Hello, everyone! I'm here to tell you about a bizarre Pokémon game that I once got my hands on. It's quite an odd story, but please bear with me and listen up. So, a while back I was given a copy of Pokémon: Leaf Green by a friend. She said she tried out the game, but become bored of it very quickly. I could see just how quickly she got bored, as she had only 5 minutes of gameplay.
She called her character "LEAF", I guess maybe because of the title of the game "Leaf Green"? I wanted to play a new game, but first I wanted to see if she even bothered to leave Pallet Town to activate the event where Oak takes you to the lab and gives you a Pokémon.
I start up the game to find that the player is lying in her bed in her bedroom. Except, the bed is in the middle of the room, everything in the room is missing except the TV and bed, and the left side of the floor is a dark color, while the other side is lighter. Also, the area's name is "Emptiness" not Pallet Town. Perhaps she gave up on the game because of this weird change to the overworld? Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention, no music is playing by this time.
Before leaving the bed, I hit the start button which opened up the menu. It turns out she did have a Pokémon, so I checked which Starter Pokémon she chose. To my surprise, she actually had a level 10 Eevee, nicknamed "LONLINESS". I know Eevee is an impossible starter, but I couldn't help notice that the E was missing from the word "LONLINESS". Maybe she didn't know the spelling of LONELINESS. I guessed this might have been the case since she wasn't very good at spelling. Upon closer inspections, the Eevee appeared to be sad, instead of having a happy smile on its face. Its nature is "LONELY" nature, and its attacks are as follows: Tackle, Screech, Grudge, and Nightmare.
I left the bed, and make my way over to the TV. I pressed the A button to see if it worked, and it did! The text said, "You're not wanted here!". Well, isn't that nice? Since I can't do anything in this room, I exit downstairs, and similar to upstairs, the only thing in the room is a TV, except that this time, the tiles on the floor spell out the word "GO!". I check the TV, and the text says "Don't leave me." Well, I had no choice BUT to leave since there was nothing to do in this boring room. So, I exit south to the waiting Pallet Town.
I leave the house, and instead of being in Pallet Town, I am in some large foggy place? The surrounding grass is colored red and the house that I left, is cut in half, with only the bottom part showing. There are gates surrounding the path, which prevents me from exiting and the music that is playing is the music that plays at the abandoned mansion, and there is a path heading East. Before heading down the eastern path, I notice there is a signpost. I walk up to the signpost and hit the A button, revealing the text as "VEE…". Finally, there is another path going south, except I can't reach it because the gate prevents me from walking to it.
I walked down the path for what seemed to be about 8 seconds when an NPC scrolls in. He appears to be standing on the gate, and his body is pure white, with a gaping mouth and blood trailing from his eyes. A very spooky sight, if I say so myself. I am able to interact with the NPC, and he says "Can't you do better?". Is… Is he taunting me? Well, regardless, I continue down the path. The surrounding grass turns to black, but the red path is still there. I walk towards the end of the path where there is a small door. Walking into the door, I am taken off to a different map. I appear in a small school-like house with no blackboard and a small desk with a book on it. I walked up to the desk and checked the book.
"He was so alone. His sorrow-filled eyes made me so unhealthy, so hurt. I wanted to help him, so I did..."
I have no clue who the author behind that book would be, but I shrugged it off. Another one of those white NPCs is standing beside the desk, so I walked up to him and spoke to him. "He was so kind. His smile. His laugh." he said. Leaving the house, I am taken back to the previous map, except this time I am in that path heading south which I could not reach before.
I walked south down the path to find there are some letters faded on the left side of the gate, with 5 white NPCs on the other side. The letters appeared to spell out the word "FRIEND", with a question mark under the 5 NPCs. "FRIEND?" it says. Someone is questioning if someone else was a friend. As I continue south, the red grass changes to a pitch black. There is also a large body of water, with green grass surrounding it. I walked my overworld sprite around the water and down the path. There is a door at the end of the path, and on either side of the gates, there are two letters. By the looks of things, an "N" and an "O". I puzzled together the overworld text and I finally made the conclusion that it said: "FRIEND? NO". So, this person or Pokémon wasn't a friend to someone else?
