Chapter 12 - Fly

Derrick rushed outside when he saw his Pidgey was no longer in the Pokemon Center. With Bulbasaur at his heel, he glanced up to see his missing Pokemon gliding high above him in the direction of Route 1.

"Pidgey, come back!" Derrick cried in panic. The Pokemon, however, seemed to not even hear him, and with quick flying, it found it way back to Route 1 way before Derrick could. Soon, Derrick could not longer see the Pidgey, so he slowed to a halt at the city limits. "Augh!" he grunted furiously, kicking the ground before dropping onto his knees and mashing his hands against his face. He knew that he was never allowed to catch a fainted Pokemon. When it lost all of its HP, even when you were trying to catch it, your trainer simply had to try again with a different, stronger Pokemon. He knew this...

"I was just in a big hurry," he muttered to himself as he felt his other Pokemon's bulb nuzzling against his arm. He lifted his head and peered at his Bulbasaur, who had a concerned look on his face. Derrick's sullen features softened and he gave the Bulbasaur a reassuring scratch behind the ears. "Don't worry about it, guy. It was my fault, not yours. Besides..," his voice trailed as he glanced over his shoulders toward Route 22 where the Pokemon League was hidden, "There are other Flying Type Pokemon here that I can catch. Let's go after a Spearow."

Derrick and Bulbasaur quickly found their way to Route 22, where they began to search the tall grass. Derrick knew that Spearows weren't the most common Pokemon to be found there, but he wouldn't give up until they found one. His Bulbasaur, in the meantime, used the opportunity to level up a few times with the Rattata and Nidoran that were more common in the area. Derrick glowed with pride each time the Pokemon would make its foe faint. His situation may have been dire since he couldn't seem to "wake up" and he didn't have access to Red, but he was living his childhood dream of raising and training his very own Pokemon. No trading card game or console experience could even come close to him seeing his Bulbasaur actually grow and being able to nudge it with the side of his shoe intrusively when he once landed a one-hit KO.

Finally, Derrick and his Bulbasaur stumbled across a Spearow casually picking at the ground with its short beak. He put on a deviant smile. "There, Bulbasaur!" he commanded, "Use growl!" The Bulbasaur took on an intimidating stance and growled fiercely at the Spearow, making it flinch, its plumage becoming disorganized for a moment, before it lifted its head toward its challenger. In retaliation it brandished its sharp peak before charging after the Bulbasaur, using its Peck attack and landing a piercing hit to Bulbasaur's neck. Derrick thought quickly as the Spearow withdrew for a moment, ready for Bulbasaur's next attack. "Tackle!" he commanded, his Pokemon darting into a patch of tall grass for camouflage and leaping to collide head-on with the Spearow. Derrick grimaced as the two met, hoping that the Spearow wouldn't faint from such a strong attack. As Bulbasaur scrambled to Derrick's side, the Spearow shakliy got back onto its feet and glared at them both. Perhaps now he could catch it. Derrick discreetly pulled his only empty Poke Ball from his pocket before flinging it at the Spearow. Suddenly, however, Derrick saw a brown flash, and the Poke Ball was swatted away from the Spearow before landing with a soft thud on the ground.

"Huh..!?" Derrick exclaimed in panic. He rushed to pick the Poke Ball up from the ground before he saw what had happened. His Bulbasaur barked in surprised as they witnessed a Pidgey swooping down to pick a fight with the Spearow. He pecked wildly as he hovered in the air above the Spearow, kicking up a cloud of dust as Spearow fought back. Derrick and Bulbasaur watched the violent spectacle, which didn't last very long at all. Soon the Spearow was shamefully scurrying away, leaving the Pidgey as the winner. Derrick expected the Pidgey to fly away soon after that, being a satisfied victor, until it flew toward them and perched begrudgingly upon Bulbasaur's bulb.

"Wait.." Derrick began at length, "You're my Pidgey?" The Pokemon preened itself silently, making quick eye contact with his trainer occasionally. Derrick knew it was still mad at him. He crouched at Bulbasaur's side, finding Pidgey's eye level. Pidgey reluctantly glanced at him. "You were jealous," Derrick mused aloud, earning him an irritated chirp from the Pokemon. "No, no! You're right," he blurted, calming the Pidgey down for a moment. "You were right...that was my fault. I shouldn't have captured you after making you faint. And when you ran away, I should have diligently chased after you instead of giving up and trying to replace you. That was wrong of me." Pidgey's eyes shone as they finally locked gazes. Derrick sighed, wiping a hand across his forehead. "I've been playing Pokemon for years now, but I still have a lot to learn about being a trainer." He gently lifted a finger to scratch beneath Pidgey's chin. The Pokemon flinched, but gradually settled down and enjoyed the attention.

"I'm sorry, Pidgey," he said softly. When he took his hand away, the Pidgey shifted to fully face him now. "Would you be willing to be on my team? I need your help." The Pidgey clacked its beak a few times, as though it were giving the request some considerable thought, and finally gave a curt nod. Derrick sighed in relief. "Thank you," he chuckled softly. "Would you be willing to learn a new move?" The Pidgey peered at him sideways in curiosity. At that, Derrick pulled the HM out for the Pokemon to see. Bulbasaur looked up from below along with his new team mate at the shiny little disk. Even in the static, grey world Derrick was in, the disk still glowed as though the sun were shining against it. "This is Fly. I want you to use it. I need to get somewhere that I can't without you. Would you like to learn Fly?" Pidgey hopped on top of Bulbasaur, almost excitedly. Derrick smiled, examining the disk in slight confusion. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to actually teach an HM to a Pokemon.

Suddenly, the disk seemed to emit a quick flash of light. Pidgey jumped in surprise, only to become still again a moment later. Derrick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Did you...just learn the HM?" he asked the Pokemon. It chirped blankly in reply. Scratching his head, Derrick stood. "Alright, then. If you can use Fly, then how about you show me? Use Fly, Pidgey." The Pokemon gave a hearty flap of its little wings before becoming airborne. It hovered a few feet above Derrick, who still scratched his head a bit. "Can you...carry me?" he asked, half imagining the Pidgey would refuse. It lowered its altitude, however, now hovering only about a foot above Derrick's head. He looked down at his Bulbasaur, who was returning his look with the expression of a blank-faced dog. Heaving a sigh, Derrick pulled Bulbasaur's Poke Ball from his pocket and drew the Pokemon inside for safe keeping. After pocketing the ball, he lifted his arms and grabbed hold of Pidgey's little feet uncomfortably. The Pidgey gave a trill that almost told Derrick to relax.

"Alright, alright," he replied, shifting his grip to be more firm and natural. He didn't believe that Pidgey would possibly be able to lift him off the ground until his feet went limp beneath him and the trees around him began to shrink. A wave of fear passed over him, mainly with the speculation of how Pidgey was able to hold his weight, and he bit his lip as Pidgey began to soar over Route 1. Derrick gulped down his fear and examined his surroundings. The world looked two dimensional from this high up. "Pidgey," he called up to his flying Pokemon. "We need to go to Cinnabar Island. Do you see all that water?" he pointed with his foot toward the edge of the approaching Pallet Town, where they could then reach Route 21. "Go that way. We can go straight there if you go that way." Pidgey chirped in affirmation, making its way straight toward the water.

