Hey, everyone! This fanfiction is based on my nuzlocke of Omega Ruby. As I have already written over 10 chapters, I can guarantee that I will continue updating this adventure.

Rules to a Nuzlocke:
*You may only capture the first pokemon you run into in each area.

*If a pokemon faints, it is dead (or abandoned)

You may notice that I named several of my characters after the pokemon games. They aren't the same as the manga characters, so enjoy them as their own.

Disclaimer: I am not a member of Nintendo or the Pokemon team. I also am not the creator of Pokemon Hard Mode (otherwise known as Nuzlocke).

To Be The Very Best

Chapter 1

Life in Johto was easy. I grew up there, so that's where all my friends are. My best friend is this guy named Gold and we're from this really small town called Newbark. We have a pokemon lab there, so a lot of the neighbors are nerdy types. The professor in charge of it lectures at Pokemon Academy in Viridian City in the Kanto region to fund his research. You'd think that would be too far away to commute, but Newbark Town is right on the border between Johto and Kanto. Besides, he just takes his Pidgeot and flies straight from his lab. Gold and I used to sneak into Professor Elm's lab when he was gone and play with the pokemon. I had my eyes on this Cyndaquil that the professor was going to give to a new trainer, but Gold had his eyes on it too. We used to argue for hours about who got to keep it once our adventures started. I guess Gold will be getting his hands on it, now.

I suppose it's alright that I'm moving, anyways. It's not like Gold and I would have travelled together. We both agreed that our adventures were a time to spend with our pokemon. Both of us had the same dream of becoming the strongest trainers in all of Johto and friendships would be a distraction on that quest. It had to be done alone.

My parents made me sit in one of the moving vans. This one had all of our important documents, so they were paranoid that one of the moving Machokes would lose them if I wasn't watching. After I finished reading the beginning trainer pamphlet I pulled out my pokenav to add the final touches to my trainer application. The last page was pretty standard.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" Girl.

"What is your name?" Sapphire.

I'm moving to Littleroot Town, which also happens to have a pokemon lab. That means I'll be getting a rare, specially bred pokemon as my starter. That is, as long as my dad didn't already catch one for me. He's been in Hoenn much longer than my mom and I as a gym leader. My mom really missed him over the past few months, so when it came time for me to start my journey she took it as an opportunity to move back in with him. Sometimes I'm mad at my dad for getting a job all the way in Hoenn, but at the same time I get it. He's always wanted to run his own gym. He was so excited when the job was offered that he accepted it without even thinking.

I felt the truck lurch to a stop and just as I grabbed my Azurill doll, my mom came and opened the truck for me to come out. "Well, this is Littleroot Town," she said with a soft smile. She seemed wary, but only from the unfamiliar surroundings. She mostly seemed excited. I wished I was as happy as her. "And you get your own room this time, Sapphire!" she said, trying to cheer me up. "Come on, let's have a look inside."

We entered this tiny cottage with two floors. Two Machokes from the van were pulling boxes into the house and unpacking them. Sometimes I couldn't even believe they were pokemon. They seemed so sure of themselves, and they looked humanoid too. One in the kitchen came out and stomped towards me. "Machaa!" He grabbed my Azurill doll with his big blue hands and placed it delicately on a shelf.

"Th-thanks," I told him nervously. The Machokes left and I noticed the TV at the kitchen table. Immediately I turned it on, hoping the cable had been set up.

"It's the Petalburg Gym! Maybe Dad will be on TV," my mom exclaimed. I jumped in my seat and turned up the volume, but then the TV went to commercial. "Oh… It's already ended." She frowned and then gave me a look. "You shouldn't be watching TV this early anyways, young lady. You need to make some friends."

"Friends?" I asked. "But I'm about to leave for my journey anyways."

Mom crossed her arms. "Professor Birch is good friends with your dad, and he has a son that's your age. You should go over and introduce yourself."

I frowned and walked outside to meet the neighbors. Thankfully the Birch family lived right next door so I didn't have to walk far. Mrs. Birch let me in with an elated grin and shuffled me up the stairs. I opened the door to a large room and saw a boy with brown hair and a floppy white hat. He was shuffling through some papers on his desk, but he immediately jumped up when I entered the room. "Y-you… You must be Sapphire!" Suddenly he frowned. "Huh. I didn't think you'd be a girl. Dad told me you were the kid of a Gym Leader, and so I sort of hoped you'd be a guy."

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Gym Leaders don't just have boy kids, you know," I shot back, "and I hoped you'd be a girl, so we're even."

The boy laughed in an embarrassed manner. "Oh no! I didn't mean it like that, Saph. Can I call you Saph?" I shook my head no. "I'm going to call you Saph. My name's Brendan. Let's be friends, okay?"

I crossed my arms and smirked. "If you get to call me what you want, I get to call you what I want."

"And what's that?" he asked.

I scratched my head. "Since I wanted you to be a girl, you can be Ruby. It seems fitting."

