PlatinumSkink

Pokémon: Start

@Rune_Alchemist

‘Oh, String Shot?’ Archie giggled, then his smile waned a bit when he considered what that meant. ‘Oh, String Shot.’

‘Lilligiant! Leech Seed first, do healing later!’ he commanded, realizing the threat to his speed advantage, and Lilligiant abandoned her effort to shoot a seed at Del, who lay there sleeping on the floor.

Now, something apparently resonated with Del through Claire’s shouting, because he promptly woke up, command already in mind, and he shot out strings at Lilligiant that bound about the monstrous plant’s form. … Then he was put to sleep again by Sleep Powder, Lilligiant moving to stand above him and be ready with the Sleep Powder while Leech Seed was draining him. Second time he fell asleep was worse, he slept for longer, allowing Lilligiant to use Synthesis to heal and then do a couple of (very ineffective) Mega Drains. Del woke up again and was able to String Shot the Lilligiant a second time, the strings tightly binding the giant Pokémon by now, but Archie had managed to predict when Del would wake up and put him to sleep again with another Sleep Powder.

Now, Lilligiant was now bound by two String Shots and wasn’t nearly as fast as she previously was… but Del was running out of health. That was the point where Claire started preparing a Super Potion, and…

‘You don’t want to do that,’ Archie stated with a smile, looking over to Claire. ‘You don’t want an item-war with a Gym Leader~’

… Now, the result of NOT using them would be Del fainting in his sleep next turn, but could Claire risk the consequences?

__________________________

@Dusksong

Oaken gave Eryn a stare at her words, frowning somewhat. Skorupi was struggling in confusion, and got visibly frightened when Dei came running for him. Skorupi took the scratch, taking the damage, but before it could attempt returning the blow Dei spun around and hit it with his tail, sending the scorpion scrambling back in fear.

'Skoooorp…!' it objected.

Oaken was still staring at her, gesturing at his Pokémon with one hand.

'How am I supposed to maintain an attitude when…' he said, then sighed instead of finishing the sentence. Then… his look focused, staring straight at Eryn, and he spoke. 'Skorupi, close your eyes.'

'Skorupi…?' Skorupi sounded confused, but followed its trainers command, sitting still and closing its eyes. Dei went in for the attack, when…

'To your right! Knock-Off!'

'Skorp!' Skorupi followed its trainer’s command and Knock-Offed to its right! … Too much to its right, and Dei could easily dodge aside it, and then go in for a Scratch. Skorupi recoiled at the damage, and then cried out a bit in panic feeling the fire again.

'Run off!' Oaken now commanded, and Skorupi was more than happy to run off from Dei for the moment.

'Turn 180 degrees!'

'Skorupi?'

'… Face behind you!'

The scorpion got it and spun around to face against Dei again, eyes closed.

'Steady…' Oaken said, keeping focused. Appeared that Skorupi had been shaken out of its confusion, though had taken considerable damage now. Oaken was now commanding a Pokémon with closed eyes, following his voice with both claws ready to Knock-Off, which would still do considerable damage if it hit. What would be Eryn’s plan here?

__________________________

@Old Amsterdam@Gardevoiran

Seabreeze dove down towards Scraggy after Skylar’s command, and Vivia was quick to react… though perhaps not with the most descriptive command.

'Scraggy, dodge aside!' Vivia commanded in a hurry.

'Scragg…?' Instead of following the command, the confused Pokémon turned to look around at whatever was going on. It promptly took a Water Gun blast directly into the face and rolled over a couple of times in the damage. However, it wasn’t out, and spun back to its feet. 'Scraaaaaaaagg…!'

'Scraggy, go to #8 and-' Vivia tried, but Scraggy had made up his own mind.

'SCRAGGY!!' Scraggy called and launched itself up into the air after Seabreeze! … But this time it was magnificently off-target with its aim, flying straight past Seabreeze and through the air in a beautiful arc before crashing down into a heap on the asphalt a distance away. Scraggy hurt itself in its confusion! Scraggy fainted!

'Ngh!' Vivia bit her mouth together and waved a fist in front of her slightly out of frustration at how that went.

Meanwhile. Cici dove into the smoke, pursuing her opponent. #8, startled, tried to Mud Slap in turn. Something akin to a brawl took place within the smoke, Cici spouting her bubbles in most directions and the occasional burst of mud coming out from a different direction. However, eventually the smoke settled (fairly literally), and Cici floated. Somewhat blinded from Mud Slaps, but victorious, #8 lying on the ground beside her. Mud Slap was the less versatile move, needing slight wind-up and range before it could be used while Cici could just Bubble like crazy, and because of that Water beats Ground Bubble also beat Mud Slap when the two moves met. Simon #8 fainted!

'#8!' Simon ran forward and scooped up the Barboach from the ground, #8 knocked out from the bubbles. 'Don’t you worry! In time, you’ll be the very best fish, like no fish ever was! Count on it!' he encouraging muttered to the Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Vivia was biting it together and closing her eyes, looking as if she was bracing herself for something.

Skylar and Alice were victorious! They each gained 1000 P for winning!

Seabreeze grew to Level 6!

Cici grew to Level 6!

Kalmia was looking on proudly over there. … Meanwhile, Jacques looked more curious about Eryn and Oaken’s fight right now, but he had surely noticed.

Pokémon: Start

@Gardevoiran@Old Amsterdam Yupp. Nicely posted, the two of you. I will note you don't always need to be very complicated. You can also have give me if-statements for how your tactics might evolve if you predict your opponent's motions, but anyways. This is good. I'll seek to reply when I get home, later today.

@Rune_Alchemist Teh-heh. Overcome sleep by shouting drill-sergeant-like lines. I am amused. Nicely posted. And... yeah, I apologize, but I think I'll forbid items in official Pokémon League battles. That said, nobody has told you that yet, so I'm going to have Archie comment on it in a bit, heh.

@Eklispe Nicely posted. I'll note it's "Cacnea", and not "Cacane". But, um. I included a bit more in the post to you and Joshua in order to get you moving, including a part about a trainer that wanted to challenge you. No reaction to that part? Are you discussing the matter with Joshua or so?

Edit: Nicely posted, Dusksong.

I'll be posting tomorrow, then.

