route_1065 | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who:

usedtherapy
Where: Ilex Forest
When: 8/20 through 8/26
Summary: WOO HOO CAMPING-TRIP-DINO-HUNT-VACATION-DATE-EXTRAVAGANZA!
Rating: uhh...PG for possible language?
Log:
[To say that John was "looking forward" to his second date with Rose would be a gross understatement. He had barely been able to sleep the night before they left and ended up knocking on Rose's door at five in the morning because he'd finally given up on the notion of sleep entirely. Plus, weren't you supposed to leave early for camping trips?]

[Unsurprisingly, Rose hadn't expected him that early. She'd given him a very bleary look, stepped back into her room to give her clock a bleary look and then asked "...are we leaving 'lready?"]

[Even less surprisingly...she'd fallen right back asleep the minute they had both clambered inside Elliot and gone on their way. But that was okay. Because she had fallen asleep on John's shoulder and he had absolutely no qualms with that at all.]

[And then a few hours later, his excitement wore off and he too fell asleep. Wow, their trip was off to a great start already!]

[Elliot wasn't the fastest pokemon but fortunately, being a ghost, he didn't really need a lot of sleep. So their four day trip ended up taking only two. Once inside the forest, Elliot went back inside his ball for some much needed rest while the two kids shouldered their packs and began walking through the forest, hand-in-hand.]

[Surely this was going to be the best camping-trip-dino-hunt-vacation-date-extravaganza ever! ~~Also possibly the first ever, because seriously, who besides John would come up with something as crazy as this?~~]

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Oh, welcome back John. How is this? And yes, sorry. I simply gave Casey the blankets and pillow I had purchased for her.

[[Now it's Rose's turn to look expectant. She did good, right?]]

This is...good! It looks very...cozy! [He slips off his shoes and slips them, the hammer, and Rose's shoes inside the bag that formerly held the tent and tosses it over into the corner with the other bag. After doing so, he enters the tent and zips the entrance closed behind him before crawling over to sit on top of his sleeping bag.] Yup. Deeefinitely cozy.

I thought so too. [[She has never laid sleeping bags out in a tent before. She is very proud, and glad you like it John.]] All that's left now is to change into our pajamas. Unless you seriously plan on sleeping in jeans.

Or aren't quite sleepy yet.

[Oh yes. He's definitely not complaining about the arrangement. It just surprised him. He was expecting to walk in and find their sleeping bags on opposite walls.]

[This is much better!]

Mmm...well I'm not quite sleepy yet but I wouldn't object to changing. Hold on, let me go get my pajamas and I'll get out so you can change. [He moves over to his bag and pull his pajamas out and then makes for the entrance, unzipping it halfway so that he can slide out. Yes...he fully intends to go change in the bushes or something.]

[[Sigh. Well, at least she's able to change alone.

And once she is in her tentacool print camisole and pink shorts to match, she slips into her sleeping bag to at least sit in the warmth, waiting for him to return.

She has an inkling of an idea of what they could do...]]

[Did you want to change while he was sitting right there, Rose? The thought just seemed highly inappropriate to him.]

[There's a small 'ouch!' from outside as John returns. Guess who forgot to put his shoes back on and just stepped on a rock? He appears a moment later, clad in dark purple Haunter-print pajama pants and a black sleeveless shirt. After once again zipping the door, he crawls over to his sleeping bad and begins rubbing his sock-clad heel once he sits down.]

Note to self...be sure to put shoes on before walking around in the forest from now on.

That would definitely be an ideal thing to do John. Are you alright?

[[Glancing at his foot, she pulls her pillow into her lap and hugs on to it.]]

And if you are, I have an idea of what we can do.

Yeah I'm fine, it was just a little rock. It's just irritating. What's your idea though?

If you're sure.

[[Do you see this gleam in her eyes, John? You may want to change your mind.]]

Well, if we are to have a proper camping trip, we are missing something.

Ghost stories.

