Spacemon: Frontier – Chapter 34: Perils of Pyraxia!

Welcome to another exciting installment of Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! This is a spinoff of the sci-fi space epic played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system, this time GMed by yours truly. You can get caught up on the entire Spacemon saga here!

Axel was full of excitement as he made his way to the front of the ship. He had just felt the Maverick drop out of warp space, which could only mean one thing: the ship had arrived at Pyraxia. Entering the cockpit, Axel spotted the captain sitting with Anya, who was busy flying the ship, and Persephone, who was serving as the navigator.

“Hey guys,” Axel said, announcing his presence. “So, uh, are we almost there?”

“What do you think?” Cyrus asked the mercenary, motioning at the planet they were approaching out the front viewport.

“I take it that’s a yes,” Axel said, gazing out at the planet and the violently swirling clouds in its atmosphere.

Moments later, the ship was descending into that very atmosphere. “Watch out for those clouds,” Persephone warned Anya as she guided the ship in. “They’re filled with flammable gasses prone to detonation.”

As if on cue, a large cloud in the distance burst into flames, causing several smaller neighboring clouds to detonate as well. “Exploding clouds?” Axel asked as he watched through the viewport. “Holy shit.”

“Well what do you expect from a planet like this?” Persephone asked, turning to look at him, a mysterious smirk on her face.

“That is true,” Axel replied with a nod. “So, what else do you know about this planet?”

“Well, as I mentioned before, it’s mostly covered in volcanic swamplands, but it also has several large mountainous regions, which are, unsurprisingly, made up of many active volcanoes,” Persephone explained. “There’s also a subterranean network of lava caves, or so I’ve been told.”

“Sounds like my kind of place,” Axel said.

As the Maverick broke through the cloud cover, Axel spotted the snow-capped peaks of a mountain range and he was reminded of his dream. If he was going to find a Spice Cream anywhere on Pyraxia, he was sure it would be there. “We should land by those mountains,” he announced to the cockpit. “That’s where we’ll find the Pokemon I’m looking for.”

“How do you know?” Cyrus asked. “You’ve never been to this planet before.”

“Oh, trust me, Captain, I know,” Axel said.

“Landing near the mountains is a good idea,” Persephone chimed in. “You don’t want your ship sinking into a swamp. There, that rocky outcropping looks good.”

“That it does,” Anya agreed. “Preparing to land.”

“Alright,” Axel said as the ship touched down. “Let’s go Pokemon hunting.”

---

“What’d you find, girl?” Axel asked as his Charizard touched down. Ritsu let out a low growl and looked up toward the summit of the mountain they were scaling. “She found something up there,” Axel said, looking over at Gaster, Persephone, and Taraka. The four of them had been searching around the area for wild Pokemon for the past hour or so, and Axel had instructed Ritsu to scout ahead for them.

“I have to say, Axel,” Persephone said as she walked up beside him. “Your Charizard here is quite a healthy specimen.”

“I take very good care of her,” Axel said proudly. “I take very good care of all the ladies in my life.”

“Is that so?” Persephone asked, letting out a laugh. “Let’s see how well you’re taking care of her, shall we?” she continued, reaching a hand out to Ritsu. “May I?” she asked, turning back to look at Axel.

“That should be perfectly okay,” Axel answered, nodding. “Ritsu’s a nice … nonviolent Charizard … When she’s not trying to fight things.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Taraka butted in, laughing at the comment.

Axel watched as Persephone placed her hand on the back of Ritsu’s neck, petting her in just the right spot. The mercenary was quite surprised to see that his Charizard seemed quite calmed by her touch. “I’m impressed,” Axel said. “Ritsu doesn’t usually take to strangers. You seem to know quite a lot about fire types.”

“I’d like to think so,” Persephone replied. “I feel a very strong affinity for them.”

“You know, Persephone, if you ever want a ride on my Charizard, just let me know,” Axel said.

