[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dies Irae]

"Actually, I was thinking of going to go crash with some of the other campers and survivalists. More bodies means less watches. If nothing else, I have a Growlithe to start a fire, so that's an easy in, and I have my own food, so that's helpful too. Maybe Clancey will be fine with someone else crashing his fire."

He stretches slowly and languidly, massaging his right thigh. "Besides, I've been putting this off."

"Now is as good a chance to work on the basics again as any. Make sure I don't get lazy. You're welcome to join me if you want, Nathan. I was planning on working on my cane school, but if you want, we can do some basic boxing."

He takes a half step forward, assuming a stable position, then slowly lowers himself, bending his knees slightly until his stance just about matches his shoulders.

Oh Arcaeus, that hurts.

"CAN IT, YOU WIMP." The officer, is real now, palpable, prowling and predatory, walking back and forth in his mind examining him like a parade sergeant doing a line inspection.

Winston likewise takes a step forward instinctively, it's stubby little tail going stiff as the growlithe's hackles go up, as it broadens it's mouth into a snarl. It is a practiced motion, one they've worked on together for years, the growlithe instinctively matching his trainer's stance, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Moran, sensing the shift, scurrys over, blinking in confusion.

Winston glances at the bug, and cock's his head. You want in or not? His look seems to say. Vincent stares down at the bug as well.

"Come on little guy. Get ready to fight." The bug clacks it's mandibles in confusion, then turns around on the spot, eyes goggling at it peers around looking for a threat. "No, Moran. There's nothing here. We're just doing some basic training. Come on. Get into position"

The Paras blinks and lazily waves it's claws at him.

"Yes. You have claws and you know how to use them. No, you're not getting out that easily you lazy bum." It takes some cajoling and a lot of browbeating, but the Paras finally steps into line as well.

"STRIKE!

He lunges forward, the cane a blur in his arm, the butt of the walking stick aimed squarely at the midsection of the imaginary target before him.

"HEAD STRIKE! BUTT STRIKE! SIDESTEP! REPEAT!" The officer screams orders in his head, bellowing invective as he sorts through muscle stimuli and visual feedback. "ARM UP. I SAID ARM UP! YOU SACK OF FILTH! YOU THINK THAT HIT WAS FAST ENOUGH? DO IT AGAIN!"

He pushes forward, blotting out stimuli to focus on his own motion, making minor adjustments on the fly and steadily honing motion into muscle memory. Amidst the strain of his muscles singing, he is for the briefest of moments, at ease, as body and mind march in lockstep into synchronized purpose, synapses firing and muscles contorting to keep up the punishing volley of strikes.

I miss training with Jen. The thought somehow worms through his mental blockade, ploughing through his cognitive firewalls to arrive unbidden upon his mind.

The officer howls with rage and hurls the offending thought back into the recesses, directing his neurons to focus entirely on the punishing exchange of muscle motions.

Not today. Not the time.

[Dragonstrike]

"Yeah, alright. As good a time as any to get some practice in, I guess. Gotta start somewhere after all."

Nathan mimics Vincent's starting position, ready for the training. He looks over at Ralts and Swiftfire. "Come on, you two. You need to get stronger too." The two pokemon approach a little reluctantly, but are willing to give it a try. "Alright, teach'. What do we do?" The question is as much a curious one as a means to distract Nathan from what happened earlier. He didn't want to think about that moment.

[Lord Windos]

Ventus was a bit stunned by Shiva's words? 'She doesn't desire to know why I acted irrationally right now, perhaps never? Why?' he though, quite confused by her words, but he extremely appreciated them none-the-less. When he decided to get a glance at Shiva's emotion state that influenced her response, he was almost floored by the emotions he was detecting. Such deep compassion for his plight, such a depth of kindness she hold just for him, the sheer despair she is feeling over his despondence...

He looked very shocked and confused, wondering 'Why does she care this much for me?! I only meet her a day ago, but she feels so strongly for me, like I have been with her for years. Do I truly mean that to her?' Ventus bewilderly thought, tears streaming down his face from the level of emotion he felt for him. Reaching over beside him, he gave a gentle hug to Shiva, and simple said to her, "Thank you, Shiva. I'll take your advice, and head to bed early. If they ask for me, I trust you' be able to handle them. Thank you."

Getting up from his spot by the fire, he walked over to the tent and entered it, ready to get a good night's rest and recover from today's excitement.

[Dies Irae]

He pauses his routine and ponders for a moment.

"There's four main schools in Bartitsu, which borrowed liberally from Canne de Combat, Jujitsu, Savate and Boxing. Canne de Combat is of minimal application for you since..." He raises the walking stick "you don't need one. My savate and jujitsu are likewise shoddy since kicking with the right is painful... I need to tighten those up as well, but I'd like to find a professional to train with. Which leaves boxing, which is as good a point as any to start."

"Nathan. You're about average height for your age... correct? That means you've still got a couple of years of growing left." He walks over to his backpack and fishes out a pair of black fingerless gloves which he tosses over to Nathan. "Keep them. It's a new pair. That unfortunately means you're losing in size and reach against most aggressors. Worrying but not insurmountable."

