Pokemon: Aschen Adventures (IC)

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Lina shakes her head. "I... dont think it'll be that easy. A door like that is gonna be either too heavy or too complex for a Ralts and a Grimer. Probably both. Beyond that, I'm not sure if you noticed, but it's an electronic lock.
Also... It may be best to bide our time on this one. I'm just as curious as you are, but if we get caught in the act... well, let's just say it might make things awkward for the rest of the trip."

[Bad Situation]

Upon sighting the Abra, Nathan holds up a hand to hail Lana to a stop and digs into his bag to retrieve an Ultra Ball. "Hold on, I've always wanted to try my luck at this." It was luck enough that he'd found a sleeping Abra in the first place, checking to see if his luck held out as well was worth the potentially wasted Pokeball in his opinion. Which was fair, after all using an Alakazam in competition was something of a risk itself. If you couldn't sweep through the opposition with sheer power and speed you were left with a Pokemon that took hits about as well as you could. "Fingers crossed, yeah?"

Spoiler

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Capture Check: (1d100-10)[45]

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
You toss the ultra ball, and the Abra is absorbed for no more than a second before it bursts open with a flash of energy. The Abra hovers a moment before flickering, and then vanishing into god knows where.
Lana shrugs. "Tough luck. If you really want an Abra you can go to a breeder, I guess- it won't be much more expensive than that ultra ball, anyways."

[Ajadea]

Adela's face falls. "I guess. If we're gonna get thrown bodily off a boat, might as well make sure it happens close to shore." She tries a smile. It doesn't make the half-hearted joke any better, really. "Whatever. Lot can happen in three days. Lloyd can't be in his office all the time. Man's got to sleep at the very least. If there's anything that'd help us get in, I'm almost sure it'll be in there."

[Bad Situation]

Nathan only clicks his tongue when the ball bounces off harmlessly, sighing a bit before ambling over to the three to retrieve the remains of the Ultra Ball. He watched enough infomercials to know better than to leave pokeballs lying around in the wilderness if he could help it. What would Smokey of the Emboar say? When he returns to Lana it's with a funny lopsided grin, "Nah, I don't care that much about Abra in my teams. But you know, it's one of those traditions back in Kanto. If you see an Abra, you chuck a ball for the bragging rights at least." Then, the dark haired trainer becomes suddenly pensive, "I uh, guess that doesn't help with the image of young Kantonese trainers being spendthrifts who hemorrhage money huh..." With a shrug of his shoulders he continues on, "Well, in any case, if I had ended up catching it and decided not to use it I probably would have given it to my brother or something. He wants to be a researcher or...something like that."

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
"Yeah... well, I'm gonna go talk to Lloyd about the work he's offering. You're welcome to come along with me if you'd like, case the joint a bit... Though on the other hand, it might be beneficial to our cause if one of us had free reign to wander around all day.
Anyways, while your Ralts and Grimer aren't going to be much help getting through the door itself, I think they'll be of great assistance in getting the key to the door, no?"

Nathan:
Lana sighs, and smiles a bit. "If I were less practical I'd be tempted to do it myself. But, I really have no need for psychic types, and I don't like catching a Pokemon I'm not going to use- even to give it to someone else. Just feels cheap to me."
She shrugs. "Not that I'm judging or anything, it's just... not how I do things."
You continue on until late in the afternoon. Lana seems a little shifty, but with you not prying and those big sunglasses she's wearing, you can't really look into it very far.
Suddenly the road terminates at a cliff and turns to the left, bordered by guard rails. You've come to the fjord. Lana climbs over to the guard rail, next to a no diving sign at the edge of the cliff, and looks off into the distance. The cliff is at least 20 feet, by your estimate, and rocky. The other side, far away, is all verdant slopes covered in grass and flowers, but beyond that it's hard to see far from the sun's glistening. She points across the fjord. "See that glimmer off in the distance? That's Victory Road. That's where we're headed." She takes off her glasses, face set and smiling. Her eyes are even more blotchy than yesterday, though that's sortof to be expected.
Still smiling, she walks back towards the road... then spins around, charges towards the edge of the cliff, and leaps off to dive into the water below.

