Snacks, Conversation, and Performance! [Halloween 2019]

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As Saturn was looking through opportunities for merit points, he discovered that Peak Academy was hosting a Fall Festival public event in a couple days that awarded a generous amount of merit points for hosting some kind of activity for others to participate in. It could be anything from a performance to a service to even a snack stall. The only stipulation was that it had to pretain somehow to one or more of the classes/clubs you are part of. The question was, what kind of product/service would he provide?

Hmm. My majors pretain to combat and exploration. What kind of service would be relatively easy for me to provide that would also touch upon either of those subjects? Saturn wandered about the outskirts of the campus, absorbed in thought. He knew that he wanted his service to be educational in some way, seeing as knowledge was one of the few things he possessed that was worthy of sharing. Could I do something pretaining to identifying plants? Probably not, I don't know enough about them yet. Perhaps I could set up an activity centered around guessing a pokemon's type by looking at them? No, that's too inconsistent. Oh, I know! How about a fun memory game that challenges your knowledge on type matchups? That sounds rather engaging.

Saturn then got to work on putting together a little puzzle for others to solve. It consisted of putting the name of every type that exists down on individual slips of paper. Then, two slips are drawn at random and whoever is participating in the puzzle has to state the relationship between the two types. For instance, if Rock and Grass are drawn, then whoever is playing says whether they think Grass is supereffective against Rock, vice versa, one is resistant/immune to the other, or if it is a neutral matchup. Obviously, the objective of the game is to state the correct answer. Maybe even have multiple pokemon compete against each other, and the first pokemon to answer correctly gets a point and whoever has the most points after a certain amount of rounds wins? Of course, he didn't really have anything to give away as a prize, but the opportunity to hone one's skills in making split-second decisions like this was a reward in and of itself, in his opinion. After all, you usually only have mere seconds to size up an opponent before a fight breaks out, so being able to reliably call upon such information at a moment's notice is a very useful skill to have. And to top it off, it pretains to his battling major, so it all works out!

After a couple days' worth of gathering supplies and setting everything up, Saturn managed to finish his project just in time for the public event to start. It wasn't very extravagant or anything; he basically just had a bag full of small pieces of paper (two for each type, since some types have some interesting relationships with themselves.) and a rudiamentary cheat-sheet he could rely on to confirm answers. Other than that, he didn't have any fancy stall or anything. He didn't really need one.

I wonder if anyone will find my little game interesting?, Saturn thought to himself, looking at the other activities some of the more ambitious pokemon set up. Maybe someone else already thought of my idea? Either way, I'm sure someone find my little setup intriguing.

As he was receiving the answer sheet from Chiron, Saturn made note of aggressive attitude. Ugh, this guy is a walking time bomb., Saturn thought to himself. I mean, how narcissistic do you have to be to make such a big fuss about a simple game? He then rolled up the answer sheet once again and held it in his hand with his bone club, so he could put it back in his bag when he got back from Valen's activity. Hopefully he could at least enjoy that without unintentionally taking a jab at Chiron's inflated ego.

"So, you said this is essentially a scavenger hunt, right, Valen? If so, which items are we tasked with looking for? Also, didn't you say that someone was busy with your activity as we speak? Maybe you should go make sure they're ok." With that, Valen went over to check on the Kirlia, leaving Saturn and Chiron to themselves. Well, there were still other pokemon all around them, but that was beside the point. Saturn gathered whatever paltry amount of courage he had within him and turned to the Totodile next to him. "So, Chiron..." Saturn wasn't very keen on the idea of Chiron being angry with him, so he tried to be as kind as he possibly could. "I don't know why you're so... competitive all the time, but if you want to continue hanging out with me you have to understand that I don't like conflict." Saturn paused for a split second, trying how best to go about saying this next part. "Don't misunderstand me, Chiron, I'm not saying you're a bad person or anything. I just want to nip this issue in the bud before it gets worse. What I'm saying is; I'm a fairly level-headed individual, and those who cannot control their emotions, to put it bluntly, stress me the fuck out. I just wanted to make sure you are aware of that, is all. No hard feelings if that's kind of a dealbreaker for you."

With that, Saturn quickly left, inentionally trying to disengage with Chiron before he could adequately respond. He made a bee line for Valen's scavenger hunt activity, eager to see exactly how it worked.
I wonder what kind of items we'll be looking for?, Saturn thought to himself as he arrived at Valen's little cordoned off section of the area. Hopefully I won't do too badly.

"Hi!" said the Kirlia as Valen approached. "I've found the items," he said, holding out the Sitrus Berry and Rocky Orb to Valen. "Good job!" Valen replied, "So, do you want me to tell you the tips I was thinking about now?"

"Hmm... I'm sorry. That would be very nice, but... I think I need to go now, and see the other stalls. Before the Fall Festival closes." the Kirlia replied hastily.

"Well, that's okay, then. Bye!" Valen said, and the Kirlia walked away. Interesting, Valen thought to himself, I think the last time I met that Kirlia, he seemed more patient. But then again, he had stuff already, so he hadn't been losing much by helping me then. Either he's actually very impatient - or the Fall Festival is ending soon. I didn't think it was going to end that quickly, but now I'm not entirely sure how much time has passed...

