[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Dragonstrike]

If we indeed run into Professor Mallorn in Corsage, he will receive a big thank-you from Shiva because the Guidebook gifted by him turns our really interesting and handy.

Ventus would probably have a few stern words with the man, mainly over ordering children to pick potentially dangerous plant, hunting Legendary or extremely powerful (and dangerous) Pokémon for use as mail carriers, as well as not exactly doing the best job of preparing them for the journey, given that he just handed them their Pokémon and a few items, forced them to pay for the rest of the supplies, before shoving them off without anymore formal instruction. Vincent and Ventus could count as he way of doing the for Nathan, Shiva, and Larry, but its a bit lazy on his part to pile on those responsibilities to people ALREADY doing a job/task for them...

Not to mention Vincent ran off without warning.

Nathan would also likely be a little irked at that last comment and would argue he already knew the basics of pokemon training at the very least, even if he hadn't had any practical experience with it yet when the journey began.

Mallorn also never ordered anyone to pick the flowers.  Just said he'd buy them by the bushel, which is something else Nathan would bring up.

He wouldn't really say anything else in Mallorn's favor, though.

[Lord Windos]

If we indeed run into Professor Mallorn in Corsage, he will receive a big thank-you from Shiva because the Guidebook gifted by him turns our really interesting and handy.

Ventus would probably have a few stern words with the man, mainly over ordering children to pick potentially dangerous plant, hunting Legendary or extremely powerful (and dangerous) Pokémon for use as mail carriers, as well as not exactly doing the best job of preparing them for the journey, given that he just handed them their Pokémon and a few items, forced them to pay for the rest of the supplies, before shoving them off without anymore formal instruction. Vincent and Ventus could count as he way of doing the for Nathan, Shiva, and Larry, but its a bit lazy on his part to pile on those responsibilities to people ALREADY doing a job/task for them...

Not to mention Vincent ran off without warning.

Nathan would also likely be a little irked at that last comment and would argue he already knew the basics of pokemon training at the very least, even if he hadn't had any practical experience with it yet when the journey began.

Mallorn also never ordered anyone to pick the flowers.  Just said he'd buy them by the bushel, which is something else Nathan would bring up.

He wouldn't really say anything else in Mallorn's favor, though.

If Nathan objected to that first point, Ventus would rightfully point out that basic Pokémon experience, while a good foundation, is not a substitute for having a Trainer or Researcher giving them guidance early on, which is what Mallorn didn't do. He had Ventus and Vincent do that part for him, which was not a part of their job descriptions (though they didn't mind helping at all)

For the second point, Ventus equates incentivizing the retrieval of the plants to asking for them, since he's offering a proverbial carrot for the trouble and danger surrounding those plants...

[Dragonstrike]

Well, I'm a bit bored right now as well, and looking at my current team, let's see what I need to account for...

Spoiler

Currently planned members:
Gallade
Rapidash
Starmie
Absol
Porygon-Z
Empty Slot

Current Filler:
Combee
Vespiqueen

Well, my immediate thought is that there's only two real problem types for these 5: Electric and Flying.  I have nothing that resists either, and nothing that can naturally learn a SE move against them.  Fortunately, there's a lot of pokemon that can help deal with that type combination.  Steel/Ground Excadrill; Steelix; and Alolan Dugtrio, the many Rock/Ground types, Ground/Electric Stunfisk and Jerbolta, most electric types with some sort of coverage that lets them hit other electric types neutrally...

Let me think...which of those might be the most appealing to use...

Brainstorming Time!

Steelix: Giant steel snake.  It'd be pretty hard to use, but very, very strong once Nathan got a good handle on it.  Of course, Vespiqueen and Absol are probably going to cause Nathan enough trouble as it is...and 5 disobedience (4 when unevolved) is no joke.

(Alolan) Golem: Both variants of Golem would be pretty fun, I think.  There's even a Geodude traveling with us already, though convincing him to join us properly would likely take a lot of work...as for the Alolan variant, that'd be pretty much exclusively from a trade since wild ones can really only be found in Alola.

Zebstrika: This could be fun.  Nathan knows how to handle fire horses already, so why not an electric zebra as well?  Completely immune to electric as well, and also gets access to Flame Charge, which Nathan is already familiar with.  Has 4 Disobedience, though...

Galvantula: Another of my favorites, and my favorite bug, period.  Doesn't resist flying, but shoots them down with Compound Eyes boosted Thunders (assuming we pick up a TM for it).  Electroweb and Sticky Web also seriously slow the enemy down, which is fun.

Jerbolta: Personally, I just can't see myself seriously using a Stunfisk.  Jerbolta, on the other hand, looks kinda fun.  But also rather difficult to use because of how weak all its level up moves are, aside from the final four.

Tracton: Well, missed getting one at our first opportunity, and that one is completely unavailable now.  If there's another chance later, though, Tracton would be a good fit for the team's needs.  Likely has at least 3 Disobedience, though...

