Pokemon Firered: My Pidgey is a Murderer!

Welcome to A Gamer's Story!

Guys, I've been hit pretty hard by the Pokemon nostalgia bug. I believe the bug first started festering when Pokemon Go came out, and now I'm watching PIMPNITE battle videos on YouTube while I work out on my elliptical. Really, PIMPNITE is the larger culprit because it had me wondering how I would interact with the Pokemon games now that I've grown a little bit older. That's right, at the ripe, old, arthritic age of 26, I began to wonder how my elderly reasoning skills would affect how I played the game or trained my Pokemon. I haven't played a Pokemon game in awhile, mainly because the most recent game I own is, regrettably, Pokemon Diamond. Whhhhy did I choose Diamond. I finally caved and decided to play something poke-licious and poke-tritious! Get it? Delicious and Nutritious with poke--ok, nevermind... Because I lack any of the newer games or a 3DS, I am unable to play the later generation stuff. However, I have my handy Nintendo DS and my trusty Pokemon FireRed. You really can't go wrong with the remake of one of the classics. Playing it through again, I really want to try messing around with things like use types and Pokemon that I normally stayed away from. I think it'll be a lot of fun trying to play Pokemon FireRed a little out of my comfort zone. However, I've already learned one important thing while playing this gem of a game for a little over two hours: my level 8 Pidgey, named Tweeters, is a murderer.

Bulbapedia.bublapediagarden.net

I've enlarged its size to enhance its threat. Is it working?

This tale begins on Route 1, the little road between Pallet Town and Viridian City. I should have seen the signs. Little Tweeters was my first catch after receiving my Charmander, whom I have named Crimson. I wanted to catch a Ratata next. I used Tweeters, thinking, praying, that she'd hit the Ratata down just enough so I could catch it. Tweeters landed a critical hit. That Ratata went down. Tweeters was level 3. I had to use Crimson the next time, wondering why Tweeters would go full-blown savage on the poor little rat. Perhaps Tweeters wanted to be the only new Pokemon on the team? Perhaps Tweeters got jealous. Maybe Tweeters just didn't know her own strength.

I trudged on, picking up a Ratata that I decided to name Gnaw. Then, I encountered another Pidgey. It was female and level 4, and it was handling any damage I tried to deal it like a champ. I decided to catch it. Now I had two female Pidgeys. The latest catch I decided to name Epora, a reflecting elegance and grace. Then there was Tweeters... just Tweeters. I kept both Pidgeys because I wanted to see how their stats differed as they leveled up. I didn't intend to keep both for long. It was just an experiment. Perhaps Tweeters knew this. Perhaps having Epora on the team caused Tweeters to slowly build into a rage. Perhaps Tweeters was upset at me.

I moved on to Viridian Forest, and picked up both a Weedle and a Caterpie. Caterpie has always had a special place in my heart, but I never really tried having a Beedrill on the team. I decided to level them up as well. Admittedly, a full team of six Pokemon took awhile for me to get them to adequate enough levels to take on the gym leader of Pewter City, Brock. I picked Charmander because I haven't had a Charmander since the original Pokemon Red. The prospect made me feel a bit anxious because I couldn't just breeze through Pewter City with a Charmander like I would with Squirtle or Bulbasaur, but I wanted the challenge.

Moving through Viridian Forest, Tweeters certainly had her share of blood. In no time, she had grown to level 8. Still young, she had become stronger, more confident, and incredibly savage, practically foaming at the mouth. I couldn't anticipate that she'd developed a secret plot against me, to undermine both my time and my effort. You see, while moving through Viridian Forest, I had yet to run into a Pikachu. I made it to Pewter City, but I knew it was essential to have a Pikachu going forward. Not just because I wanted one, but by choosing Charmander, I made the water-themed second gym a little harder on myself.

I stayed near the Pewter City entrance of Viridian Forest. It took perhaps ten minutes, maybe fifteen. I had Tweeters in the front of the party. Then, I ran into a Pikachu. It was a weaker Pikachu, a level 3. It was female. I sent Tweeters to attack, hoping she'd deliver a blow just strong enough to let me catch the Pikachu.

Tweeters killed her.

Sent that Pikachu straight to Pika-heaven! Or maybe it's a Ghastly now?

I've never seen so much blood.

I've never seen a Pidgey roar into the sky with such bloodthirsty triumph.

In a single shot, she landed a critical hit. The Pikachu was destroyed. All I could think as I stared down at my screen was that Tweeters had become a murderer. I even think I said it out loud. But Tweeters' plot didn't end there. Oh no. In my stunned state, I was getting out of my bed. Somehow, I don't even know how, my Nintendo DS tumbled from my hands and smashed into the floor. It froze. I had to restart the game. Tweeters' murder had been undone, but so had about 45 minutes of training. Not only that, now my game was freezing more. It had already been freezing a little bit, probably because of it's age, but dropping it has exacerbated the issue.

While Tweeters' murder had never technically happened with this turn of events, the murdering Tweeters from the future definitely ensured her rage was unleashed. I don't know what caused Tweeters to break. Perhaps it started from the moment I named her Tweeters. In this new world, the world where Tweeters has yet to snap, I had managed to train up my Pokemon, evolving my Caterpie and Weedle into a Butterfree and Beedrill. I defeated Brock soundly, and I even caught a Pikachu shortly after starting the game from the past. The difference is the Pikachu I caught is a male. A male that Tweeters wouldn't have to compare herself to or compete with.

I don't know how far I'll be able to get into Pokemon Firered before the freezes become too much to play any further. I read it's something that happens with older games and sometimes it has to do with the battery. However, replacing or even disconnecting and reconnecting it will cause the save data to be deleted. I will have my run with this game and play what I can out of it, but I will always live in fear of Tweeters' mental stability. At any moment, she could snap. Ironically, her special attack stat is better than Epora, who has a better special defense stat. Maybe that says something. Maybe it doesn't. What I do know is you don't want to piss off a Pidgey.

Are any of your Pokemon savage murderers? Let me know in the comments!