The press conference ended late in the afternoon on August 5, 1995. Cameras slowly turned off while journalists continued discussing the Nova Handheld among themselves. Some reporters were impressed, some were skeptical, but almost everyone agreed that the idea behind Pokémon looked interesting.
Inside Nova Tech, the atmosphere was tense but hopeful. Tim Drake returned to the office after the conference and immediately began organizing the final preparations for the launch.
For the next few days, the entire company moved like a machine.
The publicity campaign intensified across several cities. Dawn Publishing printed advertisements for the Nova Handheld in their manga magazines, placing Pokémon artwork on the front pages. Posters of Pikachu and other Pokémon appeared in comic stores, toy shops, and small arcades.
Hasbro also helped promote the game by placing Pokémon toys next to Nova Handheld displays in toy stores. Children who had already read the Pokémon manga immediately recognized the characters and became curious about the game.
Meanwhile the factory in Japan continued operating almost nonstop.
The two handheld assembly lines were producing about six thousand Nova Handheld units every day, while the cartridge lines produced nearly twenty thousand game cartridges daily.
By the time the launch date approached, the factory had already completed nearly four hundred thousand Nova Handheld devices.
At the same time more than 1.3 million game cartridges had been manufactured.
Among them, over five hundred thousand were Pokémon Red cartridges, while the rest were distributed between the other launch titles.
For a company as young as Nova Tech, this was a massive gamble.
Ryan's father often looked worried when discussing the situation during dinner.
"We've invested a lot of money into this project," he said one evening. "If the handheld doesn't sell well, we could face serious losses."
Ryan simply smiled while eating.
"It will sell."
His calm confidence surprised his parents every time.
At school, Ryan's life continued normally despite the huge launch approaching.
Rachel and Ryan had grown even closer over the past months. They walked together after classes and sometimes stayed near the school entrance talking until the late afternoon.
Chandler and Raj had already accepted the situation.
"Seriously," Chandler said one day during lunch, "you two act like you're already married."
Rachel immediately blushed while Ryan laughed.
Raj only shook his head quietly.
Even though Ryan looked relaxed on the outside, his mind was constantly calculating the upcoming launch.
Everything depended on August 10, 1995.
When the day finally arrived, stores across several cities opened early.
Many of them had already prepared special stands displaying the Nova Handheld.
Pokémon posters were placed near the entrance of toy stores, and gaming magazines had begun discussing the upcoming console.
Some journalists still doubted whether a small company like Nova Tech could survive in the handheld gaming market.
But curiosity had already spread among many young players.
Early that morning, the first shipments of Nova Handheld consoles and game cartridges arrived in stores.
Inside Nova Tech headquarters, Tim Drake and several employees gathered in the office watching the incoming sales reports.
Everyone looked nervous.
For the first hour, the numbers were slow.
A few handheld units sold here and there.
Then suddenly the phone began ringing.
One distributor from New York reported that several stores had already sold out their first shipment of Nova Handheld units.
Another distributor said Pokémon Red cartridges were selling faster than expected.
Soon more calls began arriving.
Children who had read the Pokémon manga were dragging their parents into stores asking for the game.
Some toy shops even began forming small lines of customers.
Inside Nova Tech's office, the nervous atmosphere slowly turned into excitement.
Tim Drake stared at the sales data appearing on the computer screen.
"Looks like the monster game is working," he said quietly.
Ryan himself was not at the office that day.
He returned home after school and immediately checked the early sales reports on his computer.
When he saw the numbers, he simply leaned back in his chair and smiled.
Everything was happening exactly as he had predicted.
But at that moment, the familiar system interface suddenly appeared in front of him again.
The progress bar that had been stuck for so long finally moved.
World Deviation Progress: 60%
Ryan looked at the number silently.
The launch of the Nova Handheld had clearly affected the storyline of this merged world.
Which meant the system had begun responding again.
And that meant something important.
The moment when the system would fully activate was getting closer.
Ryan closed the interface slowly and looked out of the window.
Outside, the city lights were turning on one by one.
The world was changing.
And this was only the beginning.