bottlecaplogs | DECEMBER 2025 EVENT LOG

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!event

DECEMBER 2025 EVENT LOG

⋆✩ A HOLLY, JOLLY… ✩⋆

The snow is constant, but gentle now. It drifts more than it falls, gently gathering on the boughs of trees and the rooftops of houses. As the days pass, with the sight of the sun rarer and rarer, one could be forgiven for feeling morose - even lonely - in these coming winter days. Yet the energy of the Pokemon in both Bottlecap Bay and Skull Town convey something else; a sense of quiet excitement, and even camaraderie.

Pokemon are beginning to gather at each other’s homes for quiet visits with hot drinks. They’re having snowball fights in the lingering hours of light, and warm moments inside near a fire.

It feels like, despite the cold, things will be just fine.

i. YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

YOU BETTER NOT CRY

It begins with a rumble. For a brief moment, a few Pokemon ask themselves if that avalanche from a week or so ago might not have been a warning of more to come. If maybe all the work to clear that snow is going to be undone. As the rumble increases however, it becomes clear that it isn’t the same as a collapse of snow. It sounds like something else. Like feet. Like…

”WE ARE HERE!”

Pokemon feet!

Despite sounding akin to an army of Pokemon, a total of only five soon make themselves known in the main square at Bottlecap Bay. They come charging with a practiced display, each one lining up proudly as they strike a pose - Scolipede, stamping the ground and throwing their horns. Incineroar, belching flames as they flex. Noivern, spreading great wide wings…

And tossed onto the shoulder of their companion, the teensy tiny Treecko, on Obstagoon’s shoulders!

“S!” “I!” “N!” “T!” “O!”

“SINTO IS HERE!!”

Proudly displaying themselves for all of Bottlecap, everyone quickly realizes that what’s most amazing about this oddball team isn’t just their noise level, but something even more interesting entirely; all of them are strange combinations of red, green, and white! It seems the team responsible for the mysterious request at the start of December has finally revealed itself…but why? As soon as anyone asks, the Obstagoon happily steps forward to answer.

“Why? It’s our mission of course! We’re here to deliver presents!!”

YOU BETTER NOT POUT⟡ The completely shiny team, ‘SINTO’, has finally arrived and each of its members are apparently here to stay for the remainder of the month. Its members include:

☆ Scolipede - Tall, scarlet, and covered in green spots, Scolipede travels often between Bottlecap Bay and Skull Town. They claim to be a sleigh puller, but there is no sleigh to be found.
☆ Incineroar - Largely white, with red striping. Incineroar occasionally helps to start off bonfires through the month, or even clear thick ice with their strength.
☆ Noivern - With powerful green and red wings, Noivern frequents the Spire; curiously, despite their bright coloration, they can be easy to lose in the tunnels.
☆ Treecko - Already spotted earlier through the month near the Canopy, Treecko is the smallest and youngest member of the team according to SINTO! With their bright red tail, they claim they have big boots to fill.
☆ Obstagoon - The unspoken leader of the group, striped with red and patched with green. Obstagoon cheerily joins in as many celebrations as possible, even the ones that aren’t familiar!

⟡ Despite claiming to be here to deliver presents, no one actually sees the team doing that. There might be moments where one comes close, but each time the Pokemon is interrupted by SINTO’s team throwing glittering dust at their face!

⟡ Speaking of SINTO, players are welcome to use the Gift Exchange Meme to link their Secret Santa replies and to otherwise exchange gifts between characters!

⟡ As a reminder, anyone participating in the Claus for Alarm!! quest has until December 30th to deliver their gift. If you feel you will be unable to do so, please reply to inform the Mod team!

ii. THE LONG NIGHT, THE SHORT DAY

LONGEST NIGHT

Some Bottlecap Bay Pokemon may have already started on preparation for the holiday early, but after the guilds get involved with quests is when it truly kicks into high gear. Glittering decorations start appearing everywhere! Pokemon native to this world seem to favor decorations to do with the moon, sun, snow, and ice, but - with the exception of a few real traditionalists - they’re intrigued and enthusiastic about anything the transformed Pokemon contribute. As long as you’re matching the spirit of the season by participating, can any decorations truly be wrong?