“Speaking of riding Pokemon, we’ll get up to the top a lot faster if we ride our Pokemon up there,” Taraka interrupted again.

“Good idea, Taraka,” Axel agreed.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any Pokemon that can support the weight of a rider,” Persephone said.

“Don’t worry about that,” Axel said, reaching for his belt. “You can borrow my Arcanine.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Persephone said, reaching out to accept the mercenary’s Pokeball. “I’ll be sure to take good care of it.”

Axel nodded. “I’m sure you will.”

---

Snow crunched underfoot as Axel dismounted from Ritsu’s back at the mountain summit. “Thanks for the ride, girl,” the mercenary said, patting his Charizard on the back.

Taking a look around, Axel saw the others coming up behind him on their own Pokemon mounts. Persephone was out in front on Nodoka’s back, as the Arcanine was swift and agile. Taraka and Gaster soon followed, mounted on Zebstrika and Tyranitar, respectively.

Moving up alongside Axel and Ritsu, Nodoka kneeled down, allowing Persephone to dismount. “That’s a good boy,” Persephone said, stroking the Arcanine’s flowing white fur. “Your Arcanine is well trained,” she added, looking over at Axel as she adjusted her long red coat.

“Like I said, I take good care of my Pokemon,” Axel said.

“I can certainly tell,” Persephone said, nodding. “Now, how about this view?” she asked, taking a step toward the cliff edge that looked out over the volcanic crater at the mountain’s summit.

Joining her, Axel gazed down at the lava lake far below, then out into the distance at the steaming volcanic vents along the slopes of the mountainside. It was quite a breathtaking view. “It’s very pretty up here,” he said. “I could stay here forever.”

“Speak for yourself,” Gaster grumbled as he walked up behind the pair. “You’d think someone so obsessed with fire would hate this cold.”

“You just need to get yourself a nice insulated suit of armor,” Axel replied.

“I’d rather have my mobility, thanks,” Gaster said.

“Well, then quit whining.”

“Not to interrupt, but I think I’ve spotted some Pokemon,” Taraka suddenly called out. Axel looked over to the monk to see him pointing at what were clearly some Pokemon a short distance around the crater edge.

“Let’s go take a look!” Axel said with excitement. The mercenary took off at a sprint, quickly closing the distance.

As Axel approached the Pokemon, he was better able to make them out. A Numel sat resting beside a rock, a Litleo was prowling around through the snow, and there, sitting atop another rock, Axel caught sight of a Vanillish with a purplish-red hue, just as he had seen in his dream. “There it is! Spice Cream! Ritsu, do your thing!” Down from the sky, Axel’s Charizard swooped in, spraying the unsuspecting Vanillish with fire. When the flames cleared, Axel could see that the Pokemon was quite hurt.

As he reached for an empty Pokeball to throw at his prize, Axel saw Persephone walk up beside him and send out a Delphox. “Please don’t attack that thing,” Axel warned her. “It took quite the hit already.”

“Don’t worry,” Persephone replied. She flashed the mercenary a smirk before turning back to her Delphox. “Madea, use Psychic on that Numel!” she commanded her Pokemon. The Delphox unleashed a blast of psychic energy upon the Numel, doing a real number on it.

As the Numel ran at Persephone’s Pokemon to strike back, Axel turned back to the Vanillish. Gripping the Pokeball in his hand tightly, Axel pulled his arm back, then threw the ball at his Target. The ball made contact, pulled the Vanillish inside, then fell to the ground. It shook once … twice … a third time … then it burst open, freeing the Pokemon inside!

“Fuck!” Axel cursed.

“Let’s help him out, Blitz. Use Thunder Wave!” he then heard Taraka shout. The monk’s Zebstrika soon ran into view, then shot out a wave of electricity at the Vanillish, stunning it.

Dazed and disoriented, the Vanillish unleashed a blast of ice-cold wind all around, clipping Ritsu as she came in for another pass. “Ritsu, hit it with Dragon Rage!” Axel called out to his Charizard. “See if you can’t weaken it a little more!” He watched as his Pokemon unleashed her attack, but she was unfortunately unable to land a hit.

