bottlecaplogs | [OPEN] Dreams & Ghosts

Entry tags:

[OPEN] Dreams & Ghosts

Who: Mayaka & you !

What: 2 open prompts (reviewing dreams from last month + attempting to get over her fear of ghosts) and wildcard option

Where: Around Bottlecay Bay + Skull Town

When: Beginning of Feb

Warnings: none atm

a. dream review

Perhaps you're passing through the Archives, or the living hall in Skull Town when you spot a Sneasel sitting at a table furiously scrawling out various drawings on paper. Mayaka's gloves have been set aside neatly beside her for now, because she finds it easier to hold onto the charcoal pencils using her bare claws. She's experienced some weird dreams from last month. Though she doesn't remember the exact details, she's been dutifully drawing out the images that lingered in her mind upon waking up. Now, it's time to try to make sense of them. On the table you'll find the following drawings:

1. What appears to be a spaceship, though Mayaka's drawn it to look more like a truck with four wheels underneath.

2. A primordial-looking fish creature. She has given it a pair of cute, anime-sized eyes to make it look more approachable.

3. A black cat with an extra pair of eyes on its stomach. More cat-like than Mimikyu at this point.

4. The drawing she's currently working on, and struggling to capture. She's trying to remember what the alien beings in the final big nightmare looked like, though the large and erratic shapes on paper may not look recognisable to anyone. Mayaka is finding it difficult because she doesn't have an image in mind to associate with what she saw in the nightmare.

She's too caught up with this to notice if someone were to approach...

b. how to deal with ghosts

If you're wandering around Bottlecap Bay, you'll find Mayaka outside her house in the Lum Berry housing area, rooted on the spot.

Her attention is focused on a small clay sculpture she's placed in the garden of her front porch. It's a little handmade ghost figurine with a hairbow on its head. While it might look strangely cute, the more you look at it, the more you'll notice that it's two eyes seem to be gazing directly at you with an unblinking Stare™.

This is the ghost that's been chasing her in her dreams, but she's too scared to get rid of it! (Also, the fact that it was a gift to her from Catrina doesn't help!)

The Sneasel is shaking a little, and it's not from the cold weather. She's standing a safe distance away from the figurine, muttering to herself: "It's just a doll... it's just a dolll..."

(Dolls are creepy too, though??)

c. wildcard!
for any other threads or ideas that come up!

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When she spots the Sneasel from across the hall, Shoka can't shake the feeling that she's seen her somewhere before. As if that isn't strange enough, when curiosity brings her to Shadow Sneak closer, she can't shake the feeling that she's done this before, too. Sneaking up on a Sneasel sitting at a table, too distracted by something else to notice her approaching (Don't scare me like that! she remembers someone saying)...

The drawings are new, however. When the Sneasel doesn't immediately realize she has a ghostly audience looming behind her and spook, Shoka takes the opportunity to look them over. There's some kind of lumpy, beat up spacecar (?), a so-ugly-it's-kinda-cute fish Pokémon (??) she's never seen before, and...

Mr. Mew?!

... Oh. No, actually... Is that her?

"Oh, sweet," she says aloud without much thought. "Fanart."

The unexpected voice startles Mayaka out of her focused state and makes her jump in her seat. She immediately puts down her pencil and turns, ready to scold the offender for sneaking up like that.

...Only to stop herself when she gets a good look at the Mimikyu. She stares at Shoka, then at her drawing on the table, then back at Shoka.

"It's you!"

Even though she says this, Mayaka's addressing the top part of the Mimikyu, failing to realise that Shoka's eyes are lower down.

"Uh," Shoka replies, too taken aback to come up with a quip. This Sneasel is definitely familiar. "Yeah, I noticed..."

The gold hoop dangling from her ear gleams as she tilts her head. Her vaguely feline facial features never change, not even to blink.

"Do I know you?"

"I don't think so. You'd be hard to forget."

A black cat would be an ordinary sight in the modern day. However, in the Pokemon world, there has been a distinct lack of normal cats. This strange circumstance ends up making Shoka's Mr Mew disguise memorable to Mayaka, even subconsciously in her dreams.

"In any case, I'm Mayaka."

