Chapter 13 - Out of the Frying Pan and Into Burned Tower

After heading back to Ecruteak and looking around a bit more for Morty, we had only one place left - the Burned Tower.

"He has got to be in there," Silver said. "He has to be. There is nowhere else he could be in this city."

"And, quite frankly," Timas added, "he wouldn't dare leave. The only question is do we need to prepare..."

"I doubt we'd need anything more than me," Cecelia said.

"If you are so sure," I said, "why don't you lead the way?"

We entered the building and it immediately felt like a different world all together. It was dark, mostly. There were no lights but part of the upper floors and roof were gone, leading to some light coming in from the outside. The entire building smelled very musty. It somehow felt very humid too, as if the building itself had its own problems with humidity.

Looking around, it was obvious that the tower was in shambles. The upper floors were decrepit and completely inaccessible. Even if you could get to them though, you would not be able to move around as there was little floor on every floor. I could clearly see the floor beneath me (which housed some interesting creatures) through large gaps between me and some odd people on the other end of the building.

Looking down in the gap, I saw three majestic... quadrupeds. They looked very interesting, almost indescribable. The three beasts each looked different - the red looked scraggy and rough, the yellow looked sleeker and fierce and the blue looked serene and calm. They all sat down below me. I could see the stairs there.

I could also see three people in the way, two of whom I didn't know but the first who I knew all too well.

"Well well well, if it isn't Quennel," Lucius sneered. He looked down at the three pokémon. "Those are the legendary beasts. You know that, right? Their power is unequalled by regular pokémon. They are powerful... fierce...just like me. And that is why I want them."

"How wonderful is that," Silver responded. "I bet they are nicer."

"Watch it, you egg thing."

"And you watch it," Cecelia said. "Don't go threatening my friends."

"What are you gonna do about it, rocky?"

With that, Lucius sent out his Gastly. Jenna quickly flew in to battle. The two exchanged glares before Jenna swooped in and bit it, taking it down with one hit. Lucius sent out his own Zubat, prompting Silver to join in. Silver shot off an extrasensory while avoiding supersonic attacks to take it down. After that, Cecelia stepped up, magnituding Lucius's Magnemite and chucking a nice rock throw to critical hit his Quilava.

Lucius glared at me. "You know, out of desperation, weak people sometimes do okay at fighting back. I guess that's all there is to it." He looked down at the beasts again. "You would never be able to catch one of them anyway. They are too strong, too powerful, too...malicious for you." With that, he walked off. I caught Jenna glaring back at him. She then started to glow...

Jenna grew larger. Her wings became much more profound and, beyond that, so did her ears. Her lower appendages became feet and she grew a visible set of eyes. She was now a Golbat.

"Yay! I evolved!"

"Indeed you did," I said. "Which helps to make you even cooler."

"I must agree," said a man from behind me. He was on the tall side and wore an odd purple suit with a white cape. "Although I have not used one, I have found Golbats and Crobats to be interesting pokémon." He bowed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Eusine. I am here because of one of the legendary pokémon down there - the serene Suicune. One day Suicune will be mine...but it must accept me first. I have been following it for a while but I am afraid to move closer, lest the three of them flee."

"Okay..."

"Suicune is a magnificent beast. Do not listen to that fool who battled you. They are powerful but wonderful as well. And Suicune shall be my partner one day. Of that, I can assure you." He nodded to Jenna and went on his way. The third person between me and the stairs then approached.

"I have not seen you before. I take it you are new to this city?"

"Yes, I am. I come here on a long journey."

"What is your goal?"

"Ultimately? Or at the moment?"

"Both."

"Well, now I am attempting to prove myself as a pokémon trainer, I guess, though I suppose my ultimate goal is to better the world somehow. Not that I know how. I also guess another goal would be to further the relationship between human and pokémon. Professors Elm and Oak have both entrusted me with that goal, so to speak."

"I believe I can help you with one of your goals. And you can help me with one of mine. And we can do it the same way."

"Okay...?"

"This guy is confusing me to no end," Cecelia muttered.

"Oh hush," Bella said. "It is getting good."

"Anyway," the man continued, "I am this town's protector. I am Morty, the gym leader. I am here for many reasons. One, however, is the legend of this city. Long ago, a golden hued pokémon came and blessed this town. We built towers to its glory...but we have forsaken it. It set this tower on fire, or at least its will did. And, because of this, we let it stand as a reminder. We wish for this pokémon to come back some day. I wish for this. But I must become a better trainer for that to happen. Just as you wish to do so. Therefore, we shall battle."

"Sweet," Cecelia said. "Let's go right now."

"Not so fast, my friend. Two days time. Then I will be ready. But I must prepare. And confer with some people. Once you have beaten me, you may enter Bell Tower, the one to the legendary pokémon." He smiled. "Of course, that means you must beat me. It is my goal to get stronger. It is why I became a gym leader. Battling you will help, I am sure."

He stepped aside. "You may go down there, but I am sure they will flee if you do. Not that that is a bad thing, but it is rather a certain one."

"Thank you for all of the information."

"Do not mention it. I feel a destiny about you. I am sure my old friend Eusine did too, or else he may not have spoken to you." He smiled. "But that does not mean I will let you see Ho-oh before me."

He then left and I had the stiars in front of me (and a few trainers just beyond them to sweep as well.

After dealing with the fire-breathers, Jenna was felling very good and started to glow again. Her body actually got smaller. Her feet become anterior wings and her eyes got fiercer. When she ceased glowing, she was now a purple color instead of the blue she was prior.

"Sweet! I am a Crobat now! Awesome!"

"Indeed it is. We should test you out."

Sophie, KOFFING (female)

Levitate; Jolly (+Speed -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 14, Burned Tower.

With another new pokémon in tow, we headed downstairs. We were able to see the beasts up close for only a second, as they quickly fled, just as Morty had predicted. Suicune, however, gave us a close look before departing. After exploring this level a bit further, we decided to go back to the pokémon center.

"So what now?" We were lounging when Cecelia asked me that question. "Do we wait it out?"

"No," I said. "We train. But if we have two days, we can probably also head down to Olivine and over to Ecruteak. We may get some new pokémon and it will give me a chance to round out your levels and train Nick. And maybe, just maybe, I'll find an electric type."

"So where first then," Bella asked. "Olivine for a rod?"

"No. Mt. Mortar and then Ecruteak. That sounds good to me."

Preview Chapter 1 - Enter Beans

Timas walked up to me as I was sitting at the Safari Zone Gate. He briefly looked around and sat next to me. "Jenna and Bella have left to get the potion to Jasmine," he said. "And you did beat Chuck without another loss. You've done well."

"Have I? Have I really?"

Silver came up next to me, floating steadily.

"Of course you have," he said. "You beat Chuck in grand fashion and have saved the life of a pokémon in need."

"Yeah...but at what cost?"

Body Count - 3

From where I was sitting, I could easily see Amy (my Poliwhirl) and Serenity

(my Quagsire) playing on the shores of Cianwood. Timas and Silver were sitting not too far, chatting with Nick (my Tauros). AgentSmith (the Magneton) hovered over to me.

"You Need To De-Stress Some."

"Easy for you to say. You aren't...um...well...um..."

"Go Ahead. Say What You Will. I Know What I Am."

"You are just a bag of bolts, technically. No offense."

"None Taken. I May Be A Bag Of Bolts, But Do Not Forget That I Am Your Bag Of Bolts. And I Would Not Want It Any Other Way."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Do Not Mention It. Or Do. Your Choice."

Nick and Timas started heading our way while Silver flew over to the females still in the water.

"Hey," Timas said, "We were thinking...you could use a break. You've been going for a while without much free time and I think that you deserve a rest before these next two gyms."

"And don't even think of arguing," Nick said. "It will do you good and you will do it. End of discussion."

"Okay guys," I said, "I can see there would be no point arguing. So where should I go?"

"Well," Silver said, flying back with Amy and Serenity in tow, " you are sitting on the Safari Zone Gate. You could go there."

"But Baoba hasn't called me yet."

"Yes He Has," AgentSmith said. "You Recieved A Call From Him While Battling Chuck. It Is On My Voicemail. You May Access It Whenever You Are Ready."

"And your didn't tell me this before because...?"

"It Is Not My Fault If You Do Not Notice My Screws Blinking." I looked. Indeed, the screws were all blinking.

"Well...I guess I should listen to that."

"Hey Quennel, this is Baoba. My Safari Zone has just about to open and I would love for you to be one of the first visitors. I am sure that, by the time you get here, we'll be ready to open the doors. So hurry on down to the end of Route 48!"

"So it's settled, I guess," I said.

"It certainly is," asserted Nick. "And you can catch more team members on the way there too."

We walked through the gate and soon made it to a beautiful seaside cliff. There were a few trainers, but Nick and AgentSmith handled them all very well. We went through a short cave where AgentSmith mauled a Golbat before getting to the end of Route 47.

"There are some trees here," Serenity said. "Should we try for something from them?"

"I don't know," I said. "Amy, how does the water look?"

Amy, who was swimming in the stream next to us, jumped back on to the land. "I am seeing a lot of Tentacool. Some Seels too...but they are scarce. And...Magikarp. There will always be Magikarp. There are some other pokémon toward the bottom, but I am not sure how likely you are to get one of them."

I turned to Serenity. "Headbutt away."

Joeseph, LEDYBA (male)

Early Bird; Mild (+ Sp. Atk., -Def.)

Lvl 17, Route 27.

"Still No Heracross Quennel."

"Too bad," I responded.

"Wait a sec," Nick said. "Do you...smell that?"

"Smell What?"

"It smells like...I don't know." Serenity looked puzzled. I stuck my nose up and sniffed. I smelled it too.

"It smells like...BEANS!"

"And you know what tham means," said Timas excitedly. "Someone's cooking something good!"

"Quickly," Nick said, "follow that smell!"

The seven of us quickly ran through some grass on Route 48 where we came across the source of the smell - a small Vulpix roasting a can of food with a small flame.

Beans, VULPIX (female)

Flash Fire; Hardy (N +Atk. -Atk.)

Lvl 24, Route 48.

"It wasn't a meal," I said, "but I'm still glad we found it."

