Line #27 Fanfic/PokemonLostSilver


1	''Pokémon Lost Silver'' is a {{creepypasta}} based off of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. In it, the unnamed protagonist plays a haunted cartridge of [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Silver]]. The story was so popular that it had a fan game made based off of it.
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3	The story takes place around the release of ''Pokémon [=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]''. While waiting for ''[=SoulSilver=]'', a fan decides to buy a used copy of ''Pokémon Silver'' at [=GameStop=]. When they start up the game, it initially seems like the cartridge is faulty. It keeps freezing on the Creator/GameFreak logo, however eventually it starts up. Instead of starting up as normal, the game defaults to an active file in the Bellsprout Tower.
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5	Gold's name is only given as "...". There are 999 hours of play time on the file, Gold has the max amount of money, and the Pokédex is entirely filled out. When the protagonist looks at the team, it consists of five Unown and one Cyndaquil nicknamed "HURRY". The five Unown spell out "LEAVE". The cartridge seems glitched as it contains oddities like no music, no Pokémon cries, and no trainers in the Bellsprout Tower. The room seems inescapable due to a lack of ladders, however eventually the player finds a way to exit it.
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7	[[FromBadToWorse Things only get worse from there.]] As the fan continues to play through the modified game, it becomes clear that the game is set [[DistantFinale years after the original adventure]], and Gold [[DeadAllAlong has already met his fate years ago]].
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9	A game developer known as Reidd Maxwell created a fan-game based off of the creepypasta, made in [=GameMaker=] Studio. In addition to sticking closely to the source material, the game adds a new path known as "''Lost Silver'': Hidden", which answers the question: "What if the player said no to the 'TURN BACK NOW' prompt?". It can be downloaded [[http://tohjofalls.net/ here]].
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11	Two years after the original publication of ''Pokémon Lost Silver'', the author posted a sequel known as ''Pokémon Lost Silver: Ashes'', which reveals some backstory behind one of the Pokémon that Gold uses in the original story.
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13	In 2020, on the [[MilestoneCelebration 10th anniversary]] of the game's release, Maxwell [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdMBEe35Q8 announced]] that an updated version known as ''Re: Lost Silver'' was in the works, with the game being rebuilt from scratch to work better on modern Windows systems. The game features three new paths for the player to take as well as updated spritework. A demo for this new version [[https://youtu.be/ap22Rh4bSy4 came out on Halloween 2022]], with a patched version of the demo [[https://youtu.be/I40AoP7FiY4 releasing on 13 November of the same year]]. The soundtrack can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9zATLdPJ3s here]]. In 2023, it made an unexpected appearance in ''WebAnimation/PokemonGoldFanmade'', [[spoiler:as part of Morty's Gengar's MindRape of Gold]].
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16	!!''Pokémon Lost Silver'' provides examples of:
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18	* AdaptationExpansion:
19	** The fan game includes a second storyline, generally known as “Lost Silver: Hidden”, which is unlocked if the player declines to turn back. The creator of the fan game says that this plot was written by the creepypasta’s original author and given to him for the game.
20	** Taken even further with ''Re: Lost Silver'', which adds two new paths: Ashes, which centers on Gold and Celebi's past, and Ruins, which focuses on Forever the Houndoom, the Ruins of Alph, and Silver.
21	* AdaptationNameChange: Ethan is referred to as "Gold", likely because his CanonName wasn't known until ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'''s release.
22	* ADeathInTheLimelight:
23	** Silver gains a bit more focus in the Ruins route, revealing his status as TheAtoner and implying he may have something to do with Gold's current state... only for him to be brutally mutilated by the end of the battle.
24	** Similarly, the Ashes route centers around Away the Celebi's past, which reveals that it was burned in half by Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire.
25	* AmbiguouslyEvil: Forever the Houndoom is a Dark-Type Pokémon, which are always this, [[spoiler: and obtained via trade, Pokémon obtained via trade being disobedient]]. It also doesn't help that the Unown in the Ruins route spell "DIE". However, Gold managed to obtain all badges required to obtain the loyalty of outsider Pokémon by the time [[spoiler: he died]], but that leaves the question: if the word "DIE" doesn't have anything to do with Forever, then [[GreaterScopeVillain with]] [[NothingIsScarier who]]...?
26	* AnAesop: Death comes for us all, and with it, our lives and achievements slowly fade away into obscurity.
27	* ArtEvolution: The sprites in the original ''Lost Silver'' game were fairly rudimentary edits of the ones in the original ''Silver''. ''Re: Lost Silver'' updates them to be more detailed and original, as well as [[BloodierAndGorier a lot more gruesome]].
28	* TheAtoner: Silver in the Ruins route is implied to be this, as he sends out five level 5 Unown who spell out "SORRY", before sending out his young Totodile. Whether he's atoning for his mistreatment of his Pokémon or something he did to Gold is left ambiguous, but either way it results in his sprite becoming [[RedemptionEqualsDeath horribly mutilated]] after the battle.
29	* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Shortly after Please! the Typhlosion passes on, a nameless Cyndaquil hatches from the egg Gold was carrying. Please! is a female Typhlosion, so it's implied [[MissingMom the egg came from her]]. [[spoiler:It's also implied [[DisappearedDad Forever the Houndoom is the egg's father]]. The Cyndaquil that hatches from it [[SharedFamilyQuirks inherits Thrash and Nightmare]]- moves he knows.]]
30	* BittersweetEnding: In the Hidden Route’s ending, the last text box reads [[spoiler: R.I.P. PKMN Trainer Gold, implying that Gold will at least be remembered past his death, as opposed to the original ending which reveals that everyone alive has long since forgotten him.]]
