[PTU] The Charizard Knights

[Zelphas]

Satomi pauses, forcing herself to stop and think. Gilgamesh-chan's stones turned to dust upon hitting the barrier... the barrier is likely time-related; the most sensible assumption would be an extreme increase in relative age upon contact. Decrease also possible, but unlikely. She looks away from Renault's still form, forcing herself to skip past the possible effects of the barrier on her Kabuto.

The head of the fossil--possibly the most intact skull of the Horn ever seen by humanity--is the output of magical energy. It seems inert, but there was a roar earlier; assume that it is hostile and dangerous. Satomi's breathing is once more under control; over the mental link, Gilgamesh would feel an impenetrable sheath of cool rationality, underneath which roiled a sea of complicated but ignored emotion. The veins of time magic are being used as conduits, Gilgamesh-chan, for the fossil's power, she continues levelly, eyeing the conduits of magical power. With no other information on the power of the barrier, our first course of action should be to deny the fossil access to more influence. Cut them off from the source, if you please.

Gilgamesh rushes close to the barrier before stomping his foot, waves of earth rippling away from him and up the sides of the walls. Satomi moves back and out of the way, watching carefully.

Satomi

Move Action: Out of range of Magnitude.

Standard Action: None (or move farther away from Magnitude if necessary.)

Gilgamesh

Move Action: As close to the barrier as he can, so the Magnitude will hit the walls to either side.

Standard Action: Magnitude, targeting the blue veins in the walls.
Accuracy (?): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

[Elyander]

Harisson lowers his weapon, putting the arrow back in his quiver. He looks at the knife threat with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Do you reckon I couldn't have killed you already if I wanted to? Put that away," he says, putting his own bow back as well. "The name's Harisson. These are Carina and Cassiopeia," he says, pointing to his pokémon. "And none of us is suicidal or stupid, so maybe you gotta change the slogan."

He does not land, though. Harisson had put his weapon away only because he still had the height advantage, in order to tranquilize the man, but he didn't know the man's intention and wouldn't put himself at unnecessary risks. "I... have no other way to say that, but I'm looking for an apparent rebel group in this island. I think I'm being expected," he states matter-of-factly. "Know anything about that?"

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

After brushing aside no small amount of cobwebs you're able to make your way down into the cellar of the watchtower. The contents are strange, to say the least. While you would have expected stockpiles of food or weaponry, or even some miniature barracks, you did not expect to find what appears to be a laboratory. Old, certainly not functional and coated in about a foot of dust, but a lab nonetheless.

On one wall was a collection of jars that still seemed to have some sort of gas inside, all very familiar hues of pink and purple. In the corner, piles of books and tomes are stacked haphazardly against the wall. What appears to be a biological sketch of a Munna was featured prominently over a desk that itself was covered in sheets of paper and a few candle stubs. Fortunately, it appears that nobody had been trapped in here when the watchtower fell, as there is a distinct lack of skeletons, something Morpheus seemed rather excited about.

Well now, this is interesting, Neils thought to Morpheus. Let's see if they have anything useful down here. Cinnibar had books on Dream Theory, but it wasn't exactly a mecca for the arts. He took a quick glance at the mist and sketch to take stock to see if there was anything unusual. Then he began to sift through the papers. While the books likely had more usable information, they'd take longer to go through, and the papers would give a more accurate picture of what this cult had been up to on the island.

Watch the trapdoor Rem, he said. He'd left the trapdoor open, as it wouldn't be difficult for anyone to find it even if he'd closed it, and the disturbances would make it obvious that someone had been down there anyways. Didn't mean he wasn't going to set a guard though.


Quick glance at Munna chart to see if anything unusual other than just biology [roll0] if occult, or [roll1] if Pokemon.
Quick glance at mist to see if its standard mist or some sort of variant a la what Morpheus has [roll2]
Looking through the papers to gather information [roll3] if necessary.

Rem keeping watch [roll4]

[CateranEnforcer]

Still calming down a bit after the short battle, Aloriana turned to greet the newcomer with an outstretched hand as well. "Hiya! I'm Aloriana Flint, a new Charizard Knight. You must be Riley Grant. He did send me to get a report from you. I'm also here to find some adamantine that was said to be here. Do you have someplace safe for us to talk?" For now she let Chriantha struggle a bit. She didn't feel like now was the time to be so formal. She wasn't too worried about food anyways for now.

[Arcran]

Satomi

With please, Gilgamesh states before he causes the earth itself to begin to shake, sharp cracking sounds resonating from all around you as some of the time crystals begin to shatter. You can see the barrier falter, if only for a second, before it comes back with a renewed vengeance, a new wave of hallucinations hitting you, so jumbled that you can hardly tell what's going on, although your fellow Knights appear more than once. A great beast, reminiscent of a Kabutops but with an additional set of blades was charging you before you felt a familiar tug in your mind.

Satomi-san! Focus! Gilagmesh cries, and you feel a slight pressure on your leg. A time crystal falls out of the wall, bouncing off the ground with a clink, and the barrier falters once again an instant before a sizeable piece of obsidian falls as well. I think we can get in, but this tunnel is apparently not as durable as previously thought.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"A Knight?" the man says, slowly putting his knife away as your arrow returns to its quiver. His eyes dart between you and Carina for a moment, before looking back at you. "Silver send you? Your Charizard is a little small," the man continues, drawing an indignant cry from Carina. "Still, it's as good of proof as you can ask for. Name's Ezra," the man asks, fully sheathing his knife and moving his hands away from his Pokeballs. "Got a name hero?" the man asks, taking a few cautious steps towards you.

[Arcran]

Neils

The schematic of a Munna was a bit more detailed than you would have liked, but clearly was focused on the Dream Mist producing parts of a Munna, as well as its brain. It's actually rather advanced, especially for something supposedly created four hundred years ago. As somebody who had used a Munna for a time it even had some details that you were not aware of. Rem seemed more than happy to turn away from the poster and watch the trapdoor.

At a glance you're able to determine that there are at least a half dozen different shades of Dream Mist in the cabinet, although what's different about the majority of them is beyond you without a better. For all you know, they could have simply gone bad, or perhaps something more odd.

When you finally get to the notes you're struck by something odd: they were written in Cinnabarian, and a relatively modern style at that. It proved a sharp contrast to the notes old enough to threaten to dissolve at your slightest touch. For the most part, the notes appear to be sea charts and maps that clearly lead to Cinnabar, although a few discuss battle tactics and logistics. The phrase Nightmare Mist comes up more than once, drawing a few taunts about originality from Morpheus. Other than that, the only consistent things of note are a somewhat consistent note to continue to treat the berry farm, as well as a daily note about appeasing the island's patron.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Quick to the point! Good!" Riley says, adjusting some loose hair under her cap. "I like that. I've got a temporary hideout set up a few miles thataway," the woman adds, pointing towards the east. "We can head that way and at least get out of the open. Fortunately, Lance's people tend to avoid Seafoam. A lot of them end up vanishing without a trace," Riley says with a wink. "Don't suppose you have anything that can handle a quick swim? Or are you going to need a ride?" the woman asks. "And how upset is your little friend going to be if we leave behind that Kingler?"

Very.

[Zelphas]

Satomi braces herself as she feels the jumble of images coming, her eyes widening in surprise as she sees her companion Knights. It only showed the past at first... are these glimpses of the future? I need to remember--

The four-bladed Kabutops charges, and then she is back in the cave, the images a jumbled, useless, fading memory in her mind. A moment's regret and sharp, longing bitterness washes through the mental link, swiftly suppressed. Then we will need to be swift, Gilgamesh-chan. Strike one of the veins again with Ancientpower, and then rush forward to the Fossil and see if you can begin detaching it. I will return Renault.

Satomi rushes to the side of the barrier, waiting for the blue stones to strike the veins on the wall before rushing as the shimmering field drops. She turns aside from the Fossil as Gilgamesh rushes past her, returning Renault to his Ball as soon as she is through the Barrier.

Gilgamesh

Standard Action: Ancientpower on the veins. (if the barrier is flickering constantly at this point, disregard this.
Accuracy: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

Move Action: Rush the barrier as it flickers, ending up under the Fossil. Perception to see how to detach it: [roll3]

Satomi

Move Action: Rush the barrier as it flickers down.

Standard Action: Return Renault. Medicine Edu to guess at his injuries: [roll4]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

The schematic of a Munna was a bit more detailed than you would have liked, but clearly was focused on the Dream Mist producing parts of a Munna, as well as its brain. It's actually rather advanced, especially for something supposedly created four hundred years ago. As somebody who had used a Munna for a time it even had some details that you were not aware of. Rem seemed more than happy to turn away from the poster and watch the trapdoor.

At a glance you're able to determine that there are at least a half dozen different shades of Dream Mist in the cabinet, although what's different about the majority of them is beyond you without a better. For all you know, they could have simply gone bad, or perhaps something more odd.

When you finally get to the notes you're struck by something odd: they were written in Cinnabarian, and a relatively modern style at that. It proved a sharp contrast to the notes old enough to threaten to dissolve at your slightest touch. For the most part, the notes appear to be sea charts and maps that clearly lead to Cinnabar, although a few discuss battle tactics and logistics. The phrase Nightmare Mist comes up more than once, drawing a few taunts about originality from Morpheus. Other than that, the only consistent things of note are a somewhat consistent note to continue to treat the berry farm, as well as a daily note about appeasing the island's patron.

Look here Morpheus. These writings seem to be relatively modern despite the age of the paper. He was most interested by the mentions of the berries, but he wanted to peruse the notes again later. He pulled out the paper and ink he normally used for drawing and jotted down the most salient pieces of information word for word. He also made some notes about Munna anatomy. Most of the books he'd used weren't so detailed. When he was satisfied, he set back to clambering up the ladder. Morpheus clung to his pack, claws occasionally digging uncomfortably into Neils' skin.


So there were a lot of assumptions in this post (mostly that nobody was waiting in the room above). If he can't complete this chain of actions, just stop me wherever.

I plan on grabbing 1-2 of the books. Any chance I could get some titles to choose from for the sake of fun?
Rem's perception check of the outside before he leaves the watchtower. [roll0]

[Elyander]

"A knight, yes, and the name is Harry," Harisson answers, noticing how the man mentions the name Silver. Possibly Thadeus' alias, so perhaps Harisson should follow suit and avoid his real name. "And do not let Carina's size fool you. I'm sure you noticed how strong she was against... what was that thing, by the way?" he asks, slowling floating down, waiting for the man's answer to give him some time to instruct his partner.

"Carina, stay above. If he tries to attack me, be ready to burn him, ok? Let's play it safe," he orders with a thought, landing next to the man with a stretched hand. "Yeah, nice meeting you, Ezra. I assume you know why I came here for, so it would be awesome if you could show me the way," he says with a smile.

Intuition to read the man's intentions: [roll0]

Charm to make him at ease (if friendly): [roll1]

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana unsheathed her sword as she walked over to where Chriantha was struggling. "Don't worry I have a plan." She tugs a bit on the Kingler to get it in a good position for her to cut at. "We have to get going Chri, but you can have something to snack on." Bringing her sword down in a high chopping arc, she aims to sever the giant crab's claw. Those were good meat right? "Something for the road for you."

"The other knights mentioned this, but not I don't have any swimming pokemon, so I'll need help for now. Just let me pack everything up and we can go. I wasn't sure how long I'd be waiting, is all." It was still a bit embarassing to have to ask for help all the time. If she got a chance, Aloriana planed to fix that little problem about swimming soon if she got the chance.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh strikes the time stones again, causing the flickering barrier to drop for just an instant, but that's all the two of you need. With a quick leap the two of you manage to make it through, the shimmering blue wall rising up just behind Gilgamesh, nearly claiming the tip of his tail. The barrier was clearly disrupted at this point, with occasional fist-sized pockets appearing in it, although nothing you could conceivably make your way through was present.

Damn bug better appreciate this, Gilgamesh says in annoyed panic, darting towards the fossil as your return Renault. From your brief glance at the Kabuto it doesn't appear that there's anything wrong with him, he was just unconscious. Breathing was fine, no visible injuries. It appeared almost coma-like, with the Kabuto being perfectly fine but unable to become conscious. The Pokeball is able to return the Kabuto this time fortunately, his unconscious form vanishing inside the Pokeball.

Satomi-san, Gilgamesh says, voice wavering. I-I don't feel so good, the Charmander continues, before collapsing on the ground in a similar fashion to Renault before he can get a good look at the fossil.

[Arcran]

Neils

So somebody was writing on old paper? Morpheus asks, clearly not interested in the discovery. Still, looking at the sheet, you can tell that it's not the case either. The ink was faded, and the amount of pressure required to write would likely have destroyed the paper instantly. Still, you're able to document the most important tidbits of information, as well as a few notes on the Munna chart that should help in the future.

Looking through the books, the vast majority seem to be rather mundane in nature and more journal-like than an actual tome. Berry Field Logs Weeks 1-8, Rations Weeks 1-8, and so on and so forth. There were, however, a few of the journals that stuck out to you as particularly important, namely Drowzee Armistice and one simply labeled Guardian of Newmoon Island. Aside from the journals there were four actual tomes with readable titles: Nightmare Mist Extraction, Newmoon Island, The First Nightmare, and Gaman Berries: The Void Nightmare. The rest either had been too worn away by time or were written in a language you could not understand.

You've only managed to just touch the ladder when an ominous wind blows and the trapdoor slams shut, leaving the small basement illuminated by Morpheus' tail, your lightstone, and the three candles on the table that had suddenly came to life, purple flames burning bright. A gentle wind fills the basement, carrying words with them.

He returns. The waking nightmare blesses us once again.

Are you hearing that too? Morpheus asks as your hand begins to ache.

From your previous research you know Newmoon Island to be a fabled island where Darkrai calls his home and creates his nightmares and perpetually shrouded by darkness.

When you spot the candles an old legend comes to mind, one that, like most ghost stories, was discounted almost instantly.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Tangrowth probably, judging by the size," Ezra says. "Just another one of the beautiful plants that makes its home here. Damn things wrap you up in vines then eat you slow. Not a good way to go, in my opinion. Have all sorts of tunnels and traps they use. Thought I'd been here long enough to spot one but, well," he says, glancing back at the hole. "Obviously not."

When you finally land the man makes no hostile move towards you, something that seems to disappoint Carina slightly. "I suppose she makes your case for you, eh?" the man says, nodding at Carina. "If you're not a Knight you can't get something like her. I'll show you the way," the man says, glancing at the trees for a moment before guiding you in a specific direction.

As you walk Ezra tries to instruct you on some of the hazards of the island as best he can. If you saw yellow flowers, run. If you felt you were being followed and occasionally heard buzzing, run. If the air started to smell sweet, hold your breath and run. Honestly, just about everything on the island seemed to want to kill you according to Ezra, although he does make sure to say the Cherubi were quite nice a few times. Soon enough you come to a small, rocky clearing with a wooden wall separating what looks like a handful of buildings from the jungle. It was far smaller than you'd been expecting; at most you guessed that perhaps fifty people could live here, if not less.

"Welcome to Fort Puck," Ezra says, chuckling at the name, before realizing you likely wouldn't get it. "It'll make sense eventually," he says, walking up to a small gate. As the two of you approach a man pops up from behind the wall, pointing a crossbow at you. Ezra quickly puts up his hands, making clear 'don't shoot' gestures.

"'ey, this is Silver's friend! Quit it unless you want to piss of the Knights!" Ezra shouts, getting the other man to slowly lower the crossbow. "Tell Selena we've got a guest, and tell the breeders," he adds. The man with a crossbow barks some orders behind the wall, and slowly begins to open the gate. A woman and a man come out from behind it, each holding an axe loosely at their side. The two of them were wearing what appeared to be a uniform, with a small insignia consisting of a red and blue triangle you didn't recognize.

"You sure he's a Knight Ezra?" the woman asks, drawing an annoyed sigh from the man as he points at Carina. "Did you check if he was compromised?" the man asks, pulling out a small metal device.

That draws a curse from Ezra as he turns to you once again, taking the device from the man. "Small, tiny formality. Mind droppin' any metal you have real quick, and let us check you and your Pokemon? Can't be too careful," he says, pushing some buttons on the device.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

With a few quick chops you manage to sever the Kingler's claw, the rest of the body falling limply into the water. As the trail of blood streams up from the Pokemon a small swarm of Pokemon close around the corpse, tearing it to shreds. Chriantha clutches the claw excitedly, struggling to carry the large object but some accomplishing it. You could feel her smug satisfaction over your connection; clearly the Charmander was very pleased with herself.

"Not a problem," Riley says, watching you as you pack up. "Should probably let the feeding frenzy die down a little anyways. Swimming with hungry Pokemon in the water is rarely a good call," she states, pulling out a handheld device and pushing a few buttons. A few minutes later, just when you were finishing packing, a small boat bumps into the side of the temple's roof, apparently unmanned. Riley grabs some of your gear, tossing it into your boat before hopping into it, sitting behind the wheel.

"Alright, hop in little miss Knight, and catch me up on what Thad told you."

[Elyander]

"Oh, I can guarantee you, Ezra. There's nothing like her," he tells the man with a smile, petting the charmander as she lands on his shoulder. They follow the man, listening with attention as he explain about the island's dangers, but also telepathically talking with each other. By the time they reach the Fort, Harisson's feet already ache.

He watches as a man points a crossbow at him, trying his best to appear harmless and waiting until everything was settled. As the pair of strangers start talking about him as if he wasn't there, he exaggeratedly clears his throat. "Um... you know I ain't deaf, right? It's real bad manners to ignore someone," he says jokingly, before Ezra asks him to get rid of metal. "Carina, please wait above with Cassi. You know what to do,"

Harisson removes his quiver and bow, putting them on the ground by his feet. He then takes the bag and puts it aside before finally removing his belt, the pokeballs hanging from it. He does not let it go, though, holding it on his hand before stretching his arms to be frisked. He sees no reason to release his pokemon or get apart from them, instead waiting with a smile.

[Zelphas]

Satomi sighs in relief as Renault returns to his PokeBall... just as Gilgamesh seems to faint. Gilgamesh! She rushes to her Charmander's side, checking him over for any obvious injuries. Renault and Gilgamesh had been similarly unaffected by the time magic in the tunnel; it isn't unfeasible that they would be affected similarly by the barrier as well. Stupid! Satomi takes a deep breath to steady herself, then stands to face the Fossil.

This Fossil radiates time magic; the effects of my next actions could be severe, she ponders, taking a deep breath. Yet this power could be essential in my duties as Charizard Knight, and I cannot trust my other Pokemon to withstand the effects of this barrier. In one swift motion, she reaches out with both hands and grasps the tusks of the Fossil, seeking to wrench the ancient bone from the wall.

Medicine Edu to check on Gilgamesh (similar results to Renault, I'm guessing): [roll0]

Athletics to pull the Fossil from the wall: [roll1]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

So somebody was writing on old paper? Morpheus asks, clearly not interested in the discovery. Still, looking at the sheet, you can tell that it's not the case either. The ink was faded, and the amount of pressure required to write would likely have destroyed the paper instantly. Still, you're able to document the most important tidbits of information, as well as a few notes on the Munna chart that should help in the future.

Looking through the books, the vast majority seem to be rather mundane in nature and more journal-like than an actual tome. Berry Field Logs Weeks 1-8, Rations Weeks 1-8, and so on and so forth. There were, however, a few of the journals that stuck out to you as particularly important, namely Drowzee Armistice and one simply labeled Guardian of Newmoon Island. Aside from the journals there were four actual tomes with readable titles: Nightmare Mist Extraction, Newmoon Island, The First Nightmare, and Gaman Berries: The Void Nightmare. The rest either had been too worn away by time or were written in a language you could not understand.

You've only managed to just touch the ladder when an ominous wind blows and the trapdoor slams shut, leaving the small basement illuminated by Morpheus' tail, your lightstone, and the three candles on the table that had suddenly came to life, purple flames burning bright. A gentle wind fills the basement, carrying words with them.

He returns. The waking nightmare blesses us once again.

Are you hearing that too? Morpheus asks as your hand begins to ache.

From your previous research you know Newmoon Island to be a fabled island where Darkrai calls his home and creates his nightmares and perpetually shrouded by darkness.

When you spot the candles an old legend comes to mind, one that, like most ghost stories, was discounted almost instantly.

Neils had to stifle a groan as he looked over the titles. If the books hadn't been quite so fragile ... but there was nothing he could do. He added the titles to his notes, knowing he'd look them up later if he could find copies in the libraries. However, it wasn't until the occurrence that Neils, for the first time this trip, truly felt frightened.

Oh I hear it Morpheus, he thought, shivering as he looked at the three purple flames. He desperately wanted to release Nox, but figured it might be taken as a sign of war. Besides, he was too preoccupied with the pain lancing through his hand to think clearly about tactics.

Did it mean that Neils had returned? That the stranger with the box had returned? Who was the waking nightmare? Darkrai? This place certainly seemed to be associated with him. The thought of facing his nightmares terrified Neils, and when he spoke, his voice shook. Wh - who are you? And who's the w - w - waking nightmare?. He felt Morpheus' talons dig into him as the Charmander maneuvered on his back for a better view.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana

With a few quick chops you manage to sever the Kingler's claw, the rest of the body falling limply into the water. As the trail of blood streams up from the Pokemon a small swarm of Pokemon close around the corpse, tearing it to shreds. Chriantha clutches the claw excitedly, struggling to carry the large object but some accomplishing it. You could feel her smug satisfaction over your connection; clearly the Charmander was very pleased with herself.

"Not a problem," Riley says, watching you as you pack up. "Should probably let the feeding frenzy die down a little anyways. Swimming with hungry Pokemon in the water is rarely a good call," she states, pulling out a handheld device and pushing a few buttons. A few minutes later, just when you were finishing packing, a small boat bumps into the side of the temple's roof, apparently unmanned. Riley grabs some of your gear, tossing it into your boat before hopping into it, sitting behind the wheel.

"Alright, hop in little miss Knight, and catch me up on what Thad told you."

"Comon Chri, hop in. Just be careful okay? Don't drop you food in the water or anything." Satisfied that he camp is cleaned up, Aloriana goes to sit gently in the boat. "Well, let's see. I was told that you had some information on one of the people who attacked us during our trial. That ice woman Yearn. You didn't want to risk anything getting intercepted or lost so you needed someone in person to come and collect the reports. I am to do all that while I also search the island for some adamantine. I think it was supposed to be at the Seafoam Museum. They're going to make some magical armor at of that for me. I have about two weeks time before they come looking for me, or sooner if I send out a signal." she paused, trying to remember anything else. She was thinking that there wasn't much to it, really. The packet was pretty brief in it's explanation.

[Arcran]

Harisson

If the two cared about rudeness they made no indication of it, waiting for Ezra to slowly wave the device over you, pausing for a longer time period over your eyes as he does so. After about a minute Ezra pushes a button on the device before handing it back to the others. "Squeaky clean. Satisfied?" he asks the others, before helping you with your gear as the others head back inside the walls. "Sorry about that. We heard that a cell got compromised by a guy with a camera in his eye, and the boss lady has been a bit paranoid since," Ezra says, shaking his head. "Still, I guess it's better to be overly cautious than dead, right? Here, follow me again," Ezra says, leading you inside the walls.

The man makes a beeline right towards one of the buildings one that, while solid-looking, wasn't particularly attractive. The other buildings seem to have been constructed with significantly more effort. Ezra gives a few short knocks before opening the door, leading you inside.

The inside of the building is no more attractive than the outside, although it is infinitely more interesting. The walls all essentially wallpapered with different maps, and desks clutter the room. It's obviously some sort of staging room but, compared to those on Cinnabar, is horribly maintained.

Sitting behind the most cluttered of the desks is the largest woman you've ever seen. She was at least as large as Maddigan, if not larger, and seemed every bit the warrior he was.

"Silver's Knight is here," Ezra says as means of introduction, causing the woman to rise from her chair.

"You can call me Krueger," the titan of a woman says, offering a hand. "Tell me, why did Silver send you our way? Are we finally getting passage to Cinnabar?"

[Arcran]

Satomi

When you grab the fossil an electric shock runs through your body, locking your hands to the tusks. Even if you try to pull away from it, you find yourself stuck fast as everything around you begins to glow blue before you're deafened by a mighty CRACK and sent flying.

When you stumble back to your feet, the first thing you notice is the light. Clear, bright sunlight raining down on you and the cleanest, crispest air you've ever breathed. As you look around at the landscape, a few pieces of perfectly rounded obsidian lie around you (with an unconcious Gilgamesh on top), while everything else is a vast grassy plain. In the distance you can see what you momentarily thought were mountains, before seeing them move. You hear a mighty roar, and the massive Pokemon begin moving more quickly. Beyond the Pokemon you can see a small mountain, smoking slightly.

Gilgamesh slowly staggered to his feet, shaking his head.

Satomi-san, where are we?

[Arcran]

Neils

He forgets? The nightmare is a fool?

Fool. Fool. Fool.

How could he forget? We served so long, served so well.

Gave everything for the nightmare.

Gave everything to the nightmare.

And he forgets? the last voice nearly shouts over the wind, the sound deafening. It must be a false nightmare. He would remember, the voice says as the candles' flames glow brighter and small yellow eyes appear in the wax. The false nightmare must burn!

The basement was suddenly full of multicolored lights, leaving your vision spinning rapidly even as Rem and Morpheus bump into the wall in confusion.

Don't think we need a map for this, but let me know if you want one.

??? uses Confuse Ray on Neils! Neils is Confused!
??? uses Confuse Ray on Rem! Remis Confused!
??? uses Confuse Ray on Morpheus! Morpheus is Confused!

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Chriantha agilely hops onto the boat, causing it to dip a few inches in the water as her weight is added. Riley pushes a few levers, and the boat begins to move forward.

"About that information," Riley says, almost apologetically. "Sorry about this, but I'm going to have to get your help with something before I can give you that intel. Shouldn't really set us back much but, unfortunately, I need your help, and knew Thad would never send me a Knight," she says as she drives around a crumbled building. "Fortunately, we both want to go to the same place," Riley says, not pausing much as she speaks. "Both of us need to get the bottom of Articuno's Temple, which means a nice little adventure for the two of us."

[Zelphas]

Satomi takes a moment, after the electric shock and the blast of blue light, to realize where she is. The sky is clear... the sun is bright... and there are mountains--no... She stares incredulously at the moving, mountainous Pokemon, marveling at their size. Even Wailord would shrink beside their sheer size.

Gilgamesh-chan, I am fairly certain that we are in Cinnabar's distant past, Satomi replies, the calm collected tone gone from her voice. Before my people came here, and possibly even before you were laid.

Over the mental link, Gilgamesh feels shock, and confusion, and no little fear--but over all of it, pushing the other emotions aside, is... curiosity is too tame a word. It is more akin to thirst. The desire to know, to know what the great creatures are, to know how they came to the past and how far they went, to know why the obsidian was so oddly rounded...

Gilgamesh-chan, we must consult the Mountain, if it is awake in these times, she continues, looking around at everything with bright eyes before focusing on the distant, smoking summit. The mountainous Pokemon do not seem hostile, but we should move quickly; I fear we may have already disturbed one of their nests.

Pokemon Education on the Mountainous Pokemon: [roll0] (Adding in Fossil Bonus)

Same for the "perfectly rounded obsidian": [roll1]

[CateranEnforcer]

Seemed to Aloriana that this was an odd way to run things. "Well he did send a Knight!" she said holding her head up high. "What makes you think he wouldn't? I'll help in anyway I can, of course. If it's at the bottom, we're going to need to swim then." She paused before adding. "It just seems weird is all. Are there not enough of us that he couldn't spare any?" The young knight wanted to make it very clear that her trials were behind her with the use of the word 'us.'

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

He forgets? The nightmare is a fool?

Fool. Fool. Fool.

How could he forget? We served so long, served so well.

Gave everything for the nightmare.

Gave everything to the nightmare.

And he forgets? the last voice nearly shouts over the wind, the sound deafening. It must be a false nightmare. He would remember, the voice says as the candles' flames glow brighter and small yellow eyes appear in the wax. The false nightmare must burn!

The basement was suddenly full of multicolored lights, leaving your vision spinning rapidly even as Rem and Morpheus bump into the wall in confusion.

Don't think we need a map for this, but let me know if you want one.

??? uses Confuse Ray on Neils! Neils is Confused!
??? uses Confuse Ray on Rem! Remis Confused!
??? uses Confuse Ray on Morpheus! Morpheus is Confused!

Shut up! Shut up! Neils cried, hands clapped over his ears, pushed to his knees by the swirl of multicolored lights. He didn't have time to process what these ... these things were saying. I am not your nightmare, he growled through his heaved breaths. He couldn't focus, and movement was totally beyond him at this point.

Still, one rational thought did manage to push through to his brain. Candles are fire. Water loses to fire. Nox His hand slapped at Nox's Pokeball, and the new capture appeared in a flash of light.

Mind straining to push through his muddled thoughts. He resorted to his de facto standby in combat, linking himself both to Nox, but also to one of the strange creatures. Morpheus didn't seem to need his help, instead quickly filling the room with his murky mist, which didn't help Neils' head at all.

Put it to sleep Nox, then get ready to start field-testing that new move. His voice felt muddied, distant, and the swirling patterns on Nox's stomach certainly didn't help his already throbbing head.


A lot happening this round.

Formal Request to add the new Charizard action mechanics to the first OOC post and/or the Charmander Mechanics page (http://arcran.wikidot.com/knights-charizard)

Neils
Swift: Channel Litwick 1 (I'm meta-assuming they're litwicks for ease of communication. Neils has no idea what's going on) [roll0] DC 15
Shift: Release Nox
Standard: Channel Nox (if first Litwick channel failed, instead attempt to channel it again [roll1])
Confusion continues (see OOC roll)

Morpheus:
Succeeded on Confusion check, so no damage taken.
Using At Will Action at -5 Damage (no AP/CP spent)
Thunderpunch vs Litwick 2
[roll2] AC 2, Para on 19+
[roll3]
On crit [roll4]
Cured of confusion. See OOC roll.

Nox
Uses Hypnosis vs Litwick 3. It automatically hits.

Rem
No actions. Not cured of confusion (see OOC roll)

As an FYI, I plan on having Neils make an Occult Edu roll when he's not confused to figure out what's going on, but I figure its' more IC for him to not try and figure it out until then.

[Elyander]

Harisson laughs, dismissing the man's apology while setting his gear again. "I don't even know how that eye-camera thing is possible, but I understand the worry," he says as he follows the man through the complex. He enters the crappy building, eyeing curiously at the paraphernalia around as Ezra introduces him. With but a thought, he pushes his senses outward, willing the wind to keep him informed as he shakes her hand.

"Nice meeting you, Krueger. I'm Harry," he says, giving his impromptu alias. He'd have to think on another one soon, most likely. "Well, as you can probably see, I've not been a knight for too long, so I don't know what I can do about that, unfortunately. Silver only told me I should come to see something you had that could be very helpful to us all," he says honestly, as Thadeus had told him he could trust the rebels. "But if he's trying to get you passage, I wouldn't worry much. Silver is very dependable."

