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

[incousinswithyou]

Let's see if that works. With a mental nudge, Gyarados and Milotic move away from each other, spreading out a bit. Milotic uses Safeguard on the party, just in case, while Gyarados keeps a steady watch on Heatran, ready to attack if necessary.

Gardevoir is still sticking close to Michiru, ready to Teleport.

[threemoms]

Hotaru held back, too. Haruka was there, in position, the rest was up to her. Attacking now would be counterproductive, make her job harder.

Still, if things started to get dicey, she prepared to jump in there herself. She wouldn't let Haruka be hurt, she swore that much to herself.

[bravenewmods]

And indeed, as soon as Haruka successfully returns the shard to where it should be, an ominous laugh rings across the lands as Max gains complete and total dominance of --

Or actually, it just seems to suddenly fall dazed as the shard is inserted into place.

...This is an ideal time for Haruka to leap off its back and run like the dickens, probably.

[actsmagnificent]

And leap off Haruka does, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Heatran as possible just in case that shard doesn't have the long-term effects the Seeker had claimed it would. She stumbles as she lands, but World Shaking lumbers up to steady his Trainer. He can stand on two feet now. He can do things like this for Haruka.

Haruka smirks, pushes off of him - don't go growing into a sap, now - and smiles at Michiru and Hotaru as she runs on up. Her palms sting from contact with Heatran's heated metal body, but she's not paying the pain any attention.

"Did we get it?" she asks, looking over her shoulder and catching her breath. If so, there's no need for them to hang around here any longer. They'd better head back and lick their wounds. This first encounter with a god has not at all gone as anticipated.

[incousinswithyou]

"From the looks of it."

No time for prolonged good byes, so her Pokemon disappear back into the Habitat. Rapidash shows up in their place, staring wide eyed at Heatran. What on earth has been going on...?

Michiru swings into the saddle immediately. Mobility would definitely be an asset, if it suddenly wakes up or something.

"We better go." There's probably not much more they could do, considering how useless their attacks were. And it looked like that Max person had more shards.

She glances at Hotaru. Who are you going with, child?

[threemoms]

"Yeah, that's... that's probably a good idea."

She glances between the two. You're putting her in this position? Making her choose between you two already!? Nah, Michiru's closest, so she hops up behind her, throwing her arms around her waist, ready to ride.

Thankfully Rapidash seemed to like her, or else the flames would force her to ride with Haruka.

[bravenewmods]

Heatran will not pursue! The three will be able to successfully get away at this point, especially on the Rapidash.

[actsmagnificent]

Haruka's a bit large to have as an extra passenger, so she hops onto World Shaking. He's never failed her as a mount before, and intends to keep that up after evolving, even if she has to stand with her feet on the base of his tail steadying herself against the ridge of spikes on his back. Reuniclus sticks around to provide extra cover, too, just in case.

Examining each of her hands in turn, Haruka winces. She's going to need a Burn Heal, but more importantly, that "god..."

Depending on how fast Rapidash runs, World Shaking won't be able to keep up. He's still faster than normal for his species, though, so Haruka calls to the other two. "I don't know if we should report this."

They can talk at their leisure once they're safe and sound, but she'd like to try and make some more sense of this by herself. The gods are angry already, and they're stronger than imagined. She'll have to make sure everyone trains hard.

[incousinswithyou]

Rapidash is well trained, at least. Michiru keeps the horse from going at her top speed, and instead stays just ahead of World Shaking. Haruka gets a worried look, but that's for later. Right now, Michiru just wants to get home.

"Maybe they'll have more information," she replies, "especially if other people received pieces of it too."

Whatever 'it' is.

Michiru keeps her eyes on the road ahead, but she'll give the arms around her waist a pat. Good job, child.