007 ⟡ JANUARY TEST DRIVE

[bayhelpers]

⋆✩ test drive 07 ✩⋆

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

SNOW MAN'S LAND

Where you felt the warmth of hope, there is now only a numbness - which grows colder and colder as you begin to wake. While a small few may find themselves graced with bodies appropriate to the environment, for most this field of ice and snow is the worst possible place to appear.

All is not lost for those without appropriate defenses, fortunately. A short trek through the deep and frigid snow leads one to any number of cave entrances. Some are as large as hangar doors (if of course, your world had vehicle hangars at all) - and others just small enough to squeeze into, but all of them offer at least a temporary respite from the biting chill of the wind. Once you can catch your breath and your body stops shivering long enough to observe the surroundings, it becomes clear that wherever you are is always like this. Cold. Covered in snow, with more snow still falling. Icy and foreboding, with even the trees reaching out with gnarled and bare branches which sheen with frost.

Can one even dare to hope for rescue in such a place as this? The caves at least provide shelter, but something dangerous seems to linger in the air within. One thing is certain, as stark and cold as the temperature:

Nothing here will leave you in peace.

ICE TO MEET YOU

⟡ With the Arrivals finding themselves in the far reaches of Icefall Lake, it may be no surprise that initial rescue efforts won’t begin as such - in fact, the first teams to go out into the snow will be investigating the potential for more avalanches, due to requests from local Pokemon! They will quickly send word back to Skull Town that rescues are required.

⟡ While the region may seem entirely inhospitable, many of the wild Pokemon of Icefall will in fact take mercy on the new arrivals if they find them; either offering space in dens formed of heavy packed snow (which are surprisingly warm inside), or even guiding them to cave tunnels themselves. Of course, some of these Pokemon may demand a fight regardless, so watch out!

⟡ The caves may not carry the same environmental hazards as the outdoors, but they do have their own: this is the inside of a hollowed-out mountain, and it's very unstable and prone to cave-ins. Characters will constantly hear the sounds of falling or shifting rock, as well as their own voices echoing back - sometimes after a significant delay or from an unexpected direction. And those who stay inside longer will start hearing voices of people who aren't present at all.

ii. COLD PAWS

WARM HEARTS

The cold does not abate once you finally receive rescue.

But it does improve a little. As Pokemon - creatures of all manner of shape and size - bring the newcomers out from the region they call ‘Icefall Lake,’ the utterly inhospitable cold surrounding them dies down to a gentler, crisper sort of freeze. Where before the sky had been shrouded most constantly in clouds spewing sheets of snow or even hail, the skies above the small settlement up ahead are clear and sunny.

That settlement? Death Blood Murder Skull Town…. or just Skull Town for short.

“It was determined by popular vote,” explains one Lurantis, and despite the clear discomfort with the cold around them she seems to be an incredibly dedicated leader. Every newcomer - and rescuer for that matter - is immediately herded to their small clinic for a check-over to determine if injuries are present. From there, Pokemon are just as quickly shown the great communal living hall, where they’ll reside until it’s a little safer to journey to Bottlecap Bay itself. The hope, Lurantis will shyly explain if approached directly, is that by the time everyone gets there the Guild Leaders will have sorted out housing.

(They won’t.)

Even just wandering the village itself displays just how dedicated this bug-like plant appears to be to her job though. The roads are constantly being worked on; paths are being pounded into place and then salted to prevent ice, while helpful rails line the few streets that exist. Other Pokemon can be seen carefully clearing snow where it’s gathered too heavily, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to stick around and help out before following the convoy back to Bottlecap itself.

If you follow back at all of course. After all, it’s quite tranquil here! Like something out of a story book.

NEVER A SKULL MOMENT

⟡ Newly-arrived and -transformed Pokemon, once rescued, will be taken back to Skull Town. Most will have to stay for at least a couple days before Lurantis puts together an escort through the forest - it's at least a day's journey back to the larger city of Bottlecap Bay, particularly through the snow. But existing characters may escort newbies back if they so chose!

