bravenewworld | A Baptism by Flames

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A Baptism by Flames

"It's here."

The feed to the Warp Band flickers on. The image projected is intensely distorted and shaky, showing nothing but the too-close face of a woman. She's running; it's obvious from her breathing and the way she keeps glancing over her shoulder. Though her voice is carefully calm, spitting out words between each breath, she's continuously interrupted by the sound of an enraged bellows from close behind.

"This is Mamir, of the Eastern Gale Tribe. The beast has emerged again, southwest of our tree."

The video flickers terribly as she thrusts the Warp Band behind her - it's incredibly difficult to get a good view: blurred images of an enormous, seemingly grinning face, of swarms of... somethings darting through the skies in a panic, of waves of some liquid rippling out through the plains leaving trails of steam and smoke...

And then, through no planned effort of her own, the running Valkyrie takes a few steps without jostling her arm, and a clear view of the creature is displayed for the world to see. It bellows again and a plume of fire erupts fifty feet into the sky.

"Matriarch! It's advancing quickly! We're keeping it at bay for now, but we have to retreat! Our companions - they refuse to obey commands - they're too afraid to get near. I... I've lost Aerie."

It isn't entirely clear who or what Aerie is, as a shockwave echoes through the plains, sending the Valkyrie tumbling through the ground. The image on the Warp Band distorts wildly before it cuts off into static.

...

Hardly ten seconds later, the feed flickers on again to display the grim countenance of the Matriarch.

"Well. I think it's in everyone's interest to get rid of this thing before it heads say, west towards a certain comfortable volcano, or south to warmer climates, don't you think? My girls could lead it in circles to another destination, but we'll keep it in the plains if you step up to the plate."

((This is the final portion of the event, and the first Legendary Pokemon (openly) encountered within the game. In dimensions, Heatran is about 12 feet in height and 20 in length. Like all Legendary Pokemon in this game, it exudes an aura that induces fear and terror in all opposing humans and Pokemon. This sensation can be mastered by the strong willed, but is difficult to overcome. Also like all Legendary Pokemon, Heatran is incredibly powerful and should be handled with care.

Please remember to sign up here and post in your groups. Each group may individually choose how they approach this situation; in terms of RP, it will be considered that each group runs into Heatran in a separate location on the Plains and confronts it before it moves on to the next group. There are several potential outcomes depending on how the majority of groups respond to this threat.

Thanks and have fun! We'll be responding about once every 24 hours regardless of whether or not the whole group has posted, as per our usual policy. Questions can be asked in the sign-up post.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lenna's Pokemon are attuned to her Warp Band and ready to come out at a moment's notice, but for now they're on standby as she holds on tight to Pamela, riding on the back of her Rapidash. Heatran was certainly far larger and scarier than she'd ever been able to imagine, but that was all the more reason to do her best to help.

"I just hope it'll listen... There's got to be a reason it's so angry, and so far away from wherever it normally lives."

She sincerely doubts that all of this happened in a vacuum. And while she's not necessarily saying that it's something the Valkyries did to anger this Pokemon, it's certainly a possibility she's privately entertaining. It could have even been accidental. But whatever is happening here, she's pretty sure this is not a normal state of affairs.

"I think it will. Most Pokemon are reasonable if you give them the chance to be."

Says the guy with what has to be the most unreasonable line up of Pokemon ever. He has managed to convince them to wait on standby though. It just wouldn't be practical any other way given their mode of transportation.

He also thinks that the Valkyries probably angered it in some way. Very likely by accident, since the Matriarch couldn't recall anything specific. But hopefully the misunderstanding can be cleared up. If not.... If not then he does not relish the idea of fighting against something so powerful and terrifying. But let's stay positive for now. Things will work out.

Even from a distance, the lumbering creature is imposing. Lava seeping from its pores, its tracks leave scorched earth and the charred remains of trees in its wake. The air is hot and dry as they draw closer--oppressively so--however, the thing doesn't seem to notice that it is being approached.

As they do draw closer, an aura of fear hangs menacingly in the air, affecting any that happen to come near it. Its back turned toward them, it appears to be moving in the general direction of Citadel.