Shoka can't tell if that's meant to be a compliment or not. "Thanks?"

Either way, she can't help feeling like she does know this Sneasel—knows her well, even, like an old friend. Even before Mayaka says it herself, the name is already there on the tip of Shoka's proverbial tongue, the series of inexplicably familiar syllables more like a confirmation than truly new information.

"Mayaka... Right." Right, she says automatically, like she's just been reminded of something. Creepy. "Shoka Sakurane. Nice to meet you, or whatever."

If she looks like a normal cat in this moment, she doesn't by the next; a ghostly tendril, ending in a set of huge, savage claws, emerges from under her catlike "body" to fidget absently with her pierced ear.

"Y'know, I'm not sure you did forget... I mean, your portrait's pretty on point."

Its a beautiful day in this Archive, a beautiful day for an archivist~

Dolly is having a time out from stressing over the inadvertent dream share event, deciding a good ol' fashion browsing of the Archives was in good order. A simple glance was all it took for Dolly to notice Mayaka there drawing and...

......

There's fan art for the tiktaalik tour guide? Dolly sensed the tiktaalik was going to be hanging this image in his office now. Well...Dolly does have crafting materials on paw, might as well join in.

"Hey Mayaka, would you be alright with me hanging out to do crafts?"

Edited (Slipping in a doodle for this as its too cute and adorable to resist drawing) 2026-02-03 07:40 (UTC)

"I'm not crafting, Dolly-chan! I'm trying to figure out what all these things I've dreamt about mean."

She's too concerned with correcting the Sylveon that her drawing isn't leisure, that she forgets to return the warm greeting. Having said this, Mayaka pulls out an empty chair for Dolly to join her at the table.

Edited 2026-02-03 12:38 (UTC)

The empty chair is fully accepted by Dolly as she makes herself comfortable. Looks like the project Dolly is working on are these tiny felt birds that might be able to hold things in their wings. Trying to figure out the Museum? That was a new one.

"May I ask? What have you figured out so far about the dreams?"

"Well... nothing so far. They don't seem connected."

The Sneasel sighs. Her eyes linger over Dolly's felt bird project, but she reminds herself to not get distracted by how interesting it looks. Stay on task, Mayaka!

She points at the various drawings. "Do any of these look familiar to you?"

They're cute little pastel colored felt birds from the glance and have little buttons sewn on the wing to wrap around to hold small things like candy...

...The Fae Rule is coming for Dolly's cotton candy buns as she looks over to the art pieces...she cannot lie...

"Yes, the tiktaalik you drew there is familiar."

"Tiktaalik? Is that what it's called?"

Mayaka begins to write down this name under the drawing, only to stop when she realises she doesn't know how to spell it properly. Another thought wanders into her mind at that moment.

"Fish-san seems like an easier way to refer to him."

"Yep, it's called the tiktaalik. It's a pretty neat species from the Devonian era."

....Oh sweet Mac Lir is Mayaka remembering the Museum visit?

"Fish-san is a good nickname for the tiktaalik, that's a good way of referring to him as."

"Right?" Mayaka nods with approval at Dolly's agreement.

"From the way you describe it, sounds like it's not a Pokemon. Did you dream about it too?"

Mayaka, none the wiser, now thinks that this creature has been visiting various dreams.

"Without a trout about it, that's a pretty good nickname." Dolly couldn't resist the pun...it's been too long.

....Well at least Mayaka didn't pin point the tiktaalik tour guide being from Dolly. That's something the tiny Sylveon can be thankful for. Though, the thought of the tiktaalik getting to go on his own tour of others' dreams, that sounded cute. Truthfully, Dolly goes to answer the question.

"Yes, I've had dreams about him."

"Argh, not a pun!" Even though wordplay can be smart, Mayaka finds them cheesy, so she groans in a half-joking way to her friend.

"Did we all dream about the same things because of the Grumpearls?" she wonders. "But, you only recognise Fish-san -- nothing else here rings a bell?"

The Sneasel takes up a piece of paper and wants to offer it to Dolly, to draw what she remembers from her dreams, but stops halfway when she spots the felt birds on the table.

There's a chuckle from Dolly as she smiles a bit, "What? Does this mean I'm grounded for punning around?"

