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!
Gilgamesh led Alex, Morgan, and Shane out of the tunnels and into a small and narrow canyon. Slivers of daylight flitted through the jagged rocks above and reflected off of the electrical crystals embedded in its walls. The group traveled in silence for a while before arriving in an open area in the canyon where Gilgamesh had landed his meditation sphere.
Gilgamesh opened the sphere and motioned for the other three to board. Once they were all aboard. the monk took a seat on the floor in the center of the sphere and used his strong psychic abilities to fly the sphere out of the canyon, off toward the Helix.
After Gilgamesh landed the sphere, Alex and Shane returned to the Helix to heal their Pokemon in preparation for the coming battle. Morgan, however, stayed behind. She had questions. Questions only Gilgamesh could answer.
“Something troubles you,” said Gilgamesh. His eyes closed as he appeared to take in the very Universe. “You have seen more in these past few months than you have in your lifetime. Your eyes have been opened.”
Morgan relaxed a bit. It felt strange to her, but talking to Gilgamesh was somehow comforting. She had the feeling that, just by looking at her, he understood things she would never be able to vocalize. “I’ve been … troubled a lot recently.” It didn’t seem quite the right word to describe everything she had experienced, but Morgan wasn’t even sure there was an adequate word. “I feel … dread. I dread everything. Sometimes worse, never better. And I have seen things. Known things. Things I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“What you describe is not uncommon. When Man first ate of the Tree, he gained Knowledge. Of Good and Evil, of Will, but also of Power. He learned the power offered from the Tree of Life, and has hungered for its fruit ever since.” Gilgamesh turned to the viewport, watching the raging storm outside.
“It is the knowledge, the hunger, and the fear of this power that led to the ruination of worlds such as this,” he said, looking back to Morgan. “Like many others from my home, those who have gazed into its heart, you now see life and power clearly; you now know power. What you will do with this gift is up to you, and you alone.”
“But what’s wrong with me?!” Morgan cried. This was what she had been most afraid of; even as she was doing her own research, there had always come a point where she could no longer follow along, Sinai databases where it seemed everyone was speaking in tongues. And now Gilgamesh was doing it too! Morgan didn’t want to hear any more mumbo-jumbo about “looking inward” and “harnessing her power,” all she wanted to know was—
“How do I make it stop?!” She dimly realized she was yelling, and a part of her was afraid that someone would hear. It was no match, however, for the much greater part now swelling with emotion.
“True knowledge cannot be destroyed nor forgotten. You cannot stop it, but you can control it.” He sat down where he stood, centering himself. “Knowledge can be a burden. If you fill yourself with doubts and questions of ‘what if,’ it will consume you.”
He paused to reflect on the raging storm barraging the viewport.
“Or you can open yourself to the truth. Accept what you have seen and what has happened to you, and you will be able to apply your knowledge. You already Know. Now you must Understand.”
Frustrated by the conversation she had with Gilgamesh, Morgan returned to the Helix. She headed first to the med bay to heal her Pokemon and to make sure that MARIA had seen to H’s injuries. Dmitri looked up from the machine where his Pokemon were healing as she walked in. He seemed to have done a good job getting H back in one piece and MARIA had clearly taken things from there. The cyborg lay on the table, hooked up to an IV and receiving medication. He appeared to be regaining consciousness.
“What happened!?” H suddenly shouted, bolting upright. “Wait, where’s the thing?! Where did it go?! Wha- Where am I?” He looked around frantically and soon noticed Dmitri and Morgan standing nearby.
“Relax,” Morgan told him sternly. “You’re in the med bay.”
“What happened to the sea monster thing?”
“The new girl caught it,” Dmitri informed H.
“Come again?”
“The new girl caught it,” Morgan repeated, slower.
“No … she didn’t,” H said incredulously.
“You were struck by lightning and fell into the water unconscious … I suppose that means you wouldn’t know … but she did,” Morgan told him.
“Hmm,” said H. “I’m going to wake up now.” He then stood up and bashed his head into the table. “Ow. Aww … I’m not dreaming …” He seemed unable to fathom the fact that Alex actually did something that he considered “correct.”
“Maybe if you’re nice, she’ll let you see it,” Morgan continued, finding some humor in the situation.
“Wait … but if she caught that …” H trailed off as mumbled to himself, ignoring Morgan. “AH!” He suddenly blurted out. “Wonderful. It seems I actually did make a mistake. That’s intriguing. Now, where’s that leviathan?”
