Pokemon: The Missing Numbers (New Chapter 7/2/2010)

[encapturer]

So you've heard about Missingno. That thing that used to be spotted around Cinnabar Island years ago, and it caused much havoc to the island. One man got rich, while another vanished without a trace. Others went mad, or became something else entirely. Missingno. changed people... and their Pokemon as well. Fortunately, when that volcano erupted, the incidents involving the creature stopped. Of course, this could not end with such a simple solution...

 

This is quite obviously a Pokemon Fanfic, about a man's encounter with Missingno., and what happens afterwards. This first chapter serves as an introduction of sorts, and things will start to really become interesting in the coming chapters. That said, I'm more used to doing RPs on this site, so feel free to comment and whatnot since this is my second fanfic, ever. I have nothing more to say, so here I go...

 

[spoiler=Chapter 0 : Yet Another Job]“Whoa…”

 

Two young men walked up to the edge of the cliff. The shorter of the two, wearing a blue jacket and black shorts, just stared at the unfolding scene while the taller man dressed in a business suit turned to speak to him.

 

“Mr. Benjamin, this is the disturbance,” he said plainly. Beyond the cliff stood expansive plains, with the anomaly Ben was to investigate. There was a road below, which a large collection of flying stones hovering in midair in the middle of the road. It seemed like a chaotic pattern at first, but all the stones moved within an invisible spherical shape, and if you watched carefully, it revealed grid-like patterns multiple layers deep. Of course, Ben’s job here was to do something about those stones.

 

“They continue to attack anyone who gets near,” the taller man continued, gesturing towards the floating stones. Ben picked up a stone on the ground and tossed it towards the disturbance. When the stone got near it, countless small stones shot out from the sphere, which then collided with the thrown rock repeatedly until it was ground to dust. As the particles dispersed in the wind, the stones returned to their place within the sphere.

 

“Seems like it activates at about 30 feet,” Ben said, guesstimating the distance the rock was from the sphere before it reacted. “And you want me to clear this out?”

 

“Yes, the trainers in town refuse to go near this, and the police are stumped. You’re the only one who even inquired about the job.”

 

Ben grinned. “Then I’ll take care of this problem for sure. Leave it to me!”

 

---

 

Ben walked along the road, carrying a rock in his hand. Ahead of him stood the disturbance, which was almost mesmerizing how the stones kept floating in the grid-like pattern. He threw the rock towards it, and it didn’t even travel five feet before the disturbance ground it to dust. Ben grimaced as he watched it occur right in front of his face. Being that close to death, he almost decided to quit the job, but the money they were paying him was too good to pass up.

 

“Alright then. Numel! Squirtle!” Ben grabbed two pokeballs from beneath his jacket and released the pokemon contained within to each of his sides. Numel yawned as if he woke up from a nap, while Squirtle rubbed the back of his head as she eyed the floating stones.

 

“Numel, let’s shake things up.” Ben pointed at the disturbance. “Magnitude! And keep it up as long as you can!” Numel let off a muffled cry as it began to stomp the ground. Ben could feel the vibrations in the earth, however, the disturbance showed no signs of being affected.

 

“Well, let’s try something else. Squirtle, spray your water gun all over in the same direction.” His extended arm swung from his left to his right, and Squirtle’s water gun followed the same path. Once again, the disturbance was not affected, even though water was being sprayed all over the stones.

 

“….” Ben watched quietly for a moment as the stones continued rotating, unaffected by the quakes and water gun. “I guess rain really doesn’t affect it. Alright, then, Gallade!”

 

Ben’s ace pokemon left the pokeball still on his belt, and appeared in front of him, and did nothing besides wait for a command as he watched the scene unfold before him. Before Ben could yell a command, the stones suddenly began attacking the water, to no avail, of course. The stones became much more aggressive, though, as the sphere slowly began to expand.

 

“Back up guys, but keep the attacks up!” Ben said, as he ran back a few yards, with the pokemon backing up in response. The sphere continued to expand as it continued to assault the water, and even began to attack the ground and nearby trees; stones clashing against stones being shifted from the magnitude. With the expansion, Ben finally got a glimpse of the inside of the sphere.

 

It was a Psyduck, floating in the air.

