Pokemon: These Players are too annoying!

"Perform for them!" The Pokémon trader cracked a whip against the ground, making the frightened Ponyta try its best to display the tricks it knew.

Unfortunately, the audience wasn't impressed. After all, this Ponyta was too weak and could only use Ember.

"Tch, completely useless," the trader muttered, glaring at Ponyta with disdain.

Ponyta felt sad and anxious, fearing another whipping—or worse, sharing the fate of the Pokémon at the food stalls.

As the trader put on a fake smile and introduced other Pokémon, Ponyta sat helplessly in its iron cage. It remembered being with its mother, only to be snatched away by thieves and ending up here. Its future felt hopeless.

Lying down with tears rolling down its face, Ponyta missed its mother. Suddenly, a noise beside it startled the Pokémon. It stood up nervously, noticing a boy about ten years old. His face was hidden under a rough cloak.

The boy glanced around before pulling a Kakuna from his back.

"Kakuna, did you use Harden?"

Kakuna made a sound of confirmation.

"Good. Sorry about this!"

The boy picked up Kakuna and aimed it at the chain securing the iron cage. With just three strikes, the chain broke apart. The boy grabbed the cage and tossed it toward a group of others, who caught it along with Ponyta.

Ponyta noticed that other Pokémon were also being rescued from their cages. Confused, it watched as its rescuers, both human and Pokémon, carried them all away.

Eventually, the group ran to an abandoned construction site, squeezing through a hole in the wall. Ponyta was amazed to see a large room filled with Pokémon. The rescuers removed their cloaks, revealing their faces.

"Mission three complete!" A boy with spiky hair raised his hand, smiling.

That was how Ponyta met the Player Group.

Earlier...

"This will be our base," Rey declared, pointing to the abandoned construction site.

"Are you sure this place is safe, Senpai?" Rin asked skeptically. She wasn't streaming this time, wanting some privacy with Rey—even though Bob and Lukas were also there.

"It's fine. We have Lukas with us."

"Huh? Me?" Lukas looked confused.

"You have evolved Pokémon, both capable of fighting. Plus... you have fists."

Hearing that, Lukas nodded, finding it reasonable.

"Alright, let's go inside."

The group created a hole in the wall and crawled through. After some searching, they found a perfect spot for their base.

"Good thing there's lighting here, even if there's no electricity," Rin remarked.

"No problem. Fire will do." Rey summoned a Cyndaquil, its flames illuminating the room.

"Bob, did you steal the stuff I asked for?" Rey asked.

"Yeah. Big paper, pens, rope, hooks, blah blah. What do you need them for?"

"Perfect. Lukas, did you get the map?"

"Here's the underground city map," Lukas replied.

"Great! We have everything we need."

"What are we using them for?" Lukas asked curiously.

Rey smirked.

"Time to cosplay as Batman."

The group went to the rooftop, where Rey started assembling something.

"A grappling hook? For what?" Bob asked.

"Don't tell me..." Rin realized what Rey was up to.

"Yup. I learned how to make this from my friend in another game. Never thought I'd actually use it."

"You're planning to swing around like Spider-Man or Batman? That's... not very scientific," Bob remarked.

"I know, but you're forgetting something," Rey replied with a grin.

"And that is?"

"This is a game world where the impossible is possible, especially with Pokémon!"

Rey tossed the grappling hook to a nearby construction site.

"I am vengeance! I am the night! I am BATMAN!"

He jumped off, startling the group, but, as he said, science didn't apply here. Rey swung and landed on the board, waving at his friends.

"...I'm definitely doing Spider-Man next," Lukas muttered, his eyes sparkling.

***

Rey and Lukas stood on the rooftop, overlooking the underground city.

"Why don't we just steal all the Pokémon?" Lukas suggested, wearing a makeshift Spider-Man mask.

"Too risky. This place has no laws, BUT stealing all the Pokémon would draw attention. They'd band together and investigate," Rey explained, adjusting his cloak and tools.

"Ugh, such a hassle."

"That's why we target Pokémon they deem worthless. When those disappear, no one will care."

Rin and Bob arrived with information on suitable targets.

"Let's do this!"

The duo swung down with their grappling hooks, landing on another building. They focused on a white squirrel Pokémon in a cage below.

"Let me handle this!" Lukas threw his grappling hook at the cage, but the chain didn't budge despite his efforts. Exhausted, he sighed, "Damn, what now?"

"...Let me try." Rey called out Kakuna and ordered it to Harden until its defense maxed out.

Using Kakuna, Rey shattered the chain. Lukas grabbed the cage, and the pair escaped.

