"So this is a Nuzlocke," I muttered understandingly as I read that last rule. They can die. I looked at the little girl leaning against my arm and staring with wonder at the watch. She could die… I looked back up to pay attention to Mr. McDonald just as he was getting to the rules.

There was a pause as the others skimmed the rules, and then the chaos began.

"That's horrible!" Maggie shouted. "You can't be serious about this, Mr. McDonald! You're telling us that they're supposed to fight, and they can die!"

"I don't want her to die!" Hannah shouted, hugging her Pichu. "She's adorable!"

"This game got a lot more interesting," said Jacob, grinning at his Squirtle.

"Yeah!" The Squirtle replied, lifting a fist into the air. "We can do this!"

"We can!" My Charmander shouted back. "We can all do this! We just have to fight and win!"

"Hey, Maggie," said Eric. "You ever play Pokémon?"

"I may have," Maggie replied. "This is not the same."

"Seems the same to me," said Eric. "Only instead of animals, we're using girls."

"And instead of fainting, they die," Maggie countered. "Are you saying that this is better?"

"No, that wasn't… the point," but Eric quieted down. He just stared at his Snivy in embarrassment.

"Continue, Mr. McDonald," said Quinton. "What's the last item?"

"You can't be serious!" Maggie said, horrified. "You're going to do this?"

"Of course," Quinton replied. There was a hint of smug pride in his voice. "I have done many Nuzlockes before. None of my Moemon will die under my watch."

"I'll do it," said Drew. "I think I can handle a few little girls."

"The games were easy," added Max. "This won't be much harder."

"Battles won't happen like in game, though," said Quinton. "This isn't a turn-based RPG. This is the real world. They will be more dynamic. We have more freedom, but so will our opponents."

"Correct," said Mr. McDonald. "Some rules of the games still apply: you cannot run from trainer battles, but you can run from wild battles. The watch will help you avoid some potentially dangerous situations."

"Dangerous," Maggie repeated. "We'd be putting these girls in dangerous situations, Quinton. Drew."

"I'm sure I can protect her," Drew said, winking.

Mr. McDonald pulled out a red rectangle, opening it up and showing us a fairly large screen. He scrolled down the list of blank names until he reached the one highlighted name: Lotad. "The final object is the Moedex. This shows each Moemon you have caught, providing a small description of each. It also places them into your personal computers once you have a full team, gives some helpful hints should you get lost or confused, and allows you to name your captured Moemon."

He placed the Moedex away and continued: "I am happy to hear that at least some of you will be participating. This is, of course, entirely up to you. You can go today or you can go in a few months. You can all do whatever you wish until the challenge is over. This will certainly be a great learning experience for many of you. If you have any questions, please ask me. I will be moving to the Research Center on the edge of town until the competition ends."

Mr. McDonald gave us a wave and a small smile and walked away, leaving us to ourselves.

The others stayed in their group. I moved myself to the tree, taking advantage of the shade that apparently only I needed. I was staring at them talking to each other, absentmindedly playing with their Moemon, or talking directly to them. Some of them were in intense conversations. I looked down to see my Charmander looking at me in confusion.

"Why are we just sitting here?" She asked.

"I don't know what to do," I replied. I wanted to compete. Nuzlockes were interesting, but I wasn't good at them. Whenever I participated, I lost or ran out of interest. I didn't have enough strategic knowledge of the games to reach the end. That was the internal turmoil I was debating. Whether it was worth it, and whether I had the ability to succeed.

She frowned, raising an eyebrow. "There's only one thing to do," she said. "We fight. We win."

"I don't know," I sighed. "Maggie made some good points."

"Who? Bulbasaur girl?" Charmander replied. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. We're Moemon! This is what we do! This is the best thing we can do!"

"I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it, but I don't want to see you die."

"I'm not going to die," she smiled. "I believe in you."

I couldn't help but smile back. They were all little girls. But they were also Pokémon. They could fight, and most importantly they wanted to fight. It wasn't brainwashing; it was instinct that compelled them to fight. But they needed a trainer, and if I wasn't a strong enough trainer, this entire journey could lead an innocent girl to an early grave.

"Well," I said. "That makes one of us."

"Well look who we found sulking by himself," said Garrett. I looked up and saw him and Quinton coming toward me. Garrett's Ralts was walking by his side, and Quinton's Beldum was resting on his shoulder, slightly hidden from view and watching me with apprehension. I smiled at the Beldum, but she hid deeper into Quinton's auburn hair.

"What's wrong with your Beldum?" I asked.

Quinton looked at her. "Melody's a bit shy."

That took me aback. "You named her?" I asked. "You named her 'Melody'?"

