[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

You manage to get a message to Keni in his current location at a hostel.

Seadra doesn't lose any Loyalty, thanks to your combined Ancestry. It will gain 1 point of Loyalty as soon as you make for Garlicburg.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Dragon, I think I forgot to give you character XP when you completed your goal of reaching all 8 badges. That feat is worth 10XP.

As Terra lays one hand on Yogi's shoulder, Yogi shifts and blurs. Revealing, not a Medicham, but a completely untouched Zorua! The little fox is wearing the biggest possible grin at having tricked EVERYONE, including her master and a respected Gym Leader, in this way. And for an entire battle, an almost impossible feat for an Illusion user!

Terra immediately realizes that this means Yogi, who was supposed to get the benefit of an important battle after a long time of disuse, has been sorely betrayed by the mischievous fox.

Zorua just starts dancing with pleasure, and is actually surrounded by black light. As the dance continues, it transitions from four legs to two. When the light fades, Zorua has become a Zoroark - and that's no illusion!

Raised under the loving care of a Good owner, Zorua's ultimate prank fulfills the altered evolutionary requirements.

Mason is just rollling on the floor laughing, pointing at Terra's face. He doesn't seem to mind that he was aced.

You did indeed forget!  Thanks!

*Flashback!*

As soon as Oinari's Illusion drops, Nathan finally understands why the heck 'Yogi' was making such a big deal about not getting hit.  He did find it odd that Terra was using a pokemon that was focusing so much on evasion since that isn't really his fighting style at all, but it all makes sense now.  Oinari evolving is just the icing on the cake, really, since that means that Terra's discovered a way to evolve Zorua into Zoroark without stooping too low!  Wow!

Nathan claps for Terra and the now fully evolved Illusion Fox.  "Well, I guess I've got my work cut out for me, don't I?  Already seeing ground breaking research from Terra, and we're only a few days out from the defeat of Deoxys?  Heart hatching a Legendary pokemon and working tirelessly to rapidly restore what was destroyed by the space invaders?  I better be careful to not be left behind!  Well done, Terra, well done."

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Dragon, I think I forgot to give you character XP when you completed your goal of reaching all 8 badges. That feat is worth 10XP.

As Terra lays one hand on Yogi's shoulder, Yogi shifts and blurs. Revealing, not a Medicham, but a completely untouched Zorua! The little fox is wearing the biggest possible grin at having tricked EVERYONE, including her master and a respected Gym Leader, in this way. And for an entire battle, an almost impossible feat for an Illusion user!

Terra immediately realizes that this means Yogi, who was supposed to get the benefit of an important battle after a long time of disuse, has been sorely betrayed by the mischievous fox.

Zorua just starts dancing with pleasure, and is actually surrounded by black light. As the dance continues, it transitions from four legs to two. When the light fades, Zorua has become a Zoroark - and that's no illusion!

Raised under the loving care of a Good owner, Zorua's ultimate prank fulfills the altered evolutionary requirements.

Mason is just rollling on the floor laughing, pointing at Terra's face. He doesn't seem to mind that he was aced.

*Flashback!*
@Dragonstrike 

As soon as Oinari's Illusion drops, Nathan finally understands why the heck 'Yogi' was making such a big deal about not getting hit.  He did find it odd that Terra was using a pokemon that was focusing so much on evasion since that isn't really his fighting style at all, but it all makes sense now.  Oinari evolving is just the icing on the cake, really, since that means that Terra's discovered a way to evolve Zorua into Zoroark without stooping too low!  Wow!

Nathan claps for Terra and the now fully evolved Illusion Fox.  "Well, I guess I've got my work cut out for me, don't I?  Already seeing ground breaking research from Terra, and we're only a few days out from the defeat of Deoxys?  Heart hatching a Legendary pokemon and working tirelessly to rapidly restore what was destroyed by the space invaders?  I better be careful to not be left behind!  Well done, Terra, well done."

*Flashback Continued!*

Terra's face was indeed something to laugh at! In fact, it was probably the most expressive it has been in a long time! Eyes wide as dinner plates, his mouth hanging open like lose hatch, flapping up and down trying and failing to vocalize his shock at this unexpected turnabout, the twitching and scrunching of his cheeks and forehead as it struggle to display the convoluted mix of emotions he's experiencing right now because of her.

