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It was a humid and muggy day in Seoul, South Korea. Local citizen and middle aged bum, Seong Gi-hun, was at his usual horse track race betting and gambling away money—desparate with greed—in hopes to win twice the amount back in order to buy a gift for his 11 year old daughter Ga-yeong.
“C’mon! C’mon #4…” Gi-hun encouraged through gritted teeth as he watched the numbered horses gallop across the track with his ideal one in the lead. Once #4 crossed the finish line, the place had roared with cheer and laughter as Gi-hun felt like he had won the lottery. After collecting his winnings, Gi-hun felt like he was set on not only getting Ga-yeong a gift but to even buy her a steak dinner if he wanted to. After Gi-hun collected his winnings, he generously took 10,000 won out to give it to the woman behind the counter telling her to buy her a coffee for herself. After he left, he telephoned his dear little daughter.
“That’s right sweetie.” Gi-hun laughed–beaming with excitement. “Daddy is going to treat you to a steak dinner tonight, so make sure you bring your appetite.” However, Gi-hun’s joy and excitement quickly faded once he heard a male voice call out his name.
“Gi-hun!”
Gi-hun snapped his neck to see a familiar, smug face walking towards him along with two other faces as well: Loan sharks. Gi-hun immediately panicked as he began to book it inside–trying his damndest to avoid the loan sharks that were out for his blood. While bolting, he accidentally bumps into a young woman with short brown hair, knocking over her ice coffee as they both fall to the ground. Gi-hun scrambled to sit up to quickly aid the fallen woman.
“Kid, are you okay?” Gi-hun asked while picking up her drink. “Aish! Aish!” Gi-hun mentally cussed to himself as he tried to jam the straw back into the cup 3 or 4 times before handing it back to the young woman. He then looked up to see the loan sharks walking towards him, making Gi-hun get up and sprint—continuing the chase. Unfortunately, Gi-hun didn’t get that far as one of the loan sharks cut him off from his path and grabbed him. Gi-hun was rushed into the bathroom to avoid any other witnesses as one of the loan sharks slammed Gi-hun down to the floor between the urinals. The head shark squatted down in front of Gi-hun.
“Why’d you run when I called out to you?” The head shark asked in a tone that feigned curiosity like he and Gi-hun were longtime friends. Gi-hun was too scared to speak but once he found his voice, nothing came out but sputters. “You know today’s the day you give us the money right?” The head shark reminded Gi-hun. Desperate to keep his head to his body intact, Gi-hun nods his head—remembering the money he won from the horse races. However Gi-hun’s chances of dealing with the wrath of the loan sharks grew ten times more once he dug into his pocket—where the money was at—to find nothing but a hole in his pocket, much to his fearful disappointment and confusion.
“What the? I didn’t have a hole here!” Gi-hun thought to himself as he checked his other pockets, thinking that he misplaced the money somewhere else on his person but luck wasn’t on his side at all once it finally concluded to Gi-hun that he lost the money completely. After realizing it, something dawned upon Gi-hun as a flashback played to when he ran into the young brunette woman earlier. It had to have been her!
“That woman was a pick pocket!” Gi-hun thought to himself. Gi-hun was quickly met with a fist connecting to his nose, making blood drip out, knocking him out of his flashback and thoughts and back to reality.
“I-I-I ha-had money!” Gi-hun stammered out. “I was at a horse track race and-” The head shark wasn’t interested in Gi-hun’s story filled with excuses as he grips the top of Gi-hun’s hair—making Gi-hun look him dead in the eye.
“You know our deal, Gi-hun.” The head shark tells Gi-hun as he hovers a bowl of water above Gi-hun’s blood dripping nose, watching as the blood drips into the bowl with sinister satisfaction. “I’ve always loved blood soup.” He adds. One of the loan sharks took out a knife and held it against Gi-hun’s neck while Gi-hun began to whimper and sob in fear. The head shark sighed.
