Gath watched Relkir literally skip towards them in a cheerful and flamboyant way. Relkir had finished work about an hour ago, and, after a quick trip home to clean themselves up and take off their governmental red and black armour, they had requested to meet Gath in a small park down the road from Gath’s apartment, which was a short bus ride, halfway between the Kentron, the governmental buildings where Relkir worked, and the main space port, two places Gath regularly travelled to.
“You are in a very bright and shiny mood today!” Gath smiled as they got up from the bench. “More so than usual!”
“Of course I am happy! I have finished work, our recent external political problems are over, I got to see Retvik the other day, I touched a Spast’s super fluffy fur and I have the evening to spend with you! Also I have a new game to play and I think you might like it!”
“Oh?” Gath blinked. “A mobile game? Because, well, I tried playing more of that other game but I did not really enjoy it. There is not much to do.”
Relkir shrugged as they joined Gath on the bench then snuggled up next to them, hugging Gath tightly. “Does not surprise me. That game is an acquired taste. More for nerds like me.”
“You are not that nerdy.”
“Dear, you have no idea!” Relkir was still grinning.
“I have been to your little apartment, if you were a complete nerd, you would have one of those miniature war armies, fully painted, and massive folders of collectible trading cards. Instead you just have building block versions of various military ships. You could be nerdier. But you are perfect as you are.”
Relkir paused, then snorted in amusement. “You should come over one day and help me build some. I recently got a model Time Feather ship that I need to put together… But today, I want to walk around the flower park with you and play a new mobile game before we go out for dinner!”
“Oh? What game is this?”
Relkir pulled out their phone. Compared to the brick-tablet Gath carried around, Relkir’s phone was small and sleek. They quickly opened up an app and waited for it to load. After getting past a loading screen and a warning about the weather (apparently there were going to be storms but they never turned up), Gath quickly noticed something familiar. Most of the screen was taken up by a similar-looking map. But instead of it being black with white lines, this one was grassy, with road-coloured lines and simple shapes faintly marking out buildings.
With a smile, Relkir somehow managed to slip Gath’s phone out of their pocket. They managed to unlock it as well, despite Gath never telling Relkir their unlock pattern (it was a G shape, because Gath wasn’t very creative), had quickly opened up the app store and was already downloading the app onto Gath’s phone. This would have annoyed Gath a little, but, well, the cheeky grin and the sheer joy in Relkir’s eyes made up for it.
Before Gath knew it, Relkir had set everything up and thrust their communicator back into Gath’s hands, while taking their own phone back.
“So!” Relkir beamed. “Choose a starter!”
“A… starter?”
“Yes! A starter companion! Your first Walkymonster!”
Gath stared at the screen some more. There were three little creatures, all of which seemed vaguely familiar to Gath, as if they had seen them before. One was a small, green snake dragon thing with a leaf on its tail; the second was a blue, fat, fined sea creature; the third was a red lizard with a pink heart on its back.
“Is this choice… important?”
Relkir shook their head. “You can catch different Walkymonsters later, but this one will be your first companion.”
“Huh…”
Gath stared at the screen some more, unable to really choose. Sure, they were all kinda cute, but Gath couldn’t make a decision. After a minute or so though, a fourth creature suddenly appeared. A black fluffy kitty with a pale yellow, moon-shaped plate on its head.
“I want that one!”
Relkir glanced at Gath’s screen. “Huh. I did not know you could choose Lunat as a starter.”
“It is called Lunat?” Gath asked.
“Yes! It is the unofficial mascot. The official mascot is Fluffox, an adorable golden fluffy puppy, and the game throws loads of them at you later. It is a Spast game, after all. But I like Lunat more.”
“I like it too. How do I get it?”
“Just tap on it.”
Gath did as they were told, and a new screen appeared. The Lunat was curled up on the ground, dozing away happily. At the bottom of the screen was a round ball, the bottom half white, the top half split between red, blue and green, with a black line across the middle.
“Oh. This is like that old kids’ TV show.”
“It is exactly that! I do not have the normal Spast game consoles that the games and TV show normally come out on, but this game works on our communicators! I really like it, and I thought it would be a good way for you to get some softer exercise. After all, you said you needed to do more exercise, and walking is lighter on your bones. The game is mostly just walking around and catching Walkymonsters.”
“Ah…” Gath turned back to the game. “So… I need to catch this Lunat…”
After a moment of thought and inspecting the screen, Gath pressed their finger to it, then flicked the digital sphere at the fluffy kitty. However, they were struggling.
“Why can I not catch it?”
Relkir had glanced at their own screen. “Can you not hit it with the ball?”
“I… I am supposed to hit it?”
“Uh, yes.”
“I thought I was supposed to throw the ball gently in front of them or something?”
Relkir blinked, then snorted. “Oh, no. You throw the ball right at their head. Lunat is unique as it does not try to jump or run away, it just wants to be friends.”
Gath hesitated some more. “I… I was about to say, would throwing balls at cute animals not hurt them? But I forgot for a moment that these are not real, they are just cartoon characters.”
“Hah! Gath, you are such an adorable sillybutt!” Relkir giggled.
Gath giggled back, then went back to the screen and flicked another ball at the Lunat. The ball bounced off its head, then bounced into the air, shaking several times before clicking. A small message popped up, congratulating Gath on catching the creature. After that, a second message popped up, prompting Gath to give the creature a name. Gath thought for a moment, then clumsily typed the name “Relkitty”.
“Look! It is cute!” Gath showed Relkir their screen.
“You named it after me?”
“Of course! I want to catch more of them. And I will name all of them after you in some way. Are there more?”
“Check the map, there are always more creatures to catch.”
Curious, Gath tapped the back button, which took them back to the game’s overworld. The three other creatures were gone, and they were replaced with a recreation of the real world, alongside various different Walkymonsters and some strange, miniaturized buildings. In the corner was a picture of a blue Spast in a lab coat, offering a tutorial. Relkir had clearly been peering at Gath’s screen, and giggled again.
“Heh! Turns out gladiator Tenuk looks a lot like Professor Flafflebutt!”
“Gladiator Tenuk?” Gath asked.
“I met them… him the other day when I saw Retvik! Very fluffy. Very cute and friendly too, not grumpy and selfish like other Spasts. Older than me but somehow younger than you.”
“Huh…” Gath trailed off. They didn’t see any more Lunats on the screen, but they did see a white, round sheep creature that caught their eye. However, as Gath tapped on it and the catch screen appeared, the sheep, which was apparently called “Floolly”, was black, not white. “Uh, dear, why did the sheep change colour?”
“What sheep- oh. Oh darn!” Relkir’s eyes widened. “You got the 1/450 chance on your second ever Walkymonster?”
“What is that?”
“It is an Alty Floolly, it is a super rare alternate coloured version of a normal Floolly! They are, like I just said, very rare!”
Gath shrugged, then flicked a ball at its head, hitting it square on. Just like before, the ball shook three times, then clicked. Gath swiftly named the creature “Floolkir”, then turned to Relkir and grinned.
“I like this game.”
“Me too!” Relkir grinned back. “Shall we go for a walk and catch more creatures?”
Gath stood up and held their hand out, lifting Relkir up off the bench. “Yes, I would love that, my dear.”