I have never been as happy as I was on my eighth birthday. My mother handed me a heavily wrapped present containing my very first gameboy and a mint Pokémon Gold edition.
Since Pokémon Gold was my first glimpse into the series, it was my all-time favourite. Anything from the second generation completely captivated me. After a few years, I became tired of my gameboy and moved up to newer consoles; eventually getting into computer gaming. I found other games that spiked my interest as the Pokémon series had done.
As time passed, I had a serious yearning to play Pokémon again. After becoming more familiar with computer gaming over the years, I found out about emulators and ROMs. Pokémon Gold was the first thing I looked up. I indulged myself in hours of nostalgia. Enough to the point of wanting more. I knew about hacked ROMs and people that attempted their own spinoffs of the Pokémon series, so I decided to see if any peaked my interest.
After downloading and playing several different ROMs. I just couldn’t find the passion to finish them. None of them hit me like the second generation Pokémon games could. So, for my second attempt, I narrowed my search to only second generation projects, and these were the impressive ones. Going down the list, I stopped on a very particular one: The family of Gold. I clicked on the link and the description read,
“The family that was forgotten.
The story that was forever hidden.”
Never had it occurred to me that there was a story behind Gold’s family. I remembered there being some theories revolving around Red’s father. Also, in generation three, your father is a gym leader. The thought of some backstory regarding my favourite generation was incredible. I immediately downloaded it.
The ROM opened normally and the title screen was unchanged. I selected “New Game,” but instead of professor Oak’s usual introduction, the screen faded to Gold’s bedroom.
I was lying on my bed, which was now in the right corner instead of the left. Also, posters and dolls covered the room. The most unusual thing about it was, there was someone else in a bed at the opposite corner. An exclamation mark appeared above the mysterious sprite’s body and it walked over to me.
“Wake up little bro! I can smell Mom cooking breakfast!”
“Little bro?” I wondered. Another exclamation mark appeared above Gold’s body as my apparently older sibling rushed down the stairs. I could now move Gold around, so I did the usual search throughout my room. When I got to the computer, a text box appeared,
“I don’t know how to use this yet.”
What? I can’t use a computer? How young was I? That also means no Pokémon storage. A Pokémon ROM with no Pokémon? It didn’t seem too appealing, but it was too early to make any assumptions. I continued downstairs and saw three people. In the kitchen stood my mother, and sitting at the table I saw my older sibling and another person. An exclamation appeared over the mysterious man and he made his way over to me.
“How’s my little man today? Boy, don’t you look tired! C’mon and sit with your old man and brother while your mom whips up some breakfast.”
Wow! Gold’s father was in this? My attention was fully captivated now. As the father sat back down at the table, I could move around again. I spoke to the brother and father and recieved normal responses, but no scene breaks.
“Hey champ, go check on your mother in the kitchen. Smells like she’s about to burn the breakfast,” my father said.
“Let’s watch some cartoons while we eat!” exclaimed my brother.
When I approached my mother, her response disturbed me. With her back still turned, I read,
*That man never helps me when it comes to this damn house. I’m always cooking, clea-* An exclamation mark appeared over her head as she turned abruptly.
“Oh! Hey there baby boy. Um, go sit with daddy and Chris while mommy fixes breakfast for you.”
The previous phrase was too hard to ignore. I tried to talk to her again but all I got was, “…” without her even turning around to me. When I attempted to exit the building, the screen faded to black. I waited for about ten seconds before appearing outside my house. My sprite had a hat on now and New Bark Town basically looked the same. The only real difference was that Professor Elm’s lab now had the word “GYM” beside the front door. As I walked in, the camera panned forward to my father and brother facing each other at the end of the gym. A battle animation ensued. My father had dark hair with a determined smile on his face, and a black trench coat on. My brother was on my side of the screen and all I could see was his long dark hair and a baseball cap on backwards. Their battle consisted of my brother’s Typhlosion, and my father’s Tyranitar. It seemed as though my father was just teaching Chris new strategies. A text box appeared with phrases like:
“Make sure you always have the type advantage during a battle, son.”
“Your opponent may try to outsmart you with their own strategies.”
“You will be a champion Chris. All my faith is put into your success as a trainer.”
Upon reading this, I could tell that my father had high hopes for Chris. It seemed as though Chris was already in the final stretch of his days as a trainer, and preparing for the Elite Four. I could tell their bond was strong. When the animation ended, I walked up and spoke to my brother,
“I will make you proud father, I swear it,” he says facing our father. Then he turns to me,
“Hey bro! How’s mom doing? I haven’t seen her all day.”
Time apparently passed when I tried to walk out of my house earlier. I headed back home to see if anything had changed. Upon entering the house, I saw my mother standing in the middle of the kitchen with her back turned. I grew sort of uneasy because her clothes had splotches of red on them. I walked forward and attempted to talk to her. When she turned around, my emulator screen flashed for a brief second with the image of a dark-haired, smiling woman with tears in her eyes. From what I could make out, she was holding her arms out in front of her with a blade of some sort in one hand. There were slashes on her blood-soaked arms. A horribly distorted female scream erupted from my speakers and the image flashed away as quickly as it appeared. I bolted back from shock. After regaining my composure, I looked at the screen, all it showed was a text box stating:
“He doesn’t love me.”
“He won’t look at me.”
“Let him see.”
I blankly stared at the words in the text box. What the hell was wrong with her? The face of the woman appeared back on screen for a split second before it went black again.
