This is meant to be the opening scene for the adventure. Before the adventure starts, the players should be briefed about why they have been hired and where they are currently heading. They should have also established how well their characters know each other. While they have been on the road together for two days, some players may have their characters have known each other long before this adventure started. After all the players are aware of their journey's premise, the game can begin in full.
It's high noon, and your party has been on the road for several hours already. Today is the third day of your journey, and you can feel the pull of the village of Willow's Den, an hours' travel up ahead. As you mount a low rise in the trail, you can see a large battle unfolding between a pack of canine like pokemon and a small band of travelers at the bottom of the hill. The beleaguered travelers are outnumbered by the beasts, and many of the humans appear to be unarmed and without pokemon.
The PCs can identify the pokemon as poochyena with a DC 5 Int check. Only a researcher should be able to immediately identify that the pokemon is a dark type. Assuming the PCs choose to engage, they will need to run down the hill to reach the combat. As the combat for this encounter begins, narrate the following:
As you arrive at the scene of the battle, the only member of the group with weapons fell under the weight of the black pokemons' numbers. He was still conscious, but a bad bite on the leg prevented him from reentering battle.
Maps: (Link to GDoc Map here)
People and Pokemon: The black canine pokemon are poochyena (link to GDoc Sheet). They are wild pokemon that, like many of the wilds in this region, have been prompted by Alden to attack the people of Willow's Den. The poochyena won't kill anybody; they're just there to give the people a good scare and injure anybody who might put up resistance. Like other wild pokemon, they can be captured by the trainers if they so desire. Unless a PC really wants one of these though, I recommend steering them away from trying. There will be better options throughout the adventure, and pokeballs are too scarce to waste.
The people are a family of a man, wife, and their children - two girls and three boys - that are coming back after visiting family in Riverbend, a small village to the west. In general, they do not talk much. This occurrence has scared them pretty badly, though they will heartily thank the party if the PCs win the fight. The party is more than welcome to visit the family in Willow's Den. They live in Briahnnah's Boarding House and, if the PCs play their cards right, this could end up as a secret base of sorts.
Escorting the family for their safety is Lord Birshard's son, Herrin. The man is an accomplished swordsman who simply got overwhelmed by numbers. He will witness the entire fight and report their competence, or incompetence, to his father. Herrin is a 23 year old man of average height with a muscular build. He wears his short beard well trimmed, and fights with a short blade that he wears at his waist.
Combat: Combat follows a certain order. The human characters will move first in order of their dexterity modifier, highest first. After all humans have acted, pokemon act in order of their speed stat from highest to lowest. In the case of a tie, let a PC's pokemon act first.
The poochyena will generally try to surround their targets before tackling them. If they are unable to reach a target, they will instead use the turn to howl, which raises their Attack stat by one combat stage. This means their attack raises by 25%. If using the google document spreadsheet for pokemon stats, you can enter a '1' in the Atk Combat stages box, and it will automatically calculate the change in attack for you.
These pooches will generally try to spread their attacks out as much as possible. They also tend to strike out against those who injured them in the round before. A poochyena will flee when reduced to five hit points or less, or when all of its comrades have either fainted or fled. The Run Away ability gives the poochyena to flee automatically when they wish to. If you feel the encounter is overwhelming your players, have the poochyena flee at 10 or 15 hit points instead of five.
If the PCs are loosing the encounter, have them rough up the PCs a bit and then run off to find other prey. Feel free to involve the pack in a later portion of the adventure to give the PCs another shot at beating the pokemon.
Rewards and Treasure: If the players and their pokemon win the fight and save the villagers, award them ___ pokemon experience each, and 2 trainer experience points. Remember that a character gains an exp point if he chose to capture a poochyena.
After the Combat
As the last poochyena disappears into the countryside, the scene quiets down to only the heavy breathing of all those involved in the fight. The man with the bitten leg was pouring a small gourd of liquid over his wound. It slowly disappears as the liquid seeps into his skin. He manages to get to his feet despite the shaky legs that held him up. As his strength returns to him, he walks up to the lot of you.
"Hello travelers" he called out. You got us out of a rather tight spot if I must say so myself. Thank you. The name is Herrin, and this" he indicates the family, "is the Glasswell family." May I have the pleasure of learning the names of our saviors?
Herrin will greet the PCs eagerly whether they won the battle or not. After patching himself up a bit, he will use restorative items on any fainted people or pokemon to get them to regain consciousness. However, he doesn't have enough to heal people to full health: that's what the Temple to Shaymin is for. Herrin remains friendly, and the conversation should flow relatively naturally. Depending on what the PCs say, this could be an opportunity to start to introduce portions of Willow's Den to the characters through Herrin. Herrin will not talk about why the wild pokemon are attacking, saying that if the PCs want the full story, they should talk to his father. Eventually Herrin will learn, or guess, that the PCs are the people sent by the rangers. When this happens, narrate the following text.
If the PCs won the fight.
"Oh! So you lot are the ones sent by the rangers. Well I'm glad to see they got trainers who could handle themselves in a fight. My father is the Lord of Willow's Den, and he's the man who asked the crown for help. When we get to Willow's Den, we'll stop by the temple for healing then go straight to see him."
If the PCs lost the fight.
"So the rangers sent you?" Herrin frowned a bit. "I wish they would have sent us some more experienced combatants, but beggars can't be choosers. I'm the son of Lord Birshard, the man who asked the crown for help. After we get healed up at the temple, we'll stop at my house to see him.
Either way, Herrin will lead the PCs to Willow's Den where encounter J2 will take place.