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.

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Strange grabs the container, a large bucket that used to hold something else but now holds feathers. As Jimmy and Sweet Pea plow the feathers near him, Strange picks up any spare ones that have managed to escape the large pile. Once he's near the two, he sets the bucket down on it's side like a dustpan.

"I'll grab any spare feathers that manage to escape the pile myself. Are you two ready?"

Pea barks and Jimmy nods as the two of them start. What Sweet Pea lacks in skill, she makes up for in enthusiasm, barking and pouncing on the biggest feather piles. But at least she's trying to explode them towards Strange? Jimmy's going with it, anyway, sweeping the feathers towards the waiting bucket.

Eventually they've gotten all the feathers back in the bucket. Strange picks up a few stragglers, though he leaves one out for Sweet Pea, dangling it slightly in front of her face for the dog to bat at, entirely unaware that dude, you do that sort of thing for cats, not dogs.

"Thank you both for helping me clean up--I'd forgotten just how easy it is for feathers to get everywhere in the first place!"

Pea must have missed the memo too, as she starts growling and trying to bite the feather. It slips out between her teeth, though, and she goes after it again with a break for the occasional ruff! All done with enough furious wagging that her back end must be due to fall off.

"God, yes. Feathers, sand, and glitter. No matter how much you think you've cleaned up, you flip over a cushion or sweep under the couch, and there's more, just waiting for you." He smiles and shakes his head. "But don't worry about it. We were glad to help."

Strange continues to dangle the feather as he talks. It's easy enough and the dog seems to like it so why not keep it up a bit!

"So, what have the two of you been up to lately? This realm gives us so much to offer—I can honestly say it's got some things that I never thought could exist." Some of the Pokemon make sense. And then some of them are Exeggutor. Still, Strange is downright awed by the sheer amount of Pokemon and all the different types and shapes they have and so on and so forth.

"Sightseeing, mostly. Figuring out just what the hell Sweet Pea is." Sweet Pea stops chasing the feather long enough to yell at Jimmy with a Rockruff! She knows exactly what she is, thank you. And then she goes back to trying to catch the feather.

Jimmy tries to not laugh at the explanation, and nods. "There's a lot to see here, and doing the tourist thing is always fun. The beaches are amazing. Just be sure to pack some sunscreen." Yeah, it probably isn't necessary, but it's a reflex.

"I've spent more time in the jungles and cities than the beaches myself." It is very apparent that Strange is super British and super pale. He's slightly tanned on his arms due to exploring the jungle area, but it's just the light sort of tan one gets when they're outside for a few days. And, due to the hat and loose trousers he wore, there's absolutely nothing tan about Strange's face or legs.

"Perhaps I'll go over to the beaches once I've finished performing! It has been a while since I was at a real beach--what they had in the Celebration certainly didn't count."

Because for all of the sandy, water-park areas of the Celebration, it was still inside. That wasn't the same as being outside in the sun, with a nice breeze blowing through your hair.

"You should. The beaches are amazing. There's clear blue water, the sand is warm and it's beautiful." Although Strange's paleness does warrant a second look. "I'm not kidding about the sunscreen, though. You will get a terrible case of sunburn. And then spend a few days hating yourself because of it. You should be able to get some in town." Tropical islands without sunscreen? Unlikely.

"Just be careful of the sand Pokemon. If you see any shovels sticking out of the ground, don't touch them." Pea barks again before bouncing back to Jimmy. She was such a good fighter! She whooped that stupid pile of sand's butt! "It's part of a Pokemon, and without one of your own, you could get hurt."

Strange can't help but shake his head slightly at that because what. Pokemon made out of sand? The longer he's in this region the more ridiculous it sounds.

"First there was the giant tree, then the ghosts, now things made out of sand...I do wonder if there are any limits to what Pokemon look like." He laughs a little, wiggling the feather for Pea to attack it some more. "It's all a bit ridiculous, don't you think?"

And yet he is straight up charmed by the ridiculousness.

"I know! It's completely ridiculous!" Jimmy smiles back at Strange and shakes his head. "This whole place is weird and.... I think this is the first location I'm honestly going to miss. It just seems like a good place here, overall." Granted, this wasn't the entire world, and being a tourist didn't give you a proper view of things yadda yadda yadda...

"So far? About eight hundred different varieties of Pokemon have been identified worldwide." That's kind of mindblowing to Jimmy too. Just about anything could be a Pokemon, potentially. "That's what one of the Pokemon enthusiasts at the Gardens told me, anyway."

"It has been one of the better ones. I think Atlantis edges to the top of my list, fish nonsense aside of course." Strange likes having legs, after all.

Strange hasn't actually been looking at his Pokedex or reading more about the Pokemon world. So, as Jimmy mentions over eight hundred varieties of Pokemon, he can't help but look downright astonished, eyes bugging out for a moment because wait what. "Eight hundred? That's..." Amazing, slightly terrifying, and slightly wonderful all at the same time. "Well, it's certainly something. I feel sorry for the poor soul who's had to catalogue all of them!"

"They've got the internet, or something like it, so that's got to be a load off. Trying to do large scale information corroboration without it would take years." It'd be doable, for sure. But it would take a lot longer, and incorrect information would dig in a lot more, too. "There are entire college disciplines dedicated to it, if the researchers around here are any indicator. It'd be a specialization of Biology, maybe? Birds, Mammals, Marine Life.... Pokemon?" Jimmy shrugs. He's got no idea, really, but it makes as much sense as anything else here.

