Dr.Gunsforhands
8/28/202X. The first day of school, both for West Vermillion High School and for the nearby Red Cedar State University.

 
 Spoiler: Ronnie 
Of course, you didn't go to school today, meaning you had time to go to the local police/courthouse complex earlier than anyone else. One would think this would let you beat the afternoon rush, at least. You need the extra time to navigate the building's dubiously-accessible ramps.

You've been here a number of times before. You're here today for yet another task among all the legal filings and forms and tests to renew your drivers license after it was wrongly suspended and you were rendered unable to physically drive. You've seen the man responsible here before, staring at you with disdain. Does he even know who you are? Probably not.

You haven't seen him today, though. Nor anyone else in the complex, for that matter. You were jumped by some shadowy figures before you could go in, relieved of your wheelchair and dragged off to this... pen?

"Ha! Look at this morsel! Can't even walk!"

"Lock her up here! She'll make a perfect offering for King Leijon later!"

They toss you through a rickety-looking wooden gate, lock it behind them with a skull-shaped padlock and walk cackling off into the misty woods. You are left in a small open-air cell walled with barbed wire and crude wooden fencing, decorated with what seem to be random animal skulls. Fighting back and escaping seem like a lost cause for a little while, until at some point a fluttering shadow comes by and attaches itself to a tree branch overhead.

Just as you raise your head to watch it, you feel a sudden heat in your skin, and your burns glow like embers. As if in response, the monstrous silhouette above you chitters in confusion for a moment as it melts and reforms into a big, eyeless bat.

"...Zu?"

It drops a small ball into your pen, which bounces in the packed dirt with a soft *ping* before coming to rest in the grass next to you.
 

 
 Spoiler: Jean and Elizabeth 
Last year, West Vermillion High School lost a week of school to bomb scares. Between this and a series of deadly school shootings taking place all over the country, parents have been in an uproar demanding tighter security measures.

As such, much of your first day of school was spent getting used to the changes they have implemented this year. Armed and armored police are posted at every door, and ID cards are required  Radio speeches by Sheriff Leijon and local pundit Dr. Rush factored heavily into these decisions.

One consequence of these policies was all too predictable. Jean found Alex crying in the hall as a thin-mustached officer loomed over her. It was Sherriff Leijon himself, relishing the chance to berate her for daring to try using the bathroom. Another girl stares at the scene for a few seconds, then lowers her head and steps around them to get to the bathroom, too scared or too uncaring to get involved.

Jean gets her chance to step in and do something about it.

Before Leijon can really react to Jean's actions, though, something else catches his attention. Further down the hall, a german shepherd is happily jumping on Elizabeth, barking and digging its nose into her bag.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Miss Garner! That's too bad for you."

It never fails. No matter how careful she may have been, just enough of  something  got into her stuff to make the dog think it found a secret treat.

The Sheriff grabs the bag, painfully ripping it off of its straps if he has the chance. He barely opens it to look at it before tucking it under his hairy arm. "I've gotta take this to the station for testing," he grins. "Protocol, right? Come by and pick it up after school. We'll see what happens then."

School lets out a bit early on the first day. It was mostly an assembly, a weird fast food lunch, and a quick run-though of your class schedule to pick up books, with Elizabeth stuck carrying two of hers by hand. She  should  be able to leave them in her locker, but the combination the school gave her was wrong and they said it would take a day to reset it.

As Elizabeth heads out, Jean gets a message. It's from an unknown number. It's messaged her once before, a couple days ago, similarly cryptically and after a weird dream.

 Warrior, you must follow her. Reclaim your stolen power, and take that villain's badge!
-MT 

And so it comes to pass that both of you find yourselves in front of a creepy forest where the police station used to be. To Jean, the forest kind of looks like the one in her dream. The treetops uncannily merge with the sky, the trees are marked with strange symbols, and there are random pieces of gates and fences sticking out of the ground.

As you walk down the winding path to investigate, you also see some spear-wielding werewolves made of inky shadows, laughing to themselves as they play a game of cards on the ground. Those are new.

