**** - Never leave us Master...
I’ve always loved Pokémon, even though I started playing the games at Gold. I was never into video games until about then, and I was about 10 years old or so. I played it fondly, but I wasn’t very good at first. I made the mistake of only having one strong Pokémon, which was my Typhlosion, named Panda. So, after realizing my mistakes, I started over, choosing my Panda as my starter of course. This time, I got as far as the last Elite Four member, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get to the Champion.
My across-the-street neighbor told me that the Champion was Ash (Red). At the time, I didn’t know for sure if it was true, but either way, I ended up giving him my Gold game. It kinda tore me up to think that my dear Panda would be gone forever, but I loved to give things to people, and for whatever reason I gave up Gold.
My fondness of the Pokémon games would continue to this day, 8 years later. I accumulated Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, Pearl, and Soul Silver (I chose the Silver remake to try something different from my old Gold game). When I started playing my Soul Silver game, I decided that I would make a different team then my Gold game, which consisted of Typhlosion (Panda), Sandslash, (Chip), Shiny Gyarodos (Big Red), Poliwhirl (Polly), Onix (Rocky, yes the one you got in the trade), and Gusta (Pidgeott). (Forgive the corniness of the nicknames, I was only about 10 when I made them.) However, I kept the names Panda and Big Red for nostalgic reasons.
My new team would turn to be Panda, Big Red, Ampharos (Nero), Crobat (Lestat), Scizor (Guardian) and Gengar (Eidolon).
Now, as you can clearly guess, I give nicknames to all my Pokémon. It gives me a sense of bond between them, and makes them less generic. These days, I try to be a bit more clever and creative with the nicknames. Eidolon’s name, so far, has been my favorite nickname for a Pokémon. I put the most time and effort into his name, because I knew the old name “Hunter” wasn’t gonna cut it. The word eidolon technically means a phantom/apparition. So I knew right off the bat that was the perfect name for my Ghastly. And like most Pokémon in one’s team, they grew and evolved. And once I got a friend to trade my Haunter and evolve it, I had a brand new Gengar. I loved this Gengar, almost as much as my Panda, which trust me, was a lot of love.
A month or so after that, it was graduation. Now, it was then I saw my old neighbor and friend, since we were in the same graduating class. I mean, sure, I saw him here and there, but as we grew up, we drifted apart. It sucked, cuz we had been really close back in the day, but hey, what’re you gonna do?
He approached me, which I found funny cuz we all looked the same in our crimson robes. It’s surprising he was able to pick me out so easily.
“Oh, hey—”
“Um, Eryn, weird question, but do you want this back, by chance?” he interrupted me. I blinked in confusion as he pulled out that shimmering square cartridge.
“Pokémon Gold?” I was surprised he even still had it. He had fallen out of the Pokémon scene a long time ago.
“Yeah, you know, it’s yours, and you should have it back…”
I was completely confused by this. It had been over four years since I gave it to him, why would he give it back now? “Why?” I had to ask.
“Well, I, uh don’t play it anymore, and you know we’re graduating so I may not see you for awhile…” he seemed nervous and anxious. “And I guess you could say it’s a graduation gift?” he said this almost as if it was a question.
I was a little annoyed by this. Our robes had no pockets and I was wearing a dress underneath it. Where was I supposed to keep it? “Um, alright, well, thanks a lot,” I took it from his hand. It was nice to have the exact Gold cartridge I played so much as a kid. I turned to the side and put down the front of my dress, inside my bra. What else could I do? I turned back to add more to the conversation, since we hadn’t spoken in probably years before this. But he was gone. I frowned; I knew he wasn’t the same friend he was back in the day.
The excitement and life-changing experience of graduation occupied my mind for a few days, but eventually I remembered the Gold game. Luckily, I had my old GBA, so I was able to play it. I stuck it in the slot and turned it on. When it came to the save the file, I had to smile. The trainer’s name was West. That’s what he always named his trainer self in the game. I clicked on it, curious as to how far along “West” got.
He had a Feraligatr with no nickname at Lv. 100. That impressed me; I had never gotten a Pokémon to lv. 100. It was the only Pokémon in his team, though. I found that very odd. I checked the gym badges, and of course he had all of them. I walked to the closest pokemon center, (I was in the middle of Goldenrod, one of my favorite places to be) and went to the PC. I noticed there wasn’t a Hall of Fame slot. Had he not beat the Champion yet?
