I had just entered the Old Chateau that one night at 11:00 PM in my Diamond version… I was all alone in my bedroom, with no individual monitoring my gameplay. Normally, no one ever did, and that was sensible, but that night, I longed for someone to. The abandoned mansion; or at least, I had first thought it was abandoned; it frightened me. It was a terrifying, run-down place housing not only haunted pictures, menacing televisions, a glowering statue, and, of course, ghost Pokémon, but two beings taking the form of an elderly man and a little female child… They scared me the most in my first encounter inside this place. They still do, no matter how many times I go in. The old man was first seen in the rotting kitchen on the first floor's center room, which is to the right of the statue between the stairs, at the filthy table, and he would stay in his spot for a single moment facing my direction, and then float at considerable speed to the west of the room. I tried chasing him, looking for him, but he would always be absent. This was similar with the young girl… When entering the was it the next to last room in the hallway on the second floor with six small rooms, the fifth room with the evil picture, I would occasionally see her in the sixth room, to the right of it… I would go in and out of the room to make sure I was not seeing things. She would continue appearing; but not always. She would look in my direction for a brief second, although she could not see me through the wall seperating us... Or could she...And she would float out of the room. Soon, she stopped appearing. I never saw her again afterward, even if I left the room after her.
But, even with all of the madness in this one mansion, only one thing truly bothered me persistently… There was this sign in the western part of the dining room, the domain of the elderly man's spirit, which was somehow unreadable. Even if you pressed the "A" button against it… You got nothing, not even a sound effect. It grew very irritating to me, though it was not nessacary to be… What did it say? My curiosity and wonder got the better of me, and that night, I walked up to the sign, and pressed the "A" button.
Nothing.
And then; I don't know why I did it, I should not have; I repeatedly pressed the "A" button; not too fast, just normally. Nothing happened, until I heard the "ding" sound effect of an interaction, and the text box that followed after read;
"…We're dead.
…We both are."
That was odd, and to be honest, I was startled by the sudden appearance of the text box. But, I shook it off very quickly; at least I knew what the sign said now. The box closed, and I left the room. I stood myself there in front of the square entrance, in thought. What that sign said; what did it mean, and who wrote it? I made an assumption; maybe, just maybe, did the two human souls write that? I was so deep into this, that I hadn't realized that it had grown eerily silent within the area. Of course, the soundtrack to the Chateau was haunting, but I soon realized that the place was even more unsettling with the music off and the volume turned up fully. I stayed still, not moving, thinking something unexpected and unpleasant would happen if I did...
...
The statue. It moved.
Well, not necessarily. Changed is more like it. It usually had an entirely gray palette, but this palette was infiltrated by a bright red, which had been placed on its eyes. I finally decided to move, coming face to face with it, and I pressed the "A" button.
"It is glaring."
I barely had the time to think before the screen blinked repeatedly, thought no battle music was present, and a Pokémon appeared on an oddly white battle screen; it was a gray Charizard with gray flesh and cracks all over its body, along with a broken wing. It emitted a distorted cry of rage… Or was it of pain?
"Mother's STATUE appeared!"
Mother? They meant… My mother? Or someone else's? If so, whose mother, exactly?
I sent out my Empoleon, which easily took out the Charizard with a single Hydro Pump, but then something unexpected, and rather sickening occurred. Instead of fainting, the statue let out an ear-piercing cry and I watched as it fell apart, little by little. The head seperated from the neck, the neck from the body, and so on, making the ear hurting noises of cracking rock. I was taken back to the mansion. The statue was gone, and the young girl spirit was standing behind me…
"That was mommy's statue."
So that had been the statue of the child's mother…Pretty creepy if you ask me. I knew immediately upon seeing the little girl that I had made a mistake in destroying the statue, or at least I believed so. But, she did nothing, nor did she say anything, except;
"…He killed her."
And with those last words, she floated up the western stairs. But I didn't chase after her; I knew she wouldn't be there. I wanted to leave, to get away from this twisted place altogether. But each time I walked to the exit, I would stay on the red mat, frozen, and the screen would tell me;
"…Don't go… You are our only company…"
I attempted this over eight times, but I would be told the same thing. I eventually quit trying, and investigated the place a little more. I went upstairs to the second floor, and went in the fifth room, with the picture. Like the statue, this too had been altered, for it no longer had the red eyes. The elder's ghost was standing in front of it. I walked over to him, and he turned around with me pressing any buttons.
