ohmyarceus | Test drive meme

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test drive

Test drive meme - July & August

➞ 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

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[Something about this is very not right. To his knowledge, Livio was never on a sand steamer with Vash. And Vash should know despite Elendira's best efforts, he never actually died. He has a mind to remind Vash, but then his blood runs cold. Once more, he's staring, but it's out of shock.]

Nico...?

[His head suddenly throbs, and he lifts a hand to rub idly at his temple. He tries to focus on drowning out the ringing in his ears, unsure of how long he stands there before swallowing and finding his voice again, quiet as it is.]

I don't know what's goin' on, but that ain't right. Can't be.

[Well, if anything assuages the lingering doubts at the back of Vash's mind, it's that nickname. He swallows, looking unsteady as his shoulders finally droop. He, too, takes the time to rub at his head, ruffling his own hair before dropping his arms entirely.]

You're telling me...

[And with a tip of his head, he motions toward the nearby bay.]

Maybe we oughta sit down and start from the beginning?

[That sounds fair enough. Livio gives a wordless nod, and follows after Vash. Some childish part of him wants to put off this conversation, or avoid it entirely. He doesn't want to think about it any more than is absolutely necessary; it's still too fresh.

At least for now, he can keep his mind occupied by observing the Mimikyu in Vash's hood.]

Cute critter y'got. [Even if it is uncanny that it never blinks.]

[It isn't too far of a walk, at least. A walk that said critter spends staring at Livio. Her head lolls side to side from time to time, rolling at uncanny and eerie angles, just for the fun of it. She's absolutely sizing Livio up, thank you. If Vash could be bold enough to try and peek under her disguise, then whatever actually managed to frighten him was probably a big deal.

In any case, she scuttles around to Vash's lap as he settles onto a bench. He allows a hand to drop, patting at where her "back" might be, going strictly based off the disguise.]

Don't let her fool you. She's a real spitfire. [Naturally, he sounds distracted as he speaks.]

You got one too, didn't you?

[He's just going to... look away for a second. That little creature does not seem okay. Even if she could fit in one of his hands.]

Reckon she is...

[Rather than test the bench, Livio chooses to sit right on the ground. He unclips a ball from his belt and after a brief flash of light, there's a little bear cub sitting on his lap and tilting her head at Vash and his partner.]

Sure did. She's just as cuddly as she looks, though. [And boy does she give a content little smile when he pats her head carefully.]

[Should it alarm Vash that there's just a bear sitting in this ~~bear's~~ hands? Maybe not. He reaches over, careful not to disturb his own little critter, and offers his hand for a little sniff.]

Awful cute aren't they? Nothing like the worms I'm used to. [He sniffs.] Even reading about Earth couldn't have prepared me for something like this.

[He's rambling, now. Vash might have been the one to propose this particular conversation, but he's not particularly eager to kick it off.]

Honestly, I don't think anything could have prepared me for this.

[Teddiursa gives the offered hand a sniff, then a tentative lick -- but instead of some kind of food, she tastes metal. Blech! She isn't exactly snooty, per se, in turning her head away, she's just... no longer interested.]

Yer tellin' me. Didn't really expect to wake up in a big, green paradise after stoppin' somebody's plans to bring about just that.

[His eyes fall despite the beauty of the water he stares off into.]

Doubt I much deserve it, though. Lotta others do.

[Vash lets out a laugh, clearly delighted by the display. In penance, he fishes around in a pocket until he pulls out a stray bit of trail mix, then offers it over to Livio instead. He can inspect it and be sure it's good for his little friend, then pass it along.]

Yeah, you can say that again.

[He turns his eyes up toward the blue sky. At least that is familiar, even if it lacks a distinct amount of extra moons.]

I don't know. From what I saw you went through enough to earn your stay in paradise.

[Even if some pieces don't quite fit, Livio trusts Vash implicitly, and doesn't hesitate to feed his fuzzy little friend. She, in turn, blinks up at Vash in thanks.]

Yeah, 'bout that... [He gives a quiet, nervous laugh.] I dunno if we saw the same things. Hell if I know how that works, but... I don't recall any'a that stuff.

But you're still Livio. You grew up with Nicholas D. Wolfwood at Hopeland Orphanage, right?

[Maybe there's just two dudes with white hair named Livio out there! It could happen.]

