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[Pokémon] A Smell of Petroleum Pervades Throughout

15
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10
Years
Another point is that I've specifically mentioned the masterballs - using even one of the two - at least three times now, and every single time, the narrator sort of ignores it. I think they're important for something.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
1,030
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14
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> Do you have your PokeGear? See if you can call Lyra up again.

Click.

"The number you have dialled cannot be reached, because it is in existential torment."

Huh.

> Completely random idea here, but smell the air.

It smells of seawater and burning (that'll be Vesta, you guess), and – very, very faintly – of fish and petrol, which is probably due to the Eldritch Krabby burrowing around under the town.

> Check on the Bad Egg and discuss the mystery of Lyra with Elm, who may know where she is, and Jasmine.

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

"Who is Lyra?" you ask.

"What?"

"Lyra," you say. "The woman who sent me the Mail. I just tried to call her again, but there was nothing."

Elm shrugs.

"A Trainer from New Bark," he replies. "No one special – not particularly talented or anything. I wouldn't worry about the message in your PC, though; I think that's a spawn artefact – one of those things that always appears when a new player character is created."

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS," says Jasmine. "SORRY."

"That's fine," you tell her. "So we don't know who was on the other end of the line when I called her Pokégear and was told that a smell of petroleum prevails throughout?"

"Nope." Elm shakes his head. "To be honest, I think the Unown are more important here."

> Also, how exactly are we going to get to Goldenrod or the Ruins of Alph from Olivine? Head to Ecruteak first, you may be able to get some protection for Elm and Jasmine because they're with you.

"The Unown are definitely important here," you agree. "Definitely. I suppose we need to get to the Ruins of Alph and see if anything's up."

"OK," says Elm. "How are we doing that without a helicopter?"

"Walking, I guess," you reply. "To Ecruteak first – we should be safe there, because of the Gengar."

"WE CAN LEAVE IN THE MORNING," says Jasmine. "I DON'T FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD BE OUT AT NIGHT."

All three of you can agree on that.

"OK," you say. "So. For the time being – any more ideas about what might be going on? I know we've got all the clues."

Elm sighs.

"I don't know," he replies. "I think this is a player character thing, Othodox. We can't do this; we can discuss the ideas with you, but you have to come up with them." He shrugs. "I know it sounds odd, but it's how this works. I think."

"I AGREE," says Jasmine. "THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE JUST KNOW."

Othodox's Hunger is rising.

Othodox's Thirst is rising.

Elm's Hunger is rising.

Elm's Thirst is rising.

The infection spreads. Elm is Pained.
 
8
Posts
13
Years
Ask Elm what he meant before about getting the Eldritch Quilava off your back. He appears to have forgotten and it would be nice to have that information before he goes caput.
 
77
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12
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  • Seen May 12, 2021
Ignore Elms Hunger and Thirst hes dying anyway and our food supply is limited. Take a small snack and small drink, purify some water with the distillation thing I recall having and set up for the night.
 
20
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11
Years
  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
Ignore Elms Hunger and Thirst hes dying anyway and our food supply is limited. Take a small snack and small drink, purify some water with the distillation thing I recall having and set up for the night.

No, we have no idea how long he is going to live, and he will be more useful when well fed. Besides, the coral is basically a parasitic organism in Elms body, parasites does not have any interest in killing their host; they want him to stay alive so they can continue to feed on him. Eat, drink and sleep, then prepare to set out in the morning.

Also does Jasmine not need food and water?
 

destinedjagold

You can contact me in PC's discord server...
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  • Age 33
  • Seen Dec 23, 2023
Ignoring Elm's hunger and thirst is really really...yeah, I don't like that idea. He's still alive, and ignoring that is really cruel. So let him join and you three should eat and drink something. If Vesta's hungry, give her some wood.

Then, before you guys get some shut eye, plan on who will stay up for a few hours to keep watch.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
1,030
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14
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> Ask Elm what he meant before about getting the Eldritch Quilava off your back. He appears to have forgotten and it would be nice to have that information before he goes caput.

"All right. We're not getting anywhere with this right now; let's try something else. Professor, you said you had an idea for getting the Quilava off my tail?"

"Well," he replies, "the Steelix hasn't come back after Jasmine now, has it?"

