2024-02-19: Future Shock
- Log: Future Shock
- Cast: Raphael, Ida Everstead-Rey, Violet Salazar, Seraph Cavall, Ethius Hesiod, Blue Oak
- Where: Marze
- Date: February 19, 2024
- Summary: Will Raphael of the Ten Wise Men succeed in destroying Marze and killing her people? Or will the Drifters stop him in time?
DC: Seraph Cavall switches forms to Wilderness Companion Cavall!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
Marze is under attack, and there is no one among the populace yet able to handle the rampage of the beasts that assault it. These are not monsters from their nearby forest. No, these dangers seem more like living ARMs: mechanical beasts tear through their streets and crashing into their homes. Little emotion crosses their demeanor or their faces, most of which are either inflexible or depicted on screens of light.
A wheel of steel and glimmering red rolls past, ripping the earth apart on its way to the Monument of Truth near the center of town. It unfurls legs from its steel body, revealing a more quadruped stance. Native Nedians may think it looks like a Donphan -- an elephant-like Pokemon -- if its face were replaced by a screen with pixel eyes, and if its 'trunk' were no more than an illusion created by the segmented treads fixed to its back.
It greets a figured cloaked in a green robe with red accents that bobs on place, as if not quite standing on solid legs. The way the ends of his robe dangle doesn't suggest such structural support, and his arms are far too long for his body, even at the near seven feet high he's floating at. There is no face: only a shadowy void with two glowing circles for eyes.
The mystery of his silhouette is perhaps less solved when his robes split open like a doorway arch into a swirly, starry void. A giant, monstrous purple hand reaches out to... scratch under where his chin should be.
"Not as impressive as the data would have suggested. I am beginning to grow bored of this. Oh? What is it?" He acknowledges the Paradox Dophan, which extends its trunk-like limb to give Raphael a book. He flips through it, only to quickly throw it aside.
"Rudimentary filth," he delcares. "I should have expected as much."
A shadow swoops down from overhead -- another Pokemon. Like the humanoid Ardaemont, but again with that bizarre mechanical difference. Tall, lanky, and winged with clawed limbs, but the entire body comprised of red, reflective steel. The tail is much thicker than it ought to be, and it is maneless, the head only adorned in horns.
"What is it now?" Raphael's yellow eyes press into a lines of a squint. He follows the Pokemon's gaze to... Oh. He's just noticed that the Drifters are arriving. "Oh. Amusing."
Raphael extends his arms, and the air grows thick and heavy with static. Electric, yellow energy pulses along the ground, buzzing with sleepless power that makes the mechanical lighting within his nearby Pokemon gleam with new intensity.
"Kill them."
VS
Data Analyst Raphael
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK1bYSMFAU4
Data Analyst Raphael sent out Iron Treads!
Data Analyst Raphael sent out Iron Daemon!
Data Analyst Raphael sent out -- "Wait, no, not you. How did you get out?"
A smaller Pokemon, as if a robotic Delibird -- a penguin-like Pokemon -- in shiny red with silver crests slides up beside Raphael on golden ski feet. Instead of a bag, it has a snowglobe orb stuck behind it to mimic a large, round tail. It grabs hold of it to bring it into a weaponized position while a a segmented cord maintaining the connection to its body.
... Iron Bundle has also appeared!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Raphael has attacked Raphael with Electric Terrain! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Raphael's stances have changed to Hero! GS: CRITICAL! Raphael accepts Raphael's Electric Terrain for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper, Lock state, Quick, and Shield applied to Raphael! GS: Raphael has completed its action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
It didn't take long for word of the attack to reach Krosse. The army will be here soon, but as usual, Drifters are among the first responders. Ida is among them.
Great, taloned feet churn up the earth. A defiant bellow rips through the air, as if in answer to the rumbling of the Iron Tread's advance. A great, golden-white destrier of a chocobo races through the town, towards the center of the mayhem. Ida sits atop his back, clad in a duster, denim slacks, and boots. She ducks as the strange winged silhouette swoops overhead, and firmly presses her heels against Sterling's sides. The chocobo skids to a halt. Ida leaps from his back, and stares, for a moment, at the two figures.
The Iron Treads is not new. The last time Ida saw one--the same one?--it was bulldozing its way through the Psynard nesting grounds. That must be another of the Wise Men.
The heiress reaches down, and taps two of the Pokeballs at her belt. Red beams of light shoot outward, condensing into a pair of Eevees. Aurora, the larger one, twitches, and lets out a GROWL the instant she sees the robotic-seeming Pokemon.
'Kill them.' Raphael's command is simple, and a total perversion of everything Ida's learned about Pokemon. A chill races down her spine as she looks at her two dear friends.
"Marigold, Aurora! Stick with Sterling, get the townspeople to safety!"
"Evoi!" says Aurora, snapping to full attention despite her fear.
"Evoi...!" Marigold echoes. She leaps into Sterling's saddle, places a hand on his neck, and guides him away from the monument.
"All right, you," Ida growls, rolling up her duster sleeve. "You owe me a rematch." She blurs forwards, engaging the Iron Treads not with Pokemon, but with her bare hands. What looks like a head-on charge turns into a juke to the side, and she starts circling the behemoth, hammering at its metal hide with a relentless stream of strikes. Open palms, punches, fingertip-strikes, kicks--she's testing its guard, and its maneuverability. One charge could lay her flat out, or worse.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Raphael with Water Dragon Form! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's stances have changed to Stoic! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Violet is visiting her sister and enjoying some tea and cookies with her when she hears crashing noises and cries of alarm from outside. "Get to safety!" she barks, while unwrapping and loading her ARM. When she emerges outside, she sees them: strange mechanical-looking beasts, destroying buildings and menacing the townsfolk. They're not like the Metal Beasts she's faced before: these are more like mechaPokemon. In the distance she sees the entity controlling(?) them, a levitating humanoid in a green robe.
This can't be good. Why does trouble follow her wherever she goes? She moves toward the danger, athwart a tide of fleeing, panicked townspeople. A particularly dangerous-looking draconic monster is circling overhead. She switches her ARM to shotgun mode and fires at it. She hopes it doesn't have fiery breath to burn the town to ashes.
GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Raphael with Buckshot! GS: Violet Salazar has gained 1 Combo! GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
Cavall has been keeping to themselves for a while now, first to explore the reaches of Energy Nede, and then, once the rifts opened, splitting their time between the three worlds, exploring places new and unfamiliar and doing a lot of thinking.
And it just so happens today that they find themselves in the vicinity of Marze when the attack struck. Sharp hearing and a sense for the magical alert them to something amiss, and through the wilderness a wolf streaks at top speed and rushes into the town. They appear to be a perfectly ordinary wolf at first glance--but their unusual orange coloration on the top part of their coat marks them as an earth-elemental seraphim.
The harness with a lantern hanging from it and the chain wrapped around their neck is also a giveaway this wolf is not of the usual sort.
Wolf snarls and growls pepper the streets as they run through, shoving a pokemon asiude here, taking a blow for an innocent there, and closing inexorably on the source of the attack. They burst into the clearing, skidding to a stop with a furious glare for the Wise Man. "Cease this assault at once, fiend," they growl in an androgynous voice. "This affront will not stand."
Once it's clear talking will not resolve this, Cavall inhales deeply, drawing power directly from the earth itself, and their appearance seems to harden, taking on a more mineralistic appearance. They lunge for the nearest pokemon with a snarp and a bite.
GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Raphael with Earthen Strike! GS: Seraph Cavall has gained 2 Combo! GS: Seraph Cavall's stances have changed to Stoic! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 21 THP from their Cautious! GS: Seraph Cavall has completed their action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is nearby, on virtue of wanting to journey to Marze to go over the local understanding of Symbology and how it might (or might not) hold any helpful clues for dealing with some of the individual Symbological quirks he's had to try and reckon with of Energy Nede's design. He'd have a hard time explaining the finer details about it to someone who isn't a professional Symbologist at the level - for sake of brevity, it's 'a lot' and 'makes him feel like he might have tattoo'd the equivalent of a kindergartener's first written language lessons all over his body.' (Which is a very funny internal image, he would confess, but the matter is grave.)
After the clash at Kattelox, he'd imagine the collective lot wouldn't feel too individually threatened by Filgaia's nor Lunar's inherent capacity for the craft - but his imagination didn't stretch far enough into the truth of current events.
