Pokémon Nuzlocke Novels: Ancient Scarlet
Disclaimer: The following chapter contains some post-game spoilers from Pokémon Radiant Sun.
Chapter 22: Shine Bright Like a Diamond
"I think it's about time I catch a new Pokémon."
Milo blinked at the sudden comment from Arven as they trekked towards Cortondo from Mesagoza's west gate. The weather was pleasantly warm and the skies were full of white clouds today, providing the Trainers with a rather comfortable day to begin their journey towards the Open Sky Titan.
"I've only got Munchy and Barbossa for battling. You've got plenty of Pokémon for basically any situation, right?" Arven asked Milo, who nodded as they continued down the trail.
"According to the info you sent me, the Open Sky Pokémon is a Flying-type. You've already got a Normal and a Water-type Pokémon. I'd say an Electric, Rock or Ice-type would be your best bet if you wanted to have an advantage against this thing." Milo remarked, thinking about it. "My own team isn't set up for the Titan right now, but I'll probably fill it with Pokémon that have a Type-Advantage against it or have a Tera Type that'll give them an advantage. I'd recommend you do the same on the way to the Titan."
"Man, that Class President is really rubbing off on you." Arven remarked with a snort, shaking his head as they made their way up one of the slopes that led up the cliffside. "Whatever. You've got a point."
"Having Barbossa against Titan Klawf was a big help. So we should just keep up the winning strategy." Milo remarked, shrugging his shoulders. But not before giving Arven an annoyed look. "And lay off of her, mate. Nemona's taught me a lot. If she hadn't spent so much time showing me the ropes, I probably wouldn't have held my own against Titan Klawf with just Cocoa."
"What do you see in her, man? She's so obnoxious. You and Juliana are the only people who willingly put up with her crap." Arven asked, putting his hands behind his head.
"She's been nothing but kind and helpful since the literal minute I've met her. You're more than free to not like her, but I'm not okay with you talking crap about Nemona behind her back." Milo said with a frown that was serious enough for Arven to consider his friend's words. Especially considering how much Milo was helping him out now.
"F-fine…not worth harping over. We've got bigger fish to fry. Like getting me another Pokémon." Arven said before glancing around, spotting several Mareep and Hoppip mulling around the air. Arven ran ahead down the path, gazing around with a determined expression while Milo continued strolling behind him at a steady pace.
The older student peered down the cliff and his heart caught at the sight of a small pack of Maschiff frolicking in the grass alongside a few Pikachu and Azurill. He quickly turned his head to walk away, only for his foot to catch on something hard and trip him into the dirt.
"Arven!" Milo called out, only for Arven to wave him off as he staggered to his feet.
"Agh…that hurt. Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something." Arven groused as he regained his balance and stood back upright.
"Arven, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass." Milo said with a smile, causing Arven to glare at him for a moment before smirking.
"Eh, sometimes." Arven admitted before looking down at what he had tripped over. It was a small brown and white rock-like Pokémon that the two of them recognized immediately as a Nacli. Its orange eyes stared up at them, and Arven bent down to speak to it. "Sorry for tripping over you there, little guy."
"Naaaaa!" the Pokémon cried out in response, seemingly unbothered by the incident. It was then that Milo caught up to Arven and stopped by his side, gesturing to the Pokémon.
"You know, a Nacli would probably be great for you." Milo remarked, with Arven's eyes widening in surprise. "It's a Rock-type, isn't it? And from what we learned in Mr. Jacq's class, they're great to have around for cooking because their salt replenishes naturally."
"Which would be amazing for me out here in the Wilds. Fresh salt on hand for sandwiches anytime I want and a new friend for Munchy and Barbossa? Win-win!" Arven exclaimed with a wide grin. "Barbossa, come on out!"
The Shellder appeared in a flash of light as the Nacli's eyes narrowed. It tried to throw a rock (by using the move Rock Throw of course), only for Barbossa to blast it in the face with a Water Gun and cause the move to go wide and go flying off the cliff.
