CYCLE 3

ROLLIN' ON THE RIVER

Poison Darts (Left)

The platform rotates with aching slowness, providing little cover from the spray of artillery from the walls. Kath Ulu's Grookey dodges the deadly shafts with ape-like agility, but Allotta Bambooga is less lucky. With her pain settings on realistic, she experiences a series of sharp, piercing pains as darts thud into her body.

They burn like hot needles as the neurotoxins set into her blood-- then, abruptly, it fades. The poison seems to be gone.

If Allotta reaches down to pull the darts from her body, she finds them to be made of gold.

With the statue lined up, the door on the far side swings open and Kath and Allotta fly through onto a high, raised path set along the temple's left wall. To your right is another vine-festooned rope bridge that crosses half the span of the temple. Ahead, farther down the path, you can see a small altar. A jewel-encrusted goblet sits just out of reach, its rim red with dried blood.

BOOM. CRASH.

A rolling boulder lands on the path behind you.

Suffering from the pain of the previous trap, Allotta finds herself in jeopardy.

As the pair of you flee down the path from the classic rolling boulder scenario, you may try to outrun the boulder (go straight) or take the rope bridge (go right).

pre-qualify: Gardener Subclass, Fighting-Type Pokemon or Move
d20 requirement: 11+

The sacrificial goblet can be looted, but while you pause to loot you risk getting hit by the boulder or ambushed by apes.

pre-qualify: (none)
d20 requirement: 15+

Waterway (Orange Glow)

Mudkip feels like lead in Finnegan Fjord's grip, weighing him down with every stroke towards the orange light. Litten is no better, her once-soft paws crushing Finn beneath her weight.

Big Bee's eyes linger on the roots and vines snaking up from the bottom of the waterway. Strangely, they seem to slow as they draw near, giving the Swimmers an opportunity to make a break for the canal.

If you look back, you see them gray and motionless, frozen mid-coil.

The shallow canal feels like a blessing as the two of you burst to the surface, dragging your heavy burdens with you. Something is off. Your Pokemon's eyes are pale and pupilless, their bodies bleaching of color.

The water on your bodies evaporates, and you feel the heat.

Fire. This part of the temple is on fire. The orange glow dancing above the surface was the light of a burning temple, flame racing along ancient mortar with vicious glee. Flaming rope bridges crumble above you.

As if that wasn't enough, you hear a sound.

BOOM. CRASH.

A giant boulder falls from a raised path high to your left, smashing down and crushing the waterway in front of you in a burst of sharp-edged stone chunks. Depending on their choices, Kath Ulu or Allotta Bambooga may be found smashed under it.

This area of the temple is on fire. You will have to dare the blaze.

You will no longer able to swim with your Pokemon. You may leave them behind to return to the waterway and take the other canal path.

Pre-Qualify: Kindler Subclass, Fire-Type Pokemon
d20 requirement: 15+

Regarding where to go, there are several options! You can ascend a burning staircase in front of you that leads to an enclosed stone room. There was a rope bridge here crossing a 6-foot gap, but it has since burned away, leaving a considerable jump.

You can also run along the canal back the way you swam from (through burning jungle and greenery) to find a different staircase to your left, this one leading away from the fire.

Key Puzzle (Right)

Items drift around the room, sorting themselves into neat piles at the touch of the Delphox's wand. Something virulent red near one of the workbenches catches the fox's eye, where a diamond-shaped flask of thick scarlet liquid has fallen.

acquired: <temple toxin>

As Lucky takes the bottle from his Pokémon, strange lines spiderweb from his fingers, expanding across the glass like spreading ink. In the space of seconds, the flask turns to solid gold.

But there's no time to reflect. Shrieking Infernape burst into the room, lashing out and sending barrels of mysterious liquid flying. The tools and keys on the workbenches scatter as Lucky Guy, manish and inari burst through the once-locked doorway, the door slamming shut behind them.

...And they teeter on the edge of a sheer drop, overlooking the overgrown temple below.

A shallow water channel cuts through the stone below you, curving to create a wide, circular moat. Strange, sinuous shapes shimmer beneath the surface. The moat wraps around a round terrace, spiraling brickwork steps like layers of a cake.

You notice the ladder just as the ground beneath your feet heaves, buckling upwards. Roots finally tear through the stone, driven on by jungle drums.

You must climb down or otherwise descend the sheer drop to the base level while evading the Rillaboom Roots. There is a ladder, but swinging on the dangling vines might be your best bet!

prequalify: Gardener Subclass or Vine Whip Move
d20 requirement: 15+

You may either approach the moat+terrace with its swimming occupants, or you may splash across the water channel to the left, where a set of stairs leads up to a tiled area.

manish and inari's Pokemon have grown colorless, their eyes like carved pebbles. They feel smooth and cold beneath your touch, and are heavy as cinderblocks.

GOLD FINGER: Kath Ulu Allotta Bambooga Lucky Guy

MARBLE EYE: manish Finnegan Fjord Big Bee inari

"Oh! Oh I see how it is!" Grookey flicked a poison dart out of his hair. "What next, shall I distract the boulder?!"

"Aw man, this place sucks," Bulby said as the boulder tumbled toward him.

Kath Ulu had been in this situation before, time and time again. It wasn't a matter of luck, or skill, no; outrunning death was an act of sheer determination.

Kath's strong gardening legs shot forward and she was already outpacing the terrifying boulder.

"Alright man there's a rope bridge to the- oh, we're just running straight? Alright." Bulby's question was rhetorical as he clung on to Kath's back so he wasn't left behind as Kath left a trail of dust behind her.

Grookey jumped on too, but had less rhetorical and more angry questions.

