Adrenaline pumping and sweat beading on his brow, Makai picks himself up and dusts himself off. Fighting off a pokemon is no easy task. When the hound lunged, despite being fully prepared for that exact reaction, Makai was still terrified.
He acknowledges the Houndour's acquiescence with a nod. Species: Houndour
Name: ?????????
Type: Dark/Fire
"You've a very angry critter, there. A pack Pokemon with no pack, well. It's got nothing to lose now, doesn't it?"
A pack pokemon. Now that I think about it, he and his brother did attack as a team. If I can harness that cooperative instinct, he could prove a valuable ally.
All this talk about about Teamwork and Packs reminds him. He's doing it again. Running off alone. Not establishing bonds with classmates.
He sees the Praetor bobbing along and decides maybe he can kill two pidgey with one stone.
"Ah-hah, The Praetor and The Samurai! You seem to have happened upon me in the my first attempt at training that Houndour I caught. I figure some quality time ripping and running around the forest, might convince him Team Amakusa isn't all bad." Makai looks back. Iktomi does her best action pose, which consists of getting as high on tippytoes leaning hard to the left while pointing her mandibles skyward. Makai runs his hand through hair slightly embarrassed. "...or at the very least, might help me come up with a good name."
Tullius and Timaeus [Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 2/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
Tullius is deeply startled to see anyone else in the forest. Way more than normal, even. Almost as if he was intentionally worried about meeting someone here.
It takes him several seconds to respond. "Umm... right. Wasn't my intention... sorry." He takes another second before he begins speaking normally. "Ahem. Yes, training the Houndour. Do hope it went well, you look none the worse for wear."
He points casually deeper into the forest. "I was just, you know, looking for a place to... work on our combat technique." He looked down briefly at Timaeus. "Actually more mine than his. I don't know what an Amakusa is but I'm not sure if me trying to swat your Houndour with a huge book is a good teambuilding exercise." His eyes widen for a moment as he considers what he just said. "Of course, if you'd like to come along with me, we can possibly find some unruly spirits to... uhh... fight. And if your Houndour does get out of hand, Timaeus here can certainly put him in his place."
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Catarine and Mitsuhide [Haughty 2][Noblewoman 4] and [Honorable 0/2][Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1 Exp: 0
Still feeling slightly light-headed Catarine stands to greet the incoming monk, giving a perfunctory bow of the head as she does so. 'I'm fine.., just fine. It's my partner I'm worried about, he was heavily injured in that skirmish over by the wall this morning and just now I think, I was, inside his head,' she replies, feeling more ridiculous by the minute, 'I could feel all his frustrations, is that normal? I must confess I know little of this sort of thing.' The buzzing in her head has resided substantially and Catarine begins to regain her composure, 'regardless he will require physical attention and healing, I gather this is the place to deal with that sort of thing?'
Makai gets a very serious face. "An Amakusa is miserable ball of lies and deception." can't tell if he's joking about this or not.
"Iktomi, Houndour! Return!" Makai's pokemon dematerialize and return to their respective apricorns. Iktomi's the color of gathering storm clouds, with spiderwebs wraping around the equator. When she returns, the webs glow bluish white, giving them the appearance of lightning. The Houndour's apricorn is black with Brown sploches on it. The whole of it glows an infernal red of a sword being tempered in forge when it activates.
"Alright, makes sense to me. Being a Praetor, you're probably not all that used to combat scenarios, ey? If you want, I can give you some pointers! I mean I'm no knight or nothing, but I've" he pauses to choose his words carefully. "been in a few life or death situations. So maybe I could provide some moral support?"
That how you make friends. Find what they lack and provide that to them. Make them feel good about weaknesses, and realize their strengths.
Makai is cheery, almost unsettling so. "This is a good start. This has the beginnings of a great ' The Fox and the Hound' type story. The awkward but erudite Preator, destined to a life of upholding law and order, becoming friends with the lone ninja, destined to a lawless life in society's shadow."
"Glad to hear you're alright." Elise nods, more to herself than them, and turns to leave, exiting the house.
Elise glances to her left. That would lead to...no, she'd visit her family later. Going to the temple is the priority, of course.
[Temple]
Approaching the temple entrance, she draws her ceremonial short sword. The apricorn device's usual gold sheen has taken on a dull, almost rusty quality to it, the emerald inlaid in the hilt darkened to an almost onyx hue.
Moving a hand to her right eye, she suddenly hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. Elise hastily steps off the main path onto the haphazard trails of mossy vegetation that serve as pathways for the monks to admire the outer garden.
Several random turns later Elise finds a simple stone bench covered in readily browning vines. Her posture breaking as she sits down, Elise allows herself to work out the emotions further exacerbated by the recent fear of discovery. Wiping off her face, Elise breathes out and in, taking in the scenery. She admires the carefully sculpted hedges, pruned yet not enough to give the appearance of being tended by humans save for the taller than usual growth and sculpted pathways not blocked by stray branches. Inhale, exhale. Her worries were unreasonable, she'd just have to seek out a monk, to make sure the ritual will work without a hitch. Pokemon were hard to keep banished, not the other way arou-
Letting her eyes fall to ground level, Elise's train of thought is interrupted by the scene in front of her.
Obviously one of the many nearly identical flower gardens with benches exactly like this one in the temple grounds... with one problem: everything was dead. The closest bushes were nothing more than wooden stubs with a wiry frame of dead branches, a carpet of rotting leaves spread around them. Three yellow daffodil blossoms serve as the only remaining life in this garden, the blossoms' weights straining spindly, emaciated stalks, two of the blossoms devoid of half their petals as a spreading pox consumes the rest.
The only sign of life, that is, besides the suspicious pile of half-browned green leaves in the center of everything. Elise freezes as the leaves begin to shake, the perpetrator of all this emerging from its disguise.
A misshapen purple onion marred by pinkish-white splotches walks towards Elise on stubby root legs. Two limp, brown, almost tendril-like leaves are the only vegetation emerging from its top, each wrapped tightly around a wilted yellow petal obviously not belonging to the creature that drag across the dirt to either side of the creature. Under eyes that almost resemble bruises, a droopy half-smile forms as it waddles towards Elise, its gaze fixated somewhere down and to the right of the noble's face. It hops up on the bench and begins to tug at her dark emerald green gauntlet to no avail, the aristocrat still frozen in terror and confusion. The pokemon's brief look of consternation shatters into glee as it finds the unnecessary but helpful leather straps securing the gauntlet to her forearm plates. The creature's mouth opens as it vomits a black-green liquid onto the hide.
Snapping out of her mental paralysis, Elise screams as she swats the creature to the ground, the bulb pokemon shrieking in an equally high pitch in surprise. As she breaks into a run she hears the sound of metal clanking against stone, turning to see her halberd coming to rest on the ground next to the strange oddish regaining its bearings. A piercing wail emerges from the creature, Elise managing to get her embroidered cloak over her face just in time to block a snow of purple spores settling all around her. She doesn't stop running.
Several minutes later Elise stumbles upon a slightly overgrown door in the temple wall; an entrance she hasn't used before. Still, with how huge this place was it was nothing to be alarmed about, save for the worrying possibility of being lost. Grasping the rusted handle, she pushes the door inwards, panting for breath and clutching her right wrist in pain as the acid starts to corrode through her armor and drip onto her skin. She steps in, looking around for her bearings and a monk, in either order.
Tanaka drags himself out of the pool. He pushes himself from the ground, flute flying towards the enemy spirit, ready to deal the final blow. He stares into the demon's eyes, and there he does not find malice, but fear. It's scared of me.
Tanaka's blade stops.
"Hey, uh," He sheathes his blade. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, man." The monk thrusts and open palm towards the Yamask. "My name's Tanaka, nice to meet you."
[8] The Yamask scurries into the darkness at the back of the cave, its pitch body melding into the shadows clinging between the stalagmites this far from the dropped torch. Eventually the only parts of the Pokemon visible are the dim glow of its eyes and the faint outlines of the features of its mask.
Slowly, the Yamask brings up the mask over its face, whimpering behind its makeshift shield and apparently ignoring Tanaka's outstretched hand.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
The monk gives Catarine an odd look. "It... can be normal. Depending on how close one is to one's Pokemon," he brightens up. "Or if it's a Psychic Type, they are very well known for that sort of thing, of course," he continues, happy to have a more concrete answer for the noble.
"Pokemon actually don't often require actual physical care if they have an Apricorn they've been captured in. Being withdrawn into such a device allows them to heal much quicker than any sutures, salves, or bedrest could accomplish. Occasionally, a sickness or poison might require some kind of outside medicine, but that's a rare exception," he explains.
"The Pokemon Temple is a sacred place. As such even the most badly injured Pokemon taken here will recover within a few hours. If you're familiar with your Pokemon's elemental preferences you can even find places here that cater to those predilections. Prayer, small, mundane sacrifices, and other types of... human focus can also speed recovery. I'm not personally sure why that is, but belief and intent seem to have a strong effect on spirits like Pokemon. I'm sure a Trainer like yourself has noticed this?"
Malachite Forest
Tullius' no doubt extremely-forthcoming reply to Makai is interrupted by a sudden loud pop. Turning to locate the source of the unusual noise, the two Trainers spot a small streak of smoke rocketing skywards. At the apex of its arc, there's another sharp popping noise as it explodes into an expanding sphere of reddish sparks, only slightly visible over the afternoon sun.
A signal flare, and from relatively close by.
The Malachite Scouts tend to carry such things as a tool of last resort, when their need for immediate aid is more dire than the chance of attracting enemies or curious Pokemon. To be using it during the day, when it's extremely unlikely anyone on the City Wall would notice it, means the user must be expecting help to be close to hand, or else they are in some extremely desperate straights and have nothing to lose by attempting to call for help.
