Heavenly Blanc Void Party

[starshower]

🥂 HEAVENLY BLANC VOID PARTY 🥂 Who: Everyone! What: Heavenly Blanc mingle and info exchange Where: The Heavenly Blanc Bar and Café When: "August 1"; but really, what is time Content Warnings: N/A Maybe you heard through word of mouth, or got an invite from the barista and barkeep directly, or spotted the handwritten paper invites hung up around the area, but there is a gathering happening at the Heavenly Blanc Bar and Café TODAY! So feel free to stop by, hang out, have some drinks, and share some stories. 🍺 DRINKS: Coffee will be served by Ren, and Tifa will be handling the other drinks. There's a wide variety behind the bar, ranging from alcoholic to the non-alcoholic, with delicious cocktails (yes, including virgin ones for the minors) to pick from. And before you ask - no, if you are underage, you may not have alcohol. Tifa will be very strict about it, and anyone who tries to bypass her imposed law will be subject to room temperature tapwater for the rest of the party. 🎲 GAMES: Various boardgames that came along with Le Blanc will be made available for all to play, including a Shogi board for the strategically inclined (and whoever knows how the heck to play it). Along the side wall are two pinball machines, and while they don't light up and make sounds, the mechanisms inside them still work, so they aren't completely out of the picture! Next to them, between the jukebox and the door is a dart board. Please do be mindful when throwing darts, as the light filtering into the bar through the front windows is very minimal. 🤔 INFORMATION EXCHANGE: The important part! When all are gathered inside the bar, Tifa and Ren will make a small announcement for everyone: "Now that we've all had the chance to take a look around and get our bearings, I wanna encourage everyone to exchange what you know, or what you've found. Even share it with the rest of us! Locations, ideas, theories - anything that could be useful in helping us all figure this out. We all come from different worlds, but we're stuck here, so we're in this together until we're not, yeah? Let's make friends and play nice, and most importantly, have fun today! Oh, and if you're coming and going, make sure to close the door nice and tight behind you." "It's nice to see everyone. Since we're stuck here together, let's cooperate well." ☕ OOC NOTES ☕ This is the open mingle post for the Heavenly Blanc void party! Please feel free to top-level and tag around. There is a top-level included here for you to post OOC notes of what their characters have discussed on the log, as well as their own thoughts about the world. If there is anything important that people should know, please reply to the top-level with the information, so that it's easy to find for everyone. General info posts about what your character will be talking about are fine as well. Just please try to avoid multiple edits if you can as you thread if you are going that route! for the sake of my dw inbox... Because this is an info exchange/mingle post, we encourage thread-jacking. However, we know that not everyone is into that kind of thing, so if you are okay with others hopping into your threads, please be sure to indicate it in your top-level. Questions about the log can be directed to the ooc post. Have fun!

Comments

[symbolofstrength]

"I wouldn't call it a choice -- it was just the Pokemon I had at the time." Not that he disliked Charmander, or wouldn't have chosen it given the chance, but it wasn't exactly a choice.

"I raised a Dratini of my own from an egg -- it's a Dragonite now." A wistful glance down toward his pocket where Dragonite's Pokeball rests. "It can be pretty protective of me sometimes." Not in a jealous way, just looking out for things that could potentially hurt him.

[thunderwave]

[ . . . interesting. the differences stick in the back of his mind, as lance listens, his brow furrowing slightly. but lance keeps his questions to himself, for now, instead exhaling in a soft laugh as he glances across the room, toward his own dragonite, who seems to be chattering away with duraludon (or, as much as dragons can chatter with one another, anyway). ]

They are protective. And very loyal.

[ warmly enough, returning his attention to the conversation. and though oak having a dragonite is an odd image, for lance to accept, he does know how it feels to be missing your partner. five of lance's team are still trapped. ]

We will figure out how to free our trapped friends.

[ after a moment, with confidence. there's that champion attitude. ]

So I am sure you will be reunited with your partner, before long.

[symbolofstrength]

"I'm sure." That they'll find a way, he means; basically agreeing with him. "I just wish I knew what was interfering with the Pokeballs and other electronics." Under Mt. Silver seems like the best bet, but exploring there is difficult.

"Do you have any leads?"

[thunderwave]

Not as of yet.

[ and lance shifts to unlatch one of the pokeballs from his belt, to fiddle with it a bit. indeed, it's seemingly dead, though lance can tell something is still inside it. ]

I've never actually taken one of these apart before . . . and I'm hesitant to do so, when my partners are inside.

[ who knows what will happen to them if he tries to force it open. ]

[symbolofstrength]

"I wouldn't." Sam's voice is a little sharp, but just to emphasize how important it is that he not mess with the Pokeballs.

