[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Harvesting the plants doesn't take an Encounter but it does take time. For example, it takes a couple hours to gather a specimen or viable seed from each of the mentioned plants, and in that time you each extract 1 unit of honey from the Honey Tree.

[Lord Windos]

Harvesting the plants doesn't take an Encounter but it does take time. For example, it takes a couple hours to gather a specimen or viable seed from each of the mentioned plants, and in that time you each extract 1 unit of honey from the Honey Tree.

(So for a couple of hours of hard work, I get 1 of each Rare Plant, and 1 unit of Honey? That sounds like enough for me, so that is how much Terra got! Thanks for the answer, mate!)

[Dragonstrike]

Harvesting the plants doesn't take an Encounter but it does take time. For example, it takes a couple hours to gather a specimen or viable seed from each of the mentioned plants, and in that time you each extract 1 unit of honey from the Honey Tree.

(So for a couple of hours of hard work, I get 1 of each Rare Plant, and 1 unit of Honey? That sounds like enough for me, so that is how much Terra got! Thanks for the answer, mate!)

And I guess in that time, Nathan's just relaxing with Calam, Gallade, Swablu, and Pancham for the most part.

In that amount of time, Nathan probably also sends a message to Bill saying they are in about 1000 AD now, and that they got in a bit of trouble with some Scimitars in 2014 and have one of the more experienced members of the group and her pokemon captive.  And that they intend to turn her in to the authorities when they eventually return to 2017. (keeping it brief because I don't really want to type out the whole thing atm)

[Dragonstrike]

With that done Spira leaves the volcano, and Hida, then rejoins the group in the nearby rainforest.

Oh, right, this was a thing too.  Well, considering everyone else is doin' stuff in the jungle itself (and Terra and Shiva are both taking a little longer than everyone else to gather plants) and Nathan's just been hangin' out at the meeting point, Spira probably runs into Nathan first, I imagine.

Gallade's still hangin' with Pancham, doin' meditation or sparring or whatever else.

A Swablu (which Spira would probably recognize I imagine since the species does live in Sinnoh as of Platinum) briefly pops out of what looks like a castle shaped birdhouse to take a peek at who's approaching before retreating back into the structure once its curiosity has been satisfied (for now).

And Calam's still brooding.

As for Nathan...well, he probably sees Spira approaching and waves him over.  "Well, good to see you're still in one piece.  Volcanoes can be pretty dangerous after all.  Find anything interesting while you were up there?"

Just a little idle banter to pass the time while waiting for the rest of the group to show up.  Maybe the conversation will lead to different topics, though.

[Mikaruge108]

As for Nathan...well, he probably sees Spira approaching and waves him over.  "Well, good to see you're still in one piece.  Volcanoes can be pretty dangerous after all.  Find anything interesting while you were up there?"

(OOC note: most of Spira's base Sinnoh knowledge is a combination of D/P/Pt, figured non-game version of Sinnoh wouldn't do the "version exclusive" thing. He also recognizes Pokemon that appear in Sinnoh via Dual-Slot mode)
In regards to the Swablu:"Ah... A Swablu, smaller than most of the ones back in Sinnoh, interesting."
In regards to the volcano: "Yeah, saw a couple of variant Pokemon, a volcano-dwelling Shuckle with a shell made of obsidian and another strange hermit crab-like Pokemon I didn't recognize with a big slab of obsidian on its back. Also left Hida with some wild Slugma on the volcano, figured this would be a good opportunity to evolve him."

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

(OOC note: most of Spira's base Sinnoh knowledge is a combination of D/P/Pt, figured non-game version of Sinnoh wouldn't do the "version exclusive" thing. He also recognizes Pokemon that appear in Sinnoh via Dual-Slot mode)
In regards to the Swablu:"Ah... A Swablu, smaller than most of the ones back in Sinnoh, interesting."
In regards to the volcano: "Yeah, saw a couple of variant Pokemon, a volcano-dwelling Shuckle with a shell made of obsidian and another strange hermit crab-like Pokemon I didn't recognize with a big slab of obsidian on its back. Also left Hida with some wild Slugma on the volcano, figured this would be a good opportunity to evolve him."

Nathan smiles a little at the mention of Swablu.  "Yup.  She's a fearless and curious little thing, too.  She'll make a great Altaria when she eventually evolves."

"...hermit crab with a big slab of obsidian?  Oh, that's probably a Crustle, then.  Well, a variant, anyways.  They usually have various layers of soil and rock on their backs."

Nathan looks up at the sky, thinks about something...sighs.

