ALOLA SCOUTING CATCH-ALL

[fortuneglass]

Who: The Nightrunning Crew!
When: Day 73
Where: ALOLA
What: Scouts doing SCOUTS STUFF and Mercs ALSO DOING SCOUTS STUFF maybe catching pokemon maybe getting clothes WHO KNOWS
WARNINGS: People being Dumb

Alola, the scouts will notice initially, is fairly warm-but fairly diverse all the same. Everyone is equipped with their handy-dandy radio, which is good considering the chances that everyone arrived on separate islands.

Those landing at Poni Island find it largely uninhabited, aside from one lonely property and a dock filled with houseboats. The pokemon here are wild and untamed, and among some of the strongest in the region-and scouts will find massive canyons and equally large trees, that some can even walk on.

Mele-Mele Island on the other hand, while small, has more sizable a population. There's one city, and plenty to do, and the scouts becoming familiar with pokemon will observe that those in the wild here are good for anyone 'starting out'-the labs here as well might supply tourists with pokedexes even just as a temporary measure, so that's handy.

The third of the four islands meanwhile, Ula'Ula, is home to the highest peak in the entire region...as well as a desert. There's a lot more people living here, though scouts venturing far enough north are going to come across the town that Team Skull took over, which might be a good idea to warn others of. It's one thing to dismiss Team Skull as a threat, it's another to just waltz into their home base. There's also a local bus that will take visitors up to the Hokulani Observatory, up on Mt. Hokulani.

Lastly, the most populous of the four islands, Akala Island has hotels, a natural park, an impressive mall...scouts can probably take at least a brief moment to get themselves to blend in more with some local clothing while here, especially while in one of the two cities. Konikoni in particular seems to be selling numerous items relating to pokemon in one way or another, so it's a must-see!

Though really, scouts should probably try to focus on what's relevant to the Carnival, right..?

[[OOC - This is a mingle log; players of scouts can assume they can be anywhere among the islands given how easy it is to travel between them, or just radio out-and beyond that everyone is free to come up with their own ridiculous scouting scenario! Just try not to alola yourself out, we still have the main event after all.]]

Comments

open!

[kingsroads]

[ Official nightrunner report from Strange? This world is really fricken weird. After an eternal party dimension, the Matrix, and Atlantis, it seems to be this world that's the hardest for the magician to accept. There are bugs that are a foot tall, cats that breathe fire, sentient rocks, and mice that generate electricity, this world makes no goddamn sense.

Thankfully, he's changed clothes to loose trousers, a short-sleeved shirt, and a giant floppy hat. Unfortunately, he hasn't applied sunscreen at all. This will definitely bite him in the ass later, but right now he's far too distracted by Alolan Exeggutor which really, is the straw that's breaking the camel's back with regards to Strange accepting this world's nonsense.

Fun fact: the stats for Alolan Exeggutor are absolutely terrifying. So you bet Strange is downright confused as he looks up at this thirty-five foot tall thing which seems to be paying Strange absolutely no mind as it eats some leaves and just goes about it's business. Sorry fellow Nightrunner, you're the one who gets to deal with Strange's confusion as he asks, with 100% seriousness, ]

But how come it's not falling over?

[perverses]

[ Actual scout Renzo Shima checking in and he's just about as confused by the Exeggutor as Strange is. He does at least fit into Alola pretty well, even with the pink hair. Cargo shorts and sneakers and an excuse to wear a tank-top? Heck yeah, he's going for it. ]

It looks like a possessed palm tree... [ Is the useful addition Shima has to make. ] Maybe the tail counterbalances it? I mean, it does walk kinda doofy-like, so it isn't even doing that well.

[kingsroads]

[ Between these two, the notes are just going to be 'bigass palm tree' and that's about it. Because Strange isn't going closer to that thing. It's a thirty five foot tall sentient tree, he may be mad but he's not stupid, that thing has the potential to smush him flat in an instant. ]

The tail would have to be ridiculously heavy for that to work, [ he muses with a frown. At least, he thinks it's have to be heavy, Strange knows absolutely nothing about animal biology, a fact which is becoming more and more apparent the longer he stares at Exeggutor. ] Wouldn't it drag the ground or something like that?

[perverses]

Could be it's super strong and the tail is really that heavy. [ It's a giant walking tree with a bunch of heads, he isn't going to count anything out right now. ] I wonder if it's even noticed us.

[ He's weirded out but also— ]

Think it'd care if I got closer?

[ Curious as hell. Just look at that thing! It looks freaky but that's kind of cool! ]

[kingsroads]

[ It looks freaky and that's kind of freaky. As for the question, Strange just shrugs. Hell if he knows. ]

I don't think it would mind if you simply walked closer. We probably don't matter that much to this thing to begin with.

