004 ⟡ JULY TEST DRIVE

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ test drive 04 ✩⋆

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

STRANDED ON A BEACH

Beneath your body is wet, thick, sand. In the early dawn hours, one would think all color drained from the world. Eyes open to the shadows of distant buildings, with massive cliffs looming ever closely in the faint twinkling of sunlight. Water, for those particularly unlucky, laps at the body to leave a persisting chill — sinking into bones that no longer feel familiar.

It’s impossible to tell how you got here. All you have is those last moments before it felt as if your entire being was being broken down and stretched into this uncanny shape, this thing that doesn’t feel like you. Even the ground itself seems to agree. It shifts, and rumbles. Gathers into mounds, rising up and over with the sounds of dying gasps. But wait.

That isn’t normal sand. That sand is alive. That sand, gathering into shades of pink, of blue, of green, it all forms faces before your very eyes. An enemy, you may think? A monster? A threat?

“OhhhHHhHH…What has happened to us..?”

Or perhaps, someone in the same predicament as you?

“Someone…Someone get Mightyena!!”

Albeit someone who clearly knows more than you do here, on this beach that slowly regains its color.

CASTLES OF SAND

⟡ Severity of dysphoria and disorientation symptoms are entirely up to the player, as is the duration of time these symptoms last.

⟡ The Sandygasts on the beach of Bottlecap Bay are in fact residents of the town by proxy. They are at their most active during the summer, and can thus act as helpful NPCs to help player characters toward the town.

⟡ These Sandygasts are very strange in color. The colors they appear in include — Pink with lilac stones and a blue shovel; Moss green with brown stones and a black shovel; Deep red with black stones and a cyan shovel; Dark purple with white stones and a black shovel. They don’t know how their colors changed either, but they certainly remember being normal Sandygast before everyone arrived.

ii. see the sunset

COPPERAJAH-TONE

With newly arrived Pokemon settling in from the beach, the town quickly moves to adjust existing plans until they’re certain the shores are clear. It only takes a few days before they’re back on schedule however, and every Pokemon including those same arrivals will find themselves with an open invitation to the shoreline.

With the recent successes of Bottlecap Bay, public opinion is at an all time high, which is reflected in the activities pulled together in response. Through much of the Summer season, the beach of Bottlecap Bay becomes a literal hotspot of activity. Beach activities that many will find familiar take part at all hours, with equipment set up at small stands for public use.

A volleyball net is a particularly popular feature of the beach, with a particularly spooky form of gameplay spotted in the evening hours where Ghost types reign. Multicolored buoys float out to section off a safe zone of the water for Pokemon capable of it to swim at their leisure as well, with Bottlecap’s very own Dondozo and Tatsugiri acting as lifeguard.

The most popular game by far however is sand sculpting. Tools of wood and stone can be gathered up to shape the sand into any number of shapes, and some Pokemon may even offer small rewards to those who make especially impressive ones.

Be sure not to accidentally use the sand of one of those colorful Sandygasts however.

Beach Day Breakdown

⟡ During the entirety of July, beginning on the 15th, the beach is open for public summer games.

⟡ While examples listed above are available, Players are encouraged to include their own Beach traditions within reason. If you are unsure, please ask under questions.

⟡ Beach fun will happen during the day and night alike. During the day, the beach is far more active; Pokemon are livelier, and enjoy much more cheerful activities. At night, while many Ghost and Dark type Pokemon enjoy the games, there are also often small campfires where quieter traditions such as apple roasting and scary stories happen.

⟡ Alcohol may be present at the campfires of the evening. Please be sure to mark threads including alcohol with a warning, and remember that characters under the age of 21 may not partake.

iii. mentorship methods

BUDDY SYSTEMS

A whole host of new Pokemon arriving is no longer a fully unanticipated scenario for Bottlecap Bay. While the town has persistently done their best to seek a solution to so many displaced new citizens, they have also come to recognize a growing pattern in their arrival. Every other month, these new Pokemon have appeared.

Therefore, the combination of their recent peace and the local nature of these particular arrivals has given them an easy option for guiding these lost new souls. Rather than any of the Guild leaders seeking out ideal Pokemon among their ranks, those who have arrived from other worlds themselves are tasked with a new assignment. Help their fellow interlopers!

