OCTOBER EVENT PT2

[teamboba]

(toplevel view)

OCTOBER EVENT PT2

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ THE BEGINNING

(click to expand - happy early Halloween)

It's on the evening of October 28th when everything quickly descends into madness.

It begins with faint static in the air, gradually becoming louder and louder until it's impossible to ignore, the pattern of cries that was once hidden now audible to everybody as it grows and grows until it culminates in an explosion. The walls of the local bookstore burst outwards, a rampaging Hydreigon within unleashing Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam without any rest in between. Its trainer, an old man, hobbles up to it in a panic in order to ask what's wrong, but the Pokemon knocks him to the ground, ignoring him and continuing to destroy everything in its path while its trainer lies motionless on the ground, blood pouring from his head.

Further down the street, another eruption shakes the city, a group of Galarian Rapidashes slamming themselves against walls and windows until they break through, careening and crashing through buildings with wild abandon. Occupants inside a cafe scream as they attempt to flee, crushed under rubble and trampled by merciless hooves. From the sky, Murkrows and Natus swoop down on residents on the streets, long talons outstretched to claw at any exposed skin and pluck out any staring eyes. All around the city, Pokeballs burst open on their own and the Pokemon rush madly at human and Pokemon alike, disregarding orders or pleads from their trainers and attacking anything within sight in a wild frenzy.

Fires blaze across the city as children wail and adults scream. All the while, the pattern of cries continues...

→ THE RAMPAGE

(click to expand - you're in for a bad time)

Throughout the night, dark, ghost, and psychic-type Pokemon rampage throughout Mango City. Wild Pokemon appear from the outskirts of town and attack anyone and anything on sight, while companion Pokemon force themselves out of their balls and turn upon their trainers. No other types seem to be affected, the other Pokemon just as confused and distraught as the humans as they're forced to run from, defend against, and fight the Pokemon they were once allied with.

While many of the mad Pokemon physically assault those around them, other use innate abilities to wreak havoc. Musharnas emit a dark mist that engulfs entire beings and brings their fears to reality, forcing all those within the fog to face the same delusions. At the same time, Shedinjas steal souls away in their shells and keep them captive in a shared endless nightmare of their worst experiences relived. Similarly, Beheeyems cause those nearby to reexperience their most feared and hated moments, erasing all memory after that moment in order to trap their victims in that vulnerable mindset of the past. Meanwhile, Zoroarks trap their targets within grand illusions that force them to undergo a series of deaths over and over again, causing them excruciating pain and suffering while their physical bodies continue to live. Haunters phase in and out of walls to surprise and lick their victims, sapping years off their life and causing a frigid shivering that won't stop until they wither away, and Gengars loom in the shadows, sapping heat away from its surroundings and causing the small and the weak to slowly freeze to death. Umbreons spray poisonous sweat all over the street, causing people to choke and convulse if they stay too long near the toxic areas, and Cofagriguses drag humans into their coffins and wrap them up as mummies, bound so tightly nobody can hear them scream. No amount of pleading nor bargaining will cause any of them to stop; the only option left is to defeat them in battle, either by killing them or knocking them out.

It'd be kinder to do the latter, but in the heat of the moment, it's difficult to hold back. It's desperate times, after all, as the city streets soon begin to fill with the cold and still bodies of both Pokemon and humans.

→ HELP...?

(click to expand - is anyone even sane enough left to help)

At the outskirts of town bordering the forest, herds of Stantler lead the unaffected and helpless deeper into the forest into an area where the trees are so densely packed that even the shine of the moon can't break through. The only source of light are the small Litwicks that scurry towards the humans, smiling and holding out their little hands. Follow them. They'll keep you safe(?).

Perhaps it's time to abandon the city, where the fires continue to grow and rage throughout the streets, threatening to engulf entire neighborhood blocks. The hospital and Pokemon Center get repurposed to disaster zones as the doctors and nurses struggle to treat their patients while fending off rampaging Pokemon at the same time. Mari's large Steelixes wrap themselves around the buildings to become iron walls keeping the wild Pokemon out, but even their great defense struggles against the never ending attacks.

