Alright, Sis! New day means a new part of this adventure! I did a lot of thinking last night, gathered my thoughts, and I think I'm prepared to tell you what happened. I'll be honest: this isn't going to be easy. The shit that I went through in those few days is going to be with me for a long time.
Things are going to moving much faster today. A lot happened in not much time. But since I know you have trouble remembering things, I'm going to give you a quick recap. Sound good to you? Great!
My Statistics class was transported to Kanto yesterday. We ended up in the region ten years after the first generation and eight years after the second generation. This was also a Kanto in which Pokémon never existed. In their place were Moemon: human girls who had most of the characteristics of Pokémon, including dressing like them. My twenty-nine classmates and I were told that we were Challengers: special trainers who had to follow very specific rules.
We could only catch the first Moemon we find on a route, we had to name all of our Moemon, and if our Moemon lose all their health, they die. There was a lot of confusion and debate about the morals of using the little girls to fight. In the end, even the most obstinate were persuaded to take their Moemon with them, and so we all began our journey. Our challenge was to beat the Elite Four, to be the first Challengers ever to succeed.
Of course, nothing is ever straight forward. There was a hidden rule: a consequence of this being a Nuzlocke Run for us. Once we lost all our Moemon, we were eliminated from the challenge and disappeared in a flash of white light. A few fell on the journey to the first Gym Leader, Brock, although even more were defeated by the man himself. That first guy I mentioned yesterday – Jacob, the asshole who attacked me before this whole thing – challenged me to a battle, but my Moemon overpowered his. Another classmate, Nick, challenged Quinton, and lost. This made us threats early on, and that came into play once we reached Vermilion City.
While in Pewter, we encountered our first Bounty Hunter. The Bounty Hunters were an organization who held bounties on Challengers' teams. One million yen for each person who eliminated a Challenger. That first Bounty Hunter – Hunter M – waltzed into Pewter City, challenged one of us to a battle, defeated her, and vanished from the country. Another - Hunter X – wanted to challenge me at the right moment. He followed me through the cities and watched me. He mentioned an attack that'd happen soon, and that when my watch started flashing, I'd know when it would happen.
We found an abandoned lab near Mt. Moon and another near the Rock Tunnel. Each one had reports on psychic research and mentioned strange purple crystals. While traveling through Mt. Moon, we discovered a secret mining operation. Endangering all of our lives, Nick snuck into the base and stole a box filled with useless information and one of the large purple crystals. He made it into Cerulean City before the miners found up, and by getting the local police involved they bullied the stolen goods out of Nick. Unbeknownst to them, Drew broke off a small piece of the crystal, keeping it hidden. Based on their brutal tactics and influence, we suspected that the long-defunct Team Rocket was behind the digging and experiments. We had no physical proof, but we had reason to believe they were a bigger problem than they appeared.
In Cerulean City, we learned about the city's corruption and the mysterious, suspicious conspiracy behind Magenta Town, a town funded by an undisclosed source. We also got our first mention of the Celadon War which had happened before we arrived, as well as the three gangs that fought in the city: The Mewtwo's Apostles, the Celadon Saviors, and the Kanto Kings. One of my Moemon recommended I read about the history of the Celadon War, which I took a great interest in only just before we entered Celadon City.
In Vermilion City, we met the kind, generous Mayor Porter who welcomed us gladly into the city. I had an awful experience with officials in Cerulean City. I was arrested at gunpoint. So, I was suspicious of all city officials, and I mistrusted him and anyone who liked him. One of my classmates, Eric, had no such mistrust; he looked up to Mayor Porter. Eric and I had several arguments about his relationship with the mayor, but he ignored my points. When I heard that Eric told him valuable secrets about us, I snapped. I challenged Eric to a Moemon battle. One of the worst things I ever did. I beat him at a substantial cost. I lost the friendship of my classmates, the safety and security they provided, and the respect of my Moemon. Quinton and I had to abandon the others for fear of the lives of our Moemon.
Quinton and I traveled to Lavender Town alone, a town filled with tourists who were visiting the town's newly constructed amusement park. Wanting to escape the congested place, we went to the Rock Tunnel. We discovered that Celebi was trapped in a destroyed room in the mountain. We freed her and learned that she'd been subjected to the draining power of the purple crystals, which weakened her to the point of collapse. The cave had been destroyed by the Ghost Moemon who had been relocated from the Moemon Tower. The scientists had been kidnapping their friends and using the crystals on them, and they wanted revenge.
