PROM, DAY ONE: THE PROM-ENING

[these_balls]

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Scenic Tohjo Falls!
When: Friday, April 4
Summary: THIS IS THE LOG FOR DAY ONE OF POKEPROM! That means this is your RED-CARPET GALA, so put on your showstopping couture and go have a blast!
Rating: May vary by thread, please mark accordingly!
Log:

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☆ YOU ARE HERE ☆




KEY:

• BLUE areas are where the bulk of the party's events will be located! As you can see, the festivities will be taking place largely outdoors, and the grounds will reflect that; there'll be the usual decorations of pretty floral arrangements, little lights, things like that. Think upscale garden party! There'll also be a ballroom indoors for more traditionally fancy red-carpet goings-on, but most of the action (and volume of guests) will be found mingling out back.
• GREEN areas are where guests will be staying overnight! Unfortunately, you'll be sleeping-bagging it up, since there's a limited amount of bedrooms in this house and they're all being occupied by Clair, Lance, the Elite Four, and guests who are regrettably way more important than you. However, this is where you'll be given space to leave your possessions, claim some sleeping room, and generally crash for the night once the festivities do you in. (Note: you're welcome to try to sleep elsewhere, but Clair might catch you and disapprove. You don't want that, do you?)
• RED areas are unfortunately off-limits to guests! If asked about them, anyone will tell you that those are the rooms and areas that the Elite Four (and their special guests) have claimed for themselves, and they're sealed off tight. Please don't try to break into them anyway; you'll only be caught and punished.

• AREA A is the designated Indoor Ballroom area, for the people who prefer the classy elegance of a formal red-carpet gala over the more whimsy outdoor garden party atmosphere in the back. There's a big skylight, hardwood floors, tasteful artwork, and classy music — a little more upscale than the shenanigans going on outside, for the people who'd rather that kind of thing.

• AREA B will be the area of interest for anyone hoping to sneak a little Pokemon research on the side: this is the Library/Gallery area of the house. While most of it is your standard "tall shelves of ancient identical books" fare, there are a few points of interest — we've detailed them further right here. Guests are welcome to look around a little, but burying themselves in research the whole time will be highly frowned upon, and you'll be politely encouraged to leave the library alone and go rejoin the festivities if you hole up in there for too long.

• AREA C is...well, the Parking Lot. More importantly, it's where you take your Pokemon battles if you simply gotta get your battle on; keep it out and away from the house, please, and try not to make too much of a mess. Skirmishes, sorties, and sparring will be tolerated here and here alone. Do it anywhere else and you'll be facing some very displeased hosts.

• AREA D is the Elite Four's Trophy Room. Please be quiet and respectful if you come up here to have a look around; it's a solemn kind of place. Here you'll find various collections of badges, ribbons, awards, and trophies put on display, with one wall devoted to each member of the Elite Four. There are also pictures of the Elite Four members themselves, though it seems there's been a changeover since the last prom; the candids and Official Portraits™ depict different people entirely now (with the exception of Bruno) and there are a few photos of some sort of ceremony among the others. These photos include Lance being declared Champion of both regions by Professor Oak, while the rest of the Elite Four look on; Lorelai hugging Will and Karen immediately after their promotion to Elite Four; Agatha and Koga having an exhibition battle between her Gengar and his Crobat; all six of them piling into the frame for what amounts to a massive group selfie, etc.

☆ IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER: ☆

• This post is for threads taking place on DAY ONE of Prom, which means this is the RED-CARPET GALA! Only threads taking place on Friday, April 4 should go in this log!

• We recommend putting your character's location in the header of your comment, or if you're doing multiple locations in the same comment, mark them clearly so people can find you more easily!

• Once you've posted your top-level comment(s), make sure to go to Our PokéProm Masterpost Directory and link to it on the proper day and location, so we can find you more easily!

• The Masterpost Directory is also where we'll be linking the Special NPC Guest Stars' threads, so make sure to keep checking back there for links to their threads!

