genre savy (event)

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

These sorts of things were so fun! The high energy! The laughs! All of the happy families and just generally fun-having populace made him feel so at ease. So, naturally, Susanna was going to show up. He’d even dressed the part…! Well, he’d worn jeans and a long-sleeve shirt under a plaid button-up. That was about as close as he was getting to real country garb. Plus, he didn’t want to be the only person out here in costume… He was a little too old for that and he wasn’t sure anyone else would be dressing up if they weren’t working at the maze.

Beside him, Midna was excited. Only two pokemon could join a trainer on their maze run, and Susanna had picked her along with Koda! The rockruff trotted alongside the man’s booted feet. His ponytail swished around as he approached the entrance to the maze. There were plenty of people milling around, likely only being let in one at a time to keep everyone’s sense of misdirection going.

Koda was settled on Sue’s shoulder.

“Looks like a good showing,” Susanna praised idly. “I’m sure the staff’s glad. I'm sure this was a lot of work!”

The woobat hummed in agreement. “Yeah! … Can we eat the berries if we find any?”

“Let’s not,” Sue suggested. “The rules emphasized keeping things running and minimizing issues. I think plucking the bushes and trees would count for making things harder. Sorry. But, I’m sure there’s prizes to be found!”

Midna gave an excited little yip. “Oh, I can’t wait for it to be our turn to go!”

He cracked a grin as he walked forward. “Looks like it’s our turn now.”

[Gardeon]

As you wandered through the maze, a series of cut-out shapes of pokemon in scary costumes as well as what are clearly meant to be "typical" halloween monsters and beasties hang from branches of the trees around out, pop out of the bushes as you pass and glow hidden away in the deeper parts of the maze. Scary noises of ghost types wailing drift through the plants as well as a low fog across the ground, though any steps taken quickly disperse it.

Its clear a lot of pokemon, and people, came together to make this little event possible but the maze is at first, very simple. The path does not divert for a while, only a few pop-outs here and there and the odd scary noise on a blind corner until, you turn one more, and find the path splits here.

WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE? -

LEFT OR RIGHT

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

They took longer than they ought to have as they moved about the maze. Susanna couldn’t help it. There was so much craftsmanship everywhere to be appreciated! He examined the cutouts, determining which were handmade and which were store-bought. He even rattled off the movies and books which had inspired the famous Halloween creatures hanging from the trees.

“I’ll see if there’s a play we can go see with some of these,” he decided. “I think you’ll appreciate them more if you can see them in action.”

All three, naturally, jumped in fright when spooked by the jump-scares. Susanna, knowing that this was all just for fun, allowed himself to flinch and choke out strangled cries of shock freely. He didn’t need to be on guard here! Midna, meanwhile, barked when taken off guard. Her tail tucked between her legs and she ended up being carried by her coordinator.

Koda, too, ended up on Sue’s shoulder. The man wasn’t wearing a hoodie for once and the woobat missed having somewhere to retreat to.

“Hahaha.”

Midna huffed. “That wasn’t funny.”

“But, your whimper was so cute!” Sue praised. He looked at the split in the path. “Hm… I think we’d go deeper if we went left. Come on.”

Not that there was anyone left to follow, considering both of his pokemon were hitching a ride from him at the moment. All the same, Koda looked on expectantly and Midna snuggled closer to his chest.

[Gardeon]

Oakley

Oakley grinned to himself as he felt the small buzz in his pocket, someone had walked in the direction of the little he was meant to be hiding on and he giggled to himself. No, wait, he needed to keep quiet! Sucking in his breath, he pressed his hands over his face as he heard someone begin to walk along the main path a little distance from him, wait, several someones. They had pokemon! They had to! They seemed to be moving slower than his last group but all the same, he had learned now. Listening to the group to ensure they were all together, one of them sounding to be flying no less from the way those wing beats sounded, the boy hopped on the spot a few times before sucking in a deep breath. A moment later, the oddly green edged attempt at what was clearly a lycanroc werewolf costume jumped out in front of other trainer, howling as best as a teen boy can while trying not to burst in to laughter. Here to help! - Susanna Rosenbaum

jellyfish princess @ adox

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

It was the movement that started Sue. He took a step back and gasped. Koda took flight, squeaking in shock. It was Midna who got really spooked. Green? On a lycanroc?! No, no, no, on top of it already being scary in here, now one of her pretty species-kin had to show up! She started barking like mad, doing her best to scare off this brute!!

“Midna, sweetie, it’s okay,” Susanna insisted, trying to soothe the pup.

When her barking fell into growls, he pointed at Oakley. “It’s a costume, see?” And, his attention turned to the both once Midna was only glaring and not growling. “A very good costume. Classic monster choice. Unovan Werewolf in Galar or just the generic monster?”

Ah, the artistic interest had sprung back up. Also, was Sue being serious? That movie was older than the man was. Why would this kid know what he was talking about…?

He seemed to recall what he was doing. “Ack, nevermind! Sorry, you’ve probably got to stay in character, right?!”