“Well,” said Morgan. “I don’t know where Alex went, but we found Gilgamesh.”
“You don’t know where she is on the ship?” H asked. “My specimens!” He immediately jumped up and ran out of the room. He let out a howl of pain as the IV ripped out of his arm, leaving a small spattering of blood on the floor.
Morgan sighed and looked at Dmitri, who shrugged back at her. Alex had more than likely not been messing with the Genesect. Morgan shook her head, then turned to the medical bot.
“MARIA, can you get that blood cleaned up?”
While everyone seemed to have found some way to occupy themselves, Alex had been aimlessly wandering about the ship since returning. It was still an unfamiliar space to her. She eventually found her way to the bridge and plopped herself down in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Sup?” she greeted Minerva.
“Not much,” the pilot answered, not even turning to look at the girl.
“You don’t say much, do you?” Alex asked her.
“I’ve never been one for small talk,” was all Minerva said as she fiddled with the controls.
“There you are!” H shouted as he suddenly arrived on the bridge. He sounded a bit out of breath.
“What do you want, Murderface?” Alex asked him as she spun her seat around.
“Did you catch that thing back there?”
“Yes.”
“It seems I’ve been wrong about you,” H told Alex. “I … I made … a mistake. I’m … sorry.” It seemed pretty apparent that it was very difficult for him to admit that. “It seems fate has paired you with us for … some reason,” the cyborg continued. “And you have more skills than I gave you credit for, so … nice job.”
“Thanks … I guess?” Alex replied, feeling a bit confused by H’s words. If she had known the strange cybernetic man better, she would have realized how odd an occurrence it was for H to actually apologize for something.
“But stay away from my stuff,” H warned her.
“Well … you- you stay away from my stuff.”
“Really …? When can I see that leviathan? Fascinating research subject.”
“You’re not experimenting on him!”
“I’m not experimenting on it. I’m simply going to observe it … and poke it with a few tools … completely harmless.”
“No.”
“You’re getting in the way of science. Fine. See you around,” H told her before departing the bridge.
“Whatever, Murderface!” Alex shouted after him.
After taking the time to heal his Pokemon and gather his thoughts, Shane departed from the Helix and made the brief trek through the storm back to Gilgamesh’s meditation sphere. After so much time spent searching for the elusive monk, he and his crewmates had finally found him. Finally, he had an actual warp expert to answer his questions and help him set up his warp lab.
Shane entered the meditation sphere and found the monk sitting at its center, on the floor. Gilgamesh looked up as Shane approached.
“So … As you can probably tell, I’ve had a pretty … interesting time since we last talked,” Shane said, indicating the mark clearly showing on his arm. “And given the new range of power to which I have access, I would like to learn how to better control it. Can you help me with that or … at least tell me what I can do to help myself?”
Gilgamesh looked to be preparing to give Shane some spiritual bullshit or something, but he clarified his question before the monk got the chance to say anything. “I mean like actively learning about the Warp,” he explained. “I’m talking about a warp lab, if such a thing is even possible.”
“Ah,” said Gilgamesh, catching his meaning. The monk took a glance around the room before saying, “Maybe something like this.”
Shane looked around the room as well and got a feel for what Gilgamesh was suggesting. The thing that caught his eye the most was what appeared to be a small warp drive in the center of the room, beside where the monk sat.
“So what exactly is this stuff?” Shane asked after a moment.
“This is my sphere’s warp drive,” Gilgamesh answered, looking down at the drive. “I meditate here and focus to move the ship.”
Shane looked at the warp drive, then back to Gilgamesh, a look of confusion on his face. He had, of course, witnessed Gilgamesh fly the sphere earlier, but the realization was only just now setting in. “You power the ship by yourself?”
“Yes, with my mind. It takes years of dedicated practice and focus.”
“Right … Got it.” Shane responded. He was still baffled by the notion that the monk powered his ship with his psionic abilities alone, but the small warp drive intrigued him. If he was interpreting Gilgamesh’s suggestion for his warp lab correctly, a similar set up would be a good place to start. Although, for his purposes, the drive’s purpose wouldn’t be to fly the ship through warp space, but a means to mess around with and gain a better understanding of the Warp.
“Do you know where I could, like … get one of these mini warp drive thingies?” he finally asked.
