[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Well, this was partly amusing and partly unpleasant to see, but in the end the amused side won by a hair, causing Shiva to coyly smile behind the pages. "There is no need to give me such a look, Charmeleon. Please remember what I've been trying to show you yesterday, it's not always pure power and strenght that leads you on the trail of victory." She doesn't elaborate further on this, but she's positive that the fierly lizard does understand what she meant. A Charzard is also known to...leave weaker foes alone, as far as she knew - while on second glance this meant calling her 'weak' in comparison, it made her feel a little safe from this not-dragon Pokemon's rage and fire.

The opening of him (Nathan) having beaten Dagny visibly delighted her, and with Swiftfire being recalled and the bright sunlight having returned back to normal again, Shiva felt fine to actually step forward and pat him on the right shoulder as a sign of congratulation and appreciation. The smile remained. "Pleasant news to hear, indeed!" Yes, this was practically all that she said concerning this, but it was obvious that she meant the congrats honestly. He's by...far stronger than she was in that battle just before... But if even he won 'by a hair', then Dagny must be a tough nut to crack... Will she be able to stand a chance? She didn't knew, but "I wanted to challenge her tomorrow night, as I only have a half shift tomorrow and can accept Gothy into my care afterwards... But I'm having a few errands before I can enter this...steelcage of a Gym for the Final Act." About her very subtle worry whether she'll be able to do well she didn't speak, nor about how these 5 more Gyms got her thinking. Shall she...? But how and why... "Eh, anyway, has she used that...Delta Porygon against you?"

Ven's desire to speak with him now caused Shiva to slightly frown in return. If he requests such a thing after she KNOWS how much hassle he had after speaking and arguing with Nathan over and over, openly and in backrooms, then it must be...important. ....She wanted to be in, even if she wasn't expressing this. Instead, she went for a different approach. "Huh, alright... Well, mind if I'll wait with you? There... is a thing or are a few thing's I'd like to ask him then. For example, the view a spectator gets is relatively different from the one of the challenger."

Charmeleon crosses his arms and looks away.  Yeah, yeah, he's got the idea...

"I wouldn't worry too much about him.  I'll temper him into a fine Charizard.

Nathan shakes his head.  "No, no Delta Porygon.  She used stronger stuff than that against me.  A Sand Force Excadrill with Sandstorm, Drill Run, and Earthquake.  A Probopass with Zap Cannon.  And to top it all off, her signature, golden, Sturdy Magnezone.  Her pokemon are slow, but tough, and they know how to fight, and both traits help make up for their poor speed.  She compensated for her slightly above average power with high powered attacks and strategies that compensated for her pokemons' weaknesses."

Kirlia gives Shiva a reassuring smile and a nod.  Forthright doesn't quite understand what's going on...

"Don't worry too much about your odds of winning, though.  Yes, she's prepared, experienced, and doesn't hold back much, but she'll give you a fair battle.  You'll do just fine.  With Drain Punch, Pancham is going to be sturdier than he looks and hitting like a truck.  With Blaze, Braixen will be burning holes in her Steel types should you play him correctly.  Marill's Bubblebeam should do wonders against her anti-fire pokemon.  You get to bring a full team of 6 with you, use 3 of them, and use one item per round of combat.  No wound healing items like Potions, though a held Sitrus Berry would be fine.  Oh, and Lethal damage is allowed if it helps you win somehow.  Used that to my advantage to set half of her Excadrill on fire with a Flamethrower.  Made it easier to take down."

...

Nathan shrugs.  Kirlia gives Shiva a questioning look.  But no objections are made at this time.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Its is as Nathan said my dear, so I would head his advice and not overly fret about your upcomming battle against Dagney. So long as you put as much care and attention into your battle strategy as you do with your Pokémon, you'll make a great showing no doubt at all!" Ventus replied to her, as he suddenly appeared inexplicitly out of nowhere and clasped the young scholar on the shoulder after they gave their own recount/assessment of his fierce assault against Dagney's reinforced defenses. He gave Charmeleon a respectful nod of his head, acknowledging them as the boy's newest party member, before resuming speaking. "Her defenders may possess fortitude that rivals my own, but from what I saw they were painfully slow compared to the fleetness of Nathan's own blitzkerg assault. Still, it did afford her plenty of opportunities to nearly turn the tide of battle decidedly into her favor, but he always managed to make miraculous turnabouts or received a windfall and prevailed regardless. From what I saw, I'd swear it was as if Reshirim themselves ordained you would be the victor of that fight, with how fortunate you were throughout it! Don't you agree, Nathan?"

The sociologist said this with a completely affable and delighted smile the was completely honest as he briefly gazed upon Nathan......but never the less carried a certain measure of....reservation. As if it came with a qualifier of some sort, or something was occupying the empath's mind that colored his expression that way; it was hard to tell exactly what, given how closely he guarded his emotion right now. He then looked over to Shiva and gave her a completely different and much more carefree smile, showing this a phenomena that the boy alone would experience/notice.

"Marill, Braixen, and Pancham are the optimal choices for your battle, as they covered the whole spectrum of offensive and defensive options against Steel types, sans Ground, and can take care of point counters on her team like Magnezone and Probopass, and perhaps even a Bug/Steel, Ferrothorn, Doublade, or  Empoleon if she has those in reserve! From what I saw she play an equal game of attrition and precisely checking her opponents, so the key to defeating her is continually putting pressure on her so she hardly has time to recover and muster up a sufficient counter. Debilitating her Pokémon would also work well to undermine her, but from what I saw she equally capable of doing it to yours as well, so keep that in mind and a Status Healing Item handy just in case!"

He punctuated this statement by clasping his hand together and grinning slightly brighter, before he turned one last time to Nathan and gave him a friendly and expectant look. "Sorry for keeping you waiting thus far, but I've completed all my assigned tasks for the day, so I'm ready to return to the Center and commence talking about the extent both our historical Knowledge lay! I can't just wait to eagerly began our discussion!"

Order: Ambush interject into the conversation with Ven's own views on the matter, before subtly asking Nathan to return with him to the Center to have their private discussion in such a way to completely bore/disinterest Shiva , since she doesn't like history at all and he's broadcasting completely 'normal' to her. While I don't mind Shiva enters into the conversation, he very much does since he wants to speak freely and grill Nathan for the details without worrying her! Of course, that likely won't work, but hey, have to play my character, you know?