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!
Harsh sunlight bore down on the desert of the planet Sadore as the UAS Maverick came in for a landing. On the way to the planet Scintillia in Sector 24 to refuel and resupply after their latest delivery job, the ship’s crew had decided to stop on this uninhabited world to stretch their legs and look for Pokemon. It had only been a few days since their experience on Omen so the bright, wide open landscape seemed quite welcoming despite the heat. Once the Maverick touched down, Ace, Gaster, and Taraka set off to explore.
“So, where to?” Gaster asked his two companions.
“Maybe that way?” Taraka suggested, pointing off into the distance. “I think I see some Pokemon that way. Looks like some Miracti.”
“No, those are just regular cacti,” Ace said. Unlike his Human friends, the android could see clearly for a much greater distance. “I don’t see any Pokemon around here. We might have better luck closer to those mountains,” he continued, pointing toward the opposite direction.
Gaster nodded. The mountains looked to be no more than a few hours away on foot. “Works for me,” the former smuggler said.
Both Ace and Gaster’s assumptions proved to be correct. After only three hours of walking, the trio was well into the foothills of the mountains. It was a bit more sheltered from the elements here, making it much more suitable for Pokemon. Soon enough, they came across an Electrike and a Joltik.
“That Joltik could be useful on my team,” Gaster told his crewmates, sending out his Cacnea as he spoke.
“Then we shall help you capture it,” Taraka said, releasing his Litleo. “Let’s do it, Inanna.”
Ace nodded and sent out his Honedge as well. “Right.”
Identifying the three crewmates and their Pokemon as a potential threat, the Electrike let out a howl, warning them to stay away. It did little to deter them, however.
“Quill, hit that Joltik with Poison Sting!” Gaster commanded his Cacnea while his crewmates moved in on the Electrike. The Cactus Pokemon closed the distance to the electric bug and struck with a needle-covered arm. The Joltik then bit back, sinking its fangs into the Cacnea.
While Gaster dealt with the Joltik, his two crewmates’ Pokemon did a real number on the Electrike, leaving it open to a capture. “Let’s make a friend,” Taraka said, pulling out a Pokeball. The monk threw it at the Electrike, but the Lightning Pokemon dodged out of the way. It then charged at Taraka and tackled him whilst crackling with electric sparks.
Ace’s capture attempt proved to be far more successful. The android threw a ball of his own, capturing the Electrike instantly upon impact.
Gaster’s found success as well. After his Cacnea landed a second hit on the Joltik, the former smuggler lobbed a Great Ball at the tiny electric bug, nabbing himself a new Pokemon.
This little scuffle was also enough to give Quill and Inanna the extra push they needed to evolve. Both Pokemon began to glow and transform, becoming a Caturne and a Pyroar, respectively.
“Well, this turned out to be a successful ven—” Gaster started to say before cutting off as a shadow passed over the group. The former smuggler looked up to see a large bat-like silhouette flying far overhead. The Pokemon, whatever it was, appeared to be flying towards the summit of the nearest mountain.
“I want it,” Taraka said as the group watched the Pokemon ascending toward the mountaintop.
With a slight chuckle at the monk’s reaction, Gaster turned to him and said, “well then let’s get moving.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance as the three members of the Maverick’s crew made their way up the mountainside. Gaster looked out over the desert, spotting massive black clouds rolling in, flashing with lightning.
“Looks like an electrical storm is coming in,” the former smuggler commented to his companions. “A big one, by the looks of it, and it’s coming in fast.”
“What should we do?” Ace asked. “Should we head back?”
Gaster shook his head. “We’re too far up this mountain now,” he replied. “It’ll be over us before we reach the bottom and we definitely don’t want to walk back to the Maverick in this weather. The risk of being struck by lighting is too high on such flat, open ground. Our best bet is to find some shelter in the rocks here and wait for the storm to pass.”
“Good idea,” Taraka agreed. “Let’s all keep an eye out.”
As it turned out, the trio didn’t have to look very far to find shelter. After climbing the mountain only a short distance further, they came across a cave entrance nestled between the rocks. It was not a moment too soon either. The sun vanished behind the black clouds as they made their way into the dark cave.
“That was close,” Gaster said, taking one last peek outside.
Taraka nodded. “Indeed.”
“So what now?” Ace asked. “Do we just stay here and wait? It looks like this cave goes deeper into the mountain. Might be worth checking out.”