[Ajadea]

Adela nods. "Sounds like a plan. I'll check out the rest of the ship. Tell me about his office when you get back, then?" She heads off in the opposite direction as Lina. She goes slowly, trying to get a feel for the ship's layout and especially how big the room behind the giant doors was.

[RandomWombat]

A young man watched the shore grow closer. He was sitting on a boat heading towards Heartshome, Aschen. A jacket was unnecessary in the sunny weather, and so his dark green and white windbreaker was tied around his waist by the sleeves. The beige shirt underneath was flecked with ocean spray, refreshing in the warm weather. Abel Darby leaned forward and scratched his head, which was covered in short, bristly, dark amber hair. Slung over the man's shoulder was a dark brown messenger bag, containing the supplies he'd prepared in advance for the upcoming assignment. He had yet to meet his partner; he assumed they would be waiting at the small port town.

On the floor of the watercraft, beside the man's seat, rested a brightly colored blue and red Pokemon. Vaguely birdlike, the Porygon2 waited patiently for arrival at the destination. Its colors contrasted with the earthy ones its trainer favored. Abel and his 'Starter' (since he wasn't with the League, such a term was a bit inaccurate) both had a calm demeanor to them, but Abel's eyes betrayed a focused intensity behind them. One didn't need to be psychic or aura-sensitive to tell this was a man with a mission.

"Isaac. Look alive, we're here," Abel quietly commanded, his tone sharp and to the point. He stood once the boat docked, making his way to disembark, the Porygon2 obediently at heel. Eyes scanning the docking area, Abel sought whoever he was supposed to meet here.

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
As you explore, you find yourself wishing you had one of those thick black coats the crewmembers are wearing: it's gotten cold, and all the clothes you bought were summer wear.
The big room at the center is framed by several storage spaces (janitorial, equipment, etc.), as well as the kitchen, in which you have to explore the kitchen's overly massive and bitingly cold walk-in freezer to get closest to the wall. One of the chefs tell you it's so large because not only is it supplying the ship, but most of it is going to supply the island as well.
Finally there's the exercise room, again surprisingly extensive. It has all sorts of weight machines, a sparring mat, and even a small pit for Pokemon battles. Mostly everything but the pit is in use, and those inside nod or wave at your presence. One of the men approaches you and offers to give you a tour.
All in all, you judge the chamber at the center to be anywhere from 15-25 feet on each side- assuming that it's square and that the walls aren't more than a foot thick.

[Ajadea]

Adela tries to smile back at the man and just ends up with her teeth chattering. "Th-thanks for th-the offer. That'd be nice. But uh... do you have a spare c-coat around?" she says, shivering. She wraps her arms around herself. It doesn't really help.

[Bad Situation]

Nathan blanches at the sight, apprehensively peering over the edge to track Lana's descent. He sighs and shakes his head, running a hand through his hair in annoyance. "Just great, the first friend I make on this trip decides she wants to become a mangled corpse." Granted, Raelli probably had a plan but then you never could tell with Pokemon Trainers. Creeping cautiously toward the cliffside he squats down and tries to get a good view of the scene, searching for the hopefully un-mangled corpse of Lana Raelli. Ideally, she wouldn't be a corpse at all but as he was quick to learn, hope didn't really get you very far in the Pokemon Training business.

Balancing his chin against his arm he calls out, "Oi, Raelli. You aren't dead right? Would be something of a letdown if you just went and offed yourself here. I mean, Victory Road is one of the world's most popular suicide spots but you don't have to be another statistic or anything."

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
The spot where Lana landed remains a slowly stilling circle of bubbles for a suspenseful several seconds, before she emerges from the water with a splash and a laugh. "That was awesome! Come on, don't just stand up there!"
You peer over the edge, and are terrified to see a rocky outcropping not ten feet from where she landed.
"Listen, you can either find a way down or stay up there twiddling your thumbs, but I'm going swimming!"
She's about to dive under before continuing.
"Oh, and if you're gonna chicken out, go into my pack and toss me down those Net Balls!"

