[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

I don't have any training rolls for your Pokemon, but Furret doesn't seem to worry about Orthros at all! He's no Druddigon.

All the little Pokemon spend some time riding on Furret's long body! No way she'd let a human do that, but the little ones can. Orthros' legs are too awkward for him to stay on though, so he just wrassles like a puppy again.

[Dragonstrike]

Oh, and Zippy and Princess get to go and do some Honey Gathering while that training is going on.  Hopefully they're in a better mood than they were back in Stair...

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Bottle Round 1

Moving too fast for Lilith to get into position, Golduck physically swipes Haneal with a watery attack.
Aqua Jet 1
3 Dex + 4 Fight + 2 -3 actions = 6d6
(2)(4)(3)(2)(6)(5)
4 Str + 2 power +1 stab +1 Held item -5 vit = 3d6+1
(2)(2)(2) Haneal takes 1 dmg. 7/8 hp.

Amnesia 1
(1)(2)(2)(5)(5)(5)
The simple camel gains +3 Def, minimizing all damage!

Leer 1
(6)(1)(4)
-1 Def for all foes.

Quiver Dance 1
7 perform dice -3 action = 4d6
(5)(5)(2)(3)
+1 Dex, +1 Offense, +1 Defense! Butterfree surpasses the sky serpent in initiative.

Ember 2 - Is Haneal still holding Wide Lens? I'll assume yes for now as that's what's on your sheet.
(6)(1)(6)(6)(4)(6) With the Lens, that's a critical hit.
3 Str + 2 power +1 stab +2 crit -3* vit = 5d6+1
(1)(2)(3)(6)(6) Butterfree takes 3 dmg 8/11hp -1 pain.
Burn: (6) Butterfree was burned!

Bottle's strategy seems to be focused on using his Pokemon's size to buffet the enemy into submission, all while tanking their hits. While he's clearly done some speed training on them, it didn't take any skill or training to give them such strength with their massive size and weight!

For example, Butterfree is trying to buffet Lilith out of the air with Silver Wind.

Silver Wind 2
3 Dex + 4 Fight +2 +1QD -1 pain -4 actions = 5d6
(1)(2)(1)(5)(4) It barely clips her, though.
5* Str + 2 power +1 stab -5 vit = 3d6, neutral dmg
(6)(6)(4) Lilith takes 3 dmg 6/9hp -1 pain.
CD: (1)

She responds by gliding forward as the attack ends and striking the massive bug with her beak.
Peck 2
(2)(5)(1)
(5)(2)(1) Butterfree takes 2 dmg 6/11hp -1 pain

Golduck ceases to attack Numel and joins his brother in focusing on Lilith, which your opponent does not seem to recognize.
"I can't see that being any type that resists Psychic, so try a Zen Headbutt?"

Zen Headbutt 2
(1)(4)(6)(5)(2)
4 Str + 3 power -5 = 2d6
(3)(5) Lilith takes 1 dmg 5/9hp -1 pain
CD: (6)(1)(1) Lilith flinches 3

Ember 3
(4)(2)(1)(1)(1) That's a miss.

Silver Wind 3
(6)(2)(4)(3)
(5)(2)(1) Lilith takes 1 dmg 4/9hp -2 pain, so Ven uses a potion 8/9hp.
Your opponent takes this time to do the same, bringing Butterfree to 10/11hp.

"That worked well. Screech to make it more effective next time."

Screech 3
(5)(1)(3)(4)
-2 Def for Lilith

Peck 4
(4)(3)
(3)(6)(4) Butterfree takes  3dmg 7/11hp -1 pain.

Burn resist: (3)(3) Butterfree takes 1 dmg 6/11hp -1 pain.

(Hanael is, since I didn't mention changing it back to Lucifer!)

