There's Something Strange In The Neighborhood...

[these_balls]

...AND IT'S A




SO WHAT'S GOING ON?

Well, remember back a few months ago, when Sabrina decided to mess around with her psychic powers attempting to contact the dead? Yeah, well, it turns out you can't just go messing around with the supernatural without the supernatural, um, noticing. And suffice to say, something's not too happy with Sabrina about that. People shouldn't trifle with things that don't belong to them, and when you do, there are going to be consequences. Unfortunately, the hand of justice here isn't being particularly precise when it comes to who specifically is to blame; it's a little more along the lines of "one of yours did this, and now you all have to pay for it."

See, the nightmares everyone's been having? That was the side effect of something getting its hooks into you — and a few members of your roster as well. And from the point of view of something that's never known anything but Pokemon Logic™, what's the worst punishment a person could possibly suffer?

That's right. Losing their Pokemon.

And that means everybody who's had that nightmarish bulls-eye painted on them in the preliminary stages of the plot is going on a field trip.

BOY, AM I SURE GLAD MY CHARACTER WASN'T ONE OF THE ONES HAVING NIGHTMARES! SO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM WHILE THIS PLOT IS RUNNING?

If your character is not going on the plot, they're going to have a relatively quiet — albeit spooky — week. The weather will largely follow the Route calendar in the daytime, but the evenings and nighttime hours will be plagued with random bouts of fog, high winds, storms, and the other sorts of generally hostile weather that tend to give people the sense that Mother Nature is having a bad day (and when Mother Nature's not happy, no one is happy.) The gyms will still be open for business, but a handwaved IC weather advisory will go around suggesting that trainers try to stay in the cities if possible, and to venture out onto the routes only at their own risk. There will also be swarms of Ghost-types lurking around, at the levels comparable to whatever area your character happens to be in at the current moment.

Oh, and they'll probably notice that a large majority of the people around them have passed out into something that looks a great deal like an Update Coma™, and while they're still shallowly breathing, they're also not waking up. Try to make them comfortable, at least, won't you?

FORGET THAT, I'M SIGNED UP FOR THIS FIELD TRIP. WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING TO ME?

Good question.

If you are going on the field trip (I.E. your character participated in the nightmares and is still going on the plot), they will be KOing into something eerily resembling an Update Coma™ at 11:59:59 PM on Thursday, October 24. When they wake up again, it will be 7:00 AM on Friday, October 25, and they will be...well, somewhere else.

OH, PLEASE, WILL YOU STOP BEING CRYPTIC ALREADY.

Sure thing. The "somewhere else" you're going to is Nightmare Castle.

Because it wouldn't be a modplot without a floorplan.

KEY:

• RED areas are inaccessible regions of the castle! How they're inaccessible will vary from place to place (and from person to person), so players are encouraged to be creative in making up reasons why their characters can't get in to those areas if they try. For example, they might find the door to be locked or jammed; they might find a section of wall has collapsed and blocked off the corridor; they might just run into an invisible wall or a lingering patch of obscuring fog that ultimately deters them. They might even discover a rather unpleasant-looking monster hanging around and decide they'd rather not take the chance; the sky's the limit here, but the reasons for the same door being blocked can vary from person to person, and we encourage you to use this to add to the IC confusion if you so desire!

• BROWN areas are secret passages! It won't be immediately obvious that these areas exist (naturally, being secret), but with some diligence and careful inspection, characters can find the opening and get inside. Whether it's from lifting a secret latch or just figuring out the wall is hollow and bashing the thing down, of course, is up to player discretion!

• AREA A — the Spooky Garden. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
The obvious object of note here is the pretty fountain bubbling merrily away in the center of this odd little patch of indoor flora; it's made of white marble and is your standard three-tier affair, surrounded by a modest "courtyard" of grass and wildflowers. The animal sculptures are probably Pokemon you recognize...though on second glance they look more like something you're pretty sure you saw back home...and come to think of it, on third glance they're starting to get a little unsettling somehow. Strange! However, if you can stand the spooky company, it's a fairly quiet place to sit and unwind. Maybe you'll be generous and throw P10 into the waters? Or maybe you'll dig in there and retrieve other people's contributions for your own benefit. Either way, be careful when you look into the water; who knows what faces you might see reflected!

• AREA B — the Grand Hall. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
This is where you and your fellow inmates visitors have woken up; everyone will originate here upon the start of the plot, but there's absolutely no restriction on how long you have to stay there, so feel free to take off running as soon as you like. If you decide to stay, though, you'll notice it's a fairly big room, generally rectangular, with walls of gray stone and a healthy coating of dust and cobwebs over most every surface. All things considered, there's not a lot actually in here: some scattered rubble, scraps of wood, tattered cloth, empty sconces on the wall. Poke around a bit and you might find a candle or some other helpful odds and ends, but by and large this seems to be a token Big Empty Room — not particularly helpful for anything but holding people, all things considered.