At minimum, each Guild Leader suggests a few basics to cover, but the methods with which they do this is ultimately left up to them. A tour of the local sights? A chance to test their mettle with brand new powers? Or perhaps simply a listening ear from one who understands the strangeness of these new bodies. The world is truly their Cloyster.

A MENTOR MINDSET

⟡ Each of the Guild Leaders will offer to their existing members few points they consider most vital to teach to the newcomers. Mightyena focuses on making sure the new Pokemon have a place to sleep, and insists that they be taught how best to fight. Ribombee emphasizes a need to show the necessary work ethic of the community, so that an understanding of how much they need to work together is understood. Polteageist in turn, gives a list of necessary establishments to familiarize themselves with, beginning with the Clinic, Archives, and Questboard.

⟡ During much of the month, various Pokemon maintaining stores and eateries within Bottlecap Bay will be offering their own helpful advice to guides and their charges. This trivia is minor, but typically focused on what the food is like, or what the benefits of certain articles of clothing might be.

⟡ Any Pokemon who helps another newcomer will earn 50 points for their Guild! As well, newly arrived Pokemon who put up with the guidance will receive a voucher for a custom, non-magical accessory, such as a hat or scarf.

ADVANCE TRAINING

After considerable research and effort, Polteageist has once again teamed up with Dr. Denne to craft a series of ever popular escape rooms, hinting that participating in them will be very useful in the future. Joining the effort is none other than Cheri and Oran's own Ribombee and Mightyena as well, making it a truly unified project. With so much investment going into these exercises, it's no wonder that every Pokemon from another world, new and old alike, is offered the chance to try at least one when they have the chance.

THE NORTH

⟡ Located just between the Canopy and the beginnings of Bottlecap Bay’s southern coastline, the lush greenery of the Northern Forest's entry has been sectioned off into a training ground. Pokemon are grouped into random pairs, and tasked with finding the end of a hand-crafted maze within this early area of woods.

⟡ While many threats within the Northern Forest are well documented, some may still come as a surprise. Wild Pokemon such as Bug and Grass Types may still be encountered, as well as mushrooms releasing rage spores.

⟡ The Forest itself is also a threat — though it seems to understand these Pokemon mean no true harm, vines and plants will move when not directly looked at, creating added navigational challenges.

⟡ Pokemon who show no signs of escaping on their own after a certain point will find themselves retrieved by a local Grafaiai or Mankey, as enlisted by Bottlecap Bay.

THE MIDDLE

⟡ Located a good distance down the southern coastline of the Bay, a section of the Middle Forest's entry has been carefully sectioned for a training ground. Supervised in part by a recently recruited Bloodmoon Usaluna, Pokemon will be grouped into random pairs, and tasked with finding the end of a hand-crafted maze in this early area of woods.

⟡ Due to the presence of heavy supernatural fog, Pokemon participants are warned heavily in advance of what to expect. The fog is known to literally reach into others, creating visions and hallucinations, as well as a deep loss of identity the longer they're exposed.

⟡ The end of the maze does not lead out of the Middle Forest. Instead, Pokemon must find their way back from the uniquely marked bone pile; because of the fog, this return is far shorter than the journey in.

⟡ Pokemon who spend too long within the Middle Forest while showing no signs of successfully escaping will quickly be retrieved by Ursaluna, whose Mind's Eye grants relative immunity to the Fog's effects.

THE SOUTH

⟡ Far to the south of Bottlecap Bay, beyond the farthest stretch of wooded coastline, the Southern Forest lies shrouded in darkness. While there is no longer a thick haze of fog, its unique dangers mean that numerous Ghost Pokemon have been recruited to monitor a simple challenge within the woods. Specifically, two Pokemon will be paired at random, led a short ways in, and told to find their way out.

⟡ Due to the mechanics of the Southern Forest, nothing within this 'maze' has been crafted personally. Pokemon are sufficiently disoriented by the forest's own ability to alter its surroundings when none are looking directly at them, as well as the significant time dilation that occurs here.

⟡ Local Ghosts who have entered an agreement with Bottlecap's recently recruited Spiritomb will be available as both obstacles, and guides. As obstacles, they will intentionally lead Pokemon astray by joining the team in disguise, playing on the Forest's ability to create inconsistencies in memory and experience both.

