Test Drive Meme - December - Merry Christmas and a New Year!

[bestmomever]

December has arrived! And it's a festive, very festive time for the people of Alola. You'll find that many local businesses are doing well this time of year as there's brilliant lights being strung up, in preparation of people, both tourists and people. The doors are open, the Christmas Spirit is in the air, and Delibirds have arrived to start taking letters to Santa! Mallow in particular has been a chief advocate of getting your letters into Santa, as this is the second Christmas Vacation coming up for the Fallers, and soon you'll be off school for Christmas Break which starts on the 18th.

You'll have lots to do, but soon, there'll be a aura of business as Christmas begins to loom closer and closer, as a sense of urgency starts pushing forward as the Delibirds seem more and more urgent...




A. Arrival

Another wave of Ultra Holes have opened up over the Island, alarms have appeared and the Ultra Guardians as well as Bewear has come into play. This time, the Fallers have been asked to intercept the literally Falling people who are coming out of the holes and brief them and bring them to the Pokemon Center, ie Immigration to get checked in. Wicke is there to answer questions but a few volunteers may be there as well. The experienced Fallers can get you up to speed.


B. The Alola Community Visitors Plaza

A venue usually for tourists, new Fallers are given a chance to see the main tourist area for Alola, in order to orient and familiarize themselves with the nature of Alola and Pokemon in general. A far cry from the disorganized mob that was originally there, this time, there are people set up in the stands, ready to receive tourists and Fallers alike. Pamphlets, interviews with locals and tour guides, Ride Pokemon to take you around the island, and various other places are available. Please look around, the choice is yours. This month it is decorated for the Festival of Lights, aka Christmas.


C. The Hau’oli City Markets

This is where the marketplace stands, full of fresh fruit and food. Those who are hungry can be treated to a delicious taste of Alola. Not once, not twice, but more times than they can imagine. Your coin is good here, even if it’s alien in nature. Even if you don’t have coin, you’ll be fine. Ohana. No one is left behind or forgotten. We’re not about to let people go hungry in this world. Nature’s bounty is for everyone, humans and Pokemon alike. There’s no need to steal, just ask the marketplace for some food if you are very hungry. Even if you’re shy, Miss Anela will offer you a snack. There's a lot of holiday treats.


D. Job Board

Odd Jobs have been posted here right now, thanks to the efforts of the people who have decided to help the Fallers out, and it’s also a help wanted board for those who want to earn some coin in the middle of the week before the beginning of the school year. Tasks such as bucking crates of Juice off a truck, to doing some simple paperwork in an office for a few days, and even tending Pokemon in a farm on Akala Island. The choice is yours. Get out and explore. There's a lot of decorating jobs right now.


E. Exploring the entire island chain

If you wish to explore Melemele, it is a big island, and there is plenty to see. There are Forests, Honey Fields, Hot Springs, Beaches, and many other places. Melemele boasts one of the biggest cities Hau’oli City, and is the capital of Alola. Here, up at the top of a large plateau is the challenge area where Hala offers the Grand Trial. The caves are full of Pokemon, and your Pokemon are eager to prove themselves in a Trial. There's plenty to see now, with Akala island, Ula'ula Island and Poni Islands also opened up for tourism.


F. Grand Trials

The Four Kahuna are accepting challengers once more. Those who wish to participate in the sacred trials are allowed to participate in the Grand Trials once more, to earn the right of the Z. With the goals in mind, you may undertake a Trial to earn a Z-Crystal first, and then take on a Grand Trial for a Z-Ring and a Z-Crystal. The choice is yours which to tackle first.


G. Festival of Lights

There's actually two Festival of Lights this time around! The Boat Festival where there will be several boats on the water displaying gorgeous lights which shine on the water, and the festival where the land shines with twinkling lights on the seventh. The first is on the 13th. There seems to be a wonderful time coming up.


H. Melemele General Hospital

Even Angela is working extra hard to make sure everyone's prepared for the winter, and that makes time for checkups, and other such things. If you've got the sniffles, this one is for you. But also, come chat with Angela, and meet some of the more colorful visitors from Overwatch Earth.


