[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

At this point, Nathan's back out, with the Solosis by his side.  And Calam and Ralts.  He's been waiting for Heart to come back before telling everyone his findings.  There's a cold, ANGRY look in his eyes the entire time.  And a good portion of tired sadness, too...

"...well, that means they're still tracking us, then.  Lovely.  Well, I learned something rather...interesting and completely disturbing.  These Solosis have almost no will of their own.  It's as if they've come in direct contact with Mesprit or Azelf themselves.  They don't feel anything.  Nothing at all.  Their only 'feeling' is a driven, unnatural loyalty to those who command them.  They do still have some sense of self preservation, but only just.  If their master gives them the order to fight, they'll fight, but they won't risk themselves if they aren't commanded to.  They've been turned into practically soulless, uncaring machines with very few drawbacks.  There might be a way to reverse it...but we're likely far away from anything that could...it'd probably take a Legendary power to break that control over them..."

...

"...they're opportunistic.  If they can do something to us without retribution, they will, so long as they're given the order to or it strictly benefits them.  I, Ralts, and Calam are going to be watching this one very carefully.  I'm of the opinion that we need to deal with the Scimitars sooner rather than later.  I don't know if they're aware that we can track them, but we know for certain that they can track us.  And we know they're going to do so all the way to Atheneum.  And they're not going to let any obstacle stand in their way, I'm sure..."

He tightens a fist.

"...if we have a chance to stop them from finding Atheneum, I think we should take it."

Heart tighten his first too. "Remove the will of a pokemon and turn him into some kind of souless machine...Thats unforgivable!" Heart share that rage with Nathan. That might be the first time Heart and Nathan agree in something. "Its just I say past night Warre. That lu...I mean, that people will do anything to find that Library. "I with you man. Me and my pokemon is more than ready to smash that Scimitars once and for all. They will learn 3 important lessons: 1 - To not brainwash pokemon and turn them into machines. 2 - Never mess with us. And finally 3 - Never make me angry." Heart smash one first one to other filled with indignation and ready to smash some heads of these Scimitars. He never feel so much anger about someone! Well expect Warren but thats not the case!

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

"I would prefer we use Solosis to find, engage, and remove the Scimitar hounding after us or lurking in the shadows, once Nathan gets them to cooperate. If we take them out now, then they won't be a threat later on, we don't have to worry about them engaging us on their own terms and advantages, and we can explore Antheneum unmolested and without fear of them suddenly raiding the place mid-investigation. It's highly risky, but so is letting them choose when and where to fight us and what they desire to do to us, and the risk is one we can minimize with planning and the foresight we have."

Her lovely oddball returning her good-morning by caressing her hand is thankfully noted by her, and silently soothes some real but well-hidden FEAR.

Attentively, she listened to him making his thoughts hurt, the way he phrased things underlined once more what image she got from the usually soft and caring Ventus this morning. The whole time, her expression remained unreadable, but after he finished speaking it became harder for her to keep that up. She sighed a little while looking down to the ground, eventually reached to her side to give her special butterwolfly (who was currently busy trying to break a medium-sized stone with his bite) a few strokes on the back of his head, then went back to face Ventus. "I somewhat foreseen that THIS will be your prefered choice of actions, Ven. To say that I'm.....somewhat against that though would be a lie. You people are the stronger battlers, so naturally that you're probabaly not afraid of approaching 'them' on our own while I.......am not that brave.... Still, I can understand where this decison comes from. But people, we don't know many of 'them' there are, and fighting outnumbered is something I'd rather not like us attempting in our fury and anger. Even if we defeat them NOW... What then? What if they have more spies ahead, what will they do once we defeated them, what if they'll come back afterwards? "

A quiet and calm voice within Shiva told her that they (the group) will have several days in advance in that case, and it eased her nerves by a little. Still, what if...

Another imprecible sigh escaped her, as Yena looked up to her while tilting his head. "But if all of us end up being for that way of dealing with ''em'... Risky.... I've been, well, thinking of heading forward and collapsing the cavern in a controlled manner to end them trailing us or at least massively delay ''em', but......."

