Ghost awoke with a jolt, sitting up abruptly and hitting her head on something. She groaned and rubbed the small lump forming beneath her dark brown hair as she took in her surroundings. "Oh yeah," she mumbled aloud to herself. "The moving van." The back of the moving van, to be precise. A moving van that had just stopped, which was what woke her up. "We're here!" She cried out with mock enthusiasm.

It had been a tiring journey, from Cherrygrove City in Johto all the way to Littleroot Town in Hoenn. All because her dad had to accept that position in freaking Petalburg. And while he got to go ahead by himself, Ghost and her mom had to make the journey with all the furniture and boxes and things, with Ghost riding in the back of the van during the whole drive.

She was momentarily blinded as the door was lifted up, and a gruff voice said, "Alright, we're here."

"Bout time," the young teen muttered as she stumbled out of the van and got her first look at her new town.

Not impressive, she thought as she glared cynically at the home she didn't want. There were a few plain, boring houses scattered around. No children. A few elderly or older-than-middle-aged people sitting around in porch swings and whatnot. Most had Pokémon sitting in their laps or at their feet, dozing or holding things. Boring.

Ghost turned at the sound of the door next to her being opened. Out stepped her mother, looking just as tired as her daughter. But the brunette woman still held her ever-present cheerful smile. "Ah, we're here! Isn't it beautiful, Ghost?" No response. "I'm sorry you had to ride in the back with all the stuff, but there was no room in the seats." Silence. Ghost's mother sighed. "Well, come look at your room!" She grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her inside.

The house was small, all they could afford what with the costs of the journey there. Machoke were clogging up the living room and kitchen, the only two rooms downstairs, bringing in and unloading the Sapphires' possessions. On the far wall was a flight of stairs leading to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. "Everything should be in your room by now. Dad got you a clock, so why don't you go unpack and set the clock?"

Ghost nodded and walked over to the stairs. Checking for Machoke, because there was no way either would be able to pass on the narrow stairway, she headed up.

Her room was the last down the small hallway, the bigger bedroom. The walls were a pleasant greyish color, which would have been gloomy if not for the light wood floor and bright rug paired with it. Her TV had been set up against the wall to her left, her GameCube next to it. The bed with orange-trimmed white sheets was made and on the far wall. Her desk and computer were in the corner, and the clock hung above it. Everything else was in boxes piled in the empty corner. She went over to one labeled "Ghost's Misc." and opened it. On top of everything else was a framed picture, which she picked up and placed on her desk.

It was a picture of Ghost taken not too long ago, with her arm around a girl of about the same age, whose chestnut-colored hair was put in two pigtails. On her head sat a large white hat with a pink stripe. Both girls were smiling and making peace signs with their free hands. Scribbled in the corner was "I'm gonna miss you! Love forever, Lyra." Lyra Crystal. Her best friend since infancy. She was due to start her Pokémon journey any day now, as was Ghost.

Which reminds me... The teen sat down in the rolling chair at her desk and powered on the computer. She opened her mailbox and clicked the email entitled 'Challenge for all new Trainers!' It read:

"To all trainers of all regions just beginning their Pokémon journey:

I would like to present you with a challenge. If you win, you gain nothing but bragging rights and friends that last forever. If you lose, well... It varies from person to person. It's called the Nuzlocke Challenge. There are only three rules.

1: You must catch only the first Pokémon you encounter in an area. If you cause that Pokémon to faint, tough.

2: You must nickname all Pokémon you catch. This allows you to develop a closer bond to your companions, giving them a name to go with the face.

3: This is the hardest rule of all. When your Pokémon faints, you may not revive it at a Pokémon Center. That Pokémon is dead.

I wish you the best of luck if you accept this challenge, and a safe journey.

-Nuzlocke"

Ghost had received this email back in Johto, and at first she and Lyra had laughed at it. But after a bit of investigation, they found many heart-wrenching stories of people who had tried and failed, as well as the accounts of winners of the Nuzlocke Challenge. These were few in number, and none of the winners bragged. They sympathized with those who lost, and mourned for the comrades they had lost along the way. After much consideration and debate, the two girls agreed to do the Challenge together. Right before they found out about the Sapphires moving.

Ghost was still going through with the challenge, despite Lyra's warning that it would be harder alone. Whether she lost or won, Ghost was going to join the numbers of trainers who had attempted this difficult path. But she would win. She was determined to.

"Ghost! Come quick!" Her mother's yell brought her out of her thoughts.

Alarmed at the urgency in her voice, Ghost leaped down the stairs two or three at a time. "Are you okay, Mom?" She cried, bursting into the living room.

Her mother was dancing from foot to foot, inches away from the TV screen. "Come quick, they're showing Petalburg Gym! Dad might be on!"

Ghost found that she could muster up no excitement, and indifferently joined her in front of the television.

A heavily make-upped reporter stood in front of the gym Norman Sapphire had sent them a picture of. She was saying her sign-off. "We brought you this report from Petalburg City, and Hoenn, I bid you good night." It cut to commercial.

