victory_road | Swinub Scurry

Swinub Scurry

Who: Everyone!
When: February 21st-28th
Where: Blackthorn City
What: It's the Swinub Scurry!
OOC Info: here!

Race day dawns bright and early on the 21st. In Blackthorn City, residents are bustling before the Winter sun is fully risen, completing setup for the veritable sea of Swinub-themed stalls and decorations that has been sprouting up throughout the week. The extra advertising has sparked peoples’ competitive spirits, and there’s also an ocean of handmade posters and signs cheering on specific racers.

Understandably, the majority of signs are for locals… but if any characters showed up earlier in the week to sign up, and had their Pokemon out and about, they may have picked up some fans! Is that a cute handmade doodle of their Pokemon hanging off a nearby balcony?

Speaking of racers - anyone who’s stayed in the town since at least last night, or arrived sufficiently early in the morning, will be invited to a complimentary breakfast! It’s simple and traditional, but there’s plenty to go around - rice and miso soup for everyone, and a vast spread of side dishes, including pickled and cooked vegetables and deep fried tofu. This food may be shared with Pokemon, though there’s also lots of high-vitamin Pokemon food specifically available!

Race sign-ups remain open until noon, when racers will be expected to gather up at the starting line - coincidentally, right in front of the big main event stage. As they harness up their Pokemon and double-check their sleds and supplies, the organizing committee for the event will be giving a speech. 30 minutes later, a loud whistle from the committee lead heralds the start of the race, and everyone will be off!

(Glance to your right as you pull away from the crowded stage area - that’s definitely Gym Leader Clair watching!)

Out on the trail, racing trainers and Pokemon will quickly be struggling, but more with the wilderness than with each other! While trainers with less than six Pokemon harnessed up are allowed to bring a regular team to deal with wild Pokemon, trainer battles are off limits during the race. There’s more than enough to worry about as is!

(That’s not to say there aren’t one or two racers willing to stoop to sabotage, provided they see an opportunity where they think they won’t get caught.)

The trail is marked with red streamers on trees and rocks, but they’re few and far between, and there’s intermittent snow showers that make visibility low. Trainers were provided with a map at the race’s start, but this isn’t the city - you better hope you can interpret contour lines and similar-looking landmarks. It’s easy to get lost! These aren’t the nice, trampled-down paths of routes - trainers will find themselves having to dodge around trees, bounce over rocks, and cross frozen streams and rivers! Speaking of frozen rivers… careful, the slushy weather earlier in the month left some of those with a more fragile layer of ice than others…

On top of that, the wild Pokemon out here are higher in level than on the routes! Trainers will find themselves having to fend off large, dangerous Pokemon like Beartics, Lycanrocs, Cetitans, and Hisuian Braviarys.

And then there’s figuring out when to rest. Any veteran racer will tell you it’s a bad idea not to let your Pokemon have a break for at least a few hours, no matter how much stamina you think they have. Dealing with the wilderness takes a lot out of you. (Every race, there’s someone overconfident enough to think they can just keep going… who then ends up staggering into the finish well behind the pack, their Pokemon completely wiped.) But… do you push as far as possible before resting, and hope you can keep your lead? Or do you rest early, and hope to breeze past everyone else while they’re taking their break?

Back in town, the festivities will have kicked into full swing! Food stands abound - in particular, given the weather, there’s endless options for warm bowls - rice porridge (particularly in the mornings), ramen, udon, oden, stew… But for those who don’t want something soup-adjacent, they will find plenty of other treats, like mochi cakes grilled over a charcoal fire, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with both savory and sweet varieties.

There’s stands with souvenirs and traditional crafts, too - do you want a textile with a Piloswine pattern? Of course you do. There’s lots of options for accessories for your Pokemon - woven collars and bandannas, scarves… and clothes for you too, if you’re so inclined! There’s little wooden and ceramic Swinub charms - rub their noses for luck - and various wood and papercraft objects. One particularly large stand seems to be doing a thriving business in traditional Spinarak silk soap!

On and around the main stage, there’s always something going on. During the day, there’s a constant stream of updates and commentary, with several large screens streaming video from race officials following the race on flying Pokemon. But there’s more: every day of the race has a few additional events on a small side stage, like a panel with former racers talking through their experiences, or a Pokemon performance.

