[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

The simple monk received the message, and unlike the other times, actually respond to it!:

'Hello. Tired, but good. Don't have news. Good job catching....Ambipom? What Pokémon is that? Is it a Normal type? Silk Scarf works well on them, but I am only.....guessing.

"Will come to meeting. Try your meals too, and share them with my Pokémon if they want. Thank you, Heart.'

When Terra answear the message, Heart tap a back message to him.

Spoiler

Tired huh? Well, the Mint Tea Punch I prepare will help patch ya that tire my friend. It will help in regenerate the strengh of everyone. Oh, no surprise there you dont know Terra. They are not very common around here very much. They monkeys with two tail in the form of hands. They normally evolve from another monkey pokemon, Aipom who have one tail with form of hand. They normally evolve to Ambipom when they learn the move Double Hit. Its a interesting evolution process. They can be find in Johto or in Sinnoh. Sinnoh its my home region by the way.

Also thank you man. I dont like to be proud but I the unofficial cooker of the team. You should see the time where we eat some lasagna together. It was pretty cool. Just...dont ask me to make any dinner like soup in the wild. That was NOT a good experience for anyone. Ask Shiva about that^^"

[Iron]

Ray nabs it gracefully with his tongue. He begins looking around the room from his perch, nodding approvingly at whatever he arbitrarily finds interesting.

While Terra is interacting with Ray, Nathan discreetly heads over to Gallade to talk to him.

"...hey, uh...did you feel anything...strange yesterday, Gallade?  Right before I came to pick you up at the training room."

Gallade nods. He felt the Lurch too.

[Iron]

Tanuki: "It's an ancient training tradition of the Cress City Gym Leaders. Here in Cress, our traditions are what make us strong. This one involves years and years of work inside Mt. Sentry! Oh, I guess that relates to another point. We choose our Gym Leaders according to their attitude as a child. That way, they can begin training young."

Dizzy has nodded and slipped outside. He'll be waiting for you on your way to the next encounter.

[Dragonstrike]

Terra smiled and gave the regal rimstone a nod, before he slowly rises up and out of his chair, turning to Nathan as he does so.

"Story's over, so heading to Training Room now. Going to try.....discipline my Duskull, before Shiva comes back and starts meeting. *Pause* Unless you have something else to talk about?"

If Nathan has nothing to say, he'll head right over there!

Nathan startles a little, but does his best to keep his response smooth.  No need to worry Terra about this quite yet.

"Hm?  Oh, uh...no, don't really have anything else to talk about right now, no.  Except...well, here."

Nathan tosses Terra 2 unused Pokeballs.

"Thanks for helping.  Use those to catch yourself a nice friend too, alright?"

Even if Terra caught on to Nathan trying to keep something quiet, that should hopefully serve as a decent enough distraction, right?

Gallade nods. He felt the Lurch too.

Back to talking to Gallade!

"...huh...did...Terra seem to notice anything?"

Presumably, Gallade shakes his head since the lurches have never been mentioned for Terra specifically as of this point.

"...okay...did you...see anything?  Like a vision or something?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Tanuki: "It's an ancient training tradition of the Cress City Gym Leaders. Here in Cress, our traditions are what make us strong. This one involves years and years of work inside Mt. Sentry! Oh, I guess that relates to another point. We choose our Gym Leaders according to their attitude as a child. That way, they can begin training young."

Sipping on the drink and stroking through the fur of every Zigzagoon that's confident/curious enough to come to her, Shiva attentively listens while Vaporeon seems to have claimed that bag full of leftovers for herself - her nimbling on it and hissing lightly whenever one of the racoons came close was a sign clear enough.

"O...Oh... So that means you've been trained to become a Gym Leader since childhood? That...does make sense; and yes, I have noticed that traditions are quite valued here in Cress. It's a fine and calm place to live, for sure. Maybe not for everyone, but I'm liking it....here...." She pauses at this point, throws a smiling gaze at Vaporeon who returned the look with a neutral one on her own. She'd happily dwell here longer and chat more with the dear Normal Gym Leader, but on the other hand Dizzy is waiting and it actually ITCHES her to try out what she's been looking forward for a little now."Well, eh... While I'd love to stay, I guess I have to get going then... Thank you again for that battle!~ Was quite fun. ^^ We'll, uh, will probably see one another again when Little Cup is held once more?" Tanuki's awesome, that easily Shiva won't forget her.

If allowed, a dear hug is exchanged as well before Shiva would leave the exciting Normal Gym for now.

Dizzy has nodded and slipped outside. He'll be waiting for you on your way to the next encounter.

The disaster feline is welcomed with much joy from Shiva's side, if he's fine with it she knees down to him to give him some gentle strokes through his white head fur; deliberately not touching the horn. It's pretty obvious that she's delighted to see Dizzy again. "Well, hello Dizzy! It's neat to see you again. Is everything okay from your side, did you manage to.... *she lowers her voice and comes a little closer* ...complete some of your given tasks?"

