Chapter 0 - The Game

Yoko
As she thinks of the word type Yoko is hit by a flood of information. First, she sees a series of images showing different examples of these creatures with a type superimposed next to them showing what they are. At first, it shows examples that only represented one type. A fire lizard, a fire dog, a fire magma slug, a water fish, a water crab, a water slug, a grass flower creature, a grass seed a grass mushroom, repeating similarly through eighteen distinct types. After this initial barrage completes it begins showing examples of combinations of each type, a fire/fighting monkey, bug/poison bee, water/ground catfish, ghost/grass pumpkin, rock/psychic moon another torrent of such images goes on for a long while before subsiding. Now the image shows one of the creatures attacking another, the attacker looks like a rock that is also shooting a rock at a flying bird creature. Off to the side super imposed over the image is the symbols for Rock and Flying with a greater than symbol showing that the flying type is weak to the rock type. Hundreds of more images flash by showing a multitude of different type matches, both those strong and weak to differing types. Often showing new variants that reaffirm information that had already been shown. Then it shows that a move affects a Pokemon differently if it has two types that are both weak or strong to a certain move, causing it to be more or far less devastating than if it was used in different circumstances. After these finally, dissapear a new series begins showing that creatures of a certain type attacking with a "move" of the same type create a stronger move than one who does not possess that type. This one is not quite as long as the last but still seems to go on forever. Finally, blessedly the rush of images slows and stops. When Yoko concentrates on each move, in turn, she sees an image of a Remoraid using the move. Although when she says "Water Gun" aloud her Remoraid lightly blasts her with water as well.

Iris
The bottle fills the screen, underneath it is a sparse description stating it to be a simple potion and describing its use and function. Off to the right, you can see it costs 200 of some sort of currency that is represented by the symbol AL.

Yoko opens the door with a click to find the others are all in the main room again.

Shossk turns his head marginally to acknowledge Layl as she exits the 'field' room.  "The final rrooms are being explored.  We are insspecting these pedestals.  I cannot read them."

His head snaps over to the 'hot spring' room door as it opens and produces a refreshed Yoko and her remoraid.  He looks at her, then to the door, then turns back to stare at her.  "I had jusst checked that room a momennt ago.  You were not inside."

The dartrix nods vigorously, having seen the empty room with his own eyes.

"Mhm," Iris answers Shossk with a nod of her head as she points to the bottle on the screen, "This is a potion. I'm not sure if your world has that word, but they help recover your health. This one's just a basic one, so it only recovers a little. Stronger potions recover more. In my world, trainers used items like this to assist in Pokemon battles or when they're just traveling through the wilderness." There were more to the items than just potions, but Iris left it at that for now. The rest of the list was so long that it would be better left for another day.

In the meantime, Iris proceeded to exit the menus on what she dubbed the "Pokemart PC" as Layl and Yoko reappeared in the central room. When Shossk described his conundrum, Iris looked to him in interest. Then she looked to Yoko. It was just a guess, but quite matter-of-factly, she stated, "So then each of the doors doesn't just lead to a room, it leads to an instance of a room. My guess is that the door needs to close and be reopened to create a new instance." That meant a few things, mostly privacy if anyone wanted it and that four people wouldn't need to wait in line to use the bathroom, but she left it unsaid for the others to figure out.

Instead, she added to Shossk's summary of what was being done, "Anyways, look like we're almost done with the exploring. Just two more to go. The terminals that is. The unmarked door is currently unavailable. I think there's a secret to one part of it, but AL scowled at me when I probed deeper, so let's leave it for now. If you guys find that you need a room that isn't covered by the already existing ones, you can ask the terminal with AL's face to turn the unmarked door into what you need. The AL help desk terminal will also answer any questions you have. This one I'm standing at works like a Pokemart, I mean, mart... store... shop? Basically, a terminal you can buy things from using some sort of AL currency. Personally, I'm broke. I don't know about each of you, though. Each item has a written description, so I hope Shossk is the only illiterate. Lastly, I checked the fork and knives room. It's basically the kitchen and dining area. You think of something and it pops into existence. Oh, but make sure to think clearly or else you'll get a... unknown gelatinous mass of what I assume is food." As ever, finger points were used to punctuate and guide everyone's attention to whatever Iris happened to be talking about. This was especially helpful as Iris was walking to the next terminal as she spoke.

Now that Iris had said everything she knew, she started to fiddle with the terminal she had walked to, the one with a Pokeball on it. Although, that didn't mean she stopped talking. She asked the others, "So what did you guys find in the other rooms?" as she pondered between the Growlithe and the red cross on the screen. To be honest, Iris had been expecting this to be like the storage PC back home, but PCs didn't heal... At least that's what she assumed the red cross was for. A little lost, but that wasn't anything new, she clicked on the red cross first to figure out what it was supposed to be.

Shossk leans perceptibly closer to the store screen.  "Yess, I am familiar witth potions.  They are rred drinks mostly carried in glasss containers."

As the mystery of the hot spring is given reasonable speculation, Shossk seems to lose interest in the door.  That's when he notices something booping his clawed toes and he looks down at the tiny mischievous fox.  He doesn't move from his spot, but he reciprocates by waggling his toes and then bringing his tail around to bop the kit around with.

As Iris tells of her discoveries, so does Shossk.  "I havve explored three rooms.  That one holdss the bath and latrine, that onne is for rest, and that one iss for sleep," he says simply, pointing to the toilet door, the couch door, and the bed door respectively.  The bathroom very likely has water seeping out of it by this point.

At this point though, after Iris explains how the kitchen works, Shossk seems... distracted, as the group shares its findings and inspects the remaining terminals.  He keeps glancing towards the door and tasting the air reflexively.

Layl squinted at Iris for a second, before shaking her head. Iris just wasn't paying attention, she guessed. Layl waited for Shossk to end his explanation, before she coughed to gain Iris' attention this time. "The room I entered literally makes what you dream real, I haven't bothered checking it's limitations but it does a pretty good job at reconstructing what you dream up, I don't recommend trying it out. It threw me for a loop down memory lane, and if you don't control your thoughts you can fall pretty deep in there. It's something to be cautious about, at the very least."

Nacht let out excited yips at Shossk playing back, now in an epic play fight with his tail. While the kit was fighting it was clear that it was just playing, any blows it landing not even piercing the scales...if the little guy could even do that. It did look to be a baby after all. Yeah, what harm could a little baby like Nacht do?

The tray withdraws into the kiosk suddenly. A Pokeball appears and spins while a strangely familiar jingle plays. After a short wait the tray pops out, the moon ball in the same place it was first inserted.

The text describes what the Pokemon is, an Eevee, as well as its type and a basic description which mainly talks about its developmental potential. Iris notes that this variant of the AL symbol is golden and seems to require only one unit. The coin slot also emerges from the base, once again replacing the tray.

Layl wasn't sure if Iris was even listening, she kept staring at the computer thing. Layl has no idea how those things work, so she wasn't going to mess with it, but she was going to watch what was happening over Iris' shoulder. She walked around to beside Iris and like she had expected, she understood nothing on the screen. Nothing at all, why was she staring at an...Eevee? "That thing looks cute...I'll take twenty of them." She had meant it as a joke, though her tone was rather flat. People have told her that it was hard to tell when she was joking. Oh well, she would take twenty if they were offered, so it wasn't entirely a joke.