After the Head of Construction left, Aven summoned Fessen, handing him the waste management plan and instructing him to cooperate with Thomas in setting up the garbage collection points and distributing the bins.
Then, taking the freshly returned Petilil from potion-making, Ralts that had just finished meditating, and Froslass who remained invisibly at his side to protect him, Aven left his study and headed toward the garbage disposal area at the farm.
Because farms often needed to deal with weeds and rotting berries, most had a place for burying them. These spots also ended up being used for dumping and burying various other kinds of waste.
From a distance, as they approached the heap, Aven could already catch a whiff of the foul stench drifting over—a smell so nauseating it made one feel like retching.
"Lil, lil~"
Seeing this, Petilil immediately used Aromatherapy to cleanse the surrounding air of the stench.
"All right, you can come out now, Muk."
Taking a deep breath, Aven pulled out Muk's Poké Ball. With the press of the button, the Poison-type Pokémon emerged.
"Muk, muk…"
Muk let out a low roar as soon as it appeared, its gaze constantly sweeping over the surroundings.
Soon, its eyes settled on Aven and the three Pokémon beside him, a look of wariness in its gaze as memories of what had happened before it fainted resurfaced in its mind.
"Muk, I think we can have a proper talk now," Aven said, taking a step forward and addressing the Pokémon in the distance.
"Muk, Mukkk!"
Seeing Aven approach, Muk retreated slightly, still growling.
Its body was still in a weakened state, so it did not immediately launch an attack, choosing instead to back away.
After retreating only a few steps, it felt the pile of garbage under its body. A glimmer flashed in its eyes, and without drawing attention, it let part of its sludge-like body envelop a chunk of refuse.
Through the toxins in its body, it could quickly decompose the trash, absorbing the energy within to replenish its spent strength.
"Muk, this is a garbage burial site."
"Go ahead and enjoy a full meal here. We can talk more afterward."
Seeing the wary look on Muk's face, Aven quickly took a few steps back, making it clear through his actions that he had no hostile intentions.
Even so, Muk's eyes remained locked on Aven, its amorphous body wriggling and shifting as it pulled the surrounding garbage into itself, absorbing it bit by bit.
To Muk, garbage was an exquisite delicacy—filled with toxins, bacteria, and rotting matter. All of these, to it, were highly nutritious and satisfying.
When it realized that Aven truly had no intention of interfering with its meal, Muk began to relax. Sludge-like hands formed from its body shot out with surprising speed, snatching up more refuse and stuffing it into its wide, gaping maw.
As it continued to feed, its eyes narrowed slightly in satisfaction. Clearly, it had never tasted such a variety of garbage before, and it found the experience to be novel and intriguing.
"Muk, now that you've eaten your fill, can we have a proper talk?" Aven stepped forward again, closing the distance between them.
Perhaps it was the goodwill earned from letting it feast on such delicious refuse, but this time Muk did not retreat. It still eyed Aven cautiously, yet it no longer exuded outright hostility.
Seeing this, Aven smiled, knowing his words were being heard. "Mm… all you have to do is follow me. In the future, I can give you these kinds of delicious meals every single day."
At these words, Muk's eyes lit up. Pokémon often had very simple desires, and for a Pokémon like Muk, it was even more straightforward—offer it good food, and you could easily win its favor.
"Muk~ muk~ muk~"
Muk glanced at the unfinished pile of trash behind it, then turned its gaze back to Aven.
"Oh, and there's also this—I think it should be very important to you."
Seeing Muk's hesitation, Aven knew he had already won half the battle. He gave a small nod to Ralts, who had been quietly observing at his side.
"Ralts~ Ralts~"
Ralts nodded back, then suddenly vanished from where it stood.
When it reappeared, it was holding a half-man-high metallic container beneath it.
"Muk! Muk! Muk!"
The moment Muk saw the metal chest, it became visibly excited.
From within, it could sense a familiar energy—emanating from the black sludge and crystalline mass that had been with it since it first gained consciousness.
"This was found in the area you used to live in. I figured it must be very important to you."
"In the days ahead, I'll place it somewhere safe. Your task will be to help me protect that place."
"In exchange, I'll provide you with all the food you could want—but you must promise not to harm any living creature that enters your territory."
This time, Muk didn't hesitate in the slightest. It nodded firmly. As long as it had that precious sludge and crystal, it could live anywhere.
Besides, the promise of abundant, delicious food was an irresistible temptation.
"Good. In that case, we can consider ourselves friends."
"For now, return to the Poké Ball. When we arrive at the landfill, I'll let you out again."
Once Muk agreed, Aven finally breathed out in relief. He took out a Poké Ball, recalled Muk, and locked it.
Poké Balls could be set to two modes—locked or unlocked. A locked Poké Ball prevented the Pokémon inside from emerging unless it broke through the containment mechanism by force. An unlocked Poké Ball, on the other hand, allowed the Pokémon inside to sense the outside world and even release itself at will.
All of Aven's other Poké Balls were left unlocked. But Muk's situation was unique—this wasn't a true capture yet, only a tentative agreement between them.
Moreover, Muk's body was lethally poisonous. Even a casual touch could cause severe poisoning, so extra caution was necessary.
After putting away the Poké Ball, Aven looked at the heaps of refuse on the farm in front of him. He planned to transport all of it to a certain mountain hollow, along with the waste from the village's other farms.
With Muk around, all that garbage would be consumed and turned into nourishment. Aven was confident that Fruitvale Village's sanitation would drastically improve from this point onward.
The very next day, a notice for sanitation worker recruitment was posted on the village's announcement board.
