Chapter 8 - Nightmares

[DISCLAIMER - This chapter may not be for the faint of heart. You have been warned.]

Derrick allowed his eyes to glance at his counterpart occasionally as they made their way down Route 8 toward Celadon City. Red easily cut through the various trainers that challenged him on the way, but there was a different air about him that made Derrick uneasy. He knew that, somehow, Red was angry at him for letting the Raticate die. He felt bad about it, too, not being used to Pokemon ceasing to exist instead of simply lying immobile in his team's list, awaiting recovery at the Pokemon Center. But how was he to know?

"Red?"

The trainer made a silent acknowledgement toward the boy.

"I think I know what might cheer you up. A bit later on, we'll be able to try and find MissingNo."

...What's MissingNo.?

"It's a glitch that--"

Glitch?

Derrick cursed under his breath at making another game reference. He bit his lip and rapidly scrambled around in his mind for a cover up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean glitch. It's this extremely rare Pokemon that no-one's ever seen or caught, and it's really difficult and dangerous to find. It lives in the ocean. Think you're up to finding and catching it?"

Hmm...that'd be interesting. But how do you know about it if no-one's ever seen or caught it?

"Because I'm God, remember?" he blurted, wishing he could kick himself for saying so.

Suddenly, Derrick's vision went completely white. He covered his eyes and groaned, but the white remained strong in his sight. His head pounded softly as he heard his name being called. His stomach gave an all-too familiar heave as, after what seemed like hours of staring into a white void, he regained his vision just in time for a prepared hand to slap him across the face. He rubbed his cheek and looked around in bewilderment.

"Dude, are you okay!?" came the voice of Scott. He was back in his friend's room with a sore cheek and a queasy stomach.

"What happened..?" was the first thing he could muster. Scott knelt before a dimmed GameBoy SP that had clattered to the floor when he smacked Derrick.

"Turn this thing off and let's find a place to burn it. You've been playing that Pokemon stuff for waaaaay too long." Derrick knit his brows together.

"What was I doing?"

"You had your head leaned against my bed as you were playing on that thing, and you had the creepiest face, too. It's like you were possessed or something!"

"I was out of the zone, that's all..." Scott set the SP on his bed and grabbed Derrick by the shoulders.

"Dude...you weren't even looking at the screen and you had played for like, 10 minutes before I finally decided to try and shake you out of it. You just had this blank expression on your face. That thing's taking over your head!"
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Derrick sighed as he paced the coast of Cinnabar Island, trying to perform the Old Man Glitch. I flew to Viridian City to talk to the old man, but why isn't MissingNo. popping up now? I'm not even getting any other Pokemon... He clacked his tongue in frustration and allowed Red to cross onto the shore again; he needed to continue on into the Pokemon Mansion anyway so he could take on the gym leader.

"Derrick, it's 1am! Lights out!"

"'Kay, mom," Derrick responded, pulling the switch on his bedside lamp and leaning against his pillow as he maneuvered Red into the mansion. As Red took his first steps into the mansion, he stopped, and a text box appeared beneath him on the screen. It read:

RED: Nice try.

Derrick's eyes widened as he stared dumbly at the screen, rereading the text. Had Red just spoken to him through the game? Pulling his bed covers to his chin, he flicked the SP's power off and laid the device on the floor, rolling over and nestling into his covers. He needed some sleep.

That evening, Derrick dreamed vividly. A pale body loomed behind him as he walked in the void of his dream. As he caught a glimpse of it, he began to jog in an attempt to shrug the entity from his presence, but it only got closer. He dared not look back at it as his jog soon turned into a run, then a sprint. Still the body stayed close to him, arms reaching out. Suddenly, Derrick was jerked into the creature's grasp. The entity faced him about and ferociously began clawing at his chest cavity. Derrick could only watch in horror, looking dead into the face of his captor. It was a little boy with bright, red eyes, dark hair, and a Pokemon cap.