Time to Whore Myself

So I know it's been literal ages since I last posted an actual blog post, and I know what you're thinking. "You come back here just to whore yourself out? Pah!"
Well, first of all, yes. ; w ;
Second of all, keep your saliva to yourself.
I've opened up an Etsy account, called NerdyHatsNCraft, and it's to raise money for the next little bit while I look for a solid income.
If you have a moment and are interested in crocheted amigurumi or hats, please feel free to visit my shop here and buy something if you like. I promise the best quality in everything I make.

Here's a Captain Falcon .gif for your trouble.

-Churl~

Chapter 11 - Catching a Pokemon

Derrick slid into Professor Oak's laboratory, stopping to watch the static figures that represented his lab assistants cross the room one step at a time. It was rather odd to be in this sort of world without the accompaniment of Red. Without him nothing in the world seemed real at all. In fact, it wasn't - which meant that there might be a possibility he could get his hands on the remaining Pokemon that sat idle on Professor Oak's little table. He approached it quietly, slightly creeped out by the professor's blank expression as it faced straight forward. He stared cautiously at the man as his hand reached out to clasp around the capsule. Nothing happened. He raised the Pokeball off the desk and held it close to his chest. Nothing happened. He stared at it, suppressing a moment of giddiness at being able to hold a real Pokeball in his hands. Still nothing happened.

"Well, that was easy," he muttered to himself, tossing the sphere into the air casually as he exited the lab and made his way back out into Pallet Town. He wound back the ball and threw it toward the ground with a commanding "Bulbasaur, I choose you!" As he did, a flash of light emitted from the ball and the red-eyed Pokemon materialize before him. He bit his knuckle with excitement, glad that he was the only one around to notice how silly he acted. Bulbasaur wasn't his first choice as a starter Pokemon, of course, since he had chosen the Charmander for Red, but any Pokemon in his possession right now would help.

"Alright, Bulbasaur," Derrick barked to the creature, almost jumping in surprise as it perked up a nubby ear to acknowledge him. He would have to get used to this Pokemon actually responding to him like this. He cleared his throat. "Alright, Bulbasaur, I need to catch a Pokemon, and I need your help to do it. We'll need to go onto Route 1 to catch a Pidgey so I can teach it this Fly HM. Think you can give me a hand?" The Pokemon bleated in response, waiting for his new trainer to lead the way. Derrick almost bounced through Pallet Town with his Pokemon. It had been a boyhood dream of his to one day own a Pokemon, and now was his chance!

Minutes passed before Derrick and his Bulbasaur reached Route 1. Before them stood frayed, tall grass. Derrick had grown used to seeing this looming landscape as he and Red traveled, but Bulbasaur shifted nervously at his side. His trainer looked down at him, nudging his gently with the side of his shoe. "Hey, don't worry," he reassured the creature before heading into the thick brush. "The Pokemon here are weak compared to you. You can take them on easily!" Gradually Derrick heard the soft rustle in the grass behind him of his Pokemon following. They exited one patch of grass and soon found themselves in another, until suddenly, a Pidgey caught the boy's glance. He gestured behind him for his Bulbasaur, pointing at the wild Pokemon. "There's a Pidgey," he said. "Now, go after him! Use Tackle!" The Bulbasaur scrapped a foot against the ground before charging. The Pidgey turned to see Bulbasaur heading straight for him a moment too late. The two Pokemon collided, Bulbasaur's momentum throwing the Pidgey back and limply onto its side. Derrick's jaw dropped a bit.

"Oh, no!" he moaned, scrambling up to the wild Pokemon and examining it. "You hit it too hard and made it faint. I mean...I don't have a Pokeball to have thrown at it even if you didn't make it faint, but..." Derrick faltered as his Pokemon nuzzled its cheek against his leg, giving him an apologetic look. "Oh, you have it all wrong, buddy," Derrick started over. "It's good to make Pokemon faint. But I want to catch one of these." He glanced back over to the still Pidgey before an idea struck. He picked the body up, feeling creeped out by his impulse, even if the Pokemon was 'fainted,' and continued to make his way north toward Viridian City. His Bulbasaur followed, growling in confusion softly behind him. "Don't worry, Bulbasaur," he said, trying not to look at the Pidgey in his arms. "I'll be catching this one. I just hope I can make him fly." Bulbasaur's rumbling continued until they reached the City limit in Viridian. He headed straight for the PokeMart, Bulbasaur close behind him. When they reached the entrance, Derrick let the limp Pidgey rest on the ground before he turned to the grass Pokemon.

"Can I get you to look after this guy for just a bit? If he wakes up or does anything weird, just tackle him again. I won't be in the PokeMart but for a minute." The Bulbasaur gave him an odd look before nodding. Derrick then entered the store where he found a few inanimate characters loitering against shelves and looking around. If Professor Oak hadn't noticed him do anything to his lab when he took Bulbasaur, perhaps...

He examined the store for a moment, finding many of the shelves empty. It figured, since Red technically selected everything he needed from the screen on Derrick's SP. Finally he saw a short row of Pokeballs behind the counter. Casually he hopped over the counter, selected two, just in case one didn't work, and slid them into his pocket before exiting the store as though nothing had happened. His Bulbasaur had begun poking at the fainted Pidgey with his foot when he arrived outside. The Pokemon shifted backward as Derrick approached the body, tossing his Pokeball at it. It opened and enveloped the Pidgey, shutting closed with a flash of light and shaking violently for a few moments before it stopped. It took little effort, since the Pidgey was fainted.

"Wow...I'm breaking all the rules today," he said to himself, crouching to pick up the Pokeball that now held his second Pokemon. After examining the Pokeball for a moment and basking in how proud he felt to have actually caught a (fainted) Pokemon all by himself, he stood, smiling at Bulbasaur. "Alright...let's go heal you both up, even though you don't really need any healing..." Nonetheless, Bulbasaur chirped excitedly, following his trainer toward the Pokemon Center.

"C'mere, Bulbasaur," Derrick called, his Pokemon turning at hearing his name and crossing the floor of the Pokemon Center, hopping up onto the small sofa that always sat near Nurse Joy in the building. "Ready to see your new companion?" He asked, winding back his hand, Pokeball at the ready. He released it with a grunt, a flash of light blinding the Center before a rejuvenated Pidgey emerged from the Pokeball. It hovered a few inches from the ground, looking about in confusion. "Hello, Pidgey," Derrick called out to the Pokemon, watching it turn its attention toward his new trainer. It almost had a reluctant look on its face. "I know, I know," Derrick grumbled softly. "But I healed you! You should feel much better now. I just needed to catch a Pokemon of your species. Sorry for taking your fainted body and capturing you that way...it was kind of unfair." Pidgey squawked in agreement, fluttering toward his trainer but taking refuge atop Bulbasaur's bulb. "Well...would you at least take this HM so that you can learn how to carry me? I need to find Red, and quick!" The Pidgey hopped off the bulb and puffed out its feathery chest menacingly, giving him a distancing look. It spread its wings as Derrick tried to stand and approach it, flapping them rapidly and forming a gust inside the Center. Derrick shielded his face, giving the Pidgey just enough time to take flight, gliding out the Pokemon Center and into the City sky.

