149 Pokémon in USA and KiShin's crisis

[USA]

Americans celebrated the New Year at 12:00 AM, and shortly after, many fans of the animated series "KiShin" tuned in to their respective television sets and switched to the new cable network, 'Cartoon Network,' which began airing at 6 AM.

At 6:00 AM, the featured cartoon on television was "Tom and Jerry." During a brief advertisement break, the narrator revealed the upcoming animation schedule for 'Cartoon Network,' and viewers learned that the beloved anime "Pokémon" would be airing at 7 AM.

Most of the viewers, especially the younger audience, decided to stay and watch, while some opted to turn off their televisions and head outside to play.

As 7 AM drew near, the highly anticipated anime "Pokémon" was on the verge of starting.

Many young people across various households eagerly gathered to watch the highly anticipated "Pokémon" anime.

In one particular household, a group of men gathered around their friend's television and engaged in a conversation.

"I've been quite curious about this cartoon. My Asian friend told me it's incredibly popular in his country," one of the men named Ronald shared.

Curious, another inquired, "Which country is he from?"

Ronald replied, "He's from South Korea."

To this, Leonard, one of the men in the group, commented, "Really? I assumed he might be from China."

Ronald chuckled wryly as he responded, "Well, being Asian doesn't always mean being Chinese."

The men chuckled wryly at Leonard's assumption, and one of them, named Arnold, remarked, "Hehe, Leonard must have thought that being Asian meant only being from China or Japan."

Leonard quickly responded, "Of course not! I also know an Asian who is a 'Philippino'!"

The mispronunciation of 'Filipino' as 'Phillipino' drew laughter from everyone, making it clear that Leonard was the American who had some room for improvement in recognizing different Asian nationalities.

Then, Ronald, pointing at the television, whispered, "The Pokémon cartoon is finally starting!"

All eyes turned to the TV screen, and indeed, the 'Pokémon' anime began with its iconic theme song.

Ronald sang along, "Gotta catch 'em all!"

His friends nodded in rhythm, and Leonard exclaimed, "Well, the song is quite catchy."

Arnold added, "It's by KiShin, and I've listened to most of their songs; they're all high quality, so it's not surprising."

As the Pokémon anime continued, Ronald and his friends became increasingly engrossed in the show. However, a brief commercial break interrupted their focus, and Leonard commented, "It's quite interesting..."

Ronald nodded as he stroked his chin and remarked, "I'm really starting to like it, especially that cute yellow creature..."

Everyone agreed, and after the brief commercial break, the Pokémon anime resumed.

Time flew by, and before they realized it, they had finished watching the Pokémon episode. Ronald and his friends were captivated by the intriguing concept of creatures with special powers, known as Pokémon, being captured by Pokémon trainers. It was undeniably fascinating.

Not only them, but many people across the USA who tuned in to watch Pokémon were also captivated by this new concept and the captivating storyline.

The great news was that Pokémon episodes would be airing on 'Cartoon Network' every Monday through Wednesday, which meant that viewers could enjoy three episodes of Pokémon per week.

Regarding other children's cable channels, they also scheduled three consecutive episodes of Pokémon per week. Consequently, many individuals who had missed Pokémon on 'Cartoon Network' started tuning in to their respective cable channels to catch up.

In just a few days, word of Pokémon had already spread like wildfire among the youth. The series had managed to captivate the younger generation with only three episodes aired.

After the second week of its release, Pokémon had already caused quite a craze among the young audience, and the Pokémon cards recently released in the KiShin Merchandise store were also gaining popularity.

Tora and Suzuki, who had anticipated this outcome, felt a sense of gravity about the situation. KiShin was now making waves even in the cable network industry. Interestingly, Pokémon's timeslot on other children's cable channels "coincidentally" coincided with CNN News, causing a noticeable impact on CNN's ratings.

As a result, Faye Coleman reported on CNN News, with a dramatic pause, "In recent days, incidents of animal cruelty have unexpectedly emerged in some parts of the states, and the suspects were..." She stopped as the headline image appeared beside her, creating suspense, and then added, "Children and youth."

Viewers were taken aback. Children and youth involved in practicing animal cruelty? What could this possibly mean?

Faye Coleman, the female news anchor, then directed, "Let's tune in to the report by Arthur Matthew."

The scene transitioned to the news reporter, Arthur Matthew, standing upright and addressing the camera directly.

In a solemn tone, Arthur Matthew confirmed, "That's correct," and paused as he presented footage showing a group of children having their cats and dogs pitted against each other.

One of the children encouraged his Chihuahua dog, saying, "Go and attack, Hernesto!"

On the other side, another child called to his cat, "Go, Meowth!"

However, instead of facing off, the Chihuahua quickly ran away and barked at the child. In response, the child simply patted the dog's head to calm it down, and the footage concluded.

The scene shifted back to Arthur Matthew, who maintained a direct gaze at the camera, though the cameraman behind the scenes struggled to stifle his chuckles during the pets' less-than-epic encounter.

With a stoic expression, Arthur Matthew reported, "As you can see, these events have reportedly occurred in some parts of the United States. While rare, they have raised concerns at the 'Humane Society of the United States.'"

To clarify the confusion for viewers, Arthur Matthew continued, "The cause behind this phenomenon is believed to be the gradually growing popularity of the anime 'Pokémon' in the United States." He added, "We have reached out to 'Cartoon Network' and its parent company, KiShin, regarding this issue, but they have not provided any comments at this time."

Viewers at home watched the news with furrowed brows and concerned frowns. Many parents took this as an opportunity to caution their young generation against watching Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Tora and Suzuki had released highly impressive video games that fully utilized the capabilities of the 16-bit console. Tora's game, "Lori," featured a young boy named 'Lori' solving puzzles and progressing through stages. The developers at Tora had learned from their past mistakes and improved the gameplay, which attracted numerous video game enthusiasts. Suzuki, on the other hand, launched "Legendary Knight," a game in which a knight named 'Gilgamesh' battled monsters and bosses. The gameplay had also seen significant improvements. Both Tora and Suzuki's video games were gaining popularity not only in Asia but also in the USA.

Slowly but surely, KiShin's competitors were gaining ground, and many were beginning to speculate that 1992 might become the worst nightmare for KiShin. The company's ambitious ventures into various industries instead of f ocusing on its core expertise, video games, were starting to show their repercussions.