From: "Bandraptor" <bandraptor@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [PW!] A More Perfect Union Room Date: Monday, May 24, 2004 6:11 AM "Rob" <robfrompw@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:vOCpc.8384$zO3.5156@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net... > "Zafiro?" Robert asks out loud, hoping to find the virtual representation of > the Trainer in Hoenn he wants to trade with. Noticing his voice is much more > high-pitched than usual, Robert looks down and sees that he's sporting a > female body. The Leaf avatar is wearing a white hat, a blue halter top, a > belt with six Pokeballs on it, an orange skirt, blue socks, and white shoes > with red buckles. "Wow... I look nice!" Robert laughs to himself and hears > the laughter as giggling. He pulls back the long light brown hair in front > of his avatar's face and starts walking around the Union Room, looking for > "Zafiro". Robert trots around the virtual room in his red and white loafers, taking in the sights around him. The room is big and black, with a high, vaulted ceiling. The floor and the walls are vaguely marked with a sparkling blue grid that lights up intermittently, but the grid lines are thin and widely spaced; and when they fade out, the room seems to have no boundaries at all. With every step he takes out onto the dark, black floor, Robert half feels like he's going to plummet into oblivion. Resolving not to look at the ground, he continues to move forward, searching for the Pokemon Breeder who he's planning to trade with. "Um." It suddenly occurs to Robert that he has no idea who he's looking for. He's never seen Zafiro in person, and since everybody in the Union Room is using an avatar, he can't even limit his search based on gender. Reasoning his way through the dilemma, Robert decides that Zafiro must be one of the few people in the room who isn't actively trading or battling with anybody else. The Leaf Green avatar walks past a brown haired youth in a Fiery Red cap and vest who's battling a black haired trainer wearing a Gold cap with goggles perched atop the brim. Next, she passes a Blue shirted boy with spiky orange hair and purple cargo pants who's exchanging Trainer Cards with a Sapphire-eyed girl clad in a bandana and bicycle shorts. Not too far from them, she notices as a long haired boy with shiny Silver jeans and a long t-shirt secretively passing a piece of paper with the words reading "Map to Secret Base" on it to a Yellow clad Trainer who's wearing a big sombrero. Finally, Robert catches sight of one avatar character who is not involved in any form of interaction. This particular avatar looks very intimidating with his yellow eyes, blue trench coat, and black leather pants. Almost afraid to talk to him, but knowing how silly he'll look if he still has his Charizard when he emerges from the Union Room, Robert approaches the solitary Trainer with a tentative smile. "Um, Zafiro, is that you?" "Hey, Robert!" A cheerful voice rings from behind him. Robert turns around to see a white haired boy who's wearing a black bandana, Ruby red shirt, black pants, and hiking boots. The boy grins, "It's me, Zafiro!" Heh, you're a lot cuter in person." Relieved that he doesn't have to talk to the mean looking avatar, but a little unnerved by Zafiro's comment, Robert tugs at his skirt self consciously. "They were all out of male avatars. I'm using the 'Leaf' model." Zafiro nods. "I'm using the 'Ruby' model. I was going to go for the 'Sapphire' model, what with my name and all, but it turns out that 'Sapphire' is a girl. Not that there's anything wrong with role-playing, but I'm not really into it...anyway, if you ask me, some of these avatars are really bizarre. That skirt of yours is really kinky. And what's with the fedora?" Robert allows himself a laugh. "Your avatar is pretty strange, too. I mean, look at your outfit! Who dresses that way in real life?" Zafiro looks down at his brightly colored sweatshirt, cargo pants, and hiking boots. He heaves a great sigh of shame, "Actually, this is pretty much how I look in real life." Robert frowns, "Oh." There is a moment of awkward silence. "So, shall we get to trading?" Zafiro suggests. He reaches for his belt, and when he does, a holographic display appears in the air in front of him. The display, which is rectangular and two dimensional, hovers between the two avatars like a glowing computer screen, and it is possible for both of them to view its contents. At the very top of the screen there is a long orange box, and inside that box, in thin white letters, is the name 'ZAFIRO'. Below that, there are six smaller, blue boxes, arranged in rows of two. The first box shows an image of a Torchic, her level, and gender. The second and third boxes display Houndours, one male and one female. Both of the Houndours have small, envelope shaped icons attached to them, indicating that they're carrying Mail. The fourth through sixth boxes are empty. Zafiro taps the box containing the female Houndour with his finger, then taps the screen again