Talon Tiger Dinosaur said:
I'll give you points for speed, but I'll take away some for not commenting on much as you went through the thread!
Ambit said:
Hello! I'll start writing again in a bit.
I'm going to be honest with you all—I actually have no idea what the chocolate side quest is going to be yet?
I'm going to improvise it.Also, the next update might come with deliberately jarring tonal whiplash. Just to warn you all.
when did you stop improvising?!
PerishtheThought said:
Oh no! The annual chocolate tasting competition ran out of judges and they need a pre-teen girl to step in to taste free, world-class chocolate! What a harrowing ordeal!
Mal, no, you don't have to sacrifice yourself for this! I'm sure they can make it work without you, it's not your responsibility!
King of Silver said:
Team Galactic just stole 40 chocolate cakes! That's as many as four tens! And that's terrible.
Unforgivable! Initiate kneecaps privilege revocation!
OwlKnight97 said:
Two rival shops seem to be in a feud. One shop seems to be getting all the customers, and has a special chocolate recipe. The other shop seems to get no customers, and a Pokemon seems to be constantly trying to steal the secret chocolate recipe. What is this inspired by I wonder.
As long as the owners are not weird aquatic pokemon...
Ambit said:
The Spheal was rolling for it, to say the least—quite a number of other tourists in your path freeze up or panic as it looks as though a blue ball is on the verge of ramming into them before she swerves out of the way at the last moment. You have to yell out so many apologies as you pass by and need to threaten the excited water Pokemon with not letting her have any before she finally slows down a tad.
They see her rollin'...They hatin'...
Ambit said:
...that's a LOT of cakes, yes.
Ambit said:
You spend around 550 pokedollars, but you get a lot more bang for your buck than you expected! The only real complaint that you have is the fact that a number of these shop owners try to pinch your cheeks—what is it with gourmet weirdos and your cheeks?!
Mal, you're TEN YEARS OLD. you're cute by near default, especially when you try to be all serious!
but really, the more we see of the rest of Sinnoh the more Jubilife sucks in comparison (unless you're rich at least).
Ambit said:
The owner of the particular pastry shop that you were in—a bald and skinny guy with a very carefully groomed Kalosian mustache yells exaggeratedly in anguish after coming out of the back of the backery.
"CURSES, CURSE THE SKIIIEEESS!" he screams to the heavens, waving his fists into the air and immediately catching the bewildered attention of the many different people eating and baking within his shop—you'd noticed that this bakery was actually a touch more crowded and popular than the rest seemed to be, which is why you'd headed here last. "RAYQUAZA, STRIKE ME DOWN THIS INSTANT TO SAVE US FROM OUR SUFFERING!"
"Um...what's wrong, boss?" some random baker pipes up.
"WE'RE OUT OF WILD COCOA HONEY!"
You and your friends share a look—gourmets.
I'm going to assume it's not going to be as easy as going to the local supermarket...
Ambit said:
As the shop owner continues to rant, you get a clearer view of the situation—this rare ingredient was pretty much the namesake of his bakery, as it was named the "Coco Honey Patisserie." He couldn't just run to the store to buy the plentiful Floaroma honey that was available because that simply wasn't the right kind of honey—specifically, the man had made his name on using honey traded and bought directly from a specific wild Combee colony off the main path to Floaroma Town from Route 233. These particular Combees were fond of the nectar and juice produced by Chocovine's cacao trees, which gave their honey a unique, chocolate-tinged flavor.
...is that actually a thing? Honey from the cacao tree? I never thought of it.
Ambit said:
Possible Side Quest Offered: Express Honey Order
The owner of the Coco Honey Pastisserie has unfortunately run out of the most important ingredient of all of his recipes too early—the cocoa honey that his award-winning bakery has been named after! The pastry shop owner is putting out an open call for any trainer to run off and make an express
order for his store from a nearby colony of wild Combees. He makes it sound simple enough—walk up to the colony, explain the situation to their Vespiquen leader, and then have them deliver their jars of honey to where they usually drop them off, at a particular point in the farthest outskirts of Chocovine Town while the owner prepares his usual payment. Considering your usual luck, you already know that this probably isn't going to be that easy.In return for running this errand, the pastry shop owner promises a reward of 3 Jars of Cocoa Honey and 3,000 Pokedollars.
Do you decide to volunteer for this side quest?
[ ][Honey Side Quest] Yeah, why not? You're not in any real rush. (You will set off for this side quest immediately after this turn then return to Chocovine Town for one last day, no matter how long this side quest takes.)