Tullius and Timaeus [Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 3/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
Tullius groans unceremoniously. "Aww, come on!" He visually follows the smoke trail down into the tree cover, noting the rough position and distance. "Looks like that'll have to wait, we've got trouble." Tullius dashes off in the direction of the smoke, trying to ignore the occasional snap as branches catch in his robe and break off. Timaeus is right with him, his short stature aiding his movement through the sometimes-dense trees.
"I wonder what would be a big enough threat to necessitate a flare. Iktomi." With a flash of light the Galvantula is out and excited. Used to dense forests, Iktomi gracefully leaps from tree to tree and takes the lead. Makai keps pace with her, but has presence of mind not to go so fast he leaves Tullis or Timaeus behind.
"I suppose it's time to play the Hero again" Makai comments mirthfully.
Bhutso & Mara [Boisterous 3] - [Exotic Weaponeer 2] & [Skirmisher 4] - [Careless 1]
Volt: 2; Exp: 0
"Ah, I thank you" he says, accepting the tea graciously. "May Its light shine, allow you to read true" he recites to his host, adapting a common farewell to the situation. Bright, ruby eyes, yet such a cold stare, he ponders, sipping the tea thoughtfully and pouring over the words in the weathered tomes. Near a week's travel from the plateau, reasoning out the attack, a small breaching party wouldn't travel that far. Might be we find something just off the path a couple days out! Tugging idly at the beads hanging low from his neck, he muses aloud to a companion not present. "Could be useful, Mara. I wonder if Bossan has any inclination of scouting? Hm."
gonna leave it that since i'm out of town for a few days; dont want to step on anyone else's toes if i'm not gonna be active
have fun folks!
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Catarine and Mitsuhide [Haughty 2] - [Noblewoman 4] & [Honorable 0/2] - [Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0[/color]
'Oh well,' replies Catarine, 'he is a psychic type, and we've known each other for a long time, as long as I can remember, so maybe that's all there is to it.' Relieved to have a reasonable explanation other than 'you're going crazy' Catarine begins to feel much more at ease, even the buzzing in her head is beginning to subside, leaving behind only the strongest remnants of her partners shared emotions.
'He was supposed to be acting as my chaperone, my bodyguard if you will, but he fell in the battle away from me, I had to save him in fact, which is unusal and the fact seems to rankle him, dent his pride. He doesn't want to fail again it seems, wants to be stronger,' she says to the monk, massaging her temples, trying to glean what insight she can from the rapidly fading memories of the link. 'Is there any place in the temple we can spar? Or a place where he can train? I feel though his body might heal in the apricorn his spirit will not.'
With a couple exceptions, seem like I'm keeping to a roughly 48 hour update schedule, so far. How's that working for everyone? Should I be posting more often? Is anyone struggling to keep up? Is everything I create a bitter carnival of unfathomable mental anguish and the very sight of this thread is an veritable assault on your sensibilities but you suffer without complaint because you're too kind to say anything to me about it?
These questions keep me awake at night.
Elise & Zeal
The door is difficult to push inward, grinding raucously as Elise shoves it open. The floor seems to be covered with a thin layer of gritty mud, partially dried and cracking in places, which seems to be causing the door trouble. The source of the muddy ground is apparent as she gets the door fully open, a large pool of dark, murky water dominates the center of the room, so full as to be very nearly overflowing, and the air is somewhat fetid and damp like a swamp.
Splashing happily in the dirty, shallow water is a blue, slimy looking creature with wide, simple facial features and small purple branches sticking out of the side of its head. The armless, foot-high creature whoops in joy as it waddles through the mucky bath with every sign of enjoyment.
Off to one side, a man in his young twenties is crouched down on his heels, attempting to rest his legs while keeping his bottom off the filthy ground. Mud stains on his pant-legs indicate either a recent slip, or perhaps some hug attempts by the overactive Pokemon playing in the pond.
His clothes are dark grey, and simple but well-tailored. Where there would be loose cloth, around his ankles, wrists, and at his waist, it's been bound tight with black bandages, a style Elise has seen a handful of the Malachite Scouts adopt for moving silently through bracken while resisting the grab of thorns and branches.
She can't put a name to the slightly squinted features and prominent hooked nose however, so she doubts he's one of the Scouts unless he's a recent recruit. Furthermore, the large katana handle protruding over his right shoulder precludes any chance of him being a monk at the Temple.
Noticing her entry, the man gives a very unmilitary salute with the first two fingers of his right hand, not bothering to stand up from his squatting position but watching her reaction with interest.
Marsh you are doing fine, everyone else try harder. Christ it's like reading my inability to appropriately juxtapose dialogue with near retarded amounts of detail.
We aren't trying to write a god damn children's show here, you aren't going to win the ponyta grand prix you faggots.
The unlikely pair hustle towards manifest trouble, pushing through the vine-choked trees and tall grass(!).
Soon enough, they are stopped short by a sudden drop. A dirt embankment steeply descends to a small clearing about 10 feet below. Within the clearing they spot the likely source of the flare, a beleaguered Malachite Scout with the typical grey cloak and defensively bearing a short, but heavy-bladed, voulge. The grass around him shuffles as several small, purple, insectoid Pokemon close in, but these comparatively tiny creatures are the least of his trouble. A much larger, but similar, Pokemon has the man cornered, the monster huffing angrily and whipping about the sharpened spines on its limb-like, segmented antennae aggressively.
The unfortunate fellow manages to catch a glimpse of Tullius above, and double takes, clearly either surprised that help was indeed forthcoming or instead bewildered at the form it's taken in the shape of a young, be-robed lawgiver.
Beggars can't be choosers, however, and he gives Tullius an impatient wave to get his attention and a shout of "Help!" in case the Praetor had somehow missed him.
Skorupi and Scout have Defense 3, Drapion has Defense 4.
- Trying new map stuff, always. You can only move between Arenas linked with a line.
- The small, dirt cliff is difficult to navigate quickly. When you enter the CLIFF Arena, you cannot Shift again until your next turn, even if you were planning on double-shifting or using a Mobile attack.
- Any Push or Throw performed while in the Cliff Arena will do an extra point of damage as though the target was currently Impeded (from getting knocked off of, or into, the Cliff). This doesn't stack with the actual Impede bonus damage.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
The monk is momentarily off-balance, but recovers beautifully. "There are a few places you could spar here, I suppose," he admits reluctantly. "Typically most Trainers do that sort of thing at the Academy. Of course, many of the rooms here for healing Pokemon, by their nature, can do double duty as spots for contemplation and meditation, if you think that will help."
He shrugs, an impressively expressive gesture with his hands tucked into his wide sleeves. "Other than that, you may be on your own. Navigating the relationship between a Pokemon and yourself can be very trying, or so I hear. Perhaps simply explaining things to your Pokemon will work towards mending things, they are quite intelligent, you know."
Tanaka & Gigen
The Yamask doesn't respond, except to sniffle loudly. In the pool, Gigen manages to punch himself free of the stony blockage. He's probably not totally sure how mundane rock was able to pin an ethereal specter like himself but this is Pokemon, bitch, I ain't gotta explain shit.
To make this not a completely useless post, I am going to consider Tanaka's attempts at conversation a Watch Action.
Gigen climbs back on his trainer. Tanaka looks up at his Brother.
"I think our friend here has a confidence problem."
Gigen nods. He jabbers something, a sage providing essential wisdom.
"You really think that'll work?"
Gi's emphatic.
"Right. Friend ghost, I and my compadre have been talking, and I think we've found the solution to your problem. What you need is a healthy dose..." Tanaka strikes a pose. "Of adventure!" He runs a finger under his chin. "Yes, outside these tunnels is a whole world, a world where a man, you are a man right? Where a man can find his soul!"
Tan throws an arm across the spirit's shoulder, orienting it towards an imaginary horizon.
"Out there! Somewhere out there is a furnace hot enough to turn your weak essence-ore into unrelenting steel! And we, being the nice guys we are, are going to help you find your Manly Soul!"
Tanaka releases the Yamask. "So what do you say? Do you want to follow us and take the first step in your legendary journey?"
Neo, you want to capture any of this stuff? Marsh, I'd give you a voltage for that picture but I don't think I can.
Tullius and Timaeus [Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 3/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
"Hold on, we're coming to help!" Tullius called to the man. Timaeus leaped into action, getting a running start as he drew his scalchop and jumped the cliff, catching onto a tree trunk with the razor-sharp weapon. Using the scalchop to slow his descent through the tree, he landed near the Drapion with a soft thud. Whipping the shell around, he attempts to slice through the Drapion's thick armor.
Tullius is right behind him, but not nearly as agile. He settles for scrambling down the cliff, trying to keep his robe clean. When he spots a Skorupi nearby, he brings his Codex to bear against its dangerous tail claws, making sure to keep the hefty tome between him and the beast's pincers at all times.
Timaeus will shift to Treetop B and then Razor Shell, shifting to Clearing to attack Drapion. Tullius will shift to Cliff, attacking Skorupi A and assuming a Defensive Stance.
You're doing great marsh wouldn't change a thing. 48ish hours is good. In the event I have to work a double or do homework or am really really overthinking my posts in a loose lowpressure game about pretending to be pokemon, it gives me a day without feeling rushed.
what's the rules on using multiple pokemon at the same time?
Haven't really thought up any hard rules for multiple Pokemon use.
At the moment, I'll just generally make your life a teeny bit harder by giving enemies another Trait or two and possibly using more enemy Voltage. If it becomes a problem with everyone using like 2+ pokemon every single battle, I will introduce significant countermeasures.
