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

[icecastlemadonna]

Before the show
[Before her act begins, Yuuko will be backstage, trying to make sure her Pokemon will be ready. Unfortunately, Killian the Zoroark seems to be suffering a mild bout of stage fright, since he's crouching in a fetal position while Yuuko tries to comfort him. Meanwhile, Biellmann's distracted by how he good he looks in a crown, preening himself while looking at a nearby mirror.]

Killian, it's going to be okay. We got a lot of practice in yesterday. You'll be fine.

After the show
[After their act, Yuuko and Killian have changed out of their costumes (Biellmann refuses to remove his crown) and are sitting in the lobby of the Contest Hall. Now that it's over, she's trying to give Killian some extra reassurance.]

See, what did I tell you? You did a great job, Killian!

Greenhouse
[Yuuko's used to the cold, what with living in Mahogany Town and basically growing up at the skating rink back home, but even she needs a break from winter weather sometimes. That's why you may find her at the greenhouse with her Tsareena, Ina. Ina's had trouble adjusting to the winter in Mahogany, so being surrounded by all this lush greenery is good for both of them.]

Ooh, Ina, look at these ones! Aren't they nice? [Yuuko points out some spectacular-looking flowers nearby. Ina merely nods and closes her eyes, trying to take in as much of the warmth of the greenhouse as she can.]

After the show

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Seeing someone he's at least talked to a few times, Harry will walk over with a wave.]

That was a really great performance. You guys must be proud.

[icecastlemadonna]

[It's always nice to see someone familiar.]

Thanks! I think we managed to do pretty well in the short time we had to practice. And Biellmann really wanted to do a dance number, so...

[Biellmann makes a show of adjusting his crown. As far as he's concerned, he is now a beautiful swan prince and everyone must praise him.]

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

It was amazing. I really liked the costumes too.

[Aw, Biellmann that's sweet. Have a nod to him.]

You were perfect in the role.

[Yes, Harry might only have a passing knowledge of the story. But also, it's always good to praise children/pokemon.]

[icecastlemadonna]

[Biellmann lets out a loud honk and flaps his wings, clearly just to show off. Personally, Yuuko thinks his ego could use less feeding, but he did well during their act so she doesn't really mind.]

I thought it would be fitting to do Swan Lake, since he is a Swanna and all.

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

It does seem like a good match.

[He nods.]

I don't think I'd be able to do something like that, even if I could skate well. Too many people looking at me. I guess it's why prefer to stay behind my writing.

[icecastlemadonna]

I guess I'm just used to it by now. When you figure skate for long enough, crowds don't matter as much.

[Though she knows her friend Yuuri has struggled with performance anxiety for years.]

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

That makes sense. I've probably spent too long doing the opposite. Trying to avoid people's attention as much as possible.

[At least he's getting better at talking to people and not just hiding.]

[icecastlemadonna]

Well, I've known people like that. I think all they really need is a few people they're willing to talk to.

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

Being away from my world helps a lot as well.

For all this place throws a few things at us. It's really very calming.

[icecastlemadonna]

It is, isn't it? Too bad we didn't have much of a choice in coming here, though. [Because Yuuko still misses her family quite a lot.]

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

It would be better if we were offered a choice. Or a chance to leave if we wanted to.

I suppose it's easier for people like me to be here. My daughter is here after all. And if I go back myself, all that happens is I'll finally find out if there is an afterlife of some sorts.

[Still conflicted on that idea. Thanks silent hill. also thanks for killing him.]

I do wish we could bring people here. I had some friends that I wish could have a second chance as well.

[icecastlemadonna]

So do I. Some friends of mine actually did show up here back in November, but they didn't stay for very long.

[She doesn't mention that the triplets also showed up. Thinking about that is a little too painful.]

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

Was it just for about a weekend?

[icecastlemadonna]

It was. It was a pretty weird weekend, thinking back on it...at one point I somehow ended up all the way in Blackthorn.

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

That makes sense. There are weekends that happen about twice a year where everything gets...strange. Things are harder to remember, travelling gets you to random places and people show up and then vanish at the end of it.

I've been through quite a few of them by this point.

[He really hates that he always seems to travel by blacking out due to sirens. Does not help the horrible memories.]

[icecastlemadonna]

I think I may have heard about that before it happened, come to think of it. But hey, at least I finally got to go to Blackthorn without having to travel.

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

They can be useful like that.

....and a bit hard to remember. Still it's interesting when it does happen. I don't believe we've ever gotten a real explanation about why it happens though.

[icecastlemadonna]

There are a few things about this place I wouldn't mind getting an explanation for.

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[He chuckles at that.]

Yeah. I think I had a list at some point. This place doesn't seem mysterious in an ominous way, at least not in one I'm used to. But it has a lot of odd things that don't seem to have explanations anywhere.