So, Erika moved on through the cave. Joshua and Ewan were hanging along, probably making some form of unimportant small-talk, at the very least Joshua. So, moving on, they walked by a couple of knocked-out Geodudes. Unfortunately, they were all knocked-out, meaning they couldn’t be captured, but at the very least, that’s opportunity Nr. 1 for Erika to deviate from the path that this post offers to her.
Pokédex Entry #74 – Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Found in fields as well as mountains. They commonly rest, half-buried in the ground and indistinguishable from normal rocks. There are always way more Geodude around than a traveler will notice. Stepping on one by accident may trigger their rage.
Moving on from that, they’d eventually run into… a Pokémon battle. Moving through the cavern on the left side, and there was a river of water on the right side that they could enjoy not having to wade through. So, they moved, and soon they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, where the exit lay, assuming the map was correct. In front of said exit was a battle, between a couple of people the three of them knew.
Martin was commanding a Bulbasaur, while Dawkin was using a Wooper. Cathia fought them both with a Flabébé and a Marill.
It was Martin and Dawkin, fighting Cathia of Jacques’ trainers.
Pokédex Entry #194 – Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. It lives in cold water, sleeping on the bottom and seeking food by the shore when it's cold. When walking above water, wild Woopers cover their bodies with a slimy, poisonous film that keeps them from dehydrating. It's slightly dull-witted.
Pokédex Entry #1 – Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon. It is born with a seed planted on its back. At first, it survives on the nutrients from the seed, but then the seed and Pokémon starts growing side-by-side, taking in food and sunlight. Typically likes napping in bright sunlight.
Pokédex Entry #669 – Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. At the beginning of its life, this fairy picks a flower that then becomes a part of its body. It can draw out and control the hidden power of flowers, whatever that means. When it floats in the wind, any troubles in its heart is said to wane.
Pokédex Entry #183 – Marill, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. The tail contains oils lighter than water, ensuring it drifts to the surface even after having dived for food, and the tail can stretch to become very long. It fishes for food at the edge of fast-moving streams. It’s body is water-repellant and it’s dry even when playing in water.
‘Oh, my. A single girl on her own, fighting two guys…’ Joshua commented silently, looking on. Though, he smirked. ‘Looks like she was prepared for it. In fact, I think Cathia’s the one who challenged them.’ He said, a bit knowingly. Ewan merely nodded, looking at the battle. There wasn’t someone with a clear advantage as seen from here.
@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe Now, assuming any of the two guys didn’t feel like stopping them, Erika was free to pass the battle. Cathia’d look a little pained, but she’d focus on the battle. This is, though, opportunity Nr. 2 for Erika to deviate from the path of this post, but the post will assume she wants to move on.
Anyways, moving past them, out into the sunlight once more. The brighter light is momentarily blinding, before Erika could finally see what lay ahead of her. There was a small bridge, leading over a river, the river being small parts of the Dragon Lake pouring down back into the ocean. The river from the Wet Caverns also fell down in a small waterfall, joining said river. On the other side was a hill, leading down via a dirt road down to a collection of buildings. Beyond the buildings, was plains, a tall icy mountain, and more forest. Regardless, for now… she could head down to the buildings. There…
Lakewatch Town
As one looks upon Lakewatch, it is clear it was once built by the side of the water. Yet, over time, Dragon Lake has actually increased in volume, the water-level rising and swallowing the town. Then the natural conclusion would be to move the town back, follow the water-level, and rebuild at the new shore, right? That, does not appear to have been the thought that went through the minds of the designers of this Town, which is essentially placed out in the water on top of older buildings, the streets of the town flooded in water and to get around one has to make use of their many canoes or get on the back of a Pokémon. Quagsires seem to be strangely prefered, and there are Woopers hanging around in the waters blankly.
The town of Lakewatch rises fairly high for its size, and vegetation grows pretty freely around the buildings. Most buildings and streets have white floating cobblestone to walk on either side of the streets, with a river of water flowing in the middle. People here are highly accustomed to this, and the streets are constantly bustling with people heading back and forth, as well as people actually gliding down from the higher buildings from the roofs above using strange little paragliders. It appears people live in the higher floors, while business takes place on ground/water-level. There are canoes basically everywhere that anyone’s free to borrow, townspeople commonly jumping down on a canoe, using the force of the jump to drift it to the other side and then simply jump off.
Now, anyone could hear from the name that Lakewatch Town is the town that basically rules the Dragon Lake. The Lakewatchers are a group of people that regularly patrol the waters, and become friends with the dragons that live there. Tours by the Lakewatchers are the primary tourist attraction of the place, along with the fish that is procured from the same lake, and guides are trained to show the way in any surrounding areas. Their boats are also those who trade with the western side through Highhill, keeping the place alive and busy. Plus, there’s always the rumors of treasure or otherwise hiding deep in Flooded Lakewatch, and Descent Tower looms in the middle of town for those hoping to explore… but who really knows? It’s a nice and different place, definitely.
Pokédex Entry #195 – Quagsire, the Water Fish Pokémon. A very easy-going Pokémon, they swim about and don’t even mind if they bump their heads into things. When hunting, it simply opens its mouth and moves no muscles, waiting for prey to blunder in. When not moving, it expands very little energy and does not need food for a long time.
So, yupp. Erika could arrive here. That was fine. Will write potential Joshua and Ewan lines after Erika makes her next intended action known.
Note, one basically has to cross water to get through this town. It’s not going to be used to slow anyone down, but to be considered when writing a post about crossing it.
