Chapter 7! I get my second badge and chase Team Plasma!

Shine a Light in the Darkness

Chapter 7: The Stuff of Trainers

I stood in front of the stairway to Lenora's office. Having stomped all her helpers the previous day, I only needed to show a cursory demonstration of the Gym's puzzle before they let me in. "Give me a ready report, guys. Tell me how you're feeling."

"I'm psyched. EDWARD THE GIANTSLAYER will demolish anything thrown my way!"

"I won't lie and say I'm not nervous," Rolf said, "but I don't see how we can't win here."

"I'm gonna show you guys how we throw down in the caves!" Brom rumbled.

"Stop stalling and get in there!" Tormod urged. "We can take anything she can throw at us!"

"Okay…" I made my way nervously down the stairs. Lenora sat at her desk, reading through a thick stack of papers. A teapot sat atop a Bunsen burner running on the corner of her desk. The office was small and furnished with cheap, casual furniture; a Herdier was napping on top of a leather couch covered with scratch marks. It seemed cozy enough, though.

"Give me a minute," Lenora said distractedly. "I'm reading an assistant's dissertation; there's a section break coming up on the next page."

"LENORA I'VE COME TO CHALLENGE YOU TO A GYM BATTLE," I said, much more loudly than I'd intended to. I was honestly so nervous that morning that I'm not sure how I got my pants on. Maybe I didn't.

She looked up, at any rate. "Why do you have all your Pokémon out at once?" she asked, eyebrow raised, but the words were barely out of her mouth when she bit her thumb. "Oh, lord, you had your first death recently, didn't you?" I nodded numbly. "Sit down… we should have some tea before we battle." She waved me into a chair, which I sat in awkwardly; it was classroom-issue, and looked like the least comfortable thing in the room. "Here." She pulled a mug from a drawer and poured me a cup. It was orange-spice black tea, and she drank it regularly, judging from the way she smelled of it. It was a pleasant enough smell, though.

"Thanks," I said. Unsure of what to do, most of my Pokémon sat down on the stairs; Edward was unable to relax. "I lost three Pokémon in the two days since I got my first badge."

"Three?" Lenora's eyebrow shot up again, although her eyes were back on the dissertation. "You need to be more careful, girl. What happened? Did they all die at once?"

"No… they were all separate incidents…" I recounted, in brief, the stories of Heather, Janaff, and Vika's last battles. One thing stood out to me between them: "They were all so confident they would win," I realized, blinking back tears.

Lenora had put down the dissertation. "If your Pokémon looked unsure of themselves, you would've withdrawn them, and their deaths would've been prevented. But you can't forget… it's because of you that they put on a brave face. Your Pokémon knew what they were getting into… every Pokémon who lets itself be caught does. It's not hard for them to evade humans."

"I don't deserve them," I said, staring into my tea. I couldn't meet the woman's eyes. "They put their lives on the line several times a day for some lying, two-bit trainer."

"Well now," she said, crossing her arms, "If you take an attitude like that, you'll never beat me. Didn't you come here for a badge?"

"You're right… about everything." I finished my tea in one gulp, trying not to flinch from the burn I left on my tongue. "Are you ready to battle?"

"Let me prepare the office." Lenora pushed a button on her desk, and I yelped in surprise as the room split in half along a seam. Lenora, her desk, the couch with her Pokémon, and the wall behind them all slid back about fifteen feet, leaving me with a chair and an empty mug of tea most of the way across the room. The new space was unfurnished and the walls, floor and ceiling were all padded like an asylum cell. "What's your name, girl?"

"I'm Layla."

"Pleased to meetcha. I'm Lenora, the leader of Nacrene City Gym and the director of the Nacrene Museum! Now, I'm going to research how you battle with the Pokémon who would die for you! Go, Wilmore!"

"Alright… time for some action!" The Herdier leaped from his couch and cleared Lenora's desk in a single spring. He was several times Edward's age, but among Pokémon, that was hardly an indicator of weakness.

