[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Spoiler

(Now that Spira's through chara-developing and nicknaming for now, I'll have him join in at this point, but he hasn't heard it talk, yet.)
Spira sees the HUGE Arcanine and all those eggs... "Whoa. Nice doggy..." Four of the eggs Spira recognizes off the bat: Shinx, Vulpix, Magikarp, and Absol, and has the following to say about each of them.
Shinx: "Wow, haven't seen a Shinx Egg since I was in Sinnoh."
Magikarp: he doesn't say anything out loud, but snickers thinking "What is a Magikarp egg doing with these rarer Pokemon Eggs?"
Vulpix: "Now that is a rare Pokemon Egg. I've only seen one, not including this one."
Absol: "These eggs are pretty rare to see, but I've seen one or two at Mt. Coronet."

Since you're investigating the Eggs more closely, you notice something funny about the "Absol Egg." It's almost completely transparent, aside from a twisted stripe of colors in the core. And it's only loosely Egg-shaped, looking more like a crude stone.

When you call Arcanine a "nice doggy" it bares humongous fangs. "Spiritwalker, I could send you flying with one swipe of my paw. I have lived for centuries and seen most of Creshire's history firsthand, including the rise and fall of Kings. I have slain hungry monsters and Men who dared invade my sanctum. I am not a 'nice doggy.' I care little what humans think of my obedience, and I make no claim toward goodness. My only goal is to fulfill my Pledge, to reintroduce fairytale Pokemon when they are needed most."

Spira literally jumps when he hears the Arcanine speak. "Uh... Sorry?" He's a little too shocked to say anything else to the Arcanine.
Directed to Nathan (Dragonstrike): "Huh. On closer inspection I don't think that's an Absol egg after all, it's probably one of those 'Mega Stones' that you mentioned."

"Are you a friend of these other two humans? They were just helping me defend these Eggs from predator Pokemon."

Spira is still a little shell-shocked about a talking Arcanine but manages to say: "I haven't been with them long but I do see myself as their ally." Spira also smiles a bit at the title of 'Spiritwalker'. (OOC note: kind of reminds me of Planeswalkers from MTG) Spira has three of his Pokemon that he'd like to meet the Arcanine for interactions, he doesn't feel like making the pledge, though, the Pokemon that he introduces are: Noire, Luna, and Toya, with the following introductions:
Noire: "This is my partner Pokemon and friend, Noire, a Banette, the cursed Doll."
Luna: "This is Luna, a Drifloon, said to be the signpost for wandering spirits."
Toya: "This is Toya, a Dusknoir, the guardian of the Ghost World."

Arcanine seems to have the most respect for Dusknoir, who has a similarly important job. The two communicate wordlessly by staring into each other's eyes.

[Iron]

Arcanine says "The only gift I may give is the bearing of an Egg. Let it be enough."


Delphox, Orthros, and Charmeleon take up points around the plateau as Arcanine takes your Pledges. The great beast speaks and invites you to take your charges, with a final word of admonition.

Heart, were you planning to ask for a Pledge or no?

[Spiritmon]

Arcanine says "The only gift I may give is the bearing of an Egg. Let it be enough."


Delphox, Orthros, and Charmeleon take up points around the plateau as Arcanine takes your Pledges. The great beast speaks and invites you to take your charges, with a final word of admonition.

Heart, were you planning to ask for a Pledge or no?

Heart after his battle get a feeling of something happening. He followed his path until he heard the sound of battle and to late follow everyone. When he get there he found the others. He was with Larvesta in his shoulder and Rose out too. And he have Beldum egg in his arms. He was left speechless in the magestic presence of Arcanine. The only thing he do was bow in respect to the might Arcanine. He just doesn't know why. "So...did I interrupt something important?"

[Dragonstrike]

Charmeleon nods and makes a fist. He seems a little jealous of Absol, and clearly wouldn't mind becoming a Charizard who can Mega-Evolve ASAP! He probably doesn't understand the intense connection required, though.  When the Pledge goes through, Charmeleon will gain 1 Loyalty.


