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?~~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?

[Just shaking his head. Words? What are those?]

[[She leans in close, dropping her voice to just about a whisper, but not quiet enough to take out the creepy tone she's trying to inject into her words.]]

Turn back now.

[[Leaning back, and another small suspenseful pause, she takes a breath and begins with the story once more.]]

Before he was really able to process these words, the game gave him the option to choose "yes" or "no", as if it was asking a question. However, no question appeared on screen. Unsure of what to pick, he selected "yes", and was graced with the sound of a ladder being used and a black screen once more. Much to his slight relief, the music from the ruins stopped, being replaced by that of the Pokeflute.

Again he found himself within another dark room. Again, one that required flash to view. However, upon using Flash, the player received a message.

"Hurry has fainted!" it said, which was very peculiar. Hurry hadn't had any status conditions. Nothing that could have led to his death outside of battle, and he very clearly wasn't in battle. Curious as to the cause of this, he went to check his party.

The Cyndaquil was no longer there. In fact, upon further investigation, he came to find that none of his previous party was. The level 5 Unknown he had had were all replaced by six new level 10 Unknown.

Just as before, he checked the profiles and carefully deciphered what they spelled out, and came to a chilling discovery.

The Unknown spelled out "he died".

[Breathe John. Breathe. You are a man and you are NOT scared by this. No. Not at all.]

[Except maybe you are. Just a little bit.]

The room was now lit and free for him to explore. Except, the only problem was that he found himself in a very confined space. One of perhaps four larger squares thick, and each of the walls was grey brick.

Outside of his little room were graves not unlike the ones you see in Red and Blue.

He wandered and wandered and wandered around in his tiny little room, but nothing happened. He pressed A numerous times, but still nothing changed. Eventually, out of curiosity, he checked his trainer card. And was greeted by a rather chilling sight.

For one, he now somehow had obtained a total of twenty four badges. Impossible, but yet there it was. However, that was not the creepy part.

No, the truly creepy part was the state of his trainer's sprite. The normally smug Gold was now...less so. In fact, he looked rather sad. Rather empty.

[[Dramatic pause.]]

Perhaps this was because the poor sprite was now missing both its arms. Who knows?

Either way, he backed out of the profile and began to wander once more. Finally, his sprite stopped, and began to spin around. Almost as if an escape rope was used. Rather than raising upward, though, his sprite slowly sank into the ground.

Again, he was met with a black screen, though thankfully this time it was merely a transition. The music also stopped. When he landed, his sprite was colored differently.

It was completely white. Even his skin. Much akin to how it would look if pulled from the black and white games of the original Game Boy. The background was still colored, however.

Again, he checks his profile.

[[Yet another suspenseful pause, along with a rather creepy, almost knowing smirk. This has to scare you John. It has to. And if not, the next part will.]]

The sprite had changed again.

[No Rose. No it doesn't. It most certainly does not have to scare him. Because that's the exact opposite of what he is right now. Look at this face. This is a face of ~~completely forced~~ absolute bravery!]

[Don't mind the fact that he's completely stopped brushing Casey. That has absolutely nothing to do with him being scared.]

Edited 2011-08-24 10:58 (UTC)

[[Mhm. She knew it.]]

He was as white as his overworld sprite was. And remember how the arms were missing from before?

The legs have joined them in their disappearing act.

He managed, somehow, to seem even sadder than before. To the point where he was crying. The peculiar thing about his tears though, was that they were red.

Almost as if he was crying blood.

[[Her tone had taken on a more cheerful one, as if this was just kind of funny rather than scary at all. Though after that, it fell back into one of classic ghost telling.]]

He also, somehow, now had thirty two badges. The student at this point knew this was a significant number. Why would it just continue changing? Raising, at that. There must be a point, he just didn't know what it was yet.

After visiting his trainer card, he paid a look to his Pokemon.

Again his Pokemon team was different. Five Unknown, and a level one hundred Celebi. This time, the Unknown of course spelled out something different.

That something was the word "dying".

And that Celebi? There was something peculiar about its sprite too.

[Shoosh, she doesn't know diddly. Quit acting like you know him Rose, gosh! You don't know hiiiiiimmmmm oh hey he's doing that thing where he's holding his breath again.]