[ ][Honey Side Quest] Nah, let somebody else volunteer. You want to get to Floaroma already! (You will depart from Chocovine Town for Route 233 proper tomorrow.)
---
why not. we could use the money, and I'm kinda curious about what he pays for the honey to the hive.
Ambit said:
What you end actually up stumbling across does have that massive, expansive rectangular swimming pool that you were expecting, one that covers the area of a typical small park. But that only serves as one corner of this very crowded tourist destination—because built into one end of that swimming pool are massive staircases leading up into giant twisting slides, raging waterfalls, endless showers, mounted water cannons, and even more!
I wonder if sparkplug would enjoy them, rolling down the slide. coro and Maynot certainly will!
Ambit said:
—and then another obstacle gets in your way. You glare at the sign clearly stating that swimsuits were mandatory for humans to wear in the Chocovine Water Park.
This was f*ckin' stupid—what was wrong with what you were wearing right now? The dark undershirt that you usually wore under your hoodie and jacket was comfy and not that loose, and your shorts were the sporty type—you didn't mind either of those getting wet. You grumble as your friends take a detour towards the water park swimwear shop, complaining under your breath about how this was clearly some kind of scam meant to get you to spend money on the place despite the supposedly free admission...
Meh, I'm on the park's side this time. It's just not the same.
Ambit said:
Mime mime?"
You turn around to find Maynot teasingly presenting a flowery two-piece swimsuit your size—you immediately sigh. "Maynot, you already know that there's no way in hell I'd be caught in something like that."
"Oh, c'mon—it's pretty! Everybody'll like it!" the pink Pokemon insists. "And you're so bundled up all the time, even if it's summer! It's not fair that everybody else gets to enjoy the sun on their skin, you shoul—"
"NO."
...I wonder how bad the scars are.
Or maybe gang tattoos?
Ambit said:
[ ][Water Park] Buy a set of swim clothes and enjoy an innocent afternoon at the water park. (Spend 800 Pokedollars. You will gain the Swim Clothes Equipment, which offers bonuses for getting around while in water.)
[ ][Water Park] ...you don't feel like doing this anymore. (Spend nothing. Head back to the Pokemon Center and rest without considering doing anything else for the rest of the day.)
We won't let this ruin our fun!
Ambit said:
Let's take a break from you for a short while and turn our attention to someone else. Don't worry, we aren't venturing particularly far from our dear protagonist this time—in fact, we're moving to the mind of someone just a few paces away! That's right, it's time to return to the viewpoint of the most spectacular member of our supporting cast of heroes and heroines...and he needs very little introduction, doesn't he?
Yeah, obviously it's sparkplug!
Ambit said:
A once nameless Mime Jr. who now goes by the fantastical, the majestic, the ever-beloved and ever-amazing Mayor Maynot
...I still think sparkplug is more "spectacular"...
Ambit said:
... appropriate title. Also pretty touching
Ambit said:
That was a spike of anger, self-loathing, and mental repression beyond anything that he has seen from her yet—and to say that was SERIOUSLY WORRYING was an understatement considering everything else that he's ever felt from her! Heck, the psychic type can literally sense how she was refusing to think about whatever was upsetting her in the slightest at this very moment—she'd made so much progress and here she was at it again...
THAT bad?!
Well, considering that she expected the "good teacher" to ONLY use the soap, I have to wonder how bad the orphanage treated her.
Also the kids had questions about the orphanage and abuse... And then there's the fang.
... actually I'm betting on tattoos. The self loathing makes more sense if she "willingly" took it
Ambit said:
[ ][A Secret] Forget about it and let it go. She'll tell Maynot and the others about it when she's ready. (Event ends.)
[ ][A Secret] Try to push. This could end badly, but him handling the psychic stuff went kinda well, so maybe...? (Event continues. Maynot directly asks his trainer about what that was about.)
[ ][A Secret] Ask Sparkplug. That floating tin can is suspiciously quiet—he's pretty sure that they know something. (Event continues. Maynot tries to wheedle a hint of the secret out of the most responsible member on the team.)
[ ][A Secret] Sneak a look.Maynot can't do that—she'll hate him forever!
[ ][A Secret] Something else...? What else can he do here, though? (Event continues. Write-in option, subject to QM veto.)
I don't think she'd hate you FOREVER, but she'd definitely take it badly.
I can't really think of a different approach.
Trying to project concern and the desire to help and understand?
...and of course there's already an update after this...
