Spacemon, Vol. 1 – Chapter 5: Who Is Mr. Silver?

Welcome to another exciting installment of Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! It is a sci-fi space epic played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system and GMed by fellow TAY author DragonStorm247. You can get caught up on the entire Spacemon saga here!

“I’m picking up a distress signal,” Arlon announced over the comms.

Almost immediately after dropping out of warp Space in Sinai Sector 12, the Dunsparce had picked the signal. It appeared to be originating from a nearby system and it wasn’t too far off their planned course, so Arlon decided to investigate.

“Let’s go see if we can lend a hand,” he said into the comms before altering the ship’s course and making the jump back into warp space

The Dunsparce arrived at the signal’s origin a short time later and, as the ship approached, Arlon spotted a stalled Sinai ship. He hailed the vessel, but there was no response. Curious, he brought the Dunsparce in and docked with the ship. Arlon notified the others, then got up from his seat.

Arlon met up with the rest of the crew at the airlock, then they proceeded to board the Sinai ship. They were greeted by a Sinai monk with a bald head and a somewhat panicked look on his face. “Thank goodness,” he said when he saw them.

“What seems to be the problem, mate?” Arlon asked.

“Well we detected a stowaway and then all our systems started going haywire,” the monk explained “We only just started to get the power back online and managed to send out a distress signal.”

“Any idea what caused it?” Arlon asked the monk.

“No. That’s what we have been trying to figure out.”

“Mind if we take a look at your sensors?” Arlon asked.

“Certainly not,” said the monk before leading the crew to the sensors.

Arlon glanced at the life sign sensors, and all the signatures checked out for those on board, save for one odd signature that seemed to be fluctuating between the cargo bay and the engine room. “What the hell is this thing?” he muttered. The bounty hunter turned to the monk and said, “I bet that’s what your problem is. Can you take us to the cargo hold?”

“Right this way,” the monk replied. He and two other monks— one with dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard, and an older one with short, graying hair— escorted the Dunsparce crew to the cargo hold and allowed them to have a look around.

Arlon released his Mightyena. “Crocuta, see if you can’t pick up any strange scents,” he commanded his Pokemon. The Mightyena began to sniff around the room, but she couldn’t seem to pick up anything of interest. “Guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”

The crew fanned out and began manually searching the crates, but they continued to turn up nothing. As she searched, Morgan began to get a strange feeling from one of the crates so she walked over to it and opened it up. As soon as she slid the lid off, a teenage boy with electric blue hair and very brightly colored clothing jumped out of the crate.

The bearded monk pointed to the kid and shouted, “You!” Everyone’s attention was  quickly drawn to the kid.

“Who the bloody hell is this kid?” Arlon asked as he watched the three monks reach for their Pokeballs. He was surprised to see such a harsh reaction from Sinai monks.

“It is an internal Sinai matter,” the older monk said. “And none of your concern.”

“Well we only helped you find the bloody kid,” Arlon said. “I think that warrants more of an explanation, don’t you, mate?”

“He is an escaped experiment and that is all you need to know,” the balding monk replied.

“I am a superior being!” H declared. “I demand that you tell me more!”

This only served to further agitate the monks, causing them to throw out their Pokemon. The bald monk sent out a Jynx, the bearded one a Xatu, and the older one a Delphox.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Arlon said. “We can still talk about this.”

“Do not interfere,” the older monk warned.

As the blue-haired kid began to retreat behind the others, Arlon stepped between him and the monks. “Too late for that, mate,” he addressed the older monk. “If you want the kid, you’ll have to go through us.”

“#4, it is time to show me what you can do!” H exclaimed as he released his newly captured Trevenant. Morgan started to back away uneasily when she saw the Elder Tree Pokemon, but the situation at hand seemed to keep her from freaking out again.

The monks silently looked on as they wordlessly commanded their Pokemon with their telepathic abilities. The Jynx prioritized the Trevenant and rushed at the Elder Tree Pokemon with an icy punch. The Xatu then immediately followed up with a blast of psychic energy. Meanwhile, the Delphox surrounded itself with three fireballs. 

“Crocuta, use Bite!” Arlon commanded his Mightyena. “Hit that Delphox hard!” The Delphox sent one of its fireballs flying at Crocuta as she ran at it, landing a nasty hit, but the Mightyena pressed through it and sank her teeth into the Fox Pokemon, dealing a nasty injury in kind.

“Yvonne, finish it off with Quick Attack!” Morgan then instructed her Eevee. The Delphox threw another fireball at Yvonne as she rushed it. Despite being hit, the Eevee leapt at the Delphox and slammed into it, knocking it out. 

“You next, Gigan!” Dmitri shouted as he releases his Scyther. “Use Pursuit!” Gigan charged at the Jynx and swiped at it using her sharp blades.

“#4, use Feint Attack!” H then commanded his Trevenant. The large Elder Tree Pokemon rushed forward and swiped at the Jynx with his powerful limbs.

