⇨ 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

five million yrs later day 81

[atouts]

[ He did it, he finally did it, he did the flood of chickens spell. Very secretly (well, maybe not that secretly, seeing how he's joked about Strange summoning chickens before and knew from the get-go the feather boa he took from wardrobe was likely nothing but chicken feathers), Childermass has been waiting for this. That he has the good luck to be in the currently empty stands, working through some of his own notes as he is like to do some days.

Does he offer to help? Oh no, definitely not. He only looks up from his own work to watch with the barest of smirks on his face as Strange tries to tell off the confused trainers. Besides that? What else he will do is nudge the dozing Growlithe in the seat next to him. ]

...Baker, look. [ And the orange dog does look up, blinking blurrily at what's clucking around on the floor of the massive tent. So many things to chase, so many, and that immediately connects with the waking dog's brain. He lifts his head with a jerk, then looks up at Childermass, so full of hope. ] Go on. Go get them.

[ That's all he needs. There he goes, leaping off the seat in a blur of orange, black, and white, and bounding down the steps towards the flock of big fat summoned chickens, barking the whole way down. ]

chickens for DAYS

[kingsroads]

[ Oh hell, it's Childermass's dog.

Strange, who had been desperately continuing to try and tell off the trainers, doesn't spot the dog until he's halfway down the steps, barking like the happiest dog in the history of creation. There are birds! He can chase the birds! And, because they're chickens made of magic and not actual chickens, they're really stupid birds. Baker is in doggy heaven and Strange is in magician hell. He desperately starts muttering spells under his breath and a few of the chickens start turning back into feathers. Unfortunately, he's got a fuckton of chickens hanging around the carnival floor and the easily distracted Strange is getting distracted by the dog and the birds and the fact that oh hell, Baker's caught one now, there are feathers everywhere. ]

Childermass! [ Strange yells, as the dog almost runs into him, far too happy to be chasing these birds, which are running around the big top like idiots. ] Control your dog!

[ Because obviously if Childermass's dog is here, then so is Childermass. Thankfully, this is far too much chaos for the trainers who've decided to leave this whole weird situation what with this weird guy and his weird birds. Unfortunately, that doesn't do anything to stop Baker, who's still romping around like he's in doggy heaven, or Strange, who's still having far too hard a time actually getting the damn spell out. ]

[atouts]

But Mr. Strange, he's only trying to help. [ That's what Childermass replies with, holding his hands up and shrugging as if it's all somehow out of his control now. ] You certainly look as though you need it.

[ Of course, he makes no moves to get up from where he is — leaning back in the seat with boots propped up on the row ahead of him, whatever he'd been writing settled against the back of a book in his lap — and lend a hand himself. Meanwhile, Baker really is in doggy heaven, snapping at the chickens and occasionally getting one, tossing it some, then chasing off after yet another. He doesn't do any actual damage to them, since he is, ultimately, a good dog, but he is giving the poor things something to panic about. ]

[kingsroads]

Any help I could use, the dog wouldn't be able to provide!

[ As it can't speak, can't do magic and, you know, is a dog. Strange finally pauses, with a grimace, clenching his eyes shut as the dog and the chickens and everything else just causes a bit of chaos around him. Through gritted teeth, he mutters the spell, trying his hardest to ignore the clucks of panic and woofs of happiness coming from the animals. Thankfully, this time he manages to actually get through the incantation.

And poof, there go the chickens, turned back into chicken feathers. Except for three or so of them who are still hanging around the big top, a bit confused as to where all the other chickens went. Likewise, Baker is also a bit confused, before he realizes hey, these three chickens still here can be chased around for a bit. Opening his eyes, Strange frowns at the fact that some chickens still exist...before deciding that a few is much more manageable than a flock, might as well let the dog run himself ragged. Maybe the animal would like him better that way. ]

They weren't supposed to be chickens, you know, [ he grumps as he turns away from the dog and chickens to walk closer to Childermass. ] I'll need to talk with someone to see if I can get actual feathers.

