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

thank you for appreciating my vision. my sad wet noodle woman who has decided that Rei is single

[ibalsamina]

Ms. Todoroki, then.

[Or should she say Mrs.? No, she decides immediately; from what she felt from those memories, that man has no right to call himself her husband, nor father to those poor children.]

Ah... I was already familiar with Pokémon before my arrival in this world. They also populate the world I am from, you see.

[In the memory from the rain, Gladion points to draw her attention to a pink-nosed face that's just appeared from under the brush. He names it easily; Yungoos, Normal-type. That's right, Lusamine tells him, delighted. You've been studying, haven't you? My clever gladiator. Won't your father be proud...

In the present, Lusamine curls her drenched tail around her feet and shivers. Why is she even out here at all, standing out in the rain like a complete fool? For a moment, she thinks she can almost remember (she was looking for someone, she thinks, to bring them out of the rain)... But it slips away from her again before she can grasp it.

Rei's observation earns another questioning tilt of her head. The blonde fur atop her head falls limply over one of her eyes.]

As I told you, my species is Yungoos. And your species is Ninetales—the Alolan variety, to be specific. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with either of those words you just used... But I presume they are animals. Am I correct?

cw: child abuse implied

[rindouweed]

[ Rei shivers a bit, but not from the dripping sleet or snow that transforms from the rain around her. As the air around normally stays cool, she sees how chilled the other is, and looks at her own body, although deformed with burns dancing along her skin. She wonders how she could help the other feel warmer. ]

I don't want to make you cold, Lusamine - also, you may call me Rei... It sounds like your name is Western in some way... I ... Am sorry if that means nothing. [ Stepping a pace back, she wants to ensure Rei doesn't make Lusamine any colder than she is. She's also noticed that so many of the names she's gotten thus far have been nothing like what she's ever heard before. Especially when her world is already so small to begin with. ] Ninetales... Alolan... Yes, I was talking about animals, I see... So many worlds... Your animals have Quirks instead of the people.

[ It's odd, but it simplifies the world for her to understand when she's a bit afraid of the unknown all around her. It's hard to stay afraid, though, when the image of a boy comes into mind and his gentle excitement warms her heart. A sense of pride takes hold of her; Rei feels even delighted that she will have something to share with her husband later.

Which, in the moment, as she shakes her mind away from it. Rei can only wish her own life had been so simple like that. Instead, she was always scared to talk to him, and scared of what he would ultimately do to them. Time after time, when he did not seem to get what he wanted out of them. ]

Wait - don't...

[ She stammers as the memories bleed together and make even her own heart hurt in a newfound way - as if she wished, with all her heart, that Enji loved those children as much as she did. ]

These - [ Ah - ] children... [ If only he was proud of them. ] They don't belong - [ Toya, her second youngest son, comes at her as she is holdin Shoto, her youngest - he is hurt, heart broken that his father wont even look at him. Truly, Toya wants to hurt him - - - ]

TOYA NO! [ She snaps and growls at no one in particular but the memory leaves and she is uncertain of who is coming at her - instead she just sees this blonde kid. That's not her child, she panics stepping several more paces back. ] Give it back!! [ She panics, her head turning left and right - staring over at the yungoos, uncertain of how to get anything that is hers back to where it belongs. ]

Give it BACK! [ She wants him back, her son, she sees the TV now - a man burned up, covered in stitches, sits on the screen. Announcing to the world who he is. This man looks no more than a walking corpse - how does he live? Rei knows who this is from the moment he speaks - she already knows because of a mother's instinct. He doesn't need to change his hair color to the natural white it needs to be. She knows because he looks like her, the nose, his eyes, she recognizes herself in him. ] Toya come back! [ She is so panicked - where does she go when everything that is hers is leaving her? Why does she want to show her husband her sons? Why should she be excited, knowing he will never be satisfied with them? ]

cw: child abuse implied

[ibalsamina]

[I don't want to make you cold, Rei says. Lusamine is quick to reassure.]

