Pokemon: Aschen Adventures (IC)

[OrchestraHc]

"Good luck," T.J. manages to say, sincerely and stutter-free. "Y-You could m-manage to get a snap of the w-winners I think. S-So, w-what pokemon do you have?"

[Nyna]

"The winners, huh? Well, it sure beats nothing." She smiled. "I have just one pokemon right now, Niniane, my Horsea. I haven't been a trainer for very long at all, and I don't really have much experience with battling or capturing either."

[Bad Situation]

Nathan scoffs at the name, "I hope you weren't trying to impress me with the name drop. Until you've actually proven yourself, you're just a nobody like me. Maybe more so, considering the shadow of the woman you're under." As an avid follower of training news, Nathan knew countless stories of trainers who never managed to meet the expectations set out before them, and Lana wasn't likely to be the exception. The ability to train Pokemon wasn't genetic and this was proven time and again by the number of failed trainers in the world.

But rather than provoke a response, Nathan holds his hand out, "Nathaniel Frost. Remember it."

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
Lana glares. "The only reason I 'dropped' the name was because you asked, asshole."
She ignores the proffered hand, standing up and strapping on a pokeball belt. You count eight pokeballs in total- stretching herself thin, it seems, and so early in her career. A common amateur mistake.
...Of course, another common amateur mistake was using only one or two pokemon. But, hey, it's not for a lack of trying, right?
She picks up a backpack and heads out, calling back to you without even glancing back.
"See you in the competition, Frost."

Spoiler

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If you'd like to skip ahead to the competition, here: you're starting at F12, though.

Adela:
You're focusing on your pokedex when you start to hear a rumbling in the distance, from the glowing thing. You look there, squinting, but can't make out much: damn this glare, anyways. The sun's right in your eyes.
The rumbling grows in intensity, and you notice it's coming out in waves. Your pokedex registers what the pokemon is as you realize what the rumbling is.
The glow is a Volcarona. It's probably mad because one of its babies was squished, so it's carpet bombing the area, periodically releasing glowing, glistening spores that explode into gouts of flame as they hit the ground. Good thing it's all charcoal, or the whole area would've gone up... though you now have no doubts as to how it got that way to begin with.
As you're staring at the oncoming flaming queen of death, a searing wind blows past, and Vichi tugs on your pants. Right. You should probably be doing something right now.

[Ajadea]

There was no way in hell she was fighting something with an evolution level like that. It'd barbecue her, and that Magnemite, and she'd never be able to pay them back. Adela starts running as fast as she can towards the river and away from the angry mama Volcarona of doom, dragging Vichi along behind her.

[Bad Situation]

Nathan enters the forest exactly on the 5 minute interval, simultaneous flipping open his Pokedex map and releasing the Magnemite-cam. "Action," he says off-handedly as he examines his Pokedex. After a moment of consideration, Nathan releases Ender and points northward. "There's a point of interest some miles north of here Ender, we're going to investigate."

[OrchestraHc]

"The winners, huh? Well, it sure beats nothing." She smiled. "I have just one pokemon right now, Niniane, my Horsea. I haven't been a trainer for very long at all, and I don't really have much experience with battling or capturing either."

"M-Maybe it's for the b-best that two rookies didn't enter," T.J. submits. "It's d-dangerous, and death isn't unheard of. B-Besides, I'd be m-minus someone to talk to," he adds with a smile.

[Nyna]

Neimi smiled right back. "Well, I don't mind keeping you company for awhile while I wait. And everyone has to start somewhere, right?"

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
You trudge through the forest towards your tentative destination. On the way there, the noises continue, and only increase in intensity, though you can't find much in the way of bugs- just a few Caterpie and Metapods.

Spoiler

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If you'd like to catch one of these, just write a pokeball off your list and it's yours.

Soon enough, though you don't reach your destination, you do find something interesting. You pass by what you initially think are strands of thick webbing, but soon enough you realize it's silk. You follow the strings to a large tree, which is absolutely covered in the white, dusky gunk- as well as Kakuna in all stages of metamorphosis, though leaning towards the latter end. The larger ones writhe and undulate at your approach, obviously agitated... and ready to hatch. At the base of the tree are the husks of various bug pokemon, some disassembled skeletons, as well as a still living Sawsbuck. It looks over at you with glazed over eyes, and from a distance it looks like it's... squirming. As you approach, though, you realize to your horror the source of the squirming.
The thing is infested with Weedle. Some poke out of its chest and back and head, only to dive back in, while others just writhe around inside of it, slowly eating it alive from within. It's obviously resigned to its fate, waiting for a death that simply will not come.

