Pokemon: Water Blue

Pokemon "Water Blue"

It all started when I was in a primary school. When Pokemon epidemic came to Russia…
Caps… Anime series… Posters…
I was among those lucky ones who got the GameBoy and some Pokemon cartridges for it.
I had the "Blue" version. All my classmates… Well, not only classmates, everyone at school was envious at me. Even teachers asked me to play on my GameBoy…
My starter was always Charmander. I don't remember why, but I called her "MOUKOU". It was difficult to start; I often found small bugs or too powerful enemies. But when I got my party… I don't remember which Pokemon were there… But nothing could be a match for us.
Time passed… I needed to catch only several Pokemon to fill my Pokedex. There simply was no one to trade with. One day I tried to turn on my GameBoy, but… Long story short, it wasn't usable anymore. It was a large tragedy for me in form 4… I saved a cartridge as a memory about... Well, yes, I can call MOUKOU my friend. Probably my best friend. I remember, I talked to her very often, and I thought that she understands me too and listens to me. I decided that she is a female Pokemon, although Pokemon gained different genders only in Gen 2.
Several years had passed. I became older; cartridge was laying on a shelf. But I still watched Pokemon and remembered them. Even more, I remembered MOUKOU. Few times I was caught while talking to a cartridge. But eventually…
Yes, I became older, and gradually forgot about imaginary friends. I met a guy who was somehow similar to me, we grew closer… Once he said something like: "For most of us, Pokemon are just a thing from past. But for me they are thing from present." I was happy to hear this, because I still liked Pokemon games secretly.
Once I got Nintendo DS for a birthday. I hoped to find Pokemon games for it, but I couldn't, where simply weren't „Platinum" or at last „Pearl" or "Diamond".
My boyfriend moved  aboard promising that he'll write me back, but he probably won't have an access to the internet for too long. But he hoped that as soon as I'll get my deserved game we could meet through the web using our trainers or something like that.

That day I went to one small shop to warm. The temperature on the street was very low. I strolled among the people. Looks like it was a furniture store. "It's time to buy a new chair…" – I thought, but then I saw something more important. There was a little tent (just a part of the room separated from it by a fence, in the manner of separated room), with all it's walls filled with bright game boxes. I came to the showcase and looked at it.
- Are you looking for something? – the salesman asked.
- Pokemon – I said straightly, trying not to look at him.
- Wait a minute – he answered and came inside the tent.
I used that most of the salesmen tried to find that I'm looking for even if they haven't got it… And I was amused when he gave me a box. Although I felt that something is wrong with it.
- Of course, cartridges are not in the best state, but they are working, I guarantee it.
- How much are they? – I asked shortly.
- 300 rubles – he answered.

When I returned home, I could barely hide my excitement. I came to my room and grabbed DS, meanwhile opening a box. There were three cartridges and a piece of paper. Cartridges – blue and green – were covered in lute in the place where tab needed to be and signed "Pokemon". Grey cartridge was signed "50". I looked at the paper.
The crooked handwriting said: "Blue – Water Blue, Green – Leaf Green, Grey – Fire Red".
"Blue?" – I thought – "But it's impossible. The game is probably unofficial…"
My curiosity won and this cartridge was the first one I put into DS's GBA slot.
Despite my expectations, I was welcomed by entrance screen with Blastoise, as you can expect from something that looks like the remake of Blue version.
I honestly answered Oak that I'm a girl and called myself REIN. After that, I called my rival PINGAS, just for lulz.
Everything started as it should be. I tried to go to a high grass but was stopped by Oak… Finally, after almost squandering all the dialogues, I "got" to a moment I'll get my starter. Remembering my past, I chose Charmander. And I was really surprised when it happened to be female. Without thinking, I called her MOUKOU. I was so happy… It was like I returned to my childhood. MOUKOU grew stronger and stronger every day. She could win against almost anyone. Even when I got my party, no one could outstand MOUKOU. Not the wild Pokemon, not the ordinary trainers, not even PINGAS. No one could defeat me. It seemed that when MOUKOU started to lose, she reacted on my requests and always did a Critical Hit, defeating the enemy. She fainted only a couple of times. Until I came to a second gym… Trainers were weak, but a champion, that damned Misty and her Starmie… She always won against me. And I came to raise my party's stats, knowing that fire element is weak against water, but in the end only MOUKOU gained level-up. She was already a Charmeleon, and her level was 26, but Starmie still won against me. Every time I tried…
I got angry, tore the cartridge and throw it against the wall, loudly swearing. And shut up immediately. I broke such a rare thing. Even if it was unofficial, it had very good quality and worked without any glitches… I rose the cartridge. Its inner side tumbled from the plastic. I gathered everything back accurately, entered in into GBA sloth and turned the game on.
[Save DatA Is DAmaGEd, Start New GAMe] – the screen said. I moaned. Three days spent on playing were ruined. I chose to start over again.