The countermeasures will probably be "please stop doing that", but you never know.
Makai & Iktomi [Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Iktomi not to be out done by that cocky otter, Bounds up to the tip top of [Treetop B] She skitters back and forth pensively. Her Electro web doesn't have the range to hit from here. However...
FLASHBACK
Makai stands on the limb of a tree, his tiny Pokemon atop another treetop a few meters away.
"Turn up the voltage of your Electroweb, while making the threads thinner." The tiny joltik is confused but complies anyway. Her master interrupts before she finishes "Now! Wrap the webbing in a ball. Weave it as tight as possible!" Even more confused she does just that, the unstable ball of electricity pulses faintly. "Now Again! Tighter!" Knowing what he wants makes it easier this time. The glow grows as the electrical energy increases. "Again!" It's getting difficult to hold this much swirling wild energy together. Too much for the little Joltik in fact. The ball of electrical energy explodes with a pop and sends her flying. With ninja like speed he's there to catch the fist sized spider as it falls.
Iktomi looks up forlorn. "Good Try. It's a very challenging technique. It requires a great deal of speed to be useful. You need to get at least 8 cycles in before it it reaches critical mass. Anything less than that and it will either lack the energy to deal real damage or lack the internal consistency to be thrown accurately."
UN FLASHBACK
The galvantula gets about 6 cycles into the electroball before explodes. The electrical discharge doesn't hurt her but does send her flying into the [Clearing], with the scout and the Timaeus.
"A'ight....Houndour,(definitively gonna need to think of a better name) here's your first test." Makai releases Houndour from his apricorn. "Burn that sucker." He throws a Shiruken at the Skorupi A, marking the prey.
Iktomi moves to Treetop then moves to Clearing
Makai Assist as Houndour uses Flamethrower on Skorupi A
Elise freezes as she assesses the unfamiliar stranger, feeling rather nervous when faced with the unknown sans halberd and Combee. She still wears it well, save for the rigidity of her actions.
Him being another academy student seemed almost impossible, the classes even smaller than the military arms of Malachite. He could be a foreigner?
A split few seconds later Elise decides the time to act is upon her. Trying to respond to the informal salute, Elise partially tries to soften her greeting before rigidly snapping back into her well-practiced military salute. Trying to hide the sudden burst of pain from more acid dripping onto her wrist due to her salute's hand positioning. She clasps her hands together, turning the top of her right wrist downwards.
"Excuse me...
...have you seen a monk around these parts of the temple?" Elise finally finishes.
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Catarine and Mitsuhide [Haughty 2] - [Noblewoman 4] & [Honorable 0/2] - [Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
'My apologies,' Catarine says to the monk, 'I am not especially familiar with Malachite or its customs, the Academy was my next port of call regardless, I appreciate your advice, and your patience.' Bowing low she departs the sheltered confines of the temple and heads up one of Malachite Towns more arterial streets to the Academy.
The expansive building does well to mix functionality and style; clearly built with a defined purpose in mind but avoiding the arcitectural traps which such utilitarian projects tend to fall into. Ascending a short flight of stares to the main door Catarine enters a modest foyer. The Academy is a large building for only a handful of people, it resonates a sense of emptiness, like a crab in too large a shell. However, it is well maintained and provides a vital resource in training and study. Picking a corridor at random Catarine sets off to find an empty space within which to train.
A likely candidate soon presents itself; some sort of training room filled with wooden dummies. A rush mat lies across the flagstones to prevent serious injury in heated bouts. Fingering the clasp on her locket Catarine releases her wounded protector in a burst of violet light, the obvious wounds on the pokémon's flesh had all but vanished, although he still appeared somewhat shaky. Mitsuhide quickly drops to the floor and bows his head deeply, a gesture of complete submission.
'Now there shall be none of that,' spoke Catarine in an imperious fashion, the Gallade could be stubborn when his pride was wounded and it oft proved best to show a strong face against his more melancholy moods, 'I am not your better and you know it. You think your honor sullied merely because you fell in battle? A bodyguard who would take arrows for his charge holds the most honor of all!'
The psychic pokémon reached into her mind once more, leaving words without sounding them; 'It is not a loss of my honor I abhor but a slight to yours; a noblewoman of Demaské with such a weak protector? Who has heard of such a thing! I do not wish to sully your reputation with my failure.'
'Such nonsense,' exclaimed Catarine, 'my reputation is mine to keep, yours is a far more important task. Just focus on keeping me free of perforations and I shall take care of such trifles as reputation.' Drawing her sword and casting off her cloak she asks, 'Now then; care to train with me? Can't have you getting rusty now. And even if you don't need the practice I certainly do so you'd better defend yourself!'
Although unwilling at first Mitsuhide soon warms to the lull of heated combat and it is not long before the reverberating clash of steel on psychic force is echoing through the corridors of the Academy.
Anyway, back to regularly scheduled whatsits. Gonna blame this on a combo of hideous caffeine withdrawal and the DarkRed game finally starting up over in grande olde SE++.
This kind of thing shouldn't be a regular occurrence, honest.
The fellow leans back on his heels in response to Elise's stiff salute. Bobbing back forward, he scratches at his chin. "Not out here," he says, conversationally. "This area doesn't get tended much," he continues, gesturing at the dirty state of the room. "Only so many bodies to do the job at hand, eh?"
Malachite Forest
Tullius is rewarded with a light crunch as his hefty book crashes down on the unaware skorupi's tail. Chittering with alarm, the Pokemon spins agilely, its foreclaws slashing haphazardly at the Praetor as he takes cover from the inevitable counterattack behind his literary shield.
Skorupi A takes 1 Damage from Tullius' Codex!
However, instead of pressing the attack, the Skorupi's claw moves in a blur, and with a warbling metallic noise the shuriken it snatched out of the air slowly spins to a halt on the end of its stinger. After giving the ineffective projectile a cursory inspection, the Skorupi looks up...
Makai Assists!
5,2,1,1 vs. 3 - Hit!
Skorupi A takes 2 Damage from Houndour's Flamethrower! It's Super Effective!
Skorupi A Faints!
Even from behind his tome-buckler, Tullius can feel the heat as a pillar of fire engulfs the nearby Bug Type, the roar of the flames temporarily overcoming the sound of his pounding heart. As quickly as they came, the flamethrower dies out, leaving a neat oval of blackened dirt, a lingering sickly-sweet smell in the air, and the charred husk of the Skorupi, which begins dissolving into a small cloud of purple and black lights.
The Houndour snickers.
In the clearing below, Timaeus and Iktomi make a soft landing from the treetops, the Oshawott quickly rolling to his feet to apply his weapon to the Drapion's armored side. The scalpel-like blade manages to rend a thin gouge in one of the large Pokemon's segments, but does little else but get the thing's attention.
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Timaeus' Razor Shell!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black gunk drips from the Drapion's spines as it charges Timaeus, and the agile Otter Pokemon quickly finds himself fighting a losing battle avoiding the powerful slashes of his opponent.
With a challenging, if somewhat unimaginative, shout of "oy, you!", the Scout leaps forward, slicing at the Drapion's back legs and tail with his stunted polearm. A particularly powerful blow nearly trips the Drapion up, and allows Timaeus to regain some much needed distance from the Scorpion Pokemon's swiftly scything antennae.
4,5 vs. 4 - Hit!
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Scout's Voulge!
Scout Entered a Protective Stance (Timaeus)!
The Drapion turns a ponderous head around to get a look at the rearward attacking annoyance. Giving the Scout a glower, it sweeps its tail in a wide arc. "Aw shit," the Scout manages to get out before his impromptu meeting with the spiky end of the well-muscled appendage.
Attack Redirected from Timaeus to Scout!
5, 4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Scout takes 2 Damage from Drapion's Poison Jab!
Scout is Thrown to CLIFF!
Weeds and grass are torn up as the Scout rolls through the greenery, past the defensively positioned Tullius, and into the base of the cliff where he lands with a solid whomp, dirt knocked loose from the impact showering around his prone form. With a cough, he pushes himself back up to his feet with the aid of his weapon, which he miraculously (and dangerously) managed to hold on to during the tumble.
"Right, fuck that thing," he groans, looking a bit green in the face.
One of the pair of Skorupi to the east scuttles rapidly into the clearing. Front arms weaving a tight pattern of slicing claws in tandem with its tail, Skorupi B carves its way through the tall grass towards the Oshawott. Timaeus fends off the worst of the slashes with his shell, but the pure offense of the Pokemon's attack drives him backwards past the treeline he just exited, and the effort to keep his defense up is clearly taking its toll.
3, 6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Timaeus takes 1 Damage from Skorupi B's Fury Cutter!
Timaeus is Pushed to TREETOP B!
Skorupi B Shifts to TREETOP B!
The other Skorupi takes up position on a tree trunk, and a swipe of its tail sends a small swarm of purple flechettes sailing towards Iktomi. The alert Galvantula takes note, however, and the wayward projectiles end up hitting nothing but dirt as their intended target leaps away.
1, 2 vs. 3 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 0 Damage from Skorupi C's Poison Sting!
Makai & Iktomi [Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Makai says, "Good dog." tone giving just enough to sound appreciative, but still leave the dark hound hungry for approval.
They head south to the cliff area where Tullis is waiting. "That was some pretty good teamwork back there. "We have great future as a team! Imagine the tag lines."
Doing his best gritty narrator impression, Makai says "You mess with THE LAW, then you're gonna GET BURNED." before posing with his arms crossed. "Or wait wait wait." "I knew that perp couldn't take THE HEAT." Now Imitating Tullis he adds "So I threw THE BOOK at him"
The jokes are interrupted by Drapion throwing a poisoned scout on to the cliff.
