Pokémon Ageless Gold

Pokémon SoulSilver will always be one of my favorite video games of all time. Even though to this day, I’ve never actually completed it. I’ve had it since around the time it came out, but I’d always end up resetting when progress became seemingly impossible. Once, I made it all the way to Lance. We’d always go down after his second Dragonite. Recently, I decided to clear the game once and for all, come hell or high water. Sadly, the game crashes seemingly at random now. I didn’t even know that happened to NDS games. But in its current state, this Copy of SoulSilver was no longer playable. I could never just throw the thing away. It means too much.

Of course, I would have to replace it.

And this is where the trouble always begins with these stories. Going to some suspicious garage sale or secondhand store to find a replacement for your beloved Nintendo game, only to find it’s been modified beyond reason. As a fan of these stories myself, I knew looking for a game where I play as Gold was also a bad move. I can’t even name every time he’s been killed off, but it’s a number that would make even Zero from Megaman X feel sympathetic.

But I digress. I was determined to actually beat the game this time. I’m not as stupid as I was before, always throwing away the status effect and stat change moves. Playing a “real Shin Megami Tensei game” helped me understand how Pokemon should also be played. So I had to make it farther this time, right? All that’s left was to actually find a copy. I drove around town to see if there were any of those yard sale signs up. Living in a military town, people were always leaving, and they often liked to sell some of their possessions for more money in the future. As luck would have it, I ended up finding one on the other side of town. Of course, the address took me right back to my own neighborhood. Typical.

The man had just started setting up, but I immediately saw something that caught my eye. On the lawn table he used to hold everything, sat a plastic case of NDS Cartridges. I couldn’t believe my luck. I could have the game back as early as today! Yet, I felt kinda bad about just staring at the dude as he lifted everything by himself. So, I offered to give him a hand.

“Don’t trouble yourself, son. This is the last item anyways.”

He set an expensive looking air fryer down on the table, and kicked the empty cardboard box aside. I already own an air fryer, but if I hadn’t, I would have needed to seriously consider that purchase.

“Can I interest you in any of my wares?”

The man said to me, standing over his table like a proper shopkeeper.

“I’d like to take a look at your DS games, if that’s alright.”

He nodded, and handed me the plastic case. This guy was quite the collector. DragonQuest 6, New Mystery of the Emblem, somehow, and even Pokemon HeartGold. It may not be the version I was familiar with, but I was willing to sacrifice just a little familiarity for the convenience of owning the game so early. I took it out of the plastic package, and was in awe at how well it aged. No big white price sticker on the back, faded by the years. The sticker on the front was still there, even. It seemed untouched by time. The man commented on my interest.

“You sure you want that one? I thought for sure imported Fire Emblem would’ve caught your eye.”

True, it was incredibly tempting. Unlike the Shadow Dragon remake the west got, I’ve seldom heard negative reviews about the sequel. But I remained vigilant.

“Yeah, I’m sure. How much for it?”

“46$.”

That was such a weird number to me. 46. It could have been 45 or 50. I guess this guy really knows how to price these things, though. I paid in exact change, and on the walk home, I held this little black cartridge in my hands as if it truly was solid gold. I had forgotten all about my suspicion of these hand-me-down games. It was in such good condition, how could it have been sinister?

As soon as I got back to my apartment, I slid the cartridge into my 3DS. However, rather than instantly mashing “A” to get to the game, I decided to sit back and watch the intro as I’d always done. I was mesmerized by this cutscene I’ve seen so many times before. It was a little different than I remember, mostly because I always had the Lugia version. But given the story behind Ho-Oh being so much more rich, I’ve considered HeartGold to be the “Canon” game for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to just hop right in on a new save, but it’s always been a Pokémon tradition to check out the previous save file before erasing it. However, once I got to the save screen, my wariness started to creep in. The name of the player was “Gold”. Didn’t take that guy for a Pokémon Special fan, but hey, I’m not complaining. If anything, it made me regret not sticking around to talk to him a little longer. The time count was also pretty weird. It simply read “300:0”.

“Three-thousand?”

I said out loud, puzzled. What could it mean? And does it have something to do with the badge count of 48? This was probably just done with a save editor. But what’s the point in giving yourself more than 16 Badges? I pressed “A” to load the save file, and I immediately got an understanding of this situation.

Or so I thought.