Milo chose to ignore the pained cry of something in the distance as Arven called for a Tackle, further weakening the Nacli. It retaliated with another Rock Throw, doing some slight damage to Barbossa but not nearly enough to make a difference.
"Poké Ball, go!" Arven shouted as he hurled the ball at the salty Pokémon, who let out a cry as the capsule connected and sucked the Nacli inside. The device shook back and forth three times before clicking, showing that the capture was complete.
"There we go. Another friend for the team." Arven said with a satisfied nod, patting Barbossa's side as the Shellder floated nearby. Arven pulled out his Rotom Phone while Milo clapped enthusiastically for his friend, with the upperclassman calling back out his newly-caught Pokémon and scanning it for the Pokédex entry.
"Nacli. The Salt Pokémon. It was born in a layer of rock salt deep under the earth. This species was particularly treasured in the old days, as they would share precious salt. This Nacli is Male and its Ability is Purifying Salt. Its Tera Type is Rock." The Rotom Phone explained as Arven looked down at his newest Pokémon.
"I should get a case like that." Milo remarked, seeing the Flabébé design of Arven's Rotom Phone case. It was pretty adorable in Milo's opinion.
Arven smiled at the compliment. "We'll have to swing by Delibird Presents on our way back and get you something unique."
"What are you going to name him?" Milo asked, crossing his arms. "I suck with names, so this one's all you, Arven."
"Hmmm…Nusret." Arven remarked, smirking to himself. Milo frowned, wondering where he had heard the familiar name before. Arven grinned upon seeing Milo's thoughtful expression. "Come on, Milo, you should know this reference!"
"I'm thinking, mate. I just can't remember where that name is from."
"Think. It's a meme that has to do with salt."
Ooh, I know what it is!
"No one asked you!" Milo thought angrily at the voice in his head, who snickered and faded away.
"I'll give you a bit more time to figure it out." Arven said smugly, amused at Milo's annoyance at the Remnant and thinking it was because he couldn't get Arven's reference.
"It has to do with…wait. Salt Bae! Yeah, I remember! That's the name of the guy behind the Salt Bae meme! I like it." Milo said with a laugh as Arven registered Nusret the Nacli into his Rotom Phone. Arven grinned and knelt down to his new Pokémon, patting it on the head.
"We'll make a great team, I know it." Arven said to the Nacli, who let out a cry before Arven returned him. Arven returned Barbossa and clipped the Poké Balls to his belt.
The duo spent the better part of the afternoon and early evening getting Nusret the Nacli some combat practice, even diving into a few Tera Dens to get some more experience battling in strange conditions against powerful Pokémon. Eventually Arven and Milo decided to camp out down by the river, setting up their tents in the shade of one of the bigger trees.
Towards the end of the night, Milo sent out Koraidon, ignoring Arven's protests and explaining that it could keep watch for trouble and was the strongest Pokémon between the two of them. Arven couldn't refute that logic, so he just sighed with annoyance and went to bed.
Several hours later, Milo woke up with a start, breathing hard. The teen quickly got into a sitting position, a panicked look on his face as he glanced around the darkened tent and realized where he was. Echo the Toxel, Smith the Applin and Fleur the Steenee continued to doze, undisturbed by their Trainer's sudden awakening.
"It's okay…I can breathe. I can…damn it!" Milo muttered, rubbing his face and wiping away the sweat. With a ragged exhale Milo got out of his tent to get some fresh air, hoping it would help himself calm down. The teen emerged from his tent, carefully moving past his team as they dozed around the entrance.
At least until Koraidon stirred, raising its head and sensing the mood of the Trainer it now obeyed. This woke up Storm, Reggie and Cocoa, who all looked at their Trainer with concern as Koraidon sniffed the air, tilting its head. Milo walked over and patted the beast on the head and rubbed its neck. "I'll be okay, buddy. Just a nightmare."
"Giaasss…" Koraidon replied quietly, yawning and extending his jaw widely before glancing to its left. Milo followed its gaze and spotted something moving through the grass nearby. Milo stared at the tall grass and managed to pick out a splash of orange, but it wasn't until the Pokémon moved out from behind the grass and out into the open that Milo realized the Pokémon was a Pikachu. An orange Pikachu.