~

THE POKÉPROM MASTERPOST DIRECTORY

THE ORIGINAL INFOPOST | QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES HOTLINE | DAY TWO: THE LOG | DAY THREE: THE LOG

Comments

[those_guys]

[With this many high-profile trainers from outside the region and the increased amount of Rocket presence over the last year within Johto, it logically follows that this event warrants having an eye kept on it; while there's no reason to doubt Clair's security, there are other things to be watched over as well - namely, ensuring that inter-region relations aren't damaged any by people making some sort of horrendous misstep in front of those high-profile trainers. That is, unfortunately, an area in which Clair can't exactly be trusted, given her complete inability to find a sense of tact and an indoor voice at the worst moments possible. There was also the issue of the sheer amount of foreigners she's invited - not from other regions, but those who just sort of...appear here, and...well.

All of this is more or less leading to the necessary position of Fun Police being created. And since this is the Elite Four's residence, it only makes sense for the head of the household to volunteer his...ah, services, in that regard.

At the start of the evening, a rather severe-looking man can be seen standing near Clair on that balcony, looking over the proceedings once they've started; he's dressed in a strangely military-inspired black suit with silver accents, a long cape draping from his epaulettes and a silver bit of insignia at his collar, indicating him as one of the Dragon Masters of Blackthorn City.

He won't be keeping his cousin company for very long, however; after a while, he turns and moves downstairs, cape sweeping after him in the most dramatic fashion he can muster.

It seems the Elite Four isn't as absent from this region as it may have appeared; Champion Lance has joined the quite literal party.

He won't be interfering unless something particularly egregious occurs (in other words, some sort of Rocket Incident, someone tries to break into the bedrooms upstairs, someone's harassing one of the non-Champion guests and/or people who aren't willing to Hyper Beam upstarts into the walls, or Clair opening her mouth and promptly inserting her foot); after all, he knows better than to upstage the guests, and it is their evening. As such, the grand over-the-top bombastic entrance that some may be expecting won't be coming tonight; however, that doesn't mean he definitely isn't present.

He'll be spending a fair amount of the evening in the indoor ballroom and outdoors at the garden party; if you've brought your Pokémon with you and have them out, it's incredibly likely that you'll catch him watching you. He doesn't seem suspicious (he'd be approaching if he were suspicious), but he does appear rather interested, if, again, a bit severe-looking; different clothing aside, he's rather easily recognized from those pictures upstairs.

He's receptive to being approached, of course, by PCs and NPCs alike; he's not nearly as standoffish or unsociable as he seems, he just really wants this to go well.]

[pokestars]

[So you know what's awkward, is the fact that these two Champions actually have inadvertently ended up matching tonight, with Cynthia in black and gold and Lance in black and silver. She's highly appreciative of his choice in capes, too, not so much for the cape itself but because she's personally familiar with the fun of having something sweeping along behind you for dramatic effect (which is one of the perks of wearing a fur-trimmed duster, or maintaining fabulously long hair), and clearly in that respect she and Lance are again two of a kind.

He really looks as though he needs to lighten up, though. For being one of the hosts of the party, he's sure doing a lot of super intense staring.

Fortunately, the outdoor garden party isn't just the place where she's managed to spot him; it's also the place where there is a casual atmosphere, good music, and a lot of really delicious food. So don't mind Cynthia just sort of casually loading up a plate with sweets and walking over to fairly shove them under Lance's nose.]

You look like you could use one of these.

[those_guys]

[As far as he's concerned, there's nothing awkward about it - if we're going to look dashing as hell, all the better if we coordinate. And let's be honest with ourselves, we are Champions and we deserve to look dashing as hell.

...Well, that and capes are fantastic and Clair said this had to be formal and apparently this means that his normal outfit is completely unacceptable for Arceus only knows what reason.

That said, however, he'll just kind of blink a bit at that plate before his expression settles, and while the look in his eyes is no less intense he smiles surprisingly easily.]

Not yet; we'll see by the end of the weekend.

[His demeanor remains easy, however; there's nothing truly pointed behind it.]

It's good that you could be here, Cynthia, I'm glad to see you.

[pokestars]

[Well obviously there is a difference between your everyday cape and your formal cape, you can't just mix and match. It's called having standards.

...Granted Cynthia's just slightly of the opinion that all this might be a little much when you take into consideration that the subset of "visiting high-profile dignitaries" could also just as accurately be defined as "visiting nerds who want to enthusiastically hurl academia all over the supposed bloober phenomenon". But it's clearly made Clair happy and it's not so bad, having the chance to see everyone like this.

