PlatinumSkink

Pokémon: One (~Looking for one player and a Co-GM!~)

Rowan Branchers

_____

Route A

… Dwebble, huh. It's a rock-type. A beginner's worst nightmare. So commonplace, yet so hard to defeat with basic moves. To think they'd face such an adversary already...

'Rock-type... Normal moves are ineffective. Would be really good if either Purrloin or Kira knew a Dark or a Psychic move right now.' He commented, looking at his Pokédex. He knew Purrloin didn't, and he suspected that neither did Kira.

'RRRLOIN!' His attention was brought back to the fight as he heard Purrloin's attack-shout. He blinked in stunned surprise as he saw Purrloin jumping and slicing the opponent trainer's shoes and pants with her claws, landing with a smug grin.

'That's what “Assist” does!?' Rowan whispered in an agitated voice, staring wide-eyed in surprise at Purrloin's action. Th-that wasn't his intention...! I-if that's so, then he'll REALLY needed to save it for just desperate occasions...! Okay, ”Assist” meant attacking the enemy trainer. Got to remember that.

The birth of a new, unintended secret attack phrase between Rowan and Purrloin.

'... ROIN! … And of course, Purrloin got a boot in the face for her troubles. Rowan twitched from the imagined pain, seeing his Pokémon actually get kicked back. He also got kind of pale with the trainer's threat. H-he can't do that. Okay, if they lose, he'd just grab Purrloin and run. … How's Purrloin?

Purrloin actually handled herself rather well, quickly getting back on her feet in front of Rowan with an even more annoyed look in her eyes, glaring at the trainer.

'... Alright. Purrloin, you're okay, right?' Rowan asked, and got an angry glare in return. Purrloin proceeded to look forward again as Rowan fumbled with his words.

'O-okay, got it! Look, Lulu's in danger! She's got the worst type match-up possible! When the Dwebble uses Rock Blast again, I want you to intercept and scratch the rocks out of the way so they don't hit Lulu!' … In reply to his words, Purrloin directed back at him an extremely tired and annoyed-looking stare.

'... Purr... loin?' ”You want me... to scratch large high-velocity projectile rocks...?”

'Okay, okay! Stupid idea!' Rowan waved his hands in front of him as if to fend off the look. Even if he didn't exactly understand what she said, Rowan did understand her tone and expression.

'Then don't let it use Rock Blast at all! Run close and use your speed to keep close to it at all times, and when it dares show its face, scratch it! That part GOT to be more vulnerable!' Purrloin nodded in satisfaction and turned to dash, but Rowan had something to add.

'But... if the Dwebble does manage to shoot Rock Blast at Lulu... try to take it. You can take a Rock-type blow far better than she can. Please. Rowan felt uncomfortable with his own sentence. He was asking his Pokémon to hurt herself in place for an ally. Purrloin threw an analysing look back at him...

'Purr, purr-purrloin!' ”Okay, but I'm expecting ample reward afterwards!” Purrloin declared, before she dashed off towards the Dwebble, intending on executing Rowan's strategy of keeping close and waiting for the opportunity to scratch Dwebble's face while looking out for Rock Blasts.

'Alright! Let's do this!' Rowan declared, reasonably excited, clutching his fists and looking after Purrloin. He hadn't caught that Purrloin wanted a reward after, but she sounded positive and had ran off!

… Of course, their little talk had taken so long, they were with all likelihood too late to influence any current strategies in play. They'd just have to adapt to the scene as they arrived to it.

Oh, Mara was taking clues from Purrloin and directed attacks at the trainer. Rowan did not know her thoughts, so that's what it felt like. Okay. If they ask, he'll just have to explain. Hahaha...

________

Pokémon

Purrloin
Level: 7
Moves: Scratch, Growl, Assist
Ability: Unburden
Nature: Naughty
Held Item: ---

Key Items: Dogwood Pokédex
Items: 1 Potion, 1 Dogwood Ball
678 P

Pokémon: One (~Looking for one player and a Co-GM!~)

Um. Hm. Well. What I do next depend a whole lot on how successful Yasha's strategy was. Haha.

Hm. Logic dictates it should be my turn now. Er. Yeah. Alright. I think I can do things. Hm.

Edit: Though, not right now. Got to leave, right now. Just noting because I'm seeing multiple people that might be waiting for me right now. Just in case. Haha.

