"Mr. Masuda, do you know how many people are waiting for the collected edition of Pokémon Adventures?"
Kikkawa Maho walked into the magazine's editorial meeting room with a stack of documents in her arms, unable to hide the smile on her face.
Shiraishi Ritsu sat at the table, sharing a box of Berry cookies with Smeargle.
At her words, he looked up.
"How many?"
"The bookstores that received the first batch have given us very good feedback, and another group of bookstores in other cities has recently started taking preorders."
Kikkawa Maho placed the tally sheet in front of him.
"Especially around Pallet Town, Viridian City, and Pewter City, most of the preorders are from young Trainers."
"Pallet Town?"
Shiraishi Ritsu paused, then smiled.
"Looks like Red, our protagonist from Pallet Town, is pretty popular with the locals!"
"That's putting it mildly!"
Kikkawa Maho opened another document.
"Take a look at this, too."
It was the latest reader popularity poll.
Shiraishi Ritsu lowered his gaze to read it.
[Most popular character: Red.] [Second place: Green.] [Third place: Sabrina.]
Names such as Blue and Lt. Surge were listed below.
Shiraishi Ritsu nodded in satisfaction.
"Nice, nice. Red has finally secured first place!"
"Smeargle!"
Smeargle excitedly raised his tail, too.
After all, Red was one of the first manga characters he had encountered.
When Shiraishi Ritsu first described the story of Pokémon Adventures to him, the boy in the red cap was the one he had drawn.
Now that Red was growing more and more popular, Smeargle naturally felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment, too.
Kikkawa Maho smiled and said, "Quite a few children now see Red as their idol. Some even go out of their way to dress like him."
"Seriously?"
"Of course!"
She took out a photo.
In the photo, several children around ten years old stood outside a Pokémon Center, all wearing red caps.
One of them was even holding a volume of Pokémon Adventures, smiling especially brightly.
Looking at the photo, Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't help grinning.
"Wow, they've even bought the caps?"
"I heard a clothing store in Celadon City recently launched a similar design specifically for that."
"..."
Shiraishi Ritsu fell silent for two seconds.
"Miss Maho."
"What is it?"
"Shouldn't we be thinking about official merchandise?"
Kikkawa Maho burst out laughing.
"You're developing quite a head for business!"
"What can I say? Who doesn't like making money?"
Shiraishi Ritsu answered without a hint of shame.
However, when Kikkawa Maho took out the final set of documents, his attention was quickly drawn to it.
It was a whole stack of reader letters.
"These all came in recently?"
"Yes, and there are plenty more we haven't finished sorting."
Kikkawa Maho explained, "Readers used to mainly discuss the plot and characters. Now more and more of them are asking about Pokémon battles."
"Battles?"
Shiraishi Ritsu immediately perked up.
"Let me see!"
After returning to the studio, Shiraishi Ritsu dumped all the letters he had brought back from the publisher onto the coffee table.
Smeargle had been about to take an afternoon nap, but upon seeing the table covered in envelopes, he immediately came over in curiosity.
"Smeargle?"
"We've got a new job today."
Shiraishi Ritsu picked up the first letter, opened it, and began reading.
[Hello, Mr. Masuda!] [I really love Red! Especially how he always comes up with such bold ideas when facing powerful opponents.] [But I have a question. How can he make decisions so quickly?] [When I take part in Trainer battles, my opponent often attacks before I've even figured out what to do next.]
After reading it, Shiraishi Ritsu rubbed his chin.
"That's quite an interesting question."
Smeargle tilted his head at him.
"Smeargle?"
"It's actually simple. Experience."
Shiraishi Ritsu explained, "Red can make decisions quickly because he regularly observes his opponents and is willing to try different tactics."
"Of course, the manga leaves out some of his thought process to make the story more exciting."
He picked up a pen and paper and began writing a reply.
[To improve your ability to make decisions in battle, start by familiarizing yourself with your Pokémon's moves and characteristics, then build up experience through training.] [During a battle, don't focus solely on your opponent's Pokémon. Pay attention to the terrain, distance, and both Trainers' command habits as well.]
Once he finished, Shiraishi Ritsu nodded in satisfaction.
"Well? Pretty professional, right?"
"Smeargle!"
Smeargle immediately applauded.
As for how much he had actually understood, only he knew.
Shiraishi Ritsu opened the second letter.
