[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

...and that little show of glee causes Nathan and Kirlia to back away fairly quickly, feeling just a little more uncomfortable for various reasons...

Meanwhile, the gym's doors are completely freaking out due to Porygon-Z's presence...

The researcher good cheer diminished somewhat by the young trainer's skittishness around him, before he lets a small sigh and walk towards them, keeping a respectful distance between himself and them so as not to pressure the boy, but close enough so that they could hold a small conversation. Mindful of the fact of Shiva being around, he keep his voice low and almost toneless, focusing it so only that Nathan could hear what he had to say.

"...I'm no longer that person, Nathan, so please do not fear me doing anything along those nebulous lines. As...dogged and overly perceptive I can be from at various times and situations, my reasons for acting as such are never malicious in intention towards you and Shiva; I just want to protect the both of you to the best of my ability. *Sigh* Though it seems that such effort is often detrimental, as I have come to realize far to late. I...I don't want to push you away like I did with my sister, so I'll avoid intruding upon your personal space until you feel comfortable around me once more. Let's just...keep this between ourselves, alright? I don't want to give Shiva anymore cause for concern about us, least of all on such an important moment for her like this. ...Until we speak again, my friend."

Ven then quietly walked far away from him and Kirlia, leaving them to continue their celebration with Shiva while waiting around in the Gym. He already demonstrated his own happiness to her, and he could always continue it with her later in private, so he would sit on the sidelines for the time being. Perhaps maybe finding a battle with one of Zamboni's acolyates to hone his skills some more...

Order: If its possible, I'd like to have a battle against the Lapras trainer in the Gym, and will place a $300 Poke wager on it against a battle with Abaddon. Need to train up my blue demon, so what better target than another tanky blue creature?

[Iron]

Gym Trainer Auger
Lapras: (4) +2 Dex +1 Survival = 7
Abaddon: (2) + 2 Dex + 3 Survival = 7, going last

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Whoahw... It seemed like Braixen was indeed serious about this, was it the sunshine that threathened to fade away, his Master's encouragement or the fact that his opponents were an icy fox and a piggy? Didn't really matter in the end, it was absolutely pleasant to see how he not only forgot about his sadness for a while, but also showed them what a fierly fox was capable of. Temperature increased for a moment when the Embers burnt, battle was going in and out, but in the end... It also felt somewhat pleasant, energizing and fortunate to keep the control of the field together with her Pokemon and the forces of nature, guess it must have been a strike of luck that Nightshade learned how to brighten up the sun just yesterday. Now, now only the starts granted her their aid thanks to Braixen's luckychanting, but now also Shiva learned how to soft-manipulate the sun to shine for her. Maybe one day, with enough studying and working with her blue mouse, she'll also be able to call for rain... (Level up in Nature for 12XP!)

Silently accepting the precious Glass Badge, Shiva held it a bit above eye level to examinate it in the fading sunlight. It looked absolutely precious, but not as precious as the meaning behind it: She wasn't a lost case, she was just as worthy her travel companions despite not being the strongest in battle. In fact, pure power wasn't much of her attitude, but with a little effort and setting up it wasn't that hard to bypass this flaw and increase the power by other means? Nevertheless, this was the first stept to become stronger and grow for both her own sake and her Pokemon.

Speaking of those, she just managed to attatch the badge to the end of her scarf (because where else should she keep them?), magical fox and lively cherry were already beside her, and both received their thanks and attention. "Both of you did great, dear ones. Regardless of your forerunners in battle have fallen, they eased the way to our victory. Never...would I have gotten this far without you - therefore, thank you. May we grow further on our path and stay together, shall we? For now, back into your balls, you deserve some rest." Withdrawing them now. However, before Shiva even managed to make one step up to the rangs to Xiani to have Comite and Azurill unfainted and healed, Kirlia was already beside her hugging her in a spate of joy! My, that was a little unexpected, but it didn't saved her from carefully returning the hug and petting the green parts of the Psychi Fairy's head, always carefully avoiding the red horns. Oh, and that compliment from Nathan felt very appreciating, she knew it was meant honest and not just empty words. "Thanks!~ Hehe... Glad that you enjoyed watching, I was hoping to keep things entertaining. The plan of using Azurill to place some ice to reflect the sunlight for Nightshade to brighten it up worked out quite well."

But, this was faded in the overly bold and joyful prase Ventus gave her. If Shiva managed to keep a slight blush from occuring due to Kirlia's hug, she failed on this as the researcher was practically dazzling her with his joy. His boldness was also something that somewhat impressed her. "Ven... Yeah, thanks... Let me...go... No, don't... Eh, anyway, glad that you enjoyed watching as well... I hope further Gym Battles work out as positively as well, but it could be indeed a sign... The first step in becoming stronger is done. Hehe... I'll need some rest though for the rest of day. Are all Gym Battles this exhausting?"

Oh, and Shiva gladly accepted the Golden Skates from the Gym Leader as soon as his Rotom has smoothed out the rink. The new ice was sparkling almost like the sunbeams of the morning sun when Shiva left the Daycare this morning. She DID put them on as well, but then the hesitation despite the joy over the victory came. "Eh... Zamboni... First of all, thank you for this amazing battle! I clearly had my fun. As well, do forgive me that I caused the rink to thaw a little... And...eh, but I'm bad at ice skating. Practically, not good at all. Can't we... do that victory lap together? Somehow? Or your Glaceon or Rotom could lead me?"