"I'm doing okay myself. A bit exhausted... Worried and a little fearful if I have to be honest... But not too bad in general. I've done better though." A long and not-impercible sigh escapes here while she's facing Dizzy, stares into his white eyes with the flashing red pupils for a few moments. It seems like a lot of unspoken words are exchanged in this short eye contact. *getting up again, stretching her arms a little before she gazes around* "Well, I was just about to make a quick stop-by at the Center to switch some Pokemon I'm carrying with me before pursuing a particular Pokemon here around town to add it to my team. Would you like to tag along then?"

It's probably noon by now, has the rain stopped like the forecast promised? Can't do second Encounter if it's still raining, unfortunately.

[Iron]

Terra smiled and gave the regal rimstone a nod, before he slowly rises up and out of his chair, turning to Nathan as he does so.

"Story's over, so heading to Training Room now. Going to try.....discipline my Duskull, before Shiva comes back and starts meeting. *Pause* Unless you have something else to talk about?"

If Nathan has nothing to say, he'll head right over there!

Nathan startles a little, but does his best to keep his response smooth.  No need to worry Terra about this quite yet.

"Hm?  Oh, uh...no, don't really have anything else to talk about right now, no.  Except...well, here."

Nathan tosses Terra 2 unused Pokeballs.

"Thanks for helping.  Use those to catch yourself a nice friend too, alright?"

Even if Terra caught on to Nathan trying to keep something quiet, that should hopefully serve as a decent enough distraction, right?

Gallade nods. He felt the Lurch too.

Back to talking to Gallade!

"...huh...did...Terra seem to notice anything?"

Presumably, Gallade shakes his head since the lurches have never been mentioned for Terra specifically as of this point.

"...okay...did you...see anything?  Like a vision or something?"

Nod!

[Iron]

Yep, it stopped raining shortly after your Gym Battle started. Dizzy is going to tag along. He seems a little bored. Perhaps he's waiting for something.

[Dragonstrike]

Nod!

"...was it...a vision of you as a Kirlia having a vision of me holding a sword and pointing southwest with it?"

If it is indeed the same vision, I wonder if Gallade is surprised that Nathan was able to accurately describe it...

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Nathan startles a little, but does his best to keep his response smooth.  No need to worry Terra about this quite yet.

"Hm?  Oh, uh...no, don't really have anything else to talk about right now, no.  Except...well, here."

Nathan tosses Terra 2 unused Pokeballs.

"Thanks for helping.  Use those to catch yourself a nice friend too, alright?"

Even if Terra caught on to Nathan trying to keep something quiet, that should hopefully serve as a decent enough distraction, right?
(…)

Terra isn't actually too concerned/interested about whatever Nathan and Gallade are discussing, as he assumed it was a private conversation between the two(judging by how hush hush the boy was acting about it), and so politely refrained from paying attention/ignored it completely by thinking of other stuff (Like Ray/Duskull). His gut tells him that whatever the clever trainer and his knight were discussing, it wasn't THAT important, and so he didn't worry about it. If they want/need him to know about their conversation, they'll tell him at some point. Simple.

Talk about an casual attitude!

(Unlike Ven or Shiva, Terra isn't bothered by others keeping stuff secret/private about most things (Group Rewards and stuff that affects the party/party members are some promenient exceptions to this), as he figures if someone is keeping stuff from him/the rest of the group, they have a good reason to do so. He's curious, naturally, but he's not a nosy/insecure/paranoid enough person to start 'spying'/hounding people for info he may or may not need (which may or may not even concern him anyway)! )

(Of course, if he found out if they or anyone else WAS keeping something particularly critical and/or nasty as a secret that affects him/the group without good reason.....well, he'd tried to be understanding about it, but he'd also be.....displeased. Just FYI!)

He catches both Pokeballs without much effort, giving the scholarly boy a mildly surprised look for the unexpected gift, before smiling and nodding his head.

"You are welcome, Nathan. I will put these to good use. Thank you."

Saying that, the simple monk pocketed the balls, before departing to the Training Room. Once there, he did the following things before summoning Duskull:

- He goes into Serious Mode, looking as Intimidating and forboding as possible
- He summons Shiranui and Melly, and has the later Paralyze the former to activate Guts.
- If there's room, return Melly and summon Lapis Lazuli in her place, and have them use Coil while encircling a space big enough to hold Terra, Shiranui, and Duskull (When they are released).
- If the isn't room, Melly will be kept out, and she'll use Howl to buff herself.
- Shiranui will be given orders to use one restrained Knock Off on Duskull if they get too onery/Disobedient to get them to stop that (IE: They try to escape and/or attack Terra + Co), while Lovely/Melly will keep watch for any shady behavior from the spooky specter, and back up Shiranui with a un restrained Water Gun/Fire Fangs (3 Each) if they persist in being violently mulish. All of them are told to look serious/Intimidating as possible, too.

After all the above is accomplished, only then will Terra release Duskull. What they see upon getting their bearings is his trainer looking more grave than them, their expression hard and stony liked chiseled marble, Shiranui squared off in a battle ready sumo pose with absolutely zero of his normal jollity/levity, and Lovely encircling the small group and looming menacingly over him/Melly glaring daggers at him, sparks and arcs of electricity popping across her body. All were starring at him.