“Don’t start that crying stuff.” He tells Gi-hun. “I don’t wanna kill a crying man.” But Gi-hun continued to sob and cry for mercy. Finally, it got to the head shark as he ordered the henchman to lift the knife off Gi-hun’s neck. However, he wasn’t going to let Gi-hun off that easily. “Alright…” The head shark begins. “I’ll give you more time.” He informs Gi-hun. Gi-hun’s body relaxed a bit but the head shark pulled out a form—a contract to be exact. “But…this will cost you an arm and a leg…and your organs as well.” The head shark lets Gi-hun know, informing him that there’s a twist in this. Gi-hun felt stuck because if he refuses then they’ll kill him right here on the spot but if he also fails to get the money after time has expired, they’ll definitely kill him by then. Either way, Gi-hun was still signing his life away.
Gi-hun lets out an audible gulp as he wipes some blood away from his nose and presses his thumb onto the contract as his signature—fully signing away his life in order to pay off his debt. The head shark nods with satisfaction as he helps Gi-hun up. His last words before he and his henchman left the bathroom was,
“You have exactly a week to give me back my 348,000 won.”
“Dammit!” Gi-hun yelled out as the claw let go of the toy he was trying to grab. Gi-hun digs into his pocket fishing for more coins in an attempt to try again with the claw machine. A small kid noticed Gi-hun’s distress and walked towards him. Gi-hun noticed the kid.
“What?” Gi-hun asked. The kid replied back, “If you are trying to win, you gotta know what prize you want.” The kid advised Gi-hun. Gi-hun then looked down as the kid showed him a bag full of prizes—all of them won from different games including the claw machine. The kid then nods his head, silently asking Gi-hun if he could have a go, as Gi-hun stood aside to allow the kid to play. Gi-hun watched in silence as the kid focused on the claw machine game, aiming for the prize Gi-hun was going to win—a small black box with a pink bow resting on top of it. Gi-hun’s eyes then grew with happiness once the claw got the prize and made its way to the drop off hole which made Gi-hun laugh with joy as he hugged the kid tight, telling him well done.
However, that wasn’t enough to ease Gi-hun’s guilt on not fulfilling the steak dinner promise he made to Ga-yeong as they both sat down on the bench eating fried squid.
“W-well, it’s like a steak dinner, almost.” Gi-hun lets out a nervous chuckle. “You got the lights and the nice atmosphere…” He lists. Ga-yeong nods while giving him an equally nervous smile. Gi-hun then sighs defeatedly. “Daddy’s sorry for not fulfilling his promise.” He apologizes. “I promise that we’ll do the steak dinner another time.” He tells Ga-yeong. Gi-hun then pulls out the small black box to give to Ga-yeong. “But I still remember to get you a gift.” Gi-hun hands Ga-yeong the box.
But Gi-hun’s heart dropped once it was revealed to be a gun in the box. Ga-yeong nervously lifted the gun out and fiddled with the trigger, only for a small flame to come out—it was a lighter. Gi-hun still tried to make light of things. “It’s like the real thing right?” He chuckled out. Ga-yeong grew uneasy as she set the lighter down.
“I…think you’ll get in trouble with mom if she sees me with this.” Ga-yeong tells Gi-hun. Gi-hun couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty and crossed at the turn of events that happened today. However, Gi-hun still swore to be a better father to Ga-yeong as he declares to her,
“Next year, I promise you I’ll get you a better gift and dinner for your birthday.”
Ga-yeong froze a bit at that.
“N-next year?” She stammered out. Gi-hun smiles as he nods his head. However, deep down there was something that Ga-yeong wanted to tell Gi-hun, but didn’t know how to.
After Gi-hun drops Ga-yeong off, he lets out a heavy sigh as he goes to the pay phone and dialed up his mother.
“Yeah…I took her out to eat.” He tells his mother. “And I told her that I’ll get her a better gift next year.” Gi-hun hears his mother sigh on the other end. “Gi-hun, Ga-yeong and her mother will be moving to LA next month.” After hearing those news, Gi-hun felt his heart break at the fact that he won’t be able to be a better father to Ga-yeong like he wanted to.
