"In a the year 2170 a work-by-night hacker has just cracked one of Blue Light City's biggest Pokémon trafficking cases. However, when his clandestine activities are revealed to the world, he's forced to go on the run, or risk falling into the clutch...
I swear to god if he doesn't stay out of my business!
I'm not going to tell him. I CAN'T tell him. Marhal won't stop asking about what I'm doing for work and I keep telling him that I code and that's all he needs to know. But he just. Keeps. DIGGING! Ugh!
The number one thing about what I do is that I have to stay anonymous. So, I can't tell him. I'm already doing too much by telling you, and you're not even a real person!
I was getting him to shut up by putting a lil' charm on him every time he asked, but that's not even working now. He actually declined sex the other night because he said was "concerned." Right. Whatever.
I get that you're supposed to trust your partner and... I-I do, but... that's a two-way street. I need him to trust me.
And I need to make more money. *exhaling sigh* Bye.
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Trev and Kofi stumbled into a dark alley, the coolness of the night air striking them like an invisible gust. Trev spun around just in time to see the rectangular maw in reality shut behind them. And then there was silence, save for the industrial sounds of the urban landscape.
No light. No door. And no more spectral trees with sunken eyes and deadened scowls. He was back in Blue Light City. However, with a quick glance, he realized he did not know exactly where he was in Blue Light City.
Trev leaned against a nearby side street railing, mind reeling as he tried to wrap his head around what he'd just experienced. He spoke to his mother. Her voice might have come from a spectral Pokémon he'd never seen before, but it was her. He was sure of it.
He shut his eyes tight, and another pair of tears squeezed from them. Kofi hopped towards him, chirping a question.
Trev's eyes found the bird's and he forced a sad smile. "Yeah... I'm good, bruh."
Kofi made a low, crooning sound as he nuzzled his head against Trev's cheek. After a moment, both of them composed themselves. They were alone on Ground Zero, late at night. They couldn't afford to sulk.
All around was the ubiquitous hum of air recyclers. Towers loomed above in the night, stretching like infinite Babylons towards the heavens. At eye level, he could see a few storefronts sporting holographic ads for everything from food to an "extra sensual good time."
But here there was far less of anything in the way of a structured society. In the lower dredges of the city, there was far less conventional advertising. Bartering was the more lucrative endeavor here— and for that, you ought to know who you were bartering with or you best not do it at all.
Moving down the street, he passed a couple of motorists driving wheeled vehicles. The above world would sniff at anything that didn't hover, but down here, a powered vehicle of any sort was a rare luxury. The rest of his passersby were on foot, and rare besides.