[Oh he sees the gleam. He sees it and thinks nothing of it or of changing his mind. Because you know that part of your brain that says "hey, this might be a bad idea"? John's is defective.]

Ooo, you're right! That we cert-- ack, Casey! [At that moment, Casey decides to interrupt by nudging her head against John's arm. And then giving him a big ~~puppy~~ bunny-eyed look. In her arms, she's holding a small brush.] Oh! Right. Here. [He scoots back a little and pats the space in front of him on his sleeping bag, taking the brush from her. Once she's settled herself in front of him, he takes one of her ears and sets it in his lap, brushing the curly beige fur before continuing. Like that whole interruption wasn't even a thing. Nope.]

[Sorry Rose, but this is kind of their nightly routine.]

We certainly are missing that. Did you have one in mind then?

[[It's perfectly okay, John. She's just smiling at the two, but nods.]]

I have a few I could tell, if you would be interested. And, appropriately enough, they are Pokemon themed.

[Brush, brush. John suspects nothing! Neither does Casey!]

Sounds good to me! Let's hear them then.

Alright.

[[Re-situating herself, she hums and tries to decide which one to start with. When one has a fascination for the grimmer things in life, she comes across quite a few things on the internet during searches.

Scary stories being one of them.]]

Now, if this gets too scary, let me know.

And I suppose this is more of a scary story than actual ghost story. Oh well.

It's called "Lost Silver", and is based on the game of the same name. Meaning Johto. How fitting, no?

The hero of our tale is a college student who lived alone in his own apartment. A new set of games was being released soon - Heart Gold and Soul Silver, I believe he said. I wouldn't know, I never paid attention to such announcements, but if I recall correctly that's what he called them. Not wishing to spoil either for himself, he went without research.

Though, the waiting made him miss the original Gold and Silver video games an so he set out to purchase himself a new copy of one, as he had lost his previous copies to motherly cleaning. He found Silver, bought it and brought it home.

It was when he began playing it that our story truly begins.

[[And that gleam is back. That excited, mischievous, "I am in my element" gleam.]]

[A bit of an eyeroll and a small "pssh" at that comment about it being too scary. Yeah, okay Rose. Sure. How old do you think he is, five? John is thirteen and scared of nothing because he is a man.]

[He listens intently, continuing to brush Casey's fur and once again, completely ignoring all eye-gleam warning signs.]

Edited 2011-08-24 09:21 (UTC)

[[Brave, brave boy.]]

When he started the game, something very peculiar happened. The Game Freak logo appeared like normal, but seemed to just freeze. Feeling that it must just be a bit of a glitch, he turned it off to try again, but it froze the next time.

He tried pressing a variety of buttons, but came to no avail. However, after a few more moments of waiting, it faded away to a black screen. And so he waited.

Rather than loading up the usual menu, he found himself in the game of the previous owner. He was surprised! After all, usually games this old would not have lasted so long, due to the poor battery. Though he wasn't disappointed. He likely would have chosen continue anyway out of pure curiosity.

So, he set the strange event aside and checked on the all the previous trainer had done. To his disappointment, there was no creative name for the trainer. Simply "...". He had an impressive track record, having earned sixteen badges, seen and caught all two-hundred and fifty-one Pokemon, and logged over nine hundred and ninety-nine hours of gameplay.

The student, of course, instantly assumed it was a cheated game, but played on anyway.

The next thing he did was check his Pokemon. The team consisted of five Unknown, and one Pokemon named "Hurry".

[Oh yes. The most brave. Or the most foolish. Probably both. Because he's still just sitting there waiting for the story to get good.]

Idly, he wondered if this was some sort of joke. A prank, if you will, meant for the new owner. Either way, he decided to humor the previous one and checked through the profiles of the Pokemon individually.

The Unknown, after he took a bit of time deciphering their letters, spelled out a word.

The word "Leave".

Hurry was a Cyndaquil, he came to find. Level five, left with one hit point, and owned the moves "Leer" and "Flash".

