2024-01-27: Stop Weedling Me!
- Log: Stop Weedling Me!
- Cast: Citan Uzuki, Lan Lilac, Sable Aomori
- Where: Viridian Forest
- Date: January 27, 2024
- Summary: Even Energy Nede's forests have their challenges, as Lan and Citan find. Luckily, a local is willing and able to lend a hand!
DG: A party led by Citan Uzuki is now entering Viridian Forest. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Eye Spy Some Eye Dee *>=====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You gather at the southern entranceway to Viridian Forest and immediately
spot a problem: some Pokemon Rangers have orders to not let anyone without
proper ID pass.
This might be a problem, depending on who you are. They don't seem to be too
invested in it, however, and more invested in the problems within the
Forest, so perhaps some smooth talking can let you through.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
From what he's learned from those who had taken the quick route to Energy Nede, so to speak, they had ended up teleported into Viridian Forest to the west. This is interesting to Citan: was there a particular reason that they (or at least most of them) had ended up there? Or was it just happenstance?
Thoroughness (within reason) is a virtue, it is said. So after some discussion with Lily and the others, he had headed out to Viridian Forest to see what he could uncover.
The only issue is, it seems there have been some disturbances of late and the Pokemon Rangers are not letting just anyone in there... especially not without an appropriate ID.
Citan Uzuki, a Visitor from Filgaia, does not have an appropriate ID. This presents a problem.
With Ise the Mimikyu following in his wake (some exercise might do it some good) he approaches the Rangers with a smile. "Well, now, I see that you are keeping an eye on things here. My name is Citan Uzuki, and I am here by special request from the Nede Times, you see. I had hoped to take a few photographs within the forest for a piece they have in development."
He pauses, glancing down at himself as if for effect. "Naturally, I am an amateur photographer, but please! Do not think that means I am inexperienced," he says, producing a camera that probably seems like a museum piece to the eyes of the Nedians.
And then, quite naturally, he begins to look through his bag as in search of something else. "Now, where did I put that assignment paperwork... ah, oh dear, do not tell me I misplaced it! ...And after traveling all this way..."
Perhaps out of sympathy, they might just let him pass...?
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Strauss Camera toward his party's challenge, Eye Spy Some Eye Dee. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan isn't sure if she likes these clothes or not.
They look perfectly fine, and she was assured that they're the same kind of clothes that Nedians wear, because they're from a Nedian shop where Nedians... er, shop! And the cut isn't too different from what she always likes to wear, even if the colors are different: a sporty camisole in scarlet, and a black skort with teal designs, and a pair of sneakers. The colors are bold and vibrant, which is nice! But they're not made of anything that Lan can identify as a fiber. She had asked what they were made of, and the saleswoman had told her they were made of Polly Esther, which Lan is really hoping is some kind of translation error or misheard question and that they were made by Polly.
She really, really hopes!!
She hangs back for a little while, until she understands what the Pokemon Rangers want from people. Identification? Like those cards with information and pictures on them. She didn't have any of that even before she left her stuff at the hot springs!! She doesn't have anything! But she's not helpless. She'd made a new paku-paku as soon as she got her hands on paper and pen, and she folds it into a rectangle as she strides towards Citan... and past him, flashing the paper and... just continuing on!!
Forgive her, Doc...!
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Eye Spy Some Eye Dee. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable Aomori is also in Viridian Forest, though she was already here; she comes from the direction past the Rangers, where she's been training her Pokemon. Not that any of them are out at the moment; they're all in the Pokeballs at her belt. And she is dressed for temperate to chilly weather, her usual fur-collared jacket and boots, this time with a tanktop and a skirt with leggings.
"Visitors," she murmurs, thoughtfully--and then begins to approach.
She pulls her Trainer ID, and presents it to the Rangers even as she watches Lan just walk on by. Hmm...
Well, it's fine.
"I'll help him," Sable says quietly to the Rangers. "My mother is Dr. Aomori at the Viridian Pokemon Lab."
She seems to think this will be sufficient.
DG: Sable Aomori has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Eye Spy Some Eye Dee.
