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Green grasses.
Clear sky.
And just the right temperature, it was the perfect day for a fun, harmless, adventure outside.

But not for Willie.

Willie was waiting for another kind of adventure. The virtual kind. A Pokemon Adventure, to be exact. Willie, staring at his window that leads his to his driveway, was an adventurous young lad, indeed. But today is not the day to go outside when something much more exciting is to be done inside. That more exciting something being the new Pokemon Dimensions, a virtual reality Pokemon adventure which released only a couple days ago. But being an outsider in Japan, as an All-American child, and only having one parent meant that money was hard to come by, so getting the game of Willie's dreams had to wait past launch. But today was the end of that wait. Willie watched his driveway, dressed in his typical white shirt and brown khaki shorts, waiting for his mother to arrive with a new world bundled inside a disc. A couple moments of anticipation later, and there she was, game in hand.

Willie, upon the sight of this, did the following: dashed out of his living room, rushed to the door, opened it, hugged his mom, said "Thank you" and "I love you", took the game out her hands, ran up to his room in his small 2 story townhouse, rip open the game box, grabbed his Nintendo Revolution VR Headset, and stared at the disc in his hand.

"Finally..." Willie got out after staring at the disc in awe for a couple of minutes. "The adventure I have been waiting for is finally here!" Willie excitedly, but cautiously, slid this disc into his headset, and plugged in his headset into the wall. "I wonder what the virtual world looks like. The trailers did say that gameplay was not final. Maybe it looks even better! Willie thought, barely containing his excitement. Willie waited a couple more seconds before finally saying "Link. START"

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"HELLO, AND WELCOME TO POKEMON DIMENSIONS, THE MOST IMMERSIVE POKEMON EXPERIENCE YET!" was the first thing Willie heard after the game loaded, in a robotic female voice. Willie sat through 3 minutes of tutorials that he didn't need. He wondered why, after nearly 40 years, the developers of Pokemon never thought to put in a skip button. 3 minutes of tutorial torture, as Willie calls it, and Willie was met with this message: "PLEASE SELECT YOUR STARTER POKEMON". Then a menu popped up, displaying all of the unevolved Pokemon from the Kanto region. Giving the list a quick glance, he saw that Pokemon like Kangaskhan and Tauros were available starters, despite not evolving.

"Hmm. I like Tauros, but I'm going to stick to my gut." Willie thought. Willie, on a menu that appeared in front of him, selected "Pokemon". Then, in a drop down menu, he selected "Hoenn" before placing his finger over the Pokemon he's been planning on getting for ages. Whismur. "Aw, cute little Whismur. A Whismur as my best friend during a real Pokemon adventure... I can't imagine anything more perfect." Willie thought with glee as he selected Whismur.

"SO, YOU WANT THE NORMAL-TYPE POKEMON, WHISMUR?" The robotic voice asked. Willie selected "Yes". "NOW, YOU ARE READY TO BEGIN YOUR ADVENTURE IN THE NEW ANANO REGION. WE HOPE YOU HAVE FUN ON YOUR JOURNEY. WELCOME TO THE POKEMON WORLD!" As soon as the robot voice said "world", Willie felt himself being teleported to a new place. After a few more seconds of waiting, Willie reappeared in some sort of plaza. Willie looked around at all of the new players popping in as he did seconds ago. He looked at all of the buildings and players actually moving the doors to get into them. He looked to his side, seeing a Poke Ball labeled "Whismur" at his side. Then Willie looked to the sky, which looked oh so real, and spoke just one word to describe it all.

"Wow..."

Roul watched Willie appear, laughing at his expression. "'Ey boy!" She said in a fake texas accent before laughing again. "You gonna eat that Whismur or should I?"

The mess of wires on the floor had nothing to do with what Irene had just accomplished, but she put them there anyways- it just felt right. After all she had just managed to get her VR system to work despite being in the wrong region. Sure it voided the device's warranty, what with cracking it open and fiddling around and installing 3rd party devices, but she had a point to prove, and she could always get a new one once they came out overseas. For now though it was time to log in. Others had already had time in the game before her, so she was behind, but at least she could find leads on any bugs they might have seen and not realized. Her parent's were already aware of her plans for the day, so she'd have about 8 hours before they checked on her, if they weren't too engrossed in there own games to remember to do so.