He disregarded the name, and the word the Unknown spelled out. There was one other eerie thing he disregarded for the time as well.

Even though he had his volume all the way up? None of the Pokemon had cries like they usually would. They were all silent.

Done with that, he closed out. Now, do you know the Bellsprout Tower from the games John?

[Okay...goosebumps? Why are you a thing right now? This story is hardly scary yet! It must just...be the atmosphere. Or something. Or the anticipation. Rose would know better, but he can't very well ask her now can he? Just...gonna keep brushing Casey. Just focus on that and the goosebumps will go away.]

[He shakes his head before answering her question.]

Uh...if it's the same as the tune that plays in the Sprout tower here then yeah, I do. [It is forever ingrained into his memory. Because they were in Violet City for how long?]

Edited 2011-08-24 09:59 (UTC)

It's the same tune, but the tower itself is a little different in the game.

In Silver and Gold - from what I've read - Sprout tower consists of many floors. Just like it does here. There are also a handful of NPCs on each floor to battle with, and the pillar in the middle sways from side to side.

When the player took a look around, they found themselves in such a room. A floor of the Sprout Tower. However, there were a variety of differences between the room he was in, and how it would - should - normally look. For one, it was completely void of life.

There were no NPCs to be found. It was just him.

For another, the pillar? It wasn't moving at all. It was almost as if the tower was simply laying upon its side.

Stranger still, no music played. No sound played at all. And there didn't seem to be any exits available to him. He was also without an escape rope - or any item, really, when he checked his bag.

So, from everything he could tell, there was no way out of this room. He simply wandered around, until finally stepping behind the pillar. It appeared to be a ladder there. And when he took it, the screen went black.

And music finally started playing.

[[Here she pauses, a little for dramatic effect, and a little for a contemplative look.]]

Have you ever visited the Ruins of Alph, John?

Edited 2011-08-24 10:03 (UTC)

[Okay, shiver down the spine? You need to go away. Seriously. Stop that. Rose, you need to stop being such a good storyteller. You're freaking him out when there really isn't anything to be freaking out over yet.]

Yeah, I went there once with Aradia. Why?

Did you ever listen to the radio while you were there? Did you hear the...rather off-putting tune that played through its speakers when you tried, no matter which station you changed to?

[...he just nods. Yes. He did. And it creeped him the fuck out.]

Well John, that was the music that began playing as the black screen appeared and he waited for his character to exit the tower.

[[A bit of a dark chuckle.]]

Or, at least, he expected to exit the tower. As it turned out, however, after a few moments of waiting and then a few button presses, he merely found himself inside of a pitch black room.

One he would need Flash to illuminate.

[[Scared yet, John?]]

Before, however, he took care of that, he decided to try and find something more pleasant on the radio to listen to. Much to his great dismay, he didn't have the radio card.

Nor the time or phone cards, either. Strange, isn't it? All he had available to him was his map, and that did little to help him. It simply showed his character standing amidst a sea of pitch, black nothingness.

Recalling that his Cyndaquil, Hurry, knew Flash, he made haste to light up the room. Unlike normal circumstances, however, there was no message indicating that he used Flash. No "Hurry used Flash!" like there normally would be. Instead, the room simply lit up.

Something he immediately regretted.

[Oh hey...when did he stop breathing? That's not good. He kind of needs to start doing that again. Also, Rose? Your suspenseful storytelling technique is making it rather difficult for John to keep his brave face on. He's suddenly struck by the overwhelming urge to grab his pillow. And start chewing on it. But he's nowhere near done with Casey's nightly brushing routine. Especially considering the fact that he's been brushing the same spot for a good minute or so now.]

When the screen lit up, it revealed a lurid crimson room. In the middle of this room was a grey path that headed south. The ladder he had climbed down?

Nowhere to be seen.

With no other choice, he began down the grey walkway. He began to notice something equally as disturbing as he went though. About every twenty paces he took, the room got a little darker. It was a while before he reached the end, but once he did he found a sign.

Can you guess what the sign read, John?