AN: hi! So this is technically a Pearl Nuzlocke, but I'm not really going to be following the story that closely. I'm replacing some of the canon characters with my own, but their teams and battles will be the same.
Also, I know this fic has a romance tag, but it's definitely going to be slow build. I'm not sure yet who Rena's going to end up with, so... yeah ;-; I figured that if anybody even reads this I might just pick whoever seems the most popular.
As a warning, this story is going to be a lot darker than the games and the show. Not enough for an M rating, but definitely a little more mature. It's also completely unedited, which deserves a warning in itself ;-;
As always, thanks for reading c: reviews are always, always welcome!
My childhood was all variables - pristine hotel rooms, different cities and different skies, online school courses because how could Ishe attend a normal school when I moved to a different city every other week? There was only one constant, one thing that never changed: never tell anybody about what daddy does for a living.
My memories of those times are a little hazy, but I remember daddy coming home with blood on his hands and all over his clothes every night, crimson flowers blooming over the big red R in the middle of his shirt. I remember that time when the police finally caught up to us, and when daddy told me to put my hands over my eyes and then all I heard was the loud bang-bang-banging of gunshots. I remember daddy grabbing my shoulders and herding me out of the bloodstained room, shushing me as I sobbed inconsolably, fat tears rolling down my chubby, blotchy cheeks.
Sometimes, when I wake up in the early morning, cold sweat running down my back and oxygen forcing itself in and out of my heaving chest, I can remember the way the pretty blonde officer's eyes widened as she choked on her own blood and how she screamed so loudly, desperate and terrified. I don't like to think about it.
It has been almost seven years since I left Johto, but Johto never left me.
I wake up at six o'clock every morning, even though it's the middle of summer and I don't have to attend school. There's something about the way the sun looks as it rises, dyeing the wispy cirrus clouds lavender and turning the cobblestone sidewalks pale pink. Twinleaf Town is a small, small place, with a low population and very little to do, but the sheer normalcy is enough to make me happy. I even walk by the school wistfully, because I have a free ride to one of the most prestigious academies in Sinnoh, and I almost want summer to be over so I can finish my last year of high school and be another step closer to my engineering degree.
By the time the clock strikes noon, my walk has led me past the scenic trails that lead out of town and to Lake Verity. I can see two people standing in the distance, staring out at the tranquil lake and conversing. I walk forward, somewhat curious. I don't recognize either of them, and that's a remarkable fact in itself. Living in a town as small as Twinleaf, it's almost expected to be at least acquainted with all the residents.
Before I can reach them, however, they both turn and begin following the trail back. "Pardon me," one of them says, dodging past me on the narrow trail. He's twenty something, with dark hair and casual clothes, the polar opposite of the older, formally dressed man walking in front of him.
When I reaches the lakeshore, I see a brown leather briefcase resting on the sand. I kneels down, picking it up. "Must belong to those guys I saw earlier," I mutter, picking it up. "I'll just put it in the lost and found or something." I'm about to walk back when I hear a loud squawk. The briefcase hits the sand as I feel a sharp pain on her head, swinging around to see two agitated starly flying in circles around me.
I try to bat them away, but they flap out of my reach and peck at my arms, pinpricks of pain popping up all over my forearms. I shield her face, glancing at the ground. The briefcase is half open, a couple of papers lying on the ground next to a pokeball.
As the starly soar around for another attack, I groan and grab the pokeball, tossing it into the air and praying for it not to be empty. There's a burst of white light, and I squint instinctively. When I open my eyes again, there's a fiery sort of pokemon standing on the ground, eyeing me curiously. Chimchar, the back of my mind supplies, half-forgotten recollections from the Pokemon 101 class I had to take in freshman year flooding my mind. I stare back for a moment, flinching when the birds dive at me again. "Chimchar! Use, uh…" I trail off nervously, wracking my brain for a move that it might know. "Flamethrower?" I query hopefully.
The chimchar eyes me, his expression completely unimpressed. "Scratch?" I offer. The chimchar brightens up and jumps at one of the starly, swiping at it. It caws indignantly, flying towards a tree and roosting there. The other starly tackles chimchar, knocking the pokemon over.
I'm about to order the chimchar to attack again when the guy from before bursts back into the clearing, his expression harried. "I can't believe I forgot the briefcase-" he stops in his tracks, staring at me in surprise. "...What?" The remaining starly squawks, startled, and flies away. "You didn't… you didn't battle with one of the pokemon from that case, did you?" I feel my stomach turn uneasily, avoiding eye contact and staring at the ground nervously.
"I picked it up so I could return it but then I got attacked by those birds," I mumble. "I didn't mean to use it, honestly! It was just the first thing I saw and I-"
"It's okay, it's okay. Relax," the guy exclaims, running a hand through his black hair. He walks forward, shoving the papers back into the briefcase and rebuttoning it. "Here, why don't you come with me? You can explain everything to the professor. You didn't have that much of a choice in the matter. Besides, Sandgem Town is pretty close by. Unless you have anything urgent to do?"
"No, nothing," I reply, confused. "Wait, professor?" He stares at me in obvious surprise, gaping.
"You know, Professor Rowan? Sinnoh's pokemon professor? You've never heard of him?"
"Nope," I admit. "I'm not really… into pokemon, I guess." The guy shrugs, beginning to walk out of the clearing.
"Your loss. I'm Lucas, by the way."
"I'm Rena. Rena Day," I reply, jogging to catch up with him.
"So you live around here?" he asks.
"Of course," I respond. "There aren't exactly a lot of visitors, seeing as it's pretty much the middle of nowhere." Lucas laughs, his eyes crinkling up.
"You have a point. You just don't really look the type," he jokes. "No offense or anything."