"…"
Another battle began; it was against the elder, again, with no music playing. It didn't say "_ would like to battle!" of course, filling in the blank with whatever trainer class the man was; he just automatically sent out his Pokemon as soon as the fight began.
"_ sent out _!"
Not only was his own name absent, but so was his Pokémon's, which, as extra information, was a regular looking Gengar. So I never found out who he actually was. I sent out my Empoleon again… But I couldn't attack. Each attempt I made, it would say;
"EMPOLEON is too scared to move!"
This was unusual; the last time I heard this phrase was in another Pokémon game… I grew concerned. This was a trainer battle, to say the least, so I couldn't run away from this. But, I must confess, seeing the Gengar frightened me as well. It was not looking upward, but downward, straight at my Pokémon, while it mouth was somewhat forcefully curved into a false frown. For attempted intimatation, perhaps? Well, it was certainly working.
"EMPOLEON fled!"
This was also unusual; my Pokémon never fled on their own. I should also point out that the "Got away safetly" sound effect was absent, and replaced by what sounded like a "WHOOSH". The Gengar was withdrawn, and the elder's sprite appeared from the top of the screen rather than the right of it, and he said… Well, I don't truly know, actually. It was a mess of garbled letters, and the last word was the only thing I could make out, and almost every other letter in it was capitalized. It went something like this;
"Them anpoi sonedth ec oupleandle ft ust odie…
… RevEnGe."
I didn't understand, but the battle withdrew, and the man was gone, and so was the picture. With a sigh, I opened my Pokémon team, I was in for a surprise. My Empoleon; it was gone. I selected the first Pokémon in my party, which was now my Staraptor, but my Empoleon's summary appeared instead. The summary page of my missing Pokémon was strangely normal- that is, until I reached its move section. All of its attacks were absent, and replaced with "Curse." Just "Curse". What bothered me was, there wasn't just one Curse. It went something like;
Curse
Curse
Curse
Curse
All four move slots were full of the same move, which was abnormal for a Pokémon game. But then, I say to myself silently, it matters not, my Pokémon is gone. So, I didn't waste my time on it anymore, and closed the menu fully. I took single steps; they were small and slow ones, as I had much caution. I made my way out of the second floor hallway, and was alerted with something that I wished more than ever not to be alerted with:
"REPEL's effect wore off…"
I knew that I was supposed to buy some more of those things before I went anywhere. Now, I knew I would meet some terrifying things while trapped in the maddening place; why was I so curious about that insignificant sign anyway? Apparently, the designers of the Pokémon games did not want anyone bothering with it, so they made the result of desperately trying to decipher it a huge mind screw. I wanted out, I didn't care how.
The game went shockingly smooth; I encountered the usual Pokémon; Gastly, and low-level ones, too. I told myself that I should be relieved; but I wasn't. Why? Because, my Empoleon was still missing. That was not right…
Of course, things stopped running smoothly when I saw it again. That Gengar, with the same feigned frown, and, like my first Pokémon, my Staraptor fled as well. The Gengar faded away afterward. Excellent, now two of my Pokémon were missing, and the worse part of it was that I had no idea why, or how I could get out of whatever hidden event was going on. I opened the menu again, and sure enough, my Staraptor was gone. I opened up the Pokémon menu, with my Bibarel up in front, but my Empoleon's summary still the first, with the move Curse filling up all of the slots. The next summary in line was my Staraptor's and it had the same plague;
Curse
CUrse
CuRse
CursE
Some of the letters of the attacks name were capitalized; for reasons I cannot explain. The only letter that hadn't been capitalized was the letter "S"; then, I found out, after some closer observation, that the letters spelled something.
C
U
R
E
They spelled out the word "cure". I did not look into it; I didn't care about it. I was just a coincidence, I told myself. All I was concerned about was that the ghost's Gengar was let loose in the chateau, with me in it. I understood that standing around would do me no good, so I began walking again, only to encounter that awful Gengar again; the same process occurred over and over again; I ended up losing the rest of party helplessly, I could do nothing. My team was soon empty; I was all alone in this haunted mansion- something that I had always feared. A text box appeared saying;
"The death of my mommy and daddy…
Was it YOUR doing?"
I guessed that this must be the young girl, the way and tone she spoke in… Her parents had both been killed, obviously. But, I also knew for a fact that I had nothing to do with it. I didn't even know the true backstory to this place…
Suddenly, both of them; the ghosts of the two people, came from downstairs; I felt a chill go down my back. The elder faced me, with the child next to him, and told me;
"See this."
