Pocket Monsters Online

[IrnBruAddict]

Zero raises an eyebrow at Sean's behaviour. If Rui was with the rest of the guys, usually she'd get Sean to send some sexy pictures to her inbox, then complain to the mods and get him banned. But maybe being on her own was making her a little kinder. 'Look man, you're an alright dude. But I'm pretty sure if you flirt with me, you'll be put on one of those lists. You know, those "can't live within 20 miles of a school" list. Remember, not everyone looks like their avatar, although it's obvious you're the kind that just makes yourself. You should make sure people you flirt with are, y'know, legal. Also, just between the two of us, I'm pretty sure one of the girls is played by a dude.'

Zero points at the back of Scarlet's head. 'Gotta be played by a neckbeard. I mean, what self respecting woman makes a character that pink? Explains why "she" was freaked out by me flirting.' Zero was 100% sure that no real woman could resist his flirting.

[sean_hyer]

-blink-

Thinking about it, big-and-blonde being, like, 12 explained an awful lot of his behaviour. Some geeky kid using the game to turn into someone else. Someone with muscles. And the courage to talk to girls.

I mean, it was obvious that not everyone would look like their avatar. No-one was that pink in real life. But he would never have considered anything more drastic than appearance tweaks. The age thing was understandable, but really? Who would want to enter a VR game as a different gender?

Also, flirting? Really? I guess when you have no idea what you're doing, but... what? "I think maybe the reason she was 'freaked out' was because that wasn't flirting. That was borderline sexual harassment. Imagine doing that to a random woman on the street, or some girl at your school. Think they might be a little ticked off?" Surely, if Zero imagined doing that in real life he would see what he meant.

"Besides, some girls love pink. What self-respecting guy would make a character looking like that?"

[GrayGriffin]

Artemis has moved a little ahead, then pauses when she notices Sean and Zero talking to each other, although she can't really hear what they're saying to each other. Well, Sean seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe he'll be able to talk some sense into the other man. Although she does raise an eyebrow when Zero points at Scarlet. Hopefully he's not talking about his plans to harass her further.

"You think he'll be able to get through?" she asks Scarlet, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at Sean.

[NineOfSpades]

"Hmm?" Scarlet turned towards Artemis, then looked back to see who she was referring to, before giving a small scowl at seeing that the Artemis was referring to the pervert. "I honestly don't care either way." she answered, continuing to walk "Perv's to much of a chicken**** to fight me, and I can't do jack to him in the town. Doubt I could directly do much to him out of it either. So lame." Scarlet held her hand up, tightening it into a fist and throwing a few jabs at the air. "In real life I could probably knock his lights out with one punch. Didn't figure I'd need to put any points into fighting skills for this game. Last I checked, trainers weren't allowed to actually fight, they just stand around and shout orders." Folding both hands behind the back of her head, she looked up at the virtual sky overhead and sighed. "But since I can't deck him in the face, I'll just settle for the next best thing though. After this event or whatever, I'm going to go find a place to get healed up. Then I'll sign off, go find the games website and figure out how to report the perv's account. Maybe he'll get banned, if I'm lucky. If not, I'll just have to bide my time till I can kick his ass in game." Scarlet chuckled. "Look at me, getting all caught up. Normally games can't hold my attention like this" she smiled at Artemis, giving her a thumbs-up "By the way, you were really knocking heads during that fight. It was pretty sweet"

[GrayGriffin]

Artemis smiles a bit at Scarlet's enthusiasm. Atalanta can relate to it, although she herself has usually reserved most of her energy for avoiding instead of beating up bullies. But at least she's also figured out another non-combat way to resolve the situation.

"Well, you were trying to send a message to Alithor, right?" she asks. "Maybe there's a way to reach one of the higher-ups in the game through a message as well." She also smiles at the compliment about her fighting skills. "Yeah, I did get a lot into it. You did well with closing off that hole, though."

[NineOfSpades]

"Yeah, but when I hit send, the system shot the message back at me with an error message saying that it couldn't find Alithor. Pretty sure I entered in everything correctly though" she shrugged, uncertain if the error was with her or the system. "Its a good idea though. I wouldn't have thought of it. My tech savy pretty much begins and ends with Control Alt Delete."

[GrayGriffin]

Artemis grins. "Hey, that's fine. I'm not that familiar with computers either. I'm just trying to learn by observing for now. And at least most of the voice commands in this game are pretty intuitive." She pauses. "Or maybe there'll be one of the higher-ups running this event as well. Then you can just tell them directly."

