[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The very moment Shiva, feeling a little better by now due to Lapis L.'s presence and all that talking about Contests, made unexpected eye contact with one of these crumbled statues of Chresire's greatest warlord (and gasped and flinched audibly), she knew that this place was....special. Meaningful. It was a good decision to join in that trip to the cave, unspoken thanks for the offer go to Nathan as she seems to have lost her voice from simply watching these statues.

They worry her. That whole cave, the thought of entering it made her uncomfortable. Fear arises, yet also a sense of importance? Yes, that'd decribe it... Though does gazing at these statues, into that single Eye, fill her with rage as well like that one Helix Nebula was depicted as in a vision of Gothy? Can she pick up anythingelse around here that might be noteable?

There doesn't seem to be any power in the Eyes any longer, but perhaps there once was.

Naturally Lilith is summoned from her painted Premier Ball in an instant, Shiva wasn't sure whether she called her out intuitively and automatically or whether Lilith summoned herself; but now the gothloli Pokemon is with her, Raphael and Tanuki beneath the umbrella Shiva still held. "Lilith.... Hello. Please look at these", she tells her without averting her gaze from the statues she pointed to, "That Single Eye... It's familiar, isn't it....?"

She agrees; she's feeling the same things you are.

Kneeing down, she stares at these unique flowers, being highly undisclosed. She knew what these plants caused to the party... But she hasn't forgotten her initiate fascination for these. Ventus would never know if she.... But was it safe to pluck one to take along?

The Deyo don't seem to be near any threats. The crater is too shallow to hide any Pokemon, and the cave is still about a range away.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

**Quick Flashback to things from yesterday to wrap things up from my side**

Lapis, being naturally more attuned to the feelings/emanations of others, detected the surge of self-confidence in the soft hearted lass, and shared a smile and sly wink with her. He's always happy to be admired, but he's even more pleased whenever he manages to help others, and bring positivity/happiness in their lives/self. Shine on, Shiva. You are wonderful too, just like him, in your own unique, indescribable way...
 
Terra misses that her next comment is a compliment, but he still takes as such, nodding his head with simple content.
 
"Just wanted to Lapis to reach full potential. Did everything to help him. All that work....over the years....to see him Evolve into a Milotic.... *Grins* …It was one of the happiest moments of our lives. *Reminiscent Look Returns* ...Once, he was weak. Looked ugle to most. Always....underestimated.....never given a chance. *Looks up to Lovely* ...Now, he is strong. He is beautiful. And nobody will look down on him ever again."
 
Hearing his master's impassioned words, the aquatic serpentine fish smiled beatifically, and then fluidity rose up into the air, towering over the group as he extended his whole luxurious body and radiated his own satisfaction and joy with his Evolution as he crooned beautifully. Yes, he is no longer a feeble, fetid looking Feebas, but a mighty, gorgeous Milotic. He will always take pride in that....and be eternally grateful for his wonderful master helping him achieve it....
 
---
 
The rugged wanderer accepted Shiva's praise and awe with great humbleness, simply smiling back at her and nodding his head. He's always touched/felt special whenever a person or fan was so enamored with his past exploits, but never took that for granted or let it go to his head. It was a rare, almost unique thing for him, given how much he was ostersized or shunned/ignored for his appearances.
 
"Thank you too, my friend. *Nods* Could go to Hoen and participate in them, someday. Hm...think you have the potential. To be a star, like Lisia. Just keeping working hard, and you'll make it. That is what I believe, *Nods*. *Beat* ...What is an Umbreon, though?"

Ohhh, Shiva could only agree to Lapis when he rose up in a graceful manner to show them all how PRECIOUS he is and how much PRIDE he takes in having evolved thanks to that chiseled man, he's having all right to feel lke that. Figuratively bathing in his joy, a wave of confidence and satisfaction washed over her as she took a deep breath in awe over seeing a Milotic displaying all its grace, being highly fattered that he himself even gifted her a small boost with his smile and wink. How lucky that Terra came to the group, haha...