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
The guy introduces himself as Alex. He's one of the younger ones working here- definitely no older than 20 or so.
"Oh, fuck, you're probably freezing here! C'mon, I'll give you my jacket." He leads you over to a set of lockers and opens one, handing you one of the jackets that you've seen some of the men wear- stiff, matte black polyester with red stitching. It's heavy and way too big for you, but wonderfully warm.
"Go ahead and keep it, I'll just tell requisitions I lost it. I'm ahead on my clothing allowance anyways."
He then shows you around the gym.
"If you're interested in working out, you're free to use any of the facilities here. You can probably bother requisitions about getting some gym clothes, though, uh... I honestly doubt we'll have much in your size. No offense." He smiles, and takes you over to the sparring mats.
"Not much use there- Lloyd tried to get something of a fight club going a while back, but when we found out that nobody could get close to beating him that was a little discouraging."
He gestures over to the Pokemon battling pit.
"Not much use over there either. Folks used to battle with their favorite Machokes, but actual battles were banned after that started some... complications."
He sighs.
"I guess it's for the best, though I was making some pretty good money off of it. As for actual trainer battles, not too many of us carry around much in the way of Pokemon- none ready for battle, that is. A few of the more active trainers tried to start something, but there just wasn't enough interest. You might be able to track them down if you're really bored."
"...Hm, I remember Lloyd never got into that, though I know he has Pokemon besides that Crobat he carries around. Most figure he just didn't want a repeat of the sparring club, but I figure he isn't quite so good at fighting when he can't enter the ring himself."
He scratches his chin.
"You wanna call him out, I'd bet on you. Anyways, interested in seeing anywhere else? I can show you the Machoke Den, if you want, or... well, I don't really think there's much else to see. I'm sure you've been shown the mess hall, at least."

[Bad Situation]

Nathan looks back and forth between the cliffside and the bag several times before sighing and stripping off his clothing. But rather than jump in however, he first folds his clothes up neatly and stacks them on top of each other, then placing them on top of his own backpack on what looks like a relatively clean patch of ground. When he's finally satisfied with the placement and line-up of his discarded clothing he roots through Lana's bag for the Net Balls and takes a leap off the side of the cliff.

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
You find in Lana's bag, aside from basic camping gear, clothes, and minimalistic rations, enough crappy energy drinks and coffee grounds to last most people a week. As you've seen, this is what she resorts to when she can't get her adrenaline from things like jumping off of cliffs.
You walk over to the ledge, getting a good look down at the water. It's a... really, really long way down. Just being this near to the edge is making your head swim. You remind yourself that you can always walk away now before stepping back, and taking a running leap off the ledge.
You fall for far longer than any jump reasonably should fall, and smash into the water bottom-first; the impact manages to knock the wind out of you as you rush under the scaldingly cold water. Immediately (and definitely not panicked at all), you begin to climb towards the surface, and eventually burst back into merciful air, coughing and breathing it in, glad to be alive. You find yourself face to face with a Slowpoke who was basking on the bank, and is slowly beginning to realize it should probably be startled. Lana laughs, and it shuffles into the water.
"Good job! I honestly didn't think you had it in you. I'm glad I was wrong. You brought my balls, right?" You inwardly chuckle, imagining she could've worked a double-entendre in there, before noting that, while you certainly brought them with you, the shock of plunging into freezing cold water tends to make one forget to hold on to things. They're probably at the bottom of the lake by now.

[Ajadea]

It felt like a ten-pound weight was riding on her shoulders, and the coat hung down almost to her knees, but it was so warm that Adela decides those little details didn't matter. She files away the information about Lloyd for later. Crobat, other unknown Pokemon, and he knew what he was doing in a fight himself, though not many of the others on this boat did or had the means to, in the case of Pokemon. Leaving Lloyd himself as the only major threat. Well, him and...

"I'd like to see the Machokes, actually. They just all stay there when they're not working?"

