OCTOBER EVENT PT1

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→ EVACUATION STUFF

(click to expand- aka getting people out of here)

The water level keeps rising, the storm refusing to abate even after two months of non-stop rain and circulating whispers of an even greater danger: an erupting volcano, threats of subsequent tsunamis, and Toran right there in the blast zone. There has already been one casualty. Jiro, after going missing for a week and a half, was found washed up on the beach. Probably drowned, they say in regards to his cause of death and never investigated further, not realizing that the band of tattooed fire around his neck has disappeared. While there is a very real possibility the island will become inhabitable very quickly and very soon, many townspeople are worried about leaving, with the storm swelling in response to anybody leaving the island in the past and if evacuation tips the situation over the edge... well... at this point, though, there's little other choice. Homes and other buildings get boarded up over the days counting down to the end of the month, berry trees get chopped down to construct as many boats as possible, all the Pokemon in the Daycare get returned to their balls and loaded into crates. The Pokemon Center becomes a shelter for those unable or unwilling to leave while the rest head out, the first of the boats pushing off the north shore at dawn.

With boats carrying six people each, families towards the center of the group and trainers with strong water Pokemon flanking them on all sides for protection, the evacuees steer northeast, veering out of the projected path of the volcanic activity in the northwest, with towering waves, jagged reefs, and whirlpools every several dozen feet dictating travel. Even with their own Mudkip, trainers who try to leave on their own will find it too difficult to cross the sea, with too many whirlpools for one little Mudkip to handle on their own and the storm forcing them to turn back around. It takes a group effort to carve a safe path away from the island, especially when thunder starts to rumble overhead, storm clouds so thick the sky becomes black as night.

The roar is almost deafening, encompassing and full of rage. Boats lurch to the side, caught in whirlpools that threaten to suck them under until the Mudkips in the group are able to reverse the whirlpool and calm the water, other water Pokemon pressing up against the boats to keep them upright as ten-foot waves crash down over people's heads, torrential rain unrelenting and there is no escape from the lightning that flashes across the sky. Trainers with electric Pokemon use them as lightning rods to redirect the lightning away from the others, and other Trainers direct their Pokemon as best they can to block the lightning as the ships cross the sea. Nanami's Marshtomp leads the group, clearing the path and searching desperately for any sign of land on the other side, while Minato's Yamask zips from boat to boat, using Protect to shield them from the lightning, but there is no end in sight.

In that moment, the sky turns white. There is light, there is silence, and the rain snuffs out all at once. Those who think to turn around might see Minato on his feet at the very rear of the group, two shimmering figures fading away into the sunlight behind him just as he topples backwards into the water. For everybody else, their attention is drawn by the deafening screeching that pierces the air, black clouds parting to reveal blue sky and a shining sun for the first time in two months. With the parting of the clouds and the subsequent silence, they hear a muffled boom out in the far distance, a spew of fire, and a plume of black smoke. There's your volcano, and here is the swell of the ocean that pitches the boats forward, driving them east.

→ FOR THOSE WHO ARE STAYING

(click to expand - have fun drowning)

The flash of white is noticeable even from the island, the first warning before the clouds part of their heads and the rain comes to a stop. Without the veil of rain constantly blurring their vision, the people who remain can clearly see the tsunami heading their way, waves upon waves dipping and rearing their heads as they slam into the coast and out across the island. A foot- two, ten- the water level rises too quickly for anybody to run, even the lake rising and spilling out as those in multi-story buildings try to make it to the highest floor possible. Drifloons float out and try to grab onto stragglers and drag them to safety, but they're too light and weak and all they can do is inflate themselves as much as they can and be buoys for those stranded to cling to for dear life. From the lake, the Gyarados takes advantage of the overflow and urges its Magikarp towards the north side of the island along with it— and stops in surprise when it spots Akira. Why did this human not ditch the first chance he got? This is not his home, there is nothing important for him to protect here...