What is the spirit of the season, you ask? Local Pokemon are happy to explain, though it’s more of a fairytale than proper history. Longest Night is coming up! The story goes that many, many years ago, perhaps so long ago that humans didn’t exist yet, it was just the longest night of the year. In the dead of winter, with no sunlight, it was also the worst night of the year for all but a rare few Pokemon who enjoyed both the cold and dark. Everyone else would hide away and wait for daylight, and even those Pokemon quickly grew to hate the night out of loneliness.

So, finally, one of those Pokemon - what Pokemon it was changes between each storyteller - proposed something. To make Longest Night less lonely, all of the ice- and darkness-loving Pokemon would swear not to hunt on that specific night… and would protect anyone who emerged from being preyed upon. As time passed, more Pokemon began -

“But if you’re still hungry for meat,” Veluza interjects out of nowhere, busting in on the story, “I have you covered! I can Fillet Away as much as you’d like -”

Veluza is quickly shooed away by Mightyena, who is insistent that this isn’t in the spirit of the night! And besides, even native Pokemon who are otherwise entirely unconcerned about the cycle of nature seem a little weirded out by Veluza’s enthusiasm.

(Unfortunately, the story keeps getting interrupted by Veluza before anyone can ask where the gifts come into it…)

BUT NOT THE COLDEST⟡ The ‘Longest Night of the Year’ - which so happens to be December 22nd - is a holiday among the Pokemon that is ostensibly unique to the world of Bottlecap Bay. It’s unclear where it began; both Pokemon who migrated to the bay and those originally native to the region have their own stories, so it’s a widespread and very old tradition. Even the Archives don’t have concrete history on this!

⟡ What is known is that it’s a night of merriment and community, followed by a day of feasting - more on that later - with the night in question filled with quiet story telling, theatre, music, dance… If it can be used to share a story, it counts!

⟡ While a great many human holiday practices are unknown (for presumably obvious reasons), there seems to be a lack of surprise if anyone asks about gift exchanges. As a matter of fact, Pokemon of both settlements have been preparing stalls of goods for the express purposes of being given as gifts!

ENJOY THE FEASTIVITIES

As the dawn sun rises after the longest night, so comes the Shortest Day. While more accurately, the day prior was probably the shortest day…the celebrations lean heavily toward after the longest night, and it doesn’t take long to understand why.

The Shortest Day is celebrated with a feast, after all. It’s a feast that much of the day is spent putting together, and one hosted to everyone within the Bay at that - though Skull Town, it seems, is hosting their own meal for the sake of travel considerations. Not everyone is a cook though, and for that matter not everyone needs to work. It’s still a holiday, you know!

And that apparently means pre-meal gifts. Pokemon all over the Bay begin handing one another wrapped gifts they’ve spent days, even weeks preparing. Small things like winter clothes, or toys for little Pokemon to play with indoors. Gifts filled with meaning, and love - and some of them are even for their newfound companions from other worlds.

By the time gifts have all been exchanged, everyone is called toward the Archives for the promised meal. The final tradition, as many scholars will share if asked, comes from what followed those Longest Nights of the old past. Winter is a harsh season; for many Pokemon, even one evening to abstain from hunting could take its toll. The frigid conditions made it difficult for even the herbivorous of their number as well, and it soon became a tradition to do more than simply huddle close in those long hours.

It became tradition to look after each other in the short hours of daylight that followed.

As folklore holds that it was the kindhearted Blissey who began this tradition of delivering the gift of well cooked eggs to tide over the Pokemon of the bay, the feast that is prepared for everyone reflects this. A fully meat-less affair, there are salads carefully arranged with lush greens and sliced vegetables; massive servings of eggs, some hard-boiled with their insides churned into a seasoned mash, still others steaming and warm in the shell. Freshly baked breads fill numerous baskets, and countless jams, ready to spread, sit waiting. The feast is here - and from what can be heard, it’ll last well beyond the start of the second longest night, too!