• AREA C — the Overgrown Tower.
Watch your head as you enter this room; contrary to what you might expect from a tower room, the ceiling is surprisingly low, and the dangling vines might give you a fright if you walk into one without paying attention! There isn't much of note in this room, outside of the plants seeping through the cracks in the cold gray stone and the delicate scent of flowers lingering in the air; not much, that is, save for the wooden rocking horse standing stationary in the center of the room — what could that be doing there?

• AREA D — the Wine Cellar.
Pretty self-explanatory, this one; this room is stocked full of creaky old wine casks and dusty bottles of what is presumably ridiculously well-aged alcohol, along with assorted bottling tools and the other odds and ends you might find in an old-school winery. Alas, no free shot at hitting the bottle for you, minors; characters who would not ordinarily be eligible to drink in Route will find that even if they crack one of these bottles open, the liquid inside turns to old water — or refuses to come out at all.

• AREA E — the Kitchen. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
Like the Wine Cellar, this is also pretty self-explanatory; search the cupboards and you might find food. Whether or not you're willing to try eating it is entirely up to you — who knows what might be in it, or how long it's been there, after all — but no one's likely to starve; when characters aren't in the Kitchen, they won't find themselves to be particularly hungry, regardless of how long it's been since they've last eaten. When they go inside, hunger will set in, but if they'd rather not eat to remedy the problem, then alleviating it is as simple as just leaving the room.

• AREA F — the Hall of Tapestries. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
A nice, long, intimidating hallway with a high arched ceiling and faded tapestries lining the walls. Visitors with a healthy sense of paranoia might notice that this room is a classic example of a "kill box"; there's only one exit on either end and nowhere to hide in the middle. But certainly there's no reason to be frightened while walking alone down this long, empty, echoing corridor — though depending on your nerves, it might be a reason to pick up your pace.

• AREA G — the Decaying Library.
Though it doesn't seem to have seen a caretaker in quite some time, the library comes fully stocked with enough books to keep the literary-inclined busy for a while. There's at least some valid information to be found, most of it detailing a region that doesn't seem to be Johto or Kanto. Descriptions of Mount Coronet and the ruins of Celestic Town, as well as details about what appear to be the creation of the world can be found here, among other things — including the demented ramblings of a man who seems determined to destroy the world and remake it in his image, and the surely coincidental story of a tragedy that occurred in a large manor not entirely unlike the one you've awakened in...

• AREA H — the Hidden Dungeon.
Hopefully you'll never have reason to visit here, but if you've taken up residence in a set of our finest wall manacles, well...enjoy your stay, we suppose. This room is only accessible through the secret passage designated in brown; in the event that your character suffers a critical injury during the course of this plot, after whiting out they will end up in this room, presumably in chains. Hopefully they've got a friend who can pick locks, or who'll otherwise come to spring them from their confinement! If not, it might be a loooooong wait until someone happens by.

• AREA I — the Haunted Terrace.
This area is also accessible by secret passage, and if you happened to find it in the daytime, you might be a bit disappointed to discover that it's pretty much just a big empty patio that looks as though it ought to be outdoors (and the occasional breeze passing through would seem to support that conclusion), but it's so heavily ringed by thick fog that you can't see more than a foot or two past the boundaries of the edges. On the other hand, if you've had the misfortune of coming here at night, you'll find it's quite the unappealing place to be — some of the patches of fog lurking about are actually monsters that will attack anyone who gets too close! The good news is, they'll only follow player characters as far as the end of the secret passage before turning back, but anything on the terrace or in the passage is fair game for an attack if you're not careful!

OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN.

Seriously.

OKAY, SO THAT'S THE SETTING. NOW TELL ME ABOUT THE PLOT.

First off, this is a loosely scripted plot — meaning, there are certain key events that are going to happen along the way, but your characters will have a lot of freedom to explore and do things within the boundaries of those guided events. We'll go into more detail about what each specific day involves a little further down in the infopost, but for a quick overview, the timeline looks something like this:

• DAY ONE: Participating characters wake up in the Grand Hall (Area B) of Nightmare Castle. Reactions and preliminary exploration commence.
• NIGHT ONE: The Fire Nation castle monsters attack.
• DAY TWO: The stairwell to the Second Floor unlocks; characters notice that the backs of their hands have been marked by a glowing sigil.
• DAYS TWO THROUGH FIVE: Exploration of the castle, retrieval of lost Pokemon, uncovering of clues that will guide characters to the Final Boss Battle™.
• DAY SIX: The Final Boss Battle™ and adjudication of whether or not the characters have won the plot; either way, all characters are returned back to their coma'd selves as of 12:00:01 AM on Halloween.

