[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Ventus Eyebrow somehow raised even further as he heard Nathan's rushed and harried denial, and just before he could properly interrogate him, his phone call ended with a resounding *Click!* Staring at his Han held for a few seconds, he contemplated calling him up again and start demanding answers, but sighed and decided not too.

'Whatever Nathan is keeping from me, I'll be able to uncover it in due time. The boy can't hide his emotions from me if he even tried without Kirkia's help, and I know enough to be able to coax some answers out of them in private. For now, though, I'll let him conduct his own investigation, while I engage in my own personal business. I need to restock on medical supplies, Pokeballs, and pick up that special gift I ordered Nathan. Took awhile to find someone with what I had in mind, but I'm glad to have been able to make the deal...'

Order: Ventus is going to head into town and buy 3 Potions, 1 Super Potion, 1 Burn/Paralysis Heal, 1 Antidote, 2 Awakenings, and another 2 Pokeballs, before going to the trading board and picking up Nathan Gift in exchange for his Shiny Nincada. He'll then head over to the Pokémon center and wait for Nathan while checking up and guarding Shiva. Ven going to be busy too this day!

[Iron]

Houndour...Houndour was there...the photo was a likely bust (though a picture of darkness when using a bright flash is strange enough in its own right...), and he certainly hadn't grabbed the mega stone...gah, he should have been ready for that eventuality...tried to grab it before the nightmare faded...he hadn't expected Houndoom to throw it, though, and he hadn't been ready even though it had been chucked in his and Valders' direction, since they'd been hanging by the cave entrance and guarding Shiva...

Wait, Houndour. The light on Nathan's pokeballs were flashing blue. Right.

Somehow, the pokemon had made it. He didn't understand how that might be possible, but this alone...it was a spectacular find! A rare subspecies of Houndour! But, just to double check...

He taps the button on the Flash Ball, sending Houndour to the PC, then pulls out his pokedex. Before he gets too excited, he has to make absolutely sure that the pokedex has no data on this psychic type variant of the dog...

"No data found." But it's processing...the Pokedex comes up with just a little bit of basic info, such as potential move learnsets, typing, general strength info... but no 'Pokedex entry' that would describe a delta Houndour's attributes.

It does have some very basic info on Delta Pokemon when you look that up - they're not necessarily related to the Holon region in this game, they are just variant species/subspecies. Could have arisen from another region, like Alola Sandshrew, could be a local mutation, could be a mutation of a singular individual based on immediate environment.

[Dragonstrike]

"No data found." But it's processing...the Pokedex comes up with just a little bit of basic info, such as potential move learnsets, typing, general strength info... but no 'Pokedex entry' that would describe a delta Houndour's attributes.

It does have some very basic info on Delta Pokemon when you look that up - they're not necessarily related to the Holon region in this game, they are just variant species/subspecies. Could have arisen from another region, like Alola Sandshrew, could be a local mutation, could be a mutation of a singular individual based on immediate environment.

Nathan raises an eyebrow in confusion at the general information on Delta Pokemon.  'Holon?  Delta Pokemon?  I'm familiar with the Alolan variants of some Kanto pokemon...but I've not heard of that region, nor that term, before...hmmm...I might have to look into this further...still, it seems to confirm that this is indeed a new subspecies of Houndour...'

Nathan pulls out his journal and jots down what he remembers and can speculate about the abilities of these strange Houndour and that Mega Houndoom.  Any and all information could prove to be invaluable later...

Once that's done, he closes it and heads out into the town to gather info on the Gym Leader.  Ventus might be back by the time he finishes that.

[Iron]

Ventus gains 1XP for his personal character development with Sans.

Ventus posts the trade we discussed on the trading board. He gets a response to meet "D" at the rear of the local Pokemart, an alley where all the used Potions are dumped. It's not very well lit, and it's still early morning.

"D" is already there waiting. By her (somewhat husky) voice, it's a woman, but you can't see for certain because she's wearing a voluminous trenchcoat with her face hooded. The trenchcoat seems to be buzzing, and you get a small static shock as you approach. The woman (?) doesn't seem to take notice.