"I must agree," said Timas, "but I still have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why did you name her Beans? Just because she smelled of it?"

"Allow me to speak some insight," Beans said, hopping out of her pokéball. "Did you know that the great Roman lawyer and orator, Cicero, had a name that, if translated, means Garbonzo Bean? He is simply following in suit."

"Really? You Mean It Is Not Because You Smell Bad?"

She glared at AgentSmith and her eyes flared with fire. "Excuse you?"

"No. Excuse You."

I chuckled. "AgentSmith, while we appreciate your unique brand of electronic sass, I think I am going to put you back in your pokéball before you get roasted alive."

"Ah. You Mean Before I Am Roasted Like Beans."

"No," Beans responded. "Before you are roasted by Beans!"

Chapter 12 - Surf and Strength

Silver handed me a checklist.

"Leaving Goldenrod," it said.

"Beat Whitney?" Check.

"Shop at the store?" Check.

"Gamble some?" Minimally, but check.

"Visit the underground?" Check.

"See Bill?" Well, he wasn't actually there, so no check.

"Get watering can?" Check.

"Get the radio?" Check.

"Get a bike?" I'm not a biking kind of guy, but I still got one, so check.

"Anything else?" Nothing of which I could think, so check. Time to head north.

We headed through Route 35 to get to the national park. Upon Timas's suggestion, I headbutted a tree to see what I may see.

Misako, EXEGGECUTE (female)

Chlorophyll; Modest (+Sp. Atk., -Atk.)

Lvl 12, National Park.

We went through to Route 36, fighting a few trainers along the way. Jenna was having fun demolishing the psychics and Cecelia was delighted to take down more Flying types, much to the chagrin of half of my party. However, we soon had to stop, as the route north was blocked. I approached someone wearing the uniform from the flower shop.

"Hey, this odd tree is blocking the route, so we can't get through." She mumbled to herself something about a watering can and I pulled mine out.

"Wow. You must have gotten a free one from where I work. I bet if you water that tree, it'll move. I don't think it is actually a tree."

Timas stepped forward. "Allow me," he said, grabbing the can. As he moved toward the tree, it shook a bit. He watered it and it jumped in rage. I saw it open its eyes - it was a pokemon! Timas quickly restrained it and I caught it, just in case I ever needed a fake tree.

Hershel, SUDOWOODO (male)

Rock Head; Rash (+Sp. Atk., -Sp. Def.)

Lvl 20, Route 36.

The woman was happy that the tree was gone. "You deserve a reward," she said. "These are Berry Pots. You can grow berries right in your bag."

"Cool," I said. "I've been looking to get more Lum berries."

"I have to go back to work now though. Have fun with those pots." She headed off in the opposite direction as we took to route 37. Night having just hit, a Hoot-Hoot jumped us. However, Silver decided not to make Luna jealous and to take it out.

We got to Ecruteak City shortly afterwards. A surprise was in the pokémon center though, as Bill was fiddling with the PC as we entered. "There," he said, "now it should work perfectly." He saw my pokédex sticking out of my bag and walked over to me. "You have a pokédex? Awesome. You should see me at my house sometime."

"We already tried that," Silver noted. "You weren't there."

"Ah, well, you should try again some time." With that, he left and we got to heal.

Afterwards, we explored Ecruteak. I couldn't get into the Bell Tower until after beating Morty, so I wandered around before heading into the burned tower, where he was said to be hiding. Jenna wanted to visit the dance studio, so we made that our next stop.

Inside, we saw a member of Team Rocket harassing another Kimono Girl. Silver and Jenna quickly dispatched him and we were greeted happily by the owner, how gave us the Surf HM as a reward.

When we left, Timas began musing. "You know," he said, "we'll need a water type at some point."

"I know. But after we've found Morty and found out what he wants in order for us to get into the Bell Tower I think we can deal with that."

"And how will you do that?"

"Well," Gideon said, "Olivine city to the west is a port city, so we could probably find someone there who would be kind enough to give us a decent fishing rod."

"Good point. We'll head there after we find Morty."

With that settled, we decided to survey the route to Olivine first. To our surprise, we met a new friend there.

Nick, TAUROS (male)

Intimidate; Impish (+Def., -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 13, Route 38.

"Do you want to check the other route?" Silver said as we reentered Ecruteak.

"We certainly could, but only if there is grass right there. Otherwise, we'll head back right away."

We went and, while we found no grass, we saw some water at the base of a large mountain. A hiker came out and greeted us.

"Hello lads. Are you here to scale this mountain?"

"Not at the moment," I responded, "but maybe later."

"Not a bad choice," he said, "but if you wish to do that, you'll need this HM." He handed us a new HM and continued talking. "Strength is a powerful Normal type move, but it can also be used outside of battle to move boulders. Make sure a strong pokémon knows it."

"Oh yeah," Cecelia said, "that's me."

"Go for it," I said, tossing her the HM. "Just know that our friend Nick will get to learn that too. So don't break it."

"With my strength, I make no promises."

"Drama queen," Bella muttered.

QUESTIONS for the people!!!

I have two questions.

1. Am I allowed to trade my Magneton over to Pearl so I can train it (for about 50 xp, actually) so that it evolves into a Magnezone? And if so, can I then attach an item to him when bringing him back, like an evolutionary stone (since all I seem to have are moon stones)?

2. Does the Safari Zone count as one big place or a bunch of small places? In this generation, there are different geographical areas (including but not limited to Plains, Peak, Rocky Beach, Wetlands, etc.). Are each of those a separate area or is the entire Safari Zone one?

(Link to proof of the above: http://www.serebii.net/heartgoldsoulsilver/safarizone.shtml)

New story posts soon, I hope. Buffer is nicely sized, but that doesn't mean I cannot diminish it quickly.

First Recap.

Not that we really need one, but here is the first recap.

PLOT RECAP

So far, Quennel has beaten the first three gyms and lost no pokémon while doing so. He has beaten his rival, Lucius, twice now. He is about to depart from Goldenrod to Ecruteak to, among other things, see Bill and challenge the fourth gym.

BATTLES

Here are the major battles in this chunk.

Lucius 1 (Cherrygrove)

Sprout Tower Sage

Johto Gym Leader Falkner

Rocket Exec Proton 1 (Slowpoke Well)

Johto Gym Leader Bugsy

Lucius 2 (Azalea)

Johto Gym Leader Whitney

LUCKY/UNLUCKY CATCHES

Here are some criteria for lucky:

-Low encounter rate (not necessarily lowest on the route, but lower than other pokémon or really low with a lot of possible pokémon).

-Useful pokémon. Self-explanatory.

-Not horrible nature/ability.

Unlucky criteria:

-Low encounter rate, especially if it was lower than a preferred pokémon.

-Useless move pool at catch.

-Type compared to pokémon I have and pokémon I could have gotten.

-Something I already had, particularly if it has a similar or worse nature/ability.

-Something with a horrible nature/ability

Lucky

-Jenna. 39% chance to find Zubat compared to Geodude's 60%. Maybe she isn't the most useful pokémon yet, but I already had a Geodude and, at higher levels and evolutions, the Zubat family kicks major ass. (SPOILERS: Jenna is not an exception to that rule.) Plus, this nature is better than the nature of my Crobat from Pearl!

Unlucky

-Wayne. Considering I could have found a Mareep, a Wooper, an Ekans or even a Bellsprout (who would have certainly been better...), a low level grass type with no damaging moves (when I picked the grass starter) is certainly an unlucky catch. Then again, I could have avoided this (and had the chance for a Wooper) had I gone at night, but I thought the 80% chance to get something useful (since Bellsprout can be, oddly enough) was enough not to worry about the 10% chance to get this.

-Pierre. Heracross would have been grand, but even a Spearow with a non-crappy nature would have been preferable. Or an Aipom with ANY OTHER NATURE! It seriously boosts the one stat Aipom will never use to reduce one stat Aipom will almost always use. What the hell!

-Randal. I am not a fan of Drowzee's anyway...and at this point, I had both Silver and Luna with psychic move potential. However, the unluckiness is chiefly due to its nature preventing me from doing anything useful with it since...well...it is exactly like Pierre's nature.

-Larten. Sure, the nature is better, but it is still a Drowzee and a redundant one at that. Also, consider this: I was not really expecting to hit the 10% chance Abra or the 1% chance Yanma (though either one would have been nice)...but the 60% chance of a Nidoran (30/30) kinda trumps the 20% chance for a pokémon I already had and never use.

DEATHS

None yet. Woo.

Also, expect this to be made into a full page at some point...though it will be after the deaths happen in the story, of course.

CURRENT TEAM

Timas - Bayleef - Lvl 20 - Miracle Seed

Gideon - Pidgeotto - Lvl 20 - No item

Cecelia - Geodude - Lvl 20 - Hard Stone

Bella - Beedrill - Lvl 21 - Shell Bell

Jenna - Zubat - Lvl 20 - No item

Silver - Togetic - Lvl 20 - Soothe Bell

Descriptions and box pokémon can be seen on the Story Pokémon page until the next update.

PREVIEWS OF THINGS TO COME

Lucius glared at me. "You know, out of desperation, weak people sometimes do okay at fighting back. I guess that's all there is to it." He looked down at the beasts again. "You would never be able to catch one of them anyway. They are too strong, too powerful, too...malicious for you." With that, he walked off. I caught Jenna glaring back at him. She then started to glow...

"This place gives me the creeps," Bella said, coming closer to me.

"Yeah," I said. "It is just plain odd. All these statues and symbols...and those weird creatures that attacked us..."

"They were Unown," came a voice from behind us. It was a scientist who worked here. "They came because you solved the puzzle. They came because they believe you have some sort of otherworldly power."

"But he doesn't," Bella said. "No one has otherworldly power."

"They do..."

Jasmine looked at me. She was almost begging. "I have to stay with him. But you can go. So I need you to get me that medicine."

"You can count on me," I said as I waved to her and ran off. "I'll save that Ampharos. I won't let it down." I paused and muttered to myself, "This is for you, Victor."

Chapter 11 - Plain Badge

"So what exactly are we doing out here?" Timas was looking around, wondering why we left Goldenrod.