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Eye Spy Some Eye Dee *>=====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You gather at the southern entranceway to Viridian Forest and immediately
spot a problem: some Pokemon Rangers have orders to not let anyone without
proper ID pass.
This might be a problem, depending on who you are. They don't seem to be too
invested in it, however, and more invested in the problems within the
Forest, so perhaps some smooth talking can let you through.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up! and Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>============================== ====================< Results - Viridian Forest - Round 1 >===================== ======================< CHALLENGE - Eye Spy Some Eye Dee >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(5)--> 5 Best Strauss Camera Maj Wits Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 0 --(5)--> 5 Best Investigate Bsc Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 0 --(5)--> 5 Best Paku-Paku Min Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Threading the Weedle *>=====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A wild WEEDLE appears!
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0013Weedle.png
It's a foot tall insect Pokemon composed of a bunch of reddish-brown
spheres, with a face at the end. The colour is meant to serve as a warning
to predators, and it fends off predators with the needle in its head.
... it's also not terribly fast, so as long as you keep an arms' length,
it's not much of a challenge in this non-ambush scenario. Maybe you could
catch one, if you're inclined.
BGM - Wild Pokémon Battle - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgK2f47q8cU
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up! and Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
A young lady passes by, flashing a piece of paper at the Rangers while they're still in conversation with Citan. They nod as she passes, obviously more concerned with this clear and obvious Visitor. Citan himself glances just long enough to recognize that particular shade of blonde. Surely, it couldn't be...?
Though it isn't as if he can confirm anything just this moment.
They seem concerned about the story he's spinning, to be sure. Yet, he continues to affirm his story, affecting all the good-natured absentmindedness he can muster. Surely, he can evoke some sympathy. And surely...
But it's from another angle that good luck arrives. Sable Aomori, the young lady introduces herself as--
The daughter of a doctor of some apparent renown at a nearby lab.
With that sort of pedigree, the Rangers appear to immediately relax. Surely, if someone like Sable can vouch for him, then there's no problem at all.
"Miss Aomori, was it...?" Citan asks of her as they enter the forest. "I must thank you for your assistance back there. I am certain," he says, readjusting his glasses, "that they would have permitted me to pass in time, of course... but at the very least you have saved me some precious time. I trust you would not mind traveling together? As you may have gathered, I am not from around here!"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Whether or not it's someone that Citan knows, they've vanished around a bend in the forest path. Now he'll never know for sure.
Just around the corner, Lan is standing perfectly still in the middle of the path. A few feet ahead, one of the region's great and powerful beasts slowly rears up on several of its hind legs, the better to get a sense of Lan's fighting ability?! Its jet black eyes are impossible to track, and its sharp horn drips poison. It has too many legs to count!
"Weedle," Weedle declares, and wobbles from side to side before settling back down onto all of its many, many feet and ambling right towards the blonde.
"Um." Lan tells it, backing up. "I don't have any Pokeballs. Or Pokemon. And I think that if I have to fight you I might hurt you so... could you not?"
"Weedle!" Weedle insists.
Help!!
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Threading the Weedle.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"My name is Sable," she introduces herself to Citan now that they're walking. "And I don't mind." She looks about sixteen, though her quiet manner can make her look a bit older to someone less perceptive than Citan. "We're supposed to be welcoming to the Visitors."
Then they see Lan... as Weedle wobbles from side to side, and ambles towards Lan. Lan is backing up...
"That's Weedle," Sable explains, her voice not quite monotone but close. "It's not a very strong Pokemon, but its poison can be a problem. ...I'll take care of it..."
"Ulpi." She pulls a Pokeball from her belt and with a flash of red light, lets out her Piplup. The small, blue penguin-like bird waddles forward. "Pip!" he announces proudly.
"Use your Aerial Ace attack."
"Pip!!!" Piplup surges forward--and Jumps!!
In the meantime, Sable pulls a small parcel from her pocket, and extends it to Lan. "If it gets you, this will cure your poisoning..."
But it's pretty bitter.
