[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The old guy, however, does laugh at the pun. "Eh eh eh! I haven't heard one like that in years. I nearly SOILED myself." He tugs at his loincloth, then shakes his head to return to the task at hand.

(This part Ventus and Shiva might not hear, since it's directed at Heart.)

"The Earthpower is in every rock and every mite of soil, and thus in every living thing. It flows from the earth into the plants, and from the plants into the Pokemon and into humans. Not only is it responsible for growth, it is responsible for the natural laws and preservation of order. Earthpower is even present in the lightning and the winds. It's everywhere. It is what makes Earth such a vibrant place. It's what allows Pokemon to wield such tremendous power. Every attack, in some way, is a manifestation of Earthpower. In the days of Sarimanok, the Earthpower was less subdued than it was now. In the days of the Scavengers," he gestures at the fossils, "the Earthpower was greater still. But my greatest connection is to the Earthpower in, well, earth. It's a bit like the difference between Rock Throw and Power Gem. Humans have a dull connection to Earthpower, and there's little they can do to stretch it to the level even a mere Rattata has. It is still a useful skill to cultivate, if you ask this old man."

He's back to working at his clay as he explains.

"Eh, eh, eh! I can give the Ground Type to any Pokemon, even a dual-type like Kabutops! It works just like Forest's Curse, doesn't it, little Phantump? It fades away after taking enough Grass, Water, or Ice attacks. Or, someone who is strong in the Earthpower could also remove it."

[Dragonstrike]

"The Earthpower is in every rock and every mite of soil, and thus in every living thing. It flows from the earth into the plants, and from the plants into the Pokemon and into humans. Not only is it responsible for growth, it is responsible for the natural laws and preservation of order. Earthpower is even present in the lightning and the winds. It's everywhere. It is what makes Earth such a vibrant place. It's what allows Pokemon to wield such tremendous power. Every attack, in some way, is a manifestation of Earthpower. In the days of Sarimanok, the Earthpower was less subdued than it was now. In the days of the Scavengers," he gestures at the fossils, "the Earthpower was greater still. But my greatest connection is to the Earthpower in, well, earth. It's a bit like the difference between Rock Throw and Power Gem. Humans have a dull connection to Earthpower, and there's little they can do to stretch it to the level even a mere Rattata has. It is still a useful skill to cultivate, if you ask this old man."

He's back to working at his clay as he explains.

"Eh, eh, eh! I can give the Ground Type to any Pokemon, even a dual-type like Kabutops! It works just like Forest's Curse, doesn't it, little Phantump? It fades away after taking enough Grass, Water, or Ice attacks. Or, someone who is strong in the Earthpower could also remove it."

Nathan's listening to this too, of course.  He said he wanted to learn as well, after all.  He's gotten his journal out (how he does it so quickly is beyond even Kirlia's comprehension) and is taking notes.

Hmmm...well, whoever got that Beartic from Shiva was probably going to be sorely disappointed after awhile...

Nathan makes no comments.  Just listens and takes notes.  Oh, the irony of the situation Ventus seems to have put himself in...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

The following happens before Shiva runs into Ven.


Shiva was just turning to leave as the others have given their viewpoint of where they'd desire to sleep over then, but the reappearance of the ermit, now carrying some...black substance in his arms kept her at the place for a little bit longer. Curiosity won.

Receiving a portion of that stuff came kinda suprising to her and instantly she was kinda wondering what this is weird/muddy stuff was supposed to be and why...before she literally felt that energy running through it. Natural energy on top of that, it seems... Oh, what wonderous thing has nature brought up here? ..... H-How lucky! She has just expended her single Revive, but now she felt like she somewhat got one back. One that can only be used once per day, but doesn't matter! If any of her Pokemon looses consciousness, Shiva now knows where to turn to in cases where no nurse or Center is reachable. She'll also keep an eye open for such low fertile valleys hurtloam can be found. No Ground Type she has on hand though, but...collecting anything that MIGHT be hurtloam along the way, later confirm it via Beartic? 

She stared at ithat stuff for a little longer, considering, before eventually calling out Cottonee to her side. Shiva motioned the fluffball to make herself comfy in her lap, before adressing her directy. "It's nice to see you again, unfainted... These blasted toxins... *faint sob* "But, listen, this mud here" *showing hurtloam to her* "is very rich in minerals and natural energy. If I'd spead this over you, you'll quickly see any wounds on you being healed (in this case, -2 Pain on Cottonee will become -1 Pain), but I don't enjoy the thought of black mud on your white fluff... I don't know about you either... But if you'd prefer some revitalizing via this mud, I'll promise to brush any remaining stains off your fluff before we'll turn in for the night. How does that sound, dear one?"


