Hidden Orre: Underground Quest

You wiped the dust from your sunglasses as you disembarked from the jeep. Orre was as it had always been. A blasted barren waste with only a bare handful of oases allowing for survival outside of the coastal areas. There they could use desalination to provide potable water, and the occasional passing oceanic water type meant that there tended to be a bit more organization there thanks to more trainers. Orre was a place where strength was everything after all...

Your hand reached up to touch the pendant around your throat, the small chunk of rock suspended in a smooth protective coating of epoxy resin to protect it from the elements. You'd honestly not thought that you'd ever come back here. Back to the homestead that your grandfather had literally carved out for himself and your grandmother.

Your grandfather had been a miner, and a very successful one. While Orre wasn't known for its pokemon, the land still had some treasures hidden away; far down below. Your grandfather had hewn rock and clay to claw those treasures out and bring them to the surface. Evolution stones, gems, fossils, unique materials that could be used by other regions to create battle items. He'd built that into a solid financial business... well, he'd handed it all over to Grandma, who'd been the actual person with money sense.

It was still so hard to believe that he was gone now. The last time you'd seen him was when he was handing you the plane ticket to go to Unova to study at the university there. He'd been adamant that you not stay just to watch him rust away. After Grandma had died a lot of his zest for life had died with him. And then his old Excadrill had passed. Grandpa had been alone, checked on periodically by a small group of local vigilantes that were the next best thing to the law in this corner of Orre.

You'd flourished in the university, finding a passion for mineralogy and paleontology. You'd be the first to admit that you often wondered what kind of fossils were hidden beneath Orre even beyond the occasional Root fossil that Grandpa had brought up and sold off. What kind of place had Orre been in the distant past? Those questions are what drove you even as your Grandfather's letters became more and more sporadic.

Eventually, they stopped. And then you received a letter from one of the few legal firms in the region. Grandpa was dead, passed in his sleep according to the doctor's report. He'd left his property to you, but with you still in college the estate would be managed by your Grandfather's attorney. Given that the area didn't have much to it beyond your Grandfather's home that had been partially carved out of the hill behind it. The mine shaft that he'd used as his entryway to the underground was on the same plot of land, protected by a heavy combination lock. One that now only you knew the combination for.

Your program was how you'd met the sponsor of this little jaunt. Professor Saguaro was a bulky man whose frame was mostly muscle. He apparently had emigrated from Paldea, but had family still there teaching at their vaunted Academy. The man had also been the one to recognize Grandpa's "lucky charm" for what it was, a fossil! Specifically a:

[ ][Fossil]Fossilized Seed
[ ][Fossil]Fossilized Finger Bone
[ ][Fossil]Fossilized Tooth
[ ][Fossil]Polished Amber
The professor had some contacts with Silph Co and a few other companies that had been advancing the bounds of revivification, and with the promise that the fossil would be preserved to ensure that your Grandfather's charm would still be with you; you had allowed it to be revived. Which was how you'd gotten your first partner.

One thing that you and the professor shared was an interest in Orre. You in its ancient past, while he was interested in how exactly it had withered away into the wastes that now covered the region today. And more specifically, why no pokemon at all seemed to live there!? It was during a class debate on this that you ended up sharing one of your Grandpa's favorite tales.

Because according to your grandfather? The pokemon were still there, but had retreated underground in the face of some kind of horrific cataclysm. Your Grandfather often shared his stories of hidden enclaves of pokemon that he had stumbled across; massive caves heated and lit by ponds of magma brought closer to the surface from the volcanic areas to the north. Lush jungles lit by masses of Sunstone so large that not even a fully-grown Machamp would be able to lift them, even if they could reach where they were embedded in the cavern roofs. Flooded caverns with mysteriously glowing shapes whose ethereal light outlined darting forms beneath the waves. Every single one of them; home to various species of pokemon. He'd even received his lucky charm early on in his career after helping one of them!

Most people laughed them off as stories that your Grandfather had concocted while only having himself and Excadrill down in the meandering mine shaft that they had dug out themselves going from seam to seam. You'd even started to roll your eyes after you became a teen. But now... now you know about the Sinnoh Underground, and the biomes scattered throughout it that contain thousands of pokemon; including many not considered native to SInnoh! The prevailing theory is that Sinnoh has been slowly cooling over the centuries and many pokemon have retreated underground to live. A theory that dovetailed nicely with your Grandpa's stories.

Of course, when you had shared this with your peers, there'd been general laughter, and one person had loudly said "Everyone knows that there's no pokemon in Orre!" Before your professor's stern voice had cut through the noise.

