Mandip Gill is captured by a Doctor Who fan

The Poké Ball scene started off fairly quietly. A small group of programming and engineering nerds, united by their love of science and the Pokémon franchise, developed the project. As it became clear the project was viable, they poured more and more time and resources into it, including the involvement of one or two extremely less than ethical investors, until between the team of 3 in LA and 2 in London, they'd developed the first batch of Poké Balls. Apart from those the original team got, small batches went out to investors and some friends who'd consulted, and of course, a couple of bribes.

One of the more innocuous bribes had been to London-based civil servant Jack Thomas; who now lived alone in a pokey one-bedroom flat on the outskirts of London, but formerly had been flatmates with Josh aka MasterEngineer_73, the mind behind the capture mechanism. In exchange for keeping schtum about the project and being chill about the mechanical parts strewn about the flat, Jack had been promised a Poké Ball. In truth, he'd forgotten about it until a few years later, Josh had made good.

And knowing Jack was a Doctor Who fan, Josh had done the extra favour of telling him when, where and who to use the ball on, you know, if he wanted to...

Mandip Gill laughed and gave her mum another hug. "I'll be back in no time, mum, honest!" Mandip was off on a three week seclusion retreat in between jobs, to recharge and rewind before a two month location shoot. She was going to be away for a long time, which to her Mum seemed like the end of the world, to her seemed like a blur of work and leisure, and to Josh had seemed like a golden opportunity to let his friend join their little subculture without her going too abruptly missing.

She pulled her jacket around her shoulders, grabbing her bag, and traipsing up the road towards the Tube station. Jack followed behind her in shadow, his mouth dry. He'd become aware of Mandip during her time playing Yasmin Khan on Doctor Who, and he'd become infatuated with the now-36-year-old actress.

Mandip became aware someone was behind her, and picked up the pace subtly. She began to panic as she felt whoever it was keep pace with her, looking to and fro before deciding to take it on the chin, turn round, and confront... Some mid-twenties scrawny white nerd? With sticky-up brown hair and a poor complexion? Well, she could guess why this guy in a Doctor Who t-shirt would be stalking her, but at least she wasn't in any danger from this guy.

That was one of the two last things she remembered most later on. That she thought she wasn't in any danger. The other thing Mandip remembered was the red-and-white orb flying at her, that flash of light encapsulating her as she swore she saw the guy mouth, "I'm so sorry, but I'm just such a big fan."