"Huh?" They turn to look at the both of you, their eyes barely discernable in the sihouette forms.
 

 
 Spoiler: David and Joanna 
The college students have a literature class together in the afternoon and were partnered up as a group to share books. The student bookstore, as it happens, is across the river from campus, not far from Mack's Snack Shack.

On the way, Joanna has time to experiment with an interesting game that loaded on her phone during photography class. She must have accidentally gotten it through a QR code or a geocache or something. David notices that its icon, a simple red and white circle with a little eye shape in the middle, happens to match up with a set of four dog toys he found on the ground a few days ago, after a particularly grueling workout at the gym.

Through the sweat and exhaustion in the evening darkness, he thought he saw a dog with a sword in its mouth push them over to him. He was probably just imagining things, though.

"This world is inhabited by creatures called Pokémon. They're magical beings, born from humans' cognition." The smiling game character is a childlike figure with what looks like a giant eggshell covering the top of his head. He looks past Joanna, apparently able to see through her camera. "Oh, is that a friend with you? Hello. I'm Professor Jose." He pronounces it  Joe-zay,  like a kid who doesn't know how Spanish names work. "This pertains to you, too, I think. Your Pokémon adventure is about to begin."

Jose pulls a small ball form his sleeve, one that again matches up with David's chew toys, and tosses it onto the ground. In a burst of light, a little brown fox-puppy-thing appears on-screen. It's an eevee and it's adorable and it's the best.

"Whenever you encounter Pokémon in the wild, it's important to always have a partner with you. Otherwise, enemies will appear as shadows, and you'll be overwhelmed."

At this point, David notices the time. He needs to get to the police station before they close. They confiscated a bunch of his stuff when he was arrested last month, and today they are finally able to release it back to him. Joanna might be able to ask about getting back the camera card they took from her, as well. It contained photos of the scene from the pharmacy burglary incident two weeks ago, but she hasn't heard anything about them using it as evidence since then.

You walk East down River Avenue toward the police building, but when you get there you find that it's just... gone. It's been replaced with a creepy forest whose canopy extends uncannily into the sky. It casts an eerie shadow all around you.

"Here we are! It will be a little while before we can meet again. I should be waiting here once you're done."

Before you get a chance to react to the world suddenly going weird, Joanna feels a fluffy animal rubbing its head against her leg. When you look, Eevee makes a squeaky bark looks up at you excitedly.

It's not in the game. The game seems to have kicked you to a menu screen. It lists the eevee as being in your party, and has a list of moves it can use? You might not want to focus on that what with the whole escaped cartoon and spooky forest thing going on.
 


Everyone:

What do you do?
Rekmond
Joanna stares down at the foxdogcat thing for a few seconds before she slowly pans her gaze out across the entire area.

" Normally I'd assume I was dreaming right now....but this seems eerily real. "

She gives her phone a look, fiddling with it to see if there's service or anything, and takes note of the information it presented her on...

" Eevee? "

She pinches her arm just to try and be sure she isn't dreaming, yup that stings.

" Okay, pretty sure I'm not dreaming. What was up with that app and just what is going on? "

This is beyond weird. This place is bizarre, but that app and the message about waiting for them...
Maybe Eevee could keep them safe while they explore?
Feathersnow
Jean looks at the wolf-things.  She frankly doubted they were friendly, but rules of engagement should reasonably be to at least  try  talking with them, given they had no actual history of violence that she personally knew.

 "Hello, I'm Jean MacElroy, this is Elizabeth Garner.  We seem to find ourselves in this mysterious fairy realm?" 
Dr.Gunsforhands
 Team Jean 

The card-playing monsters shift and stretch unnaturally as they scramble into something resembling an upright position. Their distorted voices blend together as they talk. "What! Who are you?" "Coupla NOBODIES, that's who!" "Watch your mouth, girl! You walk upon the territory of the great King Leijon!"

Swift as shadows, they slip around your backs to surround you.

