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General Information

In the world of Glitchverse, everything is what you might expect from the Pokémon games: young boys and girls are receive their first Pokémon from local Professors, travel around to collect Gym Badges, defeat some criminals along the way, and end up as the most powerful Trainers in their Regions. However, not all is at it seems: under a thin veneer of normalcy, there is something very, very wrong with the world. The passage of time is no longer certain. Reality, slowly but surely, is becoming undone at the seams.

In this world, certain characters have the ability to manipulate the time and space of their reality--which has led to a slow deconstruction of the stuff that holds their world together. The narrative of Glitchverse spans over several generations of games: it currently reaches through generations I-IV, affecting the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh.

Important Terminology

Glitch
A catch-all term used to describe impossible phenomena and unusual behavior caused by distortions of reality. While most glitches were inspired by or are actual glitches within the games, others reflect in-game mechanics. Examples of glitches are: eggs that never hatch or small ledges that can only be jumped off of and never climbed up.

People, Pokémon, and physical locations are all susceptible to becoming "glitched". For example, a glitched person might walk back and forth on a set path or repeat the same thing over and over again while a glitched Pokémon might know moves that it would otherwise be impossible to know. Glitched locations might have areas where it is impossible to walk, or have weak spots where you might fall into the ground into nothingness. Static and distortion are tell-tale signs of glitches.

While most glitches are side-effects of resetting and other distortions, Red is capable of warping reality and creating his own glitches.

Reset
An event where time is literally reset back to a starting point. A hard reset returns a loop in time back to its starting point, while a soft reset rewinds time back within a few hours. When time is reset, most people are unaware of what has happened. The concept of resetting stems from a player’s ability to hard reset their game, erasing all previous data, or closing the software and returning to the last point where they had saved.

Red and Gold are the only people capable of resetting.

MissingNo./”It”
Strange, unreal entities whose existence defies logic and warps reality around them. As they are unable to exist in the physical world on their own, they must infect the mind of a living host to influence the physical world. From there, they can influence the thoughts and behavior of their hosts who will inevitably begin to warp reality around them based on their subconscious desires. They have no real personality or thoughts of their own; just a single-minded desire to unmake reality.

Hosts will, in order to preserve their own sanity, often live in complete denial of what happens to them. However, once they became aware of their actions, their abilities can be brought under control. Only characters who have encountered and been infected by a MissingNo. have the ability to warp reality. Those infected share some abilities, but tend to have particular specialties.

Red, Gold, and Dawn are all infected by MissingNo.

Distortion World
A strange world that occupies the same space as the ordinary world, where the normal rules of time and space no longer mean anything. It is the home of forces of destruction, who seek to unmake the world. Anyone or anything that enters it is bound to become distorted, too.

Mystery Zone
When Dawn steps out of normal reality, she steps into a place she calls the "Mystery Zone". It's an endless black void, occasionally broken up by trees, dirt paths, and water. Sometimes, there are even people. None of it is real but, if she counts her steps, she can walk anywhere in the world--no matter what obstacles stand in her way. Whenever she steps in or out of the Mystery Zone, Dawn leaves small holes in reality. The only person who can intentionally enter and exit the Mystery Zone is Dawn.

Helpful References

Contemporary History of the Pokémon World: A reference for the events that happen in-game.
World Map: A reference for the geography of the Pokémon World.
Glitches: A reference of glitches that occur in the programming of the games.
MissingNo.: An article specifically about the MissingNo. glitch, as it appears in the programming of the RBY games.
Void Dimension: A video demonstrating "twerking," a technique found in Gen IV games where you can move your character off the normal graphic tiles of the game.

Characters

Red
The strongest Trainer. Within a year, he effortlessly completed the Gym Challenge, defeated Team Rocket, completed Professor Oak's Pokédex, and became the youngest Pokémon Champion the Indigo League. He stumbled upon, by accident, a weak spot in reality and encountered something that should not exist. He once held the world in an endless loop of glitches and resets. He finds normal reality to be boring and has little-to-no sense of permanent consequence, due to his ability to reset.

He has waited on the secluded summit of Mt. Silver for three years, bound by two promises he made to his "best friend". When he met Gold, he shared a certain secret with him. [x]

Blue
Red's supposed "best friend" and rival. Three years ago, after spending what felt like an eternity trapped in the year of their journey, he made Red promise that he would never reset again. But when it became clear that Red could not (or would not) stop creating glitches in the new world, Blue took him to Mt. Silver and forced another promise out of him: "Wait here for me. When I come back for you, we'll go down together."

After leaving Mt. Silver, Blue used his influence as a former Champion and Gym Leader to make it nearly impossible for anyone to enter the area. He has no intention of ever going back for Red. Apathetic and resigned to the current state of affairs, he does his best to live a "normal" life within the constraints of Gold's new year-long loop.

