Author's Note: Why, hello, everyone! I'm glad I finally got this chapter done; it was pretty damn long to write. I was gonna split it near the end, but I wanted to wrap up the entire Route 4 visit in one chapter. Things should pick up a little more the next chapter, though there's some pretty cool stuff here too. But, I'll let you find that out for yourselves when you read it. Enjoy, everyone!
Pitch black. In my dream, that was all I could see before me. I stepped further along the dark until I spotted a dim light in the far distance. The light got closer and closer, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw what was in it. Before me were my deceased Pokémon friends from two years ago, and among them, my late Pidgeot companion, Lulu.
"Guys?" I breathed, walking closer until I picked up speed. "It's you! It's really you!"
I stopped running and knelt down to hug the anticipating Chiro. Unfortunately, the moment I made physical contact with my late Lillipup, he winced in pain as blood suddenly flew from his body in unison with familiar electric sparks. All I could do was stare in horror and scream as Chiro's blood dripped down my arms, dropping his body and trying to fix things.
"Ch-Charlie!" I gasped, only for my Pansage to suddenly perish at the sudden slash wounds and shocks when I touched him. "Eliza! Lola?! Jesse?! K-Kagami!"
After my Cubchoo's body had burst into a mess of blood and carnage before falling to the floor dead as a doornail, the process repeated for Toothie and Gummy, the wounds appearing worse and worse as I kept witnessing my Pokémon's bodies splattering at my electrically-charged and deathly touch. I looked at the corpses in horror; collapsing to the ground and fighting back the strong urge to vomit. The blood all over my arms didn't help one bit; it only exacerbated my terrified hyperventilation. The only reason my uneasy breaths stopped was because I felt something gentle touch my head. Shakily looking up, I saw Lulu; her physical form scintillating in the darkness around us.
"L-Luluby…" I breathed, tears streaming from my eyes as I walked closer.
I quickly stopped myself from making direct contact with the fluttering Lulu, lest she wind up like my previous teammates. Alas, my relief was cruelly short-lived, as the evil Magneton from my past hovered behind Lulu. My Pidgeot friend did nothing. She didn't turn around, fly away, or make any attempt to escape. Instead, she kept flying in place as if nothing was wrong.
When I looked at the Magneton again, it changed appearance entirely. Instead of the look a normal Magneton had, it was colored exactly like Zekrom; black coating, red eyes, and all. It charged up what appeared to be a familiar Magnet Bomb, the same move that took Lulu's life after it nearly did mine. But, this one also had Zekrom's electrical charge to it, much like my own touch because of the Dark Stone.
"Lulu! Watch out!" I shrieked, making an attempt to use myself as a shield for Lulu.
My attempt was unsuccessful. Lulu purposely stopped me by spreading her wings out as far as they could. I tried and begged her to let me protect her, even going so far as to bang on her stomach to persuade her. Even that attempt proved fruitless, and before I knew it, the electrical Magnet Bomb struck Lulu in the back, the sound of her spine and bones snapping adding to the gruesome scene.
No words could escape my throat at all. As Lulu's massacred remains fell to the black floor beneath me, I fell to my knees in despair. I was frozen in shock as grief, and I didn't care at all about the tears leaking from my gray eyes. All I could focus on was the corpses of my friends around me, lying motionless and still in death.
"How does it feel, Hynden?" the Magneton taunted, bringing my attention to it. "Does it feel good to know that everything you hold dear always dies because of you?"
"Sh-Shut it! That's not-"
"-True? Oh, on the contrary. I think it's nothing but the truth. Think about it, you kill everything that comes too close to you. The moment you're provoked, you strike something down in cold blood with that blade of yours."
"Not anymore! My training helped with that! B-Besides, that was all the Dark Stone's doing!"
"Ah, but remember what it told you? The only reason it's doing that is because of your own despair and self-consciousness. Face it; it's your fault, it's always been your fault, and it's always going to be, guess what? YOUR FAULT!"
"You're wrong! You're wrong! You don't know anything!"
"Of course I do! If anyone's the wrong one, it's you! You can't protect your own friends! Murderer! Filthy murderer!"
I desperately blocked out the Zekrom-Magneton's taunts by clasping my hands to my ears. But, the taunts became completely audible even with that when the corpses of my friends rose and joined in the taunting. Their bloodied forms started walking closer and closer towards me, ripping my hands away from my ears and ignoring my pleas to stop.
