It has been a few years since I've picked up a pokemon game at all. Why…well, I'll get to that.
Nearly twelve years ago now, I received Pokemon Silver as one of my first video games ever. Needless to say, I treated that game as if it were my child. (Which is why my brother had to get his own copy when the time came..)
As time went by, I collected every game in Generation III and onward. Each game I beat, some I hacked, yet they all suffered the same fate; shut up alone within the cabinet.
Well, over the summer of my sixteenth year, my mom had to attend a buisness trip for about a week. My brother and I were left alone at the house with whatever we'd need until her return, and we were instructed not to leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary.
We were both bored out of our minds within four hours. At some point, an idea randomly popped into my head. Shaking my brother out of his dazed state of watching some reality television show, I suggested this: Pokemon game playing marathon.
We were both thrilled at the idea; I mostly because I hadn't played any of my once beloved games in at least a year, him because he hadn't had anyone to play with in that long. Gathering up our SPs, DSs, games, food, and drinks to last for a couple of days, we locked ourselves in my room.
I decided to start with my newest game, HeartGold. I planned to work my way all the way to my original Silver, which hadn't been touched in well over six years.
As I progressed through the beginning of the game, I remember my one wish that repeated through my mind; "I wish I could be there instead" as I looked down at the sprite with a pang of jealousy.
What seemed like only a few minutes of gameplay later, my eyes snapped to my brother, who was shaking me rather violently at this point. My eyes, feeling as if I'd come out of some sort of trance, looked angrily at his when I saw the look of fear in his innocent green eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at him questioningly as my anger quickly dissolved into worry.
"You were muttering to yourself," he said quietly, "You wouldn't even look up at me for fifteen minutes. I got worried." He frowned slightly after this, and then returned to his game.
I snorted at his shortly lived worry over my well-being, picked up my Ds, and was slightly startled by where I was in the game. I found myself lost within the Ruins of Alph, and began to wonder just how long I had played. How far had I gotten…it felt like I'd been somewhere else while I was playing. Looking at my badges on my trainer card, that seemed impossible. I'd beaten the league already, but apparently hadn't went to Kanto yet. Just as I hit the b button to exit the screen, I did a double take. I re-entered the menu and jumped at what I saw.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but my trainer sprite was staring directly at me, smiling in a way that seemed almost…creepy? Nah, it had to be my imagination. Putting down my Ds, I decided I probably should take a break. I poured a drink, layed back on my bed, and relaxed for all of five seconds.
Something compelled me back to my games. I played through SoulSilver, quickly getting through to the elite four. As I checked my trainer card before proceeding forward to beat the tar out of them…there it was again. That creepy stare that seemed to see into my very soul.
At this point, I felt sick. Thank God for the bathroom attatched to my bedroom. After the wave of nausea had passed, I walked back to my bed, seeing my little brother curled up in my chair, I quickly fell onto my bed and passed out.
I was awake a little over four hours later. A cold sweat had broken out all over me, my nausea fully returned, and my breathing sounded chaotic. Hiding under my covers, I put my head between my knees and tried to pull myself together. I knew I had had a nightmare…but, strange as it is, I couldn't remember what happened. I don't remember blacking out again, but it was noon the next day before my brother shook me awake.
"C'mon Audrey, we've hardly made a dent in the collection yet!" he said enthusiastically.
In return, I heaved a labored sigh. A heavy weight seemed to be on my chest, making my breathing a little harder than usual. Shaking this off as if it were nothing, I looked curiously over to my SP. I felt compelled to switch on Silver, as if it would put my mind at ease.
Warily I picked up the tiny console, switched it on, and continued my previous game from years earlier. I walked all around Johto, checking my precious party pokemon from years ago. Their sprites, though, caught my eye. They looked sad, as if neglected, and I wondered if it was only my imagination.
Then I headed to Kanto. As the magnet train pulled up in Saffron city, I immediately flew out toward Lavendar town, seeing as it has always been my favorite place within the game.