 

“I thought Psyducks were more chaotic with their psychic powers… oh well.” Ben said, sighing. This would have been an easy job if he just waited it out, since he figured the Psyduck was tired from keeping the stones floating for such a long time. Instead, due to his interference, the ever-expanding death sphere would kill Ben and his pokemon if this kept up. He would have to take down Psyduck, which fortunately wouldn’t be that hard now that it is visible.

 

“Gallade! Psycho Cut!”

 

Gallade swung its arm, which released a blade of light from the armblade attached to its elbow. The stones were so far apart now that it had a direct path to Psyduck, which was fainted by the attack easily. The stones, and the Psyduck all fell to the ground simultaneously, while the quakes and water sprays continued.

 

“Uhh… guys, you can stop now….”

 

---

 

“Hehehe…” Ben was grinning as he approached his home in Viridian City. He just came back from his job, and he was paid handsomely for it. In fact, his bag was filled with cash with this moment, which was something he always dreamed of happening in some point of his life. To top it off, another surprise waited for him as he opened the door to his home.

 

“I was wondering where you were!” A young woman’s voice called out. It was Nina, a friend from his early trainer years. He shared the home with her, and with another man named Alex, who was out at the moment. Alex turned around and spotted her carrying two bags full of random Pokemon gear; Pokeballs, repels, medicine, and more. Ben figured she must have returned recently, for she still had her travel gear on, including the huge hiking boots she wore.

 

Ben held the door open as Nina went inside first. Ben followed, but before he could get to his room, Nina called him again. “You’ve got another job request.” Ben raised his eyebrow in interest before walking over and taking the letter Nina was holding. He tore it open and scanned through the letter, until he spotted what he was looking for.

 

“That’s… a lot of money…” Ben said in surprise, as there were more zeroes than he ever seen on a monetary figure right where his contracted pay should be. The job would need to be done successfully, else he would only be paid only a tenth of that amount, which was still pretty ridiculous. Ben folded the letter and placed it in his pocket before heading out.

 

“That must be a high paying client,” Nina asked while sorting through her newly purchased materials.

 

“Oh yeah,” Ben said. “Going to Cinnabar Island to check out some mysterious incidents. Hopefully you won’t suddenly leave before I return again,” Ben said, grinning.

 

“It’ll be a month before the Battle Frontier comes to Kanto, so I’m sticking around.”

 

“Right. Well, if things go well, we won’t need money for a good while,” Ben replied. “I’ll see you when I get back.” Turning around, Ben walked out the door and made his way towards Cinnabar Island… after he paid a visit to the bank and deposited his cash, of course.

 

[spoiler=Chapter 1 : First Encounter]“Thanks for coming out here, Benjamin,”

 

The heat was intense that day on Cinnabar Island, even as Ben and his guide walked through town. All over he could see the construction workers toiling diligently even in this intense heat. With the guide wearing a short-sleeve shirt and shorts, Benjamin wished he remembered to pack a change of clothes.

 

The guide took Ben to a makeshift camp, where he then led him to a nondescript tent on the other side of the camp. Books were stacked high, and in the midst of all the literature was a single balding businessman sitting on the floor, who looked up as soon as Ben and his guide entered.

 

“Welcome,” the man said, extending his arm to Ben. Ben smiled and shook it as the businessman continued. “You must be Benjamin Gram. I am Arthur Neil.”

 

Benjamin hesitated a moment before replying. “Thanks for having me.”

 

“Come, sit down,” Arthur said. Benjamin found himself a cushion on the floor and sat down, while the guide excused himself from the tent. After the entry flap was closed, the man continued to speak. “I apologize for the tent; we are in the middle of rebuilding. Did you want some water to drink?”

 

“Sure,” Benjamin replied. An Abra then teleported in holding a bottle of water, just as Ben finished speaking. Unfazed, Ben just took the bottle and began drinking as Arthur continued to speak.

 

“I’ll get to the point now. I want you to explore a construction site near the eastern shoreline.” While Arthur sounded solemn, Ben couldn’t help but think that this speech sounded rehearsed. “Construction was halted because a strange Pokemon appeared. No one knew what it was, and it caused all kinds of misfortune. Some people died, and others went insane. We want to finish building, but not while that Pokemon runs loose.”

