[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

"Caesar?..... Oh! That was your.... oh." Unintentionally, Shiva shuddered over the thought of the Pokemon that'll evolve into the creature of her childhood nightmares, causing her to give Ven's hand a gentle squeeze and leaning in closer to dear Kyuu, one more Psychic Type that she was hoping to protect her and her dear fairies + grassy Pokemon from harmful toxins. Psychic kitten cat returned the sentiment before yawning and playfully tickling her neck with his two tails again, his prankful traits have awoken by evolving.

"I'm very fine with this, Heart!~ H-How's Caesar doing, by the way, behaving himself? And...if you stumble over Moon Stones somewhere, can you let me know, please? I've agreed to look out for one for someone having a sweeeeet Clefairy."

"He doing fine with no big problems. He see more happy than before. I see him with a smile bigger than I ever see before. He learning how to behave himself and learn to trust a little more in me. Tomorrow morning the training will finish and I can finally get him with no problems." Heart nod his head too. "Sure Shiva. If I find a moon stone you will be the first person to know."

[Lord Windos]

@Spiritmon



Keen as his empathy was, Ventus was easily able to pick up Heart's disquiet and unease over the revelation that the Ralts he was seeing was one in the same with the Kirlia they previously were. Before he could have chance to comment on that or even give him a concerned look, the collector had launched in a fairly gentle but none of the less still admonishing of Nathan's decision to handle to matter of Mespirt's release alone, which left the researcher blinking as realized two important things. Those being: A) The collector was more than reasonable in the points he present, and B) He (Ventus) wasn't the first one to decry such a potentially risky choice. Before, he would have only thought that Nathan had purely committed a good deed for the sake of a legendary in need, but now.......now he knew the boy had acted rather foolish and reckless for not informing them of his choice beforehand, just in case the worst did happen as Heart described.....

.......Still, besides that revelation and his own feeling of cringe for not having it (The rev.) himself sooner, it didn't diminish the pride or joy he felt over the occasion, nor did it make him less charitably imposed toward the young scholar. Mainly because he couldn't find it within himself to be all that righteously furious or worried over it since the boy ended up just fine and rescued a Legendary Being, and the fact that he knew the business with Mespirt was a very personal matter near and dear to him, made it all too reasonable for him to desire freeing them alone. Or, more likely, to just not think to include the group on this due to obliviousness about his group/other Pokemon's possible concern and/or tunnel visioning on their given objective. It wouldn't be unusual for the boy to lost the sight of the forest for the trees, or to lose sight of the potential ramifications of his action....

With those things in mind, Ventus slowly nodded his head towards Heart in agreement to his point......but then gave a respectful and non-judgmental smile towards Nathan, and began speaking on this. "Heart, I agree that Nathan should have informed at least one of us to what he was about to do this morning to prepare us all for the possibility that something could go array in freeing Mespirt, but I don't he meant to intentionally worry us or put himself in jeopardy. I believe he either only thought of freeing the Legend from their torment once the opportunity presented himself, or he wanted to deal with this matter personally without us potentially complicating things more than they already were. Theirs’s also the possibility he did so to protect us from the same backlash you described, and/or he didn't want to chance Mespirt reacting negatively to our intrusion. Regardless, he is safe and whole and Mespirt is free because of his prompt action, so I find myself ultimately unbothered by his choice. "

"However.........*Looks towards Nathan now with a serious, critical expression* the next time you are to embark on a hazardous course of action, give some thought to the consequences and fallout thereof, and either inform us about it so that we may choose to render assistance or not, or fully prepare yourself for adversity should it occur. Otherwise, you are needlessly endangering your and your Pokémon's life, and could potentially leaving us, your partner, and your mother Martha grieving should.....well, should you die or worse. Do you understand, Nathan?"

[Dragonstrike]

...

"...if there had been danger, Calam would have warned me, and Ralts would have Teleported us out immediately. If there were any selfish intentions in freeing it, Mesprit would likely still be trapped, waiting for someone new to find its hiding place and meet the qualifications to free it...for it could not free itself without being convinced by unselfish love first...I spent hours upon hours poring over that text in both parts of the message. It wasn't until we returned to Stair that I understood its meaning."

