You woke up after having a long, long dream about becoming a Pokémon Master, even getting to meet Prof. Oak… Even though you already knew him?
You jumped out of your bed, checking your computer to take out the Potion that was saved inside the "Digitalized Items" document you had created a few months ago when preparing for the start of your adventure.
That's right! This was to be the fateful day where you'd become the best there ever was!
And your name… What was your name?
Right, it was…
Red.

After saying goodbye to your mom, you walked out into the streets of Pallet Town, the town where every story begins.
The town you'd never really lived in, and yet you had memories of…?
You walked towards the door of Prof. Oak's lab, opening the door softly and stepping in front of the man himself, who was in the company of his nephew, Blue Oak, your lifelong rival and greatest enemy.
But… You don't really know any of these people.
And what were Pokémon, really?
You wanted to find out about all this, the desire of simply playing and enjoying a game overridden by your hunger for mystery-solving and lore-knowing.
(Music: Pokémon FR/LG OST – Oak's Lab)
- Ah, Red! You're finally here, I was getting tired of walking around and checking useless books instead of starting out the greatest adventure of all time! – Blue pronounced in lethal sarcasm, pointing towards you.
As if trying to defuse a possible fight situation, Prof. Oak stepped in and presented to you a set of three Pokéballs.
- Now that you are here, Red, I suppose it would be fair to let you choose first. Don't you agree, Blue? – The old man said, glancing at his nephew, looking for an agreement.
- To what might be your surprise, Red, I actually agree. Go on, man. Choose any of 'em. – Blue smirked somewhat knowingly, his hands in his pant pockets.
You walked up to the first Pokéball without saying a word as always… Or what was supposed to be always.
- Ah, so you're going for Bulbasaur, the Grass-Poison type! That's a very calm and easy one to raise. It won't take you long to pull out its full potential, I assure you! – Oak inferred.
You shook your head, walking up to the next Ball.
- Aha, so it's going to be Squirtle, the Water type! It's very lively and nice to be around, so raising it WILL take long, but I promise you, it'll be very rewarding.
Another headshake, and you move towards the last Ball.
- So your last option is Charmander, the unique Fire type! Last for best, they say, but… I guess someone like YOU could make it work, actually. This one's very raunchy and aggressive, but that's just a deceitful act for what's going to be possibly one of the best Pokémon in your arsenal!
Arsenal? Aggression? So this was all about fighting?
A few minutes ago, you'd booted this up just because everyone'd told you that this thing was the greatest work of Nintendo up till now, expecting the greatest disappointment of all time.
But now…
You were starting to like this game.
You chose Charmander, lifting the Pokéball up to your face and glancing at its button.
- Alright! So then, Squirtle's mine to take! – Blue proclaimed, taking the Ball that contained said Pokémon and shrinking it to fit it in his belt.
You decided to imitate him so you wouldn't look like an idiot.
Without much else to be said, you skipped through Oak's dialogue about Pokédexes and went towards the door.
Just when you were about to leave, however, you heard a rumble behind your back, turning and watching as Blue stomped on the ground while walking towards you.
- Yo, Red! Don't leave yet! We've got to test our Pokémon's abilities! Whaddaya say we give each other our first Pokémon battle?! – Blue exclaimed, pointing towards you ONCE AGAIN with Ball in hand.
You didn't really have a set of options that said "Yes" or "No", so you just skipped through the dialogue and went right into the fight.
When you first spawned in the battle arena, you didn't understand anything.
But, as the battle progressed and you received more and more advice from Prof. Oak, you ended up getting the hang of it.
Nevertheless, this didn't impede your close call defeat against Blue, with your Charmander going down in a crushing "critical hit" Tackle blow.
Well, Squirtle hadn't really dispelled all of your Pokémon's health, but Blue switched the water turtle out before Charmander's health bar could go completely black.
So, a smart show of mercy?
He was SO going to get it from here on out…
(Music: Pokémon FR/LG OST – Routes 1 & 2)
After disappointedly skipping through all dialogue, you walked out towards the gate of Pallet Town.
You trudged across all of Route 1, looking for a challenge to level your Pokémon up, and yet finding absolutely no one to talk to.
Just when you were about to give up after getting offered yet another potion by a guy from a shop that was apparently uphill from there, a chirp was heard in the distance.
It was a bird-like Pokémon that was munching on some Berries.
Serious and calm, you walked up to it, taking it by surprise and turning the battle arena on.
* Wild Pidgey (LVL2) appears!
Oh, so its name was Pidgey? Very creative, really…
*What will you do? FIGHT-POKÉMON-BAG-RUN
What else was there to do? If the first hit was yours, you wouldn't hesitate to attack, not once.
You chose to FIGHT, turning on the SCRATCH attack.
Charmander (LVL5) jumped towards Pidgey, slashing it with its sharp claws and dealing 13% damage and getting it to yellow HP.
Sweet! Only a little bit more to go.
Pidgey attacked Charmander with Tackle, dealing 10% damage to the fire lizard.
* What will you do? FIGHT-POKÉMON-BAG-RUN
You chose to FIGHT once again, the small blazing crocodile slamming its pointy paws against the face of Pidgey, declaring it the final blow as the Flying type fell to the ground.