1. Find Pokémon. There’s plenty of water here. Could be any number of Water Pokémon in the different rivers through town. 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Lakewatcher Base. From where Lakewatchers embark to patrol Dragon Lake. 6.5. Lakewatch Docks. For getting tours of Dragon Lake, just taking a ferry or fishing! 6.6. Explorer’s Guide Service. With all these strange places around, Lakewatch offers guides to the surrounding areas! 6.7. Descent Tower. A tower in the middle of town, with stairs down to Flooded Lakewatch. Come prepared for the underwater. 6.8. Back Alleys. … What? Lakewatch has a darker section? What are you talking about? 7. Familiar Faces, Lucian. Lucian’s in town, if that’s remotely interesting to Erika. Not sure where exactly, right now, though.
Connected areas: Wet Caverns. Water-filled caverns that are located to the east. There’s a small hill to climb to get to the entrance. Route 5. The main exit of Lakewatch, leading to a grassy incline connecting mountains, forests and plains. Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
@TheIrishJJ Heeeey. I rolled for a new random event for you. So there you go. You can stop him for further conversation if you like, or just move on with your journey. By the way, how's it going?
@Project Here's a random event. Also, finding images of people who fit that bill was hard. All artists want their characters to be so damn distinctive, few fits. Hahahaha. Anyways. What now?
@Joshua Tamashii I did some research on what's normally needed to be done to enter a Shinto shrine. I quickly decided we aren't religious here, even if we use the images of such shrines for the areas. ... Buuuuut, I did include that little detail for hilarity's sake. Haha. Now, up to you what to do.
@Rune_Alchemist Nicely posted. And, good news, I felt like posting, so you can make your commands. Here you go.
Edit: Oh, hey. 500th post, shortly after the 1 year mark. Fun. Haha.
‘Oh, there he is.’ Said an old, local man who once in a while visited Rory’s home to chat with his parents. Darryl had grey hair, the uniform of a working man and was closely followed by a Machop for some reason, and he had just entered the Pokémon Center and walked over to where Rory was sitting.
‘Getting ready for your Pokémon journey, huh? Already started it. Good on you. Always nice to see young trainers growing up. Reminds me of my own journey, all those years ago. Hueh-heh.’ He chuckled a bit for himself. ‘Now, I know we’re not supposed to spoil the kiddos that embark on their journeys… but I’m not gonna have any more use of this, am I?’ He chuckled a bit darkly, as he put two items on the table…
Rory obtained Scope Lens!
Rory obtained TM65 Shadow Claw!
‘Go get them, kiddo.’ Darryl chuckled to himself, the old Pokémon trainer turning with intention to leave, Machop looking curiously at Rory for a moment before turning to leave with him. Of course, if Rory wanted to intercept him, he could. Otherwise, he could continue his journey, or continue sitting there.
Highhill Town
(couldn’t decide what image I wanted to use)
Highhill Town is a small, lively place that has seemingly stood atop this hill from time immemorial and never really changed. The atmosphere in Highhill Town is much fresher than surrounding places, the buildings are older and the work as honest as ever. The old town is populated by elders and younglings aplenty, and the town has a culture of their own. Plenty of Pokémon assist with the work, either as work-force or the animals that work is being done on.
One usually only crosses Highhill Town on a trip to or from Pureplain City. Regardless, it is a place of beauty. The fields around it are cultivated by hard-working people and Pokémon while the lake to the east gleams in the sunshine as fishermen attend it. There are small roads of asphalt spiraling up the hill to lead to all the old buildings, and children playing around in stairs or nature is very common.
It is said that a trainer praying at the nearby Silent Shrine will be blessed on their journey, so many travel to Highhill Town just for that. There’s also a set of very ancient rocks spread about town, pointing out towards the lake on top of the hill with some engravings. What they mean? Nobody knows. Also, Highhill Town is the residence of a certain Move Changer, whose abilities are sought by some new trainers. What he can do? Visit him to find out.
1. Find Pokémon. Can still search for Pokémon in towns~ 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Docks. For fishermen or perhaps a ticket across Route 14. 6.5. Ancient Rocks. Of completely unknown origin, ancient writing on them. 6.6. Ranch. There are ranches around Highhill, if you stand to gain from them. 6.7. Move Changer. We can guess from the name, but what can this man do? 6.8. Mayor’s House. If you see reason to visit, it’s right by the rocks. 7. Rory Character Specific: Home. You may make up whatever you wish that you might want to revisit here, within reasonable limits.
Connected areas: Route 1. To the south, is the common route of first journeys. Green and straight. Route 3. To the north, the route to Rainrock or the Silent Shrine. A wet woodland. Route 14. To the east, the lake known as the Dragon Lake, potentially for crossing.
Soooooooo, Erza peeked down into the drain. So, there were trainers conducting themselves in battle, along with a youngster that seemingly was shouting commands to other kids to “defend his kingdom” or something like that… anyways. Other than Pidgeys and Rattatas, he saw a trainer with one of these…
Pokédex Entry #300 – Skitty, the Kitten Pokémon. It lives in holes in trees of forests. It easily becomes fascinated with things and chase them, and it commonly seen chasing its own tail. While popular due to perceived cuteness, it is very difficult to earn a Skitty’s trust and friendship.
And one of these…
Pokédex Entry #270 – Lotad, the Water Weed Pokémon. They live in clean ponds and lakes, where they float with their large leaves above the surface, and they serve as ferries to smaller Pokémon. They rise climb ashore only in search of cleaner water. If it’s dehydrated, the leaf will wilt.
And one example of this…
Pokédex Entry #23 – Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. It stealthily sneaks through grass to prey on small animals and bird-eggs. When born, it is short and has no poison, but the poison develops and it grows longer as it gets older. When it sleeps, it wraps itself around a tree to safely sleep high up from the ground.
