Young Pokémon Trainer Red was much like any other boy his age in that he got such a thrill out of doing something he wasn't supposed to. Something against the rules... He grinned to himself as he summoned his Charizard from its Poké Ball.

"Hey, buddy," he whispered. "Do you know where we are?"

The fire Pokémon nodded, looking around at the jungle-like vegetation overgrowing all sides of the thin pathway. A certain excitement rose up in Red's chest every time he heard the scurrying of Pokémon in the bushes, the distant, muffled cries of species he still had yet to capture... He grinned to himself, unable to contain his thrill at their adventure.

The Safari Zone. It was challenging, oftentimes infuriating, but Red loved it – the sights, the smells, the thrill of the hunt as he sought out to catch that one rare Pokémon... It was like a gamble, or another game of chance... And while Red never liked such games, he was willing to make an exception when it came to his one passion.

But this time, he wasn't taking chances, and he wasn't playing by the rules. He laughed to himself as he secured the bag of Safari Balls to himself and stepped up to mount Charizard.

He'd already tried to leave the Safari Zone, but, to his confusion, the gate attendants had asked him if he wanted to join a Safari game, rather than leave one. He'd said "no" and left to enter the Safari Zone again, weirded out by their unusual antics. His actions now were justified, he thought. This is what they got for being all... weird. It made him uneasy, and they weren't going to get away with that.

"We're gonna fly out of here with these Balls, buddy. ...We're not supposed to, but we'll return them, and, well... I'd rather not be like Blue, but he does bad things all the time! We're just having fun, okay?"

Charizard nodded, respecting its trainers wishes.

"Okay, take us to Viridian!"

Red laughed in glee as they rose up above the growth of vines and branches and into the sky, rising higher and higher, and soon Red couldn't even hear the sounds of his own laughter over the roaring of wind in his ears. Eyes squinting, he cast one last look down at the blur of colors he knew to be Fuchsia City.

– –

Viridian was a fun town, and, having grown up nearby in Pallet, it had a lot of fond memories. Since he'd become Champion, Blue was considering taking over the newly-opened position of Gym Leader. While Red had been reluctant to encourage someone who'd only ever put him down, he'd found that since his defeat, Blue had matured a lot, and he'd been more than happy to lend his support.

As it was, Blue happened to be in town when he arrived, and he eagerly greeted his former rival.

"Hey, Red," Blue greeted. "What's the matter? You miss me so much you couldn't take it anymore?"

Red rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Totally. ...Listen, did you get the position?"

Instantly, Blue's face lit up, and he grinned, dropping his cocky act to express his excitement. "Yeah! I can't wait! This close to home, too! I mean, it's no Championship, but it's pretty crazy to think about!"

It was strange seeing Blue so excitable, but Red nodded enthusiastically. "Really? That's awesome! ...Too bad, though, 'cause now that you're the last Gym Leader, all the trainers coming to face the Elite Four are gonna be the wimps who had no trouble kicking your butt!"

Blue just rolled his eyes, laughing. "Dishing out insults is my thing, Red. Stick to being too nice. It suits you more."

Blue turned to leave, and Red gave him a friendly thump on the back before high-fiving him and turning to go in the opposite direction.

Blue watched his rival leave, suddenly overcome with the overwhelming desire to follow him.

– –

As Red left town towards Viridian Forest, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Say, are you in a hurry?"

Red grimaced. That old man... He supposed he was an all right guy, but Red had always had a funny feeling about him ever since he refused to let him go onto Route 2 because it was his "private property" (what, did the man own the whole world?) until he'd had his coffee. And Red didn't want to be rude, but he knew the old man wasn't going to show him anything spectacular (last time he'd only shown Red how to catch a Weedle...), and he was honestly going places... Still, he didn't want to be rude.

"Sorry, I guess I kind of am..." Red responded sheepishly. "But if it's quick, you can tell me something. What is it?"

The old man beamed. "Oh, I see you're working on a Pokédex! When you catch a Pokémon, Pokédex data is automatically added. Say, do you know how to catch Pokémon?"

