Draco: #LateToTheRealization, I just realized that that are exactly enough Pokémon that evolve from Galarian Forms to compose a whole party. How well is the coverage on that? Obstagoon is Dark/Normal, Perrserker is Steel, Cursola is Ghost, Sirfetch'd is Fighting, Mr. Rime is Ice/Psychic, Runerigus is Ghost/Ground.
That's... actually not any less a variety than Red's team on Mt. Silver. Huh.
Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.
Ultra Kingdom - Forsaken Lands: Stunning Encounters
"Vegetables and berries. We'll not want for food, at least, while we're here."
The second day of searching had seen the same parties as the first. Oichi, Gracia, and Okuni had intended to investigate the snowy mountain; Mitsunari, Masanori, and Kiyomasa had departed for the cave; and Ranmaru and Kotarō had arrived at the farmland.
Ranmaru's comment as he got a good look at the produce earned a scoff from the Yakshan. "Let's hope the others are so fortunate."
"This farmland is expansive enough," Ranmaru observed. "With caution, we're unlike to deplete it."
"On our own, perhaps," Kotarō argued. "But I have no faith that the Pokémon of this place do not feast on it themselves - and wilds do not have nearly so much self-control."
He turned his attention towards a small building nearby; Ranmaru followed his gaze and found a small group of Diglett - darker-skinned Diglett than he was familiar with, each possessing three tufts of... well, they looked like hair, but they had the sheen of gold. "Oh?"
"Ha..." Kotarō grinned. "Whatever could provoke such simple and uncanny Pokémon as this to adaptation?"
The Diglett had taken notice of them; they dropped into the ground, and then reappeared around Zoroark, flinging wet dirt at him from all angles; Zoroark took the blows with a growl before releasing a Night Daze around himself, striking them each. Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at one, and it recoiled with the potency of a super-effective hit; the four of them retreated underground, and then only three rose up.
Kotarō scoffed in realization; the metallic sheen of its hairs told him exactly why Lucario's attack was super-effective. "Is every Pokémon that adapted to its environs Dark or Steel?"
It didn't take long for them to finish off the remaining Diglett; as they did so, a low cry drew their attention upward. A Weezing was floating atop the structure - but this was a very odd Weezing, with solidified clouds around its mouths like human facial hair and large structures atop its body that looked like smokestacks. It descended in short order, and Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at it; he wasn't expecting it to deal great damage so much as incapacitate it so Zoroark could close in, but both Warrior and Pokémon were surprised when it barely moved in response to the strike, despite it dealing damage.
Zoroark charged forward, releasing another Night Daze to strike it - but this one was similarly not very effective. Then the Weezing opened its mouths - and a stream of pinkish smoke emerged from them, washing over Zoroark with a potency that Poison wouldn't have given him. Lucario was drawing near when the steam struck him as well; Poison would have done nothing to a Steel-type, but this struck him full-force, neither lessened by his iron or strengthened against his aura.
"It's a Fairy?!" Ranmaru exclaimed.
With the type disadvantage, it took much longer to knock this one out; once it had fainted, Kotarō shook his head. "He who dares to tempt fate will by fate be punished," he muttered. "Give me darkness and metal any day."
Footsteps from nearer drew Ranmaru's attention; the Linoone that Kotarō had linked with was drawing closer, and as he watched the Yakshan fell to one knee. "What are you doing?"
"As you said," Kotarō observed, "I can't bring him back to Ransei without risking his suffering."
He raised his hand towards Linoone, and that glow of their Link appeared between them. Then, to Ranmaru's shock, he poised his fingertips upon the light - and darkness stretched across the Link, prompting the Pokémon to growl angrily until his fingers converged - and the light vanished.
"What did you just-?!"
The Linoone turned to Ranmaru and charged forward - and Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at it before it could get close enough. The attack struck it and left it tumbling, and Kotarō turned to him with a smirk.
"The Link is ended," he proclaimed in response to Ranmaru's unfinished question. "You did not expect me to leave him behind with it still active, did you?"
"You forced the Link to end!?" Ranmaru exclaimed.
Kotarō shook his head. "What have you done when the Pokémon you Linked with were not to your liking?"
Ranmaru glared at him. "I gave them no command to follow me, and let them remain in the wild - where they can live safely! The Link dissipates on its own, if such distance is put between Warrior and Pokémon so soon after its forging!"
"Such incaution," Kotarō retorted with a grin. "And what would-"
"Quomodo audes?! Nihil opus est adducere illa quae fit!"
The grin vanished from Kotarō's face, and the glare from Ranmaru's, as the female voice roared at them; the two Warriors and their Pokémon turned to see someone stepping out from around the structure. She was dressed in a hakama, and long-sleeved tunic, with black hair flowing down her back; a sword rested on one hip, yet she held a pitchfork in her grip, implying she had been about to start some sort of work when she'd overheard them.
Standing at her side was a bipedal black-and-white figure - one that looked ominously similar to the unconscious Linoone between them - with its arms crossed before it and its maw open, revealing a threatening array of fangs.
