[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

That screech does get Nathan to almost immediately move his hands to covering his ears until the screeching stops.  Nathan's pokemon do the same, but Ralts in particular is NOT enjoying that noise at ALL.  He looks about ready to use Hypnosis on that Ghost and be done with it, get some peace and quiet that way.

It wasn't lost on Nathan that Ventus was feelin' like he'd been caught red-handed in that surprise.  As soon as the screeching's stopped, Nathan carefully takes his hands off his ears, keeps them raised and near his head so he looks non-threatening to the ghost...

"...Ventus, the Skull Ruins are far, far more dangerous than any location you've probably been to.  Going there is a death sentence to all but the most experienced of trainers.  Even the Champion avoids it unless he has a VERY good reason to go there."

Wait a sec...

This ghost doesn't seem to be...aggressive...

Nathan lowers his hands.

"...Ventus...where'd you get this Misdreavus from?  And...why were you in the Skull Ruins if you didn't catch this Misdreavus there?"

...Nathan takes the moment to take a stab at answering his own question, actually, since Ventus is probably still trying to figure out how to respond.  Ralts is a little too spooked to properly focus right now, so he's hugging Furret's warm, furry side.

"...scouting the place out or looking for goodies, I assume?  Thought you'd be fine?  Look, I'm glad you're okay, but...trust me when I say there's nothing of value in there that's worth the trouble it would take to get it.  Okay?  Don't.  Go there.  It'll do nothing but create negative emotions...and every trip could be your last..."

...

"...did anyone get hurt?  Anyone at all?  Someone probably took a nasty ghost type move, right?  I've read that ghost type attacks get amplified to bone chilling levels while in the Ruins...that it damages the target's very soul instead of their body...*shudder*...a common thing that survivors do is visit the Cathedral afterwards.  You know, the one in this city.  The warmth of that place...it's so...bright and comforting...and it's so...open and wonderful...I can understand why they say it helps after having finally gone there myself..."

And Nathan's lost in thought again as he remembers the good time he had at the Cathedral just yesterday.  Aaaaahhh, that helps...

Notably, Emolga's also stopped chittering for the time being since Misdreavus showed up.

Once Nathan let go of his deathgrip on her master, Malphena gave the boy one last long and withering look, her spectral hair waving slightly around to mirror her irritation at his stunt, before she let out a *Hmpt!* and floated back over to Ventus, this time right by his side and watching over proceedings. Ralts' animosity/annoyance toward her didn't go unnoticed, though, as she briefly stopped to mockingly stick her tongue at him, showing in no way was she intimidate by the smol empath. If he tried anything funny but not really way, she'd swiftly show him his place on the Type Totem Pole and put him there: riiiiiight below her! Beware, or you are in for a scaaaaare little Psychic~!

Unlike the young scholar, Ventus was entirely unaffected by his banshee's wails, as the shock they put him in + his experience in working in HIGHLY noisy settings (Try shouting over the din of an angry Haxorous semi frequently!) left him inured to it for the most part. Coupled with the boy's next couple of statement, it DID snap manage to snap him out of it, causing him to slowly respond to the first, still sounding a bit ruffled throughout and.....surprised? ....Haunted?

".......I've explored and traversed my share of hazardous areas in the line of my research, including the Relic Castle outside of Nimbasa, which are quite similar to the Skull Ruins once you delve into them deep enough. .......I'm inclined more inclined to agree with you, though, as even the darkest depth of those ruins didn't carry the same aura of.....malicious evil , to be blunt. Cursed doesn't even began describe what I felt there. It almost felt......felt defiled , and....hungry ......."

A imperceptible shiver raced through his frame, before he quash it and the dreadful feelings that generated such a reaction, and fully recomposed himself before he moved on to answer their inquiries.

