Session 41, VP2

The morning rose grey & dreary. If anything, the rain had worsened overnight. The bulk of the group was pleasantly surprised to hear Ariela’s familiar voice coming from the lobby of the Pokemon Center. Less bothered by wet & cold, the Researcher had pushed on through the downpour to catch up to her friends. After greetings were exchanged, our heroes made some changes to their parties for the last leg of their trek.

Ariela wanted to visit the gym in town briefly before leaving, so she obtained directions from the nurse on duty. In a rush, she led the way through the streets of Hammerfest. The gym was by far the largest & most occupied they had visited thus far. The bulk of the space appeared to be devoted to various sparring rings.

The walls were laden down with a mix of trophies, training weapons, & portraits of an intimidatingly beautiful woman. Many fights were raging around the space, including a large one with an audience at the center. A few Fighting Pokemon could be seen milling about, assisting the people with their training.

Ignoring politeness, Ariela decided to walk into a fight happening in one of the rings. One of the men had the other in a headlock: she began to poke the current winner over & over. Both fighters looked at her confusedly.

The Researcher asked multiple questions while the one man struggled for air. Eventually, she asked where the gym leader was. As the headlocker attempted to point her out, the headlockee used the distraction to sweep the first man’s legs out from under him. He quickly pinned his partner’s throat to the floor with his knee, before pointing at the largest fight with a wheeze.

In the primary ring, a young woman was facing off against multiple opponents. Each time one fell, another student moved in to take their place. Once again, Ariela barged into the arena. She managed to poke the woman’s shoulder once- then the fighter grabbed Ariela’s wrist & threw her across the mat.

Ariela rolled to a stop up against the wall. The party noticed that every other fight had stopped, as the participants watched in silence. Lauren informed the rest of the group that this was Skirlic, having heard of her in a few magazines with Thyra.

It takes a special kind of pride to decorate your dojo with paintings of yourself: an immense amount of pride, but also the strength to back it up. The battle-hardened woman walked to a few feet from Ariela. Doing her best not to groan, the Researcher stood up.

Skirlic waited until Ariela introduced herself to spit in her face. Undeterred Ariela stuck out her hand. The gym leader slapped at the offered hand as she turned, clearly moving to leave…but Ariela decided to try to grab the other woman’s hand & force a handshake. Suffice to say, Ariela was soon crumpled to the floor again.

The rest of the group moved to collect their fallen friend, drawing their own share of attention. Our heroes quickly explained that they weren’t here to fight, though they would like to in the future. Skirlic appraised them silently as they spoke. It was clear she didn’t think much of any of them, save Reinhold.

Sensing a kindred spirit, he stepped forward to speak more for the group. The other fights in the gym resumed, as Skirlic’s temper simmered down some. Though she didn’t ask, she was told about the group’s current quest. The look on her face showed that she had doubts for any undertaking that required their help.

Still, she wished them good luck before they left. Testing Reinhold’s reflexes, she threw something at him as the group made to leave. He caught the refreshing soda with ease. Skirlic nodded at Ariela, indicating it was to help her recover.

At the front desk, the party spoke with the attendant to see if they needed to make appointments for a future gym challenge. The poor man manning the station had clearly been recently concussed badly. Concerned, our heroes asked if the man wanted help getting medical aid, but he seemed hardly able to focus or speak. A nearby Riolu heard their request, & implored them to do so.

Bearing their two damaged charges, our heroes returned to the Pokemon Center once more. Ariela was patched up shortly, while the nurse moved the man to a medical watch room for him to recover. Lauren suggested that the group gather some winter weather supplies before leaving town.

Ariela wrote a note- a threat?- for Skirlic, & asked the nurse to pass it along. She shrugged before putting the note in the concussed man’s pocket. While the bulk of the group spent some time shopping, Ariela decided to see if she could find someone in the town’s alleys to make a special sale…She had recently found some stones that might sell for a decent amount.

It didn’t take long before she heard someone calling out a “psst” to get her attention. Following the noise, she encountered a hooded figure. They were short & stout: roughly 4’ tall, & nearly as wide. With a series of grunts, the figure pointed with their covered arm. Clearly, they desired the stone.