There's a quiet fury building in Nathan...he's suppressing it as best as he can, though...for Ralts's sake...

"...forgive me for the jab and sting, but I find it...difficult to take stock in your judgements of me and Ralts when you have no idea what we've been through already, Heart."

...and then Nathan, probably surprisingly, lets the anger go.

"...you couldn't have known about anything I've not told you, of course, but I recommend you save further judgements for AFTER you've learned more about me and my best friend."

...he's talking about more than just Heart's most recent comments, obviously...

"...I don't intend to do anything that might get me or my pokemon killed or something. I'm WELL aware that there are those relying on me, thank you very much."

"...and as I also said, Heart, Kirlia asked me to use the Neverstone on him, and he's still my best friend no matter the form he takes. If you want to point fingers at someone for forcing their pokemon to change form against their will, you're looking at the wrong guy."

Ralts are HIGHLY sensitive to ALL emotion around them, even when KOed or asleep, so yeah...

Nathan takes a deeep breeeeaaaath, trying to stay focused and not lose his cool...he doesn't want to disturb Ralts's slumber...

"...thank you for the kind words, though..."

That's all just in response to Heart. As for Ventus...well, a lot of it applies to that too, just without the...suppressed anger. Maybe a slight amount of annoyance mixed in with a ton of resignation, though...

He just quietly sighs in response to Ventus as a result. "...you know why I'm always thinking about that already, Ventus. No reason to chew me out for it...if you need to know about something, I'll tell you. That's all there is to it..."

Silence...

"...that's probably enough for tonight. I need to make sure Ralts is okay. Valder, if you could stick around a little longer, that'd be great. Everyone else...goodnight, sleep tight...and don't let the Cubbugs bite. We've got a long trip through Mt. Sentry tomorrow if we're headed for Cress City next."

(Insert the private conversation with Valder done via PM here after everyone else leaves)

[Iron]

Ready for Day 51?

Don't forget that your Magnemite eggs hatched today, with 3 Loyalty, 2 Happiness, their 0Xp moves, and whatever ability you requested.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

...

"...if there had been danger, Calam would have warned me, and Ralts would have Teleported us out immediately.  If there were any selfish intentions in freeing it, Mesprit would likely still be trapped, waiting for someone new to find its hiding place and meet the qualifications to free it...for it could not free itself without being convinced by unselfish love first...I spent hours upon hours poring over that text in both parts of the message.  It wasn't until we returned to Stair that I understood its meaning."

There's a quiet fury building in Nathan...he's suppressing it as best as he can, though...for Ralts's sake...

"...forgive me for the jab and sting, but I find it...difficult to take stock in your judgements of me and Ralts when you have no idea what we've been through already, Heart."

...and then Nathan, probably surprisingly, lets the anger go.

"...you couldn't have known about anything I've not told you, of course, but I recommend you save further judgements for AFTER you've learned more about me and my best friend."

...he's talking about more than just Heart's most recent comments, obviously...

"...I don't intend to do anything that might get me or my pokemon killed or something.  I'm WELL aware that there are those relying on me, thank you very much."

"...and as I also said, Heart, Kirlia asked me to use the Neverstone on him, and he's still my best friend no matter the form he takes.  If you want to point fingers at someone for forcing their pokemon to change form against their will, you're looking at the wrong guy."

Ralts are HIGHLY sensitive to ALL emotion around them, even when KOed or asleep, so yeah...

Nathan takes a deeep breeeeaaaath, trying to stay focused and not lose his cool...he doesn't want to disturb Ralts's slumber...

"...thank you for the kind words, though..."

That's all just in response to Heart.  As for Ventus...well, a lot of it applies to that too, just without the...suppressed anger.  Maybe a slight amount of annoyance mixed in with a ton of resignation, though...

