Searching Far and Wide

[intricate_engineer]

Glen was creating a prototype for a new gate design. It was meant to be affordable and provide quick transport between individual homes. She tests several objects and a rat and everything seems to be working.

She steps through. Instead of finding herself in the room next door, she finds herself standing on a sidewalk in an empty city. The buildings are tall and perfect, colorless with doorways far too tall for any human. The roads have no straight lines and twist in on themselves. There is no life or sound.
Glen tries to stay calm. She begins to walk along the road, randomly opening doors and exploring buildings that are as silent as the rest of the world.

She opens a door that she hopes will lead onto a roof and is instead met with warmth, and soft noise, and color.

Comments

[the_very_best]

"You wade through the grass and eventually you'll surprise something or something'll surprise you, and it'll yell, and you let out your rental," Bella says, "and then you tell it what to do. Unless you want me to do the whole thing."

[intricate_engineer]

"No, I got this."
Glen strides into the grass as confidently as she can manage.

[the_very_best]

And eventually she all but trips over a low-slung fuzzy creature that yells "ZIG!" at this indignity.

[intricate_engineer]

She fumbles for her Pokéball and throws it onto the ground.
"Uh, please attack!"

[the_very_best]

"You're gonna have to be more specific," Bella calls, "did you read the infosheet they gave you?" But the Machop bursts out and starts swiping at the fuzzy one.

[intricate_engineer]

"Uh, yes. Thanks Machop! Please use Karate Chop." Glen says all of this somewhat frantically.

[the_very_best]

That gets better results. The Zigzagoon retaliates, but the Machop has it well outclassed.

[intricate_engineer]

"Karate Chop please."

[the_very_best]

And it doesn't take very long before the Zigzagoon is all tuckered out. "Chuck a ball at it," advises Bella.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen does.

[the_very_best]

And now the critter is in the ball and Glen has two of those subtle connectednesses.

[intricate_engineer]

"Is it alright?"

[the_very_best]

"It'll be fine, but you'll want to get it to a center before you try to get it to do much. You'll probably want an intro training guidebook. Those jobbies evolve into the same thing as my Zag - Zigzagoon to Linoone - they're pretty common in this region."

[intricate_engineer]

"Alright." Glen carefully tucks it away.
She wades forward into the grass.

[the_very_best]

"You might not have room for as many 'mon as I can handle," Bella reminds her. "You don't have to catch everything you see. If it turns out two is your max you'll have to keep the rental put away until you can return it."

[intricate_engineer]

"Can I release one?"

[the_very_best]

"Yeah, you can do that."

[intricate_engineer]

"Does that hurt them?"

[the_very_best]

"It's kind of a jerk move to release one that isn't healed up, but one you just caught isn't going to be super attached to you. Some people do catch-and-release recreationally, or just like to go through a lot of options until they find one they click with."

[intricate_engineer]

"Are potions as good as healing at a center?"

[the_very_best]

"As long as nothing complicated is going on, yeah."

[intricate_engineer]

"Alright. I probably won't, but it's good to know."
Glen continues forward into the grass.

[the_very_best]

After about another twenty minutes of walking around - Bella has swapped her Pidgeot for her Sawsbuck and is riding him, staying back to avoid crowding Glen - Glen stumbles across an Abra munching on some grass. It squints up at her.

"Don't even fight it if you want it just throw the ball," says Bella quick, "before it gets away."

[intricate_engineer]

Glen throws the ball.

[the_very_best]

It bounces off the Abra's shoulder and engulfs it in light.

The ball shakes and shakes and eventually settles.

"Sometimes if you don't beat them up a little first they break out of the balls," Bella says, "but not always and an Abra won't reliably stick around long enough to get worn down."