Adela:
You sprint out of the burnt clearing towards the safety of the forest, leaving the Volcarona in your wake. You continue running for some time after that, though, wanting to leave a fiery death behind you as far as possible. As you stop for a breather, however, a thought grips you that shakes you to your core:
Where's Vichi?
It doesn't take you long to find him: still clamped in your death grip, a little worse for wear from being dragged across the forest. He gives you a rotten look, obviously not understanding you were just about 30 seconds from being turned to ashes back there. Ingrate.
You continue trudging through the forest for a good hour, and though you hear all sorts of eerie and haunting sounds that make you start, you see little aside from the occasional Caterpie. Eventually, though, you make it to the river as the atmosphere in the forest rises to a humid, muggy heat.
It's a few hundred feet across, it seems, flowing northeast. You're not sure if you'd want to risk swimming it unaided on the best of days... but it does look pretty calm. A few Surskit are dancing merrily about the surface just fine. Just being by the cool water is a nice break from the climate.

TJ & Neimi:

Spoiler

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Hey, why don't you folks have a battle? Or part ways? Or steer the conversation in a direction where you'll actually say more than one sentence per post?

TJ:
Your pokedex rings with the default pokedex ringtone, alerting you to the beginning of the competition. You flip open your phone, and a quick search later leads you to the live video stream of Adela. You find her standing at the edge of a river, drenched in sweat- it looks like she's already been at it for a while. It's generally best to arrive fashionably late for the bug catching competition: they don't start actually sending out the feed until later in the day, when more people are awake and ready to watch. Looks like Adela didn't know that.

[OrchestraHc]

"EH?" T.J. says as his conversation is interrupted by the his pokedex. "Hey look, Nyna, it's the p-person I talked ab-b-bout, the one who I was waiting for." He points his finger to the screen at the blue haired girl and her Riolu.

[Ajadea]

It was gone. Good. Good gods. Adela takes a moment to catch her breath and glare at the useless bugs. The Pokemon here seemed to come in only two kinds - less useful than a Magikarp, or crazy bloodthirsty doomcreatures of doom. The first were a waste of good balls, and the latter... well. Doomcreatures. Enough said, really.

Vichi's continued glare could have curdled milk. Even an hour later, his pride is still thoroughly bruised. How dare his trainer treat him in such a way? He could have beaten that thing! Adela is oblivious to his thoughts however. Typical human. After a few more minutes spent simply in relief that death was not imminent, she flips her Pokedex open and pulls the map up again. She squints at the low-contrast and resolution image, nose no more than a few inches away from the screen. In a minute, she finds the dot where she is, and a smile breaks across her face.

Even so, she decides to be a little more careful when heading towards the next red X. A second Volcarona wasn't exactly on the list of things she wanted to face today.

Spoiler

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Lesson learned? Not exactly. To L7!

[Nyna]

Neimi would look at the pokedex. "Err... she doesn't exactly appear to be doing well. Is she going to be alright? Your friend... does know what she's getting into, right? I mean, a bug-catching competition isn't exactly the best place to be running around with that sort of pokemon."

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
You make your way to the X, and there find a massive banyan tree. Dust hangs heavy in the muggy twilight air, the product of its inhabitants: dozens of dark balls of purplish fur sit huddled along its branches, sleeping, while several parent Venomoths flutter drowsily closer to the top. At night these would be fierce predators, but here during the day they're quiet, serene and (mostly) harmless.

Neimi:
The kid, TJ, seems far too engrossed in the goings-on of the competition to answer you, replying only with a grunt. Probably for the best: you have a message from your father anyways.