The stoic empath couldn't help but frown a little more at the disquieted mood that fell upon his dearest, and the distinct lack of confidence and surplus of fear she had in herself in her feelings and body language spoke volumes about how she was coping with the mounting stress: poorly. An uncomfortable look graced his features as she expressed those dour sentiments of her vocally and the knowing tone she used when commenting on his choice, but that was soon wiped away when she expressed her reservations with a frontal assault and an alternative solution as he fell into quiet thoughtfulness.

Silence lingered for quite awhile as both he and no doubt his love mulled over each other's words and their own, until shift in place to turn and face her and quietly said: "You points have merit Shiva, but they can bode true regardless if it us that confronts them first or the other way around. Its also not for certain they'll be fielding a large number of their wicked cabal with or without Pokémon, and even so between us all we have a vertitable small army of Pokémon to counter them and plenty of resources to draw upon. As for agents ahead of us, that implies they already have an idea of where Antheneum is, in which case it would be unlikely they would resort to subtle tactics like spying on us in linue of brute force. Otherwise, we'll just deal with them as we encounter each other. If they have enough sense, they'll flee topside after we smash past their defenses and subdue them, or will be......ill suited to pursue us any further, both of which will prevent them from molesting us any further for long enough that we should find and secure Antheneum before the can regroup, resupply, and mount a counter attack. Finally, by taking the fight to them first we can decide on how, when, and where we fight , all of which are powerful terms that will make dealing with those vile wizards all the more expedient. Overall, I still say we should use Solosis to track them down and lay those Scimitar low, if only to remove them from the equation of our journey early on so that all we have to deal with are the dangers inherent within Mt. Sentry itself, and whatever guards Antheneum...."

He then holds up his hand to forestall any immediate counter argument from his fae fancy, crossing his arms afterwards as he let out a *Sigh* and looked first towards the tent Nathan had retreated into, and the direction Heart had gone off to scout. "For now, let's end this discussion over our plans and wait for Nathan and Heart to finish up their respective tasks. We need their input in order to make a completely informed and diplomatic decision, and I rather we both not leave them out of our proceedings on the matter and have to catch them up on too much of it."

With that being said, Ventus waited.

Spoiler

Heart after 45 minutes he re-appear from a dark cave and see his friends. "Heya people, I back." Heart slowy join with the others. "First of all, I find another patch of goo, dripping from another hole in the ceiling. There's a tunnel up there, running parallel to yours and ending quite abruptly at the hole. The tunnel goes on quite a long time without more than the occasional drop of goo. No more puddles. I didnt see any danger and I make sure I was not followed. Oh I almost forgot."

Heart search his bag and take the goo sample. "I take few of the goo in this empty potion bottle. I always make sure to clean up to re-use again. Mr. Finder, could you do your thing to make sure its the same goo from where come our little Solosis spy?"

Spoiler

At this point, Nathan's back out, with the Solosis by his side.  And Calam and Ralts.  He's been waiting for Heart to come back before telling everyone his findings.  There's a cold, ANGRY look in his eyes the entire time.  And a good portion of tired sadness, too...

"...well, that means they're still tracking us, then.  Lovely.  Well, I learned something rather...interesting and completely disturbing.  These Solosis have almost no will of their own.  It's as if they've come in direct contact with Mesprit or Azelf themselves.  They don't feel anything.  Nothing at all.  Their only 'feeling' is a driven, unnatural loyalty to those who command them.  They do still have some sense of self preservation, but only just.  If their master gives them the order to fight, they'll fight, but they won't risk themselves if they aren't commanded to.  They've been turned into practically soulless, uncaring machines with very few drawbacks.  There might be a way to reverse it...but we're likely far away from anything that could...it'd probably take a Legendary power to break that control over them..."

...

"...they're opportunistic.  If they can do something to us without retribution, they will, so long as they're given the order to or it strictly benefits them.  I, Ralts, and Calam are going to be watching this one very carefully.  I'm of the opinion that we need to deal with the Scimitars sooner rather than later.  I don't know if they're aware that we can track them, but we know for certain that they can track us.  And we know they're going to do so all the way to Atheneum.  And they're not going to let any obstacle stand in their way, I'm sure..."

He tightens a fist.

"...if we have a chance to stop them from finding Atheneum, I think we should take it."

As it turned out, the wait was a fairly long one for the sociologist, as a full 45 minutes passed before the rare collector returned from his self imposed scouting and gave his report (which was subsequently confirmed and expanded upon by Mr. Finder, to his approval), which did everything to further amplify his already immensely high paranoid guardedness as he let out a curse.