[Mr. Masuda, when Raichu's Thunderbolt couldn't hit Sandslash in the manga, why did Lt. Surge have to change tactics immediately?] [If he kept using stronger Electric-type moves, couldn't he break through the Ground-type defense?]
Shiraishi Ritsu raised an eyebrow as he read this.
"This one needs a proper explanation!"
He picked up his pen and wrote several large words beside the letter.
[Type immunity!]
"Ground-type Pokémon are immune to Electric-type moves. Simply increasing Thunderbolt's power won't solve that problem."
Shiraishi Ritsu explained to Smeargle as he wrote.
"If Raichu wants to attack Sandslash, he has to consider moves of other types, like the Iron Tail he used earlier in the manga."
"Smeargle!"
Smeargle nodded earnestly.
Then he picked up his brush and drew a Raichu beside him.
Raichu was unleashing a massive bolt of lightning at Sandslash.
Meanwhile, Sandslash stood where he was, calmly eating a Berry.
Shiraishi Ritsu took one look and nearly laughed aloud.
"You really captured it!"
Smeargle wagged his tail proudly.
Then he added another panel.
Raichu angrily withdrew his electricity and charged at Sandslash with his gleaming tail raised.
Shiraishi Ritsu nodded repeatedly.
"Nice! We can put this right into the magazine's supplement!"
Smeargle's eyes lit up.
He had only been doodling for fun and hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.
Immediately energized, he turned to another sheet of drawing paper on his own.
Over the next two hours, a rather amusing scene unfolded in the studio.
Shiraishi Ritsu handled reading the letters and organizing the questions.
Smeargle drew simple, easy-to-understand illustrations based on his explanations.
The two soon discovered that the readers' questions really did cover all sorts of things.
Some wanted to know why Flying-type Pokémon weren't afraid of ordinary Ground-type attacks.
Some asked whether using Water-type moves in the rain would give them a greater advantage.
Others had carefully studied Red and Green's battles, trying to analyze the thinking behind every command on both sides.
The most outrageous letter came from a young Trainer who had just set out on his journey.
[Mr. Masuda, after reading the manga, I thought having Pokémon attack from high places looked really cool!] [Could I have my Pidgey carry me up to a rooftop, then suddenly jump down to command a battle?]
After reading it, the smile instantly vanished from Shiraishi Ritsu's face.
"Wait!"
He hurriedly read the letter again.
After confirming he hadn't misread it, he couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
"Is this kid serious?"
Smeargle came over curiously.
Shiraishi Ritsu handed him the letter.
Smeargle read it for a moment, then picked up his brush and quickly drew a small illustration.
In the picture, a Trainer rode on a small Pidgey's back. They had barely reached midair before they both began falling because Pidgey couldn't bear the weight.
The corners of Shiraishi Ritsu's mouth twitched as he looked at it.
"It's a little exaggerated, but you've got the right idea."
He immediately wrote in his reply:
[Do not imitate this recklessly!] [Whether a Pokémon can carry a person in flight depends on its size, strength, and actual training. Those dangerous actions in the manga have been dramatized. In real life, please put safety first.]
Shiraishi Ritsu thought for a moment, then added another line.
[In particular, do not jump from high places on your own!]
Only after finishing did he feel a little more at ease.
"Looks like we'll need to add more warnings to the manga from now on."
Smeargle tilted his head in confusion.
"Smeargle?"
"Think about it. Quite a few of our readers are kids who've only just started their journeys."
Shiraishi Ritsu organized the letters on the table.
"They like Red and want to imitate his battle style. That's a good thing in itself."
"But some of the actions in the manga really are too dangerous."
He pointed at a manuscript page.
"A scene like this, where someone jumps down from a high place, looks cool in a manga, but you can't just try it in real life."
Smeargle looked at the drawing and nodded thoughtfully.
Then he picked up his brush on his own and began drawing a new four-panel comic.
In the first panel, Red stood atop a high place, looking cool.
In the second panel, an ordinary Trainer excitedly imitated him.
In the third panel, before the Trainer could jump, the Pokémon beside him held him back.
In the fourth panel, the Pokémon raised a sign.
[Dangerous stunt. Do not imitate!]
After reading it, Shiraishi Ritsu immediately clapped in approval.
"Brilliant!"
"Partner, I'm finding you're getting better and better at drawing these little comedy skits!"
