Prevention of Evolution (2020 Proofread)

Originally by: Tiinyranitar/NightDazeZoroark; Proofread by: Nova The Killer Kaiju
It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything here, but I’ll try my best to stay composed, given these extraordinary circumstances. I was about 15 years old when it all went down, and at the time, all I cared about was playing Pokemon and goofing off. Part of me misses such a time, but I digress. When I was younger, the last thing I expected was for me to get into game hacks and such. My hobby would later become an obsession around the age of 10. I was at a local GameStop when I had stumbled upon an Action Replay. My mom bought it for me, much to her confusion as to why I was so adamant about it. Afterward, I immediately went home to use it on my copy of Diamond. I saw no harm in it since I had already beaten the Elite Four, so I figured that it would be perfectly fine for some hacking. Almost like a reward for having everything done in the first place. I got more and more into hacking around the age of 14. I had scoured the Internet for various codes for getting certain Pokemon, modifiers, items, and such. There was one code that I had found that I became enamored with at the time, a shiny Eevee code. But this infatuation would never last… because this Eevee code would permanently change my outlook on hacking, whether it’s something as simple as using Action Replay or any other device.

It was just Saturday afternoon, nothing stood out. I was talking with a very close friend of mine on Discord and playing Pokemon, as per usual. His birthday was coming up soon and I, unfortunately, couldn't ship anything over to where he lived. My dad understandably wouldn't allow it, and I didn't have any money to buy him something as simple as a gift card. After some thought, I realized the best thing I could do was to get him a special Pokemon for his game, as surface level as that may come off as. His absolute favorite Pokemon was Umbreon, but a normal Umbreon just wouldn't do it, in my eyes. I needed to get a shiny Umbreon. Thankfully, my friend's birthday was a week away, so that was enough time to get started on a shiny hunt. As much as I don’t want to talk about other people’s issues, I feel like I need to explain a few things about my friend. His home life isn’t too glamorous, which was why he felt compelled to stay online as much as he could. His family treated him very insignificantly, demanding so much from him with little expectations. They constantly discouraged him from speaking his mind, being his own person, as if he were much younger than he was. His parents refused to let him go out, which only fueled his frustrations. I lived across the state from him, so trying to visit him was impossible. And even if I could, his parents wouldn't trust a stranger in their house. This is one of the main reasons why I wanted to get him such a special Pokemon for his game, I couldn't send him a single thing. It made me feel powerless... I hated it.

After shaking off my bitter feelings, I started up my Pokemon Black, the version I typically used. I walked my trainer into the closest Pokemon center and looked through my Pokemon boxes. Luckily, I had every Eevee evolution to choose from, as well as a Ditto to breed it with. I had taken out my Zoroark and Serperior from my party and replaced the empty slots with the Ditto and an Espeon. I then proceeded to trek through Route 3. Once at Route 3, I walked into the Day Care Center and spoke to the woman. I rapidly pressed the A button, because I had already gone through the song and dance of text boxes plenty of times over. I then dropped off both the Espeon and Ditto into the center. I left the building and talked to the man out in front.

"Your Espeon and Ditto are doing just fine. The two of them seem to get along."

I thought this was good, and that maybe I could get some eggs soon enough. Later on, I returned to the Pokemon Center and dropped off all but 1 of my Pokemon into the PC so that I could hold as many eggs as possible. I kept my Reshiram, BlackFire, in my party and proceed back onto Route 3. Only in a matter of minutes, I already obtained an egg. And now, comes the fun part of shiny hunting...Having to hatch a million and one eggs until a shiny hatched out. How wonderful.

I had been playing my game for a couple of hours and with no luck. Unfortunately, my DS's battery had run low, so I had to plug in the charger while I played. I had probably gone through an entire box full of eggs with no results. I figured it was fine though since I have the whole rest of the week... I continued playing until I grew tired and went to bed. No luck.