Pikachu weren't usually orange.
Milo blinked several times, rubbing his eyes at the sight of the orange Pikachu before realizing that his eyes weren't deceiving him. By that point, Reggie and Cocoa had wandered in front of Milo, eyeing the Pikachu carefully.
"Holy crap, I'm not crazy." Milo breathed as an excited grin leapt to his face. Milo stepped forward and locked eyes with the orange Pikachu, who quickly fell to all-fours as its cheeks sparked with electricity. A flash of sparkles flickered around the Pikachu as Milo felt the Nuzlocke Curse grip his heart, but he didn't really care right then.
Blugh! Huh? What? What's going on? Why did the curse activate?
Milo shook off the sensation and ordered Cocoa to use Poison Tail, with the Paldean Wooper leaping forward to battle the strangely-colored Pikachu. The orange Pikachu tried to attack with a Thunder Shock, but unfortunately for it, Cocoa easily withstood the attack and smacked the Pikachu hard with her glowing tail. The orange Pikachu landed hard on the ground and slowly rose, wincing as its body began to twitch painfully.
"It's poisoned. Gotta be careful and just go for the catch!" Milo muttered as he prepared an Ultra Ball he had scavenged from the ground a few weeks prior. Milo had acquired a large stockpile of various items at this point, which included more than a few special Poké Balls. He had been keeping the Ultra Balls for just such an occasion, and this definitely qualified.
Milo took a step forward and let the Ultra Ball fly, with the sphere connecting with the Pikachu's chest and sending it into the capsule. Milo stared at the device with baited breath as it shook once…twice…thrice…click.
"And that's that." Milo said with a grin as he picked up the Ultra Ball, practically bubbling with joy at the incredible rare Pokémon he had found. And it because it was within the rules of the Nuzlocke Challenge, he was more than free to catch and use-
A SHINY PIKACHU!? I take a nap for five minutes and you catch a SHINY PIKACHU!? What the hell kind of luck is that!?
"Choke on it, asshole." Milo thought happily as he beamed down at the Ultra Ball, sitting down in the grass and marveling at his good fortune. He quickly accessed PC Storage from his Rotom Phone while Arven finally scrambled out of his tent, looking rather annoyed. He then blinked several times as he watched Milo send out his newest catch and quickly realized what happened. Milo accessed the appropriate Pokédex entry and it played aloud.
"Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon and the evolved form of Pichu. When it is angered, it immediately discharges the energy stored in the pouches in its cheeks. This specimen has been identified as Shiny. This Pikachu is Female and its Ability is Static. Its Tera Type is Electric." The Rotom Phone intoned as Milo did a small fist pump. Arven looked genuinely stunned for a few moments before grinning widely and walking over to Milo.
"Well, well, well! Looks like you've got a shiny addition to your team! Hahaha!" Arven laughed as he patted Milo on the shoulder. "That's amazing, little buddy. You got a name for your new friend?"
"Watt." Milo said with a wide smile, extending a hand out to the Pikachu. She sniffed it for a moment before smiling, smacking his hand with her own. Arven chuckled at the display, genuinely ecstatic that his friend had chanced upon such a rare Pokémon. He then blinked suddenly and slapped a hand to his forehead, a horrified expression on his face.
"We're idiots!" Arven yelled out, with Milo giving him a confused look. "We didn't need to walk all the way out here! We could've used a Flying Taxi and saved an entire day of traveling!"
Milo blinked several times before suddenly clutching his head and groaning with frustration.
The next morning was a lively one, and the duo were in good spirits as they traveled through Cortondo, despite feeling rather stupid that they had walked all that way for nothing. However, Arven and Milo convinced themselves that Arven catching Nusret and Milo catching Watt were worth the extra steps.
After a light lunch at Every Wich Way, Milo and Arven made their way up the large cliffs by taking the sloping path through the countryside. Milo spent that time rotating his team around and getting them more experience, focusing on his newly-caught Shiny Pikachu since she would have a big advantage against the Open Sky Titan.
