Come alive come alive

[indigo_events]

Who: Everyone attending the Contest Spectacular! (For more information about this event, check out the info post here!)
Where: Celadon City
When: February 15th-17th
Log:



Valentine’s day may be just past and most cities are relaxing back to normal after all the romance. But in Celadon City, the holiday hype wound up as a lead-in to the month’s main event: the return of the Contest Spectacular!

After Olivine had the honor of hosting in the summer, Kanto’s rainbow city has been eager to draw the event back and truly establish the new tradition. Not that it took much convincing to get Hoenn’s Contest runners back on board—not to mention the Aether Foundation’s assistance as well. They’d heard the city had had an on-and-off issue with pollution, so of course they’re here to supervise and ensure Pokemon safety!

Lusamine having the opportunity to judge more beautiful Pokemon is simply a perk to coming, of course.

Anne and Liz have returned as well, wouldn’t miss it for the world. They’re growing very fond of hosting for this new and interesting region, not to mention getting to meet all the people from entirely different worlds! Whenever they can grab a moment of downtime, they can be spotted out and about with their Plusle and Minun, and are eager to chat people up and hear their otherworldly stories. Just no questions about results!

As for the city itself... Celadon is always flashy, but they really pulled out all the stops this time.

Pink, red, and white tents and booths fill the streets between the towering green-glassed buildings. The fashion center of Kanto apparently didn't get the memo that the fourteenth was over and instead decided on having more hearts, more Luvdisc-themed decorations, and MORE cherry lollipops.

The Aether tents blend right in with the other lovey-dovey colors-- this time they're there to pass out hand-warmers and sanitizer, pamphlets about PokeRus and how to best avoid passing around germs. They're friendly as always (although there seem to be even more of them this time than there were back in August), but Celadon City made sure that there's far more to see than some geeks in white. Now that the Contest Spectacular has two massive successes under its belt, more people than ever want to get in on it.

It seems that every bakery in town came together to outdo each other, and extravagant sweets and pastries are being sold and sampled out at every turn. The usual photobooths and costume-rental stands (that, cough, are definitely not advertising from local fashion companies that want you to stop in and BUY the outfits from their boutiques later...) are present as always-- and the mini-games from last summer are back too!

One booth is surrounded by a near-constant crowd-- manned by a shiny Decidueye and his nervous-looking Trainer-- the regal owl Pokemon is signing copies of his newly-published self-help book-slash-autobi"owl"graphy ("Owl I Want Is You: Memoirs of a Hopeless Romantic") with one of his own quills.
And of course there's the official Contest stalls bursting with merch from the previous contests-- including (but not limited to) colorful additions like:

a sparkling necklace whose beads form the shape of an Onix (EXPENSIVE... but so stylin'!)

a clunky (but very popular with the Youngsters) action figure that transforms into a lumpy Tyrantrum if you follow a bunch of complicated steps

a short newsstrip-style graphic novel about the action-packed adventures of a crime-fighting Wailmer

a VERY dapper line of Joltik-themed bowties and cuff-links

a dainty music box containing a tiny ballerina Eevee figurine that spins when opened

a set of "Ink Blasterz (tm)"-- Octillery-themed squirt guns that come with packets of (nontoxic) black dye so that you and your friends can ruin your neighbor's drying laundry even more once summer rolls back around

a set of gleaming opalescent d20's in a Sableye-shaped box, complete with two hollow holes on the lid where the eyes should be where you can stick two of them!

a floppy green Deino doll that, when switched on, tumbles chaotically around the floor and emits growling noises.

But for those worn out on capitalism the shameless merchandizing, this year the real centerpiece of the outdoor attractions is a temporary but still impressive greenhouse erected in the plaza outside of the main tent. Gym Leader Erika and her underlings have worked throughout the month to feature the fruits of their labor (no pun intended) in the Celadon Gym, and the Greenhouse is a great place for a relaxing respite from the cold, slushy February streets outside. Visitors can learn all about exotic flora and even purchase potted Berry trees, houseplants and bonsais raised by the Celadon gym trainers themselves!

~*~

[IMPORTANT: Please submit your contest entries here! For all other activities, feel free to make your own top-levels!]

Comments

[rimeblaze]

[Contest Hall]

[Performing in the contest itself hadn't sounded like something Shoto really wanted to get involved in but the opportunity to go had been there so hey, why not? It was a chance to travel and see some people he'd gotten to know while he'd been in this place--in person rather than over the network--and his team seemed pretty excited about the entire thing.

All of the performances were extremely fun to watch and Shoto found himself enjoying it more than he expected to, hanging out and watching as many of them as he could.

And while Shoto isn't necessarily the type to approach people and congratulate them on a job well done, his Pokemon sure are.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself bombarded by a shiny Chimchar, a Bergmite and an Ivysaur that are extremely excited about your performance. Their embarrassed trainer isn't far behind of course--]

Sorry, they really wanted to congratulate you.


[Mini Games!]

[When not watching the performances, Shoto and his crew decided to take some time to work on mastering a few of the oddly entertaining games present around the grounds. In particular, Shoto and Macaque (his shiny Chimchar) had gotten quite good at 'Clefairy Says!' which is where they were currently, getting ready to start another round--their third in the past hour!

