Dual Pokemon Quest

[Tascion]

[x]Help prepare for the evacuation
-[x] get an idea of where the evacuation routes are planned, and why.
-[x] later that night, if Uri approves, dream with the dreamer and show the evacuation routes. If there's going to be a problem, try to figure out why. If not, see about making dragon lava
-[x] if the people with the rescue party show up, take a break to talk to them and get their perspective on what happened.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden was quick to volunteer himself in helping with the evacuation, and he was quickly put to work. There were a lot of small things people wanted to take with them, and more pokemon than Jaden had expected being involved. He hadn't thought before about how many pokemon would be in a town like this. Pokemon simply were. Now that they were trying to prepare the town for evacuation all the pokemon were out in the open as they were looked over and checked. Jaden found himself helping to label pokeballs in case of mix up and watching as the pokemon center prepared to take on the wild pokemon. People came first, but as many wild pokemon as they could manage would be carted along as well.

Jaden learned the main evacuation routes, some by air, some by teleportation, and others by a route that was carefully being built up going past Mount Chimney. Everyone hoped to be evacuated before the eruption so as few people as possible would have to go down that route. There sadly wasn't an alternate ground route available, as Lavaridge was backed by cliffs and nestled right in the mountains.

Jaden was relieved when the group he'd originally headed up to Mount Chimney with came back into town. "Hey guys! What happened?"

Kate immediately squished the kid into a hug. "You're alright! We were so worried when you just dropped."

Jaden wriggled free. "Yeah, I'm alright. What happened with you guys though?"

"Rescued the pokemon you pointed out, then came back and hooked up with the rangers," Jasper answered. "Helped with healing, Lee went and looked for more evacuees."

"Did you see why I dropped?" Jaden asked curiously.

"No, it was out of nowhere," Kate told him. She glanced over to Lee. "Did you notice anything?"

>>>

Later that night Jaden sat on the bed with his pokemon. "I want to contact the dreamer again," he told his pokemon. Sam snarled and immediately shoved himself aggressively into Jaden's lap. Jaden was his! The dreamer wanted Jaden! Sam wouldn't let that happen! Uri was wary as well, sending forth a feeling of facing a great challenge and staring up at it. If Jaden went, it would be hard to pull him out once more.

[ ]Try to reason with Sam and Uri about visiting the dreamer
[ ]Agree not to visit

[ ]Evacuate by land
[ ]Evacuate by teleport
[ ]Evacuate by air

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee stepped forward to the battling pokemon doing his best to project peace. The pokemon turned to him, both of them looking happy to add him to the battlefield if he was challenging their claim. "The volcano isn't done erupting," Lee told them. "There will be more lava." The serviper hissed furiously at that. "You need to evacuate." Neither pokemon looked like they understood that last part. It had to be simplified further. "Danger is coming. You need to go." Lee gestured down the hill. The pokemon looked contemplative as he backed up to keep going. He had warned them, it was up to them to listen now.

>>>

The group headed back to Lavaridge as preps for evacuation began to ramp up. They found themselves roped in with helping to pack things that people wanted to bring along. Kate found herself at the head of helping to create the path past Mount Chimney that was needed. That would be the path that could take the largest group, and it was hoped that the stone titan she commanded would be able to hold it safe and strong for the evacuees.

They found the kid who had come up with them, Kate greeting him with her usual enthusiasm. Jaden was alright, but wanted to know what had happened.

[ ]Tell Jaden about the burnt woman
[ ]Focus on the pokemon evacuated and helped
[ ]Explain what was seen when Jaden passed out

When that was done Lee went to check on the burnt woman they had helped to rescue. She was doing better now, but was being kept in bed and clearly agitated. She looked at the group staring at her and frowned. "What do you want?"

[ ]Question the woman
Lee found himself returning to the pokemon center and the pokemon he had encountered there one last time. He had made up his mind, the potential the magikarp had wasn't something he was going to pass up. He would be adopting it. The magikarp was practically racing in his tank with excitement.