"What the hell was that?!" Grookey hung on to Kath's shoulder. "I can't believe you did that to me- oòoh is that a goblet?" Grookey reached out and grabbed it on their way past with ZERO hesitation.

r_ZQmCTM1-20

Kath Ulu SUCCEEDS in escaping the boulder by running straight.
Grookey BUNGLES an attempt to swipe the goblet.

CYCLE 4

ONTORNUMO

Rolling Boulder

Sprinting down the raised stone path, greenery blooms in Kath Ulu's wake like the steps of a nature goddess. Buds and flowers stretch towards the light, mercilessly mown down by the rolling boulder.

But roots? Vines? Stems and strong grass? The boulder bumps along the path like a pickup on a dirt road, wobbling as plants break its inertia. A frustrated face appears on it as it rotates.

Based on this, Kath has earned the precious time she and Grookey need to grab the goblet. The bejeweled cup is snatched up haphazardly by a furry brown paw as they flash past.

The problem comes from the contents.

Temple toxin splashes over Kath and her Pokemon from the chalice, reeking of blood and metal. It sinks through her clothes, burning like bleach.

Then-- just as abruptly-- the pain fades.

The smell of blood remains.

Reeking of ancient alchemy, Kath Ulu finds herself in jeopardy. As she flees down the path, dripping scarlet behind her, she enters the same part of the temple where Finnegan Fjord and Big Bee have just leapt across the gap. Flames dance across tar mortar, licking hungrily at the stone for sustenance.

Kath may either go right into the same room where Finn and Big Bee are going, or continue ahead into the burning temple quarter. If she continues, she will have to leap a 6ft gap, descend the burning stairs, and follow the canal through burning jungle until she reaches a set of stone steps leading up.

PRE-QUALIFY: Kindler Subclass, Fire-Type Pokemon
D20 REQUIREMENT: 15+

If she follows the others, she will experience the following:

Fire Room

Before being crushed by the boulder, Kath is able to dodge left off the path into the same stone room where Finnegan Fjord and Big Bee soon arrive, towing their marble Pokemon.

The room's torches need no lighting-- the ominous orange light of the flames just outside do the trick.

Three sarcophagi are lined up like corpses on a stone slab in the center of this room. Two of them are open.

One seems to be full of Papyrus-font diary entries by lazy gamemakers who want you to understand what's happening without more immersive gameplay. They seem to be from the perspective of a temple priest, who believed he'd found a promising creature to use in his efforts to create the elixir of life. Diagrams of dissection and chemical formulas follow. There is no record of success.

Below the scraps of paper is a human body molded out of solid gold. It seems surprised, one four-fingered hand half-extended in shock.

The other sarcophagus opens to a deep pit, its cavernous interior plunging down into the stone like a great well. At the bottom is something shining. An item?

The third sarcophagus is closed, but its eyes open and shadowy hands snake from the cracks in its veneer. Cofagrigus attempts to encircle all three trainers in its death-cold embrace (after you read the diary entries, of course.)

Tracking the smell of transmuted blood, Infernape prowl the path outside, searching for Kath Ulu.

You must press on past Cofagrigus through the open doorway, which leads across a short rope bridge towards a tiled area. Other players seem to be gathering here.

Pre-Qualify: Ghost-Type or Dark-Type Pokemon/Moves
d20 requirement: 11+

You may loot the second sarcophagus if you're willing to take the risk.

Pre-Qualify: (none)
d20 requirement: 15+

Tile Puzzle

Roots and vines turn to crumbling stone behind them as manish, Lucky Guy and inari reconvene and begin the laborious task of pushing Manish's marble Venusaur up the steps. At Lucky's request, the now-gold temple toxin leaves his hands and enters Manish's.

There is no immediate effect-- but by the time you reach the top of the stairs, enough of the gold flask has "thawed" for you to see the liquid inside appears to have been unaffected. Perhaps it's composed of something immune to Lucky's Midas Touch.

At the top is a hall of square tiles, each one several feet in radius. Each tile seems carved with an alphanumeric letter. Annoyingly, you receive a popup with the following:

A=U - E=O - I=Y - O=E - U=A

If you look down, you see a nonsensical nine-letter word is carved into the stone at your feet. Another clue?

Allotta Bambooga appears from a side bridge and rushes ahead of the three of you, galaxy stars swirling from the Meowth in her arms. You watch her attempt at the puzzle. As she steps on each tile, it sinks into the ground, giving a little click. Incidentally, you notice lines of metal spreading across the tiles she stepped on, transforming each of them to gold.

When she's finished, any attempts to duplicate her entry fail. It seems like perhaps the required answer is different for each of you.

prequalify: Normal Pokemon and/or Solve The Puzzle
d20 requirement: 15+

Failure will provoke a spike trap that surges up from the incorrect tiles.

Allotta is still in jeopardy.

The first player to provide the correct answer to the puzzle will receive a special prize.

For all players, the timer ticks down to 1:00.

GOLD FINGER: Kath Ulu Allotta Bambooga Lucky Guy

MARBLE EYE: manish Finnegan Fjord Big Bee inari

Unlike most of the game text thus far, Finn actually bothers to read the diary entries. What if they contain some kind of clue as to how they got out of here safe? If he were a developer, he'd definitely hide secrets among his lazy lore to force people to read it.

Thankfully, he'd set his marble Litten down close enough to him that she can offer a paralyzing LICK to the Cofagrigus when it tries to mummify her trainer.

Finn stares into the deep sarcophagus pit, distracted.

"That's definitely a trap."

But there's a glint of something potentially valuable at the bottom of it, and he's yet to sustain any damage, so...

"Fuck it. Remember me, dude."

With a cheeky grin flashed toward Big Bee, he vaults over the edge of the pit and drops down.

HCcKf4jv1-20
LITTEN uses a GHOST-TYPE MOVE to protect Finn.
Finn tries to LOOT the sarcophagus.