Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation

Both Chief Ampharos and his right-hand Mawile nodded in agreement to Xuehua's comment. "The resistance did warn us that the town will be guarded, yes," the former informed, then added without missing a beat, "Especially the yellow Mismagius -- we need to be extra careful with her."

"Miss Magius, the Golden Eye of the Dragon. That's what the people of Spikeford call her," the Mawile said because she figured Chief Ampharos might forget to mention it. "She's the headmistress of the school we're about to barge in. Better expect her to have a full rein on the school's security system."

 

@ChocoChicken @122 Generation @WavePearl

"That said, I do remember them mentioning some strange readings..." Chief Ampharos' voice trailed off as he looked around the garden for a certain Fennekin. Too bad his right-hand Mawile found her first. "Ah, Celine! What did they say about strange readings again?" she asked.

"Oh? Lessee..." the Fennekin in question had to pause her writing in favour of scouring her brother's past letters for the information. "I think big bro once said he sensed something weird from this Coffee Gregus guy..."

"Coffee Gregus?" even Chief Ampharos had to tilt his head out of curiosity. Not that it lasted long considering Celine's sudden "...found it!" made him jump a little.

"Ah, sorry about that," Celine sheepishly apologised upon realising that her cheer (?) just now caught her chief off guard. "But yes, Coffee Gregus the Cofagrigus. My big bro said there're some strange readings from that guy..." she read the specific letter in her paws again. "...and a Decidueye too, I think."

 

Atelier and Swirlix turned to look at Celine. Did someone say 'coffee'? Upon listening in, Atelier came to understand that it was a nickname of some sort. "Okay," he said to Xuehua, "I hope the town won't catch on if some guards go missing. If we do arrive at the school, we shall do a change of strategy." First, there was the Shadow Dragon King himself, and now the headmistress of the school?

He continued sketching out the map in his book as he thought about ways of approaching it. Sneaking past the town was one thing, and it might be dangerous if they went as a group. Would rendezvous points be an option? He thought about it. "Strange readings, you say? Is this Coffee Gregus like, unnatural?"

 

@122 Generation @WavePearl (@ChocoChicken Man, with all the talks about Spikeford and the Shadow lair, will Xuehua be okay? )

"Gregus, Gregus..." Looking at the letter again, Celine answered Atelier's question with a slightly wavered voice, "I'd say that guy's reading's more like... draconic?" This, in turn, reminded Mawile of a theory between Eternatus and the Shadow Dragon King. "Well..." assuming minstrels typically used folklores and other tales for their performance materials, the historian turned to Aine and asked, "Miss Aine, are you familiar with the tale of Eternatus and the Shadow Dragon King?"

 

"Yes, that's the one," Mawile nodded to Aine, satisfied that the Sylveon bard actually knew her stuff. "Then years after that battle, a different band of heroes set out to slay the Dragon Kings. But unlike you guys, they targeted the Shadow King first, so this allowed him to siphon his power into them at his presumed 'death'. This power was what brainwashed the fallen heroes and their descendants to... basically worship the Dragon Kings, thus making Spikeford into what it is today," she explained.

From here, even Chief Ampharos could put two and two together about this Coffee Gregus guy while Celine was having a hard time wrapping her head around this particular tale. "So... are you saying that Coffee Gregus is one of those descendants?" the former wondered.

"Very likely."

(Remind me, what time is it IC: midday, afternoon, or evening?)

 

Well, that was great news. Xuehua followed the others to their dining area, arms crossed and deep in thought. If there was any upside to all this, it was that at least it looked like there was a plan and knowledge about what they were going into. But knowledge was one thing. Experience was another, and she knew that when it came to the latter, despite the prior dungeoncrawling, she couldn't be sure whether they were really ready for Spikeford.

 

"That would be nice of you, thanks," Chief Ampharos, for one, gladly took up Master Hirate's offer. I mean, honestly, everyone could use some lunch at this point.

And then protests ensued. "But sir! Are you sure you have enough food for everyone?" Bunnelby piped up. "Her stomach is very, very bottomless, y'know!" Buizel accusingly pointed at his gluttonous guildmate, the very same Swirlix who was sniffing on Atelier's bag for some reason, as he said that. Why, the sign in front of their guild's mess hall was her practically begging for leftovers! ("If you have any leftovers, I'll take care of them! Please leave them to me! Please!")

 

'Draconic'... Now Atelier worried for the party and what they were about to wade into. Listening to Mawile's description, it appeared the Shadow Dragon King had so much influence on the town that the town may as well have been brainwashed. So Coffee Gregus was a descendent of a former hero who had faced this dragon, and now had turned to the dark side (quite literally). Hopefully, the party wouldn't make the same mistake.

His thoughts were interrupted when Bunnelby single-handedly pointed out Swirlix, forcing Atelier to stop drawing.

"H-hey! It's not like I can help it," Swirlix suddenly felt small. "It's just, so... tasty. Just like this bag here."

