Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

(Sure. Might as well tie up the loose ends while at it. )

Meanwhile, in one of the inn's bedrooms...

"Breathe in... breathe out..."

It took Josson quite awhile to finally calm down with Celine's help. "Better now, pops?" The Jolteon nodded in gratitude to his child (Josson may not look like it, but he treated everyone under his care -- including his own squires -- as his children). "A little, thank you," he said with the softest smile he could muster up. "Wanna talk about it? Or want me to just be... here?" Celine asked again, though she may or may not imply that talking about something else was also an option. Josson chose the second option -- he just needed Celine's presence. So now the two of them ended up in their own worlds where the Jolteon looked out the window and nibbled his scone while mentally sorting things out and the Fennekin took over the desk and re-read her brother's past messages. Body doubling, if you will.

Several minutes later, someone knocked on the door. "Celine? You there?" a male voice came from outside with a slight hesitation at first. Seems like either he didn't know that someone other than Celine was there or he knew but specifically needed her. "It's me, Blacky," the outside voice added. Celine turned to Josson who nodded at her, then she stood up and opened the door. Lo and behold, Blacky was there with a pouch in one paw. He took a quick look at the room, briefly stopped his gaze at a certain Jolteon sitting on the bed, then turned to Celine. "Is Master okay?" the Umbreon asked in a hushed voice so as not to disturb said Jolteon. Celine nodded and replied in an equally quiet voice, "He still needs time, though."

Celine then chirped again upon noticing the pouch Blacky was carrying, this time with her voice returning to its normal volume, "Oh, what's that?" In response, Blacky looked around in case of nosy people or something, then pushed the Fennekin back as he barged in and closed the door. But little did he know that such actions would earn him his liege's callout ("Blacky!!!") with the fur all over his body bristling like sharp needles which never failed to give the younger Umbreon the shivers. "Ah-- sorry..." the Umbreon paled. Cue Celine springing into action with her attempt to quell the older mon's anger: carefully getting closer to him followed by a quiet-ish plea, "Pops, please. I'm okay. Everything's okay. Maybe Blacky has a secret for us?"

Thankfully for Blacky, the plea worked because now Josson was curious about the "secret" Celine was alluding to. The Umbreon sure was lucky his master didn't resort to physically restrain him with needle-like furs and/or Thunder Wave on the side. "Well," Blacky took a seat beside Celine who was sitting near Josson on the bed. "Dunno if this counts as a secret, but here," the Fennekin was about to make a face until Blacky gave her the very same pouch Bunnelby had previously given him. "It's the resistance's portable mailbox. Bunnelby said it's from Forrest because apparently Chief Ampharos forgot to bring it." Cue a blank stare on Celine's part and a half-suppressed laugh on Josson's part -- mainly because knowing Chief Ampharos, what Blacky said just now came as no surprise to him.

"We also need to find a rendezvous point in Spikeford for the change of plan," the young warrior added. He then explained the new plan Atelier had cooked just a little earlier to both his liege and the girl whom he viewed as a sister.

(@WavePearl Remind me, what time is it IC?)

 

Xuehua had been taking the last few minutes to think over Atelier's plan - and then some other information on hand. Would this give her away? Would it sound too strange for a foreigner to know these things?

"The students' dorm rooms will be a good place to hide out in, once the students themselves are forced out so they don't warn anyone else of us. We can probably get in through some kind of backdoor entrance, if there is one."

Well, if the place she'd last used was still there... there would probably be a guard or two in the way, but they could handle it. "There are no windows, so as long as we have a skirmisher or distraction to keep attention away from the rooms we take, we should be safe to hide out in there and set up base."

She paused and swallowed, nervously eyeing the group's reaction. Would this be too much? "As for the students who we're kicking out of their dormitories... While I'm certainly all for handing out justice to the academy, the students are innocent in the long run. It's not their fault for being born in such a place. We should just... lock them in another room or something. Keep them out of the way, but not harm them unless we absolutely have to. Do be warned - I wouldn't be surprised if Shadowblight had a way to use them as soldiers or guards somehow."

