Tarnished Gold - 2021

When I was younger, Pokémon Gold was the first game I played from the popular franchise. I became very attached to the little creatures and often thought about the adventures we would go through had a preset storyline not been in place. That isn't entirely important, however. What was important was that I never truly let go of my childhood fantasies; the memories I had from that first game were far too cherished to set free. As such, I still have my old Pokémon Gold game, complete with a total abuse of all sorts of glitches.

I refused to restart my game, and I still do, as I'm much too attached to the way it is now. I wanted to play a whole new file of the version that I recall being the most enjoyable. However, older cartridges are rather hard to find outside of the Internet nowadays. Most of my local flea markets have GBA games, but hardly any of them are Pokémon games. Fortunately for me, my grandmother still fully supports my long-standing love for Pokémon.

She often buys boxes of cards, toys, videotapes, and other items she comes across during her frequent visits to local auctions. Granted, very few of these things she gives me are in good condition, and long-forgotten items stored away in a musty basement after their owner's life has passed hardly ever are. But, as gifts from a dear relative, I appreciate them. She recently gave me a box with a brand new videotape containing episodes from early on in the first season, several hundred battered and well-used cards, and a glittery game cartridge with no label. The cartridge was the familiar metallic gold colour.

The same colour of the game I had been looking for; it was indeed Pokémon Gold. Despite the label being removed and with a large red 'X' drawn where the sticker should have been, I could quickly tell what it was. Besides, what other game had that colour? You can imagine my excitement for finally finding another copy. I thanked her profusely and promised I would play it as soon as I got home, which I did.

I grabbed my Gameboy Advance and quickly inserted the vandalised game. Chills ran through my body as the game's opening 'movie' began to play, sending a wave of nostalgia crashing over me. It was good to see it again. The game opened the way it should; the pixelated image of Ho-Oh flying through the sky beneath the title presented itself before leading into the selection screen. The person who owned the game before me still had a save-file.

However, for some reason, the game wouldn’t let me select it. I figured there would be a glitch somewhere in my experience since the cartridge did look damaged. So I started a new game. It was here that I realised something wasn't quite right with the game. The usual intro involving a Professor introducing you to the world of Pokémon didn't play out.

It instead started with a black screen, which was quite familiar, considering that's how the Gold, Silver, and Crystal games begin. But, instead of the usual 'What time is it?' dialogue, I was met with:

………..

……

…

'''Pokémon are nothing more than tools. Use them and throw them away.'''

……..

The black screen faded away, revealing an empty area at night. It looked familiar; I vaguely remember it being a route in an earlier part of the game, but I couldn't place it since I'd been away from it for a long time. In the silence of this scene, the sprite of the rival, also known as Silver, walked in from the left; he moved a little slower than usual as if he were hesitant about something. Once he had moved to the middle of the screen, Silver stopped and turned back to look at where he came from, turned towards where he was going, and he continued off to walk off-screen. The scene faded away to be replaced with Silver standing in the place where you first officially see him, just outside Professor Elm's laboratory.

It was clearly a slightly later part of the game than average as the professor and his assistants exited the lab and went their separate ways. The assistants left the town, and Elm walked further downward off-screen, which I assume meant he left for his home and remained in town. Gold was nowhere to be seen. After that small scene, it stayed on Silver. I thought the game had frozen for a minute, but I noticed I could move him.

I was a little excited; Silver was my favourite of the rivals, so it was exciting to play in his role. I moved him a bit further south to see if I could explore, but it stopped me each time I went one step away from the front of the lab. A dialogue box popped up.

SILVER: I can't leave yet...

And he backed up a step. I moved back up to where he had been initially standing and moved into the window; it worked much like a door as it allowed me to enter Professor Elm's lab. Nobody was inside the lab, which was expected since the employees had left a moment ago. On the table were two Pokéballs, and I selected the one on the far right, as I like Chikorita the most out of all three Johto starters.

SILVER: Not that one.

Silver didn't seem to want a Chikorita, so I selected the other Pokéball.

'''There is a Totodile in this Pokéball. Choose this one?'''

-> Yes

     No

I chose yes, and a dialogue box popped up, which read: Obtained TOTODILE, but the jingle for me obtaining it didn't play. Stealing wasn't condoned even by the game. After pressing 'A,' it gave me the option of naming the Pokémon; I picked 'yes' as I love giving names to them. As it took me to the naming screen, another dialogue box popped up, interrupting the naming process:

'''Don't name it! You'll only get attached. Do not give names to tools.'''

