I can’t cover all this ground by myself. We’ll have to split up so we can search the building.” 

The pokemon were eager to help as they split up and began to go down different hallways. Atlas remained with his trainer, not wanting to leave his side. Jackson also thought this was for the better incase any hostile pokemon were in the plant. He didn’t exactly want to face off with a pokemon.

“We’ll just go straight.” Jackson said to Atlas as he began to walk forward. He took out a flashlight and turned it on, the light cutting through the shadowy hallway. The noctyena remained alert as they walked, his hearing and sense of smell being especially beneficial in such a dark environment.

The plant was eerily quiet as Jackson pushed a nearby door open. It creaked as it swung open, revealing a large room with metal desks and chairs. Each of the desks had computers or other electronics, plus a large projector that lit up one side of the wall. He knew that the other workers were currently dealing with other issues around the city.

Jackson checked that the room was clear then shut the door behind him as he exited. He sighed as he spotted another room ahead, following the same process of opening it to check it out. This room seemed to be a break room. It had a large table in the middle with chairs. A nearby counter had a microwave and coffee maker on it. A currently non operational fridge was also against one of the walls. Once again he didn’t see anything of significance as he exited the room.

“Even with us splitting up this is going to take a while.” Jackson said as he scratched his head and looked down at Atlas. The pokemon wagged his tail, not really bothered by wandering around the power plant for likely the rest of the day.