Just to be clear, Harisson is, as always, binding One With the Winds.

[Arcran]

Satomi

As you take a moment to look at the Pokemon in the distance it becomes blatantly obvious that they're Aurorus, although they're far larger than any you've seen or even heard note of. These were titans that dwarfed all but the largest of the Knights' Charizards.. As for the obsidian, it takes a moment to piece it together, but only one side of the obsidian was ever rounded, never all of it, almost like it had been scooped out of the ground and deposited here.

Gilgamesh's tail twitched from side to side as he looked around, an awestruck look on his face. At the very least the climate seemed to be agreeing with him: he burned brighter than you'd ever seen before, and was moving nearly as fast as Carina.

The air is amazing, Gilgamesh says in a stunned voice, almost ignoring you before shaking his head. Right, talk to the Mountain. We should try to get back, but it seems a waste to not learn all we can while we're here, Gilgamesh says, almost pleadingly, although you get the feeling he isn't particularly interested in studying the local fauna.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Because he said no last time I requested one," Riley says bluntly. "For somebody that has a magical Charizard made by a literal god he's surprisingly distrustful of superstition," she says in annoyed voice, expertly maneuvering the craft. "Basically, when Lance decided he didn't particularly like a city standing up to him he sunk the whole city. Everybody knows that. What most people haven't heard about is the legend of Seafoam's defender."

"According to legend, the ground Seafoam was built on was sacred to Articuno long before any of us lived here. When the first settlers came here they spoke of a great ice giant that wandered the city, keeping people away from a certain part of the city until, eventually, it allowed us to build Articuno's temple there," Riley says, keeping her eyes firmly on the horizon. "Still, as the aeons passed it became less and less active, eventually vanishing altogether and making most people assume it was, well, just a myth. That is, until Lance attacked. The reports are unconfirmed, but a few of the survivors mentioned seeing a giant titan of ice going toe-to-toe with Lance's Dragonite before it was toosed into the ocean. If I'm right, it should have landed somewhere near the museum," Riley says, pausing to glance back at you for a moment. "Problem is, the museum is basically impossible to get to. Pokemon can get close, but the second a person tries to swim that way ice starts to block their path. Pretty sure whatever is down there is royally pissed off, and not interested in dealing with humans anymore. My theory is that, if we have somebody that Articuno favors we might be able to get through. Of course, ever since Seafoam Articuno has been silent, so those are in short supply," Riley says, looking back to you once again. "I'm hoping somebody blessed by one of Articuno's siblings will cut it, but I have no idea. Zapdos doesn't bless very cooperative people, which leaves me Moltres. Which means Knights," Riley says, slowing the boat down as she approaches a half-sunken building.

"All you need to do is get us down there. Pray, burn something, whatever the hell you have to do. Just get us there," Riley says simply. "Think you can manage?"

[Arcran]

Neils

Morpheus charges forward, clawed hand crackling in electricity, only for a flash of light from the candle to cause the strike to go wide. Nox is slightly more successful, putting one of the candles to sleep almost instantly, although the other two are still standing strong.

The false nightmare uses our arts?

The true nightmare will consume you imposter, the voices continue, echoing around the room as two of the candles shrink down.

You force your way into the strange candle's mind with far more effort than you've needed to put forth in years. Still, when you connect, you find far less than the typical hour of memories. It was like the candles had been barely conscious until you came into the basement. The emotions in the creature were a roiling mix, constantly changing from despair, to anger, and finally to elation at your presence despite the conflict.

Channel info:
Moves: Confuse Ray, Smog, Fire Spin, Night Shade, Flame Burst, Minimize
Abilities: Flame Body, Illuminate

Litwick 1 is Asleep! Roll: [roll0]
Litwick 2 uses Minimize!
Litiwick 3 uses Minimize!

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Better be," Krueger says bitterly. "So far all the bastard has gotten us is stuck on this damn island. Every day we stay here, the angrier it seems to be that we're here. Damn plants won't stop attacking," the massive woman says, clearly less than a fan of Thadeus.

"Still, with what we have there's no way in hell that he doesn't get us passage. Still, you'll like what we've got," Krueger says, leaning forward on her chair. "Tell me, what do you know about the Fairy Type?"

Fairy is one of the eighteen Pokemon Types. While there are a handful of Fairy Type Moves, Fairy Type Pokemon are not a reality, much like Ghosts.

While some Pokemon such as Carbink can be found deep underground and are true Fairy Type Pokemon, nothing that can reliably reproduce exists.

While Fairy Types have never been common, they were at least a part of Kanto up until Lance rose to power. Following that, Fairy Pokemon have become far less common, fading into myth at a remarkable rate.

[Zelphas]

Now that she knows the blocks of obsidian are not eggs, she looks over them with much more interest. These obsidian blocks were intentionally shaped and placed here; by what, I wonder? she muses aloud to Gilgamesh, running one hand over the smooth stones.

The air is indeed fresh and clean here, Satomi agrees, looking over Gilgamesh with mixed approval and concern. It has not been touched by the many years of man's invention, nor the many battles of powerful Pokemon yet to come. Unless I am mistaken, the Mountain may not have even erupted yet in all its power.

A memory strikes her, and the note of caution stands out sharply over the mental link. Gilgamesh-chan, if we have traversed far enough backwards in time, all of the Mountain's aspects may yet be free and active. Beware what the lava may tell you; it may speak a sort of truth, but its intention will likely be destruction.

After a moment, she smiles, nodding to Gilgamesh. I would never forgive myself if I did not explore this new world before leaving it. Please tell me if you notice anything worth a detour on our route to the mountain.

Satomi

Stealth to stay out of sight from the Aurorus on the way to the Mountain: [roll0]

Pokemon Edu to guess what could have scooped out the obsidian blocks: [roll1]

Poke Edu (x2!) to see the other differences in the Aurorus: [roll2]

Perception to look at... everything: [roll3]

Gilgamesh

Stealth: [roll4]

Perception: [roll5]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Morpheus charges forward, clawed hand crackling in electricity, only for a flash of light from the candle to cause the strike to go wide. Nox is slightly more successful, putting one of the candles to sleep almost instantly, although the other two are still standing strong.

The false nightmare uses our arts?

The true nightmare will consume you imposter, the voices continue, echoing around the room as two of the candles shrink down.

You force your way into the strange candle's mind with far more effort than you've needed to put forth in years. Still, when you connect, you find far less than the typical hour of memories. It was like the candles had been barely conscious until you came into the basement. The emotions in the creature were a roiling mix, constantly changing from despair, to anger, and finally to elation at your presence despite the conflict.

Channel info:
Moves: Confuse Ray, Smog, Fire Spin, Night Shade, Flame Burst, Minimize
Abilities: Flame Body, Illuminate

Litwick 1 is Asleep! Roll: [roll0]
Litwick 2 uses Minimize!
Litiwick 3 uses Minimize!

Nightmare consume me? Neils thought as his head continued spinning. An image of the dripping black creature ripping his way through Rem's link with him suddenly appeared in his brain.

Darkrai? he gasped. He won't consume me. I won't let him. There was no conviction in his words however. He knew, and had known since that moment on the farm, that Rem wouldn't be able to protect him like she used to, no matter how hard he tried. These candles were only speaking the truth that he'd known for a long while now.

Morpheus, sensing his confusion, leaped back as Nox charged forwards. As the Poliwag surrounded itself with a coat of liquid and leaped at the center creature, Morpheus filled the room with mist, making the small space even more unbearable than it had been before.


Neils
Standard: Focused command on Nox
Confusion Roll [roll0] DC 16

Nox:
Shift to K5
Waterfall vs Litwick 2 (the awake, not channeled one) AC 2 [roll1] Flinch 17+
[roll2]
on crit [roll3]

Morpheus:
Shift: Disengage
Standard: Expend 1 CP to use more than At Will Moves
Nightmare Mist
Sonic Moves now useless (doesn't apply to this battle. Yawn is Social, but not Sonic). Sleeping foes lost tick of HP at start of turn. Rounds left: 5

[Elyander]

"I'm sorry about that," Harisson tells her honestly. "It really doesn't look like a nice place to live, despite its beauty." As the woman talks about what they have, however, he gets more and more curious, also leaning forward.

"Fairy Type? Well..." he says, thinking about the question. "I know there's a couple of moves of that type, although pokémon are very rare and mostly impossible to reproduce. I have only ever seen one fairy pokémon, but its state was pretty bad," he comments, remembering Aoriana's carbink. He then smiles at the woman, a conspiratory smirk. "I do know the type is remarkably good against dragons, though, so if whatever you have is related to the faires, I'm pretty sure your help will be greatly appreciated. And rewarded," he says finally, the implication of his innuendo pretty clear.

[CateranEnforcer]

Upon hearing what the special job was, Aloriana began to understand why Thadeus doubted her plan. She wasn't sure how the three siblings got along or even if the blessings of one mattered to the other. Still, there wasn't much of a choice. Her mission would fail utterly if she couldn't get to the museum.

"I will try my best. I don't know how to pray to Articuno. Even Moltres is difficult to understand and doesn't just come when you call. I wonder if Seafoam had their own set of trials for their worshipers?" Thinking covertly to Chriantha, Aloriana considered another option. Worst case, she said that pokemon can pass without much trouble. I could send you to have a look, but that might be much too dangerous. For now, we've got to give an honest try so come here.

Aloriana kind of had an idea of what Moltres liked in her followers so maybe some of that could apply here. She got down on both knees and laid her sword before down in front of her as best she could in this boat and urged Chriantha to do the same. We're asking for a favor and she doesn't like people so we should show all the respect we can. She wasn't the greatest at prayers, but now was the time to try.

In the past, spoken words hadn't been very effective. The one thing she did remember that maybe would help. She took out some of her rations and dropped them into the water, as some kind of tribute. It wasn't much but it had been noticed at the Chantu statue. If this was a holy place, maybe it wound here too. Under her breath she mutters,"Articuno, as a servant of Moltres I come seeking your help in the fight against Lance. Please take my meager tribute and hear my call." She fell silent, not sure what to say, but hoped it would be enough.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Or came with us, Gilgamesh says, kicking one of the obsidian blocks. Truth be told, his theory doesn't seem that far off; it almost looks like a clean sphere had been scooped out, although why the fossilized Pokemon hadn't been pulled with you was uncertain. And do not worry; I was forged from The Mountain. I know of Heatran's treachery.

As you focus on the Aurorus, you manage to note a few small differences between the ones before you and the ones you'd seen illustrated in books. These seemed more elegant, more beautiful, but were almost definitely less sturdy. They were graceful, but with the slowness of their movements you wondered if they could take a real hit in battle. As you scan the rest of the horizon you're able to spot a small herd of some species of Pokemon in the distance, although the exact one is difficult to discern at this distance. Through it all you're struck by the sheer scale of everything: it all just seems bigger than your time. The trees were taller, the Pokemon massive. Even the bugs appeared to be larger...

Satomi-san, I believe we have company, Gilgamesh says as three bugs continue growing larger as they approach, the sound of buzzing wings buffeting you.

As they approach the three bugs become a dozen, flitting around in a swarm.

Battle time! Check the map!

All three bad guys use Double Team!

[Arcran]

Neils

Nox dashes forward in a mighty column of water, slamming into one of the candles but hardly seeming to damage it despite the type advantage. Strange murmurings fill the room as Morpheus fills it with Nightmare Mist,

The false nightmare dares to speak his name? one of the candles says in anger, flames swirling around its wax body. He has chosen you, and you reject him? Give in, and let the nightmare be given flesh once more! the candle cries, a jet of swirling flame rocketing forth towards Neils that connects, trapping him in a whirling vortex of flame. The other candle fires a blast at Nox, only to miss.

You fight the inevitable, another voices says, coming from one of the candles as it stirs awake. Give in, and let our patron grant you a more suitable form.

Litwick loses a Tick of HP! It wakes up at the end of its turn!

Litwick uses Fire Spin! It misses Nox!

Litwick uses Fire Spin! It hits Neils for 27 damage! You are placed in a Vortex.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"You've met one? Well then, perhaps you aren't as green as you appear," Krueger says, clearly impressed despite her condescending remark. "Being informed makes this much more useful though," Krueger states. "What if I told you there were a lot more than just Klefki and Carbink out there? Or, well, that there used to be? And that we've found a way to bring them back?" Krueger says with a smirk, rifling through the terrifying amounts of paper on her desk before pulling out a sheet. "We found one in Grampa Canyon about six months back, ways south of Mount Moon. Wasn't much when it hatched, but after evolution," Krueger says with a low whistle. "Still, you don't seem the type to trust words alone. I suppose you've never experienced the Pokemon League, have you?" Krueger states, rising from the table with a chuckle. "Just whatever the hell Knights do for training. You've got more Pokemon than just that Butterfree and your Charmander?" Krueger states more than asks, making her way towards you and towering at least a foot over you. "Three of what we've been breeding against three of yours. You can judge their worth from there," she adds with a smirk. "That alright with you Harry?"

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Riley gives a barking laugh as you drop your food into the ocean, continuing to steer the boat towards a cave of some sort. "That's all it takes? Well, damn, I feel like an idiot now," she states.

Looking at the water, it would appear that your sacrifice hasn't done well, anything. I'm not giving up my claw, Chriantha says after your short prayer, getting up and going back to tearing into it. As you begin to get up from your prayer you could swear you saw a brief flash of blue out of the corner of your eye but, when you look back, it appears to be gone.

"I was thinking more your presence would let us through but, hey. Whatever floats your boat," Riley says, coasting the boat into the cave. She casts some rope to the side and hops out, quickly securing the watercraft against the wall. Looking around, you can see that this place was clearly active in the past: there's a large number of messy, disorganized bunks, as well as a handful of footlockers, a table, and a small firepit that seemed relatively fresh. While there were signs of people being here recently, right now it was just you and Riley. Against the far wall was a somewhat neglected shrine to Articuno as well as an old image of Lance with various darts stuck in it. Aside from that, there was a large number of sealed crates against one wall, but little else.

"Welcome to Fort Seafoam, home of the resistance here," Riley says with an overstated bow. "Population: 2. And a Charmander. Sorry, most of the others are further south. Sent them on a supply run," Riley states.

[Elyander]

Harisson listens to the woman's explanation, excitement growing inside him. Being able to breed fairy Pokémon would be a huge asset against Lance, so his trip here had just become even more important. With a smile, he answers the woman, not even a little threatened by her height.

"Oh, this sounds interesting," he says showing her the pokeballs on his belt. "A battle is definitely a viable manner for me to evaluate these Pokémon. Also, for you to evaluate me, I'm sure. As you said, I'm not that green," he comments with a wink, already walking towards the door. "And don't worry. Although I have never experienced the League, I know it means I cannot directly participate. It wouldn't be really fair to you if I used this," he taps the bow on his back before laughing loudly as he crosses the doorway.

[Zelphas]

Satomi marvels at the sights and sounds all around her, making no attempt to hide her awe. Everything is... larger, in this time. It is strange to think that the world has shrunk. Those Aurorus almost seem like they may be pure Ice Type, or perhaps Ice mixed with something else; they are huge, but almost seem fragile. Her hands twitch towards the PokeBalls in her satchel, but she stills them. Even if they are as fragile as they seem, a stampede would likely be fatal.

What are those Pokemon in the distance, I wonder-- Satomi begins, before being interrupted by the arrival of some large Bug Types. Yanma and Yanmega. They seem almost unchanged, besides perhaps being even larger. We must have stumbled upon their territory. She considers for a moment, then pulls a Ball from her belt. Gilgamesh-chan, strike the Yanma on the left with Fire Fang, please. In a flash of light, Nike appears before her, the Electrike jumping and growling at the strange surroundings. "Nike, Thunder Fang!" Satomi calls out, pointing to the Yanma on the right.

Gilgamesh rushes at the Yanma with a mouth full of burning lava, while Nike streaks forwards, lightning crackling in her wake.

Satomi

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Release Nike at I9.

Nike

Move Action: Shift to I6.

Standard Action: Attack Yanma 1 with Thunder Fang!
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 3+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
On an 18 or 19: [roll3] 1 is Paralyzed, 2 is Flinched.

Gilgamesh

Swift Action: Spend 2 CP to act normally this round.

Move Action: Shift to E7.

Standard Action: Attack Yanma 2 with Fire Fang!
Accuracy: [roll4] vs. 3+Evasion
Damage: [roll5]
If Crit: [roll6]
On an 18 or 19: [roll7] 1 is Burned, 2 is Flinched.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Nox dashes forward in a mighty column of water, slamming into one of the candles but hardly seeming to damage it despite the type advantage. Strange murmurings fill the room as Morpheus fills it with Nightmare Mist,

The false nightmare dares to speak his name? one of the candles says in anger, flames swirling around its wax body. He has chosen you, and you reject him? Give in, and let the nightmare be given flesh once more! the candle cries, a jet of swirling flame rocketing forth towards Neils that connects, trapping him in a whirling vortex of flame. The other candle fires a blast at Nox, only to miss.

You fight the inevitable, another voices says, coming from one of the candles as it stirs awake. Give in, and let our patron grant you a more suitable form.

Litwick loses a Tick of HP! It wakes up at the end of its turn!

Litwick uses Fire Spin! It misses Nox!

Litwick uses Fire Spin! It hits Neils for 27 damage! You are placed in a Vortex.

Muk off, Neils cried. I'm no pawn of that creature. He avoided using the name, as the flames scalding him didn't make it seem like a good idea to antagonize them further. Morpheus, Rem, put them to sleep. If attacking head on isn't effective, we'll wear them down.

Rem, still dizzy from the initial assault, added to the mist, smog, and spinning flames with her own cacophany of light that found its way toward the candle that Nox had smashed into. She managed to crash on the floor while doing so, but it was asleep. Morpheus let out a wide yawn, aiming to put the freshly woken candle back under. Neils didn't think they could do that much damage to his team, but there was no point in letting them put a torch to the place when he was inside it. He snagged one of his greatballs and lobbed it at the now-sleeping candle, wishing he'd packed more. Two seemed like a frightfully low number.



Neils:
Loses a Tick of HP from Vortex
Delays turn until after Rem
[roll0]
Capture Roll with Great Ball [roll1] 1 AP Spent (effective 3/6 remaining, plus 2 bound)
[roll2] DC 20 to escape Vortex

Rem
Confusion Roll [roll3] On a 1, loses 2 ticks of HP
Hypnosis! Litwick 2 Falls asleep
[roll4] DC 16 to escape confusion.

Morpheus
Spend 1 CP (2/4 remaining) to act as normal
Uses Yawn on Litwick 1. It hits! Litwick 1 falls alseep next turn

Nightmare Mist has 4 turns left.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana gets up herself, disappointed but not surprised. "Just because they don't respond, doesn't mean they aren't listening," she replies sagely. It wouldn't be that simple. It never was with the gods, it seemed. We'll have to keep trying. Later.

That would have to wait it seemed. She'd be disappointed if it were that easy anyways. She had a whole two weeks to get her mission done. Might as well make herself at home here. Aloriana knew she was here on for a purpose but she was enamored by the little living space here. She really wanted to just have look look around here and everywhere. "I didn't know there was a whole resistance here. I'd be happy to help in any way that I can!" she offers a bit hopefully. "And maybe to get a swimming pokemon so people stop mentioning it,' she adds a bit annoyed, thinking about Aeris. "First things first! Which bunk is mine?"

[Arcran]

Harisson

Krueger smirks at your taunt, before walking out the door with a chuckle. "Alright then," Krueger states, leading you outdoors and stopping near the center of the small settlement where a small clear area where a faded, dirty Pokeball has been chalked into the ground. "It's not quite as formal a Gym Battle would have been once upon a time, but it'll do," she states, walking to the other side of the arena and pulling out three shining black Pokeballs. "Rules are simple. Whoever KO's the other trainer's Pokemon first wins. One on one battles, no Trainer interference, you know the rules," she says, bouncing a Pokeball in her palm before pausing.

"You know, in the old days it was typical for Trainers to wager on the results of a battle. Money, goods, even Pokemon sometimes. So, let's make this interesting. You beat me, take your pick of the litter," she says, nodding towards a building on your left. "Any Pokemon in there is yours. That is, if you can make a comparable offer," Krueger says, a slight smirk playing across her face. "And if you can beat me."

While the two of you talked a small group of other rebels began to collect around the circle, whispering in Kantonese that you're only able to pick a few words out of. Still, from the small bits you can gather, you can tell that Krueger is the clear favorite, with the majority of the rebels betting on her, although you note that Ezra put a seemingly significant amount on you.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Nike tears forward, a green streak against a green backdrop, and manages to leap into the air and clamp down with electrified fangs on one of the many Yanma filling the sky, only for it to vanish in a cloud of smoke. Gilgamesh is met with similar results, although two of the apparent mirages have vanishes completely. Still, in their confusion Gilgamesh and Nike make excellent targets, with both Yanma darting forward in a blur and ramming into your Pokemon. Gilgamesh seems to be hardly affected, but the blow causes a notable impact on Nike.

The Yanmega takes a different tactic, simply flying straight forward and grabbing Satomi, giant spindly bug legs locking onto her shoulders and making it impossible to move.

Both Yanma activate Double Team, boosting their Evasion enough to make those attacks miss!

Nike is Tackled for 22 damage!
Gilgamesh is Tackled for 8 damage!

The Yanmega Grapples Satomi! I rolled your resist in the dice thread, and even with an AP boost you fail.

Three Speed Boosts!

[Arcran]

Neils

Pawn? No, fools are pawns. A queen, more like, the candle says unnervingly as the Pokeball flies at it. While the signature energy beam flies out of the Pokeball towards the ghost, it simply passes right through the candle ineffectively.

You cannot control the dre-, another candle cries, before being silenced by Rem's hypnotic waves of energy.

Yield, and let our patron bless you as he has blessed us, the final says as Morpheus lets out a yawn, before letting out a noxious cloud of gas that Morpheus is able to block with a cloud of his own Dream Mist, before the only remaining conscious candle sends another cloud of toxic smoke, causing Morpheus to begin to cough heavily, a nauseated dizziness coming across your connection.

Great Ball fails, but is not used up.

Litwick 1 uses Smog on Morpheus! It misses! 1 falls Asleep!

Litwick 3 uses Smog on Morpheus! Hits for 10 damage! Morpheus is Poisoned!

Litwicks 1 and 3 take Tick damage!

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Whichever is the least gross," Riley says flippantly, jumping out of the boat. "It'll probably be at least a few days until the others are back, and I doubt they'll mind. I'd recommend any but that one," the woman says, pointing towards one in the far corner. "He had a nasty case of pneumonia a week or two back. Happens when you go diving in freezing water," Riley states, clearly annoyed with the stupidity of whoever had accomplished that. "Oh, and before I forget!" the woman says, walking towards one of the small footlockers and popping it open. A second later she hands you too small devices that look like they'd fit in your mouth. "Rebreathers. Should let you swim for at least a few minutes before drowning. Not sure how much it'll help your Charmander though," the woman says, looking at the Charmander's tail in concern. "We'll have to figure something out with that as well. Could be a problem," she mutters, before focusing back on you.

"Anyways, make yourself at home. If there's anything you need help with or if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Prepare tonight, and in the morning I'll get us out towards the museum," Riley states, taking her hat off for a brief moment.

[Zelphas]

Satomi remains calm as the Yanmega grapples her, though Gilgamesh feels a flash of concern over the mental link. Giglamesh, try striking the Yanma with Ancientpower. "Nike! Thunder Wave!" she calls out, indicating the Yanmega as she struggles to free herself from its grip.

Gilgamesh glances back in concern, his body idly flashing with heat as the Yanma bounces off of him. He walks back towards Satomi and then stomps at the ground, ripping stones out to throw at the Yanma. Meanwhile, Nike whimpers from the heavy blow, before streaking away from the Yanma and firing off a blast of static at the larger Yanmega.

Satomi

Full Round Action: Attempt to free herself from the grapple: [roll0]

Nike

Move Action: Shift to E11.

Standard Action: Use Thunder Wave on Yanmega. Thunder Wave can't miss; Yanmega is Paralyzed!

Gilgamesh

Move Action: Shift to F9.

Standard Action: Use Ancientpower on Yanma 2.
Accuracy: [roll1] vs. 2+Evasion, raise all stats at 19+
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: [roll3]

[Elyander]

Harisson considers the woman's proposition with a smile, trying to ignore the crowd gathering. It surely was tempting to be one of the few knights with fairy companions.

"That sounds good, but I'm afraid I have nothing comparable to real fairy pokemon. Beside Carina, of course, but I would never wager her," he says frankly, knowing the only valuable thin he could offer was the jewel he had gained from the King that allowed him to communicate with his charmander. "The only thing I can offer is my own self, so perhaps you have an idea already? I mean, besides the obvious fact defeating me would be more than enough proof that you have valuable assets for Cinnabar, which I'm sure is enough to grant you passage."

He was already playing with his pokeballs, considering the best way to tackle this. It has been far too long since he last had a traditional battle.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana began to unload her gear. It wasn't too much really. It was getting a bit late for her to go out and about like she wanted to. She felt nervous about the idea of diving on her own. She wasn't a bad swimmer, but she wasn't a pro by any means.

"Maybe tomorrow I can find a water type to train. I saw lots when I landed. What's the water like around here? Is it dangerous?" She also thought about the jewels and other things she saw on the ocean floor. Maybe there's other treasures down there, too.

Aloriana will pick a bunk that looks clean to settle in with. While talking with Riley, she brings out all her pokemon. They needed to catch up on their daily training. She paired off Lily with Dirk and Chri with Jett while the Knight brought Rose over to see how she was healing. "We're here everyone and we have a busy day tomorrow. If we're dealing with Articuno here there's no telling what might come up. If it's anything like Moltres, we might have our work cut out." And I might have to keep you balled up for a bit if we have to swim.


I want to collect moomoo milk from Lily. I intended to when I left as well, but I forgot.

After Lori gets her answers, I'm good to go on to the next day.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Pawn? No, fools are pawns. A queen, more like, the candle says unnervingly as the Pokeball flies at it. While the signature energy beam flies out of the Pokeball towards the ghost, it simply passes right through the candle ineffectively.

You cannot control the dre-, another candle cries, before being silenced by Rem's hypnotic waves of energy.

Yield, and let our patron bless you as he has blessed us, the final says as Morpheus lets out a yawn, before letting out a noxious cloud of gas that Morpheus is able to block with a cloud of his own Dream Mist, before the only remaining conscious candle sends another cloud of toxic smoke, causing Morpheus to begin to cough heavily, a nauseated dizziness coming across your connection.

Great Ball fails, but is not used up.

Litwick 1 uses Smog on Morpheus! It misses! 1 falls Asleep!

Litwick 3 uses Smog on Morpheus! Hits for 10 damage! Morpheus is Poisoned!

Litwicks 1 and 3 take Tick damage!

As the candles were going on and on about how Neils was a queen (There's no way I can look so effeminate they'd mistake me for a girl), Neils' head finally cleared, allowing him to think through the situation a bit more clearly. The small place was still filled with smoke, smog, and dazzling lights, but the man now saw it not as an overwhelming chaotic vortex of energy, but rather as the tactical situation that it was.

He quickly began to size up the situation: Two asleep, one alive and kicking. Morpheus poisoned, but nothing serious. Nightmare mist leeching energy. Possibly Fire/Poison types? he racked his brain for information on what these creatures might be, all the while calling out orders for Nox to go after the one still awake.

He backed away from the battle slowly, trying to avoid the flames as much as possible. Nox charged forwards, targeting the still kicking opponent. Now that he was looking at the situation rationally, he didn't have much to fear from this battle. If he isolated them and took them down one at a time, their moves didn't pose much of a threat to his Pokemon, although the statuses wracking up threatened to be an issue.

Neils - Tick of Vortex Damage
Shifts to E4
Occult Roll on the Litwick [roll0]. If there are any special dream bonuses here, its another 3.
Focused Command on Nox

Nox uses Waterfall on L2
[roll1] AC 2, Flinch 17+
[roll2]
On crit [roll3]

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Yanma swings futilely at Gilgamesh as the Charmander darts away, its chitinous body simply bouncing off the Pokemon's magma hide. An instant later Gilgamesh's rocks careen into the Pokemon, nearly causing the Pokemon to faint. In retaliation the Yanma begin fluttering rapidly, multiplying at a rapid rate before launching wave after wave of sonic energy at the Charmander. While he bears it well, a few small cracks do begin to appear in Gilgamesh's hide. Nike is able to dart forward as well, although this time the Yanma is able to get a quick blow in on her, causing the Electrike to begin to limp slightly as she fires off a wave of electricity.

The Yanmega, struggling to move under the effects of the paralysis, slowly begins to rise into the air, clutching a struggling Satomi close. While you were perhaps only six feet off the ground, the Yanmega's intention to simply carry you away is quite clear.

Yanmega drags Satomi higher!

AoO on Gilgamesh! Miss!
AoO on Nike! Hit, 20 damage, 1 Injury

Yanma 1 uses Sonicboom! It misses!
Yanma 2 uses Sonicboom! 15 damage to Gilgamesh!

SPEED BOOSTS

Also, don't forget that you need to spend CP to have Charmanders use non-At-Will Moves. Check the Charmander mechanics page for clarification.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"A favor from a Knight?" Krueger says with a low whistle. "Now that's something worth wagering over. I'll gladly collect on that," Krueger says, pausing her idle bouncing of her Pokeball to fling it outwards, releasing a small yellow Pokemon with a spiny head that appears to still be trapped in the egg it hatched from. The Pokemon glowers at you as its released, slamming two tiny fists together. As you look at it you notice that the shell is covered in red and blue triangles that perfectly match the design on the rebel's uniforms.

"Now then Harry," Krueger says. "Show me what a Knight can do."

There's one quick cheer for Krueger before the crowd goes quiet, staring at you.

Go ahead and release and take your turn! You're faster no matter what.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Cold enough to kill you and full of Pokemon that will try to," Riley says in response to your question about the water. "I'd try to keep actual swimming to a minimum, even if we find something big enough to carry you. The stuff that lives here can more or less handle it but, well, you're not quite a Seel, are you?" Riley jokes. After your brief discussion you're able to call it a day. While the bed was slightly hard, the sheets were far warmer than they would have seemed. You slowly faded into dreams, with each breath taking you further and further from your body.

You awoke the next morning in your old farmhouse to the smell of your mother's cooking wafting up from the kitchen. Lily was curled up in a tiny green ball next to you, the baby Gogoat's side slowly rising and falling as she slumbered. You were just barely awake when a sharp knock raps on your door a few times, before Gerald pokes his head in, a wide grin on his prepubescent face.

"Lori! Mom made pancakes! Hurry up!" your brother cries enthusiastically before dashing downstairs.

