Nuzlocke Challenge

[BobbysPants]

I am getting a little ahead of how far I have posted, and rest assured that I am writing the next parts. However I have a little bit of a question concerning granite cave. I feel as though there are three options but don't know which to go for.

1. I treat each floor as a separate area which would allow me to get quite a few captures
2. I treat each floor as a second chance at a capture, with the first capture on whatever floor as my capture for the whole cave
3. I treat the whole cave as one area

Which would be standard for a Nuzlocke?

[Pocket]

I treat the whole cave / forest / tower as one area. I treat separate areas / zones in Safari as another opportunity to capture a Pokemon, though.

[BobbysPants]

Thought so, too bad I missed my capture there then. Anyway, on with Part 3.

Part 3

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They say that the first Pokemon you lose teaches you a valuable lesson. I have to agree. My first three captures were Marluxia, a Seedot, Laharl, a Wurmple, and Horus, a Zigzagoon. These were the three I had when I arrived at the town where Dad had become gym leader. I didn’t stay long, because I knew that challenging him now would only lead to failure. Instead I moved on to get my next capture. It was infuriating looking for a new Pokemon, but the training really was needed. As we worked our way through the multitude of Zigzagoon and Wurmple, Horus was poisoned. I rushed back to the Pokemon center, but it was too late. Horus was my first casualty.

That taught me to be more cautious and carry around more supplies. I hunted down as many pecha berries as I could specifically to prevent such a situation from arising again. In a way I suppose I am lucky my first loss came so soon. Had I had more time to train him, Horus’s death might have damaged me more than teach me. With a renewed sense of survival and determination, I continued onward. I arrived at Rustboro city having captured Flonne, a Taillow, and Leman Russ, a Slakoth. While my team was shaping up nicely, I decided to capture as much as I could before challenging any gyms. I knew very little about the area entirely, so I wanted to be prepared for anything they might throw at me.

I discovered road blocks to the north, the ocean, and to the west, a cave. Fortunately I was able to capture two new members; Lorgar, the Whismur, and Alpharius, the Nincada. During this mini excursion I was also able to finally teach Marluxia an attacking move, bullet seed. Laharl also managed to evolve by the time I headed back to the Pokemon center to arrange my team. He turned into a Silcoon, which means according to my Pokedex that he will eventually become a Beautifly. Armed with this knowledge and a well prepared team, I returned to the Pokemon center.

Obviously Demyx made the final cut, being the strongest and my starter. Next was Marluxia, who was significantly more powerful now that he could actually attack. Alpharius was next as I learned I could receive two Pokemon when he evolved if I played my cards right. Lorgar had already proven to be a tough fighter, so he made the team. Leman Russ may have been at a huge disadvantage compared to the others, but his strength and support moves such as yawn found him a spot on my team. Finally, Flonne was chosen for her speed and potential of flying type attacks to wreck havoc against common Pokemon of the bug, fighting, and grass types. Inside the gym I found a source who promised to assist me and give me info along my journey. I am unaware if this is standard, but I wasn’t going to say no. He told me that this gym used rock types.

