Abandon Lonliness

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.

## The Story

So a while back I was given a copy of Pokémon Leaf Green by a friend. She said she tried out the game but got bored of it very quickly. I could see just how quickly she got bored as she had only 3 minutes of gameplay. She called her character "LEAF". I suppose it was maybe because of the game's title, "Leaf Green"? I wanted to play a new game but I firstly 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 started up the game to find that LEAF was laying in her bed in her bedroom. Except the bed was in the middle of the room everything in the room was missing except the TV and bed and the left side of the floor was a dark colour while the other side was lighter. Also the area's name was "Emptiness" not Pallet Town. Perhaps she gave up on the game because of this weird change to the overworld? Oh yes and I almost forgot to mention. No music was 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 exactly what the starter Pokémon she chose was. To my surprise, she actually had a level 10 male EEVEE nicknamed "LONLINESS". I knew EEVEE was an impossible starter but I couldn't help but notice that the E was missing from the word "LONELINESS". Maybe she didn't know the spelling of LONELINESS. I guessed that this might have been the case since she wasn't very good at spelling. On closer inspections, the Eevee appeared to be sad instead of having a happy smile on its face. Its nature was "LONELY", and its attacks were as follows: Tackle, Screech, Grudge and Nightmare.

I left the bed and made my way over to the TV. I pressed the A button to see if it would work and it did.

The text said, "You're not wanted here!".

Well, isn't that nice?

Since I couldn't do anything in this room, I went downstairs and just like with upstairs, the only thing in the room was a TV. Except the this time, the tiles on the floor spelled out the word "GO!" (including the exclamation mark). I checked the TV and the text said "Don't leave me." Well, I had no choice but to leave since there was nothing to do in this boring room. So I exited south to the waiting Pallet Town.

I left the house and instead of being in Pallet Town, I was in some large, foggy place. The surrounding grass was colored red and the house that I left was cut in half with only the bottom part showing. There were gates surrounding the path, which prevented me from leaving. The music that was playing was the music that plays at the abandoned mansion, and there was a path heading east. Before heading down the eastern path I noticed that there was a sign post. I walked up the sign post and hit the A button, revealing the text as "VEE…".

There was another path going south except I couldn't reach it because the gate prevented me from walking to it. I walked down the path for what seemed to be about 8 seconds when an NPC scrolled in. He appeared to be standing on the gate and his body was purely white with a gaping mouth and blood trailing from his eyes. A very spooky sight, if I say so myself. I was able to interact with the NPC, and he said, "Can't you do better?".

Is… Is he taunting me?

Well regardless, I continued down the path. The surrounding grass turned to black, but the red path was still there. I walked towards the end of the path, where there was a small door. Walking into the door I was taken off to a different map. I appeared in a small school-like house with no black board 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 had no clue who the author behind that book could be but I shrugged it off. Another one of those white NPCs was standing beside the desk so I walked up and spoke to him.

"He was so kind. His smile. His laugh..." he said.

After leaving the house, I was taken back to the previous map except this time I was in that path heading south which I could not reach before. I walked south down the path to find there were some letters faded on the left side of the gate, with 5 white NPCs on the other side.

"FRIEND?" is what it said.

As I continued south, the red grass changed 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 was a door at the end of the path and on both sides of the gates there were two letters. By the looks of things, an "N" and an "O". I puzzled together the overworld text as "FRIEND? NO". So this person or Pokémon wasn't a friend to someone else?

After going through the door I found myself in a very confined space with yet another white NPC standing at the end of this 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 exited south and I was taken to the Pokémon Tower. There was a single path which I could follow except I couldn't go outside the barrier of gravestones. There were 3 white NPCs scattered around outside the grave stone barriers and there was one on the path which I can speak to who only said, "...............". Towards the end of the path I found an NPC who wasn't another one of those white NPCs, but your rival, Blue! He was standing in front of a golden grave stone and was facing me.

When I spoke to him he said, "No! Don't believe the ghosts! Run away! Before they get you!". I was sort of confused and was still trying to puzzle together this odd story but at the moment I wanted to find out what would happen next. I left the Pokémon Tower and now I was in Lavender Town. The music changed to the Lavender Town theme and the town had little changes to it. It was raining, and the routes going north, south and west were blocked by wooden gates. I explored the town to find 3 more of those NPCs.

Let's call them ghosts since that's what Blue addressed them as. One of them was outside of the gate, so I was unable to reach him. One was standing beside the Pokémon Center and another was beside the main house in Lavender Town. The one beside the Pokémon Center said "Oh, but we're having so much fun! Do you really want to deny us?" and the one beside the house said, "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 beside that ghost to find a lot of the stuff is missing. There was a Lass and a Bug Catcher sitting at the table. I approached the girl and she said "This is frightening! I want to get out of this NIGHTMARE!". I walked over to the Bug Catcher and he said, "The ghosts can't get in here. I wonder why?".

But wait, there was a third NPC in the house. Facing the window it was 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 left the house just as Red commanded.