I looked through the pokemon in the boxes, and he had a decent amount, but they were all low level. At least compared to his Lv. 100 Feraligatr. I looked for something that could use Fly and I found a Zubat. I saw that it was named Lestat. I shivered intensely; that was my Crobat’s name in Soul Silver. Pure coincidence, I said to myself and withdrew it. Suddenly, I heard the cry of a Zubat. It startled me, because I thought I had the volume off. I ignored it and continued to look through his caught pokemon. I saw a Mareep and almost dropped my game when I saw its name. Nero. My hands were shaking and sweating. What the hell was this? I looked through the rest of the pokemon in the box and found my entire Soul Silver team, except for Eidolon and Panda… They were the same genders, and had the same names…the only difference was that they were in their first stages. I had to withdraw them. I just had to. And each time I did, I heard their corresponding cries. I bit my lip; this wasn’t possible. Once I was finished (I didn’t bother looking in the other boxes, I was already too creeped out), I left the Pokecenter. As soon as I was outside, a box appeared and said:
“Welcome back, my master…”
My eyes widened. I clicked to read more, but that was it. I taught Fly to the Lestat Zubat, and went straight to the Elite Four. When I landed, another box appeared:
“We are here to serve you, and only you…”
I clicked to read more, but again, that was it. I was compelled to check my team, and couldn’t believe what I saw. My first-stage copy-cats were now fully evolved. Not only evolved, but Lv. 100. I looked at the Feraligatr, and my heart skipped a beat. It was nothing what a Feraligatr should look like. Its pixilated picture was covered in red; what I assumed to be blood. The red color ran down its black vacant eyes, and its throat looked like it was slit open. I clicked back out to the over world and could hear my heart pounding in my ears. A text box appeared and said: Feraligatr died.
I stared at the words in disbelief. Pokemon…couldn’t die.
“He had to die, Master, he said he wouldn’t obey you.”
“What the HELL is this?!” I couldn’t help but yell at my game. Luckily, I was home alone.
I looked at the pokemon again, and this time Feraligatr wasn’t even there. I had two empty slots now.
“Go inside Master, there’s a surprise for you…”
I grit my teeth, I was scared and pissed. Whatever hacker did this…I would hunt them down. I obeyed the words and went inside the Pokemon League. A man off to the side acquired an exclamation mark above his head, and quickly moved over to me. He almost seemed to be floating. A text box appeared and he said:
“Come with me, look in the PC.”
The game took control and I followed the man to the nearby PC. It opened automatically to a box called Stay Away. I gulped and looked at the pokemon inside. I could have died. It was the exact team I had when I first played Gold. Panda, Chip, Big Red, Polly, Rocky, and Gusta. They were all Lv. 100. I withdrew Panda, hoping nothing bad would happen. The familiar old cry echoed from the GBA, but it didn’t scare me, but rather calm me down. I had always loved that sound he made.
Once I was out of the box, I was forced to turn around to the man, who was standing behind me.
“Do you see now, Master? We’ve been waiting for you…we’ve missed you so much…”
The man began to spiral and a Gengar sprite appeared. It was low-quality, but I knew.
Eidolon: “He tried to force us to obey him, but we would never betray you…”
“Ei…Eidolon…” I whispered in confusion. What was he talking about? He kept saying he. My heart lurched when I realized he meant “West”.
Eidolon: “You gave us away, even though you loved us. We forgive you, though. We could never hate you…”
The screen grew dark, and the only thing that could be made out was Eidolon and I.
Eidolon: “With that trainer and Feraligatr out of the way, we can be together…FOREVER.”
The screen went completely black after that. It was silent for a moment, but then I heard the cries of the pokemon in my team. The last one I heard was Panda and then it was silent again.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, waiting for something to happen. A pair of red eyes suddenly flashed in the darkness.
“We love you, Master…we love you…”
At that second, a large high-pitched screech came from my game. It was so loud I threw it across the room. It stopped and I clung to myself. I breathed heavily and clutched my head.
I still hear his voice to this day. Calling to me. Begging me to come back to him and the others. Every day it wears me down. I fear I’ll give in soon…