'Strange creatures, help,' the summary comes in, and he's running to get there alongside whomever else.
He might be among the first to state the obvious when he gets there. "...These are Pokemon," he catches from a glimpse of Iron Treads - talk about a creature of its exact description made the rounds since Ida and some others helped bring endangered wild Psynmphs to safety. He looks up to the strange entity that seems to sight him about as quickly as he does the entire menagerie, stepping back as an electric field pulses ahead.
"...My individual defenses might be undone by that field," Ethius remarks to the rest, "I can't test that theory against the risk." The delivery underscores how unsettling the idea of it is, even if he might be overestimating the capacity of the Electric Terrain. The Ten Wise Men and their allies - they appear to have some if the description of Cynne is accurate - had time to prepare and adjust tactics against the Drifters that dared to stand them head on.
On Ethius' belt, one of the Pokeballs he has stowed away for travel starts to shudder. Fear? He grabs hold of it - and another, looking up to Raphael and his menagerie.
"...This isn't fear, is it?" He asks of the shuddering Pokeballs, who can't quite answer - but he also can't stand by.
"I - we'll provide support against the menagerie. Until we know otherwise... even Pokemon of that nature may still be bound by the same rules as any other," he offers, as he throws out two Pokeballs at once. He knows who has who!
"Miliza! Gerel!" He calls their names, both spherical containers releasing the upright wood-carving lizard and the aesthetically pleasing land barnacle as they touch down upon the electrified field together.
Miliza, as per normal, widens her eyes and points her wood-axe defensively in the direction of the three of them, but is edging forward slightly but shrinking somewhat from Iron Daemon's gaze if it falls upon her.
Gerel's tongue lolls out as their mouth clenches once looking at Iron Treads, then back at Ethius, then looking forward again.
"Gerel." Ethius calls to the Poison-type ally of his. "Back up Ida - that's... that's her," he points out, "back her up with a Poison Fang against the... penguin?"
Ethius knows there's multiple penguin-analogues but doesn't know all their names. Gerel seems to get the gist of this though, ambling along in Iron Bundle's direction to clamp their poisonous fangs against them.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Raphael with Poison Fang! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
Blue has been exploring Filgaia. Charizard's a fast flier with enough offensive ability to keep him safe, so he's been gradually getting further from the portal. When he sees Marze under attack, however, he flies into town, moving to group up with the other drifters he sees approaching the chaos.
"Manny, let me down." Blue speaks to his Charizard, leaping off once at a close enough height, but does not put him back in the ball. He nods to the others, before starting for Raphael and...
Looking for his eyes. He seems familiar. There's only one thing he could be. Once he gets 'close' enough for 'eye contact', he points. "Hey, you! You're one of the Wise Men, aren't you? Our eyes met... you know what that means!" It's bluster to strengthen himself into being able to battle an actual Wise Man, but he keeps his face confident, smirking.
"I can't wait to take your lunch money. Manny, focus on the Donphan... evolution? Man, did they start becoming Steel-type or something? Ugh."
With a swivel of a hand, Blue points out, making sure he's not in collateral range of the fight, and Charizard darts forward, hovering slightly above the ground. "Rush him! Flamethrower!" Blue calls out, as Charizard grows hot. Flames begin to bellow from his nostrils and mouth, smoke building, before a raging hot breath of flame is blasted at Iron Treads in a fly-by. There's enough space for Iron Treads to react, but the fire is hot enough to really hurt.
As he watches Charizard fly, Blue notices Ida... punching it. "Hey! Be careful!", says the fifteen year old just standing on the sidelines calling orders to a 'dragon'.
GS: Blue Oak has attacked Raphael with Rush In!! GS: Blue Oak has gained 3 Combo! GS: Blue Oak has completed his action. GS: Raphael successfully guards Ida Everstead-Rey's Water Dragon Form for 18 hit points! GS: FP up! Reaction bonus! GS: Raphael critically fails to evade Violet Salazar's Buckshot for 85 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Shield applied to Violet Salazar! GS: FP up! Countermeasures! GS: Raphael successfully guards Seraph Cavall's Earthen Strike for 6 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cover, Riposte, and Shield applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: Raphael successfully evades Ethius Hesiod's Poison Fang for 8 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease and Poison blocked! GS: Raphael marginally guards Blue Oak's Rush In! for 34 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
Violet directs others away from the conflict, while Cavall shields them. But without removing Raphael from the equation, there will be no end to this attack. Not that he seems the least bit concerned, floating behind his Pokemon as he scrutinizes those that have arrived here. He gesturs with one of his strangely long arms like a lazy conductor to signal their attacks. There are brief strings of Symbols occasionally visible.
He only perks up as Blue calls him out. Raphael chuckles good humoredly.
"I did not realize the new generation of whelps was so comedic. I shall have to thank your grandfather for the entertainment when I deliver the news of your death."
Iron Treads raises its trunk and locks its pixel eyes with Ida. There is a recongition in the cautious way it regards her. It roars out, whipping around to try and locate her amongst the strides pummeled into its hard, armored body. No dent is made, but its balance is disoriented, its movements just a fraction slower than they should be. Trunt flailing, it tries to find an opening to smash directly into her with a jerk of its head.
"Do my a favor and actually get rid of her this time. Before she makes herself a problem."
Once Blue's Charizard's flames are upon the Iron Treads, it rolls up to protect itself -- clearly disliking the heat -- and rolls, launching itself off of a ramp of rubble to crash into the other Pokemon.
Violet's shotgun batters into Iron Daemon's wing, jostling its flight and lowering the altitude enough for Cavall to leap onto it with their earthen jaws. Electricity gathers at Iron Daemon's fists and with an echoing snarl, it tries to hurl Cavall off and strike with a lightning fist, darting into Violet for the other half of this one-two punch.
"Hm? What's this? A new pair of Pokemon?" He squints at beastwomen and wolf Seraph alike. "But they're so... small."
Iron Bundle skates a beautiful semi-circle around Gerel, artfully dodging -- nope! A clip of a fang scratches across Iron Bundle's wing, and the metallic penguin sputters, tips, and lands flat on its side. It seems merely by happenstance entirely that some mechanism triggers and blasts a cold beam of ice out of the snowglobe tail its carrying for Ethius and his Gerel.
Raphael gestures at Ethius as he looks to Iron Bundle in exasperation.
"All this trouble to scout the matchups --" he appears to be talking about Ethius, and not his Pokemon "-- to ensure that your weaknesses would not be exploited, and you're going to waste it, just like that?"
GS: Raphael has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Iron Head! GS: Raphael has attacked Blue Oak with Iron Head! GS: Raphael spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Raphael has attacked Violet Salazar with Thunder Punch! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Raphael spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Raphael has attacked Seraph Cavall with Thunder Punch! GS: Raphael has gained 1 Combo! GS: Raphael has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Ice Beam! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Raphael has completed its action. GS: CRITICAL! Violet Salazar critically fails to guard Raphael's Thunder Punch for 143 hit points! GS: Interrupt applied to Violet Salazar! GS: Violet Salazar has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: Blue Oak successfully guards Raphael's Iron Head for 84 hit points! GS: FP up! Power Burst and Reaction bonus! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey successfully guards Raphael's Iron Head for 103 hit points! GS: FP up! Power Burst! GS: COUNTER! Ethius Hesiod counterattacks Raphael with Held Item - Powder Grenade! GS: Ethius Hesiod successfully charges Raphael's Ice Beam for 113 hit points! GS: Ethius Hesiod's Slow Ward may block the effect! GS: Slow blocked! GS: Seraph Cavall fails to evade Raphael's Thunder Punch for 120 hit points! GS: Interrupt applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: Seraph Cavall has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: CRITICAL! Raphael successfully evades Ethius Hesiod's Held Item - Powder Grenade for 20 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Shield applied to Ethius Hesiod!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Gerel's upper body swivels while watching Iron Bundle circle (and then stumble) around them, their interest piqued in the form and movement, while Miliza continues to edge along and watch from the periphery like a coiled up bundle of tension ready to swing forth against a world that - beyond the rift - would still put her on part of everyone's food chain in some form.
He's sparing a glance to watch for how Ida does against Iron Treads and the level of direct danger that Violet stands to be, but only so much as Raphael gestures to him.
