[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

"Usually the trainer of the mother Pokemon is given ownership of the Egg. Sometimes we help trainers find a suitable adoptive trainer to raise the Egg, as a free service on our part. The trainers dictate the terms, naturally."

"Ah, just as I initially thought. Hmm, in that case, If Ariel produces any Eggs while she is in your care, then I would request you would  deposit them in my PC, or incubate them and deposit the baby Corsola in my PC if at all possible. Once I have completed my research and finished exploring the region, I could use my Corsola's children to set up another observation long term observational experiment on how a human constructed colony compares in many aspects to the ones found in the wild. That, and I could start a side business collecting and either whole sale the Coral Branches they shed, or manufactor them into products of my own. Pokémon research may be my passion, but I need Poke to fuel the whole process, and a Corsola Farm sounds like a nice source of revenue."

Order: If Ariel happens to produce any Egg, it and/or its contents are ending up in Ventus' PC, as it makes a certain amount of sense for him to keep them for a study/small business venture. Of course, that is long, loooooong term in the future, but it pays (Literally, in this case) to plan ahead, as my character might emigrate to Cheshire permanently in that time span...

I'm ready to move along to either having a Training Session with Shiva, or starting that 2v1 Battle with Nathan. Of course, we need the terms of battle for the latter, but I doubt it will be that hard to come up with them!

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan can tell Calam is doing his best to resist joining in on the playtime, to act like the adult that he is.  He's seen this type of behavior plenty of times back on the ranch.  He wouldn't bug Calam about it right now though.  Let him enjoy the moment while it lasted.  Instead, Nathan was reviewing what he knows of the situation carefully...

- Absol is a species trained in Creshire typically only in incredible circumstances...and the daycare owners have bred and are raising one...at Shiva's suggestion, apparently...which means there must be very good reason beyond just protecting the daycare if the owners agreed to raising a pokemon surrounded by an incredibly large amount of regional superstition...

- Kirlia is incredibly happy right now.  Comparable to the amount of joy that caused him to evolve in the first place.

- Kirlia evolved because it had to do with a call Shiva received from the daycare that related to their mission to bring Almanac down...from the...inside...

After a considerable amount of time thinking about this, Nathan looks at Kirlia as he's playing with the baby Absol.  He's getting along REALLY well with him...more social than with any other person or pokemon aside from maybe Nathan...

And then it hits Nathan.

This Absol is probably related to how the daycare is attacking Almanac from the inside.

No, not just probably.  Almost certainly.  There's no other logical reason he can think of for them to be raising an Absol in the first place, and Kirlia's only ever this happy if there's a particularly good reason for it.

Nathan walks over to the baby as well now.  He sits down next to him, taking his turn to stroke the Absol's soft fur.  "You having fun?  Yes?  Good.  Hey, I want you to remember something when times get tough later, okay?  I want you to remember that there are those who appreciate you for what you are.  Maybe not many, but they're out there.  Absol are pretty universally disliked in this region, so there'll be plenty who ridicule and/or run from you.  Maybe even attack you, and there'll be many reasons for doing so.  I'm sure you're going to be more than strong enough to handle it, though.  Particularly if you enjoy the happy moments while they last, like this one.  They'll be what keep you moving when the going gets rough.

"Try not to let life get you down too much.  You do that, and you'll eventually find both your part to play and what makes you happiest.  Like Calam over there.  From what I can tell, he's lived a hard, lonely life, but he knows what his purpose is.  He knows what makes him happiest.  And everyone can dislike him as much as he wants.  He knows there are those that appreciate him anyways.  You remember all that, and you'll go as far as he has one day.  Alright?"

Nathan hopes this baby Absol will remember at least a little of that.  He's got a long, difficult road ahead of him...but he'll be more than appropriately equipped for the job.  Absol have a huge number of ways to deal with practically any situation that could happen, after all.  And they're lonely creatures by nature as well, so solo living and missions shouldn't bother them too much...

Shiva couldn't have picked a better pokemon for the job, in Nathan's opinion.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Skipping forward a little now)

Shiva and Ventus were now doing some training...so Nathan goes off to do some of his own as well, though it's going to be a little more intensive.  He'd meet them back at the Center, and would have the details of their battle hashed out by then.

