[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Nylon]

'This guy's persistent'. Valder dislikes guys like him, why? he doesn't really know.
 He had indeed been avoiding the question. For some reason, Valder got quite upset when this guy got him like that.

"Look kid!... or whatever they call you. I have privacy as well as any of you. I have reasons for knowing about the scimitars, you can take it or you can let it fall into the endless stream of ignorance and bliss".

Valder realised he had just crossed a line and quickly got himself together. "I have a past, and I won't talk about it here, not now at any rate. I've interacted with scimitars before and I have some intel, so you can take it, or if you don't feel safe, you can leave me be".

Valder new that traveling with these trainers - at least he thought they were trainers - would be a much better idea than to travel alone, so he was actually getting nervous about them changing their mind about hiring him, plus he liked the money...

[Lord Windos]

"Valder, you don't have to explain who you are right now. We all have are own personal origin stories, ranging from god awful to blessedly fantastic. We'll discuss those details later in a more comfortable setting." By the sudden anger look his was getting from Nathan, this was not the type of interruption he was expecting. Its especially not the type he like! "Just as its his job to serve my needs, so too must I protect his interests. I didn't go digging into Vincent's or your background when I first met you, so I'd like to afford the same grace to Valder," Ventus says to Nathan, smile not once breaking as he was describing his view on the matter. If his comrade disagreed... well, he could just counter that the mercenary was not beholden to him. They were, however, beholden to the researcher.

"I am interested on how you gained such knowledge over these... scimitars was it? From my experience, mage guilds are quite secretive, and don't interact with outsider much besides bar minimum. Can you please elaborate how you came to possess such information pertaining to them?" the researcher said, gently prompting the mercenary to continue his story. If Nathan was content to play 'bad' cop, he could just be the good cop by default. 'I don't know how these interegations typically play out, but clichés are usually that way for a reason. The conversation is going well so far, so let us continue to her this man out.'

Thinking for a moment, Ventus decided to give a bit of information to Valder about their encounter. Its not like he's ignorant of them, so he assumes he is safe in sharing those details. "To answer you question, while traveling through that blasted swamp, I did overhear more than one mage, but only one came out to confront us. The other seemed sick of the territory they were in as I was, so I heard them leave to...somewhere. Seems like some of these scimitars don't work together so well, hmm."

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan's stare at Ventus is ice cold.

"Hmph. Fine then, I'll back off for now. One more question concerning the 'scimitars' though before we move on to a more...mundane, topic." Nathan digs around in his jacket pocket for a moment, then sets the metal finger on the table. "Are they typically made out of metal? The one we faced had unnatural strength, stamina, and speed. He didn't even flinch when struck with physical force. A frying pan produced a loud clang when it made contact with his head. And..." Nathan also lets Swiftfire out of her pokeball at this point. She takes a few seconds to figure out where she is. She sees Nathan, Ventus...and a stranger with a Pawniard? She's immediately on guard, staring the little blade pokemon down.

"...he didn't seem to particularly like fire. Like the metal glove he was wearing was more than just a glove. Much like this finger I found in the bushes on Route 01. It wasn't his, but it looks extremely similar to the fingers on that man's metal hand.

"And with regards to information on their pokemon and abilities, I have a feeling we'll need it. You can brief everyone later. I doubt that was the last time we're going to see one of those men."

[Iron]

Cottonee floats away from Shiva to investigate an intriguing wisp of sparkling sugar wrapped around and around a paper cone. It's cotton candy!

The stall owner laughs and hands over a free sample to the Pokemon. This move is good for business, because soon a crowd has gathered to watch the happy Fairy Pokemon eating cotton candy.

When Shiva eventually comes to reclaim Cottonee, the stall owner says "This Pokemon is almost as good a mascot as one of those Swirlix from Unova!"

[Iron]

Larry grabs a Sawsbuck token and spends $300 of it on a round of Shuckleball.

"Shuckleball, Shuckleball, SHUCKLEBALL!"

Mr. Pin explains the rules, plopping his Shuckle unceremoniously down in the center of the field.

"Send out your Pokemon and order an attack! Try to send Shuckle flying into one of the many goal pits! Grand prize is a Tracton! We also have Porygon, Mr. Mime, Eevee, and Abra, as well as a bevy of fine Pokemon trainer products. The smaller the pit, the better the prize! A prize every time - you always win at least some fine handShuckled berry juice!"

