DECEMBER LOG PT1

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→ OH THANK GOD

(click to expand - the boba shop survived!!)

Sandstorms quietly continue to blow across Melona's desert, tinged black with ash carried over from the west where the volcano still intermittently sputters and spits, its hiccups and coughs darkening the sky to the west. Occasionally, a clap of thunder can be heard even as far as Melona's dome, and a shadow can be seen within the ash clouds looming above the mountains. Whispered rumors travel throughout the region, carrying warnings that "The storm is alive," remembering the destruction wrought upon Toran and the volcanic eruption two months ago that had devastated Hami, the town to the northwest. For two months, the heat and the ash had choked the skies over the mountains of Hami, but eventually, the lava stops flowing. Eventually, the skies begin to clear. Eventually, the people of Melona become curious enough— concerned enough— aware enough that their life inside their bubble that blinded them to the plights of the world at large— to start sending small groups out to Hami to see what aid, if any, they might require. The gym leader himself wanted to head the expedition, worried about his friend and fellow gym leader in the neighboring town, but he got yelled at enough for leaving his post during the last month that he reluctantly agrees to remain at the gym. Because, apparently, challenging gyms is very very important to some people, never mind the world being in a crisis and the safety of both people and Pokemon being at stake.

Instead, the desert guides are the ones who lead the way to Hami, knowing the desert and the mountains and are able to carve the most direct path towards the town. Self-sufficient as the townspeople of Melona tend to be, they do not ask for volunteers to join them, but they do not turn down help either, whether from bleeding hearts who want to do everything they can to assist people in need, or those who just want to get to the next town for their badges and ribbons. Like the trek from Mango to Melona, travel to Hami also takes several days of camping, of riding upon Numel through the sand, of climbing mountains and scaling unstable cliffs because there is no well-worn path from the ground to the peak. And nestled in the middle of the mountains, where Hami is supposed to be...

Ash and cinders. A field of rubble. Skeletons of buildings jutting up out of the ground where they are half collapsed and half buried in the ground, flames licking what little wood and scraps of cloth remain and hungering to devoid the new souls that have stepped within their domain. Aside from the rescue team from Melona, there is not another soul in sight, no sound of everyday chatter in the distance nor husks of bodies left charred on the ground. In this town laid to ruin, a single building has been left relatively untouched by the flow of lava that had run through its streets and washed away all its people. The sign hanging above the front door, blackened at the edges, reads: "Hami Boba." Inside, a single worker in uniform can be seen slumped over the counter, who is startled so badly when the door opens that she falls off her stool and blanches as if she'd seen a ghost— which is exactly what she thought, because who else would be here in Hami after everything that had happened? The volcano had erupted two months ago, she explains, all of the sudden without warning and most of the townspeople were forced to leave. Others stayed behind, those with rock and ground Pokemon who weren't bothered by the heat, or those with water and ice Pokemon who were willing to tough it out to battle the lava and the flames in an effort to save their town. This war against nature lasted over a month, and nobody ever came to their aid... But eventually, it became clear that their greatest threat came from the sky, from the ash that fell upon the land like a woolen blanket and smothered all the air, driving the last of the resistance fighters out.

In the end, the only person left in the entire town was her. The boba shop was constructed with the nearby volcano in mind, and there is no lack of things to eat inside the shop when there was only herself to ration for, but the funny thing is... even though she was stuck indoors and was horrifyingly lonely, she could feel a cool breeze pass through the shop every once in a while, and the air remained fresh. It felt as if there were something watching over her, she explains shyly, and there must have been, because she held onto that hope all this time and her patience finally paid off. Her first customers in two months!! Would they like some boba? The store's specialty is Shuckle berry juice boba! The stamps are a little dried out, but you get a cute red Slugma stamp for visiting this shop.

