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!
Captain Cyrus Drake of the UAS Maverick walked onto his ship’s bridge as it dropped out of warp space in the remote Melkor system on the border of Sector 32 and unexplored space. The Alliance space captain reached for the comms as Anya steered the ship toward the planet Crion. “We’ll be touching down in a few minutes,” he announced to the rest of the ship’s crew.
Cyrus then turned to the Maverick’s pilot. “Anya, land in one of the more distant ports,” he instructed her. “On the forest side of the planet.”
“You got it,” Anya replied.
The Maverick’s captain watched out the viewport as the ship approached its destination. Crion was a snow-covered alpine forest world covered in strange psionic crystals that resulted in an abundance of psychic Pokemon. While they could be found all over the planet, about half of its surface was an arctic wasteland with high concentrations of the crystals. The other half of the planet was covered in large mountain ranges and valleys with dense coniferous forests.
There were a few settlements on the planet, mostly in the more forested region, but the planet’s cold climate and out of reach location made it a haven for all sorts of criminal scum — smugglers, black market dealers, and the like. Most notorious of the bunch was Anton Rooker, a man who just so happened to be out to get Captain Drake and his crew.
Crion normally wasn’t a place Cyrus wanted to be, even more so with Rooker after him, but given the rest of the circumstances he and the rest of his crew found themselves in, it was the best place to get what they needed. Sighing, the captain headed toward the cargo bay as his ship broke through the planet’s atmosphere.
Once the Maverick had touched down, Cyrus departed from the ship, bringing Axel, Taraka, Ace, and Erik with him. “Alright, let’s get what we came for,” he said.
“Alright,” Erik said. “I’m going to go see what supplies I can find for my current project. I’ll meet up with you guys later.”
“Watch your back,” Cyrus told his friend, giving him a pat of the shoulder.
Erik laughed. “I know how to handle myself in places like this.” With that, the Maverick’s engineer departed.
“Well then, let’s go get some weapons,” Cyrus said, turning to the rest of his crew.
After some wandering through the streets of the spaceport, the Maverick crew stepped into the shop of a black market arms dealer. “Welcome, comrades!” the portly Romanov owner greeted them as they walked through the door. “What can Vlad do for you?”
“My friends here could use some weapons,” the captain replied, motioning toward his crew.
“Well, you have certainly come to right place,” the man, apparently named Vlad, said with a laugh. “Any weapon you need, you can buy from Vlad.”
The crew spent the next several minutes browsing Vlad’s wares. Cyrus and Axel, of course, didn’t need any weapons, but Taraka picked up a lightweight metal bo staff to use for protection, not being a fan of using firearms, and Ace traded in his laser rifle for a laser sword and an arm mounted energy shield.
Satisfied with his new weapons, Ace returned to the ship. Axel and Taraka said they wanted to go out and search for Pokemon in the forest surrounding the port, and they too departed. The captain, meanwhile, stayed behind to talk to Vlad to purchase some heavy ordnance to use in their inevitable confrontation with Rooker.
Axel shivered as he and Taraka wandered through the forest. “I hate this cold,” he grumbled.
“You were the one who wanted to join me,” Taraka replied, chuckling. Despite being dressed lighter, the monk didn’t appear to mind the cold air too much.
The pair had been exploring for a good while and had yet to run across any Pokemon. They had already discussed turning back, but both agreed that they wanted to make the hike worthwhile. Neither wanted to return to the ship until they found some Pokemon.
As the two were walking through the trees, there was a loud rumbling sound and the ground began to shake, causing snow to fall from the branches of the nearby evergreen trees. “Did you hear that?” Axel asked, looking over at his Sinai crewmate.
Taraka nodded, reaching for a Pokeball as he did so. “A large wild Pokemon, I would imagine,” he said as he released his Ponyta.
“Let’s go check it out,” Axel said, releasing his Charmander. He then began heading in the direction of the rumbling sound.
As the two drew nearer to the source of the sound, hail began to fall from the sky. “I have a bad feeling about this,” Taraka commented as they pressed on.
Stepping out into an open clearing, they were greeted by the sight of a large Beartic duking it out with an Abomasnow. The two Pokemon’s arms were locked as they fought for dominance. Meanwhile, a blue-furred Alakazam was seated upon a large rock with a pinkish crystal jutting out of it nearby, observing the two brawling Pokemon.
“Those Pokemon look pretty powerful,” Axel said, turning to Taraka. “Whad’ya say we catch ‘em?”
The monk nodded in agreement.
“Alright, Ritsu, use Ember!” Axel commanded his Charmander. He then charged forward alongside his Pokemon, and the two of them unleashed a rush of flames at the Abomasnow, which had its back turned to them. Unfortunately, the hail, which had grown in intensity, interrupted the flow of fire, preventing it from finding its mark.
“I guess we just need to get closer,” Taraka said, running up behind his crewmate. “Blaze, use Flame Wheel!” he then ordered his Pokemon. The Ponyta charged at the Abomasnow, completely surrounded in flames. The Pokemon collided with his target, erupting in an explosion of flames as he made contact.
The hit seemed to do a real number on the Abomasnow, so Taraka pulled out a Pokeball and threw it at it. The Pokemon was pulled inside, but it promptly broke out. Emerging from the ball in an enraged state, the Abomasnow turned and struck Taraka’s Ponyta with one of its massive arms, dealing a nasty blow. However, the Beartic it had been fighting seized the opportunity while its back was turned, swiping at it with its sharp claws, taking it down.
