bopbay | TEST DRIVE 01

⋆✩ 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yep, that was to be expected. Ren's only slightly disappointed that Akechi didn't choose something else, if only to get a taste, but... he's sure he'll get another chance. Besides, the mocha puff does sound great, even if the spice puff was tempting too...

Their pastries are served soon enough, placed on little, wooden plates at a table they take a seat at.

"Well... have a nice meal."

An explosion of flavor bursts into his mouth when he takes his first bite (which, in all honesty, is a little awkward, without hands to help him out). It's a little bitter, not unlike coffee, sweet, but not too much so. It's not the same as the mocha he's used to, but it's a pretty damn close approximation.

In other words... he really likes it!

Akechi is a bit stubborn in how he eats and even carries his plate. He could, and probably should, either use his feet or beak. Instead, he awkwardly balances the plate on his wing with some effort. It probably looks silly, like he's trying to channel his inner waiter.

But, luckily, he doesn't drop it, and once he's placed it on the table, he very awkwardly leans down to peck.

And then again.

Before long, he's so swept up in the flavor that he can't help himself!

It looks incredibly silly, but Ren's not much better, balancing the plate on his head. What a duo they make.

He continues to eat at his puff; it's certainly more filling than the berries, which is a relief. It's so tasty, too... he can't wait to try the other flavors at another time! There's cream and cake on his face when he looks up at Akechi, smiling.

"Someone's hungry," he teases at Akechi's eagerness.

Damn it, Ren.

His feathers fluff up in slight agitation, cream on the tip of his beak. "I was tossed around in the ocean after being compressed into this orb of a body." He gestures with his wings, trying not to raise his voice. It is a public venue, after all.

Ren can't help a snort. This looks stupidly adorable with the cream smeared on his little kitty face.

"What do you know. Me too." Minus to orb part, that is, though a kitten body comes pretty close, he feels. He takes another bite of his puff. "They are really good."

"At least these creatures know how to create respectable meals." Peck, peck. He is absolutely going to have to clean his face after this. "It's impressive, given the diversity in their anatomy."

Ren, for one, is glad they've got something figured out around here. As catlike as he is, he isn't really eager to actually try to hunt something down to eat- especially since these pokemon are intelligent. He'll try all sorts of weird foods, sure, but... that would've been one big pill to swallow.

This, on the other hand, is very nice.

With a final bite, he finishes up his puff, letting out a satisfied sigh. "I'm stuffed," he hums. "That hit the spot."

Akechi finishes not long after, trying to at least blot his face with a wing, in lieu of napkins. "Yes, all things considered, it was better than I anticipated."

Actual sustenance... Heh. Well, he casts a glance toward the selection. "I suppose if we want to try the more lavish options in the future, we'll have to find a way to earn our keep, though I suppose odd jobs are nothing new for you."

Ren, meanwhile, has started 'washing' his face with his paws. That's how cats do it, right? It's the only way to get clean now, so...

"I practically kept half of Tokyo's shops open by myself," he jokes, "it'll be something to do, I guess, beyond figuring out why we're here. We're gonna need... actually, I don't think I've seen anyone using money."

He's seen pokemon talk and trade objects, but he hasn't seen anything that resembles Yen, or any other currency.

"Well, we can figure it out as we go. I'd like to think I'm nothing, if not adaptable." Ugh. The downside to using his wing is now there's icing on his feathers.

He scowls at his wing. It's not like he's a cat. "...I'll just have to wash this, since I'm not 'blessed' with a barbed tongue."

"Mhm, yeah. If nothing else, I guess we can trade labour for essentials."

He chuckles at Akechi's conundrum, though, smirking. "I can wash it for you if you want, honey."

He's mostly joking. Mostly.

Akechi's feathers fluff up slightly, but to his credit, he retains his composure. Mostly. "My, we've just reunited, and you're already acting so forward."

There. Nailed it.

Ren laughs at Akechi's reply, genuinly amused.

"Well, you know me. I've no problem helping out my friends in whatever way they need."

He adds a wink at the end for good measure.

"With that attitude, I wonder if friendship is really your objective." He winks right back. Two can play at this game, Ren, and he's not inclined to lose. "Now then, what to do..."

They've eaten, so that's one item off the list.

"Hardly the worst thing I've ever done for a friend," Ren hums. Oh, how easy it is to fall right back into the usual banter with Akechi.

Still, he allows himself to stretch, licking a last bit of frosting from his paw. ...Is that gross? That's probably gross, but he's already done it, and what else is he supposed to do anyway.

"I guess we should look around," he says, "there's a lot of ground to cover though. Should we split up?"

Much as he'd like to stick by Akechi's side, it would be easier if they each went out to gather information on their own...

Splitting up would be practical at this point, though the fact that Ren offered to at all is kind of funny, prompting a hushed chuckle from Akechi.

"Split up, then reconvene once we've gotten a better feel for the situation?"

It seems practical enough, and it should offer Ren the reassurance that he won't just disappear this time.

"Obviously," Ren says. "If you don't show, I'll turn this city inside out to find you, and when I do, I'm kicking your ass." He smiles. "So you better do."

Hey, he may be hesitant to split from Akechi, but he's not stupid.

"We'll meet up at that place we slept- the Oran Berries' base entrance." They should both be able to find their way there, not to mention it's quite an obvious place.

"The base it is, then. Just try not to get into too much trouble, Joker." A tall order for Ren. Akechi knows how he is. Once a Phantom Thief, always a Phantom Thief.

"Me? Get in trouble? Why, I'd never." Ren grins. They both know he's lying. "Who do you take me for, Crow?"

After leaving the bakery, Ren gives Akechi a final look (and is that a hint of worry?), before saying his goodbyes.

"Well... see ya later, Akechi," he says, waiting for a moment, before wandering off.

TEST DRIVE 01

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