003 ⟡ MAY TEST DRIVE

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ test drive 03 ✩⋆

The day begins like any other.

Routines, eventful scenes, and boring errands — no matter what you were in the middle of, there's a moment where everything begins to feel wrong. A searing pain tears through your body, so intense that it feels like every nerve has been struck at once. Muscles spasm, joints scream in protest, and as you double over, you find yourself clawing or clinging at anything within your reach. As your attempts to maintain composure fail you, your bones begin to twist with an agonizing force, the pain rising in a crescendo until it becomes unbearable to even breathe. Then, as quickly as it began, everything stops.

For a single, terrifying moment, there's nothing. No sight, no sound, no touch, no taste, no smell — just the weight of nothingness swallowing you whole. The absence of sensation might even be worse than the pain, leaving you adrift in a void you can't escape. Hopelessness threatens every fiber of your existence, and try as you might to fight it, your darkest thoughts begin to surface, flooding your mind in an onslaught of suffocating feelings and ideas.

In the darkness, you hear a voice.

It's faint, a gentle flashing of something warm along the edges of your mind, like sunlight itself. It's a voice, but you can't identify who or what it comes from, how it sounds, or what it means — still, you know it's directed at you. Something tugs at your heart, a powerful ache that throbs once and ripples outwards. You can feel the aches again, like fresh sores throughout your body. You feel off, like something isn't quite right, like you're not where you should be, or who you should be. But the voice continues, whispered just beyond your understanding. The sound is warm like hope, and it wraps around you, distant yet intent, before you wake up.

i. arrivals

FROM TUNNELS DEEP

The scent of must meets your nostrils, perhaps more strongly than it normally would. To open your eyes is to meet the dark — though if you're fortunate it could be that something about this new body, or perhaps the body of another, leaves some faint illumination to see by. Either way it soon becomes clear that where you are is somewhere underground. They are deep and sprawling tunnels, with corners of some unknown civilization storied away in their many carvings and ruined pottery. Portions of the cavern walls even bear the appearance of old structures and dwellings, as if the earth itself swallowed a city whole.

Trickling through the tunnels in quiet streams are tendrils of fog. It's difficult to see, but not in the least hard to feel. The mist is damp and cloying, clinging to every inch it finds on you to the point that it seems to grasp at the very soul; and the longer one lets it have its way, the worst it feels. You begin to question your body. Your mind. Your very memories — are they really yours?

Staying underground may be unwise anyway. Diglett and Dugtrio soon make themselves known to the weary arrivals here, and unlike these newcomers they have had far too long to succumb to the mist. They will attack without hesitation, and the only options are to fight or flee above ground.

The forest above unfortunately is not much better. The fog here is thick, even if some light somehow makes its way through the canopy above. What could have once been helpful landmarks become sources of dizzying misunderstanding, and the gnarled trees seem to move when no one watches. Rescuers from the city will have their work cut out for them once it becomes clear how many could be stranded out there, and time will be of the essence. The sooner that these wanderers can be brought to the clinic to be treated, the better!

CAUGHT IN THE BRAIN FOG

⟡ While the fog does not cause illness specifically, it is still incredibly dangerous to spend extended periods of time within it. Disorientation, hallucination, as well as mental and physical dysphoria are all symptoms noted from the fog and it is vital to remove oneself from its presence. Fortunately, the symptoms fade quickly once exposure ends.

⟡ The severity of the above varies; characters may feel that time is moving too quickly, or simply become incredibly aware of their inhuman limbs. Players may increase or decrease symptoms as they desire, at this time.

⟡ In addition to the above symptoms, memories become scattered across characters in the fog. The longer one remains within it, the more memory they lose to it — and the more foreign memories they gain. Players are encouraged to offer memories within their top-levels for others to use, but unlike other symptoms, characters need to come in contact with the memory's source to be free of them.

⟡ As many within Bottlecap Bay can guess, the location of all of this is the Southern Forest; which means all the dangers discovered in earlier quests apply. In addition to the disorienting fog, this particular branch of forest is rife with time and space distortions, making it difficult to navigate safely through.

ii. under the weather

RAIN RAIN, GO AWAY

The first thing anyone will notice as the month of May truly sets in, is the rain. Light or heavy, sunny or cloudy, a near constant rain pours down upon Bottlecap Bay and its surrounding areas. There's no escaping it; it pours, and it pours, and it pours ever long, until it becomes impossible to do even basic tasks outside one's dwelling without getting soaked to the bone.

