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! 🌺)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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..."

Gold watches this adorableness happen and feels happy inside, like his heart's purified.

Elena is also touched by the cuteness, and how very softly and carefully Trip pets her. She chitters softly in Furret language, saying something along the lines of "(What a sweet kid!)" if anyone around understood Pokemon language.

As he's watching, Gold remembers something he was curious about before but didn't have a chance to ask yet, and says "Hey, you came from Unova, but what about your parents? Are they here in Ultern too, or are they still home?"

If Trip doesn't have anybody to look after him, that's a problem they're going to have to solve sooner than later, since the day's getting late and he needs somewhere to stay the night.

Trip couldn’t understand her, but her voice was so sweet, he wanted to give her a hug! Not knowing how tightly he could hold her, he encircled her with his arms very, very gently, arms practically only hovering around her.

He turned his face towards Gold when he asked the question and answered it very casually.
“Oh, my parents are still home. I went to the festival alone, like last time.”
Nobody else was with him when he went to see Alder!

“… I don’t really remember how I got here, but…”

It did start to sink in, the realization it wasn’t just a short distance away and he looked a little alarmed and worried. “… maybe they’re staying at a hotel or something here…?”

Being out on his own was normal, but his parents would at least be close enough to pick him up to go back home for the night… this was just weird.

Incredibly, heart-meltingly soft hug. Elena appreciates it, and hugs Trip back with her tiny paws, just as gently.

Gold nods, seeing nothing unusual about letting a little kid go to around alone. However, it seems his worries are true. Trip drifted here all alone, without his parents.

"Um, I guess they could be here somewhere? But if they aren't, you need somewhere to stay," Gold says, frowning a little in worry. He's told some newcomers about Ultern before, but he doesn't really know how to break it to a kid. But he doesn't want to worry Trip, so he puts on a smile. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out. If nothing else, you could sleep over at the place I'm living in, for tonight at least. Ummm, by the way, has anybody told you about Ultern, and about Drifting?"

He liked Elena a lot. "I'd like to catch a Furret someday too..."

She's so comforting and gentle!

"I could do that, it sounds like fun. Never been to a sleepover," Trip said with a smile. "Ultern's the name of this place, right? It's funny, I never heard of it or even seen it on a map before! I heard them say something Drifted, but I didn't really get an explanation. They looked a little sad..."

"You should! But I guess you gotta travel outside of Unova to find one, huh?" Gold says. "Not that you'll find a Furret better than Elena anywhere!"

Elena's flustered by that, and rubs her head against Trip's shoulder to hide her shy smile.

When Gold hears what Trip says, he keeps his smile up, but hates that he has to be the one to explain what's going on.

"Yeah, that's um, the thing about Ultern region! It's like... Ah, I dunno how to explain it..." Gold's stalling. "Um, I showed up here out of the blue one day, while I was trying to go somewhere else. And so did a lot of other people! From other regions, and even other worlds... The people who live in Ultern call that Drifting. People drift here from everywhere. And..." He has to say nobody knows how to leave Ultern. He can't bring himself to say it. "And yeah! It's like that!"

Gold cringes at his own cowardliness internally. On the outside, he keeps up a somewhat awkward smile.

Trip nodded, but feeling Elena nestle closer into him, he turned to watch her instead, stroking her head and back a few times, trying to comfort her, even giving a few awkward little pats.

Trip then looked back to Gold in his uncomfortable, hesitating explanation and felt he was omitting something, but was too shy to ask what. He did, however, look a bit suspicious.

"... okay."

A brief, suspicious pause, then:

"... did someone bring us here?"

Is this a mass kidnapping or something?

Elena smiles at Trip, patting him and trying to reassure him that she's not upset or anything, she's just too happy and blushes easily! Though she is a bit worried about how Gold and Trip's conversation seems to be going, but tries not to show that.

Gold knew an incomplete explanation wasn't going to cut it. Trip was smart, he's already noticing something's off. All Gold is doing is putting the inevitable off. Still, probably better to say it gently than bluntly.

"I dunno, to be honest. Nobody knows why it's happening," Gold says, crossing his arms and frowning in thought. "I went looking for people who might be behind it the first days after I got here, but never found anybody. So either they're hiding really well, or it's just a mystery pheno... phenomunom?" That sounds like about the right word.

"So, yeah... nobody knows why it's happening, and... nobody knows how to go back, either." Gold swallows, his throat feeling a bit dry, then says, a bit stronger: "But that doesn't mean it's impossible, just that nobody's found a way yet! Or maybe the people who did find a way to go back left without telling anyone else!" He's trying to convince himself, too.

"Phenomenom!" Trip corrected.

~~Little did they know, they were both wrong.~~

He listened carefully to the explanation otherwise, with a serious look, then, gathering Elena up (she didn't mind being carried, right?) to try and support her better and hold her close, Trip walked over to Gold.