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Occult Medicine toward her party's challenge, Threading the Weedle.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Sable! Then I am pleased to meet you, Sable. I am Citan Uzuki." He smiles avuncularly. "Ah, I see! So you were instructed to help us get our bearings... this explains much," he continues, as if this isn't something he had already deduced from his own interactions with the native Nedians.
There are many people who have blonde hair, and the odds are frankly of it being someone he actually does know are slim. Still, something about that person sent neurons jangling...
Not that Citan will ever know for certain.
Unless fate intervenes, that is: just around the corner and in the middle of the forest path, there stands Lan Lilac, who has been cornered by a bug. ...Pokemon.
"Miss Lilac! So that was you back there. Ah, and it seems you have found yourself a Weedle..."
She doesn't have any Pokemon. Or any Pokeballs. "Ah, that is a problem..." he muses, rubbing his chin.
"Mimi!" He glances down at the Pokemon that has toddled up to his side. Ise, at a glance, is smaller than the Weedle.
"Kyuu!" Ise insists.
"Well, if you should like to try?" Citan says, gesturing to the menacing Weedle. Without a need for further encouragement, Ise rushes on over and, seizing its own 'tail' (actually a piece of wood it found somewhere), aims to smash the Weedle with it!
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a risky Combat Action toward his party's challenge, Threading the Weedle. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Threading the Weedle *>=====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A wild WEEDLE appears!
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0013Weedle.png
It's a foot tall insect Pokemon composed of a bunch of reddish-brown
spheres, with a face at the end. The colour is meant to serve as a warning
to predators, and it fends off predators with the needle in its head.
... it's also not terribly fast, so as long as you keep an arms' length,
it's not much of a challenge in this non-ambush scenario. Maybe you could
catch one, if you're inclined.
BGM - Wild Pokémon Battle - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgK2f47q8cU
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>============================== ====================< Results - Viridian Forest - Round 2 >===================== ======================< CHALLENGE - Threading the Weedle >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 5 --(5)--> 10 Good Fight Bsc Combat Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 5 --(5)--> 10 Best Occult Medicine Maj Combat Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 5 --(5)--> 10 Best Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan - for it is indeed her! - peers over her shoulder at Sable and Citan, unwilling to turn away from the bug Pokemon in front of her. "Oh thank goodness. I lost all my stuff at the hot springs and everybody gets really mad if you try to fight a Pokemon by yourself somehow? And even if they didn't get mad about it I don't want to beat up a Weedle just because it was curious!" But surely now Sable and her level-appropriate Piplup will gently shoo the Weedle back into the Tall Grass!
'Use your Arial Ace attack.'
And there's Citan, with a ...is that a rag doll? It looks familiar, somehow. She's seen it before somewhere. Lan has never seen Mimikyu in her life. It, too, wishes to battle, and ...hefts a plank of wood. "Uh, hang on," Lan tries, but the hounds (Pokemon) of Hell have been loosed, and it's too late to stop them!
It's super effective! Weedle falls over, both of its eyes replaced by big swirls that spin around and around. "w-wee..."
Lan accepts the small packet of medicine from Sable. "Ah. Thank you..." Recognizing it as herbal medicine, she sniffs it curiously. "...whew. Emergencies only, huh..."
DG: Sable Aomori has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo *>=============
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
There's a bush before you.
Somehow, this bush commandeers presence and you just can't find it in
yourself to go around it. There's nothing more to it: you're going to have
to cut it down somehow. But when you do--
*THUNK*
--oh dear, that's an unexpectedly solid piece of bark! No, wait, that's not
wood at all! You've been tricked by a Pokemon! It's...
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0185Sudowoodo.png
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Uzuki." She is very polite! And she does not seem to notice that he already knew that. Instead she smiles. It's a small expression, but it does count.
The hot springs?" Sable wonders. "I wanted to go, but I heard they'd been attacked." A pause. "Yes, it isn't very nice to beat up Weedles yourself."
"That's a Mimikyu," she comments to Citan. "It's cuter in person than on the Internet..."
Lan thanks her, and Sable nods. "It's a secret recipe. But it works very well."
