Ultra Plant hadn't been fun the first time around. They had almost been throttled by a golem with a strange pattern on its face. That golem had the electrical output of five Hoenns, if the burned, charred, and blackened instruments on their persons could be trusted. The second time, they had fought their own base. That had gone slightly better, even if the event was nonsensical in nature. Frankly, Howard had almost died twice in this dimensional shithole, and he was sick of it.

But hey. Third time's the charm, right?

Howard was gonna make sure that the person who said that kicked in the shins three times, just to make sure that his sentiments really struck home.

"This is stupid." Howard grumbled as he kicked off the maintenance pad in front of the entrance to the sprawling complex. "This is really dumb. I'm serious. There's absolutely no way this can end well."

When Team Rocket's command had heard of their escapades, including Howard's written report, proofread by Grigori with extra commentary from Shred, involving using Probopass as an improvised magnet and sending the Stakataka careening into the abyss, their immediate response was to send the three back into Ultra Plant to discover what exactly was in the chasm. Was it endless? What was at the bottom? They had a lot of data on what was on the dimension's surface, but its depths? That was where they were blind.

Luckily, Team Rocket had a geologist /paleontologist/historian /archaeologist/anthropologist/ a guy with a degree, Howard Slayte. Why not send him? He and his escorts had lived twice over? Why not make it a third? Fuckers.

After peering at the wiring behind the panel, Howard peered at the door at the compound's entrance. He frowned. He was supposed to be getting this door open. He turned back to Grigori and Shred, before peering back at the panel. He poked it. It sparked. Damn, this whole electrical thing was hard! After a moment's thought, he reached to his belt, and opened a ball. Into his arms popped out the Legendary Pokémon Phione.

"Hewwo Azure!" Howard spoke to the Pokémon spoken of in legends with a baby voice. "Could you do Howard a favor and use Whirlpool?"

Azure looked at him blankly, before peering at Shred. The Pokémon did an obscene gesture, before spitting water into the wiring. It sparked and smoldered. Suddenly, the door to the complex opened. Howard kissed its head and returned it to its ball. "We're in. Told you I still got it."

---

Grigori Sokolov Shred
PROMPT: Utilize a starter/Phione in an advantageous way.

"You've certainly still got 'it'." You dryly comment, stepping through the open door and inside the strange complex. "Arceus knows 'it' isn't much, but at least you've still got it."

It's your third time in the Ultra Plant, and you have to say, it's really started to lose its luster. Venturing into this alternate dimension has just become another part of your work schedule, no different than working in the smuggling rings or doing your rounds in the protection racket. The novelty has worn off, and now, instead of some grand explorer of the lost and the unknown, you're a glorified electrician. Actually, are you getting hazard pay for this? You have had multiple near-death experiences in this place. You should chase that up when you get out of here, see if you can't finagle that.

...Fuck, man, you're in a strange other realm solving the mysteries of a forgotten civilisation, and you're thinking about paychecks right now. This shit sucks, and you hate it. Shaking your head, you push those thoughts aside and forge on ahead, managing to walk a good few feet before you're immediately faced with another door. Grand.

"Turtonator, get out here." You grumble, calling forth the strange dragon turtle beast and pointing it in the direction of the second door. "And melt that door down, on the double."

"That doesn't seem very kind..."

"It's fine. All the skeletons and wires and bricks won't mind."

"Well, if you say so... BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEURGH!!!"

Out from his strange snout, a blast of burning fire shot outward, coating the metal door in flame and burning it down until all that remained was ash and soot and chunks of blackened metal. Easy, simple, and free. You couldn't complain, even if you wanted to. With a nod of appreciation, you return Turtonator to his Pokeball, before peering down the path ahead and--

"--Fuck me in the ASS, is that another fucking door?!"

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov

Grigori remained surprised, from when they had received their current assignment all the way to the ruins of this complex, that they’d been allowed to even return. Their ruined equipment had sealed the deal in his mind. Who’d let a trio like them back if they’d just break everything within twenty-four hours?

But yet again, this placement made much more sense the longer he considered it. The worst they could do is die for the cause and become a cautionary tale like the rest of those they found.