Gold
A boy who's very bad at making friends. Nervous and shy, Gold doesn't think much of himself--despite the fact that he's a talented Trainer and a remarkably kind person. He left his hometown, New Bark Town, to chase a mean-spirited thief who stole a Pokémon from Professor Elm. Because he couldn't stand to see innocent Pokémon suffer, he defeated Team Rocket. Because he wanted to improve himself, he took on the Gym Challenge and defeated the Elite Four. Because he wanted to meet the world's strongest Trainer, he climbed Mt. Silver.

And, because of the weakness in his heart, he began to reset. He is unaware of the way time twists and buckles to the tune of his desires.

Silver
A mean-spirited thief who despises weakness, especially in himself. A long time ago, Silver became aware of Gold's resets. Although he once struggled to break free from the loop, in any way he could, he has long since given up on escaping. He has an incredible, meticulously detailed memory: with every new reset, he writes and rewrites an account of the schedule he must keep, the things he must say, and the Pokémon who disappear with every reset. Obsessive about time, he keeps a running count of the hours, minutes, and seconds in his head and hates to "waste" it with things like sleeping. [x]

Brendan
On the sunny shores of Hoenn, Berries no longer grow. Still, Brendan faithfully cares for and waters them--because there's nobody else who can. The only person in Hoenn who is aware of the horrifying reality that "time based events no longer occur". Mild-mannered and shy, Brendan is an accomplished trainer, coordinator, and breeder. However, he doesn't raise Pokémon anymore: anything he deposits into his PC will disappear, six by six, without a trace. He keeps track of time the best he can by making a tally mark in a journal every time he wakes up. So far, he's made 1,461 marks.

Dawn
Dawn has waited on the lonely summit of Mt. Coronet for a very long time to apologize for things she said in anger to her friends. A long, long time ago, she entered a frightening place called the Distortion World to chase after a man who wanted to destroy all human emotion and spirit. Although she escaped that place, she was not the same person who entered it: her time became stretched out and distorted, out of sync with the world around her. She has the unusual ability to step outside of normal reality to an uncanny place she calls the Mystery Zone. Her dream is to visit Hoenn, where it's always sunny, and meet a boy named Brendan: a kind friend who has migrated his Pokémon to her, six by six. She dutifully cares for and raises them in his stead. [x]

Region Status

Kanto & Johto
Kanto and Johto are the places where reality is weakest; only a thin veneer of normalcy is stretched across the Regions, which is often shattered in the wake of destructive glitches. Some areas are worse than others, the most notably being Mt. Silver and the the east coast of Cinnabar Island.

People are able to think, speak, and move of their own volition, but their behavior is often strange, vacant, and wrong. Time seems to move, but never steadily; sometimes too fast, other times too slow, occasionally skipping back when a soft reset takes place. Little glitches are everywhere, making life and travel somewhat hazardous if you don't know what to look out for. Mt. Silver is extremely dangerous, not just because of the strong Pokémon that live there--but because of the corruption and distortion that Red surrounds himself with. The entire area is rife with glitched Pokémon and places where reality falls apart completely.

However, things become better when Gold is around. Because he can't see how bad things are, he subconsciously stabilizes and corrects the world that immediately surrounds him. Around Gold, colors are brighter; sounds clearer; people are more animated and lively. Certain activities, such as Goldenrod City's Bug Catching Contest, revolve around his presence; if he's not there, they don't happen.

Hoenn
The sun is always shining in Hoenn. It hangs in the sky, a little past noon, and doesn't move. Berries do not grow. The tides do not move. Its cities are unnaturally quiet, for people do not speak unless they are spoken to--and even then, they endlessly repeat the same phrase over and over again. They move as if in a daze, never straying from their set paths. The only things that are capable of change are Pokémon.

Hoenn is trapped by a powerful glitch, caused by the resets originating from Kanto and Johto. Because of the vast distance between the Regions, it takes time for the waves of distortion to reach Hoenn's shores. Because of this, Hoenn is trapped in a much more sinister loop than Kanto and Johto are; time skips like a scratched record, endlessly looping the same few seconds.

Sinnoh
When the resets first came out of Kanto, Dialga and Palkia were able to sense them before they hit the shores of Sinnoh. Dialga's presence ensured that time would flow normally; Palkia's that nothing could enter or leave, protecting Sinnoh from distortion. Sinnoh became cut off from the rest of the world. Time flowed normally, space was stable, and life went on as normally as it could.

Unfortunately, they were so preoccupied with protecting it from the dangers outside the barrier that they could not prevent the disaster that slowly unfolded within it. When Dawn chased Cyrus into the Distortion World, she became infected with a MissingNo. and carried it out with her. Although she was never drawn to reset in the way that Red and Gold have--(which, ironically, would have surely drawn Dialga's attention to her)--her habit of visiting the Mystery Zone left small holes in reality every time she entered and left it. When she was prevented from leaving the Region to go to Hoenn in order to meet Brendan, Dawn chose to take matters into her own hands: she forcibly captured both Dialga and Palkia and, when they did not meet her demands, abandoned them in the Mystery Zone.