Oh, no, it's quite all right! I assure you, I'm just fine... [Truthfully, it's more than just the weather and the closeness of an Ice-type that's chilling her blood.] But why don't we—...?

[But why don't we both get out of this rain? she means to say, so they can dry off and continue the safer, more pedestrian part of their conversation without any further interruptions—but it's already too late. A far-off look crosses Rei's expression; suddenly, she seems to be elsewhere, watching something that Lusamine can't see.]

Ms. Todoroki... [Lusamine's attempt to redirect Rei's attention to the present immediately fails. Rei snaps and growls—at Toya rather than her—but it still startles Lusamine enough that she skitters backward on all fours with an animalistic hiss.] Rei! Calm yourself...! I've taken nothing from you—

[And yet she has. Her head swims with memories that both are and are not her own.

Rei's shout sends the first thread of memory back to where it belongs. Before Lusamine can say anything more, she stiffens, remembering it herself. Her children, her Gladion and Lillie, their hauntingly beautiful faces and tiny, reaching hands, and Mohn, laughter and softness and warmth—all remembered anew like a nail being driven into her skull.

They never had to worry that their father would expect too much of them, disregard them, force them into compliance. No, the one who subjected them to that was...

The memories snag and tangle, threatening to snap. Toya wants to hurt him. Or does he want to hurt her? What kind of child would wish such a thing upon his own parent? He means to sabotage her, she thinks. He means to ruin her. Everything is gone now—changed, stolen from her, leaving from her, slipping through her fingers like sand.

A vengeful snarl wrenches itself from her throat.]

I don't have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love!

[As if startled by the shift in her tone, the memories that are Rei's flee her mind all at once, returning to their source in a flood.]

[rindouweed]

[ It's the shock of circumstances that saves them-or at least Rei, she halts her movements at once completely. The memories that were originally hers, lock back in place where they knit together with their meanings and where they entirely belong once more. Rei feels the pain of watching her child wish to kill his own brother, wishing she knew what she could have done better. This belongs to no one but her.

That sense of urgency that Rei feels holds her and makes her adamant about keeping them with her - she is scared to lose everything that is hers, the only things that are hers. So she focuses in on the moment, hears the way her breath escapes her maw in quick exhales.

This is all she has - but the exasperation that comes from this strange animal's voice, the way she calls into the world and screams at it.

It's a far more damning noise then she herself has ever made - it makes the core of her existence tremble hearing the horrible things that she says with it. Denial, in essence, rattles her nerves and causes her fur to prickle up - this voice is so vengeful and almost grotesque in how she speaks it into the world.

It's definite, and that definite feeling bewilders Rei as she hears all of it. ]

W-Wh... What...? [ As if any child was undeserving of a mother's love, ] What...?

[ She wants to say - what do you mean? But what the other person says is so impudent that she cannot bring herself to ask the question that sits at the tip of her tongue. Instead, Rei finds herself asking over and over again -]

But why?

[ Her head shakes back and forth, as if to deny what is said. Such memories of warmth she saw only moments before - they are not hers, so then... Why - how - why? It doesn't make sense to her, and she is an alien in a world she has never seen before. ]

Why?

[ibalsamina]

[Sickened by the invasion into her mind and startled by the sound of her own voice, Lusamine stands there frozen, tensed and panting on all fours like a trapped animal. She seems to have forgotten that Rei is still there at all—until the questions start, prompting her to lift her head, teeth still bared and eyes wild. Her growled response escapes before she can govern herself.]

What do you mean, why? And what are you gawking at?

[It's the exact opposite of the gentle, polite tone she'd first greeted Rei with: harsh, defensive, vengeful.

A moment passes—and she seems to think better of it, continuing slowly, stiffly:]

I only said... I don't have any children. And I do not. So what I've just seen—... [It's wrong. It doesn't fit.] I...

[She shrinks back, her unsteady steps forming ripples in the puddle of rainwater she stumbles through. It's—too much. She can't be here a second longer. She has to get away...]

I... must go...

[She swivels around and takes off at a run, seeking shelter from the rain (or maybe just shelter from the deluge of memories, anywhere but here).]