October-November Test Drive!

[indigo_league]

TEST DRIVE MEME

➞ Post with a character you wish to test drive in this game's setting.
➞ Tag other people's starters and thread out shenanigans!
➞ Invite your friends! Try out new characters! Come play with us!
➞ Have fun!


NOT SURE WHERE TO BEGIN YOUR TEST-DRIVE JOURNEY?
CHECK OUT ALL THE LOCATIONS WE HAVE AVAILABLE IN:

JOHTO | and | KANTO

ALSO, AS PROMPTS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, and in the spirit of Halloween: August's GHOST TRICK event!

O-Bon festival: The streets are lined with NPC-run stalls for food, games, and the assorted tchotchkes of every summer festival you’ve ever seen in your animes! There’s Goldeen Scoop, heaping cones of Swirlix Candy, Test Your STRENGTH (there are two different machines for people and Pokémon; HM04 not required); basically, if you can think of it, it’s there. There will also be a yukata rental stall if you want to go full hog on the cultural side of things. Ecruteak boasts a small stage where the Kimono Girls give a short performance once every two hours; the festivities in Lavender Town are a little quieter, but they also have Haunter-shaped ice cream treats. When you lick them, they Lick you!

On the last evening of the festival in either location, there will be a large bonfire and traditional bon-odori dance in which everyone is welcome to participate. In Lavender Town only, they also set paper lamps afloat in the water past the cliffs.

Who you gonna call?: Remember “The Ghost of Maiden’s Peak”? Well, some of the local Gastly, Duskull, and Yamask seem to have gotten it into their heads that this kind of tomfoolery is somehow good medicine. If your trainer had someone in their life, someone now dead, that they have unresolved business with, these ghosties may take it upon themselves to play a little dress-up and follow your trainer around in the guise of said dead person until the issue is resolved. It’s their way of saying thank you for all the spiritual appeasement of the festival.

These ghosts won’t speak; Pokémon don’t talk, after all. So yes, your trainer is going to be followed around by some silent echo of their past who will not leave them alone.

Or, of course, write your own!

✭ ✭ ✭


OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
NAVIGATION | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

Comments

Mikasa Ackerman | Attack On Titan

[callyourname]

O-BON | Lavender Town

[ Mikasa is mostly walking and looking around because this -- sure is different from anything back home. Is this what humanity does when it's free from the walls and Titans? Who knows, there's only one way to find out and that's not going anywhere while they are here.

She'll try all the games. She just happens to be a terrifyingly competent prodigy, who seems to do anything and everything with highest scores like a pro with zero effort or experience. What is she going to do with all the prizes? She should probably decide that sooner or later, because the pile is getting huge but there's still that STRENGTH game and some others to go.

And she's going to try all the food too! Where else is she going to get this much different stuff to eat? Not back home, that's pretty sure. She's not a picky eater, her parents raised her well. ...Except this ice cream looks suspicious. Mikasa stares at it for a while, looks at someone else screaming about something once they taste it--

...Which is why Mikasa offers her Haunter ice cream to anyone, who happens to be next to her. ]

You can have it. [ She'll get a new one if it's not too weird. She's going to, uh, observe this more first. ]


Who you gonna call?

[ There's a very brief moment of surprise on Mikasa's face later in the evening, when there's suddenly an Asian woman near her. She looks just like Mikasa; she just happens to be older, her hair is longer and she's wearing white clothes. It's obvious where she got her looks from.

The surprise fades away as soon as she hides it behind her walls. It's nothing new to see her, usually it happens when she's asleep but she's clearly awake right now.

Her Growlithe starts barking as soon as he notices how upset the girl is at seeing the woman. Mikasa picks him up to calm them both down, feeling almost like a child with a plushie there. So, she's not going to talk? Surely her mother would have said something by now if she could and Mikasa can't think of anything to say. Are there going to be more? Who knows, but there could be considering what their world is like and how many people she has seen dying. But if there's no after life or whatever, then her parents died thinking that she'd die after them too or worse, right?

