Katelyn’s 13th birthday had been the day she’d been waiting for as it would be the day she would receive a Pokémon and then a Pokédex from Professor Juniper alongside her two childhood friends Cheren & Bianca. This was quite exciting to her as would it be for any person in the world pokemon setting out on their journey across their home region.
When the day finally came she woke up earlier then she expected but that was okay though the feeling it was okay instantly vanished when she noticed she had woken up standing right in the middle of her room with her friends by her side already. What? How? What time was it. Had she slept through the morning? They all agreed to meet at one of their houses to get the Pokémon in the afternoon.
“Where are the Pokémon again? They were delivered to Katelyn’s house so she should get to pick first!” Bianca cheerfully spoke.
Cheren nodded his head in agreement not seeming to notice the confusion on Katelyn’s face. “Naturally. But they are in the gift box in front of us on the table! Katelyn why don’t you take a peek and see what’s inside? I want to meet them now.”
She went to respond to Cheren but felt it rather hard to even open her mouth for some odd reason so she stepped forward and opened the gift box. Inside were 3 pokeballs containing the Pokémon Snivy, Tepig & Oshawott. She’d have to choose carefully as from this moment on whichever one she’d pick would be her partner until the very end! They were all so cute though and—
“So! Katelyn. You’ll choose Snivy?” Bianca suddenly piped up and it was only then did she notice she had already picked up the pokeball containing Snivy. That wasn’t the one she really wanted as she much preferred Oshawott but..that was okay? It just freaked her out a bit that she chose without even noticing that she did.
Bianca picked Oshawott which was followed by Cheren picking Tepig. Now each of them had a Pokémon! What would happen next? Maybe they’d all go outside and play with the Pokémon or…Bianca’s voice cut through the room “We have each picked a Pokémon! So that’s that and there’s only one thing left to do! Have a Pokémon Battle!”
“Bianca. That’s not a good idea after all we’re inside a house and—“
She cut Cheren off immediately. “Don’t be such a worrywart! These little ones are weak so it’s not like they’ll do much. Okay, ready? Here Oshawott and I come!”
Katelyn suddenly tightly gripped the pokeball she had before she threw it forward as if she had it done before which she had not but maybe she was just ready for this? Bianca on the other hand fumbled with the ball a bit before throwing it and releasing her Pokémon into the room like Katelyn had.
The battle that followed was mostly one sided with Katelyn commanding Snivy to use tackle over and over with until Oshawott had fainted.
But whenever she had spoken it felt wrong and it felt like what she was saying was forced. The same thing repeated with Cheren when they both battled next after he had mentioned it isn’t very fair if they’re the only ones having fun battling.
Katelyn didn’t say a word when it was all over despite wanting to tell her friends she had fun with their first Pokémon battle. Instead she directed her attention elsewhere and went downstairs without a second thought after hearing Cheren say they should stop by the lab and properly thank Professor Juniper.
That’s when she first heard it.
“God. Can we please just skip right ahead to the gym battles already? I don’t really care for all this beginner’s bullshit especially if there’s some lame catching tutorial.”
It sounded like it was in her head.
A voice in her head? No. That can’t be right it was probably just her being completely out of it but that didn’t make sense…maybe she was just really tired after battling her friends? Yeah. That was probably it. She definitely felt tired.
Katelyn took a moment to look at the pokeball containing her Snivy and she couldn’t help but feel excited even with how tired she was. However instead of going to the professor’s lab to thank Professor Juniper for the Pokémon given to her and her best friends.
But instead Katelyn instead headed outside and towards Route 1 without even telling her mother and it was quite strange given she *always* told her mother when she headed out even if it wasn’t really something her mother needed to know.
She just felt like she didn’t need to do so this time but at the same time she felt quite odd again like earlier when she had chosen Snivy and suddenly knew how to properly battle against her friends despite having no prior experience or knowledge at all of Pokémon battles.
Once she reached the beginning of Route 1 she began walking into the tall grass as without hesitance as if her body was moving on it’s own. She felt oddly calm about it too which made her nervous, why did strange things start happening today? Why to her?
“Katelyn! Katelyn! Where are you going?” A familiar voice called out and suddenly Katelyn felt someone start dragging her out of the tall grass. It was Bianca.
Again she wanted to speak and tell Bianca she honestly didn’t know but instead felt like she had to but no words left her mouth.
Bianca didn’t seem to notice the confused look on her friend’s face and instead kept talking. “Katelyn! We’re supposed to go see Professor Juniper, remember? I know you probably want to go out and see some more Pokémon now that you have your own but not yet!”
Bianca’s rambling turned into her mentioning how her and Cheren had been confused when Katelyn didn’t meet them outside the lab so Bianca went out to find her despite Cheren insisting he should be the one to go look for her.
