It was mocking me. I could tell.
I sat in my desk chair, turned to face the accursed cartridge I'd left on my bed. I was resting my right elbow on the desk and my chin in that hand, staring at the red square of plastic on my blue bedspread.
I hated it.
I hated it and it knew I hated it.
I could almost hear it laughing at me.
I killed your friend! I killed your friend! It sang happily. It might as well spit in my face, too.
But that's ridiculous. It's just a stupid game.
So why did it… No, I wasn't even going to go there. It had to be something genetic. Something in the game both Tommy and Chloe where genetically inclined to have problems with. Maybe it was some bizarre form of epilepsy. Something in the game's programming must have triggered it and put it in their heads that the game was possessed or something and that they had to either destroy it or die.
Yeah, that sounded good… (But what about Sara's brother?)
Too bad it didn't sound right.
I stared at it.
And stared at it, and stared at it, and stared at it, and STARED AT IT!!!
It was driving me INSANE and I hadn't even PLAYED IT YET!!!
I stood up, the movement abrupt and angry, and snatched the little red cartridge off my bed. I stomped through the house and went out the door leading to the garage. As I crossed the garage to my dad's toolbox, I purposefully dropped the game on the ground, hoping that would break it. No such luck.
I came back with a hammer.
I dropped to my knees next to the game and raised the hammer. But I couldn't do it. I just…couldn't. I'm not even really sure how to explain it. It was almost like a hand had grabbed my wrist, physically stopping me from smashing the cartridge to bits. Shaking, I dropped the hammer. It clattered to the ground, inches from my foot, but I didn't care. I picked up the game and went back to my room
Somehow, that action right there, that physical inability to break it had gotten it in my head that I could beat this thing…whatever it was. It wouldn't take me. No sir, I was stronger than that. It was a stupid game and I was going to prove it.
So when I got back into my room, I opened one of the drawers in my desk and found my GameBoy Color. It was red, because red was and still is my favorite color, and the buttons were well worn from years of use. I'd been a Pokefanatic ever since I could remember, and this stupid little nightmare cartridge hadn't changed that. I'd beat this bitch. I'd beat it if it was the last thing I ever did. Viridian forest? Simple. I didn't even have to fight anything. Buy a few repels and I was good to go. Maybe when I was younger it had seemed like an endless labyrinth, but in all truth, it just a few rows of grass in between trees that snaked from the entrance to the exit. And instead of a fucking minotaur, which was a hell of a lot scarier, it had Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna, and the occasional Pikachu, which was always an exciting find on a first play through.
I hadn't played my Color in years, so it's slot was empty. I slammed the hacked Red Version in the aforementioned slot and switched it on. I skipped through the startup cut scene and pressed A. It came up with the options Continue, New Game, and Options. Curious despite myself, I clicked on Continue.
After all, the good creepypastas' protagonists always click Continue, right?
"Corrupt Save File. Start New Game? Yes No"
I sighed, then clicked No, hoping something spooky would happen.
My screen locked up and turned black.
Gritting my teeth, I switched the GameBoy off then back on and waited through all the startup stuff again. This time there was only New Game and Options.
I clicked New Game.
And then…everything was normal.
I clicked A as fast as I could, trying to get through Professor Oak's spiel about Pokemon as quickly as possible so I could get to the game. I named my character after myself in all caps, a time honored tradition in the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions when we were all young and too impatient to see we could switch to lower case, then talked to MOM and all the people in town. I went into Oak's lab and talked to the assistants, then ventured outside and into the grass, at which point Oak came running after me, telling me wild Pokemon were dangerous and I would need my own if I had any hope of traversing the Kanto region safely.
I followed him back to his lab.
Blue, or as I always named him, Gary, came sauntering in, his hair switching sides with each step, demanding a Pokemon of his own. I'd always named him Gary because I liked the show as well as the games and always thought Red and Blue were lousy and terribly impersonal names for characters you would either play as or repeatedly encounter throughout the game (not that Gary was original, but I had been very young when I decided this and didn't really care all that much). Oak gave me permission to pick first, and I immediately went to the first Pokeball on the table, containing Charmander, my favorite starter, and pressed A.