As it begins to get dark, activity will slow down… but even in the wee hours of the night, the stage will stay open with the next shift of commentators, albeit with a much more sleepy, relaxed atmosphere. (Absolutely no loudspeakers, people are trying to sleep.) Some brave and selfless stalls will stay open all night with hot drinks, and tiny local bars so small they only seat a handful of guests offer a warm, friendly place to stop and relax well into the early hours of the morning. Even Blackthorn City’s onsen is kept open well into the night, offering a steamy soak to people and Pokemon alike.

In the early afternoon of the 22nd, the very fastest racers will start showing up at the finish line! They’ll be met with cheering, as will every racer that arrives afterward - it’s a Swinub Scurry tradition that every racer must be welcomed back enthusiastically, no matter how long it takes them. Yes, even in the middle of the night. (There’s a reason the finish line is located at the edge of the city.)

Trainers and Pokemon will be dragged back to the center of the festivities and brought inside to warm up and enjoy another complimentary meal. They’re expected to stick around the city until the race is officially over - they want their medal, right? - but they’re otherwise free to enjoy the celebration around town! They may have to suffer through occasional excited crowds when they’re recognized, though people will let characters go if they beg off by saying their Pokemon are tired or hungry. On the other hand, being recognized at stalls might mean getting offered some small treats and goodies on the house - particularly for those who performed well in the race!

Shortly after sunset on the 23rd, the race will finally come to a close when old man Junzo comes placidly trundling in with his full pack of Shuckle. The cheers for him are… lackluster, to say the least, but he seems entirely unbothered. At this point, all the racers will be called to the stage, with anyone who completed the race presented with a medal, anyone who participated offered the option of taking a Swinub egg (assuming they didn’t get caught cheating)... and the top three winners particularly hyped up and praised! Hope you wanted to be on TV?

But that doesn’t mean the festivities are over! While the intensity will ramp down over the week, and the stage and performances will have shut down after the 23rd, the stalls and extended local business hours won’t close down until the 28th.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cali's offer to assist in immediate first aid response out in the track has been taken up! She didn't know much of the details other than something happened out in the snowy yonder and had packed up a pretty good amount of supplies for it (With a canister of hot chocolate, it's needed). Sweet Sixteen grumped a bit at his backpack home being crowded with medical items, though has gravitated for the hot chocolate canister for warmth.

Upon seeing Min-Gi, Cali waved cheerily towards him as she arrived to assist in the rescue, "Hey Min-Gi, what's the details for the rescue so far? I got the supplies here for it."

It was something he'd hoped not to need to take her up on, but since no one can seem to figure out just what is happening on one specific part of the track it seems safer to bring someone along. Min-Gi isn't hard to find. Red is big enough to attract attention even if she were capable of keeping still as she's loaded up with the supplies they might need.

He shrugs when she asks for the details, kind of at a loss from the description he'd been given by one of the volunteers flying up and down the track. "I don't know," he admits, but if she's coming along she's going to need more than that.

"Best anyone can tell there's some sort of illusion. It's like a forest sprung out of nowhere. We don't know if it's a trainer doing it on purpose or a wild Pokémon yet."

"Woah, that is a weird report. What Pokemon can cause illusions like that one?" Cali was absolutely floored by the situation, especially a sudden phantom forest popping out of nowhere.

With some hop runs, Cali reached Min-Gi and Red for the rescue mission. Cali reaches into her pack and pulls out the hot chocolate canister much to Sweet Sixteen's disapproval, "I also brought hot chocolate and some spare mugs to warm up with later on."

"There are a few options," Min answers, keeping it vague for the moment. He doesn't want to get it wrong. "But we should hope whoever reported it's exaggerating. It's hopefully a smaller area than it sounds, otherwise it would have to be a really powerful Pokémon."

They'll have to see when they get closer, but if it's too big they can always call for back up. There are faster flyers who could catch up to them quickly if needed, plus some of the volunteers just monitoring for the moment could be called if they end up needing someone too urgently.

"The hot chocolate's smart. We don't know how long we're going to be out there."

He's assuming from the report it could be a while, but if it turns out to be a contestant getting overzealous with their Pokémon's abilities then it wouldn't be too bad.