Suddenly, the screen flicked back on and an ambulance was speeding down a road. The sound of it blared out of my speakers before it abruptly changed to Gold’s house again. It showed Chris alone in our room. The floorboards had been torn, the computer was smashed, and the bookcase was broken with books sprawled across the floor. The television was off and Chris was right in front of it. A text box appeared,
“Steal what matters most to him.”
Who was talking? I couldn’t really understand what was going on. The emulator screen changed and a realistic video appeared. It was of someone walking through the woods during the evening. The camera was held about four feet above the ground and the only thing that could be heard was heavy breathing and the crunching of sticks and leaves under footsteps. This went on for a couple of minutes before a clearing was reached. The camera was facing diagonally toward the sky, showing a sun barely peering over an ocean. The sound of footsteps ceased. The picture slowly panned downward revealing a base of jagged rocks and water. The person holding the camera hesitated before leaping off the cliff.
Three seconds passed before the sound of bones crushing under rock was heard. The camera’s lens cracked with the landing, but you could partially make out a young teenage boy’s face and disfigured body. The arms were in an unnatural fashion and a bone was sticking out of one shoulder. The sight and sound from the boy made me almost vomit. He was still alive after that fall. He let out a gurgling groan and then screamed of pain before the camera fell into the water and cut out. Before I could cut off the emulator, the sound stopped and the screen went black.
I didn’t know if I was in the right state of mind to finish the game, so I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. The sound that boy made was still ringing in my ears and the image couldn’t be erased from my mind. I threw up in the sink. After gathering myself, I decided to finish the game. If this was some sick joke I would figure it out by the end. If not, I would turn this over to the police.
As I sat back down, the screen faded back in, showing Gold out in front of the well in Azalea town. The entrance to the well was boarded up, and there was a man blocking the entrance to the cave leading back to Violet City. So I decided to head toward what I believed to be the gym. To my surprise, it was a Pokémon research lab. After talking around, I found out it was just a team researching bug-type Pokémon they captured from Ilex Forest. I found Professor Elm in here and talked to him:
“Hello Gold, I’m really sorry to hear about your brother. Send your father my condolences.”
My brother? What was wrong with Chris? After talking to more people around the town, they all gave similar responses. I couldn’t get any answers except:
“I’m so sorry.”
“Have you been by Goldenrod to check on Chris?”
“I know how hard your father must be taking this.”
I soon entered Ilex Forest and made my way towards Goldenrod. The forest seemed darker than usual. There were not as many trees blocking my way, as I’m sure this was a few years before your true journey begins. I made it to Goldenrod and found that the hospital where the Underground Tunnel is in the original games. I walked down the corridor to find only one bed with many people surrounding it. My mother is sitting in one of the chairs across the room, while my father is along side the bed. Chris is lying with his eyes closed and an oxygen mask over his mouth. I tried talking to the others, but no one would answer me, not even my mother. The only words I could get out of anyone were those of my father’s.
“Why…w-why my son?”
He didn’t seem to be talking to me as he was still facing Chris. I found a piece of paper lying on one of the tables lining the wall and read it:
Patient : Chris —–
-Body found partially on the rocks near New Bark Lake.
-Patient suffered major injuries including: broken bones, head fracture, spinal injuries, bruises on 85% of body, tongue was severed by suspected fall from cliff.
-Patient induced into coma.
-Not expected to live.
-Patient placed on life support.
-Mother has signed consent form to remove life support.
“What kind of sick-twisted game was I playing?” I wondered to myself. I walked up to Chris’ bedside and pressed “A.” The screen abruptly went black.
My speaker let out a high-pitched static sound as my sprite appeared back in his house. My father was standing two spaces in front of the television. I clicked on him for a response, he didn’t turn to me as he spoke:
“You’re still here.”
“No, she can’t be.”
“Don’t argue with me!”
“You know what needs to be done.”
The phrases appeared one after another in the text box as he kept staring. So I walked up to the television and pressed “A”:
“It’s just…static”
Reading the words sent a chill down my spine. Was my dad talking to himself? What happened after the hospital? I walked outside and found my mother pacing back and forth in front of one of the houses. I walked up to her and tried to talk:
“He won’t know. He can’t know.”
“God, what have I done?!”
“Oh hey baby, I’m sorry. Um…please go back to the house.”
I decided to walk into the gym out of curiosity. The place was barren besides a man dressed in ragged clothes in the corner. I walked up to him and pressed “A.” What he said will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“This is no made-up tale for your enjoyment.”
The screen flashed back to the front of Gold’s house. Almost immediately my father came out and walked into the building my mother was pacing in front of. She stopped pacing and walked up to the door. A text box appeared:
“Wait. No! What are you doing!?”
“Let him go!”
I cringed as two loud gunshots erupted from my speakers. Gold had automatically walked out of the gym. When I attempted to walk back in, a text box appeared:
“It seems to have been locked for months.”
Another chill crept down my spine as I made my way toward an undoubtably brutal setting. As I walked into the house, a bloody scene filled my eyes. The floor around my father and a mysterious man was red, and my mother was kneeling by my father’s lifeless body. The screen flickered one last time with that woman’s tearful face and cut up arms before going black.
—————————————————-
This ROM was turned over to the police in hopes of finding the creator over three years ago. All copies of this ROM have been removed from social media for evidence. No reasons have been found on why this wasn’t reported immediately to authorities or where the videotape in the ROM originated from. The truth behind the story told is still unknown to this day.