Sojaveña Wilds Bedaurejo Castle Mystery Dungeon

[Namohysip]

They were on their last legs. It would be a painful one, too. But nothing they couldn't handle at this point.

"A final assault!" Mhynt called out, grabbing Ridley one more time. With a blip, she chomped on one of her Leppas and used the surge of power for a flurry of blows. For good measure, she left her final Blast Seed behind after rupturing the outer shell. In a few more seconds...!

Spoiler: Mhynt Turn 4

Mhynt (28 STM, 11 TMP, -1 SPD, +0 ACC)
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Leppa Berry) (+40 STM)
- Teleport with Ridley to W Parapet (-20 STM, -10 TMP, +2 TMP)
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Small Blast Seed) @ Valere
- Assurance @ Valere (-15 STM, +2 TMP)
- STRONG Acrobatics @ Valere (-19.5 STM, +4 TMP)
Net change: -19 STM, -2 TMP
Net totals: 9 STM (24 after regen), 9 TMP
(TAKE COVER)

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Well, they had their winning move planned...

It would take out Valere. He'd have gotten the fight he wanted, but beneath him... Farin was struggling. She'd been taken down, revived, and taken another beating. She should probably have called it there and stopped, but she just kept going.

They had planned their winning move, and he... didn't want to see it happen.

"Valere, what are you doing? Flying around on Farin just means we can't hit you properly without taking her down. She's been revived, she's still clinging on, but she should be stopping and we can't fight around her! If you're going to 'fight as one' then I expect you to lose as one before she pushes herself far enough past her limit for you that she has to pay for your..."

Gladion trailed off. There was nothing left he could do but witness what happened next.

Spoiler: Gladion Turn 4

Gladion (33 STM, 15 TMP, +1 SPD, -2 ACC)
- Interact @ Accept Blast Seed from Isidora (-3 TMP)
- Walk to West Parapet
- **Bonus Action:** Call @ Valere
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Blast Seed) (-4 TMP)
Net change: +0 STM, -3 TMP
Net totals: 33 STM (61 after regen), 8 TMP
(BREATHER)

(Italicizing anything that he's not the one doing himself in flavour.)

 

[Hap]

Ridley wasn't down yet - nowhere close to it - but he felt so drained. The world still felt a little out of focus from whatever move Farin had hit him with earlier. He had maybe one more move left in him, and he didn't think it would be a strong one.

But Farin and Valere seemed to be flagging too. It couldn't be long, now. Victory was within their grasp!

"Alright," he muttered. "One last push. We can do this!"

He was ready for the teleport this time. When Mhynt blipped him back into existence Ridley reoriented himself almost instantly, already fumbling through the pockets of his disguise for the pair of small blast seeds he'd brought with him.

Blinking away the spots in front of his eyes, he threw the seeds at Valere with all his might!

Spoiler: action

Ridley (19 STM, 7 TMP, +0 SPD, -2 ACC)
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Small Blast Seed) @ Valere (-2 TMP)
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Small Blast Seed) @ Valere (-2 TMP)
Net change: +0 STM, -4 TMP
Net totals: 19 STM (52 after regen), 3 TMP
(TAKE COVER)
(BREATHER)

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Ugh, that had hurt. The team had been really busted up by that last maneuver, despite managing to avoid the worst of it. Valere and Farin weren't about to let them off easy, either, prepping yet another boomburst. Maybe she had been on the right track earlier... if only she'd followed through on her thought to separate or disrupt the duo's combined attacks somehow...

Well, no use dwelling on it now. The rest of the team was still, somehow, on their feet, and gearing up for what they seemed to believe was one final counterattack. Kimiko joined the rush, leaping up and launching another energy blast towards the gallade, aiming carefully to avoid the exhausted noivern.

Spoiler: Spoiler: Kimiko Aux Turn 4

Aux caster Flying @ Valere

 

[Cresselia92]

After climbing and climbing, Silver found himself at the top of the tower. He took a deep breath and wobbled uneasily, feeling both the mental and physical exhaustion catching up to him. There was no doubt: his adrenaline reserves were almost completely depleted.

But he couldn’t afford to falter nor yield! Not yet! Not ever!

From atop the tower, he could follow clearly the movements of the fighters, and he noticed his teammates fiddling with something: Tiny Blast Seeds. Ha! Talk about wanting to end things in a bang!

Silver brought a claw to his chin and hummed in thought, pondering how he could help out. Then, an idea crossed his mind and a naughty smirk stretched on his lips. ‘Gotta show what the union of a mischievous Sneasel with a bad boy can do!’

