@Miss Mew; @BadApple; @xelda57; @DracoMan; @BritishJoe; @GlaceonLover94;
Current Chapter:
Chapter Summaries:
Stephen Lawson could barely keep his hands from shaking in excitement. Just under fifteen minutes ago, the timer on the PAO website had run down to zero: the beta test was officially live! As soon as that had happened, he had plugged in his brand new NerveGear into his PC to download the PAO client to his device--which, as the NerveGear chimed, had just finished.
Shutting off his PC's monitor, he disconnected the helmet and walked over to his bed, slipping the NerveGear on as he lay down. PAO was the only game on the device--after all, it was the first real AAA title on the system--and he instantly selected it with a voice command. The logos of the game's developers flashed on screen (the familiar Nintendo and Game Freak logos, followed by ARGUS, the company that had developed the NerveGear), before a series of system checks flashed by, confirming the mental uplink to the NerveGear's systems was complete. The words 'LINK START' appeared on screen, and Stephen felt the oddest sensation of falling, as his perception of the his bed and the world around him vanished.
He found himself floating in a blank white void. "Welcome to Pokemon Adventures Online!" a perky, synthetic voice echoed around him. "This is the character customization menu." A holographic interface popped up before him, showing off his avatar's face. "Please press 'CONFIRM' when your avatar is complete." Stephen shrugged to himself. The process was straightforward enough.
He was a bit lazy when it came to this part of RPGs, and simply cycled through the presets until he found one that resembled his actual appearance. A little narrowing of the nose, higher cheekbones, and a pointier chin... There! But he frowned when he realized that it seemed a little.. plain. Shrugging again, he changed his hair color to an eye-catching pale blue, adjusted the eye color to match, and tapped the 'CONFIRM' button in the bottom corner.
Likewise, he hurried through the wardrobe customization--which featured all sorts of outfits from the series; he'd settled on an ensemble resembling the Generation V protagonist--and reached the final character creation screen. He carefully typed in the same handle he used for all his MMOs--Cy Ren, a pun he'd come up with for a GTA ripoff--and chose Healer as his class. But he paused when he came to the final option: his starter. Obviously, as PAO was a throwback to the first five generations, there would only be the first 649 Pokemon. And his starter could come from an even smaller number of those. Stephen chewed on his lip, wondering what would be best.
He shrugged a third time, before deciding on Swinub. Ice types were always cool--as he joked to the groans of his friends--and Mamoswine was simply awesome. This time, the button at the bottom of the screen simply said 'GO.' When he tapped it, his senses vanished for a moment, and was filled with the oddest feeling of intense vertigo.
When the world stopped spinning--not that he could actually see or feel it--Stephen's jaw dropped open as he found himself in Pallet City.
Nothing he'd read on the internet could prepare him for this experience. It was like he'd stepped into a perfect recreation of the starting city from the Scarlet and Azure remakes of red and blue. True, it still looked a bit like a video game--things were a bit too smooth and perfect, looking too closely at things revealed their CGI nature, and loose clothing and hair still didn't swing properly--but still, everything looked far close to reality than he'd expected or imagined.
Behind him was the New Oak Laboratory, which had evidently been designated the starter area of the game, as other players materialized nearby. Before him were the homes of the outer suburbs, some inhabited by NPCs, others empty with glowing 'For Sale' signs in front. And beyond all that were the taller buildings of the city center.
That was when Stephen finally noticed the weight on his built and in his pocket. When he looked down, he noticed the Poke Ball hanging on his belt. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out PAO's iteration of the Pokedex. Finally managing to shut his mouth, he managed a low whistle. "This is going to be completely and totally awesome."
OOC: And here we go! So sorry this took so long to post; the forums completely borked out on me last night after I posted in the sign-up thread :-(.
POKEMON ADVENTURES ONLINE
Current Chapter:
Chapter 0 - The First Day
LIMITATIONS:
LIMITATIONS:
- You may only catch up to 2 additional Pokemon this Chapter.