[IrnBruAddict]

'Maybe a guy who likes to look at one fiiine badonkadonk.' Zero holds up his hands, and gazes though them at Scarlet's booty. 'Most people like to look at a sexy avatar, y'know?' Zero flexes his biceps and gives them a quick kiss.

'Interesting little fact for ya. Most females on the net are actually dudes. Fact! Only people who act like a girl on the net are either dudes looking at their sexy avatar, dudes catfishing other dudes, or girls just wanting attention. All I'm doing is giving it to them. Boobs or GTFO, y'know?

[sean_hyer]

Oookay. This was gonna be difficult. Raising an eyebrow, he gestured at Scarlet. "If you ever see her bending herself in knots to check out her own backside, let me know. 'Til then, I'm afraid I'm gonna assume she's a girl.

"As for the rest of that. In a VR game, you can't really look at your own avatar. I don't know what catfishing is and I'm sure I don't want to. And how is a girl making a female character on a bid for attention? We made guys. Are we just looking for attention? No."

A brief pause to consider.

"On the other hand, that is one LOUD avatar. Attention seeking could be a part of it, but she doesn't seem the type, y'know? Still, even if she is looking for attention, I'm pretty sure it's not THAT kind of attention. If she was dressed in a bikini, maybe."

[IrnBruAddict]

'And let me guess. You have a problem with the attention I'm giving Scarlet?'

Zero rolls his head, groaning. 'Tell me, does it get dizzy. Up there on your high horse? What about this? I'll make you a deal. I won't hit on Pinkie Pie, Yamato Nadeshiko and Xena Warrior Princess. But if I do, you're not allowed to complain when I do it to other people. Especially not NPCs.' Also, Rui made sure she was only promising Zero wasn't going to harass the girls. If she just so happened to convince the rest of her guild Under-bridge to troll them? Well, that wasn't technically lying now, was it?

[sean_hyer]

Yeah yeah, stop being all high and mighty, shut up Captain America, like I've never heard that before. Well, it was still progress. Of a sort.

On the one hand, the promise wouldn't bind Zero at all once he stopped associating with their temporary little group. The entirety of the game world was a lot more than just three girls. On the other hand, he wouldn't be associating much with Sean once he left the group, so at least when he was annoying people the promise not to complain would hold no weight.

In short, it was a promise of peace and quiet for the next few minutes.

"You should try it. Act like a gentleman long enough, and you might even become one." (As unlikely as that might seem). "Annnd I have no idea who those people are. I mean, I've heard of Xena, but that's about it. Assuming you mean the three girls, sure. It's a deal."

[IrnBruAddict]

'Coolio, deal. Now let's hurry up. We got free loot waiting for us!' Zero speeds up. 'And I'm surprised you've never heard of them. I mean, I've seen all 3 of them in very explicit porn. I'll send you some videos later.' Zero gives Sean a sly wink. 'Rule 34.'

[NineOfSpades]

"Maybe I'll try that" Scarlet said, musing for a moment, before shaking her head "Nah. Reporting on someone being a perv is one thing, but I'm not going to debase myself by whining to the admins on opening day." Speaking of opening day, Scarlet jumped up a bit, trying to get an eye over the crowd. Once again, a problem that could have been easily solved by making her character taller. But there wasn't much to be done about that now. "I think we're almost to the central square."

[GrayGriffin]

Well, Atalanta is also familiar with that "don't want to be a snitch" attitude. Still, they probably won't have to put up with Zero for too long. Atalanta is planning on checking out and possibly completing this new event, and then logging out. Maybe she'll also figure out how to submit a report on Zero as well.

"Great!" Artemis says. "Wonder what it's going to be about."

[Arcran]

As the group makes their way into the center of the town, shoving into the town square that is really far too large for the NPC population you've seen so far, the deafening sound of likely everybody on the server makes it nearly impossible to think about, well, anything. The conversations are all over the place in terms of content; some are just players introducing themselves to each other and trying to talk each other through the menu system, something that seems to be perplexing the vast majority of the players. Others complain about how certain events have ruined their immersion, making this game a complete waste of money even as other proclaim this to be not only Game of the Year, but Game of the Century. Perhaps the strangest of the all the conversations is a man loudly and repeatedly proclaiming how comfy and easy to wear his shorts are, almost as if he's trying to convince himself as much as everybody else.

