bottlecaplogs | FEBRUARY 2025 QUESTBOARD

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FEBRUARY 2025 QUESTBOARD

⋆✩ INTRO EVENT ✩⋆

QUESTBOARD
( SIGN UPS FOR THIS MONTH ARE HERE )

At 7am sharp every morning, the city comes fully alive with the posting and highlighting of new quests! Of course, the questboard is something that should always be checked, with rescue missions always a possibility outside of normal update times, but there's something special and heartwarming about the way the entire city comes together this same time each day, just to see what they can do to help one another.

Upon joining their guilds, newcomers have been invited to take a look at the quests themselves. There are rankings they'll have to concern themselves with, after all. Today is a special day, because the newcomers have now officially all been added to the member ranking roster! They are all listed under their respective guilds at the very bottom, sporting a nice 0 points so far. Don't worry, no one's judging them yet. Currently, the guild leaders are at the top rank of their respective guilds. As far as guild ranking, Lum Berries are the top guild, followed by Oran, and lastly by Cheri.

The quests themselves are pinned to the wooden board securely, hanging in clear view with the following information listed for each: quest giver, difficulty level (1-3 stars), rewards (points and/or items, plot mentions obviously are not there), and a message from the quest giver. As for the currently available quests...

RESOURCE QUESTS

STONE
QUEST TYPE: RESOURCE
QUEST GIVER: Mightyena
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

The clean up after the storm has gone well, but our supplies have run low. We need Pokemon who can help gather stone from the mines. Any gems or other materials you find are an added bonus.

POINTS REWARDED: 50 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: You have a chance to find items or special stones while mining.

BERRY HUNGRY!
QUEST TYPE:RESOURCE
QUEST GIVER: Ribombee
CLAIM LIMIT: None
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

The Cheri Berries are in search of willing Pokemon to help replenish our food reserves! With all of these newcomers under our wings, we've got to keep the city fed, and berries are an important part of a Pokemon's healthy diet!

POINTS REWARDED: 50 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: You have a chance to find honey or some rare items.

EXPLORATION QUESTS

BEYOND THE CITY
QUEST TYPE: EXPLORATION
QUEST GIVER: Dr. Denne
CLAIM LIMIT: 3 teams
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: Yes
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

With the increase in our numbers, it should be the perfect time to scout further out from the city! Polteageist and I are looking for up to three teams willing to head out and push into unknown territory. More information will be given after sign up!

POINTS REWARDED: 200 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: Some plot hints, perhaps!

RESCUE QUESTS

RESCUE TEDDIURSA
QUEST TYPE: RESCUE
QUEST GIVER: Spheal
CLAIM LIMIT: 1 team
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

Please help! My friend Teddiursa and I were playing on the cliffs when she fell into the ocean! She hasn't come back in two days, so I think the rough waters from the storm stranded her somewhere!

POINTS REWARDED: 100 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No

FIND BUNEARY
QUEST TYPE: RESCUE
QUEST GIVER: Elekid
CLAIM LIMIT: 1 team
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

I haven't seen Buneary around the city since the storms... He was always pretty shy, but I'm starting to get worried. Can you ask around and try to find out where he might have gone?

POINTS REWARDED: 100 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No

FIND TAILLOW'S MEDICINE
QUEST TYPE: RESCUE
QUEST GIVER: Swellow
CLAIM LIMIT: 1 team
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

I've lost some very important medicine that I need to give to my baby Taillow during the storm. Dr. Denne says he can't make a replacement in time. Someone please hurry! The last time I remember having it, I was scouting near the Canopy.

POINTS REWARDED: 100 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No

SAVE PURRLOIN
QUEST TYPE: RESCUE
QUEST GIVER: Liepard
CLAIM LIMIT: 1 team
DIFFICULTY: ★✩✩
THREAD REQUIRED?: No
DEADLINE: Must be submitted by FEBRUARY 28TH 11:59PM EST.

Purrloin was injured on a quest we took together. I ran back here to find help. She was attacked by an angry Persian that might still be nearby! Please bring her an Aguav Berry to help her heal, they're her favorite.

