Monster Art Online (IC)

[Miss Doronjo]

Luxanna's Log #3 & a ½

Cherrygrove City looked even bigger in a first person view, rather than looking overhead on a video game. There were buildings, active people, a vast sea, and there was even a pokémon center, and a pokémart. The local pokémon center was pretty busy; after all, a couple of inexperienced trainer players have just gotten their pokemon injured from battling wild pokemon, and they would rather not risk them to be so injured that they would lose battles and cause them to die. The nurse of the pokémon center was busy with her helper pokemon, a Chansey, lookinng about as joyful as ever. Soon, the front automatic doors opened, as Luxanna arrived inside.

"Hi-ya doc!" Luxanna greeted with an open smile. "Are ya all done zappin' my pokémon?"

"Yes, of course!" The nurse said with a smile. The Chansey then brought a tray of two pokéballs, which of course was Lux's two only pokemon, her Growlithe and her Pidgey. The Chansey then brought the tray to the counter, where Lux happily retrieved them. "Your pokemon are now fighting fit! I hope we see you again!"

"Thank you very much! You too, Chansey!" Lux thanked brightly. "By the way doc, do you have a name? After all you've done for lil'ol me, I'd like to thank ya properly, ya know?"

"It's not very necessary," the nurse explained. "Just a thanks and the satisfaction that pokémon are bright and healthy are just enough for me!"

"I know, but... what if I just give ya a nickname?" Lux suggested. "Every time pokémon are all healthy and stuff, you look all joyful and stuff... I know! How about I call ya... Nurse Joy!"

"I think that's a nice nickname, hehe," the nurse complemented with a giggle. "Well, my name is technically not 'Joy', but, whatever is comfortable for you!"

"Heeeeey, Nurse Joy!" said Lux, getting used to the new nickname already. She was goggled-eyeing the healing machine that the nurse used. "Woooooow I've seen that type of machine before, but not like this! Maaaan I love the colors and the little 'beep, beep, beepbobeep!' sounds it makes from here! Amazing!"

"Well, when it comes to pokémon health, pokémon are only deserving on the best technology to provide it!" the nurse explained. "However, none of this is possible without Chansey here; she does as much work as I do!" The Chansey made a delightful cry in recognition.

"Anyway, thank ya Nurse Joy! You too Chansey!" Lux thanked again as she tucked her pokémon in her pockets safely. She waved 'goodbye' to them as the joyful nurse and her beloved Chansey waved 'goodbye' back. Then the nurse got to thinking.

"Nurse Joy, huh?" the nurse inquired as she turned to her Chansey. "It does have a nice ring to it..."

Exiting out of the pokémon center, Lux soon encountered a crowd. But most of them started to back off from extreme boredom. Trying to figure out what was going on, Lux had to swivel and squirm her way through the walking townspeople, until she was finally near the front. There, she saw what it looked like an elder woman, who had some sort of transmitter device, and a microphone. She seemed to have trouble.

"Oh.. how do I work this blasted thing..." she grumbled as she tapped and blew on it, just to make sure it was functioning. Finally, she got it working, but there was a loud screeching sound that emitted from the transmitter, causing everyone, including Lux, to cover their ears. Soon the noise stopped, leaving the place quiet. "Here we go! Ahem. As you young trainers know, Mr. Pokemon is quite the oddball. Quite the airhead indeed."

"...Excuse me, miss?" a younger voice whispered, grabbing Lux's attention. She was tugging on to Lux's belt. "...Do you know what an airhead is?"

"Someone who's so smart, they can control the air with their mind!" replied Lux with a smile.

"That's amazing..." the young girl complemented.

"...and so I'm offering this brand new PokéGear for anyone who brings back the pokémon egg that the dingbat refused to send without an escort of some kind. Can anyone volunteer--"

"I want to volunteer!" shouted Lux as she quickly approached the elderly woman. "My name is Lux, and I'm a pokémon trainer! I can totally bring you back the egg in 5 seconds flat! Well, maybe 5 minutes because it's a long trip, but... yeah! It'll be no problem wrinkly old lady!"

"Ahem, yes... the mayor of Cherrygrove is an 'old lady'... it's nice to see that I'm reminded," gagged the woman with a unjoyous cough. "In any case, that's very generous of you. He doesn't live too far away - he's in Route 30. But please remember to bring it back and -- huh... where did you...?"

"HOOOOOOLLYYYY MILKTANK!" shouted Lux from a few feet away. She was looking through an old garbage can. For some reason. "A 75BH5 itemfinder!! I've only seen it in catalouges, but wooooooow! Who would throw away something like this?! Let's see... aw, it doesn't work... maybe I can take it apart later!"

"She's quite the spirited one," the mayor said softly with a smile. "That reminds me of someone I know.."
​

 

[Jason Wolf]

Jercio Shade (Jason)
Cherrygrove​

(image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists)

By the time Jercio arrived in the second town he was in the mood to punch someone in the face. Specifically the game designers. He had gone the entire rest of the route encountering six random Pokemon. Despite the battles being very early game and extremely easy they kept Jason's mind taxed. Even if the chance of losing was very low it was always there. For the designers to have made the first route this stressful they must have enjoyed other's pain. Yohi was on very low HP, and so was Jercio's second Pokemon.

The final encounter Jercio had was with a Pidgey who refused to stop using sand attack. The only good news was that it wasn't using gust. Jercio knew he needed to get his numbers up, and made sure to catch the Pidgey. The fight had taken at least half an hour. Yohi was fighting blind by the end, and would just lunge in a random direction trying to tackle the Pidgey. Eventually Jerico felt the battle had gone on too long, and simply gave up on trying to weaken the Pidgey anymore. He found it funny that a trend he saw in all the other pokemon games was repeating itself here. no matter what he did Jercio always found the first Pokeball he used would always catch a Pokemon. He knew it wasn't in the code, but it always seemed to happen.

Like any good trainer he headed to the Pokemon center first and healed up his team. Then like any good RPG player picked up all the quests in town. The mayor apparently felt like omelets this morning because she kept asking trainers to get a delivery from Mr. Pokemon, and a number of other trainers were handing in eggs to her. Jercio skipped through most of her dialogue as he knew how to pick out the important parts of NPC text, and it wasn't hard to pick it out vocally either. He really couldn't have cared less about these NPCs. Later ones like the gym leaders and other story crucial ones probably would have a lot better AI programming and be a lot more interesting for it. The second job Jercio picked up was to gather berries for a fishermen. The guy wasn't specific about why he needed them, but once again Jercio didn't care.

Another half an hour later Jercio had finished prepping for Route Thirty. He picked up four Fresh Water from vending machines, two more Pokeballs giving him six total, and traded an Awakening to another trainer for an Antidote. Unlike going out onto Route Twenty-Nine Jercio got going immediately, and was ready to go up against wild Pokemon and maybe even a trainer or two. He kept his new Pidgey, Hurek, in front as its gust attack was able to one hit the lowest level bug types. Speaking of those, Jercio was rather excited when he came across a Spinarak about half way up the route after having only run into Ledyba. The small spider Pokemon was one of his early game favorites. He was mortified when his Pidgey almost knocked it out in one hit. He was lucky there, but that luck ran out quickly. The wild Spinarak poisoned Hurek, and it took both of Jercio's new Pokeballs to catch him. Despite being half way to Mr. Pokemon's house Jercio turned around and went back to Cherrygrove rather than using his Antidote. The walk wasn't an issue, but Jercio did hate falling behind. In a normal game by now he could have been past the first gym by now. Instead he had to spend nearly an hour hiking up the routes. Sure it did give him time to train his new Pidgey, and Caterpies and the Ledyba did make easy targets for both Yohi and Witor, the Spinarak, but that did not make up for slow the pace was right now.

Jercio arrived at Mr.Pokemon's house two and a half hours after he left New Bark Town, or about hour and a half from leaving Cherrygrove the first time. The egg Jercio picked up from the fanatic was obviously a Togepi how stereotypical. Either way Jercio rushed it back to the city the only thing delaying him was a short stop where Jercio collected some assorted berries he spotted by Mr.Pokemon's house. The way back was much faster as a lot less wild Pokemon seemed to pop up. Maybe the developers did it this way since the tiny ledges wouldn't quite work in this format. Jercio's apathy to the virtual world faded as he began to think about how they had programmed all of this. So many little details that made up this amazing place. Jercio was extremely curious to see what these guys had added to the game. After all this was the game of the century it had too have some amazing hidden content. Those thoughts filled Jason's mind all the way back to the city.