The Gyarados turns to stare out at sea. And with its eyes glowing red, the wind starts to pick up, a Hurricane building and whipping the air all around the Gyarados as it faces the tsunami and roars, parting the waves to either side of the island before they can reach the shore. Two little Magikarps splash next to the Gyarados in encouragement, and for the next hour, Gyarados weathers the tsunami until the sea calms down, and the world is quiet and still once more. It looks back at Akira, at the friends who stayed behind with him, and approaches him for the first time. If he wishes, the Gyarados will allow him on its back and it will carry him and company across the sea to join his friends in the northeast; if he does not, the Gyarados and its family slips into the water and disappears.

Either way, maybe we'll meet again someday.

→ FOR THOSE WHO ARE LEAVING

(click to expand - have fun camping)

Eventually, the boats bump against the soft sand of a sunny shore. It's warm, the air strangely dry, but welcome compared to the constantly rainy Toran. Not far from the coast is a grove of wild berry trees, overgrown with fruit that a herd of Girafarig and Stantler surround, pausing in their grazing as they watch the soggy mess of evacuees drag themselves onto shore, a little Yamask flitting around from person to person trying to find her blue-haired boy. A small group of water type trainers offer to take the boats back to Toran and make a second evacuation now that they know the path and the storm has quelled- for the time being, anyways, and ask around to borrow or trade for the Mudkips who are able to temporarily reverse the whirlpools. Everybody else is encouraged to find the closest town, and call for shelter and for help.

The forest before them is thick with trees, so dense that the sun everybody's sorely missed is barely visible past the canopy, forcing the group to stay packed together as they search for a path through the forest. Nothing stops the brave or the foolish from peeling off from the group and trying to find their own way, but the children are quick to warn anybody who will listen that following flickering lights in the forest is a bad idea. There is constant rustling in the forest, swift movement out of the corner of your eyes, the feeling that somebody is watching you. It is very dark, very crowded, and like the sea, it is vast and endless. For several nights, the group is forced to camp, taking turns keeping watch and heading out at the first sign of sunlight, but here and there they come across trainers in the woods, surprised to see so many people at once but always willing to spare what little food they have and to point them towards the closest route to town.

Five days after leaving Toran, the evacuees stumble out of the forest and stand before Mango city. While the forest borders half the city, the other sides are wide open plains, fields and pastures as far as the eye can see, all full of grazing Pokemon and flocks of flying types circling the skies. Continuing north, one would find themselves facing the sea; to the east, the forest and eventually the sea once more; and to the west past the endless plains, a severe sandstorm rages that makes further progress impossible.

The city itself is much larger than Toran, with steel and concrete buildings that feel almost out of place amongst all the wilderness surrounding it on all sides. But the people are welcoming, the Pokemon Center accommodating both Pokemon and trainers with plenty of space to rest after a harrowing journey. Many families offer their own homes for refugees to stay in, while others pool together money and volunteers to head to Toran for relief measures in the aftermath, and local children take any stranger's hand to show them around the city.

The pride and joy of the city is............. the boba shop!!!! The specialty flavor for this shop is Miltank milk tea, a classic. Make sure to stop by the shop and get your card stamped with the green Butterfree, unique to this city's shop. The city also features its own contest hall and Pokemon Gym, with its gym leader specializing in Steel Pokemon; a museum filled with skeletons and fossils of ancient Pokemon; an art gallery featuring both prominent and local artists, with a special event every Wednesday where artists offer to draw portraits of visitor's Pokemon; and a bug catching contest hosted every Sunday that awards trainers for catching the largest or heaviest bug Pokemon within a two-hour window. Everybody arrived just in time to see the Vivillon migration, where all twenty different types can be seen fluttering across the sky, meeting together over this city for several weeks before scattering all across the globe before winter. Two towers pierce the sky right in the middle of the city: one a cemetery and one a radio tower, positioned right next to each other and the buildings almost seem to be humming the closer you approach their doors. There are also multiple barbeque restaurants in the city, grilling up Miltank and Bouffalant and Tauros, you're welcome, Cliff. Still, the boba shop is where several of Toran's children still insist on going, latching onto Joonghyuk and Sagi who promised them a three-tiered cake with sprinkles and a magic show and a party!!! We escaped the island. A town might be wiped out because we veered away from the volcano, and Toran is half-drowned and will take several weeks to drain and return to normal, but never mind that. Party.