“Sure,” Gaster replied. “It beats sitting around.”
“Agreed,” Taraka said. “But we need some light.” The monk then proceeded to send out his Zebstrika. “Alright, Blitz, light our way,” he told the Pokemon.
As the three members of the Maverick’s crew made their way further and further into the cave, it seemed more and more that they were gradually traveling upwards. Gaster was surprised how far this tunnel had led them. At this rate, it was seeming that it might lead them all the way to the top of the mountain from the inside.
Suddenly, the three crewmates were stopped by a round object dropping from the ceiling. It was followed by a second and then a third. “Geodudes,” Gaster said, identifying the Pokemon that now stood in their way. By their silver hue, the former smuggler could tell they were the magnetic variant of the species. “Anyone want one?”
“Not really,” Ace said. “I have a Graveler already.”
“I’ll take one,” Taraka said.
“Alright, so we’ll only knock two out,” Gaster said as he aimed his laser rifle. After lining up a shot, he pulled the trigger, dropping some serious hurt on one of the Geodudes. He then grabbed Quill’s Pokeball off his belt and sent the Cacturne back out.
“Quill, use Ingrain and then hit that one with Absorb!” the former smuggler commanded, directing his Pokemon he had just shot. The Scarecrow Pokemon’s super-effective attack did a real number on Geodude, but it miraculously managed to weather the blow.
Meanwhile, Taraka sent out his Binacle and Ace activated his laser sword and drew his Honedge. Taraka had his Pokemon attack one of the other Geodudes, then Ace followed up with two strikes, one from each blade.
In response, the three Geodudes started chucking rocks at their assailants, landing hits on Cacturne and Zebstrika. Though he was out of the Geodudes’ effective range, the barrage of rocks made it impossible for Gaster to line up a shot. He was, however, able to get a Pokeball through, capturing the one that he and his Pokemon had severely damaged. He didn’t particularly want the Geodude, but it was better to get it out of the way.
Keeping his focus on the one that he and Ace were attacking, Taraka burned it with a psionic flame, then commanded his Binacle to attack again, “Knackles, use Mud-Slap!” Ace then followed up the attack with a slash of his Honedge.
The two of them seemed to have that Geodude under control, so Gaster turned his attention to the third and final one. “Quill, use Poison Sting on that one,” the former smuggler commanded his Cacturne. Not seeming particularly bothered by the attack, the Geodude struck back with a Thunder Punch. Thankfully, Quill resisted the attack. The same could not be said for Taraka’s Binacle, which took a super effective Thunder Punch from the other Geodude. Ace quickly dispatched that one with his laser sword to keep it from taking Knackles down.
Deciding to keep his Binnacle back, Taraka commanded his Zebstrika to attack the last remaining Geodude instead, “Blitz, use Spark!” Once the Zebstrika made her attack, Gaster shot the Geodude with his rifle, then Taraka threw a Pokeball at it, capturing it.
With another victory came more Pokemon evolutions. This time it was Knackles and Sentinel’s turn, evolving into a Barbaracle and a Doublade, respectively.
“This is some pretty good training,” Gaster commented as he lowered his rifle.
“Yeah,” Ace agreed, gripping both of Sentinel’s blades in his hands. “But what do we do now? The storm might have passed by now. Should we go back or keep going and see where this tunnel goes?”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Taraka said.
“I say we keep going,” Gaster said, nodding in agreement. “As long as we’re careful.”
After a few more hours of following the winding tunnel, gradually going up as they went, the trio of explorers soon found themselves stepping out into a huge open cavern. The tunnel opened up right at the edge of a cliff over a pit that seemed to stretch all the way down into the bowels of the mountain. In the black abyss, it was impossible to tell just how deep the drop was.
“And this is why I said we should be careful,” Gaster said as he peered over the ledge.
Gazing around the room, the former smuggler noticed the ledge continued along the right-hand side of the cavern wall. Though it narrowed a considerable amount, it looked to be safe enough. “This way,” he waved his crewmates over.
“That looks a bit dangerous,” Ace said. “I think I’ll get my Carnivine out, just in case.”
“Good idea,” Gaster replied.
After sending out his Pokemon, Ace stepped out onto the narrow portion of the ledge. Once the android had proceeded a good way with no trouble, Gaster followed him with Taraka close behind. Unlike their mechanical crewmate, the two of them had a bit more trouble crossing, finding difficulty locating good handholds. By the time Ace reached the point where the ledge widened, they had only made it halfway.
