[[Written by Cartoønish (That's me!!), user on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and YouTube]]
[[Art is also by Cartoønish (Me!!!)]]
Before I tell my story, let's get some ground set for us.
I'm a major nostalgia collector, ranging from old books to antique action figures to full-blown licensed games. I'm committed, to say the least, if my bank account has anything to say about it.
Now that we got that bit of information across, I'll tell you my story.
It was like any other typical day for me, browsing my collection for a game to play that would pass the time. After what felt like hours, I finally decided I'd boot up my old Gameboy Advance and a brand new, fresh-off-the-vintage-shop-shelf Pokémon Leaf Green cartridge. Fact of the matter was that I avoided Pokémon Red like the plague because of all the media around it.
And so I sat myself on my bed, got comfy, plugged my Gameboy in, and slid the cartridge in. That oh-so familiar jingle played through the console's old speaker, giving me a rush of nostalgia before I even pressed any buttons. Oh, how I missed a moment like this. I started a new save file, named my character, picked up my Squirtle, and set off on my nostalgia path.
Things were so normal. I swept through the gyms, caught some new friends, beat up my rival so many times I lost count, and before I knew it, I was on my way to Victory Road. Everything was going so well, not a problem in sight despite the age of the console I played on.
That is, until I noticed something. The faintest sound that played through the Gameboy's speakers. It sounded like a Pokémon cry, though I couldn't quite determine which one. The speaker played it in a way that indicated a sort of proximity, urging me to go back and search for the source. And, without anything better to do in all honesty, that's what I did. I turned around and began marching back the way I came, listening for any indicator that I was getting closer.
It was odd. I knew I hadn't touched a game like this in a while but something just felt... Off. I didn't think that there were meant to be audio cues in the overworld. Regardless of the miniscule thought, I kept on searching, following the sounds for what felt like ages before I was led to a dead end.
Well, now what? I couldn't just keep following. The game had barriers that kept me from straying out of bounds. But my curiosity was piqued.. I had to try, right? I tapped the directional pad a few times, bumping repeatedly into the barrier that kept me from progressing. I would've looked like a total moron if I were playing in front of some sort of Pokémon veteran.
Until, I seemed to actually break past the barrier, jittering around for a moment before my character landed past the initial road block, clipping into the sprites of the trees that blocked my way. Well, I guess now I could keep following. I navigated through the now buggy terrain, having to constantly overcompensate for the moments where my character would freeze in place and I would have to violently snap his directions in every which way just to wiggle him free again. Whatever worked, I suppose.
I followed the cries for what felt like hours, moving in a straight line with the sound no longer sounding closer nor farther away. I mentally cursed myself for being so curious, especially now that I was playing at the expense of the game's integrity to its source. I was practically lowering its value every second I kept moving, seeming to get more and more lost in the endless sea of identical tree sprites. I had to wonder how much longer I would take of this before I grew bored of the loophole I got myself stuck in.
I continued walking, progressively getting more and more weary with the endless cycle. Until.. The screen flashed, indicating a battle was beginning. It was especially strange in this case, what with there being no other trainer in sight, nor a patch of wild grass for a Pokémon to hide in. Maybe it was scripted? No, it couldn't be-
I was soon snapped out of my thoughts as the iconic battle music faded into the console's speakers, the arena opening up and revealing the culprit behind the command.
It was.. An average-looking NPC, in all honesty, though not one I was familiar with. It looked like a reskin of the rival. It has a head of messy black hair that was topped with a grey hat with a peculiar white decal on the front. A shadow was cast diagonally over their face, obscuring the majority of their features except for the wide, almost scared-looking eye that faced the camera. They also wore almost entirely black attire; A puffy, black jacket with sleeves that alternated between black and white, a shirt that matched their hat in the shade of grey, a pair of black shorts, and black sneakers with white soles and socks. The way they were posed made them look like they were startled, as if the battle had caught them off-guard. In all honesty, the appearance was a sort of breath of fresh air from all the battle-ready pawns that I'd gone up against up to this point.
Perhaps it was just some scrapped character whose event was cast out into the unreachable abyss of the forest, or some kind of secret laid out for the hackers and glitchers of the Pokémon community. Both were equally likely, in all honestly.
"AWAKE wants to battle!"
So their name was AWAKE? Odd name for a character.
The mystery trainer sent out their first, and seemingly only Pokémon- A level 97 Hypno with the nickname INSOMNIA. It was odd, considering abilities and such weren't implemented yet, so they had no reason to name it that other than some sort of fear or mystery factor.
To my surprise, my entire maxed team lost to that one lone Pokémon. They all dropped like flies, one by one. I had no way of stopping it. It seemed like this Hypno was faster than them all, flying in the face of all their stats as a whole, not that I paid any particular attention to those values whatsoever.
Peculiar, to say the least.
The battle soon faded back out, but I wasn't met with the typical white out screen. Instead, I was simply brought back to where the encounter started, in the middle of the trees. I attempted to move, but couldn't. I must've bugged the game out so badly that it was frozen. And so, I shut it off for the day. I figured, if my data was lost, I'd just start another game when I pick it back up and not do the same thing again.
