CHAPTER 21: THE UB LIBRARY

On Hilbert's first day of work at his new site, he was given several tasks by Wicke. First, he had to do research on Grimer and Muk. He was given an Alolan Grimer named Cookie to observe.

"I have extensive knowledge of Grimer and Muk," said Hilbert. "This task should be easy."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Wicke. "Cookie will be there to assist you. He's an Alolan Grimer, so he might not be the kind you're used to."

"I'm not bothered by it," said Hilbert. "Aren't Alolan Grimer being exported?"

"That's true," said Wicke, "although they're being careful about it so the Alolan Grimer don't displace Trubbish like they did in Alola. Mostly they're trying to put them in areas where there are no Trubbish."

Hilbert observed Cookie for about five minutes and took notes down about his behavior, and compared and contrasted it to the regular Grimer.

"Alolan Grimer seem friendlier than the Grimer I'm used to," said Hilbert. "Still, I'm worried about the regular Grimer. I've heard that they're now in danger of extinction in Kanto. Erika, the Celadon Gym Leader, once told me on Facebook that Grimer haven't been seen in Celadon City in a while. We need to do something to help them. If there is no waste produced from the factories, then the Grimer will die off."

"It's a shame," sighed Wicke. "Sometimes even good ideas can have disastrous consequences."

Soon after, Wicke saw that Hilbert had gotten lots of notes down, so she left Hilbert to his work. Hilbert decided to go to the library in the basement. This was where notes about the Ultra Beasts were. Hilbert had obtained permission to go down there. When he got there, he saw Cesar. Like Hilbert, he was wearing an Aether Foundation uniform. Cesar was accompanied by a Lurantis.

"Good afternoon, Hilbert," he said.

"Hi, Cesar," said Hilbert.

"I've got some notes for you," said Cesar. "There's a location that we're going to be exploring tomorrow - it's the Lush Jungle."

"Cool," said Hilbert.

"Ultra Wormholes have been discovered there in the past," said Cesar.

"I guess we'll be going there soon," said Hilbert.

"Yeah," said Cesar.

Hilbert looked at the Lurantis.

"Who's this little fellow?" he asked Cesar.

"That there's Marmelo," said Cesar. "He's my trusty sidekick. I caught him back in my own country."

Hilbert reached out his hand to Marmelo's sickle claw.

"Snip snip!" said Marmelo.

"He's pretty friendly," said Cesar. "He needs to be groomed very often to maintain his pink hue, but he's actually not that picky. I keep him out of his Poke Ball fairly often because he doesn't like being in it. He likes to eat watermelon - he can cut through a watermelon like it's a stick of butter. Watermelons are said to be very good fro Lurantis' color."

"A watermelon's too big for me to carry around," said Hilbert.

"That's okay," said Cesar. "Marmelo is fine with other foods. He'll eat just about anything - except for mashed potatoes."

Hilbert laughed.

"I don't like mashed potatoes either," he said. "I guess we have that in common."

"I guess so," said Cesar. "I'm just glad that he's not a picky eater. Some Pokemon are, you know. It would be a real pain dealing with a picky eater."

Hilbert laughed.

"Does he like to be petted?" asked Hilbert.

"Sometimes," said Cesar, "but sometimes he can get fussy. He seems to be in a peaceful mood, so I guess you can go on ahead."

Hilbert pet Marmelo on the head. Marmelo giggled.

"He likes it," said Cesar. "I'm glad he does. Faba tried to pet Marmelo the other day, and Marmelo made threatening gestures at him. I guess he doesn't trust Faba."

Hilbert went to get one of the Aether Foundation's notebooks about Lush Jungle. He opened it up and looked through it. It had notes about all kinds of things related to the jungle, including native Pokemon, ingredients for recipes, temple ruins, and even notes on Ultra Beast sightings. But for now, Hilbert was content to read about the Lurantis.

"It says here on page 60 that the Lurantis in Lush Jungle live in colonies," said Hilbert. "They are ruled by the Totem Lurantis, who is the largest member of the colony. According to the notes, Totem Lurantis are nearly always female. Makes sense, since it also says that within their colonies, female Lurantis rank higher than male Lurantis. The Totem Lurantis awaits people who will face her as one of the trials in the Island Challenge. She especially loves to pick on Pokemon who have type advantages over her."

Marmelo looked a bit nervous at the sound of a Totem Lurantis.

"I'm guessing she's a lot bigger than Marmelo," said Cesar.

"It says that Totem Lurantis are often in excess of seven feet," said Hilbert, "so that means she's even bigger than I am! Other notes in here say that she's considered one of the toughest of all Totem Pokemon."

Marmelo whimpered.

Hilbert flipped over to towards the back of the book, where there were notes about Ultra Beasts.

"Okay," said Hilbert, "here we are. Ultra Beasts have been sighted many times in Lush Jungle throughout the centuries. The ones in Lush Jungle are all of the same type - they are described as very tall, tree-like, long-armed, and possessing strong Electric attacks. It has no face - its head is crystalline. Some of the sightings have occurred in the ruins in the temple located deep within the jungle."

Hilbert showed Cesar a picture of the Ultra Beast. It was indeed tall and tree-like. with long arms that wielded strong electricity.

"Do you think we're going to investigate it?" asked Cesar.

"Seems like it," said Hilbert. "Although I really hope we don't encounter it...nah, that's highly unlikely."

"It would be cool if we did," said Cesar. "I like seeing unusual Pokemon."

"Don't worry," said Hilbert. "Wicke told me that she will be accompanying us. She's always looking out for us."

"That is true," said Cesar. "Wicke's very dependable. I kinda wish she was the branch chief instead of Faba. She's a lot nicer than Faba."

Hilbert had begun to note that Cesar didn't seem to be too fond of Faba. He wondered why.

"Does Faba not like you or something?" asked Hilbert.

"I'm not sure," said Cesar, "but I feel that he does. He's not the friendliest of people."

"That's strange," said Hilbert. "He was nice to me when I first came to this building."

"I guess he has his favorites," said Cesar.

"I guess so," said Hilbert.

"Snip snip," said Marmelo.

Cesar looked at Marmelo.

"I think Marmelo is getting hungry," said Cesar. He looked at his Lurantis. "We're almost done. Then we can have a snack."

"Snip snip!" said Marmelo.

Hilbert and Cesar continued with their work, and when they were done, they had a snack with Marmelo.