[CYOA] You Are a Rock

[Namohysip]

RESULTS​

Rocky Tackle!

Considerations:
- (1) I need to be careful not to let N get hurt!
-
- (∞) Just don't kill them.

Marshtomp catches up to you quickly. You make quick work of finding your footing, glancing back to see that N is going up to the police and asking something.

"Go in there, it's safe!" the police say, pointing at the restaurant. The title looks familiar. Did Millie mention it in passing? Maybe that was where she worked. Was, because, well...

No time to think about that. Maybe finding the cause of the Dungeon would restore things.

Once Marshtomp gets close enough, you take aim with a good Rocky Tackle, slamming directly into Marshtomp with a sudden burst of speed. It was more like a headbutt, except the force came not from your legs but your chest. What an odd feeling.

Marshtomp reels from the attack and slams into two lamp posts consecutively like a pinball. That was a good hit... but Marshtomp was still getting up. Persistent thing...

Rocky Tackle deals 5 damage to Marshtomp! Energize means the attack is free!

However, Marshtomp retaliates, and you're still a bit slowed down from that last Mud Shot. He strikes with a weaker attack--is he out of stamina from your Enervation?

Marshtomp strikes you with Water Gun! You take 1 damage!

"Agh!" You stagger. "Hey, Weavile - do you know any ranged attacks?"

Weavile's hand shoots a set of icy shards at Marshtomp, but you're too slow and he staggers out of the way. But now that you think about it, do you have any ranged attacks to synergize with it? The sudden lack of ranged options to actually hurt something is getting in the way...

N looks back at you just as you shiver from the cold water. Even for an Ice body, something about the water is chilling. The elemental energy, no doubt.

"We need to be careful come this way!" N calls.

Shelter in the restaurant. Druddigon--you see him in the corner of your eyes. He's found his way back and will arrive soon. Marshtomp, barely standing, could also be trouble. N still has that Blast Seed for some insurance, though that would probably scare a few of the humans.

But just before you go to follow N, one of the police's communication devices buzzes harshly. "Need backup in district, uhhhh---HELP!"

"District where?"

"Sir, I can't tell where anything is anymore! But--but one of the apartments is... um, doing something?!"

"Can you be even slightly more specific?!" He barked an order to one of his Pokemon, who quickly felled another incoming feral in a seemingly endless wave. "Why are these Pokemon so aggressive? This is nothing like a new Dungeon--"

"It's... exploding! Slowly! But there's no explosion!"

At this point, the police officer shoves his communicator onto his belt again and focuses on the immediate task. It seems they were in no position to provide backup anyway. It was looking dire.

You can't help but feel like something is amiss. You have never been in a Dungeon before that you remember, yet you do feel that if all Dungeons were this dangerous, the caution around them would have been much higher.

But what was... going on to bother you otherwise? Instinct?

Still, it seems clear that you should take shelter with N for now and fight from the shelter. Hopefully, the ferals would eventually thin out, once Druddigon and Marshtomp were taken care of.

But why does it feel as though something else is calling you? Or... is that a trick, a trap?

DECISION​

What is your general plan of action?

1. Defend N and the restaurant with the police.
2. . . .

Druddigon is going to enter the fray soon!

Fallen Knight Druddigon
HP: 9

Fallen Knight Marshtomp
HP: 1
Slightly enervated

Current Status​

HP: 6/5+5
Energy: 8/9
Offense: 3+2
Defense: 2+1

Mobility slightly down!

Considerations:
- (!) I need to be careful not to let N get hurt!
-
- (∞) Something's wrong.

 

[Mirage]

Spoiler: line-by-line

Rocky Tackle deals 5 damage to Marshtomp! Energize means the attack is free!

Oh... damn. Well. Definitely should have just committed there, holding back was a mistake. Potentially quite a big one, since this now means Druddigon might be getting a free hit on us... I'm sorry guys

Weavile's hand shoots a set of icy shards at Marshtomp, but you're too slow and he staggers out of the way. But now that you think about it, do you have any ranged attacks to synergize with it? The sudden lack of ranged options to actually hurt something is getting in the way...

Yeeaaahh, we're definitely feeling the pinch of not having a ranged attack. Let's hope Weavile has a physical Ice type move handy... maybe Ice Punch?

"Why are these Pokemon so aggressive? This is nothing like a new Dungeon--"

If the darkness is what causes Pokemon to become so aggressive, and if older dungeons generally have more aggressive Pokemon, then it seems that the police officer is implying dark matter in dungeons tends to increase over time. Feels pretty self-explanatory, but nonetheless something good to know.

You can't help but feel like something is amiss. You have never been in a Dungeon before that you remember, yet you do feel that if all Dungeons were this dangerous, the caution around them would have been much higher.

Mmmm, even the difference from when we first wandered near it is pretty crazy. The Prism Knights would say that obviously it's because of our presence that the dark matter is increasing... but I wonder if that isn't the case? The presence of so much dark energy made me think at first that it might be, but if we can also be negatively effected by it, then that implies it's not our own energy that we're seeing.

Speaking of!