Makai gets all serious face, and moves to action, throwing a marked shiruken at the Drapion, and firmly commands "Again, Flamethrower" at his houndour.
* * * * *
Iktomi sees the attack coming and takes three leaps back, easily avoiding Skorupi C's piosonous barbs Skorupi? More like skrubrupi.....is the kind joke Iktomi would make if pokemon had the cognitive ability to appreciate wordplay.
She ignores the skorupi in favor of hunting bigger game. Iktomi gets the Drapion's attention and then charges it, leaping forward then back. Seeing the master preparing an attack, she holds off, allowing the Houndours flame to do it's magic. After that, she leaps in the air and fires an electroweb net at the giant beast.
Makai and Houndour shift to Cliff.
Makai assists Houndour (using Flame thrower) in attacking the Drapion.
Iktomi uses Electroweb on Drapion.
Sorry, Marsh, but I think I'll take my leave from Voltage.
Cool, just wanted to make sure!
Tanaka & Gigen
The Yamask looks out from behind the mask, tears still glistening in its eyes. As the Pokemon glares at Tanaka, the air is slowly filled with the disconcerting noise of a very nasty sounding laugh.
However, any apprehensions that the source is the Yamask are swiftly dashed as the solitary sniggering becomes a susurrating chorus of near-whispered chuckles, echoing in the damp air of the cave. The mask-bearing Pokemon, for his part, looks horrified, somehow now even closer to the verge of panic than he was before. The flickering, wavering shadows cast by the torch lengthen and darken as the air takes on a harsh and familiar chill.
The aborted battle, and suddenly exposed, lingering misery of the denizen of this long-quarantined traveler's tomb have attracted attention.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
Catarine and Mitsuhide engage in some sparring! I'm not totally sure if I'm needed to do anything in this scene, but I'll just go ahead and reward a to the pair because that's never unwelcome, I suspect.
Malachite Forest
The marking shuriken plinks off the Drapion's battle armor, but is immediately followed by a eager gout of fire from the Houndour, who is clearly vigorously enjoying the chance to burn the absolute heck out of things.
The flame caresses the Drapion, who manages to shield its face and vitals with an oversized head-stinger. As Houndour finally runs out of juice and the flame dies, the Drapion shakes the few remaining red-hot embers off its body, looking a bit singed and extremely pissed.
1,5 vs. 4 - Hit! Voltage for Damage Reduction!
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Houndour's Flamethrower! It's Super Effective!
Iktomi winds up to throw a net of electrified webbing at the smoking Pokemon, but before the crucial toss can be made, a fourth, heretofore ignored, Skorupi bounds through the tall grass, snapping its small but sharp mouthparts at the Electric Pokemon. Iktomi is forced to abandon the attack to defend itself against the tiny but ferocious opponent, but even with its vaunted agility it can't escape a nasty bite. The dreadful little thing hangs on, chittering angrily through mandibles tightly closed around one of Iktomi's forelegs like some sort of terrier.
2,1 vs. 4 - Miss!
Drapion takes 0 Damage from Iktomi's Electroweb!
6,6 vs. 3 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 1 Damage from Skorupi D's Bug Bite!
Iktomi is Impeded!
Tullius and Timaeus [Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 2/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
"What's a tag line?" Tullius asked Makai, clearly confused. Without waiting for a response, Tullius clutched the Codex in both hands, making a leaping jump attack at the angry Drapion.
(This has 3 rolls, but I think Tullius only gets two. It's a miss either way, so it doesn't really matter.) [1 1 3 vs 4 MISS]
Tullius calls back to Makai. "I think we might be in trouble."
Timaeus, meanwhile, rejoined his master, scalchop drawn, dashing like a samurai back into the clearing. He recalled the time before he met Tullius, back when he was just the Spirit in the Waterfall Grotto. When he had lived there, alone, he dealt with Pokemon intruders many times. Among them, he remembered an encounter with a group of ant-like Pokemon with extremely tough hides. It took several repeated strikes to crack the exoskeletons on the creatures and send them skittering away to find an easier place to live.
Several strikes at the same point. He brought his weapon to bear, attacking the same spot on the creature, hoping to crack the Drapion's tough hide, and having considerably more success than Tullius.
[VOLTAGE SPENT!] It appeared that the Oshawott's plan was well-founded. The weakened carapace burst apart in the wake of the attack, scattering bits of exoskeleton everywhere, and causing the Drapion to recoil in agony.
Tanaka turns and addresses the darkness. "Hey, buddy, you're interrupting a very deep conversation here. Wait!" Tanaka looks right in the Yamask's eyes. "Is this guy a friend of yours?"
Tullius' book-slam has a decidedly less effective result on the much larger Bug he's put himself up against. In fact, the Drapion doesn't even deign to notice the milquetoast offensive. Harsh.
Weapon at his side, Timaeus ditches his Skorupi opponent in the Treetops and charges at the Drapion. Noticing the rapidly approaching threat, the beast plants its feet, spiny antennae held overhead to smash the puny attacker. At the last moment, Timaeus puts on a final, impossible, burst of speed, easily dodging the too-ponderous hammer blows of the Drapion in a blur, ending his dash yards behind the Drapion, scalchop outstretched in front of him. A few seconds pass...
And the Pokemon's hefty armor explodes outward, the tough shell fractured and broken into shield-sized shards of purple chitin that skim dangerously into the grass and forcibly lodge themselves in the trunks of nearby trees. The Drapion roars in pain and dismay, its weak points now fully exposed.
Drapion's Defense drops to 2!
Unwilling to continue fighting such an unlikely powerhouse, the Drapion adecides to cut its loses and live to fight another day, stirring up clumps of weeds and dirt in its haste to turn tail and flee southward.
Deprived of their more mature leader, the Skorupi mill in confusion, it's looking very likely they'll take their leave quickly as well.
Drapion, Skorupi B, Skorupi C, and Skorupi D are attempting to Flee the Encounter!
The Impede or Faint Status will stop them from escaping!
The Scout sighs in relief, and drops the tip of his weapon to the ground to use it as a makeshift crutch. It doesn't look like he's keen on chasing anything, or all that fit to do so, for that matter.
Tanaka & Gigen
Tanaka turns around to find the distressed Yamask missing. A brief, visual search reveals the Pokemon has dashed over to the area with stalagmites, where it's now onfronting a trio of ghostly newcomers. As the monk watches, the Yamask desperately tries to shoo away a floating, horned Pokemon that resembles a traditional paper doll. A more dainty looking Pokemon with hair-like tendrils on its head levitates smoothly behind the Yamask, giving it a shove that nearly makes him drop his mask.
Whimpering pitifully, the Yamask recovers from its near-tumble only to notice the third Pokemon, a skull-faced cyclops, rummaging through the belongings of one of the calcified skeletons. Wailing, the Yamask tries to reach the despoiler, but is tripped up once more by the giggling Misdreavus. As it attempts to right itself again, the Shuppet gives it a rude headbutt, sending it sprawling again and the Mask tumbling to the stone floor with a rattle that echos in the cavern.
"I suppose you're right. With how unusual some of these temple rooms can be, it didn't occur to me that this room wasn't designed to be this way."
She leans against the side of a slightly dirtied wall, the exhaustion from her recent sprint finally registering in her awareness. She breathes in and out twice.
"...probably because of how at home your pokemon looks." she adds in an amused, pleasant tone.
"But yes, Malachite certainly has room for more people." she steadies her breathing somewhat, lightly cradling her right wrist with her left hand, the time she has had to think coupled with the stranger's temperament causing Elise to realize how ridiculous it was to try to hide the wound with stilted behavior and movements. And probably impossible since at any moment th-yep. Purple-brown drops of acid slowly drip from the bottom of her wrist, collecting into small globs before falling to the floor.
Last post until Friday. Woop woop schoooooooooooool.
Speaking of Friday, got this evening and tomorrow free if people wanna do a thing. Might be advisable since Downtime looks like it could start winding down, but you never know.
Marshmallow on
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Catarine and Mitsuhide engage in some sparring! I'm not totally sure if I'm needed to do anything in this scene, but I'll just go ahead and reward a to the pair because that's never unwelcome, I suspect.
Yeah I don't think you really need to do anything here, unless you especially want to of course, I guess they'll just spend their time training until downtime ends, maybe get some packing done for the inevitable adventuring.
Makai & Iktomi [Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
"Looks they they've met their match." In the clearing Iktomi is doing a little taunting dance at the fleeing Skorupi and Drapion.
Makai sighs. "Houndour, return. Iktomi, stop being a jerk" He says as pressing a button houndour's red and black apricorn.
The boy ninja rushes to Scout. "You gonna be okay? We Probably should do something about that wound." He uses his NINJA-KNOWLEDGE of poisons to tend to the wound.
One voltage to whomever makes a gif of a a galvantula doing this
Posts
[Perceptive 1/2] - [Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2] - [Trickster 3/3]
Volt: 1 Exp: 0
Adrenaline pumping and sweat beading on his brow, Makai picks himself up and dusts himself off. Fighting off a pokemon is no easy task. When the hound lunged, despite being fully prepared for that exact reaction, Makai was still terrified.
He acknowledges the Houndour's acquiescence with a nod.
Species: Houndour
Name: ?????????
Type: Dark/Fire
Demeanor: Vicious
Need: Hierarchy
Quirk: Cruel
[Fierce 2/2] [1/1 ????????]
Crunch (Dark/Harassing/Dense)
Flamethrower (Fire/Ranged/Dense)
A pack pokemon. Now that I think about it, he and his brother did attack as a team. If I can harness that cooperative instinct, he could prove a valuable ally.
