APRIL 2026 EVENT LOG

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ SPRING INTO ACTION ✩⋆

Not a single flake remains from winter’s chill. Wherever the land can give purchase to new roots, flowers are beginning to bud and bloom. Leaves are filling in the depleted forest canopy, and with these refreshing signs of warmer days, spirits should be as high as the clouds themselves.

Should be is the key word here. Lingering troubles from February still loom, making it difficult for the motivation and excitement from the Starfall Festival to keep from gradually draining away. Surely not everything is dire, right?

i. PROMISES TO KEEP

FLOWER GIFT(S)

It’s a shame that those researchers from the Lum guild are still unaccounted for. The primary guilds of Bottlecap are in an absolute tizzy over the matter, with all of the higher ranking guild leaders spotted picking up slack where their exhausted superiors find themselves slipping. But while the Bay is a hive of frantic worry, things couldn’t be more different in the settlement of Death Blood Murder Skull Town - in fact, everyone who helped Lurantis with preparing Skull Town for the ludicrous winter they experienced will be called via grumpearl to drop in…

Apparently, she has a gift for them.

It’s doubtful that only those due to receive gifts are showing up of course. Perhaps Lurantis even counted on that, as when Pokemon begin to arrive she has far more than just cute presents in store. Spring season doesn’t mean everyone gets to slack off, and while things aren’t quite as pressing as when the town was first settled they still have plenty to do! Even gift recipients could find themselves recruited for one task or another, but this time they’re not getting anything spectacular.

…though they won’t be leaving without some kind of repayment, courtesy of the small bounty those of the town have been making for themselves. It’s clear that over the course of the half year they’ve had, Skull Town has formed itself into a system determined to stand on their own zero-to-six legs. Where once the only major constructed buildings to be seen were the communal dwelling house, clinic, and mail shack, they’ve since expanded into additional large structures! A windmill works constantly to grind the grain now being cultivated in the many flat fields naturally present. A bridge now spans the stream that cuts through the area, leading to a cleared out training field for Pokemon to spar in. For those who haven’t taken the time to visit since before winter, it’s probably quite the shock!

PLANT-IFUL WORK

⟡ Back at the start of Winter, Lurantis promised a personal reward to those who came to her aid in preparing Skull Town in response to the worrying signs of a particularly brutal winter. Now that spring is here, she’s been able to properly grow what she needs to do for just that - but these aren’t merely plants. Lurantis’ gift is personally crafted pressed flower paper, with the added bonus of small floral soaps. The paper is sturdy enough to use for crafting, not just writing, and can be made into lasting objects like paper lanterns. Each set is one of a kind, and has clearly been customized according to each recipient!

⟡ A similar gift has been prepared for those who assisted with the avalanche!

⟡ More Pokemon from the local regions have come to settle into the buildings at Skull Town, apparently interested in the relative security it brings. In exchange, aside from participating in maintaining the town, they're also willing to demonstrate personal talents; otherworldly Pokemon can take the opportunity to get a good idea of what "trade" here typically looks like! While it's not uncommon for longer-term residents of the Bay to pick up interests and skills that don't necessarily "align" with their species, given the access to a wider variety of equipment and resources, those recently from the wild rely more on personal abilities. Grass types can find tutors for more readily growing certain plants, and fire types could even learn how to hone their flames for better tempered metal!

⟡ Among the various tasks that are necessary to Skull Town at the moment, there’s something for everyone to do; the farm fields need to be prepared for planting, and the buildings need to be inspected for any weather damage in need of repair. The same can be said for the roads of course, but the biggest focus will be out in those fields - Lurantis wants them to be neat and organized!

