[Game Thread] Pokerole Mystery Dungeon: Primal Shadows

[Lord Windos]

"It's alright, love. Nothing wrong with making a few friends right? In dangerous places like these, a few more allies wouldn't hurt! Besides, we might be in different adventurer teams, but nothing says we can't be friendly with rival groups right?" Dax whispered to the weary demon before turning to the others.
"Forgive my friend if she seems a little suspicious, she's a little weird when she's speaking to strangers. She's a real sweetheart once you get to know her."

Pyra's head twisted to the aquatic salamander as he whispered to her, tilting her head as he addressed her seemingly harsh manor she held for the Pokehorses, expression still neutral all the while. When he finished she held him in a stare for a few seconds, before they looked away and took a step behind him, letting the newt-like drake be the spokespokemon of the two of them as she resumed staaaaaaring at the herd. Hard to tell if she got the message, but she's not making more of a scene over it at least.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Original Post

Both pokemon scramble up the tree without much trouble.  Kogeki reaches the top in half the time Kee does, but Kee has a much better instinctual grasp of how to safely climb it.  Once they reach the top, getting down safely on the other side isn't all that hard.  Obstacle cleared!

Past the large tree, Kee and Kogeki find what looks like a small forest on the side of the mountain.  Rocks of varying sizes are scattered all around the ground, with the three largest ones being in the middle of a clearing.  And...

(6) Objective clue!
*sniff sniff*
What's that smell?  Kee's nose twitches as he picks up the scent of something on a breeze blowing through the trees.
*sniff sniff*
It smells sweet...fruity...maybe it's an apple?!

(3) The first objective is on a tile in the downwards direction.
[b](4) The first objective is 4 tiles in that direction.[/b]

With a faint *thump!* Kee lands on the ground by the other side of that laaaarge tree again, looking quite pleased with himself. "Hah, now that worked just fine, didn't it Kogeki?~ Pffff, what's a tree when ya're 'n agile and limber 'Mon yarself, haha!~C'mon, we' better get goin'..."

More trees = a smol forest is met as if they heard Kee's statement! Tall and majestetic three particular rocks are standing right there in the middle of this area also, but unfortunately no smol and adorable Ralts. Nor Apples or a lost and fluffy Stufful, fuuu... That is, UNTIL that sweet alluring scent rudely interrupted Kee sniffing on all of these rocks in the hope of picking up the psychic fairiy's scent.

"Oh hey, K'geki.....~" *lots of sniffing and smelling the air from Kee* "D'ya, by chance, smell that too, this sweet, SWEEEEEET♡ fruity♡ aroma lurkin' all innocently♡ in the air here?~~ It's better nat just me imaginatin' things, it's THERE, I can smell it, I tell ya!!~" He's massively intrigued by it as well by this sensitive sense of smell he now has as a Ziggy. Boi, this opens so many doors that have been locked as a human before!

It's somewhat hard for him too to resist zigzag'ing over in direction of that scent right away, but... "Well, 'smuch as I'd LOOOOVE♡ t'follow this scent, guess we should find Karen first, shouldn't we K'geki? I, uh, better NAT want her runnin' 'nto some hostile wild 'Mon just 'cause, that potential Apple ahead's nat goin' t'run away. I guess. BUT, lemme mark tha wae so I know where this scent came from shall we stop by here by these rocks 'n smol forest 'gain, 'kay?"

Kee will do so by scratching, biting and rubbing his back one of the trees here in the direction the scent came from (meta-wise, downwards) until there are visible claw and biting marks in its bark. That's how Zigzagoon usually mark their territory, but now Kee uses this instinct to create a pointer/signpost.


"Ohhhhh, thank ya for tha flowers!~ (◕‿◕) Whether those 'leading skills' of mine are good ones I dunno, but very glad t'hear ya're trustin' me 'nough to let me lead, haha!~" *cue very toothy and very honest smile for Kogeki*

The direction he wants to go is:
   

[Spiritmon]

Kogeki was still with eyes closed, trying to use Foresigh. ''I guess your smelling insticts is best than mine. I dont smell any apple. However I trust what you say. Now...be silent for a few seconds. I need all concentration to use Foresight to try locate some clue of Karen location. I not very used to use this move however so dont put to much faith on me."

