ROCKET BATTLE LOG

[indigo_league]

As the clock nears 10 PM on Saturday, the manor (or the parts of it that people aren’t blocked off from, anyway) is completely abuzz with speculation and gossip. What could Lance possibly be planning to announce? And why haven’t any of the Elite Four even been around? They’re fairly reclusive, but it’s safe to say that everyone is at least a little curious, if not actively suspicious.

But it’s time for the big reveal, so manor staff are bustling around, reminding everybody to be in the ballroom in a few minutes for Lance’s important unveiling of… well, whatever it is he’s unveiling! The staff all seem pretty excited, so it must be big, right?

There’s been plenty of room to dance and move around in the Ballroom until now, but with everybody packed in there at once, the space is a little tighter. Especially with the small stage and podium set up in the middle. As the last (or seemingly last, assuming there aren’t any carefree stragglers who didn’t bother turning up on time) person is ushered in by staff, complete with whispers of "Psst! Hurry up, it’s almost time!", the door to the ballroom is shut and the lights dim slightly, sending a hush over the audience.

After some fumbling from whoever’s in charge of the lights (... wait, is that Captain Garfield and his Rattata up there? He’s a theater tech too?! That guy must REALLY be a jack of all trades!), a spotlight flips on and centers on the podium, where the head staffer (who might be recognized as the one with the terrible hipster mustache who’s been doing a PARTICULARLY egregious amount of schmoozing and sucking-up to trainers over the course of the party) is stepping up to the podium.

He clears his throat.

"Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen! On behalf of the Elite Four, we’re all so happy you could join us! We hope you’ve all been having as good a time as we have, because I’ve got to say, I think this is our best party yet!"

He looks around at the assembled trainers eagerly, as though anticipating unanimous agreement.

When there’s an impatient buzz (and a shout of "Get on with it already!" from someone) instead, he laughs awkwardly.

"Oh, yes, well, we’re all here for one reason, right? To see what Lance has brought you all here for! Well, folks, as you can see, he’s not here with us right now… He’s had a bit of a-- how shall we say… an accident! So sad, I know! But fortunately, he’s graciously allowing us to make his announcement for him. Which is…"

On cue, the spotlight turns stark red. If anyone has the presence of mind to look, Captain Garfield's Rattata is holding a bit of red plastic filter in front of it.

But chances are, everyone’s attention is probably going to stay on the stage, because the guy at the podium literally just RIPPED HIS CLOTHING OFF DRAMATICALLY, revealing… yes… a very, very familiar black-and-red uniform underneath.

It’s followed immediately by more ripping sounds as other staff and even some partygoers scattered throughout the audience follow his lead, and the telltale noises and flashing of Pokemon being released from their balls. And many voices, all yelling at once...

"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE! AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!!"

The music shifts.

OOC Notes: The number of characters who must participate in the battle to call it a success is 37! In order to keep track, once you have made your first comment to this post (either a toplevel or a tag to someone else!), please bring it to the CHECK IN THREAD by 10 PM EST tomorrow! YOUR COMMENT MUST BE POSTED TO THIS THREAD IN ORDER FOR IT TO COUNT TOWARDS THE TOTAL.

GUESS WHAT GUYS?

glittertextmaker.info

OOC notes: Here it is, the part where your characters get to explore the Rocket Base and discover its secrets! Maps of each level will be posted in this top post as they are opened up, with blacked out sections being revealed as obstacles are cleared. Obstacle clearing will be based on total comment count to any mod comment with a count listed, whether those comments are contained in a single thread or spread out over multiple different ones. As many people can comment to an obstacle or base level as wish to, for as long as they want, even after it has been cleared. There are a total of two obstacles (including the first one) which are triggered by character actions we will be watching for!

Anyone who wants to thread anything out in the base or mansion during the time characters are trapped (and who doesn't want to use this log for whatever reason) is free to make their own network/action posts with whatever they like! But mods will not be coming around to those with interaction, and they will not count towards clearing obstacles.

Questions? Ask them HERE!

NOTE FOR ITEM RNG: In order for the mods to give out your item, your character must be actively looking through the loot piles in whatever tag you'd like us to respond to with your item! Items can also be given out in the middle of an existing thread between characters, whenever they get around to searching the piles! The header does not have to be in your toplevel.