"Yeah! Kneel down and APOLOGIZE!" "Then we shall see whether you're fit to live!" "Maybe you can learn your places in a cell?"

They wrap you up in inky mitts and start carrying you off into the woods. Resistance is never futile, though. You don't yet have a defense against whatever these things are made of, but you might be able to get some kind of response out of them.


 Team Joanna 

You hear shouting and sounds of a struggle coming from the forest ahead. The warped trees form a bit of a labyrinth, but you can probably follow the action by ear.

 
 Spoiler 
You can now play as Eevee!

Choose an approach to exploring the dungeon or following the signs of distress, and roll a skill check as appropriate. If you want to sneak up and spy on whatever's going on, roll stealth. If you just want to get there as quickly as possible, roll athletics. Survival works as well.

Both Joanna and David should feel free to roll; I'll use your BEST result to determine what happens.
 

 Team Ronnie 

Your new bat friend (somehow, you know it's your friend) flutters down and hides behind you as another hulking shadow walks by your cage, seemingly on patrol. It's carrying a poorly-stitched hide sack and what looks like a normal backpack. "Ugh, where's that slacking bird? I needed her to... huh?"

It's at this point that you too can hear the struggle further up the path. The monster drops to all fours to run toward the action, dropping its bags in the process. The hide sack flops over and spills out two more of those odd balls.

 
 Spoiler 
You can now play as Echo!
 



What do you do?
Feathersnow
Jean struggles and screams!  She had no specific hope, but it seemed the only thing to do in the circumstances.
Zelphas
Well. This is going  swimmingly .

Ronnie glares up at the batlike shape above her, barely noting the red flush that is glowing all along her skin.   "So, you're it, then?"   she squints, looking over the blue creature critically.   "I don't even wear glasses..."  

The hulking form walks by, but Ronnie can barely draw in a breath to yell at it before it runs off again, spilling the strange sack. She snatches the ball in her cell and looks it over, then glances at the other balls.   Well, what are you waiting for?"   she snarls, grabbing the bat-thing hiding behind her and tossing it underhanded towards the sack.   "You can't get me out, so go make yourself useful. Grab those balls and the sack, and drop a ball down on anything that looks human. That should qualify... hopefully."  

Echo, pulling easily out of the throw into controlled flight, chirps confusedly at Ronnie's statement. Ronnie rolls her eyes.   "Sounds like me, then. Whatever. Just get moving."   Taking in a slow breath, Ronnie stares at the bars of her cage. Then, deliberately, from her place on the floor, she pulls out a single set of plastic Wolverine claws, fitting the item over one hand. In a violent thrust, she swipes at the cage, even though the bars are out of her normal reach...

For her part, Echo is happy to have a task! She hops carefully over to the sack and noses the balls back into it before picking it up and taking into the air. There are loud sounds nearby, so Echo shifts that way, drifting over the various forms before deciding to upend the sack over two that seem promising.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
 Ronnie 

Use Flail on the bars of her cage; as a Weapon move, she has Reach 1.
Accuracy (if needed):  (1d20)[ 4 ]  vs. AC 2
Damage:  (2d6+23)[ 34 ]  Normal Physical Damage
If Crit:  (2d6+10)[ 20 ] 
 Echo 

Echo flies over to where Jean is struggling and drops the balls on the heads of Jean and Elizabeth; hopefully that does something for them!
 
Kuro Dmon
 “If this is a dream, it’s getting pretty meta. I’ve had nightmares where they’ve questioned not wanting me to wake up…”  David begins, turning his head up to the perceived sky with his eyes closed, waiting for existential dread to bring him back to his bedroom. When it doesn’t, he glances back at the brown creature then back at Joanna.  “Yeah, not so many like this these days…” 

Turning his head upon picking up stimuli, David notices a particular disturbance somewhere in the not-so-far distance.  "Awake, running into a maze and looking for trouble would be as stupid as possible."  he adds.  "But if this  is  a dream... wanna test just how far this goes?"  he asks Joanna, dropping into a runner's stance while waiting for her reply one way or the other, glancing more closely at the creature by her feet in the process.
Rekmond
  Joanna Redgrace   • 61/61 HP • 6/6 AP
 Status: 
 
