Mew's Curse

Pokémon Gold is one of my favorite games of all time. Sure, I never played the game but I have seen videos on Pokémon Gold gameplay. Seeing those videos only made me want the game more than ever. After watching ten gameplay videos, I decided that I was going to finally get Pokémon Gold. I went to Google and searched "Used Pokémon Gold games for sale". Each website I came up on, I kept finding out that either the games that were for sale either were glitchy, didn't save the game, were out of my price range, or just stopped working all together. After three hours of searching, I decided to take a break and play my Pokémon Crystal game. I was five minutes into the game when I got a phone call. It was my neighbor, Drew.

"Hello? Eric?"

"Hey Drew. What's up?"

I could tell that there was a hint of fright in his voice.

"I need you to get over here. Like, right now."

"Why? What's the matter?"

"No time! Just get over here and bring a Tupperware bowl!"

"Why?"

"I'm giving you my Pokémon games. I don't want anything to do with them! Just help me get rid of them!"

This surprised me. Drew has been a Pokémon fan ever since he was six years old and he turned fifteen a couple days ago. I don't know what was going on with him but I thought that I should help him in any way that I can.

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way. Just calm down, okay?"

"HURRY!!!"

Drew hung up and I went down into the kitchen and got a Tupperware bowl. I then took my house key and left the building, locking the door behind me. As I was walking to Drew's house I thought to myself.

None of this makes any sense. Drew is the biggest fan of Pokemon that I know. Why did he all of a sudden want nothing to do with his Pokémon games? Maybe he can help elaborate on that.

I finally walked up to his front door and before I could even knock, the door flew open and Drew stood before me. He looked awful. Sweat was dropping from his face and he looked as pale as a ghost. Before I could say anything, Drew grabbed my arm tightly and then said,

"Get in here!!"

He dragged me inside, slammed the front door shut, and dragged me again to his room. He opened the door and we walked in. His bedroom looked just as bad as he did. There were clothes, video games, and trash lying all across the floors. The walls had holes in them. Did Drew do all that?

"Wait here and I'll get the games." Drew said with an uneasy tone.

He and I knew that I can't keep still, and he told me to wait anyways. I walked around with the Tupperware bowl in hand and saw something next to his laptop. When I took a closer look, I noticed that it was a copy of Pokémon Gold.

SCORE!!

Drew came back with the Pokémon games in his hands and then shouted,

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, he scared me so bad.

"Dude! Don't do that! Jeez... And why not? Don't you want me to have this too?"

"No bloody way! I'm burning this god forsaken thing!!"

"Why?! It's a perfectly good-"

"Yeah, yeah. That's what it wants you to think. But promise me you won't take this game!"

"Oooookaaaay?"

"Stay here... Please... I gotta get something to drink..."

Drew left the room and I saw that this was the perfect opporitunity to get my hands on Pokémon Gold. I picked up the game, and put it into my left pants pocket. Drew came back into the room and placed the games into the Tupperware bowl. He also put in a small notebook. It said "Pokémon Cheat Codes" on the front cover. The notebook seemed a little singed. Did he try to burn this thing? Drew then started pushing me out the door.

"Now listen, no matter what you do, do NOT play ANY of those games. I want you to bury them where no one and I mean NO ONE will ever find it." he said with a serious tone.

"Alright then..." I replied.

"Thank you..."

That was the last thing that was said between us after he shut the door. I walked back home with the games the Drew had given me and then went into my room. I pulled out Pokémon Gold from my pocket and then placed it next to my alarm clock. I took a look at the other games I had gotten. I had found a copy of Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Silver, and Drew's favorite, Pokémon Fire Red. I wasn't sure what exactly was wrong with these games but I didn't think about it too long because I wanted to investigate the Pokémon Gold version that Drew was trying to destroy so badly.

I placed Pokémon Gold into my Gameboy Color and started the system. The game had frozen at the Game Freak logo for at least three minutes. I sat there looking at it like, What the hell? What's with this thing?

It was then playing normally. I sat through the credits because I loved the opening credits of Pokémon Gold. Thing is, something strange happened. Chikorita, Totodile, and Cyndaquil all had sad expressions on their faces. As if they had been abandoned by their Trainer's. What surprised me even more was that Charizard was a Shiny Pokémon instead of a regular one. That was when I got to the main screen. Instead of Ho-Oh flying across the screen, it was the shape of a smaller Pokémon. I took a closer look, and it looked like Mew. This confused me. Wasn't Ho-Oh the mascot of Pokémon Gold?

