[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

A smiling man in a fancy purple silk suit leaves Director North's office. He tips his hat to you.

"Come in!" calls the director.

Director North still needs someone to play with the Plusle triplets today, and he'd like someone to go grab a nice piece of stone for the Unown to hang on. The more ancient, the better. There's also lots of menial jobs to be done.

Shiva does follow Ventus to the office of Director North for her own reasons, mostly to greet him, apologize for how she wasn't able to start her agreed days of work until now due to that crisis of the Vines and to ensure that she'll look into being a helpful and appreciated addition to the staff for the time being. Unlike Ventus though, she respectfully chooses to ignore any flamboyant conversation keeping North busy, but she caught herself curiously watching that man leave, even if it was only for that interesting and fancy choice of attire.


"Oh! I, uhm, actually own a pair of Plusle-Minun on my own, so I'd he happy to take care of these Plusle triplets. My electric rodents haven't had any fun free time for a while now, sadly, so I hope they'll welcome spending a little playful free time under my watch. Do not worry, I should be able to hande taking a few electric shocks and in case the sparks and lightnings are overgrowing us, I'll take them outside to release their energy under the open sky instead. ...Is there a PC nearby for withdrawing my rodents?"

[Lord Windos]

(@Iron, still need clarification on whether Kirlia actually has 5 loyalty on the character sheet or if this is just a mechanical thing)

Now Nathan looks puzzled.  Why's Ventus smiling at Aspis and Kirlia?  Ventus's suggestion distracts him from figuring it out right this moment, though.

"...yeah, sure...I guess that's...fine...might be enjoyable..."

Ventus clapped his hands together, before laying placing one on Nathan's shoulder with a friendly smile. "Excellent! You can accompany me when I go to Director North and ask for my given duties this day, as well reporting my desire to work double time at the Shelter, and we'll see if he can't find some task your talents and skills can be put to most use!" From there, I presume that Nathan lingers behind at the Pokemon Center for awhile while Ven and Shiva move on ahead to the Pokemon Center, before catching up and finding the researcher waiting outside with Shiva to meet with North, and going in with them to meet with the Director. At least, that is the most conveniat way to wield all these various scenes together the most smooth way possible!

[Iron]

Spoiler

No, you don't sense any magic at all. You know, though, that your fingers are touching where many great trainers throughout the ages have touched!

After Heart do that, he decided it was time to return to Star City. The training he did here today help a lot to improve Tynamo. Perhaps someday he will close to evolve in Tynamo. Or not. In the path to Star City, Heart heard some strange grining sounds around the Gym. "What the hell is this?" Then he decided to take look until be ready to the Little Cup. He still have plenty of time.

Action: Investigate the Gym sound!

Inside the Gym's door, Dagny is supervising construction of a massive steel drawbridge from her wheelchair! A Klingklang is helping, assisted by many smaller gear Pokemon.

"Oh, hello Heart. As you can see, I'm improving the Gym's defenses. It's going to be the best fortress in Creshire."

[Dragonstrike]

Ventus clapped his hands together, before laying placing one on Nathan's shoulder with a friendly smile. "Excellent! You can accompany me when I go to Director North and ask for my given duties this day, as well reporting my desire to work double time at the Shelter, and we'll see if he can't find some task your talents and skills can be put to most use!" From there, I presume that Nathan lingers behind at the Pokemon Center for awhile while Ven and Shiva move on ahead to the Pokemon Center, before catching up and finding the researcher waiting outside with Shiva to meet with North, and going in with them to meet with the Director. At least, that is the most conveniat way to wield all these various scenes together the most smooth way possible!

Yeah, Nathan lingers there for a bit.  Rearranges his team a little.  Kirlia and Forthright are staying, obviously, but...well, he needs a little security right now.  Pokemon he trusts...

...and he's got enough for a full team.  Calam, a supposed agent of Mesprit's.  Solomon, a Slowking that shares his interests and generally makes good decisions if he thinks Nathan's aren't optimal.  Orthros, the otherworldly dog he'd never expected to befriend.  And Grid, the little bug who's come so far from being the tiny, sorta weak, energy sucking bug he found back in Fireweed Forest...

It's not his strongest team possible, but they are some of his strongest pokemon as well as some of the ones he trusts most (minus Forthright, who's still newly hatched).  Unfortunately, not enough room for Swiftfire, but Grid needs the attention more than she does.  Zippy and Princess are also still cooling off from yesterday.

