Asber Exploration Agency

[Negrek]

Walker

As you start off in search of a suitable tree for climbing, a weird apparition passes by you: vaguely humanoid, it looks like cloud of computer programming that one day decided to get up and take a walk in the woods. Its passing is accompanied by the hiss of electrical white noise. The only indication of what it might be is indicated by the name "Blastoise428" floating at the center of what might be its torso. It doesn't slow as it passes by, disappearing deeper into the trees as you settle upon one of the tallest trees in the area that is still climbable: an old fir. It looks a bit old and perhaps not entirely safe, but though sappy bark crumbles away beneath your hands and feet as you scramble from one branch to another, it holds well enough.

After a bit of diligent--and tiring--climbing--you manage to break through the upper canopy of the forest. The old pine goes a bit higher, but the branches above look even thinner and less certain than the ones you've been clinging to the whole way. From where you are, though, you don't really have a great vantage of the surrounding forest. ASB central looms obvious to the east, but to the west, north, and south, there are only trees. From this height, you can't see the end of the forest--and you can only guess at the presence of the river, where there appears to be a cleft off to the west, the direction the fizzing shadow you saw earlier was headed.

Of more immediate concern is the pidgey staring at you from a couple branches up. It's seated on a nest and doesn't look like it intends to move soon, but neither does it look pleased to see you.

Kusarigamaitachi

The nuzleaf doesn't look away from you, but it doesn't do anything immediately threatening, either.

Tankard looks almost as dazed from being released as does the pineco. He cranes his neck around and stares up at you, and it's unclear whether he's heard your orders. Thus, it's the pineco that moves first, levering itself out of the loam and throwing itself at tankard with incredible force--especially considering that it has no visible means of locomotion. The squirtle staggers back as the mighty double-edge strikes, falling hard onto his rump, while the pineco bounces off and lodges top-first in the ground nearby.

Apparently, Tankard heard what you said, because his next move is to open his mouth and let of a greatly-exaggerated yawn. The pineco blinks back at him; it's impossible to tell whether the attack was successful. Tankard is faster on the uptake this time, though, and while the pineco struggles to extricate itself from the earth, he closes his eyes and puts his paws up to his temples, frowning as he exercises unfamiliar mental muscles.

A blue glow surrounds the pineco and it starts to rise from the ground. Its eyes widen, and it starts to thrash around wildly, easily breaking free of Tankard's weak mental grip. It hits the ground still shuddering, but its struggles swiftly grow weaker, its eyes drooping shut as it succumbs to yawn-induced sleep. Tankard opens his own eyes, looking a bit put out by the abrupt end to his confusion attack. He is also badly bruised from the double-edge, but doesn't appear to be in danger of collapse. The pineco has taken no visible damage aside from chipping about the edges due to its own double-edge.

Blastoise428

(( Randomizer. ))

Intent on seeing what might lie at the bottom of the river, you follow the path down to the pier. Its crooked boards are weatherbeaten but look solid enough, though they creak beneath your feet as you step out onto it and peer into the water. The only new pokémon that comes to light is a goldeen nibbling at the aquatic plants growing around the pier's crusted old supports.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

Umm, let's see... I'm going to walk over to the whistling sound. I'll thoroughly scan it, and if it has a level higher than three, I'll leave and head toward the Beach Outpost, stopping at the shore.

 

[allitersonance]

Kusarigamaitachi

The nuzleaf doesn't look away from you, but it doesn't do anything immediately threatening, either.

Tankard looks almost as dazed from being released as does the pineco. He cranes his neck around and stares up at you, and it's unclear whether he's heard your orders. Thus, it's the pineco that moves first, levering itself out of the loam and throwing itself at tankard with incredible force--especially considering that it has no visible means of locomotion. The squirtle staggers back as the mighty double-edge strikes, falling hard onto his rump, while the pineco bounces off and lodges top-first in the ground nearby.

Apparently, Tankard heard what you said, because his next move is to open his mouth and let of a greatly-exaggerated yawn. The pineco blinks back at him; it's impossible to tell whether the attack was successful. Tankard is faster on the uptake this time, though, and while the pineco struggles to extricate itself from the earth, he closes his eyes and puts his paws up to his temples, frowning as he exercises unfamiliar mental muscles.

A blue glow surrounds the pineco and it starts to rise from the ground. Its eyes widen, and it starts to thrash around wildly, easily breaking free of Tankard's weak mental grip. It hits the ground still shuddering, but its struggles swiftly grow weaker, its eyes drooping shut as it succumbs to yawn-induced sleep. Tankard opens his own eyes, looking a bit put out by the abrupt end to his confusion attack. He is also badly bruised from the double-edge, but doesn't appear to be in danger of collapse. The pineco has taken no visible damage aside from chipping about the edges due to its own double-edge.