All this talk about about Teamwork and Packs reminds him. He's doing it again. Running off alone. Not establishing bonds with classmates.
He sees the Praetor bobbing along and decides maybe he can kill two pidgey with one stone.
"Ah-hah, The Praetor and The Samurai! You seem to have happened upon me in the my first attempt at training that Houndour I caught. I figure some quality time ripping and running around the forest, might convince him Team Amakusa isn't all bad." Makai looks back. Iktomi does her best action pose, which consists of getting as high on tippytoes leaning hard to the left while pointing her mandibles skyward. Makai runs his hand through hair slightly embarrassed. "...or at the very least, might help me come up with a good name."
[Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 2/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
Tullius is deeply startled to see anyone else in the forest. Way more than normal, even. Almost as if he was intentionally worried about meeting someone here.
It takes him several seconds to respond. "Umm... right. Wasn't my intention... sorry." He takes another second before he begins speaking normally. "Ahem. Yes, training the Houndour. Do hope it went well, you look none the worse for wear."
He points casually deeper into the forest. "I was just, you know, looking for a place to... work on our combat technique." He looked down briefly at Timaeus. "Actually more mine than his. I don't know what an Amakusa is but I'm not sure if me trying to swat your Houndour with a huge book is a good teambuilding exercise." His eyes widen for a moment as he considers what he just said. "Of course, if you'd like to come along with me, we can possibly find some unruly spirits to... uhh... fight. And if your Houndour does get out of hand, Timaeus here can certainly put him in his place."
[Haughty 2][Noblewoman 4] and [Honorable 0/2][Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1 Exp: 0
Still feeling slightly light-headed Catarine stands to greet the incoming monk, giving a perfunctory bow of the head as she does so. 'I'm fine.., just fine. It's my partner I'm worried about, he was heavily injured in that skirmish over by the wall this morning and just now I think, I was, inside his head,' she replies, feeling more ridiculous by the minute, 'I could feel all his frustrations, is that normal? I must confess I know little of this sort of thing.' The buzzing in her head has resided substantially and Catarine begins to regain her composure, 'regardless he will require physical attention and healing, I gather this is the place to deal with that sort of thing?'
[Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Makai gets a very serious face. "An Amakusa is miserable ball of lies and deception." can't tell if he's joking about this or not.
"Iktomi, Houndour! Return!" Makai's pokemon dematerialize and return to their respective apricorns. Iktomi's the color of gathering storm clouds, with spiderwebs wraping around the equator. When she returns, the webs glow bluish white, giving them the appearance of lightning. The Houndour's apricorn is black with Brown sploches on it. The whole of it glows an infernal red of a sword being tempered in forge when it activates.
"Alright, makes sense to me. Being a Praetor, you're probably not all that used to combat scenarios, ey? If you want, I can give you some pointers! I mean I'm no knight or nothing, but I've" he pauses to choose his words carefully. "been in a few life or death situations. So maybe I could provide some moral support?"
That how you make friends. Find what they lack and provide that to them. Make them feel good about weaknesses, and realize their strengths.
Makai is cheery, almost unsettling so. "This is a good start. This has the beginnings of a great ' The Fox and the Hound' type story. The awkward but erudite Preator, destined to a life of upholding law and order, becoming friends with the lone ninja, destined to a lawless life in society's shadow."
[Ambitious Aristocrat 3] - [Disciplined Dame 1] & [Exacting Executioner 0]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
[Noble's Quarters]
"Glad to hear you're alright." Elise nods, more to herself than them, and turns to leave, exiting the house.
Elise glances to her left. That would lead to...no, she'd visit her family later. Going to the temple is the priority, of course.
[Temple]
Approaching the temple entrance, she draws her ceremonial short sword. The apricorn device's usual gold sheen has taken on a dull, almost rusty quality to it, the emerald inlaid in the hilt darkened to an almost onyx hue.
Moving a hand to her right eye, she suddenly hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. Elise hastily steps off the main path onto the haphazard trails of mossy vegetation that serve as pathways for the monks to admire the outer garden.
Several random turns later Elise finds a simple stone bench covered in readily browning vines. Her posture breaking as she sits down, Elise allows herself to work out the emotions further exacerbated by the recent fear of discovery. Wiping off her face, Elise breathes out and in, taking in the scenery. She admires the carefully sculpted hedges, pruned yet not enough to give the appearance of being tended by humans save for the taller than usual growth and sculpted pathways not blocked by stray branches. Inhale, exhale. Her worries were unreasonable, she'd just have to seek out a monk, to make sure the ritual will work without a hitch. Pokemon were hard to keep banished, not the other way arou-
Letting her eyes fall to ground level, Elise's train of thought is interrupted by the scene in front of her.
Obviously one of the many nearly identical flower gardens with benches exactly like this one in the temple grounds... with one problem: everything was dead. The closest bushes were nothing more than wooden stubs with a wiry frame of dead branches, a carpet of rotting leaves spread around them. Three yellow daffodil blossoms serve as the only remaining life in this garden, the blossoms' weights straining spindly, emaciated stalks, two of the blossoms devoid of half their petals as a spreading pox consumes the rest.
The only sign of life, that is, besides the suspicious pile of half-browned green leaves in the center of everything. Elise freezes as the leaves begin to shake, the perpetrator of all this emerging from its disguise.
A misshapen purple onion marred by pinkish-white splotches walks towards Elise on stubby root legs. Two limp, brown, almost tendril-like leaves are the only vegetation emerging from its top, each wrapped tightly around a wilted yellow petal obviously not belonging to the creature that drag across the dirt to either side of the creature. Under eyes that almost resemble bruises, a droopy half-smile forms as it waddles towards Elise, its gaze fixated somewhere down and to the right of the noble's face. It hops up on the bench and begins to tug at her dark emerald green gauntlet to no avail, the aristocrat still frozen in terror and confusion. The pokemon's brief look of consternation shatters into glee as it finds the unnecessary but helpful leather straps securing the gauntlet to her forearm plates. The creature's mouth opens as it vomits a black-green liquid onto the hide.
Snapping out of her mental paralysis, Elise screams as she swats the creature to the ground, the bulb pokemon shrieking in an equally high pitch in surprise. As she breaks into a run she hears the sound of metal clanking against stone, turning to see her halberd coming to rest on the ground next to the strange oddish regaining its bearings. A piercing wail emerges from the creature, Elise managing to get her embroidered cloak over her face just in time to block a snow of purple spores settling all around her. She doesn't stop running.
Several minutes later Elise stumbles upon a slightly overgrown door in the temple wall; an entrance she hasn't used before. Still, with how huge this place was it was nothing to be alarmed about, save for the worrying possibility of being lost. Grasping the rusted handle, she pushes the door inwards, panting for breath and clutching her right wrist in pain as the acid starts to corrode through her armor and drip onto her skin. She steps in, looking around for her bearings and a monk, in either order.
[Manful Martial Monk 3] - [Willful Wisdom Seeker 1] & [Spirited Spectral Scrapper 4] - [Puerile Pest 1]
Volt: 0 Exp: 1
Tanaka drags himself out of the pool. He pushes himself from the ground, flute flying towards the enemy spirit, ready to deal the final blow. He stares into the demon's eyes, and there he does not find malice, but fear. It's scared of me.
Tanaka's blade stops.
"Hey, uh," He sheathes his blade. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, man." The monk thrusts and open palm towards the Yamask. "My name's Tanaka, nice to meet you."
Steam
Tanaka & Gigen
[8] The Yamask scurries into the darkness at the back of the cave, its pitch body melding into the shadows clinging between the stalagmites this far from the dropped torch. Eventually the only parts of the Pokemon visible are the dim glow of its eyes and the faint outlines of the features of its mask.
Slowly, the Yamask brings up the mask over its face, whimpering behind its makeshift shield and apparently ignoring Tanaka's outstretched hand.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
The monk gives Catarine an odd look. "It... can be normal. Depending on how close one is to one's Pokemon," he brightens up. "Or if it's a Psychic Type, they are very well known for that sort of thing, of course," he continues, happy to have a more concrete answer for the noble.
"Pokemon actually don't often require actual physical care if they have an Apricorn they've been captured in. Being withdrawn into such a device allows them to heal much quicker than any sutures, salves, or bedrest could accomplish. Occasionally, a sickness or poison might require some kind of outside medicine, but that's a rare exception," he explains.
"The Pokemon Temple is a sacred place. As such even the most badly injured Pokemon taken here will recover within a few hours. If you're familiar with your Pokemon's elemental preferences you can even find places here that cater to those predilections. Prayer, small, mundane sacrifices, and other types of... human focus can also speed recovery. I'm not personally sure why that is, but belief and intent seem to have a strong effect on spirits like Pokemon. I'm sure a Trainer like yourself has noticed this?"
Malachite Forest
Tullius' no doubt extremely-forthcoming reply to Makai is interrupted by a sudden loud pop. Turning to locate the source of the unusual noise, the two Trainers spot a small streak of smoke rocketing skywards. At the apex of its arc, there's another sharp popping noise as it explodes into an expanding sphere of reddish sparks, only slightly visible over the afternoon sun.
A signal flare, and from relatively close by.
The Malachite Scouts tend to carry such things as a tool of last resort, when their need for immediate aid is more dire than the chance of attracting enemies or curious Pokemon. To be using it during the day, when it's extremely unlikely anyone on the City Wall would notice it, means the user must be expecting help to be close to hand, or else they are in some extremely desperate straights and have nothing to lose by attempting to call for help.
[Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 3/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
Tullius groans unceremoniously. "Aww, come on!" He visually follows the smoke trail down into the tree cover, noting the rough position and distance. "Looks like that'll have to wait, we've got trouble." Tullius dashes off in the direction of the smoke, trying to ignore the occasional snap as branches catch in his robe and break off. Timaeus is right with him, his short stature aiding his movement through the sometimes-dense trees.
[Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Curious
"I wonder what would be a big enough threat to necessitate a flare. Iktomi." With a flash of light the Galvantula is out and excited. Used to dense forests, Iktomi gracefully leaps from tree to tree and takes the lead. Makai keps pace with her, but has presence of mind not to go so fast he leaves Tullis or Timaeus behind.
"I suppose it's time to play the Hero again" Makai comments mirthfully.
[Boisterous 3] - [Exotic Weaponeer 2] & [Skirmisher 4] - [Careless 1]
Volt: 2; Exp: 0
"Ah, I thank you" he says, accepting the tea graciously. "May Its light shine, allow you to read true" he recites to his host, adapting a common farewell to the situation. Bright, ruby eyes, yet such a cold stare, he ponders, sipping the tea thoughtfully and pouring over the words in the weathered tomes. Near a week's travel from the plateau, reasoning out the attack, a small breaching party wouldn't travel that far. Might be we find something just off the path a couple days out! Tugging idly at the beads hanging low from his neck, he muses aloud to a companion not present. "Could be useful, Mara. I wonder if Bossan has any inclination of scouting? Hm."
gonna leave it that since i'm out of town for a few days; dont want to step on anyone else's toes if i'm not gonna be active
have fun folks!
[Haughty 2] - [Noblewoman 4] & [Honorable 0/2] - [Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0[/color]
'Oh well,' replies Catarine, 'he is a psychic type, and we've known each other for a long time, as long as I can remember, so maybe that's all there is to it.' Relieved to have a reasonable explanation other than 'you're going crazy' Catarine begins to feel much more at ease, even the buzzing in her head is beginning to subside, leaving behind only the strongest remnants of her partners shared emotions.
'He was supposed to be acting as my chaperone, my bodyguard if you will, but he fell in the battle away from me, I had to save him in fact, which is unusal and the fact seems to rankle him, dent his pride. He doesn't want to fail again it seems, wants to be stronger,' she says to the monk, massaging her temples, trying to glean what insight she can from the rapidly fading memories of the link. 'Is there any place in the temple we can spar? Or a place where he can train? I feel though his body might heal in the apricorn his spirit will not.'
These questions keep me awake at night.
Elise & Zeal
The door is difficult to push inward, grinding raucously as Elise shoves it open. The floor seems to be covered with a thin layer of gritty mud, partially dried and cracking in places, which seems to be causing the door trouble. The source of the muddy ground is apparent as she gets the door fully open, a large pool of dark, murky water dominates the center of the room, so full as to be very nearly overflowing, and the air is somewhat fetid and damp like a swamp.
Splashing happily in the dirty, shallow water is a blue, slimy looking creature with wide, simple facial features and small purple branches sticking out of the side of its head. The armless, foot-high creature whoops in joy as it waddles through the mucky bath with every sign of enjoyment.
Off to one side, a man in his young twenties is crouched down on his heels, attempting to rest his legs while keeping his bottom off the filthy ground. Mud stains on his pant-legs indicate either a recent slip, or perhaps some hug attempts by the overactive Pokemon playing in the pond.
His clothes are dark grey, and simple but well-tailored. Where there would be loose cloth, around his ankles, wrists, and at his waist, it's been bound tight with black bandages, a style Elise has seen a handful of the Malachite Scouts adopt for moving silently through bracken while resisting the grab of thorns and branches.
She can't put a name to the slightly squinted features and prominent hooked nose however, so she doubts he's one of the Scouts unless he's a recent recruit. Furthermore, the large katana handle protruding over his right shoulder precludes any chance of him being a monk at the Temple.
Noticing her entry, the man gives a very unmilitary salute with the first two fingers of his right hand, not bothering to stand up from his squatting position but watching her reaction with interest.
Marsh you are doing fine, everyone else try harder. Christ it's like reading my inability to appropriately juxtapose dialogue with near retarded amounts of detail.
We aren't trying to write a god damn children's show here, you aren't going to win the ponyta grand prix you faggots.
[Manful Martial Monk 3] - [Willful Wisdom Seeker 1] & [Spirited Spectral Scrapper 4] - [Puerile Pest 1]
Volt: 0 Exp: 1
"Hey you don't have to be like that. I don't wanna hurt... well now I don't, uh.
I really am sorry about hitting you."
Steam
You see how often I update, you can keep up.
Sorted.
Your awful.
Malachite Forest
The unlikely pair hustle towards manifest trouble, pushing through the vine-choked trees and tall grass(!).
Soon enough, they are stopped short by a sudden drop. A dirt embankment steeply descends to a small clearing about 10 feet below. Within the clearing they spot the likely source of the flare, a beleaguered Malachite Scout with the typical grey cloak and defensively bearing a short, but heavy-bladed, voulge. The grass around him shuffles as several small, purple, insectoid Pokemon close in, but these comparatively tiny creatures are the least of his trouble. A much larger, but similar, Pokemon has the man cornered, the monster huffing angrily and whipping about the sharpened spines on its limb-like, segmented antennae aggressively.
The unfortunate fellow manages to catch a glimpse of Tullius above, and double takes, clearly either surprised that help was indeed forthcoming or instead bewildered at the form it's taken in the shape of a young, be-robed lawgiver.
Beggars can't be choosers, however, and he gives Tullius an impatient wave to get his attention and a shout of "Help!" in case the Praetor had somehow missed him.
- Trying new map stuff, always. You can only move between Arenas linked with a line.
- The small, dirt cliff is difficult to navigate quickly. When you enter the CLIFF Arena, you cannot Shift again until your next turn, even if you were planning on double-shifting or using a Mobile attack.
- Any Push or Throw performed while in the Cliff Arena will do an extra point of damage as though the target was currently Impeded (from getting knocked off of, or into, the Cliff). This doesn't stack with the actual Impede bonus damage.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
The monk is momentarily off-balance, but recovers beautifully. "There are a few places you could spar here, I suppose," he admits reluctantly. "Typically most Trainers do that sort of thing at the Academy. Of course, many of the rooms here for healing Pokemon, by their nature, can do double duty as spots for contemplation and meditation, if you think that will help."
He shrugs, an impressively expressive gesture with his hands tucked into his wide sleeves. "Other than that, you may be on your own. Navigating the relationship between a Pokemon and yourself can be very trying, or so I hear. Perhaps simply explaining things to your Pokemon will work towards mending things, they are quite intelligent, you know."
Tanaka & Gigen
The Yamask doesn't respond, except to sniffle loudly. In the pool, Gigen manages to punch himself free of the stony blockage. He's probably not totally sure how mundane rock was able to pin an ethereal specter like himself but this is Pokemon, bitch, I ain't gotta explain shit.
To make this not a completely useless post, I am going to consider Tanaka's attempts at conversation a Watch Action.
Yamask
Ghost/Rock
Weak: Ghost, Grass
Resist: Normal, Fire
Move: Shadow Ball (Ghost/Ranged/Hazardous)
[Manful Martial Monk 3] - [Willful Wisdom Seeker 1] & [Spirited Spectral Scrapper 4] - [Puerile Pest 1]
Volt: 0 Exp: 1
Gigen climbs back on his trainer. Tanaka looks up at his Brother.
"I think our friend here has a confidence problem."
Gigen nods. He jabbers something, a sage providing essential wisdom.
"You really think that'll work?"
Gi's emphatic.
"Right. Friend ghost, I and my compadre have been talking, and I think we've found the solution to your problem. What you need is a healthy dose..." Tanaka strikes a pose. "Of adventure!" He runs a finger under his chin. "Yes, outside these tunnels is a whole world, a world where a man, you are a man right? Where a man can find his soul!"
Tan throws an arm across the spirit's shoulder, orienting it towards an imaginary horizon.
"Out there! Somewhere out there is a furnace hot enough to turn your weak essence-ore into unrelenting steel! And we, being the nice guys we are, are going to help you find your Manly Soul!"
Tanaka releases the Yamask. "So what do you say? Do you want to follow us and take the first step in your legendary journey?"
Steam
Tullius and Timaeus
[Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 3/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
"Hold on, we're coming to help!" Tullius called to the man. Timaeus leaped into action, getting a running start as he drew his scalchop and jumped the cliff, catching onto a tree trunk with the razor-sharp weapon. Using the scalchop to slow his descent through the tree, he landed near the Drapion with a soft thud. Whipping the shell around, he attempts to slice through the Drapion's thick armor.
[1 5 1 vs 4 HIT]
Tullius is right behind him, but not nearly as agile. He settles for scrambling down the cliff, trying to keep his robe clean. When he spots a Skorupi nearby, he brings his Codex to bear against its dangerous tail claws, making sure to keep the hefty tome between him and the beast's pincers at all times.
[4 4 6 vs 3 HIT]
Skorupi are cool, but i don't know if I'd actually use or train it. Sooooooo maybe? Give me a round to decide, there probably will be some left.
what's the rules on using multiple pokemon at the same time?
At the moment, I'll just generally make your life a teeny bit harder by giving enemies another Trait or two and possibly using more enemy Voltage. If it becomes a problem with everyone using like 2+ pokemon every single battle, I will introduce significant countermeasures.
The countermeasures will probably be "please stop doing that", but you never know.
[Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Iktomi not to be out done by that cocky otter, Bounds up to the tip top of [Treetop B] She skitters back and forth pensively. Her Electro web doesn't have the range to hit from here. However...