He just quietly sighs in response to Ventus as a result.  "...you know why I'm always thinking about that already, Ventus.  No reason to chew me out for it...if you need to know about something, I'll tell you.  That's all there is to it..."

Silence...

"...that's probably enough for tonight.  I need to make sure Ralts is okay.  Valder, if you could stick around a little longer, that'd be great.  Everyone else...goodnight, sleep tight...and don't let the Cubbugs bite.  We've got a long trip through Mt. Sentry tomorrow if we're headed for Cress City next."

(Insert the private conversation with Valder done via PM here after everyone else leaves)

Hearing that Nathan had indeed planned his release of Mespirt in exhaustive depth both pleased and relieved Ventus greatly, as it meant the boy WASN'T blithely charging ahead/making reckless decisions for himself and others, earning them a small smile from the researcher. However, that soon faded away as he quickly picked up the fury/resentment the boy held towards Heart for judgment/concern/past encounters , and their barbed comebacks him to frown in disapproval/distate. Granted, the friction and/or animosity between Nathan and Heart ( and just about everyone but Valder, for that matter) and their recent fallout over something ('I honestly need to ask for more details about that incident....') made such behavior somewhat justified, but that didn't mean he appreciated it anymore than he already did, nor condone it.

"I'm heartened you had your bases well and  covered, and I'm still very much proud of you for releasing the Being of Emotion from captivity, truly........but that doesn't change the fact you failed to inform us of your plans in the first place, Nathan, so our reaction towards such silence is justified to an extent. Your attitude towards Heart, while understandable given your recent conflict with him, is also wholely unnecessary in this instance, as all he was doing was expressing concern over your seemingly lack of concern for yourself, your own, or us in freeing Mespirt.," the researcher said to the boy, looking rather admonishing and plain tired of their jabs, before he continued onwards with a more.....disappointed and resigned tone of voice.


 "Forgive for saying this, Nathan, but at times I believe it would simply for the best if you accepted crtisim for mistakes or errors on your part with good grace and calmness, instead of retaliating against it. *Sighs* At the very least, guard your words more closely so they do not come across as inflammatory or provocative, and re-ignite conflicts that should have been put to rest. Heart may or may not have misjudged you and Ralts in the past and did wrong by you, but it does not invalidate his own belief and feelings towards you based on what he's learned thus far, or make his comments now any less genuine or sincere. At least, that is what I believe based what I know thus far. Feel free to take my assessment however you like, for good or ill."

As for the young trainer's response to his own words, the empath only sighed and gave them a nod of their head. For now, that was the best he could expect from them, plus he did give them enough credit now not to needlessly cause problems for himself/the group unless it was unavoidable. Frankly, he would rather be the judge of what is or is not worthy of his attention/due caution, but trying to force the issue wouldn't get him anywhere, so....

When Nathan announced he wished to end this discussion for the night, Ventus was all too, ready to agree, as he wished to get some rest for himself and get started on soothing his dearest's troubles away (Which he had picked up but choosen not to react, so as not to disrupt the flow of conversation, ready to make his out of the room with her and to their own......until the boy told his mercenary to stick around for abit. That caused him to stop in his tracks and turn to give them an curious/skeptical look, and Lucifer (who had started to doze off once the conversation turned away from the gems and Legendaries) perked up and gave a question croon at the boy too. What is the little boy hiding, huh?

"Nathan, what do desire to discuss with Valder in private that couldn't be shared with us all? If its of a personal matter between you too that will not impact the party in anyway, that is fine, but if not I and the rest of us would like to at least know the nature of topic...."

[Lord Windos]

Ready for Day 51?

Don't forget that your Magnemite eggs hatched today, with 3 Loyalty, 2 Happiness, their 0Xp moves, and whatever ability you requested.

Flashback to Morning for Egg Hatching, Since You Didnt Specify an Exact Time!