But ‘surprise’ and ‘placement’ went hand in hand as the Phione short-circuited the first door and the Turtonator melted the second. This place must’ve been incredibly important if it was deemed necessary to have three thick steel doors. How would he complete the task set ahead of him?

“Well,” He pulled out his own poke ball, the creature inside released in a bright flash, “Third time’s the charm.”

Out came a mighty warrior, clad from head to foot in steel. A single blade rose to the heavens from its brow, yet it remained stuck to the ground in a near-permanent bow. Pumpkin, once a lowly Pawniard, now stood short and proud as a mighty Kingambit would. But how would it break through the reinforced door?

“Alright Pumpkin, try out that one move you showed me earlier, please,” the grunt asked. Slowly, the impossibly sharp blade bent forward.

Then slashed with the force of a freight train. A Kowtow Cleave, straight up and down, from top to bottom. Nothing happened at first. Did it even touch the door in the first place? Carefully, the Kingambit rose and approached the door. A strong push, and each half slowly folded outward. The half not attached to the wall gave way under its own monstrous weight.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!

As Grigori first stepped into the area, yet another layer of surprise: this place was… what would be the proper word here?

“How peculiar indeed.”

It looked like the last power plant on steroids. Sparks flickered off the walls and numerous machines, nearly enough light to illuminate the area on their own. Flashes revealed a great area, filled to the brim with complex equipment and massive coils. And kilometers of black cables, but those just grew from the ground in this place. What did one need to grow a garden like this?

“Well, Mr. Howard, where to start?”

---

@shrezeppelin howard slayte

"No." Howard told Shred firmly as they gazed upon the fruits of his labors. Another fucking door?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

At least it fell down reasonably quickly. Grigori showed his capabilities as a glorified doorman better than Shred did, even if he had done it with a louder sound. Howard winced as the doors collapsed into a pile with a massive crash. If the funky aliens didn't know they were here, they definitely knew now. Lucky them.

Plus, there were even more cords. This place could've kept RadioSnack in business for centuries, if it was still around. Grigori's estimation of kilometers was likely correct. This place had the largest amount of cords yet. Were these cords the same as the ones the Xurkitrees were made of? Was this complex a giant Xurkitree? Howard hoped not. He was sick of fighting everything under the sun.

Where was that Stakataka, anyways?

"Look for clues, I guess. We can't explore this whole thing. We need more men. If you find anything you might break, let me know." Howard grumbled before finding his way to a corner that was filled with monitors. There was a ash corpse standing there, looking at the monitors. He had likely been zapped and killed while standing.

Howard made a few sketches, then took a photo from a camera. With the flash, the corpse collapsed into dust. Howard frowned.

"Hm."

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov

Finally, it seems you're in the facility proper. Though, it does make you wonder why this place would even need three whole doors? Isn't this entire world just one big sprawling power plant? What's so special about this particular facility that it would need such airtight security? The more you think about it, the less sense it makes.

So, you don't bother. There's no point in theorising this early, right? Eventually, if you travel far enough in, the mysteries of this place will naturally reveal themselves. Right now, you've just got to get there, and that involves solving the much simpler mystery of "how do we find a way forward?". In this particular instance, the three of you are trying to get down into the ravine, and that means you're looking for a path downward. So, just keep an eye out for any hatches, ladders, or chutes. Simple enough.

So, you begin to walk about, looking for any kind of signage about. You're not so naive as to hope for an annotated map, but at the very least, you can hope for some big block text saying "EXIT" with an arrow pointing where you need to go.

...Assuming that it hasn't been blocked by all the wires, anyhow.

"Fuck's sake..." You grumble, reaching into your pockets. Luckily, you've planned for this. After fumbling around for a bit, you pull out a pair of cheap rubber gloves, quickly putting them on before you plunge your hands into the wires on the walls, beginning to push and pull them apart in search of the path ahead. "These Ultraspacians really couldn't keep their shit steady, could they? Didn't they have any of those cable ties, or tape, or glue, or fucking anything? Why is this place in such rough shape?"

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov

“If I may wager a guess, Mr. Shred,” Grigori called over from his own position, “these wires likely came after the persons here ceased living.”

It was human nature to organize, even if some struggled to show it. Here wouldn’t have been any different had the people survived. Instead, they were greeted by the omnipresent cables and all the former residents in the general same state of disrepair: charred corpses.