Hmmm...that is an intriguing point of view as Dolly thinks about it. It was the first time Dolly managed to experience something other than the Museum as she went in to respond. "Maybe it was like a mix tape? Like we could've gotten a different compilation of dreams thanks to the Grumpearls."

Carefully Dolly accepted the piece of paper to draw with before noticing Mayaka seeing the felt birds. "I'm making those for Valentines Day, they'll be holding a little bit of treats in their wings."

(Mayaka withholds commenting on that extra pun Dolly snuck in, acknowledging will just encourage more!)

"Oh, it's Valentines again soon, huh."

She doesn't sound enthused by this reminder. Mayaka has a complicated relationship with the day, on account of her own past relationship troubles. It'd be nice to have an uneventful Valentines Day for once, as much as she misses Satoshi now.

Puns will slip in one way or another as Dolly smiles in waiting, puns will happen...eventually.

For now, there's a reprieve for Mayaka with the puns. This is definitely a mood of sorts, though no Valentines in Doriene, at least to Dolly's knowledge. It earns a curious head tilt though from Dolly.

"Yep, did you use to hang out with friends during it too? That's what I normally did before."

"Yes, when I was a kid. We all gave out chocolates to each other. Everything was simple. But let's just say, when actual feelings are involved, things get a lot more complicated."

Mayaka takes a moment to consider her next question.

"How would you react if you got a confession from someone on Valentine's Day?"

Lucky Mayaka, she got to have chocolates be the main thing to be handed out on Valentines day....the states only have cards and candy hearts that sometimes had concerning messages on them being handed out, chocolates being like finding a mythical unicorn. Before Dolly could say anything, in comes the big question.

That one question has definitely caught Dolly off guard. She's honestly never had to deal with something like that before, mostly because of her batch siblings jumping in as interference to any potential suitor.

"To be fair, I wouldn't know. I never had something like that happen before, however, I'll give you my best guess on my reaction. If someone confessed to me, I'd probably freeze up, trying to figure an answer to it. It really does boil down to who confesses though. If its someone I know extremely well, a conversation is going to happen or someone coming in out of the wild blue yonder I have no clue who they are, I'm pretty much a statue in shock."

"Right? A normal person would have the decency to talk it out, instead of dodging the confession," she says this assertively, not expecting Dolly to concur.

"Let's just say the first time I tried to confess to the boy I liked, he told me he couldn't accept the confession because I got him store bought chocolate. Only the handmade stuff was considered proper Valentines Day chocolate."

Mayaka withholds saying what happened the year after that, which is even more infuriating in hindsight. And yet, she wouldn't change any of it, because as difficult and slippery as Satoshi can be, she's the one who chose to pursue him.

Edited (what is grammar) 2026-02-06 03:13 (UTC)

"Well that's really rude, chocolates are a difficult candy to make too where you have to temper it in order to get that shine. I'm sorry that happened to you, that wasn't a nice thing for him to say at all."

Dolly had half the mind to make the kid make homemade chocolates himself if Satoshi did land in Bottlecap Bay. Maybe it's for the best...just poor Mayaka on that point.

"I'm certainly this boy is going to keep losing girls this way if that's how he talks to them. We can have a nice Valentines here instead without the nonsense of having to make chocolates, we'll make cookies instead for fun."

"Yeah. I had to learn how to make chocolates from scratch because of him."

"But I suppose, that's what happens when you like someone a lot. You act irrationally sometimes."

This was the case for both her and Satoshi, even though they went about it in completely different ways. And given how stubborn Mayaka is, she's confident Satoshi won't be able to lose her so easily even though he's pretty good at self-sabotage.

"Cookies sound good."

Dolly was stunned for words, just...wow. Okay yeah, better hope Satoshi doesn't popped up..she's going to be having some words.

"First time love can be very much like that unfortunately."

Dolly wasn't going to cite Romeo and Juliet, that's a very bad example to use at this moment of time. For now, that will be an afterthought, right now, a much more pressing matter was at hand or paw as the fates decreed it. The baking of cookies are upon them, FOR FUN!

"Wonderful, are there any cookie flavors you'd like to bake?"

