Accompanied by her Pokémon, Alice was intent to explore the Settlement and everything it offered before she gravitated toward the icons for things like quests. It was more important to get to know the area first, and often that involved breaking into every NPC's house just because she could. Little had changed in her first few days of playing the game, she supposed.

"Interesting vibes around here," she commented. "Kinda... wild west? But darker and fancier? I dunno. Nothing like I've ever seen before." It enthralled her. She noticed an NPC not too far away and eagerly began to walk toward them, when one of Stella's vines wrapped gently around her arm.

"Exploring before people, remember?" he said.

"You're right." She sighed. But she loved squeezing every bit of dialogue out of NPCs. They had so much to say!

The sound of laughter was a little disarming to say the least, especially when she realized it was Kirby's. "I sense trouble," she whispered, running in the direction of the gleeful chittering.

"Huh?" The sound of her name made her stop and glance around her, where she found Tuesday in the vicinity. She waved at the girl with a grin. "I thought this was supposed to be a huge game... how is it I keep running into you? Not that I'm complaining." She enjoyed her company. "But--"

Louder cackles and the sound of boxes being moved interrupted her, returning her focus to her escaped Kirby - but when the imp hopped out of the narrow little alley not too far ahead, he wasn't alone. A little Gothita was waving her tiny arms furiously at him. "Kirby, are you bullying someone else's Pokémon?" she demanded, trying on her most authoritative voice. Unfortunately, it came out sounding a little too high-pitched.

"Oh thank god, at least it's not another player's Pokémon. Which means we can catch it." She grinned and looked back at Tuesday. "Have a Gothita yet? You wanna get in on this action?" She raised her voice to command Kirby. "Let's use that type advantage - use Bite!"

"I'm thinking all of the above is the only correct response here," she laughed before letting out a little squeak - Kirby had just backflipped to a spot inches in front of her. "Let's keep the battle just a liiiiiittle further away than that, dude."

"Didja see that?" Kirby bragged before dashing back into battle with the most pathetic Bite she'd ever seen. So much for type advantage! The wild Gothita had practically brushed off his attack like it was nothing. Alice had no idea if he was paying attention, but he was cartwheeling around at precisely the right moment for Gothita to attack - an attack that completely missed him. Wow. This wild encounter might take awhile.

Fortunately, Tuesday was there to chip in - though, somehow, her Cryogonal didn't do as much damage as she'd hoped it would. "What are the odds it'd shake off two supereffective attacks like they're nothing?" Alice shook her head. "This thing is jacked. Or it's using Trick Room, maybe?" She shrugged. "Okay, Kirby, let's switch things up a bit with Fake Out!"

Apparently, Gothita wasn't jacked so much as it may have gotten lucky those first couple hits. Another attack from Cryogonal and it was knocked out cold. Heh, cold, because it's an ice-type... Probably shouldn't voice that thought. No need to make Tuesday cringe right after she'd just started building a decent rapport with her.

"Thanks for the help," she chirped, whipping out a Pokéball to make the catch. "That probably would've gone on a lot longer without you guys." She hesitated, a brief flutter of anxiety nearly holding her back from continuing, but she pushed on. "I know you're a pro, but if you ever, like, need an extra hand around for a quest or something... just message me and I'll be there!"