Well. That aside, he could move on towards Highhill Town, following the road alongside the grasslands that are Route 1. He’d soon enough be approaching the town, walking by young new trainers catching and fighting in the grass, when…
‘March out!’
A group of people, led by two people of different genders up front, marched out of Highhill. They were dressed primarily in white. The male had white hair, red details on his white uniform, black boots and a long, stylish cape. The female had a white cap, pink details under a white vest, black details and dark hair.
They wore their clothes with grace, their appearance inspiring confidence. They had a mission, and they were leading their men towards it. Their apparent might could have been awe-inspiring. Yet, there was this tiny little detail that was distracting from it, a little flaw that kept it from looking that cool and perhaps serving to make it all just a bit silly. And that was that behind them…
… Now, obviously, there were some individual differences. Some were perhaps taller or shorter than others, their faces and hair-colors differed, each was their own individual. But all individuals of the specific gender was wearing the exact same attire, and looked like they had basically the exact same personality.
‘Woah, Team Virtue Grunts!’ Some random kid informatively called out. ‘What are they doing out here?’ Someone else asked, receiving no reply.
‘Comb the forest! Don’t rest until we’ve found her!’ The guy in front called, and the grunts spread out, and they went to enter the Silent Forest from the south. Why they did so was only hinted at through their words as they headed off. Now, Erza could perhaps have stopped one or two if he decided to, but other than that, they had absolutely no interest in him. … Oh, look, they dropped something.
Erza found Team Virtue Lvl 1 Keycard!
… … … … … …
So, um. There was absolutely no telling where this led, and someone was probably going to get into trouble for dropping it. But other than that… yupp, up to Erza what he does next.
If he headed on to Highhill;
Highhill Town
(couldn’t decide what image I wanted to use)
Highhill Town is a small, lively place that has seemingly stood atop this hill from time immemorial and never really changed. The atmosphere in Highhill Town is much fresher than surrounding places, the buildings are older and the work as honest as ever. The old town is populated by elders and younglings aplenty, and the town has a culture of their own. Plenty of Pokémon assist with the work, either as work-force or the animals that work is being done on.
One usually only crosses Highhill Town on a trip to or from Pureplain City. Regardless, it is a place of beauty. The fields around it are cultivated by hard-working people and Pokémon while the lake to the east gleams in the sunshine as fishermen attend it. There are small roads of asphalt spiraling up the hill to lead to all the old buildings, and children playing around in stairs or nature is very common.
It is said that a trainer praying at the nearby Silent Shrine will be blessed on their journey, so many travel to Highhill Town just for that. There’s also a set of very ancient rocks spread about town, pointing out towards the lake on top of the hill with some engravings. What they mean? Nobody knows. Also, Highhill Town is the residence of a certain Move Changer, whose abilities are sought by some new trainers. What he can do? Visit him to find out.
1. Find Pokémon. Can still search for Pokémon in towns~ 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Docks. For fishermen or perhaps a ticket across Route 14. 6.5. Ancient Rocks. Of completely unknown origin, ancient writing on them. 6.6. Ranch. There are ranches around Highhill, if you stand to gain from them. 6.7. Move Changer. We can guess from the name, but what can this man do? 6.8. Mayor’s House. If you see reason to visit, it’s right by the rocks.
Connected areas: Route 1. To the south, is the common route of first journeys. Green and straight. Route 3. To the north, the route to Rainrock or the Silent Shrine. A wet woodland. Route 14. To the east, the lake known as the Dragon Lake, potentially for crossing.
Both trainers exchanged their Pokémon. Sprout came out, and as he got vision he also got hit by a couple of bubbles that drifted forward by Marill’s Bubble attack. … It did, like, nothing, if not counting providing nutrition for his growth. Marill recoiled in fear at seeing Sprout, knowing enough about type-advantages to know it was in deep trouble. Meanwhile, Flabébé lost her target as Atlas was recalled, and Dawkin instead sent out Wooper… and Flabébé happily rerouted the attack at the newly sent-out Pokémon. Wooper was unable to dodge the attack, the Fairy Wind striking her straight on, dealing a good chunk of neutral damage on her, decent Special Attack against subpar Special Defense helping.
‘Flabébé, circle in, Vine Whip the Wooper, dodge Water Guns! Marill, Tackle Bulbasaur, don’t let it intervene!’ Cathia commended, pointing forward on the same turn as Wooper would now start to Water Gun.
The advantage of floating was obvious, hard to hit with physical moves. The disadvantage was, of course, that it weighed little and a direct-hit Water Gun would send Flabébé spiraling into the rock-wall. Flabébé started flying a little sideways, avoiding direct hits from Water Gun, but taking some damage from almost-hits as she tried to approach, Vine Whips starting to sprout from its flowers as it tried to close the distance.
‘Mariiiiiiiiii---!’ Meanwhile, Marill committed to a suicidal charge against its type’s nemesis, hoping to make Bulbasaur unable to intervene with Flabébé’s attack on Wooper.
The Raltses around did look to her and smile in turn, feeling her happiness, accepting her as she was permitted to approach the shrine without them fleeing for some reason. Unfortunately, she was unable to catch any more detailed from whatever floating green something had been there, it was completely gone now. Hearing her words, the girl blinked at Amelia a little in surprise, but she could see that, yeah, maybe that is what happens when you walk in the rain.
‘Teh-heh. Yeah, you look cold. Yes, you may enter, as soon as-’
‘Raaaaaaaalts!’ One of the tiny green-capped “shrine maidens” pointed at what was unmistakably an empty offering box with its tiny broom. … Seems like an offering was needed in order to enter.