Note that we're leaving characters a lot of leeway to get creative and pursue their own goals for the duration of this plot! Everyone's all in the same place, and there's a lot of stuff in the setting. If you have ideas for things you want to do, we encourage you to talk to us about them so we can try to facilitate that!

Other Important Points of Note:
• Characters who have gone to Nightmare Castle cannot have contact with characters not participating in the plot. While their Gears will function within the castle such that they can get in touch with anyone else in the castle, they will not see posts from characters back in Johto, nor with characters in Johto see anything that residents of Nightmare Castle post. Alas!
• The rule against fighting has been revoked; there's no police force here, so there's nobody to stop you from rumbling.
• The no-death provision has been modified. As you may have noticed in the descriptions above, if a character dies over the course of this plot, instead of whiting out and appearing in the nearest Pokemon Center, characters will white out and reawaken (healthy again) in chains in the dungeon. Characters attempting to use the white-out provision to be warped back home to a Pokemon Center will fail.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: THE DAYS OF THE PLOT
DAY ONE — THE ARRIVAL

At 7:00 AM on Friday, October 25, participating characters will wake up in the castle's Great Hall (Area B). They will be generally groggy to begin with; they will also have their backpacks and any items that they generally keep on their person. However, if they search their belongings, they will quickly discover that all of their Pokemon are gone. This also includes their Pokeballs; if characters tend to keep empty Pokeballs around, they may still have those in their inventories, but the ones already holding roster members will have all disappeared.

Characters will then be given the rest of the day to explore the castle, investigate the first floor map, and interact with each other as they please for the duration. There will be a mingle log in route_1065 for this!

NIGHT ONE — THE HAUNTING

When the clock strikes 9:00 PM on October 25th, the castle will abruptly take on a much more malevolent tenor. While in the daylight hours things seemed pretty concrete and tangible, during the nighttime characters will find the castle experience to be much more dreamlike and vague. Things should feel a bit the way that they do in dreams (or nightmares) — normal, but perhaps not quite right somehow, with a general sense of foreboding. Players are welcome to get creative here; maybe things will seem to move when characters aren't expecting it, or the colors of an object will change between glances, or other equally spooky and not-quite-logical occurrences. Use your imagination!

During the nighttime hours (9:00 PM to 7:00 AM), the castle will also be haunted by monsters. These are nonspecific random encounter hauntings; if you don't want your character to have one, you're not obligated to! The only place in the castle where you are obligated to run into a monster is in Area I, the Haunted Terrace; otherwise, your chances of running into one are about 50/50, and if you absolutely don't want to encounter one, the designated safe zone is Area C, the Overgrown Tower. Obviously, this will not be explicitly made known ICly, but characters are welcome to figure it out if they should happen to notice that the monsters won't follow them into the Tower, or something similar.

The monsters will be influenced by but not identical to spooky things that your characters have seen in their own canons. So, for example, Princess Zelda would not see a ReDead, but she might see a generic creature that tends to lurch around and scream in a way that reminds her of one. This means that the appearance of the monsters will be different for everyone! This also means that yes, if two people encounter the same monster at the same time, they may see it completely differently. That's also fine! The dissonance adds to the spookiness.

Characters are allowed to fight the monsters! You can flee from them, fight them, attempt to talk to them (but why would you), whatever! If they attack you, it will hurt but leave no apparent physical damage; characters will just find themselves exhausted and in pain. If a character is subject to too many attacks, they will white out and appear in shackles in Area H, the Hidden Dungeon, and they will either have to break out or someone will have to come rescue them. Happy Haunting!

But assuming we all survive the first night, things then move on to...

DAY TWO — THE GLOWING SIGILS

Once the stress of surviving the first night has ceased, two things will occur at 7:00 AM on October 26th: all characters will wake up to discover (or otherwise notice, if they didn't sleep in the first place!) a glowing sigil on the back of their dominant hand, and a set of stairs leading up to the second floor of the castle, where previously there had only been a brick wall.

The sigils come in three colors: blue, pink, and gold. They will glow like phosphorescent light, but they won't be painful or burn to the touch. We will be using the Headcount Thread to RNG and assign people their sigil colors!

