[ti]open[/ti] 004: Catch Me Outside

Movement on her HUD caused Alice to glance toward it, noticing a red-haired Player approach nearby. It seemed like she was getting harassed by some oddly-familiar guy who looked not too much younger than Alice. And the other Player - Maxine Mayfield - was just as familiar, but for the life of her Alice could not place why.

And then the strangest thing happened. Mom shook, and transformed completely in demeanor and tone as she scolded the other NPC currently harassing the red-haired Player. Alice watched, astonished, as she quickly carried out the fastest Pokémon catching tutorial she'd ever witnessed, seized the other NPC, and dragged him away, ignoring his angry protests. Another Golden Pokéball (not Alice's) appeared, and QUACXEE nudged it toward the other Player. <Congratulations, Maxine Mayfield, you've completed the catching tutorial and received the Golden Pokéball, which will allow you to catch Pokémon of your own!>

It then turned and looked at Alice expectantly, where her Pokéball was still trapped inside the glowing prison next to the AI.

"Nice to meet you too, Maxine... or do you prefer Max?" she inquired. "I don't think I've ever met that other NPC before... what was his name? Billy? Or is he your Rival? He didn't look like the Rival, but he kinda acted like him!"

Without warning, Mom appeared in the tall grass, scaring the daylights out of Alice. "Alice, dear! Long time, no see! You should be careful in the tall grass - anyone--I mean, any Seedot could come along and hit you with Bullet Seed, just like your poor father. Oh, speak of the devil!" Mom recited the exact same script as before, giving Alice a bizarre sense of deja vu.

"Hey, QUACXEE! Any chance I could skip this? I literally just watched Maxine finish her own catching tutorial, like I was standing right here!"

<Yes! And now you're completing your catching tutorial!> QUACXEE responded, as chipper as ever.

Meanwhile, Mom sent out her Mr. Mime against the Seedot, which hadn't moved even when Mom had changed into Maxine's Mom. "First, it's important to weaken the opposing Pokémon in order to make it easier to catch. If your Pokémon is stronger than average, it's recommended you use weaker moves, or False Swipe, in order to safely weaken it without accidentally knocking it out." The HUD shifted, forcing Alice to see what Mom was seeing as she navigated toward her Pokémon's list of available moves. "Mr. Mime, use Pound!"

Mr. Mime stepped menacingly toward the Seedot and brought both its fists down on the little acorn Pokémon. Its health bar, helpfully displayed on Alice's HUD, made its crawl toward the "yellow zone".

Mom looked at Alice and Maxine. "I'm sure you can guess what happens now!"

Alice thought this was a rhetorical question, but Mom didn't move, prompting the pink-haired girl to sigh with exasperation. "You catch the Pokémon?"

"Exactly!" Mom beamed. Her HUD showed her Mom's display again, where she selected the Golden Pokéball from her inventory and confirmed its usage on Seedot.

It's almost over...!

Maxine Mayfield - who seemed to prefer Max - looked surprised when Alice asked about her name preference. "Oh, I mean... Max is a common nickname for Maxine, isn't it?" she laughed lightly, accepting the friend request Max sent her way.

Her attention refocused on Mom's wiggling Pokéball, letting out a sigh of relief as it finally lay still. "And that's it!" she announced, striding over to the Pokéball and picking it up again. "Once you've captured a Pokémon, you can equip it to a Skill Tree if you have a slot available. You can only capture a Pokémon if you have an open spot in your party available, or an open Pokémon box spot..." She continued chattering on how to equip Pokémon to a skill tree and unlock more spots, and Alice groaned inwardly.

Luckily, Max distracted her with another question - a puzzling one. "Series?" she echoed. She recalled the feeling of familiarity she had looking at Max earlier, wondering now if these things were connected. "I'll be honest, I don't do much else than go to work and play video games these days. It's been a loooooong time since I've read any books or watched a tv show. I did think you looked kinda familiar though. Is it a really popular series?" She'd spent enough time in various gamer/geek shops to become familiar with most fandoms' main characters.

"Anyway, I think that's everything!" Mom finished, offering another bright smile for Alice. "Well, I'll be off! I have to pick up some things at the town nearby - I'll see you later, Alice and Maxine!" She waved at the two girls as she headed further along the route, her Mr. Mime disappearing back inside her Pokéball.

<Congratulations, Alice!, you've completed the catching tutorial and received the Golden Pokéball, which will allow you to catch Pokémon of your own!> QUACXEE's voice sounded behind her, and he nudged the Pokéball toward her at last.

"Yes, thank you for stealing my Pokéball and not releasing it until I watched not one, but two catching tutorials." Alice rolled her eyes and grabbed her Pokéball, putting it safely back inside her inventory.

<It's been my pleasure to assist you!> QUAXCEE responded, and promptly blipped out of existence.

"I swear, that AI might be a bit of a masochist," she complained to Max. "That was agonizing." She tilted her head at the sight of Popplio, which Max was holding in her arms. "Hey there, little guy," she cooed. "Have you nicknamed it?"