Session 4, VP2

After celebrating Reinhold's success in the Tournament, our heroes awoke to another beautiful day rising on Seeder Grove. While Alexander & Lauren were partaking the inn's breakfast spread, Reinhold came downstairs in a state of mild disarray.

Before joining his friends, he made his way over to the front desk to talk to the innkeeper. The innkeeper seemed very flustered, and gave Reinhold a small amount of Monies for his troubles.

Once this was settled, Reinhold sat down to join the breakfast. He explained that he had found the door to his room marked with a deep slash, with his bed and pillow cut in half within.

The party discussed if this could have been the work of Gyda, in retaliation for beating her in the tournament. Determined to investigate further, the group set out to start their day.

First on their list was paying a visit to the Pokemon Center to adjust their carried Pokemon. They stepped outside to find Cypvriss leading tournament staff in taking down the podiums and stage. Some of the staff gave smiles & waves to the party, recognizing them from the day prior.

After a bit more debate on how to proceed, our heroes trekked towards Gyda's farm. Mareep wandered serenely around the estate, as smoke drifted upwards from the chimney. Lauren didn't trust themselves not to make a verbal misstep, so they chose to spend time amongst the friendly Mareep while Alexander & Reinhold went up to knock on the door.

Reinhold gently knocked on the door, which swung open. Inside, Gyda's parents were enjoying breakfast. Although not expecting visitors, they greeted the party, and asked what they could for them. Reinhold started the conversation by mentioning that they had competed with Gyda in the tournament the day before. He then moved on to asking if her parents knew whereabouts she had gone.

Gyda's parents explained that she had left to continue on the League challenge earlier that day, and said she would be stopping home every month or so along the way. Unfortunately, she hadn't mentioned which town she was intending on starting with. When her parents pressed to see why the party was being so insistent, Reinhold let it slip that they believed Gyda may be responsible for various illegal and dangerous acts.

Gyda's father immediately got defensive, asking what the party meant by barging into their house to spread rumors about their daughter. Alexander stepped in, and managed to defuse the tension some by explaining that "perhaps Gyda is letting her enthusiasm about the League challenge push her a bit too far".

He then said that the party would also be travelling, and asked if there were any messages they could tell Gyda if they came across her. Her parents asked Alexander to tell Gyda to come home, so they could talk about what she might have done.

Having worn out their welcome, Alexander & Reinhold left the farmhouse to meet Lauren. In the field, Lauren was playfully being swarmed by the Mareep, causing their hair to stand on end. After extricating Lauren from this fluffy predicament, the party conferred about which way to head from Seeder Grove.

Unsure of which city to make their destination, they decided to move through Idunn's Forest, then head South towards Hrungnir's Lay. Upon reaching the mountain range, they would make a choice of which city to move towards. With their plan set, our heroes set off into the dense woodland of Idunn's Heart.

A short while into their travels, the group came across a circle of Pokemon that seemed to be taking turns telling each other stories. The group listened to a few rounds, before Alexander had an idea. Releasing his Hoppip, Flora, he directed her to enter the story circle, and attempt to draw the Pokemon as close to her as possible. Once the Pokemon were close, Flora should use Poison Powder to make them easier to catch.

Although the wild Pokemon were startled at Flora's appearance, they accepted her in to tell a story of her own. As she exclaimed her way through, she began to pause between her "words", successfully causing three of the wilds to lean in closely. Once they were hooked and close enough, Flora let loose a burst of Poison Powder, shocking the Pokemon into a battle.

The battle was fairly easy, although the wild Togepi managed to land a solid hit on Auda via Metronome. Once this was taken care of, the group continued through the forest. A short way further along the path, the party began to hear hushed voices coming from somewhere ahead of them. Continuing along, but with their guard up, they soon found two ramshackle, run-down wooden houses.

Oddly, the houses weren't located in a clearing of any kind; bushes, stumps, and roots ran all along the forest floor. Standing in the area, they saw six people staring at them in silence. Their dress and appearance seemed at odds with not only the wooded environment, but each other as well. Among them were a blacksmith wielding a broom, a man in doctor scrubs, a beautiful model, a sailor, a miner, & a young woman in a kimono.

After a moment, the young woman in the kimono introduced herself as Lausang. Her speech pattern was stilted and awkward, but she welcomed the party to the town of Lygiheim. The party was taken aback, but began inquiring a bit about the town and its history. Lausang told them that the town had been around for "quite some time", before falling silent once more.

Eventually, Lausang asked the party where they were headed, and what their journey was. After the party mentioned they were travelling to various towns, Lausang asked when they would be travelling onwards. Our heroes continued to press the conversation.

Seeing that they weren't leaving, Lausang asked if the group needed to rest. When they mentioned their Pokemon could use healing, Lausang asked the town doctor to help them out. In response, the woman dressed like a miner stepped forward and took their Pokemon.