Flash forward about a week.
Once again, I'm bored, practically none of my games sounding appealing to pass the time. Except for when I remembered the Pokémon Leaf Green I'd abandoned not too long ago.
Just like before, I grabbed my Advance, plugged it in, slipped the game in, and booted it up. I was expecting to be met with a wiped save, but I was surprised to see the option to continue. It was odd, considering I never saved during my playtime, but I decided not to dwell too long on it and selected the option anyway.
When the map loaded in, I was still in the out of bounds area from before. Except my character wasn't anywhere to be seen. Just the trainer I remembered battling before putting the game down.
Though, I was no longer frozen, as this new guy responded to me pressing the buttons just like the protagonist would. So, I decided I would just resume trying to get back in bounds, walking back in the direction I remembered coming from. The area seemed longer than before. I should've been back to the corner I broke through by now.
Then, a text box appeared.
"I'M SO TIRED..."
Was this the character speaking? Was all of this intentional? Was this really just some kind of secret, or was it something else?
I dismissed the box, resuming my travels. The character seemed to be moving slower than before, not even responding to my multiple attempts to sprint. He became slower by the second, eventually refusing to move at all, just staring in the direction he used to be moving.
"I'M... TIRED..."
The box appeared again, the dialogue displaying the character's weary state. I almost felt bad for the poor guy now, regardless of whether or not this was an intended interaction. I just sat there for a few minutes, thinking about what to do. I couldn't move, so the only option was to open the menu. I was playing a different character, after all, so maybe something was different.
I checked the item bag. Nothing but a few Pokéballs. I checked the team- Just the Hypno from before, INSOMNIA. Out of curiosity, I tried to interact with it.
Another box.
"IT WON'T LET ME SLEEP."
I was confused, to say the least. That's it? No menu? Just that?
I dismissed the box again, returning to the menu to check the other categories. Nothing else out of the ordinary.
As I closed the menu, another text box came up.
"I'VE BEEN LOST OUT HERE FOR DAYS..."
Dismissed.
"I'M TIRED..."
Dismissed.
"I CAN'T SLEEP."
I dwelled on the box for a minute. Was I really even sure this was code anymore? This all seemed to real for me...
Dismissed.
Left to do nothing. I couldn't move AWAKE. There was nothing to look at except for the endless forest I got myself lost in. I sat there for what felt like hours, just thinking to myself as I stared at the unmoving screen. What do I do? Just leave? I was starting to get attached to AWAKE now. He was oddly endearing, despite his circumstances.
Regardless, it was just a game. So, I opened the menu, saved, and attempted to back out of the game.
No response.
I tried to power off the console.
No response.
I was stuck.
Okay, that's fine. This is fine. I've got nothing better to do with my time today anyway. Well, maybe other than cleaning...
I decided maybe something would happen if I walked away for a bit, so I did. I set the console down, got up, and went off to carry out a few house errands. Laundry, dishes, lunch, whatever else.
After everything was said and done, I came back. To my mild surprise, the screen had changed. Not in any incredibly significant way, mind you. There was just another text box, and another sprite accompanied AWAKE's. It was a Hypno. INSOMNIA, maybe?
They faced each other, looking like they were in conversation.
"I WANT TO GO HOME..."
Dismissed.
"LET ME GO HOME..."
The Pokémon cry I couldn't identify from earlier.
Dismissed.
"P L E A S E . . ."
Another cry.
This was.. So depressing.
"I MISS EVERYONE..."
"I JUST WANT TO GO HOME..."
"I WANT TO DO SOMETHING..."
"ANYTHING..."
"PLEASE..."
The text box faded on its own.
The area darkened, becoming a mess of monochromatic blue.
"I'M TIRED..."
These two characters seemed to be in a standoff now. No words exchanged, no cries to be heard. Just tension. Silent, uncomfortable tension.
The area darkened again, nearing on pitch black.
"L E T M E G O . . ."
And then the screen cut to black.
I stared, completely at a loss of words over what I had just witnessed. There was some sort of story I wasn't completely grasping.. And now I don't think I could go back and relive it. That was it. I saw it, and it ended.
I could feel the Gameboy start to heat up in my hands, an audible whirring accompanying the temperature. I quickly set it down on the nearest table, shaking my hands a bit to ease the pain they were starting to feel from holding the scorching piece of tech. It sparked on contact, earning a bit of a jump from me.
I guess that was it for the entire console. The whole story, every firsthand means of seeing it, destroyed.
I was left to live with what I saw, to ponder what I remembered of it and to try and piece it all together. Not that I'd be able to, I'm no theorist.
I took to forums to get anything I could about it, but all my sources came up with nothing. I was the only one with this story. The thoughts of it kept me up at night. I'd go days on end with no sleep just dwelling on the thing with nothing to show for my sacrifices. I had nothing to prove I'd seen it, no way of reliving it, and barely anything to work off of in the aftermath.
That was just it.
And now I have to live with that.