farawayplace | EVENT: Harvesting Bonds Festival (CLOSING)

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EVENT: Harvesting Bonds Festival (CLOSING)

As the sun is beginning to set, a crowd gathers around Gilterrace's town plaza, some of them holding their freshly harvested goods from their fields. One by one, they pile them in front of a small shrine and fold their hands together as they begin to chant.

"May you bless our offerings as we wish for another bountiful harvest to come."

Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, Calyrex has been watching them at a distance with a look of intrigue. He too would like to bring happiness to these people, knowing they have worked hard for this. And clearly offering a more bountiful harvest is just what he's good at!

After a moment of deliberation, the legendary Pokemon hovers over the food pile while glowing in a gentle blue light, and starts doing a little jig. And with a wave of his left hand, all of the fruits and vegetables around Gilterrace start growing until they are twice larger than their usual size.

As the crowd cheers and rejoices, the strums of the sanshin could be heard and playing a very cheery yet familiar tune to some of the drifted out there. This also draws in many Pokemon, wild or not, joining amongst the crowd, though there is a noticably fair amount of Ghost-types gathering as well. And with Calyrex dancing along to the music, they all soon start to sway their arms from side to side as they dance alongside the King of Bountiful Harvests.

Much like with the summer festival, it is a sign that today's festivities is drawing to a close. And they will keep dancing until the music finally stops the moment the night falls.

(🌺 This marks the end of the event! Feel free to join in the partying, make friends with ghosts, or get a free enlarged produce to take home! 🌺)

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Trip wasn't scared, he thought he looked very cool!

"You look like a fairy tale!"
Meant as a compliment, surely.

"Uh-huh!" Trip nodded eagerly, hands balled up in excitement. "I like it a LOT! You did a good job!"

He's used to being alone, so he didn't really consider it out of the ordinary, but he's happy to speak with Gold.

"Is that your Pokemon or are you b... borrowing it for the costume?" he asked, a little bit more cautiously.

Murkrow looked very big to him! Was it friendly?

"Thanks!" Gold grins and lets his cape flutter. He knows a good compliment when he hears it.

Gold puffs his chest proudly. He set some decorations and helped cook one dish, so clearly, this whole festival only turned out well thanks to him!

"Oh, this guy? Nah, he just showed up on his own," Gold says, looking at the Murkrow, who caws. "And a whole lot of his friends, too. Look, you see them?" Gold points up at the nearest high place for a Murkrow to perch. The rooftops, the trees, the lightposts... Anywhere a Murkrow can sit, there's at least one. "They think I'm a friend 'cos of my hat. It matches theirs, see? Well, I guess I am a friend to them, since they stopped swarming around me and getting in the way, so now we're chill." A few of the Murkrows caw in response from the rooftops. "So yeah, I think they're wild Pokemon, but they don't seem dangerous or anything?" Gold hopes that's enough to reassure the kid.

"Anyway, what's your name? I'm Gold."

The festival would have been all the poorer without that one dish and those decorations!

"Oh... then, maybe they came for the festival, like the Ghost type Pokemon?" Trip asked, cautiously, but now definitely more reassured. "I'm Trip!"

He looked up at the Murkrow and reached up, grabbing locks of his own hair. "Mukrow's not going to swoop on me because I'm not wearing a hat, is it? Do I need a costume?"

Clearly!

"Yeah, they're here to party, I bet," Gold says. Something about the festival just seemed to attract Pokemon of the mysterious kind. "Nice to meetcha, Trip!"

"Hmm... I dunno?" Gold glances at the Murkrow on his shoulder. "You wouldn't, would you?" The Murkrow just caws. "I dunno what that means, but it's probably fine. You could get a costume anyway though! Just for fun." He glances around. "I wonder if there's anything that'd work." Maybe they could borrow some of the party decorations...

Trip felt more relieved. "Then, that's okay! Nice to meet you too, Gold, sir... and Murkrow."