"Regardless of whether we go after them or not, I agree with Heart that we should vacate this area effective immediately once we have finished packing up camp. Better we keep moving onwards than maintain our position long enough that they decide to send a strike team to ambush us all...."

It was only a few moments later that Nathan exited the tent and was brought up to speed on the pun lover's reports, and the blisteringly frigid RAGE and righteous ingdignation that smothered them like a pillow already made him tense up and his hackles raise in wary concern. Seldom has he seen such anger being exhibited by any man save himself, let alone a stoic boy that was barely over half his age, so whatever information he gleaned from his interrogation of Solosis must have been of the most atrociously taboo kind.

However, even with that grim Insight and the fact that he was extremely hardened and embittered by the tragedy/adversity of his own mockery of a life, he wasn't prepared for what they had to say.

The first reaction he had was pure shock, cutting through his former severe attitude like a hot knife through butter as a look of horrified disbelief marred his complextion as he could only stutter out "W-what in Reshirim holy Truth.....?!" For a natural empath, to which emotions and emotional response were practically an ingrained part of their existence, so seeing, hear and feeling that Solosis felt NOTHING AT ALL but a perverted, warped, and blasphemous sense of loyalty towards those bastarderous archmages ....it had a rather poor impact on him at first.

Once he had time to process that unholy information, that shock was utterly annilated as a swelling tide of pure, icy, and unfettered hatred swept through him, not unlike what Nathan was experiencing. The difference is that it was far more terrible and black than the boy was possibly capable off. The empath's anger was roiling and seething as it coursed through ever fiber of his being, filling him up and threatening to spill over like a glass of water were it not for the tight grip he kept over himself at all times. It emboldened him as its frigid heat, and lended a sharp, crisp clarity to his mind, both effects coelesing into an pitiless candid resolve that firmly afixated itself in his mind, body, and soul:

He wasn't just going to stop the Scimitar. He was going to destroy them.  So utterly and thoroughly, their entire existence will be made null and void by his WRATH. Make them experience unfathomable pain for not only practicing their black sorcerous arts, but for their very crimes upon all living things, until they know of their follies, and then no more.

During this phase, his face was stony and thunderous, his eyes like flinty diamonds, and his were hands clenched so hard around his arms that he was begin to bruise in those areas as he restrained himself both physically and emotionally with supreme effort not to have a much more volatile reaction. It would be no hyperbole to say that Ventus was murderously angry at what the Scimitars had done to Solosis and no doubt countless other Pokémon, and perhaps even human beings. Before, he'd be content with giving them a solid thrashing and wring them for every ounce of information they had. Now, in addition to that he wanted to make them suffer and kill every last one of them, as they deserved no better in the sociologist's opinion. Not even Team Plasma did the terrible things they have done if one were to discount the Shadow Triad's activities entirely and Neo Team Plasma in his opinion, and that was saying something considered his massive distaste for the organizations and his form lo-leader.

After they were finished speaking in their entirety, Ventus closed his eyes and began taking several deep and long breaths in and out as with exact and strenuous care he marshaled his temper to a point it would not threaten to overwhelm him or anyone else for several minutes. 

Eventually he succeeded, and opened his eyes and regarded everyone with a even look that somehow had become even harder than before.

"I agree. We need to hunt down those Scimitars and stop them once and for all, and forevermore. They can go unpunished for their abominable practices for any longer."

His voice was low, toneless, and without inflection, yet an undeniable sense of purpose was carried by it.

The sooner they'd start tracking down those inhuman monsters , the better in his eyes....

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

It was nothing more that the fae-enthusiast had to make heard in the means of a counter-argument towards Ven, all he received after he has given his point of view and thoughts was a thoughtful look from her, heavily fixated on him, but not intimidating (anymore). That icy-cold aura of hers has thawed to some degree, but it'll certainly come back at a given opportunity... Maybe it was just to overplay the fear Shiva no doubts felt, an intuitive reaction not unlike an injured animal that has been cornered.

At his request to rather wait for the other to return, Shiva had nothing to oppose against that as she damn well knows how bad it feels to be left out in things and discussions, so after a quiet "Alright. I hope they'll be back soon and that nothing has gone amiss...." she turned silent, and opted to pass the time by playing with Dizzy, Yena, both and watching the two Dark Types playfully chasing each other over the campsite. Doing so brought back some of her positivity, it even allured a very shy smile from her.



