Session 10, VP1

As the party travelled to Takav's farm, they reflected on their recent adventure, and the dreams their gods had sent them. More and more, it was becoming apparent that something odd was at work here.

 

Bergie felt a strange crackling in the fire within his chest, as if it could be used somehow. Gunnar dreamt of Skeldr gorging himself on crystals through the night, only to find that somehow parts of Skeldr's rocky exterior had taken on a crystalline shimmer.

 

Naivara performed a push-up with ease before her friends, only for them to remark on how she changed into a Pokemon when performing it. Unsure if it actually happened or not, Naivara determined to test this at a later time.

 

Without any encounters, the party arrived at Takav's farm, where they could hear the sound of him working on a costume in his barn. The party surprised him, resulting in a happy reunion. Takav then presented Naivara with her Umbreon costume. As she was examining it, Takav took out an Ekans costume that Gunnar had commissioned as a birthday present for Bergie, since he liked to pretend to be a snake back in Ohmslo.

 

After trying on their new costumes, the party caught Takav up on what they had been up to in their past few weeks of travel, and asked if they could stay for a few days time. In return, they asked if there were anything they could help with on his farm, to which he readily agreed.

 

Bergie then conferred with his fellow heroes about attempting to breed some of their Pokemon. They all decided to leave various members of their parties in Takav's stables while they spent the rest of the day exploring a bit of the Varfjall Fields nearby. Before they set out, Saffa told them that she was going to go build an obstacle course, and Gunnar instantly ran to join her.

 

Using their Pokemon, they created an obstacle course comprising 8 challenges, and ran through it a few times, while the rest of the party cheered from the sidelines. Gunnar then challenged Saffa in a wager to perform the obstacle course in one of Takav's costumes, while juggling Pokeballs the entire way. Takav agreed to loan them costumes of a Zangoose and Servine, and the challenge began.

 

First up was a stretch of hot coals, followed by a classic 4 Way Pillar Jump. Next up was a short Rock Climbing wall. After that, they had to thread the needle between wooden bolts being fired from the side of the course, before walking across an icy tightrope. Next up was a Spider Wall Climb, and an Uphill Current Swim.

 

The last obstacle combined several elements from the previous ones: the contestants had to walk across a tightrope (Non-icy this time.), that was set at an uphill angle, while also dodging more wooden bolts. The race was very tightly matched, with Saffa beating Gunnar's times on the first 2 obstacles, the contestants tying in the 3rd event. Gunnar then won in the next 4 events, while Saffa pulled out a tight win in the final event. All in all, Saffa came in 2nd with 95 points, and Gunnar won with a solid 123 points.

 

Skeldr and the rest of the party all cheered for their friend as he collected his winnings from Saffa. She laid down to catch her breath, and said she would take apart the course when she got up, before falling asleep. Our heroes then entered the grasslands of Varfjall Fields. After a brief time exploring, they happened to come across a Phospharrow, Machprey, and Adaptstrix playing together.

 

Bergie & Naivara decided to put some capture strategies to use, applying Sleep & Paralysis conditions on the Adaptstrix & Phospharrow. Seeing its friends attacked, the Machprey quickly lashed out and used Aqua Jet on Bergie, commencing combat. After a few rounds of quick combat, all three of the Pokemon were successfully caught.

 

The party returned to Takav's farm to a wonderful dinner of berry pancakes, During the dinner, Saffa said she would like to build another obstacle course, and get it recorded to get famous. Gunnar informed her that he had actually recorded it all with a GoPro, and sent the footage to some friends at a TV station. Starstruck, Saffa requested Gunnar's number, eager to capitalize on this in the future.

 

The party then head to the stables to check on their Pokemon. To Bergie's delight, 4 eggs were found, and spread throughout the party. Before turning in for the night, Bergie gave a big hug to the 3 eggs Saffa had gifted them, and could feel that they were close to hatching.

 

The next morning, Gunnar spent some time practicing horseback riding on Mary. Not to be undone, Saffa threw out her Furret, and attempted to ride it around as well. Gunnar managed to pull off three consecutive cartwheels on Mary's saddle. Saffa attempted to have Furret perform a Barrel Roll, but wound up trapped underneath it instead.

 

Bergie and Stompy watched the fun, until Stompy urged Bergie to join in. The two began riding back and forth at high speed, feeling the rush of the wind in their face. Upstairs, Naivara awoke and determined to figure out if she could really turn into a Pokemon.

 

With a concentration of will, she found herself changed into a Pokemon she did not recognize, an Abra. Feeling herself empowered, she performed a pushup with ease, before returning back to normal. Heading downstairs with Pearl, Naivara grabbed some pastries for breakfast, then sat to meditate on the porch.

 

Suddenly, Takav came running out of the front door in excitement, letting the party know that their 3 gifted eggs were about to hatch.

 

Takav had gathered the eggs onto a small pillowy cushion in the middle of his dining room table. Our heroes, their Pokemon & their allies all gathered around the table with bated breath.

Naivara's egg hatched open, revealing a baby Staryu inside, who immediately leapt onto Naivara's chest for a hug. Bergie's egg stopped making sounds for a few seconds, so he touched the shell in worry, feeling it to be icy cold. With a floof, a cuddly mass of fur plopped out of the egg, revealing itself as an Alolan Vulpix.

 

Gunnar's egg kept making increasingly louder noises, before exploding outwards in a flurry. The baby Pokemon revealed was a Curaurus, who had used its burgeoning neck frills to shatter its way out of the egg. As our heroes welcomed their new friends with warm smiles, they felt their spirits lifted. Although they had a dangerous brush with true darkness and cruelty but days before, hope was once more in their hearts, and they looked to the future ready for anything.