"Move forward," Ethius snaps a finger as Gerel shuts their mouth tight and weathers the Ice Beam, trying to move in on the tipped-over Iron Bundle. A frosty halo that seems to give them an awesome icicle-like 360-degree beard adds levity to the numbing feeling as Raphael taunts Ethius' occasionally questionable tactical acumen with his Pokemon.
"You've failed to notice," Ethius remarks, "we're not the only present member of the counter-offensive. Furthermore..."
Gerel opens up their mouth. On their tongue... a satchel that goes off, exploding into a big cloud of dust that might be mitigated in impact somewhat by the level of moisture in the air in Iron Bundle's wake, but--
"I believe I see the cornerstone of your approach." Blue sounds confident about what he's up against, and from all Ethius knows of the young man (of fifteen years), the majority of it is very much earned by Nedian cultural standards that he can grasp.
"Miliza," Ethius looks to the upright wooden armament-adorned lizard, her tail standing on end but nodding vigorously at hearing him over some of what's going on (she's a bit freaked out watching Iron Daemon move like they are against Violet and Cavall). "Hold steady. Your shield will hold."
"Gerel," Ethius turns back to the barnacle, who shakes vigorously to get the 360-degree icicle beard off and get some circulation back into them. "Release your Gastro Acid upon them."
Ethius' voice holds calm and steady for the moment, tightening his body language as per he's known for - whatever his observed 'cornerstone' of Raphael's set-up is, some of it involves a particularly unsavory release of acidic bile to splash about the Iron Bundle and the electrically charged area around them.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Raphael with Gastro Acid! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
The dragon charges its fists with electricity and PUMMELS Violet! She feels a couple of ribs crack. It hurts so much, so much. But she can't let it destroy her hometown! Gasping shallowly, she backpedals away from the beast, takes cover behind a nearby stone wall, and loads her ARM with meteoric-iron bullets. "Won't...let...you...win," she insists. "Leave...Marze...alone!" She aims and fires, hoping the wall will protect her from the beast. At least for awhile...
GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Raphael with Wildcat Cartridge! GS: Violet Salazar has gained 2 Combo! GS: Interrupt expired! GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
The assist from Violet's shotgun blast is certainly helpful, but blessedly Cavall is not fully constrained by the limits of a flesh and blood body when it comes to things like 'jump height.' They try to release their jaws to escape the incoming blow, but they're too slow to drop off, and the punch slams them into the ground instead with a grunt and a large cloud of dust.
But they spring to their feet--paws--a moment later, shaking off the impact with a full body shake. Are they a new type of pokemon? "We are not born of your star, tyrant," they declare.
Cavall casts a quick glance to Ida. "Seer Ida, I have traveled far and wide on the distant star, but I have yet to see creatures of their ilk. Are they familiar to you?"
There are numerous opponents, but the best thing to do is to reduce the enemy's mobility, to bring things down to ground where they can be contained more easily. Althenian runes appear under their feet as they chant a short spell, and from deep in the earth thorny vines erupt, leashing out against the Iron Demon and attempting to ensnare them and bring them back to the ground.
GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Raphael with Ivy Rush! GS: Interrupt expired! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 21 THP from their Cautious! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 5 FP from Gleam! GS: Seraph Cavall has completed their action. GS: Raphael critically fails to guard Ethius Hesiod's Gastro Acid for 42 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Lock state removed! GS: Disrupt blocked! GS: Quick applied to Ethius Hesiod! GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened! GS: Raphael successfully evades Violet Salazar's Wildcat Cartridge for 7 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Shield applied to Violet Salazar! GS: FP up! Countermeasures! GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened! GS: Raphael successfully guards Seraph Cavall's Ivy Rush for 5 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Entangle applied to Raphael!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida doesn't take her eyes off the Iron Treads, but as others enter the fray, she makes note. Her head snaps in Blue's direction as he tells her to be careful, and she responds with a brief, sharp nod. The martial artist jukes sideways as Manny comes in for the Flamethrower, staying well out of range--
But any question as to whether or not this Iron Treads was that Iron Treads is answered in a moment. "It is you, huh?" she says, her voice tight. She thinks of the little Psynymph entrusted to her care, who still startles at the sound of rumbling, motorized or otherwise. The little Psynymph that curls up with Aurora and Marigold to sleep at night.
Ida's anger flares, and she snarls as Raphael speaks; the Iron Treads finds that opening, or something like it. Her hands whip up, catching the strange Pokemon's trunk, but the force of the movement shoves her roughly back. Her feet leave the ground, and she slams, back-first, into a nearby building. The wooden siding bends around her with a sharp creak.
Ida plants a foot on the churned-up earth. Her head whips towards Cavall. "Not from this world. Extremely dangerous. More later." The Seer lets out a long, slow breath. Gummy, quicksilvery-blue flesh surges out from her skin, engulfing her body--hardening into a layer of armor done up in blues, black, and gold.
The remaining normal Pokeball at her belt quivers, but does not open.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Third Method - Shaping the Battle-Forged Shell! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 6 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's Stoic stance ends! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey gains 20 THP from Cancel! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's Third Method - Shaping the Battle-Forged Shell for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Cover applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
"That's against League Regulations. As a Champion-class, I have to report that, y'know? Plus the violation of Triple Battle rules, big no-no." Blue keeps up the sass, using it to bolster his motivation. Despite that, as Charizard gets hammered by the Iron Head, pulling his wings up to prevent it from battering his head or organs, the Pokemon roars. Blue winces at the pain of his best friend, pushing forward in footing to get a better look at the battle.
The Wise Man had mentioned his grandfather. He was a Wise Man, so it made sense he knew everything, but it was still frightening to be identified so easily, even as a celebrity.
Ida knows what she's doing, so Blue keeps up the attack. "Show him what you've got! Manny, Fire Fang!"
Charizard bats a wing forward, fire emerging from his mouth and surrounding his jaws, before sharp hot teeth move to impact straight into the hard shell of Iron Treads, without any sign of damage to Charizard himself.
GS: Blue Oak has attacked Raphael with Show Your Moves!! GS: Blue Oak has gained 1 Combo! GS: Blue Oak's stances have changed to Hero! GS: Blue Oak has completed his action. GS: Raphael critically fails to charge Blue Oak's Show Your Moves! for 122 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper applied to Blue Oak!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
A Powder Grenade explodes from Iron Bundle's attack, and Raphael coughs (does he have a face...?) through it until it clears. "What did you do this time?!" he accuses of Iron Bundle. "Deli..." Raphael growls a frustrated sound and looks toward Ethius. "Such pathetic specimens can do nothing even with an accurate read. And I doubt you that." He brandishes out his hand. "Iron Daemon!" He calls. "Take care of it."
Iron Bundle looks up at Raphael in shock and then droops as it is replaced by the sudden swooping of Iron Daemon, who dives down toward Gerel, straight through the acidic volley as if it were nothing and --
...Calls up a rather weak, twisting storm for an assault. It's more like a dust devil, really. Iron Daemon pauses, looking to its own output, then to its clawed hands. Its own electronic lighting is dimmed compred to the other Paradox Pokemon on the field... the Electric Terrain along the ground no longer feeds into its Quark Drive.
"I am not asking for permission," Raphael tells Violet, with all the room in the world to talk while his Pokemon do the work.
And they are working while he is paying more attention to mocking than fighting. Iron Daemon scrambles with a desperate, launching flap to barely evade Violet's bullets. But Cavall's vines emerge from the earth, grabbing hold to drag it down. Vulernable, it shrieks and claws and gnashes.
"What is happening over there?" Raphael snaps his attention to Cavall and Iron Daemon. "Ugh, perhaps I should capture that Grass dog afterall." Raphael, this is all extremely rude! But he hardly cares, and he spreads out his robes like the arch of a doorway. They open wide to display that haunting, void of a galaxy within. That monstrous hand from the depths reaches out, snatching up Iron Daemon to return it inside.
Then Raphael vanishes. He reappears, teleporting with ease across the battlefield behind Cavall, reaching to take them into the dimension within his robes. Unlike Iron Daemon, Cavall can struggle out of this... though it will seem their whole world becomes a swirl of dizzying color and disorienting dreams until they can pop free.
Iron Treads's pixel eyes gain angry eyebrows at Ida, as if this were all the confirmation she needed. It slams its front 'legs' into the ground, then rolls up once more, charging at Ida at breakneck speed and uncaring for how it may run over Violet along the way. Each turn of its body charges it with sparking, golden electricty that explodes on impact...
