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!
Dmitri arrived back at the Helix’s crash site with H and Morgan along with a makeshift sled piled up with many heavy scrap metal plates. It would have been a lot of work to pull it all the way back from town themselves, but the task was no problem for H’s Rhyhorn.
Upon their return, Shane emerged from the ship to greet them with the local girl from earlier trailing behind. “What’s the situation?” he asked as he eyed the collection of scrap metal.
“Well we have the scrap metal we need,” Morgan informed him.
“And we can get the hull repaired enough so we can take off again,” H added.
“So should we just repair our ship and get out of here then?” Shane asked.
“Well we still have her to deal with,” H replied, pointing at the girl who still seems to be following them around.
“So how about you tell me what you’re doing here already,” she chimed in. “You clearly aren’t here to see the sights.”
“I don’t really know,” said H. He looked at the others with an inquisitive look on his face. “What are we doing here?”
“We came here to look for someone,” Morgan answered the girl’s question, ignoring H.
“Who?” the girl asked.
“You wouldn’t know him,” Morgan said. “He’s a monk.”
“There’s lots of monks here,” the girl said. “What does he look like? Maybe I can help you find him.”
Dmitri found this local girl annoying, but he had to admit that it would be harder to find Gilgamesh on their own. He gave her the gym leader’s description: “Bald. Long beard. Flowing black robes.”
“I saw a guy like that the other day. He went in there,” the girl said, pointing off to the plains beyond the outskirts of the city. Dmitri looked in that direction and saw some ruins in the distance.
“Yeah, I’m sure he came out again,” Morgan said, sounding annoyed again. “Do you know where he went after that?”
“No, but he went there.”
“Let’s go check it out,” Dmitri suggested.
Morgan sighed. “It will take the bot a while to repair the ship anyway, so we might as well,” she agreed.
“C’mon, I’ll show you the way!” the girl said. And with that, the crew followed her as she led them off towards the ruins.
“They call these the Sunset Plains,” the girl told them as they walked through the open fields, the sunlight barely breaking above the horizon in the distance. “Aren’t they pretty?”
“Is the sun setting at all times or something?” H asked.
“Due to the planet’s weird rotation, this region is in a perpetual state of sunset or sunrise,” the girl explained.
Before the conversation could progress further, a wild Pumpkaboo ran past with an Absol in pursuit. Acting quickly, Dmitri pulled out a Great Ball and threw it at the Absol, immediately capturing it.
“Goddamn it, I wanted that,” Shane responded.
“NOOOOOO!” The girl shouted. “I’ve been chasing that Absol for weeks!”
“Well it’s mine now,” Dmitri gloated.
“No fair,” the girl grumbled.
“I’ll take the Pumpkaboo at least,” Shane said, sending out his Klefki.
Morgan sent out her Croconaw as well and their two Pokemon engaged the Pumpkaboo. They exchanged a few blows but the Pumpkin Pokemon proved resistant, using Absorb on the Croconaw to keep itself going. Dmitri sent out his Scyther to help, but the Mantis ended up accidentally knocking the Pumpkaboo out.
“Damn …” Shane grumbled.
“Sorry about that,” Dmitri apologized, recalling his Pokemon.
“Don’t worry about it,” Shane replied.
“Alright let’s head for the ruins,” Dmitri said.
“Sure. Let’s go to the ruins,” said H. “Nothing bad can happen.”
Dmitri suspected that H was being sarcastic so he attempted to read his mind as they walked along and get in a little more practice with his telepathic abilities. He received a brief burst of thoughts from H: Ruins. Information in ruins. Information useful in ruins. Ruins dangerous. Dangerous in ruins. Information in ruins? Possibly yes, go to ruins. Go to ruins. His crewmate’s thoughts were as chaotic as he imagined, so Dmitri turned his focus to the conversation starting between the others.
“So when was Gilgamesh here?” Morgan asked the girl as she led them to the ruins. “When did he leave?”
“A few weeks ago,” she answered.
“Did he say why he was here?” Morgan asked. “Did anyone know why?”
“No. He was just … there. I don’t know. I didn’t talk to him. I just saw him.”
“Well that’s useful,” mumbled Shane.
“I can’t help but wonder why you’re still following us,” Dmitri chimed in. It sounded like the girl had already shared everything she knew about Gilgamesh so he didn’t see much need for her to stick around at this point.
“Yup,” Shane agreed.
“Hey, you’re following me, remember?” the girl said. “I’m showing you the way to the ruins.”
“I’m sure we can find our own way,” Morgan said.
“Yeah, well you’re interesting,” the girl told the group. “There’s nothing to do here. You’re the most interesting people I’ve met in my life! So why are you looking for this Gilgamesh guy anyway? What’s so important about him?”
“We have some questions for him,” Morgan explained.
“What kind of questions?” the girl asked
“Things you wouldn’t understand.”
“I know you’re lying.”
“Does it really matter?” Morgan snapped. “Do you want me to hurt you again?”
“Like you could,” the girl teased before running ahead.