"Yes, just like everyone 'knows' that Tyranitar are vicious beasts that can't be reasoned with." The student that had spoken up slumped a bit in his seat; his family pokemon was an old Tyranitar that had belonged to his father when he'd taken a shot at the Championship and was widely known to be very gentle. The Professor's expression wasn't mad, but disappointed, which was probably worse.

"Someday I would love to meet this person 'Everyone'; they seem to know so much, and all of it is wrong. The fact of the matter," Professor Saguaro took on a lecturing tone, "Is that while it is improbable that such a situation exists in Orre, it is not impossible. We know that because there's an active example in Sinnoh that is highly documented." The professor had had an odd gleam in his eye as the class ended. It was getting on towards Break, and he'd asked you to meet him in his office after class.

It turned out that Professor Saguaro had been very interested in the stories you'd shared, and was speaking with the Dean about the possibility of sponsoring an expedition to Orre to investigate them. But before the Dean would sign off on a full-blown expedition, no matter how small, she'd wanted at least some kind of proof more recent than your newly revived mon.

Which is why you and he had come out here on a trip during Spring Break. You'd had plenty of it last year and frankly some of the antics the other students got up to were a bit much even for someone that had grown up in Orre. So you'd been more than happy to accompany the Professor back to your Grandparent's old homestead. Which... now belonged to you. It didn't feel quite real honestly.

You reached down and patted the second pokeball at your waist. The Professor had remarked that there was no way to know what you'd find down there, so he had gifted you a pokemon, to keep! Even if this little investigation proved to be nothing more than a visit to the old homestead for the sake of memories, he had said that you could keep the other pokemon because it would be useful in your chosen profession. He'd given you a...

[ ][Modern Mon]
[ ][Modern Mon]
[ ][Modern Mon]
[ ][Modern Mon]
Pulling yourself out of your memories, you went over and unlocked the gate that you and the Professor had stopped the vehicle in front of. A heavy duty reinforced chain link fence with the posts driven deep and secured in the bedrock by Mulch, your Grandpa's Excadrill. Inside the fence line the doors and shutters that had been secured on the homestead still appeared intact. Even if there hadn't been any worry about thieves or squatters, there were still the intermittent sandstorms that blew across Orre's badlands. The executor of your Grandpa's will had sent you the keys to the locks, and while the Professor pulled the Jeep inside the fenceline, you opened up the door offset into the hillside from the main house.

Inside was a squat orange machine with cables coming off of it leading towards the main house area. Opening the compartment on the top, you removed the clear chunk of crystal, examining the light greenish tinge that still remained. Then, pocketing it you moved over to a locked cabinet and using another key, opened it. You winced when you saw that there was only a single Thunder Stone left out of the store that Grandpa had stocked up over the decades of digging.

It was one of the secrets to his success over the years really. Grandma had had a friend that was apparently some kind of inventor, and he'd come up with some interesting ways to make the home that she and Grandpa shared with his Excadrill and her Purugly all the more comfortable. Using Elemental Stones to provide power, heat water, and even somehow extract water type energy to fill a small reservoir had all been things you'd been surprised to find were not commonly found used in other cities and even regions.

Whoever Grandma's friend was had apparently been a mechanical genius, though when you had mentioned that in one of your early letters back home the response had been... odd. Grandpa had asked you to not look into her friend. He had vanished decades ago, and the machines that she had were basically the last bit of legacy that he had left behind. You decided that it wasn't something to poke at. A lot of people came to Orre in the older days because they wanted to vanish from sight. If your Grandma had been one of them, well that was her business.

Moving over to the main door and closing the shed door behind you, you nodded as you unlocked it, stepping inside. The air was a little stale, but that was to be expected with the house having been closed up. You could already hear the familiar sound of the ventilation system kicking into gear. It was certainly much cooler in here than outside, but the AC would also be kicking in soon enough as well.

Checking on the water reservoir and the water heater yielded two more expended elemental crystals, tinged blue and orange respectively. Like the generator they only had a single Elemental stone left.

The professor's loud sigh of relief echoed off of the wood-paneled flooring that Grandpa had imported so he would never have to hear Grandma complaining about the cold stone floor ever again, and you smirked a little. Paldea was pretty warm, but it had nothing on Orre. Heading back to the foyer, you nodded to the big man.

"The generator and the other utilities are working, but if we want to keep them operating we're going to either have to bring some evolution stones with us, or we're going to have to find them delving. Each stone lasts anywhere from a month to two months depending on the density of the energy they contain. Grandpa went through pretty much the entire stock before he passed, so that's a priority."