"Have you ever flown on a Pokémon before?" he asks, motioning for Red to lie down once everything's secure. She doesn't have anything to carry them in like her Galar based cousin's might, but she's plenty strong enough to cope with both of them and their supplies on her back.

"Fingers and toes crossed then for it being exaggerated, I can't imagine how much of a maze that'll be if that were the case. I think this would be my second time flying on a Pokemon though, I came in by UBird, it was pretty fun." Cali's mind was now working on what scenario to expect as she looked at Red to see how to board properly.

There truly was a long range of possibilities on what could cause an illusion like it or if it was caused by an overly zealous competitor or a wild Pokemon getting disgruntled by a disruption to its day to day life. The canister of hot chocolate returned to the backpack, Sweet Sixteen was now happy that his heat source had returned.

"Shoot, I forgot to ask, do you have any berries on hand? I've been reading up on the Pokemon book and wanted to see if Sweet Sixteen has Ripen. If he does, that can be put to good use out there." Hooray! Cali's brain is working! Sweet Sixteen couldn't care less so long as it meant he wasn't going to be sacrificed to a wild tundra Pokemon.

Okay. So even if she's still very new at least she has some experience with this. That's good, because the conditions aren't great for learning even just how to be a passenger in.

"I have berries," he replies, digging into the pocket of Red's bags that he knows they're kept it. She turns her head in interest, but Min shakes his head at her and hands them over to Cali. They're of more use to her than to them right now.

"Do you need help getting on?"

And if she does, how can he do that without manhandling a near stranger? He glances back over at Red, trying to preemptively come up with a strategy. Maybe if he gets on first he can pull her up?

Sweet Sixteen looks perplexed at the sudden incoming fruits, but rolls with it. It's fine, just part of the teacup sized dragon's hoard for the time being as he goes back to sleep.

Cali is deep in thought on how to tackle the challenges that comes with being short before cooking up something interesting, "Yes please, I hope I'm correct with this train of thought, I remember you said you had a Pokemon named 'Ice Age'? Do you think Ice Age could make an ice stair or foot stool?"

That's a better idea than hauling her on himself. He could, but it is a little more touchy-feely than he'd like with someone he just met.

"Ice Age?" he muses, handling the ball he knows she's stowed away in just under his coat. "Yeah. She could do that."

Cali hadn't had the chance to meet her before, but she will now. There's a flash of light as she's released from her ball, revealing an Alolan Sandslash. The pangolin-like Pokémon turns to look at her trainer expectantly upon seeing the Corviknight, realizing this isn't downtime.

"Do you think you could make some steps leading up to Red?" Min asks her, holding Red steady preemptively. She's always been a bit flighty, and this requires at least some level of precision. Ice Age nods, turning to the task at hand. It doesn't take her long, and soon there's a few small steps leading up to the Corviknight. Cali will have to be careful, but it should make things easier.

After seeing Alolan Sandslash for the first time, it didn't take Cali very long to realize that is the coolest looking Pokemon ever as Ice Age made the pathway up to Red. Thankfully as she used the stairs, Cali had learned her lesson well from the dreadful Plague Doctor Eating Tree of Route 29 and certainly didn't want to repeat it. Once she's on Red, Cali makes sure she's secured and comfortable for the ride out to the track.

Cali turned to look at Min-Gi and said in her usual sunny tone, "Thank you for doing that for me, ready to see the phantom forest?"

Min nods once she's on, ready to head out. He's both taller and more used to Red than Cali, so it's no trouble for him to climb on and get comfortable once he's given Ice Age a small pat and returned her to her ball.

"Make sure you're holding tight," he warns her, prompting Red into a standing position. He doesn't let her take off just yet, wanting to make sure that Cali is definitely secure before they're in the air.

Cali goes to take off her little cat hat off for the flight to prevent it from flying off and places it into the bag with Sweet Sixteen. Sweet Sixteen had another item to add to his growing hoard.

Once she has that taken care of, Cali gave the thumbs up, "Here we go, I'm all set and holding tight."

"Take it easy," Min warns Red, even as he gives her the go ahead. Secured in and holding tight Cali should be okay, but the Corviknight can be erratic at times and Min-Gi doesn't want to scare her.

