The Rise of PULSAR

Chapter 3: Chase and the Critter Champs

(A/N: As of 2024, Beast Tamer - known as Chase in GMS, and May in all other regions - has been retracted from all regions, and she’s been replaced with a new Beast Tamer class named Lynn. Lynn and Mo Xuan - who replaced Zen - both share the same starting region of Jianghu, and their stories are connected together independently of the other overseas content that makes up GMS-verse. Because of this, I won’t be covering Lynn or Mo Xuan in the GMS-verse writeup, but I’ll still be keeping Chase’s story here because her character remains alive in GMS-verse through Stellar Detectives.

Unfortunately, Chase’s removal means that there are a lot of aspects of her story which remain unknown. For example, we still have no idea what Chase’s species is. When she was introduced, she was labeled as an Anima, but her race was changed to Beast Tamer upon Hoyoung’s release. Keep in mind that her initial release had been around the time that the Anima had first been introduced in Shade’s storyline, making me believe that Nexon had just been using Anima as a catch-all term for humans with animal ears and tails. Since Beast Tamer was first introduced in CMS, they likely didn’t know about KMS’ plans for the Anima to be established as a Grandis thing, and so Chase just falls into this weird limbo of being an Anima lookalike.

However, we do know from the Explorer storyline that Rondo has Anima features, and that he lives in Maple World, just like Chase. Rondo’s existence might potentially hint at there being Anima that crossed over from Grandis to Maple World, similar to how Havoc crossed over from Tynerum to Grandis, and so it might be possible that Chase does have Anima ancestry that can be traced back to Grandis.

Something interesting to note is that Chase is the only Anima-presenting person in her town, as the others are all this weird species that look a lot like the Halflingers of Leafre, including her grandmother, leading me to believe that she was an Anima who lost her parents, just like Rondo, and that she was adopted and raised in Arboren by the villagers.)

In Canopy Town of Arboren, a young girl named Chase dreamed of becoming just like the legendary Heroes of Maple, whom she idolized greatly. As a child, her Granny Rosanna would tell her stories of the five heroes who had sealed away the Black Mage, which had inspired her dreams of becoming a hero. (A/N: Can we get an F in the chat for Shade.)

One day, while she was singing about her dream, she overheard commotion and immediately rushed over, believing that it was an opportunity for her to be a hero. However, she realized that it was only Ms. Hilga, who had fallen into a hole that Chase had dug as a prank. Granny Rosanna scolded Chase for the prank that she had pulled on Ms. Hilga and told her to apologize immediately, adding that a true hero was never afraid to apologize. Chase gave a sincere apology to Ms. Hilga and asked for forgiveness.

Though exasperated, Ms. Hilga noted that Chase was still young and forgave her, though she warned Chase not to do it again. She then told Chase that she had noticed Bran crying and asked whether Chase knew anything about it. When Chase began giving a shifty answer, Ms. Hilga chided Chase for treating her friends poorly and told her to apologize to him.

Once again, Chase apologized to Bran and promised never to pull another prank on him again. Bran then asked her why she was so obsessed with becoming a hero, and whether she was even cut out to be one. Chase proudly noted that she was going to become a legend like the Heroes of Maple, though Bran merely laughed at her words. Frustrated, Chase asked Bran what she could do to prove herself to him, to which Bran dared her to go inside Wolf Forest on her own, where even the adults feared to enter.

Chase proceeded into the forest alone, where she discovered a cat stuck inside a cage. The cat asked Chase to help her break free from the cage, with Chase excitedly noting that talking cats were the sort of thing that true heroes stumbled across. The cat introduced himself as Arby and explained that he had been stuck inside the cage for days without food.

After breaking open the cage, Chase asked Arby whether there was anything else that she could do, to which Arby told Chase that he had lost his bell in a nearby tree and asked Chase to fetch it. After Chase got the bell, Arby thanked her and introduced himself as a member of the Critter Champs. He explained that even though they were just starting out, the Critter Champs would soon be famous enough that all of Maple World would be singing their praises.