He tried to stupidly move one out of the way of a particular machine, but it collapsed in on itself instead. Just how old were all of these people? That question would need to be answered by Howard and yet another machine to spit out the answer. One he likely didn’t have, because Team Rocket didn’t trust any of them with even a basic calculator. Maybe they were bait after all.

But the grunt would not let that happen. Again. He had no idea what to even begin looking at, or for, but any signs of danger would be noticed by him first. His left eye scanned the various gadgets and gizmos that were nearly as ‘wild’ as the cords and his right firmly on their surroundings. Every hint of movement or errant sound got his attention.

Eventually, though, he noticed a routine sound. Like a bug zapper, in the distance. Sort of near where Shred was. Slowly, he approached the location of said noise, which only grew louder. There was an interval to it, a metronome that kept a horrid tempo. “Mr. Shred, Mr. Howard, do you notice that sound?”

Grigori rounded the corner, right as it was time to ‘sound off’. As suddenly as the noise blared on, his heart skipped a beat. “Woah!”

The grunt jumped back despite the distance between him and the sudden surge of electricity. Cables flickered wildly, but none of them made any sort of contact with any other surface. Instead, they sent their electric payload from one wall to another. It formed an undergrowth of electricity. And after a bit of time, it ceased all activity. Maybe a malfunction in the infrastructure, but not a total break.

“I think I found a point of interest, but it was broken before any of us arrived.”

---

howard slayte Shred

"Why are you surprised, Shred?" Howard said as he picked up several charred bone fragments and put them into bags to be studied. "The League can't even keep its roads in good shape, and Galar's new PM is a joke. The only thing separating us from these people is we're less cooked and have less wires."

With that in mind, Howard continued sampling and analyzing. Even if he hadn't said it, Grigori was correct. Most work would need to be analyzed back at the lab, but Howard wasn't completely helpless. He could recognize most bones from a glance, and he could do his work in relative piece, with Shred and Grigori watching his back.

Shit. Was he relaxed around them? Grigori was one thing, but Shred? The same Shred that grilled hamburgers outside a Pokemart and lived in an abandoned building? He was used to them?

This did not mean he trusted them. No. Absolutely not. They were just good muscleheads.

"Hm?" Howard stood up and jogged over to Grigori, almost tripping over several cables in the process. "What's up. It's just a broken current, Grigori. It's hardly uncommon." Chuckling and shaking his head, Howard clapped Grigori on the shoulder, before walking away, chuckling.

It hurts...

Howard stopped. "What the...?

It hurts... Please, let me out...

A faint, whispering scream echoed in Howard's ears from a cord by his foot. It sounded like a television in the middle of a show before being smashed apart with a sledgehammer. Howard shivered slightly as he turned away. Had the others heard it? No. Unlikely. It was just his imagination. Hearing screams from wires? What was that.

"Must be my imagination. Let's get going deeper in."

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov
PROMPT: Hear haunting screams and noises from the electrical energy in this world.

You haven't managed to find an exit, but Grigori managed to find a way further in. Not a good way, mind, but it's certainly a way. If you can get deeper in, then you'll have more of the facility to explore, and that means you'll be more likely to find a way down towards the bottom of the chasm. Like a staircase, or a ladder, or an elevator, or--

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

--Okay, maybe not an elevator. As you look at the hazardous pathway in front of you, you're starting to doubt that you want to place your faith in any electronics. The alternating currents are turning this hallway into a deathtrap. All it takes is one wrong step and you're going to reliving a painful memory of your first trip to the Ultra Plant. That's the bad news, but the good news is, it's not a very long hallway. The electricity comes in bursts, lasting about three seconds, before turning off for five seconds. That means that if you start running the instant the electricity stops, you have about five seconds to sprint across, open the door, and get through it. That is, assuming what's on the other side of the hallway isn't also electrocuted.

...Man, this maths shit is easy. People get degrees in this? You've got it all figured out, and you decided to be a Pokemon trainer instead of going to high school! College really is a scam. Now, all you have to do is actually do all that stuff you said.

"Alright, Howard or Gregory: Which one of you wants to go across first?"

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov
31 - involve a segment where some or all of the party must swiftly or dexterously bypass an obstacle (animate or inanimate) that is electrified or unelectrified depending on the timing.