"Murderer, murderer, murderer…" they all chanted eerily.
"Stop! I'm not a murderer! I didn't kill any of you!" I pleaded, my sobs overtaking my voice.
"Murderer… murderer, murderer!" the corpses continued to chant, growing increasingly louder with each repeated word. Just then, Lulu's corpse rose and joined in, getting closer and closer to me with her haunting form.
"Murderer! YOU'RE A MURDERER!" she screamed at a blood-curdling volume.
"NO, I'M NOT!" I screamed, awaking from my bed in a fright.
My messy and down chestnut locks were matted to my skin because of my sweat-doused skin. My heart pounded in my chest with no mercy, which made my breathing heavier with anxiety. When I was able to move again, I quickly leaped from the bed and rushed into the bathroom, filling up the sink with cold water and dunking my head in in for one second before pulling up for air. I looked at the mirror, my own reflection drenched with water and scarred with the memory of the nightmares. The longer I looked in the mirror, the angrier I became. I saw that my eyes turned completely scarlet, a dark aura surrounded me again, and the same shockwaves crackled at my entire arms instead of just my hands.
"Auuugh, son of a BITCH!" I screamed, the light in the bathroom instantly bursting at my rage. The power outage inside of the small bathroom caused me to bolt from my anger until I felt as though I was back to normal. "...I gotta try and go back to bed," I sighed, still disoriented from the nightmare.
I dragged myself out of the bathroom, only to see all six of my Pokémon out of their PokéBalls and physically in the room. Every single one of them had concerned looks on their faces.
"Everything's fine, guys," I lied.
"No, it isn't," Tidus said. "Sit down, Hynden."
"What's wrong?" Michi asked when I sat on my bed. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"Yeah, I did," I answered, "but it's nothing to get bent out of shape over."
"Clearly it is if you were screaming and crying in your sleep," Leon retorted. "Ya wanna talk about it?"
"What are these nightmares that keep disturbing you?" Eris questioned, curling up on my lap.
"...They're about my friends," I answered. "I keep having these terrible visions of them."
"Your friends?" Percy wondered. "You mean like that Haley guy? From what I've heard, he seems to be quite enamored by you."
"No, not Haley," I sighed. "Besides, I've already known that for a long time. What I'm worrying about are my dead Pokémon friends. Before I met you guys, I had other teammates that kept dying instead of fainting regularly. I know Nuzlocke Syndrome's gone and I shouldn't have to worry anymore, but… these damn nightmares keep haunting me! If I'd have saved them, then this wouldn't be happening!"
My voice started getting choked up from my returning sobs, and I buried my face in my hands to catch the tears, wishing that I weren't such a murderous monster. When I felt something flutter onto my messy head, my remorse-wracked sobs turned to sniffles when I recognized Rubella.
"You're not a monster, Hynden!" Rubella assured me. "I may not have the 'seniority' of all of you, but I can tell I'm gonna like it here!"
"B-But, Rubes, everyone died because of me!" I choked.
"No, they didn't," Tidus said in his natural English accent. "It was because of this 'Nuzlocke Syndrome' I've heard you mention, not you. I know what it's like to blame yourself for not being able to protect someone who died, but you have to look past your guilt to see the logic behind it."
"Y-Yeah, I know that, Tidus. But, how do I make these nightmares stop? No matter what I keep telling myself, they just keep coming and coming."
"Then we'll sleep by you!" Rubella told me, "Right, guys?"
"Yep!" everyone else agreed, curling up in spots close to me.
The very fact that my Pokémon cared so much about me to the point they were trying to make me feel better. I felt calm enough to rest comfortably. I crawled back under my sheets and tepid comforter. Michi slept on my lap, Eris and Percy had dozed off on the other bed (I could only imagine how they'd react come morning), Rubella was suspended from the ceiling, Leon slept at the foot of my bed, and Tidus was at a distance that was close to me but away from Leon.
"Good night, everyone…" I whispered, drifting back into sleep contently.
I woke up the next morning sometime close to 9:30 am. Rubbing the crust from my left eye before I took care of the scarred right one, I reached for Michi to take her off. But, I quickly noticed that where my Azurill once laid was a sleeping Marill in her place. Not only that, but a puddle of water was now on the sheets where Michi was sleeping.
"Oh, come on," I groaned. "You just had to evolve there, didn't you?"