Suddenly, a pack of wolves arrived and began circling the hill that the pair were on. Chase lamented that she didn't have a weapon to fight, though Arby pointed out that she could use a tree branch. Chase then heroically leapt down and defeated the wolves. She returned to Arby, who was impressed by Chase's skills. Arby then elaborated on the Critter Champs, explaining that they were four members on an adventure to become great heroes.

Chase excitedly told Arby that she was also on a mission to become as great as the Heroes of Maple. As the two began bonding over their admiration for the Heroes, Arby suddenly invited Chase to become a member of the Critter Champs as their fifth member, which would make them just like the five Heroes. Chase pointed out that she wasn't a critter, offended when Arby noted that she had animal features. Nevertheless, she agreed to join after considering it. Arby then told Chase to head back to Arboren while he gathered together the other members.

(A/N: There was an official webcomic released alongside Beast Tamer that revealed some of the backstory to the Critter Champs and Chase’s predecessor, Sherry. However, there’s one detail in Chase’s storyline that contradicts the webcomic, and so its canonicity is a bit shaky. The webcomic starts with the four Critter Champs - Arby, Eka, Fort, and Lai - performing at a circus as the Commerci Choir in Dawnveil, having lost all their powers. While performing, they see Sherry in the crowd and chase after her, with the circusmaster and his thugs in pursuit in order to get back their performers.

Sherry then blows a whistle to give the Critter Champs back their powers, allowing them to defeat the ringmaster. After reuniting with the Critter Champs, Sherry reveals that she had left them behind in order to protect the World Tree, as she had believed that it would be too dangerous to take them. She also reveals that she had perished in the battle, which was why the Critter Champs had lost their powers. She explains that the World Tree had brought back her spirit so that she could give the Critter Champs back their powers, after which her spirit disappears. The comic then fast-forwards to Arby being caught in his cage, ending with him meeting with Chase and asking her to join them.)

Chase returned back to the village, only to find that a horde of Kobolds were attacking. As several Kobolds advanced on her, a snow leopard rushed in and defeated them. The panther greeted Chase and explained that Arby had told him about her, introducing himself as Lai. He then presented a Guardian Contract to Chase and asked her to sign it, explaining that it would allow her to tap into the power of the Critter Champs for her own use.

After fist-bumping to complete the contract, Chase channeled Lai’s powers and used him to defeat the Kobolds attacking the village. Though they defeated the first wave, Lai smelled another wave of armored Kobolds invading and noted that they were much stronger. Nevertheless, Chase and Lai worked together to defeat the entire horde.

Before they could celebrate their victory, Lai smelled yet another group of even stronger Kobolds and told Chase that it would be better for him to handle it alone. However, he quickly discovered that he was unable to pierce through their armor with his soft paws and decided to leave it to another Critter Champ. Just then, a large bear stumbled in and introduced himself as Fort.

Fort then threw a massive punch that sent a Kobold flying into the air. Lai told Fort to perform the Guardian Contract with Chase so that she could use his power to defeat the Kobolds. The two then bumped fists, after which Chase used Fort’s power to fight the Kobolds, though another wave quickly appeared. Realizing that the enemy wasn’t planning to stop, Lai suggested evacuating the town by having them climb up the trees. Chase then rallied the townspeople and had them evacuate, after which Lai told her to head to safety as well.

After climbing up the tree, Chase asked what their next move was, as they couldn’t stay up there forever. Fort suggested lowering the watchtower door in order to block the entrance to the town. Chase told him that it was a good idea, except that there were too many Kobolds for them to reach the lever. Just as Chase wished that she could fly, Bran toppled over the edge of the tree and began falling. Suddenly, a large hawk dove down and grabbed Bran, setting him back up on the tree. Fort and Lai greeted the hawk, whose name was Eka, though Chase noted that Lai was acting strangely.