Quinton shrugged. "You know I like music, Arthur," he explained. "She will evolve into a Metang and then a Metagross, and I would enjoy calling her a name similar to her final form. It may be appropriate now to call her something that begins with 'B', but in fifteen levels it will be silly."

"So you've decided," I said. "You're really going."

"Although she's shy, she is adamant about defeating the Elite Four," said Quinton. Melody nodded slightly. "I'm proud of her, and I certainly wouldn't try talking her out of it."

"I think it'd be a good growing experience for her," Garrett continued, motioning toward Melody. "Meanwhile, my Gloria here is absolutely ecstatic about going. I really can't talk her out of it."

"I've wanted to do this my whole life," Gloria exclaimed. She looked exactly like a Ralts. She was wearing an oversized white dress, and her lime green hair completely covered her eyes. She pointed at my Charmander victoriously. "We're going to become champions!"

Charmander pushed herself out of my arms and stomped the ground in frustration. "No you won't! We will!" She pointed back at Gloria, and then looked at me expectantly. "Won't we?"

I bit my lip in thought. Everyone's eyes were on me. My heart was racing. I didn't want to be left behind, and although I feared the consequences, I would just have to try my damnedest to keep her alive. I nodded. "We will."

"Yes!" Charmander squealed, hopping into my arms and hugging me tightly. "You hear that, Gloria, you don't stand a chance!"

Gloria laughed mockingly. "I can't wait to hear you beg for mercy when I've climbed to the top."

"Easy girls," I warned softly. "There's no need to fight each other."

"You two should get used to each other," Garrett added. He looked at me. "We'll be traveling together."

"What?" Gloria asked in disbelief. "Not with her! I'll never be the strongest with her holding me back."

"You really want to fight?" Charmander asked. "Let's go right now!"

I looked at Garrett with concern. "We should put a stop to this."

He nodded, and the two of us pulled out our Pokeballs. He returned Gloria, and she disappeared in a red light. Charmander looked smugly at her, only to turn and see me mirroring Garrett.

"Don't put me in there," she pleaded. "I don't like those! I'll be good. I promise!"

I hesitated, my finger massaging the white button cautiously. I looked at her pleading, innocent eyes and couldn't do it. My hand dropped, and I adopted a cross expression.

"Fine, but only if you're good. Okay?" I asked sternly. She nodded, and I put the Pokeball away.

"Well that's not fair," Garrett muttered. He called Gloria back out and had a similar discussion. She relented as well, and the six of us decided to head to the Research Center to get some information. There was no hurry to leave. We would have many months of traveling before we even came close to challenging the Elite Four.

As we were walking up the hill, Quinton was fiddling with his watch. I copied him, curious about the information the watch would provide. I noticed the majority of the people were still around the tree, but there were some scattered across the town. Only one had left Pallet Town.

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing.

"He's racing ahead of us," Quinton noted. He tapped the box for me, and we discovered it was Garang. He must've been running.

"What's he in such a hurry for?" Garrett asked.

"Let's call him," said Quinton. I looked at him in confusion.

"These can call?" I asked. Quinton nodded and double-tapped Garang's name. A phone icon appeared, the box stopped on his own screen, and then Garang's name appeared on mine.

"What's up, Arthur?" Garang's crystal-clear voice asked. "Why're you calling me so soon?"

"Garang, what are you doing?" Quinton asked.

"Oh, Quinton's there too?" Garang asked. "What's up! I'm just winning, obviously!"

"Garang, come back to Pallet," I said. "You don't need to run ahead. Most of us aren't close to leaving yet."

"Good, then I'll get a head start," said Garang. "Olivia convinced me that we need to get to the League first."

"There's no one in our class named Olivia," I muttered. "I guess Garang's named his Pokemon."

"Moemon," Charmander corrected.

"The race has barely begun," said Garrett. "We're probably going to be doing this for months. What you're doing right now isn't going to help you in the long run. We'll catch up soon, and we'll be better prepared."

"I can't trust you, Garrett, you're my opponent," said Garang. "Who else is there? Are you all against me?"

"Look, Garang, how many Pokeballs do you have?" I asked.

"Moeballs," corrected Gloria. Garrett quietly told her to shush.

"Uh, I don't have any."

"If you encounter a Poke- Moemon and you don't have any Moeballs, you won't be able to catch it," Quinton explained. "And then you have one fewer Moemon in your party."

"I'll get some at the store, then," Garang replied exasperatedly. "Look, one isn't going to matter. I've got plenty of time, right? Just look at that list!"

"You won't be able to get through the list if you only have one Moemon," said Quinton. "The beginning is the most important part of a Nuzlocke. If you get a poor team, you will fail before you have a chance. And if you have no team, your failure is guaranteed."

"How much money do you have?" I asked.