⟡ Any Pokemon who spend too long within the Southern Forest with no signs of being able to return on their own will be led home by Ghost Pokemon acting as guides. These Pokemon take care to not shapeshift into anything other than themselves.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ TDM CWS: Disorientation, Dissociation (Escape Room Prompts), Body Dysmorphia, Possible Pokemon Injury

⟡ 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, they may assume themselves to share rooms within any one of them during the course of the TDM.

⟡ 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

Maysilee Donner | The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping | New Character

[chewymarshmallows]

[[She's a Shiny Murkrow.]]

Arrivals

[If there's one thing Maysilee has learned, it's that it can always get worse.

Not only has she suffered through the indignity of being forced into bloodsport for the amusement of those who saw her as a district pig, but now she's some kind of ugly purple bird. She tries to take off the 'hat' only to find its part of her body. Why wouldn't it be?

She turns to the nearest Sandyghast. She turns up her beak to it with a sneer.]

At least I'm not one of those.

Copperajah-Tone

[And now, as if to distract her from the indignity she's been forced into, the menagerie of freaks are playing beach volleyball and swimming in the ocean.

She's never been to the beach, but she won't let that show. She perches on a branch somewhere and watches over the proceedings with a sneer. If she spots a lost trinket, she flies down to swipe it.]

Buddy Systems

[Congratulations! You are now trying to tutor a mean girl who does not want your assistance.

Instead, she levels you with a scathing once-over. Please reply to this so she can deliver a personalized roast to your character's appearance and sense of fashion, if applicable.]

Buddy Systems

[firealone]

[Firepaw has been signing up for a lot of these mentorship things - he likes teaching, and it's helping him deal with the fact that he's technically still an apprentice until he can find a way home, despite being an adult.

Well, a yearling.

So, Maysilee has been paired up with an undersized Litten, who's wearing a bright blue bandana. He's a little shorter than her at the shoulder, so he's standing tall with his tail in the air to try and look a little bigger and more respectable.]

It's good to meet you - I'm Firepaw.

[His voice sounds like a British teenager's, just barely crossing into early 20's.]

I'm one of the first newcomers to join the Cheri guild. I can give you a tour of the city, or show you around the Canopy... normally I teach sparring too, but I'm not sure how birds fight, so I might have to introduce you to one of my friends instead.

[chewymarshmallows]

[It doesn't escape Maysilee that she's a bird being mentored by a cat. She doesn't let her guard down for a second.]

Yes, and I'm Purplewing. Are we all required to use garish code names in your Cheri guild, or did your mother just not like you very much?

[She smirks.] Oh, but that accessory of yours is just adorable. You look like a prized pet. Which do you miss more from home: your kibble, or your ball of yarn?

[firealone]

[Why is everyone so mean about his name? It's reaching a point where he's finally stopped reacting as much - he just lets out a soft little huff, and gives her an unimpressed look.]

My Clan leader gave me my name, it shows that I'm an apprentice of ThunderClan, and I didn't make it up. My mother gave me a different name.

[Which... he actually doesn't remember. He doesn't remember most things from before his owners adopted him.]

Honestly? I miss cats being respectful toward each other.

[Not that he garnered a lot of respect from the older ThunderClan cats, but! Still!]

[chewymarshmallows]

And I miss cats knowing their place: catching rats instead of running their mouths. [She watches to see if he'll threaten to kill her for this.]

Is your apprenticeship meant to impress me? I don't even know what your 'ThunderClan' is.

[firealone]

It means I'm a wild cat from the forest. I've been training to fight since I was six moons old, and I'm not a housecat anymore.

[He is, unfortunately, very easy to get under the skin of.]

But I don't have to help you if you're going to be ungrateful. I'm sure I can find someone else who's willing to put up with this fox-dung.

[chewymarshmallows]

... Are you trying to tell me you were an actual cat before you reincarnated here? [She's never spoken with an animal before. She's familiar with the muttations used in the arena, but a muttation would've moved in for the kill by now.]

[firealone]

Yes. [He says it as though it should have been obvious, and has to pause to lick the fur between his shoulders. In true cat fashion, he licks his bandana by accident and has to shake his head.] I used to live with humans, but I'm my own cat now.