Each of the three sigil colors corresponds to a certain door on the Second Floor of the castle. Only people with the matching-colored sigil can unlock and open the door; it's as simple as placing your hand on it and then turning the knob. When you do so, your sigil will briefly glow with a new color and the door will unlock! There are three doors total, one for each color. And this is also where you'll find your missing Pokemon. What a coincidence, that you have three missing Pokemon and three colored doors!

Behind each sigil door is one missing Pokemon; these Pokemon will be found in their Pokeballs at a specific location in each sigil room. Also, all Pokeballs will be found in the same place in the room — for example, the Blue Sigil Room's Pokeball location might be "under the desk", and therefore every character will find their missing Pokeball under the desk. Two or more characters can be in the room at the same time, but there will always be only one Pokeball visible to them, and it will be the Pokemon they lost. If that seems weird, well. It's kinda dreamlike, innit?

This aspect of the plot encourages cooperation among players; if you want to get all three of your Pokemon back, you're going to have to find a way to open all three of the doors to go get them. If a character fails to open a door that one of their Pokemon is behind, they will lose that Pokemon permanently and will not receive it back at the end of the plot. However, we encourage players to get creative in problem-solving how to open the doors; some characters might work together and cooperate to get them open, while others might opt to just up and kidnap (WITH PERMISSION!) someone with a different-colored sigil and brute force it open that way.

If you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT find a way of getting all three doors open but want to regain all of your Pokemon, don't worry! We're not going to force anybody to lose their roster if they don't want to. If you can't find a way to get the doors open after a good-faith effort at attempting it, let us know and we'll provide a Handy Plot Contrivance™ to help you out.

Also, if your character did not come to Nightmare Castle with three Pokemon, the breakdown will be as follows:
• If they brought one Pokemon, it will always be behind the door that corresponds to the sigil on their hand.
• If they brought two Pokemon, one will be behind the door corresponding to their hand, and it's player's choice which door the other one is behind.

DAYS TWO THROUGH FIVE — UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES

We anticipate that players will use these days of the plot as "free time" to engage in their own endeavors! Presumably at least part of them will be spent unlocking doors and retrieving Pokemon, but there will also be plenty of time for exploring both floors of the castle, fighting monsters at night, engaging in character interaction and small player plots, and so on. We encourage players to make their own action and "network" posts during this time!

Over the course of these days, characters will begin to observe strange messages appearing in various rooms around the castle; you'll receive more on the content of these in a subsequent plot post, but they will largely be directing characters toward uncovering the location of...wait for it...THE FINAL BOSS BATTLE.

DAY SIX — THE FINAL BOSS BATTLE

Having figured out where the Final Boss™ is lurking, characters will venture forth to go do battle! Again, we'll have a roundup/plotting post for this once we're closer to the actual battle and things become more relevant, but the battle mechanic that determines the "win" condition will essentially work like this:

We will be putting up an IC log in route_1065 for people to thread out their adventures in fighting The Boss™. On the roundup post, we will have a thread designated for "proof of participation". In order to win the plot and defeat The Boss™, at least two-thirds of all characters participating in the plot (as determined by the signups on the Headcount Post) must make either a top-level comment or reply to a top-level comment on the Boss Fight Log Post, and then link it to us in the "Proof of Participation" thread. We'll give you the number to beat once we get closer to the plot and have a final tally of who all's there, but by 11:59:59 PM on October 30, at least two-thirds of the participating characters must have made at least one comment to the Battle Log and shown us proof of it in order to win the plot.

Assuming the players win, everyone in Nightmare Castle will wake up on Halloween morning back where they were before the plot started, and everyone in the game (regardless of whether they went to the castle or not) will receive a Fabulous Prize! Assuming the players don't win, everyone in the game will wake up on Halloween morning feeling vaguely disoriented and with a deep sense of foreboding (and sadly no Fabulous Prize). So it behooves you to cooperate and participate! WORK TOGETHER AND EVERYONE CAN PREVAIL!

THAT WAS A LOT OF READING.

We're sorry. It's a pretty ambitious plot. Hopefully you like the sound of it, though!

SO WHERE'S THIS SECOND-FLOOR MAP AND STUFF?

That will be unveiled when the Second Story unlocks on Day Two of the plot! Don't worry, there'll be a post for it and we'll plurk about it and everything.

AND THE SAME THING FOR THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT BATTLE DETAILS AND STUFF?

Bingo.

I HAVE A QUESTION YOU STILL DIDN'T ANSWER IN THIS MONOLITH OF A POST.

That's not particularly surprising. Please ask us about it here!

I HAVE A PLAYER PLOT I WANT TO RUN! WHERE DO I ASK YOU ABOUT THAT?

