[ti]location[/ti] RT. 3 POKEMON CENTER

It has been a while since the last time The Captain logged into the game, so might as well go heal up his Pokémon before doing anything... in case they need it. From what he had learned, it's not like they need to eat or anything (thankfully, or he'd feel bad for being offline for so long), but you know: better safe than sorry. Plus, everyone's been talking about this new Pokémon-hospital-thing that opened at the Surging Steppes!

"Do you want me to heal your Pokemon?"

"Oh! Yeah, that'd be great, thanks." The Captain smiles at the nurse when she approaches, calling out the few Pokémon he has. At least he had figured out how to do that part without a problem. Progress, right?

Tents. Signs of what looks like a field hospital. It brings reminders of military CHS, and with those reminders comes the thought of once being told that before developing UNOVR, Hydance Interactive had a rather successful VR military first-person shooter game. Are things like these remnants from those days?

Yuze's train of thought is interrupted by a woman in a pink nurse's attire. Why do nurses always have to look like this in media? Scrubs are the far superior and more comfortable choice. But, he doubts that the woman minds: her demeanor and willingness to approach marks her as an NPC, after all.

Without a word, he calls Lamya out of her Pokéball, and from there on, he watches the procedures with unhindered curiosity.

M'Foxy blinked her eyes open, sitting up on the cot. Nurse Bethany looked over at her, head tilting. "Are you alright? What pokemon of yours needs healing?"

M'Foxy shook her head, reaching to shake out her hair. "No pokemon! Just laid down a bit too long with the ponyta out there." She dismissed cheerily, hopping down. Nurse Bethany looked baffled, but M'Foxy saw no reason to explain. This was player-parasite business, after all- NPCs need not apply!

As it turned out, unlike any other RPG, sleep was not a cure-all. The only cure-all was a Shrine or local equivalent: in this case, the Pokémon Center on the Surge Steppes. Josh had become a regular visitor to this particular Pokémon Center, even getting a good idea when it got busy. The wee hours of the morning was one of those trough times, and it was a good thing. His entire team needed to be healed, which was going to take a while.

As Josh presented his team of Pokémon, one by one, the nurse on duty made a remark about how dangerous the Duraludon and Rufflet there were. "I wasn't even looking for a Duraludon or a Rufflet. I just want a Ponyta or two." While waiting for his Pokémon to be healed, he checked the spawn list to make sure he was in the right place. He was. Ponyta were absolutely confirmed to be populating the area. He had apparently just been extraordinarily unlucky.

Wrong move.

In an instant, the Ponyta wheeled, hooves flailing, and it was over. The Fire-type was darting away at a stumble and Exochomper laid there in the grass, knocked unconscious. "Exo!" Adrien had rushed over to the starter's side, but it had been too late. His luck had run out.

The Trainer's ears were low as the warp faded around him to resolve into the Pokemon Center, padding over to the side and laying out Exochomper on a stretcher. "Sure. Heal him up," he murmured when asked, the wind thoroughly taken out of his sails from the failure of his first encounter. He'd thought he'd had this, and here he was now, just because he thought he'd known the game-!

"Ow!" he cried, shooting upright in a flash at a sudden, sharp pain in his tail. Adrien wheeled around, ears flat back and a hiss building in his throat, only to falter at the sight of his now revived Totodile, jaws clamped around the long, pink tail. <Toto totdile!> he stated as he let go, shooting an expectant look at his Trainer.

The stare-off continued for a long moment before he groaned. "Fine! We'll do one more try before I log off tonight. Happy?"

<Totodile!>

She hadn't done much damage with her attack - or at least, she didn't get the chance to before the Duraludon had slammed its arm down, causing her to collapse in the dirt with a cry.

And although Adrien could have let Exochomper finish it... it hadn't seemed right, to let him finish what Wildfyre had started, so he tapped through the prompts to warp him away-

To the now familiar sight of the Pokemon Center, offering the nurse Wildfyre's Pokeball to heal her up with a chipper "Yes, please, thank you!", his tail perked up behind him as he waited the handful of minutes for them to dress and treat the Ponyta's injuries before handing her back to him, good as new.

The moment he’d come out to the tents that were at a strangely convenient location on the Steppes, the attending staff inside gave him a frown.

“Yes, it was a Rufflet,” he began as he cut the nurse off, hauling in his Froakie who had maybe gotten in a little too much over his head.

“Yes, I’m going back for that Rufflet, I’ve got a fighter on my hands and they don’t want to disappoint me,” he added as he waited while the Nurse got to work, patching up his little proud warrior.

(He sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to become a regular here, however looking at things, he feared he might become a frequent visitor in these parts…)

All too soon his Froakie was ready to go again.

‘Sorry… I failed you.’

“Nah, don’t stress yourself out over it. What’s important is that you’re okay. Shall we—” he trailed off before the blur of blue literally sped out of the tent!

“Sorry, gotta catch up to ‘em!” he exclaimed as he ran out after his Froakie.