[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
we still want to be able to come back here in the future.
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
Scheduled vote count started by TempestK on Aug 3, 2024 at 6:34 PM, finished with 14 posts and 12 votes.
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
I'm a little sad we don't have a write-in option, I would have loved to say "Hi, I'm an explorer looking for cool stuff and new pokemon, would you like to have a friendly no-stakes battle?" and have our Hoppip do translations.
I'm a little sad we don't have a write-in option, I would have loved to say "Hi, I'm an explorer looking for cool stuff and new pokemon, would you like to have a friendly no-stakes battle?" and have our Hoppip do translations.
While that would be interesting, Nick doesn't have a ton of battle experience, and right now he'd rather avoid making major mistakes.
Also yes, you are getting pictures of all of this as well. So at the absolute bare minimum you have photographic proof of at least this one biome. As well as the Snout Fossil for evidence. But a captured pokemon with all of the geo-tag information from the pokeball on when and where the capture took place (using the depth meter and map that Ping has been updating as the reference for the location).
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
[X](Special) Have Sol vouch for you, being a grass type and one that has more of her species in the cave it might allow for you to get through without needing to actually fight. May have other effects.
"Hey Sol, can you maybe ask these nice guardians for permission to enter? I mean, we're not looking to start trouble, just looking for any mon that may be interested in going to the surface with us." You se both of the evolved pokemon's eyes narrow a bit at the word "surface" but otherwise didn't advance further.
The glares faded a bit as Sol came into view, sitting calmly on Ping's beak. Ping got a reaction, with both evolved mon tensing. The Shiinotic was the first one to relax, tilting its head and looking at the Porygon with naked curiosity. The Breloom remained tense, but for a moment its body seemed to flicker with blue light, before it seemingly begrudgingly stood down as well.
You're not sure what that was all about, but it stood to reason that the pokemon down here had never seen a Porygon before. Something to keep in mind, though it appears that the two evolved pokemon did something that calmed them down. Something to discuss with the Professor later...
Sol either doesn't notice the tension, or otherwise chooses to ignore it. Instead she waves happily at the two mon. The Shiinotic smiles again, waving back, while the Breloom merely relaxes marginally. The little grass type begins an enthusiastic monologue, one which you desperately wished you could understand.
Even though pokemon were able to understand humans overall, there was so much tone and nuance in their own communication methods allowing for cross-species communication that barring being a psychic or one of the famed Aura Guardians, most humans had no way to know for sure what their partners were saying exactly. Trainers that had been with their team for a very long time supposedly learned to interpret their team-member's vocalizations on a personal level, though this didn't often spread to other members of the same species.
Unfortunately you'd only had your mon for less than a month, the fact that you had the connection you did with them already was incredible! So you had absolutely no idea what Hoppip is saying as she waves her tiny nubbin arms around and periodically jumps as if to emphasize whatever point she's trying to make. Whatever she's saying seems to be working though.
Breloom is relaxing even further, while Shiinotic has tilted their head to the side, regarding you with open curiosity. Eventually both mushroom mon step back into their domains, their younger spawn peering at you curiously from behind the stalks.
Giving Sol a gentle pat and a sliver of dried oran berry to snack on, you and Ping moved forward while the Grass type munched on her treat. You did pause to pull out a baggie and collect a sample of spores from one of the smaller mushrooms. You'd only heard of such massive specimens in Galar, which was attributed to the high concentration of Fairy energy. You took a couple pictures as well, mindful of the flash to avoid startling the young pokemon. That accomplished, you move forward towards the central area of the cavern.
Now past the view-obscuring caps, you can spot a couple of different areas that stood out. One was where a small collection of low-lying clouds, only slightly more concentrated than fog, seemed to be producing a constant Drizzle effect.
Flowing out of that area was a large stream that meandered through the cavern with a thick forested area on the far side of the stream. On the nearer side, almost directly under the Sunstone array was a small meadow-like area which was where the Jumpluff's family had been playing. They appeared to have drifted downwards and were now hidden in the tall grass though you saw a couple of rustling areas here and the.
So, you found one of the biomes your Grandpa had always talked about. Now you just have to convince a mon to join your team to go to the surface...
[ ]Go to the wetlands area.
Will have grass types that prefer more wet environments. Unlikely to have Water Pokemon due to all of the Grass types, but there's a possibility.
[ ]Go to the forest area.
Will have grass types that prefer thick forests and arboreal living. May have some Bug types present as well?
[ ]Go to the meadow area.
Will have grass types that prefer open spaces and maximum sunlight exposure. May also have Flying types adapted to the open plains.