And, of course, the main topic of conversation is what exactly this event would entail. Free Pokemon? Items? A quest? Or would it just be a colossal waste of time?

The conversation begins to die down as a giant bell begins to ring from the top of a church adjacent to the town square, booming back and forth, back and forth. As the bell begins to boom the square is suddenly full of blue flashes of light which, when the sudden brightness fades, reveal extremely confused players that must have decided to try to skip the event. The bell swings back and forth eight more times before suddenly becoming still as an eerie quiet settles over the area. Players open their mouths helplessly only for no sound to come out; it would seem everybody and everything had been muted.

Without sound everybody relies on nudges and pointing to reveal the flashing purple hexagon far above the area in the sky, with words that you can just barely make out from here: "System Announcement."

Almost as soon as you've read the sign the hexagon begins to duplicate, covering the sky in an instant in a dome of purple tiles, casting an eerie light on the crowds assembled below.

The silence is broken by a deep rumbling, shaking everybody to their bones and covering a few to cover their ears. Those that didn't immediately regret it as a loud crack resounds from the statue of Girantina, followed by hundreds of smaller cracks as the statue begins to move, shadowy wings stretching out seemingly forever before the figure simply floats up, unmoving, stopping high enough that every Trainer has to crane their necks upwards to actually see the creature. It hovers for a moment before its eyes snap open, golden mouth stretching into the closest approximation of a grin.

"Attention, Trainers," Girantina says, mouth hardly moving as its eyes seem to stare at everybody all at once. "Welcome to the world of Pokemon. My name is Dulent Pine and, as of this moment, I am the sole person that can control this world."

Dulent pauses, the golden grin growing even wider.

"Some of the quicker among you may have noticed that the logout button is missing from the menu. This is not a bug."

"This is a feature."

"You cannot log out of Pocket Monsters Online under your own power, and nobody outside this game can remove your virtual reality gear. Should this be attempted, a lethal defect in the virtual reality hardware will be exploited, resulting in your immediate termination. Unfortunately, several player's friends and families have ignored this warning. As a result, fifty-seven of what was once ten thousand are no longer playing with us."

Dulent pauses for a moment as windows of familiar websites such as CNN and Fox News pop up, all stating almost exactly what Dulent had said thus far, as well as reporting the growing death toll.

"Take comfort in the fact that, should you have survived this long, your virtual reality gear is unlikely to be removed. I hope this knowledge helps you to relax and focus on your ultimate goal: clearing this game."

"Of course, there is one last item of note," Dulet states, pausing for a moment once more. "As of now, there is no longer a way to revive a player. If your character is rendered too low below 0 hit points they will die, as will you. Only one player has failed in this way thus far, and he is no longer with us."

"There is only one way to ensure your survival: Complete this game. You are currently in the first region of the Pokemon world," Dulent states, a visual appearing before him to help illustrate the point, taking the form of a tall tower. "If you make it through the dungeon and defeat the floor boss you advance to the next region. Defeat the final boss in the tenth region and you clear the game."

"Finally, I've added a present from me to each of your inventories. Consider it a gift from me, Professor Pine," Dulent says with no small amount of sarcasm.

"This ends the tutorial for Pocket Monsters Online."

With a flash the Girantina is gone, vanishing in a purple wave that washes over every player, bringing a sense of dread while seemingly granting them just a bit of strength. The purple sky fades as players stand in stunned silence, save for a few that instantly begin sprinting away from the town square, obviously intent on something. The rest, with their vocal faculties restored, slowly begin murmuring among themselves, an aura of fear palpable from the voices of the thousands of players.

Spoiler: Technology Education DC 10

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Dulent Pine was the chief programer and the head of the Pocket Monsters Online team. If anybody had the power to somehow work a backdoor into the game and take control as he just claimed, this was him.

Spoiler: All

Show

Fully healed and all Injuries removed!

[NineOfSpades]

Scarlet stood and listened. At first, she was impressed. It was a big spectacle, afterall, all it needed was some fireworks. But then, as Dulent Pine told more and more about his game world, Scarlet wasn't impressed anymore. It felt like a rock was in the bottom of her gut, sloshing down in her navel, heavy and cold. She was trapped in here? They were all trapped!? Her normally ironclad will cracked a moment, as fear crept in. She didn't know anything about games, and Pine was up there, saying that her very life now depended on her ability to fight through this world. The cold sensation spread through her veins, and she gripped her chest a moment, struggling for breath. The world suddenly felt muted. No...that wasn't it. The world felt numb. Even the booming voice of the game developer seemed faint and distant. All she could hear was her heart beating, loud and fast. Any moment, it could come to a stop. If the battery on her headgear failed, for example. She frantically tried to remember how much of a charge it had, but all she could focus on was the amount of time she'd spent stupidly fighting with the character creation system. Dead battery had never been such a personally terrifying concept.

