Chapter 3: A New Perspective
I remember going to sleep on that first night. I remember how calm I was. I knew I was in a different world, and unfamiliar place, but the warmth of the blanket over me and the atmosphere the house gave off removed any uncertainties. I slept like a baby, probably the last good sleep I would get. Unfortunately for me, my wake up call was far from normal.
"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" a voice echoed. It was so loud in my head, I practically flew off of the couch I was lying on, arms flailing to ward off any potential attackers. I blinked repeatedly, fighting off the feeling of sleepiness and noticed that the room around me was empty. What the hell was that? I wondered.
"That was me." the voice said. Now that I was a little more awake, I recognized the sarcastic tone. Nuzlocke. "Get the kid an award, he's got it! Look, I don't mean to push, but I have some last minute tips for you. One, cover that mark on your hand. Two, I slipped a starter fund into your new bag outside, use it to pick up some essentials. Three, I gave you a grace period for yesterday, but things are gonna start now. Four, the mark let's your pokemon talk to you. So that's a thing. Bye."
For a few minutes, I groggily sat on the couch, everything he had told me not registering. Then suddenly, I realized what exactly he had said. My pokemon...can talk to me? I was tempted to grab my pokeball and let Turtwig out and test it, but I decided not to risk waking Barry. I carefully grabbed my things and crept out the front door. True to Nuzlockes word, there was a black and gray messenger back waiting on the front step. Inside was a black wallet with a white pokeball stitched into it. It was full of bills, money I'd need for my trip. First stop, new clothes I thought. I had noticed that my clothes were dirty as hell and I might as well get a new set.
After a while of walking around town I found a rather large general goods store. I grabbed some basic necessities for traveling, a canteen, a sleeping bag, fire starter kit, etc. I also grabbed a new outfit which I wore out of the store. My short brown hair was covered by a slate bucket cap. I wore a light purple t-shirt with a tan circle and crossed lines on it resembling the markings on a Koffing. Over that was a lightweight black windbreaker. Finally, I bought a pair of black, fingerless gloves that covered my mark. Some new denim jeans and black running shoes completed the new look. Putting my new sunglasses on over my dark blue eyes, I set off on my new adventure.
About an hour later I had left the city far behind me and was well on my way up Route 201. This looks like as good a place as any I thought, my curiosity reaching a breaking point. I pulled out my new belt, on which were clips for six pokeballs. I strapped it on and reached back into my bag to retrieve my one and only ball. I lightly tossed the ball and released my starter.
Turtwig had gotten a lot more confident after his win against Chimchar, and he certainly appeared to be happy with me. He stretched a bit after being in the ball for so long and trotted around the dirt path, looking around.
"How're ya doing today buddy?" I asked. I looked him over and saw what looked like a black smudge on his shell. I looked closer, and saw that it was the same symbol as the one on my hand. The symbol of Nuzlocke. "Huh. Guess we really are in this together."
"In what together?" Turtwig asked. The look on my face must have been priceless, because Turtwig turned around and looked at me with a curious expression. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I...I can understand you." I stammered. "I mean, I can hear you like you're speaking English!"
The pokemon cocked his head to the side. "Really? That's weird. Mister Rowan couldn't understand me that well. Though I don't think he could actually talk with me." Turtwig said, clearly to young to understand the implications of this.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty weird. But I should have expected this." I muttered. "Oh! Before I move on, I want to ask you something. I've always been a believer in nicknaming my pokemon. Do you have a name already? Because if we can talk like this, I don't want to confuse you."
The turtle pokemon looked deep in thought for a few moments. "No, I don't think I have a name." he said. "I only hatched recently, and Mister Rowan never named us because we were starter pokemon." He looked back up, a cheerful look on his face. "Do you have a name for me?" he asked, suddenly blushing and looking away.
Wow, he's really shy I thought. "Uh, yeah. There was a TV show I used to watch as a kid that starred a turtle. I'll call you Franklin." I patted him on the head, sealing the deal.
"That's a nice name." Franklin said softly as I got to my feet. "Master, what's TV?" he asked as we started walking down the path.
"Okay, right off the bat, don't call me master." I said. "Paired with your shy attitude, that's gonna get weird really quick. Call me Nick. Second, TV is hard to explain. I'll point one out to you if we ever see one." We walked in silence for a while, enjoying the day. After a while, I decided to explain things further. "Look, I'm not exactly on your typical journey. I want you to know what you're in for before we start." I pulled back the glove on my right hand, showing him the mark. "See this?" I asked.
Franklin nodded. "This is called the Mark of Nuzlocke." I said, putting my glove back on. "You've got one on the back of your shell too." I chuckled a bit as the grass-type started walking in a circle, neck craning to get a glimpse of the mark on his shell. "Stop that, you're not gonna see it. Trust me though, it's there." He stopped, an embarrassed blush on his face, and we continued walking. "So I'll give you the short version. I'm taking what's called the Nuzlocke challenge. The goal is to challenge the Elite Four and collect certain items. The catch is that I can only catch the first pokemon I see in an area, which limits how good of a team we can get."
I stopped walking and knelt down next to Franklin. He stopped too, probably noticing how serious the air around me was. "The second rule is that my pokemon don't faint in battle. They...they die."
Franklin's eyes went wide and he took a few steps back. "What...what do you mean? Pokemon don't die in battles! I beat Chimchar yesterday and he's still alive!"
