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Lord Windos · (This post was last modified: 07-19-2019, 04:38 AM by Lord Windos.)

(07-18-2019, 02:43 PM)Dragonstrike Wrote:
Spoiler
Nathan sighs.

"...I get that you want to help. I really do. But I'm not going to ask you to undo your hard work just for my sake and Gallade's. That'd be selfish of us."

Nathan pauses, then quietly continues.

"...I will see Cosh pay for what he's done, though. I'm not going to stand by and let him and his organization do as they please, and I sure as heck don't want to give them exactly what they want. Just because we're working with them for now doesn't mean I have to be all buddy buddy with everyone and be happy about it. They aren't all bad people, but..."

He pauses again, stopping himself there before he continues with a slightly different topic.

"...I've got other things to worry about right now, though. I'm going to go check on my dad and his pokemon again, make sure they're all doing okay. If we're all going to make it out of here in one piece, we're going to need all the strength we can muster when we head deeper down."

Nathan turns to leave. Gallade watches Terra for a moment longer to see how the man reacts, though...

If there's anything that should be clear, it's that Nathan has a lot on his shoulders, a lot that's weighing him down. Responsibility is a tough thing.

(Since my last response post turned out pretty long, I'll put it in Spoilers, so as not to unduly hog up the page or distract others.)

Flashback - Heart to heart with Nathan

Quote:You begin ascending down the sunken ship's passage as indicated by Cosh. Halfway along, Sari comes forth from her Pokeball to fulfill her promise!

She wanders down a much smaller side passage than the one Cosh was planning to follow, which soon widens and descends until becoming a large dead end chamber. To one side is a massive golden relief of a circlet crown and a big golden Apricorn symbol. As Sari approaches, it shimmers and reforms into a giant golden Slowking crown, halfway embedded in the wall. She smirks at Terra to show how important she is, then sits on your foot and begins to lick her fur.

Terra.....had not a smattering of an idea what that Gold Circlet was, its purpose, or what it could do, and said as much to everyone. When it transformed into a Golden Slowking's Crown, it only served to increase his own confusion and curiosity with it.

"Uh.....what is that? Everyone? *Looks down* Sari?"

If the sagely monk was close enough to it, he'd also get out his Pickaxe and try to free the G.S.C. from the wall, then prying it out and to better examine it in hand to figure out what it was. If not (or Sari being on his foot would prevent him from getting it out) he'd send Angie to Dig it out and carry the G.S.C. back to him/the group.

Oh, and give his superbly shiny sloth a pat on her crown for a job well done finding.....whatever the G.S.C. was. He'd also be a bit spooked by Heart's Cofagrigus arrival, until he suddenly remembered something that got him thinking for a minute, before he approach the grinning coffin.

"Cofagrigus, could you give me your Mummy curse? Might be able to help me scare off Wild Pokemon here, or use it against them."

Now, that request might seem insane, but it was not without merit or use. The Mummy's curse was a potent weapon if leveraged right, and it would probably do wonders in seeming even more terrifying than usual (or possibly make the local Ghosts ignore him, which works too). Besides, Heart could always undo the curse later, as seen when he broke the curse himself when he was suffered it with their Earthpower.

**Iron** · 07-19-2019, 11:35 AM

The crown is like 15 feet tall. It's not going anywhere.

Sari holds out her hands - she wants a bribe.

Lord Windos · 07-19-2019, 11:42 AM

(07-19-2019, 11:35 AM)Iron Wrote: The crown is like 15 feet tall. It's not going anywhere.

Sari holds out her hands - she wants a bribe.

(Ah, it's THAT big! Sorry, but didn't really understand the scale of it!)

Well, if the Kind Queen needs some incentive to cough up the answers, Terra will start off by giving her a Sitrus Berry. If that doesn't work, he'll ask what exactly she wants as a bribe, since he doesn't really know her well enough yet that he could guess/anticipate most of her desires/preferences.

PhantomUnderYourDesk · (This post was last modified: 07-19-2019, 12:18 PM by PhantomUnderYourDesk.)

Quote:Roar has to end battle with one foe at a time. Some of Marco's Pokemon have AoE Surprises, including Luxray's Roar.

