GHOST TRICK PART ONE: Festival Log!

[indigo_league]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Either Ecruteak City or Lavender Town; please mark your toplevel comments accordingly!
When: August 13th-15th
Summary: Celebrate O-bon at a festival near you! For details, see the infopost.
Rating: Will vary from thread to thread. Warn for common triggers if something comes up.
Log:

The streets are lined with NPC-run stalls for food, games, and the assorted tchotchkes of every summer festival you’ve ever seen in your animes! There’s Goldeen Scoop, heaping cones of Swirlix Candy, Test Your STRENGTH (there are two different machines for people and Pokémon; HM04 not required); basically, if you can think of it, it’s there. There will also be a yukata rental stall if you want to go full hog on the cultural side of things. Ecruteak boasts a small stage where the Kimono Girls give a short performance once every two hours; the festivities in Lavender Town are a little quieter, but they also have Haunter-shaped ice cream treats. When you lick them, they Lick you!

On the last evening (August 15th) of the festival in either location, there will be a large bonfire and traditional bon-odori dance in which everyone is welcome to participate. In Lavender Town only, they also set paper lamps afloat in the water past the cliffs.

The closer you get to midnight on the last night of the festival, the more ghosts pop up.

Again, please say which city your character's in and note what dates/times they're there in the header of or within your top--level comment to avoid confusion. Play nice and have fun!

Comments

John Egbert | Ecruteak

[harlequinhater]

August 13th - Wandering

[For the first day of the festival, John is mostly content to just wander around. He's not sure what to make of this whole "reflecting on the dead" thing, and he isn't going to get into celebrations until he's sure that he doesn't have to do any actual reflection. Because of this, he is pointedly not wearing a yukata; instead, he's just in his normal god tier garb.

He's a bit surly and skeptical in the morning, but as the day goes on and John blows way too much money on unhealthy carnival food, he seems to be in better spirits. (heh.) He's definitely happy to find a buddy or two to wander around with, though, no matter the time of day.]

August 14th - Carnival Games

[If the first day had been about spending too much money on food, the second is all about spending too much money on the games. He starts his tour with the Goldeen Scoop - of course he's going to play a game with a real life Pokémon as a prize! If you happen to walk past him, however, you might hear some curses as he slaps down more money for the next scoop, even though he's already dripping wet. Lady luck is not with him tonight.

The Ursa-Ring Toss proves to be equally difficult, but John refuses to give up until he is the proud owner of his own giant Teddiursa. He's losing Pokédollars pretty quickly. He should probably be stopped, but he's not going to come to that conclusion on his own.

The only game he doesn't seem to be having any trouble with is the Test your STRENGTH, earning him a "ding" and a prize after one go. John has had plenty of practice swinging hammers around before.]

August 15th - Ghost Busting Hunting

[As the festival has drawn on, John has noticed something strange happening. Shapes flickering from the corner of his eye, strange things floating around. It isn't until the last day that he realizes what he's seeing. This is a day to honor the dead - there's really only one thing they could be. Ghosts.

Only they're Pokémon. But if anything, that makes it better - he won't even need fancy proton cannons to catch them! Just a regular ol' Pokéball.

John's skirting the edge of the festival with a Pokéball in his hand and Casey trundling alongside him, ready to catch any ghost Pokémon that might appear. He's being pretty blatant about it, though, so it's unlikely any self-respecting ghost Pokémon is going to let itself be caught by him. Maybe he could use some friendly advice?]

August 15 - WHO YOU GONNA CALL

[cyan_maid]

[It's surprising that it took Jane so long to notice all the Ghost Pokemon beginning to congregate at the festival. It doesn't help that they disappear the moment she turns her head - sneaky buggers - but one Ghastly has made itself quite a nuisance.

Simply put, it's eaten Dinah's special treat of Swirlix candy, and hell hath no fury like a pissed-off Audino. She's trying to run after the pair in her yukata, but it's not easy because IT'S A FREAKIN' ROBE, and by some kind of luck, the Poke-Benny Hill chase has passed John - and there comes Jane.]