---

My mind was racing as it was filled with anxiety. I only had one godforsaken day left. ONE DAY. At that rate, it was impossible to get this shiny Eevee! For one thing, my patience had run so thin from having to keep playing all day, which only served to amplify my stress. I sighed exasperatingly and set aside my DS. This was going nowhere fast. I had no choice but to play dirty as I turned on my computer. There was no way I could have done the shiny hunt on my own, not at that point. I went to Google and searched for a "Shiny Eevee AR code for Pokemon Black". Surprisingly, I was greeted with a single result, but I spared no thought and I immediately clicked on it. It was a long code, but I was more than willing to submit it to get the Pokemon for my friend. I saved my game and turned it off, then proceeded to take the cartridge out and put my Action Replay in. I entered the code and put the cartridge into the slot on the AR. I booted the game up. This could make my next egg a shiny Eevee, guaranteed. I launched the save file and was already on Route 3. My party was empty except for my Reshiram, when I talked to the man, I took the egg and opened up my party.

"Bad Egg"

This left me extremely confused. I've heard of this glitch before and that it would corrupt your game or something along those lines. But I was determined to hatch it in case it might be the shiny Eevee. If it wasn't, then I would have just shut my game off, end of story. I then moved my trainer back and forth for a few minutes before I got a message:

"What?"

My screen changed and showed my egg hatching.

"Congratulations! Your egg hatched into and Eevee!"

I shouted in triumph, for I finally had a shiny Eevee of my own. But my high spirits were then replaced with more confusion. Something was… off about it. I wasn’t given an option to nickname it. I opened up my party and examined its summary and it was called "EEeEE". I didn’t get it, and even now it still leaves me unsure. EEeEE was a level 1 male Eevee with the moves Swift, Sand Attack, Scratch, and Growl. Seemed simple enough to me back then, but looking back I knew the moves had to be off. But no matter, because all I wanted was to evolve it into Umbreon and give it to my friend for his birthday. Unfortunately, I was mentally drained, it had gotten pretty late, even for my standards. Not all was lost though since I had enough time in the morning to evolve EEeEE.

---

This was it. Today was the day I would evolve EEeEE and gift him over to my friend. Before I started my game up, I logged onto Discord… but I was immediately greeted by a message from the same friend I was giving this Pokemon too. This message filled my heart with dread.

"I've had enough of how my parents treat me. I'm not a goddamn little kid anymore! I'm never coming back home, I don’t care what they say anymore. I’m sorry you had to hear this, but there’s a good chance that you may never see me again. Goodbye."

...

I remember it taking me a while to get a grasp on the message. My mind was in pain from how much was going through it. I tried so hard to deny it, thinking that he wouldn't do this, would he? I struggled to message him back over and over again. I’ve waited for a few hours, with no response. Eventually, his status changed to offline. I knew in my heart that it was too late, he fucking did it. I had no idea where he had gone, and there was nothing I could do about it. All I had now was this little Eevee that I was going to give him. I felt my heart in shambles, I wanted to cry, but my tears were held back. I couldn't take the risk of my dad walking in on me with tears in my eyes, so as much as it hurt, I resisted. I then attempted to find comfort in the little Eevee named EEeEE that was meant to be for him. I went and grabbed my DS and opened it up, but to my surprise, the game was already up and running. I didn't remember turning it on, but thinking about it now, I was so emotional that I must have forgotten that I turned it on prior? Regardless, I went to train EEeEE in the tall grass, and would later move on to train it in the Elite Four. I moved my trainer out and about in the little patches.

"A wild Blitzle appeared!"

"Go, EEeEE!"

EEeEE was sent out into battle, but I immediately returned him, since he was

too weak right now. I then sent out my Reshiram.

"Blitzle used Tackle!"

"It's not very effective.."

"What will BlackFire do?"

Fight.

Flamethrower.

"BlackFire used Flamethrower!"

"Wild Blitzle fainted!"

That was overkill, I know, but I desperately didn't want EEeEE to be knocked out at any moment. This little process continued for about 15 minutes, up until I was cut off

by a very sudden Eevee cry. I was greeted with an unusual text box.

