Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

Shadowblight - Corridors (Blacky)

Following the Zoroark's downfall, Blacky could see a familiar drawstring bag -- Swirlix's treats bag -- nearby. Cue a brief shock on his part, though it didn't last long with Lemy hastily repacking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. And before Blacky knew it, a chant of "Karuto, iichiida shou..." whisked both the Sneasler and the bag away, forcing Blacky to drag Atelier along while proceeding to catch up with Xuehua (and maybe Aine too because I'm not sure whether she's currently ahead with Xuehua or lagging behind with the boys).

On the way to the basement, the shiny Umbreon noticed his liege holding his own against... his other self? I mean, a seemingly shiny Umbreon wielding his starter sword... that thing had to be a fake. The real Blacky had no choice but to let Atelier's arm go to shoot a Gilded Arrow at the fake Blacky. Should this shot rung true, Blacky would've unknowingly saved Celine along with his master.

Shadowblight - Corridors (Celine)

Meanwhile, Celine and Josson had just finished fighting yet another wave of Void Shadows. The two of them were not that far from each other when a strangely distinct shiny Umbreon warrior went up to Celine. "Blacky?" she asked. "Where are the others?"

The shiny Umbreon (?) only smirked at the question before attacking with a familiar Cinderace sword covered in purple flames. It immediately alarmed Josson who identified the purple flames as Bitter Blade -- and he knew that none of his current proteges had enough regret to fuel the Bitter Blade in the first place. Acting quickly, Josson intercepted "Blacky's" Bitter Blade with his bare paws and ran electricity through it, much to Celine's surprise. "I knew it," the older Jolteon muttered in righteous fury. "Copycat."

Unbeknownst to them all, there was a sol-oriented Gilded Arrow flying towards the copycat.

Shadowblight - Mochi's room

Meanwhile, Elio had just come back from taking the imposters out when his former roommate suddenly showed up. "Wha-- Lemy?" of course the Braixen was surprised. His gaze was then darted at the bag Lemy was carrying. "Where did you get that from?" Elio asked.

In response to his old friend's question, Lemy heaved a sigh as he put the bag down and opened it, revealing their fallen comrades stuffed inside along with Swirlix's stash of snacks. "Mr. Rennach," he grumbled which made Elio blink. "That 'Swirlix' from before was Mr. Rennach all along. I should've known his illusions anywhere," the Sneasler was filled with a mix of anger and regret as he said it. Cue some of the clerics, including Elio, trying to get their fallen allies out of the bag.

 

Now being dragged by Blacky through the corridors by his arm, Atelier could feel a kind of pounding in his head as he looked at the battle before him. Swirlix appeared to be safe, although she was nonchalantly stowed in her bag of snacks and carried to safety (literally). Then there was a commotion before him involving a kind of Blacky clone. Wait, did Blacky have a twin brother of sorts?

Tired and running on instinct, Atelier opened Brynhildr again to pick out Razor Leaf to help Blacky. He hoped he didn't confuse the clone with the actual Blacky, unless he was that absentminded.

Dormitory

And no sooner was Swirlix tumbling out of the bag of snacks when Lemy opened it. She was unconscious still.

"Huh?! Where did all these come from?" Mochi said, surprised. "Oh no no. At this rate, we'll run out of space for sure." She looked at Lemy. "Mr. Rennach, huh?! Is he copying students again? That's annoying."

Mawile continued to sort out the wounded with those who were friendly and those who were not. “I hope everyone is okay out there,” she said while serving medicine to the friendlies. Anyone else would be thrown out.

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation

Shadowblight - Corridors

Both the Razor Leaf and the Gilded Arrow successfully felled the offending "Umbreon", revealing a Zorua in its place (the real Blacky was still by Atelier's side). The sword fell on the floor which Josson immediately picked up. To be honest, it did not feel right to wield a protege's sword, but it's not like he had other choices either -- his own sword was broken in a previous skirmish. The knight's eyes met the squire's (who was still wielding a bow), then the two nodded to each other before actually moving on.

