As Raven slowly regained consciousness the world tossed and turned as if she was on a small boat in the middle of a horrific storm. It was enough to make her lose her lunch if she weren't just a digital being now. She waited for the nausea to subside before attempting to roll over onto her hands and knees, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm her stomach and clear the grogginess from her head. Slowly, she placed one foot under her and pushed, standing on wobbly legs as she took in her surroundings.
A dense forest surrounded her, though the clearing she'd landed in offered little in helping her determine where she was. No clear path presented itself to her, and shin-high grass swayed gently in the soft breeze in every direction around her. Checking herself over for any injuries, she found none but did notice the lone Pokéball on her belt. With a few quick taps, the ball expanded and popped open. Shaolin the Mienfoo sprang from his container, materializing in a combat stance and glancing around quickly as if trying to locate a threat. Realizing that nothing was amiss he glanced up at Raven and huffed.
"Calm down, bud," Raven chuckled. "There will be plenty of battles ahead. Just needed to check on you was all."
As she spoke her mind raced back to before she blacked out. A gigantic Pikachu, MissingNo, the blood-curdling screams of other players… Griffin…. She shook her head and gazed around once more. Suddenly, a small exclamation point popped up on her HUD. Curious, she popped open her menu and navigated to the flashing icon hovering over the "Messages" tab. Inside was a single message addressed to all players. Tapping it, the message opened up fully and she began to read.
'Attention Players:
As you know now something horrible has happened within the game. A glitch has caused immense damage to our systems and has resulted in a completely new game overall. As you may have noticed, players are unable to log out. We have determined that once the game is beaten, that is the last boss of the game is defeated, all players will be able to log out. We have also studied this change in game-play and have determined that the rules have been changed into what many know as a Nuzlocke. All of our resources have been put into correcting the issue and allowing you all to escape, but in the meantime we have compiled the currently enforced rules for your convenience. Please read the rules below. And please, be careful.
The Pokémon Dimensions Team'
Pokémon Dimensions' Nuzlocke rules
As with all Nuzlockes when a Pokémon runs out of HP it is considered dead and is immediately deleted from a player's team. When a player's entire team is defeated the player is deleted and will die in real life.
Pokémon encounters are randomized in every area until after the player either catches or fails to catch their first encounter Pokémon. Afterwards, Pokémon will be visible outside of battles ('Legends: Arceus' style) and will be scaled to roughly the player's strongest team member's level. Beware of Alphas.
Players are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon they encounter in a new area unless the player already has that Pokémon. If that is the case the player may make another attempt at catching another Pokémon.
Level caps and team size limiters are implemented and are as follows:
Less than 1 badge - lvl 15, 2 Pokémon
Less than 2 badges - lvl 24, 2 Pokémon
Less than 3 badges - lvl 30, 3 Pokémon
Less than 4 badges - lvl 38, 4 Pokémon
Less than 5 badges - lvl 45, 4 Pokémon
Less than 6 badges - lvl 50, 5 Pokémon
Less than 7 badges - lvl 55, 5 Pokémon
Less than 8 badges - lvl 60, 6 Pokémon
Up to Elite 4 - lvl 80
- Towns and Cities are Safe Zones. Pokémon may run out of HP within a Safe Zone and not be deleted and players will not be killed if their team is wiped out. Exceptions include: Invasions, Raids, and Gym Battles. Participating in any of these will constitute the use of Nuzlocke rules until the scenario or battle is over.
- The goal for each player is to collect all 8 badges from their respective region, defeat the Elite 4 and Champion of said region, and join together with other Pokémon League winners to challenge and defeat the Final Raid Boss. Defeating the Final Raid Boss will unlock the Logout option for every player, effectively beating the game.
Raven's heart felt heavier and heavier with each word she read. As she closed the menu her wobbly legs finally gave out and she slumped onto the ground. Shaolin rushed to her side, doing his best to comfort her.
"How? How can a simple glitch cause all this?" Raven felt like she was going to explode as the sound of constantly crashing waves filled her ears and tears welled up in her eyes. Even Shaolin's soothing presence next to her did little to calm her anger, but the more he nuzzled and rubbed at her back the more of an effect he seemed to have. Finally, Raven felt her rage crack and her tears turn into sniffles. After several shuddering breaths she rubbed at her eyes. "I'm… I'm good now, Shaolin. Thank you."
