HOENNWEEN: BOSS BATTLE LOG

[these_balls]

Who: Hoennween Plot Participants!
Where: Tohjo Falls!
When: Thursday, October 30th
Summary: You've taken the Elite Four's estate and reaped the (stolen? borrowed? requisitioned) benefits waiting for you inside it. But come morning, an earthquake signals the arrival of two incredibly belligerent Legendaries and the Team Bosses who've summoned them.
Rating: PG-13 in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:



YOU ARE HERE. YOU'RE FIGHTING THESE GUYS.

THIS IS STILL YOUR BACKGROUND MUSIC, AND THIS IS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE AN EPISODE OF JACKASS.

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. This is where you will find and battle Maxie, his Team Magma Grunts, and also obviously that sure is Primal Groudon, all right.

• 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 where a lot of the Team Aqua Grunts are stationed now.

• The BLUE area in the south is the massive lake that feeds the eponymous falls that give Tohjo its name. This is where you will find and battle Archie, his Team Aqua Grunts, and also obviously that sure is Primal Kyogre, all right.

• 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 will not be found around these today, so if your character is looking for a safe zone well away from the crossfire, they will want to hole up near these.

• The BROWN rectangle dead-center in the map is...the Elite Four's resort. It's even more unfortunately-located today than it was yesterday. However, people willing to risk the crossfire between the Legendaries and get into the house will have access to all of the battle and healing items discussed up here!

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 reasonably be found anywhere on the map, though they're avoiding the crystals and keeping close to their bosses — that means Team Magma will be more highly-concentrated in the northern areas of the map, and Team Aqua will be staying to the south.

• Due to the nature of the battlefield and the fact that the team leaders are going to be defending their Legendary of choice, if you choose to fight the bosses, please select whether you are going after Archie or Maxie on this particular log - you may go after one but not both.

• However, there is no restriction on how many Aqua and Magma Grunts you may fight!

• 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 37 PARTICIPANTS ☆.

REMEMBER: IF YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT POST TO THE BOSS BATTLE 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 30, THEY WILL NOT COUNT TOWARD THE 37-PARTICIPANT GOAL!

~

QUICK LINKS

EVENT LINKS MASTERPOST | THE BOSS BATTLE INFOPOST | QUESTIONS FOR MODS | BOSS BATTLE PARTICIPATION CHECK-IN THREAD

☆ BATTLE THREAD WITH ARCHIE ☆ BATTLE THREAD WITH MAXIE ☆

☆ THE TEAM LEADERS MEET ☆

Comments

[styxiedust]

A:

[Botan is not sure what in the hell happened to Batsu but she's apparently the only one perplexed or dismayed about it, Batsu is having a good time dealing back the chaos the Grunts have caused with his own chaotic terror waves.

It was that weird stone she picked up, wasn't it? She couldn't help it, it looked so pretty and, hey, if they were called here they should be allowed to take something home, right??]

...Batsu, please don't hurt them too badly.

[Batsu seems to have moved on to attacking Grunts and their Pokemon directly. Um.]

B:

[Batsu still hasn't devolved, but Botan's awarding him anyway for his...um, hard work by laying out the treats that she packed on a blanket. Riiight in the wake of the bizarre crystals, since that seems to be the only place where nobody's fighting.

She's spreading out sweets of all kinds, one has to wonder how she even fit them in her bag, or when she even packed them, did she make them in the lodge kitchen???--But that's a trade secret Batsu likes the ones shaped like Gengar best, not that he's vain or anything. If you wander by, she'll offer to share and ask that you and your Pokemon sit down for a while to rest up and heal. The medic...picnic blanket is officially open.]

B

[sincereheart]

Botan-san!

[ Have a Mimi, casually strolling by in the middle of the carnage. ]

It's great to meet you in person! Ooh, are you having a picnic? Do you think I could have some too, ple- EEK!

[ That sure is a huge ghost next to Botan, calmly eating sweets like it ain't no thang. Mimi has war flashbacks to Gamzee's Gengars and their ideas of "fun". ]

What in the world is that?!

[styxiedust]

[Botan is way too casual about Mimi's reaction to Batsu's ghastly appearance. She just smiles and gestures to the spread.]

Of course, Mimi-chan. [A pause, she glances to Batsu, who stares back at her with an expression that could best be described as a shrug.] Oh, this is just my Gengar, Batsu. He won't bother you, too busy eating.

[sincereheart]

W- would he bother me if he wasn't busy eating? [ Nope nope nope. Nope. This is Mimi backing away very, very slowly. ]

And are you sure he's a Gengar? I've seen Gengars, and they didn't look like - well, that!

[styxiedust]

Well I don't know, he just changed.

[And the answer to Mimi's first question, well...it depends on his mood. But she gets the idea now, Ghost friend is a no-no, so she calls Batsu back into his ball and brings out her Milotic instead.]

That was Batsu, and this is Nem-chan. [Milotic have a natural tendency to calm jittery feelings, and if this is going to be a safe zone, it should be calm.]

[sincereheart]

[ If she had been introduced to Gengars through any means other than Gamzee's scaring the crap out of her, ghost friend would probably not have been an issue. As it is, though... sorry, buddy, but she does feel a little safer with you back in your Pokéball. Hopefully you were able to fit some food in there.

