Lucy continued to whimper behind Audric's leg as the pair of men spoke, clearly still affected by her recent trauma with the brain freeze. "Oh, that must have been it," Audric smiles as he reaches into his pocket for his wallet. "Sounds like you got quite the promotion, though. Do you enjoy your current job?" He asks.

Sparing a moment to turn to the balloon vendor just off to the side of him, however, Audric hands a bill over before choosing a CLODSIRE BALLON. When he looks down to see if his Cufant noticed, however, he finds that she has not. Her face remains buried in his leg.

Not one to come off as rude, Audric returns his attention to Paxton for the time being and nods. "Yeah. I've been with the VERDANTURF station for a couple of years. Mostly doing field work and patrols for months at a time. Probably why you didn't see me much."

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Buy a Balloon Pokemon

[break][break]

STARFRUIT SASHAY + 🍁
paxton concordas

☉

The FUNTASIA FESTIVAL at MOSSDEEP CITY was said to have fantastic food vendors compared to the other venues. And, now, Audric and LUCY the CUFANT could attest to that. They'd stuffed themselves to the brim with fried bananas, funnel cakes, chocolate-filled beignets, corn dogs, and more. So much so that neither of them had the willpower to even take a single kernel from the bag of popcorn the black-haired ranger held.

"Ugh... why did we eat so much..." Audric groans, placing a hand on his stomach as they walk into the area consisting of the JOYLAND POP-UP SOUVENIR BOOTHS. His Cufant returns the sentiment with a small little groan of her own as her trunk rubs and pats its side.

They couldn't stand the sight of food much longer, so they decided to visit the vendors instead and perhaps distract themselves with a bit of shopping. When Lucy bowed her head to release another bloated groan, however, she would suddenly find herself bumping into someone. The Cufant would immediately retreat and hide behind her trainer's leg when she did so.

"Oop. Sorry about that." Audric apologizes with a slight bow. "Are you okay?"

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Visit the Joyland Pop-up souvenir booths

[break][break]

MUKBANG MARVELS + 🍁
Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

☉

Audric had heard whispers of the terrifying SPACE-TIME DISTORTIONS that descended upon the region of HOENN like a blight. But he had never had the chance to pursue and experience one until now. It just so happened that he'd been shopping in SLATEPORT CITY for RANGER supplies when the report had come in.

Stuffing a pack full of emergency gear, the HOLONITE mounts his AERODACTYL and takes flight as quickly as he can. Then, within minutes, he finds himself crossing the stormy barrier between his reality and, well... something else. The chaotic sight of it takes his breath away.

Moving forward, however, he doesn't consider himself crazy enough to chase down any of the ancient Pokémon below like some of his compatriots had. Instead, Audric performs most of his observations at a safe distance. The one time he finds a ruin without any sort of threat dwelling inside it, he is careful to perch his Aerodactyl at a pillar nearby before dismounting and climbing down an adjacent ruin.

VARAXYS keeps a dutiful watch as his trainer unearths a slab. Embedded within that slab, Audric finds a strange YELLOW SHARD. But the sound he causes when he pries it off with a small pickaxe attracts the attention of something nasty. So, like Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom, they escape post-haste.

DISCOVERED X1 YELLOW SHARD!

[break][break]

SPACE-TIME DISTORTION 15 + 🍁

☉

Audric recovers from the zap fairly quickly, given the fact that it wasn't his first rodeo in that department. His tiny Joltik has since retreated under the cover of his shirt collar. The ranger takes note of this before his attention is drawn to the giggling Togepi in the girl's arms.

He is happy to have cheered up a DISTRESSED cutie such as that, of course. But the fact that the cute pink-haired lass had seen the whole thing as well dampened that mood with a blanket of sheer blush-inducing embarrassment. "Haha... feeling better now?" He smiles.

The carnival attendant, in the meantime, patiently waits for the messy-haired ranger to select his prize. Thankfully, it isn't too long before Audric realizes this. "Oh! R-Right. Hey... you guys were hoping to win that one, right?" He asks of luka chêne and her Togepi, pointing at the large Togepi plushie above.

Hopefully that, in itself, would cheer up the once distressed Togepi in her hands even further.

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Cheer up a distressed kid

[break][break]

SHARPSHOOTERS + MISSION
luka chêne 🍁

☉

Thankfully, it wasn't too long before Lucy started calming down again. The brain freeze was slowly fading away now and, instead of running around in circles trying to wish it away, she instead 'hid' behind Audric and wrapped her trunk around his leg. A carnival attendant comes to deal with them at that moment, but he assures them that they won't be TROUBLESOME customers any longer.

After some sincere beg-pardons to the surrounding crowd, and repeated assurances that everything was okay now, the young ranger turns to regard paxton concordas with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that. That was Luce's first snow cone annnd... I guess I should have warned her not to eat it all in one gulp first." He chuckles as she hides further behind his leg. "Hey... you're paxton concordas right? Didn't you use to be a ranger?"