FLASHBACK
Makai stands on the limb of a tree, his tiny Pokemon atop another treetop a few meters away.
"Turn up the voltage of your Electroweb, while making the threads thinner." The tiny joltik is confused but complies anyway. Her master interrupts before she finishes "Now! Wrap the webbing in a ball. Weave it as tight as possible!" Even more confused she does just that, the unstable ball of electricity pulses faintly. "Now Again! Tighter!" Knowing what he wants makes it easier this time. The glow grows as the electrical energy increases. "Again!" It's getting difficult to hold this much swirling wild energy together. Too much for the little Joltik in fact. The ball of electrical energy explodes with a pop and sends her flying. With ninja like speed he's there to catch the fist sized spider as it falls.
Iktomi looks up forlorn. "Good Try. It's a very challenging technique. It requires a great deal of speed to be useful. You need to get at least 8 cycles in before it it reaches critical mass. Anything less than that and it will either lack the energy to deal real damage or lack the internal consistency to be thrown accurately."
The galvantula gets about 6 cycles into the electroball before explodes. The electrical discharge doesn't hurt her but does send her flying into the [Clearing], with the scout and the Timaeus.
"A'ight....Houndour,(definitively gonna need to think of a better name) here's your first test." Makai releases Houndour from his apricorn. "Burn that sucker." He throws a Shiruken at the Skorupi A, marking the prey.
Makai Assist as Houndour uses Flamethrower on Skorupi A
You heard it here first
[Ambitious Aristocrat 3] - [Disciplined Dame 1] & [Exacting Executioner 0]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Elise freezes as she assesses the unfamiliar stranger, feeling rather nervous when faced with the unknown sans halberd and Combee. She still wears it well, save for the rigidity of her actions.
Him being another academy student seemed almost impossible, the classes even smaller than the military arms of Malachite. He could be a foreigner?
A split few seconds later Elise decides the time to act is upon her. Trying to respond to the informal salute, Elise partially tries to soften her greeting before rigidly snapping back into her well-practiced military salute. Trying to hide the sudden burst of pain from more acid dripping onto her wrist due to her salute's hand positioning. She clasps her hands together, turning the top of her right wrist downwards.
"Excuse me...
...have you seen a monk around these parts of the temple?" Elise finally finishes.
[Haughty 2] - [Noblewoman 4] & [Honorable 0/2] - [Protector 2/3]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
'My apologies,' Catarine says to the monk, 'I am not especially familiar with Malachite or its customs, the Academy was my next port of call regardless, I appreciate your advice, and your patience.' Bowing low she departs the sheltered confines of the temple and heads up one of Malachite Towns more arterial streets to the Academy.
The expansive building does well to mix functionality and style; clearly built with a defined purpose in mind but avoiding the arcitectural traps which such utilitarian projects tend to fall into. Ascending a short flight of stares to the main door Catarine enters a modest foyer. The Academy is a large building for only a handful of people, it resonates a sense of emptiness, like a crab in too large a shell. However, it is well maintained and provides a vital resource in training and study. Picking a corridor at random Catarine sets off to find an empty space within which to train.
A likely candidate soon presents itself; some sort of training room filled with wooden dummies. A rush mat lies across the flagstones to prevent serious injury in heated bouts. Fingering the clasp on her locket Catarine releases her wounded protector in a burst of violet light, the obvious wounds on the pokémon's flesh had all but vanished, although he still appeared somewhat shaky. Mitsuhide quickly drops to the floor and bows his head deeply, a gesture of complete submission.
'Now there shall be none of that,' spoke Catarine in an imperious fashion, the Gallade could be stubborn when his pride was wounded and it oft proved best to show a strong face against his more melancholy moods, 'I am not your better and you know it. You think your honor sullied merely because you fell in battle? A bodyguard who would take arrows for his charge holds the most honor of all!'
The psychic pokémon reached into her mind once more, leaving words without sounding them; 'It is not a loss of my honor I abhor but a slight to yours; a noblewoman of Demaské with such a weak protector? Who has heard of such a thing! I do not wish to sully your reputation with my failure.'
'Such nonsense,' exclaimed Catarine, 'my reputation is mine to keep, yours is a far more important task. Just focus on keeping me free of perforations and I shall take care of such trifles as reputation.' Drawing her sword and casting off her cloak she asks, 'Now then; care to train with me? Can't have you getting rusty now. And even if you don't need the practice I certainly do so you'd better defend yourself!'
Although unwilling at first Mitsuhide soon warms to the lull of heated combat and it is not long before the reverberating clash of steel on psychic force is echoing through the corridors of the Academy.
Regular scheduled hullabullo will continue when I'm less out of sorts.
IT IS, ISN'T IT. HAHAHAHAHA.
Anyway, back to regularly scheduled whatsits. Gonna blame this on a combo of hideous caffeine withdrawal and the DarkRed game finally starting up over in grande olde SE++.
This kind of thing shouldn't be a regular occurrence, honest.
Just for good measure: @Halos Nach Tariff @Neotoma @Rawkking Goodguy @Terrendos @Shock G
...@Stilts?
Elise & Zeal
The fellow leans back on his heels in response to Elise's stiff salute. Bobbing back forward, he scratches at his chin. "Not out here," he says, conversationally. "This area doesn't get tended much," he continues, gesturing at the dirty state of the room. "Only so many bodies to do the job at hand, eh?"
Malachite Forest
Tullius is rewarded with a light crunch as his hefty book crashes down on the unaware skorupi's tail. Chittering with alarm, the Pokemon spins agilely, its foreclaws slashing haphazardly at the Praetor as he takes cover from the inevitable counterattack behind his literary shield.
Skorupi A takes 1 Damage from Tullius' Codex!
However, instead of pressing the attack, the Skorupi's claw moves in a blur, and with a warbling metallic noise the shuriken it snatched out of the air slowly spins to a halt on the end of its stinger. After giving the ineffective projectile a cursory inspection, the Skorupi looks up...
Makai Assists!
5,2,1,1 vs. 3 - Hit!
Skorupi A takes 2 Damage from Houndour's Flamethrower! It's Super Effective!
Skorupi A Faints!
Even from behind his tome-buckler, Tullius can feel the heat as a pillar of fire engulfs the nearby Bug Type, the roar of the flames temporarily overcoming the sound of his pounding heart. As quickly as they came, the flamethrower dies out, leaving a neat oval of blackened dirt, a lingering sickly-sweet smell in the air, and the charred husk of the Skorupi, which begins dissolving into a small cloud of purple and black lights.
The Houndour snickers.
In the clearing below, Timaeus and Iktomi make a soft landing from the treetops, the Oshawott quickly rolling to his feet to apply his weapon to the Drapion's armored side. The scalpel-like blade manages to rend a thin gouge in one of the large Pokemon's segments, but does little else but get the thing's attention.
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Timaeus' Razor Shell!
Black gunk drips from the Drapion's spines as it charges Timaeus, and the agile Otter Pokemon quickly finds himself fighting a losing battle avoiding the powerful slashes of his opponent.
With a challenging, if somewhat unimaginative, shout of "oy, you!", the Scout leaps forward, slicing at the Drapion's back legs and tail with his stunted polearm. A particularly powerful blow nearly trips the Drapion up, and allows Timaeus to regain some much needed distance from the Scorpion Pokemon's swiftly scything antennae.
4,5 vs. 4 - Hit!
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Scout's Voulge!
Scout Entered a Protective Stance (Timaeus)!
The Drapion turns a ponderous head around to get a look at the rearward attacking annoyance. Giving the Scout a glower, it sweeps its tail in a wide arc. "Aw shit," the Scout manages to get out before his impromptu meeting with the spiky end of the well-muscled appendage.
Attack Redirected from Timaeus to Scout!
5, 4 vs. 3 - Hit!
Scout takes 2 Damage from Drapion's Poison Jab!
Scout is Thrown to CLIFF!
Weeds and grass are torn up as the Scout rolls through the greenery, past the defensively positioned Tullius, and into the base of the cliff where he lands with a solid whomp, dirt knocked loose from the impact showering around his prone form. With a cough, he pushes himself back up to his feet with the aid of his weapon, which he miraculously (and dangerously) managed to hold on to during the tumble.
"Right, fuck that thing," he groans, looking a bit green in the face.
One of the pair of Skorupi to the east scuttles rapidly into the clearing. Front arms weaving a tight pattern of slicing claws in tandem with its tail, Skorupi B carves its way through the tall grass towards the Oshawott. Timaeus fends off the worst of the slashes with his shell, but the pure offense of the Pokemon's attack drives him backwards past the treeline he just exited, and the effort to keep his defense up is clearly taking its toll.
3, 6 vs. 3 - Hit!
Timaeus takes 1 Damage from Skorupi B's Fury Cutter!
Timaeus is Pushed to TREETOP B!
Skorupi B Shifts to TREETOP B!
The other Skorupi takes up position on a tree trunk, and a swipe of its tail sends a small swarm of purple flechettes sailing towards Iktomi. The alert Galvantula takes note, however, and the wayward projectiles end up hitting nothing but dirt as their intended target leaps away.
1, 2 vs. 3 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 0 Damage from Skorupi C's Poison Sting!
Now that I have a job, I've been having a hard enough time just keeping up with Dark Red and my own game.
I just don't quite know my limits when it comes to PbP's.
[Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Makai says, "Good dog." tone giving just enough to sound appreciative, but still leave the dark hound hungry for approval.
They head south to the cliff area where Tullis is waiting. "That was some pretty good teamwork back there. "We have great future as a team! Imagine the tag lines."
