[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Shiva: https://pokemonuranium.co/forum/showthre...6#pid74006

-- Battle Scene incoming --
(Picked theme for this battle here)
(Things the Trevenant do here)

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



Well then, it's obvious that Shiva won't get out of here without having to battle her way through, whether she wants to or not! She doesn't want to, but it's not like she has started this fight!! It's fine and very relatable that all these Trevenant are revengeful towards humanity, but it's still not okay to force a random member of that race into aggressive fighting, or so Shiva believes.

The space to battle is rather limited, these Trevenant are so cloooose and the makeshift ceiling consiting of branches and twigs makes it hard for Raphael (who's still soaring the sky above) to aid Shiva here. A lot of her Pokemon on hand are relatvely big, 'relatively' as in 'big enough to have issues fighting properly here'... ....! But one of them should be ideal....!? ..."Yes, this should work!!" From the tossed Pokeball a rather small and smol creature manifests, a creature that's a pretty rare sight, a creature held in white and green with some accents of bright yellow, a creature that's featuring aspects of two opposite Types.... A creature that isn't very used to battling yet, but regardless takes a defensive and ready-pounce-stance right away as it senses that Shiva's counting on it!

Image

It's Chi, Shiva's Luxi and dear dragonfairy!!

She hisses at all the Trevenant with suprising confidence, it doesn't need Shiva any verbal words to emphasize that things are serious and that there's no time to be scared or hesitant! She seems to fully trust in her dear one's small size, increased endurance and longivity further boosted via her held Eviolite!, as well as Regenerator Ability! (Mechanically she's currently sitting on 6*Vitality thanks to her +1 Defense Suprise and Eviolite)

"Come on, Chi my dear, we CAN do it! W....we MUST do it! \(>o<\ ) Focus, concentrate, call for a bit more lucky, then we're prepared to strike back with everything you've got!!"

Chi doesn't hesitate and begins to chant in a melodic and almost magical way, a few sun rays make it through the interwoven ceiling to hit the ground in response to her Lucky Chant. The Trevenant flinch from these rays, a few of them launch a bright light = a Confuse Ray at her - But Chi quickly evades and swiftly leaps back and forth within the foe's branches, and instead those Rays aimed at her hit some fellow Trevenant! Chi smirks over that.

Sitting high on one of the now-confused Trevenant's branches, Chi lets out A ROAR full of energy and determination that'd make one forget that she's just a tiny tiny fairy of a dragon, it's the power of her Focus Energy Move. "Good job! Now, take them down one after the other, I... I've got your back!"

That's the moment one of the Trevenant raises their shadowy claws dangerously, fixates Shiva, and... doesn't do any damage as she saw it coming and protected herself in time via the Ancient Shield! The others quickly follow, forcing Shiva to constantly protect herself from damage. She knows that SHE has to remain standing, she doesn't wish to image what'd happen if SHE falls... And even if the Trevenant's attacks deal no damage at all to her, it's still very scary and unsettling to be Shadow-Claw'd, Wood-Hammer'd, Horn-Leech'd and what else.

The advantage of the Trevenant mostly targeting Shiva is that Chi almost has free range to strike back, and she does so with full blown flames in quick succession: Some are red and hot (being Flamethrower), some are bright and green (being Dragon Breath); and ever now and then Chi switched tactics and calls for a breeze brimmingly full of pink fairy dust (being Fairy Wind). Thanks to the previous boost and very close range, many - if not all! - of Chi's attacks are critical hits, causing the Trevenant's vigor and HP to melt as quickly as an ice scream under the hot summer sun.


...Rather soon, all the mean Trevenant and their pokemon-y subtenants are defeated, and the spectral trees disappear with angry screeches and ethereal fog; leaving behind an exhausted Shiva and a panting Chi. Both smile as they share a rather happy and relieved hug, this battle was terrifying in so many ways... "We did it, we really did it! (^0^)♡ Y-you did so great, such confidence you displayed, I'm sososooooo proud of you...!~" Chi fondly licks Shiva's cheek to thank her for the trust and compliment, then whines as one of the Trevenant blasted a spooky flame at her in the moment of their disappearance, leaving the smol dragonfairy with a mean and painful Burn. "Oh, let me look at it, I... I'll take care of it real quick..." A few sprays of a Burn Heal and Chi's pain is lessened, soon the wound will be healed up properly. Rather soon actually, thanks to Regenerator!

