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Cerulean Mackerel
PE 3rd January 1
It was getting late when they finally hit Cerulean City and Jack had to log off when they got to the poké centre. Tyson and Yumi were left alone to explore the city it was too dark to see anything outside of Cerulean, so they couldn't train other than in the pound at the edge of town. The Gym here had been replaced by a house, when Tyson had tried to explore the house all he found was a sign saying 'If I'm not here please investigate at the lighthouse Gym'. Yumi had guessed that the Gym and Bill's house had been switched around for the purposes of this game.
The light at night was dim just bright enough to see but not light enough to spoil the darkened scenery. He had no idea what Yumi's job in real life was but he assumed it was something like his, as it was now around 12:00 here meaning 2:00 in the real world. They'd stocked up on potions and status effect healers just in case they were jumped by rockets. However to Tyson's surprise it wasn't a rocket that jumped them.
"Alright hand over your Pokémon and money!"
"Wait, are you actually trying to mug us? Do you know who we are?" Tyson face palmed as Yumi drew more unwanted attention to them.
"Look hand it over or I'll have to use force." The mugger sent out a Pikachu wearing a black suit and little hat. Tyson sent out Pidgey and with one Quick Attack the mugger's Pikachu was down.
'What Pidgey is evolving?' The mugger soon backed down realizing that he'd now have to fight a Pidgeotto. As he fled he dropped a poké ball that he'd stolen from an old guy trying to sell him Pokémon. Tyson went over and picked up the forgotten poké ball. They were looking for the real owner for about half an hour before giving up and claiming it themselves.
"So what is it?" Tyson hadn't actually looked yet, Yumi had a pretty good idea of what Pokémon was inside and that's why she'd given up looking for the owner. Before he could press the button the ball opened itself and Tyson's new Pokémon was revealed. A small red fish was now in front of them splashing up and down on the road. Tyson hit his head against the nearest wall realizing he'd just got a Magikarp.
They were just about to head to the poké centre to log off when, they were caught by fans. "Can you sign my pokédex please?"
"Train my Pokémon for me I want it to be as strong as yours!"
Tyson was ready to run away but Yumi was happy sat signing autographs and giving training tips. Tyson reminded her they shouldn't be encouraging fans, as Team Rocket would get even more annoyed at them. She paid no attention to him at all, that was until the man in the black cloak came to deliver his final warning.
"I gave you your chance, now I see you've not only beaten my two commanders, but you're taking autographs? Let it be known anyone who beats James, Jack and Yumi will be rewarded with 100,000,000 pokémoney. Oh and just to turn fans against you, everywhere you go there will be members of Team Rocket stealing from trainers and burning down houses."
As he turned around Tyson noticed a flash of red in his back pocket. So the man in the cloak was a real person. The head of Team Rocket was a player not an AI, this game suddenly got a lot more interesting and dangerous, soon after Tyson and Yumi logged off.
Earth (Japan) 21st June 2018
The HQ of Game Freak had become vastly different one year ago, when the company was bought out by a well known Japanese businessman. The new CEO had demanded to be left only in his office all day, since the VPE had arrived and the only person who had contact with him was his personal assistant who delivered food. The seventh floor had become off limits to all unessential personnel and the only people seen going there were famous hackers including the man who hacked Game Freak in thirty seconds. Yukio Kami the new head of Game Freak was only ever seen leaving the building in the early hours of the morning and all people ever saw was a flash of his Black Cloak.