The combined attacks of the Scyther and Trevenant were enough to take down the Jynx, leaving only the Xatu. The Mystic Pokemon fired off another blast of psychic energy at #4, but the Trevenant seemed relatively unfazed.

“Crocuta, finish it off!” Arlon commanded his Pokemon. The Mightyena charged at the Xatu and took a nasty bite out of it, taking the Mystic Pokemon down instantly.

Having been defeated, the monks fled from the cargo hold. If his limited knowledge of Sinai ships served, Arlon was pretty sure they were running in the direction of the warp drive.

“Time to go!” Arlon shouted. He and the rest of the crew began running back toward the Dunsparce. He grabbed the blue-haired stowaway by the shoulder as he passed him. “C’mon, kid. You’d best come with us.”

As soon as he stepped onto the Dunsparce, Arlon ran to the cockpit and detached from the Sinai ship just before it warped away. “That was a bloody close one,” he sighed, leaning back in his seat.

Out of danger, Arlon set the ship to autopilot, then turned to face the rest of the crew and their new passenger. “Alright, mate. Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Shane,” the kid responded.

“Alright, Shane. What the hell was up with those monks back there?”

“Do you know about AI?” Shane asked.

“Well, yeah,” Arlon told him.

“An inferior form of computing that was abandoned because it is not as powerful as a living mind,” H chimed in.

“Not abandoned,” Morgan pointed out. “While current AI can’t think on their own, they still have their uses.”

“But cyborgs are the way of the future,” said H. “Organic matter to think and machine to do.”

“Well what if I told you that the Sinai created a much more evolved AI that could think freely?” Shane asked.

“I would say that’s impossible,” H replied.

“That AI is me,” Shane said.

“Sure, mate,” Arlon said, incredulously raising an eyebrow. “And I’m the bloody Queen of New Britain.”

“Look, it’s a long story,” Shane said. “But I am an AI.”

“I see,” H said. “Well let me show you to your room.” He then started leading Shane in the direction of the airlock.

“The rooms are that way, mate,” Arlon told H sternly, pointing towards the living quarters. “Don’t even think about throwing him out the airlock, or it’ll be you floating out in space.”

“What?” Shane asked in surprise as he eyed H with suspicion.

“Relax, mate. This guy’s just a bit off,” Arlon assured Shane. “We won’t let him do anything to you. Right H?”

“Alright, fine,” H agreed. “But I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“Oh, I’m not saying I trust the kid,” Arlon told him. “I just think we ought to show him a bit of decency.” He sighed, then turned to the others. “Well now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the goo. What do we want to do?”

“What goo?” Shane asked.

“Let’s just say our fine friend over here decided to expose a bowl of slop to warp space,” Arlon explained, nodding at H.

“I helped too,” Dmitri chimed in.

“That … sounds dangerous,” Shane responded.

“That’s what I said,” Arlon said. “Anyway, some guy apparently wants to pay us for samples of it. All we got was a set of coordinates. The whole thing seems very shady.”

“And you’re going to just give it up like that?” Shane asked. “It could be dangerous.”

“Look, mate, we really need the money. I say we should at least check it out.”

“I agree,” said Dmitri.

“I guess we can check it out,” Morgan agreed. “But if it seems sketchy, we’re leaving.”

“Well that settles it,” Arlon decided. He turned back to the controls and made the jump into warp space, setting the ship back onto its original course

After a brief jump, the Dunsparce arrived at the coordinates the crew had received with the mysterious message, where a large, fancy looking ship was waiting. Arlon hailed the ship and received a transmission with docking instructions and a short message: Mr. Silver will see you now.

Arlon flew the Dunsparce into the designated hangar bay and set it down. The crew and Shane disembarked from the ship with some samples of the goo and the tree sap. They were greeted by a squad of heavily armed, but professionally polite guards. “This way, please,” one of them instructed the crew, waving for them to follow. 

As they were escorted by the guards, the crew got a pretty good look around. The ship seemed to have all kinds of sensors and monitors everywhere, but it was also very stylish, with lots of light and lush red carpets. They were eventually led into a dimly lit office and the doors slid shut behind them. A lone figure stood in the back of the room, looking out the viewport into space. In the dim light, it was hard to get a good look at whoever it was.

“Hello?” Morgan asked.

At Morgan’s words, the figure turned to face the crew. They all recognized the form of a Mr. Mime, but there was something strange about it. It appeared to be cybernetically modified, with various receivers attached to it and a screen for a face. They all get the feeling that it was being controlled by someone else.

“Greetings,” a digitally filtered voice, presumably that of Mr. Silver, emanated from the Pokemon. “I see you brought both samples with you.” A sound wave moved on the screen as he spoke.

“How did you know about that?” Arlon asked.

“I know many things.”