In total, it took Shiva 3 Super Potions to keep Chi from fainting, given that she had to protect herself from damage to remain standing.

Protecting from damage... This meant that BOTH she as well as Chi were left at the mercy of any non-damaging and 'Spell'-attacks. In fact, now that they've got the time to have a breather and do some damage control, Shiva's sensing that something's off even if the Trevenant and the green fog have disappeared, something's definitely not right, even lil' Treecko (now back on Shiva's shoulder) chirps concerned....?


...BOTH Shiva and Chi have been inflicted with Forest's Curse by the Trevenant. @Iron, can you describe how it feels like what effects there are due to the curse and such? Can she still move onward or are immediate actions necessary?

[Iron]

Zest is covered in downy feathers, twigs, and moss stains, a weird contrast to his modern clothing. He is hanging out in a massive nest, bigger than any Braviary's nest, releasing Caterpie and feeding them to a Vullaby chick. The tiny bird Pokemon seems dwarfed by the size of the nest.

"Good climbing, sir! Have you come to train a Flying type?"

[Iron]

Cute drawing! Don't forget to give Shiva 2 XP for the drawing, and why don't we give 2XP to Luxi as well.

The Forest's Curse starts in your hands. They wilt and become difficult to hold up without immense effort. Over time, your fingers turn brown and spindly like twigs. You get the feeling this was a purposeful effect of the curse, for the twigs are dry and cursed rather than healthy and vibrant. If you aren't careful, they could snap off, and you have no idea what effect that could have on a person.

Chi, however, is experiencing a somewhat delayed effect, and you find it's affecting you as well - in your feet. Tiny roots are growing from the soles of your feet and paws, slowing down your movement as the little wriggling roots seek to bury themselves in the ground. Though your movement speed is halved, the greater part of this curse is that you cannot slow down any further or the roots will succeed in burying themselves, making all effects worse.

The horrifying part of this is that you might become a guardian of the burnt grove yourself if the curse progresses far enough.

As you limp along, you spot something you may wish you had more time to investigate. It's a shattered Scimitar Gauntlet, half overgrown with new roots and stomped on by Trevenant feet.

[Dragonstrike]

Zest is covered in downy feathers, twigs, and moss stains, a weird contrast to his modern clothing. He is hanging out in a massive nest, bigger than any Braviary's nest, releasing Caterpie and feeding them to a Vullaby chick. The tiny bird Pokemon seems dwarfed by the size of the nest.

"Good climbing, sir! Have you come to train a Flying type?"

Nathan politely refrains from saying anything about Zest feeding Caterpie to that Vullaby and gets right to the point.

"Well...I guess, you could say that, yes.  Archilles suggested that I come see you if I needed some help with the Flying type, so here I am.  There's a particular pokemon that I believe should be able to learn Feather Dance...however, I'm finding it...difficult to find the time to teach it to them.  Think you'll be able to help me out with that?"

Should Zest ask to see the pokemon, Nathan will toss a pokeball, revealing what appears to be Masq, the Shiny Unfezant.  And as Zest likely knows, Unfezant is definitely a species capable of learning and utilizing Feather Dance.

In actuality, though, the pokemon Nathan wishes to teach the move to has a more...questionable status as a bird pokemon, due to not being a Flying type at all.  In fact, Nathan's assumption that she can learn Feather Dance is only an educated guess at best...but given Juliet's bird-like behavior and flair for the Performing arts, he does think it's likely that she can.  On the off chance that Zest might not think it would be possible to teach a Psychic type how to use Feather Dance, though, Nathan decided it would be better for Juliet to disguise herself as a pokemon who definitely can.

And oh, what a wonderful move it would be for her to be able to utilize.  The stunning performances she would be able to pull off with such a move in her toolkit would be most exquisite...and one of the last pieces of the puzzle that Nathan wants to try and assemble before showcasing her skills to a certain someone...

So, how much would it cost for Juliet to learn Feather Dance via this tutor?

[Iron]

"Some people come here trying to pay me in acorns and berries. What do I look like, a caveman? I still buy supplies. I still buy equipment for myself and my Pokemon. I take POKEDOLLARS and nothing else. Beautiful Unfezant like that, I can teach for $1150."

After a whistle, an enormous Braviary and a squinting Noctowl with a 20' wingspan show up and begin performing an intricate aerial dance, weaving between the trees and each other. They ruffle their feathers to the utmost, and don't seem to mind when they careen off a tree or snap a branch in midair.

