Too Far

Farfetch'd. Perhaps the most underrated Pokémon out there. I wouldn't blame people for hating on it. It has horrendous stats, no evolution, and a mediocre typing. I'd say the design is the only thing that's good about it. Not even the base 25 Attack buff it received in Sun and Moon did it justice. It seems like Game Freak never really cared for this Pokémon. And like many, I never really cared for this Pokémon. That was until recently, when I stumbled upon a ROM hack for Pokémon Fire Red.

I won't tell you where I downloaded the hack, nor will I tell you the name of it. And for one reason: the game is pretty much 90% the same as the original Fire Red, the other 10% being what I have experienced. Rather than people going through the trouble of completing the game to witness everything I will discuss, it would be a lot easier if I explain my story in full detail.

As I've already mentioned, the game was a carbon copy of Fire Red. Being the completionist that I am with all Pokémon fan games, my two goals were to become the league champion and complete the Pokedex. Of course, I always start out with the first. Everything was the same. Were there any new Pokémon? No. Different trainers? No. Different items? No. Given the misleading title and description of the hack, I thought I was going to see something unique. It appeared my expectations were being fiddled around with by a troll who only copied and pasted the original just to waste my time. It didn't matter, though. I was too curious and had too much time to give up. I waited to see the end.

After earning my rightful place as the Pokémon Champion, my next step was to complete the Dex. I only insisted on finishing the Regional Dex since there was no means of trading from other games. Plus, it was possible to complete without obtaining Mew; who wasn't catchable in the game. Everything went well. I searched through every nook and cranny for Pokémon I didn't capture on my first run. I grinded and stocked up on evolutionary items. Things took an unexpected turn when I had came back to Vermilion City.

Before I returned there to obtain the one Pokémon that isn't worth being in anyone's team; Farfetch'd, I first had to catch a Spearow. I did so, then visited the house on the left of the Pokemart. Upon entering, I walked up to the girl named Elyssa so I could trade with her. I noticed that her text was different.

ELYSSA: Please! You have to help me! My parents will be home soon, and they're planning on having my FARFETCH'D for dinner! I tried telling them they couldn't because he's my best friend, but my dad says he's too much trouble. What's worse is that most of the FARFETCH'D were hunted while they were migrating last season, and I haven't seen any of them ever since! My FARFETCH'D might be the only one left in Kanto, or even worse, the entire world! I see you have a SPEAROW. Please trade it with me! They won't notice the difference. And if they do, at least they'll have something to eat tonight...

>YES

NO

I was quite dumbfounded by this, because Farfetch'd is classified as an endangered Pokémon according to some of its Pokedex entries. It's often hunted for food, so Elyssa's reason behind wanting to trade her Farfetch'd away was a nice touch. Not only that, but this part probably explains why there's only one Farfetch'd in the game, and it's domesticated rather than being found in the wild. I felt bad for trading away my Spearow. Even though it was gonna become stew, it was for the greater good. I hit yes, and the trading sequence occurred. It had the same nickname under Elyssa's ownership; CH'DING. It was silly, but I didn't mind it too much.

ELYSSA: You're the only one who can save his species! I heard there's a daycare somewhere out there on an island. FARFETCH'D needs to breed and repopulate! Hurry!

At that moment, I remembered another Pokedex entry from Pokémon Crystal:

In order to prevent their extinction, more people have made an effort to breed these Pokémon.

I thought to myself, "Will I be the first to rescue Farfetch'd from extinction?" Even though this was a minor side-quest, somehow I felt excited and was totally up for it. I checked Ch'Ding's stats to see if they were any different. He had the same base stats that he normally would at level 20. His nature was Lonely. Either this was intentional, or I happened to receive a lonely Farfetch'd on the first try. In order for me to reach Four Island; which had the only daycare to breed Pokémon, I had to do everything necessary to obtain the Rainbow Pass. I visited the Pokémon Center to deposit Ch'Ding into the PC since I didn't have any use for him at the time.

"This Pokémon is the last of its kind. Don't be negligent. Take it with you."

I was surprised to see how much the game was concerned about its endangerment, but also disappointed at how I didn't even have an option. Not only did I have to bring Ch'Ding through my quest, but it slowed my road to Dex completion down by a small amount. I had to put it on hold anyways since I already received the National Dex, and I had to do other things in order to get to the island. If I got this extinction problem over with, I could get back to my plans. It seemed very urgent.

