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

"The Science of Battles," Sherlock squinted as a shadow fell over his pages. It was such an odd shape, could only be from someone with a large hat and--that was Strange's voice.

Sherlock turned around, and snorted. Oh, he was being rude now, wasn't he? Not good. He actually did like Strange very much, especially after all they've been through. Even before, the fact that Strange could take whatever crap he threw at him and dish it right back, made him an all right fellow in his book.

"Sorry--the hat--" Another weak snort as he tried desperately not to laugh. See, this is how much he liked Strange now. He was actively trying to behave. And failing, but trying counts...

"Ruff!" said Toby, getting up from his seated position and dutifully going to sniff at Strange's feet.

Edited 2017-03-31 05:46 (UTC)

Strange just rolls his eyes as Sherlock tries (and fails!) not to laugh. He likes this hat, thank you very much. It's a decent hat, especially since this place is so sunny. "It's a nice hat," he can't help but huff, more like grumpy teenager than the actual adult he is.

As Toby gets up to sniff at Strange's feet, he bends down to try and give the dog a few little scratches on the head. See, this is a good Pokemon. It at least looks like a dog, none of that 'sentient tree' or 'two foot tall butterfly' nonsense. Strange isn't exactly bitter about this world and these creatures but when one of your first encounters involves a thirty-five foot tall Exeggutor, it kind of tends to color your perceptions.

"I like the dog, by the way. Does he have a name?"

"Oh yes, yes it is. A very nice hat." That may or may not have been 100% sarcasm.

Toby wagged his tail, closing his eyes when he was scratched, and happily tried to lick Strange's hand. He behaved quite like an ordinary dog, and looked like one too, save for the 'necklace' of rocks around the fur on his neck.

"Ruff!" he barked. It was high-pitched, just right for his size.

"Thank you. His name is Toby," Sherlock put down his book, where he was brushing up on rock-types. "Apparently his species is called 'rockruff.' Terribly scientific, I know."

Strange isn't pulling away as Toby licks his hand. Having never really owned a pet, he doesn't really know much about how to deal with dogs. But all dogs liked scratches and pets, right? Hopefully.

He can't help but let out a little laugh at the 'scientific' name. It's a dog with rocks around the ruff of it's neck. It's a Rockruff. Well, at least it should be fairly simple to put a name to a creature if they're all that simple. "Creativity seems to be a lost art in this realm. Apparently there's something called a Zubat? Three guesses as to what it looks like."

Toby nudges his head toward Strange's hands. More pets please.

"Truly," Sherlock rolled his eyes, flipping a page. "It's fascinating, how close some of these animals are to our own, and yet, how different the others are. Bats and dogs, versus...slimes with faces?"

Sherlock wrinkled his snout in disgust and turned the book so that Strange could see the picture of a 'muk', whatever that sentient pile of nonsense that was. "Look at this stupid thing."

"So...have you caught anything yet?" he asked, after a pause. He'd feel only slightly bad if Strange had caught one and made friends with it or something.

Good Lord, does this dog still want pets? Strange just keeps scratching Toby, entirely unaware that if you let the dog dictate how long you'll pet it, you'll be petting the dog forever.

As Sherlock turns the book towards him, Strange peers at the Muk, frowning as well. It's a pile of sludge. "How can it move?" he can't help but mutter under his breath as he questions the logistics of the sentient pile of sludge. Did it scootch forward like a worm or what? Why were Pokemon so weird, that thing made no sense.

But at Sherlock's question, Strange shakes his head. "I haven't. Truth be told, I'm not much of an animal person. I don't know if I'll catch one to begin with." His estate had horses, of course, but horses were something different—any estate worth it's salt had horses, if only to get around the place. At least in Strange's mind, horses didn't really count as pets, certainly not in the same way that dogs or cats did. "Besides, I'm having enough of a good time looking at what everybody else has caught instead."

Toby was quite pleased. He rolls over slightly to present his belly.

"I have no idea, I actually hope to come across one so I can observe it," he said, before taking the book back to flip through the pages again. "Does it have a skeletal system? Who knows?"

Ah. Well, to each their own. A lot of people wouldn't peg Sherlock for someone who cared much for animals, but he was smitten with any dog that came across his path.

"Have you seen anything good, then?" This whole ridiculous menagerie was very interesting, admittedly.

Okay, we're scratching the belly now? Why else would the dog show off his belly? Toby is probably warming up to Strange simply due to his sheer inability to know how dogs work--he's still scratching, though there's a pause before Strange goes from belly scratches to belly rubs.

And oh. Seeing anything good. Almost instantly, his mood goes from curious to annoyed. Strange still isn't over his and Shima's awful adventure with Alolan Exeggutor, which involved the absolutely ridiculous tree almost killing them plenty of times.

"There was the sentient tree the size of a large building with detachable heads." It's said in a slightly resigned tone, a tone that's pure 'yeah, I KNOW.' Exeggutor are stupid and make no damn sense. "Obviously I'd like to stay further away from that one."

Toby is done for. He whines and wags his tail, a melted puddle of Pokémon. Good thing Sherlock already 'captured' him via Pokeball or he would have had some competition.

The detective blinks for a moment, then furiously flips through his book to find what on earth could that be. He admittedly would love to see one as stupid and amazing as that. Was science nothing more than a joke in this world?

"Was it this?"

He held the book open to a picture of an Exeggutor.

"It was!" And man, Strange just has awful memories with regards to that thing. From the scowl on his face, it's obvious that he does not like Exeggutor and it's ridiculous neck and the fact that the thing tried to smush him to death via headbanging.

He stops petting Toby for a moment so he can stand back up, in order to get a better look at the book and what the book says about Exeggutor (which, Strange learns for the first time, is actually called Exeggutor! Who knew?).