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Alex nods. "Yup, we like to keep them out of their Poke balls. Nicer that way, y'know?"
He leads you to a heavy door in an area you initially assumed was nothing but storage and lockers. Inside is a strange sort of jungle gym, where well over a dozen Machokes reside. The walls are soundproofed, and the entire floor is covered in a few layers of haphazard padding- torn up carpet, worn gym mats, old rugs, stuff like that. This makes sense, seeing what's going on in the room. It's filled with grunting and gasping as the Machokes run around, posture and play. There's a bunch of what you initially assume are basketballs that the Machokes are tossing around, but as one falls to the ground with a thud you realize they're weighted medicine balls. In another corner, a group of Machokes wrestle; in another, they posture and pose as they lift various heavy pieces of scrap. You think you see an old engine block in the mix.
Overseeing all this is one middle aged handler, who leans against the wall. Alex waves to him as he walks in. "Hey Gary, just showing the new trainer the Machokes." Gary raises his eyebrows and snorts, but says nothing. Alex turns back to you. "Speaking of which, I never did get your name."
As you're talking, one of the Machokes shuffles over to you, and presses its palm against your chest. Before you can react, it shoves you with a shocking amount of force, enough to floor you if you didn't quickly twist out of the way. Even as is you're sent stumbling into the wall. Alex laughs good-naturedly.
"I'm sorry, I should've warned you. She's just saying hi. I'm surprised you're still standing- I've seen grown men knocked flat on their asses by that."
The Machoke grunts, and as you brush yourself off you notice she seems to be waiting for something.
"Go ahead. It's your turn."

[Ajadea]

"Oh! Sorry. Name's -" Adela's words are abruptly cut off by the Machoke's shove. An instinctual dodge lets her keep her footing more or less, though she is thrown a few steps back. "-Adela," she finishes. "And I'm stronger than I look."

With a grin, she takes a crouched stance and shoves the Machoke right back.

Spoiler

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Strength check?

(1d20+3)[20]

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
You take a strong, crouched position, and give the Machoke a strong palm straight to the chest. It stumbles backwards, teeters, totters, and then falls down.
"...Damn," Alex says. "You weren't kidding." Gary claps.
The Machoke you pushed over starts grunting, and bounds around in circles. A few other Machokes shuffle over to inspect you, all reaching out to poke and prod at you- but before you're surrounded Alex steps in.
"Alright, that's enough!" he says, brandishing a poke ball. He makes a loud hissing noise, and they all scatter.
"So then... Adela," Alex muses. "That's a neat name. Never heard it before. Where are you from?"
"Anyways, getting to be about noon, so I'm gonna go grab lunch. Care to join me?"

[Ajadea]

"Heartshome. My parents are the artsy sort, you know? Creative, unique, blah blah blah. Apparently, they decided that the perfect way to show their love was to inflict this name on me for the rest of my life." Adela straightens up, shaking her arms out. So that was a few things. The Machoke were strong, but she could match them for sheer strength if she tried. Evolved, obviously, but by no means unbeatable. "Lunch sounds fine." She follows Alex to the mess hall.

[Bad Situation]

At the surface of the water, Nathan shivers and glares daggers at Lana, "If looks could kill." He rubs at his arms to warm them up in vain before giving up and submerging the rest of his body into the water, where the temperature was marginally less cold. With his head half dipped into the water he looks around shiftily, "Well that depends. If your pokeballs were the waterproof kind, they're probably at the bottom of this lake. If they weren't then I guess they're...wherever Pokeballs go when they die?"

"I hope you had a warrant on those things."

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Alex chuckles. "No, I like it. It's a pretty name- it fits you. I mean, it's a lot more interesting than something like Alex, right?" He grins boyishly. "Come on, let's get some food."
The two of you head to the mess hall, where it seem not many people have gathered yet, though more pour in every second. "Good thing we beat the crowd, eh?" You can discern he's Johtoan from his colloquialism. As you're waiting in line, you're captivated by the smells- surprisingly good, really, and you haven't had any real food in some time. They've got steak & club sandwiches, BLTs, caesar and potato and macaroni salad (all freshly made and garnished), and even french fries, as well as an assortment of fresh fruits and berries and apricorn relish.
"Enjoy the fresh stuff while you can," Alex notes. "By the time we get to the island, it'll be all gone."
You both fill up your trays and head back to an empty table. "So, what brings you to Ti-3? Rare Pokemon, good pay- or are you trying to get away from something?"