POINTS REWARDED: 100 points
EXTRA REWARDS?: No, unless you want to pocket that Aguav Berry.

GUILDS
( YOU CAN OPTIONALLY THREAD WITH GUILD LEADERS HERE )

Many newcomers already seem to be settling into their respective guilds, and it's left the city with an optimistic energy buzzing around! Each guild has their own unique way of handling things, but all three come together in a way that benefits Bottlecap Bay as a whole, and the newcomers seem to be blending in quite well, despite those worrying nightmares from before.

Acceptance comes with new responsibilities, though, and there are a number of things that each guild expects or requests of their new members.

Lum Berries are straight to work recording information about the latest storm, as well as the newcomers and their nightmares. Polteageist requests that the newcomers in this guild pull their weight by gathering as much information as they can about each newcomer in the other guilds and help record this. Physical descriptors are important, but so are their dreams, their personalities, their beliefs, and so on. It can be hard to dump this sort of information on just anyone, so do try and make some friends if that's what it takes. Beyond that, the results of the exploration quest recently posted will become important, as Lum Berry members will be consulted on the next steps.

Cheri Berries first hold a group celebration of their new members in the Canopy where they'll be spending so much of their time. After a lot of great food and silly icebreaking games, Ribombee will personally thank everyone and mention his quest posting, implying that guild members should try to help not just with their own guild quest, but others. In addition to that, duties will be split across the new recruits, and everyone will find themselves with a schedule of berry gathering, scouting, and monitoring the forest growth and ecosystem health. Busy busy!

Oran Berries are having a month long celebration for its new members. Meals are already held together, but they're made extra special and fancy this month, straight out of Mightyena's metaphorical pocket! She's working overtime to provide for her little Oran Berries. Members are encouraged to help out in the mines, but more than that, are told to enroll in fighting classes, as well as potentially host some of their own to fellow newcomers. No one understands the struggles of adapting to a new body quite like someone already going through it, right? The city is relying on you!

NIGHTMARE RESOLUTIONS
( PLEASE SEE THIS THREAD )

As mentioned on the TDM, characters who have not shared their doubts or feelings with another still have had their nightmares vanish by February 10th. Since then, not a single report of nightmares has been sent in to the Pokeclinic or the Archives. Isn't that great?

More perceptive characters may notice a sense of foreboding despite this calm, however. The more the month goes on, the more a nagging feeling surfaces at the back of every mind. Aren't you forgetting something? The feeling gets more intense, overwhelmingly so, and nothing seems to help with it.

Please respond to this thread below indicating whether your character shared their emotions to relieve the nightmares, or whether they timed out. There's a helpful little form, so go ahead and fill it out as soon as you can! Once we have everyone's info, we'll get back to you all with an update.

NOTES.

⟡ Guild and member rankings will be more properly displayed hopefully next month! Since no player character has any points yet, we did not make that a priority. As of right now, we will be tracking your points, but we recommend keeping your own tracking somewhere as well in case we mess up.

⟡ Please keep your eyes open for a temperature check sometime before the end of the month! This will discuss potential changes, player wishes, and other plans for the game as a whole. Because of this, March's schedule is likely going to change as we iron out the details with you all.

⟡ Please review the quest page for more information on each type of quest and how to sign-up.

⟡ Guild leader threads will be limited to five (5) comments from us. Meaning a thread can get up to 10 comments maximum before we stop replying! This is to prevent overloading ourselves on threads, so thank you for understanding!

⟡ Quest replies will be sent as soon as we can, but may not necessarily be same day (at least this time). Apologies for that, and thanks for understanding!

⟡ As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here!

FULL NAVIGATION

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"If it's medicine, it should be easy enough to identify. A bird's eye view may serve us well in that regard." Which is why he hops off his perch and flaps his way behind her. "While herbs can and are often used as a basis for medicine, I imagine we're looking for something more specific. A package, a bundle... Something clearly prescribed."

"Hope so..."

As it turns out, he's absolutely right. When they arrive at the Canopy, Swellow (who is, true to what Shoka was imagining, basically just an enormous barn swallow) is there to provide a description of the medicine. It's red and long—worm-shaped, to make it more palatable to Taillow. Distinctive though its design is, it's also small; it won't be easy to track down.

