[MINI EVENT] ☆T A N A B A T A☆

[ulternnpc]

Those from the four regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh will be very familiar with the sight of bamboo stalks that are left outside decorated with colorful and sparkly paper decorations. There are people gathering around, helping one another put up paper amulet of varying colors to tie around the bamboo branches. On each amulet is a single wish that’s been handwritten by someone.

One can only hope that their wish will be heard…

---

At night, there’s a surprise to be found: an alternate colored Jirachi is out dressed in what’s clearly a handmade costume. Around its neck, is a colorful paper chain made of sparkly origami paper.



Not only has Jirachi come to grant wishes, Miniors are out and about bright and colorful. They’ll be dancing around seemingly trying to invite people to come join them in the festivities.

---

((OOC: Happy Tanabata! In the morning is a general mingle post. But as the evening sets in and Jirachi appears, it will start granting the wish written on your amulet whether big or small -- wealth, a long life, or maybe a way to return home. You're free to catch Miniors too, and there's a slightly better chance of encountering a shiny one as well. Just be careful of the ones still in their shell or you might just get a rather explosive surprise...

This event can take place at any town, so feel free to specify a location!))

Comments

[buson]

S'good to find somethin' familiar, isn't it?

Oh? I'm meetin' folks from a lot of very different Kanto regions. What's your place like?

[domeinion]

It should be closer to normal now, with standard variations like the presence of the fossil gods, which I thought was a universal constant but that seems to only be the case for the worlds and timelines I'd personally observed before drifting here, because if you take what I hear from the other people who were pulled through the stream into Ultern as a baseline, that's apparently exceedingly uncommon -- but have you ever heard of a Randomizer?

[buson]

[Just stunned silence. Absolute stunned silence. The gears are turning, slowly, in Buson's head, but he only looked more and more lost. He plucked out a familiar word among all those unfamiliar concepts.]

Uhhh... I think Bashou talks about randomizers sometime. This some... programmer thing?

[domeinion]

Something like that. But this one in particular is a machine created to alter reality. It was first developed to change something in the past, but had a lot of side effects, changing everything from species distribution to abilities to appearance. Flamesplash, could you come out?

[She lets out a Sandslash whose spines are obviously made of fire. The Sandslash, for its part, waves politely.]

My team and I -- the ones I didn't get here -- we're still randomized, even after our timeline was put back to normal. We can't change and become normal, per se, but we're stable.

[buson]

[Buson, having nearly no filter whatsoever, swore loudly and nearly stumbled backwards at the sight of what looked like a Sandslash on fire, even looking away for a second, as if he thought he might see something grisly if he focused, but... it wasn't screaming or in pain. He looked back warily.

Huh.]

Like a... regional form, but, uh, random?

Flamesplash, though...? Does it use Water type attacks or something...? Who came up with the name?

[domeinion]

Me! It's her nickname. [She pets Flamesplash, who makes a happy noise.] See, it was because I rescued her from one of those guys who sells Magikarp. She doesn't have any Water-type attacks, though. Not now, anyway. But at that point, that was what all Sandslash looked like within the region, and most people had forgotten they used to be anything else. Things are back to normal aside from a few outliers, though, it was... not the most stable of situations -- especially since it was the first such incident.

[buson]

Y'got her from a con-man?

[That's a wild way to come by a Sandslash, even a reall weird one. He briefly wondered how much such an unusual Pokemon could sell for, then mnetally kicked himself to stop.]

You keep saying they weren't stable, what... do you mean by that?

[domeinion]

...That a place affected by a Randomizer will start tearing itself apart to force itself back to normal if the change isn't undone. It was especially dangerous for species that were living in areas they normally couldn't, like the cases of aquatic Charmander, or people who wouldn't be alive without the past having changed. Like me.

[Alice breathes in and puts on a neutral face for the rest, while her fire Sandslash looks concerned and pats her hand.]

It took a lot of people, even if you don't count the Voices -- oh, recorded phenomenon of a disembodied hivemind hundreds of thousands strong that possesses people and guides them on a journey, purportedly to save their home in exchange for glory, that legend doesn't seem to be common among the people here either -- regardless! -- and years of work to try and keep the world together long enough to stop my -- the person who made it. He wouldn't go quietly -- would anyone? He was a b right b a start to the end, I guess. Even if he did have his reasons.

[CW death, I’m so sorry Buson is like this today, Alice]

[buson]

[The mental image of water full of dead Charmander with their tail flames snuffed out is kind of a grim one, even for someone accustomed to death, but doesn’t affect him much… Buson winced at her saying she wouldn’t be alive, though, then looked… confused, yet hopeful. His mind honed in on that, wondering if he could use this Randomizer thing to change the past too. A past where Manzana never joins Team Flare or gets out before he’s crushed to death. A past where Bashou never has to go through what haunts him to this day.