"Mien!" Shaolin's smile stretched across his face triumphantly as he stepped back to give Raven some space.
Raven opened her menu again and studied the notification thoroughly before checking the rest of the menu to see what else might be available. She was surprised, however, when she opened her inventory and found an item labeled "Raid Completion Reward". Selecting it released its contents which consisted of twenty-five Pokéballs, several Oran Berries, and a single basic Repel.
"Nice. So, according to that notification our first encounter will be completely randomized. What say we get this over with and see if we can add to our team?"
Shaolin gave a tiny roar of determination as it leaped up onto Raven's shoulders. Approaching the green shin-high grass, Raven took a deep breath and took her first step into potential danger. Then another. And finally another.
"C'mon," Raven hissed as she took several more steps with no encounter. "I remember getting practically bombarded by battles in SoulSilver. What gives?"
Just as the last word escaped her lips everything seemed to freeze. The grass in front of her shook violently and the surrounding foliage seemed to dematerialize to reveal an open area big enough for Shaolin and the now materializing wild Pokémon to battle. Raven watched with fascination, and a little bit of apprehension, as the wild Pokémon started off as an indistinct black blob before taking shape into a bipedal creature with a head almost as large as its body, two short forearms, and a tail that looked like it could smash boulders if it wasn't so short in length.
"Ty RUUNT!" The tiny dinosaur-like Pokémon cried out, its challenge not as intimidating as what Raven had expected. Breathing a sigh of relief, she thanked whatever luck she had left that the randomized encounter hadn't resulted in something like Rayquaza or Mewtwo. Being at such a low level to start with would have meant serious trouble.
"Alright, Shaolin, no pressure. Let's start with Fake Out to get the upper hand!"
Shaolin leapt off of Raven's shoulder, diving towards the Tyrunt as if to land a flying kick. Tyrunt, caught off guard, braced for impact to lessen any damage it might receive. A smirk crossed Shaolin's face as it instead landed under Tyrunt's guard and swept a kick quickly at Tyrunt's unprotected legs, tripping the wild Pokémon and knocking it to the ground. A health bar appeared in Raven's HUD, indicating Tyrunt's remaining health points. She hadn't expected much, but she scowled when the damage dealt was much lower than anticipated.
"Not great but not bad, Shaolin. Follow up with Pound. Let's start whittling its HP down!"
Shaolin was already moving before she finished talking, striking Tyrunt with an open palmed strike. Raven tracked the miniscule damage in her HUD, already aware of the poor match up of Shaolin's low level Normal-type moves against a Rock and Dragon type such as Tyrunt. She tried to think how she could possibly speed up the process of chipping away at its HP when she heard Shaolin cry out. Snapping out of her daze she realized that Tyrunt had caught Shaolin in its massive jaws, biting down and shaking vigorously. As Tyrunt tossed Shaolin aside she watched two words pop up on her HUD over Shaolin's HP gauge as his remaining health points plummeted.
"'Critical Hit'?! On its first attack?! Not good. Shaolin, keep your distance and watch for any openings. Only attack if you can get in and get out unfazed. Another hit like that and we are done for."
Shaolin popped back to its feet, grimacing with pain as it eyed the Tyrunt with caution. Trying to capitalize on its current advantage, Tyrunt charged, its mouth wide open for another Bite attack. Shaolin's eyes narrowed as he dipped down and charged in as well. Raven was about to call off Shaolin's attack when she noticed that the Tyrunt hadn't reacted to Shaolin's sudden movement, and that's when she realized the dinosaur Pokémon's fatal flaw. With its jaws open wide it had a difficult time seeing anything in front of or below its body, and Shaolin had quickly noticed and had begun its counter-attack.
Slipping under Tyrunt's open maw, Shaolin used Pound to strike upwards, slamming Tyrunt's mouth shut and sending it flying upwards. Shaolin then followed up by leaping up above Tyrunt's flailing body to deliver another strike, driving its opponent back to the ground with an impact that Raven could feel through the ground. Afraid that Shaolin may have overdone it, she watched as Tyrunt's HP gauge quickly diminished, dipping dangerously low before stopping within a pixel of total depletion.
