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

[Dragonstrike]

Here's a list of various goals I think we need to be looking at achieving:

Potential Goals

• We need to KO, catch, or incapacitate Rhyhorn so it can't start another charge if we stop its current one
  
• If it continues moving forward for a little bit even after being KOed during this initial charge, then we need to stop it from impacting the Gogoat pulling the carriage (or the carriage itself, even).
  
• Ideally, we don't want any of the people in the carriage or the pokemon on and around it getting seriously hurt
  

And here's a list of things that I think are rather notable about the situation:

Notable Stuff

• Rhyhorn are not known for being smart.  They're big, strong rhino pokemon that focus on one thing at a time, and once they start charging, they don't stop.  If we don't stop it before it gets to act, then it'll likely attempt to charge straight into those Gogoat by brute forcing its way through our party of pokemon.
  

• Rhyhorn are also not known for being able to turn very quickly.  If something gets in its way and stays there, it either needs to barrel through at full speed or slow down and go around if it can't (which will probably change what Rhyhorn is focusing on doing)
  

• Given that Spirit has the biggest and strongest pokemon on the field, they have the best chance of outright stopping Rhyhorn in its tracks.  Particularly since Gargryph is a big, heavy, stone Gargoyle that rarely moves and Viktor can literally root himself into the ground to better his ability to resist being pushed.  Calam has the highest potential Strength stat of everyone on the field, but he's not as immovable as Spirit's two pokemon by a long shot
  

• A normal Rhyhorn has a potential maximum Strength stat of 5.  Gargryph would have a 5 Str maximum as well.  Calam has 7, Starmie has 5 (but primarily relies on Special rather than Physical traits), Nightshade has 4 (but can buff everyone with Sunny Day and Flower Gift, including Starmie), Vaporeon has 4, and Viktor has 6.  This is a big Rhyhorn with a lot more mass behind it, though, so it might be stronger than the average Rhyhorn.
  

• Rhydon weigh 115 kg/253 lbs normally, and that's when they're 3 feet tall on average.  Viktor weighs around 156 pounds, Gargyph weighs a whopping 507 lbs, and Calam weighs around 103 lbs.  I don't think Calam would be able to physically stand in Rhyhorn's way without getting crushed since he'd be relying on raw strength at best to succeed in such a fashion.  Gargryph's probably the most immovable pokemon if we disregard Ingrain (and even if we do include Ingrain, Viktor might just be uprooted by Rhyhorn if push comes to shove)
  

• The 'snake oil' salesman's wagon has been overturned by Rhyhorn's entrance, so that's out of the equation for the time being.  Emboar and Dewott are busy with fighting Terra atm, so they're not a concern right now either.  Stoutland...isn't on the initiative list for the Rhyhorn thing, so that makes me wonder what it's going to do since it was left alone...
  

• Rhyhorn has 2 Dex, so Paralyzing it should forcibly slow it down significantly since it will have 0* Dex after Paralysis.  Inflicting Pain also technically slows stuff down significantly (half speed at -2 Pain), but Rhyhorn are also known to be able to ignore the physical pain to an extent and just keep on trucking according to in-game pokedex entries
  

• Since it can't turn very easily, we can also try to forcibly redirect Rhyhorn's charge with incredibly powerful moves with a lot of force behind them.  i.e. ROCK SMASH.  That way, it'll miss the initial charge against the Gogoat/carriage completely.  If we're not careful, though, it might hit something else.
  

Anything to add?

Hmm.....this is much tricker than I first thought, but let's see if there's anyway to neuter it....

Spoiler

- One way to get it to stop is if its Knocked Down, then have Viktor/Gargrieph move forward to 'restrain' it and keep the beast from building up the momentum necessary for another Charge. Viktor and them can then use Ingrain and Glare to to further fortify their positions/keep the beast from budging an inch.

- Making the ground around it have high friction or a slog would also prevent it from moving around as much, so having Starmie and Vaporeon turn the ground in front of the beast into mud could also work.

- Third option of halting it entirely is just to throw a Pokeball at it to temporarily Capture it, as all Pokemon are dematerialized from local space whenever that happens. Doubtful that will work in ACTUALLY capturing it, but if everyone throw a ball at it when it breaks out, then its not going to gain much ground going forward.

