[ti]closed[/ti][S][C/Kyukon] You're Starting to Bug Me

Holy fucking shit this place was very very different from Region 1.

He had momentarily forgotten that he had a friend contact with Onix-riding lady after that weird Survivor quest, and when he was reviewing through what else he could work towards to unlock more things, he noticed he was pretty close to getting Beta Tester, the Normal Trainer Class. He knew that this would be pretty easy to get in Beta Island, but he wasn't sure what kind of effects this would open up. Wasn't glitching a bad thing? He did remember in Wreck-It Ralph that there was a character who used her glitches to her advantage, but...well, if UNOVR allowed that kind of control, he couldn't figure out whether he should think of it as terrifying or exciting.

Anyway, he at first thought that he could ask Josh about it, but he didn't want to seem like too much of a newb, so he tried someone who seemed equally as crazy but someone he hadn't talked to as much (or at all. Were these two related? He hadn't seen them in the same room to know, but he would ask for curiosity's sake). Upon contact, Shalin gave him a fast travel point through the messages, and he really should've checked where this was going to bring him, because one moment he was in a windy grassy plain, and the next thing he knew he was in the middle of an urban post-apocalypse.

He immediately beelined to where Shalin's dot was, which wasn't far, but he knew a high-level area when he saw one. The colossal battle with Magby was intense, but he had no clue what kind of Pokemon he was going to find here, and he didn't want to stick around long enough to find out. Not until he had some more evolutions under his belt. But when Arthur caught the sight of long green hair, it was on top of something completely alien. He balked, but since he was riding on it, it must be a Pokemon..?

❝Okay first, and excuse me for my language, but what the fuck are you riding on - is that a Pokemon? God what kind of Pokemon is this?❞ it was massive in more ways than one. He could only tentatively say it could be a legendary. He had no idea what else it could be, unless it was just something else entirely. ❝And what is this place? I haven't set a foot in the other regions 'cuz I'm still working my way up - you can handle whatever's here right? And uh, I guess so? With Beta Tester, it just felt like a demonstration made more sense than accidentally doing something irreversible...❞

He felt really tiny standing beside this giant swole bug. He hadn't even considered to open his UI to check what it was. At least Stura, the Onix, was familiar, but this was activating his flight response.

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Shalin Nariya
Arthur continues to be scared of Shalin lmao

Arthur couldn't wrap his mind around how casually Shalin responded to his query. A Buzzwole, an invasive species? What the hell was that? With the giant bulging bug moving its wings like a bee, he couldn't even properly see the other trainer - a blur in her own madness. He only got a moment's glance to see the other Pokemon (were they even Pokemon?) that were scared off by the larger creature's imposing frame. ❝Hah, you sound just like Josh.❞ he didn't want to say that the moment he would ride on a Buzzwole like Shalin meant that he had gone insane, but at least she was enjoying herself. In a way, the fact that she seemed perfectly at home on a buzzing wing eased his worries slightly in the harsh terrain they found themselves in.

While he didn't quite need the name (the UI had informed him where he landed as well as a brief description of the place, though it was more of mysterious than helpful), he was surprised and impressed to hear that she had already caught a number of Pokemon in this place. (So they were Pokemon, despite their appearance, he really needed to search up Buzzwole's name in Google when he logged out). ❝Yeah, honestly they look like they could stand toe to toe with Legendary Pokemon.❞ while the thought of it sounded amazing (being able to own a Pokemon like that), clearly that was not going to be without its challenges, and Arthur had no Pokemon that could put them in their place if something went wrong.

He had to consciously tell himself that it was Shalin who was making the Buzzwole move around, but if he did not assure himself, he couldn't help but keep thinking that it was going to pounce at him. Well, pounce was the wrong verb - it just needed to reach its arm and grab him for that to be the end. Suddenly, all that time he spent playing games that had gore had come to haunt him. ❝How were you able to get a saddle on them, then? I gotta admit I'm curious on how you did it.❞

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Shalin Nariya

So they did know each other after all. Not a surprise, and it was interesting to hear that Shalin thought that Josh was too fast for her (or rather, his Pokemon). Maybe Josh focused on speed and Shalin on, err, what, insanity? He knew that there must be a better word out there to explain it, but since he did not have it at the moment, he elected not to say anything at all. He ended up watching her test out the movements of her Buzzwole, and it was fascinating to watch her command the Pokemon down to the most precise movement. Would he be able to do something like that? (Well, he supposed the question was also if that was necessary, but it would be nice - having that kind of skill).

He couldn't help but tilt his head a little at Shalin's statement. No, he did not know about mounts nor how saddles appeared, and he also didn't even know how to train a Pokemon to be ridden. It made sense that some Pokemon were predisposed to be ridden, like he'd imagine that Ponytas and Rapidashes might be okay with it. Maybe. But then again, Josh (and now Shalin) definitely looked like the types that didn't want to just ride any ol' Pokemon.

Hence the bulging biped bug before him.

He got lost about the mention of the triangle until he figured that she was somehow looking at the underlying code, which, more than anything else, felt a little unnerving. Even if he knew that he was in a game, even games do not normally expose or make their code visible. To be able to see and tamper with it sounded fascinatingly powerful and dangerous, though if this was a feature and not a bug, then surely there were limitations to how much things could be adjusted.

In Shalin's case, it was to adjust the saddle. On the wing, of all places.

Yep, insane. He didn't even bother asking why she wanted to ride on the wing.

❝I do admire the go-getter attitude that any Pokemon is rideable. It's important to keep an open-mind in a game as flexible as UNOVR.❞ he commented, trying to think of what he would do if he managed to unlock the Beta Tester class. What would he be able to adjust? Would he even be able to figure out how to use it properly? What if he broke something and it couldn't be fixed? Suddenly it felt like a lot of responsible for great power.

❝By the way, what do you mean by level? You're not talking about the trainer subclasses or class tiers, right?❞

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Shalin Nariya