AN: Welcome to the revamped chapter one. To all those new to this story, welcome! To everyone else, also welcome! I'll be uploading this and chapter 2 today since I managed to go back over both chapters and change some things, though not much in this chapter. This whole story is based on my experience playing my own new nuzlocke challenge. the rules will be explained in this chapter, so pay attention. Anyway, enjoy!
Lumiose city, the center and hub point of the Kalos region. Home to the Lumiose tower and the biggest city to date. Many trainers new to the region get their Pokemon from Professor Sycamore, whose lab is conveniently located here. But today starts the day of a Challenge, being hosted by one of Kalos' most influential people. Today starts the day of a new Nuzlocke Challenge unlike anything before.
Arriving today are the last few people arriving in Lumiose City for the challenge they were invited to. Among them was a man named Marcus Nigel. In his ate twenties, he has been a trainer since the age of 15 and has appeared in 5 other leagues, winning only two out of the five. He apparently impressed someone in Kalos, having received an invitation to Kalos for a new challenge. It had a set list of rules he had to follow, but they weren't too hard to follow. All he had to do was have a full team of six Pokemon from the six different regions. It was initially difficult to find a Kalos Pokemon for his team, but he managed to locate one in time for the challenge.
Marcus looked over to the seat next to him as the plane landed. The seat was occupied by a sleeping Snubull. The man lightly poked the sleeping bulldog Pokemon. "Princess, wake up. We've landed." The sleeping Pokemon slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. Marcus picked up the Pokemon in his arms and made his way off the plane with the rest of the passengers. Once they reached outside, Marcus placed princess on the ground and both stretched from the long flight.
With the weather so hot this season, Marcus had to wear a short sleeved blue shirt with a poke ball emblem and brown khaki shorts. His medium length hair was held back by a black head band, and on his feet were a pair of slippers. His blue backpack carried a change of clothes as well as a pair of shoes should the terrain ever call for it. For now though he was more comfortable with the sandals.
Marcus dug in his pockets till he found the paper with instructions to the meeting place for the challengers. The map was easy enough to follow, and all he needed to find was someplace called the Lumiose Tower, which the map indicated was smack dab in the middle of town.
"C'mon Princess," Marcus said, gaining the attention of his Snubull. "We need to get to the center of the city for the meeting." With a nod from Princess, the two made their way from the airport and into the city. Both were speechless at the size of the city. It was beautiful, and sprawling with people and Pokemon alike. There were a few dog Pokemon he hadn't seen before with different types of hair styles. Princess was also amazed by said Pokemon, wishing she had some type of style her own.
Marcus had to get them back on track though. With Princess close behind they followed the instructions and quickly found their way to the Lumiose Tower. Marcus looked up at the sprawling tower, amazed by the size and design. It was even more impressive to him that it doubled as a gym. Upon locating the entrance he was immediately stopped by two big burly guys.
"Name," one of them asked.
"Marcus Fitch," he answered. The other guy held up a clipboard and searched the list he was holding before nodding to his partner.
"Alright, there's a nurse inside who'll register your dex and Pokemon before the meeting begins." Marcus nodded and passed the bodyguards. Marcus and Princess had to go up an elevator before meeting the nurse the guard was talking about.
"Hello there," She greeted them with a kind smile. "I assume you're here for the challenge?" Marcus nodded before withdrawing princess into her poke ball and handing it over with his other poke balls and pokedex. She turned to a device not unlike the ones from the many Pokemon Centers he's visited and placed his six poke balls in it. She then took his pokedex and placed it in the side of the machine. After a moment of clicking buttons, the machine began to scan the poke balls. It wasn't long after that when a small ding was heard. The nurse removed the pokedex and the balls from the machine, as well as a bulky bracelet from the computers side and handed all the items back to Marcus.
"What's this," Marcus asked as he picked up the bracelet. There seemed to be a screen along the surface, with six poke balls lighting up the screen.
"It's a device that updates your status while you're on your journey. It'll be explained more during the meeting." The Nurse smiled before motioning towards the bracelet. "I suggest you go ahead and put it on, since afterwards the challenge will begin immediately." Marcus nodded his head, and as he slipped it on it let out a small beep.
Marcus then clipped his poke balls to his belt and slipped his dex into his pocket and walked into the Gym arena. The inside was massive, as expected of any type of Gym. Two sides of the Gym had bleachers, though only one set was filled with people. They were most likely the other trainers here for the challenge. Marcus went to sit down at the end of the third row, next to a blonde Chinese girl sitting next to a Lopunny.
