Do you ever visit the cemetery? For the fallen? Or the Damed? Everyone knows that we visit for loved ones, that is like an Unspoken Rule. It is sometimes hard to recall things about them...Even harder to rember their warmth...

We are now older...
For a time we forgot. Our time consumed by newest Team Memebers. New joys of defeating the Eleite Four, and then taking on the Champion. Our minds filled with 'Gonna Catch'em All'. Some of us are breeding, Ev Training, Contest Preforming, Musicals, so on. Even the new Gen is comeing soon, waiting for time to pass... Maybe of getting an even newer team ready...A new Starter...

Then one can think back and reminisce...

Crystal. Yes older, more exp. Trainers might have started with Red or Blue, Even Yellow. Then came round to Crystal. Pokemon Crystal was my first game. My brother brought it home form middle school one day form his 'friend'. He played it almost constitly, while I ignored him and watched the anime series of it. Until He screamed a joyful cry...That made me almost shit myself. I asked him what had happened. I don't rember what he said but the highness of his voice was not often heard, this must have been what peaked me in the first place. I sat beside him and began to ask question about what did what. Before I knew it I had asked to start my own game.

"I don't care."

Little did I know how much I would be enticed by the little pixels that moved about the screen of shades of blue and black, red or orange. The funny motion in which the character walked. Or how attached I would become by the simple notion of Nicknameing my Starter. At the time I didn't know how popalur His species was, or even the consept that was Him. For my Starter I choose Cyndaquil. Naming him was easy I typed C-Y-N-D-E-R. Cynder. A fitting name for him I thought. He was mine and mine alone. Hi cry was awesome. Looking at his stats and the way it looked as if he was dancing to see me.

That very first night is all but a blure, as I pasted throught CherryGrove, Violet-Defeated Falkner, and even Azalea Town-Dedeating  Bugsy. But school was the next day and I was interupted by my old man to go to bed, a living nightmare to quiet and painfully wait to play again. I brought up the subject of save to my brother.

"Sure."

He didn't care if his 'Friend's' was saved over. Not caring either I saved, placed the GameBoy on my dresser, went to sleep with a wide grine on my face. It might be wishful thinking but I swear I heard his voice cry to me happily.

Later I heard a scream, but I was in a concious/unconcious state. What could I have done?  As the morining passed I come to find out the Crystal game had to be taken back to my brother's 'friend'. I was devistated... Not only by that but by the fact that HE had the nerve to touch my GameBoy and Crystal. Not even letting me hold it once more or to say goodbye to my Pokemon.

"No. You want me to hurry up."

He gave me a look. I asked why he even took it when he said I could play it. After he explained to me, and the begging-oh the begging of asking, pleading to let me have the game he shook his head and for once went out the door before me to the bus.

I fell asleep on the bus not wanting to think of poor Cynder and the rest of my team... or even that cry I had heard that morning. But as much as we try to push something away it always nages at the back of our minds. All throught the school day, math, english, lunch, socail studies, science... Waiting for the bus was just as bad, if not worse. I knew on the way home that the cartrige wouldn't be in the GameBoy waiting to be played, to contiune the jounery I started the day before, not even the joyus cry of little Cynder.

So walking into the house and grabbing the remote, before my bro could, flicking throught chanel after chanel, watching averge boreing shows. Something was thrown into my lap form across the room. Glare at the sorce, brother of mine. I reached for it and threw it back.

"You don't won't it?"

He held Pokemon Crystal in his hand. Acting as if he wouldn't give it back. Eyes wide, jumping up and over to him. I wrestled it out of his hand, ran to my room grabed the GameBoy in a life or death gripe. Flicked it on to check on my precious team. They were still there...A sigh of relief...Thank God. I began to play once again, making my way to the living room and taking my seat on the couch. While my dumbass of a brother sat in the chair watching TV. I asked bout it. Why hadn't he given it back? What happened?

"He made me mad. It's yours now, I can alway sget me another one."

That was all I would get form him. He aso failed to tell me the asshole of a friend had re-restarted the Crystal. All my progress was gone. I found a Totodile in Cynder rightful place at the head of the team. He was funny looking the way he was grinning, almost as if he knew I was upset that he was there and not Cynder or it could have been he looked like he had a full set of teeth with that stupid grin. Turning it off, I started a new game went throught the same song an'dance to begin playing again. As the Pro.Elm was talking bout the erran again, instead of allowing me to move about to pick my pokemon, he himself picked up a pokeball. Handing it to me-

"I found Cynder outside your house with a cold. Either put him back in his poke'ball or bring him in. Or I will be forced to take him. Ok?"

