It was too real.

That was the only thing she could think about as she held the egg in her arms. She was too emotionally attached to her pokemon, her eggs. She presumed that was the whole point of it being a game like this, so they could get you attached and force you to play more. Buy any in-game cosmetics or whatever it was. And yet...

She squeezed the egg in her arms, feeling its cool shell against her skin. If it wasn't for the UI, her mini-map, or any other similar feature, it would be so easy to mistake it for real life. If you put someone in this VR, without telling them it was virtual reality, would they even know? Especially if you removed any aspects of 'game mechanics' from their view. Technology was wild.

She was suddenly brought out of her confused thoughts by the sudden outcry of Marina, her Popplio. It seemed she had found something interesting and was attempting to get her trainer's attention.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She spoke, stumbling up to her feet and fighting for even footing against the sand. The egg was still carefully balanced in her hands even as she began to walk. "What's going on, gal? It's not another volleyball on the beach, is it?"

Mushrooms were sprouting nearby him! That alone was pretty cool, and it distracted her for a brief moment. Just how many different trainer classes existed? She would definitely have to look into it later! Her flustered state was quickly replaced by her sheer curiosity.

As he reached his hands down, she'd reach up to grab hold of his hands. It always felt so strange to touch something, let alone another person, in this virtual world. Just felt way too real, her brain really didn't know what to make of it.

"Well, before I wonder who Ryan is, I should probably ask who you are! I'm Laguna, by the way. And I um, I'm ready! Pull!" She'd move right up against the cliff's edge, jumping as soon as he pulled.

Presuming everything went well, she'd eventually tumble to the ground up at the top of the cliff onto her knees, laughing with a smile on her face. They were bound to be a bit filthy from all her tumbles recently, but she just kept on smiling regardless. "Heh, could have been worse. Thanks for the help! Mind if I ask where you are heading off to?"

Well, her total confusion on what the scrolls remained, but at least one answer was answered. They were supposed to be the Navy Shells! No wonder they could just go and decorate themselves in all the attire! Was it just an in-game faction? Quest rewards, perhaps? Who knew!

"Well then, I guess we are all honorary Navy Shells! It's a pun on like, the Navy Seals? I don't know if that joke will translate to other languages when it opens up internationally, alas. But, we shall see!"

As Yggy's pokemon suddenly carried down an egg, or what appeared to be an egg, Laguna tilted her head. That had way too many bumps to be an egg! It was the right color and everything, but it had so many bumps! She didn't think Pokemon eggs could have bumps. Was it a defense mechanism to look like rocks? Or did the rocks look like eggs? What was the order of operations here!

"Huh..." She rubbed her chin looking at the 'egg', only for her own Pokemon to suddenly clap its fins and make itself known. Sure enough, an egg-like rock was carefully balanced over their nose. Or, perhaps an actual egg. It was hard to tell from a distance when all these rocks looked like eggs and these eggs looked like rocks.

"Marina!" She cried out, shaking her head. "What did I tell you? Put that down and be careful, dear!"

"... Am, I really supposed to climb that?" Laguna said to herself, flopping down and sitting on the ground as she looked up at a relatively small cliff.

It was small in comparison, really. Only about 4 feet tall, most people could probably just climb up given enough effort, but not Laguna. She was still much too unstable on her feet, trying to relearn to walk after nearly 5 years of complete lower paralysis was already difficult.

Her body worked just fine, it was simply the mental overload. She hadn't worked this part of her brain in years, proper balance was incredibly difficult, let alone jumping. And so, Laguna simply sat on the ground, sighing as she wiggled her toes slowly.

The package sat forlornly at her side. Professor Ash had asked her to carry it to a person in town, but at this point, it was appearing almost like an endless task. Curiosity tempted her to look inside, but if she knew anything from video games is that they would always, always comment on the fact that you peeped.

"Well, if Pokemon ever told me anything... Is that you can't walk up those tiny little cliffs anyways, you just gotta walk around." Her eyes glanced back and forth, seeing the cliff just continue forever. It looked, so dumb. She almost expected her legs to hurt after walking so much, but they were perfectly fine! It was her brain exhausted, not her body.

And so, she sighed and dramatically flopped onto her back with a loud thud. Laguna wasn't giving up entirely, but it certainly did look like it. Give her 5 minutes, and she'd try again.

Hey! So, um, I was fighting this Squirtle earlier today on the Beta Coastline! But, my Pokemon doesn't seem nearly as weak after completing the encounter? I think I'm able to catch the wild pokemon, but despite being hit kinda rough, my starter Popplio only looks it like got kind of scratched! I feel like the math on my remaining HP doesn't match! Or are Marina and I just so tough that we can defy math? Hehe!

It seemed that something else had already found their ball. And that something was already playing with it, too. A little Squirtle was bouncing their ball back and forth, as happy as could be.

"Umm, can we have our ball back? Maybe?" Laguna spoke, only to see the Squirtle suddenly get defensive! It chomped down at them, hands clutching at the ball possessively.

"We tried asking nicely Marina, I think it's battle time! Aqua Jet, get that ball!" Marina the Popplio immediately hoped into action. Sliding on a jet of water on its stomach. A sudden spray of water from the Squirtle struck the Popplio, but at his speed it couldn't stop her from slamming into his side, the ball bouncing away.

The coastline was beautiful. Sure, the incoming storm was a bit terrifying, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the fresh air. That salty breeze blowing through her hair, the sand between her toes, everything simply felt wonderful. Sure, the looming presence of danger overhead seemed ever-present, but it was easy to zone out of it for a bit.

With her eyes closed laying down on the sandy beach, all of a sudden water sprays at her from nowhere!

"Gah!" Laguna exclaims, shaking her head as she sits up, only to find her Pokemon Marina the Popplio clapping his fins together. She really was quite the playful sort, and it seemed she was hoping to play around.

Laguna simply can't help but smile, getting up onto her feet, albeit shakily. "Alright, alright. Fine. What shall we do today, huh?"

ENTERING THE TALL GRASS!

When a Wild PKMN appears, reply using the ATTACK button to weaken it! But watch out— it might fight back! If your PKMN faints, you must go to the closest SHRINE to restore your PKMN. When the Wild PKMN's HP reaches 10% or below, up to 2 players may spend 25 BYTES to catch it here. You may also simply retreat to end the encounter.

Laguna