lostcarnival | ⇨ ALOLA

Entry tags:

⇨ ALOLA

Who: EVERYONE.
When: Day 73 - Day 87
Where: The islands of Alola.
What: The Carnival arrives at its next touring location, a series of tropical islands inhabited by a species of animal called Pokemon and their trainers!
Warnings: Pokemon is pretty PG-rated.

IT'S A POKEMON WORLD↴

Alola is broken up into four different islands, with a number of unique points of interest. Boats can easily be rented in order to get between the islands, or you can just pay for the fair of a scheduled trip. If you can prove you have the skills for it, you can also call on a "Ride Pokemon" - that is, either a Charizard or a Lapras that will fly or swim you between locations.

► POPULATION: Though the islands appear very small as an abstraction in the actual games, that doesn't hold over into the actual reality of it. When interacting with the different locations, imagine that they are about as big and spread out as they would be in real life. It's about on the same scale as Hawaii is on earth. Ignore any wikis that say the population of each island is like 200 people, because that's just adding up all the scripted NPCs, and there are realistically more than six houses per town.

► AMENITIES: Even if they aren't overtly listed on island maps, it can be assumed that all towns and cities will have basic amenities - that is, places to eat, place to go to the washroom, places to buy souvenirs, and the other things one would expect in a tourist heavy area. You can also buy malasadas pretty much anywhere.

► POKECENTERS: You'll be able to find a Pokecenter in pretty much every town - a Pokecenter is a public building in which Pokemon Trainers can rest and get their Pokemon healed. Think of it like free international Pokemon healthcare. You can also buy Pokeballs here, as well as potions and other healing items for later use.

► AETHER FOUNDATION: A peace keeping organization that shelters Pokemon from harm and abuse. If you kill/maim any Pokemon or otherwise act violently in public, they will come to try to take you down with their Pokemon. They also are the main force working against Team Skull.

MELEMELE ISLAND↴
[MELEMELE DETAIL MAP] [GUARDIAN DEITY TAPU KOKO] [WIKI LINK]

► TRAINER SCHOOL: A full fledged for young, aspiring Pokemon Trainers! Students go here to learn about Pokemon care and battling before setting out on their own journeys. It would be sort of weird for an adult to show up here, like it would for an adult to try to attend an elementary school, but you can probably learn some of the basics just from touring the facility.

► HAU'OLI SHOPPING DISTRICT: The biggest shopping district on Melemele, you can do a lot here, from eating out to getting your hair dyed. A lot of shops are, unsurprisingly, completely Pokemon focused - but there are some that aren't, too. There are also some very nice beach fronts nearby.

► BERRY FIELDS: Berries come in a lot of different types and have different effects when used. Mostly, Pokemon love to eat them, regardless of what type they are. This is a big field of them, most of which are free to take if you catch them when ripe.

► TEN CARAT HILL: The secluded interior of a small mountain, filled with some rare types of rock Pokemon. You have to be able to bypass the left overs of some recent rockslides to get in.

► TRIAL SITE: There is only one trial on this islands, which is the Normal type trial. All you have to do is fight a bunch of Pokemon ferrets, and then fight an even bigger Pokemon ferret that thirsts for your blood. It's not so bad.

AKALA ISLAND↴
[AKALA DETAIL MAP] [GUARDIAN DEITY TAPU LELE] [WIKI LINK]

► TIDE SONG HOTEL: A big ass hotel near the port - if you want to stay on Alola overnight, this is a pretty good place to go. It isn't too expensive, and is also rather nice.

► DIMENSIONAL RESEARCH LAB: Alola, on occasion, has been the site of various dimensional breaks (haha) in which extraplanar creatures called Ultra Beasts have crossed over. There isn't much information about these beasts, but they are something that are being actively studied. Characters who are nerds might find some of this information interesting.

► HANO GRAND RESORT: The inevitably big, fancy resort that tends to take route in touristy places like this. If you actually pay to spend some time there, you can enjoy all the things you'd expect to find in a fancy resort, except with way more Pokemon. There is also a fancy, secluded beach for resort goers only.