Chapter 10 - Breaking the Mold

Derrick swallowed heavily, trying to look anywhere in the static Pallet Town that he could other than into Red's eyes. The gaze continued to bore into his soul, just like the eyes of the boy in his recent nightmares. He hadn't answered Red's question.

God, did you hear my question? I asked if I was born here.

"Yes...!" the Derrick snapped, a bit more angrily than he would have preferred. "That's your mother in the living room here, your rival is out collecting badges and trying to beat you to the Pokemon League, and he's lived next door to you all this time. Professor Oak has had this adventure planned for you for--"

You're lying to me! Derrick flinched outright at the remark. Red had never raised his voice before. He was so used to it being static and almost monotonous, just like the landscape in which they both stood. Where was I really born?

"You were born here, Red," Derrick pressed, his finger shooting out from a balled fist and pointing firmly to the floor of Red's home. "This - Pallet Town - is your home. You were raised in this very house."

Then why do I not remember anything beyond the day that I got my first Pokemon? Why does my own mother not show any kindness or care for me when I visit her!? Why have I never seen any of these wild Pokemon before and have to use this device to identify them? Red reached into his bag and whipped out his Pokedex, brandishing it toward his companion, his knuckles white as he gripped it hard. Derrick finally brought his eyes to the trainer, surprised to see an almost sad expression on his face, his eyes to the floor. Why does it seem like my life started on that day?

Derrick couldn't take it anymore. He wished more than ever that the nausea would return, everything blurring before his eyes before he returned to reality instead of this insane dream, if it even was a dream. He pinched himself sharply, letting out small yelps of pain as he pushed through, trying to wake himself up in any way that he could. As he did, he could see Red raise his eyes to see what he was doing, and the gaze turned feral. He dug into his belt loops for a Pokeball, tossing it in the middle of the house and with a flash of light, a Victreebell came into view.

Victreebell, subdue him, Red commanded the grass Pokemon. The Victreebell let out a screech, slender vines stretching out from its body and wrapping around Derrick's body. The vines held firm, despite Derrick's panicked wiggling about in the attempt to get free. Red approached him, almost menacingly, and brought his usually static eyes close to Derrick's.

You're not leaving me again, God, the trainer hissed. You're going to answer my questions - truthfully! I know you're hiding something, and I won't let you get away without telling me the truth. Derrick could hardly breath in the creature's hold, his panic rising by the moment. He finally nodded rapidly in agreement, hoping that would decrease the pressure of the Victreebell's vines. And it did. He took a deep breath, softly panting as its hold on him loosened enough for him to comfortably rest in the tendrils.

"I warn you, though," Derrick responded, his heart pounding in his chest as he chose his words carefully. "I don't feel like it is right for you to know the truth...you may not like what you hear."

At this point...any sort of closure is better than being in the dark a moment longer. Derrick watched as Red took a seat at the table that his mother sat at, summoning his Victreebell to carry Derrick over to another seat so he could explain everything. The trainer's eyes looked sullen, languid almost. For the first time in Derrick's life, it occurred to him that perhaps Red had a soul - maybe not a dynamic soul like what he had, but a soul nonetheless. It was going to kill him to explain everything, but he knew that if he made one slip, the Victreebell's tendrils may very well squeeze the life out of him. He heaved a deep breath.

"Your life is a game," Derrick spoke softly, seeing the trainer's eyebrows furrow immediately. "Everything that we've seen here is a game, and you are the star...you did honestly grow up here, but...you were never meant to have any manifested existence until the day that you got your first Pokemon...just like you said. The people that you speak to here have programmed words to say, and will never say anything that they're not meant to...they're all here to support you on your journey."

So...I'm the only actually living person in this place...? Red asked, his voice like that of a child. Derrick gave a shaky nod of the head. God...why would you make a world like this?

"Th-That's another thing," he added, swallowing hard again. He felt like he was giving a public speech with the way his voice trembled. "I'm...not God. I simply control your game from a device...your real Gods live in a place where there are many of the same game...and other people do the same thing to a copy of  you." This left the trainer speechless. In the already silent environment of Pallet Town, the silence was almost as painful as the vines wrapped around Derrick's torso. He watched Red sulk motionless for what seemed like hours until the trainer suddenly gestured toward the Victreebell. The vine's suddenly left Derrick's body, and Red stood abruptly from his seat, drawing the Pokemon back into its Pokeball and making his way toward the door.

Nobody controls me...he growled, his voice barely audible as he stepped outside. Derrick followed, watching Red summon another Pokemon - his Pidgeot - and climb on top of its back.

"What are you doing!?" Derrick called out over the Pidgeot's powerful wings beginning to flap.

Nobody controls me, God, came the same monotonous reply that he was used to. I control myself. With that, the Pidgeot took flight, easily soaring high above Derrick, despite his attempt to grab hold of the creature, and it flew off, in the direction of Cinnabar island. Derrick immediately resumed pinching himself to wake himself up. He needed control of the game again! He dashed back into Red's house, and froze. The trainer had been in such a hurry to leave that he forgot his bag. Derrick picked it up, rustling though its contents - Super Potions, Antidotes, TMS...wait.

"Yes...!" Derrick hissed excitedly, opening the TM case and finding Red's Hidden Machine for Fly. He could catch up to him, if only he had a Pokemon himself that could Fly. He tapped the HM against his head rapidly, trying to think. His thinking led him to exit the house once again, and he looked up into the sky, seeing Red's Pidgeot as only a small dot on the horizon. "How can I catch a Pokemon...?" he asked himself, scanning all of Pallet Town. He couldn't just wrestle a Pokemon with his bare hands. He needed one that was already caught. Then his eyes drifted to Professor Oak's Laboratory.

Pokemon W2 - Storytime

So excited, man!

Yes, I'm still alive, and yes I'm still playing Pokemon White 2. I just needed to get an old friend of mine up do date as far as levels are concerned. Here we go:

Luz (Chandelure) - L43
Cesar (Serperior) - L43
Corro (Crobat) - L43
Ross (Ampharos) - L44
Eris (Krookodile) - L45

By the way, POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT. 

Anyway, I had been backtracking like a mofo through Route 13 to level up Ross up to his final evolution form. I was about halfway trough the process before I realized that I could use my Lucky Egg to speed things along. It's been a while, m'kay? ; w ; I'm juggling FireRed and an Emerald Nuzlocke aside from this run-through.