"Oh..." Her mother said sadly. "If he was on there, I guess we missed him." She perked up. "Oh, one of Dad's friends lives here in town. Professor Birch is his name. He's just next door, why don't you go introduce yourself?"

"Okay," Ghost replied uncertainly, then walked out the door. It had become late afternoon, and most everyone else had gone back inside. Good, nice and quiet without anyone gawking at her.

She paused for a moment as the sun bathed her in its warming embrace. Her father had told the truth about the climate in Hoenn. Growing up in temperate Johto, the heat and humidity of the new region was shocking. Luckily, they had stocked up on shorts and t-shirts, which Ghost had changed into as soon as she got the chance.

I gotta stop zoning out like that, she thought as she shook her head in irritation at herself and jogged over to the neighboring house. It looked annoying alike to hers. No variety in this town. She knocked on the door and waited. Once I start the Challenge I'll have to stay constantly vigilant.

The door opened to a woman who seemed to be in her early fifties, but still managed to stay attractive. Possibly because of her naturalness. There was no trace of make-up, with a few wrinkles where they were supposed to be, and a small number of gray hairs lacing the reddish-brown ones. She gave Ghost a welcoming smile. "Oh, hello. Who are you?"

"Uh, Ghost Sapphire, I'm-"

"Norman's daughter! Oh, I've heard about you! Come in, come in." Mrs. Birch stepped back and allowed Ghost to enter. Unsurprisingly, the interior of the house was similar to the Sapphires', with the exception of personal belongings. "Professor Birch is out right now," she said in reply to Ghost's inquiry. "But we have a son about your age upstairs. Why don't you go say hi?" The younger girl searched the elder's face for signs of teasing, but she was being sincere.

"Okay, it was nice to meet you." She said as she climbed the stairs. Feeling awkward and intrusive, she hesitantly peeked in each room until she saw a boy sitting at a desk in one of the rooms. She entered and stood in the doorway for a moment, studying her new neighbor.

He seemed to have short brown hair, but most of it was covered by a white hat with a black-and-red headband. He wore a long-sleeved red-and-black jacket with a yellow collar, and long black pants with yellow on the bottom. He also wore blue-and-yellow fingerless gloves, and bulky strange-looking red-and-black boot-like shoes. To say the least it was a strange outfit, but somehow he made it work.

He was deep in concentration, not noticing the stranger entering his room and approaching his desk. "Pokémon fully restored... Items all packed, and..." Ghost clutched the strap of her messenger bag nervously, then cleared her throat. He whirled around, eyes wide. "Hey! You... Who are you?"

"Ghost," she replied nonchalantly, as if she walked into strangers' bedrooms every day.

He relaxed as realization spread across his face. "Oh, you're the Sapphire kid aren't you? Moved in next door, right? I didn't know that you're a girl. Dad, Professor Birch that is, said that our new next-door neighbor is a Gym Leader's kid, so I assumed you'd be a guy."

"I'm going to choose to ignore that one, for now."

He chuckled and extended his hand. "My name's Brendan. So, hi, neighbor! Hey, Ghost, don't you have a Pokémon?" She followed his gaze to her belt, which had six empty pockets for Pokéballs. She shook her head silently.

"Well... do you want me to go catch you one?" He asked shyly, seeming almost surprised himself that he had asked.

Ghost cocked her eyebrow, then shook her head. "Sorry, that'd be against the rules. But thanks for offering."

Confusion flickered in his eyes, quickly replaced by shock. His eyes widened. "Wait... Are you taking the Nuzlocke Challenge?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"No way! That's dangerous!" He paused, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, well, you haven't started yet. It's not too late for you to change your mind, so I want you to listen to me. Carefully.

"This Challenge is a suicide mission created by a psychopath that never backs down from a challenge. Most of the time he doesn't even care about what happens to his Pokémon as long as he wins the challenge. Your Pokémon will die, and you will lose, and you know what usually happens when someone loses and all their friends are dead? They become depressed. Most end up killing themselves. The sheer pain of losing it all, losing more than just the opportunity of bragging rights, drives them over the edge. Now, you seem nice, and it's certainly good to see the face of someone younger than forty around here. I don't want to see anyone I know hurt like that."

For some reason, that small speech hit home. Brendan had certainly done his homework about this Challenge, which meant he had considered it. Lyra had given up too. What if it was a bad idea? No. It doesn't matter. "I've made up my mind. I'm doing the Challenge."

Brendan sighed and backed away. "Okay, well, I have to go help my dad catch some Pokémon. Goodbye, Ghost. Good meeting you."

"Same," she muttered in reply as he grabbed a backpack and exited the room. She lingered for a moment, still debating with herself, then also left the room and went back downstairs. "Goodbye, Mrs. Birch." She called as she left.

Brendan's mother leaned out of the kitchen and waved. "See you, Ghost!"

Once outside she started for her house and then stopped. She should have unpacked, but instead decided to take a walk. That was what she normally did when she needed to clear her head. But, of course, she had barely walked past the Sapphires' and Birches' houses when a shout rang through the air.

"Help!"

Just a little afterword. I would like to thank alicekinsno1 for a bit of help here. (S)He pointed out quite a few glaring errors in my writing, and I have fixed them.

- Ghost