He balls a fist and slowly goes through the motion of an overhand punch before gently tapping his knuckles against the side of Nathan's face.

"Notice that while I have a bit of reach over you, it's a more awkward swing since I'm aiming down. The better fighters can compensate for that, but most people, ironically are used to picking on someone their own size." He grabs Nathan's left arm and pushes it against his chin before letting go. "You on the other hand are either aiming up, or for center of mass. Perversely, that means my vulnerabilities are actually more accessible. I'll talk you through in general terms, but remember that."

He waves Nathan over to one side and settles back down into a guard position. 

"This is a jab. It's one of the most basic strikes people need to learn, but most don't. It's not pretty, it's not memorable, but it's fast."

He snaps a series of short punches, rapidly snapping out his arm before returning to guard position. "I forgot to mention that I lead with my right hand. Adapt as necessary. You want to work on your jab before moving on to anything else. It really is basically the most basic punch. You use if offensively as a probe, trying to shake your opponent or at least gauge his defenses. Defensively, a sharp jab can stagger a windup to a big punch, plus the basic position with it's hands near your face means you're already covering half your head."

"You try it. Once you're confident, lets try it again in slow motion. Always good to get a look at the way your own muscles move."

He steps back and glances at his own Pokemon who have sort of gathered round to watch. As Nathan settles into stance, he walks around, making a few adjustments to pose, or prodding limbs into position with his cane.

"I didn't say stop, you slackers."

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan puts on the gloves, and does his best to follow Vincent's directions. It's a little awkward at first, but it becomes smoother the more he practices. Nowhere near perfect, but that's what practice is for. "Heh, this isn't so bad so far...hey, Ralts, you wanna do some of this too? It'll be much more relevant for ya if you ever become a Gallade, ya know!" Nathan glances at Ralts and Swiftfire for a moment. Ralts is trying to imitate Nathan, and looks rather comical as a result. Swiftfire is a little unsure of what she should be doing..."Oh. Hmmm...how about you go join Vincent's pokemon, Swiftfire? They might be able to help you out a bit." At the suggestion, the horse trots over to Vincent's pokemon, trying to do...something. Whatever it is she's trying to do, it doesn't seem to be working out too well for her...but she was trying, and that's what counts.

[Dies Irae]

"The idea holds for Pokemon too to an extent even if they aren't throwing punches per se. Most of them start with some form of physical blow like a scratch, tackle or bite." He looks down at the Ralts and smiles as it pushes on, determined to keep up. "In your case, little guy... it's a bit different. You've got mind bullets. Use that reach tactically."

"Back on topic, these are a lot like jabs in that you aren't going to outright flatten the target, just wear it down. Hitting with a few is going to smart though, and that's when you're going to start feeling it hurt. You'll want those basic moves drilled to the point where they're muscle memory and you can power through that pain to connect."

He points at the Paras. "You caused me and Winston a lot of misery that way yesterday, I'll have you know, Moran."

The Paras looks up at him and clacks its mandibles in acknowledgement at the dubious praise.

"Thing is, your opponent is going to be doing the same to you. You're trying to wear him down, he's trying to wear you down. It's a race to see who hits the limit of the other's endurance first. You don't strike me like the kind who likes to take the hit. Neither do your Ponyta or Ralts. It's easy to get trapped in routine when all you've got to do is repeat Confusion or Ember until the target drops, but let's branch out a bit."

"Sometimes, you'll find your hits aren't doing more than chipping away at your target due to his ability to tough your shots and roll with the punches. In a Pokemon's case, sometimes you'll run into immunities. Take your Ralts. Confusion is all fine and well until you're up against a Dark Type. Suddenly, that Confusion's looking less and less happy. If they laugh off your opening, change tact."

Vincent suddenly steps forward, catching Nathan's arm and sweeping his leg with a sharp thrust for his ankle with his outstretched foot. He then grabs his shoulder with is free arm, stabilizing him.

"Ugh. Forgot how much that hurts." He reaches down and massages his right leg.

"While you were listening to me, you were't guarding. Generally when you think someone is going for your face, you're not watching his legs so getting knocked down is always a threat. Gravity's a harsh mistress and while your target is floored, he has to get back up, which buys you time to sneak in a hit or two. Sometimes being slammed on your arse does almost as much damage as being punched, sometimes more if your opponent is a toughie. I heard you and Ralts struggled against Joy back in the Center and since Ralts isn't that much of a physical hitter, letting gravity and ground do the hitting might even the score just a bit."

"Theory holds even for quadrupeds. Take your Ponyta for instance. Theoretically, if we were doing this, Winston would try to wrench a rear leg to cause a fall. Ugly fighting style, but effective..." He feels his Pokedex buzz with an incoming call and fishes it out. Noting the caller, he let's it go to voice mail and finishes. "You want to find that weak spot and cause a fall. If you were attempting to kick my face in for instance, you'd go after my right leg. It's less obvious for other people and Pokemon, but there's usually a point to push. Figuring that out is the hard part but it'll win you the fight."