"Well Timas," I replied, "according to the sign, the next gym is normal type. I heard we can find Nidorans in the grass here on Route 35, and they learn Double Kick. If we get one, we'll have more than just Rock Smash at our disposal in the way of super-effective moves."

"Ah. But there are a lot of trainers."

"But," Gideon said, "if you battle another level and I battle another three, then we'll both evolve."

Timas looked at Gideon excitedly. "Then what are we waiting for?" He rushed off to battle some trainers, barely waiting for the rest of us.

After battling the trainers, both Gideon and Timas began to glow. Timas got much larger and bulkier, whereas Gideon also grew, but gained the start of an interesting hairdo. They were now a Bayleef and a Pidgeotto. Bella learned Twinneedle as well and we soon made it to the grass where we were greeted by another Drowzee.

Larten, DROWZEE (male)

Insomnia; Gentle (+Sp. Def., -Def.)

Lvl 14, Route 35

"At least it has a better nature," Silver said trying to cheer me up.

"Yeah, I guess."

After we finished with that, we went back into the city. I still had places to visit, after all. The first stop was the hidden bike shop. After finding my way there, I found that the owner was just as annoyed with its location as I was. He gave me a bike and told me it was free - all I had to do was ride it and advertise for him doing so. I rode it around a bit, but it didn't seem to get much interest...

The next stop I made was Bill's house. I went to see if the legendary pokémaniac was home, but he was not. Apparently, he had recently traveled north to Ecruteak City. Well, I guess we knew our next stop after beating the gym here...

I went to investigate the underground and I saw Lyra again. She told me about a place where I could dress up my pokémon and gave me a fashion case to keep track of accessories. None of my pokémon seemed interested, however, so we continued downstairs to find some trainers waiting with some interesting pokémon. They, however, were no match for my team.

I went to the game corner next. They had an interesting game going, one I remembered playing before somewhere. I picked up the rules quite quickly and won some coins, but nowhere near enough to get any of the TMs they had for prizes. I would have to just come back later.

The last stop before the gym was the radio tower. They first had a drawing in which I won a prize, but I saw the real prize further down the counter - a radio card for my pokégear. I had to do a quiz first, but the questions were all pretty simple. After I got the card, a girl who was watching me commented on how well I did.

"Wow, you got them all right! I was sure you had that last one wrong..." She looked at her watch quickly. "Uh-oh, I have to get back to the gym." With that, she darted out. I decided to follow her, since it was my last stop.

The gym was great training for Bella. She swooped in and destroyed all of the regular trainers pretty easily. Thanks to the battles on Route 35 and in the underground, my team was already ready to take on the leader. After healing again, I got to the end of the gym and found the girl who was at the radio station.

"Oh, its you again. Nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too. I take it you are the leader?"

"Yep. My name's Whitney and I use the cutest of cute pokémon, normal types. Are you ready to battle?"

"Of course."

She started by sending out her Clefairy. I first sent out Timas. He shrugged off Clefairy's first attack, then poisoned Clefairy. I then switched to Bella, who promptly took it out with a two Rock Smashes.

Next she sent out her Miltank. I tried to use a similar strategy, but her Miltank attracted Timas. I had to switch him out, so I tried Silver, figuring I could put it to sleep. Silver, however, also became attracted to Miltank. At this point, Cecelia had had enough. She jumped out and accused Whitney's Miltank of being a slut. Then she started chucking rocks at it. The Miltank got angry and powerfully counter-attacked, but Cecelia reigned supreme and beat it, earning me the Plain badge. Or so I thought.

After I won, Whitney started crying. I looked at Cecelia, who shrugged. I looked at her again, and she frowned. "Okay," Cecelia said. She hopped over to Whitney. "I'm sorry. Your Miltank isn't a slut."

Whitney looked down at Cecelia and chuckled. "I know...It just has been a while since I was beaten. Here, you can now have the Plain badge. And this TM of Attract." She handed us the two items and then chuckled. "And now your pokémon can become sluts too."

Chapter 10 - Goldenrod City

"Hey Quennel," Silver said as we exited the forest, "what the heck is that thing?"

Bella looked at it and cocked her head. "Yeah, what the heck is that thing?"

"I'll tell you what it is," Cecelia said before I could speak. "It is really creepy."

"You know," Gideon said, "I think I have heard of those."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My flock of Pidgey's used to see some as we flew around."

"Hmmm," Bella said. "So what are they?"

"I think my dad called it a sleepy."

I chuckled. "Actually, it is a Drowzee, the creepy hypnosis pokémon. I've seen it on TV a couple of times." I pulled out my pokédex and nodded. "Yep. Drowzee."

Bella looked at it in mild disgust. "Do we have to catch it?"

"Well...I would like to."

Randal, DROWZEE (male)

Insomnia; Adamant (+Atk., -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 12, Route 34.

We continued down the route and had a couple of tough battles, but nothing too troubling for my team. We got to a house oddly situated on the route. A old man was standing outside and, from the north, Lyra approached. She waved to me as the old man looked back. He then looked at me and smiled. The three of us were about even after Lyra and I had continued toward each other on the route.

"Hi Quennel," she said. "And hi Grandad."

"Well well," he said, "is this Quennel? We have heard about you."

Silver smirked. "Really?"

"Indeed. Lyra has told us quite a bit."

"Someone has a friend," Timas said, winking.

"Oh you two hush," I muttered at them.

"Grandad! Be nice to Quennel. He may have some pokémon for you to raise?"

"You guys raise pokémon?"

"Yep," he replied to me. "Me and my wife raise pokémon for trainers at our daycare. We can also breed them too."

"Interesting."

"Come on inside, we'll show you around."

Lyra and I followed him inside, where I saw his wife, a kind looking old lady sitting at a counter. They had a nice looking playpen to the side and Lyra's Marill hopped out and jumped the fence to play around inside. Silver shrugged (how does he do that with no shoulders, I wondered later...) and flew on in and the two started playing a bit while the rest of us talked. Gideon and Bella soon joined them during our conversation.

"So are you thinking of leaving pokémon with us?"

"Maybe later," I said. "Right now, I just want to get to Goldenrod city."

Lyra looked at me quizzically. "Why are you headed there? Going to the gym?"

"No," Lyra's grandmother said before I could comment, "I bet he is going to the department store. He looks like he wants to buy some TMs."

"I bet he'd rather go to the Casino," her grandfather said. "You get better TMs there, after all. Plus, you can get pokémon there too."

"Or he could be heading to Bill's house. Though I think he is out of town..."

"Another great stop is the radio station. You can get a radio card for your pokégear."

"Actually," I said, "while I may do those things, the main reason I am going there is for the gym."

Lyra smiled "Told you."

"Can any of you guys tell me about the gym?"

"The leader," Lyra's grandmother began, "is a user of normal types. However, the gym members pick their pokémon based upon how cute they are..."

"But they are powerful still," Lyra's grandfather said. "Do not underestimate them."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks for the info."

Lyra decided to stay with them for the night, but I decided to make the final legs of the trip to Goldenrod. After collecting my pokémon from their playing, we headed out and made it to the city a handful of minutes (and one pokémon battle with a vision-impaired police officer) later. After healing my pokémon, we stayed at the center for the night and then went out to see the sights.

The department store was closest, so we went there first. I didn't want to use my limited funds on any TMs, so, while I bought some supplies, I stayed away from the TMs. I could always come back after getting some of my money from my mom anyway.

On the top floor, there was a woman who was handing out free TMs. I got in line and watched as she turned away some of the people before me. They and their pokémon went away looking sad. When I got there, she took a moment to look at me and then studied Silver.

"You have an exquisite Togetic."

"Thank you ma'am," Silver and I both said at the same time. He then shook his head as I chuckled.

"Have you thought of making him a Togekiss?"

"A what?" Silver looked at me, but I could only shrug in response.

"They are rare pokémon indeed. You need a Shiny stone to evolve a Togetic, and since Togetics themselves are rare, Togekisses are even rarer."

"Okay," I responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Hmmm...well, I think I have a Shiny stone somewhere at my house. If you come back in a few weeks, I can give you one. Seeing a Togekiss is reason enough for me."

"Why...thank you very much."

"But for now, just take this TM." She handed me a shiny TM. "It is Return. The move has more power when the pokémon using it likes its trainer very much, as I can tell your Togetic likes you."

"Thank you very much," I said. "And we'll be sure to return in a few weeks."

"I look forward to seeing you again. And if you have another pokémon then, a new one who likes you just as much as your Togetic here, I'll give you another Return TM too." She shook my hand and we then left, the line moving along after us.

We left and I let Silver hold onto the TM while I walked to a quaint-looking flower shop, hoping they sold berries.

"Can I learn Return now?"

"Sure," I said. "But you know what this means?"

"What?"

"Oh Timas," I said, calling him to my side. "Remember how you questioned the use of headbutt?"

"Oh great. You're gonna make me learn that now too, aren't you?"

"Soon, once we get back to the forest. But first, let's look inside here."

Once inside, I noticed that there was not much here. There was, however, a sign about a free squirt-bottle, so I went to the counter to ask about it.

"Well," the lady at the counter began, "we do have one, but not everyone can use it. It might be too dangerous to let just anyone use it."

"Too...dangerous?" Timas looked dumbfounded. "How the heck can a squirt-bottle be too dangerous?"

Bella shook her head. "Maybe if you use it on Cecelia?" She wasn't even joking.

"Hey," Cecelia said, hopping out to respond, "nothing that puny could hurt a pokémon like me."

"Anyway," I said, looking back to the clerk, "how can I prove to you that it would not be...dangerous...for me to use?"

"Oh, well I'm sure anyone with the badge from our city can use it well."

"Okay then. I'll just get that badge then and come back."

"Yeah, that'll happen," she said as we walked out.

(Another...) NEWS BULLETIN

Hey everybody. I just wanted to tell you all about some things.

First of all, I am working on chapter 10. It is a bit difficult, mainly because all the events in Goldenrod (not that I have even gotten there yet in writing) are proving difficult to split up for pacing reasons.