“Most likely from Sinai monks,” Gilgamesh told him.
Shane winced at the mention of Sinai, and Gilgamesh seemed to pick up on his distress. “Is there a problem?” the monk asked.
“Just … something from my past.”
“I understand.”
The rain poured down as Dmitri and the rest of the Helix crew crossed the short distance to Gilgamesh’s meditation sphere. Like Shane, who had gone ahead a short time ago, Dmitri also had questions for the monk. He was joined by the others, who had expressed interest in having a gym battle with Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh and Shane looked over at Dmitri as he entered. The former gave him an appraising glance before motioning him over.
“Ugh. I hate the rain,” Alex complained as she walked in after Dmitri. She swept the wet hair matted against her face back and out of her eyes as H and Morgan entered behind her.
“That’s why you need to have amazing hair,” H told the girl. He flipped his hair back, sending beads of water flying as the spikes wobbled in place.
“How is that supposed to help?” Alex asked.
“It doesn’t,” H replied.
“Yeah, amazing hair doesn’t do shit,” Alex grumbled as she wrung the water out of her long ponytail.
Gilgamesh looked at the newcomers expectantly. Dmitri’s burgeoning telepathic abilities picked up that the monk’s far more developed abilities had sensed that they had many questions they wished to ask him.
Dmitri walked over to the monk and took a seat beside him to ask his own burning question. “While we were lost in warp space … I’m not sure if it was warp madness, but I started to see visions of ruins and inscriptions. I made drawings of them. You know of these things, yes?”
“There are many ruins in this Galaxy,” Gilgamesh told him. “Do you still have these drawings?”
“No,” Dmitri replied. “But I did take pictures.” He pulled out his Pokedex and showed Gilgamesh the pictures he had taken of the strange writings he had scrawled on the walls while stranded in warp space.
The monk took the Dex from Dmitri and began to look through the pictures. Dmitri noticed a minute reaction in Gilgamesh’s face, but he couldn’t quite tell what it meant. Gilgamesh stroked his beard as he looked at the writings Dmitri photographed for a few more seconds. “I need to think on this further,” he finally said, handing Dmitri’s Pokedex back to him.
“Alright,” Dmitri said as he put his Pokedex away. “I have some other questions too.”
“Very well,” Gilgamesh nodded. “Ask.”
Alex stood by impatiently as she listened to her new crewmates speak with the old monk called Gilgamesh. They were asking him all kinds of questions about things she didn’t quite understand. Presently, the old man was giving Dmitri some pointers on his telepathic abilities. However, the more she listened, the more this Gilgamesh reminded her of the monk who had looked over her for a time. Raj had taught her many things, but this monk seemed even wiser. Perhaps Gilgamesh could help answer her own questions.
“Hey, I have a question too!” Alex butted into the conversation at hand, unable to contain herself any longer.
“Oh?” Gilgamesh said, looking over at the girl.
“Ever heard of something called ‘the Mirror?’” Alex asked him.
At the mention of the name, Gilgamesh looked very intently at her. “Where did you hear about that?” he asked. That meant he had to know something about it, right?
“My father was looking for it before he disappeared,” Alex explained, showing the monk some scraps of her father’s research on her Pokedex.
Gilgamesh took a cursory glance at the notes displayed on Alex’s Pokedex, then he began pacing around the sphere. “It could be …” he mumbled to himself. “Hmm …” He turned back to Alex and said, “In my travels, I have seen references to an ancient civilization … This is not clear exactly, but, from what I have seen, it would appear that they worshiped or revered something … The symbol of a mirror.”
“Where is it now?” Alex asked, perking up.
“There are many of these … so called Mirrored Temples. Ruins with these sacred mirrors inside.” Gilgamesh walked over to a small cupboard and pulled out a metal cylinder embedded with pieces of psionic crystal.
“Wow,” Alex said, her eyes going wide with awe. She’d heard stories of the mystical psionic scrolls created by the monks of her people, but she had never actually seen one until now. “Is that a holoscroll?”
“Indeed,” Gilgamesh answered as he walked back over. He opened the scroll, revealing the holo display. It depicted the image of what one of these temples Gilgamess mentioned looked like. It was pyramidal in shape and was topped by an ornate mirror housed in some sort of gyroscope contraption.