With a swipe, Silver got his poncho off, leaving only his beltbag on his body. He waited patiently, readying his ambush, and when the dragon got close enough, he tossed his poncho at the pair.

“Don’t look! I’m naked!” he shouted cheekily, not bothering to hold back a loud chuckle. Screw social rules!

Interact: Olé! Torero Silver throws his poncho toward Valere and Farin, aiming to blindside them.

 

[JFought]

After jumping from the parapet, Isidora thought she was safely out of harms way. She couldn’t afford to be in the same place as Valere for too long, and she needed this moment. She leaned against the tower and tried to regain her breath as the sound of combat raged on elsewhere. Her muscles were complaining; everything was so exhausting in this body, and she kept overexerting herself. By chance, she decided to glance towards the battle, and noticed flames leaking from Farin’s maw...

And she was looking straight at her.

Isidora punched her claws into her left shoulder and ripped them down hard across her arm. Nothing happened.

​

Shit-!

---

Isidora woke back up in a daze, sitting against the tower, feeling nothing but a burning across her body and a sting along her left arm. What happened...? She struggled remembering. Farin attacked her, and, she survived? And then...

She knocked her head against the stone behind her, shame and frustration reverberating through. That weird ‘revive’ seed in her bag got activated. I got careless. I should’ve…

While she stewed, she could hear the others continue their battle, as well as Gladion shouting something. Right, we’re still... Shaking, Isidora leaned against the wall to help herself to her feet. Ice began to coat her claws. Everything burned and her arms felt like they could barely work, but it was just more reason to try it. Not out yet...

And so she put all her energy into throwing her Ice Shards towards Valere from the court, panting from the exhaustion. There had to be something more she could do than this, though...

An explosion sounded from the battle, an idea popped into her head, and she remembered something. Quickly she reached into her bag — surprisingly unscathed by flame — with both paws and pulled out two seeds that reeked of gunpowder. ‘Blast Seeds.’ She had no idea how to use these, she wasn’t even sure how to throw them. But maybe...

She saw Laura not too far nearby, and her desire to win the battle overpowered her spite. Don’t thank me for this. And one after the other she sent them both skidding across the ground towards her.

Spoiler: Turn 4

Isidora (40 STM, 22 TMP, +0 SPD, +0 ACC)
- **Bonus Action:** Item (Small Blast Seed) @ Valere (-2 Tempo for Range)
- STRONG Ice Shard @ Valere (-7.5 STM, -2 TMP, +4 TMP)
- Ice Shard @ Valere (-7.5 STM, -2 TMP, +2 TMP)
- Interact @ Give Blast Seed to Gladion (-3 TMP)
Net change: -15 STM, -3 TMP
Net totals: 25 STM (41 after regen), 19 TMP
(TAKE COVER)

(mechanically she does the things in italics but flavorfully her seeds belong to Laura)

 

[Jackie Cat]

When you ran out of stamina to fight, you turned to items. Projectiles and explosives – even of a fantastical nature – felt somehow military compared to all the pokémon attacks they'd been throwing around. Needs must.

While the rest of the party kept up the fight, and some threw seeds of their own, Laura sped from quarter to quarter of the courtyard, collecting blast seeds from the party. With the 'combat network' in place, everyone knew what to do with hardly any communication necessary. Even Isidora, to Laura's surprise, sent a couple skidding across the ground, and she dove on them, adding them to a cloth bag that was rapidly starting to smell of dungeon dust and sulfur.

She was back up the central tower before she knew it, waiting for her moment.

When it came, she leapt from the turret with a sprinting start, and trusted her instincts – and the countless hours of seeing Malachai in flight – to land her right where Valere clung to Farin's back. Phwump.

"What on earth," he said, aghast.

"Hey," replied Laura, dazed from the impact, grabbing onto his cloak without thinking. "Listen."

She blinked herself out of her intense focus, realising that it'd worked, she was right up there with him, she had his attention for just a moment.

"I don't claim to know best. Or to speak for everyone," she gasped. "We don't know each other yet, it's only been a week. But I was fighting people like your enemy in my old life before I came here, and I'll keep doing that until I prove myself."

She took her bag of blast seeds, shoved it in Valere's chest, and pierced one with a steely claw.

"You should jump off Farin," she said. "You can take the blast."

And then she let herself fall.

Laura Called out to Valere!
Interact: Laura primed the Blast Seeds!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Turn 4​

Corey's Shadow Ball dealt 13! Covert Cloak prevented stat loss.
Corey's Dazzling Gleam dealt 16!
Mhynt's Assurance dealt 8!
Mhynt's STRONG Acrobatics dealt 14!
Kimiko's Aero Wave dealt 11!
Isidora's double Ice Shards dealt 7 + 9!