"Duskull."

His tone was grim, deep, and charged with displeasure, like a rumbling thundercloud ready to let loose a both of lightning.

"You are in trouble. For leaving the Big Hunt...…and for trying to leave me, your Trainer. "

*Beat*

"....That is not allowed."

...


"I want to make you strong. Better. I want to be your friend. To be your partner."

"But."

" …Can't do that if you don't.....try. To work with me. With my partners. Your partners. We can only get stronger working together, and helping each other. Not alone. Never alone. You should know that. If not.....you will."

…

"...Do you understand, Duskull?"

Order: Use Intimidation (With or without a Roll) to impress the severity of what Duskull did/tried to do with Terra/his Pokemon, and also as a means to hopefully prevent them from getting up to trouble + get them listen/seriously consider what he has to say. If they DO decide to be a serious threat, then Shiranui and Lovely/Melly are ready to stamp down on that HARD. Let's see how this goes....

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Yep, it stopped raining shortly after your Gym Battle started. Dizzy is going to tag along. He seems a little bored. Perhaps he's waiting for something.

"Ah... Well then, hopefully being with me will distract you a little in your waiting time." She seems carefully confident, as if something is definietly and for certain telling her that everything was alright and Dizzy knew what to do. She trusts him even - though it feels a little weird and interesting the same time to put trust into a Dark Type with a bad reputation. Dizzy however is anything but a normal Absol.

Shiva's first stop by is as said at the Eastern Pokemon Center, where she hands Raphael, Tropius and Spinda to Nurse Joy with the request to please heal them overnights. "They've ended up fainting against Tanuki and her Normal Types... But they fought very well. Thank you again." In return for these three, Cottonee and Chi are brought to the party, Silverbolt the Magneton is also placed back into a Box now. It was another secret ace in case things would have become dire in the battle, but in the end Shiva feels a tad bit proud that she has made it without a Steel Type. Apart from that, she's almost sure that Tanuki would be able to counter Steel Types. Sweet Spritzee joins the party in return for it, one Slot in the party remains free. She immediately gets summoned even and greeted with some fond strokes beneath her tiny beak. "Well, hello dearest one! It's been a while, yes.... I'm deeply sorry for that. But rest assured that you are never forgotten... Say, would you want to tag a long for a little? It's pretty neat outside, full of fine scents." A high-pitched chirp of delight expressed Spritzee's full agreement and excitement, the fairy bird swiftly and gracefully took her place on her Master's shoulder, wafting off that romantical and bonding scent to full extent as they two made their way outside again. While Shiva loved that scent a lot, now it made her...a bit sentimental.

Chil is also summoned and is asked to tag along as the small group makes their way. Shiva doesn't seem to have a real aim as he wandered around a little through Cress City, stopping by here and there and eventually having arrived where Celebi Park begins. For the most part she's explaining the concept of 'rain' to the Luxi while asking Spritzee to soak up the scent - "There's a very particular fregrance bencin the air after it has rained a lot. It's especially strong around nature - do you notice it too, Chi? Take a deep breath, can you feel how clean the air is?"

(This is no Training Session, but it's a bit of 'exposing Spritzee to the scent of nature after a rainfall' including 'showing Luxi the world'.)


Eventually, Shiva stops as she must have inevitably found what she was silently looking out for - a lonely picnic table at the edge of town, right where Celebi Park begins. It looked a little hidden from the ruccus of Cress City, the trashcan beside it has a roof so no rain would reach whatever was within it. From the look of it, it hasn't been emptied for a while.

She could only smile slyly as she mustered that table. This was perfect! Since one of her towels is left with Spinda, she draws another leafgreen one from bagpack and spreads it over the bench before taking a casual seat at this table. Spritzee is kinda wondering, 'what are we doing here?' while Chi...she gets lifted up from the ground and directly placed on the able to around eye level with Shiva now. Shiva didn't react to the curious chirp the smol dragonfairy gave her as she's busy searching for something within her stuff... In fact, she searches for what she bought yesterday at the Violet Tent.

Spoiler

It's another Enigma Berry!

Shiva absolutely couldn't resist not buying anything at the respective boot.

Turning it a little within her hand, she let Chi and whoever wants to do so as well (mostly Spritzee and Dizzy) sniff on it before doing so herself. These Berries were a rare treat and she paid a lot for a single one, so no way she won't enjoy it to the fullest degree! It's carefully and conscientiously sliced into pieces, but it's actually not Shiva herself who'd eat the most of it - it's Chi! She hasn't forgotten how she expressed great liking in the smell of that Berry when they bought it, naturally since Luxi is an enigma herself.

Roughly 2/3 is fed to Chi while Shiva would nom the rest herself. "Value every single bite, dear one - these Berries are not easy at all to find and anything but cheap. We can be very lucky that we stumbled over them being sold here in town. You too, Spritzee - the scent it's giving out is quite a unique one, isn't it?"

The scent and taste is described 'different every time', so what's it like in this case? Can Chi actually use a bit of Lucky Chant to increase my fortune here also?

Here is hope for...

...a *Zigzagoon being lured by the scent!