"Pokeballs are supposed to have an emergency release -- if they get damaged and can't hold the Pokemon anymore, they let them out. But if that's not working, damage to the Pokeball can hurt the Pokemon, or worse." Damaging or disassembling the Pokeballs when they're in this state is the last thing they'd want to do, if they ever want to see their Pokemon again.

"We just have to have faith that our Pokemon are still in there, safe and unharmed." It's frustrating, he understands, and he doesn't think Lance will really do anything to the Pokeballs... but as far as Sam's concerned, physically interfering with them right now isn't even an option.

[thunderwave]

[ the thought of harming one of his partners is heartbreaking to even pass through his mind, truth be told. and lance would never actually attempt to dismantle the ball for that very reason; it would likely have a catastrophic effect.

so lance presses the button of aerodactyl's pokeball uselessly, frustrated. ]

I believe they are safe and unharmed.

[ there is truly no other option, and honestly, arceus help whoever brought them here if lance discovers otherwise. ]

I think we would know, if they weren't.

[ the bond between a trainer and their partner is strong. lance, in his heart, feels that his friends are just fine. only stuck where they are, for the time being. until they can figure out how to make this work. ]

[symbolofstrength]

While there's something to be said for intuition, as a scientist Sam likes to have hard evidence of such things. That's why he phrased his statement the way he did -- all they really have is faith, as there's no real evidence pointing one way or another. Perhaps if the Pokeball had some kind of indicator showing what's inside....

"Can I take a look at your Pokeballs? Perhaps they're different in my version of the world." As a show of good faith, he fishes out Dragonite's Pokeball, and holds it out in invitation of the inverse; Lance is welcome to look at his, too.

[thunderwave]

[ ah. well, no harm, really. it isn't as if oak would steal it. and so lance extends his hand to place aerodactyl's pokeball in oak's hand, taking oak's pokeball to roll it in his palm, frowning to himself in thought.

it feels . . . the same. aerodactyl's pokeball is just a standard issue pokeball -- the red and white, the button. it should be fairly identical to oak's expectation of what a pokeball looks like. ]

I don't use any of the variations, at least not for my oldest Pokemon.

[ with a slight shrug; no great or ultra balls, for him! ]

[symbolofstrength]

Sam gives the Pokeball a good examination, bringing it up close to his face to see if he can make out any small details, and presses the button a few times for good measure. Nope, just a normal Pokeball. With some disappointment, he hands the ball back; that's one idea that came to nothing. On the subject of variations:

"I think I have a few in Apricorn Balls, back home." They were a lot more common when he was a young trainer, but now all the apricorn artisans are gone, save a few stubborn masters like Kurt.

[thunderwave]

[ lance returns sam's own pokeball to him after giving it a look over -- and comes to much the same conclusion as he does. just a normal pokeball . . . but as lance takes aerodactyl's pokeball back, rolling it neatly in his palm in thought: ]

Ah, I have some of those.

[ warmly; johto is a region steeped in great traditions, and azalea city is no exception. the apricorn smiths are rare, now . . . and, indeed, lance is pretty sure kurt is the only one still left, though his apprentices are close behind. ]

Though they were gifts, and I haven't used them. They're on display in my chamber at the Plateau. I haven't used them, though I'm told they do work.

[ being the leader of the elite four and subsequently champion has Perks, like getting cool free stuff. the apricorn balls were more interesting than most. ]

A PokeBall expert would be useful, at minimum. I'm certain Kurt would be able to figure out how to make these things work without harming our partners.

[symbolofstrength]

"There's quite a few things from home that would be useful in this world." Like supplies and equipment. He looks up suddenly, as if startled.

"We are considering this place another world, right? My illusion idea doesn't make as much sense anymore, since so many people here have never even heard of Pokemon."

While a Pokemon, or group of Pokemon, with sufficient power would be capable of an illusion this, he can't understand why they would leave some people with their memories of Pokemon and not others. The idea that these people genuinely came from worlds without Pokemon, as strange as that sounds, makes more sense to him.

[thunderwave]

I still believe a Legendary Pokemon is the only thing with the powers capable to do something like this.

[ lance has never directly encountered these legendary beings, but ho-oh, lugia, and celebi are treasured beings, in johto. add to that the powers of mew and mewtwo . . . well. not much else would be able to pull this off. ]

If it's another world . . . I am not sure how to get most of these kids home.

[symbolofstrength]

"Most of the people here have no idea what Pokemon are, and I trust them on that. It's hard to imagine a world without Pokemon, I know, but...." But it's that, or call them liars, or tell them they can't trust their memories. For the sake of giving these people the benefit of the doubt, he'll accept the multiple worlds theory for now. If he gets evidence contradicting it, well, he can always change his mind later.

"Nor am I. But we can worry about that if it comes up -- right now about all we can do is investigate this place." The possibility that there might not be a way home, that whatever brought them here is one-way and they're stuck here for the rest of their lives, does occur to him, but he'll keep that one under his hat for now.