Guardian Angel

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge Pokémon fan. I grew up (and grew out of) watching the anime, I doodled Pokémon in my notebooks in class, I even collected some of the plushies back when it was just the first generation. The games, though, are near and dear to my heart.

My parents gave me a copy of Yellow when I was a kid, and I was over the moon. Okay, I was stuck playing as a boy, but who cares? I could finally go on my own Pokémon adventure! I named my Charmander Ichigo (I was a big weeb back then. I have no defense) and we set out. Until we hit Celadon, though, there was one Pokémon I wanted for my team more than anything: Eevee.

I love Eevee ever since I saw its picture in a book of the original 151. Its big brown eyes, its little paws, its big fluffy tail...I loved it so much, my first Pokémon plushie was an Eevee! So for a good while, I only ever had five Pokémon in my party because I wanted an Eevee so bad. Not to evolve, though, just to make it the best Eevee there would ever be.

When I finally found the trainer who gives the player an Eevee, I just about died in excitement! It was perfect, the cutest little thing I ever saw, and it was my party member now! I went back and forth on a name for a good while, and eventually I decided on Seraph. Seraphs were strong angels, and that was what I was going to make Seraph—my strong little angel.

Pokémon didn’t have genders until the Johto games, but I still decided Seraph was a girl, and Ichigo was a boy, and they were a duo to be reckoned with. Well...duo meaning once Seraph was strong enough after what felt like hours of grinding, she was the lead while Ichigo was the back-up in case there was a foe she couldn’t really take down. And even then, that changed once I found out Seraph could learn Toxic. I used all the stat boosting items that existed back then on her that I could find or buy between getting potions and TMs.

By the last gym, Seraph knew Toxic, Swift, Body Slam, and Bite, and was perhaps the strongest Pokemon on my team. Ichigo was indeed fully evolved, but he was several levels behind Seraph, and really was only intended for Ghost-types and Bruno at this point in the game. At times, I swear, when I looked at Ichigo’s summary, he seemed...angry. Back then, though, I just thought that was how Charizard was supposed to look, given the anime’s depiction of it.

We won the last badge, trounced the Elite Four, and kicked our rival out of the champion’s spot. I was practically jumping for joy as the credits rolled and my party was registered in the Hall of Fame. Once I could interact with my party again, I pulled up Seraph’s page.

“You did a good job, Seraph! I’m so proud of you!” I said, smiling. Okay, so she couldn’t hear me, but it was the thought that counted, right?

I gradually scaled back how much I played Yellow, especially as school started taking more and more of my time. I still tried to finish the Pokedex and all that, and occasionally go for another round at the Elite Four for fun, but I often had to set Seraph and Ichigo aside for days on end.

One day, though...I decided to take another run through the Elite Four with just Seraph and Ichigo, and I decided to test Seraph against Bruno. I wanted to justify it with ‘Then Ichigo could take a break’ back then, but really, I just wanted to see if I could solo the Elite Four with Seraph. She made it to Hitmonlee before an unlucky critical hit knocked her out. Ah well, that happens, so I sent out Ichigo.

I had Ichigo use Fly. He missed, free hit for Hitmonlee.

I had him use Fly again. He missed again, another free hit.

Fly, again. Miss, again. Free hit.

My temper steadily got hotter and hotter, and when he had just a sliver of HP left, I snapped, "Hit him already, dumb Charizard!"

That time, when Charizard used Fly, it displayed the message "ICHIGO kept going and crashed!" as though he had used Hi Jump Kick. It knocked him out, and I was sent back to Nurse Joy. I stared at my Gameboy before shouting at it. I don't remember exactly what I said that day, but I know it was all directed at Ichigo. Eventually, still steaming, I turned off my Gameboy and left it for tomorrow after school.

When I came back from school the next day...the cartridge was cracked. I tried to get it to work, but it was broken beyond repair. I bawled my eyes out over it, thinking I had hit it or something and didn't even realize it until that day. I worked so hard on Seraph and Ichigo, and now they were gone forever.

I moved on, as you do. From Ruby, to Fire Red, to Diamond, to Black, all the way to Let's Go Eevee. I was excited for Let's Go Eevee, remembering my lost Seraph, and I did my best to go into any changes they made for the game blind. Booting up the game for the first time, seeing Pallet Town rendered in 3D, it was nostalgic. When it finally came to catch my Eevee, it sat in front of me and wagged its tail, looking up at me with the sweetest little expression on its face. It had some of the fur around its neck sticking up on the sides, and the white on the tip of its tail resembled a heart.

I fell in love with Eevee all over again. And I was over the moon when I realized this one was a girl, just like Seraph. So, I named her Seraph in honor of her Yellow counterpart, naturally. I saw she was holding a Soothe Bell, even though Let’s Go Eevee didn’t have held items from what I heard, but I thought nothing of it and assumed it was just for the partner Pokemon.

Since I figured I knew Kanto well enough by now, I decided to go for a challenge run: while I had to catch other Pokémon to satisfy the requirements for the gyms, my main team had to be the three Kanto starters, Eevee, Pikachu, and Clefairy. Why Clefairy? I heard from a friend once that Clefairy was supposed to be a mascot alongside Pikachu or something, and I figured a Fairy type would be a good type to have against Lance anyways.

