[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

....Oh. It startles Shiva a lot - like, A LOT - that her new smol (oh, and own!~) Togepi backs away from the bigger flying form of himself, this was very contrary to the normal and healthy attitude of this Pokemon. This saddens her only more and just like Raphael, she feels a strong sense of protection towards this young one awaking within her.

It was a dear sight that she was fine with taking food of her hand, but in some way this was rather unsatisfying for Shiva - something about this felt just so off and wrong. :C Either way, Shiva provides Togepi as much fresh water and food as she desires for now, especially sweet and decent food that a partial Fairy Type should naturally enjoy, she seem to know that a tasty meal can do wonders to a feeling of sadness and hopelessnes. After she has eaten up, Shiva goes for the first careful and gentle contact as she tries to catch Togepi's attention: Her tone of voice is quiet and soft, mindful to not appear negative in ANY way. "Hey, dear one, look at me. Come on... Yes, that's fine. My name is Shiva, and from now on you're under my care. Please, give me a chance and at least try to work with me, will you...? I'm sorry that none has asked you whether you WANT to be with me at all, but... previously you were with that woman with short blue hair, were you? Can you...tell me a bit about living with her was like? Is she a reason why you're feeling so gloomy and worthless, dear one...?" She gazes at Togepi with calm eyes. "Ah, don't worry, I can to a good degree understand you, much more than the normal, untrained human can. My senses are honed. Try to...express your feelings a bit to me, okay? Please?" She tries to give Togepi an encouraging smile.


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(Can I assume that Shiva gets this message from Professor Mallorn after the Togepi-related things are wrapped up? I don't intend to make this part a long one, I just wish to interact a bit and get some insight about Togepi.)


EEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!! >o<; Shiva screeches and almost thows her phone into a nearby tree out of startle over the words that the permit to enter these ominous and scary Ruins will be ready TOMORROW MORNING, Raphael immediately glides down to coo at her comfortingly. Some deep breaths and sips of water later she has calmed down and feels capable to progress things properly.

'...That means you gotta hurry a bit with your plans, my dear', her inner voice comes to life.
'I will, I will....'
'Good. Come on, the earlier you get down these Ruins for the artifacts, the better the chances to succeed. You understand?'
'I think so.'
'Who has whined about wishing to be a hero and be recognized?'
'...I did.'
'Be brave, my dear. You've grown, and here's your chance - don't miss it.'
'I.... I won't.'
'Good girl.'
'...................'

Okay then - she's quick to type up a respone to the good professor

which reads the following

Hello Professor! I hope you're dong good and everything's okay in your lab. A gift from you I'd be happy to receive, thank you! Currently I am residing in Cress City, it'd be easiest to meet me there by the Pokemon Center. Or in Celebi Park by the shrine if it'd be better to ensure that there are no prying eyes. Does that sound feasible for you?

[Iron]

The vibe you're getting from Togepi is that life with Juni was very routine and extremely unstimulating. Togepi probably lived in the Pokeball most of the time.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Hummmmmm. Now Shiva feels like she nows why this smol one was a special love to use moves and be out of her Pokeball. "I see, dear one. Say, do you have any idea why this woman actually kept you with her? Were you...filling a particular role or so? It'd suprise me a lot if you were just a filler, that's not what I'd think the kind of person like her would do."

"You... You also rarely ever, if even, had the chance to use a move of yours. have you? I understand that this must've been frustrating, especially if you've got so much potential inside your neat shell!~ Say, would you like to show me one or two moves of you? I'd be happy to see! I like Wish and Lucky Chant, but feel very free to use the one YOU like best." ^_^ Shiva hopes that this will serve as a good start between her and Togepi, or at least encourage her to give Shiva a chance.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

"Urgh, this isn't going to go well. Very cool Houndour, though."

Fire Fang 1
(3)(2)(2)(6)(6)(1) (5)(2)
(6)(6)(5)(4) Vanilluxe takes 5 dmg 4/9hp -2 pain
CD: (2)(5), (3)(1)

Astonish 1
(1)(1)(5)(1)(2) Miss. "Urrrrgh, this is over before it could begin..."

Flamethrower 2
(2)(1)(4)(1)(6)(4)
(5)(2)(2)(6)(4) Vanilluxe faints.

Each of Flick's Pokemon was worth 8XP.

"Were you that strong when you sent me my lost PokeBalls? You didn't sound that strong over the phone. I think you've grown a lot, which makes sense if you've been journeying. Honestly? I only journey to catch Pokemon. Then I come right home again!"

Ka-ching!

He'd also be interested in hearing more about Orthros.