The explanation was drowned out as well as Cheren greeting her the moment Katelyn reached the door of Professor Juniper’s lab and why was that? Because she heard that voice again and this time instead of sounding annoyed it sounded angry.
Are you fucking kidding me? I want to go and battle already. See the new Pokémon in this generation. I don’t want to waste time for meaningless dialogue I don’t care about.“
As Katelyn entered the lab she now knew she just wasn’t tired earlier and she had heard something. She had heard a voice inside her head and it scared her. While listening to Professor Juniper greet her and her friends there was now a fear inside her for the fact deep down she had a feeling this was only the beginning of whatever this was.
She would be right.
So dreadfully right that this was the beginning.
Pinwheel Forest
Katelyn had been on her journey for a little over 3 weeks now and things had gotten worse. She kept doing things she didn’t know how to do and talking about things she knew nothing about and it was becoming more terrifying. Even worse was the way she had begun to move on her own without wanting to as if there was something forcing her to do so.
Plus that damned voice did not go away and was still in her head. It insulted Bianca & Cheren. It laughed and made fun of N when she first met him and insulted Chili & Lenora when Katelyn beat them.
At this very moment she was dealing with that damned voice trying to force her to head out of the forest despite her own desire to keep looking around. It was almost scary how she was getting used to it coming out of nowhere but mainly when she tried to do something she wanted to do on her own.
”I don’t care about what you want. What I want is to get to the next city and keep training my Pokémon. It’s not like they are yours anyway.”
Katelyn felt terrified as the voice was particularly loud this time and she was suddenly heading for the exit of the forest as if she again once had no control over her own body. But she didn’t say anything nor try to fight as she was still confused on what was happening to her.
Once she was out of the forest there was the problem of Skyarrow bridge and why was it a problem? Because Katelyn was scared of heights but she knew if she tried to resist and not cross the bridge now then the voice would probably start up again.
So Katelyn forced herself to try and cross the bridge but halfway through she was on her knees and crying as she clung to the railing of the bridge. It was scary. She was so high up and even if she didn’t look over the edge it was still bad but at the time she didn’t want to hear that voice again…just for a little bit.
However nothing would go her way.
”Stop crying! You pathetic moron. What are you, a fuckin’ baby? Get up and move again! Or I’ll make you! Stop fucking crying!”
But she couldn’t stop and the cruel words from the voice coming from inside her head only made her cry harder.
“Fine! Do I have to put more effort in? Then I will!”
Katelyn shrieked as a pain shot through her legs and she was suddenly running on the last part of the bridge. Now she truly knew that this voice didn’t just speak to her but also had a bit of control over her as well. This had to be why she picked snivy so suddenly, headed out to route 1 so soon, left the forest so soon and was now crossing the rest of the bridge despite her fears.
Once she entered Castelia City she collapsed on her knees and continued to cry as the voice became quiet again. Again she could only wonder why this was happening.
She could only hope she’d be able to take her mind off of things by getting to do something else once she could calm down but that probably wouldn’t be for a little while. Unfortunately the hope for that died later as after wandering around the city for a bit after calming down the voice came back after Katelyn spotted the gym.
So soon enough she was making her through another gym and feeling like some kind of drone when doing so now knowing how this voice had some kind of control over her. The way she battled and spoke to her Pokémon didn’t feel like her and it felt like it was forced which it probably was. No denying it now.
Getting through the gym trainers wasn’t a problem aside from the voice critiquing literally everything about the trainers and even the gym itself. It was like it couldn’t even have any fun but instead had to have something to say about everything and everyone.
When Katelyn finally reached Burgh she felt so tired and angry. Felt so upset & drained because of this awful voice and it’s cruelty.
“We will make quick work of him. Look how stupid he looks. Just use Tranquil on his pathetic bug types.”
Katelyn did just as the voice wanted just so it would become quiet again. So she could have some peace before she would be yelled at & controlled again.
However upon getting her badge Burgh had something to say and Katelyn didn’t like it. Didn’t like how Burgh said she seemed aggressive & lacked passion.
Like he was mocking her.
Like he was being cruel to her like the voice was, especially on the bridge.
Katelyn left the gym with blood on her hands and Burgh was left on the floor with a broken nose & jaw.
Of course.
The voice came back because of this.
“Haha, look at you! You beat the crap out of him! Aww. Maybe we’re not so different after all.”
The voice went quiet after that and only then did Katelyn truly realize what she’d done and dropped down to the ground and began crying again. No. No. She didn’t let herself hurt an innocent man just because he reminded her of this stupid voice!
She was a nice girl.
A wide-eyed, confident and curious girl who’d never hurt anyone.
Katelyn was nice.
She was! She was! She didn’t hurt Burgh.