Pokémon: Start

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii There. Now, if Dawkin feels like doing something else than just heading on here, that's fine, too. I just need to adjust that as well. ... And I managed to be influenced by Rune again and wrote _ instead of for between the two names. Hah.

@Rune_Alchemist Here you go. Have fun with this. Hah.

Pokémon: Start

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

‘Cac?’ Cacnea blinked in surprise at Dawkin’s question. Its eyes rolled a bit, considering what exactly to respond, did not expect that. ‘Neaaaaa…’ It started, while making a wave with its cactus limbs in a circle…

‘Cac, cacnea. Cacnea-nea, cac-cacn, nea-cac, Cacnea! Necac, cacnea, nea-nea, Cacnea,’ Cacnea launched into a monologue, and it kept going on for longer than above, except Dawkin doesn’t understand a word, so here’s the translation for Atlas.

‘So, like, I’m just here minding my own business, attracting prey and food, life’s good, I’m fine with this. Then you’re coming along with the possibility of capture with adventure and power galore, amIright? Which, like, I’m totally indifferent to. That’s one major decision, yaknow? I can’t really make that on the fly. Normally a trainer would just go capture a Pokémon on their own, which I’d be fine with, natural law of this world, yaknow? But if you’re asking me what I want for some reason, then things get complicated. I need to actually think for myself. Things was so much easier when I was just living by instinct, which I’m not used to. Yagettinme?

Now, I hesitated ‘cuz, Steel-type, I’m outgunned here, don’t reeeeaaaally wanna fight ya, but, like, that’s how things go, ain’t it? I’d be rather comfortable sitting still for years on end. Maybe find a partner, laze around with smaller cactuses about, be totally chill, yaknow? But, like, I’m not THAT attached to the idea, so I’m fine with whatever a trainer would come along with. And since you’re here, you’re gonna capture me anyway, amIright? … Wait, then it makes sense that I come without a fight, don’t it? I don’t wanna battle, but the conclusion is already determined anyways… Um.’

Cacnea looks like it came to a realization suddenly staring at Dawkin. Then it grinned.

‘Cacnea-nea!’

‘Oh, whatheck, sure! I can come along!’

Cacnea walks over on little stumpy legs and looks happy.

Cacnea convinced itself to join!

Gender: ♀
Type: Grass
Personality: (Up to player.)
Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.)
Level: 11
Moves: Poison Sting, Leer, Absorb, Growth, Leech Seed
Ability: Water Absorb. Contact with water restores health, including water from any Water-type moves.
Held Item: None.

New Pokémon caught! Dawkin earned 1250 P!

Would you like to give a nickname to Cacnea?

With that done, Dawkin and Amelia could continue.

Current Condition; Mostly Clear, slightly windy - There’s a swirl in the winds, throwing the occasional sand into the air. It might grow more intense, it might cool down. Only the future will tell. The usual sandstorm blows over the path to the Mystic Oasis…

Suggestions to actions

1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search.
2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding.
3. Seek trainers. There are miners and the occasional archaeologist around here to potentially seek out.
4. Talk. They can also just be chatted to!
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; Delve into the Sandstorm. If you think you’re prepared!

Connected areas:
Raremine Town. Behind you.
Desert Mines. What Raremine Town stands here for! These mountains are filled with dough!.
Old Tombs. Across the desert, an old and chilling place awaits those who wants to visit…
Mystic Oasis. Somewhere within that sandstorm, that is.

Route 7, known Pokémon

Common:
#331 Cacnea
#551 Sandile
#554 Darumaka

Uncommon:

Rare:

Now, then. The two could head on if they so feel like. Using Amelia’s senses, they were efficiently dodging any Pokémon Trainers with ghosts…

‘Aha! You have fallen for my trap!’ a voice suddenly called out from a rock they passed by. … Not so much for trainers without them.

A rock-coloured poster _{(which as an afterthought is unbelievable they didn’t see, but at the time it was completely invisible)} fell and a young strangely dressed little individual jumped up onto the rock and looked down at them, arms crossed, confident smile and a Koffing floating up to his right from behind the rock. ‘I am a master of staying hidden, of course you didn’t see me! _{I also seem to feel like I was snubbed at a metaphysical level, for some reason.} You won’t get rid of me that easily! It’s time for a battle!’ ‘Koffing!’

Ninja Boy Alec would like to fight!

Alec’s Pokémon

Pokédex Entry #109 – Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon. It fills itself with lighter-than-air gases to float, and concocts them into poisonous gases within. When agitated, it expels the gases within into a poisonous smoke-screen. However, it can fail the process and randomly blow up. At higher temperatures, it is especially prone to blowing up at little to no provocation.

Koffing is going to create a Smokescreen to hide itself, then attempt to hunt its enemy down with Smog to damage and hopefully poison his opponent.

Pokédex Entry #290 – Nincada, the Trainee Pokémon. It is usually found underground, using its antennae to sense its surroundings. It gains nourishment my tapping into the roots of trees with its claws as it await evolution. Nincadas are nearly blind, and avoid sunlight due to inability to withstand it.

Likewise, Nincada’s going to start with Sand Attack (lots of sand to attack with here). then Leech Life or Scratch for all he can. Possibly Harden if the battle promises to be long.

Now, one of them could decide to take care of the boy, or they could do it together against both his Pokémon, or simply take one of them on each. … Or they could just tell that they have no desire to battle, in which case Alec’s going to look extremely confused, what kind of Pokémon Trainers does not want to battle?

In any case. What would they do?

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

‘… Overgrown weed?’ Archie asked over there when Claire made that announcement. He then laughed, leaning forward and smirking. ‘Hahahaha! You going to take that, Lilligiant?’

‘LILLIGANT!’

So the huge plant announced, preparing for combat.

‘Beedrill, eh?,’ the young Gym Leader smiled widely and continued. ‘Poison and bug, and fast too. Hoping to outspeed me? That’s fun. Let me introduce you to Chlorophyll. Lilligiant, Sleep Powder.’

Lilligiant soaked in the sun for a bit… then blasted forwards on those tiny feet-like things under it at a blazing speed, leaf-limbs fluttering in the wind behind it as the massive plant ran straight into Del’s stinger, all while a green powder scattered from the crown of the massive Pokémon into the air over a wide space, likely wider because of the Pokémon’s size. Del would be unable to fly away fast enough because of Lilligiant’s massive speed, and after stinging the enemy he fell asleep, falling down onto the platform. Now, Lilligiant took a brunt of super-effective damage and staggered back a little, but she did not seem poisoned.