Then, she leads on. "I think the town is this way..."
A bush! Sable pauses as she reaches the bush. Piplup waddles along after her. She focuses, and then, "I'll cut through!"
She uses a Special Technique: Cut! With her hand she makes a slash, and--
THUNK.
"Oh." She sounds surprised. Well, kind of. As it turns out it's...
"It's a Pokemon..." She steps back more quickly than would probably be expected. "We have to push it out of the way to get past."
DG: Sable Aomori has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"An attack on a hot springs?" Citan remarks, zeroing in on that particular fact out of the lot. "Surely not the Ten Wise Men?" He's certain he would have heard more about that otherwise.
But as for the Weedle...
WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM
Of course, the moment Ise thinks it's being watched it slips its stick back into position and sidles away from the Weedle to tilt its 'head' innocently to one side.
The cloth head flops at an angle that would suggest a broken neck in a real Pikachu.
"Hm," Citan muses, pushing his glasses up his nose with a finger as he regards Ise.
"Are you all right, Lan?" he asks of her, giving her the once over after the situation has been settled. It doesn't seem as if she has been hurt, though the medicine would help in any regard if that had been the case. "Well, it should seem that we are headed in the same direction. Perhaps we ought to travel together?" he suggests.
And they're off! But it isn't long before they find their way blocked by a bush. ...A bush that resists cutting, it would seem. Because it's a Pokemon.
"Hmm... where have I seen..." Citan muses, rubbing at his chin as he thinks the matter over. "Well, never mind that. I believe I have the answer," he says, pulling out his trustworthy guide to acupressure. But a shadow has fallen over their proceedings.
"Hoot," rings out the call from on high. There, right out the blue--
"Hoothoot," calls the Pokemon as it sails off into the darkness of the forest, Citan's acupressure guide clutched firmly in its single talon.
"..." is Citan's response, caught in the moment completely flatfooted by this turn of events.
But Ise knows what to do! Skulking up to the 'tree' Pokemon it approaches it with intent. Lights gleam from the holes in the front of its rag -- wait, aren't those eyes?!
>ISE used ASTONISH!
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Ise is Trying! toward his party's challenge, The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I'm Lan!" she introduces herself to Sable. "Nice to meet you!" There's a bush! They'll get past it no problem.
...There is, in fact, a huge problem.
"Wait, they can do that?!" Lan gapes, watching the Special Technique have absolutely no effect. "Why is it so..." She searches for a word. Tough? Maybe. Stubborn? Probably? Ridiculous-looking? ...Definitely. Lan doesn't say any of them. "...like that," she finishes lamely, gesturing.
"I'm okay though!" she reassures Citan. "It wasn't any of the Wise Men." There is very little that's wise about Jessie or James. Meowth is an unknown quantity; Lan doesn't speak his language. "It was Team Rocket. They're kind of..." She doesn't have the vocabulary to call anybody cartoonish, no matter how correct it would be. "Theatrical," Lan decides, after a moment's consideration. "They tried to use a hot air balloon to steal Pokemon from the people who were bathing! Everybody banded together to fight them off, but I ended up accidentally getting taken along with them when they were driven off."
That's... a very truncated version of events!
But she's pleased to be invited along. "Yeah, can we? I split up with Team Rocket a couple of days ago and you're the first person I know that I've run into!" She's trying to say that she's glad to see him, but will it come off that way?!
But maybe she ought to help, even if she doesn't have any Pokemon with her. Lan hums, a few little motes of light rising around her as she calls down a little piece of heaven... a mini-meteor, headed right for Sudowoodo.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Surprise Meteor toward her party's challenge, The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo *>=============
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
There's a bush before you.
Somehow, this bush commandeers presence and you just can't find it in
yourself to go around it. There's nothing more to it: you're going to have
to cut it down somehow. But when you do--
*THUNK*
--oh dear, that's an unexpectedly solid piece of bark! No, wait, that's not
wood at all! You've been tricked by a Pokemon! It's...
