We Apologize For the Inconvenience

[Doomulus]

Stephen did feel prepared to visit the lake and see it for himself, but he wasn't actually prepared for, well, the lake itself. He had heard the stories of its contamination, but it didn't at all match what he figured it to be. Dejectedly, Stephen slumped, looking out to the murky, sloppy horizon that was the 'body of water' before him. He could see its cloudy, black depths. He could almost feel the disgusting, thick, mushy soup of the shallow shore. He felt as though he could hear the bubbling and the disgusting sloshing of little organisms teeming in the depths.

Naturally, Stephen felt a tinge of regret. Suddenly trying to fix the mistake of scientists before him didn't matter as much as dealing with this complete catastrophe of a sensory experience. He felt queasy, and the heat only exacerbated it. The young man wiped off a thin film of sweat on his forehead, and the unsettling feeling in his stomach suddenly sprung on him would not leave him alone. This was apparently his future, he realized. His ambitions would bring him to dealing with this kind of dirty work.

This conviction pushed him forward, inch by inch, baby step by baby step, towards the lake. He turned back to Yuki for a moment, assuming she'd kept pace with him during his excited 'power-walk' peak into its sharp, downtrodden decline. "I suppose this is where all good scientists start, isn't it."

[rainexsage]

Yuki had seen the lake from afar during the time they approached the town, but standing more or less on the shore was another matter entirely. The air held an acrid chemical smell and Stephen would probably be comforted to know that he was not the only one having a little trouble with the area. How terrible to think that this had once been a thriving lake, now reduced to little more than a glorified puddle of sludge.

"I suppose it must be." she replied, fishing out a lace hankie and holding it to her nose to try and fend off some of the fumes. This couldn't be healthy to breathe in could it? Yuki hoped fervently that she would not, at some point later on in life, develop some kind of illness from it. "Everyone tends to face a bit of adversity at the start... I think this might be more than your fair share of adversity though." she commented, looking down at the slick looking water. "I mean, look at this, its terrible. What could they have dumped in here?"

[Doomulus]

"A soup of chemicals swirled together, along with careless experiment explosions, if the reports are to be believed." Stephen crossed his arms and stared into the muck. He couldn't fathom how anything could even live in there. His eyes teared up slightly, as he rubbed them. Whatever the poisoned lake seemed to release definitely wasn't good to take in, no matter what sense was being utilized.

The filth gave him an idea. He had nothing to write on, so he rubbed at his temples for a moment, crouching down to get a closer look at the murk. It was unpleasant, filthy, and most likely unhealthy to even be within a few meters of. "A hazmat suit would be useful... Even the most durable suits might get eaten away by this compound..." He seemed to be talking to himself, bouncing ideas back and forth. "No... nobody should be within this sludge. This sort of issue should be dealt with externally."

(If any mod wants to jump in with an appearance, anytime is fine.)

[rainexsage]

"But this lake is too big to pump isn't it?" Yuki asked, inspecting a nearby stump for any sludge before sitting down primly upon it. "Or at least, it'd be expensive...."

She looked thoughtfully across the murky waters, relfecting mostly to herself so that Stephen was not crowded by her own thoughts as well as his. A compound that could consume the chemical runoff? A large scale filtration system? Maybe some kind of plant that could leech the pollution from the lake over time? Of course that wasn't even taking into consideration what the soil must be contaminated with by this point. Or the effect on the local wildlife.

Could pokemon even live in a place like this? Grimer at the very least, a place like this would be their ideal habitat.

"What about the pokemon who live around here?" she asked idly. "I wonder if you could use them to help somehow? If they can live in this water then they could help with any internal solutions?"

[kitsunaii]

"Bah, the Pokemon are fine. Don'tcha see those little blue guys over there? They've adapted already, an' they're prolly the better for it."

An old man had approached the pair of young scientific minds. He was likely in his early 70's, and aside from his patchy white hair, wrinkles and liver spots, he appeared to be in fairly good shape. He removed his brown hat and held it in his hands. "I was working at the facility there when the accident happened. I was lucky 'nuff to be home sick when the actual incident went down. I remember it like it was yesterday; I was jus' lyin' in bed, snifflin' like crazy, and suddenly it was like somethin' huge fell from the sky and shook the earth. I remember lookin' outside and expectin' to see a meteor or a Wailord or.. somethin', but all I could see were the flames on that building o'er there. That little one's all's left now."

He sighed. "Anyway, them Wooper over there, they've become as poisonous as the waters. All these Pokemon have, and the water's attracted some other Poison-types too. It's probably fascinatin' to you sciencey types, eh?" The old man winked at Stephen.

[Doomulus]

Stephen took a moment to listen to the old man, after hearing a bit of (likely) unintended discouragement from Yuki. The old man was going on about where he was and what he was doing when the explosion happened, and he didn't much care for it. The boredom was evident on his face. The last bit he said, however, concerned him more than intrigued him. The young scientist would even say as much.

"No, it's not fascinating. It's concerning." Ruffling his hands through his hair, Stephen turned away from the two, as well as the pond itself, likely to think alone. It was all the same, though, as he made his thoughts known through vocalizing them. "If there are Pokemon already assimilated to the tainted environment, they probably want to stay there. If the river were to be purified, by means... other than pumping, I suppose, then the creatures living in the lake will have nowhere to live."

He crouched down, biting his thumb before resuming. "Not only that, but if they decide to stay in spite of their poison attribute, what if the original Pokemon return? There would no doubt be some kind of long-term struggle for territory. It'll cause problems for the townsfolk, and possibly even make more of a mess than there already is," he reasoned. At this point, he was aware that he was rambling in front of everyone, and turned back to them.

"The solution isn't nearly as simple as I thought it would be." Stephen groaned pathetically, like he was complaining that there was something very inconvenient ahead of him.