Juliet, in disguise as the Unfezant, leaps from the nest to join them with a word of encouragement from Zest. She immediately plummets straight down. In a moment, however, she sticks out her wings and they begin fluffing up in mimicry of the big bird Pokemon. This lets her control her descent into a beautiful looping spiral, slowing her down with every meter she descends. When she lands, she begins shedding (actual?) feathers all over the bottom of the clearing as she struts around, giving an impromptu performance that clearly lacks in comparison to a Trainer-choreographed dance.

"Not bad on the move usage, though you obviously need more practice on flying in the forest. Want to go ahead and try it on one of your Pokemon now?"

[Dragonstrike]

"Some people come here trying to pay me in acorns and berries. What do I look like, a caveman? I still buy supplies. I still buy equipment for myself and my Pokemon. I take POKEDOLLARS and nothing else. Beautiful Unfezant like that, I can teach for $1150."

After a whistle, an enormous Braviary and a squinting Noctowl with a 20' wingspan show up and begin performing an intricate aerial dance, weaving between the trees and each other. They ruffle their feathers to the utmost, and don't seem to mind when they careen off a tree or snap a branch in midair.

Juliet, in disguise as the Unfezant, leaps from the nest to join them with a word of encouragement from Zest. She immediately plummets straight down. In a moment, however, she sticks out her wings and they begin fluffing up in mimicry of the big bird Pokemon. This lets her control her descent into a beautiful looping spiral, slowing her down with every meter she descends. When she lands, she begins shedding (actual?) feathers all over the bottom of the clearing as she struts around, giving an impromptu performance that clearly lacks in comparison to a Trainer-choreographed dance.

"Not bad on the move usage, though you obviously need more practice on flying in the forest. Want to go ahead and try it on one of your Pokemon now?"

Ahahaha.  Brilliant.  And I have just the thing in mind for Juliet practicing the move on another of Nathan's pokemon.  Nathan looks to Gallade.  "Well, what do you say, friend?  I think this might make some good practice for later, wouldn't you say?"  Gallade nods, then Teleports down to the clearing and bows to the 'Unfezant', who also bows back.

"I think you'll want to see this, Zest.  This should be very interesting.  They've been working on the choreography for this on and off for a little while now."

Gallade and 'Unfezant' then begin practicing the motions of the finale to their join performance, weaving around each other, utilizing various moves to accentuate certain points in the dance.  At the end of it all, the 'Unfezant' throws their wings out in front of Gallade as the Blade pokemon throws a punch, scattering countless sparkling feathers with the newly learned Feather Dance...

...and once they've all settled on the ground, it is not an Unfezant standing in front of Gallade, but a small, black and white pokemon that certainly looks and acts like a bird.  They definitely don't look like a typical bird pokemon, though...and she looks completely unharmed from the powerful attack that Gallade just used!

Nathan claps for Gallade and Juliet the Masking.  "Excellent!  A wonderful finale!  That Feather Dance was exactly what it needed!"

Nathan then turns to Zest.  "Apologies for the light deception, Zest, but as you can see, Juliet is a rather...strange bird pokemon.  Still, I'm glad to see that my guess was correct and that she can indeed skillfully perform that move.  Thank you for your time and assistance."  He holds out a hand to shake.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Shiva: https://pokemonuranium.co/forum/showthre...2#pid74092


Whooooooaaaaawwww, SCARY. Σ(°△°|||)︴

It's absolutely needless to say how HORRIFIED, TERRIFIED, DISTURBED and FEARFUL Shiva is once she realized that these Trevenant have put a freaking CUUUURSE onto her and dear Chi, t-that's.... That's just beyooooond mean! {{ (>_<; ) }} It GROSSES her OUT to even look at her hands wilting like that, but unfortunately this nightmare fuel of an image is buuurned into her mind.

Shiva definitely does NOT want to become a guardian of that burnt grove, especially not since it seems to have been made a burnt grove in the first place by... Scimitars?? W-what other reason could there be for A GAUNTLET being shattered and halfly overgrown...? "C-come on Chi my dear, we... We gotta go, we can't slow down, we MUST NOT slow down, n-no! You too, dear lil' Treecko... I've got to find a way to lessen or lift this curse, THEN we can continue following the sacred pattern alright? I'm so sorry for that...inconvenience..."

