BOTH FACTIONS EXPLORE THE ULTRA WILDS to seize these alien domains for themselves. They must amass resources, grow their territory, and strangle the the others' influence in order to assist the war on Hoenn's mainland. As the alien earth is tilled, excavated, and repurposed, trainers find themselves encountering all kinds of artifacts... and foes.
SYNOPSIS: the hoenn league has successfully diverted the 99943 meteno meteroid into an alternate universe. consequently, the region has experienced a violent planeshifting, a bombardment of terastal crystals, and now sports various rifts to realms in the ultra wilds. as megalopolan activity begins to rise, trainers who embark in expeditions to these realms uncover secrets behind the condition of the multiverse. meanwhile, team rocket and the league amass resources to aid in their conflict against each other. the crime syndicate is poised to take more of the region territorially, while the league ponders a direct offense. legendary pokemon roam the region as potential benefactors or ruinous omens, leaving many to ponder how the hoenn region will ultimately be responsible for the end of all worlds.
"sure. i'll show you how it's done."[break][break]
big talk coming from a man who's ridden a mechanical tauros maybe once or twice in his life. but his confidence (arrogance) is unrivaled.[break][break]
with proper instructions from the staff, matias hops on and waits for the music to start.[break][break]
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
Elinor felt a quiet sense of happiness that her offer was accepted. It allowed her a moment not only to mentally prepare herself but also to see if she could deduce some manner of staying upon the Mechanical bull-Pokémon. [break][break] “Wooo! Let’s go!” She cheered upon Matias as the machine began to do its job, or at least do what it could to throw him off. And as she watched, the rational part of her drunk mind began to wonder if riding that thing was a good idea. [break][break] However, needless to say, rationality and logic are far weaker than drunken excitement as she would continue to cheer him on for as long as he would be able to stay up on the machine.
after rolling a mere 29, matias doesn't stay on the mechanical tauros for very long.[break][break]
after twenty-nine seconds, he's whipped off the ride to come crashing down into the bouncy platform. maybe the alcohol's affected him greatly. or maybe he's just utter shit at this.[break][break]
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
Elinor didn’t keep tabs on how long Matias stayed upon the mechanical Tauros. To her alcohol inhibited mind, the time stretched on so that the mere twenty-nine seconds felt a lot longer. [break][break] Her eyes shot open, startled by the sudden crashing of the man. She was worried for all of one second, but then she saw the bouncy platform had saved him. [break][break] It didn’t take long for him to leave the Tauros to her. With a curse and an okay, he handed her the scene. Which she took, nodding in the process. She made her way over there, wobbling a bit on the bouncy floor before she climbed atop the Tauros. And then as it began to do its thing she happily exclaimed. “This isn’t so bad!” And immediately as she said that, the Tauros began to buck and twirl as much as it could. All she could do was latch on and hope she would stay upon the machine. [break][break]
because that was what he thought as well — this is easy, i can do this. nope. man was wrong.[break][break]
well, technically, he did do all twenty-nine seconds of it.[break][break]
"GO go GO!"[break][break]
elinor does better, however, because when he glances up at the timer on the screen, she's almost doubled his score. almost because he's bad at math.[break][break]
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
It began nice and easy. The machine spun around a bit, then went up and down trying to mimic bucking. And then just as she became confident whoever controlled the dial, just notched it up to eleven. Round and run it went, it even mimicked trying to kick something with its hind legs. Had she not been caught up on the back of the terrible machine, she might’ve thought back to that funny video she saw of a Marrowak getting kicked and headbutted between a group of Tauros. [break][break]
[break][break] Alas, she was too caught on trying to hold on that she couldn’t think back to such pleasant wasted seconds. By the thirty-second mark, she could feel how her fingers were growing slippery, and her thighs were growing tired. She definitely wasn’t accustomed to riding, and the alcohol didn’t help her one bit. Though she couldn’t claim she wasn’t enjoying it as she smiled and laughed as Matias cheered her on. [break][break] But by the thirty-ninth second, she could hold it no longer. A small struggle, and as soon as the clock reached forty, she flew off. She didn’t stay air-born for long, gravity took hold and she landed with a heavy thud with her back against the padded floor around the machine. “Phew!” Her breath was heavy, her body hot and starting to sweat. She got up, looked at Mathias, and with the biggest grin on her lips she exclaimed. “THAT WAS FUN!” She made her way over to Mathias. Wondering if he wanted another go or had something else in mind.
