A/N: Okay, before any Ebony followers shoot me for posting this instead of updating that, I'm sorry! I got into a bit of trouble with my parents and managed to get myself grounded. Before you come after me with pitchforks, please know that chapter eight of Ebony will be up tomorrow.

Okay, now that THAT'S out of the way, hello to any new readers who were looking for a Nuzlocke fanfic. For those of you who don't know, there are two basic rules to the Nuzlocke challenge: You can only catch the first Pokemon you encounter in any given area, and if a Pokemon faints, it's dead and you have to release it.

A buddy of mine in RL challenged me to a Soul Silver/Heart Gold run (in other words, the person with the fewest deaths after the E4 wins), and we have a few modified rules:

1) Catch only the first Pokemon you encounter. There are two exceptions: If you already have that particular Pokemon, you get two other tries to catch something different, and if you see a Shiny (SHIIIINNNYYY) all catching rules fly out the window (but if you already have a Pokemon from that route, your Shiny has to be boxed).

2) If a Pokemon faints, it's dead. In order to keep track of the Pokemon we managed to kill off D': we put them in the PC box instead. (To explain this in-universe, I borrowed an idea that Pokemon have a 30% chance of dying in battle. As a Nuzlocke, all of mine do, but that's why rivals and such almost always have the same Pokemon. Credit for the idea goes to Ky-nim. If you haven't read her comics, do so NOW.)

3) All Pokemon have to be nicknamed, and the names must have a theme. I went with Harry Potter characters, because HP somehow manages to invade every aspect of my life.

4) The only items you can buy at a Poke Mart are Poke Balls (any kind). Revives/Max Revives are illegal to use, but anything else found on the ground is fair game. Since this is HG/SS, items that your mom buys are also good to use. :D

5) Because my friend and I are wusses, we gave ourselves ONE chance to bring a Pokemon back from the dead. ONE. CHANCE. After I finished my run, I still had it left, but I won't give away details until near the end of this fic. I'll just say that it did get used (technically).

I'm working on a Pearl run now and will post that as a sequel to this fic, but for now, enjoy the Soul Silver run! And sorry for the uber-long note. One last thing: this is written in the first person, so if you don't like that, you might want to back out now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, Trubbish would never have made it out of the concept room.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, yawning widely. I'd stayed up way too late reading the night before, and my body was letting me know it wasn't happy. I opened my eyes- and froze.

This wasn't my bedroom. Instead of the familiar green walls plastered with Harry Potter posters, this room was a dull brown color with a wooden floor. There was a TV on one side of the room with a weird looking computer next to it. The bed- my bed?- was tucked away in the corner, a map of some sort tacked above the pillow. Studying the map, I frowned. Someone had to be playing some kind of trick on me. The map was one I'd seen before, but never in such realistic detail. It was a map of the Johto Region.

"Okay, Alex, very funny," I said, though how my younger brother could have orchestrated something like this, I had no idea. When nobody popped open the door and yelled Gotcha!, I began to hyperventilate. How had I gotten here? Why wasn't I in my own room? Where was I?

I threw off the blankets and stood up. Immediately, I realized something else was wrong. I didn't feel like myself. Looking down at my body, I yelped. When I had gone to sleep, I'd been sixteen. Now, though... I couldn't have been older than twelve. My body was straighter, flatter, and I was definitely much shorter than I was when I'd gone to sleep. Normally, I wouldn't have been too fussed- I hadn't enjoyed passing the twelve-year mark- but the fact was, I wasn't myself.

My hair fell into my eyes and I brushed it away impatiently.

Wait.

Just wait a second.

I put my hands on my head. My short, wild brown hair was now longer. Much longer.

I was beginning to get extremely wigged out now. I mean, who just randomly wakes up and they're suddenly twelve again?

I had to see what I looked like. Taking another glance around the room, I spotted a dresser with a mirror hung above it. I rushed over.

Thank God I still looked mostly like myself, even if I was freaking twelve. I was pale and wild-eyed, and certainly didn't look as though I'd gotten a good night's sleep. If I wanted to find out what was going on, I'd have to act normal. First things first, I needed to get out of these pajamas.

There were two doors, one that hopefully led outside, and the other probably a closet. And there was a window. Of course, I had to look outside.

It was nothing like I'd ever seen before. The town beyond the window was small, almost quaint, with an oddly out of place large grey building tucked away near the back. The weirdest thing, though, was that nothing was paved. There were worn dirt tracks that led to different houses, but there was no concrete, no asphalt, nothing. It was unreal.