"...I suppose I probably owe you a bit of an explanation.  About those Scimitars and such.  If you're gonna be travelling with us, it's probably better that you hear about them now.  Have a seat.  It might be a bit of a long story." (I'm assuming Juni's not present since Terra said he'd be watching her)

To keep it brief, here's the main points that Nathan hits:

Spoiler

- he explains the Scimitars are people who use the gauntlets they wear to use 'magic' and use it to typically fight in place of their pokemon.

- the Scimitars are secretly partnered with Almanac, an organization that has developed a rival compendium to the pokedex (basically a digital encyclopedia of all known pokemon.  Nathan will show Spira his pokedex as an example.  He'll even go to the 'dex entry on Crustle) and does research on pokemon that's rather...questionable from a moral standpoint (Nathan can list off the few Almanac entries he read if Spira needs some examples that support that)

- Nathan also mentions that the man the Scimitars attacked in 2014 is his father (who has been missing ever since then), and that Gallade holds a personal grudge against both organizations due to being subject to their experiments and almost dying because of them.  He also mentions Dizzy/Calam has his own reasons to help oppose the organizations (Nathan does not initially say exactly why), which is why he stayed behind in 2014 only to meet Nathan again in 2017 as a fully grown Absol.

- In addition, Nathan also mentions that Almanac and the Scimitars seem to cause more trouble with their 'good intentions' than actual good.  Their digging in the Skull Ruins probably hastened the coming of the 'Disaster of Stone' (Nathan doesn't initially say where he got that term from), they were going to cause a public disturbance to kidnap Shiva because they thought she had information on a Relic Stone's location, they brainwashed members of the Solosis line into being little more than emotionless slaves (Nathan can pull out his 'dex again if Spira gas questions about that species), sent a small army of Scimitars to try and steal a Legendary artifact from a sacred location...it's no wonder the Legendaries are concerned about their actions.

"...and that's most of who they are and why we're at odds with them."

If Spira has questions, now's probably a good time to ask Nathan a few of them.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

More and more signs point towards Shiva going to engage in a prepared and semi-secret hunting trip similar to that one Ventus once did with Apsis, with Yena, Primal Eevee and now Purrloin and her mount on that Eastern Sun Rapidash + soft-joining with that snatched shortbow. One day, when there's time and an opportunity... She'll probably see it more as a bonding experience and method to raise Pokemon according to their nature. If Ven knew, he maybe would be proud.


Ohh and she kinda enjoys that Purrloin, as well as that lil' bit of playful downtime with it. It's a bit of a culture shock for Shiva herself seeing that this jungle exemplar didn't seem to be interested at all in stealing some of her belongings and then acting super-cute just to get away with it, like the modern ones/those in the city usually do. Probably a trait they've developed over the centuries as well, Shiva takes some personal pride in calling such a natural exemplar of these black cats her own. ^o^

It'll be a chromey Ball from 1960 that female *Purrloin will be registered to, she can also keep a hold of that Weavile Feather as a Held Item for the time being. Adding to party.

She doesn't stay for long inside the Ball however, but gets summoned almost right away again to accompany Shiva on the rest of the rainforest trip. She lets the cat stroll around and enjoy her natural habitat while she herself finishes the gathering of natural products. At some point, Shiva would also kindly ask Purrloin to show her her skills on magicking up Berries first-hand, holding the crate with Aipom Orange, the Fern etc. down for her. (Means, debut of *Pay Day outside of battle)


Eventually though it'll be time to leave and travel onwards, and Shiva also gets tired at some point from so much action; plus the hot and humid climate here in the Great Forest starts to pay a toll on her. She's pretty happy how this trip has turned out though, perfect to comfort her after having to let go of Togepi, even got some Kobra-tongued Fern(!) and a fruit from the weirdest tree she has ever seen. Aww! She'll eventually return to the group flying on Tropius' back and accompanied with Raphael, Cottonee and a Purrloin sitting on Tropius head while nomming on his fruit.

Ready for progress! She throws nervous glances to that light in the sky the Millenium Comet currently is every now and then.

[Mikaruge108]

If Spira has questions, now's probably a good time to ask Nathan a few of them.

A couple questions/statements:
Concerning the Rainbow Relic (the part mentioned here) seeing as Spira saw that and was able to piece together the relationship between the stone and the relic he asks: "What exactly are those marble-like stones?"
Concerning what Juni said here: "That threat from outer space that Scimitar mentioned, do you think it might be another Deoxys?"

[Spiritmon]

Harvesting the plants doesn't take an Encounter but it does take time. For example, it takes a couple hours to gather a specimen or viable seed from each of the mentioned plants, and in that time you each extract 1 unit of honey from the Honey Tree.

