bravenewworld | Merchandising, merchandising

Entry tags:

Merchandising, merchandising

Log Deputy: Void
Participating Characters: Banzu, Isabela, Yuuna, Kyoko
Plot Description: Exploring the Archipelago for scientific knowledge ~~but mainly things that Banzu can make money off of.~~
Warnings/Notes: No warnings yet, will add if there are.

The rumble of Pathfinder's engines shifted as Banzu cut the throttle and reduced speed, calling to the person on lookout duty to watch for underwater rocks now that they were close to the Archipelago. They had made much better time than the first group to come this way, but interactions with the local Pokémon were a mixed bag; some fled in terror at the strange noisy object barreling along, some took it upon themselves to rid the seas of this monstrosity, and some just watched them go by in curiosity or confusion. Fortunately their speed left most pursuers exhausted in their wake before long, but they were certainly annoying to deal with in the time that they shared together, and Banzu was less than delighted about the new gouge in the railing. Still, they had made it, and Pathfinder carried enough supplies that they wouldn't need to return for a while if they didn't want to, along with a small amount of cargo tied down in the center of the forward deck.

"Okay," Banzu called out from the wheelhouse once they'd made it closer, "I'm gonna keep the islands on our right as we circle 'em. Holler if anything catches your eye, but keep watching for rocks and hostiles."

[For more info on the ship see here.]

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Isabela, never too proud to do the real work on a ship, grabs a bucket and assists the Water-types in continuing to wash away the fire.

Tynamo, meanwhile, takes a deep breath and dives under one of the Wailords and starts Sparking. Any Rhyhorns that are still conscious shouldn't be able to Lightning Rod an attack coming from below - or at least the special brand of strategy logic she's picked up from her captain would say so.

Finally, Kyoko's Talonflame makes a move, dive bombing a rider with an Acrobatics attack, while her Treecko continues its Absorb support from the ship.

Kyoko teleports from the Wailord she's on to the next, employing the same tactic, whirling her spear around in an attempt to confuse the riders and use any opening she spots to knock them off their feet and into the water.

The fires are starting to come under control, but they are still a major danger to the ship.

The Wailord riders are starting to draw back, but unfortunately for Kyoko they've identified her as the biggest threat. Two bolas come flying at her from both directions tied to heavy nets, as the Wailords beat a defensive retreat the riders intend to take at least one prize from this engagement.Two of the retreating Wailords launch enormous tidal waves at the ship to cover the retreat and keep Kyoko cut off from the others.

Well this just keeps getting better and better, eh? On one hand, the tidal waves should help put out the fires. On the other hand, they're tidal waves.

"Facet, defenses! Multi, fuel! Erg, get flying and try to point us into the waves!"

Facet throws up Protect and Light Screen to try and blunt the force of the waves on the ship and the others on deck while Multi teleports away and Banzu makes a run for the wheelhouse. Charging inside, his fingers run over the controls, re-straightening the parts that he'd bent earlier and looking at the gauges. The whole time that Multi had been on deck, the engine wasn't being fed more fuel and the boiler pressure had dropped as it wasn't being heated anymore. Even though Multi was already throwing fuel into the firebox, it would take time to get back up to full steam, time that they didn't have. Erg has taken flight by now and is trying to physically push the bow to point in the direction of the oncoming waves, and Banzu rams the throttle control fully open and cranks the wheel to get the ship pointing in the right direction. It's painfully sluggish, the engines trying to operate without access to full power.

Meanwhile, Driver continues to hose down the deck and Spur-Mesh tries to simultaneously wedge itself against something and fire a Mirror Shot at one of the nets coming for Kyoko.

Yuuna's lips press into a thin line as the waves move in to cover the enemy's escape, but she's hardly out of options or ideas. Waves will suck, but she trusts Banzu's helmsmanship enough that she's not going to panic. Worse comes to worse, they have to bail out and take Hyozan home. That'd be unfortunate and unacceptable, but better than panicking and dying. And besides that? She couldn't steer it, so why get in the way?

What she could do was take steps towards helping Kyoko out.

"Zedd, Ichijou, Hoyo, get our girl back or give her a way out. Cut the nets and take down anything that tries to stop you."

And with that order, Yuuna's pretty sure she's unchained some sort of demon, with how loud the Hawlucha shrieks. She takes off, easily overtaking the slower Aerodactyl and Magnezone and descending on the nets. The Rhydon nearest Kyoko is aimed at with a High Jump Kick as the bird-wrestler flies by.

Any counterattacks though, will come up against Hoyo the Aerodactyl as Hawlucha calls for a tag-out on this match with an Ally Switch. The prehistoric flyer's claws then reach out to grab for Kyoko, or any nets binding her, so it can carry her off. Hopefully the sudden swap will be confusing enough that they can get away.