Back at their base, Bob asked, "So... what now?"

"Uh... I didn't plan that far," Rey admitted sheepishly.

"It's okay, Senpai. At least you had screen time, unlike me," Rin teased.

The group fell silent, watching the confused white squirrel Pokémon.

Suddenly, a robotic voice announced, [Players will be forcibly logged out in 5 seconds for an update.]

"...Huh?"

5... 4... 1...

"Wait, what happened to 2 and 3?!"

0!

The players vanished in a flash of light, leaving the bewildered squirrel Pokémon alone.

Why had everyone disappeared?

***

Rey woke up in a cold sweat, removing his VR headset and turning on his computer. A new update for Pokémon World had been released.

"Damn it, why did they update at such an unexpected time?" he muttered, scrolling through the patch notes:

-Bug fixes

-More realistic NPCs

-New titles

-New gym

-Additional Poké Balls

-More quests

-Expanded avatar customization options

-85 new players added

-More Pokémon

"...What?" Rey blinked. "85 new players?!"

He checked the registration stats—85 slots had already been filled! The comment section below was filled with frustration:

[Are you kidding me?! It took less than 0.5 seconds for all the spots to be taken! I didn't even get a chance to click!]

[Let me play the game!!!]

[Great, I've been waiting for hours, and I still couldn't register. I hate all of you.]

Shaking his head, Rey initiated the update and grabbed his phone to check the group chat:

Farmerlily: @Cuckmaster6969 @Bob @bigantiyellowhair Where are you guys?

Cuckmaster6969: Here.

Farmerlily: Stop joking. Where are you?

Cuckmaster6969: Ohhh, I'm in Gotham as the friendly neighborhood neighbor.

Farmerlily: ???

Bigantiyellowhair: I'm in the underground city. Calling it Gotham isn't far off.

JusticeV: WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU INVITE ME?!

Bill: @JusticeV You're not allowed to leave anywhere.

JusticeV: Oh.

Chubbyman: So…what's going on?

Bob: A lot. We're planning to take over the underground world.

Oceanlover: ???

Birdup: ???

Paper: Oh, interesting! What's your plan?

Bob: Stealing Pokémon.

Fairygothgirl: Are you guys turning into villains?

Bigantiyellowhair: No, it's just... the underground city needs reforming.

Cuckmaster6969: Update's done. I'm heading back in!

Seeing this, Rey turned off his phone and checked the progress bar.

"Alright… Let's go." He put the VR headset back on and lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, Lukas, Rin, and Bob were already there.

"Not much has changed, huh?" Lukas scratched his head.

"The update wasn't that big. What were you expecting?" Rey shrugged.

They turned their attention to the white squirrel Pokémon in the iron cage, still disoriented after seeing players appear out of thin air.

"Hey there, buddy, what's your name?" Lukas knelt down, staring at the squirrel.

The Pachirisu backed away nervously.

"Hmm, scared, huh? Don't worry, I'll fix that!" Lukas rummaged through his iventory and pulled out a Sitrus Berry.

The Pachirisu's eyes lit up at the sight of the berry. Salivating, it glanced between Lukas and the berry before snatching it and eating.

"So, what's your name?"

Pachi! Pachirisu!

"Pachirisu? Nice name. Too bad I don't catch cute Pokémon, GAHAHAHA!" Lukas laughed smugly as Pachirisu tilted its head in confusion.

"So… what do we do about the cage?" Rey scratched his head.

The group sighed, staring at the Pachirisu, who was happily munching on the berry. Suddenly, glowing lights began materializing into human shapes behind them.

Startled, the group turned around to see three new players.

"H-Huh?! You can spawn here too?!" Bob exclaimed.

"Looks like any place a player has entered becomes a spawn point for new players," Rey explained.

The figures fully formed, revealing two girls and a boy. One girl had dark teal hair, the other had short black hair, and the boy had brown hair and glasses.

"FINALLY! I'M IN THE GAME! AND LOOK! SCIENCE IS AMAZING—OUR FIRST SPAWN IS IN A SMALL, CRAMPED, OLD ROOM! I WANT TO LOG OUT ALREADY!" The teal-haired girl shouted, her voice loud and excitable.

"H-Hmph. That's nothing special!" The boy adjusted his glasses, clearly annoyed.

"Starting in a cramped room… It's hard to say," the black-haired girl commented calmly.

Rey's group stared at the newcomers, particularly their outfits. The teal-haired girl wore a lab coat, the boy sported an experimental cloak, and the black-haired girl's attire was harder to discern.

"...Looks like we don't need to search for opportunity—it came to us," Rey said with a sly smile.