Pokemon Burnt Red

While I was growing up, I had been stuck with Pokémon like glue. My first game being Pokémon: Yellow, which brought great nostalgia now as I thought about it.

But, there's always a snake in The Garden of Eden. Ever since I watched the TV series, play other Pokémon games, it would ring a requiem knell about a certain event that would cost me my childhood dearly.

During the fall season, I went to a flea market just to buy Pokémon: Fire Red. I was stoked when I came across it with a middle aged man wearing round glasses and a Slipknot T-shirt. I asked him if I can buy it from him, and he gave me a puzzled look.

"Are you sure you want to buy this?" He asked.

"Of course," I answered politely, "I came here just to buy that game."

I noticed the grim look on his face. I asked him what's wrong.

"N-nothing." He said shaking his head, obviously clearing cobwebs in his head. He handed it to me straight away, "Just take it. I got to get rid of it straight away."

"Woah! What's the rush?" I asked.

"Just take it, smash it, anything! I-I got to go." He said in a quick panic, then runs off into his car and sped away down the road.

'What the hell...?' I thought to myself.

Now why would he cause a scene like that? I just wanted to buy a game for Christ sake. Guess I got the game for free. Anyway, I went home and stuck the game in my Nintendo DS and hit the power button. The game started normal, but as I hit the start button, the game just started at Pallet town. I checked my Red sprite's profile and his name was just, "ED". I checked my Pokémon to reveal I have two Pokémon, Pikachu, and Celebi. I went to Viridian City, and saw no PCs around. I had a weird feeling that I was alone in this game. Then it hit me...

Well dammit, it was a 'HACKED' game. Hacks are pretty creative to my taste. But I digress. Tampering with my childhood was pretty hurtful for me, but I had to continue; wanting to play the rest of the game. I went all the way to Mt. Moon, and saw... a wild Mewtwo. He had his eyes closed with bloody tears streaming down his face, I looked as the Psychic Pokémon stood with his head looking down at his feet. I went up to Mewtwo and froze as he opened his eyes, lifted his head to reveal, the whites of his eyes a disgustingly blood red, with white pupils. The screen went to black. And saw a text box that reads:

"Hello. Wanna play a game?"

I clicked, and I was now in Seafoam Islands. The music had changed, it was that song from "Super Metroid" when you go into the Underground Depths. I walked a bit and saw a sign that reads:

"Don't look back..."

"Don't look back?" That left me shaking a little. But I laughed a bit though, as I always do when I first went inside a haunted attraction in Howl-O-Scream one time. As I walked around the island, I keep seeing a shadowy Mewtwo with bloody eyes standing behind me with the most terrifying grin I have ever seen. He would pop out and slowly follow my every footstep. When he vanishes, I would hear a deep, pixelated laughter. It was like that Kefka guy from Final Fantasy, only it sounded deep like a demon laughing manically.

Finally, I made it to Fuchsia City without that Mewtwo following me. And to my surprise, another sign that reads:

"mY tUrn..."

And as I clicked, I was then teleported inside Diglette's Cave. Inside, I walked down every cavern and suddenly, out of no where, the Mewtwo with those damn bloody eyes appeared in front of me.

The Mewtwo wanted to challenge me to a battle. But the battle theme was in reverse. Could this be a boss battle?

I chose Pikachu and let him use Thunderbolt.

"Hahaha! What is that supposed to do?!" Then as he said this in that little text box, I heard that deep Kefka Laugh again.

I thought to myself 'yep, it's hacked alright'. I mean, Mewtwo was literally taunting me.

"Mewtwo used CURSE." "What? Pikachu disappeared!"

"That's new!" I said out loud.

Then I had to choose Celebi instead. And I made Celebi use Shock Wave.

"Mewtwo Teleported."

"Fuck." I grunted.

Then I saw another text box saying:

"GOODBYE..."

Then he used Curse. And just like Pikachu, Celebi fades, with the text saying:

"Oh no! Celebi Disappeared too?!" "What will ED do?!"

I don't know! I was just as shocked as the game was. Then another text box appeared that reads:

"The burning you feel, it's shame..."

Then he used Curse on me as well. Then I faded as well.

I turned the game off; noticing that it was getting late and went to sleep. I had a nightmare, a very grim one too. I dreamt that I was being followed by that Mewtwo with the bloody eyes in some eerie fog, I couldn't figure out what that nightmare was about. It was too weird. Anyway, I woke up and tried to forget about that dream, but couldn't. It must of had some meaning to it, but I couldn't tell what. I ate breakfast, went to my job at GameStop, and went home to play that game again. Only this time... it was, different... The usual logo of Game Freak had a loud high pitched sound, and the title theme was the title theme for the NES game "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". I shit you not, this happened when I got on the game.