It's warm, it's dry, there is always a faint static in the air and there has been no phone or radio signal for the past two months. Enjoy your respite.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Congrats on surviving September! October will be a no-plot month, so please take the chance to be good to your characters and build up that cr, but there will still be opportunities for investigation!
⬥ Minato will be presumed missing until after Ori's murdergame is over, and cannot be found at sea. The Gyarados and the Magikarp also cannot be found, but may return at a later date. Toran will dry out and return to normal towards the middle of the month, but characters can freely travel between Toran and Mango by catching a ride with one of the sailors whenever they like.
⬥ For those who wish to trade their Mudkips with one of the sailors, please comment to the questions toplevel for your rng options. Traded Pokemon tend to grow stronger quickly, but they might not always listen to their new trainer! Traded Pokemon are allowed to gain 15 levels per month rather than the usual 10.
⬥ Please comment to the appropriate toplevel on the Pokemon info page for challenging the gym or participating in the contest hall.
⬥ Please comment to the bug-catching contest toplevel by October 10 if your character would participate. We will rng three winners, one for each Sunday of the month, and reply with your prize. Characters may choose to either keep or release their bug Pokemon at the end of the contest.
⬥ As a reminder, the Halloween event log will be posted on October 15!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I - babysitting

[ Today is sort of a hectic day. His Nincada turned human for some odd reason and the only reason why Hien can tell is because he's familiar with pokemon gijinkas. Thankfully, they come with clothes. This little kid looks to be about ten years old and comes with a beige oversized hoodie jacket with a hood over his head with a green stripe. His hair is short, dark brown, and has black eyes. Not like you'd be able to see it because Hien's Nincada has an awful habit of clinging onto Hien's chest when it's daytime due to how bright everything is. So now there's this kid that's latching onto his chest like a koala... this might have been easier if he had something like a baby carrier.

It's not the only kid he has with him though, if your character has seen Hien's true face before, they'd be surprised to see that this kid looks extremely similar, with black hair and equally dark eyes. Guess the weird eye designs didn't carry over.

The masked man rumor has been mostly dispelled in the city due to Hien clearing it up with the police and spreading another rumor... something like "no bulli people with masks. they're sensitive about how their faces look because they had a horrible burn. you wouldn't like that either if someone made fun of you for that, would you?". So that's why Hien is out in broad daylight, sitting on a bench with the Nincada kid latching onto him, burying his face into his shoulder, and another kid that's calling Hien his dad. If he knows you and you're passing by, he'll be staring at you as if pleading, but that doesn't exactly carry over when he has a mask over his face, huh.

The kid that's supposed to resemble Hien looks like he's attempting to do some kind of tapdancing.

Help. ]

II - i'm tired of seeing me everywhere, feat. joonghyuk

[ Do you know Joonghyuk Yoo? That buff, tall, handsome guy with a stoic face with too many scars on his hands who occasionally looks murderous? Well, today he looks a little happier while dressed in more modern casual clothes, playing with an Eevee. This particular Eevee is also playing around with a knife, but if anyone actually knows Minji, this Eevee is a lot clumsier with a knife than her. It looks like it's trying to carve a tree with it...

Sometimes it just thinks making shallow cuts on ankles is fun. Maybe you're the next unfortunate victim. ]

wildcard

[ Hien is here for more CR buildup before everything goes to hell. Hit me up. ]

[Sagi is just passing by across the street, on the way out of town to get his Pokemon some exercise. He doesn't recognise the masked man on the bench - too short to be Hythlodaeus, or else he'd take the long way around - and the kids' antics only get a small, nostalgic smile from him.

