Session 31, VP2

Our heroes found themselves once more ensnared in an ambush sprung by a cat Pokémon- a fact at least Lauren was grumbling about. Thankfully, the group was quick on the draw, arranging themselves into a defensive formation as their Pokémon joined the field.  

The Shinx stayed occupied with Ariela and Doodlebob, while Reinhold and Gary engaged the Electabuzz. Electricity crackled in the air as a result of the Electivire, seeming to galvanize Bronze in some way. In a sudden burst of speed, she dashed forth to bite the Electivire hard on one of its arms. Sylvie and Lauren volleyed support from the back as the battle continued. 

Though it managed to crash into Bronze for a heavy amount of damage, the Electivire was soon knocked out. In seconds, the Electabuzz followed. Reinhold and Bronze both began to feel the effects of the poison mist as the battle wound down. As the Shinx seemed to be weighing its options, a different form of energy began to permeate the area. The ground began to rumble and quake, as an impossibly loud roar seemed to leak from the very earth of Sindri’s Kiln. The Shinx hunkered down in place, absolutely terrified, as whorls of dark blue and purple energy began to form in the air. 

When the roar reached its loudest point, an intensely bright light blinded the trainers. Even before their eyes adjusted, the group could tell something strange had happened. They no longer felt flakes of ash being gently stirred by the wind: freezing snow peppered their skin, as a strong, chill wind raked through them. Somehow, they had been- Transported? Teleported?- to somewhere entirely unknown to them.  

Only Polly Pocket seemed comfortable and unbothered by the sudden shift in surroundings. Ariela was able to discern that Polly Pocket seemed to feel quite at home while basking in the strange energy now surrounding them in a small dome. The edges of the distortion field ended after only a few dozen feet, and blurry figures could be seen moving in the distance. 

The party quickly moved to warm themselves as best they were able. Their voices were nearly drowned out by the gale, as they debated what they were currently experiencing. None of them knew where they found themselves, or how to return. Still, the curious mind was not to be deterred: Bronze weakly made her way to the edge of the energy field. 

With only a second’s hesitation, she thrust her non-dominant arm through the barrier. Incredibly, her hand was nowhere to be seen on the other side of the dome. Even though she could not see it, Bronze could feel a strong temperature difference. When she retracted her hand, it appeared to be fine. Streaks of soot smeared as she rubbed her fingers together. Satisfied with this, Bronze bravely strode into the edge of the dome, completely vanishing. The rest of the group were leery of following but noticed that the energy field appeared to be dissipating. Not wanting to find out what would happen if they remained as it faded, they plunged into the breach. 

As quickly as it had first happened, our heroes found themselves back in the exact spot they had left Sindri’s Kiln. The moon was high in the sky, though it had been early morning before the distortion occurred. Once they’d come to grips with these facts, the group realized they weren’t alone either.  

A familiar face sat at a campfire but feet away, a spoonful of soup halfway to his lips. Herleif stared in mute shock at the party’s sudden materialization. The silence was eventually broken by the sound of Bronze vomiting, the strain of the energy field compounding her sickness. Reinhold felt fairly sick himself but found himself comforted by a spectral hand on his shoulder: something about the dimensional shifting had caused Gary to evolve! 

Herleif quickly got up, stumbling over his words for a few seconds. When he had calmed down, both sides began to question each other. Whatever had happened to them had apparently displaced the group not just in space, but in time as well. Comparing points of view let the party realize they had been “gone” for nearly 2 days since the distortion occurred. 

As for why the former bandit was here, Herleif explained that his boss had returned to town the evening after our heroes left Forgerun. Wanting to repay the group for their kindness, Herleif decided to follow their trail, to lend whatever aid he could. He had no trouble following their path for the first day and a half. Then, their footprints seemed to vanish, as if they had simply flown away where they stood. Unsure how to proceed, Herleif had been camping at the site to await the group’s return- though he hadn’t expected to be quite so odd in nature. From phone calls with Grigor, Herleif was also able to report that the Pokémon attacks had been increasing in quantity since the strange, roaring earthquake two days prior. Now up to speed, the party debated what to do. 

