Crushed crystal

Crushed_crystal is a… hacked Pokemon game I copied it of deviantart

I had, after much searching, found a ROM of Pokemon Crystal. For some reason, I had found it once and couldn't find it again, no matter how I searched. I browsed sites until I found one. Finally! I had Red Rescue Team, Emerald, and Creepy Black; I loved creepypasta, you see, and Creepy Black was classic, I just regretted there wasn't a ROM of Strangled Red. Anyway, Crystal was cool; I loved Johto, an cyndaquil was my old favourite pokemon. Checking for viruses, I downloaded it and loaded my VBA. Call it stealing, but who hasn't? My heart sank when it reached the title screen. Pokemon Crushed Crystal. The scene on the title was suicune sitting there, and a young child dressed in blue and purple hugging its neck with a scared look in his eye. Hacked. I was, at first, pissed that the ROM I'd searched for was a mindless hack. Yes, I was mad. But my initial anger turned into curiosity. This sounded fun. Maybe this would provide a few laughs. It seemed a good idea to look at what  may lay ahead. Hacked, but ah well. Worth a play. I started playing and chose 'new game'. I was immediately greeted by the animation of a gem smashing on the floor and breaking into many pieces. There was no sound, not until I had put my volume up and the Celadon theme started. Not Lavender or Drought or any creepy shit like that, but Celadon. Cheery, happy, quite pleasant.

As the screen faded in, I wondered why I hadn't seen Professor Elm talking about pokemon, and why I hadn't been asked my name or gender. I saw an overworld sprite of the child I saw. He sat (or stood, it was impossible to tell) in a cosy room with an old man. I guessed it was his granddad.

Grandpa: Now, little Eusine, do you want me to tell you a story?

Eusine: Yeah, grandpa, tell the story about SUICUNE!

Ah, Eusine. The man who was nuts for suicune. His battle theme was good, and he was a decent guy. Not like that rival, who ambushes you in Mt. Moon when you're  training... anyway, I wanted to know more about this character, so I continued.

Grandpa: SUICUNE? You've heard that thousands of times. How about RAIKOU or ENTEI?

Eusine: No, grandpa, I want the SUICINE story! SUICUNE!

Grandpa: Okay, Eusine. I'll tell you the SUICUNE story. Once upon a time...

The screen faded to black. Pity. I might've wanted to hear the suicune story. The screen faded back into a grassy field. Eusine and Grandpa were walking along it. Something like a ninetales sprite was following them. It looked blurry; Crystal didn't have the graphics of Heartgold and Soulsilver, but it looked a little like ninetales. They walked for a while, interrupting occasionally with;

Eusine: How long now, grandpa?

Grandpa: Not long now.

Eventually, after enough time for me to get some toast and eat it, they had finished walking. What they had stopped at was curious. They were standing in a graveyard. I didn't know that Johto had a burial ground. As far as I could remember, it was the only one of the five main regions that didn't have one. There was a large, rusty gate and many mossy stones. Grandpa led Eusine to a gravestone on the east-most side. The music had slowed to a creepy, minimalist theme that reminded me of the Dusk Factory theme from Pokemon Ranger.

Granpa: Okay, Eusine. This is where your mommy and daddy are. I'm going to say a little prayer and put down these flowers. Now, I don't want you to go in Mausoleum, understood?

Eusine: Yes, grandpa...

Grandpa: I'm serious, Eusine, don't go near the Mausoleum! I don't want you going there!

Eusine seemed to step back without moving.

Eusine: Grandpa, you're hurting me...

Grandpa: ...I'm sorry, Eusine. But you've got to promise me not to go in the Mausoleum and not to leave the cemetery!

Eusine: I promise, granpda. NINETALES will keep me company, won't you, NINETALES?

