Penultimate_Pi

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Darkest Abyss

I was thinking of an item-retrieval mission in the forest. Personally, though, I'd like to have a map or something, to have a better layout of the land, at least in close proximity to the Guild. Even if it's some made up land map drawn in MS Paint.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Darkest Abyss

Helios remained quiet and still throughout the whole ceremony, even as the guildmaster fell asleep right midway through his speech. Beyond a huff of annoyance and a cross slap to the opposing face, however, Sylveon was not deterred, and apparently neither was the Alakazam. Otherwise, the speech went what might be considered successful. The guildmaster talked at short length of what wonders the world held for them to explore and brave as a guild, as a family, and something sparked a bit in Helios.

His only family before had been one that pushed him. It wasn't primarily because they wanted to, though; it was a natural need for Pokemon to evolve, only capable if they had the physical and mental power required to do so. If Heli never evolved even once, he would be inadequate in almost every way. He would be able to properly grow up and spread his influence and genes as nature wished him to. And as it was, it meant Helios had to work far harder in order to achieve evolution, and that left little in the manner of family love.

So all the stories of those big, happy families that always cared and looked out for one another... the Quilava wished he could've had something like that. And hearing the Alakazam regard the Guild as a sort of family gave Helios a shard of hope. Maybe this was what he needed; not just a place in the Guild in order to actively participate, but the Guild itself, too.

Sylveon brought the recruits back to business by directing them to the job board. Common jobs, bounty jobs, all seemed simple enough on paper. Of course, what mattered was what happened in accepting and participating in the job. One of the other guild members, presumably a more veteran participant, also approached the recruits. Helios's days of working tough were not over yet, but at least he had a sort of evolved form to proceed in.

Helios turned to look, and he saw a grass-type lizard... a Grovyle, wasn't it called? He didn't have time to dwell on it, as the Quilava found himself provided with a compliment, and a question he couldn't really answer.

"Um... well, I..." Helios stammered a bit, nervous as to what to say. He didn't really do anything of merit outside of the Guild now. The Quilava had managed to build a little hut just on the outskirts of town for him to sleep in, but that was about it. He was too shy to go out and meet people, didn't have nearly enough money to buy anything, didn't have any particular pass-time he took interest in... what could he say?

"...I practice," the Quilava finally managed to get out. That's it, you 'practice'? There's no way he's gonna buy that.

Character Crossover Crisis City

Well. This turned gruesome fast, Sazh thought, as the mysterious disappearing warrior came up yet again, but from behind with the intent to murder the flaming skeleton biker. Between his precise polearm attack and the beast's savage goring, the Ghost Rider was no match even with his increased size. Decapitated, his flames fizzled out as his enlarged body was slung into the sharp rock wall and the monster stomped violently on his head. Seemingly satisfied with his efforts, Archer dashed away again, imploring everyone to flee while they still had the chance.

That left Saber, Vash, and a still-hesitant Sazh still left in the presence of the Black Gravios. But it seemed that with no provoking from the three left, and with Vash apparently returning her eggs, the wyvern did not act any more violent. She just looked at them meanly, snorting in dismission. Saber promptly left, and as she did, Sazh looked back to motion for Vash to follow hurriedly.

Outside the cave, the l'Cie shielded his eyes for a moment to adjust to the light difference. It looked like everyone else was present, and mostly okay. They were higher up on the mountain ranges now, as the colder air and wind evidenced. Sazh ended up turning to look at the light, catlike voice, perched on its own personal campsite up on a flat surface jutting out of the mountain. It was quite small and fluffy, which led to Sazh wondering how such a seemingly weak creature was able to get up here on his own, considering all the creatures around. Or was he alone? He couldn't see anyone else...

"Well, I think that sounds right..." Sazh lamented in slight wonder at the cat-being's questions. That certainly did sound like a name for a legendary dragon, and they could definitely use all the help they could get to get this ragtag group any closer safely.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Darkest Abyss

My free time is somewhat restricted to late in the evening in West Coast time, so I'll only be able to post about one a day or so. Just FYI.

Character Crossover Crisis City

Also, my posting is restricted to late evening in West Coast time, so I'll only be able to post about once a day. Just FYI.

Character Crossover Crisis City

VitaVitaAR said
I'm... still trying to think of challenge ideas that wouldn't be a breeze for some people and terrible for others. ^^;

I was thinking of taking the 'separating the party' idea and turning that into a gimmick. Let's say we have a dungeon with two or three different paths. You could go down one path, but up to a certain point you couldn't proceed without intervention from another group on another path. Think of Kefka's Tower from Final Fantasy VI.

Also, it's pretty clear that every character here has some sort of power or basic thing that's absolutely unique to them. Perhaps certain challenges would revolve around the use of such character's abilities: for instance, Sazh's piloting skill, or Nonon's musical guns, or Felt's alchemy knowledge. We could do multiple such things, even simultaneously, or have them coordinate, or have others protect those important guys.

Just throwing out inspiration, I don't actually have any specific ideas myself. At least, not any worth sharing.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Darkest Abyss

The Quilava was understandably nervous for plenty of reasons. Being a trainee on the verge of becoming a new recruit for the Alakazam Explorer's Guild was certainly one aspect. The other was the pressure and fear of being issues missions that he might somehow fail at, even if he did enter the Guild without a hitch. And then there was one of Helios's personal thoughts, that the Sylveon he had been taking orders from for the past while seemed a bit too... forceful? Drilling? It just didn't seem natural for a Sylveon to be like that, Helios thought. But that was for himself, and nobody else.

