[Game Thread] Pokerole: Mount Coronet Mystery

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(...) Nothing happens on either of these tiles.  A bit boring, yes, but there is a (small) chance of that occurring when exploring Mystery Dungeons.  Can't be exciting adventures and treasure finding all the time, after all.
Given the situation, this is also a good time to try and make preparations for what might be ahead.  No pre-fight buffing still please, but swapping pokemon, attempting to stealth to the next tile, healing pokemon, etc. is all fair game. (...)

Nah, Kee's party is fine after he swapped out beforehand already (See charasheet). It hurts a little having to bring dear Stella into the virtual reality a PC Box is... But it's either that or going with the danger to set the coal veins aflame and die through suffocation, easy to guess which is the lesser of the two evils.

(...) Karen just looks confused at some of the things that were said.  "...what the heck is a v-card?  Huh?  Hey, where'deveryone go?  Wait for me, guys!!!" (...)

Oh dear Heaven. Kee DOES wait for Karen to catch up a little, but he will NOT explain that to her. He... he just WON'T, aargh! If she's curious and persistant though, he'll opt to tell her that he prefers to keep his V-Card for reasons and casually joke that he'll become a wizard if he still has it when he turns 30. Octavia's all jolly and can't seem to stop chuckling and humming - But Kee's actually appearing nervous.

He eventually facepalms over himself and gives Karen an apologizing look, there are still traces of a blush on his face. "I'm sorreh... It's 'n uncomfortable topic for me. Just...try not to overthink it 'n know that I lack a certain male drive, 'kay? 'Kay."

(...) Kee, Karen, and Rui, traveling in the direction the weird Steelix came from, find a series of tunnels that it seems to have dug.  The diamond dust that Randolph found traces of on prior floors lines the edges of the tunnels (though I don't think he informed anyone except Lucas about what exactly it is).  The three travelers hear the steady dripping of water echoing through the passages.  It's getting louder.
The tunnels look odd, though, and it's not just because of the diamond dust lining them.  Where the ground slopes downwards slightly and the tunnels all meet, the darker stone and coal veins of the mine seem to intermingle with and transition into a much lighter colored stone, and the coal veins all but disappear entirely after wandering far enough from the darker stone.  It actually looks a lot like a cave that would belong in Mt. Coronet.
Karen's looking around, partially nervous, partially awestruck.  "...whoa...look at all that sparkly dust...do you think that Steelix left that trail?"
Rui's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself.  "...okay, this isn't so bad so far.  This cave is really weird, though...it's quiet...a little too quiet, honestly..." (...)

True, Kee wouldn't know that the sparkly stuff is diamond dust, unless you want to roll for it? Not exactly necessary actually though.

Regardless though, he's FASCINATED by this stuff and its beauty, and Octavia's own shiny sparkles and scattered fairy dust nicely competes with it. She paws it with eager and interest. Towards Karen's question whether that odd Steelix has left it behind, Kee's kinda lost. "No idea... Maybeh? Ah, wouldn't it be cool if we could take some time 'n gather a bit of that nice sparkly stuff? Just a handful... Unfortunately we don't have that time, damn it...."

When Rui's giving herself nervous, she involuntarily triggered Kee: He VERY carefully and gently pat her shoulder, giver a reassuring look and reminds her that "We'll be fine. I'll make sure of that, like I told ya. 'N look, ya still got that dear Espeon with ya, right? He'll do so JUST AS WELL."

(...) Eventually, though, the sound of dripping water is briefly interrupted by a splash!  And then everything goes quiet again...try as everyone might, however, they can't quite determine which direction the splash came from.  Did it come from the path straight ahead, or the turn into another passage?  The sound echoes through the caves in such a way that it's impossible to tell which path would lead to the water...
Karen looks at Kee, asking the ever relevant question:  "So...which way are we going?"

Ah damn it, the echos even make it to fool that hones sense of hearing Kee as professional musician has... BUT he still has an ace up his sleeve, and this ace was....