Okay. In that case, when Shiva takes a break from playtime with Yena to check on and care for her other Pokemon and gets back to the black winged wolf after a few minutes, she realizes that he has shred that rope they played with completely into pieces, and it was a tough one to start with. When she picks up the pieces and gives a questioning glance to Yena, he just wags his tail in eager and looks accomplished and proud. He looks like he's expecting praise, which Shiva gladly gives him either way. Aww!~

He also insists on not returning to bis Pokeball and instead stay out and by her side, which nothing speaks against actually. Shiva quickly gets that her butterwolfly is in a good and jolly mood, he jumps around, runs around, occassionally lets out a playful bark and most prominent he's sinking his fangs into everything along the way that looks hard and tough, even leaving some faint biting marks in solid stone, that's something new: 'He must be training his masticatory muscles and trying to sharpen his teeth...'. is Shiva's closest guess about that odd behaviour. Once more she's relieved that Yena is completely obediant (solely to her that is), he has surely grown soooo much since she came across him there on Route 4!~

Yena gains an additional Strong Jaw Ability, costing him 45XP (not 55 as I remembered, it's stated in MetaThread starting here). Now he's both protected by constant shading of scales from his wings and armoured with a biting force that tears almost everything! He only needs one or two more biting moves tutored now.

Quote:You begin ascending down the sunken ship's passage as indicated by Cosh. Halfway along, Sari comes forth from her Pokeball to fulfill her promise!
She wanders down a much smaller side passage than the one Cosh was planning to follow, which soon widens and descends until becoming a large dead end chamber. To one side is a massive golden relief of a circlet crown and a big golden Apricorn symbol. As Sari approaches, it shimmers and reforms into a giant golden Slowking crown, halfway embedded in the wall. She smirks at Terra to show how important she is, then sits on your foot and begins to lick her fur.

Hah, Shiva almost instantly thinks that it was a not-so-dumb idea to keep that ultrashiny Slowking in the party when Terra asked for advice concerning that, and she's eager to follow the trail of red scales Sari's leaving behind.

Humm, Shiva would investigate that golden Slowking Crown further, which includes letting Yena sniff on it and her being mindful what feelings she's getting from that Chamber and that Crown - Sari, smug and queenly as she is, could have just as well lead them all into a trap just because she wants to do so. Could it be though that this Slowking counts as that kingly Pokemon needed to progress?

Dragonstrike · 07-19-2019, 12:10 PM

(07-19-2019, 04:34 AM)Lord Windos Wrote:
Flashback - Heart to heart with Nathan
At first, Nathan's comment about 'not wanting him to undo his work' confused him, as he didn't know who or what they were referring to.

'Huh? Not want me to......undo my work for him? What does he mean - oh."

Then the realization hit him, like a caffeinated Lucario going at him with Extreme Speed.

It was the positive relationship he was trying his best to foster between himself, Cosh, and the Scimitars. That was the main problem.

Should have be obvious, in retrospect, but this is Terra we're talking about, 'He Who's Social Ineptitude Is Without Peer'. What really mattered was that now he knew what was up, and what he had to say about his revelation....

"....Ah. ....Believe I understand now, what is the problem.

*Beat. Long Beat*

"............I'm sorry. I'm....sorry, Nathan. I....just wanted to be on good terms with Cosh and the Scimitars. Understand them better, and why they.....choose to great bad for good. Thought.....still think doing both, and becoming friendly with them, would cause them to be more helpful. Less likely to cause problems, and keep peace between our groups...."

"Never thought.....didn't think what I was doing would hurt you like.....this. *Slowly shakes head* .....Didn't think at all. "

"......I'm sorry, Nathan."

He really, genuinely was. It was in no way his intention to create a schism between him, Nathan, and the Scimitars with his peacekeeping/relationship building efforts, nor make them feel like complete and utter crap while he was at it. Ye gods, he was so sorry for doing that to him.

What he left unsaid, though....it made his apologies seem disengenious at best.

After all, he never said he was going to stop what he was doing, nor break things off with Cosh and the Scimitars. For as much as he hated what he did and would keep doing to the Lore Master, he couldn't afford to not do what he was doing. Both his and the Scimitars needed to work together peacefully and seamlessly as possible in Order to cooperate with maximum effectiveness, or otherwise just trying to Survive the Skull Ruins would quickly become a exponentially insurmountable task, much less actually prevail against the accursed local and what comes after they were done.

So the best way he could see that everyone's odds of Survival/success were high as possible and keep his friend protected to the fullest of his capability, he must[ continue to be the friendly intermediary between his group and the Scimitars. It was a rather thankless task, and since no one else wanted to do it, it fell to him to be saddled with the responsibility. Especially if doing so could 'save the souls' of the Scimitars in the end.