Action: As said before, use Foresight to try find Karen. Or at least a possible clue of where she might be or the dangers we might find ahead of us. If fail, gonna follow Kee lead.

[Dragonstrike]

Foresight isn't a psychic power, so its 'reading the future' is more like using context clues to immediately predict what's about to happen so that you can react accordingly.  It has been shown in the anime to be able to reveal invisible objects as well.  It's a rather ordinary move with extraordinary uses in the right situations.

That isn't to say it might not be useful here.  But let's let the dice decide, shall we?

Foresight
*rolls*

Kogeki doesn't get the sense that there's anything hidden in the nearby area.  There doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on here, so he's unable to predict if anything is about to occur.  The rocky forest seems to be perfectly ordinary, if a little quiet besides the wind blowing from the south, carrying the scent of apples with it (which Kogeki can smell if he tries focusing on it with Foresight).

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

I'll place the next tile down once Daxter and Pyra are ready to move on to their next tile as well.

[Dragonstrike]

Ponyta looks at Pyra and Daxter very strangely.  "...you guys are Weird with a capital W."

"Oh, lighten up, Ponyta!  They're not more wild pokemon!  That's something to be glad about!  I am SO happy that we do not have to fight them.  I could do without getting my hair messed up even further than it already is."

"Pyra brings up a good point, though.  If they're from the Guild, then that probably means they're on a job, same as we are."

"Hmmmm...well, I suppose that means introductions are in order, aren't they?  As my comrade said, I am Ponyta, the leader of this...merry little band of stallions and mares that we call Team Gallop.  This is Blitzle, and that's Mudbray.  No nicknames here."

"So, let me guess.  You're here for looking for a Stufful, aren't you?"

[Spiritmon]

Kogeki was exasperated and he release a frustrated sigh. "Damn it. Nothing. Not even a clue." Kogeki go to Kee position and talk with him. "...Sorry. Couldn't find her. It seems my power is ridiculous. Lead the way Kee. We will Karen, no matter what."

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Ponyta looks at Pyra and Daxter very strangely.  "...you guys are Weird with a capital W."

"Oh, lighten up, Ponyta!  They're not more wild pokemon!  That's something to be glad about!  I am SO happy that we do not have to fight them.  I could do without getting my hair messed up even further than it already is."

"Pyra brings up a good point, though.  If they're from the Guild, then that probably means they're on a job, same as we are."

"Hmmmm...well, I suppose that means introductions are in order, aren't they?  As my comrade said, I am Ponyta, the leader of this...merry little band of stallions and mares that we call Team Gallop.  This is Blitzle, and that's Mudbray.  No nicknames here."

"So, let me guess.  You're here for looking for a Stufful, aren't you?"

If Pyra is offended by the fiery little horse's remark, she doesn't show a troy ounce of it as she continues to neutrally stare at them and listens to the herd's various chatter without expression. Once the leader raises their question, though, she turns her attention to them and favors them with a head tilt, before quietly rasping out an answer.

"Not and very much so, Galloping Leader Pontya. Original object was to find the fluffy bear, yes, but one of my number and friends has.....gone astry , and now we seek them here in this maze instead and also. That is all you need to know. Hmm.....unless a deal can be made, for your aid in finding our lost companion and not interfering or refraining from taking any credit in our quest, yes? I have treasure and wealth I can spend on your behalf in town, so if its riches and favors you desire from adventure glorious and bold in lands mysterious and unknown.....I can provide both amply and more, that I promise."

She trails off suggestively, her tone turning a hint more persuasive and her eyes sharpening as she started to look at Ponyta more speculatively. The brimstone imp wasn't in the mood for parlying with the herd after Karen's disappearance due to her overbearing curiosity and supposed cleverness, but if she could just pay off this potential rival group into helping correct her folly....