Buson’s eyes are wide and hungry, covetous of what Alice described, as if everything else didn’t matter. What’s a bunch of dead wild Pokemon or an unstable world with weird Pokemon variations that could die at any moment if he could save his friends?]

… so, this, uh, Randomizer, does it still exist? Who was that guy who made it? Noticed you… cut yourself off there, who was he to you—

[She was dead. Someone else had tried this too… he finally looked not so keen and wild-eyed like a hungry beast, and instead, he began to look wary and concerned..]

Also, why did you, uh… just now, what was that, sorry?

[What was that? A tic? A glitch in real life???]

she's used to it, #evildadproblems

[domeinion]

[That's a lot at once, and Alice recognizes that look, enough that one hand flies to her side and Flamesplash makes a worried sound. Alice studies Buson before taking a breath in and out.]

He's gone.

[True. Other versions of him exist in better worlds -- she spent the world's most awkward year with one -- but the last she'd heard from her father was when he cut off communication and deactivated her bomb collar. Maybe it was ironic that Four got him after that. The other one who'd been brought back in place of someone else.]

But his research notes got out, and every so often a new model surfaces, even outside of the timeline it created, that's stronger and reaches further. I hadn't gotten a bead yet on who was behind the latest incident, but the hosts from that point would have more data...

[Alice gulps. Talking technical things is second nature, she's a scientist, and this is the research that made her in more ways than one. But the look on his face, the emotion, it's too familiar.]

...And the other thing -- it's residual commands. Sometimes I still bump into things or my voice gets a little mechanical.

[1/2]

[buson]

[... he's scaring her, isn't he? ... he could recognize it was likely triggering something... but why is she still talking? Telling him all of these things, if she can tell he was interested in it?

He felt scummy for setting off that kind of reaction, and averted his gaze, gritting his teeth.]

You can stop now.

You don't have to tell me all of this, y'know.

[2/2; never mind, he (very nearly) doesn't want it anymore / CW dehumanization, gee, thanks, Buson]

[buson]

[The truth was, he still had questions. He didn't get any of the stuff about hosts or residual commands, but he could tell it was something that affected her and it was probably related to this Randomizer thing. That suddenly no longer looked as appealing. He nearly didn't want it anymore, the kid's messed-up. Mechanical, commands, was she even fully human, like that?

He half-wondered if these improved models got rid of these unwanted effects.

He could push to learn a bit more, but it felt scummy. ... he still wanted to know. So maybe he'll put aside his other questions and just ask one thing.]

Just... one more thing, by improved models... do they do less of that? The residual effects?

[Well, at least it seemed Buson had some limits, didn't he?]

[domeinion]

[Alice blinks. He did ask. Of course she's hurting or scared or... whatever she can call it, but she's the only one here with firsthand experience with a Randomizer. It's only proper that she gives the technical information... she thinks. But when he tells her to stop, she looks at him in confusion, then sobers and nods.]

I didn't mean to throw you off. I seem to have that effect on people around here. As for your question, it depends on the effect. Some do more. Switching around and changing the humans, too, for instance, or changing types beyond outward appearance. If your timeline's also been exposed to glitches in reality, which can be traced to a being called OLDEN that migrated from a virtual reality through the stream after another, unrelated irresponsible-science incident, because we really do have too many of those -- oh, if you know Phancero, that's another name for it -- but anyway, in those cases then it can be hard to tell what was caused by a Randomizer and what was caused by a glitch, so that's a variable to consider. Otherwise, it comes down to the model, the person behind it, and presumably their purpose in doing so.

And... thank you, I suppose. Dome knows it's a little... difficult? Yes, difficult. From a personal standpoint.

[buson]

Sorry. I guess… not knowing makes it seem worth it.

[Did Alice throw him off? Several times! Was it why he asked her to stop? No, not at all.]

… if something’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to. Especially not to strangers who won’t care… that it affects you, I mean.

That’s kinda something you gotta protect, yourself. It’s your story, so share it with someone worthy of it, y’don’t wanna tell it to someone who’ll misuse it or who’ll mercilessly pick at wounds, ‘cause it means nothing to them, right?

[Like him, for example. The only reason he hadn’t kept picking away was because the reaction reminded him of people he actually cared about, so he felt too scummy to carry on. Just that. He still wanted to know more, so he’d probably have to leave the conversation soon so he won’t be tempted to press on.]

[domeinion]

You're probably right. I do feel responsible for making sure everybody knows what they need to, and this was my first major research project. But when it comes to my dad, that's another matter.

[With that out, she pauses, like a few too many B-presses, before she turns to go.]

But I hope you have a good festival! The people here definitely know how to put on a good one.

[buson]

[It was her father who was responsible for all of that…?

He guessed it was someone close, but it was still awful to hear it.]

… yeah. You… take care.

[Something to ruminate on.]