[ After all, would a tree be bothered by a human? Not really, unless the human did something dumb. And Strange at least has enough confidence in Shima that he won't do something totally dumb with regards to the sentient death tree. Just don't mind him as he still keeps a good six or so feet away from this weird thing ]

[perverses]

And it looks so goofy, I bet it isn't even actually dangerous.

[ Yeah, Strange, surely he won't do anything totally dumb. What could possibly go wrong? Anyway, here he goes,
strolling up towards the tree monster nice and slowly, though not particularly with great care. It's like he's just meandering up to a friendly dog or something, only the dog is thirty-something feet tall and a plant.

As expected, the top heads don't look at him, but the fruit hanging from the tail? That suddenly gives a twitch and tuuuurns
slowly, as much as it can with its limited range of motion and— ]

Ah... [ Shima slows down to a stop, blinking at it. And. It. Blinks back. ] It has... a... butt head?

[kingsroads]

[ The foot tall rats made more sense than this. Strange just stares at the butt head, equally confused as to why this thing exists to begin with. It's got a fourth head. And that head is on it's tail. And this is supposed to make sense to the people in this world? ]

See if that head has teeth!

[ Strange is still a good distance away from the weird tree and it's weird head. So it's all on you Shima, go get bitten by the butt head for the good of getting information or something like that.

Someone'll probably wonder why the grown-ass man kept on egging the teenager on to do all the dumb things but eh, that's something they can deal with later. ]

[perverses]

[ Strange, you are the worst adult and you had better believe Shima is absolutely going to go along with this total lack of responsible oversight. He does shoot a quick glance back towards Strange, giving him one of those what, that's weird looks, buuuut— ]

Why would a fruit have teeth? [ Though asking that, would these have teeth? It's hard to see if the ones up high have them (maybe, but he's not sure), but this one is low enough to check. Shima shrugs his staff down off his shoulder and just... pokes it. Poke. Poke. This is a terrible idea. Poke. ] Can it even open it's m— whoa!

[ There it goes! The butt head of the Exeggutor abruptly chomps down on the metal staff and makes the most non-threatening grr, grr sound of all time. ]

Hey! Stop that!

[kingsroads]

[ This is going to end up with the two of them discovering that Exeggutor attacks by headbanging. Because as Shima tries to yank his staff out of the creature's mouth, Strange tries to think of what he could do to help. It's not like he'll be much use if he joins Shima in yanking the staff, he knows he doesn't have much actual strength. And again, he's got no idea what this creature is or how his magic will affect it or what he could even do via his magic to convince Exeggutor to let go of Shima's staff.

So Strange just picks up a rock and throws it at Exeggutor, trying to distract the Pokemon or get it to let go of Shima's staff or do something. Great plan!

The rock hits the creature's leg with a small 'thunk.' It doesn't do any damage because again, thirty-five foot tall tree beast compared to a man who could probably press thirty pounds on a really good day, but it certainly gets Exeggutor's attention. All three heads just turn to glare at Strange, who suddenly realizes just how small and breakable he is compared to this thing. ]

Perhaps you could distract it again?

[ RIP Jonathan Strange, you bout to diiiiiie. ]

[perverses]

Exxxxx...

[ The Exeggutor may not have been hurt — well, maybe its feelings! who knows! — by the rock, but, yes, Strange, you have its attention. Following the direction of its glaring heads, the rest of it also turns and it does so with all the grace of a thirty-five foot tall tree monster awkwardly balanced on two legs and a tail to face the magician, which is to say not a whole lot.

Of course, that also means Shima, who still hasn't gotten K'rik out of the dumb-looking head on the tail's mouth and isn't willing to let the weapon go, gets draaaaagged across the grass as the tail turns along with the rest of the dumb thing's body. ]

Whoa! The hell?! What did you do?!

[ This, unfortunately, puts the Pokemon between the two nightrunners. It doesn't seem very worried about being surrounded, either. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange at least has enough sense to know that saying 'I just threw a rock at it' isn't going to win him any points in this scenario. So as Shima asks what he does, he doesn't say shit. Instead, he takes a few steps away from Exeggutor as if he'll somehow be safe from this giant tree of death if he puts another foot or so of space between them. ]

It doesn't matter what I did, what matters is that it looks mad!

[ oh god what does he do here, Strange has no idea. He shoots Shima a confused little frown because ???? Of course, as he tries to look at Shima, he notices that oh wait, he's on the other side of the Pokemon. Tentatively, Strange takes a few more steps towards the side, as if he could see Shima better to somehow better formulate an actual plan. ]

[perverses]

What d'ya mean it doesn't matter, of course it matters! Agh!