Poop.

"Get up close behind it to make sure you can't miss. Then use Zap Cannon. Zap Cannon up close again if it's still asleep or can't move out of the way, or Confusion if not. Go for straight mental intrusion if you do Confusion."

 

[gamelord]

Im confused. is this where we start or not?

 

[nastypass]

If by 'start' you mean create an ASB account, then no. That is done in the bank.

 

[Phoenixsong]

One more thing.

First you said this:

First, know that it is free to transfer items that have been bought in the game context and pokémon that either originated in the player's main ASB account or that were caught in a pokéball while in the game.

But then you said this:

Additionally, if a player wishes to bring a pokémon from their main account that has not previously participated in this game, they must pay the same fee, which is composed of two parts, one based on the pokémon's evolution stage and the other on the number of levels it has.

Maybe it's just because I'm tired, but that sounds contradictory. If you've already transferred it in from ASB and the Pokémon is now in both places at once, why would you transfer it out anyway? Unless that's referring to a Pokémon that evolves in this game and you want to apply its evolution in the main game, I don't get it. I don't know; I just want to be sure that I understand how the whole transferring things in deal works, how it's different from bringing things in when you start the game, etc..

And what do you mean by "has previously participated"? Again, if you've transferred it in then it's already there, isn't it? Unless that refers to the player stopping/losing the game and then bringing the same Pokémon back in for another try?

And we can't interact with other people at all? Aww... but that makes it sound like people won't get hurt when I Draco Meteor the hell out of ASB Central!

 

[Negrek]

Blastoise428

(( It would take several days to walk to the Beach outpost, just FYI. ))

The whistling noise led you off the path and away from the water, back into the forest. After stumbling around for a while, you at last managed to find what you believed to be its source: a large old, knobby tree. You couldn't see what was making the sound, as it was obscured by low leaves and the darkness of the tree's branches, but your pokédex easily picked it up. "This nuzleaf is level sixteen," it reported as soon as it had been pointed up at the sound.

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard grimaces and raises his paws, preparing a powerful blast of electrical energy, which he is not very accustomed to working with. Tendrils of electrical energy sizzle in the air around him as he concentrates, twining together into dense orbs of power. The pineco is oblivous to the impending danger, continuing to nap on the forest floor. More and more balls of electrical energy gather around Tankard, and at last, he shoves them forward with his paws, sending them sailing towards his opponent.

The zap cannon hits home with explosive force, ripping the pineco out of the ground and hurling it backward. Tankard throws up his paws to protect his face from the blinding flash that accompanies the attack's impact, and a resounding crack reverberates through the air as the pineco comes to rest, smoking, almost a meter away from its original resting spot.

The pineco, understandably awoken by the powerful attack, makes a garbled sort of chattering noise and shudders as it rights itself. Tankard lets out a squeal of surprise as the loam around his feet suddenly comes to life, turning treacherously soft and viscous. He sinks into the newly-minted quicksand, and his most frantic struggles only speed his descent into the earth. Trying to keep calm, the squirtle focuses his mental energies once again, eyes glowing blue as he bombards the pineco with bursts of mental energy. The bug pokémon shudders and makes another gurgling noise, but the quicksand does not disappear.

The pineco has clearly been badly injured by the zap cannon, a few of its scales broken and the front of its body charred black. It appears dazed, the confusion only adding to its discomfort. Tankard looks a bit tired from the demanding special attacks he's been using, but he's far from collapse and is physically in fine shape, though how long that will be true with the quicksand pulling him down is anybody's guess.

Kratos Aurion

The first quote refers to sending pokémon/items out of the player's game account, while the second governs bringing them in. Sorry if that wasn't made clear; I'll look into fixing it when I have the time. Thus, the second quote refers to bringing new pokémon into the game that weren't there before, as opposed to those that have been (if you wanted to apply their evolution, new body mods, etc. to the game).

And yes, you can interact with other players as much as you'd like, and your actions (should they have sufficient impact) will affect other players' in-game experience. If you're put off by how players have been described thus far, that's just because I don't know how either Walker or Blastoise428 would prefer to look or what they would want to be called, besides their username. If no other description is provided, that's how players look to one another in the game--nondescript, with name tags. They can still interact with one another in that form, though.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

I'll send out my Bulbasaur and get him to Tackle, or if that doesn't work, Skull Bash, a tree to knock a Pokemon down.