► BATTLE ROYALE DOME: A battle area in which 4 trainers fight each other all at once, with teams of there Pokemon. The trainers here are mostly quite expert, and you need a team of three Pokemon to play, so player characters probably won't be able to participate. However, you can still come to watch, if you like seeing a bunch of colourful monsters slapping each other around.

► PANIOLA RANCH: A large ranch that keeps a lot of Pokemon that resemble earth farm animals. You can leave Pokemon here to stay for a while if you need a break from the strains of trainer life. Quite often, however, your Pokemon will end up getting knocked up and leave you with another egg to care for.

► TRIAL SITES: Brooklet Hill is a lake filled area that contains the Water Trial. You have to fight a bunch of schooling Wishiwashi, and then an even bigger schooling Wishiwashi to win. Wela Volcano Park contains the Fire Trial, where you must climb to the top of the dormant volcano, and spot the difference between a series of ceremonial island dances. Then you gotta fight a team of Marrowaks and a giant Salazzle. The Lush Jungle contains the Grass challenge, in which you have to find a series of rare organic ingredients in order to brew something that will lure out a giant Lurantis.

ULA'ULA ISLAND↴
[ULA'ULA DETAIL MAP] [GUARDIAN DEITY TAPU BULU] [WIKI LINK]

► MALIE GARDEN: A nice big garden to hang out in and chill. Also, there are Pokemon there... and also, Pokemon battles? There's really no end to it.

► MOUNT HOKULANI OBSERVATORY: Up at the top of the local mountain, you can go see a space observatory. Like most things in Alola, it's like a regular observatory, except with more Pokemon, since some Pokemon just straight up come from space. You can take a bus up here, but you can also hike if you want.

► HAINA DESERT: A shitty desert in the middle of the island. Mostly only good for if you want the kinds of Pokemon that live in shitty deserts.

► ABANDONED THRIFTY MEGAMART: A Megamart, but haunted. Extremely haunted, filled with the kind of ghost Pokemon that would actually kill you. You have to take a bunch of pictures of ghosts on your way through here if you want to beat the Ghost Trial.

► PO TOWN: The ramshackle remains of the town that Team Skull have taken over. It's completely walled off from the rest of the world, and is pretty terrible. No point in going in there unless you're fighting crime, in which case you can expect to get challenged to Pokemon battles by a lot of Team Skull knuckleheads.

► LAKE OF THE MOON: A huge, round temple thing in the middle of nowhere. It's used to praise a legendary Pokemon that existed years ago, but there presently doesn't seem to be anything around except cool architecture.

► TRIAL SITES: The Observatory contains the Electric Challenge, during which you have to fend off various kinds of electric grubs, before eventually taking on a giant Vikavolt. The Abandoned Megamart must first be cleared before challenging the Ghost Trial officially, at which point you will have to defeat a powerful Mimikyu.

PONI ISLAND↴
[PONI DETAIL MAP] [GUARDIAN DEITY TAPU FINI] [WIKI LINK]

► SEAFOLK VILLAGE: A village made of nothing but houseboats and other water fairing homes. It's the only major town on Poni Island.

► ANCIENT RUINS: Most of Poni Island has been reduced to ruins, over time. Not many people live here, relative to the other islands, but there are a lot of abandoned buildings from when they apparently used to.

► VAST PONI CANYONS: Most of the island is comprised of canyons, caves, and valleys filled with particularly strong Pokemon, and also a lot of fight-hungry Pokemon trainers. Most of them will want to fight you as soon as they see you, since they are there mostly to train, but they will back down if you tell them you're not a trainer. Though, at that point they will strongly urge you to go home, because it's too danger for anything other than the strongest trainers.

► ALTAR OF THE SUN: A matching altar to the one found on Ula'ula, except this time dedicated to a legendary Pokemon of the sun. If you play some magic flutes here at the right time then apparently a giant lion might show up, but there's no way to be sure.