when a prompt asks if he'd like to view her statistical data. Three bright bars of light immediately appear in front of him, and they begin to scan a three-dimensional area directly to the right of Zafiro's feet. Once the area is prepared, the Union Room's software begins to generate a holographic representation of Zafiro's female Houndour, based on the information it's reading from her Pokeball. The entire process takes less than a minute, and when it is complete, the digitized Houndour standing beside Zafiro looks as real as can be, save for a slight holographic glow, which suggests she might be synthetic. The Houndour puppy has fluffy fur, big paws, and friendly eyes. Her left ear is standing straight up in the air, while her right ear is flopped over on the side of her head. Her belly is round and chubby, and it shakes vigorously with every wag of her stubby, wiggly tail. When the fuzzy baby Houndour catches sight of Robert, she lets out a happy little yip and runs right at him! She jumps in his arms, and starts licking his face, leaving his avatar's cheek damp with holographic saliva. "Wow," Robert exclaims, "This Houndour is even more adorable than the Houndour Dan Ando showed me back in Saffron! Is there anything that I need to know about her?" "Hmm..." Zafiro considers. "Well, she's three months old, and she's at level 6. Right now, she knows Ember, Leer, and Bite. The envelope that I attached to her contains all of her pedigree information--you should send the Transfer of Ownership forms into the Pokemon Kennel Club as soon as possible. I'm giving you Full Registration, so you'll be able to breed her, show her, and change her name if you want to." "Okay," Robert nods, understanding most of this. "Her fur is really fluffy right now, and that's normal for a Houndour of her age. Her overcoat should start to come in pretty soon, and it'll be a bit denser. The cartilage in her ears should start firming up when she's about four months old, so you should tape her ears up if you want to make sure that they grow perfectly straight. The local Nurse Joy will probably do that for you if you ask her to. The ears will probably stand up on their own, but taping never hurts--but whatever you do, DON'T CROP THEM. If you crop them, her horns won't form properly when she evolves. Same goes for the tail, don't mess with the tail. If you start noticing any irregularities in the bone plates around her ankles, get her to a doctor right away. Oh, and keep her on a diet of Arcan-iams, the generic stuff is crap." "All right," Robert agrees hesitantly, beginning to feel a bit lost. Zafiro continues, "Houndours can be an aggressive breed--I'm not saying they're dangerous, but you need to practice domination exercises with them from the time they're very young. Rolling them onto their backs is good for a start, cuffing their jaws works...have you ever read 'The Art of Raising a Pokemon' by the Monks of New Bark?" Robert boggles, "I've never even *heard* of them." "Oh, well, you'll want to get a copy. That'll help." Zafiro advises. "Socialize her early, especially to Bugs and Grass-types. Get her used to grooming now, she's gonna hate it, but the last thing you'll want is a Houndoom who won't let you trim her toenails. Brush her teeth, too. I know those puppy teeth are sharp, but you need to get her used to the toothbrush now, before she learns Crunch. Try to brush her once a day, use a slicker brush for the undercoat and a hound glove for the top coat. Oh! And remember to keep her shots up to date. She still needs a rabies vaccination, and another 3-in-1. Try to get her some Heart Guard while you're at it. And dewormer, just to be on the safe side." Robert's eyes are beginning to glaze over in a mix of boredom and confusion. Zafiro keeps right on talking. "Crate Training's a good idea. I kenneled her before I came to Hoenn, so she should pick up on the Crate Training pretty easily. The Monks' book will give you a lot of information about that. She hasn't been on a leash at all, but she should learn to accept it. And...um...she's gonna start teething in earnest pretty soon, so be sure to stock up on chew toys. I recommend the Raikong brand. They're supposed to have legendary endurance." The white haired avatar shrugs, and wraps up his speech, "Just have fun with her. Can you give me any advice for handling your Charizard?" Robert snaps out of his trance. "Yeah. Don't let him kill you." Robert shifts the baby Houndour into one arm, and reaches for his belt with his free hand. As he does, a second holographic panel pops up immediately next to Zafiro's. Robert runs his hand over the boxes that display simplified representations of his Slowbro, Gengar, Raichu, Piloswine, and Hitmonchan, before finally arriving at the lower right hand corner of the screen, where he sees the angry, bouncing icon that represents his Charizard. He hesitates for a second, mulling over the fact that Charizard was one of his first Pokemon, and thinking about all they've been through together. Deciding that it's in his Pokemon's