“This is amazing,” an old Purrugly comments. “My compliments to the chefs.”

“This is better than I’ve ever seen it!” says yet another Pokemon, the Electrode in question bouncing up and down.

“Hey, is Treecko…glowing?”

With wide eyes, all Pokemon at the feast turn to the red-tailed Treecko from team SINTO. Hands still buried in the bread basket, the little one pauses to look themselves over as the glow increases. It covers their whole body, until it becomes too much to look at - until gleaming, rainbow lights stream out and around. For an instant, no one can see…but then!

“Oh!!”

“Treecko, you…”

While others stare, Obstagoon throws a much larger Pokemon than was there before into the air. “YOU FINALLY EVOLVED!!”

It’s a Shortest Day Miracle!

SHORT BUT SWEET⟡ While many Pokemon choose the Shortest Day to do their gift exchanges, Pokemon are free to choose whenever they like if they have presents to deliver.

⟡ As noted, all food at the Feast is considered ‘vegetarian’ - though eggs may be involved, as Blissey eggs aren’t considered ‘meat’! Carnivorous Pokemon questioned about these eggs will remark that they’re actually much like ‘junk food’ to them. Great occasionally, such as today, but not something a Pokemon like them can live on.

⟡ Players are free to come up with additional dishes for the feast, provided it matches the vegetarian requirement.

⟡ Treecko evolved? But how? Pokemon within the Bay aren’t sure, but they’re hopeful that it’s a good sign - apparently, many Pokemon have been having difficulties doing so in the past year.

iii. TO ANOTHER FINE YEAR…

A FINAL DASH OF HOLIDAY

At the end of the feast, the members of SINTO (or… or are they SINGO now?) do one final round to bestow every participant in their quest with an extra helping of especially sparkly festive glitter - and an announcement to each of those Pokemon that they’ve proven themselves worthy of the “power of Longest Night”. While they seem to intend this just for those that helped them out… in fact, enough Pokemon did that the glitter just ends up everywhere. If you were in the room at all, expect glitter on your paws for at least a couple of days.

Then the team vanishes as abruptly as they arrived, with Obstagoon leading the charge off into the night.

But after all that food, is anyone really in a state to worry about this? Some Pokemon may linger for a while longer, for quieter socializing and hot drinks. For most, though, it’s time to head back to their rooms and get some much-anticipated rest - perhaps wrapped in a cozy new gift!

At dawn the following morning, Pokemon will notice sleigh tracks cutting through the center of both Bottlecap Bay and Skull Town. Did Scolipede really have a sleigh all along? In addition, several Pokemon in Skull Town remark that they heard bells during the quietest hour of the night, muffled by snow. Opinions differ on whether they sounded cheery or welcoming, but nobody who will admit to making the sounds can be found…

SINTO-HO-HO!⟡ As one final bonus for this event, everyone is eligible to submit for a freebie XS or S activity reward!

⟡ To submit, apply for a reward on the Activity Rewards page as normal, but put down 0 for the Reward Cost. In addition, you must claim this freebie by Dec 31st, 11:59 PM EST!

⟡ In character, it’s fine if your character doesn’t receive the reward until after December, even much later. Regardless of when they do, it will be unusually glittery in some way - if it’s an item, it will arrive glittered, if they gain an ability, they will wake covered with a bit of inexplicable glitter, and so on. This glitter is an exact match to the final batch that SINTO sprinkled everyone with!

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ CWS: Aside from Veluza, there are no CWs!

⟡ As always, while all Quests must be submitted by the 30th of the month, Players may submit their own Player Quests at any time before that point! (Though we recommend saving Player Quests for the next month if it is after the 25th)

⟡ For those who participated in the Secret Santa this month, don't forget to submit your presents 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

psst, link to the Activity Rewards page is broken!

Oops, good catch! It should be fixed now.