"Ahem.....as I was about to say before I was......interrupted, this is Miss Malphena, or Malphena for short Nathan. To begin, I was in Corsage just hours ago, searching the place to conduct some business, when just as I was passing by Chuckle's Gym she and her former trainer - a Youngster I never bothered to get the name of - were......'escorted' out by an Overgrown Haunter after being soundly whipped by the humorless man. I saw potential in her that I knew I could properly harness unlike her hapless trainer, and I felt quite sympathetic to their plight, so I approached them and offered a generous trade for both her and to provide some much needed support. He happily agreed, and the rest is history."

"As for why I went to the Skull Ruins.....well, you are sorta correct in a roundabout manner. Truth be told, I detected something while I was searching for Rare Pokémon in the area with Valder, and decided to go investigate to see what it was. A rather foolish move in hindsight, for it lead me straight to Barrows Down and being ambushed by two particularly wicked Haunter, though thankfully Michael was able to put them to Sleep and was able to dispatch them quickly along with Apsis. I captured the two Ghosts, and after seeing first hand what lurked in the Skull Ruins I decided to beat a hasty retreat. More over, its what prompted my trip to Corsage to begin with, as I decided to obtain a Ghost type myself to better defend myself in the future, when it comes times for us to venture forth into its teneborous depths. Now that I've been there, I desperately hope that is a long time coming..... Still, I say it was a worthwhile trip altogether, since I learned first hand why the Skull Ruins have well earned its reputation, and was able to add my lovely sister to my team. Hopefully we'll get along wonderfully together, right Malphena?"

The mischevious spirit let out an *Eeeee!* of agreement, earning her a fond smile and a tossling of her hair, leaving her giggling at the sensation. That felt wield....but nice at the same time! More please, tehe!

During that whole response, Ventus was extremely careful to project a 'genuine' feeling of sincerity, honestly, and truthfulness in his words, taking caring that it laced his physical, verbal, and emotional responses while not coming across as fake. He mainly did this to conceal from Ralts (And Nathan by extension) his true reasons for being in the area, as no doubt they would react......poorly to the real reason he was in the area. That, and its not as if he's not telling them the truth.....he's just not being entirely forth coming and honest with ALL his story. (Or, don't have Nathan start interogatting/getting suspicious over this, as that will just lead to trouble that neither of us want to deal with. Up to you, though.....)

Their next comments about the tell tell symptoms of Ghost type damage in the Skull Ruins area and treating it earned him a thoughtful frown, until he nodded his head abruptly and crossed his arms.

"I'll have to pay it a visit then sooner rather than later, as Apsis did suffer from a particularly potent Shadow Ball from one of those Haunter. Worship does a soul good, after all. ..............However, that is a entirely another topic to deal with at my own discresion, and what I want to steer back our discussion to the original reason I approached you: that Icy Wind TM you own."

Ventus paused for a moment to let them re-rail themselves like he did, before continuing onwards in a soft tone.

"You may or may not be aware of this, but the Misdreavus line is capable of learning a wide variety of Elemental attack, with one of which being the afformentioned Ice move. However, they do not naturally learn such coverage, and most of their movepool leaves them at the mercy of Dark and Normal Pokemon, save its scant few Psychic moves for the plainer of the two types. As such, now that I'm aware you are in possession of move that would neatly alieviate the grief of her facing those foes on more even footer, I wish to obtain it for myself. The questions that remain, though, is if you are willing to part with it, and if so, at what price? I can't afford much in the way of Poke or capital to directly purchase it, but I'm more than willing to do a favor for it in exchange, so long as its within my power and reasonable."

Silence, save the small *Eep!* of surprise from the banshee at the revelation that her master desires to help her out against those nasty/annoying types, though that soon faded away as they closed their mouth in a delight smile. When he said he would take good care, she thought that it would only extend to hunting, but to plan so far ahead for her wellbeing in battle just HOURS after first meeting each other.....it felt nice. Oh yes, she's definitely  going to get along juuuust fine with her new trainer, especially if he keeps treating her THIS considerately~

Oh, and Ventus completely fails to notice Nathan's newest companion Emolga, as his mind has been frequently distracted by the sudden swerves in topic/emotion to the point miss them entirely. Malphena didn't share this lack of awareness, though choose to ignore them in favor of her master right now.