Dual Pokemon Quest

[Space Jawa]

If there was one thing Jaden had been right about more than anything, it had been the danger the plant-based Cacnea were in. Frankly, Lee had been surprised there were any Cacnea on the volcanic mountain in the first place, but there was no sense questioning it at the moment. The important thing was getting them to safety.

Even being near the active lava left them in danger; neither bringing them along nor merely giving them a place of refuge would provide them the rescue they really needed.

[X] Have Pudding divert a stone path for them to take to safety

 

[Tascion]

[x]Continue to dream
-[x]This was very possibly the coolest thing he'd done with his mind, excepting maybe getting to finally touch a museum exhibit. Try to make some of the lava a different color.
-[x]The first call is usually just a warning that the fun time is ending. Wait on responding until the second call, when there will be an additional tone of irritation or worry and it'll be actually time to go.

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee immediately told Pudding to make a path for the cacnea. The regirock checked on Kate to make sure its commander was in agreement before doing so. Stone walls rose from the earth creating a hidden and safe stone passage down and away from the lava. The cacnea didn't waste any time before rushing down it almost tripping over themselves in relief to escape. The volcano had calmed, but it would still be hours before the lava stopped flowing and began to turn to stone.

[ ]Head for the numel next, how rescue?
[ ]Head for the ninetales pair next, how rescue?
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

There was a strong sense of amusement to Jaden's attempts to change the lava. Possibilities cycled out before him. Most magma was kept in reds oranges and yellows, but it could be other colors when tainted with different energies. Draconic energy could turn it blue, while ghost energy burned purple. Was there a type that Jaden favored?

[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[x]Definitely dragon blue. Sam would be amazingly excited for dragon lava

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] Use whatever route will create the most efficient, time sensitive route to rescue both the Numel and the Ninetails as soon as possible.
-[X] Create path for the Pokemon to safely escape down the mountain.
--[X] Unless for some reason they absolutely insist on trying to stick with the group for now.

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee was sharp and good at analyzing problems. Something as basic as designing trails for pokemon to escape down safely? That was easy. Kate's legendary carried most of the weight of this in carving a path for the pokemon to escape down. The ninetales were barely noticeable flashing by, while the numel that galloped down was a lot bigger and hard to miss. The group actually had to do a last minute dive getting out of the path of the numel to make sure no one was hit by the stampeding pokemon.

The group relaxed with Kate praising and hugging Pudding for all its hard work. "Alright, we've got pokemon rescued, keep looking for what caused the eruption?" Jasper asked. He eyed Kate anxiously, clearly worried about Kate accidentally tripping into the lava or being harmed in some other manner. The earth shook as another one of the tremors that had started ran through. Was this worse or better than the volcano actively erupting?

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

The dreamer acquiesced to Jaden's suggestion. The earth rumbled as it began to shift and gather. Far away another call reached out towards Jaden, sharper this time as it tried to prick at him. It was really struggling to reach him through the dream. Jaden watched as magma and stone began to focus to a point as it prepped to become a full volcano.

[ ]Stay to watch the volcano be born
[ ]Answer the call
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Answer the call
-[X] Well, not surprising that things end. Time to wake up. Still, there's a volcano in the real world and maybe Jaden can turn that lava dragon blue

 

[Space Jawa]

"Maybe now is a good time to pull back and see what happens next." Lee admitted. It seemed a strange decision to make after having charged in while the lava was flowing, but the tremors...they somehow struck Lee as less manageable.

As it stood, he doubted that Team Magma was involved, and if there was a legendary Pokemon present, either it wasn't going anywhere immediately, or else the tremors would likely result in it being easier to find anyhow.

[X] Pull back to a safer distance and watch to see what happens with the tremors.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden reluctantly turned to follow the call. As fascinating as the dream was, he should answer it. Maybe he could find a way to turn lava blue when awake.

The dreamer didn't like that. It wrapped around him, making it feel like a crawl through molasses to get closer. Images flashed of the earth changing and shifting, of what the volcano would look like when completed. Didn't Jaden want to be there to see it? It was hard to think, and hard to remember through the overbearing weight of the life of something so much older and larger.

The call was still doing its best to pierce through to Jaden. He could feel that it was Sam's fierce determination driving forward with Uri helping to boost his reach. The charmander wasn't going to just give up, and let someone else take his human away. Jaden reached forward, and the bond between them for a single moment shone. Not even the dreamer could stand against it.

