Revelations of the Dead
A Nuzlocke Tale
Hello again, constant readers. I have some explaining to do.
I know that many of you want to see Mergers and Headshot continued, but life in general nipped those in the bud. I'm afraid there won't be a return to them in the foreseeable future. However, the tale you're about to read incorporates many of the unused ideas that would have gone into Mergers, so consider it a spiritual sequel or something.
Next, I think I should explain the concept of this fic to those few of you who don't know already. The Nuzlocke Challenge is a set of rules designed to make Pokémon more challenging and more traumat- err, that is to say, emotionally fulfilling. The rules are as follows:
1)Catch only the first Pokémon you see in each new area.
2)If a Pokémon faints, it must be released- it is considered dead.
The original Nuzlocke run inspired a web comic which I suggest you all hunt down and read immediately, because it's utterly hilarious and excellently dramatic. (Hale's fan-comic is also worth a read.)
It also inspired this fic, which is essentially a heavily embellished and expanded account of my Nuzlocke run on Heart Gold.
I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Purely for reference, here's the variation on the rules I'm using:
1)Catch only the first Pokémon in a new area.
2) Dead Pokémon will be deposited in a specially designated PC box and won't be used for the rest of the game.
So, without further ado:
Prologue: The Kid from Newbark
The kid in the red jacket picks up his pace, and the man in the black uniform follows. They both smile- the man in black because he thinks he's doing a good job of tailing the kid, and the kid because he's not.
The kid ducks into a building without warning, and the man in black stumbles a bit. Whatever, right? The kid didn't see him. The problem being that the building in question is definitely crowded, and that stumble may have cost him his mark. He runs in- Stupid, the kid thinks from his vantage point to the left of the doors- and immediately goes for the elevator. Of course the kid's on the roof- that's where all the kids hang out in this godforsaken money sink.
The kid snorts loudly and leisurely starts up the stairs, pulling the brim of his hat a little lower.
The man in black steps out on the roof, and stares around. It hardly takes Sherlockian powers of observation to see that the kid isn't here- no one is. Where the hell-? he thinks, and that's all he has time for before something slams into his left side just below the ribcage and he sprawls on the hard floor of the rooftop café.
Struggling to get up, he glimpses just enough to confirm that the thing that slammed into him was a Togetic and feel an embarrassed flush begin to creep up his neck- Togetics are too tiny to be knocking him around. The kid walks casually to him and digs one sneaker into his sternum.
"Look, man" the kid sneers, "I know exactly who you are and what you hoped to accomplish by hunting me- and I'm telling you now to give up. Go back to your little hideout, tell your boss that he'll have to negotiate with me, since he can't kill me, and then stay away. Understood?"
The man nods eagerly, wearing a sycophantic grin. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, go back to boss and tell him… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" he roars suddenly, and tosses the red-and-white ball he'd been inching towards while the kid talked.
The shit-eating grin turns to dismay as the kid swats the pokéball out of the air with a smirk.
"You just don't listen, man. Dagobah, see if you can convince him to do what I asked."
A large shadow suddenly looms from above the man's head. There's a flash of blue and purple and brown, and then he's drifting in a sea of black.
"Amateurs." he hears as he fades away into unconsciousness.
R&R, friends. And seriously- read Nuzlocke Comics. They're awesome.
Yes, I'm a whore.