"One HP! Damn that was close, Shaolin, but good job. Now for the coup de grâce."
A Pokéball materialized in Raven's open hand and she pulled her arm back, readying her toss. With one smooth fluid motion, she threw the ball and watched as it soared straight into Tyrunt's awaiting jaws. Raven's mouth hung open as the Pokémon seemed to grin mischievously at her with her Pokéball as if it had just played a game of fetch. With a crunch Tyrunt chomped the Pokéball to digital smithereens and cocked its head as if expecting another. With a vein throbbing above her eye, making it twitch irritatedly, Raven prepared another ball.
"Catch this you little shit." Another ball launched and another ball chomped. "STOP EATING MY BALLS!"
Raven regretted the words only too late, her face turning red as realized how the phrase would sound to anybody else. The little digital Pokémon must have understood because Tyrunt, and irritatingly enough Shaolin, were both rolling on the ground crying with laughter. As frustrated as she was, however, Raven couldn't pass up the chance she had as she lobbed a third Pokéball at Tyrunt's distracted laughing fit. The ball popped open, zapping the little brown Pokémon into red energy before sucking it inside. She watched as the ball wobbled for a few moments before settling, the red glow at its center cooling to a simple gray.
"Chomp on that you little turd!" Raven cheered. A Pokédex entry appeared in her HUD along with Tyrunt's stats and moveset. She took note of the Pokémon's gender before a 'Nickname' box popped up, forcing her to change the Pokémon's name. "Chompette it is. Welcome to the team you little monster."
Shaolin cheered as well, even with the injuries it sustained from the battle. Watching him, Raven noticed his experience points increase, earning enough for a level up. That's when she noticed the new issue she had. Checking her inventory again to make sure, she cursed under her breath. Shaolin caught on that something was wrong and limped over to her, worried.
"So… between you and Chompette, I don't have enough healing items to heal both of you AND do some training. Heck, I don't even know where we are at. For now, let's get you and Chompette healed just in case."
She quickly selected the Oran Berries from her inventory, using all of them up to heal her team as much as she could. Breathing a little easier, she looked around and noticed other Pokémon beginning to materialize. Some noticed her and scurried off. Others however….
"That's right, the notice said that it'd be like Legends: Arceus after our first encounter on a new route. Shaolin, let's get you back in your ball for now just to be safe. I'll use the Repel I received to hold any would-be attackers off for a bit."
Shaolin tried arguing, his eyes angry, but he complied and allowed Raven to put him back into the comfort of his Pokéball. Going into her inventory once more, Raven selected the lone Repel and activated it. The Pokémon around her phased back out once more. Now clear of any obstacles, she took off through the grass and trees.
Twigs threatened to snag her clothing and roots attempted to trip her up, but Raven kept pushing forward in as straight of a line as possible, eventually exiting onto a clearing that quickly turned into the top of a steep hill. Just as she reached the top a message popped up declaring that her Repel had been used up. Glancing around, she noticed Pokémon begin to appear once more but far enough away that she wasn't too worried. Looking back out down the hill and as far as she could see, Raven studied the dense forest that spread before her. Dread began to fill her as she realized that there was no civilization for miles around.
That is, until she saw it.
A small smoke column was beginning to rise above the treetops, followed by another and another.
"That's gotta be a town," she said softly, breathing a sigh of relief. "The notice said cities and towns were safe zones. We should be safe once we get the-..."
That's when she felt it. Like a gust of wind full of razor blades that slammed into her back, sending her tumbling down the hill. Coming to a stop at the bottom, she bit back the pain to glance up. At the top of the hill right where she had been standing hovered a massive Pokémon with a hard yellow and black exoskeleton with two glowed red eyes. Another part of the notice popped into Raven's mind at the sight of it and dread filled her down to the bone.
'An Alpha,' her mind screamed at her as she scrambled to her feet and took off running in the direction of the smoke columns. 'An Alpha Vespiquen! This is bad!'
