[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

"Sure thing, boss! Put Shiva on. I'm amazed you found the Neverstone so quickly!"

"Like I said, it happened to be somewhere we didn't expect it to be, so we ended up just collecting and moving on our way. Alright, I'll let Shiva talk to you now, so I'll take with you again once they and Nathan have said their piece," the researcher said, before making way for the lass in question to speak with the professor/business man, and walked over to Nathan's side. The boy looked exahuasted in more ways than one from his there trip into the base, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for being responsible for causing part of the problem.

"Nate, are are you alright? Have you fully recovered from our base raid, or do you need some more time to yourself? After the...trouble we caused you, I can understand if you don't wish to interact with either Shiva or I right now. I am also loathe to pressure you overly into talking if need some alone time for yourself, but know that I'm always available if you desire support, alright my friend?"

[Iron]

Shiva shows Mallorn all the loot they had.

"Yep, that's my Neverstone. We've made a breakthrough on those (don't tell anyone) so I have extras now. Tell you what, boss, I'll let your party keep that Neverstone as reward for getting it out of my enemy's hands. It sounds like I have a new enemy, to be sure..."

"I don't recognize that weird jar thing. If I had it in my lab, I could probably analyze it. It looks like the wires are there to give it a variety of different energy types. Imbuing that putty, as it were. Was there any indication of what it might be?"

"You sure these people weren't my rivals, the Almanac?"

[Dragonstrike]

*sigh*...

Aside from that, though, Nathan doesn't really say anything.  He doesn't really do much of anything either.  He'd screwed up really badly, and completely lost his friends' trust because of it...it was far, far more depressing for him than the photos incident...

Kirlia gives Ventus a worried look too.  This was pretty bad...

[Lord Windos]

Shiva shows Mallorn all the loot they had.

"Yep, that's my Neverstone. We've made a breakthrough on those (don't tell anyone) so I have extras now. Tell you what, boss, I'll let your party keep that Neverstone as reward for getting it out of my enemy's hands. It sounds like I have a new enemy, to be sure..."

"I don't recognize that weird jar thing. If I had it in my lab, I could probably analyze it. It looks like the wires are there to give it a variety of different energy types. Imbuing that putty, as it were. Was there any indication of what it might be?"

"You sure these people weren't my rivals, the Almanac?"

"Thank you for your generousity, my friend! We will keep this Neverstone safe and sound, and make sure that no nefarious hands get their hands on it again. Oh, and of course we'll keep mum on your development with them; have to keep your rivals and enemies in the dark, correct? We can transport the jar and its related contents to you ASAP at your request, and Nathan might know more about it than I do. He had the chance to do some research on the substance I believe, among other things, and can send you a copy of the notes about it. Finally, we are more or less certain that these individuals are NOT Almanac, but I strongly suspect that this new group and your rival are working together in some capacity, though I can not to say to what extent, I'm afraid," Ventus said, taking over the phone call once Shiva was done with her explaination.

With Nathan:

Ventus let out a small sigh at how withdraw and untrusted Nathan was feeling, before he patted their shoulder in comfort, trying to rouse him out of his stupor. "My friend, I will not deny that things did get heated at the base, and that our recent conflict has frayed the camaradence between us, but you are still a dear friend to me. I was....high strung down there, reacted very poorly to your logically sound actions, and took it out on you over a misunderstanding. While keeping us the group informed and updated on all our actions is important, it shouldn't come at the cost of our friendship. I still trust you and your judgement, as I always have, so please don't beat yourself up over this...."

[Dragonstrike]

Ventus let out a small sigh at how withdraw and untrusted Nathan was feeling, before he patted their shoulder in comfort, trying to rouse him out of his stupor. "My friend, I will not deny that things did get heated at the base, and that our recent conflict has frayed the camaradence between us, but you are still a dear friend to me. I was....high strung down there, reacted very poorly to your logically sound actions, and took it out on you over a misunderstanding. While keeping us the group informed and updated on all our actions is important, it shouldn't come at the cost of our friendship. I still trust you and your judgement, as I always have, so please don't beat yourself up over this...."

Another sigh.

"...Shiva doesn't..."

[Lord Windos]

Another sigh.

"...Shiva doesn't..."

Ventus shook his head at that truth, and tried to give him a half hug to cheer them up a bit. "Give her time to mend from yesterday night, and work on repairing the bond of trust between you two. Despite what you may think, she still cares a great deal about your wellbeing, and considers you a friend. After all, this also isn't the first time you two have gotten into a spat over trust issue, so you know that its not impossible for you regain the lost trust between you two. It that it has to be YOU that has to starting mending things with her this time, not the other way around. Which means you can't avoid her or keep sulking like you are now, my friend. Start by going over their and apologizing to her, and see where that leads. You would be surprised how effective the words 'I'm sorry' can be, so why not try it out, Nate?"

[Dragonstrike]

Ventus shook his head at that truth, and tried to give him a half hug to cheer them up a bit. "Give her time to mend from yesterday night, and work on repairing the bond of trust between you two. Despite what you may think, she still cares a great deal about your wellbeing, and considers you a friend. After all, this also isn't the first time you two have gotten into a spat over trust issue, so you know that its not impossible for you regain the lost trust between you two. It that it has to be YOU that has to starting mending things with her this time, not the other way around. Which means you can't avoid her or keep sulking like you are now, my friend. Start by going over their and apologizing to her, and see where that leads. You would be surprised how effective the words 'I'm sorry' can be, so why not try it out, Nate?"

The next part is just a mumble.  "...doubt...talk...broke..."  Kirlia's pretty quick to shake his head in response to it, though.  He grabs Nathan's hand to get his attention, points at Ventus, nods, then points at Shiva (who's still conversing with Mallorn at this time).  Clearly, he's trying to tell Nathan to just go talk to her already.