Before long, the group had arrived at the ruins. Alex led the way through the crowds gathered outside. There were a few monks and some of the archaeologists and other staff from the dig site, but most of the people were tourists. As a small, backwater planet, Vandia didn’t have much to offer the Galaxy so the planetary government had jumped at the chance to boost the economy with tourism when the ruins had been discovered. Alex had noticed that lately, a lot of foreigners traveled to her homeworld to see these ruins.
As they moved through the crowd, Alex noticed that the blue-haired guy— Shane, as the others called him— seemed to be getting uncomfortable. He held his arm against his chest, covering it with the other like he was trying to hide his strange glowy tattoo. “What are you doing?” she asked him.
“Look, we just don’t want people asking questions,” the angry girl said. Alex thought she’d heard the others call her Morgan.
“But questions are fun!” Alex exclaimed
“Questions are fun!” agreed the spiky-haired man in the lab coat that Shane had referred to as H.
“Not when you have to answer them,” Morgan said, sounding annoyed once again.
“But answering them is the fun,” H said.
“H, shut up. You’re not helping,” Shane told him.
“Well answer this question,” Morgan addressed Alex. “What’s your name anyway?”
“I’m Alex!” she introduced herself.
Before anyone could say anything else, a small group of confused-looking tourists approached. “Excuse me, miss, are you a tour guide?” one of them asked Alex.
“Sure!” Alex said enthusiastically. It wasn’t true, of course, but it wouldn’t be the first time she’d posed as a tour guide at the ruins. It was a great way to pass the time and make a quick buck.
“And you’re all here for the tour as well right?” the guy then asked the crew from the crashed ship.
“Something like that,” Morgan told him. Alex didn’t like her, but at least she seemed to be catching on.
“I think we found the rest of the tour group,” the guy said, turning back to the rest of his group.
“This is totally the tour group!” Alex said.
“See! I told you! There’s nothing to worry about,” the man said to his companions.
“Actually, we’re a group of random travelers who happened to crash here—” H started before Alex cut him off.
“Shhh,” she quietly hissed at him, elbowing him in the stomach. “Alright!” she then addressed the group of tourists. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll begin the tour!”
“Great,” said one of the tourists as they started walking. “What can you tell us about this temple?”
“These ruins scattered throughout the Sunset Plains are believed to be the remnants of a city left behind by an ancient race of Angels, the chosen people of God,” Alex explained, reciting information she’d learned from the monks and archaeologists. “Some say that the Angels were chosen by God to ascend to the heavens and become messengers and guardians to the inheritors— that would be us— of what they left behind.”
“So I’m an Angel?” H blurted out.
“No,” Alex bluntly stated.
“Yes.”
“What is his deal exactly?” one of the tourists asked, eyeing H suspiciously.
“He’s a crazy hobo who followed us,” Shane said before shooting an angry glare at Alex. She playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
“Disregard their opinions for I am the chosen one who will bring the people and all Humanity to salvation!” H proclaimed.
“Alright, let’s just move on,” Alex giggled as she directed the tour group. “Monks and archaeologists have spent years uncovering the secrets that were left behind. This site in particular is some sort of temple.”
“What kind of secrets?” one of the tourists asked.
“Y’know, secret secrets,” Alex answered as she led the group into a large open room with several other tour groups moving through. “Lost writings and stories. That kind of stuff. Such as this mural here!” She pointed out a particular piece of art the archaeologists had uncovered. “It shows the birth of Man and Pokemon, who were born from the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, planted and curated by the Angels.”
The mural in question depicted a stoic figure and his Pokemon companion, encroached on all sides by clawing darkness. A radiant hand whose fingers loosely resembled branches reached down to them from above.
“What are all those dark things surrounding them?” a tourist asked.
“No one can say for sure. Some say that they are evil spirits that wiped out the Angels, but that’s kind of a dark theory. Another theory in a similar vein I find intriguing is that these Angels, whoever they were, were highly advanced and eventually their technology surpassed them and spawned legions of murderous machine-men who wiped them all out. But no one can say for sure what really happened.”
“So, uh, how old are these ruins?” the tourist asked, seemingly trying to change the subject and ignore the absurdity that just came out of his guide’s mouth. Alex had a feeling she probably shouldn’t have shared that one.
“No one can say for sure, but they were here long before Humanity ever reached this planet,” Alex answered. “The archaeologists estimate these ruins to be around ninety-two-million years or older.”
“Wait …” said Shane. “If these were here long before Humanity reached the planet then why is Humanity depicted in the mural?”
“That’s a good question,” said one of the tourists. “What he said.”
“Well if the Angels were chosen to watch over Humanity as believed, why wouldn’t they depict them in their murals?” Alex countered. “Legends say that Humanity was born from the Tree of Knowledge, which was planted by the Angels themselves!”
“You’re a terrible tour guide!” H shouted, and several of the tourists nodded in agreement.
Alex frowned. This tour group was proving to be more difficult than the last. “Archaeologists have spent decades researching this stuff, but there is still so much they have yet to discover! I can’t tell you what no one has figured out yet!”