When word got out, civilians crowded around to read it. But upon seeing the job requirements, many frowned.
The notice stated that sanitation workers' main duties were to collect and transport the village's garbage—a task that was not particularly difficult and offered quite decent pay.
However, applicants were required to have captured a Stunky to qualify for the job. Those with a Skuntank could skip directly to the interview stage.
"Lord Aven wants to gather all the village's garbage for centralized disposal?"
Many villagers were puzzled. The idea of not littering casually was foreign to them.
To most, garbage was nothing unusual—seeing trash scattered all over a city was normal. Only the lord's castle could be kept relatively clean.
In some towns, it was even common for people to relieve themselves right outside their own doors, filling the streets with an unbearable stench.
It wasn't that the lords didn't want cleaner towns—it was simply that maintaining cleanliness required massive manpower and resources. And even then, the garbage had to be dealt with somehow.
To them, transporting the trash elsewhere seemed pointless—after all, it would still exist somewhere within their domain.
Yet, when they imagined their town becoming cleaner in the future, many couldn't help but smile. No one truly enjoyed living in filth.
Alongside recruitment, waste collection points and garbage houses began to appear throughout Fruitvale Village, and a decree banning littering was issued.
"Thankfully, this world has no plastic," Aven thought with some relief, standing before a newly built garbage house stocked with wooden bins.
As he inspected the site, a Skuntank pulling a cart came trundling down the path.
One of the newly hired sanitation workers hopped down, lifted the full bin into the cart, replaced it with an empty one, and moved on to the next collection point.
"Looks like the cleanup work is running smoothly," Aven said with satisfaction, heading toward the outskirts of the village with his Pokémon.
Soon, they arrived at the distant landfill. A wall had already been built around the mountain hollow, making it resemble a small fortress from afar.
Once there, Aven released Muk from its Poké Ball.
"Muk~ muk~ muk~!"
After days of interaction, Muk had grown noticeably tamer. It emerged, scanning the surroundings, clearly searching for food.
"The food's up ahead—come on, I'll take you there."
Muk's eyes lit up, and it followed closely behind, its wriggling body leaving a foul odor in its wake.
Inside the landfill, workers were busy at their tasks. Two Rhyhorns were shaping stones needed for construction.
"RHY! RHY!"
Suddenly, the Rhyhorns stopped and looked toward the distance with wary eyes.
The workers followed their gaze, instantly tensing up. In this world, wild Pokemon could invade at any time, so vigilance was second nature to them.
"Wait—that's Lord Aven!" one worker exclaimed.
Recognizing him, the others quickly hurried over and knelt in greeting. "We pay our respects, Lord Aven!"
As they bowed, their eyes darted to the sludge monster behind him. Their pupils contracted, and fear flickered across their faces.
Muk's appearance was almost exactly like the terrifying creatures from old tales.
"Rise. How have you been finding life in my territory?" Aven asked the foremost craftsman—a man recently recruited by Master Thomas from another domain to oversee landfill construction.
"I like it here very much, Lord Aven," the man replied respectfully.
"Good. You've worked hard."
"This is Muk. From now on, it will be living here in the landfill," Aven explained, prompting the surrounding workers to glance at Muk with a mix of fear and respect.
Anyone who could tame such a creature deserved admiration.
After giving a few more instructions, Aven led Muk deeper inside.
"Muk~ muk~ muk~"
Muk eyed the craftsmen but remembered Aven's order—not to attack any living beings.
Thinking of the garbage feast ahead, it swallowed down its hunger and ignored the workers.
Finally, deep in the hollow, it caught the intoxicating stench it loved so much—a towering mountain of trash lay before it.
Muk's eyes gleamed, and it rushed forward, scooping up handfuls of refuse and cramming them into its mouth with unrestrained joy.
Aven stepped back, watching as the garbage heap quickly shrank.
Once Muk was full, it wriggled back over to him, letting out a friendly cry.
"Well done, Muk. From now on, this is your home, and all this garbage will be your food."
He could see that his bond with Muk had grown stronger. This was an advanced-tier Pokemon—one with great potential, especially with the black sludge and crystal. It might even reach king level one day.
Muk happily cried out again and returned to its feast.
"Nidoran, Nidoran♀—you come out too," Aven said, releasing the two Pokémon.
They wrinkled their noses at the stench but hesitated upon sensing the strong poison-type energy emanating from the trash heap. They could feel the presence of the crystal and sludge deep within.
They had tried absorbing the crystal's energy before, but it could not be drawn in actively—only the ambient energy it emitted could be taken in. Even so, it was highly beneficial for training.
This was why Aven intended to bury the crystal here, letting it slowly transform the area into an ideal poison-type training ground.
Muk eventually stopped eating and moved to the black sludge-wrapped crystal, lying down atop it to rest contentedly.
"Looks like I can safely leave you here," Aven said. "With all this food, you won't be going anywhere."
He decided to seal off the landfill and leave several Gloom with strong poison-type aptitude to guard the area. The stench wouldn't bother them, and the crystal's energy would benefit them as well.
"Muk, promise me you won't wander off. I'll come see you again tomorrow," Aven said.
Muk lifted its head, hesitated, then nodded seriously.
Before leaving, Aven tossed it a wooden vial filled with a faintly glowing purple liquid—a special potion he had prepared for it.
Muk's eyes lit up, and it swallowed the vial and its contents in one gulp, letting out a sound of pleasure. The potion's concentrated toxins far surpassed even the best garbage or sludge.
And so, for the next few days, Muk remained at the landfill. Aven visited daily, bringing it more potion and deepening their bond.
(End of chapter)