[ WP ] You wake up and find yourself in the world of your favorite video game . Just like on earth , you have to get a job , one that pertains to the game world . However , you do n't have any new skills , just the ones you had back in your universe . What is an average work day like ?

`` Are you sure you ca n't just give me a sample, sir? A potion, a ball, an escape rope, please, anything?'' 
 
 `` I ca n't just give you anything for free. I'm sorry, that's company policy.'' 
 
 I sighed and thanked the man for his time, walking outside for another gulp of too-fresh air. 
 
 Every other shop I could get to said the same. 
 
 The professor was out on a massive expedition and would n't be back for months, and there were no free ferry services out of the Hoenn region. If I could n't get a Pokemon soon, I'd starve. There were n't any stable jobs for teenagers, save conscription, and I had heard some terrible rumors about back room life in the Centers and Shoppes. Mauville city had n't even had an opening in the food court; the line of trainers looking for solid jobs was long. 
 
 I needed a Pokemon, I needed to train it, and it needed to win. I could n't surf to Mossdeep nor could I really navigate the tall grass. I'd already seen several innocents... become permanently disabled. Training was a much harder life than I'd ever imagined. 
 
 It was nigh impossible to find lodging or even a grocery store. People who did n't have meager homes were starving in the wilds, angrily storming up to any travelers, begging for alms or a money fight. Very few of the critters were happy, as it was with humans. 
 
 Wilds would charge at me day and night if I was n't in a city, and in the cities I was shooed away or I was running from thugs. 
 
 One of the few hospitable places I had was a base built in a tree just south of Mauville. Though the area had been claimed by a group of thugs a long time ago, judging by some graffiti, the tree was largely unused by other people and Pokémon. I did n't have much, but over the few weeks I'd snagged a Treecko doll and a threadbare blanket, both stained with a mysterious amber substance. A secret base shop had broken a lamp and so had to relinquish these beauties to a trash can. I'd picked them up, watched them off in one of the infinite rivers, and simply swam back with it my own `` secret base.'' Most trainers used them for survival, any way. Trees were in low demand, as anyone with a Pokémon could get a much warmer, substantial cave instead. 
 
 Food was a less fortunate commodity. It was impossible to catch and fry anything living, so I was limited to a diet of berries. At least I'm looking toned from all the exercise. 
 
 The sun was already beginning to set. 
 
 I yawned, curling up on the leafy floor with the blanket and the doll as a pillow. The blanket still smelled funny. 
 
 I'd seen people worse off, I thought sleepily. Better to have something than nothing. 
 
 Just as my eyes closed, I caught a flicker of movement. 
 
 I stayed stock still, ears perked. Many seconds passed before I heard low breathing, high in pitch, and behind me to the left. 
 
 A Pokémon? 
 
 The `` door'' of my tree was nearer to me than it, but perhaps it had crawled in from the top branches. Carefully, I opened my eyes. 
 
 An Aipom was hanging nervously from some branches- and trying to eat some of my berries. The poor creature was gaunt, with blackened, freshly singed fur. 
 
 I almost felt sorry for it, but I needed a Pokemon, even just to barter, and I did n't recall having ever seen an Aipom in the area before. Maybe I could truck down one into thinking it was rare. 
 
 The little critter nibbled tentatively at a ripe, pink Nanab berry. I casually crouched, turning so it would n't see me, and I held up the blanket. 
 
 Step by excruciating step I approached. He ( she? ) did n't turn, but I noticed its ears perk and its hand/tail tense. I came closer. 
 
 `` Hello.'' I said in a comforting voice. `` Take some berries. They're good for you.'' 
 
 He did n't waste the opportunity, snatching most of my food supply. 
 
 I did n't waste the chance either. As soon as his arms were sufficiently full of berries I lunged with the blanket extended. He jumped just as I did. 
 
 I heard the sound of pulpy rinds hit the branches, some falling between the cracks. 
 
 It got away with half my food. 
 
 Shit. 