Heart was the first one that eventually returned, which caused Shiva to avert her attention to her which in return enabled Yena to snatch the big Noctowl-feather directly off her hand to contently gnaw on it. How he managed to find more of this goo were interesting news to her and she was relieved that more assumed Solosis are far away, but she had nothing to add concerning this and reassumed her business until Nathan would return.

Which he did soon enough, and from the first glance it was clear to Shiva that he was NOT pleased. There was anger in his gaze, neatly mixed with sadness and tiredness - what has gone wrong, she wondered with a worried frown?

She found out as Nathan began to share to them all what his questioning of the small Solosis brought to light - HOW SHIVA WISHED SHE HADN'T. The idea, imagination of having no will and being beraved off all emotions apart from the distinct and raw desire to keep oneself alive - it was as having no soul at all, and it was something that she, being a person with a vivid pool of emotions and pictoral imagination, held equivalent to being dead. One look at the tiny Psychic Type was enough now to give her a COLD shiver running through her whole body, it made her tremble in fear, sadness and caused her to huddle up at the spot. Nathan's thought about there being a possible way to reserve this state was met with another, wondering frown as to her all hope was lost for that Solosis, Shiva's way more interested in doing ANYTHING POSSIBLE that a similar state does BY ALL MEANS not meet her or her Pokemon. Or rather, anyone in the group.

That shock from Ventus' side, quickly followed by that icy yet firely and pitchblack HATRED was also suffocating for her and her developing own empathic traits, but to her own suprise it didn't scared her as she'd agree that these Scimitars deserve NO BETTER. It was...new to her however how wrathfully her love was capable to become.


At first, Shiva replied nothing and prefered to listen as the others were sharing their thoughts and intentions, all while making her own thoughts and mulling over how to express them. There's no denying anymore, they HAD TO deal with ''em' rather sooner than later. How Shiva will react when it comes to that...showdown, she doesn't know. It won't be pretty though, for sure.

Carefully, she raised her voice in a serious manner now that it has been decided - next step was actually deciding HOW to approach 'them'. "Fine. In that case, I....... well, agree that we should tackle them rather now since we're having the opportunity to do so with that Solosis - Let us make a plan then about HOW to do so, everyone. So, Solosis will bring us to 'them' - shall we attempt to ambush them for a suprise attack before 'they' even know what's happening? As soon as we're close enough, we could have our two Absol and my Furret overwhelm them with a well-placed Quick Attack, giving them barely a chance to react to the fight. I could also have Lilith restrain one of them with a Telekinesis from a safe spot before we attack, or do so mid-battle."

She perked up and halted a moment before she continued. "Ah.... You, Mr. Finder.... Me thinks it's better if you DON'T participate in that for sure hard battle, please. It's more safe, as without you we're practically lost down here, so I'd prefer if you'd please stick close to us while hiding in a secure spot in the darkness until we're finished with ''em'. These are...just my thoughts though, how does that sound to you, what do you think, are you having other ideas or would prefer somethingelse?" With a worried look towards him, she awaited his answer. It's obvious by now that she's concerned for his safety, and that she does care for him.

There was one more thing that flashed through Shiva's mind: These gauntlets of the Scimitars - would they still 'work' under a Magic Room, casted by her Gothitelle? Would it have any effect? (That needs you input please @Iron, as Shiva's opposed to try it if it's certain that it won't have any effect. What does her intuition tell her about this, more like 'It's worth trying' or 'No, it's likely that it won't do anything'?)

[Dragonstrike]

"...Ventus, Ralts and I understand how you feel about this, but please calm down.  Just a little.  Killing the tool users does no good if there are still tool makers.  We don't know who exactly brainwashed Solosis."

To Shiva: "...this isn't the first time humans have tried...and just about succeeded...to turn pokemon into uncaring, almost emotionless tools, Shiva.  I don't think this is the same thing, but it can maybe still be reversed if they're exposed to a Legendary power related to emotion or memories in some way."