I heard a ninetales cry above the music and the screen faded for a second. I realised that I could walk. I pressed 'enter', which I had set for the Menu button, and opened my trainer card. It wasn't so much of a trainer card as a kiddie Cool-Cardz card. There was 'Pocket Money' instead of Money (Eusine had 100 pokédollars), the badges were cute cartoon stickers (which Eusine had three of; a bunny, a cat and a spider) and everything was sweet, childish and adorable. I excited to my bag. He didn't have much. Just a potion, an antidote, a cell phone, and a suicune pokédoll. He didn't have any pokemon, even though ninetales was following him, and he didn't have a pokedex. I assumed this was because he was simply too young. I went back to the overworld and walked around. Walking about, I looked at the gravestones.

CATRIN. 14 YEARS. CORRUPTED. MORGAN. 12 YEARS. CORRUPTED. DOUCHEBAG. 10 YEARS. CORRUPTED. (I giggled at that one)

I read through more and more. Similar. All were names like Jeff, Mike, Ellie, Steve, even a few jokes like Fatass, I'm Gay (I had done this before; during the game, anyone who says your name says 'I'm Gay', and it provides a few laughs) and such, but all had the same last line. CORRUPTED. Most likely, all the gravestones said similar things. Curiosity overcame me, and I followed the small path to the back of the cemetery. Sure enough, there was the mausoleum. An old marble building, covered in vines and moss, even with the not-great graphics I could recognise the building's broken-down state. The doors were two large gates which looked rusted. I tried to go in.

The doors are locked...

Eusine: NINETALES, break the door open!

There was a ninetales cry.

NINETALES doesn't want to!

Eusine: NINETALES, now!

…

NINETALES used TAKE DOWN!

The door didn't fly off; it just disappeared with a 'ping' and a crash. I turned and talked to ninetales. His sprite shivered and I heard a ninetales cry again.

NINETALES doesn't want to go in! Go in anyway? Yes/No

I chose yes and I rolled my eyes. Pussy. Entering, the creepy theme turned into an unnerving chant. Somewhere between the Drought theme from Ruby, the Dusk Factory theme and Ghetsis' Battle theme. I walked along a seemingly endless stone corridor with vine-covered walls. A text box popped up.

Eusine looked behind him... (A faint pokemon roar sounded in the distance) Nothing there...

I checked my Trainer Card. Eusine was hunched over. He was pale and scared. I carried on walking. It was faster. After a while, I reached a stone coffin. I walked around it and the sound of a pokemon cry came from the speakers,  barely audible over the music. Another text box.

Something's drawing closer...

I pressed Z (I had set it as A on my VBA) on the coffin. A crack in the ceiling gave a pixel light on the stone and a bunch of grey dots resembled a wilted rose.

Eusine: What is this?

The lid moved!

Eusine: W-Wah!

The battle animation started and I was greeted by, king of ghosts himself, haunter. No pokemon crept onto battle on my side; just young Eusine's battle sprite. I checked his pokemon.

NINETALES isn't here...

Ah. Then, I tried his bag. He had the antidote and potion, as I mentioned before, but I guessed that those wouldn't be much help. I remembered about the suicune doll and searched it under battle items, but as soon as I selected it, a text box popped up that said;

Eusine hugged the SUICUNE DOLL! HAUNTER used CURSE!

Of curse. Pardon the pun. Curse had always been a favourite Nightmare Fuel move of mine. A pokemon hammers a nail into its own head then the head of its enemy, lowering its HP to half and cursing the foe. Not exactly pleasant. The nail drove into the haunter and then appeared next to Eusine's head.

Eusine: W-wah! Grandpa! H-help!

