lostcarnival | ⇨ ALOLA

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⇨ 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

A. Fun in the su--oh right, Foster hates fun, nevermind.

The problem with ~~Poke-Hawai'i~~ Alola is that it has... a lot of sun. A lot of sun.

Of course, the Host's party had been indoors, and Hell wasn't really known for its sunny skies (or... having skies at all...), so this was probably a much-needed breath of fresh air (literally) for most of the Carnival's members.

For those few who had been turned into vampires during the aforementioned party, though, it was incredibly rude.

But Foster, true to form, has come up with a solution.

Since his weakness is to sunlight, he's covered up. In a not-at-all conspicuous full-body Poke-kigu, just like the local Pokemaniacs and Pokefans.

This is not stupid-looking at all(?) and has the added bonus of keeping sand more or less out of the places he doesn't want it while he stomps around the beachfront.

While he is, by and large, a supremely uninterested in anything this world has to offer, there's a small possibility you'll find him harrassing the local wildlife outside Hau'oli City and beyond.

Exhibit A: one (probably not terribly) helpless pyukumuku, which he's got in both hands while he crouches in the sand... squeezing it repeatedly?

Yeah, maybe it's better when he's disinterested.

B. Hey, you... you've got a little.... somethin.... there...

Eventually the sun goes down, and Foster sheds his ~~ridiculous~~ monster costume to walk freely under the cover of night.

But in his shadow is... something else. Or... maybe it's not in his shadow, but attached to it.

He doesn't seem to notice it. It follows him down the main street of Malie city, into the Pokecenter and shops, even into the tall grass, where he really shouldn't be walking on his own anyway. But risk of physical injury always seems to have the opposite effect on him; the riskier the proposition, the more magnetically he's attracted to it, moth to suicidal flame. There's no way he hasn't noticed his malicious stalker, right? After, all it's right there--with its ominous, staring eyes, burning in the dark like two lit cigarettes.

He definitely notices you, glancing out of the corner of his vision to nod, flashing his vampiric pearly whites in a grin.

"H--no, Alola, right? Alola!"

...okay. M... maybe not? Well... on the plus side... it does seem to be scaring the wild Pokemon away.

C. Wild PROMPT appeared!

[Wild PROMPT is undefined! Make shit up. Or hit me at

railehatesfun or on Discord at railehatesfun#6621.]

...Um.

"H...hey." Ginko isn't great at remembering things like specific local greetings to begin with, but also. "Uh, Foster, there's... hang on."

He moves a little closer, leaning around to try and get a better look at the... whatever it is behind Foster.

Honestly, Foster just assumes that anything someone goes out of their way to tell him must be important. It's served him well enough in the past--it comes up more than you'd think. It's saved the situation more times than he can remember--not that he's tried.

He freezes, however, when Ginko stops him, but once Ginko tries to get a look behind him, he twists to look too, eventually turning all the way around.

The staring eyes disappear just in time to avoid his notice.

"....." He stares at the... well, lack of anything remarkable for a second. Then, glancing sideways at Ginko with lidded eyes, simply says, "...I know."

Edited 2017-04-09 16:02 (UTC)

"You do?" Ginko walks closer and crouches down to examine Foster's shadow, tilting his head to see if changing the angle he's looking at it from helps any. "What is it? Knowing what the animals around here can do, something like this could be dangerous."

Not that that's stopping him from squatting right by where it probably is to try and figure out what its deal is, but anyway.

"Who knows? It's been following me for a couple of days... well, no one sees it during the day, haha." Foster sounds so blasé, so unconcerned, that it's any danger posed by his own, newly-maleficent shadow is either lost on him, or something to which he feels nothing but casual indifference.

So that's it. The jig is up.

And just like that, the shadow is freed from the onus of subterfuge. Apparently taking great offence at the proximity of Ginko's peering face, it suddenly bubbles, the darkness bulging and warping to reach up. A taloned black hand seizes Ginko by the face, holding him for just a second before releasing him.

And the hand retracts into the shadow, disappearing just as abruptly and mysteriously as its manifest. Even if Ginko tries to touch it... it's just a shadow.

"Oh--maybe it likes you!" Or, you know, the opposite. Probably only one way to find out.

To his credit, Ginko would have drawn back the moment he saw the shadow moving if he had time. Instead, one moment he's examining Foster's shadow, and the next it's reaching for him, grabbing onto his face before he can react.

It feels like a lot longer than it probably actually is before the hand lets go and retracts back into Foster's shadow. Ginko stays still for another moment, staring down warily at the darkness. Then he just... sits down on the ground, letting out a breath he hadn't quite realized he was holding.

"Uh. M... maybe. Well, if it hasn't caused any harm yet, I guess it's not... not going to."

Either way, he's not touching it.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Foster's eyes lid to half-mast, and he steps forward with one foot before realising that no, he cannot actually walk any closer to his shadow. He stops.

"After all, it's probably following me for a reason... people have been telling me they're seeing it for a couple days now. Knowing I'm being followed is nothing new, though, so I was hoping that if I ignored it, it would reveal its intentions to me..."