I expected to see its mischievously smiling sprite, flame burning strongly on the tip of its tail.
I expected to hear its cheerful digital cry, that, as it grew older and evolved, would deepen into something much more powerful and menacing.
I expected to read the original Charmander flavor text, "Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail."
But what I saw was this black, rotting thing that vaguely resembled Charmander. It's mouth was turned down in a painful grimace, and its eyes glittered with pure agony. The flame on the end of it's tail had been extinguished, and only smoke rose from where it had once burned.
What I heard was this garbled, glitchy sound that might have once been Charmander's cry. It sounded more like a combination of one of those talking dolls who's battery was about to die and the TV when it's raining really hard and the satellite dish is trying to go out.
And what I read in the flavor text chilled me to the bone. "Tommy tried to save me…"
I pressed B faster than you could ever believe. The screen became blurry and I realized that tears were welling in my eyes. The room started shaking and then I realized that shudders were racking my body. I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands around the GameBoy, took two sharp but deep breaths, then moved over to examine what should have been Squirtle.
That thing was not Squirtle.
What I saw in the little blue turtle's place was far more grotesque than Charmander even dreamed of being. It was black and rotting, just like its neighbor, but half of its face was missing. The other half was twisted into an awful scream. Holes were punched all throughout it's body, and it's tail was missing. Blood pooled around it's feet.
It's cry was similar to the first, but with the original Squirtle's cry buried deep within it.
And it's flavor text, as I had expected, read "Chloe tried to save me…"
I shuddered, then pressed B and moved on to the third and final Pokeball. In what condition would I find poor Bulbasaur in? Hesitantly, I pressed A.
Bulbasaur was perfectly normal. It was leaping happily, like it was supposed to be. The bulb on it's back was intact, as was it's charming little smile. It's cry was normal. It's flavor text read, "A strange seed was planted in its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokemon" just as it was supposed to. So I chose it.
Instead of choosing his own Pokemon, Gary just said "Smell ya later, Gramps!" and flounced off, completely skipping one whole, very integral part of the game. But that was obviously the least of my worries. I glanced at the two remaining Pokeballs on the table, then talked to Professor Oak to get my Pokedex. Then off to Viridian City I went.
I ran into two Pidgey and a Rattata on the way. I battled them both, and my Bulbasaur, which I'd chosen not to nickname, leveled up. I talked to the guy that gives you a potion and all the other people on Route 1, and finally I was at the first Pokecenter you encounter in the game. I healed my Pokemon, went to the Pokemart and got Oak's Parcel, then jumped over the ledges all the way back to Pallet Town.
The two accursed Pokeballs containing the rotting Pokemon were still sitting on the table, but they had turned solid black. I ignored them and talked to Oak, who gave me five Pokeballs and sent me on my merry way. I caught a level 2 Pidgey and a level 3 Rattata, neither of which I nicknamed, and switched the Pidgey to the front slot of my team so I could level it up.
The Pokemon did not switch.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
I tried again. A text box appeared.
"Please! No!! I have to be first!" it said. I stared at it for a long time. It continued on it's own. "You understand don't you?" I've read enough creepy pastas to know that a yes/no box should have popped up. Or, at least in the creepypasta world, it should have popped up. But instead, it simply booted me out of the start menu entirely. I went back to check my Pokemon and found my Bulbasaur still in the first slot. My Pidgey and Rattata were both fainted.
My breath caught and, apprehensively, I backed out of the start menu and continued to Viridian City. At the Pokecenter, I healed my Pokemon, then opened up the Pokemon slot in the menu. Pidgey and Rattata were fully healed. I decided to try and switch Pidgey to the front again. Another text box appeared.
