I. Johto I

The world of Pokemon. Born out of one being who created the universe with one thousand arms, before creating beings to take his own work. Time. Space. Antimatter. Beings who created the continents. Beings who created humans, beings who created Pokemon. The Ancestor Pokemon. Banished Pokemon. All was born long ago.

Many an eon passed with nary a breeze, a flame that flickers once before being extinguished. Such is the way of time, and everything will one day be lost to it. Such events are also lost to history, with only the victors retelling their spoils.

Many more eons passed, and humans became the dominant species. The one with one thousand arms simply watched as his creations became pets, slaves, warriors, and more to this new race. And from humans, came things the one with one thousand arms could not dream of. Technology was created, cities rose and fell, and the world began anew.

Years passed, and humans discovered the capacity for greed, violence, and evil within them. Unlike most of the Pokemon the one with one thousand arms had created, humans could choose evil. Some did. Wars were fought, and Pokemon slowly became nothing more than beasts.

Some would say the one with one thousand arms left in disgrace to start anew, but it would not leave its creations. It held responsibility for them - especially the banished one. But time marched onwards, and wars began to settle. The world entered peace, only to be thrust back out of it by one who had chosen evil. This is a process that would repeat for all of eternity.

Eventually, society rose to how it is known at present time. The world was cordoned off into regions, and each region elected a Champion - the strongest trainer in the land, who vowed to protect the region until death or defeat by one who wished to take the mantle. The one with one thousand arms watched as his creations bonded with humans, lending their strength, and once the Poke Ball was invented, watched as they were taken by force.

All of this, and simply he watched.

Many more years passed, and the one with one thousand arms grew weak. At the end of his life, he took on a new form - Arceus. However, with a new form came the loss of some previous powers. Yet the one with one thousand arms, for the next many moons to be known as Arceus, simply returned to watch.

Eventually, humankind learned about the legendary Pokemon - the divine creations of the one with one thousand arms. Contact was made, but capture never was. Arceus ensured of that, as his divine creations were needed to keep balance in this world he created.

As humans had become predictable to him, Arceus was unsurprised when humans sought to use his divine creations for evil. He was equally unsurprised when other humans sought to stop them. Indeed, Arceus need never act on this world again, and may simply sit back and watch, for it is the nature of humanity to right what is wrong and wrong what is right.

Eventually, another Pokemon appeared, vowing to spread chaos across the land, and Arceus simply watched. Many plans this Pokemon created failed, and it resigned itself to being a divine plaything like all the others.

Many more years passed, and another force began to spread. Pokemon had battled since the dawn of time, yet now, something more sinister was beginning to come into play. A Pokemon in the hands of certain humans began to slip into a coma upon being defeated. At first, it was just one human. Then more, many more. Eventually, the human word Pandemic began to be used.

Arceus marvelled at how humanity approached this. Some regions began to have tighter security, some did nothing. Some of those who became touched with this force gave up their Pokemon, others treated it as nothing more than a cruel game, challenging themselves to pass the Champion's rites with as few casualties as possible. Others still steeled themselves for other reasons.

As the world moved to attempt to solve itself, Arceus simply watched. He had outlived an endless amount of humans and Pokemon, he cared little for more lives joining his old form.

This is a story of consequences, of the one with one thousand arms doing evil by no fault of his own. This is a story of good and evil, of humans and Pokemon. Just like all the others. Arceus, the one who had one thousand arms, may be the only one to know them all. He is the divine spectator, existing simply to watch his creations dance for him over the course of all eternity.

…

Cherrygrove City was a peaceful one, small and nestled at the southern end of the Johto region. Its location made it a prime spot for trainers, however, being the first major cityscape travelling from Kanto to Johto. And that's exactly why Ben was here. Leaning back against the wall of a building, he quietly pushed his black hair out of his face as he studied the surrounding area, looking for trainers to challenge to a battle. Not that he cared who too much who, as the one he really wanted was gone. But he still wanted to fight and gain strength, which had led him across all of Johto many a time. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to lapse into a state of daydreaming once again.

A mountain of ice, the dividing peak between Kanto and Johto. Ben climbed it, Pokemon at his side, as they shivered together in the cold. This was it, the last step. Proof that he wasn't a failure. Proof that he could battle with the best of them. Looking around, he spotted his target. A man not much older than he was, perhaps just entering his 20s, stood facing him. Ben stared for a while, figuring out what he looked like, replaying the situation in his head over and over, creating the perfect vessel to battle against. Wordlessly, he pulled out a Poke Ball, and Ben did the same.

And then he vanished. Someone else had fought him first, and he simply disappeared.

