⇨ 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

[whattaprick]

"Doesn't count as a battle if their Pokemon isn't listening to them," Lambert says, which to his mind is a perfectly reasonable distinction to make.

"And it definitely doesn't count if there isn't anything to win." Of course he'd add that. In any case, he doesn't seem terribly invested in Childermass answering one way or another, turning his head to whistle sharply at his Mudbray, which has thankfully stopped with the bouncing and making the earth move under their feet. Pig doesn't immediately move, though, glancing between Lambert and the Growlithe. She'd wanted to play...

"She and that butterball of yours have the right idea."

[atouts]

The Growlithe's own frolicking about slows to stop when Pig is called away, the dog's ears drooping when she goes. He looks lost for a few seconds before simply deciding to go back to his own trainer, although he waits until he's right next to both Childermass and Lambert to finally take a moment and shake the mud off.

Naturally, mud goes flying from his fluffy ruff of fur.

"Playing isn't the same as—" He stops when splattered with mud, turning to frown disapprovingly down at the Growlithe. He just barks back happily at him. Of course. The magician shakes his head and turns his attention back to Lambert. He almost carries on with disagreeing, but he stops, thinking, then instead says, "Fine. If you're really that curious, wager the dagger I gave you and I'll agree to a fight."

TIMESKIPPING ACROSS THE HORIZON

[whattaprick]

Mud goes flying onto Lambert as well, but he doesn't seem that bothered about it -- if only because Pig has ruined infinitely more sets of clothing as it is (and in fact, he probably already had mud on his clothes before Childermass ever showed up).

"All right." He doesn't really care about the dagger either way, except that if Childermass is sore about him keeping it, it's all the more reason to hold on to it and annoy him. "But if I win..." He pauses, considering. "You're paying for a night's stay at that fancy resort."

Whether or not the magician agrees to those terms or bargains them down, then the more practical matter that needs to be addressed becomes where to fight -- there's too much potential for collateral damage where they are now, so eventually they find an empty field to battle in instead. There, Lambert gets to show off that he hasn't spent all his time horsing around with his weird donkey-pet and has actually invested in catching other Pokemon.

The Haunter that emerges cackling from its Pokeball makes short enough work of the bird Childermass sends out, only to be cut down by the Butterfree the magician calls on next -- probably because Lambert and Haunter spent so long laughing at it they never saw the beam coming. Lambert's next Pokemon, a Scyther, barely listens to his commands but slices into the other bug with a speed and deadliness not unlike the witcher and his swords himself, only to faint when the Growlithe roasts him with flames as fierce as the Incineroar's.

Pig wins the day by knocking the Growlithe off its paws and simply burying him in mud. By the time the pup staggers, unable to rise again, Lambert's sweaty with exertion (his Pokemon really don't care where their trainer is in the course of their fights, and there were a few near-misses there) but he's laughing, elated by the thrill of competition.

"Now how's that for a battle?"

[atouts]

Childermass is less thrilled, considering he's the one who lost. He's also hardly sweating at all, at least when compared to Lambert. His own team may have lost in the end, but even they knew better than to aim at their trainer. All the more annoying to lose to someone like the witcher and his lot, but—

"Not bad," he gives him that much, "Though I wondered if your Pokemon might have been aiming for you instead of my own."

If there's any distress over the Growlithe, at the very least, laying out cold on the ground, he sure doesn't show it. No, he just looks at the dog, frowns briefly, then recalls him to his Pokeball. It's just how things are here, so he can't see much point in being bothered by it. That done, he does have to admit defeat officially, at least by way of unenthusiastically adding when he looks up again, "One night at the resort. Try not to drag it out too long."

[whattaprick]

"Oh no," Lambert answers, predictably obnoxious. "You can bet I'm getting my money's worth out of this win. Come on, Pig." Pig glances up at her master inquisitively, and he shakes his head, letting her snap back into her Pokéball in a blaze of light.

Sauntering past Childermass with a flick of his tail, to start heading back to town and get their Pokémon healed and catch the next ferry, Lambert can't help adding: "Don't worry, I'll pay for the drinks."

His mirth, naturally, comes from the notion that Childermass would accept any drinks he paid for at all, considering their last debacle.