Jaden woke up in a doctor's room on a cot. Sam rested on his chest staring at him with sharp blue green eyes, Uri hovering nearby. There was a faint glow coming off the kadabra before he sank down and immediately dropped off into sleep.

Nurse Joy entered the room and blinked. "Oh, you're awake!" She bustled forward. "How are you feeling?" She held out a glass of water.

[ ]Ask what happened
[ ]Ask how long it's been
[ ]Ask how Jaden's pokemon are
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Wisely, the group pulled back to a further distance. There were tremors still going, and occasionally small rockslides. The only reason there wasn't an avalanche was because of lava coating the upper part of Mt Chimney. The volcano had stopped erupting, but it seemed that whatever had happened hadn't stopped yet, simply changed direction.

[ ]Look for a way to measure the tremors
[ ]Look for a ranger to ask to help out
[ ]Check for any Team Magma activity in the area: they might have been chased out by the eruption
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[x]Tell Nurse Joy you're fine.
-[x]mentally check with Uri that Oliver is just resting or something
-[x]Reassure Sam with a hug
[x]Ask Nurse Joy what happened

 

[Space Jawa]

The situation could perhaps be best described as 'tenuous'. It felt very much like a lull sandwiched between two events of significance.

Was there something they could do in the meantime? They were certainly limited in what was possible, but perhaps there was some way they could explore the situation rather than just stand around and wait for something to happen.

[X] Investigate the area for signs of what might be happening or what might come next and when.
-[X] Inquire about a way to help or get help if any Rangers encountered.

 

[Blacksheep]

"Fine," Jaden replied. He reached out to Uri, only to find the kadabra was asleep and not responding. He had really exhausted himself somehow. Jaden drank the water and hugged Sam close as he checked his pokeballs. He released Oliver and was relieved to see the zigzagoon. The zigzagoon perked up at Jaden and chirred before climbing up on him to snuggle.

"What happened?" Jaden asked.

"We don't actually know," Nurse Joy admitted. "We believe you might have been under a psychic attack of some sort, as your kadabra was doing something when you were brought in unconscious. Did you encounter a ninetales out there?"

[ ]Ask what happened with the volcano
[ ]Ask where the group you were with is
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

"We should see if we can find anyone else around here and figure out what's going on," Lee decided.

Jasper half grumbled, but Kate was already nodding in agreement and they set out. They started scouring for where people had gotten to. They did pass by the occasional wild pokemon that was still fleeing, but didn't come across any actively dangerous situations. Not at first, at least.

A woman was half hidden against a rock up ahead, her body covered in horrific burns from lava. She had obviously been caught by the lava, and somehow managed to escape, but not before being badly burnt. She leaned against the rock taking in slow gasping breaths.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

"Oh no." Lee thought. Not just at what he saw, but what it suggested. If she was here and escaped Jaden's notice, then who could say who else might be out on the mountain and in need of help.

Unfortunately, they only had so much attention to give.

"We need to get her help." He said.

[X] Help the woman.
-[X] Do what can be done here to keep her alive as long as possible, find a way to get her back to Lavaridge for proper medical care.
--[X] While back in Lavaridge, see what can be done to organize additional help to search for anyone else in need because of the event.
---[X] Flannery is a fire expert and a gym leader, maybe she can be convinced to put her speciality to work on this. She has to have some kind of Pokemon that can handle this kind of environment to provide search and rescue services, right?

 

[Tascion]

[x]Ask Nurse Joy:
-[x]If the group that you were with brought you in, and where they are now.
-[x]How long you were unconscious.
-[x]If there was anything else wrong with you, besides being brought in unconscious.
-[x]How long would you need to stay in the hospital.
[x]Tell Nurse Joy you didn't recall meeting a Nine Tales, but you did have a dream about the volcano.

 

[Blacksheep]

"No, but I had a dream about the volcano," Jaden told the nurse.

She blinked. "Alright, I'll put that in your file."

"How long do I have to stay here? Where's the others I was with?"

Nurse Joy frowned in concern. "You seem alright now that you're awake, but you should stay for a couple more hours just in case. And your kadabra brought you in here alone." Jaden turned and looked at where Uri was sleeping.