But why, you might ask, am I on Route 13? Well, y'see, I'm at the part of the game where I'm reminded quite a bit of the aspect that half of the map is frozen solid, and thus is not accessible. After you defeat Skyla in Mistralton City and earn your flying-type badge, that's pretty much as far as you can go. I ended up having to use one of her planes to fly to a place called Lentimas Town. I'm not even gonna lie, it looked like something out of Arabian Nights.

Bulbapedia's

Using this town as a segue, you're able to then traverse Reversal Mountain. What's cool about Reversal Mountain, depending on the game you get, is that the inside will look different in Black 2 and in White 2. According to Bulbapedia, the interior for White 2 is lava-like with a hot color scheme, with Black 2's cave been cold color schemed. The creators even put different trainers in the different games. 

Not bad, Game Freak. Not bad.

Thus, you are now back up to par with where I am. The cave ended up leading me to the opposite side of the map, in Undella Town. It surprised me at first because that's where you usually end up in after you've beaten the Elite Four in Black/White. It had some strong Pokemon and trainers, good for level grinding, and I ended up in Lacunosa Town, where I last saved my game. You get a little history lesson about how the town's name came to be. I won't tell it, though, because it was actually not that bad to read about.

So there. I'll also be uploading a new chapter next week for Glitchy Red Retold. I've been making a point to write more often.

Also, go make yourself some banana bread. I did...tastes delicious, too, if only I hadn't spilled the vanilla extract in the bowl...

-Churl

Pokemon W2 - Adorable Poodles

Because I can't draw today. ; w ;

So at the beginning of this month I finally got a chance to pick Pokemon White 2 back up and realized something: I forgot what I was doing. I also forgot to level up my Pokemon as I went, so now I'm a little bit behind. Firstly, because the trainers around Undella Bay are powerful. ; w ;

Secondly, because I seriously have lost my patience in using Lucario. You may throw vegetables at me if you like, but I can't do it, man. ; n ;
So, with that said, I'm backtracking and leveling up one of my old team members. You'll find out who it is next go-'round.

Also, I've been extremely busy concerning writing. The school year's starting back, so there's writing with homework. Also, I'm proud to say that I finally have the last of the plotline down for the Glitchy Red Retold chapters, so I'll be posting a new chapter soon. I'm also writing my first fanfic in a looong time. If you're a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan, you may want to check it out, once it's done.

Most importantly, however, is that I've gotten my first writing gig. I'm helping script for a Choose Your Own Adventure flash game. Doesn't have a name yet, as far as I know, but when stuff runs along more, I'll get permission to post previews and whatnot. I'm SUPER excited about it, though, so I'm pouring a lot of my soul into it.

So yeah, those are my excuses. ; w ;
Here's a video of a dog walking on its hind legs for your entertainment, so I can hopefully sneak away unscathed.
- Cheryl

Chapter 9 - Reality Check

"Derrick, can you help me wash dishes down here? I could use a hand."

The boy swallowed absently, pressing START on his Gameboy SP and finding the Pidgeot in his team, commanding it to Fly to Fuchsia City. His glazed eyes followed the pixelated bird as it flew back and forth across the screen, carrying Red to his desired destination. The upbeat theme for the City struck up as Red landed, but Derrick instead pressed the volume on the side of his handheld down to mute it, bringing it from his eyes so he could wipe his hand down his face and think. Maybe a run through the Safari Zone would help change the pace.

"Derrick!"

"What is it, mom!?" he called back, trying to coat the annoyance in his voice.

"Come down here and help me with these dishes!" came the equally annoyed response. Derrick snapped his SP shut, placing it on his bed as he slid from atop of it and exited his room, making his way down the stairs as his mother continued to reprimand him: "I had to call you four times before you even answered. If you were that busy why didn't you just tell me? It's probably that game - you've been playing it entirely too much lately!"

"You're exaggerating, mom," Derrick retorted half-heartedly, stepping into the kitchen and finding a clean cloth to help her dry dishes with. "I haven't played it that often."

"I beg to differ," his mother pressed, pausing her washing to place wet fingers at his chin and turn his face toward her, earning her an embarrassed groan from her son. "Look at you. Look at your eyes! You've hardly been sleeping because you've played that game so often."

Derrick softly pulled from his mother's grip on his chin, rubbing the bags beneath his eyes a bit. He will admit, he hadn't gotten as much sleep as he wished. "It's not the game, mom," he murmured, wiping along his face once more. "My system's back light won't work with this game, so I can't play it into the early morning or anything. It's been those nightmares." His mother's expression softened a bit at that.

"The one from those other times...you're still having those?" she asked. As her son nodded, she crossed her arms and pursed her lip, eyes concerned. "That's strange. Usually recurring dreams like that mean something special." Derrick gave a light shrug, resuming his drying duty. When he was reluctant to meet her eyes, she raised an eyebrow. "Derrick, you can't hide forever. If you're having the same dream over and over, then you probably should begin digging up a few skeletons you may have forgotten to confront."

"Maybe..." he responded, biting his lip.
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Derrick maneuvered Red through the Safari Zone, pacing the character back and forth in the tall grass, even making him stand still and simply facing him different directions to save steps, hoping for a good Pokemon.

"Dude, you're hopeless," remarked Scott, peeking over at him from his phone and smirking. "I'll never know what you see in those sorts of games."

"It'd be awesome if I could find a Chancey," she whispered to himself, having not heard his friend, running or throwing bait at various wild Pokemon as he went. As he gradually became more bold in his steps, making Red walk more and more instead of reserving steps in the Zone, the bells sounded for his time to quit. "Bah," he blurted in defeat, watching his character return to the Safari Zone's lobby.

"No luck?" his friend muttered with a roll of the eyes.

"Hmm?" came the absent reply. Scott's mouth curled into a frown.

"Okay, screw that game!" she blared, bring his phone to his lap. "Turn that thing off and let's actually do something! We haven't been hanging out that much this summer. Let's go find you and me a ladyfriend so maybe this summer won't be so dull, because all you've been doing when we hang out is play on that stupid SP and hardly pay attention to the world. I don't know what your deal is lately, but we need to get you...Derrick...wait, are you okay?"

Derrick lifted his face toward his friend, exposing how clammily white it had become so suddenly. The boy doubled over a bit, nausea filling his mind and stomach. He saw his friend come to his aid, fanning his head, shaking him, shouting into his ear, but the more nauseous he got, the less he could hear or feel Scott with him. In fact, he couldn't feel or hear anything, it seemed. With painful gradualness, his nausea subsided, and he found himself in Pallet Town.  He also saw Red standing, staring at his small house.

"I thought we were supposed to be in the Fuchsia City," she muttered, hoping almost that Red couldn't hear him.

...I did, too. But we're here again.

Derrick looked around. He knew Pallet Town's tiny structure like the back of his hand, but it seemed surprisingly quiet now. There was no heartfelt background music like he was used to, and everything looked excessively static.

It's a bit strange, Red muttered, still staring at his house. Derrick joined him after a bit of wandering, looking  over to his his eyes pasted to the building.

