Anstane

"...figures that that would happen when we need to get a boat ourselves." Darius sighed out. "So, what are those questions that you wanted to ask me?"

Welcome back!

"Well, I have time, I don't see why no-wait, what did you say about the boat schedules? There's something wrong with them?" Darius inquired. They needed to get a boat, but to hear that the schedules are messed up confused him: Why would that be the case?

"Only a few basic details, before I dug into the nature of dark magic." Darius answered.

Darius, after purchasing the tome, was asked by a mysterious woman a question involving his magic. "...well, sort of. It is research, in a sense." The Shaman answered, not necessarily lying, but also not revealing the truth. Indeed, he is technically researching and learning of Dark Magic, but the "research" part also extended to seeing just how much pain he can induce upon his victims. That much he decided against mentioning.

Nah. Spine?

Darius perused the various dark magic tomes. One in particular caught his eye. He picked up the Worm tome and felt it around. He could sense that it is not quite as powerful as the Flux tome he had been using, but, at the same time, he felt it being lighter. He tried carrying it around for a little bit, before the shopkeeper told him to either buy the tome or put it down. In the few moments he held it, though, the shaman felt that the tome would not burden him down. Thus, this was an easy decision to make. He brought it over to the counter and pulled out the puch of money he had been given. "I'll be buying this." he spoke out before placing 400 Vespers on the counter alongside the book. Darius purchases a Worm tome for 400 Vespers.

Darius, upon receiving the money, thought about what he needed to get. He was used to traveling light, so rarely did he bring more then the bare essentials. As he excused himself from the group, he walked forward. Even after his talk with Rayne, he still felt a little burdened. Both figuratively, and literally. The Flux tome he had been using felt heavy enough that it impacted his combat ability. Deciding that he might want to search for a lighter alternative, as a "just in case" precaution, he wandered over to the general magics store.

Happy birthday, Krim!

Aye. Animefan?

Can confirm that Micky is fairly active on Discord, at least on certain channels of it. Lugruf?

Rayne's words surprised Darius. He never considered himself a good person, not after that one day...even his reasons for joining the Royal Guard seemed selfish...perhaps even cruel. Despite that, ever since he did join, his fascination with seeing others in, and inducing pain unto, seemed to have diminished a bit, as he started encountering scenarios where he could not take pleasure in such moments. Despite that, he did not consider himself a good person. And yet, to hear Rayne claim otherwise...he did not want to leave because he did not want to abandon those he had to work with. He had no real reason to do so...even if it meant staying away from others. And yet...here he is, being comforted, being told things he himself did not believe. And...he did feel like many of the things he's been through really were because he was lonely... Darius closed his eyes and listened to Rayne's tune. It felt...weird. Soothing. Something he never really experienced before. "...thank you. Thank you for not letting me be alone. Perhaps it's true, maybe I am like I am because I was always lonely..." the shaman spoke out.

"Yeah...after what happened today, after seeing the looks on everyone's faces, I thought no one would want to be anywhere near me. Not after what happened to that bandit...I appreciate the company, I admit. Even though I don't feel like I deserve it..." Darius spoke out during a pause in Rayne's tune. He felt a little relieved that there was someone willing to talk to him.

He's currently asleep. Please try again later. Lugruf?

Darius was lost in his own thoughts when he heard something unexpected: a tune. He was snapped out of his thoughts and he took to look around himself and noticed that Rayne had sat down next to him. He was a bit confused: Why would anyone willingly come next to him after what happened yesterday with the bandit? He did not complain about the company, not at all, but the thought lingered in his mind. "Oh, um...Rayne, right? Sorry I didn't notice you immediately. Um...is there anything you need?" The shaman stammered out.

Happy birthday, Commander! It's always fun talking to you on the Discord channel and it's fun going through Hardcore. You're a pretty cool guy and I hope that does not change.

As night fell and the group proceeded to make camp, Darius seemed...distant. Quiet. His mind still focused on the moment when he went into sync with the elder spirits and struck down the bandit in such a fashion. Among other things, he felt that such an act would cause others to fear him, maybe even turn hostile on him. The shaman sat down at a distance from the rest of the group, worried that his mere presence would make the others feel uncomfortable. As he sat on a large stone, he tried to commune with the elder spirits, trying to get an answer as to the real point of the demonstration. They, however, remained stubbornly quiet. Darius sighed to himself and shook his head. Why would they do an act like that and then just act like it never happened? Unless they had ulterior...darker, motives.

So the sixth and final bracket consists of Steel, Flying and Water. Not necessarily in that order. Should be interesting. As for Emilia...ouch. Burnt out vocal chords is no joke. I'm guessing she will communicate exclusively via emotes, which will be interesting.

Move to S17.

The key is not with the hiker. The key is inside the building in Obsidia Park. And it only shows up after defeating the "Definitely not the daycare couple" in the Daycare center.

"...*sigh*...I guess I deserve this one, but it still stings."

Darius was almost in a daze, mulling over his thoughts when he felt reinvigorated by Chirya, who had run up near him. "Why?", he thought. "Why would they..." the thought trailed off for a moment before he noticed Karik missing a soldier in a nearby forest. Despite now seeing what the spirits can do, he realized that now is not the best time to worry about that. He ran over next to Karik. "Don't worry, I've got this. At least you're not hurt..." the shaman exclaimed before unleashing his spell upon the soldier in the forest. Move to R14 and attack Soldier 5.

Darius noticed everyone's reactions to his unexpected show of power. The emotions that he noticed were...surprise and fear. The exact same ones he felt upon realizing exactly what he'd done. Except he also had fascination mixed in, while he doubted the others were like that. He knew that things are going to get awkward for him once they found a place to rest or, if that's not an option, when they set up camp for the night. He mulled these thoughts over as he walked forward. Move to P13.

The above strategy is valid, but only once E17 (and, thus, Gen VII mechanics) are released. As of right now, there are a number of ways to cheese the battle, the simplest being Prankster Perish Song Murkrow. Another option is to bring a mon with Intimidate (I used Luxray, though Mightyena would arguable work better because of Earthquake) as well as a male Meowstic with Charm and Prankster. Bring the Garchomp's attack as low as it can go and you should be able to stall out his moves without needing to spend too many resources(The Garchomp actually goes into Struggle mode surprisingly quickly).