⟡ With all of this happening, one might wonder what ever happened to Ribombee’s plan for the forest burn-off. Hadn’t everyone been talking about how vital that was to keep fire risks down? Lurantis explains that despite Ribombee gathering the necessary Pokemon and resources, the woods have proven alarmingly resistant to the usual methods. One would hope this means that the wood's fire resistance will hold as summer approaches of course, but the Cheris are looking just a little more anxious and stressed as time goes on through the month - to say nothing of poor Ribombee himself!

ii. SIGNS OF THE TIMES

ROLLING UP FROM THE SOUTH

Every year, Pokemon of certain species engage in migration. Where others get sleepy, or tuck in for a long hibernation, these Pokemon prefer to just get out of town until the weather is more comfortable.

The region of Bottlecap Bay is not part of the common migration routes, but it's also not out of the way enough to find migrating Pokemon remarkable. Locals and otherworlders alike would have spotted the occasional Swanna flying south last year, or a Seel out in the bay making their round trip of the seas, but it previously would only spark as much notice as a rainy day in spring.

This year is different.

This year, the Pokemon are everywhere. It begins at first with the birds: Flying Pokemon of all kinds shed their feathers as they pass overhead, and it’s the first warning that anyone in Skull Town has before there are suddenly Pokemon canvasing the ground just as much as the feathers themselves. The rooftops, fields, river - anywhere that they can fit, they’re flooding in and fast.

To the Pokemon’s defense, they don’t intend to stay; typically when they land here through the spring they file out in a reasonable order, so much so that it’s easy to forget the field acts as a landing pad for any migrations at all! But the recent weather phenomena really messed up their timing and flight paths…and unfortunately that also means not all of them can immediately head for their usual waters.

The main town at Bottlecap Bay isn’t immune to these sudden swarms either; while less of a hot spot for Flying types on their seasonal loop, there are the occasional Water types passing through…and whatever it was which created such hassle for the air has done the same to the seas! One by one, soon to become ten by ten, Spheal and Seel begin to gather at the beaches alongside Pokemon like Carracosta seeking a place for a seasonal nest. The crowded conditions are creating quite the stir down there, and it’s soon clear that without intervention, some fights are going to be breaking out!

MIGRA-TATED CONFUSION

⟡ Pokemon migration is common, and player characters present for some time can have noticed it in the past - but as the native Pokemon who have lived here for years can confirm, it’s never been this crowded! As noted, it seems the weather this past winter really messed them all up.

⟡ The various Pokemon who took part in the migration will confirm this theory if asked; the pinniped Pokemon of the seas remark that due to the extended cold, the currents have shifted into something so unfamiliar and treacherous that they simply had to change routes en-masse to stay safe. Meanwhile, the flying travelers comment that there was ‘bad wind’ farther south. What ‘bad wind’ means is anyone’s guess though.

⟡ While the Pokemon don’t need housing, they certainly need space! Local Carracosta are more than irritated about this encroachment on their usual nesting sites (that’s a private process you know!), and requests to help settle disputes soon begin to flood the Quest Board. Once they are appeased however, Pokemon are in for a potential treat as they hear stories about just what the world is like in the central seas…or even what the seas are like at all, if one is a Pokemon ill suited to that domain.

SPOILS OF LABOR

While the aquatic journeyers have little to offer material-wise - anything they can fish up can be retrieved by locals just as easily - the veritable cloud of feathers from the flocks near Skull Town are a more tangible side effect of this recent invasion.

Well. More tangible than the Pokemon themselves, of course!

While none of the Swanna have been dropping anything like the skill feathers one might have occasionally found in the nearby woods, their feathers are an incredibly downy and soft material - pillows and bedding stuffed with these are something of a luxury, making their shed feathers a hot commodity!

More Pokemon than just Swanna came flying in from the sky however, and it’s largely these feathers that characters will likely be finding. A feather is a feather though, which means that there’s use in anything from stuffing to decoration to even tool creation on the table…and Lurantis is not one to look a gift Horsea in the mouth! (How would that even work!)

As soon as the various birds have been settled - either in their trek off to their actual destinations, or temporarily in beds at the communal building - the town sets to work. A call to gather as many feathers as possible is made, and stations to help clean and prepare said feathers for crafting are quick to follow. It’s more complicated than just washing them in water; these feathers have to be cleaned multiple times, dried, and even steamed before they’re appropriate for use!