"EEeEE wants to battle!"

"When you're stronger.." I whisper into my DS.

Looking back, I don’t know why I even say that? That microphone on this handheld isn’t exactly meant for that level of immersion. More importantly, why did the game say this and why didn’t I question it before? Not even I could answer these questions. My thoughts were cut off when another Eevee cry went off, but I was free to move again. A few battles later, I came across the evolution screen.

"What? EEeEE is evolving!"

I was very elated as I watched the screen, but that quickly turned south as I noticed EEeEE was evolving into an Espeon. This wasn’t right, I needed to be an Umbreon. It… was meant for him. Begging for it to be an Umbreon, I pressed B and turn the game off, figuring since EEeEE had already started evolving into Espeon, he wouldn't be able to evolve into Umbreon anymore. However, when I started my game back up, I didn't even have to select the save file. I was already back where I was when I turned the game off. I saw an overworld sprite of an Eevee suddenly run off from my trainer sprite. That silvery sprite was undeniable. It was EEeEE! EEeEE had run away from me, which left me baffled as to why, but it was clear as day that he left me... My last bit of respite was just gone. I felt clueless, but most of all disheartened. I put down my DS off to the side at the moment, leaving it open. I needed to do something else, anything really to help clear my mind. I figured I’d boot up the laptop to watch some videos in some vain attempt at bringing my spirits up.

I was not prepared for what my browser notified me with. My newsfeed presented a local article:

"Runaway boy in Detroit found dead."

I had hoped so badly that it wasn’t who I thought it was. I prayed that this wasn’t real… but it was all for nothing. To my horror, it was my friend, who had run away from home. He was found dead in a forest with claw marks on his body. From what I reluctantly remember, it was reported to be something along the lines of a rabid coyote had found and killed him. I slammed my laptop shut and returned to my DS. I was emotionally broken, in absolute distraught, but more than anything, I felt pain. And yet, like a fool, I still refused to let myself cry. I foolishly thought I would wait until my dad was asleep and only then I could let all my emotions out. I tried so hard to move this to the back of my mind and move on as I continued playing on my DS.

It was then clear to me that EEeEE meant so much more to me than when I initially realized. I made this my mission, I HAD to find him. I desperately searched all around Unova, down to every single city, Dragonspiral Tower, and even Victory Road. No matter what location I could think of, I’ve found nothing... But I refused to give up. EEeEE was the only memento I had left of my friend. The meant-to-be birthday present, the one that was going to be the shiny version of his absolute favorite Pokemon. I didn’t want all of this to be for nothing in every way possible. I couldn’t bear that. But then, I remembered the one place I haven't looked.

Lostlorn Forest.

I used my Reshiram to fly to Nimbasa City and ran to Lostlorn Forest from there like a bat out of hell. As soon as I walked into the forest, I ran into the overworld sprite of… what I thought was a shiny Eevee. To my grimace, this was not a shiny Eevee… not anymore. What I assumed was EEeEE now appeared to have had the ears, tail, and jewel of a shiny Espeon, the very same Pokemon it wanted to evolve into from the start. I wanted so badly to be by his side, but before I could move again, I was greeted by a series of message boxes and distorted Eevee and Espeon cries. They sounded loud and rushed, and judging from the dialogue, it was very angry with me.

"EEeEE only wanted to evolve"

"EEeEE tried to evolve by itself"

"EEeEE became stuck in evolution"

"EEeEE is in pain!"

"EEeEE ran away because he didn't want to be treated lesser then what he was!"

I felt my heart stopping from reading that last comment. I have made a horrible mistake...

"..."

My hands shaking at this point, my breath growing shorter and shorter. Before I could do make a sound, much less press a button, EEeEE ran off... and it wasn’t very long when I heard the distant cry of a Zoroark. I nearly crushed the B button and ran towards the sound of the shrill EEeEE cry I heard earlier.

I then came across a gruesome scene.