AN: There will be a two-hour moratorium for discussion, followed by a 10-hour vote. Sorry this one was so short, but you guys have made it into the heart of your first biome. Now you get to see that unlike Sinnoh there's a bit more variety to be found.
Hmm. While I highly doubt any of the Pokemon here would like the surface of Orre at all, the ones in the meadow would probably find it the least inhospitable. For what little that's worth.
Asking them to join the team. Pictures are awesome, but having a genetically distinct pokemon strain with a pokeball that has geotag data showing that it was captured underground in Orre would be undeniable proof that a University-funded expedition would be viable rather than a money sink; getting the maximum funding from the Governing Board of the university. As it stands technically you've already met the minimum requirements with the Snout Fossil.
In that case, the usefulness approach should be considered.
As we are a miner, flying types would be the least useful, unless we have a use for them on the surface where they would be very useful. Spotting sites from the air or delivering messages. Potentially most likely to join us to stretch their wings. Also, Hoppip is Grass Flying, so we do rather have that covered.
Water would be the most useful, considering whether we are underground or aboveground we need water. Least likely to willingly join us in a desert. Best to remember we also do have a Kabuto Fossil we can get on the team later.
Bugs would be pretty mid. Not particularly 'useful'(at least as a type), not particularly against or for coming to the surface. However bugs dual type A LOT, and most often with Poison and Flying.
From a stand point of 'come with us to the desert', wetlands would hate the pitch, Forest would dislike it, and meadow might be really into it. The big selling point is space, wind, and actual sun.
Wetlands is right out, because we're in Orre and bringing one of those to a wasteland like that is a recipe for disaster. Forest is decent, but the chance of an out and out Flying type for above-ground work and maybe travel swings me to meadow. Plus, if it's small enough, we might be able to train it as a Star Wars trench runner podracer kind of 'Mon.
I do think flying types could offer some utility. For example, while they are unlikely to be very helpful in the tunnels, they could easily open up traversal options when we reach the actual caverns. Imagine having to move across magma flows in a fire themed cave for example.
They also come with a boatload of secondary typings, even more so than bug, which could prove useful in all sorts of ways.
Finally, if we get lucky, there might be some cave adapted fliers around. Zubat, Noibat, Woobat or Gligar would all be fine partners for caving and excavation.
I also wouldn't discount the ability to go about and deal with things in person either. Never know when someone along the supply chain is pocketing stuff.
Edit: I'm personally banking on Zubat. It would be very useful, it's one of my favourite lines, and they are very, very common in just about every region. Which means I think there are decent chances they exist in this cave system as well.
The added bonus would be the groans from the academic community. "Of course the first pokemon he finds is a Zubat. Whats next, Magicarp?"
As a note, remember that part of the quest is going to be creating terraformed biospheres for mon to move into up in Orre. So while yes the vast majority is going to be a desert at the start, you're also going to be creating habitats topside for the Professor to use in his studies to try and revive Orre's biospheres as a whole. As well, while a water type pokemon would hate dealing with Orre in general, you'd be able to provide it with comfortable lodging and eventually be able to set up a proper biome for it to stretch out in while topside.
One of the major things that you can choose for your funding are "starter packages" for certain biomes that just need a space prepared for them.
Taking into account that the end goal is terraforming, a really good pokémon to get would be an oddish. Their tendency to bury themselves during the hot days, search for healthy soil at night, and being poisonous would make them more resilient to the desert conditions. The best part is that they leave seeds wherever they walk making them a perfect pioneer species.
Another two pokémon I would like to find is a swinub and diglett. While both do not do good in desert environments, they have abilities that would help with terraforming. Swinubs sometimes discovers hot springs while digging, which is possible since Mount Battle is a volcano. Digletts naturally till the soil while underground, which would help plants to propagate. They would also be really useful while exploring underground.
Another two pokémon I would like to find is a swinub and diglett. While both do not do good in desert environments, they have abilities that would help with terraforming. Swinubs sometimes discovers hot springs while digging, which is possible since Mount Battle is a volcano. Digletts naturally till the soil while underground, which would help plants to propagate. They would also be really useful while exploring underground.
Good to know, though I'd think they would have a harder time in Orre's desert since there is a lack of plants. We'll probably find one eventually since we are in the best habitat for them.
Even with the knowledge that we will be able to offer habitats in the future, I stand by what I said before about meadow being the best.
And even if we believably communicated that we can get some terraforming done on their behalf to wild pokemon, I think as of right now we can at best offer parity with what is down here, with one exception: We can offer the flying types an open sky. And I think at least one or two might be interested in that.
To be clear, I'm not argueing that there is no chance of recruitment at the other locations or a guaranteed one at the meadows. Just that I believe that right now, we have the best offer and therefore the best chance there.
