On the far side of the world, on the continent of North America, Fatal Fury's fighting tournament was in full swing.
And in Japan itself, a silent battle had long since been deployed in the dark.
Huge corrugated cardboard boxes, printed on the side with the simple word "Pokémon" and the highly recognizable cute silhouette of a lightning-bolt tail, were being quietly delivered by truck after truck to the partner warehouses of Dongka Co., Ltd., San-X, and Mattel in Japan.
The sheer quantity made even the seasoned warehouse supervisor click his tongue inwardly.
"So much stock... are they trying to sweep up every elementary schooler in all of Japan in one net?" he muttered to himself, looking at the mountain of boxes piled before him.
The warehouse was brightly lit, as clear as day, and the forklift drivers kept their nerves strung to the utmost, carefully shuttling back and forth. Staff stacked box after heavy box of goods into neat rows.
At the same time, a promotional offensive aimed at the children's market seeped into every corner of the city like fine threads of rain—no, more like a meticulously woven heaven-and-earth net, slipping in through every crack.
On television, the gaps between prime-time cartoons, which used to be the signal for children to rush to the bathroom or kitchen, had now become their "breath-holding moments."
A thirty-second preview with bright colors and a cheerful rhythm began to loop with astonishing frequency. This was the preview ad for TV Tokyo's new October anime.
In the footage, a boy wearing a red hat had a firm gaze and was brimming with energy.
Immediately after, a yellow little monster with two vivid red circles on its cheeks tilted its head and let out a cute cry of "Pika!"
Then came a fire-breathing giant