One person had to do it, though, and if must be him, then so be it.

If it meant maximizing the odds he'd be able to protect his friends and see them out of the Skull Ruins alive, he'd do almost anything.

Even if it meant causing emotional harm. Mental wounds could be treated at their own time. Life threatening situations, not at all. Simple as that.

......

A heavy silence descended between Terra and Nathan, until the later broke it with a reaffirmal to bring to hang for his crimes (metaphorically speaking or not...), which caused him to become even more pensive and brooding, until he had what he thought was the most clear and honest response to softly share with his friend.

".....*Shakes head* .....Won't stop you getting vengeance on Cosh or the Scimitars. Bring them all to justice. Promised to help you do that too, so long, long ago."

"....But. *Shakes head again, more slowly this time* .....But I don't want you to......drag yourself down over your hatred. Remember old saying, about vengeance: 'Dig two grave before Pursuing it. One for your enemy, and one for yourself.' Don't let your feelings....cloud you judgement, or bring ruin to you or others. Find peace within yourself, or make some of your own. Still can hate Scimitars, but.....let it not control you. Share problems with others. If not with me, then someone else, or your partners. Don't keep it all in. Helps no-one, that way."

Terra paused as he mulled over the last thing he was going to say next to the boy, until he decided to so with great deliberation, his stare serious and solemn once more.

"......I think some of the Scimitars can be redeemed. Made in true heroes, instead of what they are now. But only if given the chance too. Will not ask you to do that, but.....don't want you to condemn them all forever. Let your anger and hate for them consume your heart. ....Like with Ventus. If the Scimitars are truly.....irredeemably bad, to everyone or you, then be the better person. Be you. That.....is all."

And so it was. Terra let the conversation drop like a hot rock once, releasing the scholarly trainer from it and letting them leave without hassle. When they mentioned taking care of Marco and turns around, though.....he rose off his 'bed' and called out to them.

"Wait."

*Beat*

".....Can I help you? Take care of.....your dad and his Pokemon? Like.....groom them? Make good nutritional meals, work their energy out? Or....something."

At that moment, Gallade would see/feel that the steely brawler was.....resigned, in a way. Resigned to be torn up between his Loyalties to Nathan, his Duties, and his burgeoning relationship with Cosh, and that his own peacekeeping and friendship making efforts were going to have a continual negative impact on his friend(s). He wants everyone to be happy......but chooses to do his best to keep them safe and protected instead. It was a most bittersweet choice, but he made and would not regret it. Especially if it had the potential to do greater good than the harm it had caused.

Didn't stop him from feeling so disappointed and rueful of himself for blitheringly causing this mess, or at the very least compounding it.

He could live with his own emotional burden, though, and not let it crush him. He'd be back to himself in the morning, keeping his own issues subdued and tempered in the back of his head.

And if could not help Nathan in one way......perhaps he could in another.

That was what Gallade would be able to discern from reading Terra.

Their partner was not the only one bearing a heavy load. But he could handle it, and help them with some of their's. If they allowed.

Quote:You begin ascending down the sunken ship's passage as indicated by Cosh. Halfway along, Sari comes forth from her Pokeball to fulfill her promise!

She wanders down a much smaller side passage than the one Cosh was planning to follow, which soon widens and descends until becoming a large dead end chamber. To one side is a massive golden relief of a circlet crown and a big golden Apricorn symbol. As Sari approaches, it shimmers and reforms into a giant golden Slowking crown, halfway embedded in the wall. She smirks at Terra to show how important she is, then sits on your foot and begins to lick her fur.

Terra.....had not a smattering of an idea what that Gold Circlet was, its purpose, or what it could do, and said as much to everyone. When it transformed into a Golden Slowking's Crown, it only served to increase his own confusion and curiosity with it.

"Uh.....what is that? Everyone? *Looks down* Sari?"

If the sagely monk was close enough to it, he'd also get out his Pickaxe and try to free the G.S.C. from the wall, then prying it out and to better examine it in hand to figure out what it was. If not (or Sari being on his foot would prevent him from getting it out) he'd send Angie to Dig it out and carry the G.S.C. back to him/the group.

Oh, and give his superbly shiny sloth a pat on her crown for a job well done finding.....whatever the G.S.C. was. He'd also be a bit spooked by Heart's Cofagrigus arrival, until he suddenly remembered something that got him thinking for a minute, before he approach the grinning coffin.