I approached Roxanne, the gym leader of Rustboro city. She calmly explained the rules, a one on one matchup that would end when either Pokemon was no longer able to battle. For me this meant death, as being a rookie meant I wasn’t able to use the revival service of the Pokemon centers yet. I decided to not pull any punches here. Demyx not only had a type advantage, but he was my strongest Pokemon. As she sent out her Nosepass, I sent out my starter. “Let’s do this Demyx. Start strong with water gun.” “Nosepass use rock tomb.” Nosepass both deflected the water gun and nailed Demyx’s hind leg with a shield-like burst of rock. “Follow up with rock throw.” “Keep distance Demyx, use mud slap.” Demyx jumped into the air and didn’t avoid getting hit in the head by the rock throw. He used the circular momentum to do a back flip and strengthen the mud slap. It was a direct hit into the rock type’s eyes, lowering its accuracy. I could see a worried look come over the gym leader’s face. “Nosepass, shake it off.” It shook around; trying to get the dirt out of its eyes but nothing was working. “Demyx, water gun.” Demyx let loose a powerful blast of water that hit directly in the center of the Nosepass and pushed it off balance. I wasn’t going to give her time to fix the lowered accuracy. “Nosepass, use rock throw and rock tomb.” Similar to the flailing of Nosepass, attacks began to fly out in every direction. I called for Demyx to dodge and keep up the attack, but the flurry of rocks above and below proved to be quite the obstacle. If he jumped to avoid the rock tombs, the rock throws threatened him. If he stayed low to the ground to avoid the rock throws, the rock tombs threatened him. Such an impressive display could have only been thought up that quickly by a true gym leader. Unfortunately for her, Demyx was able to stay light on his feet and avoid most of the attacks. I no longer gave any orders as I watched my starter dodge around the entire battlefield, firing off well timed blasts of water. Though he was clipped by a few attacks, it was obvious that Nosepass was going down. The final burst of water toppled the Nosepass backwards, knocking it out cold.

I was complimented on my training of Demyx and my overall strategy, but I felt as though the type advantage was the main reason I won. Demyx’s strength pulled me through this, and that isn’t something I will be forgetting anytime soon.

Team

---

Demyx (level 15 Mudkip)
Marluxia (level 12 Seedot)
Lorgar (Level 9 Whismur)
Alpharius (level 6 Nincada)
Leman Russ (level 10 Slakoth)
Flonne (Level 9 Taillow)

Boxed

---

Laharl (Level 8 Silcoon)

Deceased

---

Horus (Level 3-7 Zigzagoon)

[BobbysPants]

Dear god the critical hits. Brawly got 6 in a row(enough to completely wipe me the first time round). I finally beat him only to be haxed to death on the way to Steven. Why? Why does the RNG hate me so much?

Alright, another brief hiatus is coming while I figure out what I'm going to do about this...crushing defeat.

[Team Magma Boss Maxie]

Chapter 9. Season 2. The 6th Gym.

...

---

Forttree City. The next day.
"Man defeating team aqua was easy, espeically that stupid admin and yes finally, look pokemon Centre since its night time, lets go rest up there"."Agreed, plus you have been working your Pokemons to the bone lately so they could all evolve and in fact you kicked Tom off for that Spoink you got" she says to me."Hey when Tom makes a comeback or if i need a good dark type team mate, i will go get untill then he can stay at the Daycare" i say to May. "Don't be so mean to your first poke". ".......Sorry, but Tom i am saving for the 7th gym and i don't want anything to happen to him
The Next Day. Fortree City Gym.
"Gulp, lets do this" i say to Tag, Tyson and Trevor. "Umm Larry". "Not now May i am giving a pep talk to my team, now, lets go and Spam Rock Tomb, Thunderbolt and Dragonbreath"
I say and then start running to the gym door."Umm Larry watch out for the-" BAAAAAMM."Never mind" she said as i ran into an invisible object with a red stripe. "Tried to warn you" May says to me like i am an idioit. "Shut up May" i shout rubbing my sore nose.
1 Hour Later on Route 120
"Ok lets see if anyone here can tell us whats going on" i say to May. "I agree". Then me and May run into Steven, from Granite Cave. "Oh hey Larry, come here a minute would you?" he asked me when he saw me coming."Why?"."Well i want you to test your battle powers against this invisible pokemon" he says."Like the one in front of the gym?" i ask him, hoping the answer would be yes. "Yes, it is the same kind of pokemon, but you can only see it with these" he says to me, handing these weird google things to me. "What are these things?"."They are copy righted versions of Silp Scope, but we call them The Devon Scope" he says to me and then i battle the Kecleon there and defeat it, but before that i caught an ........ABSOL YES!!!!!!
1 Hour Later At Fortree City Gym.
"Thats right you better run" i shout at the Kecleon running away."Larry stop shouting at everything"."Make me".DEATH STARE ATTACK."Fine".
In the Gym.Half an hour later.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!"Great work Tag" i say to my Magneton. "Mag ne ton"."Ok Widonna your going down.
"Challenge accepted" said the flying type master.
Gym Battle 6.Flying.Widonna Vs Larry.
Round 1. Trevour Vs Swellow.
"Iron Defence"."Aerial Ace" we command of our pokemon."Now use Rock Tomb"1HKO!!!!!!!1-0.
Round 2.Skarmory Vs Tyson.
"Flamethrower" i shout.Another 1HKO.2-0.
Round 3. Altaria Vs Tyson.
"Dragonbreath" me and the leader say at the same time. BOOOM!.Same Health rating(more or less) both paralized."Hmmm dragon breath again" i command as Widdonna was healing dropping yet another 1HKO because it was a crit.Won 3-0.
"Yeah that was easy........a little too easy"."Stop being paranoid Larry nothings going to happen".
The Next Day. Route 221.
"NO!!!!!!!My Modest Spoink" i shout as ot ded from a critical hit faint attack from a kecleon.-.-'=may. "You were saying?" i shouted at her.
"Shut up Larry"......................