[chewymarshmallows]

From house cat to warrior cat. Good for you, making your own destiny. [She gives a nod of approval.] You'll have to understand, cats didn't talk where I came from. At least, not ones that weren't genetically modified in some sick way by the Capitol. [Noticing his bandana is a little askew, she uses a talon to adjust it without waiting for his approval, almost like he's a younger sibling.]

[firealone]

[Firepaw settles a little - he is making his own destiny, and the acknowledgement makes him feel a little better. He even lets her adjust his bandana, although he has to pause again to lick his paw for dignity's sake.]

Humans couldn't talk where I came from, either. But you get used to it, I think - every animal talks here.

[Which has worrying implications for a carnivore, but he's handling it. Mostly.]

[chewymarshmallows]

[Humans couldn't talk? She assumes that he means 'humans couldn't talk to cats', since humans had evolved enough to domesticate animals.]

If every animal talks here, do you still eat mice and the like? Or, perhaps, birds? [She flaps her wings once, as if getting ready to take off.]

[firealone]

I only eat Pokemon that live outside of the city. No newcomers, no citizens.

[His tone is even - this is something he's thought about a lot, and he's mostly settled on a moral stance that feels right.]

Since you're a Murkrow now, you might like eating crow-food. Er... rotten meat. But there's also food in town that tastes good to everyone - I just like freshkill better.

[Weirdly enough, he was never really into people food.]

buddy systems

[telewarped]

[Her Mimikyu mentor doesn't seem exactly enthused about this setup either... But it's difficult to tell for sure, considering her lack of a true face to emote with. From afar, the black bow tied around the neck of her disguise and the gold hoop earring dangling from one of its ears did a good enough job of making that head seem convincingly real, but the illusion inevitably starts to fall apart on closer inspection.

Her face appears to be painted on, permanently set in a benign, wobbly smile. Her real eyes—gray and eerily human—stare out from the holes cut in the grayish cloth covering her body (and it is a cloth covering—not animal fur, as it might have appeared to be at first glance).]

... What? You got something to say?

[chewymarshmallows]

[What can she say that's more humiliating than having to look like that every day?]

I'll give you props for the earring and the bow. It does bring some dignity to the fact that, while the rest of us were reincarnated as mutated animals, you had to turn into a dog's chew toy. Actually, I take it back. I'd be embarrassed to let a dog be seen with you.

[telewarped]

Excuse me?

[That response is so out of pocket that Shoka actually has to laugh, just a little.]

Guess I have to give you props on originality! [She's been called plenty of things throughout her life and afterlife, but less than a chew toy is a new one!] But still... Awfully bold words for someone wearing that hat.

[chewymarshmallows]

[She smirks. Touché. She wouldn't have chosen the hat, but she keeps that to herself.] The hat is at least functional in keeping the sun out of my eyes. I doubt your rag is functional at anything except frightening small children. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it doesn't smell great, either. Have you washed it, or are you waiting to get drunk again so you can redraw that attempt at a face?

[telewarped]

Y'know, crows don't have much of a sense of smell. Sure you're not just smelling yourself?

[Her voice is smooth and casual, sounding perfectly unruffled, but inwardly she feels a prickle of indignation. Instinct has made her so defensive of the disguise rag and what it's hiding that even the vaguest acknowledgement of it being a disguise, let alone an unsavory one, instantly makes her itch for a fight. Luckily for her, she has a good excuse to indulge that urge this time: she is supposed to be teaching newbies how to battle, after all.]

Anyways, if you have any bite to go with all that bark, I'd be happy to show you what this rag can really do!

[chewymarshmallows]

Trying to intimidate me with your bird facts? You're getting desperate, sweetheart. [She's having fun. Maysilee makes note of the fact that it only took a handful of petty insults to make the Mimikyu resort to violence.]

Hmm... no, I'm not training with you. If you want to hit me, you'll have to attack a civilian. Make it count, too. Really shut me up. It'll be a bad look for your guild, though. [She leans in, hiding her nerves with a smirk.] Or are you going to run away and cry yourself to sleep again?

[telewarped]

[Shoka stands her ground, eyes narrowing behind her mask.] And you're trying to tell me how my own guild works when you literally just got here? Kinda sounds like you're the desperate one.