When Ariela held it closer, they nodded their head vigorously. A gloved hand produced a small satchel of coin. Without a word, the buyer tossed the satchel at Ariela’s feet. She passed over the stone as she bent to pick up the monies.

The group was as prepared as they could be without knowing exactly what lay ahead. It didn’t take long for them to reach the forest of willow trees known as Nehallennia’s Shade. These woods stretched far to the North-West, all the way to Cursestone.

Mani’s Bed was said to lay a short ways within. Being under tree cover went a good way to warding off the rain as our heroes continued. As they walked, Reinhold explained a bit about the area, as he had lived in Cursestone for some time. The entire forest also functioned as an honored graveyard. Dead from all across the country were brought here for memorials & interment.

A few hours into their hike, they suddenly heard a deep, echoing chuckle ring out. The laugh kept occurring, interposed with what sounded like the rapid pitter-patter of a bird’s feet. Amongst a small group of gravestones nearby, the party came upon a frustrated Staravia.

Every time the laugh echoed, the bird charged over in an attempt to find who was mocking it; whatever was laughing at the bird was lurking invisibly. Ariela offered the Staravia some seed to placate it. Just before its beak could scoop up the food, it disappeared as Ariela’s hand went numb. This caused the Staravia to stamp around indignantly at the ghost’s antics.

Reinhold released Mephiles from his Pokeball. Figuring a ghost would be best to scare a ghost, he asked the Haunter to turn the prank back on the invisible annoyance. Mephiles turned invisible himself, & the area became momentarily quiet. When Reinhold could feel Mephiles give him the signal of a spectral push, the Martial Artist spun in place with a scary face.

It seemed that Mephiles had chased the Pokemon until it was right behind Reinhold; the trickster found itself so startled that it became visible. A Duskull floated awkwardly in place. Clearly, it wasn’t used to being outsmarted. The trainers began to loudly talk about how there was no way the Duskull could ever be scary.

Angered, it busted out another ghostly disappearing trick. Unfortunately for the ghost, this no longer fazed our heroes. Mephiles decided the Duskull needed further coercion. He swelled up to a massive size, & loomed over the smaller Pokemon. At this point, Bronze joined in the fun by Intimidating the Duskull yet further. In short order, the Duskull had been “convinced” to enter a Pokeball.

Meanwhile, Ariela told the Staravia it could get more food if it joined the group. The bird seemed to weigh the offer a bit, before tapping a rune with its beak. From their best guess, Mani’s Bed was likely only a half day’s travel from their current location.

With night approaching, our heroes decided to bed down in the least grave-filled space they could find nearby. As they searched for a good spot, they all noticed a shadow would randomly rush past overhead, as if they were being watched. Lauren took the first watch of the night.

All seemed quiet…until the hairs of their neck began to stand on end. The Researcher’s psychic senses were detecting a threat, but where? Closing their eyes, Lauren focused on finding another conscious mind.

Sure enough, they saw flashes from a Pokemon’s eyes. Whatever it was, it was using excellent night vision to creep towards the party- to Bronze in particular. Lauren stood, & moved to stand by the Capture Specialist. The stalker’s mind recoiled with a mental hiss, deterred by the presence of someone awake to defend the camp. Nothing else of note happened in the other watches.

Despite the somewhat somber mood of their environment, all of the trainers felt their spirits lift upon seeing the rain had stopped overnight. They took a short breakfast before continuing towards their destination. As soon as they started walking, the shadow from the day before made itself known. The creature seemed unwilling to reveal itself just yet- would it be friend or foe?

Only a few minutes away, the sounds of fighting could be heard coming from up ahead. Oddly, the fighting sounded like it was being done by sticks, & seemed to be coming from a tree. Searching led the party to a dramatic scene. Two small Pokemon stood upon a tree branch, roughly 10’ off the ground.

Both the Pikachu & the Snubbull were wielding small sticks as mock swords. The pair would meet in a blur of swings, before separating to “monologue” at each other. The trainers were stunned at the absurdity of the scene as the battle continued.