The opening rigmarole was about what could be expected from this type of game, though she'd seen better on last Gen. Testing things out she didn't find anything wrong with the tutorial. That was expected, since it would have been the most tested thing, being the first thing in game. When it came to Pokemon selection her first instinct was a hoppip, but quickly realized it wouldn't be viable even with the tm move her starter could have with the code preorders got, so she choose a mawile, her mother's favorite. After confirming her selection the menu stuff broke way to the actual game. The graphics were great, that's to be sure, worthy of the new tech, movements were very articulated, and no vision limitation beyond your normal human range. Very technically impressive.

But these weren't really the reason she was here, so she got to work, examining the whole of the plaza closely. Finding how hit box were stitched together were important, so she was touching all the things and seeing if she couldn't send out her Mawile in a way to make it clip through things.

Oliver stumbled as he materialized in the center of the large plaza, taking a moment to right himself. He glanced back and forth to see if anyone had witnessed his misstep before doing anything else. Satisfied that nobody had, or at least that nobody cared, he tugged on his lapels to straighten his suit jacket and pulled out his single Pokeball. He didn't hesitate to call out his Murkrow, which promptly flew up and landed on his forearm. As Oliver lifted his hand toward its face, the bird looked the boy dead in the eyes and c*** its head to the side.

"Hm. I see. You should do nicely." Oliver mused. Either in response or by coincidence, the Murkrow chose that moment to snap at the boy's looming hand with its beak. "Ow!" Oliver recoiled, violently shaking his arm until the Pokemon fell off and fluttered gently to the ground in front of him. It tilted its head again and then let out a single caw. The flustered child glared at the creature before returning it to its ball. Wretched magpie. Perhaps I'll have to teach it some manners after all.

As Oliver replaced the Pokeball at his side, something occured to him. His hands began to frantically pat down his jacket, stopping only when they found what they were looking for. The boy sighed as he reached into his left waist pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. He flipped it open and looked at its face before putting it away, pleasantly surprised that the game was robust enough to simulate the timepiece. Even though he knew it was still sitting safely in his pocket at home, it was nice to have it here as well. Having finished taking stock of his own inventory, Oliver made a cursory inspection of the surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that everyone else appeared to be woefully underdressed. Doing his best to ignore this unpleasant detail, he brushed past several members of the unwashed masses and entered the nearest Poke Mart. At last, he could experience the unrivaled thrill of opening a door with his own two hands.

Actually, it seemed the door was automatic.

Phoenix and his brother Miles were playing in the yard when his mother pulled into the driveway. Stepping out of the car, she gave Phoenix a big hug.

"Happy Birthday Phoenix."

"Did you get it?! Did you get it?!" Without bothering to wait for an answer, he swerved around his mom and looked into the back seat of the car. There it sat, his new game system. He opened the door and swiftly grabbed the box, thanking his mom with another hug before racing inside. As he sat it down, a piece of paper stuck to the side of the box came loose, falling to the floor, but Phoenix's didn't notice it. It was a huge mess of wires and tech, but Phoenix was pretty smart for his age. It only took a few minutes to figure it out, and in no time he had it on. The Pokemon logo appeared, and underneath were the words "Pokemon Dimensions." Phoenix's hand softly shook with anticipation, but his first experience of the game was being marred by a tutorial, as if he didn't know what's he was doing. He was finally able to choose his starter, and he had to think for a minute before choosing Beldum, as it had his two favorite types. The game screen brightened, and Phoenix suddenly found himself in the middle of a large plaza, surrounded by buildings and other players. A lump was bulging from his belt, and he raised his jacket end slightly. A small red and white pokeball was clipped to his belt, and when he pulled it free, it grew to full size. Clicking the white button on the center, it split and his Beldum emerged, floating slightly above the ground. A pressure touched his mind, and an automated voice echoed through his head.

"Hello." Stunned, Phoenix stared at the beldum, whose bright red eye was meeting his gaze.

Matthew rubbed at his forehead and sighed. His patience was wearing thin, and even if he had a lot of time to kill, there were better ways than repeatedly soft resetting the game to try and get a shiny Wingull. He'd give it five more goes, and if it still didn't happen he was going to give up.

The tutorial played. By now Matthew had practically memorized the thing. He leaned back and covered his face with his hands, thinking about what he'd do after he'd finished playing. His dad's schedule was packed, so they couldn't really go anywhere together, and Matthew had little interest in going outside by himself. Maybe he could just sleep; he was still feeling a little jetlagged from the flight, even if it had been a few days.