"Ha?"
"What...?"
+x+x+x+
"Now this is getting weird."
Masanori's muttering was reflected in Mitsunari and Kiyomasa's expression. The Pokémon they'd fought in the cave so far hadn't been quite as unusual as what they'd fought at the floating rock; Yamask that were carrying stone tablets instead of masks, and Dugtrio that seemed to have wigs. But now they were facing something very unusual - something that appeared to be a pair of white lips sticking out of the gravel in the lower reach of the cave.
"Uh... Hm." Mitsunari narrowed his gaze. "What is that?"
"A... Stunfisk, maybe?" Kiyomasa guessed. "But it's acting weird."
"Not that there's a lot of mud in this place," Mitsunari admitted, "maybe that's where the adaptation comes in."
"But they usually don't leave any part exposed like that," Kiyomasa argued. "There's no reason for its mouth to be sticking out."
"Maybe it's just a rookie," Masanori suggested. "Krookodile, give it a kiss!"
Haxorus sighed, and Bisharp shook his head in exasperation as Krookodile gave a cheerful roar, stepping up to the buried Pokémon. He took a careful position to make sure he wasn't gonna miss it by a moment before leaning back and lunging forward, his jaw Crunching on the lips sticking out of the ground.
Masanori yelped when a ring of spikes lifted out of the gravel around them.
Krookodile had no chance to release the bite before the spikes slammed over it; he shot up and roared in pain, muffled by his mouth being trapped closed. Bisharp and Haxorus charged forward as he started to thrash in place, grabbing the Stunfisk and trying to force it off; dragon mist blazed around Haxorus as he slammed the blades on his head into the Stunfisk, causing its grip to slack, then brought his tail around and struck it again, throwing it to the ground - and leaving Krookodile spinning at the same time. Despite serving that purpose, the Outrage didn't deal much in terms of damage; Bisharp promptly twisted into a Night Slash, striking the Stunfisk and slamming it atop the gravel instead of under it.
Kiyomasa hissed a sigh of relief when the Stunfisk's eyes closed, unconscious. "What the hell was that about?"
"I dunno!" Masanori yelled. "Jeez. That thing looks like an Ursaring trap."
Mitsunari shook his head. "Don't just attack it blindly next time."
A little deeper into the cave, they found something they had a little more advantage against - Geodude and Graveler that crackled with electricity, bearing eyebrows and (in the Graveler's case) sideburns. Krookodile managed to draw their aggression; a few Thunder Shocks fizzled ineffectively against the Ground-type while Bisharp swept the three Geodude, knocking them out quickly from behind. The Graveler took a little more effort, but was also more of a close-range fighter; Krookodile took a Thunder Punch tauntingly, Crunched the offending arm, and then stepped out of the way for Haxorus to bombard it with Outrage.
As his tail sweep finished it off, he was surprised to find its eyebrows and sideburns missing.
"Okay, what?" Mitsunari muttered.
Kiyomasa stepped forward, finding a black powder scattered on the floor beside Haxorus; he knelt down and ran his fingers over it, discovering it had a metallic feel to it. "Iron dust," he muttered. "They must be magnetic."
"Jeez," Masanori sighed. Turning to Mitsunari. "Good thing they don't know how to use it, huh?"
"Yeah," Mitsunari agreed. "If they had enough power over their magnetism, they could send things flying at ridiculous speeds. Really hope we don't run into a Golem that evolved from one of those Graveler."
Masanori pointed at Bisharp. "I was thinking more that your Steel-type would get his ass kicked."
"Quid tu hic agis?"
The voice from ahead drew everyone's attention forward. A pair of women and a pair of Pokémon were standing there; one woman was wearing heavy armour and carrying a naginata, her hair drawn back in a short ponytail, while the other was wearing a short red dress and holding a rapier towards them. The Pokémon were much harder to identify; one that looked like some relative of Mr. Mime, with a face on its belly and a cane of ice, and another that looked like it had evolved from the Steel-type Meowth, with its coin set into a natural helmet and armour on its arms and legs.
The naginata-bearer set a hand on her companion's free arm. "Ne lusus. Sunt iusti pueri."
"I beg your what?" Mitsunari murmured.
+x+x+x+
"Maybe me coming to this place wasn't as good an idea as I thought it was."
Okuni turned at Gracia's murmur. They and Oichi hadn't encountered much in the way of Pokémon on their way up the snowy mountain; the paths were a bit narrow for anyone to get into a battle, and the wild Pokémon didn't seem to want a fight upon them any more than the Warriors did. The snow was gently falling as they climbed - as favourable weather as they could hope to get in a place like this."
"What do you mean?" the wanderer asked. "It's not like you're going to be at a disadvantage against ice-types."
"It's not that," Gracia insisted. "I just..."
Oichi sighed. "Feeling a little homesick?"
Gracia's gaze fell. "...Pretty much."
"I'm sorry," Oichi pleaded. "Maybe we should've gone to the cave instead."
"No, it's fine," Gracia insisted. "I'm the one who suggested we come here. It's totally my fault."
