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

[bloodspent]

[...That's the sort of thing that he normally just throws his hands in the air at, but he's not gonna drop his fucking firebreathing purse poodle. So you're getting the left hand in the air in the most exasperated gesture he can manage while being, you know, one handed and carrying a puppy.]

Okay, I was under the impression that the ghosts were an unfortunate side effect. Like. A problem? Not the whole mission.

[fatalstrikes]

[Thanks for not throwing your firebreathing poodle, that would've been sad.]

What were you expecting to find in here? This place was probably cleaned out long ago, so I doubt we'll find anything but ghosts.

[Aaaaaand door #3! This one's the dining room, apparently. He'll actually enter this room to look around, though there don't seem to be any ghosts hiding in here either.]

[bloodspent]

Kinda hoping for people.

[...I mean, that sounds kind of like he came in here with the intention of fighting some squatters but whatever- ]

You know, actual people. Not the ones we've been finding outside. Maybe they stayed in here to wait out the...whatever the hell happened out there.

[fatalstrikes]

[jake no]

That would've been nice, but I kinda doubt anyone's here. It doesn't look like anyone's set foot in here in a long time.

[There's some kind of cabinet left in here, so he'll just open it. As you do. It's totally empty though.]

[bloodspent]

Yeah, I see that.

[Okay, apparently we're gonna be spending time in here, might as well come in and not just watch the pretty dude from the doorway. He'll set the dog down in the doorway and make his way in to see if she's showing any signs of following.]

Come on, Lobanja.

[Look, he named her and everything. ...He named her badly, her name is Skull. But you know what, she's actually starting to figure out that that word is probably referring to her, so she'll wander in a bit before just kind of...deciding that she's more interested in sitting and watching than actually coming inside.]

Long, creepy rooms not your scene, huh? Mine either.

[...Yeah, he's picking her up again and making her come with because fuck that noise, he can train her later.

That said, he'll jerk his head in the direction of the stupidly long table dominating most of the room.]

So what do you think? Really pointless parties, or the world's loneliest table for one?

[fatalstrikes]

[Well, he doesn't recognize the language, so it just sounds like an interesting name. Better than the one he gave his Riolu at any rate, but he also made the mistake of asking what it wanted to be called, so. It's kinda cute that this tough guy's taking the time to talk to his dog.]

Who knows, the parties might not've been pointless. But I'm leaning toward "loneliest table for one", there's not really enough stuff in here to make it seem like a lot of people were here.

[He'll leave the cabinet and look around the room again. Hmm.]

I figured there wouldn't be much left in here, but this is kinda depressing.

[bloodspent]

Doesn't look like someone looted the place - it's still too nice for that. So either someone was living light, or we've got a mystery on our hands that no one actually needs to solve.

[He shrugs.]

Maybe your ghosts decided they like flatware.

[fatalstrikes]

We didn't consider the possibility of ghost dinner parties.

[He raises his voice as he looks around.]

Sorry if I insulted your living arrangements!

[bloodspent]

Are you always this embarrassing.

[fatalstrikes]

I'll try to pull my act together, just for you.

[bloodspent]

Didn't know you cared.

[He rolls his eyes, though; he'll just...start wandering toward the kitchen area over here? Jesus, this place is dismal.]

So. What's the creepiest possible thing that you think we might find in here? While we're poking around in places we don't belong, might as well dream big.

[fatalstrikes]

[Hmm, that's a good question...]

Maybe a skeleton or two. Past explorers who went looking for ghosts, only to get trapped in here, unable to escape...

Something like that, maybe.

[bloodspent]

But are the skeletons also ghosts.

[...]

Like, do they move and shit, or are they just sitting there.

[fatalstrikes]

Good question. I'm thinking... skeleton ghosts. Yeah, that'd be creepier. The skeletons move every time you're not looking at them, inching ever closer...

[bloodspent]

And once they've caught you...?

[fatalstrikes]

They turn you into another skeleton, obviously.

[bloodspent]

Ah, come on, they've got to have a reason. Maybe you need to be mostly human to get out of here - they escape by stealing your skin so they look like you.

[fatalstrikes]

Hey, not bad. Then you're stuck here waiting for the next unlucky wanderer so you can steal their skin?

[bloodspent]

Yeah, you've got it.

[fatalstrikes]

Perfect. Now I've got a story to tell Karol next time I see him.

[KAROL DOES NOT DESERVE]

[bloodspent]

What, is that your little brother or something?

[fatalstrikes]

Nah, he's the boss, leader of our guild. Strong kid, not too fond of ghost stories, though.

[bloodspent]

How much of a "kid" are we talking?

[fatalstrikes]

How old is he...? Twelve? Thirteen? Somewhere in there.

[bloodspent]

[He seems to turn that over in his head before just kinda...

It's whatever, man. None of his business, anyway.]

Must be a pretty strong kid, yeah.