Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Oct 31, 2023 18:03:51 GMT 9
There was a certain prideful part of Nero that didn't want to play through the tutorial at all. He wanted to just launch straight into the main game, a natural expert at every new feature and mechanic that he was destined to come across, able to puzzle out anything new with his superior mind and skill rather than needing his hand held through the most basic parts of the game... But just because he wanted that didn't mean it was plausible.
He was so new to this sort of experience that he found himself stumbling or hitting walls every few seconds, and while he could put that down to his modified controls all he liked, it still didn't look good if anybody saw it. Perhaps getting the hang of the basics in the baby area was vital for protecting his reputation too. Imagine if people saw him out in the main game not sure how to do something obvious and easy. He'd be a laughing stock, he'd have to leave the game and go back to... well, not much of anything really.
In the end, he'd convinced himself that he was only doing the tutorial because you supposedly got an extra item or two for finishing it. Yeah, that was the only reason. He didn't need to do it or anything.
Of course, when he did finally take a proper look at the prompts on his screen guiding him towards the first of the four tutorial missions, things became more complicated again. Apparently the first task to complete was to 'say goodbye to mom'. After snorting to himself and correcting it to "Mum," under his breath, he'd found himself frowning at how odd that would be in a game like this. Sure it was part of all the previous Pokemon games too, but she'd only been a few pixels then. It would be weird seeing a full size woman, especially given how Nero was now estranged from...
He shoved those thoughts aside - they were banned while he was in here - and set off towards the house with the pop-up dangling over it. This was about picking up some shoes, so he probably got an actual item from this. Good. He could just grab them and get out in a few seconds and move on to the next bit. With that plan in mind, he shoved the door to the house open and looked around for this 'mum' in question.
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 1, 2023 1:26:29 GMT 9
William had been admittedly very puzzled by the lack of shoes; especially so since the character customisation had allowed for everything else to be picked just fine. It had only started making sense after he'd received the poke ball from the starter and an overwhelming amount of pop-ups had appeared.
"Tutorials?" he'd mused as he began making his way to the mother's house. Such a silly thing considering his age, but he certainly needed help getting a handle on the game and if being a little silly was all it took, he supposed he didn't mind much.
When he'd arrived at the house, William had very politely knocked on the door and waited to be let in. The woman who was supposed to be his mother admittedly looked the same age, if not younger than he did. That was a little embarrassing, admittedly so.
His "mother" had William sitting down by the table while she went and fetched the shoes from the closet. As he sat there, he looked at the newspaper left on the table. It seemed to showcase current and upcoming events in the game and William found himself thinking what a cute little combination it was. He was certain all this could have been found in the system in one of the many menus, but he much preferred reading through the paper and getting a rough idea of what was currently going on in the game.
The front door opening had William look up from his paper and give the stranger a smile and a wave. He must have been new too if he was going through the tutorial as well. How strange, he'd assumed each player would have their own little tutorial, but it looked like it was possible to do them simultaneously. "She's upstairs getting shoes from the closet," he explained to the other player, "why don't you come sit down and wait with me?"
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Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Nov 1, 2023 3:32:36 GMT 9
Nero had been expecting a female avatar when he walked into the house, and found himself pausing when a male face looked over to him from the couch instead. He hadn't seen any pronouns when reading the tutorial pop-up, so maybe that was just a false assumption he'd made? Ah, but then the avatar mentioned someone upstairs, so maybe that was the 'mom' figure and this was... 'dad'? There'd been no mention of a dad figure, and most previous Pokémon games didn't seem to have one, but it made sense, didn't it? After all, the person was sat reading a newspaper in the tutorial home, so who else could it be?
"Sure," Nero said in half-greeting as he looked around the room, marching in like he owned the place (which arguably he sort of did if this was supposed to be 'his' house too). Despite the verbal agreement, he didn't move towards a seat, instead walking around each corner of the room, looking for items to pick up and perhaps take with him. There didn't seem to be much of use though, no obvious inventory items anyway, and so he soon circled back around to the bottom of the stairs, looking up it to see if the 'mom' NPC was coming back down yet. "How long is she going to be?" he asked, glancing back towards the other person in the room as he spoke. "Can I just go up there and take them for myself? The prompt said something about having to listen to backstory or whatever. Do I have to wait for her to do that or can you do that?"
Question after question after question - the more Nero spoke, the more he realised that he didn't really know what he was doing here. He'd mastered the basic controls and the concept of the game, but the actual play by play actions of it? He didn't even know how to battle yet, and that was a major component of the game. Why was he wasting his time wandering around a boring house when there were far better things he could be doing out there?