Finally, he heard the blessed sentence: "Please select your starter Pokemon." Matthew crossed his fingers and chose Wingull for the umpteenth time. After a few moments, he found himself in the plaza. Holding his breath, he reached for the Pokeball, uttered one final prayer, and called out his Wingull.

It was green. He couldn't help but let out a soft "Yessss" under his breath and fistpump. "I'm naming you Melon," he announced to the bird, as it tilted its head at him curiously. With a few beats of its wings, it lifted up to his head and began circling. It was adorable, but it was also making him dizzy, so Matthew raised the Pokeball and recalled Melon before he did anything else.

Quite pleased with himself, Matthew finally took a look around. The plaza was simple, surrounded by the standard buildings. Actually seeing them, like they were real, was a strange experience. Despite himself, Matthew grinned. There were several other people scattered throughout the plaza, some just looking around like he was, others walking around. One girl seemed to be determinedly touching everything and repeatedly sending out and recalling her Mawile. She seemed to know what she was doing, however strange it was, so Matthew decided to leave her alone and instead walked off to explore the beginning town more. Hey, I wonder what the NPCs are like? he mused to himself, and immediately set out to look for one.

Willie stood there, right where he spawned, for a few more minutes, taking in the scenery. He was so in awe, he zoned out from the virtual world and was in a place of his own... until some girl's cowgirl impression brought him back to reality, err, virtual reality. "You gonna eat that Whismur or should I?" Willie heard. "Wha?" Willie thought after hearing one of the weirdest sentences he's ever heard, including hearing Japanese people casually speak to one another without him understanding a word of it when he first moved to Japan. Willie knew that he probably should have ignored the girl. He figured that she was probably just some dumb jokester with a posse that laughs at everything she says. He knew someone like that in the real world. Willie hated that guy. Willie started to walk away, paying no mind to the girl, but something stopped him. Something compelled him to respond.

So he did.

Willie turned around and walked toward the girl, who was posse-less to Willie's surprise, saying, "I don't think eating a Whismur would be a good idea. If it evolved in your throat, it would give you a loud mouth" Willie almost patted himself on the back for that.

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A lot of the people in the plaza, from new to slightly less new, watched in confusion as a girl kept sending out her Mawile near walls. A lot of people thought that she was crazy. Others thought she was some glitched out NPC. But most were just confused. Very, very confused. One spectator, who was pretty close to where the girl was, even said to his buddy "I guess somebody took too many crazy pills this morning, haha"

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The Poke Mart clerk NPC watched as a boy -- a well-dressed boy, for a change -- walked into the Poke Mart. The Poke Mart was pretty small compared to most buildings, with only one story and one room. However, it was probably the second most important place in all of Anano Plaza, being the place you bought essential items for your Pokemon. Or Mail. You could buy Mail, too. All of the shelves were lined with important items, none of which could actually be taken off the wall, such as Potions, Poke Balls, and even a couple of TMs. As the boy approached the back of the store, the NPC's dialogue started."Welcome to Poke Mart! Watcha gonna buy, kid?" A menu appeared before Oliver, with the following options: "Buy", "Sell", and "Not buying anything right now".

Oliver - 3000 PokeYen
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As people walked past Phoenix and Beldum, many new players got distracted by how Beldum's blue metal looked so shiny and real. So distracted, in fact, that as some were exiting the plaza, the exit being a couple minute's walk away from where Phoenix was standing, accidentally bumped into a sign. This sign read: "<- Route 1003 - Leads to Green's Valley - Normal, Grass, and Flying-type Pokemon live here" Around Phoenix and Beldum were many buildings that could hold useful information as well as the Pokemon Research Laboratory, an extra tutorial building for anyone new to Pokemon.

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As Matthew looked around, players went in and out of buildings, like the Pokemon Center. These buildings had many NPCs inside that may need the help of a player. Near the exits of Anano Plaza stood players that were awfully static. In fact, all around Anano Plaza stood static players, though vastly outnumbered by moving players. Another "player" was walking back and forth on the same sidewalk over and over, with a worried look on her face.

Setting this revelation aside for a second, Phoenix glanced around the busy plaza, until he saw a small official-looking building wedged in between two massive ones. Squinting his eyes, he could make out the words "Pokemon Research Laboratory."