My sprite loaded up in an unfamiliar area. Nothing sinister. In fact, it seemed quite welcoming. It was a large city with tall buildings. It reminded me of Black City from Generation 5. Maybe they originally intended it for this game as a new area?

There was one key difference between this zone and Black City, though. The neon lights found in the Viridian City Gym were present all over the place. I gotta say, I really digged it. I looked around for a while until I found the sign.

“New Bark Town”

Hardly. If this is New Bark Town, I’m the President of the United States. I assume New Bark Town was just the first on the sign index, and this area was never fully implemented. Maybe that’s why he needed so many badges? To get here? As I roamed around, I would eventually notice the differences in my trainer's overworld sprite. His hat was missing. The red on his hoodie faded out into a dusty pink. I decided to check "Gold's" trainer card, and found that it matched.

His expression seemed hopeless. Not that he looked very chipper originally, but there was something about the bags under his eyes that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe this is supposed to be an aged up Gold? He was even rocking the goggles he wore in the manga. But he didn't seem any taller.

I then considered that this was simply part of the modding. Custom trainer sprites were all the rage during Black 2 and White 2. Maybe this dude just had all the time in the world on his hands. While still navigating the menu, I decided to check my Pokémon. Only the sixth slot was filled. It was this strange Pokémon that was nicknamed "AGE". When I pressed "A" on it, it was an egg. I checked everything, and the only thing I found out of the ordinary was that the egg had an EXP bar. "984 / 100"

That sure is weird. Although, if I tried to mod a game only for it to end up this unstable, I'd be pretty upset, too. I decided to look around for any NPCs...but there were none. With nobody to talk to and no Pokémon, I decided sticking around was completely pointless. I reset the game, and delete the save.

As I started my own game, I decided I'd select Ethan, like the man before me did, and similarly name him "Gold". However, everything about his trainer sprite was normal. In fact, everything up to this point was exactly how I remember it. I choose Cyndaquil, and going with the general theme of following the manga, I give it the nickname Exbo.

Except, I decided to check my Pokémon. I regret doing so. My sixth slot was filled with that same "AGE" egg. I checked its EXP bar. "16/100". I guess whatever cheat code he used to modify his sixth party member was still in effect. I tried to release the egg, but doing so would bring me the message: "You can't release an egg!"

I'd have to play the game with only five party slots? This would make it quite the challenge. However, I didn't care. Part of me was hoping to get to where he was in the game, with all the potential context behind it. And yet, aside from that, nothing else notable happened for the rest of my playthrough. Not until after I defeated Red. By the skin of my teeth, I had claimed victory over both champions of the Indigo League. And that's when I got a strange phone call from Kurt.

“Gold! Come down here right away! It’s…it’s incredible! It’s what we’ve always hoped for!”

Click! Brrrr…brrrr…brrrr…

Unusually, a box of text appeared on the screen. It reads:

“Gold: Alright…deep breath…it’s Celebi time, I guess.”

“I guess” is right. Not to mention how my character was suddenly speaking. And not only that, he seemed to emulate the character’s manga personality. I was unbelievably giddy. I know the Celebi event was a thing, but Ethan speaking? That wasn’t in the original game. I hopped on Discord and told everyone all about this secret postgame I found. Nobody really cared, aside from other Pokémon fans. Oh, well. Can’t win 'em all.

I proceeded to Kurt’s house, but before doing so, I decided I’d check my party again. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Level 98 Typhlosion, Level 96 Umbreon, Level 94 Tyranitar, Level 94 Ho-Oh, Level 90 Togekiss, and of course…AGE. Something was different with AGE though. Over the course of this adventure, it had gained only one experience point.

I entered the home, and once again, Gold spoke.

“Gold: Did I get my hopes up for nothing? Or is she waking up?”

“Kurt: It’s the real thing, my boy. I want you to take it to the Shrine for me!”

“Gold: Me…? What makes me qualified to do so?”

Actually, yeah. That was a pretty good point. Though I was now the champion of the entire Indigo League, nobody knows that yet.

“Kurt: Are you kidding? The way you took down Team Rocket shows incredible worth. Of course, you had help…but also…if you weren’t there when I went to Slowpoke Well…”

I paused. No way. The game wasn’t actually about to mention death, was it?

“Kurt: …well, I wouldn’t be the Adonis you see before you! Hee hee.”