Auugh! Both of you get back here!!

[UH-OH. Looks like your teen Nanna needs some help busting the ghosts, John!]

[harlequinhater]

[John turns with a finger to his lips, ready to shh Jane for scaring off all the ghosts - but then he sees the Gastly zip by, followed by an Audino, followed by Jane. He can't help but snicker for a little bit, just because it's really ridiculous. Then it hits him - there's a ghost involved. He is intending to bust catch some ghosts, and there's one right there!

He quickly falls into line with Jane, running alongside her.]

Oh man, is that a ghost? What kind of ghost is it? Are you gonna catch it, or can I have it?

[cyan_maid]

[Oh hi John, fancy seeing you here. Jane keeps running, following the pair of Pokemon as they dart into a less populated area of the festivities.]

It's a ghost! It's a goshdarned Gastly and I don't care - by all means, if you can catch up, catch the dang thing!

[harlequinhater]

[If only John were capable of flight, he would take off after that thing in a heart beat - but as it is, right now he's not much faster than Jane, so he just joins her in the increasing conga line of chasing.

He does have the sense to use his actual Pokémon, though. A quick toss of a Pokéball, and out comes Blue, now a big, beautiful Altaria.]

Go chase down that Gastly, Blue! We've got some ghosts to bust!

[And off she goes, heading to the front of the pack to try and cut off the Gastly up at front of the line.]

[cyan_maid]

[The Gastly does come to a halt when the Altaria crosses its path (you can almost hear the comedic screeching), but Dinah is not so lucky. She phases right through the ghost and plops on the ground, looking quite dazed.]

Dinah!! Oh, for Pete's sake...!

[Just going to duck in when she catches up and heft up the Audino in her arms to get her out of the way of the confrontation.]

[harlequinhater]

[Blue trills a little hello to Jane and Dinah. Oh, the pranks she would happily pull if she were not already embroiled in a vicious battle with... a small gas cloud.

John slides in next to Jane and puts on his best trainer face.]

Okay Blue! You got that ghost just where you want it! Now it's time to... um...

[He trails off, then looks to Jane.]

What even works on ghosts? Do you know?

[cyan_maid]

[...Are you fucking kidding me, John.]

Uh, no? But if I were to hazard a guess, physical attacks don't. Does your Blue know attacks that aren't physical?

[harlequinhater]

[Look, being a Pokémon trainer is hard. There's a lot to remember!]

Yeah! She learned all these cool dragon moves recently. I bet those do a lot of damage. Uhh...

[He pulls out the Pokédex to check on the names.]

Okay! Blue, use Dragon Pulse!

[On cue, Blue unleashes a powerful beam of purple glowing energy at the poor Gastly. That... might be kind of overkill for a little ghost at a festival.]

August 14th

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[John's adventures in the Goldeen Scoop are being observed by a hesitant Ashley! Along with her gaggle of Pokémon, of course. The off-color Eevee in her arms starts chattering after one of his loses; is he trying to give advice?]

Aragorn, shush. Looks like you're, um, having a bit of trouble?

[Ashley has decided as long as she doesn't talk to John about...you know, romance, or that whole argument they had at all, she gets along with him fine. No harm, no foul. Like John, she's forgone the yukata and has settled for her everyday clothes.]

[harlequinhater]

[John would love to say that he's doing totally fine and that he doesn't need any help, no sirree, but the rather empty feeling in his pockets right now is making him a little more humble than usual.]

Ugh, yeah. I think this thing is rigged! Since when are fish so slippery?

[A pause.]

Okay, don't actually answer that.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Don't laugh. Don't laugh.]

Maybe you just need to be patient. How's your...technique?

[Fish scooping technique?]

[harlequinhater]

I don't know! Believe it or not, I have not had a lot of opportunity to scoop up many fish in my time. But I mean, how much technique can there even be to something like this?

