[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

The diner is a classic shake joint from the 50's, except that it's quite a bit more massive! It has the standard checkerboard pattern, the red seats at the bar or booths, and chrome highlights on everything.

When you enter, a waitress in a blue skirt with icy trim says "Sit wherever you like, hon."

People are sitting around enjoying food from the menu. There's a jukebox in the corner shaped like a chrome Loudred. It's currently playing "Buneary Bop." There are lots of interesting characters in the diner: a man with a Hitmonchan taking notes on the stories he hears, a woman with a dreamy expression on her face soaking her hair in a mug of tea, a guy napping in the arms of an overgrown Jynx. One of the battle rooms is occupied by a guy and a gal who have strung up a volleyball net - they're playing a game with a very undersized smiling Wailmer as the ball.

The central bar holds two spinnable disks. One is for the waitstaff to pin up their food orders. The other is for battle matchups! Trainers are allowed to battle in the transparent rooms at the rear. "We're just far enough from Cress City that people enjoy battling again, hon."

It's still close enough to Cress City that writers and artists have congregated here to sketch and plot and daydream.

Mamoswine Diner Menu
Black Bean Burger, with garden fresh veggies
String Fries
Spinda Shake - No, it's not made from Gummis. It is raspberry and cream.
Flareon Shake - Orange creamsicle.
Tropius Lunch - A giant banana split dessert and a big veggie wrap in a spinach tortilla.
Mint Berry Shake - to celebrate Spring.
Gold Berry Shake - the traditional drink for victors in battle.
Cocoa, tea, normal coffees and soft drinks.
Pokemon Soft Drinks - 3/4 the price on page 72.
Lum Berry Malt - $350. Your Pokemon will ignore the next status condition inflicted upon it. Fades when Pokemon is sent to the PC or targeted with a status condition.
Sitrus Berry Malt - $250. Your Pokemon will ignore the first three points of damage inflicted upon it. Fades when Pokemon is sent to the PC or takes 3 dmg.
Apricorn Luau Drink - $400. Adapted from a Mamo recipe. Served in an apricorn shell, rich with honey, spotted with Ranc Berries, this item can be given to a wild Pokemon to get a +1 on empathy checks. It also increases happiness gains in tamed Pokemon.
Chimecho Coffee - $750. Instantly resets Encounter clock to 1 for the drinker. You'll need sleep when you're done though.
Chromium Dish Snax - $75. Ultra Snax are becoming irrelevant thanks to the Lucky Egg. Here's your chance to stock up on cheap ones.
Standard Pokemart items are 25% off here.

Your 2017 money is good here if you disguise the mint date somehow.

Trade Opportunities:
-Wigglytuff. Current bid: Nidorina with rare moves.
-Electrode. Current bid: Forretress.
-Pupitar. Current bid: Oversized Magmortar.
This doesn't take an encounter, but the traders will accept the highest bid on each.

Mamoswine Diner Encounters

1. Name: Cute Pokemon Sketch
Cap: 1
Bid start: 1
Notes: Sketch Artist Milo wants to draw a cute Pokemon. If you and your Pokemon will sit for the entire Slot, he'll pay $500.

2. Name: Enlightened Pokemon Painting
Cap: 1
Bid start: 1
Notes: Watercolor Artist Mirala wants to paint a naturey or meditative Pokemon. If you and your Pokemon will sit for the entire Slot, he'll pay $500.

3. Name: Swimmer Paula and Swimmer Paul-David.
Cap: 2
Bid start: 1
Challenge: Moderate.
Notes: Double battle, 4v4, no fainting, no held items. Wager: $2800, to divide two ways. These are the folks playing with Wailmer.

4. Name: Writer Moses
Cap: 1
Bid start: 1
Challenge: Moderate
Notes: Single battle, 3v3. Wager: $1600. Items allowed without restriction.

5. Name: Hitmonchan
Cap: 1
Bid start: 2
Challenge: Somewhat easy
Notes: Prize money is $1000. You don't have to put up any collateral for this battle - if you lose, you have to answer Hitmonchan's trainer's extensive questions about your travels.

