The Missing Number

I had recently beaten Pokemon X. It is a fun game, although it is a little too easy for my taste. Having beaten all of the games I owned, I decided to relive my nostalgia and dive into the region of Kanto once more. I booted up my Pokemon Red cartrige and loaded my most recent save file, which was from 6 years ago. The first thing I did when my file opened was check my pokemon. I had a full team of pokemon, most of them above level eighty. I noticed that I was near Cinnibar Island when I closed my inventory. I must have been trying to catch Missingno. It turned out that I had not caught Missingno yet so I went to the beach of Cinnabar and used surf. Luckily, It did not take long for a pokemon to appear, and sure enough, it was Missingno.

The Pokegod Of Cinnabar.
"A wild Missingno. appeared!" the screen read. The first thing I did was open my bag and check to see if I still had a masterball. Luckily, I had not done what most Pokemon players do and use my Masterball on Mewtwo. I used the masterball on Missingno. and it said "Gotcha! Missingno. was caught!". "Missingno. was transferred to bo-." That was where the nightmare had begun.

Unable To Read Save Data.
Confused, I shut my game off and turned it back on, hoping that the file would be untouched. I was wrong. When I opened my game up it said "Unable to read save data!" and went to the save selection screen. Furious, I screamed angrily. I screamed so loud that my parents rushed up to my room and asked if I was okay. I angrily selected "New Game" knowing that I would have to start my adventure from the beginning of the game. I got the usual "Welcome to the pokemon world!" speech upon selecting new game. I got to the name selection screen and typed in ASH as my name. I awoke in pallet town with the familiar music playing in the background. I walked out the door and went to the wild grass. This time though, Oak didn't stop me.

A Wild Missingno. Appeared!
I figured it must be a glitch and headed in the direction of the tall grass. When I walked in the tall grass however, my screen cut to black and the pokemon encounter music started playing. "Wild Missingno. appeared!" the screen read. I wondered if this is what normally happens if you don't have any pokemon to fight with. "Hello again ASH. Or should I say Mark?" The screen read. At this point, I was getting a little nervous, as gameboys aren't necessarily supposed to know your name. I selected FIGHT and the screen read "You cannot hurt me you pathetic maggot". Scared, I selected run, and the screen said "Got away safely!" like it always did. Spooked by this experience, I shut my game off and went to sleep.

Missingno. Used Nightmare!
It was about 12:20 at night when I finally fell asleep. When I "woke up" I was inside of the pokemon game I had played. I was walking along a path when the screen turned black and read "Wild Missingno. appeared!" Panicked, I ran as fast as I could away from the L shaped horror. Then however, I tripped and I heard a demonic voice whisper in my ear. It said "You cannot escape your fate." I woke up in bed with sweat running down my face.

A Legend Forgotten.
I decided to play my game again. I knew it was not a smart move after the dream I had about missingno. but my curiosity got the best of me. I loaded up my save file and noticed I was directly on Route 1, directly where I left off. There were two things I noticed right off of the bat however. One was that the happy music that normally played on Route 1 wasn't there. In fact there was no music at all. The second thing I noticed was that there was no tall grass. It seemed to just have disappeared. I walked into Viridian City and noticed there were no NPCs in the town at all. At this point, I knew my game was messed up in some way but again, my curiosity got the best of me. I noticed that the path to the Viridian Forest was open due to the old man not being there. I approached the entrance to Route 2 when my game made a sudden horrid screeching noise. A text box appeared on the screen that read "Oh hello again Mark, would you like to have another duel?" There were two options: Yes or no. Of course, being the sane person I am, I selected no and expected to move on. The screen then read "I'm afraid you don't have a choice Mark." and the final boss music (The music that plays when you are fighting the champion in Pokemon Red) started to play. The screen read "Missingno. would like to battle!" I sent out my Articuno, hoping it was strong enough to defeat Missingno. Another text box appeared on the screen that read "Articuno? It has been far too long brother... I bet you have forgotten all about me haven't you..." Confused, I selected FIGHT and picked the move Ice Beam, hoping it would deal some damage. Luckily, It brought Missingno's health bar down to 75%. Missingno. then stated "You know, I used to be a legend too. I was the secret legendary before mewtwo, before mew even. I was the secret bird out of the four. Everyone always forgot about me. Eventually, I grew tired of being forgotten so I caused a terrible storm and killed millions of people. I was banished for this, forced to live out my life as a forgotten mess of pixels. Now it is your turn Mark! You will be forgotten for all of eternity! No one will ever have remembered you exist!"

The Real World
Having enough of this, I decided to rip the cartrige out, causing the game to freeze. I took the cartrige and flushed it down the toilet, Hoping to never see it again. Sometimes however, when it is silent, I can still hear Missingno. whispering into my ear. Saying "You cannot escape your fate."