You do it in this thread here.

SO YOU'RE GOING TO BE PUTTING UP LOGS FOR US, RIGHT?

Yes. There will be two mod-created logs — one at the beginning of the plot and one at the end for the bossfight. For all the other interactions in between, we're encouraging players to make their own posts and tag around as usual.

HOLD UP. MY CHARACTER IS A NON-FIGHTER, AND THEY HAVE NO REASON TO SHOW UP TO A BOSS BATTLE, BUT YOU CLAIM WE'RE GOING TO LOSE THE PLOT IF WE DON'T GET ENOUGH PEOPLE. ISN'T THAT UNFAIRLY BIASED TOWARD CHARACTERS WHO ARE FIGHTERS?

Not at all, actually! All your character has to do is show up somewhere in the log in order to get credit for participating. That could mean they're in trouble and need a rescue, or they're helping out in some mundane way, or they run in just to scream and flee in terror, or they decide to pull a Leeroy Jenkins and throw their shoe at the Big Bad. The possibilities are endless, and we're not mandating that people fight. They just have to be there.

SO WHO'S THE BIG BAD, ANYWAY?

No comment.

IT'S DARKRAI, ISN'T IT.

CAN I USE THIS POST FOR PLOTTING WITH OTHER PEOPLE?

You sure can!

QUICK LINKS
QUESTIONS FOR MODS | PLAYER PLOT REQUESTS

Comments

ASK QUESTIONS HERE!

[these_balls]

[soundmind]

...So for people that aren't participating, what kinds of Ghost types would we be expecting to see, like just more than usual or "Sableyes showing up in places that aren't Kanto" what do you mean ulterior motives

REQUEST PLOT APPROVAL HERE!

[these_balls]

Re: REQUEST PLOT APPROVAL HERE!

[(Anonymous)]

Have you ever thought of using those Team Rocket microchips on humans, particulary those who are really against the team? What do you think would happen if one was used that way? I think it might be a good way to cause some trouble.

[itsjustdust]

-slides in here- Obito is gonna land himself in this building. Anyone want to team up with him while he's there? He's gonna be looking for allies~!

[neurotoxined]

...this can't possibly go badly, can it.

[crackpotcrocker]

If anyone wants to team up with Denzel, let me know :)

Or just plot some CR during this :D

[twinsanity]

...Crocker is insane but he's familiar, and if he has a different-colored sigil than Alfred does, then God help him if he doesn't want to be yanked over to go open a door at the very least.

[lieutenantantichrist]

Aww yeah, this looks awesome.

If your char is a bad guy who it'd be hard to get anybody to assist, you can probably trick or cajole Blake into helping out. His judgment ain't so great.

Edit: He'll also be looking to look out for any kids stuck there.

[islandshore]

...so I realize this means these two can bump into each other in the flesh. That could be fun. B]

[babel_hacker]

Aw yeaaaaaah

Atsuro will be in the castle. Since he's a nice fellow, he's willing to team up with people and help them with exploring and opening the doors!

He'll have three Pokemon to retrieve, so he would appreciate some help on that end. help a bro, receive a bro

[timelymaid]

I'd love to do at least one thread with him and Aradia if you're up for it! :o At least, she would like to say hi to Atsuro.

[usedwrench]

So, I have two girls, Winry (this journal) and Madoka (healing_wish) with me on this, and they both have 3 pokemon to rescue, sob. Anyone want to do anything with either / team up etc?

[exeggutorhead]

I'd like to do something with Winry and Envy! If they wind up with different sigils, he'd be willing to help her out if she helps him in return.

[foolishwren]

YO GUESS WHO'S GOOD AT FIGHTING MONSTERS?


---> THIS KID <---

Heather will be exploring every nook and cranny of the castle she can get to and if there's any weaker characters who need protection from the creatures, she'll be more than willing to help them out.

If anyone'd like to plot with me for this event, grab me here!

[exeggutorhead]

YOU KNOW WHO'D HAPPILY TEAM UP WITH HER TO FIGHT MONSTERS?

THIS TREEHEAD

[timelymaid]

Aradia's signed up! I did decide Honey will stay at home and do the other side of the plot, so if someone wants him to babysit their bodies he...CAN?

I am up for whatever and Aradia will be, too. She likes GHOSTS and EXPLORING THINGS and RANDOM MYSTERIES so she will actually be pretty happy and...not overly concerned, which is probably bad. :|a Though she will be fairly concerned about her pokemon, the rest of it doesn't really actually...bug her.

she's weird.

[usedacrobatics]

Robin would be happy to stare at Aradia in annoyed wonder while she's happy about this okay?

