[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh, that 'hate' from Shiva for the dog won't be open or what you may expect. It'll be plain avoiding Houndour plus likely owner and anyhing that has to do with it. If it dares to come too close, coldheartedly ward it off with Azu's Water STABs. Given that Ven dislikes these dogs quite much already as far as I am getting it, I fear Nathan is all alone in this matter.

[Dragonstrike]

Something Nathan understands. As long as he can't trust the hound, why should anyone else? If that hatred and dislike of Houndour persists after he has it under control though, then there might be issues. For now, though, he's trying to avoid creating any further problems.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Shiva's fear for Apsis eased a little after seeing that Ventus has the cobra under control and she trusts him that he'd 1. never hurt her and 2. he additionally to herself takes care not to let the Aprbok get close to her Pokemon, so the possibility is there. This doesn't mean though that she would allow Apsis or the Houndour enter her - when it comes to these two particular Pokemon, big - comfort zone. They'd still get warded off with a super effective attack.

[Lord Windos]

Shiva's fear for Apsis eased a little after seeing that Ventus has the cobra under control and she trusts him that he'd 1. never hurt her and 2. he additionally to herself takes care not to let the Aprbok get close to her Pokemon, so the possibility is there. This doesn't mean though that she would allow Apsis or the Houndour enter her - when it comes to these two particular Pokemon, big - comfort zone. They'd still get warded off with a super effective attack.

I would recommend not provoking the giant, often ravenous snake, Phantom. Using Psychic moves on her is liable to just piss her off and snack on the offending target, while Ven won't be too pleased with random attacks on his sister. He'll keep Apsis away or under his direct control when they are around Shiva, so don't let her try and attacks the sneak...

On the subject of Houndour, he never like or trust the mutt, but he will trust in his friend's ability to keep it under control, and won't give him hell about it. After all, if Nathan was tolerated Apsis, then why can't he? That, and Sans helped he see that being hateful about something won't solve anything in the long run...

[Dragonstrike]

And unlike Shiva and Ventus, Nathan has something that is probably going to be a really good deterrent for the rowdy dog:

Hydro Pump. Boosted by a Mystic Water. Failing that, a couple Bubble Beams would still do the trick. The starfish will have no problems in a mechanical sense with KOing Houndour in a single round if it must.

Starmie is Nathan's safety factor for the Houndour, and the metaphorical leash. He's going to make it very clear to Houndour that Starmie is there simply for damage control, and that he doesn't want to have to order it to douse the doggie's flames if it can be avoided. In fact, he's not even going to have Starmie present at all if he feels the situation doesn't require the tight leash, which should help with establishing just a little bit of trust.

And when it's no longer necessary to have that leash, Houndour is likely to be a really loyal companion. A pack bond.

And Nathan's going to stress that Shiva and Ventus are part of that 'pack,' too, which should hopefully alleviate most of the issues with it given enough time.

[Lord Windos]

And unlike Shiva and Ventus, Nathan has something that is probably going to be a really good deterrent for the rowdy dog:

Hydro Pump.  Boosted by a Mystic Water.  Failing that, a couple Bubble Beams would still do the trick.  The starfish will have no problems in a mechanical sense with KOing Houndour in a single round if it must.

Starmie is Nathan's safety factor for the Houndour, and the metaphorical leash. He's going to make it very clear to Houndour that Starmie is there simply for damage control, and that he doesn't want to have to order it to douse the doggie's flames if it can be avoided.  In fact, he's not even going to have Starmie present at all if he feels the situation doesn't require the tight leash, which should help with establishing just a little bit of trust.

And when it's no longer necessary to have that leash, Houndour is likely to be a really r companion.  A pack bond.

And Nathan's going to stress that Shiva and Ventus are part of that 'pack,' too, which should hopefully alleviate most of the issues with it given enough time.

If you explain that to Ven, he would be even more agreeable to you taking care of the dog! The though of Houndour getting drenched would cheer him up to no end, you know! I don't think that Ven would even give the time of day to the dog no matter how hard Nathan tried to integrate it into the group. That would be mostly a good thing, as Ven focusing on the dog for any length of time would be baaaaaaad. Remember, he did bloody torture one of its former pack mates...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

I'm still curious about how much Shiva will remember about that 'bloody torture' and everything, but I'll leave that decision to Iron.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Besides, that was no empty saying that I'd like to max out Insight during the campaign. ^-^ Quite enjoy the influence of this stat into interactions with Pokemon and characters, and I won't have to fear sleep, confusion and infatuation too much!

Probably alongside Channel, Perform and Dexterity for insane Accuracy Rolls. Add Tailwind from Whimsicott and Prankster-Meowstic for annoyance, this will be fun.

[Dragonstrike]

Just want to drop a reminder that Nathan didn't really ask what Ventus knew on the matter, just fired back with what little he did know, and Ventus just assumed Nathan knew more than he actually did.

Ventus may want to clarify that since Shiva voiced that concern.

[Iron]

I hope you guys are learning to deal with the fact that some party members will always have secrets.

Shiva remembers only the emotions of the part where she was sleeping - the fear, the nausea of being near such torture, that kind of thing. And she does remember the landscape and anything to do with her Espurr.