[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Yes, Shiva can easily make a fire, no roll is necessary. A bed of pine needles is not the best place, though - your survival instincts tell you to find a path's dead end as the safest place, thanks to the gravel.

Oi... Remembering how hot her magical fox's inner fire can burn just when she was about to ask him to ignite a small pile of gathered wood with his enlightened basswood stick, something told her that pine needles can easily catch fire, and despite how the smell of them while enjoying the food would be awesome, maybe it was indeed a risk too high to take. ...gravel was safer, so better go and find a path's end then.


(I hope all of Shiva's Pokemon enjoy these fried Cloyster Mushrooms!~ She herself knows they are edible and taste best the time she indeed gathered them - she'll only know the taste itself when trying them, though. Given how she's a child from the big city, own preparing of gathered food in the wild is quite a thing for her.)

[Iron]

Yum, those Cloysters prepared with Sunny Day are extra good!

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Tanuki is lounging on a big pillow, playing with a Zigzagoon, lifting it up in the air, even tossing it. 
"Ah! A challenger, huh? I'm Tanuki, who are you?"

She jumps to her feet. "Let me tell you the rules real quick. This is the Normal gym, so there's no consumable items here - no Potions, no Awakenings, nothing like that at all! Held Items are OK, and even encouraged! If you win, I'll give you a great Held Item! My Gym is a test of the trainer more than a test of technology. Beyond that, it's just normal 4x4 single battle League Rules, battling until one trainer has no Pokemon that can continue!"

Heart bow in respect in direction of Tanuki. "Yes I am miss. My name is ArcHeart. But please just call me Heart. A unsual name I know, but be respectful. We have meet before during the festival in Star City. Its a pleasure to have meet you again."

Heart nods his head in agreement. "I agree with the rules. Its a little similar in Star City during my battle against Dagny. But of course its Single Battle rules. Anyway, I okay with the rules, and me and my pokemon its okay to begin. But before that I would like to proporse something interesting." Then Heart search his bag and find a coin. "How about we decide who their hand first during the battle? In pokemon battles its always important to be in second to be able to see what pokemon your foe might use. The one who loose in head or tails will have to bring their pokemon first? The rest of the rules its the same. How about it?"

"Well, alright, just this once!"

She opens a door and leads you to the Gym Stadium. It turns out to be just as large as Dagny's, with all kinds of tubes! One even seems to be a waterslide, judging by the sound and the occasional spray of foam from it. 

Nathan, alone in the stadium, is up behind and above all these tubes, so he can see clearly the whole arrangement! 

"Well, here's my Gym! Feel free to use the Furret tubes during the battle."

"Well its indeed a awesome looking Gym." Then Heart take his coin. "Well, ladies choose first? You choose head or tails?"

"I'll take...tails!" (Odds)

Flip! (3) Tanuki wins!

"Hehe, this is fun!"

@Iron
"Welp, it seems I will have to bring my first pokemon soon I guess. So be it then." Heart then take his pokeball and release Caesar from his Pokeball. "We both ready when you are Tanuki. My Poison Pokemon is always ready!"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

How cute. This was also a rare occassion to put that knife she found...somewhere with a Ronin Spearow drenched in water into a non-harmful use, it turned out pretty useful to remove the black sphere. Now, she wondered whether that bird has become a Ronin Fearow meanwhile thanks to staying at Corsage Port's Training Doyo.

Carefully, Shiva nudges her Furret at some point. "Hey, Furret dear one... Have you ever seen, gathered or even tasted these mushrooms before? Or have your small pack never left Mount Sentry to visit this town? I hope your pack's getting along without your lead as you're now with me... How does hunting with some more Pokemon that aren't  Furret sound to you, actually? In particular, a small grey and black dog and a biiig cobra that won't do anything to you though as it listens to its owner."

