I had been bored during my break from school. I had read everything worth reading and played every game I owned at least five times. So like the bored teen I was, I begged my mom to drive me to the nearest game stop so I could hopefully find something worth playing. I had already looked at all the new games in the store and found nothing when I spotted the used games thing. I always found great things in there, so I thought 'why not?'. I quickly browsed though the titles when I spotted a familiar cartridge. It was a used Pokemon Pearl for only three bucks.

I asked the clerk to get the game out for me, since it had been the first Pokemon game I had ever played and still holds its place as my favorite. I quickly purchased it and went home, eager to start the game and reminiscence about the past. As soon as I got home, I ran to my room and pushed the game into my DS. My finger pushed the 'on' button as I prayed the game worked unlike so many other used ones I had bought. When I saw the game's name on my home screen, I let out a silent cry of joy as I pressed it. The intro came on, but it seemed a little different from the normal one. Even though I hadn't played the game in years (I had lost the first copy of Pearl), I could tell something was off.

When Palkia- my overall favorite Pokemon next to Lucario- came onto the screen, it's color seemed darker. Almost like it was covered in shadows. Wondering if something was wrong with it, I turned my DS off and took the cartridge out. I noticed something I hadn't before in my rush of excitement- the word dArKNeSs was scribbled in black pen under the original title. I was I little freaked out by that. After all, I was a big fan of fanfiction belonging to the horror genre. Creepypasta included.

But I shrugged it off. Even though something was nagging me to put the game down, I ignored it to quench my boredom. So I turned the game back on and went past the I intro to the menu. There was a previous save file- the character was named KuRaYa- and had all the badges. She, as I thought the chara was, also had the whole pokedex filled except for one space. 'It was too late to turn back now' were my thoughts as I pressed A on the file. Sure enough, the screen blanked out and came back to where the mystery person had last saved. Something was wrong though. Very wrong.

The last save point was at the mountain where you fight the legendary. Right in front of the entrance to the top where the battle takes place. But that wasn't what was weird- no, that wasn't it at all. The cave was dark, but not black. It was as if I had turned the brightness on my screen to the lowest setting, which I hadn't. I hurriedly opened the menu and my trainer card. What I saw there made my heart stop for a moment. The trainer card was a black card. Not the dark grey of the five star card; black. The darkest black with eerie, blood red writing. It had all the information on it, but it was all set at zero. Even the stars were zero. The gym badges too. And I swore that this person had eight on the main menu. And the scariest thing was the trainer sprite. It stood stiffly, facing front. Her eyes were dull and blood red, and her mouth in a straight line.

I exited from the card and went to see what Pokemon this person had. This made me even more creeped out.

Each Pokemon- except a missing Palkia- was from the team I had before I lost my previous Pearl cartridge. The one that I had played almost every day. But their names were what made me want to through the damned thing at the wall.

They formed a sentence that said "You. Left. Us. In. DaRkNeSs."

I checked the Pokemon's sprites, and each one had a darker tone to it. I felt a horrible sense of dread when I saw my old Staraptor, Lucario, Jolteon, Gardevoir, and Gyarados covered in shadows. Hesitantly, I backed out of the menu and walked through the entrance to the top of the mountain. What I had seen so far had not prepared me for the summit.

It was dark like the cave, but black spots littered the ground. Shadows lingered behind the broken pillars, and the whole place had a slight red tint to it. I walked forward, the female character named KuRaYa moved stiffly and jerkily. Slowly, a familiar body made its way onto the screen. But this wasn't the Palkia I knew, the Palkia I had once called Mazure. It was as black as shadows, it's markings as crimson as lifeblood. I heard a terrifying screech as a box showed what it was saying.

"WhY? WhY DiD yOu AbANdOn uS?!" It screeched. "YoU leFt Us iN dArKnEsS! We wOn'T FoRgiVe yOu!"

Five red lights floated from my body to the body of the Shadow Palkia. Another screech came from my speakers at the same time, but it sounded like a mix of cries from the rest of my Pokemon team.

"We wOn'T fOrGivE yoU, TrAiToR!" The box said. "YoU sAiD yOu lOveD uS! YOU LIED!"

The screen went black, and I was tossed into battle. Palkia appeared, but its sprite seemed to be covered in blood- mostly on its face. I pressed the off button repeatedly as I realized that it was the blood of my other Pokemon. The monster had eaten them. But the game wouldn't turn off.

"YoU cAn'T eScaPe..." The demented Pokemon said.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?! Why did you eat them?!" I screamed hysterically at the screen.

The sprite seemed to grin. But no- that had to be impossible. "We'Re tOgEthEr nOw... YoU'lL bE wiTh uS fOrEveR sOoN, AuTuMn~"

My blood froze when the demonic Pokemon used my real name. Not the one I had used as a character name all those years ago. The battle started, but I had no Pokemon. My sprite was standing there, rigid as a corpse, waiting to be attacked. I looked on the battle menu, but in the place of 'Fight' was 'Beg'.

I chose it anyway.

"I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry, Mazure! Please stop!" My character pleaded. The character had used my Palkia's name. Oh god.

"ToO lAte~!"

The dark Pokemon attacked me. 'Mazure used Payback! AuTuMn was mortally wounded!' The game said.

Again and again, the Palkia attacked. Right when I had 1 HP left, the screen blanked out and showed a close up of the bloody Palkia crying and grinning eerily.

"GoOd ByE, mAsTeR. SoRrY yOu DiEd."

The screen faded to black once more as a screeching sound was heard. Crimson oozed down the black screen like dripping blood. Letters carved themselves into the color as if someone was writing in the life-giving liquid. 'ThE eNd~' it said. My DS the shut off by itself.

When I pulled the game cartridge out and examined it, the face was blank. No sticker, no writing, nothing. A crack split the back and made it unusable. I quickly threw the accursed game at the wall and hid under my covers.

The next morning, I woke up with my large Palkia figure that I had named Mazure in remembrance to my lost Pearl version staring me in my face. My other Pokemon figures that I had also dedicated to my lost team also surrounded me. I looked up, my heart beating fast.

On the ceiling was a note written in a red liquid. "HeLLo, AuTuMn~"

I felt something wet on my hand, and saw it to be covered in my own blood. Just before I passed out, I heard something whispering in my ear.

"We'LL bE tOgEtHeR fOrEvEr~!"