[ti]quest[/ti]SPIRIT DRAGON RACE

Jade squinted suspiciously at the message. Right. Big Bee. The one from the belated holiday digging event that had somehow gotten her back into casual VR. Didn't help that her coworkers had been blowing her off lately and she had yet to make any other friends.

How had she ended up one of those internet nerds?

Anyway, Jade had a problem, and the problem was that she just couldn't say no.

Jade Jager said:

no way! Hell no!! I heard Ostellia's full of literal aliens, no way am I going

Well, she'd say it plenty, but it wouldn't stick.

The ninja woman appeared on the Drowned Harbor pier, her first step into the area of Ostellia since it'd opened up last fall. "Looks different than the demo," she observed, looking around herself. The sneak peek from UNOVRCon had shown off this area, but there had been a hell of a lot more wild Pokémon and a hell of a lot less badass dragon boats.

They were really cool, honestly. Even if it reminded her a bit too much of Chinese New Year. Could use a red envelope or two to help pay bills this month. Why did kids get all the good stuff?

"Don't start," she warned Big Bee as she approached the man on the dock, "Got curious, that's all. One alien and I'm outta here."

Clambering awkwardly into one of the boats, completely forgetting she had literal bug wings, Jade reached in her pockets and released a trio of Pokémon. Novak the Lokix, the speedy helmsman. Pete the Floragato to row the boat. And Roger the Combusken, currently asleep, the perfect figurehead.

And Jade would be sitting on her happy ass keeping a lookout for goddamn aliens.

Emery V. said:

cheers x

It beat studying for her Equity and Trusts exam anyway, even if Vivi had no idea where this 'Drowned Harbour' was. She'd gotten the chance to explore precious little, given how she started the game during a time when a lot was happening in real life: aforementioned exams, calls back home due to impending holidays (read: CNY), three whole photoshoots she was booked in for, and a recent row she'd gotten into with her neighbour in the flat opposite. Vivi was pretty damn sure that being a music student didn't give you the right to practice a trombone in a building with thin walls and even thinner patience. In fact, being a music student meant he'd have access to practice rooms, no? Twat.

Also, being no-strings-attached invited to something? The feeling was so incredibly novel that Vivi had actually guffawed for five seconds before heavily debating what people usually said in invitation reply texts for six minutes.

When she entered the game and navigated to where the event quest - as it was apparently - was pinging, any preconceptions of what a 'Pokémon-themed boat race' was were promptly struck from her mind. Yes, it was probably some kind of tribute to a dragon boat race but with extra ghosts and murk, but she'd expected at least some colour in the form of banners or the like. The smell, too, did not compel her; neither did the structurally unsound boats. The quest instructions pop-up made her feel even less enthused: it looked like she'd be needing at least three bodies, and last time she checked, she just had two.

Time to scavenge, even if it did hurt her pride a bit. Goddamn team sports.

Emery saw a blond man she did not know looking already ready to rumble and spotted the insectoid ninja woman from the digging event some time prior. What was her name again? She scuttled up to the woman's boat (if the woman had been on the ground still, Emery would've tackled her) and stood there in the sand for a good bit trying to grasp the name from her memory. The problem was that it was stored in the 'Fake Names (lol)' file, which took a bit to access given its, well, laughable nature. 

"Jade Jager ! Fancy seeing you here, you fake dragonfly, you," said Emery finally, wide-eyed, with a snap of her fingers. She said her entire name slowly, as if chewing around a foreign word. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon, if at all, but I'm well glad I have. Looks like you're full up; are we supposed to man our own boats here?"

Big Bee also caught her attention at the same time Jian did and so she trotted towards the boat that seemed to be less occupied. On the way, to Jian, she gave Bee a cheery wink and cheeky air-kiss, just to mirror her message. She'd seen this before on campus and if Bee was the kind of person who sent invites every which way, surely he'd be the type to take that in stride. If not, well, too bad for him.

"兄弟. 兄弟! Help me in!" Emery lifted her leg and snagged it on the lip of the boat, which swayed to her side. "I thought it would be everyone versus some ghosts or whatever, but it looks like a free for all here, and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm pretty poorly for this. 恭喜发财, by the way" - she opened her palms - "so where's my 红报?"

Once on the boat, she unballed Idol, who barreled into her chest for a hug, and then sat at the helm, not even asking Jian or his animals whether that was alright or not.

"You've already met Yanyan, Idol. Who's this other cat?"

"A new friend, that's who!" Idol did a loop-de-loop in the air and came down to paw at Yanyan's head, then fled to swim in the air around the other, slimmer-looking cat. "What tall eyes you have, haha! And such purple fur! If I asked you to, would you dance with me? I'm Idol, who are you? Are we working together? Pleased to meet you!"

He let out a happy bray. Emery supposed that being this close to the water, which they'd never been before, was putting him in high spirits.

Cypress said:

sounds cool, omw!
just lemme figure out how to get to the harbor first!

It was a quiet day in Felicity's apartment - a lack of shifts (most likely to train any new hires) left her entire week free to do whatever she wished.
She could go on a walk, she could go to one of the cafes - she could do anything she wanted.

And yet, here she was, staring at the beige ceiling, feeling almost bored.
She could do so many things, and yet all she wanted to do was get back to work.

But then, a message arrived - prompting a tilt of the head. Big Bee...? Oh! Big Bee! From that event! She read it over.

A boat race...? At a...Drowned Harbour? Now that sounded cool!

Typing up a response, Felicity would smile to herself, before exhaling.
Now how to get to this...Drowned Harbour?