It seems to be the 'voice' of the same person who spoke in the very beginning. The naming screen disappeared, leaving me in the open lab, which I quickly tried to move through the front door but was stopped by a text box.

SILVER: Too risky...

Again, he backed up, and I exited through the window I had come in from before.

As if things weren't strange enough as they were, when I left New Bark Town to begin the adventure and stepped into the grass, it was nearly impossible to get a random battle to start. Typically, I go out of my way to avoid them later on in the game. During the beginning, it was something I enjoyed to get my Pokémon to level up; being unable to find something to fight was a little frustrating. After several minutes of walking back and forth in patches of grass, I finally encountered a Pokémon.

A Sentret, nothing out of the ordinary, I sent out my Totodile and chose the only presently useful move, 'SCRATCH.' But when I selected it, I was greeted with:

Wild SENTRET fled!

The battle ended after that. I was somewhat confused; wild Pokémon never ran except for the Legendary Dogs. After a few more tries, all with the same outcome, I continued to Cherrygrove. Just before entering the city, I recognised the small area Silver had walked through in the beginning. After entering Cherrygrove, I bumped into Gold, and surprisingly, he spoke to Silver.

'''GOLD: Say, you look tough. Let's have a battle!'''

A battle initiated. His Pokémon, a Cyndaquil, was level 7, while my Totodile was at level 5. Since Totodile hadn't learned a water move yet, he beat me pretty quickly. Before whiting out, Gold's sprite switched out with the Cyndaquil. Though Gold's expression was different, one of disappointment.

GOLD: Looks like you weren't worth my skills.

Silver whited out after that. Once I exited the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, I walked back to where he had challenged me, only to find I could not rematch him. The game wasn't that enjoyable, as I had no money, Pokégear, or Pokédex. I was also unable to battle wild Pokémon. Fortunately, once I entered Route 30 onward, there were other Pokémon trainers in which I could battle and easily beat. However, none of them seemed eager to speak to me after I had won.

'''What do you want? You already beat me.'''

Just go away, kid.

'''You're nothing special. I've lost before.'''

By the time I entered Violet City, my Pokémon's level was still too low to take on the gym leader. But with the money I had won from the trainers I fought before, I was at least able to buy some potions, so I felt I was set. The lesser trainers of the gym were easy enough, I was only forced to use two of my previously purchased potions, and I levelled up once. However, as I took on the gym leader, his Pokémon overpowered mine, and I lost again. When the battle ended, I didn't white out. Instead, I had to endure a lecture about treating Pokémon correctly from the leader.

'''Your Pokémon look very upset and tired, and you don't seem to be treating them very well. Please remember to give them more breaks.'''

Once he finished speaking, I received a one-worded option: 'Steal? ' Followed by a Yes or No choice. I selected No, as I didn't like the idea of taking something I didn't earn.

SILVER: I can't back down now...

The question appeared again, and since I had no other choice, I selected Yes. Silver backed up one step and slammed into the gym leader, kicking them back. Another dialogue box popped up, telling me that I had stolen the gym badge, the TM, and 500 Pokédollars. After that, I whited out. It continued for the remainder of the game while I could defeat lesser trainers on the paths to cities.

But in the gyms, I always lost to the leader and was forced to steal their badges. The 'steal' option also worked on people who would typically give you items in the game. I obtained essential items this way like the Itemfinder, the bicycle, the water pail, HMs, and many more. The NPCs refused to give me anything otherwise. Anytime I spoke to the town's people, they greeted me with rude things.

'''What do you want? Scram, you little runt.'''

I'm not supposed to talk to strangers.

Whatever you're trying to sell me, I'm not buying any of it.

Either that or they lectured me a little on how to treat Pokémon properly. It was beginning to get that way with the Nurse as well. By the time I had progressed to Goldenrod City, anytime I had whited out, she'd scold me.

'''Did you lose again? If you treated your Pokémon better, you wouldn't lose so often.'''

Gold would still battle Silver, with Gold seeming to feel sorry for Silver, but Silver always refuses to accept Gold's help.

GOLD: I could help you train your Pokémon if you want.

Pokémon continued to avoid me as well if I wanted to better my team. I had to hope that the Pokéballs I used worked the first time. What was stranger about random battles is that even if I locked the Pokémon in battle with Mean Look, the Pokémon passed out. After my first attack of Mean Look, before I could choose another, the Pokémon would faint on its own. The dialogue box proclaimed, Wild Pokémon passed out! And the battle ended without me gaining any EXP.

