[Location: Levincia City - Battle Aerie]
As soon as he was teleported, Colt looked around curiously at his new surroundings. Unlike the forestry ecosystems he had been seeing for the past few hours in the tower, he had now found himself standing in a modern company-like building.
The room he was in was rather large, capable of comfortably occupying at least one hundred people. That was if he didn't take into considerations things like furniture and such, which would reduce it to maybe fifty people.
In terms of aesthetics, the ceiling was a dark-grey colored steel with various circuit-patterned lines that ran along it, seemingly acting as the room's light source as they produced a powerful enough glow to illuminate the room but not blind the eyes.
The walls were mainly white with various extrusions made of polished wood and even plantation to give them a lifeful look. As for the floor, it seemed to be composed entirely out of a polished silver material that could almost be mistaken for steel.
Looking at the setup of the room, Colt could mentally divide it into various sections. At the front near the double automatic door entrance was what looked to be the receptionist desk, though not like in hotels or typical businesses, but one from an arcade.
Why did he think so? Well, behind the isolated receptionist desk was a wall of various items that looked to be on display. From what he could see from where he stood, they were all basic medical items such as potions. Built into the wall beside the counter were also a number of machines similar to things like ATMs, or those ordering machines in fast food chains.
Opposite in the area right of where you'd first enter the building was what looked to be a lounge. The floor in that particular sections was entirely covered by a comfortable and fluffy rug with various couches of different sizes, colored black with silver legs. In front of each individual couch was a glass coffee table.
The most eye catching thing in the lounge area were the holographic screens that were kept constantly projected. Each coffee table had three separate screens, and hovering up above the entire lounge space were two much larger screens that were facing back-to-back.
Finally, the last area brought Colt more confusion then anything, he had no idea what it's purpose was. It was mainly empty except for two large arched doorways in the wall, but instead of leading somewhere, they both had what looked to be blue portals inside of them.
Strangely enough, the second one had a red hologram of text that spelt out 'Staff Only'.
Looking up above the portals, Colt also took notice of the holographic screen that looked to be a projecting a leaderboard of sorts. Though, at the present time, there didn't appear to be any names appearing on the list.
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[Main Mission]
- Primary Objective: Explore your new workplace and understand the workings behind the business (Progress: 0/3)
Reward(s):
- 100,000 Pokedollars
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As soon as this mission was issued while being accompanied by a ding sound, Colt immediately turned his attention to it out of instinct. After a quick read, Colt looked up and around to see that three different locations were marked with a hovering upside down arrowhead that bobbed up and down in place.
The locations specified were practically the same, if not exactly, as how he had imagined it initially. The entrance area of the building, the lounge, and whatever the hell those portals were on the opposite end of everything else.
"That isn't much..." Colt frowned slightly as he looked at the reward listed. 'In the games, that amount is quite considerable. But... if I'm not mistaken, pokedollars is equivalent to yen. Assuming this world has similar prices to my old world, it won't last me long.'
Basically, 100,000 pokedollars was equivalent to 100,000 Yen, which in turn is equivalent to around 1,000 AUD in his old home country's currency. Depending on how he spent it, which included needing basic living necessities, it may not exactly last him much more than a month at most.
'A problem I'll have to deal with later...' Colt sighed before looking around once more. 'Does this place not provide me with a bedroom or something? If that's the case, then this is really going to be a pain in the a- hm?'
Colt stopped his thoughts as he walked closer to the receptionist desk, where he caught sight of a closed door that could be seen next to the display shelf. He hadn't seen it prior since it was in his blind spot.
'Is that the bedroom?' Colt couldn't help but wonder with a bit of nervous expectation. If so, that would save him a whole lot of freaking trouble. 'I'll have to take a look, but for now, it'd be best I complete the mission as soon as possible.'
Why was he in such a rush?
Well, perhaps it wasn't accurate to say that he was in a rush, but more like he wanted to be prepared. The opening of this shop could wait, he first wanted to take his pokemon over to the local pokemon center here in this city he now resided in.
The problem was that he had no idea how things functioned here compared to things like the games. Was utilizing the services of the pokemon center free? Was it only free for registered trainers? On top of that, he really needed some damn food in his stomach right now.
In other words, he needed that 100,000.
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[Front Counter/Token Store]
- Purpose: A location serving as the place for registering new potential customers and serving existing ones.
Features:
- Membership Registration: New customers register for their membership, whether it be full or trial, here at the front counter. All members with a full membership have free access to all public services here at the store, trial members only have free access to services for 3 days. The full membership cost is 10,000 Pokedollars per week, and the trial membership can only be claimed one time per customer. All payments are made on the first day each of week.