→ WELCOME TO THE NEW HAMA

(click to expand - it's free to live out here)

So, there's that. There is no town, not really. No gym, no contest hall. But the Melona guides aren't satisfied with leaving it at that, so they stock up on all the Shuckle berry juice boba they can carry and continue their search for the town's residents. They offer up Abras to teleport anybody who doesn't want to continue back to Melona, and then split into small groups to spread out across the mountainside, winding around smoldering lava lakes and trudging through paths knee high in ash. Here and there, all across the mountain range, small campsites can be seen. Up on a ledge on the cliffside, a group of people can be seen foraging berries alongside some wild Mankey. Out in the open in a valley, another group of people are seen roasting meat and nuts over several wild Torkoals' backs. At the base of one of the mountains, another group of people and Machop are hard at work breaking large boulders into smaller pieces to build shelter. Rather than having relocated to a single area, the people of Hami seem to have scattered to live in the mountains, welcome enough to the Melona guides and those who accompany them but denying that they need any help or expressing any real desire to reform a central town. There is no need, after all. Everything they need to live on is provided by the land and the wild Pokemon who share not only their habitat, but where to find food and water, and keep them warm and safe through the night. The volcano still grumbles from time to time, the seas around them continue to churn with relentless whirlpools, and sandstorms rage in the east towards Melona. But right now, they're just trying to live day by day.

While there is no main town any longer, the people do come together from time to time in the valley to share resources and spread news, and once a week, they sit together under the stars and hold Pokemon Contests on a stage that is nothing more than a large, wide slab of rock. The gym leader, Tsubomi, specializes in both fire and fighting type Pokemon and honors battles wherever she is challenged. Because of the lack of a gym building, she might need to be tracked down, though she is easier to find than Konoha, often making set rounds from group to group, checking up on the townspeople spread across the mountains. Central to all the campsites are natural hot springs, and both people and wild Pokemon come here to submerge themselves in the steaming waters and rejuvenate after a long, hard day. When the first of the rescue team arrives at the hot springs, two familiar faces are seen: a girl with pink hair and a boy with blue hair. Nanami opens her eyes blearily and pats Minato on the face. He looks up at the group and goes, "Hey. What's up?"

→ AW NUTS...

(click to expand - you really should have done something about that volcano)

A couple nights into the month, a shooting star is spotted streaming across the sky and disappearing into the waters to the southwest.

The ground shakes.

In the dead of night, the sky is lit up with a spew of fire that bursts out of the volcano hundreds of meters in the air, black smoke billowing up into the air in thick clouds, the mountains hacking up ash and molten rock. Screams can be heard throughout the mountain range as lava rushes down the slopes, people trying to grab what little they have left for a second time— though many already have nothing left but their lives. Wild Pokemon flee from the mountains in herds, heading for the desert to face the sandstorms rather than being consumed by flame.

The ground shakes. It cracks.

Desert becomes beach as the sand spills into the water, the cusp between mountain and desert becoming a chasm driven deep into the water as the Hami mountains break away and start sinking into the sea.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ For the sake of timelines, the Melona guides first head for Hami on December 3, the volcano erupts on December 5, and Hami subsequently becomes its own island on December 6. Destruction and evacuation can be played out however you want, but the boba shop remains standing in the end. The building is in impeccable condition. Not even the ash sticks to it.
⬥ Please make note of the new investigation form in the toplevel below, involving investigation style.
⬥ The second event log will go up on December 15.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you looked at what kind of air filter or conditioner used here?

[ He speaks low enough where the employee can't hear them, going as far as to lean closer to her. ]

[ What's with the leaning--it kinda wants her to lean backwards, but she stays put. ]

Normal.

[ Probably. ]

She didn't say it came from a vent.

Maybe this shop is built on holy ground?

[ Does it sound stupid? Well, Joonghyuk is just trying to figure out why it's like this. Logically, it's impossible to go unscathed... Even if the filters are high-end, the air would still be different inside.

And also ash all over this place. ]

Ash rolls off this building like a water off hydrophobic cloth. Also that's some real meager holy ground, and what would be the point of a partially destroyed one anyway?

