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the_plateau2025-02-16 01:02 pm
indigo_league) wrote in the_plateau2025-02-16 01:02 pm
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Swinub Scurry Info
What's happening?
The Swinub Scurry is a tradition in Blackthorn City! Every other Winter, trainers bring their hardiest Pokemon and compete in a sled race through the wilderness surrounding Blackthorn. The race length is such that trainers will need to spend one to two nights in the Winter wilderness, managing survival, navigation, and wild Pokemon much stronger than those found on the normal routes.
There's some extra prestige in winning, but most participants are celebrated for just finishing the course. The foremost rule of the Swinub Scurry is that the race stays "open" until everyone has either made it to the end or given up or needed a rescue. There are always people at the finish line ready to cheer racers arriving, day and night (taking shifts if they need to)!
This beloved tradition has been out of the spotlight in recent years, with local organizers getting snooty about trainers without influential family roots in Blackthorn participating. In the past, petty local politics and old money have done a poor job of advertising the event, even though it was ostensibly tourist friendly. Now, the old guard is on its way out, and this year the organizing committee is looking to change things up! Trainers will see fliers in towns across Johto and Kanto inviting them to this seasonal event!
What's the origin of this tradition, anyway?
It's lost to time! Every local family will tell the story differently, but most agree that it has something to do with Swinub herding when their population spikes every couple of seasons!
Can my character already know about this, if they've been here a while?
Absolutely! The "bad at advertising and snooty about entrants" part is there to explain why characters wouldn't have heard of it or participated before... but if you'd like to handwave that your character was aware, or even a long-time fan, please feel free!
How do characters enter? Are there restrictions on Pokemon that can be used?
Show up to Blackthorn City and sign up (for free)! Characters can even be provided with a loaned sled and harnesses... with the caveat that these are just whatever sleds the organizing committee could scrounge up. Most repeat competitors will have fancier sleds in much nicer condition, so characters may want to consider buying, renting, or borrowing a better sled from somewhere around town.
As for Pokemon restrictions - the Pokemon must pull the sled, with their trainer and all their supplies on it. No getting on your flying Pokemon and swooping to the end! Otherwise, Pokemon are not generally restricted by species from entering... but the number of Pokemon you may enter will depend on their size and strength. Someone entering an Onix will be limited to just the one, someone entering Stantler may have several, and someone who's decided their sled will be pulled by Skwovet(??) will be allowed an absolute legion of the lil guys. The event organizers have League permission to temporarily disable the six Pokemon limit within the event grounds.
You may also enter a variety of Pokemon, keeping in mind the above restrictions! That said... this is usually not recommended, simply because species of Pokemon have quite different gaits and behaviors and will start tripping over each other if they're pulling a sled together. There's a reason that nearly all the repeat racers have a single species team. That said: you can probably get away with, say, harnessing up a few similarly-sized canine Pokemon. And borrowing Pokemon from other trainers to fill out your team is fine too!
So... there are NPC competitors?
There sure are. In general, you're welcome to make up NPCs as you like for threads - but we'll start you off with some examples.
The two trainers currently most favored to win are the up and coming Saeki, racing with a team of Manectrics, and long-time veteran and repeat winner Kakube, with a team of Sawsbuck. Saeki is a woman of few words - the gossip is that she gets along with her Pokemon far better than people. But maybe she's just a very private person, or shy! She started racing four years ago and has been just short of a win both those races; she clearly takes it very seriously. Kakube, meanwhile, is one of the traditionalists, and is unhappy about outsiders being allowed to enter. He's not personally the type to sabotage people, but he is going to give other entrants nasty looks. He and his Pokemon are also very good at this... but they're starting to slow down a bit as they age.
The most controversial, perhaps even infamous entrant is old man Junzo, who - for decades - has been entering a team comprised entirely of Shuckle. More Shuckle than one could easily count at a glance. He's finished the race every time! But he's invariably been the last person across the finish line, and usually by then the crowd is getting kind of tired of standing out in the snow, freezing, for That Shuckle Guy to finally arrive so they can officially end the race. Some people respect his dedication; others think he gets some kind of sick satisfaction out of making people wait.