Pokémon: One (~Looking for one player and a Co-GM!~)

@Pikmin Eye ... Just going to point out, that's AAAALLLL Purrloin, Rowan's too innocent to realize what Purrloin's doing DESPITE that she's clearly not dashing for the opposing Pokémon...

Of course, to his thinking, it might be a flanking maneuver, but still. XD

Pokémon: One (~Looking for one player and a Co-GM!~)

Rowan Branchers

_____

Route A

… So, it turned out Route A was pretty eventless, and he was currently carrying Purrloin while she slept in his arms. He didn't really want a Taillow, then again, one could be of good sentimental value from his home. He could totally imagine that he could bring allong a Tailow as to represent Dewmeadow, and... but... Rowan's energy drained as they walked on further, but he kept himself walking. Somewhere, at the end of this walk, was the start to his Pokémon journey! And he had friends here, too! Oh, that's right! They should totally talk about things on the way, obviously!

'So...' He was about to ask something, when he had to blink when the bridge appeared in view and Mara took off. Rowan took his time to inspect what was in front of them... and got the shivers. The trainer... looked so ready for them. And his words... ”Red Hand”? What's that? Whatever it was, it didn't sound good at all. And given what he said, it was clear. This man wasn't a good person.

Rowan froze for a moment, his eyes widened. This man... had the confidence to block the road. This likely meant he had confidence in his abilities. This would, in turn, mean that he had earned this confidence from somewhere, likely with years of experience, and could therefore be counted on to be pretty powerful. With other words, with all likelihood, the three young beginners would likely not stand a chance in a fight. They shouldn't try to. They should try to find an alternative way over, even if it meant catching a Tailow and then just having it fight Tailows until it evolved and was able to carry them over. Yeah, their course of action was clear, fighting wasn't an option...

"Ya just another thug like Team Rocket aren't ya? Preyin' on the weak and gettin' fatter and fatter like a Magickarp too big for its pond. And ya know what? Just like'em, scum lika ya need to be put down. Lulu, Quick Attack!"

@hatakekuro

… WAIT, WHAT!?

Rowan blinked and stared wide-eyed at the hotheadedness of his friend. Th-this wasn't a job for our kind! They should alert adults, or something...!

'Wait, Yasha! H-he might be too... powerful...' Rowan stuttered, staring forward in fear, not knowing what kind of Pokémon that was or how powerful it might be. He felt extremely unprepared for this being their first obstacle as Pokémo trainers.

'Puuurr...' Purrloin suddenly made a noise. Rowan blinked and looked down on her, where she now was awake in his arms. She stared forward at the trainer, her eyes having something very annoyed in them. How dare he claim ownership of something SHE was to cross over!? The nerve! He needs to be taught a lesson.

'Ah!' Rowan blinked as Purrloin sprang from his arms, landing in front of him, and threw him a surprisingly threatening glare back at him. Sh-she was actually itching for a fight...

'Purr-Purrloin?.' … ”Well? Are you going to fight with me, or not?” … Somehow, Rowan kind of understood what she intended. … Rowan took a deep breath, cooling himself, and then nodding.

'Alright. Let's support Yasha.' He looked into his Pokédex. Purrloin's new move was ”Assist”. He had studied a lot, but he had no idea what that particular move actually did. But, it sounded good. Assist Lulu.

'Purrloin! Use Assist!' He said in frightened exitement, and Purrloin looked back at him like he was an idiot.

'Purr...' ”Nevermind, then.” She turned around and dashed. Since Rowan didn't have any other Pokémon, Assist would not do anything. However, naughty Purrloin had a different plan of how to ”Assist”. This was clearly not a strictly legal battle, so Purrloin was not going to treat it as one. Since her trainer was an idiot, she'd take matters into her own paws. A cruel little cat-smile appeared as she dashed, not for the Pokémon, but for the trainer.

Given the chance, Purrloin would jump and attempt using scratch-attacks against the trainers shoes and pants with fairly sharp claws. They'd be directed mainly against clothes and never directly against flesh, not really with the intention to actually hurt but certainly intending to keep him VERY distracted.

Assuming that Purrloin's angle was just an attempt to strike from an angle or a prerequisite for the attack, an unsuspecting Rowan instead focused on directing his Pokédex at the opponent's Pokémon. Know your enemy...

