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[Pokémon] A Smell of Petroleum Pervades Throughout

301
Posts
14
Years
  • Seen Feb 7, 2018
Collect a bunch of seaweed and start laying a trail away from the water and the beach plus a some seaweed for her later and try to find a rock or clamshell to pry and open limpets for yourself.
 
77
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen May 12, 2021
(The portion about the glass making was brilliant. I lost it.) I suggest leaving a trail for Vesta to follow (thank Tabiti she is okay). I feel like her uninhibited growth will permit her to learn more readily and easily now. She if she can change her shape to something more mobile than column of roaring fire. Maybe that will allow her to move more quickly. Also, her newfound growth could prove excellent defense against wild Pokemon. She already appears to be loyal to you. But yeah. Try to get her to change shape and be mobile.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
1,030
Posts
14
Years
> I suggest leaving a trail for Vesta to follow (thank Tabiti she is okay). I feel like her uninhibited growth will permit her to learn more readily and easily now. She if she can change her shape to something more mobile than column of roaring fire. Maybe that will allow her to move more quickly. Also, her newfound growth could prove excellent defense against wild Pokemon. She already appears to be loyal to you. But yeah. Try to get her to change shape and be mobile.

Well, she'd move more quickly along a flammable surface, although that's more movement via growth in the manner of a plant. She'll keep pace with you, if you lay a trail of seaweed and walk rather than run. As for changing shape, that doesn't seem to really be an option; she's a fire, and expands and contracts with her available fuel.

> Collect a bunch of seaweed and start laying a trail away from the water and the beach plus a some seaweed for her later and try to find a rock or clamshell to pry and open limpets for yourself.
> Then do that weed trail if the narrator won't allow as to make a jar


"OK, Vesta," you say. "I think it's time for us to move."

Yes, she agrees. Where to?

"I don't know. Away from the beach? There's nothing useful there, and there might be something useful deeper in the cave."

OK, she says, slowly burning forwards across the weed-strewn stone. Behind me. Part of your Bag washed up.

Part of your Bag? Excellent news! You edge cautiously around Vesta and grab the stiff, dry pouch of canvas that used to be the Bits o' Egg Pocket.

Huh. Now there's a surprise.

Othodox recovered the Bits o' Egg Pocket of the Bag!

Othodox repurposed the Bits o' Egg Pocket as a Pouch!

Othodox transferred his inventory to the Pouch!


Thank God it seems to have retained the ability to contain absolutely anything. There are no longer handy divisions between classes of item, but that seems a small price to pay to be able to stick everything in a bag and forget about it again. You tie the Pouch to one of the straps of the former Bag, and use that to secure it a belt loop.

I didn't burn it, says Vesta, with the sort of naïve smugness of a toddler who knows they've done something good might use. I just dried it for you.

"Thank you," you say, smiling. "That's very kind of you."

Sparks fly out of Vesta's core and fizzle on the air; you take that as a sign of happiness, and begin laying down a trail of seaweed. This takes up most of your attention, and if you hadn't bumped into a wall you might never have noticed that the little ravine you've led yourself and Vesta down forks here.

Which way are we going? asks Vesta.

You scratch your head. Hm. They both look pretty alike to you – although the right-hand one goes very slightly downwards, and the left-hand one goes very slightly upwards.

Just then, you hear the distant boom, and the ground shakes slightly; the vast unseen something is moving again.

The noise comes from the right-hand path.
 
301
Posts
14
Years
  • Seen Feb 7, 2018
Let's go up the left hand path, unless the upward path it's impossible to lay the seaweed path than lets go down the right path also look around for a stick to make a torch. I know it's redundant with the gun and Vesta but hey torches have always served us well in the past.
 

destinedjagold

You can contact me in PC's discord server...
8,593
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Dec 23, 2023
Hm... Maybe let Vesta choose which way you guys will take?
 
20
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
I disagree. Take the right hand path. The goat on top of the mountain made of blackboards is telling me that is the way.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
1,030
Posts
14
Years
> Let's go up the left hand path, unless the upward path it's impossible to lay the seaweed path than lets go down the right path also look around for a stick to make a torch. I know it's redundant with the gun and Vesta but hey torches have always served us well in the past.
> I disagree. Take the right hand path. The goat on top of the mountain made of blackboards is telling me that is the way.
> Hm... Maybe let Vesta choose which way you guys will take?


Decisions are hard, so you decide to ask Vesta instead. It's about time she got included in your plans.

"Which way do you think we should go?" you ask.

I don't know, she admits. Where are we trying to get to?

"I don't know," you reply.

Then it doesn't seem to matter, Vesta concludes. Except for that noise.