On one side of things, he's....not pleased by this turn of event. At all. This was supposed to be Yogi's battle, their Gym Match, and for Oinari to deprive them of that honor was not only extremely selfish of her, but went against everything he'd taught her about good Fighting and fairness. Her grand deception was a smack in the face to both monks that left him dismay, anger, hurt by, and disappointed in the now Master Illusionist, and who knows how Yogi will feel about this after breaking the news to them. He'll certainly have to make up to them later - and Oinari too, for she was not getting away with this without some culpability for her act....

Despite those feelings, though, he's also strangely enough still very much proud and happy about her accomplishment too. After all, it isn't everyday that a Pokemon can ace a Gym Leader, and doing so not only without a scratch, but also doing so while one doing one the most elaborate performances to conceal their true identity? That was genuinely amazing, and deserves some respect and praise from a hardened veteran Survivalist Trainer and Contest Master.

The fact that she Evolved from performing such a masterful prank was exciting and awesome in of itself too, as she not reached her peek Strength but did so more or less by complete accident, revealing a means to Evolve her entire sub-species of Pokemon that did not involve them committing heinous and 'Evil' acts! It was a breakthrough discovery in Pokemon Research, and for a man trying to establish his own lab in Cheshire and himself as a Businessman Researcher like Dr. Mallorn, this was exactly the sort of thing he needed to boost his credibility and attract investors.

Finally, he's just plain surprised and baffled that his tricksy vulpine managed to spectacularly fool them like she did. How on this good green earth did she manage to do that?

Well, he'll never quite know, but for those with a outside perspective on things....

*Flashback Within A Flashback - Flashbaceptioin!*

Out under the shade of the tree where a chiseled man was sitting, Oinari was resting in their lap while her other partners entertained themselves, or so it seemed. In reality, she was quietly brooding while appearing otherwise. She's been in a right sulk ever since her battle against Deoxys Prime, as she failed to do anything to the extraterrestrial 'researcher' and getting taken out like a weak little chump, in spite of doing her best to use its own immense and Legendary Strength against it with Foul Play. Up until that point she never lost a battle that badly (or possibly at all), and the last time she had taken on a Legendary she actually managed to both fool it and make it run away in terror thanks to everyone else' help. So to loss so badly when her master and everyone else needed her to succeed the most was demoralizing, to say the least. Of course, she didn't want worry her master about it, so she hide her feelings the best she could and tried to lick her wounds in peace.

When Terra began to discuss his plans for Yogi to solo Mason, the darkest darling at first apathetic about the whole deal.....until a flash of insipiration caught her and she got an idea. A wonderfully mischevious idea. A idea that would avenge herself and her master of that terrible loss and have some good old tricksy fun doing it. Oh yes, this would a magnificent act to pull if she could manage it, ofufufufuf.....!

By now, it is known what her idea was, but the question is how did she do it?

Simple enough, surprisingly: she carefully payed attention to the way Yogi moved and performed his Fighting style when Terra coached them while pretending to be asleep, then discretely switched her Pokeball's place on Terra's belt with theirs, so that when he flicked all the balls button to Recall them all at once he'd end up sending her out instead of them.

It was, frankly, a ballsy as heck scheme she pulled that would go wrong the moment if she was hurt in the Gym Fight, but in the end it would work out much better than she expected!

*Flasbaception End!*

It was while pondering his mixed feelings on this matter and what to do about it that he came to a terrible realization, one that managed to make him shudder in dismay and cup his face with both hands, momentarily distracting him: Oinari had just become exactly like Genie in her trickery and tomfoolery. Now he had two wily prankster he had to constantly reign in, least the cause him and everyone else oodles of trouble and make fools out of them all. Compound that feeling with the trouble she caused Yogi and herself, and he could help but groan at it all....

"Oinari...."

