It's time for the solstice!

[indigo_events]

Who: Everyone attending the Azalea festival!

Where: Azalea town and surrounding woods

When: June 21st

Summary: Celebi's come out, so it's time to throw a party in its honor!

Log:

It's Midsummer! Traditional festivities in Azalea are all in full swing, and this year even bigger and better than ever, thanks to the influx of curious tourists and Legendary Seekers drawn by the rumors in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive Celebi. Everyone in Azalea is putting out their finest, and the whole town is decked out with flowers in vases and pots, colorful streamers, and bright awnings under which vendors hawk their wares.

The fun doesn't stop there, however. Those time disturbances that have been popping up all over the place? They've become at once more localized and more benign. Flowers open quickly and stay in bloom without fading, a blissful moment seems to stretch into eternity, somehow you've managed to sample the food of a dozen different booths and it still is barely mid-morning. It's like a perfect moment somehow drawn out, suspended in time to savor as long as possible. Those who have a particularly fun few minutes may even find them repeated a few times!

Which perhaps should be no surprise, given that Celebi itself has come out to play! If you're lucky and paying close attention, you might even catch a glimpse of it flitting about from one place to another throughout the town and the nearby forest. It certainly isn't shy, though it is moving quite quickly and doing anything but staying in one place. Anybody who might attempt to catch or challenge it to a battle isn’t going to get anywhere at all—and stubborn trainers might find themselves stuck in a time loop for a few hours. There's simply so much to see and do, after all! Strangely enough, if any of the Legend Seekers are around, Celebi never seems to be anywhere to be found.

Eventually, though, the long day will come to an end, and the festivities with it. By morning, all the hubbub will be gone, and Celebi with it. But not quite without a trace: anyone who came to Azalea Town to participate in the festival will find in their belongings a single fossil as a parting gift from the Time Travel Pokémon.

Comments

GAMES AND STALLS

[indigo_events]

Some of the various stalls include such local favorites as Pin the Tail on the Slowpoke, Cinnamon Charcoal Sticks, Superb Slowpoke Souvenirs, Ilex Herbal Remedies, Azalea Slowpoke Special Lemonade (made with genuine Rainmaker Well water!) and more! There's also a few booths from outsiders eager to cash in on the crowds, selling all kinds of trinkets, souvenirs, and charms of dubious effectiveness, including one stall that looks…a little shady, purporting to be selling the special patterned Magikarp for 10,000P apiece (although anyone who buys one will discover…a hastily painted regular Magikarp). By the end of the day, this stall will be. Uh. Shut down by the local Officer Jenny. Several enterprising souls have gathered a number of the still sped-up Slowpoke in order to stage races every other hour. Place your bets!

[11121_assumption]

Walter was interested in the concept of a time Pokemon. It had always been a funny thing with the Otherworld, given how it warped dimensions, and time had been strange as a ghost too. The Order also preached on the past, present and future and how it played into God's reincarnation.

So he had opted to attend this festival, bringing several of his Pokemon in tow. Source and Doll levitated by him, with the fat little Litwick occasionally setting down on his shoulder. He considered the stalls, remembering when he had first arrived; the ghost festival had taken place the very same month. He calmly browsed, looking for any game that seemed legimately winnable or any items on sale that might catch his eye.

[usedstockpile]

[What's a party without alcohol? And what's alcohol without a certain golden child trying to get around the age restriction with bad arguments about his actual age, copious amounts of 24 carat gold, and schmoozing on drunks? If you've got a glass, bottle, or cup of any wine, spirit, or 'Berry Juice,' you'll sooner or later find a pair of red eyes and a golden smile with a matching Umbreon charming your way.]

Aaah, hey, what'cha got there? Anything good?

[Aaah, what a nice young man. What's the harm? it's not like he's a high functioning alcoholic or anything, or a Babylonian king.]

[a_sin_for_him]

The games and stalls always draw Lust's attention at these festivals. She's fairly good at the games, and god knows she enjoys spending money. It's proof that she has money to spend, she's successful. She can spend it thoughtlessly on festival trinkets if she wants. Besides, she's an attractive, well dressed young woman. It isn't hard to coax free games, under the right circumstances. And she's dressed for the festival, in a long green dress patterned with red and orange flowers up the skirt and across the bodice.