[ Stepping away does nothing. The giant multi-headed palm tree is swaying its way towards Strange regardless of where he goes, dragging Shima along behind it much to his complete and utter dismay. Still stuck behind it, still trying to wrestle K'rik free, he shouts, ]

You're some kind of wizard, aren't you?! Just... just wave your hands and make it vanish or whatever already!

[kingsroads]

I'm a magician!

[ Strange can't help but call back, obviously annoyed. First he's called a witch, then he's called a wizard, is he going to have to make some sort of announcement that guess what everybody, he's a magician, please actually call him a magician.

But alright, he can do this, do something to distract the palm tree, something to get it to pay attention to him and let go of Shima's staff. Maybe fire? As he gestures to the front of him, a small pillar of fire about a foot high appears from Strange's hand before it vanishes with a wave of his fingers.

Well that's certainly gotten the Exeggutor's attention as he looks over at Strange with a confused look, as if pondering whether the magician was a fire type or not. ]

You...tree. [ Nailed it? ] Kindly let go of the staff with your back head.

[ oh god he has no idea what he's doing. ]

[whattaprick]

We could cut it open and find out.

[ Why is that your answer to everything, Lambert. Like Strange, he's embraced the Alolan aesthetic, but maybe a little too much so, looking entirely comfortable in the tacky floral shorts and skull-patterned tank top he's wearing. Off to the side, the Mudbray he's acquired to help him get around the place is looking discontent. It's funny, because with the glamors on, it occurs to him it's really the first time he's seen Strange as he probably looked like before coming to the Carnival. ]

[kingsroads]

Be my guest, [ Strange dryly responds as he takes a step away from Exeggutor. He knows Lambert is probably suggesting cutting it open just to be a shit. But there is no way on God's green earth he's going to attempt to cut open the GIANT THIRTY FIVE FOOT TALL DEATH TREE, you're on your own with that one, buddy. ]

I'll distract the creature when it inevitably tries to stomp on you.

[whattaprick]

[ Given he doesn't even have his sword on him right now, at least not visibly (where would he even hide it with how little he's wearing, honestly) Lambert is very much being a shit. He does, however, have the Atlantean dagger tucked for easy access into the waistband of his shorts, just in case... though it's been mostly used for clearing vines and the like when he's pointedly ignoring the CLEARLY MARKED PATHS through the jungle, because fuck the road travelled and all that. ]

I think Pig could handle it. [ Pig being: the Mudbray that's starting to paw at the soft ground, looking like it'd quite like to start another mud puddle to roll in. Also, Lambert is dead fucking wrong because he didn't study his Pokedex and knows ass-all about type weaknesses, so it's a good thing they're not accidentally provoking the thing or they'd be in for a bad time. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange turns around to look back at Pig. The fact that Lambert seems to have adopted a donkey will be a conversation for another time, one that will probably involve teasing because look at that doofy looking donkey. Strange, who also knows fuck-all about type weaknesses, is giving the fight to Exeggutor based on the fact that have we mentioned how huge it is yet, it's pretty huge, Strange is still having trouble grasping the 'really fricken huge' concept. ]

I doubt it cares that much about your donkey. Look at how high up it's eyes are! Unless Pig attacked it, I don't think it would even notice us in the first place.

[ he might not know about type weaknesses, but Strange has bugged enough people to grasp the concept of Pokemon battles. Fantasy cockfighting with donkeys and trees, can they go back to Atlantis now please? ]

[whattaprick]

[ Pig is the derpiest looking animal Lambert has ever seen, but at least in this case he has a solid basis for his confidence in its abilities. He's got the bruises under his shirt to prove it. In any case, Strange is wrong about at least one thing. ]

Those aren't the only eyes its got.

[ He points. And sure enough, on the tail, a slightly more immature fruit(???) than its fellows is staring avidly at Strange and Lambert. It's not doing much of anything or displaying much reaction to their presence, but even as the beast stomps around and sends the tail waving, it seems to track where they are ...

Stare. Staaare. ( ❛ ε ❛✿) ]

[kingsroads]

[ this is fucking awfuuuuuul.

Strange just stares at the fruit for a while. It has a tail. And the tail has a head? And the head on the tail is staring at them and making an expression that's duckface but Strange is from the 1810s so he doesn't know what duckface is so it's just immensely unsettling again, can they go back to Atlantis please, he understood Atlantis, merpeople (kind of) made sense, nothing about Exeggutor makes any sense to begin with.

So he just continues to stare at Exeggutor's ass, resigning himself to the fact that this world is going to be weirder than he thought. Is this supposed to be a vacation, all of these creatures are various shades of stupid looking or terrifying. ]

I have no idea how I'm going to describe this...thing in my report.