Alex looked at the scroll for a while, and then glanced back at Gilgamesh. She noticed a rather troubled look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“From what I have deciphered,” Gilgamesh started. “These Ancients … the followers of this Mirror … For a long time they devoted themselves to it … and then, one day, they waged war on the non-believers.” He turned and looked out the viewport, off into the stormy seas of Messina. “And they brought darkness and ruin upon their civilization. At least that is what I suspect happened, as there are so few traces left behind. The texts the Sinai monks keep do not record this story.”
“Why not?” Alex asked.
“It is not a story that we carried with us from Earth and we did not initially see it when the Arks landed,” Gilgamesh explained. “It is something that only a few have learned about in their personal travels, and the Congregate has been … reluctant to listen. It is why I chose to leave the order. I find that I can … no longer sit with organized religion. I believe that everyone must find their own path.” Gilgamesh paused for a moment then reached out and placed the holoscroll in Alex’s hands. “Perhaps this may help you find yours, child.”
Alex looked down at the scroll in her hands in amazement, then back up at the old monk. “You can’t give me this,” she said. “It’s, like, really important!”
“But I can,” Gilgamesh responded. “The Congregate refused the truth of this scroll and I have already learned all I can from it. I no longer have any use for it, but you might.” He closed Alex’s hands around the scroll and said, “Take it.”
“I …” Alex trailed off, unsure of what to say. “Thank you.”
Gilgamesh nodded back at her.
“Enough of this nonsense!” H suddenly shouted. “Let us engage in a Pokemon battle!”
“Very well,” said Gilgamesh.
The lightning cracked the sky, casting long shadows across the rocky shore as the six individuals stood out in the storm, in the open area between the ships. The rain rattled off the Helix’s hull and the waves crashed upon the rocks as Gilgamesh reached for his Pokeballs.
“Let us see if you are worthy,” he said, casting out five Pokeballs at once. A Claydol, a Gardevoir, a Malamar, a Slowbro, and a Wobbuffet emerged and spread out across the battlefield as Gilgamesh explained the terms of the gym challenge, “You may each use up to three Pokemon in this battle, but each of you may only have one out at a time.”
“Alright,” Shane said, nodding across the battlefield to the monk. He released his Klefki as the rest of the Helix crew sent out their own Pokemon. Alex and Dmitri chose the obvious type advantage picks of Umbreon and Scyther while H and Morgan went with Crcocnaw and Rhyhorn.
Gilgamesh looked on in silence as his Pokemon moved to engage. Shane reasoned that the monk must have been commanding them telepathically. The Gardevoir moved gracefully across the battlefield, raising its arms. It charged up electricity and fired it in a beam at Dmitri’s Scyther. The beam struck the Pokemon dead on, doing a real number on her.
“Gigan, charge that Gardevoir and hit it with X-Scissor!” Dmitri commanded his Scyther in response. The Mantis Pokemon flew across the field and swiped at the Gardevoir with her blades, but the graceful Embrace Pokemon gracefully dodged out of the way.
“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane then ordered his Klefki, pointing at the Gardevoir. The small Key Ring Pokemon moved up as he charged up with a brilliant light. The Klefki fired the light at the Gardevoir in a beam, but only managed to land a glancing hit.
“Hector, use Bite!” Morgan commanded her Croconaw next. The big jaw Pokemon ran forward and clamped his jaws around the Gardevoir. The Embrace Pokemon looked quite hurt now, but it still stayed standing for now.
Meanwhile, the Malamar and the Claydol moved across the field, and lined themselves up for attacks. The Malamar’s eyes flashed, then Gigan slumped to the floor, asleep. The Claydol then fired off a powerful beam of light, which pierced through Morgan’s Croconaw to hit Alex’s Umbreon as well.
“Ebony, use Feint Attack!” Alex then commanded her Umbreon, pointing at the injured Gardevoir. “Finish it off!” The Moonlight Pokemon charged forward and slammed into the Gardevoir, knocking it out of the fight.
The Slowbro, which was hanging back from the fighter, then fired a beam of ice at the sleeping Scyther, taking her out of the fight to even things out. The Wobbuffet, meanwhile, waddled forward and released a protective aura around the rest of Gilgamesh’s team.
“#1, now it’s your turn!” H shouted. “Hit that Malamar hard with Rock Blast!” The Rhyhorn charged across the battlefield and launched several at the Malamar, but the squid Pokemon dodged between them all.
