Oooooooh . . . . Grim Flowering gets my vote. I've always liked that art, how the petals come from the skeleton. It helps that the foil is beautiful, as well.
OOC: I am so completely confused about what's going on . . . I don't even know if I've been directly attacked, and I've only taken one action . . .
Nicolette stood in stunned silence at everything happening around her. There was too much going on too fast for her to keep track of everything. Remember what's important. You promised . . . The drifting thought snapped her out of the trance, and her eyes went to Emberlace as she thought Jenny said something rather pompous followed by what could have been a strangled cry of a Torchic. "Emberlace!! Get him out of there NOW!"
The Ponyta mustered up all the speed she could manage, and in a burst of flames she thundered over past Jenny and scooped up the Torchic in her mouth. The pair retreated to Nicolette's side as she began to reach for another pokeball from her belt. . .
I know I already talked about this, but everyone involved in the battle with Jenny--take this battle seriously. If you guys make more than a couple mistakes, a TPK can happen. I expect at least one of the four trainers involved in this battle to wipe out. This is going to be more difficult than Josh's battle with Bladestorm, more difficult than Nicolette's battle with Gyarados, and more difficult than any of the Gym battles you've seen in the RPG thus far. Jenny's got a few dirty tricks up her sleeve, as well.
Don't screw this up.
That was a little harsh, don't you think?
Part of how I beat the Gyarados (and I think Raptor would agree) was how I roleplayed the encounter. If you go back and read it, there's a lot more to both battles you used as examples (Bladestorm and Gyarados); there's the story and thought that went into just about every post I made. These types of epic battles are about more than just "Oh, I'll use this attack because it's strong and I can KO them in 2 hits." I'm pretty sure the numbers were as stacked against me then as they are now. And not all of us have had the time in recent months to be training and battling in every post, so we're behind the Spike-players in overall power.
About the only reason Nicolette is even here is because her view as a Ranger is that there's more to life than battling. She wants to protect what she deems as valuable in the world, be it natural environments, people, or even historically signifigant areas . . . If it wasn't for Beryl letting her know about the archaeological dig that was happening, she would probably be back in the mountain area, exploring and trying to puzzle out the temple ruins that she, Beryl and Judy had found.
OOC: Emberlace's card posted here for convenience . . .
Nicolette patted Emberlace's neck, seeing the Torchic shaking. "I'll take care of you, don't worry, little one. Just give it everything you have." She stepped away, making it appear like she was just whispering to her Ponyta, and turned to spot the Cacturne. "Here we go, Emberlace. This isn't going to be easy . . . Charge it with a flame wheel!! Don't be afraid to get a little dodgy with it." Nicolette knew that Torchic would be just fine with the attack, being a fire-type itself and so close to Emberlace.
The Ponyta charged in, wreathing herself in a roiling sphere of flames . . .
Nods to Murder for being so elegant in execution, and to Wit's End partially for the colour contrast . . . and for the eternal typo in the flavour text.
Torchic's eyes locked on to Cacturne. Be brave... his trainer's words echoed. He puffed up his chest defiantly. It looks like he's going to charge headlong into the cactus Pokemon...
Nicolette looked down at the little firebird, then followed its gaze to the Cacturne. Well, here goes nothing . . . she thought as she knelt briefly beside it. "Here's what we do. You get on Emberlace, and we'll try to get you in close so you can start hammering that thing from behind, deal?"
Emberlace pawed at the ground, having heard Nicolette's plan and showing her approval.
I'm guessing it's something to do with Rockets and the history of Ageos. Mostly, Nicolette is avoiding some people, which tends to mean she ventures into off-map areas and gets into trouble.
Nicolette and the Torchic head down the right hand corridor and after about 50 feet or so, you find another intersection. you can hear some people ahead of you and also some people behind you.
Torchic turns the corner and starts to waddle southward.
"Chic, chic, chic..."
Nicolette and Emberlace look at each other as Torchic starts to waddle away. Emberlace gives her trainer a very human-esque shrug (as much as an equine can do that), and the pair follows the little fiery chicken down the corridor away from the approaching sounds.
Nicolette and the little Torchic head down the stairs... (OOC: Yes the arrow means stairs, the hallway was too small for me to include the stairs icon.)
The two of you find yourselves in another pair of corridors one on the right and one on the left. What do you two do?[/spoiler]
[QUOTE=GigaGuess;/comments/12117882]Torchic waddled into the intersection, looking left and right, before looking back to Nicolette. He then lokoed right again, squniting into the darkness.