Having thoroughly frustrated himself as he so often did by second-guessing his own decisions, he heard himself growl under his breath, "Stupid tutorial..." as his pacing started up again. Why was he being so indecisive and fickle in a game? What did it matter?! It's not like there were any real people here to see him anyway...
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class:
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 2, 2023 0:53:00 GMT 9
William tilted his head at the young man before letting out a small chuckle and smiling. "Oh, I think there seems to have been a misunderstanding," he said politely, "I'm also a player and I'm playing through the tutorial too so I'm afraid I don't know about the things she has to say." It strangely warmed his heart to be mistaken for a dad NPC, though he could certainly understand where the misunderstanding had come from.
"This is the first game I've tried out in years so personally, I'm quite glad for the tutorials." As he'd been speaking, the mother character had come back downstairs and gasped in delight. "Oh I'm sorry honey, I didn't know you were coming home today too," she said with a bright smile, speaking to the other player, "My, have you been out without proper shoes again? We cannot have that, not at all. Do wait here as I get you a pair too!"
The first pair of shoes was handed to William and he thanked the woman with a smile and bent down to put the shoes on. He still wasn't used to how real everything felt; it really was as if he was putting on a new pair of shoes. He only hoped he'd gotten to experience the game with his daughter; not having played it with her really was one of his biggest regrets. He shook the thoughts from his head and stood up to try the new shoes; surely they wouldn't blister the same way new shoes in real life often did?
"Have you played a lot of games before?" he asked curiously.
Nero |
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Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Nov 2, 2023 1:39:25 GMT 9
A frown of confusion very swiftly shifted into a scowl of frustration as he realised his own mistake, the anger in his expression suggesting that he blamed this other player for it despite his obvious innocence. He should have spoken up sooner, or made it more obvious that he was a real player, or... And of course now that Nero was looking at him properly, he could recognise the very clear 'Player' tag coming from him, and how it differed from the 'NPC' one that the lab woman had had. Urgh, it was right there, right in front of him, and he hadn't noticed it. Stupid idiot...
He kicked at a small table opposite the stairwell, making the plant sat atop it wobble realistically as he stomped over to the door again, ready to give up on the whole tutorial quest out of pure embarrassment. It was at that moment that a second voice reached his ears though, and he turned in time to see the mother (with her clear NPC tag...) appearing on the stairwell. Despite greeting him, she walked over to the other character with the shoes in her hands, and it took Nero too long to turn back around and intercept her. He'd planned to try and snatch them from her (not that he knew how to do that exactly), but the other player was putting them on already. No chance of skipping the boring dialogue he'd been warned about in the comments then.
He was tempted to argue as the woman headed back upstairs - perhaps he could just get them himself, or go with her, or she could give him the ones that she'd already given to the other player so that Nero didn't have to wait any longer even if he had clearly been the second to arrive. But he'd already embarrassed himself once in this stranger's presence, so it was that more than anything that had him holding his tongue.
Instead then, he marched over to the other player to eye up the shoes in question, wondering if they were worth actually getting. He wasn't quite sure how to pull up menus on other people's items, so he was really only getting aesthetic information by staring, but it was better than just glaring at the stairs again. His attention lifted as he was spoken to, but he ignored the question he was asked as though even this was just pointless NPC dialogue. Who cared what games he'd been playing before? Or was this mockery? Was he implying that Nero was too fresh, too new, too much of a noob for a game like this? Was that minor slip of missing his 'Player' tag coming back to bite him already? His fists balled up besides him as his anger rose. "How long does she go on for?" he asked in the end, keen to divert away from the mockery opportunity and to just get information instead. "You've just listened to her spiel, right? How long was it? I want to get this over as fast as possible."
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class:
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 3, 2023 0:50:06 GMT 9
William could tell the other player was aggravated, though he didn't necessarily understand why; everyone made mistakes now and then and it's not like mistaking him for an NPC had upset him or anything. As he listened to the other person's questions, he couldn't help but to think that they must have been quite young and perhaps impatient to get started with the game.
"I think she was going to start once she came downstairs, but seeing as she went to get you a pair just now, I imagine we will both have to listen once she returns," he said, inspecting his shoes and trying to get used to all the little pop-ups and menu things, it was honestly kinda disorientating for him, "the menu thing says the shoes won't work until the tutorial has been completed I'm afraid."
