[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

He'll ask Umbreon for Shiva one more time.  He then stands, hands the Ultra Ball containing Ditto to Shiva, and backs off to lend credence to his words about not keeping Ditto for himself.

He put in some good words for Shiva and apologized for his blunder.  It's out of his hands now.  He wants to trust Shiva in this situation, but will Umbreon do the same?

Ok, so the proposal now is keeping the family all under Shiva's care, leaving the cave, and heading off together as a family. That and some other factors you'll find out soon will erase the penalties on Empathy.

They agree to come along, looking very tentative for now. They linger near the entrance of the cave. They seem to get along fine with the Meowth packs, but while Ray is lighting up the cave they'll lurk back here at the entrance. From there, we'll see how it goes!

Shiva fails to hold the sobs and sniffles and silent tears back as she looks up once more from the ground to see - and feel - the Ultra Ball containing the mother of the small family in her trembling hand. She seems unable to even speak a word or make a different sound than heartfelt and pained sobbing, but she made a small movement into Nathan's direction that indicated that she would have fallen around his neck in sheer thankfulness if she hadn't backed off already and was therefor out of reach.

When both the male Umbreon and his (we'll make Eevee a male exemplar if that's okay) son very carefully came up to her as if to emphasize that they wish to stay together, she must have found her voice back:

"Nathan... Thank you... Thank you...so much. Rest assured that what you've done here will not be forgotten...." Her voice was weak, defeated and still full of self-blame and -loathing, but in the very moment young Eevee shyly placed a small paw on her knee it felt like the reset-button has been pushed. All timidly she pets his head with a still trembling hand, but her touch is soft.

She leaves the small family alone for now at the entrance, summons Dittumbreon to be with them even while Litwick gets send to Bill's PC. Before she turns towards the murals depicting felines though, she places a Nanab Berry and some of Cottonee's fluff in front of them alongside her remaining 2 Safari Balls. "I'm so sorry for the wrong assumption, you all... But... Thank you. Just thank you for giving me a chance. I promise that I'll take good care of you, help you raising your young, Umbreon... For now, I'll let you have your peace and recover a little from the stress of the battle. When we all head back to town again I'll register you to these Balls, but until then... Enjoy your food." She then turns away to give the small family some privacy as promised while Delphox comes out of his Ball again. (Do they accept the Berry and the fluff as some sort of offer of peace or how do they react?)

Looking around the cave, Shiva actually notes that one of the murals, all mixed up like an Alph puzzle, represents an Eevee or a Flareon in an Ancient style. Some of the other murals have feline or canine features, too. There are ten in all.

With that said and done and some remaining tears dried with the sleeve of her Ranger's Cloak, Shiva was actually all up to help catching some of these tiny Unknown - though when she spotted the others investigating the murals in the cave at first, she shrugged it off and decided to join; so she more casually let her gaze wander over the walls.

One of these paintings especially caught her interest/curiosity, and she faintly gasped as she realized what it represents: Some ancient Eevee or Flareon alongside some other feline/canine(?) creatures... Humm, if it's like that puzzle in Alph Ruins or that one within Mount Sentry, she's definitely trying to solve  it via putting it back together, if it grants a bonus with Azumarill lending her a Helping Hand or Delphox reviving the Chant.