Well, that soured Gi-hun’s mood completely as he continued to walk the streets of Seoul grumbling cuss words in. However, Gi-hun noticed something within the alleyway—something that looked like either a small kid or an animal. Curiosity got the better of Gi-hun as he cautiously walked down the semi dark alleyway to investigate. Thinking it was a kid, Gi-hun called out,
“Hey…kid are you okay?”
No response, which prompted Gi-hun to walk closer while watching his surroundings—thinking that it was a trap. Gi-hun squinted his eyes and noticed that the small creature looked more like a fox-like creature with black and blue fur.
“Is this…some rare animal?” Gi-hun thought to himself. “I don’t think any rare animals would roam around the city parts of South Korea.” The fox-like creature’s ear twitched, which alerted Gi-hun a bit. “It’s…it’s alive?” He thought to himself. Gi-hun reached his hand out to tap the fox-like creature. Was it stupid to touch a creature Gi-hun has no knowledge on? Yes. As soon as Gi-hun’s hand came in contact with the creature’s head, the creature jumped up—startling Gi-hun in the process. The creature scattered off to behind the dumpster as Gi-hun stood there—frozen from shock and fear.
“H-hey, come out I didn’t mean to scare you.” Gi-hun pleads with the creature. Gi-hun then takes out some leftover fried squid as a peace offering to the fox-like creature. “Are you hungry?”
The fox-like creature poked his head out from behind the dumpster—nose twitching as the sea-like smell faintly filled the air. Gi-hun’s legs began to shake as the fox-like creature walked towards Gi-hun on its two hind legs like it was a human, delaying his fight or flight response. When the fox-like creature got closer and closer to him then sniffed the local delicacy in Gi-hun’s hand then slowly took the fried squid out of Gi-hun’s hand. Gi-hun watched as the fox-like creature chowed down on the treat with satisfaction then looked at Gi-hun. Gi-hun cracked a nervous smile.
“Y-you like that didn’t you?” Gi-hun nervously chuckled out. The fox-like creature then begins to sniff around Gi-hun’s legs then rubs up against him like a cat. Gi-hun couldn’t help but be in awe as he knelt down a bit to pet the creature. “What kinda creature are you? You look like a fox almost.” Gi-hun asked the creature. “Do you have a name?”
The creature’s ears perked up at the question as he looked around the alleyway for something then walked over to a muddy puddle. Gi-hun watched as the creature dipped his paw into the muddy puddle and then pressing it on the wall—spelling out it’s name
L
U
C
A
R
I
O
“Lucario?” Gi-hun guessed. The creature, Lucario, nods his head. Gi-hun didn’t know how to respond back. “How do I tell this creature my name?” Gi-hun thought to himself. “Do I just say, “Hi my name is Seong Gi-hun” or something?”
“Hello, nice to meet you Seong Gi-hun.” Gi-hun heard a voice enter his head. This freaked him out.
“Who said that!?” Gi-hun asked out loud.
The voice replied back.
“I did.”
Gi-hun looked at Lucario, who was staring at Gi-hun as if he could actually read his thoughts.
“Wait, you can hear my thoughts?” Gi-hun asks Lucario. “Yes.” Lucario replied. “What are you?” Gi-hun asks. “I’ve never seen anyone like you before.” “I’m a Pokemon.” Lucario replied. “Pok-ey-man?” Gi-hun mispronounces. “I’m one of those animal creatures that people use in battle, kinda like those horse races you would see minus the gambling.” Lucario explained. “How did yo-” Gi-hun cut himself off once he just remembered that Lucario can read minds. “Can you actually speak like a human?” Gi-hun asks Lucario. “Like in the language depending on where you’re at?” He specified. “I can only communicate telepathically.” Lucario replied. “I don’t actually speak.”