Jercio was very excited to receive a Pokegear with a radio so early. The device would help give him a connection to the things he liked in the real world. Music was always something Jason felt had influence on him. It could change his mood or help keep focused on something. He instantly turned on the device and put in the earbuds that came with it. He tuned in to a random station and the song "The Boys are Back in Town" came on. Jercio slightly nodded to the rhythm as he went to hand in his other quest. With both of them done he did feel slightly caught up, but he knew this was only the second town.
​

 

[Miss Doronjo]

Luxanna's Log #4 & a ½

Route 30, bathed in a luscious green color of vegetation, was more than just a simple pixel green forest on a game boy - at least to the first person viewed eye. Luxanna had a blast travelling through here; from the river on the side, to the cute Caterpies and Weedles that lived near the trees. She traveled eats past a couple of trees and vines, until she was upon a small cottage. There was only one man who was sure to be there.

"No, my name is not Mr. Tortellini, it's Mr. Pokémon," the man known as Mr. Pokémon addressed to Lux, upon her meeting the strange man. "I fail to see how the two are related."

"Huh, it's the same to me..." Lux said while shrugging. "But Mr. Pokémon, if that's really your last name, does that mean you're related to a pokémon?"

"Not quite," replied Mr. Pokémon. "I suppose that's more of a nickname than anything. You see, people often refer me to that because I often find extraordinary pokémon related findings and report them to my acquaintance. Surely you've heard about Professor Elm, correct?"

"Oh yeah, sure I know the guy," said Lux. "He suggested that I should eat 11 apple pies as apposed to 10 or 12, but... I dunno, 11 being a weird number n' all."

"I see," said Mr. Pokémon with a nod. "I respect him dearly you know; he's still quite the genius. Along side him and my friend, Professor Oak, well, I dear say we are quite the trio. Now then, what has brought you to see me today? You are a trainer, yes?"

"Yeah, the wrinkly ol' mayor sent me to see ya," replied Lux. "Said you had some sort of... egg?"

"Wrinkly old mayor..." Mr. Pokémon tried to comprehend. "I assume you're referring to the mayor of Cherrygrove. Hm, she's supposedly not too happy with me right now from this whole mess; but I do have great reason. Which I'm not at liberty to uh, say at the moment, hence why I needed an escort. And so, thank you for coming to help today! Now, about that egg..."

"Herr Pokémon!" interrupted by a voice, knocking on the cottage door. The front door then swung open, revealing a girl who seemed to be around the same age as Luxanna. The most notable thing about her was the clean white laboratory-esque coat she was wearing. "Herr Pokémon, I deeply apologize with the intrusion," the girl apologized as she then made a curtsy. "My name is Katharina von Kurnase, and I am not only a pokémon trainer, but a proud subject of the science of life."

"I see," said Mr. Pokémon. "Very nice to meet you, Katharina. What brings you here today?"

"Herr Pokémon, I have heard delightful rumors that you have a pokémon egg on your personage," explained Katharina. "As a follower of science, I would definitely like to know more about it, yes?"

"Yes, the young lady next to you asked about it as well," said Mr. Pokémon. "It's in the back; just wait here, okay?" He then went off past the back room, leaving Luxanna and the sciencey Katharina behind.

"Ah, you're here for it too, eh, Kathy?" asked Lux. "So am I!"

"I see, but if I may ask, who are you, Fräulein?" asked Katharina. "And... why have you just called me 'Kathy' when we have just met only a mere moment ago?"

"I'm Luxanna!" introduced Lux. "And hm, you don't like 'Kathy', huh? How about... Kitty Kat? Or, 'Have break! I want a piece of that Kit Kat bar!' Katharina is just a little long, ya know?"

"I suppose 'Kathy' will have to do then," sighed the unimpressed Katharina. "Although it is rather... 'uncool' as Americans have called it."

"Ah, here it is!" called out Mr. Pokémon, as he returned from the back room. He did indeed brought the pokémon egg in question in a glass case for protection. "I've discovered this pokémon egg a long time ago; it's quite the marvel indeed."

"I concur!!" burst out Kathy, as she moved in closer to inspect the egg. "Ah, yes... yes, yes, YES! THE COLOR! THE SHAPE! THE TEXTURE! THE SMELL! THE THOUGHT OF AN ATOMIC CARAMEL TASTE! Herr Pokémon, this is quite the discovery indeed!!"

"I never knew it was that exciting!" smiled Luxanna. "It does look pretty cool!"

"ONLY PRETTY COOL?!" snapped the furious Katharina. "THIS EGG IS A MARVEL OF SCIENCE!! Just as the great ones who discovered that salt is solvable to water, like a gem, this egg must be polished and treated like the fictionous divinity!!"

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it!" said Lux with her trademark smile. "Heeeey Mr. Pokémon, I'm sure that big ol' egg is taking too much space in here; mind if I take it off your hands now?"

"Yes, yes," agreed Mr. Pokémon, handing the glass-case protected egg to Lux. "But please do take care of it! The mayor will have my head if this is damaged... not to mention I might cry like a sad Whismur."

"Okie Dokie, Arrochockie!"

Finally outside from Mr. Pokémon's cottage and back on Route 30, Lux was holding the glass-cased egg over hear head. It was her style of holding semi-heavy things. Kathy stopped and looked upon Lux.

"Fräulein... Luxanna, was it not?" Kathy tried to remember. "You are a fellow pokémon trainer, yes? But you certainly did not strike me as a NPC... that must mean you are a fellow player."

"Yup!" Lux answered. "Started this game a little under a week ago! I got a Growlithe, and a Pidgey! I wanted my username to be 'Rainbow Monkeys are EVIL' but... I ran outta room, so I had ta' go with Luxanna."

"I see," said Kathy. "You.. are quite an interesting young lady you know. So full of ambition and promise... so please, be careful in this world, yeah? A lot of players have indeed met their end here, and I do fret that you might be next."

"Dooooon't worry!" said Lux. "As long as my pokémon are with me, no way I'd lose! It's sorta fate, you know?"

"There's no such thing as 'fate' Fräulein," explained Kathy. "I'm sure someone as smart as you can understand that. In any case, you are heading back to Cherrygrove, yes? I'm heading towards Violet City. With the aid of science, I am sure to get my first badge there."

"Gooood luck!" Lux wished. "I heard that the gym leader there is a real toughie to battle against! I'll head there next! Maybe we'll meet again?"

"Perhaps," Kathy said. "After all, all science has a hypothesis, and ends with sightful conclusions. I think our encounters will reflect that." With that, Kathy put on her pink science googles, and walked doff towards the west. Lux thought she was like Wu Kong, but... that's silly.

​

 

[Claire*]

Solomon

Solomon's feet stopped dead in their tracks at the girls request. He payed little mind to the newcomer who bumbled onto the scene, the girls friend that is. She was a fairly young thing by the looks of her. The one called Ange spoke not a word to him, something he typically preferred, all things considered. Her pokemon on the other hand, it was a bit more interesting. A Solosis, one of the few he had spied since starting this game. It would eventually evolve into the incredibly useful Reuniclus. Even without a Pokedex, he remembered that Pokemon well. Incredible special attack, but a tad slow. It would be a fearsome partner indeed as the girl progressed.

Why had he stopped? Solomon owed these people nothing. No time of day, even a passing glance. Perhaps it was the abruptness of it all. Her voice seemed to lodge itself in his head for a full second, as if the sound lingered. Turning to face her, he couldn't help but notice the redness of her face. It almost looked like she had taken ill, could that even happen in this game? Why else would her face been ripe with the signs of blushing? Slowly, he slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. From his experience, it was always the pretty girls who were the meanest. The ones who beat the drum of his persecution alongside of whatever tormentor bested him that day. It wasn't unlike the gladiators being spurred on by harlots on the sideline. He was the caged animal being led to the slaughter, his tormentors always having the physical advantage. What could this girl possibly want from him?