Thankfully she seems to listen, and the flight goes extremely smoothly. It isn't long before they reach the coordinates Min's been given, and it's pretty clear just what they were talking about. The size is mercifully smaller than they'd been told, but still must be taking a lot of effort. It's the dead of night, but somehow the cluster of trees still feels darker than anything around it. Min sends Red down, but even with trying to encourage her to land quietly it's still pretty heavy. They're on the edge of the trees, and even if it's not a full on forest it will still probably take some trial and error to find who's in there.

"Keep watch," he tells Red quietly, taking what he thinks they might need from her packs. She's too big to come in with them, but he definitely has Pokémon that will prove useful here. One in particular he has no hesitation in releasing right away.

"Cali, this is Rodeo," Min says to Cali as the Alolan Marowak gets his bearings. He lights up his club almost immediately, giving them at least some lighting in the black. Rodeo gives Cali a nod once he can actually see her, eyeing the nearby trees. "Rodeo, we're going to need you to lead us. There's a trainer somewhere in there and we need to find them."

Watching from above Red, Cali saw the phantom forest too. There was a term she remembered one of her professors had used during a seminar on how he had to join a recovery team out of the colony boundary. How hard it was to navigate back as the exoplanet surface was prime conditions for a form of mirage that made it appear as though there were two colonies, 'Fata Morgana'. That's what the little phantom forest made Cali think of as she landed with Min-Gi.

"Goodness, the phantom forest certainly is a lot darker than anticipated.." Cali said softly as she looked over the illusion woodland edges before turning her attention to Rodeo, "Hi there Rodeo, it's very nice to meet you."

"Should we do a call out once we're in to see if we can get a response from the trainer?" Cali asked as she debated a bit if that'd be beneficial or would attract whatever made the phantom woods.

Min looks nervous at the prospect of calling out, shaking his head. "I think we should investigate first..." he says, not wanting to immediately drop a brand new trainer into a situation where she could be hurt. Even if she was more experienced he'd prefer to be cautious.

Rodeo has been eyeing the trees, and raises his club up to catch Min-Gi's attention. It seems as though he's found a path (or at least a wider gap) they can use. Looking out into the trees the terrain still looks difficult but they should be able to walk without having to force their way through.

"Good point, it might attract whatever made this. Next best bet would be looking for any bright clothing amongst the snow." Cali said, carefully thinking now on how to locate the trainer without causing things to go belly up.

Absolutely, Cali may have experience in medical aid, but she most certainly doesn't have experience in Pokemon battles just yet. Well that and Cali seems to be in thought right now, so Min-Gi may want to redirect her attention to the found path.

"Yeah. Hopefully they're wearing something that stands out."

Seeing that she doesn't seek to have noticed, Min-Gi catches her attention to point at the gap. Rodeo is happy to lead, so all they really have to do is follow.

It would be useful if he had Toque right now. She'd sniff out the trainer (or culprit) in no time. Thankfully Rodeo is observant, so having him to light the way is the next best thing. Min-Gi follows after him quietly, pausing whenever he stops to inspect a tree or the ground.

Occasionally he glances back at Cali to make sure she's okay, or to see if she's spotted anything that they've missed.

That caught Cali's attention as she started to follow Min-Gi and Rodeo into forest. Every now and then, Cali would look over the the snowy floor every now and then for any signs of foot prints or tread marks. On the bright side for Min-Gi, Cali is keeping up, likely from the power of sugar coursing through her little system.

It was impressive how real the trees were, casting shadows from the team's light source. No wonder the trainer and their team ended up lost in this, it was pretty dizzying to navigate in unprepared. Cali does pause for a bit, looking towards the right, "Hey, did you hear that?"

Rodeo had stilled again, but it takes Min-Gi a moment to hear what they must have. There's a crack of a twig off to side, and when Rodeo raises his torch it reveals a Zoroark a few feet off in the thick of the trees. It doesn't seem to have noticed them yet, but appears to be concentrating deeply.

"That must be it!" Min exclaims under his breath, just loud enough to be heard by his companions. "Zoroark are known for their illusions."

He doesn't see any trainer nearby, so maybe this one is wild...?