best interest to pair him with a Trainer who can train him effectively, Robert taps on the touch screen to select the box, and taps it again to initiate the trade. Zafiro taps on his own display to back out of the status screen. The virtual Houndour in Robert's arms disappears in a blink of light. As Zafiro selects the option to confirm the trade, both of the floating touch screens turn black, and an advisory flashes across them, instructing the Trainers not to move while the trade is in progress, since they might accidentally collide with the trading machines in the real world, or otherwise disrupt the connection. After a very long pause, during which the two Trainers just stand still staring at eachother, the screens finally light up blue again. Robert's Charizard now occupies the third box on Zafiro's screen, while Zafiro's Houndour is now sandwiched between Robert's Piloswine and Hitmonchan. Robert grins, feeling more confident about the trade now that it's taken place. He waves at the Charizard icon on Zafiro's screen, "Good bye, Charizard! I hope you'll have a nice life with your new Trainer!" To the Ruby avatar he says, "Thank you for the Houndour, Zafiro. You have my e-mail address, so please keep me updated about Charizard's progress." "Sure," Zafiro readily agrees. He has no intention of ever contacting Robert again. Robert looks around the room, not sure if there's anything else he should do before leaving. "So...do you want to play some mini-games?" Zafiro shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good." "In that case, I'm going to go show Rilli my new Houndour." The Leaf avatar raises her hands to her head, and Zafiro suspects that Robert must be removing his VR helmet in the real world. "Thanks again!" The avatar shouts before blinking out of existence. As 'Zafiro' waves goodbye, the holographic monitor displaying the Houndour also fades from sight. Inside the Petalburg City Union Room, Grey grimaces. "It's a good thing I didn't attempt to put Gurion and Raksha's Reson Balls in the trading machine. If they got a glimpse of the airhead their daughter was going to, they would've brained me to keep me from trading with him." Grey lifts his hands to his head, starting to remove his own helmet. "Hey, you!" Grey pauses. The Ruby avatar glances around the Union Room. The mean looking, yellow-eyed boy is running toward him. "Yeah, you." The avatar screeches to a halt in front of him. Oddly, the trench coat tails stop moving before the rest of him does. "Did you just give that kid a Houndour?" The Ruby avatar narrows his eyes, annoyed by the newcomer's directness. "Hi. I don't believe we've met." "Do you have another one?" The yellow-eyed boy demands. "I might." Grey allows. "What's the matter, aren't there any Houndooms in the comic book reject country that you come from?" "Yeah," the boy complains, "but Realgam Tower's hours away, and until then I'm stuck with the shit Fire-type I snagged from Rosso. I need a better one; will you trade me?" The Ruby avatar raises an eyebrow. "So, I should trade my perfectly bred, rare-in-Hoenn Houndour for your 'shit Fire-type'." "I don't care what kind of Houndour it is, I just want a different Fire-type that isn't a Slugma. Look, I'll even throw in an equip item to sweeten the deal." The boy offers, clearly in a hurry to complete the trade. "What do you want, a Petaya Berry or a Scope Lens?" "A Macho Brace." "What?" Grey repeats himself, "Throw in a Macho Brace, and I'll do the trade." "Heh, your call." The trench coat-clad avatar calls up a display screen, and scrolls through his Items pouch until he finds the object in question: a nasty looking collar made up of interlocking links of metal, with large prongs that point inward, towards the neck area. "I've never seen the point of these things. Where I come from, we try to limit EV-Training as much as possible..." Using the touch screen, he drags the item onto one of his Pokeball icons, and drops it. A pop-up message informs both him and Grey that the item has been equipped. Grey initiates the trade from his end, not really caring what kind of Pokemon he receives, as long as he gets his equip item. A moment later, when the transfer is complete, he clicks the "Take" button on the Pokemon's status page, detaching the Macho Brace, and sending it to his own Items pouch. The yellow-eyed boy grins. "Awright, it's Houndouring time! I'm off to challenge the noobs at the Phenac Colosseum! Hey, thanks for the trade. When I become the savior of the planet and everybody loves me, I'll mention you in my memoirs or something. C-ya!" The avatar reaches for his helmet, and flickers out of sight. Grey rolls his eyes. "What a little prick. Everyone's a legend in their own mind, I guess." He shrugs, and starts to take off his own VR helmet. "Well, I'd better get back to the real world. I have to start training my LEET Charizard, so I can conquer the Maquas and save Team Rocket from certain destruction!" The Ruby avatar punches the air enthusiastically, and fades out of existence. TBC? --Beth