Red opened his mouth to say that, yes, he did know how to catch Pokémon, and he was suddenly very much in a hurry, but the old man interrupted him.

"I'll show you how, then!"

Red tried to run, but the old man grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to where a wild Weedle was crawling along, minding its own business and paying no mind to the strange pair that approached it.

The old man gave him another beaming, toothless grin. "Ya have to throw a Poké Ball at 'em!" The old man reached down into his fanny pack and produced a red-and-white Poké Ball that Red swore he could see dust on. The old man feebly hurled the Poké Ball at the Weedle.

The Weedle looked up before the Ball burst open, and the small creature was instantly enveloped in light. The light tugged the Pokémon towards the open Ball, and in a second it vanished inside before the Ball closed. The Ball jerked to the side and rolled along the ground as the Pokémon inside struggled to break free. It rolled again, then gave more of a wiggle, as though the Pokémon inside could no longer struggle against its restraints. And then, the ball held completely still, and Red heard the small click that indicated the Weedle had been caught.

Still beaming, the old geezer reached down and picked it up. "First, you need to weaken the target Pokémon," he said matter-of-factly while slipping the Weedle into his fanny pack.

Red really, really wanted to show the old guy that he'd obtained over a hundred Pokémon by now, was Pokémon League Champion, and had even managed to capture the Legendary Mewtwo, but then decided it just wasn't worth it.

"Er, thanks, mister. I think I'm going to be on my way now... See ya!"

Red reached for his belt and took out Charizard's Poké Ball and released him again. "Hey, buddy. Sorry to ask this of you again, but do you think you could fly me to Cinnabar? That's not too much to ask, right?"

His Charizard gazed back at him deeply, smiling slightly in affection before nodding.

Red smiled back at him, then threw his arms around his Pokémon's neck. "...You're the best, bud!" He grinned even wider when he felt Charizard hug him in return. The Pokémon snorted in some obvious disagreement.

"No, I said you're the best!" Red laughed. "Come on, pal. We've got to get to Cinnabar. I could use a trip to the beach about now."

The fire-type wrinkled his nose before lowering himself to allow his Trainer to climb up. Red was still laughing as they once more rose into the air.

The old man watched them go, smiling slightly as well. "...Sorry, Red. You're a good kid, but if it weren't you, it'd be someone else. You had a good run, but I guess things are over for you. He he he!"

––

There was something Red had always found deeply relaxing about Cinnabar. Despite being extremely young – not even a teenager, he had his fair share of troubles.

Diary : July 5
Guyana, South America
A new POKéMON was discovered deep in the jungle.

It was kind of ironic, considering that he owed a good deal of his troubles to this very island. The old abandoned Pokémon Mansion had once housed a terrible genetic experiment, Mewtwo. The Pokémon had been horribly abused and subject to unimaginably painful tests. Their goal had been to clone a Pokémon so rare that few believed its existence, but because of human greed, they couldn't stop at that, and instead sought out to create the most powerful Pokémon ever born.

Diary : July 10
We christened the newly discovered POKéMON, MEW.

The Pokémon became violent and hateful of all humanity. Red remembered clearly the frenzied screams of the scientists when he encountered them there. How they were driven so mad by Mewtwo's rebellion that they, too, could think only of fighting. Red remembered the broken-down remains of the many, many failed clones. He remembered malformed, fetal "Pokémon" that stared at him with lifeless, gaping eyes, bodies just mere patchworks of flesh, scales, fur, and organs.

Diary : Feb. 6
MEW gave birth. We named the newborn MEWTWO.

Though few were still living, Red, only ten years old, had been merciful enough to put an end to their suffering. Despite knowing they had technically never been alive, he had cried for their loss, and for all the unnecessary pain and suffering the creatures had to endure when they'd done nothing wrong besides just exist.

Diary : Sept.1
MEWTWO is far too powerful. We have failed to curb its vicious tendencies...

Red had always wanted to say that he believed the scientists deserved their fate, because Mewtwo was a creation of pure human evil – the very result of utmost cruelty. Red could never say this, though, because he'd battled the crazed, terrified scientists. He'd freed one man and watched the same man claw his own eyes out to escape the horrors no one else could see. Because of the experiments that had taken place here, and because of Mewtwo, Red had lost his innocence and been forced to confront the harsh reality of human nature at a very young age.