Shadowblight - Mochi's room

"He used to copy teachers too, actually," Lemy smiled at the memory of Rennach disguising as random teachers as his "start of class" joke of sorts. "Used to" because Lemy hadn't seen Rennach again after graduation until recently. As enemies, no less, which was kind of regrettable -- that Zoroark was actually a fun teacher compared to Shadowblight's other teachers. "Dunno if he still does, though," the Sneasler's smile became quite wistful considering all the teacher's grandiose shenanigans during their clash earlier.

"Don't tell me you just fought him," Elio chimed in while treating a Kleavor's wounds. And as if that was not surprise enough, Lemy confirmed the Braixen's wild guess ("Yeah," he said) with his arms folded.

Shadowblight - Near the basement entrance

The door to the basement was in sight and the advance party just needed to make one last push to the dragon's den. However, there were more of the shadowy slimes already in the way which were immediately neutralised by a combination of sol-oriented Gilded Arrow (with arrows enchanted by a Violet Dawn mage beforehand) and Dragon Pulse from Archen and Chief Ampharos (in his mega form courtesy of his tribe's draconic power amplified by the Ampharosite he'd been carrying) respectively -- and those managed to escape it met their ends at the barrages of Bunnelby's Double Slap and Buizel's Aqua Jet. Blacky gave Chief Ampharos and his boys a quick nod of thanks and pushed onward... only for yet another wave of Void Shadows to manifest themselves. Just when he was about to raise his bow, however, the Umbreon could feel his arm being gripped, then his body suddenly flew over the dark slimes and eventually landed just right in front of the door. Wait, what?

Any onlookers could see that Josson had practically hurled his own squire to the doorway with Celine's Psychic helped to keep him afloat as much as she could, thus effectively bypassing the Void Shadows altogether.

(For this particular scene, feel free to use any of our friendly NPCs to push your MC forward -- and be creative! )

 

@WavePearl
(I doubt it. Song of the Wind makes more sense to me. Or she could send one of her phoenixes to carve a path.)

Xuehua glared at the new wave of slimes in front of her, but kept up her running pace. She leapt at them, firing an Ice Beam to freeze the ground and slide underneath most of the wave, the leftover magic being redirected at any of the slimy creatures that went at her and soon found themselves solidified.

 

@122 Generation @WavePearl @ChocoChicken

Soon after the unceremonious landing, Blacky gingerly stood up and quickly composed himself despite the initial shock from his master just... throwing him out of the blue like that (and why did it have to be him?). From his landing spot he could see Xuehua sliding on an ice trail and Aine's phoenix clearing the path -- and Arceus knew how come that the phoenix didn't melt the ice trail at all. However, Atelier was nowhere to be seen. Blacky couldn't help but to hope that the Eevee would make it...

 

Basement

As Blacky had feared, Atelier was taking much longer than expected and it was a wonder why he hadn't arrived yet. One would think Atelier wasn't the type to devise spur-of-the-moment actions, since he mostly spent his time thinking about things rather than doing them. With Xuehua using her mobility on ice and Aine creating a forceful diversion with flames, it seemed like everyone was making their appearance in dramatic fashion. Everyone, that is, except for Atelier.

"Oi! What are you doing? Don't just stand there!" one of the Espeon mage mercenaries from Violet Ddawn waved frantically at Atelier. "Go and join your party!"

Without warning, the Espeon sent a Dazzling Gleam in Atelier's direction which exploded before Atelier even realised it. The force of the explosion sent Atelier flying over the Void Shadows and flat on the floor after. Some of his books spill out of his satchel after that, and one would think his cloak had gotten singed from the blast - even though it didn't involve fire.

Mochi's room

Mawile looked up at Lemy. "Sounds like he has a good rep with the students, if not the most liked."

"I seriously think he plays too many pranks, as if he doesn't take his job seriously. Honestly! If he had this much time, he could advocate repairing the wall in this dorm," Mochi remarked.

