CAMP ALPHA: for everyone who wanted a crossover between summercamp and Ghost Adventures

[indigo_league]

Who: Everyone who came to Camp Alph
Where: The Ruins of Alph
When: July 18th-21st
Summary: This is a log for all the camping shenanigans your heart desires! For part 2 of the event, there will be a second log to keep the ensuing seance situation separate from the all-purpose ruin-exploration adventures. Participation in part 2 will be entirely voluntary, so feel free to tag on part 1 as long as you like! For more information about this event, check out the info post over here!
Rating: PG-13
Log:


Been to the Ruins of Alph before? Are you an old hat at this stuff? Well turn everything you thought you knew UPSIDE DOWN because EVERYTHING. IS DIFFERENT NOW.

… Or at least, that’s what the flyers being passed out under a canopy of cheap Celebi balloons that are bobbing around in the breeze say.

One thing’s for sure, there sure are a lot more tents than normal. By the time most of you casuals get there, the entire picnicking area, usually quite spacious, has been turned into a small tent city. And the excited atmosphere is palpable.

The crackle of the Ruin Rangers’ walkie-talkies mingles with that of the ghost-hunting equipment toted around by excited Hex Maniacs, burbling Unown are drifting here and there to blink curiously at all the new people and Pokemon suddenly on their turf, and chatter from Legend Seekers of all ages (really, of ALL ages-- everyone from Youngsters to Veterans have apparently been swept up in the Seeker-mania!) rings out as stories and speculations are swapped.

There’s lots to do, plenty to explore, and (according to word on the grapevine), more than enough spooky rituals to perform once the night falls.

Will you solve some tile puzzles and fall into an underground chamber? Stick to the main group and make s’mores? Befriend a floating letter (or twenty-four)? Go directly against the advice of the tired-looking Rangers and play One Man Hide-and-Seek in the dark?

Or, most importantly, will you start a small-scale riot in order to keep the loud static boxes away from the tents where you’re trying to sleep?

Comments

Closed to Dipper

[schachmeister]

[The setting: a tent. The time: night. The activity: definitely not sleeping.

Which is not to say Armin and Dipper are up to any funny business. Oh no. There is only the most above-board, serious mystery trading going on here. Very professional.

Armin is laying on his stomach in the tent, a copy of the map he got from Nephelis laying in front of him, a notebook and pen at the ready. He's already marked down the two additional marks that are on Dipper's map but not on his own. His Shiinotic, Gus, sits in the opened tent flap, his cap glowing and bathing the inside of the tent in a shimmery, slightly ethereal light. Who needs flashlights when you have got a gentle shroom buddy? Which is not to say Armin doesn't also have a flashlight at hand -- the one Dipper gave him for Christmas, to be exact. After all, you never know when you might need a flashlight!]

All right. [Armin gestures with his pen at the map.] I promised to tell you about what I saw out here [He pointed at the golden mark off the whirl islands.] so I guess we should start there and then afterwards we can compare the rest of the marks we visited.

[starry_forehead]

[The most professional mystery trades ever. Dipper's also got out his map, a journal, a pen. Another flashlight and his uv light. Everything you need to be way too into this.]

That sounds like a good start.

[He's also got the new marks on his own map that he'd been missing.]

What did you see there?

[schachmeister]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any good pictures, but--

[His expression becomes more animated, excitement with a conspiratorily touch.]

You won't really see anything during the day. It just looks like any other patch of ocean. But if you wait until night, you can see there is actually a giant Starmie right there. [Armin taps the water on the map.] And I do mean giant. It's easily ten times the size of any Starmie I've ever seen. At night, especially when the moon is full, it'll light up its core, and you can see its light shining all the way through the water. I don't know how long it has been there, but it must be old. Very old.

[starry_forehead]

Oh wow....

[Dipper is totally taking notes.]

That's amazing. I wonder if it's actually contacting something in space. If someone could find a way to communicate with it....

[schachmeister]

Maybe with the help of a psychic pokemon. Unfortunately, I don't really own any, so I haven't been able to try that yet.

[Armin frowns a bit, rolling that idea around in his brain.]

Though you might need to get close to it to communicate with it. Which would involve diving deep down. It could be difficult bringing a psychic pokemon that deep in the ocean.

[starry_forehead]

[Dipper seems to think that over.]

Are there any psychic, water pokemon? Maybe they might be able to swim really far down.

[schachmeister]

[Oh, you are asking the right questions to the right person here, Dipper.]

Surprisingly, not all that many. There is the Slowpoke line, but they are not necessarily the best divers. There is Starmie, of course, and then there is Bruxish.

Lapras seem to have some latent abilities too but that is a little more complicated.

[starry_forehead]

[He totally is. Also taking notes.]

What's more complicated about the Lapras' abilities?

[schachmeister]

They aren't Psychic type pokemon, so any abilities they do develop take a lot more effort on their part. Unlike a psychic type pokemon who are simply born with those abilities, for a Lapras it is something they must develop and hone with diligence. Many of them never do. Or if they do, it's often just with their own pod.

[starry_forehead]

Interesting.

I wonder if other psychic type pokemon would be able to help them develop it. Or if its just too different from other pokemons abilities.

[schachmeister]

It's possible. I don't have any other psychic pokemon to try that.

[And honestly, his main focus, when it comes to his Lapras, is to support the pod so they can produce young Lapras that he can release out into nature. Of course, he builds up a bond with them too, especially the ones he knows cannot be released into the wild, but everything he teaches them is aimed towards surviving in the wild.

