[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Gym Leader Dagny vs Nathan Final Round!

Starmie comes out shining, blasting its gemlight to reflect off all the steel!

Dagny has less dice, and you can see she is waiting to order just one optimal attack, same as Nathan. But Starmie and Nathan are faster.

Bubble Beam
(2)(3)(1)(6)(4)(1)(6)(5)

Excadrill faints! Dagny recalls him and descends back into her chair. She makes sure to tend to her Pokemon. "I'll be with you in a moment, Nathan."
Out comes an array of healing items, which her Magnemite carefully place, ready for her to administer as efficiently as possible. In no time, her Pokemon are stable and resting. She loads them up on a summoned Metagross and off they go.

"Now. Congratulations, Nathan! You should know by now that I don't hold back. The Pokemon I've chosen were perfectly matched to your skill, and used what I thought were their optimum strategies. I saw that steely glint of the will to battle in your eyes. You deserve this win!"



She places a yellow disc in your hand. It looks a bit like a biscuit of shiny holographic sand, with streaks of light steel blue.

"This is the Ankerite badge. It makes Pokemon sturdier (Vitality 0.5). Fewer trainers have won it than have won Zamboni's badge. You should be proud. And not just for what happened in this battle. Never cease to go as far as you can go."

Nathan earns 22XP for his Pokemon, and 11 for himself.

"You earn this as well." She gives you $800 and three silver Pokeballs.
"These are Steel Balls. They're normally only as effective as a red Poke Ball, but they only break in extreme situations. That makes them quite re-usable. As an added bonus, they are equivalent to a Great Ball against Steel-type Pokemon."

"I am sure we'll end up working together again. Have you given thought to what gym you will challenge next?"

Victory against the Leader!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWKOzpa63-E (Victory VS Gym Leader - Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen)

Nathan's leaning on Kirlia, who's holding out a tissue for Nathan to take.

*achoo*

...he's feeling REALLY tired after that battle...and he wasn't even the one fighting!  Defeating the Steel Wonder...it's not something you hear about often...and he'd had to give it his maximum effort to do so...

*sniff*

"...sorry, please excuse the...sneezing and sniffling.  Caught a...*sniff*...cold yesterday.  Guess I pushed myself a little too hard...didn't want to miss this chance again after spending all day inside yesterday, though.  Thanks for the battle.  Ya know, it's funny...Zamboni didn't hold back against me either...sent his Rotom out and blasted us with a Blizzard...no holding back seems to be a recurring theme with my gym battles...though Chuckles NEVER holds back, as everyone who's faced him knows, so..."

*achoo*

"...next gym?  Probably Tanuki's since we're going to be headed to Cress City through Mt. Sentry after everyone in the group who wants to has had a crack at ya.  And yeah, I'm certain we'll be...*sniff*...back at some point to cooperate with ya once more.  I plan to try and take on all 8 gyms, though, just like my dad did..."

...

"...again, thank you for the battle, Dagny.  I'll stay in touch if anything comes up."

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

Nathan's in the lobby after rearranging his team at the PC in the gym.  As promised, he retrieves Forthright from the PC first.  Orthros, Calam, and Starmie all end up boxed so they can receive care ASAP and get a well deserved rest for doing such a spectacular job.  Nathan also withdraws Pulse and Porygon-Z.  He'd spend a little time working with them later, probably.  Not now, though.  He was still rather tired.

Right now, he was looking forward to seeing that Charmeleon and Pyroar, taking a little time to relax...maybe end up adopting one of them.  Depends on how things go, really...

When he spots Ventus with Michael and Shiva's electric rodents...two things happen.

One: Kirlia gives Ventus a...weird look.  It's not worried, really, but...it sort of is?  He knows Nathan's concerned, particularly after he informed Nathan about what exactly happened with Ventus in that brief moment after Orthros had been sent out...but it doesn't seem like it should cause any problems for Nathan, so...

Two: Nathan happily greets Plusle and Minun (it's been a couple weeks since he's last seen them, and it's always great to have some electric cheerleaders around!), and gives a respectful nod to Michael.  He'd noticed what they'd been doing during the battle, and he appreciated it.

Nathan doesn't start any conversation with Ventus.  He's thankful Ventus was there to play support, but...it's mixed with worry and concern.  Plus, it doesn't take a gut feeling to know Ventus probably has questions for Nathan after this morning...though Nathan has a gut feeling he will anyways (3 Insight, plus Kory's faith in Nathan's instincts, so it's a fitting character trait now!).

"...so...*sniff*...I guess we're heading to the Shelter next?  After you..."

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

At the Shelter, Nathan first inquires about the stories of both Charmeleon and Pyroar.  If he's going to adopt one of them, he'd like to know how they ended up there in the first place.  Should make it easier to interact with them.