14. Browsing the Catalog

After confirming your budget, you are directed to one of the benches outside Hall Sixteen, where you find yourself waiting patiently to be let in Fortunately, it seems that the place is rather quiet at this time of day - after a minute or two, a uniformed pokegirl pops her head out of the door. "Number 0216: Miss, uh, Blue?"

"That's me."

"Good, good!" she said, leading you inside. The hall is filled with line after line of computer terminals. Many of them are filled by young men and women about the same age as you, though you do spot a few older individuals hanging around.

"Go ahead and use any of those." she said, pointing towards the empty chairs on the far side of the room. "Access is free for the first hour, but after that you need to pay to continue, understand?"

After you pick a machine, the pokegirl takes a moment to show you how to log in using your Tamer's License number. "It should be updated automatically, but if the your personal details or registered pokegirls are inaccurate, make sure to report it and we'll get someone to fix it ASAP." she said. "If you require any help, just send me a message via the Help button over here."

Once she leaves, you begin searching through the database, looking for any pokegirls that could serve as your starter.

Your first idea is to get a Fire Elementalist. You don't know why, but having such a powerful fire type on your side sounds like a good idea.

Unfortunately, there aren't too many Elementalists  available, and even the cheapest one is more then double your current budget. Scrolling through the all-too-small list, you wince at the prices being demanded. It seems that you'll have to try something else.

[Mind Check: 10 95: 95+5 (Academic Dabbler): 100

Crit Roll: 5: 5]

Hmm... well, an Elementalist is too expensive, but how about a Witch? You can probably get a Fire Stone and evolve her yourself if need be.

A quick search later, you find yourself dealing with a whole new problem - compared to Elementalists, there are simply far too many Witches. A quick glance reveals at least a hundred individual pokegirls being sold today, all of them with their own unique skills and abilities. While most people would feel overwhelmed, you quickly sort through the lists, narrowing it down to a mere handful of individuals.

Putting that aside for now, you take a moment to think of any other pokegirls that you might want before typing in a quick search for Romanticides and Sheying.

Romanticides are available, but are all outside of your budget. It seems that they're selling like hot cakes around here. As for Sheying, most of them are also too expensive for you to consider, but you do find one that's just barely within your budget. You're not sure why she's so cheap, though...

[Mind Check: 19 56: 56+5 (Academic Dabbler): 61]

It takes a bit of digging, but looking through her history you realize that this particular Sheying is a recent Thresholder who's been noted to have severe personality issues. Getting her might be more trouble then it's worth. Still, if you can bring her to heel, having a strong dragon type starter would be a point of pride.

After that, you decide to run a quick search through the database for any other Fire and Water type pokegirls who fit your budget. A minute later, you refine the search to focus on those with useful support skills outside of combat. Water types are a bit tricky since most of them can generate drinkable water, so you narrow them down further to only those that can live and fight comfortably on both land and water.

The list becomes noticeably shorter.

That should be enough for now, you think. Checking the time, you see that you still have half an hour remaining.

[] You've already made a list of the best interesting Witches. May as well get a look at them. (will have higher stats due to crit)

[] The only Sheying you can afford looks like it'd be a pain, but you're sure you can break her in soon enough

[] Growlies have a good reputation for loyalty and reliability. In addition, their enhanced senses mean that they're great as guards or trackers

[] Rapitaurs are perfect for transportation and carrying heavy goods around. Why walk when you can ride everywhere?

[] Magikoi are terrible battlers, but can access a pocket dimension that can be used to store things, making them a cheap alternative to pokepacks. 

[] Cameltoes are similar to Rapitaurs in that they're excellent for transportation purposes, but are not quite as fast the their fire type cousins. However, they make up for it with their higher stamina and water storage abilities. 

[] No, I'm not interested in any of these pokegirls. I want something else
- [] Search for...

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QM note: And here's your first skill check. This is how it works - all skill checks rely on your Body, Mind or Soul stats. You roll 1d100 for each point you have in that stat and use the highest roll. If you meet the DC, you pass. If not, you fail. 

Crit rolls happen when your roll goes over 100. A Natural 100 is a super crit, which means that you can add all your normal bonuses to your Crit Roll. If a roll becomes a crit due to your bonuses (e.g.: Academic Dabbler), your Crit Roll only adds the Overflow bonus which is equal to your total roll minus 100. 

Any questions or concerns about this system? Let me know in the comments section below.