Chapter 1: A New Beginning
The moving van bounced down the road. I can only assume it was a dirt country road because of all the bumps and hills that it was hitting, knocking me around like a rag-doll. I grunted in displeasure, readjusting my position in the back for the thousandth time. It wouldn't have killed the guy to let me ride in the cab, would it? I thought, annoyed with my situation. How did this even happen? I'm famous, the guy who beat Cynthia, why am I sneaking into Hoen in the back of a moving van?
The answer, of course, was in the question. After my rather spectacular battle with Cynthia, which was broadcast all over the nation of Sinnoh, I had gathered a fairly large following. Because of that, I was swarmed by fans on the boat that I was supposed to have been taking to Slateport City. It got to the point that, once I arrived in Slateport, I went into hiding to avoid being mobbed. I waited for a few days and changed my appearance before bribing this truck driver to let me ride in the back on the way to Littleroot Town, the home of Professor Birch.
The truck bounced again, dislodging a box from the stack next to me. It crashed to the floor, and popped open. I scoffed, marveling at the shitty job the movers had done in packing their stuff. Who the hell would hire these guys? I thought. Something shiny caught my attention and I noticed a Potion sitting in the box. Well, it's not like they're going to miss it. I snatched the bottle of medicine and put it in my new bag. As I did, I spotted a mirror, the shiny thing I had seen earlier. Reaching in, I gently lifted it out of the box, examining my new appearance.
I had ditched the bucket hat, letting my hair go unhindered. It had grown out a fair bit, and now it was starting to get in my eyes. My glasses were still there, like I could have done anything about them in the first place. The beginnings of a beard were starting to grow in, small hairs lining my chin. I decided that I looked different enough that no one would recognize me. As for clothes, I still wore the same basic outfit I had gotten back in Sinnoh. "I need something different." I said out loud, leaning to put the mirror down.
Suddenly the van lurched again, hitting yet another pothole. The mirror flew out of my hands and crashed into the floor, shattering. I winced, feeling somewhat guilty for breaking someone elses stuff. I'll leave some money for them I thought, putting the rest of the winnings I had gotten from winning the Sinnoh league in the box. I noticed a set of boys clothing in there as well, someone about my size I realized when I took them out. I grabbed what appeared to be a hat of some kind. It had a green band, with white spikes sticking out of the top. "Who would even wear this?" I asked, discarding it. "Here we go" I said, grabbing some other items and quickly changing into the new clothes.
I wore a burnt orange vest with black stripes down the sides under the arms. Underneath was a basic white t-shirt, covering my arms somewhat. Instead of jeans, I wore a pair of tan cargo pants, that were pretty baggy on me. I kept the shoes and gloves, though, deciding that those wouldn't give my identity away. Folding up my old clothes and putting them back, I heard the tires screeching as the van slowed to a stop. I grabbed my bag and tried my best to keep my balance, which wasn't easy. I managed, and before I knew it, the back door opened. A big burly guy in a white wife-beater stood there, his Vigoroth and Machoke flanking him. "End of the ride." he grunted.
"What the hell does that mean?" I said, stepping forward. "I paid to take me all the way to Littleroot."
"Yeah, ya did." the man replied. "And we're here. On the outskirts of town. But I'm not pulling up to my customah's house wit some homeless guy in da back. Now git out." The Machoke cracked its knuckles pointedly. Funny, he reminded me of Armstrong.
"Alright, alright, I get it." I muttered, hopping down to the road (it was dirt, and filled with potholes). I took a few steps away from the van as they closed the doors, looking around. The surrounding area was mostly flat, with enough trees to provide decent cover for the pokemon that lived in the wilds. The air was warm, pleasant for spring-time, and the sun hung high in the sky. I slung by bag, a green pack with a black pokeball symbol, over my shoulder and started off down the road towards the small town that I could only assume was Littleroot.
I got to Littleroot not to long afterward. The moving van had passed me on the road, and as I walked around town, I spotted them in front of a house. The driver was having an argument with an older woman, as well as a young boy who wore the hat that I had discarded. I veered away quickly, not only because I was probably wearing his clothes, but also because of the mean look he was giving the driver. He was pissed. Walking past the house next door, I was intercepted by a small green creature hitting me in the face.
