⇨ ALOLA

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[lordofthering]

"What?" she demands, honestly caught off guard. "No! I had no idea that the Celebration had become so toxic, or that the vampires would even be capable of following us at that point! It has been centuries since the last conflict of this magnitude occurred..."

Now it's her turn to get mad.

"Is that how you live? At the first sign of trouble, you simply quit your ambitions forever?"

[fragileandsoft]

His jaw remains tense for a moment, before he lets that tight breath out. He waits another long breath to pick his words before speaking.

"If the first sign of trouble were aimed at the people around me, I'd make sure they know about it." He crosses his arms. "I'm not asking you to change anything, but you can't expect me to let people walk into this blindly."

[lordofthering]

"Actually, I can," she says. "On account of it's none of your business. You should feel lucky that my terms offer the means for such a short repayment... you lot really don't know how good you have it."

Which is a point of constant frustration for her. It's hard to see how much of a saint she is when they haven't seen just how awful it could be.

"Trouble may come for you here, but the same could happen on your homeworld! The only difference is that here you have the means to seize control of your destiny in ways you never could have before."

[fragileandsoft]

"It's not a short repayment if people die, boss." He sits back in his chair, rubbing his forehead. He shouldn't have snapped like that before... he's more scared than he realized. "I'm not complaining about the repayment. But if people get taken out just for getting stuck at a job they don't want, and they can never go home... that's just not a fair deal.

"I want to believe you that this kind of thing is rare. But unless you can explain to me why that risk is more important than lives, I just can't let it be."

[lordofthering]

"It's not as if the actions of outside forces are my fault or responsibility!" she says, as if Greg is being totally unreasonable. "Some of you talk as if I asked these creatures to chase us around, or as if I did nothing to try to stop them! I put my own life on the line to try to ensure the safety of this carnival."

"Which - by the way - you are not actually entitled to! But yet, I do it out of the kindness of my heart. Are you always this intent on blaming the victim?"

[fragileandsoft]

"I'm not trying to accuse you." He means it, really. "I know you didn't want this, and I'm sure you would have stopped it if you could." He scratches at his hair with a sigh. "But you couldn't, because it was out of your control. You can't say for sure things outside this carnival aren't going to come after us again. That's what has me worried."

[lordofthering]

"Well, of course not!" she says. "Do you have any idea how surprising the multiverse is? And I do not make promises I can't keep... it is impossible to absolutely guarantee the safety of anyone! Even me."

She leans back, looking annoyed as she goes on talking.

"If I had safety as my top priority, I'd most effectively do that by turning you all into objects and depriving you of your freedom and ability to make mistakes. You'll note that while the flaws in my warding caught me off guard, it was not my actions that brought those Agents upon us. You were all informed of the potential dangers, and it was your choices that resulted in gaining their interest..."

[fragileandsoft]

"You still haven't answered my question."

There's no point arguing whose fault any of this is or isn't. None of that is what he cares about.

"What're you're trying to do that's so important that I can't warn people who might get hurt?"

He can accept safety isn't her priority. But that shouldn't mean it can't be his.

[lordofthering]

"I'm allowing people to be free!" she says, with great emphasis, leaning forward onto her desk. Her eyes smolder. "Some of my best, my longest served and most loyal, would never have joined me if it had initially been their decision to bear. Responsibility, passivity, fear... all of our guests are bound by that, whether they realize it or not. Yet, with that initial bridge crossed with my assistance, they can see a world outside of the one they were born into. One they would never have dared to discover otherwise."

"I make one choice for them, and then the rest are all theirs. Allowing for their own actions to lead them here is the closest thing to a compromise I could expect."

[fragileandsoft]

Greg leans a little back in his chair, as if that'll help with her intense gaze. He swallows, and considers.

"I guess... that is pretty impressive. And there are a lot of people who seem to like it here." Admittedly, most of the veterans seem more tired than happy, but maybe that's just how Greg sees it. "You offer a good refuge to those who want it. And you don't have to give us all the freedom you do."

His hands are shaky and his palms are sweating, but he meets her eyes. "So--so, I've made my own choice. That you let me have. And I'm choosing to let more people make theirs."

[lordofthering]

"No!" she says, banging her desk with her fist. "You're not letting them make their own choices, you're interfering with their paths. Did you not understand what I just told you?"