EEeEE was on the ground, covered in claw marks, bleeding. A Zoroark stood in front of it, Its claws were bloodied as well. This bastard had attacked EEeEE. Everything that has happened to my friend is happening all over again but towards EEeEE.

This display of cruel irony made my blood boil. The way I treated him, the way he reacted, and the result. It’s happening again! I wanted to scream for it all to stop so badly, but I could feel myself choking from the anxiety.

I was at my breaking point… this had to fucking end.

The Zoroark readied a final blow against EEeEE, but I ran my trainer in between the two Pokemon and intervened. The wild encounter with the Zoroark had begun. I sent out BlackFire. I was going to kill this Zoroark no matter what, even if the game wouldn’t allow it. I didn’t care, I wanted to see it rot, and I hoped to God it would. The fight had begun. I used Blue Flare.

You were about to wish you never attacked EEeEE, Zoroark.

However, to my chagrin, Zoroark took nowhere near the amount of damage I thought it would. Upon further inspection, the Zoroark was level 100. I’ve never felt so angry in my entire life. The Zoroark used Night Daze. My Reshiram's health went down by almost half. What was with this Zoroark? Why was it so powerful? The same two turns repeat. BlackFire using Blue Flare. Zoroark using Night Daze. My Reshiram was almost down and out, and that's when I got another message box.

"EEeEE wants to fight!"

Along with the yes or no options. At first, I was about to instinctively hit no, when I remembered the reason EEeEE ran off in the first place. I selected “yes”. Reshiram was then instantly switched out with EEeEE, which was a much higher level than I expected. Has he been training himself after he ran off?

EEeEE. Male Eevee. Level 80. I chose to fight, and his Move set was a big surprise to me. Shadow Ball, Morning Sun, Power Swap, Psychic… and Punishment .Shadow Ball seemed to be the best move to use here since Psychic would have no effect and Punishment would not be the most useful. I selected Shadow Ball, but Zoroark was faster…

“Zoroark used Faint Attack!"

"It's super effective!"

EEeEE nearly fainted.

"EEeEE used Shadow Ball!"

"It's not very effective.."

I felt like an idiot for not realizing the fact about Dark being resistant to Ghost. It did little damage. On the next move, I chose Sunny Day. EEeEE thankfully got to go first.

"EEeEE used Sunny Day!"

"EEeEE regained health!"

"Zoroark used Hone Claws!"

"Zoroark's attack rose!"

The only other attack I could use was Punishment. I pressed A over it. Once again EEeEE went first, to my surprise.

"EEeEE used Punishment!"

"It's not very effective..."

The game must not be paying attention, because it dealt a lot more damage than Shadow Ball and Reshiram's Blue Flare. I was grateful but confused, but it wasn’t the time to question it. Zoroark's health went down by a fourth.

"Zoroark used Night Daze!"

"It's super effective!"

Once again, the attack nearly knocked EEeEE out. I remember this next turn vividly… I couldn’t think, I couldn’t speak.... All I felt was EEeEE’s anger. It felt like it all went on by itself. EEeEE's sprite started shaking hard before the turn went through.

These next few words took so much out of me.

"I'M MY OWN MASTER!"

He used Punishment for one last time. This attack sounded much louder than usual, and Zoroark immediately fainted. For the first time throughout that whole fight, I took time to breathe again. We went back to the overworld, and EEeEE was facing me, with the Zoroark on the ground. It wasn't dead, much to my annoyance. EEeEE slowly, yet calmly walked up to my trainer. A text box popped up.

"EEeEE has rejoined your party."

The screen then went black.

"The save file is corrupt."

...

I turned my DS off and back on, then deleted my file. Nothing could be done about it at that point. I clicked a new game and what I saw took me aback. There was no opening intro. I was already on the first route of the game. I opened up the menu, seeing my Trainer Card. All the info from the last file was present here. Wary of what could happen next, I carefully looked at my party... There was only one Pokemon remaining, EEeEE. I opened up his menu…

"Evan. Level 5. Male Eevee"

...I couldn’t stop crying.