Oscar nodded vigorously, more than willing to answer all of Priam's burning questions. However, before he had the chance Priam noted that this firework was the same as the one they let loose on slateport's beach. This gave Oscar pause, scratching his head as he observed their surroundings.

"The same as last time hm? I think--I think we're missing something important." Oscar looked to the trees, covered in thick flammable leaf coats. He observed the supple wood of their very vulnerable wooden trunks. He peered at the grass around them, dried from the colder weather. It all began to slowly click in his head--and then...

He lost it. His train of thought up and left the station, he was just so excited for this firework. Oscar waved his hand, "I'm sure if it were important I would remember it. Anyway let's see this explosion!" Oscar stood back as he waited for Plank to light the firework, having no objection to her performing the deed. A glimmer lit up his eyes, his excitement boiling over. This was gonna be swell.

Post: 2/15
priam conrad , peggie vela  

Even if Hideo couldn’t see the Drifblim waving to him, his two Pokemon did. His Ribombee reciprocated, waving a tiny arm as he once again reclaimed his hairy seat. His Hatterene simply nodded, her arm staying close to her charge.

Hideo didn’t know exactly what “abfab” meant, but he could guess that Andy was doing just fine - or didn’t think he needed any help. “At least you were able to stay safe,” Hideo added, “If they hurt you too, wouldn’t really be that good of a ‘rescue’, huh?” Wouldn’t hurt to make light of what happened; there were no lasting injuries out of it.

But he was somewhat confused when Andy tapped his elbow.  He had absolutely no idea what Andy had meant, assuming he’d just be guided out by hand, raising his own up to make that easier. It was only thanks to his Hatterene guiding his arm that he realized Andy wanted a more secure way of guiding him out.

Arms properly interlocked, Hideo would follow Andy out of the crowd, followed closely by his Hatterene. It wouldn’t take long for them to reach the booth. It was a modest setup - “Shoot the Psyducks” as the banner read, with a few rows of wooden psyducks scrolling along the back, red targets on their centers. It was manned by a festival worker and her Golduck.

“I’ve never shot a gun before...” Hideo mused aloud. Though calling that orange-tipped BB Rifle a gun would be generous. “You wanna go first, Andy? Maybe we can see who can get more targets!”

“I can't believe you're extorting money out of bad publicity, Mr. FERNANDO SILPH.”

There is a chuckle, a display of affectionate humor but she really isn't buying it. It has all been a fun show but Vanessa won't match his price because it is simply not worth it. How narcissistic can a person get if he thinks he can ask people to pay for his way out of shame.

But of course, some people will buy it.

And she's starting to think it's not just because the titles he put at stake matters that much. What, with all the people here already having established positions on their own. At least for Vanessa, these titles don't matter that much.

“A'ight. I'll be watching. I'm not saying I'm betting on it. I just like to see you try and fail again, Mister.”

Vanessa goads with a playful wink, her arms folding in-front of her. She is about to approach angelo vestri and ask if he is really buying any of this, but when his eyes trail to a pair of blue orbs on whose face looks familiar (skyler dross), the redhead is beginning to realize how Hoenn is really a small community after all.

He retrieves his rotom phone and messages an untouched number. Maybe it's really time to get away.

To skyler dross:

wazzup yo!

What a fun idea to mess 'em up a little bit.

TL;DR: Valerio arrives as the "new Vanessa."
Challenges FERNANDO SILPH to another round, not "betting" on it. (LOL)
Seeing how angelo vestri looks at skyler dross, there is something Vanessa wants to confirm. Contemplating on getting away. Messages skyler dross.

EVENT: VITAL SPIRIT FESTIVAL - #04
angelo vestri FERNANDO SILPH skyler dross

Lex sharply exhaled while narrowing her eyes. What if she wanted to deflect? But he was right, it was awfully vague. Lex didn’t even know what she meant except ‘somewhere other than a large public outing’. Still, they chose to come. There was some comfort in being here together rather than alone. Lex always considered herself stronger with Killian Decker than without; It was a lesson she learned the very hard way. After a sigh, Lex looked up apologetically, “It’s nothing, I just had a weird feeling for a second there,” It wasn’t a weird feeling though, it was one she was deeply familiar with.

”Ehem,” a deep voice interrupted. Lex turned towards a gruff stall merchant with Nova at his side, “Is this yours?” he looked upset while motioning to the rather smug looking redheaded child, “I caught her trying to steal some fireworks,” Lex cracked a smile, motioning Nova back to her. Like mother like daughter . . . except her real daughter would never get caught, “Sorry about that, she’s been very naughty tonight,” she grinned, glancing down at the child hugging her legs.

notes: Post #6

"A baseline?" Glinting eyes are narrowed in suspicious disbelief as kyle lopez comes back from his attempt at the strongarm game. As far as Skyler's aware, it's the closest anyone has ever gotten to hitting the bell. It calls out to her competitive nature, her hissed exclamation followed by a sharpened grin. "You've gotta be kidding me, boss."

The lackadaisical manner in which he speaks only makes it worse.

Her shoulders are abruptly set back in a picture of determination, pride biting at her heels and demanding to be heard and acted upon. Unfortunately for the ship captain, common sense has never been one of her closest companions.

Before she can stomp to where the strongman game is, a familiar buzzing catches her attention. Hand digging into her pocket, Skyler brings out a phone that looks as if it has seen better days, its screen so cracked it's barely legible. The captain seems to have no problem reading the messages, however, a wide smile brightening up her features as she looks down at the phone.