“Hector, use Waterfall on the Claydol!” Morgan commanded her Pokemon. The Croconaw charged at the Clay Doll Pokemon and slammed into it with a crash of water, dealing a pretty good chunk of damage.
“Go, Harbinger! Bite that Slowbro!” Dmitri shouted as he switched out to his Absol. The Disaster Pokemon charged up to the Slowbro and sank his teeth in. The Slowbro winced in pain from the Bite attack, unable to make a move.
“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind on the Malamar!” Shane then ordered his Pokemon. The Klefki sent a blast of air at the Overturning Pokemon, but it didn’t appear to do anything other than annoy it. Ignoring the Key Ring Pokemon, the Malamar floated forward and struck Alex’s Umbreon with its tentacles, knocking her out.
“Damn it,” Alex mumbled as she recalled her Pokemon. “Okay, Lumiera, it’s your turn!” She threw out another Pokeball and her Lampent popped out. “Now, use Hex on that Slowbro!” The Lampent fired a ghostly blast at the Hermit Crab Pokemon, landing a solid hit.
“Now, #1, charge that Slowbro and finish it off!” H commanded his Rhyhorn. The Spikes Pokemon ran at the Slowbro, but he missed and went running past it.
“Hector, use Bite!” Morgan then ordered her Pokemon, pointing at the Slowbro. The Croconaw charged forward and sank his teeth in, delivering what should have been a knock-out blow, but the Slowbro’s naturally delayed pain reaction allowed it to stay standing, at least for now.
“Harbinger, Bite the Claydol,” Dmitri commanded his Pokemon, changing targets. The Absol leapt at the Clay Doll Pokemon, but it was surprisingly nimble and dodged out of the way.
“Lumiera, use Flame Burst!” Alex then commanded her Lampent, directing her after the Malamar. The ghostly lamp fired a jet of flame at the squid Pokemon and dealt a bit of damage to it.
“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind again!” Shane ordered his Klefki. The Key Ring Pokemon sent another blast of air at the Malamar, but, once again, it did little more than irritate the Overturning Pokemon. The Malamar continued to ignore K.E.Y.S. and instead charged up to Lumiera and slashed at her with its tentacles, taking down yet another of Alex’s Pokemon.
“Not again!” Alex shouted. “Diablo, it’s up to you!” She threw out a third Pokeball, this time releasing her Houndoom. “Use Bite!” The canine Pokemon bared his teeth and leapt at the Malamar, but it dodged out of the way.
The Claydol locked onto the newly sent out Houndoom and shot up a blast of earth at it, dealing a pretty solid blow. The Slowbro was up next and shot a pulse of water at #1, who had charged so far past it. The hit took the Rhyhorn down just as the Slowbro succumbed to its own injuries and fainted as well. H immediately recalled his Pokemon and sent out his Swablu.
“Diablo, use Beat Up! Hit that Claydol!” Alex shouted. Her Houndoom ran up to the Claydol and encircled it along with Hector and Harbinger. The three Pokemon started wailing on it, but were unable to break through its strong defenses.
“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind!” Shane then commanded his Klefki, continuing his attempt to hurt the Malamar. K.E.Y.S. sent yet another blast of air at the Malamar and, this time, it landed the hit and dealt some damage.
“#7, use Safeguard!” H ordered his newly released Swablu. The small fluffy bird emitted a protective aura around his allied Pokemon, much like the Wobbuffet had earlier.
Meanwhile, the Malamar rushed Diablo with a Superpower attack and instantly knocked the Houndoom out, completely eliminating Alex from the battle. She made a pouty face as she recalled her fainted Pokemon and could only look on as the Claydol floated back and charged up for another attack.
“Harbinger, come back,” Dmitri said, recalling his Absol. “Go Wilhelm!” He sent out his Haunter, who hung back out of range for now.
“K.E.Y.S., use Fairy Wind again!” Shane instructed his Klefki. The Key Ring Pokemon sent another blast of air at the Malamar and it seemed to finally be showing signs of weakening.
“Hector, use Ice Fang! Finish that Malamar off!” Morgan commanded her Pokemon. The Croconaw launched himself at the Malamar, teeth coated in ice, but the slippery squid dodged out of the way yet again.
“Wilhelm, Shadow Ball,” Dmitri then commanded his Haunter as he pointed at the Malamar as well. The ghost Pokemon charged up a ball of shadowy energy and lobbed it at the Malamar, finally taking it down.