Without even realizing it, he braced himself for what was to come. Too nerdy, too quiet, too bland, he had even heard a girl refer to him as simply "meh". If there was anything he resented more than being labeled as "meh" or uninspired, he could not think of it. Just because he didn't cherish these shallow social constructs did not mean he was uninspired. As beautiful as the girl that stood before him was, it was never physical attraction that got him. He had never really felt attracted to any'body' before. There had been one who came as close as any. An anonymous writer on the internet, someone who had to put thought to type and expressed one of the most breathtaking thoughts on the human condition. It wasn't the person he fell in love with, it was the words, the brain that spurred such thought, that he for once felt attraction. These devoid husks that people called bodies were simply an analog for what weighed roughly two pounds.

The question that came, however, was not what he had expected. It was mundane, almost simple in nature. In all reality, it was something she probably should have known. What was it he was supposed to do here? Didn't social conventions dictate that one was to give their name also?

"My name is Solomon," he looked at the older girl, completely ignoring the other one. Was it a trap? Surely it had to be. Such a simple question had to be a precursor to ridicule. "Technically, route 31 and then Violet City," Solomon answered her hesitantly. "Supposedly Falkner is waiting there to be defeated. I'm on my way to oblige him."
​

 

[Skymin]

Birdie and Fara O'Shay // Cherrygrove City / Route 30
Almost instinctly Fara took the lead despite her previous words to Birdie. He was more than happy to let the girl lead the way, his eyes stuck to the newly caught Pokémon encased in its PokéBall in his hands. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder in order to make sure he kept up with her fast pace only to notice the he wasn't paying attention to her. A deflated Fara stopped for a moment before she regained herself and hurried to the Pokémon Center. It took Birdie several more moments to notice he had lost his companion and hastily shoved the ball into his pocket, scurrying after Fara.

"S-sorry," he stuttered as they reached the Centre. "Sorry... I was distracted."

"What? No, no it's my fault! I'm just a fast walker!" She whirled around to face her acquantince. "You should get Hoothoot healed, I'll be on the bench."

"Sure," Birdie didn't waste any time making his way to the nurse, handing over two PokéBalls this time. It wouldn't take too much longer, he hoped. He gave a hopeful to Fara, hoping he wasn't taking up too much of her time like this.

As she approached the bench she took one last look at Birdie who seemed a bit too happy when he handed over his Pokéballs to the nurse. An uninterested Bandino began his daily burdance with his movements in her tired arms. Fara bent over to wipe off the place where she would sit when her partner leapt from her arms and snuggled himself into a ball there. A tirade of strong words were on the tip of tongue eager to make themselves be heard. She made herself comfortable, which meant she crossed her legs, right over left, as she sat next to her sleepy Pokémon instead then gave him a pat on the head. A few moments later, Birdie returned to Fara's side, his two PokéBalls in his hand with a goofy smile on his face.

"Done," Birdie let Todo out of his PokéBall and pushed Kimi's into his pocket. The Zubat flapped his wings a few times to stretch then landed on his trainer's shoulder. "Did you need anything else?"

"No, we can go!" Fara stood up as Birdie came to a stop in front of her. She plucked up Bandino who became quite upset at the fact that his nap was interrupted. "You want to lead the way or should I?"

"Um..." Birdie bit his lip. "Let's just go together, I guess."

* * *​

Mr. Pokémon's House was just as Sophie remembered it except that... well, it wasn't 2D sprites. Birdie was all too happy to see the house; he was sick of carefully picking off the four or five Caterpies and Weedles he had encountered in the grass that he and Fara had passed through. So far the plan was working perflectly for Fara as she had yet to battle a single Pokémon Battle with Birdie around. Amell didn't really remember the second generation so all the details of Mr. Pokémon's house was more vivid through Fara's eyes or were they his own or perhaps it was both. She gently knocked on the wooden door that was in front of them and waited beside Birdie for it to be answered. It took a few seconds for the door to swing violently open and a strange man to be smiling stupidly on the other side.

"H-hello," Birdie said, feeling quite nervous and out of place. "Are y-you Mr. Pokémon?"

"Indeed, hello!!" the man boomed loudly. It didn't take a genius to work out this guy was a little bit weird. "I am Mr. Pokémon! I have been expecting you!"

"You have?"

Fara and Birdie were practically forced inside by Mr. Pokémon who yammered on for a few minutes about the importance of a Pokémon Egg. He was speaking so fast, it was hard for Birdie to actually understand what he was saying. Before he knew it, he was accepting a quest to take it to the mayor of Cherrygrove and an egg was being thrusted into his chest. Then, the strange man turned to Fara. With an explanation told as fast if not faster than Mr. Pokemon's speech Fara told the man about her quest from the mayor. She too was shoved an egg and it shocked her how much strength the older man had. When he turned around to look through papers that were scattered along his desk Fara noticed a Pokedex on a nearby leather chair. If she was careful enough neither Birdie nor Mr. Pokémon would notice he swipe it. Fara feigned soreness in her legs and sat in the same chair where the Pokedex was located at with the egg in hand. With then egg placed in her lap and as slowly as she could she slipped the Pokedex into her black pursue.

"Well, thanks for your time! We better get back to Cherrygove before these things hatch," Fara voiced nervously while she kept her eyes on the egg that rested in her shaky hands.

In a strange turn of events all Pokemon avoided both Birdie and Fara. It definitely helped that they took shortcuts which avoided parts of the grass altogether. Bandino was obviously quite upset at the fact that he was made to walk beside Fara since his previous spot was now occupied by the egg. They both walked in sync wihile they chatted about the small stuff but nothing about their lives in reality. How could have their real life brought up without it being extremely awkward for both parties involved? Fara took the lead once they hit Cherrygove City to the mayor's house.

"Hellooooo?" With eggs in both of their hands neither of them could knock on the door. To prove his worthiness Bandino walked up to the door and gave it a weaker than normal double kick with his hind legs. After a few moments the door swung open to reveal an elderly lady that had given Fara the quest in the first place. The mayor's smile brighten up at the sight of the egg in each of their hands yet was puzzled at the sight of Birdie.

"Please, please come on in, why don't you?" The mayor stepped back a coupled of steps and waved the couple in. She guided them to a nearby couch where they sat as she scurried off into a nearby den.

Fara liked the pink outfit that she had on but she would much prefer a darker shade. Once she sat down Bandino simultaneously leapt into her lap. When she came back to the area where she left the two players she now carried two glass containers. The mayor came by to each of them and took their eggs from them and carefully placed them inside the glass containers. In Fara's case she exchanged the egg for an electronic contraption, which was one of the things Amell loved from the second generation, the Pokégear.

"We better be off," Fara shook hands with the mayor as she stood up to leave.

"S-sure," Birdie, though a little confused, followed suite and left with Fara. So now, they (well, he specifically) had to go back to Mr. Pokémon so that he could fetch his PokéDex or whatever the man had said. These quests felt like a whole lot of going back and forth but hopefully it would all be worth it in the end. With a quick heal at the Pokémon Centre, they both set off again.

* * *​

This time to Mr. Pokémon's, Birdie led the way. He encountered more Pokémon than last time (a Ledyba and a Spinarak thrown in amongst the abundance of Caterpie and Weedle) but they seemed to go down easier. Perhaps those small amounts of weak Pokémon they both had encountered before had toughened up his own. All caught up in the moment, Birdie didn't even realise that Fara had not fought a single wild Pokémon along the way.

Birdie knocked on the door this time, and Mr. Pokémon was as energetic as last time. He spoke even faster after hearing that Birdie had completed the quest successfuly and before he knew it, Mr. Pokémon thrust a strange device into Birdie's hands. It was red in colour and with a press of the blue button on top, the handheld snapped open, revealing screens which said all kinds of data. He thanked the man and put his PokéDex into his pocket; he would get excited about it later.

"Thank-you so much for your time and efforts!" was all Birdie could make out in the end.

"No problem. And thank-you."

With the quest completed, Birdie saw no other reason to stay and left the house, Fara and Bandino close behind.

"Thank-you, Fara," Birdie said with a genuine smile on his face. "I don't think I could have done it without you."

"Of course you couldn't!" Fara teased, even though she wouldn't admit outright her plan wouldn't have succeeded without Birdie.