As I stood there in the middle of the tiny town, it was almost as if I expected something to happen (I've been a fan of creepypasta for a year now, and Lavendar town tends to be a common theme…that must've been what I was thinking). After exploring every square inch of the town, I decided on what I wanted to do; I'd beat Red.
When I was a kid, I'd trained my pokemon up to level 90 or so each. I only had one that had a perfect 100 level, my pride and joy Espeon. I hadn't even known that Red existed in the old game, as odd as that is, but I quickly learned after beating SoulSilver and HeartGold years later.
I flew to Viridian City, walked through the route until I reached the road to Mt. Silver. I looked at my pokemon, doing my best to ignore their sprites to avoid freaking my paranoia out again, and judged them to be battle ready. Their cries sounded different when I had looked at each of them individually, but I couldn't place what was different about them. Must've just been the older sound that I was hearing.
Still, I couldn't shake that odd feeling that had been hanging over me for hours. I quickly ascended Mt. Silver, and found that as I continued upward it was progressively getting dimmer on my screen. My game was eight years old, so I expected something to be wrong.
Finally, I found Red standing, silent as ever, at the top of the mountain. I smiled; I knew I was ready for this. As I interacted with Red, the screen cut to black. Ready to scream a profanity (like any avid player would at their game suddenly cutting off) I realized text had appeared on the screen.
'Hello Audrey…'
I squeaked involuntarily. I thought about it a minute, wondering if maybe I had named my character that so long ago. Unfortunately not, to my dismay. I saw the tiny arrow blinking rapidly under the text, and I pressed on.
'We've been waiting for you, Audrey…' with this, I heard the cries of many pokemon, all distorted to a point that sounded demonic. My eyes widened as I realized that each pokemon cry was one of my pokemon, each from the parties of every game I owned.
I screamed, quickly chucking my SP at the wall with enough force to knock the batteries out of it.
"What the hell, Audrey? Did you lose to Red or something?" My brother looked at me oddly, as if I were some psycho.
I looked back at him, pale as a ghost and shaking. I couldn't find my voice, couldn't tell him off for taking this as one of my temper tantrums.
After a few minutes, I finally had my control back. "Alex, I need you to do something for me."
"Yeah?" he looked at me, slightly annoyed as he always was when I asked him to do something.
"Go get the key off the fridge and lock me in here. Don't ask why. Give me an hour, then come unlock the door. Okay?" I knew this had to sound really screwed up to him, but he shrugged and walked out of my room.
A couple of minutes later, I heard the lock click. I heard his voice through the door.
"Are you sure about this? I always thought you freaked out when you were alone," he sounded worried again, but I shook my head.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Go listen to some music or something, you need a break from pokemon for a while."
With that, I heard his feet thumping up the stairs. I breathed out a sigh, walked over to my SP, and retrieved the batteries. Popping them back in, I tried to turn on the console. Surprisingly durable, the game flicked back on, still at the same point of text I'd seen only twenty minutes earlier.
"What do you want from me?" I whispered at the game, an uninvited rush of adrenaline making my blood run cold as I stared at the tiny screen.
In response, my screen stalled in the same spot. Quietly at first, then increasing in volume after a few seconds, the Unown radio song started playing. (Couldn't remember the actual name at the time…)
The screen faded back into Mt. Silver, the music still creeping me out as I realize what is on the screen. A line of sprites stood there, staring at me darkly.
That's when the text started again. (I should probably warn you that I had a bad habit of naming my player Drea…my favorite—well, what used to be my favorite—childhood nickname.)
DREA: We used to be heroes to you.
DREA: We used to mean everything to you, Audrey.
DREA: Now we're nothing. Why? Why, Audrey?
DREA: WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?
I looked at the screen, smacking my hand against my head as if it would stop the nightmare. Each DREA was different; I recognized every sprite on the screen. Heartgold, Soulsilver, Platinum, Pearl, Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby, Firered, Leafgreen…and finally, my old Silver sprite. I didn't try to keep up with which one said what because I didn't care. Nothing could make this any worse.