The Claydol, meanwhile, moved back in range and blasted Dmitri’s Haunter with Psychic energy. The Gas Pokemon weathered the hit, but looked pretty hurt.
With the Malamar down, Shane shifted his focus to the last big threat on the field. “K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon on the Claydol!” he commanded his Klefki. The Key Ring Pokemon charged up another beam of light and fired it at the Claydol, dealing some damage to it.
“Wilhelm, follow up with Shadow Ball!” Dmitri then ordered his Pokemon. The Haunter threw another ball of shadowy energy, but the Claydol dodged out of the way.
“Hector, use Waterfall!” Morgan shouted. Her Croconaw charged at the Claydol, but it continued to avoid the attacks the crew was throwing at it.
“#7, use Sing!” H commanded his Pokemon. The Swablu chirped a soothing melody, but he failed to put Claydol to sleep.
The Claydol, which had been spinning around avoiding attacks, slowed down and lined up a shot. It fired another powerful beam of energy that tore through Hector and #7, taking both Pokemon down.
“Your turn Yvonne,” Morgan said as she switched out to her Espeon.
“You as well, #4!” shouted H as he threw a Pokeball to the far edge of the battlefield. His powerful Trevenant popped out and caught Alex’s eye.
“Oh my God, you have a Groot!!” she squealed in excitement. “That’s so cool!” She was met with weird looks from the rest of the crew. Shane had no idea what she was talking about. “Oh, come on!” the girl said. “Y’know, from Galactic Vanguards? Only the best movie from last year!”
“We don’t have time for movies,” Morgan told her.
“There’s always time for movies!”
“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon again!” Shane commanded his Klefki, returning his focus to the battle. The Key Ring Pokemon fired another blast of light at the Claydol, slowly whittling it down.
“Wilhelm, Night Shade!” Dmitri ordered his Pokemon. The Haunter hit the Claydol with a blast of ghostly energy and continued the assault on the Clay Doll Pokemon.
“Yvonne, use Future Sight!” Morgan commanded her Espeon. The Sun Pokemon’s eyes glowed, but nothing happened just yet.
The Claydol then fired another blast of Psychic energy at Wilhelm, taking the Haunter out of the fight. Dmitri recalled his fallen Pokemon and sent his Absol back out.
“#4, use Growth!” H commanded his giant ghost tree of a Pokemon. The Trevenant moved in closer to the fight as he increased in size.
“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound! Lower that Claydol’s defenses!” The Klefki made a high pitched metallic sound that seemed to shake the Claydol a bit.
Suddenly, Yvonne’s Future Sight attack appeared and hit the Wobbuffet with Psychic energy. It took the hit, but it reflected some damage back at the Espeon with a reflective coat that shimmered like a mirror.
“Harbinger, Bite,” Dmitri ordered his Absol. The Pokemon ran up and bit the Claydol, but he failed to pierce through its tough clay body.
“K.E.Y.S., use Flash Cannon!” Shane shouted. His Klefki charged up one more time and fired a beam of light at the Claydol, finally taking it down. Now, only the Wobbuffet remained.
“Alright #4, build up to maximum power and slam that Wobbuffet with all you’ve got!” H commanded his Trevenant. The Wobbuffet, not being able to inflict direct attacks, could do nothing but look on as the ghostly tree continued to grow in size. Suddenly, the Trevenant warped into the sky above the Patient Pokemon and dropped down with a powerful Phantom Force attack, completely obliterating its defenses.
“Oh my God, that was awesome!” Alex shouted, jumping off the ground with excitement. “It was all like grrrr! And then it went poof! And then it went all like BWWWAAAAAHHHH!!!!” She continued, making ridiculous sound effects and hand motions to demonstrate the final moments of the fight.
“Well done,” Gilgamesh told the victorious Helix crew as he approached. “You have proven yourselves worthy of the Warp Badge. I also believe you to be worthy to enter the door. You go on ahead, I must tend to my Pokemon.”
The monk then looked directly at Shane and said, “It’s pull, by the way. ”
Session Notes: Damn this was a long session! We legitimately went for over eight hours straight! Right through the Superbowl because, really, what’s a sportsball? This session is probably going to be at least three chapters worth of posts. This one covered our fourth gym battle.