- Pokemon may not advance to level 8 or higher this Chapter.
Chapter Summaries:
- Chapter 0 - The First Day: The players of Pokemon Adventures Online log in, ready to face the virtual world!
* * *
Stephen Lawson could barely keep his hands from shaking in excitement. Just under fifteen minutes ago, the timer on the PAO website had run down to zero: the beta test was officially live! As soon as that had happened, he had plugged in his brand new NerveGear into his PC to download the PAO client to his device--which, as the NerveGear chimed, had just finished.
Shutting off his PC's monitor, he disconnected the helmet and walked over to his bed, slipping the NerveGear on as he lay down. PAO was the only game on the device--after all, it was the first real AAA title on the system--and he instantly selected it with a voice command. The logos of the game's developers flashed on screen (the familiar Nintendo and Game Freak logos, followed by ARGUS, the company that had developed the NerveGear), before a series of system checks flashed by, confirming the mental uplink to the NerveGear's systems was complete. The words 'LINK START' appeared on screen, and Stephen felt the oddest sensation of falling, as his perception of the his bed and the world around him vanished.
He found himself floating in a blank white void. "Welcome to Pokemon Adventures Online!" a perky, synthetic voice echoed around him. "This is the character customization menu." A holographic interface popped up before him, showing off his avatar's face. "Please press 'CONFIRM' when your avatar is complete." Stephen shrugged to himself. The process was straightforward enough.
He was a bit lazy when it came to this part of RPGs, and simply cycled through the presets until he found one that resembled his actual appearance. A little narrowing of the nose, higher cheekbones, and a pointier chin... There! But he frowned when he realized that it seemed a little.. plain. Shrugging again, he changed his hair color to an eye-catching pale blue, adjusted the eye color to match, and tapped the 'CONFIRM' button in the bottom corner.
Likewise, he hurried through the wardrobe customization--which featured all sorts of outfits from the series; he'd settled on an ensemble resembling the Generation V protagonist--and reached the final character creation screen. He carefully typed in the same handle he used for all his MMOs--Cy Ren, a pun he'd come up with for a GTA ripoff--and chose Healer as his class. But he paused when he came to the final option: his starter. Obviously, as PAO was a throwback to the first five generations, there would only be the first 649 Pokemon. And his starter could come from an even smaller number of those. Stephen chewed on his lip, wondering what would be best.
He shrugged a third time, before deciding on Swinub. Ice types were always cool--as he joked to the groans of his friends--and Mamoswine was simply awesome. This time, the button at the bottom of the screen simply said 'GO.' When he tapped it, his senses vanished for a moment, and was filled with the oddest feeling of intense vertigo.
*
When the world stopped spinning--not that he could actually see or feel it--Stephen's jaw dropped open as he found himself in Pallet City.
Nothing he'd read on the internet could prepare him for this experience. It was like he'd stepped into a perfect recreation of the starting city from the Scarlet and Azure remakes of red and blue. True, it still looked a bit like a video game--things were a bit too smooth and perfect, looking too closely at things revealed their CGI nature, and loose clothing and hair still didn't swing properly--but still, everything looked far close to reality than he'd expected or imagined.
Behind him was the New Oak Laboratory, which had evidently been designated the starter area of the game, as other players materialized nearby. Before him were the homes of the outer suburbs, some inhabited by NPCs, others empty with glowing 'For Sale' signs in front. And beyond all that were the taller buildings of the city center.
That was when Stephen finally noticed the weight on his built and in his pocket. When he looked down, he noticed the Poke Ball hanging on his belt. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out PAO's iteration of the Pokedex. Finally managing to shut his mouth, he managed a low whistle. "This is going to be completely and totally awesome."
* * *
OOC: And here we go! So sorry this took so long to post; the forums completely borked out on me last night after I posted in the sign-up thread :-(.
