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[attr="class","athread"]The woman gave in, and thank goodness she did; Annie had no clue what she’d do if she couldn’t convince one person to help her. Narrowing down the quest that she was missing was easy enough – half of the tasks the girl listed she remembered doing, and the other half drew a blank. The source of her problems? ‘Last-hit an enemy in the Tutorial Zone with a Charged Move.’ By the time she’d returned to the area, everything fell to one auto-attack, and so she’d never thought to try!

“Well, don’t I feel like a dummy!” She was quick to laugh off the mistake. A floppy-handed gesture excused her. “Since I’m already here…” If the woman thought that she had been freed from the warrior, she’d quickly find herself sorely mistaken. After all, they’d already spent so much time together! Annie stuck with her as they completed the tutorial (which was surprisingly quick, once you could see the objectives. How about that?).

At the fringe of the tutorial zone, the two earned one last bout of experience. A pittance for somebody that had already traversed a good chunk of Ransei, but for a new player, it wasn’t insignificant. More importantly, Annie had been educated! ‘Oooh’s and ‘aaah’s accompanied each and every time that the game informed them of a shortcut button, or a special use for an item, or how to increase jump height.

“I’d say that went pretty well!” A stupid grin plastered itself on her avatar, oblivious as to how much she’d imposed. “Your help was much appreciated, Miss Bebe! Any time you need anything, just hit me up! I promise, I know a lot more when we’re outside of the tutorial.” A friend request was offered, allowing Antoinette to see the truth to her words. The girl’s level was much too high for her to be at the start of the game, and if cross-referenced with the leaderboard, the warrior’s name could be found near the top.

“You take care now, alright?” With her farewell given, she opened up a menu and warped into a no man’s land.

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[attr="class","athread"]Hers was an all-too-familiar spell. Freeze-Dry was annoying popular amongst mages, but at least it wasn’t being fired at her (for once). “Nice, nice. I’ve gotta work on getting me a combo too. Maybe after we’re done here I can get-“ More foes dropping in stopped Annie short of revealing her secrets; a devious smirk showed that she knew it was for the best.

A Hitmonlee drew too close and so she leapt, using her katana to pole-vault herself up and over the beast. His Low Sweep met nothing but air. By the time he’d turned around, she’d ripped a chunk out of the floor, lobbing it up to Smack Down the would-be brawler. Trapped beneath her makeshift projectile, the Hitmonlee was easy pickings for her and her sword.

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[attr="class","athread"]Running to collect her loot was the least fun part of ranged attacks, and at least part of the reason why she’d chosen the path of the warrior. Claiming what was hers proved a harmless endeavour; there was only one enemy left in the area, who’d chosen to announce herself. The sun’s rays suddenly bearing down on them heralded the arrival of-

“Hey, that’s no normal Ninetales!” If her experience with two of the foxes hadn’t confirmed as much, the star in her status bar would. Her new favourite move allowed her to close the distance between them, switching her katana for herself as the weapon of choice. The Ninetales was treated to the fiercest of body-checks through Accelerock, though the proximity left Annie open to each an attack too. Will-O-Wisp cut into her attack and health alike, and the girl wisely took a few steps back, trusting that the rogue could handle the rest.

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[attr="class","athread"]Double the people meant double the spawns, and before she can so much as offer a greeting, the stranger necessitates her presence. Identical martial artists drop in from the ceiling, standing between the two ladies. “How’s that for an answer?” A drawn sword’s tip points itself to a pair of brawlers. “If you can stay alive long enough, sure! These things are always more interesting with a buddy.”

She rushed in, sword at the ready as a Throh stood stalwart. Hands that could wrap around her head were ready for it to get closer, but her sword’s range denied them the chance to try. A Breaking Swipe took down most of its health bar, and an auto-attack handled the rest. The Throh fell to the floor, collapsing into the goods she’d come for.

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[attr="class","athread"]‘YO, SCREW THIS SWORD. DOO-DOO-ASS BUGGY ASS ITEM STUCK IN THE GROUND THAT CAN SEE THAT I’M TRYING TO HELP IT AND WON’T EVEN TRY TO HELP! WHAT THE FRICK IS ITS PROBLEM?! ALL I WANT TO DO IS TAKE IT AND PUT IT THROUGH SOMEBODY’S CHEST, AFTER I’VE ASSERTED MY DOMINANCE OVER IT, BUT NOOOO. NOTHING CAN BE THAT EASY FOR MISTER FANCY SPECIAL SWORD. JUST HURRY UP AND GET OUT YOU DUMB BITC- AAAAAAAAAA'

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[attr="class","athread"]Intercepted – by one of her own moves, no less. The stranger gave some spiel about their lack of honour, leaving Annie more than enough time to find and show her eye-roll emote. Her ally said most of what was on her mind, but she felt compelled to add: “Even if it was planned, that’d just mean you’re getting involved with things when you don’t know the whole story.”