 Spoiler: Team 
 Eevee -  Ace  • 50/50 - Inspired
 


 
Joanna nods as she makes sure her camera is secure, prepared to charge into the unknown at the idea someone was in trouble. Eevee bounces at her heels as the pokemon senses the mood.
Dr.Gunsforhands
"Quiet, worm!" "Do you think someone's gonna save you?" "In this forest, FAT CHANCE!"

Joanna starts pushing her way through some meter-high grass as she finds the source of the shouting, only for David to quickly catch up and jump over the viny brush like it's no big deal. Ace (somehow, Joanna has already decided to name it Ace) squirms through with ease as well, as small mammals are wont to do.

Meanwhile, Jean's struggling easily provides enough distraction that the werewolves don't see the weird bat fluttering over their heads, even as it's weighed down carrying one ball in its mouth and another clenched between its little tail dealies. With a relieved squeak, it drops its cargo right on Jean's head, then glides down to catch its breath on top of the nearby rocks.

"What?" "What in-" "WHAT!"

One ball drops right in the middle of the action with a *ping*, and the other bounces and rolls right to David's feet as he enters the clearing. At the same time, the snarling guard that had patrolled by Ronnie comes charging up from the other direction and locks eyes with him. The shadow's not much taller than David, but its silhouetted claws and teeth are still pretty intimidating. For a second, time seems to crawl as the tension fills the air.

Then, the balls break open with flashes of light.

The shadows recoil from the bright white flares. Jean is dropped to her feet, and has just enough chance to get her bearings. Elizabeth is less lucky. Her captor stumbles backwards into a pile of rocks, inadvertently conking Jean's classmate out cold.

When the light fades and your eyes adjust, you see a cartoon-style dog-person and a dinosaur-puppy thing. Jean instantly recognizes the Deino, be it from a dream-briefing from M2 or elsewhere. The Riolu looks up to David, nods, and turns to face the enemies as though joining his side on principle.

The guard from up the path is the first enemy to shake off the shock of the situation. "What are you idiots doing?! Kill them!"

In response, the monsters scramble to their feet, only to spasm unnaturally before bursting into a splatter of inky shadows to mirror your own pokémon's entrances. The pokémon they summon are not nearly as big or as scary as the shadow-werewolves, but there are twice as many of them and they don't seem to be taking prisoners anymore. You could probably outrun most of these things, but that might mean leaving an unconscious Elizabeth behind.

Time to fight!

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
You can now play as Dana and Riolu!

Mechanic Unlocked: IDENTIFY
Once per combat as a free action, choose an enemy pokémon you can see. Roll your choice of General Education, Pokemon Education, or Occult Education vs. the enemy's DC (6, for all the enemies in this fight). On a success, you learn the species' name, name the in-universe pop culture thing it's from, and write one fun fact about it for the pokédex. Once a monster has been ID'd this way, other players can't change its pop-culture source, but you can add additional fun facts by rolling with different skills.

You can identify your own starter pokémon whenever you want without a roll. No one can take that away from you.

Additionally, Joanna has access to her Chronicler abilities, Jean and Ronnie can ask their telepathic advisors for tactical advice, and David has access to his Aura Reader ability. Reading enemy auras can help you unlock the secrets of this forest!

Mechanic Unlocked: MOVES AND FEATURES
You can can now use moves and stuff! As long as your pokémon is with you, you can face enemies on relatively equal footing. If the party runs out of useable pokémon, it's game over.
 

 
 Spoiler: How Initiative Works This Time 
Mechanic Unlocked: BEAT TO THE PUNCH

In this game, the enemies usually act first as a team, but that doesn't mean they get a free hit. Each turn, the enemies will telegraph what they're doing and their initiative order. If you are FASTER than one of them, you can choose to move and act before its action occurs, possibly forcing it to run into traps, provoke attacks of opportunity, or lose its action entirely. Beating enemies to the punch can turn the tide of battle in your favor!
 