 

Shadowblight - Mochi's room

To Mawile, Lemy nodded. "He's fun, yes, but he can and will spook you if you misbehave," he remarked. Turning to Mochi who looked like she was even more annoyed at this point, the Sneasler shrugged. "I'd say he always has been a show-off even in a fight," he added, owing this particular remark to the earlier fight with the Eeveelutions.

Shadowblight - Basement

And there Atelier was, unceremoniously landing not far from Blacky's landing spot with some books spilling out of his bag. Blacky rushed to help Atelier up and gather his belongings while waiting for the girls to arrive. And yes, for some reason Blacky thought someone must have done to Atelier what Master Josson did to him back there.

 

Basement

Atelier gratefully accepted Blacky's assistance and was no sooner back on his feet. He did not want to be blasted like that again. Afterwards, he and Blacky put his books back in his satchel.

Dormitory

"You never know, but that's kind of sad that you're fighting a teacher who you might think is fun and liked," Mawile remarked.

"Don't underestimate him! You might as well call him flamboyant," Mochi rolled her eyes. She went to bring more medicine supplies for Mawile who continued to tend to the wounded. In Mawile's opinion, she hoped she could hold out in Mochi's room for a while longer. If there was enough time, then maybe everyone might be able to head back out to the field soon. Then Mochi said, "Hope this battle finishes sooner than later."

 

Shadowblight - Mochi's room

"Could've warned us about that before we fought him, y'know," Lemy rolled his eyes at Mochi's remark. "Those Eeveelutions and me, that is."

"Eeveelutions?" Elio's ears perked up. "Have they got in already? And how about Celine?" he anxiously asked.

"Dunno, I came here right after Mr. Rennach's down," the Sneasler bard shrugged. "Want me to check?"

Shadowblight - Corridors

It's not just Celine and Josson (the latter now wielding Blacky's starter sword) who was covering the main quartet's advance. There was also a certain trio from the Spikeford resistance: an autumn-themed Decidueye, a Typhlosion with ghostly flames, and a Samurott wielding dark seamitars (i.e. Hisuian starters). Unlike their greener counterpart, this Decidueye kicked with their strong legs as much as they shot their arrows. The Typhlosion kept sending their ghost flames at the Void Shadows to purify them like they would wayward spirits. And the Samurott, unlike those with lighter-colored body armour and seamitars, seemed to prefer cheap, underhanded tactics to overwhelm the shadowy slimes.

(@ChocoChicken @WavePearl @122 Generation Are we ready for Shadowblight's big boss?)

 

(Once everyone is, I'll cue scene (few lines of dialogue before fight begins).)

Xuehua slid to a stop just before the door. Barely hesitating, she brought her leg up to kick the whole thing down, reinforcing the movement with her Ice staff. Arceus, her whole life had led up to this moment, and she was going to show Shadowblight's patron demon just what she was capable of.

 

As soon as the boys had finished their repacking, the sound of a door banged open made Blacky jump. Turned out it was just Xuehua kicking the basement door open. With the Sword of Light Auras in one paw and Atelier's wrist in another, Blacky cautiously followed the others into the underground chamber.

And no, he didn't notice Celine and the spectral Typhlosion guarding the doorway.

 

Dormitory

Mochi puffed her cheeks at Lemy's remark. "Hey! I didn't know you would run into him. Maybe I could have knocked him to his senses or something." Turning to Elio, she said, "If you're heading out, you will want to be careful. It's a war zone out there. But I suppose you want to be sure that your friends are alive, right? Go ahead."

To add on top of her remark, the school walls were still shaking from the bombardment above.

Basement

With his sword drawn, Atelier was dragged by Blacky into the underground. In Atelier's mind, he wondered how this would play out later. He had no intelligence on what the Shadow Dragon King had in store. Nor could he predict how the battle would be like after. At the very least, the strategy hadn't completely fallen apart, and if timing was right, they might be able to lure the Dragon King out to have the army engage him.