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Mechanics:
Leaving the choice of having black mud spread over her white fluff or not to Cottonee herself. It may not be the best use for that item, but I feel Shiva would totally use it now anyway shall her Starter agree. Ven most likely hears nothing of this as Shiva speaks not very loud + directly to her Pokemon.

Ventus, however, did managed to tune out his friend's part of the conversation, so when he eventually noticed his most blessed friend he immediately perked up and returned their smile, motioning her to join him up on his Metagross mount with a much less stifling air about him. "My friend, I'm glad that blasted elder thing did nothing amiss, and all is well and whole with you! I heard that they successfully solved the problem posed by the Vines, if only partially, so will we all be departing for Stair City poste haste, or finding a campsite at the base of the mountain?"

At first, Shiva was a bit scared of what she'll find and see when regrouping with Ventus. But... it seemed like things were not as she might have subconsciously feared - the fact that the eremit has stopped the Vines from engulfing the city must have brought some smypathy points. At least very few, and that was all Shiva needed to know, so she carefully hopped onto Metagross and to Ven's side with gusto.

Behind that was a portion of wondering though, if not subtle worry. Because of many reasons; how things will continue now concerning that Claydol and Co., what was that thing with Ven seemingly having angered nature herself, where will they find a good place to set up tent for the night, how she'll probably get to hear words from Ven at some point for how he-knows-what... Ah, worries plaquing a feeling to triumph.

"Hmm? Oh, ehm, I'm well and stuff, Ven... Yes, the eremit has deal with the Vines now. Stair City has conquered her northern end back and the Vines won't try again. That's a sweet partial success, isn't is... Hmm, Heart and Nathan told me that they'll stay a little longer within the cave and with the elder, eventually even sleeping over there. But I'd prefer familiar tent, so how about we find a place to build it up? Maybe not directly here, but in the savannah or desert downwards - it's just safer there than here at the base of the Tusk. The eremit also gave us this Gliscor here to aid us until we reach Stair City" *points to her in a faint smile* "so she can stay up and inform the others about location of us then. Does that...sound alright, dear?"


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Mechanics:
I assume Gliscor followed Shiva outside the cave then. If that's wrong, I'll edit this!

[Spiritmon]

Heart was amazed by this thing about the Earthpower, about how it is powerfull and great. "Can you teach me how to use this kind of Earthpower like that! Please please pretty please! Since it is human can do I really want to understand a little more. Can you teach me the basics? But you do not want I understand too." Heart was having big dog eyes almost big as the Ditto Horse of Nathan.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

At first, Shiva was a bit scared of what she'll find and see when regrouping with Ventus. But... it seemed like things were not as she might have subconsciously feared - the fact that the eremit has stopped the Vines from engulfing the city must have brought some smypathy points. At least very few, and that was all Shiva needed to know, so she carefully hopped onto Metagross and to Ven's side with gusto.

Behind that was a portion of wondering though, if not subtle worry. Because of many reasons; how things will continue now concerning that Claydol and Co., what was that thing with Ven seemingly having angered nature herself, where will they find a good place to set up tent for the night, how she'll probably get to hear words from Ven at some point for how he-knows-what... Ah, worries plaquing a feeling to triumph.

"Hmm? Oh, ehm, I'm well and stuff, Ven... Yes, the eremit has deal with the Vines now. Stair City has conquered her northern end back and the Vines won't try again. That's a sweet partial success, isn't is... Hmm, Heart and Nathan told me that they'll stay a little longer within the cave and with the elder, eventually even sleeping over there. But I'd prefer familiar tent, so how about we find a place to build it up? Maybe not directly here, but in the savannah or desert downwards - it's just safer there than here at the base of the Tusk. The eremit also gave us this Gliscor here to aid us until we reach Stair City" *points to her in a faint smile*"so she can stay up and inform the others about location of us then. Does that...sound alright, dear?"