Said devious furry devil was far to pleased with herself to be distracted by her master's dismay, twirling around and reveling in one of her grandest achievements ever! She redeemed herself, tricked everyone, AND Evolved, so right now she couldn't be anything but purely HAPPY! Later she knows she'll be in for it, but for now it was time to celebrate, wooohoooooooooooooooooo!

Nathan's applause and words manages to break the sagely monk out of his own moping , causing him to lay his arms down and blink as he struggled to say something about it.

"But I wasn't....this was not supposed to.....Didn't mean to do this on purpose.....ugh. *Sighs* Thank you, Nathan. Will use this....discovery to gain attention to my lab, and help other Zorua owners like me. *Turns to Mason* Thank you for the battle, Lead - "

It was at this point he notice Mason's schadenfreude over his reaction to this event, which prompts Terra to deadpan at the man before turning away and grumbling.

"It is not that funny....."

Eventually the master architect recovers enough (though they're still smirking about it)  to give the Gym's Badge to him and additional prizes, which together with Dagny's Badge raises his Vitality by 1 and to a total of *7 ! His abs are literally tough as Steel now, if not even tougher, so good luck hurting him or his partner with anything less than the strongest Moves around or with Plot Devices! He'd then say his good-byes to the man and re-affirm his promise to keep them in the loop about his research before leaving the Gym with Nathan, asking them if he's going to stay the night in Botanville with him or head elsewhere. When they choose to do that later, then he'd bid farewell to the day to them too, and go about the rest of his sightseeing and business in the greener tech capitial of Cheshire by himself and Oinari, spending a lot of that time very sternly lecturing her about what she did and discussing her punishment for it before finally getting some rest

In the end he decided that it would be her being barred from participating in the rest of Cheshire's Gym Battles, and letting Yogi decide what the rest of it would be when she'd be there with him explaining what she done. She stole their glorious Gym Battle and made it her own, but the tricksy vulpine was not gaining anymore this way. If she tried....well, he really didn't want to think of an appropriate punishment, as the implied that he was prepared to do this again, which he really didn't want happening.

Since I honestly don't know too much about Yogi's personality beyond being at odds with Gallade and having his own kind of honor, I will ask Iron to handle how they react to the news.

With all that said.....

*Flashback End!*

(Next post containing Day 85 events coming soon!)

[Spiritmon]

Nathan's very quick to send a reply.

Oh wow, really?!  That's awesome, Heart!  I hope you'll bring Lancelot with you so I can take some good notes!  You're not the only one who evolved someone recently, though.  Maybe you'll find the pokemon I evolved interesting, even though they aren't quite as strong.  Oh, and for the record, Shiva's the one with the Shield, not me.

We're just about ready for the trip to Garlicburg.  Mostly just waiting on you and Terra.  Make sure to check your PC for the permit Dagny should have sent ya, and make double sure to read her instructions.

Forgot to include Shiva in the message. Sorry! Anyway, I looking forward to our meet Nathan. My Earthpower abilties also became stronger mate. And must warn you guys, Dagny and the League gave me permisision to carry with me the Helmet. Took a while to bond with me however and things get..."wild" when it try to bond with me. I think its because my mystical side become more sensitive due to Jirachi Bless and Earthpower Sheganingans. But it most okie dokie. We all have now the Sword, Shield and Helmet. I see you guys soon.

(Post coming of changes.)

[Lord Windos]

(Since I’m already behind everyone else, let me go into Point Mode with my post so that I can catch up quickly and we all can get into the meat of things)

Morning Events of Day 85

- After getting up and going through his morning routine, Terra would assemble his party as the following: Shiranui (Black Belt), Mikey (Toxic Orb), Lapis Lazlui (Hard Rock), Oinari (Frozen Roar, if Heart would later lend it to him; otherwise Wide Lens), Posei (Leftovers), and Arete (Silver Powder. Plenty of Water types for the surf and sand of Garliburg and the bay, Shiranui because he wanted to spend time with his blood brother at such a nostalgic location, Mikey because he’s pretty much Terra’s nastiest non-Legendary Pokemon, and Oinari for being a wild card with her Illusion! Oh, and don’t forget about Angie, who’s still uncaptured but fiercely Loyal to Terra! If anyone wants me to bring along Sari for her potential to learn Heal Pulse and possible Lore Knowledge, I can replace Posei with her.