“So, I gotta be careful with what I think around him.” Gi-hun muttered to himself. “I don’t want him to hear me think about anything too crazy like naked women.” “You do know I can also hear you talk out loud right?” Lucario tells Gi-hun in his head. “Hey!” Gi-hun exclaimed. Lucario giggles—mischievously almost. Gi-hun shook his head while continuing to interrogate Lucario. “Where are you from?” Gi-hun asked.
Lucario was silent before a flashback played into his head.
Lucario and the other Pokemon creatures were happily with their owners in the Sinnoh region. Lucario was working on his training with his owner, Ash Ketchum, as all the other Pokemon were either sleeping or training with their other owners as well.
“Almost got it Lucario!” Ash praises Lucario. “Gotta keep your strength up!” He adds in. Lucario rested with pants after finishing up his combat training with Pikachu. “Pika! Pika!” Pikachu squeaks out, which translates to: “You’re doing a lot better than last time. Lucario nods as he walks over to Ash, who rewarded him with his favorite treat.
However, trouble happened to be afoot as cackles filled the area. Ash and Misty both looked to see Giovanni, the main leader of Team Rocket, and side by side with him was Jessie, James, and Meowth.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Giovanni asked with a wicked grin on his face. Ash clenched his jaw as he stood up.
“Team Rocket! Why have you come here?” Ash asked them. Misty chimed in, “Yeah, you’re not welcomed here!” Meowth spoke up.
“We want a rematch.” He declared. “And this time we’re ready for it!” Jessie and James spoke in sync. Ash balled up his fists.
“Out of all days, why can’t you just leave us be?” Ash wondered. “Fine, you wanna rematch? Let’s do it!”
Lucario noticed something in Giovanni’s pocket.
“Wait, there’s something in his pocket.” Lucario communicated to Ash. Ash’s eyes zeroed in on it—alarmed.
“What’s in your pocket?” He asked Giovanni. Giovanni took out the device with an evil chuckle.
“Oh, this?” He points at the device. “Just a little something to make things a challenge.”
After Giovanni said that and pressed the button, the wind began to grow stronger and stronger to a point where it could easily push Lucario and the other small Pokemon. Ash then looked up to see a black hole appearing up into the sky as the wind continued to nearly push everyone around. Lucario then felt himself getting lifted up off the ground.
“W-what? What’s happening?” Lucario thought to himself as he looked to see Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Joltik, and even Cutiefly beginning to levitate as well into the air, much to Ash and everyone else’s dismay.
“Cutiefly!”
“Bulbasaur!”
“Floette!”
Ash reached out to Lucario and Pikachu, trying his hardest to get them back but they were too far away out of Ash’s reach.
“Lucario! Pikachu!” Ash yelled out as they ascended higher and higher towards the blackhole.
Was the black hole taking them to their death? Lucario doesn’t know but he was reaching towards the light…or in this case, the dark.
“And that’s how I ended up here.” Lucario finished explaining. This felt too good to be true for Gi-hun.
“So, you’re saying that you’re from a whole different world?” Gi-hun asked, making sure he didn’t mishear any details. Lucario nods his head.
“Yeah, I somehow ended up…here.” Lucario replied as he looked around. “I don’t know where exactly.” It was now Gi-hun’s turn to tell him where he’s from.
“Well, you’re in Seoul, South Korea.” Gi-hun tells Lucario. Lucario tilted his head–confused. “Where do I go back home?” Lucario asks. Gi-hun shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know where your home is located really.” Gi-hun answered honestly. Lucario hung his head sadly but then popped his head back up when something dawned upon him.
“Wait, what are the chances that there’s other ones here?” Lucario wondered to himself. Gi-hun shrugged his shoulders again–not knowing how to answer that. Lucario then tugs at Gi-hun’s pantsleg. “You gotta show me around this place.” He tells Gi-hun. “Maybe there’s other Pokemon here that we can team up with.” Gi-hun grew hesitant.
