AUGUST 2025 EVENT LOG

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ THE FIRST TRUE EXPEDITION ✩⋆

The Guildleader’s announcement comes off the excitement of yet another round of mysterious new arrivals floundering their way into society. It comes not long after a fresh round of beach parties and campfires, announced simply by notices posted to the Quest Board concerning a vital announcement to be made at the Archive’s steps. Within the first week of the month, that announcement has been made.

It’s time to expand their borders. It’s time to break through the unknown.

It’s time, the Guilds agree, for an Expedition.

i. LET THE EXPEDITION BEGIN

PACK YOUR BAGS

Preparing for the Expedition is no simple task. After the announcement has been made, all three Guilds prepare personal sign-ups for the matter, extending invitations to Pokemon they feel will do particularly well. An expedition, each Leader explains, is not at all the same as any typical quest. It is an effort comparable to the very exodus that formed what Bottlecap Bay is today. It’s a collective of Pokemon all headed for one singular goal, supporting each other in the effort.

Pokemon are encouraged to invest in sacks and satchels in some cases, while others are simply handed worn packs for their own use. Lists of necessary supplies are passed around, ranging from simple foods like apples and chestnuts all the way to rare and valuable goods that could make or break any team lost in the woods. Seeds that explode when chewed upon, or even revive a Pokemon from unconsciousness are carefully divided among Expeditioners, and as the day fast approaches the nervousness becomes a tangible thing upon the air. Heavy, like a storm. Static, akin to electricity from a yet unseen lightning bolt.

Yet skies are clear - and they remain clear when the day comes for the trek as well.

WE’RE TAKING A ROAD TRIP

⟡ The Expedition begins ICly on the 1st of August - Players are free to handwave characters seeing notices leading up to this day beginning from the 25th of July.

⟡ When it comes to being allowed on the Expedition, even new Pokemon are invited to join! The Guild Leaders are anticipating they’ll have hidden strengths and unusual insights in dealing with the unexpected, compared to native Pokemon - what with the experiences they have coming from very different worlds.

⟡ All Pokemon on the Expedition will at minimum be equipped with some form of sack for personal belongings. While larger Pokemon will also be tasked with carrying extra loads intended for tents and shelters, smaller ones will be asked to tow rations (or other supplies that are easily split) for their immediate party.

⟡ Many stores in the town are eager to do their part to support Expeditioners! While this doesn’t mean any special discounts, it does mean that items and goods they exchange might be a little more personalized. It seems a Pokemon’s favorite snack just happens to have been set aside, while the last satchel available is in their favorite color. How fortuitous!

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

While all three are in agreement, it is only one Guild Leader who spearheads the charge. The Oran Berries of the Spire are left with a trusted deputy to handle any immediate matters as the Expedition Team sets off for the woods in early August, and where most teams are a mere two to four Pokemon strong it isn’t inaccurate to compare this one to an army. As a mass, these Pokemon move forward with their packs filled with supplies. Stone, lumber, and straw for larger sorts. Food and tools for others. And still more with nothing but the most vital necessities, first aid, and so on.

The three sections of forest that are known to Bottlecap Bay all border the sandy shore of the Bay’s lower crescent, with the ‘North’ in particular creeping along the Canopy. Through probing of the Forest’s boundaries and environs, thanks in large part to all of the explorations and quests of the past months, the Guilds have determined that the Forest eventually starts funneling together, the far end of each section growing narrower and narrower as the entire Forest is compressed between impassable terrain. This also means that whatever’s at the other end, any entrance to the Forest should exit in roughly the same place.

The Expedition intends to travel just through the North section - at this point they’ve had plenty of experience dealing with the primary hazard of spores! However, as the team carries on, they start to encounter discordant patches resembling the Middle and South in alternating moments of time. Some begin to voice concerns and questions - the Forest was never so strange before, even when the fog was at its thickest. Is this trip really worth it? How are they possibly going to make it through to the other side? The Forest seemed unending even when they were starting to get used to the conditions in each section individually!

As worries mount, Mightyena calls out encouragement, and hopeful whispers spread from the front of the Expedition. One of the Pokemon near Mightyena has a hunch, and says so in a shy voice. A feeling that just ahead, there might be something that isn’t just woods. Thanks to everyone’s efforts in recruitment, many wild Pokemon have agreed to assist over the last number of days - and the ones from the furthest corners of the Forest concur. The end is near, and this has been the forest’s final test. They just have to push on.

They can do that much, right?

ARE WE THERE YET?

⟡ While the threat levels over all within the forest have dropped down somewhat, navigation during the Expedition becomes even harder than it was before. The trip at minimum takes a full day - but notably, Pokemon who stray from the group quickly find themselves back in the pack, or back in Bottlecap depending on their intentions.