There's extra incentive for something more light and summer appropriate. She's attending the festival with Timothy, a proper date - though she hardly expects them to spend all of their time together. Being here now, she remembers last summer, when they'd only just first met. They met up in person for the first time at the festival in Ecruteak, and she'd urged him to try his hand at the games. He'd won a stuffed Eevee at the Test Your Strength booth. Now here they were, at another summer festival, and how much had changed between them. He'd gone from a near stranger she felt badly about turning down, now she's rather certain they're going to be spending the rest of their lives together in this world.

And the thought doesn't entirely terrify her.

She can be found often among the games and stalls, either with her beau or by herself, and it seems she has quite an interest in the Slowpoke Races. If she isn't browsing wares or giving the games a try herself, she's quick to urge others to do both. Guttle, her Spheal, is with her as always.

[badluckbabe]

Jinx loves a festival, and this world seems to be full of them. So of course she and Diana had to come.

Tailed by her Spritzee leaving a lovely citrus scent in it's wake. It will occasionally lit in her hair and be almost completely invisible, pink feathers on pink hair.

She does seem to be exceptionally lucky or skilled at the Carnival games, either from years of experience or natural luck but either way she was collecting a fair amount of cheap toys, trinkets and snacks.

"I've always been a sucker for charms and things." She remarks browsing through the selection.

[agent3]

[Festivals are beautiful, wonderful things that Thida has come to love very much. The thrum of activity, the music, the colors, the abundance of cheap and tasty food...of course she's hitting up the stalls with great enthusiasm. Sweet pastries filled with red bean and shaped like Slowpoke faces are on the menu, and she initially only orders one, but...]

Uh...um...

[Just before the stall runner hands her the pastry she's already paid for, it disappears, and he's going through the exact same motions to make one again, seemingly ignorant of how much Thida looks up, down, and around the stall to find out where these pastries are disappearing to.]

What's...how...?

[Some weird time anomaly shit going on up at the Slowpoke taiyaki stand]

[shiro2hero]

[It's sort of weird being back in Azalea after so much time spent trying to get back out of it again. He's followed, as usual, by the big, looming shadow of Kuro the Aggron. Though now, clinging to his shoulder is a new addition -- a little blue and white Ralts.]

[Which he may or may not be buying a lemonade as they walk around.]

Yeah, bud, I don't think we're going for the Magikarp. I have a bad feeling about that one.

[charcoalfeather]

[With all the various stalls, it's no wonder that Rakka is spending a good bit of time around here. There are pokedollars burning a hole in her pocket, for certain!

Except she found herself investigating the closed stand that Officer Jenny was shutting down. And she had just built up the courage to ask the Jenny what happened... before something did happen.

The officer... was gone. The stall was open, the vendor was currently there, and he's now trying to shove a 'gold' magikarp into her arms. Her only option is to squeak in confusion.]

What... What? What!

[thenightsky]

"You painted those Magikarp," Noctis said with a dry tone, his eyes narrowed as he stood before the booth selling the fish. Behind him stood Bean and Shepard, said Lycanroc the one that had sniffed out the smell of paint and let out a low growl at the booth, neither Pokemon looking all that pleased.

The man running the booth seemed like he wanted Noctis to just move along and leave him be but the Prince wasn't going anywhere.

"Is that paint safe to use on them? Did you even check before you did it?" he continued drilling, prepared to snatch away all of those Magikarp if need be.

Someone might want to step in before this gets ugly.

[alltoblame]

Ed can be found just about anywhere in the festival at varying points throughout, probably with food. Probably with a ponyta trying to steal his food. He grew tired of the legendary seekers booth almost immediately, and why not? To him, the place looked to be about just as much of a sham as those painted magikarp.

[He's not really one for trying new games he doesn't understand, but your character might find him watching them. They can literally bump into him somewhere, or if you'd prefer a different category below, hit me up to discuss!]

