[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

"Yeah, alright, I guess it can wait...not like we're anywhere near the Skull Ruins right now, anyways..." He closes the journal and puts it away. "You'll definitely want to hear the part about the Skulls Ruins, though. First there's the fortune teller, and now there's Kirlia's vision of the Throne of Skulls...well, there's also the leading figures of the region. There's a few things that you need to know about them in the event that we meet them for some reason."

Nathan stands up, stretching. "You can head off to bed if you like, though. Let's set up the tent, and then I need to go talk with Shiva about why Ralts evolved, before I do the same." He and Ventus spend 15-20 minutes setting up the tent, and Kirlia stops dancing to assume a cross-legged, meditative pose, focusing on learning the extent of his new abilities. Illusory copies of himself can be seen flickering in and out of existence while he's doing so. The pearl seems to be doing wonders for amplifying his psychic abilities.

Nathan finds Shiva after setting up the tent, Kirlia by his side, and his other pokemon recaleld so they can rest for the night. "Look, if you don't actually know what caused Ralts to evolve into Kirlia, let's see if we can figure it out. I've never seen him that happy before, but it's connected to you somehow, I know that. And possibly the daycare and whatever that phone call you got was about. He's been really smug and happy around you since the last day we were in Ginger Town. Any ideas why that might be?" Kirlia is feeling pretty happy and smug right now, even. He's not dancing, but he's clearly smiling.

[Lord Windos]

Simply nodding his head in assent to Nathan suggestion, Ventus helped him sent to tent. The job went much, much faster when two people where doing the job, instead of just doing the job himself! Once the task was complete, he went over to Ariel and recalled her. By the looks of it, even she was getting tired despite her energy, at least to the point where she didn't squirt water at him when they approached her. 'There is time enough to bond with her later, though. Now, its time to get some quality sleep!' he though, before going into the tent itself and enter his own section of it.

Once he laid down and drifted off to sleep, though, one of his Pokeballs popped out from his satchel and rolled around on the canvas of the tent. Shaking a bit, it soon opened up, releasing Apsis from its confines. Unlike her prevous incarnation, it looks like being she has grown to resent being in her ball for to long, given the contemptuous look at it. Noticing that her master was asleep, despite the small commotion of her jailbreak, she decided to curl up up around him and go to sleep herself. If anybody tried to ambush her master now, they would get a rather nasty surprise!

Oh, dear

(Apsis, Apsis, you silly snake! Ventus is going to be in for a shock this morning, I will tell you what!"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh well. Another long night? More discussion, more issues, more overreactions...

...

... ... ...


Nope. Not this time.
She's pretty much too exhausted for any of these.

Instead, she got up once again, which caused the Azurill cuddled up inside to top hat open their eyes and look who was disturning their and new Master's rest. The mouse received a few soothing strokes over their forehead at that. "Calm down, dear one. Nothing to be worried about."

Good that Nathan was close while asking. Otherwise she would see him blurred without glasses.

"Practically speaking, no. No idea. Surely I've been enjoying Daycare's work especially, after all, they showed trust and respect towards me. Plus, I received quite a rarity from Vincent" - meaning the black-spotted egg - "my own Psychic Type to hit hard on Poison, you people managed your first Gym Badge, Festival was great, Ven shows good work in keeping his Arbok under control - oh come on, just look at it there. Apsis practically hugs him. - my Pokemon are doing good and on top of that you people safed that cutie here out of the river." More strokes for the Azurill.

She sighed imperceptibly. Yeah right, you never notice when she's showing distress of some sort. "Point is, surely I've been in a good mood lately. Fairy Types are sensitive for other's emotions and mood, more than any other species, you should know by now too." ... "Cottonee's been quite thrilled lately as well, but that's no wonder since it's always close to me. Ralts might just randomly have picked this up. Or it grew some sort of liking for me, whatever. Or it just enjoyed your Gym victory and all the battles it recently had."

Oh, she mentiones the phone call in no words on purpose, and does a good job on hiding this away. Not only because Kirlia is near, but also because the assurance that the mission's doing well only calsm Shiva down somewhat. Not causing any worry, nor overy happy feelings. Everything's well, the Infiltrator has been hatched - hopefully it received fortune attributtes. Now proper raising and training will begin.

