(Not my ass going yippee in my head when I saw you were doing FNF stuff more frequently again & your requests were open /gen)
Related to the Hypno's Lullaby mod, I'd love to see some friendship headcanons with Shinto; she's literally my favorite character from the mod and I'd 100% hang out with her if given the chance.
If this is a bit vague, maybe something with Gray too? Maybe you're the player of the bootleg game and over the course of it, you realize the game's sentient and stuff with you becoming friends with BOTH of them!
I can imagine you carrying the Gameboy around to places like a Tamagotchi jwsdbjdb
Not me going yippee at this Shinto and Gray request <33
.........
So you obtained what you previously thought was Pokémon Silver (or at least a ripoff, given it was labeled “Gray” instead) from a Gamestop/thrift shop/friend who begged you to destroy it.
For nostalgia’s sake, you wanted to try it out since your Gameboy still worked.
Immediately you find out there’s no option to start a new game. You can only hit “Continue”.
Your character--Gray--was apparently at the entrance of a cave with sandy brown hues. He almost looked like a desaturated version of Red, but with spikier hair.
Checking the trainer card, you could tell the creators didn’t even try to hide the fact this was a bootleg game. The stats were total nonsense: Gray had badges from other regions (even Kalos and Alola, which should be impossible), the hours played and money collected both showed -100, and he had absolutely no Pokémon in his party. Not even a starter.
You then checked the Pokedex and saw only one Pokémon was registered:
Hypno, except this one was labeled “Shinto”, and was apparently a female. It had no furry collar, no pendulum, and hollow black eyes. But what was even more bizarre was the entry:
“SHINTO SO COOL!!!!SHINJTO NOT FROM BOOT LEG GAME BUT FROM REAL ONE!!!!PLAY WITH ME???”
Tbh it made you laugh a little, however upon returning to the overworld, Gray’s sprite turned to you.
“Don’t laugh..she’s scarier than you think.” The text box popped up.
You’re taken aback bc it could recognize your voice????
What the hell.
“You..can hear me?”
“I didn’t mean to startle you, it’s...just been a long time since anybody opened this game. It’s been so dark...and cold. What’s your name?”
“[Y/n]..”
As it turns out, Gray and Shinto (who showed up in the cave sometime later), were both sentient--aware that they’re trapped in a game. It wasn’t just the developers goofing around either...he had his own feelings.
Obviously he feels miserable about all of this, but Shinto doesn’t seem to care.
He doesn’t think of himself as a “real” trainer, though you reassure him it doesn’t matter how many badges or Pokémon he has.
“[Y/n], thank you but...there’s literally no Pokémon here except for her. They were too lazy to code anyone else in. I CAN’T be a trainer even if I wanted to be.”
“Then..why not catch her?” You suggested.
“....I tried once. She freaked out and nearly destroyed the entire game.” ‘‘..oh.”
Despite the circumstances, you managed to strike up a friendship with the two. Shinto would make standard Hypno noises with Gray as her translator. He can’t stand her but..she’s the only company he has. She’s like a cat who he loves/hates.
True to his word, there were no NPCs or Pokémon in the region. Just a mart, center, and Gray’s home. But you figured it was still worth exploring, so he let you despite not gaining any backstory on why the game was made like this.
Or even why Gray had such a distinct personality.
It’s clear they both have abandonment issues, so you’d take the Gameboy wherever you went, turning it on to chat with them about what was going on in the real world.
Hopefully one day you could bring them here, but for now you’ll make sure they’re not left in the dark anymore.