A magikarp has joined Lee's team!
Rash, loves splashing

[ ]Name

[ ]Evacuate by land
[ ]Evacuate by teleport
[ ]Evacuate by air

 

[Space Jawa]

"I think you may have to tell us why you dropped." Lee answered Jaden. "Best I can tell, your mind checked out, you were wandering around on autopilot, and then you just collapsed. We had your Charmander and Zigzagoon get in their Pokeballs so Uri could teleport you all to safety."

"What do you remember between joining us on our way to the mountain and waking up in Lavaridge?"

[X][Jaden] Explain what was seen when Jaden passed out
-[X] Inquire about what Jaden remembers.

---

Another red flag. It was increasingly evident that the woman was affiliated with Team Magma, and probably with what was going on with the mountain too. Lee didn't want to take such a pessimistic view of the situation, but she was making it very difficult for him not to, especially with her attitude.

"Mostly, I wanted to make sure you were alright." Lee answered, mostly truthfully. It was debatable whether it could truly be said that her wellbeing was genuinely his main concern, but he did still have genuine interest in ensuring she was still alive and was positioned to actually make a full recovery after having helped rescue her.

"You were in rough shape when we found you, but it looks like you really did have a good chance of recovery."

"You certainly look like you're doing better than whoever you were out there with." Lee continued, gradually shifting the topic. "You mentioned someone who wasn't supposed to do something before you passed out, but it's possible that whoever you were with didn't survive. I found evidence of others out there, but only of the kind that suggested they're no longer alive."

[X][Rescued Woman] Actually interested in making sure she's alright.
-[X] Maybe she could be convinced to explain what she was doing up there and who she was with.
--[X] Does she know anything that might explain what the volcano is doing and provide some way to actually stop things before they get worse?

---

The Magikarp's excitement was an encouraging sign. Maybe all he really wanted all along was some attention?

Lee wasn't sure how much attention he'd be able to give the Magikarp right away, but at least this way he wouldn't have to worry about the opportunity to adopt it slipping away amid everything else that was going on and the absolute uncertainty about what might happen next.

[X][Magikarp] Name the Magikarp Fathom.

---

Despite recognizing the danger, Lee was hesitant to actually evacuate any sooner than absolutely necessary. Both to continue helping with things as they were, and because he was still holding out hope that there remained some kind of solution to the current problem other than 'run away'.

Plus, Kate was kind of caught up in securing a safe land path with her Regirock, so it was difficult for him to leave another way without getting separated from Kate and Jasper.

[X] Evacuate by Land
-[X] If there's time before things get too bad, maybe Kate could get Regirock to create a new route out of Lavaridge that leads away from the volcano instead of past it. Some kind of tunnel, maybe? Or perhaps some kind of safe path up the cliffside, with a shallow 'road' up above, creating a new connection to another location?

 

[Tascion]

[x][Lee] "The Dreamer of the mountain reached out to me, and showed me what it was doing. I explained that it was scaring everybody and it agreed to do some earthquakes and stuff before continuing with the main event. I'm not sure why I passed out though. I don't remember being tired, but since I was sleeping before I woke up, I suppose if the talking was exhausting I am all caught up on sleep. Uri woke me up, by reaching out to me. I'm not sure if the Dreamer is psychic or not, but I'm not sure what else it could be either. I think it was big, and I thought it my be Kate's Pudding at first, but now I don't think so. Anyway, I was going to try and dream with it again later, if my friends think it's safe. I learned about the evacuation routes and stuff today, so I figure that if the eruption is going to finish happening tonight or soon, then somebody ought to tell the Dreamer which routes the people and pokemon nearby will be using to leave. Also, Sam is growing into a dragon, so I want to ask the Dreamer to make some special blue dragon lava for Sam to see. I figure that maybe Sam can find a chunk of blue dragon lava obsidian as a treasure."
[x][Dreamer] Explain to Sam, Uri, and Oliver
-[x]"I want to try and explain to the Dreamer about the evacuation routes. Especially for the land one, the Dreamer might hurt people or pokemon if it doesn't know where the route is going."
-[x]This won't be for exploring, and Jaden won't be doing more than making one attempt at explaining the evacuation routes to the Dreamer. Before, he was trying to befriend and have some fun. He didn't mean to worry his team so much
-[x]Defer to Uri and Sam, if they are significantly concerned but also explain the evacuation plan options for Jaden and the group's safety
[x][Evacuate]
-[x]If evacuating with talking to the Dreamer again, plan to evacuate by boat. In the event that Jaden sleeps too long, putting him on the boat should be easiest.
-[x]If not talking to the Dreamer again, evacuate by land