[atouts]

Sounds like you need the help of a magician, then, sir, in which case you are out of luck.

[ Okay, maybe he'll be a little petty here, just a little. Childermass doesn't say that in any particularly malicious way, as ever resorting to boring neutrality and a shrug to go along with it. Like, hey, he's just a guy with magic but not actually a magician, whatever can he do?

At least Baker is having a good time, so hey, there's that. He's still out there, chasing those last three chickens and yapping away as happily as ever. If he knew the chickens were made by Strange, then yeah, he might think better of him. Too bad he's only a dog. A very smart Pokemon dog, sure, but... well, try explaining magic to a dog. ]

Not sure where else you could get feathers, either. [ Says the man with a fuck ton of raven feathers literally growing out of him. ] Did you use those feathers off that boa you took?

[ He's still guessing yes, but for his own private amusement, confirmation would be nice. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange just gives Childermass a Look. He is being petty and it is really obvious.

And oh look, that pettiness is just continuing. As Childermass mentions that he doesn't know where he can get feathers, Strange just continues with that Look. Oh, of course, Childermass has no idea where to find feathers, never mind the fact that the man's turning into a bird himself. Of course, he's not going to bring that part up with Childermass because even Strange realizes that if he asks for one of Childermass's feathers, the answer will be a resounding no.

Strange continues walking up towards Childermass and takes a seat near the man, so he can watch over the dog and the chickens as well. He doubts anything will happen but if he's got to somehow suddenly vanish the chickens, best that they're still in eyesight. ]

I did. It's a boa, you think they'd use something a bit more classy than chicken feathers died yellow.

[ fun fact! Strange knows fuckall about boas! ]

[atouts]

[ No point in hiding the pettiness, Strange will just have to deal with it. ]

They're cheap and easy to replace. That will always be more important than using exotic feathers, especially for something as gaudy as a yellow feather boa. I'm not sure why you would ever expect otherwise.

[ And saying that, yeah, it wouldn't be hard to figure out he knew it from the get-go, what that boa was made of. In any case, he shrugs and lets his attention drift off of Strange to join him in watching Baker as he dashes around after the remaining chickens. He never quite catches up to these particular three, for now. Lucky them. ]

[kingsroads]

Wishful thinking, I suppose.

[ His train of thought literally went along the lines of 'well chickens aren't yellow', entirely forgetting that things like dyes existed in the first place. Thankfully, Strange has enough sense to keep that line of thought right to himself and change the conversation to something else entirely. ]

I can teach you the spell I used for the chickens. After all, your dog seems to be enjoying this.

[ and Childermass is now a dog dad for some goddamn reason. ]

[atouts]

[ That jerks his gaze back away from the dog and the chickens, swinging it back around to Strange. For a few seconds, very, very few, he looks interested.

It's a tempting idea, a spell to create chickens out of nearly nothing, if only because a spell like that would undoubtedly drive Norrell up a wall just for existing. Unfortunately, the offer also brings back the memory of the same, far more distant conversation that's causing him to be so petty in the first place. Childermass has already turned down being a student once and this time— ]

Thank you, but no. I have already told you I make a very poor pupil and time has not changed that.

[ He stands by what he said before, all the way back in London. ]

[kingsroads]

What about not as teacher and pupil but as equals? After all, you are a magician as well.

[ Look, it doesn't take a genius to realize that's the point where Strange fucked up and carelessly said something he shouldn't. After all, Childermass practically told him that much with his 'need a fellow magician' remark when Strange was battling the chickens.

It's a very tentative and slightly wary question, partly because Strange does not want to dig this stupid 'not a magician' hole even further than he's already dug it and partly because he has no idea how Childermass would react to the suggestion of them studying magic as equals. Still, Strange is at least making an attempt at an apology, just in a roundabout way. ]

[atouts]

[ Tempting as it is to repeat something along the lines of how 'no, he's only someone else who happens to know magic', even he knows that's unfair. He has no actual idea what he told Lambert for the witcher to point it out over the radio before. Still, equals is... laughable.