1. Getting to the Feast!

In the early morning after the Longest Night, one might spot a little Sneasel staggering up the path towards the Archives. She's carrying a basket of food, with wooden bento boxes piled up ambitiously on top of it, so high that she can't see what's in front of her.

Mayaka had assured herself before leaving the house that she's made the trip between the Archives and her room enough times to be able to do this blindfolded. She's aiming to get to the venue early so that she can give out all this food she's prepared for her new friends before they get started on the actual feast.

What she's failed to account for in her home-to-Archives route planning is that the celebrations from the night before have left party items, glitter, and other random knickknacks littering the streets. Despite her best efforts, Mayaka inadvertently steps onto a pile of tinsel and it's too late when she realises it's gotten all tangled up in her feet.

"Uwah!!" She grips tightly onto her basket as she feels herself slip...!

2. Pre-Feast Gifts!

Mayaka stands near the entrance to the feast with her basket of food (all still intact and presentable, phew), scanning the Pokemon that come and go for familiar faces.

She realises that it might not be a good idea, giving out such simple fare before a grand feast, but this was all she could think to scrape together given her lack of resources and the limited items in the market. The Sneasel is wearing a pair of brand new gloves that she received earlier from Courier Six, making her less anxious about being close to others and also the reason why she could assemble and cook the food to begin with.

(Mayaka has prepared not only food for her friends, but extra in case she meets new faces as well! Whether you've given her a present in the days before, or are planning to give her a present now, she'll be ready to reciprocate with something yummy.)

Edited 2025-12-16 04:58 (UTC)

Aegiomon is still getting used to this holiday stuff, he really can't believe there's a whole feast planned right after last night's celebration. He's...excited, to say the least, trotting his way to the Archives with a spring in his step. He's heard whispers this feast in particular is incredibly vegetarian-friendly, which delights him even more.

Of course, on his way over, he manages to spy the familiar Sneasel. What was about to start as a friendly hello quickly turns into wide-eyed panic when he sees all those unsteady bento boxes about to topple over. Acting quickly—perhaps a little too quickly—Aegiomon dashes over and uses his larger body to help steady her. His vines extend upward like elongated arms to catch any stray boxes before they hit the ground.

"Woah! A-Are you okay?!" his voice is rattled with concern as he holds onto a few of the boxes, unsure if he should add them back to that imposing stack. "Do...do you need any help carrying all of these? I know I wouldn't wanna clean up the mess these would make if they really did fall to the ground."

Mayaka's panic is swiftly replaced with ease as she feels herself fall against someone. She tilts her head to see vines holding firmly onto the boxes that would have otherwise hit the pavement.

"Gio-chan! You're a lifesaver!" She grins at the Skiddo as she places her basket of food down on the ground.

The Sneasel is still tangled up in a rope of tinsel, and hops on one leg in an attempt to free her feet from its clutches as she continues speaking: "I'd feel bad asking you to help me carry these gifts when one of them is yours. Actually, it's the box you have there."

She points at the vine that's holding onto a box with a very simple doodle of the Skiddo scrawled on the cover, to help her differentiate between bentos.

I. You Better Watch Out

Akechi stands there, utterly flabbergasted after team SINTO make their appearance. They're... anime posing, festive shiny Pokémon? Is that the equivalent of Santa Claus here? And... they posted the quest on the board, and now Akechi is stuck being Secret Santa to... Emporio?

He looks down at his assignment, contemplative, before tucking it into his satchel. Secrecy is key, so he can't be too overt, but people around town can see Akechi going from shop to shop, listening to conversations, and contemplating.

Though, there's something else... An element of listlessness. When he was little, presents were hard to come by. His mother could only afford so much, when Akechi himself was a financial burden. Emporio lived in a prison, so gifts were probably even scarcer.

He should... at least try to get him something worthwhile.

II. The Longest Night

In true Goro Akechi fashion, he can be found wandering the town, not only looking at the decorations, but taking notes on the cultural customs.