"NO, IT HASN'T," she confirms. "NOT SINCE I DIED."

"So, that was my plan," he said. "If we can trick it into thinking you're dead, then maybe it'll stop chasing you." He shrugs. "I don't really know how to do that. It was just a thought."

> Ignore Elms Hunger and Thirst hes dying anyway and our food supply is limited. Take a small snack and small drink, purify some water with the distillation thing I recall having and set up for the night.
> No, we have no idea how long he is going to live, and he will be more useful when well fed. Besides, the coral is basically a parasitic organism in Elms body, parasites does not have any interest in killing their host; they want him to stay alive so they can continue to feed on him. Eat, drink and sleep, then prepare to set out in the morning.
> Ignoring Elm's hunger and thirst is really really...yeah, I don't like that idea. He's still alive, and ignoring that is really cruel. So let him join and you three should eat and drink something. If Vesta's hungry, give her some wood.
Then, before you guys get some shut eye, plan on who will stay up for a few hours to keep watch.


You eat, drink and make as merry as you can under the circumstances, but you don't distil any water, because you forgot to pick the distillation device up before you jumped in the helicopter and fled Cianwood.

Sigh. Oh, Othodox. What will we do with you?

Elm will sleep all night, since he is tired from his work and the predation of the piece of Corsola; you'll sleep in the early hours of the morning, since you have been asleep all afternoon; and Jasmine will remain awake all night, because the only reason she would sleep is for comfort – and in this dream-haunted world, sleep brings no comfort at all.

> Also does Jasmine not need food and water?


She doesn't have much of an appetite these days. Nor would you if your stomach had crushed in a Steelix's gizzard and turned into a lump of manganese.

> Before heading out use the pokedex

Results:

No Pokémon found!


Huh. That's actually more ominous than if it had said it had found a hundred and sixty-five. Where are they all? Have they gone into hiding? Have they all been killed by the Quilava and their corpses dragged away to be torn apart in some rank, bloody den?

This question is not long dominant in your mind, however, because shortly afterwards the Pokédex goes bloop and turns itself off.

It would appear you have run out of battery power.

That's not a particularly auspicious start to your journey north, but there's nothing much to be done about it, so, as the sun climbs up into the sky, you set off for Ecruteak.

As you pass the northernmost buildings of Olivine, you see signs of fire; there's nothing here now – perhaps the storm blew over here and extinguished the flames – but the walls are stained black with soot, and the earth has been baked into crude terracotta. There's even lumps of gritty glass in the sand.

You don't think the Eldritch Quilava was very happy that you got away.

"Is this... Christ, is this all from that Quilava?" asks Elm.

You nod.

"OH DEAR," says Jasmine timidly. "IT SEEMED A LOT, UM – A LOT LESS SCARY WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT IT. AND IT SOUNDED SCARY EVEN THEN."

It's big
, points out Vesta helpfully. Very big, and very fiery. Like me when I burned the flappy things.

"Golbat," you say. "Those were Golbat, Vesta."

Ah, she says. Gol-bat. OK.

You travel on, and the burned buildings give way to the giant molehills and pits of Route 39. You don't linger here; this is the first time you've seen this place really clearly, and you can now appreciate just how scarred and twisted the ground is. This is a place lost to nature; you are not welcome here, not any more. It is the kingdom of the Eldritch Steelix.

Further on you go, past the ruined MooMoo Farm (and while we're on the subject, do you think you could go somewhere without burning it to the ground for once? You really are a most destructive little creature); you can see the vast dome of night over Ecruteak now – the shell of the Eldritch Gengar, waiting for God knows what.

"OH DEAR," says Jasmine, staring at it. "OH DEAR..."

"It's OK," you say, squeezing her hand comfortingly and remembering too late that it's made of metal. "It's just the Gengar. We should be safe in there."

She swallows.

"OK," she says doubtfully. "IF YOU SAY SO..."

Elm's reaction is rather different.

"Mother of God," he breathes. "That's fascinating."

There's science for you. Show a normal man a monster and he'll run for the hills; show it to a biologist and he'll measure the length of its toenails.

Come on, crackles Vesta. We should go. The nemesis is coming.

Ah. That can only mean one thing.

"The Eldritch Quilava?" you ask.

Yes. It's in the forest, far to the north. Vesta pauses. It's running very fast, I think.

