[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Welp, there they were now. When was the last time both of them were in a room for a serious discussion the last time again? Feels like ages ago... Indeed, it gave Shiva waves of both anticipation and cold shivers. Let's hope his backstory is not as tragic as Ven's, she doesn't believe she could take another shock like this.

"The order does not matter to me. Please start with that one most comfortable to you, and end end with theone least comfortable. This way, the battle afterwards will likely take your mind off track of possible negativity. Additionally, feel free to ask me anything you might be curious about."

"You mind Cottonee being around? Fluffball refuses to return to her Pokeball again..." Currently, she was resting on the table beside her owner. Looks like she wasn't very fond of coffee, however.

"Cottonee can listen, I don't mind.  Well, then...starting with the Breeder' License...I almost have enough cash on hand to afford it outright if I were to get one myself.  I plan to spend a little on supplies and save a good portion of it, obviously, but it should be pretty easy to cover half the cost of the License.  That'd be $875 I'd be contributing if I covered half.  Is that sufficient?"

"Next topic: Battle tips.  I saw your battle with Ven.  You did well, but it could have gone a lot better, for sure.  The main thing I noticed was your pokemon were only using one attack at a time.  While that's all well and good to ensure your moves hit, it's not very efficient.  Because Aspis was attacking multiple times every time she moved, there was a lot of pressure you just weren't able to keep up with using just single actions.  Using multiples within the span of a few seconds is key to doing well in battles.  Improving yourself and your pokemon is another big part of it, of course, but a barrage of weaker attacks can be just as strong as one big attack, if not stronger.  Improve your reaction times, and you can do some more interesting things with battles.  Evading attacks entirely, using status moves efficiently, maximizing your damage output...it all becomes much more useful with multiple actions.  If you want to improve, that's the first thing to keep in mind.  

"The second thing to keep in mind about multiple actions is they become more difficult the do the more you attempt to use at the same time.  It's like multitasking.  Doing 2 things at the same time is pretty doable, but 3 is difficult, and 4 and 5 are near impossible for most everyone except the most skilled.  Makes sense, right?  Based on what I saw, you should be able to pull off using 2 at a time somewhat well...but the final thing to keep in mind is that pain makes it more difficult as well.  If the pain makes it too hard to focus, well, there goes any further actions you had planned.  I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, eventually.  There's a couple other nuances to when it's a good idea to use them, and when not too, but generally, it's better to use them than not to as long as you're fairly confident you can land the blows anyways.  If you want, I can hold back a little in our battle.  I'd like it to be a more even fight, and it could be a good chance to see how much of a difference multiple actions make since it'll be on a rather large scale."

He pauses.  The next topic was...

"Ahem...so, that just leaves...the explanation...just...give me a moment...it's a hard topic...when I told Ven, it was...not pretty.  I need to steel myself a little, first..."

He closes his eyes in a brief meditation, which Kirlia joins him in.  The memories are painful...but he attempts to throw aside most of the strong emotion that would cause him to break down, and focus instead on the happier moments.  Were it not for the recent meditation instruction from Ventus and the party he threw the previous night, he might not have been able to succeed.  As he is now, though, he barely manages to contain it.  Barely.  He and Kirlia open their eyes and look at each other.  Kirlia nods.  Nathan has his support.  

Nathan lets out a breath..."Okay, here we go..."

Nathan's Explanation to Shiva:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o2HcIx5c7E

"You undoubtedly noticed the large difference between when Plusle took a lethal wound and Kirlia did.  There's a good reason for that...Kirlia...almost died once before..."  He looks really sad as he says this.  It's really hard on him, and it's taking almost all his willpower to keep it together.  Kirlia is standing really close to him, giving him the best support he can.

"It had been another boring day back on the ranch.  All the usual routine and whatnot.  Feed the horses, clean the stalls, keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get into trouble...to wind down, I'd sometimes go on a walk through the nearby forests at the base of Mt. Molten.  No wild pokemon there (usually), so it wasn't a big deal that I didn't have a pokemon of my own with me.  I'd just thought it was gonna be another stroll, with nothing but my own thoughts for company..."

