spelunking [closed/modded]

[GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO]

gemma... isn't sure what's driven her to explore this cave today. she thought she might finally brave the forest, but before long, her steps took her into the mouth of the underground cavern instead. now she finds herself wandering through, occasionally meeting the gaze of a stray pokemon before it burrows back into the earth, clearly uninterested. chompy the carnivine, as little as he is, is wrapped around her shoulder and upper arm. he seems interested, vaguely, in the wildlife in the area, but gemma figures he probably just wants to bite things.

maybe she can find some rare mushrooms or berries in here...? she's always interested in propagating more plantlife. and it wouldn't hurt to get some battle experience, either, since she currently has very little. she knows she needs to defend herself, but she's loathe to actually try and hurt anything. her pokemon, in general, are far more aggressive than she is. especially chompy, who's just a baby, and so is still learning that he doesn't have to put something in his mouth to figure out what it is. she still has teeth marks from when she first got him.

---

+ 1 level to chompy.
level average is 13.
level 15 bulbasaur, level 13 fomantis, level 15 cottonee, level 13 larvesta, level 11 seedot, level 11 carnivine.

[ytter]

How to spend time in Anrui is a question of ever-increasing complexity. Some spend time close to their loved ones, clutching tightly all they hold dear. Others peel at the region's seams, taking whatever answers they wish and deriving demands from them. Any number of people around you could be mourning a grave loss, preparing a counter-op, or keeping their eyes open for the ever-vigilant Plasma gaze - or judgements from any manner of threatening eye.

You, Gemma, found yourself in your region's great Underground Cavern. It may have been a place to find solace; a place sequestered from conflicts that

For the most part, solace hums back.

The tunnels of dirt and up-heaven rock are only occasionally uplifted by old, wooden supports. With a single groove driving through the caverntop like a letter opener, you could almost tell where the cavern would go. Sunlight trickles around the few glossy rocks, those that have not been desecrated by travellers or wild Pokemon. Your footwear - assuming that you're wearing any - would find itself right at home in the mush of floor. Or not, depending on your taste in dirt. This stuff was coarse and dry, closer to sand than anything you've worked with.

This would only last as long as you stuck around. As you turned your head, you would notice droplets of water from any number of concrete-coloured stalactites. Not that escaping Anrui humidity was ever an easy task, but this told you one thing: there was water.

A body of cave water shimmered ahead, and your time alone would end as inevitably the moment you caught your reflection. The pool of water stretched as wide as seventy Donphan, side by side, and stood at least six times your height. Even better for you, there's a slight overgrowth when you turn to the left, a mass of vines sliding from granite wall to granite floor. The grooves about ended here, though patches of stone still lie beaten unevenly.

One thing strikes you, above all. Gemma, you're a gardener by trade. You'd know one thing about having a lot of water in one place: where there was water, there would be company.

Against the walls, you'd notice a dark, green blob squiggling against a rough-hewn granite. Its eyes, big, beady, black, frenetically shifted across the cave floor. In stark contrast to the green blob, a faint blue blob prepped its head up from the drinking fountain. It stood with clarity. It seemed the green blob was on a collision course with the blue one, who either didn't notice or didn't care.

You also noticed a collection of soft, brown boulders lined. If you paid mind to them for a split-second, you could swear that one of them moved.

...maybe you'd want a light source. Now.

GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO, what is your next course of action?

hydration is excellent for the skin

nidoran | female | o13

poison point & rivalry

growl | scratch | tail whip | double kick | poison sting

internally and externally freaking out

caterpie | male | o13

shield dust

tackle | string shot | bug bite

rock do rock things

geodude | male | o13

rock head & sturdy

tackle | defense curl | sand attack | bide | rock throw | stealth rock

[GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO]

it's difficult to see in the darkness; gemma considers fumbling for the flashlight in her bag for a moment, then thinks better of it, at least for now. she can see something green squirming its way along the darkened path, and it seems to be heading straight for another creature. it would be unpleasant for the two of them to collide... they might get into an altercation. frowning, she turns to the carnivine that's wrapped around her arm.

"do you think you can use your vines to, um... nudge that little green guy onto a different route?" she asks him quietly. she takes a few steps back as chompy nods, extending a couple of its vines to gently reroute the caterpie that's crawling along the cave floor. then she takes another step back, and... she trips, falling backwards into the pile of rocks that she just barely noticed earlier.

and she lands right on top of that geodude, all while trying to keep the peace in the cave without being noticed herself.

[ytter]

Opting against the light, you press forward. Chompy accompanies you in this damp cave, and you shuffle dirt from your feet.

