Saturday, 14 December 2001.
WUGONG Headquarters, Japan.
WUGONG's headquarters was nothing impressive.
The company occupied a small office building that barely looked large enough to house a proper game studio, especially when compared with enormous companies such as ZAGE. Around thirty employees currently worked there, packed into rooms filled with computers, drawing tablets, stacks of documents, snacks, cables, development cartridges, and enough empty drink cans to make the office look considerably older than it actually was.
WUGONG itself had existed for less than a year.
The studio had been created by three college friends who loved video games far more than they understood business. One of them happened to have enough money to turn their ridiculous idea into a real company.
That person was Akira Watanabe.
Akira came from a wealthy family and had originally spent most of his university years purchasing games, visiting arcades, and arguing with his friends about what made certain games fun. He understood almost nothing about programming when WUGONG began, but he possessed enough money, enthusiasm, and reckless confidence to fund the studio.
His two closest friends were Uchi Goro and Izono Yoshida, although almost everyone simply called Izono Ono.
Unlike Akira, neither came from wealth.
Uchi was an illustrator and designer obsessed with Japanese folklore, especially Yokai. He was responsible for much of OssMON's strange ukiyo-e-inspired visual identity and most of its monster designs.
Ono was the technical brain of the trio. He had learned programming with whatever cheap computers he could obtain and had spent years creating tiny experimental games nobody outside his friend group ever saw.
Somehow, combining a rich idiot with two broke geeks had created a real development studio.
And somehow, their first major game had actually released.
Unfortunately, the three founders were now experiencing their first major controversy.
Ono leaned back in his chair and released a long sigh while reading another angry post. "I… really didn't expect this much backlash. ZUSUGA copied Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh ideas from ZAGE when they made ZUMON, didn't they? That game sold pretty well."
Akira was sitting nearby with his arms crossed. He thought about it for a moment before replying, "Yeah, but ZUMON came out around 1998. That was before the current ZGBA era really took off, and there hadn't been a new major Pokémon release for a while back then. Things are different now. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire are still extremely popular, so Pokémon fans are probably more protective of the series."
Uchi immediately shook his head and interrupted them. "No. Both of you are missing the obvious reason." He pointed toward the OssMON game case sitting on the desk. "Our monsters have old-man faces!"
Akira blinked.
Ono stared at him.
Uchi spread both hands dramatically. "Come on! Can't you understand why some people think we're mocking Pokémon? Pokémon has cute monsters, cool monsters, beautiful monsters, legendary monsters… and then we release a blue dragon with the face of somebody's bald uncle."
Ono slowly smiled. "That was the best part."
"You're the one who suggested it!"
"And Akira agreed."
Akira immediately defended himself. "Because it works!"
Uchi groaned. "What works?! Pokémon fans are practically trying to blacklist us!"
Akira pointed toward the sales report lying on another desk. "The game."
Uchi became quiet for a second.
Akira continued with growing confidence. "OssMON is selling. Our first week is much better than anyone expected. People are actually talking about the monsters, the art style, and the weird old-man habits. That means the idea worked."
Uchi crossed his arms and muttered, "That doesn't mean the reputation damage won't hurt us later."
The concern was legitimate.
OssMON's first-week sales had surprised practically everyone inside WUGONG. Their production expectations had been extremely conservative because nobody knew whether players would accept a monster-collecting RPG built almost entirely around strange middle-aged and elderly-man behaviour.
Yet the absurdity itself had attracted attention.
AoHage, the bald blue dragon with a habit of hiding younger people's belongings, had already become unexpectedly popular. BakuNeko, the gambling red cat, appeared constantly in forum jokes. KaminariJiji and his furious electric mohawk had become one of the most shared monsters online.
Players were beginning to understand that OssMON was not merely trying to recreate Pokémon.
Unfortunately, a very loud group of Pokémon fans remained angry.
Uchi leaned forward and sighed. "Sales are good now, but what happens six months from now? What if stores stop supporting us because people keep calling us a cheap Pokémon copy? We don't have ZAGE's reputation. This is literally our first game."
Ono nodded slowly. "That part worries me too."
Akira tried to remain confident, but even he became slightly quieter.
WUGONG had spent almost everything developing OssMON.
Akira's family money had allowed them to survive development, hire employees, rent the office, purchase equipment, and manufacture their first cartridges, but the studio could not continue losing money indefinitely just because Akira happened to be wealthy.
Eventually, WUGONG needed to survive as an actual business.
And being publicly branded as a studio that stole ideas from ZAGE was probably not the ideal beginning.
Ono suddenly looked toward Zaboru's YouTube channel on his computer. "The weirdest part is that Zaboru hasn't said anything."
