Fun fact of the chapter: This is actually my third attempt at a Nuzlocke... and my first two were the day before my third began. In my first, I forgot that you have to delete an old save file before starting a new game, you can't just save over shit... so I thought maybe I'd do a run without turning my DS off and just keep it charged, but then I fought Cress too early with my Tepig and pair of Patrats (Rolf and Leonardo) and suffered a total party kill. Valuable learning experience. In my second, I suffered a critical hit from Cheren and died immediately. Sadly, the first playthrough had a slightly better nature on my Tepig (the one that raises attack and lowers special defense).
Shine a Light in the Darkness
Chapter 2: Friends and Enemies
"Alright, kids, I've got to show you how to catch a Pokémon!" Juniper explained when they reached the threshold of Route 1's tall grass. "Go, Frappucino!" Juniper sent out a silvery, overly cute rodent-like Pokémon. Juniper began rooting around in the tall grass, until eventually she found herself confronted by a Patrat – a chipmunk-like thing with a long tail and freaky red-and-yellow-bullseye eyes.
Bianca watched, fascinated, but Cheren and I had already researched how to catch wild Pokémon, so we didn't pay much attention. "What say we make this more interesting?" I offered Cheren.
His eyes glinted. "What did you have in mind?"
"We'll all have dinner in Accumula tonight. If any of us can't catch a Pokémon by the time we get there, they pay for the whole thing."
"Okay, sounds good," Cheren said. "I know I need a chance to make you pay me back for beating me." Of course, he and Bianca had paid me some of their pocket money on the way out of the house, as was tradition. It dated back to ancient times, when people with stronger Pokémon would extort money from those with weaker Pokémon. More pleasantly, a tradition dating back to the first Pokémon league overseas was for travelling trainers taking the Gym challenge to support themselves only on Pokémon battle winnings and amateur treasure hunts. I had to thank Cheren for explaining this to me; he was like a walking history textbook sometimes, only more interesting. Well, a little more interesting.
Juniper had finished with her demonstration by now, and offered us each her balls – that was how she explained it, at least. I think she was just fucking with us. I eagerly took some Pokeballs and explained the situation to Bianca under my breath. She seemed more into it than I was, and I had thought of it.
"Alright, you kids, I'm gonna go on ahead to Accumula! When you get there, I'll explain how the Pokémon center works!" I suppressed a groan as she left. More stuff I'd had explained to me before.
"Alright, split up and find some Pokémon!" Cheren shouted.
"Don't need to tell me twice!" I said, diving into the tall grass where Juniper had caught the Patrat. I began rooting around.
"You're perfect!" I turned around to look for the sound of the voice – nothing. "Down here!" At my feet was a Lillipup, a small canine thing with brown and black fur and a particularly thick scruff on its face. "Yeah, you big dumb animal," he yipped. "Perfect fodder for THE GIANTSLAYER!" He leapt at me, but I dodged out of the way.
"Whoa there, little guy," I said. "If you want to slay me, first you'll have to get past my little friend." I released Tormod from his Pokéball. "Let's weaken him, Tormod. I'm gonna catch him."
"A Tepig?" The Lillipup snorted derisively. "Hardly a fair fight! He's only a little taller than me, and not even three times my weight!"
"Let's see you put your money where your mouth is!" Tormod tackled the little dog, sending him sprawling.
"Ah!" he gasped, struggling to his feet. "You stalwart!"
I had seen enough. "Pokéball, go!" The ball snapped against his head and opened, sucking him in. It shook once, twice, thrice, and… click. I had caught myself a Pokémon. "Nice!"
Met Edward on Route 1!
Male Lillipup lv. 2.
Rash nature, Pickup.
Capable of taking hits.
I got to know Edward through using him in a few battles (along with Tepig). He opened up to me pretty quickly as we fought other Lillipups and Patrats. Not much else happened, except for a woman ranting about how my Pokémon looked injured and I should give them a potion. At the end of the route, I spotted Cheren and Bianca. They each had a Pokémon; Bianca had a Lillipup of her own named Malon, and Cheren had grabbed something I hadn't even seen during the afternoon. "Guess nobody's paying," I said sheepishly.