The issue of giant boulders raining down from the mountainside became very apparent, and it prevented the two Trainers from being able to quickly travel up the mountain. This was especially important because Arven suspected that the Titan itself was the one responsible for the downpour of rocks, and that it was defending its territory at the top of the mountain.
Arven and Milo eventually split up for a short while, with Arven focusing on finding a path that led up the mountain safely while Milo explored the area for tunnels. On top of that, Milo was determined to familiarize himself with the area.
Several hours later, the Galarian student took a break and decided to play with his Pokémon for a few minutes. A ringing Rotom Phone caught Milo's attention, and after realizing it was Arven, the teen answered the call.
"Yo Milo! How's your luck going?" Arven asked, waving to him over the video call. Milo waved back, with Reggie growling a greeting to the other student. Munchy cried out a greeting back from Arven's shoulder.
"Kinda crap. Find anything interesting yet?" Milo asked, rubbing Reggie's back as the Crocalor hummed with pleasure. As Milo did so, he watched several large boulders rolling down the other side of the mountain. Milo shivered at the thought of getting crushed by whatever was causing this.
"Not yet. It's pretty annoying, to be honest. I'm worried about getting too close to the mountain with those boulders. There's gotta be something we can do."
"How about this? Let's just start from the beginning. What do we know?" Milo said to Arven, who took a moment to gather his thoughts before answering.
"So from what I gather, it seems like the Open Sky Titan lives somewhere up on this mountain close to Cortondo. But there are all these crazy boulders raining down from the mountain, too." Arven explained to Milo, who considered that. "Meaning that finding a tunnel is a long-shot. We might just have to charge our way up alongside the mountain."
"That sounds awful, mate. I don't want to play Dodge the Deadly Rocks with a Titan Pokémon." Milo remarked, frowning at the idea. Arven winced, nodding in agreement.
"It's gonna be a little tricky to stand around and look for the Titan while dodging all those." Arven continued to muse, thinking aloud more than anything else. "I think you'll be sent flying if you get hit by a falling boulder - but maybe you could power your way through atop that brute of yours!"
"Its name is Koraidon, Arven, stop being a twat." Milo said firmly, earning a scoff from the teen.
"Yeah, yeah. You know, I think Mom actually gave that thing a proper nickname way back, actually. She just calls it Koraidon because it sounds more impressive." Arven remarked dryly, catching Milo's interest. It was rare that Arven said anything about Professor Sada at all considering how poor their relationship was.
"Really? Do you remember what Professor Sada's nickname for Koraidon was?" Milo asked, genuinely curious.
"Nah, I can't remember at all. But forget that brute, we've got a Titan to find!" Arven said before hanging up the phone. Milo rolled his eyes and hopped back atop Koraidon, urging the mount further down the path. Milo marveled at the lush green landscape around him, with the fresh sea breeze rolling through the air. It lent a special atmosphere to the trek, as if adventure and discovery was right around the corner.
"There's gotta be a side path or something. There's no way I'm going to charge up that path with just Koraidon…not that I don't think you can do it." Milo said quickly to the draconic mount, who bobbed its head in understanding. Milo decided to take a closer look at some of the side caverns on the eastern side of the mountain towards the ocean.
After saying a prayer, he urged Koraidon to leap off of the main section of the mountain and land on a large ledge that jutted out from the side of the cliff. The several hundred foot drop into the ocean terrified Milo as they soared through the air, but Koraidon landed onto the safety of the ledge without any issues. Milo glanced around the ledge, spotting nothing of note except for a cluster of Drifloon-
"Is that what I think it is?" Milo said in a quiet voice, doing a double-take as he stared into the cluster of Drifloon…and spotting a bright yellow one in the cluster of purple Drifloon. The Remnant was dead silent in Milo's head, but the teen could feel its overwhelming annoyance.
Milo quickly sent out Reggie and approached the cluster of Drifloon. The teen was grinning with excitement. "Reggie, Disarming Voice!"