After every bit of fried Cloyster Mushroom is happily consumed, Nightshade receives a dear cuddle thanks to her help while gathering the food! <3 Actually, Shiva falls backwards into the grass with her cherrylike Pokemon held close, enjoyably staying like this for a little until she'll draw cell to get stuff done.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

This time, Malphena dives down ahead of Haunter. The plan is for the two ghosts to battle Chandelure directly this time, so no Intimidate check is necessary.

Chandelure Rematch Round 1

(...)

Haunter resurfaces. He's eaten his Sitrus berry, but is has taken 4 more damage on top of that! He holds up two fingers to indicate his faint count. But he gives a thumbs up to indicate how the battle is going overall.

The poisonous ghost is glowing a little bit blue-violet.

While his banshee and Valder's punishing poltregiest waged war against that fiendish and repugnant Chandelure + its minions, Ventus stood directly across from the Candelabra with Apsis right beside him, both staring at the FTS marvel with different degrees of grim seriousness. The resplendent reptile looked on with thinly veiled wrath and intolerance, irritated and ill at ease that she couldn't play a grander role in rending those twisted spirits to pieces, but she managed kept her temper in check. Soon, she and her master would have their to exact bloodly REVENGE on them, and she was going to thoroughly enjoy every single moments worth to its fullest. Nobody tortures her master and gets away with it. NOBODY, *Hiiiiiiisssss....*

The masked marauder (Let's assume he got dressed like that at some point during the hike towards the Candelabra) on the other hand was deadly, almost frigidly calm as his stood and waited, his gaze seemingly trying to bore a hole through the stone and into the cavern beneath him. He too loathed being mostly in the dark, with his only ongoing intel being received from the activity from the bizarre gas fixture and Haunter demonstration, as barely any way of knowing if the Plan was going smoothly or castastrophically wrong (let alone any having any meaningful control or input) frustrated him greatly as well as constantly putting him on edge. All could he do was pray that his newest sister and Haunter could vanquish that craven wretch without it costing them dearly ('If they fell to the fiends deep down bellow....no, don't think of that, lest I drive myself mad with worry too....), and that at long last it would be no more after all is said and DONE. 

'Reshirim, if you can hear my prayers, please see our Pokémon to victory, and shield them from the ravenging flames of the wicked soul eating monsters......'

Haunter second return to the surface looking worn out from the fight was meet with Ventus rushing forward to apply a Potion to them (I do this because I want to move things along), fully restoring their HP in the process, and 'listened'/watched intently their message. Since Valder was putting his Pokémon wellbeing on the line for his quest for vengeance, the very least he could do as their employer was tending to Haunter's wounds and saving them a Potion in the process.

"So two of those spirits are fainted? Good, very good. *Sprays Potion on wounds* There, that should patch up the worst of it, now I ask of you to please return and continued to render aid to my sister, Haunter, and finish off Chandelure once and for all. Bring all them to me once they are Faint, or bar that kill them all, preferably in the most painful and gruesome way possible. I have no sympathy for it and its ilk after what it did to me, so neither should you. Understood?"

Order: Heal Haunter, since I kinda feel I'm responsible for whatever happens to Valder's Pokémon right now and it seemed like a thing Ventus would do, and then 'order' them to go back and continue helping Malphena, then bring back all the Fainted Litwick liners. If that isn't possible for whatever reason, they have carte blanc to just kill them however awfully they like. After all, Ven just wants them dead and gone mostly, and while not having the chance to off them himself will grate on him, he'll be content and peace none the less!

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(K, for the sake of progress I'll continue a little. Could have done earlier today, but I've been doing other things.
Iron, if you can spare the time, please send in a reaction for Shiva's Furret to the offering of hunting, alright? Curious how he reacts~)


Gathering Cloyter Mushrooms, preparing them on a small campfire, sharing the food with her Pokemon as well as lounging in the grass beside the path with smol Nightshade held close to her chest in a half hug - all while keeping the campfire under observation though for safety reasons - took Shiva a while, but it was time she enjoying passing.