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0185Sudowoodo.png
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>============================== ====================< Results - Viridian Forest - Round 3 >===================== ==============< CHALLENGE - The Coffee Is Indeed Bitter In Woodo >============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 10 --(5)--> 15 Best Ise is Trying! Min Brute Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 10 --(5)--> 15 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 10 --(5)--> 15 Best Surprise Meteor Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1) and Injure(2) Effects: Resilient(1) and Strengthen(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"Hello, Miss Lan." She smiles at Lan, too. But the talk of the hot springs makes her look down at the ground for a moment. "The Ten Wise Men..." Pause. "Oh, Team Rocket." Pause. "...They're frightening, too."
"But I'm glad people were able to work together."
Citan has the answer! AAnd the answer is...
"Hoothoot steals a lot of things to make nests," Sable opines. An Ise knows exactly what to do. Just as the Sudowoodo is about to strike, Ise astonishes it! And--
>Sudowoodo flinched!!
Not only that, but Lan summons a small meteor, and it bonks Sudowoodo straight on the head. "Sudo..." It wavers, and wobbles, and--
Sable throws a Pokeball.
"..."
"...It's a rare Pokemon..."
It will no longer be a problem for any of them. For now.
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Touch Grass *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The tall grass. It's one of the basic things Nedians teach their children:
when you wander into patches of tall grass, be prepared to be attacked by
wild Pokemon at any moment. If you aren't ready, stay out of it.
... ... ...
Of course, sometimes it's not wild Pokemon, but that... tall grass is kind
of uncomfortable. And itchy, they way it kinda just gets in your way.
Especially if you're crouching and it pokes your face. Ow! Annoying!
Obnoxious! Just hurry up and make it to the other side...!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Slow:_Agility_Down!, and Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Ah... I have heard of Team Rocket," Citan says, furrowing his forehead. "A local, ah... criminal organization? It appears that even Energy Nede has its own problems. ...Well, beyond the Ten Wise Men, of course. Still, it is good that they were thwarted, and that you were not hurt."
Well. He's not getting that back, he thinks.
"So... I see," Citan says to Sable, collecting himself at last. Ise appears to have had things well in hand, though, which makes him contemplative after a fashion.
Especially since that well-placed move just then allowed Sable to catch the Sudowoodo, effectively removing the obstacle from their path.
"...Sudowoodo," he says, then for Lan's benefit, elaborates, "They are a rocky Pokemon that look something like a tree. Perhaps it is a form of adaptive mimicry...? Naturally, one cannot Cut through stone, but there are other means of dissuading them once they decide to block a path." He gestures towards the open path ahead. "Well, shall we?"
Indeed, they shall! And what lies beyond is a stretch of... tall grass. It's very tall and possibly full of wild Pokemon. And probably itchy for anyone with bare legs.
"I hope this should not be too disruptive," Citan muses, drawing out a Sphere marked with the glyph of Macalania Temple. With an inflection of will, he draws out its latent power, casting a span of ice ahead through the tall grass. This should make it easier to pass through!
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Macalania Sphere toward his party's challenge, Touch Grass. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"A rocky Pokemon," Lan echoes. She thinks of the Lunatone. Is someone taking care of it? Did it wander off onto one of the routes between towns, or will it have to settle for living in Diglett Cave instead of going home where it belongs? It was weirdly cute, even if it was still a little hard to understand and sometimes it made multi-toned noises that raised every hair on her body. Sometimes it made soothing noises too! And she likes the way it floated so peacefully. "..."
But Sable catches Sudowoodo, and Lan thinks it'll be well taken care of. She's so serious for someone so young! "Congratulations! Do you think you'll give it a name?" People do that, right? What kind of name would...?
Ugh, pay attention!
One thing that Lan has discovered about Polly Esther's clothing is that whenever it gets snagged on something, the mystery fibers run and pull in strange ways that are almost impossible to completely fix. It's even worse than trying to fix a snag in a knit sweater! So when they arrive at the tall grass they'll have to traverse, she's really grateful to have her butterfly ribbon. She can just sail on... over...
Lan's long, loose hair mocks her. Mocks her!!
"I hope somebody brought something for grass rash," she sighs, and starts picking her way through the frozen patch, rockin' thighs and hard-partying calves completely exposed to seeds and burrs.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, Touch Grass. Quicken! Party Agility boosted! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"I don't like Team Rocket," Sable says softly. Then, she looks to Citan as he explains, and she nods after a moment. "Right." She looks to Lan, too. "Thank you," she says. "I usually do, if I form a good bond with the Pokemon. But it takes me some time to think about what's best."
Tall grass. Sable notices the way that Citan has a Sphere. "That's not Symbology," she reflects, thoughtful. "But it's still magic..."
She walks in the ice, her Rune-inscribed shoes ensuring that she doesn't slip on the ice.
"I have something for that," Sable says of grass rash. "Once we're through."
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Rune Shoes toward her party's challenge, Touch Grass. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round! =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Touch Grass *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The tall grass. It's one of the basic things Nedians teach their children:
when you wander into patches of tall grass, be prepared to be attacked by
wild Pokemon at any moment. If you aren't ready, stay out of it.
... ... ...
Of course, sometimes it's not wild Pokemon, but that... tall grass is kind
of uncomfortable. And itchy, they way it kinda just gets in your way.
Especially if you're crouching and it pokes your face. Ow! Annoying!
Obnoxious! Just hurry up and make it to the other side...!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and |
| Slow:_Agility_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
====================< Results - Viridian Forest - Round 4 >=====================
==========================< CHALLENGE - Touch Grass >===========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Citan Uzuki 15 --(0)--> 15 Best
Macalania Sphere Maj Agility Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sable Aomori 15 --(0)--> 15 Best
Rune Shoes Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac 15 --(0)--> 15 Best
Butterfly Ribbon Min Agility Effects: Quicken,
Efficient, and Liability
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Citan Uzuki 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass
Conditions: Injure(1) and Slow(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Famous Mouse *>=======================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come across the exit to Viridian Forest, and suddenly the air is filled
with a positive charge!
The electricity is coming from an electric mouse with red round cheeks, and
an all yellow tail shaped like a thunderbolt. This is a Pikachu, a rare
Pokemon that dwells in this Forest! It looks ready to shock you, so be
alert! If you're clever, maybe you can even catch this agile critter!
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0025Pikachu.png
BGM - Wild Pokémon Battle - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgK2f47q8cU
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Hmm, no. I would think that most people of Nede would not be terribly fond of them," Citan remarks, looking Sable's way for the moment.
Like so, he produces a path through the tall grass! ...Though Lan might still want something for grass rash. Call it a future investment against it?
"It is not," Citan says to Sable. "It is an enchantment from a temple upon Filgaia's moon. In other words, it is quite different even from the magic I know," he continues, by way of explanation. "It appears that you only have Symbology here in Nede," if a form that permits healing magics. "On Filgaia and Lunar, there are many different methods by which one might make use of sorcery."
They advance across the ice before it should melt, safe from (most, at least) of the itchy grasp of the tall grass.
"Have you caught any Pokemon yourself, Lan? It is... different from what we are used to, of course." She had said she didn't have any Pokeballs, but that might have just been because she was separated from her belongings.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It's not too bad, actually! The grass is as frozen as if Shiva herself has breathed on it, and while it doesn't shatter with their passing, it's also not really able to get up to its usual grassly mischief. Lan, at least, emerges more-or-less unscathed, even if she's picking seeds off of her skirt and there are a few burrs caught in her shoelaces.
"I think I'm actually okay! I'm hardly even itchy. Score one for moon magic!" She pumps her fist in victory over the local plant life!
They walk along. The other end of Viridian Forest is visible in the distance. It's really a peaceful journey, isn't it? "My brother would love it here," she smiles. Even if he'd be terrified of Weedles. "-Hm? Just one, actually. I was traveling in a cave and Ida lent me a Pokeball because it was being affected by a different Pokemon deeper in the cave system." Lan traces out a crescent shape in the air with her fingertips. "It's called Lunatone. It floats around, even though it's a rock!" The very idea seems to cheer her up.