Okuni shook her head. "We should've known how you'd feel," she admitted. "You don't need to take all the blame for-"
She cut herself off as they found themselves on a wide-open ridge... because all three of them, plus Volcarona and Gothitelle, gave squeals of admiration. A group of the most adorable Pokémon were standing there - snowy-white Vulpix and Darumaka, icy blue Sandshrew, and a pair of Mime Jr. that seemed to be tap-dancing - and it seemed that they weren't even hostile to each other, merely moving about as amicable wild Pokémon tended to.
Type: Full winced in displeasure as the girls stepped forward. "Oh my gosh they're so cute!" Gracia yelped.
The Pokémon turned towards them as Okuni knelt down. "Now I'm really mad we can't bring them back to Ransei with us."
Oichi's eyes had turned purple as she looked over the group. "Jeez, I think these guys would fit into Nixtorm just fine. Ice-type Vulpix, Ice-and-Steel Sandshrew, Ice-type Darumaka, Pssss..." She trailed out, her head angling to the side. "Well, the Mime Jr. aren't any different, I guess that's what Masanori was talking about. But their acting like street performers."
"Are you sure we can't bring these guys back with us?" Okuni asked.
"Well, I mean, every place has its own ecosystem," Oichi recalled. "We can't just introduce new species - or even knew versions of species - without knowing for sure how they're gonna..."
"But that's not a problem," Gracia argued. "There's only eight of us here! Bringing eight Pokémon back as Link partners wouldn't-"
A howl from nearby drew everyone's attention; on a higher ridge from where the Warriors were standing were several more evolved Pokémon that were a bit harder to make out before they descended. A pale blue Ninetales leapt down first, prompting the snowy Vulpix to lead the dash away; as the Sandshrew retreated as well, a steely-blue Sandslash whose spikes looked like inverted icicles descended, and then a white Darmanitan with a massive snowball atop its head spurred the Darumaka to flee. The Mime Jr kept their tap-dancing up until a Mr. Mime hopped down, with mitten-like hands and solid-looking shoes and a crystal resting upon its chest.
Okuni rose up again, brushing off her dress. "Aaand that's why you don't try to play with wild baby Kangaskhan."
"Why do the cute ones never evolve into something that stays cute," Gracia pouted.
"Ice-and-Fairy Ninetales," Oichi warned. "The Mr. Mime's Ice-and-Psychic. Full!"
Full charged forward as Gothitelle swung her arm down for a pulse; they'd changed out his RKS disc for the Fire-type one when they'd decided to head to the snowy mountain, and it paid off when the Ninetales fired an Ice Beam at him... that he ran straight through. As he raised his claws, fire burned in the air around them; the Sandslash barely managed to connect with a less-than-effective Iron Head before he brought them down, the flames striking ferocious and throwing the foe aside.
The Darmanitan pounded its fists together, and a Blizzard roared at Full while the Mr. Mime began to tap-dance; the crystal on its chest started to glow, and a drier ice started to gather around Full's legs. The Ninetales was about to join in with another Ice Beam when Gothitelle's Future Sight hit all three Pokémon; their attacks were thrown off, giving Volcarona the opportunity to leap into the center of the group and twist into a Fiery Dance.
The Mr. Mime collapsed quickly from the onslaught; the Ninetales and Darmanitan managed to withstand it, and Volcarona quickly found herself on the receiving end of an Ice Beam before she had the chance to evade. Full quickly raked his blazing claws down the Darmanitan before it had the chance to follow through, searing it away, and Volcarona leapt over the Ninetales and landed behind it before dancing again, finishing it off with the second bombardment of flames.
Okuni sighed in relief as the Fox Pokémon collapsed. "The evolved ones aren't any less cute," she reprimanded Gracia. "They're just harder to approach."
"That's what you're hung up about?" Gracia reprimanded.
"We're still not Linking with anyone to bring them back to Ransei," Oichi interrupted.
The other two turned to her. "Oh, come on, Lady Oichi!" they protested in unison.
Oichi giggled at their unison. "After all the trouble everyone had with the beasts-"
"Manete donec veniamus ad vos!"
The yell from nearby had everyone's attention; three figures had approached from the path further up the snowy mountain, accompanied by three Pokémon. One was a man with a claymore in his grip, and at his side was what looked like a white-feathered Farfetch'd relative... holding a towering leek with a sharp edge and a plate-like tuft of leaves. Another was a man with a sizeable shield; beside him was a spectral figure that looked like a reef... emerging from what looked like the bottom half of one of the white Corsola that Oichi had seen. The last was a woman with a crossbow; towering behind her was what almost looked like a Cofagrigus, but was composed of what seemed to be clay tablets, covered in patterns.
The woman turned her crossbow towards the three Ranseans; Okuni and Gracia took defensive stances, but Oichi was left staring at the three newcomers.
"You're... Warriors?"
Draco: You guys didn't think I was gonna have everyone bring their weapons and have Warrior combat limited to crossing swords with the Kartana a couple times, did you?
