[Game Thread] Pokerole: Mount Coronet Mystery

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Sally's completely silent the entire time Randolph's talking.  Not a peep from her that whole conversation as she listens and mulls over what's been said.

Lucas has one thing to say to Randolph before he turns in for the night.  "Well, maybe this'll help enlighten you a little, Randolph.  At the end of the day, pokemon aren't so different from humans if you think about it.  Not the same, but not entirely dissimilar, either.  At least, that's what I think.  Think that over, see if you agree, and maybe come up with your own answer.  There's lots of different ways to train pokemon, and not everyone has the same answers to the same questions.  I'm just a guy who happens to have had plenty of time to mull them over myself, really.  Try and get as much rest as you can, alright?  Tomorrow, we end this trouble once and for all."

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Karen's Team:

Spoiler

Magnezone
Roserade
Nidoqueen
Mightyena
Gastrodon
Lopunny

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Everyone's prep completed, Scizor leads everyone through the mist behind the Kangaskhan statue.  It swirls around the party, obscuring their vision of their surroundings...soon, the safe room disappears from sight, and everyone becomes lost in the fog, unable to tell how long they've been walking for.  Scizor, however, keeps marching forwards confidently, beckoning everyone to follow.

Eventually, the mist clears, and the group finds themselves in a completely different room with no explainable reason how they got there, much like when they first entered the mountain itself.

Mount Coronet 3F



The walls are hard stone, but Randolph can tell there's more than trace amounts of coal in them this time.  Dark lines winding around the cavern are a telltale sign that there's full coal veins in this cave.  Dim lighting from fixtures above that aren't too dissimilar to ones commonly found in mining facilities make it possible to see in the dark cave without the aid of the group's portable light sources, though said light sources still make it easier to see as the shadows almost hungrily skirt around the edges of the lights.  Barrels and crates with lanterns set atop a few of them line the walls, making the area look like some kind of storeroom.  A few pickaxes and shovels can be seen lying up against some of them, too.  An echo of the sound of dripping water can be heard from somewhere else in the cave as well.

The location looks all too familiar to Randolph in particular, having worked in mines for a significant portion his life.  How the mountain has suddenly come to house one this high up, though, is a mystery beyond his or anyone else's understanding.

The Dark Mine: Oreburgh Mine Remix by AlmightyArceus - Pokemon D/P/PT

Rui and Espeon look around, confused at first.  This is quite unlike the linearity of the previous floors of the dungeon, and the setting is quite different from before.  Eventually, though, she brushes it off since some of the others aren't seeming to make a big deal of it.  Espeon hisses at the shadows on the edge of the lit area.

"Well, it looks like there's only one path out of this room, so...I guess we have to go that way."

"Looks like it.  Everyone ready?  Looks like we're sticking together for now."

*Brief Flashback!*

Ran doesn't have anything to say about the kernal of wisdom the champ gave him, in part because he's confused and mystified about it (His general initial opinion on it: How are Pokemon and Humans similar, when they clearly are not? Argh.....!) , but mostly because he was too damn tired after this long stressful day and emotionally tumultuous 'evening' with everyone else. He just stops in his tracks as he hears them, before turning his head back to give Lucas a single, weary nod, before marching over to his camping spot. May tomorrow be a better day than before, and may he closer to the answers he seeks.... 

*Brief Flashback End!*

(...)


The moment it's apparent that the next Floor the group(s) were going to explore was a coal mine of some capacity as the transitional mists fade away to reveal it all, Randolph goes white as a Frosslass and his tenatively stern/brave mood goes plummeting down a metaphorical shaft. Yeap, this all too familiar to the midget miner. Uncomfortably so, one might say. 

Right now he had Diam and Paula out with him, and both would immediately cotton on that their partner/master was having a bit of uneasy fit at their surroundings. The little gemlin, who'd normally be perfectly comfortable and happy to be in a dank, dark coal mine (Its practically her scene, plus it has the potential to have tasty diamonds hidden throughout it!), was all frowns as she quickly closed ranks with her partner, resting a claw on his back as she cautiously leered into the darkness surrounding the group. The smol siren huddles closes and briefly hugs her Trainer's leg, before stepping in front of him and looking timidly but defiantly at the dancing shadows. Darkness nor rock scares an aquatic fae like her, so if the denizens of this domain would bring trouble to her master, she'd show them all why many beware her kind.

Their support and Kee rifling through the mining gear left out manages to snap Ran out of his shock, causing him to angrily shake his head at how stupidly Torchic bellied he was acting and give his two partner a thankful nod before he reached into his Inventory and brought out two Items with a lot of history to him: his old mining hat (complete with functional headlamp) and trusty pickaxe, which had been put away before the group had left Snowpoint. He stared at both in his hand for a moment as memories of his past flash by him, good and bad, before with a determined frown he replaced his knit cap with the former and armed himself with the later and stomped in front on the group and greeted them all with a firm, stern, and unyielding expression.

"Alright, we're all stuck in some kind of coal mine, as y'all could plainly tell by now. I used to work at a one a long time ago, though, so I'm.....right at home here. For now, follow my lead, and I'll lead y'all through here the very best I can. If you want to mine anything here, let me know first so I can direct ya how to do so without causing anyone an accident. And if we separate or get separated here, I want everyone to remember this: if the walls or floor starts shaking and you can't tell what's causing it, stay calm and get out of the area ASAP. Got that? Good, then let's go."

With that said, Ran would lead the big group out of the room with Diam and Paula, and into the next section of the Floor, keeping vigilant eye on his surrounding and one hand wrapped tightly around his pickaxe.