[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Turning into bed rather late, Ventus woke up feeling particularly groggy in the morning. The researcher always woke up earlier than most, a trait the he both enjoyed and despised. On one hand, it enabled him to get started much sooner on a day's research and preparations than a vast majority of people (Without some form of caffeinated beverage, that is). The downside, of course, means that if he doesn't head off to bed early, he'll end up getting far less sleep than a normal person would, since his internal alarm clock cares not if he had to pull an all nighter.

Mumbling sleeply to himself, he head off to the bathroom to give himself a cold shower (Always shocks himself awake!), then gets dressed as quickly. While pulling his pants on, the Hard Stone that he received from the treacherous Shuckle Ball game fell out of one of the pockets. Crouching down to pick it up, he stared at it for a couple seconds, before an idea hit him (He was still a bit sleepy, so cut him so slack!).

"What is this thing...? Oh, its the Hard Stone I won at that blasted game. I don't have any Rock types that can take advantage of it, so its not going to be too much of use...wait. Raphael can learn Ancient Power, if I recall correctly. Its possible I can use this stone to help accelerate the learning process! Well, it will be a while before the rest get up, so I'll take the time to execute this idea with my little angel!" Ventus said to himself, already pulling out the chicks Pokeball. Fastfoward a half hour later, and he was having a bit of a struggle teaching the little guy.

'Mechanically, using Ancient Power is similar to summoning the energy require for Metronome, but it appear that it must be sufficiently different enough to give my child trouble, even with the study aid. We'll try again at a later date,' the researcher though, patting Raphael on the head and giving them a Razz-Bulk Poffin for the good effort on their part. Returning them to their Pokeball, Ventus got himself a hearty breakfast, before meandering over to the lobby. Sitting at his usual spot he waited on the others to get up, reading the notes he has already taken on the Pokémon of this region.

He could, at the very least, tell that Pokémon and people here had a far more personal relationship here than in other regions, even counting Unova. 'I wonder what could have sparked such close bonds and strong affections between people and the creatures here? In Unova, Reshirem, Zekrom and Kyrum guidance help facilitate our attitude towards our Pokémon, but what is the source here? Further research is required before I find that out...' Ventus ponder, writing down his thoughts in the margins of his notes. Not entirely professional writing technique, but who was watching?

Eventually the whole group reunited. Nathan seemed standoffish, but he didn't feel any particularly hostile feelings from him, so he decided that his relationship with him was fine...mostly. Shiva felt cheerful and energetic, though she hid it behind her usual demureness. Larry seemed rather eager to get going, for reasons he can't quite understand, while Valder was standing to the side, waitng for everyone to move out. 'That reminds me, I have to work on getting more money to pay him, otherwise he might decide to take leave of us. Hopefully I won't get trapped in a money sinkhole in the future.'

With everyone together, he was ready to set out in whatever direction the group wanted to go.