Atelier facepalmed. He opened his satchel to show Swirlix the kettle and cup set that had yet to be washed. "It's only the scent of coffee here, friend. I need to restock on coffee beans." Had Atelier also known about the sign in front of the guild's mess hall, he might have cracked.

So he followed Master Hirate to lunch, with Swirlix eagerly right behind.

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken (@122 Generation Dangit, Swirlix.

Also, correction: Coffee Gregus is a descendant of one of the fallen heroes.)

On their way to the dojo's mess hall, the considerably large group passed by a corridor full of training rooms. Some were occupied, some others were vacant, and clangs of swords could be heard from one of the occupied rooms. Could that be, perhaps, the two swordsmons that had left earlier?

 

The sound of blades definitely reminded Xuehua of where Blacky was. She paused. Should they call him for lunch or something?

Well, better not leave him in the dark. She broke off from the group for a moment to at least knock on the door, hopefully "most of her strength" was a volume loud enough to hear over the swords.

 

Having noticed her fellow mage breaking off from the group, Celine followed Xuehua to a practice room to find the latter banging on the door. However, seeing that whoever inside might not hear the knock, the Fennekin just slid open the door...

...only to find Blacky and Josson locking their blades. The older Jolteon, for one, looked like he'd been silently judging his student slash adoptive kid on every sword clashes. Both swordsmons also had bruises and scars all over their bodies.

 

@ChocoChicken
(Now that Celine just barged into the practice room, this scene is supposed to be for her and Xuehua to see. However, I don't mind having others (Atelier and/or Swirlix for @122 Generation, Aine and/or Sammi for @WavePearl) join them as well. )

The sudden sound of opened sliding door made Blacky flinch slightly. It was quickly proven to be a mistake as his master quickly used it to knock him off balance. As a result, the Umbreon wobbled backwards and landed on his butt with his sword falling not that far away.

Still unaware of the intruders (or was he?), Josson sheathed his sword and raised a paw. "That's enough for today!" he said in his instructor mode, enough to catch Blacky off guard just when he was about to launch another attack. "Well fought, Blacky. I can see you're improving already," Josson nodded in approval, then looked at his student in the eye. "However, try to not get distracted when you lock blades like that. Understand?" he added. In this case, there's only one appropriate response from the younger Umbreon: falling to his knees with a respectful "Yes, Master."

Knowing full well this wasn't the first time his personally trained squire did that (albeit not in classes where he'd mirror his classmates no matter who the teacher was), Josson offered a paw to help Blacky up which the latter gratefully accepted. "Now, what's distracting you just now?" the former asked, this time adopting a more fatherly tone, only for Blacky to sheepishly turned to the now opened door. Lo and behold, there were a pair of familiar mages at the doorway.

(For the record, Josson was also one of the swordsmanship teachers in a warriors' school at Kickenham -- when not defending the town, that is.)

 

"Hi. Just letting Blacky know we're having lunch and also a strategy meeting. Of course, both of you can join in." said Xuehua from the door, waving one hand.

"I hope we weren't interrupting anything." Now that was more of a formality. She knew exactly what she was interrupting, but Josson seemed like the type that wouldn't be a fan of if she didn't address it.

 

Atelier also stopped by to see where the clashing of blades was coming from. Peeking right from behind Xuehua, Atelier said nothing and was left to observe Blacky having lost a spar. Blacky apparently had been knocked to the ground. Was Blacky learning new techniques or something?

"Hey hey! Let's go eat," Swirlix said, nudging Atelier's arm.

"Sure..." Atelier muttered. If he had more time, he would have liked to have asked what was happening. However, food wouldn't wait, and neither would Swirlix.

 

Training room

By the time Blacky and Josson turned to the door, Celine was already feeling as small as Swirlix had felt when Bunnelby and Buizel roasted her earlier. Knowing her pops, she knew she would be in for a bad time -- but thankfully it didn't happen just yet. Instead, it was Blacky who playfully gave her a noogie after he sheathed his sword, much to Celine's bewilderment.

"Oh? Lunchtime already?" Blacky turned to Xuehua upon overhearing her saying something about lunch and his master assuring her that they'd just finished their spar. Josson nodded to the younger Eeveelutions as a "Go ahead" signal before pulling the Fennekin aside.

"Now, Celine, what did nana say about interrupting people?"

(I'm leaving Josson's talk with Celine off-screen here.)

Mess hall

Fast forward to the mess hall, Celine's eyes gave away a devious glint upon seeing a stage in the room. She proceeded to shove Blacky to the stage's direction. "Whoa! Celine! What the--?" his surprised yelp was interrupted by her prodding him to do a blade dance which got on his nerves. The shoving part didn't last long, however, since Blacky managed to brake himself and maneuver to face Celine instead. "Celine, please. You'll want Big Sis Corinne for that, not me," he pleaded, all while wincing from his pain. Not quite Baby-Doll Eyes, no, but that was enough to soften Celine's otherwise devious attitude.

And as for the swordsmons' wounds, neither of them had time to treat it beforehand.