 

[Space Jawa]

Jaden's story was bigger than Lee had been prepared for.

"You actually communicated with something?" Lee asked. Admittedly, that very much sounded like what Jaden was saying, but Lee wanted to make absolutely certain that he understood Jaden correctly.

If that was indeed what Jaden was saying, if he had actually communicated with something that was responsible for the earthquakes - and the original explosion as well - then that very much sounded to Lee like a sign that he was right. There was in fact some kind of Legendary Pokemon in the volcano and that maybe, just maybe, it was yet still possible to find it and stop what was happening.

 

[Tascion]

"Well, it called itself Dreamer, so maybe it was like bad movies where all the excitement is just a dream and the whole plot was actually a Ninetales messing with somebody. You know? Anyway, I don't think so, because Uri is great and would have noticed if the Dreamer was some kind of fake trick."

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden still had plenty to think about after Lee had talked with him. He took Sam and Uri's concerns seriously. Perhaps Oliver was worried as well, but it was harder to tell with the zigzagoon. He was so very easily cheered about the world, and seemed to have an almost unshakeable faith in Jaden to get them all through to the other side.

Jaden explained his plans to discuss with the dreamer about the evacuation paths. It wasn't to simply dream, this was a communication that was meant to help everyone stay safe. Sam was still quite huffy about it, but did agree that it was a good idea. He did demand for Jaden to attempt to take him along when he reached out. He didn't want to be left behind. Uri promised to stay behind to keep an eye on them and make sure everyone got through safely.

When Jaden went to sleep that night it was with Sam curled in close to him. Jaden felt himself slip away to the volcano, and he reached out towards Sam. Pulling his charmander along after him was hard. Sam reached, and Jaden reached, and for a moment Jaden thought it wouldn't work, and then they were both there. Sam rested as a full fledged charizard in Jaden's mind, features undefined and flickering, but what Sam saw himself as becoming. And there was the volcano.

The dreamer noticed them after a time, more invested in the volcano than in the presences that had come to it. It recognized Jaden and greeted him. Sam stood before the presence and half curled back into Jaden. Sam's pride demanded that he was the best, but deep seated instinct told him what was truly before him. Sam growled but didn't fight back against the presence eyeing him.

It moved on, things shifting back to the volcano that it had started working on previously. The lava was still dragon blue. The volcano had grown in the time since Jaden had woken. It wasn't ready yet, but when it exploded it would be beautiful. Jaden reached out to tell the presence of the evacuation paths. The presence listened, but didn't seem to understand what Jaden was saying at all. Any comprehension of what evacuation would do, or why it should care, was missed. Jaden attempted to explain how it would let others live, and it still didn't seem to grasp it.

[ ]Try to explain further
[ ]Accept that Jaden's done his best and move on

At least Jaden got to show Sam the dragon lava, and watch the volcano grow. That was cool. Then Uri was tugging on them, and Sam quickly grabbed Jaden and fled. The presence didn't keep him trapped this time, more focused on its volcanoes than Jaden.

 

[Blacksheep]

The woman grimaced and nodded. "Don't know if you've heard of them, but there's a gang of terrorists out there. Team Magma, they call themselves. My group, Aqua, got a heads up that they were planning something that would cause the volcano to erupt. We went to head it off, but they weren't even supposed to be able to do that for another couple weeks. We thought we had time to deal with it. Clearly we were wrong, and Magma was far more reckless than expected."

