RJR Basimilus
Arceus is nice I suppose...
- Location
- the Lovely Planet
- Partners
-
4th Annual??? We’ve been at it this long?
Wack
Bingo is diagonal Unown-Real Museums-A Rainbow
Thanks to Torchic for tha bingo card and to Negrek for hosting the forum as usual
Prompt 1: Unown
The officer looked at the pack of cans, appraising them slowly. “Going to a party, sir? Not planning on drinking that in the car, are you?”
Jens looked at the 4 pack of Modelo light he was holding. “It’s not for me,” he replied.
The man looked at Jens suspiciously. “Well I hope it isn’t for a minor.”
“It’s...” Jens paused, realizing how his answer might sound. “It’s for a pokemon.”
The silence was punctuated by Jens awkwardly holding the pack closer to himself, the cans clinking together. Silhouetted by the flashing police lights, the officer’s expression slowly turned to bemused.
“Alright.” The officer put his hands on his hips. “And this pokemon isn’t a minor either, correct?”
“They are several thousand years old in my estimation,” Jens answered, keeping a blank face. “Possibly hundreds of thousands.”
The man stared him down. “Right then. I’m sure you know that pokemon abuse is a class A felony, so I hope I won’t see you at the station.” He pointed at Jens’ car. “The reason I stopped you is because you have a broken taillight. Just get it fixed as soon as you can, sir.”
Jens nodded hurriedly. “I’ll get it fixed right away. I- I’ll make an appointment as soon as I get home today!”
“You do that,” the officer said, rolling his eyes as he got back in his car.
As the car rolled away, the trunk of Jens’ car popped open and a woman leaned out.
“Are we good now?” she asked, scowling, “Do you feel better now that I’m not going to get us arrested for the in no way illegal act of vaping?”
Jens looked away. “Legal or not, it’s not a good impression to make, Ridhi. What if he saw you and decided to search the car for contraband? We might have been late for our meeting.”
Ridhi burst out laughing. “Yeah, no fucking way. It’s a vape pen. Besides, you were the one carrying alcohol.” She climbed in the passenger seat, leaning the chair back. “Did you have to set the chair back too?”
“He would have been suspicious,” Jens protested, “People don’t just lean their car seats back for no reason.”
“They sure as shit do,” Ridhi replied. She closed her eyes, crossing her arms. “I really chose the best way to get extra credit,” she murmured.
Jens got behind the wheel, pursing his lips. “I trust Ralph’s opinion and he says you are a great student. I wouldn’t let many other people shadow me on my life’s work.” He paused. “So, despite your... indiscretions, I’ll do my best to teach you a little.”
“Yeah, he said you’ve been doing this for three decades or something?” Ridhi looked over at him, inhaling on her pen. “That’s pretty cool. I don’t think I could look at Unown for more than an hour. They’re kind of boring.”
“Well hopefully I can change your opinion on that just a little after today,” Jens said, smiling slightly. He clicked a button, lowering the passenger window. “Please don’t blow smoke in my car if at all possible.”
Ridhi looked at him then leaned forward, blowing smoke out the window with an exaggerated expression. “Whatever you say, Professor Jens.”
Jens said nothing, but nodded approvingly.
--------------
Ridhi looked over the map. “So this guy, Keaton, was the foremost expert on Unown?”
“Without question,” Jens said. “Keaton probably knows more than anyone when it comes to them, but a few years ago, he abruptly stopped publishing research.”
“Why’d he do that?”
Jens shook his head. “There’s been a fair share of rumors, but no one really knows. I only heard of where he was when he invited me recently.”
Ridhi glanced out the window at the dense trees passing by. “Maybe he found out something people weren’t meant to know. Like those horror movies where the ancient evil pokemon are released into the world.”
“I’d hardly think a man like him would fail to report something as ridiculous as that,” Jens replied, “I’m positive that he’s been working on his biggest work yet, and I want to find out what it is. It’s not like him to keep a secret from the Unown community for so long.”
“The Unown community?” Ridhi stifled a giggle. “What are you guys, alcoholics anonymous? On that note, what is the Modelo for anyway?”
Jens was silent. “One of Keaton’s last posts to the community alluded to a discovery that Unown were partial to alcohol. I brought it just in case.”
Ridhi was floored. “What the fuck,” she said. “Do Unown have mouths?”