But Red had always been a strong, optimistic kid, and nothing could keep him down. If nothing else, he'd given Mewtwo a safe home and the comfort of having a Trainer who loved him and would work with him. That had been enough to make him feel at peace again.

And if he wanted to feel peaceful, there was no better place than the island. He sighed to himself before stepping into the waters at the shore. He reached for his belt and, without a word, sent out his Blastoise.

A Lapras had been given to him by a terrified Silph Co. employee after he saved them from the Team Rocket invasion, but because there were so few Lapras in the wild, Red had left her with an experienced Breeder in hopes that she could help increase the wild Lapras population. Since leaving her, he'd had to use his Blastoise to Surf along water, but he didn't mind. He'd been with Blastoise for a long time, and spending time together was always a good thing.

This time Blastoise greeted him with a smile before climbing down into the shallow waters. Red's shoes slipped on the surface of the Water-type's shell, and he smiled when Blastoise helpfully hoisted him up. "Thanks, buddy. Jeez, how do you guys put up with a moron like me?"

Blastoise rolled his eyes, and Red laughed again. "Aww, that bad? Well, I was thinking we could just cruise along the shore here. Not really out into the ocean, or anything, okay? Just right along the shore."

His Pokémon happily nodded, and Red sat back. He thought of something, then sighed. "Oh, hang on. I should put out a Repel. We're here to relax, and you probably don't want to battle right now." Still leaning back, Red uncapped a Repel and sprayed the two of them down.

It was a calm, relaxing cruise, and after his rather eventful day, Red felt like he'd earned it. Even the Champion need to take a break, after all...

"Blas!" he heard Blastoise growl. Red immediately sat up, and then gasped. Crap! The Repel must have worn off by now. He immediately sat up, preparing himself for a battle with a wild Tentacool.

Instead, he was shocked to see an Exeggcute in front of him. It wasn't floating on the water, but instead lingering just above it, obscured slightly by what appeared to be grass – a kind not unlike what he saw in the Safari Zone.

He sat bolt upright, a feeling of deep unease slowly welling up inside him. "...W... What the heck?! Blastoise, let's run!"

As the Pokémon tore away from the spot where they encountered the Exeggcute, Red could feel his heart thumping in his chest. Just what was going on?! First the Safari Zone attendants, and then the old man... All sorts of stuff was happening that just made no sense. And while Red was used to things that made little sense, he just couldn't escape the sudden feeling of wrongness that he'd felt this time.

"Right" and "wrong" were two things that had no natural definition, as they were mostly a matter of opinion. But this feeling... Red swallowed. He felt like he was on the cusp of something so far from the natural order that it drew Red himself in, something that cause every part of his body to suddenly freeze and lock up. Something was so terribly, awfully wrong.

Just as he was about to use another Repel, he heard a sudden Ding-dong! The sound was both far-off and very close, as though it were happening somewhere else, but he had to hear it, no matter where it was, not unlike his encounter with the Exeggcute.

"Time's up! Your safari game is over!"

Red didn't dare blink, but even still, he had no awareness of his transition from the Cinnabar shore to the Safari Zone gate. One moment, he was riding on Blastoise, and the next, he was standing, bemusedly staring at the attendant, who was asking him if he'd had a good haul, and please come again.

Red swallowed, frozen to the spot in terror. No.. No way... There was no way...

He jumped, realizing he'd never recalled Blastoise. As he began furiously patting down his belt, the Safari Zone attendants started speaking to him in murmuring, concerned voices, but Red wasn't hearing them. His Poké Balls... Yes, he had six... Yes. He had Blastoise. Blastoise, Charizard, Eevee, Pikachu, Snorlax, and Venusaur. They were safe.

He took another deep, shaky breath.

No, they were not.

The attendants were leaning over the counter, asking him if he was all right. Was he shaking...? Did he look sick...? Red shook his head, dismissing them.