The rugged wanderer accepted Shiva's praise and awe with great humbleness, simply smiling back at her and nodding his head. He's always touched/felt special whenever a person or fan was so enamored with his past exploits, but never took that for granted or let it go to his head. It was a rare, almost unique thing for him, given how much he was ostersized or shunned/ignored for his appearances.
 
"Thank you too, my friend. *Nods* Could go to Hoen and participate in them, someday. Hm...think you have the potential. To be a star, like Lisia. Just keeping working hard, and you'll make it. That is what I believe, *Nods*. *Beat* ...What is an Umbreon, though?"

More flattering upon Terra so openly and casualy suggesting that she has potential to become a star in Contests! D: "*looking down to the ground in embarrasement* You....you think so? How... h-how kind of you, thank you...~ If you, ehm, if you ever talk to Lissi... Uhm, Lisia again as you said you know her and got her number, give her greetings from a big fan!" ^^

"Umbreon.... Uh, it's basically a Pokemon species that evolved through the exposure to moonlight, a pitchblack feline with yellow rings and markings in its fur. Very dear and loyal for a Dark Type, but relatively rare as well." She smiles a little and reminiscently when speaking out these words.

"Quit to come to Cheshire, and explore it. Contest were fun, good living.....*Slowly shakes his head* but were not my purpose in life. That is all."
 
Though he doesn't show it, Shiva and Gallade could feel at that moment.....aimlessness from him, a sense akin to melancholy (but not quite...), and a wanderlust that the former hadn't felt since she first meet him. Huh....

Humm. Shiva didn't verbally answer to this, but she felt that an encouraging pat on the back for that mountain of a man was appropriate. That wanderlust, and that weird gloomy feeling... Still looking for his purpose in life probably? 'Maybe you'll find it or at least get pointed into the right direction as you travel with us through Chreshire', Shiva felt like telling him, but it remained a thought.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Perhaps there once was power within these big single Eyes of these old Sarimanok Statues... Shiva is actually SURE there once was, while being very lucky and thankful that there isn't anymore now and no rage awoke within her solely from looking at these. Phew.

With this sensation, she's eager to bring as much distance between these statues and herself as possible, eyeing them with concern and discomfort.



After having confirmed herself that nothing could happen if she'd try to.... she shook her head to clear herself of any doubts, and indeed plucked 1 Deyo Flower from this place. It gets carefully and secuely packed away in a glas with a lid, so that it's effects on selected Pokemon doesn't trigger randomly but it is also safe from being damaged. Such a precious and unique flower... Ventus would HATE it and Shiva painfully knew that (it's giving her stings of remorse), so why she took one she wasn't sure herself - but she felt it could turn out useful at some point.

[Dragonstrike]

Valder is not with Ventus. He's vanished with his Gengar.

Figured that was the case.  Ventus and the rest of the party has his phone number though, so assuming he still has the same phone, contacting him should be doable...it's not something Nathan will do, though.

Spoiler

You journey an hour north/northwest, avoiding the Skull Ruins. As you approach the promised location of the Ancestor Cave, set into the Great Divide, you start seeing crumbled Sarimanok statues. Each is painted with one large eye instead of the two normal human eyes he had in life.

Nathan knows Sarimanok marked locations that were important to him in this way. The eye is supposed to warn intruders that there are consequences for their intrusion..."the King always knows!"

The entrance to the small, nondescript cave looks like nothing special. Just a craggy hole in the rock, about head high. However, a smooth apron in front of the entrance has been scooped out by a meteorite long ago. There are little flashes of nickel and meteoric superconductor in the ground, but mostly it has all eroded long, long ago. Predictably, the holographic Deyo flowers grow around it, but sparsely.


