Session 39, VP2

The morning greeted our heroes after only a few brief hours of sleep- yet they awakened feeling as if they had gotten a full night’s uninterrupted rest. Perhaps a last, lingering gift from Meloetta. Fragna was already awake, taking extensive notes on a series of scrolls. With their morning routines complete, the trainers spoke briefly with the dream researcher. She thanked them for their help and gave them some Monies as compensation. 

It took only a few hours for the group to enter Brynhilde’s Copse. Primarily a pine forest, it surrounded Streamsford on all sides. Beneath the lush foliage, the party soon found two people sat down for a picnic. The hikers greeted them cheerfully and offered to share their light lunch. Asa, the woman, was dressed more for forest hiking, while Gleb, the man, was dressed for mountain hiking. Both were friendly, though Gleb seemed a bit oblivious. 

Talk wound its way towards Pokémon, as the hikers asked if the group had fought any Gym Leaders yet. When it became clear that Asa and Gleb were trainers as well, a friendly match was proposed. Though their new friends possessed some fully-evolved Pokémon, our heroes made rather quick work of them. 

During some post-battle discussion, Bronze asked for Gleb’s phone number for a rematch: the jealous look Asa shot his way was hard to miss. It was fairly obvious that Asa had feelings for Gleb, and just as obvious that he had no idea. The party subtly played a bit of the matchmaker’s game to lend Asa a hand. 

Before parting, the group asked if the hikers had encountered any Pokémon in the forest. Asa mentioned that they had come across a large herd of Deerlings and Sawsbucks moving through the woods but had chosen to leave them undisturbed. Having eaten, battled, and “wingmanned”, the group moved on. 

True to what they had been told, the sounds of multiple Pokémon became audible a ways up the path. Lauren was able to sneak a bit closer to observe the situation. It was the aforementioned horde of deer, with a few other Grass types at the back of their herd as well. Oddly, all of the Pokémon were moving fairly slowly, as if in a trance. 

Reasoning that the Pokémon were likely following something, Lauren asked Oli to scout ahead. Upon his return, the Natu confirmed that the Grass types all seemed to be following two smaller Pokémon: a Spritzee being carried by an Aromatisse. These Pokémon were well-known for the beguiling scents they could create. From what Oli could tell, it looks like the Spritzee was distressed, and unable to turn off its allure. 

Quickly, our heroes split up. Lauren and Bronze tried to slow and distract some of the herd with their Pokémon, as Reinhold readied to protect his friends if things got violent. Meanwhile, Sylvie managed to catch up to the perfume Pokémon. Using her Empath powers, she was able to gently calm the Spritzee’s anxiety. The mother and child thanked Sylvie with a small gift, before heading off for their home. 

Since several of the entranced horde had been put to sleep, the trainers decided to add a few to their teams. After a brief rest, they pushed on towards Streamsford. At sunset, the small settlement appeared through the trees before them. Rustic buildings surrounded Fate’s Mirror Lake, with some of the houses even floating on the water’s surface. Given the time, most of the inhabitants appeared to have retired for the night. A Pokémon Center was a welcome sight nearby. To both heal their teams and rent lodgings, the party headed there first. 

Once they were settled, the trainers stepped back outside to talk. In the short span of time they had spent inside the Pokémon Center, the town had transformed: a light mist seeped off of every inch of the lake, tickling along the shore. Small yellow lights slowly danced throughout the dewy air. They appeared to be coming from something at the center of the lake, too obscure to see. 

Not quite yet tired, the group split up to while away some time before bed. Bronze began to read the Beginner’s Forging book she had picked up in Forgerun, while Lauren took some photos of the nightly phenomena. Ariela left to visit her parents at their home in town. Reinhold and Sylvie walked to the edge of the lake to study. As Sylvie took note of the various plants growing atop the lake, Reinhold reached out to the floating lights with his Ghost Resonance. There was…a hint of similarity in the lights. He could tell they contained small bits of life, but they did not appear to be sentient individuals. 

In the morning, Bronze explained to the group that she had some leads of her own to follow in town. Back in Drillsberg, Gunnar had advised her to speak with the lighthouse keeper of Streamsford. No such building could be seen anywhere in the town. Inquiries led to some of the townsfolk instructing her to take a kayak out to the center of the lake in the evening. 

Since there was some time to kill, Reinhold and Bronze reasoned it might be a good idea to check on the Pokémon they had captured with Rusty’s Balls™. Their Pokédexes had let them know the Typing of the captured Pokémon had been affected in some way… 

Safely removed from the town, the trainers set up for a lunch in the woods. Bronze was first up: she released her captured Luxio. Its fur was a greyish-white, and the rest of its coloration was considerably lighter than normal. The Cube Ball had added an Ice Typing to it! The Luxio, Shi, was fine until he noticed his reflection in a bowl. The changes to his form startled the cat, and he began to scale a tree in fear. Bronze opened herself up in a heart-to-heart with her new Pokémon. Whether it was her words, or her own strange connection to the Shinx line, the Capture Specialist successfully managed to calm Shi down. 

Now came the dangerous one: Reinhold ensured his friends were at the ready before releasing his newly-caught Tyranitar. The hulking monster’s form had changed as well, but in different ways than the Luxio’s had. What had the Pyramid Ball done? The shape of a glowing pink eye formed a few inches above Galatine’s forehead, and he let out a bellow of pain. 

Sylvie and Lauren were both immediately able to confirm that the ball had added a Psychic Typing to the Tyranitar, granting it telepathic abilities- telepathic abilities that were now ravaging its unprepared mind. With the Empath’s soothing aura assisting him, Reinhold began to clear his own thoughts. The only thing in his mind was the steady beat of a drum. Locking eyes with Galatine, he willed the Pokémon to focus on that drumbeat. Slowly, delicately, the Tyranitar began to focus its new powers on this sole source of input. The atmosphere was tense for several moments. Finally, Galatine’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly. Though he was still both confused and annoyed, Reinhold and Sylvie had kept the Pokémon from entering a berserker rage. It was quite a successful first step on the journey to fully earn the Tyranitar’s trust. 

All the excitement helped work up the group’s appetite, and their lunch was eaten quickly. As they walked back to Streamsford, our heroes discussed their next steps. The next city on their path to Mani’s Bed was Hammerfest, some days to the North. There had been no update from Brunick as of yet, so it seemed Solgaleo was still wherever he had warped to. Bearing that in mind, it, a few members of the party had expressed some interest in visiting Streamsford’s Colosseum……