TEST DRIVE 01

[baymods]

⋆✩ test drive 01 ✩⋆

ECHOES IN THE STORM
( CWS: BODY HORROR AND RISK OF DROWNING )

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.

You gasp for breath, and water spills into your lungs, causing your new form to flail out. An assortment of different appendages hinder your ability to swim, if you even had one in the first place, and every sensation returns to you at once in an overwhelming sensory bang.

You are now a Pokemon. But that's hardly the thing to be focusing on right now, as you are also currently drowning in a stormy sea. If you can manage to squint through the pouring rain and the pounding waves, you might spot the beach of Bottlecap Bay, or the cliffs just north of it. An assortment of Pokemon are there, along the shores, shouting at one another.

But as another wave threatens to knock you beneath the sea for good, you recognize just how many of you are stuck out here. Lightning flashes above with an immediate boom of thunder, and something in your chest tells you they are the same as you.

Those who are able to gain a quicker grasp on their new bodies may be able to help with the rescue efforts of their fellow new arrivals. The rest of you will just have to survive.

---

FOR THE WEARY
( JANUARY 19TH—JANUARY 31ST )

After everyone that can be found is rescued from the stormy seas, Mightyena is quick to offer the Oran Berries base as a place of rest for all new characters while their arrival is being looked into. Pokemon are shoved into any of the room styles without regard for ranking because this is temporary Housing, but will have to share their rooms. All Oran Berry guild amenities will be available to them during this time.

After arranging that, and having each new arrival stop by the Pokeclinic for their own health, characters will be met with a very fair and kind welcome: they are free to explore Bottlecap Bay, make themselves at home, and get used to their new bodies. Dr. Denne loudly and excitedly proclaims that he will be looking into this new, strange phenomenon immediately, and every Pokemon of the city seems to be in agreement: they're afraid and wary of humans, but they're not ones to turn away someone in need. They are willing to trust these characters, and hope their trust will not be broken.

For the time being, shop keepers throughout the city will be offering things to new arrivals free of charge to help them get on their feet.

A. ⟡ SWEETS AND TREATS

One of the best things about Bottlecap Bay is the assortment of delicious food, made for Pokemon, by Pokemon! Now, this might sound intimidating at first, but not to fret — Pokemon food tastes so delicious it's almost hard to believe! Of course, each Pokemon has their own tastes, so some may prefer the sweet while others search for spicy, but rest assured, there's something for everyone.

Unfortunately, as characters are still adjusting to their new bodies, these little snacks are causing trouble around the city with a number of strange, new effects. Some characters may experience the activation of their new abilities upon eating their favorite flavor of food! Try to dodge any stray thunderbolts while you're enjoying the poffins, and beware of bubble at the malasada stand's tables! In addition to this, some new arrivals have mentioned their moods being affected, with some suddenly becoming gloomy, excited, angry, or anything in between.

B. ⟡ AN ATTEMPT AT COMFORT

Various Pokemon clothing shop owners in Bottlecap Bay have noticed that the new arrivals seem very shy about their appearances. Hiding behind walls, covering themselves... It's not like anyone minds if you go around as you are, but they have a solution! New arrivals may have one item for free! That means that they may have one item of clothing without needing to barter for it. This is a rare chance, so make sure you take advantage of it!

However, a naughty little Impidimp has hexed the clothing items, unbeknownst to shopkeepers! Though not every piece of clothing is affected, many shops were hit, and each type of clothing has a different hex to go along with it. When Pokemon put on the item in question, they may experience the following:

HEADWEAR (hats, ear accessories, etc) ⟡ Have the strong urge to overshare about themselves to others. Lying feels difficult.
NECKWEAR (scarves, necklaces, etc) ⟡ Become incredibly cold, and will only be comforted by contact with others. Cuddle time!
TOPS (shirts, hoodies, capes, etc) ⟡ Suddenly become obsessed with their new abilities, and want to battle everything that moves.
BOTTOMS (pants, skirts, leggings, etc) ⟡ Overwhelmed with the desire to make more animalistic noises based on their Pokemon. Meow!
SHOES (booties or anything on the feet) ⟡ Become incredibly clumsy, dropping things, tripping and falling all over the place.
MISC (anything that does not apply to the other categories) ⟡ Some of their thoughts will be spoken aloud on accident. Hope you weren't thinking something mean!

C. ⟡ ALL CLEANED UP

Does it feel a little awkward, sitting around and watching all the other Pokemon clean up after this storm? The guild base you're staying in is damaged and dealing with periodic leaks, the storefronts closest to the beach have suffered water damage, and the intense winds have damaged structures throughout the city. Streets are being swept and tidied from blown in debris, injured Pokemon are taking up a majority of the hospital beds, and there's an endless need for construction assistance in both stone and wood parts of structures.

