GIVE ME PROM OR GIVE ME DEATH

[indigo_league]

So you’ve gotten on the ferry, piloted by a man loudly proclaiming himself to be Captain Garfield and won’t this be fun everybody? We’re going to a party! Hope you all like boundless enthusiasm for boating, because this guy and his trusty Rattata (who will be collecting everyone’s fees, pay up or you don’t get on!) sure do love this and want everyone to know it. Finally, through caves and up rivers, there it is, shining in the dim evening light: The Elite Four’s Mansion (and blessed freedom from Captain Garfield). It looks amazing! Bunk down for the night and get a good night’s sleep, because tomorrow? It’s party time.



KEY:

• BLUE areas are where the bulk of the party's events will be located! As you can see, the festivities will be taking place largely outdoors. Some of the landscaping is a little different than what longterm residents might remember-- again, this WAS the site of a pretty epic battle between Teams Aqua and Magma at one point! All the same, in two years, you’d think they’d have wrapped up most of the work… there’s a lot of large-ish dirt piles and general disarray in the grounds outside the main yard, although the main grounds are still tidied up and decked out pretty heavily for the garden party. There’s even a little gazebo set up where you can have pictures taken of you, your date, and/or your Pokemon! The gazebo smells a little like fresh paint and plywood, but the paint is at least probably dry! There’s also an indoor ballroom for the more fancy red-carpet dancing, but in general, most of the activity will be happening outside.

• GREEN areas are where guests will be staying overnight! Unfortunately, you'll be sleeping-bagging it up, since there's a limited number of bedrooms in this house and they all either belong to Claire, the rest of the Elite Four, or are reserved for guests who are regrettably way more important than you. That much is the same as always-- Bruno really doesn’t want anybody digging through his underwear drawer, guys. He never has.
All that said, the green areas are where you'll be given space to leave your possessions, claim some sleeping room, and generally crash for the night once the festivities do you in.

• RED areas are RESOUNDINGLY off-limits to guests! There’s a lot more blocked-off doorways than there were in the past, and if asked about them, the staff will inform you that the mansion is under heavy remodeling and to please move along! What do you want to look at a bunch of sawdust and exposed wiring for anyway! Stop being nosy!
For everybody’s safety, there will be some staff stationed near the various restricted areas to move people along and make sure nobody wanders where they shouldn’t.


• AREA A is the designated Indoor Ballroom area, for the people who prefer the classy elegance of a formal red-carpet gala over the more whimsy outdoor garden party atmosphere in the back. There's a big skylight and lots of space to move around! … But the hardwood floors are looking a little scuffed, and there doesn’t seem to be the usual array of tasteful artwork on the walls anymore, even though you can still tell where a lot of the frames used to be hanging. There are some red banners strung up over most of those empty spots, and although don’t quite match the decor and they’re a little on the cheap side, they certainly make it look like a sweet party! Overall, though, a little more upscale than the shenanigans going on outside, for the people who'd rather that kind of thing.

• AREA B, as some of the more bookish types will remember, is the Library/Gallery! A long-time favorite of visitors, it’s usually a nice haven for people who are a little partied-out but not ready for bed, or who just want to dig into the Elite Four’s personal collection of books and research. SADLY, this year it would seem the door is blocked off! Remodeling in there too, huh? What a shame. :(

• AREA C is...well, the Parking Lot. Normally it’s spotless (no cars!), but this year it looks like they didn’t really have time to clean up, as there seems to be a lot of litter lying around. But more importantly, this is where you take your Pokemon battles if you simply gotta get your battle on; keep it out and away from the house, please, and try not to make too much of a mess. Skirmishes, sorties, and sparring will be tolerated here and here alone. Don’t be that person, guys!

• AREA D … is the Elite Four’s trophy and commemoration room, and it too seems to be shut off to the public. :( Awwww.

For all other information about the Prom and the venue, head on over HERE!

Comments

A

[shiro2hero]

Used to sell alcohol before it was allowed? Not sure I can condone that.

[Except, you know, he doesn't sound serious about that in the least. He sounds more amused than anything. He's leaning on one side of the bar, a bottle of water in his hands. Because of course he's going to be lame like that.]

[The Lairon at his feet just huffs, shaking his head.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[OH HA HA, SHIRO, HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU THINK SHE'S HEARD THAT BEFORE?]

[She looks over her shoulder and VERY blatantly sticks out her tongue.]</sub>

Hey, the cops I've known all appreciated it, so it can't have been that illegal...

_{[... Okay, so Carter Blake appreciated it. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but still. There was legitimately a year where she sat on a wall and drank beer with a homicide detective and talked 90's trivia for two hours while getting progressively more inebriated.]}

[shiro2hero]

[Oh come on Heather it's a little funny!! A little! Cut the spaceman some slack!!]

[Okay, the tongue actually gets him to laugh a bit. Shaking his head.]

You'd be surprised. [About the cops. At least, he thinks anyway.] You want me to cover you a bit? I'm not drinking, so...

[foolishwren]

_{[She waves a hand, dismissively.]}

Nah, not worth it.

If someone's gonna charge P25000 for one drink, it had better be molten gold or something.

_{[And it's super not. These aren't really even fancy cocktails.]}

[shiro2hero]

... Pretty sure molten gold would kill you. But I get the point.

[He's just gotta be a Dad about it.]

From how everyone talked about this, I kind of expected more, too.

[foolishwren]

Okay, sure, pedant. Maybe I wanted an expensive death.