"Smear!"
Smeargle proudly puffed out his chest.
He suddenly felt that, besides storyboarding battles, he seemed to have found another new talent.
That evening.
Shiraishi Ritsu sent the reader Q&A he had organized to Kikkawa Maho.
The moment the communicator connected, he enthusiastically launched into his introduction.
"Miss Maho, I'm planning to add a little feature to the next issue!"
"What kind of feature?"
"Pokémon battle tips!"
Shiraishi Ritsu showed her what he had written.
"We'll pick a few questions from readers each issue and briefly explain type matchups, move characteristics, and common tactics."
"And add some safety reminders, too."
Kikkawa Maho read through it carefully.
Before long, a look of delighted surprise appeared on her face.
"That's a great idea!"
"Right?"
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled.
"There are already quite a few Trainers among our Pokémon Adventures readers."
"Since everyone loves discussing battles so much, why not give them a dedicated place to do it?"
Kikkawa Maho nodded repeatedly.
"And with Smeargle drawing the illustrations, it won't be too dry to read."
"Exactly!"
"How about this? I'll take it to the features editor tomorrow and discuss it."
"Great!"
Shiraishi Ritsu ended the call, satisfied.
Leaning back on the sofa, he gazed at the large stack of reader letters on the coffee table and suddenly felt rather reflective.
When he first decided to create Pokémon Adventures, his main goal had been to make money.
After all, back then, he and Smeargle had been so poor that they couldn't bear to buy even high-quality drawing paper.
Now that the manga was growing more popular and the collected volumes had been successfully released, he had already been quite satisfied.
But today's reader letters had made him realize something he hadn't given much thought to before.
The stories he drew had actually begun to influence the Trainers of this world.
Some had grown to love Pokémon battles because of Red.
Some had started seriously studying type matchups because of the tactics in the manga.
Others studied the battles in the manga to figure out how to make their own Pokémon stronger.
At that thought, Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't help smiling.
"Partner, it looks like we've done something pretty amazing."
"Smear?"
"Look, so many people love the stories we draw, and they can learn things from them, too."
He reached out and rubbed Smeargle's head.
"We'll have to keep putting our all into drawing!"
Smeargle nodded vigorously.
Then he raised his paintbrush and pointed at the box of Berry cookies on the table.
The smile on Shiraishi Ritsu's face instantly froze.
"Seriously? I just finished praising you, and you're already thinking about extra snacks?"
"Smear!"
Smeargle answered with complete confidence.
Of course hard work called for replenishing your energy!
Shiraishi Ritsu shook his head helplessly.
"All right, all right, I'll buy you some tomorrow!"
Just then, the communicator suddenly rang again.
It was Kikkawa Maho.
"Mr. Masuda, I forgot to tell you just now. There was also a rather special reader letter today."
"Oh?"
Shiraishi Ritsu's interest was piqued.
"What kind of letter?"
"It was sent by a young Trainer."
Kikkawa Maho said with a smile, "After reading Pokémon Adventures, he was particularly impressed by the tactics you devised in the manga."
"And then?"
"Then he wrote you a challenge invitation."
Shiraishi Ritsu froze.
"A challenge invitation?"
"Yes."
Kikkawa Maho read the letter aloud.
[Dear Mr. Masuda Senbei:]
[I have read your manga carefully and have also tried studying the Pokémon tactics in it.]
[However, in actual battles, I still often lose to other Trainers.]
[I know you may be busy, but I really would like to ask for your advice.]
[Mr. Masuda, since you know so much about battling, could you please give me a lesson?]
After listening, Shiraishi Ritsu said nothing for a long time.
Beside him, Smeargle raised his head curiously.
"Smear?"
Shiraishi Ritsu looked down at him, then recalled how a Rattata had once beaten him so badly that he hadn't been able to fight back at all.
A moment later, he slowly spoke.
"Miss Maho."
"Yes?"
"This reader... he probably just wants me to advise him on tactics, right?"
"Yes."
"He probably won't ask to battle me, will he?"
"..."
On the other end of the communicator, Kikkawa Maho suddenly laughed.
"Mr. Masuda, don't tell me you're remembering your past experiences as a Trainer again?"
The corner of Shiraishi Ritsu's mouth twitched.
"I'm a manga artist! Why are even my readers starting to challenge me now?!"