- He’d leave his Eye Plate, Sword, All his Mega Stones, and Ven’s Portfollio in his PC, as he doesn’t want to risk the Military finding issue with these Items.

- Call Jerry and get a Status Report on his lab, and anything it may need that came up while he was busy yesterday/whenever.

- Fly over to wherever Keni is and pick up the Syrentide Wishing Well Card, as well as checking up on them and (if they have the time/patience for him) show off Angie and Sari (via Oinari’s Illusion) to him. If I can make up the frustration he caused them by showing the wondrous artist some rare and beautiful Pokemon, they why not?

- Call up Brazen the Shieldmaiden for a favor – backing him up in helping monitor and contain his Deoxys Clone when he the time comes to transport them to the Wishing Well to get their Bond upgraded. Terra would just ask for their help with some important business over the phone and promise the details in person, as Ven taught him that it was important to have such private business kept private as possible, especially when it came to Legendary Business.
- Before calling up Brazen, he’d get started on shipping his 80 Energy’s worth of Pokemon for ‘extraction’ by the Queen Syrentide, and ask if they could make the Deoxys Clone perfectly Loyal to him (If the cost is within the 80 Energy Budget, auto deduct from that). If not, he’ll find something to do with that much Energy, and will refrain from calling Brazen if the Queen can’t help him with Deoxys.

- If the Queen can do what he wishes, he’ll round up Brazen before getting his Deoxys Clone from his PC before immediately whisking himself and Brazen (along with any other of her friends she may also call in herself, if she agree to help him at all) away to the Wishing Well and getting them Fully Bonded to them (Max Loyalty) ASAP, as he remember being told they were able to eventually break out of Pokeballs on their own by the few Trainers that were able to Catch one. In fact, he’d stick them in Arete’s Bag of Silver Powder that’s wrapped in Dunny’s Spell Tag to hopefully keep them sealed long enough for the process to complete! All precautions are being taken place here!

- If all goes well and the Deoxys Clone is made Loyal, then they’ll end up taking Posei’s place in Terra’s line up. Also, if they is any Energy left afterwards, I’d like it to go towards giving some of Keni’s youth back to him as a thank you to him, as without their help he wouldn’t have gotten a Loyal Deoxys (Clone).

- After everything’s done and he’s thanked Brazen (if she came along), Terra will then meet up with everyone at the designated meeting grounds and head with them to the next point of their journey (Probably being the last to arrive). He’d keep a healthy distance from Ventus by sorta hiding by Nathan, while the researcher would try his best to ignore the big man unless they bring out their Legends. 

That should be it, so if any character wants to speak with him, you can do so now!

[Iron]

You step in and out of Keni's card, once without Brazen or Deoxys and once with.

The Mega Syrentide charges you 70 Energy to work on Deoxys. When she is done, the clone is more dull and unimaginative than before. It's docile, and for most people won't even move. It also doesn't bother to defend itself unless its entire existence is threatened. But for Terra, it will obey in slow moving fashion. I can't call it reluctant, for the clone displays no emotions and none of the arrogance (now) of its parent.

The other 10 energy is sent to Keni, though Syrentide doesn't say how much youth it would buy.

[Lord Windos]

You step in and out of Keni's card, once without Brazen or Deoxys and once with.

The Mega Syrentide charges you 70 Energy to work on Deoxys. When she is done, the clone is more dull and unimaginative than before. It's docile, and for most people won't even move. It also doesn't bother to defend itself unless its entire existence is threatened. But for Terra, it will obey in slow moving fashion. I can't call it reluctant, for the clone displays no emotions and none of the arrogance (now) of its parent.

The other 10 energy is sent to Keni, though Syrentide doesn't say how much youth it would buy.

