Mama Says...

"Now Leaf, you be a good girl on your journey. Treat your pokemon well, change your underwear in case you're in an accident and remember one thing: never ever surf up and down the coast of Cinnabar Island beside the gym."

"Why, Mama?"

"Terrible things will happen. Now go on! Good luck and remember to come home if it gets tough!"

"Mama used to say that terrible things live along this coast..." Leaf mused as she studied the coastline beside the gym on Cinnabar. She had just arrived on the island hoping to win another badge but the door was locked. Unsure of what else to do, Leaf saw the coastline beside the gym and curiosity got the better of her. She knelt down to study the water but the only thing she saw was her reflection. The water was clean and unpolluted. Krabbys scuttled along the sand and disappeared under the water's surface. In all appearances, it was completely normal. In fact it looked like an ideal spot to surf up and down. Her Blastoise would love to chase after the Krabbys and swim along the coastline. It would also buy Leaf some time until the gym opened.

"But Mama said never ever to do it."

Leaf considered her mother's words. She always listened to her mother because she was firm on the idea that 'mothers know best'. But this seemed like such a silly warning. The coast was lovely and Blastoise would have a lot of fun chasing Krabbys. And Leaf honestly had nothing better to do.

"Come on, Blastoise, let's play!"

At first Blastoise was confused by his mistress's intentions but he got into the fun of chasing Krabbys and surfing with the gentle waves. Leaf was having a fun time sitting on his shell and letting her hair go with the wind's blow. She kept checking on the gym but it never opened.

Oh well. She'd ask around later.

Suddenly a cold wind blew in, making her shiver. Strange...it was a sunny day and the temperatures were so warm. But now the sky was overcast with dark clouds and the waves were picking up. Leaf hugged her upper arms and wondered if the weather forecast was wrong and a storm was blowing in. She quickly told Blastoise to turn around and head down towards the Pokemon Center when he suddenly stopped and didn't move. His eyes were set on something rising up from the water. Leaf followed his gaze and screamed. What seemed to be a creature unlike any she had seen before was clawing up the shore and coming towards her. It looked to be composed of blocks, 0 and 1s and flashing lights. As if it was a physical form of data.

But that wasn't possible...

"thEY TrIed 2 4get mE..." it hissed. "gAmefREAK thOughT thEy coULd erAse ME..."

"G-Gamefreak...?" Leaf stammered. "I-I don't understand. Who are you? WHAT ARE YOU?"

"i aM mAny namES. 'M. 'M blOCK. pERhapS mY mOst famOus nAMe iS MisS...mISs...MISSINGNO. THE MISSING NUMBER."

Leaf trembled. This was clearly not something that should have ever existed. But she didn't know if Blastoise could combat it. Her Pokedex had no information on this thing so there was no way it was a pokemon.

"mEt some1 liKe you yEars aGO," it said. "Boy wITh caP anD jACKet. HE triEd 2 fiGHt mE. tHEy got rId Of hiM. tHEY triED 2 get rID of ME 2.tHEy tRIed nEw cooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOdinG.........0...1...0...1..."

"This is a nightmare. This is just some dumb joke played on me by my Haunter. None of this is real..." Leaf thought to herself. "Blastoise, run!"

"...0...0...1...0...nO. NOw tHAt yOu havE SEEn ME, YOu cANNot eSCape. bOy witH CAp aND JACKet 01000000100000011111 wEnt mAD. He DIED. DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEED." MissingNo hovered closer to Leaf. "i sHAll cONsumE YOU TOO. yOU sHOUld hAve noT COme HEEEEEEEEEERE. MY SPOT. MY HOME. surF UP ANd dOwn coaST Of ciiiiiiiiiiiiiinnaBAR mAkeS mE ANGRY."

Leaf struggled as MissingNo wrapped its existence around her but there was no escape. As the blocks of data and the binary coding clouded her vision, she saw a boy her age also trapped inside of MissingNo. He had a cap and jacket, like MissingNo said, but there was an air of days gone by to him...like he was a lot older than he appeared.

"I should have listened to Mama..."

SAVE FILE CORRUPTED. THE GAME CANNOT BE PLAYED.