[ti]private[/ti][C/Alicia] Facemaker

"That's exactly it," Josh nodded as he gave the electric Pokémon a gentle pat on the snout. "From what I've seen of Tikani, your Gardener class lets you make Grass-type Pokémon roughly the size of Alphas. Together, this would let me hop on Pokémon that are normally too small, even as Alphas. We're grinding the arena for Arena Points anyway, right? Cause we both want legendary Pokémon? This is just another incentive to do so." He daydreamed about how fast it would be; the terrain zipping past like a strobe light of natural colors. "You know how Ninjask are so fast than they can look like there's more than one, even without using Double Team? Well, imagine all that speed focused in one direction."

There were other Pokémon that came to mind, too. "Swellow is another one. Linoone, another. And it's not like I'll have to buy more than two or so. It comes with a small cost, but they can be moved to another Pokémon." He also needed other Type Mods for combat purposes; Bolter was going to be his main class, so having a lot of Electric Type Mods would be worthwhile.

The farther west they went, the seedier the place began. Buildings were of lower quality, road maintenance looked poorer, and there was even a street urchin or two along the way that looked like they could creepily tail them. Despite the town being a neutral zone, he still felt threatened. "This place sure isn't exactly in a good part of town, is it?" he mused as they rounded a corner.

Josh didn't play on UNOVR to be competitively viable. He played to get the experience of freedom of travel. To saddle up, let the wind assault his face, and feel like he could go anywhere. "I've got my eyes on a couple, but I really want a Galarian Zapdos. Or even both. The Kantonian variety can fly at quite the clip, too. You know electric Pokémon are the fastest kind on average, right?" he half-teased. Because of course a speed racer would know which type was fastest.

With names like Wyldside, Duggar's, and Bloo Moose, this part of town wasn't exactly inviting to honest folk like Josh. His eyes shifted nervously, keeping an eye out for pickpockets seeking to relieve passers-by of their BYTES. "Wouldn't surprise me, either. It's part of why I'd rather get out of here as soon as we're finished with our business here."

Ah, the limitations of first generation. Could Josh even finish the game solely with Pokémon he liked? It seemed impossible while maintaining level parity with the foes. "Kakuna and Metapod hunting would be an agonizing way to gain the levels needed to handle Brock with a type disadvantage. Thankfully, there aren't many Ground-type Pokémon that are saddle-worthy, heh," he snickered as Giyun made several NPCs' heads turn.

After passing a few intersections, Josh saw their first turn. "Eighth Avenue, here it is. Now we need to keep our eyes out for a Sweeper Shop. In the rear of that is supposedly what we're looking for." Low-quality buildings and the occasional sign of a repaired bullet hole were signs that the dangers were rising...

"Don't remind me," Josh replied. "It got so bad in Yellow that Nidoran get Double Kick over 30 levels before they did in Red." Even so, it was a grind. Poison-types were laughably bad before the Fairy-type existed, what with almost every grass-type also being poison-type. Seeing their turn, the trainer  and his Manectric followed it toward the dangerous-looking alley, his skin tingling as he could feel a field of static forming around the Manectric. Perhaps Alicia Westfield could feel it, too.

He took a look inside the Sweeper Shop's window. It looked to be a shop full of items and upgrades for Sweepers, advertising itself as one of the few places in town where high-tier Sweeper upgrades could be purchased. "The price tags on those top-tier upgrades, though..." he trailed off as he passed the place and deeper into the alleyway, hearing his friend's concerns. "You're not the only one. I certainly wouldn't want to be holding aces and eights right now," he joked to try to improve the mood.

Even Josh had started to feel Saber's static. Were he to procure a saddle for the giant electric dog, would riding him even be a good idea? The constant tingling feeling would have to be so distracting, on top of all the other things he had to keep awareness of while in the saddle.

There sure was a lot more to riding than meets the eye, wasn't there?

Before he could respond to Alicia's remark about the Dead Man's Hand, a common thief looked like they were attempting to steal from her. The girl hopped onto Giyun's tail, who promptly catapulted her past the fleeing street rat. "I'll cut him off!" Josh shouted, assuming the thief's gender. "Saber!"

The electric wolf, much faster than even the most slippery human, dashed forward in an effort to pin the pickpocket between himself and the Duraludon. They weren't getting away with thievery on his watch!

Josh had quick reaction times in the real world, which transferred to UNOVR seamlessly. Perhaps one day he would find an ability that augmented such a strength further. That was a ways down the line, particularly with how the event schedule kept being delayed. "I'm getting close to getting my first legendary Pokémon," he made small talk with Alicia after the unexpected escapades had ended and his friend had recovered their stolen BYTES. "I'm still deciding, but my number one choice is still Galarian Zapdos."

At last, the duo would arrive at their destination: Briarbane's Identity Parlor, and quite possibly the only one in all of UNOVR. While the building looked raggedy from the outside, it looked pristine on the inside, like it was frequented by only the upper class.

A suited doorman stopped Josh in his tracks before he could get much further than the lobby. "Proof of membership?"

Josh frowned. "So you're saying that this Identity Parlor isn't even open to the public?"

The older man, growing impatient with him, repeated, "Proof of membership?"

"Don't have any. How do I become a member?"

"We can't just give anyone the power of youth or of old age. Prospective members have to be of a certain... social class... to be considered. The first step to membership is proving your work ethic and frugality. Show me your wallet with two thousand BYTES in it, and that will be your first step toward membership."

Josh's jaw dropped. Had he known this, he wouldn't have dropped seven hundred maxing out his Kindler class in preparation for an upcoming mission in Ostellia. "...Why so much?"