He wanted to be away from them. He turned on his heel, hurriedly striding toward the exit. With every step, his dread strengthened, along with the tempo of his own heartbeat.

Don't do it

His entire body recoiled when he approached the very end of the hall, as though it were physically repelled by what lay beyond. Red closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. It was just Fuchsia.

No no no God don't do it I shouldn't be here Red RUN

His stomach churned unpleasantly, and he raised his hand to his mouth, unsure whether or not he was about to be sick. His ears seemed to be ringing, blood pounding in his head, legs threatening to collapse underneath him.

RED if you have EVER valued your life good GOD please don't go--

Ignoring every single sense screaming at him not to, Red left the gate.

––

I was born here.

Red wasn't sure of his surroundings, except for one thing: he was sure that his surroundings, whatever they may be, where created with the sole intent of not being understood or even discovered.

He couldn't explain it. "Odd" and "strange" weren't the right words. What he saw – and didn't see – had such a depth of abhorrent wrongness to them. Where he stood, he was almost certainly on top of a rocky ledge, but, walking forward, he found himself move with the ease as if he were on a paved road. He stopped.

The world around him has shifted – horribly. Around him, he was lost in some forsaken, abysmal patchwork of his world. Water intercepted half-formed buildings and trees, cutting off squarely with no shoreline. Floating runes and data, distorted pieces of the scenes he'd known all his life, broken apart and into things he could barely comprehend.

There were flashes of nonsensical things before him – symbols, letters and numbers, foreign writing – all appearing before him before breaking off and disappearing. They various pieces weren't in front of him as much as they were flooding his mind with meaningless, terrible things.

Red moved forward, and found himself frozen in place. He couldn't move.

Frantically, Red turned around, seeing from all sides the ungodly terrain and closing his eyes because it was all too awful to see. Closing his eyes did nothing – the feeling permeated his eyelids and his mind, assaulting him with all things that should not be.

God, no...

He could not walk forward, as though invisible, form-fitting walls kept him held tightly in place. But he could turn. Turn to look--

–

Where nothing was as it seemed, Red found he could navigate this maddening realm by surfing on Blastoise. Some areas, appearing to be trees or buildings, were encountered as though they were the water's surface. What Red saw was a building beneath himself and Blastoise, but what they both felt was the same ocean they'd visited prior to being transported to the Safari Zone gate.

Red couldn't command Blastoise – his horror had left him wide-eyed and silent, the distorted world around him enough to distort him and take his voice away.

So he didn't speak, because while no one could hear him, he didn't want to scream of atrocities Man was never meant to see.

––

Red didn't sleep – he dreamt. Formerly a boy who needed dreams more than he needed sleep, Red was exhausted.

He would never be the same, and he needed sleep more than he needed dreams.

––

Red encountered it numerous times – in night terrors and in actuality. Where the world around him thought he was on the water's surface, he encountered Pokémon.

One in particular, if it could even be called that, stood out to him.

It was a terrible, behemoth of a creature – to even look at it made Red scream with all the agony of a damned soul, clawing at himself in an attempt to... He didn't know.

The thing was formless, somehow a tangible mass and yet infinite. Its form, or lack thereof, seemed inside-out, as though it were covered in terrible patchworks of organs not unlike the creatures Red had seen at the Cinnabar lab. This creature had no organs. Its mass was contrived of... Something. Something to make up everything. It was unfit to look at, not meant to be – any number of phrases could have described the atrocity of its being, and Red, enlightened to the reality of his world, found himself screaming with the knowledge of things no one was meant to know.

There were blocks to it, or maybe not. It seemed to lack any biomass at all, yet was a patchwork of things that existed just like the very "city" he encountered it in. The very most he could see was a sort of backwards "L"-shape. He wasn't able to look for longer than that. His body refused to let him, and his mind crumbled to prevent him from falling into madness.

Even the Pokédex could not name the being. Upon examination, it produced a string of illegible nonsense, blocks of scrambled pixels glaring back at him on the green-and-black screen. There were two characters next to each other - "'M", the most he could make out.

The encounters, the real and the reliving, slowly started breaking him apart until the pieces of him began distorting into themselves and failed to exist in form.

