NOVEMBER - DECEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

[indigo_events]

➞ 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 | KANTO | SEVII ISLANDS

Feel free to make various prompts in multiple locations!

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OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
NAVIGATION | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

Comments

[woofdad]

[Grant doesn't want to be out on his own for too long at a time - even if "on his own" really means "with his Swinub". Really, it's not the risk of running into wild Pokemon that bothers him to begin with so much as that of leaving Chip and Dimitri unattended; sure, Dimitri is technically "adult supervision", and Grant doubts at this point that he would ever hurt Chip, but... look, Chip is ten, and Dimitri seems to have his head half in another plane most of the time. Things could easily go wrong.

But he also can't be there 24 hours a day, and he figures Truffle could use a little exercise. So. He gets a break, and Truffle has to work those little nub legs of hers for a bit.

Apparently, she also gets to work her nose a little, as she goes snuffling off toward something just outside Cherrygrove. Grant follows her with a sigh, just about to ask what it is she's going after when he hears...

A honk?

What is honking out here.

Grant slows down, but keeps following Truffle carefully, trying to get a look at... whatever she's found.

...Man, he hopes it's not some kind of magic goose.]

[hurricane_clown]

[At the sound of snuffling, Karako freezes.

At first glance, Karako has hope--it's just another new kind of nibble vermin, or maybe a small porkfiend. Unfair though it is that he can't eat these creatures, the wild ones are rarely threatening.

But bigger footsteps, heavy and careless and tired, follow.

No. Motherfucker.

There's a softbody behind the snuffling critter.

And the the creature smells him.

He knows he's not sneaky enough to retreat unheard, and his trail will leave a scent. There's only one solution.

As the big softbody comes ever nearer, Karako lifts one hidden finger, signalling Gigglesnarl to wait .... and to wait.... and then, when the sniffy lump is just a foot away, he retracts the finger to make a fist.]

HOOOOONK!!!!!

NYAAAAAA!!!!!

[In front, a clown--small, furious, leaping straight into the air and into his face while producing a sound like an angry ship that replaced its foghonk with an oversized bicycle horn.

From behind: Galarian Meowth, darting from the underbrush, aiming for the back of his knees.]

[woofdad]

[Oh fuck this might be worse than a goose

Really, though, Grant was prepared for a few things the honking in the bush might have been coming from, but a child was not one of them - and this is definitely a child, he manages to pick up that much even with the kid jumping on him and honking again.

He absolutely does not have time to process what the hell is going on beyond that before a fluffy blur goes after his legs; he stumbles but narrowly maintains his balance, fumbling to remove the child from his face - carefully, he doesn't want to hurt the kid.] Hey-- okay, please don't! Just-- I don't want to hurt you!

[He has no idea if that's what the kid expected, but based on his very limited experience with children hiding in strange locations, it seems like a fair assumption. Also he doesn't want to hurt this child now, as he tries to just... gently wrangle him.]

[hurricane_clown]

[The problem with the 'I'll go high, you go low' strategy is that--amongst other things--Karako is still unarmed. The idea was to use the element of surprise to make an escape, not to get snatched out of the air and grappled by someone three or four times his size.]

HONK! HONK!! HOOONK! HONK?!

[It takes a few seconds of honking and flailing and grabbing and kicking his bare feet into the motherfucker's weird brown face for him to catch onto the fact that this guy isn't hurting him. Like, at all.

Karako's struggles slow, cautiously.]

.... honk? Honk?

[On the ground below, Gigglesnarl--having failed at toppling his Trainer's opponent--circles Grant while growling and making short, pointed jabs at his knees, claws out.]

[woofdad]

[Grant scrunches up his face, craning his head back to keep away from the kid's kicking feet - is he not wearing shoes? - until the frantic kicking slows down enough that Grant is confident he can put him down without getting kicked in the gut.

And put him down he does, slowly and carefully, with a pointed look at the cat clearly still trying to threaten him. Truffle scoots closer, eyeing the cat herself in case it tries anything else.]

Okay. There you go. You okay?

[...Somehow, he already expects that the only answer he'll get is more honking. Is this kid okay?]

[hurricane_clown]

[Grant really ought to be commended for his restraint--not for declining to destroy a small child, although by Alternian standards that is pretty generous of him--but for declining to take on the whole 'full face paint' thing Karako is sporting.

But Karako's feet touch dirt and he doesn't sprint away.

He looks... mostly confused, really.

He stands there, listening to the sound of Gigglesnarl hissing furiously at the furry lump, and tips his head up.]

Honk?

[woofdad]

[Listen, that is weird for sure - but in the grand scheme of things, when he's just been tackled by a honking, barefoot child, it doesn't stick out that much.

Grant glances at Truffle and the cat, and... well, it doesn't look like they're fighting at the moment so that's. Probably fine? Hopefully things will de-escalate as he talks to this kid.]

Uh... just nod if you're okay, and shake your head if you're hurt.

[He hopes the kid can understand him. So far, language barriers haven't been an issue, but he guesses it'd make sense that they would be eventually?]

[hurricane_clown]

[Uh......

Karako looks down at himself, but he wasn't hurt one minute ago and this soft... guy....... didn't really do anything to him, so all that happens is his empty gorgesac clenches painfully.

In the end, the little clown grimaces sadly while nodding his head vigourously. Not confusing at all.]

[woofdad]

[Hmm. So that's a no on being hurt, but... also, it looks like, a yes on something being wrong.

What that something might be is pretty clear when he picks up on the quiet rumbling coming from the little boy's stomach. Grant frowns and kneels down on the ground, setting his bag down to start digging through.]

Have... you been out here a long time?

[hurricane_clown]

[The thing is, Karako doesn't even clock that sound as coming from his body.

Troll bodies, you see, make very different noises.

As far as he's concerned, that's probably the sound of the sniffy lump this motherfucker brought with him, and he's more concerned about whether or not that's an angry sound--but with Gigglesnarl hissing and baring his claws and teeth, it's hard to tell?

But--well, a few days isn't very long. So he shakes his head, quickly. Then:]

Honk! Honk!

[Karako waves his arms at Gigglesnarl, honking loudly for attention. The Galarian Meowth stops menacing Grant's Swinub and growls at him.

Karako bares his teeth back.]

[woofdad]

[Good news, all sounds aside, the "sniffy lump" isn't angry so much as a little tense. She doesn't want this to escalate if it doesn't have to, because that sounds like a pain, but she's gotta make sure this Meowth doesn't try anything okay!!

Speaking of which, jeez, Grant hopes that some shit doesn't start up between the kid and his own Pokemon now.

He glances between them with some concern as he considers the boy's answer. It doesn't seem like he was lying about not having been out here long, but Grant still can't help but be a little worried.] What were you doing out here? [Or... wait, he doesn't know how or if the kid can answer a question like that.] Is there anyone around looking after you?