STARTER LAB: LILY KNIGHT

Looking around in awe at the frankly disgusting lab she had been teleported to after spending far too many hours creating her character, Lily wanted to touch everything just to see how real it felt. The details in this game were so absurdly realistic that she could have easily mistaken it for actual reality if it weren’t for the truly frightening being perched on the desk ahead of her. That and, of course, the fact that this was a game. Taking a deep breath, which she almost immediately regretted due to the stench of trash, Antoinette got into character and put a smile on her face before trying to carefully maneuver around the clustered room and closer to the figure who called itself Dr. Bunya.

Avoiding a stack of books caused her to bump into another and trip over what appeared to be a machine, causing her to fall and land in front of the desk where Dr. Bunya was seated. Quickly standing up, she brushed herself off, a cheerful smile beaming on her face. "Ahaha, sorry about that, but yes, I am here for a Pokémon! My starter, my first pal, the one who'll be with me from the start of this story to the very end!" Lily spoke with confidence, giving a little fist punch upwards. Her excitement was practically oozing out of her as she declined a seat, preferring to stand, her body too energized to settle down.

"Oh, ask away. I mean, uh, Fire!" she said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her heels and the tips of her toes with her arms behind her, waiting to answer some questions she hoped she wouldn’t have to think too hard about.

At first, she had declined the offer of a seat, but with that first question, she knew she was going to need one. Given the choice to sit anywhere, Lily decided to sit right next to Dr. Bunya on the desk. As her legs dangled, she gazed out at the cluttered lab before her. The game was built with so much personality, most people would expect a pristine lab, spotless and sterile, as if no one actually worked there. But this place felt lived in, as if Dr. Bunya was immersed in her work and nothing else, which was probably true since she was an NPC after all.

Lily let the silence settle between them as she pondered the questions she needed to answer and the one she needed to ask. It all felt so strangely profound for what she thought would be a simple task to get a Pokémon. She had expected some straightforward yes or no questions. "Hmm... I've got it." she said, a smile playing on her lips as the answers finally came to her. Not the answers Antoinette would choose, but the ones Lily would pick.

"First, would you like to be my friend? I promise to always be there for you if you say yes, visit you every weekend, and help you keep your place tidy. I'll even buy you sweets." Lily wanted to enjoy the game and make friends, so why not start with the first person she met? even if it was an NPC.

With her question out of the way, she had two more to answer. Lily had a story, she was a character created by someone who practically lived out every story imaginable through video games, so this was easy for her. "Oh, as for which of my friends I would be trapped with... No, I know I'd be trapped with my friend Snapdragon. She's so smart and cool, and she helps me stay patched up when I take one too many falls. She always scolds me for being so clumsy, but I know its because she cares about me...Also she has a wicked sweet tooth, so she'd love it there."

Yes, Lily Knight was more than just a name, it was a title, one belonging to the Knights of the Aurora Gardens. Each member bore the name of a flower and followed a code of honor to protect the garden and each other. But that was a story for another time.

The last question was truly mind-boggling because so many answers flooded her mind, and they all seemed correct. She was a person, but to someone else, maybe she was an alien. Was she even a person to a Pokémon, or did they see her as another Pokémon, just a very strange one? Who knew? She didn’t have a clear answer, or at least not a straightforward one.

"I don’t know. I think I’m a person, but I don’t really know if I am. I mean, all my life I’ve known myself to be a person, and in school, they teach us why we as people are different from animals. But to animals, are we people or just another animal?" It was truly a question for the ages. Her brow furrowed as she found herself unsatisfied with her own answer. She had come to this game for fun, not to have a mini mental crisis.