"What's strange?" he asked, hoping that would draw his eyes from the building. It was beginning to unnerve him.

Well...many things, actually. It's strange that we somehow are back to the beginning place after a run in the Safari Zone, but...it's more strange how little I know about this place. God...was I born here?

"Well, yeah," came the boy's reply, as he leaned back against one of the rows of fence erected near his house. "You were born here and lived here until you decided to become a Pokemon master."

But that can't be...I don't know anything about this place. I don't even remember being raised here. Derrick swallowed as Red's eyes finally broke from the house to meet his own. The first thing I remember from this place is waking up in a room and going downstairs from this house and finding my way into tall grass, where I met Professor Oak. I had never met him before then. I had never met my rival, either. Even my 'mother'...

"That's your mother, Red," Derrick tried to reassure him. Red's eyes blazed for a moment at the remark. He beckoned Derrick follow him into the house where his mother sat at the table staring at the wall opposite from her.

This is my mother? Does she know anything about me? Does she ever mention me to other people?

Derrick couldn't respond. He only bit his lip and stared at Red's less-than-neutral expression.

She says the exact same thing whenever I talk to her now. Before I met Professor Oak, she would tell me that kids my age normally leave home, but after I started training Pokemon, she simply heals my team and wishes me off. She doesn't ask me to sit down and talk about my travels, or compliments me on how well I've been raising my Pokemon. She's...she's hardly even human!

Derrick watched the sprite of his character's mother as it remained perfectly still, most likely waiting on her son to talk to her so she could heal his Pokemon. She couldn't believe how right Red sounded.

I couldn't have been born here, from a static mother who talks about only two things, and with people I hardly know...God, where was I really born?

Intermission

So, I know I haven't posted a blog in over a month now, and for that I am extremely sorry! Then again, it is Christmas time. And with that being said, also mentioning that I just finished exams and am now being thrown into the situation of helping relatives prepare for Christmas, I still don't have a ready blog to post yet.
I'll be posting on Christmas Day, however, I promise! I have a new chapter almost ready by then, and soon after that, probably that Friday, I'll be posting another Pokemon White 2 blog, so keep an eye out for those two posts soon!
I'd also like to mention that my boyfriend is visiting me on the 29th, so I'll have one more period of no posts during the week that he's here, then I'll be back on schedule like usual. I promise. ; w ;

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far!
- Churl

Pokemon W2 - Grumblings

Laziness cupcake

Warning: This blog post may or may not contain spoilers. Just to be on the safe side...

So why did I draw a cupcake instead of my team? Well...let me be honest...I had one, but I'm finding that I really don't enjoy drawing Lucario. Besides, the cupcake is of Litwick, my newest team member, so be happy! It's cute!

Luz (Litwick) ♀ - 35
Cesar (Serperior) ♂ - 37
Eris (Krokorok) ♀ - 37
Luke (Lucario) ♂ - 37
Corro (Crobat) ♂ - 37

Alright...I decided, since honestly, the game's been running pretty much exactly how B/W ran, I'm going to spend today talking about a few things I dislike about this game...and this generation as a whole.

1. Difficulty

Now this, kids, is MATH.

A friend of mine gave me Pokemon Red the other week, and though I have played multiple times through Blue and Yellow, I decided to give it a play-through, mainly to see what was different about the variety types. Every time I go back to these older games, I remember how freaking DIFFICULT they could be at times. I mean, yeah, you had the simple formula of catching good Pokemon, leveling them up until they could stand a chance against trainers and the gym leader, but in those days, you didn't have fancy movesets, abilities, natures, characteristics - all that nonsense. You learned...maybe 12 or so moves in the ENTIRETY of your Pokemon's existence, unless you wanted to use a TM on it. When you finally got  Pokemon who used Hyper Beam, Thunder, or Earthquake, you were God.

Now everything's all fancy. Now, don't get me wrong - the characteristics and natures and whatnot are cool additional aspects to the game. It gives more complexity to your Pokemon. Not every Pikachu has the same exact stats anymore. Zigzagoon use pickup to get you cool items, Sandile and their evolutions get an attack boost every time they knock out an opponent; it's awesome! But there are other aspects that kind of annoy me now.
For instance. Remember how when you got a Pokemon on your team poisoned, you hightailed it back to the Pokemon Center and healed it up before it fainted? I do, too. Remember how in Pokemon HeartGold, your Pokemon would somehow magically heal from its poison a point away from fainting? Yeah, that was kind of annoying. Well, I got a team member poisoned for the first time in this game, my Flaaffy, actually (I was leveling it up). Well, I start heading back toward the Pokemon Center, when I noticed something. There was no flash on the screen, no bleeping sound telling me that an HP had just left my poisoned Pokemon. That just makes me sad. I want it back! I want my challenge back!

2. Technical Machines

Speaking of TMs, this frustrated me a little when I started playing Black. Normally, when you would pick up a TM on the side of the road, you would often either sell it if you knew you weren't ever going to use it, or you'd keep it for a special occasion, for when you got the right Pokemon to use it on. You'd then carefully chose which Pokemon you'd give it to, and the TM was gone. Well, as you probably have guessed, you get to keep all the TMs you pick up. Now, I know this has its good side as well, but I'm going to go back to the difficulty aspect on this. I think that letting you reuse TMs over and over takes away from the special feeling you got when you picked up one you really wanted to use on your team. For example, Thunderbolt (TM24), Flamethrower (TM35), and Ice Beam (TM13) were three of the most sought after moves, for me. They were raw, and powerful, and usually difficult to obtain. And after I would get them I would usually keep them until I found the right Pokemon to use them on. Now, whenever I get them, I can just throw them all out on anyone that's compatible and not give it a second thought. It takes away from the special feeling you get when you find a TM.

3. Freaking...Hugh

I just don't like this guy. He's melodramatic; he's excessively Sasuke-esque; he's easy as nonsense to beat in battle...I mean, at least Cheren and Bianca provided a challenge, in that they popped up to battle in the absolute LEAST opportune places, particularly in ones where I hadn't healed up my team. I'm sorry, guy. I wanna like you. Maybe you'll grow on me later.

Sorry for the ranty blog post. Hopefully I'll have more productive things to say next post.

- Churl

Pokemon W2 - I luff this game~

Dis my pic. Click to make big n' stuff. 

WARNING: This blog post will, *most likely*, contain spoilers. 

Before I go any farther, please lemme remind you about how dissatisfied I am about the variety of wild Pokemon you experience in this game, at least toward the beginning. I need a water-tyyyyyyype! ; A ; Alright, done. 

Midnight (Zorua) ♂ - 25 
Luke (Lucario) ♂ - 30 
Eris (Krokorok) ♀ - 30 
Cesar (Servine) ♂ - 31 
Corro (Golbat) ♂ - 31 

Okay, real talk. I'm not personally a fan of Pidove and his evolutions because...well, just meh. He's a little boring. But I kinda want a flying-type, and I know that they had Zubat in the sewers of Castelia City, so broke down and got a Zubat, because frankly, Crobat is one of my favorites. Also...I have a Zorua now. I'm in Driftveil City at this point, and you get a Zorua droppe off on you when you get there. He's cute, and he has pretty decent stats, but I'm not sure...I already have a dark-type Pokemon on my team, so I'll just have to see what happens with him. I'll train him for a while, at least. But anyway...