“I’m sorry little guy but I don’t know any other ones that could be here.” Gi-hun replied to Lucario. “And I already have my own problems going on so my hands are tied.” Lucario then looks up at Gi-hun with the saddest set of eyes but Gi-hun doesn't falter. “Nice try but my daughter does that to me all the time as a child, so I’ve built an immunity to it.” Lucario’s ears went back—frustrated.
“If you help me, I’ll…I’ll help you as well.” Lucario offered. This was humorous to Gi-hun as he burst out laughing, much to Lucario’s dismay and anger. “Fine, don’t help me but good luck trying to be a better father.” Lucario tells Gi-hun as he begins to walk off. Gi-hun stopped laughing immediately as a frown quickly painted across his face. Lucario then feels Gi-hun grab his tail, which alerts him. “Hey! Ah!” Lucario felt himself getting lifted up while upside down as Gi-hun held him up by his tail.
“Don’t tell me how my life is.” Gi-hun deadpanned. “Hmm, struck a nerve huh?” Lucario asked while crossing his arms. Gi-hun twitched his upper lip. “Keep it up and I’ll sell you to a local butcher shop.” Gi-hun threatened. “I’m sure the locals here will love whatever meat you got in you.” Lucario gulped in fear. Gi-hun then sets Lucario down. “Alright, I’ll help you.” Gi-hun finally accepts. “Only to help get you home to your owners and then we’re both going to pretend that this never happened.” Gi-hun explained. Lucario nods his head, understanding Gi-hun completely. Lucario then climbs Gi-hun and rests himself on Gi-hun’s shoulder like a parrot on a pirate’s shoulder as Gi-hun looked outside to see that it was now night time.
“Damn, we’ve been out for a good while.” Gi-hun thought to himself as he made his way to the subway. When Gi-hun made it to the subway, he sat down at one of the benches. Lucario scans the area in search of other Pokemon.
“This is probably the first time I’ve been in here without having to battle anyone.” Lucario thought to himself. Gi-hun raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you fight everywhere you go?” He asks Lucario. “Only when one person challenges me and my owner to a battle.” Lucario replied. “Why? I mean, does everyone hate anything and anyone where you’re from?” Gi-hun questioned. “I mean…we do have enemies there such as Team Rocket.” Lucario answered. Gi-hun was confused at that. “What are they? Astronauts?” He wondered.
“No, Team Rocket is this group of bad guys who’s main goal was to steal and experiment with rare Pokemon in order to do world domination.” Lucario explained. “So, basically these guys are smugglers.” Gi-hun pointed out. “I…guess whatever you humans call them.” Lucario answered. Gi-hun then all of a sudden felt a presence sit down next to him as Lucario snapped his head to see who was sitting down.
“Excuse me sir, may I have a moment of your time?”
Gi-hun slowly turned his head to see a well dressed man in a suit with silky black hair. Thinking that he was one of those preacher men or Jehovah Witnesses, Gi-hun says…
“I don’t believe in Jesus.”
The man didn’t budge as he continued to talk to Gi-hun.
“I just need a moment of your time.” He persisted. “You see I have this amazing opportunity for yo-”
Gi-hun pulled out the gun lighter and aimed it at the man. The man immediately puts his hands in the air as Lucario’s fur begins to stand on its ends.
“Gi-hun! What are you doing!?” Lucario communicated with him. Gi-hun pulled the trigger for a flame to come out of the barrel. This put the man and Lucario at ease as Gi-hun spoke to the man.
“I come from a whole family of Buddhists." He tells the man. “Take your religion and bother someone else with it.” However, the man didn’t leave as he pulled out his briefcase. The man didn’t say a word as he opened it up to reveal huge wads of money along with a ball next to it. The ball was red on the top and white on the bottom with a black line and white dot in the middle. This caught Lucario’s attention while the money caught Gi-hun’s attention as well.