‘Chlorophyll boosts a Grass-Pokémon’s speed in the sun, and Lilligiant is already pretty fast. Oh, are you damaged, Lilligiant? Go ahead and use Synthesis, then. Then we’ll Leech Seed the bee and keep it asleep until we’ve won, and do it all over again if she switches Pokémon.’ So said Archie, looking away from the battle over the expanse of trees, while Lilligiant turned her flower towards the sun and relaxed intending on recharging health…

Now, Claire could hope for Del to wake up, or switch strategy entirely. What would she do here?

‘This is usually where first-time challengers go pale as they have no good ways of handling my giant, who’ll put all their Pokémon to sleep and just heal any damage they cause. Then they head off to Mountain Valley to catch a Flying-type to Whirlwind my Sleep Powder away. How about it? Wanna stop the battle here, so you can go prepare?’ Archie smiled so widely, looking over at Claire.

‘Young master, you are not supposed to suggest strategies to overcome your team. They’re supposed to come up with that themselves. Suggesting they stop is also disrespectful,’ Ramsey told his Gym Leader.

‘Oh,’ Archie lost his smile for a moment, then bowed briefly but meaningfully towards Claire. ‘I’m sorry.’

So, yes. What would Claire do in this situation?

Pokémon: Start

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii There we go. Nicely posted, both of you. I did originally intend to post a bit quicker, but heh.

@Rune_Alchemist Yupp. Nicely posted. Now, then. Here you can tell me to simply post the rest of the introduction, or do something spontaneous if you so feel like. Heh.

@Dusksong Yupp. Nicely posted. I like it. Now, here's... this, heh. I don't think I got to properly show what reasons Kalmia had to not give Oaken a Pokédex last time, hah.

Pokémon: Start

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

Cacnea stared as Atlas came out, stared at the steel-type…

Then like lifted its arms up and smiled a creepy little smile up at Dawkin.

‘Cacnea?’ “Parley?” … It had realized it basically stood no chance of winning. However, as the cactus still wouldn’t be letting itself be captured by talking a battle still would take place if Dawkin wanted the cactus.

Two headbutts would do nicely, as Cacnea was trying to Leech Seed Atlas back but it wasn’t going very well. It tried to Absorb, which would have done more damage but Atlas’ Steel-type prevented it from doing so. Atlas took a bit of damage, but ultimately could decrease the opponent’s health enough for Dawkin to throw a Pokéball. The ball impacted the cactus, and the Pokémon was taken inside the ball which then fell down on the ground.

It shook once. It shook twice…!

result

… It shook thrice.

click

Dawkin caught Cacnea!

Gender: ♀
Type: Grass
Personality: (Up to player.)
Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.)
Level: 11
Moves: Poison Sting, Leer, Absorb, Growth, Leech Seed
Ability: Water Absorb. Contact with water restores health, including water from any Water-type moves.
Held Item: None.

Currently at about 14% health.

New Pokémon caught! Dawkin earned 1250 P!

Would you like to give a nickname to Cacnea?

With that done, Dawkin and Amelia could continue.

Current Condition; Mostly Clear, slightly windy - There’s a swirl in the winds, throwing the occasional sand into the air. It might grow more intense, it might cool down. Only the future will tell. The usual sandstorm blows over the path to the Mystic Oasis…

Suggestions to actions

1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search.
2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding.
3. Seek trainers. There are miners and the occasional archaeologist around here to potentially seek out.
4. Talk. They can also just be chatted to!
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; Delve into the Sandstorm. If you think you’re prepared!

Connected areas:
Raremine Town. Behind you.
Desert Mines. What Raremine Town stands here for! These mountains are filled with dough!.
Old Tombs. Across the desert, an old and chilling place awaits those who wants to visit…
Mystic Oasis. Somewhere within that sandstorm, that is.

Route 7, known Pokémon

Common:
#331 Cacnea
#551 Sandile
#554 Darumaka

Uncommon:

Rare:

Amelia wouldn't be getting any more information than was described from the previous post from here. Though, she could very clearly tell where the tombs they were seeking were located.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Zeal was evolved, and ready to show off his new moves…!

Unfortunately, Whimsicott is a frickin’ speed demon, flying forth at a magnificent pace and got off Stun Spore before Zeal had gotten off his taunt, paralyzing him. Then, it became a Gust VS Ember battle between two basically equal Pokémon, both recently evolved, Zeal’s lower Special Defense countered by that Whimsicott lacked a Flying-type. However, paralyzation kept Zeal from acting out first and halted his movement at one point, resulting in that Whimsicott won the overall battle. Zeal fainted.

Ralia came out. Whimsicott was still taunted, so it went for Mega Drain. First it hit, healing itself somewhat before Ralia could get her Double Team up. Next move, Whimsicott targeted the wrong clone, so Ralia got off a Confusion. Whimsicott located the correct Ralia, and hit with a Mega Drain, but then Ralia teleported and Whimsicott had no idea where she went. It made a futile attempt to keep Mega Draining but couldn’t find the real one before being Confusioned to defeat.

Ralia grew to level 15!

Against Lombre, Ritz came out. On average, Lombre’s Bubble is its most powerful move, so Daisy set to spamming that. However, that unwittingly played against Ritz excellent Special Defense, meaning he was free to set up his barriers with ease. After that, Lombre did frustratingly little damage, and Ritz Comet Punched Lombre on and on, and Ritz got lucky in the number of punches he delivered. Ultimately, while it damaged Ritz heavily, he took down Lombre on his own.

Claire is victorious! Claire gained 356P!

‘Oh, wow. I lost, but I got to see a young trainer grow stronger right before my eyes. That’s the idea of gyms, is it not? I’m strangely happy. Maybe this is my calling? … Tihi. Okay, that aside. You’re free to go on!’ Daisy said, a smile on her lips.

Then, after she went to heal, Butler Ramsey stood ready for her.

