HOENNWEEN: INTRO CHALLENGE LOG

[these_balls]

Who: Hoennween Plot Participants!
Where: Tohjo Falls!
When: Wednesday, October 29th
Summary: You've just received a call from a mysterious voice asking you to come help save the world. This is Day One of The Rest Of Your Life™ — the introductory skirmish that will determine your field position for tomorrow and the advantages you'll have going in to the fight against Archie and Maxie.
Rating: PG-13 in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:



YOU ARE HERE. YOU'RE FIGHTING THESE GUYS AND ALSO POSSIBLY THESE GUYS. THEY'RE NOT HAPPY TO SEE YOU.

ETA: AND THIS IS YOUR BACKGROUND MUSIC!
KEY:

• GRAY areas in the north are a range of mountains that form a natural barrier around part of the Tohjo plain where the Elite Four's resort is located. It is both difficult and dangerous to get up into the mountains proper, but this seems to be the direction from which most of the Team Magma Grunts are entering the area.

• GREEN areas in the southeast and southwest are densely-packed forested areas interspersed by lakes and rivers that seem to be feeding into the main waterway into the area. It is both difficult and dangerous to venture into the woodlands proper, but this seems to be the direction from which most of the Team Aqua Grunts are entering the area.

• The BLUE area in the south is the massive lake that feeds the eponymous falls that give Tohjo its name. You will also find Team Aqua Grunts here taking great care to hold control of the lake, if you're interested in engaging in a water battle.

• PINK diamonds in the east and west are the sites of massive formations of Mysterious Plot Crystals™ jutting up from beneath the surface; the Grunts on both teams appear somewhat wary of these growths, so they will be keeping a reasonable distance from them while still doing their best to protect them.

• The BROWN rectangle dead-center in the map is...the Elite Four's resort. Not exactly what you might call a fortunate place to be located, but it's easy to see why this might be considered prime real estate for both teams. You're likely to find members of both Team Aqua and Team Magma hanging around here, so be cautious!

A FEW OTHER SETTING NOTES:

• As per Arceus's summon, there will be Gen VI Pokemon joining the battle on their own! You may NPC these Pokemon, within reasonable limits; you may not capture them in Pokeballs, and they are still wild so they will not take commands from characters the way a captured Pokemon would from its trainer. However, they do recognize that the portaled-in humans are fighting on roughly the same side as they are, so they won't attack player characters and might occasionally come to their aid if need be — you're free to NPC them as you like for purposes such as this.

• The aforementioned Gen VI Pokemon can be any Pokemon that swarmed during September, plus any of their evolved forms. They've had several weeks in the wild to get buff and settle in; now you can see what they've got to show for it!

• You may NPC the Team Aqua and Team Magma Grunts as you see fit; either one can be found anywhere on the map, though Team Magma will be more highly-concentrated in the northern areas of the map, and Team Aqua will be keeping more to the south.

• There is no restriction on how many Aqua and Magma Grunts you may fight.

• You may fight members of both teams on this log if you so choose; you are not required to pick just one or the other to focus on for this particular log.

• You may forego Pokemon battling entirely and simply beat up the Grunts with physical violence yourself. If you KO a Grunt, they will white out and be warped to the nearest Pokemon Center back down in the regions proper, where they will be arrested by an officer of the Kangaskhan Police.

• FOR CHARACTERS INTENDING TO USE HONEDGES LIKE WEAPONS: due to the high volume of questions we have received on this topic (it's a popular inquiry!), we want to clarify for this Pokemon in particular —

If you choose to use a Honedge as though it were a traditional sword, the most that the Honedges will allow might be slapping the grunts with the flat side of the blade. They are still opposed to attacking/killing humans, opponents or not, and if you try to stab an opponent with them, you're going to get a really obstinate ghost sword going incorporeal and ineffectively going through them. There's also the fact that you're grabbing them by the head and swinging them around — they won't like that very much.