There's a rustle up ahead. "What are yours called?" she asks them both. Her long hair is fluffing up, static electricity separating the strands. "Not just their names but their species. ...I keep thinking I've seen the little yellow and black one before, but also I know I've never seen anything--"
"PIKAAAAAA!" A yellow and black creature darts out of the grass, sizing them up. Pikachu's tail twitches, and electricity sparks from the sacs on its cheeks. "Pikapi!!"
"...like it... before," Lan finishes, craning her head from Ise to the Pikachu and back again.
"...Oh," she realizes, lifting a single finger in a moment of Eureka!
She still doesn't feel super great about spin kicking a big mouse or anything, so instead Lan uses her own innate command of spiritual energy to bolster everybody's speed and agility.
LAN used GRACE AND GLORY!
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Famous Mouse.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable slides over a small vial of ointment to Lan in one hand. "Here," she offers, and that will be that. Unless... "Oh. If you don't need it that's okay, too." But it's there. Available. Citan can guess that Nedians don't gnerally like Team Rocket, but Sable still thought it was worth saying. And the magic...
"I see," Sable says. "That's interesting... So it's different, and you know osmething else too. I wonder why there's so many..."
"You have a brother?" Sable wonders of Lan. Then... Lunatone! "Oh... I haven't seen a Lunatone close up since the time one dropped by Mom's lab."
"The one I showed you," walking along behind them, "is Ulpi. He's a Piplup." Pause.
Pikaaaaa. Sable looks at it, and she feels suddenly--faster! More agile! And so does Piplup!! But so do the Pokemon within her Pokeballs.
"Ulpi, return."
Ulpi looks a little disappointed, but then Sable pulls out a second POkeball, and from it is--a flying snake? No, it's an adorable little dragon! A Dratini! "Artan," she says. "Use Twister."
the Dratini whirls, and a whirlwind surrounds the Pikachu!!
"...Do you want to try to catch it, Mr. Uzuki?" Sable wonders. "If you don't, maybe I will..."
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Occult Medicine toward her party's challenge, The Famous Mouse.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
But of course. He's seen the bonds between the Nedians and their Pokemon. Why would they like a group that seemed intent on severing those bonds?
"Ah, Miss Everstead-Rey. She should like this place, I would think," Citan opines. "A Lunatone, was it? So that is the one that came into your possession..." Or had, before she'd been sent off to parts unknown, as they were. "I hope that it should return to your side."
"This is Ise," Citan says by way of introduction. "It's a--"
PIKAAAA
"Oh, that appears to be a Pikachu. I have heard they are rare," he says, glancing over at Sable. He folds his arms over his chest and glances upwards as if in thought. "Hmm... a tempting thought, but... I should pass, I think."
He has heard that they can be a handful, and between Fei and Xantia and the rest, he already has his hands full.
Ise, though...
Looking at a Mimikyu alone, it might be possible at a glance to mistake it for a Pikachu. But next to the real thing? The flaws in Ise's costume are made plain, alas, even if it truly did its best in making it.
Is Ise perhaps aware of its own shortcomings upon seeing the real thing? It has stopped in its tracks, as if it were staring at the Pikachu intently. ...Enviously?
"Mimi!" proclaims Mimikyu, and... sparks erupt from its own 'cheek sacs'. Which are cloth, and not at all capable of producing such an effect.
But the sparks are very, very real.
>ISE used COPYCAT!
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a risky Combat Action toward his party's challenge, The Famous Mouse. =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Famous Mouse *>=======================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come across the exit to Viridian Forest, and suddenly the air is filled
with a positive charge!
The electricity is coming from an electric mouse with red round cheeks, and
an all yellow tail shaped like a thunderbolt. This is a Pikachu, a rare
Pokemon that dwells in this Forest! It looks ready to shock you, so be
alert! If you're clever, maybe you can even catch this agile critter!
