Cracked Diamond Chapter Two

The Alternate Outcome

Upon entering Route 202, a Buneary immediately crossed Dawn's path. Dawn sent out Piplup at once and commanded him to use Bubblebeam to assist in her capture. She was determined not to make the same mistakes she had made before catching it before. Buneary looked up after being hit and sprung towards Piplup using a… Pound attack? Dawn didn't remember Buneary ever knowing Pound. She told Piplup to hit it with one more BubbleBeam, nearly knocking it out.

"Now," Dawn cried. "Go, Poke Ball!" The device soared through the air, hitting Buneary and enveloping her. It shook three time before clicking. Dawn smiled and picked it up. "Alright, one partner down," she muttered.

"Partner?", Ash asked. "What do you mean?"

"I caught Buneary in my world too, but it took me longer and I only caught it right before entering Jubilife," Dawn explained.

"Dawn, I'm not even going to pretend to know how your whole time-travelling thing works," Ash said "but if you caught in a different place, are you sure it's the same Pokemon?"

Dawn felt as if she had been hit on the head with a Geodude. Ash was right. She pulled her Pokedex out and scanned Buneary's Poke Ball to check. The display stated it knew Pound, Frustration, Defence Curl, and Endure- none of which her Buneary had ever known, to her knowledge. It also stated this Buneary was male. Tears formed in her eyes. This was not her friend. As long as she was in this world, it was doubtful she would encounter her Buneary. She certainly did not have time to search the entire route, and even if by some celestial chance she did find her, she wouldn't remember her. Heck, even Piplup didn't remember Dawn. But come what may, Dawn had something to do, and if she had to save the world without her Pokemon, then that was just the way it had to be.

"Sorry, Dawn. I didn't mean to make you upset," Ash apologized.

"It's fine," Dawn sighed. "I should have thought of it earlier." She choked back tears, recalled Piplup to his Poke Ball, and started back on the road. She and Ash walked in silence for quite a while, until long after the sun set. Then, Dawn was stirred by the plucking of a harp.

She whirled around, attempting to find its origin. Dashing after it, she quickly found Nando playing for Forest Pokemon. Shinx, Kricketot, Bidoof, Starly, and many more were gathered before him, serenely listening to his song. Smiling, she reminded herself that not everything had to change in this world.

"What a lovely song," she remarked. Nando looked up in surprise. As she approached, the Pokemon started to scatter.

"Yes, the Pokemon seem to like it," he stated. "However, their song dwarfs my own easily."

Dawn remembered that night under the stars, her first as a Pokemon Trainer. "Yeah, I know. It really is something," she stated..

Nando smiled and nodded. "Not many hear their song. You must be quite attentive, young miss. Tell me, what is your name?"

"I'm Dawn. And you?"

"Nando. Tell me, Dawn, what is your path?"

Dawn remembered this part a bit. She remembered Nando struggling to choose between Contests and Gyms, and eventually choosing both. "Contests, but that doesn't matter. But you're having a bit of trouble choosing, right?", she asked.

He looked taken aback for a moment. "Why yes, yes it is. How did you know that?"

Dawn ignored that and choked out "Not important. But, you don't have to make a decision, you can do both."

"No, I do not wish to live in two worlds. I want to do what is best for my Pokemon."

Though the Nando in her world was fine with being both a Trainer and a Coordinator, this one did not appear to be. "Alright. Battle me, then. Maybe it'll help you make up your mind."

He nodded, and motioned her to follow him. He lead her to a clearing where no Pokemon were and stood on one side of it. Dawn stood on the other side, and grabbed Buneary's Poke Ball. Even if this Buneary was a different one, she could still make the most of it's new abilities. She called out her new Pokemon, and Nando placed his Budew into the battle. Dawn frowned; this Buneary lacked Ice Beam, which would have been useful in this battle. "Alright, Buneary, use Frustration!", Dawn called. He glowed red and charged the Budew. It sailed backwards, landing on its back.

"Budew, please, stand up and use Bullet Seed!", Nando commanded. The Budew jumped up and spit a volley of green bullets at Buneary.

Dawn cried "Dodge!", which her Buneary did fairly effectively; only a few seeds hit him. Dawn then told it to use Pound, causing one of its ears to glow white as it ran to strike Budew.

"No!", Nando gasped. "Dodge it, Budew!"

The command came too late. Budew was sent flying once more by Buneary's strike. "Great! Now, finish it with Frustration!", Dawn ordered.

"Budew, use Mega Drain; don't let it beat you!", Nando exclaimed. Budew shot a dark green beam from its head, but Buneary charged through it unaffected with its Frustration. Nando gasped as Buneary landed the final blow on Budew. Dawn was slightly astonished. As the green bud fell, she recalled how in-sync Nando and Budew had been in their proper first battle. However, it seemed in this world, they lacked that bond. Or, perhaps because it was night, they just couldn't use Sunny Day and Solar Beam effectively as they had before.

Nando recalled his Pokemon and approached Dawn. "I believe you have bested us. You and your Buneary must be close."

Dawn giggled lightly. "No, anything but! In fact, I just caught it today! That's why Frustration worked so well."

Nando looked a bit disheartened. "I suppose the universe is attempting to send me a message. If I lost so easily to a Coordinator, then this must not be my path," he sighed. Dawn attempted to tell Nando that because it was a normal battle, that wasn't quite the message intended; she did not want to lose one of her best rivals because of an odd fluke victory. However, he interrupted her by stating "Thank you for helping me. Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the Pokemon Center so I may heal my Budew and register for the Sinnoh League?".

