[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Seeing yet another mysterious Pokémon and the title of the sections they were held under, Ventus couldn't help but ask them with a curious frown and scrunched up eyebrows: "Nathan, what Pokémon are you sketching into your journal? I've never seen their kind before, which is an oddity given my education, so if you don't mind to inform me what they are and a little bit about them....?"

Their non-chalant response almost earned them a raised eyebrow from the empath, the words 'Are you sure?' hanging off the very tip of his tongue, but restrained both impulses and simply nodded their head. If they were fine and relaxed now, there was no need for him to pry any further, or start a discussion that could end up being a buzz kill for the boy. Sure, he was naturelly intrigued as to which Pokémon they conducted the ritual, but that would soon become apparent to him once he examines the feelings/emotion/behavior of them over time. He wasn't a Pokémon Sociologist AND an Empath, after all!

However, he couldn't help but give Nathan scrunched up look of confusion, surprise, and mild discontent as they only agreed to the bare minimum of his request, and tacked on condition that positively reeked of distrust of his ability to handle at that. They very well knew he was [i]damn [/i]good at caring/handling Disobedient Pokémon, and they equally knew of his....talent to conduct 'special' trades with no hassle, so why was he so...…[i]difficult [/i]about it. He honestly didn't know whether to feel somewhat insulted, more annoyed, or [i]impressed [/i]with how cautious the boy was being about the HM distribution, but eventually settled into exasperated acceptance as he let out a very put upon *Sigh* and nodded his head.

".....Your faith my expertise and ability to handle this all non-withstanding, I agree to your....terms. I have counter conditions of my own you, however. First,[b] you must hide the HM somewhere that can't easily be discovered for roughly a couple days worth of time, as I do not want to chance Dagney conducting a random search of our persons and confiscating that HM, or even knowing we have had contact with it if possible.[/b] Since the League is draconian about those Moves, and the Steel Wonder is closely associated with them ('And has her own diverse and private interests. Not that I mind, but the boy might...'), so I don't want us to lose possession of it so easily, or start being closely monitored by them. Second,[b] let me handle talking with Dagney for the most part, as I want to minimize the chance she grows suspicious of my gift.[/b] If she address you personally, feel free to respond, but try to keep things succient and concise....."

Ven rubbed his temples while saying this, as what was going to be a private and fairly quick affair now has been greatly complicated, which intensified his minor headache he received from Antheneum going through that time whammy event (not that he knows it was THAT specifically). Oy vie.....

"...honestly, I don't know how Dagny might react.  I'd like to believe there's enough mutual trust, and that seems to have been the case so far..."

He closes his eyes, thinking.

"...I think I have a decent spot to put it for a short time.  Technically, the safest place for it is on our persons now that we've removed it from its original hiding spot, but putting it away for a day or two might not be totally unwarranted...I'm hoping it's unnecessary, though..."

...

"...these are powerful moves, Ventus.  My dad left the Fly HM in the Nature Preserve with good reason.  I have no problems with keeping this as quiet as possible.  The less unnecessary noise we make, the better."

Nathan turns back to his journal and starts talking about what he's drawing.

"I'm drawing some of the Tandorian pokemon that have been imported to the region for various reasons.  This little bug pokemon is a Cubbug.  Stowed away on a fruit shipment.  This rat pokemon is a Ratsy.  Venesi considers them pests since they not only do many of the same things as Rattata and other rat pokemon, but also leave graffiti everywhere with those tails of theirs.  Ironically, they're somewhat similar to Smeargle because of those tails, though, and are valuable to trainers who properly tame them, so Venesi can never be totally rid of them.  The black sheep is a Baashaun.  They're easily the most common Tandorian pokemon in Creshire because they're valued for their wool.  It's a little bit rougher than a Mareep's, but it's used in a lot of different things, from clothing to Destiny Knots.  The red parrot pokemon is a Pahar.  Very popular with bucaneers as a companion, and the feathers make great hats, apparently.  The Secular Cathedral in Cress actually has a few that go around lighting all the candles.  The spooky skeleton pokemon is a Swabone.  Very popular with pirates in Tandor, and popular shipworkers in general.  Means they travel a lot, and sometimes end up settling down in some of the regions they travel to, though that wasn't ever the main purpose of bringing them aboard the ships in the first place.  This one..."

Nathan points at the picture labeled 'Electruxo'.

"...is easily my favorite water type.  Electruxo.  One of Tandor's starter pokemon, and I've heard it has an affinity for Mega Evolution.  Was brought over on ships much like Swabone, though the sailors mainly used it for its ability to use electromagnetic waves as a radar system of sorts.  Heh...that'd certainly be helpful, thinking about it...and then there's this little gal here."

He points at the picture labeled 'Masking'.

"...don't really know a whole lot about this one.  No solid ideas how it made it's way over to the region, don't really know much about it beyond the basic moveset, ability, and type information...I'm still learning about it."

Nathan has a small smile on his face as he's talking about Masking. He doesn't seem to be frustrated at the lack of concrete information on the rare species.