Hmm... Come to think of it, I have a bunch of stuff that can be hidden - but it could take a long time to decide. And what if Saturn wants to get to the "finding" part quickly? Valen continued thinking, as he looked and saw that Saturn now seemed to be talking to Chiron. I'll just hide the same items, in the same places as I did last time. If Saturn wants to do this quickly, he can use this - if he wants me to do something different, I can do that - removing the items I hid now and doing this differently after that while he isn't looking. Valen set things up again quickly, putting the Sitrus Berry back on the tree and the Orb in the dirt where it had once been.

Then, Saturn walked towards Valen's area, having finished talking to Chiron. "So," Valen said, "I have two options now - I've hidden a Sitrus Berry and a Rocky Orb inside the area marked off by sticks, so you can try to find them. However, I have some other items. If you want to try finding something else, I'll show them to you and you can decide which items you want to find, but it might take somewhat more time because I would need to think where to hide them. Which option do you choose?"

(OOC: Yeah, the Kirlia's hastiness is a slightly meta reference to how the site event is almost over - but to be clear, I had always been planning, even before the delays, to have the Kirlia want to leave quickly for the other activities once he was done with this one. I'm not sure how much the IC and OOC times correlate, though, so I'm leaving whether it is actually ending soon IC ambiguous.)

This dice is not existing.

Hmm. The Sitrus berry would probably be a greater challenge, since it would blend in with the grass and stuff, but I don't want to accidentally smoosh it or something. Sooo....

"I'm gonna look for the orb. I think that will be more interesting." He looked down at the slip of paper in his hand and figured this would be a good opportunity. "So, while you're hiding the orb, I'll go put this back where it belongs. I'll take my time so you can find a difficult place to hide it." With that, Saturn made his way towards where he left his belongings, letting himself get distracted by the neat props and decorations other pokemon had set up. As he looked around, he realized how much time had passed. Wow, it sure is getting late...

One of the nearby stalls was a puppet show being run by an octillery. It appeared to be depicting a Hariyama fighting off a bunch of Bisharp. The show had attracted quite a large audience, and Saturn figured he would watch for a bit so Valen had plenty of time to do his thing. The Hariyama seemed to be winning, until one of the Bisharp attacked it from behind. Some members of the audience gasped in surprise, absorbed in the story. All hope seemed lost, until a Manectric leapt to its rescue. With the Manectric's help, the Hariyama defeated the Bisharp and everyone cheered.

Ok, time to get back to what I was doing... He put the paper back in his burlap bag and took it with him, figuring he would probably leave after he was done with Valen's game. Maybe I'll hang out with Valen for a bit afterwards. As he made his way back to Valen, he went through his bag to make sure nothing was missing. Everything seems to be in order, so that's good.

He got back to the Pikipek, hoping he wasn't still looking for a hiding spot. "I'm back, Valen. Have you picked a good hiding spot yet?"

Huh, I think Saturn must have misunderstood me a bit, Valen thought as the Cubone walked away. I've already hidden the items. Well, he's going away now. Should I just leave everything where it is? He did say that he wanted me to have time to find a difficult place to hide things...

Valen noticed that Saturn was going towards another stall that seemed interesting. He was really tempted to go as well... but given what Saturn had said, Valen felt somewhat bad about not trying to hide the Orb even better. But first, he flew to the tree with the Sitrus Berry on it and removed the Berry, as Saturn apparently didn't want to find that one. Then, he went to where the Orb was hidden. He could just leave it where it was, but was there a better place to hide it? He thought for some time and then remembered the trees. Perhaps he could hide the Orb in the shadow of one.

Valen pulled out the Orb, an act which left a small hole behind in the dirt. He wondered first whether he should try to cover the hole up, but decided not to. He didn't like messing with dirt that much, and perhaps the disturbance in the area could serve as a false clue - maybe even making it more difficult like Saturn wanted. Next, he thought about which tree he should hide the Orb underneath. Perhaps the one I didn't use so far? Valen wondered, but eventually decided on the tree that formerly had the Sitrus Berry. It just felt strangely satisfying to sort of now be able to use both of the former hiding spots with just one item.

Valen went almost right next to that tree, deep into its current shadow. In a place between two of its roots, he dug again, but not very much, and placed the Orb in the shallow depression. It would have been somewhat more visible than it had been in its last hiding spot, except for the shadow that covered it. He then scraped off some of the dirt that had gotten onto his feet on the Orb, covering it further.

Finally, he flew back to from where Saturn had left. Now, in the distance, Valen could see Saturn looking at something. Valen was curious and flew just a bit closer to it. It seemed to be a stall with an Octillery manipulating some puppets. The puppets resembled some Pokemon that Valen still couldn't recognize though, and they seemed to be being used to depict a fight. Soon, a new puppet resembling a Manectric, if Valen's identification skills were correct, was introduced. The Manectric seemed to help a single fat Pokemon defeat a group of thinner blade-covered Pokemon.