"Chic?"
Nicolette and Emberlace exchanged looks. "Alright, let's go that way this time." The trio continued down the path indicated by Torchic.
The three of you head down the right hand hallway. Near the end of it turns right. Where the two walls meet there is also another stairway leading down into the darkness.
Torchic looked up at Nicolette. He doesn't seem to want to split up...
Nicolette looked at Torchic, and then Emberlace. The Ponyta gazed down what appeared to be stairs (OOC: guessing that's what the arrow means?) to the groups left. Nicolette nodded her head so Torchic could see, and the group continued down, heading to their left.
Theros preview cards will be in Duel Deck: Heroes vs. Monsters, if I remember correctly.
From the looks of the cards this time around, they misnamed the set. It should have been "From the Vault: selling for 20 times the MSRP"
Nods to Shivan Gorge, and Monstro.
Nicolette stood in stunned silence at everything happening around her. There was too much going on too fast for her to keep track of everything. Remember what's important. You promised . . . The drifting thought snapped her out of the trance, and her eyes went to Emberlace as she thought Jenny said something rather pompous followed by what could have been a strangled cry of a Torchic. "Emberlace!! Get him out of there NOW!"
The Ponyta mustered up all the speed she could manage, and in a burst of flames she thundered over past Jenny and scooped up the Torchic in her mouth. The pair retreated to Nicolette's side as she began to reach for another pokeball from her belt. . .
I know, I just really like the card.
That was a little harsh, don't you think?
Part of how I beat the Gyarados (and I think Raptor would agree) was how I roleplayed the encounter. If you go back and read it, there's a lot more to both battles you used as examples (Bladestorm and Gyarados); there's the story and thought that went into just about every post I made. These types of epic battles are about more than just "Oh, I'll use this attack because it's strong and I can KO them in 2 hits." I'm pretty sure the numbers were as stacked against me then as they are now. And not all of us have had the time in recent months to be training and battling in every post, so we're behind the Spike-players in overall power.
About the only reason Nicolette is even here is because her view as a Ranger is that there's more to life than battling. She wants to protect what she deems as valuable in the world, be it natural environments, people, or even historically signifigant areas . . . If it wasn't for Beryl letting her know about the archaeological dig that was happening, she would probably be back in the mountain area, exploring and trying to puzzle out the temple ruins that she, Beryl and Judy had found.
OOC: Emberlace's card posted here for convenience . . .
Nicolette patted Emberlace's neck, seeing the Torchic shaking. "I'll take care of you, don't worry, little one. Just give it everything you have." She stepped away, making it appear like she was just whispering to her Ponyta, and turned to spot the Cacturne. "Here we go, Emberlace. This isn't going to be easy . . . Charge it with a flame wheel!! Don't be afraid to get a little dodgy with it." Nicolette knew that Torchic would be just fine with the attack, being a fire-type itself and so close to Emberlace.
The Ponyta charged in, wreathing herself in a roiling sphere of flames . . .
Nods to Murder for being so elegant in execution, and to Wit's End partially for the colour contrast . . . and for the eternal typo in the flavour text.
Nicolette looked down at the little firebird, then followed its gaze to the Cacturne. Well, here goes nothing . . . she thought as she knelt briefly beside it. "Here's what we do. You get on Emberlace, and we'll try to get you in close so you can start hammering that thing from behind, deal?"
Emberlace pawed at the ground, having heard Nicolette's plan and showing her approval.
I'm guessing it's something to do with Rockets and the history of Ageos. Mostly, Nicolette is avoiding some people, which tends to mean she ventures into off-map areas and gets into trouble.
Nicolette and Emberlace look at each other as Torchic starts to waddle away. Emberlace gives her trainer a very human-esque shrug (as much as an equine can do that), and the pair follows the little fiery chicken down the corridor away from the approaching sounds.
***************
Edit (4 Aug 2013) Looks like he's back again! Woo!
Nicolette and Emberlace exchanged looks. "Alright, let's go that way this time." The trio continued down the path indicated by Torchic.
Nicolette looked at Torchic, and then Emberlace. The Ponyta gazed down what appeared to be stairs (OOC: guessing that's what the arrow means?) to the groups left. Nicolette nodded her head so Torchic could see, and the group continued down, heading to their left.