At some point however, she had to bring herself back to get actually stuff done, one way or the other... So eventually she took another slow and deep breath of the clean air here at Celebi Park, stretched herself and hesitantly sat upright again, supporting Nightshade with her cupped hand while doing so before Shiva very carefully and lovingly sat the cherrylike Pokemon down into the grass right beside her as she began to rummage in her belongings until she found her cell. Starring at the screen for a little, she sighed imprecibly as she began to type up a message to Ve....

...That was, before a familiar jingle told her of a new message, interrrupting her train of thoughts in the middle. Turned out it was from Nathan/@Dragonstrike, huh. 


Her first reaction to it was a slight smile, before it more and more developed into frown she didn't even held back. She replies to it right away.

It reads as the following.

Nathan, hi. Glad to hear that your Castform managed the move that quickly after we discussed things... However, I won't have time to help you with her today, neither will I have tomorrow. Same with tutoring, I'm sorry. I know we'll 'only' venture into Mount Sentry tomorrow afternoon, but my mind's full of other stuff and I'd rather forfeit tutoring, gymbattling and such for a little to feel refreshed again.

Concerning that, I've spoken to Mr. Finder today, made a contract, and paid 2000$ that came from me and Heart. Ventus promised 2000$  as his contribution, the rest of the expected 5000$+expenses are expected from you and Valder tomorrow afternoon on departure. In case Mr. Finder fails, which I do not hope for, we'll get our cash minus expenses back.

Besides, concerning that... You said you've sent a message to Dagny to ask her in regards to the Secret Library? Has she come back to you meanwhile, when did she reply to you? Depending when, I might call her myself for an update, maybe.

In that case, stay safe!

Once she hit the 'send' button, she directly moved on to send one to dear Ven/@Lord Windos, this one took her a little longer to type out because she edited it rather often and rewrote and rephrased things over and over until she was happy with her typing.

It reads as following.

Ven, my love, hi. Uhm... I hope you're doing fine. I wanted to let you know of a thing, followed by asking you something, after our talking yesterday it feels wrong to me to not let you know.

Thing is, I'm about to finish my crafted Cleanse Tag. Finally!~ <3 And, well, I'd like to try it's effect out, so I'm planning to make a trip to Cress City's cementary late night alongside it, my Poochyena trained to bite Ghost Types into oblivion and Furret in order to identify them with his Foresight to beta-test things, and....well....... Would you want to come with me? Mostly as a back-up, and company, and to keep things safe - for both our sake. Will you have time today? We can meet up at the entrance of the Eastern Pokemo Center and head to the cementary together then.

Please let me know of things soon, counting on you!

[Dragonstrike]

Her first reaction to it was a slight smile, before it more and more developed into frown she didn't even held back. She replies to it right away.

It reads as the following.

Nathan, hi. Glad to hear that your Castform managed the move that quickly after we discussed things... However, I won't have time to help you with her today, neither will I have tomorrow. Same with tutoring, I'm sorry. I know we'll 'only' venture into Mount Sentry tomorrow afternoon, but my mind's full of other stuff and I'd rather forfeit tutoring, gymbattling and such for a little to feel refreshed again

Concerning that, I've spoken to Mr. Finder today, made a contract, and paid 2000$ that came from me and Heart. Ventus promised 2000$  as his contribution, the rest of the expected 5000$+expenses are expected from you and Valder tomorrow afternoon on departure. In case Mr. Finder fails, which I do not hope for, we'll get our cash minus expenses back.

Besides, concerning that... You said you've sent a message to Dagny to ask her in regards to the Secret Library? Has she come back to you meanwhile, when did she reply to you? Depending when, I might call her myself for an update, maybe.

In that case, stay safe!

A reply is quickly sent back.

Told ya she was close to learning it.  Just tell me when you're ready to help out.