So, I grabbed Bulbasaur in Cerulean City, and went for Charmander after the Nugget Bridge. When I talked to the NPC about his Charmander, the game lagged for a few moments. I thought it had something to do with portable mode just not being as strong as when the Switch was docked.

“I found this Charmander by itself just the other day. I think its previous trainer abandoned it...can you take care of it?” he asked.

I gladly accepted the Charmander. It was a boy, so I named it after Ichigo and stuck it in my party. At the time, I thought the mention of it being abandoned was a nod to the anime having a Charmander abused and abandoned by his trainer too. When I took a look at his summary page, I was surprised to see the OT was my name...but the summary said I had ‘met it again at Nugget Bridge.’

Met it again like the partner Eevee’s page said? Because there was no way I had played this before. I reluctantly wrote it off as a glitch of some kind and stuck him in my party nonetheless, and let him be the other Pokémon to follow me in the game. When I talked to him, I was greeted with “Ichigo is staring at Seraph with envy...”

I shrugged, thinking that was standard for any Pokémon that wasn’t the partner. “Sorry, Ichigo the Second, it’s not Let’s Go Charmander.”

I tried to keep my party more balanced than my Yellow play-through, so Seraph could get some rest every now and then. However...Ichigo was leveling up faster than expected, like he was a traded Pokémon instead of my own. He evolved before my other party members did, and I thought it was great! Ichigo was gonna be amazing!

...until I tried using him in battle. He ignored all of my commands, like he really was a traded Pokémon and I didn’t have the right badges. After the eighth time he fell asleep on his own, I turned off Exp Share and stuck him in the back. I waited until after I got Surge’s badge—Ichigo would surely behave at that point, right?

To put it simply...he didn’t. It was like that meant nothing to him, and it was driving me up the wall. I had no choice but to use him sparingly, as much as I wished I could have an obedient Charizard again. The Friendship Checker was no help either—all I got was “Ichigo doesn’t seem to like you...are you treating it right?” Of course I was! He wasn’t listening, what could I do?!

Seraph, in comparison, was an angel. I thought, for a while, it was just because she benefited from being the only Pokémon I could pet and feed. She never seemed to miss a hit, save for when the opponent couldn’t be hit anyways. She always seemed so happy, except when it came to Ichigo...

“Seraph is curious about Ichigo” slowly turned to “Seraph is worried about Ichigo...” and I had to agree with her. Ichigo seemed to always be staring at her in envy, and I wondered if that was a thing that could happen in this game now.

Things...really got unnerving when I reached Lavender Town. Seraph held her tail stiffly behind her, not wagging a bit when I was close to an item on the ground. Ichigo was fully evolved by now, and all I got talking to him was “Ichigo is on edge!” When I tried to play with Seraph, I was greeted with a sight of her ears lowered and a sad expression on her face.

“Seraph looks unhappy...” Was it because this was a town with a giant graveyard for Pokémon? I couldn’t imagine being happy around a graveyard either...

I did my run through Pokémon Tower, going as fast I could. Mr. Fuji was confusing, though—before his cutscene, he said “You have restless spirits about you...it seems they have been following you for a while now. I hope you are safe with them...”

Something was really wrong with my game. That dialogue was in no way normal. What was haunting me? Why was it haunting me of all people? Talking to Ichigo and Seraph both yielded “Your Pokémon want to leave the tower” and nothing more. I grabbed the Pokéflute and hauled tail out of there, and looked over my party. Were these spirits why Ichigo refused to obey?

Could it be fixed with me getting all the badges? Pokémon are supposed to obey you, no matter what level, after you clear the gym challenge, so maybe Ichigo could snap out of this if I cleared the game. I’d have to face whatever spirits were around my character, but...

So, I continued my gym challenge, saving Silph Co., running through Pokémon Mansion, grabbing the seventh badge, approaching Viridian City—

“Huh?” A text box displayed on screen as I walked into the city, before the screen changed to the trainer battle screen. Ichigo was already sent out on my side, but there was no trainer or anything on the opposing side. No music was playing, and my heart thudded in my chest. A series of text boxes scrolled by.

“...”

“Ichigo wants to know if you remember him.”

“Ichigo wants to know if you remember what you said to him.”

“Ichigo wants to know if you remember neglecting him.”

Oh, no. This couldn’t be, this wasn’t possible, Yellow was cracked beyond repair—

“Ichigo used Rage!”

There was the sound of something breaking, and Ichigo swapped sides so he was facing me.

“Ichigo’s Pokeball broke!”

Oh NO.

I fled immediately, and Ichigo appeared on the overworld, and I hauled ass as fast I could away from him. I had a Blastoise and Raichu, I could take him, but if that was my Ichigo, I couldn’t just hurt him like that...!

He caught up to me when I made it to Pallet Town, and a battle started again. This time, without even playing the animation for it, Seraph was sent out. There was a determined look on her face, and it dawned on me she was likely my old Seraph too.