The colourful, vaguely bird-shaped alien creature bobbing along in mid-air behind him is another story. The moment it notices Hien, it stops short. Then it flaps over in a fit of excitement, screeching loudly and joyfully for the whole street to overhear. Hello, headpat man! It hopes you liked the letter you got the other day!

Its screaming is what gets Sagi to hurry over to the man after all. When he catches up with the Sigilyph, he bops it lightly on its central core with a fist.]

Knock it off, you! [And to the man:] I'm really sorry! He's loud, but he doesn't mean anything by it.

[People nearby are already staring because of the racket; he hopes this guy doesn't get annoyed enough to make it a full-blown scene. He's been on the receiving end of certain rumours himself...]

[ Hien is absolutely startled when he sees Sigilyph screeching over to him, the Nincada kid screams and clings onto Hien tighter, and the little kid who looks like Hien immediately stops dancing and shrieks. It's a cacophony of screaming and Hien feels like he has a migraine. ]

It's okay, it's okay...

[ Hien's voice sounds surprisingly normal--probably because he's with a normie kid. He sounds like an average adult male in his early twenties, using a gentle voice while patting Nincada kid's back softly and hugging the other kid too. Now it's like he has two Nincadas latching onto him. Help. ]

It's alright. I'm sure he must have been excited for some reason... hm?

[ That's when Hien realizes--it's the Sigilyph that delivered him a letter. He smiles a little under his mask. If this is the same pokemon, then... huh. He looks over at Sagi. He's definitely not the average person for sure with those wings and all. ]

... Is your name "Sagi", by any chance?

Huh?! [Sagi blanches, which probably answers the question for him. Is this guy another of the people who think he was sending inappropriate things by Pidgey mail? Did they find out his name? Has he told his kids that, too?

No, it would be wrong to make assumptions. Even though Sagi unwittingly already is, since he figures the mask is just one of those accessories for covering up burn scars like he's been hearing about.]

I mean... yes. Um, have we met?

[His Sigilyph, calmed for just a moment by the light headbonk, promptly starts shrieking again. It flutters closer to Hien's front, attempting to squeeze in beside the kids. Hug pile! Headpats!]

Cut it out! [Sagi's best attempts at being polite shift right back to exasperation without skipping a beat.] Look, you're making them cry.

[Again, the Sigilyph shuts up. It still wants to nuzzle, though.]

[ In all of the many, many years of Hien's life, he has never had this many... people? Things? Cling onto him like this for comfort. He's actually feels a bit overwhelmed, but he does his best to squash that feeling and gives good headpats to Sigilyph too. The patting direction is very nice, with how he moves his fingers as they slide on top of their heads every time. Shhh. Be comforted, big one and little ones. He suddenly wishes he had more hands, but the normal kid looks fine without one. ]

Relax... no more screaming. No more crying. Everything is going to be okay.

[ He'll continue the headpats while looking up at Sagi. ]

Not exactly... My name is Hien. I sent letters to you before from Toran.

...Oh! [Sagi brightens up very quickly. Regardless of his other faults in the braincell department, he remembers names. Nobody likes it when you forget who they are.] Hien. So you and your friend made it here safe.

[Not that he sees said "friend" anywhere, unless it's one of the kids, but that's normal.]

Nice to meet you for real. Your advice helped a lot.

It's nice to meet you too.

[ At least Hien sounds pretty friendly under the mask. ]

I'm glad to see you've been doing well.

[ Yeah, let's not talk about the "friend". The kid stops crying and looks up at Sagi. "Is he your friend, Daddy?"

As much as he really wants to deny that he's the kid's father, he just nods. ]

Wipe your tears and go say hi.

[ And he does. On Hien's cloak. He toddles over to Sagi after that. He looks a bit shy, but smiles at Sagi anyway. The Nincada kid stays still with his face buried into Hien's shoulder.

"Hi! I'm Duri... how did you and dad meet?" ]

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→ FOR THOSE WHO ARE LEAVING

→ MOD NOTES

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II for shenanigans

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