 

“So, what do you want me to do?” Benjamin asked.

 

“I want you to capture that Pokemon.” Ben was shocked that one wanted to catch such a dangerous Pokemon. “We would prefer to have it captured so it can no longer cause havoc, but if that is impossible, try to chase it away,” Arthur said. Then, as if he sensed Ben’s anxiousness, he continued. “You will get paid in full for capture, and half if you drive it away. Sound fair?”

 

“…Alright.” Ben wasn’t sure if catching it was a good idea, but Arthur was offering a large sum of money to have that Pokemon out of his hair. “I’ll head out now, then.” Ben stood up and exited the tent, and Arthur nodded in response.

 

“I expect good news!”

 

---

 

The sun began to set as Ben continued to explore the construction site. What really surprised him about was that all of the construction equipment was abandoned. They showed signs of disrepair, which made Ben wonder how long ago the project was abandoned. Unfortunately, there were no signs of any strange Pokemon, and Ben had already searched for hours.

 

“Guh!”

 

Ben kneeled downward holding his head, as a sharp headache pulsed in his head. His vision began to blur; the more he would focus on the area ahead of him, the more pain he felt. Instead of fighting it, Ben closed his eyes and the pain lessened, though his head still throbbed. On his belt he could feel the Pokeballs shake, even though there was no wind. Then, recalling the reason he was here, Ben forced his eyes open and gazed straight ahead.

 

After the initial shock, the headache subsided, and Ben’s vision cleared, revealing something surprising; a floating white question mark in a black circle, surrounded by the thick outline of another black circle. With the sun behind him, Ben noted that somehow, it cast no shadow. It moved around from side to side, but that was all it seemed to do. Ben decided to get a little closer, so he crept behind one of the abandoned bulldozers to his right, then looked at the question mark again.

 

“The hell?” Ben muttered under his breath. To make sure he wasn’t seeing things, he continued to strafe around the question mark, this time keeping his eye on it. As suspected, it seemed like the question mark was watching him. There were no eyes to be found, but it was turning perfectly so that it would always face Ben.

 

‘Is that… the Pokemon?’ Ben thought to himself. He had to test it out. He pulled an Ultra Ball from his backpack, expanded it, and tossed it at the floating question mark. It seemed to fly right through its top portion of its ‘body’, and landed behind it. Ben had a few more Ultra Balls so he threw three more, each of them missing. Ben thought about sending another Pokemon out to fight it, but he figured attacks may not be all that useful, since none of the Pokeballs even touched the being.

 

Not one to give up, Ben strafed back to his left, where the bulldozer was. He pulled out his fifth Ultra Ball and tossed it at the creature again, this time aiming for the question mark. And this time, he was right on target! The question mark creature simply vanished, as opposed to being absorbed into the Ultra Ball, however. As expected, the creature popped out of the Ultra Ball with little difficulty, simply reappearing much like how it vanished.

 

Ben was afraid now. If the Pokemon was merely watching before, now it was moving towards him. Ben detected no footsteps. He felt no wind. He heard nothing. Yet the thing he faced started to move towards him – rather, he could feel it move as it seemed to slowly grow in size. There was no other options now… Ben had to fight.

 

“Gallade, Go!”

 

The green Pokemon appeared in front of Ben from the Pokeball he held in his hand. Immediately, it closed its eyes wincing in pain, much like Ben did earlier when he first laid eyes on the mysterious Pokemon. Fortunately, Gallade recovered quicker than the human and was ready to fight.

 

“Alright.” Ben was sweating heavily now, even though a cool breeze started to blow. “Gallade, I want you to aim Psycho Cut right at the center of that thing.” Gallade grinned, and then threw a pair of psychic blades directly at the floating question mark. Just when the attack should have made contact, the floating question mark seemed to fade, and become transparent. When it did this, its shape became somewhat garbled, covered in static, and both Ben and Gallade found their headaches returning. The attack went through the strange Pokemon, and struck a dump truck a good distance away. Now safe, the Pokemon returned to its now familiar question-mark shape, with the headaches subsiding as well.