As they slowly made their way across, Gaster suddenly felt the section of rock he was gripping break away from the cavern wall. His footing began to slip as the cliff face between him and Taraka fell away. The monk managed to grab onto a different section of the wall just in time, but the former smuggler was not so lucky. He let out a surprised shout as he felt himself enter free fall.
“Venus, grab him!” Ace’s voice rang out over the sound of tumbling rocks.
Just as quickly as he had begun to fall, Gaster felt himself jerk to a stop as vines wrapped around him. He breathed out a sigh of relief as Ace’s Carnivine pulled him up onto the wider section of the ledge.
“Thanks,” Gaster said as Ace helped him to his feet. “I owe you one, or maybe two.”
Ace shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything. What are friends for, after all?”
“I fucking hate the desert,” Gaster continued as he dusted himself off. “Even inside this mountain it’s trying to kill me.”
Ace simply laughed. “I don’t know about that.”
Once Taraka made it across to join them, the three crewmates got on their way. The path continued to widen as it began to lead them up and up, winding along the wall of the cavern. Eventually, they reached another tunnel that kept leading up. Before long, the trio could see daylight.
Picking up their pace a little, they soon emerged into a narrow chasm on a small ledge. Gazing upwards, Gaster could see dark clouds overhead. Thunder still rumbled in the distance, but the flash of lightning was noticeably absent.
“Well I don’t know exactly where we are, but we must be much higher up the mountain now,” the former smuggler said to his crewmates. “I bet we can climb up from here … or maybe fly.”
“I don’t have my Aerodactyl on me, but my Tangrowth can pull us up,” Taraka replied.
Gaster nodded. “Go for it.”
Thankfully, the ledge had just enough room for the monk to release his Pokemon. “Roma, climb on up and then pull us out of here,” he instructed the Tangrowth once she emerged from her ball.
With her strong vine arms, Roma swiftly climbed up to the top of the chasm, disappearing over the top of the ledge. Moments later, the Tangrowths vine arms extended all the way down to the three members of the Maverick’s crew. All three of them grabbed on, then Roma pulled them up.
Regaining his bearings, Gaster took a look around. He quickly confirmed that he had been correct and they were indeed much higher up the mountain. They now found themselves standing on a flat plateau relatively close to the summit, which was now in clear view. From here, it wouldn’t take long to reach it.
A smirk formed on Gaster’s face. “I think we just took a huge shortcut.”
A piercing cry rang out as the three members of the Maverick’s crew reached the summit of the mountain. Perched atop a tall, jagged rock before them was a large, bright yellow and blue Noivern. Electricity sparked along the Pokemon’s body as it gazed down at them. Instinctively, Gaster reached for one of his Pokeballs and sent out his Typhlosion alongside Taraka’s Tangrowth, which was still out. The former smuggler was joined by Ace, who sent out his Delphox.
With another powerful cry, the Noivern flapped its wings and took to the sky. Hovering above the trespassers of its territory, the Sound Wave Pokemon breathed out a beam of draconic energy, striking Taraka’s Tangrowth with the powerful attack.
“It’s an aggressive one,” Gaster commented to his crewmates as he raised his rifle. “Rusty, drop a Smokescreen on us!” he then commanded his Pokemon. The Typhlosion complied, releasing a cloud of smoke around himself and his trainer. Taking aim through the smoke, Gaster fired at the Noivern, but the dragon Pokemon managed to dodge the shot with an adept aerial maneuver.
Swooping down over the smoke cloud, the Noivern began discharging electrical energy. The three Maverick crewmates and their Pokemon dove for cover as arcs of electricity rained down on them. By some stroke of luck, they all came out unscathed.
“Blaze, Mystical Fire!” Ace commanded his Delphox as Taraka threw up a psionic barrier around them.
“Roma, use Giga Drain!” the monk then joined in.
The Noivern managed to dodge past the Tangrowth’s attack, but it couldn’t get away from the Delphox’s. With a screech of pain, the electric dragon turned around and came back for another pass, draconic energy building up in its mouth. As it flew in low overhead, Ace jumped up and slashed at its underbelly, causing its Dragon Pulse attack to go wide, narrowly missing Roma.
Crying out again, the Noivern flew up out of reach and started furiously flapping its wings. Storm clouds began to swirl around the Pokemon, violently shooting off lightning bolts as they circled. These electric clouds then erupted outwards at the Noivern’s foes, nearly sweeping them off their feet. Gaster was the only one fortunate enough to avoid the attack, having just enough time to dive out of the way before it reached him.