"As for how we approach this...if the Scimitars are still tracking us, they'll know we're coming in their direction.  Ambushing them is unlikely to be something we can plan for in advance."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

It was nothing more that the fae-enthusiast had to make heard in the means of a counter-argument towards Ven, all he received after he has given his point of view and thoughts was a thoughtful look from her, heavily fixated on him, but not intimidating (anymore). That icy-cold aura of hers has thawed to some degree, but it'll certainly come back at a given opportunity... Maybe it was just to overplay the fear Shiva no doubts felt, an intuitive reaction not unlike an injured animal that has been cornered.

At his request to rather wait for the other to return, Shiva had nothing to oppose against that as she damn well knows how bad it feels to be left out in things and discussions, so after a quiet "Alright. I hope they'll be back soon and that nothing has gone amiss...." she turned silent, and opted to pass the time by playing with Dizzy, Yena, both and watching the two Dark Types playfully chasing each other over the campsite. Doing so brought back some of her positivity, it even allured a very shy smile from her.



Heart was the first one that eventually returned, which caused Shiva to avert her attention to her which in return enabled Yena to snatch the big Noctowl-feather directly off her hand to contently gnaw on it. How he managed to find more of this goo were interesting news to her and she was relieved that more assumed Solosis are far away, but she had nothing to add concerning this and reassumed her business until Nathan would return.

Which he did soon enough, and from the first glance it was clear to Shiva that he was NOT pleased. There was anger in his gaze, neatly mixed with sadness and tiredness - what has gone wrong, she wondered with a worried frown?

She found out as Nathan began to share to them all what his questioning of the small Solosis brought to light - HOW SHIVA WISHED SHE HADN'T. The idea, imagination of having no will and being beraved off all emotions apart from the distinct and raw desire to keep oneself alive - it was as having no soul at all, and it was something that she, being a person with a vivid pool of emotions and pictoral imagination, held equivalent to being dead. One look at the tiny Psychic Type was enough now to give her a COLD shiver running through her whole body, it made her tremble in fear, sadness and caused her to huddle up at the spot. Nathan's thought about there being a possible way to reserve this state was met with another, wondering frown as to her all hope was lost for that Solosis, Shiva's way more interested in doing ANYTHING POSSIBLE that a similar state does BY ALL MEANS not meet her or her Pokemon. Or rather, anyone in the group.

That shock from Ventus' side, quickly followed by that icy yet firely and pitchblack HATRED was also suffocating for her and her developing own empathic traits, but to her own suprise it didn't scared her as she'd agree that these Scimitars deserve NO BETTER. It was...new to her however how wrathfully her love was capable to become.


At first, Shiva replied nothing and prefered to listen as the others were sharing their thoughts and intentions, all while making her own thoughts and mulling over how to express them. There's no denying anymore, they HAD TO deal with ''em' rather sooner than later. How Shiva will react when it comes to that...showdown, she doesn't know. It won't be pretty though, for sure.

Carefully, she raised her voice in a serious manner now that it has been decided - next step was actually deciding HOW to approach 'them'. "Fine. In that case, I....... well, agree that we should tackle them rather now since we're having the opportunity to do so with that Solosis - Let us make a plan then about HOW to do so, everyone. So, Solosis will bring us to 'them' - shall we attempt to ambush them for a suprise attack before 'they' even know what's happening? As soon as we're close enough, we could have our two Absol and my Furret overwhelm them with a well-placed Quick Attack, giving them barely a chance to react to the fight. I could also have Lilith restrain one of them with a Telekinesis from a safe spot before we attack, or do so mid-battle."

She perked up and halted a moment before she continued. "Ah.... You, Mr. Finder.... Me thinks it's better if you DON'T participate in that for sure hard battle, please. It's more safe, as without you we're practically lost down here, so I'd prefer if you'd please stick close to us while hiding in a secure spot in the darkness until we're finished with ''em'. These are...just my thoughts though, how does that sound to you, what do you think, are you having other ideas or would prefer somethingelse?" With a worried look towards him, she awaited his answer. It's obvious by now that she's concerned for his safety, and that she does care for him.

There was one more thing that flashed through Shiva's mind: These gauntlets of the Scimitars - would they still 'work' under a Magic Room, casted by her Gothitelle? Would it have any effect? (That needs you input please @Iron, as Shiva's opposed to try it if it's certain that it won't have any effect. What does her intuition tell her about this, more like 'It's worth trying' or 'No, it's likely that it won't do anything'?)