It didn't take more than a moment longer for the pleasant woman to come down and offer a pair of shoes to the younger man with a big smile. "My, kids do grow up so fast," she said with a sigh, "I can still remember when the two of you were just little kids; always so fascinated with Pokemon that it was impossible to get you inside at times. Oh and-" The woman went on, talking about made-up memories and cooing over the fact that they were finally old enough to start their journeys; it made William rather amused and he couldn't help but to chuckle a little. His own mother had been quite a rambler too, especially towards the end.
Nero |
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Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Nov 3, 2023 5:21:07 GMT 9
What? Another mistake so soon? Seriously? But all the comments he'd read about the tutorial had said that the 'Mom' wouldn't hand over the shoes until she'd said all of her dialogue! Had those been out of date? Had they updated the game since then and shifted that around a bit? Did that mean he could just take the shoes and go without having to go through the boring bit of listening to her? ... Not according to this other player who seemed to be here purely to piss him off. Did he have to just disagree with everything that Nero said?!
As he paced across the floor of the small house, tiny flames licked up around the soles of his feet, an aesthetic addition from his chosen class that he hadn't actually noticed was happening yet. While technically he had no shoes equipped at the moment, his feet were clad in the base idea of them - a simple shoe-shape that could have been just socks if one looked closely. These tutorials were not essential and many players chose to skip them entirely, so the base outfit options didn't look ridiculous without these Running Shoes. Nero could just walk out now and not look noticeably odd for it... But he was stubborn, and he wanted the free item, so he'd stick with pacing in grumpy silence for now instead.
He ignored the other player's 'helpful' comments and turned to lean against a wall where he could see the stair well from. He almost immediately stood up straight again as the NPC figure reappeared, crossing the room towards her as soon as he spotted the shoes in her hand. She was talking already, but he could ignore that - he'd just reach out and take those from her and be on his way...
Except she wouldn't hand them over. Or he wasn't pressing the 'take' button or something wasn't working because he couldn't get them from her. A growl of frustration shifted into a groan as she walked passed him with them still in her hand, and at last he dropped down onto the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff. "Stupid fucking game..." he grumbled as the NPC 'Mom' continued to sway on the spot in front of them both with her stories that served as an exposition dump for the player character's history to this point.
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class:
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 6, 2023 2:11:33 GMT 9
"I think it's quite endearing," William said with a smile, actually paying attention to what the lady was saying. It felt a bit silly, especially given her apparent age, but he still appreciated being caught up. It was a lot nicer to listen to someone talk than having to read at least, it felt like the information would stick better too, even if it wouldn't be necessary for gameplay.
"Are you new to the game too?" he asked after the mother character began slowing down her speech. "I was just wondering as it's certainly new to me; perhaps we could clear the other tutorials together as well?" He wondered if it was strange of him to ask, especially considering that the other player seemed quite a bit younger. Oh, it wasn't creepy, right? He'd hate to be perceived that way since it had been the furthest from his intentions. "O-Oh, that's a strange thing to ask a stranger, isn't it? Please forget about it..." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
Nero |
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Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Nov 6, 2023 4:29:09 GMT 9
“Oh if only your father were still around to see you setting off like this. He would have been so proud.” Nero snorted in derision as the mother’s dialogue shifted from talking about his own origins to those of his in-game father. Even knowing that this was obviously just part of the story, that this man being spoken of was nothing but a combination of computer data that would probably never even appear in the game, it was hard to listen to. His actual father wouldn’t have cared at all about his adventure, even less so when it involved a computer game. Maybe if he’d gone off to become some important figure in politics like his brother had…
It was easier to just not listen as she spoke of parental love and happy memories, so Nero found himself almost eagerly looking towards the other player in the room with him. “What’s it to you?” he snapped back despite his appreciation for the interruption. Raising his voice meant he couldn’t hear the woman’s story about how hard his father has fought to be here with him today but hadn’t made it despite the strength of his love… “Maybe I’m just here for the free stuff.” That was sort of true after all, not that he cared about lying to this stranger anyway.
He didn’t need to lie for his next answer though. “What, no?!” The frustration had shifted over into actual anger now, the briefest spark of something real showing itself for the first time. “Do you think I need help? I can do this on my own! It’s just a stupid game, it’s not like it’s hard, I don’t need someone to hold my hand through it!”Technically this player (‘Will’ his label said) hadn’t offered a hand-holding - if anything, he had almost been asking for it himself - but it had clearly been enough to set Nero off all the same.