(Yes! Costly, but hopefully worth it! If not in battle, then at least with Terra's upcoming research)

*Minor Flashback!*

Terra is relieved that everything went according to plan with his Deoxys Clone, but seeing it so lethargic and listless does bring a pang of regret and self loathing to his heart. Seeing the Energy being ripped out enmass by his future research subjects doesn't do any favors for his conscious either. In the end, though, the sagely monk Steels his heart and accept what he had to do. The Deoxys Clone could not be allowed to remained untamed, and the potential good it could do for him, his friends, and all of humanity outweighed the sacrifices made for its Loyalty. Or at least he desperately wished it to be....

He'd approach its still form, regarding it stoically as he can, and simply say to it "Deoxys, you are my partner now. I will care for you, and you will care for me. Your name will be Gemini. For now on, you obey me, and only who I say. My and my friends lives are to be protected against what we consider is dangerous and untimely death, no matter what. No more harming or threatening humanity unless I say to, directly or indirectly. No destroying the environment or experimenting on Pokemon for research directly or indirectly, unless I say so. These Orders last forever, even if I die. Do you understand?"

Given how heavily Plot Deviced this thing is but what the group has seen of them in battle, it probably has its full Level Up Movepool, the average Clone HP, the ability to change Forms on the fly, and anything else you'd give it, right?

With his 'bond' to Gemini, can Terra determine if the reason for their slowness is due to the Enforce Loyalty, some other cause, or a combination of both? And do they have a connection to him, like they he/they did with Deoxys Prime?

If Brazen wants a favor in return for her aid, he'll give her free access to the Wishing Well whenever she requests and he is able to meet with her. Least he can do for this help and to keep quiet about this as much as she can!

As for Keni's age, somebody will figure that out eventually, because I imagine the party will meet up with him again sometime in the future. Also, the Energy Pokemon will be transfered to his lab , and the researchers there can get started organizing and finding out what to do with them (or coming up with ideas and suggesting to Terra and Jerry later).

[Lord Windos]

When Terra would join up with the group, Nathan and Heart's Pokedex would buzz, indicating they have received a message. Checking it, they'd find it was from Terra, and it would read somewhat cryptically:

'Have gotten most problem Pokemon under control now, and they are with me. If you need to see them, we can do so later in private. Don't want to agitate them with too much attention.'

Considering the two had seen Terra catch the Deoxys Clone, I think they'd be able to catch onto what he's trying to say, and that he's trying to keep it hidden from Ven since he has not brought it up out loud. If Phantom wants to know, Terra will corner her later when he's able to get her and him away discretely enough from Ven (and that will happen for convenience shake) .

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

The boy's deescalating tension brought a gentler smile to his lips, happy to see his handling of the....sensitive topic has put them at ease. It was.....hard not to be more.....descriptive and emotive about the revelations they brought him, but he somehow managed to regardless. Which considering his delicate mental state was quite the feat!

When they brought up The Eye, though, Ventus face went immediately blank as white canvas.

"The Eye, you say. Pray tell, does it have anything to do with the trouble you're expecting to plague us or the group in the near future? Because if so, that is rather uncanny , for I recall receiving a fortune of the future from that Fortune Teller in Ginger Town that implied much the same as you do. At the time I was concerned about it, but didn't have enough information to act on these visions or the information from them in any way, but as the visions came to pass and recent events I've observed.....well, perhaps it is time for to do so."

Yikes. That isn't ominous at all.

Terra's inclusion into the conversation causes the empathetic researcher's lips to briefly twitch, though, no matter how hard he tried resisting the urge to scowl.

"....From what he told me about that......matter and despite my requests for him to do so, Terra is still.....reluctant about taking the Artifact from that vile archmage , due to.....issues of conflicting trust and ownership of it. Doesn't think anyone but that man deserves to wield it, and loathes the very thought of taking away what is......rightfully theirs , unworthy such a blasphemous and heinous individual that man is. "

"*Sighs* Honestly, that stupid sense of honor and easily given fairness and respect for others is quite a vexing trait of that foolish man. It's one of the reasons why he was my first choice of replacement for myself in the event I had to leave, but it is so inconvenient at the worst of times or situations. *Waves a hand* In any case, if you want him to have that Artifact, you'll have to find some way to convince him. I've certainly tried, to not luck myself, so its your turn now to deal with him about this."