[ ]Ask about what happened with the volcano erupting
[ ]Head out to look for things to do
[ ]Focus on looking after your team
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

The group hurried over to the burnt woman's side. Kate dug out a surprisingly in depth medical kit and brought out burn paste. "Here." Lee accepted it and began to apply it to the woman. She stirred at the touch and let out a pained moan. "They weren't supposed to," she choked out.

"Who?" Jasper asked warily. He looked around for the mysterious they, but didn't see anyone. The woman was mostly insensate in pain.

Lee knew how to treat injuries. First aid was one of the courses insisted on for trainers heading out. No he wasn't supposed to be out here, but he had still taken the classes. This was far beyond him though, and it took almost an hour before he felt they could safely start looking for help.

Luckily it seemed that while their rush out to the volcano had them arriving first on the scene, rangers and Flannery with her gym trainers were now here and organizing sending out groups to help rescue pokemon. Flannery had a grim expression on her face when Lee arrived with an injured woman. "No one except Team Magma has been out along this pass since they shut Lavaridge down," she informed the group.

"Will she be okay?" Kate asked fretfully.

"She has a good chance," a working doctor assured her. The doctor was clearly here primarily to care for pokemon, but he had adapted to the burnt woman in front of him.

[ ]Join a team rescuing pokemon
[ ]Join a team steering the flow of lava
[ ]Help with the injured
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Team Magma.

Perhaps Lee Hinsu had written them off too easily. As much as he didn't want to presume, it was impossible to not consider the possibility that Team Magma was involved with this situation after all - and that this woman was one of their members who they'd left behind.

There would be a great many questions to ask, but those would come later.

"Kate, Jasper, I'm going to help search for anyone else in need of help." Lee said to his traveling companions.

[X] Lee joins Search & Rescue team for anyone still in need of help (Pokemon or Human)
-[X] Nova continue in current support role.
-[X] Crunchbite aid as able with terrain.
-[X] If able (taking environment into account) have Archer provide air support searching for anyone in need of help.

---

@Blacksheep I'm not voting for anything regarding them, since it's not really a vote and I'm not sure how to approach it, but I'm trying to leave open what Kate and Jasper could/should do since there's a lot of room and arguments for them to take any possible route. I figure that now is as good as any for you to decide what they should be doing during this time without Lee's input.

I reason that of the possibilities:

1) Regirock is still well-suited for helping rescue Pokemon, but with all the new arrivals it may be reasonable for Regirock to go back into standby mode (though I'm not sure if the secret is pretty much out of the bag at this point since it's unspecified how many people are suddenly learning about Regirock)

2) Regirock is also very well-suited for helping control flow of lava, but again the new arrivals may have that well-in hand, but it is again unspecified whether the Regirock secret has now mostly be nullified (enough people saw it that it renders it moot whether or not to use Regirock for anything based purely on 'preserve the secret')

3) Kate, at least, seems well suited for helping the injured and I suspect she's the kind of person that would very much see the importance of helping with that, and related to that Jasper would probably leap at the opportunity for Kate to be focused on something that would keep her away from danger for once (and he could probably find some way to help with the situation too).

 

[Tascion]

[x]Focus on looking after your team
-[x]check that Oliver is okay
-[x]let Uri sleep a while
[x]After a couple hours, if Uri isn't awake, communicate with him mentally enough that he understands you're putting him back in his pokeball to keep resting and that you won't talk to the dreamer again until you've had a chance for a full discussion with him.
[x]Once discharged from the hospital, keep helping.
-[x]Find out the state of things, and offer to run errands of communication or package collection/delivery for people

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden turned to his team and started looking Oliver over. The zigzagoon was in good shape, and clearly more than happy to be out of his pokeball once more. He burrowed into the sheets of the cot Jaden was on, or was at least giving a very hearty attempt at doing so as he grew tangled in them. Sam was pressing insistently into Jaden, letting out occasional chirrs of pure smugness. Uri on the other hand was simply tired out, and taking up a fair amount of space on the bed.

Jaden let Uri sleep, focusing on helping Oliver get untangled from the sheets and giving his very demanding starter the attention he wanted. Sam had clearly done something he thought was very praiseworthy from his behavior. Uri thankfully did wake up, if still tired, after a couple hours, to let them talk. Uri communicated his relief that Jaden was awake, and an interest in discussing the dreamer with Jaden later, before returning himself to his pokeball for a deeper sleep.