I press start, and my Red Sprite's name was changed to, "No Escape". And I was back in Mt. Moon. And everything went absolutely berserk. The background music changed to what sounds like a pixelated version of what is supposed to be loud banging, and I could hear pixelated moaning and screaming in the background as well. Everything that surrounded the Red sprite was nothing but black and white, except my Red sprite. I went to Celadon City and this time, the city was changing colors rapidly, as if the whole game was an acid trip. Then as I made it out of Celadon City, that creepy Mewtwo appeared in front of me and again, everything went black. A text box appeared saying:

"Ed is getting lonely..."

"The fuck...?" I asked myself in a shaky voice.

Whoever made this hack must of been mentally ill or something, he's got to be. Then I was again, teleported to Cinnabar Island, the background music was the Lavender Town music in reverse; giving a sudden chilling atmosphere to it come to think about it. I went to the Pokémon Mansion and the whole place was like that scene in the Jim Henson movie, Labyrinth; where David Bowie sings the song "Within You". The background music was nothing but the sound of bells with a sudden droning sound.

I went in all directions as the path twisted and turned, went inside out, till I got to a big chamber door. As I went through the chamber door... It went black again. And heard that warped Kefka Laugh again. And it repeated as it showed my Red sprite on the floor as it laid on the floor dead. I came to the conclusion... it was laughing at me for playing the game, being a total fool for never heeding that man's word back at the flea market.

I turned the game off and grabbed a hammer, but did not smash it. This was a piece of my childhood. I was going to kill my childhood. I was literally going bat-shit crazy, over a game. I was indeed pissed that my childhood memories was now attacking me, I had enough. As I continued back at Pallet Town, I saw that fucker waiting for me behind a house. A text box appeared as if that Mewtwo was talking to me:

"So many bodies, so little time... don't you agree, Phil?"

What the fuck... How the fuck did that bastard know my name?! I know this sounds stupid of me, but I literally (No joke) stood up and shook the game out of a fit of anger and fear.

"NO! No more games! What do you want from me, you madman?!"

"I want you to suffer, like I did..."

As I read that text box, I knew it had heard my tirade. I looked and saw Mewtwo staring right at ME, smiling menacingly. I shrieked in horror, threw the game at the wall, ran to the bathroom, and slammed the door. I curled into a ball on the floor; fearing about what will happen next. I can hear that damn laughter in my head now... taunting me with that shit-eating grin... I was furious that a game was torturing me... But who will believe me...?

The following day, I contacted the man who forcefully gave me the fucking thing, Johnny Warren. He had a job as a lawyer in court; winning many cases in alphabetical order. I thought 'god damn, that's a shit ton of cases!'. He told me that he wanted that game out of his life, cause there was an incident where police had to be taken to the hospital with multiple degree burns. Half even died. The story went, something like this:

There was a 19 year old named, "Ed Warden". He was a pretty good gamer, but he was an evil boy. Beat up his girlfriend, brutally bullies his brother, and murdered his father for no reason. He was feared by other classmates, till one night, for no reason, he went stark raving mad, and savagely killed his whole family in cold blood. He took his brother's game, Pokémon: Fire Red, and morphed it into a abomination. He hacked the game in a way that would fit his insane background. Till he saw out his window, the neighbors calling the police. He doused the whole entire home in gasoline, lit a match as the police pulled in the driveway. Then dropped it as the officers ran to the front door; guns ready.

The neighbors watched as the house exploded into a giant inferno; causing the officers to take cover. Fire department was called to put the fire out. But they were too late. The fire had burned Ed's flesh off; turning him into a skeleton on fire.

Legend has it that as Ed went to Hell, he had selled his body to one of Satan's demons, as Ed's soul went inside the game; possessing his favorite Pokémon, Mewtwo.

Now it fits perfectly, "ED", the name I was given during my first play through, and when Mewtwo started calling himself "Ed". That was Ed Warden. Somehow his ghost was forever trapped inside the game, MY game. I decided to try and sell the game on EBay, nobody would take it off my hands.

Ed tried to contact me again on the game, this time, he sounded serious:

"Don't you worry about tomorrow, Phil, cause I'll won't let you see tomorrow."

I would just turn the game off.

I can't escape the hell I'm in. I'm literally haunted by a fucking Pokémon, cause a ghost had possessed a hacked Pokémon game. I went on my Twitter page and found some comments on how a great guy I was back at GameStop. I told them thanks and hope they liked the games I got them. But one message caught my attention.

.... Oh fuck...ED... How the fuck....?

"How's it going Phil?"