Though, about that--]

This might be a bit of a selfish request but... could you not speak to other people about Lapras being able to develop psychic abilities? It isn't really known about, not very publically, at least, and I don't want people having another reason to try and catch wild ones.

[Trust him, withholding information doesn't feel great to him, but he has weighed it carefully against the possibility of people going crazy and trying to catch even more wild Lapras. The wild pods won't be able to survive that.]

[starry_forehead]

[Dipper listens and then nods.]

Sure, I can do that. I'll even change my notes later so they're coded. Just in case.

[Hey, he knows Lapras are really important to Armin. Also hiding information is one thing he's probably way too good at.]

Also, if you ever wanted to try that? I have a Gothitelle and a Beheeyem who are pretty much the most ridiculously responsible pokemon I have. Seriously, I think Moon Child evolved just so she could keep a better eye on me after that one time when I got super weird about buying a cd. So, I bet they'd be willing to help.

[schachmeister]

Thank you. I really do intend to share everything I know about Lapras and their psychic abilities with other people at some point. Just... once their numbers in the wild are more stable.

[Cross his heart and hope to die. He really opposes the suppression of information, what with how the government had done it back on his world and all. But he also doesn't want wild Lapras to die out. It is hard balancing morals, at times.]

I... perhaps. Honestly, I've never really thought about it. I've just been focusing on breeding them and getting the young ones ready to be released that I haven't really been thinking about researching.

[starry_forehead]

That makes sense. You don't want to put them at risk.

[Dipper gets it, and also while he's all for information being out there. He's still prone to doing up half his notes like he's hiding them.]

Maybe sometime in the future if they're interested?

[schachmeister]

[Armin gives Dipper a relieved smile. He likes Dipper and he values his opinions, so knowing that Dipper understands his reasoning and even agrees with it feel good.]

I'll think about it.

[Now that Dipper has planted the idea in his mind, he'll certainly take his time to consider it, regardless of what conclusion he'll come to.]

We should probably get back to the map. Have there been any really interesting spots you've visited?

[starry_forehead]

Oh right.

[He'll pull his map back over.]

I've only been to a few so far but this one...

[He'll point to the one marked 12.]

It's a place where Ponyta get together and race. There's been so many races there the ground is singed black. I watched from a distance and there was a huge pack of them running as fast as they could. I'm not sure why there. If it was just for fun or it's a herd behavior but it was pretty amazing.

[schachmeister]

Really? That sounds like an amazing sight to see.

[Armin makes a quick few notes, before propping his chin up in one hand.]

I don't really know a lot about fire pokemon. Maybe racing like this is them practising their skills in preparation for adulthood? Sort of like how kittens will playfight together. Or perhaps it helps them establish social status.

[Or maybe. Just maybe. It's just fun.]

[starry_forehead]

It was. There wasn't really anything strange about it, but it was neat seeing how wild pokemon act by themselves.

[He was hoping for strange but still.]

Yeah, like whoever wins gets to be the leader in the group. Or maybe they get to show off.

[Or maybe because it's fun. This is why he needs Mabel around.]

I don't really know much about fire pokemon either. I've mostly been reading about the ghost types.

[schachmeister]

It sounds a bit like the Indigo Plateau. There aren't many trainers out there, so it is a great place for observing wild behaviour.

[Really, he's already beaten the Elite Four, but Armin is definitely planning on going back there at some point just to see more stuff. Maybe Autumn. Autumn sounds like it could be a cool time to sightsee some more.]

Speaking of wild behaviour. Have you visited this one yet?

[Armin taps Dipper's map, right on number eight, located just a bit north of Blackthorn.]

[starry_forehead]

No. I've mostly been in Kanto recently.

Have you been to that one?

[schachmeister]

Well, you know how Blackthorn is known for its many hot springs?

If you go way up North, past even the last houses, there is a hot spring there. One visited only by wild pokemon. They actually let you get in with them, as long as you don't bother them.

[starry_forehead]

Wait, really?

That's ...surprisingly nice of them. I'd have expected they'd want to keep strangers away from a hidden spot like that.

[schachmeister]

That was a bit surprising but maybe... There were several different species of pokemon there. Even species that normally compete in the wild. It sort of felt like... that hot spring was an area they had all designated as a peaceful place. No matter how much they compete in the wild, in that area, they all share. I guess, if it was something like that, they felt that things should also be shared with us. Even if we were just humans.

Though probably they wouldn't have been so friendly if we actually tried catching any of the pokemon there.

[starry_forehead]

And if there are pokemon there that would be normally attacking each other it kind of sounds like a place where they have a truce....or a neutral zone.

Trying to catch them would probably break any unspoken rules in a place like that.

I wonder how it got started.

[schachmeister]

I've heard people say that hot springs stimulate the body's ability to heal itself. If that is true for pokemon too, maybe it got started because of that? Unlike our own pokemon, wild pokemon can't just go to a pokemon centre if they are injured. Maybe they all started coming there to recover from any injuries. The injured pokemon wouldn't have the energy to fight each other, and any healthy pokemon wouldn't want to start any fights because then there'd be nothing to protect them if they'd ever get injured.

[Armin gets more and more excited as he speaks, thoughts slotting in place in a way that really seems to make sense to him. Though, will it make sense to Dipper too.]

If, uh, if that makes sense, I mean...