“That ball…I know that ball!” Lucario exclaimed as the man took the ball out of the briefcase. “I couldn’t help but notice your little friend there.” The man spoke, referring to Lucario. “And I was wondering if you and him would like to play a little game.” He explained to Gi-hun. “Gi-hun, he has a Pokemon! I knew that there were others here!” Lucario communicated with Gi-hun. The man continued.
“The rules are simple: Battle my Pokemon with yours and I’ll reward you with 100,000 won if yours wins, but if my Pokemon wins, you’ll pay me with 100,000 won.” The man tells Gi-hun. Lucario’s ears went back—suspicious of the man. “I don’t trust this man.” He communicates to Gi-hun. “Me either.” Gi-hun agrees as he gets up. “But I need the money right now.” Lucario snaps his head at Gi-hun. “Hey! You don’t have money to pay him back! What if you lose?” Lucario pointed out. “I’m not going to lose.” Gi-hun stated as if it was a fact due to his luck earlier at the horse races. Lucario sighed as Gi-hun accepted the challenge, but not before warning the man,
“Hey, if you try something, I will kill you.”
The man still kept a smile on his face as he stood up with the ball still in his hand. Gi-hun watched as the ball dropped onto the ground then it cracked open in half. Lucario and Gi-hun’s eyes widened at the sight of the Pokemon coming out, which was a large blue like creature. Was it a bear? Gi-hun doesn’t know but it was a lot bigger compared to the small Lucario. The man called out,
“Snorlax! Go!”
“It’s Snorlax!” Lucario tells Gi-hun. “I’ve never fought him before.” Gi-hun looks at Lucario. “You know this one?” Gi-hun asks him. Lucario nods his head. “He’s one of the first Pokemon ever and I’ve only seen him in the local areas back at home.” Lucario explained. “Well, how do we beat him?” Gi-hun asks Lucario. “Well for starters, you gotta do what the man did first.” Lucario instructed Gi-hun. “That’s how the battle really begins. Gi-hun took a deep breath as Lucario jumped off his shoulder and onto the floor. Gi-hun finally called out,
“Lucario! Go!”
Lucario gets into his fighting stance while Snorlax sat there without a care in the world—probably was thinking about food. The man still stood there with a smile on his face at the sight of Lucario and Gi-hun—finally picking up on the lack of acknowledgement Gi-hun has about his Pokemon.
Immediate defeat.
Snorlax used smash
Critical hit!
Lucario stumbled back a bit, health almost down, much to Gi-hun’s utter shock and dismay. The man just looks at Gi-hun with the same smug smile on his face.
“Shit…” Gi-hun thought to himself. Lucario looks up at him with an annoyed look. “You seriously don’t know how to battle do you?” He asks Gi-hun. Gi-hun took offense to that. “Well excuse me for not knowing how to battle after meeting you a couple minutes ago.” Gi-hun fired back. The man cleared his throat to catch Gi-hun’s attention. Gi-hun felt stuck.
“Do you not have 100,000 won sir?” The man asks Gi-hun. “Yeah…about that…” Gi-hun dragged out as Lucario facepalmed. “It’s alright sir.” The man assures Gi-hun. “You can pay the money another way.” He tells Gi-hun. Gi-hun looked at him confused.
“Wha-”
SMACK!
Lucario’s eyes grew wide as Gi-hun stumbled back holding his now hot and stinging cheek—shocked.
“What the hell man!” Gi-hun yelled out. “You slapped me!” The man nodded his head. “I slap off 100,000 won.” The man briefly explains. Determination took over Gi-hun’s body as he looked at the man dead in his eye.
“One more game.”
Lucario’s ears went back as he groaned to himself,
“I knew I should’ve just stayed back by that alleyway.”
Every game ended with the same results:
Lucario getting defeated by Snorlax and Gi-hun getting slapped by the man.
Lucario felt weak in the body from the amount of blows while Gi-hun’s right cheek was becoming more and more of a crimson color from the numerous slaps.
“C’mon Gi-hun, give up.” Lucario begged telepathically.