She'll draw the plate back, though, and pop one of the strawberries into her mouth instead; no sense in letting them go to waste, and they do look delicious.]

I'm glad to be here; you wouldn't think it'd be so difficult to coordinate a trip between the regions, but it always seems like one thing or another comes up to get in the way. It's too bad. One of your guests was telling me about some of the local landmarks — now I want to go see them all for myself!

[those_guys]

[...oh, did somebody say landmarks because i think somebody said landmarks]

Well, I'm glad that they managed to sell the region to you! What caught your attention in particular?

[pokestars]

[Countdown to full throttle nerdiness in three...two...one...]

The Ruins of Alph! Is it true there are puzzles inside, left behind from a bygone civilization?

[Because that would just make her day, you know, if there were.]

Steven's kept me in the loop about some of his trips over here, but he's never mentioned that. The last I heard from him, he was busy planning to visit a digsite somewhere up in the mountains, instead.

[pipers_son]

[While Lance is keeping an eye on things outside, he'll likely hear the sound of approaching hooves. That sure is a positively radiant Rapidash cautiously but curiously coming near. Once she's close enough, she leans her head forward and sniffs lightly at him.]

[Champion that he is, Lance can probably tell that this is a wonderfully raised Rapidash who's taken care of well. Her flaming mane and tail emit enough heat to warm anyone near her, but not enough to harm, and her coat has been lovingly brushed. She holds herself well, too.]

[It's pretty obvious who her trainer is, because out in the crowd, Joker starts to pay closer attention the second he realizes she's taken an interest in someone. The Furret around his feet also perks his ears forward. They won't come over just yet, but he wants to make sure she stays alright.]

HOW - okay hi i'm sorry my notifs died mid-prom but I am here now

[those_guys]

[Lance is paying far more attention to the Pokémon than he is the trainer at first; he'll let her sniff at him before reaching out toward her - not establishing contact himself, but drawing up just short enough that she can close the rest of the distance between them, if she wants.

It's good to see one so well done-up, however, and he's going to glance toward the group nearby in order to establish exactly where she came from; he catches Joker's gaze and holds it for a moment before turning back to the Pokémon - likewise acknowledging, though not approaching.]

Prom murders yet another one. Investigators dumbfounded.

[pipers_son]

[The Rapidash inspects the hand a bit more, and it's only after apparently very careful thought that she places her nose beneath his palm in acceptance. That makes Joker break out into a wide grin. Ruby's one of his more timid ones, so it's nice to see her reaching out every once in a while. He'll let her have her moment for now, although he'll probably approach in the next few minutes.]

[islandshore]

[In the evening, Riku decides to take another break outside to wind down from a day of meetings and explorations. Thing is, he's kind of hard to miss with his little troupe of a Charizard, Nidoking, Scizor, Lucario, Serperior, and "Bloober", the latter of which seems to be sticking to the back of the Charizard's neck, much to his chagrin. Seriously, you try dealing with what amounts to a sticky slug stuck to your skin. It's nasty.

Of course, once Riku spots that distinct head of red hair, he freezes, eyes widening. After all, it's tough not to recognize Lance after having visited the trophy room. Riku had hoped that a member of the Elite Four would appear, and gasp. Here he is!

He mutters something to his Pokémon before slinking away from one of the food tables. This merits investigation. After all, if Riku's suspicions are correct, then this guy is basically a top dog among trainers. Maybe he could even learn a thing or two.

That Charizard's gonna be hovering close behind, though, if only to ensure that his trainer doesn't go overboard.

So uh, yeah. We have one tall, nineteen year old boy here. Hoo boy.]

So, uh. I hope I'm not prying or anything, but aren't you part of the Elite Four?

[Okay, so that was probably a stupid question. He's gotta be, right? Man, he probably looks like an idiot right about now.]

[those_guys]

[Oh, he's been keeping an eye on you, don't worry, what with the small menagerie you have going there. Again, he doesn't seem suspicious; interested, surely, but not off-put.

He likewise doesn't seem off-put by the approach; the intensity doesn't leave his eyes any, but it's a bit surprising, perhaps, how easily he smiles.]