She tries to walk away from her, but it keeps following her. Mikasa huffs. ...And sighs, looking down at the ground instead of looking at her. She might be freaking out a little on the inside, but there's no way in hell she's going to show any sign of that on the outside. That Growlithe isn't doing a very good job as a distraction. Help? ]


Wildcard

[ Throw me anything or add me to plurk ( baranohanabira ) if you want to talk about options or talk about whatever. ]

O-BON

[greatrage]

[Eren has actually rented a yukata to wear. It's so loose and comfortable! Which is good, because his arms are piled high with plush versions of Pokémon, plastic masks, and various other toys. Thanks, flavor fan-art, for corresponding almost perfectly with my mental image here. Even Hildegard the skarmory is holding a few toys in her beak, and a few balancing on her back. Carey the gligar has laid claim to a rubber ball almost as big as she is with a Gengar's face on it, and is rolling around on the ground with it with a blissful expression on her face.

And now Mikasa was... offering him some weird ice cream. It was amazing that Eren even had other ice cream experience to compare this to]

... I uh, don't have any free hands, Mikasa. If you don't want it, just throw it away. People here don't care about that kind of waste. There's plenty of food to go around.

[callyourname]

[ Ah yeah, come to think of it, it is her first experience of ice cream here. Well at least it's something to remember. ]

You shouldn't eat strange things anyway.

[ Says the girl, who has been fearlessly tasting everything. But she's saying it to Eren, somehow that's different in her opinion. Throwing it away is not an option though! Mikasa looks at Eren, then back at the ice cream... Hmm. She looks back at Eren again. Well considering how many people here are eating this, it's probably not a bad strange thing... ]

But you can eat it if I hold it for you, right?

[ . . . She's not joking. ]

[greatrage]

[oh yeah, because Eren isn't allowed to take risks or anything like that. Something bad might happen. Or whatever it was that Mikasa was always so worried about.

... was she really suggesting....

Eren makes a face]

No! I'm not going to let you feed me weird ice cream, Mikasa!

[thankfully, Carey has temporarily lost interest in her ball and has spotted the ice cream. The little gligar climbs up Mikasa like a tree and perches on her arm, reaching for the ice cream with her claws]

"Gii! Gii!!"

[saved by an obnoxious purple bat scorpion] It looks like Carey wants it more than I do anyway.

[callyourname]

[ He really shouldn't eat all the weird things, but he is probably going to do that here anyway. On second thought she doesn't want to give it to him but it's not dangerous, it's just something weird... probably. Definitely not dangerous, but how weird is it going to be? Decisions, decisions. ]

. . . It's not like I'm going to force you to eat it, Eren.

[ He has a point and Mikasa just... Stares at the ice cream for a moment. Throwing it away is still not an option.

Mikasa doesn't mind the bat climbing up on her. Good, these weird animals can help in situations like this too. She just gives the whole ice cream to Carey. ]

It's yours. Enjoy.

[ If that's a thing that can even be said about that ice cream, who knows but she's looking at the bat to see what it does. ]

[greatrage]

[he has eaten lots of weird things! Including berries! And let him tell you, that was a bad move. He waves a hand.] I'm full anyway. I had one of those fried dough things with the sugar on top? I don't know how anyone could eat anything more than that...

[Food here was so incredibly rich. This must be how the nobles eat all the time.

Carey's little face lights up. A whole ice cream!! ALL FOR HER!! She chirps happily at Mikasa, and then gives the ice cream a biiiiiig lick.

Then, without warning, the ice cream opens its painted on little mouth and licks her right back! That was... unexpected. Carey yelps and throws the ice cream as far as she can, gliding over to Eren and begging to be held. DAD. THE ICE CREAM WAS MEAN TO HER. Eren obliges, but is still looking at the ghostly treat, which is now slightly splattered and giggling madly on the ground]

... That was something alright.