⟡ Quarters in Skull Town are somewhat tight, with both housing and meals being communal - but the overall environment is friendly and tight-knit. Lurantis will happily accept help with town chores from anyone who the clinic has cleared, but won't insist on it, even in exchange for food and lodging. However, other NPC Pokemon may start growing resentful if it continues for a while. The town doesn't have as many resources to spare as the city, so everyone here needs to contribute!

⟡ As usual for new arrivals, Guild Leaders will be taking their time to decide on who fits best where. So once characters make it to Bottlecap Bay, housing can be found with any guild. Players are free to assume anyone from Oran, to Cheri, to even Lum opened their room to other Pokemon to be shared - or new characters are welcome to remain at Skull Town!

iii. KICKING AND DREAMING

SLEEP YOU OFF YOUR FEET

It’s shortly after the new arrivals have all been accounted for that the Grumpig Brothers make their announcement.

“We noticed our adopted outsiders get a lot of use out of our Pearls,” claims the more outspoken of the two, “And we’ve received a lot of new feedback as a result! So after working with some other Psychic Pokemon, we think we’ve found a way to refine them!”

Pokemon may have noticed a Hypno hanging around the workshop quite a bit, among others, and that certainly explains it. But what do they mean by…better? Grimpig and Glumpig are talking about ideas such as blocking certain mental frequencies, or even alarm transmissions so you won’t miss a call in your sleep!

Later, that last feature will stand out quite a lot.

The night starts normally. Those who intend to sleep, curl up in their nests or beds to do so. The pearls they own could be anywhere - under their pillow, in a drawer, in a sack. As long as they're somewhere nearby, it doesn't seem to matter.

Because that night, your dream isn’t necessarily…your dream. It’s not as if it doesn’t start that way; the dream is just as bizarre as any dream is. Perhaps you’re eating a giant marshmallow. Maybe you’ve gained the power to fly all around the world despite being a wee little Wurmple! Or maybe it’s even just something you remember from earlier in the day - dreams are the mind sifting through what it’s learned after all. But something shifts. Something changes, and suddenly you can feel that what you’re dreaming isn't your own.

Trouble is, you can’t just wake up.

GOOD NIGHT

⟡ Due to the changes to the grumpearls, characters have been afflicted with a curse of dream-sharing! Created accidentally by an overload through the pearl communication network, Pokemon participating will find themselves drifting into others' dreams whenever they sleep.

⟡ While dreams can include things like memories, we encourage players to emphasize the dream focused nature of this event! Anything can happen in your dreams, for good or for ill. Maybe you’re at home, and you’re the only Pokemon there. Maybe you’re driving your cool old motorcycle around Bottlecap’s clouds, because who said bikes can’t fly in your dreams? Nothing has to make sense - just please make sure to respect other player’s opt-outs and preferences!

⟡ Characters can encounter each other in dreams, or they can find themselves taking the role of the dream's original recipient and simply interact with the dream itself.

⟡ Once a character is caught, even leaving their grumpearl behind will no longer help. However, players who wish to opt out may say that their character's grumpearl was nowhere near their bed on the first night, and that in the morning they were warned to avoid using it for now.

⟡ Shared dream sleep isn't restful, and as the month goes on, characters who are experiencing it at night will find themselves dozing off from exhaustion during the day more and more often. (Which only makes it worse!) In the most severe cases, some may even become trapped in an extended sleep!

⟡ When characters are not asleep, they'll find that the Grumpig brothers and the less-affected Psychic Pokemon are doing their absolute best to resolve the problem as soon as they can. Unfortunately, while the clinic can make sure that the most severely affected Pokemon are looked after in their beds, nobody can guarantee you won’t end up in someone else’s dream once you fall asleep again.

