[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Well after the bonding session with Noire (are ya gonna do anything with it?) Spira gets ready for the Gym battle, swapping Azazsga back out of his party for Fangma (unofficial nickname) and with that, he's ready to roll! On to the gym battle.

Spoiler

I don't really have anything with the bonding session, but it's noted.

Howl welcomes you personally, offering to let you battle any of his trainers. When you announce that you're ready to roll, he smiles and guides you to the gym's main room, which is currently cloaked in shadow. The ceiling contains several Sunstones and Duskstones on a series of wheels. As the wheels rotate, the shadows of the Gym alter in unpredictable sequences. Occasionally, complete darkness blankets the room, or a brief flash of daylight.

Howl himself is a tall man in faded gray-green clothing. He's so thin you can hardly see him from one side. He wears a set of polarized goggles with lenses that keeps up with the amount of light in the room, and he's got on tall boots that come up to his knees. 

"My Gym, my rules. Here, we battle with three Pokemon and we use only held items. A Pokemon battles until it can battle no more. My Pokemon undergo a special training regimen, including dust of evolutionary minerals in their food. My gym is famous for the number of Pokemon who have evolved inside it, to meet the challenge of my team. You will probably need that advantage."

He lifts up a pure-black Pokeball. "I'm ready when you are. There's a PC right there. Go ahead and send out your first challenger whenever you're ready. I like to get straight to the good stuff - that's my nature as a host, not my nature as a battler."

(First off, music {slightly tattered clothing on video picture})

Despite knowing Dark-types are prominent, he decides to go with a gamble; "Go Nubi!"
Nubi the Misdreavus is sent out! (I've got OOC reasons for this, let's see if they work)

"Mightyena, it's time to train!"

Mightyena: (5) + 4 Dex + 4 Survival = 13
Nubi: (3)

[Dragonstrike]

Sceptile thinks, then gives the tiniest nod. He doesn't seem sure how to feel. And he doesn't seem flattered by being called a Dragon, like you might expect.

(Pretty interesting that a Mega Sceptile is more obedient for Nathan)

(Sceptile are also in the Dragon and Monster Egg Groups, just like Charizard!  Serperior aren't, but they're still at least a little draconic if their ability to learn various Dragon moves is any indication)

"Alright, how about I help you figure some stuff out, then?  That's part of the reason why I wanted to talk with you.  Maybe we can figure out what you want to do from here.  Would that be acceptable?"

Sceptile's probably not used to being asked stuff like that, I imagine. I wonder how he'll react to someone being more considerate in any fashion...

[Mikaruge108]

"Okay Nubi, watch out for the teeth of that doggie! Let's go for a Confuse Ray Hex combo off the bat!"
Conditional order:


If Mightyena uses a Biting move (Elemental Fangs, Bite or Crunch), Evade (2 in Evade)

Confuse Ray
Accuracy: DEX (5*)+ Fight (5)+ Canalize (4)-2 Actions= 12D6
Notes: Confuses Target

Hex
Accuracy: DEX (5*)+ Fight (5)+ Canalize (4)-2 Actions= 11D6
Damage: Strength (3)+2+ STAB (+1)+ NVE(-1)= 5D6 (7D6 if Confuse Ray Hits)
Notes: +2D6 to Damage Pool if the target is suffering from a Status Ailment



Other Mechanics: Nubi's holding an Oran Berry, he'll eat it if HP is Half or less.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

In the heat of the battle, a high-pitched screech pierces through the scenery, it's Shiva's startled voice. "Gloom, NOOOO! Σ(°△°|||) " She's half-way to rush forward to her poisonous(!) Grass Type as the pointy stones stab him from below, but she ceases immediately as she realizes that Gloom bravely continues to fight against this not-a-tree-Pokemon. She changes her attitude right away: "That's the right way, dear one, please keep going! You're doing well, concentrate, your foe's almost down!! Come on, you can do it!!!~"

Yessss, and Shiva celebrates as that suprisingly bulky Sudowoodo is defeated and carried away, but she's very thrown off-track over the insight that they'll release this 'Mon again: Well, actually that's very noble and kind, but in this situation she thinks it might be better to capture this Sudowoodo and either train it to help mining or trade it to someone who will care for it, as otherwise it will block the road over and over again in a never-ending circle. Oh, not that Shiva dares to even speak a bit about these thoughts of her out, no way. >o<;

She rushes over to Gloom and carefully picks him up, in this moment all of her worries about being close to a Poison Type are thrown away. "It's okay, it's okay, it's over, dear one... Now, let me see those wounds you suffered - ayyeee." She shakes her head and holds Gloom very close to her beating and sensitive heart. "Shhh, calm down, don't panic - It's all fine. Look, you've got that Angelic Feather; yes, hold it very close to you. Delphox, come, please cast a melodic chant of luck for Gloom." Shiva will humm in sync with her magical fox for a bit.

"Look, there's dust of Sunstones everywhere - concentrate, concentrate, can you feel it? It's there, yes, you just cannot see it with your visible eye. Soak it up, suck it, any sparkling of evolutionary glass and any life force around into you with Giga Drain. Imagine vividly before your inner eye how this sooths the pain, how this empowers and reenergizes you - take deep breaths, yes, exactly like this..."