"Must be, maybe the race activity stressed it out a bit and just lashed out?" Cali kept her voice low as to not disturb a potentially wild Pokemon.

Cali held still for a bit, not wanting to attract any attention from the wandering Zoroark. This pause in movement and not getting anything else handed over, Sweet Sixteen poked his little wormy looking head out to see what's the fuss was about.

"Applin app." Sweet Sixteen hopped right out of the pack, apparently the salty little codger apple is taking things into his own hands (or whatever those little nubs are called) and started making his grubby way towards the Zoroark.

Min-Gi motions frantically for the Applin to hold back, but there's no stopping him. He's mentally preparing himself for battle, but the attack he's expecting never comes.

It's... talking to Sweet Sixteen, it looks like? There's a lot of gesturing at the trees and the ground. Min isn't sure what it's saying (and it's probably saying less than Min thinks, honestly), but if one of them is about to attack it isn't the Zoroark.

"Maybe it's proud...?" Min suggests, unsure what to make of the situation.

"Maybe...I wonder what they're talking about though?" Cali was a bit shocked her Applin did something like that, but relieved he didn't get eaten or anything.

Sweet Sixteen was just looking at this Zoroark motioning up to the trees and to the ground like a disgruntled house cat. It was cold, snowing, and Sweet Sixteen wanted to get back to the backpack sooner rather than later . All Cali saw was her Applin bouncing a bit repeating its species' name to communicate.

Sweet Sixteen was a proud little thing as he talks with the Zoroark in his own special little way, Look buddy, I need to know what's going on? My diseased human over there isn't gonna leave till we find your human.

Edited 2025-02-26 02:13 (UTC)

There are people out there who can understand Pokémon. Min-Gi isn't one of them. He's become pretty good at interpreting the things that either his own team or Ryan's are telling him, but without knowing either one of these all he can do is shrug helplessly.

Rodeo seems alert though. He has one foot forward, ready to intervene if anything happen, but stays still until he sees anything to truly alarm him. The Zorark barely looks phased as his attempt at speculation is rejected by the Applin, merely shrugging when he's confronted. He doesn't say anything, but does stoop to pick it up. That sparks Rodeo into action, the Marowak stepping foot in the clearing as the Zoroark straightens up with the Applin in his paws.

"Put him down..." he warns, raising his club to encourage quick compliance. This time the Zoroark does look surprised. His eyebrows raise, and he tilts his head as though telling them to follow.

Sweet Sixteen is giving the looking of Oh just you wait until I evolve! as he's picked up by the Zoroark. To repeat the things that came out of that Applin would normally sound like a very excitable Pokemon in panic, to Rodeo....this Applin has the mouth of a sailor..just a very colorful before saying the very fateful words in Pokemon name speak, "Fine! You know what, just take me to your human pal!"

In the meantime, Cali isn't sure what to do about the weird situation her Applin just plopped himself into. Pokeball wasn't an option, that one 'mysteriously' disappeared in the dead of the night and Sweet Sixteen hisses at them. Well, the ball is in both the Zoroark's court and Rodeo's court, though none of them would be faulted with malicious compliance.

Rodeo cringes at the language coming from the Applin's mouth, but can't say he blames him. The Zoroark is being very rude, and without him using his words he isn't sure what to make of his response. Following him could be dangerous, but attacking could lead to the Applin getting hurt.

He clutches his bone tightly, glaring at the Zoroark to no avail. He seems oblivious to either of the other Pokémon's frustrations, simply nodding and beginning to walk away with Sweet Sixteen still in his grasp. Rodeo growls, reluctantly waving back at Min and Cali to come with him.

"I guess we're following them..." Min-Gi says, cautiously following Rodeo as he tails the Zoroark. "I hope your Applin's okay. It's not like Rodeo to get so angry."

Welp...Sweet Sixteen is making interesting noise as the silent Zoroark runs off with him, sort've a cross between a cat getting caught in a fight with a blender sound. Congrats Sweet Sixteen, you got your wish, that Zoroark is taking you to his human.

Cali goes to follow Min-Gi's lead on following Rodeo through the illusion forest, "I guess so...I hope so too with Sweet Sixteen, he only knows withdraw and astonish..."

Wildcard: Latenight Rescue

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