Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl.
Author's Note: You may not get some of this if you don't play Pokemon, but I've tried to make it simple.
Artemis Fowl the Second was not happy. This would usually result in someone else in the world becoming three times as unhappy, but not today. The reason was that Artemis' mother, Angeline Fowl was pestering him again and again to become more like a 'normal' teenager.
Part of this was, in her opinion, playing video games. Artemis protested, but his mother played the guilt trap and reminded him about he had fooled his parents regarding the fairies.
So, he had downloaded an emulator and a rom of Pokemon Black Version, which was supposed to be the most popular of all of them. His mother watched him approvingly and left him to have fun.
"What kind of game is this?" Artemis asked when Angeline had left. "This is so childish I bet the twins wouldn't like it. Five minutes is probably the maximum amount of time that I will waste on this."
Six hours later, Artemis was sitting in front of the computer, having completed the game after playing for six hours non-stop. He had forgotten about lots of meetings and projects he had set up, but they didn't come to mind at that point.
By then, he had gotten tired of playing with CPUs, so he used this software to play with other people online. Due to his prodigious intellect, he had already mastered the game and within five minutes had hacked into the program to give himself some benefits. I have difficulty going legitimate in real life, why should I be it in a virtual game, Artemis thought to himself. Though the link-up software was pretty sophisticated and was designed to stop any cheating, that was of the normal kind. Artemis Fowl had sabotaged even fairy technology, and this was no difficult.
The only problem was that he couldn't give himself infinite stats, because everyone would notice that at once. He would have to make it look like he was playing fair, though he wasn't. He began by setting the time spent on playing to five hundred hours. Rather than simply maxing out on IV's and EV's, which would without a doubt trigger suspicion, he made them high, but not too high, so it would be plausible that he had actually worked to get them.
He began playing. Thirty-three victories in less than fifteen minutes. It helped that he could see all of his opponent's team and moves, and that for some reason he kept getting lucky with moves like Blizzard and got lots of critical hits.
Then, a challenge appeared for him. Artemis accepted it in an instant. He noticed that this opponent was pretty strong. He had even knocked out two of his Pokemon, something that hadn't happened till yet. Artemis didn't worry. He would just start getting 'lucky' all of a sudden and pull a last-minute victory. The smug look on his face vanished when he was down to his last Pokemon.
He made sure that he would get a critical hit, but that somehow missed and his opponent scored a critical instead and he lost.
Artemis was fuming. How was this possible? He had used Thunderbolt, and that never missed, unless… he realized that his opponent must have had a Lax Incense equipped (if you're wondering, it slightly decreases your opponent's accuracy). But he had made sure that the effects of such items would be neglected. Not to mention there had been something strange about the way his opponent had battled. Artemis had dismissed it as a fluke at first, but now he was certain that his opponent knew what move he was going to use. Even Artemis couldn't do that, since the signal was transmitted at the same time from both computers.
That could only mean that somehow someone had hacked his computer. He checked the Trainer name, and it was Foaly.
Foaly! Could it be possible? After all, there must have been millions of people playing that game, and by chance someone could have called themselves Foaly. Artemis calculated the odds, and he had to admit that it was quite plausible that it had been Foaly.
Artemis was not one to take defeat lightly. He took out a phone he had been developing to use to communicate with the fairies. He had used some of the bugs that Foaly had planted around Fowl manor to develop them.
He punched in Foaly's number which he had obtained a while earlier from Holly. The phone rang for two seconds before he picked it up,
"Hello. Pizza Hut, how may I help you?" Foaly asked.
"Do not play games with me, centaur," Artemis said. "I know that you've been playing Pokemon, and that you just beat me seconds ago."
Foaly chuckled. "Yes, you're right. It was amazing really, seeing the expression on your face as you lost. I even made a video clip of it. Want to see it?"
Artemis had trouble controlling his temper. "So, you saw me playing and decided to beat me at a children's game?"
"No, actually I usually play Pokemon. I saw you battling online, and I couldn't resist."
"Which reminds me, you're on duty right? How would Commander Kelp like it if he knew you spent time which you should spend working playing a game."
Foaly snorted. "Really Artemis, all I do is sit at a desk and beat children all across the world at a virtual game that they don't have a chance at winning and so break their self-confidence and self-esteem. Is that such a bad thing? I remember one time that I beat this kid's level hundred Palkia with a level one Caterpie. Good times, good times."
"I will tell your boss though, Foaly, unless you do as I say." Artemis smiled, he now had Foaly in his power. It was a moment he had been waiting for a long time.
"Oh no, Artemis is blackmailing me, that is such a surprise," Foaly said. "Don't you think I was expecting that? I also have material on you, Artemis. Tell anyone about this little encounter and I will spread the word among your criminal contacts that you play a children's game."
Artemis grimaced. "Fine then. Just keep of this game."
"Sure, mud boy. Signing off." Artemis kept the phone down. With Foaly gone, he could be the top player in all of the world. Not that there was much fun to it now.
Not to mention that he had completed the story line already.
Artemis looked at himself. He hadn't eaten for a long time, and his room was in a mess. He knew his inbox would be crammed with e-mails asking why he didn't meet a deadline. There was only one thing to do.
He deleted his save file. He started a new game. Then, Artemis Fowl the Second began playing from the start.