Eka demanded to know where the hero that Arby had mentioned was, to which Lai timidly pointed at Chase. Eka was thoroughly unimpressed by Chase and was surprised to know that both Fort and Lai had signed the Guardian Contract with her. She reminded them that they had been waiting for a century to find the perfect master to sign the contract with, chiding them for wasting it on a child. (A/N: This line contradicts the webcomic, which makes me believe that the webcomic might not be canon.) Chase then told Eka that they first needed to save the town. Lai agreed and told Eka that the only way to do so was by signing the contract and flying Chase to the watchtower.

Though Eka reluctantly agreed, she made it clear to Chase that she didn’t approve of her. After the two signed the Guardian Contract, Chase told Eka to fly her to the watchtower, to which Lai nervously told Chase to watch how she spoke, as Eka refused to take orders from anyone. Though irritated, Eka agreed to do as Chase said just once, though she told Chase not to get used to it. After flying Chase to the watchtower, Eka told Chase that she was sealing her power away, as Chase was too weak to use it in her current state. Chase then pulled the lever, shutting the gate to the town.

With the remaining Kobolds trapped inside, Chase and the other warriors of the village climbed down and prepared to fight off the enemy. Just then, Arby arrived and told Chase to quickly sign the Guardian Contract with him. After bumping fists, Chase used Arby’s powers to boost the strength of the warriors, allowing them to easily defeat the Kobolds. Suddenly, Chase found herself losing consciousness as the other Critter Champs rushed to catch her.

Three days later, Chase awoke and learned from the Critter Champs that she had fallen unconscious after being overwhelmed by their powers. Chase then decided that it was time for her to begin her hero’s journey and began to say her farewells. She went to say goodbye to Granny Rosanna, who was sad to see her granddaughter go, though she accepted it when Chase pointed out that she had been the one to inspire Chase to become a hero.

Chase promised to visit the townspeople, who all cheered her on her journey. Granny Rosanna then put a whistle around Chase’s neck, explaining that she had made it while Chase had been unconscious. After heading out of town, Eka chided Chase for sleeping for three days, ignoring Arby’s reminder that she had been by Chase’s side the entire time without sleep.

Arby then told Chase that he and Eka were temporarily leaving for the spirit realm, as their powers were too strong for Chase to handle. He explained that Fort and Lai would also be coming with them until summoned, as Chase would quickly tire out if they remained with her all the time. Chase then made her way to Stump Town, where she met with Woodrock, the chief of the town. Chase began warning him that there was a great threat approaching, but Woodrock dismissed her words, claiming that she had fallen victim to Bluffing Tom’s lies.

In order to prove her words, Chase set out into the forest and defeated the nearby Kobolds, bringing back one of their wooden clubs. However, Woodrock claimed that she had merely purchased it from the store, and so Chase decided to speak with Bluffing Tom. Tom noted that she must be powerful to have obtained a Kobold’s club and suggested that she bring back Kobold swords as proof that he was telling the truth. She then brought the swords to Woodrock, who merely dismissed them as kitchen knives.

With no other choice, Tom told Chase to collect Spear Kobold’s Claws. Chase fought several Rotting Kobolds, but was unable to find their claws. She decided to venture deeper into the forest and obtained the claws from the Kobold Pokers. After she presented the claws to Woodrock, he immediately accepted them as bear claws and asked Chase to bring him more.

As Chase began to head out, she found Tom stopping his grandmother and his father from leaving the town, warning them that Kobolds were in the forest. However, his grandparents chided him for lying before heading out. Chase then proceeded to collect more claws and brought them to Woodrock, outraged when he declared that he would use them to decorate his room. However, Woodrock reassured her that even if Tom was telling the truth, there was no way for the Kobolds to enter the town.

After telling Tom what had happened, Chase decided to deal with the Kobolds herself. After defeating the Kobold Pokers and finding a Kobold den nearby, Chase returned to let Woodrock know, who urgently told her that he had seen the Kobolds while tracking down several people who hadn’t returned from the forest.