[exeggutorhead]

This looks amazing!

I've got Envy participating in this plot, and he'll be willing to form temporary alliances even with people he doesn't know so long as it helps him get his Pokemon back. I'd also love to plot some exploration (if you'd like someone to be an angry ass to your character before the sigils happen, he can do that too) and night monster fighting situations! Envy will also spend the first few hours trying to beat down the locked doors because surely it will work if he just keeps trying.

[blundergirl]

I know we already talked on plurk, but now that we have some details how do you feel about teaming up against monsters? Seeing as Ed is the one that taught her hand to hand (though it probably looks a bit "Katara-ish" anyway) it might be interesting... >B)

I also have Cassie who will be willing to help with busting down doors at some point.

[soggypastry]

So seeing things like Cie'th, that is to say creatures with glowing red eyes, some stone caught on them, and/or that make the same sounds is going to give Lightning a fright BUT she's got three Pokémon to recover and no interest in losing them.

Attempts at holding off her emotions are going to be go! That being said, she'll be a teensy bit(read: rather) snappy on Day 1, but after she's recovered her first 'mon and has heard of others not going through her door recovering theirs, she'll manage to focus and start looking for ways to get into those other doors. So anybody who'll want to team up to get through her sigil door, she's (one of) your gal(s) to go to...if they don't mind returning the favor. She wants her sister's mons back and she's going to get them if she has to yank somebody to a doorway to do it.

Also she'll offer protection to younger looking characters, so long as they listen to what she says and aren't the heroic, rush-in types. Those? Those get lectures on top of linefaces. She'll still help but her linefaces are...something else so that's a thing.

ETA: members of the PGC will receive help getting through her sigil door if they ask her for it/will be told to stay with their squads and help the others out as much as they can.

[foolishwren]

I'VE ALWAYS LOVED LIGHTNING BUT NEVER THREADED WITH HER LIKE EVER-- but I'd love to see her and Heather wind up fighting some monsters at some point during this plot if you're up for it!

[ardent]

Okay, so all four of mine are going to be involved in plot (I just haven't...gotten them all over on the signup post yet, Alex please don't hit me) - I'm up for plotting with all four of them, really!

Ishimaru isn't exactly a noncombatant, but he's nonaggressive; he's more prone to defending than attacking. That said, he's likely going to be trying to boss everyone around and get people organized, and generally being annoyed because ahahahaha who is going to take the shouty teenager seriously.

Kimblee is going to be exploring all the things; if he can force himself through the killbox that is that tapestry hall he's more than willing to camp in the library for a while because welcome to FMA where the nerds reign supreme. That said, he will more than willingly fight everything possible as well, so! Bring it.

Alfred is also going to be exploring all the things; stupidly complex castles and hidden passageways and architecture that makes no sense are all pretty much his forte. He's also the sort to Leeroy Jenkins any monsters that come at him with...anything he has on his person, so uh. Godspeed, man.

GLaDOS is a noncombatant, but at the same time dear lord this stuff is fascinating - so basically, she's likely going to be over here contending for a Darwin award. For science.

[neededlassie]

Shaun will listen to you, Ishimaru.

[crystalballer]

I...honestly don't know useful Hagakure is going to be for this because it's going to be way 2spoopy for him. A dude who channels ghosts and likes supernatural stuff but can't handle 2spoopy, go figure. There will be a lot of praying and hiding behind classmates/people in general that's for sure. But he'll be completely willing to help anyone who asks with the doors, and he's knowledgeable on this kind of stuff (nightmares as visions, hauntings, supernatural monsters...) so that's a plus.

Also I'm pretty sure for the monsters he's going to see vague Monobears and maybe Celes too. Even though Celes is actually going to be there. I'm sorry, Celes.

So yeah, if anyone would like to team up with Hagakure, I'm up for it!

[struck_out]

'Sup.

Up for these two to pair off with each other? Though I can't guarantee that Leon is going to be much braver than Hagakure.

[paladinlost]

Cecil: Will fight any monster that crosses his path, like a good JRPG protag. Will also be looking for passageways and be very wary of potential traps, because that freaking Demon Wall has left its mark on his soul. He has armor and frying pans, so if anyone needs improvised weaponry he can share! One of his three Pokémon has Fly, so I guess he could try to use that, see if it works? Oh, and he'll be more than happy to open whichever door he gets, once those sigils appear.

Ash: More likely to sneak around the monsters rather than fight, because no Gundam. :( He'll also be copying down some of the stuff from the library, if anyone wants to help with that. Oh, and fighting all his instincts to take a look at those tapestries. Seriously, creepy walls, you better not try to kill him.

