Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

Whelp, okay. The Crescent Moon School. That was the closest thing Blacky could get to his first request, apparently. He jotted it down on his mental to-do list.

Celine, meanwhile, took her sketchbook out and continued writing her mail after finishing her meal.

As for the second request, it seemed to be more of Josson's specialty than Hirate's. "I see," the Jolteon nodded. However, instead of agreeing to teach his student Bitter Blade, he gave him a warning about its nature, "Just so you know, Bitter Blade feeds off lingering regrets -- and you know mine already," with a sad tinge in his voice (and Celine's saddened "Pops..." in response). "I, for one, would rather have you learn Phoenix Blade instead. Do we have a deal?"

Unless anyone have anything else to say, Blacky was left to ponder about his decision.

 

From the sound of it, Blacky was about to join the warpath. What kind of sword techniques lay in store for Blacky? To Atelier, this brought a lot of strategic value. He could rely on Blacky to tank many attacks on the front lines. No wonder Blacky could be cut out to be a knight. But before Atelier could comment further, he was stopped at the sight of Blacky talking with Josson. Was Blacky planning to be some kind of alltrades hero?

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken (@122 Generation Can I just love the way Atelier's braincells work already? )

Atelier & Chief Ampharos

The way Atelier saw it, yes, Blacky was about to join the warpath. But little did the Eevee know that the previous mock battle had somehow added more sword techniques into Blacky's wishlist. Still, considering there would be even much stronger and trickier adversaries later on, who could blame him?

All in all, Atelier looked so lost in his thought to the point of Chief Ampharos asking if he's okay.

Blacky & Josson

Speaking of Blacky, his mind flew back to the way his liege's sword became covered with purple fire from the Bitter Blade during their mock fight. Why did it happen? Surely because Master Josson had his own regrets. And what was it again? A lot, though one of them had to come from witnessing his friends dying to the Sol Dragon King and now having to fight their kid even if it's just for a test. If Angus' experience with the Water Dragon King was anything to go by, it must've been very very hard on the survivors.

With that in mind, Blacky accepted the offer of learning Phoenix Blade in lieu of Bitter Blade. His master then led him to the same practice room from before -- assuming it's still unoccupied by the time they got there, that is.

Celine

A little while after Blacky and Josson had left the mess hall, Celine managed to finish her letter. She then asked both Sammi and Master Hirate with a paw still on her book, "Say, do you know where the closest post office is from here?"

 

(Friendly reminder: Celine was the one asking about the post office, not Blacky. But no need to go back on my account -- I have a loophole. )

The place where I landed, huh? Celine thought. The thing is, unlike Blacky and his friends who had taken a Corviknight Taxi to get there, most of the Expedition Society members had taken a Lapras Travel Liner instead. Then again, the pier used by those Lapras was a stone's throw away from the coach station, so it shouldn't be that far.

As for the letter itself, it's technically a business letter masked as a personal one. Celine couldn't afford to have anyone other than a fellow member of Expedition Society to take it to the post office. With that in mind, the Fennekin took another piece of paper out from her bag, then muttered some incantation with a paw on the paper and another on the sketchbook with her recently written letter on it, and voila -- a copy of the letter ready to be delivered. "I can take it there myself, thank you," she returned Sammi's smile before going off to the post office.

 

Whilst the discussion went on, Xuehua herself looked towards Master Hirate. "Does Mizu Village have anything in particular to teach in terms of Ice magic?"

The answer was probably no, but it was worth a shot. She wasn't against a refresher on her Water spells, either way.

 

One not-so-long trip later, Celine arrived at the post office. The line for postal businesses may or may not be long by now...

 

@WavePearl
"Well, it's not... specific per se," Xuehua responded. "But I'm sure there are more spells I can brush up on - ah, there are other mages and casters in the village, right?"

 

(You'd think Atelier would be very easy to tease when he's like this )

"H-huh? I'm okay..." Atelier snapped awake when he realised Ampharos was right beside him. Moreover, he then realised there was an enormous pile of food on his other side. Swirlix had heaped more food and continued to eat more and more. Is this what one would call gluttony? Atelier shook off the thought and continued to finish off his food.

It appeared Hirate was going to refer the party to gain more skills or get some training. Water and ice? Atelier went to read up on one of his tomes for that. He could use some practice though.

 

Chief Ampharos

And then Chief Ampharos shook his head at the way Atelier was snapped back to reality. Had the heroes' tactician always been this thoughtful? Naturally he should -- this guy was a tactician, for Arceus' sake.

Chief Ampharos then stood up and added more food on his plate. This guy may not be as gluttonous as Swirlix, but he still had his moments.

(In case you can't tell, I'm referring to the night after the MCs' first trip to Air Continent with Archen -- starting from 32:41 to the end of this video.)

Celine

After a little while of waiting, it was finally Celine's turn. "Excuse me, sir," she called out to the postmaster. "Can you send this to Elio, please? He's a Braixen white mage -- if he's not in Spikeford, I dunno where he is."

(Should we play this out or do it off-screen?)

 

@WavePearl

Cue the cricket sounds awkward silence at the postmaster's response (or rather, its lack thereof), though Celine immediately broke it with an ear-piercing "Hellooooooo?" and waved a paw rather aggressively. If that couldn't get the postmaster's attention, would it be the time for more drastic measures?

(Lemme ask again since you seemed to miss my previous post: Should we play this scene out? Or no?)

 

Huh, that's new, Celine tilted her head at the postmaster's comment regarding the halted mail deliveries to Spikeford. I mean, last time she mailed her brother over there, their mails could be delivered back and forth. Did Spikeford actually increase its security measures following the news of recently fallen Dragon Kings?

"How about from Spikeford? Are there any mails from there?" she asked the postmaster.

 

With plenty of food on hand, Atelier proceeded to study his notes and what he knew about Spikeford. The current strategy was to prepare as many abilities as possible before launching a very hazardous raid through a hostile school in a hostile town. For a start, the party would have to go into the town as inconspicuous as possible. There was no time limit, right? So at least they could proceed with caution.

 

Xuehua

(Friendly reminder to @ChocoChicken:

Any comments from Xuehua?)

Celine

A brief mailing uptick, huh? Celine mentally mused. Her brother's latest message must be one of those mails which could be sent out before the mailing ban. Not that the postmaster needed to know that. Instead, the Fennekin simply thanked the postmaster before storming out to the shore near the Travel Liner's (mini-)port. She then fired up her Expedition Gadget to contact Dedenne -- the gang needed to know this!

Expedition Society

Meanwhile, Chief Ampharos and his right-hand Mawile joined Atelier in forming strategies for the upcoming raid while the other Society members (sans Celine who was still outside) went off to train on their own. The two mainly provided more details on their people's specific abilities as well as some insights on potential threats. Plus, if Blacky were there, he would've offered his Wondrous Cloak for whoever would be up for the initial ambush -- the invisibility it provided would be quite a boon to them.

 

All Xuehua responded to Master Hirate with was just a nod and a quick word of thanks. She then moved towards the tactics table. Whilst they seemed to have the first leg of the infiltration ready, she looked over their second wave - the school itself. How long had she been gone? Hopefully what she still remembered would be of help.

She provided a few extra details of the structure itself - the dead ends to avoid, the students' rooms that were safest for hiding in, the blind spots in the windows (she would know from sneaking out herself, but she kept that detail private) and the fastest routes back out the building in case things went wrong - as well as where absolutely not to move into, like the teachers' lounge - although that one did appear to have links down to the lair, it was very likely they would be walking into an ambush. It looked almost as if she had some experience mapping out Shadowblight specifically.