"Now, what's your name, lad?"

"Larry."

"Larry, which two berries will you put inside Shuckle's shell? We have Persim, Pecha, and Sitrus! Persims are good luck. Pechas are for wealth! And Sitrus is for popularity - those cost extra."

Larry selects a Pecha and a Persim berry for Shuckle, who starts brewing immediately.

Water Gun
Larry sends out Oshawott and orders a Water Gun.

Shuckle becomes Bug type.

Acc: Dex 2 + 0 Fight + 0 Canalize + 0 type advantage
(2)(2)

Oshawott strikes Shuckle with a stream of water and Shuckle goes careening into the chaotic ballfield. He hits trained Voltorbs, which gently propel him on one course. He bounces off a big rubbery thing. He goes off a ramp and lands in mud, where he comes to a stop, far from any pit.

"Sorry Larry, no luck! But thanks for playing!"

...

"Oh wait! Shuckle has a consolation prize for you."

Shuckle climbs up and offers Larry a specialty Berry Juice he just brewed, which will automatically cure confusion when held!

"Who's next for Shuckleball, Shuckleball, SHUCKLEBALL!"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(Thank you!~)


Still with the paper (and the Snivy plushie) in hand, Shiva came running after her Pokemon. Was started at first upon seeing that the fluffball wasn't near her anymore, but luckily it didn't sheer off more than 50m meter.

As she realises what has caused Cottonee to move away from her, she couldn't help but to chuckle and gently stroke the Pokemon's head. "... Should have known."

"Excuse me... I, uh, never heared of any Swirlix from Unova?"

[Iron]

"Well, some such far off place. It's a Pokemon that looks just like cotton candy, to the point where some sweetsmiths use them as a mascot. Much like a Vanillite looks like ice cream! And it's a Fairy type, just like little Cottonee."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Vanillite... Ice cream... "Oh right, I know. People tend to stand in line to obtain one Casteliacone. But... they're indeed good!" At this thought, a slight smile broke through.

Ah, Swirlix. A Fairy Type, almost as fluffy as Cottonee. Just stickier. Shiva never saw one in real, just read about those once. Wonder if... "You ever met one Swirlix here in Chresire?"

[Iron]

"Nope, never seen one. But they're in the Pokedex - I think they are imported on rare occasions."

[Nylon]

Nathan's stare at Ventus is ice cold.

"Hmph.  Fine then, I'll back off for now.  One more question concerning the 'scimitars' though before we move on to a more...mundane, topic."  Nathan digs around in his jacket pocket for a moment, then sets the metal finger on the table.  "Are they typically made out of metal?  The one we faced had unnatural strength, stamina, and speed.  He didn't even flinch when struck with physical force.  A frying pan produced a loud clang when it made contact with his head.  And..."  Nathan also lets Swiftfire out of her pokeball at this point.  She takes a few seconds to figure out where she is.  She sees Nathan, Ventus...and a stranger with a Pawniard?  She's immediately on guard, staring the little blade pokemon down.

"...he didn't seem to particularly like fire.  Like the metal glove he was wearing was more than just a glove.  Much like this finger I found in the bushes on Route 01.  It wasn't his, but it looks extremely similar to the fingers on that man's metal hand.

"And with regards to information on their pokemon and abilities, I have a feeling we'll need it.  You can brief everyone later.  I doubt that was the last time we're going to see one of those men."

 Theo was looking grimly at the ponyta (it was ponyta right?), not wanting to bow down, but not wanting to show any sign of weakness.
"It's fine. Theo. Don't mind it. it won't attack you. At least not if that trainer knows what he's doing at least". Valder gave the boy a little smirk as he turned back to him.

 Trying to sound more reasonable, Valder took a deep breath before talking. "That thing... it looks like one of their gauntlets.
 Scimitars usually have some kind of gauntlet, and an amulet, wand, staff or a pokeball belt. It strengthens them by quite a bit as you've seen yourself".
"So don't fight one if you don't massive numbers or a good plan".

By this point Valder was itching to walk around by himself as he usually did. He had never been comfortable with things like interviews or small talk.