“I will go first, Mr. Shred,” Grigori said. Both because he was the one who found it in the first place, and also because they didn’t know what lie ahead. If he wanted to protect Howard and Shred, then he should scout ahead and look for any potential dangers. Or a way to turn off this electrical current. Or both.

But… this looked harder than at first glance. The timing wasn’t hard to figure out after a few cycles, but the problem rather lay in the duration of the timing itself. Short hallway, but short downtime. Not only that, but the door was shut. That’d take another precious moment from the allotted time budget.

Regardless of what he did, Grigori would need a head start. So, he backed up as far as the cable and machines would let him. Then, he released his Scizor. It looked towards the electric trap with a curious gaze.

“Scizor, we need to cross that hallway between the shocks. Otherwise… best not think about it. Do you think you can get through fast enough to open the door at the end of the hallway?”

The Scizor nodded. It examined the current for a single cycle before it stanced up. A mental countdown played out, almost in perfect sync with the wild electric arcs. The red insect bolted forward, almost as fast as the electric itself. It entered the hallway just as the cycle ended.

One. Two.

It launched down the hallway. The easy part. The door didn’t immediately give way.

Three. Four.

So, a Close Combat was in order. A flurry of red claws reduced the door to little more than scrap metal.

Five. Six.

The bug motioned to the rest of them. A hero, a knight in shining armor. Here to clear the path and way for the rest of its squad. They should all get on their knees and worship–

Several beams of electricity erupted from the walls. Nearly all of them attracted to the metal bug. A thick, black smoke poured off the bug, stuck in place by the sheer force of the amps. “Scizor!”

Thankfully, it didn’t last long. As soon as it ended, Scizor finished its journey into the end of the hallway. Grigori, despite the danger, immediately ran towards his Pokémon. He also entered the hallway right as the cycle ended. But not like his own Pokémon, he didn’t stick around and wait for it to come back.

“Scizor, are you–woAH WOAH WOAH–”

A claw grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt moments before he flung himself off the edge of a cliff. Looked like they found a way down after all: this was a stairwell, alright. Yet all the guard rails had been removed. Or never existed. Hard to tell. “It’s safe to come across, but be careful! Someone removed all the railing from this stairwell!”

---

Shred howard slayte

Scizor is now paralyzed (A surprise tool that will help us later)

"Hm." Howard said as he watched Grigori's Scizor get zapped. An unfortunate event, given Scizor's reliability in the past. The insect arced with electricity from the shock, clearly paralyzed, and now Howard's nerves were on the verge of going 'pop', sending him out the door.

Luckily, this was just another ruin. He liked those! Exploring them was an exciting endeavor, and Howard had encountered many traps in his lifetime. Rolling boulders, spike traps, exploding doormats, the whole package. If ancient people didn't want Howard to snatch their relics, they should've invested in better security. That included Ultra Plant.

He considered busting out his Excadrill to use Mud Sport, but that mud would likely harden and make it harder to move when things inevitably went south. Plus, if he did, june sleigh would likely sense it and kick him in the shins, next time she saw him.

Joy.

With a dash that was surprisingly quick, Howard rushed across the hallway, avoiding the electricity with surprising deftness. For someone who wasn't as well-built as Grigori or as adept at punishing his own body with vices as Shred, the archaeologist ran a mean sprint.

Peering over the edge and into the abyss, Howard scowled. Of course it was too easy for them to even have guard rails. Declan Walsh didn't follow proper building code, so why would interdimensional civilizations? It was almost too reasonable of an ask.

"You've got this, Shred!" Howard gave the Galarian a thumbs up. "You're just running from the cops, again!"

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov

Good, good. That's two out of three of you across, with... minimal casualties. A real shame about Scizor, but he's still alive, so you can't complain. Besides, you're still the one on the wrong side of this deathtrap. Lucky for you, just like Howard oh-so-wittily pointed out, you're real good at running. You'll be out of harm's way in no time.

Like the countdown for a race, the electricity turns on, and the countdown begins in your head. One, two, three, four, five. Then, like the shot of a starting pistol, the electricity turns off once more, and you begin to run. Before you know it, you're a little over halfway to the door, and your time is a little under halfway up. It seems as though you're going to make it! Not that there was ever much doubt. After all, if Howard could make it and you couldn't, then that would be the most embarrassing thing that could ever--

--You trip.