Yeah....things are still touchy between Ven and Terra. Nathan would be pretty certain that the eccentric scientist would actually fire that man or do something about them for the whole Scimitar debacle they caused, but due to their Hero status and now beings close friends to the rest of the group, his hands are tied from taking such actions.

The conversation being redirected back to Porygon Z causes a nice U-turn in his mood, though, bringing a slight smile to his lips despite The Eye most recent mention. "Delightful! And yes, all Porygon-Z are a bit....weird, but I've heard researcher are trying to find ways to remedy that. No success so far, but they might make a breakthrough someday. *Beat* Conversion training to iron out its quirks, hmm? Well, that's certainly one way of doing it, but have you thought of maybe getting a coder to try and create programs that they can Download to gain immediate and complete control over the Move, or at least speed up the learning process? One benefit of the Porygon line is that they can quickly acquire experience and advancement through technological and electronic means, so if you know somebody that can do the task and can compensate them for the trouble...."

"*Frowns* Pulse? Ah, yes, the Rotom you adopted. Hmm....if you want an outlet for their mischievous tendencies and as a method to help further solidify your bond with them, you could try setting up controlled situations were it can use its powers to prank people. Nothing makes Ghosts like them happier than spooking or messing with someone and having a laugh about it, so that's one bonding method I can think of. The other is sending them to Dagny to, ah, teach them some discipline, but I'm not sure that would entirely be a good idea for her or them."

---

And C) The Bonding Ritual between him and Ventus pretty much allows for the researcher to perfectly convey the info he wants to them, so explaining the Round Trade should be easy and smooth!

Additionally, Ven would ask if Nathan could possibly share the Legendary HMs with him to teach his own Pokemon, as he'd like to have them for his own purposes of convenience and research. Having his family knowing them would come in handy for the upcoming mission at the very least!

If you wish, I can actually have Ventus talk with Seadra about this whole Round Trade and inform them about his Evo, if you wish. Could even have him bring out his Kingdra for them to 'ask' them any questions about what its like to be one, as by this point in the campaign he's most likely had the free time and resources to make them completely Loyal to him now (and therefore not get into trouble / blast people/Pokemon) !

Nathan frowns as Ventus inquires further.  The only reason he brought that up specifically is because Shiva did first, and he was honestly trying to avoid getting into the specifics for now.  "...yeah.  It has a lot to do with it, actually.  I'll explain more later if you want to hear the story, but...I should warn you that it probably won't be a very...comfortable tale to listen to.  Heck, I'm still unnerved by the whole thing...we're really far away from the center of the Eye's influence right now, though, so I don't expect major trouble, but it pays to be prepared regardless..."  Nathan puts a hand on the hilt of the Sword to emphasize the point.

Then he realizes what Ventus just said.  "...wait, you've seen more of the Eye too?  We definitely need to exchange information later if that's the case.  Maybe not now, since we have more immediate things to worry about, but...definitely later."

As for the matter of Terra: "I'll see if I can talk him into it.  Having the Hauberk would be better than not if we want to do crazy things like assist the Lake Trio.  I'm not entirely happy with his decision either, to be honest, but...well, I'm trying to move on.  It's...hard."

"Oh, and uh...speaking of our resident overprotective person, I know Terra texted you about this, but I wanted to ask in person.  If you want to help us with the Lake Trio after we're done with our spelunking here, you'll be more than welcome.  I...know you probably don't want to get wrapped up in stuff like that, though, so it's fine if you'd rather not for...personal reasons.  If you do decide to help, though...well, Mesprit was fairly certain that Uxie and Azelf would be willing to grant boons in exchange if requested after we do...whatever it is we need to.  Mesprit would probably do the same, I feel.  It's a difficult to pass up opportunity, honestly, provided you're confident you can be of assistance and can handle...whatever happens.  Personally, I don't really want to ask any major favors of them myself, though.  They've been through a lot...anyways, if you could give it some thought, I'd appreciate that.  I'm fine with whatever decision you come to."

And as for Porygon-Z and Pulse: "Programmer, huh?  That's not a bad idea, but...well, the only ones can say I've met are Dagny and Bill, and they're usually rather busy, so I wouldn't want to bother them with that.  I think I'll stick with some simpler methods for now, see how they work out."