[Ajadea]

Adela smiles back at him, and notes the location of the room as they leave. Just in case. Machokes outside their Pokeballs could be sealed off, at least for a little while. If it was that sensitive, and she and Lina were found inside... anything could happen. All the same, she hoped whatever was in that room wasn't too dangerous. The last thing she wanted was to be on a sinking ship in the freezing ocean.

The mess hall, she decides, is a lot more appealing when there's hot food in it. Real hot food, at that. Instant noodles wore a bit thin after a while. Deciding takes too long. She loads up her tray with the largest steak sandwich she can see and a little bit of all the sides, and sits down across from Alex.

"All of the above, more or less." Adela takes a bite of the potato salad first. "Need cash, obviously. Everyone likes cash. I'm pretty good with catching Pokemon too, and I figure whatever I don't want will sell pretty well. And I'm sick of everyone asking me if I'm challenging the League, so that's the thing I'm running from. I'm not. Just traveling, really. See the sights. Which I suppose is the fourth reason to head off to a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. It's never been mapped. There's places there that no human has ever been. I could be the first. Which is pretty cool all by itself, really."

[Gorgondantess]

Nathan:
Lana sets her face. "...Well. They're net balls, so they should be good in water... " She shakes her head, and sighs. "Well, I guess it's time to go fishing." She takes a deep breath, and dives under, reemerging a minute later to cough and sputter, only to take another deep breath and dive under again.
As she's diving, you're afforded a view of the water. Most of the fish have scattered, of course, but the water is crystal clear, and some swimming around affords you a good survey of the area. Shellder line the rocks at the bottom, as well as what looks like a Clamperl, and a resting Staryu; a few Horsea dart about here and there, as well as several of the ever-ubiquitous Magikarp. The Slowpoke behind you finally realizes you're there, and makes good its escape, slowly drifting past you and away, just within arm's reach. It gets another surprise when Lana emerges, and marginally increases the speed of its paddling.
"Found one!" She tosses the net ball to you, and you just manage to catch it; it's got a bit of algae and sand stuck to it. She then releases her Seadra and her Gengar. She grabs onto the Seadra. "I'm gonna keep diving- catch something for me, alright? Mercury, make sure he doesn't drown or anything." And with that, she's under again, and you're left face to face with a leering Gengar, standing on the water's surface, arms crossed. Or maybe he's just grinning. Or grimacing. It's hard to tell with that frozen, looming stare.

[Gorgondantess]

Abel:
The town of Heartshome is quiet as you step off the boat, and one figure immediately catches your eye: a young woman leaning against the railing on the pier, smoking a cigarette. It's evident that she's been here for some time by the four or five crushed cigarettes littering the ground around her feet, and she tosses the last one down with them upon your arrival, throwing out her arms brusquely. "Ey, you the new recruit?" Great- not only is she a Johtoan, but from Goldenrod at that. As she approaches, you get a better look at her: she's about 5'6" of lean muscle, topped with sandy blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She's wearing sunglasses, a white tanktop and tan cargo pants, and otherwise seems pretty lightly packed. She reaches out for a handshake.
"Name's April. Guess you'll be calling me Recruit Stevens a lot, though. You're, uh, Darbo, right?"
She nods to Isaac. "Nice Porygon you got there."

Spoiler

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No, I'll not be typing out her accent phonetically. You'll just have to use your imagination.

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Alex nods. "I see. So what's the endgame, then? I mean, you're not gonna be wandering around training for the next twenty years, eh- most trainers I've met look for badges just to give themselves a goal. You looking for a job with Rocket, you gonna do something else entirely, or are you just trying to... get by?"
As you're about to reply, a platter clatters down next to yours, and Lina sits on the bench next to you, jerking her head towards Alex. "Who's he?"

