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13 years ago Apollo bestowed the gift of prophecy upon me. Yesterday the payoff came.

In a stunning turn of events, it looks like we (read: the really old people who would care about this sort of thing) can finally close the book on one of NSM's greatest unsolved mysteries:

King Sammer.

https://simmerskingdom.createaforum.com/timpanispalace/clearing-things-up-after-nearly-10-years/

what a time that was, can't believe we got an explanation all these years later

I didn't trust K-NiGhT at that point because he wasn't responding to my PMs, which gave me the feeling that he might have been feeding people info. This was especially consolidated when you revealed when K-NiGhT last sent a PM to you, which was well after he last sent a PM to me.

(in addition to being unable to respond to PMs for a few days) Since BDS and MSF quickly came at me with a united front, I was much quicker to trust them over you. That, combined with the fact that I had heard about you claiming different roles to nearly everyone, made it a hurdle that I was not willing to jump.

I honestly thought I had made a mistake claiming to you originally, and wanted to get you off the board before you could do something detrimental to me. Obviously that didn't happen.

For my first game in many years, I honestly was having a hard time keeping up lol. I picked all the wrong alliances and didn't do much outside of that.

It was fun to get back into it though! I'll try to stick around for a few more games to get back in the habit.

I was so close to securing a Scissors alliance, but K-NiGhT wouldn't trust me for some reason...

GG all

Honestly, I should've gone with my gut initially and trusted you, but quickly got swept up by the paper team. That's on me 

Also, not to be that guy, but I don't remember being able to leak DMs back in the day.

[Oricorio]

I am also having issues trusting Oricorio, knowing that the Scissors Vigi is not only still alive, but was the one who killed Davy.

Hey guys

Sorry I haven't been active in the public thread or responded to PMs during the day phase. Have had a busy 48 hours.

I don't have much information to go off yet, so I am going to abstain from voting during this day phase.

ah, memories

good luck, everyone!

K-NiGhT DM'd me on discord to let me know that the Nuzlocke story is being revived- you should totally go read that.

 

Update Seventeen: Furious Reunion

I hadn't seen Colin since our clash on the S.S. Anne. He was kneeling in front of a grave that looked like it had been placed recently. I knew exactly who it was for.

Since I hadn't been stealthy in my run up the stairs, Colin jolted up and turned to see me standing there staring back at him. His usual smug aura and demeanor was nowhere to be found, and a cold hatred nested in his eyes. In a strange moment of recognition I imagined that I looked similar after losing Orwell in our battle with Brock. He spun around quickly and stood up.

"I figured it'd be a matter of time before I had to see you again," he spat. "Here to finish what you started?"

"Colin, I didn't 'start' anything," I retorted. "What happened to Raticate was an-"

"I don't care whether it was an accident or not. Pokemon die all the time. This is no different."

"If that's true, then why are you here?" I asked.

"Because, I-"

He stopped mid-sentence, closed his mouth, and for a moment a look of thoughtfulness crossed his face. It wasn't something I thought he was capable of, but maybe this journey had been hard on both of us. Capitalizing on his moment of reflection, I continued. "That was your first loss, wasn't it?"

He looked back at the grave. He remained silent, but I knew cracks were starting to form in his facade. "It's not easy, Colin," I continued. "It doesn't get easier-"

"Shut up!" Colin shouted. I was stunned into silence by the sudden outburst. "You think I don't know that? You act like you're so above it all, but you don't know what I've gone through!" He fumbled around in his bag for a moment before throwing out a handful of Poke Balls. There were four in total that fell out of his hands and onto the floor. Each one had a crack on the button.

I gasped involuntarily as I looked at the graves behind Colin. I had assumed he was attending to just one, but I realized that there was a row of four that were recently prepared. The last time I fought Colin, he only had four Pokemon with him. "You lost your whole team," I said quietly.

"Charmeleon is all that's left," he corrected. His voice broke as he spoke more quietly. "After Raticate died, I fell into a huge slump. I barely managed to beat Lt. Surge, and lost Kadabra there. On the way here, some exploding Geodudes caused a rock slide in Rock Tunnel, and I lost Pidgeotto as well. I caught a Magikarp, hoping I could get back at you with a Gyarados of my own, but it didn't even make it through a single battle."

"I had an Eevee too. But it wasn't keeping up, and I didn't want to get it killed, so I left it at a Pokemon Center." He was talking about Darwin, now. I had assumed that he left the poor thing behind because he had deemed it too weak to fill space on his team, but knowing that he had actually attempted to protect the Eevee filled me with conflicting feelings. I had judged this kid very harshly ever since we left Pallet Town, but he was still just that–a kid. One that was in over his head from the start; one that the world had shown the worst of itself to in a short amount of time.

I supposed I could relate.

