Let's play a quick round of "what ridiculous nonsense just happened to me today."
I became a Gym Leader by accident.
My badge is a pixelated image of my shiny Umbreon doing the 😎 emoji.
The League officials not only didn't arrest me, they encouraged my madness.
Karen, my Goth Floette, is now offering vibe checks at my Gym.
Chadlax started selling beanbags. Business is booming.
And now, I've received a direct message.
Not through PokéNav. Not even through the standard Trainer Chat App.
No. This message appeared in my system menu. The one only I can see. The one that controls my summoned Pokémon and lets me do things like turn off gravity for comedic timing.
It read:
[Incoming message from: USER_404]"You're not the only one who loaded a save."
So that's… probably fine.
The Chat Window No One Else Can See
"Hey, Amber," I asked, "what would you do if someone messaged you through the literal game engine?"
She looked up from her clipboard. "Cry and then log out. Oh wait, I can't. Because this isn't a game for me."
"Right," I said. "Asking for a friend."
Amber narrowed her eyes. "Is this about the glitch again?"
"No! …Kinda."
I opened the message again. New lines had been added:
You are invited to join: THE_404_FORUMPrivate server – invite-only – clearance: narrative anomalyAccept invite? [YES] [NO] [oh god please no]
Chadlax, sitting nearby and assembling a burrito using only one hand and a spoon, peeked over.
He clicked [YES] with his spoon.
"Chadlax no—"
Welcome to Glitchcord
Everything froze. The air pixelated. My vision blurred, then reassembled into a very retro-looking interface.
Suddenly, I was somewhere else.
Not physically, but like... my UI was now a glorified Discord server.
The title bar read:
THE_404_FORUM – For Glitched, Hacked, and Other "Exceptions"(Elite Four Division – Undercover Channel)
I scrolled.
Usernames in the chat included:
MOD_GARY_OAK
LORE.EXE
CHAMPION_RED.DEAFENED
USER_GLITCHINA
SYSTEM_BOB (Defunct)
And, of course:
USER_404
Someone pinged me immediately.
USER_404:@SaveFileGod finally logged in. Took you long enough.
I typed back:
SaveFileGod:sorry was busy accidentally becoming a gym leader and making a sentient floette judge people's vibes
A new message popped in from someone named GLITCHINA:
GLITCHINA:is she single or just existential
"Both," I whispered aloud.
So... Who Are These People?
Amber was poking my shoulder in the real world. "You've been staring into space for five minutes. Are you dead?"
"I think I joined the League's secret glitch Discord."
"...That's not a thing."
"It is now."
According to the channel logs, THE_404_FORUM was originally a chat between League insiders who discovered the game code was slowly... waking up. They were testing reality boundaries, watching for trainers like me who could warp the system.
Which, surprise, I'm apparently one of.
USER_404:You're the 5th one this cycle. The others burned out. One tried to date their Gardevoir. That got weird.
SaveFileGod:…yikes. So what do you want from me?
USER_404:I want you to join us. The League's structure is a joke. The real power lies in narrative control. We're shaping the story now. And you? You've already written your own badge into canon.
GLITCHINA:yeah we call that a "soft overwrite"ur kinda goated with the glitch sauce
I felt a mix of flattery and existential dread.
USER_404:We need you at the League Summit. You're not just a Gym Leader anymore. You're a narrative entity. They're watching you now.
Meanwhile, Back in Reality
As I snapped out of the chat, Karen floated in front of me with her sparkles arranged into an ominous ✨question mark✨.
She tilted her head. "Your vibe just shifted. Did you get recruited into a glitch cult?"
"…Yes?"
"Cool."
Amber took my shoulder. "If you're done having a psychic episode, you should know: there's a man in a cape outside the gym. He says he's from the Elite Four."
I turned slowly.
Standing dramatically in front of my Gym, cape flapping in wind that wasn't there, was none other than…
Steven Stone.Champion, Rock-type connoisseur, and certified silver fox.
He was tapping a PokéBall against his hand like he was waiting for me to step outside and do something… narratively interesting.
Chadlax Gets Promoted
Steven eventually entered.
He looked around the gym, took one look at my "puzzle" (i.e., Chadlax snoring on a beanbag), and nodded approvingly.
"This is the most psychologically accurate Gym I've seen in years."
"Uh… thanks?"
He then looked at Chadlax. "This Snorlax. He has presence."
"Because he takes up 90% of the gym's floor."
"No. I mean real presence. The system recognizes him as a fixed point. You've turned him into a narrative anchor."
I blinked. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Steven said, placing a hand on Chadlax's head, "we want to promote him. Effective immediately, he's the newest member of the Elite Four."
Chadlax didn't react.
Then, slowly, he opened one eye, took a bite of his burrito, and nodded once.
I swear the lights dimmed. Music played. Somewhere, a badge materialized out of air and hovered in front of him.
Karen Glows Again (Because of Course She Does)
Right as I was processing the absurdity of Chadlax being promoted mid-nap, Karen floated into the center of the gym and began glowing again.
Not just sparkles this time. Full-on nuclear magical-girl energy.
Amber checked her scanner. "She's evolving."
"She's a Floette."
"She's still evolving."
The sparkles formed into a screen. Text scrolled across it:
ERROR: THIS FORM IS NOT DOCUMENTED.NAME: ???TITLE: Vibe Judge SupremeTYPE: Fairy / Uncertainty
Karen now had a crown made of floating punctuation marks.
She looked at me, smugly. "The vibes have ascended."
One Last Message
That night, I checked the 404 chat again.
USER_404:You're not like the others.You don't just bend the rules.You've made the game narrate itself differently.Keep doing what you're doing.But be careful.
SaveFileGod:Of what?
USER_404:Of the one who saved before you.He's waking up too. And he's angry someone stole his file.
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