"Argh! What the hell!?" I yelled, holding my bruised nose and glaring at the offending pokemon. It was a Treecko, a little reptilian pokemon. It glared at me with its large yellow eyes and crossed its arms, as if I was in the wrong for having been in the way. Hurried footsteps alerted me to another presence, and I glanced up to see a girl running over. She was about my age, with long brown hair that was parted into two ponytails. She had a green bandana on over her head, along with a red blouse. Black biker shorts were peeking out under the shirt.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" she asked, running up to me and the lizard. "I was training with Emmy here and she must have gotten carried away."
"Emmy?" I asked, glancing back at the, apparently female, Treecko.
"Oh, right, this is Emerald, or Emmy for short. She's the starter pokemon I got from my dad. I'm May, by the way. May Birch." the girl said, curtseying slightly.
"Oh, so you're Birch's kid? Do you have any idea where he is, I wanted to talk with him about getting a pokemon." My question seemed to interest her.
"Are you the brother of that guy over there?" she asked, pointing at the family moving in next door. "He was looking to get a pokemon too."
"Uh, no actually. I'm new in town, wanted to get a fresh start on things." I replied, hoping that that would be enough. I instinctively rubbed the back of my right hand, where the Nuzlocke symbol was hidden under the glove.
Thankfully, May didn't seem to notice. "That's fine. But, either way, you're a little out of luck. Dad's gone out to do research, and he won't be back until tomorrow." she said.
"Aw, really?" I whined. "I really wanted to get things started today. Which way did he go, I might be able to catch up to him."
She pointed north, down the alley between the houses. "He's out on Route 101, but I don't think-hey!" she called as I took off, running in the direction she pointed.
"Sorry, but I've got to go!" I yelled back, weaving through houses and across streets to get to the route she had pointed out. Thankfully, the town was small enough that I got there in record time. However, there was no one to be seen. The route was a straight path, with small clumps of grass here and there. Trees lined the edges, creating a small wood. I sighed, starting to trudge back into town when I heard a yell.
"Help! Somebody help!" the voice called. I hesitated, before deciding I had to do something and ran toward the voice. Heading into the trees, I found the source of the disturbance. A man was up in a tree, wearing a white lab coat over a blue shirt and tan shorts. He was a large man, a little out of shape, which made that fact that he was up a tree impressive. He had brown hair, and a thick shaggy beard across his chin. When he saw me, his eyes filled with tears of joy. "Oh thank god you heard me! I need your help!" he cried. "I was doing research when I was chased up here by this ferocious beast. Please, can you use one of the pokemon in my bag there and help me?" he said indicating the bag on the ground.
At first I was confused, because I didn't see a ferocious beast. Then I looked at the base of the tree, and spotted a Zigzagoon. The raccoon pokemon was a foot-tall quadruped, with white stripes zig-zaging down it's brown, spiky fur. It looked at me at the same time I spotted it, and growled.
"Mean, yes. Ferocious beast? I don't think so." I said, calmly walking up to the bag. The Zigzagoon growled again, but kept its distance. I looked through it, coming across three pokeballs. Each was labeled, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip. I looked back up at Birch in his tree. "Hey, I was meaning to ask you, can I have a pokemon? I mean, the one I choose, can I keep it?"
Birch looked exasperated. "Can you- I don't- what?" he sputtered. The Zigzagoon turned its attention back to him from the outburst, barking at him. "Ah! Okay, fine, you can keep it! Just get this thing away from me!" he yelled.
"Just what I wanted to hear." I muttered, grabbing the ball labeled Mudkip. "Come on out then." I called, tossing the pokeball into the air. In a burst of light, Mudkip appeared. He was a little taller than the Zigzagoon, his blue body coated in a light slime. Bright orange cheeks covered the sides of his head, and hit fin twitched, testing the surroundings. He locked eyes with the Zigzagoon and grinned.
"Alright, a battle!" he cried, taking me by surprise. I knew the pokemon that I caught could speak to me, but I didn't expect the Mudkip to talk this early. He looked back, noticing me. "You're my trainer, right? Let's go!" he said.