Mind, he won't actually laugh. It's more a tired look he gives the man since Strange has used that line before and he had been thankful for it that time, that one of the two magicians would actually acknowledge it. It's a little different this time. ]

So you say, again. [ He's just as wary and unwilling to answer the other magician's question until one of his own is answered. ] But do you actually believe that to be true?

[kingsroads]

I don't know, [ Strange has to admit, with a sigh. It's obvious that all of this is aggravating him a bit. This world is wonderful, mysterious, strange, and downright drives him to yank his hair out in annoyance at certain points. ]

I still keep thinking of this realm as England even though it obviously isn't. Likewise, I keep thinking of anyone who uses magic as our sort of magician, even though they aren't. There's plenty here who are just as skilled as I am in certain things that aren't English magic. Logically, they should be magicians even though my skin still crawls at that idea.

[ Lambert's witcher magic. Carly's demon magic. Ash's music magic. Of course Strange is arrogant enough to think that he certainly knows more about magic as a whole than any of them do, but that doesn't change the fact that they're each adept at their own brand of magic. The three of them know nothing of English magic, nothing of the history of the Raven King, nothing of what at least in Strange's mind interprets as the bare bones of English magic and yet they can still perform the spells. Does that make them magicians? Or simply magic users? And does it even matter to begin with?

Strange is lost in thought for a moment or two, lost in his own mind before he responds, with a more thoughtful look of his own, compared to Childermass's tired look. ]

What I know for a fact is that you and I both can use magic. And, perhaps more importantly, we want to use magic. [ Hopefully. Childermass isn't as showy and as flashy as Strange is with regards to his magic, but the man still enjoys using it, doesn't he? ] I suppose that makes us magicians enough.

[atouts]

Sounds to me, [ Childermass begins after a moment of silence, even if only a brief one, ] That you need to accept not all magic will be English magic. Even Merlin existed before the Raven King.

[ And as loyal as he is to John Uskglass, well, even he won't ignore history. Mind, it could be Merlin never existed in the first place, but there are enough stories of magic in the days before. One can't believe magic begins and ends with the Raven King, even if it's the Raven King's arrangements they depend heavily upon now. Not that he can tell Strange any of that, of course, which is unfortunate.

No doubt he'd be beside himself with glee at a first-hand telling of magic returning to the country en masse. ]

And that not all English magicians will be like you or even Mr. Norrell. [ As the quiet, shadowy man is definitely unlike them both in many ways. ] Bit arrogant to think they will be, isn't it? Seeing how you like to claim that anyone might learn magic.

[kingsroads]

Anyone can learn magic, [ Strange buts in, with a little frown, partly because of Childermass saying he claims it when it's obviously true and partly because arrogant? Really? He's not arrogant in the slightest! ]

Especially here. Magic might slowly be returning to England but the carnival's brimming with magic. I've taken on a pupil of my own and things are progressing slowly but surely.

[ and then later he'll take on another pupil...and help Tamaki with his magic as well...and probably make a post about magic, somebody please remind Strange of things like 'he has other carnival duties that don't involve being a big magic nerd' and also 'you should probably sleep.' ]

[atouts]

[ Well, it's not like he can rightfully dispute it with 'the only reason you could is because you were literally part of a spell'. Besides that, he's yet to figure out if the sudden influx of new magicians was actually just anyone randomly picking it up or if there was more to it than that... Ultimately, undecided. ]

I— [ But hang on, forget debating the differences posed by types of magic in different locations, did he just say he's taken on a what now? Childermass sits up straighter in his seat rather abruptly. ] You've done what? Here?

[kingsroads]

Oh good Lord, [ Strange can't help but grumble, fairly certain that this is going to end with another round of Childermass telling him not to do something for some reason that probably involves the timeline, Strange pointing out that he can't know what not to do unless he knows about the timeline in the first place, blah blah blah. Honestly, the man can be far too repetitive at certain points.

