52 Reasons Lumiose Is Fucked Today
Mini Adventures that can take place in a city based campaign
52 Reasons Lumiose is Fucked Today
This is a series of mini adventures set in any big city, but taking strong inspiration from the Lumiose City of Pokemon Legends ZA. Each adventure will list the focus of the adventure, two places that are important to the adventure, and three NPCs (Pokemon or Human) for that adventure. Expand on these as much as you please, they’re not meant to feel complete on their own and instead be something to inspire you!
For reference, the player characters in these adventures are referred to as a “Team”. Despite that, they can be a team like Team MZ, Rocket, an all together different kind of group, or whatever else fits best for your game.
1. Fox and the Hound in the Mega Market
Roller Skater Jenny comes to the Team with an urgent update: there’s a Thievul running amok in the local mall! Upon arrival the Team will see the Thievul in some wrecked stores (A shoe store, a PokeMart, a tea shop). At each store, the Thievul will attempt to escape using [Dexterity+Athletic], bringing nothing with it but also seeming to goad the Team into chasing it.
- If the Team stops Thievul, the shopkeeper of the store will come out of hiding and tell them that it was actually a Houndoom that caused the damage, and Thievul showed up after. At the same moment, there’s a load crash of Houndoom Mega evolving.
- If the Team fails to stop Thievul, Thievul leads them to the finale scene just before Houndoom begins to Mega Evolve. In the Central Plaza of the mall, a Houndoom is running in wild, angry circles. The Team can tell it’s moments from Rogue Mega Evolving! When the Houndoom evolves, the energy it lets off shatters the glass skylight over the plaza dramatically.
- There are a lot of people still watching and if keeping Rogue Megas a secret is important to the Team, that’ll be an issue.
- If Thievul lead them there before Houndoom starts to evolve, the Team can try to make an Almost Impossible (5) check to separate the Houndoom from the Mega Stone before it evolves.
- Thievul will want to help! It will bring an Oran Berries or Rawst Berries to a Pokemon at the end of each round.
Places
- Wrecked Stores - Each store looks like a Tauros has run through it, with knocked over shelves and product everywhere.
- Central Plaza - A hexagonal area in the middle of the mall where the different wings converge. Mostly open space under a massive skylight.
Npcs
- Roller Skater Jenny - Frequently found speeding down mall hallways, running from the mall cops on segways.
- Thievul - Has a high Dexterity and Athletic store. The Thievul has caused none of the damage to the stores, it’s friend the Houndoom has. It’s trying to lure trainers after the Houndoom to get help.
- Houndoom - is an unfortunately victim of Rogue Mega Evolution. It’s a big puppy once it gets that problem solved though.
2. Pidove in the Bell Tower
The Team happens across Old Couple Ben and Lorrie standing outside the Belltower they maintain with upset expressions, or the couple contacts the Team directly for help. The couple has a Pidove that’s stuck in the belltower they can’t get to leave. It’s not aggressive, it’s just flown into the Bell Tower’s Machinery of the old tower and they can’t climb in after it. It’s too dangerous to use the bell tower’s bell and clock with the Pidove in there, so they ask the Team for help getting it out.
- If the Team fails enough times trying to get Pidove out, the Pidove flies out to the bell platform on it’s own. However, that will cause it to crash into the bell, which wakes up the Alpha Noivern napping in the belfry!
Places
- Bell Tower’s Machinery - Complex gears and catwalks that look like something out of a platforming video game climb basically all 14 stories of the tower. There’s no direct way to climb these, clever use of Pokemon or Hard (3) checks will be required to navigate.
- Bell Platform - A large platform that you can climb 15 flights of stairs to which houses a big bronze bell. It’s as old as Lumiose and has survived multiple disasters. It’s big belfry is shadowy and possibly a nice resting spot for Zubat… or maybe even bigger bat Pokemon.
Npcs
- Old Couple Ben and Lorrie - The kindly old caretakers of the bell tower. They’re cozy in their retirement, and when the bell tower breaks they typically hire traveling trainers to do the work as they aren’t young enough for it anymore. They give excellent instructions and pay though.
- Pidove - A stubborn little bird that refuses any kind of help leaving the bell tower. At this point, it’s a matter of pride for it to escape on it’s own so it flees anyone trying to grab it.
- Alpha Noivern - This Noivern lives in a cave outside of town, but too many Noibats have taken up residence there. Noivern has flown into the city for a break from all those Noibat, so it’s quite cranky and sleep deprived.