"Report me?" Raphael laughs again. "Report --" He starts laughing harder before he can finish. He sighs with amusement.
...and Iron Treads makes it all the way towards Blue's Charizard, even if it only gets a fiery chomp for its efforts while the flaming fangs easily sink past the defenses of its steel typing.
Iron Bundle, meanwhile, is busy producing and stacking ribboned boxes behind Raphael.
GS: Raphael enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Raphael has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Twister! GS: Raphael has gained 4 Combo! GS: Raphael's Hero stance ends! GS: Raphael has attacked Seraph Cavall with Dimensional Devour! GS: Raphael has gained 1 Combo! GS: Raphael has activated Force Action: Extend! GS: Raphael has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Wild Charge! GS: Raphael has attacked Violet Salazar with Wild Charge! GS: Raphael has attacked Blue Oak with Wild Charge! GS: Recover! Entangle removed from Raphael! GS: Raphael has completed its action. GS: Ethius Hesiod successfully guards Raphael's Twister for 29 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Blue Oak has activated Force Action: Guard! GS: CRITICAL! Blue Oak fails to guard Raphael's Wild Charge for 276 hit points! GS: FP up! Power Burst! GS: Strain! Raphael takes 150 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Violet's bullet barely grazes the dragon, who dodges deftly before becoming entangled in the Earth Seraph's vines. What a waste of a special bullet, she thinks. But no one can say she didn't try! She switches her ARM back to shotgun mode to try again, hoping the pellets won't damage the restraining vines too much! She nods her thanks to Cavall, who has the hazy outline identifying them as a Seraph to her limited Resonance. There'll be time for introductions later! Right now they all have to focus on battle! Raphael returns the dragon to inside himself(!) and Iron Treads trundles by Violet, forcing her to duck out of the way. She re-orients herself and changes her target to Iron Treads!
GS: Seraph Cavall successfully charges Raphael's Dimensional Devour for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Cavall gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: FP up! Arcane Font! GS: You cannot act while you still have attacks in queue. GS: Violet Salazar successfully evades Raphael's Wild Charge for 100 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Violet Salazar gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Strain! Raphael takes 150 damage! GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Raphael with Hot Blooded! GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey successfully evades Raphael's Wild Charge for 121 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Power Burst and Reaction bonus! GS: Strain! Raphael takes 150 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
There is a vaguely Delibird-shaped issue in Raphael's lineup. Ida can't spare it much thought for now, but fresh anger wells up as he berates his own Pokemon. But it does suggest that the Wise Men might not have as much control over these creatures as she first thought...
On the other hand: a giant, terrible hand emerges from Raphael's robe to snatch up the underperforming Iron Daemon. Then--
"Cavall, look out--!" Ida cries, eyes widening.
Iron Treads charges. Ida springs, throwing herself into a tuck-and-roll. It's like dodging a speeding train; the wake of the Pokemon's charge clips her, and sends her sprawling. A few of those bright sparks land on her armor-coated duster, and a jolt of electricity arcs through her.
A thought strikes her. It's unhinged. It's either brilliant or incredibly tactically unsound, maybe both. "Come on," Ida says, as she scrambles to her feet, leaving herself wide open for another charge. "I know you can do better than that!" She barely escaped the last one.
And if Iron Treads charges again, Ida's stance shifts. She lowers her hips, and grabs for one of those great, metallic tusks. Braced, she tries to redirect the Pokemon's momentum forward, and then down--her armored body bends backwards at the waist as she throws Iron Treads into a Kislevi-style suplex.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Raphael with Overturn the Black Tortoise! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Iron Daemon moves in to 'take care of it' as Raphael demeans those who would stand against his ambitions. Ethius has never seen these creatures directly before, and only has a faint idea of what to expect, but Miliza's immediate tension is at least quantifiable off the Iron Daemon's flight.
"Hold steady," Ethius commands as he has to take out his own staff to plant it down to have something to hold onto as the Twister - even blunted in strength - sweeps through their part of the fight. Gerel, weakened by taking an Ice Beam head on, flops over onto their side from weakened footing and a pathetic-sounding, trailing 'reeeeeeeelll~'
"Return," Ethius holds up a Pokeball to catch Gerel before the Twister sends them flying off. He's not going to chance Gerel's well-being further than that. "...You did well," he adds.
"Miiiiii!!" Miliza braces, holding her shield out. Even a weaker Twister is still being commanded by a powerful, capable Pokemon and needs be treated like a threat.
"Hold steady..." Ethius squints as he holds his forearm, until he sees how Iron Daemon seems lost and confused by... something, or another. Miliza holds steady enough, peering up over her shield as she notices Iron Daemon faltering (and eventually being removed).
"...I confess I only have a theory," Ethius remarks, "which... I will be asking Ghark to test. Go!"
The third one to take the field, Ghark, materializes into a large ape-like creature who exaggeratedly dances back and forth at the slight shocks of static of the Electric Terrain. "Ghahahaha...? Ark."
"The cornerstone of your strategy appears to involve this... terrain." Ethius is only guessing the terminology and has it right entirely by coincidence. He holds his composure even at the ghastly sight of Raphael drawing one of his Pokemon partners back inside himself, and the attempt to capture Cavall inside. The derision of laughter that Raphael gives about Blue's snark...
"Miss Ida, Miss Violet, just in case, I would brace." Ethius says, as he points to Ghark. "We will be clearing the field of this hazard," he's conflating two different things conceptually, and yet...!
"Ghark, use Rapid Spin!"
Ghark claps his fingers as he shakes out the latest of a funny static shock, nods, grins... and gets spinning with his arms out. Any shrapnel, hazards or other things on the field are about to be picked up and flung away by the force, and if the Gastic Acid has somehow absorbed some of the terrain by happenstance, well...
There's a theory worth testing.
(Iron Bundle probably doesn't deserve the head-on collision with a spinning Ghark, but Ghark is magnetically attracted to physical comedy and there's a loving stack of ribboned boxes right there!)
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Lock On! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Raphael with Rapid Spin! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Raphael critically fails to guard Ethius Hesiod's Rapid Spin for 49 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Recover! Hyper and Quick removed from Ethius Hesiod! GS: Shield applied to Ethius Hesiod! GS: Raphael fails to charge Violet Salazar's Hot Blooded for 120 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Shieldbreak blocked! GS: FP up! Countermeasures! GS: Raphael critically fails to charge Ida Everstead-Rey's Overturn the Black Tortoise for 136 hit points! GS: Raphael enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
Charizard bites in, even as the Iron Treads is an unstoppable death ball rolling towards him. He tries to hold on, but is sent flying backwards, nearly flattened, unable to bolster his wings fast enough.
There's a roar, and almost a collapse, but this isn't some competition battle. This is a battle to protect Blue, and everyone else. To be a hero!
Blue's screaming his name, because even Blue can recognize this is a dangerous battle, one for keeps on the Wise Man's side. The timing it may take him to switch Pokemon could cost people their lives. "Manny! MANNY, YOU CAN DO IT!"
Suddenly, there's a step. And another. Charizard lifts himself upwards, placing his claws together as he exhales a puff of smoke. And then, he soars upwards.
Blue gets an idea immediately, an old trick of theirs for big foes. Ida's maneuver to suplex the Iron Treads shocks him, but... the timing may be perfect. "Hyper Beam, straight from above!"
Right as Ida's suplex either works, or she disengages, Charizard flies up high, straight above Iron Treads. The flying Iron Daemon is gone, so there's no real risk in this at the moment.
And then a crackling, cascading beam of white light bellows from Charizard's maw, a powerful burst of pure energy moving to 'smite'. Not that it's lethal, of course.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
Cavall returns the sharp nod as Ida says 'More later.' They understand. Now is the time for action, not for words.
Grass dog.
Grass dog.
Getting it from Juni was bad enough.
Raphael appears suddenly behind them, sucking them into that dimension. Cavall tries to hold their ground, claws digging into the ground as they are dragged, inch by inch, into that dimensional maelstrom.
They are sucked inside.
But them a moment later, of all things, an anchor rockets out of that dimension in the Wise Man's robes. It embeds itself solidly into the earth. Attached to it is a chain. (The electric floor is making electricity arc up into the anchor and down the chain, but it's okay. Cavall is a Ground type, if anything. Also magic and also not a pokemon.)