Well, unless you just plan on making a necklace or something of course. Then you can have at it.

FEATHER IN YOUR CAP

⟡ All of the feathers available in this event are mundane - that is, they can’t be used to boost anyone’s stats or skills in the slightest! That said, these feathers come not only from Pokemon like Swanna, but also others such as Farfetch’d, Unfezant, Bombirdier, and even Talonflame!

⟡ As varied as Pokemon are, so too are the things that can be crafted with their feathers. The obvious examples involve using the down in bedding and pillows, but feathers can also be used for certain resistant accessories - nothing that would help in a fight, but perhaps with enough feathers you can have a nice rain cloak…or even a cloak that helps you stay cool in the summer heat!

⟡ Players are free to come up with any number of ways to craft feathers into fun accessories and knick-nacks. The majority of the collected feathers will be used toward Skull Town’s own supply, but player characters are welcome to keep and use enough to make themselves one item each! (Or several quill pens.)

iii. DISTANT DISASTER

OUT OF SIGHT…

For the Pokemon aware of but not participating in the plan to rescue the missing Lum researchers, the first sign of something going wrong is an uproar at the Archives. It may take some time to get more information, though, with everyone busy handling... whatever it is that happened. Unless, perhaps, you're in grumpearl contact with one of the teams that was going on the expedition?

Depending on who someone tries to reach out to, you'll either get no response at all... or you'll be informed that the first group of Pokemon teams that was teleported out has vanished. To somewhere unknown, that is! They haven't shown up where Chimecho was waiting for them! Needless to say, there won't be any more teleporting going on today.

Polteageist was already supervising at the Archives, but the other guild leaders are rapidly summoned. For once even the usually even-tempered Mightyena seems very agitated, but she and Ribombee take turns keeping each other on track. For their part, Polteageist steadfastly defends their teleportation specialists to the other two guild leaders, but behind the scenes their questioning is very thorough and intense. A retrieval for a single team of Pokemon should absolutely not be shaping up into a rescue mission for multiple teams of Pokemon at once!

The guild leaders pull together to form a plan, though. Once the teleportation specialists report back apologetically that they're working on tracking where each team could have ended up, the remaining expedition teams are reassigned to retrieve the missing ones - on foot, this time.

For the moment, Polteageist refuses to accept any additional teams; after all, the ones that signed up were the ones prepared to go into unknown terrain, and that seems to be what's going to happen regardless! But that doesn't mean there's no way for others to help. Pokemon loitering near the Archives may be roped into retrieving supplies and otherwise readying the remaining expedition teams. It seems as though the expeditionaries are expected to be gone for multiple days this time, once they do set out...

Or perhaps you could just keep the remaining expedition teams company? Some of them may be a bit rattled, or winding themselves up anxiously over having to wait to head out.

...ON OUR MINDS

⟡ Attempting to contact missing teams over the grumpearls will get no response. Or - hang on, sometimes, a single word or burst of emotion seems to get through? Is that really from your missing friends, though? And are they getting anything like that from your attempts at contact too? There's nothing to do but keep trying…

⟡ Once the remaining expedition teams set out, contact with them also gets spotty, and eventually ceases in the same way.

⟡ While they're too busy beforehand, after the last expedition teams set out the Lum teleportation specialists can be questioned on what went wrong! When asked, Raichu shamefacedly confesses that while they tested teleportation with a wide variety of Pokemon species and types, they didn't realize that there might be something different about the otherworlders, who they've mostly come to think of as just like any other Pokemon. And with how busy the otherworlders are, so many of them constantly running all over on various quests, they never happened to test with one!

⟡ That's his current theory, anyway… it's either that or their testing sample size of Pokemon was still too small.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ CWS: Mentions of extreme weather, missing persons.

⟡ While all Light Quests must be submitted by the 25th 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 20th.)