After doing some RP to get some leads to pursue for our characters’ various objectives it was time to fight Gilgamesh in a three hour combat encounter. It was such a punishing team, which DragonStorm built knowing H had a high level Trevenant, and H’s player refused to use it until the end! And then all the low rolls! We missed so much, especially Shane and H. This was the first time I had to fudge the outcome of a battle for the writing because, narratively speaking, what actually happened was so anticlimactic, even if we did win. H’s player missed on all of Trevenant’s rolls for Phantom Force and had to just spam Feint Attack to win … So I was just like fuck it, for the sake of narrative this hit.
Yay pop culture references! My character is a big movie person so she’s clearly seen every spoofy titled movie based on things that exist in the real world. So yeah, Guardians of the Galaxy was a good movie so that means Alex has seen the kick-ass Pokemon version starring a Trevenant and a genetically modified Zigzagoon.
Update 10/20/21: This one took a while to touch up. There wasn’t anything in particular that needed a lot of attention, but there were a lot of small things here and there that needed some work. The first scene was the easiest to work on. Aside from some rephrasing of the first two paragraphs, it was really just converting to past tense. I didn’t mention it in the original notes, but if I recall correctly, the rest of the scene besides those paragraphs was written ahead of time by Clarissa and DragonStorm and they read it to the rest of us during the session. As a result, it was already of a much higher quality than the rest of the chapter. It was even written with a consistent perspective.
The next scene kind of started in Morgan’s perspective but ended in H’s as he went off to find Alex. I added new details to the beginning and gave it a new ending to get it all in Morgan’s perspective. I just dropped the small bit written in H’s perspective since there’s enough context in the following scene to make it unnecessary to include. Speaking of that scene, I just added a couple extra lines to it to make it flow better, but it’s otherwise the same aside from the tense change. Shane’s scene with Gilgamesh needed a bit more work. For one thing, based on the changes made to Chapter 0, the beginning of it needed to be changed from him realizing suddenly Gilgamesh could help him. Other than that, I cleaned up some descriptions to make more sense and it was kind of missed in the original RP that Shane had already seen Gilgamesh fly the sphere at the start of the session so I added a small part to account for that.
The following scene wasn’t in a consistent perspective, so I broke it down into two, one from Dmitri’s and one from Alex’s. It seemed important to have each character’s chat with Gilgamesh be from their own perspective. Dmitri’s scene does contain some of the party banter RP and his actual questions in the session weren’t too many, but it made sense for it to be from his perspective. His part in Chapter 0 had mentioned wanting guidance on his new telepathic abilities, but it never came up in the session. I didn’t want to add too much more to the chapter, but it seemed worth including that detail, so I handled it in the scene transition. Adding a bit to the end of Dmitri’s scene and the start of Alex’s. The start of Alex’s scene also seemed like a good point to mention more clearly on her thoughts behind talking to Gilgamesh and a good place to reference stuff from her origin story, which hadn’t been written yet at the time this chapter was written. This scene also has some important new inclusions. The holoscroll was just some throwaway item in the session, but the concept of holoscrolls has been greatly expanded since then and we now know that they are integral to the Sinai religion. With that in mind, I’ve known since the idea to touch up the original series chapters first came to me that more attention needed to be given to the scroll in this scene. As the Sinai member of the party, Alex was perfect for recognizing the importance and conveying it to the reader. On a similar note, I knew this also meant she would recognize how significant it was that Gilgamesh gave his scroll to her. I was going to add that detail when I realized that him actually giving the scroll to her somehow never made it into the chapter at all even though she clearly has the scroll later and it was established during the session that he gave it to her. So I added that exchange to the scene, making sure Alex calls attention to the significance of the moment and also including some details from Gilgamesh’s Profile.
And then it was onto the battle! This took the bulk of the time spent updating this chapter. According to the notes, this encounter was three hours long, so that’s not surprising. This scene had no perspective character at all so I chose to put it into Shane’s since he hasn’t had a gym battle scene written in his yet and it fit well with the reaction to Alex’s pop culture references and Gilgamesh’s punchline at the end of the chapter. Converting the scene to past tense was tedious, plus I also changed a lot of the combat descriptions which took even more time. There were also a few details to add here and there, such as Gilgamesh mentioning the rules of the gym battle and the crew choosing which Pokemon to use. Finally, I restructured the end dialogue so the punchline was the very last line.
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!
Get involved!
Comments