“Don’t worry, I think it’s weak enough now,” Taraka said to Axel, walking up beside him. “Take this,” he continued, holding out a great ball.

“Thanks, man,” Axel said, taking the ball from his crewmate.

“Don’t mess this up,” Taraka replied, giving the mercenary an encouraging slap on the back.

Axel nodded, then walked up to the Vanillish. He pressed the ball Taraka gave him against the Pokemon, and it was once more pulled inside. The ball shook once in the mercenary’s hand, then a second … a third … and then fell still. “Yes!” Axel called out in excitement. “Spice Cream is mine!”

“Nice work,” Taraka said. “Now let’s give the others a hand.”

“Right,” Axel said before turning to see how Persephone was handling the Numel. She had apparently switched out to a Chandelure, which was fighting alongside Gaster’s Tyranitar against the Numel and the Litleo.

“Willow, use Confuse Ray!” Persephone commanded her Chandelure as Axel and Taraka moved in to assist. She seemed to have the Numel under control, so Axel decided to go for the Litleo.

“Ritsu, use Dragon Rage on that Litleo!” he ordered his Charizard. Swooping in, Ritsu touched down and spewed out a small jet of flame at the Litleo. In response, the fiery feline charged at the Charizard, but she lifted off the ground with a flap of her wings, and it simply passed beneath her.

“Blitz, Thunder Wave,” Taraka then commanded his Zebstrika, joining Axel in dealing with the Litleo.

A zap of electricity from Blitz left the Litleo dazed. It tried to rush the Zebstrika to attack, but it tripped and stumbled forward, burying its head in the snow. Axel couldn’t help but chuckle at this display. Taraka, meanwhile, walked up and pressed a Pokeball against it before it could get up, successfully capturing it.

Now all that was left was the Numel. Axel looked over to see Gaster attempting to capture it. Unfortunately for the former smuggler, the Pokemon broke free. Before he got a chance to throw another Pokeball, Persephone threw one of her own and captured it for herself.

“Nice catch,” Gaster complimented Persephone. He clearly wasn’t too broken up about not capturing the Numel himself. “It’s probably a better Pokemon for you anyway.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” she replied.

“Hey baby, how’s it going?” Axel asked, walking up beside her as she pocketed her new Pokemon.

“Wonderful,” Persephone answered, winking at the mercenary. “Just adding another fine fire type to my team. Did you manage to capture your special Pokemon?”

“You know it,” Axel replied, grinning as he showed her the ball containing Spice Cream.

“Nice work,” Persephone said, her sly smirk returning. “Now let’s head back down so we can find my special Pokemon.”

---

Axel was in an exceptionally good mood as he and his companions boarded the Maverick. Having found and captured the Pokemon he had seen in his dream, the mercenary was experiencing a bit of a high. His new Vanillish was going to bring his team to the next level. He could feel it.

“You’re back,” Cyrus observed as they all passed him by in the corridor on the way to the med bay to heal up their Pokemon. “Find that dream ice cream cone of yours?”

“You bet your ass I did, Captain,” Axel told him.

“Huh. I’m impressed. I didn’t actually think you’d find anything up there.”

“You just don’t have enough faith in me, Captain,” Axel replied, grinning.

“It’s your dreams that I don’t have faith in,” Cyrus teased.

“Whatever you say, boss.”

“So,, you ready to get off this rock?”

“Not yet,” Axel said. “After we heal our Pokemon up, we’re gonna head down into the swamp. Persephone here still needs to find the Pokemon she came here for.”

“Some of us are heading into the swamp, anyway,” Taraka chimed in. “I need a rest.”

“Okay, the rest of us are going to head into the swamp, then,” Axel said. “Care to join us, Captain?”

