these_balls: (SERIOUS MOD BUSINESS)
Route 29: mods ([personal profile] these_balls) wrote in [community profile] route_10652014-10-27 03:00 pm

HOENNWEEN: INTRO CHALLENGE LOG

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
armoredsoul: (Wary)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-27 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[Really, this wasn't one of Al's brightest moves, he has to admit. He was already worried and panicking, what with Trisha and Marie having run off in the middle of the night, and Winry and Ed weren't doing much better. And then the massive quake, followed by the crystals coming out of the ground absolutely everywhere...the boys knew they had to do something, and resolved to go figure out what this all was. And so it's the next morning when Al is finishing packing that he hears a voice--one he hadn't heard since...]

Alphonse, please, help them!

[He'd barely even thought as he ran through the portal, and it was lucky he did grab up his Pokeballs before dashing though. The other side is chaos, with oddly-uniformed trainers battling against the swarms of new Pokemon. And with how protective the trainers are being of those crystals...something's going on here, and Al's gonna get to the bottom of it one way or another.]

[That 'one way or another' winds up with a Magma grunt screaming as he finds himself hanging upside down from an over-sized snare trap--it's amazing how resourceful one can be after living on a deserted island for a whole year. It doesn't take long to get the story out of him, and once the poor sap is left tied up behind some bushes Al sets out to get to work. These assholes aren't going to knock themselves out, after all.]

[Alphonse's Pokemon are on the prowl as well, keeping within earshot of their trainer as they also help to fight the invasion. Grunts may be finding their Pokeballs suddenly vanishing thanks to a mischevious Liepard, or a Quilava and Luxray pair jumping them from the bushes. And a Pidgeot sails the skies, occasionally divebombing into a battle to help those fighting the interlopers.]
awesmazings: (☼ give me all)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-28 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Jimmy has really been all over the place during the commotion, and once he finally manages to pull away from the lake he's off with his Houndoom at one side and Manectric at the other, searching for anyone who might need a hand. Somebody might want to make sure this kid doesn't run himself into the ground, because he's already gasping for air and doesn't seem too likely to stop any time soon.

Following at the rear is a Lopunny who happily punches anything that leaps her trainer's way, though she's caught offguard by Al's Pidgeot as it suddenly swoops down nearby.

But wait, Jimmy recognizes that trainer...]


Alphonse!
armoredsoul: (Um...?)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-28 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a moment before Al can spare his attention--he's caught in a fight with one of the few grunts that actually knows how to fight back. Not nearly well enough to keep him busy for long, though--Al dodges out of the way of a lunge to bring his knee up hard into the guy's gut, and a double-fisted strike to the back of the neck keeps him down.]

[Then he turns, and smiles with a bit of relief to see a friendly face. He starts jogging over, and Clara spirals back down at a much more leisurely pace to join them.]
Jimmy! You doing okay out here?
awesmazings: (☼ to where)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-28 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'm okay!

[He looks...suspiciously wet, but that's due to all of the water battling he's been doing. Not conducive to staying dry, honestly.]

How 'bout you? These guys are all over the place!

[While he talks, both his Houndoom and his Manectric keep their eyes on the field, watching for any grunts who might try to sneak their way while they're talking.]
armoredsoul: (Worried)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-28 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
I've been better, but we're holding up well enough. [Al glances around while his Pidgeot blinks sleepily at them both.] It seems like there's no end to them! As soon as one goes down, there's three more running in!
awesmazings: (☼ gonna make me fly)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-28 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, no kidding! I've gotten a bunch of those guys fighting on the water, but there aren't any less since I started. There's more now, I think!
armoredsoul: (Marks to bear)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-29 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think we'll be able to drive them off just swarming their forces...we needs to get a safe space of our own, or do something so drastic it forces both sides to retreat.
awesmazings: (☼ it's a cold)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-29 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I think you're right, Al.

[Jimmy frowns a little, turning his attention to the rest of the battlefield, where things are still going full force.]

What do you think we should do?
armoredsoul: (Talking)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-29 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Al frowns, looking around the battlefield as a Luxray and Quilava come running up to him.] ...that house. It's not in the most defensible position, but I'm sure we'll be able to find supplies there. Food and water, maybe even healing items for our Pokemon. And with how much these jerks are fighting over it, there might be something else in there that we don't even know about yet!
awesmazings: (☼ let the alters)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-29 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Alright...so we just need to try to fight our way to that house, yeah?

[It seems straightforward enough...but there are a lot of grunts between here and there.]

We just need to get everybody on the same page.
armoredsoul: (Shaky ground)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-31 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. If we split up and each take one half of the area, and then everyone we tell makes sure to spread the word...we won't get everyone, but it should be enough. Once we're all close, we can team up more and get through the defense they've pulled together.
awesmazings: (☼ she broke your throne)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-31 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jimmy nods firmly.]

That sounds like as good'a plan as any to me!
armoredsoul: (Bratty)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-10-31 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Al nods and grins in return, giving Jimmy a thumbs-up.]

Okay! I'll head back up toward the mountains, and you let everyone know over here, okay?
awesmazings: (☼ her beauty)

[personal profile] awesmazings 2014-10-31 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I will! Oh, and be careful, okay?

[These grunts aren't just fighting with their Pokemon.]
armoredsoul: (Inna can!)

[personal profile] armoredsoul 2014-11-01 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
Don't worry, I will!

[Al can give back just as good as he gets!]