Right after Ven received an ethusiatic *Screech!* of approval from his brother Lucifer to go out and stretch their legs/wings a bit, all of the sudden his Magnemite Egg on table started to shake and wobble like crazy, and soon cracks began to fissure across its surface, indicating it was about to hatch!!! The researcher gave out a shocked gasp at this, as anyone would be at the realization/thought a new life was about to be birthed into the world, and soon rush over by its side to observe the hatching with baited breath! The devil bat, equally startled by this, quickly became greatly excited and curious to see another Pokémon become a member of his family, and so follow after their brother , landing on their shoulders to watch on with them!

A minute or two of shaking and shuttering, the Egg shattered into dozens of pieces, revealing unto the world a baby Magnemite, hovering over their remains of its former incubating vessel and scanning the room around them with inquisitiveness, until their eye fell upon the only other lifeforms in the room, that being a oranged haired human with fuzzy green skin, and what appeared to be a Noibat. Processing this sight, they felt an inexplicit yearning and fondness towards the human, which in addtion to the amazed and loving expression they giving them, caused the magnetic baby to conclude they were its parent. With that parsed and settled, they let out a happy hum as their eye closed in such a way to convey their pure happiness before floating over to the human + bat , hopping up and down and waving its magnets as if they wanted a hug!

Well, that desire was soon answered, for Ventus did not hesitate to sweep the little lodestone into his arms and into a great big hug! "Oh my child, I am so glad to see you!!! Welcome to the family, my child!" he said, with the tiny treasure loving devil joining in on the celebrations by hopping down onto their brother's arms to join in and make it a group hug! All this positive attention proved to overstimulate/excite the Magnemite, for soon they started to let weak sparks out that caused Lucifer to let out an undiginified scquak and hop back on their brother's should, while the empath just chuckled and fondly rubbed their head to calm them down.

"I'm glad to finally be with you too, my child, after all this time! Now, its time I introduce my and your brother to you, and give you your own name as well! All my Pokémon have them to signify how unique and special they are, and to let them know I consider them my equal and loving family members! My name is Ventus Zackarieh, and this is Lucifer my Niobat! And you....hmm......how about Ramiel? Its means 'Thunder of God' , which I consider fitting for your mastery over your Typing and magnetic forces! Does the name suit your tastes, though....?"

Regardless if it does like its name or not, Ventus spends a little more time with Lucifer acquainting their newest sibling with them and the rest of his Pokémon on hand (Insert Reactions here, Iron!), before recalled the baby ball berring to their Pokeball and heading out to explore the city with his brother, the both now more happy than before!

*Flashback End!*

[Spiritmon]

Heart just sight then just begin to leave the room. He didn't wait for Nathan say the last words. "Don't worry Ventus. I kinda already expect this kind of reaction from Nathan. If he don't have insight, then there is no need to continue this conversation. I already tired from this unfruitful conflict with Nathan who takes to nowere, only suffer. If you people excuse me I going to sleep since I need to get up early morning to the Shelter. I wish everyone a good night and a good rest."

Than Heart slam closing the door behind him. Perhaps with more strength than necessary. He don't care if he broken the door. He didn't care anymore. He just wants to sleep.

Action: End the day.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Hearing that Nathan had indeed planned his release of Mespirt in exhaustive depth both pleased and relieved Ventus greatly, as it meant the boy WASN'T blithely charging ahead/making reckless decisions for himself and others, earning them a small smile from the researcher. However, that soon faded away as he quickly picked up the fury/resentment the boy held towards Heart for judgment/concern/past encounters , and their barbed comebacks him to frown in disapproval/distate. Granted, the friction and/or animosity between Nathan and Heart ( and just about everyone but Valder, for that matter) and their recent fallout over something ('I honestly need to ask for more details about that incident....') made such behavior somewhat justified, but that didn't mean he appreciated it anymore than he already did, nor condone it.

"I'm heartened you had your bases well and  covered, and I'm still very much proud of you for releasing the Being of Emotion from captivity, truly........but that doesn't change the fact you failed to inform us of your plans in the first place, Nathan, so our reaction towards such silence is justified to an extent. Your attitude towards Heart, while understandable given your recent conflict with him, is also wholely unnecessary in this instance, as all he was doing was expressing concern over your seemingly lack of concern for yourself, your own, or us in freeing Mespirt.," the researcher said to the boy, looking rather admonishing and plain tired of their jabs, before he continued onwards with a more.....disappointed and resigned tone of voice.