 
 Spoiler: Initiative and Dice 
Initiative Ranking:

15: Rat 1,  Echo 
13: Rat 2,  Riolu 
10:  Ace, Jean, Joanna 
9: Green bug, Red-nosed Bug
7: Gold Cocoon, Hyena, Cherries
6: Green Cocoon
5:  Veronica (even though she's still stuck off-screen), David 
4:  Dana 

Die rolls  (you only need to look at once you've confirmed you're still being targeted) 
 

 
 Spoiler: Map 
 
 


The dire rat closest to Dana steps up and puffs up like a scared cat as it waves its tail back and forth.  (Move to D10, Tail Whip on Dana and Jean.) 

The dire rat closest to Riolu launches itself at the blue fighter to knock him backwards into his trainer.  (To C9, Tackle) 

The caterpillars both start spitting a cone of silk, like they're trying to recapture Jean and Dana. As it stands, they'll both catch the rat in the silk as well, proving that friendly fire is a thing in this world.  (Green to F8, Red-nose stays in G8, both use String Shot) 

The gold cocoon seems to just sit there, but you hear it making an ominous creaking sound, like a fast-growing plant in the movies.  (Harden) 

The Hyena emerges from its shadow form with a howling battle cry.  (Howl) 

The weird cherry monster behind it bounces up and down like it doesn't have a care in the world. It looks almost like it just wants to stay back and watch. Is that suspicious?  (???) 

The green, spiny-looking cocoon on the other end of the field stays right where it is, just like its gold counterpart. You think you see its carapace twitch and change color slightly as it thickens.  (Harden) 


What do you do about it?
Rekmond
  Joanna Redgrace   • 61/61 HP • 5/6 AP
 Status: 
 
 Spoiler: Team 
 Eevee -  Ace  • 50/50 - Inspired
 


 
As the enemies begin materializing Ace moves up to beside David, doing a cheering cry and causing a faint aura to surround the cartoon dog child.  Priority: Helping Hand   :gains +2 Accuracy and +10 Damage on next attack
 
Joanna meanwhile shoves her way up behind David, looking wide-eyed at the scene before her before she examines the horned worm creature.  Identify!
 
She also examines the environment of this bizarre forest. Lots of places to hide and attack from.  Interrupt!   1 AP: Travel Archive. Dark Forest Recorded!   Self and Team gain Perception Ability in area and +2 to Perception checks to notice environment! 
Kuro Dmon
Fists preemptively raised as this delusion produced a lycanthrope of all things, David reflexively crossed his arms as the ball hit the ground in front of him, let alone keeping them crossed and eyes shut as it broke open with a flash of light.

After a moment of dropping that guard to examine the creatures morphing in the scene, he returns to a fighting stance, side-eying the creature that seems to be mimicking him, if not ready to fight on its own.  “Yeah, gonna have to remember to ask the shrink what this means.”  He snarks through a sneer, despite instincts still telling him this is no laughing matter, particularly as one of the monsters howls like the wolves they all once resembled.

  Focus Fire.   he finds himself thinking, as his eyes start to blaze.  “Hey, shortie. If you can fight, can you try flanking?”  he asks of the diminutive dog in front of him. The black and blue creature snorts, before moving fast enough to seemingly vanish, reappearing behind the approaching dire rat with a wicked fast kick. For his part, David rushes forward in a parallel direction, throwing out an open palm strike on the opposite side of the dire rat.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Riolu to A9 as part of using Quick Attack (potentially still enabling the tackle but definitely ruining any chance for it to reposition the group). If I’m allowed to have it count as having had a training feature applied to it, like Eevee, then I’d do so.

 (1d20+2)[ 9 ]  vs AC Base 2. Add another +1 if can be Focus Trained.
 (1d8+30)[ 36 ] . That's.... kind of a lot. I was gonna consider rolling Counter, but I might wait and see if this boosted hit takes out the enemy first.