"My original idea for Pulse was actually...similar to that.  Ideally, I'd like to...encourage some of their more mischievous behavior so they can assist Porygon-Z should I never need them for...certain activities.  I'm not going to assume I won't have to deal with computer systems in some fashion in the future."  Or in other words, Nathan wants to be prepared in the event he has to infiltrate another Scimitar base.  It definitely won't be as easy as the last time if he has to do it again...

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

Whatever might help with making Seadra's evolution as smooth as possible, Nathan welcomes it.    He's completely expecting to deal with an incredibly Disobedient Dragon since he only just caught Seadra.

As for the HMs, Nathan is completely fine with Ventus teaching his pokemon a few of them.  "Meowth's out of the bag on ROCK SMASH, by the way.  League doesn't have any issues with me holding onto it until I decide if I want to strike a deal with them for it, though.  I've also got the HM for CUT, which Deoxys extracted from Mt. Molten.  Nearly got eviscerated by the move myself...*shudder*..."

"Heart's holding on to FLY for now, which my dad retrieved for us, so you'll have to wait for the collector to arrive if ya want to learn that one.  And Shiva should still have FLASH, which we have on loan from Mallorn.  He'll need it back before long, so I'd go ask Shiva about it sooner rather than later."

And that should be all the HMs that the group has on hand currently!  By the end of this trip, we should hopefully have DIVE as well.

You manage to get a message to Keni in his current location at a hostel.

Seadra doesn't lose any Loyalty, thanks to your combined Ancestry. It will gain 1 point of Loyalty as soon as you make for Garlicburg.

Perfect!  Hope he's looking forward to what Nathan will show him when the rare pokemon is ready!

And thanks!  I was really hoping that'd work out like I thought it would, because otherwise we'd have a really hard to control Dragon on our hands because they have a whopping 5 Disobedience after evolving.  4 Loyalty should be manageable.  If anything, Nathan wielding the Sword should give the winged king reason enough to respect Nathan's authority to some degree.

But oh boy, do I bet they look majestic compared to a normal Kingdra.  That single, large fin on its back is two instead (correct me if i'm wrong), and they're much larger than usual and still allow Kingdra to take to the skies!!  His dominion over sea and air shall be unparalleled now!!

Nathan lets Kingdra try out his new 'wings' for a bit before signaling to them to land.  It takes a few attempts to get the newly crowned royalty to listen, I'm sure, but when he does, he decides to be...creative with his landing, using SURF to create a large patch of water for him to DIVE into.  Thankfully, they're in the middle of a desert and there's plenty of space, so nobody gets hurt.  Besides, it's understandable that Kingdra would want to be a bit damp considering how dry it is here.  Despite being able to FLY, he is still a creature of the sea, after all.

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

As for Nathan's squad of pokemon, he's planning to bring:
- Gallade, obviously
- Winged Kingdra
- Juliet
- Servine
- Mizu
- Yet to be nicknamed Dratini

That should be most everything that needed to be addressed on Nathan's side, so he's ready to go to Garlicburg when everyone else is!

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Keeping Whisicott safely and closely in her arms, Shiva's calmly waiting for the ship that's supposed to bring them to Garlicburg, keeping her gaze at the sea to catch a glimpse of it as one of the first ones. It's not obvious nor easy to see, but she's actually HIGHLY nervous and agitated, she looks around every now and then and holds onto her dearest fluffball almost a bit too tightly (not that said wad off cotton minds, more cuddling!~).

Whimsicott herself... She's eager, eager and EAGER, smiling all along and knowing from lovely Master that there's something at the shore that Master's going to search JUST FOR HER!~~ She also gladly reciprocates Shiva's almost-too-tight hug and lets her stroke through her fluff as much as her heart desires.

Once Heart arrives, she gives him a kind greet and apologized for not having responded to his message; and once Nathan and Ventus return, she greets them just as kindly and almost instinctively sides the latter and throws a timid smile at him from the side - her way to tell how much she's enjoying his presence and just being with him.