It would’ve been time for the trainer to start having a breakdown given the rush of emotions and events that had just happened but she got a call from Bianca who asked to meet her at castelia city’s gate.
Bianca.
Bianca was so nice and understanding even if she was a bit airheaded. Maybe she would listen to Katelyn.
She didn’t.
Bianca didn’t listen and all she seemed to care about was her new and improved self as well as the battle they had. She even called Katelyn a jokester when Katelyn asked her if she ever heard a voice.
As Bianca left there was a feeling of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach as Katelyn felt the sharp pain in her legs again.
It wanted to start moving again. It didn’t care about her battles with her friends anyway and it certainly didn’t want her standing still right now.
Things became worse as time went on and nobody seemed to notice.
Once she beat Clay? Katelyn noticed she could no longer move on her own and whenever she moved it felt forced becuase it was.
That voice in her head wasn’t just a voice because what voice could control you. Could make you move against your will & make you release Pokémon you truly cared for.
What voice made you sneer at Bianca when Miss Elesa stood up for Bianca against her father. Making you think Bianca was “cliche” & “weak” when you knew you cared for her and would never think of her that way.
What kind of fucking voice told you to ignore your friends & instead focus on becoming stronger and nothing else.
“Katelyn.”
A voice and certainly the one not in her head snapped Katelyn out of her thoughts. It was Cheren and he was standing right in front of her with a concerned look on her face.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush around this. What’s going on with you? You’ve become more and more aggressive lately. You won’t even talk to us or the professor. I’m aware you don’t even call your mother.”
He stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Is something wrong? Is Team Plasma getting to you or…? No. It’s wrong to just assume but there’s something clearly wrong.”
Katelyn didn’t respond and instead clutched a pokeball in her hand with the case containing all 5 of her gym badges in the other. She had one thought on her mind right now and it was finding the gym in Mistralton if Cheren didn’t continue to hold her up.
But he did so she took action with a little help of course.
”He’s in our way. Surely by now you know what to do.”
As Serperior emerged from it’s pokeball and Cheren found himself in a battle he didn’t even want he swore he saw some kind of silhouette behind his friend and it looked to be whispering into Katelyn’s ear.
Oh how things had changed.
Katelyn had grown used to the the cruel words of the voice and it’s control over her. She struck Cheren and his team down with her own team like they were nothing but some kind of obstacle in her way and not people and Pokémon she knew.
Once the battle was over Katelyn told Cheren to leave and he did.
Katelyn headed straight for the gym and exited it only an hour later with an emotionless expression cast upon her face and it didn’t change when N challenged her.
But what N said after the battle did catch her attention.
“Katelyn. Since when were your eyes different colors?”
For once in what had been most likely over a month she snapped out of her cold & unfeeling persona that came from the voice’s control and ran to the Pokémon center then hurriedly into the girls bathroom where she stopped in front of the mirror.
Low and behold her eyes were both no longer blue but instead one of them now was a yellow color.
“Just like me.”
Despite the fact she had grown used to the awful words & control of the voice it didn’t mean she didn’t continue to have fleeting moments of her own free will & this was one of them.
She did not want to be like it.
Especially if her eyes were becoming like what it’s eyes were most likely like.
So she threw out a pokeball containing her Stoutland and got rid of that eye all the while she could hear the voice laugh & taunt her for slipping out of it’s control again. It was disappointed by that and considered them to be ‘getting along’ when she was fully under it’s control.
Please.
Make it stop.
What if the next time it gains full control over her…she never snaps out of it and is never herself again? After all she just went an entire month under it’s control acting like some kind of emotionless robot!
She didn’t care about the horrible pain from her now gouged out eye. All she wanted was to be free from this voice in her head and it’s control over her.
But Katelyn would never be free. Especially not now.
She knew it once she looked up and saw what looked like a girl with long dark hair & yellow eyes standing behind her in the mirror with a sinister smile.
The girl knelt down next to her and whispered.
“There is nothing you can do. Your world? It is my game and you? You are my puppet. How funny you feared my control over you happening again when it now happens again so soon.”
Katelyn couldn’t even scream as an unimaginable pain coursed through her body and the world faded to black.
Katelyn would go on to defeat Team Plasma.
Katelyn would go on to become champion.
Katelyn would go onto to abandon her friends Cheren & Bianca.
Katelyn would be a puppet to this voice. To this PLAYER.
No one ever seemed to notice the way their new champion had her mouth stitched shut (she could never tell anyone what she had been through.) or the way she now missed an eye.
There would forever be a voice in her head that now reigned with complete control over her and one day as she took the backseat and watched her life while being trapped inside her own body.
Katelyn would kill it…no Katelyn would kill her with her own hands for how she ruined her. How she ruined her life. Stripped away her free will & made her a vessel for ‘fun’.