On that note...I am still on the hiatus, chiefly because of the plethora of flying-types I still have and not knowing what I want to do. I think I have come up with a reasonable solution, but it will have to wait anyway since it relies on one of my (newly caught) pokémon learning a move that it will not learn until 29 (so guess away, if you wish...). I can assure you though, I will likely have a huge party change in between Morty and Chuck (or right before Morty [or both]) and another in between Chuck and Jasmine, chiefly because one needs certain pokémon for certain things and my plethora of flying types could (probably) safely destroy Chuck. Anyway, I am still using the hiatus to try and party plan, not that I can plan well around the possibility of pokémon fainting...

However, the hiatus will forcibly end after I write about the Goldenrod gym (and when this happens, I will take a break from writing this so I can get more than half a gym ahead...). The reason is simply because I cannot plan pacing if I do not. Since I haven't even trained for Morty yet, let alone fought him, I could, at best, put out four (very stretched) episodes before I would be at my current point. However, depending on what happens in training, the pacing could be off.

So here is the deal. At worse, I will stop after getting to Goldenrod and doing one or two specific things (such as visiting the department store or radio station or other points of interest in the city). At best, you'll see me beat the gym and maybe challenge Sudowood (again, depending on how pacing works) before going to Ecruteak. This would be between 1 and 3 episodes, probably two, before I go back to playing (and figuring out how the heck I am going to fit a certain pokémon or two into my party).

Another thing...no one ever responded about the party assessment thing, which is fine. I'll keep it as I had planned previously (which you'll find out when I use it again sometime in Goldenrod). However, I want to know how you feel about my fight scenes. For those of you who don't know, I am not a fan of writing fight scenes. I sometimes wish I could draw well simply so that I could write everything else, but draw the fighting. In this, I have tried to stick to a very straightforward and pokémon-esque approach. Do you like it, or should I make them more action-y? Or should I skip that and just give a base battle log or something? (If you choose that, know that I won't be able to fully start until the Morty fight.)

If you have suggestions, whether for the story, game or both, and want me to try to implement them, just ask and I'll see if it is feasible. For example, your suggestion could be "give pokémon x more screen time or pokémon y less," which would be something in the writing realm whereas a request like "train pokémon z" is in the game realm. Any would be appreciated and will be considered, though not necessarily followed.

Thanks and I thank you all for reading.

Chapter 9 - Into the Woods

"So," Bella said as we were leaving the gym, "where to now?"

"Well, I heard that the charcoal man in town can give us the Cut HM, so we're gonna chat with him. But first, I think it is time to bring Timas back. Would anyone mind being in the box?"

"I'll go," Luna said. "Gideon and Silver can do for now and I'll be there if you need me."

"Okay. Thanks Luna."

"We'll miss you while you're in the box," Gideon said.

We went to the pokémon center to switch Luna for Timas, and then we went to the charcoal man's house. However, he simply spoke of his apprentice in the forest with his Farfetch'd, so I guessed it was time to head back there. We were interrupted by a familiar voice, however, when we tried to leave the town.

"Well if it isn't Quennel, the weakling."

"Hello Lucius."

"I heard Team Rocket returned. Do you know anything about that?"

"Well...yeah. They were making havoc in Slowpoke Well, but left after I beat their leader."

"After you beat their leader?" He started laughing, and then looked back at me. "Oh, you're serious. But how could a weakling like you beat them? No matter. I bet you can't even beat one of my pokémon!"

"Hey," Silver said, getting out in front of me, "no one, and certainly not some red-haired brat, insults my trainer and gets away with it."

"Silver," Timas said, "just stay out of this. You don't want to encourage him, after all."

"That's it," Lucius said, "no more playing around. Let's see just how tough you are."

He sent out his Gastly first. It used Mean Look on Silver, but he wasn't trying to escape. One hit with Extrasensory and his Gastly went down. He next sent out Zubat, another new addition. It used Supersonic to confuse Silver, but he refused to go down without a fight. Two Extrasensorys and his Zubat was down, even if it had confused Silver and made it flinch a time or two with Bite.

Finally, he sent out his Quilava, the evolved form of his starter. I had Silver take a rest while Cecelia went to mop the floor with it.

After having beaten him, he shrugged. "Team Rocket is a bunch of weaklings," he said. "They think they're tough, but they just use cowardly tactics. And I hate everything weak. That includes weak pokémon, weak trainers and Team Rocket." He looked me in the eye. "And you'll be no different if you get in my way." He then walked back from whence he came, presumably to heal his pokémon. I went that way to heal my pokémon as well, but he must have been quick, as I didn't see him.

Afterwards, we went to the forest and helped the charcoal man's apprentice. Both Farfetch'd had gotten loose and he needed my help to grab them. Afterwards, the charcoal man himself came and thanked me by giving me Cut (and his apprentice gave me a hunk of Charcoal as well). It was evening by the time Bella had learned Cut and we had hit the main part of the forest. I saw another woman in a kimono as we went through the forest. She looked as if she was lost.

"Can we help you?" Timas asked.

"I seem to be lost."

"I believe," Silver said, looking around, "that the exit is that way. We came from this direction and I think that path just loops around."

She looked around and then nodded. "Thank you." She then headed her way while we checked the path that looped around. On it, we found a man who was running at trees.

"What are you doing?"

"I am head-butting trees."

"And why," Timas said, "would anyone in their right minds do that?"

"It is great exercise, of course. Well, that and you can find hidden pokémon."

Silver looked intrigued. "Can I try it?"

"Of course you can!" And so the man taught Silver Headbutt.

"Where can we try this out?"

"Well," I said as we walked away, "if we go back to Azalea, we can possibly find a new pokémon to join us."

"Cool. Can we do that?"

"Sure."

Pierre, AIPOM (male)

Pickup; Modest (+Sp. Atk., -Atk.)

Lvl 8, Azalea Town.

With that out of the way (and our pokéballs from Kurt), we headed back into Ilex Forest.

Chapter 8 - Hive Badge

The next morning I prepared for a long day of training. "Okay ladies and gentlemon, let's chat." I had my party out and in front of me. "As much as we may love to do so, this gym we don't need to rely on Cecelia for the entire time. I want everyone to level 15 before we take on that gym leader. Gideon and Luna - you two will have to be ready, because I hear this leader has three different pokémon and, if all goes well, you two will join Cecelia and each tackle one."

"But...I just learned Uproar," Luna said. "I don't know Tackle anymore."

"Yeah," Jenna chimed in. "And wouldn't you want them to use their super-effective flying-type moves anyway?"

"Gals," Gideon said, "I am pretty sure he meant tackle in the figurative sense."

"Oh..." they said (in unison).

"Yeah, that makes more sense now," Luna said. Jenna nodded.

Silver took a moment to look at me. "Your team isn't always the brightest, is it?"

"Well yeah," Luna said. "Timas did just forget Flash, so of course we aren't bright."

*facepalm*

I first dealt with rounding off Jenna and Bella, since I wasn't planning on using them. Since Bella had learned Rock Smash, Union Cave was a great place to train. Jenna was easy to train as well once she learned Bite. After them, I focused on raising Silver a handful more levels. I figured I would round him off once I had beaten the regular trainers in the gym, but I wanted him to a usable level anyway.

After that, Cecelia gained a few more levels before Gideon, Luna and I stormed the gym.

Or, rather, tried to.

The floor of the gym in some parts had been removed. It was replaced by strands of "webbing" and odd, Spinarak-shaped vehicles were placed to transverse this webbing. We soon crossed and dealt with the trainers within. None of them provided us with any real problems - Gideon Gusted and Luna Pecked until we had dealt with them all except for Bugsy. They each still needed another level (and Silver needed a few) so we headed back to rainy Route 33 to round them off.

After finishing training Gideon and Luna, I switched to Silver. He went out and, after a few battles, he turned to me.

"You know," he said, "I think I'm really starting to get the hang of this."

"That's great," I said. "I'm glad to see that you are doing well. I hope you are enjoying yourself too."

"Of course," he said, "but it is more than that. I think I am finally understanding what Jenna said yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"She was talking about how Bella and Cecelia fight because they both want to be there for you. And at first, I didn't understand that. I mean, I thought you were supposed to be here for us and that was about it...but now I understand. It is our job to help you in whatever way we can. Even if we can only learn a few HMs, that is still helping you. And I finally understand that it is about more than just fighting for you, be being there for you, appreciating you, accompanying you, being your friend. I finally get it." As he said that, he started to glow. His head raised up from his body and he grew a neck. His body grew larger and his feet became more profound, as did his arms. He sprouted wings and finally stopped glowing. His shell had now become a part of his body, pattern and all. He looked much stronger and and capable now.

"Hey," he said, "I just evolved."

"Indeed you did."

"But...umm...how..."

"I think you must evolve based upon our relation."

"Ah. But...um...I do have some bad news for you."

"And what might that be?"

"Judging by these wings...I think I am another flying type."

"It could be worse..."

It was finally time to challenge Bugsy.

We entered the gym and rode the spiders to him. He saw our determined faces as we neared him and greeted us joyfully when we arrived.

"Welcome to my gym. I hope you enjoyed the ride getting here, but beating me won't be as easy as riding those spiders."

"Don't worry," Cecelia said. "We would hope as much."

The battle started with Bugsy sending out his strongest first, his Scyther. I, of course, did the same by sending out Cecelia, who took him out with one throw of a rock.

Next he sent out his Butterfree, so I sent out Luna. She took him on happily as she Pecked Butterfree away. Finally, I sent out Gideon to face his Beedrill. His Beedrill, however, was not as prepared as we and fell quickly to a few Gusts.

The battle was over and Bugsy looked at me happily. "You certainly fought a very good fight, so I have no regrets in giving you this Hive Badge!" He handed it to me and then pulled out a TM. "And this," he said, handing me TM 89, "is a favorite of mine. It is U-Turn, which allows your pokémon to come back to you after attacking."

"Thank you very much."

"By the way," Bugsy said, "thanks for taking care of Team Rocket. Where are you headed next?"

"I figure that we'll head through the forest to get to the next gym."

"Okay. Good luck."

"Why do you say that?"

"The next gym leader...well...she is not an easy fight. Not by a long shot."

"Oh joy..."