I lifted Michi off of my lap, enabling me to get out of bed and get dressed. I took a clean version of my outfit with me into the powerless bathroom and got dressed quickly, styling my hair and all. When I left and put my pajamas away, I clapped my hands until everyone was fully awake.
"Mrrrmmph…" Eris and Percy muttered, snapping awake when they saw each other in an apparent cuddle. They pulled away and turned away from the other, arms folded stubbornly.
"Don't you say a word, mutt," Eris hissed.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Percy spat back.
"Alright, guys, let's get a move on! We're going to Nimbasa City today!" I announced.
"N-Nimbasa?! We're finally going?!" Eris beamed, scampering up to me excitedly. "At last! I'll see the sights, the sounds, and… her! The one and only Miss Elesa!"
"Oh, trust me. You'll meet her alright," I assured Eris, recalling her into her PokéBall.
I did the same with the rest of my teammates and attached each Ball to my belt, but stopped at the newly-evolved Michi. I shook her gently until she awoke. She blinked at my surprised expression and raised a confused eyebrow.
"What?" she asked, "Do I have sleepies in my eyes?"
"Why don't you check?" I suggested. "It's better if you get them out yourself."
"I guess you're right, but I-" Michi paused the moment her new paw touched her eye. She looked at the appendage with shock and amazement. "Don't tell me!"
Michi hopped over to the room's mirror and stared at her new form head to toe. No longer was a little Azurill looking back at her. Instead, it was the Marill she was now. Michi's surprise quickly melted into joy when she finished examining herself.
"Check me out! I've evolved!" she beamed. "I guess I really like being with you, huh, Hynden?"
"Yeah. Although, I never heard of a Pokémon evolving in their sleep before. Did you dream about me?"
"Hmm, not sure. But, who cares? I'm a Marill! I have arms, and I don't have to use my tail to get around anymore! Now, what are we waiting for? Let's hit the road already!"
I recalled Michi to her PokéBall. As she disappeared in the red light, her joyous expression never left her face once. I fastened Michi's PokéBall with the others, grabbed my bag, and made my way out of the building once I officially checked out.
The day in the bustling Castelia City was bright and sunny in unison with the warm summery atmosphere around us all. When I headed towards the Central Area to find the Route that lead to Nimbasa City, I stopped when I saw the scientist man from back in the Castelia Sewers.
"Hey, you!" I shouted, grabbing his attention. "Who are you?"
"Ah, I remember you from the Sewers. Say, where has your bloodthirsty friend gone?"
"That's not what I asked. Who are you?"
"My name is Colress, and I'm a Pokémon Researcher. Would you be so kind as to let me examine one of yours?"
I raised a suspicious eyebrow at Colress' sudden introduction. But, he did appear to be a genuine researcher, so I took out the first PokéBall I touched, which turned out to be Rubella's Great Ball. Due to it being broad daylight, Rubella was fast asleep when she came out of her Ball and dangled onto Colress' arm using her feet. But even in her sleep, she was fluttering excitedly while she dreamed.
"Hmm, I've researched several Zubats in my life," Colress commented, holding his arm out so Rubella could hang on, "but yours seems different. I must say she's a lot more lively than one of her typical species. You have done a wonderful job in bringing out your Zubat's potential."
"Thanks," I responded, recalling the sleeping Rubella from Colress' arm.
"If I'm correct, you should be heading towards Nimbasa City. But, you need to cross Route 4 to get there. Before you reach your destination, would you like to have a little battle? I'd like nothing more than to further test my hypothesis."
"You wanna battle? Sure! I'll see you there, Colress!"
"Wonderful! I shall be waiting."
With that, Colress adjusted his glasses and left the city. Before I followed suit, I went over to the vending machine and bought a few Fresh Waters and Soda Pops for the road, in case any danger might come my way. I accidentally bumped into the loaded trash can next to the machine, and out fell two unexpected items lying on the very top: an Amulet Coin, and the move Attract.
"Now who would throw these away?" I wondered, claiming the items as my own. "What a waste. I'd bet Eris would like these."
I moved down the road, passing busy travelers and workers until I was on the desert that was Route 4. I trudged through the deep sand pits to see if there were any wild Pokémon waiting in the wings for battle. A few steps later, and I was ambushed by a Sandile. This one in particular had odd war face markings that resembled black triangles curling around its jaw from the eyes.