Your little eyes spy a Caterpie squirming around, missing. Your heart's in the right place. You get your Pokemon to float forward. Your choice in Pokemon might need work. The moment your flycatcher enters the Caterpie's sphere of vision, their flight or fight response triggers a barrel rolling away from your Caterpie.

The Nidoran also pauses, though with a lot less hesitation than the insect. It's not the Caterpie the blue Pokemon is concerned with; oh, no. It leers at the green bug, but the little insectoid could squirm away with impunity. Rather, her attention turns to Chompy, whom she briefly sniffs out. Plant. As the Nidoran steps back, her disapproval with a palm-sized hunk of spit at the feet of his...tendrils. She then strut away in your direction.

If not the Carnivine's body, the Nidoran took a potshot at his heart.

Your mistake shook the rock below you into a metallic shiver. Not abnormal for stones; in a place like Anrui, even the rocks break under pressure. This one, however, finds the strength to heave you back up, rocky hands. This one in particular, though, makes a concerted effort to heave you up. All normal, and perhaps even friendly for a Geodude.

You notice the rock is huffing and breathing, quite like a power lifter. You aren't workout equipment, but it seems the Pokemon took that as a challenge.

Should you not leave, he would lift you again. And again.

GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO , what is your next course of action?

ew. plant people. let's go somewhere else.

nidoran | female | o13

poison point & rivalry

growl | scratch | tail whip | double kick | poison sting

still internally and externally freaking out

caterpie | male | o13

shield dust

tackle | string shot | bug bite

rock lift bigger rock

geodude | male | o13

rock head & sturdy

tackle | defense curl | sand attack | bide | rock throw | stealth rock

[GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO]

chompy... is offended. he's just a little baby, and this nidoran treats him like this? how rude. he decides he's going to live up to his name, while gemma is distracted; he unfurls himself from her arm, slithering onto the ground, approaching the poison type against all reason. some part of him knows he'll get scolded for this, but another part of him just wants to be a little mean today. so, he reaches his massive head out and takes a snap at the nidoran. he doesn't actually know the move bite (which is ridiculous, if you ask me, since he's just a giant head with teeth), so he's not capable of doing damage with it... but the threat is still there.

while chompy is engaging the nidoran, gemma finds herself being lifted up. she feels her bare arm where chompy was previously entangled, and calls out anxiously. "chompy?" she's too concerned about the carnivine, unable to see in the dark as she is, to bother leaving. so the geodude is free to get some reps in, lifting her over and over. she can only handle so many concerns at once.

[ytter]

The Caterpie was probably out of the cave, by the time Chompy came close enough. Whatever reason it flipped out - its world would continue, even in a panicked state.

Some may have fled from the gentle (or in this case, snappy) giant, flight-or-fight response jumped by the sudden noise. But the Nidoran, in more than one sense, is a different beast. When the Carnivine shifts through cavespace, its teeth ready a hiss. Any of your doubts about the Carnivine's whereabouts disappear when a snap is accompanied by a rustling sound, like a wood-chipper starting. The Nidoran stares back at Chompy, a hind leg clutching a pebble, and a tired expression filling her face. A hip pops as the blue Pokemon looks down upon your poor child. You could almost hear the daggers in that Nidoran's glare, sharpening themselves on his every movement.

---

In the meantime, the rock counts his reps. You notice now that with every repetition the Geodude. Seven repetitions pass in your anxious confusion, with maybe an eighth if you count half-lifts. The moment the Geodude runs out of gas, he lays you, butt-first, on the ground.

What a careful lifter. Some might have thrown their weights aside, making all matter of noise. If you didn't spend too long watching the rock flex, you'd have plenty of time to investigate your Pokemon's doings.

GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO , what is your next course of action?

you bite like a folded pillow. that it, punk?

nidoran | female | o13

poison point & rivalry

growl | scratch | tail whip | double kick | poison sting

noooope

caterpie | male | o13

shield dust

tackle | string shot | bug bite

rock hit eight rep. rock do good.

geodude | male | o13

rock head & sturdy

tackle | defense curl | sand attack | bide | rock throw | stealth rock

[/i][/i]

[GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO]

by the time she's been set down by the geodude, her eyes have adjusted to the lack of light somewhat. "u-um... thanks" she mumbles to the rock-type behind her. how strangely polite of the creature, to put her down so gently.

then she catches sight of the ongoing feud between the carnivine and the nidoran. she squints through her glasses, barely able to make out their forms. then she rushes forward and pulls chompy back. "chompy! be nice!" gemma gasps. she doesn't know what started this fight, but by god she's going to end it before it turns into something worse. or so she hopes, anyway.

but chompy is having none of that. he slithers out of gemma's grip, and squares up by performing a growth attack, his size growing ever so slightly to make him look more intimidating. uh-oh. they're deep in it now.