⟡ 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

[dripdrive]

"... He's with those two idiots? I've never heard of two teammates that are worse for each other, even with Emporio mediating," Anasui says, eyes wide. It's not as if he didn't read the list of who teamed up with who but he hadn't registered anyone who wasn't on his team. "Kaiba... fine, he can fight. He nearly killed Emporio, sure, but he can listen even if he's a stubborn fool. Catrina on the other hand..."

Anasui scowls, thinking of the whole debacle on the mountain. Since the Litwick seemed intent being stupid, he and Robin practically had to drag Catrina out of danger at every possible turn.

"... He's unlikely to die. But he's been seriously hurt before. I don't think it will happen... but there's always a risk." A risk he so badly wants to go and mitigate. It's a problem he wants to go solve now.

But he can't. All he can do is keep pulling apart this furniture and think about how helpless they all are right now!

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka stays silent for a few moments. It would be easy to tell Anasui not to worry about stuff that hasn't even happened yet, but it's obvious that Emporio means a lot to him. If she were in his shoes (feathers?), thinking positive would be the last thing she'd do. No, she'd rattle off on all the things that could go wrong -- someone has to think about it! -- and need to be pulled out of her spiral.

"I'm worried about Rio-chan too. But the only thing we can do right now is to be prepared once they're ready to send us out."

She fidgets with her claws, before continuing: "We should get something to eat. I know you probably don't have an appetite now, but we should make sure we're in tip top condition."

She's prepared for Anasui to reject the offer but... if the plans had gone off without a hitch, her team would probably be stopping for a mid-day break right about now. She hasn't had anything to eat since the morning, and she knows that the guild is bringing in extra rations and supplies to prep the teams who haven't gone out yet.

[dripdrive]

Anasui doesn't look up from the chair. Instead, he gestures to his pack behind him, sitting in the corner and ready to go at a moment's notice. As far as he's concerned, he's ready.

"My team isn't even going to be sent out to find him," Anasui grumbles. "They said that they're going to have my group look for their researchers. Because those fuckers are still lost. They're just trying to verify a location before they send us off." Anasui drops the pieces next to him and purses his beak together. He knows he's being irrational. He knows he's irritated. He needs a break, even from his hobby, so he stands up.

"... I'm not hungry but I don't doubt the researchers will need something. I'll grab some rations if you are."

[sharpjustice]

((ooc: this feels like a good spot to start wrapping ? but we can also tag a bit more so that mayaka can ask questions about their r/s !! lemme know what works for u im good with either :3))

A smile tugs at the corner of the Sneasel's mouth. Though the situation seems pretty bleak right now, at least Anasui's not completely shut off in his own world.

"Yeah! Let's go and see what they have."

She'll lead the way to the hall where the staff is sorting the newly delivered rations, expecting the Espathra to follow behind at his own pace.

im gonna sound like an old person but what does R/S mean lmaooooooo. Happy with either tho too!

[dripdrive]

Anasui stands up. Leaving the pieces of furniture where they are, he psychically picks up his bag and puts it on his back. Then he follows after Mayaka, taking his time despite the nagging feeling in his head to hurry and do something. He doesn't say anything though but...

he does appreciate Mayaka's efforts. All of them.

relationship !!! its ok im learning new shorthands all the time haha

[sharpjustice]

To fill the silence while they make their way down to the hall, Mayaka looks over her shoulder and asks something that's been on her mind since she first learned Emporio and Anasui were staying together.

"How did you and Rio-chan get to be so close?"

ahhh i see i see

[dripdrive]

Anasui blinks, a little surprised Mayaka is asking him that. Everyone knew that he and Emporio were close but he didn't think anyone cared about why they were.

"We're from the same world. I've known the kid since he was like... what, eight? What we estimate to be eight, anyway. I met him in prison," Anasui says casually.