"Did you..." he felt himself go red. "Are you going to Violet City?"

"Route 31, actually," she raised an eyebrow at the shade his face turned. "You?"

"I'm not sure," he shook his head, his eyes had returned to his feet. "Would it be alright if I could c-come with you? Until I know where I'm going, that is..." In her life, Sophie had never gone out of her way to ask much of anyone. She did not feel embarrased, but anxious of what someone like Fara would say. She seemed nice enough, but had Birdie been annoying or felt like a third wheel during their small walk together? Of course, then the previously mentioned embarrasment set in when Birdie remembered that he was a boy and Fara was a girl. Did it sound like he was asking her out? Because that wasn't it at all!

"Let's go to Route 31 then, I hope you're not afraid of the dark!" Fara felt it was best not to dwell on how Birdie presented his question. Beside that she felt a bit safer with him around as she wouldn't be in a scary cave all by herself. Amell had always avoided the cave when he played the games he wasn't fond of caves even in a 2D way.

"Th-thank-you," he said, his heart returning to normal speed and his spirits lifting. With Fara by his side, even if he wasn't afraid of the dark, maybe all of Monster Art Online wouldn't seem so scary. "Let's go."​

 

[Jason Wolf]

Jercio Shade (Jason):​

Mr. Pokemon's yard​

(image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists)




With cherrygrove cleared out Jercio headed back up theroute. He chose to grind some levels for Yohi and Witor as they had the biggestdisadvantage in the next gym. Jercio didn't want to use them much in the battle,but he wanted to have them ready at least. With any luck he could pick up aghastly in sprout town. It would be immune to Falkner's normal type birds.Until then Jercio's current trio was his focus.

He headed to the very edge of the route to train. There hekept Yohi training on the local low level pokemon. Yohi was already in the lowteens, but the battles were becoming less and less worthwhile. Yohi barely got any exp from the random encounters. Jercio knew he couldn't waste time here. He swapped out to Witor and kept training. All of his pokemon were gaining levels fast, but every now and then Jercio would sprint back into town and get his pokemon healed. In the games this was perfectally acceptable, but here it feltvery wrong. Jercio saw his pokemon actually fighting, growing tired, and being knocked out once or twice (that being some of them not all). After the fourth trip or so Jercio couldn't stand it anymore. In the games this was both necessaryand the pokemon had no issue with it. Here, though none of them complained,they all seemed to dislike this constant running back and forth fighting until they couldn't anymore and then having to go back again. Jercio stopped right in the middle of the grass, and sent out all three of his pokemon.

"This is wrong. It's all wrong. This is the most in depthand downright amazing feat of technology ever. You guys are better than what I've treated you as. This is only the start of my journey, and I hope to have you all along with me. From this point forward I'm not playing pokemon. I'm livingit. Yohi, Hurek, Witor, we're gonna do this and do this like a real trainer."Jercio preached to his party.

The trio seemed a bit confused by their trainer's remarks,but they did pick up on his positivity and energy. All three made energetic cries to show their agreement. Jercio brought his pokemon up farther along theroute to Mr. Pokemon's house where he began to train them in the open area nearby it. He had them practicing drills rather than battling to gain exp. Herethere was a lot more than just turn by turn rock paper scissors. Each pokemon needed to be in top physical condition, prepped for the battles ahead, and beas strong mentally as physically. Jercio had his Tyrogue keeping a steady rythem as it punched away at a tree. Yohi's determination was plain on his face,and in the grunts he made as he struck the trunk. When Jercio called for him tostop he couldn't help but smirk. Exactly where Yohi had been striking were obvious depressions from the force of the blows.

"Yohi, remind me to never judge by size." Jercio chuckled.

 

[moon]

K R I S S U
→ Route 30

"My name is Solomon," the guy said, looking at Krissu with his rich hazel eyes as he spoke. What an unusual name, Krissu thought, but then remembered that inside MAO, there were many even stranger names around.

"Technically, route 31 and then Violet City," he answered her, seemingly hesitantly. "Supposedly Falkner is waiting there to be defeated. I'm on my way to oblige him."

The gym leader. Yes, Krissu had heard of people going there and she remembered the leader from her old Gold version. He was one of her favorite gym leaders, even though his pokémon had been really boring. But in MAO, he had already gotten several challengers killed... Things were so different in this world than when this was all just a game.

"Are you strong enough for that?" she said without thinking. "You'll probably need many pokémon, and well trained ones too, to beat him. From the Johto news updates at the pokémon centers, I heard the few people who have challenged him so far have all... you know... failed."

Died, was the right word. A bit too devastating to use, though.

"Uh... anyways. Ange, maybe we should keep moving north before those Weedle come back." She turned back to her companion. Solomon might be the type to prefer wandering alone, and Krissu had told herself that she should do so too. But she didn't feel like leaving Ange and her Solosis and Caterpie just yet. Not yet.

"Right, watch out for swarms up ahead," she added with a glance at Solomon again. "Maybe there's a bug in the game. Literally." She almost gave herself a little smile at her own pun. Silly Christina, surfacing when Krissu needed to be Krissu.


((OOC: After Claire has posted too, Fuyu is allowed to bunny Krissu up until we find Mr Pokémon's house or something, if you like :3 ))
​

 

[Claire*]

Solomon

Was he strong enough? Surely she must have asked in jest. Or, was this the thinly veiled insult he had been expecting? An attack on his character and abilities as if to cast aspersions and doubt as to his fitness as a trainer. He was not like those other trainers who had died to the lowly first gym leader. Those birds stood nary a chance against him and Umbra. His face betrayed nothing as he looked at the beautiful young woman. Not a flinch, or even a blink. It was like his face had been cast in stone or frozen in carbonite.

"I'll be quite alright," he replied to her mildly. His voice not elevated or strained as if to hint at his growing frustration. "Your concern is...touching," he lied as if he had spoken nothing but truth. "Falkner and his birds will be nothing but a down comforter with which I tuck my Pokemon into bed at night. This, I promise you." He reached into his coat and pulled out Umbra's pokeball, loosing her from its confines with one practiced move.

She leapt out with a cheer and looked up gleefully at the new humans, quite the contrary to her master. The little Sneasel ran up to Krissu and began to play with her hair. Why did both of his Pokemon seem enthralled with the girls unique coloring? Solomon simply loosed a semi-agitated sigh and snapped for Umbra to fall back into place. She came trotting back and stood next to him just as she had been trained to.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." He looked from Krissu to Ange and back again. "I must make my departure with upmost haste. I have a quest from the Mayor to turn in. I'll be sure to be vigilant for these...bugs."

He walked past the two girls unceremoniously. Not rudely, just in his own manner of etiquette ignorance and bluntness. Umbra lingered behind just for a second and began to gesture at the two women, almost as if she was apologizing for her Master's behavior. The Pokemon smiled at them both and bolted after Solomon, his brisk pace quickly carrying him farther away from the duo, his coat rustling in the generated breeze. Umbra, stopping one last time, turned and waved to Krissu, a large smile plastered on her face before she jumped back around and disappeared with her master around the bend.​

 

[Fuyu]

What a Strange Soul...

"Ange..."

Ange ignored this for a moment, looking between the now-named Solomon and Krissu with interest. She didn't attempt to hide this in the slightest, taking an only minor note of interest when Solomon stared at Sia. Was Sia special? Why had Benjy chosen it for her? Did he know something she could not? Then again, he had known quite a lot. Benjy always knew a lot, didn't he?

Wait... something about this... it didn't feel right.

She then shrugged it off, watching the interactions rather curiously. Solomon was... well, he didn't seem nice exactly, but he couldn't be that bad. He simply appeared a bit harsh, at least that was how Ange saw it. He had been polite to Krissu, so he couldn't have been all bad. Or maybe... maybe for some reason, it hurt his mouth to talk so he didn't like to. But that would be odd... and he sounded okay. Huh. Ange would have no idea how to explain that then... except for the possibility of him not being nice. That couldn't be though... could it?

How odd....

Oh... Krissu was talking to her... right...

"Sure," she replied cheerfully, getting up to move next to her temporary partner. She was happy to go north... she just didn't know which way North was. Ange almost said something as they walked, but when Sia bounced onto her red head she forgot quickly, giggling at her starter's cheer and nonchalance. "Is my team... bad for the Gym?" She knew next to nothing about Falkner and Flying-type Pokemon. Heck, she barely knew a thing about Pokemon.