[Arcran]

Neils

Nox darts forward, covered in water, only for the candle to simply turn intangible at the last second, the Poliwag careening harmlessly through. An instant later the creature's candle flickers oddly, and ghostly lights surround Nox, causing him to teeter about in confusion for a moment.

As your mind clears, you find yourself able to finally think rationally for a brief moment. So far the battle had given you quite a bit of evidence: limited intelligence, phasing, a heavy emphasis on Confusion and, of course, the fact that these Pokemon seemed to be continually referencing the fact that they were dead. Going off the facts, you'd would guess that the creatures were a Ghost Type Pokemon, despite their alleged non-existence. That would explain why the Pokeball had failed to work, at the very least. According to legend, Ghosts could phase through damn near anything. If they could handle a wall, why not a Pokeball? Determining the exact kind of spirit you were up against was slightly more difficult, although you were almost positive you'd heard a legend of a ghostly Pokemon that survived by burning away the souls of its victims. If so, the flaming vortex around you was likely not a good sign.

Nox misses!

Litwick 3 hits Nox with Confuse Ray!
Nox is Confused!

Litwick 2 wakes up!

[Zelphas]

I was going to use 2 CP last round, but I completely forgot to note it. Sorry!

As the Yanmega begins to carry Satomi off, gruesome stories about the large bug Pokemon's preferred method of eating prey flash through her mind before she quietly suppresses them. See if you can make the Yanmega drop me with an Incinerate please, Gilgamesh-chan, she sends over the mental link, her inner voice shaking only slightly. "Nike, Thunder Fang!" she directs, struggling to point at the already-weakened Yanma.

Gilgamesh eyes Satomi dubiously as she struggles, but dutifully steps forward, releasing a jet of bright yellow flame towards the huge bug in the air. Meanwhile, Nike once more races across the ground, her body crackling with pent-up energy.

Satomi

Move Action: Ha ha.

Standard Action: Keep on wiggling: [roll0]

Nike

Move Action: Shift to C7.

Standard Action: Thunder Fang on Yanma 2.
Accuracy: [roll1] vs. 3+ Evasion
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: [roll3]
[roll4] on an 18 or 19; 1 is Flinched, 2 is Paralyzed.

Gilgamesh

Using 0 CP this round.

Move Action: Shift to G9.

Standard Action: Use Incinerate on the Yanmega.
Accuracy: [roll5] vs. 2+Evasion (plus Double Team, probably)
Damage: [roll6] (-5 already taken out due to Charmander Rules)
If Crit: [roll7]
On a hit, the target must immediately drop what they're holding (Satomi!) or lose a Tick of HP.

[Elyander]

Harisson smirks at the answer, satisfied she has agreed to the terms. He then watches as she releases the first pokémon with a quizzical look, although he's really excited to see an unfamiliar creature. "Well, it's nice to see something new but... are you sure it's ready to battle? It seems really young..." he says with a smile, ushering Carina closer. "Although, Carina here is not very old either and was quite capable after leaving her egg, so I imagine she would be a fair opponent. What do you say, girl?"

The charmander answers with an excited flight around her trainer, before taking her position on the arena and growling as well, wisps of flame escaping her mouth. Harisson bows and gesture towards his opponent. "Let's have some fun, shall we? I'll allow you the first attack," he says graciously, while telepathically ordering his pokémon."Carina, focus now. Let's see what it can do then attack at full power, ok?"

Actions
Carina, I choose you!

Harisson binds Reckless Advance on Carina.
Carina is flying 3 meters above ground and uses Focus Energy on the first round.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Nox darts forward, covered in water, only for the candle to simply turn intangible at the last second, the Poliwag careening harmlessly through. An instant later the creature's candle flickers oddly, and ghostly lights surround Nox, causing him to teeter about in confusion for a moment.

As your mind clears, you find yourself able to finally think rationally for a brief moment. So far the battle had given you quite a bit of evidence: limited intelligence, phasing, a heavy emphasis on Confusion and, of course, the fact that these Pokemon seemed to be continually referencing the fact that they were dead. Going off the facts, you'd would guess that the creatures were a Ghost Type Pokemon, despite their alleged non-existence. That would explain why the Pokeball had failed to work, at the very least. According to legend, Ghosts could phase through damn near anything. If they could handle a wall, why not a Pokeball? Determining the exact kind of spirit you were up against was slightly more difficult, although you were almost positive you'd heard a legend of a ghostly Pokemon that survived by burning away the souls of its victims. If so, the flaming vortex around you was likely not a good sign.

Nox misses!

Litwick 3 hits Nox with Confuse Ray!
Nox is Confused!

Litwick 2 wakes up!

Neils gave a small curse. He'd supsected that Ghost might not just be a type of energy manipulation, but it was unfortunate that he found this out now ... especially if these Pokemon were as malevolent as they seemed. They semisentient, and he wondered briefly if he could engage them in a discussion to try and drag some information about his own predicament out of them. However, with the battle on what must seem like an even playing field, he doubted they'd be willing to talk.

Which meant that it was time to put them on a time.

Rem: Poison the one that's still asleep. Morpheus, focus your fire on the injured one, but start softening up its ally!


Neils:
Vortex Damage counted on tracker
Focused Command Order on Morpheus
[roll0] Vortex escape DC 12

Rem
Confusion Roll [roll1] on 1, 2 ticks of damage counted on tracker
Escape confusion roll [roll2] DC 16
Use Toxic [roll3] AC 4 vs Litwick 1 (Vunerable due to sleep)
Badly Poison on hit

Morpheus
Poison Damage counted on tracker
[roll4] vs Litwick 2 AC 4 Flinch 15+ (1 AP spent, 3 remaining, 4th bound to Rem)
[roll5] Physical Damage
Swift: Misty Strikes vs Litwick 3 (2 CP spent, 2/4 remaining)


I'm so happy the good roll was used on the vulnerable one and the ****ty one used on the one with over 6 evasion

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana hadn't considered the temperature of the water. It might be a good idea to avoid it as best she could or else she might freeze out here. Still, these were problems for tomorrow. With any luck, that flash and her prayer would mean that something would happen when they arrived to end the stalemate.

---

When Aloriana woke up, she was instantly annoyed at her brother for waking her from her sleep. She was having a good dream and needed her rest for...something. She blinked her eyes open and called back,"I'm up, I'm up!" and reached down to pat Lily. Suddenly as she came down from her sleepy stupor, her head began to clear and she remembered the day before. Her mother was gone, Gerald was in prison, and she herself was on an island miles from home. This had to be another dream, right? She had never had one like this, only of the attack. Somehow she was more afraid of what she might see here, to be reminded of her happy life before everything changed.

Despite that fear, a part of her really wanted to relive these moments, even for a little while. Sometimes those memories seemed so far in the distant past; even if it was painful she'd play along. If it was anything like her other dreams, she'd have no choice in the matter anyways. "C-Comon Lily...we've got to get going." I was surreal to be talking to a younger version of her pokemon. Lori couldn't help but choke a bit on her words for the strangeness of the situation. She walked over to her dresser and mirror to get herself ready, pulling her hair into her usual ponytail. Curiously, she examined her reflection in the mirror and her searched for her jeweled hairpins. Chriantha? Can you hear me?

Regardless of the reply, Aloriana slowly walks out of her room, unsure what she is going to find there.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Nike leaps forward with thunderbolts pouring out of her mouth before clamping down on the Yanma, bringing it heavily to the ground. It twitches slightly as it lies on the ground unconscious, and it's clear that it won't be flying anytime soon. Gilgamesh shoots forth a mighty jet of flame that causes the Yanmega to screech before dropping Satomi to the ground. While the fall wasn't high, it did cause Satomi to roll her angle slightly on the awkward landing.

The Yanmega buzzes angrily, glaring at the Charmander that had forced him to release his prey. Its eyes flash as stones appear all around it to buffet the Charmander, although the bug seems greatly confused when the blows hardly seem to affect the Magma-Type Pokemon. The other Yanma, clearly infuriated, flies forward into Nike, ramming its body into the Electrike and sending the small green Pokemon sliding unconscious across the ground.

Satomi falls! Satomi takes 11 fall damage!

Yanmega uses Ancient Power! It's a hit!
39 damage, 14 after defenses/Type

Yanma uses Tackle on Nike! Hit!
29 damage, 22 after defenses.
KO! 1 Injury.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"That's quite chivalrous of you," Krueger says with a mock bow. "Chivalrous, but stupid. Tipsy, fry their brain!" Krueger states. The tiny egg puts its stumpy hands against the sides of its heads before its eyes glow pink, causing Carina to cry out in pain. Over your shared link you could feel the Pokemon's senses being absolutely flooded with extra information, completely overloading her brain.

Togepi uses Extrasensory for 31 damage! 26 after Defenses.

[Arcran]

Neils

Rem manages to settle a cloud of toxic mist over one of the candles, causing its light to dim considerably. Morpheus, on the other hand, is slightly less successful, with the candle shrinking away from his psychic headbutt quite easily.

The nightmare's companion is weak, weaker than those that burned us. He is inconsequential, the voices say hauntingly before reaching out with shadowy energy towards Nox, the Poliwag shrieking in agony at the foreign touch.

Neils, we can't wear these down forever, Morpheus says over your bond as he coughs. We need to end this soon!

Both Litwicks use Night Shade on Nox for 20 damage each! Both hit!

Ticks and such are done all over the place!

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Lily hops eagerly out of bed, young legs shaking as she takes a few unsure steps across the wooden floor, bleating softly at the door as you pause to look in the mirror. As you see yourself you can tell that you're appropriately young given how old Gerald had appeared to be. The too-long hair that your mother teased you about, the perpetual bruises on your legs from playing with Lily. Everything was exactly how your remembered it, except for the small jeweled hairpin. However, when you reach out to speak to Chriantha you feel nothing.

You walk out of your room to see a familiar hall, which leads to a familiar set of stairs, which in turn leads to a familiar kitchen. As you slowly walk in you spot your mother, humming softly as she flips pancakes while your father cleans dishes.

"Lori, would it kill you to brush your hair?" your mother asks with a sigh, before placing a plate of pancakes in front of you. Across the table Gerald was already tearing into his. "Now hurry up! I need you and Gerald to help me in town today, alright?"

Roll me a Focus or Intuition check please.

[Zelphas]

Satomi landed heavily, quickly putting her weight off of her twisted ankle. She grimaces as Nike falls, quickly recalling the Electrike. "Well done, Nike. Rest now."

Satomi looks over the field, eyeing the Yanmega speculatively. I wonder how much it differs from a Yanmega in the future... Gilgamesh, strike the other Yanma with Ancientpower, if you please. I wish to try an experiment. Satomi's hand twitches towards the empty PokeBalls in her bag, but she grabs out a Super Potion instead, first spraying it over Gilgamesh's stony hide.

Gilgamesh stomps at the ground again, eyeing Satomi quizzically even as the glowing stones streak towards the Yanma on the ground.

Satomi

Move Action: Recall Nike.

Standard Action: Use a Super Potion on Gilgamesh; he heals 35 HP, and Satomi has 5 DR until next round.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Ancientpower on the remaining Yanma.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
On 19+ raise all Gilgamesh's CS by 1.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Rem manages to settle a cloud of toxic mist over one of the candles, causing its light to dim considerably. Morpheus, on the other hand, is slightly less successful, with the candle shrinking away from his psychic headbutt quite easily.

The nightmare's companion is weak, weaker than those that burned us. He is inconsequential, the voices say hauntingly before reaching out with shadowy energy towards Nox, the Poliwag shrieking in agony at the foreign touch.

Neils, we can't wear these down forever, Morpheus says over your bond as he coughs. We need to end this soon!

Both Litwicks use Night Shade on Nox for 20 damage each! Both hit!

Ticks and such are done all over the place!

I know, but none of our attacks are landing. It isn't like we haven't been aggressive, they're just damned hard to hit. They'd trained in low light settings to work on accuracy before, but Neils wondered briefly if they needed to spend some more time on it.

He quickly ripped open a pack of trail rations and bit into it, knowing it had been imbued with healing herbs. The burns were nearly enough to force him into unconsciousness, but it wasn't so bad as when they fought M. Go for another attack, but take your time and try to hit. He switched to full voice commands and had Nox once more trying to slam water into the candle.

Tracker says Nox is confused, but it should be Rem

Everyone's attacking L2 this round. If he goes down, they switch to L3.

Neils: Standard eat Trail Rations
Shift: None
Swift: None
Vortex DC 8 [roll0]

Nox uses waterfall
[roll1] Flinch 19+
[roll2]
[roll3] on crit.

Morpheus: Thunderpunch (poison damage on tracker)
[roll4] Para 19+
[roll5]
On crit [roll6]

[Elyander]

Harisson tries not to wince at the sensory overload, disguising it as a smirk. "Not really, just trying to analyze what it can do. Psychic, huh?" he asks curiously, as he was not expecting that. Good thing he didn't start with Cepheus. "Ok, Carina, since it can attack, so can you. Go big," he orders simply, watching as Carina also smirks.

As an arrow, she dashes forwards, gathering speed as she moves before quickly spinning around to buffet the enemy in a hurricane of wings and claws. She stops behind the fairy pokémon, landing on the ground with before readjusting her position to face the foe.


Harisson uses Brutal Training Orders.

Carina shifts
Carina uses Acrobatics + Acceleration.
AC 2, Critical on 14+, Trips on 16+
Accuracy Roll: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Flying, Physical damage
Critical: [roll2]
If it hits, Carina is Vulnerable. Since she was 3 squares above ground, flying in a straight line to Togepi should be 5 squares, so that's what I added to damage for Acceleration. Adjust as necessary xD

If the first attack fails, this also happens:
Harisson uses Strike Again! [shift action]

Carina uses Acrobatics again.
AC 2, Critical on 14+, Trips on 16+
Accuracy Roll: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] Flying, Physical damage
Critical: [roll5]
If it hits, Carina is Vulnerable.

[CateranEnforcer]

This was surreal. It couldn't be happening. The emotions hit Aloriana like a hammer to the gut. Even if she knew it was a dream, it was too real. It was the worst one yet, knowing that this is the life she once had. Maybe if she could forget anything ever happened, she'd be content to live in this moment forever.

What moment was this exactly though? Was this simply a construct of her mind or did this actually happen in the past? The farm girl racked her brain to remember while she tried to push back the lump in her throat. She was expected to answer here, she needed to be stronger than she was back then and not cry. Instead she calmly walks over to hug Roslyn far longer than might be considered normal. "Y-you know it'll just get messed up anyways," she manages to say before sitting down. That sounds like something she would say. Her stomach didn't feel well enough to eat anything, but she did try to sneak some of her meal down to Lily instead.

For a moment, she began to wonder if this was a dream or something else, but at the moment she didn't have the strength to fight it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just enjoy the memories for a little while. Taking a deep breath, Aloriana tries to collect herself and begins to try to work this out. Until she could figure this out, she'll play along.

I'm actually assuming the focus check is to help remember or determine the nature of this dream so we can use that. If not, I want to try to figure that out! She will try to figure out when this is in the time line. I know ages and all that can be a bit wonky so if you need to bounce some ideas for reference off me, let me know. At the moment I think I'm guessing at roughly a 12 or 13 year old Gerald (prepubescent?) putting Lori at around 9 or 10. Bernard being a year older than Lori and Vince being a year older than Gerald. I guess I never ended up throwing all those details in the backstory (Who knew they would come up?!) I imagine the attack occurring when Lori was 14, putting Bernard at 15, Gerald at 17, Vince at 18 and Lilian at 4. Adding 3 years to all of that would make them present day. Anyways, hope that helps! Sorry for rambling and I don't mind changing a few of those details to fit the story better!

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Yanma agilely darts around the rocks flung by Gilgamesh, buzzing angrily. With a few quick flaps of its wings another concussive wave of sound slams into Gilgamesh, but the Charmander completely ignores the attack. An instant later the Yanmega floats to a lower altitude, rapidly buzzing its wings as well, but both Satomi and Gilgamesh are able to easily shrug off the blow, much to the confusion of the two Pokemon.

While the attacks from the two giant insects had been loud, they didn't quite compare to the roar that you hear far in the distance a moment later.

Two Nat 1s by the bad guys. You're up!

[Arcran]

Neils

Nox darts forward in a mighty jet of water, finally putting one of the Litwick down. Morpheus isn't quite as successful, with the wax barely melting from the electric fist, but clearly finally getting some meager damage on the Ghost Pokemon. Still, both Pokemon pay for their strike; as they pull away small purple flames begin to float around the duo, singing their skin with each pass.

With one of their number fallen the other two ghostly candles seem to grow in size, before the conscious one sends a tornado of flame at Nox, barely catching the Poliwag in the vortex. While the flames don't seem to be doing much to the Water Type, the lack of oxygen is slowly rendering him unconscious.

Both Litwick activate Flame Body! Burns for Morpheus and Nox.

10 Toxic damage to 1, as well as Nightmare Mist.

Litwick 3 hits Nox with Fire Spin! 38 damage, 17 after resist/Special Defense.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Krueger lets out a low whistle as Carina slams into her egg-shaped Pokemon, sending it flying across the arena, clearly unconscious.

"You sure that thing is just a Charmander?" the woman asks, kicking a second Pokeball up to her hand before flinging out another Pokeball, this time to reveal a Pokemon with similar coloring and marking, although this time it seems to have replaced the eggshell with an elongated neck as well as a pair of tiny wings. "I suppose it was a bit arrogant to lead with a hatchling, but I had to make sure you weren't completely incompetent. Hopefully this one proves to be a bit more of a challenge."

Krueger releases Togetic! You're faster again.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

As you look around the dream, you begin to notice the familiarity of it all. It took a few seconds but it slowly dawned on you that this wasn't a dream, but a memory. You remembered this day, albeit barely. It hadn't been notable, but you were almost certain that this had actually occurred.

"Only if you don't tie it right," your mother says with a sigh, untying your sloppy ponytail and swiftly tying it back up, far tighter than you'd bothered to do. "There. Now that's-"

"STRONG ENOUGH," a metallic voice says, and you're no longer in your home. Instead, you were in a dark cave, with a massive shape towering over you. Seven red dots glared down at you from above, before you were once again in your childhood home.

"Lori? Are you alright?" your mother asks in concern as she puts a hand to your forehead. "Are you feeling sick?" Concerned wrinkles cover your mother's face as she looks into your eyes, gently checking your temperature. "You can stay home, I'm sure Gerald and I can handle the errands."

[Zelphas]

Satomi ignores the buffeting of the Pokemon, the roar of the creature in the distance shaking her out of her earlier plans. Gilgamesh-chan, it seems that we may have company soon. Please finish off the Yanmega with Fire Fang; hopefully that will convince the Yanma to flee.

Gilgamesh leaps up at the Yanmega, magma teeth burning bright.

Satomi

No actions at the moment. Poke Edu to discern the identity of the roar: [roll0] (add 3 if Fossil)

Gilgamesh

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Use Fire Fang on the Yanmega.
Accuracy: [roll1] vs. 3+Evasion
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: [roll3]
On 18-19: [roll4] Flinched on 1, Burned on 2.

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles as the Togepi is defeated. "Great job, girl, but don't let your guard down. Let's amp it a bit," he telepathically conveys to the charmander, before turning to Krueger. "I guess it's clear she's not 'just' a charmander, right? Allow us to show just how special she is. Carina, full attack, no holding back."

Carina ducks to gather impulse before leaping at the togetic, releasing flames that envelop her. She collides with the other pokemon, quickly turning around to hit it once more in a conflagration.

Harisson uses Brutal Training and Strike Again [standard action for Commander's Voice]

Carina used Flame Wheel.
AC 2, Critical on 14+, Trips on 16+, Burns on 17+
Accuracy Roll: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Fire, Physical damage
Critical: [roll2]

Carina uses Flame Wheel again [Strike Again]
AC 2, Critical on 14+, Trips on 16+, Burns on 17+
Accuracy Roll: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] Fire, Physical damage
Critical: [roll5]

If any attack hits, Carina is Vulnerable for 1 round

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Both Litwick activate Flame Body! Burns for Morpheus and Nox.

10 Toxic damage to 1, as well as Nightmare Mist.

Litwick 3 hits Nox with Fire Spin! 38 damage, 17 after resist/Special Defense.


Neils quickly signaled for Nox and Morpheus to lay off their assault. Too much stress now would only hurt them more. He woluld have recalled Nox if not for that pesky cyclone of fire, which prompted Neils to silently thank Moltres that he'd copied down the notes. There was no way the documents would survive this battle.

With Rem still confused from the start of the battle and his two other Pokemon on the rocks, he slammed Zepar's Pokeball quickly. As the Kadabra materialized, he quickly linked with it telepathically. Thought you might enjoy some target practice Zepar, he thought. They're ghosts, meaning your most polished attack should cause them a world of hurt.

Zepar, ever the sadist, obliged. He held out his spoon, and light seemed to fade from the room as darkness coalesced in it. He gave what seemed to be a delicate flick, sending the ball of entropic energy towards the still woken Litwick.



Neils:
Shift: Release Zepar
Standard: Focused Orders Zepar
Vortex Roll [roll0] DC 4

Zepar: Shadow Ball vs Litwick 3
[roll1] or 3 if I can spend AP on it.
[roll2]

Morpheus: no actions

Nox Vortex Roll DC 20 [roll3], No actions

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana sat still while Roslyn adjusted her hair. It actually was pretty nice to have someone to mother her, even for just a moment. Again, she felt a wave sadness come over her as she thought about how she'd been doing her hair own hair without help for three years now.

The feeling didn't last long as the scenery suddenly changed. She was brought back to full alert and reached for her sword, but realized that Bernard hadn't even made it yet, much less gifted it to her. Something was going on here beyond a simple memory and despite the warm feelings she might have from remembering her family as it once was, she had to keep in mind that things were different now. Aloriana was on a mission and this was a part of it.

When the scene changed once more, she must have looked different. This time she needed to think. What happened on this day? What was she supposed to see here and how could she get out of this nightmare? All she knew is that staying home was not her style, with the often competitive nature of her siblings. "I'm fine Mom, I can help! I don't want Gerald to go without me!" Aloriana forced herself to wriggle from her mother's grasp like she might have done in the past, despite her desire to simply sit there forever. Whatever was going to happen, certainly it wouldn't happen in her room.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh launches himself into the air, droplets of magma spraying all around as he clamps down on the Yanmega, pulling it to the ground with him. The Pokemon struggles for a moment before going still, and with a shake of his head Gilgamesh lets go. The final Yanma seems to lose its will to fight after the attack, flying away far faster than you could possibly keep pace with, even if Nike had been conscious.

Well, that was annoying, Gilgamesh mutters, spitting a piece of molten carapace from his mouth. Barely even edible. Good to know some things are the same here.

Unfortunately, the identity of whatever Pokemon had roared is beyond you. You do, however, notice the herd of Pokemon in the distance apparently tightening up, likely in response to the Pokemon's roar.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Carina darts forward with a vengeance, wreathed in a coat of flame before slamming into the other Pokemon, knocking it back and clearly injuring it. When Carina goes in for her second strike it seems as if she might finish off the strange Pokemon right here, until a sharp whistle from Krueger allows the Pokemon to flutter out of the way.

"Good, but not good enough. Bo, Aerial Ace!' Krueger cries, grinning as the strange Pokemon flies back and forth rapidly before slamming into Carina, sending the Charmander heavily into the ground.

Togetic uses Aerial Ace! 52 damage pre-Defense. 47 after. 3 Injuries.

[Arcran]

Neils

Zepar's momentary confusion turns into a sort of smug satisfaction when he realizes the situation. Glady, the Kadabra says in your mind before firing a shadowy orb of energy at the remaining conscious candle, its flame vanishing as the shadowy orb connects. The final candle opens its eyes, wide awake, just in time for them to close and its flame to fall as well. It would appear that Rem's mist had finally taken its toll.

With the ghosts finally defeated the air in the basement began to clear, Morpheus' mist and the candle's toxic smog diffusing bit by bit.

Hopefully that was all of them, Morpheus says over your bond, although you could tell even your Charmander knew that was impossible.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Your mom laughs lightly as you wiggle free, walking over to the counter where she grabs a large knife, focusing on a pile of vegetables. Your mother begins to chop them, still making conversation as she does so. "I suppose I could always use another helper. After all,"

"REMEMBER" the voice intones, different than last time. It was deeper and gravely, and this time this seven dots were arranged differently. Before you could react, you were once again back in your kitchen.

"what happened last time just Gerald went with me?" your mother says, earning a groan from your brother. "I must have had to apologize to that poor shopkeeper a hundred times!"

Roll me another Focus please.

[Zelphas]

Satomi watches the herds bunch together in the distance, still puzzling at the roar from before. Indeed, the Yanma line seems to have been untouched, in form and temperament, for millenia, she responds distractedly to Gilgamesh, scanning the area for a better vantage point. It seems that there is a large predator approaching; I am not sure of it's Type. We should continue towards the Mountain, but if an Ancient Pokemon can be seen that did not survive into the modern age as Fossil or creature, I would very greatly wish to see it.

She moves towards higher ground, trying to be as quiet as she can to avoid drawing attention to herself. As she goes, she speculates with Gilgamesh. The Yanma line is not terribly prevalent in modern-day Cinnabar, if I recall correctly, Giglamesh-chan. Do you suppose that our actions may have contributed, albeit in a small way, to their scarcity? Building on that; do you think that we are changing what happened in the past? Or are we simply tracing a path that already occurred in our future, simply ensuring that the present that we know will come to be?

Satomi

Stealth: [roll0]

Perception: [roll1]

Survival (to find a good vantage point, maybe?): [roll2]

Gilgamesh

Stealth: [roll3]

Perception: [roll4]

[Elyander]

Harisson cringes as the togetic knocks Carina down, making a serious face as he advances into the circle to carefully grab his charmander, gently plancing her ono his shoulder and returning to his position. "Since you are getting more serious, I believe I can do the same," he says simply, grabbing a pokéball and throwing it to release Columba at the center of the arena.

"Columba, supposedly it's a fairy. Let's put it to the test with a charged metal wing, shall we?" he orders, barely looking as the tranquill starts flapping her wings ferociously. He was more concerned about Carina, knowing that Columba could easily handle the enemy ahead of her. It had been a surprise how strong the pokémon was, and when he wins the fight that could likely be the one he claims to add on his team. While he considers that, Columba's wings shine with a silvery glow as she propels herself towards the enemy leaving a trail of energy behind her, but the pokémon once again manages to dodge the attack.

Harisson uses Brutal Training as an Order.

Columba uses Steel Wing.
AC 3, Critical on 16+
Accuracy Check: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Steel, Physical damage (+5 if togetic is female)
Critical: [roll2]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Zepar's momentary confusion turns into a sort of smug satisfaction when he realizes the situation. Glady, the Kadabra says in your mind before firing a shadowy orb of energy at the remaining conscious candle, its flame vanishing as the shadowy orb connects. The final candle opens its eyes, wide awake, just in time for them to close and its flame to fall as well. It would appear that Rem's mist had finally taken its toll.

With the ghosts finally defeated the air in the basement began to clear, Morpheus' mist and the candle's toxic smog diffusing bit by bit.

Hopefully that was all of them, Morpheus says over your bond, although you could tell even your Charmander knew that was impossible.

For now at least, Neils thouht back, bending over to apply some poultices and potions to his team. Rem simply floated, eyes closed, absorbing light from her surroundings to slowly knit her wounds back together. Then he picked up the pokeball he'd thrown, wishing it had captured one ... or at least interrogated it. Associated with Darkrai and a powerful Pokemon in battle? That seemed like a crack combination to him.

Ah well, he thought as he nursed his own wounds - those burns hurt. At least the mages sent me to the right place.

So what's your game Darkrai? He rubbed the back of his hand thoughtfully. Am I wed to the nightmare?I certainly hope I'm not wed to that amorphous sludge. But they didn't seem the smartest in the world. Next time I won't let them get away so easily.

He returned most of his team, leaving out only Morpheus. Zepar might actually be the most useful mon on his team here, but he was also rather frail. No use risking him in a sneak attack.

Assuming he managed to escape from the room successfully, he did a quick check of the outside area before heading to the berry patch.


Full Heals: Nox and Morpheus
Super Potion: Nox
Rem uses Moonlight

[roll0] Perception

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana began to relax again, now that she had a plan to see what there was to see at the market. However, when she once again saw the dark cave she became extremely worried. She felt like she had been lured into a false sense of security by this memory. As appealing as it was to relive happier moments for once, it seemed clear that something wasn't going to let her. She had to do something; she didn't know what, just something.

Moving more quickly than might be considered proper table etiquette. "I'm just going to go put Lily up. Be right back!" She scoops up the Skiddo calf and heads for the door. Gosh the house looks bigger than i remember. Was I really this little? She wasn't actually sure what good this would do, but staying still and following the script might lead her into danger. This was not any ordinary dream, and she had to take control somehow.


Once outside, Aloriana is going to look for anything out of the ordinary, trying to break out of the memory.
Perception [roll0]

Focus as requested as well [roll1]

[Arcran]

Satomi

A thought of some concern, Gilgamesh says, clearly out of his depth with the question. For all we know, without us coming here Cinnabar would never begin. What if we help create The Mountain? Gilgamesh asks with a small amount of idle curiosity. Still, just to be safe, why don't we avoid any Charizard we see like the plague. I'd hate to accidentally kill my great-grandfather, the Charmander states, still joking but with a serious note present. Assume the latter, just for our own safety? Unless there's a way for us to get proof without returning to the present, of course.

Yourself and Gilgamesh are soon able to find a small rise that the two of you easily scale, giving you a fairly good view of the nearby area. Between yourself and The Mountain was a large, grassy field, with a few small herds of Pokemon moving about. You couldn't identify all of them from this distance, but you could at least recognize Aurorus and Shieldon among the groups. Whatever was continually making the colossal roar was nowhere to be seen, despite your best efforts to locate it.

Satomi-san, can I propose a short break? Gilgamesh inquires, staring at the edge of the ridge. I would be very much in favor of a meal.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"More serious than a Charizard-in-Waiting?" Krueger says in mock surprise. "Bo, watch your left," the woman states, just in time for the strange Pokemon to do a quick aileron roll, blocking Columba's iron wing completely. "Type Advantage makes little difference when you can't strike. Bo, Fairy Wind!" the large woman cries, causing the Pokemon to whip its wings forward, pink gusts of wind flying towards Columba. Fortunately, your Starter easily deflects them with a flap of her own wings, remaining completely unscathed.

[Arcran]

Neils

Bring me out to play soon, Zepar says, looking at the unconscious Ghost greedily as you return him. I'd hate to miss out on the party.