"To hold back now would be worse than foolish," I said aloud to myself. "Get 'im, Tormod." Tormod flexed his arms as he stepped into the padded portion of the room.

"You need to relax, Layla," he said. "We're your pack, remember?"

"Let's begin!" Lenora said. "Leer, Wilmore." The Herdier locked eyes with Tormod, staring deep into his soul and willing him to drop his guard. At least, that's what I assumed he was willing him to do.

"Tormod, use Arm Thrust!" Tormod jumped in and began slamming his prodigious arms into the dog. He did good damage, although Wilmore got clear before the third hit.

"Wilmore, get him back with a Take Down!"

"As you wish!" Wilmore slammed hard into Tormod elbows first, and the two took a tumble. Both groaned in pain as they got up.

"Now's your chance, Tormod! Another Arm Thrust!"

"Right!" Tormod's trotter-fists impacted the Herdier's side over and over. One, two, three hits… Wilmore went down in a semiconscious pile of fur.

"Forgive me, milady," he whispered. "I damaged him for you…"

"It's alright, Wilmore," Lenora said, returning him to a Pokéball. "Go, Cenac!" The Pokémon she sent out was a particularly fearsome-looking Watchog wearing what appeared to be an elbow brace.

"Wilmore went down? Sounds like we're battling seriously," Cenac said with a smile.

"Tormod, that's enough for now. Get in here, Brom." One thing I had heard about was Lenora's fearsome signature attack, Retaliate, which could destroy me if I had just K. one of her Pokémon. Luckily, Brom promised me he could survive any attack. I hoped he could hold up that promise.

"Brom, Rock Smash!" I called, and as he was charging, I waited for Lenora to open her mouth and issue her bone-chilling order for Retaliation.

"I'm beginning to see what kind of trainer you are. Cenac… Leer." Even the Watchog looked back at her, but her command held firm, and Leer was what Cenac did. Even as Brom kicked him, he took it like a champ and kept his eyes on the lump of rock.

"Leer again, Cenac."

"Rock Smash!" And so it happened again. One or two more Rock Smashes will knock the Watchog down, I realized. "Go for another Rock Smash!" This one hit Cenac right in his braced-up arm, and I swear I saw it buckle.

"Hang on, Cenac," Lenora said, healing much of the damage with a Super Potion. "That was good. Now… Crunch!"

The Watchog darted forward like lightning, twisting sideways so that he could get his engorged jaws around Brom's whole body. In one smooth motion, he lifted Brom off the ground and bit in. I heard a horrible crack like the sound of a roast Ferroseed being shelled. It was far too close to the sound Montoya made with Janaff's skull. "Brom! Are you okay?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"I'm… ugh… I'm FINE!" Brom yelled. "Call a shot! Any shot!"

"Rock Blast!" I yelled desperately.

"Roger that!" Brom's dangling body rocked as a stone shot from his ear like a cannon. From our vantage points, Lenora and I got to watch as the stone slammed against the back of Watchog's mouth, visible as it rocked Cenac's cheeks. Cenac staggered and tried to disengage himself, but his teeth were stuck fast, and three more stones slammed into the back of his mouth before he disengaged himself, dropping both Brom and the stones he had fired.

It was all over. Cenac fell to all fours and puked a little bit. "Ah… AH!" he wailed, coughing ferociously. "No more! No… no more!" He barely managed to push himself clear of his own vomit before collapsing. "I'm sorry, Lenora…" he gasped. "I can't continue."

"That looked pretty nasty… Layla, you win!" Lenora ran over to Cenac and began inspecting his mouth. "No question, that was the right move at the right time. I couldn't expect my Pokémon to keep fighting after a hit like that. Ah, look, his uvula's bleeding… I'll have to take him down to the Pokémon center and get that looked at." She withdrew him. "My theory about you was correct, Layla. You're worthy of receiving this…" she drew a rectangular pin from her hair, shaped like the purple spine of a hardcover book. "The Basic Badge!" She pinned it to my hat, next to the Trio Badge, and offered her hand. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks!" I said, still in disbelief that I had won so easily. "I'm not going to shake your hand… it's nothing personal, I just don't touch… anybody."