Mister Solomon sure seemed to know a lot, having been staring like that at Sia. Was Sia special somehow? Hm...

 

[moon]

K R I S S U
→ Route 30

"I'll be quite alright," Solomon replied to Krissu mildly. "Your concern is...touching. Falkner and his birds will be nothing but a down comforter with which I tuck my Pokemon into bed at night. This, I promise you." He reached into his coat and pulled out a pokeball, loosing the pokémon from its confines with one practiced move. What took place on the ground was an elegant Sneasel.

Krissu had always liked that pokémon, but before she could even say anything about it now, the Sneasel jumped up and tried to touch her pink hair. It didn't scare her, but surprised her enough to make her let out a little whelp and take a few steps backwards. Solomon put a verbal leash on his pokémon soon enough though, making it fall back to his side.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." The male trainer looked from Krissu to Ange and back again. "I must make my departure with upmost haste. I have a quest from the Mayor to turn in. I'll be sure to be vigilant for these...bugs."

"Oh," Krissu said. Solomon began walking away and she couldn't find better words, cursing herself for it as she followed him with her gaze. What a... different guy. Not at all cheerful and annoying like most of the players in Cherrygrove. Just... confident and alone. At least she thought he seemed pretty alone. But he did have his Sneasel. Krissu furrowed her brow; she would like to capture a Sneasel one day as well.

Together, Ange and Krissu walked on north, almost crawling through the thick vegetation at times. This maybe had not been the right path to choose after all... Then again, at least they met another player rather than NPC trainers forcing battles upon them.

"Is my team... bad for the Gym?"

The sudden question made Krissu halt and look back at the other girl. She looked up at Krissu with a face that told her that Ange had just been thinking about something that worried her. The pink haired girl hesitated; she had never been a good friend who cared a lot about the feelings of others. Mostly she had been engrossed in her own thoughts and interests and been bored by the problems of others. But now she wasn't Christina. Maybe she could change. She now knew that she had herself to blame for her rather lonely childhood. With a sigh that she hoped that Ange didn't take note on, she replied.

"Solosis is definitely not a bad pokémon when it comes to fighting flying-types. Since it's flying, or levitating, on its own, it can hopefully be agile enough to not evade some of Falkner's attacks. As for Caterpie..." She scratched her head hesitantly. She knew she would never go up against a deadly bird trainer with a bug up front. "If you train it diligently before you challenge the gym, it can turn into a beautiful Butterfree. They should have many trixy moves, sleep powders and things, that you can maybe use."

She hoped that she had gotten the girls' hopes up at least a little bit with that. Turning back and looking up front, she then noticed something between the trees that was definitely not a rock or a tree. It was a house. Could they have reached Violet City already?

"Ange, look! Come on!" she said and started running. She came to a stop in front of a small house on a lawn, in the middle of nowhere in the forest. Some berry trees grew in the yard, but Krissu couldn't harvest them without much effort since she was not an Alchemist.

"Who lives here?" she could not remember this from the games. No, wait, there was something here... Some quest or something. She did remember trekking up and down this route a couple of times in the old games. But not why.

((OOC: did Ange not take the Mayor's quest in Cherrygrove?))
​

 

[Miss Doronjo]

Luxanna's Log #5 & a ½

Back in Cherrygrove City, along with the egg that Lux had received from Mr.Pokemon, it was time to share her success with the mayor.

"Told ya I'd get it!" said Luxanna as she held up the glass-cased protected egg. "It's not scrambled or fried, or anything! It's riiight here, safe and sound!"

"Ah, excellent, thank you dear," thanked the mayor, as she gladly accepted the egg from Luxanna. "Yes, it's safe and sound as you said! I do apologize if this was such a bother for you."

"Nah, it was nothing at all!" explained Lux with a smile. "The only thing weird was this zubat-crazy girl who was all like, SCIENCE IS AWESOME and such. But she was nice! We got to hang out and talk and such. By the way Miss Mayor, what's with this whole egg fiasco anyway?"

"Don't worry about it," replied the mayor. "It's just something that this old bat had been wanting for a while now. And that Mr.Pokemon... what ever am I going to do with him. But, in any case, I believe I owe you an award!" She took out the technological hardware from her pocket that she promised Lux - it was an exclusive Pokegear. "Straight from Goldenrod City!"

"Wooooow, it's amazing!" complemented Lux as she happily accepted her award. She then fiddles with the buttons and the features. "Hey is this...! It's music! Awww yeah, this is great, my favourite track! We all liiiive... in a pokemon world, PO-KE-MON...!"

"I am glad you're enjoying it!" said the mayor with a smile. "You deserve it! I don't see much trainers nowadays who would do this old woman a favor... ahem. So young one, what do you intend to do now?"

"I wanna be! The GREATEST MASTA OF THEM ALLL~ Greatest mastaaa..." Lux continued to sang, not listening to the mayor's question.

"Ah, this girl sure is sure a special one..." the mayor thought with a chuckle.
​

 

[machomuu]

Fel - Cherrygrove City

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. It truly seemed as if no one was going to come to join the two. It was a strangely comfortable experience for Fel. He was sitting rather close to the scantily clad girl he'd just met, but he didn't feel awkward at the seemingly intimate situation. Maybe it was the sea, he thought; the pushing and pulling of the waves, the swimmers and fishermen off in the distance, the vivid wonder of the horizon, he understood clearly how Mercedes was so at ease.

"E-excuse me!" someone exclaimed from the behind the two. "You two wouldn't happen to have seen a man in formal wear anywhere along the shores, would you?" The girl seemed to have been running around for a good while, because she seemed to be out of breath. She was a relatively tall woman with short, auburn brown hair. Her eyes were as red as a rabbit's, and her skin was somewhat pale. She wore a leather jacket, and under that she wore a blue tank top along with short short jeans.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was another recruit. The two told her that she was at the right place, and she let out a heavy sigh of relief, though she seemed to be a little embarrassed at the fact that she scaled the beach several times, passing by the two each time.

"My name's Marona, it's nice to meet you two. I didn't really notice you two during the whole 'kidnapping incident', I was a little two scared at the time." The woman said with red cheeks. Mercedes scanned over Marona's person, feeling as if there was something off about her, but Fel couldn't tell exactly what that "something" was. "Uh...I guess I seem a little strange," Marona started, scratching her head. "A 32 year old business woman like me in clothes like this, my personality doesn't really fit the clothes." Marona laughed half-heartedly after saying this. Mercedes chuckled a little as well, after she noticed...something. Mercedes backed off and put her hand out.

"Name's Mercedes, and that guy over there's Fel," She said, pointing Fel. Marona shook Mercedes' hand and told her that it was a pleasure. Fel waved, and then noticed something hit his foot. It was a soft impact, but what hit him was definitely a thick metal. When Fel looked to see what it was, he found a message in a bottle. It was an interesting find, bottle mails were things that had, for the most part, died out of media and the like, it was interesting to see one here. Fel signaled fir the others to come over and removed the cork with his teeth, reading the text aloud.

"Greetings, dear recruits," He started, clearing his throat so as to make the reading mostly uninterrupted. "If you are reading this, then you must have accepted our call. I will keep this message brief, as this first mission will be the one that truly decides if you are trustworthy enough to join our cause. I am to assume that each of you has a pokemon, but most likely do not have a Pokedex. Whether you do or not is irrelevant, really, a man named Mr.Pokemon will give you further instructions."

"So basically, it was another 'piss or get off the pot' situation, much like the initial message we received," Mercedes grumbled with her arms crossed. "Well, I suppose we better get going."

"Uh...hold on," Fel said as Mercedes changed back into her normal clothing. "What about the fourth recruit, shouldn't we wait for them?"

Mercedes shook her head and said, "As I said before, they'll come. Don't worry about them, you've got your own problems to worry about at the moment, so let's get going." Mercedes proceeded towards the next route, with Marona following in suit. Fel looked back to the way he came, wondering if the fourth recruit would be okay on her own. He then sighed, deciding that he, at least for now, he would trust this curiously intelligent girl, and went on to join the others.