[Iron]

Spoiler

In that moment, Ventus became almost overwhelmed by the almost inexplicit flourishing/flood of Loyalty not only from his great big sister, but from Nathan's Kirlia as well! His eyes widened at the dedicated, resolute, and strangely wise expression Apsis gave him that all but showed the permenantly solidified the bond between them, but soon he couldn't help but delicately place a hand on her scaled body and, with a great big smile, gave her a solum but joyful nod of his head. If his sister has decided to fully dedicate herself to his cause, then he too would do the very same for her, and together the both of them would look out for each other. Just like the family they were....

Despite the monumentous occasion between him and Apsis, Kirlia's own deepening of the bond to Nathan did not go unnoticed by the empath, and he couldn't help but give them a bright, respectful smile for revelations and choice. Still, despite his fresh joy over both their Pokémon becoming perfectly Loyal , Ventus couldn't help but secretly worry that the psychic dancer's now even more intensified focus on his young trainer could cause complication, or even become a liability. Their is fine line between complete dedication and abject zealotry, and what actions one considers appropriate on each side, something that the researcher was all too painfully aware of . Hopefully nothing unfortold comes from this....or his own history doesn't end up repeating in young Kirlia....

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(Whether this happened before or after the Max Loyalty Scene, this is Ven's Reaction!)

After he said this, Ventus then gave a thought frown at how......dispirited the boy appeared to be, and while he no longer had any real inclination to care about them deeply or really was comfortable/happy to do so, this was not something he could easily ignore. Of course, if he tried to brute force the issue and get them to talk about their feelings directly, their was a more than likely chance they would clam up and/or flee the scene, so he tried a more.....indirect approach. "Hmm......Nathan, would you like to accompanying me and Shiva to the Shelter today, if you don't have any other plans? The Pokémon their are shaken up from the Vines disaster, and my fellow staff their could always use an extra helping hand to tend to matters. Your experience with working on your mother's ranch and caring for the Ponyta would be a boon to have indeed, and I know the Pokemon their would be delighted to see a new, friendly face, so how about it?"

(If Nathan is feeling timid and nervous, and he gets along really well with Pokemon and feels much better around them, why solve his problem with another?)

(@Iron, still need clarification on whether Kirlia actually has 5 loyalty on the character sheet or if this is just a mechanical thing)

Now Nathan looks puzzled.  Why's Ventus smiling at Aspis and Kirlia?  Ventus's suggestion distracts him from figuring it out right this moment, though.

"...yeah, sure...I guess that's...fine...might be enjoyable..."

Kirlia mechanically gained a Loyalty.

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Inside the Gym's door, Dagny is supervising construction of a massive steel drawbridge from her wheelchair! A Klingklang is helping, assisted by many smaller gear Pokemon.

"Oh, hello Heart. As you can see, I'm improving the Gym's defenses. It's going to be the best fortress in Creshire."

"Heya Dagny. I notices. The best attack its a good defence as they say. How things is going?"

[Iron]

Spoiler

A smiling man in a fancy purple silk suit leaves Director North's office. He tips his hat to you.

"Come in!" calls the director.

Director North still needs someone to play with the Plusle triplets today, and he'd like someone to go grab a nice piece of stone for the Unown to hang on. The more ancient, the better. There's also lots of menial jobs to be done.

"Ventus, if you wish to work double shifts for a time, I hope you will take good care of yourself. But it is good to see someone give their all for the Shelter, even if they get something out of it in return. Try to take on opposite tasks. If you spend the morning on your feet, do some paperwork for me in the afternoon. I need about an hour of dictation taken, if you can type quickly. Or there's a loooot of old adoption paperwork to be filed. We're like 3 years behind."

The researcher tipped his own head at the distinguished gentleman in return as they left, before coming into North's office as dictated andproposed his offer to throw himself into helping the Shelter. After doing so and receiving their approval/cautious warning (along with an updated list of tasks he could do), Ventus gave them a relaxed smile and a sharp nod of his head. "Yes sir, Director. I have ample experience working long shift and nights at my old university and out in the field, so a couple days of intense effort on my part will be more a return to my old form than any strenuous burden! Still, I'll take care not to over exert myself on the job! Hmm.......I believe I can run over to the ancient wall that surround the cities and find a big enough slab for the Unknown here, if that would suffice. Otherwise, I'm also willing to make a trip to the Skull Ruins and excavate a large enough rock their. Regardless, I'll take great care in my work, so worry not Director!

"As for my second shift, I'll be more than delighted to help the Shelter catch up on old paperwork! It may not appear so, but I'm quite adept in filling, sorting, categorizing, signing, and finishing all sorts of bueracratic matters, and I don't consider it the boring slog most people do- quite the contrary, I find it quite relaxing and fun- so by all means drown me in it!"