“Gold: …heh. Whatever, dude.”

The bottom screen showed a relatively normal message, as the “TM Get!” fanfare played.

“Gold received the GS Ball!”

I was so intrigued. My Pokémon protagonist was speaking. Even in X and Y, where it was definitely implied you could talk, your head would just bob up and down. I wasn't merely controlling Gold anymore. Now I was guiding him. As soon as I left the home, the music was replaced with the encounter theme that plays when Ethan approaches you, if the female character is selected. Filled with vigor as I heard Gold's theme song, I ran to Ilex Forest.

The Celebi cutscene played out as it always did. Even including the Giovanni battle. I walked up to the Shrine again, and tapped “A”.

“The GS Ball is shaking. Open it?”

YES

NO

I froze. I knew a twist would be coming soon, but I forgot to save. Any decision I made now would be permanent. But I couldn’t allow the mystery to end here. All this new stuff I was discovering would go to waste in the blink of an eye if I selected “NO”. So…I hit “YES”. I waited for the horrific beast that waited within. Probably just some shiny magikarp with ‘hyper realistic blood’.

What happened next, I didn’t see coming. Light flashed onto the screen. I was expecting a wild encounter, but no such thing happened. The dark and foreboding Ilex Forest tune was replaced by a stunning silence. A box of text appeared on the screen. It was black, with white font, like it would be during an important system message in future titles. As the words crept onto the screen, I shivered.

“The power of time flows through you, entering your body…you have become eternal.”

That wasn’t so bad. I was expecting to be erased or something. Or, for Gold to, rather. And I was happy, as long as it meant I could keep playing. Gold did not seem to share my sentiment.

“Gold: W…what…? No…no, please tell me that didn’t happen. The legend…it isn’t real, is it?”

Celebi, who I had in the first slot of the party, turned to Gold.

“CELEBI: I’m afraid so. I would have said something, but the language barrier prevented me from doing so until after you could understand me.”

What legend? What in hell are these two on about? These were the thoughts that echoed through my mind as I continued to mash “A” through dialog, hoping to understand.

“Gold: So…if that’s true…I can never grow old with him, can I?”

Him?! I don’t remember that! How long has this game had a mind of its own? I started to panic. Was Gold “sentient” the entire time? Oh, man! If I knew Gold had some kind of love interest, I never would have said yes!

“CELEBI: …just enjoy the time you have with him. I doubt Silver would want to see you despair like this.”

I almost snapped the game shut right then and there. What kind of sadist did I just become? I spent the whole game seeing Gold as a puppet. Suddenly, he’s given life, and I’ve doomed it. The song changed once again. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach as I instantly recognized it. Lavender Town. But it was edited. Though it definitely was the soundfont of this game, it’s being played in a minor key. Just like it always was in the Kanto games. I tried to leave the area, but the dialog box came back.

“Not that way…I want to see him.”

It was now that I realized my trainer’s sprite had the goggles, just like in Adventures. I tried to rationalize what was going on in my head. Maybe this was originally meant to be a game where you got to experience the story from the manga? If that’s the case, what’s this? Some secret bad ending? So secret, the developers forgot to remove it? …yeah, right. I’m not a COMPLETE fool.

I continue through Ilex Forest, in complete silence. As I get to the tree that needs to be cut, Gold speaks again.

“...please take me to the Pokémon League.”

Celebi’s sprite hopped a few times. A flash of white surrounds Gold. In an instant, the game loads me into the Pokémon League building, where, sure enough, Silver was waiting for a rematch. His theme song plays as he approaches me, but he quickly stops short.

“Silver: Hey…Gold? You don’t look so good.”

“Gold: Shouldn’t you be calling me weak or something?”

“Silver: …”

The music quickly ended. I once again had control of the game. Not that I wanted to. But I thought about what Silver just said. ‘You don’t look so good.’ I opened up my trainer card, and saw Gold there. He had his yellow eyes and his goggles, like the manga, except he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he wasn’t posing either. He stood completely still, a morose expression on his face with his hands in his pockets. I walked up to talk to my apparent boyfriend.

“Gold: You know about the GS Ball rumor?”

“Silver: Yeah. But that’s just a tall tale, right?”

Celebi’s sprite hopped a few times.

“Silver: No. Don’t tell me…are you serious?”

“Gold: …”

The poor kid didn’t seem willing to fess up to his mistake. No, not his. My mistake.