On the bright side, these guys have their priorities straight. On the downside, they're moving further and further away from the boat, making it difficult to pinpoint a good spot to teleport.

After seeing the Hawlucha pretty much dropkick a Rhydon, she was not suddenly expecting an Aerodactyl's claws up in her face. "Whoa there. Watch the claws. Rieger, back to the ship!" That said, she's grateful for the help, and her Talonflame companion's already speeding back to the boat. While the Aerodactyl's right there, she's going to teleport up onto its back. Hopefully it doesn't mind. "Alright, I'm free. Don't eat me."

While her Tynamo retreats back to the ship, Isabela orders Ludicolo to start taking potshots at the Wailord riders with Hydro Pump, less to injure them or slow them down and more to give them something to think about besides kidnapping people. She moves over to the side to make herself visible and continue the strategy of distraction, keeping the bad guys' attention off of Kyoko and the Pokémon that are trying to get the ship back on course.

"What am I, chopped liver?" she taunts, "or do you just like your girls way younger?"

Then she prepares to duck any more of those bolas and brace herself for the tidal waves.

The tidal waves hit the ship hard, jostling it heavily but not capsizing it. It does help with the flames, which are now generally under control. However, it does give the Wailord riders a chance to dive and escape - at least for now.

Clattering noises come from the cabin below as some unsecured objects are sent flying by the impact, and Banzu's various levitating Pokémon struggle to maintain a position above the moving deck. Banzu himself cranks the wheel furiously to keep the ship under control as much as possible. As soon as it's safe to do so, he stops the ship again and runs down into the cabin, pulling out firefighting supplies and coming back on deck to distribute and use them in eliminating the fire completely.

Places Banzu expected and prepared for a fire to occur:
-the engine room
-the stove

Places Banzu did not expect or prepare for a fire to occur:
-the forward deck

The fire is successfully eliminated, however, the ship has definitely sustained some damage. It may not be safe to continue in potentially hostile waters.

Isabela sighed at the mess.

"Never knew independent types to travel in that kind of strength."

She looked sideways at Banzu.

"I've got a perfectly healthy Wailord who can continue the journey, but I don't think you're going to want to leave your girl floating in some unknown harbor. We can pull up somewhere and do a patch job, split up, or go home. What're your thoughts?" she asked.

"Tough areas breed tough men. They'd have to be strong or they'd be Sharpedo bait."

Sheathing her sword, Yuuna whistles sharply, recalling the fliers. They whisk back carrying Kyoko without any real trouble, and the Ranger looks to Banzu. Regardless of the damage to the ship, she felt they were justified, and did the right thing. The damage is repairable. Isabela? Less so.

"If you have the materials, we can pull into an atoll or something and fix it up, yeah?"

Once back at the ship, Kyoko hops back onto the deck. It's obvious enough that there's damage to the ship, but there's more knowledgeable personnel on board.

"That coulda been worse. So what's next?"

Whether it be keeping watch or helping with repairs, Kyoko was ready to lend a hand.

Banzu doesn't answer right away, continuing to examine the damage for a bit longer. He's not happy that there was any at all, but it could've been worse. Finally he stands.

"I can patch it enough to get by with what I've got, and if we can stop at an island with good trees I can do a better job, though that'll take longer. Question is, are those guys gonna come back, and what kinda strength'll they bring with 'em if they do? You see that flash of light just before the Rhydon appeared? They've got some way to bring Pokémon in like we do, so there's no way to know what else they've got. I don't wanna go home empty-handed, especially not so soon, but I don't plan on losing Pathfinder if there's anything I can do to stop it."

He turns to Isabela.

"Any of this look familiar so far? Any good places nearby to hole up for a bit? Rather not work out in the open. Closer the better; no way to know if those guys've got a camp nearby they were headed to. And how familiar are you with those firebomb things? Any good counters beyond lots of water?"

Isabela looks around. It's harder to get her bearings when she wasn't at the helm with her own instruments, but...

"There should be an atoll off to the southwest of here. It should give enough cover we'd avoid casual detection, though I'm not sure how well it'll work with a ship this size. I can't tell you about the bad guys, since they weren't a group I recognized."

She paces a bit, thinking. Things had changed since she left...or maybe she hadn't looked around hard enough before being chased off.

"The fire's an ancient trick, really. There's chemicals that will burn even if you smother them with water, which makes them popular with sailors with a chip on their shoulders. The only way to get rid of the fire is to get rid of the fuel, hence, pushing the whole mess off. Something that could contain the flames like a steel plate or something would work, too, but you still couldn't smother it."

"Probably best we stop there then," Yuuna adds. "We can figure a way to hide it and use it as a staging area, I guess. It's better than being out on open water."

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Merchandising, merchandising

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Whoops! Guess I'm up and missed it!