"You have the rarity? I have what was promised. These are not easy to get, even in Stair City. There's a lot of potential for abuse of technology like this. Make sure it stays in good hands...or don't, I care not."

She accepts the Pokeball and stows it away in her trenchcoat, which clanks. From its inner volumes, she pulls out a lead box sealed with rubber, about the shape and size of what you expect in return. She places it in Ventus' hands.

"Now go. I'll leave separately so no one thinks we have anything to do with each other. Pleasure doing business with you. Oh! And not a word of this to Mallorn. He thinks he should have all markets cornered, even though he'd probably never be able to get his hands on this item. Now go!"

[Iron]

Shiva's Insight: (6)(2)(5)
Espurr's Will (with a penalty for unsafety): (5)(1)(6)(1)

Espurr runs straight into Shiva's arms, psychically sensing safety. The cat's sharp claws end the lucid dream.

Shiva jolts awake in her room at the Pokemon Center - her dreamcatcher is burnt to a crisp, but the salt circle is undisturbed (except where Nathan disturbed it). And strangest of all, a frumpy grey cat is curled up at her feet, over the covers, sleeping with its wide eyes open.


Your black fur necklace is undisturbed.

Shiva gains 2XP+2 for heroism.

Espurr knows only Scratch and Leer. He seems to march to his Own Tempo. Happiness and Loyalty 2, Disobedience 0.

[Iron]

Nathan talks to the owner of a store that serves sailors, not far from the gym.

"I can tell yeh a bit about the Gym Leader...but don't tell him it was me what told yeh. It's a secret, mind! Likes to give his challengers a bit of a scare, Chuckles. Yeh, that's his name, Chuckles. I hear tell he was in something of a coma, or a really really long sleep...ate a bit of a rotten dream, probably. But only this morning I saw him come to his Widow's Walk and look out over the sea. They say he talks to the ocean's dead, Chuckles does. Misleading name. He has no sense of humor at all. Do not trifle with him, don't make jokes to him. Take him seriously - dead seriously. He never goes easy on anyone. He's very strong, and he summons his Pokemon from the shadows of other Pokemon! A good man at heart though. Just doesn't brook any nonsense. How old are yeh? Eh, too young for a stiff drink - but you might need it, challenging Chuckles. Bring some coffee or something, 'cause Chuckles' Pokemon like to send challengers to sleep."

[Lord Windos]

[quote='Iron' pid='20233' dateline='1500046624']

Ventus cant his his head towards the woman, and a slight smile appears on his face, serene as ever. "I have what is agreed on. I always honor my deals, right down to the letter. I wouldn't have reputation I do if I was the most consummate of gentleman, hmm?"  The researcher politely said, flicking his left arm down and producing the Shiny Nincada Pokeball from...somewhere.

Exchanging items with D, he brought out his phone and pressed a button on the side, causing a light blue light to spring out of it! Running the light trail on the package a few time, his phone gave a *Ding!* and the light turned green, causing Ventus smile to widen some as he put both objects away. "I apologize for that, but I've done enough 'business' to know that it pays well to double check your inventory. I sincerely thank you for your cooperation, and Our transaction will remain secret between us, as agreed on. Until we meet again, D." Ventus said, before taking a few backward steps into the shadows. 

If one checked, they would discover he vanished without a trace. Creepy! 

Order: Complete the exchange, go over to the market place and buy all those items ($2750 total cost, oh my!), before heading over to the Pokémon Center, where he'll hopefully meet up with Nathan!  with would

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

With a visible jolt of a sharp claw, the dream ended as fast as it came. The dreamer herself... well, 'shocked' was underestimated. It was just like the last time years ago, both body and mind needed a little to realise what has happened and that she was still there in her bed.