[islandshore]

So... could a team up or encounter of some kind be a thing? :o I think it might be fun!

[enjoymyatelier]

So, Kayneth has three Pokemon to rescue and... uh... no actual combat skills when deprived of Pokemon or magic. I would imagine he can solve mysteries like a pro, so it might be fun to do a brains and brawn kind of team? I would be open to either a functional dynamic or a totally dysfunctional one, haha.

OH YES I SHOULD NOTE THAT HE IS SUGGESTED TO BE A GHOST WRANGLER IN CANON but that will be of no use to him here. He might have a pretty good idea of what not to fuck with, at least.

[itsjustdust]

HEY -throws herself in here- The boys can meet in person! Added bonus points for Obito having to rescue him in combat as the way they see each other the first time in person.

[tookthename]

Carol will have three pokemon to retrieve. Other than that she'll be as active as possible trying to make sure everyone is safe. If anyone needs her sigil color to open a door or gets cornered by a nasty and in need of saving she's your gal!

[neededlassie]

Miss Danvers it's 2spoopy oAo

[struck_out]

Three of my characters are going to be in the Horror castle!

Rude is going to do some snooping around. He's also great at fighting, so he'll be sticking around for the final boss. His 'demons' are going to be zombie Ravens; nothing particularly scary for him, but one of the worst kinda enemies he's had to deal with in his career as a Turk, save for Cloud and gang. And Kadaj and co, of course.

Dante is going to have a royal freakout. This man will be seeing all the demons he faced when he was going through Hell. He will probably spend some time smashing monsters and having a bit of a breakdown on Night One, but will eventually calm down enough to do some exploring of his own. He will be participating in the final fight. Dante will also be very intent on searching for his Pokemon. It probably doesn't help that he named his starter 'Beatrice' after his fiance either, so he can get very intense as things go on.

Monobears and flying baseballs are going to be Leon's 'demons'. Expect lots of tough posturing that pans out to be all talk and little show from him as he goes around the castle. He'll be in more of the category to run and hide rather than fight. For the final boss he might stick around, but only if his classmates are. I'd like to have Leon being forced to look for his Pokemon, because the lazy bugger might just abandon them to save his own skin if things get too scary for him.

And finally, Luxord is just going to wonder what the hell is going on with this weird weather. He'll be back in the normal world and wishing something exciting would happen.

[islandshore]

So I'm thinking this could be a good opportunity for Riku and Dante to actually meet in the flesh? :O I know they talked about it before.

[islandshore]

Riku is going to be on edge throughout the whole ordeal. Losing his Pokémon (especially Flare) is going to be a pretty heavy blow for him given his recent focus on his own personal training over his team. As a result, he will be trying his hardest to get all three of his 'mons back.

He'll also be scoping out the castle, flinging himself into monster fights... basically, someone may want to pull him back before he over exerts himself. He'll also be swinging around a blunt, metallic weapon fashioned after Keyblades because he's a doofus.

I am totally up for team mates and new CR alike. :D I'd like to use this opportunity to the fullest.

[dressofheaven]

I think I am going to hurl Ilya at every KH cast member involved in this. Maybe these two could tackle a monster after they've tracked down weapons (she'll prove a talented but untrained hand at the bow) and she's somehow been separated from Xion?

[capax_infiniti]

The loss of pokemon isn't going to bother Xehanort unduly, but he doesn't like people messing with his stuff. So he will be actively working to get his critters back. Naturally, being in a big haunted castle he's going to be like a kid in a candy store, exploring and having a grand old time. A spectacle the likes of which no one has ever seen. He won't be terribly into fighting until he gets his pokemon back, being that he's rickety without them.

People he's spoken with previously, or even new CR is welcome! This is going to be fun!

[islandshore]

...oh hey, these two can finally meet in the flesh. 0v0

If you are up for this.

[usedacrobatics]

Haven't decided if he'll be in Dick or Robin form at the time willing to fudge it but, but he'll be there and he'll be taking this all extremely personally. He's a little big on the Pokemon-as-family metaphor, having lost his at a young age.

If anyone needs someone to teach them self-defense or perform daring rescues, he'll do that, too. He's also got a talent for lockpicking and will be happy to get anyone out of the dungeon if they white out. Given the nature of the event, he will also rescue OBVIOUS VILLAINS because their Pokemon don't deserve to suffer.

He's got three mons out and the recovery of his Woobat is going to boost her happiness so she evolves to Swoobat, too.