6. Name: Gambling
Cap: None.
Challenge: Easy, moderate, tough.
Rewards: 10% profit, 100% profit, 300% profit.
This will involve an Insight + Knowledge + Gaming roll. You can bet as much money as you want. You need 1, 3, or 6 successes to increase your money. Otherwise, your principal is lost.
Example: Bet $100 on Easy. Roll just 1 success to gain $10 and your money back. Roll 0 successes, and you lose your $100.
Bet $1000 on Tough. Roll 6 successes and you'll get $4000. But if you only rolled 5 successes, you'd lose it all!

One TV is showing a Pokemon Surfing event, now in color!

One is showing local news - the giant cable connecting the Pokemon Storage Engines at Botanville and Stair City is down for maintenance...again. A dozen Machoke are hard at work clearing the area. This early PC system is little more than storage for Pokeballs and provides no environment of its own. The Pokemon contained within it in 1960 were programmatically ported to the Integrated Circuit Engine in 1978, which allowed any number of interfaces to connect and provide processing power, thus allowing environs and private machine connections for the first time in a PC system. Finally, those Pokemon were automatically ported to Bill's PC system when it was first adapted. So Pokemon with lifespans of 60+ years could have actually lived in each of the systems! The chubby guy sitting next to Shiva turns to her and says "Isn't technology, uh...incredible? I mean, I know it breaks down a lot, but the ability to store a living creature as a stream of electricity is amazing."

The final TV, a black and white one, shows a bit of soft news. It shows a toddler and a Baltoy playing together on a lawn. Nathan and any Medicine specialists would recognize that the Baltoy is wounded, having a severe smashed area on one side, but no one else seems to notice. The enigmatic Pokemon seems distracted from its play.
"This young man seems to have made a startling discovery! An ancient Pokemon found only in the dangerous Skull Ruins has surfaced at long last...for a playdate! What do you think of it, Mom?"
The camera pans, showing a young lady with a kind expression that reminds you of cookies and tea and homecooked meals. She's herding the toddler with her foot whenever he wanders too far with the Baltoy. "Oh, little Marco has always had a way with Pokemon, especially little lost Pokemon. They're always showing up, even when he was too young to walk! He likes to play doctor and pretend he's putting bandages on them, or making a Potion out of leaves! He says he is going to be the Champion when he grows up."
"That's very cute. Does he like Psychic types?"
"Yes - well, they seem to like him at least."
"Let's hope he doesn't get a visit from that so-called "alien Pokemon" who showed up in Charring Cross! Hahaha!"
"Hahaha! Yeah...we don't believe in LGMs either! Right Marco?" *gurgle*
"I'm not surprised...now over to Janet with a report on a waterskiing Pidgey!"

"Oh, nice place. Its way more better than stay in the previous place we were." Heart comment, when seeing the huge place. He see some people making some trades with some rare pokemon. Including a strange Nidorina. "Hmm, Caesar would like have a Nidorina around the party. This would perhaps help him with his grumpy personality." Heart then in the direction of the person with the Nidorina. But of course making a quick change in his party to trade Shieldon or Rhyhorn. Those two might serve well for trade. In case it didnt work, I want to go fight against the Writer Moses, since it doesnt consider a encounter the trading bud.

Action: Go in the direction of the trainer with the Nidorina and see if he can trade for something!

[Mikaruge108]

When Spira walks into the cafe he notices Shiva and sits near her. "Hey there, something interesting happened when I just watered the Midnight Seed, it wriggled as if it itself was alive." (I'm going to assume Nightshade is out) "Oh wow, your Cherrim is due to lay an egg soon. Was there anything strange concerning the conception of the egg?"

Spoiler

She makes room for him at her table and continues nomming the ordered breakfast menu with delight while he talks. What a neat coincidence, among the first things she'd ask Spira was how the Midnight Seed was doing - if he allows, she'd pat him on the shoulder for the partial success. "So...? Great to hear!~ Even tiny seeds are living things, if cared for well it'll - hopefully - grow many neat Eggs of Pumpkaboos."

When being asked whether there was anything strange concerning the conception of the Egg Nightshade's developing, Shiva gets quite the puzzled expression and shrugs rather innocently. " Nope. I haven't brought her close to a member of the Fairy or Grass Egg Group lately, Cottonee here is female. Maybe that's something unique in the reproduction of certain Grass Types or the Cherubi Line, or she got cross-pollinated without me noticing. No idea... Have you ever heard of such a thing?" *curious staring at him since he has lots of practical experience in Pokemon Breeding, or so she assumes*

Cherrim's Egg is a result of happenings in Celebi Park : )

Cool. Maybe Shiva will cotton on on that in-chara as well after a while.

