Challenge #01846-E022: Where's the Cheevs?

Pokémon Go... in space -- TheDragonsFlame

Trends come, trends go, and some are revived, zombie like, from a place where they should have stayed buried. You can make up your minds about which ones are which. For a patch of time in the 1930's, the name Judith became incredibly popular, and was rarely that popular again. For a spate in the 1980's, every girl child was named Kylie. And pretty much since the 1980's until the current era, there has been Pokémon.

Like Beatlemania, it ebbs and rises, but it never truly dies. For every generation, there is an era in which they discover the four lads from Liverpool, or the obsessive joy of catching them all. And since space is vast, the viral spread of these trends can be like a confusing round of Which Flu Is This?

Rael swore under his breath at his own vambrace's app. He'd lost five rounds of Dog or Not Dog? with a five-year-old on the same tram. Now that he was in time-out, he had the time to notice that Shayde had gone ominously quiet. She was not playing Match Three Dazzle, which was her usual go-to for filling in time on the trams. She was, however, gurning at the screen and holding her dominant hand in a peculiar pose.

He peeked at her vambrace screen. "That's not Funny Face Go Gurn," he said.

Shayde kept staring at the screen, and the bouncing circle that slowly came to a halt and scattered stars on her screen. "Yus," she hissed. "Gottim." She surfaced from her inner world. "It's Pokémon Go Galaxy," she said. "They just got a patch in where ye can trade yer pokémons fer stuff ye cannae get where yer at[1]. Heard ye can trade a thousand mudkips fer a Voidfish." She tapped at her vambrace and displayed her achievements. She had evidently captured eight hundred and thirty mudkips. As well as three hundred rattata, five hundred and forty pidgeys, and two hundred and fifty-eight magicarp.

Unsurprisingly, the achievement was called Garbage Collector.

"You're one of them aren't you?" he said. "One of those relentless achievement collectors who are out for every meaningless trophy you can get."

Shayde flicked her screen to her trophy case. Virtual badges and buttons in a gleaming display glimmered at him. "Maybe," she admitted. "It helps tha' I knew pokémon from before I left. I had the card game before it was an anime, ye ken."

And one of her achievements was Ancient Knowledge. Which also gave her a rare champion Pokémon. Because of course it did. "That's the one that's been champion at Nik's virtual gym for three months, isn't it?"

Shayde grinned at him. "I knew you were in'tae it."

"No. I've merely caught the periphery from other obsessives like yourself."

She elbowed him in a friendly manner. "G'wan. Show me yer pokémons..."

He sighed. He was playing a very staid strategy. "I have it automated so that I don't have to micromanage it all. This is just an experiment, of course. I hardly even check it."

Shayde saw the Daily Check achievement and doubtingly said, "Mm-hm."

[1] Pokémon go needs to do this. For realsies.

[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / skarin]

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