12/11/2020 - 9/14/2023

An innocent archaeological dig winds up entwining the souls of five unfortunate Pokemon with Necrozma, an alien god of death.

From left to right:
Hollyhock, Whimsicott. An assistant cook on the Saint Fortuna, an Imperial ship-of-the-line. Reserved, sensible, and very tired. Metaphorically and physically. Makes excellent food and gets along with pretty much everybody. Entangled symbiotically with a berry plant she kept perched on her head as a Cottonee when the Fortuna sank in an otherworldly maelstrom. Pictured above is Hollyhock's living weapon, a forged Honedge she named Dawn after inadvertently overwriting its hostile programming. 

Cecil, Chatot. A medical student to start, proven field medic by the end. Under a lot of stress, but only the third most likely to argue out of the party. Perhaps the one most existentially terrified by the party's situation. Still, none of them would have made it this far without him. And under the right circumstances, he can really go at it with those talons. Relatedly, note his broken left talon, an injury sustained after Solgaleo's emergence from under the Imperial Palace. 

Cyril, Indeedee. Ex-butler. Contentious figure, putting it lightly. Finds himself often at emotional odds with the rest of the party. Argues with Aleksey a lot. His unwilling pact with the alien god is an unending source of frustration for him, and he is willing to do almost anything to escape it. First to contact Necrozma, through an ornate handmirror; the last link the sealed god has to the outside. The link also makes him one of the most powerful psychics currently alive, if he is able to siphon enough power through it first. Lost his sight to a vengeful ship captain.. 

Gordo, Quagsire. Manual laborer. Union 'mon. His chief desire is to dig and subsequently roll around in a mud puddle. Big and friendly, but don't underestimate him; He's quite scary when you're in his way, and can take a hit like nobody else. Isn't afraid to get sassy. The tricorne and cloak he's wearing were stolen from the same Imperial Navy captain that blinded Cyril, alongside the captain's sword. Lovely dancer, too. 

Aleksey, Archeops. Archaeology student. Pressganged into working at a secret digsite under threat of academic probation. Far-sighted. Used to have a ponytail until Hollyhock accidentally cut it off shortly before the this photo was taken. Surprisingly strong and swift given his scholarly appearance, but is a magnet for misfortune. Can still throw a rock like nobody's business. Once got an awful chest infection at the worst possible time, and had to drink the worst-tasting medicine ever made to fix it. He's my favorite.

With the help of allies made along the way, they saved Necrozma from its collapsing prison-realm and saved their own lives in doing so-- only to seal it forever inside a pokeball to end its ancient plan to bring about a new world order. Souls still entwined, their bond with the god of death renders them immortal and so they find themselves its new jailors, shouldered with the responsibility of ensuring it remains sealed for eternity. 

As you can tell, most of them aren't very happy about this.

Ran in Pokemon Tabletop United with a plethora of house-rules and changes.