 

“What!?” Ben called out frantically. “Magical Leaf!” Gallade let out a cry and complied, conjuring phantasmal leaves from nothing then tossing them at the question mark. It countered by becoming transparent again, but when it reappeared, the leaves changed their trajectory in a smooth arc and went back towards their target. At this point, the question mark started to pulse rapidly, and the thick black outer ring becoming garbled, with multiple shades of gray moving chaotically along the ring. Ben shut his eyes due to the intense pain he was having. When he did open his eyes, all he saw was the strange Pokemon taking up all of his vision.

 

“AAAAH!” Ben yelled out loud before jumping many feet backwards. It turned out the Pokemon was now in between him and Gallade. Gallade seemed to have already figured out what was going on and was already facing the Pokemon in a battle stance. Ben grinned, noticing that the question mark was facing him, and not the Pokemon behind it. “Night Slash!” Ben yelled at the top of his lungs. Gallade replied by slashing at the enemy’s rear with his arm blades, coated with darkness. However, the question mark casually floated up a bit into the sky, causing Gallade to go right through the bottom of the outer ring.

 

“Don’t stop! Close Combat!” Ben wanted to end this now, and Gallade was more than happy to oblige. Gallade turned around and began striking the Pokemon with blow after blow, each hit targeting the question mark in the center. Ben was not surprised when the question mark Pokemon didn’t even flinch by the attacks, thinking the Pokemon may be tough enough to not be visibly scarred. Still each hit was clean, and even Pokemon like Steelix would feel the pain, even if it looked like each hit was ineffective.

 

The assault went on for a few more blows before the question mark became transparent again, like it did twice before. Gallade, in the middle of an attack, found itself on the other side of the Pokemon again, where it was struck by his own Magical Leaves from the front. It was just a minor blow, as Gallade turned around quickly and threw another punch. Instead, Gallade was struck by an invisible force. Then again. Then again. There were no signs of any attack from the question mark, yet Gallade was reeling like it was being assaulted by a raging Pokemon. This was really a bizarre experience for Ben, as the question mark was still facing *him*, not Gallade, as far as he knew. Yet it was attacking Gallade, who should be behind it. Gallade himself soon hit the dirt from the repeated mysterious attacks, and Ben had to do something.

 

When fighting wild Pokemon, Ben would sometimes toss a Pokeball at the Pokemon if his Pokemon were getting beat up too much, to give his Pokemon a chance to recover… and Gallade needed this chance. He used all five of his Ultra Balls, but he had a few Dusk Balls to use, until he can collect the Ultra Balls that missed. With no time to lose, Ben felt for the Dusk Ball in his bag, enlarged it, pulled it out, and tossed it at the question mark… and to his surprise he did not toss a Dusk Ball, but an Ultra Ball.

 

The Ultra Ball once again landed right on target, causing the Pokemon to vanish into the air. Gallade used this time to scurry back to his trainer, bruised and beaten. The ball shook once. Ben’s eyes widened, hoping for a capture. The ball shook again. Ben crossed his fingers, while Gallade resumed a fighting pose, in case the Pokemon escaped the Pokeball.

 

*Pop*

 

The question mark Pokemon once again reappeared spontaneously. It hovered for a moment and then flew off to the west, still facing Ben and Gallade as it went. Once again, it had no shadow and only seemed to shrink, but Ben could feel its presence vanishing. With the battle over, Ben and Gallade slumped to the ground, each surprised at how difficult it was to even get the Pokemon to leave the site.

 

---

 

Ben hurried back to the camp and reported to Arthur Neil, who used his Abra to scan his thoughts as he did. Arthur explained that many people claimed to drive off the Pokemon, but lied. Since Ben seemed truthful, half the reward will be placed into his bank account, as agreed, but only after Arthur could check the construction site to be sure. After that, Ben was escorted back to the pier so he can prepare to return home. Although his journey home was peaceful, Ben had no idea that merely encountering that unknown Pokemon would change his life.

 

[Weather Report - Stand]

Hmm, it's well-done so far. Which one was the first 'glitch' based after?

[encapturer]

The Psyduck incident wasn't based off any glitch.

 

The actual chapter one, now posted, *does* showcase the first glitch. It should be very obvious, although I used the 3rd gen sprite, since it is easier to describe, and I was more scared of that than the garbled mess 1st gen missingno. was.