And Ichigo was likely going to hurt her, at best. I couldn’t lose her, not after just realizing she was back! But the only option I could select was Fight--literally, the only option there was Fight. I swallowed and hit the button, looking at my options. Seraph had Dig, Bite, Iron Tail, and Double Kick. Not a moveset intended for fighting Charizards.

I had little choice but to stick with Bite for now, my heart beating in my chest as Seraph and Ichigo whittled down each other’s HP. Would Seraph die if I lost this fight? Would Ichigo die if I won? If I shut the game off, what would happen…?

At last, both of them were in the red. I really didn’t want to hurt Ichigo anymore, I really didn’t, this was my old partner! I had Seraph use Bite again, and the attack did so little damage after being used multiple turns in a row. Ichigo used Fly, and I panicked. If that landed--

Wait. I had Dig. I chose that for my next move, and Seraph quickly dug underground.

“Ichigo used Fly! Ichigo missed!”

The next message brought back painful memories.

“Ichigo kept going and crashed!” That took out the last of his HP, and he fainted. The screen returned to Ichigo standing in front of me, with Seraph trying to shield me. They were both battered and bruised, and I whispered, “Please stop fighting…”

Seraph chirped loudly at Ichigo, and that got him to step back. “Ichigo is sorry he lashed out,” the game displayed. “Ichigo will return to your party.”

He disappeared into a Pokeball, and the camera pulled up to Seraph. She faced not the trainer, but...me.

“Hello again, my old partner,” a textbox displayed with light brown text. Her colors were different now, light browns and purples resembling Pokemon Yellow’s color palette, and had a collar around her neck with her Soothe Bell. “I missed you so much.”

I fully admit I started crying a little. “Seraph, I missed you too!”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t really talk with you before. And I’m sorry that it took this long to return to you.”

Her ears lowered, and she frowned. “Ichigo was angry. He didn’t mean to destroy our old home, and I don’t really blame him for it. I think now, though, he’ll be okay.”

“I didn’t mean to ignore him! I’m so sorry, I swear I won’t neglect him from now on!” I blurted out.

“I think he understands that now.”

Seraph smiled weakly. “I wish I could stay forever with you, but...you have to beat the Elite Four. And then I have to go. Ichigo will stay here, to make up for everything...but I have to leave.”

“Please, don’t leave me,” I whimpered. “I just found out you were here!”

“I’m sorry,” Seraph apologized, tail drooping. “But I was only ever intended to help Ichigo make peace with you. There are other places I have to be, I’m afraid.”

I sobbed for a good minute or so before wiping my tears away haphazardly. “...okay. Then let’s...let’s go and show Giovanni and the Elite Four why you and Ichigo are my aces.”

Seraph smiled again, and nodded. “I’ll say goodbye when it’s time. I promise.”

She returned to sitting on my character’s head, and I took a look at Ichigo’s summary. He was next to Seraph, with his page saying ‘Became friends again in Pallet Town.’ That set the waterworks off again, and I hugged my Switch.

Once I was done crying and everything, I set off to Giovanni’s gym. Okay, Ichigo wasn’t going to handle Ground types well, so I had to use Blastoise and Venusaur there, but once I reached the Elite Four, I decided Ichigo and Seraph would be my only Pokemon I’d use. I put aside my other party members in the PC, and walked through the doors.

Ichigo swept Bruno and Lorelei’s teams like they were nothing. And it was a sight to behold. I don’t think I’d ever seen one Charizard land that many critical hits in one fight! And my player was clearly enjoying the spectacle, cheering on Charizard after every faint.

Seraph took on Agatha, and the two seemed to work almost in tandem against Lance. I almost forgot about what would happen to Seraph once we beat the rival, and I came to a dead stop. I stared at my screen for a moment before choosing to play with Seraph one last time.

“I’m going to miss you so, so much,” I mumbled, petting her and giving her all the berries I could. Once I was out of berries, I returned my attention to the door in front of me, and walked forward.

Truth be told...the Champion battle breezed by. Ichigo and Seraph were a true duo now as I alternated between them, covering for their weaknesses, and it was Ichigo who dealt the final blow to the opposing Raichu, not Seraph. The cutscene naming me the new Champion went by, and then it cut to some outdoors area I didn’t recognize, with Seraph standing in front of me again.

“I’m so proud of you!” she chirped, tail wagging. “You and Ichigo were amazing! Just...simply amazing!”

She stopped wagging her tail and looked at me with a sad smile. “I’m...really sorry I have to go. But I was never meant to stay for good. Please...take care of them, okay?”

Seraph got closer the screen, and I hugged my Switch, trying not to cry again. When I held it up again, I immediately started crying.

“I love you.”

She stepped back, and a see-through image of an Eevee walked away from her, disappearing into the bushes. The partner Eevee blinked, and looked around confused before bounding up to my trainer and jumping on her.

I set down Let’s Go Eevee for a while, feeling an ache in my chest. Ichigo and Seraph were happy now, at least, and I still had Ichigo. When I finally picked it back up, I noticed Ichigo had an item now, and I smiled when I saw what it was.

Around his neck, plain as day against orange scales, was a collar with a Soothe Bell on it.