"So, how long has everyone been waiting here?" Marcus asked almost as soon as he sat down.
"Dunno, just got here myself," the Chinese girl replied. "I think they might be starting soon though. You, me, and like two others just got here, so we might be the last batch." Marcus hummed at the information. It wasn't long before a small group of people walked in, seven in all. There was a woman with a camera around her neck, a Purple haired woman with a silver cloak, a girl in roller skates, a young boy in a blue jumper suit and carrying a backpack, and two old men; one who looked like a veteran Ranger and a portly one with a full white beard and a cloak draped over his shoulders. Wait, there was one missing.
Before Marcus could think any further on that, the young boy's backpack produced a giant hand with a microphone in it. Marcus' brow rose at the ridiculousness of it. "Welcome, one and all to the Kalos League Regionlocke Challenge." At the boy's words, everyone in the bleachers sat up straighter to listen in.
"Now I know a lot of you have a lot of questions, mainly about the rules, so we'll be going over them first."
"Aren't there supposed to be eight of you guys," a random guy said from somewhere amongst the bleachers.
"Ah, yes, well Grant won't be participating in this challenge due to familial problems." There were a few murmurs amongst the trainers. "But there is no need to worry. Grant has a pupil of his filling in his position."
"So why isn't he here then," another trainer asked.
"Well it was kinda short notice, especially for the pupil, so he's setting up his Pokemon for the challengers later." There was another murmur amongst the trainers before the boy continued. "Anyway, as you all well know, you all received a letter about the first rule already: Gather one Pokemon from each region and form a full team. As you already know, this will be all you will use in the challenge. You cannot catch any other Pokemon." There were looks exchanged amongst the trainers.
"Now, onto the other rules. Rule number two: Healing is allowed, however you cannot revive Pokemon during battle. Also, you may only carry five revives at any time. No full revives are allowed. Rule three, and this is an important one: Mega evolution is allowed, however only one of your Pokemon is allowed to have a mega stone throughout the challenge."
Mega evolution was something Marcus was unfamiliar with. He had only recently heard about it, but knew next to nothing about how it worked. He'd have to talk with Professor Sycamore before he left for the first gym.
"Alright I think that's ever- WOAH!" The young boy was pushed aside by the girl in the roller blades, taking the microphone from the mechanical hand.
"Hold up, Little Einstein here forgot one other thing." There was another, more confused murmur amongst the trainers. The Gym Leader dug into her pocket and pulled out a familiar earpiece, holding it up for everyone to see. "You all also probably got a device like this with everything as well, right?" Marcus dug into his pocket to retrieve his own earpiece, figuring it had something to do with the challenge.
Roller Girl continued to talk. "This is called a Poke Translator. It's quite simple to use: just place it in your ear like so," she showed the group how to place the device in their own ears, "Then simply press this button here," she motioned toward the small button on the side of the device. "After you press it, then simply talk with your Pokemon. It should automatically translate your Pokémon's speech patterns into human speech."
Marcus was amazed by that piece of knowledge. It was amazing what humans could come up with. "It's kind of the second reason you're all here." Jumper Kid had somehow wrestled back the microphone from roller girl and was speaking again.
"The Poke Translator is still in its beta testing, so we figured we'd give you all one and get the results from you." It made sense to Marcus. Have a bunch of trainers use a device that can translate Pokemon speech pattern and give some feedback on it.
"Is the device waterproof," a trainer asked from the back row.
"Yes, we have worked in a waterproof feature to both the translator and the bracelet you are all wearing now."
"Speaking of which," it was the camera woman who spoke up next, not needing the microphone to be heard. "You're bracelets are all connected to your poke balls, as well as your progress. It indicates how many of your Pokemon are fainted and how many badges you have earned. However, should all your Pokemon faint," Camera woman pulled out one of the bracelets. However, instead of the usual six poke balls, there were to giant letters taking up the screen: DQ
"These letters will flash upon the screen," Camera woman continued. "This will mean you are disqualified from the challenge."
The old man with the white beard stepped forward. "However, those who collect all eight badges will compete in one on one battles amongst themselves. The last one standing will have a chance to compete against the Elite Four, and if possible, the Champion of Kalos herself."
"Does that mean we can challenge this gym once this meeting is over?" Most of the trainers looked ready to battle at a moment's notice.
"Unfortunately no," Jumpsuit Kid replied. "You see, we have to make it a little challenging for you guys." Most of the trainers groaned. "Which means you guys will need four badges to fight me."