This was entertaining, but sounded terrifying, the curse being laid on a human, a nail in its head, draining life out of them, dead in the dust. But then the screen went black. I waited a second for it to reappear. When it did, haunter was on top of Eusine, a nail hovering in the air next to his head. A roar sounded and the crack in the ceiling opened more. A blue blur fell through, striking haunter down. The screen faded into a strange cut-scene. Standing in the uneasy shadows, separating haunter from the shivering Eusine, was Suicine, in all its glory. It roared, opening its mouth to show a set of pointed canine teeth, and used aurora beam. It was surprisingly more beautiful than the battle animation. A beam of light, splitting into many, fading blue, purple and green, glowing and rippling and it hit haunter and exploded into one big, white eruption. Slowly, it faded into the overworld. Eusine sat, alone, in the crypt. No haunter. No Suicune. Just Eusine, sitting there. The minimalist macabre music had stopped. The only thing left was a low rumble. Then, in a wonderful boom of sound, the Celadon Theme began, as ninetales dashed up in an unnatural speed, bouncing up and down in front of Eusine. Slowly, his grandfather walked up to him. The music stopped. There was a long pause as they stood there, the text boxes only displaying '…'. I tried to walk but Grandpa just walked in front of me. Eventually, I pressed Z and decided to talk to him.

Grandpa: ...Eusine, do you know why I always asked you to stay away from the masoleum?

Eusine: But Grandpa...

Grandpa: Do you know why only pokemon are buried in Lavender Tower? Haven't you heard the legends about the White Hand and Buried Alive?!

Eusine: Grandpa...

Grandpa: H-how did you survive?! Eusine, how did you escape?!

Eusine: SUICUNE, Grandpa... it was SUICUNE...

Eusine's sprite lay down, like the old man blocking the way in Red/Blue, and ninetales picked him up. His pixel body was lying on ninetales' back. There was a pause, and the music turned into one long, continuous note, a screech of sound broken only by crackles of static, before resuming. Celadon theme, but slow. Echoing as Grandpa, Eusine and ninetales left, it faded out and so did the screen. When it faded back in, it showed Eusine standing in front of a mirror. He was in a bedroom; and I guessed it was his when I realised that the walls were plastered with posters of suicune, there were suicune dolls on the floor and, concentrating, I saw the suicune bedsheets on his bed. This guy loved suicune, all right. A lady walked into his room. Her sprite had blonde hair and a blue dress, and she walked up to Eusine, dropping a pokeball on the floor.

Amanda: Here, kid. This is your first pokemon!

Eusine: Thanks, Amanda...

Amanda: Professor Birch told me to give it to you, since you can't go outside. Must suck to be you, having chickenpox on your tenth birthday.

Eusine: …

I checked my trainer card. It was now a proper card; no stickers, but no badges either. Eusine's sprite looked older now. He had a towel draped over his shoulders and red blotches on his face. I smirked. I had been sick on my birthday once too; the difference was he was meant to be getting his first pokemon today. I exited and pressed Z on the pokeball. There was a flash of light and the sprite of a houndour popped up. It jumped up and down and Eusine chased it around.

Eusine: Kaff kaff... thank you, Amanda.

Amanda: Y'gonna nickname that little guy?

To my surprise, it wouldn't let me nickname the pokemon; but unsurprisingly enough Eusine just chose the nickname 'SUICUNE'.

Amanda: Well, Eusine, since your grandpa kicked it and all in the snowstorm, I've never seen you so happy. Good thing you've got me. He wasn't really doing a good job, either, we found you starved in the basement, that old coot just left you to die...

Eusine: NO! That's not true! Shut up! Grandpa was a great man and he was a better parent than you, or mom, or dad, or anyone could be! He didn't walk out on me or anything! And... and I didn't survive because of you! I survived because of SUICUNE! SUICUNE stayed by my side until help came! SUICUNE treated me like its child, and it showed that it loved me! SUICUNE showed me that there was hope! SUICUNE-

Amanda: Don't get excited, kid, you can play in the garden since your chickenpox is clearing up, but don't overdo it. I'm going shopping with Whitney and you've got to look after yourself.

She walked out of the room. What a bitch! I watched as Eusine turned to his houndour and then went to his bed. A text box popped up. Eusine got BLUE DYE! Eusine got WHITE DYE Eusine: See, SUICUNE? I got these from Amanda's bedroom. It won't hurt a bit. It's just like getting a bath. And a purple blanket will make the perfect cape, and the illusion is complete!

