Ongoing Adventure by Post - Doduodrio

[nightblitz42]

Only Doduodrio and the active Judge should post in this thread.

Character - Duo

Trainer​

View attachment 762711
Name: Duo
Pronouns: he/him
Description: A young and rather inexperienced trainer. Duo used to be in training to become a Pokémon Ranger, but after meeting and befriending many Pokémon, he decided to leave to go on adventures with them. Duo battles occasionally, but he isn't very good at it, mostly relying on his Pokémon's natural abilities to help them win.

Desire:
- Strengthening his bond with his Pokémon

Expertise:
- Listening to and empathizing with people
- Navigation

Vices:
- Zoning out
- Separating from the group to take a break

Stress Events:
- Freezing up
- Forgetting something really important

Character - Oona

Partner Pokémon​

Name: Oona
Pronouns: she/her
Description: Oona is ditzy, spontaneous, and very much her own person. She does what she wants, whenever she wants which can cause issues if she's in battles and just wants to nap. Since she's from the Moon (or so she claims), she doesn't really understand how Earthen culture works and sometimes misinterprets what people say. However, she seems to have a knack for creating devices and machines using her own special tech. When she's passionate about something, she gets really energetic, and she'll see it through to the end no matter what.

Connection: Oona has been with Duo for a long time, and in this time, she's expanded the team by making friends with (or sometimes blackmailing) various Pokémon. Her inventions are generally useful, and she's friendly to everyone as well, so Duo doesn't mind having her around!

Expertise:
- Alien and human technology and how it works
- Convincing people to do things, one way or another

Vices:
- Steal something
- Take a nap in a public place

Stress Events:
- Blow something up or start a fire (or both)
- Seriously insult someone

Keepsake - Moon Stone Piece

Keepsake​

Class: Worldpiece
Description: A small gray rock, somewhat chipped and battered with time.
History: Although outwardly it's nothing special, this is a piece of the Moon Stone that Oona used to evolve into Clefable. As a Clefairy, she was given a Moon Stone, but she accidentally dropped it, causing this piece to break off. It's very small, and it doesn't contain enough energy to trigger evolution, so it's effectively worthless. However, Oona has kept it with her throughout the years as a memento of her time on the Moon.
Held By: Oona

Session 1 Start
After three days' travel through rough, snowy tundra, you finally arrive at the small town of Glacierfront. Glacierfront: a quaint, rustic place where the townsfolk bundle up in log cottages and drink hot tea by the fireplace; Glacierfront: close enough to the mountains to get a good view of the peaks through one's window, but still near enough to civilization to enjoy modern electricity and plumbing. If the roads to this town weren't so trodden and snow-coated, this would have certainly been a popular tourist spot (at least, back when Karca was safe to tour).

As far as you're concerned, this town is likely a stepping stone to somewhere greater. Maybe you'll hike through the mountains to the cities beyond them. Or, maybe you'll head away from the mountains and towards cozier climates. In any case, your first step here should probably be to stock up on supplies. Your second, you grumble, should be to find a bite to eat~

You wander the streets in search of a food market. Good news, you find one: a shack with a painted sign that reads, "Rabblemouse's General Store and Butchery." Bad news, there's what appears to be an angry congregation of townsfolk gathered in front of it. What grudge they have against the store, you don't know, but they certainly do have one.

"Cheapskates! Money-pinchers!" yells a large man.
"You lowlife no-good sellouts, you!" screams an elderly woman.
"#@!!$%!" chimes in a particularly foul-mouthed Chatot.

A shape from within the store peeks through the window shutters, which causes the crowd to briefly fall silent. He speaks with a gruff voice. "Store's closed. Go home." The shutters flip back closed.

Naturally, the crowd goes ballistic in response. Some of the assembers begin to throw stones and small belongings at the storefront. It seems to you that things might escalate soon if nothing is done.

What will you do?

Options: (choose as a group, or as individual characters. Explain how you do what you chose.)

1. Walk away and look for somewhere else to shop.
2. Try to get information from the assemblers.
3. Disperse the assemblers.
4. Join into the crowd.
5. Barge through the assemblers and force your way into the store.
6. Something else? (your idea)

Doduodrio your turn.