After exiting through the door, I find myself in a very confined space, with yet another white NPC standing at the end of a small room. When I spoke to him, he said "Why wasn't he? Well, See for yourself...". By this point, I was greatly attached to this game and was desperate to get to the end of it. I exit south, and I'm taken to the Pokémon Tower. There's a single path, which I can follow, except I can't go outside the barrier of gravestones. There are 3 white NPCs scattered around outside the gravestone barriers, and there is one on the path which I can speak to, who only says "...............". Towards the end of the path, I find an NPC who isn't another one of those white NPCs, but the Rival Blue! He is stood in front of a golden gravestone and is facing me. When spoken to him, he says "No! Don't believe the ghosts! Run away! Before they get you!". I was sort of confused and was still trying to put together this odd story, but right now I wanted to find out what would happen next. I exit the Pokémon Tower and I'm in Lavender Town. The music changes to the Lavender Town theme, and the town has little changes to it. It's raining, and the routes going North, South, and West are blocked by wooden gates. I explored the town to find 3 more of those NPCs, lets call them ghosts since that's what Blue addressed them as. One of them is outside of the gate, so I am unable to reach him. One is stood beside the Pokémon Center, and another is stood beside the main house in Lavender Town. The one beside the Pokémon Center says "Oh, but we were having so much fun! Do you really want to deny us?" and the one beside the house says "Kekekekekeke! Are you still going to believe the kid who betrayed LONLINESS?". That's it, I got it! So, Blue abandoned the Eevee named LONLINESS, but why? The only way to find out was to continue with this game. I entered the house besides that ghost to find a lot of the stuff is missing. There is a Lass and a Bug Catcher sat at the table. I approach the girl and she says "This is frightening! I want to get out of this NIGHTMARE!". I walked over to the Bug Catcher and he says "The ghosts can't get in here. I wonder why?". But, wait, there is a third NPC in the house. Facing the window, it's the male protagonist, Red! "LEAF! You're okay! No, no... You're not... Run, now! You have to discover the truth!" and with that, I leave the house just as Red commanded.
The next overworld map is the Pokémon Fanclub in Vermilion City, except the people, are missing and there is fog here. May I also mention that the Lavender Town theme continues to play? I walk deeper into the house to find a ghost is standing beside a glitched patch of blocks. The ghost says "Right this way! Not like you have a choice..." - How very true! I walk into the bundle of blocks, but nothing happens and I appear trapped. I then tried walking back south, when I am teleported off to the Pewter City gym, with no one there but Brock.
The fog is still in effect as I walk up to Brock and speak with him. "T-R-U-T-H!" he says commandingly, as I am thrown into a battle with him. At last, lively music! Brock only has three Pokémon, each at level 2. He sends out his first one which is a Bulbasaur named "GHOSTS" as I send out my Eevee, LONLINESS. I easily KO the Bulbasaur with tackle as he switches into a Charmander named "TRICKED". The process repeats and he switches into his final Pokémon which is a Squirtle named "HIM". While knocking out the last Pokémon, I noticed that together they say "GHOSTS TRICKED HIM".
With that, I win the battle, and Brock scrolls in, saying "CONTINUE...", handing me the Bolderbadge. Brocks text ends with a bundle of exclamation marks, and we are taken back to the overworld. "KEKEKEKE!!! Leaf received TM39 from BROCK. GHOST TRICKED HIM! HE IS WAITING! BEGONE! BEGONE!" Brock says. I exit the gym and I am taken to the gate which leads up to victory road. There are no edits here at all, and I am able to pass through the gate due to having the Bolderbadge.
I exit out of a house in Fuchsia City, which is placed on the path that leads you to the Cycling Road. Instantly, I notice the text in the top corner which says "YOU WILL PERISH". The city seemed to be glitched and wreaked. It is raining and no music plays. Heading eastward down the path, I see 2 ghosts. The one closest to the house I exited says:
"Take in the air while you still can... Kekeke...." and the one next to him says "Your time... is almost up..."
The path continues eastward, and I can't go north due to some glitched blocks, blocking the way. I keep walking eastward towards the city gate only to find it is blocked by three illegible signs and a ghost. The ghost says, "When you find out the truth… You shall join LONLINESS forever! And you shall experience our being!" I explore the remote City to find Blue is standing in the southeast part of the city. When I approach him, he says, "LEAF... I abandoned Eevee after my Raticate died. The ghosts tricked me into it…"
So, I have found out Blue to be the fool he is! I continue with this story, going through the only door in the town that will work which is the house I entered the City from. Entering the house, I am taken off to the Pokémon Tower. I am trapped in a single, one block space, surrounded by gravestones with three Ghosts standing around me. From this point onward, there is truly nothing to do, so I switched off the game. A few months passed since my encounter with the very odd game. I haven't picked it up since switching it off and I soon forgot about it. I left it under my bed in a small box of games, not playing it until one Friday afternoon, when my mother was cleaning my bedroom. I got back from college and went up to my room to see her moving the box from under my bed and placing it on the bed. "Sorry dear, I won't be too long," she said as she continued to clean my room.