 

[allitersonance]

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard grimaces and raises his paws, preparing a powerful blast of electrical energy, which he is not very accustomed to working with. Tendrils of electrical energy sizzle in the air around him as he concentrates, twining together into dense orbs of power. The pineco is oblivous to the impending danger, continuing to nap on the forest floor. More and more balls of electrical energy gather around Tankard, and at last, he shoves them forward with his paws, sending them sailing towards his opponent.

The zap cannon hits home with explosive force, ripping the pineco out of the ground and hurling it backward. Tankard throws up his paws to protect his face from the blinding flash that accompanies the attack's impact, and a resounding crack reverberates through the air as the pineco comes to rest, smoking, almost a meter away from its original resting spot.

The pineco, understandably awoken by the powerful attack, makes a garbled sort of chattering noise and shudders as it rights itself. Tankard lets out a squeal of surprise as the loam around his feet suddenly comes to life, turning treacherously soft and viscous. He sinks into the newly-minted quicksand, and his most frantic struggles only speed his descent into the earth. Trying to keep calm, the squirtle focuses his mental energies once again, eyes glowing blue as he bombards the pineco with bursts of mental energy. The bug pokémon shudders and makes another gurgling noise, but the quicksand does not disappear.

The pineco has clearly been badly injured by the zap cannon, a few of its scales broken and the front of its body charred black. It appears dazed, the confusion only adding to its discomfort. Tankard looks a bit tired from the demanding special attacks he's been using, but he's far from collapse and is physically in fine shape, though how long that will be true with the quicksand pulling him down is anybody's guess.

"Aqua Jet to escape, and hit the pineco if you can. Then Confusion, attacking its mind directly again."

 

[Negrek]

Blastoise428

Mark appeared in a flash of white light. He paused upon being released, his eyes going up to the source of the music overhead. There was a moment of hesitation before he threw himself against the tree with a tackle attack, but whether that was a result of apprehension about dislodging the music-maker or simply because he knew that throwing himself into a thick tree trunk was going to hurt was unclear. He backed up a couple of paces, then ran forward, throwing himself smack into the tree trunk. The huge plant shuddered a little, but that was it--the bulbasaur just wasn't big enough to make a greater impression.

Dazed but undaunted, Mark wobbled away from the tree and settled down a few feet away. He lowered his head, tensing to strike--then dashed forward and slammed headfirst into the tree. The more powerful skull bash sent another tremor through the tree, but though the music stopped abruptly, nothing fell out of it. Mark, on the other hand, was a bit bruised from his encounters with the tree.

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard tucked his head down, spraying a mighty burst of water at the quicksand beneath him. For a moment it looked as though nothing would happen, but then, with a strained squelch, the squirtle was dragged free of the muck by the force of the water. He flew awkwardly through the air towards the pineco--which was now outlined in a strange orange glow. As soon as the aqua jet hit home, weaker than it would otherwise have been, thanks to the fact some of its force had been expended on the quicksand, the pineco caught Tankard's head between its rows of scales and executed a quick spin, hurling the squirtle away with considerable force. Tankard bounced and slid across the forest floor, coming to rest with a surprised and outraged look on his face.

As the squirtle picked himself up, his eyes glowed blue as he staged another confusion attack. The pineco shuddered, shutting its eyes tight, and did its best to resist, but the pain of the psychic attack was considerable. As soon as the confusion attack flagged, Tankard found himself being dragged down as the ground underneath his feet once more turned gooey and treacherous.

By this point, the pineco was clearly badly damaged; it looked barely able to keep its eyes open. Tankard was starting to show wear as well, but he looked more exasperated to find himself trapped in the sand tomb again than anything.

 

[allitersonance]

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard tucked his head down, spraying a mighty burst of water at the quicksand beneath him. For a moment it looked as though nothing would happen, but then, with a strained squelch, the squirtle was dragged free of the muck by the force of the water. He flew awkwardly through the air towards the pineco--which was now outlined in a strange orange glow. As soon as the aqua jet hit home, weaker than it would otherwise have been, thanks to the fact some of its force had been expended on the quicksand, the pineco caught Tankard's head between its rows of scales and executed a quick spin, hurling the squirtle away with considerable force. Tankard bounced and slid across the forest floor, coming to rest with a surprised and outraged look on his face.

As the squirtle picked himself up, his eyes glowed blue as he staged another confusion attack. The pineco shuddered, shutting its eyes tight, and did its best to resist, but the pain of the psychic attack was considerable. As soon as the confusion attack flagged, Tankard found himself being dragged down as the ground underneath his feet once more turned gooey and treacherous.