Once that was done, Valen flew back quickly. He personally doubted that Saturn would think badly of him for watching another stall, given how he had been dealing with previous incidents, but he wasn't totally sure and he just wanted to seem ready. And another thing - Valen noticed that there was still some dirt on his feet that he would have to clean off later - hopefully that wouldn't give Saturn too much of a clue. Then again, there wasn't that much left, and he wasn't sure whether Saturn would even notice it or not. Once Saturn came back, he asked whether Valen had picked a good hiding spot yet. "Yes," Valen replied. "Feel free to start searching when you're ready."

"Ok, great." Saturn began searching the designated area, using his bone club to poke and prod at anything he deemed unusual. Hmm. If I were a small blue sphere, where would I be? He combed the area, pondering this question all the while. Now that I think about it, how orbs even come to be is sort of a mystery in and of itself. They don't seem to grow on trees or anything. And their perfectly round shape makes it unlikely that they form naturally like a mineral. And even if that was the case then that would mean they would be deep underground, not randomly laying about in dungeons. I suppose that's yet another enigma that needs to be solved...

As he searched the more obvious areas, it became increasingly apparent to him that this item wouldn't be hidden in plain sight. So, he more closely examined any potential areas that might be hiding something orb-shaped. After a good five minutes of searching, he only had one place left to look; the tree. He closely examined the tree, sifting through the branches that he could reach and even peeling off patches of bark to see if there was a secret cubby hole or something.

And then, it dawned on him.

Valen is capable of flight, and I did ask him to find a difficult hiding spot. I'm willing to bet he placed the orb high up in the tree, where he thought I would never find it. Saturn set his bone down near the tree. He would need both of his hands free for this one. How clever of you, Valen., Saturn thought as he did a couple stretches to limber up before attempting what he was about to do. ...but not clever enough. He ran towards the tree to build up some momentum that he would need to climb up to the nearest branch. As he approached the trunk he tried to jump straight up, but happened to be partially standing on the loose earth that was concealing the Rocky Orb. The loose soil gave way under him, causing him to fall over on his side, revealing the orb in the process. Ugh, that's just my luck. But hey, at least I found it. Saturn snatched up the orb and brought it over to Valen.

"I know that probably wasn't the intended method, but it's better than me foolishly searching through the tree tops, I suppose." By then, Saturn realized how exhausted he was. Both physically and emotionally."I think I'm gonna retire for the night, I've had a long day. Maybe we can go back to the Windrose Library together, assuming that's where you're planning on going."

Valen, from a distance, decided to observe Saturn searching to see what he tried. Hopefully that isn't rude, Valen thought, although I doubt he'll really notice me if I look from a distance. Valen could see things a decent distance away, although he had to admit there were bird Pokemon, and perhaps even non-birds as well, whose species probably had far better vision on average than his own did.

And come to think of it, I probably should be observing what others are doing anyway, so I know they aren't causing problems. I mean, not that Saturn would - I can trust him, like I trusted that Kirlia earlier enough that I left - but in principle, I guess. Valen continued thinking. He saw Saturn look around in much of the area. Interestingly enough, Saturn didn't seem to pay that much attention to the hole where the Orb was originally buried - although even when Valen moved a bit, that part was far enough away that perhaps he couldn't see things there that clearly.

Finally, Saturn reached the tree under which Valen had hid the Orb. But instead of looking down, Saturn seemed to be looking at the tree itself. Well, guess that's misdirection, Valen did a bird equivalent of a smile for himself, if he thinks I hid the Orb in the tree. Eventually, Saturn started running towards the tree and tried to jump, but he slipped and fell, to Valen's worry. Valen was about to move to help him, but Saturn quickly managed to pick up the Orb and start moving back, seemingly fine now.

"Hmm... The Windrose Library? That's a good idea, actually. We can go back there together, I'll just pick my stuff up now." Valen replied once Saturn had talked to him and he had taken the Orb from Saturn. Valen put the Orb back into his Bag. "I'll just go pick up the Sticks that I used for my boundaries," Valen said, and he did it as quickly as he could, flying to the Sticks and putting them back into his Bag as well.

Once he was back, he picked up the signs he had written his rules on, pulling his guild band off and putting it in his bag. The signs were relatively small and very light even for their size, which was the only reason why Valen could carry them - and he still felt awkward doing so. He would probably have to find some place to leave them before he got back to the Library - it wasn't as if he needed them anymore anyway.

I wonder - even if I didn't have enough space to write them on the signs, should I have at least told Pokemon unfortunate enough to lack the gift of flight that I wouldn't hide items in places that they couldn't reach? That might have stopped Saturn from hurting himself, Valen thought. Well, it's too late now, although I guess I should remember this if I ever do an activity anything like this again. And at least Saturn seems fine now, so talking about what happened probably won't help. "We can go back now," Valen told Saturn, "I've picked up everything I brought."

(OOC: I think that now with the changes, characters don't have to live in the Windrose Library to be members, and I doubt Valen even could, because he's a guild member. With that said, especially as he's been doing a lot of stuff near Grassveil in particular, it makes sense for him to stay in the Library at times now. I actually had a headcanon idea for another place he stays in at times (not anything big, mind you, just a random tree), but I never wrote it down - I'll probably do that in my character records now).