"Oh…" looking slightly put out, she strode back to her desk. "I've got a TM here for you, too… it's Retaliate. If one of your Pokémon meets an unfortunate fate, this attack becomes extremely powerful…" she sighed. "I've had Pokémon die on me, too, Layla. It's unfortunate, but sometimes it was purposeful on the part of my foe. Sometimes an eye for an eye is very appropriate."

"You didn't use this move against me," I said in a mix of disappointment and relief.

"The threat of Retaliation can be more potent than the promise," she said, pouring herself a new mug of tea. "I make sure it's common knowledge that I have this move, and I find I almost never have to use it. You heard about this move going into the fight, didn't you?"

"Only about three times," I replied. "Why do you think I switched to Brom when you brought out your second Pokémon?"

Lenora grinned. "Motivated AND talented… I like that." She took a sip of her tea, but the sound of a loud impact made her spill some down the front of her dress. "Honey!" she cried.

I looked behind myself. Curator Hawes had fallen down the stairs to Lenora's office. "I'm fine!" he yelled, rubbing a bruised temple. "But we need you, dear! Team Plasma is here, and they're threatening to steal some bones!"

"What the hell is this about?" Lenora slammed her tea down on her desk. "Layla, come on! Your Pokémon are still in shape to battle!"

By the time we got to the museum proper, it was all but over. "We're letting you guys off easy this time, because you seem like decent folk," one of the Team Plasma grunts was saying, "but you guys had better learn the world is changing! People keeping Pokémon cruelly locked up in balls… that age is quickly coming to an end! Team Plasma, exeunt!"

"Exeunt, well, isn't he highly educated," Lenora grumbled. "Who can tell me what they took?" she was already storming her way toward the front door, leaving me jogging to keep up.

"They took the skull off our Dragonite skeleton, ma'am," one of the aides explained, "as well as some antique weapons from the pre-Trainer era."

"Those weapons are dangerous!" Lenora roared. "And that skull's valuable! We can't let them get away!"

"Lenora loves that skull!" I heard Hawes cry from behind us.

"I love that skull!" Lenora echoed, racing through the door. I followed a few steps behind. "Damn! They're gone!" I blinked in the late-morning sun. Lenora was right. There wasn't a trace of the armored thieves.

"These guys are such a pain," I groaned. "They keep trying to steal Munnas, too."

"Hey, Lenora." We turned. A strange man with near-afro levels of bushy brown hair, equally bushy brown eyebrows, and big, droopy green eyes stood in front of us. He had on a skintight green T-shirt, red pants with black and green stripes, black socks, green shoes with red buckles, a red scarf, and a belt with a silver butterfly buckle – let me assure you as a disclaimer that this outfit was why I called him a strange man. His weird, breathy tone of voice didn't help either.

"Burgh! How're you doin', kid?" Lenora said, all smiles.

Burgh clasped his hands over his mouth and nose and shifted his eyes to the side. "The same. Find any cool rocks or bones lately?"

"Nah, nothin'. Layla, this is Burgh, and he may not look it, but he's the Castelia City gym leader. He's no pushover, lemme tell ya. Burgh, have you seen Team Plasma lately?"

"Oh, I know, those guys are so sweet." Lenora's eyebrow shot up again, and this time, mine did too. Burgh clasped and unclasped his hands. "Why, what's up?"

"What's up is some Team Plasma goons just walked off with an exhibit!" Lenora shouted.

"What's this about Team Plasma?" I turned. Bianca and Cheren were both here. They looked worried at the sound of Team Plasma, although I saw Bianca's eyes drift to my new badge and her smile light up accordingly. "They stole something from the museum now?" Cheren asked.

"Who're these kids?" Lenora asked suspiciously.

