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!
“Now this is a nice planet,” Gaster said as he stepped onto the landing pad at the Fortuna spaceport. From the platform, suspended over the cliffside, he could see for miles over the treetops of the jungle below all the way out to the ocean.
“Enjoy it while you can,” Cyrus said, walking up behind the former smuggler. “You’ve all got a few hours of shore leave before we get down to business.”
“Are you up for another Pokemon search, Gaster?” Taraka asked.
“Sure, why not?” Gaster said. “Got any particular spot in mind this time?”
Taraka nodded. “I know a place.”
“This is a nice little piece of nature,” Gaster said as he looked out across the lake.
“Indeed,” Taraka said to his crewmate. “I’ve been here before. This is where I released the Pokemon of a monk who had been killed by our assassin friend. Isn’t it curious that we are on this world because of her once again?”
“Funny how things work out like that,” Gaster said. “Now, let’s see what Pokemon we can find here.”
“Right,” Taraka said. “Follow me.”
With his recently caught Sentret scurrying along beside him, Taraka led his crewmate off the path and into the jungle underbrush, then down a slope that brought them out of the foliage onto the beach below the steep rock face they had been standing at the top of just moments ago. From here, the pair walked along the lake shore until they came across some Pokemon.
Taraka spotted them from a ways off: a Machamp and a Hariyama wrestling with each other. As he and Gaster carefully approached, Gaster pointed out a few more Pokemon lurking on the edge of the treeline, a Scrafty, a Hitmontop, and a Toxicroak. Before the crewmates could discuss which Pokemon they wanted to capture, a Pangoro wandered out of the trees. When the large Pokemon spotted the pair, it turned to face them and snarled at them.
“I want it!” Taraka exclaimed. A Pangoro was just the sort of Pokemon he was looking for.
“Got it,” Gaster replied. He quickly released his Salandit, then drew his rifle. “Sakuya, use Ember!” the former smuggler commanded his Pokemon.
“Gen Fu, give a Helping Hand!” Taraka instructed his own Pokemon. The monk’s Sentret cheered Gaster’s Salandit on as she ran up and spat some fire at the Pangoro. Unfortunately, the daunting Pokemon dodged the attack.
“Look out, Sakuya!” Gaster shouted as the Pangoro reared back as it prepared to strike back. The former smuggler’s Salandit skittered out of the way just as the Pangoro brought its arm down. The Pokemon’s fist struck the ground where Sakuya had been seconds prior, sending wet sand flying in all directions.
“Time to get serious,” Taraka said before recalling his Sentret. The monk then sent out his Togekiss and threw up a psionic barrier.
It was just in time too, because the commotion caused the Hariyama and the Machamp to stop their wrestling match and turn toward them. Apparently seeing the two Humans as a threat, the two fighting Pokemon took up offensive stances and began to move in. As they approached, the Hariyama drummed on its belly, amping itself up to attack and rallying the other nearby Pokemon to join in.
“Shit!” Gaster cursed as the Scrafty jumped into the fray and struck his Salandit with its fist. The former smuggler raised his rifle, then fired off a series of short, controlled bursts of laser fire, first at the Scrafty, then at the Hariyama, and finally, the Machamp. The first two Pokemon were brought down instantly, while the Machamp managed to stay standing. With an angry look in its eyes, the four-armed Pokemon continued to approach.
The Toxicroak attacked next, leaping out from the trees and striking Gaster, knocking him to the ground. The poisonous frog Pokemon then croaked angrily at the former smuggler, sending him into a daze.
“Sirius, use your Gentle Vibe on Gaster!” Taraka reacted quickly. The monk’s Togekiss flew over to Gaster and radiated out a healing aura, snapping him back to alertness.
“Sakuya, use Ember on that Machamp!” Gaster commanded his Salandit as he got back on his feet. Shifting targets to the approaching Machamp, Sakuya spit a jet of flame at it, burning its muscular body. Ignoring the Salandit, the Machamp ran past and right up to Gaster. The powerful Pokemon struck Gaster with two of its fists, then collapsed from its burns.