Then, another screen appeared that I didn't recognize, it seemed to be a sheet from a notebook, the stationary being torn and yellowing. It was a journal entry. It went like this, and I will try to recite it at well as my memory will allow me to;
November 10th, 1909
Dear Diary,
I am finished traveling, for I have grown too old, and I have already fulfilled my dream of seeing the world. My final place is here in Sinnoh, and here I choose to remain until my life ends. But, I cannot just do nothing in my stay here; I must find a temporary job. Until then, I will find refuge in Eterna City, in one of the apartments. It is late; I shall stop writing now."
The entry ended there, and the screen switched back to the chateau. The two had vanished, but the screen informed me of something.
"Find more."
I didn't want to go on, with my Pokémon missing, but I was forced to. I first explored the left room up the stairs on the second floor; the room was very small, formerly possessing a single item. But now, it had what seemed to be a sheet of paper in the middle of the floor. I went to examine it, and was greeted with another journal entry.
November 13th, 1996
Dear Diary,
I grew bored today. In my boredom, I headed for the west of Eterna; the lake there is so clean and riddled with Magikarp-hoarding fisherman… When passing the bridge, I was met by the entrance of the forest. Upon my entering, I saw it. The most lovely mansion. I have never seen such complex and beautiful architecture in my long running life. In front of the mansion, there was an adorable little child playing with her Pokémon in the grass. Seeing her; it made me nostalgic for my childhood… But that is far behind me now. The girl; she greeted me sweetly, and was quick to introduce me to her mother and father, who were so very high class, and yet so very kind to an old soul like me… I am back home now, maybhap I should return to the mansion tomorrow…
It stopped there. I exited the room, looking for more of the entries, for I was gaining interest in the old man's log… I soon found another in the place the statue once was…
November 14th, 1996
Dear Diary,
As I had planned to, I went for the chateau once again. And I got more than I bargained for… But this was for the better. As it turns out, the couple was in search of a paid valet in their lands. I, a person in need of a job, was willing to take the opportunity to my own hands. I was accepted, thank goodness.
The inside of the chateau is more lovely than the outside, words cannot describe… The first thing that caught my eye was the CHARIZARD statue that lay in front of the dining room's entrance. It is a very lovely piece; I remember seeing it a museum; I am much impressed that there is someone who owns the statue… I try hard to make the place as spotless as possible, for it is far too gorgeous to be left in carelessness. My GENGAR likes it here too; it is my faithful partner, it has been since I caught it in Kanto… Oh yes, and I must mention the couples young daughter, she is a kind girl, she never hesitates to greet me on sight… I shall stop writing now, and go to bed, for I must be up early tomorrow morning.
It ended there. I entered the room in the center, and found another page at the dining room table…
November 15th, 1996
Dear Diary,
The couple received a guest today at about 1:00 AM; he is a young, but well dressed man. But,
though he is quite the polite kind, I do not feel easy about his presence here. There is a rather repelling aura on his person. The young girl… Though, in kindness, she gives him a courtesy, she shares my opinion. He has been here for about 30 minutes now, I've nothing more to say as of now, so I shall stop.
There was a space under the final line, until another entry began right under the space.
This is a continuation of the last entry I wrote, so it is still the same day. In the dining room; the young girl and I heard it from the room next to it; the couple and the man were engaging in an enormous argument. The man had spoken of preposterous things, like a new world, controlling the Pokémon of space and time, destroying this universe… He had tried to get the couple to join in his plans, but, as sensible people would, the couple aggressively declined, and they have gone into their rooms to cool off after such a verbal tussle. But, one thing confuses me; the man remains in the dining room, with the food. I can't hear him… Maybe he is just cooling off like the couple is. Yes, that's right.
He stopped writing there. This man, this visitor, he sounded very familiar to me. He had spoken of a new world… Like Cyrus, the somewhat deranged leader of Team Galactic. But, why would he be visting the people of the cheateu? And by the sound of it, he had long attempted to get others in his vile plans long before he formed his cult… I exited the dining room, done with the entry in the area, and went upstairs to the hallway again. But, upon my entering, I saw her, the young girl's spirit facing me.
"You…
It wasn't you…
I'm sorry."
And she floated away to the right. I failed to understand. Exactly WHAT wasn't me? But, I could fret; I understood that I had to find more entries. I already knew that the couple was dead, judging by the child's earlier words, but I wanted to find out how, and why. I went in the first room… Nothing. I went in the second room, and found another one.