Assuming she did that, the Ralts simply nodded in satisfaction and then continued out swiping with miniature broom while they were free to enter. Amount or even money wasn’t even important, just that she put basically anything in it and she was golden.
Inside… it was clear this shrine hadn’t been properly attended for a long time. Now, there were plenty of Ralts around keeping the place clean, but they weren’t exactly maintaining the place. But, otherwise, it was pretty nice. A large, wooden floor, slide-doors on the sides, an altar with some unlit lanterns that prayed to an empty wall. A couple of cushions that looked severely out of place, some with Ralts resting on them, probably brought here by the girl.
Speaking of her, she dropped a Pokéball on the floor, which lit up and then the place got instantly warmer.
‘Larv…?’ Asked a white-maned bug with multiple red horns, the top three emitting a bit of flame around it.
Pokédex Entry #636 – Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. A Pokémon said to have been born from the sun. It lives at the base of volcanoes. It spews fire from its five horns in order to repel enemies, but can also use these flames to fly. When about to evolve, it encases itself in a cocoon of fire until the evolution has been completed.
When in and warming up by the Larvesta, who had been sent out for that purpose before being petted by the girl, she turned to Amelia, smiling a little smile as she spoke.
‘Yepp. So. I’m Lorette, Bug-type Gym Leader of Highhill Town. I did kinda want to be the Fairy-type Gym Leader, but we already had Jeanette of Gentlevale. Besides, my mother was a respected Major League Bug-type Gym Leader of Highhill, so I just properly took up her mantle! This Larvesta is actually the child of my mother’s Volcarona, tihi. Oh, but I couldn’t become a Major League Gym Leader, I wasn’t experienced enough. So we had too many Minor Gym Leaders for a bit. But, that allowed Clement of Rainrock to be promoted to a Major League Gym Leader. I heard Hector of Redcoast wanted the position, but Clement was judged more worthy.’ Lorette had started prattling on about something.
‘Woops. I went on a tangent. So, how are you feeling?’ Lorette asked her, while Larvesta stayed close to warm them.
Add a couple of more claps of some Battle Girls impressed with Ralia’s form when striking that pose as Lucario flew by. Then there was a number of approving smiles seeing her praising Ritz.
Then a little later. Anise looked back and forth between Hector and Claire for a bit, wide-eyed at this sudden announcement of that apparently her Pokémon was for hire, or something, but then Claire made her command.
‘Okay, okay! I’ll be expecting to get them back in one piece and-’ She threw a glance at Conkeldurr as she took out two Pokéballs. ‘-and NOT FLATTENED, okay!?’ She frowned as she threw the Pokéballs into the floor. Out came a blue frog, and a floating yoga-practicing whatever-that-is. Both of which blinking in realization when they saw Conkeldurr in front of them.
‘Okay, this is a bit sudden, but you’re helping Claire in her Gym Challenge, okay? It’s all of you versus one of him. Listen to Claire’s commands, and I’ll give you plenty of treats later, okay?’ She said to her Pokémon, causing them to look back at her with surprise and then looking to Claire.
‘Froakie…’ Froakie looked a unsure, eyeing Claire with some animosity, but nodded and turned to face his foe.
‘Medi~!’ Meditite looked fairly amused by the situation. Probably meant she was okay with it.
‘Okay!’ Anise turned to look at Claire, now, frowning. ‘Froakie knows Pound, Growl, Bubble and Quick Attack. Just learned Quick Attack, so might not be experienced with it. Meditite knows Bide, Meditate and Confusion.’ Both are Level 8 ‘For now, I leave them to you, then!’
Hector and Conkeldurr both just watched, excitement building yet they simply had to wait until Claire was feeling ready to take on this challenge, or it was pointless. Both grinned at her though, waiting for the commands.
@Project Alright. Nicely posted. Now let's see if I can cook something up.
@Pikmin Eye Just switching Pokémon is fine. Means your next move will come out basically immediately. It's a little odd when one of you switches and makes a move immediately and the other doesn't, but it does mean that, whatever your move is, you're going to be able to do it at the same time as Wooper's Water Gun. However I'm going to schedule that with Cathia's actions. Haha. Nicely posted.
@Eklispe Alright. Switching Pokémon. ... Into a match-up where Marill has no viable thing to do. Hahaha. Alright, then. Nicely posted. Now to consider what Cathia will do.
@Joshua Tamashii Fairy arcs, how do they work? ... Hahaha. Anyways. Yupp, currently just a girl soaked in the rain and needing somewhere to wait for a bit. That is completely reasonable. Nicely posted. Haha.
I'd like to potentially have the first post that reacts to Amber's entrance, depending on the reply to the PM. If that doesn't screw anything else over, that is. Teh-heh.
Well, I'll post after Sakura's next post, but the small-talk in here seems rather unimportant. Mariette has something else to do (I have a delivery to make), so I would say "and then they had a pleasant dinner" and then move on, but it does appear Broken has a plan, so that first. But the small-talk before that isn't necessarily important unless the Djinn Sisters think it is. Hah.
@Pyromaniacwolf Yupp, new place. I'll say it is possible to get through by foot, buuuuut it's inconvenient. Feel free to grab a free canoe. They're basically everywhere. Haha.
@Project You're... yeah, you were just training, and the random-die/my whim combo decided nothing else happened. So, onwards with you.
@Eklispe@Pikmin Eye Yeah, in your case, the battle continues. ... Hm. Tell me if there are any issues, otherwise, onwards. Haha. Edit: Added a little about bubbles moving.
@Joshua Tamashii That's a lot of things that happened to you in a row, feel free to say if you change your action at any of those stages. But, otherwise, there you go.