[callyourname]

[ Eren, that's why you ask if you can even eat the berries before you eat them! ...Oh wait, Eren and asking first? Why would anyone think he does that? Not Mikasa, she knows him too well. ] So, probably a doughnut. And that's something you should ask from Sasha if she ever shows up here.

[ Really. Since at least Mikasa has no idea, she lived in the mountains for 9 years before she even met Eren and she's used to not eating much. All of this food here is almost like a mission to try something new every day.

Carey's excitement is cute though Mikasa stays as cool and calm as ever. Good girl, eat it all. She keeps staring at her to see if something happens. And if nothing happens, well then, maybe she'll get one for herself too...

When then that happens, Mikasa looks surprised to say the least. ...Okay. Now she is very glad, that she doesn't trust anyone or anything easily because that's just some really fucking weird shit. Mikasa huffs and looks away from the ice cream, ignoring it completely because attention would clearly be what it wants. ]

... That was... Reasons why I'm never touching ice cream here again.

[ Her Growlithe though? He walks to the ice cream and licks it too. And then it licks him back -- he doesn't seem to mind after a little surprise though as he tries to eat as much of it as he still can from the ground in one go. Well that -- solves her problems of what to eat and not to eat here. ]

O-BON

[blackparagon]

[Next to Mikasa is a rather tall man with blond hair, a black formal vest over his white dress shirt and cravat (along with black dress pants and shoes), and a stern expression on his face. Xander is simply watching the festivities for the time being. The festival makes him think of Hoshido, as it looks like something that would fit there completely.

The question of the young woman next to Xander gets his attention, though. He turns his head toward her, his gaze softening somewhat as curiosity takes over.]

Pardon? Are you offering me your treat?

[Unlike Mikasa, Xander is no stranger to ice cream. However, he doesn't recognize the treat as such yet.]

[callyourname]

[ Is it really a treat? Is it normal for treats to make people scream like that someone over there? ]

Obviously. [ Not that she couldn't eat it herself. It's not scary, but it's a bit complicated. ] . . . It's something called ice cream.

[blackparagon]

You're not familiar with ice cream, then?

[Hm, how to explain this...]

It's a sweet, cold treat, made with milk. If you haven't had it, you should try it. It's one of the most popular desserts where I come from.

[callyourname]

[ Well, she is obviously not familiar with it so the quiet girl doesn't say anything to that first question. Explaining their world is always weird, it's not a nice place at all. And most things along with food are things, that she's not familiar in this world but that's also not something she'd admit right now. ]

So people don't usually scream in shock when they taste it?

[ She'll taste it. Soon. Maybe. If that someone out there had screamed of excitement, she would have tasted it by now but some stranger's reaction to the surprise in the ice cream didn't sound excited at all. ]

[blackparagon]

[Xander looks out over the crowd. He has no idea who did that, but he also heard it.]

Not unless they eat it too fast. Sometimes people overestimate their tolerance to the cold.

[callyourname]

[ Sasha would be screaming in horror and for many other reasons a lot while eating ice cream then if she was here. Noted. ]

People underestimate a lot of things. So, your answer is a no then?

[ you know, to the possibly weird ice cream that she is (still) offering. ]

who you gonna call?

[notvaljean]

[Ah, Mikasa. Jean might have gotten better at confronting her recently, but he still can't talk to her worth a damn. It's as if his vocal cords remember the sting of a thousand rejections and lock up on him, leaving him as tongue-tied and fumbling as he'd been the first time he'd seen her. Some things haven't changed at all in the last three years.]

[But he is better at talking to her when he has a reason to--small talk, gods no, that's still an impossible task--and when he notices her walking away, head down, carrying her fussing Growlithe like a puppy and followed by a woman in white, he trails behind them. The woman is a little creepy, for all that she looks like Mikasa, and Jean stretches his legs, passing the woman in white and catching up with Mikasa. Blitz the Voltorb bounces along at Jean's side, and he completely ignores the woman in white. That makes Jean feel a little better; if the ghost was dangerous, or even slightly off-putting, Blitz would attack.]

