Epic Touhou Pokemon Quest... Redux!

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"A game! Eye'm the best at games!"
>Sit on the chair.

>You have a seat.

>"That honestly depends." Reimu frowns, "What exactly would this 'game' involve?"

>"Well, simply put, I will be scattering the eight of you across another world that has a unique style of battle that doesn't involve danmaku. Within this world are eight major regions, each of which has a single individual that excels in the world's battle style. I have given each of these individuals a single key, your goal would be to collect five of these keys." the lady fans herself, "Once you have them, you can use them to open a way back to Gensokyo and challenge me. If you manage to defeat me using the other world's battle style, then I will declare you the winner, grant you your prize, and return everyone else back to Gensokyo to continue on with their lives."

>"What if we lose?" the sword girl asks.

>"I mean, there's no rule saying you can't challenge me again... Of course, you could also pass your keys on to someone else to give them a shot. However, know that if they win, then they'll have claim to the prize~."

>"Speaking of which, what exactly is the nature this prize, anyway?" the maid questions.

>"Well, I could tell you, but it wouldn't be any fun if I spoiled the surprise, would it?" the lady chuckles softly. "Anyway, does anyone else have any questions before I move on?"

>_

[Sillare]

>"Yeah! What's the curtain for?"
>Wave towards the curtain in question.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Yeah! What's the curtain for?"
>Wave towards the curtain in question.

>"I was just about to get to that, actually. Ran, if you please?"
>Suddenly a lady with a bunch of fluffy tails steps from behind the curtain, before pulling it aside, revealing a table with eight items on it:

>The first looks like some really funky looking headgear of some kind.

>The second is a really pretty looking feather that seems to shimmer like a rainbow.

>The third is a watering can shaped like some kind round creature you've never seen before.

>The fourth seems to be some kind of bracelet with numbers on it.

>The fifth seems to be a triangular spike looking thing.

>The sixth seems to be another bracelet with a strange round stone embedded in it

>The seventh is a bulky white armband with a pattern etched on a flat part.

>And the last one is a sleek, white fabric band with blue and red stripes. It has an odd red symbol on it.

>"You see, I won't be sending you to the other world empty handed. You will each be allowed to choose an item from this table to take with you. Additionally, you will each receive a pack of supplies once you arrive. Any other questions?"

>"I do." Reimu frowns, "What's stopping us from just challenging you to a spellcard duel and ending this right now?"

>"Oh, Reimu, don't be such a spoilsport..." the blonde woman pouts, "Think about it, a change of pace for once wouldn't be too bad, would it?"

>"I don't know..."

>"Aw, come on, Reimu. It sounds like fun!" the green haired girl smiles, "What, it's not like Gensokyo will end if you went along with this, would it?"

>"You really aren't helping." Reimu shakes her head, before sighing, "...Fine, I'll play along for now. But I still don't fully trust this."

>"Oh, come now, I'm sure you'll enjoy it~." the blonde lady smiles, before clearing her throat, "Moving on, if there are no further questions, would anybody like to volunteer to go first?"

[Volunteering to go first will let you choose an item, which will affect which region you start in.]
[You can also opt to let the others go, which will result in the choice being randomized.]
>_

[Niektory]

>We're here to win, aren't we? We can't let the others seize the initiative!

>Step forward.

>"Me!"

>Look at the items.

>"What are these for? Do we use them in battle?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>We're here to win, aren't we? We can't let the others seize the initiative!

>Step forward.

>"Me!"

>Look at the items.

>"What are these for? Do we use them in battle?"

>You take the initiative and look at the items in more detail. You don't seem to get any new information from doing so, though.
>From left to right, the items are:

>>A strange looking headgear that kinda looks like it has Aya's picture taker thing's lenses over where the eyes are supposed to go.
>>A large feather that seems to shine in all colors of the rainbow.
>>A spoutless watering can shaped like some kind of round creature.
>>A braclet with a flat glassy looking part that has numbers displayed in it.
>>A weird grey and white thing that looks like two triangular spikes with the flat ends stuck together. The smaller spike is colored yellow
>>Another bracelet, but with a shimmering stone with a symbol that kinda looks like a ladder in the shape of a leaf inside of it.
>>A third, mostly white bracelet that looks much bulkier than others, with a wide flat part with a strange symbol etched in it.
>>A mostly fabric band with blue and red stripes, with a peculiar red symbol in the middle of the white part. There is also a glassy black side.

>"Well, the three bands on the right do have practical purposes in the other world's battle system." the lady explains, "The rest of the items are mostly utilities. For instance, those goggles on the far left supposedly assist in detecting unseen ghosts."

>"G-Ghosts...?" the sword girl suddenly questions, looking a but unnerved as the little wispy thing behind her seems to shrink back a bit.

>"Why yes. There are plenty of ghosts in the other world." the blond lady gives her a wide smile with a hint of smugness, before turning back to you, "Anyway, is there anything specific about a particular item you would like to know before you make your selection?"
>_

[Niektory]

>"The three bands. What uses they have?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"The three bands. What uses they have?"