Doing his best gritty narrator impression, Makai says "You mess with THE LAW, then you're gonna GET BURNED." before posing with his arms crossed. "Or wait wait wait." "I knew that perp couldn't take THE HEAT." Now Imitating Tullis he adds "So I threw THE BOOK at him"
The jokes are interrupted by Drapion throwing a poisoned scout on to the cliff.
Makai gets all serious face, and moves to action, throwing a marked shiruken at the Drapion, and firmly commands "Again, Flamethrower" at his houndour.
* * * * *
Iktomi sees the attack coming and takes three leaps back, easily avoiding Skorupi C's piosonous barbs Skorupi? More like skrubrupi.....is the kind joke Iktomi would make if pokemon had the cognitive ability to appreciate wordplay.
She ignores the skorupi in favor of hunting bigger game. Iktomi gets the Drapion's attention and then charges it, leaping forward then back. Seeing the master preparing an attack, she holds off, allowing the Houndours flame to do it's magic. After that, she leaps in the air and fires an electroweb net at the giant beast.
Makai assists Houndour (using Flame thrower) in attacking the Drapion.
Iktomi uses Electroweb on Drapion.
Cool, just wanted to make sure!
Tanaka & Gigen
The Yamask looks out from behind the mask, tears still glistening in its eyes. As the Pokemon glares at Tanaka, the air is slowly filled with the disconcerting noise of a very nasty sounding laugh.
However, any apprehensions that the source is the Yamask are swiftly dashed as the solitary sniggering becomes a susurrating chorus of near-whispered chuckles, echoing in the damp air of the cave. The mask-bearing Pokemon, for his part, looks horrified, somehow now even closer to the verge of panic than he was before. The flickering, wavering shadows cast by the torch lengthen and darken as the air takes on a harsh and familiar chill.
The aborted battle, and suddenly exposed, lingering misery of the denizen of this long-quarantined traveler's tomb have attracted attention.
Catarine & Mitsuhide
Catarine and Mitsuhide engage in some sparring! I'm not totally sure if I'm needed to do anything in this scene, but I'll just go ahead and reward a
Malachite Forest
The marking shuriken plinks off the Drapion's battle armor, but is immediately followed by a eager gout of fire from the Houndour, who is clearly vigorously enjoying the chance to burn the absolute heck out of things.
The flame caresses the Drapion, who manages to shield its face and vitals with an oversized head-stinger. As Houndour finally runs out of juice and the flame dies, the Drapion shakes the few remaining red-hot embers off its body, looking a bit singed and extremely pissed.
1,5 vs. 4 - Hit! Voltage for Damage Reduction!
Drapion takes 1 Damage from Houndour's Flamethrower! It's Super Effective!
Iktomi winds up to throw a net of electrified webbing at the smoking Pokemon, but before the crucial toss can be made, a fourth, heretofore ignored, Skorupi bounds through the tall grass, snapping its small but sharp mouthparts at the Electric Pokemon. Iktomi is forced to abandon the attack to defend itself against the tiny but ferocious opponent, but even with its vaunted agility it can't escape a nasty bite. The dreadful little thing hangs on, chittering angrily through mandibles tightly closed around one of Iktomi's forelegs like some sort of terrier.
2,1 vs. 4 - Miss!
Drapion takes 0 Damage from Iktomi's Electroweb!
6,6 vs. 3 - Miss!
Iktomi takes 1 Damage from Skorupi D's Bug Bite!
Iktomi is Impeded!
[Calm 1/1][Praetor 2/3] and [Loyal 2/3][Samurai 3/3]
Volt: 2 Exp: 0
"What's a tag line?" Tullius asked Makai, clearly confused. Without waiting for a response, Tullius clutched the Codex in both hands, making a leaping jump attack at the angry Drapion.
(This has 3 rolls, but I think Tullius only gets two. It's a miss either way, so it doesn't really matter.)
[1 1 3 vs 4 MISS]
Tullius calls back to Makai. "I think we might be in trouble."
Timaeus, meanwhile, rejoined his master, scalchop drawn, dashing like a samurai back into the clearing. He recalled the time before he met Tullius, back when he was just the Spirit in the Waterfall Grotto. When he had lived there, alone, he dealt with Pokemon intruders many times. Among them, he remembered an encounter with a group of ant-like Pokemon with extremely tough hides. It took several repeated strikes to crack the exoskeletons on the creatures and send them skittering away to find an easier place to live.
Several strikes at the same point. He brought his weapon to bear, attacking the same spot on the creature, hoping to crack the Drapion's tough hide, and having considerably more success than Tullius.
[6 3 6 vs 4 HIT]
[VOLTAGE SPENT!] It appeared that the Oshawott's plan was well-founded. The weakened carapace burst apart in the wake of the attack, scattering bits of exoskeleton everywhere, and causing the Drapion to recoil in agony.
[Manful Martial Monk 3] - [Willful Wisdom Seeker 2] & [Spirited Spectral Scrapper 4] - [Puerile Pest 1]
Volt: 0 Exp: 1
Tanaka turns and addresses the darkness. "Hey, buddy, you're interrupting a very deep conversation here. Wait!" Tanaka looks right in the Yamask's eyes. "Is this guy a friend of yours?"
Steam
Tullius' book-slam has a decidedly less effective result on the much larger Bug he's put himself up against. In fact, the Drapion doesn't even deign to notice the milquetoast offensive. Harsh.
Weapon at his side, Timaeus ditches his Skorupi opponent in the Treetops and charges at the Drapion. Noticing the rapidly approaching threat, the beast plants its feet, spiny antennae held overhead to smash the puny attacker. At the last moment, Timaeus puts on a final, impossible, burst of speed, easily dodging the too-ponderous hammer blows of the Drapion in a blur, ending his dash yards behind the Drapion, scalchop outstretched in front of him. A few seconds pass...
Timaeus' Mold Breaker disabled Drapion's Battle Armor!
Drapion takes 2 Damage from Timaeus' Razor Shell!
And the Pokemon's hefty armor explodes outward, the tough shell fractured and broken into shield-sized shards of purple chitin that skim dangerously into the grass and forcibly lodge themselves in the trunks of nearby trees. The Drapion roars in pain and dismay, its weak points now fully exposed.
Drapion's Defense drops to 2!
Unwilling to continue fighting such an unlikely powerhouse, the Drapion adecides to cut its loses and live to fight another day, stirring up clumps of weeds and dirt in its haste to turn tail and flee southward.
Deprived of their more mature leader, the Skorupi mill in confusion, it's looking very likely they'll take their leave quickly as well.
Drapion, Skorupi B, Skorupi C, and Skorupi D are attempting to Flee the Encounter!
The Impede or Faint Status will stop them from escaping!
The Scout sighs in relief, and drops the tip of his weapon to the ground to use it as a makeshift crutch. It doesn't look like he's keen on chasing anything, or all that fit to do so, for that matter.
Tanaka & Gigen
Tanaka turns around to find the distressed Yamask missing. A brief, visual search reveals the Pokemon has dashed over to the area with stalagmites, where it's now onfronting a trio of ghostly newcomers. As the monk watches, the Yamask desperately tries to shoo away a floating, horned Pokemon that resembles a traditional paper doll. A more dainty looking Pokemon with hair-like tendrils on its head levitates smoothly behind the Yamask, giving it a shove that nearly makes him drop his mask.
Whimpering pitifully, the Yamask recovers from its near-tumble only to notice the third Pokemon, a skull-faced cyclops, rummaging through the belongings of one of the calcified skeletons. Wailing, the Yamask tries to reach the despoiler, but is tripped up once more by the giggling Misdreavus. As it attempts to right itself again, the Shuppet gives it a rude headbutt, sending it sprawling again and the Mask tumbling to the stone floor with a rattle that echos in the cavern.
[Ambitious Aristocrat 3] - [Disciplined Dame 1] & [Exacting Executioner 0]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
Elise glances around the room.
"I suppose you're right. With how unusual some of these temple rooms can be, it didn't occur to me that this room wasn't designed to be this way."
She leans against the side of a slightly dirtied wall, the exhaustion from her recent sprint finally registering in her awareness. She breathes in and out twice.
"...probably because of how at home your pokemon looks." she adds in an amused, pleasant tone.
"But yes, Malachite certainly has room for more people." she steadies her breathing somewhat, lightly cradling her right wrist with her left hand, the time she has had to think coupled with the stranger's temperament causing Elise to realize how ridiculous it was to try to hide the wound with stilted behavior and movements. And probably impossible since at any moment th-yep. Purple-brown drops of acid slowly drip from the bottom of her wrist, collecting into small globs before falling to the floor.
Last post until Friday. Woop woop schoooooooooooool.
Speaking of Friday, got this evening and tomorrow free if people wanna do a thing. Might be advisable since Downtime looks like it could start winding down, but you never know.
Yeah I don't think you really need to do anything here, unless you especially want to of course, I guess they'll just spend their time training until downtime ends, maybe get some packing done for the inevitable adventuring.
[Perceptive 1/2][Ninja 3/3] & [Swift 2/2][Trickster 3/3]
Houndour: [Fierce 2/2][?????? 1/1]
Volt: 1; Exp: 0
"Looks they they've met their match." In the clearing Iktomi is doing a little taunting dance at the fleeing Skorupi and Drapion.
Makai sighs. "Houndour, return. Iktomi, stop being a jerk" He says as pressing a button houndour's red and black apricorn.
The boy ninja rushes to Scout. "You gonna be okay? We Probably should do something about that wound." He uses his NINJA-KNOWLEDGE of poisons to tend to the wound.
One voltage to whomever makes a gif of a a galvantula doing this