I pinched myself. It hurt.

"Where am I?" I whispered.

After pulling on jeans, a shirt, ans a jacket, I tugged on a pair of tennis shoes and tied my hair back. I'd been able to find a bag, a simple over-the-shoulder affair that would be able to hold a fairly large amount of stuff. After I'd done some poking around, I could hopefully load it with enough supplies to last long enough to get away if necessary. I was about to open the other door- the one out, I hoped- when I noticed a hook next to the door. A white beret with a pink stripe was set on it. I stared at it. It vaguely resembled the Derp hat worn by the female avatar from the Heart Gold/ Soul Silver games, except it wasn't three times the size of my head. There was still no way I was going to wear it, though.

Thankfully, the door opened and I hurried downstairs to find myself in a combined kitchen/living room area. A lady was sitting on the sofa, watching TV. She looked up when she heard my footsteps.

"Uh, hi," I began hesitantly.

"Oh, Bree, you're awake," the lady said happily.

Bree?But my name wasn't... oh. I always used 'Bree' on my Pokemon games, but it was really weird to actually be addressed as such.

"Yeah, uh, I was just going outside,"I said, eyeing her warily.

"Off to see Professor Elm? Okay, dear, have fun!"

"...right." I hurried out the door and all but slammed it shut before I slid down to the ground, my head in my hands, trying to think.

What the hell was going on? Where was my real mom, and my dad and my brother? Was I really in Johto? Even if I wasn't, how did I get here?

"Marill!" a soft voice said. I looked up and felt my jaw drop.

A little blue creature with big Mickey Mouse ears and a skinny tail that ended with a blue sphere was staring up at me with eyes that should have been too big for its head. It put its front paws on my knee, looking at me curiously.

"Rill?" it said. I almost fell over from the shock.

A Marill, a real, live Marill, was right there, talking to me. Hesitantly, I stretched out a hand to touch its head. The blue fur was silky and cool.

"This is unreal," I whispered.

"Azie!" a boy called. "Azie, where are- Oh, hey, Bree."

"Hi, uh..." I frantically tried to remember the name of the male NPC. "Ethan."

"Was Azie bothering you? I'm sorry." Ethan gathered the little Marill up, cuddling it against his chest. "Were you being a bad girl, Azie?"

"No, she was fine," I said, standing up. "She's adorable." I was able to get a good look at Ethan. A baseball cap was jammed on his head, but some of his spiky dark hair had escaped and was sticking out the sides. His brown eyes were warm, and I could tell from the way that he looked at the Marill- Azie- that he adored her.

"So, where are you headed?" Ethan asked.

I shrugged. "Professor Elm's lab. Mom said he was expecting me." Not exactly true, but I guessed that's why I was going over.

Ethan nodded, his eyes lighting up. "Cool! You'll have to show me your Pokemon after! I have to go; I promised Azie I'd play with her, but I'll see you later!" Ethan set Azie down and she scampered off, trilling happily when he gave chase.

I smiled as I watched them go. This was much more interesting than the lack of character relationships that were shown in the games.

My heart jumped when I remembered what Ethan said about getting my own Pokemon. If I was right, Professor Elm's lab was the big grey building I'd seen from the window. It looked much farther away than it was in the game. That made me pause.

If- and this was a big if, as I still hadn't quite ruled out the dream theory- this was some weird version of the Heart Gold/ Soul Silver games, I had no idea what would happen too far in the future. Out of all the Pokemon games I owned, Soul Silver was the only one I'd never gone past the first gym.

"Why couldn't I have been dumped in Sinnoh?" I muttered as I headed down the path. "At least that one I know almost by heart..." Not to mention, I'd always wanted my own Turtwig.

But maybe that was how I could get home. Beat the game and get out, right? With no clues to go on, it was really all I had.

New Bark Town

The town was much, much larger than it was in the games. As I walked, I kept trying to find something familiar, something that was normal by my standards, but to no avail. People went in and out of houses freely, chatting amicably with their neighbors. The houses were the only man-made structures I could see, and there were no roads or cars or even the smell of pollution. I didn't mind that last one, though. The air here was fresh, almost sweet, and it was nearly intoxicating. I'd never smelled anything like it before.

After about three minutes of walking, I found myself looking up at Professor Elm's laboratory. I took a deep breath and pushed open the nondescript white door.

