[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Huh.  Yeah, a Fire/Water versus a Grass/Fire ended up being pretty equal in the end...despite having several of the powerful cards that the box only had a single copy of, Nathan ends up losing the 3 duel match overall.  "Heh...guess I have a little practicing to do if I want to get into this at all...well played, Shiva, well played."

It's nice to just relax and play a card game, look at the cards' cool artwork...Nathan probably spends a good portion of that time putting them in card sleeves.  Yeah, he shelled out that extra $100 for the lifetime sleeves coupon thing.  Might as well, right?  He also makes sure to grab an extra one, just in case he decides to cut out that picture of the Skarmory card later.  Might not be tournament legal, but eh.  Still looks reeeaaallly nice.  Definitely must have cost quite a bit to get that picture copied...
(...)
"So...yeah...kinda have something I want to share with everyone back at the Center...so...I'd really appreciate it if you didn't run off right away...I know it's late and all, but...*ahem*...anyways, we should probably be heading back to the Center now..."

Well, back to the Center we go since we've had our fun and games with the cards for the time being.

Huh? Shiva wasn't actually paying much attention to who was winning this fun match to test the cards they just bought, only when Nathan actually states it she fully realizes it. Naturally, she looks stunned at first, before it developes ito a flattered manner. "What did you say, excuse me...? Wait a moment, I've really beaten you? ...Cool. But...that was fun indeed! " Spritzee on her shoulder agrees with a delighted chirp, simply seeing her Master in a delighted state made her happy as well.

Oh, and nope, Shiva does not buy any card sleeves, she has that wooden crate to contain cards in, stuffing it with some fluff from her cottonee to secure all the cards. Maybe later she may change her mind, but for no a containment without plastic feels better for her personally.

"I won't run away right away, Nathan. Once you're finished, we can head back to the Center together, bet Ventus is lingering there. Hopefully the others do as well!" If she'd knew, she'd probably be delighted that she was able to spend a pleasant and fun evening with Nathan in this Shack, this could count as her birthday gift to him.

[Dragonstrike]

The empath is a little surprised as Nathan quickly responds to his message, and becomes intrigued when they declared that they something themselves to divulge to everyone. Curiousity now piqued, Ventus waits in the lobby for everyone else to arrive, this time with Azrael  in his lap as he passed the time feeding them blueberries and apples while cuddling them, much to the blind drake's delight! A daughter always likes caring attention from their papa, after all!

(Ready to start the Trade whenever you are, Dragonstrike, along with the meeting too!)

Nathan walks into the Center's lobby with Shiva.  Furret's trailing behind, Ralts by his side...before he goes over to the table Ventus is at, he goes over to the PC and swaps Swiftfire and Yule for Zippy and Princess.  Considering we're in the Pokemon Center and the rules are just a little more lenient, Emolga gets to stay out as well and continue to sit on Nathan's shoulder.  6 pokemon in his party (Ralts, the bees, Emolga, Forthright, and Charmeleon), plus the Carvanha egg in his bag and Furret trailing behind...quite the assembly, that's for sure...

Once that's all done with, Nathan takes a seat at the table Ventus is at.  "Well, what is it you wanted to discuss?"

[Lord Windos]

(...)

Once that's all done with, Nathan takes a seat at the table Ventus is at.  "Well, what is it you wanted to discuss?"

Once Nathan and Shiva entered the lobby, Ventus ceased mid playful tickling of his dear Azrael (earning him a semi disappointed grumbling from her) and turned his attention towards them, waving both of them over with a wide smile on his face and take a seat, turning towards the young scholar to address them.

"Its a simple matter, but an important one none the less: surprise!" the researcher calmly explain at first, before a bright smile lit up their face as they carefully pulled out the TM for Sandstorm from one of his sleeves from...somewhere, and offering it to the boy!

"I managed to acquire this far earlier than I expected thanks to a trade I made with Heart, so you can think of this as a sorta earlier birthday present! Now, as we agreed upon, may we please exchange TMs now, Nathan?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Once Nathan and Shiva entered the lobby, Ventus ceased mid playful tickling of his dear Azrael (earning him a semi disappointed grumbling from her) and turned his attention towards them, waving both of them over with a wide smile on his face and take a seat, turning towards the young scholar to address them.

If Ventus allows and Azrael is up for it, Shiva does continue carefully stroking that smol Deino as a substitute for Ventus, showing it again that despite being into Fairy Type, there is not much to fear from her unless being provoked. She enjoys this, much, as long as this dragon isn't agressive or, mind you, a Hydregon yet.

[Dragonstrike]

Once Nathan and Shiva entered the lobby, Ventus ceased mid playful tickling of his dear Azrael (earning him a semi disappointed grumbling from her) and turned his attention towards them, waving both of them over with a wide smile on his face and take a seat, turning towards the young scholar to address them.