After rolling into a kneeling position, Gaster aimed his rifle at the Noivern and fired off a few shots. “Rusty, use Toxic!” he then followed up with a command. As the former smuggler got back to his feet, his Typhlosion shot out a burst of toxic smoke at the Noivern, badly poisoning the Pokemon.
“Blaze, Fire Spin!” Ace then commanded his own Pokemon. The android’s Delphox waved his wand, conjuring up a flaming tornado, which he sent flying at the Noivern. Unfortunately, the dragon Pokemon rolled out of the way of the attack.
Diving down, the Noivern began discharging electricity from its body. Arcs of lightning shot out at Ace, Blaze, and Roma that, while mitigated by Taraka’s barrier, still did a real number on them. Ace and his Delphox managed to stay standing, but the attack brought the Tangrowth down.
Propelling itself skyward with several flaps of its powerful wings, the Noivern avoided the blade of Ace’s laser sword as the android took a swing at it, and was soon out of reach again. From its vantage point, the Sound Wave Pokemon shot another Dragon Pulse at Gaster’s Typhlosion, then it sent a Thunderbolt flying down at Ace’s Delphox. Blaze was able to dodge the attack meant for him, but Rusty was not as lucky.
With his Typhlosion left badly injured, Gaster had no choice but to recall the Pokemon and send out another. “Jimothy, use Sand Tomb!” the former smuggler barked as he released his Krookodile. As he emerged, Jimothy let loose a powerful spinning vortex of sand that fully enveloped the Noivern. Normally, Noiverns were immune to such attacks, but this electric variant was quite vulnerable to it. It screeched in pain as it was battered by the sands.
While the Noivern remained trapped in the sand vortex, Taraka took the time to recall his fainted Tangrowth and send out his Zebstrika. Ace, meanwhile, commanded his Pokemon to attack, “Blaze, Mystical Fire!”
A fiery explosion erupted out from the sand vortex as the Delphox made his attack, followed by a shriek of rage and pain. Seconds later, a Dragon Pulse attack wildly arced across the sky as the Noivern flailed around. The beam of draconic energy cut through the spinning sand, allowing the Noivern to escape. It quickly barrelled across the rocks at Jimothy, then sank its fangs into the Krookodile. Gaster responded with a volley of laser fire, driving the Noivern back from his Pokemon.
Letting out a loud shriek, the Noivern rapidly ascended into the air. It then dove down, descending at incredible speed. Swooping down over everyone, the electric dragon swiped at them with its claws, landing blows on Gaster and his Krookodile as well as Ace’s Delphox and Taraka. Gaster grunted in pain as the sharp claws cut through his coat.
“Blaze, Fire Spin!” Ace commanded as the Noivern turned for a second pass. The android’s Delphox shot off a fiery tornado at the Noivern, forcing it to instead land as it was swallowed in another vortex. While the beast was vulnerable, Ace rushed in and slashed at it with his laser sword.
Reeling from the blow, the Noivern let loose a deafening cry. A devastating pressure wave exploded out in all directions, dispelling the flames and sending Ace and Gaster’s Krookodile flying backwards. Ace managed to land back on his feet, but Jimothy was down for the count.
“Damn,” Gaster grunted as he recalled his fainted Pokemon. While the former smuggler sent out his next Pokemon, his two crewmates ordered their Pokemon to attack.
“Blitz, use Flame Charge!”
“Blaze, Mystical Fire!”
Gaster tried to line up a shot on the Noivern during the fiery assault, but it was too difficult to get a good angle. Fighting through the smoke and flames, the Noivern rushed forward, summoning more electric storm clouds around itself. Lightning arced off in all directions, striking all within distance. Taraka’s Zebstrika was immune to the attack and Ace deflected it with his shield, but the android’s Delphox along with Gaster’s freshly sent out Parasect took a direct hit. The Parasect was resistant to the lightning, but the Delphox finally went down.
As the Noivern shot back up into the sky, Ace took the time to recall his fainted Pokemon and send out his next. Releasing his Doublade, the android grabbed both hilts and struck up his combat stance once more. He was just in time too, as the Noivern soon came diving back down.
The electric dragon swooped overhead, sending the three compatriots diving out of harm’s way. Miraculously, Gaster’s Parasect was the only one to be hit, and the Mushroom Pokemon somehow managed to withstand the hit.