Sure I did. Last time I saw you 'n him together, though... [Something tells him that the less he says for now, the better. It may be best to find out what Vash knows first.] ... well, it wasn't on a sand steamer.

Sounds like both of our last group meetings didn't go so great.

[He leans forward on the bench, pulling his knees up to his chest.]

Honestly, it's one of the last things I remember. The thing was racing toward Hopeland. I promised Wolfwood I'd keep the orphanage and the passengers safe.

I don't know if I managed it.

[Truth be told, this is making Livio's brain hurt a little bit.]

Guess things mighta gone a lil differently fer us... maybe like some sorta butterfly effect? That a real thing?

Although -- y'all protected Hopeland, far as I'm concerned. Maybe not from a runaway steamer, but all the same.

Could be something like that.

[Vash isn't sure how the butterfly effect could create such drastic differences between the Livio he met and this one but... maybe that's not for him to know.]

You were still in the Eye back then. We were trying to free you and it... didn't go so well. [He gives Livio a once over now.] Guessing by the fact that you're not trying to haul me off that it took eventually?

Huh...

[The similarities are there, at least. Though from what Vash has said, there's a chance he might have died?

... That would probably be for the better, actually.]

Well... Yeah. Nick... got through t'me eventually.

I'm glad...

Where we were from, I really pushed him to get through to you. And when he did... [He hugs those knees just a little tighter.]

I'm glad it ends up okay somehow. And I'm sure he is too!

[Maybe it is easier to think of it as being from somewhere else. Just... eerily similar somewhere elses.

Rubbing one of Teddiursa's ears between his fingers, Livio wonders if keeping quiet is more cruel than he thought at first. It isn't the same as being told he died... after all, they both cared about Wolfwood. In some messed up way, doesn't Vash deserve to know?]

Actually... Y'know, I'm glad things went different for ya. Where I came from... ah. He's the one who didn't make it.

What?

[That's all Vash can think to ask at first. His mind, once racing with the possibilities of this strange future that Livio describes, now goes deadly quiet. For a long moment, he feels nothing. There is no desperation — not yet at least. Just a simple, flicker of hope that he's misheard.]

[Ah. Yeah. That's what he was afraid of.

What more does he even say? He removes his hand from his Pokemon, balling both fists in the sand, not risking harming anything.]

Nico protected every one'a those kids. Miss Melanie, too. An' he saved me.

[In many ways, Vash is unsure why this news hits him so hard. Wolfwood was a good man, to be sure, and had even been something of a friend to him. But they hadn’t known each other that long. In that time, they’d frequently butted heads. Hell, he couldn’t even be sure that the Undertaker even liked him.

And yet, it was as he’d only just said. Wolfwood was a good man. Vash had seen that in his eyes from the moment they’d met. It didn’t matter, where he’d come from, who he was working for, or what his end goal was. You didn’t give everything to save a friend, a city, an orphanage, if you didn’t have a good soul.

And now the world felt a little duller, knowing that in some way, he was gone.]

I’m sorry, Livio. I can’t imagine what this must be like for you.

Ah... Ya don't gotta worry about me, really. Hell, he'd be pissed t'see me mopin'. I'm just glad it ain't like this fer you.

[He shakes the sand off a hand to rub at his head again, and gives a short laugh when -- surprise, he missed some, and now it's all in his hair and on his shirt.]

Heh... guess some things never change, though.

[The distraction is nice, because Vash has no idea what to say about that. There's knot in his stomach that won't go away, doubts for the future that gnaw at him endlessly.]

Some things but... [He nods to the bay.]

I don't think I'll get used to that.

[Time to suppress again! Livio's real good at that. His eyes follow Vash's gesture and he focuses on the gentle waves to dull the throb in his temple.]

Yeah... Almost makes ya forget what things were like on No Man's Land. Can hardly believe what we've been missin' the whole time, 'n how it's just taken fer granted here. [His tone isn't accusatory at all, just awestruck.]

[At that, Vash can only make a face.]

The people of No Man's Land deserved better than what they ended up getting. The home they wanted, all those years ago.

[It's been awhile since he's been able to say that out loud. But he's pretty sure Livio understands where he's coming from. Otherwise this conversation is about to be real awkward.]

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Test drive meme - July & August

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