31	* BlackComedy: Meta example: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9zATLdPJ3s soundtrack]] for the game is framed similar to the infamous "[[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lofi-girl LoFi girl]]" radio stream, and is titled "lost silver lofi: chill beats to declare yourself dead to".
32	* BloodierAndGorier: ''Re: Lost Silver'''s updated sprites feature significantly more detailed[[note]]Well, as detailed as the limitations of ''Gold and Silver'' sprites allow[[/note]] gore, which seems to be inspired by fan-art interpretations of the originals.
33	* DarkFic: It's a story about a creepy cartridge of ''Pokémon Silver'' where the player is dead.
34	* DeadAllAlong: At the end of the story, the player realizes that Gold has been dead since the very beginning.
35	* DeadlyDistantFinale: The story’s entire premise hinges on Gold, the protagonist of the original game, being dead, and seems to take place in some form of purgatory where he comes to terms with his demise. Going by the Ruins route, [[TheRival Silver]] didn’t outlive Gold by too much either.
36	* DeathOfAChild: Gold isn't even thirteen when he died. Silver likely isn’t that much older when he loses his life either.
37	* DistantFinale: The game is set during the future, when Gold is already long-dead, though exactly how long the game takes place after the events of the original Generation II trilogy is never elaborated on.
38	* EasterEgg: Two are placed in the "Re" version of the game.
39	** If one [[spoiler:opens the Unown Dex, and presses select while highlighting the Unown S, N, O, and W in that order, they will be taken to a recreation of Fanfic/EasterEggSnowOnMtSilver]].
40	** Near the end of the original route, [[spoiler:after Gold leaves his house and enters the black void, if you go to the right, you'll pass some screenshots of a trade screen, then a battle screen, and finally [[BreadEggsMilkSquick a close up of Gold's blood covered face]], before being warped back to the house]].
41	%%* EyelessFace / HiddenEyes: Nearly every sprite in the "Hidden" route lacks visible eyes, with the exception of the Unown (in favor of [[RedEyesTakeWarning vivid red eyes]]), Cyndaquil and Silver's Feraligatr when it regresses into a Totodile shortly before fainting. In ''Re: Lost Silver'', however...
42	* EyeScream: Feraligatr's sprite gets an update in "Re" where its eyes are still hidden, but the space where they would be are replaced with bloodied, empty sockets, complete with flesh holding them partially closed. Given its bloodied claws, it's implied that it tore its eye sockets open, possibly to try to regain the use of its eyes.
43	* FanGame: The creepypasta was de-fictionalized into a game.
44	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe:
45	** Gold suffers from this as his body decays in the main route.
46	** Similarly, Away the shiny Celebi is split in half vertically, complete with detailed guts in ''Re: Lost Silver''. In Ashes, it is revealed that it had been burnt in half.
47	** On the "Hidden" route, Please! the Typhlosion has her sprite cut in half horizontally before passing on (albeit without the gore, even in ''Re:'').
48	* HauntedTechnology: The cartridge is presumed to be this, though it might be a hack that someone made.
49	* HeroicDog: Forever the Houndoom, who seems to be guiding Gold through the afterlife in the Ruins route.
50	* HopeSpot: In Ashes, when the narrator ends up at Ilex Forest with a normal looking Gold and regular music, they initially think they broke out of the hacked portions and managed to reach the normal game. Shortly into the forest however, the map turns out to be scrambled, confirming this is another hacked portion.
51	* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The narrative at its core ultimately laments that no matter what any of the Franchise/{{Pokemon}} protagonists accomplish, their feats will rarely if ever form a solid legacy, with understandable psychological consequences.
52	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's unclear if the cartridge is haunted or whether it's a hacked game.
53	* MultipleEndings: A minor example, but taking the Hidden path in the fangame will change the original path’s ending message from [[spoiler:R.I.P …]] to [[spoiler: R.I.P. PKMN Trainer Gold]].
54	* NothingIsScarier: ''Heavily'' utilized on the "Hidden" route, as many of the characters lack eyes and names, dialogue is sparse and often cut-off, and the music is comprised of slowed-down {{Dark Reprise}}s of ''Pokémon Silver'''s music with some of the notes missing.
55	* ThePowerOfHate: Red's Pikachu uses the move Frustration, which is more powerful the more the user hates its trainer. Considering that it reduced Away the Celebi's HP to 1, that Pikachu must ''despise'' Red. This is further supported by its updated ''Re: Lost Silver'' sprite, where its expression is more clearly resentful. ''Re: Lost Silver'' also has the ''Fanfic/EasterEggSnowOnMtSilver'' creepypasta included in itself as an, [[{{Pun}} well]], EasterEgg, with the implication ''Snow On Mt. Silver'' is a prequel to ''Lost Silver'', which may explain ''why'' Pikachu hates Red so much: Pikachu hates Red for causing him to become Freakachu.
56	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At the end of his battle on the Ruins route, where he apologizes for ''something'' he did in the past, Silver's body is shown to be horrendously mutilated.
57	* RedEyesTakeWarning: On the "Hidden" route, the Unown have blood-red eyes, though they don't pose any direct threat and only serve to spell out messages.
58	* RiddleForTheAges: Whether the game is of supernatural origin, or a modified version made by a person. And if the latter, then their reasoning for doing so would also come under this.
59	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The story appears to largely be an allegory for a rather cynical take on the protagonists of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', asserting that their deeds will be forgotten eventually regardless of what they accomplish. Gold and his party's gradual decay, in this sense, is a visual metaphor for him fading away, as is Red's literal disappearance after fighting him. Likewise, how the two kicked the bucket doesn't really matter, only that now they're gone, they're starting to disappear from memory.

Context Fanfic / PokemonLostSilver