Even through the Master Ball, Nozomi and Mewtwo could still communicate.
The Master Ball might suppress Mewtwo's aggression and prevent him from harming his Trainer, but it couldn't completely restrain his psychic power.
"I didn't sense anything unusual at the Power Plant," Mewtwo replied to Nozomi's question.
Nozomi felt a bit disappointed. His confusion only deepened—if there was nothing special about the place, then what on earth was going on with all those Grimer?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Mewtwo added,"However, I can understand what those Grimer are saying—they're all shouting the same word."
"What word!?" Nozomi asked quickly.
Mewtwo didn't keep him in suspense. "Electricity."
"What?"
"Electricity," Mewtwo repeated, a little impatiently.
"…"
Nozomi fell silent for a few seconds, a strange expression spreading across his face. "They're… attracted to electricity?"
That made no sense. Electric-types weren't super effective against Poison-types, sure, but by all logic, Grimer shouldn't like electricity at all!
If it had been anyone else, Nozomi would've doubted the claim—but since it came from Mewtwo, he decided to test it anyway. He turned to the two Power Plant workers beside him. "Do either of you have any Electric-type Pokémon?"
Nozomi himself didn't have any Electric-types, but it made sense that staff working at a Power Plant would.
The two workers, not entirely sure what Nozomi planned to do, nevertheless nodded right away—he had saved their lives, after all. "We do!"
They released two Pokémon.
A Voltorb and a Magnemite.
"Lend me your Magnemite for an experiment," Nozomi said to the Magnemite's Trainer. "Have it use Thunder Shock on those Grimer down there."
If those Grimer were craving electricity, then he'd give them what they wanted—just to see what would happen.
"Are you sure about this?" the man asked nervously.
It took courage to attack a swarm of Grimer. Who knew if they'd get angry and retaliate? In his mind, if that happened, their odds of survival would be slim.
"Relax. I'm here."
Nozomi patted his Metagross beside him. "Even if you don't trust me, surely you trust the Metagross that saved your life?"
The man hesitated, then nodded. That was true enough.
"All right, Magnemite—use Thunder Shock on the Grimer below!"
"Beeep!"
Magnemite looked confused at first, then obediently fired a bolt of electricity downward, fearless and clueless alike.
Crackle—Electricity tore through the air—
—and struck a Grimer squarely.
Zzzzt!The current arced across the slimy surface of its body. Its face contorted—but Nozomi frowned.
That expression didn't look painful. It looked… pleased.
"Am I seeing things?" Nozomi muttered. He stared hard at the Grimer being electrocuted.
No—he wasn't mistaken. That Grimer looked positively ecstatic.
And not only that—other Grimer nearby, seeing the flash of electricity, began squirming toward it, rubbing against the shocked one as if trying to share the charge!
The expected chaos—rage, attacks—never came.
"…"
Nozomi was dumbfounded. This world truly was full of surprises.
At last, he understood why these Grimer had invaded the Power Plant.
They enjoyed being electrocuted.
They'd come here to experience the sensation of electric current!
The thought alone made Nozomi's worldview wobble.
"These Grimer are seriously… something else," he muttered. "Real weirdos."
Ever seen Grimer that like being shocked? He had—now.
And once you accepted that, everything about their behavior made sense.
As for why they'd developed that liking, Nozomi guessed it had to do with the old electrified net that used to guard the plant's water intake.
Living underwater, the Grimer must have constantly brushed up against the current—and perhaps one of them got addicted to the sensation.
That one probably influenced the rest, and as their numbers grew, they clogged the intake completely—causing the Power Plant blackout.
Then, with the power out and the net deactivated, the desperate Grimer broke through the barrier, swarming inside in search of their next "electric therapy session."
When Nozomi reached that conclusion, even he was amazed by his own imagination.
Maybe he had a talent for writing novels after all.
"Mr. Nozomi, what should we do now?" one of the Power Plant workers asked, breaking his silence.
They were understandably eager to get operations back online—the economic loss from the outage was growing by the minute.
"Get the plant running again? That's exactly why I came," Nozomi said calmly.
"Do you have a plan, then?"
"I do—but I'll need a lot of Electric-type Pokémon. Do you know where we can find more?"
The two men exchanged a glance. "There are plenty right here in the Power Plant, Mr. Nozomi. Please, follow us!"
They led him into a storage room—
—and inside, rows upon rows of Poké Balls filled every shelf.
"These are all Electric-type Pokémon that used to wander the plant. The company sends people monthly to capture them to prevent damage to the machinery. Every one caught is stored here."
Nozomi stared at the hundreds—no, thousands—of Poké Balls before him. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"I don't need that many."
If he released all of them, he wouldn't be able to control the situation—and the chaos might end up worse than the Grimer problem!
After thinking it through, he selected twenty Magnemite and thirty Pikachu.
"These fifty will do." He hefted the heavy bag of Poké Balls and nodded. "Let's get ready—we're solving the Grimer problem today."