"Hi-yah!" Sandile exclaimed, charging at me to try and take a bite out of my body.
I jumped out of the way of Sandile's attack and called out Michi as defense. With one Water Gun spray, her opponent was already down for the count. Instead of asking Michi to finish Sandile off, I decided she could be useful for fighting Elesa, so I captured her with a PokéBall.
"I'm gonna call you… Sticks," I decided as Sticks' PokéBall was transferred to the PC.
From under the sand was another figure. It was extremely fidgety and had a gray coat. When I looked closer, the Pokémon was a Minccino, who was in a panic at the sand.
"Oh, how did I get here?!" she cried. "Filthy sand! So filthy!"
"Hang on, little Minccino," I told her, taking out a small towel from my bag and dusting her off. Although she squirmed around greatly, she stopped when I finished and placed her on a more shallow level of sand.
"I'm, I'm clean!" she gasped happily. "Oh, thank you, Miss! My name is Mocha, what's yours?"
"Hynden. Nice to meet you, Mocha," I greeted back, tapping a hidden Timer Ball to Mocha's forehead until she was successfully captured. Much like Sticks before her, Mocha was boxed due to my full party. "Now to find Colress."
I climbed out of the deep sand pit until I was back on the steady pavement. But, just as I spotted the person I needed to battle, a female Pokémon Breeder stopped me immediately.
"Hold it!" she called, calling out her Drilbur, "I wanna see how well you've raised your Pokémon! Battle me!"
"You're on," I sighed. "Michi, let's go!"
Drilbur attacked first with Metal Claw, which sent shivers down my spine as my vision flashed red for a split second due to the Steel-type move. I focused on the battle at hand and told Michi to attack with Water Gun.
"Drilbur, Mud-Slap!" the Breeder commanded.
In the blink of an eye, Drilbur flung wet sand at Michi, leaving her temporarily blinded. Due to her hindered eyesight, the Bubble Beam attack she attempted missed by a longshot. By the time she cleared the mud from her eyes, Drilbur was ready to attack.
"Quick, use Bubble Beam again!" I commanded.
Before Drilbur could deliver a critical blow, Michi knocked him down with another jet of lethal bubbles. The Pokémon Breeder returned Drilbur to its PokéBall and sent out her Marill. In turn, I exchanged Michi for Tidus, who attacked first with Leaf Tornado.
"Marill, Defense Curl!" the Breeder exclaimed.
Marill curled its body into a ball and coated itself in a round force field of high defense. Despite that, Tidus was able to attack with several Vine Whip attacks. No matter how much Marill stayed strong, it eventually succumbed to my Snivy's vines.
"That was hardly a challenge," Tidus remarked.
Suddenly, a vortex of leaves started spinning around Tidus. I figured he was just using another Leaf Tornado, but instead, the leaves began glowing as the bewildered Tidus started to physically change. The shape of his body got curvier along with his height increasing slightly. More leaves formed on his back, and when the transformation concluded, Tidus came out a Servine.
"New and improved," he remarked. "Has the battle been won?"
"Yep," I confirmed, lowering my hand so Tidus could give me a low-five. "Great job, Tidus!"
The female Breeder paid me 512 PokéDollars as a reward. I recalled Tidus and walked off to find Colress. I eventually came across him in front of a bunch of strange rectangular blocks cutting off the path.
"You made it, Miss…" Colress started until his words drifted off. "Err, what's your name? I don't believe I ever caught it."
"Hynden. Hynden Levare," I answered.
"Lovely name for a lovely young woman," Colress complimented. "Now, I want you to observe closely before we battle."
On each rectangle stone, Colress put a gray device that was shaped like a checker. Taking out a remote from his lab coat, he pressed one of the buttons, triggering something within the checker-chip that caused the rocks to come alive. When I looked closer, the rocks revealed themselves as a group of Crustle, whose eyes turned red and dazed before they manically scrambled across the desert in different directions.
"What did you do to them?" I wondered, a bit put off by their sudden freak-out.
"I reawakened them," Colress answered. "It's likely they were low on energy, so I merely triggered it with my device. Don't you think Pokémon need to act out their full potential at all times?"
"Sure. That's what helps make them strong. Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I just wanted to be sure you agreed with me. Now, are we still going to engage in our battle?"
"Yes, we are! Bring it on!"
"Excellent. Go, Magnemite!"