My little Character nodded. The sound of Cynder's cry rang in my ears as I was taken to his STATs screen. He was in the jumping pose again. I really didn't know anything bout the games, thought this was natural. Like a way to go back to your previous game. How wrong I was. Passing it off as well. As the next week passed I had to beat Falkner and Bugsy again, not really careing because I enjoied wipeing the floor with them. Thus I was also back at where I had left off. Stuck... Whiney and her Miltank were hard to defeat. Always fainting my team with Rollout or Stomp. This would be the first time I would take the time to acutlly look and explore a town. Goldenrod was fairly large. And the Slot machine games were addicting when you were saving up coins, who didn't? I also found my very first Eevee, yes, form Bill. I really don't rember what I named him. But had planned for him to be an Umbreon. Getting his friendship up was hard. so I would leave him as is. Without any help i would figure the game out, I didn't know the power of the internet like I do now. Cynder I also allowed to evolve. He was too cute, but he was a power house as well and would only benifit form it. I soon grew to love Quilava, then Typhlosion. Now when I think of Cynder, I see a strong baddass Typhlosion, but he was still the cute little Cyndaquil I had Started with.

I spent nearly a year form beating Whiney to defeating the Elilte Four. During that time I learned plans can change on a whim. At one point my brother got a hold of my game, I had asked him to get me throught Route 42's cave. He took his sweet time doing it. When he finally did I contiuned on.

"Oh, I evolved your eevee into a vaporeon to get across the water. It was that simple."

When I heard this, I almost dropped my game. I looked at him, the dam grin on his face, what was there to be happy about my sweet little eevee was something I didn't want. I asked him why? Why had he done that? It wasn't his pokemon to evolve, he didn't have any say so.

"I didn't feel like going back to teh Pokemon Center."

He gave me look of dumbfounded. Of 'what did I do?'. I hollard at him, I raised hell. I put the GameBoy down and was of crying in my room because of it. He had taken something precious form me. Something I could not forget or forgive. He later came to me saying he wantted to trade. I was weary, but I did so after he said he had something for me. It puta smile on my face, but wasn't the same.

"His names Hyper. Named after Hyper Beam."

I looked at the Name, then to him. I would get use to it with time. But it would feel weird knowing he wasn't my first.

"Hope this make up for it."

I glared at him saying if he though this did he was saddly mistaken. I told him to give me my little eevee back. But alas he couldn't. I would spend the rest of my game play with Hyper on my team. He was a great addition. I didn't get ride of my Vaporeon, but I did box him. I used him for surfing and that was it, other then a battle here or there. I played both Johto and Kanto, defeated the Elite Four and Champion, even contiuned to play until Ruby/Sapphire came out.
I keep Crystal, but I was Playing Ruby then. I'd go back every now and then to check and play round in Crystal. I had never heard a cry for all those years, not since the night before and day of when my Crystal game was being taken. Time passed, Ruby was added with Crystal, I wound get FireRed, it too would be added with Ruby and Crystal when I began to play Diamond. But I would make a grave error on my part. A couple of times my Nephew had asked me for my Crystal, I had said no everytime until, I finally gave in. It was his first pokemon game. And when he came over before he would ask to play it as long as he never saved. He never did, I trusted him with my most precious game.

It was almost a year later when I awoke form a nightmare. Breathing heavily, afraid. I was sweating, the ceiling fan was going but it did little for me. I was on the verge of crying, my brother sleep like a log, and my old man was gone. I tried to get up but I couldn't move. Something was laying on me. Heavey but not enough to keep me pinned only where I was. There was nothing there, yet I suddenly felt a familer presance, a famlier 'warmth.' Tears began to run down my cheeks, only to be lapped up by a slimy and hot tongue? I watched and listened, the very thing began to nuzzle against me. Then I saw him. My eyes went wide as the transparent figure of Cynder became visable. His cry the same as ever. More tears swelled. He looked at me confused. I wrapped my arms round him, saying I was sorry over and over again. He sounded as if he was purring to me as we laid there. I fell asleep like that, arms wrapped round something that no one else could see.

He would appear again when I had a nightmare, with each new time came Hyper and Vaporeon, sometimes all three. I would curl up with them around me, and fall asleep peacefully each time. I would dream of great adventure, exploreing, battles, discoveries, sometimes I would even dream of us lounging around, playing.
I stopped having nightmares. They still come around, only when a nightmare wakes me up, which is almost never. So I've taken up a small trip every now and then. I'll pop in a game cartrige and go visit the Pokemon Tower to see if I can really find the gravestones of Vaporeon, Hyper and Cynder. I never can. That must mean their still out there somewhere. One day we will be reunited, and fight along side one another. I have help in looking for them.

Remember that Totodile with the funny grin? Well when I got SoulSilver I picked Totodile, I swear it's him because he'll smile at me funny like that sometimes.I've taken to calling him Koray. Maybe he wants a rematch or something. I'm also in possession of Cynder's Daughter, Layla who also wishs to meet her old man. Us three together, I'm sure we can Find Cynder, Vaporeon and Hyper. Then we can all take on the Elite Four once again...


To Those that have had their games batteris die or have as I done, To them I say Your Pokemon are not dead. If you cannot find their gravestones at any Pokemon Tower, then they are yet out there, I'm sure...