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
Fun was had. Elinor’s heart pumped quickly as she looked around trying to spot what next activity Matias would convince her to do. Though before she even guessed what it could be, Matias pointed toward the next activity. [break][break] “Yes!” She replied as she went over there. Though by then she had enough time to remember that she didn’t know the rules. “So, how do you play Beer Pong?” She looked towards Matias, though she did not even know the rules, it was clear she was excited nonetheless.
no judgement comes from matias. beer pong seems to be a college-centric activity. not like matias went to college, but still. he did have frat boy vibes for a while, though. just ask sagira mosse and KING WAYLAND.[break][break]
"basically, throw this ball into my cup and i have to drink. if you bounce it on the table and it goes in, that's two cups i have to drink. but i can slap the ball away if you bounce it."[break][break]
he offers her the ping pong ball before stepping over to his side of the table. before them are red cups with cold beer in them, ready for them to chug.[break][break]
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
The rules seemed simple enough. Well, they had to be since the game was mostly played drunk. She nodded and humbly accepted the ping pong ball. She then stepped onto her side of the table and took stock of the situation. [break][break] When Matias proclaimed himself ready she would raise her hand and try to measure her throw. She wasn’t about to go for a bounce as her first shot, instead, she’d go for a simple shot directly at his cup. The bounces would come later, first, she had to get him drunk, well drunker than he was right now.
her first shot finds one of his cups and for a brief moment, he can't help but wonder if she's played before. no one's that good on their first throw. but maybe she's just lucky.[break][break]
he scoops the ball out of the cup, downs the beer, then tosses the ball right into one of hers as well.
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
By some stroke of sheer luck, she hit on her first throw, straight into the cup it went. She squealed in excitement. Not because it was some big feat, but just because she was happy and this was fun and everything seemed so uncontainable right now. [break][break] Little did she realize that Matias probably assumed she had lied about not having played before, and immediately took off the kiddie gloves and threw one straight into one of her cups. “Nicely shot!” She said, scooping the ball out and downing the beer afterward with some modicum of effort. [break][break] The game had officially begun. She measured her throw once more, trying to aim for a cup before letting the ball fly. This time she accidentally added just a bit more power at the end, and as it flew she hoped it hadn’t been too much, but only time would tell.
her second shot is just a little off the mark. still, not bad for someone's supposed second shot ever in beer pong.[break][break]
"oof! you were close!"[break][break]
getting cocky, matias decides to bounce it this time. he makes no attempt to try and hide it as well, leaving it open for her to try and smack it out the way if she wants.
Control is an illusion to ease the pain that is life.
[attr="class","complanet-post"]
“Damn, so close.” She stated just as Matias made his comment. She promised herself, that the next one would land come hell or high water. [break][break] But maybe it would work in her favor. She noticed Matias seemed to get cocky, or maybe he always was it was kind of hard to tell in her state. Either way, he tried to do a bounce and she tried to smack it away. Unfortunately, she failed, her hand just barely gracing by the ball as it went into her cup. [break][break] And so she knew what was to come. “It was two cups, right?” Well, before Matias could even reply she had scooped out the ball and was halfway through the first cup, though it wasn’t going down as easily as she had thought. The second cup was even more difficult, but she reached the bottom, and in doing so she felt a full sensation in her stomach, she wondered if there was even space for another cup. But the game had to go on. [break][break] She measured her throw once more, this time trying to sneakily, or at least as sneakily as her drunken self could, bounce it on the table before going into the cup.
it's ridiculous to try and go an entire game of beer pong without burping. so far, matias has been able to keep his burps in. but as he watches her bounce the ball, he misses his slap entirely, resulting in two drinks needing to be downed.[break][break]
"why..."[break][break]
alright, then. he picks up both cups, chugs one, then the other, and belches.[break][break]