He pauses again.  This next part...

"And that's when I found it.  A pokemon just laying on that same rock that had been under that one tree for who knows how long.  I couldn't tell what kind of pokemon it was.  It was...battered, bruised...it had been abused and left there for who knows how long.  It was barely breathing...I didn't know what to do at first...there was nobody around, nor were there any wild pokemon...finding what had done that to the poor thing...it would have been near impossible...so I did the only thing I could think to do: picked it up and ran back to Trillium's Pokemon Center as fast as I could, hoping I'd make it in time to save the barely alive pokemon...

"The rain, the shadows, the thunder and lightning, the pokemon I was holding tightly but carefully in my arms...it's not...a pleasant memory.  I barely made it back in time, according to Nurse Joy.  Five minutes later, and he would have been gone...forever..."

Another pause.  Both Nathan and Kirlia are struggling to keep it together now.

"I did make it though, and was informed the pokemon I had found was a Ralts.  I was confused.  Ralts are incredibly rare, and they don't live in the areas near Trillium at all...I didn't always take those walks in the forest every day, either.  It just...felt like I needed one that day...I don't know why I felt like that, but it was a stronger urge than usual...maybe Ralts had been crying out for help...I don't know.  He's never told me anything about what happened before he was left there.  I don't want to ask that of him, though...whatever it was, it nearly killed him...and I don't want him to relive that pain if we can avoid it...

"I took it upon myself to care for Ralts after a week of intense treatments at the Center.  He was scared at first, but he received the best possible living conditions my mom and I could afford.  Mallorn helped me with learning everything I could about the Ralts line and how to care for them, as well as what they were capable of.  Every free moment I had was occupied with either making sure Ralts was okay or learning more about the species for weeks...

"And that's how he became my first true friend...he didn't know why I did what I had...I don't really know either, to be honest, except that it felt like the thing that needed to be done...and he's stuck with me ever since.  When it was clear that he wanted to stay...

Nathan pulls out the dull premier ball and looks at it for a moment.  "...I took the only pokeball I owned, and we registered it to him.  He much prefers being outside though, as I'm sure you've noticed by now."  He puts it away again.

"So, in short...I don't know what I'd do if I lost Kirlia...he's...my best friend in the whole world, and...just thinking that this 'Almanac' or those 'Scimitars' were the ones who nearly killed him before...it makes my blood boil just thinking about it...and if they've done something like that to other pokemon, not just him...they need to be stopped.  That's...why I'm going on this journey...I hadn't even imagined that something as big as what might be a criminal organization would be responsible for the harm done to Kirlia, but I know that I don't want to just sit here and let it happen...but I don't know what I would do if something happened to Kirlia...I'm not sure if I'd be able to go on...

There's tears visible in his eyes now.  "If...something did happen...like it very nearly did a few days ago...I probably wouldn't see any point in continuing...Kirlia means a lot to me, and I to him...I just...can't bear thinking about losing him...."

Some silent sobbing ensues.  It's not extreme, but Nathan's pretty close to breaking.  Just talking about it is hard.  He pulls it together again to say one last thing though...

"It's...also why I pushed so hard trying to find out why he'd evolved...I won't ask again, but I'm sure you can understand...making him happy has been my goal for so long...and to have the rug swept out from under my feet like that...well, I can forgive it, but I'd still like to know why...but again, I won't ask.  Kirlia knows why, and I'm not pressuring him to tell me anything...so why should I do it to you?  It's not fair, and I should know that..."

A few more silent sobs.  He dries his tears, though, and tries to compose himself again with a few breaths. Kirlia's giving him a hug for comfort, though he also needs it as much as Nathan does.

"Alright, there...it's out in the open.  Now both you and Ven know...any questions?  I'll try and do my best to answer..."