[Game Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[Dragonstrike]

Chapter 2: The Coming Storm

The scene opens with the image of a thunderstorm at sea.  A small wooden raft seems to have been caught in it.

WHOOOOOOOSSSSSHH

F L A S H

"Hold on tight!  This storm is stronger than the others!"

"I know that!  Where did it even come from?"

"I don't know!  Did they find us, maybe?"

F L A S H

*K A B O O M*

"I hope not!"

F L A S H

WHOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHH

F L A S H

*C R A C K*

"AAAAAAA!"
"AAAAAAA!"

*K A B O O M*

What remains of the wooden raft floats atop the churning waves as lightning continues to strike through the air, the wind howling in an attempt to drown out the sound of the thunder.

The scene fades to black as the sound of waves, wind, and thunder continues...

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Meanwhile, back at the Adventurer's Guild on the Sand Continent, Team Omega Seekers and its former members have been busy.

Upon arrival back at Sahra Town, Marcus insisted that Team OS report to Guildmaster Delphox about what happened on the mission, with Machamp watching Zoroark in the meantime.  Upon hearing the report, the Guildmaster seemed troubled by the news, but told the team to continue with business as usual and thanked them for the update.

In the immediate aftermath, Floette was concerned and confused about the team's decision to split into two different groups, but went through with writing up the relevant paperwork once it became clear that everyone was set in the decision.

Pyra splits off from Team OS in her depression, seeking a new purpose to latch on to after feeling like she'd failed her friends utterly.  She turns to Marcus for help, asking once more if she could learn some of his practice from him.  The craftsmon was reluctant at first, but a brief mention of Team Artificers being her second choice motivated the Cubone to take the Devimp under his wing.  Pyra leaves Team OS...

Meanwhile, Daxter forms a new team separate from his original one.  Not wanting him to be on his own and wanting a break from all the drama that was overwhelming her senses, Karen elected to join him.  After some discussion with the remaining members of Team OS, it was also determined that the Rolycoly that had been recruited in the Hidden Mine would be their third member, and the rock type seemed to be very relieved that they wouldn't have to work with Kogeki.  All that remained was choosing a name: Team Night Wardens.  Despite leaving Team OS, though, Daxter can't help but think about that Plate that Darkula had been holding.  Something about it seemed...familiar somehow.  He can't quite put his claw on why exactly, but he thinks it's important.  Even if he wants to put the past behind him, he doesn't think it'd be a good idea to do so entirely.  Daxter, Karen, and Rolycoly leave Team OS and form Team Night Wardens.  Karen's Instinct increases to 3, and Daxter's Logic also increases to 3.

The day after the return of the group and its subsequent split, a message was delivered to both Team OS and Team NW by Cacturne, Delphox's right hand officer.  Despite the sneer in his tone as he reads the message to the (in his opinion) unproven newcomers, it is good news.

"By the order of the Guildmaster, both Team Omega Seekers and Night Wardens are to be promoted to the Bronze Rank, effective immediately.  Hmph.  Consider yourselves lucky the Guildmaster seems to be playing favorites.  I, for one, would not have promoted newcomers so quickly.  Go get your new badges from Floette, and know that I'll be watching you very carefully.  I hope you're ready for the more difficult jobs you'll be able to take now that you've been promoted."

The Salandit that had been attacked in the Secret Quarry regains consciousness that same day.  He can't remember who was attacking him or why, but he does remember a nickname he'd been given by someone: Skittles.  This immediately rings a bell for Kee, and the Zigzagoon offering his name rings a bell for Salandit as well.  Despite being a very young pokemon still, Skittles the Salandit joins Team OS upon being reunited with Kee.  He also comes with a Cheri Berry.  In addition, Kee's Logic increases to 3.

Zoroark eventually shows up at the guild along with one of her Zorua looking for Team Omega Seekers.  "Uh...sorry about before...I, uh...wasn't exactly myself.  Zorua here has had a talk with me about what you did and...what that fire type asked him.  He says he wants to join your team.  So that something like that doesn't happen again.  And honestly, I don't have any objections.  You take good care of him, alright?  Make sure he learns plenty of new tricks.  Shouldn't be too hard.  He's always had an easy time copying what others do.  Hehehe.  You'll see what I mean soon enough, I'm sure."  Zorua joins Team Omega Seekers!  Unfortunately, though, he doesn't seem to know much about what happened to his mom.

Hawlucha is very glad to hear that the members of Team OS (both current and former) have retrieved his Link Box when they finally get around to returning it to him.  "I'll need a little time to get my shop back in working order, but now that I have my Link Box back, you can expect me to be back to teaching pokemon how to use new techniques within the week!  I'll give you a special deal for your first lesson for finding my Link Box: I'll link two of one pokemon's moves together for free!  Linked moves are very powerful.  They're used one after the other before the opposition can even have a chance to react!  I normally charge a 500 Poké fee for Linking moves, and delinking them if you happen to not like the combination or want to try a different one is something I do for free.  I can also only link two moves at a time per pokemon.  Any more than that, and it tends to be too much of a strain on all but the most hardy of Adventurers, since using moves in rapid succession like that tends to make you very hungry very quickly.  Discuss among yourselves who you'd like to try this out on and come see me later!  And if you ever happen to get your claws on a Lucha Token from Cofagrigus's Glorious Gold, I'll be able to unlock a pokemon's Hidden Ability!  It'll take me a little longer to get my Move Tutoring services back up and running, unfortunately, but you can look forward to being able to learn powerful moves here when it is available again!  For a fee, of course."