As much as you may wish otherwise, the back of your hand proves impervious to your interrogations. Morpheus looked at you as you touched it, clearly concerned for your well-being. Be careful, the Charmander says, touching your leg lightly before climbing up the ladder after you, once again returning to the watchtower. As you look around, you notice two things. One, that the sun was already setting, and you were nearly certain that you had not been on the island long enough for that to be possible and two, that the skeleton's Pokeball was now missing.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Alright honey! Be back-"

"SOON," the voice intones, the eyes arranged in a cross and yellow this time, although the cave remains the same.

Before you can blink you're back on your farm, Lilly wriggling against you as you carry her. "And make sure to clear your place before you leave!" you hear your mom shout behind you.

When you leave the door, you're surprised to find yourself become suddenly older. Lily was heavy enough that carrying her was difficult, and you were at least a year or two older. Your mother was currently sparring with Vince. You were surprised to see your older brother apparently pushing the advantage against your mother, until you noticed the confident smirk on her face and the fact that she was using her left hand. You could tell she was going all-out, albeit with a rather large handicap, and barely keeping up with your brother until she manages to lock swords with him and, in a flurry of steel, disarm him.

Combat please!

[Zelphas]

Unfortunately, I think not, Satomi replies to the first part of Gilgamesh's statements, gazing over the field with no small amount of awe. Unless I am much mistaken we are far before recorded history; there is no method I can think of to gauge what we have done to the past until we return to the present.

The lack of the roaring creature worries her--something making that much noise must be enormous if it is still out of view--but she brushes it aside for the moment, focusing on the Pokemon herds below. A rest and a meal would not be amiss, Satomi agrees, looking over the herd of Shieldon especially. I believe I still have a few rations in my satchel; or would you prefer to catch your own dinner? My own curiosity is pressing me to attempt a capture of a Shieldon, though it would be rather unwise ot anger the entire pack.

Perception to spot either one or a group of Shieldon out on their own: [roll0]

Poke Edu to see if the Shieldon differ from their Fossilized resurrections: [roll1]

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles as Columba nulifies the attack. "As you can see, while Carina is indeed a powerful partner, she still lacks a bit in experience. That's the 'in-training' part. Columba, on the other hand..." he says, watching as the tranquil reorients herself to attack once more. "Show them what a real wind attack is like, girl. Air Cutter!"

Columba flaps her wings with force, getting stronger by the second before suddenly increasing the speed, coalescing the air into sharp blades of pressure that fly towards the togetic, unerrlingly.

Harisson uses Brutal Training Order.

Columba uses Air Cutter.
Air Cutter - AC 2, Critical on 14+
Accruacy Roll: 11 (roll (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21785163&postcount=1067))
Damage: [roll0] Flying, Special damage (+5 if togetic is female)

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Bring me out to play soon, Zepar says, looking at the unconscious Ghost greedily as you return him. I'd hate to miss out on the party.

As much as you may wish otherwise, the back of your hand proves impervious to your interrogations. Morpheus looked at you as you touched it, clearly concerned for your well-being. Be careful, the Charmander says, touching your leg lightly before climbing up the ladder after you, once again returning to the watchtower. As you look around, you notice two things. One, that the sun was already setting, and you were nearly certain that you had not been on the island long enough for that to be possible and two, that the skeleton's Pokeball was now missing.

Neils cursed softly when he saw the sun descending below the horizon. This makes no sense, he thought. We aren't nearly far enough south for the day to be so short. This island ... Well there was definitely something strange going on, and he knew that Darkrai lay at the center of it.

He briefly considered his options: venture out in the dark, or spend the night in the tower. And while he wasn't particularly keen on staying where the ghosts were, he didn't think that there were a ton of options at his disposal. His team needed rest, and so did he. He flipped through his cleanse tags quickly, before coming to a decision.

He descended the ladder once more into the study. A minute or two shouldn't have been long enough for the ghosts to wake up, so he decided to see if he could contain them for safekeeping.


Neils quickly uncapped three of his collection jars and scooped one of the candles into each, sealing the lids tightly. Once they were secured, he slapped three of the cleanse tags that he'd gotten from his mysterious benefactor onto them. That should keep them ... he thought, but decided to set a guard for the night anyways. He placed the three Pokemon on the ground so that he could see both them and the ladder at the same time, but not so close that someone could snag them without crossing part of the floor. Then he set up his lightstone so that it shone on both the jars and the entryway.

He quickly wrapped some bandages around his burns, hoping to patch himself a bit over the night. Then he released his team. While he explained the strange celestial abnormalities forcing them to quit the day early, he began creating a makeshift bed and explaining the protocols for the night.

We'll take turns sleeping and sitting guard. I can take the first watch. When you're on lookout, wake me if anything happens, including if the ghosts wake up. If the ghosts wake up and escape those barriers or if someone enters, raise cane and get everyone awake for the battle. I don't trust this place to be safe, so don't let your guard down. He also formed a quick link with each member of the team, cementing his connection so that it transcended distance and allowed him to share their senses.

[CateranEnforcer]

Oh, so this is how it's going to be. Aloriana was caught off guard as the thoughtscape changed. At least she had Lily here with her; even if she was a memory she had remained consistent. She was reliving another different memory now, one that brought a smile to her face. She had remembered sparring with her parents and brothers many times despite their age and size differences. Why these memories though?

The three phrases she he encountered so far, what did they mean? Strong enough, Soon, Remember. That didn't tell her much. Maybe there was more to seen here, more that the wanted to show. Or maybe she was just being tortured by reliving these memories. Seeing her mother alive and well again, and it all looked so real. Too real.

Fighting back her myriad of emotions, she set Lily down and walks up to mother and her brother. "Wow that move was great!" Even though she knew it was a memory, she was genuinely impressed. She was still leery of another transition, however. Alright, what's going to happen next, whoever it is who's out there.


Combat > Athletics
[roll0]

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Shieldon appear to be keeping a fairly rigid pack structure; every time they would begin to spread out too much another roar would echo through the area, causing the Shieldon and Bastidion to bundle up, massive shielded heads facing the forest. Still, there are a few smaller groups that form between the roars that you could likely handle well enough.

One would be useful, Gilgamesh agrees, sitting on the ground. I would just suggest caution when modifying the past. You could accidentally remove that fossil that you found, the Charmander states. And rations will suffice, at least until we find some prehistoric Magmar, the Charmander adds, half-sarcastic.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Columba's mighty gust connects with the Togetic, sending it careening down into the ground. Krueger gives you an appreciative nod, clearly at least somewhat impressed with your skills. She flings out her final Pokeball, revealing a Pokemon that looked nearly identical to the previous, although closer inspection quickly revealed that it was anything but. It appeared leaner, sleeker, and judging from the murmurs coming from the crowd, it was a rare day that Krueger would use it.

"Alright Tispy, time for us to get serious. Start this off with a Yawn," Krueger commands, nodding as the strange Pokemon yawns widely, causing Columba to do the same.

[Arcran]

Neils

The three Ghost Pokemon were rather easy to scoop into jars and, with the jar sealed tight and the Cleanse Tag applied, it was almost guaranteed that they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

Your Pokemon nod as you allow them to sleep. Nox collapses almost instantly, clearly worn out from his earlier battle, while Zepar adopts a meditative position, floating a few inches off of the ground. Rem floated to the ground amidst the books, shaking slightly with every breath. The only Pokemon that didn't go to sleep was Morpheus, who instead came and sat by your side, placing a tiny clawed hand on the back of your own.

He won't get you Neils, your Charmander says confidently, tail waving back and forth. We just fought three ghosts. How much worse than that can Darkrai be? Morpheus says with naive confidence, resting his head against your arm.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

As you watch the duel between your mother and your brother, you notice something odd. The instant before your mother disarmed your brother his sword was behaving oddly. It stuck to your mother's blade to an almost unnatural level, and seemed almost glued to her blade by the time your mother finished the move. Vince hadn't seemed to notice, and your mother wasn't making any significant reaction. You also know for a fact that you hadn't noticed this at the time; you were far to young and green in swordplay to notice so minute a detail.

"If you work hard, maybe someday you can pull it off and embarrass Vince," your mother says with a wink as she messes up your brother's hair. Vince mumbles under his breath as he tries to fix his hair, walking away angrily. Your mother seems about to go after him, but then thinks better of it. In a smooth motion she kicks your brother's sword up to her hands, holding the hilt out towards you.

"Why don't you show me how your practice has come?" your mother taunts, adopting a ready stance.

[Zelphas]

Satomi sighs slightly, sitting down upon the top of the hill and pulling out some rations to share with Gilgamesh. I suppose you are correct, she admitted. We did just agree that it would be better to pass through here as carefully as we can, to avoid any undue alteration of history. The Shieldon I have within my pack will suffice.

She looks over the herds in the field before her, simply gazing across the wild ancient Pokemon all gathered together. After this break, we will need to decide some way of bypassing these herds without disturbing them. My kind is likely unknown to these ancient Pokemon, and if they know of your they will fear you as the child of one of their greatest predators. We will need to find a discreet path around them to the Mountain.

She continues to watch for a short while after eating, hoping to see the roaring Pokemon appear among the herds and discover what it could be. Should it not arrive after a bit, Satomi stands, smoothing out her skirts again. Time is not of the essence, I suppose, but still there is no need to dawdle. Are you prepared to meet the Mountain again for the first time, Gilgamesh-chan?" she asks, a note of humor in her mental voice.

Survival to find the best path around the Pokemon herds: [roll0]

Stealth to keep from disturbing anything: [roll1]

[Elyander]

Harisson's joy for defeating the last pokémon is turned into a wince when Krueger releases the second togetic. He was hoping for something different than a flier, as his only other pokémon capable of fighting are Cepheus and Cassiopeia, both weak to the Flying type. And when she orders a sleep-inducing attack, Harisson hearts sunks a bit further. He'd have to take some risks.

"Columba, we've gotta do this quickly! Do what you need to hit. Steel Wing!" he orders, hoping the powerful super-effective attack is enough to at least severely hurt the enemy. Cepheus was quick and could finish it off, but it was a calculated gamble.

Harisson uses Brutal Training and binds Reckless Advance.

Carina uses Steel Wing!
AC 3, Raises Defense on 13+, Critical and Trips on 16+
Accuracy Roll: [roll0] (AP used)
Damage: [roll1] Steel, Physical damage (+5 if Tipsy is female)
Critical: [roll2]
If it hits, Columba is Vulnerable.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

The three Ghost Pokemon were rather easy to scoop into jars and, with the jar sealed tight and the Cleanse Tag applied, it was almost guaranteed that they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

Your Pokemon nod as you allow them to sleep. Nox collapses almost instantly, clearly worn out from his earlier battle, while Zepar adopts a meditative position, floating a few inches off of the ground. Rem floated to the ground amidst the books, shaking slightly with every breath. The only Pokemon that didn't go to sleep was Morpheus, who instead came and sat by your side, placing a tiny clawed hand on the back of your own.

He won't get you Neils, your Charmander says confidently, tail waving back and forth. We just fought three ghosts. How much worse than that can Darkrai be? Morpheus says with naive confidence, resting his head against your arm.

Unfortunately, Neils didn't share Morpheus's unshakable confidence. It can get in my head Morpheus, he thought to the Charmander as he scratched the purple Charmander on the neck, a spot he loved, I don't know that I can keep him out anymore. And I don't think a few uncoordinated attacks would help if it came to a battle. How am I supposed to fight a god?

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana quickly scooped up the sword on the ground. She vaguely remembered this moment, though she was not able to pick out the details. Now that she had better control over her power, maybe she could learn from this memory. She resolved to pay super close attention to the next few moments.

"You think I could learn that? I think you'll be surprised how much I've practiced." Aloriana didn't expect to win, but she was going to try her best. A bit unsteady in her younger, less fit body she took a guard stance facing her mother.

If it is needed for the sparring, here's a combat/athletics check. [roll0]

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh nods at your question, clearly amused. The two of you manage to easily make your way down the small bluff, quickly finding your way onto the large plains, and begin the long trek towards The Mountain. Fortunately, the terrain was rather easy, otherwise the hike would have been extremely difficult.

Keeping your distance from the various packs of Pokemon is rather simple, as none seem particularly interested in you and haven't seemed to have noticed Gilgamesh yet. Even when you're forced to pass within a few hundred yards of the Shieldon herds the Pokemon don't make any moves towards, instead simply continuing to graze. That is, except for one pack that, the second you come into sight, bunches up, massive shielded heads creating a wall. Still, it wouldn't have been particularly noteworthy except for the fact that as you neared the pack you felt a steady, rhythmic pulsing from your pack with every stride closer you came.

[Arcran]

Harisson

As Columa misses with her steeled wing and begins to doze off, Krueger allows herself a small grin as the crowd begins to cheer for their leader.

"Tipsy, let's use this little breather to our advantage. Think nasty thoughts," Krueger says with a smirk as a black aura appears around the Pokemon for a moment before you noticed a spike in the Pokemon's power.

Tipsy uses Nasty Plot!

You're up! Sleep is rolled at the end of your turn, so unless you have a way to force a wake up it'll happen then.

[Arcran]

Neils

Don't fight him, Morpheus says with a yawn, like the answer was obvious. We both know how smart you are, right? the Charmander continues, fading in and out of consciousness as he begins to sleep. Make somebody else fight him for you, or get him to go after somebody else. It can't be that hard, right? the Charmander asks. You just need a good plan, the Charmander finishes, before his eyes droop completely.

For a short time your watch is silent, and you begin to fade in and out of consciousness as well. The ghosts in the jars stay put, although one does flicker awake for a brief moment before falling unconscious once again. You were about to wake Rem for her watch when you heard a sharp knock from the hatch, causing Zepar's eyes to snap open, glowing with psionic energy.

It would appear we have a visitor. What exactly have you gotten us in to this time? Zepar accuses.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

The second you pick up the sword, you feel something wrong. Normally the blade would speak in its own peculiar way. Nothing major, but it would recognize your power and respond in kind. This blade, in sharp contrast, didn't respond to your touch at all. It was simply cold, unfeeling metal.

"With enough practice you might. It's not typically a move that comes easily," your mother taunts, tracing lazy loops with her sword as she takes a stance of her own. Without warning she sends a few slow, weak attacks your way that your younger body is barely able to knock away. Your mother nods appreciatively as she backs off for a moment, before coming in again only to once again be thwarted by your defense.

"You have been practicing," your mother says with a nod, clearly impressed so far. "But you always did leave your right open," she states before lunging forward, supremely overconfident. Of course, you had years of experience over this version of yourself, and were already moving the second your mother moved forward, leaving you open for a near-perfect counter against your mother.

Another Athletics/Combat please!

[Zelphas]

Satomi pauses, gazing at the bunched-up Shieldon. Hold a moment, Gilgamesh-chan. I feel that I may have just discovered the living form of the Fossil in my satchel. She flipped open her satchel, makign sure that the pulsing was coming from the Shieldon Fossil before drawing it out and looking it over. If it is so, we may be more pressed for time than I first thought; these herds were encased in an ancient lava flow that killed them.

Satomi looks over the Fossil minutely, hoping that she did not just cause a stampede by pulling out the bones of a Shieldon before a herd. I do not think there is a precedent for this case; I will need to write all of this down minutely when we return. I should have brought pad and paper, to take notes now. She takes a few more steps towards the Shieldon pack, careful to stay far enough away to avoid a charge and checking the Fossil as she goes.

Occult Edu on the pulsing (just in case there is precedent): [roll0]

Charm to look non-threatening to the Shieldon all around: [roll1]

[Elyander]

Harisson watches as Columba falls asleep and the enemy starts buffing itself with a serious expression. "What a cheap strategy..." he mumbles to himself, recalling Columba. With a second of thought, he releases Cepheus. Even though he wasn't sure how if it would be able to handle the togetic, just by recalling Columba he was giving his starter a second chance in the battle. And beedrills are more resilient than they look.

"Cepheus, get ready. I need you to be strong and merciless, now," he says calmly, while his pokémon takes a second to adjust to the new place and stare his enemy with his large eyes.

Harisson switches Columba for Cepheus [standard action]
Harisson binds Reckless Advance [swift action]

Cepheus can't move because he was recently switched

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana was extremely proud of herself for doing so well, even if her mother was going easy on her. It was only a memory, but it was kind of a chance to show her mom just how far she'd come. Really though, she wondered how much leeway this place had. Would it change if she didn't follow the script? Was this a dream in her head that would fill in the blanks? No, it had to be more than that. Those red eyes and ominous words had to be coming from someone.

But until she could see another path forward, she'd keep trying her luck here. She didn't get stronger by backing down to superior opponents. "Hah! Learned to watch it better since last time!" Aloriana moved to attack rather than simple defend, hoping to get her on the riposte. Even if she failed, she hoped to learn something.


Athletics [roll0] Ap Used!

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Don't fight him, Morpheus says with a yawn, like the answer was obvious. We both know how smart you are, right? the Charmander continues, fading in and out of consciousness as he begins to sleep. Make somebody else fight him for you, or get him to go after somebody else. It can't be that hard, right? the Charmander asks. You just need a good plan, the Charmander finishes, before his eyes droop completely.

For a short time your watch is silent, and you begin to fade in and out of consciousness as well. The ghosts in the jars stay put, although one does flicker awake for a brief moment before falling unconscious once again. You were about to wake Rem for her watch when you heard a sharp knock from the hatch, causing Zepar's eyes to snap open, glowing with psionic energy.

It would appear we have a visitor. What exactly have you gotten us in to this time? Zepar accuses.

Ibis flew me here, Neils thought back, if that makes you at all feel more comfortable with the situation. While Zepar had been bred by Ibis, who controlled the Abra colonies on the island, he wasn't ever quite sure just how much allegiance or emotional attachment Zepar felt towards the woman.

If you'd move the jars somewhere safe and hidden Zepar? he thought as he quickly woke up his team. Someone's here, he whispered, so get ready for a possible fight. He wasn't sure if this visitor would be friendly or not - he suspected it would be the mystery gift man - but he wasn't about to be caught as a Magikarp out of water.

[Arcran]

Satomi

As you pull out the Shieldon Fossil it becomes abundantly clear that it was the source of the pulsing. The herd as a whole didn't seem to notice you holding the skull of one of their dead, alhtough you were still a stone's throw from the group.

Unfortunately, the pulsing has not precedent as far as you can tell, but that doesn't stop you from coming up with a handful of hypotheses, the most likely of which is the Shieldon being present in the immediate vicinity, and there being some sort of temporal resonance between the two that was causing the reaction. The resonance definitely becomes stronger with each step you take towards the pack, until a small Pokemon breaks out from the shieldwall, a young Shieldon dashing towards you and causing the fossil to pulse rapidly.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Well, at least you know your Type Matchups," Krueger says, eyeing up Cepheus as he hovers. "Unfortunately, everybody knows Type Matchups," the woman adds, smirking. "Tipsy, Psychic!" the Trainer cries out, causing the Togetic's eyes to glow purple before sending a terrify amount of psionic power down the field that Cepheus is just able to dart away from.

And a swing and a miss by Tipsy. You're up!

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Your sword flies forward, coming within an inch of your mother before stopping in place, hovering next to her side. As you looked up you saw your mother straining, although clearly not with something physical. An instant later some kind of force shoves your blade away, and your mother lets out a deep breath, breathing heavily.

"Looks like I don't get to go easy on you anymore," your mother says with a laugh, bending over for a moment. "Don't tell your brothers about that little trick just yet though, alright? Can't have them know that I'm cheating," your mother says with a wink. "Gerald in particular would never let me-"

"LIVE," the voice in the cave booms, circular red eyes glaring down.

"-that down," your mother finishes, taking a few steps away to lean forward against a fence post.

[Arcran]

Neils

When you mentioned Ibis Zepar didn't seem to be any happier about the situation, although he was certainly a bit less annoyed with the current situation. Still, you were able to feel a sense of confusion from him that corresponded with his eyes turning purple again.

"I can't get into their mind," Zepar states. "I'd say it's shielded, but it feels... different. More like it is limited," Zepar states, his confusion making him more conversational than normal. As you requested he moved the glasses the Kadabra was momentarily annoyed, before obliging your request. Soon enough Morpheus, Rem and Nox are awake, although Morpheus was vocal about his displeasure. While you were still preparing for the intruder, another, more urgent knock rings out against the wooden trapdoor.

"Neils! Let me in!" a very, very familiar voice shouts, and one that you didn't expect to hear here. It was Adrianne.

[Zelphas]

Her day has been all about time. As the Shieldon breaks free from the pack and rushes towards her, Satomi's personal sense of time slows, her mind trying to grasp the various implications of the pulsing Fossil in her hands and its temporal, living counterpart in front of her. In what seems like an eternity of a moment, she gives up on the greater ramifications, focusing on the immediate conclusions as they occur to her.

Conclusion one: We have less time than we thought. The Fossil in her hands and the Shieldon before her are not much removed in size or shape, meaning that this young Shieldon is slated to die soon. It was buried in a lava flow when it died, along with its herd; the Mountain is set to erupt, and soon. Will the Mountain spew forth its fire in response to her arrival, or is something else threatening Cinnabar in this ancient time?

Conclusion two: Time can be altered. The Fossil in her hands and the Shieldon before her were linked; both were acting differently than they normally would, which would never have happened if they had not met due to time displacement. Perhaps it was too far of a stretch for Satomi to believe the past could be changed due to these two facts, but something made her believe it. Could the past only be changed in small ways such as this, or did small ripples change the face of the entire present?

Conclusion three: I am a great fool, and I may just have made an enemy of Dialga. The Fossil tumbles from her hands; the Shieldon rushes towards her. It is too tempting. Moving almost as though in a dream, Satomi reaches into her satchel, draws out a Great Ball, and throws it directly at the charging ancient Pokemon.

Time to cause a paradox!

Accuracy on the Great Ball: [roll0] (AP Used)
Capture: [roll1]

[Elyander]

Harisson manages to smiles despite the worry inside of him. If that hits Cepheus, the beedrill was sure to faint. "Well, I'm glad to see your pokémon aren't the only ones capable of evading attacks. Cepheus, make them pay the price with speed!" he orders quickly, pointing at the togetic.

Cepheus dashes forward, pincers aiming straight at the enemy before he suddenly maneuveurs sideways to strike from an unexpected side. With quick wings, he makes his movement erratic, but each time the togetic evades his strikes.

Harisson uses Brutal Training Orders.

Cepheus uses Acrobatics!
AC 2, Critical on 18+, Trips on 16+
Accuracy Check: [roll0] (AP used)
Damage: [roll1] Flying, Physical damage
Critical: [roll2]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

When you mentioned Ibis Zepar didn't seem to be any happier about the situation, although he was certainly a bit less annoyed with the current situation. Still, you were able to feel a sense of confusion from him that corresponded with his eyes turning purple again.

"I can't get into their mind," Zepar states. "I'd say it's shielded, but it feels... different. More like it is limited," Zepar states, his confusion making him more conversational than normal. As you requested he moved the glasses the Kadabra was momentarily annoyed, before obliging your request. Soon enough Morpheus, Rem and Nox are awake, although Morpheus was vocal about his displeasure. While you were still preparing for the intruder, another, more urgent knock rings out against the wooden trapdoor.

"Neils! Let me in!" a very, very familiar voice shouts, and one that you didn't expect to hear here. It was Adrianne.

When Neils heard Adrianne through the trapdoor, his heart began to race. While he'd never say that he was crazy about the girl - she was a psychic after all - she still hadn't deserved the fate that had befallen her. He raced to the trapdoor, but hesitated when he reached it. Their enemies could freeze gods, teleport across the world, and turn into living plants. Surely voice replication was within the realm of possibilities here.

But at the same time, he couldn't think of any question he could ask her to prove it was really her. It wasn't like they'd had conversations before she'd been captured, and he hadn't known her before that. Still, he wasn't so careless as to open the trapdoor for someone he couldn't see. Not on this island. He glanced at the ghost jars, realizing just how useful one could be on his team. Combined with channelling ... That could be a powerful combination, he thought. If he could just convince them that siding with them would mean helping Darkrai, then he might be on to something.

But he didn't have that luxury at the moment. I can say I'm excited to hear you ... well. He cringed a bit at the term, but barreled on. Why don't we just talk through the door for now. Strange things have been happening on this island, and I'm trying to be a little less careless than I have been. I'm sure you can understand what with what we've been through. So I guess, how did you get here, why did you come, and how did you know I was in this particular cellar?

During this time, he was frantically waving Morpheus to hide. He did so, curling quickly underneath a mass of paper, wood, and grit tossed up by their battle. Rem lounged next to it, allowing the smoke from Morpheus's tail to hopefully be mistaken for the mist coming from Rem.

I'm going to go ahead and roll an intuition roll on whatever she says next. Basically sense motive 5d6+2 19
Occult 5d6+2 16 +2 if Psychics related
Focus 1d6 1 If this is resisting Teleptahy, he has an auto 6 from Skill Focus (resisting Teleptahy) and is aware of such an effect due to Iron Mind. Both of these come from Tinfoil Gosphel.

Rolls done in OOC

[CateranEnforcer]

It pleased Aloriana to know she could hold her own against her mother as she was now, even though it was just a figment. Who's to say how representative this was of real life, however. It also looked like she wouldn't be able to learn much with the dead feeling of the steel in her hand. It was odd that she didn't notice the difference before. I just thought it was normal, I guess. Now I can see it runs in the family.

Again, the voices come for her with another word. Was she supposed to get a message from all this? Maybe she needed to change the scenery again. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone," she said making a zipping motion across her lips. "It'll be my little secret. But right now I'm going to go find some feed for Lily!" With that she runs off to the barn. What other memories would come to the surface? She dreaded going too far forward in time from this point. Can we please stick to happy memories?


Additionally, I'm going to try a long shot Poke Edu on the eyes. [roll0] with AP

[Arcran]

Satomi

The instant the Great Ball leaves your hand, you feel something pull in the back of your mind. As it turns through the air the resonating stops, and the air around you fills with enough time magic to nearly blind you. The Great Ball snaps open, a red beam shooting forth to connect with the Shieldon, and you begin to feel light headed. The ball shakes once, and you fall to a knee. It shakes again, and you can feel bile in your throat. The ball shakes again as you vomit, and you notice Gilgamesh doing the same alongside you. You see the Great Ball flash as it signals a successful capture, but the signature click is drowned out by another roar, although not the one you'd heard echoing through this ancient plateau. No, this was the one that you'd heard in the obsidian tunnels, and the one that had apparently sent you backwards in time.

The roar is cut short, however, and the time magic and your dizziness vanish in a flash. Gilgamesh staggers back to his feet, clearly confused as the fossil begins to resonate once again. A disk of concentrated time magic is visible for an instant as you look up at the Great Ball, but is gone before you can notice anything.

Can we not do that again? the Charmander pleads, before freezing, the source becoming apparent. The Shieldon and Bastidion were galloping towards you, a few of the Pokemon slowly beginning to make a ring around you. And now you've pissed off a god and the locals. At least I get to die in my own time, the Charmander says, body beginning to glow with heat.

[Arcran]

Harisson

The strange Pokemon darts to the side as Cepheus comes forward, wings fluttering rapidly as the Pokemon manages to stay just barely ahead of Cepheus' pincers.

"Alright Tipsy, now's your chance! Ancientpower!" Krueger shouts an instant before a half dozen stones fly through the air, colliding heavily with Cepheus and causing him to flutter awkwardly for a moment before recovering.

Tipsy uses Ancient Power!
It's a hit!
50 damage, 34 after Defense, 51 after SE
2 Injuries

[Arcran]

Neils

As you talk to Adrianne, you feel something brush your mind. It didn't feel quite right for telepathy, but there's certainly something out there that cares about your thoughts.

"We don't have time for this!" Adrianne shouts, sounding close to tears. "It's going to get me! It's coming! It knows we're on the island, and it wants us gone!" Adrianne shouts, battering on the trapdoor.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Alright Lori!" your mother says, a note of concern in her voice.

When you first enter your barn, the first thing you notice is the roaring. It was constant, ever pervasive, and threatening to deafen you. The second was that something was wrong with your barn. Instead of hay, injured on stretchers cover the wall. Rather than farm implements, weapons cover the wall. And, rather than a crochety Gogoat, a war table sat at the back, with a few people you could barely recognize present. Your mother, Kasai, and a man that looked like a blonde, stronger Dreuss.

The last thing you notice is yourself. Rather than being younger, you feel older. Judging from your height and the strength you could feel coursing through your body, you almost certainly were. If your mother was anything to go off of, you must be nearly a decade older. Curiously, you still didn't feel any connection to the sword at your side and, as you inspect your hands, you notice a sparkling band of metal on your left ring finger. Looking down, you could see a circle of red dots on the center of your dark chest plate that seems oddly familiar, until you realize that it is identical to one set of the red eyes as well as the design on the armor Bernard had shown you. Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything to help you identify what the red-eyed creature was.#pragma once

"Lori!" your mother barks from the table, likely seeing you spacing out. "We don't have time to rest! Can Satomi do it?" your mother asks, Kasai and the blonde man looking at you in concern.

Are you alright Lori? a familiar, if much more mature voice says, brushing against your mind. You seem... off.

[Zelphas]

Satomi stands up shakily, wiping at her mouth with the back of one hand. "I am a fool. A stupid, stupid fool." She barely seems to notice the herd forming around her, picking up the Great Ball and staring at it. "I wanted to cause magic, to have power of my own. I angered Dialga, who sent me here, for a Shieldon. I am a fool."

After a few long moments staring at the blue Ball in her hands, she pulls herself back together. They are worried about their young, as they should be; if I release it and allow them to see that it is unharmed, their ire may be somewhat lessened. She does so immediately, making sure not to make any large or quick movements. If this action causes our deaths, here in this time, Gilgamesh... I am sorry. You deserved better than me.

Releasing the Shieldon a small distance away from her, closer to the herd than to herself.

Charm to keep from being run over by angry dinosaurs (unlikely to help, but it's something): [roll0]

Occult Edu to confirm that that was Dialga's roar: [roll1] (2 for foreign stories added)

[Elyander]

Harisson cringes as the rocks hit Cepheus, clearly aware that the beedrill can't take another attack. Still, he needed to weaken the enemy a bit before Columba could sweep it. "That's impressive coverage! Cepheus, I'm sorry, boy, but I really need you to pull yourself together. Try to hit it with your poison now!

Despite its wounds, the beedrill rushes ahead at his trainer's orders, pincers oozing black poison as he strikes in a flurry, the sound of the attacls finally connecting making Harisson smile. "Thank you, Cepheus. I knew I could count on you!" he thinks.

Harisson uses Brutal Training Order.

Cepheus uses Twineedle!
AC 3, Poisons on 14+, Trips on 16+, Critical on 18+
Accuracy Check 1: [roll0]
Accuracy Check 2: [roll1]
Damage (one hit): [roll2] Bug, Physical damage
Damage (two hits): [roll3] Bug, Physical damage
One Critical: + [roll4] + [roll5]
Two Critical: + [roll6] + [roll7]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

As you talk to Adrianne, you feel something brush your mind. It didn't feel quite right for telepathy, but there's certainly something out there that cares about your thoughts.

