I was more excited than I'd ever been, and for good reason. I'd finally gotten Pokemon Pearl! A brand-new, never used copy fresh from the pack! Sure, it was more expensive, but I didn't want to risk getting a messed up game.
I played the game for a while, and fell in love. I never got bored of seeing my beloved team. Crobat, Buizel, Monferno, Eevee, Luxray, and Bronzor. I loved them so much, and when I found Dr. Footstep, I was excited to find out they loved me too. But I felt a stab of pity at Crobat's.
"There are no Pokemon that hate people…. Just people who hate Pokemon… We Crobat are especially shunned… But Muddy always treats me as a friend and a partner…"
I was way more excited about this than I should've been, but then I noticed the next text.
"I'd do absolutely anything for her… Even if it meant sacrificing myself."
I found this a bit weird, but decided to shake it off and move on with my adventures. Opon looking at my team, I decided to train Eevee up, since she was my lowest level Pokemon. I switched her out front and headed to Iron Island.
I entered the cave and ran around a bit until I encountered a Gravler.
"A wild Graveler appeared!"
"Go! Crobat!"
What? Crobat? I thought Eevee was in front! I ran from the battle and looked at my party. Yup, Eevee was in front. So why did Crobat get sent out? I decided to shake it off and entered the next battle.
"A wild Graveler appeared!"
"Go! Crobat!"
WHAT?! I know Eevee was in front! Growling in frustration, I ran and looked at my party.
No surspise, Eevee was in front. So what the heck, game? Ran around some more.
"Go! Crobat!"
Okay, you know what? Fine. I switched out to Eevee, knocked out the Graveler and moved on. The process repeated for a while, until I decided that was enough grinding, and headed off the island. I went to the PokeCenter and healed up, but then Joy said something strange.
"Oh, your Crobat…."
"It really loves you… Too much. I suggest you get rid of it."
What? A sudden pang of worry went through me. What was wrong with my Crobat? I loved him too much to get rid of him, but…
I shook my head. No, I wouldn't abandon Crobat.
Then, Joy said something else.
"It's getting late. Would you like to spend the night?"
Sleep? In a Pokemon game? What? I didn't know you needed sleep. Either way, I hesitantly selected "Yes".
I was taken to a dark place that looked like a small bedroom. My character was lying in a bed, and the sprites of my team lay around the room, I guessed they were asleep. Suddenly, Crobat's sprite got up and walked over to my sleeping character. A heart icon appeared over his head. Then he left the room.
The screen faded to black, and suddenly brightened into the scene of my character still in the bed. Luxray was nudging her, trying to wake her up.
My character got out of the bed and looked around. Suddenly, an "!" appeared over her head.
"Crobat is gone!"
Oh no, no no no no no. I ran out of the room and was taken to the PokeCenter. There were no NPCs there besides Nurse Joy and a NPC in a trench coat. Nurse Joy was no help, so I talked to the man.
"Are you looking for a Crobat?"
"Yes or no"
I quickly selected "yes"
"I saw a Crobat, it flew towards Iron Island."
I hurriedly sped through the rest of his text, but noticed him warning me about something. I skipped past it anyway, I needed to get Crobat back!
I left the Center and went to the salior who took me to Iron Island, but before I left, another warning came up.
"Are you sure you want to go to Iron Island? I heard that something dangerous is lurking there."
I didn't care, I needed to get Crobat! He took me to Iron Island, but I immediately noticed the difference. Limbs and viruse corpses of the different Pokemon that lived on the island were scattered around, making the whole place a huge, bloody mess.
I felt like crying, those poor Pokemon. I suddenly heard a Crobat's cry, and snapped out of it. I had to save Crobat! I ran into the cave, and something I noticed when I entered the cave was the remaining 5 Pokemon in my party were following me, like a small army.
I ventured into the depths of the cave, trying to ignore the dead Pokemon lying around. No wild Pokemon appeared.
When I got to the depths, I heard a Crobat's cry again, so loud and full of pain I almost dropped my DS. Crobat was in pain, and I wanted to cry. Venturing to the very depths of the cave, I saw a Crobat lying on the ground.
He was lying there, his wings broken and torn off, his eye was missing, he has cuts and gashes all over his body, he was lying in a pool of his own blood, dying.
My 5 other Pokemon immediately ran over to him, surrounding his beaten form. I ran over as well, now crying silently for my partner.
Crobat's cry sounded weakly, and I choked on my tears. Suddenly, the screen flashes white, and me and my team were thrown back. I looked to see what had done such a thing, and a bloody Toxicroak loomed over my Crobat.
I felt rage and fear spark inside me as the Toxicroak approched my character. I could see my team making efforts to get up, but they were badly wounded.
The Toxicroak lifted its spiked-paw to stab my character, and closed my eyes. I heard a Crobat's cry again and looked to see my Crobat has shielded me from the attack, taking my place, and getting stabbed.
It is at this point I stopped caring about noise, and cried. Hard. Sobs racked my frame.
My team obviously saw what has happened, as they suddenly jumped at the Toxicroak, all attacking at once and sending him flying back. The Toxicroak fell to the ground, dead. I'd never been happier to see something die.
My Pokemon and me turned back to my beloved Crobat, barely alive. Still crying, I pressed "A" to talk to him.
I heard a Crobat's cry once more, before this text appeared:
"Love you to pieces."