(So for a couple of hours of hard work, I get 1 of each Rare Plant, and 1 unit of Honey? That sounds like enough for me, so that is how much Terra got! Thanks for the answer, mate!)

After his successful capture, Heart return to the camp, seeing him guarding the prisoner Juni. He approach Terra, with both Netune and Heracross out of their pokeballs. I suppose it's the first time Terra is meeting Marshtomp. "I don't need to be have a high insight to noticed your adventure go well Terra. Mine was good too." Heart make quick introductions. "Terra, meet Netune the Marshtomp and Hercules the Heracross. Netune was a Mudkip who I capture a long time ago, and he finally evolve too. And Hercules decide to join me in free will."

Heart look at Juni. "Did she causes any trouble?

[Dragonstrike]

If Spira has questions, now's probably a good time to ask Nathan a few of them.

A couple questions/statements:
Concerning the Rainbow Relic (the part mentioned here) seeing as Spira saw that and was able to piece together the relationship between the stone and the relic he asks: "What exactly are those marble-like stones?"
Concerning what Juni said here: "That threat from outer space that Scimitar mentioned, do you think it might be another Deoxys?"

"...oh, right, they hadn't started research into those yet in 1925...they're what we call Mega Stones.  When combined with another round object with rainbow colored swirls that we call a Key Stone, they're able to trigger what we call Mega Evolution in a burst of rainbow colored light.  However, if you don't have a strong bond with the pokemon you're mega evolving...well, it either doesn't work, or the excess energy from Mega Evolution can actually end up harming the pokemon as a side effect. (as evidenced by some episodes in the anime, the pokedex entries for Mega Evolutions in Gen 7, and the Berserk status in Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon) This rainbow colored gemstone that Heart found..."  *holds it up for emphasis*  "...seems to be able to sense when Mega Stones are nearby, so my original guess completely missed the mark on what it actually does.  In fact, let me test something...I have a couple Mega Stones of my own on my person."

Nathan rummages in his bag and pulls out three Mega Stones...two perfectly round, one that still needs to be polished and smoothed a bit.  He sets them down on the ground apart from each other.



"The blue one is Charizardite X, which unlocks a Charizard's true draconic power.  The tan one is Charizardite Y, which instead unlocks the raging inferno of a Charizard's flames.  And that last one that I still need to polish...that one's Sablenite.  It makes the gem in Sableye's chest a massive shield, allowing the Dark/Ghost type to act as a small, near impenetrable wall."

The experiment Nathan wants to run is to test which colors the Mega Stone Sensor/Rainbow Relic associates each of these three Mega Stones with.  (and to test if my original guess that the Sablenite wasn't sensed because it isn't usable yet is wrong or right)

"Mega Evolution is usually only able to be triggered when a pokemon has a trainer's help, but some wild pokemon can rarely use it without a Key Stone's help somehow so long as they have their matching Mega Stone.  I once encountered a variety of Houndoom that did as such.  Key Stones are also strictly regulated by the League because of how powerful Mega Evolution is.  It's also dangerous to attempt to Mega Evolve more than one pokemon at a time, which is why the League will usually only assign a single Key Stone to each trainer who is granted one.  I'd eventually like to get a Key Stone to use with some Galladeite and Absolite, to be perfectly honest.  And with this item's help...maybe that goal is attainable...unfortunately, it's usually pretty difficult to find Mega Stones for all but the most common pokemon in Creshire...until I can find those Mega Stones, though, I at least have a goal to work towards with my Charmeleon. I also have a Metang, a Carvanha, and a Houndour similar to the Houndoom I mentioned earlier if I ever happen to come across the Mega Stones for their evolutions. And Swablu now as well.  Unfortunately, I don't have a Sableye, so the Sablenite doesn't do me much good at the moment...if it ever will...which is why I haven't polished it yet...I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep it..."

Nathan makes sure to pick up all three Mega Stones again when he's done showing them off/testing the MSS/RR's effects, obviously.



And concerning the 'threat' and whether it's a Deoxys...

Nathan shrugs.  "Maybe it is.  I don't have enough evidence either way to prove it is or isn't, though.  Thanks to Celebi, I do know that there's likely a rampaging Regirock in the Skull Ruins.  Hence the title 'Disaster of Stone' which I came across.  Whatever is in those Ruins, it caused Regirock to go out of control.  Huge, unnatural vines recently attempted to cover the entire region of Creshire in 2017 with their rapid growth, aided by a seemingly endless amount of Tangrowth that were lead by Claydol wearing crowns that indicate a connection to Sarimanok, the Last King.  We had to stop it by convincing Landorus, the Legendary Pokemon of Abundance, to cut off the fertility of the soil in the Ruins."