Ventus, despite the bulk of his concentration being focused on tuning out/shielding his mind from the old man, was able to pick up the lingering worry/intrigue that slightly overshadowed her positivity over the Vines being annilalated , and internally frowned to himself. 'Oh dear, something that cursed being said must have put her on edge, or so it seems. I was going to lecture her over their so recklessly interacting with that old 'man' without first knowing whether or not he was a threat or not, but that can wait until she's in a better state of mind for it, I suppose,' he thought, before Shiva derailed it by speaking up about the eremit's aid and Heart/Nathan deciding to remain in their domicle for a while longer, which earned her an aggrevated sigh from the researcher, before they commented on it.

"I swear to Reshirim, does the common man not know better than to dabble in forces clearly beyond their keen? Forces best left alone and isolated, where they may molest no one, or be allowed to wither away into oblivion without them leeching of others like the nasty, parasitic scourge they are? Heart I can understand being overly curious, as he is an adventurer and collector of the rare and exotic, but Nathan....the boy clearly should know better by now. The fool....*Sighs* no matter, I suppose. If the boy wishes to ruin themselves with that blight and blasted Insight, they may do so, for I can not be their keeper if they willfully ignore my warnings. So long as they leave me out of it and whatever misfortune befalls them for learning of it, Nathan can suffer the consequences of his decision....."

Clearly the empath was.....unethused by the young trainer's choices, but if they made them with full awareness of the negative downsides associated with such practices, then who was he to argue with their foolishness? Better the boy ruin himself and learn from his mistake, then to futilely lecture them when they refuse to listen.... As for the news about camping down the mountain and the Gliscor escort, that received a much more positive nod from Ventus, as he didn't really begrudge the scropiobat due to various factors, and resting after a long day sounds rather appealing. "That is more than acceptable, my dear! Once we rest up, we'll be able to make the return trip to Stair without hinderance, especially if I have Lucifer provide a Tailwind to speed up our Metagross! Now, let us find suitable camp ground - perhaps Gliscor knows of some ideal spots? - and turn in for the night, if that is fine with you Shiva?"

Order: Ven complains a little, and then agree to find camp somewhere at the base of the mountains, either in the spot the eremit pointed out earlier , or in the savanah if that is not possible. When morning dawns and its time to get moving, Lucifer will provide Tailwinds to the Metagross Mounts and himself to aid the group in getting back to Stair ASAP, while Lilith is held in Ven's lap while feeding her his last bit of Honey to pass the time/bond/reward her! Let's end the day, just in time for the holidays guys!

[Iron]

The Pokemon are all intrigued by the hurtloam and attracted to it. I guess Gliscor coming to your camp to run messenger is the only way to do it. You find an OK site at the base of the Great Divide, on the Savannah side. Still out of sight of any towns, though. You do notice the stars and planets are very clear and bright here, despite the fog in the mountains.
Lilith and Cottonee gain 1 Happiness!


"Heart, all you have to do is explore your own connection to the universe. The Earthpower takes many many different forms from there. I suggest meditating, eh, eh, eh, and maybe spending some time naked and alone in the wilderness! Without the trappings of civilization: no Pokeballs, no computers, nothing but you and the land. There are no chants to memorize or rituals to perform. Just like the Southern Wind, the Earthpower is summoned by spirit, not by words."

"Eh, eh, eh! But don't get your hopes up! No human has ever mastered the Earthpower enough to do more than drive away curses and scribe healing wards. Not even Sarimanok. The most useful, eh, use for it, is to connect better with your Pokemon - who CAN make it manifest."
(This would be an application of Insight. You could take the Earthpower Knowledge Specialty, which would let you remove things like Forest's Curse at rank 5. At rank 7 you could spend a few thousand Pokedollars to inscribe a healing spot seal, like the ones you can find in Lavender Town Tower where Mediums are in the handhelds).

After a few hours meditating with the Elder, you can each pick two Pokemon to gain a point of Happiness.

The elder will either give you a single Hurtloam to carry with you, or use two of them each on healing your Pokemon who were in the battle of testing. Shiva already used hers on Cottonee; Ventus wouldn't be offered one.

[Nylon]

Valder hasn't been doing much anyway, so he'd be meditating with the elder if the group has time, which I suppose we have since the vines just dissapeared.
 He meditates with his most earth-like pokemon, Mamo. And also Theo of course.

[Dragonstrike]

(Well, in that case...)

Not a whole lot of Hurtloam to spare, huh? Hmmm...well, looks like Orthros is napping a while longer...Revives are too precious to waste...(One glob of Hurtloam for Nathan to hold on to, then.)