"I don't know what this guide says, but those things are awful in the wild. It chased us back to the Carnival."

"That's fantastic," Sherlock said, seemingly oblivious to Strange's obvious body language, the scowl on his face, and tone of voice that said he Did Not Like. The detective, pretty much a scientist himself, was not naturally one for zoology, however this was interesting enough that his curiosity was piqued.

"Did you anger it, or was it defending its territory? How fast did it go? Did it attack you? Why would a plant be so aggressive?"

Sherlock sounded like an over-eager child.

Toby huffed and whined, upset that he wasn't being petted at the moment. He looked up at Strange with betrayed eyes. How could you stop? Such a tragedy.

"One question at a time!" Strange can't help but exclaim. Obviously he didn't expect this bombardment of questions, as shown by the slightly confused look on his face. And, of course, now he had to decide just what to tell Sherlock. Strange might be a bit of an idiot, but even he knows that opening the conversation with 'I chucked a rock at it' is a bad move.

"I accidentally angered it, I don't know specifically how fast it was going but it was quite fast, it attacked me by trying to squish me with it's head, and I've no idea why a plant would be aggressive in the first place."

Strange counts things off on his fingers as he answers the question, before he looks down at Toby. Well obviously he wants to still read that book but there must be something wrong with the dog, the way that it keeps looking at him like that. Hrm. What to do about this. Of course, while he mentally tries to figure out how to make the dog happy without getting back down on the floor, the greatest tragedy of all is happening: Toby isn't getting pets.

Accidentally angered it, eh? Sherlock had his suspicions, but the account sounded wonderfully weird.

"What was its means of locomotion?" Sherlock was an extremely rapid talker, and had ignored Strange's earlier protest of 'one at a time.' "Did it have legs? Leaves? Extra trunks? How fast do you estimate it to go?"

Toby whined, upset at this horrible turn of events. He stares at Strange, with the biggest, puppiest-dog eyes he could muster. Why have you done this to me?

In between Sherlock's rapid fire questions and Toby's whining, Strange isn't sure what to do first. He just looks like a deer in the headlights for a moment before he bends down to pet the dog while trying to answer the questions.

"It walked? The thing had four legs, three heads until Shima knocked one off, a remarkably long trunk that served as it's neck and leaves on the top of it's head." Don't mind Strange as he just casually mentions decapitation as if it's no big deal. Still, how fast could it go. Strange can't help but give Sherlock a baffled look at that question, as he continues to scratch Toby's stomach. How on Earth could he knows how fast it went in the first place?

"As for the last question, it was fast." And, because he knows that's a shit answer, the justifications start. "Look, I wouldn't know how fast it runs in the first place! I don't know how to measure those things to begin with!"

"They knocked one off!? That's incredible!" Sherlock held back a peal of laughter, the thought of a Pokemon's head just being knocked off was hilarious. "Please tell me you kept it. And if you did, can I have it?"

A slight frowm. "Well, you would have to use math, obviously. An estimate would have done just fine."

Toby was content once again, and was currently doing his best impression of a puppy puddle.

"Of course I didn't keep it! It's a head!"

Strange can't help but look over at Sherlock, a tad scandalized. Because what? It's a head, why would he keep it in the first place. What would he do with it, keep it in his trailer or lug it around all day? Strange doesn't even know that the heads are supposed to eventually fall off, he's still slightly traumatized at the idea of knocking the head off to begin with.

"What would I have done with a head in the first place?"

Sherlock looks equally scandalized. Why wouldn't you keep the head? A creature just sheds heads--besides the fact that it functioned with multiple ones--and you just let it roll away like an ordinary coconut? The detective's baffled by this scientific tragedy.

"It's a bloody sentient head! At the very least, if it's now dead, you could crack it open and see what's inside!"

Duh. Isn't that what anyone would do?

Strange just shudders at the idea. Cracking it open? Busting open the head just to see what's inside? One, ew. Two, why would he do that in the first place? That's gross and disgusting and again, ew. So, Strange can't help but give Sherlock a frown as he continues talking.

"I imagine that what's in the creature's head are all the normal things inside a head! You know, brains and bones and all that."

"We don't know that for sure, especially if it's detachable. Its' true brain could be hidden elsewhere," Sherlock was starting to sound like a mad scientist. Which he was, oftentimes. "It could have plant traits as well. Oh, to be able to get one of those heads..."

He slammed the book shut and stood up, alarming Toby, who jumped and barked, hopping around, looking to see if he could protect someone from the clear danger that must have alerted his trainer.

"I'm going to go find one for myself!"

"Well, you can go have fun with that," Strange responds, with a roll of his eyes. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't want to go bother Exeggutor again, having almost been murdered by it once before. No, if Sherlock wants to deal with the thirty-five foot tall death monster, that's his own problem.

"I think I'm going to stay in the bookstore for a while myself."

Sherlock shoots him a look that said, 'well, I most certainly will, so there.' He's dreadfully excited about the prospect of dealing with a thirty-five foot tall death monster, and it shows.

"Hope you enjoy your little break," he waves a hand towards the books before turning to leave. Books were all well and good, and he was in desperate need of good reads after having nothing to delve into at the Carnival, but danger called.

Poor Toby didn't know what he'd gotten into when he accepted Sherlock as his trainer. Tsk, tsk.

"Best of luck dealing with that thing," said as he gives Sherlock a little wave of his own as the man turns to leave. "I've a feeling you'll need it."

Strange can't help but feel a little sorry for the tiny dog but, well, hopefully the poor beast knew what it had gotten in for (oh my god it didn't, poor Toby). Still, not his problem anymore!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⇨ ALOLA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject