[ti]closed[/ti][T][C/Kyukon][002] Riding the Thunder

Arthur - or rather, Kyukon - was unfortunately, woefully lost.

How did this happen when he had a mini map at the bottom? Well, this game actually allowed a player to wander around everywhere, so there were no barriers to rail him into the right direction. He could see blinking little icons, but those seemed to indicate shops or NPCs. There were actually only a few players around, which was surprising since this was the North American server and he was pretty sure it was in the middle of the day, last he checked. Perhaps the game was not as popular as it was before? Or did he just pick too quiet of a time (he supposed that most kids would be in school at the moment and others would be at work).

Gou had his arms wrapped around Kon's, almost like a vine, while using his trainer's hand as a chair of sorts. Every now and then, the trainer would lightly swing his arm, and the Pokemon seemed to be enjoying himself. Or at least, he wasn't complaining.

In any case, Kon happened to find himself in what looked like a small cluster of buildings when he got the notification that someone was looking to do tutorial quests. This didn't look like the one that would get his shoes, unfortunately, but since it was already in his face...

He pressed the accept button, which made a new icon pop up in his mini map. It was quite close actually - not too far of a walk until he saw someone that looked rather out of place amongst the world.

It was Kon's first encounter with not just a player, but someone who had clearly been playing the game longer than he did. How long would it take him for him to be able to ride a Pokemon like that? (he remembered that they were called Manectric or something), and were those kind of Pokemon always big enough to ride?

Nonetheless, there was no reason for Kon to be intimidated (as far as he knew, anyway), so he approached the man with his Chimchar in his hand, rather than in tow.

❝Any chance there's room for a newbie for delivery?❞ he was limited with his body movement at the moment to create a slightly more sultry pose, but he didn't want to lay it thick - there's a high chance the guy didn't swing that way. And yeah it was hard to do something while Gou was still wrapped around his arm like a baby.

Josh Devlin - sorry for the wait!

❝Ohhh, so this strapping Manectric is still in training, huh?❞ it was interesting to learn that this was not the only Pokemon he rode on either - he implied he had several, and that must've sounded useful in getting around the place. The World Map, when he was able to figure out how to navigate there, looked very large, and regions were also separated by bodies of water. It would make sense to have more than one Pokemon that could carry him, whether by land, air, or by sea. It would have to be something that Arthur would have to look into, for Gou was definitely not the sort he would peg as a mount.

With the both of them being in close vicinity towards each other, his UI updated to reveal a few more quest details, though for some reason it wasn't too clear on whether this was the place to pick up the parcel or this was where it had to be delivered. In any case, the guy did introduce himself, so it was only right to do the same. ❝Kon is fine. Nice to meet you.❞ admittedly, Pokemon Racer gave Arthur strong cowboy vibes for some reason, even if Manectric was more of a dog than a horse. ❝Does that mean there are racing events ongoing in UNOVR? That sounds pretty cool.❞

Arthur was not one for racing, but he had played racing games in parties and arcades. He imagined it would be much different if he tried it here, since all of his senses were immersed in the game world, and that also meant that getting thrown off or colliding into someone could easily spell a world of hurt.

❝Also, just wanted to clarify, do you have the thing we need to deliver already, or are we meeting up with another NPC?❞

Josh Devlin

❝Really? Just a week ago? Congratulations are in order, surely.❞ Arthur was a little caught off-guard when the Manectric started talking, but then he remembered that Gou could talk, so this shouldn't be surprising. He had no idea who Raiden was, but he assumed it was another one of Josh's Pokemon. Surely this guy was a formidable trainer; it would probably take him some time before he could even come close to his level.

❝Thunderworks, huh?❞ he hadn't heard of that place before, and it made him wonder also what kind of team he wanted to build up. That place just sounded like it was filled with electric and steel type Pokemon, so it did sound like a place worth visiting once he felt more confident with his team. ❝Sounds like I might not be ready for a place like that yet. Gou's going to need some more team members and maybe an evolution or something.❞ he raised his arm slightly to indicate that "Gou" was the Chimchar hanging onto him.

It was nice to hear that this trainer was not only powerful but efficient. With it being clear that the Chimchar was his only Pokemon (for now), Arthur would watch Josh take out another Poke Ball to release a Pokemon he had never seen before. Woah, now this was a proper horse Pokemon. Well, he remembered there was already a horse Pokemon before - Rapidash, was it, but this one was definitely not of the same species. He greeted the two Pokemon with their names this time, but he couldn't hide his nervousness that well, he was going to ride on his own? He wasn't just going to get tossed out from the back right? Any semblance of bravado from earlier was melting off.

❝Err, pardon the intrusion then--❞ he made sure to get one of his feet on the stirrup before hoisting himself up. Gou made sure to climb onto his trainer's shoulder so that he wouldn't get squished anywhere during the movement. Once he got up, well, he was really high up (this Pokemon was tall), but it didn't feel too uncomfortable. The reins definitely felt like they fit in someone's hands - not his, but they have been used plenty. The Chimchar also let out a small cry in amazement as it looked around the horizon with the added height.

❝Thanks for this, by the way. This is really, really cool.❞ and he meant that sincerely; he wasn't exaggerating that he might have been convinced to also try (not necessarily racing) but at least aiming for a Pokemon mount. ❝What kind of Pokemon is Granmarg again? I'm not really familiar with the newer ones.❞

Josh Devlin

❝Ohh, I see. My bad. Didn't know that there was even a requirement like that.❞ mounting seemed like a less straightforward thing than he expected. Perhaps the saddle was something that needed to be bought? It didn't sound like there was an upper limit on how many Pokemon a person could mount, but he supposed not just any Pokemon could be mounted.

❝Sounds reasonable enough. Though I haven't figured out yet what I want to buy from the Upgrade Shop. A lot of stuff there seem like good choices, really.❞ and he only had so many bytes to go around at the moment. It seemed to make the most sense to power up Gou first since he already had him, but then again should he wait to see what other Pokemon he would get before spreading out his purchases? Or should he go all in? Or should he buy some of the key items that had piqued his interest? It was a tough decision, to be sure. ❝Any reccs on what I should grab first?❞

It looked like he had climbed up with little issue, but he couldn't help but feel nervous still. The last time he had ridden on anything that resembled a horse was...years and years ago. ❝Muds what? Seventh generation?❞ how many generations of Pokemon were there even? ❝And uh, yeah, crash course would be great. You'd think, right, that games would have like, directional pads telling you to move right or left, but since this is like deep dive stuff, I actually have to tug on the reins to move in the direction I want...right?❞ like riding an actual horse, only Arthur had never ridden a horse on his own. When he meant that he rode one years ago, it was only because someone was actually guiding the horse to move along a set trail. He actually never rode a horse without any guidance whatsoever.

He felt like his palms were getting sweaty.

Josh Devlin

Arthur made sure to take mental notes from the clearly seasoned player. Tall Grass HP, and then box space (he actually didn't know how many Pokemon he'd like, because the game had always been about catching them all, right? But no such impulse seemed to be encouraged here, and with each Pokemon able to speak and have their own personality, it seemed to make more sense to raise a select few rather than have an army. It was not like he could bring out more than six at a time, anyway). Though when he thought about it, twenty still seemed like a large number. That was like, what, twenty people? Twenty friends? He could name twenty people, but to say that he was close with most of them?

❝Pokemon trees?❞ he tried to recall what he saw in the shop. Perhaps he was referring to the classes that were displayed in there? They were definitely a feature of UNOVR, unless there was a mainline game out there that actually used these (but he doubted it, it didn't seem like a Pokemon thing to do). Legendary Pokemon definitely do sound exciting though. ❝What legendary are you aiming for? It sounds like a nice goal to reach for.❞ he imagined that being able to own, moreso ride a legendary in UNOVR was a much different experience than just having one in the original games. After all, the Pokemon would be right beside you and you can touch them, have a front row seat to their immense power. What kind of legendary would he want? Well, maybe he was getting ahead of himself.

Arthur wasn't sure if he wanted to tug really hard (he did not like the idea of the horse rearing at him, and then him falling on the ground, maybe getting trampled on, yikes). He supposed it was like riding a car - needing to figure out how much to turn the wheel, or how fast, and when to brake. But then he couldn't get his thoughts down in order when the horse started to move on his own. Immediately Arthur's hands tightly gripped onto the reins, but he tried not to pull - there wasn't a need to turn yet. Where were they even going? But it was nice that this area was a pretty straight road with few to no NPCs. There was at least little chance that Arthur might accidentally commit a crime by running over someone. Or something?

At least his Chimchar seemed to be enjoying himself - despite the bouncing, he was happy being so high up, and it was a much faster speed than walking that was for sure. ❝Wait, so where're we going?❞

Josh Devlin - two boys five feet apart because they're riding pokemon

❝Oh really?❞ he supposed it made sense that not all of the Pokemon are available in UNOVR yet, most particularly the legendaries, as they were likely to be reserved for special events. Raikou also really made sense to Arthur, even if he had only known Josh for a couple of minutes. Perhaps it was the blond, spiky hair? ❝I'll keep your advice in mind, for sure. I only have one Pokemon so far, and my Chimchar makes most sense as a sweeper. Will have to see what else I can get.❞

The talking helped calm him down a little bit, but the horse's pace was starting to pick up, and he was forced to pay more attention to where he was going. At Josh's instruction on where they were supposed to be headed, Arthur made a quick gesture to bring up the mini map in his point of view, choosing to display it as a screen in front of him rather than sitting on the bottom left side of his vision. Having some kind of UI over his eyes took some time to get used to, but he did try to customize this before really getting into the game, removing a good chunk of what he considered to be clutter until he had something pretty sleek and minimalistic.

Well, he was only going to crash and burn if he didn't turn, so he tried to convince himself that it was like a car, only it was a Pokemon and it could react negatively if he did this wrong (he wasn't helping himself, but those were the facts), and when he saw the road starting to curve, pulled in the direction that would make him turn - a pull to the left to turn the horse to the right. It helped that Granmarg didn't feel like he was going at top speed, so the movement was gradual, and it allowed him a second more to figure out how much he actually needed to pull to do the curve properly. Actually, he was pretty sure the Pokemon slowed down a bit during the turn - probably also because he was unsure about the rider on top of him.

Arthur let out a sharp exhale once the turn had been crossed and they were on fairly straight road again (fairly, because he still had to avoid passersby and other obstacles that were on the sides of the road, so he was starting to get more used to moving the reins around). ❝Right. Okay. Guess it's kind of like Mario Kart.❞ he muttered.

Josh Devlin

In the heat of the moment, all Arthur could really focus on was just how to move and how to stay on the horse, so Josh's voice surprised him, remembering that he wasn't alone. It really did sound like he was walking him through a tutorial on how to mount Pokemon, and the trainer wondered if he had done this to other new players before him. Maybe this was a thing he did? Not sure if he got any benefit from it, but maybe bytes...or something.

Control your mount's speed--makes sense, but Arthur was not sure if he could squeeze or jab (wouldn't that hurt? Wouldn't that make the horse buck and get angry? But then again that's what people did in the movies, and the horses seemed to take it with stride). They were on open road again, and this time it looked like a clear path. With warning, Josh and his Manectric began to speed up - well, began was an underestimation - the acceleration was something else, almost like he doubled in his gait (for every one step he took two, or something like that). Arthur cursed under his breath, not wanting to be so effortlessly outpaced, but still hella nervous on what he had to do.

But even the horse under him felt restless, like he wanted to move faster. Arthur swallowed before deciding fuck it, if he was going to die in-game, well, at least there was always the option to respawn!

So he liked his legs and gave a jab, and rather than reacting negatively, it was like Granmarg was waiting for it all along.

❝Holy--!❞ the wind picked up and whipped his hair - it was not strong enough to feel like his skin was peeling off his face, but it was like a rollercoaster that suddenly went from a straight line to a plummet. But even then, Josh and his mount were still further off, so he tightened his legs around the horse, leaning forward because that was what he remembered riders doing, and he could see the distance close little by little.

A part of him felt like he was going to be physically sick after all this, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel the thrill from it. No way was he ever going to experience something like this in real life, and it made him admire UNOVR all the more for it. What else would he be able to experience? To feel?

Josh Devlin