- If Rhydon can Dig, that has to be accounted for as well if it IS stopped but not Fainted, as it could just dive down and resurface right under the Gogoats/Wagon. Not sure how, but thought I point out that issue out.

- I would advise AGAINST using ROCK SMASH, as revealing the as of 'now' Lost HM to the world will most likely have long term ramifications if either Dr. M or the Smeargle Caravan Crowd gets talky about what went down. Forcibly changing its course will not likely work so well unless you target specific parts of the beast and/or have REALLY high BP Moves, as either a precise or LARGE amount of force is going to be necessary to overcome the inertia Rhydon* has built up.

- A last ditch option could be to instead try to force the Caravan out of the way of the Rhydon*'s path, since its a lot less heavy and unwieldy to change its course. Sure, it would jostle the occupants and Gogoats, but I'd say control Damage is better than letting the Rock Beast get them all under its great big stony feet and stamp stamp stamp.

- Deliberately Taunting or pissing it off into changing Target could work too, but then the Taunter/Pisstaker is going to get focused down hard.

That's all the decent ideas I have right now. What you think of them?

- Huh...that 'use a Pokeball' suggestion is actually a half decent idea, presuming that would disorient Rhyhorn enough to disrupt its single minded charge at the Gogoat. The downside to that is because we might catch it before it's KOed, we all have to agree to this course of action if we need to throw multiple pokeballs at Rhyhorn to fully stop its momentum, no question, and not argue over the end result if an early catch does occur.

- FLASH and ROCK SMASH are two HMs I'm not too worried about revealing in an emergency, tbh.  FLASH because Primal Bulbasaur just knows it naturally, ROCK SMASH because copies of it occasionally surface, making it the second most common HM you'll see in Creshire (the most common being Surf).  Which isn't saying much, given that those are the only 2 HMs you're likely to see at all in present day Creshire, but eh.  ROCK SMASH kinda qualifies as being potentially strong enough to redirect the momentum of some large objects just because of its Plot Deviced power, tbh.  But if we can do this without resorting to an ultra powerful move, then that would probably be for the best, yes. I'm just spitting out ideas right now, tbh.

- Making the ground slippery would make it more difficult to both gain and lose momentum, so making the ground muddy would probably work a little better if Rhyhorn had already lost a lot of its momentum.  Mud is also rather difficult for old-timey carriages and wagons to get out of, so making the ground too wet could also be a detriment if the carriage can't be driven out of the way.

- Smeargle is also driving the carriage, and there's a Machop on the back.  Jostling the carriage might send them flying since they have less to hold on to.  Better than getting trampled by a massive Rhyhorn?  Probably.  It'll probably still hurt a lot, though.  And the Gogoat and humans probably won't have a fun time, either.  Much like ROCK SMASH, probably a last resort option.

- The move Rhyhorn was using could also be Drill Run, another move that can be used to burrow.  It's not as dangerous as Dig, thankfully, since attacking while burrowing with Drill Run is much more difficult (in theory.  The move isn't designed to be used like a Charge move, after all)  Smeargle's initiative is probably more for it being able to direct the Gogoat to keep the carriage moving and attempt to get it out of Rhyhorn's way, I think, but it'll probably take more than a single action to do.  So if we can delay Rhyhorn for long enough, that probably removes most of the danger entirely.

- Calam could very, very easily Taunt that Rhyhorn and potentially make it run after him instead in its anger.  Rhyhorn probably wouldn't be able to catch him unless he let it, either.  But yeah, unless he does some really good Evading or manages to draw the rhino away from the road entirely without causing any further damage, whether that's a good idea is questionable. And to even work in the first place, that'd require Rhyhorn's attention to have been shifted from the carriage already since Rhyhorn are so single-minded, so that's the other catch.




Honestly, I'm liking the idea of stopping the charge with Pokeballs of some variety, assuming it could work, and using it in combination with some of the other suggestions.  Combining that with knocking it over, Paralyzing it with Glare, and/or making the ground muddy would also do a good job of keeping Rhyhorn from building up any more momentum if it is stopped on the spot, giving us more time to KO it.  Everyone also gets two throws per Round, so that means we could possibly delay Rhyhorn for 2 sets of actions per Round (and Rhyhorn probably won't try to execute more than 3 actions at most. I think...).  And of course there's also the chance that it could catch Rhyhorn outright, however slim a chance it is.  Do you think that would work, @Iron?