 

[Fuyu]

(OOC: No she did not. xP)

Attempts...

She had surprised Krissu.

How odd. She thought the confident people couldn't be surprised. Then again, no person could expect everything. She listened though, very intently. Something about Caterpie was bad for Falkner's team. Well, that did make sense. Bugs were usually eaten by birds. Well that was no good. She would probably end up relying mostly on Sia... or any other Pokemon she happened to catch. Though... maybe she ought to evolve Kii. That would be a good idea too.

"Thanks," she said cheerfully, smiling now and looking fondly at her two Pokemon. There were probably more Pokemon to find and all of them were probably stronger than Kii or Sia. She would be fine... probably.

Suddenly Krissu started running. There was a house? Up here? Wow... Strange though. Why was her new friend puzzled? Was there something important here? Maybe someone was home too. Ange went up to the door and knocked shyly without permission. The worst that could happen was nothing right? Just as the door creaked open, Kii burst from his Pokeball. The little Caterpie waddled away quickly and eagerly, making Ange frown. "Kii, where are you going?" Sia made a little squeak and tried to grab the bug, but the Caterpillar ignored it easily. "Eh? Wait!" Ange left the porch, chasing quickly after the worm, only for it to have eagerly climbed into one of the berry trees. "Kii, get down."

It let out a squeak of negative, crawling towards a hanging berry.

 

[Claire*]

Solomon

"Thank you so much, my dear!' The Mayor exclaimed excitedly, her preprogrammed tone just about bubbling over with vivaciousness. They really went all out on giving these characters believable emotions, maybe too well in fact. This particular character herself was a bit grating in Solomon's eyes. A little too cheerful, a little too....he didn't really know. Just something not quite right, too maternal? Like the character was trying too hard to be a role model. It was a silly thought, one not becoming him in the slightest. A character couldn't be anything more than what it was. Like humans in most respects. They were all products of nurture, nature and environment. People simply are what they are, and that in itself is something that did cause Solomon the slightest disappointment. "Here, I insist you take this!"

[You have received a PokéGear!]​

"Yeah, great..." Solomon answered her sarcastically. "This will truly prove invaluable with the numerous people I intend to keep in contact with," he continued. Tossing it into his front coat pocket, he thumbed the device on with his hand. If his memory served him right, sarcastic comments aside, the device had proved useful in previous Pokemon games. Trainers calling about swarms and all other bits of info. Of course, it often served as a constant nuisance for the Youngster Joey(s) of the world to call and pester him about their love of shorts. Not a particular prospect he distinctly looked forward to. "Let me guess, I assume your number is preprogrammed into it?"

"Of course it is, dear!" The Mayor beamed back at him with a disturbingly radiant smile.

"Oh joy." He sighed and looked to Umbra who seemingly was paying him little attention, her rapt focus being on the city around them. "I'll be leaving now." Solomon gave a dismissive wave and walked off without much circumstance, the next eager quest seeker quickly taking his place. "Glad that's over with." He looked down to his Sneasel who was still a few paces behind him, completely caught up in the other people around them. She liked people, Umbra did. Her eyes lit up brighter when there were more of them around. Solomon knew that she was happy to be around him, but he saw something different when he was with the two girls earlier. Krissu and Ange. Umbra had lingered when he had already departed, something she didn't have a large predisposition to doing. The pink one especially. Maybe it was just the hair? Or was it the fact that they were female? 'Allegedly' female, he corrected himself. Who knew what forty year old virgins they really are? Then again, it wasn't like he had some extensive, knowledgable love history. It bothered him not at all, unlike most people.

His mind actually lingered on the subject more than he had intended it to. Before he knew it, he found himself back on Route 30 and on the precipice of Route 31. Something caught his eye as he stopped and looked off into the distance. It was one of the few times another trainer had caught his eye. No, it wasn't the trainer, but its Pokemon. A young avatar was bumbling along, a small Teddiursa nipping at his heels. Now that was an interesting Pokemon to see around here. He had heard about them being in the dark cave to the north, but supposedly, you were better off not even trying to find them due to the impenetrable darkness. Something compelled him to investigate the trainer further.

"You there, boy." He called out in a flat, almost monotone way. "Where did you get that Teddiursa?" Solomon asked rhetorically, trying to create some false rapport.

"Oh?" The boy paused and turned to face his inquisitor. "The dark cave, I guess you could say I'm pretty lucky. This little fellow was just sitting there right by the entrance. I tripped over him and well, here he is!" The proud trainer boasted to him.

"There is no such thing as luck," Solomon answered him. Teddiursa was a fairly competent Pokemon in its own right, but even more so upon evolution. Few Pokemon could match it in sheer muscle. With the right strategy, it could be a fearsome combatant. "If there was," he continued. "I'm afraid that yours has dried up." Solomon didn't even really now what was happening, but he just had to have the Teddiursa, right now. How? Weren't there mechanics in place to prevent theft? Or did this game play by a different set of rules? Only one way to find out. "I must ask that you give me the bear. Do so, and nobody gets hurt."

"Ha, very funny." The boy laughed at him as if it really was a joke. Solomon hated being laughed at.

"This is not a time for levity." Solomon looked him up and down appraisingly. Three pokeballs on the hip holster. That means he had two more Pokemon that weren't in the field. Solomon could take down one, show that he meant business and take the Teddiursa. That would still leave the trainer with one Pokemon and prevent him from whiting out. "Now, hand over the pokeball for that Teddiursa, if you'd be so kind."

"Dude, you're crazy!"

"Oh yes, truly you posses the wit of a certified genius. As if I haven't been called that before. Umbra, ready?" The Sneasel just nodded, but she didn't seem quite so sure about what her master was ready to be doing. "Just like the wild battles, stay tight and listen."

"You know what, fine!" The anonymous trainer recalled the prized bear and pulled off another ball from his hip. "Pidgey, go! Seems like we have to fight off this loon. Standard rules right, we agree to leave at least one Pokemon for the loser?"

"I agree to no such terms," he bluffed.

...​

 

[moon]

K R I S S U
→ Route 30

The door creaked open after Ange had knocked, but just as it did, her Caterpie suddenly took off like wild. Ange rushed after it, the Solosis following in the air. Krissu's initial reaction was that of worry; what if the Caterpie ran into a strong pokémon that could defeat it and harm Ange? But then again... she did have her Solosis as well and there weren't many strong pokémon here anyways. So instead, Krissu turned back to the door and came face to face with a rather short, square shaped man. It wasn't that he was particularly fat, he was just... square shaped. He wore a pair of glasses and had a fedora on his head. Strange, wearing a hat inside a house. But this was a game, so maybe some characters just liked to keep their appearance up wherever they went.

"Yes?" the man asked. Then, it clicked for Krissu. She knew who he was.

"Mr Pokémon?"

"That is me! Oh, were you sent here?"

"No, I wasn't. We just ran from some Weedle and ended up here. But..." What had his role been in the old games? Krissu scratched her head and threw a glance to where Ange had run off to. "Do you, uh, need help with anything?" In MAO, quest dialogue could often by unlocked by just asking a NPC about it. It turned out that it was the case here as well.

"Actually, I could use some help! Come on inside!" the man said, cracking up into a wide smile with strangely good looking teeth.

"Hang on, I have to get my friend. Ange! Hey, Ange?" Krissu called out, half stepping inside the house. The girl didn't respond immediately, which made a shallow wave of worry wash over Krissu again. "I'll be back," she told Mr Pokémon and ran down from the porch.

Caterpie had climbed up into one of Mr Pokémon's berry trees. Just as Krissu approached, she saw a glimpse of another colored creature closing in on the green bug though... one of those Weedle!

"Watch out!" she called out and instinctively reached for one of the pokéballs from her shoulder bag. Out came Rattata and landed in between Ange and the tree. The Weedle hissed in its strangely buggy way at Caterpie, warning it to take another bite from its berries. The Weedle was there first!

"Oh my, are those bugs here again?" Mr Pokémon's voice came from behind them. "Let me go get a REPEL..." he disappeared into the house from the porch. Krissu had no intention of waiting around for him though.