“I’ll pass,” Cyrus replied. “I’ve had my share of swamps for a long time. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“You sure, boss?” Axel asked. “What are the odds of you falling into a murky swamp pit a second time?”

“I’m good.”

“I’ll join you guys,” Kasey said, poking her head out of the workshop. “I finally finished getting all my equipment set up.”

“Great!” Persephone said. “If the Pokemon of this world are as powerful as I’ve been told, we could use an extra helping hand.”

“I’m up for it,” Kasey said. “I don’t have any Pokeballs, though.”

“Here, take these,” Cyrus said, pulling a few Pokeballs out of his pocket. “I can spare a few.”

“Are you sure?” Kasey asked.

“It’s not a problem,” the captain told her as he handed her the balls. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright then, let’s get going!” Axel said enthusiastically.

“We need to heal our Pokemon first,” Gaster said.

“Oh, right.”

---

Steam and smoke clouded the air as Axel, Gaster, Kasey, and Persephone made their way through the swamplands of Pyraxia. These fumes, a result of surface lava flows meeting the swamp water, stung the eyes of the group and the smell of burning plant matter was truly awful. Persephone certainly hadn’t been kidding when she had described these swamps as vile. Axel didn’t mind, though. He was determined to press on and help Persephone find what she was looking for.

As they pressed further on, Axel began to hear feral grunts and loud splashes in the waters up ahead. The mercenary paused and turned to look at his companions. “Do you here that?” he asked.

“Sounds like a battle,” Gaster said.

“A struggle between wild Pokemon, I’d wager,” Persephone said.

“Let’s find out,” Axel said before moving ahead.

Drawing nearer to the sound of the commotion, Axel began to make out two figures duking it out through the clouded air. Inching a bit closer, it became clear that he was looking at a territorial dispute between two Feraligatrs. One was quite ordinary looking, while the other’s scales were bright red with bands of dark gray and its back spikes were a vivid yellow shade. Flames emanated from its mouth as it sank its sharp teeth into the other.

“I’ve never seen a Feraligatr like that before,” Gaster commented, walking up beside Axel.

“You’d be surprised what kind of unique variants you can find on a planet like this,” Persephone said. “Hostile environments like this force them to adapt over time.

“Well what are we waiting for?” Axel asked. “Let’s catch ‘em!” With that, the mercenary threw out two Pokeballs, releasing his Lucio and his newly captured Vanillish. “Alright, Spice Cream, show me what you’ve got! Hit ‘em with Icy Wind! Krieg, you get the blue one with Spark!”

As Axel’s Pokemon did their work, both striking their targets, the others sent out their Pokemon. Kasey sent out a Fraxure and Gaster sent out his Gloom, but Persephone simply hung back and watched.

“Huntress, hit that one with False Swipe!” Kasey commanded her Fraxure, directing her after the regular Feraligatr. The dragon Pokemon acted swiftly, and moved in to strike with a carefully placed swipe of her claws.

Clearly angered by the sudden onslaught, the blue-colored Feraligatr let out a roar, then swept its mighty tail across its attackers. The red Feraligatr maneuvered out of the way, but Axel and Kasey’s Pokemon took the full force of the hit. Having avoided the attack, the red Feraligatr struck back by spitting out a jet of flame at the other one, which dove down into the swamp to avoid.

“Ficus, use Stun Spore!” Gaster commanded his Gloom as the Feraligatr reemerged from the water. Before it could strike again, the Feraligatr was coated in a powder that left it stunned and immobilized.

“Quick, hit it with False Swipe again!” Kasey ordered, seizing upon the opportunity Gaster had provided. As her Fraxure landed another careful precision strike, Kasey readied a Pokeball. As soon as she had a clear shot, she threw it fast and true. The Feraligatr was pulled inside the ball, which fell still in the water below.

With its enemy having suddenly vanished, the remaining Feraligatr looked around in confusion. Before it could zero in on a new target, Axel ordered his Pokemon to attack. “Krieg, Bite! Spice Cream, Ember!” Finding itself under assault, the Feraligatr lashed out at the nearest Pokemon, narrowly missing Krieg with its fiery jaws.