I am indeed! Lance - current Champion of the Kanto and Johto regions.

And you are...?

[islandshore]

[A smile? Well, that's a relief. So relieving that Riku's posture loosens up a little... well, up until Lance mentions he's the Champion. It more or less confirms his suspicion, but geez. He's gonna have to watch how he handles this guy. Gym Leaders are one thing, Elite Four members another, but if what he's heard is true, then the Champion is the top dog.

Right, manners. He should probably say something.]

Name's Riku. I'm... well, I'm no champ, but I did open up a Training Center in Celadon a while back.

[But he won't dwell on that-- he's gotta show his respect here. Besides, there's so many more interesting things he could talk about.]

Truth is, I never thought I'd actually bump into one of you guys, but I was kind of hoping I would. I mean, you guys are pretty much the best of the best. I'm sure you've got all kinds of experience under your belt.

[those_guys]

Well, you're not wrong - after all, we started out as trainers, like the rest of you! Experience brings a lot of things with it, skill included.

[Hey, he is all for talking about Pokémon and training and...everything, really; his gaze flicks back to that Charizard, however.]

One of yours, I'm guessing...?

[...Another glance. That certainly is a Bloober.]

...Two of yours, perhaps.

[red_roses]

[Thanks to the wonderful world of Guertanna, Ib, unlike most children her age, has no problem feeling someone's presence watching her. She looks up from where she's been playing with her Pokemon.] H-Hello...?

[those_guys]

[...Ah. Right. Socializing with everybody is definitely a thing, Lance, don't just stand there like a creeper.]

Those are yours, I'm guessing?

[...The. Pokémon. Yes.

...he's used to dealing with accomplished trainers, not small cute children, give him a moment.]

[red_roses]

[Oh, he just wanted to know about her Pokemon.] Yes! That's Flower the Buneary, Lief the Chikorita, and Razzle the Eevee!

[those_guys]

[He'll relax almost immediately at that, actually; he's always been somewhat intrigued by the foreigners and their relationships with their Pokémon, in his own way.]

And how long have you had them with you?

[solas_ion]

What the hell are you starin' at, Pinky?

[Maybe, Lancer, he's looking at the shiny Swablu apparently nesting on your head. Or the Lucario politely standing next to you. Or even the informal disaster you're wearing.]

[And insulting hair color? Glass houses, Lancer.]

[those_guys]

[...Oh, really. Just. Let his gaze flick down to that...monstrosity you're wearing, good sir.]

An excellent question, actually!

[solas_ion]

Yeah, how 'bout you give an excellent answer? I don't have all night, you know.

[those_guys]

[You know, if he were anyone else he'd probably be pulling rank right now, and Clair's probably going to be rather annoyed with him for not doing that and just settling it immediately, but...really, it's been a while since he's been talked to like that, and it's sort of stupid but it's entertaining, so.]

And if I don't?

[enjoymyatelier]

[Well, Kayneth hasn't quite noticed this very important person yet, but Cezanne the Serperior certainly has; he's certainly enjoying the attention from someone who looks Very Important and uses a vine to adjust his fancy top hat and bow tie so as to look even more impressive.

...that's why you're staring at them, right

surely there couldn't be another reason

Kayneth notices his Serperior's mugging first, then the onlooker.]

...don't encourage him, he'll just ---

[oh, wait.

you're important.]

...ah.

[those_guys]

[Nice job, Kayneth - fortunately enough, Lance just kind of waves it off, because that was a ridiculously telling pause there.]

He's got something of a healthy ego, from the look of it - not that there's anything wrong with a bit of pride here and there!

[No harm, no foul. At least for the time being.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Oh, certainly not --- but I feel as though I have to at least make a token effort to keep things in line. He is quite stunning, if I do say so myself.

[Cezanne just kind of smirks more widely than usual because it's true.

he is the favorite.]

Anyway, it is an honor to meet you, sir.

[those_guys]

[God, the egos on both of you. Speaking of things that ought to be kept in line.

At least there's no harm in this...whatever it is that's going on, and he'd prefer this over you being a jerk to your Pokémon, but still...]

And...who might you be? Not to be rude, I'm just not familiar with all of Clair's...

[...captives?]

...guests.