Not so long ago my boyfriend finally phoned me from the club. We were talking about random things, and he said that he is also playing Pokemon right now, "Heart Gold" version. He chose a girl trainer and named her Katie (it's my real name) and named his starter Jack. I thought it's very sweet.

I smiled while remembering this conversation and skipped all the dialogues till the moment I needed to get my starter. I chose Charmander again. This time it was male. I wanted to restart game, hoping to get a female starter, and suddenly an idea came to my mind.
[Jack Night] – I typed as a Charmander's name.
And so it began…

No, not in the good sense. He wasn't as good as Moukou was. It was weird because formally they got the same stats, only the gender symbols before their names were different… Or not?
I shook my head. It's impossible. All those stories about game characters who can affect the real world… It's nonsense…  At last I always thought it is. Jack always "caught" ALL THE status effects like poisoning or paralyze, wasn't able to dodge from an attack, and his critical hits were very, very rare…
Somehow I managed to find the first cave. It was a real nightmare…
But the worst things started as I entered the cave.
Mt. Moon… This place always bothered me with the large amount of zubats, but now I haven't seen any of them. I saw everyone, even the rarest clefairies, but zubats. But one thing made me nervous – sometimes I heard the sound zubats are making, when you start battling it, but much lower and quiet. Before I left the cave, I was finally attacked by zubat.
I shook my head. Looks like glitches had started. Zubat had red life bar, but it was full. His status was "FNT". He fall after one hit. He had another strange detail in him, but I hadn't noted it… well, I noted, but I thought it's another glitch. Zubat had a name – OZZY. I also had a zubat named OZZY when I played the game before my "anger issues".