The other trainee Heli had been with, meanwhile, did seem to have any care in the world, and was bounding up and down like the floor was red-hot. The Quilava only wished that he could have that kind of enthusiasm, even if only at certain times. He was oh-so painfully shy, though; it had taken nearly all his courage just to apply for the Guild in the first place. But as long as Heli had gotten this far, he couldn't stop now.

There was a few moments of awkward, bated silence as the group gathered for the ceremony waited for someone: Alakazam, whom Sylveon claimed was going to deliver a speech. Despite expecting it as soon as it was announced, there was obviously a bit of confusion and a hint of annoyance at how delayed the elder seemed to be. She called out several more times in increasing volume, before finally her shouts and banging at the door caught the attention of the Alakazam. Helios was certain at least one person snickered at the situation.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Darkest Abyss

Name: Quilava

Nickname: Helios (Heli, if you want)

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Moves:
-Ember : Spits flames in short range. May cause burns.
-Quick Attack : Attacks at high speed.
-Flame Wheel : Spinning fire attack. Thaws ice, may cause burns.
-Flame Charge : Lunging fire attack. Boosts speed by one degree.

His primary aspects are his speed, agility and physical attacks. While powerful in tandem, Helios has yet to truly be able to harness it at full power.

Personality: While most fire types would be headstrong and confident, Helios is far more cautious and insecure. He strays away from the tactics of intimidation and threatening normally expected of his species, and so has much more faults in the scheme of combat. Though he has used his abilities time and time again, he can't quite seem to grasp their potential, his potential. He definitely has willpower and some degree of courage, but he isn't able to unleash that full power that his species has. There's some element he's missing, something preventing him from seeing the big picture, and he's determined to find it.

Brief History: As an infant, Helios was already very shy and frail, more so than normal. He parents often found it necessary to shelter him given his weakness, though they knew this would ultimately stunt his own growth in power by doing so. So he was trained in private, pushed to become better and stronger. Under pressure, the poor Cyndaquil would often find himself cracking, and spent many a night laying with lost confidence in himself.

By some miracle, Helios did manage to evolve, but his faults still remained. His power was definitely far more apparent, but not nearly as strong at it could be, especially in good tandem. With there being no real better way to train him otherwise, Helios's parents sent him out into the world to try and make a life for himself, to realize that ability as only he could.

Eventually, he found himself at the Alakazam Explorer's Guild, a group which set out into the world to perform anything from rescue operations to delivery missions to foreign surveillance. Helios remains determined that perhaps this Guild will be how he can unleash his potential.

Character Quirk: However much he may deny it, he LOVES being scratched. Not violently, but like petting; from the scruff of his neck, down his back, and then his belly. Do it well and thorough and he'll be writhing in ecstasy, putty in your mitts.

Guild Membership: Pending

Character Crossover Crisis City

The action was heavily escalating as the group mounted their counterattack. A flood of water rushed through from somewhere and struck the beast hard; Sazh's lightning bullets put a spin of electric charge to the water, sparking the water with pain. Someone yelled to try and knock the ceiling down on the creature. Some other man confidently strode up, put a gun to head and set it off with a blast of shattering light. Several other explosions rang out, and stalactites and other loose rubble came thundering down, crashing hard and pinning the wyvern. For a moment, that seemed to be it, and Sazh was already motioning for everyone to scuttle out while they had the upper hand.

Then, from the sloshing waves of water, some emerged. Several somethings, in fact, that looked astonishingly like...
Oh. This thing was a she.

The insuring roar and blast of fire mostly drowned out Sazh's panicked yells to "run!" An explosion of heat, fire, and rocks filled the cavern with molten rage, and Sazh was quick to duck and roll under the storm to avoid most of the flying debris. The heat was definitely on, now, in more ways than one. There was no way they were getting out of this one with any semblance of ease anymore.

"Aw, no no no NO NO!" Sazh cried out in horror as the creature threw itself forward at impossible speeds, driving straight for the group of which Sazh was in the back of. He rapidly tried to slow the monster's progress by pelting it with paw spells of sonic winds, but with little avail. A yell from the the skeleton-rider seemed to catch the attention it was asking for, as he transformed himself into some far larger size to try and wrestle the beast head-on! What the hell was going through that thing's mind!? And what in the name of Ragnarok was the spiky-haired kid doing with those eggs?

Saber's command to flee was far better heard than Sazh's. Some people seemed perfectly ready to oblige, but others were far more determined to keep fighting. Before Sazh could choose to depart, though, he noticed Saber refusing to move, apparently determined to face down the beast herself as some suicidal act. On some other ledge, too, Archer seemed to be doing his job, just as determined to distract the wyvern long enough for everyone to escape.

"Hey, hang on, aren't you all coming with?" The pilot rapidly called out to Saber and Archer. He was not the kind of person prepared to leave anybody behind in the same room as an unstoppable force of nature, however able those fighters may be.

The Ten Levels of Hell- a Crossover Rp

hm. Okay then.