The screen faded to black and the pokemon healing noise sounded; that annoying tune that plays in pokemon centers when Nurse Joy healed your pokemon. Houndour's battle sprite popped up. It was now blue and white, just like suicune, with a purple blanket tied around its neck.

Eusine: Haha, you look great! Kaff kaff...

SUICUNE: Ruff ruff!

SUICUNE seems happy with its new look!

Eusine: Let's go outside, SUICUNE, and we can play ball!

I smiled. That was kind of heartwarming. Eusine had lost his grandfather, his parents, and was being raised by one bitch of a girl, but he was having so much fun with his little houndour. For the next part of the game, I walked around in the tall grass outside, battling hoothoots and sentrets, a caterpie or two. When Amanda arrived home, there was an argument about dying the houndour's fur and all, which was amusing, ending in Amanda storming back out again, yelling that Eusine should just go on his adventure and never come back. Then I realised. Eusine was being abandoned. I walked out of the house, after checking in the trash cans (it's a habit of mine in pokemon games) and finding a super potion (result!). Out of the house, I realised that I was in Celadon. The tune was upbeat and cheery, and I challenged the gym immediately. It was quite easy; houndour, sorry, SUICUNE, had an advantage in the grass type gym. SUICUNE was kind of strong, too. He seemed to get better than usual when levelling up, and his stats seemed to be quite high anyway. Every time I sent him out in battle, he would be dressed up as suicune, and his cry would sound more and more like suicune.

As I left, after visiting the condominiums and arcade, and buying some stuff at the department store, I left to route 7. Strangely, every time I tried to catch a pokemon, Eusine would say;

Eusine: ...I don't want that.

Until I tried to catch snubbull. It just caught it, and it didn't register in my pokedex; I just remembered that I didn't have one, I'd just been thrown out by Amanda, and it also wouldn't let me nickname it. Eusine, again, nicknamed it SUICUNE.

Eusine: Calm down, snubbull, this won't hurt.

The noise again- and when I checked the snubbull's sprite, it was blue and white with a purple cape again. Eusine was only catching dog pokemon- so he could turn them into suicunes of his own. This was creepy to me. But, I carried on, catching any dog pokemon I could, and eventually reached the League. Each of my 'suicunes' were high levels, had good moves and high stats, each one painted as suicune. I beat the league kinda easily, and defeated the champion with only two faints. One thing I noticed was that Eusine's sprite seemed to age. After I beat every gym leader, he'd be a little taller, he'd wear slightly different clothing, his hair would change, and he'd look more and more like the adult Eusine I saw in the game. Anyway, he was a teenager, looked about 17 by the time I'd defeated the league, and I decided to see if he'd let me catch any more pokemon. But as I left the league and went into Victory Road, I realised something. I'd played Red and Blue, but I didn't remember the Victory Road looking quite like this. The paths looked different, and there were caves where I didn't remember there being before. Since the last time I played Red was only days ago, I was suspicious- and decided to make an exit. But I'd been walking for a while- and I was lost. Give me a slap around the head for not bringing an escape rope or teaching one of my pokemon dig. After searching aimlessly for a while, and getting some more toast, I found a cave. It looked promising- it lead to a long, winding corridor and that usually means something. I walked along it, and was reminded of the mausoleum. The mossy walls, the way Eusine turned and text boxes popped up saying things like;

Eusine looked behind him- (A pokemon cry) Nothing there...

Suddenly, the screen began to shake. The music turned into a loud rumbling and stones fell down. Eusine's sprite turned around and I began to run back through the tunnel, muttering 'Oh crap' over and over, when a loud crash came from the speakers and a large rock fell in front of Eusine.

Eusine: The cave's collapsing! Help! SUICUNE, use rock smash!

Houndour's sprite appeared and rammed the stone- but another rock fell and hit it. I recoiled. There was a sickening crunch and a high-pitched houndour roar. I was shocked- I had grown attached to that pokemon.

Eusine: SUICUNE! SUICUNE...

...

Eusine: All of you! Help!

