Stranded

WARNING: This fanfiction contains scenes of horror and is not suitable for young audiences.


I : The Winds Of New Beginnings...

I lay spreadeagled on the couch, playing my GameBoy Advance. I was up to the last set of levels on Kuru Kuru Kururin, and I was hoping to beat it by the end of the day.
The doorbell rang. Abandoning Kururin, I leapt to my feet and legged it to the doorway. I opened the door with a creak, and a hand, attached to an arm, was shoved through it. I took an alarmed step back.
"Parcel for Dave Thompson."
I reached out and took the parcel the hand was offering.
"Sign here."
The hand had retracted, and now was thrust through again, holding a clipboard and pen. I hastily penned my name, and handed it back to the mystery person.
"Nice seeing you," the voice said. If there was any sarcasm, I didn't detect it. I was too busy wondering about what the parcel could contain.
The hand waved about hopefully, then was removed, and the door shut with a bang.
"Cheapskate," I heard the delivery boy mutter as he walked away from my door.
I made my way over to the couch, and picked up my Advance. I exited the game and flicked off the power, and put it on the coffee table in easy reach.
Gently, I teased open the flaps on the parcel. When I could no longer stand it, I ripped off the last strip of Duck tape holding it together, and felt the bubble-wrap inside. If I was younger, I might have been tempted to pop the little bubbles, but now I took it off and folded it up neatly, in case I would need it in future.
Now, lying in my lap, was a small square cardboard box, decorated with a large gold umpteen-pointed star in the corner and a silver stamp across the middle. My heart jumped into my mouth. It was the Nintendo logo.
I had applied for a job as a beta tester earlier in the month. My whole career was riding on this being an acceptance letter. What a life, playing games for a living!
I lifted the top flap of the box, my hands trembling. Out fell an instruction booklet, a HUGE game cartridge, and a letter.
I read the letter. It was nofication of my job as a beta tester. Attached to it was a cheque for a considerable amount of money, signed "Nintendo Co., LTD."
I opened the booklet and read the background story.

*-*-*-*-*-*
A year has passed since the disaster struck Blackthorn.
The legendary dragon Camíden rose from the depths of the Den. It wreaked havoc in the city, and caused carnage to all that dared to oppose it. Some ran too late - they we caught. Some tried to fight - they lost. Some tried to capture it - They were dealt with most harshly of all.
Even the Three Champions could not defeat it, singly or joined.
The whole of Johto was abandoned. Camíden settled in the caves surrounding Tohjo Falls, and now some think not even Kanto is safe.
The whole of the two worlds awaits the arrival of a powerful one... One who can defeat Camíden. One who can slay the beast - forever.
*-*-*-*-*-*

"Hmm. Nintendo sure have booted the image up a bit." I smiled. It was exactly what I had been chatting about to my friend in Canada last night on the Internet.
I slipped the plastic sheath from the cartridge. It was the same size and dimensions as a standard AGB-002 cartridge, but with two cables leading from it. These cables had pads to attach it to the slots on the top of an Advance, and they led into a rectangular piece of plastic, with a metal underside. It had a clear viewing screen set in it. This, in turn, had a clip underneath for attaching it to the exterior of a GBA.
I set it up as shown in the instruction booklet, after tossing the Kururin cartridge aside. The wires now led over the top of the unit, and the rectangular viewer was placed over the screen.
I clicked the On/Off switch towards the centre of the system. The familiar GameBoy logo flashed up, albeit a little dimmed by the cover. I made a mental note to write to Nintendo about this.
The Pokémon logo zoomed from the centre of the screen, making me jump. The title "Beta Version 0.1" slid onto the screen. I pressed 'A', and the same old screen came up.
"New Game, Options. Great," I said to myself. "The same old same old."
I selected New Game.
'Welcome to the world of Pokémon!...' The GBA started up. I quickly scrolled through the boring text I had read millions of times before. I entered 'Dave' as my name, and it showed me as a trainer. Not just a represtentation of me, but actually me. The same jet-black hair, the same Reebok tee-shirt, the same Nike cap turned back to front. Astounded, I pressed 'A' once more.
The image on the screen shrunk, and as it did, I noticed the room around me get larger and larger, and I toppled headfirst into a whirlpool of colour.
I blacked out.

The hardness of the surface I landed on jolted me back to alertness. I was back in the lounge of my apartment, with all my gear. A quick glance told me nothing had been stolen while I was asleep, my GameCube still strewn on the floor with cables all over the place, my Kuru Kuru Kururin game still lying where I had thrown it.
I got up, and wearily walked over to the bathroom. The doorbell rang.
"How many times in one day?" I asked myself, as I went back to answer the door.
I opened the door. A mysterious arm was shoved through it again.
"Parcel for Dave Thompson."
I took the parcel.
"Sign here."
I signed, and handed it back to the mystery person, with a very odd feeling of déja vu.
"Nice seeing you," the voice said.
The palm was expectantly offered, then disappeared with a bang.
"Cheapskate," I heard.
This was too odd. I looked at the parcel. At least it bore no resemblance to the package I had opened before. A tear at the corner widened, and the contents fell out on to the floor. A couple of red-and-white balls, a red pocket organiser and a fancy wristwatch.
"Dearest Dave," I read, "Please find enclosed two Poké Balls, a Pokédex and your Pokégear."
I looked on the floor, then back to the letter. This couldn't be happening. Someone was playing a sick joke on me.
I looked to the ceiling as if praying to God. Then I saw it. The ceiling was made of swirling, whirling colours, constantly changing. They drew in, and with a whooshing sound, disappeard into thin air.
Shocked, I ran over to the window. I could see a wide expanse of sea to my left, a small house right in front of me, and another over to the right. Further right, a path led to an overgrown trail.
An old sign swung from a post down on the ground, and I could just make out the letters.

w Bark Tow
f new Beginnin

Another glance told me all I needed to know. The town was deserted. And I was stranded in Johto.