[Gardeon]

Oakley

Oakley jumped himself as the pokemon before him began to bark, the boy quite forgetting himself as he began to bark right back until there came a voice from the trainer behind and the barking lowered. Oh, right, he was the one giving the quest here. Trying his best to copy the example of a growl given to him, he grinned to the canine and nodded his head before whispering down to her. "Thanks! I got loads to work with now" before he noted the trainers words, smirking at them and quickly shaking his head. Come on, focus. "Thank you! I worked on it for months, it started out as an infected Mightyena i was going to do for something a bit like a paras infection but i got told someone else already had that, so i had to side step and then i got my quest prompt and it just....wait.." the boy replied, beaming at the compliment offered before he lifted a paw covered hand to cover his mouth. Again! "I mean, er, right. "I came to this maze with my pup to try and spooky...spook people but my son got lost in the maze. Find him, and i will give you one of the passes needed to reach the prize in the center!" the boy went on, pushing his paw inside his costume and pulling out a small green square with a tick on it. Here to help! - Susanna Rosenbaum

jellyfish princess @ adox

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

Midna pinned her ears back, not taking the compliment well from what she assumed was another canine. A gijinka maybe, but a canine all the same. She huddled closer in Susanna’s arms, still glaring all the while at Oakley. (No one tell her she had the species wrong. But, maybe tell Oakley. He might like knowing his costume did that well.)

Thank goodness Susanna had kept on task. He’d hate to keep a little actor from their craft. He hammed it up himself, buckling his knees a little. “Gee, Mr. Werewolf… You’ll leave us be and even help me if I find your pup? I better take that chance!” He put Midna down, though the pup was immediately at his heel. “We better go find that pup quick before he changes his mind!”

Susanna put on a very good show of jogging off, clearly very frightened for his life in the face of this monster. The rockruff and woobat followed after… Though, he did poke his head back around the corner.

“You made a good call, by the way! The mushroom thing’s played out! It’s gimmicky!”

… Huh, there and gone. Sue was having way too much fun playing frightened victim here.

[Gardeon]

Oakley

Oakley tried to keep his face straight, only, the more the other trainer spoke, it shifted. He moved to worried, tugging on the hood he had worked and getting far enough to reveal his head before the trainer turned and started to move. Gosh, was he that scary? Pulling his hood back up, he rolled his shoulders and was moving to wrap his paws around himself when the male re-appeared, making the boys head snap up. In all of a second, it made sense and the boy broke in to a smile so wide it might have cracked his face had he not begun to hop on the spot and clapped his hands together. No, wait, paws. Remembering himself, he tried to copy the growl from the canine the trainer had with him, though with a wide grin and a small green glow to the entire outfit, it was not the most convincing. In order to search for the missing "pup" as you travel, if you chose to do so, please roll a dice in your next post! Here to help! - Susanna Rosenbaum

jellyfish princess @ adox

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

Midna was not pleased about this whole deal. She’d been frightened over and over again and now they were searching for another dog! As if Sue needed to meet another! He had such a big heart and Midna already had enough competition on the team! It was inevitable that he’d meet this wandering dog pokemon and find it charming and, then…!

“Does your tummy hurt?” Koda asked, flying low beside the steel type.

“Bwah?!” Midna jumped. Then, confused, she cocked her head. “No… Why do you ask?”

“You’ve got this look on your face,” he explained. “Like, you’re hurting. But, I don’t smell blood, and you didn’t get hit, so I thought maybe your tummy hurt you.”

The rockruff laughed, touched by Koda’s worry. “I’m okay. Just… It doesn’t matter.” She skipped ahead, catching up with Susanna. “If it’s too hard, we can just give up,” she insisted.

“No, I wanna know that prize is. Maybe it’s a nice item!” He grinned down at her. “I’ve been meaning to get you a soothe bell.”

“O-Oh?” Her ears perked.

He nodded, still keeping an eye out along this path of the maze for signs of the pup. “Yeah. I mean, they’re supposed to make pokemon happy, and I know you’ve taken to singing with Adeen and Brock, so… I dunno, it felt like a good item for you. Would you like something else?”

Midna felt her heart soar. Oh, he was too good for a human! Even with how ugly and sad looking she was, he was always being thoughtful with her. She had to hurry up and get strong for him!

Her sweet thoughts were interrupted by the recorded noise of something or other going off along with a sudden puff of fog. She jumped about two feet in the air before coming back down, tail bristled.

Koda and Sue just laughed.

Search roll.

Hre4iPAi

[Gardeon]

Aa the ground wandered, they did not find the pup they were searching for but they did find signs. In fact, the path they were on twisted and bent here and there, showing small tufts of fur along its edges before it suddenly split. In one direction, there were berry trees very over grown, but clearly, on purpose. Vines were hanging down from above, seemingly using the branches of the trees to support each other and it made the path very dark, but equally, with its own issues passing in that direction.

The other path, turning to the left, was muddy. Very muddy. Footprints in it showed someone had already tried to pass this way once at least, and also given up from the directions offered but looking further down the path showed a series of fake bones and other limbs sticking up out of the very thick looking mixture of dirt, water and arcues knew what.