As he had said, Colress' first Pokémon was, much to my great dismay, a Magnemite. Not only was a Steel-type, but it was the pre-evolved form of the one Pokémon that ruined my life for 12 years. I started taking deep breaths as the Magnet Pokémon looked me dead in the eyes, repressing anything dark I felt within me.
"Oh, is something the matter, Miss Levare?" Colress asked with curiosity.
"N-No, nothing at all! I'm just peachy!" I said, my panicked hyperventilation turning into normal breathing. "G-Go, Percy!"
I quickly summoned my Lucario to battle. Due to his high Speed, he was able to attack first with Force Palm. Because of the power of the move, Magnemite was thankfully taken down with one toss across the desert.
"Such potential!" Colress beamed before returning to a cool smile, "Let's see if you still have it with my next Pokémon. Klink, stand by."
Magnemite was withdrawn for yet another Steel-type, causing my nerves to act up again at the sight of my worst fear. Gulping, I switched Percy out for Leon, whom I told to use Fire Fang on sight. Unlike with Magnemite, Klink did not go down in one hit despite the critical damage.
"Keep trying," Colress said, spraying Klink with a Super Potion. "Klink, use Gear Grind."
Colress' Klink moved in closer to Leon, enlarged itself, and furiously spun against my Growlithe. Leon writhed in pain at the attack, so I had to think of something before it was too late. I blinked when an idea hatched inside of my mind, and I decided to make it a reality.
"Leon, use Flame Wheel!" I shouted.
While Klink harshly spun against Leon, my Growlithe turned it in the other direction with a spin of his own. As he picked up speed, his body ignited and set the Steel-type ablaze, defeating it in a heartbeat. When Leon stopped, Colress recalled Klink and clapped in a slow, yet strangely condescending manner.
"Splendid. Just splendid," he told me. "Judging from your Pokémon's power and the fact that you have a Lucario on hand, I can tell that you bring out their full power with your kind heart, don't you?"
"Well, duh," I remarked. "Pokémon can't get stronger or improve if you treat them like dirty slaves. That's just… wrong!"
"Yes, quite a pity some Trainers can be like that. But not you, you're not one of them. You're more like one of the Gym Leaders, or perhaps the Elite Four. I can tell someone like you who can unleash a Pokémon's true power is one who can get far."
"Thanks. ...I think?"
"It's genuine, worry not." Colress let out a sigh of discontent as he readjusted his glasses. "If only bringing out a Pokémon's potential was as simple as asking them to. But alas, it's impossible to talk to Pokémon."
"Actually, I can-"
"No matter! I hope to see you in the future, Miss Levare. Farewell for now, strong one."
Colress walked away until his figure was shrouded by a sudden gust of desert sand. When the gust cleared, the mysterious scientist was out of sight completely. Scratching my head, I blinked several times as my confused mind tried to process what just happened.
"We goin' to Nimbasa now?" Leon asked, "I heard Eris wants to see the sights~"
"Yeah, Leon, we're going. Now, I think someone deserves a nice tummy rub for doing a good job in battle! Who's a good boy, Leon?"
"I-I dunno! I hope it's me! Am I the good boy, Hynden?"
"Yes, you are! You're the good boy!" I confirmed, scratching Leon's belly lightly until he was on his back and shaking his leg excitedly.
"Hahaha, yeah! I'm a good boy! I'm a very good boy!" he panted, reveling in my scratches and belly rubs.
The very moment I took my hand off of Leon, he sat back up straight. I gave him some chin scratches, and that made him wag his tail and pant excitedly. In order to get a move on, I sent Leon back to his ball in a beam of red light. Now that Colress had been taken care of, I made my way down the scorching desert path until I came across the gate I was looking for.
"Here we go!" I proclaimed, marching into the gate with high expectations. "Nimbasa City, here I come!"
Pokémon obtained: Sticks the Sandile, Female, Docile nature, Impetuous and silly.
Mocha the Minccino, Female, Calm nature, Proud of its power.
Badges earned: 3/8.
Boxed: Sticks the Sandile; Mocha the Minccino (Boxed).
Author's Note: Depending on how quickly you gain its full friendship, Azurill evolved pretty fast and unexpectedly. Also, Marill become Azumarill at only Level 18, can you believe that? But, whatever. I wasn't expecting that. Leave reviews if you want, and I'll see you next time! Stay tuned for Chapter 14, everybody! Until we meet again!