The dog days aren't quite over yet...

[indigo_events]

Who: Everyone participating in the Dog Days of Summer event!
Where: Mt Mortar, the Bell Tower, OR the Seafoam Islands
When: August 17th-31st
Summary: With the Legendary Beasts running amok, it's up to everyone to help figure out what's wrong and get everything back to normal!
Log:



Bell Tower

Volunteers helping at the Bell Tower will arrive in Ecruteak City and be welcomed into the Bell Tower-- the normally-reclusive monks are still fairly stiff, but in the interest of not driving off the very help they asked for, they will be much more accommodating than usual.

Little studies have been set up all over the archive rooms in the upper floors, allowing volunteers to group up at tables and pore over old tomes and scrolls for any information that might be related to Ho-Oh or the three Beasts-- of course, there’s also a wealth of information about legendary Pokemon from other regions… just don’t let the monks catch you getting off-topic!

Gym Leader Morty will also be present helping with the research, and is using his Indigo League funds to finance inn lodgings in town for all volunteers. As for refreshments, local restaurants have also stepped up, eager to provide free food for all volunteer researchers! Gogoat-drawn carts full of fresh, traditional cuisine will come trundling up to the Tower several times a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)-- often accompanied by the restaurant-owners themselves. The guy who runs ECRUTEAK HOUSE OF DUMPLINGS will be there a lot-- he and his Emboar are particularly bombastic about stuffing everybody full of delicious fried dumplings at every opportunity. Gotta stay well-fed if you want to study!

That said, anyone wishing to pull an all-nighter will either have to bring their own snacks or rely on the monks’ supplies-- which means plain rice, hot tea, and not much else.

----

Mt Mortar

The base of Mt. Mortar is a flurry of activity no matter what the hour-- the center of operations is a large camping area at the foot of the mountain, where a small army of tents have been set up. Rangers and volunteers alike are rushing around, and anyone just arriving will be asked to sign in and mark whatever tasks they’ll be helping with.

Strong trainers can sign up for field work, which can involve anything from patrolling the mountain to evacuate campers to helping corral the panicking wild Pokemon population (bright side: there’s even more rare ones running around than normal, and capturing them is a quick and easy way to get them out of harm’s way!). Trainers with flying types may even wind up helping to carry water over from the Lake of Rage in case of what the Rangers all fear: forest fire.

More inexperienced trainers will lower-leveled Pokemon will be encouraged to stick around base where it’s a little safer-- but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of work to be done! Several meal tents are set up around the base, where you can serve (or be served) quick meals from hot pans, soup kitchen style. Nothing fancy or extravagant, but nothing that won’t taste great after a long hectic day of running around the mountain. And hey, it’s free.

A first-aid tent is also set up where trainers and their Pokemon can have injuries patched up-- the Nurse Joys staffing it can always use assistance to keep up with everything.

Sleeping quarters are provided via cot-filled tents set up around the base-- those ones are first-come, first-serve, so grab one fast! Helping the Rangers out is an all-day-all-night affair, so everyone just sleeps and eats when they get the chance to. Reminders to do both on a regular basis are posted all around-- nobody wants sleep-deprived trainers doing dangerous work, even if, between the constant roars of Raikou and Entei and the constant activity within the camp, sleeping could get pretty difficult.

Fortunately, one of the first things you’ll be handed upon arriving is a pair of heavy-duty earplugs.

----

Seafoam Islands

On the shores of the Seafoam Islands, everything is… well, chaos.

The beaches are COVERED in tents of all shapes, sizes, and… raggedness. It seems many folks have shown up in lieu of Greg’s frantic video post, and they’ve more or less taken over. You can barely see the sand! Things are quite a bit less organized than they are over at Mt. Mortar, which unfortunately means that for food and first-aid, you might need to wind up heading over to the teeny tiny little dock town with the inn (booked solid, sorry!) and the shop (Blaine’s beach is less occupied, but he can be seen from time to time passive-aggressively picking up peoples’ trash around the outskirts of the tent army and scowling).

Because out on the beach, there’s no first-aid to speak of and if you go to the ‘food tent’, you’ll just be handed something like this.

Fortunately, unlike their hilariously futile efforts to find Celebi and aside from their clear lack of event-managing knowledge, it seems the Seekers actually are onto something. Every six hours or so, Articuno, Zapdos, or Moltres CAN be seen soaring high overhead and disappearing around the back of the mountain, often with stolen food or shiny things glinting in their talons.

The Seekers themselves are more concerned with getting all their equipment functioning than they are about accommodating all the tourists who just showed up to sit on the beach and stare at the horizon in hopes of seeing one of the Birds-- but if you can actually find them in the chaos, they’ll eagerly put you to work.

In this case, 'work' means 'heading straight into the caves to try and #FindLugia'. Well? WILL YOU?



(Remember to SIGN UP over here!)

Comments

A

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath and Vanitas had likely already bumped into each other here and there over the course of the past week, but there's not a whole lot of time to fraternize when new tasks pop up like daisies and there's one or more rangers telling you to do stuff basically any time when you're not asleep, eating, or actively being bandaged up by Nurse Joy.]

[Still, Wrath has eagerly joined up with Vanitas whenever possible, and this is no exception.]

[As the Noctowl comes to a landing, Wrath's Vaporeon, Sleepy, looks over from where she'd been drenching the undergrowth with Water Gun.]

[Wrath himself is sitting atop his Granbull, proudly counting his remaining Pokeballs. 8] He's caught SO many Pokemon for the glory of Team Rocket today.]</sub>

Let's go soak that place where all the rocks are next!

_{[So he can CLIMB ON THEM.]}

[bleedingunversed]

[Vanitas had to admit, having Wrath around was always entertaining and he was honestly starting to like the other's company. If nothing else, the younger man likes to start trouble just as much as he does.

A soft hoot leaves Noise as she nods to Sleepy, fluffing herself up before allowing her feathers to settle as a few Pokemon dart past her.]

You just want to go climbing, don't you? [It's called back with a lazy smirk as Vanitas pats Noise's wing then starts heading towards the area Wrath had suggested, whistling to let his Pokemon know they're moving.] See any interesting Pokemon over there?

[garbagechild]

_{[Wrath's answer to that is a hyena-like snicker and a big, sharp-toothed grin before he goes galloping off towards the cluster of boulders.]}

I bet there's lots of the ones that explode!

_{[Which he doesn't necessarily like being near, but watching Geodudes and Gravelers tumble down the hills at things that piss them off and blowing up on impact has been something he's observed with GREAT amusement over the past few days.]}

[bleedingunversed]

[Vanitas snorts in amusement--genuine amusement--as watches Wrath go galloping past.]

Isn't there enough fire around here for you?

[Let's be honest, there's never enough fire.

Vanitas hauls himself up onto a boulder just as his Salazzle, Phial, reaches him, the lizard crawling up onto it as well as her tongue flicks out.]

See what you can find. [She give shim a pleased look and bumps against him before slinking off, flushing various Pokemon out of hiding as she goes.]

Hey Wrath! If you do get any of them to explode, make sure you're ready to catch anything that bolts!

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath's Vaporeon meanders along behind them at a leisurely pace-- rather than having his team do it for him like a normal person, Wrath has been having great fun flushing wild Pokemon out of their hiding places all on his own, thrashing through the undergrowth and leaping to snatch at Pidgeys and Spearows like a weird overgrown cat.]

[He's already poking his head into the crevices between the boulders, so his reply echoes.]</sub>

OKAY!

I think I see one!

<sub>[He removes his head with a POP and goes galloping off again to get a stick.]

[Because nothing makes a Geodude likely to explode more than poking it with a stick.]</sub>

[bleedingunversed]

[Vanitas veers in Wrath's direction, snickering to himself as the younger man darts off to find a stick.]

Find one for me too!

[Because why not? There was no reason he couldn't have a bit of fun himself.

Phial slinks her way back over to him, a Gible and several Salandits following her looking rather infatuated.]

Having fun? [Vanitas grinned and pulled out several Pokeballs, catching the infatuated lot as Phial gave a happy purr and bumped against him.] Yeah, yeah, good job.

[garbagechild]

_{[Wrath is already prancing back towards the boulders with a big stick, and he starts to rattle it in the gaps of the rocks.]}

COME OUT, or you're gonna burn up!

And DIE.

<sub>[... Reassuring as ever, Wrath.

[But lo-- an extremely startled Tepig does come squealing out of the rocks, taking off down the hill. Wrath whoops and gives chase.]</sub>

[bleedingunversed]

Go help him, Phial.

[The Salazzle's tongue flicks and she takes off with a distinctive saunter, going wide so she can get into the Tepig's path.

Vanitas, meanwhile, hops down off the rock he was standing on to follow, taking off after Wrath specifically rather than following his Pokemon.]

Get him, Wrath! You've almost got him!

[This is better than watching sports or something mundane like that.]

[garbagechild]

<sub>[The terrified piglet zigzags back and forth as it runs, fully aware of the large, menacing lizard flanking it far out on the side but clearly not really sure what to do about it.]

[Wrath, meanwhile, is in his element-- leaping over rocks and tall grass in huge bounds. He's been doing this almost since he was first 'reborn'. Chasing animals through the woods for reasons he didn't even fully understand, at least at first.]

[Finally he gets close enough to make his move... hurling himself forward in a fullbody tackle, arms outstretched--]

[... and comes down hard on the ground, skidding several feet, but the Pokemon practically squirts out from underneath him and takes off in a straight line, screaming.]

[Ouch.]</sub>

[bleedingunversed]

[Phial takes off after the Tepig even as Wrath goes down, not about to let the little thing get away after it's caused this much trouble.

Vanitas, on the other hand, just about falls over laughing.]

Oh man that was great!

[Leaning against a boulder in an attempt to steady himself, Vanitas has to actually wipe away from tears.

Thanks, Wrath. He's never had a laugh like that before.]

You alright, Wrath?

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath is already peeling himself off the ground. He's wearing a scowl, but he's not wailing or bleeding, so he's probably fine.]

[He doesn't seem to be offended that Vanitas is laughing-- it kind of reminds him of Envy, actually. He seems more mad at the Tepig.]</sub>

I almost had it!

[bleedingunversed]

We still have a chance to get it. Phial won't leave it alone unless I tell her to.

[Getting over to where Wrath was, Vanitas smirked lazily and ruffled the kid's hair.]

Come on. Let's catch up and deal with that thing.

[garbagechild]

_{[Encouraged by the gesture (Envy ruffles his hair now, too!), Wrath picks himself up an gives a vigorous shake before taking off again, this time at a slightly more ginger, but no less determined, gait.]}

Sleepy! Go help Phial!

_{[The Vaporeon trots ahead, sprays down the long grass in front of her with a Water Gun, and then goes sliding down the hill on her belly in the direction that the Tepig ran off in.]}

omfg sleepy is so cute

[bleedingunversed]

[At the bottm of the hill Phial has the Tepig cornered against some rocks and a fallen tree, the terrified little Pokemon trying to scramble up over the blockade but it's attacker keeps corralling him. The Salazzle let's out a pleased rumble at Sleepy, slinking up onto the rocks so they have the little thing surrounded now.

Making his way down the hill, Vanitas tries his best not to slip but..well..it's probably not the most graceful descent.]

That stupid thing better be worth all the trouble he's putting us through. I don't even know what it evolves into.

she's a good girl

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath doesn't even bother trying not to slip. He flings himself down the makeshift 'slide' and goes right after Sleepy, albeit sitting up instead of flat on his stomach.]

[Then he scrambles upright, not even bothering to brush the damp grass off of his uniform.]

[He doesn't know what the piglet evolves into either, but dammit if he isn't going to catch it after all this trouble.]</sub>

We've got him now!

Sleepy, use Bubble!

[bleedingunversed]

[There's something about Wrath's lack of grace that's charming.]

Phial, use Dragon Pulse!

[The Salazzle let's out a hiss before letting loose with her attack, the pulse hitting the Tepig a second before Sleepy's Bubble attack would.

There's no way that stupid little thing could stand up against that.]