Cavall comes shooting out of that void next, the end of the chain clenched tightly within their jaw. They skid to a stop on all four paws, dropping the chain as they pant, regaining their bearings.
"I am no mere pup," they declare. (Seriously, Raphael. The wolf is talking, they aren't a pokemon.) They turn slowly to face Raphael, settling down into a wide stance. "I am the Seraph Cavall. I am the will of the Goddess Althena made manifest." They inhale deeply, and seem to be drawing in strength as they go on. "I am born of a mountain, with the might of its stone and the swiftness of its winds."
Energy flows into them, and in an instant they seem restored.
GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Seraph Cavall with Mountainheart! GS: Seraph Cavall has gained 2 Combo! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 28 THP from their Cautious! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 5 FP from Gleam! GS: Cover and Riposte expired! GS: Seraph Cavall has completed their action. GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Cavall heals Seraph Cavall! They gains 247 temporary hit points! GS: Restore! Entangle and Shieldbreak removed! GS: Blue Oak spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Blue Oak has attacked Raphael with Hyper Beam!! GS: Blue Oak has gained 1 Combo! GS: Blue Oak gains 5 FP from Gleam! GS: Blue Oak has completed his action. GS: Raphael critically fails to guard Blue Oak's Hyper Beam! for 178 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
"Oh, it's just another ape," Raphael says, unconcerned as Ghark is released onto the field. "I do suppose you all must stick together on this." But Ethius has identified the problem: the terrain. And Ghark becomes a whirlwind.
Lingering acid soaks up electricity while the spinning arms of Ghark throw it out of field. It tosses away rubble, stone, and minerals. Anything that is or could possibly be holding a charge right now is caught in a vortex and flung until --
The Electric Terrain fades completely, removing the yellow ripples from the earth and draining Raphael's Pokemon of their energized lighting. Raphael pops up to attention, staring at the spinning Ghark.
"What? No, focus on the -- where are you going?!"
Iron Treads was already commanded to charge in a new assault. Iron Treads cannot stop its momentum now. Iron Treads MUST continue charging. Oh, how Iron Treads charges. Dauntless, relentless, Iron Treads charges...! Right into Ida's solid stance. Its strange metal tusks stick horizontally out of its face -- the perfect handles to be grabbed onto and used as leverage to lift up -- overhead -- all the way over and
SUPLEX it like the train it behaves as!
With it downed, Violet can lay into it with bullets from her ARM. Meanwhile, Blue's Charizard has full command of the sky. From its aerial advantage, he's able to charge a full Hyper Beam and lay into the other Pokemon.
Once the blast clears, Iron Treads tries to stand, only to collapse again with x's for eyes while its lights glitch.
The opposing Iron Treads has fainted!
"What." Raphael was too busy trying -- and failing -- to contain Cavall, looking up only now to see his Pokemon fallen while Cavall bursts out of Raphael. "What, hey! Get back here!" Unfortunately, Raphael does not seem to care that Cavall can talk. He heaves a sigh. "Such wasted power on obsolete ideas..."
Ghark may still be spinning.
Iron Bundle is still stacking. Stack. Stack. Stack.
CRASH!!
"Deliiiiiiiiii!!" Iron Bundle topples away, its wrapped boxes EXPLODING on contact. It scrambles to grab a few leftover and hurl them toward the targets it can, but now everyone is well aware what these boxes are meant to do...!
"What." Raphael says again, his own 'perfectly' planned battle now descending rather quickly into unexpected chaos.
GS: Raphael has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Ida Everstead-Rey received a gift!! GS: Raphael has gained 1 Combo! GS: Raphael has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Ethius Hesiod received a gift!! GS: Raphael has gained 1 Combo! GS: Raphael has attacked Blue Oak with Blue Oak received a gift!! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Raphael has attacked Violet Salazar with Violet Salazar received a gift!! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Raphael enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Raphael has attacked Seraph Cavall with Seraph Cavall received a gift!! GS: Raphael has gained 1 Combo! GS: Raphael enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Raphael has completed its action. GS: Sneak! The true nature of Raphael's attack becomes clear! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Catastrophic! Gamble: Moderate! Violet Salazar fails to guard Raphael's Present for 220 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Violet Salazar gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Seraph Cavall used Defend! They takes Raphael's WRONG PRESENT attack on Blue Oak on themself! GS: Sneak! The true nature of Raphael's attack becomes clear! GS: CRITICAL! ROU|LET|TE: Moderate! Gamble: Moderate! Seraph Cavall successfully charges Raphael's Present for 104 hit points! GS: FP up! Reaction bonus! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Seraph Cavall receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Seraph Cavall enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: expired! GS: Sneak! The true nature of Raphael's attack becomes clear! GS: CRITICAL! Raphael heals Seraph Cavall! They gains 238 temporary hit points! GS: Nothing removed!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
...The gift that was meant for Blue hits Cavall and... explodes into glittering, refreshing sparkles of healing energy. There's also a cute doll of a Charmander inside.
Raphael stares.
Then Raphael stares a few seconds more.
"You -- you healed them. The precise opposite of what I asked for."
He teleports to Iron Bundle, his violet hand lurching out of his robes to grab Iron Bundle. His grip is so tight that Iron Bundle's head overextends on an extendable metal rod. "Deliiiii ii iiiiii!"
"You pointless, mass produced holiday display piece! Isn't there a garage storage bin you should be collecting dust in until I ensure the future you're from ceases to exist?!"
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Raphael's attack becomes clear! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Catastrophic! Gamble: Very High! Ethius Hesiod fails to charge Raphael's Present for 298 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Sneak! The true nature of Raphael's attack becomes clear! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Moderate! Gamble: Low! Ida Everstead-Rey successfully guards Raphael's Present for 42 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
"Obsolete? How quickly you dismiss that which you do not understand."
Cavall may be a wolf, but they are also of the earth, and once they start charging forward, they seem to barrel right through the exploding present without even being phased. Yet, they're also light enough that they can leap swiftly into the sky, intercepting the present tossed for Charizard--
--only to be left startled as they get sparkles of healing energy. They land nimbly on the ground and swiftly catch the charmander doll in their jaws.
Which does not see fit to explode, which is either confusiong or not confusing at this point, given all the presents being tossed around. So instead they deign to simply place it on the ground, where anyone can claim it.
But perhaps there's a kernel of a good deed, in the idea of a gift. Cavall plants their feet again, and Althenian runes appear beneath their feet once more. But after a moment they appear under Violet, Ida, Ghark, and Charizard as well, and they find themselves imbued with some of the energy of the earth, a powerful gift to bolster flagging spirits.
GS: Seraph Cavall spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Renewal of Spirit! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Violet Salazar with Renewal of Spirit! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Renewal of Spirit! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Blue Oak with Renewal of Spirit! GS: Seraph Cavall has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 26 THP from their Cautious! GS: Seraph Cavall has completed their action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Seraph Cavall's Renewal of Spirit for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: FP up! Seraph Cavall's Reload!! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod accepts Seraph Cavall's Renewal of Spirit for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: FP up! Seraph Cavall's Reload!! GS: Violet Salazar accepts Seraph Cavall's Renewal of Spirit for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: FP up! Seraph Cavall's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's face twists in an unhinged, adrenaline-fueled grin. She holds onto Iron Treads' tusks, keeping it as close to 'pinned' as she can manage as Violet and Blue lay into it. (Manny, especially, is well-trained--direct hit on the enemy Pokemon with that powerful beam, without endangering her.) She feels the mighty beast thrash, trying to right itself--
And it's down. Ida lets go, kips upright, and flashes the others an 'ok' with her hand. Ghark whirls past her, and Ida glances back at Ethius, confused--but as his Pokemon twirls about, the static in the air grows less pronounced. And Raphael's Pokemon--it's weakening them. Let it never be said that Ethius Hesiod can't be a keen tactical study.