I. Aether Labs

Come review the brand new information that makes the Ultra Guardians go on the offensive. Which means, Aether Labs is open to the science community! The scientific community heads can now access the labs, and the resources within. Under the guidance of Wicke, Faba and, Burnet, you're allowed access to Aether's resources to build and invent and upgrade and repair your own equipment.


J. Alolan Steel Guitar Festival

Come listen to the native music of the people, leading into the city. You can listen, try out one of the steel guitars, dance, the choice is yours! Your world is yours to explore!


K. Lighting of the Banyan Tree

In the middle of the city there's a massive tree being erected. This is the Banyan Tree, and on the seventh during the Festival of Lights, it will be lit up! Come check it out!


L. Wildcard

If you haven’t found a prompt that suits you, make it up!

Comments

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Oh, you're welcome! I mean, it's the season anyway, getting close to Christmas and all." Besides, it wasn't as if her family--both sides--weren't the type to help out those less fortunate, since they'd been very lucky themselves.

"I'm Isabel Knight. They're pretty generous and helpful, here, but I can understand being leery of calling attention to yourself..." She trailed off as Mana described her living situation, eyes going wide.

"Bombed out building? So this is a step up?" She accepted the apple, tucking it into a pocket of her jean jacket, expression startled. "I mean, this place is nice, but...is it too forward if I ask what happened?"

[missing_heart]

"... can we go sit down?" said Mana, gesturing to a nearby bench.

Once sat down, Mana cupped her apple, taking a few nips from it. "My world was attacked by the Selfish. Jikochu as they are called in my world. They're the selfish thoughts of a person overwhelming their hearts and manifested into monsters. I'm the last person in my world to survive as far as I know. I've lived in my hometown, trying to find survivors as we dwindled over the years until just I was left."

"They were led by a general, one of the Seven Sins, Bel. Bel was on the verge of winning when a man came from outside the World. With his help, I managed to gain strength to turn the tide against the Jikochu and restore some equilibrium to the world. But the world's just not sustainable right now. My hope is to defeat as many Jikochu as I can, and find survivors to start reviving the human population by defeating more and more of them."

"When I saw the Ultra Hole, and Pokemon coming through, I knew that I had to come through, before Bel discovered it. So I came through, expecting this world to be suffering their fate. Imagine my surprise when I discovered they were at peace. Well, relative peace."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Isabel nodded, but not before grabbing two bottles of fruit juice and offering one to Mana as they both sat down. With the way her voice was, she'd probably need it.

"Yeah, lots of things are relative, but this place is pretty peaceful, all things considered. No weirdness in the cities--not much. Not a lot of overt corruption. It's...nice."

Not that Earth wasn't, but it had its problems, as did the nexus-world that she also called home.

"Sounds like going to your world might be quite the adventure, though, if I didn't want to go straight home after this," Isabel chuckled.

[missing_heart]

"You're a World Traveler as well?" asked Mana, taking a drink of the juice. "That's... comforting actually. That means I might be able to meet Tsukasa again. If he's out there, I want to thank him again for everything he did for me."

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small phone that had a sleeping face on it. "Cheryl hasn't woken up yet," she said, the phone face literally sleeping. "She's been hungry since we had to flee our last base and hadn't eaten. Bel found our last camp too quick and we had to fight our way out. Hopefully, with any luck, those Overwatch recon members that they sent will be well protected."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Sort of. I was actually born on a nexus-world; my father and both sets of grandparents were from Earth, originally. I've been back there myself; we're sort of based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then. But I was mostly raised...elsewhere. Mostly because my mother can't go back to Earth safely."

But that was a long, long story.

"Still, the place I usually live touches a lot of worlds, so falling into this one or thinking about heading to your world? Doesn't seem terribly strange, not to me." Isabel shrugged at that.

[missing_heart]

"That sounds interesting. I can't imagine what a world like that might be. My world is Japan, or at least what's left of it."

"There seems to be a lot of worlds, er, touching this one. But it seems to be in a weird state of can and can't. These Ultra Holes though seem to hold things together." said Mana.