The next overworld map was the Pokémon fan club in Vermilion City except the people were missing and there was a fog there. May I also mention that the Lavender Town theme continued to play? I walked deeper into the house to find a ghost was standing beside a kind of glitchy patch of blocks. The ghost said, "Right this way! Not like you have a choice..."

How very true!

I walked into the bundle of blocks but nothing happened and I appeared trapped. Then I tried walking back south when I was teleported off to the Pewter City gym, with no one there but Brock. The fog was still in effect as I walked up to Brock and spoke with him.

"T-R-U-T-H!" he says demandingly, as I was thrown into a battle with him.

At last, lively music!

Brock only had three Pokémon, each at level 2. He sent out his first one, which was a BULBASAUR named "GHOSTS", as I sent out my EEVEE LONLINESS. I easily KO the BULBASAUR with Tackle as he switches into a CHARMANDER named "TRICKED". The process repeated and he switched into his final Pokémon, which was a SQUIRTLE named "HIM". While knocking out the last Pokémon, I noticed that together they say "GHOSTS TRICKED HIM". With that, I won the battle and Brock scrolled in who says "CONTINUE...", and then hands me the Bolder badge. Brock's text ends with a bundle of exclamation marks and we were taken back to the overworld. "KEKEKEKE!!! Leaf received TM39 from BROCK. GHOST TRICKED HIM! HE IS WAITING! BEGONE! BEGONE!" Brock said. I left the gym and I was taken to the gate which leads up to Victory Road. There were no edits here at all and I was able to pass through the gate due to having the Bolderbadge.

I exited out of a house in Fuchsia City which is placed on the path that leads you to the Cycling Road. Instantly I noticed the text in the top corner which said "YOU WILL PERISH". The city seemed to be glitched and wreaked, it was raining, and no music played. Heading eastward down the path, I saw 2 ghosts. The one closest to the house said, "Take in the air while you still can... Kekeke...." and the one next to him said "Your time... is almost up...". The path continued eastward and I couldn't go north due to some glitched blocks blocking the way. I kept walking eastward towards the city gate only to find it is blocked by 3 un-interactable signs and a ghost.

The ghost said "When you find out the truth… You shall join LONLINESS forever! And you shall experience our being!". I explored around the remote city to find Blue standing at the south-eastern part of the city. When I approached him he said, "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 continued with this story going through the only door in the town that would work which was the house I entered the City from. Entering the house, I was taken off to the Pokémon Tower. I was trapped in a single one block space surrounded by grave stones with 3 Ghosts standing around me. From this point onward there was truly nothing to do so I switched off the game.

A few months passed since my encounter with the very odd game. I hadn't picked it up since after 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 gamecard hidden under all the other games. It was that weird Pokémon LeafGreen 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 play time of 10 minutes. From what I remembered, the last file was called "LEAF", but I pushed it aside. Selecting the file, I was taken into the game.

I was in a school building facing the eastern wall and in the top corner it said the map's name, which was "NEGLECT". There was also a ghost standing at the black board. I checked to see if I still had the EEVEE named LONLINESS but instead I had a female BANETTE named UNWANTED, at level 18. The sprite of BANETTE was missing its arms, its right eye was a black void, and there was a trail of blood from its left eye. It also appeared to be frowning with a MODEST nature and "Met in ??? at Lv 18.". Its move set was Curse and Grudge, except Grudge was fresh out of PP. Oh yes, and it also had the ability Drizzle, which summons rain when entered in battle.

I spoke to the ghost and an EEVEE cry is heard as he said, "Where did LONLINESS go? Kekeke...". I left the house and I was in a fairly large area with a gate surrounding it with 3 ghosts standing outside the gate to the north. They are all staring at the house I just exited. The grass is red like when I first played the game. I found 3 sign posts and another house, along with one of those people you see at the Pokémon Tower wondering around.

I interacted with sign post which was to the left of the house I left and it said, "He brought LEAF here...". I went to the sign post which was directly right from the house and that one said, "TRAINER TIPS! It was my only choice… I had to… I just… Had to…" and the final sign post, south of that one said, "TRAINER TIPS! She left me as well?".

Before approaching the final sign post 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 said, "Don't lie!". I tried again, this time selecting YES and she said "Why did you...?".

Okay so from what I gathered then, LEAF also neglected this EEVEE just like Blue did. I explored the 2nd house to find I was in a Pokémon Center with a fog in effect. Behind the counter was a Mew, along with a ghost, both of them just saying, "...". At the escalators leading to the top floor was Red. I walked my character over to him and he said, "... I don't know you..."

What? We had met in Lavender Town!

Maybe he said that because LEAF abandoned EEVEE as well, I thought at the time.

I went up the escalators and I was teleported to Route 22, right outside the Pokémon League gate. It was raining, the grass was red like earlier. The map's title was "LOOK" and the music changed to the abandoned mansion theme.

