[ORP] The Katarina Market Winter Celebration

[Qixel]

Happy Holiderps! This is the Secret Santa ORP for human characters only. n-n (Wild Pokemon secret santa ORP: Here.)
Let's get them to know each other! You may join with as many characters as you like. Having them bring a gift is optional.
When joining in, if you choose to join the IC secret santa, please post this form:

[quote="Mythee"][color=tomato][b]Character name:[/b]
[b]Gift brought:[/b]
[b]What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?[/b]: [/color][/quote]

Secret santa recipients will be randomized on the 17th, but any latecomers with gifts can exchange with each other!

It was wintertime again, and the spirits of the people in Katarina City were higher than usual. This fact was especially true at the local market, where the shopkeepers had decorated the massive tree in the middle with lights, baubles, basically anything sparkly they had lying around.

But perhaps the biggest attraction, aside from the tree, was the anonymous gift giving event that the shopkeepers assured everyone was NOT a ploy to drum up more business, no sir! However, if you wanted to purchase something from one of their fine establishments, surely it was for a good cause and you absolutely should.

So drink! Be merry! And exchange (hopefully nice) presents anonymously!

Current Entries

1. Rydia Gardner (Qixel)
It's a long box, covered in flowery wrapping paper with a small ribbon on the top end.
Inside: Single, Long-stemmed Rose

2. Clara (Ryuukishin)
Simple black box, cubical in shape. Elegant white ribbon.
Inside: Luxury Ball

3. Lumina (Lady Mist)
Small, pink and white cardboard box with a little handle and a small ribbon.
Inside: Cookies? If they last that long..

4. Magnolia Claus (NaomiNaomi)
Light pink wrapping topped off with a lavender ribbon.
Mystic Water

5. Jorge (xxx Yuki Bear xxx)
A big misshapen ball of sparkly blue wrapping paper covered in tape
Inside: A Pikachu Plushie

6. David Sinclair (Riffler)
A VERY LARGE BOX (containing many boxes growing smaller in size)
Inside: A rather large marble that looks like a megastone

7. Niko Lukas (FrostyPeaches)
His full restore was placed in a white rectangular box and carefully wrapped with red wrapping paper topped off with a green ribbon all around. The bag of Pecha berries were placed inside a small white square box, and wrapped with colourful christmas wrapping that had snowmen and santas prints on it. This box did not get a ribbon. Both boxes were placed inside a rectangular box stuffed with shredded newspaper. This outer box was wrapped with dark green wrapping paper and decorated with yellow star stickers on one corner of the box.
Inside: 1x Full restore and a small bag full of Pecha berries

8. Alexa Holtzer (bluedemonwolf)
A small-medium sized box covered in bright red wrapping paper with an orange bow on top.
Inside: A couple of wind up pokemon toys and a small bag of oran berries

9. Fin Kincade (GriffinFire)
A slim, squarish package in green paper with white stars, matching Cygnus's gift. Wrapped not messily, but inexpertly, with a bit too much tape.
Inside: An album of music by Adam and the Durants

10. Cygnus Ramsden (GriffinFire)
A small rectangular package. Wrapped in the same green paper with white stars as Fin's gift, but much more precisely.
Inside: A small hardcover volume of tales about legendary Pokémon, in both print and braille. The cover is embossed with a golden Jirachi.

11. Lore Mimameidr (Mythee)
A roughly pyramid-shaped object wrapped [badly] in a delibird-patterned holiday paper.
Inside: Four little jars of different varieties of combee honey, bought right from the farm. Picked up during travels.

 

[Qixel]

Rydia Gardner stepped up to the tree cautiously (she didn't want to fall into it), a long box in her hands. Inside the box was a single rose, freshly picked that day. She hoped it would make someone happy.

Placing the box atop the other presents under the tree, she smiled joyously before retreating from the tree.

Mythee

Character name: Rydia Gardner
Gift brought: Single, Long-stemmed Rose
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: It's a long box, covered in flowery wrapping paper with a small ribbon on the top end.

 

[Ryuukishin]

Clara followed shortly after, the bags on her shoulders leaning precariously when she crouched to deposit her own box. Within was a Luxury Ball; something, she hoped, that its recipient would appreciate. When she'd told Kronos what secret santas were for, the Mightyena had insisted on offering food instead -- which, for her, just so happened to dead Pokémon. Clara didn't think that would have been taken so well.

In any case, she was glad the ball might see some use. Though she'd saved it for some time, in the end, she realized it was too gaudy for her line of work.