"Right," you say, breaking into a brisk march. "Come on! We're leaving."

Spurred on by the thought of an unpleasantly fiery death, you cover the remaining distance to Ecruteak in record time, and soon you're within the misty grey twilight of the city once again.

Hello, Othodox.

The sky tears open; the Gengar looks down upon you.

You have returned, it tells you unnecessarily. And look... I remember you, Elm – and you too, Jasmine, though this world has been less kind to you than to the Professor. It sighs; dark winds race through the empty streets. The lesser Ghosts are watching, you can sense, but they don't reveal their presence. It would seem you are close to your goal, the Gengar continues. The dreams are getting longer.

"Yeah," you reply. "We're on our way to the Ruins of Alph."

Ah, says the Gengar. How singularly appropriate! In the Dreaming, of course, you would head for the Unown... Good luck to you all.

Elm and Jasmine are awestruck, staring up at the gigantic eyes above; for a moment, you wonder how it is that you're more used to this world than they are, and then you remember that normal people survive here by finding a hole and hiding in it: you are a special case. By hook or by crook, you have fought and fled and burned your way across Johto, forever one step ahead of certain death.

Not too bad a resumé, actually. 'Saving the world in the face of dire perils' is the sort of thing that impresses employers, you imagine.

Actually, thinking about the consequences of this, you also anticipate that it's going to be fairly easy for you to get laid after this as well. Girls like a guy who fights forces so terrible that no human language has a word for them.

You think.

The infection spreads. Elm is Feeling the Itch.
 

destinedjagold

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Ask the Gengar if he/she/it can tell you anything about the Ruins of Alph.
Also, you should probably try and see if you can find supplies, food or anything useful around, since, y'know, your starter is already pretty hot on your trail...
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
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14
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> Pray(how long has it been?) Ask Gengar if he has batteries, if he doesn't loot Ecruteak. Tell Jasmine to scratch Elm and last but not least teach Vesta grammar.

This isn't exactly the kind of itch you can scratch. This is more of an itch coming from a canker in the soul, a little boil of self formed where the questing tendrils of eldritch parasites plunge deep into one's core; unless you know a philosopher with a liberal attitude and an array of magic spells, there's nothing really you can do but wait, and hope that when you fix the world the coral will die and fall away from him.

You very much doubt the Gengar has batteries. It's the freaking sky, for God's sake! As for looting Ecruteak, you already did that.

Vesta has learned as much about grammar as you can teach her. She slightly misunderstands the meaning of the word 'nemesis', but now isn't the time to correct her.

> Ask the Gengar if he/she/it can tell you anything about the Ruins of Alph.
Also, you should probably try and see if you can find supplies, food or anything useful around, since, y'know, your starter is already pretty hot on your trail...


Hah! It's hot on your tail? Get it? Because it's following you, and it's on fire?



Sheesh. Fine. Be like that.

Anyway, you ask the Gengar if it knows anything about the Ruins of Alph.

Something is waiting there, it tells you. Something young and strong. I cannot see what it is, but I fear it. It blinks slowly. The Unown are buzzing, it goes on. I feel them humming in the air all around us, but I cannot see them. Not until they die.

"Right," you say. "Uh, thanks."

You cannot loot Ecruteak. There is nothing left to loot, unless you can somehow get past the locked gate of the Bellchime Trail and investigate the Bell Tower.
 
77
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12
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  • Seen May 12, 2021
I dont know if this was already a thing, but apparently Vesta can sense the Quilava? Was that previously established?

Secondly, I would suggest having either Vesta or Jasmine attack the Gate and enter the Bell Tower. It appears that normally intelligent Pokemon, such as Ghosts/Legendaries/etc. become self aware during the Dreaming. And, since the Tower is supposedly home to Ho-oh and a passing place for the Legendary Trio of Johto, I'd say its worth checking out.
 

destinedjagold

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Do we have time to wander around? I guess we do, since, maybe, just maybe, that the Gengar dome/sky/whatever can protect us from other Eldritch creatures entering the city.

After checking the Bell Tower, I guess we should plan how to get to the Ruins of Alph. Prepare necessary weaponry for protection as well.
 