"I've heard of Grass-types having the tendency to cross-pollinate, Cherrim being a prime example, but my main area of type expertise is Ghost."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Shiva keeps staaaaaarring at Spira with a noticable amount of fascination and admiration even, in her eyes behind the glasses these infamous sparkles awake again for a few moments. She's practically hanging on every word he says or is about to say now, after all he seems to have a good pool of practical experience in Pokemon Breeding, something she herself is still lacking a bit - if she wants to become a professional and lead on her dad's Daycare, any helpful advice or new knowledge from those who practice in that field is appreciated. Primal Glaceon doesn't seem to mind him at all and simply keeps on with snacking on his meaty treats with delight like a wolf, Cottonee pays a bit of attention as she mimics her Master and playfully gazes at that spectral Breeder herself. Weird new guy! But he's friendly to Master and she is as well, so no mean person?? She perks up at the mentioning of Ghost, remembers that she now has a cool new move to hurt them with the power of darkness and the night and mischievously chuckles to herself.

Nightshade herself tilts her head in wondering, Shiva eventually picks her up and places her on her shoulder where she conceals herself behind strands of hair just like she always did when still being a smol Cherubi. "Huh... Well, then no wonder. Seems useful though, tenddending to... cross-pollinate, I mean...!" If she had to guess that likely must have occured when she evolved there in Celebi Park, dwelling in this pleasant memory brought a sweet smile to her.

"Oh... Ghost Type is....a thing of it's own, but a fine Type if it's matching...! I like Grass and Fairy Types... May I, eh, ask why you've gone for Ghost Type? There aren't many people who choose to specialize in that Type on free will, I'd be happy to...know, maybe. ^^; " After a small break, more words came with eager in her voice: "Ah! And where did you got that text book about Ghost Types from? It looks familiar, I guess I'm having the same exemplar at home. ..... And, eh, would you maybemaybemaybe be up to hold a Double Battle? ...No, not 'gainst me, with me! Some Swimmer couple is searching for some challengers, we could, eh... share any earned cash." She seems a bit too meek to openly say that she's curious to see how he fights, but how she waves with the paper snatched from the spinnable desk for battle matchups is telling enough already.

3. Name: Swimmer Paula and Swimmer Paul-David.
Cap: 2
Bid start: 1
Challenge: Moderate.
Notes: Double battle, 4v4, no fainting, no held items. Wager: $2800, to divide two ways. These are the folks playing with Wailmer.

To keep things short instead of wordy, she's grown to enjoy spending time in this diner despite it's so old and retro and weird, but it surely has its own particular charm: Unfortunately the coffee they brew here has a bad taste for her. It's okay but she had better already, but the FRIES they offer here are super-tasty. Maybe later she'll eat more from the menu, and there is one particular buyable Item Shiva has thrown a rather wishful eye at. To buy it, she'd need to win a battle though, she'll put everything she got into it to fulfill her longing!

She's also agreeing to that chubby guy admirering technology, emphasizing that "Technology and Science are awesome, yes!" That man on TV who most likely, to her somewhat certainly, is Nathan's dad as a toddler with his mother causes her to almost choke on her cheap coffee before she falls in amused and coy laughter. How adorable Baby Marco was!~


-------------------
NEXT: Getting to reply to what Terra shared about Deoxys and co.

[Mikaruge108]

Spoiler

Shiva keeps staaaaaarring at Spira with a noticable amount of fascination and admiration even, in her eyes behind the glasses these infamous sparkles awake again for a few moments. She's practically hanging on every word he says or is about to say now, after all he seems to have a good pool of practical experience in Pokemon Breeding, something she herself is still lacking a bit - if she wants to become a professional and lead on her dad's Daycare, any helpful advice or new knowledge from those who practice in that field is appreciated. Primal Glaceon doesn't seem to mind him at all and simply keeps on with snacking on his meaty treats with delight like a wolf, Cottonee pays a bit of attention as she mimics her Master and playfully gazes at that spectral Breeder herself. Weird new guy! But he's friendly to Master and she is as well, so no mean person?? She perks up at the mentioning of Ghost, remembers that she now has a cool new move to hurt them with the power of darkness and the night and mischievously chuckles to herself.