To Celeste Abbiati :
CELLY! UR HERE!
im at the games
come join me!
To Valerio Dachev :
UNCLE!!!
up for a challenge?
got tequla ;)
Even as her attention drifts away from a certain blue-eyed courier, she can feel the lingering weight of his gaze brushing over her exposed skin like a physical, tangible force. Warmth that has nothing to do with the pleasant burn of alcohol curls within her, a low simmering tension that she's all too familiar with.

Mischievous ocean eyes tempt her to close the distance between the two of them, but the captain stands her ground - refusing to give even an inch, too caught up in the challenge brought forth by the edge of a smirk. 

Basking in it.

Awareness clings to her as she approaches the strongarm game to give it a go. If her loosened yukata slips a little further from strong, scarred shoulders, she doesn't appear to notice - at least at first. The image of unselfconscious temptation is soon ruined by a knowing smirk, molten silver glinting at angelo vestri briefly.

The captain can't help but catch the tail end of a deal spilling from angelo vestri 's lips. Quirking an eyebrow, she gives FERNANDO SILPH a curious glance, trying to place his face but ultimately failing to. The captain's always had a disregard for politics, nearly bordering on disrespect. 

Hopefully she wouldn't be too distracted by a certain presence at her back.

xmBYHLi4

@vital SPIRIT FESTIVAL

Hideo grinned, catching onto that pun immediately. “Go get’em, Decidueye!”

He stood nearby, listening to Andy’s attempt and occasionally cheering him on. Honestly, he expected a gun to be louder than that. But maybe this was a special quieter gun that they use at these kinds of festivals. He probably would’ve been asking for a quieter gun if he heard a real one fired this close, but for the moment, he was slightly disappointed.

Not to mention all he heard were little *dings* when he assumed Andy hit a target. Probably wasn’t even that strong of a gun either. Oh well; if this was gonna be the first gun he got to shoot, he’d take it.

In a little while, he heard the music playing for the game stop. He couldn’t tell how many shots Andy managed land, but Hideo clapped for him regardless. And judging by what the festival worker said, he’d done pretty alright.

But now it was Hideo’s turn to use it. And boy was he excited; he was almost vibrating from anticipation.

Though approaching with shut eyes wasn’t the best choice. “May want to open your eyes for this, kid.”

“Oh, right.” Not as if that would actually help him, but it would at least throw off the festival worker for now. He was pretty certain if she did find out he was blind, she wouldn’t let him use it.

He opened his eyes, staring straight forward. His green eyes were unmoving, unwavering; couldn’t really do much with them if he couldn’t focus on anything.

The worker looked him over for a moment, before shrugging it off. “Alright, same deal for you; at the bell you can start shooting. Give it a pump before each shot to charge the rifle with a little air. There's twenty targets. When you hear the buzzer, time's up. Got it?”

Hideo nodded. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, failing to notice the weapon was presented for him to take. It took his Hatterene pushing his arm forward for him to finally go for it, earning another concerned glance from the worker.

He picked it up, noting that it was a little heavier than he expected. But he didn’t have the time to get a good feel for it; the music started up once again. He hastily raised it up to be perpendicular to his body, squarely against his chest. “You’ll do better if you hold it to your shoulder,” the worker mentioned.

Hideo nodded, raising the butt up to his shoulder. He didn’t know where the target was - so he just pumped the rifle and took a shot ahead. No ding - a clean miss on that slow-as-a-crawl wooden psyduck.

But even then, he actually kind of liked it. He’d never felt recoil like that before, little as it was. It brought a wide smile to his face, combined with a giggle. He aimed the gun forward once again, pumping it and taking another shot.

*ding*

His smile was now showing some teeth. “I got it!” he proclaimed, his giggling exploding into pure laughter. He hadn’t had this much fun in a while.

And he had more shots to get through - 18 shots left, if he recalled. He lifted the rifle back up, aiming it towards the side this time. He pumped it again, pulled the trigger, and-

*ding*

He struck another target that had slowly been making its way across the back by sheer coincidence. “Two for two!” he exclaimed, his jubilation only growing in intensity. He pumped again, took aim at a random direction forward, and pulled the trigger again.

*ding*

Another hit! Hideo was riding this high, aiming and pumping and firing as his leisure - and every shot followed by the *ding* of another Psyduck he hit. He aimed at nothing in particular, yet it was as if the wooden stands moved at just the right time for his shots to hit.

To the naked eye, he’d just seem like a crack shot. Even his Pokemon were surprised: his Hatterene was looking down at him, staring right at his eyes as she was trying to assess if he really was blind or had just been faking it the whole time. His Ribombee, meanwhile, just cheered on from the top of his head, intensifying with each shot.

And at no point did he accidentally aim it too far to the sides, never putting the worker and her Golduck at risk. All out of sheer luck.

But it couldn’t last forever; he reached his 20th shot before he knew it, and it hit squarely on target.

*ding*

With that, the music stopped. “You got some real good beginner’s luck there, kid,” the worker said, “19 out of 20 on your first is pretty impressive. Just hand it over real quick and I can give you your prize.”

Hideo was still too into his giggling fit to hand it over. It was up to his Hatterene to pull it out of his hands and give it back to her. She also had to be the one to take the prize the Golduck had taken out for them; a small stuffed Golduck.

Reward successfully obtained, the Hatterene handed the stuff toy to the boy. She patted Hideo on the back, prompting him to turn back towards Andy, his green eyes still wide open and unfocused. “Didn’t think I’d be that good of a shot!” he exclaimed, he cheeks reddened from all that laughter.