........ Duo - Stress ▯▯▯▯ 0/4
... Oona - Stress ▯▯▯▯ 0/4
........ Inventory - Resources ▮▮▯▯▯ 2/5

 

[Doduodrio]

"Whoa, what's going on over there? I wonder what they're so upset about..."


"Well duh, the shopkeeper must've done something wrong. I say we join in the destruction!"

"Oona, what did we say about destroying things? Besides, I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet. Let's go ask someone what's happening first."


"Boo! You're such a party pooper. Fine, I'll get the explosives ready. You go talk to them yourself."

"...I'm sure those won't be necessary."

Duo tries to get information from the assemblers.

 

[nightblitz42]

> You approach the crowd and pull a few of them aside to ask what's happening.

"A protest, silly! ...Or, maybe a riot. We haven't decided which it is yet."
"Yeah, we sent Bill to go fetch a dictionary earlier so he could tell us which one's which."
"Trouble is, he couldn't find a dictionary, so we told him to go look for something similar instead... He should be back any minute now with a thesaurus, which we can use to figure out what's similar to a dictionary!"

> This is getting off-topic. You ask them, specifically, why they're angry.

Collectively, they shrug. Chatot yells something vulgar and irrelevant. A few of the assemblers chide it.

> ...I see. So, this "Bill" person... are they the ringleader behind this, by any chance?

The assemblers get excited. Finally, a question they're qualified to answer!
"Yep! He told us he saw the store owner up to something no-good last night! I forgot what exactly it was, though. Must've been complicated..."
"It involved, like, money or something? But that stuff confuses me. Mainly, I'm just mad that the store hasn't been selling much stuff lately."
"Same here! All last week, their shelves have been almost totally empty! And they're basically the only store in town, too! Where else am I supposed to buy fresh eggs and milk?"

The assemblers murmur in agreement.

It seems that these people are total simpletons. You won't be able to get enough information out of them. But maybe, if you can distract them from doing anything long enough for this "Bill" to return, he can fill you in on the real scoop... Although, is it really a good idea to let that happen? Or, should you take decisive action now, while the assemblers are aimless and leaderless?

Doduodrio your turn.

 

[Doduodrio]

Duo regroups with Oona, who has constructed a homemade pipe bomb in the meantime.

"Oona how did you-- never mind, here's what I learned."

Duo tells Oona about how the assemblers are upset over something the store owner did, possibly related to the store not stocking enough items. He also tells her that they're probably being led by someone named Bill.

"So, it looks like we could wait for Bill to get back here. But this crowd seems rather wild... what if their leader is the same? What do you think, Oona?"


"I say we blast our way into the shop and demand answers from the shopkeeper himself!"

"No explosives, but that sounds good. How are we gonna get into the shop though? I feel like if we enter through the front, the assemblers will probably do something rash, and I don't wanna be the cause of that. Any other entrances are probably locked as well..."


"Teehee, you're so silly! As if something as simple as a locked door can stop the great Oona! We'll just break in from the back!"

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea-- aaand she's gone."

Duo and Oona will find a back entrance to the shop, and Oona will break in so that they can talk to the shopkeeper.

 

[nightblitz42]

Oona tucks her homemade pipebomb behind her wing, where nobody will be able to see it. It took quite a bit of effort to make -- no way she'd toss that away.
Oona: +1 Stress (from using Expertise), +1 Pipe Bomb

You and Oona slip around the back of the store without being seen. As you suspected, there is a backdoor. Oona kicks it off its hinges. You two step inside.

Immediately, you are attacked by a large, mustached man wielding a heavy sack of flour! "You rascals! You think you can just up and wreck my store?! After all I've done for this town?!" he yells as he swings the sack of flour towards you two. It sails straight over Oona's head, and then it smacks you in the face. Poof! The cloth sack explodes all over you, coating your face and torso in fluffy white powder.
Duo: +1 Stress.

The mustached man continues to rant and yell. "Stinkin' protesters! Why, I oughta..."

It appears he's (understandably) mistaken you for a hostile protester. You try to explain yourself, but your attacker is clearly in a state of panic and doesn't seem to hear you. And what's worse, now he's aiming to grab a bucket of mincemeat! If you don't want to get covered in that, too, you'd better do something!