[Maysilee's attitude is extremely grating... but it's also extremely relatable, loathe as she is to admit it to herself. Shoka would be wondering what her damage is if it didn't feel very much like being given a dose of her own medicine.]

I'm in Oran, birdbrain. Giving clueless newbies like you the rundown on how to fight is the whole reason I'm here. I'm sure Mightyena wouldn't mind me teaching you a lesson or two in any way I see fit! [Still, truthfully, Maysilee is right; it would look bad for her to attack a newcomer unprovoked (even if, "Why think through it when you can fight?" is one of the Oran Guild's core values)... So if she does make the first move, she'll have to be creative about it.] But hey, if you can't handle the pressure, I'll give you one chance to flock off right now.

[The jagged skirt of shadows barely visible under her disguise rag shifts. Her claws emerge from it—just enough to give Maysilee a glimpse of their long, sharp ends carving into the sand.]

[chewymarshmallows]

Oh, you're in the guild of miscreants and rejects. Of course you are. [The appearance of the claws makes some of her feathers stand on end. It's even worse than the Capitol's muttations.] If you will attack me, I will defend myself, though you will still be the aggressor here. But just know that I've already died, so I have nothing left to lose. And I did not go without a fight.

[telewarped]

Ya got me. Miscreant reject and proud!

[Already died, huh? Her and plenty others in Bottlecap Bay. Shoka doesn't seem intimidated or even surprised to hear this, because:]

You and me both.

[Well, there is a big difference between them in that Shoka did go down without a fight when she died herself... But that's beside the point.

Shoka shuffles backward a couple of Murkrow-steps, giving Maysilee the space to fly off if she decides to (and also giving herself the space to use the move she has in mind).]

Clock's ticking, sweetie. 3... 2... 1!

[On that last syllable, Shoka lunges—but not with her real body. Instead, she uses Double Team to summon up an illusory doppelganger and sends it flying at Maysilee in her stead. It's only an illusion, incapable of doing any actual damage, but it's definitely convincing, springing at Maysilee with its claws out like a cat and its eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

Shoka's goal is mainly just to see how Maysilee reacts to this apparent attack—if she'll flee, fight back, or just let it happen. Regardless of which option she chooses, she won't really get hurt, and Shoka won't really been the aggressor (by her own logic, at least). If Maysilee doesn't move, Shoka's double will sail harmlessly right through her.]

SotR spoilers

[chewymarshmallows]

[When the doppelganger comes, Maysilee clumsily flies out of the way. It takes her a second to realize the attack was a feint. Every part of her wants to fight back, but the memory of her recent death weighs her down. She had been helpless as the birds tore into her, and now she's been brought back as a similar abomination.

She lands hard on the ground, shivering and clutching her eyes shut so she doesn't give her opponent the satisfaction of seeing her cry.]

You... Damn it, I...

[She waits. Maybe there will come a moment where Shoka comes in to taunt her, or check on her. Once she has the chance, she attempts to rip Shoka's disguise off. If Shoka will humiliate her, she'll humiliate Shoka.]

buddy systems!

[loopsiedaisy]

[As if one cat weren't enough, here's what looks like a lion cub! They're very clearly blind in one eye, but more importantly: they're wearing a giant white wizard hat. What a bold, confident(??) fashion choice.]

[Siffrin, meanwhile, hasn't missed that Maysilee doesn't look thrilled to be here. They can't say they don't get it, but alas...]

So, um. Is there anything you do want to know...?

[chewymarshmallows]

[She looks them up and down. She can appreciate that effort probably went into making that hat, but that's where her compliments end.] Yes, I'd like to know who let you out of the house dressed like that. If I were you, I wouldn't waste time mentoring new inductees into your little indentured servitude system, I'd be plotting revenge. Or were you a failed familiar for an unfashionable wizard?

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin's tail twitches, and their non-drooped ear flips backwards, slightly taken aback.]

[...well, it's not like they haven't been looked at funny for their outfit before! "Unfashionable" is a new one, though. It almost implies that it's normal, just out of style?]

[They could just as easily have gotten defensive of their hat, but somehow the idea of that flips them right into amused. They snort. Yeah!! Sure!! They're very unfashionable, that's it!] That's me! Four time winner of worst-dressed familiar.