In the midst of the ongoing disaster, the radio tower remains undamaged and completely abandoned, untouched by the rampaging Pokemon outside. The receptionist has fled long ago, leaving the front doors open but the door to the stairs and the elevator up remaining locked. The tower stands empty and silent, completely free of the static and pattern of cries playing outside, the one place of reprieve from the hell that has descended upon Mango City.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Welcome to the Halloween event! Due to the nature of the prompts, please properly warn for any potentially disturbing content in your threads/tags for all players.
⬥ This event is forward dated to the evening and night of the 28th and may last past the 28th if no proper IC measures are taken to stop the rampaging Pokemon. The OOC deadline to solve and fix the disaster will be October 29.
⬥ Please comment to the mod question & investigation thread to report any actions that characters may take to stop the events of the log.
⬥ Have fun! :)

Comments

B

[nyom]

[ Dealing with Drifloons, part 2! Efi sees those balloons trying to strangle Atsushi and that's definitely not good. She can only hope that she makes it in time as she throws her pokeball forward in their direction. ]

Kip, make it rain rocks!

[ And so it does. The Marshtomp uses Rock Slide on the Drifloons, in hopes of making them faint. Knocking pokemon out seems to be the best strategy for now, and Marshtomp takes good care of not letting the rocks hit Atsushi on accident. ]

[thetyger]

[Luckily, the Drifloons are weak, because Atsushi has never really battled and they remain very low level. Their arms loosen and uncoil, and they float to ground. That was easy, and he feels really stupid that he almost died that way.]

Um, thank you, Efi.

[He looks down at the sad little deflated balloon Pokemon. They used to be so happy. He feels bad for them, even though he doesn't like them.]

Are you okay?

[She hasn't been hurt yet, has she?]

[nyom]

Dia bit me! It hurt!

[ There's no "I'm fine" nonsense from Efi as she shows a bitemark on her arm. Her Deino sure has some chompers. ]

But it'll get better! [ Like everything else. ] You should put them back in the balls... but maybe not to the Center just yet.

[ Just shove unconscious pokemon into space compartment balls. Nothing strange here. ]

[thetyger]

[The Drifloons are recaptured, and the pokeballs shoved in his pockets. The cuts on his wrists from the string are already gone when he reaches out a hand to Efi.]

Let me see it closer.

[Not that he can help, but bites are serious. Maybe he should take Efi to the hospital.]

[nyom]

[ Efi holds out her arm for Atsushi to look at. There are no signs of possible rabies though the bite did break through skin, but not enough to break a bone or anything. ]

It doesn't hurt anymore!

[ At least, until you press it. Then it hurts again. ]

[thetyger]

[It doesn't look too bad, but he's still concerned.]

Sometimes it doesn't hurt, but it could still get infected.

[He thinks. He's never had an infection and isn't really sure how those go.]

[nyom]

In...fe... infe...

[ Huh??? She'll just assume it gets bad. ]

I'll go to the hospital later! Besides, all the nurses and doctors looked super busy when I went there, so they should be busy for people who are hurt more!

[thetyger]

[He nods, because that is a good point. It's not like Efi will die from that wound. Things have to be prioritized.]

Okay. Was it just your one Pokemon affected?

[He's still trying to figure out why some of them aren't.]

[nyom]

My friends being weird? Um... yeah! It was just Dia.

[ She actually has two more pokemon that should be affected, but they're just... not on her. They're back at the house she was staying in
:')

But it's not like she found the connection between this and types. ]

[thetyger]

[Atsushi realizes this was a useless question anyway, because he doesn't know what Pokemon Efi has. She never returned the survey. It had so much potential.]

That's good. Look, um... you take this one just in case you need more protection.

[He hands her a pokeball. It's the Tirtouga. He doesn't know if it's the best Pokemon, but it's the highest level.]

He doesn't listen to me anyway...

[Efi has proved she's more dominant and could maybe control it better. Punching Wailmers and Spearows.]

[nyom]

[ It really did, but from a baby who can't even write her own name correctly... Atsushi might have expected too much from her. Though, if he asks right now, she can definitely answer to the best of her abilities.

Efi looks at the pokeball given to her, but. Oh. She can't, because-- ]

I can't take another friend! Because I can only have six! Even though I only have four with me right now, the ones back at the house counts!

[ She doesn't know why it does, but the npc kids told her that with a snooty look on their faces before. Sorry, Atsushi. She gives the pokeball back to him. ]

One of them went to the people who work at daycare!

[thetyger]

[It will not occur to him to just ask Efi about her Pokemon right now, unfortunately.]

Oh. Okay.

[She must have a lot of them too, and he will keep the Tirtouga.]

Let's go see if we can help anyone else, okay?