 "Forgive for saying this, Nathan, but at times I believe it would simply for the best if you accepted crtisim for mistakes or errors on your part with good grace and calmness, instead of retaliating against it. *Sighs* At the very least, guard your words more closely so they do not come across as inflammatory or provocative, and re-ignite conflicts that should have been put to rest. Heart may or may not have misjudged you and Ralts in the past and did wrong by you, but it does not invalidate his own belief and feelings towards you based on what he's learned thus far, or make his comments now any less genuine or sincere. At least, that is what I believe based what I know thus far. Feel free to take my assessment however you like, for good or ill."

As for the young trainer's response to his own words, the empath only sighed and gave them a nod of their head. For now, that was the best he could expect from them, plus he did give them enough credit now not to needlessly cause problems for himself/the group unless it was unavoidable. Frankly, he would rather be the judge of what is or is not worthy of his attention/due caution, but trying to force the issue wouldn't get him anywhere, so....

When Nathan announced he wished to end this discussion for the night, Ventus was all too, ready to agree, as he wished to get some rest for himself and get started on soothing his dearest's troubles away (Which he had picked up but choosen not to react, so as not to disrupt the flow of conversation, ready to make his out of the room with her and to their own......until the boy told his mercenary to stick around for abit. That caused him to stop in his tracks and turn to give them an curious/skeptical look, and Lucifer (who had started to doze off once the conversation turned away from the gems and Legendaries) perked up and gave a question croon at the boy too. What is the little boy hiding, huh?

"Nathan, what do desire to discuss with Valder in private that couldn't be shared with us all? If its of a personal matter between you too that will not impact the party in anyway, that is fine, but if not I and the rest of us would like to at least know the nature of topic...."

No further comments from Nathan on the stuff concerning Heart and the criticisms.  Any further thoughts on Heart's abrupt (and noisy. Ralts has started squirming uncomfortably) departure, he keeps to himself as he hugs Ralts again, trying to calm them both down...

"...I just have some stuff to discuss with Valder specifically.  That's all."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Phew... So his....Nidorino *another, this time less intensive wave of cold shivering hit her* was doing fine and he was working with this creature to keep it under control? That...that certainly eased her pinned down fear of him (Caesar) by a little and caused her mentally release the breath she was unknowingly holding. Toxins, massive strength, an agressive potential - even without the incident she cannot forget that easily despite it's so long ago Shiva would hold quite a respect towards evolved male Nidos and would do her best to stay away from them if possible. "That's...certainly neat to hear, Heart. Thank you..." That was all she had to say to him concerning this...sensitive issue, she fell back into comfortable silence, listening to what he others had to further say with attention while silently making her own opinion on the things spoken out.

Sometimes, she was wishing she too would be able to voice her thoughts as easily and freely as Heart and dear Ven did, and just in this moment she couldn't help but to silently admire them for such a trait. On the other hand, she was unsure whether she'd enjoy being like that, simply being able to talk more freely and without hesitation or lots of time to ponder over which words to choose in situations like this... Oh the shadows and the background, it was so comfortable yet DARK there, why was the world so loud and fast? Somewhat nervously and downcasted, she began to stroke through a stand of her hair with one hand simply to have something to do.


....In the end, she opted to agree with Heart that they ARE a group, and if anyone would urge for a solo-run they'd do better to simply leave and follow their own business. On the other hand, if felt wrong in her personal view to begrudge Nathan for his decision to not inform the others about what he wanted to do, mostly because it was a thing only he could do and she can certainly understand the desire of wanting to do something to help dear Mesprit, the desire to have this sweet feeling of accomplishement - was this something that'd make one a...'hero'? But she also cannot scold Heart nor Ventus for thinking the way they did, that does feel wrong as well to her. However...nothing has happened, everyone is some sort of fine and Mesprit was free, that's the more important thing, wasn't it...?