Alright...this pleases me. As I'm slowly plowing my way through the game and finding out new things, I'm finally beginning to realize that the gym themes are more various now. I mentioned in my last blog post about the ambient bug-like music in Castelia's gym, and I experienced the same thing when I got to Nimbasa. I PROMISE I won't post about every gym's music, but this really excites me, considering I had grown almost more-than-used to the generic gym theme whenever you enter a gym. But anyway, back to Nimbasa. If you played B/W, you remember that Elesa, Nimbasa'a gym leader, is a fashion model. In B/W, you challenged her in an amusement park. In this sequel, they changed things up a bit. You can still access the theme park, but now you get to challenge Elesa on a freaking RUNWAY. Like, a catwalk runway. This music here is what you hear when you've beaten all the trainers and have only her to defeat. It is SO cool. No lie.

But yeah. I'm in Driftveil City, now, and it is the hosting spot of your Pokemon Tournaments. Now, I realize that this aspect of the sequel was well-advertised before it even came out in Japan, but I never thought that you'd get to experience it so early on in the game. I thought it would be an extra for after you beat the main storyline. but nope, it's PART of the storyline. It's enjoyable, albeit a bit stressful at times. Mainly because the first match you have is against your rival, and he has a Tranquill that knows Roost. I'm sorry, but that is BITCH MOVE. Otherwise, you get Battle Points to redeem, and it's a cute idea to help plan battle strategies.

M'sorry for the abrupt edit. I'm a silly person who doesn't do her research enough.
- Churl

Pokemon W2 - Creepy Crawlies

Picture es small. Click to make big.
WARNING - This blog post WILL contain spoilers.

So, I've done a bit of changing around with my team. Here's who we have now.

Cesar (Servine) ♂ - 20

Maverick (Darumaka) ♂ - 20
Luke (Lucario) ♂ - 21

Eris (Sandile) ♀ - 22

Maverick is a bit of a...guest team member for now. Mainly because I'm not the fondest of his stats and would prefer a different fire-type, but I'm not in the best shape, currently being in the Castelia City gym, filled with bug-types. I also released Ross. He won't hold up well in the next few gyms, if my predictions of where I'll be headed next are true. But yeah, I'm in Castelia City now, and am looking for Team Plasma with Hugh.
Oh, by the way, this is Hugh:

Instead of Cheren and Bianca being your companions in this one, since it's two years from the prequel, you get this little twirp. He means well, but JESUS CHRIST, he's like a Sasuke for Pokemon. Don't get me wrong, he does mean well, cares about his Pokemon and whatnot, but he's a little churlish! (Neheh...churl-ish.) Regardless...back to Castelia City.

M'kay...this is more of a personal issue than anything else, but people who know me - my boyfriend, my parents, my close friends - will all tell you that I'm not at all fond of bugs. By bugs, I mean insects, spiders, crayfish, (except Corphish...Corphish is adorable) and everything related to creepy creatures. Over the years of playing Pokemon, I've become okay with them being around. You have the occasional gym and whatnot that'll be host to Bug-Type Pokemon and I've been just fine. Well...y'know how Burgh's Bug-Type gym was all art and honey? Oh no...it's not pretty and gooey anymore. It's THIS:

Pardon the quality...

You stand in front of these cocoon sort of things and they SUCK YOU UP and DRAG YOUR BODY down a thin tube to another part of the gym so you can eventually get to burgh, hiding up top in a creepy sort of rainbow art room. Go look it up. Not only does this new gym design resemble an actual hive, but listen to this background music! ; n ;

No me gusta. That is all.
Sorry this post was a bit longer than usual. I'm thoroughly enjoying the game thus far, though. <3

- Churl

Pokemon W2 - Pretty Graaaaphiiics~

Das my picture. Please don't steal it. I like it. ; n ;

WARNING - The following blog post may contain spoilers.

I'm not gonna lie, guys, I was relatively surprised at this game. I mean, I've never played an actually sequel to a Pokemon game. Yes, Pokemon Coliseum had a sequel, but it didn't necessarily have a 2 beside it. But I digress. Say hello to my new team. <3

Cesar (Snivy) ♂ - LV 16

Luke (Riolu) ♂ - LV 18
Ross (Flaaffy) ♂ - LV 18

Lemme get this out of the way, first. I love the variety the game gives you this early in the game. I have a freaking FLAAFFY and RIOLU. I really can't complain too much. I look forward to some more variety later on in the game, but for right now, I'm stoked with the team I was able to scrounge together. I had a Purrloin named Coya at the very beginning, but I can't deny, after I started seeing Mareep and Riolu, I knew I would end up having to make some difficult decisions with making my team.

Anyway, I'm pretty satisfied so far with the gameplay. Not only have they shifted the story line for the game, but they've improved a bit on the graphics of the game. They're mainly small little things, but they've added some touching animation to the game. For one, your battlefield is more animated! What I mean by that is, well, blades of grass move when you're in battle on a grassy field. Plus, all of your opponents have animations as well. I had noticed that a little bit in some of the previews, but I never imagined that they'd let your Youngsters and Lasses have their own animation at the beginning of battle, too. Like I said, small stuff, but they make a difference, to me. If you have a copy, see how many little details you can pick up on. 

Another difference I noticed is that you have a bigger map of Unova to explore. Your character starts out the journey not from Nuvema Town, which you see at the very bottom right of the map, but in Aspertia Town, at the very bottom left of the map. I find this to be rather interesting, because you still have only 8 gym badges to collect, to my knowledge. Three of your gyms are new, and this makes me wonder if you get to interact with the other gym leaders in the game.

I'm not exactly far in the game, but I've beaten past the first gym, which happens to be your good pal Cheren, who is now a Normal-type gym leader. And yes, Team Plasma makes a comeback; I'll make mention of them later on in this little tutorial. So that's that, a little summary of how things are running thus far.

By the way, I PROMISE that I'll have a new chapter up for Glitchy Red Retold. I just recently got a small break and I'm working on it as we speak. 

OMG YES PLEASE

Do you see this? Here, look - I'll show you:

This is a box. For the new freaking Pokemon game. I bought Black for the previous one, so I figured, why not get the opposite for the sequel? So yes, I now have in my possession the game of Pokemon White 2.

I'm gonna do something fun with this. Remember back in the day when I used to do semi-walkthroughs of different games? I think I'll do one for this game, too, only this time, I'll be a first-timer.