"Curious how the stories vary from Pokémon to Pokémon..." He'd heard murmurs of the Longest Night earlier, when inquiring about predation and the customs surrounding him, but the blind spots are most intriguing. A nearby coffee shop catches his eye. Taking a break to warm up isn't a terrible idea. Still, since he's not presently alone, he turns to anyone nearby with a chuckle. "I have to wonder how many of these holiday customs originated from contact with humans, or if they developed organically and coincidentally..."

The gift giving is so evocative of the western idea of Christmas...

Christmas... A time that, in his country, holds a very particular meaning.

III. Enjoy the Feastivities

Truthfully, Akechi has never had people to give gifts to before now, but he's taken his time to procure gifts for more than simply his assigned giftee. When delivering gifts, he keeps it calm and nonchalant. No need to be overly sentimental. He also offers his thanks to those kind enough to bring gifts to him. It's... more than he anticipated. So... reciprocal.

He tries masking his unease with his typical aloof demeanor, and the feast certainly offers a welcome distraction, which he eagerly indulges in. All his hard work, plus the cold, certainly worked up an appetite...

But when Treecko evolves, he freezes up, eyes wide.

"No fucking way." An evolution. Treecko... evolved. It's... possible. It's possible, and yet he's still small.

Hastily, he takes notes. He even asks some of the Pokémon at the gathering for more information, though the findings aren't too different from before. Treecko's change is clearly an anomaly.

"...There must be a reason for this. I need to get to the bottom of things."

IV. A Final Dash of Holiday

With the larger festivities dying down, sparkly glitter aside, now seems like the perfect time to do something. His first priority? Finding Ren. It's... customary, after all, and for as closed off as Akechi acts, it isn't lost on him that they've been... together for some time now. What an absurd notion, yet he can't say he's upset by this turn of events. Far from it.

When he's not seeking out his partner, he can be seen enjoying coffee and warm food from one of the local cafes, still grappling with the glittery experience, the talk of sleigh bells, and even... a gift? A gift that has no place being in this world... But that can wait.

For now, it's a time of quiet contemplation. "...I wonder if the sleigh was team SINTO's doing, or if perhaps there's someone else spreading the cheer. Imagine if Santa Claus was real..." Ha. Now there's a thought.

Bigby's still brushing off the glitter from his fur after all the festivities. Despite waking up in the stuff, there was no surprise gift to be seen anywhere for him. Beats getting a box full of coal, but at that point, why bother? In the middle of drinking his own coffee, he can't help overhear Akechi talking to himself behind him.

He should just leave it be, considering how much this bird ruffles his metaphorical feathers, but the words leave his mouth anyway.

"What, you think it was Jack Frost then?"

There's some intimate disdain in how he says that name, as if him and Jack go way back. Imagine.

Ah, great. It's Bigby.

Akechi sets his mug down, arching his brow. "You say that as if you have a personal vendetta with Jack Frost."

How amusing. The Jack Frost that comes to mind is a goofy mascot character. Irritating, perhaps, but not offensive.

"What can I say. Santa's just a far more compelling character."

He takes a loud sip in honor of the biggest thorn in his side, Jack Horner. If only Akechi knew how he came to be Jack Frost for a time. No doubt Akechi would find him just as terrible, but that's not Bigby's story to tell, even if he wants to.

Edited 2025-12-18 05:18 (UTC)

QUESTIONS

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no subject

Mayaka | Hyouka | Hisuian Sneasel | OTA !

1 because I need that cute bento box in my life

(´・ω・)っ由

Goro Akechi | Persona 5 Royal | OTA

iv.

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III

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Emporio Alniño | JJBA: Stone Ocean | OTA

Final Dash! (CW for Human Remains)

ngl its tempting to make `clean the bones` a player quest for january

That would be such an epic player quest :o I hope you do that one big time

a final dash (video)

[shoka voice] THIS IS A BONES!!!

no subject

the shortest day

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1/2

Parvati Holcomb | The Outer Worlds | OTA!

4 (img of parvati in the gear is !! so cute)

aaa thank you she was so fun to draw!!