A Baptism by Flames

[bravenewmods]

"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.))

Comments

Re: Lute>Teleport

[niepokonany]

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.

[toxicrevenger]

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.

[my_father_is_a_tycoon]

Lenna's only protection against Fire type attacks is her own typing, Water. So between Hibiscus' defensive maneuvers, Light Screen, Water Sport, and her natural resistances, Lenna is mostly unscathed from Heatran's attack. Maybe a few burns here and there, but nothing severe enough to worry about at the moment.

"Gogo, use Reflect. Gilgamesh, Scald."

Leaping into action, the Mr. Mime tosses up a second shimmering barrier in front of the group to help bolster their defenses even more. The Panpour, for its part, takes advantage of all the heat in the air to let loose a boiling hot water attack toward the great beast.

Lenna only hopes that their efforts would be enough.

Assuming you meant Aqua Tail instead of Water Tail

[bravenewmods]

It doesn't take much to see where the stone should go and, too enraged by the constraints of the previous Thunder Wave, it hardly notices as Lute climbing on its back. It does, however, feel the stone being lodged there, and raises on its hind legs, roaring in anger and throwing the man off.

Truth be told, it isn't as angry-sounding as one might expect.

The heat lowers by a few notches, and Aqua Tail and Scald do a lot to further quell the flames. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to not incinerate the Leech Seeds before they hit.

[demon_of_sforzando]

Lute hits the ground hard and Cadenza lets out a concerned cry. He achieved his objective though, so now all he has to do is escape before he gets trampled or burned to death.

[niepokonany]

Well, that sure as Hell did something. The deafening roar of anger chills something in him, but the water attacks appear to at least be helping weaken the flames-- though it's hard to feel that they've been weakened enough, still surrounded by swirling magma. He bites his lip, pulling his thoughts together again, trying to ignore the pain starting to blossom in his arm.

Jadwiga is thrown along with Lute, though her power allows her to grant herself a soft landing. Since she's still near him... "Jadwiga! Grab him and teleport onto Mieszko!" She complies immediately, reaching for Lute and trying to deposit the both of them just over the Rapidash who's still safely out of range. "Ignacy, Defense Curl! Huzar--"

Huzar isn't listening, isn't interested in waiting around for orders. "Go away! Go away and leave them alone!" Her voice shakes in a way that must be obvious even to those who can't understand her, but there's intense conviction behind it, and she shimmers with water from her last attack, in what she hopes is a threatening way.

Feliks tries to get a good hold and get up on Jove's back again with his good arm. "Wait for it to die down a little," he whispers, stroking just below the Rapidash's mane. "Just hang tight a second, we'll find a path out..."

[toxicrevenger]

"Delphinium, use Spark," Pamela instructed, now that her Luxray had the chance to charge up his attack a little more.

Before following through with his trainer's instructions, Delphinium snarled at Heatran, even though his body was quivering. "She's right! Leave everyone alone! What's your problem, anyway?!" He let another Spark loose.

"Pine, use Icy Wind!" Not that ice attacks were particularly useful against this Pokemon, but perhaps the Icy Wind might do something to reduce the heat of the flames. It was better than nothing.

"Clover, use Mega Drain," she said, hoping that perhaps they'd at least be able to tire Heatran out enough that he'd be willing to pause and speak with them. Or at least that he'd calm down and leave. That sounded like a good option right about now.

[bravenewmods]

The Heatran doesn't seem to care where Lute and Jagwida landed, but was more concerned with the annoyance of that thing on its back. It thrashes about, angry at the whole ordeal. It does not seem to be pursuing or giving the party much attention, even after the Spark hits.

Icy Wind does little to Heatran, but does seem to make the heat at least somewhat bearable, and Mega Dreain does little to affect the beast.

Should they want to make their escape now would seem the time, as the creature does not seem to want to talk. Only thrash.

[my_father_is_a_tycoon]

"Now's our chance! Let's go!"

They've done what they agreed to do. It was up to the other groups now. There's no way they would be able to hold this thing off all on their own.

[demon_of_sforzando]

Lute was still trying to get his breath back when he was suddenly teleported to a very fortunate safe distance. He smiles gratefully at Jadwiga.

"Thanks."

Seconds later, Cadenza teleports herself over there and activates her heal pulse. Lenna is right though, it's time to get out of here. They've done all they can.

[niepokonany]

Jadwiga bows her head to Lute. "You've done well. Thank you."

As the Icy Wind tones down the heat, the magma that kept Feliks and Jove trapped weakens slightly. Feliks turns the Rapidash's head to show him the way out that's their best bet-- it doesn't seem like they're going to have a better moment to go for it. "We've gotta do it now."

With a toss of his head, Jove surveys their situation-- and quickly comes to the same conclusion. He backs up as far as he can on the shred of land they're stuck on, gets the best head start he can, leaps--and lands just clear of the magma, stumbling forward with Feliks clinging to his neck.

As soon as their footing is stable enough for Feliks to sit up better, he activates his Warp Band to send Ignacy home. Mieszko the Rapidash is already running, with Lute and Jadwiga on his back-- good. Huzar, still hovering around Heatran, lets loose with another Thunder Wave to buy everyone time if she can.

"Huzar! We're going home, come on!"

Hearing Feliks's voice, seeing him freed, she flies immediately to his side, and with her helping him stay upright on his mount's back, Jove speeds off after the others.

[toxicrevenger]

"Hold on," was all the warning Pamela gave Lenna before giving Hibiscus a little nudge to let him know that now was an excellent time to run full tilt away from Heatran.

She pressed her Warp Band to send the rest of her team to safety. Delphinium and Pine would be able to run reasonably quickly on their own, but neither Sage nor Clover were built for speed.

They'd done what they could. Hopefully others would fare better.