Hey. There's, uh... there's a thing following you.

[Okay, so maybe he hasn't gotten a lot better at talking to her. Baby steps!]

[Jean's attention is focused on Mikasa, so he doesn't notice the second apparition that has floated up beside the first, one that's starting to coalesce and stretch into another familiar, cheerful form.]

/chinhands

[callyourname]

[ Does it help that Mikasa's social skills are still somewhere in level zero or just somewhat over that? Probably not, but her poor speech abilities don't really help with people getting to know her better. So even though they don't know it, they might feel somewhat similar about talking with each other.

But baby steps are a great way to go, it's not like she minds the company. She actually really appreciates it at the moment and it's even better that he is no stranger. ]

Ah, yeah. ... [ It's a start? ] Some ghost or whatever pretending to be someone it's not, I think.

[ She would like to keep her attention on Jean ( his lucky day maybe?) when he is offering a good distraction. It's kind of hard not glance at her mother though, ghost trick or not. Even if she has seen her often in her nightmares and dreams ever since that day. But right now... She's right th-- Mikasa frowns at more of them appearing. ]

And I guess she's getting company. [ How many more are there going to be? Who knows. ]

[notvaljean]

Maybe it's a ghost Pokemon? They have those here.

[Jean might not have nerded out to quite the extent Armin and Bertolt have, but he knows a bit about the different types of Pokemon. When Mikasa called it a ghost, something clicked for him. Probably just a Pokemon being a brat.]

Huh?

[Jean glances over his shoulder, and immediately wishes he didn't. He jerks back around, staring straight ahead, his spine rigid and his face pale. The ghost hadn't completed its form yet, but he recognizes the set of those shoulders, the tilt of that head. He knows who the ghost is going to be, and he can't look back. He can't.]

Blitz. [His voice is tight and strangled, and his Pokemon leaps to attention.] Go chase them away.

[Awww yes, that's what Blitz was waiting for. He swivels around and pounces, shooting sparks and making lots of noise, and Jean smiles weakly at Mikasa.]

He'll take care of it.

[callyourname]

Maybe. ...Is there anything that can't be a pokemon?

[ This world is weird but so far it hasn't been a bad thing. Most of the time at least.

She notices the changes in him clearly as soon as he is looking her way again. Should she do something? What do people usually do? Pat a shoulder a something? Well, Mikasa ... doesn't really do anything, that would be easy to notice. Her puppy might notice some extra petting but that's about it, when the girl has still a long way to go about friendships with others than Eren and Armin. The ghost is easy to recognize, of course it is. Should she say something about it? Shut up about it? How to make it clear to someone, that she is at least definitely not going to force him to look back there again?

Looks like he is taking care of it himself. Mikasa's puppy struggles a little, clearly he wants to go chase them away too. Nope, she's not letting him go and it stops with a huff soon. The puppy could chase them down without fire, for sure, but would he actually do it without the fire? Who knows. Mikasa isn't about to test it on these sights of familiar people.

She looks at Blitz go with the tiniest signs of gratitude on her face and even more in her eyes. It takes time to get more out of her, but it's a start. Baby steps in everything. She is very grateful for them both though. ]

Thank you. [ is that ... all? ] That's -- a lot better than fire.

[notvaljean]

[Blitz has no such qualms about his electricity. Shocks for Jean, shocks for other Pokemon, shocks for everyone! Jean can hear him behind them, making lots of noise and the air heavy with discharged electricity. Jean keeps his eyes straight ahead, his stride lengthening. He knows it's a Pokemon; he knows it's a ghost. He still can't stand the idea of talking to it either way.]

Welcome.

[Just keep walking, don't look back...]

[Blitz bounces up beside Jean a few moments later, complaining loudly and nudging at Jean's legs. Jean reaches down to pet his head, and dares a quick glance over his shoulder.]

They're still there.

[Electric doesn't beat ghost.]

