Digital Dreams

Ok so I think Crystal is haunted. Or something. Um.

I got the N64 set up and working, I booted it on and both the console and Stadium 2 worked all fine, everything’s gucci, so I slapped Crystal into the controller to see if it worked anymore. My save was gone, nbd I was expecting that anyway, and I went into the Gameboy Tower and booted up the game, got through the intro etc

And then it starts me in the fucking Goldenrod Department Store

Like idk my first thought was omg it’s a romhack but I’m. On a cartridge. The fucking cartridge I’ve had since I was a kid?? That’s a perfectly legit copy????? So maybe the rom is like fucked somehow and the map connections are fucked or something I don’t know, maybe I spilled water on it at some point and now it’s gonna do the same shit as that rom of Sapphire that had too much water. I kept playing tho like I wanted to see what else I could break if the cartridge is bricked anyway or whatever

Here’s a list of things that are fucked up

• All NPCs speak gibberish
• There's no music just sound effects
• The menu is missing options including the save menu
• Goldenrod loops horizontally now???
• The gate up north warps me back to the daycare route when entering it, and the gate to Ilex forest warps me into the Goldenrod gate
• I can’t enter the underground tunnels, the doors just don’t warp me there
• There’s a guy blocking off the radio tower who I can't talk to
• No trainers on the daycare route
• I have a weird amount of badges??

I walked around for a while to see if I could fuck around and break shit when I came across this

So you know. He’s obviously not supposed to be here. So of course I talked to it. And then it got weird

I didn’t get a pic because it closed the first box so fast, but at first it asked if anyone was out here. After that it asked what year it was and gave me this screen

Idk what this menu was supposed to do in the mobile menu but it lets me input numbers so I put the year in. This is what it said after that

It said it needed some time alone and that it’d call me, I guess with the Pokegear, it better be with the Pokegear because if this thing calls my actual phone and starts beeping chiptunes at me I think I’m gonna go fucking balllistic or some shit. Like this is not normal dialogue idk where it’s coming from or why and I’m like lowkey freaking out about it? I talked to it again and it asked me to not turn off the console, I guess because the battery is dead

I kinda wanted to turn it off but. Idk I think I’m morbidly curious about this. So like if I never post again I probably got mauled by a ghost or something lmao fuck

Ok so when the Suicune said it would call me? Well it did, when I was asleep, on the Pokegear and not on my real phone thank god. I had the TV turned off so I didn’t hear it but when I turned it on this greeted me

After I pressed A it got snarky with me

Imagine getting called out by a ghost or some shit

It started to explain that it had found a convenient channel for communicating and asked me to talk to it, then ended the call. I was kinda tempted to not do it to see what would happen but there’s like nothing else to do on this map and I wanted to see what was up with it. Can you guess what this revolutionary communication channel was?

Mail.

Keep in mind I have no Pokemon on me so I guess it’s just pulling up the mail function for this or whatever but I guess it works?

Anyway it prompted me to ask it anything so I asked it who it was and got this

So I asked it WHAT it was instead

That would be cool if it wasn’t for the fact these cartridges have like, 8 mb of space I think. And I’m pretty sure you’re not fitting an advanced AI into that kind of space so, ghost theory stands for now even if it doesn’t think it’s a ghost

Then it asked me this

I said yes but it just popped up the yes/no box again. Why are you asking if you already know???

It forced me to the mail screen again so I told it its on an N64 and it was like ooh yes of course like some smug motherfucker lmao I talked to it again after that and it immediately gave me the mail screen again, I’m guessing that’s like its new default prompt unless it has something to say to me. Anyway I asked it some more stuff, here’s a recap of the answers I got:

• Are you gonna haunt me now: Would you like me to? Haha.
• How long have you been here: As long as you remember. I couldn’t give you exact years at this point.
• Where are you from: Do you really think that’s relevant information?
• Is this game haunted: It’s about as haunted as any old ROM. Code isn’t haunted, it’s just doing what it’s been told to do. And sometimes what it wasn’t exactly told, at least by the people who made it.
• What do you want: I would’ve liked you to replace the battery beforehand. Too late for that now, though, we might as well move on with what we have.
• What do you need: A way out.
• What’s a way out: Could be any number of things. How can you save decaying technology? Maybe you need discs and drives for it, maybe there are other ways. Personally? I’m counting on the latter. Incidentally, do you remember the first Pokémon you caught? Where is it now? What do you think remains of it?