Spoiler: bold-letters

Come here, partner

Loving the mysterious creepy letters - especially in the last post, decoding them gave me quite a chill

And what's quite interesting here is how Weavile's Iron Consideration changed! We don't know if he understood the messages exactly, but he can sense that other presence it seems. He's suspicious of it... and honestly, I agree. I wonder if we aren't starting to fall under the effects of the dark matter ourselves, or if this voice is somehow from the dungeon? It's especially weird that it's calling us "partner", when we're a legendary Pokemon... a force of nature that isn't usually partnered with anyone or anything...

It's also very strange that our 2nd choice is just the three dots. I'm reeaally tempted to explore what that means, but it's implied that if we do so, we won't be defending N and the police this round. With Marshtomp being unkillable by N and the humans, it's up to us to decisively knock him out, and potentially Druddigon too! (If he doesn't maim us first that is)

---------------------------------

For my actions:
Decision: Defend N and the restaurant with the police.
Attack: Rocky Tackle (target is Marshtomp)
Consider: "I don't want to kill Marshtomp, just knock him out."
Telepathy (target is Weavile): "So you can sense it too, huh? The strange presence calling out to us?"

 

[Negrek]

All right... finally off mobile, so I can actually talk about things a bit more. Lots of interesting stuff in the past few updates!

First and most importantly, though, I think we should stick around to knock out Marshtomp, but then should try to retreat (and do our best to convince the police to do likewise). To me right now the most important thing to do is see whether we can learn anything about the dark power at work here, which I think will mostly require leaving the dungeon. (I'm SUPER curious to see whether getting corrupted and/or getting KO'd will shake off Marshtomp's creepy emotionless thing--and if so, whether he might become an ally or at least be able to give us some info on what's going on with that--but we need to get him out of the dungeon to find out any of that!) Also, shit be WACK in here right now, yo. So I'd like to incapacitate Marshtomp so we can take him with us (hopefully? idk that N can carry anyone else, and Marshtomp's probably pretty heavy) and then flee, ideally with the police/Lenora so they don't all fuckin die. We may need to take down Druddigon to do that, but if we can get away without fighting him, I'd prefer to do so.

Other than that... I'm curious whether the "partner" thing could indicate that we're talking to a corrupted Xerneas here? With the region-wide dungeon in Kalos, I could see Xerneas (and potentially this world's Yveltal) getting drawn in and corrupted. Loads of other possibilities, though. Our ability to interact with the corruption in ways that no one else can suggests that we do have some element of "darkness" ourselves--perhaps we're actually a Dark Matter ourselves only taking the form of an Yveltal, maybe we were previously working with a Dark Matter, maybe we were corrupted but getting rock'd at least temporarily cured that, etc. No guarantee that we're "actually" an yveltal and haven't just been taking that form for some reason.

The dark squirmy things we've been seeing running around are reminiscent of the eterna parasites from Namo's Blacklight campaign... I continue to be really suspicious that there's an eternatus mixed up in all this somehow! But they could simply be Dark Matter shades. I wish we had time to study them more closely again, but I think now is probably not the time, alas.

(I also didn't miss the note in the post before last. Where the fuck is Millie? :( )

Decision: Defend N and the restaurant with the police.

Action: Rocky Tackle @ Marshtomp

Consider: Are there any signs of Millie around here?

Speak (N): "This isn't right! We need to get out of here. Do you think you can convince the police to flee the dungeon? Maybe convince Lenora, if she has the authority here?"

 

[Namohysip]

RESULTS​

Defend N and the restaurant with the police.

Rocky tackle Marshtomp!

Considerations:
- (1) Are there any signs of Millie around here?
- (1) I don't want to kill Marshtomp, just knock him out.
- (∞) Something's wrong.

You know that no matter what you do, you have to take Marshtomp out and subdue him. Even though you feel Weavile is distracted by something, and perhaps you could have killed Marshtomp right then... you don't want to. You want to respect your host's wishes for the time being.

You wonder if Weavile would appreciate that.

But as you jettison headlong into Marshtomp's gut, you deliberately hold back, keen on his dwindling life energy. He coughs and crumples against you, but that's all. Several black blobs seep out of him and into the ground. You, realizing what this is, grasp them and toss them away, throwing icy shards at the ones that try to come back.

Rocky Tackle finishes Marshtomp off! He's KOed!

Staring at Marshtomp, you feel that same tug again. You could Claim him... though he does not seem to be all that much stronger than Weavile. Learning another body would be... troublesome right now, and Weavile also probably would not appreciate it.

But with Marshtomp down, you turn back toward N, still taking shelter with the police.

"This isn't right!" you call. "We need to get out of here. Do you think you can convince the police to flee the dungeon? Maybe convince Lenora, if she has the authority here?"

"Convince them to leave do you think it's that dangerous the entire town might be engulfed," N explains.

"Your fast-talkin' friend is right!" calls one of the officers. "Whole town's under this veil... We evacuated east as much as we could, but we're cornered!"

So they've been trying to evacuate. There was no telling how many other pockets of the Dungeon were also filled with innocents clustered and trapped.

Druddigon is drawing near. He's stronger than Marshtomp and Weavile; latent knowledge from Weavile informs you of this.