"We don't have time for this!" Adrianne shouts, sounding close to tears. "It's going to get me! It's coming! It knows we're on the island, and it wants us gone!" Adrianne shouts, battering on the trapdoor.

Neils gritted his teeth as he heard her hysterical comments, but he held firm. The sad fact was, appeals to emotion were one of the best ways to get people to do illogical things. The brush on his mind only made him more suspicious, since Adrianne was a Warper, not a Telepath. And so, he hardened his heart and held firm.

Try and get inside my mind again and I swear to Moltres you won't get in this door. Get out of my head and start answering my questions. How did you get here and why did you come? How did you know I was on the island, and how did you know I was in this room?


Intuition! [roll0]
Not sure if you need additional Focus and Occult Checks. If you do, here you are.
[roll1] with an additional +2 if psychic related
[roll2], or just a 6 if its to resist Telepathy. Iron Mind gives me the ability to recognize Telepathy attempts

[CateranEnforcer]

Now this was definitely not a memory. Was it a glimpse of the future? Or some possible future? Either way, she was lost here and admitting so seemed like a bad idea. There was some kind of emergency going on and people were looking to her for answers. She hoped she could trust someone special to bring her up to speed.

Something is off with me. I don't know if I can explain it, but I don't know a thing about what's going on. I'll tell you when i can but right now i have questions. What's that sound? What are they asking about Satomi? Why is Mom...here? Lori almost said alive, but the thought was still painful.

Trying to put on a brave face, Aloriana tried to stall for time for Chri to fill her in. "Sorry, something had come over me. I feel something wrong." It was a pretty lame excuse for a leader. It might even make her look bad but at least there wasn't many people around to see her fumble. But one of them was her mother...


Gonna try some social checks. Not sure which would apply in this case.

Charm to convince them nothing is wrong.
Guile if it's too much of a lie [roll]2d6

[Arcran]

Satomi

While the roar definitely had power behind it, you had a feeling it wasn't actually Dialga that had caused it, mostly due to the fact that you were still alive. At least according to superstition, any that heard Dialga's roar didn't live long after.

Like I said, at least it's my own time, the Charmander says with grim amusement, leering at the hoard. They seemed about ready to stampede you when you were finally able to release the Shieldon, which gave them some slight pause, more as if they were scared of injuring their own than any concern for you.

The Shieldon, however, seemed very interested in the two of you, ignoring its heard to rub its shielded head against you like some immensely painful cat.

[Arcran]

Harisson

The Pokemon barely seems to feel Cepheus' attack, continuing to flutter around without even flinching.

"Tipsy, put that bug out of its misery! Psychic again!" Krueger shouts, causing the strange Pokemon to fire out another wave of psionic energy that your Beedrill manages to somehow dart around yet again.

[Arcran]

Neils

There's a long silence as you ask Adrianne more questions, just as you begin to notice small errors with the room. Nothing obvious, but some textures were off, and the walls seemed strange. It took a long moment, but you were able to realize that you were in a dream, although exactly how long you'd been in one was beyond you. In any case, the simulation was far more realistic than anything you could hope to imitate yourself. Were you not so experience in the art of dreams yourself, you suspected deducing your current state would have been completely impossible. As you noticed that, a new voice echoed from beyond the trapdoor, replacing Adrianne.

"Neils," the voice said, carrying aeons of weight behind it. "You do yourself credit with your paranoia. Or perhaps you noticed this wasn't real? In any case, you have my word that I only wish to talk. That's all I've ever wanted, although that Musharna makes that a difficult task," the voice continues, annoyed from beyond the trapdoor. "She doesn't seem to trust me, strangely enough."

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Lori, are you alright? your Charizard states, clearly confused. It's Lance, he's attacking. Satomi has a way out, but Kasai is not convinced. He wants to stand and fight," your Charizard says, clearly confused as to how your forgot, as you get a glimpse of your Pokemon outside the gates. Strangely enough, the beast appeared nothing like the Charmander you knew. There were no metallic spines, and the Pokemon was covered in purple scales, with a dread aura rolling off of her in waves.

"Of course something is wrong. Half the damn island is gone, and the last half will be gone soon. What did Satomi say? Can we escape?" Kasai asks, obviously unsure about the logistics of such a thing.

[Elyander]

"Ha!" Harisson cheers as Cepheus dodges the psychic attack once more. "That's your chance, Cepheus! It's not very fast, so try using your speed again!" he orders frantically, excited by the opportunity.

The beedrill buzzes loudly and flies ahead, his wings beating fast as it maneuveurs around the enemy trying to hit it. While the togetic is fast and dodges yet again a few strikes, with a feint Cepheus manages to make it move awkwardly aside, opening way for one of his pincers to connect again with the fairy pokémon, this time a much more serious blow.


Harisson uses Brutal Training.

Cepheus uses Acrobatics!
Acrobatics - DC 2, Trips on 16+, Critical on 18+
Accuracy Check: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Flying, Physical damage
Critical: [roll2]

And just to remind you, Cepheus' last attack Poisoned the togetic.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

There's a long silence as you ask Adrianne more questions, just as you begin to notice small errors with the room. Nothing obvious, but some textures were off, and the walls seemed strange. It took a long moment, but you were able to realize that you were in a dream, although exactly how long you'd been in one was beyond you. In any case, the simulation was far more realistic than anything you could hope to imitate yourself. Were you not so experience in the art of dreams yourself, you suspected deducing your current state would have been completely impossible. As you noticed that, a new voice echoed from beyond the trapdoor, replacing Adrianne.

"Neils," the voice said, carrying aeons of weight behind it. "You do yourself credit with your paranoia. Or perhaps you noticed this wasn't real? In any case, you have my word that I only wish to talk. That's all I've ever wanted, although that Musharna makes that a difficult task," the voice continues, annoyed from beyond the trapdoor. "She doesn't seem to trust me, strangely enough."

As Neils slowly realized that this was a dream and not his waking self, reality began to set in. Darkrai ... he whispered, his voice trembling. His body began to shudder and goosebumps rose like a wave across his skin. Years of nightmares rose once more to his mind, and the reality that, once and for all, Rem would no longer be able to shield him from the images.

But no, Neils thought as Morpheus scuttled to wrap himself around his legs and Rem floated next to you. He said he just wanted to talk. Considering I have zero control of the situation right now, there's no use in pissing him off.

And so, still scared like a Mareep in front of a Granbull, Neils spoke. Then let's talk. Come on in. I'm sure that trapdoor isn't actually stopping you from coming in, but I thank you for the courtesy.

If he can't/won't come in without me unlatching the trapdoor, Neils does so. No need to waste a post on something like that

[Zelphas]

Satomi endures the rubbing of the Shieldon with a small wince, pondering the strange roar. Gilgamesh-chan, I am getting curious again, so soon after the last blunder. If I suggest going after the source of that ever-present roar, please smack me with your tail. Still moving slowly, she rubs the top of the Shieldon's crest, looking down at it. "Hello, little one. Could you tell your herd that you are unhurt, and to let us pass?" It is a long shot; she has no reason to believe that the Shieldon would understand her, much less obey her; but she is at a loss. She begins to slowly walk towards the wall of Shieldon and Bastidion, keeping the Shieldon in tow.

Charm on the Shieldon, maybe?: [roll0]

If the Shieldon and Bastidion show signs of gearing up for a charge again, Satomi will stop moving.

[CateranEnforcer]

Chriantha's different, I'm different. Mom is here. This can't be the real, or even a memory. Is this what could have happened? Aloriana felt like like she was putting the pieces together. But was does it all mean? "Live", huh? Oh I plan to.

There was still the matter at hand though. Lori wasn't sure if the danger here was real or imagined, but it would be best to play it safe. Remembering the skeleton of but one of Lance's Dragonites was enough to make her doubt their chances at a battle. Add that to her not being familiar with her body or that of Chriantha's new form, she felt much more confident in relying on Satomi. She always seemed much more composed and analytical than herself, surely had had only grown more so in the years that had passed.

"I believe Satomi wouldn't say she could get us out if couldn't be one hundred percent sure." Satomi did strike Lori as her own harshest critic. "I trust her fully, much more than trust our odds against Lance in the straight up fight he really wanted in the first place."

Hopfully, I managed to sound more adult-like.


Command to sound more commanding! Not really for any reason, just to hopefully be more confident in my choice. [roll0]

[Arcran]

Harisson

Krueger flinches as Cepheus finally gets a solid hit on the strange Pokemon, clearly not wanting to get into an extended battle with the Beedrill. However, Cepheus was acting strangely after that last hit, floating a bit too close to the Pokemon, his gaze lingering a few seconds longer than it should.

"Tipsy, stop playing around! Ancient Power again!" Krueger cries. Another hail of stones slams into Cepheus, and the Togetic seems to glow with power, clearly becoming at least somewhat improved by the assault. The rocks prove to be too much for Cepheus, sending him to the ground with an agonized screech.

"One on one," Krueger says, a wide grin playing across her face. "Let's see what your bird can do," Krueger says with a smirk.

50 damage from Ancient Power, 40 after Defense, 60 after SE. 3 Injuries.

As a note, Columba is currently cured of her Sleep as it is a Volatile status condition.

[Arcran]

Neils

As soon as you say the words come in, the trapdoor flies open and a shadow falls to the ground before extending upwards, drawing up into the full figure of a man. Truth be told, Darkrai didn't look particularly remarkable. Pale skin, dark hair, a clean, simple suit with a red tie; truth be told, he looked almost more like a businessman than a god. That is, save for his eyes. They completely lacked any white, appearing as great pools of dark blue that threaten to pull you in if you stare too long.

When the form materializes Rem gives a screech and flies forward, attempting to simply bodyslam the god. With a sigh Darkrai flicks his hand towards the Musharna, causing her to vanish with a pop.

"Don't worry," the god intones. "I simply woke her up. I thought their presence may put you at ease, but I will not be assaulted in my own home," the god states, the implication in his tone clear. Darkrai stood perfectly still, not moving, staring at you for an uncomfortable amount of time before an amused grin crosses his face. "You seem nervous Mr. Gaiman. Strange. You've seemed comfortable enough rummaging about in my realm up until this point," Darkrai continues, his tone making it next to impossible to place his current attitude. "Why the change?"

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh smacks you with his tail lightly, singing your pants.

In advance, in case I end up as a pair of boots for this Shieldon's mother, Gilgamesh states, snarling at the group of Pokemon in front of you. The herd stamps its feet angrily but doesn't charge, clearly not keen on injuring one of their own to get at you. At your words the Shieldon chirps lightly, before stepping forward and chirping loudly at the other Pokemon present. After a brief exchange of rumbles and chirps two Bastidion stand aside, opening a path for you. In the distance, where the herd had originally been, you could spot another, much smaller ring of Bastidion still standing guard.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Lori, what are you talking about? Chriantha says, clearly confused. Satomi said she couldn't take nearly this many. And why wouldn't your mother be here? What's wrong? the Charizard asks, her mind rubbing coarsely against your own to find the source of your confusion.

"Well that's a relief," your mother says, her shield flying from the wall to her wrist, making a soft clink as some sort of mechanism fastens it. Kasai let out a sigh of relief as well. "Alright then. Best damn news I've heard all day. Rosalyn, you and I will hit the front, hopefully give the others a chance to fall back. Brawley, Aloriana, I need the two of you to run interference. It sounds like Goto might have one restrained, but needs a little extra help if we're going to keep it busy long enough to escape. Rendezvous at the caves, and collapse them behind us when everybody is through," the elderly knight says, striding towards the door before pausing, turning back to look at the group of you.

"It's been an honor serving with each and every one of you. Ad maiorem Chei gloriam," the Knight intones, slamming a fist to his chest before walking out the door.

[Zelphas]

Satomi jumps slightly at the hit. I deserved that... but it seems we will not be made into footwear at this moment, she thinks, stepping forward through the line of Bastidion. She keeps her movements measured and is careful to show neither fear nor anger, simply walking calmly through the line of ancient Pokemon.

The ring of Bastidion catch her eye for a moment, and Satomi nods to herself. A nest, most likely. That makes sense. She skirts aroudn the ring of Bastidion, giving them a respectful berth as she continues towards the Mountain. "If you wish to come with me, and your herd will allow it, I can guarantee an unimaginable experience, little one," she says to the Shieldon at her side. "If you do not wish to go, I understand; I will not compel you."

Poke Edu to confirm her hypothesis about the Bastidion guarding a nest: [roll0]

[Elyander]

Harisson recalls the beedrill with a smile."Thank you, Cepheus. You really did good," he says, before turning to Krueger while releasing Columba. "That's a nice Pokémon you've got there. I think I'd like one of those. So allow us to finally finish this battle."

The tranquil appears in a flash of light, flying in a circle before looking defiantly at the togetic. "Columba, it's all on us, now, girl. Steel Wing!" he orders simply, watching with glee as the "bird" hits the enemy with the metallic gleam in her wings.

Harisson uses Brutal Training and Reckless Advance!

Columba used Steel Wing!
Steel Wing - AC 3, Defense +1 on 13+, Critical and Trips on 16+
Accuracy Check: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Steel, Physical (+5 if Togetic is female)
Critical: [roll2]

If it hits, Columba is Vulnerable.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

As soon as you say the words come in, the trapdoor flies open and a shadow falls to the ground before extending upwards, drawing up into the full figure of a man. Truth be told, Darkrai didn't look particularly remarkable. Pale skin, dark hair, a clean, simple suit with a red tie; truth be told, he looked almost more like a businessman than a god. That is, save for his eyes. They completely lacked any white, appearing as great pools of dark blue that threaten to pull you in if you stare too long.

When the form materializes Rem gives a screech and flies forward, attempting to simply bodyslam the god. With a sigh Darkrai flicks his hand towards the Musharna, causing her to vanish with a pop.

"Don't worry," the god intones. "I simply woke her up. I thought their presence may put you at ease, but I will not be assaulted in my own home," the god states, the implication in his tone clear. Darkrai stood perfectly still, not moving, staring at you for an uncomfortable amount of time before an amused grin crosses his face. "You seem nervous Mr. Gaiman. Strange. You've seemed comfortable enough rummaging about in my realm up until this point," Darkrai continues, his tone making it next to impossible to place his current attitude. "Why the change?"

Neils glared at the god, who seemed remarkable normal. Except for those horrible, horrible eyes. You did, he said simply. There's something about your experiences getting hijacked and your closest ally being scared out of their wits that makes it a bit difficult to justify diving into the dream world.

Speaking of Rem, if you're going to send her away, you might as well send the rest of my team away as well.

Except Morpheus. He stays. Neils knew better to request that Rem stayed, but there was no need for her to hear about this conversation from Zepar or one of his other Pokemon.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana was taken aback by her mistake, but it really wasn't her fault she was trust into this situation with so little context. However, she still stood by her decision. She did trust that Satomi would come through, she had to. Even if she didn't, what choice did they all have? Lori would not have likely changed her answer either way.

"The honor is mine." Aloriana quickly turns away. She really didn't want to get attached to Brawly and her the image of her mother even more. She might be here to witness their deaths and that was something she wasn't sure she could handle right now.


I do trust her to do her best. That's all anyone can do. If we are heading to our dooms, we do it heads held high. Now let's go out there and give everyone the best chance we can. Aloriana wondered how much longer, she'd be in this 'memory.' Would it be long enough to see herself fail?

[Arcran]

Satomi

As you come closer and closer to the ring, it becomes fairly clear that the Bastidion aren't guarding a nest, but rather one of their own. The Pokemon lay on its side, breathing sporadically. While you'd need a more detailed inspection to determine exactly what was wrong, it was clearly quite sick. It had some slight discoloration around its eyes, and veins that were more prominent than you'd expect to see. If you had to hazard a guess you would assume poison of some kind.

The Shieldon chirps at the circle protecting the fallen Bastidion, opening a small gap that would allow you in.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Columba comes out of her Pokeball with a vengeance, streaking towards the strange Pokemon, wings glistening as they become like metal. The Tranquil connects with the Pokemon, sending it to the ground in a heap. There's a tense silence from the rebels around the arena, before Kreuger begins to laugh.

"Not bad kid! Not bad at all!" the woman shouts, laughing heavily as she returns the Pokemon, walking over to you and offering a hand. "For a new Knight you're not as green as I'd expect. It's a bit of an old tradition I suppose," the woman says, pulling a small box from her pocket and offering it to you, "But if you beat a Gym Leader you get a badge, whether or not they have a Gym to call home," she states.

In the crowd you could see Ezra collecting a rather frightening amount of cash, beaming all the while.

[Arcran]

Neils

"As you wish," the god says before waving his hand, your other Pokemon vanishing with a pop, before he pauses to look at Morpheus in amusement. "Nightmare Mist without the grisly bits. A wise decision," the god states, clearly amused by Morpheus' power as well as the Charmander's obvious confusion at the statement. Darkrai waves his hand once again and the Dream Mist that Zepar had so carefully placed rocketed back to the bookshelf. The God of Nightmares inspects it, making sounds of disapproval as he does so.

"In the future, I suggest you instruct your Musharna to stop obstructing me," Darkrai says, clearly annoyed. "Nightmares hold power, for those that are strong and clever enough to use them. Tell me, how could your fate have changed if Rem had allowed you to see my warning three days prior?" Darkrai states as nine Pidgey begin to flit around the room before they fall one by one.

[Arcran]

Aloriana
As you step out of the tent, you see three Charizard before you. Kasai's, one that appeared to be more shark than dragon reminiscent of Brawley's Charmander, and a Charizard cloaked in a shimmering veil, body barely tangible that you couldn't recognize, until you saw its eyes. It was clearly Chriantha, but different. Gone were the metal ridges, the horns, and the burnt orange coloring. Her scales were a purple dark enough to be black, and her body was cloaked in a shimmering cloud of night. The grass around her was wilted and dead.

"Lori, you alright?" Brawley asks, jogging up to you before a massive roar sounds from above and a shadow blocks out the sun. A great blast of red shines down but, before it connects, you find yourself back in the cave, this time in your true form. All three sets of eyes stared down at you, surrounding you in a sea of red.

"TOO SOON," one voice intones, as a heavy shield made of stone appears on your arm.

"TOO SOON," another states, as a sword clear as ice appears in your hand.

"TOO SOON," the final booms, before the armor Bernard showed you covers your body.

You awake with a start, coated in sweat. Chriantha sat on your chest, her massive weight and spines causing more than a small amount of pain and restricting your breathing.

Lori! Lori, wake up! the Charmander says, positively screaming across your mental connection, terrified.

[Zelphas]

Satomi's interest grows as the Bastidion clear the way to one of their weakened herd, looking down at the Shieldon beside her. I should have learned by now not to make any assumptions without hard evidence, she thinks ruefully, moving to inspect the Bastidion.

Kneeling next to the large ancient Pokemon's head, Satomi reaches into her satchel and draws out a bottle of pale yellow liquid. If this is poison, a Full Heal should still work against it even in this time, she thinks to Gilgamesh. I believe we have already tampered with time enough for today that such a change will make little difference; in any case, the Shieldon does not seem inclined to let us leave until I tend to this Bastidion. Moving deliberately and carefully, Satomi sprays the Full Heal over the injured Bastidion.

Med Edu to figure out what's wrong with the Bastidion: [roll0]

Unless said Med Edu roll gives her a reason not to do so, Satomi will use a Full Heal on the Bastidion.

[Elyander]

Harisson shakes Krueger's hand with a smile. "Thanks. This was pretty good! Hope your Pokémon are all right," he says, before being surprised by the box. "What, really? I never thought I'd get a badge, to be honest. Not like... now, I mean. Ever!" he says awkwardly his youth more apparent as he accepts the box and opens it eagerly, bowing after seeing its content. "Thank you very much, Krueger. You were incredible."

He recalls Columba after petting the tranquill, winking at Ezra with a grin and then holds Carina carefully, the charmander still unconscious. "I'm sorry, but is there anywhere I could tend to my team? I don't like them being hurt and I still have things to do on the island..." he asks Krueger, not really worried about the wager at the moment.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

"As you wish," the god says before waving his hand, your other Pokemon vanishing with a pop, before he pauses to look at Morpheus in amusement. "Nightmare Mist without the grisly bits. A wise decision," the god states, clearly amused by Morpheus' power as well as the Charmander's obvious confusion at the statement. Darkrai waves his hand once again and the Dream Mist that Zepar had so carefully placed rocketed back to the bookshelf. The God of Nightmares inspects it, making sounds of disapproval as he does so.

"In the future, I suggest you instruct your Musharna to stop obstructing me," Darkrai says, clearly annoyed. "Nightmares hold power, for those that are strong and clever enough to use them. Tell me, how could your fate have changed if Rem had allowed you to see my warning three days prior?" Darkrai states as nine Pidgey begin to flit around the room before they fall one by one.

Neils clenched his jaw, struggling to avoid throwing something at the man with pure black eyes. The insinuations against Rem, the reference to his greatest failure, the total disregard of the year of torture he'd put the boy through ... none of it made him particularly happy to be having this conversation. Still, at least now Zepar wasn't around to to listen in on the conversation. This conversation was something he wasn't particularly keen on Ibis having a live account of.

I had to chose between becoming an insomniac or teaming up with Rem. I've never doubted my choice, and don't think I will now. If you expected me to magically divine that a god was sending me messages in my sleep, then you're a bit further removed from reality than you should be. He bit his lip, wondering if he'd gone too far.

When he continued, he tried to tone down the sarcasm. He wasn't in a position of power here, and it wouldn't do to piss Darkrai off. Now that we are actually talking though, I'd like to request that you not send nightmares every night. We can make an arrangement where I let you in, but I need to be able to sleep. I understand better than most how useful dreams and nightmares can be useful, especially if some are prophetic. However, I also need to be able to function as a human being.

He had a whole slew of questions running through his head, but he left it at that for now. He wasn't sure what the god would and would not be willing to discuss, but this was a line in the sand if he wanted Neils' help with whatever lead him to make contact with Neils out of all people.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana woke, taking a minute to gauge her surroundings. Is it over? What were those things? For now, she simply hugged her worried charmander. "It was a nightmare Chri. At least the end was. I'll tell you all about it, but first I need to collect my thoughts. I think there's something else watching us and the armor we're trying to make is a part of it. They showed me memories and I think the future, but it was different. You and I were different."

Realizing she was rambling, the girl stopped and rubbed her eyes. She wondered if it was time to get up. Either way, she had to go find Riley, maybe she could tell her about the voices and the red lights, which in Aloriana's mind had to be eyes.


Aloriana is going to go find Riley to tell her about the dream! If she is a awake of course.

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Bastidion closest to you snorts as you reach into your satchel but, upon seeing you draw out the apparently harmless Full Heal, goes back to keeping guard.

However, as you reach out towards the Pokemon, ready to apply the Full Heal, you see a large amount of time magic beginning to build in the immediate area, giving you pause for a moment. As you stop, the time magic begins to dwindle.

Well, at least we know when we'll be changing something important, Gilgamesh says, slightly unnerved. Makes it a lot easier to avoid that monster, after all.

While you sit with the Full Heal hovering near the Bastidion, your newly-captured Shieldon nudges you, clearly wanting the fallen Pokemon healed.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"They'll be fine," Krueger says confidently. "For apparently being living eggs, they're pretty hardy. I've got plenty of other Pokemon to keep my safe until they're healed up," Krueger states. "We have a medic on site who should be able to patch them up by the end of the day. One of the few good things about this damn place is that there's plenty of berries and herbs for keeping Pokemon going."

"Oh, and a word of advice. If you're ever out at night, give the Badge to either yourself or a Pokemon. You might find it helpful," Krueger says cheerfully. "In any case, you've more than proven yourself. Would you rather claim your prize or discuss business first?"

You gain the Moon Badge! Accessory/Held Item with the following effect:

Luna Badge
The user gains the Starlight Ability as long as the Luna Badge is equipped.

[Arcran]

Neils

"That's where you're wrong," Darkrai states, still simply inspecting the bottles of Dream Mist, occasionally making a disproving sound. "I did expect you to, how did you put it? Magically divine that you were being personally called upon by the God of Nightmares," he states, before picking up a vial of mist and tossing it to you without looking back. "I have no time for an ally who cannot even determine where his dreams come from. I will admit, I'd nearly given up on you before your Musharna began to slip up, but you caught on quick enough," Darkrai states before tossing you another jar, this one looking strange. It was a pale grey and in a jar of a completely different design from the others, something older.

When you make your request, Darkrai turns towards you, a flat expression on his face. "I give you the chance to see what is to come and you refuse, simply because you do not like what you see?" Darkrai says in a tone that made it difficult to tell if he was offended or not. "Still, I suppose I could make a concession, if in return you will do a small favor for me. But first, a small history lesson," the Nightmare God states, gesturing towards the grey mist in your hands. "Tell me, what is that?"

From appearances, the Mist simply looks like Mist that has lost its potency.

While it may appear to have no potency , you can tell from the way that the Mist is floating in the jar that it still possess power and isn't inert. If it was truly spent, it would be pooling at the bottom, rather than floating about. Still, you had no idea as to what would cause grey mist, or what qualities it might exhibit.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Different how? Chriantha asks, clearly confused. The Charmander continuously asks questions, usually based on a small glimpse into the dream that she'd managed to catch through your shared bond. She seemed particularly interested in her purple form, asking a great multitude of questions you didn't have the answer to.

Soon enough you find Riley who seemed to be preparing breakfast, still wearing the same dirty baseball hat she'd been wearing before. She looks up as you come closer, standing up for a brief moment.

"Ah, you're up! I've got some Magikarp cooking, if you want some. Probably have enough for your Charmander too," Riley states.

Just want to be clear on how much detail you tell her. Don't feel the need to say the whole thing, just let me know which parts you bother to convey

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles at Krueger's answer. "Thank you. I feel a bit anxious not having her flying around, I guess," he says as Carina and the others are taken to be healed. He barely has time to consider her cryptic advice when she blatantly asks about business.

"Well, it hurts me to postpone me meeting my new partner," Harisson grins, "but I think it's better to get the unpleasantries out of the way. Besides, I'd like having my team to meet him as well. So... I'm here on official Knights' matters," he says with a bored face.

"Simply put, I need to find an Altaria, preferably dead. I was hoping that perhaps you'd know where I could find one," he says simply, clearly aware she might ask him something in return.

[Zelphas]

Satomi freezes as time magic wells up again. Indeed. Perhaps we should...

She has another thought. It is a thought she would not have had just a few weeks earlier, before she spoke to the Mountain, before she began to understand the true import of being chosen as a Charizard Knight. The roar before wasn't from Dialga. If we were changing too much in the past, he would know of it; perhaps we are here... in order to change the past? she begins reasoning, the Full Heal still outstretched over the Bastidion. It is a leap, I admit; but while the short-term effects of the changes I have already made were... unpleasant, the long-term addition of an ally and an ambassador of sorts through the Bastidion and Shieldon are very useful. And...

She looks down at the weakened Bastidion, knowing that without her help its fate is sealed. She was never what anyone would call a caring nurse, even when she worked at the Pokemon Center; she was cold, she was direct, she simply dealt with the physical ills around her while ignoring the human concerns. Still, perhaps the attitude of the other nurses had rubbed off on her more than she thought; she finds herself utterly unwilling to leave a person or Pokemon before her in pain, if she can make an argument to the contrary. These thoughts did not play through her mind quite as clearly as they are presented here, but the gist was sent across the connection between her and her Charmander. You may wish to prepare your tail again, Gilgamesh-chan, she sends sardonically, before once more leaning over and spraying the Full Heal over the Bastidion.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana is still in a daze as she walks in on Riley. This is real now, isn't it?

"Is it morning?" she asks, disoriented from the sudden shifts in scenery she had recently experienced. "Sorry, I just had a dream last night and I think it might mean something. Some...things spoke to me." The girl sits down to tell Riley about what she saw, wondering in particular if those eyes meant anything to her. She had never seen those before in her life, but they seemed to be in control of the scenes that played before her. What had they said? 'Strong enough, remember, live, soon.' And then 'too soon' when the dream ended. The armor and weapons were interesting. Was that a glimpse at the future?


The only part I'm leaving out is talking to Chriantha, cuz that's a sekret. Focusing on the words the things spoke and if they are recognizable creatures.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

"That's where you're wrong," Darkrai states, still simply inspecting the bottles of Dream Mist, occasionally making a disproving sound. "I did expect you to, how did you put it? Magically divine that you were being personally called upon by the God of Nightmares," he states, before picking up a vial of mist and tossing it to you without looking back. "I have no time for an ally who cannot even determine where his dreams come from. I will admit, I'd nearly given up on you before your Musharna began to slip up, but you caught on quick enough," Darkrai states before tossing you another jar, this one looking strange. It was a pale grey and in a jar of a completely different design from the others, something older.

When you make your request, Darkrai turns towards you, a flat expression on his face. "I give you the chance to see what is to come and you refuse, simply because you do not like what you see?" Darkrai says in a tone that made it difficult to tell if he was offended or not. "Still, I suppose I could make a concession, if in return you will do a small favor for me. But first, a small history lesson," the Nightmare God states, gesturing towards the grey mist in your hands. "Tell me, what is that?"

From appearances, the Mist simply looks like Mist that has lost its potency.

While it may appear to have no potency , you can tell from the way that the Mist is floating in the jar that it still possess power and isn't inert. If it was truly spent, it would be pooling at the bottom, rather than floating about. Still, you had no idea as to what would cause grey mist, or what qualities it might exhibit.

Neils considered the mist for a moment. It's nothing I've seen or read about, he said. But its some sort of variant on Dream Mist, that's for sure. Considering your penchant for nightmares, I'm assuming it's got some nasty side effects.

He paused for a second, wondering if Darkrai was the one who sent him the box with cleanse tags in it. I don't suppose it has anything to do with the berry patch out there that the cultists were so interested in?

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Dead Altaria?" Krueger says with a whistle. "That's a hell of an order. We usually get them on that central mountain there, but I don't think I've ever seen a dead one, or even one that's just injured. Dragons are hard to kill, and ones that can camouflage themselves into a cloudbank are likely even harder still," Krueger says, clearly trying to think of some alternative for you before sighing.

"I've got nothing. I'll ask around the camp, but I don't know that we'll have much luck. We can at least take you to the mountain, where you may just get lucky," Krueger says, clearly disappointed. "What do you need a dead Altaria for anyways? You don't seem like the trophy hunting sort."

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Full Heal doesn't have an immediate effect on the Bastidion, causing a moment of panic before the beast's breathing begins to stabilize. It was still clearly quite weak and would need time to recover, but in your professional opinion it was no longer in any risk of immediate death.

Strangely, while you feel slightly nauseous, saving the life of the Bastidion does not have nearly the same effect as capturing the Shieldon had. Gilgamesh seemed more than a little concerned, forgoing his tail slap as he looks at the Bastidion.

Either she's still going to die, or she's completely unimportant to history, the Charmander states. But why then would the Shieldon have so much more of an effect? Does it have a role to play here, or was it simply the threat or removing it from its own time? Gilgamesh continues, concerned.