But then, Pines said something that cut through, like a flare gun erupting out of the darkness, demanding Scarlets attention. Only one player had been killed by having their HP hit 0. And she had been there to witness it. Heck, she'd been closer than anyone else when it happened. A front row seat to the last moments of Alithor's life. The memory, which seemed so innocent, now made her squirm with revulsion. Alithor was dead. He was gone, forever. Scarlet didn't doubt what she was hearing. It made to much sense. The message she'd tried to send, it was a letter addressed to a dead man. The system couldn't deliver it. Alithor was dead. Everyone was in danger.

Scarlet felt something snap inside herself. She wasn't a complex person, not really. Her life had been one of simple cause and effect, built on a few principles she believed in. Call it a personal code if you want, but really, it was just a collection of things that made her temper flare. And what she saw before her triggered a fire in Scarlets soul. The strange, serpentine form that Pine's had cloaked himself in, the arrogant smirk on its face. More than perverts, or jerks, more than anything, Scarlet hated folks who put themselves above everyone else and looked down on them. Looked down on her. Pine's had just taken responsibility for killing fifty seven people, and that bastard had the stones to smile about it. That was unacceptable. That was unforgivable. Scarlet clenched her fists so tight that her knuckles were white as bone. She'd probably be bleeding, if the system would let her fingernails cut through her own palms. Her teeth were clenched tight, a beastial snarl, through which she sucked in a huge gulp of air, almost sounding like a piercing hiss.

Not one millisecond after the wave hit and sound was restored, Scarlet's voice erupted, a deafening shout that thundered loudly, a challenge to the heavens themselves.

"BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS OLD MAN! DON'T YOU FREAKING SCREW WITH ME, YOU GODDAMN BASTARD!!!"

Others may have turned and ran. It was, perhaps, the natural reaction. A smart one, as well. What else could you do, when your very mind is caged in a world run by a madman playing god? Scarlet knew that climbing to the top of this world wasn't going to be easy. It would mean calling down the Mad God, Dulent Pine, from his thrown and facing everything he had to throw at her. Scarlet, a girl with no idea what she was doing, no real advantage to set her apart, and no more than a single completed quest to her name. She was a paper tiger, and the storm was bearing down on her. All these things were true.

But screw it. This paper tiger wasn't going to flinch. She'd plant her feet on the shore, tilt her head to the sky, and scream to the heavens themselves: BRING IT!

"I'll SMASH EM ALL! EVERY LAST FLOOR!! YOU HEAR ME PINES!? AND I AIN'T GONNA STOP TILL I CAN SMASH YOUR FACE INTO THE DIRT AND MAKE YOU WATCH THIS WHOLE FREAKING WORLD SHATTER!!!

Scarlet stabbed her fist upwards, pointing through the ceiling. But she wasn't aiming there. No, her aim was at the very roof of this world, the highest floor. Her eyes, burning as hot as her spirit, looked on at her fellow players, and the people who had found there way to this world, and were now her fellow captives looking for a way out.

"SO THEN, WHO'SE WITH ME!?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Command Check to rally the other players (Or at least those in my immediate vicinity).
I'll Spend an AP point on it, as well.
Command: (3d6+1)[10]

Not going to bother with a tech roll I can't possibly make.

[GrayGriffin]

At first, Atalanta doesn't see anything too weird with what's going on. Even the muting doesn't seem that strange, since she'd expect the announcer of the event to not want random interruptions. Even the cracking statue seems pretty normal for a game event, if a bit dramatic for an early event. Artemis does back away as it becomes real, though, feeling a bit excited at what must be some big plot event.

Then the creature speaks.

Unable to leave? But...Atalanta thinks of her parents, so absorbed in their work. Who will remind them to break for dinner, or to take rests? Who will take care of Asclepius, her own pet snake? She hopes that her grandparents have learned about what's going on in some way, and will come over to help do what she can't now.

Then, the comment about the one character who has already died. Almost immediately, she knows who it must be. Alithor, who was so eager to join in what seemed like a simple introductory quest. Who was trying to help, and ended up drawing all the large rat's attention for it. She feels a sudden hatred for the creature sweep over her, but that's quickly replaced with a hatred for the man who reprogrammed the game so that it would happen like this.