[He decides to demonstrate, though. More money slapped down for another scoop, and John gives it his best attempt. He's taking things a little too horizontally, swiping the scoop from side to side.

...It's not very effective.]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Oh no, laughing is getting harder to fight...!]

Here, lemme see if I can give you some pointers. I think I can see where you're going wrong.

[She places her Eevee down (and he leans over to see all the fish) and waves down someone so she can pay for her own Goldeen Scoop.]

[harlequinhater]

[John gives up on his own Goldeen attempts for now in order to allow Ashley to do her thing. After all, if she actually knows what she's doing, then he needs to be paying attention.]

You think so? Have you ever done fish scooping before? Because let me tell you, it is harder than it looks!

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Oh, I'm nothing like a pro.

[As she demonstrates by missing a Goldeen, quite obviously. But she stares at it, scrunches up her face and gets ready for another pass.]

But...I think what you gotta do...is put a little more of a...subtle sweep- [And she tries a diagonal approach, slow and then fast...and success?! She looks more than a little surprised at that.] Aha! There we go!

[harlequinhater]

[John slams his hands on the set up, causing the water to splash and the vendor to give him dirty looks. He quickly apologizes and steps back.]

That was so good! What the hell! I'm going to try again.

[More Pokédollars down the drain, and John has another scoop ready to go. He tries swiping diagonal and sweeping, but all he ends up doing is angering one of the fish Pokémon, which promptly leaps out of the water and slaps him in the face. John drops his scoop and steps back, sputtering water.]

Ughhhh, this game is rigged!

[usedgravity]

[Ochako wasn't planning on meeting anyone, but it seems she just keeps running into people she's talked to here! And in some cases, for the first time in person]

Ah, hey, John! [She waves her hand excitedly - she's not in a yukata either, but she's definitely dressed for the festival. She's got her swablu, Chiru with her too, flying along behind her as she jogs on over] Seems like everyone's come to this festival, huh?

[harlequinhater]

[John waves back, always glad to see a friendly face.]

Oh, hey Ochako! Yeah, it seems like there's a big crowd here. It feels like the whole region is here!

[He looks to the very familiar Pokémon flying behind her. Seeing a Swablu is almost nostalgic to him now.]

Oh man, it looks like your starter is still small. Blue evolved a while ago, so it's harder to leave her out of her Pokéball. I kind of miss it when she could just sit on my shoulder.

[usedgravity]

You might be right... I definitely saw a lot of people traveling n my way over!

[Ochako looks back and smiles as Chiru catches up and lands on her head]

Oh yeah? I guess that's kind of sad, but she must be all big and beautiful now though, right? Only one of mine's evolved so far, and skiploom isn't much bigger than hoppip.

[harlequinhater]

Yeah! She's awesome now. She just can't nest in my hair like she used to. She's tried; it didn't go well.

[As it turns out, it is possible to get almost-smothered by cloud wings.]

What's a Hoppip? I don't think I've seen one of those yet.

[usedgravity]

Oh no! [She's giggling though] That must have been something to see.

Oh, it's like this! [She pulls out her pokedex to show him] They show up on Route 29 just outside New Bark Town, but only in the mornings.

[She knows because she spent way too much time on that route until it got cleared when she first arrived]

Cute, right?

[harlequinhater]

Huh, they're pretty silly looking.

[He's not saying it to be mean - it's just a statement of fact.]

Anyways, I didn't get to spend any time on Route 29. My buddy sent his psychic Pokemon to teleport me to Goldenrod almost immediately. I guess I should go back one day!

[usedgravity]

Heheh, yeah kinda? They're pretty silly acting too - one of their moves, Splash, does absolutely nothing.

[She hasn't even met magikarp yet...]

Oh, wow - guess that's the benefits of having friends already here! It was weeks before I finally got to Goldenrod, and even then someone helped fly me part of the way.

[harlequinhater]

[As hilarious as the idea of Splash is, and as much as John halfway wants to develop a prank around it, something else Ochako said stands out to him.]

You don't have any friends here? That sucks.