Doduodrio your turn

........ Duo - Stress ▮▯▯▯ 1/4
... Oona - Stress ▮▯▯▯ 1/4
........ Inventory: Pipe Bomb (1) - Resources ▮▮▯▯▯ 2/5

 

[Doduodrio]

"You wanna get wild? I'll show you wild!"

Oona aims a Moonblast at the bucket of mincemeat before the shopkeeper can grab it.

"OONA WH-- Can we all please calm down? Sorry, my partner can be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes. We just want to talk to you. We just arrived in this town, and we saw all this commotion, and we wanted to know what was happening."
"Oona we are going to have a talk later about unnecessary violence."

Oona tries to Moonblast the bucket of mincemeat so the shopkeeper can't throw it, and Duo tries to get everyone to calm down.

 

[nightblitz42]

Sparkling, luminous energy streams off of Oona's fingertips! Oona's silver ball of light soars through the air like a shooting star, hovers for a moment, and then bounces, ineffectively, off of the steel mincemeat bucket in the shopkeeper's hands.

"What in tarnation...?"

The shopkeeper looks at Oona dumbfounded. It seems that, in his panic, he didn't notice her until now.

"I've never seen a Pokemon like you before. You're... definitely not from around these parts." He scratches his head for a bit, and then turns his attention to you. "Come to think of it, I don't recognize you, either. You must not be with all the rowdy townsfolk... then, who are you, and whaddaya want?"

> "OONA WH-- Can we all please calm down? Sorry, my partner can be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes. We just want to talk to you. We just arrived in this town, and we saw all this commotion, and we wanted to know what was happening."
"Oona we are going to have a talk later about unnecessary violence."

It takes a lot of composure to apologize to someone who just assaulted you with a sack of flour! Luckily, your expert-level people-skills come to your aid, and you manage to keep a nice big smile on your powder-caked mug just long enough to win the shopkeeper over.
+1 Stress (expertise).

"Oh dear Arceus, are you for real? Well, in that case, you picked quite a bad time to show up! This whole week's been nothing but trouble!" The shopkeeper laughs dryly.

"My name's Mario. Mario Rabblemouse. And, over here is my brother, Lario." Mario gestures towards his companion: a tall, spindly man cowering behind a shelf. "Don't mind him, he rattles easily.

"Anyways, I'd love to explain things to you, but" (he gestures towards the windows) "time isn't on our side. Soon as one of those rascals realizes you breached the back door, we're gonna get completely overrun. If you've got questions, make 'em count!"

---

[Time is ticking.

• While the mob continues to be active: each question you ask, or action you take, within the store carries a risk of being caught out in a bad position.
• You can take on any amount of Stress on actions to barricade/fortify the store against entry, decreasing your risk for each Stress incurred.]

Doduodrio your turn.

........ Duo - Stress ▮▮▯▯ 2/4
... Oona - Stress ▮▯▯▯ 1/4
........ Inventory: Pipe Bomb (1) - Resources ▮▮▯▯▯ 2/5

 

[Doduodrio]

Duo has a lot of questions. Naturally, he wants to know what has the townsfolk so riled up. Also, what person has never seen a Clefable before? Clefable and Clefairy are used all the time in marketing due to their cute demeanor. Although this is a new place, so it's possible that they have completely different Pokémon here... And what's this about all he's "done for this town"?

However, time is not on Duo's side, and he doesn't even know if they can trust the shopkeeper yet. So, this will have to be quick.

"Okay, well our main question is why everybody outside is so upset. They mentioned someone named 'Bill', but he was elsewhere."

Outside, the banging is pretty loud.


"Be quiet! We're having an interrogation here!"

Oona creates a Reflect to shield the shop, and it also reduces the sound of the banging slightly.

Duo asks Mario about why the townsfolk are upset, and he also mentions Bill. Oona creates a Reflect to shield the shop.

 

[nightblitz42]

Oona waves her arms and recites a mystical chant. You watch, bewildered, as a pink, glittery glow begins to coat the walls of the shop.

> "Okay, well our main question is why everybody outside is so upset."

Mario grimaces. "Ah, where to start... Well, my brother Lario and I work together to keep this store running. Lario, he tends to a farm about a mile north of town. Every morning, he gathers up all the goods from the farm and brings them to this shop. Meanwhile, I'm in charge of managing the shop, the front register, and all the business side of things. We've been running things like that for, say, 15 years now (give or take). This is a very small town, and we own the only farm in the area, which means the people here rely on us for just about everything from food to milk to leather.

