[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The Gym Leader of Tumbleweed Town is named Achilles. He specializes in Fighting Pokemon, as the name suggests. He's been around as long as you've been alive, getting progressively stronger. Fighting isn't considered a very good defensive type, though, as a common Route 01 Pidgey can be so easily trained to take them down. You're confident Gallade could solo him with one arm tied behind his back.

"Of course I've used all my connections to try to catch a glimpse of Keldeo, my absolute favorite Pokemon. No one seems to be willing to share sight of hide nor hair of him, boss!"

You'd get a fan letter from just about everyone in Trillium.

"Yes, it will be important to keep an eye on Kelda if we can find her. She amassed a lot of power before defecting. I'll let you know."

[Dragonstrike]

The Gym Leader of Tumbleweed Town is named Achilles. He specializes in Fighting Pokemon, as the name suggests. He's been around as long as you've been alive, getting progressively stronger. Fighting isn't considered a very good defensive type, though, as a common Route 01 Pidgey can be so easily trained to take them down. You're confident Gallade could solo him with one arm tied behind his back.

"Of course I've used all my connections to try to catch a glimpse of Keldeo, my absolute favorite Pokemon. No one seems to be willing to share sight of hide nor hair of him, boss!"

You'd get a fan letter from just about everyone in Trillium.

"Yes, it will be important to keep an eye on Kelda if we can find her. She amassed a lot of power before defecting. I'll let you know."

Interesting...well, that knowledge will be put to good use later!

"Probably because somebody knows something about Keldeo's location that they don't want to share, I reckon.  Oh well.  I'm not going to worry about it too much if that's the case.  Not much to find if Keldeo's already been found, after all.  Who knows, though?  Maybe we'll run into Keldeo eventually..."  Nathan shrugs.  He's definitely not gonna worry about it too much.  Mostly because he thinks he has a good idea of who knows more about Keldeo...

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

"Not only that, but she also lost a lot when she defected.  None of the pokemon she had on her person had any reason to Happy or Loyal to her, I imagine.  I doubt that Noivern was going to let her hitch a ride for very long, so...I also want to make sure she didn't get hurt or anything.  I'll start my own search once I've wrapped up some loose ends, presuming she hasn't been located already by that point."

Shiva would easily be able to tell that Nathan cares a likely surprising amount about finding Kelda.  Genuine care, in fact.

[Dragonstrike]

Moving on to Day 84... (I'll flashback to the conversation with Ventus at the end of the previous day as necessary)

Nathan still has a laundry list of things to do, believe it or not!

1. First of all, he needs to talk to Professor Laurelin about two topics:
   - To start with, the Undead Charizard, Aerodactyl, and their eggs.  It seems like the kind of topic that'd be right up her alley.  Maybe she has a hypothesis/knows more about the eggs.  And maybe she'd be interested in studying the parents?
   - Nathan also has to talk to her about fossil excavation.  While the store bought digging tools are great and all, and he was able to use them to get the Toenail Fossil, Nathan's still a novice when it comes to fossil hunting.  If he has to try and excavate a really important, one-of-a-kind fossil, he'd be nervous that he'd break it.  He might be dexterous and knowledgeable, but he's not a trained professional.

2. Gym Badges!  This'll come later in the day, though.  It even works out since Tumbleweed's Gym Leader wanted to speak with them after that whole mess with Deoxys was resolved.

3. Nathan has some things he'd actually like to talk with Mesprit about, so he's gonna check on Mesprit's location with the card he got from Keni.  If they don't seem particularly busy, he'll step on through and hopefully have a chat with them.

[Spiritmon]

Chorizo ceases his meditation. Instantly, the rattling sounds of the city return in force, no longer warded off by his meditation. 

"I can. I help all who ask for it, no matter who they are. For one who is already as blessed as you, I can teach you to unlock the ability to draw on the strength a Pokemon has. Make you more in tune with your aeons-old element, Fire. The road will be difficult and long, but if you stick through to the end you will see firepower held within your own two hands to rival that of a living Moltres. There will be sacrifices and hard work if you become my pupil, but no more than you'd experience with any ability worth learning."

