[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The rain continues to fall as you leave the lab. The lightning has slackened, but has not halted, especially up toward the dangerous slopes of Mt. Ember.

Mallorn's labcoat becomes sodden as he chases after you into the rain.
"By the Six and the Four! I almost forgot! You also get your trainer cards here: each has a holographic picture of yourself which moves between two poses, as well as basic info about you. Many trainers choose a Trainertag, a nickname that describes them! Like my nephews, Riff and Raff. You can change this exactly once, at any Pokemon Center. Let me know if you want your Trainercard to read something other than your given name; I can print one out right now. Otherwise, you are ready for your journey."

"Good luck! Stay safe! Be EXCELLENT to each other!!"

He waves you on your way after passing out appropriate trainer cards.

The Pokedexes you have purchased are waterproof, luckily. The water glints on their smooth, dark-red surface. Flecks of holographic material glint in the casing whenever the streetlights play over them.
A chubby fellow with brown hair streaked with shinier red highlights grins when he sees your Pokedexes, and flashes his own. "These things get better every year. Isn't technology incredible?"

To leave Trillium Town (in any direction) without trespassing on Mt. Ember, one must first head south through a narrow mountain path, often choked with Long Grass. From the top of this pass, four roads and a river are visible.

To the east, Route 01 leads to Ginger Town. Many new trainers take it, for it offers mild wild Pokemon, and a "Newbie Zone" extends from Trillium Town's northern border all the way to Ginger Town. In this particular zone, inflicting the Poison status condition is strictly forbidden by the Pokemon League. Unfortunately, the rule does not seem to work on wild Pokemon. Newbie Zones can be found in various parts of the map.

The Great River Greenbriar, swollen with rain, follows the path of Route 01. Fishing is supposed to be excellent in this river, but the dangerous Pokemon come out when it is nearing the limits of its banks and rushing at its fastest.

Route 05 goes straight south. It is known as Breakneck Ridge, for it is a steep passage along a spur of the Divide. In this direction, it is downhill. There are wild Pokemon here; you can see huge Graveler and Machoke rearranging the mountain to suit them. When mounted, it's usually pretty easy to outrun them, though, because you can travel downhill at such great speed.

Route 06 to the west. This passes through the Earthstar Forest, which you can almost see growing in this heavy rain. From your great height, you can actually see the line of rain where it stops at Camas Desert beyond the forest.

The most famous road is the legendary Borealis Road, which runs along Route 01 for a mile or two. Only trainers with at least 6 gym badges are allowed to pursue its winding, dangerous path to where the Pokemon League awaits.

In the narrow pass of Trillium Town, or in the town proper, a few trainers await, their eyes alight with the steely glint of prospective battle. Even the lovely and peaceful Nurse Joy has that warlike look in her eyes as she volunteers to train with any new trainers.