Kanto region, Celadon City.
"Done! Finally finished drawing!"
With a cheer of relief, Shiraishi Ritsu set the last page of his manga manuscript on the desk, leaned back in his chair, and stretched comfortably.
After three straight days of rushing to meet his deadline, he felt as though his back was about to snap.
Of course, someone else had done the truly hard work.
"Smear!"
Beside him, Smeargle put down his brush and slumped listlessly over the desk, his tail drooping over the edge of his chair, without even the strength to give it a wag.
"Thanks for all your hard work, partner!"
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled and rubbed his head, then picked up the freshly finished pages to inspect them carefully.
On the paper, a fierce Pokémon battle sprang to life.
Everything from the Pokémon's movements in battle to the expressions on the characters' faces was rendered with incredible vividness. The panels brimming with speed were especially good-even Shiraishi Ritsu, a veteran otaku who had read countless manga, could find little to fault.
Just what he expected of his personal artist!
Even if this artist's monthly salary amounted to only a few bags of premium Pokémon food and an unlimited supply of paints.
"Once the payment for this issue comes through, I'll take you out for a feast."
"Smear!"
Smeargle, who had been sprawled out playing dead, perked up instantly.
At the sight, Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't help laughing as he scolded him. "So you have energy the moment food comes up? When I asked you to fill in a few backgrounds earlier, you even demanded overtime pay."
Smeargle raised his head with perfect confidence.
He was an artist!
Shouldn't artists get overtime pay for working overtime?
The man and Pokémon stared each other down like that until Shiraishi Ritsu finally gave in, promising an extra box of Smeargle's favorite Berry cookies on top of tonight's feast.
Only after they settled his compensation did Smeargle wag his tail in satisfaction.
Shiraishi Ritsu gathered up the manuscript and was about to pick up his communicator to order food.
Just then.
Click.
A faint sound suddenly came from the studio door.
Shiraishi Ritsu instinctively looked up.
The door, which had been shut tight, slowly swung inward without anyone touching it.
A black-haired girl stood outside.
She wore a neat red dress and had long, jet-black hair. She was very pretty, but her face showed almost no expression.
She held a strange-looking rag doll in her arms and a manga magazine in her other hand.
Stranger still, the girl didn't step inside right away once the door opened.
She simply stood there quietly, studying Shiraishi Ritsu with utterly placid eyes.
"Are you Masuda Senbei?"
The girl spoke, her voice cool and clear.
Shiraishi Ritsu froze for a moment.
Masuda Senbei?
Isn't that my manga pen name?
He lowered his gaze to the magazine in the girl's hand. A few bold, eye-catching words were printed on the cover.
Shonen Adventure!
And in the most prominent spot on the cover was his currently serialized work-Pokémon Adventures!
Shiraishi Ritsu immediately understood.
Well, well, a fan has come calling!
Although Pokémon Adventures had been growing more popular lately, he had never actually met a reader who came straight to his studio.
Let alone such a pretty female fan.
Shiraishi Ritsu quickly rose to his feet, putting on the friendly smile expected of a professional manga artist.
"That's right, I'm Masuda Senbei. Are you here for an autograph?"
As he spoke, he had already reached for a signing pen on his desk with practiced ease.
"Where should I sign? The cover or the title page? Would you like me to have Smeargle draw you a character illustration too?"
The girl didn't answer.
She glanced down at the manga in her hand, then looked back up at Shiraishi Ritsu.
"You drew this manga?"
"To be precise, I handle the story and storyboards. My partner Smeargle does the actual drawing."
Shiraishi Ritsu pointed to Smeargle beside him and introduced him with a smile. "He may just be a Smeargle, but he's a genuine artistic genius!"
"Smear!"
Smeargle obligingly puffed out his chest.
The girl's gaze lingered on him for a moment.
Then she entered the studio and casually placed the manga in front of Shiraishi Ritsu.
"Then explain this."
Shiraishi Ritsu looked down.
It was material from the Kanto arc currently running in Pokémon Adventures.