"They're with me," I said quickly. "They probably came to see how I did in the gym battle."

"Your friends, okay," Lenora said, rubbing her chin. "Trainers?" they nodded. "Good. Listen, I'm gonna go scope out Route 3 in case Plasma went that way. Cheren, Bianca, I want you two to guard the gym in case they double back. Burgh, do you think you could take Layla and search in Pinwheel Forest? That's their most likely location, but you guys are probably enough muscle to take care of them."

"Sure, I know the way." Burgh eyed me, shifting his bony shoulders. "Layla, huh? Fresh out of the Nacrene Gym, I see. Are you raring to round up some raunchy Team Plasma…" he paused, searching for a word. "…rapscallions?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "I'll heal my Pokémon on the way. What does this stolen skull look like?"

"It's the size of a Herdier, with one small horn!" Lenora said, already running toward Route 3. "You can't miss it!"

"So, who were your friends back there?" Burgh asked, trailing behind me and keeping pace with Edward. I had met up with the nurse again on the way into the deeper part of Pinwheel Forest, and she had happily healed my Pokémon and congratulated me on my second badge.

"Oh, they're Bianca and Cheren. We've been friends since… Idunno. My memory only goes back to when I was five, but we were already three peas in a pod."

"That's sweet. Are any of you… romantic?"

"Us? No…" I paused. "I've seen Cheren look at me once or twice, and I've seen Bianca look at him, but I don't know if he's really interested in either of us. He's hard to figure out."

"He's got EVERYTHING," Burgh gushed, making me jump a little. "Mystery, brains, good bone structure, skinny jeans, and a lock of hair that goes whooOOOooo!"

"Are you going to hit on him?" I asked, faintly amused. I thought about telling Burgh we were sixteen, but then I decided not to. The possibility of watching the next gym leader Cheren fought hit on him was too good to pass up.

"Alright," Burgh said, noticing a fork in the road. "Listen, Team Plasma either took the main path, or went deeper into the forest… or maybe split up. Anyway, we should split up too… yesyesyesyesyes, I have it! I'll take the main road – it's full of trainers, but they won't stop me because I'm a gym leader. They'd stop you for battles. The forest has less trainers, but it has wild Pokémon. You'll go that way, and we'll meet up around where the paths rejoin, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." I was curious as to what kind of Pokémon lived around here, anyway. "You aren't heading off the path?"

"No, that violates the terms of the restraining order this hunky Pokémon Ranger has against me. Okay, toodles!" He took off down the path, brushing his hair back while he set his other hand on his hip.

"What a weirdo," I mumbled as I walked deeper into the forest. "I guess we shouldn't take normal gym leaders like Lenora for granted."

"Hey, maybe only the Normal-type gym leader is normal!" Tormod joked.

"Arceus, I hope not. Hey, is that a Team Plasma member?" I pointed at a tall lump of silver in a clearing that was still a couple of dozen yards ahead.

"Yeah," Rolf said, squinting. "He's just sitting there. He doesn't have a big skull with him."

"Well, let's pump him for information!" I charged forward. "Hey, what're you doing there?"

The Team Plasma member was indeed sitting on the ground, facing my direction. "I'm here to slow down any pursuers," he said with a grin. "Go, Sandile!" he sent out a Pokémon I hadn't seen before in person – a small, tan crocodile with black stripes and black markings around its eyes. It snapped at me and closed in.

"Brom, get this thing out of my face," I said, annoyed.

"Roger!" Brom delivered a Rock Smash that grounded the Sandile before you could say "Bite me."

"Mew dammit," the Team Plasma grunt swore. "I was hoping to hold you back more… the real reason I'm hanging back is because… well, I sprained my ankle on that tree root over there…"

"You guys are just made of failure, aren't you?" I teased.

"Whoo…" Brom said. "Listen, Layla, why don't you withdraw me? It seems clear you kids wanna run, and ha, I'm sorry… but I'm no good at that stuff."

"Yeah, sure," I said, glad I didn't have to ask.