“Ficus, use Sleep Powder and knock it out!” Gaster commanded his Gloom. Unlike the other Feraligatr, this one avoided the burst of powder that was sent its way, but it dropped its guard in the process.

“Huntress, False Swipe!” Kasey commanded, quickly seizing upon the opening. Her Fraxure found her mark, landing a decisive hit, then nimbly avoided the fiery counterattack that came in response.

“Now, Stun Spore!” Gaster shouted. This time, the Feraligatr didn’t see the attack coming and was left stunned just like the other had been. Axel wasted no time and tossed a Pokeball. One tense second later, the Feraligatr was successfully trapped within the ball.

“How’d you like that, Persephone?” Axel asked as he walked over to claim his prize. As he fished the ball out of the water, the mercenary lost his footing in the slick mud and nearly tumbled headfirst into the swap. “Woah,” he gasped as he leaned back in an attempt to regain his balance. Unfortunately, he ended up falling back onto his rear end on the muddy ground instead.

“I’m quite impressed, Axel,” Persephone said, bursting out into laughter.

Axel maintained his calm exterior, but inside he was jumping for joy that he seemed to be endearing himself to Persephone despite having just made a complete fool of himself. He’d never had such luck with a woman before.

“Maybe be a little more careful, though,” Persephone said as she offered a hand to help him up.

“Good idea,” Axel said as he got to his feet. “So where to next?”

“How about that cave over there?” Gaster said.

“What cave?” Kasey asked, looking around.

“The cave right there,” Gaster said. Axel looked to where the former smuggler was pointing and, sure enough, there was a small cave entrance just a short distance from the edge of the water.

“Oh, that cave,” Kasey said. “I totally saw that cave. Yup. Definitely didn’t miss it.”

“Looks promising,” Persephone said, taking a step toward the cave. “Let’s check it out.”

---

Axel could feel the temperature rising as he and his companions descended further and further through the winding network of underground tunnels they found themselves in. After what seemed like hours, Axel began to see a faint glow up ahead. Before long, the narrow tunnel had given way to a large open chamber. The mercenary soon found himself standing upon a narrow bridge formed naturally from the rock of the cave that led between two large lava pools.

“Magnificent,” Persephone said in awe as she stepped ahead of Axel to get a better view. “I’m sure there are many fire Pokemon to be found here.”

“Well then, let’s lure ‘em out!” Axel shouted before throwing out the Pokeball containing his Charizard.

“Let’s get off this bridge first, maybe,” Gaster said, pointing to the large space of open ground on the other side.

“Ritsu, use Sunny Day!” Axel commanded his Pokemon. The mercenary’s Charizard proceeded to spit out a large artificial sun of flames high above, illuminating all the dark corners of the cavern.

Almost immediately, a loud roar echoed throughout the chamber. Axel gripped his flamethrower with anticipation as he looked around to see what had made the noise.

“Or not,” Gaster said, reaching for a Pokeball of his own just as another roar sounded from a different direction. He quickly released his Tyranitar, which prompted Kasey and Persephone to send out Pokemon of their own: Tyrunt and Blaziken.

As the group began to make their way off the bridge toward safer ground, a large form rose up from the lava. Turning his head to see the shape in his peripheral vision, Axel was greeted by the sight of a Gyarados with radiant red scales. Before the awe-inspiring aura of this beast truly set in, another form arose from the lava pool on the opposite side of the bridge. This one was a Dragalge of a deep crimson hue.

Axel stopped in his tracks to gaze upon the beauty of these two creatures while the others continued to make for the end of the bridge. He soon counted himself lucky, as they all nearly tripped over a Magcargo that had wandered into their path. As if that wasn’t enough, a third large Pokemon appeared, swooping down from above and spewing fire from its mouth. Axel quickly determined that this newcomer was a Flygon, but it wasn’t just any Flygon; this majestic Pokemon’s body was a bright yellowish-green, highlighted by beautiful bands of orange and bright blue.