[Ajadea]

Adela glances at Lina. "Lina, this is Alex. Alex, Lina." It's fairly obvious that she is doing little more than reciting a script with the appropriate names shoved in. "I dunno. I mean, there's a lot of world out there beyond the regions. Wandering around the same three regions, you probably can't even get twenty interesting years out of that. But if you're willing to leave all that behind, there might be at least a few cool things to see." She picks through her food, then decides to start on the caesar salad next. It is pleasantly crunchy, though it dimly registers in her mind that the fact she's actually enjoying a salad with lettuce in it probably means she's been eating way more convenience-store food than is entirely healthy. "But that's all long-term, possibilities, etc. Right now, I'm mostly here because there was a chance for good cash and I jumped at it," she admits.

[RandomWombat]

Abel spotted the woman waiting at the pier, smoking. A disgusting habit in his opinion, and the place was littered with the filthy things. At least he couldn't smell the stink over the clean ocean breeze. Abel did his best to hide his disapproval as he approached the woman. The accent was a bit grating, but at least she seemed fit enough. Reliability was better than comfort, and he'd get used to the manner of speech eventually, so he'd withhold judgement until he saw how she performed in the field. Only a Recruit still, which was odd. Abel supposed it made him the superior, if only just barely.

The offered handshake was accepted firmly on reflex. Abel made his introduction in a flat, professional tone, "Deputy Abel Darby, transferred from Pewter City. This is Isaac." The deputy gestured to the Porygon2 at his side with his free hand, the Pokemon giving a silent look of acknowledgement. "I assume you are my partner for this assignment?"

[Bad Situation]

Nathan stares up at the grinning ball of errant gas as he treads the lake's water, returning the Gengar's ominous leer with one of his own. Gengar were powerful, versatile Pokemon to have on any kind of team but there was something vaguely unsettling about the Shadow pokemon that he just couldn't quite get behind. Even the most loyal of Gengar looked like they had half a mind to murder you in your sleep most of the time. "I guess you're with me now, Mercury."

Grimacing and still unwilling to turn his back on the thing, the dark-haired trainer swims backwards until he touches upon the part of the cliff face and looks around for anything he might want to catch with the Net Ball. "Starmie are always prized competition mons, Kingdras too. But maybe I should explore some of my options before I settle down with something." Priming himself with a few slaps to the face and a deep breath of air, Nathan braves the cold waters, dunking himself headfirst and into the depths of the lake in search of any Pokemon he might have missed the first time around. "If nothing else, I might be able to see what Eowyn or Jiraiya have to offer in a fight."

[Gorgondantess]

Adela:
Alex chews his food for a second, thinking, and then speaks. "Y'know, as someone who's seen a bunch of that world, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that. You've got a few island nations that make the ghettos of Goldenrod look like a resort, a few actual resorts, and some wastelands like the one we're going to. There's not a whole hell of a lot going on beyond the regions, and most of what is isn't very pretty. Yeah, you can find some exotic Pokemon and all, but in my opinion if you're that desperate for some rare catch just go on pokEbay. It'll be a little cheaper and a lot safer." He shrugs.
"But, hey, if you're into wilderness and nature and all that, I guess it can be interesting, so long as you're not interested in dealing with, y'know, any vestiges of human civilization."
Sighing, he turns to Lina. "So how about you?"
She grunts and shrugs, shooting you a shifty glance, and then staring at her food. Apparently she's not particularly interested in talking- at least not to Alex.

Abel:
"Damn right I am! So get this, I get off the ship yesterday, they tell me to report in Sandberg in a few days, and just transfer me a wad of cash- here ya go, put yourself up wherever in the meantime. Went to a nice hotel, even ordered room service- I'm telling you, this job is too good to be true. Beats stacking boxes in Goldenrod any day, right? Anyways, I guess you got some too."
G6,000 has indeed been added to your account, along with an email explaining your orders: you're to report in Sandberg in four days time. In the meantime this is something of a leave after training, and something of an introductory period: it is advised that you get to know the region, and get to know your partner, though it is your time, and you're free to do with it as you will.