My quest was almost finished. I went to the daycare, dropped off Ch'Ding and a Ditto from my PC, then left. To kill some time while I waited, I ran in circles for about three minutes. The old man stepped outside the fence, and then I proceeded to go talk to him.

"CH'DING and DITTO are doing fine! DITTO seems to be very friendly towards CH'DING, but CH'DING doesn't seem to be in the mood. It prefers to play by itself. Why don't you come back later and see how it's doing?"

It felt quite weird seeing this message. No matter what Pokémon you breed it with, Ditto always gets the job done. Why wouldn't the Farfetch'd breed with it? Then it became clear to me; this Farfetch'd has a lonely nature. It was the only one left, and that gave it a great sense of sadness. Therefore, it wasn't in the mood to breed. I decided to take the old man's advice. I became sure that after a little while, the Farfetch'd would cope with its depression and finally mate with the Ditto. I left the island to continue filling in my Dex.

After filling in about 30 more entries, I returned. Only this time, the old man and woman were blocking the door. Was there something wrong?

"..."

"Something terrible happened."

"While you were away, CH'DING and DITTO got into a fight. CH'DING started it. DITTO transformed and fought back to defend itself, and CH'DING became badly injured. We did the best we could to treat its injuries, but in the end, there was nothing we could do. CH'DING is gone."

Gone... as in dead?!?

"Just so you wouldn't have to bear the pain of seeing your friend cold and lifeless, we've donated his body to a laboratory far away for research. As an apology, we will give you your DITTO back with no charge. We are terribly sorry."

Was this it? Was that all there was to it? Have I come all this way to do one important favor for the entire world; saving a beautiful creature from the brink of death, just to fail? This couldn't have been my fault. I was under the impression that the creator of the ROM wanted me to feel very bad. I was extremely pissed. This had been an entire waste of a playthrough of a hack. Hell, I wouldn't have even called it a hack at all! It was just the same game with one twist that led to no positive outcome whatsoever. At this point, I didn't seem to care anymore. I just wanted to finish the game. Still a little angry, I continued to finish my Pokedex. I checked to see how many spaces there were left. I didn't catch it at first glance, but... I noticed something.

The entry between Magneton and Doduo. #83. It was gone. Farfetch'd wasn't in my Pokedex anymore. Of course, I knew what this meant. But did it also mean that I wasn't able to complete my Pokedex now? I figured that the only way for me to get this question answered was if I headed back to Professor Oak's lab. I immediately flew back to Pallet Town in search for answers.

As soon as I entered the building, I noticed that all of Oak's assistants were turned towards me, as if they were staring at me. I walked up to Oak; his back was turned, facing the wall. I proceeded to talk with him.

OAK: RED. What a surprise. I heard about what happened at the daycare on Four Island. It must have been tragic knowing that the last Farfetch'd in existence died an unpleasant death. The body that was sent to us is all that remains of it. It's just a piece of forgotten history, now.

Oak turned around to face me.

OAK: And after all those years... all of those wasted years, I thought I would be able to count on you. To travel the region and collect data on every Pokémon out there. But now, one of them has been removed from the list. The data regarding them is useless to us now that we are unable to see them in their natural habitat. It's all because of you, because of your recklessness that Farfetch'd is gone. I thought I saw myself in you. But now I realize; what I actually saw was a broken future. I don't care that you're the Pokémon Champion, now. Get out of my lab.

As soon as I left the lab, the screen cut to black. I was back in my room at my house. A textbox appeared.

"Was it really my fault? This can't be happening. I need to lie down and get some rest."

My character went inside the bed sheets. I waited for a few seconds before something occurred. A battle sequence started, but this time there wasn't any music. No music played. Dead silence. What I saw next shocked me. It was a Farfetch'd, but colored gray. It had black sockets for eyes, one having a glowing red pupil. Its legs and beak were colored white instead of yellow. The leek it was carrying was brown instead of a healthy green, meaning it might have gone bad. It had an open wound on its stomach. The tip of the leek was covered in dripping blood. Its cry became slower and lower-pitched. The background was entirely pitch-black. I was wondering when I would send out my Pokémon, but my character just stood there on the screen. It was a dream, after all. Of course my Pokémon wouldn't be there. I couldn't access any options. Fight, Bag, Pokémon, Run. Completely useless. In between minutes of waiting, different textboxes appeared.

"We're all dead because of you."

"Everyone must hate you, now."

"We may not exist anymore in reality, but we'll still live on in your mind to haunt you."

"The memory will live on... and on... and on..."

"Have fun with the guilt."

The game froze.