All the sprites popped out and ran around insanely, the music turning frantic and angry, rocks tumbling. I watched each pokemon get crushed, one by one, each one accompanied by a dreadfully realistic snap and crunch, then a screaming cry. It was horrible- it made me sick, it was terrifying and exciting at the same time. I lost control of Eusine's sprite and it began to run, dashing and running through the maze of falling stones- and the screen froze as a boulder was just pixels away from Eusine's head. I breathed heavily. The screen faded to black- and a blur of blue flashed across the screen. I heard suicune's cry- faint and in the distance- but I heard it. When the screen faded back in, Eusine was standing in front of a row of gravestones- and I realised that he was in Lavender Tower. Cliché, maybe. But I could move now. He moved slowly, and I checked his trainer card- his arm was in a cast, his eyes were red and his foot was in plaster. He had his head down and a bunch of flowers in his left hand. Realising what it was, I cupped a hand to my mouth. He was visiting the gravestones of all the pokemon that died that day.

Eusine put down the flowers. Eusine: ...Good night, SUICUNE... all of you... the real SUICUNE did what you couldn't, but you all did everything you could... and now, even if I need DROWZEE to cure the sleepless nights, and HAUNTER to steal away my nightmares, I'll never forget any of you...

Eusine fell to his knees!

Eusine began sobbing!

Eusine: Oh god, it's all my fault, if I hadn't been so reckless this would never have happened!

Eusine broke down!

I began feeling the need to comfort him- if I could only touch his shoulder and tell him it was okay, if I could, but I just had to watch as he broke down and wallowed in self-hate. Blame me for getting attached to pixels, but it was just painful to watch. An electrode sprite popped up. ELECTRODE: Buzz buzz? Eusine: ...Oh, ELECTRODE, I'm sorry, I shouldn't just wallow here. I've got to move on. I've got to find SUICUNE. Find SUICUNE and thank it. Thank it for everything.

He walked out, electrode following, and the screen faded to black. After waiting, I realised it wasn't fading back in. It had frozen. Well, damnit. I turned it off and left it alone for a while. After a few days I returned to it- and was surprised by what I saw. It was Eusine, talking to Kris, in the Brass Tower.

Eusine: I dug a hole here, too... I was shocked! SUICUNE raced by like a blur, right in front of my eyes! For ten years I chased SUICUNE, and I finally got to see it. I'm all choked up! Player, I owe this all to you! Thank you! I heard that the legendary Pokémon of Ecruteak test chosen humans by allowing them to get close. I'm going to track SUICUNE. Kris, let's meet again! Farewell!

I watched as they spoke, exchanging the usual pokemon dialogue, and then watched as Kris left. Usually Eusine left first. But then Eusine turned around.

Eusine: That girl... ugh, how stupid can she be? I've been searching for SUICUNE all my life! She'll just get in my way...

Eusine was surprisingly bitter. Well, the main player isn't always exactly a great trainer, are they? I walked out of there, and began walking across the Johto region. Eusine was older still- he was now a grown man. He had his three pokemon- drowzee, haunter and electrode- and began beating the gym leaders. But every time I went somewhere, or tried to go somewhere, he'd refuse to move- saying;

Eusine: SUICUNE isn't that way. I have to thank SUICUNE.

And I'd have to try another way. And Kris kept getting in the way- when I went the way Eusine wanted, she'd be there, scaring suicune away. It was really frustrating- I understood why Eusine was so crazy for suicune now- it had looked after him and saved his life three times- possibly even more. He only wanted to thank it, to share one more moment, to travel the world with his saviour- SUICUNE. Everything was pretty much fine, no creepy stuff, until I reached Cerulean Cape once more. Kris was already there- her pokemon in a simplified battle with suicune, and Eusine turned away from her.

Eusine: That brat will never catch SUICUNE. It's too powerful for her. She'd just condemn it to a box for all eternity- it'd die in silence. Her pokemon will never beat the great SUICUNE. I'll wait for it to finish her off, then I can give it the gratitude I've been waiting all my life to give.