"Come on Beldum, lets go see if they can tell us anything useful."

"Perhaps my ability to speak with you in your mind?"

"Maybe." Phoenix started forward, Beldum following as he pushed the door open.

Roulette couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, you're probably right," she said in her normal voice. "Then again, I do make a mean marinade. Anyway, let's fight! Loser has to buy me a sandwich!"

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Oliver furrowed his brow slightly as he navigated the Poke Mart menu and prompty purchased five Pokeballs, three potions, and a single antidote, placing it all in a black briefcase. With that, he made his leave. He wasn't here to shop. Eager to get his journey underway, the boy immediately began searching for a map to find out what routes branched off from this plaza.

Ah yes multiplayer games after launch, most people here couldn't comprehend the importance of her task, let alone understand it. It was a shame really, they'd probably miss out on so much gameplay they don't even realize exists. Still, it shouldn't excuse them from being jerk holes, so when Irene heard the comment about the crazy pills she calmly recalled her mawile and did the most logical thing she could think of. She got all up in that guy's grill.

"Eh? You got a problem with me you culture stuck dirt bag?" She said shaking, not with anger, but because she had elected to stand on the tips of her toes to gain some height. "Believe it or not where I come from it's the middle of the night, which means I took my crazy pills for dinner! Which you could have known by checking my trainer card if you weren't lazy on top of being an interloper."

After tearing this random stranger a new one, Irene did have to admit that whatever built in translation software built into this game must have been pretty impressive for her to have actually understood the remark in the first place.

Strangely, Matthew noticed several people completely frozen as he wandered around. It was probably just a glitch--to be expected from something of this scale. Although it was unnerving, he shook it off. They'd probably hust have to restart and their problems would be fixed.

After weighing his options, Matthew walked over to a nearby house and entered, wondering what he'd find inside.

Phoenix, Beldum by his side, entered the lab and was met with many NPCs in snazzy, clear white lab coats. One, looking quite important, was a dark purple haired woman wearing big glasses, standing in the center of the room, holding a clipboard. About 4 other players were standing around the woman, clearly interacting with her, but her gaze was still seemingly directed towards he door. All of the other NPCs around the lab were walking around in varied patterns, appearing to do work, but they are NPCs, so....

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Willie was taken aback by the sudden challenge. "Huh?!" Willie thought "First of all, he was surprised that she didn't try to slap him for making such a clever comeback, which he was sure would annoy her. Maybe she's better than he thought. But, second of all, it's been a couple seconds and she already wants to battle?" Willie thought about this sudden challenge a little longer before making his decision. "Well, I mean, it can't hurt. I mean, some experience is nice. Getting used to the "controls", seeing how good the battle graphics are. I guess... You're on" Willie finally said. "... Now, how do I challenge people again?" Willie asked nobody in particular, thinking back to pre-release trailers.

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Oliver - Bought 3 Potions (600 Yen Total), 5 PokeBalls (1500 Yen), and an Antidote (100 Yen) - 2200 PokeYen spent - 800 PokeYen left


Oliver looked around for the map that leads to a new journey. Luckily for him, there was one inside the Pokemon Laboratory, the biggest building in the plaza. Many players gravitated towards there, including a boy with a Beldum, some of which came right back out. Many of the players coming from the lab decided to go east, with some staying in town, chatting with friends.

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The stranger was silent for a couple seconds, seemingly surprised that Irene responded. Or maybe they were surprised that this American-looking girl could understand them. However, after a couple awkward moments of silence, the boy decided to crack one more joke. "Ah, my mistake. Didn't know that crazy pills turned you into a bat. Must be why they're called crazy" The boy remarked. His buddy jumped up into the air like a hype man would until the remarking mark shot his friend a death stare, as if saying "The heck are you doing?!"

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Matthew entered a nice enough looking building. It had stairs in the back, a nice living room, a kitchen, and what appeared to be an Espurr sleeping in the corner of said kitchen. A woman was sitting on the living room couch, looking peaceful enough. However, like all NPCs, something had to be on her mind. Or AI. As Matthew walked in, the woman turned her head towards him, before looking away. A new part of NPC AI, to make these lifeless characters a little more lively.

Roulette sent the challenge as Dratini popped out of his Poke Ball. He looked around curiosly and eyed Roulette with care.