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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

[ Who's "them"... you know what, Hien won't ask. If he thought a little, he could come to the conclusion that Joonghyuk is talking about Fai and Hythlo, because Hien does know he went with them to the ruins, but things hurt and today's been pretty frustrating for him with none of his pokemon listening. ]

... I have some fire pokemon, so I was wondering if they could... I dunno, do something.

[ Apart from Joonghyuk's Houndoom at least. He sighs again and walks briskly here and there. He'll need new shoes after this... ]

[ Joonghyuk's Houndoom does not smell anything out of place on the way to the top, just a lot of ash and dust and steam. They stand at the edge of the crater where they can see lava bubbling within, lapping against the edge and occasionally spilling over the sides of it. A dark shadow can be seen inside the lava, but it is not moving and could be taken for a very large very dense mass of rock blocking the crater.

Walking around the crater, there doesn't seem to be anything left behind that suggests people being here recently, though such things may be easily blown away in the wind and/or melted by the lava flow, so the presence of others may or may not be discounted.

The view from up here is nevertheless stunning: They can see all the way to Melona's dome in the desert, blurred by a sandstorm that's picked up, although from up here, they can see that the sandstorm appears to swirl about like a cyclone rather than blowing from one side of the desert to the other. If either of them or any of their Pokemon has really realllllly good eyesight, they might be able to spot a little red dot of light blinking in the far off distance, in accordance to where Mango's radio tower stands. Towards the southern half of the region, they can see storm clouds over the sea, thick and black with the occasional flash of lightning that illuminates the clouds from within, although the sky above Toran remains conspicuously clear. The ocean continues to churn all around them, riddled with whirlpools that don't seem to have diminished since they've crossed the seas multiple times. Towards the east seems to be a thick layer of fog that makes it hard to see into the distance, while towards the west there's a spot in the ocean that appears relatively calm, and they can see the faintest outlines of a mountain range on the other side of the ocean.

Pretend with me that this is a very tall volcano and they have very good eyes and will learn all this stuff, which might help them decide which direction they ought to travel next month. ]

[ Hm... Joonghyuk takes in the view, kind of surprised by being able to see multiple regions at this height. He takes note of the areas and to talk to his friends about it later, but.

Hm.

That shadow? It could be nothing, but he kicks rather large ashy boulder, debris, whatever, into the volcano to see if maybe he can discern what it is. ]

What fire Pokemon do you have?

[ Houndoom can only get too close to the lava... So he might as well ask. ]

[ Wow, the view here is amazing. It would probably be nicer if there wasn't ash, dust, smoke, and steam everywhere. His shadow arm spits all the lava back into the volcano because it stored too much. It'll probably flow out again, but the purpose was to not get burned with it along with Joonghyuk, so he thinks he did a pretty decent job--prior burns not withstanding. ]

I have a Flareon.

[ He doesn't mention his Lampent because that thing has been hungry for souls all day and Hien finally got to restrain it inside his cloak void. ]

He has Flash Fire, so he can endure the lava for some time... he was playing in it earlier like it was some kind of goo.

[ Can Joonghyuk handle a lv 30 fluff... ]

[ Lv 30 fluff still needs to breathe, so hopefully Hien doesn't just drop his Flareon into the molten lava and wish him good luck while he sinks.

The large ashy boulder, debris, whatever that Joonghyuk kicks into the crater gets swallowed up by the lava, with no movement from the shadow. All the lava that gets poured back into the crater? Definitely overflows, so watch your toes! The lava level being higher makes it harder to discern the shadow as well, but maybe if they were to lower the lava level... Or they can toss their Pokemon inside and pray, whatever they decide. ]

Scope out the volcano, but return if you sense anything strange.

[ Or dangerous, whichever it is. The Houndoom looks at the fluffy Flareon before leading him. If he gets too rambunctious, she will effectively put him in place. Since his own Pokemon hasn't noticed anything, he imagines they will come empty-handed this way, but.

Hm. ]

How much can your ability take?

[ What if... Shadow arm just eats more lava? ]

[ Flareon hops along, following Houndoom obediently. ]

I can probably take a big chunk of the mountain if I wanted to.

[ But he won't do that. That's like breaking a cup that holds a bunch of water inside and you wouldn't want that water to spill out even more than it has already. Then while looking off to the side: ]

Eat it.

[ He holds out his arm and it extends, on its way to eat up the lava... It'll keep munching and munching, slurping it like soup. ]

[ Every time the shadow arm thing becomes Relevant, Joonghyuk seems to be. Weirdly interested? Uncomfortable? It's difficult to describe, but he watches and waits for the lava levels to decrease. ]

Don't push yourself.

[ ... ]

Is this stored in some void?

It can be, or it's just devoured into nothing forever. I'll be fine.

[ Hien is trying his best with the latter, but he's been using his arm ever since the volcano initially erupted and this power takes out the most energy. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but he's nerfed here. Don't got that limitless stamina his existence should normally have.

The gaping maws of the shadow arm grows larger, trying to devour the lava faster by devouring it a lot more at once. ]

If you end up passing out, you won't hear the end of it.

[ Not from him, but he assumes from others. Just so Hien knows of the immediate consequences as he watches the arm gobble gobble gobble the lava. It becomes even larger, prompting a pensive look from him. ]

... It reminds me of someone.

I know...

[ His right arm is already burned. He know he's already gonna get an earful, even though it wasn't his fault. If anything, having his arm in this mode helps him not feel the pain.

He looks over at Joonghyuk though, wondering what he means. ]

... Hope it's not someone you hate.