"Any idea how to stop it?" Lee asked.

"I don't even know how they did it." She straightened suddenly. "Did they find anyone else? A dark skinned man in blue? A dark skinned woman in blue?"

>>>

Lee headed down to Kate and asked if she thought Pudding might be able to make another path from Lavaridge. Having only one path to and from the town clearly wasn't good. She frowned. "It could, but it would likely upset a lot of pokemon. We would have to fight them to force the path through, and I don't know if that would be good right now."

[ ]Head to the volcano to look for Jaden's dreamer
[ ]Evacuate to Mauville

 

[Space Jawa]

"Team Aqua? There's a Team Aqua too?" Lee thought. There was a lot to take in. Confirmation that Team Magma was involved, but also learning that she wasn't actually part of Team Magma, yet that she was involved with Team Magma but in a way completely different from anything Lee could have guessed.

Who Team Aqua actually was, that could wait until later, though Lee could only imagine how much more complicated things had just become.

"We're too familiar with Team Magma, unfortunately." Lee said. "We first encountered them in the desert where they were trying to keep people out, and then they took over Lavaridge for a time. We already know full well that they are very bad news."

"Unfortunately, we haven't see anyone else since they were taken care of around here." Lee continued. "No sign of the people you're talking about. The only signs we've seen that there's been anyone out there at all were you and some boot scraps, but we have no idea who they belong to."

---

Lee Hinsu was overwhelmed.

Everything he'd been certain about had kept changing. Was there or wasn't there a Pokemon involved? Was Team Magma responsible or not? Was it better to approach the volcano or stay away?

Even now, presented with what felt like a comparatively complete picture of the situation, Lee Hinsu couldn't be sure if things really were as they appeared.

Yes, there did appear to be a Pokemon involved, hidden somewhere in the Volcano. Yes, Team Magma was responsible, but they were likely nowhere to be seen now, and there was also a group called 'Aqua' involved. Approaching the volcano was distinctly not a safe thing, but who could imagine the damage that would follow if things were allowed to continue as they were? At minimum, Lavaridge might well be wiped off the map entirely.

Lee Hinsu was terrified. Less of what was prepared to happen and more of what he felt he had no choice but to do.

"Kate, Jasper." Lee said, addressing his traveling companions. "I need to find that Pokemon in the volcano. If there is a way to stop it from destroying everything, I need to try to make it happen."

He hesitated before speaking further, bracing himself.

"I need your help." He continued. "I'm going to try to find it the same way I searched the tower. But I can't do that if I know I'm going to get lost."

"I don't know exactly what you did in the tower, but I need you to do it again. Both of you. I need the two of you to be an anchor so I know exactly where to go and how to get out again."

[X] Enter The Current to find Jaden's Dreamer.
-[X] Ask Kate and Jasper to be anchors to keep him from getting lost again.
--[X] If possible, have Archer serve as an anchor as well.

 

[Tascion]

In the morning Jaden boarded one of the planes helping people to evacuate, and found himself landing in Rustboro.

Click to shrink...

If feasible, I'd like to excise the this last line from the update. I poorly formatted my vote, but my intention was to leave only if Jaden was incapacitated or otherwise things had gotten bad.

If that works:

[X]Accept that Jaden's done his best and move on
[X]Call Lee and Kate and tell that that Dreamer had another conversation with Jaden, but the Dreamer wasn't interested in further delays. Odds are its schedule is pretty defined
[X]Meet up with Lee and Kate, if they're using Pudding on evacuation routes. Try to match up what Dreamer showed about the eruption plans with the landscape, for any insights on safe routes and such.

 

[Blacksheep]

Ok, good to know! You're meeting up with Lee then, will change to reflect that

 

[Blacksheep]

Kate answered Jaden's call with a worried expression. "Hey Jaden. What's up?"

"I talked to the dreamer again," Jaden told her. "It's set on its schedule, it doesn't want to delay or stop. I think I have some ideas of how it's going to erupt though." It had shown Jaden where the new volcano would be born after all.