[He kind of still wants to keep an eye on her. Children shouldn't be out here!]

[nyom]

Yeah!

[ Efi looks pretty eager to go help some more people. She wouldn't want any of them to die since most people were so nice to her, though it's probably too late for some of them.

Though if Atsushi uses his oppression turtle when Efi is around, it would listen to him just because Efi won a badge from the gym. ]

What's the best way to snap someone out of it, Mister Atsushi? Sometimes I want to get them to the hospital, but they don't move, even when their eyes are wide open!

[ ... ]

And they weren't dead.

[thetyger]

[It will be a miracle when he unleashes it and it actually does what he wants. Thanks, Efi... Atsushi doesn't want to advocate for violence, but he's going with what has been shown to work for him.]

Just slap them.

[Yeah.]

[nyom]

[ Efi's expression brightens as of in understanding. ]

Okay!

[ She toddles off to find someone catatonic, no thanks to a Shedinja. Efi's Marshtomp follows after her. Kip wishes it can be lazy again... ]

Throw rocks!

[ Die, bug. Wonderguard doesn't do anything against Marshtomp's Rock Slide and it's squashed flat. Efi goes up to the bsod-ing person and the first thing she does is slap them across the face. ]

Wake up!!

[thetyger]

[Yeah, he regrets this. But it works, only the person wakes up screaming.]

G-good job, Efi.

[At least it's something. They can continue attempting this method of "helping", and he will call forth the Tirtouga to attack with the Marshtomp for the next encounter.]

[nyom]

[ Yup. This way Efi doesn't have to try and drag an adult man to the hospital, because that's nigh impossible from how she is right now. She looks pretty happy from Atsushi's praise though. That's what matters, right? ]

Do you wanna do the next one, Mister Atsushi?

[thetyger]

[Oh. No, no he doesn't. But she's looking at him like that and he can't say it.]

Alright.

[And the next person gets... a gentle slap. It's not hard enough for him to wake up. The Titouga takes matters into his own flippers and slaps the man. There's more screaming.]

[nyom]

Your turtle is super tough, Mister Atsushi!

[ Efi is honestly impressed. It takes no shit... amazing. She doesn't seem to mind the man screaming though, as if it's just in the background. ]

[thetyger]

It's not supposed to do things on its own!

[That statement goes against his entire philosophy on the autonomy of Pokemon, but he didn't expect them to all be like this. The man is still screaming and Atsushi is ignoring it for now too, trying to lecture the Tirtouga.]

You can't just hit people!

[Wait, that's being hypocritical, because he and Efi were hitting people. It's learning by doing. He is a horrible influence on these Pokemon and their vicious nature is his fault.]

I s-suppose that I may have endorsed that behaviour, but please don't do it again.

[The Tirtouga is having none of this and he zooms off with the aide of Aqua Jet to slap the next person down the street.]

[nyom]

[ I can't believe this turtle is speedrunning slapathon. Well, Efi realizes that this is probably a bad thing, since Tortugas supposed to listen to his trainer. ]

Hey! Rocky!

[ Because... yeah. His shell looks like a rock. Anyway. ]

You have to listen to Mister Atsushi! Be good!

[ The power of the badge compels you. Please listen to her current group that consists of her and Atsushi. ]

[thetyger]

[Efi's name choice isn't any worse than Atsushi's, who has been calling the thing Buddy because the fisherman told him to "take care of his buddy". Yeah.]

Y-yes! You should listen to me because I am y-your Trainer and I s-said so!

[He just doesn't want to the turtle to go on a slapping spree. It seems to work, though. The Tirtouga stops and turns back around to slowly approach them. He'll listen, because of the power of the badge, but he won't be quick about it. If Efi loses that badge, he's going to slap everyone so hard.]

[nyom]

[ Efi doesn't realize it's the badge at work here, so she thinks Atsushi is actually comandeering respect! ... then why is it so slow to come back? Efi looks over at Atsushi while she waits for it to come back. ]

Does Rocky like slapping people...?

[thetyger]

I think he likes being obstinate.

[Hopefully, he's not a violent offender out of sheer malice. Buddy Rocky ambles over finally, inching along on his flippers. He returned successfully.]

I guess I really just need to be more confident.

[Maybe he'll try commanding the Spearow next.]

[nyom]

[ Efi pats Rocky's shell once. Good turtle. ]

What's that mean? Being confident is good though! If you look like you know what you're doing, people wanna follow that too!