@Rune_Alchemist That was fun to write. Anyways. Hector's the kind to just randomly decide rules as he goes along. He may have over-done the final challenge, so he's offering that you can borrow some of Anise's Pokémon to get a full team. Of course, being him, he says so out of the blue and in a confusing way. Anise because, heh, you beat her, you'd know her Pokémon. Up to Claire how she'll react to that, though. Haha.
Deciding to head on, Lucian follows the way right, and has to fend off a few more Zubats to remind of the fact he’s still in a Zubat-infested cavern. He then headed down the tunnel alongside the river, one side dry land the other wet cavern. This proceeded past a Geodude brawl, until finally, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel… right on the other side of a Pokémon battle. It was Dawkin and Martin versus one of the trainers Jacques had brought into their first encounter, Cathia. They were using the Aron and Nincada, as they had begun their journey with. Cathia was also using her first Pokémon, Flabébé, alongside a Marill.
Pokédex Entry #669 – Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. At the beginning of its life, this fairy picks a flower that then becomes a part of its body. It can draw out and control the hidden power of flowers, whatever that means. When it floats in the wind, any troubles in its heart is said to wane.
Pokédex Entry #183 – Marill, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. The tail contains oils lighter than water, ensuring it drifts to the surface even after having dived for food, and the tail can stretch to become very long. It fishes for food at the edge of fast-moving streams. It’s body is water-repellant and it’s dry even when playing in water.
… Regardless. He had Ducklett who was following him, and probably taking cover behind him as he recognized the people fighting before them. Anyways, Lucian probably didn’t intend on stopping for them, so it was just to head on and out. Cathia probably threw a grudging glance, she had intended on not letting people pass without battle, but there was little she could do when she was already in one.
Anyways, moving past them, out into the sunlight once more. The brighter light is momentarily blinding, before he could finally see what lay ahead of him. There was a small bridge, leading over a river, the river being small parts of the Dragon Lake pouring down back into the ocean. The river from the Wet Caverns also fell down in a small waterfall, joining said river. On the other side was a hill, leading down via a dirty road down to a collection of buildings. Beyond the buildings, was plains, a tall icy mountain, and more forest. Regardless, for now… he could head down to the buildings. There…
Lakewatch Town
As one looks upon Lakewatch, it is clear it was once built by the side of the water. Yet, over time, Dragon Lake has actually increased in volume, the water-level rising and swallowing the town. Then the natural conclusion would be to move the town back, follow the water-level, and rebuild at the new shore, right? That, does not appear to have been the thought that went through the minds of the designers of this Town, which is essentially placed out in the water on top of older buildings, the streets of the town flooded in water and to get around one has to make use of their many canoes or get on the back of a Pokémon.
The town of Lakewatch rises fairly high for its size, and vegetation grows pretty freely around the buildings. Most buildings and streets have white floating cobblestone to walk on either side of the streets, with a river of water flowing in the middle. People here are highly accustomed to this, and the streets are constantly bustling with people heading back and forth, as well as people actually gliding down from the higher buildings from the roofs above using strange little paragliders. It appears people live in the higher floors, while business takes place on ground/water-level. There are canoes basically everywhere that anyone’s free to borrow, townspeople commonly jumping down on a canoe, using the force of the jump to drift it to the other side and then simply jump off.
Now, anyone could hear from the name that Lakewatch Town is the town that basically rules the Dragon Lake. The Lakewatchers are a group of people that regularly patrol the waters, and become friends with the dragons that live there. Tours by the Lakewatchers are the primary tourist attraction of the place, along with the fish that is procured from the same lake, and guides are trained to show the way in any surrounding areas. Their boats are also those who trade with the western side through Highhill, keeping the place alive and busy. Plus, there’s always the rumors of treasure or otherwise hiding deep in Flooded Lakewatch, and Descent Tower looms in the middle of town for those hoping to explore… but who really knows? It’s a nice and different place, definitely.
So, with that, Lucian arrived into this new place, and there are people who just automatically wave at him and congratulate for breaching the Wet Caverns before going about their business, and there are plenty of canoes or people on Pokémon crossing the rivers… a favorite appears to be crossing on a Quagsire, for some reason. There are plenty of them. Also, their pre-evolution Wooper was also hanging around a bit of everywhere.
Pokédex Entry #194 – Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. It lives in cold water, sleeping on the bottom and seeking food by the shore when it's cold. When walking above water, wild Woopers cover their bodies with a slimy, poisonous film that keeps them from dehydrating. It's slightly dull-witted.
Pokédex Entry #195 – Quagsire, the Water Fish Pokémon. A very easy-going Pokémon, they swim about and don’t even mind if they bump their heads into things. When hunting, it simply opens its mouth and moves no muscles, waiting for prey to blunder in. When not moving, it expands very little energy and does not need food for a long time.
Anyways. What would Lucian do, now?
Note, one basically has to cross water to get through this town. It’s not going to be used to slow anyone down, but to be considered when writing a post about crossing it.
1. Find Pokémon. There’s plenty of water here. Could be any number of Water Pokémon in the different rivers through town. 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Lakewatcher Base. From where Lakewatchers embark to patrol Dragon Lake. 6.5. Lakewatch Docks. For getting tours of Dragon Lake, just taking a ferry or fishing! 6.6. Explorer’s Guide Service. With all these strange places around, Lakewatch offers guides to the surrounding areas! 6.7. Descent Tower. A tower in the middle of town, with stairs down to Flooded Lakewatch. Come prepared for the underwater. 6.8. Back Alleys. … What? Lakewatch has a darker section? What are you talking about?
