An Interesting Pokemon Leaf Green hack

Okay, I have to be honest here: I really don't play Pokémon a lot. I know how some people say that "They used to love Pokemon before they found this super spooky haunted game"...but not me. I mean, this was an...unsettling experience, but I was not scarred for life because of it. In fact, I have to give some credit to whoever made this hack, as it was well done...if not very messed up. I will probably remember this hack for a long time, however, simply due to the nature of it.

So, for starters, I used to have Pokemon LeafGreen for the Game Boy Advance, but I lost it a long time ago. This is because, like I said, I don't really play Pokémon as much as other people. One day, I would have to say, about...three months ago, I was bored, and wanted to play it for nostalgia's sake. So, I went online and looked for an emulated LeafGreen game to play on a Game Boy emulator I had downloaded a few years prior to this. Now, just to be clear: There was nothing wrong with the emulator at all, so none of the events that happened in the game were a result of the emulator glitching or something along those lines.

So, I eventually found a download that actually looked legitimate and not a free virus. I remember that the description said that it was a modified version of LeafGreen. *Alright,* I thought. So it's a little modded. Usually that means that there are minor changes to the main story and/or some new features in the game. I downloaded it, and then played it as soon as it finished.

Now, I don't want to bore anyone with the details of anything that was the same as the original game, so I will only paraphrase things that are the same.

So, the game started, and the whole Prof. Oak thing happened, and it was all normal. I made my character a guy, and named him Rednaz (my name spelled backwards, because I am original as hell). I named my rival AAAAAAA because, once again, original as hell. Everything was going as normal as can be.

When I got to pick my Pokemon, I decided to go with Squirtle, and named him Bubbles. There was something different about the sprite for it, however. Its mouth was closed and its eyes were purple. I don't mean that just the eye color was purple, I mean every part of the eye was a shade of purple, even the whites.

So the sprite was a little changed, not that big of a deal. I went on with my epic Pokémon quest to catch 'em all, but...I noticed something else. Every now and then the screen flashed purple, as if a Pokemon was poisoned. I checked, but my only Pokémon, Bubbles, was fine. Other than the strange flashes of purple, everything remained the same as the original game.

Eventually, I beat Brock and got my first trainer badge. I had to heal Bubbles, so I went to a Pokémon Center and talked to Nurse Joy. She healed my Pokémon, but she didn't say the normal dialogue that she is supposed to say.

After healing Bubbles, she said, "Hey, Rednaz...I think there is something wrong with your Squirtle. I think I'll take a look at him for a minute, and give him back to you when I am done."

Weird. I guess this was a new thing added by the creator of this mod. I wondered if Bubbles actually was poisoned, and that this hack showed poison as discolor to the eyes instead of the little status effect.

The screen faded to black, and when it came back, Nurse Joy handed me back Bubbles and said, "I did some tests, and...well...all I can say is that your Pokemon may not be well for some time. Something is in his system and it doesn't look like it can be cured with an antidote. I suggest letting your Squirtle rest for a bit and using other Pokémon in battle until this illness is out of its system."

I took the pixilated nurse's advice and used other Pokémon in battles. Eventually, I ended up just storing Bubbles away so that I could use my new team.

Eventually, I beat the game. Now, this was not in one night, mind you. It took about a week to do, but I did it. Everything was the same as the original game. What happened after the Hall of Fame...was not.

So, after the hall of fame a cutscene, I guess, happened where my character (Rednaz) stood in front of a CPU. He took out Bubbles, as dictated by the text appearing on screen. Then, an exclamation mark appeared over my sprites head. It then showed an image of Bubbles. It was his battle sprite, but...everything was purple. His skin was a dark purple, and his eyes looked milky and grey as if Bubbles was blind. Then, some text appeared.

"Bubbles looks up at you."

"Bubbles coughs weakly."

"Bubbles wants it to stop."

"Bubbles wants it to stop!"

"Bubbles wsnts it to stop!"

"stbpses santstopstopstop!"

"stopstopstopstopstopstop!"

"STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!"

Honestly, I was a bit shaken by this. Questions were racing through my mind: What was wrong with Bubbles; What kind of illness did it have; And, most importantly, how can I stop it?

"Bubbles wants you to cure it!"

I didn't know how to! Besides, the game wasn't letting me go to the inventory to get an antidote.

"Bubbles wants you to kure it!"

"Bubbles wants you to kule it!"

"Bubbles wants you to kill it!"

"Bubbles is sorry for being useless and wants to die."

What was going on? Who the hell would make this kind of hack?

"Rednaz gently hugged Bubbles!"

"Rednaz snapped Bubbles neck!"

"Bubbles is happy!"

"Rednaz is not."

You're damn right I am not! I have to admit, it's well made, but this is a god damn twisted hack for a Pokémon game! What was the point of all of this?

"Zander knows that not everything can be cured... Not everything can be fixed... And not everything can be prevented."

After that last message, the screen went to black, and the emulator closed.

Once again, I have to say that this was a well made hack, despite the morbid nature of it. I still play Pokémon occasionally, and still have the emulator that I played this hack on. Nothing strange happened to my computer, nothing attacked me in real life, and nothing is now forever in my computer or some crap like that. After the emulator closed itself, I just went to bed. As I lay there, taking in what the hell just happened, I realized something--something that still bothers me to this day. The last message that was on screen didn't say 'Rednaz'...it said 'Zander'-- my real name. Truly, I have no idea how it knew such information. Quite frankly, I want to keep it that way.