Yeah, I asked Dagny about it.  Initially, she didn't turn up anything concerning a Secret Library.  She thinks the records might have been scrubbed clean awhile ago or something.  The key words are also reeeaaaalllly general, so I imagine that didn't help her any.  When I brought up Atheneum to see if that helped narrow down the search, she did find something interesting.  Throughout a good chunk of history, the name keeps popping up, but only ever once per century, and it's never been referenced in recent times.  It's said to contain all the knowledge that was needed to set up the First Kingdom.  Sounds like a library of some kind to me.  However...all the stories Dagny found referencing it were originally almost exclusively told orally.  She said she'd keep looking, but we don't know how much more information on it can be turned up.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Shiva somewhat chuckles and wonders about over it the same time as she flies over Nathan's quick message, of course it's a library if it's called 'Secret Library'! At least, in her view and imagination. She still prefers this term over 'Atheneum', it has a better ring and more meaning to her.

Roughly a minute that was spent with thinking over and reading over Nathan's messsage, Shiva began to tpye and eventually send a message back.

It was shorter than the previous one.

Thanks for the information! It's not much and it's general, but it's something. If you're saying that she declared to keep looking, I'll give her a call then to see whether she found out more.

Looking for Dagny's number in the saved list of cell, Shiva eventually found it, considered whether she should indeed annoy that very busy woman with stuff, before she...hesitantly decided to do so anyway, as more than a quick 'nothing new' would be the least and quickest Shiva would receive from her. Throwing an intuitive glance over to her Gothitelle for some reason, Shiva eventually let the cell dial Dagny's number and connect her to the Leader of the steely Gym.

If she ends up being connected with Shirley, Shiva will introduce herself and politely ask whether she can speak with Dagny.

If she gets through,

the following is what she will say to Dagny.

Uhm... Yes, hello Dagny! You may remember me, it's Shiva, the one that defeated you in a horribly close battle that my Vaporeon eventually won. I, well, me - the group - is in slight need for your help, please.

It concerns the 'Secret Library' believed to be beneath Mount Sentry, also called Atheneum. From Nathan I know that you're already researched things concerning this location... Thing is, we want to head down there tomorrow afternoon, with a help of a person from Cress City's Violet tent that I especially put hope into. Have you managed to find some more information about the library meanwhile, please? Every bit or vague hint does count, or so I feel. Most have been delivered to posterity from mouth to mouth you said, but I believe there must be at least a tad bit written content as well.

Seemingly, the location is also protected with stone puzzles and similar, the entrance is 'marked' with a big, black, pillarshaded stone often carved in strange designs, that I strongly depict as a Relic Stone decorated with Runes. Do the books tell you anything about weird stones or hints of puzzles inside the mountain? I might simply search for myself on this in Telperion's Extension's own library, if you're too busy.

[Dragonstrike]

Roughly a minute that was spent with thinking over and reading over Nathan's messsage, Shiva began to tpye and eventually send a message back.

It was shorter than the previous one.

Thanks for the information! It's not much and it's general, but it's something. If you're saying that she declared to keep looking, I'll give her a call then to see whether she found out more.

Nathan sends another reply (though it's probably a little late and Shiva's already attempting to call Dagny by this point)

I'm not sure that's necessarily a good idea...if Dagny finds out anything else, she'll probably contact me about it as soon as she's certain the info is useful, and no sooner.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

True story, by the time Shiva would receive this message, she'd probably be calling already. However, she'll carefully and silently disagrees with it upon reading, as she would rather call Dagny herself to tell her about these hints of stony puzzles as well as as friendly ask whether she found out more meanwhile, instead of (to her) sitting and waiting for an update that might or might not come. Also, if Dagny doesn't manage to find out anything about the location, Shiva somewhat doubts that she herself will have more luck! If she ends up being scolded for calling her, then Shiva at least knows that she deserved it. >///< She can ease her mind by feeling that 'she has done/tried something' as well.