Ten yards above the cave entrance is a multi-forked little waterfall. Each individual stream is small and muddy, but there are half a dozen separate streams streamin' down the mountainside. Their source is a broad ledge, which seems to be filled with water and perhaps a small spring. You can see a Starmie up there, perched on a salt boulder, holding court with a small clan of Staryu. Though they are in the water, they stand on two legs at a time and are all facing Starmie, blinking their lights in the dawn. Starmie glows with the same color.

Decorating this entire area, you see little crafts made from Staryu limbs cracked and fused together into geometric shapes, usually set quite firmly into the ground.

Where the streams meet the ground is a crusting of salt. Must be mineral salt in the rock here.

Ancestor Cave: Aegis Cave - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky

"...Sarimanok's Eye...the closer we get to the Ruins, the more of them there are..."  It's a disturbing thought...particularly since he wouldn't be surprised if they encountered working ones at some point...Nathan is treating those eyes with extreme caution, even though they're supposedly not a concern right now.

The sight of the starfish pokemon around the crater reminds Nathan of his own Starmie.  'Starmie would have loved to come here, I bet,' he thinks to himself.

And the salt reminds him of...

...the one pokemon he has that's super duper difficult to use and evolve.  It is raining, so using her might be feasible this weekend, but...how in the world is he going to manage raising a fish pokemon on land?  Particularly if she gets incredibly violent and irritable after evolving...not that he expects her to evolve any time soon, given that she's not living in salt water...and Carvanha also hate living in salt water.  Maybe that's part of the reason why Sharpedo are seemingly so angry all the time...

...well, that's a series of questions for another time.  Maybe later today.  Or later this weekend  They have a cave to visit, and he has a job to do.

--------------------

Notably, Nathan's ignoring the Deyo Flowers for now.  There's not enough of them around for it to be meaningfully useful, and given that they've already seen the group of cosmic starfish, that answers the question of which rare pokemon are hanging around the area.  As usual, though, Gallade is eyeing the flowers very, very intently.  He does cast Shiva a brief glance when she goes to pick one of the strange flowers, but that's all.  He continues focusing on the flowers until it's time to continue into the cave, a reminder that these flowers and what they're related to...they have a special meaning for him that nobody else quite understands yet.

[Iron]

Terra, Nathan, and Shiva are ready to go in then. What about @Spiritmon Heart?

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Terra, Nathan, and Shiva are ready to go in then. What about @Spiritmon Heart?

Heart put the Beldum egg well protect in his arms, since he do not have such thing as incubator. Larvesta was obviously out of the pokeball, holding in Heart back, snoozing and warming the egg. Patrat was out of the pokeball, ready to begin the adventure, and of course strech his members since he was in the PC for quite a while. "What you waiting for guys? Lets do some cavern adventure!"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Heart put the Beldum egg well protect in his arms, since he do not have such thing as incubator. Larvesta was obviously out of the pokeball, holding in Heart back, snoozing and warming the egg. Patrat was out of the pokeball, ready to begin the adventure, and of course strech his members since he was in the PC for quite a while. "What you waiting for guys? Lets do some cavern adventure!"

The fae enthusiast seems highly insecure what to reply to Heart upon seeing his eager and even asking what they're actually waiting for, fidgets around nervously at the neck of her warming Ranger's Cloak. In the end, no words escaped her as she didn't want to admit being somewhat scared to enter now.

But what DID cause her tp speak up was the sight of Heart keeping a precious steel-grey Pokemon Egg in his arms. "Oh, eh.... Heart, don't you... actually have an Incubator for that Egg? They're available for free from the League if you ask in a mail or directly. If not, maybe it'd be, well, better to pack that Egg away... It'll be dark in the cave, and you'd only need t stumble and fall once to leave cracks on the Egg or upset the young one inside even if it doesn't take damage. Some ...wild Pokemon also prey on other Pokemon's Eggs, so... maybe it'd be better to not carry it so openly, wouldn't you agree?"