“Not until I beat this asshole.” Gi-hun fired back as he casts Lucario out again.
Finally, finally, finally, Lucario finally defeats Snorlax!
Lucario uses Meteor Mash!
It was super effective!
Snorlax felt down as Gi-hun laughed and cheered while the man clapped for Gi-hun. Gi-hun picked up the weak Lucario and hugged him tight. Gi-hun then sets Lucario down and raised his hand up to the man—aiming for the long desired retaliation.
“Alright, now you.” Gi-hun laughed out as he attempted to slap the man. However, the man caught Gi-hun’s wrist with an iron-like grip. “What the hell man.” Gi-hun grunted out. The man calmly hands Gi-hun two 500 won, which reminded Gi-hun why he and Lucario were battling in the first place.
“Your winnings sir.” The man tells Gi-hun in a nonchalant tone. Gi-hun’s eyes were filled with disappointment at the nonexistent chance of evening the score with the man. “Oh…right.” Was all Gi-hun could say. Lucario just shook his head while chuckling to himself. “He wanted to strike that man so bad.” He thought to himself. Gi-hun sat back down on the bench looking at the money he had won several slaps and battles later. The man looked at Lucario then at Gi-hun before he spoke again.
“You know Seong Gi-hun, there’s an even greater opportunity to win more money than this.” He tells Gi-hun. Gi-hun nods for a second before doing a double take. “Wait, how do you know my name?” Gi-hun asks. The man just smiles. “It’s my job to know.” He replied before he does a quick run down on Gi-hun’s background.
“Your name is Seong Gi-hun. You’re currently 47 years old and was born on October 31st, 1974. You’re currently divorced with an 11 year old daughter named Ga-yeong. You’re currently $348,000 in debt due to loan sharks and bank loans since you’re a bit of a gambler as well and as of right now you’re currently living with your elderly mother who has diabetes.”
Gi-hun’s eyes grew wide in shock.
“What are you? Some kind of cop or agent?” Gi-hun asked. The man then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small beige card. Gi-hun looked at the card to see a circle, a triangle, and a square then flipped it over to see a phone number on the back of it. “I’m just a recruiter.” The man tells Gi-hun as the train pulls up. Before the man left, he looked at Gi-hun and said, “Just think about it…for you and your little friend here.” Gi-hun and Lucario both watched as the man got on the train then the man turned around and looked at them with the same smile while raising his fist up at them as the train slowly pulled away.
“You’re seriously thinking about taking up on that man’s offer?” Lucario asks as he and Gi-hun walk down the street. “Maybe.” Gi-hun answered honestly. “If I can get a 100,000 won for getting slapped then there must be something better than this.” He explained. “What if it’s just some scheme or something?” Lucario asked hypothetically. “You know about schemes and scams?” Gi-hun asks Lucario. “I know about people having bad intentions and that guy looked like he definitely did.” Lucario pointed out.
Gi-hun shook his head as he and Lucario stopped in front of a fish shop. There at the chopping block cutting up fish was a small elderly lady with hair white like snow. She looked up at Gi-hun then looked at Lucario.
“Gi-hun, what in the world is that?” She asks him. Not knowing how to fully address Lucario, Gi-hun nervously says, “It’s…uhhh…my pet…cat.” Lucario looks at him with his ears back. “Really Gi-hun? That’s all you can say?” Lucario scolds him telepathically. “What do you want me to say? That you’re some Pokemon creature that appeared into this world?” Gi-hun hissed back in his head. The elderly lady cocked an eyebrow—filled with suspicion—before dropping her eyebrow.
“Such a weird looking cat.” She commented. Gi-hun nervously chuckled before he cleared his throat. “Um, Ms. Cho, have you seen Sang-woo lately?” Gi-hun asked as he looked at the framed photo next to the chopping block. “Not really.” Ms. Cho sighed out. “Last time he came here was a few months ago after graduating from SNU.” She briefly explained. “Ever since then he’s pretty much been stuck in the office.” Gi-hun frowned. “Well, I’ll try to give him a call when I get home.” He tells her as he handed her the 100,000 won. “Can I get some fish to go?” Gi-hun requested. Ms. Cho raised her eyebrows a bit in shock.
