PRESS START /

NEW GAME /

Darkness. I am alone. I am here. In nothing but darkness.

Hang on. A noise. Music. Grand and hopeful.

Then there is a light, just in front of me. I still can't see any of myself, but in the light, a figure fades into view. A black-haired, dark-skinned woman wearing glasses and a crisp white lab coat, with an air of efficiency.

"Hello there," she begins. I can't hear her words but I can read them easily enough.

"Pleased to meet you," she continues. "My name is Redwood, but most people know me as the Pokemon Professor. This is a Pokemon."

A red-and-white ball appears in her hand, then splits open in a miniature explosion of light. Now hovering just above the floor next to the Pokemon Professor is a shape, presumably a Pokemon. It seems to only have two dimensions and resembles a black circle with a white question mark in its centre.

"This world is inhabited by creatures called Pokemon," the Pokemon Professor continues. "Pokemon and humans live alongside one another, sometimes working together, sometimes playing together, and sometimes engaging in Pokemon battles. However, close as we are to Pokemon, there is still very much that we do not yet know about these creatures. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to research them. That is what I do. But that's enough about me. What about you?"

What about me? Oh. Who am I, exactly?

The Pokemon Professor fades away again and is replaced by eight pictures: four boys and four girls.

"What do you look like?"

Really? How should I know?

I pick at random and end up with the light-skinned girl with brown hair.

"This is what you look like?" the Pokemon Professor asks.

YES /

I reply.

"And your name?"

A keyboard of numbers and letters appears before me. I consider.

: ) /

I say eventually.

"So your name is : )?" asks the Pokemon Professor.

YES /

I confirm.