⟡ It’s not all bad though. Aside from many dreams being bafflingly zany at worst, victims will find themselves granted a pack of hot drink mixes once they wake up. Just a little token of apology while the Grumpigs iron out the remaining kinks. Especially after what happens on the 30th…

DREAM BLOODY MURDER

Amid all the dreams, it’s no surprise that not all of them are pleasant.

It happens to the best of us, doesn’t it? Some terrible mistake, some long buried trauma, rising back again in the form of something incomprehensible. Maybe that pitfall you almost avoided grew teeth and started eating the world around you. Maybe something you said while awake comes back to haunt your nightmares in the form of the absolute worst consequence. It’s something that shouldn’t happen. It’s something that would never happen - and maybe, just maybe, if other Pokemon couldn’t interrupt, it would be something you dread never waking from at all.

One nightmare stands out though.

One nightmare doesn’t seem relevant to anything you know. It’s a swirl of pressuring heat, and volcanic chaos. It’s rivers of violet and red melting into one, cascading impossibly upwards into waterfalls. Strange and alien beings fill the air, battling themselves as well as others - though what these creatures (Pokemon?) are?

You certainly can’t tell in the nightmare.

But what you do know is this: it is a nightmare, and it’s one that doesn’t belong to you. It’s one where your power has been unleashed in the worst way possible, and one where calamity has become unavoidable. Toxic fumes and eldritch cries surround you utterly, bathing you in their might, and when at last you can’t take it any longer...!

You wake up.

DON'T LET THE BLIPBUGS BITE

⟡ It is up to players if they experience the final nightmare, but the majority of Pokemon in Bottlecap Bay seem to have experienced it at the very end of the grumpearl backlash. On the bright side, the intensity of this dream seems to have pointed the Grumpig brothers to the source of the problem. They’re quick to quarantine some faulty pearls and make adjustments to all the others.

⟡ Pokemon who were affected by the dream-share will be asked to visit the clinic, where local Musharna and Hypno will be aiding Dr. Denne in making absolutely sure there are no more lingering side effects! Optionally, this can cure anyone still affected by last year’s nightmares… but that part they can't guarantee.

⟡ And what was that final nightmare anyway? When pressed, none of the Guild Leaders seem to know for certain - however, Polteageist is certain that a Pokemon who left to live beyond the Spire may be able to help. They will be quick to assure others that it’s nothing they need to worry about, as they have a team in mind to do some investigating. For now there is plenty of other work to be done right here, within Bottlecap’s already-explored regions!

⟡ For some who experienced the final nightmare, they may find themselves feeling unusually energetic, or even aggressive. Alternatively, some Pokemon will turn up at the clinic bearing symptoms of poisoning.

✩ OOC NOTES.

⟡ TDM CWs: Body horror/Dysmorphia, Freezing conditions, Canon-typical Pokemon violence, Unreality (within dreams), Mental influences, Apocalyptic imagery

⟡ 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.

⟡ Arrivals should all be gathered to Skull Town by January 15th ICly - though, naturally, players may tag the TDM at any time they like. The dream-share event will begin ICly on January 20th, ending after the last nightmare on the 30th.

⟡ 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

[edgewater]

"Hehe, right."

Wow, Mayaka's real intsense about this. Again, no faults to be found in that. Everyone has at least one interest they're crazy into, one that they know the intricacies of like a lover. "We only got comics where I'm from, and that was only occassionally." She thinks she's getting the slight hang of reading the wrong way no-- nope she's just read the panels in the complete wrong order again. The illustrations are real pretty, though, so she's moreso focused on those than the speech bubbles anyway. That's much easier. "You didn't answer my question, though. Did you draw these?"

[sharpjustice]

Damn it, she thought she'd successfully dodged the question!

"N-no, I didn't draw these myself." All of the stuff they show during festivals has been drawn by the other manga club members, because Mayaka's always been too embarrassed to have her own works on display in school where everyone would recognise her. She's prefers drawing them secretly and submitting them to the manga magazines under a pen name.