"I dunno. I don't think I have any."

"Come back to town and get stocked," I continued. "If you don't have money, you won't get any supplies, and you'll be handicapped. Ask Mr. McDonald for some money if you aren't sure. No one else is close to leaving, yet, so you have plenty of time to prepare."

"Not true," Garang argued. "Drew and his friends were talking about going. And you guys said you were going."

"But we aren't leaving yet," said Garrett. "We need supplies, and a lot of others need them too."

Quinton was checking his watch. He motioned toward the edge of Pallet, where Drew's quartet was exiting Town. Others were beginning to head to the edge.

"Garang," I was nearly pleading at this point. "You have a little girl under your care. You have to think things through, think them carefully, plan ahead. You can't rush off or you'll put her in danger."

"Oh, there's Drew," we heard Garang mutter. "Listen, guys, you make good points, but it's a race. You guys care, and I respect that, but I can handle myself. Don't worry. I'll protect Olivia with my life, if things come to that. And I'll see you guys at the league."

There was a pause. I was about to hang up, but then Garang's voice came one more time. "If I need help, I'll call you. I might need help."

"Sure," Quinton replied. "We'll be sure to catch up with you."

Garang chuckled. "Talk to you later." I hung up.

"Olivia?" Garrett repeated a few minutes after the conversation had ended. "I don't know much about the latest generation, but doesn't Oshawott evolve into some samurai thing?"

"Samurott, but it's okay," Quinton waved a dismissive hand, engrossed in the watch. "Names don't have to begin with the same letter as their Pokemon counterparts. It's just more convenient and easier to remember, and if Garang remembers, then more power to him."

I had been looking at Charmander as they spoke. She and Gloria had been whispering an argument about who was stronger, and I lightly held them by their heads to prevent them from actually harming each other. Meanwhile, I was thinking about Charmander's name. It was easy to come up with a pattern with the Pokemon named: Char. The only name that sprung to mind, Charlotte, just seemed too innocent for how she acted. There wasn't anything tough enough. Crystal was rough, but it didn't seem appropriate, and Christine-

Suddenly, Charmander spouted a small puff of smoke at Gloria, who fell backwards, startled.

"Christine! Don't do that!" I scolded. And then I paused. Christine had been the name I last considered before she had puffed.

"Sorry," Christine muttered, both to me and then to Gloria. She walked over to me. "Christine. I like it!"

"So that's your name," said Garrett. "Glad we finally figured that out."

We continued on. The Research Center was in full view now. Quinton gave us small status updates about the other players. Nobody was following our lead and heading to Mr. McDonald to get supplies. More and more people were heading out into the wild. Even Max left.

"Aw, Max left without us?" Garrett pouted. "That's a shame."

"I guess the thrill of competition overpowered their morals," I noted. "Shame. Maggie made some good points."

"She did," Quinton agreed. "But I'm sure it helped that all of the Moemon wanted to compete in the first place."

"I guess her argument didn't convince many people," I noted.

We knocked on the lab's giant glass doors before opening them and walking inside. The room was covered in mechanical machines, computers, and stacks of books and papers. There was a small living room furniture set, complete with television, table, and couch, pushed off to the side of the well-lit lab.

"This is more of a home than a research center," Garrett whispered. "Either this was already someone's house, or Mr. McDonald moved in quickly."

"Mr. McDonald?" I shouted. "Are you home?"

Almost immediately, a voice replied telling us to make ourselves comfortable. A tall man with short, greased black hair and large glasses walked quickly into the room to meet us.

"Hello, hello!" He exclaimed in a nasally voice, and then he noticed the girls around us. "Ah, you're beginning your Moemon journey! So you'll be wanting Mr. McDonald for supplies, then. I'll fetch him." He wandered off. I noticed that before he left, he had given Melody a suspicious look.

"Did you notice that?" I whispered once he disappeared. Garrett shook his head, but Quinton nodded once.

"Beldums are rare," he reasoned.

"Maybe," I replied, unconvinced.

"I don't like him," Melody whispered, clutching Quinton's hair tightly. "I don't trust him." Melody was wearing a blue dress that dropped to her feet, and sticking out of the back of her head was the strangest thing I'd ever seen: A blue arm as large as she was, with three metal spikes coming out like fingers. It was a peculiar thing, and I found myself staring at it as we waited. She noticed and hid deeper in his hair.

"So what's our plan?" Garrett asked. "Once we get supplies?"

"We'll head out to Route 1," Quinton replied. "If others are willing, we'll travel with them. Otherwise, we'll keep to ourselves."

"I'm good with that plan," I agreed. "Hopefully we'll catch up with Max and Garang, and we'll be able to give him some of our extra things."