Connected areas: Wet Caverns. Water-filled caverns that are located to the east. There’s a small hill to climb to get to the entrance. Route 5. The main exit of Lakewatch, leading to a grassy incline connecting mountains, forests and plains. Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
And so, Erza set out to train his new Growlithe. And train they did, against more Rattatas and Pidgeys. As a slightly more naturally gifted Pokémon, Growlithe was able to handle them reasonably easily, taking only somewhat damage back. It could however be noticed that it helped that it seemed that the wild Pokémon of Route 1 seemed naturally frightened of Growlithe, for some reason, making them hesitate when committing to striking back. Being a Growlithe on Route 1 apparently came with a certain amount of status. He’d be able to get somewhere relatively quickly.
Growlithe grew to Level 5!
Also, hm? While training there was something on the ground here, in very familiar colors, seemingly belonging to nobody.
Erza found a Pokéball!
Hm, oh, well. Random Pokéballs aside, Erza was free to do as he wanted again. Continue training? Moving on somewhere? Doing anything else?
Route 1
Route 1 is a long, flat and grassy route where most trainers get their first taste of the world. From Pureplain you can see the hills of Highhill in the distance, from Highhill the scrapers of Pureplain looms in the distance, the start of the Silent Forest surrounding the Silent Shrine on the side. There is a larger road, a main road used for travelling in and out of Pureplain City, there are plenty of more mature travellers taking that road to get from point A to point B. But, young Pokémon Trainers usually much rather use the smaller path going out into the grassland. This is some remnants of the plain which Pureplain City was named after, although most of that plain is now swallowed up by buildings of people living around here. Small roads branch out, leading to different places where some individuals have made their houses.
There are many safe roads, yet take one step out of it and you’re immediately in tall grass, where you can already see many first-time Pokémon Trainers are challenging their first Pokémon. One could expect Pokémon Trainers to be searching for Pokémon either in the tall grass or the forest on the side, and also battling one another as they can. From the looks of it, there are plenty of young trainers sporting freshly caught Pidgeys and Rattatas. As one approaches Highhill Town, the forest becomes more plentiful, as beyond the town lies a forest.
Through the route also runs an indent, a drain surrounded by walls, seemingly made for the water to gather up inside it. It’s currently dry, whatever cause of that might be. Some trainers appear to be having fun battling inside it, and they’re running around challenging one another inside it. But, the drain also raised interesting questions about what kind of Pokémon or things one might find should one explore it further.
1. Find Pokémon. There’s searching in the tall grass, and there’s the forest in the left, then there’s the drain… 2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding. 3. Seek trainers. There should be some here and there. Note, some may challenge you, regardless. 4. Talk. There’s plenty of young trainers around. There are also houses and travellers. Maybe seek answers to any burning questions you have. 5. Move along. Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally. 6. Hurry along. Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination. 7. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 8. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 9. Area Specific: Descend. There’s a drain. The kids are having a little tournament in it, challenging themselves to fight in a tight area. Perhaps you’d like to try becoming king of the drain? Or maybe you’d just like to explore it.
Connected areas: Pureplain City. A bit south. Highhill Town. A bit north-north-east.
Nincada successfully intercepted the Vine Whip attack, Flabébé looking down at the bug that just basically absorbed the supposed damage of the weak Vine Whip with excellent defense, before turning to attack Marill. Meanwhile, Atlas had already charged forth at Marill, who…
‘Marill!’ Spewed a Water Gun straight into Atlas’ face. The water penetrated the steel defense, soaking and damaging the rock body beneath, dealing a Super-Effective amount of damage, and Atlas would feel the energy taken from him during the attack. In fact, he probably owed it to Marill’s terrible Special Attack that he was still charging forward, but this was on his last legs after the damage combined with Bagon’s Ember. Any more damage would be it. But, the fact was that he was still charging, and Marill blinked in alarm, unable to dodge the impact.
The blue ball was knocked back, flying a bit back from Aron’s impact and rolling a bit. Nincada came after, meaning he’d have to catch up to Marill being rolled away, but the moment Marill recovered it was immediately surprised by a sudden Scratch attack, making it roll one lap more backwards. It blinked in panic at the close-by bug. It had taken a serious damage from the two, but wasn’t out yet.
‘Marill, defend yourself, Bubble! Flabébé, Fairy Wind on Aron, finish it!’ Cathia commanded, pointing forward with a frown, the excitement of the battle getting to her.
‘Marill!’ The Pokémon shouted it’s own name, and blew out bubbles. Unlike Water Gun, Bubble was a widespread move, designed to hit multiple Pokémon. It was currently used to make a wall of bubbles to ensure Nincada or Atlas would take damage if they approached to attack Marill, and it was making sure to cover the whole front and out to the sides… but it would be far less damage than a straight-on Water Gun. The bubbles were moving slowly away from Marill's body, probably would hit Nincada if he stayed put, but it was also going to take a while before they had dispersed enough for charging through with no damage, especially when it'd be super-effective.
‘Flaaaaaa~!’ Meanwhile, Flabébé soared in from behind Aron, intending on shooting out it’s wind of power at him, Cathia clearly hoping that the disadvantage of type would be overcome by Flabébé’s natural Special affinity and be enough to finish it.
When the berries were offered to the Snubbulls, she received a bunch of nervous glances. But, they went forth and collected the berries, giving her a few happy looks. A couple of them wanted to approach her and try to be friendly, but well, Amelia had places to go, and they were nervous so that might have been after she turned around. Sooo, moving on.
The Flabébés, when addressed, looked curiously at her and then at one another, before they decided with happy little calls. ‘Flabé!’ ‘Bébé!’ ‘Bébébé!’ ”As if we have anything more interesting to do~!” So, the three differently colored followed her curiously, mostly because they were curious fairies and she was currently the most interesting thing in the forest right now.