They can, however, at least begin narrowing down spots to search. Neither Swellow or anyone from the Cheri Berry guild had been able to find it, so Shoka and Akechi agree to search beyond the bounds of the guild.

Shoka is unusually focused, keeping her snarking to a relative minimum. She and Akechi make a good team, actually, able to scan each area efficiently with him scouting from the air while she searches nooks and crannies lower to the ground. Eventually, somewhere between the Canopy and the coast, they near a clearing.

"Still nothing down here." Pausing to hop up onto a low-hanging branch, Shoka calls up to Akechi, "Well? What do your Rookidee-eyes see?"

Finally, there is something ahead, visible to him through the thinning trees: a spot of stark red. It appears to be whole and unattended, though he might notice that the earth around it appears to be disturbed, as if something large had been burrowing into it recently.

Akechi squints, soaring closer to that strange red spot. "I think I see the medicine, but there are signs of tunneling activity around it."

Which means that, in all likelihood, there are Pokémon in the area, much too close to their target to merely take it.

He swoops down, perching on a branch, and peers down at Shoka. "We may want to exercise caution as we approach."

Akechi is willing to fight, but they don't even know what made those burrows.

Tunneling? She looks ahead, squinting at the spot Akechi was hovering over. Indeed, whatever was digging there has tossed up enough dirt to create piles of it that obscure her vision.

"Right..." She'll exercise caution—as much as she can, considering their time limit. "Cover me, will you?"

Without waiting for a reply, she starts forward. To her credit, by now she's adapted well to her new, ghostly form, and her approach is quick and silent. Soon, she nears the dirt piles—close enough to spot the bright red, worm-like form of Taillow's missing medicine. It's just lying there on the ground, a bit scuffed with dirt but otherwise intact.

She pauses, warily glancing around for any sign of danger, before sinking down into her shadow. With the rest of the distance covered via her Shadow Sneak move, she reappears beside the medicine, reaching out a claw to take it—

—Only for her to duck back into her shadow in alarm when the long, startlingly blue appendage of something suddenly bursts out from the ground, just in time to swipe the medicine away. She can feel tremors beneath her as the rest of the creatures unearths itself. Whatever it is, it's enormous compared to her; only when she reemerges from her shadow to regain her bearings does she notice that it already has her surrounded, the length of its red, serpentine body looped easily around her in a wide circle.

So much for going unnoticed. Through her surprise, she tries to relocate the medicine and finds it hanging loosely in the creature's parapodia-like tendril-arms.

"Oh...!" the Pokémon says in a high, wavering voice. She sounds about as startled to see Shoka as Shoka was to see her. "What... Who—... Who are you? What do you want?"

"All right, take it easy," Shoka replies evenly. "I'm from the Oran Berries, and I'm just here for that."

She points a claw at the medicine-worm. The Orthworm draws it closer to herself with a flinch.

"But... But why?"

"Um? Because it's medicine for a sick Pokémon?"

"No... No, that isn't... right, I don't understand..."

Not good. The other Pokémon towers over them. At least with his wings, Akechi can remain at a slight distance, but that won't matter if that worm tries to jump.

Even so, he swoops down, remaining in a hover just slightly above its head. "It's as she said. That medicine belongs to a Swellow who dropped it during a scouting mission. She intended to give it to her sick Tailow."

That being said, this worm seems... confused. Perhaps it's mistaken the medicine for a child.

"We realize this must seem a bit alarming. The resemblance is striking, but Dr. Denne doesn't have the time to make a replacement, so it's pertinent that we deliver the medication posthaste."

When Akechi swoops down to hover over her head, the Orthworm lurches backward with a gasp. Two of them? Surrounding her, ambushing her! Could this day get any worse?

"No, that's...! My baby is the sick one—!" She shakes her head, beady eyes wild and confused. "And I won't—won't let you take him!"

That is the only warning she gives before she lashes out with sudden violence, startlingly quick for a creature of her size. Her neck arches, as if she means to leap at Akechi head-first, but Shoka barks out a warning of her own: "Goro, her tail!"