"...Ventus, Ralts and I understand how you feel about this, but please calm down.  Just a little.  Killing the tool users does no good if there are still tool makers.  We don't know who exactly brainwashed Solosis."

To Shiva: "...this isn't the first time humans have tried...and just about succeeded...to turn pokemon into uncaring, almost emotionless tools, Shiva.  I don't think this is the same thing, but it can maybe still be reversed if they're exposed to a Legendary power related to emotion or memories in some way."

"As for how we approach this...if the Scimitars are still tracking us, they'll know we're coming in their direction.  Ambushing them is unlikely to be something we can plan for in advance."

"With Rose Mach Punch and Gustav Aura Sphere, we have some extra power to add. I think when we make the ambush we should faint the Scimitars trainers before they sent they're Pokemons. That way, we might be able to deal with them with no big problems. Humans have low strength as Pokemons. Even with the gauntlets, a surprise attack shall be enough to take care of them."

To Nathan: "In that case all we need is to caught at least one of the Scimitars and interrogate until he spill everything about that brainwashing Pokemons, simple. But since there is no authority to call and it is dangerous to let such people escape we must consider the killing option. I don't like myself, but we must survive. At all costs."

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

"With Rose Mach Punch and Gustav Aura Sphere, we have some extra power to add. I think when we make the ambush we should faint the Scimitars trainers before they sent they're Pokemons. That way, we might be able to deal with them with no big problems. Humans have low strength as Pokemons. Even with the gauntlets, a surprise attack shall be enough to take care of them."

To Nathan: "In that case all we need is to caught at least one of the Scimitars and interrogate until he spill everything about that brainwashing Pokemons, simple. But since there is no authority to call and it is dangerous to let such people escape we must consider the killing option. I don't like myself, but we must survive. At all costs."

"You haven't actually faced a Scimitar, have you?  Those gauntlets give them comparable strength to that of a pokemon, Heart.  The ones I faced back in Stair took a huge beating before Calam took 'em out.  Don't underestimate them.  They don't rely on their pokemon, but that doesn't mean they're complete chumps in combat.  And with those Solosis scouts, they're probably going to know we're coming."

...

"...I'd also like to remind you that they haven't tried to kill us, even if they could have easily done so already.  Consider that too."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Somehow, Shiva was sure that barely to nothing at all would and could prevent Ven from murdering at least ONE of these Scimitars if he'd get the chance, she knows him well enough. She herself had mixed feeling concerning this, but it's highly unlikely that she'll attempt to prevent him from doing so.

Concerning what Nathan had to say about this wasn't the first time that people have done so HORRIBLE things to Pokemon, she hardly even listens and instead was all busy to concentrate on calm breathing to not let the shock overwhelm her, this was quite an effort for her. As said, to her hope is lost to 'bring that Solosis back' from the dead and it's not her main concern - it is preventing that such a state does befall any of the group's Pokemon. If things can be  'reversed' for the small green Psychic Type, fine! If not, well... It confirms to her that it may not be too much of a bad ideal to seperate Pokemon from humans.


Now then.... In a rather calm tone that she took care to sound neutral and reserved, she continued. "Even if 'they''re still tracking us and know that we're coming in 'their' direction, if we use the darkness to our advantage we might have a chance to at least get close to them without them noticing right away. No point in not trying, it may become our biggest advantage to come prepared, ready to strike every moment. And if 'they' do... Who cares! At least then 'they' know that we mean business and are coming for 'them' with clear intentions."

Heart's idea to catch one of these Scimitars and force ''em' to share information doesn't sound like a bad idea.... Quite a mean one, one that'll likely quickly develop into breaking League Rules, but who'd care for them way down the surface, especially if Ventus would afterwards.....'take care of that one'?

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

(...)

That shock from Ventus' side, quickly followed by that icy yet firely and pitchblack HATRED was also suffocating for her and her developing own empathic traits, but to her own suprise it didn't scared her as she'd agree that these Scimitars deserve NO BETTER. It was...new to her however how wrathfully her love was capable to become.


At first, Shiva replied nothing and prefered to listen as the others were sharing their thoughts and intentions, all while making her own thoughts and mulling over how to express them. There's no denying anymore, they HAD TO deal with ''em' rather sooner than later. How Shiva will react when it comes to that...showdown, she doesn't know. It won't be pretty though, for sure.