Lilith, Tanuki (nestled in a pocket of the Cloak with her head stickng out ^^), Delphox with his basswoodstick brightly enlighted and (if there's room) Raphael remain out and by Shiva inside the cave.

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Heart put the Beldum egg well protect in his arms, since he do not have such thing as incubator. Larvesta was obviously out of the pokeball, holding in Heart back, snoozing and warming the egg. Patrat was out of the pokeball, ready to begin the adventure, and of course strech his members since he was in the PC for quite a while. "What you waiting for guys? Lets do some cavern adventure!"

The fae enthusiast seems highly insecure what to reply to Heart upon seeing his eager and even asking what they're actually waiting for, fidgets around nervously at the neck of her warming Ranger's Cloak. In the end, no words escaped her as she didn't want to admit being somewhat scared to enter now.

But what DID cause her tp speak up was the sight of Heart keeping a precious steel-grey Pokemon Egg in his arms. "Oh, eh.... Heart, don't you... actually have an Incubator for that Egg? They're available for free from the League if you ask in a mail or directly. If not, maybe it'd be, well, better to pack that Egg away... It'll be dark in the cave, and you'd only need t stumble and fall once to leave cracks on the Egg or upset the young one inside even if it doesn't take damage. Some ...wild Pokemon also prey on other Pokemon's Eggs, so... maybe it'd be better to not carry it so openly, wouldn't you agree?"


Lilith, Tanuki (nestled in a pocket of the Cloak with her head stickng out ^^), Delphox with his basswoodstick brightly enlighted and (if there's room) Raphael remain out and by Shiva inside the cave.

Heart wave his hand trying to say Shiva to not worry about it. "Ah dont sweat about it Shiva. We dont have much time to enter in contact with the League or put again in the PC. Besides, the little one was stuff in the PC for so long time. I believe he gonna born soon. I can feel it. You can call six sense. Also, the little must be acostumed to in some adventures. Besides, its just a adventure to hunt Meowth, Unow and Fossils. But I think I can put back in the pokeball to avoid any problem." Heart then back the little egg in the pokeball to avoid greater problems. The pokeballs can put pokemon and items inside, so why not a egg?

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

"Ah... Of course not now. But...maybe later, one can contact the League anytime and they send you a free exemplar for one-time usage. But..." She mildly shrugged things off, "It's your Egg, if you prefer to carry it without one, that's totally alright too." It's just that Shiva herself would never ever do that due to her background, but that doesn't mean others can't or shouldn't. It's just what's considered the best way to carry Egg around! "Within a Ball works as well. Thank you..."

Shiva also feels a strong urge to call out for a Pokemon he must have missed, but since only her have read about it in Guidebook, he might not even know.... "N-not only these,", she quietly said, "I'd like to....see the Umbreon that are said to live here..."

[Iron]

Yep, you can put an Egg in a Pokeball. It's just not as good as an Incubator.


As you approach the cave, some Staryu start sliding down the waterfalls! They slip and slide like Oshawott and come spinning up to you! They don't attack, they're just staring curiously. With them, to your great surprise, come some Meowth! These Meowth don't mind getting wet at all, and they seem to be pets of the Staryu.

Terra pokes his head inside the cave and reports on the contents.
There are indeed murals on the walls, but they are missing a lot of pieces and they seem to be of stone puzzles much like the ones you found below Mt. Sentry. There are some etchings that will require more attention, and the daylight does not penetrate even a quarter of the way into the cave. Terra can hear Pokemon snuffling around in there. As he's about to withdraw his head, a little Unown the size of his thumb flies by! He didn't have time to catch the letter it represented, but he thinks it was Modern style.

A mysterious humming begins as soon as any part of him entered the cave. Behind him, Shiva can sense psychic power awakening and growing. Heart can sense ancient Earthpower within the cave using his Earthpower specialty.

The entrance to the cave is dusted with some Stardust! And Terra also spots a Technical Machine embedded within the entrance wall.