Indeed, the rearing of Orthworm's head is only a feint; the real attack comes from the swinging up, then down of her tail: a brutal Iron Tail meant to knock Akechi out of the sky.

Shit! Akechi lunges out of the way, missing the brunt of the attack, but the Orthworm's tail still grazes him and knocks him back. Fluttering his wings, he manages to stay airborne, but just barely.

Once he steadies himself, Akechi sends a nasty Leer at that damnable worm. "If it's your baby, why isn't it moving? Why isn't it responding? Even sick creatures show signs of life."

"But he has! He is! You only..."

You only haven't noticed, she might mean to say, or, You only have him so terrified he won't move. Or maybe, in her delirium, she's imagined the movements it's made while held in her grasp as the conscious movements of a living creature. Either way, she's apparently too worked up now to listen to reason—though the Leer, at least, hits its target, making her briefly shrink back.

"'He' couldn't dig with you either, could he?" Shoka pipes up from behind the Orthworm, to distract her from firing another attack in Akechi's direction. "That's why you just left it lying there in the dirt, right? Unless you'd be just fine leaving your baby like that..."

"You–!" Orthworm brings her Iron Tail down again, only just barely missing Shoka. "Just—just leave us alone!"

Since they arrived, the Orthworm hasn't really looked at her "baby" even once. If they can get her to settle down long enough to see what it actually is...

Shoka darts to a spot below where Akechi is hovering and calls up to him:

"Keep that up—and get ready to play some catch. I'm gonna try something. Also watch out for whatever that is."

Golden light is gathering in the Orthworm's open mouth, solidifying into a sphere of energy that she then spits in their direction. It's a Smack Down move—disastrous for Akechi if it were to hit—but, thankfully for him, the Orthworm's aim is off, as if she's trying to hit them both at once.

The askew aim gives Akechi just the window he needs to swerve out of harm's way. Though he intended to Leer again, the rising irritation sharpens his expression into something far more harrowing: a Scary Face, with fluffed up feathers and eyes narrowed to intense, red slits, making the eyespots look more like the plumes of actual eyes.

"You are the one attacking us! Neither of us has laid a claw or talon on you or your supposed child."

As Akechi veers out of the attack's range, Shoka slips away into her shadow and disappears under the Orthworm's tail. Vexed, the Orthworm rears up, readying another attack (Is it true? Was she really the one who attacked first? It is true that she doesn't recall either of them touching her baby... But it doesn't matter now, she has to do something!)—but her movement is suddenly much slower than it was before, sluggish and clumsy. She can't even seem to get a worded reply out before Shoka reappears, leaping up onto her arched back and skittering toward her limbs—and the dangling form of Taillow's medicine—like an insect.

"Aaah, stooop!" the Orthworm wails, twisting her body in a panic—but slowly still, not nearly vigorously enough to shake Shoka off. "Go awayyy!"

Shoka is impressively nimble for a legless creature; a moment later, she's snaking out an arm to pull the medicine out of the Orthworm's grasp (which is easy enough, considering the lack of dexterity in Orthworm's strange, parapodia-like arms), then flinging it at Akechi with a shout: "Think fast!"

"Nooo, my baaabyyy!"

The Orthworm retaliates by thrashing once more, finally dislodging Shoka from her back and knocking the Mimikyu aside with an Iron Head—but the blow lands painlessly, absorbed by Shoka's disguise, which breaks with an audible crack before she drops down into her shadow again.

When Shoka throws the medicine, Akechi dives down to catch it in his talons. Just to be extra safe, he makes another Scary Face, all while flapping his wings to gain a higher altitude.

When Shoka's disguise sags, it's a bit alarming, but he's seen worse. The fact that she ducked into the Shadows is proof enough in his eyes that she's fine. "We're stealing the object of your distorted desires and returning it to its rightful recipient. If your 'baby' was so distressed, surely it would have called out to you by now."

Heh. This really does almost feel like a Metaverse heist...

With a cry of dismay, the Orthworm attempts another Smack Down attack, but at her current movement speed, she can't hope to get even close to hitting Akechi. The orb of energy fizzles into nothing in the air under his rising talons.