There was only a slight chance that the words would make him back off, and so she went for the most effective way to handle her problems. She darted past the Warrior, seemingly trusting her ally to hold up the read. The Eruption hit, and hit hard, wiping the green out of her health bar in one clean hit, and then some. If the party wondered why she hadn’t even tried to dodge, the answer would show itself as she unsheathed a sword near-blindingly white.

She continued rushing to him, only to come to an abrupt stop as she swung her sword. The Metal Burst was sent flying the rest of the way as a ball of energy, unburdened by her debuff or her melee range. She knew better than to step within range of his Shell Trap again.

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[attr="class","athread"]Her smile grew a cocky edge as he spoke. “That’s my pride at work. Can’t let a bunch of pixels show me up if I can help it.” She dug her sword into the kingdom’s red sandstone. The chunk of lodge her sword dislodges was sent sailing through the air, dead-set on beaning an approaching Simisear. A super-effective attack reduced the Pokemon to a mess of drops before it could even become a threat.

“…Maybe it makes me show off a little too, but what’s the harm in that?”

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Dozens of birds slain, and next to nothing to show for their efforts. Annie huffed at their prize, or in her case, lack thereof. Farfetch’d and other players gave experience, but without a last hit to claim them, she decided to help herself to what she could. She took what she considered to be her fair share of the leeks; thankfully, it was more or less a quarter of the hoard.

“I’m almost all set on regulars – mostly because I tried this quest before when I was really bored. Dunno how long it’ll find to get more large leeks, but it’s not worth you starving yourself.” She turned to the lady mage. “Eat well, sleep well! That’s my Tenet Number Three, and I won’t have you disobeying it while I’m around!” She kept her sword drawn, an added warning to any passers-by, but her posture relaxed. “We can keep going, but don’t be scared to take a break. The game’ll be here forever, but food goes cold-and-or-rotten eventually. When you’re ready, we can all run the plan again, since it worked so well.”

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[attr="class","athread"]There was an air of affection that she didn’t quite understand - mot just because she’d gone much too long without human contact, but because it seemed to be shared by everything except her. It was fortunate that her avatar’s face remained calm, unable to betray a pang of jealously as long as she kept her mouth shut.

Her mind forced itself elsewhere – to the task at hand. The moment they stepped atop the shaky bridge, her head locked on the path straight ahead. Virtual or not, heights were heights, and for all the winged beasts she owned, Annie was far from being one with the sky. In a small way, she was almost grateful for a reason to get back off the bridge, even if that opportunity risked their lives.

“I’ve got it!” One quick crouch was enough to make her bullet forward. A white aura disguised as winds carried her across the bridge without touching the ground. Accelerock had quickly become Annie’s favourite move, as a gap closer that could strike before most players knew what hit them. In their case, what would hit the rogue was a sword hilt to the chest. A solid blow, but it was too late. Cruel developers had made the ropes primed to snap at the slightest provocation. At best, she’d bought the trio a few seconds of time, the rapidly-fraying strands a countdown to their fall.

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[attr="class","athread"]“I’m innovating,” she responded, at speeds that could only suggest that she’d been waiting for somebody to question her. Both her tone and face softened as she turned to see who dared laugh at her. She’d allow it from Orion, but few others. “This’ll be the new way to get fish, I’m telling you-“

Fate favoured the girl. Battle music roared to life. She raised her sword out of the water, ready to fight… Only to find that her enemy had impaled herself atop it. The game spared them the gorey details, but the Remoraid’s health bar depleting chunk by chunk sent as clear a picture as any. In seconds, it exploded into experience orbs and loot, leaving one oddly disappointed Ultimeite. “..I kinda feel bad for that guy.”

The water before them started to swirl, stirred up by the raging Pokemon within. The river-dwellers would have their revenge.

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[attr="class","athread"]The woman kept close, and that was all a warrior needed. Oblivious to the interference, she gave chase and drew her katana. The blade shone blue as she freed it from its sheathe – the brawler’s warning of the Breaking Swipe that would follow. One swing across the girl’s chest did the trick.

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