[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

"Glass? It's fer music. Flutes. Byooteefull music. Summon the Pokemon. Soothe the horse ettin' me deyo. Bring down the South Wind!!"

He plucks one of the flowers. ""Deyo." and tucks it away in his Survivalbag. "Me deyo."

[Lord Windos]

"My my, this horse certainly does blaze a trail of destruction," Ventus simply said, looking rather surprised by the sheer amount of damage caused by the Ponyta. Across the charred clearing, he notices both Nathan and Vincent staring at the damage, as well as the Survivalist. "How fortunate it is that we have crossed paths like this! I was hoping to find the missing Ponyta soon, and with the trail of destruction rather clear, it will be easy to rack down. Pinning it down in one location will be the main problem, though," Ventus said, motioning to Shiva to follow his lead.

Having a flash of insight, he returns Apsis to her Pokémon, and begin to track down the errant horse. 'I don't believe that Apsis would provoke the Ponyta needlessly, given how easily the horse could trample her, but better safe than sorry. Besides, Nathan did say that no harm was to come to it, and I don't desire to break my promise to him,' he though, quietly following the path that look most freshly razed. He saw Vincent stay behind and, from what he can infer, interrogate the dazed trainer, but he decides that the former police officer is more up to that task than himself.
 
He ends ups finding the Ponyta further into the burned zone, but it just as quickly bolts off in another direction. Looking for the cause of its sudden flight, he spotted Nathan attempting to approach it head on. 'Well, he knows this Pokémon better than anyone, but I would assume he would not provoke it so. Then again, I did her that this Ponyta was 'playful', so perhaps this is some form of game between them?' Venuts pondered just on how to approach it, he remember that it seemed to dislike these clear flowers, and was avoiding them. Walking over to one of the strange flowers, he reaches into his satchel, and pull out a pair of rubber gloves. Putting them on, he picked up the flower, and tried to divine what was so strange about it.

[Dies Irae]

"Glass? It's fer music. Flutes. Byooteefull music. Summon the Pokemon. Soothe the horse ettin' me deyo. Bring down the South Wind!!"

He plucks one of the flowers. ""Deyo." and tucks it away in his Survivalbag. "Me deyo."

"Sir. Unfortunately there's a rogue ponyta in the glenn ahead, wrecking... your 'deyo'."

It's a surreal moment, but the gears in his mind are spinning frantically.

Too much stimuli. Too little focus. FOCUS.

"I take it you're a musician of sorts. And you know how to calm Pokemon. But you need an instrument?" The pieces are fragmented and utterly disjointed like a puzzle he doesn't have all the parts to. Too much guesswork.

"And for that you need glass to make a flute?"

"I've got a growlithe which knows ember. Will it help? We need to calm that horse before that Ponyta sets the whole field on fire."

I have no idea what I'm saying right now.

[Iron]

"This? This field won't burnt. It burnt long ago. It will never burnt again. The cycle is disrupted. Grass won't grow. Only the deyo and a' the little daisies. Delicious tea, those daisies make. So little fire here when you need it. But today there's two fires! Growlithe'll work. Watch careful now. This'll take quite some time."

He makes a little kiln out of river clay, and deposits the ash inside. He starts giving half-comprehensible instructions about where Growlithe should breathe fire. Though his speech sounds very off, his hands are steady and confident as he works.

If you agree to help, making this flute will take up enough time that the rest of the party can join. That would mean Nathan has to distract the Ponyta for an hour or longer though, with no one available to help.

[Iron]

Ventus can explore the flower but won't have a chance to really interact with the Ponyta until an hour or two from now. We'll just jump around in time a little bit.

The 'deyo' flower is quite odd. It has large, distinct petals. Tilting them at different angles gives the greenery visible through them a slightly different hue. The edges of each petal sparkle and shimmer, almost seeming to exist in two places at once. The scent is otherworldly, but smells of cleansing and new beginnings.

[Dies Irae]

And we have officially entered the Twilight Zone.