He then begged Chase to find Tom’s family, adding that he should have listened to her. Chase discovered Tom’s grandmother, his father, and Tom himself, who claimed that he had fought through the Kobolds while searching for his family, though Chase knew that he was bluffing, true to his name. After returning back to town, Chase told Woodrock about the Kobold den. As she headed out to infiltrate it, Tom asked her to collect Red Pouches from the Kobold Shooters there, as one of them had stolen something from him in the forest and placed it in their pouch.

However, even after Chase obtained the pouches, Tom was unable to find his missing item inside, and so he asked her to collect Blue Pouches from the Kobold Zappers. After Chase brought back the pouches, Tom discovered his mother’s handkerchief. He explained that his mother had been missing for a while, and that he had been out searching for her when he had run into the Kobolds, though no one had believed him. However, he was confident that the Kobolds had kidnapped his mother and asked Chase to rescue her, believing that she would be in the deepest part of the den.

Chase entered the den and soon found Tom’s mother locked in a cell. After freeing her, the pair quickly returned back to town. Chase then began asking her about the Kobolds in the prison, to which she explained that she had only seen King Kobold at the end of the prison. Realizing that eliminating the king would rid them of their leadership, Chase let Woodrock know about what she had learned. Woodrock asked her to eliminate the king, but when Chase arrived at the entrance of his room, she found it blocked, along with an overpowering stench.

She returned back to Woodrock, who explained that the legends said that Kobolds were protected by a strange power and asked her to speak with Tom’s mother about it. Tom’s mother explained that she believed that the Kobolds used special smells for their powers and asked Chase to collect Kobold items so that she could prepare a special scent that would allow Chase to enter the throne room.

Chase collected Spear Kobold’s Claws, Red Pouches, and Blue Pouches, with which Tom’s mother prepared Kobold Musk. Chase then applied the musk and entered the throne room, defeating King Kobold before returning back to town. After Chase reported her victory, Woodrock proclaimed her a true hero and apologized for not believing her.

He added that she reminded him of the legend of the Heroes who had defeated the Black Mage, causing Chase to gleefully note that she looked up to them. Woodrock explained that someone on Victoria Island would likely know how to get in touch with the Heroes and suggested heading to the harbor outside town in order to get there.

Chase headed to the harbor when she met three suspicious individuals. One of them, a woman named Vicky, asked Chase whether they were on Victoria Island, to which Chase innocently replied that they were in Arboren. The woman chided Victor, one of the men that she was traveling with, telling him that they weren’t on Victoria Island after all. As Victor retorted that it was what he had been trying to tell her all along, the other man, Vincent, asked him why he hadn’t spoken up about it earlier.

When Chase asked if they were also heading to Victoria Island, Vicky invited her to join them, explaining that they were treasure hunters. She then turned to her companions and whispered that Chase seemed highly gullible. After the ferry came, Vicky attempted to take advantage of Chase by explaining that there was a tax to board the boat, which she claimed belonged to her.

Chase offered to pay with Spear Kobold’s Claws, which Vicky accepted, believing them to be valuable. (A/N: For some reason, this quest also has us defeat Disgusting Kobolds, even though they don’t drop the claws.) Chase collected the claws and brought them back to Vicky, who was disgusted by their rotting stench. Nevertheless, she allowed Chase to climb aboard. Soon after setting sail, the boat was attacked by a Grosso Polpo.

(A/N: This was actually a really cool detail. Back when the continent of Dawnveil was still in the game, there were three regions that existed there. Arboren was the southmost area of the three, with Commerci being north of it, and Tynerum being at the top, right below Leafre at the border between Dawnveil and Ossyria. Chase would’ve had to sail up from Arboren through Commerci, which is where the Grosso Polpo resides during the Commerci Voyages.)