That remark on first time love piques Mayaka's attention. She leans closer to the Sylveon, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Chocolate chip is fine." Mayaka gets the less interesting bit out of the way with a curt answer, before diving into the real meat of the conversation.

"What's your experience with love, Dolly-chan?"

The best kind of cookies out there, the chocolate chip! Dolly was making a mini mental list of ingredients needed when...

Oh dear...how to even tackle that question? Dolly was definitely mentally scrambling despite that placid expression. She's been a single wonder for a decent amount of time too and it didn't help her sibs before did act like bodyguards.

"To be fair with you, my older siblings were pretty protective, so never really had the chance for a romantic love just yet and that's okay. I'll definitely try and answer romance questions though."

[It kind of feels like she's been in a fugue state, when Firoza is back to business with the new month. Was she out digging through the snow and reminiscing on her childhood? Or was all of that a series of dreams while she slept? It's hard to pinpoint when your mind's still tired and fuzzy, but she's sorting through it as she walks through town.

As she happens to wander into where the Lum Berries have their housing, though, the odd clay figurine catches her eye, and she wanders up to the front porch where it's lingering, staring unflinchingly back into its gaze.]

...

[Headtilt? What is this for?

She hasn't noticed that Mayaka is in the area, so curious of this decoration that she is.]

[Her intense stare down is interrupted by a stranger. And yet, Mayaka recognises that blue bandana. She remembers Ingo showing an exact image of this Nidoran to her over the Grumpearl.]

Excuse me... are you Firoza? [She asks, stepping up to the fellow Poison-type, before realising she's way too close to the ghost figurine.

The Sneasel immediately hops a few paces back to her safe zone in silent distress.]

[The sound of her name makes her ears perk up with a visible bob, and her eyes snap to awareness as they shift to the Sneasel.]

Hm? Aye, that's me. And you are...new to the Bay?

[Just a guess, because Mayaka is not familiar to her at all.]

Yeah. I got here about two months ago? [Even though that sounds pretty recent, Mayaka certainly doesn't see this as a place she'd want to 'settle' into. Unfortunately, even though her main goal is to figure out to get home, she's been getting sidetracked by daily chores and quests.]

Oh, my name's Mayaka. I was telling Ingo-san about my poison problem. [She takes off her gloves, to show her poison-stained claws to Firoza.]

He said you were one of the few other Poison-types in the Bay, so I've been meaning to talk to you. [To bond over being potentially dangerous to others? To complain about how careful she needs to be with her claws? To learn how to control her poison? The list is long...]

Oh!

[The mention of Ingo, and poison typing, immediately draws Firoza closer. She's not afraid of those claws at all, but she won't touch them - she doesn't know if she's immune to the poison of others.]

I'd be happy to share what I know, but I am not an expert - is yours based in your claws alone? That makes it much easier to cover up for doing things!

[She's genuinely curious!]

Yes, it's produced from my claws. That's why Six-san gave me these gloves.

[She pauses as a chilly gust of wind blows past them.]

Do you want to come in to my place for a bit, Roza-chan? [Yup, that sounds like a fitting nickname for the Nidoran.] It's a little cold out here. I can brew us some tea to drink.

[Mayaka gestures to her front door of her townhouse. Indoors is a more conducive place to have a conversation. Dealing with the ghost sculpture can wait. Mayaka's less antsy about it now that she has company, at least.]

As per usual, Bigby's busy snooping around the Archives despite being from a different guild entirely. His small size has its advantages unfortunately, including being easy to miss. In the middle of rummaging for tablets that are nearly as big as he is, he pauses after he notices a familiar face.

"Mayaka?" The drawings catch his attention, particularly the one she's currently working on. But the more he looks, the more he realizes there's another familiar face in the pile. "—is that Shoka?"

Mayaka looks up from the table and smiles when she sees a familiar face.

"B-chan!" she says by way of greeting. Then, she turns to the drawing that Bigby has pointed out.

"Shoka, isn't she..." the one Noelle's got a thing with? Mayaka withholds the second part of the statement, sensitive as she is to matters of the heart.

"... who is she, again? I haven't met her yet."

