It’s been a long time since then – I’m in college now. I’ve kept up my Pokemon obsession, but that’s probably the one thing that’s remained constant in my life. None of my old friends went to the same school as me once we graduated high school. Jeff was probably the one I stayed friends with the longest, but even he left eventually, too, and not on particularly good terms. He wasn’t too happy when I got my first boyfriend – I guess our friendship wasn’t worth as much as I thought it was. I’ve got new friends at school now – and hey, they play Pokemon, too. It was kind of a relief to find out I wasn’t the only one. The games have definitely changed a lot since I was a little kid, too, but I still love them – I think Gen III and IV got a lot of unfair flack because nothing could ever live up to our exaggerated childhood memories. Got to admit, though, HeartGold and SoulSilver were probably my favorite games out of the newer ones. They were the perfect mix of old and new features – I still play them a lot now, want to see if I can fill up my Pokedex before Black and White come out. I love the fact that your party leader follows you around, too, as an old shout-out to Yellow version.
Only thing is, it reminds me of that fucking Pikachu.
It happened a few days ago. I had some time to kill between classes, and I was rooting in the grass outside of Goldenrod city trying to find Dittos to breed with when I got jumped by a wild Pokemon. What was weird was that the battle music never played – the screen just flashed and transitioned into battle mode without a sound. I felt my stomach drop as, sliding from the left side of the screen as the battle started, a shiny Pikachu appeared in front of me.
By now, I’d caught two or three shiny Pokemon by sheer luck, so the little sparkle animation that occurred wasn’t a huge shock to me. What was was the fact that the Pikachu’s sprite didn’t look anything like it should. It was completely dejected – bags under its eyes, tail on the ground, its normally bright red cheeks dull, almost brown. It didn’t emit a cry, or strike a battle pose like normal wild Pokemon would, and there was no music playing in the background at all. It just stood there, looking like the weight of the world was on its shoulders.
“ASH’S PIKACHU appeared!”
I didn’t even think. I immediately tapped the “Bag” button with my stylus, selected a basic Poke Ball, and watched as my trainer’s sprite threw it at the poor Pikachu. Somehow, even with its health bar completely full, the Poke Ball tilted once, twice, three times, then turned gray, and I caught the Pikachu on the first try.
There wasn’t any nickname screen. The game went straight back to the overworld screen, but one thing had changed – instead of going to my PC, the Pikachu I had just caught was following me. The game was eerily silent. Breathing more frantically now, I checked my party screen. My Pokemon party hadn’t changed – it was the same lineup with an Ampharos in the lead, but when I returned back to the overworld screen, the Pikachu was still right there behind me, staring at me. Hesitating slightly at first, I tapped the “Talk” button with my stylus.
Finally, I heard its cry – the one from Yellow Version, but slowed down, almost as if it was in pain.
“PIKACHU wants to go home…”
Did it mean what I think it meant? I tapped the button again.
“PIKACHU is staring at you with blank eyes…”
I thought I knew what it wanted now, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to move yet. I tapped the button again.
“PIKACHU is looking at the horizon…”
Suddenly, the background music began starting up again, but the song had changed. It was quiet at first, but steadily grew louder and louder until it was at a more recognizable volume and I realized what song it was.
The theme from Pallet Town.
I knew what I had to do. I went to my party screen, tapped on my Pidgeot and selected Fly, stopping at Indigo Plateau first before heading to Pallet Town.
When we arrived, the music had gone dead once again – I was staring at a silent screen. Pallet Town was completely empty; normally there are two or three NPCs milling about, but no one was there this time. Slowly, I began to walk towards Professor Oak’s lab, the Pikachu following behind me. I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually much slower than a normal Pokemon should be – it stayed a step behind me the entire time. Before heading into the Lab, I turned around one last time and talked to the Pikachu.
“PIKACHU looks hopeless…”
I gulped despite myself and walked inside. No lab assistants were there, but Professor Oak was, at the back of the lab as usual. My character walked up the screen without my pressing anything, and I realized that the Pikachu was no longer behind me – for some reason, it had stayed outside. A dialog box popped up and Professor Oak began to speak, not his usual spiel about filling up your Pokedex, but a single sentence, “Where is your Pokemon?”
I talked to him again. Same message. Not entirely wanting to know the answer, I walked back outside.
Sitting outside, one pace in front of Oak’s Lab was a Lavender Town gravestone. Without a second thought, I walked up to and tapped my stylus to read the inscription.
“Here lies PIKACHU
Abandoned by ASH twelve years ago
Died of loneliness.”