He could have sworn he'd seen his picture somewhere, but he couldn't exactly remember where or when.

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Be a troublesome customer

[break][break]

STARFRUIT SASHAY + 🍁
paxton concordas

☉

He had successfully hit his mark on his first try, but that wasn't enough. He needed to have Lady Luck on his side as well as the next contestant stepped up with a ball in hand. And, unfortunately, Lady Luck failed to receive the memo.

After being dunked the previous day, however, Audric made sure to return the next and try again. He wound up the ball this time, lifted his leg, and cast it like a corkscrew. But, of course, he would miss.

DUNK TANK + 🍁

☉

Audric prided himself on being able to throw a ball well. Despite his origins in HOLON, where most people would rather read a book than exercise, he had always endeavored to maintain an athletic lifestyle. He found it kept his mind clear.

But, apparently, there was something about this DUNK TANK game that was infuriating its players. A streak of bad luck had run rampant here. Determined to see whether he would fall victim to it as well, Audric casts his ball at the target and preemptively apologies to the person on the 'throne'.

DUNK TANK + 🍁

☉

Audric had spent most of his summer working. This meant he hadn't had a lot of time to enjoy it properly. Or, at least, enjoy it the same way a lot of Hoennians were currently enjoying it.

Nevertheless, he had finally reached the point where he could take an entire week off for himself. This meant cramming as many activities and visits to the carnival as he possibly could. And today was particularly hot, so he decided to go to the beach and take a dive.

DISCOVERED X1 LEVEL TUTOR!

CLAMPERL DIVING + 🍁

☉

The shaved ice vendor near the entrance of the DEWFORD TOWN carnival venue immediately captured the attention of RANGER Audric Black and his CUFANT, LUCY. Scents of starfruit, a sweet delicacy native to the island community, were the culprit. After ordering a starfruit-flavored cone for himself and his Cufant, who held it as easily as any human toddler would with the end of her trunk, Audric found an empty bench nearby and took a seat.

He was the first to taste their icy treat. Lucy looked up at him with an expectant smile in her eyes as he took a nibble. When the verdict came in with the sound of a delicious hum, however, she immediately shoved the whole cone into her mouth. "Mmmm.... mm? Wait, Lucy, no!" He exclaims, accidentally dropping his own cone as he holds out his hand in a weak attempt to try and stop her.

But it's too late.

Though Lucy savors the sweet taste for a moment, eventually the brain freeze grips her from within. She cries out with a cow-like, panicked moo as she runs around, gripping her own forehead with her trunk. Even as Audric tries to calm her, however, she manages to accidentally bump into a few people in the crowd.

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Eat a carnival treat

[break][break]

STARFRUIT SASHAY + 🍁
paxton concordas

☉

Just because the HOLONITE could explain how a lot of the literal smoke and mirrors in this place worked, it didn't mean he was able to navigate them any easier. The HOUSE OF MIRRORS had always served to confound him. Rather than traumatize him, however, Audric had always found it to be a welcome challenge.

Despite the lack of prizes for clearing it, getting LOST in this place was somewhat exciting. At least until the tiny JOLTIK on his shoulder decided to jump off and explore on its own. "Tch. C'mere, MICHI. Stay on me, okay?" He gently scolds the spider, reaching out to grab it... before his hand finds nothing but the cold flat surface of a mirror.

"... Wait."

He turns and finds the Joltik again. When he reaches out to grab it, however... another mirror. Seeing this, the Joltik decides to bounce off the glass and try to regroup with its trainer on its own terms. But it, too, finds itself landing on another mirror. "Wait, stop moving! You're only making this more confusing!"

Whoever finds him now might think he's talking to himself and spinning in circles for no reason.

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Get lost in the house of mirrors

[break][break]

REFLECTION ROUNDABOUT + 🍁
OPEN

☉

Woah... this girl was pretty bad at the game.

Audric had been patiently waiting his turn as he witnessed her many attempts. Even MICHI the JOLTIK had crawled out from his pen pocket to marvel at the scene upon his shoulder. They shared a look with the carnival attendant as the pink-haired last prepared her last shot.

It wasn't until said lass turned to console her crying TOGEPI, however, that Audric found himself absolutely dumbstruck at the sight of her angelic face. He figured she'd be cute, of course. She certainly had the voice for it. But her expression and motherly attempts at soothing her baby inspired something within the Holonite.

He steps forward and slams a token ticket down on the game counter.

"10 TRIES, PLEASE."

What comes next is a series of attempts nearly as bad as that of the girl he hoped to impress. It takes him twice as many tries as he had intended, but eventually, the RANGER shoots down enough smug TEAM ROCKET member targets with his water gun to meet his goal. The buzzer of congratulations that erupts afterward as a result startles the Joltik on his shoulder enough to accidentally zap him so that he drops the toy gun.

"Yeow!"

✨ PROMPT CLEARED!

✔️ Win at least one carnival game

[break][break]

SHARPSHOOTERS + MISSION
luka chêne 🍁

☉