"Join us?" Kate asked. "Lee's going to look for the dreamer to meet it directly."

Jaden nodded, and hurried to their location.

>>>>>

Kate and Jasper listened seriously to Lee's request to act as anchors. Kate instantly agreed. Jasper was more hesitant, but he wasn't going to leave his girl behind, no matter what.

Lee wasn't expecting Jaden to join them, but perhaps it would help. Jaden had already spoken with the dreamer after all.

Lee sat down, and focused. He reached out to the Current and began to look through it. It looked like it always had, and it was terrifying. But they could have a chance of success if he did this right.

He dove into the current, and began to look for the dreamer. At first he found nothing, just the land itself. He turned to the volcano and began to look for its heart. It had awoken so recently, and there was a strong sense to it. It was difficult to push past the sense of heat and shifting earth to the heart of it. There was in fact something unusual curled up there. At first Lee thought he had in fact found the dreamer, and then his awareness shifted.

He'd been wrong by a long shot. This wasn't a legendary like Pudding. This was as far from Pudding as a normal pokemon was from the stone titan. The land itself was alive and conscious. It wasn't like the normal beat of the earth that Lee knew. No, this was something enormous that had actual thoughts. And it had noticed Lee prying at it. The land shifted to look at Lee, a molten eye staring up at him. He was tiny against it, could fall down and down into it, and never come up again. It was ageless, ancient, Lee's existence was no more than a blink to this primal being.

Lee
[ ]Try to talk to it
[ ]Attempt escape
[ ]Write-in

Jaden
[ ]Help anchor Lee
[ ]Try to join Lee in reaching to the dreamer

 

[Tascion]

[x]Lee is old, so he probably knows what he's doing. Join in, but don't make a fuss and leave when he does.
-[x]Mentally bring along Sam, and let Uri and Oliver know you'll be quick about it and not to worry.
-[x]If Lee gets stuck, help him leave

Edited for clarity as to Jaden's actions

 

[Space Jawa]

"Groudon?" Lee wondered, nearly with a gasp.

Lee had largely been operating off the theory that the Pokemon they were dealing with was the 'walking volcano'.

This, however, was far beyond that. That much was obvious. And it left Lee thinking that he'd made a terrible mistake.

He had to fight the urge to panic. He had to trust that the others wouldn't let him fall. He had to remain calm so that this dive would actually amount to something.

[X] Try to observe and learn more about it
-[X] Try to get a better sense of where it actually is

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden had settled himself and reached out to tag along with Lee as he searched for the legendary. Jaden had expected it to be much like the other times, but Lee didn't connect to the psychic network. He didn't peer through the layers of reality. He felt things out. Sam tagged along as a charmander, not the charizard he could one day become, and Jaden felt himself being tugged along as Lee felt outwards and across currents Jaden didn't know.

Lee's almost silent gasp drew Groudon's attention, answering to its name. The primal entity beheld the pair of tiny humans that had reached out to it through everything. It knew Jaden. It did not know the other that had come with him. Sam curled up reflexively behind Jaden. He wanted to be brave, but he clung tightly to his human instead.

It was hard to look at Groudon, hard to understand it. This was something that was not meant to be easily grasped and understood. Still Lee studied it, trying to understand the location. Strangely enough, the strongest impression he received in return was that Groudon was sleeping. This was its dream they had slipped into. Groudon was not yet awake, still slumbering deep beneath the earth.

Jaden
[ ]Introduce Lee to Groudon
[ ]Talk to Groudon
[ ]Stay silent and watch Sam
[ ]Write-in

Lee
[ ]Keep trying to learn of Groudon's exact physical location-Groudon does have a physical form, after all
[ ]Try to talk to Groudon
[ ]Retreat, this is more than expected
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X] hold Sam, introduce Lee to the dreamer
-[X] thank the dreamer for pausing long enough with its work to let people evacuate
-[X] If holding Sam doesn't reassure him, let Lee know Jaden and Sam will be leaving momentarily

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] Try to learn more about Groudon
-[X] Try to communicate with Groudon
-[X] Make sure to keep a safe and clean exit path to get out if and when needed

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden scooped up Sam's presence to hold close. That settled the small charmander down to simply watch what was happening. Jaden smiled at the enormous presence. It was different to get a sense of Groudon's physical presence deep below over simply contacting it through dreams. "Thanks for waiting to erupt your volcanoes, we're ready now," Jaden told Groudon.