But any regret on that front is quickly put on hold because oh my gosh ]

Wow! She's beautiful! [ Mimi stares in awe at the Milotic. ] Can I... can I pet her?

[styxiedust]

Of course you can! [And Anemone obligingly lowers her head so Mimi can reach.] Now then, why don't you join us? I'm afraid all I have to drink is water, though I can attempt iced tea if you like.

[She's not sure how appropriate it is to give a ten year old iced tea though.]

A

[paladinlost]

[After a few minutes, the Grunts and Pokémon that Batsu is attacking start losing more... quickly, somehow. As if they are hit by more attacks than they should. But where can these mystery attacks come from?]

Avenger, I've already told you to stop this at once!

[...Probably from the very zipper-y doll] that is now approaching happily, chased by a long-suffering paladin waving another of those stones around.]

[styxiedust]

[The arrival of the other ghost surprises Botan, but delights Batsu, he stops in his PG-rated massacre for a moment to clap happily (though his hands are kinda not proper hands right now). Yay! Another ghost friend! Ghost brofist!]

Oh, dear. Are you quite all right, sir?

[paladinlost]

[That's okay, Avenger has perfectly good hands to compensate. Three cheers and a brofist to awesome ghosts making those puny little humans scream in fear! To their new awesome strength! To having outrun Rosie and her dreaded frying pan!]

Ah, yes, I am, thank you. I must apologize for Avenger's behavior; he's been... overly excited, ever since he changed forms.

[styxiedust]

Batsu as well, but that's all right, they...seem to be having fun.

[She'll have to talk to him about that "puny humans" language later, tsk, so rude.]

I suppose nobody actually gets harmed here, per se, so it's fine that they're enthusiastic.

[paladinlost]

Which is exactly what worries me, given that Avenger is involved.

[See, Cecil, this is why catching the Pokémon that screwed with your mind for three days was a bad idea.]

...I suppose we can probably force them off if they start drawing too much blood.

[styxiedust]

I don't know if it is possible to drawn blood on anyone here, really. A friend of mine said this is like a video game, I suppose it's a "G" rated one.

[PG at the most, but she's really never seen anyone bleeding or seriously burned from being attacked by Pokemon, no matter how bad it looked. Very strange.]

B

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica stumbled by, more exhausted than usual from all the fighting she'd been in. Slowly, she comes to a halt and takes in the picnic of sorts Botan has set up.]

....Wha...

[styxiedust]

--Oh, hello, Veronica dear!

[Don't panic, she calls everyone "dear." Botan gestures at the spread, smiling as always.]

Need a break?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[She panics a little. Since no one calls her "dear." It doesn't help that she's thrown for a loop by Botan's gesture of kindess.]

....Uh, sure?

[She takes a seat. Yeah, this is... this is happening.]

[styxiedust]

[Botan's pretty much the epitome of "does totally normal things in totally not normal places."]

Take as much as you like, I have plenty. I've only got water to drink, though it can also double as a healing item. Would your Pokemon like some?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Thank you... [She's already taken a bite of something, so that was good to know.] And water is fine.

[She glanced over her shoulder at her Pokémon. Baburu the Frogadier took a seat beside his trainer and she handed him some water.]

Thank you for your offer.

[styxiedust]

Not at all, dear. Taking a break from this chaos is a good thing, in my opinion.

B

[pinnedbangs]

[Rin wasn't too sure when would be the right time to settle down with his lunch. He was hungry, Dedenne was hungry, and their stomachs may as well have rumbled in unison.

He just wanted to get back inside the resort, maybe make a sandwich, fix up something good, and go right back into the foray...

Instead he finds some crystal circus place, some pokemon he's never seen before and --

holy cow those snacks looked so good...

Rin rushes right for them and notices at the very last second a person he had not seen for a very long time.]

It's -- [whawashername????] -- grim reaper!

[styxiedust]

[A smile, something almost catlike is in that expression. Her Gengar leers, but that's his default expression. Of course Botan remembers his name, she remembers everyone's name presently, but memories are a tricky thing.]

Hello to you, too, Exorcist-kun. How are you?

[pinnedbangs]

Uhm. [Eloquence is his middle name. Granted, he is taking a moment to consider the battle field, the weird things that have been going on, the lack of explanation...]

Confused? But since you have food, I figure it's not something to really worry about. Not like it's the end of the world.

[styxiedust]

Of course! Come have some, I'm open for business--though I won't charge you anything, this isn't really my shop after all.

[A pause.]

The name is Botan, by the way, Rin dear. [She gestures at her Gengar friend.] This is my Gengar, Batsu.

[Batsu...grins. But that's kinda what he does.]

[pinnedbangs]

[!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Y-You remember my name? [He's not shocked, just a little bummed that he couldn't remember hers. ...And she remembered his.]

Thanks? I'll still find a way to pay you - and Batsu back. ...Is he a ghost pokemon?

[Batsu looks creepy. But cool. Poochy thinks Batsu looks like a show-off and proceeds to ignore him.]

[styxiedust]

I remember a lot of things. Besides, I'm friends with your brother, it would be quite rude to forget my friend's twin brother, wouldn't it?

[He's a little confused now, pay him back? He didn't even do anything except eat Lady's sweets. Geeengar! he says, essentially "just sit down and eat something!"

And he'll ignore Poochy back, so there.]

He is, although he doesn't usually look like this. His form changed for reasons I don't quite know yet.