Even in the face of exploding presents. One of them flies directly at Ida. She raises an armored arm and swats it away with the flat of her hand. Callous-looking, perhaps, but the present flies past her and detonates with big, sparkly BOOM that rattles her armor and sends her stumbling a step. Cavall's runic circle ignites beneath her a moment later, steadying her balance and soothing the mild ringing in her ear. Ida looks at Cavall and the present that didn't explode, then at Iron Bundle--
"Drop them," Ida says, to Raphael. To add emphasis, she presses her fingers together to form a single striking plane, golden-white chi boiling off her hand as she lunges at the Wise Man. She drives them right for where a heart should be, beneath that robe, and if she connects, all that energy discharges into Raphael. It's not agonizing, but it makes coordination difficult, and movement uncomfortable.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Raphael with Searing Ember Strike! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 5 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's stances have changed to ! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Blue Oak accepts Seraph Cavall's Renewal of Spirit for 0 hit points! GS: FP up! Seraph Cavall's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
Despite fainting the opponent, eventually, Charizard has to land. When he does, he's completely fatigued, needing to rest briefly from the Hyper Beam.
That's when Iron Bundle, 'the doofy Delibird' as Blue considered it, throws a present. "Manny, look-"
He's not fast enough, when an invisible force intercepts the present and places the doll on the ground. Blue blinks several times, as Charizard gains some power from the air.
"Uh... huh. Thank you...Filgaian ghosts?" It must be Filgaian ghosts.
Blue walks over and picks up the doll, a sense of nostalgia washing over him, as Charizard prepares for the next attack after taking a brief rest. "Oh, right. Wing Attack!"
The Pokemon rushes forward, wing moving to rush and impact straight into Raphael and try and force his grip to loosen, almost like a football player's tackle.
"Leave it alone. We may have been joking around a bit before, but abusing your friends? That's not right." Blue's getting angry, smirk disappearing.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Raphael's Wild Charge hits Violet, bruising her ribs some more. "Owww," she groans. She won't be able to keep this up much longer! "Keep...fighting!" she encourages her companions. "Don't...give...up...now!" She hears and sees the carnage, and hopes her sister -- and the rest of her family -- is all right!
"Miss Ida, Miss Violet, just in case, I would brace," Ethius announces, and Violet complies, crouching against the stone wall for all she's worth. In that position, she misses Ida and Blue tag-teaming Iron Treads -- but will sure hear about it later! Moments later, she leans around her covering wall and fires directly at Raphael. Time to forget about the middlepokemon and go right after their trainer!
GS: Violet Salazar spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Raphael with Finishing Touch! GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action. GS: Blue Oak has attacked Raphael with Hit Hard!! GS: Blue Oak has gained 1 Combo! GS: Blue Oak gains 5 FP from Gleam! GS: Blue Oak has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
'What.' Comes Raphael's exasperation.
"What." Comes Ethius' confusion.
"Ghark." Comes Ghark's grim realization.
"...Zaaa~" Miliza sighs in relief as she realizes she's standing over there.
Ethius himself tries to bolt forward upon realizing what's about to go on here, but he doesn't make it in time before an enormous explosion sends Ghark corkscrewing away--
"Miliza, catch--!"
Miliza sees her larger, heavier teammate barreling towards her. She holds up her shield and braces, and the two of them collapse into a comical heap as Ghark flops onto their back with spiraling eyes and a sooty layer all around himself.
"Miii," Miliza droops over Ghark and exhales a long, cutesy little air bubble of exhausion.
Ethius holds up both Pokeballs to call them back, silently, as Raphael berates his last standing Pokemon to a series of unkind threats and words. He considers as he picks up his fourth and last Pokeball, dropping it down to the ground behind him in order to obscure the flash of light that would produce Arcmene.
The skulking, staring spider skitters along about the area as if trying to avoid being seen, circling around, occasionally staring at everyone else and what they're doing, before coming along up behind Iron Bundle, perfectly hidden from the assumption of Raphael's range of vision.
"You do not leave a great first impression as a Trainer." Ethius remarks, as someone new to the culture and discipline.
There's only the subtle sounds of tapping on glass and steel, concessions of a creature's mass against a body it now clings to.
"...At risk of making light of the situation, I'd hope we leave a better one."
Moments later, bright eyes peer over the top of Iron Bundle to Raphael.
!
"Arcmene, First Impression."
Arcmene leaps from on top of Iron Bundle into Raphael, a flailing mass of skittering limbs and arm-mandibles in the elementally perfect representation of a sudden jumpscare with a shrieky 'MENEMENEMENEMENE' as one of Energy Nede's foremost folkloric figures of being a really creepy thing that goes bump in the night.
(It might scare Ida's Psynymph a little if they see him.)
GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Raphael with First Impression!! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod's stances have changed to Stoic! GS: Ethius Hesiod gains 25 THP from his Cautious! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Raphael successfully guards Ida Everstead-Rey's Searing Ember Strike for 16 hit points! GS: Cripple and Disease applied to Raphael! GS: Raphael successfully evades Violet Salazar's Finishing Touch for 59 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam blocked! GS: Shield applied to Violet Salazar! GS: FP up! Countermeasures! GS: Raphael fails to guard Blue Oak's Hit Hard! for 80 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper applied to Blue Oak! GS: Raphael successfully evades Ethius Hesiod's First Impression! for 41 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Interrupt blocked! GS: FP up! Reaction bonus! GS: Raphael has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
"I am able to process information far beyond your primative mind, pup," Raphael shoots back to Cavall, letting the word drip with venom. "Your goddess is no more useful to me than this." He shakes Iron Bundle further. It rattles and the pixels of its eyes bounce around their sockets.
Ida comes in with her Searing Ember Strike, and Violet fires her ARM... and Raphael moves Iron Bundle into the blows. Iron Bundle endures the hit, rattled, but looking at both its attackers with a kind of sad determination. Had Raphael not done it himself, wouldn't that have been what his Pokemon would do? Defend their trainer? But to not be given the trust to do so...
"You do not command me, human." He looks to Violet. "Do give up. It makes this all less exhausting."
Blue's Charizard swoops in and smacks its wing to Raphael's hand, finally forcing him to drop the Pokemon.
"Friend?" Raphael looks to Blue and gives another small chuckle. "You have been quite the jester this battle, child. "These are weapons. ...Okay, this is a festive decoration. Which should have been more than enough to handle the likes of you before it glitched its commands."
Electricity flickers at Raphael's fingertips as he looks to Iron Bundle.
"At least make yourself useful. I want a clean switch in."
Iron Bundle dutifully waddles to face the Drifters, readying its snowglobe cannon.
SUDDENLY, ARCMENE
Raphael screeches a frankly baffling sound as he is beset upon by the six-legged arachnid, flailing, shrieking, and then throwing it right back at Ethius. Raphael slowly calms from his aggitation. No longer willing to banter, his eyes dim, narrow, and then normalize. His flicks open his cloak, revealing that starry voice once again. Iron Bundle is seized by the monstrous hand within and returned.
In its place, two Pokemon emerge. The first, a bipedal, nearly humanoid mechanical warrior. It's a mockery of a Gardevoir. Or Gallade. It is white with green accents like each, and has the blooming silhouette of the former, but the sharp features and blades of the latter. The bright blades protruding from its arms pop of and connect via a shaft, arming the Pokemon with a double bladed polearm as it brandishes the new weapon in a spinning circle.
Data Analyst Raphael sent out Iron Valiant!
Floating beside it is a mass of gray color. A blocky, rectangular shape, almost like a squat letter 'A' if it were not shifting here and there, semi-solid. It bears thin, silvery wings, though sometimes these too change into crab claws, mantis blades, spider legs... A Niquia, if Niquia were able to transform on a submolecular level.
Data Analyst Raphael sent out Iron Maker!
Iron Maker floats over to Iron Valiant and cloaks around its weapon, forming larger, scythe-like ends. Iron Valiant looks upon the group without any hint of emotion in its gaze or posture. Bright pink energy glows outward and around Iron Valiant's weapon.
It rushes in with a wide sweep as sparkles of energy cleave through the battlefield. This attack does no damage to flesh nor armor. It strikes straight through, exhausting the spirit itself, and can be defended only through one's own will.