"Atlantis was really good, yeah. But it got kind of mixed reactions on my end. Dug up a lot of bad memories, more than the place itself." The black tentacles from his transformation reminding him of the Leviathan true forms soured him a little on what would have otherwise been a lovely place.

Despite not being from a world with anything close to the internet, Strange's picked up bits and pieces of what the internet can actually do. After all, he signed onto the Carnival while they were in the middle of the Matrix and even in that midst of confusion, madness, and getting shot, he still remembers enough about the internet that he doesn't prod Jimmy for an explanation. However, Strange does look relatively confused for a moment before dots are connected and he gives Jimmy a little smile.

"I'll have to take your word on that—though, I've a feeling you're only slightly less confused about the matter as I am." He saw that shrug, after all. "I understand that the point of a carnival is to travel, but I can't help wishing we could stay in some of these places a bit longer."

"Yeah. Some parts make perfect sense, and then it all takes a hard left and I get completely lost." Pea being a perfect example. Dogs made out of rocks? He thought she'd bitten his ankle until he saw the stony ring around her neck that gave her the name.

"I... yeah. I wish we could stay longer. Here, especially. It seems... I don't know. Better here, if that makes any sense." Granted, Jimmy's got kind of a bias, but his home world isn't in that great of a shape when he left it, and considering who was trying to save it? He's trying, but not holding his breath.

"I know what you mean," Strange remarks, with a little nod. "I'd rather spend my year and a day somewhere here compared to somewhere like the Matrix."

After all, they've got to spend that year and the day of their contracts in the carnival to begin with. As much as he'd like to, Strange knows there's really no way he can weasel out of that, not without further souring things with the Ringmaster.

Jimmy shudders at the mention of the Matrix. He'd only caught the end of it and seeing that one person get.... Moving on. It's not going to end well if he follows that train of thought.

"I've got a camera, tons of photos and Pea, here." Having caught the accursed feather, she goes trotting back to Jimmy and sits up in front of him, very proud of her 'kill'. "So it won't be completely left behind.." He kneels down to lavish attention on Pea for being such a mighty hunter. "... But I'll miss it."

Strange can't help but grin as Pea parades over with the feather. He bends down as well and, if the dog decides to alternate between him and Jimmy, she'll get scratches and pets from Strange as well.

This is going to be the most spoiled dog in the history of creation.

"I suppose this just means we'll have to hope that the next realm we visit is equally uneventful! Or, perhaps it can be eventful but in a way that doesn't involve vampires or chaos."

Pea is most welcoming of all the love, and flops over for belly rubs. She will absolutely be spoiled and will love every minute of it.

"Vampires? Hopefully not. This place attracts chaos like an open pop attracts bees. And while variety is the spice of life, yeah. A nice, quiet next stop would be nice." He grins ruefully, given that it's unlikely they're going to get two in a row. "But it was nice to have this one."

"All the better for us to remember when the next chaos happens." It's said in a serious tone of voice, but with a small smile. Strange can picture it now. Oh yes, performing in this war-torn realm was absolutely terrible, but remember Alola, that was nice. If the Ringmaster was smart, she'd use this place as leverage.

"D'you think it's random? The worlds that we keep hopping to? I don't think it is. Not entirely, anyway. You've got the intensity of Celebration and the fallout on top of that, and then we end up here next." Jimmy frowns down at Pea, as he gives in to her demands for belly rubs.

"I'm wondering what she's got in mind if it isn't?" Pea wriggles around, blissfully ignorant of any grander schemes.

"I was about to say, I've a feeling Alola was a deliberate choice. Half the carnival would have committed mutiny if we went somewhere remotely dangerous after that vampire debacle!"

And, for all the danger inherent in a world that runs on dogfights (magic animal fights?), Alola is...oddly sedate. Even those Team Skull imbeciles that Strange heard people talking about seemed more like a nuisance than an actual threat. It's odd. Things are going fairly smoothly, which is nice but is also far too confusing considering the past few months.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how well a mutiny would go, given the Ringmaster, but that much stress is terrible for you for that long." And would have ugly, ugly consequences across the board for the staff. Jimmy doesn't know if there actually is an early out clause, but he has a feeling that lots of people would try finding it.

"This was a good choice, though. For a breather." Jimmy scoops Pea up and changes up the belly rubs for ear scritches. "And the Carnival should be a bit livelier, since I don't think I'm the only one that ended up with a Pokemon."

"I hope all of them are as small as yours is," he remarks, with a little frown. "Some of these Pokemon are huge--it would be a bit ridiculous if everyone ended up with one of the ones that are twelve feet tall."

Or one of the ones that are even taller than that. Strange still remembers his mishap earlier with Alolan Exeggutor. If multiple people bring back something that's thirty-five foot tall and angry...well, there wouldn't be much Carnival left to travel, would there.

"Depends on who got what. And even if they were twelve feet tall, carnivorous, and covered in giant, angry spikes, there's a decent chance that the Ringmaster would think it was cute and want to keep it." Jimmy shrugs, there's no predicting peoples' tastes, and that goes double for a powerful fae like RM.

"I don't think Pea's going to get that big. Even when she evolves, her next form won't be bigger than about three feet tall." Give or take. Jimmy's feet to meters conversion is a little rusty.

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⇨ ALOLA

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