Saguero striked his bearded chin. "A good point, but we're not going to be here for more than a week. It would be better to focus on finding a specimen to bring back to the Dean as definitive proof. Either a living pokemon, or a non-standard fossil. While we don't have the equipment for a mobile revivification lab, I do have this." He pulled a small white and blue tablet from his pocket. "It's a Genetic Assay Machine that can be used to determine how much viable genetic material is still left in a fossil. Latest release from The Battle Company. Technically still in testing really." He smiled toothily. "They've also been making some real strides in the fields of reintegrated genetic revivification, so you can use multiple fossils that don't have a full DNA strand together to create a chimeric clone. So far as they can tell, no drawbacks, and even an evidenced case of them being born knowing unusual moves in some instances."

With the discussion of your objectives, you decide now's the time to check out the door to the Shaft. The Professor follows along as you move to another door built into the hillside, one with another simple lock. Unlocking it, you turn on the LED light, thankful that it actually comes on. Not having to replace burned out lights was a godsend this far out from civilization. The revealed room was large and rough, dominated by the massive reinforced steel door at the other end with a large, almost oversized really, combination lock set into the metal. There was also a section of the wall divided into cubbies for different types of elemental stones given the small symbols carved over each cubby.

Opposite that, was the Shrine. Your grandpa had venerated it as being a source of good luck, saying that it had been here well before he had built the home that he and your grandma had shared. It was an odd looking thing, a stack of off-center circular stones stacked up on one another and with a hole punched down through the middle. You smiled a little wistfully at the small bundle of dried herbs that sat as Grandpa's final offering to it in the small bowl-like depression in front of the slab of stone it was carved from.

With a wry grin, the Professor turns his back as you approach the door. Which means he doesn't see you begin turning the dial in random directions to cover the sound of you pressing some of the raised numbers in a specific sequence, feeling a small click as each one depressed for a moment. Finally, you pressed the center of the dial itself, finishing the sequence, and ending the charade. Your grandfather had always gotten a laugh out of the lock, and the thought that someone could potentially waste months before figuring out the actual secret of the lock. He had always had a weird sense of humor...

With a heavy ka-chunk sound, the lock disengaged. The door itself opened smoothly as you pulled on the handles. The pneumatics built into it made what would have needed a Machamp to open easy to move for an old man. The professor clapped a hand on your shoulder. "Alright then, so to reiterate the plan, I'm going to stay topside so that I and Slag can make sure that no one tries to steal our jeep or investigate the open house."

You nod; while it would have been nice to have the Professor with you; with only the two of you and your pokemon here someone had to stay topside and hold down the fort. You check your gear. Shovel, pick, hammer, canteen, camera-equipped pokegear, food and of course your headlamp and backup flashlight. Even with a pokemon that could provide light you always had at least two backups.

Right now you're carrying enough food with you to do a two-day dive. Of course that would require you to rough it pretty hard. You didn't have the funds to pay for overnight gear suitable for the underground. Yet.

So, you're about ready to plunge into the depths. What should you focus on first?

[ ][Focus] Finding elemental stones to power the home. Even though the stones that you just placed should last for about a month, you want to have a good supply on hand.

[ ][Focus] Finding other "aberrant" fossils like the one that your Grandpa had given you. While it's not as good as having a living capture, even having the ability to clone ancient pokemon outside of the standard category of "fossil" pokemon would be something that the Dean would certainly be willing to fund an expedition for. Though it might mean your funding wouldn't be as high as it would be if you found a

[ ][Focus] Try to find and capture a living specimen from underground. To make it absolutely clear that it's not just a fluke the Professor has asked you to try and find one of those biomes that your Grandpa had mentioned in order to bring back a mon that "shouldn't" be able to be found underground or at least not outside of biomes that aren't currently known to be present in Orre. Photographic evidence will work in lieu of a capture as well.

The professor gives you a thumbs up. "Good luck, -!"

Oh yeah. What's your name anyway?

[ ][Name]

And what do you look like?

[ ][Look]A


[ ][Look]B

[ ][Look]C

[ ][Look]D


You have 4 AP. You can attempt to either Explore an excavated tunnel, looking for a specific type of treasure, (Here it'll be whatever you decide to focus on, later you can make choices on what to spend each AP on looking for); attempting to find new passages, or attempting to open up collapsed passages. Some passages will not be able to be cleared without improved equipment.

Your available actions are:

[ ]Check a wall for buried treasures.
[ ]Try to track down a trace of living pokemon.
[ ]Try to open up a small cleft that you can feel air moving through. Goes South?
[ ]Update hand-drawn map. (Removed if Porygon picked)
[ ]Lay out bait and try to bring in pokemon to you
You will need to use berries or other specialized baits. Currently not available.
[ ]Follow an open shaft to the (North, South, East, West)
Pick a cardinal direction. When you get deeper you will also need to choose if you are going up or down. Currently only North and East are available. There is no shaft leading South, though there is a cleft, and the passage West has collapsed.
[ ]Try to clear collapsed passage to the West. Will take multiple AP. Add "x1" etc for how many AP are being applied.