A doctor did come over to check Jaden over before releasing him with a clean bill of health and a warning to be careful around pokemon. Jaden had gotten lucky this time, but humans weren't always lucky when they were hit by a pokemon move or ability.

Jaden had lost a day's worth of time unconscious. People were more concerned with the steadily building tremors that were happening now than the eruption. As soon as Jaden had volunteered he had been put to work carrying messages between people in Lavaridge and helping to set up for the researchers. Lavaridge was going to be temporarily evacuated in case the tremors meant the volcano was preparing for an even bigger eruption than they were expecting.

[ ]Help prepare for the researchers
[ ]Help prepare for the evacuation
[ ]Look for pokemon to help
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

"I'm staying here to help with the injuries," Kate murmured. "Pudding, could you help with directing the lava?" The stone titan took in Kate's request and gave a nod. It marched off, and the earth around it shifted as it began to make barricades and paths for the lava to flow down.

Lee headed over to join a group heading out to scout for more injured in need of evacuation. The rangers that Lee joined were more than glad to have him along. Both of them had fire type pokemon, along with a marshtomp in case they needed to put out any fires. The air felt hot and pressed tightly around them as they traveled. Every once in a while a faint tremor came through the ground. "Aftershocks," one of the rangers suggested.

"The eruption was rather mild to cause those," the other rebutted.

Mostly they worked in silence moving through the lava. They found a cluster of makuhita that had been driven out into the open. The fighting pokemon were clearly uneasy, and looking for a path to take. At Lee's direction Nova began to help mark one out for them to take, with Crunchbite helping to shelve up parts of the path with his digging. Crunchbite was growing more efficient with his digging.

They found a territory dispute that had broken out between a magcargo and a seviper that had probably lived there before the lava spread so far out, the seviper doing its best to keep the magcargo from completely taking over the currently hot molten area.

[ ]Defend the seviper
[ ]Defend the magcargo
[ ]Try to cool things down
[ ]Leave it be, this is nature

The worst part was finding the scraps of boots. They didn't find another human, but Lee got the feeling not all of them had been as lucky as the woman he had found.

They returned back to the camp, Lee's pokemon tired after the long workout to help. The lava was cooling, and hopefully in a couple days things would begin to calm down entirely and recover. If the tremors got better. They had started to worsen.

By morning they were talking about the tremors being a warning of a bigger eruption in the future.

[ ]Plan route for heading out
[ ]Plan to help with evacuation
[ ]Check on the kid that was sent back to Lavaridge
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

The confrontation between the Magcargo and Seviper was an unfortunately brutal reminder that there was really only so much that Lee could do. In the midst of a natural disaster, with warning signs that things might get worse, here were two Pokemon that were fighting over territory that might not even be inhabitable in the near future.

He could certainly try to prevent things from getting worse but if they insisted on fighting it wasn't like Lee was in any position to police every wild Pokemon he crossed paths with. Who could even say who the territory belonged to before the Seviper had claimed it.

[X][Magcargo vs Seviper] Try to cool things down - Try to inform the Magcargo and Seviper that this might not yet be over and it's entirely possible that neither of them may be able to stay here soon
-[X] Leave it be, this is nature

---

Lee's gut told him that there was a Legendary Pokemon nearby, that it was somehow responsible for what was going on, and that by finding and confronting that Pokemon it would be possible to put an end to the tremors and whatever disaster they threatened to bring.

Unfortunately, Lee had little but his gut to go on, there were enough signs to suggest that something else was at play, and there were increasingly few means for him to try to investigate his suspicion. There were hints that Team Magma was in play again, most everyone was treating this as a natural occurrence, and the threats from the tremors meant it was difficult for Lee to justify making another trek to the volcano searching for something that might not even be there.

For a time, he considered trying to search for the suspected Pokemon using his Aura, but he quickly talked himself out of the idea, especially after he pointedly reminded himself of what had happened to Jaden.

No, now was absolutely not the time to go messing around with Aura like that.

[ ] Search the current for the Pokemon Lee thinks is responsible for what's happening (Nope, not happening)

Without anything to justify investigating his gut feeling, Lee was left to find ways to help that had more validity behind them.

[X] Look into the wounded woman that Lee, Kate, and Jasper found
[X] Check on the kid that was sent back to Lavaridge
-[X] While at the Pokemon center, adopt the Magikarp.

[X] Plan to help with evacuation