"Very well. Mind if I bring a certain Pokemon with me? My Infernape was with me for some long time, and she is one of my strongest Pokemon. My other Pokemon was also with me since I began my journey. They deserve to continue to walk with me."

A little change in my party @Iron:
Infernape (Fighting Plate)
Trevenant (Grass Plate)
Koa (Dragon Plate)
Gustav (Water Plate)
Perceval (Rock Plate)
Lancelot (Ghost Plate)

"Also, what kind of sacrifice? I not gonna have to sacrifice a Pokemon of mine right? I did not come here to be a murderer."

"No. Nothing like that. Just a sacrifice of lost time. And your eyes may be opened to things you wish you hadn't seen. We journey to Charring Cross. On foot. Remove your shoes and follow me."

He leaves his house immediately, leaving the door wide open.

Heart nod his head. He release Rose. "Well girl. We have a long journey. Let's go." Heart remove his shoes and follow Chorizo.

[Iron]

Laurelin:
"Fossil breeding is... tricky. Sometimes you revivify a fossil and the subject is sterile. Sometimes they can reproduce under laboratory conditions only. Sometimes the Eggs are... strange. I theorize these could be a mix of Aerodactyl, Charizard, and possibly some nonfertile or mutated Eggs. Perhaps even another undead form? An undead Pokemon is unprecedented. This could only happen in the Skull Ruins, I can tell you that much."

"I can loan you some books and videos on fossil excavation. It takes a lot of patience to get the hardest fossils out intact. I'll loan you some fine tools, but there's no shortcut to a good excavation. Someone was working on an in-situ portable revivification process, but they never got it working."



Mesprit is sitting on the Murkrow's nest of an unused ship in Corsage Port, staring out to sea. You step through and find yourself in the bucket behind Mesprit. There are people walking the docks far below, but they can't see you.

[Iron]

Chorizo ceases his meditation. Instantly, the rattling sounds of the city return in force, no longer warded off by his meditation. 

"I can. I help all who ask for it, no matter who they are. For one who is already as blessed as you, I can teach you to unlock the ability to draw on the strength a Pokemon has. Make you more in tune with your aeons-old element, Fire. The road will be difficult and long, but if you stick through to the end you will see firepower held within your own two hands to rival that of a living Moltres. There will be sacrifices and hard work if you become my pupil, but no more than you'd experience with any ability worth learning."

"Very well. Mind if I bring a certain Pokemon with me? My Infernape was with me for some long time, and she is one of my strongest Pokemon. My other Pokemon was also with me since I began my journey. They deserve to continue to walk with me."

A little change in my party @Iron:
Infernape (Fighting Plate)
Trevenant (Grass Plate)
Koa (Dragon Plate)
Gustav (Water Plate)
Perceval (Rock Plate)
Lancelot (Ghost Plate)

"Also, what kind of sacrifice? I not gonna have to sacrifice a Pokemon of mine right? I did not come here to be a murderer."

"No. Nothing like that. Just a sacrifice of lost time. And your eyes may be opened to things you wish you hadn't seen. We journey to Charring Cross. On foot. Remove your shoes and follow me."

He leaves his house immediately, leaving the door wide open.

Heart nod his head. He release Rose. "Well girl. We have a long journey. Let's go." Heart remove his shoes and follow Chorizo.

Rose follows patiently, being perfectly loyal to you and sensing that this is important.

You walk the stainless steel city to Mt. Sentry. Suddenly you find yourself on the peak, looking out.

"All around us. The earth unfolds. From sea to sea to sea to sea, Pokemon draw on the strength of Earthpower. From the humble Berry to the mighty Legendary Pokemon, everything good or useful about the world is Earthpower. But Nature would not have grown so strong without stress. It resists invasion after invasion. The first of the comets, the Primal Pokemon who shaped the continent, the aggression of mankind, the experiments of Deoxys. These have made Nature fight back. Pokemon are her arms and armaments. Her shield and her sword. Every Pokemon line is a response to a situation, as is the power of evolution itself."

