Having thoroughly inspected the roof for what seems and adequate time Jet is lowered back down to the ground. "Well we're certainly not getting back up through our own power. Hope someone upstairs had a plan to get us out of here once we find the kid."

Quickly catching up on what he missed of the conversation he nods and inspects the Southern Passage. "Id rather not leave Alt and Shuuji alone with their pokemon injured but we really do need to be making tracks - kinda enough time here as is. South looks fine to me; sending Tiny north would just agitate every Paras in the cave - not that they could do much to him of course but no need to tick them off if we can avoid it."

"Well, in that case, you could just leave him in your Pokéball while passing."
"Anyway, I agree, but unless you trust me to go by myself, I don't see many other options. Either way, we've discussed enough. I'll let your feet make the final decision."
Lucas starts heading south.

Character vs Player conflicts are difficult.

"Well that isn't fair. Not his fault he's so big." Jet laughs to himself and wanders off at a brisk pace to catch up with Lucas, Tiny following behind with all the subtlety of a landslide.

"I thought he liked sleeping."
I tilt my head back and smile.

"See you two. Contact me if anything important comes up."

imadinosaur has notified me that we should continue without him, so I will control Shuuji as an NPC from now on. Your Bonds with Shuuji have been erased; they no longer have story significance. His Star Piece has been given to Altimis, the other person in his group.


After some planning, you decide to split the team to cover more ground. Jet and Lucas will take the south passage, while Altimis and Shuuji will patch up their Pokémon before heading into the Paras tunnels to the north.

"All right!" Shuuji booms, slapping Altimis on the back with the force of a truck. "I knew I could count on you! We'll take Sombra and Fuunsaiki to the very ends of the earth!"

The karate master's voice echoes through the caverns, and you think you see a Zubat fall out of its perch somewhere above. Fuunsaiki neighs cheerfully in reply. After a series of very dramatic martial arts poses, Shuuji kicks open his first aid kit and starts doing something that might get his veterinary license revoked if he had one. "Don't worry, younglings! We got this!"

Really, old man?

"Yes! Now go! Justice awaits!"


Altimis: As you wave goodbye to Lucas and Jet, you sigh. It looks like Shuuji is off doing his own thing again. Honestly, you've never understood that guy. It's like his mind operates on a different plane from everyone else.

While you're stuck with the old man, you might as well make the best of your time. You turn your attention to Sombra and give her a good once-over with your first aid kit, scratching her back and petting her as you do. You spray cleansing foam over her cuts and bandage her limbs, trying to ignore the sounds of exploding rocks that are coming from Shuuji's direction. Though you must admit, you're impressed with the raw strength that guy can bring to bear.

It's actually kind of funny. You knew he was strong, but he couldn't be that strong.... right?

You turn to Shuuji. He's kneeling by Fuunsaiki, doing something that resembles normal medicine. He isn't breaking rocks.

Then where's the sound coming from...?

What do you do?


Lucas and Jet: The cavern opens up as you move further south, and the forbidding crags gives way to water-worn crystals and scored limestone. You notice that the floor is damp, which is making Tiny extra grumpy as he bulldozes his way through the cave. You guess Onix don't take well to water.

When Zubats and Geodudes start appearing deeper in, you use your Repel gear to ward them off. It's a little disconcerting how close some of them come before turning away. Is it really possible that a little boy could have come here? Is Chester really in any condition to be rescued right now?

Your reverie is cut off when you enter a new cavern - one filled with the sound of rushing water. It's so loud that it muffles the grinding sound of Tiny burrowing across the ground. Your flashlights soon reveal the source of the sound: a massive waterfall gushing from the east into a fast-moving river that bends around and below the outcrop you're standing on.

Jet recognizes this area, but it's changed drastically since he was last here. The rushing water from the Cerulean river basin was nowhere near as fast or as treacherous as it is now. The tectonic shifts in Mt. Moon must have unblocked some boulders upstream and turned the lazy underground flows into roaring rapids.

You look across the chasm... and see nothing but bare rock. That's strange. As far as Jet can remember, there's a small network of tunnels here that connect to many places deeper in the mountain.

Hold on. Where are those Zubats flying out of?

You follow their trail... and it looks like the exits are still there. Only they're about seventy meters down and twenty meters across from your current position, accessible only by a crumbled rock ledge. This looks like it's going to be quite a drop.

What do you do?

You recall from your briefing that when you find Chester, you should call Tsubaki for further orders. Presumably she has some plan for getting you out of here.