Garrett patted his stomach. "I hope we get some pre-cooked food," he grumbled. "I am not a good cook."

"Neither am I," I admitted. "But that's something we'll have to learn."

Instead of Mr. McDonald, however, the strange man came back holding three backpacks. "Please check them and see if I gave you enough. Five Moeballs each, a few potions and an antidote, a few sandwiches and bottled waters, and some money for Viridian City."

"This is very helpful," Quinton said. "Thank you very much."

"It's my pleasure," the assistant responded. "Best of luck on your adventure! I wish you the best!"

"That was so nice of him," Garrett said once we exited the building and the doors had shut. "Sorry, Melody, but I don't see why you were nervous."

Melody had practically made a home in Quinton's hair by this point. "I still don't trust him."

We walked down the hill and back into town, using the watch as a guide. By this point, most of our classmates had left town. Most of the few remaining were still around the tree, so we decided to walk there to speak with them. Along the way, Quinton continued to fiddle with the watch. He gave us some more pieces of information about the competitors who had left.

For example, Garang was far in the lead, nearly at Viridian City, but his Olivia had been hurt by a wild Moemon, and he was practically sprinting to reach the next destination. Only one person had captured a second Moemon: Jacob. Jacob's Squirtle had been damaged, but now he had his own Pidgey.

"How did he get a Moeball?" I asked. "Did he steal it?"

"Do you want to call and ask him?" Garrett asked.

I remembered our fight before class and shook my head. "No, I'll just leave that mystery to solve itself."

"These people are sabotaging themselves," Quinton muttered in frustration. "They went ahead without checking all of their options, and they're going to suffer."

"Less competition," I offered.

"But their Moemon will die," Quinton countered.

I'd momentarily forgotten about that. As if to remind me, as we approached the tree, Maggie waved at us. She seemed happy to see us until she saw the backpacks we were carrying.

"You guys have supplies," she said.

"Oh, great, where'd you get it?" Jack asked. He had calmed Rebecca down, and the pair were sitting by the tree, enjoying the sun.

Garrett pointed to the Research Center. "A nice man gave us these backpacks. I'm sure he'd do the same to you guys."

"Awesome," said Rebecca. "Thanks so much!"

"Was Mr. McDonald not there?" Maggie asked.

"We didn't see him," I replied. "He must still be moving in."

"Or he abandoned us," Maggie muttered.

"Hey-" I began, but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I'm just upset nobody agrees with me. Not even my own Moemon agrees with me. Am I insane?"

"You might be the one sane person here," I said. I shrugged. "Maybe you should just embrace the madness."

She glared. But then she looked down at our feet, seeing our Moemon smiling, and leaned against the tree. "I can't convince you not to go, but please promise me that you'll take care of them. I don't want to see them die."

"We promise," I said. "We'll take good care of them."

She didn't seem satisfied, but she nodded nevertheless. "Good luck. Maybe I'll see you again once you're done."

We said one last goodbye to those who were still by the tree, and we headed toward the town's exit. As we approached it, the entire atmosphere seemed to be shifting. Trees started to grow thicker, eventually surrounding the thin path we walked along. Branches hung overhead, blocking much of the sun and, thankfully, the heat. Christine pointed to a small patch of light that penetrated the thick branches and directed me to it.

"Walk there, Arthur!" she exclaimed happily. As we approached, Christine let go of my leg and jumped into it, extending her eyes and smiling peacefully. "This is amazing!"

While I chuckled and watched her enjoy herself, Quinton was explaining several of the features of the watch to Garrett, including spying on others' battles. Garrett was checking his own watch excitedly.

"This is great!" He exclaimed. He fiddled for a moment, and then his smile drop. "Hey, guys, Dylan's battling a Larvitar!"

"A Larvitar?" I repeated, hurrying over to them. "On Route 1? Already?" I looked at Garrett's watch, seeing the battle unfold. Unfortunately, we weren't given a live version of the battle. It still looked like the typical battle screen. Although by looking at the map, we could see that Dylan was moving around quite a lot. The app made one thing obvious: "He's not going to kill it."

The Larvitar had most of his health, while Dylan's Tepig had lost most of hers. He had no items. If he had found any Moeballs, he had already used them up. He wasn't running away. He called one last tackle, and then the Larvitar tackled. The Tepig Moemon disappeared from the battle screen, all of its health gone, and then…

Our watches started flashing red. "DYLAN HAS RUN OUT OF POKEMON! DYLAN HAS WHITED OUT" appeared on all of our screens. The message flashed for a minute and then returned to the app. Looking on the map, I noticed that Dylan's dot had completely disappeared.

Arthur:

Christine the Charmander

Garrett:

Gloria the Ralts

Quinton:

Melody the Beldum