His nose twitches slightly. B-chan. He's never going to get used to that one. With a tilt of his head, he glances between her and her drawing while Mayaka trails off.

"You're drawing her and you've never met?" Bigby repeats, arms folding. Honestly, not that surprising, considering she's pretty well-known by this point, even among locals. Still, his usual grumpy expression lessens just a bit. "She's a friend."

He smiles a little too, but there's a hint of sadness in his voice, like he's done something wrong despite not knowing what. Last month sure got his head all jumbled up. "Did you... run into her? In a dream?"

"Must be. Or something like her. I had lots of dreams last month. Trying to make sense of them," the Sneasel explains.

"Did anything weird happen to you too?"

"Hm. Same here."

Hence, the tablets, though he supposes there was plenty weird things happening before the final nightmare that doesn't warrant any research. Bigby sets the one he's currently holding down with a small huff.

"I don't normally dream that vividly, so it was all a lot," he murmurs, glancing back toward her current drawings. "Those things especially."

Well, at least someone can recognise what she's attempting to draw right now. She hasn't been able to find any helpful leads in the Archives about what they saw in the final dream.

"I can barely remember what they look like. Here, do you want to try?"

She points to the empty seat next to her, and offers a blank piece of paper to Bigby.

Edited 2026-02-08 00:26 (UTC)

Sorry, Mayaka. It's yet another member of the Shoka Fan Club.

This one pads up to the side of her table over in Skull Town, initially intrigued by seeing her busy drawing... and also by the fact that she kind of looks like a mini-Odile. But then they inspect what's already laid out and recognize the charcoal sketch that everyone else has been pausing over.

"Oh! It's kittycat!"

They tilt their head, examining it for a moment longer.

"Cute!"

Mayaka registers the big wizard hat first, before she identifies the Pokemon underneath it as a lanky Shinx she's not met before. She doesn't know if the comment is meant as a compliment for her art (this, she finds hard to believe since it's still a very rough sketch) or if they're remarking on the nature of the creature in the drawing itself.

"Oh! Do you know what this is?" she asks Siffrin.

"She's my friend," Siffrin responds brightly, then blinks and looks up, seemingly only realizing after the fact what they said.

...but it's true, isn't it? They're allowed to say it, aren't they?

Siffrin settles down into a seated position, trying to make the motion look nonchalant and not like they somehow managed to startle themself over something as normal as 'being able to say they have a friend without thinking about it.' They tuck their tail around their front paws.

You know, though... now that they're looking at these and remembering another, even younger artist... (which might explain why as far as they're concerned, the rough sketch is cute as is!)

"I'll swap you something if you draw another one like that for me," they offer. What something? They have no idea yet. Something!

Mayaka raises her eyebrows in surprise at the request. Apart from the school cuture festival when the manga club would offer commission services, she's not been asked by anyone to draw something for them before. It's not like she's given any of her friends the option to ask either, too embarrassed to share her hobby.

"Well... alright." The Sneasel doesn't think much about what she'll get in return.

"This means I had a dream about her. Or something. I can't quite remember. Is there anything missing I should add?" She turns to the Shinx to ask, wanting to make sure the drawing is up to snuff. A simple sketch won't do.

This is the first time Mayaka's been to these caves, and the only reason she's not freaking out is because her companion is a walking nightlight. Kinger's mushroom cap glows in the darkness, and the bright pink fan Mayaka is carrying in her arms is also discernable despite the dim environment.

What had started as a rather fun project has lengthened into an extensive search, with their attempts to find Rotom leading them from place to place around the Bay. Following the latest rumour, Mayaka finds herself walking through some really creepy caves in the middle of the night, and very much re-thinking her initial enthusiasm.

"Um.. Kinger-san, now that I think about it, why would an Electric-type like Rotom be in a place like this?" she asks, her voice trembling only a little bit.

Edited 2026-02-08 00:13 (UTC)

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[OPEN] Dreams & Ghosts

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OMG I LOVE IT

Yay :"D I'm super thrilled you love it

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My kingdom for a tiktaalik Pokemon....

closest I can think of is relicanth...

Same...come on Pokemon, we want more prehistoric fish....

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omg mayaka's first commission

blink & missing (w/ kinger)