Well, this is mortifying, isn't it? Not only are you going to get electrocuted for a second time in however many weeks, but it's going to happen because of your own clumsiness. You shut your eyes and breathe a sigh of despair. Was being punished for your stupidity not enough? Did Arceus have to punish you for every single flaw you possessed, however minor? Were you going to start getting hit by lightning bolts when you hit on women? Was the next powder your snorted going to be made of a crushed-up Thunder Stone? Were you going to wake up one day to find an Eelektross had burrowed into your brain stem, so that it might punish you for even thinking impure thoughts? Why? Why did bad things have to happen to bad people?!

...Actually, it's been more than five seconds, and you haven't been shocked silly yet. In fact, it doesn't even feel like you've hit the ground, which is weird, because it feels like your heels are over your head right now. Curious, you open your eyes, and...

Uh oh.

"HELP! HOWARD! GREGORY! HELP ME! HURRY! IT'S THE WIRE MAN! HE'S COME FOR US!"

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov

Grigori desperately wanted to hug his Scizor, or pat its shoulder, or make just about any contact. However, the static electricity that danced across its carapace felt dangerous. Instead, he frowned at the insect. “Thank you for the save, Scizor. I’ll be sure to repay you in kind later.”

For now, he watched Shred. Howard’s odd phrase for motivation seemed to work at first. Grigori watched the man make an impressive lead on the hallway. As long as nothing dangerous happened, he’d be perfectly fine. He guarded the doorway, ready to catch the man as soon as he arrived.

But he didn’t. While Shred found out well after it was too late, Grigori saw the wires physically move underneath his legs. He did not hit the ground, as the black cables quickly caught and dangled the man upside down. There seriously wasn’t a fucking–

A spiked ball of a head emerged from the wall. His eyes opened wide. “Mr. Shred!”

“Mr. Howard, we’ve got to help him!” Grigori pointed at the beast. It did little to help, but it felt right in the moment. “Scizor, please help Shred! Howard and I will… think of something. Hurry!”

Scizor sighed but pulled itself up and past the other two. Electricity continued to arc off of it into the nearby environment as it rushed forward. As fast as its limited speed could go. It’s claws slashed in an x. X-Scissor would surely save Shred from the clutches of this thing.

On the trainer side, things were not nearly as cut and dry. “Mr. Howard, surely you have a ground type, right? That should do the trick, right? Right?”

For being a bodyguard, he sure didn’t feel like one. Every time they ran into these things, he felt powerless (no pun intended). Maybe he should invest into a Pokémon that could better handle these things.

---

Shred howard slayte  

There were no words to describe Howard's reaction to Shred falling or getting kidnapped by Xurkitree. Instead, Howard let out a guttural noise that seemed to be a mixture of swearing in ancient languages, incomprehensible screaming, and tears. Instinctively, the man hid behind Grigori as protection, as if Grigori could stop this alien from ruining their lives should it decide to do so.

"AHHHOHMYARCEUSSHREDSGONNADIEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Howard's shriek seemed to mildly irritate the Xurkitree, which wasn't a good thing, given it had Shred in its wirey clutches. Truly dastardly. As Grigori asked for his aid, Howard let out a squeak and began fumbling with his belt. It took several tries to unclip Crumble's ball, which fell to the ground. After fumbling with that, the ball opened and Crumble appeared.

"Um... Crumble! Uh, Earth Power!" Howard shouted. Crumble complied, churning up a massive crevice of earth and architecture as the strike combined with Scizor's attack, creating a combination that would surely send the Xurkitree sprawling.

"Zzrt zrrt!" The alien let out a sound that sounded like the mix of a CRTV being smashed by a sledgehammer, before releasing several arcs of electricity across the walls towards Crumble. Crumble simply stood proud, ignoring the electrical charge as it continued to slowly approach Shred and his captor.

"Hah! Not so tough now. Even aliens bow before type advantage, sucker!" Howard stuck out his tongue. Was this guy supposed to be their most energetic member? Given he was the only one who had avoided being tazed by either outlets or giant electrical golems, that might be the case.

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov