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

[grapeeater]

... Oh. That's good.

[He pats Isamu on the back for an... apparent job well done? Good going, you self-proclaimed hero of justice, you.]

I've done what I can, but I think he's picked a lot up on his own. His name's Isamu, by the way. I'm Micchy. And you are?

[atlasrising]

Isamu? So that's who you were calling before, huh? [ He should have Loader pop out and make some more friends. Your pokemon can never have too many of those, right?

He searches through his bag and pulls out Loader's ball, releasing the little Elgyem out into the open. ] I'm Rhys. And this [ He points to the little Elgyem that's looking at Isamu curiously. ] -is Loader.

[grapeeater]

That's right.

[He looks down at the Elgyem, raising an eyebrow. Now that's a Pokemon he's not familiar with. Not really.]

Loader. Well. Hello there.

[Isamu makes a pleased noise and kneels to talk to Loader.]

Are you new here? Not... in this city, but this world in general.

[atlasrising]

[ The little Elgyem chirps, twirling in the air before going to settle with Isamu. But, uh, hey. Rhys is forgetting another one, isn't he? ]

...I got another one. His name's Money Shot. [ He'll quickly add in as he releases the little Meowth from his ball: ] I didn't name him that. I swear.

[ Such an embarrassing name for a cute little Meowth...

Anyway! Onto the question. ] I, uh, kind of? Maybe I've been here for a month. Or maybe less? I honestly don't remember. [ The days here flew by quicker than they did on Pandora. ] I've been here long enough to know what I'm doing, for the most part.

How about you?

[grapeeater]

... Uh huh.

[He has heard enough English slang to know what that means and. Nope.]

I've been here for... uh. A little under two years, I think. That's not even close to the longest stay I've heard of, though.

[atlasrising]

[ Rhys might drown in embarrassment, so he just kind of...lets the topic change.

That part makes Rhys kind of double take. Did he just hear two years? ] ...Y-Years? You're telling me you've been here for years?

[ Oh god, does he hate the idea of being here for that long. That honestly makes him want to throw up. ] How does that even work?

[grapeeater]

By not going home, I guess? I don't mind too much, though. It's nice here.

[Aside from his time in Team Rocket. That... that wasn't very nice at all.]

[atlasrising]

[ Man, this guy is actually calling it nice.

...Is it nice compared to Pandora? Oh hell yeah. There's no monsters trying to eat you, or psychos trying to eat your face. But at the same time, he's being held back from some serious business he needs to attend to. It's not the state of the world they're living in, more like Rhys has been thinking about the unknown back home, and it's grinding his nerves.

Distractions, though! Rhys is here, so he might as well just enjoy it. Even though Handsome Jack is here as well, and that...makes him enjoy it a lot less. ] S-So, what do you do? Or what did you do?

How do you live here for two years without going crazy?

[grapeeater]

I... uh. Well when I got here at first, I was mixed up with some bad people, but I got out of that a bit ago. Now I've just been kind of... trying to live a more normal life. My life at home was a lot different. But it's nice just relying on yourself.

[Isamu shoots him a Look.]

... Well yeah, with you guys helping, too.

[atlasrising]

Bad people, huh? [ Rhys can kind of relate to that. At least, getting mixed with the wrong crowd. Or the wrong guy. It's something that you don't really see until you're broken away from the bad influence. That's when things just kind of...sink in. ] I can kind of guess how that goes.

I'm guessing everything's better now though, right? [ He looks to Isamu, and raises his eyebrows. ] Am I right?

[grapeeater]

Yes.

[Isamu nods, brightening up a bit. Of course! Things are better when people can work together.]

I mean, one day at a time is pretty much all we can ever handle, right?

[atlasrising]

Yeah, yeah! YOu're, you're right.

[ He offers a smile. ][ Oh. Should he swear in front of Isamu...? Ooh, he feels bad now. ]

But as long as you're not into that stuff anymore. I don't even know how you could in a world like, this, but you know. It seems pretty...innocent. [ Compared to Pandora, anyway! ]

[grapeeater]

There's... darker things, but nothing like what I saw from some people at home. Team Rocket basically acts like an organized crime syndicate, but it's different from the yakuza.

On the whole though, you're right. It's... lighter in a lot of ways.

[atlasrising]

...Team Rocket? [ That's a name he's not familiar with. Rhys frowns, cocking his head to the side. ] Who are they?

[ He smiles, shifting back on his feet. ] Tell me about it. You hungry? I'm up for some food if you are.

[grapeeater]

They're... ugh. It's hard to explain if you're not familiar with organized crime, but you know how businesses are structured? Bosses on top, division heads, employees? Like that, but with crime.

[He could go into detail, but he's not sure how much detail he should give.]

Food sounds good, though.

[atlasrising]

Ooooh, yeah. I know that all too well. That's basically Hyperion right there. [ With or without the crime involved, because people have been known to kill others to get promoted. Normal stuff. ] That's more or less how I got these, anyway. [ He raises his right hand. Thank you, business world.

Food, though! Food is good. ]

So, uh, what are you thinking? I've...more or less sampled everything from every stand, so you tell me what you want.

[grapeeater]

... I'm guessing your world's technology is more advanced than mine.

[There's prosthetic limbs, but nothing like that.]

Takoyaki sounds good. I haven't had it in a while. Unless fried octopus weirds you out?

[atlasrising]

I mean...probably. [ He's getting used to the fact that not everybody has ECHO devices, or isn't living on Pandora, or has high tech weapons or whatever. ] Do you come from the planet Earth? I don't even know what that is. It's in history books, but other than that. [ He shrugs.

...and then he wrinkles his nose when fried octopus is brought up. Oh, god. ] I can try, if you want me to. [ He tries to offer a smile, but it probably comes off as a grimace. ] If you really, want me to.

[grapeeater]

I do, yeah. I know of another world where I'm from, but no one who lives there looks like you.

[Not for long, anyway. But the grimace makes him laugh a little bit, Isamu huffing in laughter as he catches Micchy's amusement.]

You don't have to. I think I saw someone selling nikuman - uh. Dumplings? They're kind of starchy and they have meat in them.

[atlasrising]

[ Rhys shrugs! ] I can't say I understand these world things all that great. As far as I know I'm just from the future. Like, centuries in. [ To the point where he doesn't even know what Earth is. It's a plant that nobody really knows about anymore, y'know?

Thank god there's dumplings, though. As much as Rhys likes to try new things, octopus might be stretching it a bit. ] That sounds good. I can do dumplings.

[ He smiles. ] After you?

[grapeeater]

It's kind of a long and really confusing story, but basically an alien, sentient forest was invading my world. And that's the most basic explanation.

[It's okay, Rhys. He's... had a while to get used to it. But he leads on, Isamu following along behind behind them.]

[atlasrising]

Whoa. That's, uh... [ Man, what were you even supposed to say about something like that? Jesus. ] That's uh, pretty rough! I mean, aliens and everything? Wow. I hear they can be a bitch, y'know?

[ Rhys has no idea how anyone would deal with aliens. Coming from a guy who deals with monsters and stuff on Pandora, though. ]

[grapeeater]

Yeah. We didn't really have enough time. Everything started happening really fast.

[atlasrising]

Enough time? Enough time for what?

[ He really hopes he doesn't mean anything bad. But why does he have a feeling it does...? ]

[grapeeater]

... To save everyone. A lot of people died. Some people... changed. I can't say that I really know of anyone who got out of it totally unscathed.