APRIL 2025 EVENT LOG

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ SPRING FLING ✩⋆

The sun rises, and a gentle breeze blows. A day like any other arrives in Bottlecap Bay, and for many of the pokemon that so recently arrived it is a now familiar process. Members of the various guilds flock to the Quest Board, in search of tasks to better provide for the town. Others, maintaining businesses of their own within the small settlement, start to open their doors for another day of work.

There is something different about this day however, and it is a difference that defines the next number of them. There is never truly a dull moment here after all, and it’s time to get involved.

---

DONATION DRIVE

As spring fully settles into the bay, the clinic begins to advertise for additional activities on the Quest Board. A call for donors is made- but donors of what? Pokemon arriving in response to the request will find that answer to mean “anything and everything that can be given” - along with potential medical samples to help with further research into the mysterious illness, there are a great many things that can be made from shed feathers, brushed-out undercoat or trimmed horns and claws.

Or even sweat, alarming as that may seem.

Those willing will be given small interviews in which they determine what to donate, and after the process (however involved), be given a small boxed treat as compensation. And of course, they’ll record the contributions with their guild leaders too!

⟡ WHAT NOW?

Donated materials can be used for a great many things, and throughout the later half of April local businesses will be happily showing their relevant crafts off. Pokemon are invited to try their hand at sewing satchels made using Spinarak threads, spinning yarn from Stufful fur, or stuffing pillows with Ducklett down- and perhaps if they donated anything themselves, they can even make something of their own.

Literally.

---

NO “I” IN TEAM

With the need to re-evaluate the results of recent expeditions through the surrounding forest before making the move to branch out further, the leaders of the three guilds have come together with some training exercises to better pass the time. Rather than sit and wait between tasks determined by the quest board, the last weeks of April see various events hosted through the city with one goal in mind:

Team Building.

A. ⟡ SHOW-AND-TELL

As part of an effort to encourage understanding and community, the Guilds each host various meet-and-greets in their personal buildings- or in the case of the Lum Guild, the public Archives. It’s a chance for pokemon to show each other where they sleep and eat, to share a little of their lives with their fellows from other guilds.

There are also more awkward sharing activities- tossing a ball in a circle and giving a fact about oneself. Tying each other limb to limb and performing races. Or even gift exchanges with the donor crafts! Nothing says community like a present from the heart.

B. ⟡ STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT

As an extra step from simply showing what each guild room looks like, sleepovers will be encouraged through the remaining month as well. Perhaps it’s time for a repeat of the great Oran Sleep-Pile- or maybe a sequel hosting can be held in the Canopy with the Cheri Berries.

It’s a little trickier with members of the Lum Guild, with each one having their own apartment of sorts, but just ask! Surely a few friends can pile together in their Lum buddy’s house.

C. ⟡ THE GREAT ESCAPE

Polteageist is thrilled with the success of the ‘escape rooms’ from March. As such, the existing courses and challenges have been since repurposed in order to encourage pokemon to work together, improving on the initial project. Once again working in pairs, dangerous (but not lethal!) challenges await those who wish to sign up for them. As with before, there are three different rooms to choose from, and experienced rescue Pokemon will be on call the entire time. Anyone who takes longer than the allotted time will be rescued.

⟡ Ocean room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in a small cave beneath the water, with pockets of oxygen for those who need them. Upon waking, they must work together to escape the labyrinth of caves beneath the water and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: a maze-like cave system with misleading routes, paths with less or no sunlight, strange plants that may inflict status effects, agitated or disoriented wild Pokemon, and varying water temperatures/underwater geysers. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!

⟡ Forest room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in the center of a dense forest, with tree cover blocking most sunlight. Upon waking, they must work together to find their directions, navigate through thick brush and forest, and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: the fog, collapsed floors into cave systems, sudden steep drops, aggressive Pokemon and plants, vines, thorns, poisons and toxins. It has a two hour time limit, so good luck!

⟡ Cave room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up far beneath the city, in one of the many tunnels belonging to the mines. Upon waking, they must work together to reorient themselves and find a way out to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: unstable sections of mines leading to collapses, a vast assortment of tunnel directions leading to disorientation, extreme temperatures, lava pits, and lessening oxygen levels. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!