3. Whose Ready for a Walk?
School Girl Beth contacts the Team for help: she has a part time job as a dog walker during the day, but she has a major exam coming up and needs to cram for it. She asks if the Team can take out her appointments today, covering what’s effectively her afternoon shift. The walk itself it a loop around a section of the city, passing along side a Wild Zone and over a canal.
Introduce each dog one at a time, then let chaos ensue at each of the Places along the route. The routine will follow into something like Boltund runs off, Growlithe chases Boltund to get it in line, and Maschiff splits the Team’s attention from the other two.
Assuming the Team manages to walk the dogs without too much property damage, Beth can offer her salary for the day (1500 pokedollars) to the Team. If there was too much chaos, she’ll need to spend it fixing things for the community.
Places
- Canal Bridge - this bridge isn’t a busy one for foot traffic, so there’s not much around here, aside from a Meowth staring hungrily at some Magikarp in the river.
- Wild Zone Gate - as the team walks by, a traveling berry salesman rolls his cart out of the Wild Zone after a long day of keeping trainers stocked. His cart smells fantastic to Canines.
Npcs
- Growlithe - a Serious natured pokemon who wants everyone involved with this walk to be lock step, in heel position, and on their best behavior. Growtlithe is very happy to take it upon itself to enforce this.
- Maschiff - a Lonely natured Pokemon who is well behaved, but barks, whines, and cries whenever it’s not getting someone’s full attentions. It takes a lot to calm it down once it gets to this state, and if it stays upset too long it’ll throw a tantrum.
- Boltund - a Rash natured Pokemon whose always pulling ahead to look at everything, then literally wanting to get it’s nose into it. Has an accidental habit of shocking his leash holder when it gets excited.
4. The Tortoise by a Hair!
The Team encounters Office Lady Lucile in exercise clothes on the street along side her Drednaw. She’s actively trying to coach the Drednaw to move faster, which is an amusing site.
Lucile will explain that Drednaw really wants to compete in this weekend’s Triathlon. The three legs include a trainer carrying section (which she thinks she can manage), a pokemon swimming section (which Drednaw is great at), and a pokemon running section.
She’s trying her best to help Drednaw prepare for the running section, but she’s no expert and is just trying to coach it faster. She’ll ask the Team for their assistance as excellent Pokemon trainers. They can simply help with the training or join the Drednaw in the Triathlon, depending on how long you want this request to run or the team’s interest.
Places
- Triathlon Gate - A fancy arch on a street in the city that serves as the start of the Triathlon. All the competitors hav to be there ahead of time, so they scope out their competition.
- Triathlon Track - The section of the city that’s going to be used for the running section. The track is a U shaped path ending in the central plaza of the city.
Npcs
- Office Lady Lucile - An office lady who works in advertising. Her partner was originally a Chewtle, but Drednaw recently evolved and she’s been trying to figure what more she needs to do as a trainer now that she has a larger Pokemon partner.
- Drednaw - A gruff face hides an earnest nature on this Drednaw. It is eager to make Lucile happy and has noticed her stress recently, so it’s motivation to the Triathlon is to bond with her.
- Jogger Harrison - A competitor from the Triathlon whose racing with his Lopunny. He doesn’t know Lucile and is nice enough at the starting line, but clearly thinks a Drednaw racing is crazy.
5. I Saw it First!
The Team runs across a pair of kids pushing and shoving each other while yelling about who gets something. Breaking Stevie and Ryan up will get them to explain that they’ve been tailing a Purrloin and neither has given up being the one to catch it. The Purrloin in question has been having some fun with them, leading them into increasingly complex spots and getting them into trouble.
If the Team offers to help, the Purrloin can be found with a Challenging (2) check. It will attempt to leave without engaging in a fight each time, requiring a Hard (3) check to cut off it’s escape. If it escapes, it puts Stevie and Ryan into an awkward situation.
Places
- Muddy Park - The sprinklers were recently on in this park, so the dirt road is pretty muddy. There’s nice tall trees lining the road for Purrloin to leap through.
- Spheal Fountain - a decorative fountain in a small intersection with benches. The Purrloin can get some nice sun while lounging on the stone Spheals.
Npcs
- Stevie - a plucky child with mousey brown hair. He wants to battle with Purrloin, and while older is very immature about sharing with Ryan as he feels he’d be a better partner for it.
- Ryan - a wirey child with coke bottle glasses. He was Purrloin as a pet, not a fighter. He earnestly just wants a friend out of Purrloin and would dote on the Pokemon endlessly, much to it’s pleasure.
- Purrloin - Purrloin is a feisty, tricky pokemon that has no really preference between the siblings. It does find their continued efforts to catch it amusing though, and likes taunting them.