His gung-ho attitude was kinda startling. I was caught up in the pace he decided to set, which apparently was "go all out". "Alright, if you say so. Tackle!" I ordered. Mudkip wasted no time, charging forward and slamming into the side of the brown rodent. Zigzagoon was caught off guard, its attention focused once more on Birch. After a blow like that, however, I wasn't surprised to see the wild pokemon give Mudkip its full attention. It barked viciously as it charged forward, returning Mudkips tackle attack with one of its own. To Mudkips credit, he wasn't all bluff. He took the blow with ease, hitting right back hard enough to send the little critter scurrying away into the woods.
"Sweet! We did it!" I cheered, kneeling down to give Mudkip a low-five. "You're pretty tough little guy."
"Yep! I'm the toughest pokemon in Littleroot!" he boasted. There was a small silence before he suddenly jumped back. "Hold it! You can understand me!?" he yelped, clearly just realizing this.
I raised an eyebrow. "Not very bright, are you?" I teased, chuckling. "Yeah, I'll explain that later. Right now, let's get the Professor out of the tree."
It took some doing, but we eventually coaxed the older man to climb down, guiding his steps so he didn't fall and hurt himself. Getting a better look at him, he was actually a little shorter than me, though certainly still bigger because of his weight. He was also quite a bit younger than Rowan, easily still in his thirties. "Thank you so much!" he gasped, shaking my hand. "That battle showed me that you really know how to handle a pokemon. Have you trained pokemon before?"
I felt no need to lie to the man, and in fact, wanted to fill him in on the details anyway. "Yeah, actually, my name's Nick. I was on the news recently."
Slowly, recognition filled the older mans face, which quickly turned into a scowl. "The Nuzlocker." he growled. "Yes, I know you. You're the one who puts pokemon in danger, just so he can play a sick game."
"What?" I was quite taken aback. "No, no, no, you've got it all wrong!"
"Do I?" Birch asked. "I saw your battle against Cynthia. Two of your pokemon died, in that match alone!" His words stung, reminding me of the all-to-recent wounds that were Rose and Redwood. "I can't even imagine how many have died in your stupid little game!"
"Nine." I growled. "Do you want their names? Brittany, Franklin, Lin, Trish, Sora, Armstrong, Lola, Rose, and Redwood. I remember all of them, on top of the ones still in Sinnoh. I'm not going to justify myself to you, or explain why I took this challenge. But don't think, even for a second, that I take any kind of pleasure in my teammates dying, or that I don't care. Because every death is another reminder of the cost of what I'm doing."
"And what is it exactly that you're doing?" Birch asked, his voice losing a little of its resentment. "What's the end game here? Fame, fortune? The right to say you've won?"
I paused, thinking. What is the reward here? Nuzlocke said I get to go home, but other than that, what? Am I just doing this to get home? Or is Birch right, and I'm really after the challenge, the right to say that I've done it? Is that wrong? His question had shook me, and my silence showed it.
"I appreciate your honesty." Birch said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "And I especially appreciate you coming to help me. But I cannot in good faith let you take this Mudkip. It would be like killing him myself."
"What!?" both the Mudkip and myself shouted at once.
"You heard me, both of you." he added sternly, looking down at the little blue reptile. "You have no idea what this person has been through, what you will go through if you go with him. I won't allow it."
"I don't think you have a choice." I sighed, reaching down to pick up Mudkip, who squirmed a little in my hands. "You said that you would give him to me before the battle. One of the side-effects of the challenge is that I can talk with my pokemon. I've been able to hear this little guy since I sent him out of the pokeball." I examined him, ignoring his light protests before I finally found what I was looking for. "Here, see?" I asked, showing Birch the pokemons white underbelly. Imprinted on it, like a tattoo, was the black mark of Nuzlocke. "He's part of this now, whether you like it or not."
Birch was speechless. I used the opportunity to put Mudkip down, who shot me an annoyed glance before returning his attention to the professor. "I can't allow it." Birch whispered.
"No, you have to allow it." I corrected. "The rules of Nuzlocke are already in place, and believe me when I tell you you do not want to break those rules."
Another pause. "Fine." he said, finally. "You can keep him. But, only if you can prove that you will protect him, that you will do your best in order to ensure not only his safety, but the safety of every pokemon you catch."
"I can't promise that." I said. "But I can try."
"You're going to have to." Birch muttered. "Because I'm not letting you go until you've proven yourself against May."