Suddenly, Lai appeared and asked Chase what was happening. Vicky immediately noticed the talking snow leopard and realized that they could make a profit off of capturing them. Fort soon joined them and the two Critter Champs quickly made short work of the kraken with Chase’s guidance. Soon after, the boat was picked up by the Nautilus, with Chase and Vicky being brought aboard to see Kyrin.

After learning that Chase was on her way to Victoria Island in order to meet the Heroes, Kyrin asked whether Chase knew of Evan, the successor of Freud. Chase excitedly told her that she had memorized all of the Dragon Master’s trivia. Laughing, Kyrin suggested that she visit Henesys, as it was Evan’s hometown. In Henesys, Chase was thrilled to run into Evan and told him about her dreams of becoming a hero.

Evan laughed and noted that she very well could become one, as he certainly hadn’t been one when he had started. He then told Chase about all the major events that had happened, such as the five Heroes, the Black Mage, Empress Cygnus, and the arrival of the Sengoku Warriors. He then promised to let Empress Cygnus know about her and noted that he looked forward to the day that they could stand shoulder to shoulder.

(A/N: Beast Tamer’s storyline gets abruptly terminated here. During her initial release, she had a billion quests in her storyline, many of which were arduous fetch quests. In fact, there was a whole questline set between us meeting Kyrin and finding Evan that was cut as well. After Chase and Evan meet, Evan puts in a good word for us to Cygnus and Neinheart.

However, Neinheart is really out-of-character in this storyline and acts like a snobby elitist. He says that Chase is too young and unremarkable to join the Alliance and the other Heroes go at it with him constantly throughout the storyline because he makes remarks like Phantom’s opinions mattering less because he hasn’t been in the Alliance as long as the others.

In order to see whether Chase is worthy of joining the Alliance, he orders her to complete tests set by the five Chief Knights. During this process, Victor, Vicky, and Vincent – the Triple Volts – attempt to capture the Critter Champs, essentially serving as Walmart discount versions of Team Rocket, except even more incompetent.

I’m not lying when I say that this storyline was perhaps the most convoluted, out-of-character, and tedious one out of every storyline in the game. I haven’t personally played the original storyline, instead having only read the quest descriptions that only exist on HiddenStreet now, but I can tell you confidently that it would’ve taken me half a year at least to write it all up.

Naturally, people rightfully complained about how arduous it was, but instead of just simplifying the storyline, Nexon decided to cut out literally every single quest between Chase meeting Evan up through Chase joining the Alliance. While I’m glad not to have to suffer through the original story, I really hate when lore gets removed from the game just for the sake of Nexon not having to put in effort to just improve what’s already there.

Because of the changes, Beast Tamer has literally no story and Triple Volt just become non-factors, despite appearing prominently in her animated short. I came up with an idea for a potential revamp of Beast Tamer’s storyline, in which Triple Volt are mercenaries hired by PULSAR to steal Chase’s animals.

You’ll see in Stellar Detectives that PULSAR is stealing animals from Maple World in order to experiment on them, and so I thought that it would be a neat way to have Beast Tamer’s storyline tie in with the PULSAR stuff, especially if the end of her class storyline shows a plot twist with Triple Volt not being the true villains and instead cutting to the PULSAR leaders or something, which could serve as the organization’s introduction.

Regardless, I doubt that Nexon would ever revamp Beast Tamer’s story or reimplement what was already there. I tried looking to see whether there was a way for me to cover her old story, but most of it is unfortunately inaccessible, aside from a couple of incomplete videos on YouTube, whatever client-side data that exists in the WZ files, and the HiddenStreet quest log data.

As it stands now, we essentially just get two more pseudo-job advancements at level 30 and 50, in which we unlock Eka and Arby, respectively. After that, we get nothing until level 140, which was the final quest in her original storyline. I would include it within the actual guide itself, but it makes absolutely no sense within the scope of her currently available quests because it directly references the cut story content.