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

Susanna’s pokemon had different opinions immediately on which path to take. Koda was drawn to the muddy path. The mud wouldn’t be an issue for him. Midna, meanwhile, peered into the darkened path. With her slick coat, she wouldn’t get caught or tangled up in the hanging vines or reaching branches. Susanna considered them both.

“... That path’s gotta be for a different monster’s game,” he reasoned, pointing at the muddy path. “What’s all that muddy stuff got to do with a werewolf? Plus, I don’t think they’d have a werewolf pup somewhere with fake bones. I dunno, feels more… ghoul? Maybe swamp-creature?” He tilted his head, humming. “But, for a kid werewolf, that dark path is just the scary kind of place they’d need to be rescued from. Werewolves just go in a wooded area, y’know?”

Koda pouted, fluttering closer. “Aw, but it’s gonna tangle in my fur…!”

“I know, buddy. Probably gonna catch my ponytail, too. We’ll clean up after, okay?”

Midna yipped in glee as Susanna walked over to the dark, overgrown path. She giggled. “We can guide you! Between my nose and Koda’s ears, it should be okay!”

The woobat had settled on Sue’s shoulder again, not confident trying to navigate such a tight space. “Aw, man… The muddy path woulda been better.”

“Maybe we’ll run into a swamp monster ne—ouch!”

Yep. Pretty much as soon as he’d entered in, a branch did snag his hair. That’d probably keep happening the darker it got in here… At least Midna and Koda would be able to help him get around.

Took the overgrown path.

[Gardeon]

Moving under the vines, it became very clear there was something else at play here, and quite litreally. Sure, some of the long vines were indeed a little thorny and they were indeed catching on the edges of anything they could but some of them seemed to move in the darkness, twisting down lower and trying to catch the edges of the humans ankles as he moved and tap and pat the canine as she moved through.

All the same, there was a light at the end of the tugging and pulling, and it came up quickly. Beyond the vines, the path was pretty even and flat, though at the end of it, something different. The path kept going, it bent around to the left in fact, but there was also a pokemon laying there on the ground. It seemed to be wrapped in something akin to a fur coat, or maybe a glove, and had a vine wrapped around the outfit, around one foot, and around the opposite paw which seemed to be keeping it in place and giving the pokemon the appearance of a blue furry worm

Your team has found the "pup"

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

He was suddenly more grateful for his long pants. He hissed as the thorns pressed upon him all the same. Koda, likewise, whimpered and squeaked. Midna snapped at the vines when they tangled along her.

“Maybe we ought to talk to the staff after this,” Sue suggested. “Whatever pokemon’s handling the thorns back there might need to get swapped out for something with smoother vines.”

Koda shook himself once they were out, all too glad to be free of that obstacle. “Sheesh! Yeah, they gotta swap that out!”

Midna, meanwhile, had spotted their quarry. Her tail went up. The odor didn’t belong to a canine…! Oh, it was just a costume. Immediately, her demeanor lightened up. She trotted over with her party following after.

“Looks like the vines got him, too,” she observed aloud.

Sue frowned and kneeled down. “No, they’ve definitely gotta change whoever’s working the vines. Nevermind that, you still with us, little buddy? Didn’t go knocking yourself out all tied up like that, did you?”

[Gardeon]

The wriggling mass of blue and fur on the ground seemed to twich as it heard footsteps, rolling over with a series of kicks and grunts before he laid on his back and looked up, beaming to those standing now above him. "Hi! You found me! You gotta take me back to my pack leader!"" he giggled out, his voice a squeal of excitement in the next moment as he kicked his legs and then gave a small grunt. Nope, still not moving.

"Im fine" he answered the question, wriggled again and giving a few sighs and mutters as he tried to free his arms only to give up again and lay still on his back. "I didnt get very far,im meant to be hiding further up but something back there made a loud noise so i tried to hurry back. Got one of the vines stuck in my costumes, now i cant...really move" the pokemon admitted a moment later to the question, wriggling in place harder as he laughed softly.

Your team has found the "pup"

[Susanna Rosenbaum]

Well, let nothing be said for the “pup”’s attitude! Talk about a trooper! Down on the ground, tied up with vines, and still this chipper? Susanna could respect that. Still, there were times when help was needed and Sue fully believed in team play. One Shulian to another, he had no choice but to do this solid!

… Though, no one had translated for him yet, and he was going strictly based off the pleasant, friendly sounds the cyndaquil was making. That was probably a good attitude.

Koda clarified, used to doing this for his long-time partner. “He messed up hiding,” the woobat summarized, not at all malicious but very much blunt and tactless. “Vines got him, too!”

“Well, I don’t think your “dad” would be too fond of us taking you back like this,” Susanna guessed with a hum. He looked toward Midna. “Alright, girl, how about a Bite to get through those vines?”

That sounded easy enough. She stepped closer to the cyndaquil. “Don’t move or I’ll nip you and not those nasty things,” she warned. And, with that, those steely jaws opened wide to rip off the entrapping vegetation…! Or, try, at least.

Midna is attempting to use Bite to cut the vines!