Joker - ota

[pipers_son]

A - Games

C'mon, now.... It ain't somethin' ta be scared of.

[Standing in front of some of the game stalls, Joker is leaning down to murmur into the little Larvesta tucked into the front of his zip-up sleeveless hoodie. However, it doesn't seem to want to budge a bit, instead just wiggling further into where it's been tucked. Shaking his head, Joker looks around before spotting someone actively playing.]

Oh! Hey- what kind of luck are ya havin'?

B - Food

[Ash the Larvesta is still in his hoodie as Joker cheerfully walks through the festival, carrying a frankly staggering amount of food bags in his hands with a Carbink balancing an also impressive amount on her head. Seeing anyone lacking food, having food, or just plain looking hungry, Joker calls out.]

Hey! Me and my lot were thinkin' of havin' lunch- ya want ta join us?

C - The Peanut Gallery

[Hey. You know that Magikarp stall? Joker is right there as a small crowd gathers to watch when Officer Jenny comes over. Intermediately feeding his Larvesta and himself with a little kabob, he leans over to whoever is nearest.]

Don't think the fella in charge of that little venture thought this through, huh?

[fuelthefire]

Heck yes carnival games! Krieg's found the stand that rewards you for knocking down a tower of milk bottles with a baseball. He'd prefer a "hit the target with a gun" kind of game, but as those don't seem to exist here, throwing balls at bottles will have to do.

And it does; he's got darn good aim and coordination for a guy with poor depth perception, and it's not long before he finds himself rewarded with a Slowpoke plush toy...Which he then promptly offers to you. Yes, you.

"Here."

What, does he look like the kind of guy who collects plush toys? It's a gift. You're welcome.

[purramedic]

[There may or may not be a little bit of a scene at the races. Not that Anders is trying to cause a disturbance, but he's caught between a very friendly, encouraging bookie and two very concerned Pokemon trying to lead him away from the betting ring and failing miserably.]

Quit giving me that look! [Maybe he's being a little too loud, but he just really believes in his Slowpoke of choice. Her hour will absolutely come.] I know she'll win this time!

[thedifferencebetween]

[This whole thing really isn't Jack's scene. He's already here 'cause Manaka wanted to come to Azalea, and they were gonna do the Gym, and Angel seemed like she actually did mean it when she said she wanted to hang out.]

[And since the festival's going on...why not? If nothing else, he can eat shitty but somehow delicious festival food and laugh at idiots failing at the games. You can find him doing both. He's not being subtle or quiet in his mocking.]

Closed to Angel

[His main incentive for spending time at the festival is to hang out with Angel. Things have been going pretty good. He made the right call. She's not even demanding a chaperone anymore, finally. What the hell did she think she needed one for in the first place? But it's cool, it's fine. They can have a nice time at this...whatever the hell it is. Poke-hippie nature love in.]

[And he'll buy them lunch. He's hanging around the food stalls, Doom Boner lazing at his feet, drinking a lemonade he's spiked for himself.]

OFFERINGS

[indigo_events]

What would a festival honoring Celebi be if there wasn’t any attention paid to the little shrine in the forest? At the edge of the treeline there are tables set up with a variety of crafty ways to make your own offering if you didn’t bring one yourself, and at a few set times during the day a local guide will take any who’d like to leave something through the forest straight to the shrine. Both the time oddities and Celebi sightings are at their highest on the path to the shrine.

[rambling_runner]

Ash might not be able to go into town seeing as he stole T-Pain the Slowpoke from there, but that doesn't mean he wasn't gonna celebrate in his own way. And the time weirdness weighed in Ash's favour; time was slow for him, meaning that the guides hadn't come along once in the time he was there. He picked as many flowers as he could of all kinds and laid them out in a circle around the shrine. Circles were important for fey creatures back home so even if that didn't apply here, it felt right to do.

If you come by to the Shrine with a guide and linger, or if you come by without one, he'll seem to appear. He was lying on the grass, legs loosely crossed, eyes closed and meditating with Danny sat beside him, also focusing. They were both very calm, listening and meditating together.

[seasalthands]

[Offerings and prayers remind him of home a bit. Though it's not something he and his family did often, only at festivals, like this one. So this is obviously the place to go first.

Kira has also been studying endlessly about the Legendary Pokémon in this area and a chance to see Celebi would be an absolute dream.

But what to give as an offering? He doesn't have much...

Butterfree, who always sits upon his hat peers waaaay over as he digs through his bag looking for something worthwhile to offer up. If Legendaries are like Gods then it needs to be good. Can't just throw some coins. It has to mean something.

Unfortunately the only worth while items he has are...]

Pictures...

[Pictures from that weekend that Josefumi was here. The only solid memory he has. Butterfree gives a small whine at this, not wanting to give up something so dear and important.]

It's okay. [Is it?] Maybe he'll come back some day and we'll make new memories. If we give them to a Legendary Pokémon maybe he can bring Fumi back. It seems like he messes around with time and stuff. [Kira shrugs a bit and yet despite the fact that he's come to a conclusion about what to give up as an offering he has yet to do so, still holding on tight to the only memories he has of his best friend's brief visit.]

[paladinlost]

When Cecil finally decides to bring his offering, he does so at night, with no guide to follow.

It is silly of him, perhaps, but even in another world he cannot quite shake the feeling that his spirit is strongest by moonlight. What better time, then, to offer a gift to a being far stronger than he is? Even if that offering is a mere bowl of Cele-Berry Meringue, and perhaps...

The still-blooming flowers on his path startle him, remind him that he's reached his destination. He sets the bowl down carefully, avoiding any spills, before reaching into his pocket. The disk he takes out reflects the moonlight dully, a small gleam in the darkness.

"I wonder if it'll be any use to such a powerful Pokémon? I've no idea if it's even compatible..."

[tearsofademon]

[Time might heal a lot of wounds, but even close to five years later, cooking made Ryner uncomfortable, if he was honest with himself. Setting foot in a kitchen was fine, but anything more than sticking something in the microwave or putting a kettle of water on the stove to boil was a huge pain in the ass.

(And he still couldn't stand coffee, not that he'd admit this.)

It's not that he couldn't cook at all, given proper motivation. ...And preferably instructions, when he was younger he'd have been fine subsisting on dry bread and raw potatoes if it was just him (and in truth he'd still have no problem with it), so he'd never really bothered to learn. It was just awkward, okay? And besides, Marian cooked most of the time anyway and had a blast with it, so it was usually a moot point.

This, however, was a special circumstance. Celebi itself was showing its face, after all. It was only polite to bring a gift, right? And, well, something handmade and meaningful was probably the way to go...

What would have more meaning than something associated with a dear friend? Something she'd greatly approve of, were she only here to see it.]

Well, here's hoping you and the Dango God that Ferris is always going on about don't have anything against each other...

[Hence how Ryner ended up in front of the shrine, placing a box of handmade dango gently down in front of it. He'd cooked it himself, using the recipe he'd asked Marian for a couple years back. ...Well, he'd asked Rose to help too, and she'd been okay with it after he'd explained his reasons (and also after he'd conceded that half of the batch was for her). It hadn't seemed to take nearly as long for the dango to cook as it had last time... but, well, he'd gotten stuck in a weird loop at the Leid house for an hour the other day when bringing Marian to visit her parents, so it was probably better not to comment on it.

And then he just stood there in silence for a few minutes, contemplating time gone by and people he hadn't seen in far too long.]

[brokencode]

[Angel wasn't the type to worship, or even so much as believe in gods. Legendaries, though? Those were different. She had seen one, or something close to it, first hand during the Prom. This was something she could stomach believing, even if she still found it a bit odd.

There wasn't much for Angel to give -- her possessions were minimal considering all the travel they did. But if Celebi could do all it was said to do, then she had an idea.

Approaching the shrine, Angel laid a crown of flowers onto it, before kneeling down.]

My friend has left recently. I would... like to ask that you find her somewhere in time and... let her know how dearly she was cared for.

[It was on her way back from the shrine that things got a little... weird. The first was a snorting laugh, from the lips of a woman. The second was gunfire, loud and sharp against her ears. It was all too familiar, which left her stomach down near her toes.