"I'm just doing sketches for now to get some interest in the club going." She gestures half-heartedly at the commission she's working on, a Staryu wearing a magical girl outfit with an abundance of ribbons.

"Though we're the manga club: shouldn't we be selling our stories, instead of art like this? This isn't what manga is about." She sounds a little upset by how the club is being managed, even though she's going along with what she's been told to do.

[edgewater]

They're still pretty good.

"Well, maybe your drawings are less intimidating to new folks. Y'know, like, there's less expectation to be able to do all of these cool drawings right away?" That's what clubs are all about, right? Learning new things? Parvati's only experience is with the ones in the Bay, granted, but still. "That's a real nice drawing. I can't draw folks like that at all, so I find people who can real impressive."

Not that she can't draw at all, mind. Her skills are just much more suited to drawing machinery and such. Maybe she could be persuaded to draw a cool mecha, 80s-style, since that seems more up her alley. "What's the story behind this piece, then?"

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka finds herself calming down to listen to what the Tinkaton is saying. She's got a point. And while Mayaka appreciates the compliment on her art, her inner critic doesn't allow her to feel satisfied.

"Drawing is one thing, but making art that can move people? That's entirely different." She can't help but think of Aegiomon's drawing, how simple it'd been, and yet how it seemed to surpass her art in all the ways it made her heart stir.

She looks down at the sparkly Staryu and then back up to Parvati, trying to process her question. It seems the dream had just placed her here with this piece of art, and now she's getting muddled trying to make sense of an answer.

"I... don't know." Mayaka says slowly. "But have you seen this?"

She holds up the cover of the Clefairy steering a UFO. "How accurate is this, you think?"

Of course, Parvati is now her go-to for fact checking anything remotely extraterrestrial, even though the setting seems a bit too ambitious for Mayaka to take on for a manga project just yet.

[edgewater]

Parvati can't help but giggle a little at the Clefairy manga. "Not very, but I don't think that matters too much." She replies, shrugging. "It ain't too different to what we have back in Halcyon, you know? Stuff about aliens and whatnot."

The drawing is real cute, though. This is definitely something Parvati would want to read if it were a real manga. "Our ships are a lot clunkier."

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka immediately pulls out a fresh sheet of parchment paper and slams it down in front of Parvati, together with some ink and pencils.

"Can you show me what a real ship looks like?"

This is going to be the most accurate reference image she'll ever have!

[edgewater]

Parvati kind of. Doesn't have the heart to tell her she's spent more time starting at the Unreliable's guts than she has the exterior. But to be fair, they spend a lot of time in space and even more time exploring away from the ship. She takes one of the pencils and gets to work trying to recreate the chassis from memory on paper.

Her tongue is poking out slightly. "What're you gonna use this for?"

... parvati is so cute ...

[sharpjustice]

"Reference. Inspiration. Object study."

Mayaka tilts her head from side to side with each word.

"Y'know, one of my favourite manga is set in space. It's an old one from the 70s." Mayaka doesn't clarify that she means 1970s, assuming that she and Parvati come from the same century.

"It was so weird, to see that a serious sci-fi manga was printed in the shoujo - oh, I mean, young girls - magazine. Y'know, how they assume stories for girls are only about romance and fantasy? This one's about a group of cadets who are stranded in space, and, get this, they suddenly realise that there's one extra member on the ship with them! I was so hooked when I read it because it was so different. I even made a cosplay of one of the characters from the manga, that's how much I liked it. It's so old that no one in the modern day knows about it unless they're a real hardcore manga fan, but I think that's part of what makes it so special and timeless."

And she goes on, and on.

Maybe it's due to the blissful feeling that this is all a dream and nothing matters, but Parvati has unintentionally broken through all the defenses Mayaka's put up around sharing her nerdy passion.

[edgewater]

Parvati's taken pencil to paper and is in the midst of producing a drawing of her ship. Nodding along to what Mayaka says.