Ritz VS Skiddo. Ritz got himself Leech Seeded and Tail Whipped, but the barriers were up. Since Razor Leaf would be laughable against a Ledyba, Skiddo went Tackling. This time Ritz didn’t quite get in as many punches using Comet Punch, most of it got healed by Leech Seed, and Ritz found himself too hurt to continue on. Claire switched to Del. Del Hardened twice as Skiddo seeded him too with Leech Seed, but then Poison Sting was far more effective than what Ritz’s Comet Punches had been, poisoning the target on the second try. While Tackle + Leech Seed took a decent chunk out of Del’s health, he still stood victorious over Skiddo.

Del grew to level 13! Del learned Focus Energy!

Del VS Leafeon. Del was still Leech Seeded, but managed to counter that by immediately stinging and poisoning Leafeon through the Sand Attack. Leech Seed plus Leafeon’s Quick Attacks meant Del would have his health depleted first, and as such Claire switched to Lure. Lure may have found her opponent frustratingly powerful, as Quick Attack was really strong, but through biting and gusting and poison Lure still managed to finish the job.

Finally, Ralia VS Nuzleaf. Ramsey _{who knows his types better than the GM} has Nuzleaf Fake Out shoot itself up in Ralia’s face before she can Double Team, causing her to flinch and getting Nuzleaf into close combat. She still managed to Double Team after, but Nuzleaf was good at following her movements. She still got off two Disarming Voices, damaging Nuzleaf considerably, but Nuzleaf was overall the more powerful Pokémon and Ralia had to switch out. Then came Lure. Nuzleaf tried to Pound. Lure was probably immensely unimpressed and Bug Bit the heavily damaged Grass/Dark Pokémon to oblivion.

Lure grew to level 14!

Claire is victorious! Claire gained 510P!

‘Well done, young trainer. Come, Master Archie’s this way,’ Ramsey said, bowing briefly before (after Claire got to heal) guiding Claire up the stairs…

She arrived at a great platform, gazing out over a sea of trees.

Here we are

The sun glares down viciously over the woodland region that is the Stillwood Forest. The trees stretch high, crowding to pick up every bit of sunlight there was. Under the treeline it was as if the sun didn’t even exist, but up here, above the trees that served as the roof of Stillwood Village, the powerful rays stung against the skin…

The landscape is under the effect of Harsh Sunlight!

Claire stood on top of another platform, larger than the one she had previously been fighting on, entirely created out of wood. Ramsey dutifully closed a hatch they had come out from, rendering the path down invisible and rendering the sunlit platform surveying the sea of trees stretching in all directions one from which there was no visible escape. Ramsey wandered to the edge of the platform…

There. Movement. A young boy was playing with a number of stray Hoppips and Skiplooms. He was laughing, running… he was running on top of the trees as if it was a floor, absolute confidence he would not be falling through down towards a long drop down to Stillwood Village. As if the crowns of the trees were as reliable as the earth itself, he ran without a worry, laughing so happily, a green cape with green flowers on it blowing after the teal-haired young child…

‘Master Archie,’ the butler called from a distance. The boy didn’t seem to hear him. ‘Master Archie!’ the butler tried again, raising his voice as gently as he could.

Here’s a room for Claire to do something spontaneous if she feels like. Or just tell the GM to move on. That works too.

The boy eventually heard the butler’s calls. Waving a bit to his Pokémon friends, he dashed over, running effortlessly on top of the trees below. Finally he arrived at the platform, leaping high into the air above the edge and landing before Claire and Ramsey. He looked over her with a wide, innocent smile and eyes which felt slightly unfocused

‘Hiii…! Oooh, you look like fire. Red and fierce like fire. I bet I’m facing a fire-type. Hahahahaha…!’ So the young boy said with a tone that was a cross between excitement and a daze, starting to half-prance around Claire to get a look at her.

‘Young master, I will remind you of what your mother have told you about manners,’ Ramsey said in a tone that one would use to a young boy that has forgotten something, walking to stand on Archie’s side of the arena.

‘Oh, yeah.’ The boy came to a stop before Claire. He did a small dramatic bow, before smiling to Claire once again, eyes still unfocused as he looked at her. ‘I am Archie, Gym Leader of Stillwood Village! I run around in woods and stuff, places where no human other than I wanders, and there I meet some really cool Pokémon! The adults are all super-impressed, but it just comes naturally to me! Hahahahahaha…!’ The young boy laughed slightly creepily as he took out a Pokéball and stumbled back from Claire.

‘Soooo…’ He smiled, a slightly disturbing smile on a far too innocent yet dazed-seeming child. ‘Under this sun… a lot of Grass-Pokémon grow strong. My flowers bloom the mightiest under the blazing sunlight. But you look like fire, fire grows really strong too, fanned fiercely by the intense heat. Your fire, my flowers. Under this sun, which will grow the strongest? Will your fire be fumed into an intense inferno and overwhelm me? Will the sunlight be absorbed into my flowers and your fire extinguished under their weight?’ Archie smiled so widely. Ramsey now stood to Archie’s immediate right.

‘You use six Pokémon. I use three. Don’t worry about any tricky secondary types, all my Pokémon are pure Grass-types. Despite that, most newcomers never get by my first Pokémon. You’re not supposed to beat me on the first go. Learn from this battle, make up a plan, then come back and beat me, if you can. Hahahaha. Good luck~’

Gym Leader Archie would like to battle!

‘GO,’ Archie began, but in the middle of his exaggerated throwing motion Ramsey suddenly extremely deftly snapped the Pokéball from Archie’s hand, depositing in his pocket, and then put a new Pokéball back into Archie’s hand before Archie threw it, Ramsey now standing like nothing had happened at Archie’s side as the young Gym Leader went through with throwing the Pokéball without even a pause or seemingly noticing. ‘LILLIGIANT!’

The ball opened with a blast of light, and a form… a form took shape. Humanoid shape with a green flower dress and a beautiful flower on its head, limbs and clothes of leafs and a crown adorned in the midst of the flower, stood before Claire… except it towered above her. It was easily five meters high, more than twice the height of any normal human, probably more than thrice as high as Claire. This was not the natural size of this Pokémon. It was positively massive, beaming out and looking so happy in the blazing sun…

‘LILLIGANT~!’

Though the Pokédex showed…

Pokédex Entry #549 – Lilligant, the Flowering Pokémon. Famed for its most beautiful flower that will wither and rot if not given constant care. It is a symbol of status to have a thriving Lilligant with a blooming flower. Despite this, it is famously the most beautiful when it blooms in the wild. The fragrance of the garland on its head has a relaxing effect.