...My dear, please just stop mulling over it or you won't be able to fall sleep tonight, alright?
Shiva just ends up holding her head in silent capitulation and agreement to this advice, and still does so as she watches Heart leave the room, earning a wondering coo from her psychic cat.


Some moments after Heart has left and Ventus has spoken up again, she caught Ventus' attention by tugging at his sweater. "Ven... Can't we just leave it here and head to our dorm as well?" The tone of her voice was calm, toneless and almost pleading, and after having said these words she silently moved closer to him - but NOT to kiss him or similar, he has no reason to flinch away from her: She simply wants to make sure that ONLY Ven does hear what she said next. "We can still ask Valder/@Nylon later to please enlighten us on what he and Nathan have discussed, maybe he'd do that if we turn to him."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Moving on having left Nathan's room and now being in the dorm Shiva and Ven share, this post can be edited shall it be necessary after Ven reacted.


As soon as she and the dark oddball of sociologist arrived at their dorm and the latter has closed the door after them, Shiva ends up almost throwing herself onto her side of the bed, Meowstic leaped off from her shoulder just in time in a swift movement and delighted chirp. Huuuh, how comfortable just laying her felt after having spent an exhausting, yet fruitful and eventful day!~ She ends up hugging both the psychic cat and the pillow she was using.

Though because she still has to feed her Pokemon dinner, she's not turning in for the night right away, she'll answer any questions or concerns Ventus may have shall he bring them up to her.


+++++++


Later, when she WAS preparing for bedtime and Ven was currently in the bathroom belonging to the dorm, Shiva does pull out 1. the Magnemite Egg from her stuff and with utmost care and delicacy placing it on the table and 2. her Almanac. Nathan said 'Don't let the CUBBUGS bite you'... What's that, probably another Pokemon from Tandor? Huh... What does the Almanac have to say about this species?"

Just when she has finished reading the Entry, a...cracking sound that she was so familiar with caught her attention, her gaze practically darted to the Magnemite Egg, and in suprise and joyful anticipation she made the mistake(?) to place her Almanac openly visible on the nightstand beside her. It'll still be there in the morning.

....as expected, a tiny tiny Magnemite hatched from the Egg, and it immediately spun the magnets as some sort of greeting as soon as it spotted that young female with the untidy hair and glasses that casted a dear smile to it. (Such a cute drawing you linked, Windos, I imagine my Magnemite having such an expression right now too!) A cold Steel Type, and she hatched it... But steel was, in contrary to a toxic seahorse, safe to touch was it? IT WAS, so Shiva just couldn't help herself and simply take the small magnetic steelball into her hands and hold it close to her cheek to welcome it, express delight over it having hatched now after all the time she carried and cared for its Egg, and to simply share a joyful moment without words that'd break the silence with a STEEL TYPE - oh boy, Shiva would have never thought to ever do SUCH a thing.

At some point while doing so, she would remember what Dagny once has told about Magnetic Fields. If she remembers correctly, there were some strong ones bellow-ground of Mount Molten, Mount Sentry and throughout the Great Divide, and Dagny can even turn the whole Gym into a magnetic field after warning the neighbours! Haha......... Huh? O....OH RIGHT! H-Heart was training his Tynamo within Mount Sentry for s-some days now, hasn't he? H....he has, he told sometime.... Fufufu, maybe evolving this little one into a Magneton was not too much of a bad idea, as Shiva would be personally more comfortable with this one because she's aware of their eager to please their owners and she's fascinated by their habit to be more active when there are more sunspots...? Hummmm, maybe if she'd ask Heart/@Spiritmon about this sometime later, he'd tell or even lead her and Ven to where he trained...?

When said Researcher returned within sight, Shiva casts a wondering and pondering glance over to him. "Ven!~ Say, has your Magnemite Egg hatched already as well? H-Heart was training at a magnetic field within Mount Sentry for some time now with his Tynamo, we could ask him to lead us there once, maybe! And how's your black and blue Egg doing, by the way?"