"That battle on the ship ruined everything," Colin continued, his voice shaking. "I can't go on like this. What would I do if I lost Charmeleon?" I went to answer, but I only had questions. What would I do in this position? Could I continue on, knowing that I had lost so much, and only had Caesar left with me? I couldn't bear to think of that outcome, but I had come just as close to it as Colin had.

"I don't have an answer for that," I admitted, "but you can't stay here, either. Team Rocket is apparently in here, and whatever they're doing is making the spirits restless."

Colin looked back at the graves of his fallen Pokemon for what felt like an eternity. I began to wonder if he had even heard my words. Eventually, he turned back to me, the sad look in his eyes replaced by determination. "How can I help?"

"That depends," I said. "Are you going to be able to fight?"

"Do you want to find out?" Collin asked, a small smirk coming back to his lips.

I was hesitant, but I smiled back. If he wanted to battle me, I saw no harm in giving him a chance. "Fine," I said. "We'll battle one-on-one."

Colin grabbed his one remaining Poke Ball and threw it out. Charmeleon emerged, looking a bit haunted. For all that Colin had been through since Vermilion City, Charmeleon had been by his side through it all. Even though Colin couldn't communicate with his Pokemon like I could, I had to imagine that the team would have some rapport with each other. Charmeleon had lost all of the Pokemon he considered friends, and that had to be just as painful.

I sent out Darwin. At the time, my reasoning behind the choice was purely type-matchup related. As the Jolteon sprang out to battle, though, the look on Charmeleon's face told me all I needed to know about the misjudgment I had made.

Darwin had evolved and gained a lot more confidence, but he immediately shrunk down when seeing Charmeleon and Colin. Charmeleon, meanwhile, was just as shocked. "It's you," he gasped. "You're alive! And you evolved!" Darwin, meanwhile, was too stunned to speak. He turned to me with a concerned look in his eyes.

"You'll be fine," I said. "You're tough now, right?" As I spoke to Darwin, I looked over at Colin's Charmeleon. I didn't want to give myself away too much, so instead I tried my best to communicate non-verbally by giving a non-threatening look to the Pokemon. He looked back at me quizzically, but nodded quickly.

The battle began, and it was convincingly intense. Darwin sped around the room at lightning speeds, occasionally tackling into Charmeleon. Charmeleon, meanwhile, shot bursts of flame that narrowly missed the speeding Jolteon. I watched as Colin ordered his Pokemon around the battlefield. In our previous battle, it seemed that Charmeleon was not terribly interested in listening to his Trainer's commands, but now he seemed to be making more of an effort to at least take actions that would be hard to read as disobedience. Colin, meanwhile, had a mixture of adrenaline and apprehension radiating from him. He seemed nervous to be in battle, but the longer it continued his worries seemed to melt away. It was as if he was relearning how to enjoy battling again.

"Let's finish it!" Colin shouted. "Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"

Not to be outdone, I answered back quickly. "Darwin, Thunderbolt!"

The two Pokemon had been evenly matched up to this point. As our commands were spoken, Darwin and Charmeleon stopped in their tracks and began to charge up their strongest moves. Before they were able to release them, however, a voice rang out from the stairs leading above.

"Help me!"

[close]

[in]

word on the street is you guys need one more player.

in

H Y P E

It's 2012. K-NiGhT has just posted a chapter of The Great NSM Pokemon Adventure. Life is good.

It's 2016. K-NiGhT has just announced a reboot of The Great NSM Pokemon Adventure. Life is good.

It's 2017. K-NiGhT has just posted Cracked, a spiritual successor to The Great NSM Pokemon Adventure. Life is good.

It's 2024. After five years, K-NiGhT has returned to upload a new chapter of Cracked, and hints at more on the way. Life is different now. But this is good.

This is awesome! What an awesome way to see the history of the site.

Update Sixteen: Restless

Stepping out of the Celadon Game Corner and into the afternoon sun, I took a minute to shield my eyes and let them adjust. Once I could see again, I saw Erika speaking to a group of officers from the Celadon Police Department just outside. Upon seeing me exit, she breathed a sigh of relief and came up to check on me.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" she asked. "Are your Pokemon alright?" She hovered her hands around me, as if she was trying to assess any damage to me.

"I'm good," I assured her. "My team is a little beat up and tired, but nothing a quick trip to the Pokemon Center won't fix."

The Gym Leader smiled pleasantly for a moment, but her expression shifted to concern. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have sent you into that place by yourself. It must be a testament to your strength that you made it back out unharmed. Do you have any news about Team Rocket?"

I moved to speak, to tell Erika and the officers about what had happened, but I stopped for a moment.Giovanni had given me his name, but did I dare share that information? I had managed to defeat him in a battle, but only just barely. There would be no telling what danger it would put me in if he found out that I had given his identity away to the authorities immediately.