"Weedle are poisonous..." she began, then got an idea. Weedle evolved into Beedrill. Those were pretty handy to have early on in a pokémon game. Now that there wasn't a whole flock of them, she could capture the yellow worm. "Can I battle it and catch it?" she asked Ange, standing beside her.
​

 

[Jason Wolf]

Jercio Shade (Jason)
Cherrygrove​

(image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists) (image no longer exists)

Jercio was now set in training his pokemon to use more then just the knowledge he had from the games, but to involve every new aspect MAO added. Stats, move sets, and abilities would mean nothing with out a solid strategy which included all the mechanics of a full on battle. Feeling he could keep his pokemon training anywhere Jercio picked back up and headed to Violet City. He was already at the top end of route thirty, and the short route thirty one was no issue. It was exactly what Jason planned for. Jercio was in perfect shape for long hikes and things like this. Jason knew it was all him. Jercio was pretty much his twin. Though he hadn't really thought of it the biggest difference between him and his avatar was an inch or two of height and the clothes they wore. For the entirety of route thirty one this thought was his only one as he debated using his avatar name.

Jason's absentmindedness almost got him into a bit of trouble about halfway through route thirty one. While he was off in his own mind he bumped into a random young trainer, muttered sorry, and went on his way. Luckily the trainer was another player otherwise he could have gotten into a battle he didn't want to start. Jason wanted to perfect his plans before getting into the serious battles. He did allow Witor to pick off the one or two Bellsprout who popped up on the route, and Hurek to take out a Sunkern, but besides that didn't go looking for battles.

Violet was your generic pokemon city, in Jason's opinion. A flare of Japanese design was added into almost everything. He was curious how the designers picked to add all these things to the game. In the old versions cities had only a couple buildings, but this was a full on city. Jason chuckled to himself as he considered going into random housing and seeing if he could take everything. He decided against it, and instead went looking to try and find some lunch. Perhaps he didn't really need food, but his mind seemed to want some.

((ok not so interesting maybe next time))​

 

[Retro Bug]

Fara O'Shay
Route 30/Route 31/Dark Cave​

Fara produced one of her heart-warming smiles and took off down Route 30. She wondered if she could actually befriend Birdie he seemed like a decent guy and they had made a connection. How could she trust him? How could she trust any of the other players? If any of them were as mischievous as her, well, Fara knew she just wanted the company even if that meant letting someone else get close. With Bandino in her arms she trudged toward to Route 31 where she would catch herself a Geodude to defeat Faulkner. Purposely she ignored Birdie as if he wasn't there and instead whispered things to the partner in her arms. The landscape reminded Amell of all the hours he sat and played SoulSilver on his living room couch. Never in a billion years did he have the thought that one day he would enter a virtual world and play the game that way.

As they reached the stairs that lead up to Route 31 Fara hesitated to make another step forward. She slowly turned her head to look at Birdie before she carried on. Within a few seconds several Bellsprout attacked but Bandino was a bit too eager to finish them off. After each defeat Fara greatly praised Bandino either she patted on him the head or clapped on the sidelines. Eventually they reached the entrance to the cave, which had an eerie appeal to it. Fara could only imagine how it felt on the inside.

"Wait here," Fara was certain there wasn't going to be enough light inside and she didn't want Birdie to block any of it. "Be a lookout?"

Confidence swelled inside of her and she was ready to capture her a Pokémon. A few steps later Fara was inside of the dark cave where Pokémon growls bounced off the walls. There was a drip of water somewhere out there in the beyond but Fara stood frozen in place. Bandino's large purple ears instantly became alert while his head swung every which way. In the video games Geodudes came into battle every three step so she knew it wouldn't be long before she ran into one. It took less than three steps for Fara to be engaged in battle as Bandino had charged forward and ran straight into a rock that was different than the others around it.

"Bandino, let's go with Double Kick!" Fara commanded.

She threw out her arm to point at the rock that moved. Her purple partner launched into an attack where it jumped in front of the rock type Pokémon then turned around and landed the attack. Fighting type moves were super effective against Geodude so she would have to use a Pokeball now and not let Bandino attack again. Before Fara had the chance to the other Pokémon picked up a rock and hurled it at Bandino, which struck him right on the horn. An urge to run and protect Bandino from harm overwhelmed her but she still kept focused on the task. She slipped her fingers into her bag and clutched a sphere and launched it at the Pokémon opposite of her own. The half red, half white ball opened up and sucked Geodude inside. Three slow wiggles later and the Pokéball stopped, which signaled she had caught it.
.
After a bit of loud celebration Fara picked up the Pokéball, it was her first official Pokémon catch. An option menu popped up that asked her if she wanted to name her male Geodude. Fara tapped on the "Yes" option before she typed in the name Yast. Satisfied with her catch she spun on her heels and headed toward the exit with Bandino who walked beside her. A creature ran out from some place in the cave in and blocked the exit. When Fara got closer she saw that it was a small orange-brown bear with a crescent moon on its forehead. The Pokémon was clearly very upset as it was pointing and speaking quite a bit. Was there a Pokémon-to-English translator in this game? Amell couldn't remember if he had read that there was one or not so he just assumed there wasn't. They weren't going to get out of this cave without a fight.

"You know what to do!"

Luckily Double Kick was super effective against normal types as well. The enraged Teddiursa launched its attack first before Fara had even finished her sentence. It's sharpened claws scratched at Bandino, which caused him to shriek in pain. Fara gritted her teeth as Bandino returned the pain with two kicks straight to the bear's face, which knocked it off its feet. Unlike Geodude this Teddiursa had a lot more fight in it than it looked like and charged at Bandino once again.

"Poison Sting," she hoped that Bandino would be able to survive this battle. She couldn't risk sending out Geodude until she got him healed.

The large horn on Bandino's head glowed a light purple color right before it crashed into Teddiursa. The blow to the stomach was enough to topple the opponent to the ground. Before Teddiursa had the chance to get up Fara tossed another Pokeball that repeated the same actions it did just a few minutes ago. Well, almost, this time the capturing sphere popped open again, which released the Pokémon that had been inside. Curses escaped the mouth of Fara as Bandino became the victim of yet another attack. If she could capture it with this Pokéball then Bandino wouldn't faint. Fara bit her lip before she made a decision; she arched back her arm and tossed it at Teddiursa. One… Fara sucked in air. Two… Fara carefully watched not to let her breath out. Three…. Done. Fara gave a great big sigh as she collected her treasure and nicknamed it Survia. This Pokémon most certainly was tough and would help with Faulkner.

"I'm done," Fara announced as she exited the cave.​

 

[moon]

I N T E R M I S S I O N . . .
→ Violet City Gym

It had been a full day since anybody had challenged the gym leader. Nobody entered the gym, but clusters of trainers always stood outside, planning or talking but eventually giving up and going away.

Falkner, the very first gym leader of Johto. So simple to beat in the old gameboy games. What made him so terrifying now? There was the fact that if you lost, you died. But it was also his exotic pokémon; his team no longer consisted of mere Pidgey with two weak attacks each. They were well trained and smart opponents. More so than any other NPC in this town. And thus, no one had yet, after over a week of being trapped inside MAO's Johto world, defeated the first gym leader.

But this day, it would change. That was what one particular trainer thought. He was a player, and a darn good one. Instead of rushing blindly to the gym as soon as he reached Violet, he had taken his time and trained in the Sprout tower diligently. He had captured good pokémon and fought many battles at the trainer's academy. He was ready.

Many trainers watched in awe or horror as the one called Cain walked up to the doors of the gym. They slid open just as a breeze messed up his dark brown, shoulder long hair. He looked back at the faces staring at him and gave them a tiny smile of confidence. A quiet smile, saying "I've got this."


The first battle, against the gym trainer who was working for Falkner and was the last barrier before the real deal, he was simple enough to beat. Not a very clever guy, mostly annoying. The second battle was long. He used all of his six pokémon in attempts to outmaneuver and weaken Falkner's agile birds. Players had dared to step inside to watch the dire battle and sat like on nails on the seats surrounding the roofless arena.

At last, Falkner's Murkrow and Rufflet both fell. But so did all but two of Cain's pokémon. He brought out the first of his secret weapons. Gastly. Normal type moves would go right through this one. Falkner sent out his Pidgeotto. It knew Mud Slap.