“Are you alright?” Taraka asked.
“I’m fine,” Gaster replied.
“Alright.”
Taraka nodded at his crewmate then turned back to the Pangoro. The monk blasted it with psionic energy, sending it into a daze, but only momentarily. The Pangoro quickly snapped out of it, then threw a punch at Taraka. Due to his keenly honed senses, Taraka was able to react quickly and dodge at the last second.
“Sirius, use Thunder Wave!” Taraka then called out to his Pokemon. The monk’s Togekiss swooped in and zapped the Pangoro with electricity, causing it to seize up and allowing Taraka to move away from it.
Meanwhile, the remaining two Pokemon were focusing on Gaster and his Salandit. The Hitmontop spun up to Sakuya and delivered three rapid kicks, doing a real number on her, while the Toxicroak continued to attack Gaster, landing a punch on the former smuggler.
“Sakuya, use Poison Gas!” Gaster commanded his Salandit as he backed away from his attacker. His poisonous fire lizard unleashed a cloud of equally poisonous gas upon the Hitmontop and the Toxicroak, leaving both gasping for air. Much like the Venonat on Harali, the Toxicroak seemed shaken by its predicament.
Taking advantage of the reprieve from the two Pokemon’s assault, Gaster recalled his injured Salandit, then sent out his Cinccino. “Lulabelle, use Thunder Wave!” the former smuggler commanded his newly released Pokemon. The Cinccino zapped the Toxicroak, immobilizing it.
Deciding to lend a hand, Taraka blasted the Hitmontop with a pulse of psionic energy, dazing it. The Hitmontop attempted to move out of the gas cloud and attack, but in its dazed state, it spun out of control and smacked itself in the face.
Just then, the Pangoro came charging at Taraka. It rapidly threw punches at the monk, but he managed to dodge most of them. Ignoring the pain of the two punches that found their mark, Taraka released a large burst of psionic energy, driving his assailant back.
“Lulabelle, use Sing!” Gaster shouted from behind Taraka. A piercing cry rang out and all three hostile Pokemon collapsed to the ground in a daze. Gaster then threw a Pokeball at the Toxicroak, but the capture failed.
“I guess we need to hurt them a bit more first,” Taraka said. “Sirius, use Dazzling Gleam!”
The monk’s Togekiss flew in and landed then shot out a beam of radiant light at the Hitmontop. The beam hit hard, awakening the Hitmontop, but it continued on through it and hit the Pangoro, knocking it out completely.
“Crap!” Taraka shouted.
“There’s always the Hitmontop,” Gaster said.
Taraka sighed and threw a ball at the Hitmontop before it regained its bearings, capturing it instantly.
“Lulabelle, use Encore!” Gaster commanded his Cinccino. Once Lulabelle had done her thing, the former smuggler threw another Pokeball at the Toxicroak, capturing it this time.
“Let’s get back to the ship,” Taraka grumbled once he’d collected his consolation prize.
“Yeah,” Gaster said. “That Toxicroak hit me pretty hard. I need to lie down.”
Notes: Alternate Title: The Pokemon Hunting Adventures of Gaster and Taraka, Part 5. This chapter covers the second half of session 40 where the two consistent players I had at the time went looking for Pokemon some more on Meridian. As we were still expecting the other two players to be showing up again soon there wasn’t much else to do. Despite the party having visited Meridian at several points earlier in the campaign, this was actually the first time they went looking for Pokemon on it. This bit initially took place on some random beach on the planet, but when I wrote it I decided to have it be the same place where Taraka had released the Pokemon of the monk that was killed when the party first encountered the monk hunting assassin. It’s a pretty simple chapter, but it has some neat narrative elements that I added to make it a bit more interesting.
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!
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