“Y-you didn’t gamble today did you?” She asked Gi-hun. Gi-hun paused for a beat before answering, “No, no I haven’t.” Ms. Cho then looked at Gi-hun’s bruised cheek. “Then what happened to your face?” She questioned. Gi-hun pressed a hand on his cheek, forgetting that he had that there before. “Oh, uh, he did that.” Gi-hun blamed Lucario. Lucario snapped his head at him before smacking him upside the head with his tail. “Ow! See?” Gi-hun groaned out.
Ms. Cho lets out a grunt before serving up some fish to Gi-hun. Gi-hun smiles before bidding her farewell as he walked off.
“Little rascal.” Ms. Cho muttered out
When Gi-hun and Lucario sat down on the curb, Gi-hun took the fish out of his bag and handed it to Lucario.
“Here, you deserve some too.” Gi-hun tells Lucario. Lucario accepts the fish, eating it with gusto. “Thank you Gi-hun.” He thanked him. Gi-hun nods before taking a bite out of his share. Gi-hun then takes out the card again—examing it like it was an unidentified object. Lucario noticed it.
“Don’t do it.” Lucario warned him. “You don’t know what you’re going to get into.” He adds. “I’m aware of that, but…you heard what that guy said earlier. I have a mother to take care of back at home.” Lucario looks up at Gi-hun. “What’s diabetes?” Lucario asks him. “You…never heard of it?” Gi-hun asked. Lucario shook his head no. “I…don’t think I’ve heard about anything from the actual human world, so everything here feels new to me.” Lucario explained. “Sounds like one hell of a world.” Gi-hun commented. “Well, we do have some sort of life cycle where we do live and die like our friends Stoutland and Morak have…but we only die from either battle or any sickness from our world.” He continued. Gi-hun just listened to Lucario.
“So, where do you think your other friends are?” Gi-hun asked. “I don’t know really.” Lucario answered honestly. “But after seeing Snorlax, I have a feeling that he’s not the only one here.” He explained. “It makes me wonder if there’s others here as well.” “The one thing I was wondering about was how that guy was able to know what to do with his Pokemon when presumably he probably met him around the same time you and I met.” Gi-hun questioned.
“Some people learn quickly, I guess.” Lucario answered. Gi-hun was quiet for a second before a light bulb lit up in his head. “Hey, what are the odds that people who also got a Pokemon had met that man?” He questioned. “And what if that man was recruiting the ones with Pokemon?” Gi-hun adds in. Lucario raised his head up at Gi-hun. “Where are you going with this?” He asked. “What if the opportunity not only involves more money but something that’ll also benefit you as well?” Gi-hun questioned. Lucario tilted his head as Gi-hun stood up.
“Think about it.” Gi-hun begins. “Whatever this card leads us to will be able to benefit both of us.” He stated, showing Lucario the card. “I’ll get money and you might be able to go home as well.” He concluded with Lucario. Lucario shook his head—doubtful.
“While I’m certain that money will be rewarded, I don’t know about me being able to return home.” He pointed out. “The man didn’t mention that, he only mentioned the possibility of a money prize.” Lucario adds in. “But think about it, there could be a possibility of you being able to go home if we won.” Gi-hun stated. “And if there isn’t a way for me to get home?” Lucario asked hypothetically. “Then I’ll help you.” Gi-hun offered. “After all, money does buy happiness.”
Lucario looked at the card then at Gi-hun, who had a promising smile on his face.
“I don’t know any other way to get back home…and I don’t know what plan they have in mind with what that guy told us but…this is the only way of hope.” Lucario thought for a moment before raising his head up to Gi-hun.
“Whattya say?” Gi-hun asks.
Lucario nods his head before saying,
“I’m in.”