[ Well. He isn't going to answer that because it is... Very complicated to say what he feels for the person the shadow arm reminds him of. Joonghyuk only turns away to look at the lava. ]

Do you remember October? [ With the mist taking form of another version of himself with a white coat. ] It reminds me of myself—a Yoo Joonghyuk from another world.

[ It feels so long since he has heard or seen Secretive Plotter, actually. Almost feels like a dream. ]

He became an outer god. That was supposed to be his ending.

... Oh.

[ Big fucking mood. Hien slightly tilts his head and thinks back on that time. ]

I'm assuming an outer god is supposed to be some kind of monster?

[ Why else would a shadow arm like this remind him of it. ]

... They're seen as Eldritch monsters, shunned by the system that keeps the worldlines going. Generally, they're forgotten and, eventually, they forget themselves.

[ So yes. Shadow arms. Tentacles. Similar. ]

He was pitiful.

[ Hien looks back at the ever decreasing lava. It looks like his arm is eating a good portion of it... though his mind isn't really focused on that. When he turns into a monster in the end, would people find him pitiful? He vaguely wonders... but then no one would be left alive to even wonder if he'll eat all the worlds anyway. ]

He'd probably try to kill you if you said that to his face, huh?

[ He can't imagine any version of Yoo Joonghyuk taking that well. ]

[ He huffs... Maybe it's a snort? Like some sort of laugh. Crossing his arms, he tries to imagine it.

Well, he doesn't need to. He remembers looking at Secretive Plotter's child form before, finding pity well in his chest despite how, characteristically, the other man that shared his face told him he doesn't need it. Doesn't want it. It's worthless. ]

I don't need to say anything for him to try to kill me, though his reasons are different.

[ That's rough, buddy. ]

Mhm... people in general don't want to be pitied, but I think you know that already. It doesn't really do anything.

[ ... ]

Having a bunch of people running around with your face must have gotten tiring at some point, huh?

It wasn't an issue until this world.

[ So, basically, Secretive Plotter was the only lookalike he had to see himself. Everyone else, however............. ]

Strange things, odd abilities, are normal where I am from, but curses are sporadic and untraceable.

It's just a quirk of the world, I guess, or something that resembles unstable powers at work. Though, I guess it was refreshing... finally looking like someone else for once.

[ He doesn't realize how weird it is to say that, and maybe that's just how far gone he is regarding his identity. ]

... What's wrong with how you look?

[ To Joonghyuk, he doesn't see anything wrong. Hien is who he is. This is what he looks like. That's perfectly fine. ]

[ Maybe there's a reason why he wears a mask over his face. Though, Hien doesn't seem too bothered about what he said. ]

Just, tired... of always dealing with me, and other variations of me. Tired of a lot of things, but if I won't do things, no one else will.

[ It doesn't sound like he's talking about the things in Cassava. ]

And that's why I'll always be doing something, somewhere, until the day I expire and become a monster.

[ He glances over at his arm. Maybe he's just glad that it's only his arm instead of his entire being that transforms with activating Future Mode in Cassava. ]

[ Joonghyuk can see that he has it easier than Hien. At least he only needed to deal with his single other version. The rest he knows exist, but... They're all doing their own thing.

Just like him. ]

Is that what you want?

[ He kind of knows the answer, but he asks anyway. Get ready for him to repeat Hien's words like an annoying parrot. ]

[ It's easier to kill someone than make them happy, in which, Hien would definitely agree. But he's not here to compare. There's some sort of twisted satisfaction in seeing someone suffering the same thing you are. You're not alone, but someone sure is suffering through a very similar process. Would he wish that upon anyone? No. ]

... Dunno.

[ A copout answer. He wants to sit, but there's nothing to sit on but the hot ground. He'd rather not burn a hole through his clothes, but he's tired. With the sound of gears turning in the background, the shadow arm retreats to its normal size and turns back into a regular arm. It's... burned badly, but Hien puts his arm under the cloak pretty quickly so he doesn't have to have it out longer than he has to. ]

I already went through the five stages multiple times, and I don't want to go through it again.

[ So don't give him a lecture of changing fate and hope, because you gave him one already, Joonghyuk. ]

[ I'm sorry, Hien. Joonghyuk isn't looking to make some grand speech, though. However, he can't help but compare the strange man beside him to his other self, the Secretive Plotter. He keeps his eyes peered at the lowering lava with a short afterthought about what to do after this, but...

His mind rounds back. ]

That man—the me that turned into an outer god when he reached the end of his story... He thought that was his answer. However, there is more to the story than what was written. Despite losing and sacrificing everything, he found something more and became more than a character. He found another answer.

[ Joonghyuk doesn't see it in his place to say that Hien should go through everything again. He knows what that misery is like... It's a decision one has to make on their own. However, he can at least say this: ]

I hope you find yours in the future.

[ An answer that Hien embraces, whether it's at the end of his life, or when he becomes a monster. Some kind of relief, calm, an ending he can accept without an inkling of regrets. ]

[ It's a painful sort of acceptance that has mostly dulled out at this point of time. He's had it since long ago, accepted it since long ago, and has decided on as his answer. Sometimes that's just life. ]

... I won't have to wait long for that.

[ Alright. That was enough break time (that was only few minutes at best). Gear turning noises start again and stop just as quickly, turning his arm into that shadowy form again. It's time to eat some more lava, arm. It extends and starts slurping it up even faster this time.

Though, Hien thinks about it. Secretive Plotter seemed pretty strong. If Joonghyuk is on or close his level, then maybe... hm.

He glances over at his direction, but then looks back down at the lava. How does one kill a universe eater...? It's like asking a human to stop the sun from exploding. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

DECEMBER LOG PT1

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ OH THANK GOD

→ WELCOME TO THE NEW HAMA

→ AW NUTS...

→ MOD NOTES

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