Nightshade herself tilts her head in wondering, Shiva eventually picks her up and places her on her shoulder where she conceals herself behind strands of hair just like she always did when still being a smol Cherubi. "Huh... Well, then no wonder. Seems useful though, tenddending to... cross-pollinate, I mean...!" If she had to guess that likely must have occured when she evolved there in Celebi Park, dwelling in this pleasant memory brought a sweet smile to her.

"Oh... Ghost Type is....a thing of it's own, but a fine Type if it's matching...! I like Grass and Fairy Types... May I, eh, ask why you've gone for Ghost Type? There aren't many people who choose to specialize in that Type on free will, I'd be happy to...know, maybe. ^^; " After a small break, more words came with eager in her voice: "Ah! And where did you got that text book about Ghost Types from? It looks familiar, I guess I'm having the same exemplar at home. ..... And, eh, would you maybemaybemaybe be up to hold a Double Battle? ...No, not 'gainst me, with me! Some Swimmer couple is searching for some challengers, we could, eh... share any earned cash." She seems a bit too meek to openly say that she's curious to see how he fights, but how she waves with the paper snatched from the spinnable desk for battle matchups is telling enough already.

3. Name: Swimmer Paula and Swimmer Paul-David.
Cap: 2
Bid start: 1
Challenge: Moderate.
Notes: Double battle, 4v4, no fainting, no held items. Wager: $2800, to divide two ways. These are the folks playing with Wailmer.

To keep things short instead of wordy, she's grown to enjoy spending time in this diner despite it's so old and retro and weird, but it surely has its own particular charm: Unfortunately the coffee they brew here has a bad taste for her. It's okay but she had better already, but the FRIES they offer here are super-tasty. Maybe later she'll eat more from the menu, and there is one particular buyable Item Shiva has thrown a rather wishful eye at. To buy it, she'd need to win a battle though, she'll put everything she got into it to fulfill her longing!

She's also agreeing to that chubby guy admirering technology, emphasizing that "Technology and Science are awesome, yes!" That man on TV who most likely, to her somewhat certainly, is Nathan's dad as a toddler with his mother causes her to almost choke on her cheap coffee before she falls in amused and coy laughter. How adorable Baby Marco was!~


-------------------
NEXT: Getting to reply to what Terra shared about Deoxys and co.

(OOC: When I saw the eye-sparkling thing, for some reason I immediately thought of the Caterpie in PMD Red/Blue Rescue Team)
"Oh this book?" Spira says pulling out the textbook, (If permitted he'll hand the book to Shiva for her to take a closer look at it, the contents are mostly physiology and "biology" of Ghost Pokemon.) "Got it in Sinnoh before leaving, it was the newest version of the book, the Fourth edition I nedded to get for my Gym training." Upon hearing her eagerness to participate in a double battle with him, Spira chuckles and says "Sure, I'd like to battle with you. I plan to use Noire, Hida, Luna, and Nubi. Just letting you know so you can prepare your choices better." (Not sure if Shiva saw Nubi here.) (If it's just two for him, he'll just use Noire and Nubi.)

[Iron]

1925 cash is also fine, no modifications needed. I have a bill from 1982 in my wallet right now, so I think 40 years is perfectly reasonable. If you wind up with any 1960's cash, it will still be accepted in 2017, though that's about as old as money gets.

You need to find a way to cover up one line of printing on the cash from 2017 to use it in 1960 - a spill, a clipped corner, or even just putting your thumb over it and finding a way to distract the cashier until she puts it in the register. Then it's someone else's problem!


Yes, there's a bit of a resemblance between the baby and Nathan/Oscar. I would say maybe hair and eyes?
The folks on TV all seem very dismissive of the idea of an alien wandering out of the desert into Charring Cross.

[Iron]

"My Nidorina? Oh, I was going to trade it for that Wigglytuff...I do like Moonstone evolution Pokemon, whether they're evolved or not. And I definitely like tough Pokemon...if you had a good one, I'd trade it to you instead of for the Wigglytuff."