“Silver: Of all the childish…boneheaded things you could have done, you…”

“Silver: Hey. Please don’t cry.”

I hesitated to even continue playing. Of course I wanted to know what that city from earlier was about, but not if this was the price. I felt sick. Yet, my morbid curiosity only furthered my desire to continue the game. As my subconscious put together what was going on, I watched with guilt as the lovers conversed.

“Silver: This is going to be a little complicated…especially because you’re the champion now. I’ll hold off on taking that from you until you’ve recovered from this.”

“Gold: I’m never going to recover from this. Sure, I live forever now. Woo-hoo. What’s the point if you aren’t here with me? Or Kris? …I’m going to outlive my own children, Silver…I…I don’t want to be awake anymore.”

“Silver: We’re just going to take this a day at a time, okay? I’ll live as long as I can. I promise. I won’t leave you until the last drop of my blood leaves my body.”

Their sprites seemed to clip together for a moment. I was so drawn into the atmosphere, I briefly forgot what was going on to cause all this. The screen abruptly faded to black. The top screen read, in white text:

“Saving the game. Don’t turn off the power...”

I slammed my thumb into the cartridge, hoping I could get it to pop out, but it was no use. Some twisted part of me wanted to see how this all turns out. I ease up on my thumb at the last second, preventing the game from being ejected.

“Your progress has been saved.”

The screen abruptly opened up to Gold, standing in what looked like National Park. He was positioned in front of one of those Rhydon statues, except there was no Rhydon on top of the cement block. I then realized Gold was in what appeared to be the Team Rocket disguise from the back. Several old man and old woman NPCs surrounded him. I walked forward, my mouth agape as I pressed “A”.

“HERE LIES SILVER

THE MOST PRECIOUS OF METALS”

It was then I decided to put the game down and take a break. Nobody on Discord seemed to believe me, even though I’ve taken plenty of pictures every time something substantial happened. About an hour later, my curiosity finally pushed me to my breaking point. I completed the game, so why was I still playing? Of course, that could be true of any postgame. But this is something nobody’s seen before.

I opened my DS back up, and a sprite I don’t recognize ran up the screen. It looked kind of like Cheren from Black and White 2. A lot of the stuff in here got re-used in future games. Maybe I really was playing cut content.

“Electrum: Dad…you doing okay?”

“Gold: Don’t call me that…I look like I could be your son. Wait…I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Electrum: No, I get it.”

Electrum. A weird name for a child, but so are Gold and Silver. Cleverly enough, I decided to look up the name Electrum. It’s the result when Gold and Silver are melted together, dealing another fatal blow to my heart.

I once again had control of the situation. What a great idea it was to give me the helm once again. I decided to check my trainer card. It told me all I needed to know. Shadow covered Gold’s previously optimistic eyes as he stood in a suit of black. Hands at his sides. I checked my Pokémon again, and found that everyone except for CELEBI and AGE were now missing. Like before, AGE was frozen in the sixth slot of my party, which shouldn’t be possible. However, something was different about this egg. It now had 58 EXP. And suddenly, it all made sense to me. The elderly folk surrounding them. Silver’s death. Gold having raised a son. AGE was literal. The EXP bar represented Gold’s own age. As soon as I closed the menu, Gold started talking again.

“Gold: Electrum…do you still have Articuno with you?”

“Electrum: Yeah…why?”

“Gold: …”

“Electrum: Oh, come on. You can’t be asking that.”

“Gold: I will probably never see your father again. Not even in Heaven. My Pokémon are long dead. I have nothing to look forward to. I’m begging you…please just lay me to rest.”

The other people at the wake seemed to turn to face them. Articuno suddenly emerged from the young trainer.

“NO! Aw, come on! Don’t do this shit!”

I said out loud, at an embarrassingly high volume. Sadly, the game couldn’t hear me. Of course. I couldn’t just fabricate a happy ending out of my ass, as much as I really wanted to. Gold spun around, changing into his trademark outfit. But, as he was at a funeral, he refused to wear the hat. The screen faded to black as I watched, helpless.

“Electrum: …Aurora Beam, Snowbro.”

I almost laughed as I read the Articuno’s nickname, but was quickly pulled back into reality by a horrible noise playing through the speaker.

As he was frozen, it could only be assumed that everything he loved was now gone.