Winston looks uncomfortable, as Vincent translates instructions the survivalist's instructions to the best of his abilities to the 'Mon.

Steadfast. Yes. Agreeable. Also yes. But also very very confused.

Satisfied that the Puppy Pokemon knows what to do, if not the reason why he's doing it, he flips open the Pokedex and calls Nathan.

"How are you holding up out there? Survivalist wants to help but he needs an instrument. Yes. An instrument. No. He didn't say why. Winston's helping him temper some glass or something. Yes. I know this sounds insane. He's possessive about the flowers as well. Calls them his 'Deyo' Could be important. No, I don't actually know what's going on..."

The call is stilted. And honestly, sounds pretty crazy to someone who didn't know what was going on. And in all honestly, still pretty crazy to those who knew.

[Lord Windos]

Ventus can explore the flower but won't have a chance to really interact with the Ponyta until an hour or two from now. We'll just jump around in time a little bit.

The 'deyo' flower is quite odd. It has large, distinct petals. Tilting them at different angles gives the greenery visible through them a slightly different hue. The edges of each petal sparkle and shimmer, almost seeming to exist in two places at once. The scent is otherworldly, but smells of cleansing and new beginnings.

Ventus immedianlty throws the flower down, and back away from them in panic. Once he's far enough away from the patch, he warily glares at them, not too happy about them at all. "Reshiram damn. Something is wrong with those flowers. Far too similar to fey magic. I can now see why that Ponyta avoided them like the plague," Ventus spate out, very irritated by the presence of the clear flowers. He needs to find that Ponyta, and get it out of here FAST.

[Dragonstrike]

When Nathan's pokedex beeps, Ponyta runs off a little more quickly than she had been moving so far, startled by the noise. "Oh, come on...this better be good..."

Nathan answers the call, however annoyed it made him.

"What the...an instrument? Well, I guess it makes some sense...they make flutes from ash in Hoenn, right? That'll take ages though...gah, this is going to be difficult if I have to do this by myself while that's going on...Do it quickly then if you think it might help. I have an idea, but it's going to be hard to execute by myself. I'll try and keep Ponyta occupied until an opportunity to reign her in appears." He then puts the dex away, grimacing.

Figuring he'll be doing this on his own for awhile, Nathan decides to see if he can convince Ponyta to make it easier on him, though he's not expecting it to work. "Alright, Ponyta. We don't have all day! Let's get this over with! Make this easy on me, and there might be a surprise in it for ya! And I'm sure you'll really enjoy what I have in mind!" He continues in his pursuit of the rogue horse soon afterwards, still looking for a chance to corner her.

[Iron]

Nathan's Insight:
(4)(1) - 1 success

Ponyta's Insight:
(4)(2) - 1 success

Ponyta is on the same page as you, but is determined to draw the game out. This is kind of fun, and she trusts you enough to know you're not a predator, so there's no risk and only reward!

Nathan's Dexterity:
(3)(1)(1) oh no!

Ponyta's Dexterity:
(5)(4)

Ponyta is certainly faster at running than you, but it is still possible to outmaneuver her. Unfortunately, that's not what happens. As Ponyta banks to one side, Nathan slips and falls right into a wet depression in the ash field. He comes up spluttering, covered in sticky ash, and with a daisy growing out of his ear.

What a fun game! Ponyta prances happily.

[Dragonstrike]

Coughing and spluttering, Nathan gets up. Wiping the ash and mud off his face, and pulling the daisy out of his ear, he decides to try convincing her again. "cough, cough...That wasn't very funny, Ponyta! I'm telling you, you'll like the surprise I have in store! And it'll sound a lot more fun if you don't drag this little game of cat and mouse on!" Having just slipped and fallen, it's rather understandable that Nathan would try something to end it more quickly, even if his number of ideas on how to do that is a little low. He still doesn't expect it to work, but that doesn't stop him from at least trying. He'll continue kiting the ponyta around, looking for an opportunity to corner her.