[Game Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[Dragonstrike]

As Platina reaches out for the Plate, she can swear that she feels a strong wind under her wings, as if she was soaring high in the sky like a mighty dragon.  It's a calm wind, much unlike the storms she's so accustomed to.  No rain, no lightning...just pure, unbridled freedom given form as she flies towards the Plate.

The Sky Plate glows, and so does the metallic birdie.  There are no humans, no Legendaries, so shadows...it's just her and the strange divine artifact in the clear, blue sky.

And yet, she hears a voice, despite being alone and so high up in the sky.  A melodious, wise, divine voice.

The Sky Plate, emblem of freedom and change, embodiment of both the gentleness and the fury of the Flying type.  May your wings see you safely to far off lands, Keeper of the Sky.

Etchings appear on the Plate's surface, and though Platina cannot read them, she somehow still knows exactly what they say.

The being poured the remains of its powers into stone and buried it deep.

And then with a flash of light, the vision ends.

Plate Obtained!: Master Sword Jingle - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Platina touches the Plate, and it flashes with a bright, golden light.  Briefly, Platina glows with the same light as the Sky Plate recognizes its new Keeper.

And then the Plate shrinks in size and zooms towards Platina's talons, attaching itself to her leg with a chain of magical, golden light!

Sky Plate Obtained!

Landorus nods.  "It recognizes you as its new Keeper, little bird.  Protect it.  The dark forces at work here were likely trying to wrest it from our grasp.  As its Keeper, you'll find that the Plate will grant you unparalleled strength when using moves of its element.  It is capable of other things as well, but you will have to discover what those effects are on your own.  Not even we fully understand what a shard of the Original One's strength is truly capable of."

Shortly after, everyone hears a large group of pokemon approaching.  Enamorus initially stands protectively over Landorus, though she relaxes once she sees that the group recognizes the approaching individuals.  Roserade, Rhyperior, and all the other pokemon that had been fighting the Shadow Sandaconda have finally arrived!

"Hey, you guys!  Sorry we're late to the party!  So, did you kick Lando's sorry behind for us?"

"Well, given that he appears to be resting over there, I daresay that they did rather well.  Ah, and Gallade, it's good to see they found you.  I was worried they weren't going to make it in time."

"They almost didn't.  Landorus attacked as soon as they arrived.  I would have been trounced completely if they hadn't shown up when they did."

"You have my thanks, Omega Seekers and Night Wardens.  We owe you a great debt."

The reunion is suddenly interrupted when the black storm overhead suddenly intensifies in strength.  Black lightning streaks through the sky as everyone hears a very loud, very audible sound coming from the clouds.

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
GROOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!

The dark clouds part as powerful energy beams cut through them, revealing a battle taking place overhead.  A green, serpentine dragon fires beam after beam at a dark, shadowy bird pokemon!

The Shadow Phoenix: Dark Gaia's Spawn - Sonic Unleashed

Not a single one of the attacks from the dragon pokemon lands however, impacting into a dark, impenetrable barrier of shadow energy that completely surrounds the blackened bird.  The bird pokemon simply hovers in place as their wings become wreathed in black fire.  In response, the dragon breathes in, then fires a much more powerful beam of energy at the shield, trying to break it with a constant stream of damage.

The barrier not only absorbs the blow, but also causes it to ricochet.  The pokemon below have to dive for cover as the Hyper Beam carves a scorching hot trail in the earth across the entire diameter of the Seasonal Shrine.  Rayquaza roars at its opponent.

Enamorus gasps.  "Rayquaza!  And is that...Ho-oh?!"

Landorus grunts.  "That's no mere Ho-oh, Enamorus!  Everyone get back!!!"

And Ho-oh screeches back, unleashing its Shadow Hellfire on both the dragon and the ground below!

Rayquaza is completely engulfed by the flames, thrashing about as it tries to put out the incredibly lethal burn that it sustained!

Landorus flies upwards, positioning himself between the battle in the sky and the innocent pokemon below.  He slams two fists together, then slams them both into the ground to loosen a massive piece of the earth.  He lifts it up, using it like a shield to protect everyone from the worst of the Shadow Hellfire raining down from the sky!

"I hope you all have an exit plan!  Those Hyper Beams can shatter meteors, so if Rayquaza can't harm that thing, nobody will be able to!"

Enamorus looks at Hoopa, only to catch him absorbing some of the water from her shrine into one of his rings even as the edges of the clearing become engulfed in black fire.  She narrows her eyes, but makes no mention of the theft...for now.  "Imprisoned One, you all must leave.  Now."

"Uuuuhhhhhh...well, I'd like to, but I still don't have enough power to summon a portal for such a large group of pokemon!"

Enamorus's words have a tinge of venom laced between them as she berates Hoopa.  "Nonsense.  We're directly atop a leyline.  You should easily be able to open a Magnagate at the very least!"

"Did someone say Magnagate?  I'm your pokemon then!  Everyone gather in the middle of the shrine!"

Keldeo moves quickly, ushering everyone into the center of the clearing.  Landorus continues to struggle with holding back the various attacks being fired off by the two flying Legendaries, but cracks begin appearing in the chunk of soil and rock he ripped directly out of the ground.  The black fire spreads, getting closer and closer to the middle of the clearing even as Landorus tries to protect everyone from the worst of the collateral damage.

