[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Mr. Morgusi bids you a fond goodbye, though you aren't sure why he should be so fond of you already.

Route 12 and 13 travel together for a time, just after the Route Gate.. It's still drizzling, though the rain has backed off enough that an umbrella or hat can protect you. At this eastern end, the route's bricks are often replaced with little murals or pieces of mural, or sometimes even just pretty glass bricks. Much like Cress City.

Quite a few of the bricks are missing, and Grass types sometimes grow up through them.

The Pokemon on this route are fairly tame. Tanuki's influence still shows in a preoponderance of Normal types, but the ones out here are usually derived from escapees several generations ago.

Oh yeah, Geodude is here again. He seems happy that his "friends" are traveling a Route once more!

You know Bill's house is just a few miles NW of here. Nathan knows that Route 12 goes up to Liverwort in that direction, passing over a low spur of the Great Divide. It is steep, but there are maintained campsites along the way, and a few famous tarns and streams with excellent fishing.

Route 13 to Teazel Valley is SW of this junction. That road passes under/through the Great Divide's spur, dropping elevation constantly to reach the lows of the valley.

West of the junction is a big cliff face with many huge iron cubes set into it. It wasn't there several years ago when Nathan last passed this way. It is apparently a private Almanac research station, very tightly secured. Barbed wire, alarms, fences, and the famous Almanac Braviary and Decidueye flying distantly overhead. (Both are etched on the back of Shiva's copy.) It's way outside of city limits.

It looks foreboding. But worst of all is Gallade's reaction. He stiffens and his emotions turn drastically inward. Pain flows through the empathic link between him to Nathan. Gallade leaps up on a boulder, narrows his eyes, and points a dramatic challenge at the research facility.

Nathan makes sure to bid his uncle farewell for now as well.  No doubt they'll see each other again.  Though the goodbyes are likely just as awkward as the hellos were.

Nathan waves to Geodude.  He likes the Rock pokemon's company quite a lot.

Routes 12 and 13: Route 15 - Pokemon X and Y
Sign Text: Where Roads, Art, and Stories Intertwine


Everything starts as they normally do as the group starts heading in the direction of Bill's place.  "Okay, so Bill's going to be a short ways away from here, just off of Route 12.  12 heads to Liverwort, though, so we'll need to double back and go down 13 to reach..."

...and that's when Gallade sees the Almanac Research Facility.

The Pain that Nathan feels from Gallade takes effect immediately.  It's quite possibly the worst pain he's ever experienced in his entire life so far.  He stops talking immediately, grits his teeth, and tries his absolute best to not scream or cry out in response.  Or retch, since it's enough pain to make him start feeling a little sick again.  And that's likely only a part of what Gallade must have experienced when he was presumably being 'studied'.

As Gallade points and issues his silent challenge to Almanac, Nathan walks up to that boulder as well to stand next to his best friend despite feeling a little overwhelmed and/or woozy by the sudden surge of emotion that only he can really feel the true extent of (Shiva might feel a part of it, but I'm inclined to say it won't hit her nearly as hard because it's not as personal for her as it is for Nathan).  Gallade hops down moments later to steady Nathan and make sure he's okay.  Whoops, he might have accidentally overdone that a little and let his emotions get the better of him...

"...it's okay, Gallade.  You did the same for me, so I can bear this for ya.  We'll set 'em straight one day."

Gallade hesitates for a moment, then nods and goes back to staring at the Research Facility with narrowed eyes.

When Terra asks what's going on, Nathan explains.  "...you remember how I said I found Ralts nearly dead a year ago?  Almanac was the group that apparently did that to him.  All presumably as a part of their 'research' on the Ralts line."

Nathan joins Gallade in staring at the facility.  The initial spike in pain and anger was a little overwhelming at first, but it's settled down slightly, particularly since Nathan now knows to expect it in this area.  It's obvious from how Nathan is talking though that it's still far from comfortable.

"...and their methods in general are very...cold.  They have no regard for pokemon as individuals.  They're just tools to Almanac.  Never friends.  And it's especially apparent when you read their entries on the Ralts line.  If they can't get a Ralts or one of its evolutions to behave and serve a particular individual, they effectively drug the pokemon to 'persuade' it to.  Despicable..."

He falls silent at that point.  Those are the people that seemingly hurt and nearly killed his best friend.  All in the name of science for science's sake...

Blegh.