"Hey!" he gasped and pushed my shoulder playfully. "Wait, crap! I was supposed to help my dad catch some wild pokemon. See ya later, Saph!"

"See you later, Ruby!" I called after him. As I left his house I looked up at the end of the neighborhood where I saw a sign that pointed to Route 101. That was probably where the boy had disappeared off to. I looked around and didn't see anything interesting other than the lab. If I went home my mom would probably make me do chores or something. I was interested in the lab, but mainly just to get my first pokemon, and Professor Birch wasn't there at the moment. I looked back up at the sign to Route 101 and shrugged. It was just a little grass and some trees in between towns. What's the worst that could happen?

I ran past the sign and left my small town behind. I grinned wide as I felt the breeze rush through my shoulder length brown hair. I adjusted the red bow in my hair so it wouldn't fly off and took another look at Littleroot Town. Yup. Still no urge to turn back.

"Help!" A jolt ran through me and my body shook. Two steps out of my new town and I was already running into danger? What kind of region was this? I ran towards the deep voice and saw a little gray dog chasing a man in a lab coat. He spotted me and his eyes glistened with hope. "Halloo! You over there! Please, help me out. There are pokeballs in my bag," he shouted breathlessly.

I saw a brown pack next under a small ledge and unlatched the top. Three pokeballs sat wedged in between a few notepads. I didn't know what pokemon they were, so I grabbed the center ball and hoped it was something good. "Go, pokeball!" I shouted, like I'd seen Kanto and Johto Elite Four member Lorelei do on TV. A big-headed orange chicken zapped out of the pokeball and tweeted. "Use Ember!" I shouted, hoping by the coloring that it was a fire type. The pokemon opened its little beak and a flame erupted from it. The little bird scorched the dog, and it ran away yelping.

Professor Birch wiped the sweat off his brow and breathed heavily. "Thank goodness for that!" he exclaimed. "I went into the tall grass to survey wild pokemon when I was suddenly jumped." He smiled, and an expression of realization came over him. "Hey, you're Norman's girl, aren't you?" I nodded. "Come to my lab. I have something for you." He scooped up his pack and I followed him back to Littleroot.

The lab was very cluttered. There were some strange machines placed about it, but I couldn't even guess what they did. One of the assistant scientists took notes while watching one of the machines. I followed Professor Birch to the end of the room and he turned around. "You don't have any pokemon of your own, do you?" I shook my head. "Ah, with such battle skills you wouldn't even know! I received an email of your trainer application, and I am happy to say that I am willing to fast track the process. You fought really well with that Torchic. Would you like to keep him for yourself?"

I looked down at the little guy. He parted his yellow beak and flapped his tiny feathered wings. I grinned. "Yeah, he's pretty cute." I bent down to the Torchic's level and pet his soft head. "So you're a fire type, huh?" The Torchic tweeted happily in response. "I think the name Apollo suits you."

"My boy Brendan happens to be out on Route 103 right now surveying pokemon for me. You should go meet with him. He can help teach you what it means to be a trainer." I made sure not to roll my eyes at him. My whole life I'd been watching videos and reading books about pokemon battles. Could it really be that difficult to figure out?

I took out Apollo's pokeball to return him, but then I thought better of it. I was so amazed at this weird disproportionate chicken that I couldn't help but continue to stare at it. "Hop on, Apollo!" I reached my arm out and the little guy crawled up to my shoulder. He was a little heavy, but easy enough to adjust to. "Thanks, Professor. I hope I see you again soon." I left and then headed back into Route 101, this time with a trusty pokemon to protect me.

About halfway to the other town, Apollo's top feather perked up and he jumped off my shoulder. He quietly stuck his beak in between some bushes, and suddenly a lumpy red caterpillar with a white underbelly popped out of the bush and landed on Apollo's head. "Tochi!" the bird exclaimed as he shook his head clean of it. I checked my pokedex—a going away present from Professor Elm—and a picture of the caterpillar appeared on the screen.

"A Wurmple, huh?" I said. "Apollo, use Ember!" Apollo shot a beam of fire from his mouth, and the caterpillar immediately scurried away. "Serves him right for jumping on you," I said as I crossed my arms triumphantly. At the same time I sort of wished I had a pokeball. I knew Caterpies back at home eventually grew into beautiful butterflies. I wondered what this Wurmple could become.

I ended up rushing through the next town and on to Route 103. Apollo didn't even break a sweat from that Wurmple from before, and the PokeMart had a sign on the window that read Pokeballs SOLD OUT, so that was a bust. Apollo and I conquered another Poochyena like the one that had attacked Professor Birch in the next route, and I was a little sad I couldn't catch the little guy. That dog in particular was pretty cute.

I found Ruby sitting in a patch of grass at the end of the route staring at a puddle of water with a notepad in his hands. I tried to sneak up on him, but he turned around so quickly that he scared me instead. "Saph?" he said in a surprised manner. "So you finally got a pokemon from my dad? How about a little battle?"