Letting out a defiant roar, Ritsu swooped in to engage the Flygon. However, the Charizard was shot out of the air by a beam of draconic energy from the mouth of the Gyarados. “Come back, Ritsu!” Axel called out, recalling his Charizard to her ball. She wouldn’t be much use against these Pokemon, so there was no point in risking her safety. He then grabbed the ball containing his Alakazam and sent him out. “You’re up, Ryner!”

Meanwhile, Gaster and Kasey opened fire on the Flygon circling above them, forcing it to fly lower. “Basan, use Flame Burst!” Persephone commanded her Blaziken, seizing upon the opportunity. Unfortunately, the Flygon was able to adeptly maneuver through the air and avoid the jet of flame the Blaziken sent its way. It then fired back a response, unleashing a violent inferno of flames, but Persephone’s Pokemon was dodgy too, and jumped out of the way of the attack.

As for Kasey, she had her Pokemon go after the Magcargo. “Baroness, Bite that thing!” she commanded her Tyrunt. As the Tyrunt moved in to gnaw on her target, the Magcargo hardened its shell in preparation for the incoming attack.

“Not a bad idea,” Axel said to himself. The Magcargo’s defensive reaction reminded the mercenary that he, as well as his companions, would do well to have some protection of their own. Usually that duty fell upon Taraka, but he had opted not to join them. “Ryner, use Reflect!” Axel commanded his Alakazam.

“Smart move,” Gaster said as Axel’s Pokemon threw up a protective barrier around the group. “Now let’s focus on striking hard. Hrodulf, Thrash that Dragalge!” Heeding the command of his trainer, Gaster’s Tyranitar approached the edge of the Dragalge’s lava pool and proceeded to slam his weight against the lava dragon, which by now was right at the edge of its domain. The Dragalge responded by spewing out a mass of noxious sludge. The Tyranitar let out a ferocious roar of rage as the nasty toxins sank in through his rough and rocky hide.

Turning his attention back to the Gyarados, Axel saw that it had moved much closer while the group’s focus had been elsewhere. “Look out!” the mercenary called out, seeing the Pokemon was preparing to unleash other attack. He had just enough time to get out of the way as a twister tore its way across the rock bridge, but his warning came too late for Gaster and his Tyranitar. Gaster, fortunately was able to maintain his footing and avoided being swept into the lava. The former smuggler was quick to return fire, pelting the Gyarados with a volley of laser fire. He then was quick to move further away from the bridge and the two lava pools, and Axel followed close behind him.

“Basan, High Jump Kick!” Axel heard Persephone command as he and Gaster joined up with her and Kasey. He watched as her Blaziken leapt into the air and struck the Flygon dead on, dropping it to the ground. As Persephone’s Pokemon came in for a landing, the Flygon shot some flames up at him, but with a stunning feat of aerial acrobatics, the Blaziken rolled itself out of the way.

“Baroness, get in there and Bite it!” Kasey then commanded her own Pokemon. Her Tyrunt swiftly moved in and sank her fangs in while the Flygon attempted to get back up, keeping it from flying away.

“Careful now,” Persephone warned. “It’s looking quite hurt now and we don’t want to risk knocking it out.”

“Right,” Kasey said, nodding in agreement. “I know just what to do.” With that, she recalled her Tyrunt and sent her Fraxure out once more.

The two women seemed to have the Flygon under control, and the Magcargo was still hiding in its shell, so Axel turned his attention back to the more imminent threats, as did Gaster. “Hrodulf, hit that Dragalge with Payback!” the former smuggler commanded his Tyranitar. His enraged Pokemon struck back at the Dragalge, only to be repaid with a burst of flames to the face.