 I'd give David's actions as well, but he too slow...  Given recent updates, turns out I should have thrown out his trainer actions, too. Activating Aura Reader as a swift action, and then using  Force Palm as a Standard Action  after moving to, if I remember right, C9?
 
Feathersnow
Instinctively, Jean moves to BLOCK attacks against the punk dinosaur.

Dana uses Dragon Rage on the Worm Bug near Jean!
Dr.Gunsforhands
Working as a team, Ace and Riolu use their special priority techniques to get a fast and lucky hit, striking the rat in the head as it charges their way. The monster flips onto its back and explodes back into shadow-stuff that quickly evaporates.

The other rat is already up in Dana and Jean's business before she can react, and it's very distracting.  Jean does manage to push away through the monsters and block the green bug from aiming properly, such that she and her dinosaur each eat half as much silly string as they otherwise would have.  (In the end, you both get -1 combat stage in both defense and speed.) 

Almost by reflex, Joanna gets some good pictures of the area as she studies. They might be useful later!

Seeing that punching seems to work, David moves into position and uses his martial arts training perhaps more seriously than he ever has in his life. It feels... different, here. Like you can sense your breath coursing through you, into your palm, and then directly from there to the rat's evil spine. It twists and rolls over before evaporating like its twin.  (It's super-effective!) 

When David looks up from that, he sees Echo - the bat - harassing the cherry monster. Now that he's noticing his own breath, he can also sense an odd aura on the cherries, and thinks he spots a spectral key ring hanging from its stems.

Behind a magically-locked door further down the path, an Onryo waits impatiently. She can hear the action going on in one direction, and can hear some ominous stomping coming from the other direction, getting closer.

When we cut back to the battle, Dana breathes fire! Or at least, some bluish energy that kind of looks like fire. It freaks out the sharp-horned worm, anyway.

 
 Spoiler: Map &amp; Initiative 
   

15:  Echo 
13:  Riolu 
10:  Ace, Jean, Joanna 
9: Green bug, Red-nosed Bug
7: Gold Cocoon, Hyena, Cherries
6: Green Cocoon
5:  Veronica (even though she's still stuck off-screen), David 
4:  Dana 
 


The green worm, now kind of boxed in between a tree, an ally, and an enemy, panics and tries to tackle Jean.  (Stays in its space and uses Tackle.) 

The red-nosed worm shakes off the blue flame and fires a needle from its horn in retaliation. You don't know how its horn can do that. It looks very cartoony, like the art in that one card game. Now that Joanna looks at it, it specifically looks like a Weedle!  (Stays put, uses Poison Sting on Dana - or on whoever happens to be standing between it and Dana, if someone intervenes.) 

The cocoons continue making gross noises while staring at you menacingly. The green one slowly inches toward the action, trying to block the northern escape route.  (Harden again.) 

The gray hyena-looking monster turns around and jumps to swat at the bat away from its cherry-shaped comrade.  (Move to D13 and use Tackle on Echo) 

For their part, the cherries shiver in place and start regenerating as quickly as the bat can chomp them.  (???) 
Kuro Dmon
 “That worked better than expected….”  David remarked, looking from the fading shadows to his fists and back. Looking around after that, he takes a moment to contemplate options.

Deciding he couldn’t ignore the twinkling any further, David snaps his finger, points at the Riolu that seems to be obeying him, and points vaguely in the direction of the other fight. With another person and a…  dragon(?)  doing their part against weaker looking enemies, surely it can assist them well enough. The Riolu hardly needs the invitation to speed off, kicking the Red-nosed worm in the back of the head with blinding speed, as David moves to the Hyena with another open palmed strike.

 (Heh. So much for focus fire.)  
 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Riolu to D7, with another Quick Attack for the Weedle.
 (1d20+1)[ 19 ]  vs DC 2+Evasion.
 (1d8+20)[ 21 ] . No helping hand this time, but if it's already taken some damage from Dana?