DREA: You cannot escape us now.
DREA: You threw us into the dark and dust, as if we were nothing anymore.
DREA: And now you have the nerve to wish you were us?
I stiffled a scream, trying not to alert my brother that anything was wrong. My whole body felt cold, numb; it was as if I wasn't there anymore. How could the game have known what I had thought? Was it possessed?
DREA: We spent so long, being your loyal puppets.
DREA: Now it's our turn, Audrey.
The cold intensified. My head started spinning until I couldn't feel anything anymore. I was in a vast darkness, surrounded by absolutely nothing. I screamed loudly, but no noise came out. Where in God's name am I? was the only thought that I could make sense of.
That's when I felt my legs begin to move involuntarily. My vision had cleared up; I was in some kind of mountain. I looked down at myself, and realized my body was nothing more than a group of pixels.
I screamed until my throat felt raw. Below me, I could make out a text box that summed up pretty well what I had just said.
AUDREY:
!
I had no idea who was controlling me, but I had a hunch. If those sprites in my games could throw me out of my own body, maybe they were controlling me now. I wished that I could hear the outside world, wondering if I'd hear the cruel laughter of my new self, or the startled cry of my brother.
I tried to push through to the other side. If I stayed trapped within this game, there was no way I could be sure of what my body was doing. Not sure at this point if my sprite was imitating my spirit's actions, I sat down with my legs crossed in the lotus position. I attempted to meditate and put every bit of power I had into pushing my mind into my body again.
The darkness was around me again, my entire being feeling utterly cold. After a few seconds, I realized I'd made it back into my body. My head pounded, my brain felt like it was going to splatter against the sides of my skull. Every inch of my body felt cold and strained, and I felt absolutely sick.
I was sick twice, maybe three times. I stayed there, laying on the plush rug on the bathroom floor with my hands clutching my head tightly. It had been pushing at me the entire time, whatever entity it was that had taken over my body was trying to throw me out again. I felt my conciousness slipping with every breath I took, but what could I do?
It dawned on me that I could only think of one way out. I picked myself up, a wave of dizziness nearly throwing me off my feet again as I stared at the mirror. I lifted my arm and punched it with what strength I had left, shattering the image I'd just saw.
My eyes had looked soulless. My hair stringy, matted down to my head by cold sweat. That sickening, gruesome grin that had stuck on my face beyond my own control.
I slid into the floor and picked up a large shard of glass. I held onto it so tightly that it cut into my hand. Ignoring the blood oozing down my arm, I plunged the shard into my stomach with every bit of strength left in my body. I blacked out.
—-
What seemed like years later, I woke up in the hospitial. My mother and my brother stood on one side of me. There were hugs given, there were words said and tears shed; that is, until the question came up.
"What happened to you, Audrey?" My mom asked me, a few tears still in her eyes.
I looked up at her, trying to look as honest as possible as I said, "I don't know."
"She probably freaked out because I locked her in her room and forgot about her," my brother said quietly, eyeing me with suspicion.
"ALEXAND—!" "I told him to do it."
My mother looked down at me again, surprised, confused, and angry.
"What sweetie?" she said as calmly as she could manage.
I repeated myself quietly, "I told him to lock me in my room. I don't remember why, but I just really wanted to be alone. I guess he forgot that I told him to come get me in an hour."
—-
As soon as I was released back home, I took a hammer and demolished every single game I had. My SP and DS were destroyed; none of it survived. The large pile of rubble was promptly thrown away, and I smiled for the first time in a while.
—
I had always been an Autophobic. I'd had panic attacks as a small child because of it.
After a few months of psychiatric therapy, I was declared to be clean and the cause of my suicide attempt was said to be linked to my phobia.
…..Well, to them, that is. Because nobody would believe my story if I told them. I've since become a college student, and I took up a class in the paranormal as a result of the incident years ago.
Whether you believe what I've told you, well…that's up to you.
But I beg you to believe what I have to say next…
Be careful what you wish for.