“I don’t know, but if Keaton said so, there must be some method.” Jens gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“Sure,” Ridhi said, unconvinced. “You sure he didn’t just lose it from researching letters for so long?”
Jens made a face. “Unown are not letters, letters are the derivatives of Unown. Keaton was a genius, he would not do something like that.”
“So it’s within expectations for him to ghost everyone for no reason?” Ridhi looked at Jens expectantly.
“That’s... that’s different,” Jens replied.
Ridhi nodded. “If you say so. I’ll make sure to ask him when we see him.”
------------------
Ridhi and Jens stared ahead, saying nothing. Jens’ hand was frozen on the ignition, grasping the key to turn the car off. Ridhi’s vape pen was halfway to her mouth.
“This is a restaurant,” Ridhi said simply.
They were parked in front of a large building. A flashing neon sign across the top read ‘Keaton’s Diner’.
“It... it must be a cover for something,” Jens stammered, still white-knuckling the keys. “This discovery must be of worldwide interest.”
“This is a restaurant,” Ridhi repeated, “Let’s go in.”
-----
Unown were everywhere inside. Appliances covered in a thin glow flew around the counter, while a small television played in a corner.
“Is that Jens I see?” A man emerged from the back, more Unown following him. “I’m so glad you came for the grand opening! Surprised, aren’t you?”
“Keaton?” Jens looked around, aghast. “What is- what is all this?”
“I’m following my passion, Jens,” Keaton said, reaching behind a stand to grab two menus. “I thought I was learning about Unown, but then I met them, and I feel like I learned nothing. So I decided to take a step back, and just live with them.”
“But- but everything you’ve posted,” Jens said weakly.
Keaton shrugged, gesturing to a table. “I’ll be honest, I was phoning things in for the last few years. I hate to admit it, but I did make a few things up.”
Jens sat down at the table, staring at the menu in confusion. Ridhi looked at Keaton, one eyebrow raised.
“Did you make the Modelo thing- I mean the alcohol thing up?” she asked.
Keaton looked at the Unown-G next to him. “Actually that one is real. Thanks for bringing the Modelo by the way, Jens. You’ve always had a way of being prepared for things.”
Wordlessly, Jens handed him the Modelo. Keaton placed it on the counter, a few Unown immediately swarming around it.
“I’m Ridhi by the way,” Ridhi said, nodding at Keaton. “I’m shadowing Jens today for my Archaeology course.”
“Oh that’s great,” Keaton replied, smiling. “I hope Jens hasn’t been too hard on you.”
“Ahah, I think I’ve been harder on him,” Ridhi said. “You mind if I vape in here.”
Keaton shook his head. “I don’t mind.” He turned to the Unown. “Do you all care?”
The Unown looked at each other, seemingly conversing. They looked back over, some shaking their head after a moment.
“There you have it!” Keaton said. “I’ll give you guys a minute to look over the menu, thanks again for coming.”
As the Unown went back to various tasks and Keaton disappeared into the back, Jens and Ridhi were left alone.
Ridhi blew out some smoke. “Uh, are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Jens said, staring at the menu. “I feel like I’ve learned nothing. Unown are supposed to be heralds of some great historical event.” He glanced over at the counter. “That one’s making coffee.”
Ridhi shrugged. “I mean, maybe they did that historically. And maybe they still are, some are just running a restaurant now. We can only really guess how things were and how they might be. We can’t assume much, right?”
“I’ve been... stuck in my ways,” Jens muttered, “I guess Unown could have made coffee in the past too.”
“I guess so,” Ridhi said. She looked at her pen, then at Jens. “You wanna try this?”
Jens stared at the vape pen for a long time. Across the counter, an Unown started a juice blender.
“Sure,” he said finally.
Postscript
I think this one came out well! It usually happens that the first prompt I do is always the longest
Prompt 2: Real Museums (The middle prompt)
The old janitor pushed through the side door, exiting into the alleyway. Taking a moment to relax, he leaned up against the wall. Suddenly, he noticed a young man sitting forlornly against the wall a few feet away.
“Hey son, I don’t think you can hang around here,” the man said. “Museum’s closed for the night.”
“I know,” the young man replied. “I just... I’m hoping that I get some inspiration being so close by.”
The old man raised an eyebrow. “Is it for the, uh, the painting competition? Deadline’s tomorrow you know.”
