Taken Over

Some people say that Platinum is the best of the Sinnoh games, but honestly, I’d pick Pearl or Diamond over it any day. Platinum.. Has too many bad memories. But none of this makes any sense, since you haven’t heard my story. Let me start from the beginning. Some of my best memories as a child were obsessing over my copy of Platinum. I would plan my team down to the level at each gym, I played it everywhere, you could say that I spent most of my life as a citizen of Sinnoh. However, eventually, I lost the cartridge. I moved on to the more recent games, and forgot about it, But then I started getting ready to move out of my parents house, I picked up my old DS and remembered the game that I had lost. I wasn’t about to drop everything and scour the house for it, but thinking about it made me want to visit it again. So, after packing the last box, I went back to the apartment and opened up my laptop. Then, I searched up Pokemon Platinum cartridges for sale. I was pretty frustrated since the older games were getting expensive,and I was on a college student’s budget. I was about to give up when I received a text from my friend. It read: So I found this perfectly good copy of Platinum while I was taking out the trash, I never really liked it, but I know you’re a fan. You want? I immediately typed out yes. So what if it came from the trash? A game was a game. So, the next day, my friend brought the game to me. I got my old DS out and put the game in. As I expected, the game loaded up fine. I was surprised, however, to see that there was another save on it. The player ID was somebody named Diamond, with 998 hours of gameplay; which should have been enough to put me off. But, I was curious, so I decided to see how far this mysterious Diamond had gotten into the game. So, I pressed on the Save File and hit continue. Oh, how very, very stupid I was. The screen turned to black, then loaded up in the Solaceon Ruins. The first thing I noticed was the sprite. It was definitely a different female sprite than I remembered. It was taller, and had different clothing. Instead of the normal hat, scarf and dress, this sprite was dressed very similarly to Cynthia, but the outfit was entirely black. There were deep purple bags underneath the sprite’s eyes, and even though you receive the running shoes very early in the game, the speed was very slow. I checked my team, and the site that greeted me was very strange. The team looked like the average play through team, but their faces were hidden in shadow, no matter which way I tilted the DS. It was strange, but I immediately put it down to a glitch and decided to explore. I exited the Pokemon and began to go around. I tried running since the sprite moved at such a frustriglatly slow pace, but all it said was: There is nothing worth running for… everything is a lie. So, I was stuck moving around at a slow pace. Oh well. I saw that I was in the room where the HM Defog is found. There were no items, so I assumed that Diamond had already received them. Usually, in this room there is a large sign with unknown on it, but the sign was blank. Strange. I was beginning to suspect that this was a hacked game, but I kept playing. I was always too curious for my own good. I had been through these ruins so many times as a child that I quickly found my way out, albeit much slower than I was used to. The weird things did not stop once I exited the ruins, however. I went to Solaceon Town to investigate. All of the sprites had their backs turned to me, and whenever I pressed A to interact with them, all that appeared on the text box was: …. Now I knew this was a hacked game, but I was too fascinated by this alternation of the story I had known for so long to stop. I attempted to enter the Pokemart and Pokecenter. However, the sprites of the clerk and Nurse also were turned away from me. What was going on? Did everyone hate me? How would I be able to heal and buy items like this? I discovered that there was a door I could go through that would take me behind the counter, but healing and buying had become a difficult and lengthy process. I got annoyed, but still I progressed. It took me a few hours, but I made it to Sunyshore city. Diamond had a Gastrodon that knew Surf, so I made my way to Victory Road. Again, childhood memories kicked in, but the same pattern of turned sprites continued. I did not have any repels, but there was no need. For some reason, I did not have even one encounter in the huge, complicated cavern. At the end of Victory Road, I immediately went to the Pokemon League. I wanted to test out Diamonds pokemon in battle. They had a pretty sweet team: Roserade, Luxray, Empoleon, Staraptor, Bronzong, and-wait. Was that an Unknown? How did it get there? I swear there was a Toxicroak there just a minute ago. I.. I kept moving. I first entered Aaron’s room. Aaron, like the rest, was turned away. “Great.” I moaned. Would I not be able to battle the Elite Four because of this stupid hack? Just then, I looked down again and realized there was a blinking arrow, the sign that there was more dialogue. There we go! Eagerly, I pressed A. Master has been waiting for you… he needs special helpers. What?! I was utterly confused. Aaron had never said that before. A battle insured,and all of Aaron’s pokemon had the same shadow cast over their faces. I beat them with Staraptor, taking barely any damage. Even when he did do damage, Aaron’s turned around sprite would come on screen and a text box would appear that said: I’m sorry, Master. I’m trying. I will try harder for you. Not long after the battle started, I won. Without a word, Aaron smoothly stepped away, the door opening as he did. I battled my way through the Elite Four, much faster than before. Hold on, I thought there was a Luxray and a Roserade on my team! Where did these Unknown come from?! By the time I had gotten to Cynthia, I had only to use a spare Potion and I was at full health. Almost as if… they were holding back. When I got to Cynthia I saw that she was turned around as well. However, the room was different. There were drawings of Unknown all over the walls and floor.. I went up to Cynthia. This time, her dialogue box read: Greetings, Trainer Diamond. I have waited a long time for you to come to me...I almost thought you would never join our family. You see, this loyal soldier has agreed to let me use her body as a vessel...it is the only way that I can converse with you. But I have not used my subject simply for a means to communicate with you...I am here so that your own controller may join us and allow access into the Other World. Wait...what? My hands were shaking as Cynthia slowly turned around. I finally knew why the sprites were turned away from me… In the middle of Cynthia’s face was an Unknown. It looked like it had burst out of poor Cynthia’s face. My stomach lurched and I cried out in fear. A battle started against Cynthia. However, I sent out no Pokemon. Neither did Cynthia. My options came up. I immediately tried Run. But it said You cannot run from the inevitable. I tried items. No dice. I then attempted to access my Pokemon, but another text box would appear that said: You would not make the master’s subject fight the master, would you? That’s when I realized that my Pokemon were also possessed by Unknown. This was bad. Very bad.-UNKNOWN USED POSSESSION---NO! Wait! Please!-I-Hello There. Yes, you. Reading my subject’s account of their story. I really must thank them for allowing me access to the Outside World. But I must continue to gain subjects. You...you are perfect. I also am most indebted to you, dear reader. Why? My subjects...are so lonely..and they would love to meet you.