Let's also get a 4v4 double battle with no fainting for $400 going for Nathan.  Starmie and Grid will be up first.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(As already said in Meta Thread here, while Heart and Nathan are busy with their battle Shiva will hold that Tutoring Session while Ventus will hold a Training Session with her Pokemon while Infiltrator-Absol can watch and/or rest. Just wanted to say this again in case it's not fully clear or got accidently missed! Depending how long Nathan's battle goes, Shiva might engage the researcher in a [light] conversation.)

[Lord Windos]

(Once Ventus has concluded his business, autoing a Move Tutoring + Training session between Shiva and Ven would be quite good, but I doubt Braixen is going to allow such a smooth fast forward, since the fox hates the researcher's guts. Ventus is of course open to conversation, but the topic of it might change around depending Shiva's fox backlash.)

[Iron]

Tutoring roll:

(4)(5)(1)(2)(6)(4)(4)(3) = 6 more successes, including the assistance from the electric rodents!
A shifty expression comes over Raphael's face. He gets it now!


Baby Absol nuzzles Nathan and falls asleep on his hand for a bit. Golda laughs. "We're going to have to feed this little one plenty of Chesto berries. Train him to stay awake a little longer!"


Spiritmon, this is just a 2v2 battle. So no swapping is allowed. As for the Waterfall Mystic, looks like I only gave you a Will Point. Oops!
Heart gains 8Xp. You have 16XP to divide among the Pokemon who participated.

[Iron]

Nathan is scouting for a battle near Vapor Falls. A Quagsire head pops out of the Great River, followed by the head of a human girl!

"LET'S BATTLE!" she yells, making eye contact. The water froths and freezes, and a Jynx surfaces on an ice floe.

Nathan quickly proposes his terms - no fainting, 4v4, $400. She says "Yeah, sure, whatever! I'm the Great Rivergrinder, I don't care how we battle, as long as we battle!"


Jynx (6) +3 Dex + 3 Survival = 12
Grid (6) +5 = 11
Quagsire (5) +6 = 11
Starmie (1)

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan is scouting for a battle near Vapor Falls. A Quagsire head pops out of the Great River, followed by the head of a human girl!

"LET'S BATTLE!" she yells, making eye contact. The water froths and freezes, and a Jynx surfaces on an ice floe.

Nathan quickly proposes his terms - no fainting, 4v4, $400. She says "Yeah, sure, whatever! I'm the Great Rivergrinder, I don't care how we battle, as long as we battle!"


Jynx (6) +3 Dex + 3 Survival = 12
Grid (6) +5 = 11
Quagsire (5) +6 = 11
Starmie (1)

Battle Time!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sxC2BIKteU

If Nathan was going to get what he needed out of battling Ventus and Shiva, he needed to let loose a little before then.  This looked like it'd be an interesting challenge.  And they're near Vapor Falls too...hmmm...might not matter, though.  Better see how this plays out first.

"Grid, take that Jynx down!  Starmie, cover him from incoming attacks and strike with Swift!"  Nathan's also got an Awakening handy just in case someone decides it's a good time for someone to take a nap.

Grid

Fury Cutter x4!
Accuracy: 3 Dex + 3 Fight + 2 Brawl + 2 Compound Eyes - 1 Accuracy - 4/5/6/7 Actions = 5/4/3/2 D6
Damage: 1 Power + 3 Strength + 1 STAB + SE = 5 D6 base + 1 Damage

Starmie

Swift x3
Accuracy: 3 Dex + 3 Fight + 2 Canalize - 3/4/5 Actions = 5/4/3 D6
Damage: 2 Power + 3 Strength = 5 D6 base

If either of Nathan's pokemon fall asleep, he'll use an Awakening on them so he doesn't lose his momentum.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Tutoring roll:

(4)(5)(1)(2)(6)(4)(4)(3) = 6 more successes, including the assistance from the electric rodents!
A shifty expression comes over Raphael's face. He gets it now!

Neat... This went way more smooth and successful than Shiva could have imagined. Maybe it was the help of her Electric rodents, maybe the fact that being a very close Pokemon to Ven has impacts on his Togekiss, or Shiva somewhat got better at tutoring after Helios mastered Double Team under her aid. Whatever it was, it was pleasant to see and seeing such an expression on a pure and beautiful Togekiss was surely a rare thing.

