Pokémon World Online
Part 44: Maxed Out
Disclaimer: I don't own the usual. And I don't own Disc World references, which belongs to Terry Pratchit. This part is dedicated to Guy. A small portion of this is written by him too (a certain exchange) and thanks to him for helping me sort out a few details. And yes, I enjoy messing with Aura and Guy ever so much. Read on to find out what I mean.
ooo
Guy lagged behind the others as they marched towards Koom Valley. His mind kept wandering back to the events that took place at PWO Corp. When he had taken out the butter knife and began his attack, his motions weren't his own. Also, when he sliced Dil in half, he could feel the butter knife sword absorbing the power from Dil and consuming him. Trellaine noticed the herbalist falling behind and slowed down his pace so he could catch up with him. "What's troubling you?" Trellaine asked, pulling out an orange to cure his hunger.
"The knife," Guy said as if it was obvious, and honestly it was.
"It's never been a problem before." Trellaine looked up at Guy, who was slightly taller.
"I'm worried about this," Guy said softly, trying to keep his voice down. "The Knife didn't work the way it always has. I felt… I felt like I wasn't me. I did not cut Dil down. It was the Knife that did it. I think I should not use it anymore."
"Oh come on, it can't have been that different," Trellaine spoke as he peeled an orange. "I can't imagine my coding being that far off."
"This world is becoming real, isn't it? The coding you did might not even exist anymore. It's part of this thing, just like we're becoming part of this world," the herbalist countered. "I was not in control. It was like I was on auto-pilot! That scares the crap out of me! You know what we based this thing on! If it becomes real, do you have any idea what'll happen?"
"The world as we know it will cease to exist, and a new order shall rise from its ashes, and we shall be its -" Trellaine started, delving into the Brotherhood.
"Cut that out!" Guy interjected. "I'm serious, Chris! This whole 'PWO becoming real' thing is going way out of hand! Don't you remember? The respawn countdown hasn't shown up in ages, despite god knows how many KOs we've caused!"
"Fine, have it your way," Trellaine sighed. "I'm aware we're playing with fire. But right now, we need to focus on stopping Dream. And if the Knife is the only way we can do that, then so be it. I'm also aware of the countdown issue… and it means one of two things: firstly, it could mean the character is dead, and a surprised gamer lifts his helmet in frustration and tries to contact Customer Support. Secondly, it could mean…"
"… Trouble," Guy finished grimly after Trellaine trailed off when realization hit. "It could leave whoever gets cut, burnt, or blown to smithereens in a lot of pain, because of the pain receptors built into the system. But then… Ever seen The Matrix, Chris? … 'I thought you said it wasn't real.'"
"'Your Mind makes it real.'" Trellaine said as he picked up the quote.
"'But that means that if you die in the Matrix…'" Guy urged him on.
"'The body cannot live without the Mind.' … Dear god!" Trellaine gasped. "If your brain is tricked into believing YOU died…!"
"People could end up getting killed," Guy stated. "And the counter's been down for quite a while already. God knows how many have been KO'd in that time! There could be a huge pile of corpses by now! And remember how we can't log out? What if someone just removes his helmet to quit that way? His mind is trapped in here, and if it gets separated from the body… We need to get word out. How good is your network?"
"Same as yours," the mage replied, after which they nodded at each other and attempted to open their PM consoles… only they wouldn't show. Surprised, they tried again. But it failed. "… Houston… we have a problem…"
"Screw this shit!" Twilmer cursed ahead of them, becoming extremely exhausted from trying to keep up with the group on her own two paws for once. She pulled out her charm and was about to activate it when Trellaine stopped her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. What if you need to be a human later but cannot because your charm needs to recharge and you are stuck as a Pichu?" He looked at her and she reluctantly dropped the charm.
"Why don't you just ride on my shoulder like usual?" Helium asked looking down at her.
"I've gotten used to relying on my own two legs...err...paws now I suppose." Twilmer fell behind once again. "Who the hell made a creature with no legs and all feet?"
"Why don't you run on all fours like a wild Pichu?" Emily23 suggested, looking back at her.
"I am not a wild Pichu," Twilmer sniffed. After falling behind yet again, she gave up and got down on all fours trying to keep up with the group. The position, however, was very awkward for her and she ended up stumbling and falling over. "I hate my life," she groaned into the ground.
Everyone chuckled except Helium. He walked towards her and bent down, holding out his arm. Twilmer sighed in defeat and climbed onto his shoulder. "So what's the quickest way to Koom Valley?" Twilmer asked, pretending that the moment before didn't happen though the blush on her cheeks told otherwise.