"Hey, I get it. I like some older stuff too, the kind of serials my dad watched when he was my age were what I got as a kid. Kinda miss that." More detailing on the ship is added as she goes. "That sounds real interesting, though. Although, uh. Cosplay?"

She's learning so many new words today.

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka has been happily watching Parvati work on her drawing, but the Sneasel's good spirits immediately plummet when the Tinkaton says the C word. It's like the equivalent of a car screeching to a halt in her brain.

Where did Parvati learn that word? Did Mayaka blurt that out just now in the middle of her rant about her favourite manga? Well, no point lying about it now, but how can she explain this in the least embarrassing way possible?

"Um, like... dressing up as your favourite character..." Her mumble is barely audible.

[edgewater]

Ohhhh! Like costume play. That makes sense to her, she thinks.

"I knew a lady who did that with a character she played in the serials, got real into the persona," Parvati smiles a little, "didn't know that was so common on Earth. Guess that makes sense." Where else would it have come from, after all? She hasn't actually noticed Mayaka's soul leaving her body, finishing up the drawing. Because it's a dream, who cares if a drawing like that would take like way longer.

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka is torn between admiring Parvati's art and bottling up the intense embarrassment pulsing through every cell in her little Sneasel body. Yeah, sure, they cosplay in space too. No that doesn't make her feel better at all!

She holds the impressive drawing in her claws, staring blankly at it for a few seconds.

Then lowers it to stare directly at the Tinkaton.

"All of that I said just now? That never happened."

[edgewater]

"Sure it didn't."

Parvati's amicable to agree for the sake of. Well. She's not sure actually, but she does it anyway. She leans forward a little to look at her drawing again. "What do you think of it? Sorry, I'm better at drawing like, plans."

1/2

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka's eye twitches a little.

"Exactly. It didn't."

2/2

[sharpjustice]

The next question shifts her focus to the drawing she's holding onto, and she looks at it properly now.

"It looks very cool and practical."

She doesn't think Parvati needs to apologise for the drawing, even if it may be lacking in the details. However, Mayaka's not going to say something thoughtlessly encouraging like "You should draw more!".

It can be difficult, giving honest thoughts about something as personal as art.

[edgewater]

"Heh, thanks. I guess years of drawing parts helps out with something." Plus, somebody had to memorise the ship's schematics. Well. She did. It was her job. "I hope it, uh. Works?"

[sharpjustice]

That gets Mayaka's attention.

"Oh! So do you have experience drawing, just not with big objects like this huh?"

She gives Parvati a reassuring nod. "Yes, I'll use this to practice drawing big ships. It'll be a challenge, but I should really push myself more."

[edgewater]

Parvati looks away somewhat bashfully at that, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, like. Schematics and stuff. Instructions. That sorta stuff." And, in total fairness, her schematics are pretty pedestrian and very Parvati. You try to read those notes, I dare you.

"I hope that works out for you. If you need anythin' else, you know where to find me."

1/2

[sharpjustice]

"Yeah, at the Astronomy Club, right?"

Wait, no. That's no right.

Mayaka blinks a few times. Parvati... isn't a member of a school club. She's from the Oran Berries. That's a guild. Guilds don't exist in Bottlecap High School.

"Wait a minute. Where are we?!"

2/2 - wrapped (for now?)

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka wakes up with a start. She's in her room, covered in cold sweat. The first hints of morning sunl shine in through the windows, but it feels like she hasn't gotten any sleep at all.

She scrambles out from under her blanket, rolling off her bed and straight towards her pink desk. Grabbing a loose sheet of paper and a charcoal pencil, the Sneasel rushes to draw out this image that lingers in her mind. She frantically copies it from her memory before it slips out of her grasp.

When she thinks she's done, she sits back and tries to make sense of what she's just drawn.

"... Is this some kind of ship or truck?"