"Its a simple matter, but an important one none the less: surprise!" the researcher calmly explain at first, before a bright smile lit up their face as they carefully pulled out the TM for Sandstorm from one of his sleeves from...somewhere, and offering it to the boy!

"I managed to acquire this far earlier than I expected thanks to a trade I made with Heart, so you can think of this as a sorta earlier birthday present! Now, as we agreed upon, may we please exchange TMs now, Nathan?"

Hahahahaha.  Oh, that is genius...

Nathan stops at the mention of 'early birthday present' after that 'surprise!'  What a(n) (un?)fortunate choice of words...Nathan has to try and process that for a moment...

'Wait, no, he said...early...'

He shakes his head to clear it.

"...uh, yeah, right.  TM exchange.  Let me grab that Icy Wind TM real quick..."

He digs around in his bag for a moment.

...takes him just a little longer than he expected, because he needs to carefully move things around the Carvanha egg, and he pauses for a moment to look at the chocolate gateau in his bag (which is thankfully not squished).  Still packaged, but ooh boy, does it smell good, even without opening it...and there's a LOT of it, too...

Anyways, bag gets closed again once he's found the TM.  He sets it on the table.  Emolga's curiously looking at the TM Ventus just set down, chittering away as he does so.  Ooh, another one?  What's this one do?

"Well, here ya go.  I'll take that...while we're waiting for everyone else to show up, I'll just go ahead and use this TM on Forthright now, if you don't mind.  Guess that means you can teach your ghost over there Icy Wind too."

Of course, since Ventus has to use the PC, Nathan will just use his pokedex.  Saves a little time. Unfortunately, Forthright can't exactly use her new move right now, but she'll have a chance to test it out soon enough!

Nathan looks at Shiva once that's done. "Well, that's Sandstorm taken care of. Just gotta teach her Weather Ball...guess we might be testing her form changes out sooner than expected?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Nathan looks at Shiva once that's done. "Well, that's Sandstorm taken care of. Just gotta teach her Weather Ball...guess we might be testing her form changes out sooner than expected?"

Huh? Shiva does look up to Nathan, a little suprised that he adresses her in this matter. "What? ...Oh, forgive me..." *grumbling noise from Deino, as the dragon demands more pets - which Shiva eventually grants while responding* "...Sandstorm? Now, that's pretty cool and a nasty move - for the foe. Again, let me know when you feel Forthright and you are ready for that friendly battle."

[Dragonstrike]

"...Sandstorm? Now, that's pretty cool and a nasty move - for the foe. Again, let me know when you feel Forthright and you are ready for that friendly battle."

"Pretty nasty for most other members of my team too, though.  Gonna have to be careful with it...particularly if we're all together as a group...I don't think many of our pokemon can properly take advantage of that kind of weather...same goes for Hail if or when Forthright eventually learns that too..."

[Iron]

Spoiler

You guys play games into the night. Ventus is training. Valder returns from adventures on the high seas.

And Heart is heading to the Cathedral for one final encounter. In the candlelight, lots of shadows move, and Heart and Hypno are very jumpy.

After a bit of searching, Heart leans against a downspout. Suddenly, a pebble falls on his head, and he looks up to see one of the gargoyles move! Could it be?

It is! That gargoyle is definitely a Pokemon!

(Heart take the Persim berry from Delta Onix and put in the bag)
When Heart notices the big gargoyle Pokemon, his heart almost go out of his chest. It is...yes! Indeed it is! The rare pokemon who even rare in his homeland in Tandor, Gargryph! Finally! His search around the Cathedral payoff! But how he going to make the gargoyle pokemon join with him? Yes he could battle against the noble guardian, but this would not help increase the bond between them. Heart then think and think and finally decide to aproach to the noble pokemon. But not before he return Hypno to the pokeball to calm the might pokemon. Even more since Heart did remember the Gargryphs know the move Explosion so a friendly aproach it would be the better line of choice. "*Ahem* Good night, guardian pokemon. Sorry to interrupt your slumber and invade your home. I dont come here to cause trouble or pain. I would like to talk a bit."

Gargryph's neck creaks and he levels his head at you. He just stares. It's extremely intimidating. However, it doesn't seem particularly hostile.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Huh, that caused Shiva to go silent for a little to think over which Pokemon she, and then the group has that may benefit from a sandstorm. ...Her Comite came to her mind first! Followed by Heart's Ar- Lairon. Ven's Numel likely won't mind either, same with his and her Magneton!~

Eventually, after a little, she carefully spoke up again, looking thoughtful. "Guess it's better to only cast a sandstorm then when the advantages outweight the disadvantages. Sand Rush is a cool Ability, at home we mostly breed Lilipup that'll have this Ability when they evolve for customers. But if there's only one or two Pokemon on the field that don't mind or even benefit from both the storm and the hail, this probably brings out the best of these particular weather changes. Like... well, I think I'll only let Vulpix battle when it's safe. Or indoors, as then her skill of summoning a hailstorm is surpressed!"