Another whirlwind of attacks, and the duo of knight and dragon weathered the storm, pushing on through everything that the offworlders could dish out. They moved as one, fluidly, seamlessly, the kind of teamwork forged from years of fighting for the same cause.

"Valere, what are you doing? Flying around on Farin just means we can't hit you properly without taking her down. She's been revived, she's still clinging on, but she should be stopping and we can't fight around her! If you're going to 'fight as one' then I expect you to lose as one before she pushes herself far enough past her limit for you that she has to pay for your..."

Valere looked stunned. "Do you think I decide for her? And do you think I'm unwilling to do the same for her?" he pressed, and there was a flurry of sudden emotion in his voice. Something between the earnest need for the boy to understand that their conviction wasn't, couldn't be one-sided, and a flicker of anger that they hadn't attacked him until now, even when he'd invited it.

He waited patiently, readying his ambush, and when the dragon got close enough, he tossed his poncho at the pair.

The two sensed the garment fluttering through the air and swerved to avoid it, which brought them closer to the tower. Close enough for a silver Meowth to leap from nowhere and land right next to Valere--

"I don't claim to know best. Or to speak for everyone," she gasped. "We don't know each other yet, it's only been a week. But I was fighting people like your enemy in my old life before I came here, and I'll keep doing that until I prove myself."

--who screwed his eyes shut, as if suddenly grappling with a painful memory and all the hopes from a time long past.

She took her bag of blast seeds, shoved it in Valere's chest, and pierced one with a steely claw.

"You should jump off Farin," she said. "You can take the blast."

The cluster of seeds sparked and popped in the Gallade's arms. Not enough time to throw them aside, the blast would catch them either way.

And so Valere clutched the seeds and fell, leaving Farin to unleash her final assault upon the castle.

Farin's Boomburst went off!

Mhynt: 44 KO!
Gladion: 45 KO!
Corey: 47 KO!
Isidora: 47 KO!
Ridley: 11

Laura's Blast Seed Cluster went off!
Valere took 100 damage! KO!!

 

[Shiny Phantump]

It was only when Valere actually jumped that Gladion really got the cleverness of Laura's plan. He was connected to team communications like everyone else, sure, but he wasn't sure if any amount of communication would have persuaded him something like that would actually have gone so cleanly. But it went off without a hitch, and as he watched he could feel in real time his respect for Laura increasing.

Perhaps he let it distract him a bit much from the Boomburst that pummelled him a moment later, but hey, he had a reviver seed. Not healing left him with a leftover oran berry, too. He decided to offer it to Valere, in part because it seemed magnanimous to offer someone from the other side a healing item, but also because he wanted to say something...

"Do you think I decide for her? And do you think I'm unwilling to do the same for her?" he pressed, and there was a flurry of sudden emotion in his voice. Something between the earnest need for the boy to understand that their conviction wasn't, couldn't be one-sided, and a flicker of anger that they hadn't attacked him until now, even when he'd invited it.

...because Valere had a point there. And Gladion's first instinct was to find a way to indict himself— to assume he must have mapped Valere onto a more human role in their partnership, or assumed his declarations pressured Farin to keep going, but he stumbled on one that felt truer to him, more like what he'd meant to communicate. He... wanted to clear the air, and the oran berry would be a good enough excuse to approach the guy.

So he walked up, and offered Valere the berry with an air of mild sheepishness. Then he offered his thoughts.

"I... I know you'd do the same for her in a heartbeat. It's easy to tell. So... I wouldn't say you choose for her but I— I think she'd have listened to you anyway. I guess I might've had the wrong idea, but I've always felt like it can be easier to listen to a partner say you've given them enough than to decide not to offer any more..."

He felt an emotional crack that left him glad he didn't have any tear ducts or anything. (As far as he knew, anyways.) He tried to brush the thought aside, letting brusque insincerity rise as a shield without really thinking about what he was doing.

"And it's not like shouting 'Hey Farin, ditch that nerd so you can rest' would've gone over any better."

He couldn't even bring himself to act amused by it though. He couldn't undo the course he'd just set his train of thought on, though.

I miss Hazel.

It was an easy admission to start with. He was comfortable with that thought, would be more uncomfortable if he'd left and found out he didn't miss her somehow. But thinking about it consciously was dragging out another realization, a feeling that felt more unsettling. He had never really thought of himself as someone who could feel like that. But once he'd put a name to the feeling of hollow meaninglessness, of having nothing here to anchor him, he couldn't help but realize he was lonely. He missed having a partnership like Valere and Farin did.