"I'm from Kanto, originally," I confess. "I moved to Johto when I was two, though, so I don't remember much from there."
"Seems like you've travelled a lot already," Lucas admits. I look at the ground, shoving my hands in my pockets.
"Yeah, I guess I have.
We reach Sandgem Town in about an hour and a half, Lucas directing me towards a large, seemingly recently built building. "This is the lab," he announces. "Professor Rowan just moved here, actually. This is my second day back in Sinnoh since a while, actually." I walk inside, eyeing all the complicated technology surrounding me, following Lucas to the old man near the back of the room.
I'm too nervous to say much, so Lucas explains most of what happened. By the time he's finished, Professor Rowan is staring at me with an unidentifiable expression. It's actually very intimidating. "So you used that chimchar," he muses, glancing at the chimchar currently clinging to my leg. "You only met it a couple of hours ago, yet it is already that attached to you... Very well!" he exclaims, startling me.
"W-what?" I say, preparing for the worst.
"I have decided. That chimchar is now yours to keep, under one condition."
"What? Why?" I splutter, my eyes wide.
"The bond between you two surpasses that of many trainers who have known their pokemon for a long time. Because my research is on pokemon evolution, and a trainer's bond with their pokemon is one of the major factors that cause evolution, I feel that it would be beneficial for both of you to stay together now," Professor Rowan says.
"I, uh, thank you?" I reply, not quite sure if I'm even grateful or not. The professor turns around, grabbing something off of his desk.
"Here," he informs me, holding out a red, rectangular shaped object. "It's a pokedex. With this, you can get an official trainer license. Lucas!" he barks. Lucas jumps, hastily turning off his poketch and turning back towards them. "Help her get registered." He then sits back down, typing on his laptop.
"Wow," Lucas says. "I didn't think he'd let you keep chimchar. Okay, so all you have to do is go to any pokemon center and the nurse there will help you set up your trainer's ID. Neat, right?" I shrug, still in a daze from everything that's happened. "You should probably head back home now," he advises. "It's getting kind of dark. By the way, you should name your chimchar. It'll make him like you more." I nod mutely.
"Uh, bye then." I mumble. "Thanks, I guess." Lucas grins widely.
"No problem! Good luck training chimchar."
When I leave the lab, the sky is starting to turn golden. Chimchar is trotting by my side ever cheerfully, looking at his surroundings curiously. "A name…" I muse, crossing my arms. "Hey, you. How about Axel?" He smiles widely and clambers up my leg, draping himself over my shoulder. Despite myself, I find myself smiling too. His cheer is almost infectious.
The sky is almost dark by the time I reach my house. It's dark inside, for some reason. "I'm home," I call out, my eyes narrowing when nobody answers. "That's weird… Dad said he'd be here today…" After I finish pulling her shoes off, I unhook my bag from my shoulder and reaches for the light switch, turning it on.
My bag thuds to the ground moments later, my eyes wide and horrified.
The house is a disaster. Furniture is smashed and strewn everywhere, some of it covered in strange singe marks. There are deep gouges in parts of the walls and on the ceiling. "D-dad?" I calls, my voice shaky. "You there?" I pull out chimchar's pokeball, holding it in front of myself anxiously as I make my way up the stairs, poking my head into my father's study.
There's blood smeared across the wall, and it takes all I has to not throw up. The mere sight of the crimson fluid makes me feel sick to my stomach, and I look away resolutely. The window is shattered, glass covering the floor. What happened? I wonder, trembling. Everything has been swept off the desk, except for a single business card. I pick it up, examining it closely. There are two words on it, written in an elegant, yellow script. "Galactic Industries..." I mumble, my eyebrows furrowing. The words ring a bell in my head, and I realize that I've heard them before. MY memory is foggy, though, and no matter how deep I dig, I can't find anything further.
I put it in my bag, staring at the desk resolutely. "I'm gonna find out who did this," I whisper, my arms shaking from an emotion I can't pinpoint - fear? Rage? I can't call the police about this. If they find out about what dad used to do…
I'm going to find out who did this, and I'm going to make them pay.
I leave at sunrise the next morning, my dad's emergency travelling supplies packed into my bag and Axel perched on my shoulder. It's still summer, so I'm wearing a short sleeved button up shirt and a bright red skirt, bright yellow rainboots and calf-length black socks adorning my knees. I probably look more like a schoolgirl than a pokemon trainer, but I find that I don't really care.
Although we got off to an admittedly shaky start, Axel and I make short work of the trainers on the route north of Sandgem. I can see Jubilife City in the distance when a shinx jumps out of the grass and lunges at my swiping at my knee. I jump back, startled. "Well, you're feisty," I huff. "Axel! Ember!" He spits out a bunch of embers that hit the shinx's fur, singing it. She looks a little beat up, but she still hisses at me, eyes narrowed.
One more scratch, though, and she's done, swaying on her paws, exhausted. I dig around in my bag for a pokeball, enlarging it and tossing it at her. It bounces off her paw and opens, catching her up in a stream of red light. My nails dig into my palm nervously as the ball shakes back and forth a couple of time, and finally settles.
Even though I don't even like pokemon, I feel a wave of excitement sweep over me. I almost understand why anybody would ever want to become a pokemon trainer and I run and pick up the pokeball, tossing it in the air. The shinx pops out and stares at me suspiciously. "Hey," I say, bending down. "Welcome to the team, Isis." Despite her somewhat disgruntled expression, she meows and headbutts my hand. For some reason, I find myself smiling.
I can do this.
Chimchar (M) lvl 10
Scratch, Leer, Ember, Taunt
Shinx (F) lvl 10
Tackle, Leer, Charge