Previously on Oranges to Grapes: The Tree of Masks...

After the Kitakami Flying Taxi returns Samuel and the Pomegranetes to Mossui Town (and they change outfits into jinbei), the group heads out to the Festival of Masks where the next signboard is...

-

As the group made the uphill climb up Reveler's Road, Pico saw some residents that were also wearing jinbei, but in different colors than they were. "Looks like we're not the only ones excited for the festival," he commented.

"And why wouldn't they be?" Samuel boasted. "The Festival of Masks is a highly celebrated occasion here in the land of Kitakami, even before they got the legend correct. We've got flashy lights, fried noodles, candied fruits, shaved ice, ice cream cones-"

All that food listing was starting to make Balto drool, panting heavily with his tongue lolling out. "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh-"

"Balto?" Camilla asked, but the husky was still in his trance. "Balto?" she tried again, but still no response. Finally, with a loud clap- "BALTO!"

"AIPE!" the startled canine yipped, snapped out of his spell. "AH! Ow, I bit my tongue!"

"Serves you right for almost slobbering on your borrowed suit," Camilla chided.

"Oh, leave him alone, Cammie, he wasn't hurting anyone," Samuel retorted. "Besides, I was listing off things that were whetting his appetite, so if anyone should be sorry, it's me."

"You're right," the female bunny relented.

"Don't worry, Balto," Sammy said soothingly. "Once we get to the festival, I'll buy you some ice cream to help soothe that bite. Would that help you feel better?"

"Yeah," Balto replied. "Yeah, it would. Thanks, Samuel."

Pico, however, raised an eyebrow at that. "Can't Balto get his own ice cream?"

"Pico, don't be rude," Camilla scolded.

"And here we are!" Samuel announced, just as the group approached the entrance to Kitakami Hall, guarded by two Hisuian Growlithe statues.

"This is the Festival of Masks?" the lizard questioned. "Looks a lot more sparse than I thought."

"No, Pico," Camilla said. "This is the tall flight of stairs we have to climb to get to the Festival of Masks, you bope."

"Yeah, yeah," Pico muttered. "It's always the point before, and I'm always the bope."

"Oh, right," Samuel said, "I didn't get a chance to say some of the other things the festival has. There's also the popular festival game, Ogre Offering!"

"Footnote," Camilla added, "it used to be called Ogre Ousting before the correction."

"And, of course," the male bunny tacked on, "what's a Festival of Masks without... well, souvenir masks for you to wear?" After chuckling at his own quip, he said, "But that's not even the best part. This year, we've even got a stage performance that shows the legend in action, performed by our own acting company spearheaded by the caretaker!"

"Que lindo," Pico commented. "I guess a lot can change in four years, huh?"

"And it's all at the top of those stairs, so let's get climbing!"

-

One walk up the stairs later.

-

"See, what did I tell you?" Balto huffed as the top step was reached. "Climbing tall flights of stairs is nothing new to us... and niether is uphill roads before them."

"But people usually take those walks the first time," Camilla clarified, "and after that, they just take the Flying Taxi there and back if they can."

"So it's a good thing they have all that here in Kitakami, too," Pico said.

"That's not all we have," Samuel said before adding with a flourish, "Behold! The Festival of Masks!"

Sure enough, what the Pomegranetes witnessed were food stalls and souvenir stands as far as the eye could see, and as the sun was starting to set, the torches and lanterns filled Kitakami Hall with their beautiful glow. Meanwhile, the smell of fried noodles wafting from the nearby flat-top grill got Balto drooling again. "Oh, that smells so good..." But the husky shook his head and said, "But I was promised ice cream for my bit tongue, so that's what I'll get."

"Good catch," Camilla said, happy that her friend wasn't succumbing to animal instinct.

"I, on the other hand," Pico interjected, "don't have any priors, so I'm going for the noodles." He then broke from the group and said at the noodle stand, "One order of fried noodles, please."

"Coming right up!" As the lizard waited patiently for his order, the bunnies and husky continued on through the festival. Once they reached the mask display, they saw what was available for purchase: Pikachu and Eevee masks, but also new ones based on Ogerpon's real masks, as well as the Lousy Three's faces in scary emotions. "Get your souvenir masks here!" the peddler announced. "And be sure to keep an eye out for some of these in our stage show tonight!"