Ben snapped out of his reverie, ending in the same way it had for several months now. The knowledge that the legendary man on the mountain had been challenged by someone else, and defeated, had shattered him for a while. He'd even gone to Kanto and collected eight badges there, in the hopes of gaining access to Mount Silver so he could meet and challenge the man who had been in his dreams for so long. And now he couldn't, and still the dream kept replaying. It was torture for him. He'd thought his next dream was to find whoever stole his dream and beat them in a battle, but still his dreams remained fixated on that one scene. Now, he supposed, he just battled for the sake of having something to do besides sitting around feeling sorry for himself; he was facing the PokeMart for just that reason. Any trainer coming into buy items could be scrutinized by him, for their strength in battle or other reasons.

It was a long day, and fairly hot, but Ben persisted, and eventually he spotted someone unique. Not in that way, but she had an air of strength about her, and some of the most bizarre clothing he had ever seen. Her brown hair was long and tangled, coming down to the middle of her back, and she wore a brown hooded cloak that was tattered and torn, not to mention dirty. Despite looking like a young adult, she carried a walking cane, and if Ben didn't know better, he'd say she walked right out of a forest to buy supplies at a PokeMart. This piqued his interest. Every trainer worth anything was equipped for a journey, but she looked like she'd been out of civilization for months or even years - her Pokemon would have to be strong to handle that. That settled it for him, and he patiently waited for her to exit the shop.

After a few minutes, she returned and he walked up to her. He'd done this so many times by now, constantly searching for strength.

"Hey, you're a trainer, right?" He asked. He'd expected the usual enthusiastic response, but instead got nothing. She'd simply walked past him like he wasn't there. How rude. I just want a battle…

"Hey, excuse me…" Ben continued. He'd set his sights and now he was determined to battle her. She kept walking, either oblivious or just uninterested, but he followed and persisted. "Hey! I'm right here!"

She stopped this time after he yelled. "I'm not interested."

What? She's a trainer, she has to be. Does she think it's something else? Ben thought, then realized the implications of his actions. "No, no, it's nothing like that, I just want a battle. You're a trainer, right?"

She kept walking, ignoring the question again. Now Ben was getting frustrated. It was one thing to get confused and refuse something else, that had happened before, but to just ignore him? That was a new low to him. He ran after her, shouting loudly now. "Hey! I want to battle to you!"

As Ben kept running, the girl suddenly stopped and turned around, cane raised and pointed directly at Ben. He skidded to a stop and studied her. She was somewhat shorter than him, but at least five years older, he'd guess. She had amber eyes, which were now angrily staring directly into his own, and her cane was topped with a purple orb. It was quite unsettling, really, but he'd come this far.

"I told you." She said bluntly, devoid of anger despite her expression. "I'm not interested."

Oh, but you made your mistake here. Ben smirked. One of the first rules of being a trainer had just been triggered. "Well, unfortunately for you, eye contact was made between two trainers. Remember what that means?"

Her expression flickered for just a moment. She held her position for several long seconds, and her breathing became heavy. Very slowly, she lowered her cane. "Fine. Let us get this over with."

It took everything in him to stop from smiling. She walked to the beach and stood on the north end, and Ben took a space a few metres away. Were he the more dramatic type, he'd have Pidgeot whip up a slight gust to highlight this moment. It had always been his favourite, the start of a battle, when two trainers size up each other. She closed her eyes, raised one of her hands to her heart, and gripped her cane tightly. This was a weird one, alright. Ben took off his hat briefly, ran a hand through his hair, and put it back on. Then, his hand drifted towards his necklace. A small charm in the shape of a Poke Ball, it had been given to him long ago. He grasped the charm and then chose a Poke Ball with his other hand. "Meganium, it's your turn!"

He threw the Poke Ball high, and out popped Meganium. The Sauropod was very tall, towering over the both of them. He had a green body with a Pink Flower around his neck, and two yellow antennae on his head. He turned around to look at Ben, who gestured to the girl. Meganium turned around and roared a battle cry, and trainer and Pokemon steeled themselves.

The girl stared at Meganium, making no move to summon a Pokemon of her own. After a tantalizingly long minute, she drew a Poke Ball - an older model, Ben noticed. She stared at it, closed her eyes, and shifted the Purple Orb off of her cane into her hand. She then placed the Poke Ball on top of it, before launching the cane into the air briefly. As she re-caught it, an orange Pokemon popped out. It was much, much smaller than Meganium, and clearly meant for this environment. The first thing Ben noticed was a massive orange claw, before he saw a second, smaller one accompanying it.

Kingler. Strange choice to fight my Meganium. Ben thought to himself. He looked at the claws again, and noticed that unlike most Kingler, this one was holding the larger claw off the ground with no issue - a sign of strength. Before he could choose a move, the girl acted first.