As Pine finishes up his speech, Artemis turns her eyes onto him in a harsh glare, walking closer to him, although the mute button prevents her from saying what she wants. Only when he vanishes does her voice return, with quite some volume to it now.

"You bully!" she snaps at the empty pedestal. "You're an adult! How dare you pick on children in this way?" Before she can get any further, Scarlet's rant drowns out her own voice. She quiets down for a bit, waiting for the pink-haired girl to finish. When Scarlet is done, she steps up next to her, looking determined.

"I am!" she declares, looking out at the rest of the crowd. She wonders how many of these people are just young children, suddenly thrust into a life-or-death situation. Her own youth seems to be pressing down on her all of a sudden. However, she tries to stand firm.

[IrnBruAddict]

Zero had only partially been paying attention to the lore, since while everyone was distracted looking up, he took this chance to get low on the ground and look up the skirts of as many female players as possible. When the glowing snake creature starts showing the news, Zero finally picks himself up.

'So this is the big bad? I thought they were going for more medieval theme, not something based on the 4th wall. It sounds like the plot of some cheesy anime my sister would watch or something. Has pokemon always had plots like this?' Zero just shrugs, not too bothered.

And now Scarlet was shouting and hollering at the sky like a psycho. Zero honestly had no idea what she was doing. Deep down, Rui wondered if Scarlet really was a female, and maybe this was how all women acted when it was their time of the month? God knows, she'd heard enough horror stories about crazy chicks. She was just glad that she wasn't old enough to worry about that. Oh, wait a minute. Maybe she was doing this to get attention? Was she trying to recruit a guild or something? Well, it seems like Artemis was joining up with her if that was the case.

Yawning and sticking his finger in his ear to dig out some wax, Zero casually saunters away from the crowd, now that he had his free gift. Now that he was fully healed, he'd check out the doctors office quest while everyone else was distracted. More quest, more xp, more loot. Catch monsters, go up floors, and don't let your hp hit zero. That was the plan. Once he was stronger than everyone else, trolling would be much easier.

While Zero was wandering town, looking for the doctor quest or any other quest, he decided to check his inventory and see what the gift was. How was it done again? Voice commands? 'Inventory! Backpack! Items! Equipment!' he shouts, while waving his arms trying to summon the menus. To a distant observer, it would probably look like he was yelling random words while fending off attacking bees.

[sean_hyer]

Well. That's... something.

So far as I know, no-one knows I bought this game. I have no family present to notice and look after me. I can only hope that this Pine fellow kept track of these things, and that the appropriate authorities will be notified. If not, my body will starve and die of thirst while I am trapped here, and I have about three days to live.

Oh well.

No sense worrying about things you can't change.

Still, as other players flee, or freeze in stunned disbelief, or scream defiance, or converse in shocked murmurs, I can feel a smile spreading across my face. Grim and crooked, twisted like the knots in my stomach. But still, a smile.

As far as I can see, as far as I can imagine, I am the only one with this insane reaction. There are probably half a hundred reasons for it, buried deep in my mind. But one thought stands above the rest.

The world, this world, is now real.

Before, it was nothing. It was an escape, a pleasant fantasy. A daydream you could explore for maybe a few hours a day, before returning to the real world. But without the world behind to stand as a comparison, this becomes the real world. The only world. Forget the past.

Even the news that a player had died already, while it comes as a shock, isn't too horrifying. Because there is a truth I have learned. People die. People can die any day, any time, for the stupidest of reasons, to accidents beyond their control. In a way, this game is safer in that it places your life squarely in your own two hands.

Air courses through my lungs as I suck in a shaking breath. Not shaking with outrage, though. Nor purely through fear, though that undoubtedly plays a part. But mostly, I shiver with excitement, with anticipation. What child has not dreamed of living in the past; in a realm of enchantment. And now here I am, transported from a world drained of color and life to a new world, full of excitement, wonder and magic. A world where the gravest of injuries could be healed in a heartbeat. Given a new body, a new life, a fresh start on equal footing to everyone else.

One thought worries. What happens when you do complete the game. Will you be banished back to the world left behind, into a broken body that has lain comatose for years? But again, that is a worry for another time, for a distant future. Que sera, sera. For now...