Spoiler

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Neimi
It's come to my attention that many of the Beldum swarms inhabiting the Ritriin mountains have been riled up, and are currently traveling at unprecedented low altitudes. I've arranged for a helicopter to pick you up at the ranger station in Moira at 11:00 am today. Don't be late.
Ryosu Hatori, Hatori Media LLC, President

This was the only communication you had with your father nowadays: curt, stiff messages he sent you, wholly professional. You knew for a fact that he was much more jovial with most of his photographers: he just wanted to make sure everyone knew he wouldn't be giving you special treatment just because you're his daughter. Including himself.

Dalton:
It'd been a week since you arrived in Rogen, and you were already broke. You stayed in a motel the first few nights, figuring you'd find a job soon enough. You didn't.
Rogen was... different than Goldenrod. Much, much different. You had a hard time calling it a city, even: where Goldenrod was filled with loud noises and movement, this place was filled with movement and... impatience. In Goldenrod, you always had to be on the lookout, lest someone try to take a piece of you. Here, you had to be on the lookout lest you get in someone's way and they trod right over you. They just didn't care: you weren't a target, you were in their way.
Finding a job was different, too. It wasn't enough to be a healthy young man: you needed credentials, references, and background checks. Three forms of ID. Drug testing. Just getting a foot in the door was a trial.
So, your already meager funds were dry enough that it'd be hard to afford a decent meal, and you had no place to go. You couldn't even very well leave town, unless you wanted to strike out with nothing but the clothes on your back. That Deino you'd snagged could probably support you for a month if you sold it, maybe get you to greener pastures, but it was hot goods and you didn't know any fences in the area. You'd bought a few pokeballs a while back, thinking you might give the trainer thing a shot, but the groaning in your stomach made you wish they were apples.
So you prowled the town, looking for gainful employment, and ended up in front of the Pokemon League office. You didn't have the funds to register as a trainer (650 poke), let alone afford the necessary pokedex (4,500 poke).
Still, you checked the bulletin board outside, looking for maybe any job offers. You didn't find any of those, but you did find one interesting posting:

Spoiler

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Want to become a Trainer, but can't afford the costly and unfair registration? Do you have the skills, but not the cash?
Then try the Five's Challenge! Organized under the supervision of local gym leader Brandon Five, show your stuff as a Pokemon Trainer!
Cash prizes to all those who attempt the Gauntlet!
Winners receive a grand prize of 5,000 poke, as well as free Trainer registration+Pokedex!
Inquire at ENKA office by Island Bridge

ENKA... they sold pokemon pharmaceuticals- expensive stuff, the good vitamins. Still, this could be a shoe-in to become a trainer, as well as a meal ticket for the night.
...Could you take it with just your Deino, though? It might've been tough, but you had the feeling it wouldn't be that simple. You could try your luck, but you might want to put those pokeballs in your pocket to good use first.

[Ajadea]

Well, they weren't exactly Scyther level, but they looked useful. And they were napping, so the catch wouldn't be too hard, unlike that terrifying flaming deathbug. Seriously, where did they get the idea that putting something like THAT in a FOREST was a good idea? Adela craned her neck, trying to find one that wasn't too close to the rest. One was easy, but all those together might be a bit too difficult for Screech to deal with.

Spoiler

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Wisdom - (1d20+2)[5]

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
You fail to notice any Venonats aside from the tree. This is because all peoples have two very small but very significant blind spots: under their feet.
The Venonat you stepped on let's out a piercing trill, a little smooshed but vocal cords no worse for wear. You look up to see dozens of pairs of glowing red eyes staring at you, as well as increased fluttering from higher in the branches. And... Nothing happens. Either these Venonats are completely lacking in familial instinct, or they're still too sluggish to take any action. For now.

[Bad Situation]

Nathan frowns in disgust, fighting down the bile that threatens to rise in this throat as he sees the squirming Sawsbuck in its death throes but does nothing to allay its pain and leaves it be without so much as a blink. Pokemon tended to get more vicious the further you got into their homes, meaning the weedle were currently just the tip of the iceberg. "Good, I'm on the right track then..." he mutters absentmindedly to nobody in particular. If he wanted to make a good showing in this contest a powerful pokemon would be his best bet, and with his small assortment of Pokeballs the 'most Pokemon caught' prize was all but forfeit. No, it had to be something big and powerful.

"Ender, we're pushing in deeper. Keep your ey-Stay sharp."