The flower most assuredly bloomed…

‘Hahahahaha… The Gym Challenge… has started~!’ Archie smiled knowingly on the other side of the giant Lilligant, the “Lilligiant” as Archie had called her. The next move was Claire’s.

__________________________

@Dusksong

Oaken looked to Eryn as she spoke about lecturing her instead of her Pokémon. He didn’t reply, instead refocusing on what was happening in the battle.

Skorupi missed a Knock-Off because of fear of Dei’s tail, when then the flaming tail hit Skorupi in the face.

'SKROOOOP!' Skorupi yelled out and reversed direction, running away and back behind Oaken before tripping and rolling a few times. It did, however, get back on its feet and scramble a bit in panic. Oaken wasn’t even watching, but he crossed his arms.

'Hmpf, very well. I commend your intuitive battle tactics when all odds were against you. However, as swinging the tail onto your opponent is not an actual Pokémon move, it will merely do superficial damage at best. You cannot win with that move alone. Eventually, Skorpi will get over his fears, and then the battle will be over…'

So he said, but at that time the scorpion came tumbling at his side, looking rather wingly.

'Skor… rup…'

Skorupi has confused itself!

It walked a couple of steps towards Dei, but then tried to Knock-Off way too early, swinging about and falling harshly onto its back over its tail, smacking its face into the asphalt.

Skorpi hurt itself in its confusion!

'… Ugh,' Oaken made a noise, and managed to make a neutral expression look like all of existence had collaborated to make his life nothing but pain. Skorupi scrambled to try to get back on its feet.

'Knock-Off… whenever you can…' Oaken lazily waved his hand, trying to convey the rough idea of the plan. Skorupi was not entirely in a state to respond.

'Skorup…'

So, um. Eryn’s plan from here?

RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Discussion

@BrokenPromise Not so much that I'm confused and more that I have made the active decision to call everyone with an obviously female avatar for "she", heh.

RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Discussion

Alright. That could have been done with a little bit more fanfare,

like

CONGRATULATIONS TO @SILVER, WINNER OF RPGC #19 WITH HIS ENTRY, BATTEN VALLEY

Your achievement will now be recorded into the Grimoires of Legend, where it shall be eternally remembered.

Runner-Up, Sunday by @Exit. Well done!

or something, but anyways. Nicely done, Silver.

I’ll go ahead and reply to those that reviewed my entry.

Calle

what he said

Fairies against machines. Great idea. I loved reading their struggle with the strange technology and how they did their best to make sure they couldn’t conquer other worlds as well.
Overall the story is well paced and I’m glad they had a happy ending (for now). I’m sure nature will recover so they’ll have new forests to play in <3

Teh-heh. I’m happy you enjoyed it. And yes, with time, nature will recover. The rather long winter needs to end first, but yes.

Silver

what he said

Okay, I absolutely loved this one. I will be immensely surprised, reading on, if this isn’t the most original entry in the contest. The prompt called for a tale about vicious machines, and with the futuristic direction you took it in, I was happily surprised to find that the protagonists came from the absolute opposite end of the genre spectrum.

I’ve never seen fairies and omnipotent robot overlords clash on paper, outside of particularly ambitious and eccentric D&D campaigns. What’s more, you took the time to flesh the concept out to its full potential by adding other mythical populations, delineating the fairies’ powers and weaknesses, and exploring the interactions between the supernatural world and the digital. You did so with charismatic characters, an optimistic tone, and fairly consistent plot movement from beginning to end. Well done!

There were a few typos here and there and at some times the level of intelligence in dialogue seemed to oscillate, but those are forgivable sins in the context of your creativity. I’m truly impressed.

I dunno about originality, two other entries also went the fantasy route, heh. Anyways. I’m really happy you think so. That middle paragraph there is a wonder for me to read. Thank you!

*googles what “oscillate” means*

Exit

what he said

I will start this by saying, you got a close second from me.

Fairies pitted against Machine is a wonderful take on an age old theme that's been taken to it's extreme: Nature vs Man. Man in this instance is already gone but what they left behind is still plaguing the earth, thankfully we've got an army of fairies to clean up our mess.

The story manages to be fun and somehow carefree despite what's going on in their world. I'd lend that to the personalities you've successfully given to your main characters. It's a tricky thing at times to work with multiple characters and preserve their individuality but you've done a wonderful job here and it's this individuality that becomes the hero in this story. There's a bright contrast between the machines who follow the same mundane patterns and those playful machinations of Rochus, Inga, Signy and Bui (I like the names by the way). They each have their own voice. Each want to tackle a problem in their own way. Each shine independently.

I also like the way you've maintained and even had them acknowledge the childlike nature they have. It's clear when they become frustrated or when they're trying to explain something they don't really understand.

Nice blend of fantasy and fairy lore. Human's can't see magic so neither should their creations. Iron is harmful. Dogs are a threat and once upon a time, children were kidnapped.

The only negative here being Bui's ability to create a soul... which seems like a Deus Ex Machina. Although I have to credit you with the way they delivered that specific payload. I like consistency and an ending that makes sense. Despite Bui's sudden ability to create an entire soul, you maintained the machine's ability to 'backup' or learn and defend themselves against a new threat, cementing the fact that they had one use... until they discovered the ships. What followed was perfectly believable and left me with a satisfactory ending.

Teh-heh. An army of fairies cleaning up mankind’s mess is an amusing way to put it. I’m happy the characters came across as I wanted them to, that’s like, wonderful. I did some research into ancient germanic names for their names, that’s the origin of fairies, right? … Then I just took some liberties to make the names shorter and fairy-like, because those ancient germanic names are usually long and unpronounceable. XD … And yupp. Fairy-lore is nice. I regret I didn’t have much time to do further research into the subject, I had to go from the things I already knew from other medias.

And… yeah, that was a Deus Ex Machina. I had the problem that I had no idea how to make my fairies actually win against the machines. I really wanted to come up with a sensible way for them to win, but the problem was that any method they’d use the machines would be able to counter with intelligence and redundancy, not to mention the established cold iron shrapnel bombs made a direct attack at the machines suicidal. I had written myself into a bit of a corner there. Had to turn to some good old game-winning magic there. That said, as you noted, I ensured that despite receiving the Deus Ex Machina, they still had to work to employ it. I’m happy I wrote that well enough to give a satisfactory ending.

