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

[Lord Windos]

Alright, so from what I can gather and from the newest info presented, we have mainly two options to consider about the upcoming Cliff-Side Scimitar/Almanac Base Raid:

1. Split the group, having Nathan + whomever else (most likely Heart) catch up with True Card Teleport later after they spring Keni/Oscar and do some espionage/sabatour work, and Terra + Shiva + whomever else get a head start on finding the Sacred Weapons of Plot Saving in the Skull Ruins

2. Have the whole group raid the base, use True Card Teleport, then go deal with the Skull Ruins together.

Other options include rallying all our allies and getting them to chip in against Deoxys, but that isn't a main priority unlike the above choices.

Choice 1. allows the group to get two things done at once without wasting anytime, but it divides their power between the tasks as well. Plus, going into the Skull Ruins without the whole group seems like an invitation for Iron to royally screw us over.

Choice 2. is a safer option to tackle both, but any delay in taking steps to prevent Deoxys from buggering up Cheshire (at least in the meantime while the search for the S.W.P.S is underway) is obviously not good either. That, and larger group in the Base = More likely to get caught, and OOC Terra won't be doing anything for who knows how long as he watches the doom that is the Millenium Comet approaching....

Which one do we vote on, mates?

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

@Lord Windos
You...y-you would give Heart a Mega Stone? That would be the greatest present anyone give to Heart ever. Thanks mate. Really thank you.

Save the world with the artefacts, or save Scimitar hostage people? Honestly it would be better if we get separate. With Shiva, Nathan and Terra go after the artefacts to stop the comet and Spira and Heart save the people. Heart have stealth skills and Spira have good Pokemons with him to hide.

I don't like sacrifice one people in sacrifice to other.

But of course! As I said in yonk ages ago, Terra's a philanthropist, so of course he'd spend some of his hard earned Poke on his friends and those in need! It only the right thing to do, in his opinion!

Problem with that split is that Nathan would have issues not leading the charge to get Oscar and Keni back for obvious reasons, so I think Shiva, Spira, and Terra should go after the artifacts and delve into Skull Ruins, while Nathan and Heart do the Stealth Op. Both are fairly Stealthly and fleet of feet (Remember, Nathan has at least 2 Stealth due to Siekamater demanding such, and Shiva's Baashun Boots only increases it more) and have fairly strong Pokemon between them, so the duo should be able to pull off the raid well enough. Plus, less people infiltrating means less people to be spotted by the resident mages and scientists, which is not an minuscule bonus to overlook.

Meanwhile, Terra has a ton of durable heavy hitters and a couple of Pokemon that can dig, Shiva has a suite of Pokemon specialized for all sorts of roles, and Spira is the resident Ghost expert, so taking on the Skull Ruins......well, it shouldn't be a total disaster if only they were to go in. Right now, my ideal party arrangement to go dungeon diver and the reason behind their inclusion in that dead places is as follows:

Shiranui: Big, bulky, tough, and he's practically Terra's brother, so there is no way he's going to the Skull Ruins without them! Between Guts, Belly Drum, Brine, and Knock Off, he should be fine dealing with the Ghosts offensively, so no worries in that department!
Lovely: Has good Spread Damage Moves that wouldn't causes mass devestation to allies and the environment alike, can heal himself with Recover, and generally can endure the worst punishments and deal out backlash twice as hard with Coil + Life Orb.
Angie: While it appears she's too large to enter most of the Ruins, with Dig she can easily burrow in the ground/walls and attack from there, which also has the duel utility of helping the group get through the dread dead dungeon all the quicker! Battle-wise she's no slouch, as between Agility, Sky Fall, Bite, and Dragon Breath nothing can take her on without becoming seriously crippled!
Dunny: He's a Skull Ruins Ghost, so he should naturally both be able to take on his former breatheran handily and help the group comb the poltergeist's palace for all its hidden goodies (Including those Sacred Weapons of Plot Saving). Being their should also help him Evolve too, which only make him more suitable to support the team with his Elemental Punches and Disable!
Pixie: She has Intimidate + Growl and Taunt, two great Dark type Moves in Crunch and Faint Attack, has Fairy Wind to hit Ghosts immune to Brawl Moves, can Snatch up any buffs, and has Iron Defense to make her practically invincible to all but OHKO, Nightshade, Grudge, Spite, and Destiny Bond. With all those advantages, why wouldn't Terra bring her along?