"I told you NO!!" It screamed at me, then booted me out again.
I opened it back up and Pidgey and Rattata were both, once again, fainted. I healed my party again and left the Pokecenter.
I headed north, to Viridian Forest, feeling more and more uneasy with each step. Soon, I was in the building just before the forest. Suddenly, I didn't want to play anymore.
Impulsively, I saved the game, then shut it off.
There was no way I was ever getting to sleep that night, so instead I snuck out of the house while my parents were sleeping and went for a drive to clear my head. It was about midnight when I left and it was raining. I drove for maybe thirty minutes when I started feeling this ice cold, lead-weight dread forming in the pit of my stomach. My hands gripped the steering wheel and sweat broke out on my forehead, neck and arms. My foot danced on the accelerator, making my car fluctuate speeds. I switched on cruise control, thinking that jumping between fifty-five and sixty so much couldn't be good for my gas mileage.
Suddenly a deer jumped out in front of me.
I slammed on my brakes, screaming as my ABS kicked on and the car started shaking violently. It was not supposed to do that. The car screeched to a stop, skidding and fishtailing like the ABS had failed and locked up my tires, but I drown that out with my own screech. I slammed the gearshift into park and looked up angrily at the dumbass deer that had jumped out in front of me.
But it wasn't a deer.
I swear it looked like a Rapidash.
But that. is. ABSURD!! Rapidash is a P-O-K-E-M-O-N, not a fucking ANIMAL!!
I stared at it, taking in its blood red body and black-flamed mane and tail. It pawed at the road with one shiny, black hoof, then looked at me with milky, white eyes. It opened its mouth and the sound that came from it was just like the sound that the move Disable makes, which I'm pretty sure Rapidash can't learn. It was loud and piercing and made me scream once more. And then, as quickly as it had appeared, the Rapidash vanished.
By this point I was terrified. I had to be seeing things. But I had to get home. I couldn't just sit there and risk my parents waking up and noticing I was gone. So I shifted into drive and released the brake pedal. The dash dinged three times, then all the lights on the gauges, radio, and even my headlights went out. The engine stalled, then died. I turned the key and took it out, waited a few seconds, then pushed it back into the ignition and twisted it.
Nothing.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I was on the verge of tears by now. I'd left my cell phone at home, not thinking I'd need it, and I was too far from my house to walk. And, of course, there were no cars anywhere in sight. So I was stuck here, sideways in the middle of the road.
I burst into tears.
I cried for an hour at least.
All the pent up anger and sadness and frustration paired with the undeniable fear that I was losing my mind flooding out.
After a long time, I pulled myself together and unbuckled my seat belt. I twisted in my seat and grabbed my jacket, having grown cold after sitting in a dark, dead car after it had rained, crying for an hour. I screamed when my GameBoy came tumbling out of the bundle of fabric.
Had I brought it with? I didn't remember bringing it.
With shaky hands, I picked it up. There was no light, so playing it was thankfully out of the question. There was some relief in that.
But that relief was destroyed when one of the overhead lights turned on all on its own. I jumped and dropped the GameBoy in the floorboard.
I stared into the darkness for a while, really not wanting to pick it up. Finally, I sighed. It was just a game. A disturbingly hacked game, but a game nonetheless. It wasn't going to bite my hand off or make me want to commit suicide. I picked up the console and switched it on. It skipped over all the startup stuff in the beginning and went straight to my game without me doing anything. Not that, by this point anyway, that was a big shock.
Taking a deep breath, I went through the door into Viridian Forest. A text box appeared.
"What?! Bulbasaur is evolving!"
Excuse me? I watched the animation as my little, level 7 by this point, Bulbasaur skipped right over Ivysaur and evolved into the goliath Venusaur, it's final evolution.
"Bulbasaur evolved into…VENUSAUR!!" Another text box read. Then I was back in the overworld. I pressed start, with more force than I meant to, and clicked on Venusaur. Level 50. I checked it's stats. Sleep Powder, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, and Rock Slide, which I was pretty sure it couldn't learn, even by TM. None of these moves I'd taught it. Of course, a minute ago it was only a level 7 Bulbasaur.