Once the box had been nestled safely beneath the tree, where unobservant passerbys couldn't accidentally kick it out, she pushed herself back onto her feet -- only to have one of her bags fall and scatter various cosmetics to the floor.

Mythee

Character name: Clara
Gift brought: Luxury Ball
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: Simple black box, cubical in shape. Elegant white ribbon.

 

[Lady Mist]

Lumina had come only for paint primer. The ornaments she was coloring as mock-up pokeballs to hang on her tree had a much too shiny surface for paint to stick. Being a fan of cute crafts certainly didn't translate to a skill in such artsy crafts. Her enthusiasm was not to be deterred, and once she had a paint primer in hand, the watcher found herself distracted by the myriad of baubles that glittered about the mall. Lumina hadn't actually come here very often, but when she did she was always enamored by the season's decorations.

Chai was draped about her shoulders, the eevee being too large for the perch and hanging off on all ends, but decidedly comfortable regardless. Lumina felt certain that her little eevee was determined to join every caroling group they had walked by on the way there, for the little ball of fluff would bound over and start in on an off-pitch squeal of joy every time.

After they had rounded upon the massive tree with promises of secret santa fun, Lumina couldn't resist darting back through the stores to support the local economy, holo caster already pulled. "Hello? Lore? Hurry up and call me back, this is an emergency! There's this secret santa thing at the market and I have no idea what to get. Ooh, there're some cute ear muffs. Are ear muffs still in? Oh oh! There's a cookie store here! An entire store of cookies!"

Lumina haphazardly hung up the phone in her mad dash towards the specialty bakery store, quickly buying a box of chocolate chip cookies in the shape of various pokemon heads. Or at least that's what she thought they were, as the cookies didn't seem to hold their shape as well as the sugar cookies that were on display.

But wait, if this was her secret santa gift, that meant she couldn't eat them herself? A peek at her wallet and she gave a quiet little groan of agony. She shuffled back to the tree, shifting uncomfortably at the edge of the ring. There was still time to back out and keep the cookies for herself, but she was curious on meeting new people and joining in on the festivities. Chai didn't seem to mind either way as she simply kept looking about at all the decorations, which was no help at all.

Mythee

Character name: Lumina
Gift brought: Cookies? If they last that long..
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: Small, pink and white cardboard box with a little handle and a small ribbon.

 

[radish]

Rho's tongue curled inward as he jaw snapped open in a deep yawn. He squeezed his eyes against the baubles and sparkle littered about the market. His owner, Magnolia, trudged through the area in a huff; her little feet stamping with anger to the ground as her balled fists beat the air with no mercy. Eventually, her anger bubbled up in one fell swoop and she stopped in place to throw a little tantrum with a few muttered words beneath her breath. Realizing she was drawing attention her herself, her eyes pipped up, and she suddenly slipped off to another area to prevent herself from looking more like a fool.

Eventually, after lengthening the space between her and the throng of people, she withdrew the item that was the source of her worries and furies. Dangling before her eyes was a small teardrop pendent half the size of her forefinger. It sparkled brilliantly against the artificial light surrounding her, but its beauty couldn't quiet the rage within her.

"He fooled me!" she cried aloud to no one in particular. Suddenly, as jabbed the piece of jewelery toward her feline on her shoulders, she cried out, "Does this look anything like a Mega Stone to you, Rho, does it?"

The Glameow lowered lids to it. Flicking purple eyes between her and the gem, he shook his head to satisfy her despite his nonchalance regarding her situation.

"See? Even a Pokemon can tell it isn't one! Grah, that jerk!" She stamped a foot again. "Pierce thinks he know eeeverything, but when it comes to something he doesn't know, he ropes me into it." Magnolia then let out a heavy sigh and leaned onto the railing she stood before, dangling the Mystic Water before her eyes with a look of concern. "I mean, I-I know I shouldn't be mad, but he's the one that made the mistake. I guess I could forgive me... B-but just this one, okay, Rho? It's not like I can stay mad at him long anyway..."

Rho huffed. Just admit you like him already... he thought with a roll of his eyes.

"But what am I going to do with this...? I don't own any Water-types so... Oh?" Her pink eyes pipped up to an event happening nearby. "Is that... a gift exchange?" Suddenly, an idea entered into her mind. "Hey Rho, why don't we package this and enter it in there? I may have no use for it, but someone else might."

"Glamrrrow," he replied in agreement, again, just to satisfy her.