---

OOC NOTES.

⟡ CWS: body horror, medical imagery

⟡ Though dates specified cover only the last two weeks of April, players may assume continued donation drives and crafting projects to be available through the start of May, though less frequent.

⟡ We of the Bottlecap Bay Help Team would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone for their patience during the transition of tasks concerning the upkeep of the game. Current events have been taking a significant toll on many, but we are hoping to finalize Exploration Quest responses within the next few days. Thank you again, and happy threading!

FULL NAVIGATION

Comments

[arceusstansme]

[Akari peered over at the Zoroark, her little nubs on her waist and she looks Emmet up and down.]

[Before weakly punching Ingo's leg to see if Emmet felt the pain. -0 HP, Ingo is immune.]

[Yes, she was seeing if twins could feel each other's pain.]

[outbounds]

[ Did Ingo just go and have a kid. What the heck.

Yyyyeah. What was that, Cyndaquil whose name he doesn't know yet. There is obviously no flinch on Emmet's side of things, so he's just going to return that glance up and down with just ... well.

There's a lot less of her to have to examine. Small. Itty bitty. He stares down at her with some curiosity. ]

I am Emmet. I am not sure what you expected to happen there.

But if it is because you don't know that he's a ghost yet. Ingo, it is verrrry irresponsible of you to not teach this Cyndaquil proper type matchups.

[ This is a miniyou, even, it might even be relevant to them. ]

[offtracks]

[Ingo blinks down at Akari for a moment, before deciding to just dismiss that altogether.]

Emmet, this is Miss Akari! She is the challenger from Hisui that I have told you about! Akari, this is Emmet.

[Clearly some explanation of Emmet has already occurred.]

[arceusstansme]

I know type matchups.

[She said easily, defending her pride.]

And I was seeing if you two could feel each other's pain. Which you don't.

[Obviously. She runs forward a little and looks up at the Zoroark.]

Huh, you smile.

[Again, she learned Ingo's face a long time ago. So even on the Zoroark face, she could tell that wasn't Ingo's expression.]

[Also, girl, you don't just point out that someone doesn't smile.]

Ingo says you like to battle. Do you actually know how to battle or is Ingo comparing you to someone in Hisui?

[Akari! Is that a challenge?]

[outbounds]

[ Oh, so this is Akari. Somehow, when Ingo mentioned a research assistant of sorts, Emmet imagined ... something else.

Buuut maybe he should have just expected this from the moment Ingo said the girl was trying to fill out the entire Sinnoh Pokedex. Hisuian Pokedex. Whatever the difference is. ]

Haha! Do you want to find out?

[ Oh. Oh no. ]

[offtracks]

Akari! That is rude!

[It's the kind of banter that he might've easily done with someone else, before. Oh well!]

Emmet runs something like the Training Grounds, back in Unova! Well, both of us did, I suppose.

[arceusstansme]

[It was obvious she would listen to Ingo and respected what he said with how she tapped her foot and looked a little to the side.]

Just some bantering. And cool-

[She said turning back to Emmet-]

Did you also think of challenges?

[Like making her grow a Magikarp to level 100 just so it could survive those self-destructs? Evil!]

[outbounds]

[ Oh. Like a Ducklett. Would you look at that. ]

Define challenges. I think you may be thinking of something different from what I am used to.

Since it sounds like from what Ingo has said. Hisui is verrrry boring when it comes to battling against other people.

[offtracks]

That is not quite what I said!

[Oh no, he should not have introduced them.]

I've told Emmet about the Trials of Solitude. And our ordinary battles as well, of course! It was Akari's Typhlosion that made me interested in the species, originally!

[arceusstansme]

Oh they are, Ingo is like one of three people who know you can battle with- guess what- six pokemon. A whole team. Like, he even has a fanboy back at the Pearl Clan Settlement.

[Slight overexaggeration. The man just said Ingo's Pokémon knowledge was 'on a whole nother level.]