- Membership Card: All customers who pay for a full membership a given a membership card. It serves as both a payment card for the Token Store, as well as proof of their status here at the store. This card is also required for customers to utilize store services.
- Master's Pokedex: All members who paid for the full membership, upon registering, will receive a Master's Pokedex
- Token Store: Customers receive a number of tokens depending on their performance within places such as the Aerie Tower, which can then be spent on various items here at the Token Store.
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Seeing the large box of information provided, Colt could only blink in surprise.
"Okay, a lot more to it than I expected..." Colt muttered to himself as he gave a quick read over everything. '10,000 sounds rather steep, especially if it's a weekly payment. Then again, I don't know the full extent of what the customers receive in return. I guess I'll hold my opinion back until I know more.'
He wasn't entirely sure how the membership cards were distributed, nor how the membership process actually worked, but considering how it didn't take the liberty to explain it to him, he assumed it was something he could relatively easily figure out himself.
That, or the system was a bitch.
Overall, at a basis level, everything here at the front counter wasn't hard to understand. To put it all into a basic explanation, this area served as the receptionist desk as well as a prize corner like in an arcade.
Moving on to the next area, that being the lounge, the amount of information was much less compared to the front area.
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[Lounge Area]
- Purpose: A location serving as a relaxation spot, available for all individuals, whether they area members or not.
Features:
- Main Viewing Screen: Large holographic screens that are projected high above the entire lounge area. Displays and cycles through individuals taking on services such as the Aerie Tower with the current highest level of progression
- Secondary Viewing Screens: Holographic screens available at each individual table, free to be used by all individuals to watch specific challengers
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There really wasn't much to be said about this, it was basically just an area for people to relax and watch current participants using the store's services. Though, it was a bit interesting that it was entirely available even to those who weren't members.
Colt didn't mind though.
If anything, he was glad that this was the case.
Not only did it provide a form of advertising for those who were may be uncertain of whether or not they should spend the money on a membership, but also acted as a means of entertainment for everyone including himself.
Onto the last area of concern, the portals themselves.
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[Challenge Portals]
- Purpose: Portals that act as the gateway into different kinds of challenges for existing members of the store
Features:
- Membership Portal: The portal that can be used only by members and staff. Only six individuals can be brought in as a team at any given time, this number does not include the trainer themselves
- Staff Portal: This portal is only accessible by staff members, granting access to staff-only services. Only six individuals can be brought in as a team at any given time, this number does not include the trainer themselves
- Leaderboard: A list of the current highest progressing individuals who have challenged the various services of the store. Depending on the service that has been challenged, there is a separate leaderboard for each
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'Huh, so they're basically those portals in video game hub areas.' Colt simplified the explanation in his own words after reading the given descriptions. 'The leaderboard, although mainly a concept for people to boast about, also serves as a form of motivation.'
No matter what the world, people will always try to do something better than someone else. The very idea of competition typically always drove people to try harder and harder at certain things, especially if it brought them fame.
And with how the leaderboard was on full display, the amount of pride someone could get from being on it was undeniable.
'The staff portal...' Colt fell into a bit of a state of contemplation as he looked at this particular section. 'Doesn't seem any different from the usual membership portal. There was that one facility on the details menu called Admin's Aerie Tower, so there must be some kind of difference.'
Although he didn't know what the difference between the Admin's Aerie Tower and the ordinary Aerie Tower, he was certain there had to be some kind of significant difference. Otherwise, what'd be the point of making two separate towers and portals?
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[Mission Complete]
- Primary Objective: Explore your new workplace and understand the workings behind the business (Progress: 0/3)
Reward(s):
- 100,000 Pokedollars
(Collect Rewards? Yes/No)
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After accepting the mission reward, just like with the previous mission, Colt quickly navigated into the system's Inventory as everything was automatically placed into there. However, the contents weren't as simple as he thought they'd be.
Not saying that it was complicated, just not how he had initially thought.
He assumed that in the Inventory the pokedollars would be a singular classified item with the amount being 100,000. This wasn't was the case. Instead, the item was a '5,000 Pokedollar Note', with the amount being 20.
Colt did recall that the Pokemon world did have a physical form of currency like this, but it was never a concrete thing. If memory served, they should have notes and coins just like most if not all countries back in his old world did.
'I wonder if they have something similar to a digital wallet, it'd make it more convenient...' Colt couldn't help but think to himself. 'The inventory definitely makes it easy, but I'd rather not risk someone seeing me grab money out of thin air. Perhaps the rotom phone has some kind of banking function, I'll figure it out later...'
There were many things in Pokemon that have only ever been explored on a surface level, which was nothing surprising, and one of those was their currency.
"Alright, now that I have some money, It's time to pay a visit to the pokemon center." Colt smiled slightly as he muttered this to himself. He didn't start moving immediately, instead taking out a pokeball. "But, before that... Ralts, come on out!"