I wouldn't have put a Forest's Curse on Shiva without thinking about how to deal with that: I see several approaches, described in the following.

- First of all, naturally Shiva and Chi will NOT slow down if that gives the tiny tiny roots more time to bury themselves into the ground and ingrain them on the spot. That, and she puts all of her determination and inner strength to KEEP her hands held up as best as possible; I gladly spend 1 Will Point on that.

- Walking Limping onwards to seek help isn't really an option, but luckily there's still Raphael up the the sky, having kept his assigned guardian position loyally and eagerly!~ He managed to pick us that something with the sensitive fae-enthusiast was not right and glided down to greet and chirp encouragingly at her. Shiva's hesitant to pet the dear archangel but can still give him a sweet smile. "Oh, please don't... worry too much over us, Raphael... We'll be fine. We... Yes we WILL be fine indeed!! Come on, we need to get help...!"

It should still be possible for Raphael to pick Shiva and Chi up and FLY them away to find help, shall it? Please don't tell me that these tiny roots are still trying to ingrain into the ground while being mid-air...

Places Shiva will seek help at

- Elanor itself, more specifically Howl. He's the one she asked about the Sacred Grove, he may know about a burnt grove and the Trevenant residing there, at best he had someone come to him being forestcursed already and knows what to do or where to go to lift the curse.

- Cress City, the original capital where traditions are strong. It's said in one of the very first posts of this thread that many medics and mediums(!) are here, so I'm having high hopes that there must be one that specializes in curses and how to lift them from unlucky people and Pokemon. The Violet Tent seems like the ideal place to find such a medium.

Alternative approach

- Call Heart immediately and desperately ask for his help, explaining the situation and hoping that he and his Earthpower Skills can lift or at least lessen this curse on her and her dear lil' Luxi.

[Iron]

Zest just looks confused as he bemusedly shakes your hand. "Wh... what is that Pokemon? I thought I knew every bird in Creshire. Is it some kind of legend? Well, it knows how to dance, I know that much!"

[Iron]

Spending a Will Point is a good way to handle you holding your hands up for that long. I should do more with Will Points in this diceless game.

The roots claw toward the ground, but they are swept along with the power of the legendary Hidden Machine.

Howl doesn't know how to lift this curse, but he promises to make an attempt to deal with the grove soon as Raphael immediately, without waiting for a command, lifts you back up into the sky before the roots can burrow into Elanor Town.

The Violet Tent does have a Madame Knit you remember seeing who can "straighten out your future."

"Ah, I can sense at once that something is wrong, dear girl!" The roots that used to be your fingers writhe in the air, still desperately held away from any objects. "This curse, it is a powerful one, but quite routine. There are many Phantump and Trevenant in this cursed land of ours... There are two ways to remove it. One is to visit each of five Sacred Geometry sites, which I can map for you and you will have to find ways to visit on your own. Another is to purchase this foul-tasting potion from me - and believe me, it is foul... I shan't even tell you what horrifying ingredients are inside... and it will instantly remove the curse with no side effects. The price is $750 for the first one, and another $100 each time afterward. What will it be, child?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Ah. Well, here's hope that Howl will notice that shattered Scimitar Gauntlet when he goes off trying to deal with that grove. Important thing is that he now KNOWS about that grove! "T-Thank you, Howl! \(>o<\ ) Please make sure to bring your best Dark Types and beware of Forest's Curse!!", Shiva shouts at him as dear Raphael lifts her back into the sky again.


Now to the Violet Tent and Madame Knit:

Pheeeeeeew, Shiva's SO glad to see the good madame and being told that the curse she and Chi have been inflicted with is a routine one for her. So glad she could literally cry, but these twig-like fingers make it hard to wipe away any tears of relief.

She contemplates both options provided. "I.... I see... Well, uhm, I think I prefer visiting these Sacred Groves over drinking something foul, yes...! But first, is there enough TIME for me to visit these five Groves at all before the curse becomes too strong to be lifted? I can hardly walk like this, least of all run, but I know that I have to keep moving. My lovely Togekiss and Tropius can fly me, that's an option indeed, but...?"

That's something Shiva wishes to have definitely clarified beforehand, as visiting these five groves surely will take her a few hours. She wanted to vist them anyway, though, and with Treecko/Cyndaquill/the two Sandshrew it should be definitely doable - right?