He slouches in his seat like a child, fully expecting some sort of harangue from Childermass. ]

Someone wants to learn magic. I agreed to help teach them magic. It's as simple as that.

[atouts]

[ Far less to do with timelines for once, so that isn't what Childermass is going to bring up. Rare moment, it's true, so enjoy it (or don't) while it lasts. ]

And just what magic are you planning on teaching? English magic? The carnival's magic?

[ Strange, do you even know how to teach anything at all? Really? ]

[kingsroads]

[ No he does not have the slightest goddamn clue how to teach anything but let's be real, not knowing how to do something has never stopped Strange before. ]

Probably English magic as it's what I'm familiar with the most. Likewise, we're starting off with scrying and I haven't found a carnival substitute for that.

[ good ol'water & basin, it gets the job done. ]

[atouts]

[ Not knowing has never stopped him and being scolded has certainly never stopped him, either. Childermass sighs and reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose, briefly looking away to make sure where Baker is. Still rushing around, barking at the last three chickens. ]

Of course, that's what you would begin with. [ Great. More people spying on him. Looking back, he continues, ] I know I cannot convince you otherwise, but you must realize you don't have the books to start them out on this. Not everyone can do what you can, just making it up as they go.

[ No other magician has that amount of raw power, a student new to magic especially. ]

[kingsroads]

I know that much. But as we become more fae over time, as our bodies adapt and change with this place, shouldn't people's magical sensibilities?

[ The carnival is brimming with magic, after all. The Ringmaster, some of the supervisors, there's so much magic and people who can use magic, with all this magic floating around, it should be simple for someone to learn magic themselves even if they're not from a magical world (or so Strange thinks). ]

[atouts]

[ He is mildly uncomfortable with the notion that he's 'becoming more fae', but he also won't address it. It's supposedly temporary, something that will fade once he returns to England. It does make him purse his lips into a thin line, though not quite a frown, however. ]

Yes, but that would be related to faerie magic. I have found it to be somewhat different than English magic. [ Somewhat. He still can't really say 'hey, it's all from the same source anyway'. Even so, it's still different enough, how mankind taps into it. ] If you try teaching them the same way Norrell taught you, they are like to find all the theories only a little help in the long run.

[kingsroads]

[ And Strange just scrunches up his nose at that because ew, teaching people the same way that Norrell taught him? Why would you even suggest that in the first place, Childermass? There's still a bit of petty nonsense between the two men, after all. ]

I'd like to think I'd be a better teacher than Norrell—or at least, a different one. I wouldn't keep any information off limits, nor would I deliberately withhold anything from my students.

[ like the precise nature of how faeries are dicks. ]

[atouts]

[ Probably to get that exact reaction, to be quite honest, though it also confirms just how — more or less — he plans on trying to be a teacher. To that, however, Childermass does raise an eyebrow. ]

Even if they ask about black magic? About raising the dead?

[ you sure you wanna tell them about anything they want to know there, pal ]

[kingsroads]

If my pupils are half as determined as I am, they'll end up trying that magic themselves. [ It's stated in a matter of fact tone...though there's just a hint of resignation in Strange's voice. He's not entirely proud of the whole 'blood magic in the peninsula' thing but really, it's the least of his dubious decisions that he's made recently. ]

The least I can do is try to dissuade them from black magic by telling them of what happened when I cast the spell.

[atouts]

[ Childermass breathes out a sigh, because what else can he do? Stepping in and trying to stop Jonathan Strange would only encourage him to try harder, no matter what the danger, if only to spite him or for some sense of triumph. At least, it seemed that way between Strange and Norrell half the time and he's not intent on being dragged into that kind of battle.

Giving a shake of his head, he lets his attention wander, yet again, to watch the dog with the chickens. He should probably go and collect the ridiculous beast soon... ]

Very well. Do as you wish. [ Like he wouldn't anyway. ] But I think I will continue my own pursuits on my own.

[ Which just brings them back to the previous conversation, about learning from one another as fellow magicians. ]