-------------------
Mechanics:
Okay, is this enough to trigger a Stability Check that uses Insight instead of Dext? We agreed that if doing a different thing than the standard first aid/something 'unusual', this is reasoned. Shiva's mostly doing psychic suggestion in combination with a calming Lucky Chant to encourage Gloom to use the surroundings in combination with Giga Drain, which naturally saps vigor, to ease the pain.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

You move onward. A channel in the ground carries water which washes away effluvium and lets the miners pan for evolutionary glass. You can see a little sparkling in the water.

"We get all kinds of evolutionary glass here, even though Sunstones are the most common. The occasional piece of Meteoric Superconductor, too. But here's the problem: something's been blocking the stream, causing floods. It's down through this tunnel right here, but it growls and stomps and produces a horrendous stench. Will you go take care of it, please? We'll, uh, we'll wait out here."

The men all retreat to the buggy.

Oh, concerning that, Shiva chuckles to herself, she would have thought that these bold and bulky and scary looking miners wouldn't be that afraid of some sort of creature down the tunnel. Her erratic and instable self-confidence REJOICES and SINGS over the realization that she seems to be more brave than them!~

Shiva turns towards her fierly magical fox and currently icy Eeveelution. "Well, you heard him, he asked us to... Ehm, deal with that ominous creature down there. Both of you, use your keen sense of smell - can you roughly determine what sort of 'monster' lurks there just by its scent?" (For example, what Type is possibly sports or any other hints )

[Iron]

Sceptile thinks, then gives the tiniest nod. He doesn't seem sure how to feel. And he doesn't seem flattered by being called a Dragon, like you might expect.

(Pretty interesting that a Mega Sceptile is more obedient for Nathan)

(Sceptile are also in the Dragon and Monster Egg Groups, just like Charizard!  Serperior aren't, but they're still at least a little draconic if their ability to learn various Dragon moves is any indication)

"Alright, how about I help you figure some stuff out, then?  That's part of the reason why I wanted to talk with you.  Maybe we can figure out what you want to do from here.  Would that be acceptable?"

Sceptile's probably not used to being asked stuff like that, I imagine.  I wonder how he'll react to someone being more considerate in any fashion...

Very good point. Sceptile has never been asked his opinion on anything. He wants to hear more.

[Dragonstrike]

Very good point. Sceptile has never been asked his opinion on anything. He wants to hear more.

"Well, let me start with this just to emphasize the point: you are an individual whose life has just as much meaning as anyone else's, someone unique with their own wants, needs, and desires.  You're not simply a tool for someone to use only as they see fit and only maintain just to make sure you can do the job you're supposed to do.  That's why your opinion matters.  So let me ask you this simple question:  Were you Happy being with Juni? And if given the choice, would you want to go back to her organization? (i.e. any reason to be willingly Loyal?)  I can make assumptions and educated guesses, but you're the one with the facts, so I'd like to hear what you honestly think. The first step to figuring out where you want to go and what you want to do next is assessing where you've come from."

This plan seems to be going well so far, so let's see if Nathan has really started off on the right foot by being more considerate of Sceptile's opinions...

[Iron]

Gym Leader Howl vs Spira Round 1

Mightyena's Intimidate lowers Offense by 1!

Mightyena begins things off with a Taunt.

Taunt 1
4 Dex + 4 Fight + 6 Intimidate -4 actions = 10d6
(6)(6)(5)(4)(6)(3) (2)(2)(2)(1)
Nubi fell for the Taunt!

Nubi goes straight for Hex.

Hex 1
(2)(5)(4)(3)(3)(3) (6)(1)(5)(5)(2)(1) It's almost a crit
2* Str + 2 power + 1 Stab -3 vit = 3d6-1, is how damage works with Type Effectiveness.
(2)(4) No damage for Mightyena.

"Now Crunch!"
Crunch 2
(5)(2)(5)(2)(1)(3) (1) Only 1 success. Nubi can evade with 5 Dex + 5 Fight + 2 Evade -2 actions = 10d6, should be easy
(3)(3)(1)(2)(5)(2) (6)(6)(6)(2) Nubi evades, but Mightyena presses the attack.

Crunch 3
(5)(4)(6)(5)(3)(6) Critical hit.
3 Str + 3 power + 1 Stab + 1 blackglasses +2 crit - 5 vit = 5d6+1
(6)(3)(1)(4)(6) Nubi takes 4 dmg 4/8hp -2 pain
CD: (2)

Crunch 4
(5)(4)(1)(6)(2)
(3)(2)(1) Nubi takes 1 dmg 3/8hp -2 pain.

It's too dark for Misdreavus to take full advantage of her spookiness, and Howl is too tricky.

[Iron]

Great idea for an Insight check medicine, that's perfect.

9 dice for that, +1 bonus for Sunstones, -3 dice difficulty
(4)(5)(2)(6)(5)(3) Gloom does manage to stabilize, callusing over the worst of his wounds with help from the Sunstone energy.

"I've actually seen Pokemon evolve down here without actually giving it a Sunstone."

*rolls* Not right now for Gloom, though. Since Cottonee wasn't out, she won't get the chance, which is probably what you want anyway.


Delphox's senses, both magical and physical, are stopped by the running water. With your 6 insight you can hear a tromping noise and also the sound of metal.

[Mikaruge108]

(his)
(Now for what I was planning!)
"Go for one of those Dusk Stones in the ceiling!"
Mechanics: Nubi goes for a Dusk Stone in the ceiling, if it is indeed the evolutionary stone, things will start to really get interesting!