Which sounds very dramatic, but honestly, it's not like he had a lot of other options. Dealing with something intangible and invisible (to you)... it's obvious who holds all the power in that situation.

He feels... a little slighted that this monster felt he was worth stalking--for multiple nights, no less!--but not interacting with. That honour was reserved for Ginko, apparently....

"Reveal its intentions?"

Ginko frowns and pushes himself to his feet, still watching the shadow warily. "Somehow, I doubt it's going to hand you a memo. It might be best to do some research on the creatures in this area to see if you can figure out what it is."

Well no. That isn't what Foster meant at all.

He frowns at Ginko and his shadow, which is to all appearances inert and mundane for now. It's as normal as a shadow could possibly be. Well, anyway!

"That sounds like a lot of work." He brushes Ginko's advice off without much contemplation.

"Why bother? This problem will solve itself if I wait. It's, what, a week before we leave? At that point, either it will have done whatever it is it wants with me before it passes, or we'll leave this realm and I'll never see it again."

If his shadow likes or dislikes any part of this plan, it doesn't show it.

Foster is... almost disappointed. No, definitely disappointed. Attack him! Acknowledge him! Show him what you really want! It's him you're after, isn't it??

Ugh...

He doesn't have much time left to wait for it, you know!

Edited 2017-04-11 22:42 (UTC)

"Well, yeah, research can take effort but it could get you some useful information..." Aaand never mind. Rude.

Wow okay, if Foster is going to be like that this frown is not going anywhere. "Just waiting for it to do whatever it wants seems pretty risky, don't you think?"

He'd be even more worried if this place weren't apparently supposed to be pretty safe overall. As it is, he'd like to hope that its inaction so far means it's not going to do anything more, but he's not entirely willing to count on it.

'Risky.'

That's hilarious.

"Oh? What would you do, then? Draw it out of hiding?" Actually--

He stops, threading his fingertips into his hair, eyes lidded pensively.

"...mmm." If there was a way--

"That's... not a bad idea."

Ginko nods, looking a little more satisfied with that answer. "That could work! It would probably be best to try and do it in a controlled environment, though, just to be sure."

"A controlled environment?" Foster sounds... amused? Maybe. It's more like... a sort of satirical tone, honestly. Like Ginko is being unreasonable and Foster is playing along without much commitment.

"I don't have an empty concrete cell available."

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dontpokethat - 2017-04-16 00:39 (UTC) - Expand

While the sun might be difficult for Foster, it's quite the opposite for Tanyuu. The sun and warm sand are wonderful, and her moss is looking greener than ever (thanks in no small part to a small entourage of Cutiefly hovering around her). But the confort isn't going to distract her from...whatever the hell Foster is doing to that poor Pyukumuku

Tanyuu comes to a stop near Foster, watching him for a few moments before folding her arms and giving him an odd look. "...you know these creatures have their own sort of magic, right? It's going to attack you if you keep that up."

It's fine, Foster's got this sun thing figured out. He's also got a fair amount of this Pokemon thing figured out, however his behaviour might indicate otherwise.

"Oh, I know! I mean--I know they have their own magic." He also knows there's a decent chance it'll hit him with it, sooner or later. "Although... this one hasn't done anything. Also, it's... ah, maybe it'll be easier to show you. Here!" He shoves the pyukumuku at Tanyuu with both gloved hands, although the hood of his costume falls over his eyes in the process.

He isn't admitting it, but part of the reason he was manhandling the pyukumuku to begin with was that the brilliant sun is making it extremely difficult for him to see anything clearly. Vampire eyes, as it turns out, are excellent at picking out the smallest details in the near-absence of any light at all. The searing Alolan sunlight, however, makes for an effect not much different from staring directly into the sun itself.

Once he'd grabbed the thing, though, he'd found it... not quite 'rubbery.' Slick, but... not. 'Juicy' might have been a word for it. Squeezing it was so weird that he'd kept doing it. And it didn't seem to care... so...?

Tanyuu startles slightly when the Pokemon is thrust at her, and she accepts it delicately so as to hopefully not upset it further. Though a closer look shows it to still be surprisingly calm, and it wriggles a little in her hands.

"Ah...what am I meant to be noticing about it?" She runs one finger over where it's head seems to be, and the Pyukumuku coos softly. "It is an odd little creature, though, isn't it?"

Okay, that's not really what Foster meant.

"You won't hurt it," it comes out as a detached observation. "It doesn't have any bones." It's just a tube, with organs inside. A gutsack. With eyes.

Although he's actually assuming the presence of organs. Some of the creatures here, he's not so sure about. This one... it could probably go either way. With a firm enough exterior, though, it'd be weirder not to have them.

"I wasn't aware you need bones in order to be bruised." The observation is tinged with humor rather than any real scolding, and Tanyuu's tail curls backwards as she lowers herself to be 'sitting' beside Foster. "Though I have to admit this is the first animal I've seen with no skeletal structure to speak of. Even bugs have a hard carapace to hold them together."