"Yeah. That noise is kind of bothering me, I have to admit. It sounds... big. And dangerous."

But nothing is going to hurt us, right? asks Vesta anxiously, and you realise that despite her enlarged intellect and vocabulary, she's still the same creature as before; she has seen you deal with every threat that's come at you, or appear to deal with it anyway – to her, you are unstoppable, a hero of boundless might and grandeur.

You feel like you should tell her that's not true, but you can't quite bring yourself to do it. Vesta is, alone of everything in this world, peculiarly innocent; she trusts you implicitly to fix everything, as a child does her parents, and it would break your heart to destroy that.

"No," you say. "Nothing's going to hurt us, Vesta. Don't worry."

You smile, and Vesta crackles happily.

Your heart hurts a little.

Anyway, you have to make a decision now; there's no time for sentimentality. Which way to go, left or right? Perhaps to prove Vesta right, or perhaps because of a vague idea of the watchful goat that sees all from its mountain of blackboards, you go right, and work your way slowly down the tunnel. You keep an ear out for the noise, and an eye out for sticks; you find neither, however – the former because its source is now presumably still, and the latter because you're currently very deep underground in a sea cave, which is pretty much the last place on the planet that you're going to find a stick.

The seaweed is getting thicker the deeper you go; you can now hear the sea again, as well – water is flowing strongly somewhere beneath you. In places, the weed is strewn so thickly that you don't even have to gather any, and can instead devote your attention wholly to not falling over – no mean feat when you're travelling over sharp rocks and slippery algae, although going barefoot does help.

Soon enough you come to another cavern, as large and labyrinthine at the first – but at the other end of this one you see a vast opening, leading down a tunnel too big and dark to take in with just one look; it's half flooded with water, and as you stand and stare with Vesta you can just about make out the faintest indication of something white in its inky depths.

What is that? asked Vesta.

"I don't know," you reply cautiously, but even as you say it you realise it's a lie: you know exactly what it is. You have just worked out where you are.

You are inside the Whirl Islands, and that means that the shadow at the end of the tunnel can only be one thing – but you don't say it; you don't even think it. It just doesn't bear thinking about; consider the matter at all, even for a second, and you know you will regret it.

There is a Gigantic Tunnel here.

There are several heaps of scree here.
 
20
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
Make whatever preparations you think are necessary, both physically and mentally, and go on. When you have come this far you might as well continue. The only thing you have to do is try to explain what exactly it is you might end up facing to Vesta and offer to go in alone.
 

destinedjagold

You can contact me in PC's discord server...
8,593
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Dec 23, 2023
hope it's not an eldritch. =/
legendaries are too powerful to be turned into monsters...right? o,o
 
Last edited:
301
Posts
14
Years
  • Seen Feb 7, 2018
We're either walking into a Eldritch Dewgong's lair or far more likely the Eldritch Lugia if the dream says anything. I think we should turn back and take the other path let's face it you barely can survive an evolved Eldritch do you really think you can handle a legendary?
 
20
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
We're either walking into a Eldritch Dewgong's lair or far more likely the Eldritch Lugia if the dream says anything. I think we should turn back and take the other path let's face it you barely can survive an evolved Eldritch do you really think you can handle a legendary?

It might not be an Eldritch Lugia. Remember how Celebis shrine repelled the eldritch pokemon? The legendaries might be the only normal pokemon left in the world. If Lugia were to become his ally it would greatly boost our chances.
 

Ragnia

Hello
97
Posts
13
Years
Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going all day long. Sure the prospect of an Eldritch Lugia is severely frightening, but the probability of it actually coming into play now is slim to none (though now that I said that, the chances are probably higher). There's also the chance that Lugia, and all of the other legendaries, were unaffected by whatever madness caused the eldritch mutation in the Pokemon. Though maybe not.


On a side note, I feel like if there was an Eldritch Lugia, it'd look like this
mqdefault.jpg


Just for the record, that is supposed to be a Lugia.
 
5
Posts
10
Years
Before you challenge a potentially Eldritch legendary, it's probably better to go find your Horribly Dangerous Stabby Thing too, so you can keep fighting it if you run out of Flash Cannon PP/Ammo.
It might not be such a good idea to fight it at all, though.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
1,030
Posts
14
Years
> hope it's not an eldritch. =/
legendaries are too powerful to be turned into monsters...right? o,o
> It might not be an Eldritch Lugia. Remember how Celebis shrine repelled the eldritch pokemon? The legendaries might be the only normal pokemon left in the world. If Lugia were to become his ally it would greatly boost our chances.


Well, there is a chance that that's the case, but you think it might be more due to Celebi being in the wrong time at the moment, and the shrine itself acting as a conduit for its purifying power. But hey! Hope springs eternal, right?