Skipping of to the area, Magnolia located some wrapping paper (that, to no surprise, was a shade of pink similar to the shade she couldn't part herself from). Crumbling it over the pendent with relative ease, she tied it off with a lavender bow and then set it amongst the other gifts beneath the tree and departing with a smile.

Mythee

Character name: Magnolia Claus.
Gift brought: Mystic Water.
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: Light pink wrapping topped off with a lavender ribbon.

 

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Jorge had never really celebrated the holidays before joining Team Aqua. It was very much a family-oriented time of year and, well, Jorge had lacked a family. But that was not the case any more. The black-haired Aqua grunt had heard of the gift exchange from some people she had passed on the street and had rushed to come see the festivities. One day away from work wouldn't be so bad, right? Her Vaporeon, Layla, huffed and paced around Jorge's feet.

"Don't be a scrooge, Lay," Jorge grinned down at the pokemon while continuing to walk towards the big tree. She held her gift in her arms. "This should be fu-" Jorge was cut off as she slipped on a rogue tube of lipstick. She fell backwards, arms flailing about, as her body gracelessly flopped onto the pavement. Her present landed with a thump a little ways away from her. Layla paced around her, licking at her face with worry. "Owwww,"

Jorge rubbed at her sore back, noticing other makeup products scattered around her. "What the..."

Ryuukishin

Mythee

Character name: Jorge
Gift brought: A Pikachu plushie
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: A big misshapen ball of sparkly blue wrapping paper covered in tape

* * *

Maisy slurped noisily at her whipped drink as she took in the hustle and bustle of the market. People watching was especially fun when people were falling and making fools of themselves. She snorted as a lanky black-haired trainer bit the dust. What an idiot. Speaking of idiots... where was her sister? She had been dragged here by her twin, Daisy, because of some stupid gift exchange.

"Bah humbug," Maisy grumbled, eyeing the crowd. She'd rather be back on the road than in the city with all these people.

* * *

Daisy stared down the decadent truffles in the window of the chocolate shop. Her stomach and her wallet were warring against each other. She had told herself she was going to buy a gift for the secret santa, but... but chocolate. She bit her lip.

"Okay, okay, think of others. It's the time of year to give. Yeah," With a pained sigh, she walked away from the chocolate shop, dragging her palm across the glass of the window. What would be a good gift? Daisy skipped into the nearest shop. It was getting cold. Perhaps a scarf?

(( If you'd like to interact with any of my characters, just quote me <3 ))  

[Ryuukishin]

xxx Yuki Bear xxx

((MAISY & DAISY
LITERALLY BA HUMBUGING
IM CRY))

"Oh, Arceus!" Clara watched with wide eyes as the trainer fell. "I'm so s--"

She tripped over another dropped item and ended up thudding to the floor right beside her black-haired companion. Thankfully, nothing else fell; except, perhaps, her pride.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Ryuukishin

(( MAISY IS SUCH A GRINCH ))

"Oh goodness!" Jorge cried as another person fell down next to her. This is why she didn't go out much. Oh god. What did she do now? What was the customary response to being on the ground next to someone surrounded by crowds of people? She looked to Layla, but the Vaporeon was too busy silently judging her. "Uuuh uuum," she got to her knees with a small wince and turned her body towards the fallen trainer beside her. "ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE?!" she blurted, flushing bright red. That came out louder than anticipated. Oh god, where was her present? Where had Layla gone? What was even happening?

Meanwhile, Layla had taken Jorge's misshapen gift to the tree. She sighed when she heard her trainer shouting. It was so much more peaceful when they were away from people.  

[Mythee]

(((ACCIDENTALLY THE WHOLE TL;DR)))

Shunk. After fifteen minutes of shovelling makeshift paths around her home and to its shed, Lore marched up to a big pile of snow and planted her shovel firmly at its peak, as if it were some kind of flag on a hill. She regarded her work, well toned arms crossed. Impromptu, uh, 'artwork' was a great way to pass those few moments one takes to recuperate and catch one's breath after working hard. After righting the shovel's tilt, she nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent."

Potatobi, the human's breloom, was not so amused. The saurian mushroom pokemon had been told she could stay indoors if she wanted; but dutiful as ever (and once again proving that she was more useful than her trainer's ridiculous Gengar companion), she had come outside to help. Shovelling was too difficult with those short clawed arms; instead, she had attached something like a shovel's end to her tail. Now that the task was done, she could finally get back inside, where it was warm. Legwarmers and a furry hooded poncho were great and all, but not enough to keep the grass-fighting type from feeling like she was becoming frozen vegetables."Breloom!" She cried, and ran back into the house, detaching her tailshovel hastily at the door.