>"Well, I'm not one to simply give away all the details, but I suppose I could you general descriptions as to what their functions are." the lady explains, "The bulky one in the center is an attack amplifier, but it won't work on you. It's meant to be used with the allies you will potentially gain during your hunt for the keys. The other two are power enhancers, again, meant for the allies you might come across, but they function in different ways. The one on the far end amplifies size and strength, and has a broader range of allies it could work on, while the one on the left needs another item to work. However, should you meet the requirements, the transformation it causes is much more stable."
>_

[Niektory]

>"Allies? We gonna fight in teams? Great! Another world, another Team ⑨!"

>"I choose..."

>Point to the blue and red striped band.

>"...this!"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//Gonna wait 48 hours before parsing since there are at least two other active players as far as I know (O4rfish and Sillare), and I would like to give them a fair amount of time to give their own input on the item/region choice before moving forward

[O4rfish]

>Which of the bracelets would go with our color scheme?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//Parsing since this is an inquiry rather than a choice. You still have the remainder of those 48 hours to finalize the choice.

>Which of the bracelets would go with our color scheme?

>The bulky one, second from the right, is mostly white and would probably go well with your primarily blue and white outfit.

>The tri- colored band at the end would also compliment your outfit's colors nicely
>_

[O4rfish]

Well if Niektory's choice goes with our outfit, I say we do it.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Allies? We gonna fight in teams? Great! Another world, another Team ⑨!"

>"I choose..."

>Point to the blue and red striped band.

>"...this!"

>You make your selection.

>"Very well." the lady nods, "Off you go, then. You'll find your starting supplies near where you drop in. Have fun, now!"

>Before you can react, one of those eye portal things opens up beneath you and you unceremoniously tumble through.

>You land flat on your back on top of a patch of grass. Your item choice comes flying out of the hole moments later and beans you in the head before the portal closes.
>_

[O4rfish]

>"Ow. Hey!"

>Equip fashion power accessory, while making powering-up noise.

>Scan area.

[Niektory]

>So, are we in another world now? How cool is that?

>"Hello, World!"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Ow. Hey!"

>Equip fashion power accessory, while making powering-up noise.

>Scan area.

>You equip the accessory, making a noise with your mouth as you do so.

>Looking around, you appear to be in a woodland area. Nearby, you spot a table with an assortment of items on it:
>A fishing pole...
>Five little red and white balls with buttons on them that kinda remind you of Reimu's balls of pain...
>A flat orange thing with a black screen, sitting on top a little booklet...
>A brown pouch of some sort...
>A little slip of paper with a weird looking boat on it...
>...And last, but not least, a bag that looks big enough to hold everything.

>So, are we in another world now? How cool is that?

>"Hello, World!"

>You say hello to the world. Drawing the attention of some kind of grey, rodent-like creature with a bushy tail nearby. Which, after staring for a moment, scurries off into the bushes.
>_

[Sillare]

>Eh, don't chase it. Instead, look at all the fabulous, nonsensical junk we just got!
>>Does the bag fit our color scheme? Is it empty?
>>A boat? _{How big is the table, anyway?} But we can fly! Why a boat? Is it really a boat? Does the paper under it say anything?
>>What's in the pouch?
>>Carefully touch one of the balls. If it doesn't hurt, grab one and take a closer look. Try pressing the button too!

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Eh, don't chase it. Instead, look at all the fabulous, nonsensical junk we just got!
>>Does the bag fit our color scheme? Is it empty?

>Unfortunately, no. It seems to be a generic yellow bag with shoulder straps.

>>A boat? _{How big is the table, anyway?} But we can fly! Why a boat? Is it really a boat? Does the paper under it say anything?

>You take the piece of paper with the picture of a boat on it and flip it to see if there's anything underneath. There isn't anything underneath the paper, but the paper does seem to have a back side of it.

>On the backside of the paper, you can make out the following:

This frequent travel pass is valid for unlimited ferry service between the following regions: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar*. Expires one year after date of issuance.

_{*In accordance with Galar Security Administration (GSA) foreign species regulations.}

>...Whatever that means.

>>What's in the pouch?

>You open the pouch. It's full of shiny yellow coins!

>>Carefully touch one of the balls. If it doesn't hurt, grab one and take a closer look. Try pressing the button too!

>You poke a ball. After nothing happens, you pick it up to take a closer look. The button is situated on a black band that separates the red and white halves.
>Out of curiosity, you press the button, and almost drop the ball in surprise as it suddenly expands to twice its original size!
>_

[O4rfish]

>Unlimited fairy service, that sounds pretty good.

>Try pressing the button again.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Unlimited fairy service, that sounds pretty good.

>Try pressing the button again.

>You press it again. The ball shrinks back to its prior size.
>_

[Niektory]

>What material is the ball made of? Is it heavy? Did it grow heavier when it grew bigger?