Observing the flow of battle and quickly deducing the overall strategy of bottle, as well as noticing on how dead set the man was focusing down his deific protodragon, Ventus quickly recalled Lilith and sent out Raphael in their place, who took to the skies with happy *Chirping!*, delighted it gets the chance to stretch its wings to do battle for their father! "Weathering my assault, buffing you Pokémon, and chipping away at my family, I see. Dagney herself tried a similar strategy against me, and I still proved the victor against her, so you will have to try a little harder than that. Raphael, a round of applause for Butterfree, then start buffeting them with Air Slashes! Hanael, continue to pelt Butterfree with Embers until their wings are clipped, and switch to Magnitude to shake things up if or when they fall! Persevere and power through it all, my child and sister!"

Order: Have Raphael use Encore on Butterfree in order to lock it in to an ineffective chain of actions (Priority on this, so Initiative doesn't matter!). They will then use Air Slash thrice on Butterfree, which with Serene Grace has a 5D6 Dice chance to Flitch them! Hanael will burn Butterfree with Ember 4 times this round, switching over to Magnitude if the Faint and still has actions left. If Raphael falls bellow half HP, they get the Potion over Hanael. Time to see if Ven's archangel will bring the winds of favor with them!

Moves:

Encore
Accuracy: 8D6 Base Dice - 4 Actions = 4D6 Dice
Effect: Lock Butterfree into its last chain of actions!

Air Slash
Accuracy: 9D6 Dice - 5/6/7 Actions = 4/3/2 Base Dice
Damage: STR (3) + 3 + STAB - Vitality (*3) = 4D6 + 1 Damage
Effect: *Flitch 5*

Ember
Accuracy: 9D6 Dice + Wide Lens - 4/5/6/7 Action = 6/5/4/3D6 Base Dice
Damage: Known
Effect: Known

Magnitude
Accuracy: Same as Ember
Damage: STR + Random + STAB - Vitality (*3) = 4D6 + Random Damage
Effect: None

[Dragonstrike]

I don't have any training rolls for your Pokemon, but Furret doesn't seem to worry about Orthros at all! He's no Druddigon.

All the little Pokemon spend some time riding on Furret's long body! No way she'd let a human do that, but the little ones can. Orthros' legs are too awkward for him to stay on though, so he just wrassles like a puppy again.

Ah, the fun they seem to be having...it's great to see Furret getting along well with them.  

The bees returning with some honey is a welcome addition too.  "Thank you once again, you two.  Spot anything interesting while you were scavenging for Honey around here?  I imagine it's probably a lot different from the other locations we've been through so far."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Heart finds a docent in the library who is there to answer questions. Along the way, he sees some sizable dents in the ceiling. He's not entirely sure what could have caused that.

The docent explains. "Those are Pahar! They were imported from the Tandor region at great cost, financed entirely by donations! Their purpose? To light all the candles and lanterns of the Cathedral! These are the second generation of Pahar. We actually have a book about the Cathedral's history with them in it."

He shows you a book with pictures of a big crate labeled "Creshire Cathedral" and stamped with a pic of the Cathedral. Some beaks are poking out, and the crate is smoldering.

"Should know it. They are quite pretty. Also, aside from the Pahar, I meet a person in Star City who own a Gargryph. He say he have caugh around here in the Cathedral. There a chance it exist some type of pokemon here in this place?"

Heart was quite curious about the book. "Could I take a look in this book? To read a bit?" Depending in the respost Heart going to read that book or not.

"Gargryph? I don't know what that is. Is it a Pokemon? We mostly just get Starly and the occasional Murkrow here. Yes, all books in this library are available to read, but they may not leave the building. There are comfortable chairs in the next room. Some consider reading to be a form of worship."

This Cathedral predates Sarimanok by about two hundred years, making it 900 years old. When the League arrived, they had to force out a bunch of Ancient Unown and some ghost Pokemon haunting the place. There are crypts underneath the cathedral, not accessible to the public, where many holy men and women are buried. Once a decade, they choose someone new to inter in the crypts, a great honor. 

If you have more questions, the book will answer them!

"Yes they are. Gargryphs is some kind of gargoyle pokemon. They offten make home in cathedals like this one. They are Tandorian pokemon too. They may be mistaken as simple statues. Because of that they are pretty rare."

