#skritty

I Could Only Dream of You

It was a late night, yet I was restless. It never seemed like I could sleep when I wanted, just when my brain would decide to catch me off guard with a sleep attack. I soon gave up on sleep.

I started to dig through my dresser, bored and hoping to find something fun. Through the rummaging, I happen upon an old DS cartridge, the label was a bit dingy but I could tell it was Pokémon White. 

"I haven't played this in years..." I said to myself quietly. I boot up the game and watch the intro, it had the most beautiful art of any Pokémon game intro in my opinion. I notice the character N, the scene looked... different than I remembered, it seemed like he was almost looking at me from the side. 

Freaked out a little bit, I skip the rest of the scene and start up the game to see a save file still there. The save had to be mine, it was a female trainer with the name Elzie from 2012. There didn't seem to be much playtime on the file, which was weird for me considering I rarely restart a game, I get attached to my save files.

I shrug off the nerves and start the game. I breathe a sigh of relief, everything seemed normal. I was in Fennel's lab, I had the C-Gear turned on as I remembered loving the game sync feature and the Dream World, they had been discontinued years ago. I thought to myself, "Oh, how I would love to be there right now... dreaming away." It was then that it happened, I started to fall asleep.

I started to dream something strange. I couldn't make much out but I could hear a cry, it sounded so familiar. Listening closer, I started to discern what Pokémon it was. "Skitty?" I asked to no answer, although my asking seemed to trigger some sort of distortion. What once was the cry of a Pokémon begun to sound like a scream. I was startled awake by the wretched sound, I could still hear its screetches but I couldn't move. Shit, sleep paralysis.

I struggled to try and wake my body up, until I finally woke up in a jolt. My breath was fast, I held my chest as I heard the pounding of my heart rushing blood to my head. "It.. was just a dream" I sighed heavily. I looked over at my DS, it was now on a different screen, Entree Forest. At the center of the screen was a lone Pokémon, a small black and and grey Skitty. I almost jump at the sight of it. "H-how?" I manage to stammer out, "the Dream World doesn't even exist anymore, Skitty doesn't have those colors..."

The Skitty lets out a cry, the same one from my... dream? I start to sweat, I try to power off the console but the power switch was stuck. The Skitty let out an even louder cry. I flinch, my ears hurting from the noise. "Fine, you want me to catch you?" I spit back at the strange Pokémon. Text appears "Skriii!!" it read, the game letting out another cry, almost in response. It forces me into a battle with the Skitty.

"A wild Skritty appeared!" the battle text read. "Wait, Skritty?" I tilted my head in confusion, the name was off. The "Skritty" was mostly black in color, the parts that would have been skin tone almost look like TV static, its eyes closed downward and red. I opened the Pokéball menu, there was only one in the bag, a Moon Ball. I throw the ball and close my eyes, listening to the bobs. One, two, three, and... Click! "My condolences, you caught Skritty." displayed on the screen. "What the hell...?" I whispered to myself.

I was back in Fennel's lab, I open my party to see that Skritty is now my only Pokémon. She's level 24, her moveset was weird, each of the moves read Real Tears, Faint Attack, Snore, and Wake-Up Slap. Her nature was Adamant and her quirk said "Often dozes off." She somehow had the ability "Comatose", not an ability Skitty can typically have.

And with that, I fell asleep again. This time I dream of Skritty, she's standing on my chest as if I'm waking up. The world around me clearly isn't my own, I'm in some sort of sleep study lab. There are all kinds of wires attached to my head, it all feels too real. The Skritty looks at me and cries out, almost annoyed that I seemed to be "awake". I wake back up into the real world.

I gasp for air as if I was starving for it, relieved to be truly awake once more. I close my DS and walk to the kitchen for a glass of water. The clock on the microwave read 4:44, it was pitch black outside so it could only mean AM. I splash some water on my face to bring me to my senses and then I turn to grab a glass to drink from. When I turn I notice my DS behind me, I jump in shock, knowing I hadn't brought it with. 

I take the DS and sit down at the kitchen table. I open it slowly and just continue to play until I reach Nacrene City, which is where I come to find... N. He struts out of the museum to greet me, "So, Elzie, you've decided to come back here?" his sprite shakes its head in disapproval. "After all you put your precious ‘friends‘ through," he scoffs "Putting them to sleep, waking them up and changing the clock just to put them asleep again because you couldn't get enough." "Until one day, you put a little Skitty to sleep and didn't bring it back from the Dream World, and you never played again." he said with a sigh, "And now, here you are, and all you've got left is this ‘Skritty‘. Battle me, and let's see what your Pokémon have to say about you now."

"Pokémon trainer N wants to battle!" "Go! Skritty!" "Opponent sent out Pidove" I hear that awful cry again. I press the "battle" button and it chooses the move on its own. "Skritty used Real Tears!", it cries again, louder this time. "Pidove became paralyzed with pain." "Skritty used Snore." "Skritty used Wake-Up Slap on itself." "Skritty used Real tears." It kept using moves, rapid-fire, not letting the Pidove do anything. Finally, "Skritty used Faint Attack on itself." "Skritty fainted!" The battle ends.

Once again I am greeted by the familiar face of N in Nacrene City. He shakes his head like before. "Just as I thought," he muttered "your Pokémon is in a permanent sleep and it only has you, its trainer, to blame." "Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?" "Yes"

"No". "It's just a game..." I whisper, half believing my own words, "it doesn't actually feel." I select the "No." option. The game becomes a loud, static sound, the screen appears to just be TV static and the only sound you can hear other than that is Skritty's screams, getting quieter and quieter. Once the screams stop, text appears "Would you like to go to sleep?" "Yes" "Yes". Scared and confused as to why that was the only option, I start to get weak, I start to drift away, even without a choice.