She had a good idea as to what that somehow was, but if she shared any further, someone like Atelier would probably start asking questions. This would have to do for now.

 

Seemed that neither Blacky, Celine, nor Josson were around for the time being. Plus, there was one thing left on his plan that he forgotten to address. "Once we have completed our objectives, there is the matter of attacking the Dragon King himself. Depending on the outcome of the battle, it possibly could be taken outside where the Dragon King could rally his supporters like a psuedo-army, and public order will be lost. At that point, we should retreat to the rendezvous.

"Oh, and one more thing," he said, nodding at Xuehua. "I assume you have some idea what it's like in there? If it comes to that point, we might want to evacuate them in case if the school gets overrun. If the students are innocent, there's no sense in leaving them in the school for them to be used as shields. They're possibly better off leaving with us."

Atelier's notes

Aine and co. (advance)
Expedition Society (reinforcements)
Violet Dawn (mercs)
Golden Sakura - Radiant Sky (air)
Minstrels (support)
Resistance (field)

Objective 1: rendezvous with resistance
Objective 2: bombardment (air units only)
Objective 3: infiltrate school
Objective 4: establish staging ground
Objective 5: engage Dragon King
Objective 6: evacuate students
Objective 7: retreat to rendezvous (condition: if Dragon King leaves school)

 

Atelier's plan did sound good. "Well, given that the lair will be inside the school, I'd suggest whoever doesn't make it to the Shadow Dragon Tyrant with us should double back and begin evacuations. This way, if you get held up, left behind, or otherwise in a position where it would be unsafe for you to head further, you'll know what to do."

The second reason, going unspoken, was that she wasn't sure who here could take a fight, especially from some of the Shadowblight staff - or worse, the Golden Eye. Sure, the scouts would have some experience, but how would someone like Celine or Swirlix fare? Not that she'd seen either in a fight, but they didn't exactly strike her as the combative type.

 

(So dinner time, it is.)

Inn - Josson's room

One brief discussion about the new plan later (mainly because Blacky lacked the details Atelier had), Celine opened the secret-mailbox-pouch and pulled out a letter inside. A new letter, mind you, not the ones she'd been collecting (?) so far. Turned out it was Elio spilling the beans about the barrier at Spikeford which was mostly shadow-based. Said barrier would (theoretically) only allow Spikeford residents to pass while repelling everyone else, though someone from the resistance had somehow managed to convince the mages to allow Spikeford-borns to pass in addition to the residents. Why? Because wherever they were, the Spikeford-borns were bound to be the Dragon King worshippers no matter what -- or so the argument said.

Josson, meanwhile, looked out the window once again to find the sky outside getting dark (This hour already, huh?). He stood up, visibly relaxed somewhat as he opened the door, and asked, "Now, you two hungry?" He didn't even need to look to know that the teens was positively beaming at the prospect of dinner. "Dinner time, eh? I hope Swirlix won't finish everything in one go..." Blacky mused, to which Celine replied while putting her stuff away, "Not sure about that, honestly. You've seen how she ate." Cue wistful yet fond smile on the older Jolteon's part as he waited for his charges to finish their stuff before heading to the lobby.

Inn - Lobby

By the time the trio returned to the lobby, dinner had already been served. However, they also came to the last little bit of the strategy -- the part talking about... students? I mean, since the lair was inside a school, of course there would be students in there. And seems like everyone else were busy talking about what to do with them.

"And what should we do if they do use the students as guards?" Mawile asked regarding Xuehua's remark about such possibility.

 

@WavePearl @122 Generation @ChocoChicken (the tags are there for when you guys are back, btw)

"Just knock 'em outta way!" Buizel eagerly suggested to the point that people who were astute enough could see his eyes lighting up with fire despite being a water-type. "You mean, subdue them?" Archen asked only to be met by a blank stare from the Sea Weasel Pokémon. "...are those the same thing? We can't let 'em loose either way."

It wasn't until then when Josson joined everyone else with the resistance's recent letter in tow. "Ahem... Everyone!" he called for everyone's attention. "Pardon the intrusion, but we recently got a letter from the resistance."