[Dragonstrike]

Oh well. Another long night? More discussion, more issues, more overreactions...

...

... ... ...


Nope. Not this time.
She's pretty much too exhausted for any of these.

Instead, she got up once again, which caused the Azurill cuddled up inside to top hat open their eyes and look who was disturning their and new Master's rest. The mouse received a few soothing strokes over their forehead at that. "Calm down, dear one. Nothing to be worried about."

Good that Nathan was close while asking. Otherwise she would see him blurred without glasses.

"Practically speaking, no. No idea. Surely I've been enjoying Daycare's work especially, after all, the showed trust and respect towards me. Plus, I received quite a rarity from Vincent" - meaning the black-spotted egg - "my own Psychic Type to hit hard on Poison, you people managed your first Gym Badge, Festival was great, Ven shows good work in keeping his Arbok under control - oh come on, just look at it there. Apsis practically hugs him. - my Pokemon are doing good and on top of that you people safed that cutie here out of the river." More strokes for the Azurill.

She sighed imperceptibly. Yeah right, you never notice when she's showing distress of some sort. "Point is, surely I've been in a good mood lately. Fairy Types are sensitive for other's emotions and mood, more than any other species, you should know by now too." ... "Ralts might just randomly have picked this up. Or it grew some sort of liking for me, whatever. Or it just enjoyed your Gym victory and all the battles it recently had."

Oh, she mentiones the phone call in no words on purpose, and does a good job on hiding this away. Not only because Kirlia is near, but also because the assurance that the mission's doing well only calsm Shiva down somewhat. Not causing any worry, nor overy happy feelings.

He sits down, head in his hand, looking a bit tired himself as he contemplates the answer.  Kirlia hadn't picked up on anything particularly helpful for figuring this out, either.  He felt a feeling of...assurance, though, when Shiva mentioned Kirlia liking her more recently.  Nothing else Shiva had said gave Nathan pause to think about.  It was the one nail that had been hit on the head.

"No, that's not it...he's not happy just because you're happy...Ralts evolve when they reach an incredible level of genuine happiness, and I'm sure you know that.  It's not just any old event that can make them that happy, and emulating that level of happiness doesn't work.  I've never seen Kirlia this happy before.  Ever.  It's got something to do with what you've been doing, I'm sure of it.  I've got no idea what that could be, though, and I'd like to know.  Ventus knows...something related to this, I gathered that much.  He wouldn't tell me a dang thing, though.  Insisted that I ask you myself.

"I can tell he likes you a lot more now, true.  But why?  Are you certain you have no idea why that might be?  He's practically only ever trusted me since I found him.  Probably picked up that distrust from whatever Almanac did to him...anyways...it's not connected to recent events that you haven't been involved in.  There's no mistaking that.  He's been happy, sure.  But not to the degree that would be a sign of an impending evolution."

There's just a slight amount of frustration in his voice and mannerisms.  Very slight.  He's not really mad at Shiva, but he's getting tired of these roundabout answers.  There's also a tiny part of him that's frustrated that it wasn't something he'd done that triggered the evolution.  He could let it slide, but...his pride was a little bruised.  It would heal quickly, given time. He doesn't want to fight over this, but he wants answers. It's exhausting him more than it should.

Kirlia just frowns at the brief mention of Almanac.  Bad memories, again.  He didn't want to revisit them.  And while he wants to tell Nathan why he's been so happy, he's also respecting Shiva's privacy.  If Shiva wasn't going to directly say anything about it, Kirlia would only give him vague hints as to why.  He'd always been good at hiding the memories related to Almanac, anyways...now wasn't the time nor place to unearth them.  Hiding Shiva's plans was easy compared to that.

[Iron]

Dawn comes, with birds chirping and sunlight filtering through your tent.

After a bit of journeying, you come to the start of the Fireweed Forest that contains Wineberry Town.