[islandshore]

Well, these two have chatted a few times. Might be cool to have them bump into each other if you're up for it. B]

[doitrockapella]

OH RIGHT I GUESS I SHOULD SHOW UP TO MY OWN...yeah...

CARMEN will not be taking the loss of her Pokemon (Zack, Chief, and Miles) well at all, so uh. SHE MAY BE A LITTLE...INTENSE...WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING THOSE DOORS DOWN, UM. She'll also probably spend a lot of her time snooping around and finding all the secret passages and stuff, and god forbid she get KO'd and end up in the dungeon because you know she'll be out of there again in like .005 seconds flat. She's Carmen Sandiego, prison is a revolving door.

PARKER is probably going to steal everything that looks even remotely of value in the castle. Seriously. She can also pick locks with her eyes closed if somebody she knows and cares about ends up dungeon'd, and woe betide anyone or anything that potentially harms Ishimaru in this plot, I'M JUST SAYING.

KIRIGIRI is going to be like "Oh, we're locked in an enclosed space rife with the chance of certain death, MUST BE TUESDAY." She'll also be investigating, so detective types, anybody want some help with researching and snooping? And also Dangans. FOREVER DANGANS.

[explosivecombat]

...so on a scale of "one" to "Where On Earth Is Mason Dixon," how stupid is this going to get, Locke

[pianosongs]

MASATO is going to be a very confused, disturbed boy. Outside of trying to see if he can contact anyone, he'll be roaming around for most of the plot, trying stay safe.

KUWABARA, on the other hand, is going to fight everything. Loudly. 8D

[neededlassie]

hey so Kuwabara and Shaun haven't met yet

I feel like this is a good opportunity. Shaun needs all the shonen hero he can get for this event.

[shadows_edge]

John, only lost two of his Pokémon but he will not be taking that very well because he loves his Pokémon bunches. While he's not particularly aggressive persay, he is a fighter and he'll definitely probably lash at some of those monsters. Especially if they're attacking people/himself. And he's all about teaming up and DOING THINGS TOGETHER so he'll be happy to help literally anyone with the sigil-door thing if need be.

Part of me wants to be terrible and say he'll end up whiting out at some point because John is a Pro at dying but idk for sure. we'll see?

Faize, on the other hand, I just signed up at the last minute because this event looks like it'll be a good way to get him to pull his head out of his ass about all this Pokémon stuff. And meet new people...and maybe make friends. Because he is not doing so hot at that right now and probably won't be by the time the event rolls around. Plus fighting things. Watch him go at these nightmares with a sword that's actually a table leg or something. SO I AM OPEN TO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING WITH HIM. He only has one Pokémon to retrieve but he is also a team player and won't say no to somebody who asks for help.

IDK HIT ME I WANT YOUR PLOTS.

[timelymaid]

aradia will team up with john in a heartbeat if he asks since it's john. THEY SHOULD EXPLORE SOMETHING TOGETHER. ...also reading that strike out.

Also I don't know if Faize wants to meet Aradia, but we could do that too if you want.

[eagletalons]

Hope would pretty much want out of this from the very beginning, thanks. He's going to be thiiiis close to a breakdown when they arrive and see that there are GODDAMN MONSTERS AROUND because jfc there may be something like Cie'th and maybe a rough fal'Cie lookalike. Basically, FFXIII zombies. He will not like it.

However! He has three Pokémon of his who need to be rescued! So he's going to get on that. In addition, once he's stable enough, he'd think to go exploring and find clues as to where they are and what's going on. Maybe fight a little but he would rather run because monsters.

So, who wants to team up with a scientist/engineer/archaeologist? I promise he'd keep the technobabble to a minimum.

[soggypastry]

'sup, bro. wanna kick down that secret door over thataways? it'll be good fun~

or something but yeah! expect Light to check in on him/potentially run away from Cie'thy things with him if she can't make herself get close enough to knife a monster. Some things you just don't do...but he'll totally get her help is rescuing his 'mons when the time comes. count on that.

[moveslikestrider]

Dave isn't the sort to let someone kick him and take his buds away. He'll be exploring and gathering info on everything he can and assisting whoever he runs across. His main objectives are as follows: A. Get his pokemon back.
B. Gather deets on whatever the place is.
C - a. Find anyone that needs help and do what he does best.
C - b. Get the hell out.

He'll use anything he can get his hands on and isn't afraid to go toe to toe with anything coming at people. He's very likely to protect weaker characters as well as go on solo mode if he needs to. This is that time that Dave is very little jokes and all about doing what needs done.

[ghostytrainer]

BEST BROS KICKING BUTT WITH RANDOM OBJECTS?!?!?!1?! Y/N/CUCUMBER?!??!