the_plateau | WINTER SOLSTICE FESTIVAL

It’s that time of year again!

The snow is falling thick and the stores are full of-- well, okay, they’ve been full of holiday decorations since before November, let’s be real.

But the Solstice Festival (and all that entails) is coming up, so as the days pass and Goldenrod City’s holiday market comes together, that buzz of wintery cheer has just been growing and growing.

Goldenrod isn’t the only city getting in on the fun, either-- every town will be seeing an increase in commerce and festivities. Blackthorn in particular is pulling out all the stops (maybe Clair is trying to horn in on Whitney’s holiday success a little bit…) and hosting its own solstice festival up in the alps for all the skiing, hot cider drinking, and northern-light-watching you could ever want (transportation provided!).

BUT WAIT... there sure are a lot of plump little red and white birds scurrying around…

Oh? What’s that they’re holding?

A letter?

For YOU??

SECRET SOLSTICE SANTA

WHAT: Large swarms of Delibird will be appearing across both regions, ESPECIALLY homing in on anywhere that there seem to be festivities afoot! Each and every one is holding a big white box with a lid and a red bow on top and a little pad of paper.
Unlike most swarms though, these little guys are on a mission. That mission is to find a willing trainer, get their signature, and deliver the box… which contains a note bearing the name of another person, and a promise that whatever is placed in the box on Christmas Eve will be whisked away and delivered to that person in time for sunrise on Christmas morning!
In return, your character will also receive a gift from a mystery sender!

WHEN: The Delibird will be appearing starting on December 21st, and will remain until it’s time to deliver the gifts on Christmas Eve!

HOW: If you want your character to participate, simply sign up below! On the 21st, we will shuffle the names of all participating characters and tell you in a screened comment who your character will be gifting.
We will also put up a special post on the same day with automatically-screened comments, to which you can reply at any point with the gifts your character will be filling the box with!
On the 25th, we will unscreen all the comments to reveal the mystery gifts!

MORE INFORMATION:

DO I HAVE TO PARTICIPATE?

No, and in fact, if you feel you will not be able to commit to coming up with gifts for this event, it would definitely not be a good idea to sign up! Like most events in Victory Road, this is optional-- but more importantly, relies on each participant to hold up their end in order for everybody involved to have fun!

WHAT IF I WANT TO PARTICIPATE BUT MY CHARACTER WOULDN’T?

These Delibird are intense, man. If your character would try to ignore them, you may absolutely assume that they now have a rotund little elf-on-the-shelf bird stalking them and desperately trying to make eye contact while waving a pen until your character finally gives in.

HOW WILL MY CHARACTER KNOW WHAT TO GIVE THEIR PERSON IF THEY’VE NEVER MET?

That’s the tough part of Secret Santa events, isn’t it?
Fortunately, they have some help! Until Christmas Eve itself, the Delibird assigned to them will stick around to aid with the gift-picking process! Of course, what qualifies as “help” depends on the individual Pokemon… it could mean tugging on their sleeve and pointing as they pass shop windows, or it could mean grabbing their PokeGear and scrolling through all of the giftee’s past network posts with them for ideas while nodding thoughtfully and stroking its beak.
Being Santa’s helpers, there’s no better spy than a Delibird. They’ll be able to scrounge up some festive dirt on your character’s giftee!

... THAT SOUNDS SO ANNOYING.

CAN MY CHARACTER CATCH THEIR DELIBIRD?

No, sorry! Even though the Delibird is tagging along with them for a few days, they will not allow themselves to be caught. Any Pokeballs thrown at them will be deftly snatched and stuffed into their tail-sack, and your character will get a reproachful glare for their troubles.
HOWEVER, if (and only if, they have standards after all) your character was very nice to them, they might return after making their delivery and decide to join your character’s team permanently!

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE DELIBIRD?

We’re glad you asked! Should your character play nice and choose to keep their Delibird after the fact, said Delibird will have EITHER its Hidden Ability OR two Egg Moves.
Also among the swarm, ONE lucky trainer (or breeder, or Rocket) will get paired up with a Delibird who is shiny!

HOW BIG IS THE BOX?

About two by two by two feet.

HOW MANY THINGS CAN BE PUT INSIDE?

As many as can realistically fit! Weight will not be taken into consideration because these Delibird are determined. Your character could fill one up with hammers if they really hated the name they drew.

WHAT IF MY CHARACTER’S SECRET SANTA DOESN’T COME THROUGH?

We’ll make sure that no one comes out of this event empty-handed! But of course we hope that everyone who signs up will participate!

I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS!

Ask them here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OH I actually have one that's sort of tied to the festivities in Blackthorn! Would it be alright to assume they'd keep some of the fun stuff up to the end of the month?

~~Totally not because this nerd has his birthday on the 30th shhhh~~

WHAT THE HECK, why not!

It's safe to assume everybody will be in the festive mood right up till New Year's when it comes to general fun being around.