"Problem is, we've been getting so much snowfall this past week that it's been bad for the farm. Less yeild means fewer goods on our shelves, which means higher prices, which leaves everyone unhappy. So there's been that brewing for, like, a week. Today, we didn't get anything from the farm at all, but that's for a different reason...

"Anyways, I think the shop and the town could've just toughed it out until things got better, but then around noon today Bill decided to act up..."

Somebody from outside hurls a pebble at the store. It deflects off of Oona's magical barrier. From the point of impact, a ripple expands across the shimmering barrier -- beautiful, geometric, like a splash of water over a still pond.

> "They mentioned someone named 'Bill', but he was elsewhere.."

"What?? He's causing all this, and he's not even...?" Mario turns red from anger. "Well, go figure! I always figured him to be that sort of person!

"So, yeah, Bill. While all our customers were lining up, asking why we don't have more stuff in stock, Bill pipes up and starts telling these lies! He told everyone that he saw a Midas Coroporation executive leaving our store around midnight last night, with carts full of supplies from our store! What a total whopper of a fib! I'd never... I'd never sell to those punks, especially while our own townsfolk have it so tough! Why, if I get my hands on Bill, I'll... I'll!!" Mario subconsciously makes strained wringing motions with his hands.

"Sorry, I got carried away. That's it, basically. I don't know what-the-devil has gotten into Bill (although I have my guesses), but that's that. A real knob in the trunk, ain't it?"

The two of you share a moment of contemplative silence. People outside are throwing increasingly large objects at the barrier. Shoes, bricks, stones... Oona's barrier wobbles like cellophane. On her face, you see a strained expression.
Oona: +1 Stress.

"Oh! I don't know how much that strange trick of yours is going to hold, pal. Is there anything else you need? I wouldn't recommend you be here when the crowd breaks through; that is, unless you think you can bust up a couple dozen heads. Hah! Wouldn't that be a sight."

Doduodrio your turn.
........ Duo - Stress ▮▮▯▯ 2/4
... Oona - Stress ▮▮▯▯ 2/4
........ Inventory: Pipe Bomb (1) - Resources ▮▮▯▯▯ 2/5

 

[Doduodrio]

"Well uh, I still have a few questions, but those can wait. What are you and your brother going to do when the crowd gets inside the shop? You aren't planning on fighting them are you?"

At that moment, Oona drops the Reflect.


"You guys talk too much. So much yammering on and on about stuff that doesn't matter. I'm not your personal shield, ya know!"

"...yeah that was probably gonna happen sooner or later. Mario, Lario, you guys seem like nice people, but I'd really rather not get caught up with this crowd. Let's leave through the back before things get messy."

Oona drops the Reflect, and Duo and Oona leave from the back of the store.

"Ooh! Finders keepers~"
...Oona also discreetly pockets a small item from the store on her way out.

 

[nightblitz42]

> What are you and your brother going to do when the crowd gets inside the shop? You aren't planning on fighting them are you?"

"Well, my first option would have been to run away. But, with my brother in the state he's in..." (Lario is kneeling on the ground, dry heaving into a paper bag.) "...I don't think we'd make it very far. That's why I'm going with... Plan B!"

Sneering maliciously, Mario lifts up the hem of his shirt and reveals an Ultra Ball on his belt. "I got this in a trade with a foreign traveler from Paldea who didn't have any cash on him. Now, I'm not a Pokemon Trainer; I don't know the first thing about Pokemon. But, if what that fella told me is true, then as soon as I open this thing up: all living hell is going to break loose! And I don't just mean for this store -- this whole town is done for! Hah! This old sailor's going down with his ship! Scorched earth, baybeeee!!"

Lario glances at the Ball on Mario's belt, shudders, and then dips his head back into his barf bag.

"...What? Don't look at me like that. I've kept this town afloat for 15 years. 15 years! If this is how everyone wants to repay me, then I don't owe them anything!" Mario readresses you. "Duo, right? And Oona? If you're smart, when things do down, you won't be here."

You had the impression that the Rabblemouse brothers were good, honest people. You still think they are -- but despite that (or maybe because of that), hearing Mario give these spiteful threats so earnestly deeply perturbs you.
Duo: +1 Stress. (3-stress penalty roll: no)

Mario goes back to peering out the windows. As you leave the store, Oona silently pilfers a bag of granola off of one of the shelves.