Though Bronze and Reinhold were sickened by the mist, and the decision was made to push on towards Sol’s Bed. Since, to them, they had only woken up a few hours ago, our heroes asked if Herleif would accompany them if they set out immediately. He agreed without hesitation and began taking apart his small campsite. 

Travel was slower than before, as the group didn’t want to push their sickened friends too hard. The moon had begun to descend by the time they once again found themselves at the base of Sol’s Bed. The cloying mist made it difficult to identify landmarks, but Sylvie stepped up to the plate. Using her recollection of the area and communing telepathically with Thistle, she was able to find not just the collapsed tunnel, but also a small cave to get some rest in. 

Lauren and Ariela took watch, deciding to push on without rest. Aside from a brief conversation, the only sounds that accompanied them were the snores coming from their sleeping friends. Though it was brief, the nap had most of the group feeling refreshed, and ready to continue their search. Upon reaching the collapsed tunnel, Reinhold sent out Gary. He explained that he wanted the Haunter to use his ability to phase through material to see if the tunnel was collapsed entirely, or had some workable room a short way in. 

Thankfully, he was able to confirm that the blockage only seemed to last for 20 feet or so. A combination of the group’s Pokémon set to work on clearing the debris, aided quite well by Herleif’s Lairon. In a matter of hours, they had created a large enough entrance for them all to enter. Inside, they saw more evidence to confirm their initial suspicions from the other day: the tunnel was clearly made by a Pokémon of significant size. 

Our heroes carefully picked their way through the hollowed earth, finally coming across an oddly metallic boulder blocking their way. A quick examination of it later, they realized that this strange metal was the Pokémon that had dug the tunnel. The Pokédex scanned the mass, revealing it to be a Steelix. A small portion of its face could be seen lodged in the dirt, and a tinny sound seemed to be echoing from the other side of its bulk. From what the group could determine, the Steelix had been tunneling, and attempted to turn around at one point. Unfortunately, it had gotten jackknifed in place. 

Bronze suggested capturing the Pokémon, and the creature seemed to understand her words, as it thrashed with all its might. Rocks and soil fell from the tunnel’s ceiling, barraging our heroes as they did their best to calm the Pokémon. Soft words and Sylvie’s empathic abilities managed to quell the Steelix’s fear. 

She was able to convey that the group wanted to help the Pokémon get unstuck from its predicament, asking it to please lie still while they did so. Realizing that freeing the Pokémon might cause this portion of the tunnel to collapse, the group first began reinforcing the passage all the way back to the entrance. With that done, they began doing their best to clear the rocks blocking the Steelix in place. 

Hours had gone by when the trainers took a much-needed rest. All through this time, that same, tinny sound sporadically echoed around them. By their best estimate, they had freed up a space roughly half the size of the Steelix’s head. If they were able to clear the same amount again, the Pokémon could, hopefully, turn around. Of course, this didn’t guarantee that it would be able to successfully free its entire length- especially without causing damage to the tunnel. 

Much quieter this time, Bronze again suggested catching the Pokémon. Against her Capture Specialist nature, she even promised they could release the Pokémon once it was moved somewhere safer. Realizing that their efforts thus far had taken nearly half a day, the party agreed to explain this plan to the Steelix. The idea of swapping one claustrophobic space for another did not seem at all appealing to the stuck behemoth. Still…Sylvie had already convinced the creature that the group was aiding it. 

When she swore that they wouldn’t keep the Pokémon against its will, it hesitantly nodded in assent. After one last attempt to reinforce this part of the tunnel, in case the Steelix was more load-bearing than they expected, Bronze gently pressed a Pokéball into its metallic hide. Our heroes held their breath as the Pokémon was sucked inside. It looked like their efforts to shore up the tunnel had been successful, and it didn’t threaten to swallow them whole. 

Dust settled, and the group coughed as they looked ahead. A silhouette was visible, sitting exhaustedly on what must have been the other side of the Steelix. A gaunt young woman, dressed in the garb of a Ranger, was taking a breather with headphones in and her eyes closed. By the look of things, she had been working to free the Pokémon from the other side…but how had she gotten there in the first place? Almost as if she felt the groups gaze on her, the woman opened her eyes, looking in their direction. Seeing that the Steelix was gone, she shot to her feet in surprise. Her mouth began to open in a question, as her hand quickly took up one end of her lasso……