If it's anything like our entrance then I don't put my faith in that one bit.

I ask the DM for more information
How close is Shuuji?
Are the explodey noises coming from the Paras tunnel? Or where in a better general direction?


Altimis perks his ears and turns to see what Shuuji is doing. Oddly enough, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

(Then where are those sounds coming from?) Do they sound like explodey rocks, or simply shifting rocks? More exactly, does it appear to be anoter landslide, or something different?

Altimis: Darn, this is not your area of expertise. You studied style and etiquette, not rocks and dirt. You look here, there, up, and all around, but you have no idea what's causing the sounds. All you can tell is that they're coming from Shuuji's little corner, several meters away - and they're getting louder!

"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!" Shuuji wrinkles his brow thoughtfully. "Altimis, do you hear that? It's coming... from inside the ground!"

"Neigh! Neigh!" Fuunsaiki adds helpfully.

Now hold on! This is no laughing matter!

Sombra's ears perk up and she begins growling. You feel the earth begin to shake...

What do you do? Roll to decide the outcome of your action. For the purpose of this roll, you can assume that Shuuji will pitch in.

I meant similar to a map. I don't know where Shuuji is in relation to me aside from a few meters away. Is he between me and the north exit? am I between him and the north exit?...
No matter, I dive as perpendicular from the incoming noise as possible. If possible, in the direction of the Paras path.
As far as Shuuji helping in this scenario, I assume he helps me better triangulate the best direction to go.



(That's oddly unspecific, Shuuji. We're in the ground...) Altimis gripes to himself. He points in the direction he thinks they should go and he leaps in that direction as close to the wall as he can get.
(It's probably some dugtrio if we're lucky.) He thinks as he prepares himself for the worst.

Jet looks down the massive drop, kicking a few loose pebbles down and listening to them bounce and thud. "Well I guess just jumping down isn't going to do us much good." Tossing his pack onto the ground at his feet and begins digging around inside looking for something. "How much rope ya got Lucas? Figure we should have enough between us." Finally finding the end of his own rope he begins hauling the climbing equipment from his bag while inspecting the cavern for something that would be able to securely hold their combined weight.

How much rope do we have on us anyway? How long is an escape rope?

Also I'm assuming that between the recent collapses and the intensifying of the river it wouldn't be sufficient to just hammer a peg into the ground to act as a bracing point.

altimis: You have to use your Talent or your Pokémon. Which are you using? Can you justify it?


Lucas and Jet: You have a lot of escape rope with you - Silph Co.'s materials science department never fails to amaze - but even if you tie both together and lower them as far as you dare, it only halfway spans the massive drop. The material is noticeably elastic, so you might be able to bungee your way across and catch a handhold... if you're willing to accept the consequences of failure. Alternatively, you could use the accompanying climbing equipment to rappel down the cavern wall, unattach the rope, then cast over to the ledge below... but that will be a lot slower, and the two of you could take hours just to descend.

Jet figures that the outcrop isn't stable enough for you to use as leverage, but the cavern wall is another story. It looks relatively undamaged by the recent collapses and could probably take your weight. There are some cracks and jutting edges that you could use to place anchors - but they might not hold if the rock is too slippery from the water. You could also hammer pitons into the wall, but the sound might agitate the wild Zubats flitting around below.

You check your Pokégear. Twenty minutes have passed since you went through Ranger Team Geodude's portal. Considering how much time it's going to take to descend safely, you had better come to a decision quickly.

Jet lets out a quick laugh and slaps Lucas on the back. "Honestly? Was kinda having the same idea myself - though I hadn't planned out the landing yet so your plans a whole stage better then mine. I say let's do it!"

There is no conceivable way this plan can go wrong! *squashed to death by falling onix*

I jump onto rocks on the wall as clsoe to the paras hole as possible.

Altimis curses his luck and the luck of the poor boy stuck down here. "I hate diglett and dugtrio. They act like they own the place." As the noise gets nearer, he looks to the walls.
NOTE: He doesn't know it's diglett/dugtrio, he's assuming.

(Well, I've never seen one pop out of the wall. That's better than staying on the ground.)
He leaps towards the wall in hopes of clinging to it instead of staying on the ground and awaiting an unpredictable eruption of dirt, rock and pokemon.

I'm utilizing chessmaster as in, using past experiences to plan my current moves? Never seen things pop out of walls; walls = safe?