Cutlerine

Gone. May or may not return.
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14
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> I dont know if this was already a thing, but apparently Vesta can sense the Quilava? Was that previously established?
Secondly, I would suggest having either Vesta or Jasmine attack the Gate and enter the Bell Tower. It appears that normally intelligent Pokemon, such as Ghosts/Legendaries/etc. become self aware during the Dreaming. And, since the Tower is supposedly home to Ho-oh and a passing place for the Legendary Trio of Johto, I'd say its worth checking out.


Jasmine smashes the lock on the door to the Bellchime Trail with one blow of her open palm – reminding you indirectly of Tom Buchanan – and you pass through into the gatehouse where a few old monks live. There's nothing here (no one since Henry VIII has ever got much out of looting monasteries) but you're able to get onto the Bellchime Trail without much incident.

The place is... different, to be sure. It looks normal enough – locked in perpetual autumn by means unknown – but only half as long as normal due to the great black wall of the Gengar cutting it in two. You've all passed through the Gengar's side before by now, though, and you only have to persuade Jasmine a little bit before she follows you and Elm through.

On the other side, the Bell Tower rises straight and tall, a colossal monument to human endeavour; as always, you can feel a faint mellifluous hum in the air, as if the bell had just finished ringing when you arrived, and the last strains of its voice murmur among the orange leaves.

Oh yeah, and there's a dead Ho-Oh on the ground in front of it.

"OH MY GOD!" cries Jasmine, staring at the gigantic carcase. "HO-OH'S DEAD!"

"Yes," says Elm. "I had noticed." He walks a little closer and scratches absently at the coral spreading across his cheek. "It fell from the Tower," he says, looking puzzled. "And it isn't Eldritch..."

That's what seems so strange about it: Ho-Oh is the same as ever, resplendent in its rainbow-hued feathers. Red and gold mingle in the scabbed blood around its head, not green, and it smells of honey and rot, not petrol. There is a savage twist in its neck where it broke it in the fall from the roof; that shouldn't have killed an Eldritch Pokémon – or at least, not for long.

"What the hell happened here?" you say at length. It's the first thing you've been able to see since you arrived; Ho-Oh is too big, too colourful, too alive and yet too dead, and it fills your eye and your mind to capacity.

"I think it fell off the roof," says Elm. His voice is toneless; he is as stricken as you are. "It fell off the roof..."

"We can't leave it here," you say immediately. "We have to – bury it, or something—"

"I AGREE," says Jasmine. "BUT IT'S SO... IT WOULD TAKE US WEEKS TO DIG A HOLE BIG ENOUGH FOR IT."

Elm sighs.

"She's right," he says. "We can't spare the time."

"And we can't leave it here!" you insist. "It's Ho-oh!"

"I know!" he snaps. "I'm thinking, damn it—"

I have an idea
, says Vesta, and the instant she says it, you realise what it is.

"Good girl," you tell her. "That's it." You turn to Elm and Jasmine. "We can't bury it," you say. "But we can cremate it."

"IT'S... HOW IT SHOULD BE," replies Jasmine. Her voice is shaking; is that the light glinting on her cheeks, or are those more mercury tears? "HO-OH IS FIRE AND AIR. WE SHOULD RETURN IT TO THAT."

Elm nods, his aggression spent.

"Fine," he says. "Good idea." He takes Jasmine's arm. "We should step back," he says. "Ho-Oh's flame sacs are probably still full – if they'd burst in the fall, it would already have burnt up. The blaze will be, uh, potent."

They take a few hurried steps away. You unwind the Tangle of Fireproof Webbing and hold up Vesta to the light.

"Burn it with respect, OK?" you tell her quietly. "This is like – this thing was a national icon. It's like a god of fire."

A god of fire... Vesta sounds captivated by the idea. We will burn together, she decides. With respect!

"Good girl. Now!"

You swing the Webbing like a sling and hurl it at Ho-Oh's side; in an instant, the flesh and feathers seem to have disappeared, leaving a skeleton dimly visible at the core of a twisting inferno that climbs up, up and up, higher than the trees, higher even than the Bell Tower, belching black and gold smoke like a great primeval dragon.

And in among Vesta's green flames are golden ones, Ho-Oh's flames; and blue-purple ones, the sacred fire unleashed in the myths against the enemies of the Johtonians; and in the kaleidoscope of fire and light a massive heat is born, stripping the leaves from the trees in a wave of redly pulsing air, sending them spiralling around the blaze like nymphs dancing wild in some flaming Bacchanalia.