Should he greet the Pokemon too? That sounded kind of funny!

"Costumes are fun! Like going trick or treating..."

Trip looked around at the fruits and leftover decorations.

"Um... oh, I could maybe wear a pumpkin! Or is that too heavy, even if we took all the stuff out?"

Murkrow caws in reply. Seems he's happy to be greeted.

"Oh! Trick and treating! I know about that!" Gold says with a look of excited recognition. "Have you ever done it? I just did for the first time ever today! It was great!"

Gold looks around at the decorations too.

"Hmm... Yeah, you're right, it'd probably be too heavy. And a bunch of them have candles and stuff inside..." Gold picks up one of the plastic Crobat-shaped decorations he helped place. "Maybe this could stay on your head... Oh!"

Another Murkrow flies down, helpfully carrying a small plastic pumpkin decoration with a ribbon tied around its stem, and caws as it sets it down.

"Wow, nice find, Murkrow! Hey, Trip, how about that?" he asks. "You could wear the pumpkin as a hat, and we could tie the ribbon around your head to make sure it doesn't fall! Or we could tie this Crobat thing! Or both, but I think that'd fall easier... I dunno, what do you think?"

Wow, Gold suddenly thinks, this must be what being a fashion stylist is like. He feels so cool and grown-up.

"Yeah, every year," Trip said, feeling proud of that fact. "... are there places where people don't go trick or treating every year?"

Trip carefully accepted the little pumpkin decoration. "I like this one! The ribbon would keep it in place, right? I'll be like a Pumpkaboo or, um, a Gourgeist!"

Trip thought for a moment, then took off his red hoodie and pulled the collar of the black sweater up over the back of his head, so the sleeves hung down from his head instead of his shoulders.

"Can I wear it like this?" he asked, flapping his arms a little.

Well, the colour might work, but maybe the hoodie would make it a bit more secure and Gold could actually tie the ribbon under his chin that way... please provide with more practical advice, Gold! The little kid needs it.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Gold says, genuinely in awe. "I don't think we have trick or treating where I'm from! I dunno if it's my home region or my hometown or what."

"Alright, let's go with the pumpkin!" Gold says, setting the Crobat decoration back in place.

Unfortunately, practical advice is not Gold's forte. He's too caught up in fashion and thinks Trip's idea is great.

"Yeah! The color's just like my costume!" Gold says. However, when he tries to tie the ribbon around the pumpkin and Trip's chin, he realizes it's not going to work out too well. "Uh... Hmm. Maybe you'd better put it back on proper after all. But let's try that with the hoodie instead! I saw some people with red hooded costumes anyway, so it's probably fine." Gold shrugs. He doesn't quite know what makes a costume halloween-y, and he's seen so many different costumes during this festival he thinks he understands it even less than before, so he's just going to roll with whatever works.

"Oh... well. If you come to Unova, at least in Nuvema town, we always do it every years. We could maybe go together?" Trip offered.

Oh, the ribbon won't tie like this, will it?

Trip tugged the sweater fully back down and adjusted his sleeves, then looked up at Gold again. "Okay, better?"

"To Unova? Wow, you live pretty far away," Gold muses. "I could come visit someday though. I've been travelling Johto, and then I was gonna go to Kanto, but maybe I'll go to Unova after that!" Though he's not sure if Trip's even from the same world as him. Well, it's worth keeping Nuvema Town in mind anyway.

As he's speaking, Gold wraps the ribbon around the pumpkin and Trip's head, then ties the ribbon under his chin. "Okay, finished!" He stands up to look as his work. "Hmm... Yep, looking great!" he says with a thumbs-up. "Now that's what I call fashion!" The Murkrow on his shoulder caws in agreement.

It's also really cute, but Gold's not sure if Trip's the kind of kid that'd hate being called cute or not, so he keeps that to himself.

Trip made a face at the mentions of Johto and Kanto and looked like he was thinking very hard about something.