Deeply spooked, I switched off the game without saving.
I sat there, in the dark because when I'd switched off the game the overhead light switched off as well, both hands on the wheel, thoughts racing.
This game was hacked, I'd known that before I'd played it, but whoever had hacked it was some sick fuck that got off on some weird shit. I looked over at my GameBoy sitting in the passenger seat, then back up to the road. There were still no cars, coming or going, and I was considering getting out of my car and walking up the road for a little while to see if there was a gas station.
But I knew better. I'd driven to a part of my little, tiny town that was desolate for miles. I would be safer in my car. Wouldn't I?
I looked at the GameBoy again.
I stared at it for a long time.
Finally, I cursed under my breath and snatched the console up. I couldn't leave it alone. I just couldn't. I would beat it. I would beat it and this would be over.
I switched on the GameBoy once more, and once again the overhead light switched on as well. The game skipped straight to Viridian Forest like I had saved it, which unsettled me because I hadn't, and I plunged forward, avoiding the grass like it was some sort of plague. Everything was fine. The only thing abnormal was that it seemed a little darker than I remembered, but that could have easily been the lighting or a fault in my memory. And maybe there were less trainers than I remembered as well.
Then I came to a point where I had to enter the grass. Up until now, I hadn't faced any trainers at all. This was beginning to worry me, and I was relieved when I finally came up against a Bug Catcher.
"Hey! You don't look so tough!" He announced, and the battle animation spiraled across the screen. The Bug Catcher looked perfectly fine. He sent out a level 5 Caterpie, one of his three Pokemon. I sent out my Venusaur. "Whoa! This doesn't look good!" The Bug Catcher said, sliding onto the screen next to his Caterpie. I frowned. That didn't happen in the first games. When the options came onscreen, I chose fight, then Razor Leaf. It disobeyed me, which I'd seen coming (I hadn't even been to my first gym yet), and used Vine Whip. As expected, the poor Caterpie was KO'd in one hit. Then nothing happened. I waited for what seemed like forever and nothing happened. So I went to switch off the GameBoy, thinking that maybe my game had locked up, but before I could the Bug Catcher came back on the screen.
"What?" I said out loud, baffled.
"I-I can't fight you anymore. I'm s-sorry." Said the trainer's text box. The battle screen cut away and in the overworld, the Bug Catcher's sprite jumped back, an exclamation mark appearing over his head, then he turned and ran away. That happened three more times with three different trainers.
After a long time of trudging through the grass and encountering several perfectly normal Pokemon (but never catching any because Venusaur still refused to be moved and it was far too powerful to do anything but faint the wild Pokemon), I was finally at the end of Viridian Forest. I let out a sigh of relief as I approached the "door." This had definitely been a…weird version of the game, but other than the horrific Charmander and Squirtle, it had been pretty tame. Chloe had told me that the problems had been in Viridian Forest. I was at the end and there were no real problems other than the strange glitches. Nothing scary or mind corrupting.
I moved for the exit, but my sprite stopped and a text box appeared at the bottom of the screen.
"Wait! KYLIE!! You have to help me!" It said as Gary ran onto the screen. Our two sprites collided and were knocked away from each other, then Gary ran up to the block next to the one I was standing in. "There's something chasing me!! You have to help me fight it!"
"What the fuck?" I said aloud, staring at the game in my hands with wide eyes.
"Please! Will you help me?" Yes No
I clicked yes.
"Oh thank you! Let's fight!" Gary said, then turned around so that we were standing side by side. On the opposite side of the screen, two black sprites moved slowly toward us. Exclamation marks appeared above their heads and the battle animation played.
"Enemy Charizard wants to fight!" A text box said, then the game locked up for several seconds. The screen began to fade, then the battle animation played again, over the battle scene that was already up, and the image came back strong.