Before she can try again, Shoka reappears before her, making her flinch with a sharp and sudden cry of her own: an Astonish attack, which sounds very much like the word "listen".

"He's right," says Shoka, using one hand to prop up the head of her disguise. "Even if he said it in the weirdest way... Have you even looked at it? Really looked? It doesn't even have a mouth! Or eyes, or anything else!"

Frozen in place with the medicine-worm dangling before her, the Orthworm has no choice but to look. Trembling, she stares... and stares.

"Noooooo..." Eventually, as the will to keep fighting leaves her, something seems to finally dawn on her. Very slowly, her eyes widen to saucers, and her mouth drops open. "... Oh?"

A long moment ticks by, then another.

"... That's... not my baby."

Shoka breathes out a loud, theatrical sigh. "Uggh, we've been saying!"

Finally. It seems she's coming to her senses. Tentatively, Akechi descends, but only part way. "This really is like stealing a Palace's treasure..." Not that he expects Shoka to understand, of course.

"We understand that this is a lot to take in, but if we don't return this medicine to its proper recipient, it'll endanger another's child."

Surely Orthworm can understand that much...

The Orthworm continues to stare, slack-jawed, as she slowly comprehends Akechi's words. Belatedly, she gasps aloud in horror.

"Oh... Oh no! I didn't mean... Ough, I just don't know what came over me... Thinking that was my—..." She gives a violent shake of her head. "It's got to be this soil! It's all wrong..."

"So the soil was making you think we were a pair of baby-stealers," Shoka replies dryly. "Right."

"I'm—so, so sorry! I... I had no idea... And you... You really are from the Oran Berries?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" She glances up at Akechi and finds their prize still clutched safely in his talons. "Look: this has been super fun and all, but me and His Highness over here need to get this thing back to the Canopy yesterday. Unless you have a problem with that?"

"The Canopy?" The Orthworm lifts her head a little higher. "Oh—no, no problems! Only..."

"What now?"

"Can I..." Even before she's finished the sentence, she clearly knows that she's in no position to be making requests. Ultimately, however, she seems to decide that she has no other choice. "Or, ah, may I f—follow you there? I got myself all turned around, you see, and then everything started going wrong, and now I've gone and done this..."

"... Seriously?" With another glance at Akechi, Shoka turns and starts to move, shuffling back the way they came in a huff (and still needing to hold her false head upright with one hand all the while). "Do whatever. Just don't slow us down."

The soil... That's a worrisome sign. Akechi's eyes narrow as he processes this information. "You wouldn't be the first Pokémon in the forest to have impaired judgment. If anything, we ought to report this to the guilds, so they can get to the bottom of things."

His eyes briefly meet Shoka's. Her skepticism is more than understandable, but...

"I see no reason why you can't join us. It's admirable that you'd like to make amends, and you may well be a useful witness by virtue of your experiences today."

And so he turns back whence he came, careful not to fly too fast. There's no telling if Orthworm will relapse, after all.

"Oh, thank you!" replies the Orthworm, her eyes huge. "Thank you! I'll do anything I can to fix it... and help, and all..."

With a half-ashamed, half-grateful bow of her head, she starts to follow Akechi and Shoka, hanging back a little to give them more of a lead and some polite distance, apparently sensing Shoka's mistrust. It's a bit awkward considering their size difference, but at least the constant shadow looming near Shoka's tail lets her easily keep track of the other Pokémon.

"Giving her a second chance just like that?" Shoka says to Akechi when he flies low enough for him to hear her. "Maybe you're less ruthless than you thought."

There's a pause, and then:

"... Thanks, by the way. For working with me on that. I bet it looked pretty sick."

Akechi heaves a sigh. Perhaps he should have seen that coming. "I'd be a hypocrite if I dismissed her when I've been given chances despite far greater transgressions."

Whether or not that makes him ruthless... well, that's beside the point, isn't it? He keeps flying along, quiet for a few moments.

"But, yes. I believe this would have been a far more irritating task, had either of us tackled it alone."

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FEBRUARY 2025 QUESTBOARD

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