GS: Raphael has activated Force Action: Extend! GS: Raphael has activated Force Action: Full Clip! GS: Raphael has activated Force Action: Fury Shot! GS: Raphael has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Spirit Break! GS: Raphael has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Spirit Break! GS: Raphael has attacked Blue Oak with Spirit Break! GS: Raphael has attacked Seraph Cavall with Spirit Break! GS: Raphael has attacked Violet Salazar with Spirit Break! GS: Raphael has gained 2 Combo! GS: Violet Salazar fails to evade Raphael's Spirit Break for 266 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Violet Salazar gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Shield removed! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Hex applied to Violet Salazar! GS: FP up! SOS Overdrive! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Violet Salazar receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Violet Salazar enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: expired! GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Guard! GS: Ethius Hesiod critically guards Raphael's Spirit Break for 33 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Blind blocked! GS: FP up! Reaction bonus! GS: Seraph Cavall has activated Force Action: Accelerate! GS: Seraph Cavall critically fails to evade Raphael's Spirit Break for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Cavall gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Quick and Shield removed! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Drowsy applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey critically fails to evade Raphael's Spirit Break for 289 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Cover and Shield removed! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Jam applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: FP up! Power Burst! [OOC] Anne Aomori says, "and we can bluray* in that that did 300 damage if you like" GS: Seraph Cavall used Defend! They takes Raphael's Spirit Break attack on Blue Oak on themself! GS: Seraph Cavall has activated Force Action: Guard! GS: Seraph Cavall critically guards Raphael's Spirit Break for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Cavall gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Weaken blocked! GS: Seraph Cavall has gained 1 Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
"'Information' is not the same as wisdom," retorts Cavall. "That creature does not deserve your loyalty, for all that you take them for granted." Yes, they might be on opposite sides of this conflict, but Cavall still recognizes the value of a (presumably) living being, even if they must come to blows.
Raphael uses the Iron Bundle as a literal shield, and Cavall snarls angrily at that. "Despicable. You will not even commit to the fight yourself."
Cavall has seen the will of Drifters triumph time and again--but Blue is not a Drifter, by Cavall's estimation, and to indiscriminately attack the battlefield in such a manner, even to one commanding a creature Raphael was in conflict with, is a shameful act. Cavall charges forward to place themselves in front of Blue. They are rushed, and cannot set their stance properly to dodge out of the first pass of the spirit blade, but by the time it makes for Blue they are ready.
Cavall stands firm--the blade is one of spirit, but so is CAvall, and they use their spiritual presence to match the attack and absorb the brunt of it for the child.
"I am... of Lunar..." they grunt out as the blade sinks more truly into them than perhaps anyone else present.
Someone else can explain that later.
"The Gifts of the Goddess are not to be mocked," warns Cavall. Their eyes glow, and more runes appear at their feet, spreading to all of the seraph's allies in the fight. This time the gift of the earth begins to restore the spirit in a more tangible way, and mends wounds along the way.
GS: Seraph Cavall enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Violet Salazar with Renewal of Life! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Renewal of Life! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Blue Oak with Renewal of Life! GS: Seraph Cavall has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Renewal of Life! GS: Seraph Cavall has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraph Cavall gains 28 THP from their Cautious! GS: Seraph Cavall enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Seraph Cavall has completed their action. GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Cavall heals Ethius Hesiod! He gains 116 temporary hit points! GS: Quick applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: Seraph Cavall heals Violet Salazar! She gains 90 temporary hit points! GS: Restore! Hex removed! GS: Quick applied to Seraph Cavall! GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Cavall heals Blue Oak! He gains 114 temporary hit points! GS: Seraph Cavall heals Ida Everstead-Rey! She gains 95 temporary hit points! GS: Restore! Jam removed!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Arcmene doesn't quite get clear before Raphael flings the Pokemon at Ethius, whom moves forth to catch them with open arms. Unblinking eyes meet between them for a moment as Ethius sets them down gingerly. Both sets of eyes look up as more Pokemon emerge - an Iron Valiant that does resemble something Ethius has seen in passing, and a much more eye-catching floating thing that is only more noteworthy because it triggers his 'is that an unstable nanotech' reflexes. (It's anxiety, but a professional level form of anxiety.)
He watches as the strange floating creature-device moves to enhance Iron Maker's weapons, and Arcmene starts to shrink a little under duress as he sees the bright pink energy flare up--
A wide sweep.
And it's Ethius himself that stands in the way of it, having swept his forearm inward to his own personal Symbological shielding spell. He doesn't notice or feel that great an impact. He doesn't dwell on it, or why.
"The difference between our perceived standing between one another is of no concern," Ethius speaks firmly and unwaveringly. This is the man who tried to chase down and eliminate an apocalyptic-scale technological danger for many years, even when he had only an inkling of a surviving idea of what he was doing or why.
"I cannot allow you to do as you please to the people of Filgaia..."
An aside to Arcmene who is standing behind him, and to how Cavall holds to his faith and culture even as so many issues and inconsistencies are piling up against beliefs - a place he once struggled with at a much younger age. "Or anyone, for that matter."
Thusly, he doesn't allow the Spirit Break to do much more than rudely poke him in the side as an equivalent.
He breaks established places for a Trainer and their Pokemon to be, Arcmene standing there in their attempt to parse their feelings of dread before the dangerous Spirit Break and their Trainer's immediate defense of them.
At which point Ethius runs up in a short jog, deftly flexes his fingers and chants complex syllables skillfully all the while as he lunges an open palm towards the solar plexus equivalent of the Iron Valiant as the Symbological spell ritual completes.
"Surge Bolt!" He calls, looking to punch through the defenses and strike what manner of Pokemon is giving the Iron Valiant their augmented strength.
DC: Ethius Hesiod switches forms to Flametaker Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Raphael with Surge Bolt! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo! GS: Quick expired! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
The Wise Man distributes exploding "presents" all around, and one lands near Violet and detonates. She's really hurting now! Maybe it would've killed her if it weren't for the stone wall she's been hiding behind! She peers out from behind it, only to see Ethius releasing a spider-Pokemon and siccing it on Raphael, who throws it right back at him. Her Finishing Touch hits but doesn't seem to have done much damage. "Do give up. It makes this all less exhausting," Raphael intones. "Never..." Violet replies, as Raphael launches a spiritual attack through Iron Valiant.
He is right about one thing. This certainly is exhausting!
Violet rallies the last of her strength for a counterattack, another bullet from her ARM. Healing energy wafts over her from Cavall's magic, and she waves her thanks. She might hug the earthwolf later, if that's all right with them!
GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Raphael with ULTRA VIOLET! GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
Charizard can't go much more, or even protect Blue. He's tired! But when Cavall energizes him and takes a blow for them, Charizard grunts in approval at the fact, even if he has zero clue what just happened.
Not one to look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth, Charizard turns towards Blue.
He's awaiting orders.
"Manny... alright. Let's drive him off. But nothing dangerous, alright? Ram him towards the others and then get some distance! Headbutt!"
As the group is fighting their hardest, Blue takes a breath. Charizard suddenly dives headfirst into the Iron Valiant, before suddenly trying to pull back, trying to stagger it enough to help the others while conserving energy in future blows.
GS: Blue Oak has attacked Raphael with Retreat to Neutral!! GS: Blue Oak has gained 3 Combo! GS: Blue Oak's Hero stance ends! GS: Blue Oak gains 5 FP from Gleam! GS: Blue Oak has completed his action. GS: Raphael critically fails to guard Ethius Hesiod's Surge Bolt for 107 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Interrupt blocked! GS: Raphael has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: Raphael critically fails to evade Violet Salazar's ULTRA VIOLET for 187 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Raphael critically fails to guard Blue Oak's Retreat to Neutral! for 76 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Raphael enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's strike meets not with cloak and flesh, but with a glassy sphere. Chi explodes into Iron Bundle's body. The martial artist's face flashes through shock, then horror, then dull recognition. That this awful little man is obeyed and protected, even if he doesn't trust his Pokemon to do it...
"You're a cruel little man, aren't you?" Ida says, looking past Iron Bundle at Raphael because she can't meet Iron Bundle's eyes. She leaps back, perhaps unwilling to give Raphael an excuse to use his Pokemon as a shield, again...
SUDDENLY, ARCMENE
Thankfully, the Nest Ball filters out such troubling noises, meaning Ida gets a moment of uninterrupted schadenfreude as Raphael struggles with the Pokemon. It doesn't last.
"What the...?" Ida turns a wide-eyed glance to Blue, as if he has an explanation for these two--or, more probably, the Pokemon they're derived from. She raises her fists, slipping into a boxer's stance. Iron Valiant's blade sweeps towards her, and she has no idea what it is capable of. The first blade passes through her arm, and sudden wooziness seizes her; the blade continues onwards, on a direct course for her heart, even as she realizes what's happening. Ida grits her teeth and focuses, even as that first wound threatens to drag her into unconsciousness...