The last party slot I want to fill is a bit of a trickier matter, though, as I have two choices in mind for that:

Edmundi (Bastiodon): Has Iron Defense and/or Sandstorm to also make it borderline invincible and Wide Guard to protect who knows how many Pokemon/humans from attacks, also has Taunt and Metal Sound to screw with the enemy, and Swagger to buff his allies (albeit at the cost of Confusing them, but hey, if it works, it works) or further debilitate the enemy + set them up for being Snatch stealed by Pixie, so he a great support Pokemon! That, and he can function as a literally Sturdy mount to ride on, which should save the group exhaustion. Problem is that they really don't have much in the way of anti Ghost Moves, and its been demonstrated that Ancient Power doesn't work on some of the more dangerous spirits, so all they may provide in the end is defense and utility.

Melly: Electric Terrain can buff several of the group's Pokemon + prevent them from being Slept on, has Howl and Leer to either strengthen herself or weaken the enemy, and Discharge is an AoE that should nail everything except the rare Ground type or Pokemon with Volt Absorb/Motor Drive (Including Allies, sadly, but with advanced warning it should be possible to circumvent that to an extent). For single target Moves she has Hidden Power Fire and Fire Fang , and if I have learnt anything from consuming various media is that spirits of all kinds hate and fear purifying fire, so those should more than suffice. Plus, she's a great tracker, so if she can help keep the group together or find other humans/interesting stuff more easily. On the other hand, her AoE Move is troublesome to deal with and can't really do anything else utility wise other than the above unlike Edmundi , so there's that to consider too.

With my line up revealed, does anyone have any comment and suggestions about it (particular concerning which Pokemon should be Terra's last partner for the treacherous trip)?

I think Edmundi it's the most suitable for the mission. You and I see how much trick and dangerous it's the Skull Ruins against a swarm of ghosts. I think it's better have a move capable of give a multi shield since we don't have idea about how many dangers you might found.

[Spiritmon]

Alright, so from what I can gather and from the newest info presented, we have mainly two options to consider about the upcoming Cliff-Side Scimitar/Almanac Base Raid:

1. Split the group, having Nathan + whomever else (most likely Heart) catch up with True Card Teleport later after they spring Keni/Oscar and do some espionage/sabatour work, and Terra + Shiva + whomever else get a head start on finding the Sacred Weapons of Plot Saving in the Skull Ruins

2. Have the whole group raid the base, use True Card Teleport, then go deal with the Skull Ruins together.

Other options include rallying all our allies and getting them to chip in against Deoxys, but that isn't a main priority unlike the above choices.

Choice 1. allows the group to get two things done at once without wasting anytime, but it divides their power between the tasks as well. Plus, going into the Skull Ruins without the whole group seems like an invitation for Iron to royally screw us over.

Choice 2. is a safer option to tackle both, but any delay in taking steps to prevent Deoxys from buggering up Cheshire (at least in the meantime while the search for the S.W.P.S is underway) is obviously not good either. That, and larger group in the Base = More likely to get caught, and OOC Terra won't be doing anything for who knows how long as he watches the doom that is the Millenium Comet approaching....

Which one do we vote on, mates?

I go with choice 1. As much dangerous it is split up, save people and stop a disaster wortly the risk. We also don't have enough time to deal one then after the other.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

This doesn't need much thinking from my side actually, I lean strongly into option 2.

[Iron]

The Skull Ruins is a longer encounter than the Fortress, I'll tell you that much.

You already know IC what kinds of things will be awaiting you there.

[Mikaruge108]

I'm leaning toward option 2 as well. While it's true we could cover more area if the party split up, I don't think that it's a good idea to do so.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

If we split up indeed, I definitely wish to head into the Ruins with Shiva, but I would have never thought we'd do so that what I guessed as the plot's climax so fast and suprisingly - that's actually storytelling at it's finest.

But I still think that splitting us is a bad idea.

[Lord Windos]

Hm....well, assuming that Dragonstrike/Nathan are in full support of the whole group sans Terra raiding the base together (Since IC Nathan seems gungho about it), I say that Choice 2. wins out. Alright, then lets get things moving! There's people that need to be rescued, and a extraterrestrial terrorist to foil afterwards!

[Lord Windos]

Going AFK for a few hours to get a haircut, so all the more reason to go with Choice 2. in the meantime! Be back when I can, mates!

[Dragonstrike]

At work atm. Response times are gonna be slow. Nathan would prefer to not split up, though.