*** - Mother loves you
It all started so innocently. I was playing Platinum on my computer while hanging out with my girlfriend. She wasn’t a big fan, but I had nothing to do while she studied for her history final. She had been studying for a while, and decided to take a break.
I hadn’t noticed that she was right beside me until she kissed me on the cheek and said “So, what pokémon do you have?” I had decided to name all of my pokémon on this run-through, so I turned my computer slightly towards her.
“Well,” I began, clicking on my first pokémon, “I’ve got a Torterra named Kurma, named after one of Vishnu’s forms, the one like the world turtle. I’ve got a Glameow named Beekies (my cat that we had to have put to sleep recently), a Ponyta named Silver, a Bidoof named Herp Derp, a Starly named Pooky (after my Aunt’s pet cockatiel), and a Shinx named Mr. Fluffy.”
“Nice,” she said. “Hey, you should name one you catch after your mom. That’d be cute.”
I took her advice, and caught a Gastly in Eterna Forest and named it Holly, after my mom. It went to the PC, and as soon as I got to the next town, I took it out, replacing my Bidoof.
I started walking through Veilstone City, hell-bent on beating Maylene, when I got a notice saying that Holly had mail. I opened it, and this is what it said:

“Hey, Anthony. I missed you so much. I’m so proud of what you’ve become, and who you are.” My mom always wanted me to be a musician, which is what I was in college for. I knew that this had to be her. I named my character after my first name, Lee, but I had been known as Anthony when my mom was alive.
I kept thinking about this all night, and dreamt that night of her. I could hear her voice so clearly, repeating over and over what the mail said. I kept thinking about this, even as I was walking to school the next day. I thought about it too much, though, and walked right into the road when I shouldn’t have. A bus was turning onto the road I was crossing. The driver must not have been paying attention, or the bus must have hit a patch of black ice, because the bus very nearly missed me.
I pushed the incident to the back of my mind, and went about my day. I turned on my computer, booted up my Platinum ROM, and was about to start training Holly when I noticed she had more mail.
“You’re welcome. I love you, Anthony” was all it said.
Shivers ran down my spine. Is this really happening, or am I just going crazy?
I dreamt of her again that night. This time, I saw her, but she looked different, more like a Gastly, but still with her face and voice. I saw her push my away from the bus. I heard her say what the mail said, and then I woke up.
I looked at the clock. 8:45. CRAP! I had to hurry up, or I would miss my 9:00 class. I got ready in a hurry, not even stopping to eat breakfast or pack a lunch. I got to my class with about 3 minutes to spare, thankful that my teacher usually got there about 5 minutes late.
The class ended up being cancelled, something to do with a emergency rehearsal for a musical our professor was directing. I went downstairs and took out my computer to play some more pokémon. I was about to open it when something shiny in my bag caught my eye. I pulled it out and it was a breakfast snack bar. I must’ve packed it while rushing around this morning and not realized it, I thought. I munched on the snack while my computer booted up. I opened Platinum, only to notice more mail on Holly.
“I can’t let my baby boy go hungry now, can I?” My mom always told me I’d be her baby boy, even after I was grown up and out of the house.
I smiled, letting a single tear of joy run down my face. My mom was still looking out for me.
I can only describe what happened next as something straight out of a nightmare. A man, about 6’9”, and muscular came into the music building, pulled out a gun, and began shooting students. He went everywhere in the building, except for the student commons room, where I was sitting, listening to the gunshots go off in horror. I heard the handle for the door jiggle before I heard what sounded like a mix of a scream of terror and a death rattle. I opened the door, and there the man lay, his face twisted into a terrible fear-stricken grimace. I looked up from him to see my mom, who winked, smiled, and faded away.
I didn’t have classes for a few days after that. The man, it turned out, had been my mom’s friend-turned-enemy, Patrick, who had harassed me physically when I was a child.
Having nothing to do for a few days, I decided to focus on finishing my run-through on Platinum. I was almost to the Elite Four anyway. I booted up my computer, opened Platinum, and to my non-surprise, Holly had mail.
“NO ONE HURTS MY BABY. NO ONE.” The letters were a deep red, and appeared to be dripping, as if it was written in blood. Then I noticed the background on the mail. It was the hallway where I had seen her. A chill crept through my body, but I shook it off. I turned off the game, and went to read some Creepypasta.
It was about 2:00 in the morning when I heard the knock on my door. I opened it, and it was my mom. I ran through the reality checks I had read online (I wanted to learn to lucid dream, just for the heck of it). This was real. She opened her mouth, and out of it came a rush of blood. I was about to ask why when I saw my answer: My mom was now completely gone, replaced instead with Patrick. He took out a knife, and stabbed me straight through. Just as I was about to leave this mortal coil, a thought ran through my head, the last thing I did before going to bed: I took Holly out of my party and replaced her with a Munchlax I had named Patrick.