"Cofagrigus, could you give me your Mummy curse? Might be able to help me scare off Wild Pokemon here, or use it against them."

Now, that request might seem insane, but it was not without merit or use. The Mummy's curse was a potent weapon if leveraged right, and it would probably do wonders in seeming even more terrifying than usual (or possibly make the local Ghosts ignore him, which works too). Besides, Heart could always undo the curse later, as seen when he broke the curse himself when he was suffered it with their Earthpower.

*Flashback*

"...I know. Calam and Gallade don't seem to mind some of them being around. Not Cosh, though. Not after everything he's done."

Nathan sighs.

"...I just hope that giving him the power he's wanted, the power we were originally trying to prevent him from obtaining, doesn't come back to haunt us..."

Terra's offer to help with checking on Marco's pokemon causes Nathan to pause and think for a second.

"...yeah, some help would be appreciated."

And that's all Nathan says on the topic for now.

*Flashback End*

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

Nathan isn't really surprised at Sari's seeming importance, and tries to explain his best guess to Terra. "...we need kingly pokemon to proceed from this point on, yeah? I think we had that covered on multiple fronts."

That's probably information the scims did not know already, as well.

**Iron** · (This post was last modified: 07-19-2019, 12:21 PM by Iron.)

She eats the Sitrus Berry immediately instead of saving it for later. Then she slowly gets to her feet and waddles over to the giant crown. Pressing the flashy gem of her own crown against the big gem of the native crown, she triggers a reaction. The shell rotates clockwise to reveal a continuation of the passage. Sari has fulfilled her promise.

Cosh: "I suppose it makes sense that the exit to the Slowpoke Well would open to a Slowking. They don't seem to have one up above - only that dark Slowbro thing. Thank you, Sari. Onward!"
Shiva looks for traps. *roll* and finds none.
Nathan can confirm from this dialogue that the Scims didn't know about the Kingly Pokemon thing.

Beyond, a series of sparkling caverns. Each is veined with silver. From deep chasms in the floor, from a labyrinth of tunnels, crawl common Pokemon grown to enormous size and strength. Most are at least twice their normal size. Some are so large they can scarcely approach even by crawling; these are thankfully easier to avoid. All seem hungry - you see even a common cave Ursaring, a giant one, chowing down on an oversized Arbok.

(at least) Three out of the five of you must take combat encounters.

Silver Caverns Layer Encounters

1. Name: Giant Fraxure
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

2. Name: Giant Foongus
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

3. Name: Giant Magcargo
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

4. Name: Giant Mawile
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

5. Name: Giant Excadrill
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

6. Name: Giant Skorupi
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

7. Name: Giant Machoke
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

8. Name: A voice!
Cap: None
Challenge: Depends
Notes: You hear a voice speaking in Common, but can't make out what it's saying. It's a continual litany of speech, though, not just a single exclamation.

9. Name: Rare item
Cap: 1

10. Name: Mega Stone
The rainbow detector is flashing! It's displaying a yellow facet.
Cap: 1

Lord Windos · 07-19-2019, 12:37 PM

(07-19-2019, 12:10 PM)Dragonstrike Wrote:
Spoiler
Nathan isn't really surprised at Sari's seeming importance, and tries to explain his best guess to Terra. "...we need kingly pokemon to proceed from this point on, yeah? I think we had that covered on multiple fronts."

That's probably information the scims did not know already, as well.

"Ah. So Sari can open path deeper into Skull Ruins, to where next Artifact is at. *Nods* Understood. Thank you, Nathan."

Terra then turns his attention on his magnificent monarch, and motions to the G.S.C.

"May your majesty open the way, if you can? Please?"

Seeing that she does so (Made the above part before Iron posted!), he thanks her again, giving her a pat on her crown and a Salac Berry for her to chow down on this time.

"My thanks, Sari."

He also gives Cosh a smile at his praise for her, as seeing the normally quiet man that didn't think much of Pokemon do it was a positive sign for the mountain of a man indeed!

The cavern, rich in what appeared to be MSC and chock full of H U M O N G O U S Pokemon manages to banish his cheer, though.

"......Oh. Caverns full of big Pokemon. Big, hungry Pokemon. This.....not good. "

Simply and aptly put by Terra, as per usual.