"A...anyway, I realized that weather changes in battle shouldn't be done because you feel like it, but it can bring quite a benefit if done so with an intention. Like, Braixen's firepower grows amazingly if his inner flame is set ablaze and even powered up by the sunshine my sweet Cherubi summoned. Overdoing it will likely develop into chaos I think, or backfire, the sun and rain were my main...sentiments...to have, I mean."

[Lord Windos]

Once Nathan and Shiva entered the lobby, Ventus ceased mid playful tickling of his dear Azrael (earning him a semi disappointed grumbling from her) and turned his attention towards them, waving both of them over with a wide smile on his face and take a seat, turning towards the young scholar to address them.

If Ventus allows and Azrael is up for it, Shiva does continue carefully stroking that smol Deino as a substitute for Ventus, showing it again that despite being into Fairy Type, there is not much to fear from her unless being provoked. She enjoys this, much, as long as this dragon isn't agressive or, mind you, a Hydregon yet.

The researcher didn't even hesitate to present his dark angel for his fae fancy to pet and stroke to her heart's content, completely trust her with his child and that she could deal his child should they prove too.....rambucious. Goes to show how much Ven trusts in Shiva to let them handle Azrael anytime, eh? Speaking of the blind drake, her reaction towards the mystical lass is still up to Iron to decide for now, but I can imagine her getting a whiff of the scent of Fairies and their dust on them and wrinkling their noise in distaste/worry. No good scent on woman, makes nose itchy and give me shivers! Papa did let them play with them, though, so she guess that she could be nice to her.....or not.

(On a side not, Shiva's allowed to freely interact with any of Ven's Pokémon with his implicit permission, save for Apsis, Ao Guang, and Scyther/Scizors in the future, since they are all either a health hazard to other trainer and/or don't like the Fairy woman. Lucifer when he evolves would be on his list, but since he's terrified/unwilling to associate with her as a Noibat, that's not liable to change even as a Noivern.)

Spoiler

Hahahahaha.  Oh, that is genius...

Nathan stops at the mention of 'early birthday present' after that 'surprise!'  What a(n) (un?)fortunate choice of words...Nathan has to try and process that for a moment...

'Wait, no, he said...early...'

He shakes his head to clear it.

"...uh, yeah, right.  TM exchange.  Let me grab that Icy Wind TM real quick..."

He digs around in his bag for a moment.

...takes him just a little longer than he expected, because he needs to carefully move things around the Carvanha egg, and he pauses for a moment to look at the chocolate gateau in his bag (which is thankfully not squished).  Still packaged, but ooh boy, does it smell good, even without opening it...and there's a LOT of it, too...

Anyways, bag gets closed again once he's found the TM.  He sets it on the table.  Emolga's curiously looking at the TM Ventus just set down, chittering away as he does so.  Ooh, another one?  What's this one do?

"Well, here ya go.  I'll take that...while we're waiting for everyone else to show up, I'll just go ahead and use this TM on Forthright now, if you don't mind.  Guess that means you can teach your ghost over there Icy Wind too."

Of course, since Ventus has to use the PC, Nathan will just use his pokedex.  Saves a little time.  Unfortunately, Forthright can't exactly use her new move right now, but she'll have a chance to test it out soon enough!

Nathan looks at Shiva once that's done.  "Well, that's Sandstorm taken care of.  Just gotta teach her Weather Ball...guess we might be testing her form changes out sooner than expected?"

Ven didn't find the perplextion or surprise unusual from Nathan, as that was exactly the type of reaction he was expecting by handing over the TM for Sandstorm 'ahead of schedule' (Dramatic Irony right there, mates!), and so simply let out a good humored chuckle as he gratefully took the TM for Icy Wind soon after they place it on the table.

"My deepest thanks for agreeing to this trade, Nathan! You are indeed correct, so if you excuse me for one moment......."

The scientist then gets up from the table and makes his way to the PC with the TM in hand to teach his banshee Malphena the move Icy Wind! Her magical powers grow! Now Normal and most Dark types (Only Water/Dark resists all her attacking moves!) will suffer a intense case of bone chill if they dare think they can take advantage of their Resistances/Immunities, mwahahahaha!

He then returns to the group, but not until Nathan and Shiva finish up their conversation, and waits with them for Valder (I'll assume he'll either automatically show up or not) and Heart to join in on this meeting of the boy's. 'Wonder what he has to say so suddenly?....Hmm, I suppose we'll find out in due time, now won't I?'