Your opening pokemon and the pokemon you acquire over the course of this quest will give access to new options past the opening sequence, as will new or upgraded gear.

Please vote by plan for spending your AP. Everything else is freeform votes. There will be a one-hour moratorium.

AN: Okay so I've only seen something like this once and they were a live-writing quest. I'm not going to be using any complicated maps, perhaps at best using an overland pic of the Orre region combined with my limited Paint skills to denote the general locations of different biomes as you find them in relation to the surface.

The reason that there aren't any female trainer options is that frankly I'm not comfortable writing as a female for a prolonged period of time. I can do female characters but not as the main perspective. I simply don't know how women think well enough to portray them right.

I'll have a page dedicated to mechanics, though the pokemon battles are going to generally be narrative when they occur. I'll be using a d100 with modifiers for searches. I'm adapting an AP system for actions while underground, with the ability to gain more AP through the purchase of better gear, or other methods to gain them. Some AP may be tied to having certain equipment.

For captured and revived pokemon, Roll to determine nature and gender first. 1d25 for natures, 1d100 for gender 1-50 female 51-100 male. Adjusted as needed for certain species of pokemon like Combee and Salandit.

For abilities, roll 1d100. 1-45 = 1st ability, 46-90 = 2nd ability, 91-100 for Hidden ability. Otherwise there is a 50% chance of either ability.

---

Mushroom Jungle - A cavern with a series of Sunstones attached to the roof, emulating a day/night cycle. The outer edges are home to Mushroom pokemon that feed on decayed plant matter. Seems to play host to the mostly Grass type pokemon as observed so far.

Known species:

• Hoppip line
• Breloom line
• Morelull line

Name: Nick L. Ement
Age: 23
Sex: Male



Affiliation: Unovan Archeology and Paleontology Department
Native Region: Orre



P★DA: A somewhat cobbled-together Personal Digital Assistant. has a variety of functions and can be further upgraded with the correct program chips.

• Map function
• Email service
• Pokeball Readout link system
• Activity Alarm - Can monitor sensors placed down for activity from pokemon. (Requires a signal relay network to function underground)
• Inventory listing

Basic Shovel - A basic shovel for digging through clay and dirt. No special bonuses.
Tempered Hammer - A hammer with a harder head. (Adds +10 to all rolls involving opening geodes or breaking through obstructions.)
Tempered Pick - A Pick with a harder head. (Adds +10 to all rolls involving delicate excavation work like removing fossils or evolution stones.)
Camerupt Water Pack - Doubles the amount of water you can carry, extending the distance you can go on delves before needing to turn back. Can be refilled in areas with clean water sources.
Sturdy Pack - Doubles amount of food and supplies that can be carried. Has room for 15 pieces of loot. Can be restocked with food in caverns with edible food sources.
Rope - 50 meters of hemp rope
Basic Sounder - Reveals how many AP a tunnel collapse will take.

Current Funds: 1,000


Dome Fossil = Kabuto
Aberrant fossil: Snout Fossil = Cyndaquil

The Homestead: The home that your grandfather carved out with his own two hands, and a lot of help from his Excadrill. Has a generator, a water supply, and a water heater. Each of them requires a Thunder, Water and Fire stone respectively to run them. Current status:

• Generator: Fresh Thunderstone, 26 days of charge left
• Water Reservoir: Fresh Water Stone, 26 days of charge left
• Water Heater: Fresh Fire Stone, 26 days of charge left.

The Homestead has basic amenities for cooking and can house up to three people comfortably along with a small number of pokemon. Large-size pokemon like Onix are unable to fit inside. The Homestead has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a single full kitchen, along with a ventilation system and HVAC system. There is no satellite uplink for a TV, radio or internet. There are no computers, tvs or radios in the Homestead. It has basic furnishings for two beds and a pull-out couch along with the dining room table and four chairs.

Medical Lab: An array of sensors and scanners that can be used to scan pokemon outside their pokeballs for analysis of their physical characteristics, any abnormalities or unique features are able to be more easily identified. Includes a genetic assay machine to decode a pokemon's ancestry. Adds +20 to rolls for studying pokemon.

• Medical Tent: Place to get healed if injured. Cannot handle major injuries, those will require extended bed rest. Can be upgraded to handle larger mon and more extensive injuries.

Field Lab - Can analyze finds in order to determine their value and composition. Can be upgraded with a micro-revival machine, expanded analysis and simulation processors.

Berry Garden - Can plant and grow berries. Can be upgraded with a mulcher, composter and irrigation systems.

Old Shrine: A Shrine that your grandfather venerated and insisted was a source of good luck. It consists of a small series of off-center stone circles stacked one on top of the other.
Purpose: ???