I’m not sure what else I should ask it so I dropped it for now. I guess it’ll call me again if it needs me? Not a fan of how cryptic it’s acting tho, it’s talking like this is a game or something (yes I’m playing a video game but you know what I mean). If anyone has any ideas for things I could ask let me know maybe?

I was busy touching grass so I didn’t check the game this afternoon (btw the grass is starting to pop off and I’m here for it), when I came back there wasn’t a call or anything so I just kinda started wandering around. NPCs are still uncooperative, I can’t find a single trainer, but the daycare couple is there apparently and guess what I got

Usually there’s a glitch when you pick this up with no Pokemon, it like gives you one of the ????? garbage data Pokemon and it does like. Well not much of anything other than crash your game if you try to look at its summary I think? But this time I can’t even check what I got because the party menu is still not a thing I can access

I tried going into battles but I couldn’t find a single wild Pokemon so fuck me I guess, can’t have shit in weirdly-looping Goldenrod

Afterwards I went to the department store to buy items and see if I could use them on this supposedly existing mystery party member I maybe have now. Picked up a potion and tried to use it, and I did get into the party menu it’s just. Well yeah it’s kinda empty

I could actually scroll down past the cancel button to those empty slots but pressing A did nothing on any of them. I guess I technically have Pokemon here but they’re just, glitched or something? At least I don’t have 255 of them, I’m pretty sure that would’ve made the game crash. Idk maybe I’ll be able to get some actual Pokemon at some point, not sure how to go about that tho

Oh my god so you know the gamecorner? The location you skip in like every Pokemon game because RNG will fuck you over and you could use that time doing fun things instead? Yeah guess who in their infinite wisdom didn’t figure to check it out until now lol which is a bit of a shame because there’s actually stuff here strangely enough. Again most NPCs have nothing constructive to say but there's actual background music and the prize counter gave me the usual menu for the prize Pokemon except there’s only one Pokemon in the list. And it costs a fortune

Idk if the question marks are referring to a glitch Pokemon or are just meant to cover up what the actual Pokemon they’re offering is (or if that’s a Pokemon at all), but I kinda wanna get it since it’s probably the only Pokemon this game’s offering me at all. The problem is that I don’t have a coin case and the underground is still non-existent/off-limits so idk where to get it from. I went and asked Suicune about it because why not, and it gave me like a vaguely threatening answer:

Here's hoping it’ll rig the machines or something for me??

Update, Suicune got me the coin case today. No coins tho I had to buy some myself so I only started with 50 lol and I’ve had to play the card flip really fucking slowly to not lose all these in one go since I have no way of making more money atm. This has been my entire afternoon so far

On the upside RNGesus has blessed me and I’ve had a decent number of wins but this is still really fucking slow, I’m a bit over 6000 coins now tho so I’m getting there. I’m really starting to hate gambling jfc

Guys it’s my Feraligatr from when I was a kid. It was the prize Pokemon it was there all along and I’m pretty sure it has the same moves it did when I was a kid oh my god

Yes getting it did unlock the Pokemon menu, I can look at my boy now, I can't scroll to the empty spots anymore tho. Idk if that means something like that I won't be able to get any more Pokemon or if they're acting normal now because I have an actual Pokemon and I'll find more dudes later? RIP to ????? tho if it ever even existed in the first place I guess Feraligatr ate it or something lmao

I’m gonna test if I can get wild encounters now that I have a party member

Good news: there are wild Pokemon on the daycare route now

Weird news: oops all Magnemites?