[Iron]

"I did not win a victory, so it wouldn't be right for me to join you! Glaceon will not let you fall!"

Rotom stands in the middle of the rink, altering the ice to keep Shiva upright, and even allowing fantastic tricks like small ramp jumps or dips or twirls.

Glaceon runs along with Shiva, entirely unaffected by the slipperiness of the ice. Shiva is granted a fraction of that grace and confidence while near the icy fox.

[Dragonstrike]

And once that's all said and done, Nathan's waiting for Shiva back at where she started.  Still a little off put by Ventus, but otherwise in a good mood.  Porygon-Z was done with the doors now, as well.

Calam decides this is a good time to come out of his pokeball, though.  He offers his own congratulations to Shiva in the form of a simple nod.  Of course, not everyone around is pleased with seeing an Absol right now...not that Calam particularly cares what they think of him currently.

Nathan's a little too surprised by his sudden appearance to immediately react, as well...

[Iron]

Zamboni immediately releases Snorunt at the appearance of Calam. He waits for something more to happen, maintaining his cool.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(Whoops, forgot one thing: For a mere moment after Kirlia has hugged her and Ven lifted her up + hugged her as well, Shiva was pretty sure she saw that guy with the Axew in the door. He didn't said anything - if he did, she didn't heard him - but before she managed to joyfully wave to him, he already disappeared. Ah... Until next time then.)


Glaceon as a lead was surely helpful, Shiva took effort to keep up with the icy fox - who felt very homey on the ice, not even minding that he was plaqued by fire not long ago - but it demanded enough that she completely lost to take care not to fall and break something of her fragile on the hard and cold ice. In fact, after a while she was greatly enjoying this! It'll still needs a lot of practice though to make Shiva an Ice Fairy, but there was clearly joy and an amount of grace visible as she was gliding over the untouched ice. SHe could indeed get used to this.

It was still a little exhausting, so she was thankful - just a little - to be up one the ranks again with hot cocoa and Xiani beside her. Only Azurill and Comite would appreciate to be healed though, Braixen suffered no harsh pain from the Spikes and Nighthshade was fresh thanks to healing up during the last round, making good use of the last beams of sunlight in that Round.

"Uhm... I did absolutely not expect to see you here, that was quite a nice suprise!~ Thought the aftermaths of the Running are totally occupying due to the desaster that happened, weren't you quite busy dealing with all the anxious and injured people and Pokemon?"


(Hmm... Can she actually really unfaint Azurill and Comite and heal them up to at least half the HP, or do I have to nevertheless visit a Pokemon Center as soon as I leave the Gym? Wanted to check-in there anyway, but for no other reason to switch the Pokemon in my party actually.)

[Lord Windos]

Gym Trainer Auger
Lapras: (4) +2 Dex +1 Survival = 7
Abaddon: (2) + 2 Dex + 3 Survival = 7, going last

Ventus give a respectful nod to his opponent, eyes up the aquatic bulky sea turtle and thinking over how wear it down without his precious blue child being wiped out in turn, before he calmly commanded him to: "Try to win over Lapras affections by being adorable as possible, before channeling your latent powers into a Safeguard, and then evade more attacks made by them, if any. Comeback to if you are seriously injured, so that I may tend to your wounds with a Potion. Do your best Abaddon, and know that no matter the outcome of this battle, you'll have my full support and confidence. Endure, and power through their bulk!"

Order: Start off with a Charm attack (2 DEX + 3 Fight + 2 Allure - 3 Actions = 4D6 Dice), then have them put up a Safeguard ( 4D6 Dice), then execute a evasive maneuver if they have an attack ready at that point. If Abaddon falls below 4 HP or less in the round, apply a Potion to treat its injury BEFORE it conduct its next Action, so that Pain's effects is minimized as much as possible. Wait for further orders after this, Iron. Two blue titans walk into the ring, and only one comes out...

[Dragonstrike]

Zamboni immediately releases Snorunt at the appearance of Calam. He waits for something more to happen, maintaining his cool.

Calam chuckles to himself.  About what he expected.  He nods to Zamboni and his Snorunt as well.  He's not here to cause trouble, after all.  Merely showing a little approval.

It takes Nathan another moment to process what just happened, but when he does, he's pretty quick to apologize.  "Uh...sorry about that, Zamboni...he honestly means well.  He's actually fairly well mannered despite his appearance, believe it or not..."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Before actually heading to that carefully victory lap:


Aww, silent praise from the black and white feline with the scarred eye was very appreciated as well. It came...very unexpecting though - but, after the happenings on the Running, no wonder Zamboni reacted to the sight of the vivid desaster the way he did.

"Whoahw, there, people, no need to fight at this point, okay? Please don't. Praise is appreciated, but please take care of your new Pokemon a little, Nathan, it might not be the best idea to show him around in town unless you want to either arise unnecessary attention or cause a ruckus." There was no wrath in her voice, never, it was more a slilent plea. But if listened closely, there was worry between the lines.