“That’s why I was hoping coming here would inspire me!” the man cried. “I feel soulless- a prisoner of this gilded world of art. What could I possibly draw that would place in the competition?”
The janitor scratched his head. “Hmmm...” He glanced upwards. “I’ve been cleaning the Hearthome museum for decades now, and the young artist awards have been going on for almost as long. I’ve seen the winners- some are good, some just don’t make sense to me.” The old man let out a long sigh. “For me at least, real museums are the place where time is transformed into space. Whatever kind of picture would be in a museum like that- what do you think would be there?”
The other man stopped to think. After a moment he looked up. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Then I got nothing. Get outta here before you get arrested for loitering,” the old man said, walking away.
“What did that guy say about time and space?” the man muttered to himself. “Real museums are where time and space... become one? Does that mean?”
He hunched over on the ground, scraping on the ground. “This is perfect! I know what will win for sure! That old man gave me the hint I needed!”
------
The janitor entered the exhibit. The gala for the opening of the new exhibit had just finished up and the floor was littered with streamers and leftover pamphlets.
As expected, the young artist competition was a smash hit as usual, and the entries had been the talk of the town. He hadn’t seen any of the pictures himself yet, but was looking forward to taking his time cleaning around the exhibits.
As he walked through, he stopped before the grand prize, a massive painting almost reaching from floor to ceiling.
“Oh damn it, that’s not what I said,” he whispered, grimacing.
The large painting, titled ‘Time and Space Together’ was a very detailed and very ornate depiction of Dialga and Palkia tenderly kissing. The artist was the young man who had been outside the museum that night, now a rising star in the art world without a doubt.
Postscript: Hehe hahoohoo
Prompt 3: Rainbow
Flyover time is calculated for precisely 4:37 PM. Winds are looking pleasant, blowing in a northeastern direction at 5 miles per hour. Everything is right for Ho-oh to soar through the sky over Ecruteak city as it always does once a year. But not everything is going so smoothly on the ground. The expected attendance was estimated at 20,000, but now as Davy Wright looks over the crowd from his post, it’s clear that there are more than 50,000, something they didn’t plan for. Already, reports have started coming in of public services being strained and fights breaking out, and the day is only getting started. So where exactly did everything start going wrong?
In the not so distant past, even catching a glimpse of Ho-oh was considered a sign of good luck. Old scripts would tell of the rainbow pokemon appearing only to the worthy from its perch at the top of Tin tower. That all changed about a decade ago when Ho-oh began to regularly fly over the city once a year at the peak of summertime. Some have speculated that it is a byproduct of the ongoing restoration efforts at the sister tower nearby, but no one is really sure. What is apparent however is that as soon as it happened a second and a third time, the phenomenon became internationally known and hordes of tourists began encroaching on the mid-sized city in the summertime leading up to the flyover.
The resulting Rainbow Festival, as it is called, is a juggernaut for Johto’s entire tourism sector, generating billions in revenue for hotels and businesses for what is otherwise a flyover town for the rest of the year. But in recent years, some have begun to ask if all this attention is really worth it as authorities continue to grapple with ever increasing crowds, public disorder, and an ever present number of thrillseekers who actually try to catch Ho-oh, overcrowding Ecruteak’s tiny jailhouse.
The committee responsible for handling the logistics behind the festival is responsible for everything, including the leadup to, and the extensive cleanup required when the throngs of people leave. Just last year, several tons of trash were left behind by revelers- not usually a problem for venues used to handling large amounts of people, but a tall order for a town of less than 2000 people. The festival relies largely on a small army of volunteers that descend on the town up to a month before the event, setting up checkpoints, erecting hundreds of tents, and placing thousands of phone calls to make sure everything goes smoothly, though it never does.
So back to Davy Wright’s situation. How does an underestimation of 30,000 people happen in the first place? The answer has to do with an ad-campaign started by a travel agency in Kalos who will in a few days be ordered by a judge to partially pay for extensive damages incurred at the festival this year.
To their credit, the committee quickly and efficiently managed to bring the situation under control and the flyover was largely considered a success. But moving forward, the question of if such an event is worth it is sure to come up again.
Regardless of what happens, people can look forward to seeing Ho-oh the same time next year. Only time will tell in what form however.
Postscript: Trying to take a few pages from longform articles I read a lot, but also not wanting to write an article that takes 40 minutes to read. Definitely could expand on it lots, but I think this covers a good balance of snappy and pointed.
