you thought it was over, did you?

[these_balls]

GOLDENROD CITY
DAY 03/06. 00:01.

"--and then I told them to scram before I hit them. Really, I don't get it. It's been six whole months and the Johto factor's being hit with these strange visitors. I don't know what's causing it, but whatever was built..." Ariana glared over at Petrel from the desk her pokégear pressed against her ear. She was in the middle of a conversation, but her eyes and her mind were roaming in multiple directions. One: this room was still empty, large and simple. The wall had been repaired, for the most part... There were still a few holes here and there, only small enough for the rodent-types. However, it wasn't the holes that were the problem: it was the space, the vacant, empty space, that shouldn't be there. The machine had been gone for six months, and she was surprised the Boss hadn't skinned them alive. And two: They needed to find it. Grunts had been going on search and rescue missions for months, all to no avail. And here she was, making a call over to Hoenn to see if she could collect any information. Even Proton was out doing a bit of scouting on his own. But here she was, being the only one productive in this trio of nonsense. Archer stood by the window, merely watching the chaos with his mug of hot coffee--in this heat? What was his problem?!--while Petrel... "It's that youngster kid's," Petrel explained once he caught Ariana's eye, still petting the rodent in his arms. "I dunno, she seems kinda fond of me. Probably looking for a new trainer. If she's in the top ten percentage of her type, I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted a new one." "...hey, you two. It's quiet outside," piped in a third voice. Petrel glanced over to Archer, who finally released his hold on the curtain he was holding. "The visitors are gone." "Heh. Guess they weren't staying this time either, huh?" That was when Ariana angrily stomped her foot. "Are you two even listening to me?! We need to find the machine, not worry about these stupid intruders or a dumb Rattata!" Petrel turned to the little pokémon. "It's okay, she didn't mean it. She's just cranky." Ariana rolled her eyes and kept talking to her Hoenn contact. "Anyway, as I was saying... uh-huh? Yeah, my team is as much of a nightmare as yours. W-wait, Annie, are you there? I think your reception's going bad-- Annie? Where'd you go!?" Normally, the Gears worked perfectly. Perhaps a Rotom got into the system again? With a heavy sigh, she just stared at the screen, trying to see if the reception had been compromised, but the only thing visible on the display was one application's start-up menu, animated circles bouncing underneath one simple phrase: Gotta draw 'em all! "What?!"

And that concludes Fourth Wall! We hope you enjoyed your new encounters with our bi-yearly visitors. However, the confusion doesn’t quite end here!



Once the commotion dies down and the world slowly seems to correct itself, it becomes clear that not everything is quite right. For starters, the radio function on the Gears doesn’t work, and many stations seem to be picking up static, as if something is interfering with the signal. That same interference seems to have scrambled up the internal workings of the Gears and throughout all of Monday and Tuesday, there will be no audio, video or text function on the Gears, as something seems to disturb the transmission. Strangely, only the Drawing Pad function (and Kanto Discovery Trail …?) appears to work, so you better have your stylus ready if you want to communicate!
On Wednesday the text and audio features will work again, and on Friday the Gears are once again fully functional, except for the radio static which will persist throughout the week.

Perhaps more alarming is the fact that the world itself looks a little … different. Things might be taking on a strange shape when you’re not looking – namely that of pixilation. It can look like this for a moment and not the next or be a constant thing, and you just might see things your travel partners aren’t (maybe you’re going crazy?) but the pixels of both the world and the people normally inhabiting it will be hard to deny for too long.

Worse still, glitch Pokémon are back.

These troublesome little buggers are everywhere and the twist is that this time around, they might not be an obvious glitch and can look like any kind of Pokémon. They could just have a different color, some mutation, be a little odd somehow, or move in weird ways – but then, they can also look like a big floating mass of pixels …

With these, glitching issues begin to occur.

Encountering a Glitch can have a number of side effects. You might get teleported to a random location, your Pokémon might faint or get teleported to your box, or your Gear might lose all abilities to communicate with the Network for a random period of time. Or nothing at all happens. You never know.

Catching a glitch will have similar side effects, but more extreme. You can get teleported back to New Bark Town with all your items and Pokémon (save your starter, of course) now in your computer, regardless of how maxed out your box might be. Your Pokémon could start to glitch themselves by displaying odd characteristics, pixilation, type changes or maybe even learn and use glitch moves, with more or less hazardous results. Items in your bag might start to duplicate (seven toothbrushes, fifty-four empty pokéballs …). Carrying a glitch in your party might also disable you from entering or leaving random locations; think invisible wall or random game teleportation. The effects will fade after the glitch Pokémon is released.

All of this will go on for one week, with the most severe effects at the start of this weekend until things seem to calm down slowly to eventually be completely normal by June 10. Any glitch Pokémon will be gone by then and their more supernatural effects as well, but if you found yourself in a different place or in need of a new Gear (some glitches might stick, after all), that’s something you’ll have to deal with on your own.


But wait, there's more! The game is glitching but due to the nature of what exactly is causing this glitch, we’re having an item drop. That’s right; throughout the week your character can find and keep one item from their home world provided it isn’t an animal or a weapon. These items can be found on their person, in their computer storage, or just be sort of stumbled upon.

And lastly ... one more change will stick around after all this, and that is that the pokémon limit is upped to 72! Meaning you can now have up to 66 pokémon in the computer and six in your party.



Happy third birthday, Route!


If you have any questions about this event, feel free to ask us here!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[these_balls]

Ask away!