By this point, the pineco was clearly badly damaged; it looked barely able to keep its eyes open. Tankard was starting to show wear as well, but he looked more exasperated to find himself trapped in the sand tomb again than anything.

Sand Tomb sucks. D:

"Aqua Jet out again. Don't hit it this time. Then just chill."

I'll throw a pokeball at the pineco, and if it's captured, I'll go over to pick up the ball. I will take care to avoid Sand Tombed areas; if I can't reach the ball because of this, I will order Tankard to pick it up for me.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

How deep is the river. and how fast is it going?

Also, I should look something like this.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Okay, so I think I get it now and I'm going to purchase an Explorer's Pack and bring

[Adonis] Ekans (M) <Shed Skin>
No exp (lv1)

And I think I'd like to start by the outskirts of the city, kthx.

bank successfully robbed

Do people need to post their profile links at any time, by the way?

 

[nastypass]

Walker

As you start off in search of a suitable tree for climbing, a weird apparition passes by you: vaguely humanoid, it looks like cloud of computer programming that one day decided to get up and take a walk in the woods. Its passing is accompanied by the hiss of electrical white noise. The only indication of what it might be is indicated by the name "Blastoise428" floating at the center of what might be its torso. It doesn't slow as it passes by, disappearing deeper into the trees as you settle upon one of the tallest trees in the area that is still climbable: an old fir. It looks a bit old and perhaps not entirely safe, but though sappy bark crumbles away beneath your hands and feet as you scramble from one branch to another, it holds well enough.

After a bit of diligent--and tiring--climbing--you manage to break through the upper canopy of the forest. The old pine goes a bit higher, but the branches above look even thinner and less certain than the ones you've been clinging to the whole way. From where you are, though, you don't really have a great vantage of the surrounding forest. ASB central looms obvious to the east, but to the west, north, and south, there are only trees. From this height, you can't see the end of the forest--and you can only guess at the presence of the river, where there appears to be a cleft off to the west, the direction the fizzing shadow you saw earlier was headed.

Of more immediate concern is the pidgey staring at you from a couple branches up. It's seated on a nest and doesn't look like it intends to move soon, but neither does it look pleased to see you.

Do a quick scan of the Pidgey and the rest of the tree, while I'm at it. If it tries anything before I'm done, do a wall jump off of the other trees to get higher than it try to jump into the branches of another tree and climb down, then resume scanning.

please don't break my legs please don't break my legs please don't break my legs

 

[Negrek]

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard aimed an aqua jet at his feet again, pumping out high-speed water until his feet came free with another long squelch. This time, he merely flipped through the air to make an awkward landing on the side of the quicksand pit farthest from the pineco. Meanwhile, your pokéball arced out and struck the pineco in the face, eliciting an indignant cry before the pokémon was dissolved in a flash of red energy. The pokéball fell to the ground and began to wobble and shake. Its twitching and rocking seemed to last an age, but finally it fell still.

Almost simultaneous with the click the pokéball made as it lcked down was the tone from your pokédex, which had updated with a screen reading: "Acquired: Pineco lv. 2 - F - Sturdy." This message sat on the screen for a few seconds, before scrolling away to be replaced by: "Tankard: EXP +2."

You easily skirted the sand tomb lying between you and the pokéball and bent down to retrieve the device. Meanwhile, Tankard sat down, looking winded but smug.

Blastoise428

It would be hard to determine the depth and flow rate of the river simply from where you had been standing on its bank. You would guess it to be fairly swift, though, judging by the amount of agitation around the snags of wood farther out towards its middle. What you had seen of it was shallow, no more than a meter or so deep, but its maximum depth was impossible for you to gauge.

Kratos Aurion

No profile links necessary, no. Also, when you say "outskirts," where do you mean? North, south, east, or west?

Walker

The pidgey looked unhappier still when you aimed the pokédex up at it, and it hissed with feeling while the device thought for a brief moment and then displayed, "This pidgey is level 9. One pokémon egg of unknown species detected." Apparently, there was nothing more in the upper reaches of the tree, but when you swept the pokédex around to point below you, it detected some more pokémon: "This caterpie is level 2. This caterpie is level 4 This caterpie is level 4. This noctowl is level 22."

 

[Phoenixsong]

Oh, right, direction, hm. East is as good as any, I suppose.