"Kingler. Guillotine." She said it with no emotion, as though she was going through a set of motions. Kingler, on the other hand, instantly launched itself off the sand, opening its smaller pincer and aiming for Meganium's exposed neck. Ben was taken aback by the choice of move, as it was very prone to missing. Did she really want this over that quickly?

Ben waited for Kingler to come close before making his command.

"Meganium! Lean back and go for Body Slam!" It wasn't the best choice, but given how fast that Kingler had moved, he hadn't been able to come up with something better. Meganium reared up, and Kingler crashed harmlessly into the sand below. Meganium began to fall back onto it… only for Kingler's larger, free pincer to slam into Meganium's underbelly. Meganium, already in a vulnerable position, was knocked unbalanced by the blow, and Ben had to take a few steps back to make sure he didn't end up on the receiving end of a Body Slam himself.

Kingler and its trainer stared at them, awaiting their move. Ben was taken aback by how strong and fast the Kingler was - it was clearly exceptionally well trained. He couldn't even figure out what attack it was that had sent Meganium flying. He needed to keep himself on the field long enough to figure out something that'd work.

"Meganium, let's try a Reflect!" Meganium obeyed, and and a wall of purple light came into being, then another, and another, creating a cube that would soften blows for a while. Meganium looked back at Ben, awaiting a follow-up command.

"Kingler. Brick Break." The girl called out, and Kingler charged across the sand, large pincer glowing. Ben panicked, and Meganium, waiting for a response, took the full force of the hit, the purple barrier shattering instantly and Meganium staggered, but did not fall. Kingler leaped into the air, and landed back where it started. So that didn't work. What about going for a grass move?

"Meganium, let's use Razor Leaf!" Meganium stood up straight and shook itself, and leaves appeared from the flower. Meganium roared, and the leaves shot themselves at and around Kingler, hitting the ground and spraying up sand while some hit their mark. Kingler went flying and landed on its back, before quickly righting itself. The girl had leaned into her cane, holding the purple orb like a second Poke Ball before seeing Kingler still standing. Kingler waved its pincer up and down and the girl's expression shifted slightly.

"Kingler. Iron Defence." Ben was shocked, as that was a move that Kingler could not learn without the aid of another person. Kingler glowed silver, before standing up straight and snapping its claws menacingly. Ben briefly considered his options, before deciding to change his lane of attack. If Kingler had just raised its physical defence, a special attack was needed. Thankfully, he had one.

"Meganium! Let's give it an Energy Ball!" Meganium roared, and his flower glowed again. A green sphere appeared in his mouth, which he quickly launched towards Kingler. Kingler dodged to the left, and Meganium fired another one. Kingler dodged to the right, weaving through the razor leaves that Meganium's last attack had left there. Meganium continued to fire, eventually leading his shots, and connected with the ground in front of Kingler, sending the crab Pokemon flying. Meganium charged up another Energy Ball and launched it, both trainer and Pokemon sure that this would be the end of it…

And Ben bent over coughing as a purple haze surrounded him. What was this? Did she have two Pokemon? Did someone else attack me? What's going on?

Meganium's cry shocked Ben to his senses, and he quickly called out Pidgeot to dispel the smoke. One it cleared, he saw some nothing but some shattered glass in the sand, and pieced it together. The girl had used a Smoke Ball to distract both of them, recall Kingler, and flee. This frustrated Ben more than trying to initiate a fight with her did, as now he was robbed of an ending, and running from a trainer battle was a cardinal sin in his book.

"That does it. I'm going to find you, whoever you are, and we are going to battle. Nobody's that strong without good reason." Ben decided, staring at the exit to the town. He thanked both his Pokemon before returning them, and closed his eyes.

The mountain and the man on top of it still haunted him, but now with the man it was the girl there. For the time being, this would do. He wasn't even sure who she was, and just wanted a proper battle with her. If she was that strong with just one Pokemon, he couldn't even begin to imagine her full team. Head filled with ideas for battle, he walked off to go ask around, looking for anyone who might know more about his next challenge.

Notes:

Hi everyone! This is my first story on this site (duh), and one of my first real long-form projects. I'm excited to actually publish this first chapter, and I hope you all enjoy. This is a concept I've always found interesting and have actually never seen anyone write about, so I took it into my own hands to come up with an in-universe story about nuzlockes. Hopefully it's not too bad?

I'm gonna aim to write a chapter every two weeks, I have the entire thing storyboarded so it shouldn't be too hard.

Lastly, I do apologize for not accenting the e in Pokemon for those of you that it annoys - this computer isn't mine and doesn't seem to have a way to accent the Es that I can find ~.

Enjoy!