Quick one shot that's based on a true story. I was in the Wi-Fi plaza with my friend for the first time today and this is what went down, with a little dramatisation, of course. All names have been changed for privacy purposes. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor Nintendo.
"Welcome to the Wi-Fi Plaza!" the overly enthusiastic worker greeted happily. A young girl walked up to the desk and smiled faintly. "Every guest is loaned a Tap Toy. Here's yours!" the receptionist smiled, shoving a small plastic bag into the girl's hands. Through the packaging a metal object could be felt. "By the way, what is your type today? Would you like to define yourself with two types?" The worker placed a survey on the counter.
"Uhm… No, it's okay," the girl said.
"I hope you will enjoy your stay to the end." Another plastered on smile was flashed, before the receptionist's attention was turned to another customer. The girl walked away quickly.
As she stood underneath the double archway, her eyes were amazed at how awash with colour the square was. The red cobblestone floor and scarlet runners sent a shot of excitement through her veins. In front, were four large statues of fire-type pokemon: Charmander, Torchic, Cyndaquil and Chimchar. The festive music blared loudly over the sounds of laughter, and the dinging and bleeping of the games.
Bzzzz. Still a little dizzy from using the teleportation pad, it took a moment for the girl to located her phone in her pocket.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Charlotte! Are you here?" a voice laughed from the other end of the phone line.
"Yeah, I am. Where are you? I can't see you." Charlotte said, plugged her other ear with her finger, to hear her friend better.
"I'm waiting to play Swalot Plop! I just talked to this guy called Ian; he took my tap toy and just left. It was really rude. What tap toy did you get?"
"I haven't checked yet," she murmured.
"Well, check. But I have to go, the game's about to start!"
"Rachel, wait-"
"BYE!" The call went dead. Charlotte put her phone back into her pocket and ripped open the plastic bag. Clang. A little silver bell fell to the ground. Picking it up, Charlotte noticed the pink strap attached. She put the packaging into her other pocket and tied the bell to her wrist. It made a small jingle when she shook her hand.
Charlotte quickly realised that although the Wi-Fi plaza was exciting, there was very little to do there. So she methodically went through the activities. First she wandered over to the large globe in the corner, it seemed a little abandoned, but she thought it was fascinating. After awhile she became thirsty, and bought a drink from a vendor with a rather curious looking moustache. Then, she discovered what was called the Footprint Board. She was given small pots of paints and stamps to use on a large, blank canvas; it produced rather strange effects when the users prints were crossed. Charlotte began to wonder whither it had anything to do with the drink she had had. She subsequently met up with Rachel and they somehow lost each other within a span of two minutes, but she found Rachel playing a game called 'Mime Jr. Top' with a girl from Japan. So she decided to wait.
"Hello," someone said, putting their hand on Charlotte's shoulder. She had been amusing herself by bobbling one of the Chimchar statues heads near the back of the plaza.
"Hello," she smiled, turning around. The boy in question was just a little shorter than her, and had a playful gleam in his eyes, the trainer card affixed to his chest read 'Daniel'.
"Do you have a moment?" he asked. Charlotte went to open her mouth, but he kept talking. "I see you have a Bell 01. I have a Cymbals 02... Can I have it?"
"No, it's mine," she said, shaking her head. Daniel smirked.
"Thanks!" he grabbed the small bell and yanked it from her wrist, snapping the strap.
"What the f-?"
"I'll talk to you another time!" he snickered, shoving Charlotte sharply in the shoulders. She screamed as she fell backwards, into the statues. When she stood up, Daniel was gone. Getting to her knees she looked up to see if anybody would run after the thief or at least help her up. No one batted an eyelid; instead they carried on having fun. Wiping away an angry tear, she got up and limped over to the nearest chair. She wasn't furious, per se, but she was slightly fond of the bell and her back hit the statue awfully hard.
"Charlotte?" Rachel asked, walking over from the directions of the game. "What's wrong?"
"Some douche bag stole my Tap Toy and knocked me over," she gruffly mumbled.
"Yeah, that happened to me too. Just go back and tell the lady up front. She'll give you a new one."
Charlotte nodded, and stood up, ignoring the throbbing in her back.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Rachel said softly.
"Nah, I'll meet up with you soon, okay?" She didn't want to interrupt her friend's fun, so she hobbled back to the Welcome Desk. The same lady was behind the counter.
"Back so soon? Oh… I see you don't have a Tap Toy." The woman flashed the whiteness of her teeth. "Here you go. I hope you will enjoy your stay to the end." With another small plastic bag in hand, Charlotte was simply dismissed. She thought it rather annoying that she didn't even get a chance to speak, but thought no more of it as the lights unexpectedly started to go down. She took a step forward. The festal tunes coming from the surrounding speakers became replaced with exhilarating drum beats, and the lights continued to drop. Everyone became hushed. Someone grabbed Charlotte's arm and yanked her backwards, a split second later sparks shot precipitously from the exact spot she had been standing on, along with from other locations in the plaza. Charlotte turned to see who saved her, but as the ginger and garnet fireworks lit the room, she could see no one behind her. She let out a gasp and a small smile of gratitude for her unseen saviour. The occupants of the square let out sighs of awe, as the orange and red sparks changed to a more stunning shade of gold and amber.
"Quick!" Rachel said, suddenly appearing beside Charlotte. She let her hand be taken and dragged somewhere else.
"What's happening?" Charlotte asked, worried at her friend's urgency.
"A parade! Now!" She babbled. Charlotte's eyes lit up.
"Really? Where?"
"The back of the room. C'mon!" The two raced to the fenced off area at the very back of the plaza.
"I'm going over there to see it higher up. Coming?" Rachel said, bubbling with excitement.
"No. I want to stay here. This is where they'll come out from." Rachel ran off, leaving Charlotte at the fence with a scattered amount of people. The music was rising to a climax, and spotlights shone on the road behind the fence. And although her trip to the Plaza wasn't exactly blissful, Charlotte decided that this was turning out to be rather fun. Her logic was that parades make everything better, which was a reasonably good point.
An orange light shone from tunnel at the end of the road nearest Charlotte, and a vivid, dazzling Torchic float emerged from the darkness. The music, and the lights, and the sounds of cheering and laughter made everything blur into a colourful haze of exultant stupor. Another Torchic float drifted by after the first, and Charlotte giggled along with the crowd. She turned to see Rachel climbing onto the first float with a couple more people; she waited for another float to come along so she could do the same. A few seconds later a magnificent Charizard float erupted from the tunnel. Charlotte clambered aboard. Through the din she noticed her phone was buzzing. With one hand on the back of the Charizard, she answered the call.
"Hello?" she shouted over the noise.
"Charlotte!" Rachel bellowed. Charlotte looked down to Rachel's Torchic; she was jumping up and down, making the float sway a little.
"THIS IS AMAZING!" Charlotte said gleefully. Rachel nodded energetically.
"I wonder where it will take us!" She said, as her ride entered into the other dark tunnel. Charlotte waited to hear what happens on the other side.
"Charlotte!" Rachel said, somewhat urgently.
"W-what?" She laughed, watching the float in front of hers go into the darkness too.
"Charlotte! Get off the float now!" Rachel shouted. Charlotte looked around confusedly.
"What? Why?"
"It disconnects your Wi-Fi! Get off the float! IT DISCONNECTS YOUR WI-FI!" she cried.
"NO!" Charlotte screamed. She rushed to the exit… but it was too late. She had passed the last gateway. She panicked, all she could do was to stand there and wait. She took her last looks at the warmly decorated plaza, as her float slowly became covered in darkness…
Disconnecting from Wi-Fi. Please wait.