Don’t worry about the future.

[mansionstaff]

Who: EV ERY ONE
What: Graduation. Prom.
When: The evening of May 31st.
Where: The Stadium.
Warnings: WHO KNOWS

It's a beautiful spring evening at Smash Academy, the barest hints of summer just beginning to touch the stadium floor, which had been rearranged into a platform overlooking neat rows of chairs meant to seat the gathered crowd of faculty and students. Towards the other end of the complex was the arrangement for the prom that was to follow. Food and drink, chairs and tables, each with a floral centerpiece, and, of course, a dance floor.



Before everyone could get their party on, however, there was the main event of the evening. From his place at the podium, Master Hand watched students and staff alike find their way into the stadium. With the recent shadow bug invasion, there seemed to be tensions in need of dispelling. If the Headmaster knew one thing, however, it was that some silly antics were not going to ruin this esteemed event. Not tonight. Not if he could help it.

-------

HEY DUDES! Here's how stuff is going to work. We kick off the log with GRADUATION. This part of the log will be divided into separate threads. I'll post them all at once, so feel free to hop around, mingle, post whenever, wherever.

HOWEVER, once the PROM starts, it will be up to you guys to post your own threads. Please check out last year's log if you'd like an idea of how this works. Everything after the thread titled "DISMISSAL" (I will post that in a bit, so don't post prom threads until I have that up!) will be considered prom, though don't let that stop you from continuing to post in the graduation section.

Please label all your threads appropriately! (Examples: "SHENANIGANS AT THE FOOD TABLE", "DANCE-OFF", "THE PUNCH IS SPIKED", "BOTHER X" In general, a location + what is going on in the thread is the way to go. Obviously, more than one thread can take place at the same location. 

Linking back and forth when and if you thread hop is very much appreciated. If things start to look a bit laggy, we'll bump to the next page. Most importantly, TAG YOUR DUDES, HAVE FUN, and let a mod know about any problems or concerns you might have!

Comments

[lightyearsaway]

"Right, uh..."

He vaguely remembered something like that. Omastar seemed to be satisfied with the hug in the meantime, giving Max's beautiful pec a friendly tentacle-pat as he clambered off the giant tank of a man and onto Brock's shoulder, the gym leader shifting his weight to accommodate the Pokemon.

"I left maybe two...ish years ago?"

[tank_rockarms]

"Yeah, I was just startin' that back then," said Max. "What was goin' on durin' that time is sorta fuzzy sometimes. Been doin' a lot of that, I guess. Teachin' class. Gettin' huge. What about you?"

[lightyearsaway]

"Oh, uh, you know."

Planning a wedding. Having wedding plans interrupted by the League.

"Running the gym, spending time with my family."

HAVING WEDDING PLANS INTERRUPTED BY THE LEAGUE.

[tank_rockarms]

"You've got, like, twenty brothers or somethin' right?" Max asked. "What about your girlfriend, Erika? You still seein' her?"

[lightyearsaway]

"Nine. I mean, I have five brothers. Four sisters." There were not quite twenty of them, but it was a good guess, Max. "There are ten of us total."

Which was still way too many, but at least they were getting older, now, and there was a lot to be said for the inverse relationship between sibling age/autonomy and Brock's stress levels. The oldest after him was holding down the gym, even.

Erika, however, was a bit of a complicated issue--not that there was ever any doubt that the wedding would happen, just that a wrench had been thrown in the works and Brock looked a little embarrassed about it.

"Erika...Erika's great." If not a little cheesed off at the current situation, but hey, he was too--just a touch less overtly. "We're, uh. We're getting married, actually?"

[tank_rockarms]

"Married?" said Max, his eyes sparkling with wonder. "For real?"

Do you need a best man? Do you? Do you want Max to be your best man? Max would make a great best man.

[lightyearsaway]

"Yeah, for real."

Brock didn't understand what that look meant. There was like a half-dozen person line for the best man position at Brock's wedding.

[tank_rockarms]

"So, did you come back to get something... for the wedding?" Max asked, still with that beautiful sparkle.

[lightyearsaway]

This is the face of someone who still did not understand.

"No, uh, I'm doing some research for Professor Oak."

And he was not bitter about that at all.

[tank_rockarms]

"Oh," said Max, the light in his eyes dying out.

"Do you need some help with your research? Or anything else?" Like a wedding?

[lightyearsaway]

"I mean, if you know anything about Mega Evolution..."

Probably Max didn't, though. Brock shrugged.

"Probably not."

[tank_rockarms]

"Nah, I don't know anything about that," said Max.

But then, an idea struck him.

"Hey. How long until your wedding? You set a date yet? Close up or far off?"

[lightyearsaway]

"Well, it's uh...soon. But kind of on hold for a little bit."

For the aforementioned research.

"Do you want to come? I can send you an invite."

[tank_rockarms]

"Number one, yes," said Max, "and number two, are we talkin' you've got a wedding in like a month, or six months? What's soon?"

[lightyearsaway]

"Six months," he replied, though it was kind of an estimate, at this point--who knew when he would be released from the clutches of Professor Oak's whims? All details, of course, that he didn't really plan on going into right now. "It'll all be on the invitation."

Along with tiny geodudes and oddishes, probably.

[tank_rockarms]

"Alright," said Max, clapping Brock on the shoulder with his mighty palm. "I know what I'm gettin' you for your wedding."

He looked Brock deep in the eyes. "You're gettin' ripped."

[lightyearsaway]

"Uh..."

Brock shared a knowing glance with Omastar. He was clearly trying to think of the best way to put it. "Actually, let me give you a link to our wedding registry."

There was a stand mixer that he really wanted.

[tank_rockarms]

"Nah," said Max. "That sorta stuff's boring. This. This is a gift for everybody. You want your wife to look at you after you take your shirt off on the weddin' night and go 'Oh.' or do you want her to go 'Oh!'?"

There was the tiniest of pauses.

"You want the second one."

[lightyearsaway]

"She does...do the second one," said Brock, who very suddenly felt conscious of his pectorals.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but the stuff on our wedding registry is practical. It's things we need. There's a really great stand mixer on it that we picked out together."

[tank_rockarms]

"Anybody can get you a stand mixer," said Max. "But, imagine some snot-nosed kid walkin' into your pokemon gym with a, a, a caterpie and a bubbleturtle and he tries to challenge you and you rip your shirt off and you say 'Beatin' me's gonna be BROCK HARD, 'cause my pokemon are as chiseled as I am' and then you put rock snake guy on your back and you squat him a couple times."

Max was working himself up just imagining it.

"Kid probably pees his pants and runs out to get a new pair of comfy shorts. Tentacle-guy wants to see that," said Max, appealing to Tentacle-guy.

[lightyearsaway]

"What if I want you to get me the stand mixer."

Brock was clearly growing desperate, trying to avoid becoming Max's latest pet project. All of this sounded terribly frightening, to him. It needed to be stopped.

[tank_rockarms]

Vinnie's gone. Max needs a new pet project. Other than Sonny.

"What about a blender?" Max asked, suddenly.

[lightyearsaway]

"Uh, sure, we could use a blender."

Even if he really wanted the stand mixer...

[tank_rockarms]

"Great, you're gonna need one for all the protein shakes you're gonna be drinkin' when you're ripped," said Max. He held his fist up for a fist bump.

Don't leave him hanging.

[lightyearsaway]

Brock left Max hanging.