...And this is where I grow sad inside. You see, it is midterm week, and I have much to finish and turn in before Wednesday, when I'll finally be in my fall break. I may play a few minutes here or there between now and Wednesday, but I won't have anything to post most likely until this weekend, so be patient, and I'll whip up a nice blog sequence for White 2. <3

Also, I know I've been neglecting my story remake of Glitchy Red. Have no fear, though. I promise you - no, I pinkie promise you, I'll have a new chapter up by this weekend as well. Hope you'll like it. :D

-Churl

9 Reasons Why Johto is my Favorite Gen.

Everyone who's ever immersed themselves in a few Pokemon games will tell you that they have a preference for a specific generation, usually with reasons to back them up...usually. Most of the time, the winning candidate will be the original Pokemon Red, Blue and (in Japan) Green, with Yellow on the side. Though I will definitely agree that the simplicity of these GameBoy games are unmatched in some aspects, I truly cannot deny that I enjoyed playing Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal far more, and here's why...in no particular order.

9 - Timing

(Behold, my childhood in a closet.) Anyway, Pokemon Gold and Silver came out mid-to-late 2000. I, at the time, had recently turned 7-years-old, just about the time for my vocabulary to sprout its wings and allow me to actually play video games without my mother reading everything to me. Silver, which I had chosen, was not my first Pokemon game - Blue was. The only problem is that when the very first Pokemon came out in 1998, I wasn't familiar with how to read. My mother taught me how to read through video games, to a certain point; she would sit me on her lap and let me hold the GameBoy, but would read to me whatever people said to Red in the older generations, so now that I was old enough to comprehend what people were saying for myself, that made the experience twice as memorable. I'm sure you've all experienced something like this, you gamers since childhood.

8 - Graphics

I've lightly mentioned this in a previous blog post about Pokemon graphics, but when I played the very first Pokemon games, the sprites tended to freak me out, until Pokemon Yellow sort of fixed that. Still, the grave images of...Golbat (shudder) and some others were branded into my memory. Pokemon Silver helped me believe in cute little pocket monsters again. I won't go into too much detail, but I thought they looked far nicer, and polished, particularly the newer additions, with these sorts of graphics. Not only that, but when I picked up Crystal the next year, I was amazed in a childish sort of way at the little animations they had added to all the Pokemon. It truly gave you the desire to "Catch 'em All."

7 - Rival Silver

Alright, I have a confession to make...I thought Rival Blue was awesome. He was a good rival in the first game, and though he didn't often provide too much of a challenge, he always popped up in places where you never expected him too, especially when you hadn't healed your team...

...What? This is about Silver, not Blue? Ah, really? That's interesting...what? Noooo, I never had a crush on Silver when I was younger, why would you say that? He's a redhead? Yeah, I know, but what difference does that  make? He was an abusive and self-centered trainer, and though he had a beautiful change of heart later on and spoke to you like an angel whenever you'd run into him...NO. I NEVER HAD A CRUSH ON HIM. NEVER. I DENY THAT STATEMENT.

6 - Exploring Two Worlds

It honestly took me a while to plow through all the gym leaders so I could take on the Elite 4 and eventually beat the game. But after that, I figured that I would simply pass on to the next Pokemon game like it was nothing, just like what happened in Pokemon Blue. When I did defeat Lance and get the Pokemon Champion title, however, something interesting happened. I got a call from Prof. Elm and he shipped me off to Kanto. And at first I was like "Psh, yeah right." They were serious. It hadn't been that long after the first game that I did beat Silver, but it was almost like nostalgia to me, and it most certainly is now that I've played through HeartGold to pass on to Kanto. Though everyone somehow knows you're from the foreign region, you still get to take these more advanced trainers on and beat through the Kanto gym leaders, which I thought was an excellent layer of icing on the Silver cake.

5 - Shinies 

I'm not gonna lie - I played through Silver and Crystal quite a few times, and throughout those times, I did indeed hear people say things about some Pokemon being different. When you encountered the Red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage, it never occurred to me too much that it was a shiny. At the time I didn't have internet access to tell me what a shiny was, so I just thought it was a weird Gyarados, whatever. Then one day as I was playing Crystal I was breeding Eevee with my Ditto, and had like, 10 eggs. (I like Eevee, okay?) Then one hatched, and I noticed something different about it. It was a lot grayer than usual. Little did my small mind know that I had hatched one of the rarest shinies to grace Pokemon. I raised it to be an Espeon and nicknamed it Essence, and soon afterward...I erased my game. After I realized what I had done, I was almost heartbroken. These two shinies (Stantler and Tentacruel) are the only remaining ones I've caught on record, both on HeartGold. Thus, I will never again erase my HeartGold data...I'll just go pick up SoulSilver one day. ; w ;

4 - Berries

I honestly don't have too much to say about the Berries in G/S/C, because they weren't as advanced a system as they were in the next generation. Berries came in like...well, Berries, and status cure Berries. Very simple, eh? Well, when I was younger, this provided me with some sort of Animal Crossing effect - Berries grew once a day, since time had now been installed in the games, so I HAD to check the trees every single day so I would have all the berries. I dunno what was wrong with me at the time, but I spent a lot of time whilst playing through the games making sure I had all the berries I could ever need.

3 - Team Rocket

I initially didn't think much of Team Rocket in Pokemon Blue. I knew they were there, and I knew they were always causing trouble, but I really didn't display any emotion over whether or not they existed. Sure, they provided something to level-grind with, but that was just about it. Then they returned...3 years later, in G/S/C. I guess the return effect was what got me when you came across them in this generation. They had relatively the same Pokemon, but there was something different about them. Maybe it was the debut of your enemy's theme music? Yup, you got an epic battle theme when you ran into these guys. It pretty epic, too. Go look it up. Regardless, with their abrupt return and new look, they gave me another reason to be excite about playing this game.

2 - Breeding

Ah, what fond memories I had when I was younger, putting together two helpless Pokemon and pacing baaack and forth and baaack and forth on my bike between Goldenrod City and Route 34 in an effort that I would get an egg. It was usually just my Eevee and a Ditto, though, because my parents were too cheap to get me a strategy guide for a silly GameBoy Color game, so that's all I knew about. It was also an interesting epiphany that I had when I finally realized how the eggs randomly kept popping up at the Daycare center...Skitty/Wailord much?

1 - Overall Feel

I really dunno what it is about Pokemon Silver and Gold. Is it the concept of day and night that you experience when you decide to stay up past your bedtime under the blankets? Is it music style? Is it the plot difference? Or maybe the concept of Pokemon happiness? I really dunno. But it has my favorite starter of all time (Cyndaquil) along with your first debut for a female protagonist. Though I will never forgive GameFreak for replacing Kris with that bish Lyra in HeartGold/SoulSilver as your female character, I have very fond memories of playing this game, memories that I will share with my children when they learn to read. Video games are timeless, particularly Pokemon games, and I know that I will never forget this generation.

Sorry for the extremely long post, but I hoped you like my insight. <3

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!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.

Red is DEAD!