The Drifloon cluster drifted apart, save for the Shiny Drifloon that Milo was targeting. The Shiny Drifloon let out a small cry as sparkles erupted from its body, letting loose a Gust attack. Reggie withstood the attack with an annoyed growl, but it didn't do too much damage. The Crocalor counter-attacked with a pink-colored wave of sound that stunned the Drifloon, and Milo saw his opportunity. The Galarian Trainer primed another Ultra Ball he had been keeping in reserve, grateful he had thought ahead.
"Alright, if I somehow blow this I'll never live this down!" Milo pulled back his arm and let the Ultra Ball fly, praying that it wouldn't go flying off of the cliff if he missed.
Thankfully his experience within the Tera Dens throwing Poké Balls in a dramatically cool fashion allowed him to hit the Shiny Drifloon with the capsule, sucking it into the Ultra Ball. The ball landed on the grass as the other Drifloon drifted away, twitching one…two…three times…and click.
Milo did an excited fist pump while Koraidon let out a joyful growl. The teen swapped his party around and sent out the Shiny Drifloon, which spun around in a circle as several sparkles erupted around it. Milo pulled out his Rotom Phone and pulled up the appropriate entry, healing his newest capture with a Potion as he did so.
"Drifloon. The Balloon Pokémon. It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing. This specimen has been identified as Shiny. This Drifloon is Male and its Ability is Unburden. Its Tera Type is Ghost." The Rotom Phone explained while Milo chuckled uncontrollably, with Koraidon looking at its caretaker with confusion.
"Sorry bud. I just can't believe my luck. Two Shinies in two days. I should play the lottery." Milo apologized to Koraidon, rubbing the Pokémon's head. With that, Milo turned to his new Pokémon with a thoughtful expression.
"I shall name you Floom, and you are my floaty boy." Milo declared with a silly smile as the newly-captured Drifloon let out a cooing sound, wrapping its legs around Milo's arm. "And you won't drag me into hell or…whatever it is that actually happens."
"Flooon!" Floom exclaimed, sounding slightly offended. He still continued trying to drag Milo towards the cliff's edge, even as his fellow Drifloon cried out in what seemed to be farewell to their Shiny friend. Milo looked back and smiled at them, waving to the group as well before turning back around to hop atop Koraidon and return to his trek.
The Galarian teen decided to return to the safer portions of the cliff above the alcove where he had found his latest capture and quickly made camp on the main path. Milo didn't stop smiling the entire time, for once absolutely giddy about his luck as he watched his Shiny Pikachu and Shiny Drifloon playing alongside his other Pokémon as night fell.
When Milo reunited with Arven the next day, he was absolutely dumbfounded at the Shiny Pikachu riding on Milo's left shoulder and the Shiny Drifloon flying over his right shoulder.
"How!? Why!?" Arven demanded, pointing a finger at Milo, who just shrugged in response.
Trust me Arven, I'm right there with you. Lucky little shit…
"Your guess is as good as mine. I saw a bunch of Drifloon floating around a cliff, and I saw one that looked different. Of course I was going to try and catch it." Milo remarked, causing Arven to scowl before shaking his head.
"Well, either way, I did our work for us. I found where that Titan is, but there's an issue." Arven said to his friend, who looked confused.
"What's the issue?" Milo asked.
"Let's regroup at Cortondo and figure out a plan of attack. Besides, I'm getting hungry. Maybe we can hit up Smoliv Garden." Arven said with a casual shrug, ignoring the sudden look of panic Milo gave his friend. The younger student spent several minutes trying to convince Arven not to eat at the famous restaurant chain. Eventually Milo gave up, and the conversation turned to the topic of school.
"To be honest, I feel bad about missing the Pep Rally. Juliana was going to do a big speech to kick things off, plus she had a demonstration for the archery club." Milo remarked, frowning as he and Arven waited for the Flying Taxi to arrive. "I guess we can catch the livestream, but I still feel terrible."
"I had a discussion with her earlier and she seemed pretty understanding. I told her that this was an emergency, and she was disappointed, but understood." Arven said to Milo, who looked at his friend with some surprise.