POP
There's a brilliant flash of light.
"META!" cries Catastrophe Sal, as she appears, curled against Ida's chest, between her Trainer and the onrushing blade. The blade strikes carapace with shing, and Sal's voice rises in a determined "POOOOOOD!"
A long, bright crack appears down Sal's back. Everything goes white for a moment.
Ida blinks. As the spots clear, she realizes Sal isn't clinging to her anymore, and she looks down, expecting to see a Fainted Pokemon at her feet, or worse. But then she looks forward, and in the space before her floats a bright, changing shape. A pair of wings, white with beautiful black patterns, unfurl for the first time. Bright red compound eyes blink, and focus on Ida.
"Sal," says Ida, tears in her eyes.
"Butterfree!" says Sal, and she does a little loop-de-loop in delight. "Freeeeee!" Ida wants to hug her, but there's no time, and Sal seems to realize this, too. "Butterfree!" she cries, and she levels an eensy, adorable hand at Iron Valiant, wagging an accusatory finger.
"Right. With me, Sal!" Ida blurs into motion, Sal at her side with a bright, trilling cry. Once again, chi builds around her right hand, curled into a fist. This time, though, it's the epicenter of the strongest strike she can manage, a punch that sends shockwaves through the air even before it hits.
Sal navigates those shockwaves like a pro, telling Iron Valiant exactly what she thought of that last one via a Tackle.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has activated Force Action: Full Clip! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Raphael with Unbroken Lotus Fist! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Raphael critically fails to evade Ida Everstead-Rey's Unbroken Lotus Fist for 250 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Raphael gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Raphael has posed.
"Grass Dog thinks there's wisdom without information," Raphael tells Iron Bundle, who he is indeed using as a literal shield. Iron Bundle is probably not listening, and nobody blames it. Accused of not fighting himself, Raphael points at Blue. "And yet you defend the lizard boy!"
Raphael, you know what a Charizard is!
"I am pragmatic," Raphael says to Ida. "It is a flaw in your kind to brand it cruelty and avoid it."
"Such boring ideals..." But Cavall's 'boring ideals' and gifts that Raphael mocks bolster everyone this fight, no matter how Iron Valiant and Iron Maker try to cut them down.
Ethius defends his own Pokemon in exactly the same way Raphael doesn't. Symbology is cast, no Electric Terrain left, and the Paradox Pokemon decidedly mechanical in their strange ways -- Surge Bolt strikes in, and Iron Maker's influence shifts and squirms like erratic putty before it is forced off of Iron Valiant's weapon, back to a floating 'A' thing that writhes in rapidly shifting discomfort. None of that, thank you!
Violet, defending her home, refuses to give up no matter what Raphael sends at her. She fires off her ARMs, battering into the Pokemon, while Blue follows the assault with a Headbutt from Charizard.
...Iron Valiant flinches at a critical moment before counterattack.
Sal comes to Ida's protection, of her own will, in exactly the way Iron Bundle cannot. Butterfree takes to the field, soaring through the shockwaves as Ida strikes into Iron Valiant, the force of it knocking the Pokemon into a kneel. It uses its weapon to stay aloft, but then...
Bonk.
Butterfree to the face.
Iron Valiant tips over and falls down.
Raphael looks down at it, then looks to Iron Maker.
Getting knocked out by a Butterfree. A Butterfree. Can Raphael handle the shame? Can he stomach the salt?!
... He lifts up his hand and snaps his fingers and
he and his Pokemon
teleport
away.
GS: Raphael has attacked Raphael with Teleport! GS: Raphael has gained 3 Combo! GS: Raphael accepts Raphael's Teleport for 0 hit points! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Entangle and Quick applied to Raphael!
<Pose Tracker> Blue Oak has posed.
After the headbutt, Raphael escapes after Iron Valiant is fainted by a newly evolved Butterfree.
Charizard turns, giving a thumbs-up to Blue, and then... collapses. Blue sighs, using his Pokeball to return him to safety.
At first, Blue's kinda awkward, as he feels he butted in and is trying to figure out a mask for how to get out of here. But, eventually, his smug aura returns and he walks over to Ida. "Hey, you okay? That suplex was awesome." He's trying.
And then, he... pauses. "Oh, right. I could use some help getting back to the portal. You know, in case of ambushes. I need to report this and get Manny to a Pokemon Center. You guys wanna come with? If not, no worries, I've got this..."
Though, really, he'd like someone to go. He doesn't want to be alone after fighting a Wise Man, oddly enough.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Cavall has posed.
Cavall will, in fact, accept affection on occasion. (Mostly if it seems like the other person needs it, but sometimes Cavall needs it, too.)
"Knowledge is only the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it," retorts Cavall. "That boy asks that of his partner which is given willingly. You take and demand obedience, but do not inspire it."
There is a concert of attacks and then Raphael apparently decides to take his leave.
Cavall heaves a huge sigh, and the extra power they've been holding on to is released back into the earth, and their appearance returns to its normal self. A mostly normal, but still intangible, wolf.
They make a swift pass of the battlefield, checking in on combatants and bystanders alike, offering healing and succor where possible. But they eventually circle backa round to Blue and Ida. "I will return with the child," they state quietly. "Though I do not believe he is yet Resonant, so someone may need to inform him of this fact."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius draws back to give others their space to get their hits in. Arcmene skitters not too far behind him, continuing to watch because... that's what Arcmene does, watching (and, as demonstrated, occasionally pulling off jumpscares).
The people of Marze are in a state of disarray and fear, and there are serious biosecurity concerns as-is, but Ethius can recognize there is a distressed and perturbed Pokemon friend here, so he offers them a nod and a raised Poekball to allow them back to their place of rest and respite.
"...They must think themselves more vulnerable than they let on," he says of the departed Wise Man with a hand to his forehead. He sees Violet there is going to need help, but he's aware that others present are much better equipped to come to her aid immediately (such as Cavall).
"...I would like to return with you, if I may," he says to Blue, "my own partners here could do with a Center visit after this incident." A sideglance. "...I'm... not particularly keen on the level of danger I ended up subjecting them to."
He should have caught the explosive ordinance, but perhaps the Iron Bundle's gift-wrapping capabilities exceeded his capacity for catching that sort of thing. (It's not the first time...)
He gives Butterfree an extended look-over, having once had to watch over other relatives of his adoptive family going through those motions and just inherently worrying that something could have, or must have, gone wrong given the sudden emergence, but no... Butterfree looks lively and okay.
Which is a relief, but Pokemon biology has taken a lot of getting used to with how robust and broad - yet uniform - it is.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
As Raphael takes his Pokemon and flees, Catastrophe Sal shakes her head. "Butterfree," she says, in open disgust, and she spits String Shot onto the churned-up turf of the square.
Ida, meanwhile, diverts to Violet, offering the woman a hand up, a shoulder for support, and a vial of Heal Berry cordial, in that order. "Take it easy," she says. "You did good. This could've been so much worse." Once Violet is stable--or helped to a place where she can sit, whichever she prefers--Ida turns to Blue.
"I've had worse," she says, perhaps leaving Blue to guess what 'worse' is. What kind of planet is this? Sal lands on Ida's shoulder, gripping her coat with tiny hands. Her antennae twitch.
"Evoi!"
A moment later, there's the sound of heavy footsteps. Sterling comes riding up to his human, the Eevee Sisters perched atop his saddle. As the citizens of Marze filter back in, Ida offers everyone a weary but genuine smile. "Well done." But Blue has his own concerns. "I'll go with you," she says. "We... have one more, though you might not have seen them. They're a friendly spirit, and they want you to know they'll be protecting you." Ida looks at Cavall (or at nothing, from Blue's perspective) and nods.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
"Thank you, Miss Ida," Violet says humbly as she accepts the hand up and the Heal Berry Cordial. Not everyone would be so kind to a Beastfolk, but she's seen the way the Everstead-Reys treat their Beastfolk servants, with consideration and fair wages. She downs the potion and feels refreshed. Healing energy courses through her. Not enough to heal her completely, but she's stabilized, at least. She's well enough to go look for her sister -- and her nieces and nephews and the "grands." Raphael teleported away. He's bound to want a rematch sometime. She hopes the Drifters will be prepared for that day...