Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Xatu, let's go."
She returns to my side as I head down the stairs toward HQ's innards. "The central ventilation control room should be around here somewhere. I think I passed it while I was dusting the other day."

"Well, there's a lot of 'stuff' down here that most Aquans never see. Some areas you probably never want to see. Ah, here we are!"
I stop in front of a door marked "Air system control room."

Since Xatu's overall shape makes it rather difficult to step on her heels (especially when she's hopping to move down the corridor) Budew only managed to run into her backside. She simply takes another hop forward and turns around.

"Locked," I say, trying the handle. "This should work though."
Pulling out my TADS, I send an Admin ID code to the system. There's a sharp click and the door yields entry.

Our ears are immediately greeted by an odd sound, like a vacuum cleaner trying to suck down an entire sweater, amplified several times by the room. "That's probably not normal!" I shout over the din.

I go over to the control panel and hit a few buttons, switching the air system to a filter bypass. The noise immediately stops. In its place, once our ears adjust to the quiet, is a soft whooshing sound through a different duct.

And one other thing. "Neee?~"
"What the--?"

"I dunno, but I think we're about to find out," I reply. Xatu moves forward, ready to act.

"Neeee~~" A pair of Cottonee squeeze their way out of the ductwork. They looked like they'd been stuck in the filter for several days. Much of their fluff was missing, and what was left was covered in dirt. The duo seemed glad to be free, but as soon as they spot us, they get agitated and attack!

"Guess it's one each, Rex. Be careful in here though, if you break it, the repair bill comes out of your paycheck!"

The stray Cottonee got the drop on Xatu with Stun Spore. She didn't want to hurt the poor thing, but she had to do something. Fighting through paralysis, she passes off the condition with Psycho Shift. I throw a pokeball and catch it without further trouble.

"I dunno, Rex. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they got too close to one of the air intakes on the surface and were sucked into the vent. We'd better get them to the medical room."

"Blissey's no slouch on medicine either," I counter, "and she's tall enough to reach things in the top cupboards."

When we reach the medical ward, I go to the PC and swap Blissey into my team and call her to service. "Blissey, could you work your magic on these two Cottonee? They've been stuck in the vents for a few days."

"Bliss!" She nods, taking my pokeball and scooping the other Cottonee from Rex's arms.

I turn to Rex again and tell him, "I'm going back upstairs. Blissey'll have those two good as new by the morning."