Anyone who happened upon her would find Angel pressed against a tree, wild-eyed and clearly fearful.]

[charcoalfeather]

[The notion of offering up something to the pokemon hadn't occurred to Rakka until the first word of it had reached her at the start of the festival. But it's sometime into the festivities that she actually does choose to go out and see it.

She'd even chosen a special gift for the shrine, and she hoped it was accepted by... whatever is out there.

For a moment, she simply stops in her path, watching the people going back and forth into the forest, heading to that shrine she had happened upon months earlier. It would certainly be a simple trek, yet she was... nervous for some reason.]

...I wonder, if this is how it always is. [Something concerns her.]

[thedifferencebetween]

Jack doesn't go in for all this worshiping Pokemon shit. But he's not stupid. Legendary Pokemon? They sound a hell of a lot like Vault Guardians to him. They're powerful, ancient Pokemon. Like he's not gonna be all over that.

He's not planning anything, he just wants to poke around. Maybe catch a glimpse of the thing that's supposed to be around here, making time do weird things. Another effect Eridians could produce, or so it seemed like. He's dressed casually - just two waistcoats of differing styles over a white dress shirt - and wandering along the path to the shrine, hands in his pockets and fat houndour at his heels.

He even has something to leave as an offering, in case that sort of thing encourages the local Poke-god to put in appearance. Which means it's possible to come across Handsome Jack, of all people, putting a small statue of a flower bush down at the shrine. It's expensive and it's a flower, that seems like a pretty sweet offering...

Joker - ota

[pipers_son]

Hey, are ya waitin' ta get ta the shrine?

[Atop a large Gogoat, Joker smiles as he leans forward with his prosthetic resting against the back of the large Pokemon's head. Ash the Larvesta is peeking out from the opening of his sleeveless hoodie.]

Ya can ride along with us, if ya like!

LEGENDARY SEEKERS

[indigo_events]

Well, this is certainly the flashiest booth at the festival. And also somehow the cheapest looking…seems like buying transport for so many people might have used up more money than expected. Early arrivals will see that they did get one of those dancing inflatable attention-grabbers in the shape of a Deoxys, but it’s not long before the Jenny comes around and makes them take it down for being too disruptive. Whoops. The brothers themselves aren’t at the booth, they’re out and about trying to gather evidence, but it’s being manned by a couple of very enthusiastic Hikers. There are sign up sheets for those looking to join up officially (and you’ll even get a little badge to pin on!) and subscribe to the monthly newsletter.

[soulcomet]

[Madoka wasn't really sure what she signed up for when she asked the brothers for transport to Azalea, but she did figure she owed them by hearing more about what exactly they were trying to find.]

[and so, she's standing at the booth, tiny little Eevee in her arms, having made the mistake of telling a Hiker she has no idea what a legendary pokémon is — Madoka's stunned into silence as the Hiker rattles off the names and. uh. legends. of every legendary pokémon he knows about.]

Ah — I'm — [... yup, she's probably going to be here the rest of the festival.]

[and somewhere in the crowd behind her, a Pikipek lurks, watching.]

ADVENTURE PARK

[indigo_events]

If the rest of the festival is feeling a little…sedate for the more adventurous types, the Adventure Park has decided to waive the admission fee for the entire day! There are even a few decorations up here, although only so much as wouldn’t interfere with safety. Have fun climbing and ziplining through the trees, maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of Celebi as you’re flying through the air!

[yoyoboy]

[One thing that Tony loves about this world is that it offers anything that reminds him of his (former) spy job. Namely about the climbing and zip lining that reminds him some of his awesome missions. And even offering the chance to get a glimpse of a Pokemon he never heard about also gives him the energy to do some adventurous time in the Adventure Park.

In fact, if you're just climbing or zip lining by, you can see him screaming at the top of his lungs while doing those stuff.]

Yee-Haa!!! I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!

[Whether if he's doing this just to relieve his travel dilemmas involving a time distortion problem or not is up to you. Just watch out if he bumps (or crashes) into you.]