Characters will not be forced or even encouraged to help out, but if they offer, their help will be gratefully accepted! Those who take part in a lot of the cleanup will certainly be remembered by those with more prominent positions in the clean up efforts, such as the guild leaders.

While you have free reign of the city, the guild leaders and Dr. Denne are hard at work looking into solutions and explanations for your sudden arrival. They promise to update you as soon as they have more information, but in the meantime... there's a whole city to explore, and a new body to do it in! Feel free to use the Locations page to come up with different prompts using available locations, if you'd like.

---

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
( FEBRUARY 1ST—FEBRUARY 8TH )

With the large storm past and the clean up and repairs complete, all of Bottlecap Bay can now focus on the upcoming festival! Now, this is a rather small affair, lasting for only one day and night, but to the Pokemon of Bottlecap Bay, it's important. Each year, there is an expected meteor shower, and psychic Pokemon have recently received the date for this year's. Known simply as Starfall, this festival centers around wishes, the unknown, and the future!

Legend says that if you close your eyes and wish upon a falling star, there's a strong Pokemon that can make it come true. The stronger your heart, the more your wish will be heard, though there are additional small superstitions about what you should do in order to better be heard.

For the week leading up to Starfall (which falls on the night of the 9th of February), the city will be decorated in a starry theme, with food and clothing to match! The night life of the city becomes that much more active, with games that you'd expect to find at any festival being played in Pokemon form, friendly sparring battles held on the beach, and fortunes! Farigiraf Fortunes are one-time fortunes that Pokemon pull during the week leading up to the festival to show your luck for the following year. Bad fortunes should be tied on festival decorations around the city in order to dispel the ill fortune. With your new bodies, though, you may just need some help to tie those off.

Throughout the week, feel free to make up your own festival games to participate in for top levels. For the festival food, some of it may make you feel sparkly or warm, reminding you of something distant yet oh-so-close... What could it be?

---

SOMETHING TWISTING IN MY HEART
( BEGINNING FEBRUARY 1ST )

The city has moved on from the storm, but the truth of the matter is that you haven't. Even if you think you have, can you really say as much? After all, your body still aches at night, your mind still spins when you try to recall that voice, and that void, and you don't belong here. Beginning February 1st, characters may begin to have intermittent nightmares.

These nightmares vary from person to person, but their core is the same: your inner doubts, your worries about the future, the present, and the past all come to a head here. Nightmares cause you to lose sleep at night and lose focus during the day. The more you lose yourself to these fears and feelings, the more you begin to change, your darker traits becoming more emphasized as your ability to talk yourself through situations becomes weaker. You can't do this alone.

Nightmares will slowly increase in frequency and intensity until hallucinations begin to occur even during the daytime. Characters might believe that those around them are out to get them, or are adding to those self-doubting and criticizing feelings. Worries pile on and begin to affect you physically, leading to more body aches and pains, loss of control, and occasional rampages.

In order to break free from this worsening condition, you must share these doubts or feelings with another. Surface level admissions won't count for this. All characters who do not manage this task by the 10th of February, just after Starfall, will find themselves automatically freed from the horrible nightmares. How strange was that? It's like as soon as everyone made their wishes, that horrible feeling melted away completely.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Characters who experience nightmares but do not have them cured by another character, and instead just "time out" at the end of the event, will have plot relevance in a future event. They may experience emotional or light physical harm in the future, so feel free to handwave an NPC helping them out if you'd like to opt out of that.

---

NOTES.

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

⟡ We will normally have a newbie directory for new characters only! However, since this is our first TDM and everyone will be new, there will be no directory.

⟡ All characters on this TDM are unassigned to any guild as of yet!

⟡ 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!

⟡ Dates listed beneath prompts are meant to be helpful guides for the more time-sensitive aspects (cleaning up from the storm, nightmares beginning, etc), but general city exploration and other ideas like that can be done at any time.

⟡ Farigiraf Fortunes will just be little omikuji fortunes with an included lucky Pokemon and lucky color. You can make up your own, but if you'd like one randomly generated for you, reply here!

⟡ Please be sure to mark for any content warnings in your threads when applicable, such as with the nightmare prompt.

⟡ 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!

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Comments

A For All-(the)-Spice

[colorsflyinghigh]

_{[As Ren trots about Bottlecap Bay, slowly getting used to his new body, he notices a small creature crying while eating. He's got a skull on his back larger than his own head- but concern outweighs any worry about that. The pokemon do appear to come in pretty diverse forms, after all.]}

Hey, are you okay?

i promise my tags won't all be novels i just remembered these mons are the exact height and oops

[seacub]

[One thing that Emporio has not quite adjusted to, is being.............'equal size' to things. Realistically, he's aware that he is not that tall. At all. He can't really give himself a good estimate without a good frame of reference, but he's pretty sure it can't be that much more than a foot, unless the apples here are ludicrously massive.