Big-and-blonde has vanished. I reckon he'll be fine though. The girls, though... it's clear they are among the outraged portion of the crowd, screaming epithets at an empty sky. Not scared, or panicked. Good.

Silent, grim smile still gracing my face, I step forwards to stand behind them. Now how did the line go?

'Take courage, and leap into the world of Pokémon where dreams, adventure and friendships await!'

And.. here.. we.... go!

[CosmicOccurence]

As CoCo listened to the man speak, her heart began to grow cold. This couldn't be true. It just couldn't. She'd worked on this game, shaped it, helped it grow into what she thought would be a triumph of both mmos and the pokemon games. And if what this man said was true - and she couldn't understand why anybody would make this announcement if it wasn't - then all of her work had been to create nothing more than a killing ground for some psycho who had commandeered the game for his own perverse purposes. What was this, Saw 7?

She took a deep breath, smoothing out the nonexistant wrinkles in her kimono to hide the confusion she was feeling. She'd been so focused on getting ahead of other players, treating the game as nothing more than an interesting strategy puzzle. But now that her life was on the line, everything suddenly became so much more real. Suddenly her crafting skills seemed like a huge mistake, on that may cost her her life. She didn't have any battling ability, nor any skills to boost the power of her pokemon aside from held items. She was left only with the ability to create objects, a skill of dubious usefulness to say the least. CoCo realized that, in the end, she'd be best served a support to others.

That being said, she had no intention of going down without a fight, and she had no intention of giving up her skills for something else. She'd craft and she'd be damn good at it. And she'd use the money that she would make from this, she'd buy her way to a team that wouldn't be taken down easily, and she'd purchase the best gear that money could buy.

Of course, first she had to figure out how to do any of that stuff, including buying a dowsing rod and getting some money. But that would all come in good time. She scanned the crowd trying to gauge people's reactions, and it didn't seem good. She sighed and walked away from the large group before trying to figure out how to use the menu.

CoCo tried a variety of strategies to open the menu, stringing off a series of words until something worked. Menu, open menu, menu open, open system menu, start, start menu, open start menu, start menu open. She hoped one thing would work, because she couldn't think of any other possibilities off the top of her head, though she supposed she could always ask somebody who had it figured out.

[Arcran]

The Rallying Cry

The crowd goes almost completely silent as Scarlet shouts, aside from those quickly leaving the town square. The silence stretches for a few loud seconds before a slow murmur builds with a few people even looking hopeful for a few precious seconds. A few other trainers shout out their outrage as well, although that seems to by far be the minority. A few trainers begin to flock towards Scarlet before a few other cries ring out through the crowd as others try to rally those near them to varying degrees of success. The fact that Artemis so quickly pledged her help to Scarlet seems to have given her a little more pull but many of the Trainers are too intent on figuring out exactly what just happened.

As others Trainers slowly begin to make their way towards Scarlet, the pink-haired loudmouth feels somebody put a hand on her shoulder, revealing an avatar that looked like a boy of about fourteen, tall and gangly with dark hair. For a moment you can't help but marvel at the attention to detail the programmer's put into making this world seem realistic; the tears streaming down the boy's cheeks seem almost realistic.

"Why bother?" he chokes out, clearly distressed. "A kid at my school was in the beta and, try as hard as they could, they never made it to the third region. They wiped time and time again for weeks before they even got to the second region! Why are you any different? What's different than it was then?" the boy pleads, clearly looking for any indication that this world wasn't a death sentence. As he asks a few other Trainers look at you expectantly, clearly expecting an answer of some sorts.

The Troll

Leaving the town square was easier than you expected; with everybody still entranced by the event that had started the game, standing about like a bunch of statues, getting through was actually easy. It seems like Scarlet's cry didn't go completely unheeded, although it seems more than a few Trainers are willing to argue with her. Still, it's not like any of that matters; her sloppy attempt to create a guild won't exactly help you become the terrifying troll that you need to be.

As you walk around you notice something somewhat odd. On your way to the town center there had been quest markers over quite a few NPCs' heads, clearly and concisely saying where to find quests. Now? There was nothing; NPCs walked about without any quest indicators or something to mark them as a shop other than the sineage built into the world. It probably didn't mean anything, but it still was odd.