"You're right, we just have to keep looking! We'll figure a way out... it's like a mystery. I'm sure if we all work together, we'll get something done!"

Optimistic and perfectly earnest!

"Yeah, that's it!" Gold says, clueless.

Elena doesn't mind being carried at all! She leans on Trip's shoulder to make it easier to carry her.

"That's right!" Gold says, relieved that he managed to avoid making Trip sad. "With so many different people drifting into Ultern, there's no way we'll fail!"

"...But anyway, it's getting late, so we should head to the place I'm staying. It's Professor Banyan's house, so I guess I should ask him if you can stay over, but it's probably fine anyway..." Gold starts looking around as he leads Trip along. "If you see a guy in a weird-looking green costume, that's probably him."

((ooc: should I ask professor Banyan to join the thread?))

((That'd be fine and a nice way to bring this to a close, getting settled. Please do! ^^))

Elena was so cute... he couldn't help smiling.

Trip nodded and kept an eye out for someone matching that description and followed Gold, holding his hand not to get separeated.

Not too long after, just at the exit of Gilterrace was the strangely green-colored costumed man from earlier. He still held the sanshin that he was playing from before, but it looked like he was about to leave town.

"..."

The kid who wanted to pet Murkrow, loved Gold's wizard costume, and was charmed by all the dancing Ghost types, ducked behind Gold's leg, clinging to his hand still.

"... that cucumber's creepy!"

Ah, there's that awful costume. Gold's strangely relieved to see it, after not having met Banyan at all during the festival.

"Yeah, I know right? The guy wearing it is a good guy though," Gold says, squeezing Trip's hand a little, and waves at Professor Banyan. "Hey, Pro- uh," he pauses, remembering the Professor wanted him to call him Uncle Beni, but still goes for: "Professor Banyan! Heey!"

The Murkrows that had been following them, unfortunately, aren't too fond of the costume either. Sitting on nearby roofs and trees, they caw in chorus and flap their wings, and one even swoops down to try and peck it. Hope the costume's not too thin!

"Hey! Quit that, you guys!" Gold calls out to the Murkrows, but they seem to agitated to listen right now.

"Waaah!" Lil' Yago cried out as he tried to cover his costume with only one arm. Already the Murkrows had pecked and torn out much of the top part that tufts of his red hair are peeking out of one of the large tears.

"Come on now, we're all friends here yeah?" Lil' Yago tried to reason with these now agitated Murkrows, and started strumming with his sanshin as he played a cheerful melody in hopes of calming the Murkrows down.

It's so jaunty, that the music in combination with the tufts of hair sticking out, completely took the edge off and Trip let go of Gold's hand, giggling a little at the sight.

But, the Murkrow's beaks were sharp and they were really tearing into that costume! He stopped laughing, feeling a bit bad, and turned very seriously to Elena. "What attacks does Elena know...? If they're going to hurt him, we're going to have to fight them off!"

This was going bad! Gold panics a little, not sure what to do. But Professor Banyan was playing a melody...? It seemed like some of the Murkrows were hearing it and calming down, but some were still attacking. He has to do something! Trip is counting on him!

"Um, uh, Elena! Use... Quick Attack?" he says, uncertain.

Elena meets Gold's eyes, and shakes her head. Fighting isn't the answer here, she thinks.

"No? Okay, then I'm counting on you!" Gold says, nodding. He trusts his Pokemon.

And Elena steps forward, and slams her tail loudly against the ground while letting out a shout, getting the Murkrows' attention. She scolds them in Pokemon language, saying something along the lines of "(You're here to have fun at the festival, not to cause trouble, aren't you?)" The Murkrows cease their attacks, cawing in low, apologetic tones.

Elena smiles. And then, she begins to dance to the tune of Banyan's melody, a dance she'd learned in Ecruteak City. The Murkrows join in, landing on the ground and hopping to the tune the best they can in a show of peace and apology.

Gold watches this happen, not sure what to say, so he just laughs, relieved, and starts clapping to the rhythm.

Lil' Yago too let out a hearty laugh, feeling absolutely relieved now that the Murkrows have calmed down. He took a moment to finish the song, and after one final strum of his sanshin, the costumed man started to cheerfully applaud at his dancing audience.

"Wonderful! Thanks for the amazing after-party, friends!"

If the cartoony-looking face on his costume weren't in the way, Gold and Trip would've seen him beaming at the Murkrows by now.

"But woah look at the time! Lil Yago needs a bit of shut-eye right now. Until we meet again!"

After bidding farewell at the Murkrows, he then turned to Gold and Trip. And most especially Trip, as this is his first time seeing him.

"Now who do we have here, Gold?" Lil Yago tilted his head, "A new friend of yours?"

Trip was perplexed. Gold was Elena’s master, shouldn’t she obey him…? Was she poorly trained?
But some kind of communication passed between Gold and Elena; rather than just being stubborn, she solved it her own way.