Or did it just fall? You didn't know… All you saw the sprite do was just sink into the ground, while watching a blue bar under Charmander's HP get filled for some reason.
* Pidgey fainted?
So not even the game itself knew? Pretty intuitive system, ain't that right…
* Charmander leveled up!
Oh, so that's what it was!
You reveled in the sensation of your Pokémon getting stronger while the battle arena turned off, and decided to keep on walking.

You spent the next ten minutes farming XP and LVLs, getting Charmander up to (LVL8) and unlocking its new move, Ember, in the process.
For some reason, when you went into the place labeled as "Viridian, the nature-loving city where flowers bloom all year round", you didn't really find any people, except for the vendor at the Pokémon Market and the nurse at the Pokémon Center.
Also, the music was… Weird, for a supposedly lovely, serene city.
(Music: Undertale OST – Empty House)
You walked up to the nurse at the Pokémon Center, a pink-haired young woman with kinda weird pigtails.
As you gave her your Charmander for it to get healed back up, never did she mention the lack of citizens walking around.
And you had thought that you'd heard some muttering and rumbling around when you were still at Route 1, so this was weird.
- Here it is! Your Pokémon is done and healed! Thanks for coming!
You couldn't thank her properly since there was never an option to show, so you assumed she was just a stationary NPC as always.
You walked around the city, exploring it and finding out that there was apparently an unused Pokémon Gym, a place where you SHOULD be able to get a trainer's badge to qualify for the Pokémon League.
Since its doors were closed, you ignored it and decided to go left.
On the left, you found a place labeled Route 22, and started walking through the grass and farming more and more XP.
You were starting to love the feeling of leveling up.
Maybe a little too much.
Suddenly, when you were walking through a brown-tiled path, you found Blue, of all people, who was training his Pokémon too.
You noticed that every time he fought, he always switched out before the opposing Pokémon's health went down to zero, but you didn't save that information for later because you thought it was just a motion he did to humiliate his opposing forces.
And you would be the first of his opposing forces to strike him down.
Just you, and Charmander.
(Music: Pokémon FR/LG OST – Rival's Theme)
Blue noticed your presence, slowly turning towards you and smirking.
- Hey there, Reddy-boy! How's your adventure going? You must've already racked up an impressive one-hundred by now. Defeats, that is!
You said nothing to this.
- Huh, I figured you'd say something at least. – Blue inferred, slightly taken aback by your silence. - You've gotten pretty boring. But that's okay, because I'll put an end to our boredom by crushing the hopes of a successful adventure for you, right here and right now!
The boy took a step forward, and you faced his gaze head on.
* RIVAL BLUE would like to battle!
* RIVAL BLUE sent out Spearow (LVL7)!
* Go, Charmander (LVL9)!
* What will you do? FIGHT-POKÉMON-BAG-RUN
You chose to FIGHT, as you always did, then selecting the Ember attack.
Charmander launched a small flurry of flames that swiped all across Spearow's frame, deducting its health greatly, with the bar reaching yellow levels, almost red.
* Spearow used PECK! Charmander lost 18 HP, not yet reaching yellow colors.
* What will you do? FIGHT-POKÉMON-BAG-RUN
You chose to FIGHT once again, and Charmander burned Spearow's face with Ember, downing its health down to zero.
* Spearow… fainted!
- Hey! Wait! Why can't I take Spearow back in? – Blue mentioned, noticing the disappearance of his Flying Pokémon. – Um… T-that's weird. No matter! Go, Squirtle!
* Skipping through the details… What will you do? FIGHT-POKÉMON-BAG-RUN
Once again battling, you made Charmander Scratch Squirtle's face and lower its health to a surprising amount.
* Squirtle used BUBBLE! Charmander lost 30 HP, now in the red zone.
* What will you do?
Enraged by Charmander's close call and remembering its earlier defeat at the hands of its type-counter rival Pokémon, you immediately slapped the FIGHT option, not even bothering to glance at the others to, for example, heal the small crocodile up with a Potion.
* Charmander used Ember! Ability activated, "Blaze"!
What'd you do just now? You didn't know, but neither did you care, you just waited for the attack while the turtle's HP progressively went down, expecting a second attack and, hopefully, a miss if luck was to be on your side.
However, Squirtle went down immediately.
(Music: Undertale OST – In My Way)
* Squirtle fell! Charmander got stronger.
Blue's sprite showed up after your first ever victory against a trainer, and an important one, none the less.
He looked… Lost, a little distraught even.
- What… What'd you do to them? I can't turn them back into their Balls, Red. Red… WHAT DID YOU DO?!
The battle arena turned off, and you saw Blue run away while you could still read the text below.
His rival was apparently crying while escaping from Route 22.
You clenched your fist against Charmander's Pokéball, eyes neutral and voice unrevealed.
It felt very good to win, to get stronger.
And you would keep at it, no matter how many people you had to see drift away from you.
If anything, that was just a show of respect, a way to tell people to fear you so you could get stronger.
And this was all just a game, right?
No feelings involved from anyone, so why should you have any sympathy for heartless characters?
Why worry about some dust spreading on the grass after every single battle?