(Well, the will be Ventus' day, and he will automatically spend a Willpoint as he starts his second shift. Let's see what collecting a stone for the Unknown entails.....)

"A stone from that wall will suffice, but make sure you don't collapse the structure! Haha! The biggest slab you can fit in a wheelbarrow (we have a wheelbarrow for you) would be best. The more ancient and mystical the stone, the happier the three Unown will be. The slab needs to be at least two feet in one dimension, six in the other, and an inch thick is plenty. Oh, bonus points if it is not easily broken."

He points Shiva to the public PC in the Shelter. "There are rubber gloves in the clinic, too."

[Iron]

Spoiler

Inside the Gym's door, Dagny is supervising construction of a massive steel drawbridge from her wheelchair! A Klingklang is helping, assisted by many smaller gear Pokemon.

"Oh, hello Heart. As you can see, I'm improving the Gym's defenses. It's going to be the best fortress in Creshire."

"Heya Dagny. I notices. The best attack its a good defence as they say. How things is going?"

"Come here."
Heart comes.
Dagny gives him a high five. "I love that quote. Things are going good, but they can always be better! That's why I'm constantly improving!"

She shows him a Nugget. "I found this in the Ruins. Apparently there are still a few treasure deposits in there. It's financing this strange experiment now. Also, I was going to tell Nathan but we didn't really have time: My Machine Sensor detected machines down there, even on the layer I was in. That could be something like a Technical Machine, or it could be something stranger and more ancient. Sometimes you find old clockwork devices from ancient times, even on Route 04 or in our lovely mountains."

[Lord Windos]

"A stone from that wall will suffice, but make sure you don't collapse the structure! Haha! The biggest slab you can fit in a wheelbarrow (we have a wheelbarrow for you) would be best. The more ancient and mystical the stone, the happier the three Unown will be. The slab needs to be at least two feet in one dimension, six in the other, and an inch thick is plenty. Oh, bonus points if it is not easily broken."

The researcher diligantly listened/memorized North's instructions and specifications with a ponderous look, before smiling and giving the Director a thumbs up. "Understood, sir. I'll retrieve the wheelbarrow, and promptly make haste towards the Wall! My Noibat should easily find a sturdy enough stone that matches your requirements, and my Arbok can help excavate it from wherever it may lie! With their help, it will hopefully not take too long to bring a relic that the Unknown will enjoy! Hmm....Although...."

Ventus once again had a contempulative expression crossed his face, before it brightened up as he snapped his finger in a 'Aha!' gesture, before turning to Nathan (If he's in the room) or finding him, and asking him: "Nathan, would you care to assist me finding an ancient, mystical stone for the Shelter's Unknown to rest upon? You expertise in Cheshire's distant and oft forgotten past and keen eye for such things would greatly help me find an appropriate stone, and Solomon's aid and wisdom would also be a boon as well if you have him in your team! How about it?"

[Dragonstrike]

The researcher diligantly listened/memorized North's instructions and specifications with a ponderous look, before smiling and giving the Director a thumbs up. "Understood, sir. I'll retrieve the wheelbarrow, and promptly make haste towards the Wall! My Noibat should easily find a sturdy enough stone that matches your requirements, and my Arbok can help excavate it from wherever it may lie! With their help, it will hopefully not take too long to bring a relic that the Unknown will enjoy! Hmm....Although...."

Ventus once again had a contempulative expression crossed his face, before it brightened up as he snapped his finger in a 'Aha!' gesture, before turning to Nathan (If he's in the room) or finding him, and asking him: "Nathan, would you care to assist me finding an ancient, mystical stone for the Shelter's Unknown to rest upon? You expertise in Cheshire's distant and oft forgotten past and keen eye for such things would greatly help me find an appropriate stone, and Solomon's aid and wisdom would also be a boon as well if you have him in your team! How about it?"

Yeah, Nathan's followed Ventus into the room.  He's not really said anything so far, just nervously hung back by the door.  He practically jumps when Ventus snaps a finger and turns to him.  Kirlia does his best to calm him down.  Nathan's still holding Forthright (he's practically been holding her ever since she hatched!

"...uh...sure...I can do that, I guess...those Unown were...kinda polite when I talked to them before...I guess finding some old rubble for them would be useful...Calam and Solomon would probably both be really helpful in pinpointing which one would be ideal as well..."

Well, with all that thinking and such he's been doing lately, Nathan's not sure he can really tap into the Earthpower quite yet...but he's certainly reviewed a lot of the knowledge he has!  That'd probably be extra useful in the coming weeks/months...and probably for identifying a half decent looking piece of rubble with Solomon and Calams' help.  Lore increases to 3 for 12 exp!