Store Clerk Spots Pokemon Around the Time of an Auto Fire

ABF Newswire: September 16, 2026

Six watercolor attempts at a tree on a hill with a limited palette of ultramarine, yellow ocre, and sepia brown.

Image Credit: My Id and Ego.

Sometimes I enjoy the process more than others. These sketches were fun. Granted, none look like the reference watercolor I tried to ape, that's okay. Learning what's the right amount of water and pigment load on the brush for a particular layer will take years. That patience thing. Stupid virtues.

New York, New York. September 16, 2026 (ABF Newswire)

John Tran was eating Takis and instant ramen with chopsticks while trying to not get any on his The Giving Tree t-shirt when the smell of burning rubber and smoke startled him.

"One minute I'm rushing through a quick lunch on the corner, and the next minute a couple of cars are in flames. This city keeps it interesting."

A bunch of attempts at watercolor woodland trees with a limited palette of blue, crimson, and a yellow. My trees are messy.

Image Credit: My Id & Ego.

It's wild how easy I can complicate a simple thing like an f'in tree. Is it really simple if there are thousands of YouTube tutorials on how to paint trees? Apparently not. Comforting that I'm not the only one who sucks at it. That last one isn't so bad with the darkness in the underbrush. Not awesome, either. Slowly getting better.

Nobody noticed how the vehicles became doused with a flammable accelerant and were ignited. For the vehicles' occupants, it was unfortunate that the large Escalades were boxed in by even larger garbage trucks while stuck in traffic. There was no escape from the flames. And, other than a few tourists snapping pictures, most went about their day without a second glance. Authorities were eventually called and, by the time the NYFD arrived, the two SUVs were a smoldering wreck. No survivors.

John added as he packed up his empty food containers, "I did notice a couple of skaters in Charmander Pokemon costumes cruise by with Super Soakers™ around the time of the blaze. I was too amused and I didn't put two and two together until you asked about it. Anyway, my fifteen minute break is up and I need to get behind the counter of the bodega."

The vehicles were registered to a private equity firm headquartered in the city. Of the deceased was a founding member who led the charge to buy out hospitals around the country in areas where there was no competition. A company spokesperson relayed that the man and his detail were on their way back to the office after an investor meeting where the entrepreneur pitched a new AI solution to increase efficiencies in the hospitals. Less staff and more patient throughput were the main selling points of the system.

"Investors are thrilled with the synergies of our healthcare acquisitions and ability to innovate productivity improvements with our new AI product," the spokesperson relayed. "Though we'll miss the departed, we're committed to our mission of optimizing investor profit."