voicetesting

[fatalstrikes]

I;

[This place is a little weird, but Yuri’s settled in well enough. He’s in a Pokémon Center currently, sitting on the floor instead of using a chair like a normal person. His Riolu’s sitting nearby, staring at the floor and not really reacting to anything going on around them. Yuri digs around in his backpack for a moment before coming up with an Oran berry.]

Here we go. I guess we’re going to need more food before we set out again, huh?

[The Riolu doesn’t react and Yuri shrugs as if the silence doesn’t bother him any.]

It’s all yours, pal.

[He sets the berry down in front of the Riolu, who continues staring at it listlessly. The Riolu still hasn’t moved even once Yuri’s closed the backpack and dropped it carelessly beside him.]

...You’re a bit of an odd one.

[He stretches his arms above his head before standing up, which is about when he’ll notice you.]

Hey, does your partner act like this too?

II;

[It’s a gloomy, dark day out on one of the routes. It’s the sort of day where you want to stay indoors and maybe take a nap, but that’s not exactly a good idea when you’re out camping like this. It looks like it’ll start storming at any minute, so you might want to hurry and find shelter.

There’s a cave up ahead, and if you approach it you’re going to hear footsteps. Hurried footsteps, like someone’s desperate to get out—]

Hey, look out!

[A Riolu comes running full speed out of the cave and might just slam into you if you don’t move. Either way, a dark-haired man rushes out after the Pokémon.]

Watch where you’re going next time, Ry. Hey there, sorry about him.

[Yuri seems calm enough, but there’s a loud sound from inside the cave and he glances over his shoulder.]

Are they still following us? I thought getting out of the cave would be good enough… C’mon, Ry, let’s pick up the pace!

[It looks like they’re going to hurry off, and the strange shrieking sound from the cave is just getting louder. What do you do?]

Don’t just stand there, come on!

[Sounds like that’s directed at you.]

III;

[Deep in Eterna Forest is the Old Chateau. Maybe you stumbled across this place accidentally or maybe you were trying to get here. Either way, you’re here now, and you’re not alone.]

Strange place, huh? I bet there are some interesting Pokémon inside.

[Yuri’s looking in on the place curiously, one hand on his hip. He doesn’t seem bothered at all by the creepy atmosphere.]

The place might be haunted. It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for years.

[Without any further fanfare, he’ll just start heading inside. Are you coming along? Are you going to try to stop him? Some other third option?]

Comments

[semistableman]

Nice to meetcha, Yuri.

[And just like that, he seems to snap out of whatever darkness he was in.]

I'm not sure what to call 'er, I figure I'm gonna wait until she snaps out of this. It'll take her a while, but she'll be fine.

[He sounds incredibly confident.]

[fatalstrikes]

Think so? I've been wondering about that. Ry's usually pretty quiet, but he'll fight when asked. It's kinda strange, but a lot of things about this place are kinda strange.

[He lifts his shoulders in a shrug and nudges the berry towards the Riolu. He eventually picks it up, though he's still not eating it.]

[semistableman]

Fight?

[He frowns deeply.]

I'd never make a squirrel fight.

[fatalstrikes]

Yeah. How else are you gonna train 'em? They've gotta be strong enough to hold their own, especially since there aren't any weapons around.

[good thing, we do not need yuri fighting the pokémon]

[semistableman]

No. It's wrong.

[This might be a good time to stop.]

[fatalstrikes]

What's so wrong about it?

[He can tell that this guy's coming from somewhere else entirely here, so when he says it he doesn't sound dismissive. It's a genuine question.]

[semistableman]

Forcing someone, anyone, to do something they can't say no to is torture.

[He sighs.]

I'm sick of it.

[fatalstrikes]

[Yuri tips his head a bit at that.]

...You've seen that kind of stuff before?

[He has too, but probably not in the exact same way this guy's thinking.]

[semistableman]

Yeah. I have.

[There's obviously more to it than that, but it's all he says.]

[fatalstrikes]

[...]

You going to elaborate on that any?

[yuri could you at least try to be gentle about it??]

[semistableman]

No.

[That's said bluntly, but it could probably be extrapolated that it's highly personal, so there's that?]

[fatalstrikes]

[Yuri lifts his shoulders in a shrug.]

Alright, I won't press. Sounds like it was pretty bad, whatever it was.

[semistableman]

[He makes a noise like a mn sound, so apparently the conversation hasn't completely gone down in flames.]

This couldn't have happened on its own.

[fatalstrikes]

You mean how everyone's gone weird? Yeah. I've got no idea what happened, but something certainly did.

[He glances down at the Riolu to find that he's still staring at the berry. Yuri sighs.]

It's a little concerning. I'm curious how we ended up avoiding becoming like that.

[semistableman]

[He shrugs.]

Could mean a couple things: whatever happened was a one-time event, so newcomers aren't affected. Or, whoever did this isn't aware of us yet.

[Yeah this guy has clearly been through hell.]

[fatalstrikes]

You think a person could've done this? Must be a pretty powerful mage or something to wipe everyone's personality like this.

[semistableman]

It's always a person.

[Said with another shrug.]

[fatalstrikes]

For all we know it could've been one of these creatures. They're a pretty diverse group. Seems like I'm always stumbling across new ones.

[semistableman]

[deadeyes]

What makes you think they're not people? They've got their wills sapped just like humans.

[fatalstrikes]

[...Huh.]

There's a pretty big distinction between "humans" and "monsters" where I'm from. These guys aren't the same as the monsters I'm familiar with, but they're a bit closer to that than they are to humans.

[Does that explain it a bit?]

[semistableman]

Never heard "monster" used as anything but a metaphor.

[But he seems to accept the whole literal monsters thing without any fuss.]

Just 'cause they don't look human doesn't mean they're not people.

[fatalstrikes]

It's very literal where I'm from.

[He shrugs at that.]

I get what you mean, though. Repede's not human, but he's a person.

[semistableman]

Repede, huh? What's he like?

[fatalstrikes]

Some people like to call him a dog, but Repede is Repede. He's a tough fighter and a great companion. Doesn't judge you, doesn't get in your way... He's a good friend. I don't know where I'd be without him.

[He sounds very happy talking about Repede, though he does miss him, of course.]

[semistableman]

Sounds like a good companion to have.

A buddy of mine would get a kick out of that. He's told me about his coworkers I haven't met, and the ones I have are a weird bunch.