Of course curiosity ensued. "Really?" Buizel piped up. Both Archen and Mawile were also intrigued as well. "But the pouch was empty when I checked it out," Bunnelby's ears drooped in disappointment. "Maybe the letter came in sometime after that?" Chief Ampharos guessed, which was immediately met with the Jolteon knight's nod in agreement. "Celine checked it first, actually. When she and Blacky were with me," the latter added.

That said, Josson proceeded to read the letter with this information as the important bit:

Plus, in the letter, the writer -- Elio the Braixen -- also made it clear that Celine should be able to bypass the barrier as a Spikeford-born. They still needed to figure out how to get everyone else through it, though.

Celine and Blacky, meanwhile, could be seen helping themselves to some quiche.

 

Swirlix had taken the liberty of serving dinner to everyone, although she really looked like she wanted to take a share from everyone's plates and store it for herself. That wasn't happening as Atelier insisted she serve coffee to everyone instead.

For Atelier, he looked up from his notes and his cream stew at Buizel's suggestion to knock the students out of the way. That didn't sound proper, in his honest opinion. From where he was from, it might as well constitute a war crime. It was fortunate that Archen had a better choice of words. Either way, the arrival of the letter drew his attention.

He ate another spoonful of cream stew and chewed, thinking how he could use this information to his advantage. "Okay, so if we can sneak in under the guise of being born in Spikeford, we should have no trouble infiltrating Spikeford itself. Now all that's left is to find the right rendezvous. If we can, we can enter through one of the barrier entrances without suspicion. Getting to the rendezvous will be another thing."

 

"The thing is, that'll only really work with Celine," Blacky chimed in as he and the Fennekin in question came with three plates of quiche (the extra plate was for their father figure, by the way), clearly indicating that they had overheard Atelier's comment. "If it's anything like the one at ho-- er, Kickenham, I'd imagine the barrier can magically filter people coming and going in town," the younger warrior added with the rumour Sammi had told earlier kept in mind and him quickly correcting himself at the near-mention of "home" since not everyone in the room were from Kickenham. Plus, there might be a chance of someone else in their extended party -- be it the core party or the support one -- to be another Spikeford-born like Celine, so... who knows?

"In that case, is it possible to teleport past the barrier?" Mawile raised a hand as if she were in a class. "I dunno..." Celine hung her head in response -- not even her own brother was sure about this one. The two resident warriors had no clue about it either.

 

Xuehua paused. A barrier? They were tightening the defenses, then...

Well, there was no choice. She'd tackle that issue once they were in - justice came first. "I think I might have a way to get past it."

She raised her hand, showing the Teleport Ring still there. "There's one charge left on this thing. Atelier's plan will still work."

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation

"Then we can use them -- both the ring and the spellsong -- to test it out," Mawile smiled in approval upon recognising Xuehua's Teleport Ring. "And we bought some orbs too," Bunnelby proudly announced, never mind that he forgot some details which Mawile immediately tried to find out. "...is Rollcall Orb among them?" the latter asked which was responded with an enthusiastic "Yes~" from Buizel.

Anticipating confusion, Josson took the initiative to explain, "The thing about Rollcall Orb is, it will draw your allies to you. Perfect when you need to gather everyone where you are at once." It briefly reminded him of his younger days when one of his old friends used a Rollcall Orb while running an errand with their little team in a dungeon, though he quickly shook the memory off before anyone could ask.

Speaking of asking though, Celine did ask -- just not directed at Josson. "So you want me to pass through the barrier and warp everyone else in?" her question was directed at Mawile instead.

"Bingo," the archaeologist/tactician confirmed Celine's wild guess. "And since our party is getting big, let's split up in three groups. One with Xuehua, one with Aine, and one with Celine," she suggested. There might be a chance for additional teleporting alternatives, yes, but they would deal with it later. For now, this should be enough. "Sounds good?"

