the_plateau | It's the season of GIFTS GIFTS GIFTS

With Christmas scooting ever closer, it's time to start thinking about the real reason for the season and that is gifts. Yes, yes, joy to all, peace on earth etc etc, but deep down what we all want to do is tear some wrapping paper off boxes and be dazzled by the contents.

In order to keep things a bit organised, we'll be putting this up as a central gift-giving post, and it will feature three things.

★★ Arceus' gift

As many of you long term players might already know, Arceus tends to drop a few gifts on the people he has brought here on Christmas day. And this year is no different! These gifts will be revealed on December the 25th, so please check back then to see what your character will be receiving. And yes, these gifts will go out to all. Arceus doesn't judge. Maybe he should, but he doesn't.

★★ Secret Santa

Though these gifts won't officially be delivered until the 25th, this post will also feature a thread where you can post up the gifts your character has gotten their Secret Santa recipient. Feel free to start posting these up as soon as this post goes up (we are not going to make you wait)

★★ Your gifts

And finally, your gifts! If your character is the kind to get their friends a bunch of things, feel free to use this post to distribute the offerings. Much easier than hitting up a bunch of inboxes! If you would rather distribute your characters' gifts individually in various inboxes, feel free to do so! This post is merely an option for people who'd like to keep things in one central location.

Now with that all out of the way, let us take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or, at the very least, a nicely adequate Thursday if you don't celebrate). 2020 has been Quite the year, and I don't think any of us could've predicted it turning out this way. (Turns out none of us had 20-20 vision). But we've made it through and while the times are still somewhat uncertain and unforeseen, we nevertheless hope it will all be looking up from here on out for all of us.

We want to thank you all for being such lovely players and for having contributed to the game as you did! Thank you for ruining baseball, for coming to Sinnoh with us, for Prom being Prom yet again, for submitting so many badge requests and for slipping in every app that you did.

And onwards to 2021, another year for pokemon shenanigans and nonsense!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Even Arceus itself is getting into the spirit of things and joining in on the gift-giving.

On Christmas morning, your character will find one of the following three packs¹ (the choice is up to you) in an impossible to miss location -- if they have a Christmas tree, it will be underneath there; if they don't, expect to find it sitting next to your character when they wake or at the foot of their bed.

Breeder pack

Comes inside a Silph Co egg case.

This state-of-the-art capsule will protect your Pokémon egg while it incubates. The glass sides of the case give a perfect view of the egg inside, while a special notch in the top allows you to always have a Pokéball on hand for when your new little friend hatches.

As a special feature, this egg case will prevent an egg from hatching while it is inside, instead giving trainers a warning beep. No more worrying about your new Onix hatching while you are in the shops! When the time comes, you'll have all the time you need to get the egg to a safe and secure location for it to hatch.

Note: this egg case does not speed up the hatching process in any form. It simply provides a safe and secure place for the egg to be in.

Inside the Egg Case, characters will find

★ One Pokémon Egg that will hatch into a shiny Pokémon of your choice.
★ An extremely soft baby blanket
★ A few toys for your new darling
★ A book on Pokémon nutrition and preparing healthy meals for your new Pokémon

Battle Pack

Comes inside an official Pokémon League gym bag.

This sturdy and stylish gym bag has been advertised as the only bag capable of taking your gym experience to the next level.

This lightweight bag comes with a set of adjustable compartments, allowing each trainer to customise it to fit their needs. No more turning your bag upside down to find that one soda or nearly ruining your win chances by using a regular potion instead of that super potion you were searching for. This gym bag allows each trainer to keep their gym equipment, whether it is potions and revives or battle items, in easy to access and impossible to mix up compartments.

In addition to this, the bag features a special cooled case to keep berries in, as well as a case for all your TMs and HMs.

Inside the gym bag, characters will find

★ One reusable TM² of your choice
★ One single use TM of your choice
★ One ability candy
★ A set of Revives, Hyper potions and Full Restores. (five each)
★ A book on Pokémon battle strategies, designed at helping you take your battling to the next level.

The Traveller Pack

Comes inside a Pokémon Ranger endorsed backpack

Water-proof, wind-proof, heat-proof -- this lightweight, sturdy backpack is exactly what you need to keep your belongings safe and secure while travelling the roads of Johto and Kanto. With more pockets than you can shake a fist at, each bag also comes with a small chip that can be activated and linked to your gear, ensuring you'll never be able to lose it ever again.

Inside the backpack, characters will find

★ One Silph Co, prototype Master Ball, which is guaranteed to catch any non-legendary Pokémon you come across. No more hours of searching for that one rare Pokémon only to see it break free, with this Pokéball, any Pokémon you see will be yours.
★ A transit card granting the owner a 50% discount on all forms of travel -- train, ferry, UBIRD; if you have to pay for it, it's discounted now
★ A set of escape ropes (5x) to get you out of any sticky situations
★ A Silph Co dowsing machine, to help you find those hidden items out on the wide open road.
★ A guidebook listing all the best travel secrets of Johto and Kanto. Finding the best places to eat and sleep will never be a problem again to your character.

¹ - The egg cases, backpacks and gym bag all come in different colours, so feel free to pick whatever colour you want for your characters.
² - Any TM or TR from any generation can be chosen. A full list of TM/TRs can be found here.

★★★

In addition to these gifts from Arceus, every individual who helped Santa prevent Team Rocket from stealing Christmas will receive a handcrafted ornament featuring one of their own pokemon (generally their starter pokemon, but it can be a different pokemon of their team if Santa felt they were closer to them). These ornaments perfectly reflect the individual pokemon, including any notable features like scars or strange colouration. Attached to these ornaments is a note which reads (in very lovely handwriting):

"Thank you for helping to save Christmas - Your Friend Santa Claus"

★

Meanwhile every Rocket member who participated in the heist, will find a lump of coal holding down a note as well. This note (still in very lovely handwriting) reads:

"I'm disappointed - Santa Claus"

Edited 2020-12-26 00:54 (UTC)