[OrchestraHc]

T.J. let's a passive grunt slip out as he watches Adela's tense trials with the Venonat. He then realizes what he did just then was incredibly rude.

"Oh my gosh, I'm s-s-so s-ssorry!" he apologizes profusely. "I d-didn't mean to ignore y-you p-p-pplease don't be upset!"

[Ajadea]

Adela takes a step back - what was with all these little bugs getting underfoot anyways? Well, even if it was slightly retarded and most certainly not evolved, it might be a good idea to get on with actually catching things. "Vichi, hit this thing with a few Quick Attacks for me," she says, giving the Venonat a swift kick. No reason not to help him out.

Spoiler

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Attacking Venonat! Just a plain kick, nothing to see here.
Adela: Trainer Accuracy - (1d20)[9] vs DC 6+Evasion Damage - (1d10+10)[17] (Including +Str x2)
Vichi (Quick Attack): Accuracy - (1d20)[15] vs DC 2+Evasion Damage - (1d12+17)[21]

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
You skirt the infested tree, and after a few minutes of traveling, come across something of a cliff, jutting out of the ground to loom before you. It looks... big. But most importantly, hewn into the side of the cliff face are several tunnels: all very coarse, definitely not natural. They radiate warm, stifling air- even moreso than the already muggy environs- and smell metallic, of bugflesh and earth and steel. From inside you can hear muffled sounds, the clickedy-clack of joints and mandibles.

Adela:
With Vichi's attack, combined with your kick, you soundly knock out the Venonat before it knows what's hit it.

Spoiler

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120 xp to Vichi!

You ready your pokeball, ready to capture the hapless creature, and... suddenly find yourself on the ground, head throbbing. The world's gone green- no, there's a green dust in the air. You notice Vichi to the side, passed out and drooling happily on the ground. Above you a Venomoth gracefully floats, releasing the Sleep Powder that brought you down.

Spoiler

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Everything happens to Adela in pairs. Getting attacked by overgrown water Pokemon, stepping on young bugs who then alert their mothers... just hope you don't get beaten half to death anytime soon.
Also, 2 rounds have passed for the purpose of determining sleep rolls.

[Bad Situation]

Peering into the inky blackness of the cave, Nathan withdraws his Pokedex to activate its light feature. It wasn't much but clearly better than nothing. Motioning for Ender to follow, Nathan creeps slowly and carefully into what appeared to be a nest of some sort. The multitude of unnatural tunnels and entrances indicated this location was likely a Pokemon hotspot, a home for a large number of Pokemon capable of tearing through rock at the very least. It was dangerous to go into a Pokemon nest unprepared but in this case the drawbacks were more than offset by the potential gains.

Breathing in deeply, Nathan takes in the very familiar scent of steel. "I might be able to catch something very valuable if I do this just right..." Steel Pokemon tended to be particularly heavy, meaning he had just the Pokeballs for the job.

[Ajadea]

Adela groans and glares up at the Venomoth. "Just what I needed today..." she mutters sarcastically. She looks around for her prospective catch, not very carefully. This one would be a lot better. More useful. Good. Not too close to the others, either. Through a haze of pain and sleep-powder induced exhaustion, she pushes herself into a position somewhere between sitting down and crouching, withdraws Vichi and sends Screech out. "Right... we're gonna do this RIGHT now.... Screech, Fly!"

Spoiler

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Accuracy - (1d20)[12] Damage - (3d12+33)[40]

Adela looks for that Venonat - the one that got stepped on and knocked out. Is it around?

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Screech beats her wings fiercely, launching up like a rocket through the top of the canopy, knocking several Venonats from their perch as she goes. The Venomoth, undeterred, vibrates its wings and sends up a Gust after her.

Spoiler

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30 damage to Screech!

Meanwhile, Vichi wakes up, dazed and confused. The Venonat is where you left it. You can still act while Screech is in the air.

