Steven let out a loose yawn. He didn't think there was much left for him at the festival and proceeded to head home and tuck in for the night. The trainers had a long journey ahead of them so they were going to need all of the rest they could get. Though when the first thunderous boom of the ritual drums were struck, Tyrogue and Pancham tugged at their trainer's legs and directing his attention to the direction it came from. What was exactly happening? Steven and his Pokemon ran back to find out.<br/><br/>It was indeed another performance of some sort and Steven arrived just as the bonfire's flame reached the peak of its intensity. He immediately took note about how the entire village seemed to be involved in the performance so Steven did what he could to make sure he didn't interrupt it in anyway, by simply observing from the furthest ends of the crowd. Though with all the movement, it did get a little difficult to understand who was where.<br/><br/>Steven's Pokemon had a better view of the events, for they took turns hanging on top of his shoulders, and did what they could do to describe the events to him. Just as they told him somebody was being brought out, Steven's attention was primarily focused on the robed Aiko. And just as she walked forward from along the platform she was brought in upon, everyone knelt down before her as if the princess has just returned from absence. Steven would eventually kneel down along with the rest of the villagers upon seeing he was one of the very few who wasn't like the confused foreigner. Even if Steven had only been within this village for only a couple of days, it still felt very embarrassing to be unable to partake in such events properly. His Pokemon would soon kneel down along with him.<br/><br/>They kept themselves knelt, listening to the chanting and the drum banging, not being able to think much about what it all meant, but it felt invigorating nonetheless. Then, silence. Everything had just stopped in place and Steven instinctively lifted his head upon feeling a sudden gust of wind only to find... a spirit floating among the villagers? No, definitely a Pokemon of some sort. Steven could only look up at it with a fierce look as it threatened the population that worshiped it. As it disappeared back into the forest, Steven whispered to his Pokemon,<b><span style="color: Teal">"Pancham, Tyrogue, go fill up buckets of water, a lot of them."</span></b>The two Pokemon nodded and ran off looking for said items. The onsen was the first place they had decided to search.<br/><br/>Steven didn't necessarily know what emergencies to expect when falling out of favor to a god, but with the bonfire still burning strongly. He was most worried about that spreading.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>