⟡ The Expedition only stops a few times during this trip, each time for a shared meal. There is always at least one Pokemon with their eyes directly ahead so that they don’t lose the path, and others in the group make certain to keep their fellows in sight at all times.

⟡ While they don’t ultimately set up tents in the woods, it’s clear from speaking with Mightyena that it was considered a possibility; in fact, finding a place for the Outpost within just a single day should have been impossible! She seems certain that at least one Pokemon move or ability was involved in this.

ii. BOTTLECAP OUTPOST, NAME TBD

CAMPING WITH EXTRA STEPS

After little more than a day of trekking, the journey comes to an end. The Expedition’s goal was to find a place suitable enough to create another settlement. To find a place beyond the woods that could be considered safe. A place that could eventually become another home.

Thanks to the cooperation of the Pokemon of the forest, they have managed just that.

The valley is a beautiful carpet of swaying grass, gently sloping hills, and tiny babbling brooks. Wildflowers sprout in colorful clumps or large swathes, and the air smells sweet and fresh; a breeze ruffles gently through Pokemon fur and feathers, chasing clouds through the sky. Scattered rocks and boulders make for perfect spots to lie down and sunbathe. One larger stream meanders through the center, its water clear enough to see straight through to the rocky bottom - at least except for the spots where rocks jut out above the surface, generating sprays of drops and foam. It's kind of hard to believe that this was just beyond the fog and gnarled undergrowth of the forest!

At the other end of the valley, the hills begin to grow steeper, and trees fill in again - in fact, it almost looks denser than the forest on the way back to the Bay, if that's even possible. Over near that end Mightyena is organizing expeditions, marking off three general directions to start exploring. It might be tempting to sneak out for a peek ahead of time, but Mightyena insists it's not safe to go solo and without supplies.

Off in the distance, beyond the dense woods, the hills stretch into an extensive mountain range. Dark clouds hang above many of them, caught on the peaks.

Closer to the center of the valley, on one side of the stream where the ground is flattest, the Outpost's boundaries are being marked out. It's time to start building!

NO REALLY DON’T GO IN THERE

⟡ Pokemon who haven’t been approved for Exploration Quests will be swiftly caught and carried back to the Outpost base. Done enough times, and they may even be sent back to Bottlecap Bay!

⟡ Curiously, Pokemon who return from their expeditions will note that even if they encounter mountains, none of the visible mountains match what they saw - no matter what direction teams explore in, the regions and sights are entirely incongruous with what can be seen from the valley.

⟡ Those remaining at the Outpost will have plenty of work to do. Regular travel routes must be established, as well as the placement of temporary shelters. Pokemon will be spending many days out here, which means lots of hunting and gathering work to be done as well. Players are invited to come up with their own unique tasks; a village has many requirements.

THE HEART OF DEVELOPMENT

So here’s the bad news: even with the wide number and variety of Pokemon present, and all the strange abilities and skills at everyone’s disposal, building an Outpost… just isn’t something that happens in a day. Everyone’s going to be here for a while! And there’s simply too much work for anyone to get away with slacking.

Any Expedition members who aren’t being sent out on an official exploration are going to have their paws, wings, and other assorted limbs full of construction tasks. Even those sent out on explorations will be expected to join in as soon as they’re back - assuming they’ve avoided injury, of course. And whenever Pokemon collapse for a well-earned rest… it’s going to have to be under tarps and temporary shelters. (At least it’s probably not much worse than what everyone’s already used to, for everyone but the Lum Berries?)

Still, the relief of making it through the Forest and the loveliness of the environs has the mood of the Expedition high! The overall feeling is like that of a barn raising, with cheers ringing out whenever a new building is framed, and again whenever it’s officially designated complete. Some massive fire pits are very nearly the first thing to get put together, and every sundown there’s bonfires for the Expedition members to congregate around and relax with their supper.

It won’t be long before the Outpost is complete, and this will all be worth it!

NEW PLACES

⟡ While the core of the Outpost won’t be finished until the final week of the month, other unique matters will slowly make themselves known as the 24th of August approaches. In particular, a uniquely shaped building with its own Questboard will finish its construction alongside a storehouse, a clinic, and a dwelling house.

⟡ The latter three buildings are quite basic; the Storehouse is used to maintain and preserve stock of all manner of necessary materials including food, and even has the beginnings of facilities meant to process these. There is talk of possibly creating a water wheel to help with this. The Clinic in turn is a far smaller version of its Bottlecap counterpart, meant for emergency treatment of Pokemon who cannot be brought directly to town.