Thank you so very much!

BrokenPromise

what she said

I can appreciate an attempt to throw the reader into the thick of the story, but the opening felt rushed. A better start probably would have been jumping to the faeries flying inside the robot and then remarking on that information through dialog or narration.

There were also an excessive amount of commas during certain passages. Take this one for example.

‘C’mon!’ Inga shouted as she drifted in front of him, drifting through this tiny tube of cooling fluid intake with her pink wings fluttering. Rochus frowned a little, annoyed that she had called him as if he wasn’t already intending on following, but nonetheless followed after. Behind them, Signy followed with doubt in her eyes, but still intending to help them out.

Second paragraph

Most of the sentences in here could benefit from replacing a comma with a period and rephrasing the newly created sentence. It's not wholly incorrect, it's just the information could be made more clear if it came across like so.

‘C’mon!’ Inga shouted as she drifted in front of Rochus. Her pink wings fluttered as she drifted through a cooling fluid intake tube. Rochus frowned in response. He was annoyed that she had called him as if he wasn’t already following her. He followed after her regardless. Behind him, Signy followed with doubt in her eyes. Despite the look on her face, she intended to help them regardless of what hardship they faced.

This is not the only way to do it, and I don't even think it's the best way. But you can see how ajusting the order of the information makes the scene easier to follow. That was really my most pressing concerns grammatically speaking.

The faeries were interesting characters to contend with the menacing, non-magical machines. I did enjoy reading about their childish antics and you did give them each different personalities. The arms race between the mythical creatures and the robots that were trying to fairy proof themselves was also an interesting plot point. I was a bit thrown off by the inclusion of other mythical races and why they hadn't been wiped out by such severe radiation poisoning. I also thought it was a bit weird that the robots had these central servers that nobody thought about attacking until they discovered how to do soul magic. Not your best work, but an entertaining read. Great name for the story, by the way.

I’m having trouble seeing the difference between flying into a great machine and working on destroying it and flying into a robot. Anyway, I wanted to showcase the three of them talking somehow, so discussing how to sabotage a factory felt reasonable, heh. But, noted.

I am aware I occasionally use too many commas. I’m working on it. I just need to format the sentences in such a way that fewer commas are needed. That said, I do like my paragraph more than I like the example one you gave, too many dots like that for sentences that are interconnected feels like it interrupts the flow. I do know it’s a problem, but I’ll see how I handle it.

I kind of imagined that mythical races were kept alive by unnatural stuff and didn’t need to worry about radiation. As long as it wasn’t their explicit weakness, they’d be fine, hah. I do admit there might have been a better way to write in other races, but oh, well. And… they had thought of attacking the central servers, but they could never attack enough of them at the same time to do lasting damage. Constant back-ups. The fairies also don’t actually know how a server looks, they couldn’t identify the controller when they found it until Bui got his upgrade. They just mainly tried to break everything.

Anyways. I’m happy you found it entertaining. Heh, how many other works of mine have you read, I wonder? How long have you been here that I don’t currently remember? Oh, well, anyways. Thank you for the review~

Fire Emblem: A Blinding Light

Right, uh. Nicely posted, those who posted. I apologize for any delay. I'm a tad exhausted right now.

Since Hevel's smarter than I am, I'll assume he said that which I couldn't think of because I couldn't think of something to say, so we'll say he said that which he needed to say, heh.

Fire Emblem: A Blinding Light

@Lmpkio@Crimson Raven

Hevel blinked in surprise when he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and shook, a couple butterflies lifting from him before resettling. Then, okay, he was told to go do that. He looked somewhat towards Kara as if for confirmation, and he got said confirmation. He nodded, and said his piece.

‘Okay. Here goes nothing, then,’ Hevel said, taking a deep breath and bouncing up and down a bit as he was focusing… and then his eyes opened wide in the most terrified expression one could possibly imagine on his face before he ran out to the guards, like in a panic. They noticed, and gathered to block the thief from entering… when he said something to them with panic in his voice. The guards threw momentary distressed glances at one another, before Hevel dashed off. They looked hesitant for a moment, then ran to catch up to him, right by the bushes which the other two were hiding in without noticing anything.

Kara could eventually feel the Fire Emblem moving again… and it was moving up to the surface.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist@Eklispe@Apollosarcher

Isolde was first through the tunnels, however she was not fast enough to catch up to the Rogue. By the time she finally came to the end of the tunnel… there was an incline, the path upwards. Then, there was an open hatch, the Rogue had left it open behind him. She’d be first to emerge through the hatch into the humble home of a couple civilians who had long since evacuated. Much of their belongings still remained, flowers, tables and tableware, shelves and whatever else, it was a pleasant home. The door stood open, the Rogue had escaped.

Come outside, and she’d be greeted by the sight of being outside in the castle town of Grado, outside the palace. It was possible that when the passage was built the town wasn’t here, but now it was like this. The Tactician’s Stone gave her an overview of the area. There was no sign of the Rogue… but there was other things of note. Jehannan troops, if nothing else.

[Assumed Marwood action: Give chase]

Marwood came second, mounted on Fiona. He was greeted by much the same as Isolde. Later, having taken the time to pick up the Fire Emblem, Titania arrived alongside Aldo. The four of them were now inside a house in the Grado castle town…

In the below map, note that they are inside the building.

Changed map details

Notable Individuals;

Blue, Allied Units

Blue Wyvern Rider

Isolde - Clumsy, but reliable Wyvern knight.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: D
Level: 5
Equipment and Items: Halberd, Tactician’s Stone

Blue Cavalier

Marwood - The prince of Renais with a good heart and a rebellious streak, cares deeply for others.
Weapon Mastery: Sword: C, Lance: D
Level: 4
Equipment and Items: Reginleif, Steel Sword, Tactician’s Stone, 5,000G

Blue Cleric

Titania - A tough healer from Rausten, she forges her own path to help as many people as she can.
Weapon Mastery: Staff: D
Level: 5
Equipment and Items: Heal, Mend, Tactician’s Stone, Fire Emblem

Blue Shaman

Aldo - A shaman researcher and advisor on things magic in service of Grado. Magically gifted and incurably serious.
Weapon Mastery: Dark: E
Level: 2
Equipment and Items: Flux, Vulnerary, Guiding Ring, Tactician’s Stone x4.