"Well, what are the chances we can deal with the Titan in time to hightail it to school so we can watch Juliana do her thing?" Milo asked his friend, who sighed in response. It was clear he disliked the situation more than Milo did.
"Not likely. Sorry, Milo. I'll make it up to you both. This just…this can't wait." Arven said seriously before catching himself and plastering on a grin. "I-I-I mean the sandwiches can't wait! Yeah!"
Milo opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, thinking better of the situation. Arven smiled at Milo and patted the teen on the shoulder. "Thanks for trusting me, little buddy."
"You don't bug me about my past, I don't bug you about yours." Milo said with a shrug, causing Arven to nod.
"I'm curious for sure, but I'll let you tell me when you're ready. It's the least I can do after you helped me deal with Titan Klawf." Arven remarked with a shrug, smirking as the Flying Taxi finally arrived. The duo quickly made their way to Cortondo, where they booked a hotel stay at the same place Milo had stayed during his first visit to the city.
Eventually Milo and Arven found their way towards the Patisserie Soapberry. They spotted a large line outside of the bakery where the Cortondo Gym Leader, Katy, worked as a famous baker. The teens patiently waited their turn in line by and were greeted with a smile from the Sugarbug herself.
"Good morning! Welcome to the Patisserie Soapberry!" Katy said brightly, laughing a little as Milo gave her a shy wave. "And if it isn't Milo and Arven! How wonderful to see you both again!"
"Good morning ma'am. You wouldn't happen to have any of Spidops Sugar Cookies?" Arven asked the Gym Leader, who nodded and quickly got Arven his desired treats. Milo ordered several items, including some treats for his team to enjoy, but the Galarian realized something that he had to vocalize.
"Miss Katy, how do you remember me?" Milo asked, looking confused as he accepted his Wonderful Wimpod Walnut Cupcakes. "You battle all sorts of Trainers, don't you? And we battled over a month ago."
"Of course I remember you, Milo. You were very fun to battle, despite being a complete rookie at the time. I even got a chance to watch you battle Brassius. Your little Venonat was quite the superstar!" Katy gushed, and Milo had to catch himself from pulling a face at the mention of Victor the Venonat. He was the third Pokémon that Milo had lost in his journey thanks to the Nuzlocke Curse he was under. And it wasn't like he was able to explain that to anyone either, so he kept quiet.
"The Gym Leaders here in Paldea typically keep tabs on certain Trainers that interest them. Sometimes you just make a strong impression on people, little buddy!" Arven said with a grin as he clapped Milo on the shoulder, with Katy nodding in agreement.
"Being Miss Nemona's good friend and having a rather popular presence on Festival Plaza doesn't hurt either. I was very impressed when I saw that video of you stopping those Team Star thugs from bothering that girl." Katy said as Milo blushed at the compliments.
"I was j-just doing what was right." Milo stammered out, with Katy smiling kindly at the student in response.
"And sometimes that's all it takes to earn someone's admiration, dear. This world would be a better place if people were more willing to do the right thing." Katy said to the student, who blinked at the comment before Katy shrugged her shoulders.
"Is there anything else you'd like? I'll be closing up shop early today and I'll be closed tomorrow, so get what you can!" Katy said to the two students, who exchanged a brief glance of confusion. Katy's Patisserie Soapberry was open seven days a week, even when she was acting in her capacity as a Gym Leader.
"Do you mind me asking why you're closing early, ma'am?" Arven asked with a curious frown.
"I'll be closing shop a few hours early today because my fiancé is coming back from his overseas trip tomorrow. I was hoping to spend the day with him." Katy explained to Arven and Milo, with the latter nodding in understanding. "I was even going to close the Gym Building down and reschedule my appointments."
"I think you talked about him the last time I was here. Isn't he a Pokémon League employee?" Milo asked, trying to remember.
"Officially he works as a Pokémon League International Liaison between the different regions. He has dual-citizenship with Paldea and Alola, so he travels a lot for work." Katy explained with a warm smile, making it obvious she missed her romantic partner. "He's a very strong Trainer. Tough enough to battle the Paldea Elite Four at their best. We actually met after I beat him in a battle."
