[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Vincent, I need to know how you are planning to cross the Great River. It's a hundred meters wide. On your map, there are nice stone bridges here and there. The major ones are about 3 miles (5k) back the way you came, or 4 miles ahead. There's also smaller swing bridges of various strengths and popularity every mile. Most Pokemon won't cross these on foot.

On the far side you see a mile's worth of green grassy plains, which get gradually rockier as you approach the Divide a half day's journey away.

Sieg isn't strong enough to carry you, naturally.

[Dies Irae]

Might as well head to the river side to check out the swing bridges. I'll double back to the closer stone one if they're dubious.

[Iron]

Big Shellder Round 1

Sochi sends out Goldeen, letting it attack from the shallow water.

Protect
Acc: Dex1 + 2 Fight + 1 Canalize = 4 dice
(6)(5)(6)(6) Whoa buddy, you only need 1 success there.

Shellder snaps shut as Ekans rears up to Glare at it.

Glare
Just wanted to point out that Glare is also a reduced accuracy move, so it'll have one less dice than you said. But anyway, it is negated by Protect.

"Goldeen, wait for a big wave, then use Horn Attack when you get close!" But of course this too glances off the Pokemon's shell.

"Pbbbbbbbbt." The tongue emerges again to blow you a Razz Berry.

Big Shellder Round 2

[Iron]

The swing bridge consists of a single thick cable stretched from cliff to cliff. That's the part you set your feet on. But there are also too steel cable handrails, and the occasional vertical support. The steel looks free from rust.

The question is, with your cane, can you navigate this bridge?

[Dies Irae]

The swing bridge consists of a single thick cable stretched from cliff to cliff. That's the part you set your feet on. But there are also too steel cable handrails, and the occasional vertical support. The steel looks free from rust.

The  question is, with your cane, can you navigate this bridge?

Nope. Not pushing that luck there. I've seen your dice. Long route it is.

Meanwhile:
Let's go with Shiro Sagisu's The Longest Day.

[Lord Windos]

Sighing in frustration at Sheller's defensive tactics, but showing no outward signs of it, he calmly ordered ,"Apsis, keep attempting to use Glare on the Shellder until its paralyzed, and try to maintain your distance from its jaws. I don't think either of us want you to end up a clam's snack." Glancing over to Sochi, he quietly mutters to her under his breath, "Since this thing knows protect, it might be best for us bait it out with a weak attack first, before hitting it hard when its defenses are down."

Orders: Just have Apsis keep repeating Glare until its paralyzed. After that, I'll take manual control again.

[Iron]

I appreciate a conditional order like that, Windos.

Big Shellder Round 2

Glare
Acc: 2 dice
(6)(4)

Shellder pops out curiously to see if they've gone away yet. No, they hav- What are those bold yellow eyes?

Shellder is paralyzed though you wouldn't know it, since it moves so slowly anyway.

Horn Attack
Accuracy: 2 Dex + 2 fight + 0
(2)(3)(1)(1) Poor girl.

Goldeen can't get the timing of the waves quite right, and can't reach the sandborne Shellder without a wave. It'd be easier if these were predictable ocean tides.

Withdraw
Acc: 0 Dex + 2 fight + 1 canalize
(2)(1)(4)

Shellder staunchly refuses to move. Not that he had much choice. Those vulnerable, bright eyes keep retreating farther and farther back into the shell.

Big Shellder Round 3

[Lord Windos]

When he saw that his Apsis made eye contact with the kajui clam, he briefly smiled for a bit. He couldn't really tell whether or not it actually was paralyzed himself from his distance, but he has confidence that his Ekans did her job. "Good work disabling your prey, Apsis. Now, start firing off Poison Stings into from a safe distance, and make sure to aim for the eyes. If you see it try clam up and Protect, however, hold your shot until the overgrown Shelldar exposes itself once more, then fire it off. Repeat this pattern until its significantly weaken, or you get seriously harmed"

Keeping one eye on the battle, he glanced over at his date to see how she was doing. Feeling frustration emanating from her, he turned away and decided not to interfere or comment. He's has experience when it comes to angry women, and the one thing you don't do is mess with their decision making process while made. 'That only leads to disaster, or something worse, depending on how furious the person is in particular,' he though.