Blue Wyvern Rider

Servus - Abandoned his home as a rogue mercenary. Adores his rare wyvern, Amboli.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: D
Level: 6
Equipment and Items: Halberd, Vulnerary, Pure Water

Blue Thief

Hevel - A young man on an aimless journey. A timid but humane thief that often monologues with himself.
Weapon Mastery: Sword: D
Level: 2
Equipment and Items: Iron Sword, Lockpick

Blue Manakete

Kara - Mature and worldly Manakete with a strong wanderlust and an even stronger appetite.
Weapon Mastery: Stone: D
Level: 6
Equipment and Items: Dragonstone, Vulnerary (2 uses)

Green, Grado Forces

Green Soldier in down-right corner.

Viridia - Daughter of a Jehannan hero. Serious, righteous and dependable.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: D
Level: 3
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance

Green Knight in down-right corner.

Osmund – A Grado Knight from the countryside. Inexperienced warrior with intimidating visage.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: E
Level: 2
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance, Vulnerary, Antitoxin

Red, Invaders

Red Knight Boss

Zane - Former knight of Grado, now a commander of Jehanna. Craves battle and greater challenges.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: C
Level: 12
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance

Red Warrior on throne

Nurit - Second-in-Command of Rhodri’s Wheel Guild. A hearty girl with a vicious battle-lust who feels at home at sea.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: ???, Bow: ???
Level: ???
Equipment and Items: Killer Axe, Steel Bow, Hero Crest

Red Wyvern Knight next to throne

Nadir - Second-in-Command of Eira’s Storm Guild. A charming man who dutifully takes care of all Eira can’t handle.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: ???, Lance: ???
Level: ???
Equipment and Items: Spear, Elysian Whip

… A couple visions could potentially be viewed by the holders of the Tactician’s Stones…

__________________________

In the lower right of the map, a pretty big Grado Knight had been attempting to guide a pair of siblings home, when a couple Soldiers came across them. However, while most of the Soldiers intended to attack the Knight, one of the Jehannan Soldiers turned to face back at her countrymen. The argument quickly became heated.

‘These are children, are we really going to stoop to the level of killing children!?’ Viridia asked, glaring back at her fellow guild-members.


‘Sir Zane has commanded us to kill anyone found outside their homes or with weapons,’ the soldier simply replied, lance ready to battle.

‘I know that, but I also can’t accept that!’ Viridia announced, her lance lowered to indicate she did not want to battle. ‘We’re here for the Fire Emblem, not the people of Grado! Can’t we simply let them take cover in a building, and-’

‘So you’re betraying us?’ the soldier asked.

‘I have betrayed nobody! Don’t jump to conclusions!’ Viridia called, anger in her tone. ‘I’m simply saying that our mission here does not call for unnecessary bloodshed-’

‘Then you stand against us. Too bad, your father is such a hero to us all. You’d surely have grown into a fine warrior. … Still, no matter. You’re just one of the rabble, surely you won’t be missed.’ So the soldier said, before the troops prepared their weapons, obviously intent on killing her for this transgression.

‘… My father,’ Viridia spoke in a tone of regret, ‘told me that my assignment to this guild would teach me a lot. He was right, I have. I have learned that not all of Jehanna upholds the ideals that he taught me! When I get back to him, I will tell him what I’ve learned, because he too would denounce the actions we’ve committed to in this war!’ So she said. The reply of the Soldiers was simply to approach to attack with their lances.

‘Tsk,’ Viridia made a noise with her tongue and jumped back to stand alongside the huge Grado Knight, who also stood ready to fight, trusting this former enemy Soldier without hesitation.

‘Thank you, young miss,’ Osmund said to her, holding his lance ready as they made ready to protect the two shivering kids behind them.

‘Sorry. I hope you don’t mind fighting alongside a Jehannan like me…’ Viridia said, sounding defeated.

‘Nonsense!’ Osmund told proudly. ‘As far as I am concerned, you’re an honorary knight of Grado!’

The two exchanged small smiles, Osmund growling towards the Jehannan soldiers who were looking like they were considering just exactly how to attack this giant Knight who was standing before them, looking exceptionally strong and capable. There was a flash of hope in Viridia’s expression.

‘So, uh, you wouldn’t happen to be some legendary warrior of Grado, or something?’ Viridia asked, hopefully.

‘I AM…!’ Osmund announced loudly and intimidatingly, before continuing in whispers only Viridia _{(and eavesdroppers)} could hear. ‘… merely a regular countryside Knight, conscripted out of necessecity, called to arms by the call of war. I’m normally a cook. I’m pretty proud of my stew.’

‘Oh,’ Viridia replied in realization. ‘Oh, we’re going to die.’

__________________________

‘WHY ISN’T THE COLOSSEUM OPEN!?’ Zane demanded, glaring at the “we’re closed” sign hanging in front of the large building.

‘S-sir, might I suggest it is because Grado is currently being invaded and they don’t have time for activities of entertainment at this moment…?’ a hesitant Mercenary proposed next to him.

‘BAH! WEAK GRADOS!’ Zane grunted angrily as he spun around, glaring angrily around him. ‘I left the Grado knighthood behind to join Jehanna, simply and only because I wanted to fight more and become stronger, fight against monsters… and I was THRILLED to know we were going to war! Yet we come here, and Grado has nothing to match us with!? Disappointment! Pain and disappointment!’ So he shouted, the Mercenaries powerless to do anything but listen.

‘No matter! Point me in the direction of SOMEONE I can fight! Anyone from Grado!’ Zane announced, looking around with bloodthirsty eyes.

‘But sir, we’re just about routing the last of them. All the most capable warriors are in the castle fighting off Sion’s main force, we’re just dealing with the town militia here! There’s just civilians and children left…’

‘FINE!’ Zane roared. ‘Put some armour and weapons on a civilian, tell him we’ll kill him if he surrenders, then make him fight me!’

‘But sir, that’s insane!’ the Mercenary started looking desperate…

‘INZANE!?’ Zane expressed, and suddenly started spinning around looking for something. ‘WHERE IS HE!? I’VE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR HIM MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT! I’M ZANE, NOT “IN”-ZANE! WHERE’S INZANE!? I’LL HAVE HIS HEAD!’ so screamed Zane before the two suddenly very perplexed Mercenaries who were just now starting to grasp what kind of commander they currently had…

__________________________

In the bottom left of the map, a Fighter walked inside a house…


‘Oh, what have we here? So many weapons, and Sir Zane told us to kill people with weapons…’ the crook said as he came into the house, seeing all the weapons hanging around.

