[Game Thread] Pokerole: Mount Coronet Mystery

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

*...And Continues onto the next Scene with Lucas and Sally*

Ran had the decency to look a bit offended at Sally's disbelief it was him and not some other doppleganger, but whatever he'd say or do about it was forever banished into impossibility when Lucas intervened and re-railed the conversation back to beginning of things, that being what he wanted to ask the boy hero. Immediately the scuffy smith's expression became....withered as he was reminded about it and other related stuff, his eyebrows knitting together as he heaved a small but heavy *sigh* and looked Lucas in the eyes and simply asked thus:

"Lucas....why in the hell did ya recommend me to Rowan for this job? And don't give me any guff about me being a top-notch Trainer or this mission needing me skill set. Before our journey together you only witnessed that one Fight I had with Sally, and we both know my victory over her was more due to her being so arrogant and disrespectful of me and my partners capabilities and pure luck than anything else. *Scoffs* Heck, she almost did beat me despite her attitude. And if you needed a Trainer that was a smith or handy man for this godforsaken job, you could've easily gotten Riley or even Byron or his son to come and join you. Not like they we're doing anything important enough they could take a break from their duties to do a favor the Champion Hero of Sinnoh."

"*Look intensifies* So why on earth did ya decide to pick a rude, angry old bastard like me you knew next to nothing about yourself to join ya on a quest you knew on some level would be epic in the worst ways possible?"

His tone is frank and tired, but not unkind or really rude. In all honestly, he seemed genuinely confused by their decision to include him in their coalition before and after things developed with the Pixies, and after all they've been through so far and recent events weighing down on him, it appears he could no long keep silent about it.

Lucas keeps it brief and to the point.  "Well, for starters, I can count the number of people who could probably reliably beat one of my pokemon on two hands.  So that definitely caught my attention, regardless of what others make of the situation.  And second, this might sound a little strange, but I saw potential in you and your pokemon.  I like to think I know a strong, reliable trainer when I see one."

"Oh, and I heard about some of those strange occurrences at Stark Mountain, too.  Had a gut feeling they might be connected, and I knew you'd been poking around there recently. Buck gave me an update on what's been happening there when I checked in."

He pauses, sighs, and continues.  "Let me make one thing clear: before we visited Snowpoint Temple, Rowan, myself, and the League had no idea what the full extent of these dangers were.  Heck, even after the Temple, I still don't know.  If it had just been my decision at that point, I would have pulled all of you aside, thanked you for your help, and dealt with the issue myself if necessary.  But..."

He sighs again, then cracks a small smile.  "...I trust the Lake Trio's judgement, and they trusted you guys with a Red Chain.  They showed similar faith in me 8 years ago, in fact, though not in the same way.  Regardless, if they think we can do it, then we can.  Besides, seeing the sheer number of ridiculously powerful pokemon around, I think even I would be struggling if I had been traveling by myself.  So, thank you for your help, Randolph.  With everyone here working together, I'm confident we'll come out on top of this crisis, whatever it may be."

(As a reminder: whenever you're ready to move on to floor 3, Windos, we started Day 6, so I need you to do abilities and stuff before I can progress things)