NEWS BULLETIN

NEWS BULLETIN

We are sorry for interrupting your program, but we have a special report.

So, first I would like to point out that I have changed the progress tracker to do both that and (minimal) news. That being said, I tend to get a bit wordy, which is why I am making this post. I did not want that to become post-worthy length, and so we have this.

Next thing to point out is that episode 8 is on its way. In fact, it would be done now, but I cannot decide where I want to end it/start the next episode/start the following episode. Tis kinda annoying...but alas, it will be done by tomorrow night, I can assure you.

Okay, and now to more news-ish news.

I am taking a short break from playing. There are a couple reasons for this.

First and foremost, I would like to explain something.

I really dislike grinding. I am not a fan of it, at all. But I always make sure to grind my pokémon before important battles and now I certainly must do that or I won't be using that pokémon any more. I can assure you that I could beat Morty right now, quite possibly with no casualties. That being said, I would like to use more than 1-2 pokémon and would like a bit of insurance in case that Gengar of his is able to score a lot of hits with Hypnosis. Thusly, in SS, I am grinding.

I am also grinding a handful of pokémon in Fire Red (or would be, if I were playing that) and Pearl (again, if I were playing that game that much). And I am grinding A LOT of pokémon in Colosseum, which I am playing right now.

Thusly, I am taking a break from all forms of grinding for a short while. I kinda want to play some games where I am NOT just fighting the same trainers or wild pokémon again and again and again. Instead, I am playing games where I duel the same duelist again and again...expect that isn't for grinding purposes, technically speaking. And I am playing more games than just Stardust Accelerator...

I also want to do two other things in this break. I want to get to Goldenrod in writing and I would love to plan my team out some. Considering I have four flying types in my party currently in the story and, in the game (minor but predictable spoiler alert), I have only moved one of those four out of my party (end minor but predictable spoiler), I don't think that team planning is that bad an idea. I have some nice pokémon in the box now (especially with two newest additions) and planning on how I could fit them in would be a great idea. Those who I do fit in would then need to be raised to gym level as well and...well...you see where this starts to get tedious and you can see why I wanted to take a break.

Did people like the "Party Assessment" I did at the beginning of episode 7? I had been planning that for a while (in the game, I mean), which is why Timas was already at 15 (gym level) when he was taken out. In case you were wondering, Cecelia actually spent time in the box for Silver's egg, but I couldn't have that in the story (or, rather, didn't want to have it that way) and so I guess you could imagine that Luna or Gideon was out instead.

If you did like it, should I do it again and, if so, when? Every time I switch up my party? Before gyms/other important fights? Should I have more info on it? Did you need to be reminded which pokémon was which?

If you did not like it, why not? Should I abandon the idea altogether or just fix it up some and re-implement it?

Should I have something like that for the progress tracker (or somewhere else on the site) so you can see who is currently in my party during the play-through, or would that be too many spoilers?

After a couple more chapters, I am thinking of doing a recap chapter. The purpose of this chapter would be to go back through the highlights, point out lucky or unlucky catches, remind people who is who and what their evolutionary stage is and, if someone dies, recount how it happened (and perhaps in-game detail of how I let it happen). Do you think this is a good idea? If so, how often should I do this?

Currently, the plan is to do one after gym 3, gym 6, E4, gym 12, gym 16, all gym re-fights and E4 re-fights. Then the only things left would be Mewtwo, Red and any straggler legendaries I want to fight.

Soon I will be looking for someone to trade with me so I can evolve some pokémon. Cecelia will certainly be evolving once she reaches gym level, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to evolve Spook then too if I decide to train him. Without getting into any spoilers, there may or may not be other pokémon I want to trade, but it is undetermined as of yet.

Trade related question arises though. If I have an item to evolve a pokémon in Pearl but not in Soul Silver, am I allowed to trade that pokémon over to Pearl, attach the item and then trade it back? This counts for trade evolutions that might require items I do not have. I ask because last run-through of SS, I did this to make my Seadra a Queendra (because I had a dragonscale in Pearl) and to make Togetic a Togekiss (because you cannot get Shiny Stones until after the national dex and, even then, one of the few ways to get them is Bug Catching Contest, which I cannot possibly win more than once per the rules of Nuzlocke). Currently, Silver is the only candidate for this since all other evolutions can be attained through means I can access (such as trade or findable stone, albeit difficult to find them...). If I do this, what am I allowed to do with the pokémon in the other game? Could I take it to the move re-learner (since he is in Blackthorn in SS) and, if so, do I need a Heart Scale from SS? I want opinions on this as well. It is not as pressing a matter, all things considered, but I would love to know, for party-planning purposes, if I will have a Togekiss who can (re-)learn Aura Sphere or not and things of that nature (since it could also re-learn magical leaf before becoming a Togekiss thanks to move re-learner and yadda yadda yadda...).

For some less than news-ish news...

I really wish the TM system from Black and White had been implemented earlier. I mean, yes, the earlier TM system bolsters the strategy element of the game because you can only use a TM once...but in SS, I cannot go back to Dark Cave because I don't want to waste my money buying another Flash TM. In Pearl, I cannot decide what pokémon I want to teach Steel Wing, and I really just want it as a training move. The BW system is very nice and makes training pokémon at least somewhat easier. I have a wealth of TMs that I can use in case I acquire a pokémon with a horrible move set. I cannot do that at all in other games, especially Colosseum, which is where I need it the most!

Speaking of BW, the Dream World is awesome. I just got a Kangaskhan last night with a better(ish) ability that knows Drain Punch. Awesome, right? I just wish you could see natures when befriending a pokémon, because I have some that have horrible natures from the DW.

Also, I want a Yanma with Compound Eyes. Not for SS, but in general. I want a Yanmega with Tinted Lens (since I am working on getting one with Speed Boost, a.k.a. grinding even more in Pearl). And I'd rather not breed for one because both of the Yanmas in my possession have Speed Boost (and one of those Yanmas is stuck in Colosseum...) so I don't have grand chances breeding a different ability.

Um...I do believe that is it. Thank you for tuning in to this special report. We now bring you back to your previous program, already in progress.

Chapter 7 - Silver and Proton

Upon study, Silver looked rather...odd. He looked as if he hadn't even left his egg. It was as if his shell was stuck to his body. The tips of his feet and his stubby little arms came out of the egg, and the top of the egg was broken off completely for his head that looked almost like he had spiky hair the same color as his head. I could see why Elm would want to examine him. He looked like nothing I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of pokémon on TV or in magazines with their trainers before I had ever set out on my own. He looked very different, but also very innocent. Very sheltered. Very...squishy. I decided to keep him in my party.

PARTY ASSESSMENT

Timas (lvl 15) --> Box

FOR

Silver (lvl 1) --> Party

PARTY

Jenna (lvl 12)

Bella (Lvl 12)

Cecelia (Lvl 13)

Gideon (Lvl 11)

Luna (Lvl 11)

Silver (Lvl 1)

It was time to head back to New Bark Town to show Silver to Elm anyway, so we set out. As I was taking a different part of Route 32 north than I had taken south, I noticed a group of fisherman. One was kind enough to give me the Old Rod, whereas the rest just wanted to fight me. While I continued my trip, Cecelia watched over Silver. She acted as if she still wanted to use him as a meat shield, but I doubt he minded. He was just thrilled to see the world.

In Violet City, we made a short detour West, at Jenna's insistence. We had heard about an odd tree that was blocking the route and she wanted to see it. As we looked at it, I couldn't help but think that something just wasn't right about it. However, before I could inspect it closely, a man came up from behind me and asked if I was having trouble with rocks.

"Hey," Cecelia said. "He lets me follow him by choice."

"Umm...Cecelia," Jenna said, "I don't think he was talking about you."

"Why do you ask?" I replied to the man.

"Well, I just so happen to have a handy HM that will let you smash rocks."

"Woo boy, Rock Smash," Cecelia said. "I better not have to learn that."

"Don't worry," Bella said, cutting in. "I would be delighted to learn that move."

"You just want that in case I turn on you."

"No. I would never think such a thing. My meat shield would never even think of turning on me. Quennel wouldn't allow it."

"Oh yeah? You think so?"

"Girls, girls," I said, "please stop. We're supposed to be headed somewhere expeditiously so that we can get back to help Kurt, remember?"

"Oh...yeah..." Cecelia looked at me. "Sorry about that..."

"It's fine. Don't worry."

I walked a bit ahead and the two of them continued bickering quietly, Gideon trying to calm them down. Silver, whom I was holding, looked up at me. "Are they always like that?"

"No," Jenna replied before I could. "Sometimes they are worse. But that's just because they want to be here for Quennel."

"Okay..."

"Don't fret about it Silver," I said. "We'll be seeing Elm soon anyway and finding out what exactly you are."

When we got back to New Bark Town, Elm informed me that Silver was indeed not something from this region. "In fact, I have no clue from what region he even is. There is no data on any pokémon like him being indigenous to any region, not even the far-off lands of Hoenn or Sinnoh."

"Are there any others like him?"

"A few, but they are far between. Apparently, some eggs have been spotted in parts of the world, and there are some other Togepis and even Togetics, his evolved form, around. But none in this region."

'Hmmm. Well, thanks for the info. You said you had an awesome item for me?"

"Indeed. I have an amazing item that lets you prevent pokémon from evolving."

"Wait...is it an everstone?"

"Why, yes it is!"

"Oh joy..."

After leaving Elm's lab, I visited my mom. I told her about some of my travels and she looked at my pokémon, taking a particular liking to Silver. She also suggested I test out my fishing rod by the stream headed East out of town. And I did.

Rose, MAGIKARP (female)

Swift Swim; Lax (+Def., -Sp. Def.)

Lvl 10, New Bark Town.

We then quickly made our way back to Azalea. I was about to head into the well, but Gideon stopped me.

"Since Silver is in the party and not Timas, I think it might be wise if Luna and I got a few more levels before we take on the rockets. Just to be safe."

"Alright. I won't argue, and there is this nice forest here, even if we cannot go far in it yet."

I trained Gideon and Luna a level or two, figuring I could round them off at the gym once the rockets were gone. I also found a new friend.