(Just realized we forgot about Stealth Rock for Shuckle and Vanilluxe.  Oh well, it didn't matter in this case anyways)

"Orthros is a Delta Houndour!  As you probably guessed from his appearance, he's a Psychic type instead of Dark, so Astonish was definitely a decent move choice.  I've been trying to learn all I can about Orthros's species since meeting him.  Until he evolves, though, I won't really know much about Delta Houndoom.  I do know the Delta variant is quite a bit more ornery than the standard ones, so they're kinda dangerous if not handled carefully.  I wouldn't recommend purposely looking for them.  They're still pack animals, and they can cause a lot of trouble in large numbers.  They can feed off of fear like a Ghost type can, which is part of the reason why Orthros likes making such grand entrances whenever I send him out.  He's tame, though, so he doesn't take it any farther than that. And he has no problems with eating leftover meats or pokechow, either."

Orthros sits down and scratches his ears, then continues to obediently sit there, panting happily. Yup, definitely doesn't look like he'd hurt a fly right now.

Nathan and Gallade both chuckle at Flick's surprise concerning how strong a trainer Nathan is.  "It helps that I have a few goals to aim for.  When I called ya initially, I only had 2 Gym Badges.  Now, though, I have 5, and I'm aiming for 6 later today!  I've seen and experienced things you wouldn't believe, too.  Been from one end of the region to the other, its highest highs and lowest lows...and it's still far from over, honestly.  If I'm going to do what my dad didn't quite manage and defeat Hayes, then I'm sure I've still got a ways to go..."

Oh yeah, and for the record, Nathan's Spare Change shirt of the day features Delta Parasect.

[Dragonstrike]

Shiva and Nathan get a text message from Professor Mallorn.

"Got word that an application to enter the Skull Ruins has been entered in your name. It will be ready tomorrow morning. Before then, I want to give you a gift. Where can we meet, boss? --M"

Well, that text certainly gets a curious eyebrow raise from Nathan.  Something for just the two of them?  What could it possibly be?

Nathan's response back:

Been Teleporting around a lot today, and in Elanor at the moment, but I should be able to manage meeting at Cress if that's the most convenient thing for all involved parties.

Nathan can just ask Ditto to do some Teleporting again so Gallade doesn't end up getting worn out from excessive Teleportation usage.

[Dragonstrike]

Heart also send a message to Nathan about the TM Thunder he found where he meet those Electrode. And he is willing to trade for something.

Nathan's eyes go wide as he reads that text!  That's a TM that a certain elespider would LOVE to abuse!

That's totally a TM I'd be willing to trade for.  Need to hold on to at least a little cash, though...how does $3500 and some training for some of your pokemon sound?

[Iron]

Hummmmmm. Now Shiva feels like she nows why this smol one was a special love to use moves and be out of her Pokeball. "I see, dear one. Say, do you have any idea why this woman actually kept you with her? Were you...filling a particular role or so? It'd suprise me a lot if you were just a filler, that's not what I'd think the kind of person like her would do."

"You... You also rarely ever, if even, had the chance to use a move of yours. have you? I understand that this must've been frustrating, especially if you've got so much potential inside your neat shell!~ Say, would you like to show me one or two moves of you? I'd be happy to see! I like Wish and Lucky Chant, but feel very free to use the one YOU like best." ^_^ Shiva hopes that this will serve as a good start between her and Togepi, or at least encourage her to give Shiva a chance.

Togepi tries a Wish, then falls down backwards onto Shiva's foot, quivering with the effort. But a second later, a wash of healing energy falls over the two of you. For the first time she meets your eyes as she briefly looks to see if that was OK. Then she looks at the floor again. She did seem to enjoy using the move though.

Looking at Togepi's movelist, you can see how any of these might have fueled Scimitar "spells." Juni could heal herself, swap items around, or even cause random things to happen by drawing on Togepi's power. You've even seen her use Metronome, you now realize, though it didn't go the way she'd hoped in that desperate situation for her.

[Iron]

Spoiler

"Urgh, this isn't going to go well. Very cool Houndour, though."

Fire Fang 1
(3)(2)(2)(6)(6)(1) (5)(2)
(6)(6)(5)(4) Vanilluxe takes 5 dmg 4/9hp -2 pain
CD: (2)(5), (3)(1)

Astonish 1
(1)(1)(5)(1)(2) Miss. "Urrrrgh, this is over before it could begin..."

Flamethrower 2
(2)(1)(4)(1)(6)(4)
(5)(2)(2)(6)(4) Vanilluxe faints.

Each of Flick's Pokemon was worth 8XP.

"Were you that strong when you sent me my lost PokeBalls? You didn't sound that strong over the phone. I think you've grown a lot, which makes sense if you've been journeying. Honestly? I only journey to catch Pokemon. Then I come right home again!"

Ka-ching!

He'd also be interested in hearing more about Orthros.