In contrast, Lore was undeniably overheated. Luckily, this place- a 25 minute trip by scooter from Katarina- was far from populated. If anyone saw her now, they would think the human to be insane; despite the cold, she wore no jacket. Steam appeared to rise from her t-shirt and cargo-pants clad body while her winter coat hung by the door, unused. Or to be more precise, used for about 10 minutes and then discarded once the traveller had overheated due to a furnace-like metabolism with an extraordinary ability to thoroughly cook any person who possessed it. Summers would be much less of a danger if Lore had a water pokemon under her care. That, and water bills.

"All right," she said, stepping towards her home to open the door, "it's your turn. Lay down the lines, Parn!"

What appeared to be a ball of fabric scuttled out of the house then, a sharp, eager gleam in its six purple-blue eyes. After all, this had been her idea. Upon closer inspection one would find that this lump of wrapped scarves had a furry yellow Galvantula at its center. Clearly, like its grass-type 'sibling', the bug-electric type was not impervious to the cold.

"Tuuuuula!" She cried, almost bouncing down the narrow roads created by the human and breloom's efforts earlier. Invisible in this white, she was leaving a dragline of thread behind her. After a couple circuits, she scuttled back into the house as hastily as Potatobi had, shuddering.

Her trainer, now inside, shut the door behind Parn- and melted at the sight of her adorable baby spiderp covered in snow and scarves. No matter how big a she'd gotten since she was a Joltik, she would always be the pinnacle of cute for Lore. "It's cold, isn't it?" She looked so chilled that Lore couldn't resist picking her up.

"Galvantula!" The fluffy electric spider protested, leaping back out of her arms- as nice and warm as that had been- to get back on the floor and execute her plans. She scuttled over to the two lumps of electroweb that she had left on the wall. Each of them had many threads snaking their way out along the wall and under the doorway, thin but solid and stuck to those surfaces. She placed one foreleg on each lump, beginning to crackle with electricity. She brought out the power from within her, and felt it course through the conductive silk that she had laid down outside.

Lore observed, intrigued at the Galvantula's level of control. Bug types tended to have a good deal of finesse, especially where thread was concerned; but to limit the level of output so that the web wouldn't be destroyed in a strong discharge while maintaining a consistent flow of power for an extended time? It was more than finesse. Parn had extraordinary talent, and the intelligence to come up with novel uses for her own abilities. Pokemon or not, feelings of pride welled up within the traveller for her fluffy spiderling daughter. She peered out the window and watched the snow melt. Electricity coursed through the paths, radiating heat from the web. Soon enough, grass appeared on the ground again.

"Parn, I've really gotta give it to ya. Our shovels are now officially retired." She smiled as the Galvantula stopped what she was doing and climbed onto the trainer's shoulders to regard her own handiwork.

Which is when Lore's holo caster began to ring. "Oho!" She raised her wrist to answer the phone and was pleasantly surprised to see Lumina's face pop up. An urgent message about... a secret santa thing at the market? Oh... oh right, that was today! Lore had actually meant to go, but she had completely forgotten. She and Parn looked at each other.

"Well, it's an emergency, she says. Wanna come?"
-"Galvantula Tula, Galvantula." Honestly, if Lore only learned to understand what pokemon were saying, she'd know that she had already (verbally) agreed to Parn's (verbal) Treatise of Household Rulership (6th edition). Having said that, Parn shimmied over to Lore's bag and activated her own pokeball. A great ball, obviously, because she was the greatest pokemon ever. In a flash of red light, she disappeared into the ball.

"What about you guys in back?" Lore called to Donut and Potatobi, who were hanging out by the fireplace.
-"Breloom..."
Without understanding what she had said, Lore could nonetheless hear the reluctance in Potatobi's voice. Donut shifted drowsily out of a wall like a silver mist and slipped into his trainer's shadow. He'd probably been sleeping. ...Do ghosts even sleep?!

"All right then, glad to have you." She fiddled with her Holo Caster for awhile, and then recorded her own message for Lumina.
"Hi Lumina! I'm on my way there, actually, so uh... wanna meet up? Maybe... mall entrance, in 30 mins? Also, I don't recommend asking me about fashion trends, haha. After all, you're talking about someone who thinks sandals with socks are the best and look great." She chuckled. "But, practically speaking, Earmuffs only protect the ears. A hat with side flaps can protect the head as well as the ears, -and- leave room for headphones if anyone wants to listen to music during their commute. If it were me, I might prefer that! Anyways, ciao!"