Now, time in Sinnoh has ground to a halt much like it has in Hoenn. Reality is splintered from the countless holes left behind by Dawn's restless trips, trying to find the weak points in the barrier that remains.

Timeline of Events

The events of Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon Ruby happen over the course of one year. Red travels Kanto, collects eight Gym Badges, defeats Giovanni and Team Rocket, defeats the Elite Four, defeats Blue to become the Champion of the Indigo League, and completes the Pokédex. Brendan travels Hoenn, collects eight Gym Badges, defeats Maxie and Team Magma, defeats the Elite Four, and defeats Steven to become the Champion of the Hoenn League.

Red becomes infected by MissingNo on the eastern coast of Cinnabar Island. After being tormented by hallucinations, glitches, and distortion, Red accidentally drowns himself and instinctively resets for the first time.

After this first reset, Red unconsciously traps Kanto and Johto in a year-long time loop. Time in Hoenn stops. Sinnoh is cut off from the rest of the world by Dialga and Palkia.

Blue becomes aware of the resets. Eventually, he is able to discover that they're coming from Red; later, he is able to make Red aware of what he's been doing. After gaining control of his ability, Red does not stop resetting; instead, he continues to create glitches in the world around him.

Blue and Red have a fight about the resets. It ends, violently, with Blue's death. When Red resets to bring him back, Blue makes him promise that he will never reset again.

Red and Blue go through the year one last time. At the end of it, they return to Pallet Town. Although Red keeps his promise not to reset, he is not able to keep himself from creating new glitches.

Blue takes Red to Mt. Silver, an isolated mountain between Kanto and Johto where few people travel because of the strong Pokémon that live there. There, he forces Red to make a second promise: that he will stay on the mountain until Blue comes back for him. When he leaves the mountain, Blue uses his influence as a former Champion and a Gym Leader to make it impossible for normal people to enter the area. He has no intention of ever going back for Red.

Three years pass. At this point, the flow of time returns to normal for Kanto and Johto; however, it is still frozen in Hoenn and Sinnoh remains sealed off.

The events of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Platinum happen. In Johto, Gold collects eight Gym Badges, defeats the remnants of Team Rocket, and becomes the new Champion of the Indigo League; not ready to settle down, he travels to Kanto and adds the Badges of its Gym Leaders to his collection. By pure chance, he becomes the one person who can climb Mt. Silver.

Gold climbs Mt. Silver, meets with Red, and battles with him. After the battle, they talk; Red, sensing that he is dissatisfied with the results of his journey, shares a secret with him. "If you talk to this person in Viridian City and go visit Cinnabar Island and walk on the shore, you'll see something cool." Gold becomes infected with a MissingNo. and begins to reset.

At this point, Kanto and Johto are trapped within another time loop. Since he is not the one resetting, Red has not broken his promise with Blue.

Silver eventually becomes aware of Gold's resetting. Over the course of about 150 resets, he comes to understand both the pattern of the year and the source of the resets: Gold. He spends another 50 odd loops trying to make Gold aware of what he's doing, actively escape the loop in any way he can, and to better understand why Gold started to reset. Eventually, his research leads him to Mt. Silver. He travels the summit, meets Red, and misses his deadline. At the start of the next loop, Silver gives up on escaping and instead focuses his efforts on making the loop last as long as possible.

The resets continue.

In Sinnoh, Dawn travels the Region chasing after her best friend, Barry. Along the way, she collects Gym Badges and becomes involved in fighting against Team Galactic. The conflict comes to a head on Mt. Coronet, when Cyrus, Team Galactic's Leader, is dragged into the Distortion World. Cynthia, Sinnoh's Champion, and Dawn chase after him. Within the Distortion World, Dawn is infected by a MissingNo. She defeats Cyrus and captures Giratina using a Master Ball, foiling his plans to create a world without spirit.

Because time flows normally in Sinnoh, Dawn finds herself slowly being left behind as her friends and family age. After an exceptionally ugly argument with them, on the advice of Cynthia to go "cool her head," she secludes herself on Mt. Coronet out of a fear of hurting them. Her sense of time is so distorted that she doesn't notice when years turn to decades and her loved ones pass away before she has a chance to apologize. Her memories of normal life begin to fade.

During her time on Mt. Coronet, Dawn spends more and more time in the Mystery Zone. Because she wants to meet someone "like her," it shows her Brendan; Dawn's desire to connect with him is what creates the Pal Park, where she migrates his Pokémon to Sinnoh until there are none left in his PC.

Dawn descends Mt. Coronet and discovers how much the world has changed without her. With nothing left tying her to Sinnoh, she obsesses about meeting Brendan in Hoenn. When she discovers that travel by normal means is impossible, she takes matters into her own hands: she captures Dialga and Palkia and, when they do not give in to her demands, she abandons them in the Mystery Zone. Without Dialga to maintain the flow of time, Sinnoh falls under the destructive effects of the resets.