She walked into one of the houses, and came back out a few minutes later, with the party's Pokemon at full health. A bit on-edge, the group double-checked to make sure that the returned Pokeballs were actually the correct ones; thankfully, they were.

Lausang and her fellow townsfolk stared at our heroes expectantly. Lauren, Alexander, & Reinhold exchanged a few glances, and huddled together to talk. As they were discussing what to do, a roar suddenly came from behind one of the houses.

The Lygiheim townsfolk started running in circles and screaming in fear. Always eager to help, the party rushed around the side of the house, only to skid to a stop as they saw an eight-foot tall Dragonite stamping around.

The Dragonite made eye contact with the party, then let out a weak roar, before punching the back of the house. Puzzled by its behavior, the party stood slack jawed, unsure how to proceed. As the Dragonite continued lightly punching the house, Alexander activated his Styler. From his wristband, a small, top-like object unfolded. Like lightning, it sped forth through the air, leaving a stream of blue light in its wake as it encircled the Dragonite.

With a few rotations, the Styler had successfully calmed the Dragonite down. Dazed, the Pokemon sat down in a slump, gazing wistfully at the sky.

The Lygiheim townsfolk came running over to the party, cheering. They lauded the party for solving the problem, and all began to clap, in unison. Stunned by this rapid sequence of events, the party asked if the town had been attacked by the Dragonite before.

As Lausang gave ever more disjointed answers, the party noticed she kept exchanging looks with the Dragonite. Unsure what they had stumbled into, our heroes decided to change their tact. Alexander loudly suggested the party leave, causing the townsfolk to visibly relax...only to then follow up his statement by suggesting the group take the Dragonite with them.

As the party had expected, Lausang and the others became distressed, and said that Alexander should just let the Dragonite go, as it "lived somewhere nearby". The party began to playact this bit further. Seemingly in response, another roar came from the front of the town. The group wheeled about, only to see a massive Salamence enter the clearing and roar.

Having realized that some kind of illusion was at play, Reinhold & Lauren began loudly discussing how they just might take up residence in Lygiheim, seeing as how it seemed to have so many problems.

The Salamence stopped roaring at that, and calmly walked back into the forest. Lausang and the townsfolk began to clap and cheer again, insisting that the party had solved the problem, and saved the day.

In turn, each of the townsfolk suggested that, with the problem fixed, the travelers should probably get back to travelling. Rounding out this chorus, the Dragonite also chimed into the conversation, before immediately looking embarrassed. At this, Alexander decided to sidle up next to the Dragonite. Making sure that Lausang and the other townsfolk were distracted by Reinhold & Lauren playacting, Alexander stretched his hand out towards the Dragonite. Just as he had expected, his hand passed right through it.

Seeing this, he then strode "inside" the Dragonite. Within, he could see the outline of the Dragonite all around him. In the hollow space he now stood in, there was a very strange sort of creature: it had a small, dark, moss-covered body, that seemed to make gazes slide right off of it. Surrounding the creature's body was a massive nest of twigs, vines, bushes, and leaves, which stretched out to make up the silhouette of the Dragonite.

Alexander called Reinhold over to the back of the house. When Reinhold couldn't find him Alexander told him that he was inside the "Dragonite". Reinhold slipped in with trepidation, seeing Alexander trying to examine the Pokemon in amazement.

Removing themselves from the illusion of the Dragonite, they reconvened with Lauren. After a brief discussion, they decided that, although this entire situation was very odd, the townsfolk hadn't seemed to be a danger to others. Bearing that in mind, they told Lausang that they would journey onwards, now that the problem had been solved.

The Dragonite and the townsfolk let out sighs of relief, and waved the heroes on their way back into the woods.

As the party continued through Idunn's Heart, they found that the goings seemed much easier; roots seemed to shift to avoid causing tripping, branches would blow in just the right way to not block their path.

Upon reaching the end of the forest, our heroes found a small rugged package waiting for them. Upon opening it, they found a small amount of Monies, some Power Herbs, Big Roots, and Max Repels. After waving thanks in the direction of the woods, the group set out into the rolling Varfjell Fields.

After strolling through the waist-high grass for some time, Lauren & Reinhold suddenly got tripped up by holes in the ground. As they pushed themselves to their feet, a small flock of Diglett popped up in a circle around them. With a louder digging sound, a Sandile also joined the circling Pokemon, doing its best to say Diglett.

Collecting themselves, the group managed to drive off the assailants after a flurry of combat.

Once safe, our heroes decided to take a brief break to catch their breath. As they looked ahead to the horizon, they could see the mountains making up Hrungnir's Lay in the distance. Which way would they decide to go when they reached them?