... Aya, his sea lion full of grace and virtuosity.

She bows towards Kare and Rui once being summoned, then turns towards Kee with a look that obviously asks :'Now why did you summon me, what the heck happened?' Kee attempts to calm/soft-bribe her with one of her beloved honey-and-sage-drops, then answers her concern: "Well, yar help is needed, that happened. Ya see..." He waves towards the surrounding "...There's WATER nearby. Unmistakably so, 'cause there's tha sound of drippin' water ' some sort of splash just reached us. So, my dear... Can ya and your instincts as a natural 'n precious Water Type tell us in which direction said water source is, North or East from here?"

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

(...) Karen just looks confused at some of the things that were said.  "...what the heck is a v-card?  Huh?  Hey, where'deveryone go?  Wait for me, guys!!!" (...)

Oh dear Heaven. Kee DOES wait for Karen to catch up a little, but he will NOT explain that to her. He... he just WON'T, aargh! If she's curious and persistant though, he'll opt to tell her that he prefers to keep his V-Card for reasons and casually joke that he'll become a wizard if he still has it when he turns 30. Octavia's all jolly and can't seem to stop chuckling and humming - But Kee's actually appearing nervous.

He eventually facepalms over himself and gives Karen an apologizing look, there are still traces of a blush on his face. "I'm sorreh... It's 'n uncomfortable topic for me. Just...try not to overthink it 'n know that I lack a certain male drive, 'kay? 'Kay."

(...) Kee, Karen, and Rui, traveling in the direction the weird Steelix came from, find a series of tunnels that it seems to have dug.  The diamond dust that Randolph found traces of on prior floors lines the edges of the tunnels (though I don't think he informed anyone except Lucas about what exactly it is).  The three travelers hear the steady dripping of water echoing through the passages.  It's getting louder.
The tunnels look odd, though, and it's not just because of the diamond dust lining them.  Where the ground slopes downwards slightly and the tunnels all meet, the darker stone and coal veins of the mine seem to intermingle with and transition into a much lighter colored stone, and the coal veins all but disappear entirely after wandering far enough from the darker stone.  It actually looks a lot like a cave that would belong in Mt. Coronet.
Karen's looking around, partially nervous, partially awestruck.  "...whoa...look at all that sparkly dust...do you think that Steelix left that trail?"
Rui's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself.  "...okay, this isn't so bad so far.  This cave is really weird, though...it's quiet...a little too quiet, honestly..." (...)

True, Kee wouldn't know that the sparkly stuff is diamond dust, unless you want to roll for it? Not exactly necessary actually though.

Regardless though, he's FASCINATED by this stuff and its beauty, and Octavia's own shiny sparkles and scattered fairy dust nicely competes with it. She paws it with eager and interest. Towards Karen's question whether that odd Steelix has left it behind, Kee's kinda lost. "No idea... Maybeh? Ah, wouldn't it be cool if we could take some time 'n gather a bit of that nice sparkly stuff? Just a handful... Unfortunately we don't have that time, damn it...."

When Rui's giving herself nervous, she involuntarily triggered Kee: He VERY carefully and gently pat her shoulder, giver a reassuring look and reminds her that "We'll be fine. I'll make sure of that, like I told ya. 'N look, ya still got that dear Espeon with ya, right? He'll do so JUST AS WELL."

(...) Eventually, though, the sound of dripping water is briefly interrupted by a splash!  And then everything goes quiet again...try as everyone might, however, they can't quite determine which direction the splash came from.  Did it come from the path straight ahead, or the turn into another passage?  The sound echoes through the caves in such a way that it's impossible to tell which path would lead to the water...
Karen looks at Kee, asking the ever relevant question:  "So...which way are we going?"

Ah damn it, the echos even make it to fool that hones sense of hearing Kee as professional musician has... BUT he still has an ace up his sleeve, and this ace was....

... Aya, his sea lion full of grace and virtuosity.