► TRIAL SITES: The only Trial here is the Grand Trial, which is a fight against the leader's ground type Pokemon. You may also get lucky and have the Fairy Trial's kahuna deign to fight you, with her fairy types, if she randomly wanders into your path. Both of them are very strong, and are not advised to challenge for new trainers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Snake too? [Joker isn't too thrilled, but Doll looks happy that she'll get to see him. Plus-- one less person to work to keep safe! One more person to help them get their family back together!]

[She grins wide and nods. Yep. Stubborn was a good word for all of them-- too stubborn to die in a gutter, too stubborn to stay dead, apparently...]

I could eat three meals! I musta been in there quite a while, eh? [Trotting up to him, she waits for him to lead her to the food.] Is it already lunchtime?

Ah… Probably around that time.

[For once, he’s not actually too sure. Much like how for humans, the night blurs all together, he supposes he’s losing his own track of time when it comes to the day. Oh well. It doesn’t matter much anyway, he supposes as he starts to lead her along.]

Koel, the head chef, almost always makes sure there’s a little somethin’ for everyone throughout the day, whatever time it is. You’ll probably like her, ha- real old bird!

Perfect! C'mon, let's eat! [Doll is too used to eating all of her meals with other people, eating alone would be too strange, especially after emerging from a tent apparent days later. One odd thing at a time.]

A real old bird? [She eyes Joker's wings for a moment-- what's a turn of phrase and what's an actual bird, now?] I'd think it'd be hard to cook with all them feathers...

[Thank goodness Koel has made up some of her special recipes… Joker doesn’t have to worry about worrying Doll by not eating. So he can just concentrate on the conversation, grinning at her question.]

A real old bird~.

[Which doesn’t answer anything, but she’ll get the joke when she sees Koel and realizes both meanings work.]

Anyway, she manages well enough! And there’s a couple of other cooks, too, but they just arrived recently, while she’s been here for ages.

[She's used to Joker not answering her directly, that just makes it a game though. Doll laughs and bounces a little, excited to see what he means. Clearly he knows how he wants this joke to go, so she'll let it happen the way he thinks it should.]

Ahh... I 'magine I'll have t'do the same! Learn ta manage. [This is a good idea, right? Helping Joker feel less nervous about... whatever's going to happen to her-- by facing it head-on and letting him know she's ready.] Y'think I could learn ta cartwheel with wings?

[Her suggestion has him snort, something he can’t even hide that well with how his sole hand is holding up the umbrella for himself.]

Hey now, who knows? Maybe you’ll end up gettin’ the bottom half of a lion, and will have ta learn how ta do somethin’ else besides cartwheel~. [He waggles his eyebrows.] We got a guy like that here, no joke!

Aww, but I don't want that! I want wings like yours! [Though she's making little motions with her arms and thinking very hard about whether lions can cartwheel. She's pretty sure they can't, but maybe...?] Who's got the lion legs?

Zaka! [Joker, that's not his name-] He's a big tough kinda guy, does patrol. You'll know him when ya see him. Hard ta miss!

[And there's the cookhouse- never too far away from the main parts of the carnival. Grinning and balancing the umbrella against his shoulder, he tugs open the door and holds it for her.]

Don't think anyone else in our little area of things is as changed as him. Well- besides me~.

[His wings flutter a bit.]

Zaka huh... [Sounds like he wouldn't be hard to miss if he's a big tough guy who's half lion! She should keep an eye out for him introduce herself before asking what it's like to be half lion and whether or not he could cartwheel.]

[Doll scurries into the cookhouse so Joker doesn't have to hold the door long, and stops to take it in. It's nice, definitely smells good and feels warm-- all good things for a cookhouse.]

How'd it happen anyway? [Doll asks, moving to stick close to Joker.] Didja just wake up one mornin' and poof-- wings?