Nooonono, this has nothing at all to do with my little story chapters. This is an entirely different manner of exclamation.
Last night I accomplished something that I had only dreamed of accomplishing, something that I never thought I'd have the patience and courage to do. Last night, I climbed Mt. Silver in my cartridge of Pokemon Heart Gold with this team:

Zippity (Jolteon) ♂ - Lv. 68
Essence (Espeon) ♀ - Lv. 70
Venom (Umbreon) ♂ - Lv. 66
Dipper (Vaporeon) ♂ - Lv. 68
Calor (Flareon) ♂ - Lv. 68
Dominic (Rhyhorn) ♂ - Lv. 35 (As an...HM whore.)

I had plenty...PLENTY of medicine with me, because honestly, I'm not the aggressive sort of gamer - not unless I absolutely must be. That being said, sometimes I cut corners because I have so much medicine.
Regardless, I took my team, climbed Mt. Silver, and promptly kicked Pokemon Trainer Red where the babies float.
No...actually, it was more interesting than that. See here for yourself.

As a disclaimer, this was a 25-minute-long battle, so I had to speed it up. Also, I've no idea why the camera kept refocusing. Hopefully you can still see well. I took the most ghetto of means to record this: my cell phone, taped to a plastic sweets box my boyfriend's mother got me for Christmas last year...yup.

I know those of you who've already beaten Red are probably ready to give some nice, critical comments about my form. Well MURRH. I'm proud of this accomplishment. He should have had more heals, being up there on that mountain all alone.
It was, I cannot deny, THE CLOSEST battle I have ever encountered. Once false move at the end and I would be throwing my DS against the wall on sheer rage and impulse. (Thank you, Zippity~)
Thankfully, though, that wasn't the case.

Don't worry - my next post will almost definitely be a new chapter.
My heart is simply still jittery from that battle. Thank you for reading this little ditty! Now I can truly call myself a Pokemon nerd.

- Churl

Chapter 7 - Disaster

"It wouldn't really do any good for us to go in there yet, Red," Derrick remarked after he saw Red's static figure heading toward the looming Pokemon Tower. He looked up at its disturbing beauty - what a notorious city this place was to begin with, but what a chill Derrick got from looking up at the many storeys this building could cast upon him in ways he couldn't experience while looking down at his GameBoy screen.

What's wrong with going in now?

"This is Pokemon Tower, and it's filled with ghost Pokemon."

I don't fear ghosts...besides, I have you with me, God.

Derrick flinched at this name. He hated being referred to as someone he clearly wasn't. Attempting to shrug it off, he came to Red and gently grasped his shoulders.

"It won't do any good right now to barge in. The ghosts are shrouded as mist that scares your Pokemon motionless. Let's take the western Route to Celadon city, and we'll find a device that'll uncover the ghosts' true identities. Until then, it's useless to go inside." He gently tugged on Red's shoulder to guide him away from the towering building, but the character wouldn't budge.

"What's wrong?"

...I want to go inside anyway.

"But there's no use in--"

I believe what you said, God...I just feel like I should go inside anyway. And it feels odd...I've never felt obligated like this. Just let me do this, God...please?

Derrick felt strange about Red being so adamant to go in a direction he had specifically stated was useless...almost as though he were pressing to the left on the D-Pad of his handheld, but his character was going to the right. He wasn't used to it.

"Alright," he muttered, releasing Red's shoulder, "if you feel so sure about it."

As the two crossed the threshold into the Pokemon Tower, Derrick could almost feel the essence of being in a cemetery. Frozen trainers stood among erect tombstones, staring. Female mediums mingled between others, their squared movements reminding him of spirit possession and sending a chill down his spine. He just wanted to get this over with so they could head toward Celadon City.

"Blue is upstairs waiting to battle you, Red," Derrick called over his shoulder as he headed toward the staircase that led to the second floor. As Red followed behind him, sure enough, Blue was in plain sight. He stood facing one of the many tombstones that filled up space in the tower. Finally he turned toward the two, and statically moved his body between them without any sort of acknowledgement, going down to the first  floor. Derrick raised an eyebrow.

"...He was supposed to fight you," he exclaimed softly. "You were supposed to face him and his Pokemon so that you could advance to the next floors." Red seemed too distracted with everything around him to notice him talking.

Are there any wild Pokemon on this floor, God...?

"No...this is a special floor. You're supposed to face off against Blue on this floor...why did he just leave?"

...He left a Pokeball behind.

"What are you talking about?" Derrick turned to Red, who was pointing toward the tombstone he once saw Blue standing in front of. At the foot of the tombstone lie a Pokeball. Derrick swallowed, and muttered, "Pick it up." As Red obeyed, the ball suddenly flashed, and released a captive Pokemon inside. It was a Raticate. Blue's Raticate. Red knelt by it, a soft pang of sadness flashing for a moment in his blank eyes.

God, it's hurt. It's been poisoned in battle or something...what do we do?


"What!?" Derrick blurted, remembering that Blue was without a Raticate after the battle with him on the S.S. Anne. Did he just leave it here to faint...?

"We have to take it to a Pokemon Center, of course. Come on!"

No, God. It's too weak. It won't make it to the Pokemon Center. We have to give it some potions, or an antidote first. I have some, let me--

"Don't worry about those. The Pokemon Center is free, and those aren't. Let's just take it with us. It'll be easier."

But...it won't make it if we take it with us. The poison will spread too quickly.

"Then we'll worry about it after we get there. Come on, Red!"

Can I please just give it one--

"It's not that big of a deal, Red. We can heal it at the Pokemon Center. Now, come on."

Red remained at the Raticate's side motionless for a while, his hat obscuring his face more than Derrick had seen before. Finally, the trainer scooped the Pokemon in his arms and carried it with him as he and Derrick made their way back downstairs. Suddenly, Derrick heard the Raticate's crying sound, only it was more low-pitched, and slower. As though it had fainted. Crap...

I told you it wouldn't make it...


"Hey, at least we can take it to the Pokemon Center and heal it up, now." Suddenly, Red stopped.

...What?


"That's what I've been saying this whole time, Red. We'll take it to the Pokemon Center, whether or not it's fainted, and have it all better in a matter of seconds."

What are you talking about...!?

Derrick swiveled to face the trainer, startled. Red had always been very monotonous in his character; he had never heard him raise his voice before.

You think this Raticate fainted?

"Well, yeah...isn't that what happened?"

When Pokemon lose the will to keep going, they don't faint. They die. In a Trainer battle, Pokemon are knocked out, but in the wild, they're killed. This Raticate was poisoned, and was going to die. That's why I kept suggesting we give it an antidote so that it would stop suffering. THEN we could take it to the Pokemon Center.

Derrick stood there, bewildered. The Pokemon had died...? He was so used to Pokemon being as good as new upon a simple trip to the Pokemon Center. It had never occurred to him that one could lose a Pokemon by circumstances like this. Red carried the Raticate toward an empty tombstone, and gently set its corpse inside, pausing silently for a moment, and standing to join Derrick stiffly.

Your ignorance made an innocent Pokemon die...but whatever, I guess...let's go to the next town....God...