I pressed on and I saw a save file already on the game. It was Drew's. The character name was goLD. I also saw that the time in the game was 525:00, and the Pokedex had 232 entries in it. Is this a glitch or did Drew do all of this? I decided to ignore it and continue the saved game. I saw that goLD was at home in his room. I checked his team to see the Pokémon that he had. Apparently goLD had a Level 100 Meganium, a Level 100 Fearow, a Level 100 Togetic, a Level 100 Magmar, a Level 100 Ho-Oh, and last but not least, a Level 20 Mew. I was so excited to see that he had a Mew because it was my favorite Pokémon of all time. But why was Mew's level lower than the rest of the Pokémon? I shrugged it off after deciding it wasn't worth a deep look into.

I switched the positions of the team around to my liking, with Mew in front, Magmar in second, Meganium in third, Togetic in fourth, Fearow in fifth, and Ho-Oh at the back of the party. I took a look at the Trainer card afterwards and saw something really strange... goLD didn't have Morty's Gym Badge. I didn't know why Drew missed that Gym so I decided to go to Mahogany Town to finish the collection.

I went to the party selection and used Ho-Oh to Fly to Mahogany Town. Again, something was off. A strange theme was playing. It sounded like the radio waves that the Unknown use to conversate with. When I entered the Gym, all the music stopped. Now I knew that something either glitched, or this was hacked because I also saw that the floor that was once all black was now visible, making it far too easy to reach Morty. When I got to him, I pressed the A button and the game just froze. I pressed so many random buttons and still nothing. That was when I heard Gengar's cry. And the battle comenced.

"Ugh, finally!" I said with relief.

There was something odd about the battle because instead of fighting Morty, I was fighting a Level 255 Gengar!

"Whoa! That's not cool! How am I supposed to beat this thing?!" I shouted.

I decided to pull Mew out of the battle and let Ho-Oh fight Gengar. The moment Ho-Oh came out, Gengar took it down in one hit with Shadow Ball. A text box appeared stating the Ho-Oh died. I was shocked, but I couldn't let that get to me. I still had plenty more Pokémon at my side. I sent out Togetic because I knew that Drew would never get rid of Metronome. I sent Togetic out and suddenly, Gengar used Hypnosis. I was getting a little mad that I couldn't pull off a move. I went for an Awakening and tried to use it on Togetic but for some reason a text box came up saying "It's not working! Togetic won't wake up!"

This startled me. Awakening always works. Gengar then used Dream Eater and Togetic was down in one hit. Another text box came up and said that Togetic had died. What the hell!? I thouht to myself. What kind of a Gengar is this!? I then sent out Meganium.

I decided to try and catch the Gengar. I went for a Master Ball that goLD had and used it. It was working until the Master Ball disappeared and a text box came up and said "You missed the Pokémon!" Now I was really starting to get freaked out. That text box hasn't appeared since the first generation of Pokémon games... Gengar used Sludge Bomb and Meganium shared the same fate as Ho-Oh and Togetic. Meganium had died.

One by one, they had all fallen to Gengar. Fearow and Magmar had died. Mew was the last Pokémon I had in my party. I was officialy screwed. There was no way a Level 20 Mew could take down a Level 255 Gengar. Gengar used Curse on Mew, which cut Gengar's HP in half. I had Mew use Shadow Ball on Gengar. It only did a little bit of damage. A text box the appeared and it said,

Gengar is watching Mew writhe in pain.

Turns went by and Gengar continued to watch Mew be afflicted by the Curse. Soon enough... Mew had died... I was expecting to be thrown back to a Pokémon Center but a text box came up and it said Huh? I was confused. I thought I lost. I heard a warped, high pitch version of Mew's cry and Mew returned to the battlefield. It looked much

different than before. A part of its tail was cut off, along with one of its arms, ears, and a small part of its foot. Its eyes were black. There were no iris' or pupils. Just those blank, white eyes.

Mew said, "Let's play."

At this point, I was really scared. Why did Mew come back?

I had Mew use Shadow Ball and this time it took out a chunk of Gengar's HP. Gengar was too afraid to move. I continued to use Shadow Ball until Gengar had died.

The battle sequence had finally ended. Morty was gone and Mew stood in his place. A text box came up and Mew said, "This is fun. Let's play some more!" It seemed like Mew was happy to be with me. I took a look at the party and the other sprites of the Pokémon. The other Pokémon looked as awful as Mew did. Maybe even more.

Meganium looked ill. It had a sickly color for its skin and the leaves were clipped. The eyes were as blank as Mew's. Blood was dripping from its mouth and from its torn off leg. Fearow didn't look great either, Fearow's head piece was missing, its other wing and legs were missing. It had a dull green color and the beak was a silvery grey. Magmar's eyes were blackened out. The flame on its tail died out and the flames on its head were dispersing. It was also missing an arm and a leg. Togetic had a mint green color, a part or two of its head was cut off along with its wings. Ho-Oh looked the most grotesque. Its eyes were blackened out like Magmar, some of the tail feathers were missing, the bottom part of the beak was missing while blood was drooling out and the top part of the beak was cracked. Ho-Oh had a sickly orange color on its body while the feather tips on its wings were as red as a humans blood.