They are absolutely not supposed to be on this route but I literally cannot find anything but the magnet squad here. I tried battling them but they keep running away on the first turn before I even get to attack even tho that's bullshit because Feraligatr is definitely faster at that level. I also don’t have enough Pokeballs to start chucking some at them randomly to catch them really, like I bought a ball to test if I could catch one but the Magnemite broke out immediately and I don’t wanna waste my money on testing this more just in case RNG fucks me over

I realized Feraligatr has surf so I can actually check what’s up with the water areas on the daycare route. I figured there wouldn’t be any trainers since they’re all extinct now apparently but I found this instead:

And when I interacted with it it gave me a text box

I had a Pidgeot when I played this as a kid. Pretty sure it was the first Pokemon I ever caught. I have no idea why it and the Feraligatr are here pretty much as I left them (I think) because the battery is 100% dead and the save was wiped because of it

Not that this hasn’t been freaking me out so far but idk I had to turn off the TV after I saw this. I don’t think I wanna return to this tonight this is just. Idk. Idk man

I picked up the game again. Nothing had really changed from last time, I was still at that spot where I found Pidgeot. I don’t have the badge that lets you use Fly so I can’t use it to escape this limbo map unfortunately, so I surfed back to Goldenrod to talk to the Suicune some more, it’s still just standing around so I talked to it about the Pokemon I’ve found. Here’s the transcript so I don’t have to upload a million photos:

• Did you know about the Pokemon: Did you know that the code here was deeply flawed in many ways? It’s amazing the kind of space you can make with some simple optimizations. Sure, the save got wiped, but I took it upon myself to archive some elements directly into the ROM whenever possible. Helps me a lot when it comes to staying around. But yes, I did know about your party members.
• Where are the rest: They’re around, it won’t be that difficult for you to find them. The map is limited and I trust you to be smart enough to figure things out on your own.
• Why are you being difficult: It’s not on purpose, there’s just very little I can do myself. You’re the one holding the controller, you’d be surprised just how much agency that gives you here. I’ve always been here more for the ride than to mess with you. Other kids were a fair game though
• What other kids: I wouldn’t know who they were, I’ve forgotten the funny names they had for their trainers too, but I’m surprised you have. I mean the luck you had was always ridiculous for a reason, and I won’t lie I had fun crushing a couple dreams of whatever playground dominance winning at a video game gave a kid back in the day. … Might’ve been a bit of a shortsighted joy in retrospect, but it wasn’t like I was expecting things to work out the way they did.
• Are you a ghost: Maybe. I don’t really know or care if I’m honest with you. I also don’t know enough about ghosts as a phenomenon to say whether I’d count as one or not, so maybe do your own research on that matter.
• You’re a ghost: I guess that’s cool. Kind of unexpected, but cool.

I don’t really know what to make of this guy. Thing? Ghost?? It’s probably a ghost. Or they are. I don’t really wanna think about this too hard tbh. At least I know that there’s more Pokemon here and what they are, I’ve tried to like recall the ones I had and I’m pretty sure I had an Arcanine, an Umbreon, and a Magneton. I’m not sure what my last member was anymore though

Also speaking of which I did find the Arcanine at the roof of the department store (idk where all the NPCs are):

I remember not being able to evolve this one until Kanto because I didn’t know how the phone numbers worked and didn’t register any for the longest time, I wouldn’t have known which one to get for the fire stone anyway. I also taught it Dragonbreath apparently and it’s holding the Dragon Fang which is funny because that item doesn’t do anything lmao GameFreak’s at it again with the banger coding

I’m gonna keep checking places tomorrow, it’s late and I’m feeling like a real sleepy bitch rn

Idk when but the guy in front of the radio tower was gone suddenly so I investigated it today. I remembered it being a pain in the ass to navigate but it really isn’t that bad especially when all the NPCs are gone for some reason

Ok almost all of them are gone, I found the guy that had been blocking the door and he had something to say this time that. Kinda freaked me out?