But that was another problem he didn't have time to think about right now. They were here to make some allies, maybe even friends if they were lucky. His personal emotional issues could and would wait for another time.

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt's earholes were ringing. But she endured, if only because of a flash of light that washed over her from the Reviver Seed she'd been carrying for just such an occasion.

She hobbled to her feet, sighing to herself. "GOOD WORK, EVERYONE." Mhynt said calmly. "WE DID WELL. WHAT DO YOU THINK?" She addressed Valere and Farin.

 

[Mr.RMA]

Without another reviver seed, Corey was left to weakly recover on his own. Fortunately despite the second knockout his consciousness returned rather quickly this time, likely as their opponents on this occasion were not aiming to kill or severely injure... but he still felt too weak to stand... and it wasn't just on account of his injuries... He felt strangely... weak on a metaphysical level if that was even possible. The closest way he could describe it was that he felt something similar to when he'd arrived at the Nexus...

Not long after that, everything around him seemed to become awash with light, and though he didn't entirely know what was going on, something... maybe intuition, maybe merely a lucky guess... made him infer that it was his time to leave.

"...Yeah... Good work guys... You're gonna be alright..." he said with as much energy as he could muster before the light completely engulfed him and, in an instant, it was gone... and the ralts along with it, sent back to his world, his part in this story finished.

 

[Hap]

Ridley was dazed and half-deafened, his ears still ringing so much from the boomburst that he'd barely heard the second explosion as Laura's bag of blast seeds went off, but he was still standing - the only one still standing, surrounded by the crumpled forms of his companions.

He cursed to himself, bolting over to the nearest body in a near-panic. Everyone was already lit up with the coruscating gold of reviver seed activation, but Ridley didn't relax until he saw them all start to stir.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked. "Does anyone need help?" He still had a reviver seed and a pair of oran berries tucked away in his disguise; he'd hand them out to anyone who needed an extra boost.

Was that it? Did we win?

 

[Inkedust]

Farin had found herself landing on one of the nearby parapets, nursing the many cuts the shards of ice left within them over the course of their battle. She seemed to be focused on Valere, speaking to him and only him through psychic connection.

There was a moment of pause as she looked over the rest of the party. 'What great fighters!' she said, projecting to everyone below with a wide grin on her face. 'I feel invigorated just thinking of the battle we just had. What do you think, Valere?'

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura had hit the flagstones at terminal velocity. She'd righted herself, of course – her body knew to do that without any conscious input from her. Still, even a cat had limits to how far they could fall safely, and when she impacted the courtyard, she'd blacked out.

Now she was stirring, and through a haze of battle hormones and ringing ears, she could feel the distant promise of pain. She wondered if anything was broken. Entirely possible, but hard to tell, and maybe if she wished herself back unconscious, it wouldn't be so bad when she stirred again. Pokémon did heal fast, after all... But no, she had to participate in the talks with the Vanguard. For better or for worse, she was going to have to find it in her to get up.

Her body, to her dismay if not her surprise, did not oblige her.

"....hhh – help..." she muttered, faintly.

As if anyone would hear her with their ears ringing from that Boomburst. Ha.

 

[Cresselia92]

As soon as Silver descended the tower, he was met by a scene that wouldn’t look out of place in a war movie. Most of his teammates were knocked out cold, with the few still-standing battlers gathering the remaining supplies to quickly patch up whoever needed help the most.

Concerned thoughts resonated into his mind, matching his analytical frown. Were the berries enough? How many of them did everyone use during the fight? Was there something he could do to assist them in some way?

…Wait. Assist them? Of course!

Without thinking a second too many, Silver rushed by Gladion’s side. “Hey. Mind if I borrow a little of your power?”

A tiny smile appeared on his face as he stared at his companion, but that was immediately replaced by a serious, determined expression. Silver closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting his thoughts melt away and his mind dip into the darkness.

Silver used Assist and linked with Gladion…

The now-Sneasel scrunched his muzzle and gritted his fangs, pouring all his efforts into matching the chimera’s aura. That power was too much, so difficult to control, and he was knackered.

‘…No. You gotta do it, Silver!’ The spark of willpower burned bright, defiantly fighting against his own tiredness. ‘You must do it!’

Guided by his instincts, he raised his arms toward the sky and focused that energy into his claws. With a heave and a loud cry, he fired the energy upward, which promptly burst into a shower of rejuvenating golden raindrops.