This forest has a reputation as a haven for pleasant autumn weather. The foliage responds in kind, burning in reds and yellows and oranges three seasons out of the year. Sunlight filtering through the leaves is a wondrous sight. The forest is bright as long as the sun shines, and at night the stars are visible through clearings in the canopy.

Leaves carpet the Great River in warm colors, like fire on water.

There are few permanent residences in the Fireweed Forest, and they are mostly in the eastern portion of the forest near the town. But somehow, works of folk art spring up along the paths or even deep in the woods. Most of them are made of sticks, rocks, twine, and moss. Though they are never complex, they manage to imply a Pokemon without actually showing one. A few lines, the suggestion of movement, a speck of decoration in exactly the right place. You see odes to Shiftry, Butterfree, and the rare elusive fox Pokemon which dwell east of town.

Interestingly, Shiva's guidebook makes no mention of these sculptures, but Nathan's mom once told him about seeing them in her childhood. There is supposed to be some kind of treehouse attraction around here...

The Pokemon here are supposed to be very friendly, with one exception: the Bug Pokemon.

Fireweed Forest Encounters

1. Name: Wurmple*
Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 2
Challenge: easy
Note: This looks like a perfectly normal Wurmple, but your trainer senses are tingling!

2. Name: Pichu
Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 1
Challenge: easy

3. Name: Seedot
Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 1
Challenge: effortless

4. Name: Scyther
Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 2
Challenge: difficult

5. Name: Masquerain
Cap: 1 (2)
Bid start: 1
Challenge: moderate
Notes: Dancing above the River Greenbriar, showing off its own bright colors.

6. Name: Abandoned crate
Cap: 1
Bid start: 1
Notes: Whoever finds this simply trips over it in a raked pile of leaves.

Unlimited Pidgey, Caterpie, Weedle, Venonat

Non-bug Pokemon have -1 Will for catching purposes. Bugs have +1 Will.

[Dragonstrike]

Fireweed Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUBIEHQ7atc

Nathan's feeling a little depressed in the morning. He hadn't been able to get a good nights sleep. Shiva had refused to say anything else concerning why Ralts might have evolved, and he'd spent the night wracking his brain trying to figure out what it was, tossing and turning while doing so. Kirlia looked a little sad as well, worried a bit about Nathan. He was worrying a lot about something so insignificant in the long run. He still wasn't going to give Nathan any more hints, though.

"Oh goody, another forest...this one's supposed to be filled with some really strong and rare bugs, though, so there shouldn't be any Mankey around, at least...though, uh, we should probably take it a little slower. Those same bugs are a little aggressive and difficult to tame, I've heard some travelers say...I've got two flying types and a fire type, so I think I'll be okay...if you guys need any help though, just holler. I'll be doing some training in the meantime." There's little enthusiasm in his voice. He can see Geodude following them somewhere in the trees, even. Seems he'd gotten a little bolder now that they're farther from the river.

[Lord Windos]

Waking up with a Arbok curled around him not what he was expecting to start his day with, but Ventus took it in stride, patting the sleeping snake awake before he crawled out of its clutches. After he had done his early morning stretches, had some breakfast, and let Apsis havethe time to properly rouse itself from its drowsy state. The researcher then recalled his snake to her Pokeball, promising to let her out later to hunt. The giant snake grumbled a bit, but ultimately accepted his term, and was re-balled with no fuss or complaint.

Once everyone else was up and about, he proceed to disassemble the tent and stow it away in its Pokeball, placing it in his satchel, before he set off towards Fireweed Forest. Nathan seemed unusually glum this morning, and he caught Kirlia staring morosely at his master more than a few times as they entered the outskirts of the woods. Ventus, while worried about the state of his friend's mind, left him to his own device. 'I would love nothing more than to cheer him up, but I more than well know that he prefers to tackle issues on his own time, so I will abstain from interfering unless his mood takes a critical turn, or Kirlia starts to be negatively affected by his...well, negativity,' the researcher though, peering through the thickets to see if anything interesting was afoot.