An hour later, Cypress would be walking over to the pier, taking note of the once proud vessels now shells of their former glory. If she spotted Big Bee, she would give a cheerful wave, smiling. "Sorry for the wait! Had to figure out where I was going..."

Would she most likely need to figure out a means of transportation? Probably. But right now, it's Boat Time.

Preparing to clamber into one of the many Pokemon-themed boats, a pop-up would catch her attention.

Please select Three (3) Pokemon, or yourself, to participate in this event!

Three Pokemon hmm...? Well, luckily for this event!

Soon, after the Pokemon were sent out (and explanations were had), Cypress had selected her roster - with input, of course.

Huck requested that he be on the Rower position and Spearmint all but cheered when the Figurehead position was mentioned. Paprika, on the other hand...

Paprika was staring into the ocean, before shuddering slightly.
A beat passed before the reason hit her as to the reaction.

Houndour is part Fire-type. Fire and something like a boat race over an ocean...That wouldn't mix well.

So, with a sigh, Cypress would approach the Dark Pokemon, before lightly patting him on the head. Silence passed.

<"Madame, are you sure this race is...safe?">
"I'm sure it will be fine...but you don't have to participate if you don't want to - I can take the final position, if you need."
A moment of silence before a nod from the canine,.
<"...if you could do so? I give my thanks.">, he would bark, as Cypress returned him to the Pokeball, before clambering into the boat with the rest of the team.

Spearmint would Ingrain herself to keep herself steady in the slightly damp seat, while Huck would appear quite comfortable in the rowers section, front paws around the rowers and preparing to push with all he had.

Cypress meanwhile, had positioned herself at the helm, testing the rudder and taking in the salty sea air.

Bee greeted his friends with waves, handshakes, fist-bumps, and even a hug or two.

"Great to see you Josh Devlin!" he said, admiring the man's response time and sheer enthusiasm. "Grab a boat, any boat. You've got your pick of the litter!"

"Jade Jager! Aliens? Oh I wouldn't worry, I'm pretty sure there won't be any here." He tucked away his Pokeball containing Buzzwole. He didn't want to risk a player leaving over something so little. "In fact I'm sure that we won't see any out here today. Have fun!"

"Can't have a boat race without water!" he said, laughing together with Jian. "Cute cats! Are they good around water?" he asked, before wincing at the Litten's obvious displeasure. "Well, good luck!"

Bee caught Emery V.'s wink and kiss and returned it with a beaming grin and a huge, sweeping wave. "Good luck in the race!" he called out.

He spotted Lucille hurrying over to a boat, a legendary egg under her arm. "Have a good race Lucille!" he shouted, still entangled in trying to welcome everyone to the race. "And be careful with the egg! Fresh eggs sink!" That was just good advice in general.

"Oh don't worry, still plenty of time," Bee said in reply to Cypress' worries about being late. "These events don't usually start until everyone is here and settled. One time there was a huge countdown clock, but here it seems to be more the whim of the announcer. And look!" he pointed down the beach to where there were still boats unfilled. "Still plenty of boats left. Take your pick!"

As Bee was looking around for the last few latecomers he spotted a flash of orange and white. "Hekate!" he called, jogging over to intercept her at an empty ship. "It looks mighty lonely in there with just the two of you. I've got a third for you right here!" he said, sending out his Poliwag. "This is Connie! Her full name is 'Conan the Barbarian (1982)' but I only call her that when she's late to dinner!" Bee laughed, and Connie jumped from one foot to the other, overjoyed to be making new friends.

"Hey you two!!!" Connie said to Hekate and Little Guy, the words sounding rounded by her tiny mouth. "Nice to meet you both!!!" She bounced into the boat, shuffling about until she was seated and ready for the race.

With only two latecomers still on the way, Bee finally had a chance to pick his team. He needed someone fast at the helm. Reaction speed was key. "Orange, can you handle steering?"

His Blaziken appeared, arms crossed and eyes already rolling. "Yeah. I should be fine with that. Anything else you need help with? Maybe tying your shoes? Or wait you've got sandals on again."

"There's nothing wrong with sandals! And you don't even have any shoes!" He frowned, then relaxed. "You're on helm then. Over there at the back. Thanks Orange!"

Next up is a powerful rower. Someone able to handle multiple oars, and maybe even paddling. "What's better than strong forearms?" he said to nobody in particular, "four, strong arms!" Cofagrigus emerged in a gleam of gold. The effects of Bee's Basilisk subclass were inperceptible on the creature, as his body had already been entirely stone and gold (aside from the quarter of ghostly appendages. "You're in the middle, The Mummy!"

The Mummy grinned and lifted itself into the boat, settling in the middle and reaching outwards with its arms like some massive stick insect.

And that just leaves the mascot. Inspirational. Beautiful. Motivational. Rian's drumming? No. Jam's adorable face? No, he doesn't like boats. And then in a flash of inspiration he called on the perfect Pokemon: Gyarados. Bergamot the Gyarados roared onto the scene. She coiled around the front half of the boat, anchoring her torso as she lifted her massive head out of the water. Her neck arched towards the unknown mists, mouth open in anticipation.

"Yeah! That's perfect! Now it's a real dragon boat!" Big Bee climbed into the boat between The Mummy and Orange. The beautiful craft was still sopping wet, with a Pyukumuku and half a school of Wishiwashi splashed about in the bottom. "Let me help you outta there," Bee said, picking up the Pyukumuku and releasing it into the bay.