Groudon grumbled in satisfaction and pushed the question of why Jaden had returned with someone else to him. Was it time to wake up? Was it needed?

[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[x]Keep watching what Lee is doing. If Lee looks like he no longer knows what he's doing, pull everybody out and tell the Dreamer that it can go about its business.

 

[Space Jawa]

It was frankly unsettling just how much of a report Jaden had with the Groudon. Just what kind of history did the kid have with this thing?

[X] Try to learn more about Groudon
-[X] Is it possible to learn what kind of timetable it's working on?
--[X] Maybe it's a long shot, but is it possible to find some way to convince Groudon to remain sleeping?
---[X] It's been sleeping for so long already, why is it thinking about waking up now?

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee was trying to not judge, but seeing how the kid interacted with Groudon was unsettling. He pushed that aside to concentrate on the more important things, like keeping Groudon asleep and learning more about Groudon's timetable. "Will the volcanoes be erupting today? Tomorrow?"

Groudon didn't know, and didn't seem to particularly care either. It wasn't awake enough to track time. All it knew was soon. It had held off, but it would not wait forever. A nursery rhyme from childhood crept into Lee's mind.

Groudon, Groudon down below
Sixty miles down below
Keep him resting, let him sleep
Tell him that his work's complete
How long shall Groudon sleep?

"You don't need to wake up," Lee said with a dry voice. "Your work's finished."

Jaden tilted his head and nodded. "Yeah, you're doing a good job, you can keep dreaming," he agreed.

A slight sense of the god settling washed over the pair. It continued to watch them, molten eye with the secrets of magma swirling within. Lee could just feel a slight tug towards it.

[ ]Ask why it wants to wake up
[ ]Just encourage it to keep sleeping, don't press it
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[x]Pull away, and bring Lee along
-[x]Tell the Dreamer goodbye, and that Jaden will try and visit again in the future, after things are settled. Maybe next time he can tell a story about the biggest Xatu in the world, or the dragons with the glowy egg, or the time Jaden fought a pirate.
-[x]When out of the dream, explain to Lee that the Dreamer talks a lot and slowly, and that if they stayed they might be there for hours. It's like going over to an aunt's for tea. You can't do it for just an hour unless you actually really push to leave and explain about appointments and stuff.

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] Just encourage it to keep sleeping, don't press it
-[X] Try to keep a safe distance and not get dragged in deeper where there's risk of getting lost.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden smiled cheerfully and waved to Groudon before tugging on Lee's presence. He would come back again to tell the dreamer of all the awesome things that had happened on his adventures, like the world's biggest xatu and fighting a pirate, but for now it was time to head back. Jaden couldn't do what he normally did. This was a different way to visit Groudon than he usually used. He needed Lee to guide the way back.

Lee felt himself be tugged away from the magnetic pull of the primal being and reached back towards where Kate and Jasper anchored them. He followed it up until he woke up with a gasp.

"Did it work? Did you find the pokemon causing the eruption?" Kate asked cheerfully. Lee blinked at her. That was quite the loaded question.

"We did," Jaden replied cheerfully. He looked at Lee. "The dreamer's slow at talking. If we'd lingered we'd be there for hours. Better to cut it off, like explaining why you can't stay forever on the phone with a chatty aunt."

Jaden
[ ]Prepare to evacuate
[ ]Look for a way to watch the volcanic eruption
[ ]Write-in

Lee
[ ]Prepare to evacuate
[ ]Work to try to contain the flow of the eruption
[ ]Try to figure out how this kid is connected with Groudon
[ ]Write-in