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

[nyom]

Okay!

[ Efi reaches her arms outwards towards Fai while looking up at his face. Show her the new world, tall man. ]

[partymagician]

[ He makes a show of hauling her up, but he easily puts her on his shoulders. ]

What do you see up there?

[nyom]

Um...

[ Efi looks around. What place would be the quietest? Hm... oh. The place with a giant poster on the wall seems fine. She points to that direction. ]

Over there!

[partymagician]

Off we go!

[ He walks over there, careful not to bump into any of the people around the Center, and making sure Efi is staying balanced up on his shoulders.

Once they get there, it does seem like there aren't as many people in this spot, and there's a relaxing stillness Fai hasn't felt in hours. ]

I think you picked a good spot.

[nyom]

Good!

[ Efi sounds pretty proud of that and leans in forward to rest her head on top of Fai's. ]

Mister Fai, do you think this is only happening in this city?

[partymagician]

I don't know.

[ He hopes it's contained to this city. ]

I haven't heard the static anywhere else, so it might just be here. Maybe we can help move everyone to somewhere safe.

[nyom]

[ Efi ponders on something, though she figures thinking won't help her. ]

I hope Papa will be okay... he said he needed to go do something, so he went somewhere. He said that he'll be back though. Maybe he's far now, because it was a while ago.

[ ... ]

It's my first time being away from Papa. I'm worried about him.

[partymagician]

He left?

[ Why would he leave Efi like that? Sure she's smart and there are a lot of adults who can take care of her in their group, but Fai still can't help but feel a little angry at the prospect anyway.

But he's not going to let her know he feels that way. ]

I'm sure he's alright. I bet he's far away from everything going on here.

[ He pauses. ] Make sure you stay with me, okay? Or if you can't find me, stay with someone reliable.

[nyom]

Mm, he said that too--staying with my friends and stuff.

[ Efi doesn't cry. She doesn't feel like crying. She still latches onto the same hope that still has her believe that Minato will be okay somewhere they can't see, and that her Papa will also be somewhere safe while he does his work. ]

I wanna show him how strong I got too. I got the shiny thing from the snake lady because I won, and I can breathe fire again... though he probably wouldn't like that when I have hiccups. One time, his hair was on fire because I sneezed in my sleep.

[ Good times. ]

[partymagician]

[ Wow, she got a badge?! His eyebrows go up in surprise. ]

I bet he'll be really proud of you! You are really strong.

[ He smiles. ] Even if you might start a fire here with your hiccups.

[nyom]

[ Efi giggles. Yeah, making things explode is gonna be her favorite way to deal with stuff now. ]

I'll do my best not to! I always want to get strong for Papa and my friends, so it's not just my team that has to get strong, but I do too. Get strong, so that no one gets hurt again.

[ A fleeting ideal perhaps, but Efi seems very serious about her goal. She looks over to Fai though. ]

I wanted to watch over people battle too, because I thought I could learn something from that. The contest place is fun to watch too, but I don't know how to do the contest stuff... it looks harder than battles.

[ ... ]

But I wonder if we can do them again...

[ Considering Mango City is just like this, yeah. ]

[partymagician]

[ It's a good ideal, and Fai can respect it. That's the best reason to be strong.

He frowns a little. ]

I don't know. It's going to take a while to rebuild here, probably longer than it will take for Toran to rebuild.

[ But they have to stay positive! ]

I'm sure there will be other opportunities for you to watch people battle.

[ Just not here. ]

[nyom]

[ Efi nods. She feels like there's no shortage of battles as far as she's aware. Battles are everywhere. It seems like she's thinking about something as she looks down at the floor, before looking back up at Fai. ]

... Mister Fai, you're going back out there, right?

[partymagician]

I am. I want to try and help out whoever I can. I'd feel bad leaving people all alone.

[ And on that note... ]

I don't want to leave you alone, though. Will you be okay here? I promise I'll come back to see you.

[nyom]

[ Efi wants to go out and help too, but she doesn't want to worry Fai on top of all the other things he tends to worry about--whatever they may be. So she nods and hands Fai a pokeball. ]

This is Vivi. He might not listen sometimes, but he's a good butterfly at heart. He can help you make others sick, not move, sleep, and even make things explode that are on fire! He can also make walls to protect you from magic.

[ So, kinda like Fai's barrier, but Efi doesn't know Fai can do that. But honestly, Vivi will most likely listen to Fai because he's pretty. The only reason why Vivi was so pissed off at Efi was because she's a kid and not like some fancy celebrity or a hot person. ]

Be safe, Mister Fai! When you're done, give him back to me!

[partymagician]

[ Fai takes the pokeball, holding it tight in his hand. ]

I will be, and I'll give him back to you as soon as I can.

[ He kneels down so he can gently pat Efi's head. ]

Thank you.