Nathan:
You charge into the caves, ready to catch some powerful pokemon and prove your worth as a pokemon trainer. You charge a little too quickly to allow your eyes time to adjust, and too quickly to notice the sharp sudden downslope ahead.
And so you tumble down a good 20 feet of steep slope, landing hard at the bottom. Luckily there's enough dirt between you and the hard rock floor to pad your fall a bit, though you do manage to embed some gravel in your palms. You also lose grip of your pokedex, which skitters across the floor to leave you in darkness... though it does illuminate a shabby looking Durant, which sniffs at it a bit before turning its eyes to you. You're not sure if Durants are carnivores or terravores, but either way it's something you'll have to deal with.

[Bad Situation]

Eying the bug Pokemon warily, Nathan scrambles backward quickly, wincing as his gravel coated hands scrape against the ground. As if sensing its trainer's distress, Ender floats in between the two and emits a series of warnings beeps to to the Durant. When his back is against the cliff face he fell from, Nathan prepares a Pokeball and waits to see what happens next.

[Ajadea]

Somewhere beyond the forest canopy, Screech proves exactly how perfectly chosen her name was. Adela winces and checks to make sure her ears haven't exploded. No time for much more though than that though. The dumb bird couldn't take another one of those. The thought that this was an absolutely terrible idea crosses her mind for a split second. Then she punches at what passes for the Venomoth's face.

Spoiler

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Punching makes everything better (except when it doesn't)

Trainer Accuracy - (1d20)[6] vs 6+evasion Damage - (1d10+10)[18]

[Nyna]

Neimi would look up from reading her message with a grin. "Oh, don't worry about it. I've got a job to do anyways." She began putting her Pokegear away before stopping, looking at T.J. for a moment, before grinning again. "Want to come with? I've got a job up in the Ritriin Mountains; there's a swarm of Beldum and I'm supposed to go snap some shots. I doubt they'd mind taking another along for the ride, it's a helicopter after all. 'course, I don't want to pull you away and make you miss your meeting with your friend, but us fledgling trainers have to take what chances we get, right? And you seem like good company."

[OrchestraHc]

T.J. brightened a bit at the opportunity. He probably woudn;t be allowed to catch them, but just seeing them would be an incredible opportunity. Beldum are rare and knowing where they swarmed would be useful if he wanted to come back when he was more confident. "Th-that sounds incredible, I'd love t-to see it. The c-contest is all today, and Thursday, so I don't think she'll leave, ev-v-ven if I get back late." When he actually does see her again he would probably break down and apologize for an hour, but for now, he was excited.

[Nyna]

"You could always send her a message letting her know too." Neimi smiled. "We need to be at the ranger station at 11, not sure how much time that leaves us." Neimi would take a look at the time on her Pokegear.

[OrchestraHc]

"Yeah, b-but she's busy. I'll w-wait till it won't inc-c-convenience her to text her." He could keep an eye on Adela with his Pokedex. "Do you know the way to the ranger station or should I look it up?" he asks fiddling about with his Pokedex.

[Nyna]

"Oh, I just arrived in town, so if you could look it up, that'd save us some trouble. I can look it up too, if you can't find it." Neimi would begin to go through her Pokegear to find her town map as well, since it never hurt to have two pairs of eyes looking.

[Bolt]

The young man eyed the advertisement on the board, his mind automatically focusing in on that "5,000 poke" in big bold lettering. It was funny how mere numbers could have such strong effects on him, ranging from the generally expected excitement for money that anyone would experience, to the seemingly worse pangs from his very empty stomach. The word "free" also stuck out at him, but since it wasn't preceding the word "food" it was of less importance to the man. Though in the back of his mind he figured it would be wise to get himself registered, since he had very little ID to show, and he had a feeling that remaining "freelance" or whatever would cause him more trouble in the long run. He grumbled in frustration and adjusted the fedora atop his head, pulling it forward to obscure his eyes to anyone passing; he felt there was very little chance of him winning with just his Deino, since he was- quite frankly- quite inexperienced when it came to pokemon combat. It was easy enough to throw a rage fit and punch someone's lights out yourself, but shouting commands at little animals to do the fighting for you? Dalton wasn't too accustomed to that.

His stomach growled again... he could really use that money...

Okay, well, maybe he could go and inquire about the event, find out when registration ends, and then head out to try his hand at catching another little monster to fight for him. "Better be wort it.. The green haired man mumbled in his thick accent as he moved from the board and back into the main path, meaning to head up to that "ENKA" place.