[Iron]

Windos is correct about how Pokeballs operate, so even a failed capture attempt could slow him down, and a slew of them certainly would.

Muddy ground is less effective on Ground types, who have a good relationship with Earth and know how to navigate it.

Knockdown is a tricky one because it's not supposed to be all that powerful, but it would certainly make Rhyhorn less likely to impact the carriage by knocking him slightly off balance and lowering his accuracy. As you can see, his Dex is already low.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh, so Nathan is joining me and Heart in the *Ryhorn-Encounter? That's half a suprise to me, half not, but I actually don't mind at all but almost appreciate it as it allows splitting tasks: He and Heart as those who are bolder and more experienced in battle taking care of the huge Ryhorn while Shiva as the calm heart dealing with the effects of its appearance. Iron, this changes a little what Pokemon I'm sending out, I'll let you know in Game Thread.

Me also feels that we should either kill or capture that beast upon defeat to prevent it from messing with further passerbys, given the circumstances I lean into the latter. Though I personally don't have any interest in catching it, I'd definitely trade it away.

[Dragonstrike]

Me also feels that we should either kill or capture that beast upon defeat to prevent it from messing with further passerbys, given the circumstances I lean into the latter. Though I personally don't have any interest in  catching it, I'd definitely trade it away.

I disagree on killing it as well.  Capture, definitely.  Regardless of whether we keep it.  Spirit's already interested in it himself.

Since a slew of Pokeballs would definitely slow Rhyhorn down, I'm thinking that's our best bet at buying time.  Paralyze it and knock it over as well, and that might bring it to a full stop.  But again, we all have to aree to it in case an early capture happens somehow.  You can always use lower tier pokeball to make it less likely you catch it, of course.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

I don't want to use a single Pokeball on that *Ryhorn, while it sounds decent if it'd slow it down, to me personally it's borders to a complete waste to use Balls for that sake if they could instead be used for other Pokemon. I paid for the Balls!

another note: it might be a bad idea to use modern pokeballs in the past all willy-nilly.

Another reason to save up Balls!

[Dragonstrike]

I don't want to use a single Pokeball on that *Ryhorn, while it sounds decent if it'd slow it down, to me personally it's borders to a complete waste to use Balls for that sake if they could instead be used for other Pokemon. I paid for the Balls!

Then what do you suggest we do to slow it down and/or redirect it?  Until we've dealt with Rhyhorn*, we can't do anything about calming the rest of the scene. And if Rhyhorn impacts the carriage, KOed or not, nothing good will come of that. Normal pokeballs are only $200 (well, in modern times, anyways), and you probably would only have to throw one of them.

[Mikaruge108]

another note: it might be a bad idea to use modern pokeballs in the past all willy-nilly.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

I'm typing it up in the background already in-game, I personally will go for a Telekinesis from Lilith and a guaranteed flinch from Kyuu via Fake Out. Will deal no damage most likely, but you others have SE-damage on your Pokemon already to quick-defeat it at best before it catches itself again.

Her Telekínesis has been stated to be strong enough to not lift but slow down Seikamater, so I'm confident it'll have the desired effect on Huge Ryhorn unless GM directly tells me it has not.

[Dragonstrike]

another note: it might be a bad idea to use modern pokeballs in the past all willy-nilly.

It could, but they would we rather Rhyhorn impact the carriage?  We can always justify wasting a few regardless of the cost if it's for a good cause.  Both to the 1925ers and ourselves.

That's just my opinion though, I guess.

[Dragonstrike]

I'm typing it up in the background already in-game, I personally will go for a Telekinesis from Lilith and a guaranteed flinch from Kyuu via Fake Out. Will deal no damage most likely, but you others have SE-damage on your Pokemon already to quick-defeat it at best before it catches itself again.

Her Telekínesis has been stated to be strong enough to not lift but slow down Seikamater, so I'm confident it'll have the desired effect on Huge Ryhorn unless GM directly tells me it has not.

Iron already rolled out initiatives for Vaporeon and Nightshade, though, so that's 2 additional pokemon you'd have to issue orders to in Round 1.