Immedianlty he spotted a green flicker in a clear, and upon closer inspection it turned out to be a Scyther! While he knew the breed had quite the viscous attitude, he knew the wanted it on his team. 'Scyther, while being weak to Fire like my Shroomish, resists Psychic type moves expertly, and Ground types do not faze them at all. Its evolution is even more useful, as Bug/Steel is an increadibly power defensive typing. I must have obtain it for my team,' Ventus thought, about ready to go hunting for his new capture.

Before he could get started, however, Nathan announced he was going to do some training with Pokémon, snapping the researcher out of his fugue state. Remembering that he already spent his Net Ball Capturing Ariel, and that Nathan has one on hand, he decided to go barter for it. Walking up to Nathan, he got his attention by pulling out the Butterfree Bracelet he found earlier. "Nathan, my friend, I would like to ask a favor of you! I have spotted a Scyther out in the woods, and I wish to capture it for my team, but I unfortunately used a Net Ball to capture my Corsola Ariel, so I would like to offer this bracelet I found for your own Net Ball. Its worth roughly half the price of it, but I promise to pay the rest back later!"

Order: Attempt to trade Bracelet with Nathan for his Net Ball, then go chasing after that Scyther. I want it for my team soooo badly!

[Dragonstrike]

Before he could get started, however, Nathan announced he was going to do some training with Pokémon, snapping the researcher out of his fugue state. Remembering that he already spent his Net Ball Capturing Ariel, and that Nathan has one on hand, he decided to go barter for it. Walking up to Nathan, he got his attention by pulling out the Butterfree Bracelet he found earlier. "Nathan, my friend, I would like to ask a favor of you! I have spotted a Scyther out in the woods, and I wish to capture it for my team, but I unfortunately used a Net Ball to capture my Corsola Ariel, so I would like to offer this bracelet I found for your own Net Ball. Its worth roughly half the price of it, but I promise to pay the rest back later!"

Nathan sighs.  He rubs his temples, thinking.  Was he planning to use that Net Ball on anything?  He already had Staryu and the two combee...and he already had several other types of pokeballs..."Alright, fine.  I guess you can have it for that trade..."  He still doesn't sound very enthused.  He pulls the Net Ball out of his bag and hands it to Ventus in exchange for the bracelet.  "Be careful.  Don't need you nor your pokemon getting sliced in half by an angry Scyther.  I'm sure you know how dangerous they are, right?  That's probably the most dangerous bug in this forest, after all."  His expression is dead serious.  No jokes or smiles or laughs from him.

(coincidentally, Scyther can also learn Double Team through leveling, but much later than the Tailow and Ralts lines.  Obtaining this Scyther might work well for Shiva, too)

[Lord Windos]

Handing over the Bracelet in exchange for the Net Ball, the researcher nods his head at Nathan, a simple smile gracing his face. "I am quite aware of that fact yes, but this isn't the first time I've encountered dangerous Pokémon before," Ventus says, pointing to his chest as a less than discrete reminder of that fact. "Besides, I have Apsis to assist in guarding me and the capture, so I should be relatively fine against the bladed menace. If you are worried, you are welcome to join me on my excursion. That would be excellent training for sure!"

(Regardless of Nathan's choice, I'm heading out to confront that Scyther. They will be mine, I tell ya!

[Dragonstrike]

Handing over the Bracelet in exchange for the Net Ball, the researcher nods his head at Nathan, a simple smile gracing his face. "I am quite aware of that fact yes, but this isn't the first time I've encountered dangerous Pokémon before," Ventus says, pointing to his chest as a less than discrete reminder of that fact. "Besides, I have Apsis to assist in guarding me and the capture, so I should be relatively fine against the bladed menace. If you are worried, you are welcome to join me on my excursion. That would be excellent training for sure!"

Another sigh.  "Alright, I guess the training can wait, so I'll join you just to make doubly sure everything turns out okay...good chance for Porygon to get some practical practice in too, I guess...unless you'd rather I use Swiftfire to help you take its health down more quickly?  You're the one who wants to catch it, so I'll follow your lead."

As the two of them try to track Scyther down, Nathan notices he's been feeling a bit less...winded lately.  'All this walking and running seems to have been doing me some good lately, I guess...I didn't think I'd ever feel this fit, to be honest...' (20 exp spent on 1 more Vitality!)