In the panel, a black-haired girl stood in front of a group of Team Rocket members, with a Kadabra radiating powerful psychic energy at her side.
The girl wore a cold expression and a uniform marking her as a member of Team Rocket.
Beside the panel was a conspicuous character introduction.
-Team Rocket executive, Sabrina!
Shiraishi Ritsu blinked.
"What is it? Is there something wrong with this character?"
The girl stared at him and spoke slowly.
"Tell me, when did I, the perfectly respectable Psychic-type Gym Leader of Saffron City, join Team Rocket?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, Shiraishi Ritsu failed to process it.
Saffron City?
Psychic-type Gym Leader?
Sabrina?
He took another look at the girl before him.
Long, jet-black hair, an icy expression, and that extremely eerie-looking rag doll...
Wait!
That face!
Shiraishi Ritsu sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy shit!
Sabrina?!
It's really Sabrina?!
He finally remembered why the girl had seemed so familiar earlier.
The person standing before him was Sabrina, Saffron City's Gym Leader, who possessed powerful psychic abilities!
As a veteran Pokémon fan who had played every generation of the games and watched and read the anime and manga several times over, Shiraishi Ritsu was naturally more than familiar with Sabrina.
Especially the Sabrina from the anime.
She was a formidable character who could turn people straight into dolls with her psychic powers!
At that thought, Shiraishi Ritsu instinctively looked at the rag doll in the girl's arms.
The rag doll happened to raise its head too, giving him a sweet smile.
"Hee-hee."
Shiraishi Ritsu's scalp prickled.
Oh, crap!
What pretty female fan?
She's obviously here to settle the score!
"Um... Miss Sabrina?"
The smile on Shiraishi Ritsu's face grew a little stiff.
"I think there may be a tiny misunderstanding here."
"A misunderstanding?"
Sabrina tilted her head slightly.
At the same time, several brushes on the desk suddenly floated into the air, slowly revolving.
The corner of Shiraishi Ritsu's eye twitched.
"Yes, a misunderstanding!"
He hurriedly picked up the manga, flipped to the title page, and pointed at an inconspicuous line of small print.
"Look, it says quite clearly here: this work is entirely fictional, and the characters and events in the story have all been artistically adapted."
"It's manga. Of course some things are going to be exaggerated."
Sabrina said nothing.
Shiraishi Ritsu could only keep explaining.
"Take Red in the manga, for example. Although he's from Pallet Town, there's no trainer in real life with exactly the same experiences, right?"
"And these Team Rocket executives are all characters created for the sake of the plot."
"You can simply think of her as a Sabrina from another world!"
The more Shiraishi Ritsu spoke, the more he felt this explanation held water.
It's manga, after all!
What do manga characters have to do with reality?
If someone drew a crime manga, would the police arrest the author just because a character shared someone's full name?
However, he soon realized that he seemed to have celebrated too early.
Sabrina extended a finger and lightly tapped the manga.
The pages began turning on their own.
One page, two pages, three.
They finally stopped at a scene of Sabrina leading Team Rocket members on an operation.
"Her name is Sabrina."
"She's Saffron City's Psychic-type Gym Leader."
"The Pokémon she uses is also a Kadabra."
Sabrina raised her head.
"Even the layout inside the Gym looks very similar."
The rag doll in her arms suddenly laughed.
"And she's a bad guy, too!"
Cold sweat seeped out across Shiraishi Ritsu's forehead.
This...
How am I supposed to explain this?
I can't exactly say that's how the manga I read in my previous life depicted her, can I?
Besides, he had copied almost all of Sabrina's characterization from Pokémon Adventures unchanged.
Now that the woman herself had come calling, he really was somewhat in the wrong.
"Ahem, Miss Sabrina, the truth is, I thought you were very well suited to this role."
"Oh?"
Sabrina looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you're powerful and have an outstanding presence. One look tells anyone you're the kind of important figure who can put tremendous pressure on the protagonist."
As Shiraishi Ritsu spoke, he watched her expression.