Finally I was near Cerulean. And suddenly… I got a message that I run out of Pokémon. "How?!" – I screamed, but, of course, no one answered. My character woke up at Pokémon Center. It was empty. There wasn't any NPC's, even nurse Joy disappeared. Computer won't allow me to enter Pokémon boxes.
I went outside and saw that I'm in Cerulean. All the people weren't there anymore. For some reason the emptiness freaked me out, but I still tried to keep myself calm. "It's just a game" – I whispered. All the entrances from the town were blocked. REIN simply "refused" to go, the sound was the same as then you walk into the wall. All the houses were empty. I was scared. I made REIN come to a Gym. Now she was standing in the same place where I saved the game for a last time, before trying to beat Misty, before my GameBoy broke. So much time had passed…
My heartbeat become faster, I heard a hum in my head. For some reason I was afraid.
I entered a Gym. It wasn't like it used to be… All the colors were distorted. Trainers disappeared. I came to check if Misty was there. She was, but… her sprite was covered in dark red pixels, like… blood? And on the left, there was… Charmeleon's sprite. The one that's used in game menu. But it wasn't moving at all. There wasn't any fire at his tail, and its eyes were completely gray. I tried to "talk" with Misty, but I got only some random symbols from her. Then I noticed that the character won't react at "turn right" button. The only way to go back was to move towards Charmeleon.
Battle had started without warning. Battle music shot down abruptly. When my opponent appeared, it looked the same as that sprite. Extinguished tail, black eyes…
And it, or rather she, had a name. It was MOUKOU. There was a Poké Ball symbol under the name, that means that I already have this Pokemon, but the symbol was grey, like Pokémon's status was FNT. Level did not appear. MOUKOU was quiet.
Rein released Jack. I chose the only attack with PP left – Tackle.
No effect.
[MOUKOU used  RETURN]
Jack's life bar glitched. It became grey and stretched beyond the screen. All text from the "screen" where life bar were, name and level disappeared. MOUKOU's bar glitched too. I heard several loud sounds, which sounded like Charmeleon's cry. Suddenly Jack became white, and his fire became green. I got a message:
«JACK NIGHT is no more»
What? What does it mean? What the hell "no more" is?!
The deafening sound came. A cry Charmeleon has while "dying". Battle ended. I was standing at a Gym again. Charmeleon's sprite disappeared. I was capable of mowing in different directions again. I wanted to turn the game off, but for some reason I couldn't. Something made me play further.
I left Gym and saw an abandoned city again.
Something was wrong with my character's sprite. It became darker. I chose to check it and opened trainer's ID. I was freaked out by the things I saw. Sprite had black hair. Not only black, but with red stripes on each side. It was the same hair color I have. The game's exchange symbol changed – instead of "R" in was more like "Y". Numbers said that I have 1994 Pokémon Dollars. I had one Pokemon at my Pokedex, and I played 12 hours 23 minutes. I had 3 badges. Stone, water, which was red for some reason, and the last one, in negative. The name was written "ReIn". Suddenly I felt goosebumps running down my spine. "Money" and "Game time" numbers formed my birth date. I tried to assure myself that it's just a mistake, a coincidence. I closed ID card and saw a pause menu again, but I couldn't get rid of it.  The part of screen which wasn't close showed that Rein is standing in the middle of a field with tall grass. I didn't know what to do, so I chose to check my party.
Jack still was the main in the party, but he was white, none of the data was shown, and his name changed to «NOWANTHIM». The symbol said that he was holding an item.
It the end of the party, which wasn't showing, was… MOUKOU. Her life bar was red, but full. Her level was 26, and she was holding an item too.
I gulped and chose "Take item". First from Jack. He was holding Super Potion. MOUKOU was holding something named "???". I couldn't do anything, so I wanted to exit this screen.
«I WANT YOU BACK… NOW!» - the writing appeared, and another fight began.
I had no Pokemon left. Rein took this place herself. She still had black hair with red stripes.
MOUKOU's life bar glitched, stretching not only the whole screen wide, but also duplicating itself on the top of screen. It was grey. Only the small part of it was red.
«MOUKOU waits REIN`s actions…» - those phrases were written all wrong, what does it mean? I chose FIGHT. Rein's sprite twitched. MOUKOU's life bar decreased a little (I mean the red part of it). When it was her turn to attack, the text box appeared.
[We promised that we be forever friends…]
After the next move, another text said:
[I want you for me… I no want him…]
[no…]
[I just want be with you]
[YOU MUST BE MINE AS I - YOURS]
Finally, MOUKOU attacked.
[MOUKOU used FRUSTRATION]
No effect.
[MOUKOU want you all for her]
Sounds became hush with every new move. And MOUKOU's sprite seemed to change, but I couldn't tell what actually was changing.
I can't tell how long I was sitting here, pressing the FIGHT button. MOUKOU almost run out of health, when screen cut to black and the loud crunchy sound came.
I covered my ears and screamed. The hell continued for some seconds, and when everything became quiet. Game turned off. I understood that me eyes were completely dry – like I haven't blinked for a long time. I was shivering.