>Carefully put the ball away and examine the orange thing and the booklet.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>What material is the ball made of? Is it heavy? Did it grow heavier when it grew bigger?

>Carefully put the ball away and examine the orange thing and the booklet.

>It feels kinda plastic-y, but it feels really light. You didn't feel any weight difference between the sizes.

>You pocket the ball and turn your attention to the orange thing. It seems to have a black screen that takes up most of one side. Additionally, on the back are two oval-shaped screens inside of a circle that seem to have no discernible purpose.

>The book below it has an illustration of the back of the device on the cover. However, it looks different than what yours looks like: In the image, the two dark ovals on the back are replaced with a pair of eyes, and there's a strange smiling mouth below them. Additionally, there is an orange zig-zag like projection coming out of the top, and a spike coming out of the bottom of the device in the picture.

>The book's cover reads "Rotom Phone Owner's Manual." Flipping the front page open shows the following message:

Congratulations on becoming the new owner of this Rotom Phone. This innovative device serves as a communication device, pokedex, and PDA all rolled into one! Be sure to activate your device at a Pokemon Center* in order to experience the full functionality of this system and all of its applications.

_{*Alternatively, this device may be activated by a trained Rotom instead of the Service Rotom provided by the Pokemon Center. This is generally not recommended and may void your warranty. Do not attempt to interface a wild Rotom with this device, as this may lead to personal harm and will also cause loss of warranty coverage.}

>Below that is a large table of contents, and, given the thickness of the booklet and the size of the text, it might be very boring to read through the rest of it...
>_

[Niektory]

>Another weird thing! And the book doesn't look like something understandable either.

>How about the fishing pole? Anything unusual about it?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Another weird thing! And the book doesn't look like something understandable either.

>How about the fishing pole? Anything unusual about it?

>You inspect the fishing pole. It appears to collapsible, but other than that it looks like a generic fishing pole.
>_

[O4rfish]

>Have we fished before? Do we eat fish?

>Let's put all the stuff in the bag for now. Maybe we can get fairy service to show us what it's all for, and how to use it.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Have we fished before? Do we eat fish?

>Let's put all the stuff in the bag for now. Maybe we can get fairy service to show us what it's all for, and how to use it.

>You've tried to freeze fish before. And you've seen people fishing in the lake, albeit rarely... It can't be too hard, you just throw string and bait into the water and pull on the pole, right?
>You've tried fish before, yes.

>You bag all the stuffs and thingies. Noting that the bag seems to be much bigger on the inside than what you'd expect.

> OBTAINED:
>Bag
>>Stores stuff, especially what can't fit in your pockets. It feels oddly bigger on the inside.

>Rotom Phone (Inactive)
>>You currently have no idea what this does, but it does come with a long instruction manual...

>Fishing Pole
>>An item used for fishing.

>Odd Ball (x5)
>>A red and white ball that changes size when you press the button on it. You don't know what it does beyond that.

>Coin Pouch
>>It jingles! The coins are shiny.

>Frequent Travel Pass
>>Has a drawing of a boat on it. Valid for "Fairy Service". Whatever that means.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Equip bag.  Maybe we can customize it later.

>Set out! In ... a ... direction?

[Sillare]

>Consult the Magic 9 Ball
>Just go straight ahead! The world is round, so if we go long enough, we'll get where we need! That's how it works, right?

[Niektory]

>Is this world round though? We don't know that!

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Equip bag.  Maybe we can customize it later.

>Set out! In ... a ... direction?

>You equip the bag and prepare to set off!
>...Once you figure out where you're going, that is...

>Consult the Magic 9 Ball

>You shake a blue ball you obtain from nowhere. Looking into the bottom, you see a chibi you fade in from the inky depths.
>"Yeah, eye got nothing." she shrugs, before fading back into the dark liquid.

>Just go straight ahead! The world is round, so if we go long enough, we'll get where we need! That's how it works, right?

>Is this world round though? We don't know that!

>You start flying in the most obvious direction: Forward.
>As you move, you wonder if the world is round. Come to think of it, Gensokyo isn't exactly round either. You haven't tried actually flying to it yourself, but isn't it supposed to be inside a giant barrier or something like that?

>You soon emerge from the woodland and end up in what seems to be a small meadow. A duck-like creature carrying the biggest leek you've ever seen -- or is it an onion? -- seems to examine you for a moment before wandering off into a patch of tall grass that seems to cover this area. There are a few other strange creatures in the grass that take note of your presence as well. Most of them seem to ignore you, but a few seem to be curious. None of them seem to be aggressive at the moment.

>Beyond the patch of grass is a road of some sort. As you reach it, you look it up and down...

>To your right, the road seems to lead towards what seems to be a village.

>On your left, the road continues for a bit before reaching what seems to be a massive bridge. You can make out the faint silhouette of some structures on the other side of it.

>Right before the bridge is some kind of large cottage with a lady standing in front of it.
>_