"The quickest way cuts through Agato Town. I don't think that it's a good idea to go through a town when we are the most wanted gamers," Aura said as she examined her map.
"Agato? Why that's the town I worked at back when I was a moderator!" Twilmer's ears perked up as she smiled. "I know the guy working as moderator now and it's such a small town that no one will realize it's us. We just need to change all of our outfits and we should be fine." Twilmer suggested. Everyone nodded and began looking through their inventory for other outfits.
"So, they put you in charge of a small town, eh Twilmer?" Drix smirked evilly at her as he pulled on a suit of armor, which was a rather clever disguise.
"Shut up or I'll make you shut up," Twilmer's cheeks sparked.
Aura blushed as she turned around dressed in an outfit that looked as if it came straight out of an old western. "You say anything, ANYTHING at all, and I will kill you," she growled. She was glaring at Drix, though her threat went for the entire party. Drix merely whistled, closing the helmet so he could laugh freely without being heard.
"This seems terribly, terribly wrong," Guy looked extremely irritated as he was now clad in a pink robe. Helium smiled as he wore Guy's navy blue robes. The two didn't have any extra outfits and had simply swapped robes. Guy, being taller than Helium, didn't quite fit in the robe and his legs and arms were more exposed then they should have been. "Oh no, this doesn't look gay in the least." Meanwhile Helium was swimming in Guy's robe as the sleeves completely swallowed his arms.
Trellaine put on an orange patterned robe. Everyone raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. "Oh come off it. You guys can't honestly say that you are surprised." He had them there. Emily23 changed from her Bunneary outfit to a Flaffy one which was just as slutty as the last one.
"Alright, I think we're ready now. We just need to pass quickly through this town, so no one do anything stupid," Twilmer commanded. The party set off, Emily23 jingling the bell around her neck.
"Can I see if they have a Lopunny outfit, Miss Pichu? I mean, I don't really want to wear a Bunneary outfit if my partner is no longer a Bunneary." Emily23 begged.
"No, absolutely not! We don't have time to meander around in Agato." Twilmer looked down at her sternly from her perch on Helium's shoulder.
"Oh come on, Twilmer. This may be the last town we ever enter. Let the girl have some fun. What can it hurt?" Aura looked up at Twilmer.
Twilmer sighed, not able to resist Aura's pleading look. "Okay fine, but no more than thirty or forty minutes. We have to get to Zero today," Twilmer grumped. Emily2 bounced up and down, the bell jingling as she did so. Lopunny mimicked her, but she bounced a lot higher than before and surprised herself. She ran off into the town; Max not far behind.
"And this is one of the people I've chosen to help me save the world," Twilmer shook her head. Helium smiled and patted Twilmer's fur. She purred for a second before slapping his hand away and glaring ahead.
ooo
Emily23 slowed down so that Max could catch up to her. She held his paw in her hand as they walked to a nearby stall. She browsed through the merchandise the NPC was offering and finally found the outfit she was looking for. It looked almost exactly like the Bunneary one she had except it had been modified to match its evolved counterpart. Emily23 handed over the money for it and resisted the urge to try it on right then and there as they were undercover. Now that that was out of the way, she just needed to find a gamer willing to raise Max.
"I wonder what kind of class you'd work best with. I don't think you're good at finding things, so not an item hunter. You aren't fast so a grace master is definitely out. Maybe a defender or something," she babbled on as she walked down the streets. The town was small and there weren't many people around. Oh well, she would just have to start asking people one by one.
"Excuse me!" She approached a harsh looking young man who had an exaggerated Egyptian appearance.
"What do you want?" he asked harshly as he turned, but was taken aback as his eyes fell on her skimpily clad body. "I mean, excuse my harshness, miss what was it?"
"I didn't introduce myself, but I'm Emily23! What's your name?" she asked.
"I'm Yagasaki," he stated simply. "What can I help you with?"
"I need to find a partner for Max, this Slowbro," she introduced. Yagasaki raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the pink Pokémon. "You see I'm a tamer and I've raised this Pokémon since he was a Slowpoke, only it's not doing him any good to stick with me, so I'm trying to find a partner for him."
"That girl sure talks a lot," Yagasaki thought to himself, looking down at the Slowbro in disgust. "I suppose I could help you, for a bit."