“I prefer to talk to somebody in person,” H said. “I don’t like making deals with people when I can’t see their faces.”

“I am very far away.”

“We can come to you.”

“That would be … inconvenient. I conduct various business dealings throughout the galaxy and I find the only effective solution is to be in multiple places at once.”

There was a long pause as the crew appraised the situation. Shane in particular appeared to be terrified. Arlon noticed that he was hanging back in the corner of the office.

Mr. Silver seemed to make note of their apprehensiveness, then redirected the conversation back to business. “I see you brought your other creation as well,” he said; a scan of the Trevenant appeared on his screen-face. “How willing are you to part with these samples?”

“That would depend on your intentions,” H told him.

“My intentions are my own.”

“I must know what you are planning to do with them,” said H. “I cannot become better without acquiring more knowledge.”

“Ah yes … Experiment #1749XQR5Z-H. Your name has crossed my desk before. I believe we may be able to come to some sort of arrangement. I will provide five-thousand credits for each sample.”

“We can provide the goo and the sap as long as we can keep some samples for ourselves,” H replied. “But #4 is mine and I intend to keep it.”

“Very well.”

“I don’t suppose you could give us a little more for these samples?” Arlon asked.

“What more could I possibly give?”

“Well these samples seem very valuable to you, and we went through a hell of a lot to get them,” Arlon attempted to spin the story. “You clearly have a bloody load of money, so five-thousand seems a bit low.”

“Money, is that all you bounty hunters care about?” Mr. Silver asked. “I believe there is more to you than that. Only time will tell if you will find the answers you seek.”

He then turned his attention back to H. “And what about you?” he asked. “What is it you want?”

“Knowledge,” H answered. “How can I be the most superior being if I do not know all there is to know about these specimens? If I am to give them to you, I want to know what you are doing with them.”

“Knowledge is an honorable goal.” Then, turning to Dmitri, “What is it that you want?”

“To catch more Pokemon,” Dmitri replied enthusiastically.

“Interesting. And what about you?” Mr. Silver asked, turning to Morgan.

“I want to go home.”

“And what is home?”

“The Geneva Confederacy.”

“Not where, but what. What is home? Will you really find it by going back to Geneva? No. It is up to you to decide whether you will get there by going forward or by going back.”

“And what is it that you want then, mate?” Arlon asked, turning the tables on Mr. Silver.

There was a brief silence. Mr. Silver seemed to be contemplating.

“I will give you each five-thousand credits for the samples, and a set of coordinates. They are in an uncharted sector in the Outer Rim. There is no gate that reaches this location. It is for you to decide what to do with these coordinates. You’ve proven yourselves resourceful so far, it is up to you to decide if you will continue to do so. Will you go forward or will you go back?”

Notes: And thus Shane joined the party! Originally there were supposed to be five of us but the fifth player dropped out at the last minute before the first session so we played the first three with just four of us. Our new player spent the majority of the session finishing up building his character, which is why he didn’t make an appearance in the first chapter from this session.

And of course, how could we forget about the enigmatic and mysterious Mr. Silver? What an interesting character. According to DragonStorm, he was created out of the necessity to begin tying the plot points together. And he did so perfectly, creating the conclusion of Act 1 of Volume 1.

Update 9/7/21: You know what I find weird? What was up with those monks? It just seems so weird, knowing what we know about monks and about Shane. There’s got to be a story there. I also like how we totally thought Mr. Silver had contacted us about the goo. Clearly, it was supposed to be that Genesect discovery from the previous session, but we were fresh off the Trevenant fight and the Genesect were far from our thoughts. DragonStorm rolled with it well in game though. Another funny thing is how nobody really seemed fazed when Shane said he was an AI, other than H of course. I added a little bit to that section just to add some level of skepticism to the crew. I thought the line I gave Arlon was clever.

In terms of other changes, in addition to the usual tense and wording touch ups, this one was a bit more involved. I actually rewrote the first few paragraphs of the chapter so they flowed better, and I reworked some of the dialogue, including adding a couple lines here and there and rearranging some bits. I’m happy with those improvements. I also added some descriptions to the monks and reflected it in the dialogue so the three of them weren’t just a nebulous entity. I reworked a couple bits in the battle, but I didn’t need to do much. Since the chapter flavored the monks as commanding their Pokemon via telepathy, I didn’t even need to add nicknames!

Post-Chapter Challenge: This chapter introduced us to the enigmatic Mr. Silver! If you’ve read Volume 2, then you know who he is, but if you haven’t then you must be wondering … Who is Mr. Silver? He was initially created by the GM as a means to tie the plot together and send us on our way to the rest of the plot, but he eventually evolved into something much more.

So for this week’s challenge, create a Mr. Silver type character! It can be for an alternate take on the Spacemon universe, or for the setting you designed for the challenge in Chapter 1, or any setting you like! What is their purpose? What are their goals? How do they shift the tone of the story? It’s all up to you!

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!