[ti]open[/ti][O][T] 004 - More Party Members!

Robyn had logged into the game after fully customizing his avatar and getting it just right. He figured playing a female character would give him a much needed break from various things that life had thrown his way, college tests which he probably should've been studying for but right now he just didn't feel like it. He had to keep ahead of the curve in this newly discovered game, ahead of his friend and rival, Hiro.

Now in game, Rinoa moved her hands first, testing out how her new body felt. A gentle squeeze of her fists here and there before flexing her fingers and tentatively moving onto other body parts, focusing on how they felt to move. Sure, she had played VR games before but nothing as advanced as this new headset made everything feel. Slowly breathing out, the blonde-haired girl cleared her throat and decided to test out her new voice ❝Ichi, ni, san-- Oh right, English. I don't have to use Japanese here. That'll take some getting used too.❞ Her voice was somewhat husky, almost like smooth honey on the ears. Thank Arceus for good voice options, there was nothing worse than making characters that had voices that didn't suit them. She tugged at the scarf wrapped around her neck, adjusting the cozy fabric along with her black pilot-esque jacket, the wool-lining keeping things extra warm in the cold seasons.

She paused for a moment, feeling the Pokéball rattle and shake against the holster of her belt, she had entirely skipped the entire Lab process, figuring it would be the same as every other game that she had played before, except maybe with more Pokémon variety, of course she had a bias towards Fire-type Pokémon, though they weren't the only types that she enjoyed at all. She had chosen what she understood to be a typical fan favorite out of the Kanto starters. Good 'ol Charmander. The capsule popped open finally, taking the form of an orange lizard with a fiery-tipped tail. Wide cerulean-blue eyes stared up at the flaxen-haired trainer, blinking a few times. The tiny reptile shaking himself off and stretching out his little joints ❝Finally! I'm out of that stupid ball. I hate being cooped up in there, y'know?❞

Rinoa blinked, slowly lowering herself down to the fire-type's height, lifting her hand and gently prodding the lizard with her gloved fingers ❝Whoa you talk!❞ The Kindler spoke in surprise, mouth forming an 'o' before she continued ❝I wasn't sure what that option did but I guess I'm glad I picked it. Will make this journey a lil' less lonely, someone to talk to an' all.❞ Before the Charmander could answer, there was a buzzing pop-up within Rinoa's UI with a message and a prompt from COD-13

DEAR TRAINER,
YOU have been summoned to complete a Tutorial quest, please refer to your Mini-map in order to find nearby trainers to participate with. Remember you may only do the tutorials with another player! Once one has been found, we will continue onto the next step! Teaching you to catch Pokemon to add to your team as members!

Rinoa took a few moments to read the message over before her eyes hovered over the prompt part of the message, a smile curling her lips as she hovered her fingers over the yes answer of the prompt in order to accept the quest.

Do you accept?
> Yes
No
Good Luck!

OBJECTIVE:
Find another Player ❏

With that done, Rinoa bounced on the balls of her boot-covered feet excitedly, it was time for things to begin for her. But first, the Birchwildd Grove was a vast place and finding another taking the same quest was bound to be challenging, she wasn't the best when it came to directions. For some reason it just never clicked with her in real life or in games. As much as she stared at the mini-map in the corner of her UI, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Her eyes fell onto her knee-high tall companion ❝Mmmm maybe you should take the lead on this? We're more likely to run into someone if you guide me.❞ She was almost pleading, or at least her eyes were. The Charmander clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest, his flame-tipped tail swaying idly ❝You do know I have no idea where we are either, right? I'm as new to all of this as you are. But fine, you want me to lead, I'll lead.❞ ❝I-I know that but still, probably more than me.❞ The blue-eyed blonde sputtered a bit before letting out a chuckle ❝Yes lead the way! Thank you, Apollo!❞

The Charmander went to take a step but paused ❝That's my name? I'll take it. Let's blow this joint before all the other players leave.❞ Apollo motioned one of his claws for his trainer to follow behind him. Moving along the leaf covered path ahead of them. Perhaps they would find someone else if they followed it?

The kindler paused in her tracks, her head swiveling from side to side as the voices of what sounded like two bickering people reached her ears ❝Apollo wait up! I think I hear somethin', maybe we should check it out?❞ Said lizard bounded back towards his trainer, a little bounce to his steps as he hopped from one of scattered stones buried in the dirt path to the next, a wide childish grin settling across his jaws ❝Don't wait up fer me, go 'ead.❞ He piped up and pushed against the back of his trainers leg, urging Rinoa onwards. An amused snort left the blonde before she burst out into a light chuckle ❝Okay, okay! stop shovin' would ya!❞ And onwards she went, pushing through the tall grass. The sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs under the soles of her boots. Rinoa stopped every few steps, looking back to make sure her partner hadn't gotten lost in the undergrowth. It wasn't long before Apollo shot a ❝I'm 'ere right behind ya' don't worry keep goin'.❞ For a few moments, Rinoa wasn't sure whether to believe that Apollo wouldn't just wander off and get distracted somewhere. Swinging herself around on her heel, the Kindler moved towards the knee-high reptile, scooping the Charmander up into her arms.