When it was secured, he did smile again and moved left and right, trying to see if it wouldn’t fall right off… it didn’t! Gold did a great job and Trip couldn’t help but smile brightly, even giggling a bit as he beamed up at him.

“Thank you!”

But he quickly fell quiet again after, toeing the ground a bit with his shoe, clutching more tightly at his clothes, as if troubled by something.

“… maybe… maybe it’s better if you just go to Kanto, then. Not Unova.”

An odd change in demeanour, all of a sudden.

Huh, that is a strange change in mood. It's too familiar to Gold, and he thinks he knows exactly what's up. He kneels down and looks Trip in the eyes.

"Is there something bad in Unova?" he asks gently. Clearly, if a kid doesn't want somebody to visit their home, then there's something wrong with the home. Gold can't think of any other reason.

He became a bit more flustered by Gold kneeling down, but at least his tone was gentle... still, he started wringing his hands and staring at the ground not to make eye contact with him, turning a bit red in the face.

"Umm... no... but—even if you came, we can't... go trick or treating together, probably..."

Edited 2022-11-12 18:07 (UTC)

Oh, that's very worrying. Gold's protective instincts are flaring up, but he stays outwardly calm.

"Why not?" he asks. "Would your parents not let you? Um, if it's difficult to tell me, you don't have to, but... I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong, and help out with whatever it is, if I can. I'm not gonna be mad at you even if it's something bad, okay?"

He's trying to say the kinds of things he'd want to hear himself, if he was in Trip's position right now. (Gold might be projecting more than just a little.)

Trip nodded, but still looked uncertain. Being told he wasn't going to be mad made it sound really bad...

"I'm not supposed to play with poor people or people from the boonies, like Kanto, they say they're low class, so..."

In fact, he was so scared that Gold wasn't telling the truth about not getting mad at him, that his nervousness and shyness got the better of him, and he decided to leave the awkward, uncomfortable conversation entirely by turning on his heel to try and run away.

Ah, not as bad as Gold thought it was going to be. He smiles in relief, but then Trip turns to run.

"Hey..." he calls out weakly after him, but doesn't move, just watches Trip go.

Huh. Well, Gold doesn't want to scare the kid by running after him, so he just calls out a bit louder: "Parents aren't always right, y'know!"

But if Trip's going to run off, Gold will let him. He's a bit worried about the kid going off on his own, but figures he'll probably be all right.

...Then he realizes Trip's probably drifted here all alone without his parents, so maybe he should be going after him after all. He walks casually in the direction Trip ran to.

Trip didn't like loud voices, so a raised voice would just send him running faster, but... Gold didn't sound angry at all?

And he wasn't chasing him, so... he did stop, not too long after Gold began calmly walking.

He stopped, turned, and looked a little confused.

"... you're really not mad?"

Oh, good, Trip stopped running. Gold was worried he was gonna have a lost child situation.

"Yeah, I told you I wasn't gonna be mad, right? Did that make you think I'd get mad? My bad," Gold says, pauses, and lets out a little laugh. "That rhymed, huh? Anyway, sorry if I scared you." It never even passes Gold's mind that he should or could be mad about being called low class or poor. Especially when it's coming from a kid who's clearly just repeating what someone else told him.

Walking over to Trip, he kneels again to get to eye level with him. The Murkrow on his shoulder is also on eye level, but less serious about it.

"Anyway, like I said, the stuff your parents say isn't always right, but it's tough to learn to figure out what's right and what isn't. You just gotta try. If you ask me, I think what your parents said about Kanto and poor people is probably wrong, just like I think most of what my mom said to me was probably wrong," Gold tells him, then cringes a bit, looking pained. "...But that doesn't mean it's easy to believe what I think is wrong." He pauses, expression relaxing, and lets out an apologetic laugh. "That's all kinda complicated, huh? Basically you gotta decide what's right yourself!"

At Gold's little rhyme, Trip did laugh a little, but it was still a bit uneasy sounding.
As Gold continued to speak, Trip listened very quietly and patiently, then nodded.