You didn't have much time to consider your Charmander's words however, as the Shieldon leaps into your chest, its massive weight carrying you to the ground as it begins to lick your face with a surprisingly hard tongue.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"As morning as it'll ever be," Riley says cheerfully, before becoming somber at the mention of your dream. She listens attentively, occasionally nodding her head as you describe what had happened. As you finish the story, Riley leans back, a confused look on her face.

"I honestly have no idea what any of that could have been," the woman says bluntly, adjusting the brim of her hat. "I'd say it's a dream from Articuno, but 'trio of giant red-eyed creatures' doesn't really fit the bill for her, and neither does seeing the future, or the past, or whatever the hell they showed you. If I had to guess though, they're not done with you. 'TOO SOON' doesn't sound like something you say when you're wishing somebody goodbye," Riley says, slowly standing up. "Although..." Riley says, pulling out a piece of paper and drawing out a series of eight dots in an elongated plus sign. "Did any of the sets of eyes look like this?" she asks and, when you answer in the positive, snatches her journal from the table and begins flipping through it.

"Well, in the legends the defender apparently had eyes like that, although they were yellow, not red. Still doesn't explain the other two, or anything else, but I'd put that as strong evidence for our friend being at least somewhat active down there," Riley says with a good amount of enthusiasm. "Best lead I've had in ages. If you're feeling up to it, I'd like to inspect the site today, see if having one of Moltres' friends around changes anything," Riley asks as she plates the Magikarp, sliding one to both you and Chriantha.

[Arcran]

Neils

"Right on some accounts, wrong on others," Darkrai states. "It has very much to do with the berry patch, but nothing to do with me. This," he says, taking the jar back and holding it up. "Is true Dream Mist. No nightmares, no dreams. A sound, dreamless sleep, and what the Musharna of ages back created, at least until she meddled with them," Darkrai says, his eyes momentarily flashing with anger. "You never wondered how a simple Psychic Pokemon could block a god from walking among your dreams?" Darkrai asks, placing the mist back on the shelf and casually leaning against it.

"A few millenia ago, Musharna weren't pretty and pink with floral patterns, and created the mist in that jar. A simple defense mechanism, used to deter predators. That is, until my first worshipers discovered something. The state of mind of a Musharna could affect the quality of its mist. A happy, safe Musharna could create the pink mist that is so common now, while a tortured Musharna could create the ever useful Nightmare Mist," Darkrai says as a small smirk plays across his face. "My worshipers perfected the method, created berries that would cause agony inside a Musharna and guarantee Nightmare Mist. Not the prettiest of methods, but one that was undoubtedly effective. For a few centuries my worshipers had great success, and began to grow in power."

"That was, until she took note and struck back. A deceiver among my worshipers to lead them astray, a curse on Musharna to only allow, and casting the grandest church of my followers far into the sea where none could ever hope to find it," Darkrai says, looking around the room for a moment before locking his eyes with yours. "That's what my misguided worshipers were attempting to accomplish here a few short centuries ago. They had found the church, found the knowledge, but did not know that, no matter what they try, they could never create Nightmare Mist. A shame, really. If even one of them had been remotely intelligent, perhaps they would have realized that before they tried to assault the Knights with a useless tool."

"Of course, you are different," Darkrai states, looking at Morpheus hungrily. "He can create Nightmare Mist with no side effects, and is perhaps the only source beyond me. You are the only one that can make use of my magics and my gifts, Neils Gaiman," Darkrai states, his vast eyes locking onto yours. "All you have to do is pledge your allegiance, and the full power of the God of Nightmares shall be yours."

[Zelphas]

Satomi endures the Shieldon's licking for a patient moment before firmly sliding it to one side and sitting up. "You are welcome, little one. Please allow me to stand."

Perhaps it was because of the Fossil? Satomi suggested. Since both the Sieldon and its remains occupied the same space, and then I interfered to make one of them invalid, the reaction was stronger? It is interesting that there was such a large difference in time magic between the two events. Satomi realizes that she feels giddy, but it takes her a moment to realize why she felt that way. She had caused magic to happen, no matter the outside circumstances! It is so close to her obsession that it is nearly painful. She takes a few moments to carefully shut down this feeling, marshaling the rational thoughts against tampering with the timestream.

We should continue towards the Mountain, she thinks finally, standing. Unless the roaring creature is kind enough to return us to our timeline, it is still our best chance of returning to our present. "I must go now, little one," she says to the Shieldon, patting it once on the top of its rounded crest. "If you wish to come along, simply follow with me." She turns again to the Mountain and begins to walk.

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles at Krueger's final comment. "Indeed, I am not. To become a full knight, I need to take a final mission for the Mages, and this involves getting a very rare ingredient: the Heart of Sky, which means an Altaria's heart," he explains simply, trying to hide his sadness. "I'd rather not have to kill one for such petty motive, but I guess I need to become a knight. There's something I gotta do." He focuses on not thinking about his former companions, instead looking at the maps around.

"But, hey, don't worry much. Just knowing I can find some in the mountain is pretty good information. And you don't need to take me, you know?" he says, forcing himself to smirk. "I'm not that green, remember?"

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils took a second to process what Darkrai had told him. The whole conversation made him uncomfortable, from the idea of Rem eating those berries and becoming miserable to the way the god looked at Morpheus, to the sheer amount of information that Darkrai knew about him. The fact that he'd been in Neils' head for years and years explained part of that, but the god had made it clear that he was using that knowledge to control the conversation. A part of him wanted to channel the god, but his gut told him that would be a very, very bad idea.

After filing away the existence of this 'other god,' Neils considered the god's offer. To be blessed by a god? He glanced at Morpheus. Being blessed by one seemed to have given him an edge, and he salivated at the thought of what an alliance with Darkrai could bring him. He imagined the sheer power of nightmares that would be available to him with a god's support. How far could he rise?

The old Neils, one who existed not even three weeks ago, would have jumped at this opportunity without hesitation. However, the past few weeks had been making changes in the young man, and he couldn't help but remember what he'd been through. He was loyal to the Mountain, and the last time a god asked for his assistance, he'd failed the mountain. He'd given a prayer of loyalty to the mountain, and he wasn't about to ditch the god of the volcano for a new opportunity.

And this would put me in service to another master. Do I really need to owe something to another manipulator like Ibis? A bead of sweat dripped down his brow as he struggled to figure out what he should do.

Knowing that he was running out of time, Neils spoke. He was measured, controlled, but confident. I think that might depend a bit on what full allegiance entails. You seem to know just as much about Morpheus and I as I do, so you know that the two of us are already tied to the Mother Moltres. Specifically, Morpheus's powers, which seem to be the reason you're talking to me at all, are tied to the mountain. I'm happy to work on your behalf, but I cannot betray or subvert the Mountain or Cinnibar.

I understand that you have no obligation to lay out your thinking or your plans for me, he continued. But I'd appreciate a bit more information on the practicalities of what serving you entails. How do you intend to use me? For Neils was under no misapprehension that Darkrai wanted to use him as a tool. Ibis was the same way, and Neils was sued to the feeling by now.

Neils felt for his bond with Morpheus. If he sensed it, he shot a quick, one word, message to his partner. Thoughts?

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana took the plate slowly, testing the air for it's fragrance. Satisfied that this was the real world, she began to eat. "That's what we're here for! Can get started soon enough!" Though she was excited on the outside, the girl still thought about the event she had seen. Especially those about her mother. What was different in those timelines?

And that armor and weapons. She was wearing it and if she recalled correctly that ring was the control for it. Still, a sword of ice and shield of stone. More artifacts to find? The thought was intriguing.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Perhaps, Gilgamesh says, clearly less than convinced. The Charmander begins following you almost immediately as you start to make your way towards The Mountain, walking towards the thick forestry in front of you. The Shieldon looks at its heard for a moment before chirping happily, running after you with an awkward, loping gait.

You're nearly at the treeline when the same roar that had been echoing throughout the valley all day sounds again, shaking the very ground. Your Shieldon almost instantly panics, rushing behind your leg in an attempt to hide, and in the distance you can hear the rumble of the Bastidion as they form up into a defensive ring once again. You turn back towards the trees just in time to see a half dozen of them shattered into splinters as a colossal Pokemon charges out, huge fanged mouth letting out another roar before it begins to charge you, far more agile than its form should allow.

Gilgamesh standing next to you flairs up, his body glowing as magma pushes itself to the surface. Is there anything here not trying to kill us?

I don't think I ever gave you Shieldon stats!

Level 20, Male, knows Wide Guard as an Egg Move. Everything else your choice.

Place yourself in the red square! Normal combat rules, so normal action + Charmander stuff

[Arcran]

Harisson

"It's less a matter of greenness or lack thereof and more one of this island being more lethal than any piece of land has any right to be," Krueger states, before shrugging. "Still, I'm not going to say no to keeping my scouts home. If you think you can handle it, be my guest," Krueger states. "And killing an Altaria..." the woman says, pausing for a moment. "I'm sorry. That's not a task I'd wish on anybody," the woman says. "Beautiful, innocent, and deadly. Not a good combination," Kreuger says sadly, before shaking her head slightly.

"Still, that's a ways out. Would you like to meet your new team member?" Kreuger asks, gesturing towards the breeding facility.

[Arcran]

Neils

He feels... safe, Morpheus states, clearly confused. But dangerous. I don't like it, Morpheus says, and you get the feeling that he's trying to put words to his paradoxical feelings. I can feel The Mountain part of me pulled towards him, but the rest of me wants to run away screaming, Morpheus states, although you can tell he isn't altogether happy with that explanation.

"I have no quarrel with Moltres nor Cinnabar," Darkrai states, and you can sense he's telling the truth. "She has her domain, and I have mine. We were even allies once, long ago," Darkrai says, something close to wistfulness appearing in his eyes. "But it would be foolhardy to enter a contract that you do not know the details of," Darkrai states, before looking you in the eye.

"There are things coming, Neils Gaiman, things that cannot be allowed to come to pass," Darkrai states. "Things that the Knights, and yourself cannot hope to stop, no matter how hard your struggle," Darkrai states. "That means the death of you, Morpheus, and my only chance to regain power," Darkrai states simply. "You will help me restore my previous power and, in return, I will grant you what gifts I can give," Darkrai continues, before looking to the trapdoor where a pink light was beginning to shine through, drawing an annoyed breath from him.

"Our time has come to an end, at least for now. If you wish my aid, seek out the temple in the center of this island-" Darkrai says, before the pink light fills the room, cutting him off and jarring you awake.

As you blink your eyes, awake once again the hazy image of a man in a domino mask appears in front of you, his eyes closed and palm glowing. As you stir into consciousness his eyes snap open, a grin crossing his face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living!" the man says goofily, the glow around his palm vanishing. You could see Morpheus struggling back into consciousness at the edge of your vision, while your other Pokemon looked to be about to attack the man.

"Uh, sorry, but could you tell your team to stand down? I'd be happy to explain everything," the man says, as you idly note his clothing matches the wrapping that had been on the gift you found when you first arrived.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"Perfect!" Riley says happily. "The boat is stocked up, and I'm ready to leave at the least," Riley says, digging into her breakfast. The two of you make idle small talk while you eat, until both of you are finished, packed, and ready to leave. Soon enough the two of you are on the boat. Riley gives the engine a quick start, and you're on your way.

"We'll just go near the site, if that's alright," Riley says. "Should be able to show it to you from above, even if swimming down there would be pointless-" Riley says, before squinting off into the distance. "That shouldn't be there," she mutters, before speeding up the boat.

As you get closer, you see a massive platform of ice, at least a hundred feet wide, sitting on top of the ocean. With the clear seas you can see that it extends down, likely all the way to the bottom. Riley is obviously confused, and glances at you a few times, her confusion evident. "Stupid magic."

Riley pulls the boat up to the platform, clearly confused as to how to dock the boat, until a small point rises from the ice and a staircase appears, providing an easy way up as well as an easy docking point. Riley grabs the rope and hops towards the stairs with the intent of docking the boat, only for the platform to vanish around her, causing her to fall straight through into the freezing water.

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles to himself as Krueger talks. Even though she was a rebel leader and they'd met only about an hour ago, he felt much more akin to the woman than to most knights he knew. "Heh, don't worry. You've seen my team is no pushover, but you haven't seen me yet. I'm not that bad either," he says, winking at the woman with a grin. He thinks about her proposition, considering how Carina and the others would still take some time to fully heal and there was not much he could at the moment. With a shrug of shoulders, he aggres. "Sure! I'm actually excited to meet them, it feels like forever since I last had a new pokémon."

As he follows Krueger, he clears his throat to start speaking with a more serious voice. "You know, I should ask you some questions about them 'cause Silver will surely ask me," he says, almost apologetically before throwing a series of questions, doing his best to sound bored although he was oddily interested in it. "Like... how did you come upon these fairies, what species did you find, if they're hard to breed, train and evolve... I'm sure you realize they might actually be your passport into Cinnabar, so let's make those bureaucrats really crave these pokémon so we can get you and yours the hell outta here."

[Zelphas]

Satomi smiles down at the Shieldon as they go. "I will call you Svalinn, if you agree."

When the roar rings out, Satomi shares her Charmander's resigned frustration. We simply have poor luck, it seems. "Svalinn, stay near Gilgamesh-chan; he will protect you," she instructs the Shieldon. We will need to bring the beast closer in order to fight most effectively, Gilgsamesh-chan, she sends. Try to bait it into attacking with Ancientpower.

The Shieldon gives Satomi a dubious look, but moves up with Gilgamesh, its hide glowing for a moment in the azure light of the stones Gilgamesh pulls from the ground and blasts at the Tyrantrum.

Satomi

Free action: Spend 1 AP to buy off the 5 point damage reduction from Gilgamesh.

No other actions at present.

Svalinn

Move Action: Shift to E12.

Standard Action: Use Iron Defense. +2 Defense CS.

If the Tyrantrum uses a move on Svalinn that would cause him an Injury, he uses Protect; if it attacks Gilgamesh with a Rock, Dragon, or Normal-type Move, he uses Bodyguard to swap places; and if it hits both of them with an AoE, he uses Wide Guard.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: Shift to F11.

Standard Action: Ancientpower on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
on 19+ Accuracy, raise all of Gilgamesh's CS by 1.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana eats quickly, eager to be on her way. It was about time she started getting to the bottom of these strange occurrences to take an active role here. After a bit of packing and giving Lily a quick milking, she was ready to leave.

The ice platform was an encouraging sight to Aloriana. Her prayers or presence had had some effect after all. She was fully prepared to disembark when Riley fell in the water, the ice disappearing around her. Not wanting to dive right in to the cold water unless she had too, the knight scrambled for the rope and tossed it out to the floundering woman. She was a good swimmer after all, this should be a cause for concern other than getting wet in ice cold weather conditions. "Are you okay?" Lori calls as she watches Riley closely to make sure she doesn't need anymore help.

Tentatively, Aloriana reaches for the ice for a place to grab a hold of to hold the boat steady. "Articuno might only trust me to come here. It's okay! She's helping me!" That was a message for anyone listening. Maybe the ice would stop trying to drown her allies, but gods seemed to do what ever they wanted anyways.

Tossing the rope and a life preserver if any out to Riley. If it looks like she's in real trouble I might take a swim after her or hope the ice doesn't disappear around Lori's touch too.

Athletics if needed: [roll0]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

He feels... safe, Morpheus states, clearly confused. But dangerous. I don't like it, Morpheus says, and you get the feeling that he's trying to put words to his paradoxical feelings. I can feel The Mountain part of me pulled towards him, but the rest of me wants to run away screaming, Morpheus states, although you can tell he isn't altogether happy with that explanation.

"I have no quarrel with Moltres nor Cinnabar," Darkrai states, and you can sense he's telling the truth. "She has her domain, and I have mine. We were even allies once, long ago," Darkrai says, something close to wistfulness appearing in his eyes. "But it would be foolhardy to enter a contract that you do not know the details of," Darkrai states, before looking you in the eye.

"There are things coming, Neils Gaiman, things that cannot be allowed to come to pass," Darkrai states. "Things that the Knights, and yourself cannot hope to stop, no matter how hard your struggle," Darkrai states. "That means the death of you, Morpheus, and my only chance to regain power," Darkrai states simply. "You will help me restore my previous power and, in return, I will grant you what gifts I can give," Darkrai continues, before looking to the trapdoor where a pink light was beginning to shine through, drawing an annoyed breath from him.

"Our time has come to an end, at least for now. If you wish my aid, seek out the temple in the center of this island-" Darkrai says, before the pink light fills the room, cutting him off and jarring you awake.

As you blink your eyes, awake once again the hazy image of a man in a domino mask appears in front of you, his eyes closed and palm glowing. As you stir into consciousness his eyes snap open, a grin crossing his face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living!" the man says goofily, the glow around his palm vanishing. You could see Morpheus struggling back into consciousness at the edge of your vision, while your other Pokemon looked to be about to attack the man.

"Uh, sorry, but could you tell your team to stand down? I'd be happy to explain everything," the man says, as you idly note his clothing matches the wrapping that had been on the gift you found when you first arrived.

I'm pretty sure that we'd all rather be running away from him, Neils thought back, considering those terrible eyes. How could anything be so black? And how could any create relish the relentless nightmares he'd sent to torment Neils? Still, his gut told him that Darkrai wasn't planning to cross the mountain. In exchange for the power a god could grant him, that was enough. He still couldn't forget how powerful the man in white was.

----

As Neils struggled back into consciousness, he took a second to comprehend what was happening: Zepar's spoon at the ready, smoke pooling around Rem, and the patterns on Nox's stomach already swirling. However, when he recognized the man's clothing, Neils waved his hand, and his team stood down. The man hadn't released any Pokemon, and his gift was enough to afford the benefit of the doubt. Those tags had come in useful.

The more important question was how this man had woken him up from a dream of Darkrai's. Could this man be the god's opponent? No, Neils thought. Darkrai said 'she,' and this is a man. Could they be unrelated, or is this man to Darkrai's foe what I'm supposed to be to him?

An explanation would be welcome, Neils said. Your gifts have already proven to be quite useful. Thank you. He gestured to the bottled ghosts, hoping the assertion would give him the upper hand.


Out of curiosity, would does Telepathy count as a sense in terms of shared senses? Neils wouldn't really ever do it because he doesn't channel Zepar on principle, but it's an interesting thought.

Also, Occult check to see if I know about Cresselia [roll0] another 3 if dreams count. If I need to do some research into it, that's fine, but I'd rather know for sure how much I need to dance around my OOC knowledge of her.

Also as a side note, calling that this is Will from Johto.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Dumb luck, mostly," Krueger states as you walk into the building. "When we were hiding out in Grampa Canyon a few months back one of our scouts found an Egg. Hatched into one of the damn things. We've been calling them Togepi, but feel free to call 'em whatever you like," Krueger continues. "Far as I know, they're not supposed to exist in the region. So far they've been a bit of a bear to get out of their first evolution, but the power spike is noticeable. They become orders of magnitude more useful once they evolve, even though the movepool is still slightly lacking," Krueger adds with a frown. "Still, you can get all sorts of Moves on the little buggers, and I've seen them use Moves that they shouldn't be able to. Callin' it Metronome. Unreliable as hell, but if you get lucky..." Krueger says with a grin.

Krueger pauses as you enter the room. Looking around, you could see approximately two dozen incubators up and running, eggs firmly secured inside each one. Far more interesting were the small Togepi running around in a pen. When you enter a handful come up the side, making strange chirping noises. Others continue to go about their days, with a handful attempting to roll around in their shells and one doing his best to climb the pen in the back.

"Pick of the litter is yours," Krueger states. "Few of them got a little lucky in breeding, so you've got a lot of potential here."

Level 15 Togepi, Gender/Ability/Nature of your choice, has one Inheritance Move on its Inheritance List.

[Arcran]

Satomi

The stones make contact with the massive Tyrantrum, the majority simply bouncing off his hide. Still, it was definitely enough to draw the Pokemon's attention. With a roar the Tyrantrum continues to charge forward, the earth quaking with every step. When he nears your team it turns, tail rising high in the air to shatter the earth below it, only for Svallin to intercept the blow, a massive gong-like echo ringing out as he stops the Tyrantrum from shaking the earth.

Tyrantrum uses Earthquake!

Svallin is a boss and uses Wide Guard!

Would you mind adding Svalinn to the tracker?

[Arcran]

Aloriana

The ice doesn't recoil from your touch, and you're able to get a good enough hold on the platform to steady the boat. As soon as Riley's head pops above the water she flounders for a second before grabbing hold. With Chriantha's help she's able to get herself back on the boat, shivering noticeably.

"Well, this is going wonderfully," she says as her teeth chatter together. She tentatively reaches for the ice platform, only for it to morph away from her once again. "Don't know what's up with it, but it definitely doesn't want me touching it, at least for now," Riley says, pulling a pair of dry clothes from her pack and beginning to strip off the soaked, frozen clothing she was currently in. "Obviously she, or he, or whatever the hell it is just wants you to start. I'll keep the boat here; if anything changes holler, alright? I don't want to miss out on this," Riley states, her speech slurring slightly.

[Arcran]

Neils

"Not as useful as I thought they'd be. I'd hoped they'd keep him from contacting you," the man says, taking a few steps back and smoothing out his shirt. "Anyways, the name's Will. A caretaker of the island of sorts, when I have the time. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, but I didn't know if you were here to find him or it was simply a matter of bad luck," Will continues, looking towards the back of your hand far too often. You notice that the black circle was there in full force, although it seemed to be rapidly fading.

"Damn hard to tell when they choose the god or when the god chooses them and all that, and people tend to get a bit touchy when it's the former" he continues jovially, pushing aside some of his long purple hair that was very similar to yours. "He didn't have the chance to do anything to you, right?" the man asks, locking eyes with you. "Well, besides the mark, but that's beside the point."

Just like nearly every god seemed to have an opposite, Cressalia was the opposite of Darkrai. The two were in a near-constant state of conflict if the legends were true, which is only understandable when their respective domains were dreams and nightmares. In more recent times, worship of Cressalia has certainly had an uptick, and for good reason. Who wouldn't want divine powers at the cost of wondrous dreams?

If you had to make a guess as to the identity of Darkrai's she, Cressalia was a very safe bet.

[Zelphas]

Satomi smiles slightly as Svalinn stops the Tyrantrum's tail in its tracks. "Well done, Svalinn!" She calls out across the battlefield. It's in range now, Gilgamesh-chan; strike with Dragon Rush.

The orange nimbus of energy appears around Gilgamesh, and he pounces upon the Tyrantrum, forcing the beast back several feet with his ferocity.

Satomi

Free Action: Spend 2 AP to free Gilgamesh completely this round.

No other actions at the moment.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Dragon Rush on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 4+Evasion, Flinch on 17+
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
If Dragon Rush Misses, it does not actually miss; instead, it is resisted one step further. The target is pushed back 3 Meters.

Svalinn

Move Action: None.

Same actions as before: Protect if Svalinn is attacked and would be injured, Bodyguard if Gilgamesh is hit by a Rock, Dragon. or Normal-type Move.

[CateranEnforcer]

"Chriantha, help her warm up before we leave. Don't want you to get frostbitten before we come back." Aloriana couldn't leave just yet. Once Riley was clothed and dry, her and Chri would venture out onto the ice. "I don't know what we're going to find, but I have flares in case something goes wrong. If you can still see me and I'm not whisked off to somewhere else."

She though about having more pokemon out for protection, but the gesture seemed futile. At any moment she could be dunked into the water if she displeased her benefactor. Just having Chriantha around hopefully would be show enough for her knighthood. Just keep close and head high. I think we're about to present ourselves to someone important.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils frowned, as it had become immediately apparent that this man, Will, was aligned with Cresselia. That in and of itself didn't bother him, but it was clear that the rivalry between the two gods went both ways if this man's attitude had anything to say about it. I expect his reaction to me would be quite different if he thought that I sought out Darkrai voluntarily, Neils thought.

I cam here at the request of my superiors, Neils said, although he didn't mention the Charizard Knights. Either this man could tell as much from Morpheus or he wouldn't understand the significance of the organization. Either way, he hoped the knowledge that others knew he was here would give him a bit of insurance.

Morpheus, if you could curl up around the pack, that would be wonderful, Neils thought at the Pokemon. We might need the emergency flair. If this man was able to pull him out of a god-induced sleep, Neils didn't doubt that he'd be able to overpower him in a fight too.

That light around your hand, Neils said, Is it what woke me up? He didn't bring up the fact that he thought it was a power granted by Darkrai's sworn enemy. Sometimes playing ignorant payed off. It seemed Will was here to 'educate' Neils, and the more oblivious he thought Neils was, the easier it would be for him to manipulate the conversation.

[Elyander]

Harisson listens carefully to Krueger's explanation. While it was true the first stage seemed a bit lacking in battle, the evolution was impressive. Not only it took a while to defeat, they showed impressive coverage and more than enough power. As he evaluates the litter, the first one who catches his attention was obviously the one trying to escape. With a grin on his face, he walks straight to the back carefully evading the ones chirping around. He ducks to take a better luck at the small fairy, trying to analyze its structure with the same eyes he looks at birds. "Good bone structure and the size is adequate," he thinks, watching as the togepi clibs the fence with a smile. "The muscles are quite weak, though. Not much speed or strength, but the attitude is right," he concludes, turning to Krueger with a decided face.

"Yeah, I guess I'll take this one. It seems quite dedicated into leaving here anyway, so why not, right?" he says, grabbing one of his free pokéballs. "Er... so do I just capture it? I don't know how that works. Ah, and can you tell me its gender? I couldn't identify. The eggshell and all..." he says with a somewhat embarassed face.

Male, Bold nature, Serene Grace ability (unsurprisingly)

I picked Substitute as his Inherited Move and applied the Attack Conflict edge already, if that's ok. If not, I have to switch a point from SPD into SATK.

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Tryantrum barely flinches as Gilgamesh slams into him, despite the draconic nature of Gilgamesh's strike. In return the beast lets out a roar before whipping an arm down towards Gilgamesh, only for Svalinn to leap in front of the blow with no concern for his own safety, the blow hitting his shield-head with a dull thud. The Tyrantrum lets out a roar, locking his gaze on the small Shieldon.

Tyrantrum uses Dragon Claw! Svallin blocks it with Bodyguard!

54 damage, 26 after Defense. Feburary Playtest also upgraded Bodyguard, so Svallin double resists.

6 damage.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Riley gives a muttered acknowledgement as you head up, shivering slightly. Chriantha hesitantly makes her way up the ice, expressing some concerns about it holding her weight, although those soon prove to be unfounded.

Stairs form in front of you as you climb the pedestal. When you reach the top, you're greeted by a large, flat surface. At first it appears to be almost completely featureless, until you notice some engravings in the center of the platform. As you get closer, you're able to make out a slight groove in the center, indented enough to differentiate if from the rest of the platform. There also appears to be writing in the center, although you can't quite make it out from here.

[Arcran]

Neils

"Well you have a hell of a boss," Will says apologetically when you state why you were at the island. Morpheus responds to your command quite well, giving a large yawn before idly wandering towards your bad, curling up around it as if napping, although over your connection you could feel him paying close attention.

"And this?" Will says, his hand glowing. "Just a basic telepathic disruption. Messes with brainwaves enough to make dreaming difficult," Will says, grinning widely. "Basic telepathy, really," Will states, continuing to grin widely. You had more than a few suspicions about whether or not that was true, mostly due to the dull ache that began to spread through your marked arm when the light appears. "Normally not that useful, but this is an exception."

The light around Will's hand vanishes, and the man leans back against the wall. "So, what exactly did the Dread Lord of Nightmares want with you? Rare for a single god to take interest in a mortal, much less two," Will states, nodding towards Morpheus as he pulls out a jar of what you instantly recognize as Dream Mist, idly fiddling with the lid.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"Male," Krueger says, gesturing towards the shell pattern on the Pokemon. "It's hard to tell, but the males have more pointed triangles than the females." While you believed her, the triangles on all the Togepi looked more or less identical to you. "And that's up to him. If he's smart he won't try to battle you but, well, some of the damn things are stubborn," Krueger says, watching your new companion with amusement.

The Togepi finally makes it to the top of the fence post, leering at you. It attempts to flex it's tiny arms, clearly not impressed with you as its infantile face wrinkles up.

[Elyander]

Although still puzzled by the subtle difference in genders, something he would have to leave for later, Harisson watches the creature's funny display of intimidation. With a loud laugh, he faces the togepi. "Now, now. That's exactly what I liked about you, so it's really not scaring me off, if that's what you wanted," he says, smiling widely. "I want you to come with me, and I won't take no for an answer. I'd rather you choose it so, but it's gonna happen anyway. So let me tell you what I offer."

With a single thought, the wind gather under Harisson's feet and he takes to the air. With a quick motion, he releases Cassiopeia and Columba by his side. "I only take the best fliers into my team, just like me. I know you can be one, and I want to make you leave the ground as soon as possible," he says simply, analyzing the togepi's reaction. The butterfree and tranquill calmly flutter next to him, their eyes focused on the fairy pokémon. After a quick pause, Harisson delivers his final line. "So no fence or wall will ever stop you again. Want in?"

Harisson is trying Charm, I guess? I will spend an AP to improve the odds, since I suck at Charm.
Charm Skill: [roll0]

[Zelphas]

Satomi nods lightly to herself. At the moment, we seem to be at an impasse, she notes. Let us see if we can tip the scales. "Svalinn! Back towards me, but try to keep it looking at you!" she calls out. Once Svalinn is out of range, Gilgamesh-chan, please strike with Magnitude.

The Shieldon looks over at Satomi as if she were crazy, but obeys, backing up slightly and giving out a mocking cry to enrage the beast. Gilgamesh gauges the distance between himself and the Shieldon, then takes a prudent step backwards before stomping at the ground, a massive wave of earth rising all around him and striking the Tyrantrum.

Satomi

Swift Action: Spend 2 AP to free up Gilgamesh once again.

Svalinn

Move Action: Use a Disengage Maneuver to shift to D13.

Standard Action: Use Taunt on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 3+Evasion
On a hit, the Tyrantrum is Enraged (and hopefully focused on Svalinn.)

If the Tyrantrum attacks Svalinn next turn, he will use Protect.

Gilgamesh

Free Action: Delay his turn until after Svalinn moves.

Move Action: Use a Disengage Maneuver to shift to G11.

Standard Action: Use Magnitude on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll1] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: [roll3]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

"Well you have a hell of a boss," Will says apologetically when you state why you were at the island. Morpheus responds to your command quite well, giving a large yawn before idly wandering towards your bad, curling up around it as if napping, although over your connection you could feel him paying close attention.

"And this?" Will says, his hand glowing. "Just a basic telepathic disruption. Messes with brainwaves enough to make dreaming difficult," Will says, grinning widely. "Basic telepathy, really," Will states, continuing to grin widely. You had more than a few suspicions about whether or not that was true, mostly due to the dull ache that began to spread through your marked arm when the light appears. "Normally not that useful, but this is an exception."