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

[these_balls]

With regards to Ariana's Hoenn contact:

How's Annie?

Re: QUESTIONS

[wontturntostone]

For the item drop, if they got something with a kind of 'power' from home, would it work?

As an example, could Kanaya get her wardrobifier? It's a machine about the size of two lunchboxes that randomly swaps the clothing she is wearing around.

[diamondo]

Are larger items/modes of transportation still out of the question? Specifically motorcycles?

[ai]

Can Saber regain the giant rock that "Excalibur" was lodged in and then experience a glitch where various items get stuck in it for hilarity?

[hipstermark]

With these glitches - can ones over level 100 appear/be caught? (For horrible things for this newcomer, of course...)

[rather_eat_turquoise]

So from this point, do characters revert back to how they were before the event?
I.e mega dragon Spike is back to human kid Spike?

[lightningbearer]

...out of idle curiosity, would it be possible for Geddoe to get a rune? As in, the things people use to use magic in his world, but not being actually inscribed on anyone/thing it'd just be a pretty crystal-y paperweight. For no other reason than giving him something he has no need for even if he could use it amuses me. >_>

lalala what is asking questions with a wrong account?

[dothefusion]

Can they use the drawing feature and stylus to like hand-write messages? Or are they stuck with actually playing Pictionary?

[starspangledavenger]

Is it okay for Steve's item drop to be Captain America's shield? It can be used as a weapon, it isn't actually a weapon but a tool of protection (and without his superior strength he can't use it as much like a weapon as before). Feels ambiguous enough that it was best to ask if Steve can have it.

[red_roses]

Could a character get their MP3 player back with their own music on it? Or would it be subject to the bg music?

Re: QUESTIONS

[eagletalons]

Is Hope's Eidolith considered acceptable? It's not a weapon but a crystal that allows a l'Cie to summon an Eidolon.

he probably wouldn't even be able to use it if it gets back its power

[digitalorunknown]

Are objects that were attached to them back home, such that they're functionally part of their body, acceptable?

[akito]

Could Akito and Agito find their Regalia? That is, the wheels to their A-T? But with the bladed edges on the wheels dulled so that they can't be used as a weapon or be sharpened back into one, and either with the mechanics inside non-functional, or capped so that they can only go a little bit faster, jump a little bit higher for a little bit longer but not be able to use any attacks?

[darkenedgales]

While I'm pretty sure it's fair game since it's not a weapon of any kind, I'm gonna ask just to make sure: is an electronic device, specifically a Duel Disk (technical details presented here) okay to bring? If yes, would it work (displaying holographic images of cards, that is)? For clarification, it's powered by an (environment-friendly!) energy generation system loosely based on epicyclic gearing.

Gotta give it a try. xP

[broken_tool]

Sooo. I know weapons aren't allowed, but what about these? They're technically acupuncture needles and while Haku in series used them as weapons, in Route he has no reason to fight anyone and thus would use them for the medical aspect (on his Pokemon). I figure if they were allowed he'd have a small number just so it can't be abused.

Re: QUESTIONS

[unended]

Is the map function on the pokegear working properly? If not when is that function restored?

[soundmind]

Are outfits okay? Like say Maka getting her black blood dress as a drop (obviously without any association with black blood, just a regular dress made of fabric) or Botan getting her kimono?

[ortion]

Figured I'd ask since it's a kind of a larger item: would something like a chair be allowed? I was thinking Dist could find his in the Rocket base and it probably wouldn't leave the base if he did travel, and obviously it won't be able to fly in the Pokemon world.

Re: QUESTIONS

[tearsofademon]

Is it okay if it is a thing that belonged to them years upon years upon years ago but its fate is unknown and they don't even remember it ever existed for reasons?

...Ryner is hard to choose item drops for okay he has nothing...

Re: QUESTIONS

[achillean]

So Waver has this blob of mercury that can be used as a weapon...but he tends to use it as a housemaid. Would he be able to get that back with the weapon capabilities taken away/deprogrammed in some way?

oops oops you know what let's make that just entirely nonmagic since I just now see nonmagic is a thing. So like. Just a blob made of mercury that is totally good for nothing but being a puddle.

[iownahoofbeast]

What's the general size limit on the items? Cause I'm finding it very tempting to have Equius find one of his (completely and stubbornly non-functioning) robots.

[these_balls]

We don't have a particular rule but anything that can be carried around reasonably comfortably should be fine.

[explosivecombat]

Is the no-weapons policy the same as it is for Route in general - basically, no live steel, no projectiles? Like, what are the thoughts on wooden/nonfunctional weapons, as I'm pretty sure we've had those before, in which they're technically weapons but not nearly enough to injure/blunt force trauma someone unless you were really, really trying?

[these_balls]

We've said no to wooden weapons before, so those are still a no - anything that's made to be a weapon automatically classifies as one.

Weapons that have been stripped down so they don't work (like magical weapons without their powers) or that are just for show and can't be used (like decorational guns with no actual trigger/chamber system) are probably okay, but we might want to judge this on a case by case basis. Is there anything in particular you're thinking of?

[enjoymyatelier]

This is more of an event question than an item drop question, but... would it be possible to run into this particular bit of creepiness during the event?

[these_balls]

Sure is! Get creative. :)

[gunkonmyboot]

Yeah, it's late but...

I don't suppose 17 could get a motorcycle capsule? Aka, vehicle?

And nevermind, read the comments.