The seemed evenly matched- until, with a flourish, the Snubbull disarmed the Pikachu! The mouse’s blade fell to the soft forest floor as he slumped onto his back. The Snubbull moved closer, raising its own sword high towards the sky above. As it gave a victorious “speech”, the Pikachu grasped blindly behind it for its missing weapon.

With a smile, Sylvie used her telekinesis to float the stick back into the Pikachu’s grip. Just as the Snubbull brought its sword crashing down, the Pikachu quickly stabbed forward. The Snubbull clamped the stick between its arm & its side: clearly miming a fatal blow. At this point, the group could no longer contain their laughter & applause.

The sounds startled the two Pokemon, who seemed quite embarrassed to have an audience. The thespians ran deeper into the woods through the treetops, leaving their blades behind. By the time noon had come & gone, our heroes could faintly hear the sounds of water drifting their way. Lunch reinvigorated them for the final stretch, though not for what they would soon find.

The shadow had not been seen since they stopped to eat. So, it was quite startling when Sylvie felt something drip onto her face from the branches overhead. She wiped at her cheek as she looked up. It took a second for the rest of the group to realize Sylvie had come to a stop. They turned in confusion, seeing a red smear on her face as she pointed above.

On another branch, the Pikachu from earlier was unconscious. Its skin looked wan, & its face was contorted in pain. Just nearby to it was its friend: the Snubbull was collapsed across the branch, a wicked hole bored through its stomach. Its blood had dripped down onto Sylvie’s face.

Distraught, the group quickly fetched both Pokemon down. Nothing could be done for the Snubbull, but the Pikachu was clearly badly poisoned. Sylvie managed to cure its ailment & apply some first aid. When she was done, she gently placed the Pikachu into the group’s egg basket for safety. Our heroes decided to bury the Snubbull as best they could.

Hoping to earn some good will with him, Bronze released King t help dig. Unfortunately, the only thing King saw dead Pokemon- maybe even humans- as was dinner. Ariela & Reinhold managed to bury the poor Pokemon while Bronze handled King. When they moved on, Lauren’s face seemed strangely impassive.

Soon, they found themselves at the shore of Mani’s Bed. The water here was still, & appeared deep. Inside his pack, the strange bell Kolga had given Reinhold jingled slightly. Taking it in hand, he noticed that small ripples would form on the lake whenever he shook the bell. No matter how hard he shook the bell, the ripples never seemed to get any larger.

The legends they had followed claimed that Lunala left the lake at dusk. For now, there was nothing but to wait. Lauren stood apart, keeping a watchful eye on the trees. Ariela dug around the shore for some more fossils, while Bronze & Sylvie busied themselves setting camp. Reinhold shoved his head beneath the surface, hoping to spot signs of life for fishing.

Sunset finally arrived. Even before he fetched the bell, Reinhold could feel it vibrating with energy. Under the darkening sky, he shook the bell forcefully. Massive ripples covered the lake, yet no water moved vertically in the slightest. Curious, Reinhold once again shoved his head beneath the surface.

Strangely, it felt as if he were sticking his head out of a lake & into air. After relaying this to his friends, he submerged himself completely. One after another, the trainers came sputtering out of the lake’s portal. The area surrounding them was the same, but all color seemed inverted.

The beating of many wings began to race across the purple sky. A veritable horde of bat Pokemon began to form a vortex above the group. Unbelievably, the shadowy forms began to coalesce into one form. Where the many bats had been, our heroes now saw one singular creature. The pictographs they had seen helped them to recognize Lunala. But something about it seemed off… Sylvie stepped forward. In a plaintive voice, she explained why they had sought out the Legendary. The spectral bat made no reply as it hovered in place.

Unsure of how to proceed, Sylvie pulled out her Pokedex. She turned it towards the bat to reveal an image of Solgaleo. Lunala’s entire body shuddered, then broke apart into its many winged parts for a brief second. In a rage, each bat let out a piercing, high-pitched cry. They combined once more, & Lunala careened down, straight towards the party…