": )!" says the Pokemon Professor as I appear before my eyes in the light. "You are about to embark on an incredible journe̡̢̡̛̙̲̣̙͙̲̟͕͎̬̜͙̘̼̘̲̦̞̠̅̍̀̌̒̍͐̑̃̅͐͋̏̾̆͗̀̀̅̆͢͞͝͠͡ͅͅ6̮͉͎̗̥͎̺̟͈̋̔̀͆͋̍̈́̒̒͟͡0̢̛͕̙̠͕̬̥̺̼̗͖̲̲̖͎̠͉̜͈̙̜͚̙͙͖͙̤̉͗́̍̔́͌́̑̈͑̆̾̔́̽̃̍̆́͂̌͒̒̋̕͘̕ͅͅḿ̡̧̟̩̠̤̮̹̗̻̜̫͖̠̩̱̯̗͎̗͖̫͙̦̔̔̀̋̋́̽̄͐̇͋͑̑̃̀̒́͒͊̚̕͝͡H̢̬̻̙̘̙͈͉̦͔͈̞͎͎̲͚͈͙̏͑̀̀̌̆̈́̐͂͗͊̏͌͊̇͘̚͟͠͝ų̫͖̮͎̹͖̦̙̘͙̯͕͔̝̃͐̎̽̃͂̀̎̇̀̚̚͡͠͠J̟͚̮̳̜̪̗̩͔͓̹̖̪̒́̂́͆͊͐̽͑̈́̕͟͡͞͞͞͡͠ͅͅͅ5̨̢̨̡̛̘̗̖̲̺̞̼̤̭̣̠͎̪͚̠̪̳͕͓̟̪̤̣͛̑̀̈͛̋̂͂̍̂͂͒͆̋̈̏͂́̒̐͌̒̀̚̚͢͝͝͡ͅ6̛̛̹̼͎͎̗̫͔̮̰̯̮̳̫͂̍̉͋̇͑̋̄̔̿͘8̨̮̲̝̟̜̮͋́̈́̏͗͠͠:̨͙̰̲̯̝̭̪̗̻̹̰̣͐́̏͐̓̍̔̈́̂̍͒͘͘"̧̡̢̢͍̠̠̩̘̻͉̯̝̣̩̱̯̤̘̭̜̹̮̳͚̭̼̟̣̿̔̌̎̏̌̂͊̌̄͊̋̈̎͊̉͋̀̇͑͂͂̊̽̈̎́̍̂̎̕͢͜͟͠͞ͅ.̧̝̫̯̭̬͕̗̰̰͕̖̥̙̳̻͍̣̝̲̜͛̎̍̓̈̃̽́̏̾̅͐͂͑̓̃̀̍̚̚͘͢͝W̧̨̥͉͔̩̖͖͕̰̫̺̐̈́̍̔̏̈́́̀̌̓͆̅̍̂͗͢͟͟͢͝Ṟ̨̛͎̼̬̹̹̦̼͙̪͖̫͔̗̰͉͉́́̉̾͗̍̈̾͂̄͊͌͌̇̚̕͡͠ͅŢ̨̧̢̗̯̟͍̲̗̥͈̥̬̪͖̲̪͓͖͎̙̲͉͍͇̻͎̙͍̥̬͓́̈́̒̀͋͑́̑̐̀̀́̅̾̂̒̑͊̉̅̀̆͊̿̄̀̍̾̐͘̕̚̚͟͟͠͠?̡̛͇͕͖̞̬̟̰̥̪̖͖͓̪̣̮̳̻͉̤̩̞̳̅̈́̀̄͛̑́̍̅̀̍̒̍̅͗́͛̄͗̆̅̎͘̕͜͟͟͡͡ͅ1̧̨̰̮̯͚͇̜̤̤̩̝̟͑̏́̀̋̋͋̓̂͢͠͠͞͝͡2̧̨̨͓̟̜̯͓̖̬͇̰̣̺̦̩̩͔̬̝͎̘̩̳̟͉̊̑́̾͂̔̑̎̊̔̇̀̾̊̇̔̅͑̐́́̂̃͘̚̕̕̚͘͢͟͜͢͜͞͝͞ͅa̛͓͈̟͓͇͈̲̬̪̩͍͙̽̃̇͊͑̄͗̉̓̕͞ë̢̡̨̢̛̟̫͓̺͕̭͖̘̥̼̰̣̟͕͓̯̩̙̖͕͖̗͔͔͖̜̮͙̒͆̏̂̈̅́̋̔͋̈̂̒͌̋͑̓͊̋͌̅͗͋̉̈̃̑͘͘͘͢͝͞ͅf͙͚̥͇̗̼͍͖̤̥̪͆́͑͊͋̿̚͡͠͝͡ĉ̡̢̡̧̨̠̹̻̲͚̗͈̪̯̩̩͍̮͕̩̼̪̯̖͉̭̰̮̠̥͚̃̍̌͆̿͑͂̿́͌̓͌̄͊̐̈́͌̈͂̀̓̀͛̽̀̕̚̚͟͢͝͡͡͡g̡̡̡̨̪͔̹͙̯͔͔̦̣̤̺͓̼̮͉̺̒̊͊̿͒͆͌̐̿̾͋͑̆͆̎́̽͊̒̚̚͟͠ͅį̢̧̛͚̭̠̼̲̲̗̪̗̙͚̟̩̜͖̼̠̆̀̓̀̍̔̋͐̅͂̀̍̋̓̈̎̋́̈̑̚̕͢ͅͅl̡̲̥͖̮͇͕̭̳̹̤̳̫̞͙̮̥̰͖͈̙̜̤̪͔͛̌͌̽̊͋̎̓͑͐̀͑̓̏̽̅͂͊̍͆̎̿͗̈́͟͜͠͝͝͡ͅų̢̧̢̛͍̝͇̱̼̪͇̬̼̺͉͉̭̫̙͕̬̻̠̖̀͐̓̐̃̌͗̈̾̊̈̆̓͆͛̀̈́͗͆̾̽̍̐̃̾͛̓͜͟͟͢͢͜͞͡?"

Then a light appears and I am swallowed by it.

I am not in the darkness anymore. I am in a bedroom. My bedroom, presumably.

START /

SAVE /

Warning. Another save file exists. Saving will overwrite all Pokemon, items and people in this file. Save your progress?

YES /

Saving...do not turn off the power.

The game has been saved. You have been saved.