Dawn sighed. "Sorry, I kind of left a friend and I really should make sure he isn't worried about me," she apologized.

"Very well then. I hope our paths shall cross again. Once again, thank you very much for your help."

As Nando headed off, Dawn retraced her steps to find Ash battling a wild Shinx. He commanded his Pikachu to use Quick Attack, knocking the Pokemon down. He then threw a Poke Ball at it, which shook twice before it burst out and bit down on Pikachu's tail. Pikachu then used Iron Tail, knocking the Shinx out. Ash threw another Poke Ball, a successful catch this time. Grinning, he picked up his new catch and exclaimed "Alright! I got a Shinx!", Pikachu cheering along with him.

"Nice catch," Dawn praised. "Y'know, there's a Pokemon Center nearby, so you can heal up Shinx, if you'd like."

Ash nodded. "Good idea. It is getting pretty late, so we can stay the night, too."

They found the Pokemon Center rather quickly, and while Ash was handing his new Shinx to Nurse Joy for healing, Dawn spotted Nando lurking near a machine. Dawn waved to him, and he motioned to her. "Ah, I was hoping to see you. You see, I realized if I am going to be facing Gyms, that I need stronger Pokemon. I believe my Budew is more suited for contests than battles."

"Oh, so you're changing your mind?"

Nando shook his head. "No, I have a proposition for you. Your Buneary seems to possess a great deal of strength, while my Budew is a more beauty-oriented Pokemon. I believe we should trade."

"A-are you sure?", Dawn asked. While she had no problem trading her Buneary, she could not imagine Nando not using his Budew. "I mean, Budew is a strong Pokemon, and the Oreburgh and Canalave gyms are weak to Grass-types."

"Yes, I am sure. Will you trade with me?"

Nervously, Dawn nodded. She saw now the machine beside them was a Pokemon Trading machine, and she placed her Buneary's Poke Ball on one end. Nando placed his Budew's on the other, and the two Pokemon buzzed past each other and into the other Poke Ball in the machine. Nando retrieved the Poke Ball of his new Buneary and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Dawn. I hope to see you again."

Dawn grabbed her Budew's Poke Ball and smiled sadly. Now Nando's partner Pokemon was her own. She only hoped she could use it as well as Nando once had. Lost in her thoughts, she heard Ash say "I got registered for the Sinnoh League! I'm exhausted. See you tomorrow!". She nodded and made her way into one of the many rooms in the Pokemon Center intended for Trainers to spend the night in and got into bed without even bothering to put on pajamas. Closing her eyes, she sleepily wished for this crazy world to be gone when she awoke and to find herself back in a field in the Kanto Region.


However, it was not so, as when she awoke, though for a moment she was not sure where she was, she still found herself in the Pokemon Center. She got up and greeted Ash, who was training with his newly acquired Shinx in the battlefield behind the Center. They soon departed and, much to Dawn's surprise, made it to Jubilife City by noon. Either Ash was far better at not getting lost in this world, Route 202 was much more efficient, or Sandgem and Jubilife were simply closer together than in her world. Dawn did not know which. Of course, when they got to the next Pokemon Center, a poster declared the Contest was in two days, so it was quite fortunate.

Dawn went to the battlefield at this Pokemon Center to attempt to train her Piplup and Budew. Quickly scanning Budew's Poke Ball, she found it knew Sunny Day, Mega Drain, Bullet Seed, and Water Sport, not Solarbeam. She decided that she would use it in the Appeal Round, and Piplup in the Battle Round. She then started to work on an Appeal using Budew's moveset, and train Piplup a bit.


Party-

Dawn- Piplup (male, Lv 9) Ability- Torrent, Moves- Bubblebeam, Bide, Peck

Budew (female, Lv 8) Ability- Natural Cure, Moves- Bullet Seed, Sunny Day, Water Sport, Mega Drain

Ash- Pikachu (male, Lv ?) Ability- Static, Moves- Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, Volt Tackle

Starly (male, Lv 9) Ability- Keen Eye, Moves- Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack, Double Team

Shinx (female, Lv 8) Ability- Rivalry, Moves- Bite, Spark, Leer, Tackle

Other Trainers-

Nando- Buneary (Male, Lv 7) Ability- Klutz, Moves- Frustration, Pound, Endure, Defence Curl


AN- Sorry this chapter's a bit shorter. Next one will be longer, most likely. Still, hope none of you are unhappy about Nando going for Gyms only and Dawn trading her Buneary for a Budew. If it makes you feel any better, she might not keep the Budew... Also, Ash has a Shinx now, like every single one of you suggested. Are you pleased with yourselves? By the way, do you guys like me listing the Pokemon at the end of the chapter, and do you want me to list their moves?

Also, keep suggesting Pokemon, especially for Zoey and Barry. Hikatoshi, I like your idea for Barry, but I'm afraid I probably won't be giving Zoey a Beautifly, since May already had one. However, you did give me an idea for another awesome Bug/Flying-type Zoey could catch. Other people, SUGGEST THINGS! Zoey's next chapter, and unless you want a transcription of her same appeal from DP011, I need good ideas for her. Then again, I might just go ahead and show what Bug I'm giving her early...

Thank you for reading! -Twilight Joltik

PS, this chapter is named for one of my favorite Fanfics of all time. It isn't up any more, but trust me, it was very good. It was by TheZettaFactor, so if you want to see it, go pester her about it.