"He sounds awesome." Milo said with a grin while Arven nodded, putting a finger to his chin.
"I've met him before, actually. He's quite the character, but not the best cook. His brownies were overdone." Arven remembered, with Katy nodding in agreement.
"He-" Katy stopped speaking suddenly, blinking a few times. That was when the sound of loud music playing could be heard somewhere behind the two students. They looked towards the main road and saw several townspeople hurrying towards the end of Cortondo that faced Mesagoza. Several loud and enthusiastic shouts could be heard.
"He's back! Hell yeah!"
"Come on, let's go see!"
"Hey, the boss is here! Woooo!"
Katy gasped and quickly closed the window, and moments later was hurrying out of her shop and heading in the direction of where the other townsfolk were running towards. Milo and Arven exchanged a glance and hurried after the Gym Leader. After several minutes, they reached a large horde of people who were clamoring around a man who had seemingly just arrived in Cortondo. The sound of a boombox was playing in the background, held by a teenager in the crowd.
The man in question was tall and powerfully built, with snowy white hair and gray eyes that were the color of tempered steel. He wore a black cargo pants and a simple black and white tank-top adorned with laughing skulls which revealed hard, strong muscular arms. He had a pair of snazzy golden sunglasses with the Paldea League sigil emblazoned on them and had a golden diamond ring on his right hand. He wore a confident grin, glancing around the adoring crowd with his head held high.
Standing behind him was an enormous and terrifying-looking armored bug Pokémon that Milo recognized as a Golisopod. It was eyeing the crowd with narrowed eyes while holding a suitcase in one hand and wearing a straw sunhat on its head. The Pokémon's Trainer stood in front of the Golisopod with a wide grin, throwing apart his arms as the crowd cheered greetings to him.
"What's up, my people!?" the man bellowed to the crowd as the boombox behind him continued to play. "It's your boy Guzma, back and better than ever!"
Roughly a dozen people suddenly ran past Milo and Arven as they slowed down to the horde of people. Katy had reached the crowd before them, and the large group quickly parted to allow their Gym Leader to reach the new arrival. Guzma spotted the woman and grinned from ear-to-ear as he stepped forward, pulling the woman into a tight hug and lifting her up. He spun her around for a few moments before setting her down gently on the ground and kissing her full on the mouth. Katy leaned into the kiss, cupping the man's cheek for a moment before separating from him.
"Hey babe! Looking good!" Guzma declared, laughing as Katy beamed at the man. "Hope you didn't miss me too much!"
"Well, well, well! This is a surprise, honey! You said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow!" Katy said with a wide smile as planted a kiss on his cheek. Guzma laughed as he wrapped an arm around Katy's waist and fist-bumped one of the locals, turning towards the town.
"What can I say, I just couldn't stay away from ya for another day longer!" Guzma remarked with a bark of laughter, making Katy blush and giggle quietly.
"That's Katy's fiancé!? That guy looks wild!" Milo said as he stared at the man known as Guzma with a stunned expression. "He looks kind of familiar, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, Guzma Kahananui was a gangster back in Alola who led a bunch of thugs who caused trouble. He's pretty well-known on the battling scene here from what I understand." Arven replied as he and his friend watched the man in question walk alongside his wife-to-be. The excited expression of happiness on his face as he talked to Katy made Milo wonder how he came to be in Paldea.
Meanwhile, Katy and Guzma were walking through the crowd as people clapped the man on the shoulder and shouted greetings to him. His Golisopod handed off the suitcase it was holding to a young man wearing a skull-patterned t-shirt and the big bug lumbered after his Trainer.
"Ol' Johnny Kukui managed to get people to come to an agreement. If Princess hadn't stepped in to shut La Primera Grano en el Culo up for eight whole seconds, who knows how long it would've taken." Guzma remarked, rolling his eyes. Katy chuckled softly, shaking her head.
"That sounds like her. I'll have to thank Miss Lillie for speeding things along. It's great to have you back, darling. You've missed a lot these past few weeks!" Katy said before gesturing to several of the townsfolk, who eagerly had pulled out a few Poké Balls. "But I think you have some battles to handle before we can properly catch up."