Well, some meditation in this cave does sound somewhat relaxing...Kirlia seems to be enjoying it, but so do the combee and Ditto (One point for Princess, one for Ditto, since Zippy and Kirlia are already at 5), who all come out of their pokeballs on their own for one reason or another (Princess likes the location, Zippy like Princess, and Ditto...just doesn't want to be in its pokeball...seems to like all the clay or something, though, so yay?). Nathan's also still holding Orthros, since the warmth and closeness of a friend besides Kirlia are both really comforting as well.

After the meditation, though...

"...Sir, I do have one more question that's bothering me...if I may ask, what do you know of the Scimitars?  The amount of control they have over the earth and water...it's...unnatural.  There has to be a reasonable explanation for it, but I've not had a chance to attempt examining the gauntlet Ventus took off one of them."

He doesn't really care that Heart has no idea what Nathan is talking about.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(...) Clearly the empath was.....unethused by the young trainer's choices, but if they made them with full awareness of the negative downsides associated with such practices, then who was he to argue with their foolishness? Better the boy ruin himself and learn from his mistake, then to futilely lecture them when they refuse to listen.... As for the news about camping down the mountain and the Gliscor escort, that received a much more positive nod from Ventus, as he didn't really begrudge the scropiobat due to various factors, and resting after a long day sounds rather appealing. "That is more than acceptable, my dear! Once we rest up, we'll be able to make the return trip to Stair without hinderance, especially if I have Lucifer provide a Tailwind to speed up our Metagross! Now, let us find suitable camp ground - perhaps Gliscor knows of some ideal spots? - and turn in for the night, if that is fine with you Shiva?"

Shiva replied nothing to Ven's complaining about how Earthpower shall better be left alone by mortals, but she'd disagree that it 'molests' and is a 'nasty, parasitic scourge' as he called it. She was enjoying how such a power, such a natural strength was flowing through every living being and connecting them all. Yes, them ALL, she found it a tad bit amusing that the oddball of researcher was so strong to deny any connection and couldn't help but to chuckle faintly at how he expressed his view on Earthpower (not meant in a bad way, it's just ironic!) No magic or trickery behind it, just...Mother Nature... Through her Grass and Fairy Types she already held some respect for nature, but she felt like after today, she sees this from an additional viewpoint. 'Use your Pokemon to bless the earth', he said...

As for how he was unenthused by Nathan's decision to learn more, Shiva said nothing either after taking Ven's words. She just...shruged it off, showing that this was his own decision and therefor he shall handle all consequences this decision might bring or not bring. If he'd clearly need help she'd be there, but she wouldn't accept coming crying to her because he can't handle the consequences.

She DID reply to Ven's question about turning in for the night once they found a suitable camping ground, and gave him an eager yet still somewhat coy smile in agreement. "Yes, that sounds alright then! How sweet that Lucifer is able to speed us up then... One day, I hope I'll be able to do that with Cottonee too."

Speaking of Cottonee, Shiva was a tad bit suprised as the fluffball showed her that she'd be happy to feel the energy of that black mud, but if she was sure about it then it shall be done. She helped Ven building up the tent where she could - which was, not much really, as she's not very good at that and the bright stars and planets visible despite the fog of the mountains caught her attention. Venus was nowhere to be seen though but that didn't suprise her as this planet is never seen in the middle of the night according to her knowledge. Most of the time she was just sitting there and staring up to the sky while having Cottonee in her lap and giving her soft brush strokes through her fluff, neatly removing any black stains until the fluff was innocently white again... She could literally feel how her Starter was enjoying this, every stroke seemed to subliminally strengthen the bond Master and Pokemon have created over time, until the latter drifted away into a peaceful slumber closely cuddled up to her caretaker. It was one of those moments that Shiva appreciated, serenity when things were hard and the feeling that efforts taken to defeat a threat turned out fruitful.

Later, she fell into the same peaceful slumber while keeping Cottonee close to her outside of Pokeball for the night, there in the tent under the bright starry sky.


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Mechanics:
End of in-game day for her, ready to start journeying back to Stair City then next morning.

[Iron]

"The Scimitars? Eh, eh, eh! I can tell you they're not tapping into the Earthpower directly, not in the sense that a Medium would. Or what Ventus would call a 'mage.' But I don't observe them much. Seem to skulk a lot. As far as I know, they don't have any more or less respect for soil than anyone else."

It's at about this point that Gliscor arrives with a message that Ventus and Shiva have made camp. The eremite has no problem understanding Gliscor, speaking to her in pops and whistles. You feel partially rested after your meditation, as if you had 6 hours of sleep.