"Besides, manga villains can be charming too. Look, lots of readers really love this character!"
Sabrina fell silent for a few seconds.
"So you think I look like a bad person?"
"..."
Shiraishi Ritsu wanted to slap himself.
This mouth of mine!
It's so good at writing dialogue for manga characters, so why does it stop working at a critical moment?
Seeing the brushes in the studio floating higher and higher, Smeargle beside him finally couldn't sit still any longer.
"Smear!"
He hurriedly jumped off his chair, ran up to Sabrina, pointed at himself, then pointed at the drawing paper on the desk.
Shiraishi Ritsu paused.
"You want to draw Miss Sabrina?"
Smeargle nodded vigorously.
Then he picked up a fresh sheet of drawing paper and deftly swung his tail.
Swish, swish, swish!
With just a few strokes, a lifelike outline of a person sprang onto the page.
There was no denying that Smeargle had an astonishing talent for drawing.
He observed Sabrina as he rapidly sketched out the lines.
Her long black hair, pretty face, and the doll in her arms were all rendered accurately.
Shiraishi Ritsu nodded repeatedly as he watched.
Nice!
That's my partner for you!
He knew his trainer was in trouble and actually stepped forward to help ease the tension.
But when his gaze fell on the bottom half of the paper, the smile suddenly froze on his face.
Wait.
Those clothes...
Why did they look so familiar?
Smeargle skillfully drew Sabrina's body, then casually added a black uniform.
On the chest, he even drew a huge letter.
R!
A Team Rocket uniform!
Shiraishi Ritsu's vision went dark.
You little menace!
Of all the things you could draw, why that?!
Smeargle clearly hadn't realized there was a problem yet.
He looked over his work with great satisfaction, even thoughtfully adding several Team Rocket members standing in neat ranks in the background.
Finally, he held up the paper and excitedly showed it to Sabrina.
"Smeargle!"
Well?
Isn't it beautiful?
The studio suddenly fell silent.
Shiraishi Ritsu slowly turned his head.
Sabrina was looking at the drawing, her expression still calm.
But several manga magazines behind her had already floated silently into the air.
Smeargle finally seemed to realize something was wrong, and both paws holding the paper froze in midair.
The man and the dog exchanged a glance.
Shiraishi Ritsu saw the same despair on his face.
We're done for.
This time, we're probably really going to be turned into dolls.
Fortunately, Sabrina didn't act immediately.
She merely reached out and took the portrait Smeargle had drawn.
After examining it for a few moments, the girl's gaze returned to Shiraishi Ritsu.
"It's very well drawn."
Shiraishi Ritsu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Right! My Smeargle's drawing skills are-"
"But I don't like this outfit."
"..."
Sabrina set the drawing on the table and picked up the manga again.
"One more thing."
Shiraishi Ritsu's heart lurched.
"Please, go ahead."
Sabrina turned the pages.
This time, she stopped at another panel.
In the panel, a stern-looking middle-aged man in a suit sat behind an office desk.
A Persian lay at his feet.
The man was none other than the leader of Team Rocket in Pokémon Adventures.
Giovanni!
Sabrina pointed at the man in the panel, her tone somewhat puzzled.
"This man, I seem to remember he's the Ground-type Gym Leader in Viridian City."
"Why is he the leader of Team Rocket in your manga?"
"And..."
Sabrina raised her head.
"Why is he my boss, too?"
Shiraishi Ritsu's body, which had only just relaxed, instantly went rigid.
He looked at the familiar Giovanni in the manga, then at Sabrina, who was waiting for an explanation.
An even more terrifying question suddenly popped into his head.
Wait.
The real Sabrina really had nothing to do with Team Rocket.
The same went for Lt. Surge and Koga.
But Giovanni was different!
In reality, that guy really was the boss of Team Rocket!
Shiraishi Ritsu lowered his head to look at the stack of newly finished manga manuscripts on the table, and suddenly felt a chill run down his back.
It seemed he'd...
Accidentally drawn the actual boss of Team Rocket into his manga?!