Orthros does, because he's very close! He needs only a significant milestone to reach peak Happiness and Loyalty. Of course, he needs to evolve and to find a stone first.

Anyway, Orthros puts his paws on your shoulders and licks your face when you ask him to help you out. This loyal (though eerie) pup is the perfect one to ask.

"Hehe.  Thank you, both of you.  Even though I can't or haven't yet fulfilled my original promises to you both...I'm glad you two are both present for this, and that we can make a new pact to further reinforce what we already have."

Nathan scratches Orthros behind the ears and gives Charmeleon a fist bump, then stands.  He nods to Heart when he enters the caldera.  "...kinda.  Arcanine, meet Heart.  Heart, meet Arcanine.  Don't be surprised when he talks, okay?  He's been guarding the eggs of these endangered species of pokemon.  Well, and Celebi's egg at her request, apparently.  Don't touch that one, or some time stuff is gonna occur."  (@Spiritmon)

Then Nathan turns back to the Legendary canine. After all of this...he thinks he's worked up enough courage to ask Arcanine some questions of his own.  "My pokemon friends are ready Arcanine.  However...there's two more matters I'd like to ask you about before we begin.  The first...well, to be straight about it, the eggs for Dratini and Flabebe...could we possibly take those with us as well?  The eggs containing Shinx, Magikarp, and Vulpix have no need to come to our time, for you seem to have found a good time to hatch them and help them repopulate by our time.  However...the flower fairy and the serpentine dragon both remain endangered, even in our modern times.  It's possible we might be able to help them as well.  An entire species going extinct due to our own actions...if I can help in some small way to prevent that, then I want to do so in whatever way I can, to be perfectly honest. If one is enough and you'd rather continue to keep a careful eye on those eggs yourself, though...well, then I understand."

"...and second...well, I'd like to ask you this question in relative privacy, if that's okay with everyone."

Assuming Arcanine and the rest of the group have no complaints about that...

Spoiler

"...it concerns the Moltres egg, actually.  Heart...he's lost a lot, and he's been looking for some purpose in his life ever since...he lost his family to a fire that was seemingly set deliberately to kill them.  He's the last surviving member of a clan known for their association with Fire, and he puts a lot of the fault on himself for allowing that to happen.  Given enough time, I'm confident he'll be able to rise from the ashes of his past like a phoenix, like the mighty Moltres rises from the calderas of volcanoes...but I feel like he might need a little guidance, something to help him find that purpose again.  He's a good person, though, and I think he'd do his utmost best to fulfill any responsibility he accepts.  You might want to talk with Heart about this, see if he might actually be a suitable companion for Moltres.  That's just my recommendation though, I guess."

Nathan asked for the privacy primarily because a) it concerns the Moltres egg and b) it also concerns details of Heart's past which Nathan promised not to tell the rest of the group.

[Iron]

Charmeleon nods and makes a fist. He seems a little jealous of Absol, and clearly wouldn't mind becoming a Charizard who can Mega-Evolve ASAP! He probably doesn't understand the intense connection required, though.  When the Pledge goes through, Charmeleon will gain 1 Loyalty.


Orthros does, because he's very close! He needs only a significant milestone to reach peak Happiness and Loyalty. Of course, he needs to evolve and to find a stone first.

Anyway, Orthros puts his paws on your shoulders and licks your face when you ask him to help you out. This loyal (though eerie) pup is the perfect one to ask.

"Hehe.  Thank you, both of you.  Even though I can't or haven't yet fulfilled my original promises to you both...I'm glad you two are both present for this, and that we can make a new pact to further reinforce what we already have."

