[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

At this point in time, Nathan's currently training Emolga, Swiftfire, and Gallade.  Emolga does kinda miss the trees of his old home, but there's lots and lots of space for him to fly around here!  Wheeeee!!

And the same goes for Swiftfire with the open space.  She's able to run around to her heart's content with so much unoccupied ground!

Gallade, meanwhile, is running through the motions of some of his techniques.  While the area isn't well suited to it, rusty techniques are no better than a dull blade.  While most of the attacks he's practicing involve slashing in some manner or concentrating his psychic abilities on a specific task, he's working on adding some punches into his regular routine!  Now that he's finally learned Drain Punch, he wants to get some good use out of it!

As for Nathan himself...he's standing back and watching the different ways his pokemon train.  Mostly to make sure they're both having fun and working hard, but also partially because it makes him happy to see pokemon enjoying themselves.  He's also occasionally glancing in an entirely different direction to check on Zippy and Princess as they zip around the area collecting oodles of Honey and scouting, but the bulk of his attention is on the three pokemon that are training.
...well, until Terra approaches to ask him about the whereabouts of the rest of the group, that is.

"...everyone else?  Ummmm...sorry, can't say I saw where they went...kinda lost track of them while I was talking with Belle and Tramp, to be honest...I'm sure they're fine, though.  Teazel Valley is hardly the wildest place we've been to.  And the Rangers are always on duty and never far away in this area.  The place is a basically a League run nature preserve of sorts, after all."  Nathan doesn't list any examples of wilder places, but he shouldn't have to, given the group literally just visited a few places practically untouched by human civilization in any significant manner.  And the Safari Zone itself is much wilder than the gateway to it, particularly when you get deeper in.

The Terra asks about how Nathan is doing, and the subject in question turns to look at his pokemon while they Train.  "Well, you said it already.  Doing okay enough.  Just trying to prepare for the Safari Cup tomorrow."

Then Nathan pulls his wallet out of his pocket and starts flipping through the contents, counting in his head, not really paying too much attention to Terra right now.  Given that Terra's money savvy, he can probably tell that Nathan has a little over $5k at a glance.  Maybe almost $6k.

"...and figure out what supplies I'm going to need to buy...and how to afford it...maybe I shouldn't have bought that Dragon Fang back in Cress...or maybe those 2 Ultra Balls..."

Basically, Nathan's just thinking out loud at the moment, not specifically asking Terra for anything.

EDIT: Also, whoops!  Just realized I subtracted more money than I should have when I purchased those Ultra Balls!  Should have been $2.4k for 2 of them, not $3k!  Adding that $600 back to Nathan's funds now to correct that, and the post where I did shopping in Cress has been corrected as well!

*Flashback!*

The scene of Nathan's Pokemon having fun during their time training easily brings a small smile to Terra's face too. That sort of combination of hard work, passion, and fulfillment is exactly the sort of thing he likes seeing in almost any activity, as it shows not only are the people involved dedicated to improving themselves, but enjoying the effort too! 

Emolga's mere existence naturally draws the sagely monk's attention, as he's naturally curious about Pokemon he's never seen before.

'Hm...seems to be Flying Electric type. Like......mix between a Plusle and Zubat. Interesting......'

Nathan's response initially only strengthened his fears/concerns over the rest of the group's safety, judging by his frown growing more severe by the second. That changed quickly when they said that T.V. was essentially a safe enough area for anyone to wander about if they minded their surroundings, causing him to pause and mull things over, before slowly nodding back to the boy, tension leaving as he calmed down.

"Hm.....You are right. Worried about them still......but everyone should be fine. Can look after selves, and Ranger around to help if they....can not. ......I hope."

When the scholarly trainer mentioned their preparations for the S.C. , that earned them further interest from the rugged wanderer's , as he silently raised both eyebrows at them. 

Naturally, he's heard of the competition himself to (As he's was always keen to look for challenges of any sort), but he more or less immediately became disinterested in it after reading up on the rules.  To the monk, Pokemon Battling was all about Fighting with all your might and achieving great things with your trusted partners, and one of his mottos for battling in general was NEVER Fight unless you were fully prepared for it. Given the goal of the Safari Cup was 'Obtaining and then Fighting with only newly caught Pokemon' , the tournament's premises ran completely contrary to his principles, he found it to be 'not good' for him, and therefore choose not to participate. 

In other words, the S.C. was not his cup of tea. The fact it also costed $5000 Poke was only more disincentive, as he could (and indeed did) invest that much money in better endeavors.

However, just because he had zero interest in the wildlife competition doesn't mean he begrudges his friend for their's. Surprised, perplexed, and curious about their decision, yes, but no ill will. If they wanted to join and Fight in the S.C., then he'd have no problem with it, and wish them the best of luck. Simple as that.

Seeing them flip through there money (which he is able to accurately deduce exactly how much they had at first glance) and grumbling about how he's going to cover all the cost of the S.C. did cause Terra to frown at their dilemma, before he abruptly pulled out $5000 Poke from one of his many pants pockets and brusquely deposited in the boy's wallet. He crossed his arms and nodded, satisfied with so neatly solving his friend's financial crisis.

"There. Now you can afford to enter Safari Cup without worry. Good luck, and be well. *Waves* See you later."

Terra then departs from Nathan like he came to them, resuming his exploration of T.V. and content all was well with the group now. Of course, his friend is free to stop him if they want to continue to chat!

*Flashback End?*