With a simple toss of the pokeball after activating it, Ralts soon emerged from the pokeball in the form of a burst of light. Looking at Ralts's current state, Colt could see that he had sufficient time to recover his lost fatigue from the previous battle.
Blinking a few times, Ralts looked around in confusion before turning to see Colt looking down at him. Ralts gave a few curious cries before looking and gesturing around, and seeing this, Colt could pretty much assume what Ralts was asking.
"This will be our home from here on, Ralts. So, try to get comfortable." Colt explained simply as Ralts nodded in understanding. "We'll be heading to the pokemon center to get you checked up, but before we do, I'll need your help."
Hearing this, Ralts gave a small cry of confusion.
"I can't be certain of how Zorua will react after I realize him from his pokeball." Colt frowned slightly as he took out another pokeball, this one being the one that contained the pokemon in question. "In case he reacts violently, I'll need you to be on standby."
After hearing this, Ralts gave a determined cry before nodding his head. Seeing this, Colt felt much more reassured. Taking a small deep breath, Colt primed the pokeball before tossing it a bit further than he did with Ralts's pokeball.
As the pokeball burst open, the familiar blue and white light shot out before gathering on the ground where a familiar shape began to form from the light. Catching the ball that flew back to him, Colt and Ralts then watched vigilantly as Zorua soon fully emerged.
Confusion soon turned to vigilance as Zorua took notice of them, and seeing this, Colt was a bit relieved as the ghost-type didn't immediately choose to attack. He didn't move forward though, instead bending down to meet Zorua at a more even eye level.
"I see that you're wary of us, Zorua. I understand why, but I assure you that we mean no harm to you." Colt spoke in a calm and reassuring tone, Ralts also gave a small greeting. "Your wounds need to tended to. For that to happen, I need you to place some trust in me."
With that, Colt held his open hand with his palm facing upwards in front of him just a few inches above the ground. Zorua's first reaction was to take a few steps back, but stopped after seeing Colt making no further advance.
Silence was all that could be heard as Colt kept his eyes locked with Zorua's, unblinking as he made no sudden movements. After a few seconds passed, Zorua's eyes shook a bit as he took small and shaky steps forwards.
Naturally, as Zorua walked closer, his gaze would unconsciously lower from Colt's eyes to the hand that the latter had out. After Zorua got within only a few inches away, the ghost-type alternated between looking at Colt's eyes and his hand.
"You can trust us, Zorua." Colt's sudden voice did make Zorua flinch, but the latter didn't step away. "Whether you choose to stay by our side is entirely your choice. I'll give you two options, so please consider carefully."
Zorua, after hearing this, merely listened and waited for him to continue.
"You still have wounds from our previous battle, so you need to be tended to. Your first option is to stay by my side as comrades and I'll take you to the pokemon center to recover. As for your second option, if you decide that you want to leave and return to the wilderness, then I'll respect your choice. However, I still want you to accompany me to the pokemon center to ensure that those wounds do not worsen."
Although Zorua didn't look or act as hurt as it was back in the tutorial tower, Colt could still see signs of injury, together with a small wince of pain every now and then. Whatever choice Zorua made, he still at least wanted to help it recover beforehand.
"If you choose option one, place your right paw onto mine. If option two is your final decision, give me your left paw. The choice is yours to make."
He then stopped speaking to allow Zorua to organize his thoughts, and this was evident from the look of contemplation clear in the latter's eyes. Neither he nor Ralts disturbed Zorua as the ghost-type was making his decision.
Colt very much would prefer if Zorua were to stay with him, not just because he himself wanted to raise Zorua, but also that he was concerned of what could happen if Zorua decided to return to the wild.
Zorua was already a rare pokemon in general, and with him being the Hisuian variant, that rarity magnifies by many times. If encountered by some individual with less than pure intent, Colt didn't want to imagine what could happen.
The risk of individuals like poachers who would then sell rare pokemon to buying customers weren't the only thing, the environment was also another factor. Hisuian Zorua lived in cold climates, and have most likely adapted to such, so suddenly living in an entirely different ecosystem would take time to adapt.
Perhaps too much time.
Seeing that Zorua was having difficulty deciding, Ralts seemed to take the initiative to step forward before seemingly trying to convince Zorua. Colt couldn't understand what the heck Ralts was saying, but he could at least assume that he was trying to convince Zorua to join them.
Whatever it was Ralts said seemed to hold weight since Zorua looked down in thought before stepping forwards, visibly more relaxed than before, not completely but still more relaxed. Soon enough, Zorua placed his right paw onto Colt's hand.
Seeing this, Colt couldn't help but smile. "Welcome to team, Zorua."