“Seems like we need to weaken it some more before we can catch it,” Axel said to his crewmate. “Ryner, blast it with Psybeam!” His Alakazam fired off a beam of psychic energy, which struck the Dragalge dead on, knocking it out. “Oops,” Axel said as the Pokemon sank back into the lava.

Gaster simply shrugged at the mercenary. “I didn’t really want it that much, to be honest,” he said, recalling his Tyranitar. “I’ll catch one of the others instead.”

“Well that Gyarados is mine,” Axel said.

“Alright, then I’ll go for the Flygon,” Gaster said, before looking over to see how Kasey and Persephone were handling things. “… Or not.” Axel glanced over just in time to see Persephone throw a Pokeball at the Flygon and capture it.

“There’s always the Magcargo,” Axel chuckled, pointing to the lava snail, which was currently spitting flames at Kasey’s Fraxure.

“I suppose,” Gaster said before releasing his Cinccino. “Let’s go get it, Lulabelle.”

“Now it’s just you and me,” Axel said, turning back to the Gyarados. The lava serpent roared back, then unleashed a tide of flames at the mercenary’s Alakazam.

“Dodge it, Ryner!” Axel called out. “Then fire back with Psybeam!” With his telepathic abilities, the Alakazam was easily able to deduce a path through the flames and line up an attack angle.

As the psychic beam found its mark, Axel pulled out a Pokeball and threw it at the Gyarados. Unfortunately for Axel, the serpent slapped the ball away with its tail, sending it careening into the lava. It then lunged at the mercenary, snapping at him with its fiery fangs. Axel dove out of the way just in time, and then the Gyarados lunged at him again only to be driven back by a volley of gunfire.

Axel rolled onto his back and saw Kasey unloading her pistol at the Gyarados. “Huntress, False Swipe!” she commanded her Fraxure without breaking eye contact with the beast.

Kasey was soon joined by Gaster and Persephone and their Pokemon. I guess they dealt with that Magcargo, Axel thought as the two commanded their Pokemon to attack. The Gyarados was soon left dazed and immobilized by a Confuse Ray Thunder Wave combo at the hands of Persephone’s Chandelure and Gaster’s Cinccino.

“Let’s try this again,” Axel said as he got back on his feet. He pulled out another Pokeball and threw it as hard as he could. This time, the Gyarados was pulled inside, but it quickly broke free. “Damn it!”

Enraged and violently thrashing around, the Gyarados swept its tail across the ground where its attackers stood. Thankfully, by some miracle, it missed every single one of them.

“Huntress, False Swipe again!” Kasey quickly ordered her Fraxure. The dragon Pokemon went in for another non-lethal strike, and found her mark. “Now, go for the capture!” Kasey shouted.

“You got it!” Axel replied. He pulled out another Pokeball and let it rip. Once more, the Gyarados was pulled inside a Pokeball, which came to a landing on the rocky ground. The ball shook violently for several seconds before finally falling still. The serpent was captured.

“What a truly magnificent beast,” Persephone said as Axel walked over to claim his prize. “It’s a shame I couldn’t capture it myself, but I captured my own rare fire type today, so I can’t complain. Thank you all for helping me with that.”

“It was my pleasure, Persephone,” Axel said, a big grin on his face. “Anything for a woman like you.”

“Oh really now?” Persephone asked, that sly smirk of hers on her face once more. “Perhaps a little reward is in order when we get back to your ship.” With a wink, she turned and began making her way to the cavern’s exit, her Chandelure floating along behind her.

---

Notes: This was a bit of a difficult chapter to write. To start things off, we have the remainder of Session 26’s events, and then the events of Session 27. I ended up forgetting to turn off the recording after that session ended and shut off my computer for the night later on, causing the recording to be lost. As soon as I realized what had happened the next morning, I immediately wrote down everything I remembered for reference when it came time to write. At the time I had no idea it’d be over a year before it was time to do so, and with so much time having passed, had some trouble writing those parts, but I’m still very satisfied with how it turned out.

