[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Ventus was enjoying the rain outside, trying to forget the bad first impression he made with young Nathan. He signed, carefully rubbing the ridges of his Togepi's spine. Despite the wetness, he found the lab surroundings quite peaceful, and it certainy helped get his thoughts in order. Raphael certainly didn't seem to mind the rain, and even giggled and clapped its hand when it thundered. 'Such a brave little baby, they'll grow up to be a strong Pokémon, I'll make sure of it,' he thought, looking happily at Raphael, before his mind wandered over to Nathan.

'It appears that he is not the most sociable of people, and is rather defensive over his Ralts. They share a intensely close bond together, reacting to one another's moods almost instinctively. Strange. The Ralts line are known for their remarkable empathy, but their level partnership is something seldom seen until several year, sometimes decades go by. What could have prompted a baby Ralts to take to Nathan so quickly, I wonder." Ventus thought to himself, mulling over what he observed of their behavior. Since his intial greetings with him exploded in his face, he'll have to take it slowly with him, and build up more trust between them before he can get to the bottom of their troubles. "I just hope everything turns out alright between us; I just find out what caused him to become...unhinged when Almanac came up, and help through his problem however I can. All I can now is just wait..." he mournfully thought, not entirely free from his worry. He continued to wait outside, eyes now closed as he become more and more drenched, until the rest of the party began to congregate outside.

Quickly put a smile on his face, so as to worry anyone about him, he began to leave with them, when his group was stopped by a somewhat frantic Mallorn. After giving them their trainer cards and a brief tutorial on them, he finally sent them on their way. He was a little  surprised he forgot something so basic in the first place, but was even more so when Nathan came up and smoothed things over with him. Ventus smile on his face turned genuine as he hummed quietly in joy, happy that he had not burned a bridge between them. " Ah, no need to fret about me, Nathan. I have a bad habit of being overbearing, so this isn't the first time I've gone and made a mountain out of a Dugtrio hill. All I just wish is that we get along together, and that I can help when you need it," Ven quietly said.

He then began to chuckle to himself, looking adoringly at Raphael, before saying to Nathan "Ah yes, my dear Raphael. While I don't find it very noteworthy taking care of a baby Pokémon, I can see why others consider it a remarkable thing, given a Togepi's rareness and remarkable sensitivity towards others. There is story about how I acquired this guy, actually. This story begins when I was about through with my Doctorial work. I was studying racial tension between native Unovians and immigrant Kantoans, and the underling causes of such hostility, and was in the park reviewing my day's notes underneath a nice shady tree, when I heard a faint cry that sounded distressed. I stopped what I was doing and began to look around, trying to pinpoint where I heard it. There was no one around me, so I was confused where it came from, until I heard it again and happened to look up. Above me, stuck between a few tree branches, was a Togekiss! It looked it had crashed into the tree and gotten its wing injured, and was quietly crying in pain of its injuries!"

"Needless to say, I literealy dropped what I was doing and scrambled to get it out of their safely. It was quite difficult, as it quite large and still struggling in the branches, but I managed to calm it down and carry it down from the tree. I look over its injury, gently straightening out its wing and bandaged from what I remember form the Pokémon Health class I took, then gave it a few Sitrus Berries I kept on hand to feed the local wildlife. Once that was done and the Togekiss had rested a bit from its recent plight, I carried it over to the nearest Pokémon center, and left it in their care. That was the last I heard of it for a couple of years, when someone contacted me for a meeting recently. Turns outs that Togekiss was some woman's Pokémon, and that person tracked me down and wanted to thank me in person for helping rescue their Pokémon. I think her name was Cynthia, if I remembered correctly, and she had loveliest blond hair imaginable. She wanted to give me one of her Togekiss' egg in thanks, and while I tried to turn her down, she was quite insistent in her offer. A few month later, and I had myself a baby Togepi, named them Raphael, and the rest, as they say, was history."

Ventus wrapped up his story to Nathan, looking down happily at his Pokémon. He never expected get his first Pokémon quite like this, but It goes to show how simple acts of kindness go a long way. 'If only the whole world was so kind,' Ventus thought, before turning towards Vincent. "My friend, perhaps while they are given instruction by that Nurse joy, we can go out and check on that Ekans problem? While I might not look like it, but I do have some experience with handling Pokémon, and your a Police Officer, so together we should be make some headway into this matter."

Well, that was a story Nathan certainly hadn't expected to hear.  Ventus, this researcher who barely looked like one, saving Cynthia's Togekiss?!  Well then...but what surprised him more was that Ventus hadn't recognized her.  Just about everyone knew who she was, seeing as she's the Champion of the Sinnoh region...

And then he heard Ventus's comment about potentially joining in on helping with the Ekans problem.  "You sure that's a good idea, Ventus?  That's a nest of poisonous snakes you'd be walking into, with nothing but a fairy type with only 2 possible moves to potentially defend itself with, one of which is an egg move it's unlikely to have, and the 2nd being the completely random metronome after it's gained some experience battling, which I don't think Raphael has any yet.  And if those Ekans have even a little bit of experience, they'll know poison sting.  Sounds rather unfavorable for you."