Without taking his eyes off the window, Mario mutters under his breath: "If you're gonna steal, you might as well take two. This store's no good no more."

Oona hears this and swipes a second bag of granola.
+2 Resources. Oona: -1 Stress.

You exit the store unnoticed through the backdoor. (It seems the assemblers were too distracted poking at your weird Barrier to bother investigating the perimeter.) Across the building you can hear the assemblers yelling amongst one another. For the first time in a while, you have a moment of solitude, with which to decide your next course of action.

Doduodrio your turn.

........ Duo - Stress ▮▮▮▯ 3/4
... Oona - Stress ▮▯▯▯ 1/4
........ Inventory: Pipe Bomb (1) - Resources ▮▮▮▮▯ 4/5

 

[Doduodrio]

"That was... a lot to take in. I think I need a minute to process all of that."


"You dummy! Didn't ya hear what that guy said? He's gonna unleash a scary strong Pokémon!"

Duo isn't really listening to Oona at this point, lost in his thoughts about how to proceed.

"But do we really have the time to think? Mario is going to possibly harm a bunch of innocent townsfolk with an unknown Pokémon... We should probably do something about that right? (A Pokémon from Paldea? What could that possibly be?) But at the same time, those people kind of deserve it in a way? They aren't really innocent... they did attack the shop after all. But also, that was Bill's fault right? He was the one who riled everyone up in the first place, spreading lies about Mario and Lario's shop. But also, we've only heard Mario's side of the story, so can we really trust him? I mean probably, since he did seem pretty sincere about it. But also--"

Oona used Double Slap!


"DUO!! Less talking more walking!"

"Sorry Oona... I guess we should find somewhere safe nearby to see what happens next. Maybe behind a building or something..."


"That's better! Now get a move on before I pull out the pipe bomb!"

Duo zones out for a bit, and Oona snaps him back to reality with a Double Slap. Then, Duo and Oona find somewhere safe to watch what happens next.

 

[nightblitz42]

After zoning out for a minute, you feel more in-control of the situtation...
Duo: -1 Stress.

But the reality is, while you were deliberating, things have moved on without you alarmingly fast. You crouch behind a building so you can safely watch the crowd and assess the situation.

A young man is directing the assembly. He marches back and forth through the crowd, waving people over, barking out orders, and handing out small bottles of some substance you can't quite make out. At his heels follows a regal-looking Luxray with its head held high. It must be his Pokemon? All in all, this person looks commanding, like a leader: Bill, you assume he must be.

Now, Bill moves to the front of the crowd. He points, gives a signal, and on his mark, a half-dozen glass bottles are hurled towards the storefront. On impact, they shatter, and their contents ignite! A large fire engulfs the front of the store. Oona gasps -- although whether from shock, or from disappointment at missing her chance to participate, is for you to determine.

Bill's Luxray gazes upon the Rabblemouse's store. For a moment, the feline's eyes glow with a mysterious power. It whispers something to Bill; Bill nods his head, and then tells two of the rioters to circle around to the back of the store. The rioters oblige, carrying with them homemade weapons and a length of rope.

This seems really bad. All you did is sit down for a moment, and they've already started a fire! When you met them earlier, the assemblers didn't seem much of a threat. But now, with a leader to organize them, they're able to take actions at a far faster rate than you are.

Well, at least your head's clearer than it was a moment ago. The ideas come to you one after another; some good, some bad. If you want to take action, now's the time to do it!

Options: (choose as a group, or as individual characters. Explain how you do what you chose.)

1. Flee.
2. Keep watching quietly.
3. Join in with the rioting crowd.
4. Go after the two thugs who are headed behind the shop.
5. Overwhelm and disperse the crowd.
6. Rush back into the shop.
7. Stop/undermine Bill from directing the crowd.
8. Convince assemblers to stop.
9. Urge on the assemblers even further.
10. Something else? (Your idea)

Doduodrio to order.

........ Duo - Stress ▮▮▯▯ 2/4
... Oona - Stress ▮▯▯▯ 1/4
........ Inventory: Pipe Bomb (1) - Resources ▮▮▮▮▯ 4/5