Think you can beat them?]


[The Greenhouse]

What do you think? This one's nice..

[Shoto tilted his head as he looked at one of the small bonsai plants but jerked as a vine gently bapped his shoulder. The young man glanced down at the Ivysaur at his side, Deku shaking his head and motioning to a different one.]

'Saur!

This one? [Picking up the one Deku seemed fond of, Shoto looked over the small bonsai that wasn't quite as full as the others but..there was definitely something unique about it.] You sure?

Ivy-saur! 'Saur!

[Shoto smiled and handed the plant to Deku who was more than happy to take it with his vines, the Pokemon toddling over to where the woman running the stand was unaware that someone was coming around one of the tables.]

Deku watch--

[Sorry about that Ivysaur to the legs, friend.]


[Wildcard!]

Want to do something else? Hit me up! I'm down for anything!

Contest Hall

[icecastlemadonna]

[Yuuko doesn't really mind being bombarded, especially now that she's out of her costume. Meanwhile, Biellmann looks somewhat irritated and tries to straighten out his crown since it almost got knocked off his head, while Killian seems a bit shy about getting this much attention. He did a good job of hamming it up as a villain during their act, but clearly that's not what he's really like.]

Thanks! I'm glad they enjoyed it. We didn't have much time to put it all together, but I think we managed to do a decent job.

[rimeblaze]

[Rime the Bergmite doesn't seem to notice how put off Biellmann is, chirping and squeaking as he recounts their performance excitedly. It was so amazing and beautiful and you're all so graceful!!

Macaque and Deku chime in with agreement, the Ivysaur hopping from the feet on his left side to those on his right merrily while the Chimchar claps her hands.

So impressive!]

You did a more than impressive job, really. [Shoto smiled faintly.] I'd say you three have a good chance at placing.

[icecastlemadonna]

Well, as long as everyone enjoyed our performance, I'll be happy.

[Biellmann looks like he's been placated by the other Pokemon's excitement. Does he have fans now? Does that mean he's famous? Clearly he is now the ultimate Swanna Prince, so he spreads his wings and does a little bow. Continue to worship him, new fans.]

[rimeblaze]

[Shoto can't help but laugh softly.]

You really weren't in it to win, were you?

[She just wanted everyone to have a good time. It's sweet.

As the Swanna bows the trio of Pokemon let out squeals of delight and Rime the Bergmite, especially, skitters about excitedly. He wants to be just as graceful as you one day, Biellmann! He's going to learn to ice skate and be amazing just like you are on the stage!]

[icecastlemadonna]

I wouldn't mind winning, but mostly I'm just happy to get the chance to perform for people again. That's probably what I miss the most from my competition days, honestly.

[Careful, Rime, or all this admiration will go straight to Biellmann's head. Actually, that's probably what's already happening, since the Swanna is now striking some dramatic poses in hopes of getting more applause.]

[rimeblaze]

The satisfaction of it or the joy of it? Or..well both I suppose.

[He's honestly curious since he's never really performed in front of people before. Competed, sure. Performed? Well, it wasn't like he had any real hobbies.

Thanks dad.

Sorry but Rime is just going to keep boosting that ego and his companions aren't helping any. The little Bergmite is just delighted by the poses and might just be swooning a bit as he scuttles about, chirping madly. Do you see how amazing he is guys? Do you see?!]

[icecastlemadonna]

I'd say both. I'd always be satisfied when I skated well, and it was fun for me, too. People view figure skating competitions as skaters competing against each other, but I don't think that's true...I've always thought that it's about skaters competing against themselves, and seeing how much you can improve for yourself and for the audience.

[Of course, in Biellman's mind, he thinks he's already won the whole contest.]

[rimeblaze]

[His expression turns somewhat thoughtful as he listens to her. That train of thought could apply to something like the sports festival back home as well, couldn't it? A means of improving oneself; better one's use of their quirk..it wasn't just about getting scouted or recognition.]

It's..also about personal enjoyment as well, isn't it? I mean, you do enjoy what you do. Skating and ballet that is. Or did you start doing it for some other reason?

[He had been made to be competitive with his quirk from a young age but it was different for other people. Were sports and hobbies different as well?]

[icecastlemadonna]

Oh, I definitely enjoy it! I've loved to skate ever since I was little. And even though I don't compete anymore myself, I still love to watch other people skate.

[rimeblaze]

[Glancing at his Pokemon who were still gushing over the Swanna, Shoto smiled softly.]

That's good. I think you and your Pokemon might have inspired some of mine to try their hand at something similar, at least when it comes to dancing, for the next contest that comes around.

[icecastlemadonna]

Really? I can't wait to see that, then! Let me know if you need any help.

[rimeblaze]

I will because I..most likely will need some help when the time comes. [He looks a bit sheepish.] I've never done anything like this before.

[icecastlemadonna]

That's alright. We all start somewhere. I'm sure at least a few of your Pokemon would be willing to try performing. [A few of Yuuko's seem to have a knack for it, at least.]

[rimeblaze]

Some of them have definitely shown interest--

[Deku the Ivysaur lets out a happy noise that's echoed by Rime the Bergmite. Yes yes they definitely want to!!]

--so I think we'll have some fun with it.