Test Drive Meme - Spring 2025

[indigo_league]

➞ 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

[phdepression]

"You're doing well. Make sure you keep on your toes," Jotaro calls to his Scraggy as it pants. Jotaro could heal Jean up too but he wanted this to be fair, especially for Joseph's first battle.

There's a moment where Jotaro hesitates. There was a strategically correct decision to make here. He knows a Counter here will do the trick... but at the same time, he's not that interested in beating his grandfather into the dirt. And that would be punishing Rush for listening to Joseph.

Jean looks back at Jotaro, looking for orders, and Jotaro makes his decision.

"You're better at close range than Rush is. Let him get close then use Payback!"

[prodigaltrickster]

Payback. Joseph can make a few guesses about what that moves does, and only has a few seconds to decide how he wants to handle it.

"Hold on, stay back-"

The conflicting orders just make the Charmander hesitate, staying in place too close to dodge out of the way of the Scraggy's Payback. When he inevitably gets hit, Rush lets out a frustrated charrr! and just tries to bite Jean.

[phdepression]

At least Rush's hesitance does stop Jean from getting the extra power boost as the Scraggy punches the Charmander square in the face. Jotaro frowns as he watches Rush disobey and sighs.

"Good grief. Now you can Counter, Jean."

Jean gives a triumphant yell and lets Rush hit him. Then, he turns and hoists Rush up before he slams him into the ground.

[prodigaltrickster]

He is learning how this works, slowly but surely... although it's much harder to translate that into strategy for someone else. Joseph winces again as Rush gets hit, although the Charmander barely seems to care. Rush is struggling the whole way to the ground and tries to pop back up right after, although he's stumbling and dazed.

They're definitely not going to win. Even after the Potion, Rush has another hit or two left in him before he's unconscious. So the question becomes, should he give up now or keep pushing forward anyway?

"You've got this, Rush! Just one more Ember!"

No amount of bluffing is going to convince anyone in this room, but it's at least enough for Rush to obey him.

[phdepression]

There's a learning curve and Joseph is doing well, all things considered. If Rush trusted Joseph a bit more, they could have easily won. Joseph is an expert strategist (not that Jotaro would admit it to him).

Joseph's doing the right thing, though. A loss will help them learn and a critical hit may win this for them, especially with Charmander's ability powering up its fire. But Jotaro points at Rush.

"Payback! Finish this!" Jean grits his teeth as he braces through the fire and then slams into Rush.

[prodigaltrickster]

Rush tries to dodge out of the way, but he's too slow. He gets hit, and rolls tail over head before falling down unconscious at Joseph's feet. Joseph hesitates before picking him up - and grimacing at how uncomfortable it is to hold an animal that is completely limp.

"Good game." He's very frustrated, but manages to force an upbeat tone anyway. "I'll definitely get you next time."

[phdepression]

Jotaro gives a tired sigh. However, he forces himself to smile when Jean looks back happily at him.

"You did great, Jean. Good job." The Scraggy beams proudly at Jotaro and lets Jotaro recall him to his Pokeball. With that done, Jotaro nods to Joseph.

"Good game. You're not bad for a beginner. A little experience and work with Rush, and you'll get there." Jotaro grabs a revive from his bag and offers it to Joseph.

"Use this to get Rush back up. You'll need to have a conscious Pokemon with you at all times in this world." Else you'll white out!

[prodigaltrickster]

He is actually very thankful that Jotaro isn't rubbing the loss in - Jotaro's a better man than him, and Joseph can definitely appreciate that. He takes the revive, and his shoulders relax a bit when Rush wakes back up and immediately claws his way out of Joseph's grasp, even though it's also accompanied by a few quiet curses.

"...Thank you." He huffs quietly. "We'll definitely have to try this again later - I'll let you know when he cleans his ears out."

Rush is, at least, not hiding from him anymore. The Charmander has instead parked himself behind Joseph, making a point of not looking at Jotaro. Apparently he's taking the loss even worse.

[phdepression]

Honestly, who would rub in a loss in the face of someone who was just learning the game? Jotaro doesn't think he's a good person but he's not that sort of asshole.

"Sure. It'll be good practice for all of us. In the meantime, learn from what happened today." And he's not just talking to Joseph. Jotaro watches Rush hurry behind Joseph but doesn't call out the sulking Charmander. He just nods.

"What's your plan now?"

[prodigaltrickster]

"I guess I'm staying with Emporio until I can get on my feet properly."

He shrugs vaguely. Joseph definitely likes to seem more prepared, but he normally has a lot more resources to improvise with. Currently, he has no plan, barely any money, and little understanding of the rules of the world past what Mom and Emporio told him.

"Once Rush and I are more in agreement, then we can travel around... and figure it out. But that's probably going to be a while."

[phdepression]

"Mm... Eventually, me and a friend will head out to go face one of the gyms. So I'll be around for a few days before heading off to Mahogany Town."

"Don't rush things - there's no hurry here for anything. That's one of the nicer things about this place." Jotaro shrugs.