I took the box, gave my mother a hug, and went back downstairs, grabbing my DS lite on the way. I threw myself onto the sofa and opened up the small box to find a bundle of different games; which one to play? I looked around in the box until I saw a small, green game card hidden under all the other games. It was that weird Pokémon Leaf Green game that I hadn't played in so long! I remembered being stuck in the Pokémon Tower, but I was eager to play this game just for the old times!
Upon going to the title screen, I found that there was a new file named "SORROW" which had a game playtime of 10 minutes. From what I remember, the last file was called "LEAF", but whatever! Selecting the file, I am taken into the game! I am in a school building facing the eastern wall, and In the top corner it displays the maps name, which is "NEGLECT".
Also, a ghost stands at the blackboard. I checked to see if I still had the Eevee named LONLINESS, but instead, I have a Banette named UNWANTED at level 18. The sprite of Banette is missing its arms, its right eye is a black void and there is a trail of blood from its left eye. It also appears to be frowning, with a MODEST nature and "Met in ??? at Lv 18.". Its move set is Curse and Grudge, except Grudge is fresh out of PP. Oh yes, and it also has the ability Drizzle, which summons rain when entered in battle.
I speak to the ghost and an Eevee cry is heard as he says, "Where did LONLINESS go? Kekeke..."
I exit the house and I am in a fairly large area, with a gate surrounding the area and 3 ghosts standing outside the gates to the north, all staring at the house that I just exited. The grass is red like earlier in the game and I find 3 signposts and another house, along with one of those people you see at the Pokémon Tower, wandering around. I interact with the signpost which is to the left of the house I left and it says "He brought LEAF here..."
I go to the signpost which is directly right from the house and that one says, "TRAINER TIPS! It was my only choice… I had to… I just… Had to…" and the final signpost, south of that one says, "TRAINER TIPS! She left me as well?" Before approaching the final signpost, I decided to speak with the person.
She said "LONLINESS..." and I am given a Yes/No answer. I didn't quite follow what she meant, so I chose NO and she says, "Don't lie!"
I try again, this time selecting YES and she says "Why did you?". Okay, so from what I gather, LEAF also neglected this Eevee, just like Blue did. I explore the 2nd house to find I am in a Pokémon Center, with fog in effect. Behind the counter is a Mew and a ghost, both of them saying, "..."
At the stairs leading to the top floor is the male trainer Red. I walked my character over to him and he says "... I don't know you..." - What? We met in Lavender Town! Maybe he was saying that because LEAF abandoned Eevee as well. I go up the stairs and I am teleported to route 22, right outside the gate. It's raining, the grass is red like earlier, the map's title is "LOOK" and the music changes to the abandoned mansion theme.
I try entering the league building, except the doors won't budge, so I chose to follow the path that would lead me to Viridian City. While following the path, I pass a signpost. Upon interacting with the signpost, I hear an Eevee cry as the text displays the words; "Raticate DIED! He doesn't notice me still!". The wall which you can normal hop over is changed to a gate, and on the other side of the gate spells the word "LOOK!". I continue around the path until I get to an area where I cannot pass due to gates blocking the way. On the other side of the gate, there appears to be another word-formation, this time it says "... E .". Just a little north from here is a small door on the cliffside, where I am able to enter. I'm taken to a room wherein the center, there are tiles, spelling out the letter "E" - So that's two E's I've seen now. To the north of the room, I see Prof Oak. I try walking past him, but he stops me and says "LONLINESS ISN'T THE ONLY ONE... E... E... E...", and sends me back. I walk back to where I entered, and exit through where I warp off to cave named "Loneliness". By the looks of things, I am in the northwest part of Mt Moon. The music ends to silence, and the cave is filled with fog. I walk south where I find a signpost, and just like with the previous signpost, I hear an Eevee cry as I interact with it. "I feel so UNWANTED..." says the signpost. I continue walking south where I am met with Blue, and he says "He was nothing but a curse...". The screen fades to black and fades back in, and Blue is nowhere to be seen. I chose to explore the cave a bit, walking eastward from where I spoke to Blue. Suddenly, the room changes as if I exited through a ladder. From what I gather, I am in a lower part of the cave with a large pathway, shaped like a C. As I walk around the path, I find a third "E" written on the ground. I head towards the end of the path to a waiting ladder, where I exit out of the cave into a route with a single pathway heading east, similar to the first path in the game except I am surrounded by endless cave walls instead of gates. The music begins to play as I notice it's the Lavender Town theme song. There is a signpost here and as I interact with it, I hear an Eevee cry as the text appears on the screen, saying "I'm not a curse...". Towards the end of the path, I find a single patch of grass, and as soon as I step into the grass I am engaged in battle.