Nidorina stats currently:
3/3/2 (will lose some after trade)
Poison Point
Double Kick, Poison Sting, Bite, Toxic Spikes, Poison Fang, Moonlight, Lovely Kiss, Charm.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

++ Now, flashbacks to quick-wrap some things on a different front up ++
Original Post 1 and Original Post 2
For the sake of pace, I'll simply make this as notes.



- For the biggest part, due to having meandered directly into that diner to avoid that dumped trash and nasty Poison Types there Shiva has completely missed everything Nathan has told about Jungore, that curious Fossil Pokemon associated with wealth and gold. This isn't a necessarily bad thing though, given that she's mostly - excuse me to say it so blatantly - indifferent for history related things, her personal interest in ancient Pokemon revived from fossils is rather low as well. It'd need lots of effort and/or must be a very special Pokemon from longly bygone eras in order to make her honestly interested in it at best. Though thanks to Gallade arriving and fetching her from inside the diner to the outside, Shiva WILL catch a glimpse on Nathan's newest companion - frankly, it's rather hard to oversee this curious creature, she's certain that the others have reacted, praised and asked about this 'Mon enough and sufficiently already, there's no desire from her to add anything or chip in. What she does however, is kindly asking for this Pokemon's species name in order to later look up what her Almanac would tell her about this species.

- She's worried when it comes to Terra eventually sharing everthing concerning his...'meeting' with Deoxys. Very worried, so much that she's clinging to Cottonee's soft and charged-with-power fluff, impercibly shivers and looks around every now and then as if fearing that the Extraterrestial Pokemon would jump at her from the next corner, but the sensitive fae enthusiast is doing a fine job to completely conceal that from the others. With attention and a mild frown she listens, at least her fear that the arriving of the Supervirus didn't mark doomsday for the planet and world was a great relief, if her head would have been more clear during these events she'd have noticed that this fear is unreasoned as SOMETHING must has dealt with this creature as otherwise she wouldn't even be here. What 'SOMETHING' was, she could only theorize. That's secondary though, first was rejoice that the planet's saved from an invasion!~

- Easily she picks up the discomfort and unnerved state of Terra, which increases her worry until it developed into pure FEAR. If he as the stoic and tough mountain of a man gets so...distraught, it MUST be something serious or indescribable or at least worrisome. Rather calmly however, she reacts to this by very carefully and slowly cuddling up to Terra's side, faintly even hugging his arm - both to soothe her own fear as well as to try calming down him or at least to show that things are okay. From the way she almost clings to him here, maybe Terra even gets that she is simply relieved like nothing that he has made it to survive this and was still with them.

- Once being asked whether they understand, Shiva rather timidly nods, after a bit of encouraging to voice her thoughts she speaks up in a soft tone: "I, well.... Yes, I saw these lights as well... They are - were - scary, weird, special, not from this world. Something very particular surrounds them, something that has the potential to change one. To, ehm, change one for good or bad, but f....from they way I saw them they gave me the impression of being related to making a person more. More than what's normal, more that is believed to be possible, more that oneself would have thought is doable, more than a human is capable of." 

- She'll directly gaze into the monk's eyes for the next few words, a serious glance within them. "Terra... No, I don't think what Deoxys has... ehm, 'done' to you is something outright bad. It not necessarily is, despite I was so...so shocked to see you of all costs being hypnotized. Maybe try to see it as a gift, a blessing - a unique one even. Please, take good care of yourself now, and ping us in case you notice something about yourself that you'd directly connect to this happening, will you? It's okay. At least you're...back with us others again. *slight smile* Because, without you, who shall protect us all so well as you do?" She gives him another small hug, then quickly lets go - partly because this was awkward, partly because she caught up something weird and new within or about him that reminds her on cold steel and machinery which she doesn't like too much due to her affinity with fairies.

- Everything Nathan tells about what Gallade sensed about Terra isn't super-new or very suprising to her as while being so close by his side she managed to briefly pick up the same things. It's something interesting and weird, not bad or worrisome in any means, at least to her.

- She hasn't seen anything about Heart displaying his firebending new skills. I'm sorry, that would have to wait for another day.

[Dragonstrike]

Yes, there's a bit of a resemblance between the baby and Nathan/Oscar. I would say maybe hair and eyes?
The folks on TV all seem very dismissive of the idea of an alien wandering out of the desert into Charring Cross.

(Guess that makes Marco close to 60 years old in 2017.  Older than I was initially imagining him and Marta, tbh, but that's fine.)

Hair would definitely work as far as a comparison between Nathan and Marco goes (though it'd be easier to see if the TV wasn't black and white).  Eyes, however...

Nope.  Nathan has his mother's eyes, no question.  That feature would only be similar between Marco and Oscar and/or Nathan's grandma (though thinking of that young mother as his grandma is kinda weird for Nathan, tbh...).

For Nathan, though, there's no mistaking that that's his dad on TV right now.  Nathan got his affinity for Fire (and Dragon, though that's not as well known) from his mom's side, obviously, so his affinity for Psychic is definitely because of his dad's side of the family.  And lost and injured pokemon liking the toddler (which is ironic because Marco eventually got lost himself, which is how he met his Shinx in Mt. Sentry)...it sounds just like his dad, too, who grew up valuing every life.  He fit right in with his home of Cress City.

It's not hard to get over the shock of seeing his dad as a mere toddler when there's an apparent Deoxys sighting, though.  Nathan looks in Terra's direction to see how he's reacting to the news... (@Lord Windos)

---------------------

As for the encounter Nathan will pick...he'll try and get his mind off of recent events with a little training again.  Gallade made some good progress on Drain Punch last time, so maybe they can knock out another good chunk of progress now that Jirachi's restored their vigor?  Presumably, they'll have Toya's help with this.  For good measure, though since Mika said to ask IC...

*Flashback!*

This question occurs after the conversation about Deoxys with Terra, but before reentering the diner.  Nathan ends up approaching Spira (@Mikaruge108), clearing his throat to ask a question.

"Hey, uh...your Dusknoir grabbed a Fighting Wish Tag, right?  Which move did he learn when he did so?"

Presumably, Spira says it's Drain Punch, which Nathan finds interesting.  He asks a follow up question afterwards.


"...could I borrow your Dusknoir for a short time?  I'm trying to teach that move to Gallade, and having a pokemon that knows the move already speeds the process up a little.  It'd be a good opportunity for Dusknoir to practice his new move, too."

*Flashback End?*



Drain Punch Tutoring Roll!
3 Insight + 5 Knowledge + 1 Move Tutoring = 9 D6 (+1 success if Toya's helping)
Side note: I imagine that Hitmonchan's probably interested in watching this training session since it involves a lot of punching. If he's not occupied with anything else at the time, that is.
Currently accumulated successes: 6/12

[Mikaruge108]

Spoiler

...This question occurs after the conversation about Deoxys with Terra, but before reentering the diner.  Nathan ends up approaching Spira (@Mikaruge108), clearing his throat to ask a question.

"Hey, uh...your Dusknoir grabbed a Fighting Wish Tag, right?  Which move did he learn when he did so?"

Presumably, Spira says it's Drain Punch, which Nathan finds interesting.  He asks a follow up question afterwards.


"...could I borrow your Dusknoir for a short time?  I'm trying to teach that move to Gallade, and having a pokemon that knows the move already speeds the process up a little.  It'd be a good opportunity for Dusknoir to practice his new move, too.

Drain Punch Tutoring Roll!
3 Insight + 5 Knowledge + 1 Move Tutoring = 9 D6 (+1 success if Toya's helping)

*Flashback*
"Sure, you can borrow Toya for a bit, he's still hurting a bit from the Marowak battle though." Spira hands Nathan Toya's Pokeball.

[Dragonstrike]

*Flashback*
"Sure, you can borrow Toya for a bit, he's still hurting a bit from the Marowak battle though." Spira hands Nathan Toya's Pokeball.

Nathan takes the pokeball from Spira and nods.  "We won't push him too hard, then.  Gallade knows Heal Pulse, too, so we'll patch him up a little as thanks for helping out."

If I'm doing my math right, Toya currently has 7/12 HP, so Gallade will use 1 Heal Pulse on Toya to help patch him up before they begin training their punching techniques.

Heal Pulse
Acc: 6* + 3 + 3 = 12 D6
Eff: 6 D6 basic heal for Toya!