"I fought some Grunts, but their Boss cleared out pretty quick," I answered. That was a half-truth bordering on a lie of omission. "I didn't find anything else other than that." Protecting Giovanni felt wrong, especially with the trust Erika placed in me, but I couldn't risk angering him more than I likely already had.

I could tell Erika's intuitive skills were working in overdrive, because she frowned. "So...Team Rocket cleared out the second you were spotted? You didn't manage to find anything out about their Boss or their plans?"

"No." That was a lie. I stayed straight-faced.

Erika sighed. "Well, hopefully the police can get some information out of the Grunts you apprehended. In the meantime, let's go grab some lunch! It's on me today, as partial thanks for all your help."

I certainly wouldn't turn down a free meal. Though I was hoping for an immediate trip to the Celadon Gym for our match, it seemed like it would be a little while longer until things calmed down around the city. Without an objection, I followed Erika to a nearby café.

***

A few hours later, I was heading back west out of Celadon City. Erika, for all her promises, was still unable to find the time to battle me. In the meantime, she suggested I check out the sights of Central Kanto. During our lunch, I told her about my journey up until that point, and when I finished my tale she nodded.

"I think it would be wise for you to head back to Lavender Town," she suggested. "You have suffered difficult losses on your journey. Perhaps helping lay your fallen allies' spirits to rest will help lighten your burden moving forward." I had been in such a hurry the last time I passed through Lavender Town that I hadn't stopped to consider the Pokemon Tower. As creepy as it seemed, the tower was the final resting place of many of the region's Pokemon. We could finally pay respects to our departed friends properly.

The trip back to Lavender Town took a bit longer, even though I took the same route as before. I was not in nearly as much of a hurry this time. I had nearly reached the town before I realized that I hadn't even called out any of the team to accompany me on the journey. It was abnormal, but it had also given me a bit of time to reflect alone on the journey so far. The team and I had been through a lot. It had only been a few days, but we were already nearly halfway through our Gym Challenge. We had taken some tough losses, but everyone was coming together and becoming an effective unit. I sincerely hoped it would stay that way.

***

A thick haze hung over Lavender Town, as it had the last time I passed through. Outside of the obvious nature of a town mostly dedicated to the eternal rest of souls, something about the place felt...wrong. People were scattered around haphazardly, shambling about listlessly. Looking past the fog, the town seemed pleasant, almost idyllic. Something was terribly wrong here, and I knew exactly who could help me figure it out.

With the flash of a Poke Ball, Kai appeared in front of me. Within seconds, the Kadabra dropped the spoon he was holding and clutched his head, as though he had a terrible headache. He had overtaxed himself a bit in the hideout raid, but I had hoped he was doing alright after a trip to the Pokemon Center. "What is this place?" the Kadabra grunted.

"Welcome to Lavender Town," I said sarcastically. "Can you help me figure out if there's something weird going on here?"

"The second you let me out, I was assaulted by a giant wave of spiritual energy," Kai groaned. "It seems the souls of the Pokemon laid to rest in the tower are very restless."

"Can you show me?" I asked. "It might help me to know what exactly you're seeing."

Kai nodded, and placed his hand on my shoulder. After a moment, his eyes began to glow, and all at once everything became clear. Thousands of spirits circled around Pokemon Tower, looking more like a natural disaster than a gathering of ghosts. The sight filled me with a mix of awe and terror.

"Well," I breathed. "That answers that."

***

Stepping inside the tower, I was a bit shocked to find that there was a small gathering of people on the first floor. It was quiet here, aside from the quiet chanting of some attendants in the middle of the room. Whatever they were doing, it seemed to be keeping the ghosts at bay. A few people, who I assumed to be visitors, were standing around near the front desk, looking nervous. A woman sitting at the desk grabbed my attention by waving me over towards her. "You shouldn't be in here," she whispered. "Team Rocket has stormed up to the top of the tower and is disturbing the spirits."

Team Rocket. Of course this was their fault. I'm not sure what Giovanni would want from a place like this, but there was little chance that it was anything good. "I've got some experience dealing with Team Rocket," I assured her. "What can I do to help?"

"Our mediums have been working to get everyone to safety down here on the first floor, but there are still some visitors and staff that aren't accounted for," she said. "On top of that, when Team Rocket barged in they brought dear old Mr. Fuji in with them. I think he may be a hostage..."

"Don't worry," I said. "My team and I will take care of this."

The woman looked apprehensive. She was quickly realizing that I was just a kid, confidently stating that I would stand against a real criminal organization, but her fear of the restless spirits in the tower seemed to outweigh her concern for my safety. With a shell-shocked nod, she turned back to the crowd of people surrounding the mediums chanting. With all attention diverted from me, I shuffled over to the stairs and began my climb of the tower. When I reached the second floor, though, what I saw stopped me in my tracks just as quickly.

Colin Oak was here.

[close]