She must be very special! But, Trip couldn’t help wondering if that attitude caused trouble for Gold…

When ‘Lil Yago turned to him, Trip clung some more to Gold, but tried his best to speak with him, mustering up his courage.

“… um, my name’s Trip, Professor, sir.”

Gold and Elena wave goodbye to the Murkrows. Now that they were gone, it felt a bit wistful, like the party was really starting to end. But that's just how it goes. Gold pats Elena on the back.

"Nice thinking, Elena," he says. Elena chirrups happily in return, and goes back to stand next to Trip, to encourage him to talk bravely.

"Yeah, Trip just got drifted here, uh, Professor," Gold says. "He doesn't have anywhere to stay so, um, if it's okay could he stay at your place, just for tonight? Please?" His voice lowers in volume as he keeps speaking, timid. After Professor Banyan gave him a place to stay, he feels bad imposing any more, so he doesn't dare to ask for anything more than one night's stay for Trip. "And, um, then we could figure out where he could go after that..."

Gold's face is practically completely hidden underneath his witch hat by now. Asking for anything from a parental figure is uncomfortable for him, even though he's certain Professor Banyan will be fine with this. Elena looks up at him, worried, thinking maybe she should be giving courage to Gold instead of Trip right now.

Banyan behind his costume's face smiled to Trip--not that anyone could see. As if to make up for that he strikes a silly pose as he spoke.

"Ulsai, Trip! I'm Lil Yago--or Banyan the Pokemon Professor of this region." He lowered his arms and turned to Gold. Upon hearing the young trainer's request, he definitely had no way of seeing the gentle look Banyan wore. He'll strum his sanshin once more--mostly as a gesture to help encourage Gold to look up.

"Now, how can I say no to letting a friend of yours stay over?" He tilted his head. "It's been a long day for everyone, I'm sure the two of you are tired after a big party."

Plus he wasn't about to send a young boy off on his own in an unknown land. What would his parents think? That and it didn't seem like Trip had any Pokemon with him. That just wouldn't do!

"Heck, if ya want Trip yer more than welcome to stay as long as ya want!"

Trip made a face at how the Professor spoke. He should respect him, because a Professor’s a respectable thing, isn’t it? But his manner of speaking…

“… sounds like a hick.”

He still looked very, very unsure and wary.

“Shouldn’t a professor know how to talk more… I don’t know, smarter? More proper? It’s one thing if you don’t know any better, but as an educated person…” he said, with a very severe look on his face. “… why would you continue to talk like that?”

You can’t undo the outcome of that upbringing in a day, I’m afraid!

Gold lets out a little breath of relief. It's not like he thought Professor Banyan would kick Trip to the curb or anything, but things long ingrained are hard to unlearn.

"Thanks, Professor," Gold says. Now that he thinks about it, he really should've expected Banyan would let Trip stay for longer. He's that kind of a person, after all.

But then Trip talks, and Gold has to hold his laughter, because... that's kind of funny. Mean, but funny! It reminds him of the kinds of things he used to tell people, back when he was more likely to try and get on people's nerves. He manages not to laugh or smile, and ends up with a sort of amused cringing expression. Well, since Trip reminds him of himself, he figures he knows how to handle this.

"Wow, that's brave of you, Trip!" Gold says with a mock astonishment. "Insulting a guy who's gonna give you a place to stay! Well, he's probably too nice to kick you out over that, so I guess you're lucky. Right?" The last word is aimed at Professor Banyan. Though Gold keeps a mostly serious tone when he speaks to Trip, he gives Banyan a smile, trying to keep it light-hearted while hopefully scaring Trip a little bit, just to make him regret his words.

At Trip's comment towards his way of speaking did Banyan blink in surprise. No one had ever brought it up before--but who would really given how his accent was the norm in Ultern. Of course it doesn't last given Trip's questions, and Gold's response. Instead the Professor chuckled.

"Now, now." His tone was casual, and just as jovial as it has been thus far. "Trip here's just a curious lil' fella ain't he?"

There's an exaggerated tilt of his head, given how he was still in his costume. It was necessary to indicate how he was through his body language, clearly.

"The world's a big, big place. There's all kinds a words, and ways people express themselves Trip. Don't ya forget that." He's grinning wide which unfortunately wasn't visible from under his suit.

EVENT: Harvesting Bonds Festival (CLOSING)

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[SORRY, Banyan... I guess Banyan-Trip-Gold'd be a good order, then?]

[Works for me! Also, sorry, Banyan!]

he can take it-

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[I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I missed my turn AND sorry for… Trip being Trip]

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now it's my turn to apologize the tag got buried in my inbox oops!!!

[it happens!!]

[yeah, no problem!]

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[this looks like a good place to wrap up! ^^]

[yeah, agreed! this'll be my last tag]

(Works for me! Anyway here's my closer haha)