[ He knows that Mari's gone, what with Strange not being able to find her via creepy magic as well as the noticeable lack of her cackling egomania. But there's no need to shake up routine, he's definitely writing a report no matter what, even if that report is just a series of question marks and an attempt at drawing the terrifying tree beast. ]

[whattaprick]

Call it "freaky long-necked tree monster thing" and that should do it. Are you still writing those?

[ Lambert asks the question with apparent genuine curiosity, cocking his head at Strange. As weird and wonderful as the local fauna is, that's enough to distract him from contemplating the wisdom of bothering the animal just to see if the heads come off or if they're actually organically attached... ]

She's gone, you know. Even the Ringmaster doesn't know where she is right now.

[ Or at the very least, he could deduce that much from the conversation they'd had. A conversation that's ... actually, he's been doing a good job not thinking about it up 'til now. Damn, so much for his master evasion strategy. ]

[kingsroads]

I know, [ Strange remarks, with a little frown. ] I haven't been able to find her with my scrying. As it only works in one realm at a time...

[ He trails off. As it only works in one realm at a time, this either means that Mari's dead or she's still trapped in the vampire world. And for her sake? As terrible as it is, a part of Strange hopes it's the former option. ] I must admit that I'm writing the notes for myself more so than the job. I thought that when I returned home, I would publish a book about my experiences in faerie.

[ The past tense is for a reason, as is the hint of uncertainty in Strange's voice. Now, Strange isn't entirely sure if he'll publish the book in the first place. It was simpler when he thought his wife was dead. After all, bringing someone back from the dead was easy, he had done a crude version of it before. But rescuing someone from faerie? He had only a slight idea of how to do that, one plan that he'd be staking so much on when he enacted it in a few days time. If that were to fail, he honestly had no idea how he could save Arabella in the first place but he would work and try his hardest to find a different plan. The book would be set to the side. ]

[whattaprick]

Did you know her well?

[ Because Lambert hadn't, really. The few interaction they'd had certainly left an impression, but ... it's nothing like knowing a person. And that might be uncharacteristic hesitation in his voice as well, quickly banished when Strange continues. ]

Even if you wrote a book about this, nobody'd ever believe it. [ And he's almost certain he'll regret saying, but-- ] Sounds like you changed your mind.

[kingsroads]

Not entirely, [ he admits. With a small little smile, Strange continues talking. ] I'm afraid I drove the poor woman batty. We met when I was at the peak of my madness. She was attempting to blend in with regards to the Matrix, I didn't see the need to do so. We fought about that and it all spiraled downwards from there.

[ It was a godawful first impression and it didn't really get much better from that. Strange and Mari talked some, but not a ton. Truth be told, he had always been closer to Joker, his other supervisor, instead of her.

As for the other question, Strange is about to rebut that of course they'd believe it, plenty of people went to faerie back when magic was around, why the Raven King even blah blah blah. But Lambert's second statement pegs him more than he realizes. ] I suppose I have. Things have changed back home, to the point where I don't know if I'll have any time to write the book or not. I'd like to, of course, I simply don't know if I'll have the time.

[whattaprick]

You mean you were crazier than you are now?

[ Lambert's joking. Mostly. Honestly, if Strange was genuinely insane, he does a good job of hiding it, but maybe he's not the best judge of that kind of thing. Regardless, even if they're watching a gigantic tree wave its butt head at them idly, the way Strange speaks ...

... makes Lambert wish he had a drink. So naturally, he'll make a joke of things: ]

Maybe you should get Childermass to write it instead, then.

[kingsroads]

[ Strange can't help but laugh at that, an honest sort of good-natured laugh. Crazier than he was now, hoo boy is he a bit glad that Lambert missed out on those first few weeks when he was certifiably bugfuck insane. ]

Other members of the carnival can serve as a witness: I was awful when I first arrived. [ Accidentally summoning carnival members to his trailer, not knowing the concept of blending in, setting Childermass on fire that one time, even Strange will admit he was a nightmare. ] I'm still mad, of course, but the madness has lessened and I've grown accustomed to it, [ Strange explains, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. It's not as bad as it was when he first arrived—there's certainly less extreme mood swings even if that pineapple loathing somehow still sticks. But even Strange himself can spot the differences in his personality between now and pre-madness. ]

And no, I'm afraid it must be me. If anyone's to take the book seriously, I need to write it myself, not Childermass. [ Partly because of the whole class thing, partly because Strange already has a book under his belt, partly because people would be more likely to believe that the eccentric and flighty magician managed to travel to faerie than the manservant of the stoic, stuffy, boring magician. ]