Links List

Level One



OBSTACLE - KEY CARD (CLEARED)

OBSTACLE - CONVEYOR BELT HELL (CLEARED)

Level Two



Level Three



ELITE 4 JAIL

OBSTACLE - FREE THE LEGENDARY

Comments

[rosehecate]

[As if Rockets would take Pokemon from other Rockets. Which she'll be doing later anyway.

Anthy looks at the belts herself.] I don't know. I've never seen a walkway like this. It...moves on its own, but...it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Why not make it straightforward?]

I...I couldn't not do this, I'm the worst

[rambling_runner]

As Ash places both feet on the belt however, it suddenly begins to spin him. As it moves him along. Ash stumbled, trying to keep upright and utterly confused as to his movement.

"What. WHAT. What is even happening??"

At the end of the belt he fumbled around, extremely dizzy and trying to find his footing and get back to Anthy. Which resulted on him stepping on the belt again and being spun back. He sways at the end...and tries to walk abck again, bumping into things and - YOU GUESSED IT - onto the belt.

"Anthy, help??" He called as he was spun away. Thank God he didn't stuff his face full of food like his Pokemon had. Hopefully they couldn't get motion sickness in their pokeballs.

OH NO

[rosehecate]

Ash-

[OOP THERE HE GO. Again and again...Anthy blinks a bit, opening her mouth each time Ash moves to step on the belts...]

Um...you...you might want to stop...if it goes one way, it won't go the other...

[rambling_runner]

He finally STOPS and lets himself sort of. Crumple to the floor. The not-spinning, very solid floor. It takes a few minutes before his vision and sense of balance straighten out and he can stand again without wobbling.

"Okay. I'm okay!" He looks around and...oh. Those belts are everywhere and he can't immediately see a path out that doesn't require stepping on them.

Fuck.

"Ur...I think I'm kinda stuck. Like, the only way out are the belts but I can't see where they all go from here? Who the hell makes a maze like this??"

[rosehecate]

[Hold on, she's gonna - she's gonna be on the spinny thing, just - okay, you can do it Anthy, it doesn't bite...]

I-I don't know...but we have to try to get through it...or at least go back...

[I mean. There IS a way back, right? There has to be...right?]

[rambling_runner]

He could see her nerves and nodded. "We're gonna be alright. Here; I'll catch you at this end, yeah? I can take a couple of tumbles so I'll go first on these things and be waiting for ya if you need me."

Someone had to be confident and if nothing else, Ash could be confident against rising waters.

[rosehecate]

Okay...

[Though it makes her feel uneasy, having to rely on someone again, these conveyor belts are intimidating to her. So...here we go! Spinning, spinning...and then stumbling off at the end, wobbling precariously.]

Whoa-

[rambling_runner]

Ash took her shoulders with surprising gentleness, holding her steady. "I got ya."

Keeping one hand on her shoulder, he tried to follow the belts with his eyes to see where they lead. But there was a lot of crisscrossing going on. "Okay, I see a door over there. But...I got no idea how to reach it." His usual method would be trial and error but with the constant spinning, he didn't want to put Anthy (or himself) through that.

[rosehecate]

[He really doesn't have to be so gentle with her - it's strange, and worrying, and a little nice to have someone to rely on, but at the same time, Anthy does sincerely feel like she should be trying harder to do this on her own.]

We can't...try walking straight across? Do all of them make us spin?

[rambling_runner]

For Ash, it's less to do with Anthy and more to do with himself. He's always been reckless but when he hit his growth spurt and ended up taller and bigger than his Dad, he'd had to learn to be more careful with his strength.

"I dunno. I could try it-" Thankfully the next one doesn't spin him around like a Hitmontop. Which made it all the more stupid that the first one hand. So now they didn't know which of the belts were normal, and which were Beyblade-style. His face completely reflected the thought, giving the spinning belt a 'I'm so done with you' look and folding his arms. "Well. I mean, this one apparently works and isn't bullshit??"

[rosehecate]

[His reaction makes her smile, just a little bit, and she steps onto the belt with a measure of grace, holding up her dress just enough so the hem won't catch onto anything.]

Maybe, if we put an item on the belts, we could see which ones spin and which ones don't.

(bit of a retcon because of fightos but feel free to pass it if you like!)

[rambling_runner]

He hadn't thought of that. He grinned to her, glad he had someone sharp with him to get through this. "Great idea. I still have a potion on me; was saving it in case there was more trouble but it looks like we got a breather."