PLEASE NOTE: if you intend to use a Honedge in this manner anyway, we may ask that you experience light IC consequences for it later in the plot! We're not barring you from getting your sword skills on with your Honedges; we're simply pointing out that there may be natural outcomes that follow from those choices.

• UPDATE: if you would like to interrogate the grunts, check here for information you can learn from them!

~

☆ THE NUMBER TO MEET OR BEAT IS 50 PARTICIPANTS ☆.

REMEMBER: IF YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT POST TO THE INTRO CHALLENGE LOG AT LEAST ONCE
(AS A TOP-LEVEL COMMENT OR IN RESPONSE TO SOMEONE ELSE'S TOP-LEVEL COMMENT)
BEFORE 9:00 PM EST on OCTOBER 28, THEY WILL NOT COUNT TOWARD THE 50-PARTICIPANT GOAL!

~

QUICK LINKS

EVENT LINKS MASTERPOST | THE INTRO CHALLENGE INFOPOST | QUESTIONS FOR MODS | INTRO CHALLENGE PARTICIPATION CHECK-IN THREAD

Comments

[dressofheaven]

A: Near the mountains

[There's a cold, smoldering fury in Ilya's heart when she realizes that despite hearing her voice, her mother is quite clearly nowhere to be found here.

But she maintains her calm, especially once she realizes there are, in fact, targets to deal with. Opening her balls one by one, she unleashes the horde of monstrosities she brought with her. Her first, the towering Rhyperior Berserker looms menacingly behind her and glares down at a hapless group of Magma grunts. A nightmarish shriek announces the arrival of her Dusknoir, Orpheus, who floats above her. Her Garchomp, Typhon, is already in battle position, crouched next to her and hissing at the grunts. Her Volcarona, Hephaestus, flares up next to her with wide wings and a small stream of fire. The snap of jaws next to it shows a grinning Feraligatr, her loyal Poseidon. And behind her, the red eyes of her Metagross, Talos, stare coldly ahead.

Framed by these six terrors, Ilya fixes the grunts with a look that could burn skin away, and raises a hand.]

Go forth. Crush them!

[And with a snap of her fingers and a furious, united roar, that's exactly what they all do.]

B: Elite Four Resort

[With things having just achieved some measure of calm, Ilya has settled down just outside the resort for a breather, though she doesn't seem all that happy about it. Her Pokemon stand guard like some sort of terrifying horde of guard dogs, ringing around her, except for Talos, who she's sitting on.

To put it bluntly, she's sulking. She thought her mother would be here, and quite clearly that isn't the case. Stomping the grunts was a good stress reliever for a while, but it's losing its effectiveness, and now she just feels grouchy. And sad, but she's focusing on the anger.

She's left standing orders for anyone unfamiliar who gets too close to be seized, so if suddenly the rocky grip of a Rhyperior or the cold hand of a Feraligatr close around some hapless person who wanders nearby, well hopefully she'll be feeling merciful towards them.]

B

[pipers_son]

[Well, hopefully they recognize a certain familiar ringleader who's coming up close with his Charizard breathing fire between her fangs angrily. He seems just as disgruntled and just as tired as Ilya, along with the bonus of a black eye that he's gotten at some point.]

[As he sees that familiar shock of pale hair, he raises his one hand up high in greeting.]

Oi! Ilya! You too, eh?

[dressofheaven]

[Most of them do, though Poseidon, not having been involved much with the circus, does eye him warily. Typhon and Berserker, however, part to allow him to come say hello, and she raises her head, her face set in a scowl.]

Hello, Joker. How did they fool you into coming here?

[Well she definitely isn't even trying to hide how bitter she feels.]

[pipers_son]

[Same story as usual, then. His grin isn't its usual cheery self- it's more than a little bitter.]

Thought I 'eard my brother. Wouldn't be the strangest thing, I figured, but seems we've all been had.

[dressofheaven]

I didn't know you had a brother.

[She glares at the ground for a moment.]

It was my mother, for me. I haven't heard from her in ten years...

[pipers_son]

Got three. [He whistled out a sigh from between his teeth.] Someone's playin' silly buggers with us.