---

100% health

carnivine lv. 11

levitate

bind, growth

razor leaf, vine whip

used growth!

[ytter]

Your lifter continues to pose in his corner, striking poses with biceps, triceps and whatever arm you could think of. Hey, it never hurt to show off a little. This interaction, however, is overshadowed by the trading of stares and glares in the cavern. That Nidoran , by the way, just finished shining her pearly-white daggers, and raises her ears. She isn't messing with the plant no more, oh no.

When Chompy starts to gain mass, splitting the air with his ever-increasing bulk, the Nidoran puts her left feet first. Her teeth scuttle, and she appears to be tapping on the floor. Once. Twice.

It even hits the Geodude, just what kind of mess brewed in the corner.

"Chompy, be nice!"

Words on deaf ears. Or...if you glossed a manual, however Chompy hears. His levitating form challenges the standstill nature of the cave, yet embraces it.

You had a good sentiment to hold when times got tough. Then again, your message went to. Unfortunately, you were a little late on the draw, because the Nidoran took Chompy's growth as a challenge. A bright, purple spline brews in the corner, rotating like a corrupt Gamecube shape - always taking a more and more jagged shape. The Nidoran was pretty over the Carnivine at that point, because in that big object measuring competition, she was -determined- to take the lead.

The Nidoran lunged (Poison Sting) towards Chompy!

You heard pebbles crack in the distance. . . 

GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO , what is your next course of action?

no im bigger than u
Using Poison Sting!

[100%]
nidoran | female | o13

poison point & rivalry

growl | scratch | tail whip | double kick | poison sting

oh boy, pokemon fight!!!

geodude | male | o13

rock head & sturdy

tackle | defense curl | sand attack | bide | rock throw | stealth rock

[GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO]

chompy probably should have been prepared for this development, but the little plant pokemon has little experience in battle. somewhere in his genes, he knows instinctively what to do, passed down from generations of warrior carnivine... or maybe he comes from a line of peaceful grass-type pokemon. it certainly seems possible, as he takes the hit dead-on, and lets out a cry of pain at the super effective attack. it's not strong enough to make him back down, though.

gemma sighs, her brows knitting together. "chompy..." well, they COULD run, but chances are in this darkness she'd just trip over her own two feet. so she commits to the battle, even though she can hardly see what's going on. "um... use growth, and then bind, okay?"

the carnivine is all too eager to comply. his size increases once more, veins popping, and then he lunges sharply at the nidoran. this time, he fully intends to hit, wrapping his vines around her and squeezing hard.

---

80% health

carnivine lv. 11

levitate

bind, growth

razor leaf, vine whip

used growth! used bind!
+2 atk, spcl atk

[ytter]

Pain or pleasure? The question rings through the Nidoran's head as it strikes Chompy, letting a smug grin form from the shock of the lance. When Chompy answers with pain, the Nidoran steps up. The blue Pokemon's eats pop up and their whiskers stir about, whisking away plant-dust. A foot buries into the ground, tapping as you appear, contemplating your decisions this fight. The calling out - this Chompy - catches its attention.

The other orders come. It seems you're keeping your child out to stay, leaving the blue Pokemon out to stay. The Nidoran less than appreciated this.

The Nidoran eyes a boulder, and catches a plan. The blue pinball leaps forward, hind legs launching from boulder to Chompy for a sharp ear smack, swiping that and what should be a tail. It appears the Nidoran's efforts fell short, however, as the Nidoran failed to account for Chompy's growing vines. The Nidoran, lowered brows seething with annoyance, hissed at the ever growing plant. It may have seen a technique like Chompy's before, and didn't appear to back down for it, because their next move was to take its legs and chop at the tendrils. Clawed feet striking at tendrils and wherever else it hurt.

With one strike, you hear the sound of rocks cracking.

If you turn your head, you'd hear more pebbles crack.

Just so happens that your friendly, cave-r-hood Geodude was having a little mid-fight snack. Watching with confusion, watching in awe. Cave vision was a beautiful thing to have.

GEMMA ROJAS-LOBO , what is your next course of action?

Using Double Kick!
Using Tail Whip!

[76%]
nidoran | female | o13

poison point & rivalry

growl | scratch | tail whip | double kick | poison sting

om nom nom nom

geodude | male | o13

rock head & sturdy

tackle | defense curl | sand attack | bide | rock throw | stealth rock