Gastly was eventually overwhelmed by the reduced accuracy of its moves and of the constant weakening that the repeated Mud Slaps did. It fainted and Cain felt his plans crush. How could this not work? There must be something wrong with the game. The first gym leader COULD not be meant to be this difficult to beat. Not with the good pokémon that could be found in Violet and the routes before that, and with the simple types of the gym's pokémon. Flying. But in a realistic game, flying targets were much more difficult to hit than in the static console games. Much.

Cain's last weapon, a Geodude, was sent out. This pokémon had high enough defenses to withstand many Mud Slap attacks despite the type disadvantage for that particular move. It also knew Rock Throw which was pretty much SURE to be able to take a Pidgeotto down. The crowd had fallen silent. Everyone was worried to their bones. Cain was actually the first one who had thought of using a rock type against the birds. Why had no one of the at least four trainers who had fought Falkner and lost tried that? Maybe they were too scared and rushed to think strategically. But Cain had been doing his thinking. He would succeed.


Minutes later, players rushed out from the gym, some looking grim and others feeling hollow like never before. One trainer never walked the streets of Violet again though, and his last words rang in the ears of the ones who had been watching.

"This game is broken..."

Falkner's Pidgeotto had known the move Icy Wind.

((OOC: this does not mean that you have to make Pidgeotto know Mud Slap or Icy Wind when you battle it. You're free to pretend that the moveset resets whenever a gym leader faces a new challenger if you have other ideas. The point I want to make is just that the players in Violet are now beginning to suspect that the inability to log out and the no-respawn if whiting out are not the only bugs in MAO...))​

 

[Claire*]

Solomon

"Y-you, you're a monster!" Those were the last words that Solomon heard of the boy before he handed over the Teddiursa's Pokeball. The boy had hardly been able to speak, his voice weak and ragged with tears. He had eventually learned that the boy went by Jarin, but the name meant nothing to him. Solomon still referred to him as but a boy. In the end, he had gotten what he desired. The little bear Pokemon was now bumbling about by his legs, wholly confused by the events that had transpired. One minute he was in the possession of a weak boy by the name of Jarin, the next he was in Solomon's competent hands. Doing his best to assure the bear that he was entirely better off, it didn't seem like it believed him as of yet. It hardly mattered. In time, the bear would see that Jarin was going nowhere and Solomon was bound to be better for his future, that he assured him.

Of the Pokemon he encountered on route 31, none of them piqued his interest. They quickly became fodder for his new Teddiursa. Even under the confusion that the situation allowed for the bear, things went swimmingly when in battle. Before they had encountered any enemies, the little bear seemed a bit dimwitted, slow even. In battle, he was sharp and focused, completely unlike what Solomon had expected. This mix of two personalities reminded him of the moon and it's rise and fall through the night sky. That and the little emblem on the bear's head, was what earned him the name, Luna. Although it was not a masculine name, it fit the Teddiursa's personality and it seemed happy enough with it.

After the group of his Pokemon had succesfully trained a few levels, they quickly made haste for Violet city and whatever await them there. Solomon always loved Violet city in the older games. The japanese style, the music, the ease with which the first gym leader went down. Yet, he wasn't quite ready to be taken aback by what he saw when fully realized in a 3D world. In his opinion, it was beautiful. The first thing that graced his vision was the Pokemon center. Nothing spectacular in its own right, but when he turned the corner, the sprout tower loomed over the landscape. The traditional styling, the way it swayed gently in the air. It was all very mesmerizing and enticing.

As much as he longed to explore it, however, he knew that his Pokemon had to be tired and needed to be healed. Instead of plunging headlong into more battles and whatever surprises awaited him therein, he slowly reversed course and traversed his way back to the center. It struck him as the automatic doors parted, that he hadn't been in one for a while. Without realizing it, he had been healing his Pokemon primarily with potions. He walked up to the desk and quickly retrieved his three balls while placing them in the basket to be healed. After one of the nurses came and fetched them, it took only a few seconds for them to be healed and returned.

Where did he want to go first? Sprout tower did have a certain allure, but his primary motivator was the gym. Perhaps Falkner should be the first on his agenda. It was only right after all. Something stopped him from doing so, however. Was it fear? It didn't necessarily feel like fear, but something similar. Cautiousness? Yes, that was what he convinced himself it was. Perhaps he should do some investigation on the gym before rushing headlong to his victory. It was the smart thing to do after all...​

 

[Codaq]

Albero
Day 8, Woods near Cherrygrove

Pokémon. A strange word, but yet so full of mystery.

Is it pronounced Paw-keh-mon or is it more like Poo-key-mon? I really don't know. I've been in this game for about one week and I've already discovered so many things about these creatures and the mechanics that rule this world, that if I were at the real world I would be named Vincenzo Castafiore, the Second Linaeus. Only the people, who are stuck here, with me, can enjoy the magnitude and the singularity of these little monsters. Yes, that's the best way to describe them: virtual little monsters that live side by side with the human beings, either in the wild form or the tamed one. But why do I call them monsters, if they are so much like harmless living forms. The answer is: they are not harmless living forms, because each species of creatures can learn a set of moves – the technical word for each one of the abilities that a creature can perform – that are used to fight against other creatures. The players here are called trainers because of that; we train Pokémon in order to win the highest amount of battles we can, under one specific condition: we must never let our last Pokémon faint in a battle, or else we white out from this game and the virtual reality kills our counterpart in the real world… In other words, we are just simply stuck in this freakin' world of Pokémon and every day I see more than one player white out. So far, I've counted forty two, but I guess that tomorrow they'll be forty four, because the small group I am following, which consisted of ten trainers, is now reduced to only two (a young boy and a teenage girl) and they seem to have great difficulty in catching Pokémon and battling with the ones of their own. I could have joined the pack, back in New Bark, but I didn't want to because of this obvious reason: they whited out because the group was too large to go unnoticed and, of course, I'm not the only opportunistic soul tracking them.

I'm not travelling alone, by the way. I have a Pokémon of my own (Viva!), a species of creature that resembles a metallic egg, with two eyes, covered by green spikes all over his hull. The character that gave him to me, told me it was a male from the Ferroseed species, a kind of metallic plants that are best known for their irritability. I call him Schoener, after the botanist. He's not very emotional, but from the look in his eyes I guess he liked the name. You can't expect much from a metallic egg, half-mineral, half-plant, that tends to stick to every rock or other mineral thing in our way. Once in a while, Schoener throws away one of his spikes, to grow a new one back, and in the beginning I was used as a common target for him to practice with. I think he's trying to learn how to use those things in battle and, even knowing that he's just a virtual creature and has (apparently) no feelings about me, I tolerated those painful throws in order to help my Pokémon improve his accuracy. Like Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier", I am "fighting on arrival, fighting for survival".

Today is the 8th day I'm inside this game, trapped in my own mind, just like thousands of other humans that bought a copy of Monster Art Online. They say that we have to beat the game in order to get out of here, but the truth is that… I don't want to. I don't want to come back to the real world and face the loneliness of being roaming through Europe again, running from something I don't know and heading for somewhere I don't expect to exist: a home. I feel something that I'm re-learning to fell, after a long time: comfort. I am truly comfortable here in the land of Johto and more comfortable with Schoener by my side. I think he would protect me if anyone threatened us, and as so I trust him my life. Who else would I trust my life to, if it depends only on the performance of my Pokémon? I have no choice and Schoener knows it.

We're almost arriving at the crowded city of Cherrygrove, where most of trainers are, because it can provide security and has everything we need at hand: Pokémon medicines, Pokémon techs, shelter and Pokémon hospitals (a.k.a PokéCenters). The two trainers I'm following mumble to each other that it's best to spend here the night before proceeding to Violet City, where Falkner is. I've been taught by a guy on the road that this Falkner is a character we have to beat in order to progress on the game and unlock the roads that lead to the next city, where another Flakner-like character is and so on. Schoener is somewhat tired and I think it's best for us to stop for a while and recharge our stamina. But we'll do that here, on the woods near Cherrygrove, not in the city. I've seen some fruit-trees growing on side of the road, that we both could feed on, but I can't tell if their eatable or poisonous. First, I need to check out what food the other trainers have and what kind of fruits are poisonous or not. Maybe some unwary trainers pass by us and I finally can get my first food supplies.