She bows towards Kare and Rui once being summoned, then turns towards Kee with a look that obviously asks :'Now why did you summon me, what the heck happened?' Kee attempts to calm/soft-bribe her with one of her beloved honey-and-sage-drops, then answers her concern: "Well, yar help is needed, that happened. Ya see..." He waves towards the surrounding "...There's WATER nearby. Unmistakably so, 'cause there's tha sound of drippin' water ' some sort of splash just reached us. So, my dear... Can ya and your instincts as a natural 'n precious Water Type tell us in which direction said water source is, North or East from here?"

Karen doesn't inquire further about the v-card, thankfully, as she's too busy trying to catch up with Rui and Kee after they've run off.

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

If Kee's gonna bribe her with her favorite snack for such a simple task, she'll absolutely do it.

*rolls*

Aya listens, sniffs at the air, and then points to the eastern corridor (realistically, the group wouldn't necessarily know which compass direction they're facing due to being underground in unfamiliar caves, but it's fine to refer to the directions cardinally for the sake of making it easier to interpret OOC).

She's clearly confident that the shortest path to the water is to the east.  Now where's her snack?

[Lord Windos]

Oh yeah, forgot about the Aerodactyl thing with the Modrille encounter.  Whoops.  Well, flashbacking to that...

Aerodactyl almost completely ignores Randolph as they viciously and relentlessly tear into the remaining Modrille.  It makes Zorn's snack look neat by comparison.  Maybe that's because Zorn's a bit more used to being around humans than a semi recently revived Aerodactyl is...

Zorn's watching the carnage with a rather neutral expression on his face the entire time.

(I kinda thought you deliberately glossed over it, and I assumed that meant she more or less acted how we expected her too. Ah well, it happens!)

Well, since Aerodactyl isn't feeling very social right about now (beyond her hunger being sated by fresh prey), Ran just stomachs the sight of her enthusiastic feasting and quietly returns her after she's finished. He then turns to Zorn and raises one eyebrow at his plain facedness , before letting out a small *Sigh* 

"....Well, what do ya think of her, partner? Is she possibly be more receptive to me in the future, or do you think I have to treat her like Belladonna or Sekmet?"

The brutish drake would be famaliar with those Pokemon after a few misguided attempts by Ran to socialize his more Disobedient Pokemon. The poisonous beauty wouldn't care much for the Dragon unless he listened to her beside the basic respect all Dragons deserve (least they eat you alive for your impudence), while Sekhmet.....the less said about that meeting, the better.

[Dragonstrike]

(I kinda thought you deliberately glossed over it, and I assumed that meant she more or less acted how we expected her too. Ah well, it happens!)

Well, since Aerodactyl isn't feeling very social right about now (beyond her hunger being sated by fresh prey), Ran just stomachs the sight of her enthusiastic feasting and quietly returns her after she's finished. He then turns to Zorn and raises one eyebrow at his plain facedness , before letting out a small *Sigh* 

"....Well, what do ya think of her, partner? Is she possibly be more receptive to me in the future, or do you think I have to treat her like Belladonna or Sekmet?"

The brutish drake would be famaliar with those Pokemon after a few misguided attempts by Ran to socialize his more Disobedient Pokemon. The poisonous beauty wouldn't care much for the Dragon unless he listened to her beside the basic respect all Dragons deserve (least they eat you alive for your impudence), while Sekhmet.....the less said about that meeting, the better.

(Nah, that was just me forgetting it in the wake of the recent events.)

Zorn shrugs.  Hard to tell right now.  Aerodactyl's very...wild, to say the least.

[Lord Windos]

(Nah, that was just me forgetting it in the wake of the recent events.)

Zorn shrugs.  Hard to tell right now.  Aerodactyl's very...wild, to say the least.

"*Sighs* ....Well, guess that's for us to figure out later. Let's get back to the rest of the group. And either eat or spit out that bone, Zorn, 'cause I don't want to be freaking out the rest with your treat."

And that's that with this scene, I suppose!