 

[allitersonance]

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard aimed an aqua jet at his feet again, pumping out high-speed water until his feet came free with another long squelch. This time, he merely flipped through the air to make an awkward landing on the side of the quicksand pit farthest from the pineco. Meanwhile, your pokéball arced out and struck the pineco in the face, eliciting an indignant cry before the pokémon was dissolved in a flash of red energy. The pokéball fell to the ground and began to wobble and shake. Its twitching and rocking seemed to last an age, but finally it fell still.

Almost simultaneous with the click the pokéball made as it lcked down was the tone from your pokédex, which had updated with a screen reading: "Acquired: Pineco lv. 2 - F - Sturdy." This message sat on the screen for a few seconds, before scrolling away to be replaced by: "Tankard: EXP +2."

You easily skirted the sand tomb lying between you and the pokéball and bent down to retrieve the device. Meanwhile, Tankard sat down, looking winded but smug.

"Just keep chilling until I say otherwise," I tell Tankard. I look over him to see how injured he is. Then I'll look around to see if there are any changes in the pokemon selection. If so, I'll scan any new pokemon with the pokedex.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

I'll search for any sort of fruit or something like that, something a Pokemon would eat.

 

[nastypass]

Walker

The pidgey looked unhappier still when you aimed the pokédex up at it, and it hissed with feeling while the device thought for a brief moment and then displayed, "This pidgey is level 9. One pokémon egg of unknown species detected." Apparently, there was nothing more in the upper reaches of the tree, but when you swept the pokédex around to point below you, it detected some more pokémon: "This caterpie is level 2. This caterpie is level 4 This caterpie is level 4. This noctowl is level 22."

Slowly inch my way down, being careful not to disturb the Pidgey or Noctowl any further, then head into the forest to look for something that's less high leveled. :x

 

[Negrek]

(( Looks like I may have tense shifted a considerable amount while writing these. Sorry about that. ))

Kratos Aurion

The eastern quarter of ASB Central was predominated by residential buildings--sprawling apartment complexes with potted plants sitting out on balconies, vast, glittering hotels catering to the less permanent crowd and, increasingly as the bulk of the city fell behind, small houses with postage-stamp lawns. This close to the forest, the city was starting to look more suburban than anything, composed mostly of identical little pre-fab houses with neat yards and the occasional domestic pokemon staring out of a picture window at the street beyond. Where you stood, pokeball in hand, at the end of the sidewalk, a cultivated, park-like area separated the last strip of housing from the forest proper. In truth, the place was just an empty lot, waiting for someone to decide to throw up a few more clone-houses. For the moment, though, it was just a grassy, semi-wild place, with a few low bushes and numerous wildflowers and weeds scattered throughout. From here, the only pokemon you could see were a couple of rattata moving busily around the field. Stalking them was a meowth, but it was wearing a thick blue collar: either not wild or employing very clever camouflage.

Blastoise428

As you turned your attention away from the tree, Mark relaxed, hoping that this meant at least a small respite from head injuries.

This wasn't the best place to look for berries or other edible fruits, really: beneath the boughs of the huge tree housing the nuzleaf, and the old-growth plants surrounding it. These combined to form a thick canopy that choked out the light that would be necessary for the growth of berry bushes. Indeed, the forest floor around you was mostly barren, choked by a layer of dead leaves and home to no more than a few mosses and mushrooms on ancient, fallen treetrunks. However, to the north, it was lighter the north, where the canopy had been broken up by treefall, and you might have more luck in that area.

After a couple of minutes, the music from the tree overhead started up again, as jaunty and carefree as ever.

Walker

Caution was highly advisable, especially given the condition of the tree you had decided to climb. The pidgey watched you go with suspicious eyes, but no attack from above came as you eased your way down through the branches. At one point, the bough you'd stepped on snapped beneath your weight, sending you sliding down the side of the trunk, scrambling to grab something that would break your fall. Though your hands grew a bit scraped from pawing at the tree's old, crumbling bark, you managed to catch yourself before you fell too far, and you were otherwise unhurt. If you'd been less cautious, though, it's likely the episode could have ended badly--or you might have inadvertently stuck your hand in the midst of the little group of weedle the pokedex had noticed before, which were occupying a crevice in the trunk. As it was, you managed to avoid them, and it wasn't long before you were standing on solid ground near the path into the forest, relatively unscathed.

Kusarigamaitachi

Tankard didn't have a a problem following orders and sat quietly where he was, looking around at his surroundings with some wonder. Possibly he'd never been out in the wild before.

No new pokemon had moved into the immediate area; no doubt the sounds of battle had discouraged any that had been considering it. The nuzleaf you'd seen before was still overhead, though, watching, its expression inscrutable.