Standing up and briefly rounding on Will, he glared in silence for a moment, before letting out a strangled huff when no words came to his tongue. He would need to practice his angry rants for next time. Instead then, he turned his back on Will to face the NPC again to hear how far she had gotten through her story. “And that was of course the last that we saw of him… That anyone saw of him… Crossing the sea on the back of that tiny young Mantine… What a hero he was…”
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class:
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 8, 2023 1:07:05 GMT 9
William smiled and nodded at that. "That's smart, I too thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the prices offered and complete the tutorials. Of course, that's secondary to actually learning about the game since I really have no idea what I'm doing," he chuckled. He personally saw no issue admitting how new and confused he was about the game, even if it was a little embarrassing at his age.
He'd thought they'd been having a nice conversation, so Nero's outburst caught him off guard. He'd never been an argumentative guy, so he hung his head. "Not at all, I was more indicating that I was the one in need of help," he mumbled quietly. Normally he wouldn't let a child talk to him like this, but it felt inappropriate to parent someone else's child in an unsupervised environment. "I apologize, I did not mean to offend," he said.
After this, William stopped trying to make conversation with the younger player and listened to the rest of the story the mother had to tell. He didn't know what a mantine was and he had not figured out how to look it up either. As the speech came to an end, William stood and thanked the NPC and promised to take care, speaking to her as one would to a person.
Nero |
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Nero
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Rival
Player Character
Posts: 151
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Jack Montague
OOC Username: Vay
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Nero on Nov 8, 2023 5:27:06 GMT 9
While he wasn't quite consciously aware of it yet, Nero would eventually be thankful that this game didn't copy the emotional minutia of body language - at least not yet anyway. If he was yelling and gesturing then sure, it would replicate that for him, and if his expression turned into a scowl, that would be obvious. But the way he chewed on the inside of his lower lip, the little gulp as he fought back a swell of emotion that was no invited to the current scene, these things didn't translate across quite so well. It meant that Nero could still look relatively fierce an angry, even if his player's resolve was starting to slip.
After all, he wasn't really angry at this player, was he? He was just anxious about first impressions and reputations and all the things that he'd struggled with in the past. He hadn't thought about any of it as a kid, only ever doing what came naturally to him since 'the future' was too big o a concept to consider, but now? Knowing that this was one of the only fresh starts you actually got in life? One of the only opportunities to reinvent yourself however you wanted? Yeah, of course he was worried about screwing that up like he did everything else.
It seemed as though his sudden outburst had at least shocked the other player into silence. They probably wouldn't want to interact with Nero again after this, but good, he didn't want to work with this other player either. He was a boring newbie who didn't know what he was doing, not the right company for him at all - and no he did not see the hypocrisy in that at all. As the NPC story came to an end (following a long tangent involving a Tropius plush that the NPC father had apparently given to Nero as a child containing a recording of his voice that the mom character was clearly trying to encourage him to go and fetch), Nero reached out again and at last snatched the running shoes from the woman. He equipped them as rapidly as possible and stared down at them for a moment, wondering whether he was supposed to feel anything different in them. His pair were an annoying bright orange cover rather than the black of the rest of his outfit, but he'd probably figure out how to customise them later. At least they matched Cyndaquil in the meantime.
While the other player said goodbye to the bundle of data masquerading as a mother, Nero was quick to march himself straight out of the house, letting the door close behind him before hesitating on the other side of it facing out into the little starting town. His mind seemed strangely eager to cling to the story that he'd just been told, to the affection shown by the fake woman, and seemed insistent on burying what had just happened away like a precious memory. After all, despite being all fictional, that had been probably the nicest interaction that he could remember with an actual mother and not just an aunt or grandmother.
But it was fine, it was all fine. Internalising that probably wouldn't come back to bite him in some cold, sad moment of loneliness in his imminent future or anything...
Nero exits | Will <3 |
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Will
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Player Character
Posts: 93
Trainer Class:
Player Name: William Gray
OOC Username: Mothimistic
Arena Points: 8
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Post by Will on Nov 8, 2023 5:40:18 GMT 9
William watched Nero exit the house in a hurry and sighed. He'd given such a horrible first impression he felt almost guilty for ruining the other playes experience with the tutorial. With that in mind, he decided to wait around a while longer, talking to the woman about the world and taking the opportunity to learn a bit more before exiting. With this, he was hoping that Nero had found more suitable company to play with; he'd have to try his best to find other new players to do tutorials with.
With the shoes now unlocked on in his posession, William once more thanked the woman and said his goodbyes before heading out. He felt rather drained with the first day; it was a lot to learn and get a handle on after all and perhaps the sour encounter with the first player he met in the game was partly to blame for how exhausted he felt. Regardless, Will shook his head and did his best to navigate the menu to find the prompt for the second tutorial. He wanted to try and finish the tutorials in one day if possible, but it would remain to be seen.
// the end // |
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