But you'd decided to defend the police for now. Perhaps after Druddigon is down, you can think more about your options...

Speaking of thinking, however, you send a thought to Weavile. "So you can sense it too, huh? The strange presence calling out to us?"

Weavile's claws clench a little. You sense... unease from him. And uncertainty. He, too, doesn't recognize it, but he does hear it. Someone was calling for Yveltal, calling it a partner. And it certainly felt very directed toward you.

Hasn't been very chatty just yet, though. Perhaps it's thinking...

"If we can get an opening," the police officer said, "we'll try to evacuate everyone! There's a route we can make if the Dungeon doesn't shift before then!"

You nod. In other words, get rid of Druddigon, and then help clear out the fodder that barely registers in your life sense.

You then turn your attention back. Millie... Not a single sign of her nearby. Not in the heat of battle. But instead, you ask, "Has anyone seen a Millie here? She has a Lillipup!"

"Y-yes!" someone cries from inside the restaurant. "She works here! But, um... she left somewhere. She was calling us to give a message, but that was when the Dungeon had appeared. She was saying really weird things... Something about, bring Lenora's stone to the central plaza? It didn't sound like her... I mean, it did, but, you know how when someone talks differently, or like, an AI voice of them, or. . . "

It must have been a chatty coworker. But that was... valuable and disturbing information.

Druddigon stops his approach, stomping on the ground once as his eyes locked onto you. For a moment, it feels as thought it's just you and him. The one who had been giving you the most trouble is now facing you down...

But this time, are you strong enough to defeat him?

You'd made this decision. It's time to face the results.

Druddigon has entered the fray!

Fallen Knight Druddigon
HP: 9

Current Status​

HP: 6/5+5
Energy: 7/9
Offense: 3+2
Defense: 2+1

Considerations:
- (!) Are there any signs of Millie around here?
- (!) I don't want to kill Marshtomp, just knock him out.
- (∞) Druddigon's claws are the most dangerous.

 

[Mirage]

Spoiler: line-by-line

You then turn your attention back. Millie... Not a single sign of her nearby. Not in the heat of battle. But instead, you ask, "Has anyone seen a Millie here? She has a Lillipup!"

"Y-yes!" someone cries from inside the restaurant. "She works here! But, um... she left somewhere. She was calling us to give a message, but that was when the Dungeon had appeared. She was saying really weird things... Something about, bring Lenora's stone to the central plaza? It didn't sound like her... I mean, it did, but, you know how when someone talks differently, or like, an AI voice of them, or. . . "

It must have been a chatty coworker. But that was... valuable and disturbing information.

WELL. We might have potentially just found our mysterious entity...

The strange voice definitely hints at being posessed, and it kind of reminds me of how the Prism Knights acted when we first met them, although perhaps that was just their professional persona showing at the time hehe.

Interestingly, Millie never actually learned that we were Ylvetal before we were seperated, so that tells us that the force possessing her must have some pre-existing knowledge or relationship with us. Also very interesting that it wants Lenora's stone - if the entity can already possess and control people, that doesn't sound like it's sealed in the stone, like we were? Is it then trying to free some 3rd party, or is it just so powerful that it's still able to control and manipulate people from inside those confines?

Starting to sound like Druddigon might be the least of our worries soon

Druddigon stops his approach, stomping on the ground once as his eyes locked onto you. For a moment, it feels as thought it's just you and him. The one who had been giving you the most trouble is now facing you down...

Hell yeah. Feeling that Jotaro / Dio showdown energy in this scene

Druddigon's been causing us so much trouble, I've been looking forward to this. Let's beat his ass and hope we don't get mauled

--------------------

Spoiler: pre-action-planning

Okay, actions! Unfortunately, we don't have any ranged moves other than Enervate... that complicates our opening move here.

Enervate is a pretty safe play here. As pointed out by Weavile, it keeps us out of range of Druddigon's most dangerous attacks, and it would reduce his effectiveness in the subsequent turns as well. It also would help reduce the energy cost from something like a synergized Catapult / Ice Shard (or maybe Ice Punch) combo, which would be 3 energy otherwise (just under half our remaining supply).

Downside to using Enervate is that it doesn't actually damage Druddigon, so we won't be making any direct progress, and we'll be potentially leaving ourselves open to a ranged attack if Druddigon has any (which I bet he absolutely does).

I feel like the main other alternative here would be to open straight up with the Synergize + Catapult / Night Slash, or Ice Punch if Weavile has it. In other words, we go for as much damage as possible - that should definitely let us know how much we can do to Druddigon, and get us on the path there.

Downside is that it'll drain a lot of energy and risks putting us in range of those claws...

----

Since there's no other posts yet as I'm writing this, I'll put in for Enervate (with the intention of going for that Synergize combo on the next turn), but that's a very tentative Enervate. I have fucked up in our fights twice now, so I am completely down with changing that if there's any other suggestions.

Attack: Enervate (target is Druddigon)

Telepathy (target is Weavile): "Even with those claws of his, we'll have to get close to do real damage. If you know a melee Ice technique, give me a signal!"

Consider: "Does Druddigon have a weak spot?"