_{[But there's no bite, they're both just teasing.]}

Honestly, every Prom we've had so far, they've kind of kept trying to outdo themselves.

So needless to say, this is kinda... well, weird.

[shiro2hero]

Expensive, glittery death.

[He smiles briefly, but then schools his expression quickly enough as she continues.]

Something about this feels off to you. [It's not really a question.] I'm guessing the last couple events didn't have construction work, either.

[foolishwren]

Yeah, well like-- I mean, to be fair... some serious shit went down here a couple years ago.

_{[She gestures towards the windows.]}

A couple of rival... ecoterrorist gangs from some other region showed up here to duke it out, and Legendaries got involved, and... well, needless to say... there was a lot of property damage.

I'm just.

Surprised that it's still under construction?

I mean, 'natural' disasters or not, it's been years.

[shiro2hero]

Okay then. Ecoterrorists. Weird gangs of skull-themed guys and eco-terrorism. That's... a thing they should have mentioned on the travel guide.

[He says it flatly. Like it's meant to be funny but he doesn't quite make it.]

But yeah, I get what you're saying.

I'm guessing they didn't just suddenly run out of money halfway through? Or... their contractor bailed on them.

[foolishwren]

_{[She snorts.]}

If they did that, how could they get those sweet, sweet tourist bucks?

_{[Then she shakes her head a little, laughing low in her throat.]}

But yeah... I dunno, man.

Like, have you heard much about the Elite Four? They're basically the biggest celebrities around. Authorities, even.

Not that I'm like, intimately aware of their personal finances or anything... but I just don't think they'd have run out of money to get the place fixed up.

[shiro2hero]

People who can't read?

[He flashes her a brief, faint smile before sobering up himself.]

Only that they're the end of the trip, so to speak. Defeat all the gym leaders, make your way up to fighting them.

[Become champion...] I'll trust your take on this one. You think of any reason why they'd suddenly quit fixing their house?

[foolishwren]

I... don't know.

I mean... I don't think they live here, admittedly.

I guess if they just got... really busy, or something, maybe the construction got postponed and just never started back up?

... Maybe it's got to do with the big announcement that they're supposedly making.

_{[That's... logical, right?]}

[shiro2hero]

That sounds logical.

[She's got several good points. But then again...]

But if there was that big of a problem, why not postpone the party and announcement?

[foolishwren]

_{[She shrugs expressively.]}

You got me there.

I don't know 'em personally, but... I wouldn't have expected it, to say the least.

_{[Come to think of it, if they were that determined to throw a party, there had to be plenty of venues they could rent out in any given city...]}

[shiro2hero]

And I'm guessing they're not conveniently around somewhere to ask.

[It's probably just him. It's probably him and his party paranoia.]

[But, to quote an old movie: he's got a bad feeling about this all of the sudden.]

Maybe it's best we don't buy the alcohol.

[To keep their wits about them, if you know what he means.]

[foolishwren]

_{[Before replying, she steals a glance at the bartender... and meets his eyes. He's been listening, and he promptly goes back to polishing a glass as though he wasn't.]}

... Yeah, I'm not as thirsty as I thought.

Say, you uh... wanna dance?

_{[... THAT CAME OUT AWKWARD PARDON HER SHIRO it was just the first thing she thought of that would get them away from the bar.]}

[shiro2hero]

[Admittedly, there is a part of his brain that doesn't process what she says correctly. Which makes him hesitate a moment longer than usual before answering.]

[Of course it's not really about the dancing, thank you very much, brain.]

[So he nods, setting the water bottle down on the bar.]

If you don't mind leading. I don't know what I'm doing out there.

[foolishwren]

_{[RELAX SHIRO SHE'S NOT AFTER UR BOOTY]}

All my report cards had 'natural leader' written in the comments section, so you're in good hands.

_{[She doesn't drag him or anything, but she does start purposefully heading towards the dance floor. BY CREEPY BARTENDER]}

[shiro2hero]

[WHO WOULD BE? REALLY??? He needs to have stern words with his brain.]

What a coincidence, so did mine. Except in dance class -- then it was "two left feet."

[He follows along with her, easily enough. Teasing easily enough right back.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[SHE DOESN'T REALLY GO FOR THE TALL DASHING TYPES MUCH ANYWAY]

[Once they're actually out on the floor, she doesn't really bother putting up much of a show to act like they're really dancing, although she does swing to the music a little.]</sub>

Sorry-- that bartender dude was just creepin' me out.

[shiro2hero]

[It's okay, he'll put in the effort of, at least, attempting to shuffle dance.]

Don't worry about it. I'm glad you were paying attention.

So we agree -- something's weird here.

[foolishwren]

Well-- I mean, yeah. I guess?

I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid.

It's been a good few years since I was last here and all.

But it's just so different.

I don't recognize any of the staff-- not that I knew anybody on like a first-name basis or anything, but there was usually at least like the same butler greeting everybody at the door, you know?

[shiro2hero]

Different enough to be off...

[It's not really a statement so much as an offer to continue, if she has anything else to say.]

Probably best we all keep an eye out.

[Why are all the parties he goes to like this.]

[foolishwren]

Ugh, and just when I thought I could relax...

_{[HER TONE AND EYEROLL MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT SHE THINKS OF THIS POSSIBLY BEING WORTH GETTING PARANOID ABOUT.]}

... at least the music's good.

[shiro2hero]

My fault. Any party I show up to ends in fireworks.

[He's totally kidding. Well. Mostly.]

Well... we're out here. Wanna actually try dancing? As one paranoid partygoer to another?