The only thing that seemed to go generally for me was the battles with Team Rocket. I always won against them, and they still treated me like a punk kid getting in their way. The rest of the game up until a certain point isn't entirely necessary. Aside from the win, lose, and steal, everything was more or less normal. While my Pokémon matured slowly due to frequent losses, they did grow to like me a little as I began giving them little things to boost our bond.

The last time I checked, the person who rated their happiness said:

It's pretty cute.

I know you must be thinking that this isn't disturbing at all, that I should just accept the fact that this is simply a hack made to tell Silver's side of the story. Well, I did, and it indeed was. But I'm not quite finished yet. When I went to challenge the Elite Four, Silver wouldn't enter Will's room. Saying:

'''SILVER: I can't battle here. I won't be able to beat any of them...'''

What was there to do if Silver wouldn't enter the Pokémon League? Was the game over? I looked around for a while until I finally noticed that the Guard to route 23 was absent from his post at the Reception Gate. I didn't know where he went, and I didn't care. I ventured into Viridian City.

The second I stepped foot into the City, the music cut off. I thought this was simply a glitch in the programming, which was expected with a hack and all. But as I stood there for a moment, a very faint noise picked up and faded away. I looked around my room to see if it came from somewhere else, but I realised it was coming from the speakers. I was now sure that the music had messed up like it was trying to play but couldn't. But as I stepped back into the route that I had just come from, the music picked up correctly.

It was only Viridian City that was silent. I was now curious, so I stepped back into the silent city and began to explore. Route 1 and 2 were blocked off by fences, and there wasn't a single NPC in the City. There is no one out in the open, no one in the houses, not even anyone in the Pokémart or Pokémon Center. The City lacked any life, just the silence and the occasional soft noise, which I still hadn't identified.

But what I've noticed is that there were some items in the homes. Those being AXE, KEY, and CANDLE. As I walked towards the gym, the sound grew a little louder. I figured the noise was coming from the inside, so I entered. No one was there, but that was expected; the gym was always empty until much later.

The noise was louder than it was before, but not by much. I checked all over the gym, pressing A on every tile to see if something would happen. I felt like nothing interesting was here until I selected where the gym leader was to stand, and a text box appeared right after, followed by a Yes or No option.

'''SILVER: There's a trap door right here... Where could it lead?'''

Open the door?

-> Yes

     No

I was curious as to what was behind it, so I chose yes. I was immediately taken to a room that I'd never seen before, which was pitch black except for Silver's sprite in the centre. This place was silent as well, but the sound began to play yet again. It was much louder this time, just a bunch of random, high-pitched beeps that resembled screams. By this time, as you could well imagine, my heart was pounding.

I wasn't sure what to do here as I couldn't see anything, but then I remembered the candle item I had. This triggered the flash animation, and I could move forward. Regardless of my pounding heart and shaking hands, I explored the room where the walls were tinted in a muted red, with a black ground. I eventually came across a door blocking my path, and as I thought, the key item did the trick. The room followed a sideways zig-zag pattern, and the 'screams' came at random, some short, some long, and drawn out; it sounded as if someone was being tortured.

I tried to go back, to leave Viridian City, and to escape this madness.

The door is jammed.

It looked to me like I had no choice but to continue down the zig-zagging hallways. I came across several disturbing things; sprites of NPCs without their heads and heads without bodies, and I tried to examine the bodies.

SILVER: Don't look...

The bodies and heads became less frequent as I went on, leaving more room for me to follow, and the high-pitched beeps became more frequent. The screen began to flicker as I walked, just like it would if one of my Pokémon was poisoned, but none of them were. I checked the status of my party, and none of them had status conditions, but their health was going down. In an attempt to heal them, I picked a super potion out of my bag and used it on my Feraligatr. A dialogue box popped up and said: It won't have any effect.

Regardless, I continued, hoping that if my Pokémon all fainted from this, I'd be taken back to a Pokémon Center, and things would return to normal. I continued along the morbid path, the screen flickering in and out. Finally, all of Silver's Pokémon's HP went to 0. Silver stopped as a dialogue box popped up.

Your Pokémon can't wake up anymore.

I wanted to quit, but at the same time, I couldn't stop myself from trying to get to the end of this painful experience. If I didn't do this now, I'd just be tempted to try it again some other time. A wall of something then blocked off the next room. At first, I couldn't identify it, but then I realised it was a mound of NPC corpses. It was the most disgusting and horrifying thing I'd ever seen in a game.