6. Surfing Sharpedo Canal
A famous city event involves water type trainers racing through a canal that cuts through the city, going under bridges and through tunnels from one end of the city to the other. The contestants ride or wakeboard behind their Pokemon partners.
The organizer of the race Swimmer Louis comes to the Team the day of the race in a panic. It appears a school of Sharpedo has moved into the canal, and made this race into a real danger! Louis asks the Team to go ahead of the racers and fight off any Sharpedo that might be lying in wait for the racers.
The Team gets a head start of 6 rounds. They’ll need to make Skill checks to race along the course themselves and herd Sharpedo into the two places listed, then fight them to completed drive them away from the track. If the racers catch up, the party will also have to defend them from the Sharpedo!
Places
- Lover’s Street - A street where the canal is level with the street so one can walk alongside boats that sail down the street under foot bridges.
- Blu Avenue Tunnel - A long straight tunnel that is part of the course for the race. It’s dark and wide with no lights in the middle of the tunnel, a perfect spot for an ambush.
Npcs
- Johnny Dangerous - a semi pro racer who will be ahead of the pack of racers. He refuses to believe the party are clearing out Sharpedo and thinks they’re opponents, so he’ll try and get past them if the party isn’t quick enough. Races with his Eiscue.
- Alpha Sharpedo - The leader of the pack of the Sharpedo. Bigger and nastier, it will show up if the race is still going but all the other Sharpedo have been driven off from the second location.
- Derrick - A racer who’ll likely be around second place. Derrick has crossed paths with the Alpha Sharpedo before when he and his Wartortle charged through the Sharpedo’s home reef, and the Sharpedo wants revenge. Derrick absolutely knows what he did but was hoping it wouldn’t have consequences.
7. The Secret Berry Garden
A Office Worker Jeff approaches the Team with a story: while taking a flying taxi over the city he swore he saw a rooftop berry garden that was lush and beautiful in the Rose District. He doesn’t know if it was a hallucination or not, but he’d love to see it for real if the Team can find it.
This garden does exist and it’s maintained in secret by the world renowned art thief Liepard Noir. Asking around the district the Team can find out which high rise Liepard’s Penthouse and secret garden are in from Calvin and Cayden. It’ll be up to them if they discover just who Liepard’s true identity is and what they’ll do with the discovered garden.
Places
- Briar Street Highrise Penthouse, the penthouse is owned by Liepard Noir. It’s guarded by a pair of Liepard and has multiple high security locks. The penthouse seems suspiciously small on entry, because two rooms are hidden behind bookcases full of stolen art.
- Rooftop Berry Garden, literally every berry in the world is grown here. A couple of Flapples are permanent residents. There’s a patio set in the center of the garden where Liepard might leave a note for the part to find.
Npcs
- Calvin, a scientist who is doing studies on the flying types in a nearby wild zone. Calvin has spotted a rooftop covered in greenery before, but never paid it much attention.
- Cayden, a gym leader’s young son who lives in the high rise. Doesn’t know anything about the garden, but has meet Liepard Noir’s street identity before in the halls, and Noir gifts Cayden a rare berry whenever she meets him. Cayden suggests asking her.
- Liepard Noir, a world renowned art thief. She maintains a penthouse in Lumiose with plenty of traps. She is likely to not engage at all with the Team, and instead leave a cryptic note about how they’ve caught her eye and she’ll return.
8. The Masked Moonlit Battler
Each night in the battle zone, a mysterious figure dressed in white with a domino mask has appeared and swept challenger after challenger. The Team has yet to encounter this battler but one of them or perhaps a friend of theirs has been given a promotion match against this masked battler.
Who the Masked Moonlit Battler is and their reasons for battling as they do is up to you, the NPCs section contains three different versions to take on their actions.
Places
- Verde Park a wide open space with a large fountain off to the side, and the site of the rank up match with the Masked Battler.
Npcs
The Masked Battler, a trainer dressed in a white suit with a domino mask obscuring their face.
- They are rapidly rising through the ranks to attract the attention of a Krookodile they met when they were young, who they told all about their dream to become a masked fighter. That Pokemon shows up, and the Battler insists on making this a good fight to prove their worth to Krookodile.
- They are drawing attention to themselves to attract a local villain’s attention. That villain has been causing problems in the Masked Battler’s neighborhood and the Battler is using his infamy to draw the villain out into the open, who appears just as the rank up match is set to start. They’ll want to recruit the Team to help them defeat this villain, will they help?
- They are actually a very famous battler, someone who most people who surrender to rather than fight. They decided to battle masked so they could get some practice in, and train up new partners rather than their well known aces. Does the Team recognize them, and will they keep their secret?
Last Donut and Stuck in Hyperspace till they get another.