Adrian Yates stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of his corner office, the city skyline reflecting in his dark eyes. Even after twenty-seven years, he still wasn't entirely sure if he was a "transmigrator" or if he had simply forgotten to drink the Soup of Forgetfulness before his reincarnation.
When he first gained clear consciousness, he was a newborn, wailing in a cradle. Over the decades, he had adapted, learned, and eventually conquered.
What had surprised and delighted Adrian was the uncanny resemblance of this world to his previous one—with a few glaring, golden exceptions. There were vast cultural voids here. No traces of the blockbuster movies, iconic TV shows, or legendary games that had defined his childhood.
To Adrian, this wasn't a loss; it was a goldmine.
Starting in high school, Adrian began his career as a "copycat," a cultural architect building on the blueprints of another dimension. He sketched manga panels during math class and drafted game mechanics in his dorm room, testing the waters with various franchises.
But for some reason, one specific franchise resonated with the very soul of this world. Pokémon.
It became an instant, unstoppable phenomenon. After graduating from university, Adrian founded his own animation and gaming empire, pouring every resource into developing the Pokémon IP. Now, at twenty-seven, the wealth he had amassed was obscene. He could stop working today and live in absolute luxury for ten lifetimes.
He leaned back in his ergonomic leather chair, the hum of the expensive air conditioning the only sound in the room. He thought he had everything under control.
Then, his phone vibrated against the mahogany desk—a harsh, jarring buzz that shattered the silence.
He picked it up, expecting a business report. Instead, a video auto-played on his screen, and his heart hammered against his ribs.
The footage was shaky, grainy, and terrifying. A sixty-meter-high waterspout erupted from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, white foam crashing violently. Beneath the churning waves, a massive, cerulean tail fin flickered, its scales glinting with a cold, metallic sheen.
The cameraman's voice cracked with raw terror, barely audible over the roar of the wind. "My God... this isn't special effects! I swear! A group of monsters is attacking the naval base..."
Adrian's grip on the phone tightened, his knuckles turning white.
The video cut to its harrowing conclusion. The giant beast breached the surface, its mouth gaping wide. Beams of concentrated, destructive energy—Hyper Beams—erupted from its maw with a deafening screech.
BOOM!
In the distance, steel warships were torn apart like paper. Explosions blossomed across the horizon, thick black smoke billowing into the grey sky. The shipyard was reduced to twisted scrap metal, the vessels groaning as they slipped beneath the dark waves.
A cold sweat broke out on Adrian's forehead. The creature was unmistakable. The three-pointed crest, the rage-filled eyes, the serpentine body.
It was a Gyarados.
Not a bundle of pixels. Not a drawing. A living, breathing, city-destroying Gyarados.
Is this a joke? Adrian thought, his breath catching in his throat. Is reality warping? Are the creatures I 'created' coming to life?
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through his composure. If fictional creatures were manifesting in reality, the stable, profitable world he had built was about to collapse. He could no longer just sit in his ivory tower and count money.
Bang!
The heavy office door flew open.
His assistant, Chloe, rushed in. Her usually impeccable hair was slightly disheveled, and her eyes were wide with panic.
"Mr. Yates! Bad news! The company building—it's completely surrounded!"
Adrian shot up from his chair, the leather creaking loudly. The adrenaline hit him all at once, making his palms slick with sweat. The image of the rampaging Gyarados was still burned into his retinas, and now this?
"Surrounded?" Adrian's voice was low, tense. "By who? What's going on?"
He strode quickly to the window, forcefully pulling the blinds up. He looked down at the plaza in front of the skyscraper.
His stomach dropped.
It was a sea of uniforms. Soldiers in tactical gear and police officers formed a dense perimeter, holding back a crowd of onlookers. Yellow caution tape fluttered in the wind, cordoning off the main entrance.
In the center of the chaos, a convoy of black government SUVs sat idling. As Adrian watched, the doors opened in unison. several men in sharp black suits stepped out, their expressions grim and solemn as they looked up toward his floor.
"Mr. Yates," Chloe's voice trembled behind him. "They say they're here for you. They're from the government... National Security, maybe. They said they have urgent matters to discuss with you immediately."
Adrian frowned, a heavy sense of foreboding settling in his chest like a stone.
The giant beast in the Pacific... the Hyper Beam... the Gyarados...
And now, the government was at his door.
They know, he realized. Or they suspect. The timing is too perfect. They see the monsters attacking, and they look at my games, my anime... and they see the exact same creatures.
"It's not a coincidence," he muttered under his breath, watching the agents move toward the lobby doors. "I need to stall them. I need time to think."