While it's not unusual to receive rain at this time of the year, the amount of rain is unnatural according to the Guild Leaders. To ensure no one suffers any more than they already have, all three are quick to open their doors to these new Pokemon in their midst. Or at least, they're quick to offer other foreigner's doors. Pokemon who originated from other worlds soon find themselves with new bunkmates and housemates, and with the rain as bad as it is there’s no good way to refuse.

It's best to remain in similar company after all, and until there’s time to sort out who fits where, it’s all these newcomers have.

RAIN CHECK

⟡ Though the epidemic from earlier in the year has now passed over, Dr. Denne does not let his guard down. New pokemon are herded to the clinic for mandatory check-ups, to be absolutely safe. The clinic will house pokemon exhibiting any sign of illness, but otherwise send them off to rest in their temporarily assigned housing.

⟡ Unfortunately, many of the offered Guild rooms belong to those recently admitted into the fold. At these lower tiers, rooms are often exposed to incoming water. Rain causes floods to rise up within Oran Guild, bringing at least an inch of rainwater along the shared ground. In the Cheri Guild, it pours between leaves and over walls during particularly stormy weather. The only guild with surefire methods to avoid the rain is Lum Guild; all of these buildings are fully enclosed.

⟡ Even if Pokemon are able to avoid getting wet while sleeping, this won’t spare them when they go outside; it is at minimum drizzling at all times for the rest of the month.

THE WATER CYCLE

While Pokemon begin to settle into their new lives at Bottlecap Bay, the rain continues to fall. On some days it’s harder — hard enough to bring sheets thick enough to blot vision, sharp enough to leave unprotected pelts stinging for minutes after retreating inside. Thunder booms, and lightning flashes, a clear message to all within the city when they see it. These storms are bad. Dangerous. And the danger is in more than just the weather itself.

At first the signs are subtle. Those same symptoms from the forest can be felt, lasting only as long as a Pokemon is damp from the downpour outside. Even the gentle drizzle causes absent thoughts, an empty mind staring into the distant grey skies as you forget.

Staring longer still, as you remember. But is what you're remembering actually yours? Something about the concentration of forest mist in the form of raindrops changes the effects as the days go by. The body and mind rebel against what it knows doesn't belong, and it finally comes bursting out with a shout! Those memories you've seen, they aren't yours! They're someone else's!

And the world needs to hear it!

STORMY MOODS

⟡ After May 10th, the rain for the rest of the month is constant. Severity of the downpour is up to the player to decide, but it never stops drizzling at the least.

⟡ While symptoms from earlier prompts can still be in effect, additional consequences are caused by the rain. Light drizzle carries lighter memories; happier thoughts, caring moments. Pokemon capturing these from the rain are drawn to quietly whisper their opinions on such memories, and can pass them to the original owner in this way. Raging storms bring the opposite; Pokemon will inherit despairing, or wrathful memories from another in the rain, and feel compelled to instead shout their opinions to cast the memory aside.

⟡ Despite the above, Pokemon do not need to pass the memory to their original owner to get rid of them. NPCs can be used as well, and it can be assumed the memory eventually made its way home.

⟡ Side effects of the rain carry over into any puddles formed. Sleeping while soaked in water will cause effects to manifest as sleep-talk, and potentially affect their dreams.

iii. the archives

RECORDS KEEPING

The longer the rainfall persists, the more clear it is that staying outside is unwise. Not only is it dangerous to non-water type Pokemon's health for the most part, but the full scope of side effects only increase the risks. After one too many shouting matches caused by vitriolic memories, Polteageist offers a simple but beneficial solution. The doors of the archives are opened up, as senior members in the Lum Guild offer up their time as temporary librarians.

Polteageist's solution is as follows; instead of training their bodies out in the rain, everyone will be training their brains. There have been many questions raised over the last number of weeks, and now is the time for everyone to investigate the mysteries. Entering the Archives means entering a building of clear splendor, filled with couches and beanbags for sitting and beautiful flowers and plants to accentuate the green hues within the halls. The shelves are well stocked with records kept on stone tablets, and the additional guides within the guild are eager to help everyone find what they're looking for.