Edited 2014-07-31 20:50 (UTC)

The heat never bothered him, anyway, but the dryness is pretty brutal--even at a distance, it's like he can feel the water being leeched out of him. And more than that, something awful and unfamiliar grips at his heart, filling him with the sensation that he shouldn't be here, that he should run as far and as fast as he can from the dreadful destructive power in front of his eyes. His Pokémon appear to feel the same; both of his Rapidashes slow down, and Jove gives an incredulous sort of whinny.

...It's going towards people. No, it's no time to stop. Feliks squeezes the Rapidash slightly with his legs, a gentle reprimand.

"Come on, are you like, that scared?" He is. He's shaking. But his mind is made up that he'll do what he can for the people in danger, regardless. "Let's go! We should find a way to distract it..."

Jove prances uncertainly in place for a moment. Feliks seems sure, but look at that thing!

Pamela's eyes widened, and the oppressive heat and dryness coming off of the Pokemon was enough to make her feel a little short of breath. Or perhaps it was the fact that she'd started hyperventilating a little without realizing it. Fortunately, she was a rational person. She did feel emotion just the same as everyone else, but she was better able to push past it than some. She shut her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath.

"All right. We can do this. Let's see if there's any way we can possibly reason with it... Maybe something was taken from it."

Most Pokemon can be reasoned with. Most, but not all. Pamela only hoped that this one would be one of the reasonable ones.

"We'll try reason first, and if we have to fight, Pine can use an ice attack on it for starters."

Her Glaceon nodded solemnly, although it was clear none of her Pokemon were eager to face the massive Pokemon destroying everything in its path. Only Delphinium the Luxray seemed the least bit eager, but he had the tendency to get aggressive when he felt afraid.

Lenna stares off at the lumbering beast for a moment as it slowly makes its way toward the Valkyries' home.

"Well... I suppose we should try to get its attention first."

You can almost hear the Kricketunes chirping. It's certainly not a job Lenna herself is looking forward to. And she feels bad for what she's about to do, but finds herself looking toward Lute all the same.

"Um... Lute, you can talk to Pokemon, can't you?"

In person it's at least twice as terrifying. Suddenly he doesn't feel quite so optimistic. Lute takes a deep breath before nodding in response to Lenna.

"Yes... I'll try to get it's attention."

He dismounts from the Rapidash.

"You guys hang back until we know whether it's going to attack."

That way they won't be in as much danger. He's not too worried about his own safety. He never is. Walking slowly toward the imposing Pokemon, because if he doesn't do this right now he will lose his nerve, he calls out to it. To his credit, his voice only quavers a little.

"E-excuse me! Forgive the interruption, but we'd like to talk to you. We m-may be able to help you."

The lumbering beast hardly noticed them until Lute spoke. Moving slowly over the plains, the sound of crackling flame and grating metal in its wake, it slowly came to a halt. Smoke billowed from its body as it, just as slowly, turned its head toward the man.

"TALK?" It snorted, voice booming; even those unable to normally speak to Pokémon were able to understand. "GO AWAY, WEEDLE, OR I'LL TURN YOU INTO ASH." Its skin begins to ripple with flames, and it begins to turn again.

Oh, sweet Savior, it talked. It talked, and its voice all but turned him to stone, felt like a kick in the stomach. He forced in a breath, then nudged his heels into Jove's side lightly. "Come on," he urged, quiet, and was rewarded first with a few halting steps forward, and then with a quick trot up towards the creature, on the opposite side from Lute.

If it could talk to them all, maybe it could understand? He felt his familiar overconfident smile taking its place on his lips, covering up his absolute terror. He raised his voice, as loud as he could manage.

"What's the hurry? We just wanna know where you're going!"

Pamela gave Hibiscus a light nudge and urged him onward so that they were in between Feliks and Lute. Oh Saviour, this was frightening, but she kept her expression calm. It was better to show respect rather than obvious fear.

"Do forgive our intrusion," she said with a polite bow of her head. "Something seems to have angered you and we'd like to help."

Lest she sound presumptuous and offend the thundering beast of flame and steel, she quickly continued with an explanation.

"You certainly don't need our help when it comes to sheer power, but we may be able to help with things that require a more delicate touch. Is there someone who's offended you? Or is there something you're searching for? Please tell us."

"Ah..."