At the end of the belt he stepped off lightly, under a harsh, bald lightbulb. It really showed the various cuts and blood stains on his face from being attacked by various Rocket Pokemon. That Honchkrow had definitely cut deep; most of it would heal but it would take a bit of time.

He rummaged in his bag to find the potion; his pokeballs had been tucked in there, stuffed right at the bottom. He was sick of people trying to snatch them off his belt.

[rosehecate]

[Anthy waits as he rummages around, looking at those cuts. She knows none of them are because of her - she'd avoided people as best she could, and Calyx was focused on her, not the "targets". But still...

Quietly, Anthy pulls off the thin shawl that came with her dress, the same one she'd let Angel borrow when she was cold, and offers it to Ash.]

You're bleeding.

[rambling_runner]

"Huh?" Oh. Oh right. He shook his head at the offered shawl. "Nah, nah, it's fine. Just." His expression darkened at the memory and he barked a short derisive laugh. It wasn't anything like his normal, sunny self. "I decided to get involved first-hand. Turns out if you punch a bitch who's telling you to stop fighting the inevidentable, her Pokemon decide to claw at you."

He shook himself, as if trying to shake off that bitter mood. "I'll be fine. You don't want that to get all messy, blood's hard to wash off."

[rosehecate]

[Anthy's brow furrows, and she holds the shawl out closer, all but pressing it into Ash's hands.] It's okay. I know how to clean a lot of things. I can take care of it. Please...make sure you take care of yourself.

[Wonder whose Pokemon clawed him...]

[rambling_runner]

To be fair, Ash threw himself at a lot of Rockets. And had shouted at the girl in question, Manaka, to fucking fight him; when he was over six foot and did a lot of running and physical exercise, and the girl in question looked more like a doll than a front-liner for the WWE.

But, you know. Ash never claimed to fight fair when the bets were off.

"You sure...? Alright. Thanks, mate." He accepted it and wiped his face with a corner of it, so he didn't smear blood and sweat all over it. He found a potion and sent it on the next belt - thankfully, it didn't spin.

[rosehecate]

[...Nah, she has that kind of personality. Anthy wouldn't be surprised.]

Absolutely. [It's a relief to see him at least dab the wound, and then even more of one to see a non-spinning potion.] It looks like our next move is a little easier.

[rambling_runner]

Maybe the first one had been a glitch? But after spending several minutes in a blur of colour and balance, he didn't really want to chance it. Especially if it spun Anthy around like a top too.

"...I know we're int he middle of some serious shit right now, going deeper into the place these fuckers were gonna take our friends, but all I can really think of right now is how fucking stupid this belt thing is." Seriously. Ash didn't claim to be a criminal mastermind but when coming up with like...a secret lair or some super secret lock or way to fuck up intruders, he wouldn't think 'CONVEYER BELTS.'

[rosehecate]

[She shrugs slightly, smiling that smile of hers.] Oh yes, it makes things much more fun. Not scary at all.

[rambling_runner]

He smiled back loop-sidedly. Well at least it helped in that regard. "Just. Hey Anthy! I got a super secret evil lair. It's where I conduct all my evil bullshit schemes, gather my legion of loyal grunts and servants, come up with plans ot take over the world, jerk off, as you do. Now I need a way to keep people out...I'm thinking locked doors, passwords, lazers, sharks, sharks with lazers attached to their heads. Or maybe..." he dropped his voice as low as he could, clasping his hands together like some Saturday morning cartoon villain, "the dreaded conveyor belts."

[rosehecate]

[She giggles some more, eyes scrunching closed, a hand over her mouth. This actually helps aleviate some of the seriousness of the situation, it really does. Though, sharks with lazers attached? Isn't that silly too?]

[rambling_runner]

Sharks with lazers are silly! But no sillier than THIS. He ended up giggling himself. Hey, they're going into the belly of the beast in a sense - but they got each other and that means they can take it on.

"No no, you're absolutely right; the conveyor belts are just dastardly enough to work! And it saves time training the sharks. Come, my trusted partner in crime! We shall conquer the world!" He announced, stepping off the belt with a playful air of purpose. "And once we have, all will know the terror of moving platforms!"

[rosehecate]

[She follows, still giggling. Thank goodness she still had giggle fits within her, after all this time.]