Ampharos: Another good fit for the team.  Plus it's a fairly common farm and ranch pokemon.  And has a fabulous mega.  And Cotton Guard.

Just for fun ideas:

Kiricorn and Oblivicorn:  More horses!  Nathan would likely know how to handle these guys.  Even if he doesn't get one himself, he can potentially help with taming their wild sides.

Zebstrika: Zebras are almost like horses, so why not?  Taming it would be the main challenge...

Stenowatt: It's not a horse, but I can imagine some trainers might ride them, and they're fairly interesting from a team support standpoint.  Incredibly rare, though, so...and also probably somewhat disobedient.

Ampharos: Backstory synergy, yay!  Has a lot of really nice attacks really quickly once fully evolved, and some interesting utility and power moves at the end of the list.  Nathan's prefers horses to sheep, but he's not totally unfamiliar with how sheep are raised.

Baariette: There might be one or two members of this line wherever we find the Mareep line, so this could also be interesting.  Nathan probably won't use one, though, since Absol is the planned Dark type and Gallade is the planned Fighting type.  

In Conclusion:
Probably going to want to pick up an electric type for that final slot for the time being.  Probably Zebstrika or Ampharos.  Galvantula could be nice too, there's a chance Joltik can be rarely found in Fireweed Forest to boot...but we'd have to find a new home for Combee and Vespiqueen first before I can really consider using any of those pokemon, unless Princess and Zippy don't mind being boxed together for awhile.  Evolving Princess into Vespiqueen also probably has to happen first.

I think Zebstrika would be the most fun, Ampharos would be the most useful, and Galvantula would be the fastest to pick up since we're in a forest filled with bugs.  And will be passing through said forest a second time if we don't find any on the first trip.

[Iron]

Shiva doesn't know any other uses for the Deyo, but with your Craft skill you could definitely make some nice pieces from some.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Whoawh... People do detailed analysis over what they wish to have in their team and why, while I'm here like 'Totally fine with what I can get, regardless of how useful it may be for countering in battles - keeping the theme of rare and elusive Pokemon, currently with a focus on Fairy and Psychic Type'.

Again, Shiva's not a fighter.
As for 'Nathan helping tame the wild sides of Oblivi- and Kiricorn', a young Minicorn is on my wish-list from the very beginning. C: Help is appreciated, since he has experience with horses! But I cannot know how a small unicorn responses on him approaching. GM's call.

Shiva doesn't know any other uses for the Deyo, but with your Craft skill you could definitely make some nice pieces from some.

That's your call as well, I'll do whatever you suggest if I get my hands on some! Doesn't really matter to me. I dslike the thought of crafting painkillers out of those, though. It just feels wrong to her...

[Nylon]

Hey Iron, you can go ahead and use Valder's potion on Ghastly, since I will be giving him a potion to make up for it. Want to see him win this fight, so might as well help him out!

                                                                               

[Nylon]

Oh! I'd like to put Slowpoke on my wish-list! Slowpoke matches Valder's lazieness and is a Pokemon Valder would find himself liking surprisingly to himself.

[Dragonstrike]

Whoawh... People do detailed analysis over what they wish to have in their team and why, while I'm here like 'Totally fine with what I can get, regardless of how useful it may be for countering in battles - keeping the theme of rare and elusive Pokemon, currently with a focus on Fairy and Psychic Type'.

Again, Shiva's not a fighter.
As for 'Nathan helping tame the wild sides of Oblivi- and Kiricorn', a young Minicorn is on my wish-list from the very beginning. C: Help is appreciated, since he has experience with horses! But I cannot know how a small unicorn responses on him approaching. GM's call.

Well, I guess that's the main difference here between the characters.  Nathan has a clear goal in mind, and Ventus now has one that likely aligns with that goal as well, and both need to get stronger to be able to achieve them, so we need some fairly optimized teams in the long run (though I'm still keeping my options open, of course).  Shiva is mostly just along for the ride for the experience, and isn't as concerned with battling for the time being.

And yeah, that's why I mentioned that aspect with the unicorns specifically.  Likely being the most familiar with Tandorian pokemon (and that's still not saying much) as well as knowing his way around four legged steeds already, I think it makes sense that he'd help Shiva if and when she got a Minicorn.  If multiples are available, he might even try and get one for the ranch back home.  If not, maybe he'd just ask Shiva if she could breed a few for him after this adventure is over.

[Dragonstrike]

Oh! I'd like to put Slowpoke on my wish-list! Slowpoke matches Valder's lazieness and is a Pokemon Valder would find himself liking surprisingly to himself.

We've actually had the opportunity to get 2 or 3 of those so far on Routes 01 and 02.  Shouldn't be that hard to fulfill since it seems to be a fairly common pokemon in Creshire's early routes 

[Lord Windos]

Indeed, Valder! If you want a Slowpoke, it should not be too hard for you to find one. Heck, you might find one laying around in Corsage! It is a port town, after all! Oh, and sorry for holding up the thread, guys! If you want to start posting encounters, go ahead @Iron .