It would be an understatement to say that Lenna is surprised that she's able to understand Heatran's words, and she spends a good couple of moments just gaping in amazement as they echo across the plains. She scarcely even processes what her companions are saying, but finally manages to shake it off as she steps up to lend her voice to their efforts.

"Yes! Please, there must be a way to resolve this without violence! Let us help you."

Lute had really been hoping the others would hang back. It's far too dangerous to get this close. ~~pot to kettle....~~ But at least they can all understand it too. That will make things much easier. He steps forward again, this time bowing his head respectfully.

“Please, allow us to aid you. Even if it's just in some small way, we'd like to be of service.”

If they expected a complete turn around, the group would be very, very, wrong. Not only did it seem that the creature was in a foul mood but, something about their persistence seemed to rub it the wrong way. The air quickly heats up, and even those fire types in the party, regardless of abilities, will feel the oppressive force of its Flame Body.

Throwing the full force of its fear aura at the party, the creature lets out a ear-splitting roar, flames around its body erupting outward at the party.

Honestly, Feliks was pretty sure his compatriates were using way too many big, fancy words (and probably too many words in general) for a thing that just called them "weedles".

Jove froze up again at the blast of heat and terror, and Feliks swore under his breath as he felt the oppressive aura half-smothering him. The hot air coming off of the flames whipped his hair out like a gale, and he had to force himself to keep breathing.

Don't give up. There was a part of Feliks, deep and undeniable, that couldn't grasp the idea of surrender. And the fear-- the fear kicked at it, like smacking a Beedrill's hive. Most of his mind was paralyzed with dread, but the part that remained rose up with a vengeance, incensed, in a chorus of never give in.

He reached for his Warp Band, silently praying to the Savior. There weren't many in his lineup who were much good against fire-- some were strong defensively, but those were weak in offense. And now his best hope...

Well, he was a bit of a long shot.

"Ignacy!"

The Geodude appeared in front of his still-shocked Rapidash. Feliks just hoped that some of what he'd told him before the last time he'd sent him back to Union had sunk through his head, about needing to stop this Pokémon from bringing people to harm. "Use Magnitude out in front of it!"

If he shook up the ground enough, perhaps it would block its path. And at least for now, Ignacy complied with his command, his hardheadedness winning out over his initial wave of panic as he slammed a rocky fist into the earth.

Edited (Redundancy, other minor wording things) 2014-08-03 12:00 (UTC)

Well, no one could say they hadn't tried to be diplomatic. Ideally Pamela would have liked to resolve this without fighting. Partially because the idea of fighting this Pokemon terrified her. That aura was almost paralyzing and it took every ounce of logic and willpower she had to keep herself breathing and thinking.

Tapping on her Warp Band, she was about to call upon Pine, her Glaceon when she remembered that he'd be at as much of a disadvantage as either Clover or Sage would be. Instead, she selected Delphinium, her Luxray.

Delphinium growled boldly at the massive Pokemon before them, even as she could see that his hair was standing on end. He was scared and doing his best not to show it.

"Delphinium, use Spark at it!"

With a snarl, the Luxray let loose the electrical attack at their enormous opponent.

"Wait, we--!"

Lenna would have liked to keep trying words, but even she knows when it's time to set diplomacy aside and take up arms to defend yourself. Two of the lights on the band flicker to life as her Panpour and Mr. Mime materialize in front of her.

"Gilgamesh, use Water Sport! Gogo, Light Screen!"

Hanging back herself for the moment, Lenna shouts orders from behind the line being quickly formed by her and her friends' Pokemon. Gilgamesh the Panpour soaks the surrounding area with water to reduce the effectiveness of Fire-type attacks, and Gogo sets into miming overdrive, setting up an invisible wall to further dampen the effects of Heatran's attacks.

Edited 2014-08-04 02:18 (UTC)

Lute sighs. Well, there goes the diplomatic approach. He'd hoped it would listen to reason, but they can't let it harm innocent people. His warp band flickers and his Kirlia and his Drilbur appear in front of him.

"Cadenza, start with lucky chant, then hang back and heal us as necessary. Baritone.... dig."

Lute activates his own agility. That never hurts. Cadenza starts chanting, and Baritone happily burrows into the ground.

"WAH"

Falling inelegantly from the unexpected Magnitude is a certain very out of place scholar. On his belt are quite a few cloth pouches. He had been holding another, but after being knocked over, it slipped out of his hands, a curious orange stone slipping out of it. He quickly scoops it up, hoping that the creature didn't see, and placed it back in the pouch before running for the group.