Carefully, she raised her voice in a serious manner now that it has been decided - next step was actually deciding HOW to approach 'them'. "Fine. In that case, I....... well, agree that we should tackle them rather now since we're having the opportunity to do so with that Solosis - Let us make a plan then about HOW to do so, everyone. So, Solosis will bring us to 'them' - shall we attempt to ambush them for a suprise attack before 'they' even know what's happening? As soon as we're close enough, we could have our two Absol and my Furret overwhelm them with a well-placed Quick Attack, giving them barely a chance to react to the fight. I could also have Lilith restrain one of them with a Telekinesis from a safe spot before we attack, or do so mid-battle."


(...)

Shiva's own deeply horrified reaction was hardly a blip on Ven's empathetic radar, as by that point he was so mind bogglingly angry at what those Scimitars had done that it overrode his usual instinct to reach out and comfort her fears away. However, that was not to say he was totally heartless, as he after he glance over to his girlfriend with an unreadable expression, he closed his eyes and tried to shield his emotions from everyone else a little more, to the point they would no longer vividly feel like they were being subsumed by his own immense wrath. No matter how much he wanted to destroy those wretched archmages , he shouldn't let his own fury adversely affect anyone in the party. After all, they didn't deserve such animosity like their enemies......at least not yet.

When it came time for the mystical lass to voice her support in tracking down and laying waste to the Scimitars and the planning phase of that endeavor, the infuriated researcher quietly spoke up in that same unnerving tone of voice to offer his input. "Initaiting the first strike stealthly would allow us to inflict potentially heavy damage and throw them in chaos before they can organize a result, so I approve of that plan. For such an assault, I have my sister Malphena has impeccable Stealth capabilities in her ability to phase through matter and blend into the darkness, Lucifer, who is a cave Pokémon species that could fly under the radars of those Scimitars, and Michael, who can quickly attack and put swaths of those fiends to sleep with Spore. My newest sister Turiel could also dig us a hidden path into their campsite and offer us an escape route should things go terribly awry, and if we have Malphena assistance we could tunnel under individual Scimitars separated from the bulk of their forces and pop up to drag them down into the tunnel."

"If we are unconcerned with capturing survivors, though, Turiel could dig several tunnels in and around the Scimitar's camp to make the place structurally weak, then we could utlize Mamo to cave in the area with an Earthquake, burying them all alive in the process. We would have to be careful not to end up doing the same to us, but if we could pull it off with relative safety it would be an extremely expedient way to remove the Scimitars as threats to us without having to directly engage them. We could also attempt to take hostage one of their members if we can capture one isolated and force them all to comply with out demands, or extract all the information we can from our captive , and deal with them and the rest of his allies accordingly based on what we learn."

That was all that the researcher had to say at this junction regarding the Plan, going silent as he stared off into the distance, angry shimmering in his eyes.

Spoiler

[quote pid='43607' dateline='1524755102']
"...Ventus, Ralts and I understand how you feel about this, but please calm down.  Just a little.  Killing the tool users does no good if there are still tool makers.  We don't know who exactly brainwashed Solosis."

(...)
[/quote]

Nathan's request was initially meet with the sort of stare that raise anyone's hackles and dead silence as he turned in place to regard them with carefulness and deceptive serenity. After a minute or two of this, though, the research let out a small huffing *Sigh* and jerked his head in a nod, before closing his eyes and trying to cool off his temper to a degree that was slightly less than scorching. While their would be no sawaying his desire to met out permanent painful punitive punishment to ALL the Scimitars he'd come across from here on out, he could understand to boy's reasoning in not completely destroying them all until they have an idea as to WHO did that despicable act. That, and nobody in his group deserved his undiluted wrath he was experiencing for those Scimitars (for now, anyway), so a bit of reigning in his temper was in order....

Spoiler

To Nathan: "In that case all we need is to caught at least one of the Scimitars and interrogate until he spill everything about that brainwashing Pokemons, simple. But since there is no authority to call and it is dangerous to let such people escape we must consider the killing option. I don't like myself, but we must survive. At all costs."

Ventus nodded in agreement with Heart's interrogation plans, chipping in by saying: "I can handle information extraction from any Scimitars we happen to capture. Between my empathy and hardened heart, I should be able to all things relevant from any prisinors without being adversely affect myself."