(Just realized we forgot about Stealth Rock for Shuckle and Vanilluxe.  Oh well, it didn't matter in this case anyways)

"Orthros is a Delta Houndour!  As you probably guessed from his appearance, he's a Psychic type instead of Dark, so Astonish was definitely a decent move choice.  I've been trying to learn all I can about Orthros's species since meeting him.  Until he evolves, though, I won't really know much about Delta Houndoom.  I do know the Delta variant is quite a bit more ornery than the standard ones, so they're kinda dangerous if not handled carefully.  I wouldn't recommend purposely looking for them.  They're still pack animals, and they can cause a lot of trouble in large numbers.  They can feed off of fear like a Ghost type can, which is part of the reason why Orthros likes making such grand entrances whenever I send him out.  He's tame, though, so he doesn't take it any farther than that.  And he has no problems with eating leftover meats or pokechow, either."

Orthros sits down and scratches his ears, then continues to obediently sit there, panting happily.  Yup, definitely doesn't look like he'd hurt a fly right now.

Nathan and Gallade both chuckle at Flick's surprise concerning how strong a trainer Nathan is.  "It helps that I have a few goals to aim for.  When I called ya initially, I only had 2 Gym Badges.  Now, though, I have 5, and I'm aiming for 6 later today!  I've seen and experienced things you wouldn't believe, too.  Been from one end of the region to the other, its highest highs and lowest lows...and it's still far from over, honestly.  If I'm going to do what my dad didn't quite manage and defeat Hayes, then I'm sure I've still got a ways to go..."

Oh yeah, and for the record, Nathan's Spare Change shirt of the day features Delta Parasect.

"Vanilluxe's other moves are pretty much all Ice, which was clearly not helpful."

"Six gym badges??? No way! That's really fast, Nathan. That would mean you could challenge the Elite Four!!! Although, most people who get six gym badges don't try it yet. It takes a LOT of training to beat the Elite Four, and then you have to face off against the Champion, and he's literally unbeatable for normal trainers. Even the Elite Four wouldn't be able to beat him, all at once. There's something special about our Champ. Don't underestimate him, ESPECIALLY not based on his kindness and care."

[Iron]

Mallorn will meet you in Cress whenever you choose. He's sitting on a crate, but rises to meet you. His Rapidash is grazing nearby - it gives you the staredown when it sees you, then goes back to eating.

"Shiva! Nathan! It's been a long time since you left my lab, boss! Your Pokedex entries show you've traveled much of Creshire - more than half of it already - and seen a ton of Pokemon. You've trained hard and won some difficult battles. Only about 5% of trainers who leave our labs with a starter Pokemon collect all six gym badges, and you've got four and five badges respectively. Nathan said your party is in Elanor, so I imagine you'll soon have a fifth, Shiva. Howl has nothing on Fairy types. How is Cottonee? Er, I don't mean to get distracted, boss! You've seen all kinds of Pokemon and learned to use all kinds of moves. But something especially rare to experience in Creshire is a Hidden Machine."

He goes off on a little lecture about what that is.

"Well, I happen to have one! It came to me for research purposes, and I was granted permission to use it as my research saw fit. I must return it in at the end of June. Guess what? I'm going to loan it to you two for your journey into the Skull Ruins. There's no reception down there, and it's very dark, and electronics often fail. Even flashlights. But this HM never fails... it's Flash! Most Pokemon can learn it, though not all. I'm sure you two will know just what to do with it. Bring it back to me when you're done, and whatever you do, don't lose it. It's a mark of my faith in you that I'm trusting you with taking this into the second layer of the Skull Ruins. Questions?"

[Dragonstrike]

"Vanilluxe's other moves are pretty much all Ice, which was clearly not helpful."

"Six gym badges??? No way! That's really fast, Nathan. That would mean you could challenge the Elite Four!!! Although, most people who get six gym badges don't try it yet. It takes a LOT of training to beat the Elite Four, and then you have to face off against the Champion, and he's literally unbeatable for normal trainers. Even the Elite Four wouldn't be able to beat him, all at once. There's something special about our Champ. Don't underestimate him, ESPECIALLY not based on his kindness and care."

"Yeah, not very favorable in a situation where your opponent has a pokemon resistant to Ice."

"Don't have 6 yet, but I'm not expecting to have too much trouble with Howl, to be honest.  When you've already gotten the badges from Cress, Stair, and Arrowroot, it kinda shows that you can handle things pretty well, I think.  Definitely plan to collect all 8 before I give the Elite Four a go, though.  My dad couldn't beat all of them, but he came pretty close, so I at least have a benchmark for how strong my pokemon will probably have to be.  And as for Bo...well, I'd like for my Rapidash to be at least as strong as the Champ's one day, but I'll be happy if any of my pokemon can at least land a scratch on his should I manage to get that far.  For now, there are other things I need to focus on right now, though.  Got time to train still."