Cheren managed to make some excuse about training his new Pokémon, but I was stuck with Bianca listening to Juniper's lecture on how Pokémon Centers were the best thing since the Pokéball and how in other countries Pokémon Marts were in a whole separate building and how blah blah blah free health care. Worse, she almost grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the counter – luckily, I explained to her my "no touchie rule" first. Personally, I thought Nurse Joy was a creeper, and one of the Mart clerks was so dumb I could swear I saw him eating an envelope, but whatever. Free healing was free healing, and I bought some extra Potions to be safe.
On the way out, I noticed a crowd gathering. Cheren was toward the back, which was fine with me – I don't like to get jostled, if you couldn't guess. "What's going on?" I asked.
"The freak show rolled into town. Their boss is about to talk – I think they called him Dennis." I stood up on my toes and peered over some great fat guy's shoulder. Okay, it was a bunch of knight and squire guys from the Renaissance fair with some crazy flags. I was ready to pass it all off and go find us a fast food joint, but then this Dennis guy showed up, and I just couldn't stop staring. He must have been the wizard… that was the only way I could rationalize his clothes. He was wearing this bi-colored asymmetrical cloak with huge eyes drawn on it, and a huge collar-type-thing that looked like a crenellated wall, a weird red-lensed monocle… and he had long, wavy, sand-colored hair that hung down onto his massive collar – except for three massive cowlicks that framed his face. "Is he some kind of street performer?" Cheren asked.
"Arceus, I hope so," I said. "I want to see him juggle while wearing that."
Edward, who I had left out of his Pokéball, brushed against my leg. "I can't see! Let me see!" Obligingly, I lifted him up and placed him on my head. Cheren saw me and did the same for his Oshawott.
"My dear fellow citizens," Dennis called, "I am Ghetsis of Team Plasma. You may think Pokémon are your friends, but you're probably wrong! Pokémon aren't toys, they're majestic and powerful creatures and it's so wrong to walk around with a half-dozen on our belts. You're probably abusing or neglecting them without even knowing it. You should all give up your Pokémon – or better yet, join Team Plasma so we can liberate more Pokémon! Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience, I won't waste any more of your time, I gotta roll." He marched off with his knights of the round – Team Plasma, as they called themselves.
I heard the crowd muttering to themselves about liberating Pokémon. Thankfully, most of them agreed with me – Ghetsis was out of his tree. Pokémon and humans enjoyed working alongside each other! "What a load of bunk," I said, and Cheren nodded emphatically. I noticed a guy walking up to us, his cap pulled low over his face. This set off a small alarm bell in my mind. "Can I help you, sir?" I asked before he got too close.
"Your Pokémon… they're talking…" His voice came out in a rushed whisper, and he didn't make eye contact. I frowned at the guy. He was pretty well-dressed for a mentally ill guy; I adjusted my judgment of him. He wasn't mentally ill; he was the lonely and rich type.
"Pardon?" Cheren asked. "You're speaking too fast, and not making any sense." He looked uncertain; Cheren didn't know what to do with people he couldn't talk to rationally.
"Yes, they're talking." N leaned down to Megaman, and whispered to it. "But it seems you can't understand." He blinked, leaning back, and spoke more loudly (but still quickly). "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet! My name is N."
"N?" Cheren parroted incredulously.
N didn't dignify that with a response; instead he stared at the Pokédex hanging out of Cheren's jacket pocket. "A Pokédex? Then you'll be confining so many Pokémon in Pokeballs…"
"What business is it of yours?" Cheren asked. I noticed a Purrloin (a purple feline with cream-colored patches and a tail like a sickle) making its way out of a nearby alley.
"It just doesn't sit right with me…" N said. "I'm a trainer, too, but I wonder if it's really right to keep Pokémon locked up in little orbs." I looked down at his belt. He wasn't wearing one. No Pokeballs, as far as I could see.
"Listen, man," I said. "This is starting to get weird and abrasive. If you're a trainer, what say we settle this like trainers?"
"Hmm, sounds intriguing." N turned to face me, although he still didn't make eye contact. A chilly wind picked up, blowing his long green hair in front of his face. "I want to get a good feeling for the voice of your Pokémon. Go, Purrloin!" The Purrloin from the alley dashed in front of him.