Pyraxia was a fun planet to conceptualize. I just started with volcanic as one of its biomes and then DragonStorm and I came up with some neat details like exploding clouds. Then, to make it really interesting, I used my planet generator to add another layer to it. It spit out swamp and mountain for biomes and dragon for the type, which actually proved to be perfect for what DragonStorm and I had in mind. A snowy mountain provided an opportunity to give Axel a chance at finally catching the fire shifted Vanillite he’d been wanting, which turned out to be a Vanillish because of how good the roll was. A volcanic swamp provided some fantastic imagery, plus it provided an opportunity to use this red Feraligatr art that DragonStorm found. To make that particular encounter interesting, I threw in a regular Feraligatr to play off the fire meets water vibe of a volcanic swamp. Combining that with having dragon Pokemon on this planet, it allowed some cool type shifts to appear. Dragalge was an obvious choice for a swampy planet, but throwing it into the lava pool was a fun twist. The Gyarados was a fun one too, because I knew Axel really wanted a Gyarados and that type shifting it would make it very enticing for him as a means of making sure Persephone caught her special rare fire type. It was a double type shifted fire/dragon Gyarados, an idea I got from a similar one that appeared in a campaign The Other Guy GMed. I made it my own though. The Flygon was actually something I caught as Persephone in the campaign she was my character in that was fire shifted. When I rolled dragon for Pyraxia I knew it made perfect sense that it be the rare Pokemon she would capture. The plan was for her to capture the Gyarados and offer it for trade if someone else caught the Flygon, but that became unnecessary.

As Axel had to leave a little early at the end of Session 26, we ended that session early after the Vanillish battle and planned to cover the rest of Pyraxia the following session. As I now had a full session to devote to the planet, I expanded the scope of it. Session 27 was the first time I really experimented with planned wild Pokemon encounters outside of a dungeon in which I built all the Pokemon. It was fun to come up with concepts like the Feraligatr territory dispute and the cave of type shifts that made it different from what the players usually got when looking for wilds.

As this was split across two sessions, each half of this chapter has a different roster. Alec was out for Session 26, but he made it for Session 27. However, Novi ended up running super late for Session 27 and told us to start without him. He didn’t make it until we were just wrapping up the fight in the cave, so Taraka didn’t make an appearance.

There were also a few funny moments in these sessions too. Axel attempted to flirt with Persephone a lot, but his charm is so low that he rolled awful a lot of the time. Each time he managed to succeed, I added a bonus of 1 to future rolls that would accumulate over time. He still rolled awful though, making his character come off as a lovable idiot whose antics endeared him to the woman he was pursuing. It was amusing all around. Then, in the swamp, Alec rolled so awful on perception that Kasey totally missed seeing the cave, providing all of us with some laughs. Then there was Axel literally aggroing the entire cave. Good times.

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Post-Chapter Challenge: So by this point, you’ve met all the player characters. That means you are familiar with the entire Maverick crew. As I don’t have a good challenge based on this chapter, let’s revisit one we did for the original campaign. It’s casting time. Here’s the pitch: Spacemon: Frontier is being adapted into a live-action series and it’s up to you to cast the major characters! Who do you think should play the members of the Maverick’s crew? Pick any actor you want, no matter how famous. For the purpose of this challenge, let’s stick to the PCs and the NPC members of the crew. We’ll do one for all the other characters closer to the end of the series. So, let’s cast Ace, Anya, Axel, Cyrus, Erik, Gaster, Kacey, Rolland, and Taraka! I’m curious to see who you think could play these characters best.

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That does it for this chapter. As always the Spacemon gang and I will be monitoring the comments to foster discussion and answer any questions. Feel free to give feedback and critiques of the writing so I can improve it for the future, or just leave a comment with what you think about what went down in this chapter or what you think might happen next! You can also revisit past chapters, check out the rest of the Spacemon saga, join the Spacemon Discord server, or like our Facebook page to stay updated on all things Spacemon! Click here for the next exciting installment of Spacemon: Frontier!