November 16th, 1996
Dear Diary,
It has been a very dreadful time for us, especially the young girl… I feel so awfully for her. You see, after the argument, we were to have dinner, but the man had left earlier before eating. I assumed that this was because he was angry, and needed to return to his original quarters, wherever that may have been. The couple; they mentioned that the food on their plates had a rather ilk taste to it, but mine and the child's food didn't… I thought that they just put too much sauce on it. But, I was wrong. The food was riddled with toxins that had been put there by the man, I'm sure of it… He was more cross about the couple declining than I thought. The antidotes had all vanished; where could they have gone? But, it doesn't matter now, not anymore… The two are dead. They couldn't be saved. The young child is in deep trauma because of this…But, I have vowed to take care of her. As if she was my own child. I made a life-long promise. And she has accepted…
It ended. I was rather saddened by this… Cyrus was more psychotic than I had once believed… He poisoned the two's food out of anger of being rejected, leaving their daughter all alone… That was a very cruel and heartless thing to do. And one thing made sense; Cyrus must have hidden the antidote in the trash, because if you looked in one of the trash cans, an antidote could indeed be found. I left that one room, to be faced by the old man, who said;
"He is a vicious monster…"
And he left. By "he", I knew he meant Cyrus. I entered the third room; nothing… The fourth room… Still nothing. It was the next room that I actually found something.
November 20th, 1996
Dear Diary,
We have tried to push on, as the child chooses to hide her negative, destroyed emotion… But, I can see it in her youth-stained eyes; she is still hurt over both of her losses… And I understand fully. To lose one's mother and father so young… It is unhealthy for one her age. She grows more and more sickly and weak everyday, though she does not complain… I feel terribly for the poor thing. Today, she drew me a picture as a 'thank you' for choosing to stay with her… It is very nice, very "purple". I placed it in the fifth room near the bed, my GENGAR loves it. But, she did not have to thank me for this; it was the only right thing to do, as I could never bring it upon myself to abandon this child; I would never be able to forgive myself…
It stopped there. On the room right of me, the last room, I saw that there were two pages, and so I exited the fifth room, and went in the sixth room, but there was more in than just the pages. There were six Pokéballs in it, each containing my Pokémon, thank goodness. I checked their summaries… No curse. But, the nicknames had been altered. They were, in order;
GOOD
YOU
HAVE
BEEN
READING
THE PAST
As I closed the menu, I read the page instantly.
December 1st, 1996
Dear Diary,
I am very distraught. Too much for words. The child… She has perished, at such a young age, in her own bed. She died from her hurt she had tried to hide from me… Her final words to me were;
"Good bye, sir, thank you for taking care… of…"
She could not finish her sentence, for her life was robbed from her… She never spoke again. She never saw me again. She won't see her home anymore... But, I will stay with her, even in her own death… I promised to stay with her, and I refuse to break it. My life ends here…
When I finished that one, I went to what appeared to be the last one.
? 19?
Dear Diary,
This shall be my last journal entry. The child and I, we talk now. Here in this mansion. Yes, you have
guessed correctly, my life has ended. The beautiful mansion… It is now ugly. But, we refuse to leave. This is… Our home. We are doomed to wander here forever, alone… So be it. Unless, of course, a curious soul wanders here, which I doubt shall ever happen. We are desperate to be noticed, so we have placed a small notice in the dining room, though it is almost impossible to read. If one is to actually take the time to read it, that shall be our cue. I've nothing left to say…
That was the final page. They were… Right behind me.
"Now you know our tale of woe…
…Leave, please…
…We thank you…
...No one talks about us...
...No...One...Cares..."
And, the screen faded out, and I was outside of the mansion. I checked my party… The altered nicknames had not changed. I had to go to the name rater... I saved the game, and turned it off. I was in thought once again. What they said about no one caring... It was the truth, apparently. No one in Sinnoh ever actully spoke of the Old Chateau, or its orgins... This made the two very alone and forgotten...
I don't know if I am going insane or not, but my thoughts were interrupted when I heard two voices saying…
"You know
The past
Our death…
…You've changed."
I froze in utter fear. Afraid to turn around, I stayed fixated on my bed for 50 minutes; I am dead serious. I have been up all night, spending the majority writing this… I won't be getting sleep anytime soon… THEY might be hostile toward me... They might think I'll forget about them if I sleep. I refuse to tell anyone about this… That is, except you. Yes you, the one reading this. Thank you for listening to me… Good bye...