A level 10 Eevee scrolls in, but instead of it saying "Wild Eevee appeared", it says "LONLINESS looks sad!". I send out my level 18 Banette and Drizzle is activated. Since the Banette is fresh out of Grudge PP, I have no choice but to use Curse.
UNWANTED used CURSE!
UNWANTED wants Wild LONLINESS to suffer!
Wild LONLINESS used GRUDGE!
Wild LONLINESS is bearing its emotions...
Rain continues to fall.
Wild LONLINESS is feeling agonizing pain!
Since I can't use any other attack, the battle just continues with that until LONLINESS finally faints from the Curse, except it says "Wild LONLINESS died!". My Banette gains some exp, and I sent back to the overworld. This time, it is raining, the map's name is "SUFFER", there is no music playing, the grass patch is missing, there is a door in the wall above me, and the overworld sprite of my character has changed. Her body is completely white, her eyes are red and she has red markings on her hands. I checked my trainer card to see her sprite matches her overworld sprite. I check my Pokémon to see I still have the Banette, but it's back at full HP and Curse is back up to 10/10 PP, but Grudge is still at 0/5 PP. I go through the door and I appear outside Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower.
The grass has changed to red, it's still raining, the barriers have changed from wooden ones to white ones, and they are also closer, leaving me with a little less space to explore. The Pokémon Tower's door is missing, the music kicks in as the Pokémon Tower theme, and there are four signposts beside the Tower in order. I read each one of them from top to bottom, and their text is as follows;
"Why didn't you listen to me?"
"Now you're cursed!"
"You could have saved us both!"
"Do you regret it?"
I remembered that the signpost before the battle with LONLINESS said "I'm not a curse...", and before that, the signposts constantly labeled LONLINESS as a bad curse. This led me to believe that it was LONLINESS who was speaking through the signposts. Outside of the barriers are 3 ghosts, and when I explore the houses, there is no one in them. However, in the last house, I check which is the one most southwest, I find that the tiles are white with "E" written on the floor in green. Also, there is a Cubone who stood on the letter E. When I approach the Cubone and interact with it, it says "Fourth letter E!". I exit the house and I appear back in the bedroom from the start of the game, except the bed is missing and there is a letter "V" on the floor. I interact with the TV and it says the following:
E
E
V
E
E
Put the E where it belongs...
Four E's and a letter V, spelling out Eevee! I head downstairs and the only thing in the room is another TV. I interact with it, and it says "You no longer exist... You have no purpose... But... Maybe you can... Ask for forgiveness..."
I leave the house and I am in Pallet Town. There is another chance to the overworld sprite as I am nothing but 2 red eyes and a red mouth. Stood in front of me, looking up at me are Red and Blue. I first decided to check if my trainer card had changed - 4 Minutes of gameplay, no sprite, and the name had changed from SORROW to LOOK! I then check my party to see I have a faceless, level 10 Eevee named " PUT 2 REST". Its nature is MODEST and its only move is GUILLOTINE.
I speak to Red and he says "Where is LEAF? Where is LONELINESS?". Right away I noticed that the word LONELINESS had its missing letter E placed back in it! I then speak to Blue and he says "LEAF got the brunt of the curse... It's all my fault...". Just below them is a signpost, and when I interacted with it, I heard an Eevee cry, followed by the text "LONELINESS was put to rest... R.I.P". As soon as the R.I.P appears on the screen, the credits music from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald plays, and I am locked into the text and unable to leave it. The music would play till the end, and once it did I am sent right back to the start of the game, where I have the level 10 Eevee named LONLINESS.
I understand the story now, but do you understand the story?
Written by Dannehboi.