At your first word your inventory pops up in front of you, a window of small squares appears, seeming to be a pretty conventional inventory screen. A small picture of you is included, with what was equipped in your various slots shown as well; right now it appears you're just wearing starting clothes of some sort, nothing all that special. There is one thing in your inventory though; a blue item, likely meaning it's rare: The Pokemon Grimoire. Before you get a chance to inspect it more you see the sign you'd been looking for; Poor Humours, something you would only have actively connected with medicine due to the medical imagery emblazoned on the sign, in this case a giant red cross that appears to be bleeding. As you arrive you see another player sprint by, pushing open the door and heading inside without pausing to talk to you.

The Designer

Leaving the town square was easier than you expected; with everybody still entranced by the event that had started the game, standing about like a bunch of statues, getting through was actually easy. It seems like Scarlet's cry didn't go completely unheeded, although it seems more than a few Trainers are willing to argue with her about how wise that course of action is.

When you get to "menu open" a sort of toolbar appears in front of your face, gliding down from the left corner of your vision. Each has a small arrow, likely indicating that it may be opened into a series of smaller menus. Social is highlighted, as if there's something there, but beyond that they all appear the same.

• Pokemon
• Inventory
• Status
• Crafting
• Options
• Social

[GrayGriffin]

Artemis frowns a bit. Admittedly, the fact that what was supposed to be a "beginner" battle ended up with them so battered (and Alithor dead...no, don't think that!) is worrying. However, that might also have been because most of them were so new to this. Despite her mild misgivings, she feels that she has to say something to keep his spirit up.

"We're all in this together now, aren't we?" she says confidently. "We're not trying to get through it just by ourselves. We all have to work together to survive this. That's a lot of people who are going to be helping each other." She smiles at him. "My name's Artemis, and these are Scarlet and Sean."

[IrnBruAddict]

While the inventory screen was opened, Zero made sure to equip his sword. He'd have a look at the book later, since Lore was never the main reason Rui bought games. Right now, he wanted to make sure someone wasn't stealing his precious xp.

Zero dashes across to the shop door, then readies his sword over his shoulder and steps inside. 'Someone thinking they can get the jump on me and take the quest before I can? And if you even think about raiding his stash while he's away, you're not getting away without giving me a cut.'

[CosmicOccurence]

Wondering if she could open multiple menu screens at once, she said Options Open, Crafting Open, Inventory Open, Social Open. She was most interested in seeing what was in the options menu and looking at what crafting ended up being, but if she could equip her throwing knives and see what this social thing was about, all the better. If she had to flip through them one screen at a time, so be it, but why not try? Crafting is all about efficiency after all.

[Arcran]

The Heroes

"Caesar," the crying boy says, taking the hand. "And do you seriously think that'll be enough? It could be years before we even get past the first floor; how long are we just going to sit in comas in the real world before they just pull the plug on us?"

The Troll

While you're currently carrying your sword it doesn't appear to actually have entered your inventory yet; maybe there was something you had to do to make the game trigger that particular note?

Still, as you enter the shop door you see the other player talking to a young brunette who is clearly distressed, cutting off the poor woman after every other word as he seemingly rapid fires questions.

"Where's the doctor?"
"S-south I think. He was taken by bandits-"
"How many?"
"Three or four? I don't-"
"What's the reward?"
"We have some silver-"
"Good. I'll be back soon," the other player states, making a few motions in front of him before strolling out the door, casually bumping into Zero's shoulder and knocking him back half a step, leaving an obviously distressed brunette woman and an empty shop.

The Crafter

As you begin to open windows, a window of small squares appears, seeming to be a pretty conventional inventory screen. A small picture of you is included, with what was equipped in your various slots shown as well; right now it appears you're just wearing starting clothes of some sort, nothing all that special. There is one thing in your inventory though; a blue item, likely meaning it's rare: The Pokemon Grimoire. Although you're carrying your knives it doesn't appear that they're actually in your inventory at this point for some reason.

Social opens int three separate windows labeled Friends, Party and Guild, all of which appear to be empty as of now. Options opens to, well, not much; it appears the only thing you can really modify is the borders around your windows. Pine must have thought being able to find tune the game would provide an unfair advantage or something of the like. Crafting leads to a window that says Fashionista and two others that say Researcher and Edges, both of which seem to be able to expand more.

[NineOfSpades]

The Heroes

"Caesar," the crying boy says, taking the hand. "And do you seriously think that'll be enough? It could be years before we even get past the first floor; how long are we just going to sit in comas in the real world before they just pull the plug on us?"

