[ti]open[/ti]001 — all the other kids with the

"I think I'm officially sick of walking everywhere," Alice sighed as she finally, finally made her way back to the starting town where Mom lived. Exploring and catching Pokémon was great fun until you started to become familiar enough with your surroundings to feel the itch to do some running. Getting back to Mom's house was the hardest part honestly, as easily-distracted as she was by every rustle and breeze from the Pokémon-filled environment.

<Focus!> Stella told her, one of his vines wrapping around her wrist as she caught sight of a mushroom circle.

"Next time, I swear!" she whispered as a promise to Kirby's Pokéball.

The last time she'd tried to go in Mom's house, she'd found another Player inside, so hopefully that wouldn't be the case this time. In any case, she was annoyed enough with not being able to run that she figured she'd barge in regardless. Upon opening the door, she wasn't surprised to see a Player there at Mom's side, a guy with platinum-blond hair and blue eyes like chips of ice.

"Alice!" Mom waved delightedly at her. "Great of you to drop by! I was just giving Derk_thejerk his running shoes, but I know I have yours around here too."

She shuffled into a side room, allowing Alice to give Derk_TheJerk a little smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting Mom's storytelling. Apparently we're supposed to get our backstory from this. I've heard some of the other players have, uh... interesting stories about what happened to their in-game fathers." She was definitely interested in whatever Mom had to tell her about her own father. "I'm Alice, by the way! And this is Stella," she added, when she felt the familiar, expectant flick of his leaf brushing her ankle.

"Found them!" Mom burst from the side-room with a pair of white shoes. "Tucked away next to your father's leather jacket. I still wear it from time-to-time. Black leather jackets are simply timeless... unlike your father, of course." She shook her head wistfully. "Thirty-four Bullet Seeds will do that."

"Thirty-four?" And Bullet Seeds? It was like the game was trying to censor itself. "Was Dad a bad guy or something?"

Mom chuckled. "Your father wasn't a bad man, but you could make a case he was bad boy. I've always had a bit of a weakness for them! Our love was brief but it burned bright! Here you are, dear!" She passed off the box to Alice, who accepted the Running Shoes.

"Thanks, Mom. This has been... er, enlightening?" Alice equipped her running shoes from her UI before returning to the scene at hand. "Are you baking something?" She'd heard Mom made spectacular pies - what excellent timing. "Mind if my brother and I take a couple slices for the road?" She grinned at Derk, who might as well be her in-game brother given they shared the same Mom.

Mom's eyes lit up as soon as she mentioned baking and with Derk_TheJerk chiming in with a compliment, she was pretty much beaming. "Oh, of course! You know me, I've always got something in the oven. I'm afraid they're going to be a bit to hot to carry for the road, though." She wheeled around and opened the door to some kind of pantry, revealing the perplexing sight of dozens of neatly-stacked white boxes. She took out two and offered them to her children. "I made your favorites earlier today! Mini-pies, perfect for traveling!"

There was nothing mini about the pie inside Alice's box - if anything, it was just a normal-sized pie. But she recalled that Mom was well-known for her giant pies, so maybe this was what she considered mini. It smelled amazing, though, not like any pie she'd had in the real world. Her mouth was already watering. "Do you make our favorite pie everyday, Mom?"

"Hmmm?" She hummed as she whipped out some cute oven mitts and pulled two fresh pies from the oven. "Oh, yes! What kind of mother would I be if I wasn't always ready to feed my children?"

Alice peered over Mom's shoulder, observing the way the pixels faded to darkness behind the first rows of boxes, implying its seemingly endless depth. The Devil works hard, but Mom works harder.

"Something caught your eye, Derk_TheJerk?" Mom eyed Derk with knowing smile, walking over to him and picking up the leather jacket he was checking out. "Turn around. Let's see how you look in it!" After helping him into it, she hurried around and her whole expression lit up. "Look at that! A perfect fit. And it suits you wonderfully - you should take it!"

Alice was halfway through a slice of pie, but managed to let out a little whistle of appreciation. "It does suit you. Careful you don't attract the attention of the Seedot out there though," she teased. Too soon?

"Seems that way!" she responded, licking her lips as she finished her pie slice and plopped her fork in the box for later. It disappeared from sight as she stored the item in her inventory, hoping it wouldn't go bad in there. That pie tasted out of this world.

"We gotta hit the road, Mom! Thanks for the shoes - and the pie - and Derk's jacket!" She smiled when Mom opened up her arms, willingly stepping forward and accepting the hug. She smelled like clean linen and, of course, freshly-baked pie.

"Be careful out there, and have fun!" Mom called after them as they made their way to the front door. "Promise you'll look after each other!"

She laughed, exchanging an amused look with Derk_TheJerk as she replied, "I promise!"

They left the house, Stella bounding ahead of Alice to go investigate a bush not too far away. He had a habit of finding berries and bringing them back to her. "Well, that was fun! D'you mind if I add you as a friend? I kinda feel like we're honorary siblings now, and I did just promise Mom I'd look after you." Sending a friend request to Derk's username, she grinned at him. "So if you ever need an extra quest partner, just hit me up!"

The sound of loud rustling caught her attention, and she noticed Stella seemed to have gotten very deep inside the bush, possibly to the point of being stuck. "Uh, I better go take care of that. See ya!" She waved at him before hurrying over to free her poor, tangled Chikorita.