[ Sooyoung is of the opinion while their technology may be good in some places (pokeballs) they suck everywhere else. ]

It's definitely either favored or maybe something lives under this place.

[ Joonghyuk also agrees that some fields of their technology is very high tech, while... Most of it is okay. Whether or not holy, Joonghyuk just considers it blessed. ]

Show yourself.

[ He looks up and waits. While he doesn't think it will work, but worth a try? ]

[ ... ... ...

Nothing... happens. Sooyoung just looks at Joonghyuk in silence for several seconds, before bursting into laughter. ]

Did you really think it would show itself if you just demanded it to?!

[ LMAO ]

... Sometimes this world is simpler than we think.

[ Which, in their case, makes it even more difficult considering they're so limited and barred in their world. They have to take so many steps and go beyond.

So he thought it was a good idea to try? Still, Sooyoung's hyena laugh as him kind of pout. ]

[ Okay... give her a moment to collect herself. Damn. ]

Simple, yeah. But easy? No. Besides, the best way to bring something out is to do something it doesn't like. Maybe Gabite can dig underground in its perimeters.

[ Difficult for them is correct. ]

I'll have my Pokemon join it, then.

[ Cause sometimes causing trouble really is how you get something to happen. Even better, Joonghyuk doesn't think they'll get arrested for something like that when the volcano is the main issue. While usually he would think they should just break down the shop, this is... Their only shelter.

Minji looks up at Sooyoung—whenever she wants her to dig!! ]

[ Sooyoung throws out her pokeball, releasing her Gabite. He is super ready to go!! She points to a place right outside the store, but from the side. Get digging, creatures. ]

[ Joonghyuk releases his other Pokemon that can help—mostly his Houndoom since Slowpoke can't do much. Then Wishiwashi would just destroy the store and take them with the chaos. ]

... You don't plan on staying too long.

[ It's actually a question, but he can also guess where Sooyoung has her heart set on. Again, there's not much they can do here immediately. Their answers might not be here, either. ]

There's nothing of interest here.

[ Except this weird ass boba shop that remains standing, but they're looking into that right now, aren't they? She looks at the pokemon dig and dig... ]

So I don't feel like wasting my time.

I want to stay here for a day or two.

[ To help out and check out the shooting star. Those are the things of interest for him, but he isn't going to stop Sooyoung and Dokja from exploring further. ]

I'll catch up.

Of course you will.

[ Where Dokja goes, he goes, she figures. ]

Can't wait to get the hell out of this place.

[ Gabite looks up from digging. It can't find anything... ]

... What do you mean by that?

[ How did she predict that he would stay for a bit? Joonghyuk's Pokemon also stop, not finding much of anything, too. ]

Can't imagine you want to be separated from Kim Dokja for that long anyway.

[ It's not that Joonghyuk wants to search everything, no. It's this. It's the squid. ]

... I thought he was planning to leave with you.

[ It seems like they are not on the same page right now. ]

Yeah? You don't want to be separated for that long, so you'll be catching up quickly.

[ She will force them to be on the same page now. ]

[ ............... ]

Are you calling me clingy?

You're not?

[ She's gonna call you out, Yoo Joonghyuk. ]

... You're also clingy.

[ Fuck you. ]

So you admit you're clingy.

[ She's going to ignore the fact that he just called her clingy too, because she has to get this in while she can. ]

[ ..... Shit. He did say "also." ]

Kim Dokja can't be left to his devices.

[ Let him explain it away. ]

[ I did not get this notif... wow. ]

Agreed.

[ Poor Dokja. ]

Anyway, that makes my point clear, doesn't it? Also, invest in some scent spray.

[ Maybe it would have been better if you did not get the notif at all... ]

Like deodorant spray?

[ Quite frankly, he hates axe brand, but he's confused why Sooyoung is telling him this. ]

(no subject)

authoriser - 2020-12-31 15:40 (UTC) - Expand