Harry, ODDISH (male)

Chlorophyll; Mild (+Sp. Atk., -Def.)

Lvl 5, Ilex Forrest.

We then headed over to the well. When we hopped down, we saw that Kurt was sitting in the entrance.

"I startled the first guy, but then when I tried to come down here I lost my footing and I fell. I threw out my back, I think. Can you go and start dealing with them while I recover?"

"Sure. I figured I may have to anyway."

"Thanks young man."

For a well called Slowpoke Well, there were an awful lot of Rockets and Zubats and very few Slowpoke.

Suzette, ZUBAT (female)

Inner Focus; Docile (N +Def., -Def.)

Lvl 5, Slowpoke Well

I fought some rocket grunts, but none of them seemed to happy to be down here. One said that it was an order from an executive, but he felt it was a really low thing to be doing. I soon met this executive.

He was waiting for me at the back of the well. He had an odd looking hairdo but a somewhat menacing face. "My name," he said, "is Proton. I am an executive of Team Rocket and have oft been labeled the scariest and cruelest guy in the entire team. You will regret facing me."

He was, of course, little trouble for Cecelia, Bella and Gideon, but that didn't stop his boasting.

"Yes, it's true," he said, as if talking to himself. "Team Rocket disbanded three years ago after that kid thoroughly thrashed us. But we are back now. And we will find Giovanni. And you," he said, turning to me, "are only a small obstacle in our way. You shall not be able to stop our underground operations. Be afraid of what is to come, little boy." He then left, with his rockets in tow, as Kurt came into the area.

"You beat him by yourself? You must be very strong. Come now, let us retire to my place. It is late, after all."

We went back to his house and he informed me that he made pokéballs out of apricorns. He told me that it takes a bit to make them, but he would be happy to do so for what I did. As I left his place to head to the pokémon center, I noticed that the town was now free of Team Rocket's grasp. I felt accomplished. And now, I could go to the gym.

Chapter 6 - Team Rocket Appears

"Before you go," Falkner said as we turned to leave, "you may wish to know that the next gym is to the south in Azalea Town."

"What type might we find there?"

"I know not. All I know is that I need to heal up my pokémon and train harder for my next challenger."

As we left, I got a call from Professor Elm. "Hey Quennel," he said, "do you remember that egg that you delivered to me from Mr. Pokemon?"
"Yes, I think I do..."

"Well, we would like you to keep it with you. It should hatch and then we can see what it is!"

"Okay...so should I head back to New Bark Town?"

"No, I sent my aide your way and he will give you the egg. He'll be in the pokémart."

"Okay." I hung up the phone. Cecilia looked up at me.

"Instead of this badge, can I keep the egg?"

"...why?"

"Meat shield."

"No."

"But..."

"The man said no," Bella said. "And besides, you are my meat shield. And meat shields don't get other meat shields."

"Aww..."

As we headed to the pokémart, Bella poked me in the stomach, asking if I knew what it was.

"He has no clue,"Timas replied for me. "We barely got a glimpse of it. It was wrapped up in an odd spotted tarp or something."

When we got to the pokémart, Elm's aide happily handed us the egg. It was white with some odd red and blue spots and circles.

"Or maybe," I said to Timas, "it was not wrapped up but merely just odd looking."

"Whatever..."

We exited the shop and saw a woman in an odd-looking (but very ornate) dress. She spotted the egg in my arm and began to mutter, but I couldn't catch most of what she was saying.

We hit Route 32 at about midday. Some grass was by the entrance and I searched for a new friend.

Wayne, HOPPIP (male)

Leaf Guard; Calm (+Sp. Def., -Atk.)

Lvl 6, Route 32.

"Well...I don't think we'll be using him either."

"Hey," Bella said, getting a bit distracted, "what is that?"

A Mareep hopped out and Bella took it on and won (her first solo fight). We continued down the route, finding a few trainers and battling them. When we got to the south end of the route, we found a pokémon center and a man outside. He was selling Slowpoketails. How very disgusting...

I didn't even hear the price before telling him no. After healing the party, we went into cave just south of the center.

Justin, RATTATA (male)

Guts; Lax (+Def., - Sp. Def.)

Lvl 4, Union Cave.

Inside the cave, we saw a variety of odd people. The hikers were certainly expected...but there were people dressed up in bright red and yellow suits. They called themselves firebreathers and they used interesting fire and poison-type pokémon. There was also a guy in a green costume that looked like some sort of green Charmeleon. He called himself a collector. None of us were sure about these guys, so we sped out of the cave and onto the rainy Route 33 as soon as we could.

Cyrus, EKANS (male)

Shed Skin; Lax (+Def., - Sp. Def.)

Lvl 7, Route 33.

We saw a well on the edge of town. Two men were talking in front of it. One was an old-ish man dressed normally, but the other looked to be dressed in all black. He spoke of something called Team Rocket and said something about them coming back to pursue Giovanni's ambitions. The old man ran into town and the man clad in black stood guarding the well.

When I entered the town, I heard people talking about these Rockets. I could tell that the one blocking the well was a member, for more of the black clad hoodloms were dotted around town too, blocking the gym even. I heard one man say that someone named Kurt could stop them. I decided to find him.

As I walked to Kurt's house, Bella chatted with me. "Didn't that one guy in Violet City say something about a Team Rocket?"

"Yeah...something about them being disbanded."

"Hmm...I guess he was wrong."

We got to Kurt's house and he informed me that he would indeed handle it. He said that he would go to the well and discover what was going on, but he wouldn't mind my stopping by as back-up.

As I followed him to the well, I got a bit distracted. The egg Elm had given me was hatching.

Silver TOGEPI (male)

Hustle; Careful (+Sp. Def., -Sp. Atk.)

Recieved in Violet City.

Hatched Lvl 1, Azalea Town.

Elm called me again. "It hatched, didn't it?"

"What the...how the heck did you know?"

"I have a sixth sense about these sorts of things. Anyway, you should bring it to my lab so I can see it and make sure it is healthy!"

"Umm...I'm kinda in the middle of something...can it wait?"

"Well...I would rather it didn't, but I guess it is your choice."

"Okay then, I guess I'll just finish up my..."

"But you should come here soon anyway. I'm sure your other business can wait."

"And if it can't?"

"Well...I'm sure it can. And I have a reward for you too..."

"FINE! I'll drop everything and follow your bidding!"

"Thank you." He hung up.

"You know," Timas said, "you really yield too much."

"Shut up before I find another Flash TM to use on you."

"But I just forgot it..."

Chapter 5 - Zephyr Badge

"Hey Quennel," Bella said as we left Sprout Tower, "I have a question."

"Yes Bella?"

"Well...what are you going to do if we meet any ice types?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well...you have 7 pokémon and 5 are weak to ice."

"Hey," Cecilia butted in, "I am not weak against ice."

"Learn a rock-type move," Timas said. "Then we'll talk."

"As you were saying Bella?"

"Well...the two who aren't weak are Spook and me. You said you don't like Spook's nature and...well..."

"What?"

"I'm...I'm not that useful, am I?"

"Stop right there," I said.

"Yeah," Timas said, "don't think such things. You evolved, so you should be happy. Right?"

"Well...I guess...but I don't feel that useful."

"Nonsense," I said. "You can be very useful. You'll be a valuable pokémon."

"Yeah," Timas continued. "And, if nothing else, you can be a partial HM slave."

"Speaking of which," I said, opening my bag and grabbing my new TM, "you, Timas, are the only one in the party who can learn flash..."

"Oh, you wouldn't dare..."

"My friend, you would be surprised about the things I would dare to do."

I got all of the team out. "Ladies and gentlemon," I said, "we must train before tackling the gym. Even though I doubt I will use any of you other than Cecilia, I want you all ready, just in case."

I received a handful of nods and we got to training.

I quickly set about preparing the party. Luna and Gideon went back to Sprout Tower while Timas (and Spook) trained a bit in Dark Cave. Bella needed little training, as did Jenna, but they did their minimal training outside of Dark Cave. Meanwhile, Cecilia and I were preparing for the gym by battling near Cherrygrove. We finally were prepared, so Cecilia and I went in.

"My," she said, "look at the platforms up there..."

The gym had an empty floor and a small elevator leading to a raised pathway on which stood trainers and the leader. We hopped on the elevator and went up to their level.

"Look, there is a transparent path bordering the main platform," Cecilia pointed out. "We could skip all the trainers."

"But think of all the hard work they put in preparing for this! Wouldn't we just be disrespecting them if..."

"Oh shut it. You just want the experience from them."

I paused. She looked at me and I looked back at her.

"Yeah..I just want the experience."

"Well, me too. So stop gabbin' and start battling!"

And we did. And Cecilia destroyed. We soon made it to Falkner after disposing of the other two trainers (and after Cecilia learned Rock Throw).

"Welcome to my gym," Falkner said. "I inherited it from my father." He appeared to look of into the distance for a moment. He then looked back to me. "People say that electricity clips the wings of Flying-type pokémon. I simply will not allow such insults to my pokémon."

"Hey dude," Cecilia said, "I am a rock. How about that?"

"So shall we battle?"

"Can you even hear me? Can you even see me?" She looked at me. "Does this guy even see me?"

"I think not..."

"Then can I kick his ass?"

"Sure Cecilia..."

And kick his ass she did.

His Pidgey stood no chance against Cecilia and Pidgeotto fell quickly as well.

"Well...I cannot believe I let my father down."

"Now will you teach one of your pokémon Steel Wing?"

"Hey," I said, looking at Cecilia, "don't give him suggestions. We may have to fight him later."

"As proof of your victory, you get the Zephyr Badge. And this TM." He handed me a new TM. "This is Roost. It let's your flying-type pokémon take a rest and gain some health."

"Well, that's great for me..." Cecilia muttered.

"Hey, it might be nice for one of the three flying-types..."

"Of which I am not one."

"Oh hush. You got a bunch of experience. Isn't that enough?"

"Well, since you asked, NO!"

"Fine. Keep the shiny badge too..."

"Ooohhh...shiny..."

"My goodness..."

"Don't worry, it could be worse," Timas said.

"How?"

"We could ALL be like this..."

"True..."