Scarlet looked at Caesar, knotted her hand into a fist, and slugged him one. "Dumbass!" She shouted, though unlike before, it was not a cry of anger. More of frustration and disappointment. The kid was hysteric, and sometimes you needed to belt a guy one across his face to knock some sense into them. She then grabbed Caesar by the collar of his outfit and made sure he was looking her square in the eye as she spoke. "I'm about to tell you something important, so quit your balling and listen up!" She glanced over her shoulder at the onlookers "That goes for the rest of you as well!" She then turned back to Caesar "I ain't gonna die here! And I ain't gonna let that bastard sit up on some throne and look down on us. If you wanna cry, fine, go ahead. But do it when your back in the real world!"

Scarlet released her hold on Caesar, and moved to address the rest of the assembled group that had gathered to hear her. "You all got that! I don't want to see a single one of you shed a tear. If you do, I'll be sure to kick your ass and give you something worth crying about! But Don't you dare give Pine's the satisfaction of seeing you flinch. When your backed into a corner, you come out swinging. And thats just what I plan on doing. I'm going to yell and scream and fight like hell. If this world knocks me down, I'll just get up and fight even harder. I won't stop, not till I reach the end."

Returning her attention to Caesar "That bastard got us trapped in here. Its our job to make sure he regrets ever thinking he could get away with that." She gave a devilish smirk "And you know what? We got something the Beta Testers Never had. We got Me" She gestured towards herself with her thumb. "And we got you, Caesar" And then she gestured towards everyone else "And we got something else too! We Got something were fighting for! We're fighting for our Freedom!"

[GrayGriffin]

Artemis releases Caesar's hand out of shock when Scarlet chooses the "action hero" method of therapy. She's not sure how effective that will be, even with that dramatic speech afterwards. She looks out on the crowd, trying to tell which of those people are just kids, too young to get caught up in this. Kids who have more fear in them than rage.

"Some of them are probably still pretty young, you know," she says quietly to Scarlet. "I'd say this was a pretty natural reaction to suddenly being trapped in a place you hardly know anything about with the threat of death looming..." She pauses. "Do we need to defeat the boss personally to get out?" she asks, a bit louder. "Maybe it just needs to be defeated, and then everyone will be able to leave. Then we don't necessarily need everyone here to come with us."

[CosmicOccurence]

CoCo frowned when her knives didn't appear as equipped or in her inventory. She was going to be using her inventory quite a bit to manage her supplies, so figuring this out now could be good. She tried shoving her knives into the panel, thinking they might go into her inventory that way. If that didn't work, she tried a verbal command Store throwing knives. Equip throwing knives.

[Arcran]

The Heroes

As Scarlet slugs Caesar in the face a familiar pop-up window appears, momentarily obstructing her vision.

New Beginnings Town is a no PvP zone. Attacks will not deal damage to other players unless a duel has been started.

Still, despite the fact that no actual damage was done by the punch Caesar seems to be caught off-guard by it, the boy standing there with a stunned look for a long moment, his crying momentarily stopped. The other Trainers around you seem equally surprised; while they were likely expecting some reaction, that was apparently far cry from what they had expected. A few even begin to back away, obviously frightened by Scarlet.

After a long second, the boy drags the back of his hand across his face, wiping away the tear streaks as he looks back, a little more resolve in his eyes.

"So that's it? he says shakily. "Since it's real we have to win so we will? We'll make Pine regret trapping us in here? Yelling and screaming and fighting like hell are one thing, but what about what we actually do. We have a whole world in front of us that only a handful of people have seen before. If we go down we could die for real. What do we do first?" Caesar asks, looking to you expectantly as do about another half-dozen Trainers around you.

Nearby, another Trainer looks to Artemis, an unsure look on his face.

"I don't know. I'd say ask his beta friend," the girl says, "But all the beta Trainers are all probably halfway to the boss by now. I guess we'll find out after the first floor, right?"

The Crafter

As you experiment with the inventory system, you find that pushing the throwing knives into the slot on your avatar designated "Main Hand" causes a small sleeve of the knives to appear on your belt, easily within reach and ready to use. It would appear that's the easiest way to put something in your inventory.

[GrayGriffin]

Atalanta notes with interest that the system didn't stop her from holding Caesar's hand. Part of her wonders how exactly it determines what is supposed to be an attack and what isn't. What would have happened if she tried to throw him over her head after taking his hand? She decides that's something to experiment with later.

Artemis nods at the other trainer's comment. "Do you know your friend's username?" she asks Caesar. "You can send him a private message, right? Ask him a bit more about the area outside this town, and maybe figure out if he knows about Pine's announcement as well."