Then it is done.

The flames die down, the smoke vanishes; sparks wink out and of Ho-oh there is nothing left at all, not even ash – except for the Tangle of Fireproof Webbing, smoking gently but still intact, and a little dark object on the scorched ground.

Othodox found one Flattened Unown! Othodox put the Flattened Unown in the Pouch.

What a way to go: crushed to death beneath a falling legendary Pokémon. Makes you think, doesn't it? No, I guess it doesn't.

"Whoa," you breathe.

"Yeah," agrees Elm.

"IT'S AT PEACE," says Jasmine. "AT LAST."

"More than that," Elm says. "Ho-Oh doesn't die – not permanently. It's a species of phoenix, after all." He stares up at the now-smokeless sky. "Wherever that smoke went, Ho-Oh will be reborn," he says. "It's not gone. We just moved it along a little."

"Will it be reborn Eldritch?"

He shrugs.

"I have no idea," he says honestly. "I hope not. It wasn't Eldritch when it died, so maybe..." He shrugs again. "I don't know."

There is a long silence.

"Well," you say, "we should go and look in the Bell Tower. See what we can find."

"What about Vesta?" asks Elm, pointing.

You look. The Webbing is still smoking; it's probably not a good idea to touch it just yet.

"I'll get her on the way out," you decide. "Just wait there, Vesta."

You enter the Bell Tower, and split up to search the various floors. An hour later, you meet up again to pool your findings.

Othodox found one Ceremonial Sword! Othodox put the Ceremonial Sword in the Pouch.

Othodox found one Pot of Incense! Othodox put the Pot of Incense in the Pouch.

Elm found one Blessed Staff! Elm put the Blessed Staff in the Priestly Paraphernalia Pocket of Elm's Bag.
Jasmine found one Grimoire! Jasmine put the Grimoire in Othodox's Pouch.

Jasmine found one Sacred Ash! Jasmine put the Sacred Ash in Othodox's Pouch.


You go outside again and collect Vesta – but as soon as you pick her up, you notice that her experience in the funerary pyre has changed her.

Congratulations! Your Vesta evolved into NEW SPECIES [PLEASE ENTER NAME DATA MANUALLY]!

> Do we have time to wander around? I guess we do, since, maybe, just maybe, that the Gengar dome/sky/whatever can protect us from other Eldritch creatures entering the city.
After checking the Bell Tower, I guess we should plan how to get to the Ruins of Alph. Prepare necessary weaponry for protection as well.


You stare.

"Vesta...?"

"Yeah?" she answers, and you start. That is not her usual half-voice, buried in crackles and spits. That is a distinctly human voice – and recognisably female, as well.

"You've evolved."

"Is that what it's called? I wasn't sure. I've definitely changed, if that's what you mean."

"Oh yeah," you manage, nodding. "You've definitely changed."

Within the Tangle of Fireproof Webbing is a ball of golden flame in continual motion, endlessly extruding tentacles and half-formed limbs of liquid fire; Vesta resembles a baby shoggoth made of napalm, or something like that, and she can obviously move far more quickly than she used to.

"I don't think you need to carry me any more," she says, diffidently – with a hint, you think, of the embryonic rebelliousness of a fledgeling teenager.

"Oh, OK," you reply, putting her down. "Do you still need the—"

The Webbing boils and shudders, glowing gold from within as flames force their way through it, expanding, reshaping themselves, pushing the silk into new shapes the Spinarak never thought it might assume; it rises like a lumpish column, rounding at the top and forking in the middle, and grows in great juddering shocks with a sound like melting rock (we shall assume you know what that sounds like) – and then, all at once, the shape uncurls and straightens up and you can see what it is that Vesta has done.

Before you stands a statue of a woman (a little oddly-shaped, perhaps, but a pretty good likeness for someone without anyone to model it on): a woman whose skin is indestructible white-grey spider-silk, and whose eyes are formed of the rosy gold fire that makes up her core.

You and Vesta stare at each other for a moment. Looking into her burning eyes hurts, as if you were looking at the sun, but you can't quite tear yourself away: this is Vesta, your Vesta, your wonderful, clever little Vesta, and she...