"I'm so glad that I found you! Although really all I had to do was follow this big thing, so it was fairly easy, all told. I found something that should calm this beast down!" He sounded a bit rattled, but not quite enough that he wasn't babbling on. He hands the pouch with the stone off to the group. "Here, take this, and listen closely.

"This needs to be placed on that creature's back. There should be some kind of indentation there. Once placed along with the others I have here," He pats the other pouches at his side, "It should calm it down enough that it will stop charging Citadel!"

Max looks up, swallowing hard. "I-in any case, I need to get these to the others! Be careful!"

[OOC: Your group has acquired a shard of a Magma Stone. It will need to be placed on the back of Heatran in order to help pacify it. However, sight of the stone will further anger it until it is in place.]

Feliks looked at the pouch with the stone, looked at the gigantic Pokémon -- it had to be more than twice as tall as he was! Or any of them, for that matter. How were they supposed to get it up there?

"Okay." Gods, he absolutely didn't have any sort of a plan, but anything resembling sense was still frozen on the inside of him somewhere; somehow, the word came out with a hint of authority. "We like, slow it down as much as we can, and try to get up there! Try and get it paralyzed or asleep, or block its path!"

The two Rapidashes and Ignacy were out already. Maybe if they charged up fast enough, took a flying leap, he could manage to scramble on? He had better fire resistance than Pamela, for sure, but didn't know about Lute or Lenna. As for the other two in his Warp Band...

He didn't want to call them. They were both strong, both loyal, and he couldn't stand to see either of them hurt. Jadwiga was always his right-hand Gardevoir, and he'd hatched Huzar with his own hands. They both had moves that would be useful. Huzar couldn't carry anyone, but she could fly, and fire wouldn't hurt her much. But they were his girls. His babies. What if they got hurt?

They'd be hurt worse if he died out here, too proud to call on them, and didn't come home to them.

His warp band lit up. "Jove, Mieszko, use Agility! Ignacy-- Magnitude, one more time!" He looked at the terrified young Dragonair and the Gardevoir struck suddenly with her own terror and his on top of it. She looked less afraid than he'd imagined, all the same-- he guessed he'd always come first to her. For her sake, he tried to pull himself together as much as possible. "It's gonna be fine. You two totally trust me, right? Jadwiga, use Imprison, and Huzar, go for a Thunder Wave!"

Huzar was the first to react. Possessed of her "mother's" impulsiveness, she raised herself up and flung lightning at the giant Pokémon, followed quite shortly by Jadwiga's attempt at sealing its power to whatever extent she could. Ignacy again aimed out in front of Heatran's path, while the two Rapidashes, Jove with Feliks on his back, focused on trying to keep pace with Heatran itself.

Edited (Spelling!) 2014-08-04 08:31 (UTC)

"Thank you," she said to Max the researcher. Like Feliks, she didn't know exactly how they would get it up there but at least it had made their situation a little less hopeless.

Thankfully, Pamela had thought to wear her Calderan Vulcanweave vest for this excursion. It didn't leave her feeling terribly confident, but between that and Hibiscus' innate ability being Flash Fire, she was at least less concerned about being immediately roasted if they got too close to Heatran. All Hibiscus had to do was turn in such a way that Lenna would be shielded in a worst case scenario.

She touched on her warp band again to call on the rest of her team. Clover and Sage appeared, reeling at the sight of Heatran. "Pine, use Ice Shard! Delphinium, Spark him again!"

Hopefully this would work. Or at least hopefully they wouldn't die. She just needed to keep things together and they needed to keep this Pokemon busy until one of them could get up there and get the Magma Stone on there. If they were closer to the trees, she could bend the trees to her will and make one of their branches drop her onto Heatran. Hopefully she'd be protected from damage long enough to get the stone in place, assuming Feliks didn't get up there first...

"Clover! Sage! Both of you use Sleep Powder!"

There was a chance one might miss, but if they both attacked, odds were better that Heatran might be put to sleep in the short term.

"Be careful, Feliks!"

Lenna likes him and respects his bravery, of course, but this is a god they're dealing with, and she's certainly more than a little worried right now. But she knows the best thing she can do right now is try to support and protect him as best she can.