"So, you're the gym leader here?" Jumpsuit Kid smiled.
"Ah yes, we kinda forgot introductions, didn't we?" The young boy cleared his throat. "My name is Clemont, and I use electric type Pokemon."
Camera Woman was next to speak up. "My name is Viola, and I use bug types at my gym."
"Name's Korrina," Roller blade Girl said next. "I use fighting types."
"Ramos," the elderly Ranger spoke up. "My gym is home to grass types."
"I am Olympia," the Purple haired woman said after Ramos. "I use psychic types."
"And last, but not least, is me." The white bearded man spoke up. "I'm Wilbur, and I use Ice types in my gym."
"Alright then," Clemont spoke up after the others introduced themselves. "I believe that is everything-,"
"What about the other gym leader?" Clemont sighed.
"I already told you, Grants pupil will be taking on the challenge. He'll be using Rock type Pokemon." It didn't seem to satisfy some of the trainers, but they decided to focus on something else instead.
"Which gym should we hit up first?" The Chinese girl beside Marcus spoke up.
"Any one will suffice, though most leave the Anistair and Snowbelle Gyms for last," Clemont replied.
"Most people start with the Santalune Gym," Viola said. "It's out of the way of some of the other gyms, so you'll have to backtrack to Lumiose to continue to the other gyms." Some of the other trainers hummed in response.
"You can also take Route 5 to the Cyllage Gym then circle around to both the Shalour Gym and Courmarine Gym," Clemont said.
"You can also reverse the route and take route 13 to Coumarine City, then go to Shalour and Cyllage Cities," Ramos replied. "You're all skilled trainers so any route you take will suffice." Most of the trainers seemed to agree with this logic.
"Alright," Clemont spoke up. "If there aren't any more questions, then we should go ahead and get this challenge started." All of the trainers agreed with his sentiment, some expressing it vocally. "Okay, as of this moment, Kalos' very first Regionlocke Challenge begins! We wish you all the best of luck!"
After the meeting with the gym leaders, Marcus made his way to the nearest Pokemon Center to look for a map of the region. He needed to get the lay of the land and figure out which Gym he should go to first. After asking the nurse for one of the more portable maps, he quickly unfurled it to reveal the whole of the Kalos region. He managed to figure out where Santalune city was, and it was out of the way. Santalune was past route four, but it didn't seem like a long trek. He'd get there in a day most likely, challenge the gym, and backtrack the next day. He'd have to do some on the road training, but it wasn't anything new to him. He'd probably end up using Fireheart and Titania due to the formers type advantage and the latter's move set.
As Marcus was leaving, he bumped into someone as he stood up. He immediately turned to apologize, when he came face to face with someone's cleavage. Looking up, Marcus saw a woman's concerned face looking down at him. She was easily taller than a lot of the people in the center, with curls of pink hair adorning her head. She also wore a pure white dress, with a star shaped hole on her stomach, revealing a quartz gem on her belly button.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," the woman spoke up, bringing Marcus' attention back to her face. "Are you alright?"
"Yea, I'm fine," Marcus replied, rubbing the back of his head. "It was kinda my fault too. Not watching where I was going." The woman gave him a smile that would light up the city if it were dark outside.
"My name is Rose," she said, holding out a hand.
"Marcus," he replied, shaking the woman's hand. It was then he noticed the bracelet on her wrist. "Are you taking the challenge?"
"The Regionlocke challenge," Rose asked, and Marcus nodded. "Yes I am. I've been thinking about going to the Santalune Gym first."
"Same here," Marcus replied. "Best to get it out of the way first, then head to the next gym." Rose nodded her head in agreement.
"Would you like to travel together?" Rose asked, a genuine smile on her face. "I'm mainly here to pick up potions and curatives. It'd be nice to travel with someone, even if for a little while."
Marcus would have agreed to it, if he didn't remember that he needed to talk with Professor Sycamore before he left.
"Sorry, but I need to visit somewhere first before I leave," he replied.
Rose looked crestfallen before perking up and nodding her head. "I understand," she replied. "I do wish you luck in the challenge. Maybe we'll meet up again in Santalune?"
"Maybe," Marcus agreed. "Anyway, I need to go. It was nice meeting you Miss Rose."
"Oh no, just Rose, please," Rose said. "And it was nice to meet you too." With a nod and a wave goodbye, Marcus headed out the door intent on making it to Sycamores lab before the days end.