"Oh that would be lovely!" Emily23 bounced up and down, Lopunny taking smaller bounces this time when she mimicked her partner. The two set off together, but everyone they came to either already had a partner or was not interested in befriending a Slowbro. Emily23 held a guilty hope that no one would take Max because she had gotten so attached to him, but she pushed this hope aside. She had to do what was best for her partner. She finally sat down on a bench, tired of getting turned down. "I don't understand," she complained to Yagasaki, "Max is such a good Pokémon, but no one will give him a chance. Hey, you don't have a partner; would you like to take Max?"
"Me?" Yagasaki looked shocked. "Um, I'm not sure I'm ready for another partner at the moment." He looked away and down at his hands.
"For another partner?" Emily23 looked up at him in concern. "What do you mean?"
"My last partner was murdered. For some reason, he never came back." Yagasaki stood up, not looking at Emily23.
"The same thing happened to the swordsman in my party. His partner was murdered and he was so extremely sad." She began to mess with the lace of her outfit.
There was a crashing sound. The two gamers jolted up and looked around for the source of the commotion. "What the hell?" Yagasaki looked on as Ontario and Elra came marching towards them. "Emily23?" Ontario raised an eyebrow in recognition.
"Emily23? Like the one of that wanted party?" Yagasaki looked hard at her.
"Ontario and that girl who hates Miss Pichu, what are you doing here?" Emily23 looked from one to the other in shock.
"Well, if she's here, then Twilmer must be here too. Let's draw her out into the open." Elra stepped forward, producing a bubble with her bubble staff. Vaporeon froze is and she hit it, knocking it into a nearby building and causing a loud explosion.
"Stop that! She'll get caught," Emily23 looked from Elra to Ontario. "Ontario, tell her to stop!" Emily23 looked to Ontario. In the last minutes he had been with their party, he had gone out of his way to save her. She knew there was still good in him somewhere.
"Elra," Ontario looked up at her.
"Oh cry me a river," Elra crossed her arms and shook her head. She was just about to form another bubble when Max pointed a finger at her and she stopped in her tracks. "What the hell," she said stiffly.
"Max is using psychic." Emily23 looked proudly at the Slowbro. Yagasaki looked over at Max too. Could a little Slowbro really be this powerful?
"You little brat! Vaporeon, get that Slowbro off my case." Vaporeon ran forward, but Lopunny jumped up and used her long ears to throw the Pokémon away. Yagasaki held up his shield in front of Emily23 and glared at Ontario. Never would he think that his rival of sorts would sink this low.
"Why do you want to hurt Twilmer?" Emily23 looked up at her accusingly.
"Because we're rivals dear and that's what we do," Elra laughed. "Now put me down."
"Not unless you leave and never come back."
"I can't make promises," Elra shrugged.
"Well, then, Max, teleport her away." Max nodded and with a flick of his claw, Elra and Vaporeon vanished.
"That Slowbro did all of that?" Yagasaki looked at Emily23, her long blonde hair moving with the gentle breeze.
"Ontario, you should come back to the party. We could use you," Emily23 looked up at him sincerely. Ontario looked at her for a second and shook his head, backing up and then turning and running away. "What's with him?" she blinked.
"Stubborn old goat," Yagasaki remarked. "I guess I'll report the damage on these buildings to the mod."
"I guess I'll have to return to Twilmer. She's probably already mad that I'm later than I said I would be. I guess this means Max will have to come along. It was nice meeting you." Emily23 turned to leave, but Yagasaki stopped her.
"I'll become Max's partner, if you'll let me." Emily23's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at him sideways.
"Yes, I am."
ooo
"It's about time you showed up. We almost left without you," Twilmer grumbled as Emily23 and Lopunny walked towards the group who were seated on benches on the edge of town.
"Oh, so is that why you kept asking where she was and checking your map for her and worrying," Drix teased. Twilmer thunder shocked him.
"Where's that Slowbro?" Guy asked.
"Oh, Max? He's no longer with me. I found him a partner." Emily23 began to tear up. Aura walked over to her and gave her a hug. "No, it's okay. He's out of danger now and he has a partner. It's better this way." She whiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled.
"You've grown up," Aura smiled.
ooo
Yagasaki watched the party from the top of a cliff as they entered the forest on the other side. His eyes lingered on Emily23, clad in a Lopunny outfit. He sighed and turned. Max looked down at her as well with a yawn. "Come on. Let's find Ontario."
ooo
End Part 44
Ahh, so Aura still has that Wild West outfit ;) I loved writing this part. Emily23 needs more love : and sorry Treecko(no) if this is taking Yagasaki out of character, but I couldn't resist since he doesn't have a partner anymore XD I'm relatively sad because the end is drawing near :(