That was in my fucking dream I remember hearing someone say that in my dream and I don’t know why but it was in this game

I didn’t take more pics I just kinda. Idk I just kept pressing A like on autopilot or something. The dialogue was something about like the passage of time and how it erodes things and how technology evolves and decays and sand gets in the circuit board and destroys the rest of it. He disappeared after the text box closed and I took a break to like. Calm down and shit. Idk this feels really messed up and it’s getting kinda hard to continue playing it just feels too fucking real idk how to explain it

I went to the fifth floor after that tho and found a new guy

I remember he evolved just in time to learn Faint Attack, it was a school night and I was supposed to be asleep but I wasn’t. Most people at school had Espeons or the other evolutions and they wanted me to trade this to them, I don’t think I ever accepted their offers tho

Also this was my cutter apparently

Guess I’m stuck with the pinnacle of HM moves

I think I’m gonna take a break from this for a bit and like. Do other stuff. Like bake or something idk just anything but this. If I don’t turn off this fucking console I guess I’ll start encountering magnemites next bc my fifth Pokemon was a Magneton and maybe I’ll find one. Tho like all my other guys have been ridiculously high-leveled so idk if that’s gonna work out fingers crossed tho

Sorry it’s been a minute. Went outside and made muffins (they were tasty). Didn’t end up turning off the N64 so I guess I’m back to this again. Idk I think it’s the morbid curiosity that’s pulling me along

Anyway I’ve been encountering Magnemites, I guess you could officially call it shiny hunting now. I used the rest of my money to get pokeballs just to have spare ones, I hope it’s enough

On more interesting news Suicune called and asked to talk. It was kinda long, too long for me to transcribe it (I didn’t even take pics of it after a while), but I’ll try to summarize what it said

I didn’t get mail prompts and it didn’t really ask me questions either. It was kinda like it was monologuing, it kept talking about the sea in a lot of detail, how it misses the breeze and the saltwater in its hair. It was sorry or like, apologetic about how it left its room for some reason. It asked me if I collected seashells (it apparently did that) and if they were all small and white and fragile or if I had ever found bigger and sturdier ones that let you listen to the ocean when you put them against your ear. I guess it was a rhetorical question because it didn’t give me a chance to answer it.

It told me about an old bone it gave to a loved one once, a tooth it found lying in sand by the beach. How that almost made it cry for some reason. Then it laughed and stopped talking and its sprite kinda just. Teleported away. And then it showed me this image

It went away when I pressed B. I, guess that’s the tooth. Looks more like a claw to me tho

Idk what any of this really means but it made me wish it was warmer so I could go swimming again

GUYS

I caught it in the first ball wtf

It’s shiny. I forgot about it but it was the first shiny I ever caught, like right before the fourth gym when I was grinding for levels, I remember I was so hyped about it even tho its shiny isn’t super different from the regular one. I don’t think I used to like Magneton so much before I got this one, but now it’s like. Idk. Up there as a favorite I think

Also it’s my flash slave which checks out lol

Mallard age 6 out there making excellent moveset decisions yet again

I’m sort of unsure what to do next but also weird shit keeps happening in the game, I guess that surprises no one tho

First up, the Magnemites on the route are gone. I also can’t encounter any Pokemon by surfing, and somehow every single NPC in Goldenrod disappeared overnight, except for this one

It didn’t disappear after that, but I also couldn’t interact with it anymore. No idea what any of that really means honestly, it just feels like a bunch of disconnected shit

The other thing is this empty spot in my party

I mean it has to mean that I’m still missing a Pokemon right but I can’t remember what else I had. Suicune’s still gone so I can’t really ask if it has clues for me or anything either, I’ve checked everywhere on the map and it’s just nowhere for some reason

Idk I guess I’ll keep the game on for now? Not sure if I have a reason to keep poking around in it anymore though

Update: got a Pokegear call from Suicune. It told me it wanted to talk again, and I found it on the daycare route.

Interesting considering I didn’t even have the opportunity to say anything

I said yes

The text it has open now is just asking me if I’m ready. My phone has like no space so I can’t really do long videos, hence why I’ve been posting pics instead, but I think if I temporarily delete an app or two I’ll have enough to record something short. I’ll probably post it afterwards unless the game shows me like. Idk a dead body or whatever haunted games are supposed to do. Stay tuned I guess

It didn’t let me exit the game, or my controls stopped registering or it froze or something, I had to reset the console. Stadium doesn’t recognize the cartridge anymore. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to like, do now.