It felt like throwing up. Never had I known that Pokemon Gold could be this way. I took a look at goLD's Trainer Card to see if anything had changed and man was I right. goLD had a nervous expression on his face, as if he was on the look out for something to happen next. Why was goLD so nervous? I'm the one who should be freaking out!

I turned to Mew and pressed the A button. A text box came up and Mew said,

"Let's play together, goLD."

It didn't seem like Mew would go back in its Pokéball anytime soon, so I figured that goLD and I were stuck with it. The more Mew and I traveled, the more Mew seemed to bond with goLD, and goLD didn't like that one bit. The more I continued to interact with Mew, it said things like

"This is fun!"

"Can I lead the way?"

"I'm bored..."

And the last thing I heard Mew say to goLD at that point when we were in Cherrygrove City was,

"I love you, goLD."

Now this just got beyond creepy...

As Mew and goLD were heading back to New Bark Town, they were stopped by Silver, who was running up behind them.

"Hold it!" Silver said. "I won't allow you to go any further with that... THING!"

It looked like Silver really hated Mew. But I had no clue why. Mew then started talking back to Silver. Mew seemed a little mad at Silver.

"I'm not a THING, I'm goLD's best friend!"

"Shut up!" Silver shouted. "I won't let you go any farther! Prepare to die, Mew!"

I just stared at Silver's text box for a moment. Was he serious? Did he not know that its next to impossible to kill a Pokémon?

"You'll regret this, Silver! Let's go, goLD!"

goLD just stood there. I don't think I was in control of him anymore when the battle started. I was now in control of Mew. The battled started normally. Mew was out there ready to fight at Level 57 and Silver sent out Feraligatr who was Level 60. Mew then used Shadow Ball and took down Feraligatr with one hit. A text box then popped up and said,

Feraligatr has died.

Oh God... Not again...

Silver sent out Gyarados, Pidgeot, Golbat, Vileplume, and a Sandslash. Each and every one of them had died right before Silver and my eyes. Silver's sprite then came up and a text box came up with him saying,

"That's it! I'll take care of this myself!"

Mew then used Perish Song and a high pitched squeal came from the system. It sounded like Screech being spammed. An HP counter appeared next to Silver and it was dropping. FAST. Soon enough, Silver's sprite disappeared and a text box came and said,

Silver has died...

I just sat there staring at the screen.

"Holy shit..." I said quietly. "This can't be happening..."

The battle sequence ended and Silver had apparently been decapitated. His blood spilled all over. Mew turned to goLD and then said,

"I think I broke him."

goLD then started to move on his own. Away from Mew. A text box came up and Mew asked,

"Where are you going?"

goLD continued to back away from Mew and it took a step forward.

"Don't leave me, goLD."

Soon enough, goLD took off running back towards New Bark Town. Mew then said,

"goLD! Wait for meeeeeee!"

All I could say was, "RUN goLD! RUN!" Over and over as he headed back home. Before he got to his house, Mew appeared right in front of him.

"There you are." Mew said.

goLD then attacked Mew. I was beyond startled. goLD had a mind of his own! Mew then said,

"Ow..."

goLD hit Mew again.

"That hurts..."

goLD then attacked Mew once more. This time I heard the chopping sound and it looked like Mew was really hurt by that strike.

"STOP IT!" Mew yelled.

When goLD hit Mew one more time, the screen went black. The chopping sound was heard three times before coming back to the game. goLD was gone. Mew took a few steps forward, very slowly. It then said,

"What's the matter? Don't you love me anymore?"

Static then appeared on the screen and a haunting, demented face of Mew popped up, which made me scream. I turned off Pokémon Gold and took it out of the Gameboy. I then started checking the other Pokémon games that I had gotten from Drew. Each and every one of them, in the party, had a different version of Mew from Gold.



I was utterly horrified. I couldn't believe my eyes. What did Drew do to these games?!



I took a look at the small notebook that was in the Tupperware bowl and saw that there were codes for the Pokémon games I now had posession of.



Inside were different codes for a WILD MEW. Now I knew what happened. The codes were viruses! They corrupted the games!

I immediatly took the games, even the notebook and put it in the bowl. I ran outside the house, breathless, and stuffed it all in the shed in my backyard. All I said before running back into the safety of my house was, "BURN IN HELL, MEW! STOP FOLLOWING ME!!!"

It has been at least three months since that day. Every time I talk to someone about Pokémon, Mew always comes up as a main subject. Ever since then, I haven't touched a Pokémon game that came before the fourth generation and higher. Everyone I know has their number one Pokémon fear. Some say it's Muk, Hypno, Gyarados, or even Murkrow... But for me... It will always be Mew. And to this day, I can still hear Mew asking me...

"Don't you love me anymore?"