Kallisto Tries Bonding [Refresh]

001 Call Me Master

<Kallisto!>

The penguin had been trying to get his attention for the past few minutes while he was reading through some posts about UNOVR. He was at a bit of a crossroads on what to do next, and while it wasn't that he ran out of things to do, it was more of that he felt ill-prepared for what was to come, especially since there seemed to be mentions of a big scale event happening soon. With only a little penguin, a spoiled-looking cat, and a wet rat on his side, he was...not confident they would do much of anything.

There was also the matter of his current appearance gnawing on him every time he logged in. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he was still coming back (besides the contract, because money was good). At the moment, he felt divisive -- he wanted to continue feeling like someone else, but he also found it plenty uncomfortable. Even if it had been some days since he started playing this game, it felt like he wasn't much closer to feeling familiarity.

<Kallisto?>

It felt even weirder that the penguin was calling him by his player name. Weren't they supposed to be like at his beck and call or something?

❝Call me 'Master'.❞

The penguin blinked. Kallisto wasn't even looking at him, but he did feel the awkward pause. Was he...was that too mean or something?

<Master!>

Never mind, the penguin just seemed to be recalibrating and seemed to be answering with the same fervor. He let out a sharp exhale and turned away from the UI. ❝Yes?❞

<Can I have something to eat?>

He raised a brow. Had it not eaten? Did it even need to eat? And did he even have anything on him that could feed a Pokemon? He checked his inventory, and sure enough there were some Pokemon treats, limited in number though. He supposed that they were given as a starting gift, but he would have to buy more later on. One of them looked like a mochi, so he decided to get that one and let it appear on his palm. ❝Here.❞

The penguin cheered and happily accepted the offering, munching on it happily while talking about how good it tasted. Kallisto lightly scolded him not to talk while it was eating since it was spitting out crumbs. It only replied with a chipper tone, calling him Master once again.

Hrm. It wasn't like he didn't want to give out affection, but he supposed he could treat them as pets or something. Powerful pets, which was what Pokemon were anyway, except that they could talk. ❝Well, if you work hard I can buy you more.❞ Maybe that would be a good motivator, though the penguin didn't seem to need any.

What happened instead was that Aegis asked for another, and Kallisto ended up indulging it with just one more.

003 Rollcall

Kallisto let out a soft whistle as he admired the swirling helix that floated above his palms. Not bad for a raid reward, though he was also expecting more. Then again, it seemed like the system was taking a while in doing the calculations, and he remembered that there was a small announcement of a loot box coming later, so he supposed he just had to wait. Post-raid was something like a chaotic explosion, but Big Bird was free, and he was to return again when he was ready. In the mess of it all, his Pokemon were able to find their way back to him on the ground, and the players watched the prickly yellow legendary fly off with the Giant Shrine to god knows where.

In the coming days, there would be a new storm brewing ahead. Kallisto didn't know if he had the time, but he wanted to be of more help this time rather than just letting his Pokemon defend and do pathetically numbered damage. Pushing away his thoughts about needing a bit more cash, he sat down on the artificial grass (which still felt like real grass to him anyway), and put his Poke Balls on the ground, lining them up neatly.

❝Aegis. Ballista. Yucca. Blade.❞

These were the Pokemon he were sure to keep in his main party and that he would focus on training. Most of them were frontline attackers, though he wasn't sure about Ballista despite his name. Would he be able to learn a long range fire attack bigger than...whatever that little fire thing he did? Maybe. He would like another tanker besides Aegis, if possible.

❝And then there's Pierce and Arrow...❞

The little cat, as annoying as he was, was also starting to grow on him. Or maybe more like, it would be odd if he didn't stick around after surviving Mistra and also participating in the raid. He wasn't sure what to do about the fish though. She was pretty quiet but was very much eager to wiggle out of his arms to slam head first into the cannons, so maybe that was points for bravery? Recklessness? Could be a reserve fighter, perhaps, and she was also the same typing as Aegis. If ever typing came down to it, they could work together for a good bonus (something that he picked up while the raid was whipping around them).

❝And then there's these guys.❞

Truthfully, due to all that had happened, he hadn't really been able to talk to the new Pokemon he had gotten from rewards. Still, they were with him now, and it would be better to figure out what the plan would be sooner rather than later. He placed the Poke Balls of the two regular fish he caught, recalling that before the raid he had wanted to trade them for a Pokemon that caught his eye in the guild shop. That could be the next thing he can do after figuring this stuff out. He then had the piranha (yikes, he was still not letting that thing out of the ball), the ice worm (caterpillar?), and a little blue lion.

Reviewing through the status window, the ice worm and lion were typings that he didn't have in his team. He had already tried out some of ice worm's moves while they were fishing, and they (ah, wait, they were a "she" according to the text) looked like the ranged attacker his party needed. He moved up her Poke Ball to the line with Aegis and the others. The lion, on the other hand...he had no clue. Lions didn't look like they'd be ranged attackers, but it also felt like a waste to trade them. Part of the reserve with Arrow, perhaps? She did share the same typing as Big Bird though, so Kallisto figured that she could also use Thunder or something like that. Eventually. Maybe.

He picked up both of their Poke Balls and let them out on the grass.

<You called?> the ice worm's voice, now that he was paying attention, was a little bit more feminine. The lion cub, on the other hand, was looking down and pawing the floor. She reminded him a little bit of Yucca - shy, didn't really want to speak much.

❝I thought of a name for you.❞ he thought about picking up the ice worm for a moment, but upon realizing that she was too cold to the touch, he just gave her some quick head pats. ❝Nock.❞

<No.>

❝Huh?❞

<I don't like it, change it.>

Kallisto was, suffice to say, flabbergasted. He let out a grumble and pulled up a search bar for Google so that he could find a more suitable name for Princess Ice Worm here. After a minute of searching to stay in theme, <Actually, I like Nock...> he turned back to her.

❝How about...Kalis?❞ because she felt like a little dagger that was ready to stab someone, not discreetly, if he may add.

<Mm, better. I'll let it slide.>

Truly icy. Kallisto thought before turning his attention to the little lion, who was looking at him but was still rather fidgety. ❝And as for you--❞

<I-I said I...I like Nock.>

❝Oh, you did? Sorry, I didn't catch that. You sure that's okay?❞

The little lion nodded, and Kallisto gave her a few pats and rubs on the head. She seemed a lot friendlier than Kalis at least, but she just needed to get out of her shell more. That was fine, they had only just met, after all.

❝Great! Kalis, Nock, welcome to the team! I'll bring out the rest of the Pokemon for some food I was able to buy. You like curry?❞

<Gross.> <Oh, y-yes!>

Kallisto let out another long exhale. He hoped that he could win Kalis' favor over the course of their little adventure.