"Pokémon-mistreating freak," the grunt mumbled as I ran on my way.

"S… stay back! Team Plasma needs this skull!" the woman shouted.

"No you don't," I replied. "It's a skull. Nobody needs it. We leave it on display in museums because it's cool and we hope it makes kids want to learn."

"Shut up! The seven sages have plans!"

"'Alas, poor Yorick,'" I quoted sarcastically, "'I knew him, Kadabra.' That's what people use skulls for. That's all. Now why don't you guys start acting like normal activists and stop stealing… honestly, I can't place any collective identifier on what you guys are stealing. Even 'stuff' seems inappropriate, that's demeaning to Munna."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this!" The woman reached for her Pokéball.

"Get ready, Rolf," I said.

"Stop right there!" a shape dropped from the treetops to land between the Team Plasma woman and I. "I won't let you hurt this defenseless woman!" It was a stern-faced Sewaddle wrapped in silvery-grey leaves.

"I've got Pokémon, I'm fine," I said.

"I was talking about her!" the Sewaddle jerked its head back in the direction of the Team Plasma woman.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"No, you clearly intend to harm her!" the Sewaddle steeled itself in front of Rolf. "You've forced me to do this!" he let loose a blast of String Shot, pinning Rolf's forepaws to his sides.

"Ugh… come on, man, I was about to battle!" Rolf complained.

"This Pokémon clearly understands Team Plasma's calling!" the woman cried triumphantly. "Purrloin, help him out!"

"Wait, you're not defenseless at all," the Sewaddle realized, noting the newly deployed Purrloin.

"This is fucking ridiculous," I groaned. "Tormod, Arm Thrust the shit out of that Purrloin. Rolf, use Hypnosis on the Sewaddle."

"I will not be silenced," the Sewaddle protested. "I will force you to…" he trailed off, falling into a light doze. Meanwhile, the Purrloin only got off a single Sand-Attack before getting pummeled into the dust by Tormod.

"Aww, what is this bullshit?" the woman yelled. "The sages gave me a defective Pokémon!"

"I have no time for this shit," I mumbled, throwing a Net Ball at the Sewaddle. "Lady, it's called type advantage, look It up. Also look up Purrloins and you'll see that they're fragile as shit."

Met Zihark at Inner Pinwheel Forest!
Male Sewaddle, lv. 14.
Quiet nature, Swarm.
Quick tempered.

"I'd like to apologize for earlier," Zihark said from atop his new position atop my cap. "I acted hastily because I hadn't seen a human in days."

"Have you gotten your fill yet?" I asked dryly. We'd fought a couple of confused Pokémon Rangers as well as another Team Plasma grunt since then.

"Yes. Thanks for letting me join my team. I'm on a mission, you see."

"A mission? Will it get in the way of my journey to become a Pokémon master?"

"I don't think so. My journey is to seek out cases of cruel Pokémon abusing humans, wherever they may be happening, and put a stop to them."

"Really?" Tormod asked. "Are you sure you don't mean the other way around?"

"No, I can't stand the idea of my own kind oppressing humans," the silvery Sewaddle explained.

"Why?" Edward chimed in.

Zihark blushed. "You wouldn't understand," he whispered.

"It's cool," I said. "I can understand it."

"Yeah, I could get behind that," Tormod said. "No human abuse! It's righteous."

"I like it," Rolf said.

"I don't get it at all," Edward sighed.

"Stop right there!" I looked up. Standing across a gigantic tree stump from me was another Team Plasma grunt.

"Alright," I sighed, "what kind of weak Pokémon will you be sending out?"

"None." Grinning, the grunt pulled out a large, tarnished blade on a leather-wrapped handle. I had seen one on the history channel once… and Hawes had pointed it out to me… right, it was called a sword. At first, I was merely confused, but then I remembered what they were for – enabling humans to fight Pokémon directly – and I swallowed nervously. "I see you know to respect this instrument," he chuckled. "I've done just as the Team Plasma doctrine states – I released my Pokémon. I defend myself now!" he held the blade in front of him. "Now, get back in the name of Team Plasma, or I shall strike you down!"