I got up and turned TV on. Everything that happened was too scary. I never believed in paranormal things before. And now it happened right in front of me, and I couldn't explain it. It wasn't hack or glitch. Suddenly, I started to cry. I was afraid. The unexplainable fear took me over.
I remembered my childhood days, when I talked to MOUKOU on GameBoy. Back then, I couldn't even think about those things that will happen to me in future…
I picked up the DS. Turned the game on…
Loaded the last save file.
Nothing. Just a black screen. I looked into the darkness, because I felt there is something I must see. The sound was coming, getting louder and louder. It was Cerulean's music. But there was another tune that played over it. I trembled when I recognized the music. It was a melody from Pokemon Tower.
Suddenly, the text box appeared.
[Please, no leave our promise…]
[I want… you for me.]
[I no want to hurt you]
The next messages were all complete nonsense which I couldn't understand. After 15 minutes of clicking I finally saw Rein. She was standing on the top of Pokemon Tower.  I didn't know what to do next, so I started to go down. No one attacked me. I had no Pokemon left with me. There was no one outside. Like all the world was empty. Tall grass disappeared. Trainers and NPC too. Pokemon Tower music was playing. I loved it once, but now it made me tremble.
I was wondering through empty locations. Finally, when it was 2:00 PM, I chose to check the first town. I was hardly keeping my eyes open and trembling from every sound, but I continued playing. Finally I reached the place where the game started. In the middle of the town was the only one bush of tall grass.
I was sure – this is the only thing I can do, and I entered it. Fight hadn't started immediately. I needed to step on it several times.
Screen dropped the miniature and switched to the actual battle. The sound was OFF again. I was sure that it's MOUKOU again.
But… Charizard appeared in front of me. Besides, not the one that presents in GBA versions, but monochrome one, straight from Blue version. I had no Pokemon left, so Rein stayed at their place.
[I Happy, I with You again]
[I want defend yOu]
[You promised me, you love me]
[We friends]
Writings appeared one after another. They did not wait till I press the button, disappearing right after I finished reading.
[You…]
[say me word…]
What? What is she trying to say? I wasn't bad at English, but I couldn't understand that she is talking about.
[this word you say far away ago]
[word…]
[mean…]
[we re be together forever]
[I with you when you need I]
[but one day you abandon me…]
[that mean that you throw me away from your soul…]
[I want you all for me…]
[I hoped, you be happy, as I returned for you…]
[But you scared…]
[why? We re friends, true?]
The message hadn't disappeared, like she was waiting for an answer. I heard a sound, which imitated electronic whining.
[We re friends? You love me as you loved me past?] – The new message came.
I couldn't move. I don't know how long I was sitting there holding a DS.
[say… You love me now?]
[Why you choose HIM, if I promised forever defend you]
[SAY!!!]
I started to cry. The only thing I wanted was to end this all as fast as possible.
[PLEASE!!!]
- No! – I screamed – Go away! Leave me alone! What the hell are you?!
I got up, grabbed my jacket, picked my DS, tore out cartridge and ran outside. In was already morning. After 5 bus stops I throw cartridge somewhere on street and ran to my friend's house. Something kept telling me to visit her. I think I woke her up. It was 6:00 PM at all.
- Olga, can I sit here with you? – I asked in almost pleading voice.
- What's wrong? – she asked, wiping her eyes – I'm not against it. I'm alone right now.
She saw that I was trembling and brewed me some hot tea. I tried to catch my breath. I ran all the time, like if MOUKOU was chasing me… I even stopped trying to calm myself with logical conclusions. After all that happened logic wasn't believable anymore.
- Tell me what happened – Olga carefully touched my shoulder. – What was it?
I got a deep breath trying to calm down and told her everything.
- Are you sure it wasn't a dream?
For some reason I started to cry.
- Calm down – Olga said kindly, hugging me – it was just a dream, you got nervous, and… Come on, you wanted to visit Ira at hospital today, remember? I'll come with you.
I let her to calm myself. Olga was ready soon and we went outside. I knew that we were late on the train which I wanted to take. It left the station 1,5 hours ago. We needed to wait.
We came to the station. There was a crowd.
Someone explained to us that almost 1,5 hours ago the cable column fell and (somehow) took half of a platform with itself. I flinched. I could have been on this platform…
- Are you all right? – Olga asked, when she noticed that I started to cry.
I remembered MOUKOU's words…«[I want defend yOu]»…
And she kept her promise.

No mater what, I still play Pokemon. No one of other cartridges worked, so I threw them out. Instead I bought my desired Heart Gold. It is so fun playing it…
Finally I got to Kanto, beat Red and met Oak again. He let me to chose Starter. I chose with my eyes closed… Charmander. Female Charmander.
- Hello, MOUKOU… - I whispered, with tears running down my cheeks – welcome home…
It was just an ordinary Charmander. But still… I felt that I'm not alone anymore.