norway
a white butterfly
HAU'OLI | AFTERNOON | SUMMER
Alola's early summer shone down on the bustling city of Hau'oli. This section of the island was particularly popular this time of year for their recently established Hōʻuluʻulu festival, which celebrated simply the ability to celebrate. Everything was to be celebrated here -- Alola's journey to recognition among the regions, gratitude to the deity's for protection, a trainers passage, or simply friendship and good sales with good food. It was a safe time, albeit only for a couple days -- a huge tourist attraction, which explained the overly crowded docks and encumbered merchants rushing to restock their stalls. A Ferris wheel sat without a twitch in the center of what was originally mainstreet, but is now a gloriously decorated festive scene from the distant hill all the way to the waters. Colorful flags and sheets stretched out across the sky whilst nostalgic pieces stacked around the cobblestone. It was truly a sight.
And truly a pain in the mudsdale if you were just an indifferent mailgirl trying to deliver some packages.
"Excuse me -- Excuse -- I said move," Came the less than friendly tone of a girl a few inches taller than the average alolanite, and too pasty to be considered a local. She weaved in and out of people, juggling boxes in her arms while a small blue frog pawed just an inch behind her worn out shoes. The soles were thin enough that they burned when they hit the cobblestone, so she made little grunts of dismay as she walked briskly, albeit awkwardly, simply trying to reach her destination -- the Pokemon Center.
Glass doors slid open, a small electronic noise alerting the staff to her presence.
"Delivery!" Called the taller girl, huffing dramatically as she finally dropped all the boxes at the foot of the receptionist desk.
"Oh my, rough day, Luna?" Giggled Joy, who directed her Chansey to grab the boxes.
"As any other," Luna responded, fanning herself and the drop of perspiration forming on her forehead.
Joy continued, "It's crowded out there -- I'm happy to be in here, with air conditioning and few patients."
Another nurse called out, "Just wait until the contest battles start! We'll be drowning in kids crying over burns!"
"Why don't you let that froakie of yours join? I hardly see him do anything," Joy commented, gesturing down to the little blue frog who remained uninterested as ever. He offered her a wayward glance before returning to his daily stare down the inanimate object.
"That's because he doesn't do anything," Luna sighed, peering down at him with disappointment. "Maybe he's disabled. Or deaf."
"Maybe you just don't have what it takes to train a pokemon," Luna snapped her head at a taunting kid approaching the desk, a loyal growlithe at his side.
"What the heck do you know? You're a fetus."
"I have a trial badge!" He waved it in her face, proudly. "I know more than you!"
"Did you attend the trainers school?" She asked snidely.
"Who needs some stupid school when you can just go on a journey!"
Luna scoffed, before taking Joys's payment and pushed off the desk. She tucked her hands and the earned pay in her pocket, half of which was going back to the post office, but the other half was hers. She supposed now was as good a time as any to eat. But she stopped just shy of the doors and thought, what the heck do I eat in a place this big? Using the thoughts of food to cover up the fact she was quite bothered by the undermining of her several years at school in comparison to a stupid trainers journey. Her eyes glazed over as she stared out the glass doors, at the massive swerving crowds and colors and scents and -- she just stood there, probably in someone's way.