She thinks he must have, but not in the way she intended. It's extremely vexing.

"You've taken it too far and I cannot allow it."

[fragileandsoft]

"Too far, huh."

It's fair to say he doesn't understand. He has to wonder at what level just talking to people, interacting and advising and being a helpful person, is seen as warping their path. If that sort of thing is wrong, then there's little chance of them seeing eye to eye.

"I'm sorry. I can't accept that." He swallows hard. Steven... Steven will be really upset with him for this, won't he. "But, you're the boss. If you have to punish me for this, then, then that's fair."

[lordofthering]

"You can't accept-?!" the Ringmaster sputters, apparently not expecting that at all. "Is this truly the hill you want to die on? Haven't you got more important things to worry about?!"

She's found herself standing up with sheer outrage, he hands still braced against her desk. Whether she intended it or not, it leaves her looming over him eerily. Her expression isn't so much enraged as it is disbelieving. This is one way that mortals can be stupid that she doesn't appreciate nearly as much.

[fragileandsoft]

At this point, he can't hold her gaze any longer. Even if he's certain in what he believes is right, he's not so sure anymore this is worth the impending trouble. Not with someone he holds respect for.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs to his lap. "I just--I don't get it. I don't... I don't want to cause trouble, or upset you. I just can't promise I'll stick to what you want me to."

[lordofthering]

"Why not?" she asks, like she genuinely can't understand why he is both acting so contrite and so stubborn simultaneously. "Do you understand how this works? If I punish you, it isn't going to give you a free pass to continue your behavior. I am never going to allow you to behave this way! Why cause yourself the trouble? For nothing?"

She takes her hands off her desk and straightens her body, frowning deeply.

"And stop lying to me, Universe. If you were really sorry or if you really didn't want to cause trouble, you'd listen to what I'm telling you."

[fragileandsoft]

"I just don't understand. I don't see how just talking and giving advice is some awful, fate-altering thing. Not when it can... it can help, or..."

He deflates further. His nerve has started to waver under her frustration. Maybe he really is in the wrong here. Maybe he's too stupid to get it?

[lordofthering]

"Did you listen to what I told you at all?" she demands. "You think it will help, and maybe it would, in some situations... yet, I just explained to you how in other situations it would result in those that returned winding up dead or enslaved! How are you so sure that you know what's right for a stranger? Leave their fate in their own hands!"

[fragileandsoft]

"Because a whole load of them just got tortured!" He looks up again, desperate. "I can't know what anyone's got going on for them at home, but we just saw the kind of things that can happen here! Between the unknown and more people dealing with that, why should I think they'd rather risk this? It--"

His nerve breaks again, and he looks away. "I can't... I can't just assume that it'll be worth it, boss. I'm sorry."

[lordofthering]

"It doesn't matter what you assume because it's not up to you!" she yells right back at him, lacking the contextual sensitivity to not yell in the face of someone who is clearly pretty terrified of her. "You don't know anything about this carnival or what it stands for! You don't know anything about what all of this has meant to me!"

[fragileandsoft]

Reflexively, his skin starts to toughen and lose its color. Obviously stoneskin won't do much if she does decide to lash out after all, but were he to think of that he'd only latch onto it harder.

"You're right. I don't." That's all he can say, really. He doesn't know a thing.

[lordofthering]

She crosses her arms, trying to regain her composure. She frowns at him grimly for a few seconds before managing to convert his discontent into words.

"Then do what you're told and do your damn job!"

[fragileandsoft]

For a moment, he says nothing, eyes downcast and arms crossed in front of him.

"Boss... is this really what you want from me?"

[lordofthering]

"Is what?" she asks, looking at him warily. Her specific wording senses are being tingled, and she doesn't want him to go along and say that she ordered him to do something that she didn't.

[fragileandsoft]

"Just... being a body to do a job." He lifts his head a little, but still can't look at her. "I don't know what else I can do."

[lordofthering]

"No!" she says, and there is a flash of genuine distress and frustration to it that suggests its something earnest. She puts her hands to her face. "I just want you to live. By the stars, do you really think that I bring people here because I earnestly need the labour? If I wanted to make mindless automatons I could have already..."

She brings down her hands and looks at him, her face twisted up with some kind of internal emotion.

"But, for anything to live on, there must be rules. I can't just abide by you breaking them without consequence. I don't ask for much, Mr Universe..."