________

Pokémon

Purrloin
Level: 7
Moves: Scratch, Growl, Assist
Ability: Unburden
Nature: Naughty
Held Item: ---

Key Items: Dogwood Pokédex
Items: 1 Potion, 1 Dogwood Ball
678 P

Pokémon: One (~Looking for one player and a Co-GM!~)

WAIT, WHAT!? I JUST GO TO SLEEP AS NORMAL AFTER SO LONG OF DOING NOTHING, AND THERE ARE FIVE IC POSTS MENTIONING ME!? ALL POSTED DURING MY SLEEP!? WTH!?

Edit: Posted. Tell me if what Purrloin's doing is, like, not okay or if I need to clarify anything. I can change it. I can totally imagine that the situation is "if that kind of action is proved okay, then we'll have a problem in the future fights against criminals". My personal apologies for the ideas that came into my mind as I was typing the post.

XCOM 2: Make your own character, see how he/she does.

@WilsonTurner Heh. The game actually allows you to restart a map? From the reputation, I actually thought differently. Haha.

XCOM 2: Make your own character, see how he/she does.

@WilsonTurner Ah. Did not consider that. Well... Make her American. Maybe with some mixed blood, but I have no idea from where.

RPGC #10: The Moon!

@shylarah At least I keep the theme constantly in mind when I read the entries. Often it isn't a problem, but sometimes it can appear one where I'm like... "... And this relates HOW to the theme?"

In those cases, I'm bothered by it and will likely not vote for it, regardless of how good the entry was.

And, those that do something really clever with the theme automatically get bonus-points in likability and are therefore more likely to get my vote. Haha.

I will have to say, though. I do somewhat miss the required components thing. It gave less freedom, sure, but it did give more incentive to actually stick to the theme and give a nice little base to build up awesome ideas from. It was easier, somehow, because the first step was already taken, and then the voters could consider the components while also reading the entries. There was more of a desire to actually use the components then compared to simply the bonus categories.

But, this works fine, too! A bit of extra freedom, simply, which means it just requires me to build up a base as well! It should also mean more varied stories, and who knows what else? Haha!

The Twelve Labours: General Discussion

@mdk

Responses to the responses to the- wha

If I just had him shrugged, it doesn’t feel like the readers would have gotten to delve as deeply into the character. I like to put the reader into the heads of the characters, which means hearing their reasoning for their every move. … Anyway, yes. I will keep this in mind.

… I must say, I feel a little bit discouraged since you seem to have a lot more of a negative impression on your own cast than I got from reading. I mean, I pretty much just felt they were a cozy lovable family throughout 75% of the entry. Tony had a revenge plot? I never caught that. I never really saw Al as being a male thing, either. And I… quite like Maggie. She’s a sweet person. At least to me. … Oh, well.

It did feel like this was more intended to be the main story than that this was setting up for another story, I will admit. If this was just the first couple of chapters in a book, then it would probably have felt like it went too quickly. But, now when I read it as the main story, it felt perfect. Hm. Oh, well!

@Dark Wind I was getting Ellri vibes from the entry myself. XD

@The Grey Dust Heh. Yepp. I see what you were going for. I didn’t see it as being reunited with his queen, more of having outwitted death, and causing him to die wasn’t even getting revenge at all, because that was going to happen anyway… Heh. Anyway. Well done.

Now, then. Those two.

Response to Mag Lev

Just Take A Stroll

Pass

Lacks the use of "" for conversation and instead uses the singular apostrophes. Possess several errors in grammar and a misspelling of the word maneuvering. While the story itself is good, the way it is written makes for a bit lackluster read. Commas placed in certain areas weren't needed and other areas where they should have been.

@Mag Lev

I totally read that wrong first and read it as “I’m not judging it. I’m passing it on to Terminal.” XD

No idea how to make a story that isn’t a lackluster read. Guess I’ll just say that “Since I can’t do better than this, this is good enough!”

Also, that word is hell. Partly because I use it so much, partly because I never spell it correctly on the first try. Anyways.

Thanks for the review~

Response to Terminal

Just Take a Stroll

The usual smattering of inappropriate punctuation, but nearly no typos of note nor misplaced words. The most serious technical issue with the entry is, as Mag Lev indicated, your use of apostrophes rather than quotation marks to denote speech - which might be handwaved solely for stylistic reasons.