 

(Literally just watched an episode of Jujutsu Kaisen which involved breaching a barrier... and dang, forgot that Xuehua's Teleport Ring was still useable - can't believe it's been two years since we first brought it up.)

"Oh oh oh! I've brought a supply of good foods too! Don't forget that!" Swirlix said to Bunnelby. "Blast Seeds, Vile Seeds, Blinker Seeds, Heal Seeds... Even a Doom Seed. I'm sure they would all be tasty."

At the mention of those, Atelier stayed silent as he took in this influx of information. The fact that Xuehua still had the Teleport Ring from the Fire Dragon King campaign had evoked memories (or flashbacks), and then there was the countless supplies that the Expedition Society had brought. He shook his head, choosing to focus on the Rollcall Orb instead with Xuehua's proposal. "If that's one way to bring everyone in, then we can take that chance. Thanks, Xuehua.

"Spellsong... I do not recommend using it yet. First, it may not work (we can't underestimate whatever we're dealing with). Second, it will for certain alert the Dragon King of our presence. Then infiltrating the school will be impossible."

He looked at Mawile. "Who should go with who? Either way, when we have decided, then we pick a place to meet up."

(Been replaying PMD Sky lately, so I was like 'Rollcall Orb... I know what that is!')

 

@122 Generation

Despite Swirlix's tendency to talk about foodstuff all the time, Bunnelby was genuinely impressed at her thoughtfulness this time around. He, like everyone else, just hoped that she wouldn't finish the whole snack supply in one go before they could even start the raid.

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken

Speaking of teleporting, there were three alternatives so far. Each were equally viable in Blacky's eyes albeit not without their own risks:

• Xuehua's Teleport Ring only could last for one use as of now (it used to have three uses but she'd previously used it on two different occasions);
• The Rollcall Orb required its user to be at the destination first (if Josson's explanation was anything to go by); and
• Aine's spellsong, well... Atelier had already spelled the risks out for everyone.

Remembering the Conceal Voice spell from his first venture to the Water Dragon's lair, Blacky tried to address the spellsong's problem first since it was the only one that didn't have any real solutions yet. "Say, milady, can you use the Conceal Voice spell on yourself?" he specifically asked Aine.

 

Atelier gave it some thought. "Let's save the spellsong for when we need it, whether we're inside the school or engaging the Dragon King. Ideally, if we are holding out at the rendezvous near the end of the strategy, it may as well our one shot against the Dragon King and his followers. For now, let's use the Teleport Ring to have some of us jump into Spikeford, then use the Rollcal Orb to get the rest of us past the barrier."

Atelier's edited notes

Aine and co. (advance)
Expedition Society (reinforcements)
Violet Dawn (mercs)
Golden Sakura - Radiant Sky (air)
Minstrels (support)
Resistance (field)

Objective 1: rendezvous with resistance (rollcall)
Objective 2: bombardment (air units only)
Objective 3: infiltrate school
Objective 4: establish staging ground
Objective 5: engage Dragon King
Objective 6: evacuate students
Objective 7: attack school
Objective 8: retreat to rendezvous (condition: if Dragon King leaves school)
Objective 9: defeat Dragon King

He looked up from his notes. "Any objections? Else, we can start the campaign at a given point in the night."

 

@WavePearl

Meanwhile, Mawile was left to ponder about Atelier's question about who should be going with who. She was about to suggest that the Bright Harp minstrels should go with Aine (and maybe even sing along with her) only to find out that the Eevee himself was against using the spellsong that early despite the solution (?) Blacky came up with.

@ChocoChicken

On the other hand, the Teleport Ring for initial warping sounded viable enough, but there was something bugging Mawile. "Xuehua? You're the one with the Teleport Ring, right?" she turned to the Glaceon mage and asked, "How many people can it teleport at maximum capacity?"

@122 Generation

And speaking of rendezvous, Celine had her sketchbook out now that she had already finished her quiche. "We also need to figure out our rendezvous point, right? Leave it to me!" she chipperly said before getting back to her letter composing. And yes, the work-in-progress letter was about where everyone should meet up once the gang managed to bypass the barrier.