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Karen doesn't inquire further about the v-card, thankfully, as she's too busy trying to catch up with Rui and Kee after they've run off. (...)

GOOD. MUCH BETTER. Kee's still going to wait for Karen to catch up once realizing that she's running after him and Rui and welcome her with gentle ruffle through her hair and an apology for having soft-escaded; then ends that whole thing by telling her "Dontcha....overthink this whole thing, please do me that favour, 'kay? Adults only. And 'n uncomfortable topic for me." He gives her an excusing smile, there's still a faint blush on his face.

(realistically, the group wouldn't necessarily know which compass direction they're facing due to being underground in unfamiliar caves, but it's fine to refer to the directions cardinally for the sake of making it easier to interpret OOC).

Oh... And if I'd say that Kee's got a compass with him? A small one that he would have bought in Snowpoint before heading out, knowing that having one on hand would be handy if heading out into unfamiliar terrain.

If Kee's gonna bribe her with her favorite snack for such a simple task, she'll absolutely do it.
*rolls*
Aya listens, sniffs at the air, and then points to the eastern corridor (...) She's clearly confident that the shortest path to the water is to the east.  Now where's her snack?

Ahahaha, here they are, Kee's all delighted to reward her for a job well done!~~ She gets two, enjoy, her throat and singing voice will give their thanks.

It may have been an easy task, but he's well aware that without promising some sort of praise or reward, this proud diva of a Primarina would very likely not even consider helping out.

Once she's being recalled into her Dive Ball again, eastwards they go. "Were there's water, there must be life... Or so I think."
   

[Dragonstrike]

A compass doesn't know which way's north either!  The needle doesn't stop moving, constantly trying to readjust itself.  A Nosepass would probably have a really bad time here.

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

Continuing to the tile to the right, Kee and company walk into a large cavern with a large pool of water in the middle.  Stalactites and stalagmites decorate the floor, ceiling, and even the pool itself.  Water drips off of the ceiling's spikes onto the floor's below.  Many of the protrusions are large enough to possibly serve as cover from attacks, or possibly cause severe damage to whoever's unfortunate enough to be caught underneath them if they should be dislodged from their homes above.

The room looks completely unlike the prior ones.  There are no coal veins or darker stone in sight, no mining equipment or lights.  What was a coal mine previously now looks like a normal cave.

   

At the bottom of the pool, the adventurers can see their lights reflecting off of something!  Long, serpentine shapes also swim underneath the surface, however, and the largest of them immediately turns to look at the approaching strangers as soon as they enter the room.  It quickly surfaces, and an elegant Dragonair rears out of the water and looms over the party, staring at them intensely.

Rui gasps and backs up.  "...sh-shadow pokemon!"

When Rui reveals the nature of what's before the group, Dragonair immediately whips its tail out of the water, almost too fast to see, creating a small but powerful Twister.  The air buffets the trio and their pokemon as it whips past them, colliding with the wall and tunnel behind them.  Some of the stalactites come loose and fall, causing a small cave in!  Everyone has to dive out of the way to avoid getting struck by the falling rocks, and the path the group just came from is now blocked!

The dragon makes nary a motion, but 5 smaller pokemon poke their heads out of the water soon after, acting as a single, unified group.  The now revealed Dratini all stare at the newcomers as well.

All 6 serpents stare at the party for what feels like ages, but Dragonair's gaze holds the most malicious intent of them all, its normally purple eyes a much darker red instead.  It clearly won't be long before it attacks again.  Rui attempts to back up again, pressing herself up against the wall as Scizor reaches into his bag and steps forward, preparing to do something.

There's no getting out of this without a fight, it seems.

The Shadow Dragonair: Rotten Vale Large Monster Theme - Monster Hunter World

Shadow Dragonair Round 1 Initiatives

[Dragonstrike]

"My pokemon are all ready to do whatever needs to be done.  Less talking, Kogeki, more running!"  Lucas bolts after Randolph since the small man isn't making any attempts at being quiet when entering the next room.