I shook my head. "That's the thing Franklin. Barry's not taking the challenge. If Chimchar had won instead of you, you wouldn't have fainted. It would be all over."
The turtle shivered and took another step back. "I'm not sure I want to be in this challenge Nick." he whispered, tears beginning to well in his eyes. My heart practically broke seeing that. Man, I don't want this poor guy to be so scared. I moved forward and wrapped my arms around the little turtle, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Don't worry little guy. I've trained pokemon before. I know exactly what I'm doing. I won't let you die." I said, hugging him tighter. He wiggled a bit in discomfort and I let him go, placing him back on the ground. He sniffled a bit before nodding his head.
"Okay. I'll do my best too then! I won't let anyone else on our team die either!" he said, suddenly full of bravado and energy. He turned back towards the forest in the distance, nodding his head again, as if comforting himself. "Let's go!" he roared, suddenly running down the dirt path. I watched him go for a second, stunned at his sudden change in behavior before tearing after him.
We ran down the path for a while before slowing down to our previous walking pace. Now that everything had been cleared up between us, we started talking about random things, getting to know each other. It turns out that starter pokemon don't have much to talk about since they're cooped up in the lab until a trainer comes to pick them up or they grow old enough to be sent to the breeding farms. Franklin did have some interests, one of which was seeing the world outside of Sandgem.
"I've only ever seen the pokemon lab and your town back there." Franklin said. "I want to see all kinds of places. Mister Rowan talked to us all about snow and mountains and thick forests! I want to see those things!" He was so excited about it that I couldn't help but feel supportive.
"Sure, we can see all those things." I said. "I'm interested in seeing some of the places in Sinnoh as well, I haven't actually been here before."
We reached the end of the road with the now familiar sign that pointed to Sandgem and the lake. The scuff marks in the path from yesterday's battle were already blown away by the wind. I turned toward Sandgem town and the patch of tall grass. "Okay Franklin, ready to do some battling?" I asked. The turtle nodded, his eyes full of determination. I stepped towards the grass when a familiar voice reached my ears.
"Wwwwaaaaaaiiiiiit Niiiiiiiiick!" Barry called, running full tilt towards the two of us. He was really hauling ass, reaching us in a fraction of the time it took for us to cover the distance. He skid to a stop and promptly doubled over, breathing heavily from his marathon. "You -pant- left -pant- without -wheeze- saying bye." he said. Taking a few more breaths, he straightened. "I wanted to say good luck in your gym challenge." he said, holding out a hand. I shook it right away, my attitude towards him greatly improving. This Barry is leaps and bounds better than the game version I thought.
"Oh! One more thing!" Barry said suddenly, dragging me into a headlock. "Now that we have pokemon of our own, let's go to the lake and capture that legendary pokemon!" Before I could answer he was off, literally dragging me with him. Maybe I spoke to soon I thought as Franklin hurried to keep up with Barry's urgent pace.
A (thankfully) short trip later, we arrived at Lake Verity. Looking out across it, the scenery was beautiful. I noticed that the island cave Mesprit hid in was nowhere to be found. I continued to look around the lake when Barry suddenly poked me in the shoulder. I glared at him and he simply pointed forward. "Who's that?" he asked.
A man was standing at the edge of the water, small waves lapping at his boots. He was taller than I was, with broad shoulders and a solid build. His hair was a neutral blue, almost the same color as the lake, and spiked in the back. As soon as I saw the hair I knew who it was. Cyrus! The leader of Team Galactic! What's he doing here? I thought. My blood froze when I remembered the second rule. I can't refuse a battle. What if he challenges me? Franklin isn't nearly strong enough to take him on alone!
As panic flooded me, I almost didn't hear as Cyrus suddenly spoke. "I guess you won't appear to me. Is it because I am the wrong champion? Are you awaiting the champion of will?" He paused, shaking his head. "No matter. You will be mine soon enough Mesprit." He turned, walking up a small path right towards us. He paused a few steps away, apparently just noticing us. Oh shit, here it comes! I thought frantically, inching slightly in front of Franklin protectively.
"Move aside please." Cyrus said coldly. I nodded and quickly scooped up Franklin, moving out of the way. Barry did the same on the other side and the blue-haired criminal walked past, a quiet "thank you" muttered to us as he left the lakefront.
Seconds ticked by before I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. Barry did the same. "Wow." the blonde said. "That guy was really weird. What was all that about champions? I'm the only champion around here!" he said indignantly. Despite the dark mood, I chuckled at his prideful speech. It is weird though I thought. I don't remember anything about a champion in the game. What was he talking about?
Barry moved down to where Cyrus was and looked out around the lake. "Now if I was a legendary pokemon, where would I be?" he asked himself. Probably inside an invisible cave in the center of the lake I thought sarcastically, but stopped myself from telling him outright. I did, however, feel the need to point out a glaringly obvious fact.
"Uh, Barry? Do you have any spare pokeballs to catch this legendary with? Or do you plan on tying it up and carting it around in a wagon?" I asked.
Barry stopped and stared at the ground for a second. I swear I could see the gears turning in his head at the revelations I had unleashed. "Oh my god you're right." he said. "Let's go get some from Prof. Rowan!" he announced and just like that, he was gone, up the lakefront and out of sight. I sighed and glanced down at Franklin, still tucked under my arm. "He may be the most scatterbrained person I've ever met." I said.
"Funny though." Franklin added as I put him back down and we started off towards Sandgem.