The air-conditioned building smelled nothing like I thought it would. I was expecting chemicals, antiseptic, something laboratory-ish. It just smelled like clean fur.

The room was empty, dead silent except for several machined along the back wall, whirring and beeping softly. There were several doors to the right that must have led to other parts of the building.

"Hello?" I called hesitantly.

"Oh, hello! Come on in, don't be shy!" A thin, gangly man popped up from behind a desk, startling the living daylights out of me. He pushed his glasses up his nose and ducked back behind the desk. Curious, I walked around it to see what was going on.

"I dropped a file of notes just a minute ago," the man said, scrambling about in an effort to gather the papers. "Terribly sorry, I'm not trying to delay, just give me a minute- oops!" The man tried to snatch at the papers as they tumbled out of his arms again.

I knelt and began stacking the sheets. "Professor Elm?" I asked carefully.

"Yes, yes, that's me. I know it's not very dignified to be crawling around like this- oh, hello, Bree!" The professor jumped up and mulled me to my feet, shaking my hand enthusiastically with both of his. "So glad you made it! They're right this way, come along."

Despite the weirdness of everything that had happened so far, I couldn't help but smile. Professor Elm's enthusiasm was contagious.

He steered me to the back of the room, where a small machine held three Poke Balls. Professor Elm hit a button, and the glass covering the balls split, allowing access.

"Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile," Professor Elm said, indicating each ball in turn. "And one of them will be yours."

I stared at the balls, gnawing on the inside of my cheek. Whichever starter I picked would determine how almost everything else played out. I reached for the Chikorita ball, since grass was what I almost always went with, but then I stopped. For some reason that I couldn't explain, I found myself reaching for a different ball.

"Come on out, little guy," I said, setting the ball on the floor uncertainly.

A red light shot out of the button on the front of the ball and shaped itself into a Pokemon- my Pokemon.

"Quil!" it squeaked, standing up on its back legs.

I think my heart almost melted. I'd chosen Cyndaquil, and oh my God, it was adorable. Its navy and cream fur was shiny, and its face vaguely resembled that of a mouse, but what really caught my attention were the flames spurting from its back.

I held out my hand and the Cyndaquil nuzzled against my palm, so I scratched it behind the ears. It purred happily, and I smiled. A faint, smoky odor clung to its soft fur, and its entire body radiated heat.

"That little fellow can be a bit of a handful," Professor Elm said, bending over to tickle it under its chin. "But he's very sweet. I think you two will get along nicely. Would you like to give him a nickname?"

"Uh, sure, just give me a minute." I continued to pet the little Cyndaquil, trying to think of a good name. Blaze? Ember? Cinder? Too cliche. Nigel? Adrian? Too normal. Besides, what happened to my habit of naming my Pokemon after Harry Potter characters? Suddenly, I knew what I wanted to name him.

I picked the Cyndaquil up under his forelegs and nuzzled him. "I'm going to call you Fawkes."

"Quil!"

Fawkes joined the party! Male Cyndaquil, level 5, brave nature.

Professor Elm looked confused for a moment, but he shrugged it off. "Excellent name," he said, though I could tell he had no idea where it came from. "Now, Bree, can I ask you to run an errand for me? An acquaintance of mine known as Mr. Pokemon called and told me he made a new discovery. It's probably just an egg- he's obsessed with eggs, you know- but if you could go and pick it up for me, that would be most helpful!"

I looked down at the little Cyndaquil- Fawkes- and shrugged. Professor Elm had given me my own Pokemon. The least I could do was say yes. "Sure."

"Great! Mr. Pokemon lives just north of Cherrygrove City. Just take Route 29 and you should be there in about two hours. You might want to tell your mother where you're going," he added.

Two hours?! It only took about two minutes in the game!I groaned to myself but nodded.

"Oh, and before you go, I should tell you- do you know how Pokemon battles work? Wild Pokemon might try to attack you if you-"

"Go into the tall grass, I know," I interrupted. Maybe I was being rude, but it was the same lecture every single time! I knew how this stuff worked. "And when you battle, you try to knock out your opponent's Pokemon."

"Very good! You should take these as well," Professor Elm said, hurrying over to a cabinet and grabbing several bottles. He dumped them in my arms and I looked at the labels. They were Potions- five in all. I nodded and stuck them in my bag. "You want to make sure not to battle too much and overwork your Pokemon, though. You don't want to forget about that thirty percent chance of death, after all!"