Chapter 4 - Bella and Jenna

I trained my new friends all day. Cecilia was really easy to work with and Gideon wasn't bad either, but Bella had some difficulties. She only knew harden, and that wasn't that helpful. But she was spirited...in her own way.

She didn't mind going out first, just because she knew she was still helping while setting herself up to be more powerful.

She also enjoyed seeing the cool new pokémon.

Well, cool if you consider a Rattata cool.

As I headed further up route 31, I saw that the pokémon battle that was blocking the road was now done. In fact, the losing trainer beckoned me over for a battle, hoping he could win against me.

He was wrong.

As was the winner of the previous battle, who then challenged me afterwards.

I continued on the route and got to the next route as night hit. I figured I would check and see if I could find anyone new. Turns out I could.

Luna, HOOT-HOOT (female)

Insomnia; Docile (N +Def., -Def.)

Lvl 4, Route 31

With my newly acquired friend, we kept up training and soon found a cave. It was dark, pitch black, so Timas suggested we explore it later. First, however, we did meet a new friend.

Jenna, ZUBAT (female)

Inner Focus; Docile (N +Def., -Def.)

Lvl 2, Dark Cave

Training the new gals took quick priority, and, thanks to an unwitting bug catcher (who gave me his phone number for some reason...), they were soon up to speed.

As I entered Violet, I saw Lyra. She handed me the Vs. Recorder, telling me I could record certain fights for posterity. I felt like she had something more to say, but her Marill wanted to race and so she had to chase it as she left.

When I got to the city, I healed my party before exploring with Bella at my side and Timas at my other (and Jenna following around in the air). We saw the sights, though we were not allowed in the gym until bested "the Sprout Tower test," and we soon saw an odd man.

"Help, you need? Make pokémon strong, you want?"

"Yes," Bella said. "Yes, we do!"

"Follow me, you should then."

He led us to a school where he claimed to be the teacher. It was "Earl's Pokémon Academy."

He spoke to us for a while about certain things (all of which we knew) before allowing us to leave. We went and healed the damage his bad English had done to our brains. While in the pokémon center, a man who was chatting with someone else on the phone spoke about a group known as "Team Rocket." He said that they were disbanded a few years back due to some kid, and that it was good riddance. With some of the acts he said they'd committed, I felt he had a point.

And then we entered the tower.

Sprout Tower, as one of the sages explained, will never fall because of its swaying center pillar. I am not sure if I agree and Bella seemed truly concerned about it, but we pressed on.

We got to the second floor and Jenna wanted to explore some. She found a Gastly who procedded to put her to sleep. Luckily, Luna stepped in to give it a taste of its own medicine.

Spook, GASTLY (male)

Levitate; Impish (+Def., -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 4, Sprout Tower

After waking Jenna up, we found that the sages were ripe for her picking. Their Bellsprouts stood no chance. Bella soaked up experience as well, and we soon got to the top, with the sages we beat not only complimenting us but informing us of the wonderful treasure we would find at the top.

When we got there, Lucius had already stopped by. He had just finished with the Elder.

"You are strong," I heard the Elder say, "but foolhardy. You must treat your pokémon with love and respect, no matter how strong they are."

"You are a fool," he muttered as he walked away. "Anyone who advocates being nice to pokémon, especially the weak ones, stands no chance of beating me. You included," he said, spotting me.

"You are wrong," I said.

"Only strong pokémon who can win matter," he said, exiting with an escape rope.

I walked up to the elder, who was healing his pokémon.

"Welcome," he said. "I am here to see how strong the ties between you and your pokémon truly are. I hope you shall not disappoint."

And the final test began. Jenna easily took down his Bellsprouts and, though she fell asleep a few times, the elder's Hoot-Hoot proved no real problem for Cecilia.

"You battle elegantly," he said after our battle, "and certainly should be able to stand up to Falkner, if not best him."

"Thank you sir."

"As a reward, have this TM."

"Thank you," I said, not even looking at it.

I began to walk away when Cecilia stopped me.

"You might want to look at your awesome reward," Cecilia said.

"Really? Why?"

"Just trust me."

I looked at it and saw my prize. It was TM 70, Flash.

"Dammit..."

As we left the tower, a Rattata jumped Bella and myself, but Cecilia took care of it rather quickly. Help was not needed, however, because Bella evolved before our eyes and was now a beautiful Beedrill.

Chapter 3 - New Buddies

"I must say," Timas said, "that Cyndaquil certainly fit that boy's fiery personality."

I paused and looked at Timas. "Really? Because I'm sure he thought he was cool."

We both started laughing. We're terrible, aren't we?

We continued our trip back to Elm's lab, but I had a feeling I already knew exactly what the professor's disaster had been.

Sure enough, we arrived and Elm was talking with a police officer. The officer spotted me and began to rant about how suspects always return to the scene of the crime and how he knew this because he was an amazing officer and so on and so forth... Basically, he was accusing me. Lyra came in to defend me.

"It wasn't him," she said. "I saw the boy who did it. He had red hair."

"Red hair," I said, not hiding my surprise. "I saw someone with red hair as I was leaving Cherrygrove."

"Really now? You did?" asked the officer.

"Yes, his name was Lucius. He had a Cyndaquil that I assume was stolen."

"Indeed it was, young man. And now I am off to find this hoodlum."

The officer left and Lyra did shortly thereafter, bidding me a good day as she did. Timas trotted around the lab as I chatted with Elm.

"So you called the police right away?"

"That's right. And then I called you."

"And was the officer there when you did that?"

"Hmm...why, yes, he was."

"So...why did he think I did it?"

"I have no clue."

There was a short lull and Timas hopped on my lap. I gave Elm the mystery egg and he looked at it briefly before turning his attention back to me.

"So I see you have a pokédex now."

"Yep. I met Professor Oak and he gave it to me."

"That's actually really good. Oak can tell potential in trainers like no other." He looked at Timas, sitting on my lap. "He really likes you too. You know, I think you should take the gym challenge."

"The gym challenge?"

"Yep. There are 8 gyms that you can challenge and then the pokémon league. You could become champion."

"Yeah, I guess I could." At the time, the thought didn't appeal to me. I wasn't like Lucien. I didn't want to be the best. But...if I did this, maybe I could keep Lucien on a better track. And that was reason enough. "Sure, I'll give it a shot."

"Great. You can at least try to tackle the gym in Violet City. From there, I guess you can decide whatever."

"Very true."

Elm and I chatted for a short while longer before I went and visited my mom. She thought the idea was a great way for me to learn about the world. She even told me that she'd save me some money. She wished me luck and sent me off. I think she may have been holding off tears.

When I got out of the city, I saw Lyra in the grass. She wanted to show me how to catch wild pokémon (and she did) and she then gave me some pokéballs. I set out catching as soon as she left, including finding a mountain base to the north of where I had just been.

Gideon, PIDGEY (male)

Keen Eye; Relaxed (+Def., -Speed)

Lvl 2, Route 29

Cecilia, GEODUDE (female)

Sturdy; Relaxed (+Def., -Speed)

Lvl 3, Route 46

Bella, KAKUNA (female)

Shed Skin; Bashful (N +Sp. Atk., -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 4, Route 30

I decided to train my new friends before going any further.

Chapter 2 - Lucius

It was midday when I finally headed out of Cherrygrove. Or, rather, it was midday when I tried.

The boy I had seen earlier had just entered. The red-headed boy from outside Elm's lab. The one who had told me to buzz off.

This was going to be trouble.

He saw me immediately and scoffed at me.

"Weakling."

"What?"

"You are weak. I can't believe the old coot gave you a pokémon."

"...Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Now get out of my way. I have business."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"Then I'll force you out of my way." His hand reached for a pokéball on his belt and he let loose his pokémon. I recognized it as one of Elm's - the fire type he had had.

"Cyndaquil," the boy said, "let's go."

"Timas," I said, readying my pokéball, "time to teach this punk a lesson."

The fight was over quickly. While his pokémon may have been chosen in an attempt to outmatch me, he lacked the experience that Timas and I had. Our short journey had more than prepared us for the likes of him.

After he lost, he scoffed some more. "Maybe you aren't as weak as I thought. But it doesn't matter." He looked up at the sky and something fell from his pocket. He didn't notice. "I'm going to be the greatest pokémon trainer the world has ever seen. No one will be able to beat me then. Not even you."

He began to walk away and I stooped down to pick up what he had dropped. It was his trainer card. He glanced back and saw me. He quickly came back. "That's my card. Give it back!" He grabbed it from my hand and muttered something about his name.

His name...Lucius.

"Well," said a voice behind me, "I don't mean to be rude, but that guy was a jerk."

I looked behind me and saw that I was alone...except for Timas. He was looking at Lucien's trail. "I mean, you said he was a punk, but I think jerk is more apt."

"...Timas...did you just talk?"

"Yeah. You surprised?"

"Well...um...kinda."

"You can talk."

"Yeah."

"Then why are you surprised that I can talk?"

This was going to be a very long journey.

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

I was listening to the radio in my room. It was Professor Oak's show.

He was explaining about the wonderful world of pokémon in which we live. I don't know why, but it felt like he was talking directly to me.

My name is Quennel. And this is my journey.

When the show was over, I left my room and went downstairs. My mom greeted me. She gave me a bag in which I could keep things and my trainer card. She also gave me some weird stuff called "options" and "save." I am somewhat afraid to mess with them...

She told me Elm wanted to see me, so I headed out to see him. When I left my house, I was greeted by a pokémon. A Marill, owned by my friend Lyra, ran out to see me. Lyra followed, coming from Elm's house. She collected her pokémon and bid me good evening. I proceeded to Elm's place.

When I got there, I found him blathering on about how pokémon are special and amazing creatures, something I already knew. He siad that walking with a pokemon outside of its ball may have some interesting effects, so he wanted me to try it. I didn't get his drift at first, but he then spelled it out.

He told me he would lend me a pokémon to do an errand for him. His friend, Mr. Pokémon (no first name, I guess), had a discovery, but he was to busy to check it. He wanted me to do so. I picked the friendliest one.

Timas, CHIKORITA (male)

Overgrow; Gentle (+Sp. Def., -Def.)