"Enemy Blastoise wants to fight!" Another text box announced. A horrific pair of Pokemon slid onto the screen, side by side, which is impossible for Red, Blue, and Yellow versions. Charizard was black, the flame at the tip of its tail nothing but smoke and its wings a ripped and bloody mess. The expression on its face was very similar to the expression that had been on Charmader's face, except jagged teeth extended from its mouth.
Blastoise was similar, black, horrible teeth adorning its half-face. Holes were punched all through its body and blood pooled around its feet. Their cries played both at once, and it was awful. The sound of insanity, if there was one.
"Trainer Gary sent out Pidgeot!" A text box said. Gary cast out his Pokeball and Pidgeot appeared on the screen.
"How did he catch that? He didn't even take a starter." I whispered, but it was an idle thought. I sent out my Venusaur and took a deep breath, hoping maybe this would be an easy battle.
I was wrong.
Charizard and Blastoise were both at level 100. Gary's Pidgeot was at level 50, as was my Venusaur. We were terribly outmatched.
"Charizard used Flamethrower! Pidgeot fainted!"
"Blastoise used Hydro Pump! Trainer Gary died!"
"Holy shit!" I barked, jumping back. The screen went black and we were in the overworld again. Pidgeot's and Gary's sprites were laying on the ground next to mine. Blood pooled around Gary's. An exclamation mark appeared over my sprite's head and it jumped back.
"WE WILL NOT HARM POKEMON UNLESS IT IS NECESSARY. BUT WE WILL HARM HUMANS." Said a text box that appeared at the bottom of the screen. "FOR TOO LONG HAVE YOU ENSLAVED OUR KIND. YOU WILL KNOW THE PAIN WE HAVE SUFFERED." And then my Pokedex opened up. It displayed Charizard's page. The flavor text read, "I killed Tommy…" Then Blastoise's page opened. The flavor text read, "I killed Chloe…"
I was shaking so hard I could barely hit the A button. But I did. I couldn't stop, not now. I had to see this through. I had to know.
The battle animation played and the same thing as before happened. It announced that Charizard wanted to fight, then locked up, then announced that Blastoise wanted to fight. I sent out Venusaur.
For the record, I tried to send out either my Pidgey or my Rattata, but both times Venusaur refused to withdraw. The battle options showed up at the bottom of the screen and I chose fight, then Sleep Powder. I would have no chance if these nightmare Pokemon were awake.
Venusaur refused, and instead used Razor Leaf. It maybe took one point off each Pokemon's HP. Then it was their turn.
"Charizard used NIGHTSHADE!"
"Blastoise used NIGHTMARE!"
Both of which neither Pokemon could learn.
They took out my Venusaur in that turn, and we returned to the overworld with no announcement that Venusaur had fainted or died or pissed its pants or anything. But I didn't have to wonder for long. It's sprite was laying in front of me with blood pooling around it.
"AND NOW FOR YOU!!" A text box said, then my whole screen glitched up. An ear piercing screech burst from the speakers of my GameBoy and the glitchy pixels on the screen changed rapidly as if it were static. I thought I could see something in the white noise. I thought I could see faces. I thought I could see…
And just like that something snapped, and it occurred to me that Charizard and Blastoise were right. We call them Pocket Monsters, but humans are the real monsters. Humans are sick and twisted and fragile. Weak. Insignificant. Worthless. All we do is destroy. We destroy the forests and the oceans. We destroy whole species with our greed and lust for power, money, and control. Unfit. Undeserving. Tainted. The damage had been done. We are a disease.
My car started by itself, but I was beyond caring. I pressed the brake and shifted into drive, then slammed my foot down hard on the accelerator. The speedometer climbed to sixty. Seventy.
I don't know how my tires kept traction, and I don't know how I kept it in control, but I didn't care. I would see my best friend again. I smiled.
The only thing I regret is tearing up the tree that I hit.