Daxter examines the Looplet that he picked up in the Secret Quarry in closer detail at some time during the week.  On the inside of the Looplet's band, he finds a note taped to the back that says 'Property of the Dashing Wanderer'.  What the heck could that possibly mean?

The rest of the following week is business as usual for both teams.  They take jobs from the board, complete them, and collect the rewards.  It's monotonous work at times, and few pokemon in everyday business seem to have any more unusual problems in the lower ranked jobs, but it keeps everyone busy and even starts to strengthen them a little.  Though completing the lowest rank jobs don't seem to be nearly as rewarding as the slightly higher ranked ones they're now able to accept, they also find that the higher ranked jobs are more demanding on their resources, so avoiding using items isn't quite as easy as it was before.

Team Omega Seeker finds they're able to branch out and start sending out multiple parties of Adventurers at once now that they have 6 members in the team along with two members they can trust to lead each group of three (Kee and Kogeki), allowing them to be more efficient when clearing out their accepted missions.  By contrast, Team Night Wardens has to focus more on bolstering their numbers due to being a freshly created team.

The following rewards are earned from the jobs accepted by both teams during the week:
- Everyone gets 20 exp (including the recruits, who will spend it on various upgrades on their own.  Windos's new character also gets this 20 exp)
- Team Omega Seekers gets 7000 Poké to split amongst themselves/add to their group fund 
- Team Night Wardens gets 3500 Poké and can recruit two of the following pokemon (alternatively, they can take 500 Poké instead of a recruit):
 > Minun
 > Snom
 > Geodude (Kantonian)
 > Sentret
 > Yamask (Unovan)
 > Rowlet
- Both teams found 2 Gold Bars each during their adventuring!  It seems to be rather difficult to find them without the aid of Cofagrigus's Excavation Looplet...
- Both teams may also pick three of these items to purchase from the Kecleon Shop at no extra gameplay cost (max one of each selection per team.  Random selections generate three or four random options, then you choose which ones to keep):
 > 1 Reviver Seed
 > 1 Huge Apple
 > 1 random common or uncommon TM
 > 1 random Wonder Orb
 > 1 random Scarf or Glasses hold item
 > Bundle of 2 Tiny Reviver Seeds
 > Bundle of 2 Oran Berries
 > Bundle of 2 random berries or seeds (excluding Orans and Revivers)
 > Bundle of 2 Looplets (has 3 notches, no innate effects)

Machamp finishes construction of both of the bases outside Sahra Town that were requested by Teams OS and NW.  They're able to move into them by the end of the week.  The night of the bases' completion, though, there's a storm.  Thunder strikes, wind howls, and everyone appreciates the sturdy roofing that's over their heads, because they'd be getting very, very wet if it broke on them.

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It is now Day 12. (everyone gains 1 heartbeat exp and 1 Will)

After a week of little of note happening, everyone's been settling into a normal routine.  No major crises occur, there's surprisingly little trouble with the other teams at the Guild, and criminal activity and outlaw jobs seem to have a hit a low.  It's quiet.  Almost a little too quiet, considering Darkula escaped with the Dread Plate.

Until Sandshrew and Hippopotas, two of the town's local children, come running back to town one morning after going out to play, that is.

"Sheriff Flygon, Sheriff Flygon, there's a pokemon passed out on the beach!"

"A pokemon?  What kind of pokemon?"

"We don't know!  It looks like some kind of bird pokemon, though!"

"Alright, show me where they are so I can assess the situation."

Later, Flygon carries the bird pokemon, who sparkles like a Shiny pokemon and looks unlike any bird that Sahra Town has ever seen, into the guild and requests that Floette finds a room for them, and for Audino to administer medical aid.

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@Lord Windos, your character wakes up in a room with an Audino gathering berries in the corner.  It's a strange and unfamiliar place, the temperature is strangely cool compared to what you're used to, and you feel sore all over.  It doesn't take long for Audino to notice that the metallic bird laying on the straw bed has woken up.  "Oh, you're finally awake!  That's great!  Here, eat this and don't move.  I need to examine you for injuries still."  Audino offers you an Oran Berry to eat.

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(@Spiritmon, @PhantomUnderYourDesk, @no one)

For both Team Omega Seekers and Team Night Wardens, their day starts like any other.  They're still getting used to their accommodations outside of the town, but visiting the guild to look for jobs is slowly becoming a familiar routine, so it isn't strange for them to head to the Guild first thing in the morning to pick up some jobs before visiting the various other facilities to prepare for the day's work.

What is strange, though, is the crowd gathered in front of the Guild that morning.  Sheriff Flygon seems to be watching the door while many of the town's residents discuss something among themselves and pester the sheriff with questions he doesn't really want to answer.  Looks like if you want to get into the guild, you'll have to either go through the crowd and get past the sheriff or wait until the crowd disperses.