“I heard they dated this site to about ninety-two-million years old, which is long before Humanity would ever have been here,” said one snarky tourist wearing a fedora as he stroked his neck-beard.
“Look, I literally just said that Humanity didn’t need to have been on this planet for the Angels to have known of our existence!” Alex pointed out.
“In both truth and reality, these humanoids aren’t Humans, they are superior!” H declared. “They are the next generation that were lost and just now being discovered and I am one of these humanoids.”
“Yeah, keep on telling yourself that,” Alex said in a very sarcastic tone.
“I call bullshit!” the snarky tourist spoke up again. “Humans didn’t evolve from Mankies until, you know, like six-million years ago! What do you have to say to that, huh?”
“That’s an assumption based on a primitive theory that existed long before Humanity ever reached for the stars!” Alex said, pointing an accusatory finger at the guy. “You came here for a tour to learn about Sinai culture and history and you’re being kinda culturally insensitive.”
“We’re so sorry about him,” one of the other tourists apologized to Alex.
After the tourists calmed down again, Alex led everyone further into the ruins, passing by several monks and archaeologists. “Here you can see a group of monks and archaeologists working together to decipher these wall writings,” she informed the tour group.
“What are they looking at now?” a tourist asked.
“Just some recently uncovered writings,” Alex explained as she kept moving. “They’re still trying to figure out what it says. If you come this way, you can see more of this new area, which leads to a very recently discovered room.”
Alex led everyone into what was, in fact, a newly uncovered section of the ruins. There wasn’t much to do on Vandia so she often spent her days walking around the ruins. When she wasn’t posing as a tour guide, she was learning about them from the archaeologists and monks that were excavating the site. She was well aware that this was the most recent discovery in the ruins. The room was mostly full of dust and rocks, but there was one mural that depicted some form of ancient star map.
“This is an ancient star map that depicts a group of star systems in relation to the galactic core,” Alex explained to the group, going off the limited information she had on the map. “As far as I know, the researchers have only just begun to analyze this map, but the prevailing theory right now is that there are other sites such as this one in the depicted locations.”
“I see …” said one of the tourists.
“The belief is that these sites may contain even more secrets and lost technologies that we can only hope to imagine,” Alex continued.
“And no one goes there because?”
“Because this mural was just discovered,” Alex said.
“Oh,” he said, realizing the stupidity of his question.
“Can we help you?” an archaeologist suddenly asked, approaching the group. “We’re still excavating this area so, if at all possible, we’d like to get back to it.”
“Just giving the tour!” Alex said. “It’s time we moved on anyway.”
“So when did they discover this room?” one of the tourists asked.
“Not too long ago,” Alex told him. “Only like a couple months or so. Now, come this way. Let’s let these guys get back to work.”
As Alex led the tour group away, Morgan lingered behind. She wasn’t sure why, but this star map seemed important to her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this is what Gilgamesh had come to Vandia to find. She took a good long look at the map, recording it with her cybernetic eye, then approached one of the archaeologists.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I was wondering if a monk named Gilgamesh showed up here to look at this map.”
“Oh yeah, he was here,” he informed her. “Around three weeks back or so. He took a good look at this and then left.”
“He didn’t happen to mention where he was going did he?” Morgan asked.
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“I see,” Morgan said. “Well thanks anyway.”
She departed from the room and hurried to catch up with the group.
“And that brings us to the end of the tour!” Alex declared as Morgan rejoined the group, leading the tour back out to the exterior of the ruins.
“See, I told you there would be nothing bad in the ruins,” H told everyone in earshot.
“Thank you for visiting,” Alex told the tourists. “I hope you enjoyed the tour.”
“We did, thank you,” one of the tourists said, giving the girl a generous tip of a couple hundred credits.
“Thank you, sir,” Alex said. “Please enjoy the rest of your stay on Vandia.”
Morgan had to admit that the girl did have a certain charm to her, even if she was incredibly annoying. They wouldn’t have to deal with her much longer, though. Soon, they would be on their way, following the trail to Gilgamesh.
Notes: More of Alex’s interesting character has come to light. I really put in the effort to make her more interesting than Arlon was. And by making her a very different person than myself, I am challenging myself to improve my RP abilities. I am having a lot more fun with this character for sure, but it doesn’t seem like the other characters are! The players love her though, ha ha.
Update 10/11/21: This chapter needed a decent amount of work. It was originally written as one long scene that jumped around from perspective to perspective. It’s from the first session of Volume 2 so I hadn’t quite nailed perspective and scene structure yet. I split it into three scenes, each with a different perspective character chosen based on what made sense. I picked Dmitri for the first since the part with him reading H’s mind wouldn’t come across otherwise. I chose Alex for the second since the majority of that section was in her perspective already. I chose Morgan for the last since it wouldn’t make sense to keep going with Alex at that point and she was the only other person doing stuff in that scene. Other than that, I did the usual conversion to past tense, added more descriptive details, cleaned up the writing in certain parts, and made some adjustments to certain details regarding when Gilgamesh arrived on Vandia and when certain parts of the ruins were discovered to better reflect what has since been established in the lore.
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!
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