Lvl 5, New Bark Town.

Timas followed me back to my Mom's house. She thought he looked cute (as did Lyra...hmm...) and she also informed me that my pokégear was back from the shop. I noticed an odd red-haired boy loitering outside of Elm's Lab, but he told me to buzz off and I did. I went to head out on Professor Elm's quest, but he stopped me first, wishing to give me his number in case anything happened. We set out (and Timas sneezed when we hit the new route).

Seeing as it was night, Hoot-Hoot's were rampant, but nothing Timas could not handle. We got to the next city over, Cherrygrove City, and and an odd old man, calling himself the Guide Man, showed me the pokémon center, the pokémart, the sea, and his house. He was fast, much faster than I, but he claimed it was due to his shoes. He then gave me a new pair like his. I went and healed Timas and bought some supplies at the shop (but they had no pokéballs, which saddened me). We stayed the night at the center.

In the morning, we headed north to find Mr. Pokémon. The Guide Man stopped me before leaving to load a map on my pokégear.

Shortly after getting on the new route, a Weedle poisoned Timas. We rushed back to the center to help him survive, and afterwards, he was glowing with health. There was a house nearby, but inside was not Mr. Pokemon. Instead, it was another man insistent on giving me stuff. This one gave me a box for Apricorns, aptly titled the Apricorn Box.

As I traveled the route, a kid noticed my shoes. He informed me that, while they are nice to make the going quicker, they also attract trainers and wild pokemon. I took the shoes off for a while, just to be wary, and, sure enough, the young man was right.

The path forked up ahead, but one side was blocked by a "big battle," so I took the other route. It was littered with wild pokémon, including Weedles and Ledybas (who were basking in the morning sun), but again, nothing Timas could not handle. We soon made it to Mr. Pokémon's house.

Inside, there were two men. One saw me right away. Mr. Pokémon, as he calls himself, gave me a mystery egg for Professor Elm. He said that it may well have been an egg from a pokémon impossible to find in the region, but, no matter what, Elm would know. The other man then introduced himself as Professor Oak. He gave me a pokédex and his phone number as well (what is it with older men and giving me items and their phone numbers?) before leaving for his radio show. Mr. Pokémon, dodging my questions about his first name, informed me that he would heal Timas for me so I could get back to Elm quickly. As soon as I left his house, Elm called and informed me that some sort of disaster happened and I needed to get there quick. I ran all the way back to Cherrygrove before taking a short rest before continuing to New Bark Town.

Starting the challenge!!!

So, I have taken my first steps and started the challenge. As you can see from the sidebar, I have a progress marker, based on the few votes I got and some other things. I will update it when I save the game only. I will try to update after each decent save, but I may not always be able to if I am not near a computer.

Now that I have started and some people know, I feel it is only fair that I reveal that I chose Chikorita as my starter. I shall try to start writing actual updates soon, but for now, that is all you get to know unless you ask me (aside from, of course, whatever the progress bar says).

One last note...

Last time, I listed the things I must do before my runthrough is complete. I am adding a thing and changing the wording of some things.

The list is as follows.

Beat Elite Four.

Beat Blue (which means get all 16 badges)

Refight (and beat again) all Gym Leaders.

Beat the leveled-up Elite Four.

Beat Mewtwo.

Beat Red.

And that is the list.

And now, I am off to either sleep or make my way to Mr. Pokemon or take some notes.

About, info, polls and links.

So…how many of you have heard of the Nuzlocke challenge? If you have not heard, fear not, for I shall explain it.

The Nuzlocke challenge started from one person deciding to replay Ruby with stricter rules. He posted a few comics of it and a Seedot –> Nuzleaf that he had with John Locke (from Lost, I guess…I never watch the show, so I wouldn’t know) became the posterboy and thus name of the challenge.

There are only two rules.

1) Any pokémon that faints is to either be released or to be put in a separate PC box, considered dead. (Most people release.)

2) You are only allowed to catch the first pokémon that appears on a route. If it faints or flees, too bad. These, plus gift pokémon and your starter, are the only pokémon you can use. (You can receive pokémon from the same place you caught one, such as Dragon’s Den with the gift Dratini or Iron Island with the gift Riolu egg. This probably won’t come up much though.)

So why am I posting this? Because I have decided to do a Nuzlocke challenge.

And I am going to document it here, on a blog just for it.

I am also going to add a few rules, some of which are optional rules while others are just self-imposed.

1) No trades, in-game or otherwise. The only exception is for trade-evolutions if I end up with one (or more) of those pokémon. [Personal]

2) No repels until after I catch/fail to catch the pokémon in that area. They are a waste of money anyway (and depending on the version, you can use them to get specific pokémon by waiting until a certain floor/room/whatever or by having a specific level in front as a cap of sorts). Certain things, however, are near impossible without them (like the basement of Wayward cave with all of its fun bike ramps). [Personal]

3) All pokémon must receive nicknames. It furthers the bond and makes it a bit more fun to read. [Optional]

4) No Legendaries. I do not think (if playing FR at least) I have the chance to get any without using repels, but I could get quite a few with Pearl. This does not mean I cannot catch them (as Palkia is the only pokémon in Spear Pillar), but just that I cannot use them. [Optional]

4.1) Legendary pokémon who are roaming do NOT count as first encounters on a route, even if they are the first encounter. I mean, really, I am not going to catch an Entei (or have it flee) on some random route and then lose that route as a chance to get a pokémons… [Personal]

5) No masterballs. You can possibly get multiple in Pearl, actually. But they are not allowed to be used. [Optional]

6) No breeding. Dittos can be found in any of these (I think, at least) but even outside of that, no breeding. Only eggs that are allowed are gift eggs like Togepi or Riolu. [Personal]

7) I may catch, but may not train, any shiny pokemon I run into other than the first on a route. If I do catch them, I must immediately transfer them to another game and delete the pokemon I got in exchange. [Personal, because I said so]

So like I said, I am going to document this. But how, you ask?

Here on a blog dedicated to it. I shall post the entry on the blog, then put it on FB (with a link to the blog in it).

The style will be a personal one from my trainer’s point of view, perhaps like a diary. I shall be writing it. Many have drawn them, but I suck at art and lack the want to attempt it (drawing pokémons is hard…) so writing it is. When I catch/recieve a new pokémon, I will put up a (small) stats thing. Every time after that, I will refer to them by name, most likely.

Nickname, POKÉMON SPECIES (Gender)

Ability; Nature (+stat, -stat)

Where caught/received

[Random] Example:

Rocky, GEODUDE (Male)

Sturdy; Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)

Rock Tunnel

(I’ll try to come up with better nicknames than “Rocky” though…)

I do not know how much I will put in each update. I do not know how spaced they will be. I do not know how long this will take me (though it may be eons in Silver). I at least, however, plan on having separate updates for important things like gym/rival/Team Rocket (or Galactic) battles. If you want news from me about it and I am not posting an update, just message me and I will try to get back to you with a roundabout of where I am and what I am doing.

There may be some things from interesting perspectives, since it will be through Trainer eyes. Just saying…

As a trainer, I do reserve the right to skip routes until later. For example, I will try for a Gible in Pearl if it ends up being that game. However, to do that, I must go to a certain area and enter a hidden entrance of a cave once I get the strength HM instead of entering the cave right away. This does not mean I will get a Gible (though if I could use repels, I could assure I’d get to that floor, at least [which is an example of how repels could be viewed as cheating…]).

Anyway, I have a few polls for you guys.

First, I can do this in either Fire Red or Pearl. I would prefer to do this in Pearl. I have read a comic (link below, the art does improve) of a play through of Leaf Green in this manner and I would prefer not to follow in those exact footsteps. However, I will leave it up to you guys to decide which.

NOTE: I would put Silver on here, but I would prefer to not do Silver, just because my things from one DS game are being transferred to the other and, quite frankly, Silver is the better to keep everything on. Also, it would take quite a long time to go through this to Red and E4 refight…

However, if there are many votes for it, I may consider it.

Secondly, what starter should I choose?

In Fire Red, my options are Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur.

In Pearl, my options are Chimchar, Piplup and Turtwig.

In Silver (just for coverage), the choices are Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita.

I would prefer not to do Squritle in Fire Red just because you get Lapras as a gift pokémon and you can also assure you get a water type where you cannot assure you get a grass or fire type (though you can evolve Eevee into Flareon, I suppose).

Likewise, in Pearl, you get Lucario as a gift pokémon, which has both Piplup and Chimchar’s secondary types. And again, many possibilities for water types there too.

I guess that Silver is the only game where I really wouldn’t complain about using the water type because Totodile is an amazing physical water type in 4th gen, better than Quagsire, who is my standby buddy. Again though, the same argument about water types does arise. However, the only gift pokémon in this game are Togepi and Dratini, so no problems with redundant gifts.

Anyway, that choice I will leave to you. I do reserve the right to override the choices if it seems like you guys are choosing things just to make this a lot harder on me or piss me off.

Finally, any name suggestions? I will accept suggestions for my character or for any random pokémon I may encounter (starter’s included).

Again, the questions are as follows:

Which game version?

Fire Red (3rd gen remake of 1st gen)

Pearl (4th gen game)

Soul Silver (4th gen remake of 2nd gen) [Votes for this may be overruled, but you can still vote for it]

What starter pokémon?

[See above for lists]

Name suggestions?

Anyway, I will decide on lengths once I get the game specified. However, thoughts now are to Mewtwo/E4 refight in FR, Red (with E4 refight before as a possibility) in SS and Heatran/all areas explored in Pearl (damn, there is no good post-E4 stopping point, is there?). I will also put up a list of every area (and maybe some sort of checklist) once the version is decided (as the safari zone has multiple areas and some routes and caves do actually have multiple [legitimate] parts).

Oh, and another thing...

I have no clue when I will actually start this. I might have to wait until summer...

But you'll know when I do start it.

Appropriate links:

Comic previously mentioned (and style for which I may shoot):

http://pettynuzlockelg.smackjeeves.com/comics/1033352/a-petty-nuzlocke-challenge-new-cover/

Bulbiapedia article on the Challenge, in case you don’t believe me or want another source:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nuzlocke_Challenge