‘Oh, darn it, I’m a shopkeep! I can have weapons! I sell weapons! I’m not gonna fight you with them!’ the man inside complained in a mildly angered tone.

‘Oh, right, yeah. I’ll just settle for taking all the weapons, then!’ the Fighter told, looking proud.

‘Nah-nah-nah. I made a special deal with Jehanna, I’ll be selling these to the guilds now, you’d be stealing from your superiors,’ the shopkeep said, smirking.

‘Uuuh. I’m not sure that’s, uh…’ the Fighter frowned, thinking too hard.

‘You can check with your leaders, if you like. No? Then let me sweeten the deal for you,’ With that, the shopkeep suddenly reached and picked down a great axe. The Fighter’s eyes went wide, seeing it. It was as if the axe glowed with power, the sides looking so very sharp, the shine of the axe unparallelled. What was this axe…?

‘This… is Stormbellows!’ the shopkeep announced, holding the epic axe high. ‘This mighty axe, crafted between the work of a master smith while a Sage was imbuing intense Lightning magic into it, this weapon was wielded by the great hero Grado himself before he obtained Garm from the gods. It holds such strength, it will blast right through virtually anything we have today! Do you feel its power? C’mon, hold it! Hold it!’ the shopkeep said as he handed over the axe. The amazed Fighter took the axe, feeling the weight, a smile spreading on his lips.

‘Yeah, I most certainly feel it…’ he said, admiring the axe.

‘Right!? And if you let this slip, I’ll let you have this for the low-low price of 1,900 gold! It’s a bargain, is it not? Usually, this artifact is priceless…! I can see it now, you, holding this axe, conquering all your enemies and being hailed as a hero across the lands…!’

The Fighter swallowed, but his eyes had drowned into the axe…

‘Yeah… yeah, I can see it!’ the Fighter grinned, picking up his money-pouch and handing it over.

‘It’s the last of my savings, but with this axe, I can easily earn it back ten times over…!’ the Fighter boosted.

‘Great! Here you go, then! May your glory days be long and many!’ the shopkeep called, smiling so happily to the Fighter.

‘Yeah! I’ll find you and pay you back when I’m a general, I promise! For now, to battle! For Stormbellows! Yaaaaah…!’ the fighter spun around and dashed out of the house, Stormbellows in hand, while the shopkeep stood there smiling. A woman, the shopkeep’s wife, approached on the side…

‘Silvio, honey, what was that?’

‘That was an ordinary Iron Axe given a paint-job and dipped in some of that glowing powder we bought in Jehanna, Drina dear. Now grab your things, we’re leaving on the double.’

And with that, the two quickly started to prepare to leave, post-haste.

__________________________

‘-and that about covers it.’ A woman of dark skin-colour sat with an axe on a seat by the entrance to Grado Keep, just finishing telling what was going on to the man standing beside her by his wyvern.


‘Alright. Thank you for telling me, miss Nurit,’ the man by the wyvern told her, bowing gently, ponytail swinging just a little.

‘What’ya being so formal for, Nadir? Kahaha! Ah, oooouuugh…’ Nurit started laughing at the comrade, but then ended with a sound of not being pleased with something.

‘Does the scenery not agree to you?’ Nadir asked, looking curiously at the woman.

‘Land doesn’t agree with me. I wanna be out at sea. And I wanna fight, not just watch some opening…’ Nurit complained, looking about for something interesting to do.

‘I’m sorry that’s the case, but we are in a state of war. Now, excuse me, I need to ferry this message back to miss Eira. I suppose I’ll fly over town and make sure everything is as it should before I go…’ Nadir said, intending to get up on his wyvern and flying off.

‘Waaaaaaaaaaaaait. Don’t goooooooooooo…’ Nurit called for him silently, sitting lazily in the seat, waving a hand in his direction. Nadir smirked back at her, amused.

‘Oh? I’m happy you find my presence desirable, miss Nurit.’

‘That’s not it, I just don’t wanna be alone…’ Nurit replied, before looking to him… and grinning.

‘Ah, that’s not a good grin,’ Nadir stated with a tinge of worry, before suddenly dodging down and striking up with his spear to deflect the massive axe that came swinging for his head, his wyvern jumping back a bit to avoid the sudden strike as metal clashed towards metal.

‘C’mon, C’MON! Let’s spar! Kahahaha!’ Nurit laughed out loud as she brought the axe around for a slice at Nadir’s mid-section that definitely looked aimed to kill.

‘Miss Nurit, we don’t usually- woah -spar using killer weapons!’ Nadir warned with a scared little smirk, a bit of sweat dropping as he was systematically dodging each of Nurit’s axe-slices just barely, lifting his disadvantageous spear in self-defense.

‘Eh, it’s no worries! You’re not gonna let me actually HIT, are ya!?’ Nurit called out as she did a powerful overhead slice, which Nadir just barely dodged under. Despite everything, Nadir found himself smiling.

‘Well, that does it. If that’s your style of flirting…!’ Nadir dived out of the way and then, with an acrobatic leap, he thrust himself up into the air by his hands on the floor and twisted in mid-air to land in the saddle of his wyvern. ‘Then I better flirt seriously. En garde!’ he called, as his wyvern stood tall and ready to battle.

‘Hah, flirting. As if you have eyes for anyone but your dear pretty miss Eira,’ Nurit replied, grinning as she watched Nadir on top his wyvern.

‘I would have said the same about you and your most manly boss Rhodri?’ Nadir replied with raised eyebrows, smiling teasingly right back at Nurit.

‘Heh, don’t go assuming things.’

‘Then I’ll ask the same of you.’

Both of them met each other’s glares with dangerous smirks, before they both took off against one another, Warrior against Wyvern Knight in a deadly-looking play-fight…

__________________________

… All this aside. What would they do now?

Enemy Base Level: 2
Enemy Base Weapon Mastery: E
Enemy Equipment Quality: Iron
Notable Deviations: Fighter in lower-left wields the STORMBELLOWS! _{Functionally an Iron Axe.}