When reading that book Heart was quite curious. "Another part about Saminarok story....that guy was quite great. Hmmm..." Then Heart look again to windows where there the vitralls with the images of might legendaries. "Acordding to what Nathan say, Saminarok have some kind of pact with Trio Lake Pokemon and a few other legendaries. What other kind of Legendary...wait a minute..." Heart then begin to search in the books. "May have Saminarok make somehow contact with Legendary pokemon from Tandor? Or even more..." Then Heart look again. "If Saminarok was able to befriend the Lake Trio, the pokemon who is old as Arceus, may Saminarok make pact with Palkia or Dialga? Or even with Reshiram or Zekrom? I need to see a little more about Saminarok past. This may help me to understand what we might find."

[Iron]

Oh, and Zippy and Princess get to go and do some Honey Gathering while that training is going on.  Hopefully they're in a better mood than they were back in Stair...

This city is much more to their liking.

[Iron]

Raphael (4), right after Haneal and before Butterfree

Bottle Round 2

Encore 1
(2)(5)(6)(6)
Butterfree got an Encore!

Ember 1
(3)(3)(5)(5)(5)(3)
(6)(2)(3) Butterfree takes 2 dmg 4/11hp -2 pain

Quiver Dance 1

Screech 1 on Raphael
(3)(5)(4)(6)(6)(1) -2 Def

Ember 2
(3)(1)(6)(3)(2)
(6)(3)(4) Butterfree takes 3 dmg 1/11hp

Butterfree forfeits. "Good job, my giant beautiful flutterbry! Take some time and put out that burn."

Air Slash 2
(6)(3)(1)(1) Miss! "Golduck, your final move of the battle is Disable! That's a good mix of attacking moves and support moves."

Disable 2
(4)(2)(6)
Air Slash was disabled! Raphael moves to seek shelter behind Haneal, since he won't be able to do much damage this round!

Magnitude 3
(6)(5)(2)(2)
Power: (6)
3 Str + 6 power + 1 stab = 7d6
(3)(5)(1)(2)(3)(4)(6) Golduck takes 3 dmg 8/11hp -1 pain

Aqua Jet 3 on Raphael, though Haneal will intercept
(6)
(2) Haneal takes 1 dmg 6/8hp -1 pain.

Magnitude 4
(5)(6)(1)
(4) power
(4)(2)(5)(4)(6) Golduck takes 4 dmg 4/11hp -2 pain


Will Ventus be switching Pokemon?

[Iron]

I don't have any training rolls for your Pokemon, but Furret doesn't seem to worry about Orthros at all! He's no Druddigon.

All the little Pokemon spend some time riding on Furret's long body! No way she'd let a human do that, but the little ones can. Orthros' legs are too awkward for him to stay on though, so he just wrassles like a puppy again.

Ah, the fun they seem to be having...it's great to see Furret getting along well with them.  

The bees returning with some honey is a welcome addition too.  "Thank you once again, you two.  Spot anything interesting while you were scavenging for Honey around here?  I imagine it's probably a lot different from the other locations we've been through so far."

Princess signals toward the Cathedral, and Zippy signals toward the Castle. They aren't super pumped about these locations but they do find them interesting.

[Lord Windos]

Bottle Round 3

Will Ventus be switching Pokemon?

The empath thoughtfully frowned at the outcome of this round, as saw Raphael hunker down behind blasé Hanael and warily peaked out at the Golduck that rudely cut its Air Slash performance short and created that awful din that weakened it so. On one hand, Butterfree was taken out, and no longer did he have to fear it sweeping his team off the plateu. On the other, Golduck had proven itself to be even more of a nuisance with the man's preferred strategy, and it showed no signs of that stop being the case. After pondering for a bit, Ventus decided not to switch any of his Pokémon out for the next round. His archangel had a wide variety of moves at its disposal to deal with almost any threat, and Hanael looked study as ever, so it was time to hunker down and continue the fight!

[Iron]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Heart finds a docent in the library who is there to answer questions. Along the way, he sees some sizable dents in the ceiling. He's not entirely sure what could have caused that.