[It’s a relief to step inside the cookhouse, where he can finally put down the damn umbrella to the side instead of hauling it around everywhere. Well, so long as he stays away from the window, at least… He guides Doll along to the food stands, where food- some fresh, a lot leftovers- has been set out.]

Nah, more like… I guess like a toothache and growin’ pain all in one. Didn’t hurt too much, was just annoyin’, especially since they grew so fast. Think it only took around a week before they were all filled out.

[He laughs a little, gaze passing over the normal stuff left out.]

Feathers itched like hell, ‘tho, I’ll tell ya.

[Doll is nodding along with what Joker's saying, but her eyes are scanning the food in astonishment. She's never seen so much food in her life, even when they spent time in the Father's house. Some of it doesn't look immediately appetizing (is that just... little pieces of raw fish?) but even the leftovers have her mouth watering.]

Joker look! [Doll grabs his sleeve and drags him over to one of the carts, stopping to gaze reverently at a tray full of tiny chocolate cakes.] ...blimey, and I can eat this? [Could she have two? Or maybe three? Was there a limit on how much cake Doll could eat in one sitting?]

[Well, there goes any explanations he could offer, although Joker huffs out a laugh as he's dragged along. Yeah, this sort of thing would get her attention, huh?]

All yers. I bet Hinawa- she's one of the cooks here- she'd love makin' cute little things like this for ya all the time. But try ta remember ta eat food that isn't just sweets, yeah?

[Doll lets out a strangely feminine and excited squeal, picking up one of the plates reverently, with both hands. She can eat one! She could probably eat two...]

[If Joker lets her, at least. She pouts a little, disappointed that Joker's asking her to be responsible-- because that means that she has to be.]

Alright, alright-- but at least eat this one with me! [She grins and takes his sleeve, starting to pull him towards a table.] Then I'll have, lettuce or summat. Deal?

[Ah. Ha ha. Well fuck.]

[Joker's smile freezes for a split second at eating with her, because oh that's going to be a problem. But then she's tugging him along, and he snaps back into focus, laughing.]

Fine, fine! But, y'know, they actually make all sorts of things good here. Ta don't have ta settle for lettuce.

[And isn't that a marvel, the concept of them not having to settle for something less than decent?]

[It really is a marvel, and Doll is very much looking forward to eating all the good things that this place will serve-- but she'll start with cake. Then get to some nice cucumber sandwiches or something.]

What's been your favorite so far? [She pulls them down into one of the tables away from the windows and door-- she wants to catch up with Joker uninterrupted-- and sets the cake down between them.] Ah, forks. [She turns and looks around. She was too distracted by cake to think about what to eat it with.]

[Thank his luck stars that she decides to keep away from the windows and things. He doesn't need to explain this little incident, at least while she's still getting used to everything else in the carnival, from the people to the food to who knows what else. There's a lot, after all. He would know.]

[That means he can spend a little more time trying to puzzle out how to answer her question, trying to ignore the churning in his gut. At least she's so overwhelmed that he can buy himself a little more time, and he laughs quietly as he points out where to get them.]

So excited, yer gonna lose yer head at this rate.

[Doll sticks out her tongue at Joker as she hops off to get forks.] Like you weren' excited too-- I bet.

[She gets a little distracted by what look like chips covered in meat and something orange-- those smell delicious too-- but she comes back with the forks still bouncing.]

Alright! [She sets one down in front of Joker as she sits back down.] To... our growing family.

Oh, but now I'm experienced~.

[Well, that's a bit of a lie, because he still gets excited depending on the worlds he's come across and the people he's talked with while traveling, but, hey. It'll be fun to see how she reacts to all of those, on the good days.]

[For now, he accepts the fork, and his smile softens a bit.]

Ta our growin' family. Cheers, then.

[The taste of cake in his mouth isn't something his body cares for anymore, but he's stomached worse things. He chews it just a bit before swallowing it, trying not to keep it on his tongue any longer than he needs to.]

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⇨ ALOLA

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