I saw a click- and a flash- and Kris jumped.

Kris: Aha! I caught SUICUNE! Did you see, Eusine?

Eusine: …

Kris: Haha! You're too stunned to speak! My mad skills have that effect on people! Well, see you, Eusine! I caught SUICUNE, yay!

And she left. Eusine's sprite shook.

Eusine fell to his knees!

Eusine began sobbing!

Eusine: My life... my thanks... the thing I've been looking for all these years... and that child...

I tried walking, and Eusine's sprite said-

Eusine: Let's go to the Underground Path on Route 7.

The music turned soft and deep, a twinkle of piano notes. It grabbed at my heart. I felt a lump in my throat. I checked his trainer sprite- His head was down, his eyes weren't visible- but he had tears going down his cheeks. He slouched and, when I stared closely, he shivered and jumped occasionally. He walked painfully slowly, and it took a while to reach Route 7. It was so near his home. He stopped outside the gateway to the Underground Path. You know the place that's locked in Heartgold and Soulsilver because of dangerous pokemon battles? There. He took out his pokemon. Eusine: You all know what to do? DROWZEE: Zzz... zzz... HAUNTER: ...Grr...grr... ELECTRODE: Bzz bzz... Eusine: I know this is dangerous. But I want people to remember. That brat killed my dream. I'm going to go out... with a bang. And people won't forget Eusine. This is for SUICUNE; who saved me, gave me hope, and will die lonely and sick in a PC box. Let's go.

He walked into the path and was confronted by three bikers. There were many behind them; all with their pokemon out. I guessed they were battling. Biker Maurice: What are you doing here?! Biker Gareth: Yeah, bikers only! Biker Harry: Grr! Prepare to battle! Eusine: ...Haunter? Haunter: Hhhh...

The screen faded into a sickening cutscene. Haunter went behind one of the bikers and licked the back of his neck. He turned purple, shivering, screaming, his eyes bleeding. I winced at that- the sound effects were morbidly realistic. His screams turned to a low weeping sound and he lay, twitching on the floor. His friends tried to run- but their path was cut off by electrode. It exploded and sent one of them flying. His charred, broken body and horrible scream were terrifying. I was frozen; eyes glued to the computer screen, unable to tear myself away from the magically gruesome work some sick person performed on this game. His body slumped against the wall, blood smearing, and more biker's bodies were thrown about, necks breaking, bones snapping, blood spraying- all trapped between haunter's lick, turning them into shivering wrecks, and electrode who sent them flying, burnt and screaming. Drowzee cornered some of them- and they screamed as it laughed, draining the life out of them. Then the realisation hit me- Kris had stolen Eusine's dream, and Eusine was stealing theirs. The three pokemon caused bloody, horrible chaos, tearing the screaming, crying bikers apart- some of them pleaded in horrible, realistic voices that they had loved ones and children and families, and were burnt and torn limb from limb and exploded, each death more gruesome than the last- bikers being torn in half by explosions, insides spraying, heads torn off, as Eusine stood in the middle of the turmoil. And laughed. That laugh will never leave me. It screamed and cried and came from the mouth of the disaster. I tried to look away but couldn't- and the screen panned out- and all of the bikers were dead. The walls were covered in blood and bodies littered the path. The cutscene ended there. I took a deep breath. Eusine's sprite turned to his pokemon.

Eusine: You can go now.

Pokemon: ???

Eusine: I'm releasing you. Try not to get in trouble. Go as far as you can, and make a new life for yourselves in Hoenn or something. You've done good. Goodbye, my friends.

Slowly, the sprites turned around and, one by one, left. Electrode let out a feeble cry and left. I could walk. I tried to leave, but Eusine said-

Eusine: No. I'm not leaving.