"I'd offer to let you practice, but I already pushed this bum leg today and since I don't want it falling off, we'll have to take a rain check on it. Otherwise, your basic punches are rough, but serviceable. Just keep at it and they'll smooth up. You've already toned those muscles from farm work, so use them. I dare say you'll be better than me if you stick at it."

He fishes out the Pokedex and replays the message on speaker. Ventus' voice is tinny on the cheap sound replication, but audible. "...Hello, Vince. *Sigh* I...apologize for my brazen actions today, but for what trouble I caused, I did so with the best intensions. Ones that you are interested in, I take it, given he out of character I was being? If I have not completely burn my bridge with you, I'd be willing to explain why I acted in such a...demented way....It cowardous for me to say, but If you could, can you tell Nathan I'm sorry? I understand more than he thinks about his connection with Ralts, and I be more than happy to help...if he would let me."

"HIS EMOTIONS FLICKER LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH." The officer growls. "STABLE AS A ONE LEGGED DODUO."

I know. I trust him about as far as I can throw him right now.

"You catch that, Nathan?" He snorts. "Looks like Dr Jekyll decided to revert back from being Mr Hyde."

He shrugs. "Still, there's plenty of time to think this through while waiting for Larry. Let's keep at it."

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan's not overly surprised when Vincent pins him. The man is a combat veteran after all. For a man with a bum leg, he was certainly doing a halfway decent job teaching. Nathan appreciated the various pointers for both him and his pokemon.

What DID surprise him was Ventus's call. That was the last thing he wanted to think about right now, though. "Yeah, let's keep practicing for now. Larry will show up eventually, I'm sure. We can deal with the Ventus thing then."

[Iron]

Since I'm probably going to be offline until this evening, let me do your xp stuff now. But feel free to keep roleplaying the party interactions, the training, and deciding what you are going to do tomorrow.

You can train a max of two Pokemon at once, so:
Ponyta and Ralts, 1XP each
Winston and Moran, 1XP each
Nathan and Vincent, 1XP each

Plus a training roll for Ralts! Since this is not his first training session and seems like a good, character-defining one.
2 Str + 0 fight = 2 dice
(1)(6) = 1 success, Ralts gains an additional 1XP.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh. Another intense reaction from Ventus' side. Must be the third one today, if she wasn't mistaken...

But this one was a positive one. She did not see this coming... and least expected that he would respond like he did. In fact, she was stunned that her words and aid had such an impact on him... Maybe, he wasn't such a stable and happy person as he pretended to be. Hmm...not maybe, but probably.

Nevertheless, Shiva was delighted that he seemingly felt a little better and agreed on leaving things as they were for today. A little perplexed, she faintly returned his hug, trying to serve as the strong shoulder he needed in this situation, and watched him leave for his well-deserved rest.

… He left his Ekans by the fire. Aspis, right...? Though, it did not looked like it would harm anyone just now, plus Ventus just showed once again(!) that he's capable to control his Pokemon, so she didn't mind the snake laying there. But she did not wanted to get closer to it, either. Instead, she beckoned Cottonee over to place itself next to her. Grooming time.

Cottonee carefully watched its owner drawing a natural hair brush and a little watter-filled spray flask and placing those items next to it, as she noticed a new message on her cell. Oh well, it's from Nathan... Deyo Flowers - appearantly this is what these weird flowers are called. Herbal medicine... Flutes from ash... Hmm. Fine. Whatever. She did not wanted to think about this too much just now, it's enough that they will likely haunt her mind while trying to fall asleep later then. Then, she messaged him where she and Ventus where, as well as the location of their tent. Nothing more, and nothing less. While she was on it... she sent a message with the same data to Larry as well. While she doesn't especially like him, she still has enough of a heart not to force him searching for the other party members and perhaps sleep in the woods or get lost.

Shiva then turned to Cottonee and carefully began to brush the sap and pollen from these 'Deyo Flowers' out of its fluffy body, moistening the cotton that covered her Pokemon in regular intervalls (because directly splashing a bunch of water on a Cottonee would just get it soaked and unhappy) while calmly speaking to it. It did not protest.

"That's for your well-being... I understand that you are quite fascinated by these flowers and I have to admit that I was too, but listen, lil' fluffball... Appearantly, they are no good. You may have noticed how that young man we were with as we encountered these flowers was very upset about those, so sadly we will not take some of those with us. It's better this way. We will not go close to these flowers again, either." ... "I'm a little sorry for this, seeing how you enjoyed them. But," - she finished cleaning her Pokemon and carefully stroked its head - "You can have this one instead." She attached the second Ranc Berry Flower (she removed the one it was wearing before starting the cleaning session and threw it into the campfire) she actually saved for Topepi on the side of Cottonee's fluff and faced her companion, giving it a light smile. "Alright?"


(Iron, if this didn't strenghten the bond between Cottonee and its owner a little, I don't know what does.)

[Iron]

Yes, I need to give out some Happiness points. Every Pokemon is excited to go on a new adventure!

Cottonee 1 happiness, Ralts 1 happiness, Moran 1 happiness, Winston 1 happiness, Oshawott/Bubbles 1 happiness. Unless I already gave any of these a happiness point on Route 01.