The illustrious leader of the Lum Berries is well aware however, that not everyone is willing to spend all their time reading. As it would be counterproductive to expect anyone to sit twiddling their thumbs (or tails, or ears) he has thus arranged for a few of the archive meeting rooms to host additional activities. They are simple things; there's classes on recording writings properly in clay before firing, minor history lessons where newly arrived Pokemon can share in what many others already know, and even community building exercises. They're nothing like the escape rooms organized during the last two months, but they're good for passing the time.

And eventually, the rain will hopefully calm down. A few skilled Psychic Pokemon are offering their services to keep others dry until then however, at least so that everyone can get home safely.

SHUSH!

⟡ The Archives, while acting as the base of operations for the Lum Berries Guild, additionally acts as a library. Players are encouraged to come up with their own available texts within these halls, but should keep in mind that not all knowledge is publically available. If a player is unsure about whether or not something can be easily accessed, please comment about the topic under questions.

⟡ Examples of available topics include general folk tales and fairy tales (with examples given here), as well as non-fiction matters such as pokemon types, species, and moves. As a note, paradox pokemon and canonically synthetic pokemon such as Type: Null are not included.

⟡ The history of Bottlecap Bay is no different from what is noted within the game's premise; guild members teaching the history will explain that the settlement came about when a number of Pokemon escaped from human lands, seeking refuge where no humans could be found.

⟡ Players may be creative with team building exercises, provided they would not cause damage to their surroundings; examples include bonding activities such as 'two truths and a lie', '20 Questions', and even scavenger hunts within the public Archive limits. The focus is always upon getting to know one another.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ TDM CWS: body horror, disorientation, hallucinations, dysphoria

⟡ TDMs are game canon and act as events for the month they are posted.

⟡ New characters can link to their top level beneath the NEWBIE DIRECTORY

⟡ All new arrivals are not assigned to any one guild. However, if they participate in the Archive's bonding activities, they may receive a unique reward.

⟡ Remember that at least one thread for your application must come from the TDM! There is no comment minimum, but we will be looking for engagement, as well as for players and characters who take the time to delve into things like character thoughts, emotions, morality, and other deep themes. Take this time to engage with the setting as you would in game!

⟡ As a reminder, reserves and applications are permanently opened. Please see their respective pages for details on processing time.

⟡ Have any questions related to the TDM? Ask here! If your question is more general for the game, please make sure to direct it to the FAQ page instead. Thank you, and happy threading!

FULL NAVIGATION

Comments

UNDER THE WEATHER: YOURE GETTING ELECTRIC TRAUMA TWO, ELE- aw nawr the meme breaks

[seacub]

[[CW: Electrical Injury]]

[Emporio, ground type that he is, does not go zipping around excitedly into the rain. He does however, get caught rather tragically in a flash storm as the wind whips down and crashes into him, slamming the umbrella inside out and dousing him soundly with the waters of memory. Sparks are not unfamiliar to Emporio, sadly. Even the feeling of near death, of being alone and perhaps trapped...it's the shreds of triumph darting through it that help him to steady his footing and scramble for some cover before the water physically ruins him.

...But in the meantime, Technus encounters a very bizarre memory.

In a room, with bookshelves and red carpeting. There's a puddle on the floor. The cable to the computer sparks in it. It sits between the boy, and the door.

There's a lot of writing on the boy's arms, on the post-its over the monitor sides. Reminders, it looks like.

They're all reminders, every last one. And it becomes evident why, very soon.

Only three facts can be remembered; the door is over there. There is a need to get help. These instructions are important.

There are sparks.

(The fourth thing could not be remembered.)

(It loops. Constantly. Contact. Agony along arms that will one day be scarred. Recoil. A glance at instructions on a computer screen, and a realization-)

'I need to get to Jolyne. I need to give her this information. The door is over th-'

aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA]

[technusrulez]

[The agony in Emporio's memory is much stronger than anything Technus has ever felt. When Technus died, after all, the electric current had gone through his head, leading to a near-instant loss of consciousness.

He feels the pain as it loops, again and again and again, and he just starts laughing. It's as intense as he expected, and the rest of the memory barely registers.]