She hung up and threw on her winter garb again, then grabbed her bag and headed to the garage. Time to whip out the snowmobile.

Mythee

Character name: Lore Mimameidr
Gift brought: Four little jars of different varieties of combee honey, bought right from the farm. Picked up during travels.
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: A roughly pyramid-shaped object wrapped [badly] in a delibird-patterned holiday paper.

 

[Riffler]

Mythee

Character name: David Sinclair
Gift brought: A rather large marble that looks like a megastone
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: A VERY LARGE BOX (containing many boxes growing smaller in size)

David had definitely dressed for the occasion, in a rather gaudy Christmas sweater, the kind that lit up and played tunes. His Pidgeotto rested on his head. David couldn't blame the bird, after all, he was the one who had kept Seppucrow awake all night in his excitement over the upcoming event. The bird was just a bit grumpy with him, and refused to talk. On the other hand, there was Miles; the fire type Growlithe was having a wonderful time frolicking in the snow and snapping his jaws at snowflakes.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Mythee

Character name: Alexa Holtzer
Gift brought: A couple of wind up pokemon toys and a small bag of oran berries
What does it look like from the outside (wrapped)?: A small-medium sized box covered in bright red wrapping paper with an orange bow on top.

Alexa made her way to the market with a present in her arms. She had heard of this gift exchange the other day when she was here to stock up on some supplies. She had decided to join in and was now returning to do the actual exchange. She walked over to the tree and placed her gift with the others.

Turning away she looked around in the crowd. She didn't recognize anyone she knew and shrugged. It had been some time she was around a lot of people. Living up in the Spirit Forest tends to kill any social life one may have. Good thing she had Stribog to fly her around for things like this.

Speaking of her pokemon she had her own Torchic sitting on her shoulder. She had recently traded a random pokemon she caught for him. She only wished there was a way to change his name and get him to respond to it. Chic Ken Pox was not her choice in names. She spotted someone else with a Torchic and smiled at him. It certainly was an unusual colored one.

Another of her pokemon was by her side: Masked Socks. The Flareon had decided that she needed new battle opponents and this was the perfect place and time to find them. Of course she also needed to look out for her trainer. Who knew what would happen at this crazy event. Socks looked around eying all the pokemon hoping to find one she deemed worthy.

As for the rest of Alexa's pokemon they were either deemed too big to be wandering in the crowded market or not interested. She stepped off to the side to avoid most of the crowd but was still near the group of people by the tree dropping off presents.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

FrostyPeaches

GriffinFire

Alexa was trying to figure out how to stay out of the sea of moving people when she heard the other Torchic trainer call out. Well heard someone call out and then saw him waving at her. She quickly made her way over to him squeezing through some people.

"Whew.. wow... talk about a lot of people." She said finally next to him. She looked at him and flashed him another smile. She finally noticed his green eyes and blonde/brown hair. "I'm Alexa, Alexa Holtzer. This is Chic Ken Pox... please don't ask about his name. I didn't give it to him. And Masked Sock is right.... hang on where is she?" She said in way of introductions. However when she went to introduce her Flareon she noticed her missing.

Glancing around for the pokemon she noticed her over by a couple of other trainers. "Excuse me a moment. Gotta go fetch Socks." She said to the other trainer with a sigh. She quickly made her way over to the small group that had attracted her pokemon's attention but paused. Was that a Jirachi? A very familiar one at that?!

Meanwhile Masked Socks had finally found an opponent she deemed worthy. The Jirachi or hey even that Dilibird looked like maybe she could be a worthy opponent. She moved towards them when her trainer began to walk easily slipping away. She quickly made her way to them and stopped right in their path. "FLARE! EON FLAREON!" She called out in challenge. Hearing her name called out she turned back to see Alexa walk up to her. That wouldn't stop her from getting a battle.

"Masked Socks! Will you leave them alone!" Alexa cried out. She marched up to the Flareon and tapped her on the nose, "This is not the time or place." She then turned to the people her pokemon was pestering. Yeah that really was the Jirachi from that time when everyone fell into a slumber and had to save themselves from being wished away. "Sorry about that. Socks just really likes to battle and seems to think your pokemon would make a good opponent. Granted I'm not sure she could go against a pokemon that put an entire region to sleep..... Um....." She then received a headbutt to the back of her legs. "Um... would either of you be interested in battling her another time? Since this really isn't the time or place."