<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/rfqXdUk.png)</div><hr/><hr/><br/><strong>"Fighting is exactly what I plan to do,"</strong>Emma said with more conviction than she had previously thought she had as she shook his hand. She crossed her arms, thoughtful.<strong>"I'm ready to go,"</strong>she took a hesitant step forward, ready to walk headfirst into whatever dangers lay before her. There was no second thought about grabbing someone to take along for the ride. After all, it was just a game. Her next step was more assured. Like usual, she felt it best to just<em>commit</em>rather than taking too long to think about it. The theme music transitioned and while she showed a moment of confusion, it was quickly cleared up.<br/><br/><strong>"And that's what I thought,"</strong>she said, referring back to her question about the Pokeballs. She tapped her own to make sure her meaning was clear.<strong>"I guess it's time to go exploring!"</strong><br/><br/>Emma started down the path of ROUTE 1, looking at the patches of grass. A sudden urge to chop it down occurred to her. She felt foolish for suddenly wishing for a sword to do the deed with; certainly there would be lawn mowers for that sort of thing, but she couldn't help the childish delight that swelled inside of her at the thought of wielding a weapon.<br/><br/><em>'Ah, but I have a weapon,'</em>she thought, pressing the button on her Pokeball. With a sound effect and beam of light, her little blue turtle made its first appearance.<br/><br/><strong>"I chose this little guy because he looked familiar."</strong>The thought was fuzzy; she didn't try to explain it further.<strong>"Squirtle the turtle. Maybe I should have nick-named him Yertle."</strong>She had no idea what made her think of the reference, and it wasn't clear that she understood it herself.<strong>"Maybe that person knows something useful?"</strong>She pointed to the townie in the grass patch. If it wasn't clear by now, Emma was a talker and her strategy for winning was to meander aimlessly from one NPC to the next to have unsatisfying conversations while leveling her Pokemon.<br/><br/><hr/><hr/>