The next room looks like it was a large coal vein that had been recently mined out.  Large quantities of the black mineral line every edge of the room, and the overhead lights dimly light the scene before the Champion, ninja, and former miner. Many mining tools such as shovels and pickaxes lay scattered around the room, seemingly left behind by their owners.

   

Byron, with his trademark shovel in hand, is directing his Excadrill.  Something seems off to Randolph and Lucas when they look at the Steel type Gym Leader, but their attention is drawn primarily to the three opponents that Byron's Excadrill is fighting and the immediate danger that they seem to be posing.

The first is the Steelix that passed by the group earlier, its exterior glittering like clear diamond wherever the light strikes it.  Everywhere it tunnels, it leaves a trail of diamond dust in its wake.

Large Image

And here's my source for the image!

The other two pokemon are Onix, as pitch black as the coal they're tunneling through.  They look like any other Onix, except for the black coloration...

...and the rather large chip that one of them has in its horn.  Randolph shivers involuntarily when he sees it.

That's it.  That's the Onix.  That's the one that...

Randolph is brought out of his tunnel vision when Byron starts yelling orders to his pokemon.  "Alright, everyone's out!  Excadrill, prepare to bring down...wait, what?  What are you lot doing here?  I thought I told everyone to evacuate! Get the hell out of here!  This is too dangerous!  The whole mine could collapse!"

Byron's noticed the party, and while he and his Excadrill are distracted, the three subterranean serpents burrow underground, only to reemerge underneath Excadrill moments later!  The small mole pokemon faints on the spot, and Byron is blown back by the explosion of dirt, rock, and coal, colliding with a wall behind him.  "Aaaaggh!!"  He swears under his breath as he stands back up, recalls Excadrill, and prepares to send out another pokemon to defend himself.

Lucas doesn't hesitate, running forward with a pokeball in hand.  "Byron!  Hang on, we're coming!  Randolph, Kogeki, I hope you're ready for one hell of a fight, because this doesn't look like it's going to be easy!"

The three large serpents are taking up most of the space in the room, so there's only enough room for each trainer to summon one pokemon each.

Byron and the Diamond Steelix: Sinnoh Gym Leader Remix by GlitchxCity - Pokemon D/P/Pt

Diamond Steelix Round 1 Initiatives

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

"My pokemon are all ready to do whatever needs to be done.  Less talking, Kogeki, more running!"  Lucas bolts after Randolph since the small man isn't making any attempts at being quiet when entering the next room.

The next room looks like it was a large coal vein that had been recently mined out.  Large quantities of the black mineral line every edge of the room, and the overhead lights dimly light the scene before the Champion, ninja, and former miner.



Byron, with his trademark shovel in hand, is directing his Excadrill.  Something seems off to Randolph and Lucas when they look at the Steel type Gym Leader, but their attention is drawn primarily to the three opponents that Byron's Excadrill is fighting and the immediate danger that they seem to be posing.

The first is the Steelix that passed by the group earlier, its exterior glittering like clear diamond wherever the light strikes it.  Everywhere it tunnels, it leaves a trail of diamond dust in its wake.

Large Image

And here's my source for the image!

The other two pokemon are Onix, as pitch black as the coal they're tunneling through.  They look like any other Onix, except for the black coloration...

...and the rather large chip that one of them has in its horn.  Randolph shivers involuntarily when he sees it.

That's it.  That's the Onix.  That's the one that...

Randolph is brought out of his tunnel vision when Byron starts yelling orders to his pokemon.  "Alright, everyone's out!  Excadrill, prepare to bring down...wait, what?  What are you lot doing here?  I thought I told everyone to evacuate! Get the hell out of here!  This is too dangerous!  The whole mine could collapse!"