"That's right, bitches! Now who wants to throw down with me and Goliath!?" the man declared with a wild grin, causing several of the townsfolk to cheer even louder at the return of the man who would soon marry their beloved Gym Leader Katy.
Milo and Arven watched on in surprise as Guzma's Golisopod, known as Goliath, thrust out its claws, letting out a menacing hiss as it prepared for a homecoming battle against the locals. Two watery swords morphed into existence within the claws of the Hard Scale Pokémon while Guzma laughed almost manically. The crowd roared with approval and adoration while Katy beamed at her fiancé.
Milo's Current Party:
Reggie (Crocalor) M - Tera Fire
Cocoa (P. Wooper) F - Tera Ground
Storm (Wattrel) F - Tera Flying
Floom (Shiny Drifloon) M - Tera Ghost
Watt (Shiny Pikachu) F - Tera Electric
Echo (Toxel) F - Tera Ice
Benched/PC Storage:
Fiona (Flittle) F - Tera Grass
Shelly (Shellder) F - Tera Fighting
Bronson (Barbcoach) M - Tera Fire
Donut (Fidough) F - Tera Ice
Momo (Skwovet) M - Tera Steel
Volt (Pawmi) F -Tera Steel
Smith (Applin) M - Tera Water
Fleur (Steenee) F - Tera Dark
Graveyard:
Pepper (Maschiff) F - Tera Poison
Sparky (Pawmi) M - Tera Electric
Victor (Venonat) M - Tera Electric
Yes, I caught two Shiny Pokémon on a Nuzlocke Run, within about ten minutes of each other. I'm still astounded by this luck.
Even more fitting is that Milo's capture of a Shiny Pikachu in the story coincides perfectly with the Shiny Event happening right now in Scarlet/Violet where you can catch Shinies of the Pikachu-line throughout the game. I couldn't have hand-picked a better day to upload this chapter!
Anyways, on top of that awesomeness, we've got my first big cameo from Radiant Sun! A post-game Guzma who eventually made his way to Paldea and ended up getting engaged to Katy! I had originally planned for this cameo to be earlier in the story, but held off since I remembered Cortondo was an easy stop on the way to the Open Sky Titan or even the Dark Team Star Base.
I won't go into all of the details for how exactly this happened in this story, since that's a RS post-game spoiler, but it's the first significant spoiler of sorts for that story since AS takes place a few years after it. There's also more where that came from, with some more fun cameos and appearances down the line.
Q & A
From: SolanaLeonhart
So, two questions, are you going to make a sword and shield story? I couldn't help wonder after seeing your note in the end. And this might go into spoiler territory but did the incident that hurt Milo so badly have anything to do with the Darkest Day? It seemed like the incident was stopped quickly but something of that magnitude could easily have repercussions.
I probably won't be doing a Sword/Shield story. As much as I did end up enjoying the game, the popularity of that game has long-since passed and I've got too much on my plate already with this and Radiant Sun.
And as for the second question, the circumstances around the incident will be revealed in-full before Objective 7 is completed. Won't say what it entails because of spoilers!
As far as an update goes on the person who was re-uploading my story on another site (that I mentioned in the last chapter), I had the story taken down after it was determined by wattpad that the person in question was stealing my work. Hopefully this doesn't happen again, but I'll be keeping an eye out for it now. I urge anyone who sees someone else pulling this crap to please reach out to me and let me know if you spot more plagiarism.
Massive shoutout to the lovely folks who reviewed since the last update, which includes Rare Joe Star, SolanaLeonhart, BraviaryScout, a Guest reviewer and WyldClaw! An additional shoutout goes out to Stryker28999 for favoriting the story! You all are legends and I appreciate you a bunch!
If you enjoyed the chapter, please show your support with a favorite and/or follow and leave your thoughts in the review section below. I also cross-post on AO3 if that's your jam. You can also join the Discord channel for my fics if you PM on this site.
Take care and stay awesome!
Until next time, FlygonNick out!