[dressofheaven]

Quite, and I for one do not appreciate it.

[Her face twists into a furious scowl, but she tamps it down to more general distaste after a moment.]

I can't imagine it was them though. Calling us here wouldn't have been very smart of them.

[pipers_son]

Yeah, they seemed just as surprised as the rest of us... [A pause as he chewed it over in his mind.] ...Maybe someone doesn't want 'em succeedin' in whatever it is they want ta do.

[dressofheaven]

Badly enough to trick us into coming here to stop them? This had better be far more important than it looks.

[pipers_son]

So many folks here... There must be somethin' here, and I don't think it's any sorta prom this time.

[dressofheaven]

Pity. A dance would have been a lot nicer.

... I bet these fools all have two left feet though. And most of their legs are broken by now anyway.

[pipers_son]

Well, I can't speak much on legs, but I can guarantee we won't have ta deal with any future generations with their kinda minds... If ya understand my meanin'.

[dressofheaven]

[Ilya, being Ilya, finds that outright hilarious, and starts cackling.]

You didn't! Oh my, Joker, that's just vicious. [She gives him a sadistic grin.] I like it.

B

[cawsforalarm]

[It's been a long day. A fun day, but a long day.]

[He's tired, his Pokémon are tired, and all of them could really use some healing. He spots Ilya outside; the ring of creatures surrounding her make him pause at first, but once he realizes she's not wearing a red or blue uniform, he seems to stop worrying about them entirely. In fact, he approaches Ilya and her beasts with a pleasant grin and a wave.]

Hey! Come to catch your breath, huh?

[dressofheaven]

[She glares down at him, and her Pokemon all make growly sounds, not recognizing him, but none of them move to attack. After a moment, she grumbles out an a response.]

It's more like I'm bored. None of these scum are putting up enough challenge to distract me anymore.

[cawsforalarm]

[The growls don't seem to unnerve him at all. He's dealt with many ferocious creatures making angry noises at him, so these guys aren't too much of an issue unless they attack.]

Well, here's a tip: I haven't even been challenging their Pokémon. It's way more fun to just attack the Grunts themselves!

[dressofheaven]

Oh I've done that too. [That does make her smile, or at least smirk a bit.]

Berserker quite enjoyed making the wretches go flying. But even that can't be entertaining forever. Certainly not with how easy it is.

[cawsforalarm]

Berserker, huh? Nice name!

[He sounds absolutely genuine.]

And I don't think that second part's true. I've killed thousands of people, and it never stops being fun.

[dressofheaven]

It's the perfect name for him.

[She's practically preening, though his comment makes her raise an eyebrow.]

Well, for one thing, they don't even die here. But even aside from that... thousands? Really?

[cawsforalarm]

Heehee.

[Henry's quite fond of berserkers himself, being the magical equivalent of one.]

Yeah, thousands! Ten thousand is kind of a stretch, but I'd definitely say at least seven or so.

[dressofheaven]

Wow.

[She is actually legitimately impressed by this.]

You're a very combat-oriented Magus, aren't you?

[cawsforalarm]

Well, yeah! I'm a soldier, so I kind of have to be.

[dressofheaven]

Interesting. Magi can't really be in armies openly in my world anymore. Well, we can't do anything openly, so I guess that goes without saying.

[cawsforalarm]

Wow, really? [It's pretty obvious that Henry can't imagine a world like that.] That stinks. I dunno what I'd do without being a soldier-mage... I mean, I'd probably go around killing guys on the street, but that doesn't have the same feel to it, you know?

But you're a mage too, right? What kind of stuff do you do? [Or, well, did you do.]

[dressofheaven]

[If only Ilya were aware of how similar that sentiment was to someone her father once knew... Knew in this case meaning "killed".

That's true of a lot of the people who crossed her father's path really.]

Oh all sorts of things. I'm primarily an Alchemist and a Summoner, though. I summoned an ancient hero of my world to be my sword and crush my enemies in a magical war.

[He seems like the sort of guy to appreciate that story.]