Byron's noticed the party, and while he and his Excadrill are distracted, the three subterranean serpents burrow underground, only to reemerge underneath Excadrill moments later!  The small mole pokemon faints on the spot, and Byron is blown back by the explosion of dirt, rock and coal, colliding with a wall behind him.  "Aaaaggh!!"  He swears under his breath as he stands back up, recalls Excadrill, and prepares to send out another pokemon to defend himself.

Lucas doesn't hesitate, running forward with a pokeball in hand.  "Byron!  Hang on, we're coming!  Randolph, Kogeki, I hope you're ready for one hell of a fight, because this doesn't look like it's going to be easy!"

The three large serpents are taking up most of the space in the room, so there's only enough room for each trainer to summon one pokemon each.

Byron and the Diamond Steelix: Sinnoh Gym Leader Remix by GlitchxCity - Pokemon D/P/Pt

Diamond Steelix Round 1 Initiatives

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

A compass doesn't know which way's north either!  The needle doesn't stop moving, constantly trying to readjust itself.  A Nosepass would probably have a really bad time here. (...)

Aww damn! Okay you got me, I'll use right/left/up/down when refering to direction in-chara and east/west/north/south for outta-chara.

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


The area Team, uh... Team 'K2R' or alternatively Team 'Kee & female company' ends up now looks kinda strange, but aside from the danger of being crushed by a falling stalactites actually quite BEAUTIFUL - That, and it's somewhat reassuring that they're not in a mine anymore, as strange and weird it may be that the mine became such a cave - but Kee promised himself not to wonder about all the mysterious stuff happening, so he just accepts that.

Well, not being in a mine anymore means that he can pack away the pickaxe he grabbed at the entrance and pack it away, but he lets Octavia's wear her [b]smol mining helmet for the sake of another light source[/b]. And totally not because she's looking super-cute with it, nope!

Kee's delighted that they've found the body of water they've been after that fast! He's never seen or been at an underground lake before. ☆(^v^ ) He was just about to take the first step towards its shore and look at its surface, partly outta curiosity, partly to keep the ladies in his team safe - but too late, he was halted in his track by a SERPENTINE DRAGON apperantly not enjoying some univited guests stopping by their home.

Rui's revealing of this dragon being a SHADOWMON made Kee glance at her for a moment, the next one Octavia hisses and bristles her sparkling fur at that Dragonair and tackles Karen to push her out of the way of a falling stalactite, and in sync with that Kee get a hold of Rui's hand to pull her outta the way of another one, which ends up crashing into the ground just INCHES away from him. "Hoo boi, close call. Like, really close."

Octavia KEEPS hissing and growling at that Dragonair, her own lavender eyes fixated on their dark red ones, while Kee's making sure that Rui's OUT of the battlefield/range of Dragonair AND Karen's not too close to said dragon. Even if the path wouldn't be blocked, this Dragonair is a threat, a Shadowmon and openly told them that they shall not pass, so Kee's going to take care of it RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW !! Those Dratini... As long as they do not attack themselves, he prefers to leave them alone. "Been a while since ya've had some fun slaying tha dragon, wasn't it?~", he tells his most beloved Pokemon in the world with a sly smile, "Well, all tha MOAR reason to give what ya've got, my dearest! ~☆ But, how 'bout letting a certa'n SOMEONE join into that fun, huh?~~"

That was the cue for the drawing of a Heal Ball, and from the summoned light a shaggy feline manifests: It's the Ex-Shadow Absol Kee captured and took into his care earlier. "What a scenery for yar debut, Astoria !!~ That's YOU, a graceful name for a graceful 'Mon like ya... Now, try to keep a cool mind, pay 'ttention to mah voice 'n we shall END tha misery this dragon found itself in TOGETHER!~"


The Shadow Dragonair: Rotten Vale Large Monster Theme - Monster Hunter World

Shadow Dragonair Round 1 Initiatives

On Kee's side that'll be Octavia/Sylveon (with her Quick Claw) and Astoria/Absol. If Scizor aims to join that fight, he of course can! Same with Karen... Though Kee would prefer if Espeon would stay with Rui to make sure that she's safe and sound.