––

Red, only a child, had never known what it was like to go insane. While he was a little troubled – eccentric, his mother has always said, he had never questioned his mental stability. He was odd in that he didn't learn to walk until he was five, and odd in his strange, obsessive fascinations, and odd in that he was reading and writing on a high school level by the time he received his first Pokémon, yet had rarely ventured outside of his hometown, and had never clearly understood how to socialize.

Though young, he knew with some sort of awareness all human beings might possess, that he was slowly breaking apart, physically and mentally losing his place in the world as his own form began to reject the reality he'd known.

He was slowly losing his mind, and had nothing to do but watch.

He'd long since accepted that this place had no end. There was no escape.

––

"I want my mother..."

On rare occasions Red could speak, and he did, often to his beloved Pokémon, who, thankfully unaffected by the grotesque rejection of natural law, could accompany him without harm.

This time, he was sobbing, burying his face in Pikachu's soft fur, body wracking itself hard with all the anguish of a child lost in a horror too terrible for grown men.

"Pikachu... I want to go home... I'll call her every day and say 'I love you'. I'll stop being a bad kid... I'll return the Safari Balls... I just want to go home!"

Pikachu could only look at him and cry as well, helpless to their shared misery.

"I just want to go home...!"

––

Blue smirked at his familiar companion. "Hey, Gold, long time, no see!"

"Eh, things are going well. How's adventuring?"

"Really? Tch, you still have a long way to go before you win a battle with me!"

"...Oh, the Kanto Champion? You've heard of Red. Everyone has."

"Nah, I don't know where he is. No one does. He just up and disappeared one day. He's actually a real swell guy. Friendly. He's just not big on people."

"Well, it's been a few years..."

His voice cracked. "...I don't know, Gold."

"I used to always be as mean as possible to him. Heh. I acted like I hated him. Everything I did was all just to be better than Red. I was a pretty stupid kid."

He looked away. "You remind me a lot of him. You have his eyes."

He looked back. "Exactly his eyes."

"You know, now that he's gone, I really wish I hadn't done all those things. I put all that effort into acting like he was scum, but I regret not taking the time to tell him how I really felt..."

I'm sorry, Red.

I'm so sorry.

––

Finally, Red was frozen in place. Illusions were still present and nothing had regained its normalcy, but the world around him had distorted him so much that "normal" was only relative.

There was no surfing. He was trapped on some sort of rocky ledge, like a cave or mountain. He could turn in place, but nothing more. It was the end.

He never grew hungry or bored, but only stooped deeper into the contents of his own mind as it broke apart before him.

The mechanics of the world, the linear path his journey had taken, the odd way there was always an answer to every goal – it made sense, but the truth was impossible and unthinkable.

He'd met his creators in Celadon City. This was their error.

His own existence was miniscule, and he had as much a will of his own as anything in a world that had lied to him.

Your journey wasn't yours.

Knowing the truth and hating that his existence was damned as long as he remained tied to this "reality" (and so incapable of ending his own life), Red did the only thing he could.

He trained his Pokémon in the glitched remnants of his life and aimed to be the very best, awaiting the day someone would come to liberate him from his abominable state of non-existence.

––

So you're the new hero? Good. I'm glad they've improved this world for you.

I've heard that this story, as it continues, will always be about me. I was the beginning, and I set the stage for every adventure that follows mine.

You've got the eyes. My eyes. I think the ones who are to come will have my eyes, too.

Gold, is it? You're a lot like me. I just thank that you've been spared the truths of your world. On your side, I'm sure things are beautiful. I'm glad for you. I was on top of the world, the very best, but unsatisfied that I could never be bested, because I couldn't fight someone who mattered – someone strong. We can never battle ourselves.

If you reached here, you must really be far superior to me.

Even if this had to happen to me to ensure your safety, I'm glad. May you enjoy yourself and your ever-changing adventures for years to come.

Maybe you'll remember me, maybe not, but for allowing me to pass on, thank you.

Thank you, Gold. In defeating me, you've saved me.

You've set me free.

And this is goodbye.







"........."