“Blitz, use Flame Charge again!” Taraka ordered as the Noivern came in for a landing. The monk’s Zebstrika charged the dragon, but the beast blasted her with a Dragon Pulse, forcing her to divert. It then erupted with another electrical discharge, zapping the Parasect again.
“Jaques, get out of there and use Stun Spore!” Gaster commanded his Pokemon as he got to his feet. Moving as fast as possible, the Parasect escaped in a cloud of paralyzing spores, but the Noivern was unaffected. The electric dragon fired back with a Dragon Pulse, but it was unable to land a clean hit through the cloud.
Meanwhile, having managed to heal his Zebstrika, Taraka commanded the Pokemon to attack, “Blitz, use Shock Wave!”
The Zebstrika’s attack appeared to do little more than further anger the Noivern. With a deafening wail, the Pokemon fired a piercing supersonic lance at Blitz. To keep his Pokemon in the fight, Taraka dove in front of the oncoming pressure wave, taking the hit for her.
Keeping its focus on the Zebstrika, the Noivern prepared another Dragon Pulse attack. Thinking quickly, Gaster lined up a shot on the Pokemon’s head with his rifle and squeezed the trigger, landing a direct hit. The Noivern reeled back from the impact and the beam from its mouth cut across the ground, narrowly missing its target.
Before the dragon Pokemon could recover, Ace charged in, one of his Doublade’s blades raised to strike. The android slashed at the Noivern with the sword, then brought the second one down for double the damage.
“Now’s your chance, Jaques!” Gaster shouted. “Hit it with Dire Spore from a distance!” Staying out of clawing range, the former smuggler’s Parasect sprayed a cloud of spores at the Noivern’s face, leaving it dazed and poisoned.
Flailing about wildly now, the Noivern shot out electrical arcs in all directions while spitting out draconic energy from its mouth. The Pokemon and trainers surrounding the beast managed to avoid the shower of sparks, but a stray Dragon Pulse struck Jaques, knocking the Parasect out.
As Ace laid into the Noivern with his double-bladed Sword Pokemon, Gaster recalled Jaques and sent out his next Pokemon. “Ereshkigal, use Confuse Ray!” Gaster barked as his recently acquired Spiritomb emerged from her ball. The powerful ghost Pokemon blasted the Noivern with a ray of dazing energy, rendering the dragon little more than a writhing heap that couldn’t do much more than wildly discharge electricity.
“Now’s the time to catch it!” Taraka shouted as he pulled out one of the Pokeballs he had made. The monk threw it at the helpless Noivern, pulling it inside, but the capture failed and the Pokemon broke free. Gaster followed up with a Pokeball of his own, but his attempt failed as well. The ball shook only briefly before the Noivern escaped.
“My turn,” Ace said, procuring a Great Ball. The android chucked it at the Noivern and the Pokemon was pulled inside. The ball fell to the ground and began to shake. It violently nudged along the ground once … twice … three times … then it exploded open! The Noivern let out one last piercing shriek before it collapsed to the ground, the poisonous spores in its lungs having sapped away the last of its strength.
“Damn,” Gaster cursed as the dragon Pokemon fell still. Disappointed, the former smuggler gazed up to the sky. Soon enough, his eyes fell upon the rock the Noivern had been perched upon and he noticed something he hadn’t before.
Climbing the rock, Gaster confirmed that the Noivern had, in fact, been guarding a nest. Inside lay a single egg. A smirk crept onto the former smuggler’s face.
“Well we’re not leaving here empty handed.”
Notes: This was a fun, mostly improvised session. It was a nice change of pace after several weeks spent in a well-planned plot arc. This chapter covers the events of most of session 50. There was a bit at the end of the session where I teased what was to come in the next few sessions, but for the writing it made more sense to save that for the next chapter … or what would’ve been the next chapter. There’s a special non-session chapter coming up before that one now. As for the content of this chapter, I mostly made things up as I went. I did have that Noivern built already for something else, but I decided to throw it at them for fun. I did take pity on them when they failed to capture it and gave them an egg for an electric Noibat as a consolation prize. As usual, I played around with the details of the battles a bit to make things more interesting and exciting. For the Noivern fight in particular, there was an unusually high number of missed attacks on both sides so I just got rid of a bunch of them so it wouldn’t drag on so long.
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!
Get involved!
Comments