What the researcher didn't mention was that he also knew several methods to pry out the truth from the unwilling and had absolutely no hesitation to use them on those monster. The reason behind keeping quiet about this was rather obvious: knowing how to torture somebody properly and having a willingness to do it was......unnerving, to say the least.

[Iron]

There was one more thing that flashed through Shiva's mind: These gauntlets of the Scimitars - would they still 'work' under a Magic Room, casted by her Gothitelle? Would it have any effect? (That needs you input please @Iron, as Shiva's opposed to try it if it's certain that it won't have any effect. What does her intuition tell her about this, more like 'It's worth trying' or 'No, it's likely that it won't do anything'?)

This is a really good question. It depends on if they are 'manual use' or 'automated' or some form of magic/'magic' outside the bounds of Trick Room. Judging by the fragments of gauntlet you've seen so far, they are pretty complex, and there's a good chance their technology is partly automated. 

Shiva's intuition says there'd probably be at least some form of tool in the hands of the Scimitars that'd be blocked by Magic Room, possibly including some functions of the gauntlets.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

When it came time for the mystical lass to voice her support in tracking down and laying waste to the Scimitars and the planning phase of that endeavor, the infuriated researcher quietly spoke up in that same unnerving tone of voice to offer his input. "Initaiting the first strike stealthly would allow us to inflict potentially heavy damage and throw them in chaos before they can organize a result, so I approve of that plan. For such an assault, I have my sister Malphena has impeccable Stealth capabilities in her ability to phase through matter and blend into the darkness, Lucifer, who is a cave Pokémon species that could fly under the radars of those Scimitars, and Michael, who can quickly attack and put swaths of those fiends to sleep with Spore. My newest sister Turiel could also dig us a hidden path into their campsite and offer us an escape route should things go terribly awry, and if we have Malphena assistance we could tunnel under individual Scimitars separated from the bulk of their forces and pop up to drag them down into the tunnel."

"If we are unconcerned with capturing survivors, though, Turiel could dig several tunnels in and around the Scimitar's camp to make the place structurally weak, then we could utlize Mamo to cave in the area with an Earthquake, burying them all alive in the process. We would have to be careful not to end up doing the same to us, but if we could pull it off with relative safety it would be an extremely expedient way to remove the Scimitars as threats to us without having to directly engage them. We could also attempt to take hostage one of their members if we can capture one isolated and force them all to comply with out demands, or extract all the information we can from our captive , and deal with them and the rest of his allies accordingly based on what we learn."

True, it was mildly detectable for Shiva as that suffocating aura of wrath decreased, it earned Ventus an appreciating and thankful look. Never would she blame him for feeling such a wrath at all, though, if it's reasonable that is. (Which it is, in this case and her opinion.)

"Your big Durant digging several tunnel to trap 'them' before initiating a controlled cave in doesn't sound like a bad idea, Ven, but given how it took the steely ant quite a while to tig the tunnel around the Carbink and its ilk even with Tailwind and Ditto's help, to me it feels that it's a bit too time-consuming and we'd be better off to deal with ''em' more or less directly. More time spent means more time for 'them' to cotton on what may await and prepare 'them'selves. But... A hidden tunnel dug as an emergency escape as well as to enable a suprise ambush does sound good. How long do you think would it take for Turiel to dig such a tunnel?"

"Having.... the Ghost Types scout ahead for that suprising strike is a good idea as well." 'What a useful Type', Shiva silently thought to herself, 'if tamed properly that is. Still scary though.' "Let's see, what could I maybe......bring up.......... AH! I guess I'll...have my Lilith cast a Magic Room right at the start of the battle. It may not completely stop whatever functions 'their' gauntlets have, but to me it feels worth trying as we don't know what other tools they have that COULD be prevented from being used. Heal Block is an option as well, I'll have her cast that as soon as 'they' show any form of healing themselves or 'their' Pokemon. Or anything. With Telekinesis and Helping Hand I can also....try to raise our chances to succeed in defeating them.... That means, me and my Gothitelle would take a more supporting Role, while I'll have Furret fight actively. He doesn't loose the capability to hit a foe when being under pain, and with Me First he'd use 'THEIR' power against 'THEM'."

Somewhat timidly, she paused a little before adding "How.....does that sound? Like something accceptable?"