 

@122 Generation

To Lemy who offered to check on both Celine and the advance party for him, Elio gave his former roommate a hopeful "Yes, please!" And to Mochi who seemed to think that Elio was the one going out for some reason, the Braixen red mage whined, "I would if I could, but Chief's gonna be mad if I leave my post here," while administering a dose of white magic on his sister's downed guildmate. Unlike Celine whose "Chief" referred to the Kickenham guildmaster, however, Elio's "Chief" referred to the leader of Spikeford resistance.

A light chuckle ensued on Lemy's part when the room's current owner puffed her cheeks. "Yeah, good luck with that," he said to Mochi with a cheeky grin. And to the Swirlix Elio was treating, the Sneasler minstrel whispered, "Sorry about that, kiddo. Our teacher was quite a handful back there." "I mean, Mr. Rennach might not know that you'd make the coffee back then extra sweet instead of extra dark, right?" Elio also mused (and yes, he's poking fun at "Swirlix's" wording right before revealing her-- er, himself considering that Celine had already told him about her guildmates several mails ago) with his Sneasler buddy nodding in agreement.

That said, it was time for Lemy to go. His Song of the Wind soon whisked him away.

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken

 

The stone doors shattered underneath Xuehua's fury, rubble crashing to either side of the doorway as the four Eeveelutions barged in. The long flight of staircases practically flew by, the team making a quick descent while Aine's protection was still there. Eventually, they came to a second door, which the Glaceon likewise blasted open, a storm of splinters giving way to their destination.

Just as Mawile's maps had predicted, the room was huge - practically taking up the entire school's basement. Candles sat scattered about, sigils dotting the walls, all lighting up the centerpiece of the room.

A skeleton. To be precise, the skeleton of a gigantic, serpentine creature. The statues they had hidden behind were more like like tiny, strategy-game-sized pieces compared the real thing, its jagged shards of bone outlining long claws, a spiny ribcage, and a huge, gaping skull, sharp teeth adorning an empty mouth.

However, despite its monstrous appearance, some of the softer-hearted Eeveelutions could tell something was off. The way it wrapped around the walls signified pain, not wrath. Its maw was open in a cry. The only way this creature would have fit in the room was if it were curling up from a final blow long gone. Not then, not now, was this skeletal dragon their foe.

Instead, she sat above an altar in the center of the room. Beneath her golden hat, her ruby eyes bored into that of the Morpeko's in front of her, a Hypnosis spell surrounding the little rat as it went limp in her hands. Despite the violent entrance, she looked up at the team merely as if she was checking a clock for the passage of time, a slight smile creeping onto her face as she saw who it was.

"Oh, dearest Jingye, back so soon?" Miss Magius floated up. With a wave, she let the newly-hypnotized Estella run off to the side, the red glow of her hypnosis reflected in the Morpeko's eyes. "And here I thought you'd be earlier."

She looked over at the other Eeveelutions. "Are these your new friends? Hm. I expected more. But I suppose you always preferred to study on your own. Cold as always."

The Mismagius chuckled to herself at her own joke. On the other hand, by the look of Xuehua's face, she looked about ready to throttle her.

@WavePearl @SAF @122 Generation

(Aine's protective song is up, so I'll treat that as a roll with disadvantage for enemy attacks while it's active. It will not be active for the whole battle.)
(Everyone gets a round to respond before the fight begins. I do not recommend attacking yet, but you can have a bit of dialogue. Only Estella, who is standing motionless on the side of the room, and Miss Magius are visible.)

 

"Xuehua..." Atelier muttered. It looked like Miss Magius was directing personal attacks at the Glaceon. Worse still was that there was the presence of the Morpeko that could only be Estella, the friend that Mochi mentioned from earlier.

It looked like Xuehua was ready to be out for blood, so Atelier calmly whispered, "I can understand what's going on in your mind. But whatever you do, Xuehua, please don't lose it."