David to D12, with another Force Palm on the Poochyena.
 (1d20)[ 16 ]  vs DC 2+Evasion.
 (2d6+24)[ 33 ] 

Heh. I probably shouldn't dig too deep so we don't get out the AoO rules, but I am curious if any possible Flanking could be happening with these moves. I suppose I can only hope the Quick Attack + Dragon Breath roasted Weedle before it could stab me in the buttox.
 
Rekmond
  Joanna Re    dgrac    e   • 61/61 HP • 4/6 AP
 Status: 
 
 Spoiler: Team 
 Eevee -  Ace  • 50/50 - Inspired
 


 
Seeing how things were progressing Joanna nibbled on her lip and gave herself a reassuring nod. She snaps a picture of the Weedle almost absently before calling out.  Interrupt!   1 AP: Profile Archive. Weedle Recorded!   ​Advance to C6 

"  Ace! Go for the Weedle before it gets some poison off!  "
The response from Eevee was swift. It pivoted from it's almost happy dance and spun into a run, swinging around to come at the Weedle from the side to knock it towards the baby dinosaur.  Standard: Tackle   Move to E6, knock Weedle to E8. 
Feathersnow
 Hey, Friend, Dana?  Get that Worm! 
Dana uses Tackle!
Dr.Gunsforhands
Riolu pummels the weedle, and Ace runs in to finish it off. It's sent flying over Jean's head and explodes in the air. Naturally, Joanna gets shots of the whole thing.

The green worm, undaunted, seizes on the distraction and rams Jean at the waist, shoving her back in Ace's direction. The bug is not as strong as the beast that was dragging her around earlier, or perhaps Jean has become stronger as a result of pet-related developments, as the damage is not so bad to her and she nimbly avoids tripping over Joanna's puppy.  (17 damage, which is reduced to 11 after subtracting Jean's defense.) 

By the time David gets to the other kerfuffle, the gray canine has already done a number on the bat, which in turn is reconsidering its course of action as it flutters out of a nosedive. The hyena looks over its shoulder and barely has time to snarl before David repeats his open-palm move. It works as well here as it did on the rats, and the hyena howls as it too vanishes in a burst of shadow.

That leaves the dancing pair of cherries. As its friend leaves the battlefield, it locks eyes with David for a second, a simple cherubic smile still locked on what is allegedly its face. A small bite taken out of its second cherry quickly heals as if poured into place, and just as you realize that that cherry has its own, smaller face-

"BIII! BIII! BIII!"

The cherry monster spins around and bouncily waddles away down the path, screaming its piercing alarm sound as it goes.

On the other side of the field, once it's done watching everything else that's going on, a dragon plods over to the remaining worm and shoves it out of everyone's way. The worm's hide is more rubbery than the weedle's, and it tanks the hit fairly well.

 
 Spoiler: Map 
   
 15: Echo
13: Riolu
10: Ace, Jean, Joanna 
9: Green bug (Targeting Dana with Tackle)
7: Gold Cocoon (Targeting Riolu with Poison Sting)
7: Cherries (Fleeing and screaming)
6: Green Cocoon (Targeting Dana with Tackle)
 5: Veronica, David
4: Dana 
 


As the Cherries continue running away, the bugs gather to rush at you all one more time. The worm rushes at Dana, and the green cocoon-thing bounces behind it, getting ready to follow up. The golden cocoon bounces in place, like it's going to jump on Riolu.

The bat looks at David - or at least, it briefly chitters its echolocation in his direction as though trying to give him a meaningful look. It's hard to read a monster with no eyes. It then moves to pursue the cherry creature, intent on not letting it escape.
Feathersnow
Dana looks aghast as Jean takes the modest hit and responds by venting blue fire at the surviving worm!