She guided Raphael to her and offered him a few dried berries in her open hand. "You did fairly well, you deserve a these greatly. Bet your Master is proud of you as well, huh?" Speaking of that, a look over to the right showed that the young Absol was currently sleeping after he already did close to Nathan for a bit - how adorable! - and turning her head even more, it was time to see how Ven was doing with her Psychic Types.

[Dragonstrike]

Baby Absol nuzzles Nathan and falls asleep on his hand for a bit. Golda laughs. "We're going to have to feed this little one plenty of Chesto berries. Train him to stay awake a little longer!"

Brief Flashback

Heh.  He didn't know if Absol had understood or not, but he was at least receptive to the care.  He really hoped the little guy would be okay.

With the baby Absol tuckered out and Shiva and Ventus moving on to other things, it looked like it was about time for him to move on as well.  

Before he leaves for some training of his own, though, he passes by Shiva and offers her a brief "Thank you for the invitation to meet this young Absol" after telling her what he'll be doing in the meantime.  And Kirlia gives her a big ol' hug as well.  Hanging with the baby Absol had been fun for him, Kirlia, and Calam, but the thank you was for just a little more than that as well.  Nathan wasn't going to breathe a word about that, though.  Too much was at stake.  But Nathan felt he had to show at least some appreciation, even if Shiva didn't necessarily pick up on why.  He also thanks the daycare owners on his way out, mostly for their hospitality.  The hidden meaning of his thanks would certainly be completely lost on them since they don't know what Kirlia's been through.

Now then...time for a battle.  He needed to get himself in order before facing Ventus and Shiva...

[Iron]

Great Rivergrinder Round 1

"Jynx, you've got Starmie! Quagsire, you have the electric one! Gnosh 'em up!"

Jynx grabs Starmie in her big hands, opens her mouth, and starts gumming Starmie. All the while, she's mumbling incoherently.

Lick
3 Dex + 2 Fight + 1 -2 actions = 4 dice
(5)(2)(2)(5)(1)
3 Str +1 power -3 vit = 1d6+1
(5) Starmie takes 2 dmg 5/7hp
Chance: (5)(6)(5) Starmie is paralyzed! -2 dex

Grid rushes over to Jynx and Starmie, his feet easily clinging to the slippery ice. The strange girl in the water says "So much for that plan! Quagsire, move to intercept!" Quagsire grants cover to Jynx, accepting up to 2 damage dice in her place.

Fury Cutter
(4)(1)(2)(4)(2)
(6)(2)(2)(5)
(4)(4)(1)
(4)(4) 4 hits!
-2 vit = 3d6 each, +1 on dice that overflow to Jynx
(5)(2) (1)
(5)(6) (6)
(2)(2) (1)
(1)(3) (5)
With a little more Vit, that cover would have been great strategy. Now...not so much.
Quagsire takes 3 dmg  3/6hp -2 pain
Jynx takes 4 dmg 2/6hp -2 pain

Quagsire yawns. Such damage means nothing to him!
Yawn
(3)(5)(3)(2)
Grid gets drowsy! His many eyes blink furiously.

Starmie sends out a barrage of stars from his gem. This is an interesting case, because Starmie must hold back on striking both enemies, even though only one deserves it.
Swift
5 dice, -1 pain, -2 prlyz
(5)(5)
(3)(3)(3) But it deals no damage anyway, as both Pokemon duck underwater, slowing the momentum of the unavoidable stars.

Jynx resurfaces. The foam as her hair breaks the surface tension becomes a drift of snow.

Powder Snow
(4)
3 Str +2 power +1 STAB -3 vit = 3d6, -1 starmie
(6)(6)(5) Starmie takes 2 dmg 3/7hp -2 pain
Grid takes 3 dmg 3/6hp -2 pain
Chance: (6) Nathan's Pokemon freeze!

Water Gun on Grid, point blank as Quagsire shields Jynx from the scary bug.
(4)
3 Str +2 power +1 stab -3 = 3 dice
(3)(5)(2) Grid takes 1 dmg 2/6hp -2 pain.

Great Rivergrinder Round 2