lostcarnival | ⇨ 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

No surprise there... [Rita was pretty close to throwing a punch through one of those mirrors, herself.]

To put it simply, I study magic and magic technology.

[ Well, that only makes this even more interesting. ]

Another magician, then. Interesting. [ Rita doesn't really fit his usual idea of a magician, but he's found that's rarely applicable within the carnival anyhow. ] So have you been shuffled into the performances as well or did you get away with some other job?

I'm doing lighting and special effects. Seems easy. [Rita shrugs. She's glad she doesn't have to make a fool of herself on stage. Doing simple backstage work should be something she can deal with for a year.]

Wait... "another"?

Lighting and effects? [ Seems a waste, but... well, he has no idea what her magic looks like, anyhow. ] I suppose magic could be used for that. Though, yes, another. Mr. Strange and I are both magicians from the same England and we have another who's some sort of musical mage.

Magicians, huh... [Her eyes immediately light up with interest. Rita thought this guy was just some weird old man, but it looks like he might know some valuable things.] What sort of magic do you use?

English magic, for the most part, though I have been trying to study Faerie magic since coming into the carnival.

[ He's also far from as impressive as other magic users here, but such is life. It doesn't particularly bother him nor does it stop him from learning about other magic. ]

I suppose we had the same idea, then. [Studying fae magic is certainly among Rita's top priorities here. Of course, there may also be other systems of magic that could prove useful to her...]

Never heard of 'English magic' before. Think you can elaborate?

Something you'll find you have in common with most of the magicians who pass through here. [ But what is English magic... Well. ] And English magic is simply that, that magic of England. The Raven King brought it to my homeland hundreds of years ago.

[ There's more to it than that, but magicians do like to keep their secrets. ]

Most of it did fade out after he left again, however, though there are some Englishmen who still have a knack for it. Mostly figure it out through books, these days.

[At the words 'Raven King', Rita finds herself staring at the dark feathers adorning the man's arms and face. That weird title could almost be his stage name, or something. It'd fit well enough.

But without knowing the first thing about England, well... as far as she knows, it could be a whole country of people with freaky bird features. Something to look into later, maybe.]

So it's accessible to those who have the right information and can understand it? Or do people need any sort of natural talent for it?

[ There would be a fifty percent chance of him being flattered by the idea and another fifty percent chance of him being offended by it. Thankfully, Rita keeps that thought to herself, so it doesn't come up. To her actual questions, however, he can only shrug. ]

Up for debate, I think. While I would say it must take at least some talent for it to actually use the information practically, the other English magician here, Mr. Strange, likes to claim anyone can learn it.

[A 'Mr. Strange', huh... Rita will have to remember that.]

Hmm. [She looks intrigued.] I'd like to try it myself, if I can get my hands on the required reading. I don't suppose you brought any books like that to the carnival?

Unfortunately, no. [ Childermass has to admit that a tiny bit sourly, face twisting in a grimace just thinking about it. ] One magician, in particular, made a point to hoard all the books for himself. They're all still with him. There may be a time I can ask the Ringmaster whether she might be able to get her hands on a few but until then...

[ Well, until then, he shrugs. ]

Seriously? Hmph... sounds like a pain. [One person hoarding all the magic books? Rita can think of a few possible motives for something like that... though the cynic in her can't help but gravitate towards the worst of the possibilities.]

... She takes requests? [Come to think of it, Rita doesn't know much about the Ringmaster and how she runs the place on a day-to-day basis.]

A huge pain. [ Yeah, he agrees. He could probably go on and explain the reasoning for it, but he doesn't even agree with it, so he won't. ] Though yes, it sounds like she might, depending on what it is. If not her, then the acquisitioner. It's his job to get whatever the carnival might need, after all.

[ Whether 'books on English magic' falls under something anyone even needs, well, he'll have to ask someday. ]

Acquisitioner? Sounds useful. [Rita's yet to familiarize herself with anything in the carnival beyond what's needed to do her job. This is the first she's heard of someone like that.] I'll have to look into that, myself...

Anyway, I've got stuff to do, so I'm leaving. [The Growlithe gets another wary look from her. It's not going to start chasing once she turns her back, is it?] I guess I'll be seeing you around, so... I might as well mention. My name's Rita Mordio.

[ The Growlithe, noticing he's being looked at, looks right back, although he's far less wary and more like... wagging his tail and lolling his tongue out at her, as dogs do. That said, no, the dog remains seated by Childermass's feet. ]

Hopefully useful. He was missing up until very recently. [ So here's hoping he doesn't go missing again. Although with introductions, he'll offer her a slight nod of his head and answer in return, ] John Childermass. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around the carnival, Miss Mordio.

[ Yes, we. He's including the damn dog because he is most definitely planning on keeping it. ]

⇨ ALOLA

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