⟡ By August 24th, Pokemon will be able to experience the finished Dwelling house on their own. While it’s constructed in the style of many of Bottlecap Bay’s buildings, it seems to follow the spirit of the Oran and Cheri guild’s dormitory systems. Pokemon share rooms with four simple beds, and the entire building makes use of a communal stove.

⟡ The final building is the most important; it’s a Post Office. The Quest Board outside of it is meant to host requests relevant to the regions too distant from Bottlecap to reasonably respond to, but for now something else is posted there. ICly posted on August 24th, these notices call for a vote on names for the Outpost and neighboring regions. Further details, and an IC Suggestion Poll, can be found Here.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ CWS: Typical Pokemon violence - otherwise this is a fairly tame event!

⟡ As promised on the monthly plotting post, we are happy to announce that Activity Rewards are now available! You can find more information here.

⟡ While all Heavy Quests will ICly have completed by August 24th, sign-ups for these quests will remain open all month.

⟡ For those who participated in Heavy Quests this month, don't forget to submit your quest completion forms before the 30th!

⟡ Have any questions related to the event? Ask them here! If your question is more general for the game, please make sure to direct it to the FAQ page instead. Thank you, and happy threading!

FULL NAVIGATION

Comments

[truthdecided]

"Our supervisors seemed to believe we did a respectful job." Regardless, he gets to work, swooping down and picking up materials in his talons before ferrying them over to both Anasui and Carkol.

The Carkol grunts in annoyance. "No bickering, you two! We got a tight schedule."

[dripdrive]

"Yeah. After you were done," AKA, after he had finished fixing things. "The architect had a perfect logical plan. And roads shouldn't be uneven, cobblestone or not." Not that the road wasn't straight, it was just Anasui...

Anasui snorts dismissively but tosses his hair, as if shooing Akechi away. "Whatever. Get to searching so I can pick it up already."

[truthdecided]

"Gladly." He could point out how the work on the roads stalled due to Anasui's interference, but they have work to do, and Carkol is watching and may very well report any disharmony to Mightyena.

So... fine. Fluttering along, he gets back to work, organizing the materials into neat little piles before he picks them up and ferries them over.

It's more efficient that way.

[dripdrive]

Anasui would absolutely be happy to continue arguing his point, Carkol and Mightyena be damned: who cares that things were delayed? They were finished and finished well. If those roads need to be fixed in forty years, Anasui will be genuinely surprised.

The man shakes his head and he follows along. He does appreciate the piles being organised neatly and he happily takes them off Akechi's hands, putting them in his satchel.

Anasui looks for bigger twigs to grab when he sees a large, fallen log. He looks over the wood and paws it with his talon, testing the quality. It's pretty big and sturdy - heavy but it would be useful to secure.

"Either of you pack rope?"

[truthdecided]

Akechi gazes down at his own satchel, appropriately scaled to his eight inch body. A snort of a laugh escapes him. "I doubt I'd be able to fit much else if I tried to carry rope with me."

"Don't you worry." Carkol shifts a little, coals rocking and tumbling to reveal... rope. Yes, the rope was concealed in coal. Is this practical? Not really, but whatcha gonna do?

[dripdrive]

"Can you even fit anything useful in that bag of yours?" Anasui asks Akechi, genuinely curious despite his tone. He then looks down at Carkol and raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment.

Anasui picks the coal-covered rope up in his mouth brings it over to the log. He tosses it over and looks for a way to fix the rope onto the trunk. This would be so much easier if he had hands...

After a long moment of staring, Anasui looks up to the Rookidee again.

"... You're small, Akechi. Get over here and thread this through for me."

[truthdecided]

"You could say please, you know." But, with an air of irritation, he moves over anyway, grabbing the end with his talons so they can keep the pace up. "It's amazing what time as a bird will do. We take for granted such simple things as hands."

[dripdrive]

He sure could say please.

... Anyway.

Anasui pretends not to hear Akechi as he watches the smaller Pokemon grab the rope. Anasui moves over to the other side of the log and waits to receive the rope from Akechi so he can secure it to his own body. He may need a hand knotting this thing too...

"... At least you have wings that work as a trade-off," Anasui mutters He has no hands AND he can't fly. It's bullshit, honestly!

[truthdecided]

"With practice, you may be able to use your wings more dextrously." If he wasn't flying, he'd demonstrate, but it's rather difficult to gesture and hover, so he'll settle on working with the rope. "What I find absurd is that wingless birds like Doduo can still use Fly, even if they favor running."

It's a bit tricky, but he is getting the knot squared away. "And wings do provide balance for flightless birds while running."

[dripdrive]

"Hmph. You don't know how dexterous my wings are," Anasui mutters indignantly. He ruffles his feathers but makes no attempt to show Akechi his point. He merely watches Akechi hop around and finish up the knot.