And the other path was cut off by a deep hole created by the explosion. I checked his pokemon- nothing there. In his bag was nothing but two items- A chair. And a rope. A deep feeling of dread gripped me. I checked his trainer card one last time. Eusine. Trainer type- Crushed. His badges were hanging off the spaces and were grimy and cracked. His trainer sprite was standing, head down, slouching. Blood covered half of his face. After I stared in disbelief at it, his hand crept to his face. It moved his fringe away- to reveal the saddest eyes I've ever seen. He was crying, weeping silently, eyes wide with grief and dread, tears coursing down his face. But the most painful thing about Eusine was the smile on his face. Lips drawn back into an agonising smile, lips trembling, teeth gritted as the tears fell around the crooked grin. I went back to the bag and accessed the only two items- the chair and rope. I selected the rope.

Eusine: Get the chair. I can't reach.

Afraid and curious, I chose the chair. It appeared on the floor and Eusine stepped onto it. For one last time, it turned to a cut scene. I was waiting for something as gruesome as last time- but all I saw was Eusine, crying softly, with that painful smile, holding in his clenched, white-knuckled fists, the rope. One end was tied into a noose. He stood on his tiptoes- only now did I realise how tall he really was- and he tied the rope onto a beam above the hole created by the explosion. I realised what he was about to do. I found myself trying to stop him- pressing buttons, trying to speak to him, typing, shaking the computer, but I knew there was nothing I could do. But Eusine looked up. And right into my eyes. Those big blue eyes, shrunk to pinpricks, shining with tears, broken with twitches. His face was broken by the crazed smile, quivering and hiccuping. But those eyes, tears streaming down, were full of everything I'd seen him go through- all the fake suicunes, all the times he'd been saved, the haunter from the start, every battle and every encounter- and then Kris stole everything from him, and I remembered the game's title- Crushed Crystal. Eusine's grin faded into a small, sorry smile. Eusine leant forwards and slipped the noose around his neck. Eusine bent his knees. A tear fell down his cheek and mine.

Eusine: ...Sorry... I'll be with you soon, SUICUNE... but I'm so... so... sorry...

And he stepped forwards. Into the pit. There was a terrible crack. And I opened my eyes. I began to shake. I touched the screen. The words 'Crushed Crystal' appeared. But that wasn't it. I watched it fade back to a house- a little boy, wearing yellow clothing. He had a grey blanket, I noticed, and he walked up to an old lady.

Basile: Grandma, grandma, tell me a story?

Grandma: Of course, Basile. What story would you like?

Basile: RAIKOU! Yeah! RAIKOU is the coolest!

Grandma: Haha, young Basile. Okay, here's the RAIKOU story again...

Shock overcame me. Who was this 'Basile'? But then everything began happening again. The story. The walk. Even the lines of 'Here are your mommy and daddy' and 'Don't go in the mausoleum'. The only difference was that his grandma sent a machoke to look after him. I read the gravestones.

CATRIN. 14 YEARS. CORRUPTED. MORGAN. 12 YEARS. CORRUPTED. DOUCHEBAG. 10 YEARS. CORRUPTED. I read through all of them- but there was one more. EUSINE. 28 YEARS. CORRUPTED.

I realised that this story would just repeat. But some children wouldn't be saved. Some would die young. Eusine was just lucky. Or not, I thought. I didn't want to know what would happen to Basile. I X'd off faster than I'd ever X'd a program off before, turned off the laptop and went downstairs. Somehow, I laughed nervously to myself, I didn't feel like eating toast after that. After explaining why my eyes were so red, I forced myself to forget the entire incident.

The reason I'm writing this now is that I recently bought a pre-owned Soulsilver version. I checked the previous owner's progress- they were at Cerulean Cape and about to catch suicune. Eusine was just behind them. I talked to him- "Go ahead, Ethan. Catch Suicune. See if you can. Good luck..." I knew that wasn't the original dialogue. I just knew it. But I remembered that hurt, angry smile plastered on his face, remembered that maniacal shrieking laugh and those broken eyes. Remembered the terror and the turmoil and the fury. And I knew that this person, whoever they were, was not Eusine. I do not know who they are, but if you are playing Soulsilver, that person is  not  Eusine.