The docent explains. "Those are Pahar! They were imported from the Tandor region at great cost, financed entirely by donations! Their purpose? To light all the candles and lanterns of the Cathedral! These are the second generation of Pahar. We actually have a book about the Cathedral's history with them in it."

He shows you a book with pictures of a big crate labeled "Creshire Cathedral" and stamped with a pic of the Cathedral. Some beaks are poking out, and the crate is smoldering.

"Should know it. They are quite pretty. Also, aside from the Pahar, I meet a person in Star City who own a Gargryph. He say he have caugh around here in the Cathedral. There a chance it exist some type of pokemon here in this place?"

Heart was quite curious about the book. "Could I take a look in this book? To read a bit?" Depending in the respost Heart going to read that book or not.

"Gargryph? I don't know what that is. Is it a Pokemon? We mostly just get Starly and the occasional Murkrow here. Yes, all books in this library are available to read, but they may not leave the building. There are comfortable chairs in the next room. Some consider reading to be a form of worship."

This Cathedral predates Sarimanok by about two hundred years, making it 900 years old. When the League arrived, they had to force out a bunch of Ancient Unown and some ghost Pokemon haunting the place. There are crypts underneath the cathedral, not accessible to the public, where many holy men and women are buried. Once a decade, they choose someone new to inter in the crypts, a great honor. 

If you have more questions, the book will answer them!

"Yes they are. Gargryphs is some kind of gargoyle pokemon. They offten make home in cathedals like this one. They are Tandorian pokemon too. They may be mistaken as simple statues. Because of that they are pretty rare."

When reading that book Heart was quite curious. "Another part about Saminarok story....that guy was quite great. Hmmm..." Then Heart look again to windows where there the vitralls with the images of might legendaries. "Acordding to what Nathan say, Saminarok have some kind of pact with Trio Lake Pokemon and a few other legendaries. What other kind of Legendary...wait a minute..." Heart then begin to search in the books. "May have Saminarok make somehow contact with Legendary pokemon from Tandor? Or even more..." Then Heart look again. "If Saminarok was able to befriend the Lake Trio, the pokemon who is old as Arceus, may Saminarok make pact with Palkia or Dialga? Or even with Reshiram or Zekrom? I need to see a little more about Saminarok past. This may help me to understand what we might find."

This book makes little mention of Sarimanok, but Arceus, Palkia, Dialga, and Reshiram are all on the stained glass windows. 

You find a book that explains a little more about the religion of Sarimanok. It does briefly mention that Sarimanok sent envoys to Tsukinami Village to learn more about two supposed legendary Pokemon called Aotius and Mutios, yin and yang deities. 

Sarimanok was known to befriend the Lake Trio, indeed, and he often researched Jirachi and the Legendary Golems. He was also allied with a group of Legendary Pokemon called the Royal Trio, representing Royalty, Kingdom, and Knighthood. This trio had a trio master which Sarimanok had an extremely close friendship with, to the point where he could summon her (it was usually described as female in aspect). However, he kept the exact species of his Legendaries a closely guarded secret, considering their worship as a trio his own private religion. 

The only one this book can identify is the Pokemon of Kingdom, Landorus, because they eventually had a falling out and Landorus broke away from the trio into exile. Landorus planned to use his power to start a new alliance of Pokemon who would revere nature properly, as it was meant to be. Sarimanok sought to replace this natural force with a Legendary Bird, fire/ice/lightning, but may not have succeeded.

Arceus, Palkia, and Reshiram have all received adulation in Creshire, but most inhabitants are somewhat areligious or think of deities as being part of nature.

The book also surmises that Pokemon may have been more powerful in the old days. It makes mention of records on certain particular Pokemon which may refer to the way Pokemon used to be, rather than how they are today. Of course, science was less precise back then, too.

Sarimanok's fleet of religious scholars worked hard at this problem, and came to the conclusion that Pokemon's blood was now weaker, and that Sarimanok's own royal blood would weaken over generations.