Route 5

"MACHOP, STOP THAT ATTACK!"

A member of Team Rocket commanded Machop, but it was a bit too late because Pidgeotto had already flown in to attack with its wings.

Machop was thrown into the air and crashed to the ground, unconscious.

"DAMN IT! COME OUT, DROWZEE!"

After recalling Machop, he summoned a Pokémon with an elephant-like face but a sly look and yellow skin.

"Hypnotize that trainer!"

It seems like he's not playing by the rules...

Drowzee started using its move to target Red.

But if he's not playing by the rules, why should we?

"Ivysaur, Poison Powder!"

"Starmie, Water Pulse!"

"Golem, Rock Throw!"

All three Pokémon from the group attacked Drowzee relentlessly.

The result wasn't surprising—Drowzee was defeated.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I PROMISE I WON'T STEAL ANYMORE!" The Team Rocket member quickly handed TM28 to Red and fled immediately.

But escaping that easily? Not happening.

Pikachu jumped up and zapped him with electricity, leaving him flat on the ground, unconscious.

"You can't expect anything better from these guys," Leaf said, tapping the guy with a stick while Brock called Officer Jenny.

Earlier, after finishing their meal, the other two players had already left.

They entered the house that Team Rocket had broken into, and oh boy! The house was in complete disarray, furniture scattered everywhere, with footprints still on the floor.

There, a hiker was feeling down because someone had stolen his TM28.

Surprisingly, the thief hadn't left yet, so the group managed to catch him.

Red went back to the house and returned TM28 to the hiker.

The hiker looked at it for a while, then smiled.

"Keep it! Consider it a thank-you gift!"

"...?"

"Me? It's fine! I'll find a way to teach Dig to Diglett myself!"

'Kind.' Red thought

Red received TM28 Dig!

After Red put it in his backpack, he and the group headed to Route 5.

"Huh?" Leaf, walking with the group, noticed a sign in front of the house.

[DAYCARE]

"Oh! Everyone! What is a Daycare?"

"...?"

Brock and Misty chuckled as they saw how innocent Leaf and Red was.

"A Daycare is a place where you leave your Pokémon for someone else to take care of, and of course, it's good for your Pokémon too!"

"Really? Then I'll leave Oddish here! I don't have time to take care of it."

'Why don't you just say you're lazy?'

"You're thinking something bad about me, aren't you?" Leaf looked at Red and 'smiled very brightly.'

"..."

"Don't stay silent like that. I've known you long enough to know what you're thinking."

"I think I'll leave one too." Misty checked her Pokémon and decided to leave one behind.

"Oh my dear friend! Let's go!" Leaf led Misty inside to open the door, leaving Red and Brock behind.

"Let's go, the new city is nearby." Brock looked at the map and said.

The two of them decided to head to the new city first and wait for the girls.

...Unfortunately, they ran into a problem.

"Sorry, but you two can't pass," the guard said.

"What's the issue?" Brock asked, confused.

Could the next city be having some sort of trouble?

"I'm thirsty."

"...What did you say?"

"I'm thirsty."

"..."

Red and Brock looked at the guard, their faces twisted.

"...You're thirsty, so you're not letting us through?"

"Yep."

"W-Why? What does your thirst have to do with that?!"

"Go ask GameFreak."

After saying that, the guard kicked both of them out, leaving them stranded outside.

"Great, we've run into an irresponsible guard. Now where do we go?" Brock scratched his head and pulled out the map to check again.

Red looked around and noticed a sign in front of a small house that read "Tunnel leading to Route 6."

"Hm? What's up, Red?" Brock saw Red tugging on his sleeve, so he looked over to where Red was pointing.

"Route 6? Does that mean we have to head to Vermillion City first?" Brock inspected the map more closely.

Vermillion City had the power plant, and it was located near the sea.

...A power plant near the sea didn't seem like a great idea.

"Well, going there works too. After all, that city has a Gym."

'Gym? That fast? Great,' Red thought, feeling quite happy. He hugged the cheek of the still-sleepy Pikachu resting inside his jacket and gave it a tug.

Pika~?

Hmm, cute.

"Hey! We're back!" Leaf and Misty waved at Brock and Red.

When the group was complete, Brock explained where they needed to go next and mentioned the guard who refused to let them pass into the nearest city.

"WHAT?! THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE! I'M REPORTING THIS TO THE POLICE!" Misty, upon hearing this, was furious.

"Come on, Misty~. Honestly, Vermillion City is right by the sea, and I really want to see what it's like there!" Leaf pulled Misty back, preventing her from storming off.

After some discussion, the group decided to head to the tunnel.

"The path is pretty far... wait, who's that?" Brock squinted, trying to see someone in the distance.

The group glanced at each other and started walking.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes.

Gradually, the figure became clearer... no, it wasn't a person.

Looking at it... it resembled something that shouldn't be here.

How to describe it? It was distorted, like a mass of pixels, and it appeared like a glitch in a computer.

The group stared at it, confused and speechless.

[Oh, that's MissingNo] the system appeared and commented.

"...?"

[Oh, nothing to worry about, host. It's not nearly as scary as some fools think. Only idiots believe it's some harmful entity.] The system mocked, then released some energy.

MissingNo immediately vanished without a trace.

The group suddenly felt like something had disappeared but couldn't recall what it was.

"What was that? Did anyone see anything?"

"No... let's forget it. If we can't remember, it's probably not important."

The group continued walking, but Red was the only one who still remembered.

"..."

[Its origin? Well... it's a result of summoning the players. You could say it's nothing more than a glitch.]

[Don't worry! It's harmless! Trust me! It won't cause a plot hole or anything! It's not even important to the plot of this fanfic!]

"...??"

[Ahem, no need to pay attention. Anyway, MissingNo isn't as scary as people make it out to be. Even if someone tried to make it scary by telling some creepy story about it, in the end, it's just a dumb glitch.]

"..."

Red felt reassured after hearing this.

These were the words of the fourth (unofficial) child of Arceus, so how could they be wrong, right?

*****

When i read a creepypasta about Missingno, there was only one word in my tiny brain:

What?

I mean... the fuck? Its just a glitch from an old gameboy, and what did you guys do to turn it into something you call scary?

I dont understand anything at all!

Btw hi, im back