My head shot up so fast I could hear my neck crack. "What?"

"Good luck and be careful!" And the next thing I knew, I was standing outside the lab, clutching Fawkes and staring at the door.

"Cyndaquil?" Fawkes asked.

I rubbed my eyes. "I don't know, buddy. I'm just as new to this as you are."

I headed back to 'my' house. "Mom!" I yelled, opening the door. "Professor Elm wants me to run an errand for him! I'll be back in maybe five hours!" I made to shut the door, but 'mom' grabbed the knob before I could pull it closed.

"Oh, but you can't leave without your Poke Gear!" she cried thrusting a tablet thing into my hands. I pushed the power button and puled up the map function. Not only did it show the layout of the Johto Region in much greater detail than in the games, but it also had a little flashing dot to show my current location, too. I imediately felt much better. Now I couldn't get lost unless I tried very, very hard.

'Mom' dumped several packages of dried food in my bad as well. "Make sure to take care, sweetie, and if you take longer than you anticipated, you can always sleep at a Pokemon Center. Have fun!" She planted a kiss on my cheek and disappeared inside.

I made my way to the edge of town, still weirded out by the whole thing. I mean, not just waking up and finding myself de-ages and in Johto, but the whole kid-goes-off-on-own-with-no-adult-supervision-for- long-periods-of-time thing. In my world, my real mom wouldn't let me off our street unless I took my phone with me and texted every so often so she'd know I wasn't eaten by ducks or something.

"Okay, Fawkes," I said, setting him down in the grass. "Are you ready?"

Fawkes didn't reply; he was too busy rolling around in the sweet grass. I knelt down. "Fawkes!"

He stopped messing around and darted over, sitting up on his back legs. I was starting to realize that was his way of telling me he was listening.

"Come on, boy, let's get you stronger."

Route 29

Fawkes trotted alongside me, keeping close to my heels as we walked down the path. I was jumpy, my adrenaline spiking every time I thought I heard the thicket rustle. The tall grass had definitely earned its name- I had yet to see any that was under five feet in height. Now I knew how Pokemon could hide in the tall grass, and how people could be ambushed so easily. None of that helped to calm my nerves. Professor Elm's words kept echoing in my head: 'You don't want to forget about the thirty percent chance of death, after all!'

But that wasn't how Pokemon worked. You only knocked them out, never killed them.

'You don't want to forget about the thirty percent chance of death...'

'Thirty percent chance of death...'

'Chance of death-'

"Pidgey!"

Fawkes and I spun around. A wild Pidgey had appeared from the tall grass and was circling overhead, preparing to strike.

"Get ready!" I yelled. The flames on Fawkes' back began to grow. The Pidgey circled lower. "Fawkes, tackle it!"

I could see Fawkes' leg muscles bunch, then he hurled himself at the Pidgey.

The Pidgey was faster. It slammed into Fawkes, knocking him back, but he gathered himself and lunged at the bird.

There was a thump as the Pokemon collided, and Fawkes skidded backward with the force of the impact. I yelled, but he just shook himself off and braced his legs.

"Tackle again! One more should finish it!"

"Cyndaquil!" Fawkes managed to dodge the Pidgey's next attack, then he slammed into its side. The Pidgey fluttered weakly, then was still.

Fawkes trotted over to me, looking smug, and I scooped him up, realizing I was trembling. I thought for a second that the Pidgey was dead, but after a moment, it ruffled its feathers and managed to fly away.

"You were so good, Fawkes," I murmured, burying my face into the soft fur on his neck.

"Quil!" Fawkes said proudly.

The corner of my mouth quirked up in a smile. "Really, you were great. But I think we'd better flee other encounters until we get to Cherrygrove, okay?"

Fawkes frowned and squirmed out of my grip, but he stayed close. We walked on, encountering Pidgeys and Rattatas and the occasional Sentret, but I would always call for Fawkes and we would run for it. Usually, the wild Pokemon were just defending their territory, and they would let us go, for which I was grateful. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I couldn't help but remember that thirty percent chance of death.

A/N: I'll be keeping these end A/Ns short and to the point. The Pokemon Obtained is how many Pokemon I've had, both alive and dead. And... that's pretty much it.

Pokemon in Party: Fawkes (Cyndaquil)

Pokemon Obtained: 1

Pokemon Dead: 0