AHAHAHAHA!!! SO THAT IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!

[seacub]

[Well, at least someone's enjoying themselves! Emporio for his part, dizzily stumbles under an awning and stares into space for a minute.] Owww...

...D...did I just die...twice?

[He's not really sure what to call the whole thing that seemed to happen with...Technus? That must be Technus in the memories he glanced, probably...but he's not really sure how to describe what was going on whenever he lost to that other guy.

Ah well.

It feels like something is missing. Probably, something is, which he doesn't especially like.

Emporio tries to look around for where Technus might actually be, but he can't really find him.]

Oh man...

ope i shouldve given emporio a memory back in my message huh. at least you know dp already

[technusrulez]

BACKPACK BOY! ARE YOU OKAY?

[Technus swoops up to Emporio.]

laughs it's all good, i made it work

[seacub]

[OH!

The boy jumps, but sighs a bit in relief.] I'm...fine.

I uh... ...Have you been in the rain long? It's scattering people's memories, and I just saw something...I'm pretty sure wasn't mine?

[Understatement, but really he has no idea the best way to say 'hey our memories swapped'.]

[technusrulez]

I JUST WANTED TO BE OUT IN THE LIGHTNING STORM... BUT THE RAIN KEEPS MESSING WITH MY MEMORIES.

WAS THAT YOURS? THE ELECTROCUTION? IT WAS-

[He stops, mid-sentence, keeping himself from saying "it was glorious."]

[seacub]

Uh-huh...it's why most are staying inside, even the water types...

...Uh.

[Was the electrocution his? Even if he doesn't have the looping memories, he has the context before and after it to know what Technus is talking about. Even so, rather than grip the arms that show the resulting scars, he actually grabs at his shoulder while turning his gaze downward.

It can't be seen under the poncho, but if Technus saw fit to remember what he saw at the clinic, he will recall that there was another scar there. One deceptively small, and perfectly round. Hm.]

Y...yeah. Sorry- that one was...probably weird, wasn't it? The Stand that was being used against Hermana [...Sister??] and I was really good at its job...

[technusrulez]

EVERY MEMORY I HAVE GOTTEN FROM OTHER PEOPLE IS WEIRD.

[Technus leans forward, tapping Emporio on the head with his horn.]

...WAS IT A TIME LOOP OR SOMETHING?

[seacub]

Ah-!

[And there he goes, he's got it back...and Technus has whatever jumble Emporio experienced back. It probably feels like a clipshow.

The cubone shakes himself however, and then waggles a hand.] Not...quite?

It was more like a programming loop. [YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE RIGHT TECHNUS YEAH]

The Stand made it impossible to remember more than three new things at a time, as of the point of activating. For example...in the statement 'my hotdog has ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions', if you were under the effect of the stand, you'd constantly forget one of those four things. If you looked at a crowd of people, you'd only perceive three of them at once. And so on.

...So, I got stuck in a loop of 'commands'; the awareness of the danger would always be superseded by other thoughts about where I needed to go. And then the shock would happen, so those thoughts would get overwritten by the awareness of the pain, followed by the danger, followed by where I needed to go...

[The loop, thus, establishes itself.]

It didn't break until Jolyne got into the room.

[technusrulez]

[I was imagining what Emporio got from Technus being like a montage of every time Technus got thermos'd based on how you described it-]

...OY. THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE.

AT LEAST IT IS OVER NOW?

[seacub]

[[OOC - That sounds about right, and also perfect, ahahaha]]

Definitely a nightmare...

That was the last time I really stayed there. ...From there, we beat the Stand user, and...

...I left the prison for the first time.

[He smiles. And then-] ...Oh, though if I'm being honest, I've seen a lot more here than I did back then. I mean...this is the closest I've ever been to a rainstorm, even if I did live in Florida.

[technusrulez]

[...PRISON? This is the first time Emporio has mentioned this fact to Technus, and he's shocked.]

...I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU GREW UP IN A GHOST ROOM.

[seacub]

Yeah. The ghost room was inside a prison.

[NORMAL THINGS..?]

It's where that room was made- in 1984, Green Dolphin experienced a massive fire...and that room specifically burned down completely, so they had to renovate and build back over it.

As a result, the ghost of that room came to exist. And that's where I was born, and stayed.

