DISCLAIMER: This is a Twitch Plays Pokemon Crystal fanfic. Yeah. As such I have no idea how to attribute any of this, seeing as 98% of everything is headcanons from the entire fandom.
Pokemon Crystal belongs to Game Freak, but everything else is a mess.


"KILL THE GATOR!" "PC DEMANDS BLOOD!" "TICK TOCK KILL THE CROC!"

AJ cried.

Everything was supposed to be fun, wasn't it? Even with the cacophony of voices in his head, the adventure had been fun. He'd gotten all the way to Ecruteak, seen the sights, met tons of new friends and caught new Pokemon… and had done it all with his Feraligatr, Atta, by his side.
But things had changed too fast for him to handle. A careless press of a button had deleted Joey's number, and AJ had felt something die in him as he scrolled through the list frantically to find him. The voices wanted to release Atta, to kill him, and AJ had found himself standing at the PC, his whole body shaking and trying to mouth out "no", pressing the button that would've killed his friend and released Prince Omelette instead.

So here he was now. Collapsed on the floor of the Pokemon Center, tears streaming down his face and too crushed to even begin moving back towards the PC like the voices wanted to, as the Mob inside his head whipped themselves up into a frenzy. They had been fond of the little prince, AJ knew that much, and his loss had splintered their chaos further. But new phrases were coming up in the dark recesses of his mind where the voices were. AJ couldn't do anything but cry as the shouting grew louder and louder, although still overshadowed by the voices clamouring for Atta's release:

Release Burrito, it's his fault.

How? Burrito couldn'tve done anything. AJ didn't hear the other Trainer in the Pokecenter come over and ask him questions worriedly; he was too engaged in the war going on inside hs head. First they took away Joey, then they got so close to taking away Atta… now they want to take away Burrito, too?

AJ got to his feet in a way that would've been described as unnatural, like he was being pulled up by strings. His expression was empty and he gave no resistance as the Mob dragged him out of the Pokecenter and down the road leading to Olivine's Gym. The other trainer gave him a worried look as he passed by, and was the only one to hear AJ mutter in a hoarse, defeated tone "I want to go home."


He was so, so glad to have Burrito back.

But it had come with a price, like everything else. Another Pokemon released out into the wild to join too many others. He had barely known Wooper Goldberg, but a loss was a loss all the same. Brian and Dr. Hoot had grown stronger from their time spent away, however, and for once AJ felt a sliver of confidence. He could still do this.

But, mostly, he was glad to have Burrito back. With Joey gone, the little Eevee had become another pillar of support for him. AJ hugged him close and tried to steady himself. The voices were still at war, as always, but— like calling Joey had once done— having Burrito around helped AJ focus on other things beyond what they wanted to kill next.
Burrito licked his nose affectionately, and AJ giggled a little despite his low mood. "You're not as bad as the voices say," he told the Eevee quietly and hoped he understood; with the voices in anarchy, it came out more like a bunch of gibberish and nonsensical commands. Burrito had an understanding look on his face, however, and AJ felt a tinge of relief.

AJ couldn't understand why Burrito understood his "condition" better than his other Pokemon did. They were patient with him, sure, but patience always had a limit that was quickly crossed after a full-party wipe. Even Atta had been grumpier towards him lately, especially as fiasco after fiasco happened.
Burrito, though, was nothing but supportive, even if a chaotic misstep led to him being knocked out time and time again. AJ couldn't help but wonder if Burrito just didn't understand what was going on at all. After all, he'd been given Burrito by someone else; had he just been kept as a pet before then?

What AJ was unaware of, however, was that Burrito understood far more than they could let on. AJ stood up and let the Mob drag him back in the direction of Mahogany Town, and Burrito loyally followed. With AJ's back turned, however, he didn't see the worried look on the Eevee's face as he looked up and saw what no one else could.

A swarm of Pokemon that no one had ever seen before, looking like a swarm of ancient letters and symbols, swirled and jostled around AJ like a chaotic storm. Phrases repeated themselves over and over— Up, Right, Down, Left, Anarchy, Call Joey, Kill the Croc, Get Celebi— and AJ had no choice but to listen to them. To Burrito's eyes, they looked unreal, like something out of a dream: flickering, disappearing and reappearing, rearranging faster than he could make out and spelling out the whims of tens of thousands of people, each command filled with a fierce intent. Burrito had never heard of the Unown, but even he could tell they weren't something of this reality.
If a lesser 'mon had seen the sight, they would've fainted instantly. Burrito almost had, when AJ had picked him up from Bill and the first impression he'd had of his new trainer was the thousand cries of "anarchy". But his trainer needed his help, and Burrito was determined to some day evolve and give him the help he needed.

AJ smacked into a wall, and Burrito bit onto his pantleg to try and pull him away from it. He just hoped he evolved soon, before it was too late.


Author's Notes:

Twitch Plays Pokemon is ruining my life.

Sorry for not working on Chaos Theory or Conversion. I'm at a point where I need to overhaul some major plot elements in the first (as well as wanting to rewrite the already-up chapters), and holding off on the second until I have CT going. In the meantime, I've been practicing my writing skills by writing drabbles for the TPP fandom.

AJ is my homeboy.