Nathan just sighs again and goes back to sulking.  Looks like convincing him to talk to Shiva might be a little difficult...

[Lord Windos]

The next part is just a mumble.  "...doubt...talk...broke..."  Kirlia's pretty quick to shake his head in response to it, though.  He grabs Nathan's hand to get his attention, points at Ventus, nods, then points at Shiva (who's still conversing with Mallorn at this time).  Clearly, he's trying to tell Nathan to just go talk to her already.

Nathan just sighs again and goes back to sulking.  Looks like convincing him to talk to Shiva might be a little difficult...

Closing his eyes and shaking his head at how stubbornly dour his good friend is remaining, Ventus tried to think of a way to snap his friend out of his pseudo depression, when he saw how worried Kirlia was. Looking at the dancer in question, an idea popped into their head, and he had to suppress the devious smile on his face as the details unfolded in his mind. 'Kirlia,' the researcher thought at them, looking him in the eyes, 'Remember that conversation about Psychic types we had earlier? I have a plan, and all I need a little acting on your part for it to work. Play along with me now...'

Ventus then let out a loud, saddened sigh, drawing Nathan's attention at his mournful looking face. "Well, I can't force you to make amends with Shiva, so if you want remain like this for the time being, so be it. I'm just...I'm just now worried how Kirlia will handle this negativity of your. While I'm sure they are fine right now, I'm concerned that your bad mood will spread to them eventually, which could have the potential to adversely affect their growth, development, and mental health. Hopefully this won't affect them too much for the time being...." he said, giving a sidelong meaningful look to Kirlia in question. Time to see whether this works or backfires terribly on him...though if he gets angry at them, it would still be an improvement then the current funk he's in...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

After the errands on the market and before calling Professor Mallorn:

(I assume me and Ventus at least got a a few hours of sleep after mask-buying.)

... ... ... The new day was dawning... It felt like they just arrived in the Center, just got comfy in one of the dorms and decided to forfeit informing Professor Mallorn about the happenings to the next morning. At least...a little rest...

Ven also did no object to have Shiva sleep over with him in the same dorm as she expressed that plea to him. Only now, as they were outside and insafety, she realized how much energy it needed to stay alerted the whole time and survive on the foe's territory. Luckily, the mission was a success - well, apart from her unexpected shinyhunt - and while they didn't encountered Silverfish itself or anything concerning Genesect at all apart from two Drives that according to Nathan weren't even actual ones, they i.a. retrieved the stolen Neverstone - that alone was way more worthy.

Once again she woke up earlier than Ven did, and again semi-cuddled up to him. She...could get used to this... He emitted peacefulness and security, alongside fragility.... Carefully and quietly to not disturb anything about that, she got up from the bed and stepped to the window to take a look at the view Wineberry gave her in the morning. They made it out of the Scimitar's Base... None of them were harmed, and...wait, what was that new feeling? Pride? Not really... Peacefullness? Indeed. Satisfaction? Maybe. ...Complacence? That...must be the right word to describe it... They got through, even if there were spats and problems. Did such feelings belonged to a Trainer's life? (That's the ideal situation for the level-up in Vitality I was after!~ Next up: Specialities.)

She got herself comfy at the table in the dorm before patiently waited for the researcher to wake up on himself to head down the Lobby for the sake of meeting up with the others and make the call to the lab. Now to think about it, Shiva was highly curious to what Porfessor Mallorn would say about that weird jar-network-thingie she looted from the Scimitar's lab...

"I don't recognize that weird jar thing. If I had it in my lab, I could probably analyze it. It looks like the wires are there to give it a variety of different energy types. Imbuing that putty, as it were. Was there any indication of what it might be?"

"No...? Oh... Well, eh, nevermind, thank you for taking a look at it now. I found that on the same workbank as the safe that contained the Neverstone, and if the wires are indeed supposed to give this anorganic putty in the unhealthy colour energy of different energy types... Then I guess it was the right decision to take the apparature with me. Robbing them to tool to recreate more of the stone and prevent them from stealing the concept.That's good to hear!"

"I gladly hand that apparature to you for further examination and analayzing. However, it's probably too complex and delicate to register it to a free Pokeball and send it to you right away, is it...? I'll keep the apparature with me the for the time being, and hand it over to you personaly in the lab as soon as we make a stop-by in Trillium. Does that sound agreeabale to you? ...That would also give me the cahnce to thank you first-handed for Hitmonchan's Guide once again, doesn't matter whether it's a little battered, that book proved very useful and enjoyable to me! I'll give you Nathan then; wait a moment on-screen, I'll go get him. See you soon, in case we won't speak with one another again!~"

Once that has been wrapped up, she joined the others on the table, feeling rather relieved that things wrapped up in favor to the group...despite the argument with Nathan at the entrance of the Base and her run-in with the Guards. She gave him a calm look, and there was no 'bad' (there is actually no bad emotion in her view, emotions are emotions, there are none that are better than the other). "Nathan, I assume you wish to speak with Professor Mallorn as well? I kept him on the line and screen for you, so you can go over and talk to him."

[Iron]

Kirlia does look a wee bit tired, visibly so, from all this emotional strife.

He doesn't care what Ventus thinks at all, or even Shiva, and will happily side with his master even if he might be in the wrong. But he puts on a bit of a frown as he reads Nathan's emotions, and occasionally does small things to indicate that talking to Shiva is the only way back to emotional higher ground. This is less because he cares about the Nathan-Shiva relationship and more because he knows it will help Nathan.

(Dragonstrike, anything you want to add is fine; just remember that Kirlia's love is a selfish love)