Can characters win anything? How will winning be decided?
Anyone who completes the course will be given a medal and - optionally - a special Swinub egg! Special how? You'll just have to find out...
Beyond that, though, people who finish the course faster get primarily bragging rights and prestige! Well, and if you place in the top 3, the inns and restaurants around Blackthorn will be clamouring to have you stay or eat for free for the next couple weeks, before the fuss dies down.
To sign up for the race, comment HERE with which Pokemon your character is using and any other details you think we should know. In addition, you must participate on the IC log with at least one top level or comment.
Based on your Pokemon and how convincing your details are, we'll be giving entrants 1, 2, or 3 "raffle" tickets. We'll mix those entries in with some NPCs and then do random draws until we've pulled out everyone's name. We'll be announcing results on Feb 28th, though ICly this will have happened on Feb 23rd!
(You can also tell us that you want your character to have failed to complete the race, and have needed a rescue! In that case, they may still get the Swinub egg as a consolation prize, as long as you have that top level or comment. No medal though, womp womp.)
What if my character doesn't want to race? Will there be other stuff to do?
Absolutely! For a spectator the most exciting parts of the race proper are the beginning, when everyone sets out, and then roughly a day later, when the speediest racers start to get back. In the time in between, Blackthorn City will be arranging entertainment: food stands, performances, its own winter market with stalls... anything to get you to shop local with your hard-earned money! And throughout the actual event, there will be updates from race officials on flying Pokemon, sending commentary and (this year, for the first time!) video back to the main stage.
After the race, the festivities will continue, so that racers also get their chance to enjoy!
More details on this will be forthcoming with the IC log, which will be going up within the next two days - a bit ahead of the IC events! (We want to give people extra time to rp and get that comment in!)
One minor bonus - characters who attend will be able to buy eggs from visiting Pokemon breeders! What does this mean? You may handwave your character obtaining Ice Pokemon eggs of your choice at this event, regardless of how rare they are or if they’re local. (But they must still be Pokemon available in the game somewhere - no Legendaries - and they won’t have any special Hidden Abilities, moves, or so on.)
Characters can also volunteer to help with the race - either generally behind the scenes, or specifically on-call as a rescuer in case any racers get into trouble. To do the latter, you will need a team of high-levelled Pokemon, including at least one speedy flyer. (You may assume that some NPCs will need to be rescued, even if no player characters do!)
Like racers, volunteers are eligible for a Swinub egg (but not a medal). Comment in the same place HERE, provide a link to at least one top level or comment on the IC log, and let us know that your character is volunteering, not racing.
RACING
Participating top-level/comment: Whoo!
Pokemon: Roster here- Beartic, Silvally, Absol, Luxray, Alolan Ninetales, and...for some reason a Shiinotic on the beartic. Slides are 26, 17, 8, 1, and 31.
Other: The first obvious note about Emporio and his team is that he's not here to push himself into a win; he certainly won't be slacking, but he's friendly, makes (awkward) small talk with anyone that lets him, and above all seems to have basic equipment. The sled, the tent, the emergency snowshoes- all of these are standard grade.
All of these are what his gym will be offering for sale or loan to new trainers for winter survival and journeys.
And he'll happily say as much too- as well as the fact that, realistically anyone who's out and about travelling won't have a full team of the same pokemon, nor even a team of Similarly Sized ones, so part of this is to add that much more under his belt to better teach staff and from there teach students. This, wildly enough, is Emporio's own dry run. Anyone who tells him off for 'not taking it seriously' will be met, bluntly, with him saying 'this is absolutely me taking it seriously' followed potentially by 'why are you so upset about this, your team isn't going to magically place lower because of this', depending on just how snobby those NPCs happen to get.
The second obvious note is that Emporio's pokemon freaking love the weirdo. He's dressed in his full snow gear- which makes him look like another Hisuian Zoroark, shame that one isn't pulling the sled- and his pokemon absolutely adore him. Even as mons who haven't really trained together, they seem quick to follow his command and adaptive to boot. On the flipside though, Emporio knows and trusts his team too- if they think something isn't right or need a break, they make it known...and he Listens. The Alolan Ninetales has never pulled a sled- and the others have more experience pulling something alone frankly- but to make sure that they can handle it without outpacing or yanking one another off course, he does do a couple of practice tests while making sure the sled is in order- and by the time they start, they'll...actually do Really Well with that, they're good at controlling their gait to match the ones up front. There's an initial worry about someone's numerous tails getting in the way of someone's face, but that gets resolved by sticking Cirrus in front of Valentino.