The thing is though, so are a lot of other pokemon. There's certainly far more that are taller than him, but after spending his literal lifetime looking up, it's been absolutely alien to simply turn his head and meet someone's gaze.

Like right now. He's somewhat shorter than Ren is, but it isn't by much, and Emporio has the distinct feeling that if he were an adult 'cubone' or however it works, he'd be looking Ren directly in the eye.

Of course, the other thing on his mind is that he's still in tears and eating a poffin, and to that end he tries desperately to clear his throat without choking on what's in his hands, before wiping at his eyes.

And biting back a hiss, because salt-water tears do not mesh well with already salt-water stung arms.]

I...I'm... It's nothing, [he tries to insist, looking down at his poffin.]

I'm... I'm okay.

[A sniff, and he cautiously looks back to the sprigatito.] ...Thanks for asking, though.

[That's the right thing to do here isn't it? Yeah, probably.]

LOL don't worry about it. That's just how it is sometimes xD

[colorsflyinghigh]

_{[It's... pretty clear that this pokemon isn't okay, despite his words. His eyes are still red, and he sounds a little choked up, but... well, it is a pretty overwhelming situation. He doesn't blame this kid -he's pretty sure he's a kid- for being upset. His intuition says there may be something else at play, too, but he won't pry.]}

Well... if you say so. _{[He nods, and gives a small smile.]} And no problem. All this is really strange, isn't it?

_{[Not that he's not used to strange. Personas, the Metaverse... and now this, he supposes.]}

My name's Amamiya Ren, by the way, _{[he introduces himself.]} What's yours?

it do be that way sometimes.... u_u

[seacub]

[Emporio nods- he sure does say so! And in focusing on the conversation, does at least manage to pull himself together a little more.]

A little... [Honestly, being turned into a bones lizard feels a lot less bizarre than being turned into a snail amalgam. Even if being a bones lizard has lasted a lot longer.] I think others probably have it a little worse though...

[He tries really, really hard not to look at Ren while saying that. Quadrupedal....]

Oh. Uh... Emporio. Ah- Emporio Alniño, [he nervously corrects, nodding. It might sound fake. It probably sounds fake. He may have made his name up, for lack of having one.]

[colorsflyinghigh]

<sub>[Ren doesn't react, but he does see the way Emporio's trying to avoid look at him. He doesn't call him out on it, though. It is pretty unfortunate, but he's making the best of it. He's sure he'll get used to it. Besides, Akechi became a bird, so Ren likes to think he's got the better deal here.

As for Emporio's name... well, it's not like Ren knows what foreign names are like. To him, this sounds perfectly reasonable, as far as a non-Japanese name goes.]</sub>

It's nice to meet you, Emporio, _{[he says, deep voice gentle but genuine.]} Let's hope this whole transformation business passes sooner rather than later, huh?

_{[He says it... but somehow Ren doubts it'll be that easy.]}

[seacub]

[Let's hope this passes sooner rather than later, Ren says, and Emporio finds himself a little relieved to have this stupid skull helmet still. He's a little quiet for a moment- and, well, what did he expect? Of course most people want to leave, it's just...]

Y..yeah, [he says, quietly hoping that he doesn't come across as obviously not wanting this 'resolved' soon enough.] Let's, uh. ...Let's hope...

...Has it been hard to use paws like that..? [the cubone asks, trying to move to a different topic before he's questioned.]

[colorsflyinghigh]

<sub>[Hmmm... not too eager on this whole thing getting reversed, is he? The sudden switch in topics is extremely obvious in a way that makes Ren all the more worried. Again, he won't pry, but it makes him wonder what kind of place Emporio comes from. He's... no stranger to bad home situations, after all.

Mostly, it sounds like Emporio might need a friend. So, for now, he'll let it be, and try to make Emporio feel welcome.]</sub>

It has been a bit of a challenge, _{[he admits with a somewhat awkward smile.]} I've been managing, but it's taking some getting used to, for sure.

How about you?

sweats in jjba like 'ren bud its both so much better AND worse-'

[seacub]

[No one tell Ren what 'home life' entails, for his sake-]

Mnn...I once read that people lose dexterity in their feet over time because they're walking, so paws can't be that good for holding...

[He trails off- semi-rambly as he is once on a roll, even without the influences of any weird curses or foods- Ren might be on the money about needing a friend.

Or at least someone who he can chatter at to distract himself.]

Uh...I'm doing alright? I mean, I still have thumbs, which is a lot more than most of us can say I think...so far the weirder part has just been the scale.

