[ Lookie here, check out this gorgeous view of the sea. The way the water is so clear and the sun shining brightly down on it. It seems like the perfect day for a swim and the perfect day to be outside, especially on the beach. Those by the Cianwood and Olivine beach should get out right now and sit right there, just like what the good old Professor Layton is doing.

Sitting on a nicely placed mat, he seems to be in a good mood as usual. His Ninetales is sitting right next to him, nudging her head towards him, asking for pets. He gladly delivers them, all the while looking at the Pokegear that he has started up. ]

It is August 22nd already? A year does pass us by quite quickly, doesn't it? To think that I have already been in Johto for a year and of all days that I have arrived on. I suppose today is the day of two anniversaries.

[ Two anniversaries? Shouldn't it be just one and the one that marks his year stay in Johto? Well, the Professor hasn't said anything about it, but today is actually his birthday! Huh, how funny to arrive on that day of all days. So, that means that he's actually now thirty-nine years old now, but not like anyone will know. He hasn't really been talking about his birthday since it's not terribly important. You'll just have to deal with trying to figure out what he means by "two anniversaries". ]

It always strikes me curiously odd that I have arrived in Johto on this date and when I have first arrived here with Claire, my Ninetales and originally a Vulpix back then, I have never thought that I'll be here for an entire twelve months. Since then, I have adjusted well to this world and the many different people. I will have to personally give my thanks to everyone that has helped me during this time period.

Therefore, I will thank everyone by bringing back the chance to exchange your picarats for prizes. For anyone new to my picarat system, picarats are a type of point system that I use. They determine how difficult a puzzle is; the easiest being 10 and the hardest 99. When you solve the puzzle, you earn the amount of picarats that was assigned to that puzzle. However, if you get the answer incorrectly, the amount drops little by little. If it drops too much, I will stop it at a certain number. This is just my little way of distributing points to those who are kind enough to solve my puzzles. You may then exchange these picarats for prizes, such as now.

I have stocked up on new prizes just this morning, so please do ask if I have anything available and I will check for you. [ See those two giant bags behind him? Yeah, they're filled with different things such as supplies, food, clothes, all that! They're bags of everything! ]

I will be sending these prizes off with my Noctowl to bring to you. If you are interested in solving a few puzzles of mine to earn more picarats, then do not hesitate to ask. This whole double-anniversary has actually reminded me of a puzzle, so please do give this a try. This is a fairly easy one and will be only worth 15 picarats:

"A man is four times as old as his daughter. In 20 years time, he shall be twice as old as her. How old are they now?"

[ Easy 15 picarats right there, guys! Go go gooo. ]

(( ooc: tags will be slow since I'm packing up today and leaving back to my hometown tomorrow. Sorry for this guys, and also, for that Mix 'N' Match meme, I have gotten requests from different people that the deadline will be extended to include the newcomers. Therefore, the deadline is midnight EST today! Make sure you get all your characters in and I will then post up the matched pairs sometime after midnight! Thanks, guys! ))