Celebi led us out of the caves to thank us and disappeared, and we discovered that a Bounty Hunter had been following us. Hunter G asked us about Celebi, and when we refused to answer, she battled Quinton. Quinton, however, noticed that she didn't have the resolve to kill and tried to use it to his advantage. The battle was forfeited when one of Quinton's Moemon died, and after the battle Hunter G decided to quit being a Bounty Hunter and gave us information about the sixteen Bounty Hunters we had to deal with.
With nothing else keeping us in Lavender Town, we moved on to Celadon City. Before reaching the Underground Path, we met up with Mayor Porter and Eric, who'd become his new assistant. Mayor Porter explained that he was visiting the city to show his support after the harsh times they'd been through. The city's elementary school – thankfully unoccupied – had been blown up a week before, and the city was in disarray trying to find out who had done it.
That was where I left off yesterday. Everything important that had happened to me, summarized as well as I could. But there were just… so many Moemon collected in a short amount of time. I'll tell you about my team, because that's what really matters. My starter was my Charmander, Christine, a determined, feisty girl who wanted to become Champions. That was her one goal. My first catch was a Starly, Stacy, who was my best fighter, most confident, composed, and mysterious of all of my Moemon. She had a clear connection with Celadon City, but she refused to tell me. My second catch was a Mankey, Mandy, a competitive, snarky girl who I was forced to catch to save her from Garang, another of my classmates.
In Vermilion Forest, we found a Budew attempting to guard her home from defenders. We cornered her and caught her and named her Rose. She was polite, dignified, and wore a Sun Stone on her head as a crown. Garang challenged Brock before he was ready, but he managed to run away before he lost his starter. He entrusted her to me, and that's how I caught the Oshawott, Olivia. Beginning, she was kind and motherly, but once she evolved – likely influenced by Mandy and Christine – she grew a sarcastic, joking side that only grew as we did. In Mt. Moon, we encountered a very timid, cautious Aron. We loved her immediately and added Annie to the team.
But we had losses along the way as well. In Vermilion Forest, I caught a Caterpie who I named Beauty, but she was ambushed by a Venipede and poisoned. I tried to run to safety, but I didn't get there in time. After Pewter City, I caught a Kricketot who I named Kris, but she was also ambushed by a Rattata. And when I challenged Eric, one of those substantial losses I didn't mention was Mandy. I lost her, and Olivia lost her eye in the battle.
It took a while for me to catch Mandy's replacement. I encountered a Venipede outside Vermilion City, but it was too soon after the battle, and I couldn't bring myself to catch her. The final Moemon I caught outside Rock Tunnel. Bailey, the Banette, was a huge problem. She was disturbing, sadistic, and downright demonic. I debated releasing her before even leaving Lavender Town, but I resolved to keep her until I found someone more agreeable.
Quinton's Moemon were his starter – a Metang he called Melody- who'd lost her entire family because of Team Rocket's construction in Mt. Moon. She used to be a very shy girl, but she grew quickly, and so did her immense psychic power. He captured Wendy, a Quagsire, who was strange and quirky; Willow, a Sudowoodo, who was calm and quiet; Mary, a Flaaffy, who was excitable and eccentric; and Lucia, a Lucario, who'd been abandoned in the lab outside Pewter City. Lucia was mistrustful at first, but they grew a special bond that allowed her to evolve after protecting Quinton from a terrifying attack.
Although Eric lost the Moemon battle, and my team killed his entire team, he wasn't eliminated. He had a single baby Moemon left in the PC: a kind and gentle Drowzee he had named Helen. He kept Helen safe in her battle, refusing to battle anymore.
I stopped yesterday's story just before entering the city. The four of us were escorted by the police to Mayor Porter's speech. I stopped there for a reason. What happened in the following days was a substantial shift in the way I perceived the Kanto region and my potential influence. Challengers were extremely special; Bounty Hunters weren't our only attention. I soon learned that past Challengers could be important factors in the shifting political structure of the region. At the time, I didn't care. But after experiencing those few days, I had to care.
Get ready, Sis, because today you're going to experience the Celadon Wars.