PS311

/ or Hometown Soil (Japanese: VS サマヨール VS  or ふるさとの土 Hometown Soil) is the 311th round of the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Plot
The round continues where the previous one left off, with a Battle Pike maid revealing herself to actually be in disguise. Todd Snap is confused to see that Latias can turn into a human, but Latias corrects him telepathically by stating that all she did was refract light to make an image of a human. Latias states that she did this to help Emerald in secret, and that she trusts Todd enough to transmit her thoughts to his head.

The three head off to the 134th room, where Emerald had found a suspicious Pokémon earlier. Upon entering, a wild begins attacking them. Emerald guesses that it's from Mt. Pyre and pulls out his E Shooter to calm it down. Latias explains to a confused reporter that Emerald has traveled to many different places and seen many different Pokémon, which gave him the ability to tell where a Pokémon was born.

Emerald and Latias go on to explain that the E Shooter shoots soil taken from a certain place attached to a string at a Pokémon, which calms it down by making it remember where it came from. After calming down the Dusclops, Emerald goes to the other rooms and calms down more rampaging Pokémon with the E Shooter. After finishing, Latias flies off to somewhere else. Todd confronts Emerald, asking him who is the person who planted all of the suspicious Pokémon in the Battle Pike.

At the, lies unconscious after being knocked out by the mysterious armored man. The man states that he must hurry, as two days have passed, leaving only five days left to capture. He expresses distaste that because of the demonstration battle with Emerald, the large number of people at the makes him unable to move about as he pleases. In addition to this, someone has been calming down the rampaging Pokémon he planted at the facilities. Despite this, the man challenges the person who has been predicting his tactics.

Elsewhere, Emerald looks for a place to sleep while Todd begins bombarding him with questions. Emerald attempts to answer, but appears and grabs him by the collar. Brandon turns on the lights, revealing that they have been next to the Battle Pyramid the entire time. Emerald doesn't care and tells Brandon to let him go, but Brandon asks him how long it took for him to beat the Battle Factory and Battle Pike. Emerald answers that it took 15 hours and nine hours, respectively.

With that, Brandon throws Emerald into the Battle Pyramid, which is completely pitch-black. He commands Emerald to try and figure his way out, but Emerald is completely unable to because he can't see anything. Eventually, Emerald manages to get out, but Brandon throws him back inside again. Emerald attempts to use his memory of his previous trek to get out easily, but the room is different. Brandon reveals that the Battle Pyramid is a pitch-black maze that rearranges its interior every time someone enters it. Brandon tells Emerald that if he wants to complete this place, he will have to start immediately and prepare to spend over an entire day before doing so.

Brandon explains that challengers can bring up to three Pokémon, and after completing a set, they can change their team if they wish to. With ten floors and seven sets, Emerald must climb seventy floors before he can finally challenge Brandon in battle. In addition, Emerald will have to face virtual Trainers during his climb. Lastly, Emerald cannot use his held items, but is free to take the items that have been left around the maze's floors. Despite the harshness of this challenge, Emerald refuses to back down. Brandon praises Emerald's bravery and tells the press to take as many pictures as they want.

As Emerald runs to the Pokémon Center, Todd questions his decision to challenge the Battle Pyramid without getting a proper night's sleep. Emerald tells him not to worry as he chooses the Pokémon he will be using. Emerald finishes picking his team: an, , and. After returning to the Battle Pyramid, Brandon decides to show off the team he will be using to battle Emerald. Brandon reveals his team—,, and —and states that he will wait for Emerald at the seventh room of the tenth set.

Major events

 * is revealed to be helping.
 * Emerald calms down the rampaging Pokémon at the Battle Pike.
 * The armored man becomes aware of Emerald stopping his plans.
 * Emerald prepares to challenge the Battle Pyramid.

Humans

 * Factory Head Noland
 * Pyramid King Brandon
 * Todd Snap
 * Guile Hideout
 * Reporters
 * Reporters

Pokémon

 * ('s; borrowed by )
 * ('s; borrowed by )
 * ('s; borrowed by )
 * (flashback)
 * (Guile Hideout's)
 * (Battle Pyramid's; fantasy)
 * (Battle Pyramid's; fantasy)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (Battle Pike's)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)

In other languages
Kapitel 311 (Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) PS311 PS311