"....Need to take care of some, to get by. Which one, though? All of them look Tough and dangerous. Hm...."

Spiritmon · 07-19-2019, 12:57 PM

(07-19-2019, 12:19 PM)Iron Wrote: She eats the Sitrus Berry immediately instead of saving it for later. Then she slowly gets to her feet and waddles over to the giant crown. Pressing the flashy gem of her own crown against the big gem of the native crown, she triggers a reaction. The shell rotates clockwise to reveal a continuation of the passage. Sari has fulfilled her promise.

Cosh: "I suppose it makes sense that the exit to the Slowpoke Well would open to a Slowking. They don't seem to have one up above - only that dark Slowbro thing. Thank you, Sari. Onward!"
Shiva looks for traps. *roll* and finds none.
Nathan can confirm from this dialogue that the Scims didn't know about the Kingly Pokemon thing.

Beyond, a series of sparkling caverns. Each is veined with silver. From deep chasms in the floor, from a labyrinth of tunnels, crawl common Pokemon grown to enormous size and strength. Most are at least twice their normal size. Some are so large they can scarcely approach even by crawling; these are thankfully easier to avoid. All seem hungry - you see even a common cave Ursaring, a giant one, chowing down on an oversized Arbok.

(at least) Three out of the five of you must take combat encounters.

Silver Caverns Layer Encounters

10. Name: Mega Stone
The rainbow detector is flashing! It's displaying a yellow facet.
Cap: 1

While Heart was following the others, he see some sort of light be in his vision.

He followed up to see what is.

Action: I take encounter 10.

Mikaruge108 · 07-19-2019, 02:39 PM

Spira doesn't have much to say concerning the GSC right now.
---
On to the encounter!

Quote:8. Name: A voice!
Cap: None
Challenge: Depends
Notes: You hear a voice speaking in Common, but can't make out what it's saying. It's a continual litany of speech, though, not just a single exclamation.

When Spira hears the voice, there is something about it, something that "pulls" him to it, so he decides to check it out.

PhantomUnderYourDesk · 07-19-2019, 02:52 PM

Shiva joins in giving some praise and thanks for Sari by offering a handful of good and fresh Gourmet Food to her. May Arceus bless this ultrashiny queen!

She's fascinated by these veins of silver lining everything, she's gasping in awe as it's giving this caversn such a beautifully mystical touch. However, her cheer is soon defelated and washed away over that massive sense of POWER that assaults her sixth sense mercilessly upon having set some foot into this cavern, Yena immediately chips in to snarl and flesh his teeth at the surroundings to protect her. "I'm fine, Yena, please calm down again - it was just overwhelming for me, that is all." He licks the back of her hand and rubs his massive head against her to comfort her then, whimps a bit over seeing Shiva like this even.

Soon, after having made some meters into this new Layer, Shiva almost jumps in fear as ashe realizes WHERE that sense of power came from - from the Pokemon living here, BIG and HUGE and STRONG-looking Pokemon on top of that. At the sight of that Ursaring chowing down that Arbok, she holds on to Terra for sought protection and adamantly refuses to look into the direction of these two 'Mon again. Instead, she observes these silverly lines further - humm, could they be the reason the Pokemon here are so oversized and tough-looking? How curious, that can't be plain argentum then, can it...? Maybe it's full of special minerals or gives off an extraordinaire aura??

Her curiosity about these silverly vines causes her to loose some focus though, and results in her screeching in startle as SOMETHING BIG moves down the tunnel just next to her. She hides and listens, makes out some grumbling and gruntling from that thing, then some sounds like a heavy lifts is placed onto the ground repeatedly. How weird - Shiva dares to take a look and recognizes that thing as a Machoke, one that is at least twice the size of a normal exemplar and three times bigger than she is. Ugh... But on the other hand, she can't help but to wishing to try out the psychic powers of her new Primal Espeon, and Lilith hasn't seen some good training for a while. Hiding behind a corner and drawing the Balls of said Pokemon, Shiva gives a sly smirk towards them through the transparent half. "Hey, you two... Are you up to show a huge Fighting Type that the mind is stronger than muscles? Come on, together we should be able to make it against a stroooong foe on our own too!" ^o^

Quote:7. Name: Giant Machoke
Cap: 1
Challenge: Tough

If both Lilith and Primal Espeon prepare a Future Sight here, will it count as 'within the battliefield' and strike at the end of the next Round like normal or is that Macoke too far away?

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