Jean, nursing her wound, backs up to avoid getting hurt again!
Rekmond
  Joanna Re    dgrac    e   • 61/61 HP • 4/6 AP
 Status: 
 
 Spoiler: Team 
 Eevee -  Ace  • 50/50 - Inspired
 


 
The change in pace makes Joanna take a second to reconsider the battlefield. The bugs were being whittled down by a large group, but that plant sounding the alarm was going to bring down more problems on their heads if not stopped.

She gives a whistle to catch Ace's attention and points to the escaping cherries.

"  Go get im!  "
Eevee bounced once and took off at a run, dashing right past David and between the bat and cherries until it was just ahead of them.  Standard: Sprint   10 movement this turn, increase Speed by 2 stages. Init changed to 14. 
Dr.Gunsforhands
LEFT MAP:

Ace rushes away after the fleeing plant. Riolu puts up its arms to defend itself as Jean and Joanna keep their distance.

The bugs attack! The green worm bullies Dana and shoves her back toward Jean. The cocoon behind it tries to charge in and follow up, but it turns out to be too slow to reach, so it just ends up plopping itself in front of the worm like a shield.

The gold one stings Riolu, who smacks its carapced butt away before it can deliver any poison.

 (Dana takes 17 damage, for a total of 10 after defense. Riolu takes a total of 5 after defense, because it's resisted by Counter, which Riolu is seemingly using by default.) 

After skidding to a rest, an injured Dana steps forward and launches its flame. It shoots past the cocoon, at the target she's focused on. Alas, the dumb worm refuses to go down and shows no sign of surrendering despite its own obvious injuries.


RIGHT MAP:

Echo the Bat picks up what David and Ace are putting down and flies over to surround the plant monster. Startled, the cherries spin around and trip over themselves, rolling on the ground with little cartoon swirly eyes. This gives David an opening to move in and snatch the weird phantom key ring off its stem.

 (The cherries are flinched by Echo's Astonish and easily finished off.) 

Defeated, the cherries explode as usual, and the ghostly key vanishes from David's hand. Down the path, somewhere very close, you hear something go  *click* , and then,  *crash!* 

The door on Veronica's cage falls off! Hooray!

Also, there's a mostly-unopened bag of loot here! Will wonders never cease?


LEFT MAP AGAIN:

The evil bug squad, having knocked the little dragon out of their way, start moving to surround Riolu and take him out. Can you do something before that happens?


 
 Spoiler: Maps and Init 

L Map:
    

R Map:
  


The path from one map to the other only takes two meters of movement.

Initiative tracker:
 15: Echo
14: Ace
13: Riolu
10: Jean, Joanna 
9: Green bug (Targeting Riolu with Tackle)
7: Gold Cocoon (Targeting Riolu with Poison Sting)
6: Green Cocoon (Targeting Riolu with Tackle)
 5: Veronica, David
4: Dana 
 
Zelphas
Ronnie, who had been stubbornly slashing at the door to her cage despite a complete lack of result, grins as the door finally falls away. Echo chirps delightedly, flying towards her in joy... only to get shoved rudely aside as Ronnie pushes her way out to freedom.   "Good work, somewhat, eyeless,"   Ronnie says begrudgingly as she passes, before pulling her way to the bag of loot and rooting around inside.

After a long moment, Ronnie pauses her looting to glare at the other humanoid form near her.   "Oy, you a regular human? Got any idea what's going on? Probably not. Sounds like there's still some fighting going on nearby. Shouldn't you help?"   Slinging the loot bag over one shoulder, Ronnie concentrates for a moment, closing her eyes. Slowly, the twisting burn scar tracing down her cheek and around her neck begins to glow a deep, sullen red... and she slowly rises off the ground. Ronnie opens her eyes, eyeing herself with another twisted grin.   "Better. Move, or I'll take them all out myself."   She barrels forward towards the sounds of battle.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
 Ronnie 

Move Action: shift to G4.

Standard Action: Look through and pick up the loot bag. If that's not a standard action, Ronnie will double-move to C2.

 Echo 

Move Action: Shift to H4.

Standard Action: None, unless Ronnie shifts to C2. If she does, Echo shifts to D2.
 