"Gogo, use Mimic and hit it with another Sleep Powder!"

The Mr. Mime nods and happily complies, moving exactly in the manner of Pamela's Pokemon, the expert nature of its miming calling a real Sleep Powder attack into being to join the first two. With any luck, with three of them out there, at least one would hit home. She keeps Gilgamesh back for now, just in case she needs to provide backup later on.

The ground in front of Heatran cracks and shakes with the force of Ignacy's two magnitudes. Along with the dual Sparks from Delphinium, the attacks don't seem to have hurt it too much, but it is definitely angry--especially once it sees the stone.

Its entire body and the air around it erupting into flames, the ground begins to crack more, feeling a bit murky underfoot; almost more fluid than solid. Sleep Powders and Ice Shard burn up in the fiery aura as it readies a Magma Storm, and with it a full force of fear toward the party. Thunder Wave hits and manages to lock the creature in place, although, from how it was forcing muscles to move against the paralysis, it would not hold for long.

Water Sport will dampen the damage, and Thunder Wave and Light Screen thankfully limits the damage done, as well as helps tame the flames; it would appear that they partially dodged a bullet, so to speak, by interrupting it mid-attack.

This is probably going to be their best chance. No, maybe their only chance. Lute grabs the stone and calls back to Cadenza, never taking his eyes from the Heatran.

"Stay here!"

And he vanishes. He reappears a second later on the Heatran's back, looking around desperately until he finds a likely looking indentation. Hoping it's the right one, he shoves the stone in.

It's chaos, people and Pokémon struggling to do whatever they can, fire raining around them, hissing and throwing off steam as it meets with the water. Feliks takes his eyes off of Heatran, trying to figure out where everyone is--are his Pokémon okay? Are his friends? Where is Lute?

Perhaps it's that moment of distraction that keeps him from keeping a better eye on Jove's path. The Rapidash loses his footing on a chunk of rock displaced by the last Magnitude and masked by the steam, sending himself and his rider toppling to the Earth. Feliks feels strangely disconnected from the crack! of the arm that breaks his fall--there's no time to worry about it. Not with himself and his Rapidash suddenly surrounded by the swirling magma... Both of them get quickly to their feet, but the heat is as awful, as unbearable as the intense, stifling wave of fear, and there's no reasonable way out in sight.

Huzar panics, between the fear effect and seeing Feliks in danger. She freezes up in shock briefly, then dashes up to Heatran, going for a Water Tail attack. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

Jadwiga turns to Feliks, preparing to teleport to him--only to stop when he shakes his head at her. She can sense his determination, and it stuns her, though perhaps she thinks it shouldn't at this point. "I want you up there! Help Lute if it didn't work!" It takes her a moment to force her will, to make herself abandon her trainer and get any closer to Heatran, but she listens, appearing a moment later at Lute's side.

Edited (Tense.) 2014-08-06 02:49 (UTC)

Hibiscus' moved in front of his Pokemon teammates. His Flash Fire ability activated when the remnants of the Magma Storm attack hit, and he did his best to turn his body in such a way that Lenna wouldn't be hit by much of it. He knew his trainer had some protection in the form of that special vest she was wearing, but he didn't know what protection her friend had, if any.

Pamela was still reeling from the attack and the overwhelming aura of fear. It was a good thing she had that Vulcanweave vest, because it was what kept her from being hurt much. It didn't stop the air from being terrible to try to breathe, and she worried for Pine, Clover and Sage in particular. Much to her alarm, the three Sleep Powder attacks hadn't even reached Heatran.

And then Lute was up on Heatran. She wished that she'd loaned him her vest, or that he'd announced his plan, but there was nothing that could be done for it now except to hope that he got himself to safety before he was seriously hurt.

"Pine, use Barrier," instructed Pamela. Something defensive was probably for the best right about now. "Clover, use Lucky Chant. Delphinium, use Charge. Sage, use Leech Seed."

Anything that would help keep them all alive.

A Baptism by Flames

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Lute>Agility | Cadenza>Lucky Chant | Baritone>Dig

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RNG 7 & 8 on magnitudes

Lute>Teleport

Re: Lute>Teleport

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Assuming you meant Aqua Tail instead of Water Tail

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