bravenewworld | 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

Yuuna swallows and smiles grimly, her face twisting in a mixture of fear and excitement. If she'd wanted a test for her team and for her own resolve, then she couldn't ask for anything better. She doesn't want to fight, but if it's the direction this confrontation is heading, then she's not going to back down. There are too many people who stand to lose too much. Through the warp band, she feels her team reacting similarly, mingling terror and adrenaline.

Stepping forward, she gestures up at Heatran and shouts out her own orders, her voice sharp and crisp. Some commands, though, she gives through mental nudges, practiced for just such an occasion. In particular, one to Larvitar to keep digging and prepping the other trap.

"Alright! Hyozan, Uzushio, keep giving us some breathing space! Gouken, use what we practiced! Zedd, hit him with your best Thunder Wave, and follow it up with as much electricity as you can manage! We're not backing down, and we've gotta stop him. Take him down!"

Her team begins to do just as ordered, with Avalugg and Poliwhirl standing stoically there, projecting water and ice to keep the air from heating up. Magneton's magnets begin to glow and he launches an assault of electricity in an effort to paralyze and foul up Heatran's movements. And the others move along with their plan.

Gouken the Hitmonchan's fists punch faster and faster, Vacuum Waves cracking through the air towards their overgrown enemy, and Larvitar continues his silent tunneling beneath the giant's feet.

The combined assault does something nobody has yet done to Heatran, overwhelms it. If only for a moment, it's stunned by the ferocity of the smoke, the water, the ice, it tries to counterattack by gathering heat around it but it is not quite fast enough and is left vulnerable - perhaps for the first time. The team has but mere moments before it regains its footing.

Teeth gritted and face hard between a mix of fear and determination, it's hard to see through the smoke and attacks, but - Blue spots it. The flinch. The stop in the pokémon's plans.

Time to work quick.

"Keep up the water attacks! Helio, help them out!"

She's running, away to the side of the group to get to the next stage of their plan. Helio watches her briefly, but he goes to follow her command that may sound too vague to others, but the nidoking knows exactly what she means. He puts a hand onto Indigo, his body glowing softly and the light going over the blastoise's body that when she shoots out again another pulse of water, the attack is boosted through his helping hand, larger and more so powerful than before.

But Blue doesn't look back to see to any of the pokémon or the faces of her human comraes, pushing the button to bring out the oddly named aerodactyl. He lifts up his wings in response, but Blue is quick before he can make a sound by motioning him to bring his head down. The winged pokémon is a prideful being, but Blue's been around Red long enough and it to gain some respect from him - and the sight of the chaos around it shows that now is not the time.

"I need you to be quick," she reaches into her pocket and brings out the stone, "and take this to the pokémon over there. There's somewhere it can fit on its back. We'll distract it, so just find the spot, okay?"

He looks down at her, she back to him, and he lowers his wings to take in one of his stony hands the stone that she offers into it. It grips onto it, spreading his wings back out.

"This is up to you." She nods. "Go."

Ribbons turns his body, and in the next moment he's up into the air, wings flapping but his grip tight onto the stone. From above he can see everyone on attack, the mass of smoke water, the mixture of temperatures surrounding them all. The larger pokémon's heat is not significant, still felt nonetheless, but the aerodactyl is adamant to complete his mission. He builds up speed with ease and goes around to Heatran's back, looking with sharp eyes for this indentation spoken of.

Down below, Blue's pokémon are still on attack. The azumarill, with rain pour down from the skies, moves on to join the lombre in a hyro pump, the staryu deciding to join in as well with its own gush of water while the pokémon was being heavily - and so far, successfully - assaulted.

Goku too, notices the flinch from Heatran. The opportunity to strike was now, and he can see Ribbons take off in search of the place on the legendary's back to place the stone. But true to Blue's word, they'd keep the giant pokémon occupied- no matter what the cost. Signaling for Machop, he gives a command before he does what could possibly be a really dumb move, but he thinks it'll work. Or hopes it'll work. He's got to try.

"Charmeleon, keep that smokescreen going, Starly and Murkrow, you guys are doing great, keep it up!" From his back, he grabs his pole, a gift from his grandfather before he died. Digging one end of it into the ground, he turns to his fighting-type. "Machop, hold on tight! We're going for a ride!"

Both Goku and the smaller pokémon grab hold of the pole, and it's aimed up at Heatran's face, as he yells, "Power Pole! Extend!" And without warning, it does, extending up, sending the two of them through the storm that all the others were keeping up to cool down the area. Catapulting both of them skyward, they use the pole to vault themselves with kicks aimed right at Heatran's chin, the fighting-type enlightened hopes that it'll keep all of its rage focused on him rather than anyone else.

The flinch, of course, is not lost on a fighter like Yuuna either. Her lips curl into a grim smile and she points at Heatran's massive leg. With Goku charging in like that, Yuuna isn't about to squander the opportunity. If they have a chance to knock it down then they'll have to take it. There's only one chance at this, and if Heatran can be knocked down then they may just be able to seize an advantage of some sort.

"Gouken, go for his leg!" she barks, "You too, Hiroshi! Use what Blue taught you, show him who's the big guy around here! Hyozan, you'll have to cover for us!"

The two fighting types surge forward, covering the distance with a bellowing roar. The Hariyama slams full tilt into the leg, a Superpower aimed at the appendage, while the Hitmonchan's fists blur with more Vacuum Waves and a flurry of punches almost too fast to see. They may be smaller, but Yuuna's counting on the ferocity of the attack to overbalance that other leg. As they do, the Avalugg moves to settle protectively around Yuuna and Blue, in case all of this fails.

And then? Yuuna sends another command through the band to Larvitar, ordering the Digging creature to proceed and beneath the Heatran's other foreleg, the ground-type collapses the tunnel. The earth shifts and groans beneath it's foot, hopefully continuing to trip up the fiery titan. Who knows that the monster might have in store, though. Yuuna's just guessing as best as she can.

A Baptism by Flames

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the tactics too stronk

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