Nathan scratches Orthros behind the ears and gives Charmeleon a fist bump, then stands.  He nods to Heart when he enters the caldera.  "...kinda.  Arcanine, meet Heart.  Heart, meet Arcanine.  Don't be surprised when he talks, okay?  He's been guarding the eggs of these endangered species of pokemon.  Well, and Celebi's egg at her request, apparently.  Don't touch that one, or some time stuff is gonna occur."  (@Spiritmon)

Then Nathan turns back to the Legendary canine.  After all of this...he thinks he's worked up enough courage to ask Arcanine some questions of his own.  "My pokemon friends are ready Arcanine.  However...there's two more matters I'd like to ask you about before we begin.  The first...well, to be straight about it, the eggs for Dratini and Flabebe...could we possibly take those with us as well?  The eggs containing Shinx, Magikarp, and Vulpix have no need to come to our time, for you seem to have found a good time to hatch them and help them repopulate by our time.  However...the flower fairy and the serpentine dragon both remain endangered, even in our modern times.  It's possible we might be able to help them as well.  An entire species going extinct due to our own actions...if I can help in some small way to prevent that, then I want to do so in whatever way I can, to be perfectly honest.  If one is enough and you'd rather continue to keep a careful eye on those eggs yourself, though...well, then I understand."

"...and second...well, I'd like to ask you this question in relative privacy, if that's okay with everyone."

Assuming Arcanine and the rest of the group have no complaints about that...

Spoiler

"...it concerns the Moltres egg, actually.  Heart...he's lost a lot, and he's been looking for some purpose in his life ever since...he lost his family to a fire that was seemingly set deliberately to kill them.  He's the last surviving member of a clan known for their association with Fire, and he puts a lot of the fault on himself for allowing that to happen.  Given enough time, I'm confident he'll be able to rise from the ashes of his past like a phoenix, like the mighty Moltres rises from the calderas of volcanoes...but I feel like he might need a little guidance, something to help him find that purpose again.  He's a good person, though, and I think he'd do his utmost best to fulfill any responsibility he accepts.  You might want to talk with Heart about this, see if he might actually be a suitable companion for Moltres.  That's just my recommendation though, I guess."

Nathan asked for the privacy primarily because a) it concerns the Moltres egg and b) it also concerns details of Heart's past which Nathan promised not to tell the rest of the group.

"The Mega Stone should not require as much of your attention as an Egg. Nathan, I sense something about you that makes me think you would be a good caretaker for Dratini. I will offer you the chance to Pledge for that Egg as well. Who would you nominate to take care of Flabebe? Yourself? I am not sure it is fair to ask so much of you."

[Dragonstrike]

"The Mega Stone should not require as much of your attention as an Egg. Nathan, I sense something about you that makes me think you would be a good caretaker for Dratini. I will offer you the chance to Pledge for that Egg as well. Who would you nominate to take care of Flabebe? Yourself? I am not sure it is fair to ask so much of you."

Nathan looks at Dittogon, a small smile on his face.  Ditto's just leaning up against a wall, waiting for something interesting to happen. "...I know my way around Dragons.  It's a part of my ancestry, though I don't really have any reason to brag about that.  I don't think taking care of Dratini would be too difficult, though. And it'd be an honor to care for such a prestigious species."

Nathan gets a little more serious after that since this is such a serious topic, though.  But only a little, as he's definitely more confident asking was the right choice now.  "If nobody else were to take Flabebe's egg, I'd be willing to do so.  I'm always glad to make new pokemon friends.  I have many of them already, but it's fun to have such a large variety.  I like to think of us as a big, happy family sometimes, or at least as a good group of friends.  It's not the case for all of my pokemon yet, but I'd like it to be so eventually, so I try to work towards that whenever I have opportunities to do so."

"Besides myself, though, Shiva has a particular liking for Fairy types, so that'd be an obvious pick right there if she's willing to take on the additional burden.  Heart is a collector, but he understands the importance of needing friends and family to rely on, though I suppose that depends on if he wishes to take on that burden and if he takes on any others.  Terra might take Flabebe as well if we bring the topic up to him...I think...though he's not here at the moment...I can't really speak for Spira, though I suppose he's already spoken for himself, so I guess I don't need to."

In short, Nathan is pretty confident Shiva, Heart, and Terra (Nathan doesn't know IC that Terra would decline) would be able to assist with the Flabebe if they wish to take the egg (though Heart might have Moltres to deal with, which is a point to consider).  If nobody wants to take on the responsibility of the Flabebe egg, though, Nathan is more than willing to do so in addition to the Dratini egg and Absolite.