"Man cannot evolve into a new form, but he can change his mental state. In some ways, his body will react to that change. Good or bad, weak or strong, standing straight or bending low, body follows mind."

"Every force and every phenomenon is a work of Earthpower. I want you to describe six forces of Earthpower and four uses of Earthpower that you see on your way back to me."

Chorizo disappears. Looking about, you spot him at the bottom of the mountain. He's holding your Pack and your pokeballs, but Rose is still up there with you.

[Dragonstrike]

Laurelin:
"Fossil breeding is... tricky. Sometimes you revivify a fossil and the subject is sterile. Sometimes they can reproduce under laboratory conditions only. Sometimes the Eggs are... strange. I theorize these could be a mix of Aerodactyl, Charizard, and possibly some nonfertile or mutated Eggs. Perhaps even another undead form? An undead Pokemon is unprecedented. This could only happen in the Skull Ruins, I can tell you that much."

"I can loan you some books and videos on fossil excavation. It takes a lot of patience to get the hardest fossils out intact. I'll loan you some fine tools, but there's no shortcut to a good excavation. Someone was working on an in-situ portable revivification process, but they never got it working."



Mesprit is sitting on the Murkrow's nest of an unused ship in Corsage Port, staring out to sea. You step through and find yourself in the bucket behind Mesprit. There are people walking the docks far below, but they can't see you.

Laurelin:
"Well, these two were apparently down there for a veeeeerrrrry long time.  My best guess is they're from Sarimanok's time.  Charizard would have been long dead if it weren't for that Mega Stone like item embedded in its skull.  At least, I think that's what's holding it together...it certainly seems like the kind of item that Sarimanok would have experimented with to some degree.  What also really interests me about that undead Charizard, however...it knows Fire Pledge and Blast Burn.  I'm not quite sure how, though..."

"In any case, I actually wanted to ask if you'd be interested in researching the parents further.  If not now, maybe later.  Getting them to be obedient is probably going to be hard, but I imagine we could possibly learn a lot about old revivification techniques from them.  If you're not sure if you could keep these two under control, I could see if I can help with their obedience issues.  Probably gonna take awhile, though.  I've got some bigger priorities right now, unfortunately."

Nathan really appreciates the help with the fossil excavation materials.  "Those references and tools would be very helpful, yes.  I'll make sure to do some thorough reading when I have the time.

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

Mesprit:
Nathan quietly looks out over the ocean as well, though he glances at Mesprit every so often.

It's a nice view.  One that was worth protecting.  All those pokemon that live there...and those that live across the sea, too...

...though with that observation, Nathan's thoughts inevitably turn to one of the topics he wished to discuss with Mesprit...across
the sea...Uxie might still be out there somewhere...probably not in that direction, but across the sea all the same...

Those are just Nathan's thoughts on the view, though.  Pretty, though it reminds him of the scale of some of the things he still needs to do.  Can Nathan tell what Mesprit's feelings on this vista are?  That'll likely determine the direction the conversation takes initially.

[Iron]

"Oo, yes, I'd love to study them once you get them under control. I'm not a fantastic battler, so rampaging Pokemon aren't my specialty. As you already know!"



Mesprit is feeling dolorous. Wistful.

[Dragonstrike]

Mesprit is feeling dolorous. Wistful.

"...are you thinking about Uxie too, Mesprit?"

Nathan keeps the question simple and straightforward for now.  He needs to approach this topic carefully...

[Spiritmon]

@Iron
Heart was quiet listening everything Chorizo was saying with deep silence. Many of his words he read when he first learn in the book in the Ancient Library.

When Chorizo disappear, with his bag and Pokeball, Heart look at him with angry look. "Oye! Give me back my things!" Heart then quick descends the mountain as much as possible, but at the same time having the care not to fall in the mountain. Rose was with him, ready to save his trainer if necessary.

There is any danger happening right now?