November 19th was an important day for Emma.
Sure it was one day later after the new Pokemon games released, but it was her birthday. She didn’t have a Switch yet, but she would definitely get one for her birthday. She was looking forward to having Sprigatito as her starter.
But instead she got…Pokemon White?
Her mother could be a bit…dumb, but didn’t she know this wasn’t the right game?
Well, no use acting like a spoiled brat over it, she gave her food and shelter, and she could easily throw it away if the girl decides to misbehave.
Emma got out her dark blue DSi, which used to belong to her big sister Wendy. Apparently, Wendy had to go to a special camp for the “naughty stuff” she’s done. She was counting down the months until she was home, and a better citizen too! Oh it will be just lovely!
~~~~
It’s been 3 days since she had the game, and she was almost close to beating it. She already finished the main game, and now was focused on filling the national dex.
Thankfully, there were no game-breaking glitches, some of the NPCs' dialogue was..weird. Apparently, they seemed to preach the importance of respecting your parents, especially your mother. All of the Team Plasma grunts seemed to cry for their mommies when she defeated them too..
While it did make Emma scratch her head, she just decided it was some sort of special Mother’s Day edition of the game. Besides, kids really need to learn to respect their parents nowadays! Especially if they had a single mother!
Using her Archeops, she flew to Opelucid City and healed her team. It consisted of Porky (Emboar), Waves (Simipour), Scully (Scolipede), Snatchy (Krookodile), Cuddles (Beartic) and of course her Archeops, simply named Archer (despite it being a female). She also had a variety of Pokeballs, along with a ton of healing potions.
She went into the tall grass, hoping she would encounter either Emolga or Braviary. The battle music started as she sent out Archer. Emma gasped, seeing what happened to her favorite pseudo-Pikachu.
The Emolga looked scared, having a few tears on its wings and a tear on its ear. Its flying was surprisingly not affected by this, like it depended on staying above the ground. The poor girl didn’t even want to hurt it, but running away was no option.
“The wild Emolga looked for someplace safer!”
The battle ended by itself, Emma letting out a sigh of relief. She could’ve closed her DSi right there, but there was now a sudden sense of morbid curiosity in her. Emma just decided to go back to her search, she could possibly get a Seaking by fishing!
Before she could make another step, a black thing swooped down and started a battle. Could it be the Braviary she was looki-
Wait..
Mandibuzz only appeared in Black.
What was this one doing here?
It was a wonder how she could even see this thing was a Mandibuzz. It was constantly shaking, there were also barren spots on its wings and the bone skirt was broken. It seemed to have strange ropey marks on its neck, and a few feathers missing from her tail.
But the most noticeable thing was that..
It had this strange..red liquid around its beak.
“$#%#%#%#@!!#@^(**)%#%&%@@^??!!”
Emma pushed Stone Edge, hoping it would hit. Unfortunately, it was a miss, but Emma could a-
“%$%#??!!% Air %$##$$$$^^$?!??) Slash!”
The screen suddenly went dark, as Archer was replaced with Cuddles. When she checked her team, Archer seemed to be gone. Where did she go? Nonetheless this was good, Ice was strong against Flying, this would be easily.
“IT$$$^^^$@??!!S N$%$#??OT M$$%!!!??Y FA(**^$^$???!!U#$$LT”
She tried to ignore what this Pokemon was saying, but felt a sense of deja vu playing this. Emma clicked Icicle Crash and got an actually readable message this time.
“Cuddles doesn’t know what to do! This isn’t a Pokemon!”
The screen turned black again, and Snatchy was now fighting against the thing. She was no detective, but concluded that Cuddles must’ve gotten the same treatment as Archer.
Okay, this time she’ll get out of this battle. Snatchy wasn’t the best attacker, but he could handle a beating, even if the attacker isn’t supposed to be here.
~~~
This was hopeless, utterly hopeless.
This thing seemed to make her team disappear, leaving only Porky and Scully. She sent out Scully first, even though his Bug typing would make him weaker. On an unrelated note, Emma realized she could somehow read what this Mandibuzz was saying too, the symbols seemed to tone down.
The Mandibuzz was about to attack until..
“Oh de$%ar g?%%od.. o%#h dea%#r go#?d.”
The battle stopped, as the Mandibuzz from earlier was now in the overworld. Emma checked her party again, seeing that her “fainted” team members now seemed to be eggs.
“I d$n’t kno#w wh!@!at happe$$*ne$!d to m$@e..”
“I’m s@o sor@@ry Em#ma..”
“Th!s blood..this is min#e…”
Emma couldn’t believe it, was this glitch speaking like a human? Maybe it wasn’t a glitch at all, but instead…
“W-Wendy?” Emma knew that speaking to her DSI made her seem crazy, but maybe her sister could understand “Did something b-”
“There was no camp, Emma”
“..What?”
“I was taken to a school”
A school? Well that didn’t sound that bad on the surface. Nonetheless, she let her sister speak about this supposed ranch.
“It was horrible there.. We were treated like cattle, working under extreme conditions. We were taught nothing, except to listen to every demand made by authorities. Even if it involves…”
Wendy hugged Emma’s character, shaking even more.
“God..I can’t tell you the details.. You’re so young… Please whatever you do, don’t..ever-”
The screen went black. When it turned back on, there was now another sprite. It seemed to be the character’s mom, but why did it look like-
No, no no no, this couldn’t be happening..
“What are you doing out here sweetie?”
The Mandibuzz looked at the sprite, standing in front of Emma.
“Leave us alone, now”
Emma’s pixelated mother took another step.
“Get out of the way, vile bird. I’m here to see Emma”
“Di!d yo#u hear wh@at I j$^$%ust said le$ave us alon@e..”
Emma’s mother nonetheless walked, focusing on getting Emma. Wendy seemed to let out a bit-crushed cry, trying to intimate her away.
“LE#$#$$&AV@@^@@E U#%#!S ALO*&$%NE!”
Before Wendy could bite her, Emma’s mother gripped her neck as Emma’s character had an exclamation point appear over her head.
“Tut tut tut, you were always a brat Wendy. No wonder why I couldn’t get a husband, thankfully I removed that little rodent obsession early..”
“%$%%#$@!!#@$^^^)(??!@#$#%#!@@#(*&????>?##$@$$#$#$@@@##%#%><?)(*&”
“Yet, you’re still a problem child, Wendy. That school did nothing to help you..”
“Thankfully, mommy always knows best”
The DSi turned off completely, due to it having no battery. Emma was left stunned, closing her console and crying into her pillow. Why did her mother ever buy that game?! Was this some sort of sick joke?!?
“Emma?”
Emma looked up to see her mother was by her room’s doorway. She didn’t get up to hug her though, instead her mom came rushing in and started to coddle her, like she was still in preschool.
“Oh my precious baby, mommy’s so sorry for getting that nasty game” Emma’s mother wiped her tears away “Mommy is going to buy you a nice shiny Switch for Christmas, along with every game you want to make up to you”
Emma would normally be ecstatic to get such a deal and love her mother even more. But now, her mother seemed like a total stranger. This woman was not the one who raised her, and her touch didn’t have any sort of motherly warmth.
It felt cold.