> We're either walking into a Eldritch Dewgong's lair or far more likely the Eldritch Lugia if the dream says anything. I think we should turn back and take the other path let's face it you barely can survive an evolved Eldritch do you really think you can handle a legendary?
> Make whatever preparations you think are necessary, both physically and mentally, and go on. When you have come this far you might as well continue. The only thing you have to do is try to explain what exactly it is you might end up facing to Vesta and offer to go in alone.
> Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going all day long. Sure the prospect of an Eldritch Lugia is severely frightening, but the probability of it actually coming into play now is slim to none (though now that I said that, the chances are probably higher). There's also the chance that Lugia, and all of the other legendaries, were unaffected by whatever madness caused the eldritch mutation in the Pokemon. Though maybe not.
> Eldritch.....Lugia ?! Keep going we got a mystery to solve!
> Before you challenge a potentially Eldritch legendary, it's probably better to go find your Horribly Dangerous Stabby Thing too, so you can keep fighting it if you run out of Flash Cannon PP/Ammo.
It might not be such a good idea to fight it at all, though.


(Four to one: Othodox will continue.)

Yeah, it might not.

But you're going anyway.

You have a little look around, but no Hideously Dangerous Stabby Thing is in sight. You realise that you probably stood a better chance of finding your stuff back up on the higher levels, and, leaving Vesta to burn on a large pile of seaweed, retrace your steps to do some searching.

Othodox found one Hideously Dangerous Stabby Thing! Othodox put the Hideously Dangerous Stabby Thing in the Pouch.

Othodox found one Weird Shrivelled Thing! Othodox put the Weird Shrivelled Thing in the Pouch.

Othodox found one Loaded Portable Spratchery (Two Shots)! Othodox put the Loaded Portable Spratchery (Two Shots) in the Pouch.

Othodox found some MooMoo Milks! Othodox put the MooMoo Milks in the Pouch.

Othodox found some Rocks! Othodox put the Rocks in the Pouch.


Well, actually, the Rocks might not be the exact same ones you lost. But they're about the same size, so you guess it doesn't matter that much.

You return to find someone throwing rocks at Vesta.

"Get out!" he hisses. His coat is long and tattered, and he has a wild, bristly brown beard that seems to have been struck by lightning and consequently split down the middle; in short, he looks like he's been down here a bit too long. "Get out of here! You'll bring it all down on us!"

Othodox! cries Vesta anxiously. A strange person!

"Hey!" you say, approaching, Handgun at the ready. "Hey, you!"

The man whirls and stares at you with something between panic and relief; it looks like his face is fighting itself.

"You!" he gasps, falling to his knees. "You! Human! At last! Human! Someone!"

He descends into a coughing fit, and you look over his head at Vesta. She twitches in a way that might be construed as a shrug.

"Uh... are you OK?" you ask, unprepared for this.

"Fine!" wheezes the man, climbing to his feet and patting himself wildly on the chest. "Just – eagh hagh hagh – fine! Oh, God!" He coughs violently for a few seconds more, then walks over and claps a hand on your arm. "Another human," he says with feeling. "Oh God! At last..."

He wipes the sweat from his forehead, and suddenly you realise that you know that forehead – that large, balding forehead, with hair at the top and glasses at the bottom. OK, so the beard's new, but you'd expect that after God knows how many years without a razor – and yet...

"Hang on," you say. "That's... no way. That's just too unlikely."

What?

"Yes, what?" asks the man.

"Professor Elm," you say incredulously. "You're Professor Elm."

"Yes," he replies, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "Do I know you?"

"N-no," you manage. "No, you don't – at least, I don't think so..."

Dear God. Just when you thought you at least had a straightforward confrontation with Mighty Forces coming, another crazy guy pops up out of nowhere. It's doubtless part of the Narrator's grand plan, but given that the Narrator's grand plan seems to be about as sane as Falkner, you're not too inclined to trust it.
 
7
Posts
10
Years
  • Seen Jul 27, 2013
Hi, Cutlerine!

I made this account just to say that this story and all of your other ones that I've read are fantastic. (Especially the Guide to Pokemon Husbandry.) I hope you keep this one up until it's done!

Ask Elm how he got there and what he knows about the Eldritch world.
 
40
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Nov 9, 2013
Correct me if I'm wrong but can't you just carry Vesta on a torch (e.g. a piece of coracle or something)?
 
20
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
Threaten him with Vesta to make him reveal everything he knows. Also do an evil laugh while you do it. In fact, do an evil laugh even if he tells you everything willingly. You can always say a voice in your head told you to do it; I will gladly take the blame.
 
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