Basically, we get to see the ceremony in which Neinheart and Cygnus formally induct her into the Alliance, with all the Heroes except Shade (naturally), the Chief Knights, and the Critter Champs in attendance. Neinheart apologizes for his rude behavior that I still consider to be totally out-of-character, while the Heroes congratulate her for becoming a new hero. Neinheart then gives you your final secondary weapon whistle and a medal, as well as a hefty 100 fame. Ironically, despite becoming a member of the Alliance, you still don’t get the Will of the Alliance skill or the Alliance medal, making you and Zero the only two classes not to get them.

Anyways, here’s Beast Tamer’s exclusive cutscene from Black Heaven. I don’t really know where all of GMS-verse fits within the chronology of the main story, and so I’m just including this in case anyone’s interested.)

The day before the Black Heaven operation, Chase and the Critter Champs returned home to Arboren, as Chase wanted to meet her friends and family from Canopy Town before the battle. The town was overjoyed to see Chase after so long and greeted her as a hero. Chase was surprised to see everyone prepared for her arrival and asked her grandmother how everyone knew that she was coming. Granny Rosanna explained that Eka occasionally flew in and told the town about her adventures, though Eka had warned them to keep it a secret. Eka was irritated with Rosanna divulging how much she secretly cared about Chase and dismissed Chase’s gratitude.

(A/N: Right after this, there’s a dialogue error where Eka accidentally gets Rosanna’s line. When Chase says that she needs to get going, Eka says, “I know you do, my precious baby. Don’t let anyone get the better of you out there!” and it’s hilarious to see Eka say this with her tsundere personality.)

After saying her farewells, Chase had Eka fly her straight to Ereve for the Lumiere’s launch.

(A/N: Interestingly, Beast Tamer is the only class in which we skip the tiny scene where we board the Lumiere, instead just cutting to the cutscene of the airship taking off and continuing with Act 2. It’s likely because Eka probably just flew us directly aboard to Lumiere, but it’s still a bit sad that we don’t get to walk past the cheering crowd.

Moving along, here’s Beast Tamer’s Aftermath cutscene. In the Labyrinth of Suffering, she hears the voice of Eka (though she says something like “Eka… everyone!”, implying that the others were there silently in the background. The White Mage gives her the title “Hero of Nature” at the end of Limina.)

After the battle with the Black Mage, Chase and the Critter Champs returned home to Arboren, where she visited the people of Stump Town and the people of her hometown, Canopy Town, who had traveled there to meet her.

(A/N: When she arrives, the people of Stump Town greet her with those speech bubbles that disappear after a few seconds. I was surprised that the speech bubbles have them call her the Adversary, rather than just her name. Even though every class is given credit for having personally defeated the Black Mage in their individual cutscenes, this is the first time that I’ve ever seen a class being explicitly referenced as the Adversary.)

After a large celebration and a sumptuous feast, Chase said her farewells and headed to the port. There, she told the Critter Champs how relieved she was that Arboren was as peaceful as ever. Arby joked that he wouldn’t call the extravagant party a sign of peace, though he added that it wasn’t every day that a true hero like Chase came through. Lai concurred and told Chase that only a true hero could have brought Maple World back from the brink of darkness.

Chase then confessed that after having met so many great people and facing down the greatest threat that Maple World had ever seen, she had realized that she could never be like the legendary Heroes of Maple because they had done everything by themselves, while she had learned that no one could save the world on their own, as it was a team effort.

She then told the Critter Champs that they were the real heroes and fondly called them her friends. Eka then corrected her, admitting that Chase was just as important to the team as them. Arby then asked Chase whether she remembered the day when they had first met. He explained that ever since Chase had freed him from his cage, he had always known that Chase would be a real hero.

Chase grinned and told the Critter Champs that they were right. She then swore as the hero of Maple World that she would always protect its people, adding that she could only do so with the Critter Champs’ help. The Critter Champs eagerly agreed as they all looked ahead for their next big adventure.