Miltank's emotional knot had finally been untied.
It had finally found a Trainer who did not need it to battle, and its value had also been properly recognized. All it needed to do every day was produce milk for the Pokémon to drink, doing exactly what it loved most!
Miltank's mood grew better and better~
After another two days of traveling through the desert, all they saw were the corpses of Pokémon that had died from the heat, further confirming that the oasis had not yet formed here.
After leaving the desert region, they could already see a town. They rested there for one night before continuing their journey.
They entered a forested area. Fortunately, it was a forest that had been planned by the League, with proper roads to travel on. As they walked, a wave after wave of foul odor suddenly blocked their path.
With such a strong stench, there had to be at least dozens of Muk ahead!
As someone very familiar with Poison-type Pokémon, Tetsuya had already reached his conclusion. As he drew closer, he saw a little girl dressed in a nurse's uniform, with red hair tied into two braids, the standard appearance of the Joy Family. However, she was far too young to be serving in an official position, unless her parents were nearby.
After Tetsuya approached, the little girl took out two masks and handed them to Tetsuya and Catherine. Then she said, "There are too many Muk up ahead! The smell is really difficult to tolerate, so I'm handing out masks here. I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience!"
Tetsuya and Catherine put on the masks, but they only helped a little. The pungent odor was still difficult to tolerate.
"Why are there Muk here?" Tetsuya asked. He knew the living habits of Muk extremely well. They usually lived in sewers, industrial wastewater, or wetlands. It was generally very difficult to find them in forests.
"Oh! My mother is not only a Pokémon Center nurse, she's also a Pokémon Researcher. A large amount of industrial wastewater has appeared in the water sources of this forest, and the water quality has been severely polluted.
Many trees in the forest have withered and died. Pokémon become sick after drinking this kind of water. Over the past six months, large numbers of Pokémon have been injured or fallen ill, which has caused a serious shortage of staff at our Pokémon Center. So my mother began her research!" The chibi "Joy-chan" said proudly.
Tetsuya roughly knew where this was now, the Pokémon Center of Lake Lucid!
Lake Lucid was a gathering place of mud and polluted water where no living thing could survive. The Joy here had researched Muk and discovered that Muk would consume the sludge in the lake and absorb the toxic substances from the polluted water, giving them the ability to purify water quality. Many years later, she would even publish a book called [The Summer Muk Sang].
This Joy made an enormous contribution to Lake Lucid and revived this entire forest. However, she passed away not long afterward. The reason was that although Muk could purify wastewater and absorb toxins, the poisonous gas emitted from their bodies was also deadly. Even while wearing gas masks, living in such a toxic environment every day would eventually let the poison gas to invade the body.
However, this poisonous gas was the perfect food for Koffing.
"Come out, Koffing."
Tetsuya sent out Koffing. It immediately plunged into the poisonous gas and began frantically absorbing it. Before long, the toxic haze had already thinned considerably.
Chini Joy took a deep breath. "Wow! It's been such a long time since I've breathed such fresh air. Your Koffing is really amazing!"
"Each taking what they need."
Koffing continued absorbing the poisonous gas, while the chibi Joy followed Tetsuya and Catherine as they gradually approached the Pokémon Center of Lake Lucid.
Nurse Joy was conducting research by the edge of the pool. The Muk consumed sludge and absorbed toxins from the polluted water, while continuously exhaling poisonous gas in large quantities. The water in the pool was gradually becoming clearer because of the Muk.
"Mom~!" Chibi Joy ran over.
Joy turned around, wearing a gas mask on her face. When she saw her daughter running over, she quickly stopped her.
"The poisonous gas is too dense here. Don't come any closer!"
Joy walked over and naturally noticed Tetsuya and Catherine behind her daughter.
"Do we have guests…?"
Even through the gas mask, it could not conceal a Nurse Joy's sweet voice.
"Yes! These two guests have a Koffing that can absorb the gas released by the Muk," Chibi Joy said.
At that moment, Koffing floated over from behind, happily absorbing the poisonous gas. The purple toxic fumes gradually became thinner.
"That's wonderful! To think there is such a method… Thank you so much! Please come to the Pokémon Center and have a cup of MoomooTea," Joy invited them.
Catherine glanced at Tetsuya.
Tetsuya nodded and said, "Un. Sorry for the trouble."
---◓---
After entering the Pokémon Center, Joy hosted Tetsuya and Catherine. This style of home-cooked cuisine had a unique charm of its own.
The Joy of Lake Lucid was renowned throughout the entire Johto region, and her methods of caring for Pokémon were also top-notch.
To thank Tetsuya for using Koffing to absorb the gas, Joy asked Tetsuya and Catherine to let her perform a full examination on all of their Pokémon.
After Joy's examination, nearly all of the Pokémon were found to have some hidden ailments, most of them caused by long periods of training without proper rest in a comfortable environment.
"Your Pokémon are obviously very strong, but while becoming stronger, you also need to pay attention to relaxing their muscles and providing appropriate healing and recovery treatments. Why not stay here for a while? I'll help them recover. It will be greatly beneficial to the long-term growth of your Pokémon."
Joy extended the invitation. In truth, she also wanted Tetsuya's Koffing to stay here longer so it could absorb more poisonous gas…
This was also a good option for Tetsuya. The care provided by the "Joy of Lake Lucid" was not something ordinary Pokémon Center Joys could compare to. Taking this opportunity to let his Pokémon properly relax and completely treat some of their ailments would be very beneficial.
"Then we'll be in your care, Miss Joy!"
After saying that, Tetsuya and Catherine both sent out their Pokémon, and Joy brought them all into the treatment room.
---◓---
Joy remained in the treatment room for an entire half day before finally coming out with a weary body.
Tetsuya and Catherine looked inside the treatment room and saw that all of the Pokémon were lying peacefully in bed, already fast asleep.
"Don't disturb them. I've put on Heal Bell music in there. They'll definitely be able to enjoy a good, peaceful sleep!" Joy said.
Koffing had spent the entire afternoon absorbing poisonous gas, and Joy had even given Koffing special care. It too had fallen asleep.
Tetsuya and Catherine were assigned separate rooms. Here, they truly experienced the treatment of Official League Trainers, with food and lodging provided, while their Pokémon received professional care.
Of course, all of this was thanks to Koffing. Naturally, it was also highly beneficial to the improvement of Koffing's toxicity.
That night, Tetsuya left the Pokémon Center alone.