Order:

Have Ekans use Poison Sting on it constantly, delaying its move when sheldar uses Protect until it stop doing it. Have Ekans stop when Shelldar is at -2 pain penalization or if Ekans gets -2 Pain penalization.

Move: Poison Sting
Accuracy: Pool 3
DEX (1) + Fight (2) + Channel (0)
Damage: STR + 1 + STAB
Effect: *Poison 3*

[Iron]

Vincent goes on a long journey 'round. He has to double back west, cross the stone bridge, triple back until he's across the river from where he started. This is unfortunate in terms of timing: that's 3 hours wasted before he can even begin properly.

The second challenge is tracking a Pokemon that essentially flew. Mostly what you have to go on is little tiny itty bitty burnt spots where a spark fell. This is cross-country trekking, because there are only footpaths here.

2 Insight + 0 survival, + 1 dice for Winston's nose.

(2)(1)(6)

You're following them here and there, but you are mostly aided by knowing the initial trajectory of Voltorb.

Along the way, I am pleased to report that you don't spot any Deyo flowers. If they're related to the appearance of rare Pokemon, flying overhead is not enough.

After six hours of total travel time, you come to a place where Voltorb seems to have impacted, creating a splash zone in some mud and gravel. You search around, knowing the Pokemon must have been fainted when it landed and might not be awake yet. The Divide is another 2 miles in the distance south of you, creating a nice backdrop for your journey.

Soon enough, you find Voltorb unconscious in a patch of weeds. Occasionally it spits sparks in its sleep. It'll be dark in about 2 hours, and it will take you 2 hours to reach the river again. (Not 3 since you aren't tracking now).

[Dragonstrike]

Distracted for a moment by Ralts, Nathan almost didn't hear his pokedex go off. Swiftfire did though. Her panic at the sound of an incoming message snaps Nathan out of the slight stupor he'd found himself in. He makes sure she's calm, and then proceeds to check the message he received.

Had a bad run in with a Voltorb. Attempting retrieval. Currently pursuing due south towards the river. Will stay in contact.

Followed by a second message.

Meteorite crater at coordinates. Found signs of Deyo flowers. Have collected and am moving on. Implications unclear.
-Vincent

'More Deyo Flowers? Really?' Upon sensing Nathan's train of thought shifting to the flowers, Ralts immediately focuses on that, grabbing at the pokedex to try and see what the cause of hat train of thought is. "Not now, Ralts." Try as he might to ignore him though, Ralts is persistent, tugging at Nathan's pant legs if he's not grabbing for the dex. Nathan has a quick search through the pokedex's info on Voltorb...and finds nothing there concerning its location on Route 01. Repeating the same for Staryu, he gets the same result. 'That's...odd...do the flowers have something to do with these weird wild pokemon occurrences? And what's up with them growing around meteor impact sites?'

Ralts is still trying to grab the dex. "Gah, fine. Here, you can take a look." Nathan hands the dex to Ralts to look at. Nathan has no idea if Ralts can even understand what's written there, but his eyes are wide when he looks up at Nathan. He knows Nathan is worried about these flowers now. Not massively, but the emotion is there. "Whatever these flowers represent, buddy, we need to keep this quiet. We don't want to alarm the others, alright? We have too many questions and too few answers right now." Ralts just nods, understanding

Nathan then remembers he also has the Deyo Powder in his bag. 'Hmmmm...they aren't without their uses...but there seems to be downsides of some kind too...gah, I can't go anywhere right now, though. I need to make sure Larry and Staryu successfully teach Bubbles Water Gun...we'll just have to go after Vincent once everyone meets back at the RV...'

He at least types a reply to Vincent though. "Will try and catch up with you when everyone meets back up at the RV if you aren't back by that point. Which direction are you headed?"

Putting the pokedex away, he returns to the matter at hand concerning Oshawott and Water Gun. And Larry. Keeping as straight a face as he can (and Ralts doing the same), he attempts to answer any questions Larry throws his way.