Vesta hugs you. It's a bit like being hugged by a baby nuclear reactor, but you don't mind: you hug her back, uncertain why exactly you are crying but not caring, and going on anyway.

"I understand it now," she whispers, and you can tell from the sound of her voice that she is crying too, or something like it. "There's a word for someone like you, isn't there? Someone who looks after me like you do..."

You close your eyes.

"Thank you for everything," she says. "Dad."

---

When your gloriously (and, it must be said, slightly sickeningly) sentimental tête-á-tête is over, you turn back to Elm and Jasmine feeling slightly embarrassed, but not nearly as embarrassed as they look. They also look stupefied; this has been rather an unusual event even by the standards of the Dreaming.

"Er... What did I just see?" asks Elm.

"Vesta evolved," you say simply.

"I'm smarter," she adds. "I'm older."

Not just physically, you imagine, although you can't deny that she has now been in existence longer than before – but mentally and emotionally; she's still a child, yes, but not as young a child as she was before. You imagine she must be twelve or thirteen in human terms – which is rather confusing, since she seems to have built herself a body based on Jasmine's, and Jasmine is in her early twenties – but it's not the most confusing thing that's happened, so you imagine you can probably deal with it.

"RIGHT," says Jasmine slowly. "UM... NO, ACTUALLY, I'M NOT SURE I CAN PRETEND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED."

"Vesta's acquired some new abilities with her evolution," you reply. "Or... well, Vesta can probably explain it best."

"I can change my shape," she said. "I'm fluid, and stronger than before. And I used the webbing because through the webbing I can touch things without destroying them."

"THAT'S NOT REALLY WHAT I WAS CONFUSED ABOUT," Jasmine says. "I THINK... WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I THINK."

"I think Jasmine means that we're both, er, startled," says Elm. "Neither of us were expecting this... actually, you two probably weren't, either."

"No," you agree. "I wasn't."

"Nor was I," says Vesta. "Something in Ho-Oh changed me."

"Most Fire-types have organically-generated flintstones inside them to ignite the gas from the flame sacs," Elm explains. "It's been theorised that Ho-Oh, since it actively generates elemental radiation, must have Fire Stones rather than ordinary flintstones. Perhaps that acted upon you."

There's nothing quite like empirical scientific interest to quash shock, is there? Elm seems to be taking it all in his stride now, and happily pontificates on theories of Pokémon evolution (more properly termed, he explains, Andrian phase metamorphosis, after the scientist who conducted the first major researches into it) all the way back to the gate of the Bellchime Trail. This helps normalise the mood a little, and soon enough the four of you feel almost normal again – though you, naturally, feel more than normal; Vesta is holding your hand, excited at being able to actually touch you, and as well as the heat from her flaming core you feel a warm glow in your chest. Pride? Happiness? Love? You're not sure any one of those does it justice; it's none of them and all of them at once, and it buoys you up even in the gloomy twilight of Ecruteak City.

Once safely back within the dome of night, you hold a discussion about how to get to the Ruins of Alph, and decide that there isn't anything you can do except walk.

As for weapons, well. You have the Highly Persuasive Handgun, the Hideously Dangerous Stabby Thing, a sword, a big stick, Jasmine, and Vesta. You are better armed than some countries.

Othodox's Devotion has improved!

Othodox is the Son Tabiti Never Had!
 
Last edited:

destinedjagold

You can contact me in PC's discord server...
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Whoa! Um, okay. That was really unexpected. But totally cool!
Onward to the Ruins of Alph!
 
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11
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  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
Since Vespa evolved, you should probably name the new species, and then decide whether you want to continue calling her Vespa or the new name. Is the Eldritch Quilava female? And if so is that the mother? it did kind of give birth to Vespa after all.

Also, since The Gengar molecularly disassembled a house earlier, maybe it can do the same with the coral without hurting Elm? Or maybe reassemble him as it goes along?
 
8
Posts
13
Years
Now, this is just a suggestion, but perhaps we should have Orthodox SHOOP DA WHOOP. It should be very effective in solving all our problems. On a side note, see if Vesta's higher control of fire allows her to learn more advanced fire type moves, perhaps a fire shield of sorts to guard against the Eldritch starter so eager to nom your brains out.
 