She’d notice a curious effect when she walked through the forest. Some of the arcs were glowing, as said, but when she moved through one… the glowing disappeared, and a different arc further away lit up. While there were arcs standing about fairly randomly, by following these glowing arcs they painted a definite path through the forest, and the Flabébés were chattering in pleased voices amongst themselves as they were on the way.
So, somewhere on the way Amelia turned to ask Drifloon this question.
‘Flooooon…?’ The Drifloon looked at her curiously at the question, then looked out across the forest, tiny black eyes looking as if considering something.
… Amelia suddenly felt something very odd. It felt like when she took her next step the air changed dramatically, turning from the humid rainy forest air to an unknown thickness, a dry air that was notably colder. It felt as if something enveloped her, like her next step had taken her somewhere different, almost like...
‘… Drifloon!’ Drifloon swelled and turned to call out to her, looking immensely happy all of a sudden, and the tense air immediately vanished, returning right back to the normal rainy forest air that was ever present in Northern Silent Forest. … So, um. There was no telling what exactly happened there, but Drifloon seemed more than happy to join her now. So, yay.
Amelia obtained Drifloon!
Gender: ♀ Type: Ghost/Flying Personality: (Up to player.) Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.) Level: 6 Moves: Constrict, Minimize, Astonish Ability: Aftermath, deals damage to a Pokémon that knocks it out. (Pokédex entry for Moon implies this is by its body bursting with a screaming sound as the soul spills out, or so, but the Drifloon will obviously still be okay after some healing after, hah.) Held Item: None.
New Pokémon caught! Amelia earned 1000 P!
Would you like to give a nickname to Drifloon?
She then assumingly continued on, eventually. She continued on through the Silent Forest, which indeed was silent except for the Flabébés following her and the rain that was still coming down. Following glowing arcs, Amelia made progress through the forest, the path continuing for quite a while. But, eventually, she reached somewhere. Her feet suddenly placed themselves on what was undoubtedly a flat, man-made rock made to be walked on, which continued as a path through the surrounding forest, straight towards an actual destination. A lonely structure, in the middle of the forest…
Deepforest Shrine
It’s a shrine. Following the arcs of the forest, eventually the path somehow reached this road made of rock, leading through the forest to a destination. Surrounded by forest, far from any road, lay this sudden, as if hidden, shrine. In the midst of the rainfall of the Northern Silent Forest, this was clearly not the Silent Shrine, but someplace else entirely. Yet, other than being a shrine in the middle of nowhere, was there anything relevant about this place? It seemed but empty, abandoned and bleak from here.
Yet… the shrine was attended. There were small, white-bodied green-capped little fellas standing a bit here and there, holding tiny brooms swiping like they were trying to be shrine maidens for the shrine. They also had noticed Amelia approaching way before she noticed them, some of them fleeing as if by sheer shyness, but others stood, watching the newcomer, unsure what to make of her yet.
Pokédex Entry #280 – Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. The horn on its head can sense emotions, and its own mood will be affected in turn. It will approach positive emotion and its body will warm, while it will shy away from and avoid negativity and hostility. Quite rare to see in nature.
… But even more eye-catching than the odd attendants of the shrine. There was a young girl, sitting on the stairs up to the shrine, all alone except for the company of these Pokémon. She didn’t look much older than Amelia. But… there was something else. A brief flash of shimmering green, floating next to her head which the young girl had seemingly been talking with, shared a little laugh with… and it was gone moments after Amelia had seen the trace of it. In its wake, the girl was left on her own. She turned her head towards Amelia as she assumingly got closer.
‘Hehe, I’ve been sought out, here of all places.’ She mused, with an amused smile, legs crossed and with a soft expression. ‘You’re here to bring me home, I guess? Well, sounds like duty calls. Tihi.’ She giggled a little, before slowly standing up, making ready to move.
Amelia was now free to say or do whatever she found appropriate.
Lucario was focusing for Foresight, but became aware of the Pokémon around him going for an attack. It looked like he’d hit, but…
Just before he’d hit with the tackle, Lucario flew up steadily on his feet, spun around and aimed a powerful punch at him. With his current momentum, it was impossible for Ritz to dodge the more experienced Pokémon. The punch impacted with a heavy sound which anyone who heard would swear had to hurt badly, Lucario himself looking calm with his outstretched arm, looking like he was assuming that had finished the Ledyba. He glared at Ralia, eyes only slightly wavering from the confusion, and he was clearly making ready to dodge…
Then he got Ritz tackling into his face, Lucario’s expression twisting into one of utter confusion.
Now, it still hurt. Lucario’s high Attack against a Ledyba’s low defense meant a meaningful amount of damage, and after the Quick Attack as well Ritz didn’t have much health left. But then there was that Lucario had used a Fighting-type move against a Bug/Flying-type, and Ritz had basically just been pushed back by the heavy hit, his lightness, ability to fly and body-type all lending itself to that Power-Up Punch didn’t do quite the damage Lucario had expected, except for increasing his attack. Ritz was then free to slam into Lucario with Tackle, and regardless of how little damage it actually did it completely threw the Lucario’s sense of control out the window.
The time Ritz had given was enough for Ralia to get her own charged Confusion off straight into Lucario’s face.
‘LUC-!?’ Lucario took the hit, recouling and looked hurt, angry and confused all at the same time, and didn’t look like he was taking it well. However, he wasn’t out. He spun in place, extending an arm to slap Ritz out of his way. That might not have hit, but it was enough to momentarily free Lucario from Ritz’s tackles. Sparing no time, the now hurt Lucario spun and glared at Ralia, determined to end the greater threat before it became too much. Before she had time to charge a new Confusion, Lucario had taken his stance, and then launched himself forth at her in another Quick Attack.