"No, just blood!" Foster replies brightly. Any rebuke in that message was lost on him. Sorry, Tanyuu.

"I don't know if bugs can bruise, though." Do bugs have blood? He has no idea. They're filled with something. He immediately recalls crushing beetles, roaches, spiders. He pictures himself crushed, the fluids and viscera squeezed out through his broken body. Mmmm...

"Actually, I don't even know if they have blood." Are they really just bags of guts? Maybe there's just very little blood because they're so small. But the biggest bugs are larger than any mouse. And mice.... bleed a lot for how small they are.

"There are a lot of animals without bones, though! Slugs, snails, octopi, squids, stuff like that. This is... sort of like a slug, I guess." And... sort of like those supermarket squeezy toys with the glitter in them.

Breaking news: Foster doesn't know what a sea cucumber is.

"...you know, I don't think they can. Everything on the outside is too hard, and I'm not sure their insides can be affected like that without something more traumatic happening in the first place." It's an odd thing to be discussing, especially while petting a slimy little tube, but it's an interesting conversation at least.

"Do they not at all? I thought they needed something..." Tanyuu frowns for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, I'm hardly an expert on animals, so what would I know?"

"Are you going to throw that or not?"

And then there's this asshole. Unlike Foster, Lambert has fully embraced the Alolan aesthetic, floral shorts and tank top and all while he stands with hands on his hips and tapping a foot in impatience. He doesn't recognize Foster, given how extensively the (currently) vampire's covered himself up, but it's unlikely recognition would have changed the way he's greeted him. It might have only made him more likely to tug it out of his hands in the first place.

He's also ... changed, from the last time they saw each other. If Foster paid any attention to the radio whatsover, he might have an inkling why, but otherwise, the golden scales, the swishing tail, and the sharp teeth and claws are all new additions to the witcher that definitely weren't there a few days ago.

Foster actually leaves his walkie talkie turned off the majority of the time, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do. It's largely thanks to the fact that no one ever wants anything to do with him that he's gotten away with it.

So, no, he isn't prepared for what he's looking at when he turns around.

"Throw it? Why?"

--uh. For a second, Foster isn't completely sure if he's looking at a person or a Pokemon. Then he puts together that voice with the, uh, scar, and it goes together.

"That's a very good look for you." Very impressive. Imposing.

If Foster had more self awareness: basically the opposite of being a loser in a (sun-blocking) dinosaur costume.

When Foster speaks, Lambert finally places the voice. Though his brow quirks up -- because really, what are you even wearing, Foster -- that piece of information makes a lot of things come together quickly. Like why anyone would wear something that looks so swelteringly hot in this kind of weather ... of course, only a vampire trying to hide from the sun, who probably doesn't sweat anyway.

"Because you get money for it." And more money means more opportunity to buy weird, useless crap around here that can make his Pokemon stronger. Also, there's something about it being a superstition of the islands, but Lambert isn't as concerned about that.

At the compliment(?) he grins, brushing a hand smugly down the black-and-white tank top and the explosively floral shorts he's wearing. He might not know how to react to being treated like he's competent, but he'll take compliments on his great fashion sense with no hesitation.

"Looks pretty badass, yeah?" It doesn't quite occur to him that Foster might be talking about something other than his clothes.

Well, it could go either way, the way Lambert responds. Foster flashes him a strangely canny grin--though for the record, Lambert, not even Foster thinks those shorts are in good taste.

If he weren't still feeling this one out, he'd probably have something to say about that.

As it is, he suppresses it--as he suppresses a lot of his thoughts and feelings, to be honest--and passes the spiky little sea cucumber up to him.

"Well, in that case, you can have it. After all, you'll surely put it to better use than someone like me!" Right?

'Not even Foster' is some kind of new nadir in life that nobody should aspire to, and yet Lambert's achieved it. He's truly breaking all kinds of records in his stay here...

"Sure will," Lambert grins, fangs flashing wickedly as he takes the squishy and much put-upon creature in clawed hands. His teeth aren't the same as the ones sported by the carnival-turned-vampire workers, something more primal and bestial about them, like they were meant to tear apart instead of just puncture, but they fit the odd eyes and general look of him all the same.

Taking a few steps away from Foster, he turns his attention to the water, critically eying the distance between shore and sea. Ignoring the way the Pyukumuku wiggles discontentedly in his grasp, Lambert prepares to hurl it into the ocean ...

Except, well, Foster may have squished the poor thing a bit too much, for after a moment it shudders hard and promptly ... ejects something from its ass-pucker of a mouth, straight onto those terrible, terrible shorts. Except it doesn't seem to be just whatever it had for lunch. It's acid. Burning acid.

Swearing, Lambert drops the creature back into the sand, doing a little awkward dance of 'I'm trying not to let the acid soak into my crotch' towards the water before he plunges into the waves, still fully dressed. This time, apparently, it's his turn to disappear into the water.

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⇨ ALOLA

Foster | OTA! | I can't believe they called it haole city.......

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