And then Nathan remembers something.  "Oh, right.  You just showed up, Heart.  Let me explain what's going on.  Arcanine's offering to let us take care of these endangered species, provided we help them repopulate their habitats in Creshire, even if we have to make difficult decisions to do what's best for them.  These eggs are some of the last few of their kind in this time, Celebi's egg being the odd exception due to the nature of it being...well, a Celebi egg left here at Celebi's request.  Shinx, Vulpix, and Magikarp are all common enough in our time that we don't have to worry about those.  Dratini, Flabebe, Minicorn, and Mega Absol...those four species are all endangered for various reasons.  And that last egg...that one's...a, uh...well, you should probably talk to Arcanine about that one, Heart.  I think you might be a good fit for it, but Arcanine gets the final call on that since he's these eggs' guardian.  On top of that, any Fire aligned pokemon that bear witness to the Pledge we're about to make will be bound to help enforce that promise to Nature itself, but will learn powerful techniques in return to aid them in that endeavor and any future ones.  So...yeah.  That's what's going on right now.  And I really do recommend you speak to Arcanine about that last egg." (@Spiritmon)

[Iron]

"The Mega Stone should not require as much of your attention as an Egg. Nathan, I sense something about you that makes me think you would be a good caretaker for Dratini. I will offer you the chance to Pledge for that Egg as well. Who would you nominate to take care of Flabebe? Yourself? I am not sure it is fair to ask so much of you."

Nathan looks at Dittogon, a small smile on his face.  Ditto's just leaning up against a wall, waiting for something interesting to happen.  "...I know my way around Dragons.  It's a part of my ancestry, though I don't really have any reason to brag about that.  I don't think taking care of Dratini would be too difficult, though.  And it'd be an honor to care for such a prestigious species."

Nathan gets a little more serious after that since this is such a serious topic, though.  But only a little, as he's definitely more confident asking was the right choice now.  "If nobody else were to take Flabebe's egg, I'd be willing to do so.  I'm always glad to make new pokemon friends.  I have many of them already, but it's fun to have such a large variety.  I like to think of us as a big, happy family sometimes, or at least as a good group of friends.  It's not the case for all of my pokemon yet, but I'd like it to be so eventually, so I try to work towards that whenever I have opportunities to do so."

"Besides myself, though, Shiva has a particular liking for Fairy types, so that'd be an obvious pick right there if she's willing to take on the additional burden.  Heart is a collector, but he understands the importance of needing friends and family to rely on, though I suppose that depends on if he wishes to take on that burden and if he takes on any others.  Terra might take Flabebe as well if we bring the topic up to him...I think...though he's not here at the moment...I can't really speak for Spira, though I suppose he's already spoken for himself, so I guess I don't need to."

In short, Nathan is pretty confident Shiva, Heart, and Terra (Nathan doesn't know IC that Terra would decline) would be able to assist with the Flabebe if they wish to take the egg (though Heart might have Moltres to deal with, which is a point to consider).  If nobody wants to take on the responsibility of the Flabebe egg, though, Nathan is more than willing to do so in addition to the Dratini egg and Absolite.

And then Nathan remembers something.  "Oh, right.  You just showed up, Heart.  Let me explain what's going on.  Arcanine's offering to let us take care of these endangered species, help them repopulate their habitats in Creshire, even if we have to make difficult decisions to do what's best for them.  These eggs are some of the last few of their kind in this time, Celebi's egg being the odd exception due to the nature of it being...well, a Celebi egg left here at Celebi's request.  Shinx, Vulpix, and Magikarp are all common enough in our time that we don't have to worry about those.  Dratini, Flabebe, Minicorn, and Mega Absol...those four species are all endangered for various reasons.  And that last egg...that one's...a, uh...well, you should probably talk to Arcanine about that one, Heart.  I think you might be a good fit for it, but Arcanine gets the final call on that since he's these eggs' guardian.  On top of that, any Fire aligned pokemon that bear witness to the Pledge we're about to make will be bound to help enforce that promise to Nature itself, but will learn powerful techniques in return to aid them in that endeavor and any future ones.  So...yeah.  That's what's going on right now.  And I really do recommend you speak to Arcanine about that last egg." (@Spiritmon)

"Magikarp is not rare in this Time, but some day it will be."

