A/n I don't own Pokemon.

There is a legend about Viridian Forest; a legend of what happens to young trainers whose pokemon faint. What happens when they wander just a bit too long. What happens when they are forgotten.

Something about a mysterious creature known as Missingno.

I lost.

My name is Danica Harris, and I lost. Some kid was moving by quick, with a pikachu by his side.

I challenged him. It wasn't as if he was the only beginner trainer out in these parts. Viridian Forest wasn't exactly a place to be careless, but I had my nidorans with me. I thought I could win.

I didn't. The match blew by so fast I hardly saw it happen. First, Nida fell, then Nido shortly after. The kid didn't look back once he won.

I lost.

I kind of shrunk in my despair for a few short moments. Then I was mad. He wasn't the only starting trainer around. Why, then, was he given that neat little contraption, a pokedex; which he had pulled out with bragging flourish during our battle? I had dropped by Professor Oak's too, to get my trainer's license. Was I not as special?

If he hadn't been so haughty about it, maybe I wouldn't have noticed. I did, though. He didn't even give me a chance to introduce myself. He just sent out his pikachu to royally pummel my pokemon.

Was I mad because I lost? A little, yeah. But I wouldn't have been if he hadn't just held his hand out for winner's pay and left me in the woods with two fainted pokemon.

I lost.

When he left, I was alone. I called out, begging him to help me. He laughed a bit and kept walking. What sort of trainer was this? Why wouldn't he help me? I, foolishly, followed him, but soon found myself in an area I was utterly unfamiliar with.

I got lost too easily. I had no way of communicating with anyone to get help, my pokemon were knocked out; I was hopeless.

I curled up underneath a tree as light drained from the treacherous woods. As I cried myself to sleep, I thought about my life.

I lost.

When I woke up, it was night. The outstretched branches strangled all light that struggled to show itself, and I was left in the utter darkness. I held back a sob, and made myself madder. This was all his fault.

It was stupid of him to leave me; a young girl, and a new trainer, by herself in Viridian Forest. He could've been a gentleman and helped me. Unfortunately, though, he was a snob. A jerk. I was left in the woods with nothing.

I'd heard once, that if you're lost, you should stay put and wait for someone to find you; but no one would come looking for me. All my friends and family knew I was on my pokemon journey; they wouldn't notice my absence for a few weeks, if not more.

I lost.

As I wandered through the black, tears streaming down my face, I thought I heard something. I thought I saw things, too, chasing me. My thoughts tormented me.

'Something's out there . . .' My pace quickened. 'It wants you, Danica.' My heart raced. 'It's coming for you.' I broke into a run. 'It's following; run, run! It's coming . . .'

I sprinted blindly, weeds tearing at my legs. I would trip, push myself up, and force myself to run on my sore legs and now-twisted ankle. I couldn't tell if there really was anything behind me, but I wasn't going to take my chances.

I lost.

The faster I moved, the harder everything became to me; breathing, running, breaking through the underbrush. It was too difficult. I wanted to give up.

'But it's coming. You know it's there, Danica. It's waiting for you to stop. It wants you to stop.'

So what did I do? I kept moving. My thoughts were cruel masters, and I obeyed without question. I was under their submission, for of course, I had heard the tales. Silly old wives' tales to keep children from wandering off; that's what I'd thought even yesterday. Not so anymore. The nursery rhyme spun rhythmically in my head, repeating over and over till I was driven into madness, but it refused to stop.

I lost.

Why it was a nursery rhyme, I don't know. It was more like a horror story if you asked me. Why I knew it was lost on me as well. To my chagrin, though, it decided to stick itself in my uttermost emotions and refuse to come out.

'Do not lose your way in the forest of green,'

I ran faster. It was surely nearby, now. I could hear an unearthly rumble shake my way, and I was more scared than I'd ever been in my life.

'For monstrous creatures dwell there, unseen.'

It seemed to enjoy my limping struggle for freedom. Somehow, I'd gotten here, and there was no escape.

'The leader of those is as big as a mountain.'

I could hear some sort of sick laughter in its menacing growl. This was real, I realized in panic. This was all too real.

'From its eyes spring forth nightmares, much like a fountain.'

I dreaded looking back, but I couldn't see forward, either. I was trapped in some sort of dark abyss where no life inhabited.

'It snares and it pulls, it creeps and it stalks.'

I felt some sort of cold, metallic claw grip my shoulder. I screamed, but no one heard me. No one except th-that thing.

'And once you are caught, it silently mocks.'

It pulled me closer, and my eyes darted around for something, somewhere, to save me from this awful fate.

'Hopefully, then, your goodbyes you've said,'

I stand here now, horrified. I know my end. There is no out. This is my final moment. My thoughts had drifted back to earlier today. This was all his fault. It had to be.

Some special hero he was. Now I would pay for his haughtiness, his ignorance.

His pride.

My name is Danica Harris, and I lost.

'For you will most certainly be gone and dead.'

"Hey Pikachu, take a look at this," Red mumbled as he read the paper in interest. "Didn't we battle her a few weeks ago?"

Pikachu looked at the paper eagerly. "Pi-pikachu!" A picture of a young girl, about his age, was on the newspaper. The headline read: 'YOUNG TRAINER MISSING'.

"Hope she's all right. Anyways, you ready for that gym battle?" Pikachu nodded in affirmation, and Red left the paper open on the table of the Pokemon Center.

'The girl missing is reported to be named Danica Harris. She is twelve years old, five feet tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. Last seen in Viridian Forest. If you have any information as to her whereabouts, please contact the police immediately.'