The axe was the last item to use, and I knew what was to come at this point. I selected it, and Silver hacked away at the pile of flesh to make a pathway for him. Finally, I reached a second room, which was now tinted a deep red. However, there were only a few bodies scattered around it. There was a male NPC in the centre, a Pokémon, Gold, and another Pokémon I could only assume was his Typhlosion.

Gold's Typhlosion attacked the man's Pokémon, but it was quickly struck down, its sprite first turning red, then grey. Soon after, it faded away into pixels. Silver's sprite stepped forward on its own, and the man finally acknowledged he was there.

'''GIOVANNI: Ah, son, you've made it. Come to see your rival's demise, have you?'''

Gold looked at Silver, and he said:

'''GOLD: ... Please help me...'''

A text box popped up, and it was a yes or no option that made my blood run cold.

Help him?

->Yes

    No

I was sweating at this point, needless to say. What choice was the wiser one? In a rushed decision, I chose "Yes." Silver moved on his own; he ran to Giovanni and kicked him backwards, enraging him.

'''GIOVANNI: How dare you! You've become just as weak as the others! If he seems worth saving, perhaps I should show you that there's no sense in getting attached. MEWTWO, take care of him!'''

The Mewtwo obeyed his master's command and approached Gold. The sound effect for Psychic played, and Gold's sprite became red, then grey, and disappeared.

'''GIOVANNI: As I said before, Pokémon are nothing more than tools! People are as well. Use them and throw them away once they've served your purpose. Now, MEWTWO, get him out of my sight!'''

The Mewtwo didn't obey this time, and it turned to Giovanni.

MEWTWO: … You're useless...

It struck Giovanni just as it had done Gold and Typhlosion. The sound effect went even slower as Giovanni's sprite did the same thing Gold's sprite did, and it was unbearable to watch. Silver and Mewtwo were the only two left alive in the room. As Mewtwo turned to face Silver, I knew that wouldn't last for long. It struck Silver, initiating a battle in which I knew I had no chance of winning.

The music was the Kanto wild Pokémon theme in half of its speed, and Silver's back-sprite was in the place of any Pokémon. I selected BAG.

Nothing in the bag will work.

I selected PKMN.

There are no usable Pokémon.

I chose RUN.

There is nowhere to run.

Because I wasted a turn trying to run, I just had to stand there as Mewtwo used Psychic on Silver's defenceless image. Silver's back sprite became red, then grey. When Silver's health went to 0, the battle stopped immediately and went back to the overworld. The scene was still, with Silver fading away into pixels, and the pixels flew away.

The screen then faded to black very slowly. When it reappeared, a heavily edited version of the credits played. Utter silence, with white text of the creators' names and a black background. I was utterly drained at this point; I hung my head in exhaustion and sighed. It was finally over.

(Alternative ending)
A text box popped up, and it was a yes or no option that made my blood run cold.

Help him?

->Yes

    No

I was sweating at this point, needless to say. What choice was the wiser one? In a rushed decision, I chose "No." Silver turned around and bolted to where he initially came from, and Giovanni then seemingly grabbed him and pushed him back into the room.

'''GIOVANNI: Don't be afraid. You will one day take my place as the leader of Team Rocket. As I said before, we believe Pokémon and people are nothing more than tools to use at our disposal! Now MEWTWO, show him what true power is like by killing this brat!'''

The Mewtwo then turned to face Giovanni, and in almost an instant, he was decapitated by Mewtwo's psychic powers. A "!" appeared over Silver's head, and he ran fast with Mewtwo chasing after him. Gold just looked on as Silver ran and then began to look around the room. I had control of Silver again at this point, in a chase sequence. I ran through the maze as Mewtwo was right behind me, and I avoided each obstacle with ease until the end. I should have seen this coming.

As the door was jammed, preventing me from getting out, Mewtwo caught me right after I reached it. A jumpscare was shown of Mewtwo's closeup angry expression along with a loud, ear-piercing noise. It then cut back to Gold, with me actually getting to control him. I walked around pressing A on random things and eventually managed to find a secret door. Upon going through it, Gold seemingly closed the door behind him and I walked through a narrow passageway to a ladder that took me behind Viridian gym.

I walked over to the front of the gym to see police officer NPCs standing there. One then approached Gold and said:

'''We heard the screams. Are you okay, son?'''

The screen then faded to black very slowly. When it reappeared, a heavily edited version of the credits played. Utter silence, with white text of the creators' names and a black background. I was utterly drained at this point; I hung my head in exhaustion and sighed. It was finally over.

(All credit goes to Aelfric Maundrell)