The three passed the masks and continued on, when- "Ooh, they have it! Green candy apples!" Camilla squeed.

That got Samuel saying, "Ah, some things never change. Still prefer the green apples over the red, eh Cammie?"

"Aren't green apples sour, though?" Balto asked.

"What?" Camilla questioned. "I like sour foods on occasion, so what?"

"No one's saying that's a bad thing," Samuel responded in defense. "You do you, cousin."

"Okay, I will," the fem lapine scoffed before she approached the candied fruit stand. "One green candied apple, please."

"Here you go," the vendor said before handing Camilla her treat, leaving Balto and Samuel to themselves.

"Okay, Balto," Samuel told the husky, "real talk, I can still get you your ice cream for you if you want, but if you'd rather get your own, I won't object. I can just get myself some shaved ice. I'm just enjoying the company here."

"Oh. Okay," Balto said with a smile on his muzzle before heading for the ice cream stand on his own, leaving Samuel to head for the shaved-ice stand and purchase a blue island flavored one.

With everyone having gotten their treats, the group headed over to the benches to sit down and enjoy what they bought. "So, how's everyone enjoying the festival so far?" Samuel asked between spoonfuls.

"So far, so good," Pico admitted. "But we're just getting started, and I'd like to try a round of that Ogre Offering game before the day's over."

"I kind of want to watch that stage show coming up," Balto said.

"First things first, though," Camilla interjected. "We still have an assignment to complete, so we really need to get to that signboard, then we can do the fun... after we finish our treats, that is."

"Good idea," the boys agreed, and eventually the group was left with a greasy box, an empty, wet cup, a paper wrapper and a bare stick, which was all consolidated and disposed of properly. The four then got up, climbed the stairs and veered off the path, stepping through the white gravel before coming to a second signboard at the guard railing. Samuel then stepped forward and read the words etched in the wood...

"Ogerpon possessed four mysterious, glimmering masks. It is said that depending on the mask Ogerpon donned, the powers of her cudgel would change. When wearing the teal mask, she could bring life back into withered greenery around her. When wearing the crimson mask, she could turn a candle's flame into a raging inferno. When wearing the blue mask, she could stop the very flow of a river. When wearing the ashen gray mask, she could easily break the hardest stone in two. Before Pecharunt and his retainers were punished for their crimes, they managed to steal three of Ogerpon's masks, greatly weakening her."

"Whoa," Balto remarked. "Powerful stuff."

"Yeah, well, cards on the table here," Samuel said, "this was the one they edited the least after the correction."

"So, when the time to replace the signboards came," Pico pondered, "they looked at this one and said, 'Oh, that's cool, we'll leave most of that the way it is?'"

"Pretty much," Camilla said as she got her Rotom Phone out again, prepped the timer and set the camera. "Now, everybody gather for the photo!"

As the Pomegranetes gathered in front of the signboard for the photo, Samuel stayed out of the shot, but his bunny ears picked up a rustling in the grass outside of the guard rails. "What was that?" he asked himself, but when he turned his head to see, there was nothing there. "That's odd..."

-

Meanwhile, back in Paldea, Ko was just returning to his Academy dorm from another successful jam sale day around the region, and with no trouble from the first customer that time. "Whew! Another great day of selling Bubba Ko's Jam has come and gone!" the bear said as he closed the door. "Which means Dire- Whoops! I mean, Clive, got another wad o' cash to turn over to the Academy Expansion Fund!" He then sighed and said, "But still, I can't help but feel sad about how I made the lottery drawing turn out... I hope Garibosh isn't still seething about me nabbing his crutches and all." But then he shrugged and said, "Ah, well, he's all the way in another land outside of the region. It'll probably blow over."

-

However, Gari was still back at the rec center, being supervised by Briar because she didn't feel comfortable leaving a student on crutches to his own devices. But, sooner or later, he had to get back to the assignment because he couldn't spend the whole trip stuck in a room...

-

To be continued.