(Image and inspiration credit go to Machta Laterrouge)
Anyone know about those old rumors of being able to fly to the moon in Emerald and catch Jirachi? Well, I found out it’s not just another Mew under the truck situation. See, I was fiddling with a ROM of Emerald and I found this script for a random chance event that was supposed to activate when you change Deoxys’s form, but the syntax was off so it’d never actually activate. I fixed it, boosted the chance a few decimal places, and was completely unprepared for what I was getting myself into…
“...? Something fell out of the meteor! You received HOMESICK WISH!”
I was only able to take one step away from the meteor before I was met with more text.
“Hello? Hello? You found it, right? That poor Pokemon’s wish?”
A yes/no prompt appeared. Not wanting to cancel anything by mistake, I hit yes.
“Oh, thank goodness! You must listen to me, I’m JIRACHI, a granter of wishes! What you hold is one of 5 wishes so strong that they’ve become physical. DEOXYS wants to go home so badly… I can relate. I’ve wanted to grant its wish for a long time now, but I need it brought to me! The others, too! Will you help me?”
Once again, a yes/no prompt. Once again, a yes.
“Oh, thank you so much! The other wishes reside where these most ancient of Pokemon rest.”
Jirachi then spouted some braille which translated to:
“Save for one, which rests at the site of the ritual.”
Having just gotten my old guide out for that braille, the obvious first stop was the Sealed Chamber.
“You found ORIGIN WISH!”
“Another simple wish, the trio want to be back with their creator. Let’s grant it soon, okay?”
At this point I thought to check it in my bag for its description, along with the Homesick Wish. They were simple, just “a wish to see home again” and “a wish to spend time with a parent.” However, while checking them I noticed my key items had the Eon Ticket again, so I decided Latias’s spot would be my next stop.
“You found FRATERNAL WISH!”
“Those two just want nothing to separate them. That’ll be an easy one once I get my hands on it!”
Its description was “a wish to always be together.” Just the easy ones left now, Sky Tower and Misty Cave.
“You found PEACEFUL WISH!”
“You found DESTRUCTIVE WISH!”
Both gave the same response from Jirachi:
“This one’s gonna be tough with another wish on the list, but I still want to try…”
Their descriptions were “a wish for the sky to be at peace,” and “a wish for the land and sea to be ever-changing.”
Once all the wishes were gathered, Jirachi spoke once more:
“Is that the last one? Great! While you’ve been out gathering the wishes, I’ve been preparing something special. Go to Mossdeep City, it’s waiting for you there!”
Flying over, there was a scientist standing right next to the Pokemon Center, waiting for me.
“Follow me.”
My character walked on its own behind them, going into the space center. Once inside and seeing all the other scientists, I noticed something strange about them. All of their glasses were blue instead of white, and there seemed to be a subtle glow around the frames.
“The rocket is ready.”
I was urged into the rocket by 3 scientists, unsure whether I was being escorted or forced in. A bitcrushed countdown began.
“10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.”
The screen went black. The sound of the rocket taking off was deafening, and then there was silence. It hung there for a full minute, and right when I was about to close the emulator…
“THE MOON.”
The location card came in just before the actual area, a pink, glassy landscape. Indentations like streets, pillars like buildings, but all solid, smooth. I wandered there for a bit, unsure what was going on, until I came across a clearing that looked like a park. In the center, the one I’d come to meet. Jirachi. I went up to them. The wishes flew out of my bag and circled around them. They spoke:
“Thank you so much, you're truly a kind person. Since you've gone to all the trouble to meet me, I shall gift you with knowledge lost to your world. The depictions of the eye on my body…”
The wishes formed a pentagram around Jirachi.
“...Are purely symbolic.”
The line across Jirachi’s body opened into a mouth, and devoured the 5 wishes.
A battle began.
“Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I thought myself invincible.”
I threw out my trusty Flygon. I had it use Dragon Claw.
“Dragon Claw was devoured!”
The move went to 0PP without even being used. Its other moves all were brought down instantly by this “devouring” ability.
“Struggle was devoured! Flygon became unresponsive!”
“My ability to consume desires ensured I would never face hardship, as I could simply steal the will to confront me away from those who would.”
Its HP bar turned black, and I was forced to pick another Pokemon.
“Struggle was devoured! Medicham became unresponsive!”
“However, I became greedy. One day, I gorged myself on the desires of an entire city. Converting wishes to magic takes time, so I slept.”
“Struggle was devoured! Torkoal became unresponsive!”
“So long did I sleep, that the desires of the city returned. So long did I sleep, that they built a vessel to take me away.”
“Struggle was devoured! Sableye became unresponsive!”
“So long did I sleep, that I woke up here, in a land devoid of wishes. What magic I had left was not enough to return me to Earth.”
“Struggle was devoured! Cradily became unresponsive!”
“And so I waited, idly dreaming of that accursed city, my malice melting the lunar sand into the glasswork that sprawls out before you now.
“Struggle was devoured! Swampert became unresponsive!”
“But now I can return, and it’s all thanks to you. Once again, you are truly a kind person.”
“...”
It returned to the overworld, the ground shaking and the screen turning white as Jirachi rose into the air. When the screen faded back in… I was in my room in Littleroot. All my Pokemon were fine, save for their moves all being at 0PP. I checked the PC, too, and my legendaries and mythicals all had 0PP on their moves as well. The next time I went to a Pokemon Center, there was one last blue spectacled scientist waiting for me by the counter.
“You wanted to catch me, right? Well, this won’t compare to the real deal, but I tried to stay accurate to the myth.”
“You received Jirachi!”