"Oh? Doduo. No, it makes sense. Their heads rotate like a propellor. It's why they can learn fly but I can't despite Espathra having bigger and stronger wings." Anasui says this with complete and utter seriousness, with no change in his tone. Why wouldn't it make sense? Less bullshit than stands.

[truthdecided]

"It's very... cartoon logic." He winces at the logistics of it. "Not to mention, it must be agony on their necks." Then again, perhaps their necks are built for it. It would make sense in a world this absurd.

[dripdrive]

"... I suppose so. This whole Pokemon thing feels very cartoony at times though," so it tracks.

Anasui slings the rope around his body and pulls. Despite not being a Pokemon with a high attack, he's plenty strong and he manages to slowly pick up the log.

"... Think I'm getting used to being a pack mule..." he grumbles.

[truthdecided]

With the rope secure, Akechi gets back to gathering supplies, as does Carkol. Still, one can always multitask. It's menial enough work that carrying the conversation hardly poses an issue.

"I'm much too small to play the part, although that may change once I evolve. Corviknight is an incredibly large species that rivals even your size."

[dripdrive]

Anasui is more than happy to work in silence... but he's not going to drop the conversation if he still has words for it.

"Corviknight... That's right. I had to rescue one when my Rescue Team went out to fight Dondozo and Tatsugiri. They are fairly big," Anasui says.

"I didn't say that as a critique on your stature, you know... I just don't particularly enjoy being saddled like a chocobo." He has no idea what that means and he definitely picked that expression up from Shoka.

[truthdecided]

"A... chocobo." That's such an odd statement. Odd enough that he gives Anasui a flat stare before resuming his work. "I can understand the sentiment, if nothing else. Other than Courier Six and A.B.A-san, most of us are on the smaller side."

Which begs the question of why. Why do some of them get to be larger?

Granted, there's also Ingo and Emmet. Still... It seems lopsided.

[dripdrive]

Anasui nods back at Akechi, doubling down with his statement despite not knowing the context. But he does think about the same question as Akechi as he works.

"I wonder why... that is. I noticed all of us 'bigger ones' can't evolve further as Pokemon from what I've researched... Maybe you are so small because you all have room to grow still?" Anasui doesn't completely believe his own theory but it's not the worst one he's put forward. Though it implies Anasui is already as developed as he could be, and he certainly doesn't agree with that.

[truthdecided]

"It's odd. There are single-stage Pokémon that are small, such as Mimikyu." They're only slightly bigger than Akechi, and that's largely due to the plush head. "Though perhaps personal growth is a factor... Still, I wouldn't say that the others aren't without that potential per se."

There's clearly something going on with Emmet and Ingo's brotherly relationship, no doubt spurred on by Emmet's amnesia, but that's neither here nor there.

He continues his work all the same, rounding up more supplies and carrying them over.

[dripdrive]

"Yeah... and Morepeko and a whole plethora of Pokemon that it doesn't apply to," Anasui says. "It could be just random but I'm not sure. Less than 30 is hardly a good sample size for anything." It's hard to assess at this stage.

Anasui's happy to keep working as he mills things over.

[truthdecided]

"Indeed. We need more examples to better discern the nature of our new forms. I can think of associations for myself and for Ren, but the others may not be so clear cut." But it's annoying. Why couldn't he be a Corviknight, or at least a Corvisquire?

His eyes narrow slightly, though he remains focused on his work all the same.

[dripdrive]

"Oh? What sort of connection? You two are associated with birds and cats?" Anasui can see the association between Emporio and Cubone because it's obvious to him, but everyone else he's not quite caught on...

[truthdecided]

"Well, my codename in the Metaverse was Crow, which I think speaks for itself." He even puffs out his chest a bit. This is a fact he's come to embrace, after all. "As for Ren, setting aside his cat-like tendencies, one of his closest companions is a talking cat."

[dripdrive]

"... makes sense." Anasui nods, as if he knows exactly what the Metaverse is. Carkol snorts, seeing Anasui's blank, confused expression, but says nothing else.

"So do all cats talk in the Metaverse?"

[truthdecided]

That... is a good question. One that gives Akechi genuine pause, though he at least tries to stay on task with his work.

"You know, I have no idea. Morgana is an... unusual case. Allegedly, he's the embodiment of all of humanity's hopes."

Allegedly, because he only heard this secondhand.

[dripdrive]

"... So... he's a Stand. A manifestation of a human spirit... except instead of just one person, it's everyone. That's... weird." Bizarre, even.

"Pretty sad that a cat's one of Ren's closest friends." Anasui, please.