For the most part it's clear Emporio prioritized snow familiarity- Ice Fingers was picked up on Glaseado itself back in Paldea, and while Cirrus is really young for a Ninetales, Emporio's been using the last few days post-pokerus to really work with her in anticipation of being part of his gym's snow team. The pair up front however are unique; aside from being pokemon that he used quite often in his early days (And thus, fortunately, familiar with the Blackthorn area), Emporio chose these two for both strength, cooperation, and skill.
Sparks being a Luxray- who has been equipped with a bit of gear for extra warmth- has incredible eyesight, and is even capable of x-ray vision with enough electric power. It's an emergency measure for if they're caught in a freak snowstorm, but Luxray's vision is nothing to sneeze at on a normal day either.
As for Salem, Absol aren't something most superstitious sorts would consider- those bring bad luck don't they?? Well first of all Salem has Super Luck, thanks, but more importantly, Absol are capable of sensing subtle changes in the surroundings- the air, the ground, Absol can catch if a disaster is happening before it happens. In other words, Salem is here for the same reason Sparks is; not just as a sled puller, but as a measure of safety should the worst abruptly strike.
...Now what's up with the Shiinotic and non-combat Silvally.
Shiinotic after all is in particular part of the luggage. That pokemon isn't pulling anything, and it's not carrying anything either. In fact, it is sitting on the Beartic! (Or alternatively, the Silvally)
And it'll also be glowing whenever it gets dark. Here in Blackthorn, the sun goes down earlier, and during winter, that's earlier still; in order to make sure they can safely travel, Ghibli here has been trained to keep those sleep spores to herself, and focus on taking in as much sunlight during the day as possible so that she can illuminate their surroundings and path like woah. She's a really fancy spotlight in other words, and you know what, power to her because setting up camp in the dark sucks.
That leaves Valentino. Valentino is a bit of a wildcard- their glitch is that at random, despite having all battle capabilities removed, the effects of Attract trigger for anywhere from a minute to half an hour, affecting all gendered and non-gendered pokemon in the vicinity. The Officiants Allowed Them Anyway. With any luck, having the risk of Cirrus' many tails in their face will keep Attract under control. As it stands, other than the glitch, Valentino's actually rather well behaved! Good strong doggo, great at pulling, and sturdy enough to go through the snow.
And of course after all of that we have Emporio himself- skilled not just in wilderness camping here, but also in Paldea and Hisui- he knows his stuff by now, perhaps to the extreme. He won't be cheating, he's not even here to win after all, but he will help anyone he finds in trouble; be it by sending out a flare and helping them put a shelter up, or, if necessary, even hauling them along with his own team in order to get them somewhere safe first.
As an aside, in the event Emporio's team is over the size limit, he'll be taking Beartic off the team and instead requesting permission to bring a combat pokemon- this would be the level 100 Haema the Hisuian Zoroark, whose info is on slide 17. Strong, and uniquely shaped from the quadrupeds on the sled team, she'd be unable to abruptly join the team while being an obvious sign to the flying officiants that something is wrong- as she'd only be there for battle.
Re: RACING
So what’s so special about this egg? Well: these eggs have all been donated by a local (mostly) retired Breeder!
When the egg hatches, this Swinub will be fast. Extremely fast. In video game terms, it has absolutely maxed out Speed IVs and then some. The Forbidden 32 Speed. In addition, it will hatch with the following moves: Fissure, Freeze-Dry, Icicle Crash, High Horsepower, Icicle Spear, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Stomping Tantrum, Sandstorm, Haze, Reversal, Rest, Sleep Talk, Trailblaze, and Endeavor.
Finally, there’s a chance for these eggs to hatch shiny! The random roll for Emporio says… unfortunately, you didn’t luck out! But still, what a little powerhouse of a Pokemon.