I gauged our chances. This was one of the largest members of Team Plasma I'd seen – his muscles bulged under his chain mail. The chain mail also complemented his sword, and I realized this was a man who could plow right through less powerful Pokémon if he had to. "Rolf, get out there," I said levelly.

"I can't believe you'd put a Pokémon in front of yourself!" the man bellowed. "Our king is right! People are so unworthy!" he took a threatening step towards me, ignoring Rolf altogether.

"Hypnosis?" Rolf suggested.

"Hypnosis," I confirmed. The rays from Rolf's eyes hit the Plasma swordsman as he leapt over the Watchog, sword extended. I dove out of the way, pressing Zihark against my hat so neither would come loose, and watched the grunt careen over the edge of the tree stump as he rapidly lost consciousness. "Okay, let's get out of here before he wakes up, I don't want to have to do this again."

"That was kind of upsetting," Zihark admitted. "Are all humans this crazy?"

"Most of them," I replied optimistically. "But that's part of our charm." Zihark peered down past the bill of my cap and looked at me strangely.

"I should've known I wouldn't get through a day without seeing you," I said.

"Hello. My name is Audino Montoya. You killed my best friend. Prepare to die."

"Give it a rest already!" I moaned. Montoya was impassive.

"Who is this guy?" Zihark asked.

"He's some mysterious figure from my past, he blames me for something I choose not to reveal that he's too melodramatic to explain, he killed one of my Pokémon two days ago, I'm not half as bad as he makes me out to be, and I'll explain why he hates me some other time. For now, let's knock him out so we can keep going! Now, Tackle him, Zihark!"

"Oh. Alright." Zihark leapt off my hat and crashed into Montoya's chest, but at his size it didn't have much impact. Montoya responded with his usual Doubleslaps.

"It is not too late for you, child. Forsake her… and I will spare you."

"Bug Bite!" I called, trying to shut Montoya's words out. Zihark leapt past the Audino, grabbing the Oran Berry from his grip and devouring it.

Montoya growled and shook off the hand that had held his berry, which Zihark's fangs had nicked. "You cannot hope to match me in combat. A Pidove has already fallen. He had the same confident look in his eyes as you."

"No…" Zihark replied, firing off a Razor Leaf that cut into Montoya's shoulder. "I will overcome you. You may think your goal is noble, but you're just a sad bully. I KNOW my goal is the right thing to do, and to accomplish it, I need to learn how to defeat Pokémon just like you." He fired off another Razor Leaf as his foe closed in for the Doubleslap, and this one hit home. It left a deep gash across the right side of Montoya's neck, which immediately began to leak glittering, crackling red blood onto his fur. Zihark and I sucked in a breath in unison. My guess was that Zihark hadn't meant to use lethal force.

Montoya groaned and stumbled sideways, leaning against a tree. "You've cut a major vein… do you think that makes you brave, or clever, or strong? Do you think that makes you better? Does this cut make your goals better than mine?" He stopped talking to gasp for air.

"I didn't mean to cut you so badly," Zihark said, "but you were a threat, and I do not regret the actions I took to defend myself." Then he gasped again as his body started glowing. The rest of the team and I watched in awe as fallen leaves around Zihark surrounded and enveloped him. When the light faded, the leaves were all silver, as his previous wrappings had been, and two of them stuck up from above his head in a V-shape. He was slightly larger and his face was grimmer, and he was enveloped almost completely by the leaves. "I would've preferred sharper blades," he said, "but this armor is appreciated."

Zihark evolved into Swadloon!

"Looks nice, Zihark," I said. I looked up at Montoya. "So is this it for you?" This was cold, even for me, and I hated myself for being so short with him, but he had killed one of my Pokémon to prove a point. I cannot drive home enough how little sympathy I felt for him at the time.