With the Abomasnow out of commission, Axel shifted his focus to the Beartic. “Ritsu, Ember!” he commanded his Pokemon, directing it after the large ice bear. The Charmander spit out a jet of fire, setting the Beartic aflame as Axel aimed his flamethrower at it. He unleashed a torrent of flames, but the Beartic dodged out of the way.
As the Beartic was recovering from its dive, Taraka seized the opportunity to get an attack in. “Blaze, Flame Wheel!” the monk commanded his Pokemon. The Ponyta charged at the ice bear, coated over in flames, and dealt a decisive hit. Taraka then immediately recalled his Pokemon, as he was in pretty rough shape. After placing the ball back on his belt, Taraka threw up a psionic barrier to protect himself, his crewmate, and their Pokemon.
It was not a moment too soon, as the Beartic took a swing at Ritsu with one of its large paws. The barrier softened the blow, leaving the Charmander with only minor injuries. Ritsu spit out one last jet of flame at her assailant before Axel recalled her. Unfortunately, the Beartic once again dodged out of the way.
As Axel swapped out to his Growlithe, Taraka took the time to throw up another barrier before sending out his next Pokemon as well. “Spooperz, Shadow Sneak,” the monk commanded his Shuppet as she emerged from her ball. The ghostly Pokemon floated over to the Beartic, and maneuvered around its flailing arms to land a hit. The Beartic retaliated by swatting the Shuppet away with a fistful of icicles, dealing a nasty blow.
While the Beartic was distracted by Taraka’s Shuppet, Axel ran up to it and punched it with all his strength, catching it off guard. “Nodoka, Ember!” the mercenary commanded his Growlithe while the Pokemon was still reeling from the hit. His own Pokemon spit out a surge of flames, nearly taking the Beartic down.
The ice bear managed to endure the hit, but it was left completely open. Seizing the opportunity, Taraka threw a Pokeball at the Beartic. The ball made contact and pulled the Pokemon inside. It fell to the ground, then shook once … twice … three times … then it fell still.
With the Beartic dealt with, Axel turned to look at the Alakazam. The Pokemon, which was now standing up, locked eyes with the mercenary. It seemed that they had caught its attention. The Psi Pokemon jumped down from its perch upon the rock, spoons raised and ready for combat.
“Spooperz, use Night Shade!” Taraka commanded his Pokemon. The Shuppet blasted the Alakazam with ghostly energy, dealing a strong hit before the onslaught of hail knocked her out. With the monk’s Pokemon out of the way, the Alakazam teleported across the clearing, then blasted Axel’s Growlithe with psychic energy. Fortunately, Taraka’s psionic barrier managed to protect it from the brunt of the damage, allowing her to keep fighting.
“Nodoka, use Bite!” Axel ordered his Pokemon in response. The Growlithe charged at the Alakazam and leapt at it, but the Psi Pokemon pushed it away with its telekinetic abilities.
Luckily, it was enough distraction to buy Taraka the time to send out his next Pokemon. “Roma, use Shadow Punch!” the monk commanded his Tangrowth as she emerged from her ball. The Vine Pokemon extended out one of her vine arms, glowing with a ghostly energy, and struck the Alakazam, dealing a decisive hit.
Reeling from the hit, the Alakazam fired off a beam of ice that went wide, forming a jagged line of icicles along the ground. While it was recovering from the hit, Axel lobbed a Pokeball at the Alakazam, catching it instantly.
“Whew, that was exciting,” Axel said, laughing as he walked over to claim his prize.
“A bit dangerous, if you asked me,” Taraka replied, picking up the ball that now housed his new Beartic.
“We had it under control,” Axel said, laughing again. “Now whad’ya say we head back to the ship? Doesn’t look like this hail is planning on letting up anytime soon.”
Notes: This chapter took me far too long to finish. After churning out 7 chapters in a short timespan, I decided to take a bit of a break from writing as I had a good backlog of chapters to sustain my weekly posting for a good while. Unfortunately, I got complacent and didn’t keep writing. As a result, I ended up needing to take a week off from posting to get it done. It’s not like it was an important chapter either.
Moving on to the actual substance of the chapter, here we have the rest of the fourth session. IR wasn’t really happy with his character build, so he swapped out his Marksman class for the Fortress class. As a result, he needed new weapons to fit the build, hence the energy shield and laser sword. That’s the actual reason the crew went to Crion, a planet I hadn’t even established as Rooker’s base of operations at the time, but since I’m writing these chapters months after the sessions take place, I’m able to include details that are established later. While they were there, Novi also wanted to pick up a bo staff, and I didn’t see a reason why he couldn’t, so there’s that.
Then IR needed to leave so Axel and Novi just went looking for Pokemon. Axel rolled a 4 to search for Pokemon, so I threw some good high level shit at them. Novi wanted bear Pokemon, so I threw a Beartic in because it made sense on an ice planet, and since it was a taiga planet as well, Abomasnow was a perfect choice. The custom ice shifted Alakazam I added just because I could, and Alakazam was on Axel’s wish list. Really, the only other thing of note was that Axel crit Rock Smashed the Beartic.
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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