Three hearts, two red and full and one dull and empty, appeared in her HUD as an indicator of her remaining health. She dreaded what would happen if all of the hearts emptied and the fear fueled her feet to move faster. Buzzing sounded above the trees, sending chills down her sweat-soaked spine as a shadow appeared on the ground several feet in front of her. Raven didn't bother glancing up as she adjusted her path, easily evading the Alpha Vespiquen's attack without losing any of her momentum. A glowing light illuminated the trees as Raven heard her assailant build an attack. Whatever it was, she didn't want to be struck by it.
She put a tree between herself and the Vespiquen in time for a blast of energy to strike right where she had been, shooting dust and debris up into the air. 'That's gotta be her Power Gem attack,' Raven thought as she ran through Vespiquen's movepool in her head without stopping her forward progress. She was so close to where she'd the smoke columns rising above the tree tops. Just a little further and she'd be in a safe zone.
A dirt path appeared before her suddenly and she had to skid to a halt just to not run past it. Quickly looking to her left she spied a wooden bridge stretching out over a small river. On the far end of it, however, were several wooden houses… and her possible salvation. She quickly took off for the bridge, her now visible goal spurring her burning lungs and screaming legs on. With only twenty-five meters left to run she felt like she was home free.
A beam of energy slammed into her from behind, sending her tumbling forward with enough force to knock the digital air from her lungs. The whole world swam and the edges of her vision pulsed an angry red as one of her last two hearts faded to gray. 'One hit remaining,' her mind screamed at her as she struggled to regain her feet. Looking back in the direction of her attacker she saw the Alpha Vespiquen hovering menacingly as it formed another Power Gem attack. Trying to stand, Raven felt her ankle give out on her, forcing her to fall once more as she stifled a cry of pain.
"So, this is it, huh?"
Vespiquen released its gathered energy, sending forth the bright beam in Raven's direction with deadly precision. Resigning herself to her fate, Raven closed her eyes and waited for the end to strike.
A sudden flash of red and a cry of pain brought her back into the moment. Shaolin stood before her now, holding its left shoulder in pain and panting heavily from the attack it had tanked for her. Quickly checking his remaining HP, Raven felt relief and fear at the damage her starter had taken for her sake. Luckily for Shaolin, the type matching had been in his favor for the last attack, but Raven knew that Vespiquen had the flying-type attack Gust in its arsenal and didn't want to risk Shaolin tanking that attack for her sake.
"Shaolin, I need you to get back. Now. You can't take another hit like that, hell it's a miracle you survived the last one. Now, return."
Raven held out Shaolin's Pokéball and a beam of red light shot out aimed right for Shaolin. Shaolin, however, had other plans as it leapt to the side to dodge. Raven's mouth hung open at her Pokémon's audacity as she tried once again. And once again Shaolin dodged being returned to his Pokéball, but this time he charged the Vespiquen. His sudden attack caught the Alpha off guard as he used Fake Out to stun Vespiquen before turning and rushing back to Raven.
Raven was too stunned to argue as Shaolin placed one of her arms over his shoulder and he began dragging her towards the bridge. Realizing his plan Raven did her best to assist, pushing with her legs even as the pain screamed and threatened to make her pass out. An angry, vicious buzzing grew in intensity as Vespiquen regained its composure. Time seemed to slow down for Raven as she watched the Alpha send a blast of wind with a Gust attack in their direction. Her hand seemed to move of its own accord as she managed to recall Shaolin to his Pokéball with one hand while her other snagged the Pokéball at her waist. She opened it up in the direction of the attack as she hit the ground, hoping Chompette would forgive her. Chompette appeared in time for the Gust attack to land, slamming into the tiny Tyrunt and sending it flying back.
Raven managed to catch Chompette in her arms, but the force of the attack caused both to tumble backwards onto the bridge. Raven groaned as Chompette stood to glare at the Alpha. Vespiquen, however, simply hovered at the edge of the wood of the bridge, its eyes boring holes into Raven. With an irritated buzz, the Alpha turned and flew off, leaving Raven and Chompette alone just on the other side of the safe zone. As the realization that they were now safe crossed her mind, all of the adrenaline subsided leaving pain and exhaustion. Before she knew it, Raven's head was falling towards the wood of the bridge as sleep took over, even as heavy footsteps resounded through the wood.