Mesagoza sat at the heart of the Paldea region, the largest and most prosperous city in the entire area.
The city had been built atop a high plateau surrounded on three sides by rivers, and from a distance it resembled an enormous table suspended in the air.
That was how it had gotten its name.
The whole place carried a strong southern European character.
Building facades were covered in red, yellow, and blue mosaic tiles that caught the sunlight and blazed with color.
Naoki took in the surrounding streets with genuine interest.
Pointed rooftops, arched walkways, and wrought-iron balconies appeared at every turn.
Old districts and new districts wove together, heavy with history yet unmistakably alive.
Tall palm trees and olive trees lined the pavements, and the breeze carried the mingled scents of greenery and food.
“Hey, Naoki, this is actually the first time you’ve ever invited me to lunch,” Alvin said, visibly surprised.
He thought back over the months they had worked together.
“You used to do everything alone.
Even the HR department dinners, you never came.
Not once.”
Naoki said nothing.
He could hardly explain that he was new here, that he had no idea where anything was, and that he had invited Alvin purely to avoid getting lost in Mesagoza and arriving late to the afternoon shift with a docked paycheck to show for it.
The city was enormous.
Getting lost on a first visit was practically guaranteed.
Alvin did not seem to mind the silence.
He led Naoki to a restaurant he clearly knew well and ordered without needing to look at the menu.
“Best place in Mesagoza for a proper meal.
Boss, one Tofu, one shredded chicken with green pepper, and one vinegared Tentacool and cucumber salad!”
As he spoke, Alvin reached for a Poké Ball.
A flash of white light, and a Fidough appeared at his side.
Naoki’s eyes moved to the Pokémon.
Fidough.
A Fairy-type that cultivated yeast within its body.
The yeast in its breath could ferment the things around it, which made it surprisingly useful in cooking.
“Woof!”
Fidough barked twice with enthusiasm and wagged its tail at Alvin.
Alvin grinned.
“This is my partner, Fidough!”
“Cute,” Naoki said.
Alvin took no notice of the brevity.
Quiet was just how Naoki was.
“That said, Naoki, you’ve always lived alone.
Have you ever thought about getting a Pokémon?” he asked.
Naoki had no easy answer for that.
He was, after all, only a player who had just entered this world.
To avoid raising Alvin’s suspicions he had been leaning into the original character’s quiet, solitary nature, letting it serve as cover while he got his bearings.
After a long pause he said, “Wouldn’t it be expensive?”
“Expensive?” Alvin blinked, then understood.
“Is that why you’ve been on your own all this time?
Don’t worry about that.
We’re not professional Trainers.
On our salary, keeping one Pokémon you like is perfectly manageable.”
“Is that so.” Naoki looked thoughtful.
Alvin seized on the opening.
“There are plenty of Pokémon Nurseries operating in the eastern district.
If you want a Pokémon to keep you company, that’s where I’d go.”
Nurseries in the eastern district.
Naoki filed that away, thanked Alvin, and said he would check it out when he had the time.
The food arrived shortly after, and the two of them ate while the conversation drifted.
“Things haven’t been particularly calm around Paldea lately,” Alvin said, his tone carrying a note of complaint.
“Wild Pokémon in quite a few areas have been getting more and more agitated.
The Champion’s office has been issuing investigation assignments one after another.
Our workload is only going to get heavier from here.
We’re already short-staffed as it is.”
“If the business division runs low on people, they might end up pulling from HR to cover the gap.”
Something stirred in Naoki’s mind.
‘A hidden event trigger?’
“Pokémon getting agitated?” he asked, testing the waters.
“Exactly.” Alvin nodded.
“Nobody knows why.
Some wild Pokémon have just become deeply unsettled.
And from what I’ve heard it’s not only Paldea.
Other regions are starting to see the same thing.”
Naoki did not press further.
Instead he quietly opened the player forum and began searching for any information that might explain what was happening from the players’ side of things.
He searched for a long time and came up empty.
Had the players not noticed?
Perhaps it was precisely because of the fourth calamity’s arrival, their mass captures of wild Pokémon across the open world, that this was happening in the first place.
That would explain it well enough.
Naoki put it out of his mind.
That afternoon he returned to his desk at the League, but any pretense of interest in the paperwork was gone.
His thoughts had already drifted entirely to the Nurseries in the eastern district and the Pokémon waiting there.
As it happened, the world had other plans.
Just as the end of the workday finally came within reach, HR manager Sato appeared without warning and informed them that overtime was required.
By the time Naoki finished and packed up his things, it was eight in the evening.
He made straight for the eastern district, moving as quickly as he could.
He arrived to find every storefront dark and shuttered.
Naoki stared at the closed doors.
So much for that.
A full day at his desk, most of it spent slacking off, and yet the sheer number of hours planted in that chair had taken their toll.
Fatigue had settled into his bones without him noticing.
He let out a resigned sigh, picked up his briefcase, and started back toward the apartment.
He checked the time.
The round trip had pushed the clock close to ten at night.
The streets were empty.
The city had gone quiet around him, nothing moving except the pale yellow light pooling beneath the lampposts.
He was nearly at the apartment building when something at the edge of his vision made him stop.
A small figure, standing alone by the roadside not far ahead.
A Pokémon?
Naoki came to a dead halt and looked properly.
Not a Pokémon.
A little girl.
She looked to be about six or seven years old, with two small bunches of soft hair tied on either side of her head.
Fine strands had been pulled loose by the night breeze and lay across her pale, rounded cheeks.
She wore a delicate light pink dress.
The hem was dusty and crumpled, all the neat tidiness of a child’s clothes long gone.
Her feet were bare, no shoes, no socks, small bare soles pressed directly against the rough stone pavement.
She seemed to notice him at the same moment he noticed her.
She looked over at him with large dark eyes and said nothing.
Naoki’s brow drew together slightly.
He scanned the street around her.
No adult anywhere in sight.
Lost?
His first instinct was to keep walking.
But after a moment of holding that silent gaze, he let out a long, tired sigh.
Fine.