It was a completely normal Jirachi. The only thing off about it was that for its original trainer, it just read “;)”
Anyone know about those old rumors of being able to fly to the moon in Emerald and catch Jirachi? Well, I found out it’s not just another Mew under the truck situation. See, I was fiddling with a ROM of Emerald and I found this script for a random chance event that was supposed to activate when you change Deoxys’s form, but the syntax was off so it’d never actually activate. I fixed it, boosted the chance a few decimal places, and was completely unprepared for what I was getting myself into…
“...? Something fell out of the meteor! You received HOMESICK WISH!”
I was only able to take one step away from the meteor before I was met with more text.
“Hello? Hello? You found it, right? That poor Pokemon’s wish?”
A yes/no prompt appeared. Not wanting to cancel anything by mistake, I hit yes.
“Oh, thank goodness! You must listen to me, I’m JIRACHI, a granter of wishes! What you hold is one of 5 wishes so strong that they’ve become physical. DEOXYS wants to go home so badly… I can relate. I’ve wanted to grant its wish for a long time now, but I need it brought to me! The others, too! Will you help me?”
Once again, a yes/no prompt. Once again, a yes.
“Oh, thank you so much! The other wishes reside where these most ancient of Pokemon rest.”
Jirachi then spouted some braille which translated to:
“Save for one, which rests at the site of the ritual.”
Having just gotten my old guide out for that braille, the obvious first stop was the Sealed Chamber.
“You found ORIGIN WISH!”
“Another simple wish, the trio want to be back with their creator. Let’s grant it soon, okay?”
At this point I thought to check it in my bag for its description, along with the Homesick Wish. They were simple, just “a wish to see home again” and “a wish to spend time with a parent.” However, while checking them I noticed my key items had the Eon Ticket again, so I decided Latias’s spot would be my next stop.
“You found FRATERNAL WISH!”
“Those two just want nothing to separate them. That’ll be an easy one once I get my hands on it!”
Its description was “a wish to always be together.” Just the easy ones left now, Sky Tower and Misty Cave.
“You found PEACEFUL WISH!”
“You found DESTRUCTIVE WISH!”
Both gave the same response from Jirachi:
“This one’s gonna be tough with another wish on the list, but I still want to try…”
Their descriptions were “a wish for the sky to be at peace,” and “a wish for the land and sea to be ever-changing.”
Once all the wishes were gathered, Jirachi spoke once more:
“Is that the last one? Great! While you’ve been out gathering the wishes, I’ve been preparing something special. Go to Mossdeep City, it’s waiting for you there!”
Flying over, there was a scientist standing right next to the Pokemon Center, waiting for me.
“Follow me.”
My character walked on its own behind them, going into the space center. Once inside and seeing all the other scientists, I noticed something strange about them. All of their glasses were blue instead of white, and there seemed to be a subtle glow around the frames.
“The rocket is ready.”
I was urged into the rocket by 3 scientists, unsure whether I was being escorted or forced in. A bitcrushed countdown began.
“10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.”
The screen went black. The sound of the rocket taking off was deafening, and then there was silence. It hung there for a full minute, and right when I was about to close the emulator…
“THE MOON.”
The location card came in just before the actual area, a pink, glassy landscape. Indentations like streets, pillars like buildings, but all solid, smooth. I wandered there for a bit, unsure what was going on, until I came across a clearing that looked like a park. In the center, the one I’d come to meet. Jirachi. I went up to them. The wishes flew out of my bag and circled around them. They spoke:
“Thank you so much, you're truly a kind person. Since you've gone to all the trouble to meet me, I shall gift you with knowledge lost to your world. The depictions of the eye on my body…”
The wishes formed a pentagram around Jirachi.
“...Are purely symbolic.”
The line across Jirachi’s body opened into a mouth, and devoured the 5 wishes.
A battle began.
“Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I thought myself invincible.”
I threw out my trusty Flygon. I had it use Dragon Claw.
“Dragon Claw was devoured!”
The move went to 0PP without even being used. Its other moves all were brought down instantly by this “devouring” ability.
“Struggle was devoured! Flygon became unresponsive!”
“My ability to consume desires ensured I would never face hardship, as I could simply steal the will to confront me away from those who would.”
Its HP bar turned black, and I was forced to pick another Pokemon.
“Struggle was devoured! Medicham became unresponsive!”
“However, I became greedy. One day, I gorged myself on the desires of an entire city. Converting wishes to magic takes time, so I slept.”
“Struggle was devoured! Torkoal became unresponsive!”
“So long did I sleep, that the desires of the city returned. So long did I sleep, that they built a vessel to take me away.”
“Struggle was devoured! Sableye became unresponsive!”
“So long did I sleep, that I woke up here, in a land devoid of wishes. What magic I had left was not enough to return me to Earth.”
“Struggle was devoured! Cradily became unresponsive!”
“And so I waited, idly dreaming of that accursed city, my malice melting the lunar sand into the glasswork that sprawls out before you now.
“Struggle was devoured! Swampert became unresponsive!”
“But now I can return, and it’s all thanks to you. Once again, you are truly a kind person.”
“...”
It returned to the overworld, the ground shaking and the screen turning white as Jirachi rose into the air. When the screen faded back in… I was in my room in Littleroot. All my Pokemon were fine, save for their moves all being at 0PP. I checked the PC, too, and my legendaries and mythicals all had 0PP on their moves as well. The next time I went to a Pokemon Center, there was one last blue spectacled scientist waiting for me by the counter.
“You wanted to catch me, right? Well, this won’t compare to the real deal, but I tried to stay accurate to the myth.”
“You received Jirachi!”
It was a completely normal Jirachi. The only thing off about it was that for its original trainer, it just read “;)”