The light around Will's hand vanishes, and the man leans back against the wall. "So, what exactly did the Dread Lord of Nightmares want with you? Rare for a single god to take interest in a mortal, much less two," Will states, nodding towards Morpheus as he pulls out a jar of what you instantly recognize as Dream Mist, idly fiddling with the lid.

Neils frowned at the question. It was far too direct for his liking, and it was clear that this Will wasn't here to exchange pleasantries. He wasn't particularly happy with me for a variety of reasons, Neils said, which wasn't really a lie. The god had seemed rather irritated with him, especially at the beginning of their conversation.

And Morpheus and I are basically one and the same, he said, pondering briefly how alien that must sound to somebody who didn't have a bond like he had with Morpheus. He was close with Rem certainly, like family, but the way he and Morpheus merged was ... different. Where one goes the other follows. I'll admit though, I'm curious why a member of the Nostre family would concern themselves with an out-of-the-way island like this one.

[CateranEnforcer]

Well, time to see what they have in store for us, Aloriana thinks to Chriantha as she walks into the circle to get a better look at the engravings and writing. There wasn't much need for suspicion in her estimation. When dealing with what might be gods, it would be futile and perhaps disrespectful to try anything fancy, and then what could she do?

[Arcran]

Harisson

As you begin to float the Togepi momentarily stops scowling, its face awestruck for just an instant before the scowl returns. It crosses its arms, turning away from you indignantly, although you catch it stealing very unsubtle glances in your direction. After perhaps five or six seconds of feigned outrage the Togepi turns around and dashes towards your feet, futilely jumping and trying to catch the updraft that was holding you in the air, although with its short, stubby legs it was only getting a few inches off the ground with each hop.

[Arcran]

Satomi

The ground roils beneath the Tyrantrum, driving it back a step before it locks its gaze on Gilgamesh, only for Svalinn to scoop a tiny rock up in its shield, catapulting it into the side of the Tyrantrum's head and drawing its attention. The monstrous Pokemon charges forward, mouth wreathed in flames, only for a shimmering barrier to appear around Svalinn. The tiny Pokemon is completely enclosed in the Pokemon's mouth for an instant, before the giant beast breaks the attack off, leering at the smaller Pokemon.

[Arcran]

Neils

Will sighs at that, clearly annoyed. "So you know about the Nostre? Not many do any more, but I suppose if you've inhaled enough Dream Mist to cause the hair, you've probably done your homework on the topic," Will admits. "Let's just say that I got in a bit of trouble, and I'm paying off an old family debt. Plenty of people that are interested in the things on this island staying here. Not that it really matters; other than you, nobody but you has been here in years," Will asks with an amused tone before glancing at the trapdoor.

"Well, in any case, welcome to Halfmoon Island," Will says with an over-exaggerated bow. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a tour? It gets so dreadfully boring here sometimes."

[Arcran]

Aloriana

When you step into the circle blocky writing appears between your feet, vanishing as soon as you finish reading it.

BE AS A GLACIER

An instant later the temperature on the platform noticeably drops, and a half-dozen crystalline, hexagonal Pokemon float up from the platform and slowly begin to circle you, coming barely closer with each and every revolution.

It's a trap! Chriantha says in a panic, seemingly about to charge the Pokemon, images of Yearn flashing through her mind.

[Elyander]

"Defiant till the end, huh?" Harisson says, watching the togepi's struggle with a smile. "Good! That's good. You'll fit right in," he says, landing next to the small fairy and taking​ one of his pokeballs to offer. "Welcome to the team, Apus," he says honestly, naming his new companion.

As the togepi's accepts his offer, Harisson also recalls Columba and Cassiopeia. "Thanks, girls. We'll be working together soon." Turning to Krueger, he smiles at the woman. "Well, thank you for that. I'll take good care of him, and when I present him to the other knights I'll do my best to guarantee your entrance. Fairies could make a huge difference," he says, taking a moment to think on his next step.

"Well, I need to wait until my Pokémon are healed, so is there anything I can do to help around?" he asks, not really feeling like working but still feeling in debt with the woman. Getting this part of missing sorted out already meant he would have plenty of time to track the altaria, so he'd be able to slack off a bit later anyway.

[Zelphas]

Satomi looks over the battlefield with slightly more concern. The Tyrantrum is hurt, but not as much as she would like; this looks like it will be a long fight. "Svalinn, keep your guard up!" she calls out. Strike again with Dragon Rush, please, Gilgamesh-chan. This Tyrantrum will likely not back down until it is unconscious.

Svalinn holds his ground, his shield shining in the prehistoric sun. Gilgamesh summons the orange aura again with a grunt of effort, charging directly at the huge king lizard.

Satomi

Free Action: Spend her last AP to give Gilgamesh full power on his attack.

Svalinn

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Use Iron Defense. +2 Defense CS.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: Shift to F11 (using a Disengage Maneuver if need be).

Standard Action: Dragon Rush on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] (CP spent) vs. 4+Evasion, Flinch on 17+
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
On a miss, Dragon Rush is instead resisted 1 step further. The Target is pushed back 3 Meters.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Will sighs at that, clearly annoyed. "So you know about the Nostre? Not many do any more, but I suppose if you've inhaled enough Dream Mist to cause the hair, you've probably done your homework on the topic," Will admits. "Let's just say that I got in a bit of trouble, and I'm paying off an old family debt. Plenty of people that are interested in the things on this island staying here. Not that it really matters; other than you, nobody but you has been here in years," Will asks with an amused tone before glancing at the trapdoor.

"Well, in any case, welcome to Halfmoon Island," Will says with an over-exaggerated bow. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a tour? It gets so dreadfully boring here sometimes."

Neils weighed his options carefully. His conversation with Darkrai had been reassuring in a bizarrely creepy sort of way. Like Morpheus, Neils had a visceral reaction against the God, But he didn't lie to me, Neils thought, And he means no harm to the mountain. He was sure about that - at least as sure as he could be - and he trusted Morpheus's judgement just as much as his. And if he could learn to channel the nightmares into power ... well that would certainly be a sight to behold and a powerful tool he could use to protect those things important to him while rising to the top of the Knights.

But having someone so obviously anti-Darkrai wouldn't exactly be conducive to that cause. Neils certainly wasn't about to bring the man along, but he also couldn't afford to anger him either when Neils was so painfully aware of his own weaknesses. At least he couldn't anger him yet. Besides, the man likely had information that could help Neils cut through Darkrai's cryptic comments, no matter how biased of a source it came from.

A short tour would be welcome, Neils said, But part of this is a mission that I must complete on my own as part of my journey to becoming a full Knight. So there will be a time when I must continue on my own and face the dangers of this island myself. Although I've already started that process, he said, gesturing again to the ghosts in their jars.

[CateranEnforcer]

I don't think so Chri, it's a trial. I'm not sure what is means though. A glacier is just a big block of ice. It doesn't do anything. It's entirely possible that was what this thing wanted. Just hold still and we'll be fine. Aloriana was tempted to close her eyes to make it easier to hold still, but she wanted to be aware if this was clearly not what she was supposed to do. So she left them open, praying to Moltres the ice things weren't trying to hurt her.

[Arcran]

Harisson

"You better," Krueger states. "Each of these little bastards is probably worth its weight in gold, and that's a conservative estimate," Krueger says, locking up the padlock as you step out with your new Pokemon. "If you can cook, we can always use help with that. Other than that, just rest. Getting to the mountain won't be any fun, even if you can fly," Krueger states, before taking her leave.



The night, while uneventful, was at least a nice chance to recuperate. The various rebels were interested in meeting the young Knight that had managed to beat Krueger in a fight, even if it was more or less for show. While you weren't always able to keep up with their Kantonese, Ezra did his best to help you out and, by the end of the night, you'd managed to learn at least a few new words, although you had the sneaking suspicion that the majority were curses of some sort. If you choose to partake, Ezra also slips you some Kantonese booze which tasted, well, awful, but the others seemed to enjoy it. When they weren't under the constant threat of the jungle, the rebels loosened up considerably, and by the end of the night you and Carina had made at least a few new friends.



The next morning came to early but, fortunately, your team was ready by the time you rose. Krueger set you up with a small batch of supplies, before handing you a map, pointing out a few areas as she does so.

"You're going to want to avoid here, here and here," Krueger states, gesturing towards a few areas marked on the map. "Big Bellsprout nests, and we nearly lost a scout there a few days ago. Vines as thick as his torso, according to him, so be careful. If you get in trouble," Krueger says, handing you an object that looked similar to what was strapped to the drone, "Point this in the air and pull the trigger. We'll try to find you, but not promises. The jungle isn't the most hospitable," she adds.

Survival, Perception and Acrobatics/Athletics (depending on if you fly or walk) please!

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh charges forward once again, doing his best to strike the massive Pokemon, only for the Tyrantum to largely ignore the blow once again, snarling at the tiny Charmander and finally paying him his full, undivided attention. Before Gilgamesh can recover from his own attack the Tyrantrum lashes out with a claw, sending Gilgamesh reeling, magma oozing out as the Pokemon's claws shred through Gilgamesh's exterior.

Satomi-san, I could use some assistance, Gilgamesh says, rage building in his voice as his body tries to recover. I don't know if I can take another strike, he adds as he begins trying to circle the Tyrantrum.

Tyrantrum hits Gilgamesh with Dragon Claw!

54 damage, 42 after Defenses. Gilgamesh gains 2 Injuries.

[Arcran]

Neils

"Of course, of course," Will says, brushing his hair off his face. "I'm a caretaker, not a babysitter, after all. Just can never be too wary of strangers on the island. Surely you understand," Will says, before climbing the ladder, eagerly waving for you to follow. The tour, while informative, is brief and doesn't cover much that you didn't know. Will shows you through the ruined fortress that once stood, pointing out a few different locations such as a massive "Dream Mist distillery" that the cultists had apparently used, but a brief inspection shows that it's damaged beyond repair. Will skirts around the edges of the berry grove, stating that there is still a single servant of Darkrai present within that he'd rather not deal with today, before showing you the ruins of the temple. It seems to have largely sunk underground, although two grand statues by the entrance still stand, depicting Darkrai in his typical, more wraith-like form. Will advises against going into the temple unless you have to, saying that there's nothing of interest down there. Finally, Will shows you the remains of the cultist's main keep as well as their library but, unlike the watchtower basement, it seems to have been largely exposed to the elements and finding something readable would be difficult. Still, it was just a small part of a larger structure, so there may still be things of note to find within. Much of the stone on the island is still warped and melted, a clear sign of the destruction that was wreaked on it all those years ago.

As you finish the tour, Will looks at a large watch on his wrist before making impatient noises. "I'm sorry, but I have another date at the moment. One that I would rather not miss, if you don't mind," Will says, looking at you with a critical eye, thinking of something before snapping his fingers. "Ah, before I go! Darkrai will surely try to reach you while you're still on the island, and I doubt you want to walk around with a Musharna hat this whole time," Will says, looking at Morpheus. "I can place a block on you, but my own magic won't work at any significant distance. If you will permit it, I could create a block, using your Charmander as a magical source if you will allow it," Will states. "It should prove sufficient for most of the island, except perhaps the temple," Will says, looking between the two of you. "Shouldn't require much energy on his part, but the choice is yours."

Will is looking at you critically, obviously curious about your answer.

Worst case, I can probably shut it off, Morpheus says, answering the obvious question. Or we can go to the temple and break it the hard way.

Will doesn't appear to be lying to you about his intentions with the seal.

Mechanically, a 1 CP Bind on Morpheus to sustain the magic.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

As you stand perfectly still the spinning Pokemon come closer and closer, increasing in speed until they're almost a blur. The temperature around you begins to drop, and frost begins to slowly form across you, chilling you to the bone. Chriantha is struggling to stay standing against the frigid wind that is building, even with all her mass, as are you. The Pokemon spin ever faster, and you begin to notice the ice beginning to form great spears, crawling closer by the second.

Lori, please! We'll be skewered! Chriantha cries, her tail flaring up like a great torch as she prepares to attack the Pokemon creeping ever closer.

Command for Chriantha and Focus for yourself. Athletics for both of you.

[Zelphas]

Satomi winces as Gilgamesh is struck. Strike again with Magnitude, Gilgamesh; I am coming to heal you immediately. "Svalinn! Stay back for now!" she calls out to the Shieldon.

Gilgamesh glows with renewed heat for a moment before leaping into the air, slamming down once again and sending waves of earth in all directions. Moments later, Satomi dashes forwards, ignoring the giant lizard as she pulls out a purple bottle and sprays it over her companion.

Gilgamesh

Swift Action: Spend 2 CP to Activate Molten Core. Gilgamesh gains a tick of HP, and while he has it he gains 5 DR to Ground, Rock, and Steel attacks and Immunity to Powder Moves.

Move Action: Use A Disengage Maneuver to Shift to G11.

Standard Action: Use Magnitude.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

Satomi

Free Action: Delay her turn until after Gilgamesh moves.

Move Action: Shift to G12.

Standard Action: Use a Potion on Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh heals 20 HP!

[Elyander]

Harisson smiles at Krueger's suggestion. "Well, I am no chef," he says honestly, putting Apus' pokéball away, "but I am the elder of four siblings and my family wasn't wealthy at all, so I'd say I know how to handle myself around the kitchen better than most." With that, he follows the woman into what was a tiresome yet simple work.



The night had been much more fun for Harisson. While he struggled a bit with the fast Kantonese from the rebels, he was quickly learning how the language works and curses were part of fluent speaking, so there was no harm in that, right? Of course, the foul spirits he shared with the group did manage to scramble his brain a little bit, although it wasn't much worse then the cheap beverages his father would drink on special occasions. The whole atmosphere was light and cozy, and before going to bed Harisson was beaming brightly at everyone, his victory over the gym leader getting him quite the interest from some of the younger folks. One, in particular, had been his confident by the end of the night, a guy named Eloy who was not much older than him and to whom he told perhaps a little too much about his latest adventures as a knight. Harisson had obviously not mentioned the jewels or the powerful enemies, but he told stories about the trials and almost cried telling about the losses they had suffered, but such are the effects of alcohol, after all...



The next morning arrived with tiny explosions in his head, which he drowned with lots of water and a heavy breakfast. He was in better conditions when he met Krueger to get her instructions, paying attention to her advices on the routes to take. Once he was set, he extends his hand to the woman with a smile. "Thank you so much for everything, Krueger. It has been quite an experience. And," he continues, a bit embarassed, "I'm sorry for any inconvenience last night. I'm not really used to alcohol. I'm not even sure how I got to bed..." he trails off, before quickly interrupting himself. "Like I said, quite the experience! Anyway, I will be back sooner than you think, I guarantee!" he says, stowing the gun in his belt.

As he's leaving the camp, he sees Eloy working a little farther away and increases his pace, still embarassed by the night before. He is glad Carina is now happily flying around him to take his minds off all that. "Hey, girl, today I'm gonna be counting on you, ok? he thinks, getting used to the telepathic connection once again, "Just fly a bit higher and try to warn me if there's something strange, please." At the same time, he releases his new companion, holding him with both arms before taking flight. "Ready to start your training, Apus?"

Acrobatics: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]
Survival: 10 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21881134&postcount=1087) (AP used)

[CateranEnforcer]

It's okay, remember what the words said. You have to trust me Chri. Glaciers don't spit fire. This had to be a test of faith or endurance or something. Aloriana wasn't sure she could fight back her instinct to duck, but if she didn't they might not gain the trust of whoever this was. And there's no way it was a trap was there?


Lori's Rolls
Athletics:[roll0]
Command:[roll1]*
Focus:[roll2]

Aloriana also uses Focused Training on Chriantha to raise her skill check

Chriantha's Athletics:[roll3]

EDIT: Forgot the +2 for being my charmander and +2 for elemental connection (steel)

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

"Of course, of course," Will says, brushing his hair off his face. "I'm a caretaker, not a babysitter, after all. Just can never be too wary of strangers on the island. Surely you understand," Will says, before climbing the ladder, eagerly waving for you to follow. The tour, while informative, is brief and doesn't cover much that you didn't know. Will shows you through the ruined fortress that once stood, pointing out a few different locations such as a massive "Dream Mist distillery" that the cultists had apparently used, but a brief inspection shows that it's damaged beyond repair. Will skirts around the edges of the berry grove, stating that there is still a single servant of Darkrai present within that he'd rather not deal with today, before showing you the ruins of the temple. It seems to have largely sunk underground, although two grand statues by the entrance still stand, depicting Darkrai in his typical, more wraith-like form. Will advises against going into the temple unless you have to, saying that there's nothing of interest down there. Finally, Will shows you the remains of the cultist's main keep as well as their library but, unlike the watchtower basement, it seems to have been largely exposed to the elements and finding something readable would be difficult. Still, it was just a small part of a larger structure, so there may still be things of note to find within. Much of the stone on the island is still warped and melted, a clear sign of the destruction that was wreaked on it all those years ago.

As you finish the tour, Will looks at a large watch on his wrist before making impatient noises. "I'm sorry, but I have another date at the moment. One that I would rather not miss, if you don't mind," Will says, looking at you with a critical eye, thinking of something before snapping his fingers. "Ah, before I go! Darkrai will surely try to reach you while you're still on the island, and I doubt you want to walk around with a Musharna hat this whole time," Will says, looking at Morpheus. "I can place a block on you, but my own magic won't work at any significant distance. If you will permit it, I could create a block, using your Charmander as a magical source if you will allow it," Will states. "It should prove sufficient for most of the island, except perhaps the temple," Will says, looking between the two of you. "Shouldn't require much energy on his part, but the choice is yours."

Will is looking at you critically, obviously curious about your answer.

Worst case, I can probably shut it off, Morpheus says, answering the obvious question. Or we can go to the temple and break it the hard way.

Will doesn't appear to be lying to you about his intentions with the seal.

Mechanically, a 1 CP Bind on Morpheus to sustain the magic.

Neils raises his hand and shakes his head at Will's offer. He had no desire to have another person's magic placed on him, especially when that individual wouldn't approve of his actions while on the island. Thank you, but I think I should be alright. Rem has been keeping Darkrai at bay for years, and I wear her as a hat every night. So long as I don't spend another night sleeping so close to Darkrai's power, I should be able to keep him at bay.

Thank you for the tour. It's been an interesting trip, and it was a nice present to receive so early upon arriving. I wish you the best for your errand. With that, Neils turned and walked off towards the barracks and library. As he walked, Rem slipped onto his head, and Neils whispered for the Musharna to not siphon away any of Darkrai's advances. He was interested in keeping in contact with the god.

Neils made some cursory passes around the building, but his real intention was to assess whether Will was actually following him or not. Looking through Rem's eyes, he kept a lookout for anyone tailing him, or any telltale specks in the sky that would belie the presence of a Natu or Xatu.

At this point, Neils thought to himself, I really only have two goals: make a contract with Darkrai and get my hands on some of those berries. It might be smarter to grab the berries once I can prove an alliance with the god to his servant, but if things go poorly there, I'd rather not leave empty handed. It might be better to collect some berries before I leave for the temple. Curiously, Neils looks at his hand and tries to visualize the mark appearing at his whim. He cycles through a few different attempts to make it appear voluntarily, including speaking Darkrai's name to his hand.


Perceptions through Rem
[roll0] for Will/Natu/suspicious followers.
[roll1] General search of the barracks/library.

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Tyrantrum has grown wise to Gilgamesh's tricks, and manages to make sure its off the ground in time for the Charmander's attack, coming back down to lash out at the Charmander once again. Gilgamesh manages to whip a small globule of magma into the massive Pokemon's arm, causing it to recoil but only delaying the inevitable, not actually causing any damage.

Tyrantrum uses Dragon Claw! It's a Miss!

[Arcran]

Deal! Carina says happily before rocketing off into the canopy, a few singed leaves floating down behind her. You felt a newfound sense of awe as soon as Carina reached the top, as well as a strong desire by the Pokemon to chase down some passing birds, although you were able to easily talk her out of it.

As you get further into the jungle, you begin to notice something odd that you likely would have noticed far sooner had you been forced to walk. With each passing second the ground seemed to become more and more covered in vines, some nearly as thick as your arm, the further and further from the camp you went. Some were even coating the trees, hanging above you like a net. That on its own wouldn't have been that strange, but you also noticed that some seemed to be moving, slithering across the ground like great snakes. That, coupled with the almost uncanny silence, was enough to put you on edge, and cause Apus to squirm more than you were readily comfortable with.

Harri, all the birds are gone, and the bugs, Carina says over your bond, clearly bored. Can I come down?

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Chriantha holds back from leaping forward, but only just. She snarls at the encroaching Pokemon that were coming closer with each pass. The spines creep closer across the ground, and the wind rises faster and faster, until, seemingly out of nowhere, it just stops. The Pokemon fall to the ground with a click, fitting perfectly into new indentations in the ground. With an almost metallic noise pieces of the ice around you begin to sink in a spiral fashion, slowly forming a staircase that descends down into darkness.

Don't even say it, Chriantha says angrily, tail switching back and forth. As look around the rest of the ice island you can see that a staircase has formed where Riley's boat was, and the woman had managed to make her way up, looking around in confusion.

[Arcran]

Neils

"It's your funeral," Will says with a shrug, before waving as you leave. "Good luck on your quest! I'm sure we'll see one another soon," Will says. Through Rem's eyes you can see him turn to leave as well. As soon as he rounds a corner you see a strange purple light appear, before vanishing an instant later. Your caution with the few laps around the building seems to be for naught, as Will appears to have left and you can't see anybody through the sky. Your brief inspection of the library doesn't turn up anything particularly interesting, although you do find an overturned bookcase that seems to have protected a handful of tomes from the weather enough that they could hypothetically be restored. Other than that, you find a handful of other charred skeletons, some clutching weapons, the majority of which have shattered Pokeballs near them.

Trying to prove your affiliation with Darkrai proves to be a little more difficult than you'd anticipated. Whatever the rules the brand followed clearly weren't under your control, something that became abundantly clear after the third or fourth time you say "Darkrai" while imaging the god looming over you. You did, however, note that whenever you neared the temple the back of your hand began to itch uncomfortably, although Rem seemed to be far more uncomfortable, seemingly due to your hand. Still, you could tell that the Musharna wasn't attempting to block Darkrai at all.

[Zelphas]

Satomi winces as the Tyrantrum dodges Gilgamesh's strike. Step out of it's striking range, Gilgamesh-chan; let us see if we cannot trap it in place. Satomi steps away herself, turning to Svalinn. "Return, Svalinn!" In a flash of light, the Shieldon disappears, replaced a moment later by another reptilian form. "Sobek! Sand Tomb!"

The little Sandile blinks in surprise at the location and the massive lizard, but dutifully sprays forth a mass of shifting sand. Gilgamesh steps away as well, grumbling about his terrible luck this day. In sheer frustration, he shoots a line of fire at the Tyrantrum.

Satomi

Move Action: Disengage (if necessary) to H13.

Standard Action: Return Svalinn and send out Sobek at D14.

Sobek

Move Action: none.

Standard Action: Use Sand Tomb on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 4+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
On a hit, the Tyrantrum is put into a Vortex.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: Disengage (if necessary) to H11.

Standard Action: Use Incinerate on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll3] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: [roll5]
On a hit, the Tyrantrum must drop what it is carrying (if anything) or lose a Tick of HP.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana sighed in relief that she had been right about the ice pokemon. The knight trials had really prepared her for this at least. Chri's reaction worried her some, however. Maybe it was just stress and remembering the events at her birth that had her on edge, but she seemed a little wild. Still, that was not something to talk about right now, so Aloriana let it slide.

Aloriana waved down at Riley, actually surprised that the ice now let her through as well. She had expected to go it alone from here, but the company would be welcome. "The path is open now, looks like. Is this what you hoped for? Comon Chri, light the way. Let's see what they want us to see." She directs the charmander to follow her closely and light the way, as she began her descent.

[Elyander]

The vines stretching below Harisson were definitely worrisome enough, but Apus' reaction was what really strikes him as a defining point. He recalls the togepi into his pokéball, and when he thinks on how to convince Carina to come down, the charmander suggests the same out of boredom, of all things. Harisson smiles before contesting. "Yes, Carina, come here," he thinks, trying to push his emotion into words. The plants seemed a bit more dangerous than they should. "But it's not time to rest, girl. Stay close and watch the plants. At any sign of trouble, don't hold your fire," he thinks seriously.

They duo continues floating between the vines, avoiding even approaching them if possible. Harisson takes some time to check the map to make sure he is on the right way and nowhere near the places Kruger had marked, but still using the wind to make sure nothing would come closer without them noticing.

Survival: [roll0] (to check the map/directions)
Perception: [roll1]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

"It's your funeral," Will says with a shrug, before waving as you leave. "Good luck on your quest! I'm sure we'll see one another soon," Will says. Through Rem's eyes you can see him turn to leave as well. As soon as he rounds a corner you see a strange purple light appear, before vanishing an instant later. Your caution with the few laps around the building seems to be for naught, as Will appears to have left and you can't see anybody through the sky. Your brief inspection of the library doesn't turn up anything particularly interesting, although you do find an overturned bookcase that seems to have protected a handful of tomes from the weather enough that they could hypothetically be restored. Other than that, you find a handful of other charred skeletons, some clutching weapons, the majority of which have shattered Pokeballs near them.

Trying to prove your affiliation with Darkrai proves to be a little more difficult than you'd anticipated. Whatever the rules the brand followed clearly weren't under your control, something that became abundantly clear after the third or fourth time you say "Darkrai" while imaging the god looming over you. You did, however, note that whenever you neared the temple the back of your hand began to itch uncomfortably, although Rem seemed to be far more uncomfortable, seemingly due to your hand. Still, you could tell that the Musharna wasn't attempting to block Darkrai at all.

Neils gladly stuffed the few salvageable tomes in his pack, although it was beginning to look rather tight, especially with the three ghost jars inside. He was similarly irked by the lack of cooperation by his hand mark, although he hadn't really expected anything else. So instead of his initial plan, he walked up to the edge of the berry patch and stood about six feet from the edge.

He raised his voice and addressed what he'd hoped was the guardian of the patch, quickly returning Rem to her ball. Is the guardian of these berries awake? I would like to request an audience, as I have no desire to come to blows with you. If the guardian was a Pokemon, he hoped that channeling would convince it that he was an ally of Darkrai, or at least a person who intended to ally himself with Darkrai. Of course, he'd not had terribly good luck with guardians in the past, so he didn't doubt that this would go poorly too.

[Arcran]

Satomi

Sobek and Gilgamesh both manage to connect, although neither attack seems to do a great deal of damage to the Tyrantrum, with the swirling sands from Sobek's vortex doing more than either true attack had accomplished. The swirling sands cause the Tyrantrum to stumble for a moment before regaining its balance, leering at Sobek. While it had been enraged this entire battle, the Pokemon seemed to be driven by something more than base hunger at this point. It apparently wasn't used to prey striking back. The massive Pokemon dashes forward, icicles hanging from its mouth as it tries to chomp down on Sobek, only for the Sandile to vanish underground for an instant, providing a ready shield against the attack.

Well, it's halfways gone! But that means it's in actual boss mode. :smalleek:

Ice Fang against Sobek missed twice though, so that's a plus!

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Probably going to try to kill us again, Chriantha says in annoyance, although she enters the path ahead of you. Soon enough you're in the pitch dark, with only Chriantha's tail providing a small source of light.

"Didn't really have any idea what to expect, but I've got to say, this beats my wildest dreams," Riley says, her eyes darting around to see everything as they walk although, unfortunately, there isn't much to see. The walls of the stairwell were perfectly smooth, and radiated a deep cold that made you somewhat regret the fact that so much of your equipment was metal. As you get further and further down the walls begin to glow slightly, providing a source of light beyond Chriantha's tail. "Dunno if it's the defender, but whatever is down here is big," Riley says enthusiastically. "At least, if that door is anything to go by," Riley says as you reach the bottom of the long walk down the stairs.

Before you stood a massive doorway, at least twenty feet high. The ice here was glowing nearly as bright as day, allowing you to see your surroundings in perfect clarity.

"Think we should knock?"

[Arcran]

Harisson

There's a close encounter as Carina brushes against a branch on her descent, nearly getting entwined by the living plant, but the Charmander proves to be quite adept at escaping its clutches. She manages to wiggle out, and ends up gliding next to you for some time.

The vines did not appear to like their prey escaping their clutches, with several rising off the ground like great snakes and waving about like great feelers, trying to wrap themselves around you. As the plants become more frantic, you idly notice that the silence in the forest was gone, replaced instead by a soft murmur that even your keen eyes could barely make out.

Going to need Acrobatics or Combat to avoid the vines.

[Arcran]

Neils

If anything heard you, it didn't deign to answer. Of course, with the size of the place it is possible that it simply didn't hear you.

Eating these would be bad, right? Morpheus says as he walks towards one of the trees, looking up at the Berries wistfully.

Perception please.

[Zelphas]

The vortex works, but not quite as well as Satomi would like; and now it seems that the Tyrantrum thought of them as challengers rather than simple prey. "Sobek, Sand Attack!" Satomi calls out to the Sandile, knowing that little more than luck had kept the small lizard safe from an icy death at the Tyrantrum's maw. I know our luck has been against you, Gilgamesh, but keep attempting to hit the Tyrantrum with Magnitude. We must hit it as hard as we can and hope it loses interest soon.

Sobek, emboldened by his dodges of the larger lizard, gives the Tyrantrum a haughty look before flinging more sand into its face. Gilgamesh growls in frustration, then leaps into the air, slamming down upon the earth with as much force as he can muster.

Satomi

Move Action: Shift to I15.

Standard Action: Hope that she didn't just sentence Sobek to a nasty death.

Sobek

Swift Action: Use Intimidate on the Tyrantrum; -1 Attack CS.

Move Action: Disengage Maneuver to C15.

Standard Action: Sand Attack on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 2+Evasion
On a hit, the Tyrantrum is Blinded until its next turn.

Gilgamesh

Free Action: Spend 2 CP to free up Gilgamesh this turn.

Move Action: Shift to G12.

Standard Action: Use Magnitude on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll1] (CP Used) vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: [roll3]

[Elyander]

Harisson's heart stops for a moment as Carina seems to be entangled by the vines, reminding him of Gourm. The charmander is much more nimble than the plants, though, and easily gets free and joins Harisson as they push forward. He watches carefully for the now rising vines, giving them a wide berth as he flies, constantly advicing Carina to stick close, which she obeys with worried eyes.

After a few minutes, he notices the murmur. And while he tries to focus on the origin, trying to gather any information to what may be causing it, he does not stop flying ahead, now holding Carina in his arms in a desperate attempt to flee the wretched place.