[Dragonstrike]

"Magikarp is not rare in this Time, but some day it will be."

Ominous. And now why the Magikarp egg is here makes a lot more sense...

"...well, I suppose I can partially redact my statement where Magikarp is concerned, then...though it's hard to think of Magikarp as ever potentially being rare, to be honest...still probably for the best to leave that egg here in my opinion, though.  Maybe I'll use my Old Rod to go fish up a Magikarp when we get back to our time..."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

"The Mega Stone should not require as much of your attention as an Egg. Nathan, I sense something about you that makes me think you would be a good caretaker for Dratini. I will offer you the chance to Pledge for that Egg as well. Who would you nominate to take care of Flabebe? Yourself? I am not sure it is fair to ask so much of you."

Nathan looks at Dittogon, a small smile on his face.  Ditto's just leaning up against a wall, waiting for something interesting to happen.  "...I know my way around Dragons.  It's a part of my ancestry, though I don't really have any reason to brag about that.  I don't think taking care of Dratini would be too difficult, though.  And it'd be an honor to care for such a prestigious species."

Nathan gets a little more serious after that since this is such a serious topic, though.  But only a little, as he's definitely more confident asking was the right choice now.  "If nobody else were to take Flabebe's egg, I'd be willing to do so.  I'm always glad to make new pokemon friends.  I have many of them already, but it's fun to have such a large variety.  I like to think of us as a big, happy family sometimes, or at least as a good group of friends.  It's not the case for all of my pokemon yet, but I'd like it to be so eventually, so I try to work towards that whenever I have opportunities to do so."

"Besides myself, though, Shiva has a particular liking for Fairy types, so that'd be an obvious pick right there if she's willing to take on the additional burden.  Heart is a collector, but he understands the importance of needing friends and family to rely on, though I suppose that depends on if he wishes to take on that burden and if he takes on any others.  Terra might take Flabebe as well if we bring the topic up to him...I think...though he's not here at the moment...I can't really speak for Spira, though I suppose he's already spoken for himself, so I guess I don't need to."

In short, Nathan is pretty confident Shiva, Heart, and Terra (Nathan doesn't know IC that Terra would decline) would be able to assist with the Flabebe if they wish to take the egg (though Heart might have Moltres to deal with, which is a point to consider).  If nobody wants to take on the responsibility of the Flabebe egg, though, Nathan is more than willing to do so in addition to the Dratini egg and Absolite.

And then Nathan remembers something.  "Oh, right.  You just showed up, Heart.  Let me explain what's going on.  Arcanine's offering to let us take care of these endangered species, provided we help them repopulate their habitats in Creshire, even if we have to make difficult decisions to do what's best for them.  These eggs are some of the last few of their kind in this time, Celebi's egg being the odd exception due to the nature of it being...well, a Celebi egg left here at Celebi's request.  Shinx, Vulpix, and Magikarp are all common enough in our time that we don't have to worry about those.  Dratini, Flabebe, Minicorn, and Mega Absol...those four species are all endangered for various reasons.  And that last egg...that one's...a, uh...well, you should probably talk to Arcanine about that one, Heart.  I think you might be a good fit for it, but Arcanine gets the final call on that since he's these eggs' guardian.  On top of that, any Fire aligned pokemon that bear witness to the Pledge we're about to make will be bound to help enforce that promise to Nature itself, but will learn powerful techniques in return to aid them in that endeavor and any future ones.  So...yeah.  That's what's going on right now.  And I really do recommend you speak to Arcanine about that last egg." (@Spiritmon)

"Uh sure. I can talk with Arcanine about that egg. I already taking care with Beldum egg, but I have nothing against taking care in another one. We all take a oath to protect the nature."

"About the Pledge...Rose, what you think? You did a lot of hard work until now, so what you think?"