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:0025Pikachu.png
BGM - Wild Pokémon Battle - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgK2f47q8cU
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Slow:_Agility_Down! and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>============================== ====================< Results - Viridian Forest - Round 5 >===================== ========================< CHALLENGE - The Famous Mouse >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 15 --(21)--> 36 Bad Fight Bsc Combat Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 15 --(5)--> 20 Best Occult Medicine Maj Combat Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 15 --(5)--> 20 Good Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Slow(1) and Wound(2) Effects: = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has successfully explored Viridian Forest! =============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Together We Ride *>=======================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Just as you're about to leave, some wild Pokemon arrive! They seems like
they want to join you on your journey, impressed at the strength you've
shown in your dedication in challenging the Forest. If you accept, determine
what Pokemon it is by typing +dice 1d6 and consult the list below:
1: Caterpie
2: Kricketot
3: Weedle
4: Grubbin
5: Tarountula
6: Pidgeotto
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yERQqvP0598
(wait, that's not even the right franchise--)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I don't really understand Team Rocket at all," Lan sighs. Jessie and James... what was up with them?? ...Oh well. At least they understood her quite clearly when she threatened to beat the crud out of them if they ever touched Runeberry again...
"Yeah, he's a baker, a really good one. And he's really kind! And his ears and tail are soooo fluffy." Is... is that normal, for Filgaians? Lan, particularly, does not have any fluffy appendages. None that are visible, anyway...!
Ulpi makes room (a little begrudgingly) for a soft-bodied snake thing with the biggest, moistest, dewiest eyes that Lan has ever seen. Even bigger and wetter than Hicalu's. And it knows wind magic!! Pikachi is caught up in the twister, unable to leave the vortex. "Pi pika?!" The sparks in its cheeks build and build, lightning crackling across the path - only to slam (somehow) into Ise's own thundershock and be arrested. "KACHU!"
Lan is staring between the two of them like she's working out a puzzle. "I see! They're 'regional variants'!" she proclaims, completely thrilled to see such a thing in the wild.
Pikachu stares at her. Is she for real. Not that there's anything wrong with Mimikyu but what are they teaching people at Pokemon School these days??? But at least it's so shocked (har har) by her ignorance that it... just loses the will to battle, entirely. "Pi chu," it grumbles, and wanders off in disbelief.
Other Pokemon were watching, though, and they seem less exacting about a potential Trainer's idiot friends...
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Ise!! Sable smiles at Ise. But the Pikachu... yes. She will make the attempt. Even if it's a handful!!
But Lan's brother, "A kind baker, with fluffy ears and tail..." Sable commits this to memory. "But you don't have fluffy ears and tail."
DRATINI is super cute. And Ise is working hard! Before Lan--
"Oh..."
Sable throws a Pokeball after the Pikachu. "Don't leave," she tells it. Then, she looks back to Lan.
"...That's..."
"That's definitely not how it works," she says, bluntly. "...But that is a real thing that does happen. It jsut wasn't the case this time."
"...It was nice to travel with you all." She waves at Ise, too. Artan the Dratini senses Lan's admiration though and hovers, in hopes of... pets. Dragon pets.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Ise is trying its hardest...!
They're 'regional variants', Lan remarks.
"Well... er..." Citan begins to say, clearing his throat. It's apparant that even the Pikachu took offense with that, and begins to stalk off before Sable asks it not to go and tosses a Pokeball after it.
"Ise is a Mimikyu," he explains, once the matter is settled. "As I understand, it seems that they, ah..." He glances downwards, as if to assess Ise's status.
Ise sparkles. It won that round, right? Right??
"...They wish to be as... Well! Let us say that a Pikachu is popular with many Nedians, yes?" Citan attempts, diplomatically. "Regardless, it appears that this leg of our journey is at an end. It was good to travel with you, Miss Aomori," he says, turning to Sable.
But there's a rustling in the grass. Suddenly, there emerges a Weedle! It has a series of lumps on its head, though, and doesn't seem to be looking for a fight. This time around, that is.
"Weedle?" it queries.
"...Oh, I see! It is our friend from before. Well then," Citan says, making a decision on the matter. "I suppose I have room for another."