a delightful picnic day.

[thunderwave]

Who: Everyone!
What: PokeBalls are now functional, and there are a lot more friends in Tabula Rasa.
Where: Outside of Heavenly Blanc! It's a picnic, baby.
When: You know, now-ish.
Content Warnings: Cute. Dragons. Birbs.

It seemingly happens at random, for the trainers of the creatures they call Pokemon. Sudden bursts of light, and out emerge quite a few new friends. Pokemon of different Types, shapes, and sizes are now wandering around . . . sticking close to their trainers, probably.

There's a small gathering outside of the Heavenly Blanc, with various snacks and food set out on tables outside. Feel free to come by, play with Pokemon, and have a bite to eat! It's a random assortment of food and drink, all "foraged" and/or made by the Pokemon crew in order to celebrate their partners being released and to also introduce them to their friends they've made in Tabula Rasa!

Be careful of the rumbling storm nearby, though . . . but on the bright side, at least your phones seem to be working, if you have any? Time to take selfies with your new friends, or maybe a TikTok that just stays on your phone forever.

(Trainers will have top levels, if they want, so if you want to interact with a specific trainer, you can wait for their level! Otherwise, have fun at the picnic.)

Comments

[rotomphone]

[ Raihan, meanwhile, has now noticed Rotom's absence. it's a wonder that it wasn't faster, but being engrossed in conversation will do that - now that it's run its course, he's free to find out where his autonomous phone has run off to. a little focus is all he needs to find it, especially because he can hear the familiar sound of a chanting crowd coming from its speakers.

he smirks to himself when he sees Blue engrossed in watching the footage of him and Leon, wondering if he can take the opportunity to get a jab in. leaning down close with his hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets, his chin is nearly resting on Blue's shoulder, not quite making contact when he chirps up. ]

Got you mesmerized, have I?

[halloflamer]

--Gck!

[Unfortunately for Raihan, his plan works- which means that the moment he starts talking, Blue jumps, jerking backwards and smacking his head directly into the other man's jaw.]

Tss!!! [He hisses in pain, reaching to rub the back of his head as he turns to pout over-shoulder. Shoulda figured he wouldn't be able to get away with his little scouting plan for long...] Oi. I don't know if 'mesmerized' is the word for it. [That's not entirely a denial, right?]

[rotomphone]

--Ow!

[ well... yeah, it works, but not in the way he's anticipating. at least it's not his nose, but the sudden forceful bump against his jaw still smarts. he rubs it as he rises to full height, pouting a bit as Rotom does its best not to snicker too loudly. hopefully it was too busy showing Blue that video to get that on camera... ]

Sure looked like it to me! Not like I can blame you, though. [ he bounces right back with another smile; he can't look uncool for too long! ] Hey, Rotom. You're not giving away all my battle strategies, are you?

[halloflamer]

[Blue grumbles, rubbing his smarting head still before he slumps forward to cross his arms on the table as Rotom floats off.] ...Sheesh. Believe whatever you want, dragon boy.

Hah, don't worry though, it's not all your strategies! I mean, you've gotta have more going on than this, right? [He jerks his thumb towards Rotom's screen with a teasing smirk. It had been a singles battle, but he knew that Raihan favored doubles- so surely, there were a lot of combinations to be had with those weather strategies.] You know, just assuming.

...That Leon guy, though. He sure has a Champion's spread of Pokémon on his team, doesn't he? [Blue rubs his chin thoughtfully.] There isn't any one strategy, so there's nothing in particular to exploit. Mmm, but everyone's got a strategy in mind, so if I had to peg his, it'd be...

Risky full-power moves. [Dragon Meteor, Steel Beam, Flare Blitz... He shoots Raihan a teasing grin.] Am I right, Mr. Number-one-rival?

[rotomphone]

[ he's mostly joking, but Blue did look like he was focusing on the battle footage pretty intensely. it's probably in preparation for whenever they can battle, or perhaps it's just curiousity - he'd definitely take the opportunity to study some of Blue's past battles if he had the opportunity. you can get to know a different side of a person when you see what they're like on the pitch, and Raihan knows that he's a prime example of that. his wild side on the pitch and how he holds himself in everyday life, while connected by a few threads, can be easily construed as two completely different parts of himself. ]

Obviously! You can't get the whole Raihan experience just from watching one battle. It's why my fans are always coming back for more.

[ well, there are other reasons... but for those interested in competitive battling, Raihan does like to show them what sorts of new strategies he can bring to the table. ]

Actually, you're not! [ he pauses, thinking. ] Well, you're sort of not? There was a year that he experimented with those kinds of moves, and it almost costed him the finals. I really had him against the wall, too!

[ he sighs, but shrugs it off. ] Leon's always crafting new strategies to keep his challengers on their toes. Usually it's me on the receiving end of them - there's something new to look out for every season. The man's a bloody beast.

[halloflamer]

Hmmm, is that the reason? Somehow I bet there's more to it than that. [Sure, he's never seen Raihan's social media accounts for himself, but just from the way the guy's always talking about it, he's sure it's a flurry of other fanservice and non-battle related activity. Plenty of other things for his fans to be engaged with, that is, than his losing streaks...........]

Not that that's a bad thing.

[He's interested in hearing Raihan's perspective on his rival, though- as he should be, as anyone interested in a competitive battling scene should be. Who knew any trainer better than their rival, after all?]

[It doesn't surprise him, either for Raihan to refute him or to hear that the guy didn't have any one consistent strategy. Keeping things consistent meant keeping things stale, after all- and a Champion had to be more than consistent to keep their place at the top.]

In other words, he's the one keeping his eye on you, [Blue grins, and the way he looks at Raihan is awfully knowing.] Well, not that that's a bad thing for a rival, right?

[rotomphone]

It's part of the reason. I'm a talented guy, you know!

[ he's already bore witness to Raihan's skills with selfie angles back in the nightmare tunnels, and now that Rotom is up and running again, he's sure to see plenty more. it's only a matter of time!

the rival chatter, however, sobers him up a bit. it's not that talking about his losses to Leon is a sore point, but rather he usually doesn't have to talk about them - everyone in Galar is aware of their rivalry, so this is a strange bit of introspection to have to go through. ]

He'd better! I'm the one that's been keeping him on his game since he became Champion. [ he hopes he looks as nonchalant as he wants himself to, glancing at Blue with a raised brow. that look can mean a lot of things. ] We don't underestimate each other - our matches are always the talk of the town because of it.

[halloflamer]

Multi-talented, right.

[Blue hums, and glances back towards the Rotomphone once more.] Hey, I believe you. ...He wouldn't keep coming back for more otherwise, right?

[Is he asking Raihan that, or himself? Maybe they were both trying to act a little more nonchalant than they should about this.]

...Anyway, the fact that you're the top Leader means there's not much better of a challenge to be had, right? So I guess if the guy never travels to inter-League tournaments, he must be pretty satisfied with what he's got.

[Blue rests his chin in hand.] Though I guess if he's running a Battle Facility now, he's hoping they'll come to him, huh. The seasoned challengers, not just the star newbies.