[Iron]

Spoiler

"The Mega Stone should not require as much of your attention as an Egg. Nathan, I sense something about you that makes me think you would be a good caretaker for Dratini. I will offer you the chance to Pledge for that Egg as well. Who would you nominate to take care of Flabebe? Yourself? I am not sure it is fair to ask so much of you."

Nathan looks at Dittogon, a small smile on his face.  Ditto's just leaning up against a wall, waiting for something interesting to happen.  "...I know my way around Dragons.  It's a part of my ancestry, though I don't really have any reason to brag about that.  I don't think taking care of Dratini would be too difficult, though.  And it'd be an honor to care for such a prestigious species."

Nathan gets a little more serious after that since this is such a serious topic, though.  But only a little, as he's definitely more confident asking was the right choice now.  "If nobody else were to take Flabebe's egg, I'd be willing to do so.  I'm always glad to make new pokemon friends.  I have many of them already, but it's fun to have such a large variety.  I like to think of us as a big, happy family sometimes, or at least as a good group of friends.  It's not the case for all of my pokemon yet, but I'd like it to be so eventually, so I try to work towards that whenever I have opportunities to do so."

"Besides myself, though, Shiva has a particular liking for Fairy types, so that'd be an obvious pick right there if she's willing to take on the additional burden.  Heart is a collector, but he understands the importance of needing friends and family to rely on, though I suppose that depends on if he wishes to take on that burden and if he takes on any others.  Terra might take Flabebe as well if we bring the topic up to him...I think...though he's not here at the moment...I can't really speak for Spira, though I suppose he's already spoken for himself, so I guess I don't need to."

In short, Nathan is pretty confident Shiva, Heart, and Terra (Nathan doesn't know IC that Terra would decline) would be able to assist with the Flabebe if they wish to take the egg (though Heart might have Moltres to deal with, which is a point to consider).  If nobody wants to take on the responsibility of the Flabebe egg, though, Nathan is more than willing to do so in addition to the Dratini egg and Absolite.

And then Nathan remembers something.  "Oh, right.  You just showed up, Heart.  Let me explain what's going on.  Arcanine's offering to let us take care of these endangered species, provided we help them repopulate their habitats in Creshire, even if we have to make difficult decisions to do what's best for them.  These eggs are some of the last few of their kind in this time, Celebi's egg being the odd exception due to the nature of it being...well, a Celebi egg left here at Celebi's request.  Shinx, Vulpix, and Magikarp are all common enough in our time that we don't have to worry about those.  Dratini, Flabebe, Minicorn, and Mega Absol...those four species are all endangered for various reasons.  And that last egg...that one's...a, uh...well, you should probably talk to Arcanine about that one, Heart.  I think you might be a good fit for it, but Arcanine gets the final call on that since he's these eggs' guardian.  On top of that, any Fire aligned pokemon that bear witness to the Pledge we're about to make will be bound to help enforce that promise to Nature itself, but will learn powerful techniques in return to aid them in that endeavor and any future ones.  So...yeah.  That's what's going on right now.  And I really do recommend you speak to Arcanine about that last egg." (@Spiritmon)

"Uh sure. I can talk with Arcanine about that egg. I already taking care with Beldum egg, but I have nothing against taking care in another one. We all take a oath to protect the nature."

"About the Pledge...Rose, what you think? You did a lot of hard work until now, so what you think?"

"Heart. A Moltres will always end up where it needs to be. Those who wish to bond with a Moltres often find themselves following it into dangerous situations - or worse, coping with intense feelings of loss when it must move on without them." 

"The Egg will need constant exposure to intense heat. I sense a similar fire burning within you, and that is why I am willing to discuss the matter with you. You must constantly harvest new sacred plants to add to Moltres' nightly incubation pyre." 

"Danger may follow you, if Moltres has any enemies in your time. Moltres itself may be dangerous, even in Egg form and certainly in adult form."

"Your connection to the Legendary Egg will be like nothing you have ever experienced. It is likely to help you in your quest, but it will demand much in return. Your thoughts?"


Rose is definitely willing to make and witness the Pledge. As a fully evolved Starter, she's very qualified for it.