[no one]

"We could work something out couldn't we? We could all search for our friend and the Stufful together. If anything, it'll make getting through this place easier. What do you say, my friends?"

[Dragonstrike]

Pyra and Daxter seem to be in agreement about working together with Team Gallop, so let's get our social rolls on!

Pyra's doing the bulk of the talking for this, so I'll use her stats for the primary roll.  I'll roll Daxter's stats to see if there's a bonus to the roll as well.

Daxter's trying to be polite, so I'll use Etiquette for his roll.  And for Pyra's, I'll use Allure since she's trying to make her offer more personally appealing.

Daxter's Persuasion
2 Smart + 0 Contest + 0 Etiquette
(1)(3) That's a solid nope.

Pyra's Persuasion
3 Smart + 0 Contest + 0 Allure
(5)(4)(3) 2 successes

Ponyta's Will
(5)(5)(2)(1) 2 successes

End Result:
Ponyta doesn't seem to be particularly swayed by either argument despite pondering it for a few moments.  A simple shake of his head signals that he's turning down the offer to team up.

"Sorry, but I've got my own group to worry about as well.  Generally, the team that pulls off the rescue is the one that gets the reward, and...no offense meant, but I can't just drop the mission to help you with yours."

Blitzle interrupts to mention something important.  "Yeah, and some teams get reeeeeaaaaaallll antsy about sharing job requests with other teams.  Some of them will even try to defeat those other teams and scare them off of completing the job!"

Ponyta glares at Blitzle, then turns back to Pyra and Daxter and continues talking.  "...yes, but we're not going to intentionally stand in your way.  This time, anyways.  This is a pretty small job, and it's not particularly worth fighting over.  We took it, though, so we're going to do our best to complete it, regardless of how valuable the reward is.  Besides, I'm not sure there's a whole lot that newcomers like you would be able to offer us anyways."

"Oh, how do you know that, Ponyta?  Honestly you need to stop being so uptight all the time."

"They're new in town, Mudbray.  And from my experience, pokemon that are new in town don't tend to have much to their name, and I'd rather not trust the word of weird strangers outright.  Look, let's just be on our way.  We've got a Stufful to find."

Ponyta walks past both Daxter and Pyra without saying another word.  Mudbray frowns, but follows.  As Blitzle walks past, he apologizes.  "Sorry for his behavior.  He's a good pokemon, I can assure you.  Just a bit...cautious, to put it nicely."

"Hey, reign it in, Blitzle!  Let's go!"

"Coming!  Ah, sorry again.  Let's both do our best, yeah?'

Blitzel runs off, following the rest of Team Gallop.

[Dragonstrike]

I'll assume that Pyra and Daxter move on to the next (and only) unexplored tile that they can reach so we can get this moving again!  The tile in question is to the right of the one they met Team Gallop on.

As Pyra and Daxter are walking along the gravel path, the tiny stones crunch underfoot over and over.  It isn't long before they reach what appears to be a dead end, as a large rock completely blocks the path forwards.

   

And as the two pokemon place their feet on the ground in front of the rock, their steps make less of a crunching sound than before...

(1) Trap!

...and their feet begin sinking into the gravel, their legs soon to follow!  Quick!  How are you going to get out of this?!

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

Meanwhile, Kogeki and Kee are wandering through the maze formed by countless tall trees and large rocks, the ground sloping upwards somewhat as they appear to climb higher up the mountain. Very little of interest occurs to them.  They do notice that the circles in the middle of their badges have started flashing, though, like a light being turned on and off repeatedly.  And the more they walk in that direction, the faster their badges flash.

Eventually, the two of them come to a fork in the path.

   

It's also here that they notice that there's footprints in the dirt!  They look circular, with a smaller circle in the middle, and seem to be heading in the direction that the two of them just came from.

(5) Another objective clue to speed things along

(3) Objective is in the downwards direction

(2) Objective is two tiles away

*places another tile on the map in the specified location*

   

Before the two of them can ponder what that might mean for long, though, they hear a cry for help come from the west! The flashing light on the Adventure Badges speeds up quite significantly.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!  Help!!"