I tried entering the league building, except the doors wouldn't budge so I chose to follow the path that would lead me to Viridian City. While following the path, I passed a sign post. Upon interacting with the it, I heard an EEVEE cry as the text displays the words, "RATICATE DIED! He doesn't notice me, still!". The ledge where you could normal hop over was changed to a gate, and on the other side of it spelled the word, "LOOK!". I continued around the path until I got to an area where I couldn't pass due to gates blocking the way. On the other side of the gate, there appeared to be another letter formation. This time it just said, "... E .". Just a little north from there was a small door in the cliff side, where I was able to enter. I was taken to a room where in the center where there were tiles spelling out the letter "E" again.

So that's two E's I've seen now, I thought.

To the north of the room I saw Professor Oak. I tried walking past him but he stopped me and said "LONLINESS ISN'T THE ONLY ONE... E... E... E...", and sent me back. I walked back to where I entered and left through where I was warped off to cave named "LONeLINESS".

By the looks of things, I was at the northwest part of Mt Moon. The music ended to silence and the cave was filled with a fog. I walked south where I found a sign post and just like with the previous one, I heard an EEVEE cry as I interacted with it. "I feel so UNWANTED..." the sign post said. I continued walking south, where I met with Blue. "He was nothing but a curse..." he said. The screen faded to black and then faded back in and Blue was nowhere to be seen. I chose to explore the cave a bit, walking eastward from where I spoke to Blue. Suddenly, the room changed as if I exited through a ladder. From what I gathered, I was in a lower part of the cave with a large pathway, shaped like a C. As I walked around the path, I found a third "E" written on the ground. I headed towards the end of the path to a waiting ladder, where I left the cave into a route with a single pathway heading east, similar to the first path in the game except I was surrounded by endless cave walls instead of gates. As music began to play, I noticed that it was Lavender Town's theme song. There was a sign post there, and as I interacted with it, I heard an EEVEE cry as the text appeared on screen, saying, "I'm not a curse...". Towards the end of the path, I found a single patch of grass, and as soon as I stepped into it, I was engaged in battle.

A level 10 EEVEE scrolled in, but instead of it saying, "Wild EEVEE appeared", it said, "LONLINESS looks sad!". I sent out my level 18 BANETTE, and Drizzle was activated. Since the BANETTE was 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 couldn't use any other attack, the battle just continued with the seemingly endless cycle until LONLINESS finally fainted from the Curse, except it said, "Wild LONLINESS died!".

My BANETTE gained some EXP, and I was sent back to the overworld. This time, it was raining, the map's name was "SUFFER", there was no music playing, the grass patch was missing, there was a door in the wall above me, and the overworld sprite of my character had changed. Her body was completely white, her eyes were red, and she had red markings on her hands. I checked my trainer card to see her sprite matched her overworld appearance. I checked my Pokémon to see I still had UNWANTED, and I did, but it was back at full HP and Curse was back up to 10/10 PP, but Grudge was still at 0/5 PP. I went through the door, and I appeared outside Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower. The grass had changed to red, it was still raining, the gates have changed from wooden ones to white ones. They were also closer, leaving me with a little less space to explore. The Pokémon Tower's door was missing, the music kicks in as the Pokémon Tower theme, and there are four sign posts 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?"

I remembered that the sign post before the battle with LONLINESS said, "I'm not a curse...", and before that, the sign posts constantly labeled LONLINESS as a bad curse. This led me to believe that it was LONLINESS who was speaking through the sign posts. Outside of the barriers were 3 ghosts, and when I explored the houses, there is no one in them. However, in the last house I checked, which is the one most southwest, I found that the tiles were white with "E" written on the floor in green. Also, there was a Cubone standing on the letter E. When I approached it and interacted with it, it said "Fourth letter E!". I felt the house and I appeared back in the bedroom from the start of the game, except the bed was 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 headed downstairs and the only thing in the room was another TV. I interacted with it, and it said, "You no longer exist... You have no purpose... But... Maybe you can... Ask for forgiveness..."

I left the house and I was now in Pallet Town. There was another change to my overworld sprite. I was nothing but 2 red eyes and a red mouth. Standing in front of me, looking up at me were Red and Blue. First, I decided to check if my trainer card had changed. 4 minutes of gameplay, no sprite and the name had changed from "SORROW" to "LOOK". Then, I checked my party, to see that I had a faceless, level 10 EEVEE named "PUT 2 REST". Its nature is MODEST and its only move is GUILLOTINE.

I spoke to Red and he said, "Where is LEAF? Where is LONELINESS?". Right away, I noticed that the word LONELINESS had its missing letter E placed back in it!Then, I spoke to Blue and he said, "LEAF got the brunt of the curse... It's all my fault...". Just below them was a sign post, 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 appeared on screen, the credits music from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald played, and I was locked into the text and unable to leave it. The music would play until the end, and once it did, I was 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 it?

## Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lS6TOUwgks&list=PL9VrStAJQicodToF68ll9PZEWqABWB0kF