I grinned. "Wow, you're pretty in to this whole pokemon adventure and conquest thing, huh?" I hadn't run into much others like Gold and I. A lot of trainers liked their pokemon, but not many held the same passion as us. "Bring it on!"

"Alright!" Ruby pumped his fist into the air and then sent out a blue amphibian with orange stars around its cheeks. "Go, Mudkip!"

"So that's a water pokemon, right?" I observed. "Apollo, use Scratch!" The fire bird flapped his petite wings and ran towards Mudkip as fast as his little legs could carry him. Mudkip looked around as if he didn't know what to do, and Apollo jumped up to scratch him along the face with his feet. I winced. That looked like it would hurt. Thankfully pokemon had a lot tougher skin than humans.

A determined look flashed in Ruby's eyes. "Counteract with a tackle!" Mudkip dodged the next swipe and then launched himself on top of Apollo. The two tussled for a few minutes, but eventually Apollo stood triumph and stuck his little claw over Mudkip's head proudly. Ruby took out his pokeball and a red beam shot from it to absorb Mudkip. To my surprise, instead of an expression of crushing defeat, he grinned at me. "You're not too shabby, Saph. Oh, and Apollo's a pretty nice name." He lifted his hand and brushed it against Apollo's feathered cheek. Ruby reached into his pack and allowed Apollo to drink from a purple canister he had. "It's a low grade potion," he explained. "I like to keep them around for my pokemon after battles." I watched in awe as Apollo's injuries melted away. "So where are you off to? Starting your journey already?"

I nodded. "I'm not really sure where to go next, but I'm ready."

Ruby smiled. "I'm going to Petalburg City next. You should come with me." I looked away uncomfortably. He crossed his arms. "Oh, you're one of those trainers aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You think friends are a distraction from battling." He smirked, knowing he was right. "I think you're wrong, but I won't push it. I guess I'll just be seeing you around."

"Yeah," I replied. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. I get it," Ruby said. "Here, take some pokeballs for the journey. I can't wait until our next battle." He handed me a handful of shrunken pokeballs to fill my pouch with. "See ya!" He wandered off back towards Oldale Town and I followed behind.

It was getting pretty dark, so I made camp in the Pokemon Center. They had plenty of hotel beds in the basement floor so Apollo and I were able to get a good night's sleep. Before we did, though, I had to video chat my good friend. I missed Gold, and I wished it was him I'd be running into every so often instead of Ruby.

"Heyyyyy! Guess who's with me!" a familiar voice chimed in a poorly lit camera. Gold laughed as he tilted the screen towards his new partner.

"No fair!" I shouted. "You got the Cyndaquil?" Apollo looked up at me, offended. I smiled guiltily and pat Apollo's head. "Not nearly as cool as my new Torchic, of course." Apollo straightened up next to me, happier at his new introduction.

"Yeah, you wish. Cyndaquil's the bomb. He's been lighting up every pokemon in our path," Gold bragged.

"Same with Apollo," I said as I stroked my new pet. "I bet I'm a better trainer than you. I haven't lost a single battle, even with other experienced trainers." 'Experienced' might have been a stretch when referring to Ruby, but I needed to look good against the competition, didn't I?

Gold snorted at me. "Nah. Any win is due to the awesome power of fire type when it comes to you. I, on the other hand, am the best trainer."

I frowned. "Come on! That's no fair."

He shrugged. "Prove it, then. Do something that only a skilled trainer could do."

I sighed. "I don't know. How do I prove it?"

Gold thought for a minute and put a finger to his lips. "Hmm. I'd say," he said thoughtfully, "I'd say that you need to be able to make due with whatever the wild throws at you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What does that even mean?" I asked.

"I challenge you to only capture the first pokemon you run in to in each route. No do overs if it escapes, and no do overs if it's the same type as another one you have. Sound good?"

"Are you serious?" I asked. Gold's expression didn't change. He continued to stare at me with those dark demanding eyes. "Oh my God. You're actually serious."

"Of course I'm serious! I'll do it, too."

I laughed and put a hand to my head. "Okay, I'll do it. Now this is going to be interesting."

"After we each beat the Elite Four of our regions we'll meet up and battle again. Whoever wins is the superior trainer."

"You're on!" I exclaimed. I signed off and lied down in my bed, with nothing to do but to stare at the ceiling. I wondered if Gold would actually hold me to his challenge or not. Knowing him, he'd challenge himself tenfold. I'd have to make it harder for myself. I needed to be able to impress him. I rolled over to face Apollo. "How about this," I whispered to him. "Any pokemon that loses a battle is done for." Apollo chirped. He didn't like it. "No, don't worry," I assured him. "You're strong. It won't happen to you. But a weak pokemon isn't worth my time, anyways." Apollo chirped again in protest, but I ignored it. I turned out the lights and went to bed.