[Everything is simultaneously Enormous and Tiny. Baffling.]

cries in Stone Ocean ending he has NO IDEA-

[colorsflyinghigh]

<sub>[Ooh, that's an interesting fact. Emporio's right too; it's a little tricky to grasp onto things with these new paws. Ren has no intention of completely losing his dexterity though, so he's definitely going to make an effort to improve on that end.

He doesn't mind listening to Emporio's rambles at all either. It's what he's best at, honestly. Lending an ear for people to ramble to, and chiming in at the right moments. Taking in information that's freely shared with him, and helping in whatever ways he can in return.]</sub>

Yeah. _{[Ren hums.]} It's... weird being this small. I know I'm not the smallest creature around, but it's still jarring.

_{[He wasn't the tallest person around, and he tended to make himself look even smaller with his nasty slouch, but being a Sprigatito is a far cry from being a 175cm teenager.]}

The lack of fingers must be tough, though. _{[He gestures at Emporio's hand.]}

rip whoever unlocks the backstory first jgkhfkgjlh

[seacub]

Right. And actually being able to tell how tall anyone is by number...

[The cubone crosses his arms.] ...I want to say I can't be too tall, but that also comes down to if everything that isn't a...A 'pokemon' is as big as we think. If the fruit here is especially small, or especially big, that throws everything entirely off for example.

[Emporio looks at his..Mitt, in any case.] ...Only a little, actually. Even though it isn't spread into fingers, I definitely still have the bones in there...I guess it's like a flipper?

Really, it'd be a lot worse if I didn't have thumbs.

[Fortunately, he has thumbs.]

[colorsflyinghigh]

<sub>[Huh... that's a good point. Maybe the world's just big, and they're normal sized? Then again, he's seen some others who are really big compared to them, so... maybe not? Or are they just freakishly big? The natural pokemon haven't commented on it, but then again, maybe they're just used to it?

It's a lot to think about, but Ren's not sure how much it matters. All they can do is work with and around it.]</sub>

I can imagine. _{[He actually can, considering he doesn't have thumbs.]} You're not an aquatic pokemon though, I think. You don't look like one, at least.

_[Hmm...]

Maybe your species only recently evolved to be land dwellers?

[seacub]

Definitely not...the doctor said I got a rash from the water...

[Ground types do not do well in water.] I don't think it's an evolutionary thing in that way though. ...I said flipper, but it's probably more like some paws; if you feel the bones in your paw, you'll probably feel some that aren't really fingers, right? So it's probably more like that- 'cubone' must not have really needed more than the ability to grip, for whatever reason.

[Look at them both. Trying to apply real world sciency things to pokemon biology. Sweet summer children.]

[colorsflyinghigh]

<sub>[Hmm... That is true. It doesn't make too much sense to Ren, but he won't claim to be an evolutionary biologist. There's many strange animals in the real world, too.

Not to mention, who even knows if pokemon evolved the same way?]</sub>

It's probably best not to think too hard about it, _{[he decides with a sigh.]} Sometimes, it's better to just accept things as they are, even if there's not much logic behind it.

_{[Thanks, Metaverse, for that wisdom.]}

[seacub]

True, there's already enough unexplained phenomena in the world...

[Thanks, Stands, for that wisdom???] Who knows how science works in this place...

[colorsflyinghigh]

Right? [Ren agrees. They got turned into strange, magical critters, upended from their world, and put into this one, after all. Who's to say that any science here will even be recognizable as science in the first place?

... He wonders why they were all brought here in the first place.]

:|a seems like a good place to wrap this if that sounds good (I wouldn't say no to a second thread!)

[seacub]

[Right.

....now he just wants to find a library...]

Sounds good to me! (and I defs wouldn't say no either! I enjoyed these goobers together)

[colorsflyinghigh]

[It seems their conversation has petered out, and that Emporio is feeling a little better- or has, at least, been distracted. Ren's glad, but Akechi's probably wondering where he is. So, for now, it seems he'll have to say goodbye.]

Well, it was nice talking to you, but I promised to meet up with a friend. You gonna be okay from here on out?

[Just to make sure.]

Yes~! Same!!

[seacub]

[It worked, and that's all that matters- and ultimately, it's still just one town. No way they won't see the other again.

So, the boy nods, quite fine with going his own way as well.] Y-yeah. I'll be okay. I was going to see if there was anything I could look at to learn more about this place anyway so...

[So, he nods again. He'll be fine. Especially if they let him in the library. Then he'll be Extra fine.]

Yaaay :D

[colorsflyinghigh]

[Ren smiles.]

Sounds like a plan.

[Ren gets up from his spot, and gives Emporio a nod of his own.]

Well, see ya later.

[And with that, he takes his leave.]