[sharpjustice]

Thankfully for Anasui, Mayaka has already learned about Emporio's 'ghost room' and the piano he slept on (in?). Though she doesn't fully understand the mechanics of it, she knows that the Cubone had grown up in a prison.

"Being from the same world doesn't necessarily mean you'll be close. I've been in the same class as some people for four years, and we just don't get along," Mayaka says flatly.

She'd like to think that the two of them watch out for each other not just because of circumstance or a shared origin.

"It's because you want to look out for Rio-chan, right?"

[dripdrive]

"That's not a reason to be close. You're not close because you want to look out for them, you want to look out for someone because you're close. Or for other reasons." Anasui sighs heavily and looks away, even though he still follows Mayaka.

"Back in the prison, Emporio was always around the one guy who kept me calm. Since I hung out with Weather, I hung out with Emporio and we just got used to each other's presence," Anasui muttered. "... Emporio is... important to Weather and very important to my Jolyne. They'd want him safe... that's all."

Anasui's not the sort to admit he has a soft spot for the kid too.

[sharpjustice]

Huh, Anasui's explanation makes sense. She also catches the mention of my Jolyne. While she would like to dig into that, Mayaka knows now probably isn't the right time. She'll bug him about that later -- if it's something to do with matters of the heart, she's going to get to the bottom of it!

"... Has Rio-chan always been like that?"

Too grown up for his age. Always the mediator. A bit unaware of what counts as 'normal' and 'abnormal'. The kids has a few quirks.

[dripdrive]

"...Comes with growing up in the worst prison in America and then having to hide for most of his life. And given the two adults he interacted the most with are me and Weather, it's a miracle he's as stable as he is."

Which is the long way to say: 'yeah, but he's a good kid so we let it slide'.

pick ur poison anasui+weather or kaiba+catrina

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka nods, before coming to a simple conclusion.

"If Rio-chan managed to survive in a place that, with you and this other guy... I'd say it's not much more dangerous than wherever he is now with Cat-chan and Kaiba."

Which is her way of saying: He'll be fine, Anasui.

They finally reach the main hall, where other teams are collecting and reorganising their extra rations. On one side of the room, an Octillery is using all eight tentacles to distribute berries to those coming up to request for extra rations.

Anasui picks himself as the better option every day of the week

[dripdrive]

"Perhaps... but the difference is that Weather and I weren't idiots. We could handle anything prison could throw at us." Anasui can't say the same for Kaiba or Catrina (especially Catrina).

He knows that Emporio will likely be fine but he worries. If events at home have taught him anything, you could be super prepared and done everything right... and still lose. But he supposes he just has to hope.

Anasui heads straight for the Octillery, eager to get what he needed in case he was needed at a moments notice. He nods to the water Pokemon and mutters that he needs more for the expedition, in case the researchers are out of rations.

[sharpjustice]

"I get the feeling no prison could handle Cat-chan..." Mayaka remarks, sounding a bit disturbed by her own realisation.

Mayaka waits for her turn after Anasui. She decides to grab some extra berries for Ren and Akechi, and a spicy Tanga Berry to munch on for now.

Before she can finish eating her snack, her Grumpearl begins to ring with an announcement from Polteageist: all remaining teams need to assemble for an update on the next plan of action!

"Looks like we got here just in time," she says, looking up at Anasui.

[dripdrive]

Anasui looks up, a thin frown forming on his face. He quickly stashes the extra rations that he's taken and stands up again.

"Yep, we sure have," Anasui says. "We should find our teams too if we're assembling. We can... talk later, okay?" He wouldn't be entirely against it.

wrapping~

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka's eyes widen a little at that. Did Anasui just imply that he didn't mind hanging out with her more? While he's always come off as someone who'd rather be left alone, she realises that he's never actually stopped her attempts to follow him on quests or to involve herself in what he's doing.

"Mm," the Sneasel says with a nod, trying not to make a big deal out of this.

She begins to dash out of the hall to find her team, but stops halfway to look over her shoulder and wave to him: "Stay safe, Anasui!"