"Okay, if that's the way you want to play… get him, Edward. Give him your best Leer."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" The dog leapt off my hat and landed between me and the cat and staring daggers at it. The cat wasn't nearly so reserved, just slashing at Edward's face. Edward shook it off and tackled the cat, knocking it to the ground, but it scratched him again and squirmed free.
"More!" N cried. "Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!"
He's not giving the Purrloin commands at all, I realized. Is it just a stray cat? "Edward, Tackle it again!"
"Edward the Giantslayer!" Edward cried, never mind that the Purrloin was exactly his height. The cat scratched him again, but he knocked it to the ground, growling. The Purrloin hissed and ran off. "Hey, come back, you foul beast!" Edward chased after it despite my protests. "I must protect my beloved master!"
"I… see…" N said, staring after our Pokémon. "I never expected to hear such things from a trainer's Pokémon. But as long as they're confined in Pokéball, they'll never become perfect beings." Okay, now he was losing me again with the philosophy crap. "All Pokémon are my friends," he said, dropping his winnings in front of me. "And for my friends… I'll change the world!" And then he was gone, just running off like a wind-blown leaf.
"That was so weird," Cheren said. "I wanted to fight that guy. Layla, I'm gonna see if I can still get a fight with that guy. I'll meet you and Bianca for some grub soon enough."
"Hey! Layla!" I looked up to see Edward returning from the alley. He hadn't caught the Purrloin, but he had found a bottle. "This was in the alley! What is it?"
I snatched it from his mouth. "It's an Antidote. It cures poisoning."
"Can you drink it?" he asked hopefully.
"I don't know," I admitted. "It's either topical, or it's for drinking…" I uncapped the bottle and shook it with my finger over the mouth, letting some get on my finger. Tasting it confirmed that it was drinkable. And lemony. "Let's save it for when we need it, okay?" I shoved the antidote into my bag. "This seems like it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Edward."
Night was falling as we crossed Route 2. Tormod had just handily dispatched a trainer's Patrat, and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves. "Alright, Tormod, take five. Let Edward take over for a while." Suddenly, my Xtransceiver began to beep. "Hello?" I asked, and was relieved to see my mom's picture on the other end.
"Layla, how are you doing?" she asked. "Where are you staying tonight?"
"I'm gonna be at Striaton City in an hour," I told her. "I'll grab a couch at the Pokémon Center there. Or I can just camp out here if I have to, I've got gear."
"Okay," she said with a smile. "This is really the safest part of Unova anyway. That's really why I called, I guess, just… stay safe, okay? I said take care of Bianca and Cheren, but… take care of yourself, too."
"I will, mom," I said. She looked like she had a question for me that she was afraid to ask, which I always took as my hint that it was time to get out of the conversation. "We can chat tomorrow, but I really want to hurry to Striaton before I get too tired, okay? Bye mom, love you!" I hung up halfway through her response.
"Did somebody say love?" Following the voice, I looked up. A pair of glowing green eyes flared out from the branches of the tree to my right. "Hey, there, beautiful, what's your name?" A Purrloin stepped out from the shadows and leapt to ground level.
"The name's Layla," I said. "And I'm a Pokémon trainer. What say you join my team?"
The cat laughed. "You're a Pokémon trainer? That's a laugh. You insult me with the offer, but you know… share some food with me and I'll call it even."
"And you'll join?"
"Pfft! No!" She laughed again. "I just want some dinner as reparations for the insult. I don't need your permission, you know…" she said, her eyes glinting.
"Neither do I, that's the beauty of the system. Edward! Tackle and pin her!"
"Right!" Edward did exactly as asked. She barely had time to growl at him.
"What's… get off, dog breath! I'm not into guys!" I tossed the Pokéball, and she struggled for a while, but it eventually clicked shut.
Met Heather on Route 2!
Female Purrloin lv. 5.
Timid nature, Unburden.
Alert to sounds.
"Well, we're starting to become a motley crew already, aren't we?" I chuckled, picking up Heather's Pokéball.
"Damn right!" Edward shouted enthusiastically. "Wait, motley means 'awesome,' right?"
Next Chapter: Rival battles, training, evil monkeys, and the first Gym battle!
Nuzlocke challenge (c) Nuzlocke
Pokemon (c) Nintendo and Game Freak
Layla (c) me