Apollo found himself hoisted up, wriggling and kicking his feet ❝'ey put me down!❞ Despite all his struggling, he let out a huff and resigned himself to his fate. To be carried around like some housecat. Wasn't something he was fond of but perhaps he would get used to it... well, maybe. ❝If you're gon' carry me at least lift my tail up so you won't chance setting your pants on fire. Wouldn't wanna be walking around being called a liar now, eh?❞ It took a moment to figure out what Apollo was on about, the whole liar liar, pants on fire thing. Rolling her eyes playfully, Rin shifted her hold on the spontaneous monster before lifting the fire-type's tail with her free hand and passing it to him to hold. Continuing on towards the source of what she could only assume was arguing between two people earlier.

The leaves rustling as she emerged from the tall grass, orange, yellow leaves and brown twigs getting stuck in her hair and lodged under her headphones as she ducked under some low hanging bush branches. Angling her hold on the fire-type in her arms to not accidentally start any forest fires, cause that would be juuuuuust great! Once she straightened herself out, Rinoa's cerulean orbs settled upon the forms of a boy who seemed around her age or maybe a bit younger, spikey golden hair which oddly enough reminded her of a certain protagonist from one of her favorite Fantasy games and his own companion who looked quite similar to her own. The closer the trainer got, the more details she could make out of the two figures ❝Hey over there!❞ She called out, the urge to wave her partner at the two before her like some kind of friendly gesture veeeerrryyy tempting but she resisted.

Apollo wriggled, with every fiber of strength that he could muster, until finally managing to break free of his trainers grasp on him. Landing on his feet with a dull crunch from the leaves under his weight and setting his eyes on the form of the other Charmander, tilting his head and waving his flame tipped tail in return with a grin ❝Hey there! I'm Apollo.❞ The fiery-lizard chimed as he let go of his tail before he bounced energetically and playfully bumped into his Charmander look-alike. Apollo had never met another like him before, so it excited him greatly to finally get the opportunity to do so. ❝It's nice to meet you, Ares! ❞

Rinoa blinked as her partner escaped from her grasp, only to smile when it was clear that Apollo was trying to make a friend, Pokémon did deserve that after all. Rinoa's gaze flitted to the young blonde, a warm smile curling the corners of her lips as she waved ❝Hello! I'm Rinoa, friends call me Rin.❞ She chirped in greeting ❝Oh? That's what the mission is? I'm definitely ready for that kinda thing!❞ She added with an eager nod before her attention was drawn to the blue haired man ❝Nice to meet you both! and don't worry, I'm very much aware of how type advantages work. I was a tournament champ for two years running.❞ Rin puffed out her chest with pride, folding her arms across. A grin spreading across her features that would put even the Cheshire Cat to shame. Throwing her arms down, she began to bounce excitedly from one foot to the other ❝What're we waiting for? let's get this show on the road!❞

❝Hell yeah I am!❞ Or at least the little Charmander thought he was ready, Ares had already taken the opportunity to completely demolish the poor Lillipup before Apollo even had the chance to jump into the fray. Causing both Pokemon and trainer alike to blink in disbelief ❝That must've been one hell of a cri—❞ Rinoa turned her attention to the battle log, her jaw practically hitting the floor in a comical manner ❝It wasn't even a critical hit. Bloody 'ell little fella, you're strong.❞ Rinoa chirped with a grin, throwing Apollo's little friend a thumbs up in approval ❝No worries though Apollo, we'll get the next one for sure, 'kay?❞ The blonde spoke in reassurance which earned a nod from her partner Charmander ❝Yeah we'll get 'em good!❞ Apollo piped up eagerly, throwing punches into the vacant air while his tail crackled and swayed back and forth.

Rinoa's attention shifted to the hand Josh had extended towards her, reaching out her own and eagerly grasping it ❝ Yeah! I hope we get along well, this experience would be more fun with new friends, y'know? ❞ She replied to the blonde haired boy with a smile. Shaking his hand up and down in a rather energetic manner before letting go.

The short haired girl's attention once again directed to the fainted Lillipup, lying on the floor burnt to a crisp due to the embers that Ares had let loose upon it. The poor thing! She did feel kind of bad for it, standing no chance ❝So I can catch it now, I guess?❞ She lifted a hand before shoving it into her bag and taking out the golden pokeball that she had been given before leaving the laboratory, something about it being part of the tutorial missions. The professor had explained it as being some kind of infinite pokeball thing, which was pretty neat and meant never having to stock up on pokeballs at marts like in the main games. She lowered herself down to the floor and rolled the pokeball along the floor with enough force that the capsule would open upon hitting the puppy pokemon's outstretched form. Sucking in her copy of the pokemon's data before closing and beginning the shaking process.

...1
...2
...3
Bing!

Standing back up straight, Rin moved over to collect her newly acquired Pokemon, grinning from ear to ear once more; another checkbox ticked off on her UI signalling that the Tutorial mission itself had been completed ❝First UNOVR capture complete! Yay!❞ She would obviously have to head towards a pokemon center or something to get the Lillipup checked up, unless there was some other way of healing out in the field that she wasn't aware of. ❝I guess that means we're done here? Ay boss, where are we headin' next then?❞ Apollo spoke as he bounded towards his trainer as fast as his little clawed feet could carry him, head tilting back to look up at the tall girl ❝I guess so. I'm not sure, we could just see where the path leads us and see what we find on the way. What're you planning, Josh?❞ Rin enquired, cerulean orbs holding curiosity as she tilted her head at the other blonde.