"Any...time...now!  Get out of here!!!"

Keldeo is spreading cards on the ground, frantically searching for the right ones.  "This one...this one...this, wait, no, that one!"

Gallade turns to Enamorus, who is waiting outside the circle being formed by the outsiders.  "And what of you and Landorus?  We can't leave you here to face this on your own."

"We will be fine.  Do not worry about us.  I'll make sure those vile shadows won't take any of my family again."

"Got it!  Alright everyone, hold onto your glasses and scarves!  This is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Keldeo slides the last card into position just as Landorus's makeshift shield takes another Hyper Beam head on and shatters.  There's a flash of light as circular runes appear on the ground, and then the visitors to the Seasonal Shrine are gone, leaving behind an island about to be engulfed in a black, evil looking wildfire.

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The Lord of Darkness: In the Future - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of T/D/S

Standing atop a tree overlooking the burning clearing, a dark, vampiric pokemon swears under his breath.  "Curses!  That mangy mutt delayed me for too long!  Thanks to him, I've lost the Sky Plate to those goody two shoes!"

He drops back into the foliage, paying no heed to the spreading wildfire and scaring away what few wild pokemon remained in the area.  He turns to speak to the darkness as his loyal partner Nohface walks up to his side.

"Accelerate the search.  We must locate all of the remaining Plates before all is lost."

???: "Very well, mon employeur.  I shall begin at once.  Though if I may ask...why do you care so much about these Plaques?  I thought you only cared for finding the humaines?"

"I only care about the humans because they'll lead us to the Plates.  You cannot possibly fathom how important and powerful they are!  We must locate them before the humans do!  And you can trust that you will be adequately compensated for each one you find."

???: "Je vois.  In that case, I shall ensure that the humaines stay well within my sights while I search for clues to the Plaques' whereabouts."

The mysterious presence vanishes into the shadows of the trees as Darkula kneels down and strokes Nohface, though they seem to be rather apathetic to it.

"You won't beat me to the next one, Omega Seekers.  Mwahahahaha..."

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Post Town: Come on in to Post Town! - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

A flash of light light appears on the hilltop overlooking Post Town, a Magnagate appearing and startling Herdier and Lillipup while they're on their evening walk!  The Omega Seekers, Night Wardens, and all of their new companions spill out of it, landing on the grassy hilltop in a large pile and a very loud *THUMP*!

"Good gravy!  Keldeo, is that you?!  Give us some warning next time, why dontcha?!"

"Sorry, sorry!  Had to get back here in a hurry!  Is everyone okay?  We didn't lose anybody along the way, right?"

Everyone is present and accounted for during the rollcall (though Hoopa was forcefully returned to their bottle upon leaving the Mystery Dungeon), and Herdier and Lillipup help with getting everyone untangled from each other.  By the time everyone is back on their feet, a large crowd seems to have gathered.  The group's sudden entrance appears to have caused quite a scene...

"Hey, Keldeo's back!"

"Oh dear, they all look rather beat up, don't they?"

"I wonder what happened?"

Emolga caught that first part and clears his throat, trying to draw attention to himself.  "Uh, hello?  Anyone concerned about my wellbeing?  No?  *sigh*"

As the crowd continues to wonder what's going on, Swanna and Haxorus push their way through the crowd.

"'Scuse me, pardon me, coming through!  Keldeo, Emogla, what the heck happened?!"

"You had the entire town worried!  We thought you would have been back before now!"

"Yeah, well, you know, parallel universes ended up being involved, we had to fight not one, but two Legendary pokemon...you know, the works.  No big deal for pokemon like us though!  They didn't stand a chance against Emolga's Enforcers!"  Emolga puffs out his chest, looking incredibly proud!  ...even though he's definitely exaggerating his involvement in this story.  But he's also definitely dodging the topic of the last thing that happened...

Keldeo shakes his head in exasperation, then adds on to the tale.  "Got involved in a few more scraps than that.  Namely a Monster House and battling a giant sand snake.  Roughed us up real good.  I've still got sand in places that I didn't even know I had until recently."  Keldeo doesn't mention that event either.  Maybe they don't think it's a good idea to mention it in a public space...

Haxorus listens carefully to their report.  "The blizzards seem to have calmed down, so whatever you did, I think you've solved the problem for now.  What about Sue though?  Any sign of her?"

"Weeeeeeellll...we think she's gone looking for Kyurem?  We found a frism that she'd left behind.  Said something about black and white stones if I remember correctly."

"We found a frism bearing a message from Kyurem as well.  He mentioned we needed to look for the Obsidian and Ivory Peaks, then find somewhere called the Sky Ruins. No sign of the dragon himself, but it seems likely that he might be at a location called the Altar of Ice."

Haxorus nods.  "I've heard of those mountains.  Uncharted territory.  Incredibly dangerous.  We'll need a plan. And then once we have what we need from there, we need to find this Altar of Ice."

While Haxorus is conversing with the members of his team, Swanna is attending to all the other individuals present, making sure they're not injured too badly.  "Well, it sounds like all of you have been through quite a lot lately.  Come, come.  I have plenty of empty rooms right now.  You should all stay the night at my inn, free of charge.  I insist."