"What kind of things—" Trip began saying, until he realized Gold's expression probably meant it was something that bothered him.

"... yeah, I know they're not always right."

He watched Murkrow again and considered petting it, raising a hand, but then lowered it again.

Gold nods, noticing how Trip catches himself. "Yeah, it's not stuff you'd wanna hear."

"That's good. It takes a long time to really learn that, but you seem like a smart kid, so I bet it's easier for you than for me," Gold says, then notices what he said and frowns. "I mean, I'm not stupid or anything! My mom just said I am, so I keep thinking I am, even now! See, it's like that! You gotta... learn to un-think those things, and it takes forever!" He sighs, frustrated, then shakes his head to get the bad mood out, before smiling. "But yeah! When you're older and you don't have to listen to your parents anymore, then I'll come visit Unova and maybe if we're lucky I'll meet you and we can go trick and treating. How's that sound?" He'd almost forgotten how this whole conversation even started, and he's about ready to stop with the sad and complicated subjects.

The Murkrow notices the raised and lowered hand, tilts his head and makes a questioning chirp. Gold notices too, but isn't sure he should be encouraging a little kid to pet a wild Pokemon, even one this tame.

"...Hey, you wanna see one of my Pokemon?" he asks, because if Trip wants to pet a Pokemon, then it should probably be a Pokemon Gold knows for sure he can trust.

Trip giggled a little at Gold's mistake, but stopped when he realized it was because of what his mother said. He nodded slowly, looking sorry.

"... that'd be fun, yeah," Trip agreed, brightening.

At Gold's offer, Trip nodded eagerly, immediately becoming more excitable. "I want to see, please! I'd love to meet your Pokemon!"

Onto cheerier topics, like Pokemon!

Gold doesn't mind Trip's laugh, to be honest. If anything, it helps him relax and move on.

"Alright, I'll bring her out!" Gold says, laughing a little with Trip's excitement. He knows exactly which of his Pokemon is the most pettable. He takes one of his Pokeballs out, and lightly throws it. "Come out and say hi, Elena!"

And out pops a Furret, ears twitching in attention. As she sees Trip, she chirrups a greeting, bowing politely. The Murkrow on Gold's shoulder caws curiously at Elena's sudden appearance, but stays there, not getting territorial.

She's so cute and fluffy!!!

Ah, she bowed! Trip looked surprised by that, but bowed back to her.

"Elena's so cool! She's a Furret, right? I've never seen one in real life before! Only in books and on TV. We don't have wild Pokemon from other regions, like Johto..."

Trip held out a hand.

"She won't bite or scratch, right?"

"Yep, she's a Furret! Don't worry, she's the kindest Pokemon I've ever met." Gold's impressed Trip recognizes Furret, he himself can never remember Pokemon he's only seen on TV. It's just so different from meeting them in real life.

Elena looks at Gold, surprised, and gets a bit flustered at the compliment, making little happy noises.

"Elena, Trip can pet you, right?" Gold asks, and Elena nods, turning to smile at Trip, and lowers her head so he can reach easier.

"That's great!"

He watched as Elena got shy and Gold asked her if it was alright... they really are communicating, aren't they?

She inclined her head closer for him to touch! He couldn't help but be moved by the gesture and brought his hand very, very gently and carefully to just above her nose, brushing it lightly, then trying to stroke her head.

"... so soft! Her fur's so soft..."

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[Trip… was canonically prejudiced at the start, sorry! ^^;;]

[gotta play a character how they are, no worries!]

[thanks for understanding! ^^; Trip does get better about it eventually, but...]

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[now I'm curious what Gold expected!]

[he expected abusive parents ._.,]

[oh, nooo, poor Gold! Probably not, with Trip, they're probably just kinda distant/absent]

[neglect's a type of abuse, but Trip seems like he's not that bad off]

[I guess I don't think of it because it isn't usually intentional, but fair point!]

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