[A pause, before he adds quickly-] Uh- I wasn't born until 2000, though. Or at least close to it, I'm pretty sure I'm 12 so...

[technusrulez]

[Oy vey that's a lot to take in. Green Dolphin, prison, Florida, 1984..... 2012??? Last he knew, it was 2008!]

SO, NOT QUITE A LAIR, BUT LITERALLY THE GHOST OF A ROOM. IN A PRISON. IN FLORIDA. IN TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE A.D.

[seacub]

I guess not..?

[He gives a shrug. To be entirely fair, he's only got what Technus tells him to go off.] From what you described of a lair, they're at least similar though...

...You've got it though. It's the ghost of a room- everything in there is locked in the moment before fire set in, from the clock, to the juice pitcher.

[Sighing, Emporio shakes his head.] ...I miss having those things with me... ...It was nice to have a bag that wouldn't run out of space no matter what was inside it...

[technusrulez]

WHAT I MEANT BY A LAIR WAS MORE... SOMETHING FORMED BY A GHOST'S INTENT. I WAS ASSUMING THERE WAS A GHOST LIVING THERE WITH YOU THAT THE ROOM BELONGED TO.

[seacub]

Oh!

[Fair enough. He shakes his head.] ...No. Just me. As long as I can remember, I've been able to access ghost rooms but...

...Until I met you, I'd never seen a ghost. I don't know if they just avoid Green Dolphin or not...I wouldn't blame them if they did, it wasn't a good place after all. But...

[Well. Another head shake says it all.] ...It would've been nice though, I think. It was pretty lonely, even with Weather Report and Anasui visiting at times.

[Quietly, he thinks if there had ever been a ghost it probably would've been his mother, but he doesn't voice that. That's just a bit too depressing, he thinks.]

[technusrulez]

[...So the kid grew up on his own. That's depressing.]

WEATHER REPORT... THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GHOST'S NAME, TO ME.

[seacub]

[For his sake, he should probably not ask more about the life part suffice to say- it's even more depressing!

Luckily what Emporio focuses on is the opposite. In fact, he even muffles a laugh in his hands.] Pfff...

I guess that's also close..? Weather Report...was the name of his 'Stand'. Since it was all he had and all he knew, he took the same name.

But Stands are unique- not everyone has them, and no two are the same. It's a unique power..and for a lot, it manifests as a figure, like a person. A person that only another Stand user can see, or interact with. So...

Kind of like a ghost, right?

[technusrulez]

THE ENTIRE EXISTENCE OF THIS STAND SOUNDS INCREDIBLY LONELY. IF ONLY A FEW PEOPLE COULD SEE ME AND INTERACT WITH ME, I WOULD GO INSANE!
...MORE INSANE THAN I ALREADY AM.

[seacub]

...You didn't seem insane to me?

[No comment on the madness of isolation though, he thinks that's probably exactly what would happen if Stands weren't more like extensions of a person's souls. Something, something, Persona- in fact it's where persona got the idea

The cubone blinks.] ...Did you think you..weren't sane?

[technusrulez]

CHILD... YOU GREW UP ALONE IN A PRISON. I DOUBT THAT YOU ARE ANY PARTICULAR ARBITER OF SANITY.

lowkey astounding he's as well adjusted as he is ngl

[seacub]

[Hey!!!]

...I mean, it never felt that much worse than what I heard about the rest of the country at least.

[There's a painful point to be found there, but it's also a point that ignores the part where simply growing up watching nothing but imprisoned Stand Users also probably diminishes the validity of his opinion here.]

You still seem okay to me either way.

genuinely how

[technusrulez]

...AMERICA IS A GARBAGE FIRE, THIS IS TRUE. BUT I STILL BELIEVE YOUR POINT OF VIEW IS SKEWED.

i cant believe the internet saved someone this time, woaaah

[seacub]

[Emporio thinks about that for a moment, and visibly. Holding his chin, head bowed in thought.

If he thinks about it, there is a point to be made on the fact that his loved ones, most particularly the only one here in this place now, are very much all criminals. Anasui hands down the worst of them, in fact.

His bar might be fairly low.]

...I'll give you that, yeah. [YOU WIN THIS TIME...]

At least you're self-aware then? ...I feel like those two things clash somehow...