[callyourname]

[ Mikasa keeps her eyes on the ground and stays quiet. Is electric better or worse than fire? Who knows, at least they are pokemon and nothing else. It shouldn't be difficult to fight against them in the way that this world handles monster battles, but ... Well, she's not doing it if she can avoid it and she keeps walking too. ]

[ She glances at Blitz when he returns and then she's turning to look at the puppy, that she is still holding. ]

Ah well then... [ she's putting the Growlithe back to the ground, he looks fiercely excited to get to do soemthing. He's totally got this, why couldn't he do anything sooner? ] Roar them away but no fire tricks, okay?

[ Tiny, new puppy who is not going to do anything unless his trainer tells him not to do it. Weird, but true since this puppy seems to be like that.

And then there goes puppy, barking and trying to chase them away with Roar -- too bad they're going to come back even if it works. Roar isn't the answer to issues with dead people. ]

O-BON

[schachmeister]

[Armin really should start steering Mikasa away from any more games. It's not that she is bad at them. That's the problem. She's far too good! The prizes are starting to stack up, and Armin is starting to have some real trouble carrying them all. They are not exactly heavy, but they are unwieldy. And what's more, he's starting to notice the booth workers giving Mikasa wary and uncertain looks. He doesn't want this ending up in a confrontation.

Ah good, the food booths are much better. Armin has been here for a while now, but the ready supply of food still is something to marvel at. They even have salt available on every table like it isn't horrendously expensive. What a luxury.

Though that doesn't mean he's just going to shove everything in his mouth. He's not (Eren) certain other people (eren) that will go unnamed. (totally Eren though)]

If his arms weren't so full of stuffed animals (including one large Wailmer that he is absolutely in love with), he would've held up his hands to deflect the ice cream.]

Ah, no, it's yours, isn't it? You should eat it.

[Don't feed him your suspicious crap!]

[callyourname]

[ Mikasa notices all those weird looks from the workers but she's doing one of the things, that she is excellent at. That is... Simply just ignoring them.

She should ... take some of those things away from Armin. It's not like he has to carry everything. But really, they are not heavy and they are also getting a lot of looks on how cute that is. That? The prizes or Armin or the fact that someone is carrying so many of them? Who knows. Could be all three. ]

But it's probably going to do something weird. I want to know what it is before I try it.

[ No one told her about this suspicious food! Even if Mikasa's reaction to almost everything is absolute no reaction to anything. Be a gentleman, Armin! Someone might think you are refusing to help a lady in trouble! ]

[schachmeister]

[He is absolutely refusing to help a lady in trouble. Honestly, Mikasa constitution is far better than his. If anyone could survive this weird ice cream, it would be her.]

Please don't feed me weird things.

[A beat.]

It would be better to ask Jean.

[If Sasha was here, he would've suggested Sasha, but Jean would never turn down any request from Mikasa.]

[callyourname]

[ If Sasha was here, the ice cream wouldn't even be there anymore for any other reason than Sasha possibly being too scared to steal it from Mikasa. But Sasha is not here ... And Mikasa isn't too sure if she wants to feed these weird things to Armin or Eren. Sure, they are safe for kids too but who knows what they are. ]

I don't see him anywhere.

[ She'd ask Jean if he was here, really. ]

... Can fire types eat ice cream?

[schachmeister]

[Armin looks momentarily thoughtful.]

Probably. I haven't read anything that said they can't.

[And he has done a lot of reading.

Though when it clicks why she might be asking, he shakes his head.]

If you think something weird is going to happen, you can definitely not feed it to your pokemon.

[Honestly, Armin doesn't really think something bad will happen. They wouldn't be allowed to sell them if they were bad, right? But he's still not going to put himself out there to try it, and innocent pokemon should definitely not be involved in this either.]

[callyourname]

Good.

[She's looking at her puppy already and the puppy barks, stepping closer to them.]

Why? Most likely he'll just be surprised by something or won't even eat it. Besides locals seem to share everything with these animals...

Sit.

[ Growlithe sits down and waits. Try to stop her or watch her offer it to the puppy, who seems excited to try it. ]