Session 34, VP1

Silholdra kept the ruse up as long as she could, but soon burst out laughing. She explained that the townsfolk had found a large slab of a special metal, known as Type Plating, some years ago. They had cut it down into small chunks, for Pokemon to hold.

Some of the townsfolk like to trick outsiders & travelers into believing all sorts of things about the plates, before selling them for outrageous prices. Bergie & Naivara were both extremely relieved to hear this.

When she had collected herself, Silholdra continued to explain that the Dark Plate could help boost a Pokemon’s Dark moves in battle. Satisfied, Gunnar was only slightly disappointed that he hadn’t collected a terrifying cursed object.

The group discussed Seeder Grove briefly: Silholdra was able to tell them that the town was famous for their wide variety of Berries, herbs, fruits, & vegetables. She wished the party good fortune, & they all exchanged contact numbers.

Back in town, Naivara & Gunnar stocked up on some basic supplies. Afterwards, Naivara & Pearl wandered the small settlement. There was a feeling, nagging at the back of Naivara’s mind, that Pearl could become stronger somehow. Fortune sometimes moves in mysterious ways- which is how she soon found herself standing outside of a small “witch’s hut” she hadn’t noticed around town earlier.

A figure could be seen putzing around inside, & the aroma coming off of the building was pungent, to say the least. The crone within cut off Naivara’s greeting by insisting that she knew why the mystic had stopped by. Both Pearl & Naivara were slightly suspicious, but the woman convinced them to let her examine the Eevee.

After taking Pearl’s measure, the witch turned around, & began preparing some sort of concoction. When she was finished, she presented Naivara with a vial of a glittery silver liquid. Naivara hesitantly purchased the potion, & the crone instructed her to share the drink with Pearl.

Returning to her friends, Naivara asked for their opinions on the potion. Eventually the decision was made to give it a try. Though it tasted horrible, Naivara could feel something click within Pearl’s mind. There was a small surge of power, strengthening Pearl for the trials in the future.

With this done, the trainers collected Saffa, & set out back towards Ash Cavern. Rather than leave through the waterfall, they hoped to follow one of the cave’s tunnels to the surface, in the hopes of encountering some of the native Pokemon.

The group hiked for a few hours, with little sign of wildlife. During one of their rests, Gunnar focused intently on his runic tattoo- it began to glow, especially when he moved his arm towards the depths of the tunnel ahead. Knowing that this meant some Rock types would be nearby, the group eagerly set out again.

In time, they stumbled into a small group of Pokemon, who looked extremely surprised to see humans in their habitat. Some friendly interaction was interrupted by the wrath of an Omastar, leading to a frighteningly dangerous encounter. Still, it was not enough to hinder our heroes in any real way.

Afterwards, they continued through the tunnel, finally seeing a distant light looming ahead. When they finally breached the surface, they needed to shield their eyes from the light. Having spent so much time underground, it was a refreshing change of pace to once again feel wind & sun surrounding them. Though there was a light layer of clouds, the day was brisk & invigorating.

The party made their way away from the base of Hrungnir’s Lay, re-entering the Varfjell Fields for the first time in over a week. Shortly after beginning their trek North, the group heard a strange, guttural croak coming from a small copse of trees. Whatever had made the noise, this sounded like a voice, not a Pokemon’s cry.

Worried that someone was in trouble, Gunnar & Bergie rode ahead. Upon reaching the stand of trees, they couldn’t see anyone nearby. By the time Naivara & Saffa caught up, the more keen-eyed of the group noticed something: although nothing was visible, one of the upper branches was clearly being weighed down by something. Small puffs of exhalation could be seen in the chill, coastal winds.

A wary greeting was called out, & the trainers started when a gravelly voice responded from directly above them. Gradually, a strange creature became visible: it was clearly a bird, standing about 2-2.5’ tall. It seemed to be made of an ephemeral, light blue mist. The only features of its form that appeared solid were its legs & talons, though a bare avian skull could be seen within its head. Suddenly, the creature said “took you long enough.”

Gunnar’s Pokedex failed to scan the raven, as it hopped down a branch closer to them. Taken off-guard, our heroes had as best a conversation as they could with the obtuse bird. Its speech pattern was a bit stilted, & it spoke cryptically besides. The raven kept asking “READY?” After a bit more back & forth, the party was able to understand that the bird seemed to be asking a boon of them.

What felt like years ago, they had been granted strange tattoos & even stranger powers…though the bird referred to them as “gifts”, he stressed that such a good turn deserves thanks in response. The entire time the conversation had been happening, the bird was slowly increasing in size. Once the group felt they understood a bit of what was being asked of them, Gunnar asked the bird’s name.

In response, it insisted the group identify themselves, which they did so. Grumbling about “manners”, the raven introduced himself as Munnin. In the space of a second, Munnin’s appearance changed drastically. He now stood roughly 3 & a half stories tall, & was colored a deep, rich purple.

With a croak, he lowered his head to the ground, indicating that the group should climb aboard. Wary, but willing to take on a new experience, our heroes did just that. Without even flapping his massive wings, the raven soared up into the clouds. This was the first time any of the group had gotten a birds-eye-view of Vanachrom, & it was breath-taking to watch the land dissolve into nothing more than patches of color beneath them.

Their speed was incredible as Munnin carried them North. It mere minutes, a travel that would have taken them at least 5 or so days on foot was near completion. The bird angled itself steeply downwards, towards a patch of coastline West of Seeder Grove.

Before they could even process that it appeared as though a crash landing was imminent, there was a bright blast of purple fog. When it had cleared, our heroes were all sitting in a patch of grass, none the worse for wear- though they were windswept & damp from the flight in the clouds. Munnin had once more assumed his smaller form, & wished the group good luck before he took wing.

The implications of this encounter were a lot for the group to process, so their ride towards the town itself was rather quiet. By the time they arrived, night had fallen some time ago. The town square was empty, given the time, but had a large, moss-covered fountain at its heart. Streamers, banners, & pennants were everywhere, in decoration of some sort of event. Exhausted, the party stopped at the Pokemon Center.

Speaking with the nurse revealed that the group had arrived just days before the annual food festival. There was to be eating competitions, bake-offs, & all other sorts of fun. But, she continued, she wasn’t sure if the festival would be happening after all.

The caretaken of the Idunn temple & her orchard seemed to be having trouble. The townsfolk were split on the cause of the issue: some believed the caretaker was embarrassed about a bad crop & trying to hide it, while others thought roving bandits may have been stealing supplies. A small group told gossip that there was some sort of monster roaming the orchard hosting the festivities, consuming everything in sight.

Curious, the group thanked the nurse for her time, & booked rooms at the town’s inn. In the morning, they stopped by an open-air food market to get directions. Following them led our heroes to a massive orchard of various types of trees.

The swathe of land could have been called a forest without hyperbole, given its size. As the party followed the trail inwards to the temple, they could see that a sporadic number of trees had clearly been cleaned out of their fruits & Berries. In some cases, even the bark of the trees had huge chunks missing. Something strange was certainly happening, but what, they couldn’t say.

In the center of the orchard, they came across what must be the temple to Idunn. The building was very squat, & completely covered in vines & flowers. It appeared to have once been a simple garden shed, which had a few extensions added onto it, including what was clearly a small house. Knocking on the door brought no response from within.

A few moments later, our heroes could faintly hear a man call out good morning to them from behind them in the forest. They turned to see a kind-looking old man, garbed as a farmer. He patted his brow with a towel stained various shades of green, & smiled as he approached…