Uchi sighed. "He probably doesn't even know we exist."
Akira shook his head. "He reviews random games all the time. Even tiny studios sometimes get mentioned."
"Not recently," Ono replied. "He's been extremely busy. World Trade Center stuff, , whatever else that man does."
Akira leaned back and remembered another controversy. "There was also that argument about Dark Guild on iPlay, right? Some Apple fans accused him of intentionally refusing to review it because iPlay competed with ZEPS."
Uchi frowned. "Didn't Dark Guild just suck?"
"Hey it's good game but That apparently doesn't matter."
Ono chuckled and refreshed Zaboru's channel again. "Anyway, there's still n—"
He suddenly stopped.
Akira noticed immediately. "What?"
Ono stared at the screen.
Then leaned closer.
"Wait."
Uchi looked toward him. "What?"
Ono refreshed the page again as though he did not trust what he was seeing.
A new video had appeared.
Uploaded only minutes earlier.
The thumbnail showed Zaboru sitting beside a whiteboard while holding a familiar ZGBA game case.
OssMON.
Ono slowly pointed toward the monitor. "There's an update."
Akira stood immediately.
Uchi nearly knocked over his chair.
"What?!"
Ono looked toward them with widening eyes. "It's about us."
The three founders rushed toward the computer so quickly that two nearby employees stopped working to see what had happened.
Akira leaned over Ono's shoulder. "Play it!"
"I'm clicking!"
"You're moving too slowly!"
"Shut up!"
Ono finally started the video.
Zaboru appeared on-screen sitting comfortably in his office. A whiteboard stood behind him, and the OssMON case rested on the desk beside several papers. He looked far too relaxed considering how much chaos his opinion could potentially create for WUGONG.
Zaboru smiled toward the camera and said, "Hello, everyone. Today I want to talk about something."
He reached toward the desk and picked up the OssMON case.
"This game."
Inside WUGONG's office, nobody moved.
Zaboru looked at the cover for a moment before chuckling. "This very… unique game."
Several employees behind Akira had now gathered around as well.
Zaboru continued, "Apparently there has been a pretty intense discussion online about whether OssMON is disrespecting Pokémon because it uses monster collecting and then gives its creatures old-man faces and habits."
He paused.
Then laughed.
"I'm sorry, but that sentence alone is already funny."
Akira covered his mouth, trying not to laugh from pure nervousness.
Zaboru placed the case upright on his desk and looked directly toward the camera. "But seriously, guys… I love this."
The entire WUGONG office became silent.
Uchi blinked.
"What?"
On-screen, Zaboru continued, "Some people keep asking whether I think OssMON insults Pokémon. My answer is simple: no. Not even slightly."
Akira slowly started smiling.
Zaboru leaned forward and explained, "Yes, the foundation is obviously influenced by Pokémon. You collect monsters, train them, battle with them, build a party, explore the world, and discover new creatures. I'm not going to pretend the inspiration isn't obvious."
He shrugged casually. "But inspiration isn't automatically theft."
Zaboru picked up the game again. "Because when I actually played OssMON, I didn't feel like I was playing Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire with ugly monsters. The battle system works differently. The creatures continuously learn more abilities instead of following Pokémon's limited move structure. The world has its own art direction based heavily on Japanese folklore and old paintings. The humour is completely different, and the monster personalities are honestly some of the funniest things I've seen on Gaming."
Uchi's mouth slowly opened.
Zaboru smiled and added, "I still can't believe somebody created a monster whose back hurts so badly it sometimes loses a turn."
Several WUGONG employees immediately started laughing.
Uchi pointed toward the screen. "That was mine!"
Ono whispered, "Shut up. He can't hear you."
"I know!"
Zaboru then mentioned AoHage, BakuNeko, KaminariJiji, and several other monsters before finally saying, "The old-man habits are exactly what make OssMON memorable. If WUGONG had simply made cute elemental monsters and copied Pokémon's progression directly, then yes, I'd probably ask what the point was."
He placed the case down and stood from his chair.
The camera remained focused on him as Zaboru walked toward the whiteboard.
He picked up a marker.
"Usually, game genres develop something like this."
Zaboru wrote:
Someone creates something new → It becomes successful → Other developers borrow the idea → They add their own ideas → The genre expands.
Zaboru stepped aside and pointed toward the board. "This happens constantly, especially when you guys know ZAGE often starts the genre right?."
He added another line.
Innovation does not always mean inventing everything from zero.
Zaboru smiled and continued, "Sometimes innovation means taking a mechanic somebody else proved could work and asking, 'Okay, but what happens if we approach it differently?'"
He tapped the marker against the board. "That is how genres grow."
