#abandoned leaf

I turn on my older brother's Game Boy Advance. A Pokémon Leaf Green cartridge. I see one save. The time is 999:99. The Pokéball icon next to the name "LEAF" is upside down.

I appear in a house in Pallet Town. But everything is covered in gray-green, and there's no music. Only the sound of wind coming from the speaker, which isn't present in the original.

I go downstairs from my room and try to leave, but the game says, "The door is locked from the inside. Why do you want to go outside?"

After pressing "A" three times on the door, I finally get out. I walk through it, the screen flickers, and I find myself not in Pallet Town, but in Lavender Town. Immediately. Without any transition between routes. The town is completely gray. The Pokémon Tower is the only building you can visit.

I decide to check the Pokémon, completely forgetting about it. There's only one Pokémon in the party: Venusaur. Level 100. But HP is 0/0. The sprite is black and white.

When I open its details, I see the text:

"I remember how they bloomed."

I enter the tower; it's dark, except for a single circle of light around the sprite. Nuns stand around the edges. But they don't move. If I approach and press "A": "..."

They don't speak. They just stand there.

In the corner of the first floor is a staircase going down. Not up. Down. I descend into the basement, which wasn't in the original tower.

The screen goes dark. Text appears without anyone's sprite:

"Do you know my name?"

Options:

1. "Leaf."

2. "I don't know."

3. "..."

I choose: "Leaf."

Then the answer appears: "You can remember."

The game continues. I continue on anyway.

There's an altar in the basement. A Pokéball is in the center. Pressing "A" reveals a sprite with a Pokéball inside. Inside is ash. And next to it is a notebook. I press "A."

Text: "We caught them all. They smiled at us. And then you closed the game."

"When I realized what happened, they were gone."

Venusaur emerges from the Pokéball. It stands in front of the altar. An animation appears on the screen—Leef slowly turns to face me.

Text: "Do you want to stay?"

Options:

2. "Forever."

1. "I want to leave."

Selecting "I want to leave" prompts a response: "Where to? Everything you need is here."

The screen goes dark for a second. Then it lights up again.

I'm standing in the basement. Leaf is gone. Instead, there's a blank sprite, as if the character had been deleted from the game.

The screen starts to shake. A dialog box appears at the bottom of the screen. No sprite.

"You shouldn't leave..."

I try to move but I can't. The game doesn't respond.

Another window appears:

"You're not him, right? Then let's start over."

The screen flickers. Now I see not the basement, but the game's main menu. But it's broken. Instead of "New Game" and "Continue," there's only one message: "fun."

A second later, the save file loads automatically. Leaf. Leaf is standing in her room, just like at the beginning of the game. The colors are normal.

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