I prefer you

It was raining all day long and anyway, he had no intentions to go and play outside. Who ever thought that playing in the mud was fun must be stupid. Mud only makes your clothes dirty and wet, and being all soaked was no fun at all. And he was safe inside, in this room, his favorite sweater and the heater on, playing with his beloved old Game Boy.

The handheld had scratches on the sides and some on the screen as well, there were quite a few marks on it from being used so often. The surrounding area of the on-and-off button lacked of color, luckily not as much as the A- and B-buttons. All in all, the color used to be a brighter red once, but as they said, 'nothing lasts for ever.' He really loved that color but maybe he just loved his Game Boy too much.

After what felt like hours, he shut the handheld off and laid back on his bed. A yawn left his little mouth so he switched on the lamp on his nightstand, filling the room with a warm, cozy light. Watching his friends running around outside in the rain made him snuggle up a little more into his pillow, and he closed his eyes with a smile on his lips. While they were playing outside, catching a cold, he was inside in his warm and comfy bed, doing nothing but relaxing.

Just as he was about to doze off, a voice painfully rang in his ears. “Why won't you come out and play with us?” Another boy with little brown curls was standing in the doorway, having a somewhat pouting look on his features.

“Because I don't want to, I've told you already.” He sighed, rolling his eyes. Why did he always have to tell things twice?

The other boy looked down, obviously disappointed, and mumbled, “You never come out with us. Or do things with us. You're always inside, playing your stupid games!” Tears welled up in the boy's eyes, revealing his disappointment.

Blinking a couple of times before really understanding the words of his best friend, he sat up and glanced at the older boy. “Stupid games? I just don't see the point in running around in the rain! You only get sick!” He couldn't believe what his friend was thinking about his beloved games.

Defeated, the older boy shrugged and looked up into the other's eyes. “Whatever, Mike. But don't think I'm going to wait for you to finally realize how lonely you are.”

No, he didn't need to put up with this. Whatever was bugging his friend, it didn't justify the way he was treated. And most of all, he didn't need to blame it on the games! “Get the hell out, Chester,” he coldly said while grabbing his Game Boy and switching the cartridge of the handheld.

With a last glance at his best friend, he stormed out of the house and back into the rain, fortunately making his tears invisible.

A pillow pressed between his chest and his thighs, Mike started the new game he had just inserted into his Game Boy. New, that meant he had found the cartridge lying around in school the other day. It had been lying in the trash can, so he'd figured that no one would miss it. And hey, he could now add another Pokémon game to his collection! Though he wasn't exactly sure what this game was about, he had never heard about a black version before.

But it couldn't hurt, could it?

As soon as the opening screen of the game appeared on the Game Boy, all thoughts of an upset Chester were gone and Mike focused his mind on the screen.

Mike started the game as usual, selecting Squirtle as his first Pokémon and after receiving all the necessities, he set off to Viridian City. Knowing the map of the region like the back of his hand, he purposefully walked along Route 1. Every time he started a new game, he was filled with excitement. Though he knew exactly what things would happen, what strategy he needed to become the champion and how to defeat the wretches of the game; still, every new journey was different from the other.

At the end of the second patch of grass, he encountered his first Pokémon in that game run. It was a Pidgey that he'd love to catch but at this early stage of the game, he had no poké balls. Sighing, he thought it was the best to train his turtle first before focusing on that. And after all, it was just a stupid Pidgey.

The battle screen flashed up and the familiar boy on the lower left corner and the opponent in the upper right. Mike's seen this image so many times before, knowing every little pixel by heart. Although he wasn't new to this, he observed the animation carefully since this was still a different game than the other ones he'd played before.

When the boy swapped places with his Pokémon, Mike noticed something strange. The poké ball bar on the right side of the boy that was now replaced by the health of the Pokémon, had shown two poké balls instead of one. Two Pokémon? He didn't catch another one, the only Pokémon he had was his Squirtle Tony. But how? Or he had imagined things. He couldn't have two Pokémon without catching a single one! After the battle, he'd have to check his Pokémon. Just to make sure.

“Where's the second one coming from?” The screen clearly showed two Pokémon; his beloved Tony and a strange other one. Latter seemed to be a ghost type, he figured, since its sprite was the same as a Haunter's. “This is weird.” Looking through the Pokémon's report, he learned that the only move it knew was 'Curse' – one he hadn't heard about before.

But this might be what made this version so special, he told himself. This wasn't the same game as the ones he had played over a hundredth times, though the map and the people and anything else was identical. Maybe this one had new moves and even a couple of new Pokémon. And maybe it was part of the plan that one received two Pokémon from the Professor.

That was why. There was nothing strange about this. Maybe...

Being curious about this new Pokémon, he used it to battle the next wild monster he would encounter. A Rattata appeared on the screen, so he sent out his new partner instead of Tony. Since the only move it knew was 'Curse', he had no other option but to select it. The opponent had the first turn but instead of releasing an attack, it remained petrified in its corner. Mike expected to read the famous words that the attack had missed (a triumphant smile crept onto his lips) but the message at the bottom was different.