Wait... What has happened at all? The last thing Shiva clearly remembered was a battle against Nathan, and that although she was about to loose spectacularly, she refused to give up. No way she'd do that, unless the situation was clearly dangerous. Now, she was there, sitting upright in bed in the same dress she wore back then - either Nathan himself or Nurse Joy must have brought her upstairs - with her Abra snoring at the end of the bed. Another things he remembered was not hitting the floor as she collapsed... He heard his Master's last order. Althought not yet able to actively use psychic energy against a foe, he was able to use that power to head to his Master's help... Shiva was sure he'll be a great and loyal Alakazam one day.

Speaking of dreaming... the shock only increased as her gaze fell onto her Dream Catcher. Or rather, what still remained of it... The feathers were nothing more than a line of ash on the windowsill. It must have been that mysterious creature. It just...had to. What else? But...why did it do that? Did it held a grudge against her for some reason? Did it see her as an easy target, just waiting to be devoured? Did she...lured it to her on her own in the end in her curiosity for the mystery...? It was all her fault... again...

She should have never came here to Corsage all.
She should have never accepted Nathan's challenge.
She should have know that if sleeping was 'dangerous' in this city, fainting was even worse.
She should have never... right, she still wore it. Enough of this. No more. She took off that black fur she wore, and threw it far away across the room against the wall, hard, before it landed there on the floor. Later, she'll have Fennekin burn it to white ashes and scatter them across the sea while damning the creature the fur originated from to the eternity of hell and beyond. Sometimes, it's better if a mystery stays a mystery.

No, she's not going to shed any tears now. She promised herself to grow stronger, alongside her Pokemon. FOR her Pokemon. Still, when things get bad, she was still prone to fall into despair and blame herself, even after Ventus comforted her the last time. Hehe... Wonder where they are now? Probably far away.

Just as she was about to lay down again, probably to dwell into more gloom while trying to fall asleep again, her gaze fell onto something else... Something that was not there before. Something that was alive. It was breathing, althout it did not move... All there was was its creepy purple eyes, staring at her. Or through her.

Whipping of a tear she did not notice she shed, Shiva carefully extended one hand to lil' Espurr. Upon touching the ball of grey fur, she realised that it was a real one. The fur felt fluffy although the cat itself looked a little frumpy overall. (Wonder how Espurr reacts to being stroked carefully...?)

[Iron]

Espurr appears extremely startled by being petted. A tingle of psychic force, almost like static, runs up Shiva's arm. Shiva automatically withdraws her arm. Espurr toddles closer on two legs and taps Shiva with a paw, asking for more pets. Espurr is a fickle cat who cannot fully control his powers.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

That psychic force... It was different from the one Helios had. His were more hidden inside yet developing and it was the owner's call to drag them into consciousness for the sake of further evolution. In case of this Espurr though, a huge amount of psychic energy was present within this little cat right from the start, it's the owner's call to help the Pokemon to gain active control over it. Maybe after Shiva managed to evolve her Abra, she'll look into this psychic cat...

However, lil' one was not shy when it actively asked for pets from Shiva... She was still somewhat puzzled about how the Espurr made it from the dream to reality, though. But let's not think about this now.

After stroking through the cat's curly fur that decorated his head - carefully avoiding touching the ears - she began felt a little better. This Espurr was a positive reminder of both Corsage and all his mysteries that better remain sealed, as well as home. In fact, she hoped she was able to leave this city soon...

As she spoke to her new companion(?), her voice was still low and weak, but at least she wasn't sheding any more tears. "Hehe... You're okay, lil' one? Don't be scared... How do you feel here, in reality?" While most people would find Espurr and its evolution creepy or dangerous, Shiva was enjoying this young Scottish Fold kitten greatly. It was adorable, hid some strong power to scare off any nuisances *coughPosionTypescough* and was just a tab bit mischievous. She hoped this exemplar was a male one, because she liked their apperance more than the females.

Wait... 'Scottish Fold'... Before lil' Espurr could react, it found itself being loosesly wrapped into the red tartan scarf Shiva took with her from home. It was her favorite scarf and most likely smelled like her if the cat decided to sniff on it.

"Besides, you're okay if I call you 'Kyuu'? This name has...a personal meaning. Only if you decide to come with me, though."