Silver fell to his knees, finding himself out of breath and energy, but he managed out a bright smile as he relished the soothing rain. He… he did it!

Silver used Life Dew!

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Having leapt so close to the noivern just to get in one attack on the gallade probably wasn't Kimiko's smartest idea. She's tried to aim a vine at the tower banners, to try and grab one to slow her descent and pull her out of the way of Farin's attack, but she just hadn't had the time to react. She'd been out cold from the boomburst before she'd landed.

Raindrops landed on her body, bringing with them a small surge of energy. It wasn't much, but it was enough to rouse her back into consciousness, and for the moment, that would be enough. She'd seen enough of the explosion to figure the Valere wasn't gonna be in any shape to continue afterwards; the fight was over.

A voice in her head was the first thing she was aware of; must have been Farin. Invigorated was the last word she'd use to describe what she felt right now, but to each their own.

Kimiko struggled to her feet, a feat her allies (mostly) seemed to be having trouble with, too. She tried to ignore her discomfort - she'd be feeling the pain in her side from that fall for a while, no doubt - as she made her way over to Laura. She offered an oran berry in one vine, the other vine empty to help the meowth stand when she was ready.

"Brilliant," was all Kimiko said, a small smile on her face. "You okay?"

 

[JFought]

The sneasel lay shivering in pain on the ground next to the tower, curled on her side into a ball and covering her ringing ears with unsheathed claws. She couldn't hear anything, but she could feel her head pulse and struggle to put itself back together after getting slammed into the stone, and she could feel numbness where her burns had left her, and she could feel something liquid agitating the cut on her arm.

'What great fighters!' she said, projecting to everyone below with a wide grin on her face. 'I feel invigorated just thinking of the battle we just had. What do you think, Valere?'

Screw... F-Fuck you and your cheap shots... and your seeds, and... and this body, and... I...

Isidora hesitantly opened her eyes. When they came into focus, she saw Laura lying on the ground a distance between her and the parapet. She wasn't moving.

Did that mean they lost? It felt like it. At least to her, specifically, in that moment.

A golden raindrop hit her body, causing her to wince and shiver harder. But as more came down, her muscles started to relax, and slowly, she stopped shaking. Nothing felt better, but she could finally reach out for her bag, dragging it closer so she could use it to hide her bleeding left arm. She licked weakly at the wound. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.

Isidora watched from behind her bag and waited for her hearing to return so she could listen.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Valere slowly picked himself up from where he'd fallen after the golden light of revival washed over him. There was no point in pushing past his limits after an attack like that--the battle had been decided.

'What great fighters!' she said, projecting to everyone below with a wide grin on her face. 'I feel invigorated just thinking of the battle we just had. What do you think, Valere?'

Valere closed his eyes. "It was. More invigorating than I've had in a long while." There was the hint of a smile, but whether it was because of the battle, or because of Farin's energy, was hard to say.

He watched as the others picked themselves up and the mountain Sneasel healed the others.

"That was impressive coordination. More than I would have expected, for how little time your group has trained." From his voice, it was clear that he was curious how exactly that was possible...

He didn't want to consider what would happen if their group became a threat. He couldn't know that that would never happen. But maybe it was worth hoping.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hm." Mhynt nodded and crossed her arms. The ringing was finally settling down a little. "And tell me," she said, "part of this... get-together was that you required people with incredible willpower. Not valor or strength or this coordination you're remarking on now... but willpower. Was there something specific you had in mind for that?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

"I... I know you'd do the same for her in a heartbeat. It's easy to tell. So... I wouldn't say you choose for her but I— I think she'd have listened to you anyway. I guess I might've had the wrong idea, but I've always felt like it can be easier to listen to a partner say you've given them enough than to decide not to offer any more..."

Valere glanced at Farin, his expression flickering in a way that suggested that they were communicating telepathically.

It seemed that Gladion’s words had struck some sort of chord. “You know this firsthand, then?” he asked.

"And tell me," she said, "part of this... get-together was that you required people with incredible willpower. Not valor or strength or this coordination you're remarking on now... but willpower. Was there something specific you had in mind for that?"

Valere nodded, his expression oddly somber. “That’s right. I suspected that we could already count on there being no shortage of valor or strength in a group of summoned humans—or offworlders.” (He was possibly still unclear on Mhynt’s status…)

“But I’ve seen mon who had plenty of both fall prey to the enemy’s ideals because they thought themselves immune. It… facing them will require the willpower not to waver on that goal. To know why you’re fighting, and to see it through.”