“...it's too scared to move?” He blinked at the screen, feeling chills running down his spine. “I-I didn't know that was even possible...” Shaking a little, he watched his Pokémon attacking the wild rat and defeating it in one go. “Wow...”

After that battle, he didn't bother to send out Tony anymore. With his new Pokémon, he was unbeatable and wouldn't even have to train, neither to catch new ones. So far, he really liked the game even though it indeed was a bit strange.

Arriving in Viridian City, he finished all the plot-related tasks and then decided to head off west to Route 22. He knew he wouldn't get far; with zero badges, they wouldn't let him enter the Indigo Plateau but his intentions were different. If you walked along Route 22 in the beginning of the game, he knew that all too well, you'd meet your rival for another battle. And with that powerful Pokémon on his party, victory was already his.

After winning over his rival, stocking up his item bag, Mike moved his character further north. Route 2 was home to the very first trainer you would encounter, that fact filled him with excitement. Like before, he would use his ghost to defeat any challenger. That way he could focus more on the plot and the new things about this game than the battling and training. What he had found fishy earlier was now a thing about the game that he didn't want to miss.

Minutes later, the battle window closed without another word and Mike stood in the middle of the path, all alone. In front of him, where his challenger had been standing before the battle and during the battle, was now an empty space. “Weird...,” Mike mumbled, then walked away from the place to battle the next trainer he would meet.

The same happened over and over again, with the trainers disappearing all of a sudden, the Pokémon being too scared to fight back and his ghost Pokémon defeating them all. Slightly frightened, he walked straight to Pewter City and into the Pokémon Center.

“That was weird.” Mike shifted on his bed, taking a glance through the window while leaning over. He could see Chester playing soccer with the others, obviously enjoying himself. A small smile appeared on Mike's lips, he was glad that his friend was having fun nonetheless.

Turning his head back to the Game Boy, including his attention, he breathed in and out and decided to go back to the Viridian Forest, to train his Squirtle. While the ghost Pokémon was winning all battles for him, he hadn't thought about Tony anymore, thus not wasting his time on training or even play with Tony at all. But he would do so now, and would use Tony in the battle against Brock.

He hadn't walked much into the Forest, when he made a horrible discovery: A tombstone was standing just a few meters away, right where once the trainer had been. The last trainer he had defeated, that like all the others had disappeared after the battles. Just to get some confirmation, he walked the whole way back through the Forest. On each spot where a trainer had been before was now a tombstone placed on the ground.

Without thinking, he shut the handheld off, one hand on his mouth, the other holding limb the handheld. The realization of what had just happened hit him, making tears well up in his eyes. This was... Throwing the Game Boy aside, the little boy jumped off his bed and ran out of his room, tears blurring his vision. It was no wonder the game had been lying in the garbage; it was awful. People dying, a Pokémon that killed those people and he... he had thought it was okay, he had sent it out, over and over again, even though he had found it weird even in the beginning. But he hadn't stopped and just...

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he bumped into someone but as he raised his head to see who it was, his tears blurred his vision. He didn't know exactly why, after all it was just a game, but...

“Mike, what's wrong? Why are you crying?” Chester's voice sounded in Mike's ears, so full of worries. Without hesitating, Mike leaned against Chester who wrapped his arms around him. The older boy led them to the couch in the living room, and sat down with Mike on his lap.

Sobbing, Mike still pressed his hand against his mouth, the lack of oxygen in his lungs made his chest hurt while breathing. He couldn't tell; it was so horrible what he had just experienced. And then, he was afraid Chester would laugh at him for crying over a stupid game.

“Mikey, you never cry. Tell me,” Chester spoke, holding back a pout. No matter how mad he was at his best friend for choosing a game over him, he still couldn't see him cry.

And then, it all bubbled out of Mike, about the creepy creature, the reactions of the Pokémon and the tombstones, and the fact it had been all his own doing. When he was done, he gasped for air, his ribcage raising and falling rapidly. He was able to calm down now after telling someone else about it – and the hand stroking over his back.

Chester pulled him into a hug again, trying to comfort his friend. Even though he felt sorry for him, he still had to chuckle. “Now you can play outside with us. Not that game.”

Blinking, Mike looked up into his best friend's eyes, a bit dumbfounded. “But I've always preferred you from the game, always!”

All he got as an answer to his defense was a simple peck on his cheek from the older boy, and the thoughts about a creepy game were gone, now that his best friend wasn't mad at him anymore.

End.

~~~~~~~

Some people asked me to upload it while I was still writing this. So, here you go :D

It sucks to some point, I know. I wrote it for Strawberry.dear as part of a collection of Bennodas. It was a Christmas gift and I actually wrote most of it ON Christmas XD And then I still had to print everything out and put it together as a book, so this is more like running-out-of-time-writing, maybe that's why the plot is so jumpy. I apologize for that. :/

Uhm, I didn't make up the game, there really seems to be something like that. At least, I got the idea from a fellow 4channer who posted about the game on their board. :) So... it's not my idea all the way through.

I would love some feedback, I am not used to write any LPfictions anymore. >.< And most of all no crossovers. It was a real challenge and I had a lot of fun! :D

Thanks for reading! <3