"It's not so simple…" Montoya fell to his knees, but then red lightning began to spark from the wound on his neck. Zihark flinched back as his wounds began to close, all of them glowing with the same red electrical energy. In a few seconds, it was over. Montoya was unharmed but exhausted and panting, his body speckled with drying blood. "I have changed since you first knew me. Dark forces have given me the ability to follow you to the ends of the Earth!"

"Fuuuck…" I groaned.

"What? What was that?" Tormod asked.

"I'm no scientist," Edward grumbled, "but it looked to me like BULLSHIT."

"It looked like Regenerator," I said, looking at the ground in thought. "Some Audino have that ability… but it triggers when they're switched out in battle… I don't think scientists know how it triggers in the wild, but it's certainly not when they're mortally wounded…"

"Layla, look out!" Tormod cried.

"Hm?" I looked up in time to see an Audino's paw crash into my face. I fell flat on my back, clutching my nose. "Rrrrrr-FUCK! That fucking HURTS! What was that, Pound? It felt like Mega Punch!"

"I will fight as long as it takes to bring you down," Montoya said, flexing his fingers. He meant it, too. "You're beginning to look more like yourself again."

I scowled, feeling blood drip onto my shirt as Tormod helped me to my feet. "Zihark, your talents are not the way to stop him. Rolf, Confuse Ray."

"Right!" Rolf leapt forward and waggled his fingers as his eyes shot disorienting pulses of light. Montoya flinched away, growling.

"Little bastard," he snapped, throwing a Doubleslap Rolf's way. He ended up bruising his hands Doubleslapping a tree stump instead.

"Hypnoziz!" I sounded ridiculous with my nose like this. I rubbed it and winced. It was sore, but not broken, thankfully. Rolf still understood well enough; it took a few blasts of Hypnosis to bring Montoya down, but he was too confused and tired to hurt Rolf before then. Eventually, he collapsed to the ground, his breathing evening out. "Whad happened do you?" I asked, sadly. I threw a Pokéball, intending to box him so he wouldn't come after me anymore, but it bounced off him without opening. I recognized that error – Montoya was not a wild Pokémon. A trainer had once owned him, and he had not been formally released. I sighed. "I'll azk you myself – zum udder dime." I blew my nose and led the team away.

"Layla, you look… well…" Tormod said reluctantly.

"Jeez! Id'z juzd a fugging bloody doze!"

Yeah, I no-miss-cleared Lenora. She didn't use Retaliate... after her Herdier went down, she use Leer on Brom like three times and then went for a Crunch... bringing him down to 2 HP! (Thanks, Sturdy, but I didn't need you!) However, Brom had dropped her defense the turn before, and he nailed her with a 4-hit, 1-crit Rock Blast. Watchog went down like a ton of bricks.

I'd like to apologize for Lenora's normality... it's clearly a result of positive discrimination. I wanted to make her so sassy it would've made your head spin, but my inner censor told me that wasn't okay because I am a white guy. Instead she has to be boringly competent and cool-headed. To make up for it, I have given you your first taste of the majesty that is Burgh. He will continue to spread wonder through the next two chapters whenever he's in the scene. Burgh's based on a character form a show... feel free to guess for now, I'll reveal who he is next chapter.

Montoya revelations! Who owned him? Where did he pick up a hacked version of Regenerator? All this and more will be answered, but not until far down the line, so feel free to guess. There's also plenty of hints regarding Layla around here, too, although you probably won't notice them unless you know what you're looking for.

Zihark is boss. That is all. Which reminds me to clarify something about the rules: I consider different areas within the same dungeon to be different regions if the wild Pokemon content changes SIGNIFICANTLY - by which I mean whole new Pokemon showing up on the list, not just percentage tweaks. Outer and Inner Pinwheel Forest have a completely different list of wild Pokemon, sharing only Pidove and Audino.

Nuzlocke challenge (c) Nuzlocke
Pokemon (c) Nintendo and Game Freak
Layla (c) me