… The wind of something flying by at a speed unachievable by a Ralts flew straight past Ralia, inches from having impacted her, the air from it breezing over her small body.
Then the whole building shook, an impact like a bomb striking it shooting from behind her, the shock-wave of it sending rocks and pieces of wall flying as cracks formed around the Lucario-shaped hole in the wall. The whole audience stared at the event with alarmed eyes, as the sounds of cracks spreading were alarmingly loud.
Lucario hurt itself in confusion!
Hector carefully approached the still smoking and still crumbling piece of wall and the hole that had shaped from it. Honestly, the cracks from the impact had spread several meters around said shape, almost up to the roof, was it still safe to be in here? The Gym Leader carefully reached into the hole, before pulling the Pokémon out with his strong fist, several rocks falling out the wall as the way for Lucario’s freedom was achieved.
‘… Oy. Don’t power yourself up and THEN shove yourself into the wall. We’re gonna have to pay for that, you know?’ Hector sounded like a coach lecturing his boxer about something he did wrong with that.
‘LuuuuUUUuuuuuh…’ Lucario, meanwhile, was hanging limp from Hector’s grip, eyes spinning, clearly not in any shape to continue fighting. Hector grinned a bit, nodding to him. ‘Well fought, young friend.’ He then returned Lucario to his Pokéball.
…
Ralia grew to level 10!
Ritz grew to level 10! Ritz learned Comet Punch!
… Did he get a hint of how to do a move of his own from Lucario’s punch?
There was numerous claps in the audience, they were somewhat impressed. Still, Lucario had basically done himself in on the end there. The greatest challenge was yet to come.
Now, it wasn’t entirely relevant, and Claire might with likelihood not even have noticed, but someone entered the building.
‘Oh, hey, Anise. There’s a Gym Challenge going on. Is it true this chick wrecked you?’ The Battle Girl by the door asked.
Anise had come in, probably becoming tired from waiting by the shrine or so, and returned home.
‘Huh?’ She’d blink a little in surprise, but then join the audience, looking over Claire. She’d now just be watching. She did not answer the Battle Girl’s question.
More relevant to Claire, Hector now turned to her, grinning widely.
‘Well fought…’ … Of course, now both Ralia and Ritz had taken serious damage from the Pokémon before. But, now it was just the last one to go. ‘Ooooh, I’m getting excited, my blood is pumping…!’ Hector’s eyes looked a little bloodshot. ‘OLIVER!’ He shouted.
‘Wait, you sure?’ Asked a suddenly hesitant Black Belt.
‘GET IT OVER HERE!’ Hector grinned wickedly at him, so ready to fight. Oliver looked startled, but ultimately shrugged.
‘Well, if you’re certain. Poor girl, though.’ Oliver replied, lobbing over a Pokéball that Hector quickly snapped out of the air, grinning at Claire.
‘It’s time for me to get into the ring…’ Hector kept his grin, before slamming the Pokéball into the ground, and a shape emerged. It was humanoid, brown in color, big red nose, purple bands going along its body, and two giant arms lifted… two huge blocks of concrete, that quickly slammed into the floor, shaking the building, as the Pokémon that honestly looked ready to take on the Pokémon League gave his roar, an atmosphere of sheer power emanating from that corner now.
‘COOOONKELDURR!’ He sounded out, before looking forth at his opponents.
Pokédex Entry #534 – Conkeldurr, the Muscular Pokémon. It uses concrete pillars as walking canes, and can swing these pillars freely in battle using the centrifugal force of spinning concrete. It is said that, thousands of years ago, Conkeldurr taught humans how to make concrete.
‘CONKELDURR! GYM BATTLE!’ Hector called out, and unlike how the two earlier seemed to have fire lit in their eyes by hearing this, Conkeldurr merely smirked. He knew what was going on. The muscular Pokémon oozed of confidence and power, to the degree that Claire could feel it looking at him. Hector smirked forward at her.
‘As per the rules… Feel free to add another Pokémon.’ Hector said. Then his eyes drifted to both Ralia and Ritz, both weakened after earlier struggles… he grinned, and so did Conkeldurr.
‘Actually… Feel free to send out your whole team! … And borrow some of Anise’s if you’d like! You might need ‘em!’ Hector didn’t really seem like he was thinking straight at this point, just plain excited to battle, and Conkeldurr didn’t seem to mind. Up to Claire how she reacted.
‘Wait, what?’ Anise, however, looked confused by this statement, needing a moment to process.
@Pyromaniacwolf So, I did want to ask. There's a battle going on in front of the exit, Dawkin and Martin fighting Cathia. Would Lucian potentially have desire to stop for any reason because this is going on or would he walk right past? Because, well, he can if he wishes to. Cathia did wait there to challenge anyone that arrives, but she can only engage in one fight at a time. ... Unless we say that takes place later, so she can be unengaged, but that'd come with a strange amount of assumptions, so not unless you'd really want that for some reason, haha.
Anyways. Yeah. Do you want out?
@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe ... And I'd assume but perhaps I should ask anyways, none of the two of you would stop Lucian if he appeared and decided to just walk past your battle, or so, right? XD
@Eklispe Alright. Nicely posted. Then it's time for me to decide what happens.
@Joshua Tamashii Yupp. Nicely posted. Sweet enough. Now to see where this leads.
@Rune_Alchemist Teh-heh, noted. But, I do like to leave open the possibility of the players coming up with some unexpected strategy for me to be surprised by. Anyways. Nicely posted.
Xaltwind
Lunamaria Hawke
Kon Kon
Floofenstein
RPM
Renose
Rune_Alchemist
Savo