Acrobatics: [roll0]

[CateranEnforcer]

The giant door stood there like an invitation. Aloriana was happy to oblige, but she thought of one more thing. It was odd to have some one older than her be so eager to press on without fear or thought. She was starting to see what made knights special to the everyday person. The things they endured...

"First, I'm going to pay some respect. This passage is supposed to be secret and it was not opened lightly. Whoever did so has taken a risk letting us in here." Aloriana kneeled before the door for a few moments, silently thanking the inhabitants of this tunnel for showing the way and graciously allowing them to pass.

Finally, she stood up. "There, now we can go. I don't think knocking is necessary." Confidently, the young knight marched through the doorway.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

If anything heard you, it didn't deign to answer. Of course, with the size of the place it is possible that it simply didn't hear you.

Eating these would be bad, right? Morpheus says as he walks towards one of the trees, looking up at the Berries wistfully.

Perception please.

Darkrai said that they wouldn't have a negative impact on you, Neils said. But I think I'd like to do a bit of research before we test that theory. He scanned the garden quickly, keeping an eye out for any sort of movement.

Perception [roll0]

Waiting for results of roll before I do anything

[Arcran]

Satomi

The Tyrantrum lets out a roar as Sobek sprays sand into its eyes, only for Gilgamesh to nearly knock it of its feet an instant later. The massive Pokemon flails about, mouth still coated in ice, before managing to get a hold of Sobek, lifting the tiny Sandile high into the air before tossing it aside, Sobek sliding a dozen yards across the ground before coming to a stop.

It hits once with Ice Fang!
51 damage, 42 damage before SE, 63 after. KO, 3 Injuries.

[Arcran]

Harisson

You and Carina manage to deftly weave around the vines for the most part, and with each dodge it becomes progressively easier, as if they were losing track of you. You fly as fast you're able to without losing control, and nearly make it out without being touched. Nearly. With the edge of the forest in sight a vine whips up, catching you on the ankle, and the plants surge forward again, just as you clear the forest.

Before you stood the mountain that dominated the small island. While it was nothing in comparison to The Mountain, compared to the relatively flat landscape it was rather impressive, with the peak seeming to just barely reach the point where clouds were forming.

Behind you the vines were slowly creeping away from the forest, towards you, and the murmuring was only growing louder.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Riley nods as you ask to pray, stepping aside to allow you to center yourself in front of the door. You begin your prayer and, unsurprisingly, you hear the massive door begin to scrape open as you say the words.

What was a bit more of a surprise was the wave of water that shot out of the narrow gap, knocking you off your feet for a moment and chilling you to your core. Chriantha was panicking as she dashes away from the wave, barely scaling stairs as she dodges the water. Riley sprints back up as well. The instant she reaches the stairs the water begins to freeze, sinking down into the ground and returning the ground to normal.

"Whatever is here really doesn't like me," Riley says, breathing heavily.

[Arcran]

Neils

Morpheus agrees with you reluctantly, clearly annoyed that he wasn't able to eat.

You and your Pokemon slowly walk through the orchard, exploring it row by row. While you notice a few slight variations in berry shape, color and size, they largely appeared to be the same. You wander for perhaps a half hour, until you notice that as you go a certain direction your hand begins to itch, turning slightly darker with each step. As you follow the mark's reaction, it growing darker with each and every step, you eventually come to a stop in front of a tree, the mark completely dark.

Morpheus wanders around to the far side, before starting slightly.

Neils, I think we found it, Morpheus says, clearly uneasy.

As you round the tree, you are greeted by a strange sight. The Pokemon was yellow and humanoid, but so emaciated and covered in hair couldn't tell if it was a Hypno or an Alakazam. It appeared to be asleep, although its chest was barely rising and falling.

[Zelphas]

Satomi winces--again--as Sobek is mauled. It was too much of a gamble to keep him out another round. He is lucky, though; Thank the Mountain, he will survive. Satomi returns the Sandile, then hesitates. Time to take another gamble. Gilgamesh-chan, hold back this round and ready another Magnitude, please. Satomi throws out another PokeBall. Please be all right. "Renault! Mud Shot!"

Gilgamesh, still grumbling, hangs back, readying another seismic strike. Renault, blinking in the light of the world he once knew, takes one look at the giant Tyrantrum and reacts instinctively, spraying a blast of mud at the king lizard.

Satomi

Move Action: Recall Sobek.

Standard Action: Throw out Renault at F9.

Gilgamesh

No Actions this round.

Renault

Move Action: None.

Standard Action: Use Mud Shot on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 3+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
On a hit, the Tyrantrum loses 1 Speed CS.

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Morpheus agrees with you reluctantly, clearly annoyed that he wasn't able to eat.

You and your Pokemon slowly walk through the orchard, exploring it row by row. While you notice a few slight variations in berry shape, color and size, they largely appeared to be the same. You wander for perhaps a half hour, until you notice that as you go a certain direction your hand begins to itch, turning slightly darker with each step. As you follow the mark's reaction, it growing darker with each and every step, you eventually come to a stop in front of a tree, the mark completely dark.

Morpheus wanders around to the far side, before starting slightly.

Neils, I think we found it, Morpheus says, clearly uneasy.

As you round the tree, you are greeted by a strange sight. The Pokemon was yellow and humanoid, but so emaciated and covered in hair couldn't tell if it was a Hypno or an Alakazam. It appeared to be asleep, although its chest was barely rising and falling.

So we did, Neils said as he looked at the creature. If it was on this island, he assumed it would be a Hypno: the Pokemon were associated strongly with sleep, and it made sense that one would be here. Of course, it was hard to tell underneath the hair, but even scholars were allowed to make educated guesses now and again.

He briefly considered collecting berries and simply walking away, but it would have been rude to come all this way only to leave. His goal was to leave with a few berries to replant back home and start a new garden, but he wasn't sure how this Pokemon would react. Hopefully the mark on his hand would convince the Pokemon that he deserved some of the berries. And if things went south ... well he had faith that he could make it out alive.

Reaching out with his mind, Neils tried to forge a connection with the Pokemon, holding his marked hand out in front of him to show it. Hello guardian of this garden. I come to request leave to remove some berries from this garden and sought to meet the caretaker before I moved too hastily.


Channeling DC 15 [roll0]
Mystic Senses to use intuition as charm on wild Pokemon [roll1]

[CateranEnforcer]

"I bet they just really don't like about everyone, even me. It's who I represent that they respect." Aloriana did her best to shake herself dry before gesturing for Chri to come over. Hugging her warm charmander was much more effective at staving off the cold than air drying herself. "As long as we're careful that water won't bother us. You might want to keep your distance," she said to Riley. "It's not that I don't want you here, I'm just not sure if you're welcome.

Not looking to see if she listened, Aloriana walked forward through the door, keeping close to her warm companion.

[Elyander]

Harisson had tried not angering whatever was causing the vines to behave like that, but now that he was about to leave the damn forest, his patient was starting to fade and it was time for a small show of power.
"Ok, I've had enough of this now," he says, releasing Carina and pointing at the vines creeping a ttheir direction. "Carina, we don't want to burn the whole forest, so let's focus this attack on the vines. Flame Wheel!"

Carina quickly turns midair, engulfing herself on flames as she flies towards the plants tumbling, hitting the vine with her tail in a mini conflagration.

Harisson uses Brutal Training.

Carina uses Flame Wheel!
Flame Wheel - AC 2 - Critical on 16+, Burns on 17+
Accuracy Check: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Fire, Physical damage.
Critical: [roll2]

[Arcran]

Satomi

Gilgamesh nods grudingly, standing back as you release Renault. When the Kabuto is first released he shivers, seemingly becoming larger as he's exposed to his native environment. The Pokemon's sudden release draws the attention of the Tyrantrum, who charges forward once again to deal with this newest thread, Sobek's sandstorm fading away. Its fangs glow with electricity as it charges forward, murder in its eyes. Renualt fires off a feeble stream of mud at the beast that doesn't even cause it to change course. Before you or Gilgamesh can hope to react the Tyrantrum clamps down on Renault, swallowing the Pokemon whole. It tilts its head back, electricity still coursing over its maw before turning towards the two of you. An anguished mental shout goes out from Gilgamesh as his friend is swallowed whole, quickly replaced by fear.

The Tyrantrum prepares to charge again, before pausing, a pained expression crossing its face. It twists its head from side to side as if fighting an invisible foe, before two massive scythes appear in the titan's maw, slowly prying open the Pokemon's mouth. A brown blur flies out before the jaws close with a snap. It slides across the ground for a few feet before planting a scythe in the ground, pivoting around into a combat stance facing the Tyrantrum, but not before giving you a sidelong glance. While the form had changed, the eyes remained the same, and you had a newly-evolved Kabutops to aid you against the ever-angrier Tyrantrum before you.

Renault evolves! You can update his stats now. Because of evolution he survives the double Thunder Fangs and goes back to full HP!

Renault learns Slash!

Renault learns Ancient Evolution!

Move: Ancient Evolution
Type: See Below
Frequency: EOT
AC: 2
Damage Base 6: 2d6+8 / 15
Class: Special
Range: 6, 1 Target, Spirit Surge
Effect: On 19+, the user has each of its stats raised by +1 Combat Stage. Ancient Evolution may be used as any of the user's current Types. Once per Scene, the user may choose one of Bug, Rock or Water. Use Ancient Evolution as that Type, then replace one of your current Types with the chosen Type. Note: Any Features, Abilities, ect. that apply to Ancient Power apply to this Move.
Contest Type: Tough
Contest Effect: Desperation

[Arcran]

Neils

You readily formed a connection with the Pokemon's mind, causing its eyes to snap open. The very first thing you notice is the Pokemon's hunger, although that wouldn't have been hard to guess from its form. What was more interesting was as soon as the Guardian locked its gaze on Morpheus the hunger intensified, and you could feel a surge of strength in the Pokemon. The Pokemon doesn't bother to respond to your question, instead pulling an elaborate web of what you recognized as Hypno tokens from somewhere on its person and waving it towards Morpheus, sending a hypnotic wave towards your companion, instantly rendering him unconscious. The Pokemon attempts to crawl towards Morpheus in an almost painful manner, desperately grasping for his tail, ignoring you completely in favor of the Charmander.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

"I guess I'll stay here then," Riley says, clearly annoyed by the idea as she takes a seat on the stairs, pulling off her hat to knock some frost off of it.

You're able to pass through the large doors without incident this time; no great surge of water appeared to greet you. The room you enter is dark, and a few steps after you cross the threshold the door slams shut behind you, and thin tendrils of light begin to seep through the ice throughout the area, slowly lighting it.

In the twilight of the room you panic for a moment as great humanoid and bestial shapes begin to appear, until the light becomes bright enough to reveal them to be simple statues. Near you there were a handful you could recognize, mostly large aquatic Pokemon in various combat poses, although there were a few birds suspended in midair as well as a colossal Blastoise and a man whipping a knife forward. It takes you a moment to recognize it, but it also appears that ice isn't the natural form for this room. You can just barely make out stone beneath the floor, although with the dim light it was impossible to tell how thick it was.

Chriantha looks at the statues with a sense of unease, focusing on a few of the more aggressive ones. Who makes statues in poses like this?

Something seems off about some of these statues. You can't quite place it, but there's definitely something wrong in the room. You could feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up whenever you turned your back to a statue which, with the current state of the room, was almost impossible to not do.

Please roll Perception as well.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Carina darts forward, lighting up at the last second as she prepares to attack the plants. Unfortunately, the sudden flair of heat seems to alert the plants and before Carina can connect a thick vine whips up from the ground, connecting with the Charmander's face and knocking her off course.

The vines creeping forward from the forest seem to suddenly surge forward as they notice Carina's presence, and the murmuring increases in volume, confirming that you weren't simply going mad. The vines seem to be twisting themselves into shapes, slowly building into different shapes, some forming into simple jumbles of vines while others slowly twine their way into giant fanged maws.

30 damage to Carina, 25 after Defense.

[Zelphas]

Satomi's cry of fear and anguish turns into a cheer as Renault rips himself out of the Tyrantrum's mouth, the new Kabutops brandishing its scythes eagerly for battle. He is quite young yet to evolve; perhaps ancient Kabuto reached maturity more quickly than their fossilized regeneration... hmm... Satomi brushes away the errant speculation; there is still battle to be done. "Renault! Tear it down!" she calls out. Gilgamesh-chan, please use Magnitude once more. We nearly have this Tyrantrum now.

Renault lets out a bone-chilling rattle of excitement, leaping backwards and digging into the ground again with his claws. He rips out a mass of glowing rocks; one slash shatters the rocks into painful shards, while the other blade hits the shards flatly, sending them flying towards the Tyrantrum. Gilgamesh, galvanized by his companion's new form, leaps forward to shake the ground once more.

Satomi

Cheer on the new Evolution!

Renault

Move Action: Disengage to F8.

Standard Action: Use Ancient Evolution (Bug Type) on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 2+Evasion, all stats +1 CS on 19+
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]
Renault uses this to shift from Rock/Water to Rock/Bug Types.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: None.

Swift Action: Use my final CP to remove the damage limiter.

Standard Action: Magnitude on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll3] vs. 2+Evasion
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: [roll5]

[Elyander]

Harisson winces as Carina is hit and her move fails. Watching in horror as the creeping fauna continues their bizarre transformation, Harisson mentally commands Carina, entering the sudden calm that precedes battles.

"No visible source, but tied to the forest. Our priority is weakening its power, then. Carina, move away and ready yourself," he explains, hoping the charmander eventually get a sense of his tactical views. "Let's try to get them away from the woods while they reveal what they can do, ok?"

Carina does as told, flying away from the vines while pushing her flame to shine a bit brighter. Meanwhile, Harisson expands his senses through the wind and releases an arrow at one of the maws, more to figure out its consistency than dealing damage.

Carina shifts away and uses Focus Energy (no AoO because of Run Away)

Harisson stays next to Carina, as far away from the plants as they can. Their priority is still getting away from the forest.
He then shoots a Struggle arrow against one of the mouths.
AC 4, Critical on 19+
Accuracy Check: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Normal, Physical damage
Critical: [roll2]+ [roll3]

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

You readily formed a connection with the Pokemon's mind, causing its eyes to snap open. The very first thing you notice is the Pokemon's hunger, although that wouldn't have been hard to guess from its form. What was more interesting was as soon as the Guardian locked its gaze on Morpheus the hunger intensified, and you could feel a surge of strength in the Pokemon. The Pokemon doesn't bother to respond to your question, instead pulling an elaborate web of what you recognized as Hypno tokens from somewhere on its person and waving it towards Morpheus, sending a hypnotic wave towards your companion, instantly rendering him unconscious. The Pokemon attempts to crawl towards Morpheus in an almost painful manner, desperately grasping for his tail, ignoring you completely in favor of the Charmander.

Muk! Neils cried as the hairy Hypno woke and, instead of conversing with him like any respectable Psychic type would, tried to eat Morpheus for lunch.

He bent and snatched up the now-sleeping Charmander and began dashing away from the Hypno. Hopefully it wouldn't want to leave its tree, and it seemed to be less-mobile than some other Pokemon he'd met. I am not going to let this thing have you for lunch, he growled.

[CateranEnforcer]

That's a good point Chri, maybe they are special. Keep an eye on them, I've fought moving statues before. Aloriana remembered the statues they faced at her trial. Chriantha of course wouldn't remember that, but hopefully the warning would help keep them both aware. The ones in the air were also very unnatural and clearly a product of the guardian or some other magical source.

Curious and cautious, Aloriana walks up to the human statue. It struck her as the most out of place here of them all.

Perception:[roll0]

[Arcran]

Satomi

Your duo of Pokemon both connect solidly with the Tyrantrum this time, with Gilgamesh's quake setting it off balance enough for Renault to connect solidly with the chitinous shards, driving the titan back a step. The Pokemon was openly bleeding now, from both its mouth and where Gilgamesh had managed to repeatedly strike its legs. The titan shakes its head, sending a fine pink mist spraying around the area, before charging towards Renault, going for another powerful chomp before spinning around, raking his claws across Gilgamesh. To the Tyrantrum's surprise the attack hardly seems to phase Renault, although Gilgamesh is knocked back another step at the heavy blow.

Tyrantrum provokes an AoO from Renault!

51 to Renault, 35 after Defense.

54 to Gilgamesh, 42 after Defense, 7 eaten by THP. 1 Injury.

[Arcran]

Harisson

Carina manages to dart away from the forest, easily outpacing the vines. You arrow catches one of the more humanoid shapes that was forming, blasting a hole in it for a moment before the vines begin to close around it. The further the vines got from the forest the slower they seemed to move, with the ones nearest to you barely creeping forward. The more animated clumps of vines, on the other hand, seemed to be far more mobile. As the first living fly trap appears it begins to levitate off the ground, eyes watching you as it begins to give chase, more of its siblings forming by the second.

The murmur continues to grow louder, and you can see trees in the forest bending out of the way of something.

If you intend to fight, go ahead and roll and I'll gen up a map! If you intend to run, you can Carina need to make three separate rolls each with whatever Skills you can justify for an escape. Carina may use the same skill up to twice, while you need to use three separate Skills. Any Moves/Abilities/Capabilites you think might help go ahead an mention; might give you a circumstance modifier.

[Arcran]

Neils

Before you're quite able to reach Morpheus the creature grabs his tail, inhaling Morpheus' mist deeply. Its eyes go wide, and it seems to get a sudden surge of strength before you snatch Morpheus away, sprinting from the woods as fast as you are able. As it moves you're able to spot two small tusks next to its snout, as well as beady eyes that are tracking your with intense focus.

Unfortunately, the meager amount of Morpheus' mist that the Hypno inhaled seems to have given it a surge of strength and, while definitely not enough to let it catch you, the Pokemon slowly rose to its feet, limping after you while it snarls. Through your bond you can feel the desperation rolling off of it, as well as anger at its meal being stolen away. Still, with each step the Pokemon seems to tire, falling farther and farther behind by the second.

[Arcran]

Aloriana

Chriantha bristles her spikes when you mention fighting the statues, stepping away to leer at the closest one for a long second. As you move closer to inspect the statue, you're struck by its incredible realism. Every detail was perfect, from the rage on the man's face to the way he was expertly lunging forward with his knife. Your sense of unease only grew until you got a better look at the statue, noting that everything was modern. The clothing, the knife, even the fake Pokeballs at his belt were only at most a decade or two old.

It wasn't until you got close that you saw the man frozen inside, trapped beneath an inch of ice. Whereas the sculpture's face showed grim determination, the man's face showed only agony, and lifeless eyes.

Are... are all of them like this? Chriantha says, dashing towards the Blastoise and pressing her head against the ice. This one is too, she states, before dashing to another. And this one, and this one, and this one, Chriantha says, dashing between Pokemon.

Near the back door you can see other statues that appear to be human, as well as one that resembles a Charizard. For a brief second the floor begins to turn to liquid, before suddenly turning solid once more. It would seem Riley was quite literally testing the waters.

As you look at the positioning of the statues, it becomes very clear that everybody within the room was fighting a common foe somewhere near the center. Tougher Pokemon, such as the Blastoise, were in the front lines, while ones like Charizard were in the back, likely to provide fire support while protecting the Trainers. In addition, the various fighters seem to have been protecting the ornate door at the back of the room, which appears to be covered in ice at the moment.
Judging from the positioning of the various fighters, it would appear it was only a single foe, or a singular foe with their Pokemon. Whatever did this was immensely powerful as well, but that was a given.

[Zelphas]

As Gilgamesh is struck, Satomi rushes forward, Super Potion in hand. Stand back and rest,
Gilgamesh-chan, she sends over their mental link. This battle is nearly finished. "Renault! Scald!" Satomi turns and looks up at the towering beast before her, staring straight into its maddened eyes.

The Kabutops had already taken advantage of the Tyrantrum's fury, raking its claws along the lizard's side; now, it tilts its head back and shakes, expelling a blast of boiling water at tremendous pressure towards the Tyrantrum. As much as Gilgamesh did not wish to, he complies with Satomi's instruction, stepping back and away from the monstrous foe.

Satomi

Move Action: Shift to H11.

Standard Action: Use Super Potion on Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is healed to max HP (with 3 Injuries). Satomi gains 5 DR this turn.

Gilgamesh

Move Action: Disengage to F12.

Standard Action: None.

Free Action: Look into the eyes of an angry predator.

Renault

Free Action: Attack Tyrantrum with Struggle (AoO).
Accuracy: [roll0] vs. 4+Evasion
Damage: [roll1]
If Crit: [roll2]

Move Action: "Disengage" to F9. Tyrantrum is Flanked!

Standard Action: Use Scald on the Tyrantrum.
Accuracy: [roll3] vs. 2+Evasion, Burn on 15+
Damage: [roll4]
If Crit: [roll5]

[CateranEnforcer]

Aloriana shivered at the grisly sight, though the cold didn't help either. This wasn't that long ago, and all these figures seemed to have been frozen in their tracks, mid-motion. "Do you think they are alive in there? Maybe Riley has the right idea. You think we can melt his ice? Chriantha, use Ember on the Charizard in the back. Maybe we can set him free."

She hoped if any were alive that the Charizard would be the most receptive to her efforts. Maybe even a knight was here, though usually their charizards would be distinct. If this works we can try to free the others as well. In the meantime, Aloriana looks for signs of battle or of travel in the surrounding area. It might be hard with all the ice around, but it could be worth a try.

Survival to have a look at any tracks or signs of activity! [roll0]

[Elyander]

Harisson's joy from hitting his arrow quickly vanishes as more of the plant creatures appear, and when he notices the forest seemingly opening way to something else, his "flee" instinct finally overcomes the "fight".

"Carina, time to go!" he thinks simply, trying his best to also pass his concern along the telepathic bond. While he doesn't know how it works exactly yet, he's still testing the limits of their link, and as he stows his bow away and starts flying to escape, he's glad to see the charmander follows suit with even greater speed.

He notices the plant constructs didn't see as fazed by being drawn away from the forest as the vines, so he needs to think on a way to evade those. "Carina, stick close. We don't want to get split," he communicates as the duo flees. "Were gonna need some cover and distraction, so be ready to fire when I tell you to, ok?"

Harisson pushes his senses out, flying in random patterns followed closely by Carina. Whenever he sees good opportunities - and when the foes get uncomfortably close - he orders the charmander to send small bursts of fire, hoping the flames and smoke are enough to dissuade their pursuers. Or at least confuse them long enough.

Harisson will use Acrobatics (to out maneuveur and keep ahead), Perception (to evade obstacles and find good opportunities for Carina's fire) and Command (to order Carina while fleeing and guide her attacks).
If Command is not a proper skill, he'll use Combat instead, shooting arrows from time to time. They are both the same rank.

Carina will use Acrobatics twice (for speed/agility and proper maneuverability to set fires) and Combat.

I'll use all of Carina's Charizard Points on skills, if allowed, since both are fleeing from the same target. If Harisson can't use those, he'll spend AP instead on his rolls.

Harisson has the Levitate capability (obviously) and One With the Winds bound.
Carina has Run Away, Super Luck and Blaze abilities, and also Levitate, Firestarter (for fires), Guster (for spreading smoke?) and Aerodynamic (to fly faster lolz)

Harisson's Acrobatics: [roll0]
Harisson's Command/Combat: [roll1]
Harisson's Perception: [roll2]

Carina's Acrobatics: [roll3]
Carina's Acrobatics: [roll4]
Carina's Combat: [roll5] (AP also used here)

[CosmicOccurence]

Neils

Before you're quite able to reach Morpheus the creature grabs his tail, inhaling Morpheus' mist deeply. Its eyes go wide, and it seems to get a sudden surge of strength before you snatch Morpheus away, sprinting from the woods as fast as you are able. As it moves you're able to spot two small tusks next to its snout, as well as beady eyes that are tracking your with intense focus.

Unfortunately, the meager amount of Morpheus' mist that the Hypno inhaled seems to have given it a surge of strength and, while definitely not enough to let it catch you, the Pokemon slowly rose to its feet, limping after you while it snarls. Through your bond you can feel the desperation rolling off of it, as well as anger at its meal being stolen away. Still, with each step the Pokemon seems to tire, falling farther and farther behind by the second.

Neils didn't let up, and he hightailed it away as quickly as he could. Assuming he was able to reach the edge of the garden, he snagged several handfuls of the berries, hoping to have enough to plant back home without having to wait for them to yield before beginning his experiments.

Once he was safely away from the garden - he decided to head to the watchtower just to be on the safe side, with Rem safely on his head keeping watch - he shook Morpheus awake.

Sorry about that buddy, he thought to his partner in crime. Looks like that Hypno almost tried to eat you as a snack. Does it make you feel special to have so many creatures here salivating after you? While his tone was humorous, he knew that he couldn't completely mask the worry and fear that had gripped him. Channeling was perhaps the only time Neils ever let his guard down, simply because it was impossible to be deceitful through it. Morpheus and Rem, whom he'd channeled near continuously since they'd met, knew him better than anybody in the world. In some ways, they were the only creatures who knew the real Neils: the one with insecurities and worries, who was more than an arrogant narcissist. Not that they'd tell anyone that of course.

Let me know if I overstepped my bounds with me escaping. It isn't the most exciting post if I'm honest, but they can't all be.

[Arcran]

Satomi

While Renault's strike against the re-positioning Tyrantrm hardly hurts the Pokemon, the jet of boiling water that follows is hits much harder. The Tyrantrum staggers, staring daggers at your Kabutops, before taking a step forward that quickly turns into a stumbling fall as it careens forward, crashing into the ground, unconscious.

Gilgamesh looks at the fallen titan with some satisfaction before looking up at you, yellow eyes sparkling. The Charmander was clearly wounded, but seemed more interested in gloating over the fallen Pokemon.

Renault, on the other hand, seems more confused than anything. While he'd been perfectly fluid in his movements during the battle, now that the Tyrantrum was defeated he appeared almost clumsy as the adrenaline wears off and he has to adjust to his new form the hard way.

Congratulations! 120 PXP, 2 TXP

[Arcran]

Aloriana

The Charizard, unfortunately, was one of the more typical members of its species. Compared to the titans that you're used to the Pokemon is positively tiny, despite the fact that it was at least a foot and a half taller than you. Chriantha gets to wok trying to melt the Pokemon free, although the two of you stop as soon as you get through the ice to reveal the Pokemon's hide. The stench was overpowering, and unmistakable. The Charizard has been dead for some time, likely along with everything else frozen in these blocks of ice. Chriantha darts away, and you have the unfortunate experience of feeling your Charmander attempting to hold back bile.

As you give up on freeing the Pokemon and begin to look for signs of battle or travel, it becomes clear that finding either will be difficult, as the ice seemed to try to return to as flat a shape as possible. Still, while it was difficult, you're fairly certain that nobody has been here for some time, at least since everybody was frozen. Judging by the smell that had come off of the Charizard's corpse, it must have been at least a few months.

It was Riley.

A massive Dewgong was frozen in front of her, and the woman was pointing forward, clearly directing her Pokemon in some sort of attack. She was directly in front of the ornate door in the back of the room, as if protecting it from something. Chriantha hasn't seemed to notice yet, instead marveling at some of the other frozen Pokemon.

[Arcran]

Harisson

The two of you dart away, quickly outpacing the majority of the vines creeping across the ground. In the end it comes down to a handful of the animated fly traps chasing you.

Unfortunately, your ability to fly it somewhat mitigated by the way the fact that they seem to be able to levitate.

Fortunately, you have fire.

While you're almost certain Carina would have been consumed if it wasn't for your direction, with your guidance you're able to utilize your Charmander expertly, getting her out of danger before her bold nature takes over while expertly torching the plants, focusing on limbs and what almost resemble eyes, maiming and slowing the creatures before they can hope to gain completely on you. It was hard work, and you had to backtrack a few times to completely shake the creatures off your tail before you finally consider yourself in the clear.

By the time the chase is done you've made decent progress up the mountain, although you were drenched in sweat and Carina was clearly exhausted from the chase, although she's still managing to bob around as she flies, speaking at a terrifying rate.

Did you see that last one Hari, did you? He thought he was going to catch up, but BAM! your Charmander states, doing a little flip.

40 EXP for the successful escape!

Perception please as well.

[Arcran]

Neils

Not your fault, Morpheus says, still a little groggy. I'm just the belle of the ball on this island, Morpheus says as he shakes his head vigorously, before looking at you. I don't suppose you were able to tell why it wanted to bite my tail off? Morpheus states, making noises that you recognize as Pokemon speech. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm rather attached to it.

Above you a strange chittering sounds from Rem, one that you hadn't heard before. It takes you a second but, with the aid of Channeling, you realize that Rem is laughing.

Still, your brief foray with the strange Hypno hadn't been for naught. You managed to grab six of the strange berries that looked promising. Although you were hardly a botanist, they seemed to be fairly ripe and, with some help, you could certainly start growing some on Cinnabar.

6 Dream Berries!
20 EXP and 1 TXP

[Zelphas]

Satomi cheers as the Tyrantrum finally drops. Well done, Gilgamesh-chan! It seems rather fitting that one king lizard should fall before the greatest of dragons. She immediately knelt next to the Charmander, pulling out thick wads of fireproof gauze and winding them all over Gilgamesh.

"Well done, Renault," Satomi calls out to the new Kabutops, noticing his confusion. She speaks steadily and calmly; Pokemon often grew more intelligent with age just as humans did, but Kabutops are still known for being vicious creatures. "We could not have defeated the Tyrantrum without you. If you wish, you may stay outside of your PokeBall and grow used to your new body; unfortunately, I do not believe that you can cling to my back any longer," she finishes, her tone slightly wry.

Satomi uses 3 Bandages on Gilgamesh.

Charm to calm down Renault: [roll0]

[Elyander]

Sitting a little to regain his breath, Harisson removes his shirt and ties it on his belt. It had been close, but they had done it! Seeing Carina's excitemente was a little contagious, and Harisson couldn't hold a smile watching the charmander flying around. "You did fantastic, girl!" he says through their link, making Carina come closer so he can pet her a bit. "If it weren't for you, we'd both be some kind of plant food now. I can barely believe how strong you got in so little time." He did mean it. His partner had grown into a fantastic pokémon, and the bond they shared was such a huge asset it was easy to see why the Knights were such a respectable force.

After a few minutes regaining his stamina and playing with Carina, Harisson sets everything to continue the journey. "You need to rest a bit, Carina. Would you like travelling on my back for a while? I'm sure we'll need you full strength soon," he explains calmly, satisfied as she climbs his back and grabs onto his backpack, her head resting on his shoulder. Grabbing a pokéball from his belt, he summons Cassiopeia. "Hey, Cassi! I'm gonna need your eyes again, girl," he says, caressing the butterfree's head. With a shake of her wings, Cassiopeia seems to agree and takes flight. "Be in the lookout for the usual, but if you see a blue pokémon with cloudy wings, that's a major priority right now, ok?"

With everything set, he resumes his trek up the mountain.

Harisson's Perception: [roll0]
Cassiopeia's Perception: [roll1] (only if applicable, of course)