A/N: Okay, so, with any luck, this chapter will be posted about a month after the previous one… ^.^; I haven't forgotten that I owe you guys a lot more work after my year-long DOTFOTE. But first, a brief introduction addressing my most recent reviews:

"You Know Who" – Yes, I know who; Mysteryfan17 (aka my sister :P)! And how is it my fault that you stayed up late to read my story? You could've read most of it last year! When I asked if you saw my newest chapter and you informed me you hadn't read A Challenging Journey at all? You have no one to blame but yourself!

Oh, one other thing – a slight change to the organizational lineup here: the beginning of the chapter will only list those Pokémon that Nuzlocke currently has with him in his party; the rest will be at the end.

Nuvema Town: (gift) Smugleaf the male Snivy – Level 5; now Level 10
Lonely & Somewhat vain.
Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap
Ability: Overgrow

Accumula Town: (gift) Azalea the female Pidove – Level 0; now Level 11
Hardy & Somewhat vain.
Attacks: Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter
Ability: Super Luck

Route 2: Cupcake the male Lillipup – Level 6; now Level 10
Impish & Quick tempered.
Attacks: Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite
Ability: Pickup

Dreamyard: (gift) Violet the female Panpour – Level 10; now Level 10
Quiet & Capable of taking hits.
Attacks: Scratch, Leer, Lick, Water Gun
Ability: Gluttony

When I reach the doors of the Gym, I find them unoccupied for the first time. I stroll inside with Cupcake's Poké Ball in hand. The moment I step inside, a man approaches me and gives me a bottle of water. O-kay…

The room is spacious, but there is a curtain blocking my progress through the building. I head across the floor, intending to push my way through, but something stops me halfway. There are three panels with different designs on the floor, and the one that is currently under my feet – which has suddenly lit up – matches the curtain in front of me. Overhead I hear a buzzer sound before the lighted panel turns off and I am left standing confusedly in the middle of the floor. Okay, so I take it I've done something wrong? Maybe I'm supposed to step on one design in particular in order to move on? That seems like the most logical explanation, so I study the images more closely; to my left is a green panel with a leaf on it, and to my right is a blue panel with a drop of water on it. Well, since the curtain is red with a flame pattern on it, I assume this is an exercise based on type match-ups. That decided, it's obvious to me what my next action should be.

I turn to the right and take three steps so I'm standing on the water droplet. The panel lights up like the other one did as soon as I'm in the center of it, and a few seconds later I hear a ding-ding sound and the curtain parts down the middle, opening wide to grant me access to the next room.

Across the way I can see another curtain, this one blue. As I enter, a man holding a tray walks over to me and offers me "a taste of battle?" Both of us send out puppy Pokémon – interesting. This one looks tougher than any Pokémon we have faced before; it's no wonder, since we're in a Gym.

I tell Cupcake to use Leer first, while our opponent leads with Tackle. Just when I'm about to tell Cupcake to Tackle him right back, he leaps in with his jaws open ready to Bite. To avoid suspicion, I quickly call for a Bite attack, but from this display it seems obvious my puppy is too quick-tempered to maintain the discipline necessary to take part in an official battle; he needs more training.

Our opponent uses Odor Sleuth. I shake my head in disbelief at that. Before Cupcake can make another move on his own, I tell him to use Tackle. Much to my surprise, that is enough to finish off the match. As I return my willful puppy to his Poké Ball, I hear my opponent comment that I've got "a lot of pepper" or something; I find that to be an interesting choice of words… that is, until I look around more closely and really take in the tables and chairs on either side of the room. That's when I realize we're in a restaurant. This Gym… is a restaurant. What will they think of next, a library? I roll my eyes at the thought.

Anyway, since the water panel opened the fire curtain, I make a beeline for the leaf panel; despite my opponent's assurance that I'd do well even without type match-ups, I'm pretty sure it's the whole point here. Sure enough, the curtains open and I walk through, spotting the third different curtain at the same moment as a girl with a tray under her arm spots me, telling me she's my second course as she sends out a meerkat and I call out my starter.

Alright, Smugleaf, let's give your Wrap attack a try! Smugleaf's thick vine successfully Wraps the meerkat, but she manages to get in a good Bite first. I tell Smugleaf to use Vine Whip next, and he strikes with another vine – this one more slender – before the meerkat can escape with a Tackle attack.

Smugleaf repels her with another Vine Whip, but as it hits I realize we've fallen into a trap; the meerkat has used Bide, so we're pretty much doomed unless we finish this up quickly. I cross my fingers as Smugleaf looses one final Vine Whip, hoping against hope that it will land before our opponent's Bide is completed.

Whew! Down she goes. Next up: a purple cat. "Smugleaf, good job! Get back! Go! Violet!"

Wow, if there's one thing I can say about cats it's that they're fast! Her Scratch attack lands almost before I finish telling Violet to use Water Gun. My monkey fires her attack off immediately so it hits close-range, but it still doesn't seem to have done much damage at all so I change tack and use Leer.

She responds with a Growl, so Violet's Scratch attack's damage will even out, but then she counters with another Growl before using Assist… which turns out to be Bide. Well then, let's go for a move that's not very effective: Lick.

Violet Licks her a few times before the damage accrued over the last couple of turns gets sent back twofold (which still isn't very much) and then we finish up with a Water Gun. Or, at least, that was the plan, but then the cat uses Sand Attack and throws off our aim. She does another Assist and winds up using Bite, but now she's right up in Violet's face so our next Water Gun goes off without a hitch and our opponent is down and out.

We both return our Pokémon to our Poké Balls, then I turn around to go back to the Pokémon Center before the final match: my battle with the Gym Leader. He told me I should prepare to fight a Fire-type, so I need to make sure Violet is fighting fit as she is my strongest advantage – other than Azalea's Super Luck, of course.

When I come back, I march straight through the two open curtains and step on the red fire panel in front of the green third curtain. Following the affirmative ding-ding noise, I walk forward and approach the Gym Leader with green hair that I met outside earlier. I stop in front of him on a dais against the back wall of the building and he welcomes me with a bow.

Just as I'm about to issue a challenge to him, a guy with red hair steps out from behind him and says he uses Fire-type Pokémon, then a guy with blue hair steps out from behind him as well and proclaims himself "a Water-type specialist," before finally the green-haired guy says he likes Grass-type Pokémon and they all spin in place.

I stare at them, dumbfounded, as Grassy fumbles for words until Fiery shouts him down and informs me that they will decide whom I'll battle based on the type of my Starter Pokémon. Watery points out that I chose a Grass-type, then he and Grassy back up as Fiery takes center stage and declares himself my opponent.

Route 1: Flower the female Patrat – Level 4; now Level 7
Lonely & Likes to relax.
Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Bite
Ability: Keen Eye
Killed on Route 2 and buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.