Ingo would be like 'Hey Akari, I got a new challenge for you. Bring a Sneasel.' So I go get a Sneasel, absolute big girl, and then this asshole-

[Gestures at Ingo.]

Brings out a Gligar.

[Bad match up for her.]

Turns out he wanted me to go find a black Sneasel for this challenge.

[Which she did, happily, running into a few Space-Time Distortions to get it. But she bet he knew which one she was going to grab first. She bet he enjoyed making her feel like a fool!]

1/3

[outbounds]

You did not say it that way because you are too polite to. That is why I said it instead. But you saying... lessee, how was it. Right, right, something like.

[ Do you know where this is going, Ingo. Do you. ]

2/3

[outbounds]

[ The Zoroark forces his expression into approximating something more severe. ]

"Emmet, it was quite frustrating! There was simply no one else in the region powerful enough to measure our strength against! We would reach the destination called Victory far too easily, so we would stall out, unsure of which tracks to take in order for us to aim for a higher state!"

3/3

[outbounds]

Yup. That is basically the same as you saying it was boring.

[ And that everyone else was just too weak. Not a challenge. Not serious battles! And therefore: not fun.

(Also, huh. Regional Sneasel don't match up well against a Ground and Flying type, huh? Sneasler's been mentioned, but Emmet's never really pushed for more information...) ]

So that is why you ended up thinking up what sounds like personalized, individualized challenges for the only other trainer in the region?

[offtracks]

......well. Yes.

[None of that is the way he would have wanted to say it at all! But...yeah, Emmet's also entirely correct.]

[arceusstansme]

[Akari laughs, it is a girlish laugh. Something you wouldn't expect from her with how she is.]

Ingo is too polite. Like if I had to live near Melli, I would have fed him to some Basculin by now, like- Ingo was put there because I don't think anyone else would be able to deal with him.

[outbounds]

Melli? [ Like, sure, he's heard the name before, but: ] Ingo has not mentioned the other Wardens much.

He is that bad?

[offtracks]

He is certainly a character!

[Which is not exactly complimentary in Ingo-speak.]

[arceusstansme]

Human embodiment of a canker sore.

[She looks over at Ingo, you haven't talked about your co-Wardens! You should.]

They're all great. Except for Melli.

[outbounds]

[ That sure is not complimentary in Ingo-speak. ]

So an irritating, but ultimately harmless coworker. Colleague? Okay.

A Lian has also come up? Something about liking rocks and geology.

[offtracks]

Ah, yes, Lian is one of the Pearl Wardens! Melli is from the Diamond Clan, and he still holds very strongly to that sort of clan rivalry.

[Ingo doesn't hate him or anything, but he can become a bit grating...not to mention, trying to leave Lord Electrode frenzied made him look at the man in a bit of a different light.]

[arceusstansme]

Lian is like, 10. And is waaaay serious for someone his age. Like, go chase some wurmples, skip rocks. Like. Something.

[Akari nods her head.]

Yeah, and Melli is like 'I, the great Melli, will assist you, and you will be thankful for it.' and everyone is like 'We would be thankful if you shut up.'

[outbounds]

I, Emmet, can see how that would get annoying.

[ was the phrasing intentional? you bet. ]

... why are they making ten year olds be stewards anyway? When Ingo said he was young for it I did not realize that he meant that young.

[ that's on the low end of 'kids leaving home and attempting to take on a league challenge,' and that's in the modern world, far removed and much changed from the glimpses of Hisui he's been able to glean. ]

[offtracks]

Lord Kleavor must have chosen him, I suppose! That is what happened to me.

[Ingo doesn't even disagree, but it feels a little different coming from somebody outside of the Clan...]

[arceusstansme]

I know for a fact Sneasler would strangle anyone who would look at Ingo wrong. So Lian is in good axes.

[Because well, Kleavor doesn't have hands...]

[outbounds]

[ noted, the Nobles are protective of their chosen wardens. ]

... so I guess Melli must have been picked too?

[ talk about some kind of job security... ]

What if the Noble doesn't pick someone? Do they just not have a Warden, or is the position assigned to someone?

[ what if no one passes the vibe check. ]