As far as the actual stories go, in some areas your your descriptive passages are simply amazing and wholly engaging. The identifying the Humans via their shoe markings, the inability to even perceive the rest of the Human body above roughly ankle-height - brilliant, small details that lend the story a significant degree of charm. In other areas however, your descriptions fall short - in particular I was disappointed with your summation of the Ghinites' civilization and city, which was essentially described as 'lots of goo.'

Perhaps the most criminal example of that might be your description of the pad Akheria was reading near the start, which was almost literally described as 'a plate of goo with goo indentations for reading.' Are these creatures blind? WAre the indentations a different color, or is there some form of electromagnetic perception going on? I have no idea. If I had to guess I would say you got a bit caught up in the novelty of the concept and so were unable to wholly elaborate upon the nuance of the setting. My recommendation in this case is simply to use multiple variations upon a same theme if you find yourself constantly describing several details or elements with uniform or else highly simplified natures.

@Terminal

Allow me to just accept the inappropriate punctuation, because I don’t know where it is or how to fix it. Hah.

… Well, the whole city IS a whole load of goo. It’s all composed of the same kind of material, which is produced by their own bodies, which result in the technology they have. And, um, on the pad, the indents are clearly visible, and they’re certainly not blind, I described them as having eyes… It wasn’t an important element. It was just… their kind of report. I actually HAD more description of said pad, but I cut it out because it wasn’t important. Er. Anyways. What do you mean with “multiple variations upon a same theme”? Sounds very useful, but I don’t understand what you mean.

Thank you very much for the review. I am very happy that you found parts good enough to use such nice words to describe them~! It makes me smile a lot~!

About apostrophes for my dialogue

Allow me to just go and produce two books from two of my favorite authors. Lesse here. “The Diamond Throne” by David Eddings and “The Reality Dysfunction” by Peter F. Hamilton. Lesse, if I can find a random line of dialog in them… No, wait, that doesn’t matter. What DOES matter, is that both of them use the style of dialogue that I used in this entry. Due to this, I’ve always been under the impression that that’s how real authors typed dialogue. Since then, I’ve read more, and seen a rather balanced mix. But, um, yeah. I felt like using the style of the authors that I looked up to, without really knowing the rules for the style.

Besides that… I refuse to think that David Eddings and Peter F. Hamilton are somehow both wrong in their choices of how they present dialogue. XD

Not to say the other style isn’t right, too. I just, well, wanted to try to do it that way. Yeah.

Also, those Challenge Allocades are basically impossible for me to get anyway, so those ominous tones of you writing that “It’ll be worse in the final entry” I respond mostly with “As inevitably, then, since I’m powerless to do anything about that”. Haha.

Thank you for the reviews!

XCOM 2: Make your own character, see how he/she does.

Sure, I'll bite. Note, I have absolutely no idea about anything in XCOM and have never played the games, but I made something from the limited information I have.

Milla Duchene

Name: Milla Duchene
Nickname: Duchess. Because of the resemblance in her last name.
Gender: Female

Backstory: Born in 2005, she was ten years old when the alien invasion happened. Her family were a bunch of farmers, not much that they could do in the face of such power. Her father was a member of the original XCOM, but he died when the base was destroyed. Milla knew this as she was growing up, but due to the lack of things that she could do about it she and the rest of her family allowed themselves to be subdued. However, just in case, Milla secretly trained herself, kept herself fit and used any means necessary to learn how to operate a weapon. She may have joined ADVENT, depending on if that was composed of humans or not. Because, anything where she could fight was good for her.

Then, when XCOM reformed, Milla jumped at the chance to once again combat the alien threat in place of her father, hoping to be able to succeed where he failed and live to tell the tale.

General appearance: Mildly tall, serious look upon her face. I’d put her with short, black hair, probably cut it because long hair would get in the way while fighting. She could potentially have suffered a scar here or there during her physical years, though probably wouldn’t have gotten a tattoo unless it was a common thing, that’d you be left out if you didn’t get one. I imagine her with rather sharp features, yepp.

Attitude: Twitchy, would probably be the best description. She’s somewhat nervous about fighting these creatures that she knows have beaten them before, and might be easily startled. But, she’s determined to slay these bastards, and she’s a thorough professional at what she does.

Class: Ranger. She wants to see the whites in their eyes… Er, or any equivalent which might be relevant among aliens.
Subclass: Assault. She’d have it no other way.