Zaboru gave several examples. Fighting games borrowed from one another constantly. RPG developers learned from other RPGs. Strategy games borrowed interface ideas, resource systems, unit concepts, and control methods while introducing their own rules. Platformers learned from other platformers.
Even ZAGE did it.
Zaboru did not pretend every ZAGE game had appeared magically without influence.
"No developer creates inside a vacuum," he said. "Games inspire other games."
He looked directly into the camera. "The important question is what you do with that inspiration."
Inside WUGONG, Uchi had stopped looking worried entirely.
Zaboru returned toward his chair and picked up OssMON again. "OssMON takes the basic monster-collecting concept and adds enough of its own personality that I immediately recognise it as OssMON. That's what matters to me."
He grinned. "And honestly, I want more developers doing this, i want you guys went nuts and insane creativity as you guys can"
Akira whispered, "No way…"
Zaboru continued, "I don't want the industry reaching a point where people become terrified of making a monster-collecting game because Pokémon exists. Pokémon is one franchise. It doesn't own the concept of collecting creatures."
Zaboru chuckled, "Don't worry, I already patent all the rights of game mechanics ZAGE created so nobody will be able to patent it, oh I patent it so anyone can use it." Zaboru chuckled.
That sentence immediately caused several employees around WUGONG to exchange looks.
It was probably the strongest statement Zaboru could have made.
Pokémon itself belonged to ZAGE.
ZAGE patented mechanics so everyone can used it as this already common knowledge.
If Zaboru, the creator and owner of the company behind Pokémon, publicly said he had no problem with OssMON existing, then accusing WUGONG of disrespecting ZAGE suddenly became considerably harder.
Zaboru looked again at the cover and chuckled. "Although I still question why almost every monster needs the face of somebody who looks like they complain about their knees."
Uchi laughed proudly. "Because that's art."
Ono stared at him. "You were complaining about it twenty minutes ago."
"I've changed my mind."
"Convenient."
Zaboru finally held the game toward the camera. "So, WUGONG developers, if any of you happen to watch this…"
All three founders leaned closer.
Zaboru smiled warmly.
"I approve."
Akira's eyes widened.
Zaboru then raised his thumb.
"You are very cool!"
For just a moment, the familiar phrase hit differently.
Normally, fans treated "You Are Very Cool" as one of Zaboru's iconic catchphrases. Zaboru himself sometimes used it all the time.
But hearing it directed specifically toward their small studio felt completely different.
Ono immediately slapped both hands against the desk.
"YES!"
Several employees behind him cheered.
Zaboru continued, "I'm giving OssMON an eight out of ten. It still has some interface problems, especially once the ability lists become huge, and a few balance issues definitely need work. But for a studio's first game? This is seriously impressive."
He shook the cartridge slightly and grinned. "Definitely worth playing on ZGBA."
Then he laughed.
"And please don't make every sequel exclusively old men. Eventually you're going to run out of back problems."
The video ended.
For several seconds, WUGONG's office remained completely silent.
Akira stared at the frozen screen.
Ono stared at Akira.
Uchi stared at both of them.
Then Akira suddenly raised both fists.
"As expected of Zaboru-sama!"
Ono jumped from his chair. "WE GOT APPROVAL FROM THE GOD OF VIDEO GAMES! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
Several employees immediately began celebrating around them.
Someone yelled from another desk, "HE GAVE US EIGHT OUT OF TEN!"
Another employee shouted back, "HE SAID WE'RE COOL!"
Akira grabbed Ono by the shoulders and laughed. "Do you know how much marketing this is worth?!"
Ono stared at him. "That's what you're thinking about?!"
"I'm the one paying everybody!"
"Fair!"
Uchi remained seated for several seconds longer, looking at the OssMON artwork displayed on his desk.
He had spent the entire morning wondering whether his bizarre designs had accidentally damaged WUGONG before the studio had even properly begun.
Now the creator of Pokémon himself had publicly defended them.
Uchi finally smiled.
"Well…"
Akira looked toward him.
Uchi folded his arms and sighed dramatically. "This certainly improves things."
Ono stared at him. "Improves things?! You looked like you were about to die an hour ago!"
"I was being realistic."
"You were panicking."
"Same thing."
Akira laughed before dropping himself back into his chair.
Almost immediately, notifications began appearing across WUGONG's computers.
Forum mentions.
YouTube comments.
News posts.
The video was already spreading.
Uchi watched the numbers climbing for several moments before becoming thoughtful again. "Still…"
Akira looked toward him. "What now?"
Uchi glanced toward the paused image of Zaboru on the screen and asked, "Why does he even make videos like this?"
Ono shrugged.
Akira remained quiet.
As for Zaboru's reason, there was only one.
To be continued.
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