Warning: Satirical allusions to child sexual abuse and impregnation
You begin your trek to the first gym, again walking past the creepy guy in Cherrygrove City. You walk through the route that was previously blocked, but are stopped by a youth not much older than you:
Without being given the chance to refuse, you are drawn into the fight. On trying to run, you are told that you cannot. If defeated, you black out with half your money gone and wake up in the animal hospital - your pet is healed, but nobody asks how you're doing. The nurse simply says "You're out late," and no more questions are asked.
After being forced into many more battles, you finally reach Violet City. After wandering about the town, you decide to go into the strange moving tower toward the north of the city. Inside, many old men stop you to fight, and tell you about the 'Elder' who will teach you a 'Hidden Move'. Need I say more? When you finally meet the Elder, after he has just sent away the youth who shoved you earlier (who, not surprisingly, is very unhappy following their encounter), he taunts you by supposedly asking your permission to check how much your pet likes you. Again, you have no choice but to enter into a 'battle' with this old man.
After he has 'checked your ties', he surmises that you and your pet should be able to use the Hidden Move: Flash.
So... you've now been taught to flash by an old man. He's given you the ability to teach your pet to flash too - bestiality? Quickly you grab the rope lying in the corner of the room (what did the 'Elder' use them for previously? Torture?) and escape out of the tower, avoiding the other creepy men.
You make your way to the gym - you might as well face your fate. However, a strange man outside, who introduces himself as Earl, leads you to his 'school' where he promises to teach you what you'll need to meet the gym leader. When inside, however, you can thankfully refuse his 'lessons'.
Finally, you enter the gym. The leader insists on showing you the power of his magnificent animals: again you cannot escape. Once the encounter is at last over, he gives you a token which he states will let your animal to use 'Flash' outside of battles, giving you a physical reminder of the humiliation of learning and having to use Flash.
His parting words to you are orders to continue onto the next gyms for your next encounters:
At last you are allowed to leave the gym. On leaving, however, you get a call from Professor Elm, your neighbour. Even though it's the early hours of the morning, he begs you to meet his assistant immediately as he has something for you. You try to avoid him, however both routes out of the city are blocked, and going back the way you came wouldn't help.
One route is blocked by a strange wiggling thing. As a young child you are encouraged to touch it and to appreciate it, clearly allegory for normalising child abuse:
The other exit is blocked by a man who calls you by name. He refuses to let you pass without talking to the professor's assistant. Is the professor's influence so great that he can now persuade ordinary townsfolk to keep you contained for his own purposes?
You finally give in and meet the assistant. He explains that he was ordered to find you by the professor, and to pass on to you the strange egg.
You can refuse to accept the egg, however your paths out of the city will continue to be blocked. The assistant also seems unsure what to do in case of a refusal, as the arrogant professor had surely expected that you would obey him without question.
Eventually you can accept the egg, and after some guilt-tripping to secure your loyalty to the professor, you are allowed to leave the city.
On leaving the city, you see the same man who'd previously blocked your path. If you unwisely choose to talk to him, he rubs in your face the humiliation you faced in the city, particularly in the gym.
If playing as a girl, this seed is a clear allegory for impregnation. This is never touched on again in the game. Then again, we're not told how much time is covered in the game: perhaps your torture is over in days, with the 'seed' as only one of the reminders of your horror. Perhaps your torture lasts for longer, and you either miscarry due to stress or exertion, or continue your pregnancy until the end of the game. There are no hospitals for people that seem to be available to you, so a safe abortion doesn't seem to be feasible.
Either way, whether you are a boy or a girl, you silently accept the seed as you've been taught to by now, and carry on without daring to look back.
You begin your trek to the first gym, again walking past the creepy guy in Cherrygrove City. You walk through the route that was previously blocked, but are stopped by a youth not much older than you:
Without being given the chance to refuse, you are drawn into the fight. On trying to run, you are told that you cannot. If defeated, you black out with half your money gone and wake up in the animal hospital - your pet is healed, but nobody asks how you're doing. The nurse simply says "You're out late," and no more questions are asked.
After being forced into many more battles, you finally reach Violet City. After wandering about the town, you decide to go into the strange moving tower toward the north of the city. Inside, many old men stop you to fight, and tell you about the 'Elder' who will teach you a 'Hidden Move'. Need I say more? When you finally meet the Elder, after he has just sent away the youth who shoved you earlier (who, not surprisingly, is very unhappy following their encounter), he taunts you by supposedly asking your permission to check how much your pet likes you. Again, you have no choice but to enter into a 'battle' with this old man.
After he has 'checked your ties', he surmises that you and your pet should be able to use the Hidden Move: Flash.
So... you've now been taught to flash by an old man. He's given you the ability to teach your pet to flash too - bestiality? Quickly you grab the rope lying in the corner of the room (what did the 'Elder' use them for previously? Torture?) and escape out of the tower, avoiding the other creepy men.
You make your way to the gym - you might as well face your fate. However, a strange man outside, who introduces himself as Earl, leads you to his 'school' where he promises to teach you what you'll need to meet the gym leader. When inside, however, you can thankfully refuse his 'lessons'.
Finally, you enter the gym. The leader insists on showing you the power of his magnificent animals: again you cannot escape. Once the encounter is at last over, he gives you a token which he states will let your animal to use 'Flash' outside of battles, giving you a physical reminder of the humiliation of learning and having to use Flash.
His parting words to you are orders to continue onto the next gyms for your next encounters:
At last you are allowed to leave the gym. On leaving, however, you get a call from Professor Elm, your neighbour. Even though it's the early hours of the morning, he begs you to meet his assistant immediately as he has something for you. You try to avoid him, however both routes out of the city are blocked, and going back the way you came wouldn't help.
One route is blocked by a strange wiggling thing. As a young child you are encouraged to touch it and to appreciate it, clearly allegory for normalising child abuse:
The other exit is blocked by a man who calls you by name. He refuses to let you pass without talking to the professor's assistant. Is the professor's influence so great that he can now persuade ordinary townsfolk to keep you contained for his own purposes?
You finally give in and meet the assistant. He explains that he was ordered to find you by the professor, and to pass on to you the strange egg.
You can refuse to accept the egg, however your paths out of the city will continue to be blocked. The assistant also seems unsure what to do in case of a refusal, as the arrogant professor had surely expected that you would obey him without question.
Eventually you can accept the egg, and after some guilt-tripping to secure your loyalty to the professor, you are allowed to leave the city.
On leaving the city, you see the same man who'd previously blocked your path. If you unwisely choose to talk to him, he rubs in your face the humiliation you faced in the city, particularly in the gym.
He leaves you with a parting 'gift':
If playing as a girl, this seed is a clear allegory for impregnation. This is never touched on again in the game. Then again, we're not told how much time is covered in the game: perhaps your torture is over in days, with the 'seed' as only one of the reminders of your horror. Perhaps your torture lasts for longer, and you either miscarry due to stress or exertion, or continue your pregnancy until the end of the game. There are no hospitals for people that seem to be available to you, so a safe abortion doesn't seem to be feasible.
Either way, whether you are a boy or a girl, you silently accept the seed as you've been taught to by now, and carry on without daring to look back.