Cutlerine

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> Can Vesta hold a weapon as well?

Yes, since she now has hands, but to be honest, she's a living weapon herself, and probably a more effective one now that she's evolved.

You could always examine her stats to find out more information, you know. She didn't have any before, but she might have acquired them during evolution.

Because that would totally make sense.

> Since Vespa evolved, you should probably name the new species, and then decide whether you want to continue calling her Vespa or the new name. Is the Eldritch Quilava female? And if so is that the mother? it did kind of give birth to Vespa after all.

You name the new species Calcapien and move on. You cannot change Vesta's name; you do not possess a Name Rater.

On a side note, the Eldritch Quilava seems to be male, which means that Vesta's is a very progressive family indeed; she has two fathers, one of which isn't even human and which is doing his level best to kill and eat the other father.

Modern life, eh? You can't keep up with the changes these days.

> Also, since The Gengar molecularly disassembled a house earlier, maybe it can do the same with the coral without hurting Elm? Or maybe reassemble him as it goes along?

You ask the Gengar very nicely about removing Elm's coral, and it informs you that, while it can't remove it completely without harming Elm – it's rooted very deeply, and it takes more skill to take apart something embedded in a fragile human without harming them than it does to take apart a house – it can cut the coral back to its roots. (Not that coral has roots, but, well, you know what I mean.)

Elm's infection has been reset. Elm is Almost Fine.

> Now, this is just a suggestion, but perhaps we should have Orthodox SHOOP DA WHOOP. It should be very effective in solving all our problems.

You cannot shoop da whoop. You do not know how to shoop da whoop.

> On a side note, see if Vesta's higher control of fire allows her to learn more advanced fire type moves, perhaps a fire shield of sorts to guard against the Eldritch starter so eager to nom your brains out.

Fire-types are good at setting things on fire – less so at preventing things from catching on fire. Your experience has taught you that Vesta, like most Fire-types, is geared more towards offence than defence.

You do ask her about what she might be able to do, and in response she opens up her mouth, a slit in the webbing, and breathes out a great gout of gold fire. This appears to be somewhere between a Flamethrower and a Fire Blast in potency, but you can't be certain of how strong it is exactly until you examine Vesta's stats.

> Onward to the Ruins of Alph!

Onwards indeed! You set off to the south, down the sloping plain that will take you to Route 36. Route 37 is a picturesque place, and for the first time you see something almost like normal life here – in the distance, by the trees, a group of Stantler are grazing. They are vast and misshapen, but don't seem to show any interest in you; evidently, the all-consuming hunger of the Eldritch Pokémon is directed, in their case, at leaves.

There are bleached bones hidden in the grass, though, so you don't risk going any nearer. Elm picks two up and taps them together.

"Long dead," he said. "Whoever this was has been here for years." He glances up at the Stantler. "Maybe not them, then, but I wouldn't like to risk it."

You all agree on that point, and continue south to the dark, narrow passage through the trees that forms the centre point of Route 36. Here, you feel eyes watching you from somewhere – invisible eyes, eyes that seem to look from everywhere and nowhere all at once – but see nothing.

This does not help your nerves.

And, well, when one of the thirty-foot oak trees uproots itself and steps out of the forest to block your path, that doesn't do you much good either.

You had always thought Sudowoodo was a laughable sort of Pokémon, looking as it did something like a cocktail sausage brandishing a pair of fans, but you don't think it would be prudent to laugh now at all: a vast, gnarled monster like a stony Ent, this Sudowoodo roars with a noise like a calving iceberg.

It also, it seems, wants to eat you.
 
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  • Seen Sep 16, 2017
The obvious thing to do would maybe be to have Vespa attacking it, Sudowoodo is, however a rock type, so fire attacks would not hurt it much. Sudowoodo has very low special defense. If you still have the thing that shoots flash cannons now would be the ideal time to use it. If not, see if you can slip past it otherwise, it's not like it occupies the only walkable tile, right? You can move through the forest, right? Sudowoos have very low speed so maybe it's possible to outrun it through the forest. If not, run around in circles screaming while Vespa shoots fire at it continuously.

Or is there any chance the walking steel-thing that is Jasmine can use something super effective against it? She must count as a steel-type pokemon.
 
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