man that took longer to type then i thought

[pele]

Well I saw all you guys doing this and I decided, “Why not, Fire Red’s getting a little old, I’ll try this”I looked over the comics people did though and I must say, I don’t know why people get so emotional when they lose a pokemon, I mean they’re just pixels that you use to beat the game. But I digress.
Looking for a challenge, I decide to start with a Charmander, who I name Hatch. Battling Gary was… eventful…. Then parcel, pokeballs, teachy TV, Woo caught a ratata that I’ll never use cause he sucks.
BUT THEN
I caught a Manky! Ima name him Cumin, he’ll be a lotta help against brock. Moving forward I find… a pidgy and a caterpie. I plan to find a Fearrow or Dodou later for my flying, but compoundeyes butterfree will be nice for catching pokemon with sleep powder, so I decide to train him and name him Poof. After grinding Hatch, Cumin, and Poof to around level 10, I decided to take on Brock.
BATTLE
CUMIN USED KARATE CHOP
OHKO
BROCK SENT OUT ONYX
LOW KICK
OHKO
Well that was easy. Also Yay, Rock Tomb and Running Shoes! I'll add another part tomarrow

[Pocket]

My Roselia fell to Flannery Slugma's Overheat. I'm a bad trainer...

[Togelover]

Originally Posted by Fat pele

I mean they’re just pixels that you use to beat the game.

Unless you give them characters, like "These two Pokemon are in love or some shit like that". Then one of them dies. Crying is imminent.

Also this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBDMcytFpOc

And this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtvDrTa9iXs

[Little Battler]

Oh right.

Update time.

next page

---

hopefully still adorable.

can't draw varano consistently for some reason.

No team updates, obviously.

[Togelover]

That's the...scariest cute thing I've eve seen...AWESOME!

Looking forward to the next one :D

[Ninja_13]

I think the scary part is not the flames in the background, but actually the fact that her hair hides the white part for her eyes. They're like giant black holes trying to suck in my soul.

I need to learn how to draw; I have a Nuzlocke almost completed that I've written notes on and thought of some character's personalities that I want to make a comic of, but have been brought down from wanting to make something out of it by the abomination that is anything I draw lol.

[pele]

Originally Posted by Fat Togelover

Unless you give them characters, like "These two Pokemon are in love or some shit like that". Then one of them dies. Crying is imminent.

I suppose you have a point, however I feel that character writing would be better if I were drawing a comic, and since I hae neither photoshop or a scanner, thats not an option
UPDATE 2

...

---

Walking across route 4 i think, I decided I should try to make the best of my team and train up Poof against the trainers swarming the route. Pretty soon he evolved into a butterfree, making him the best pokemon on my team right now about. I also catch a Spearow who I name pepper. I'm actually quite happy about this, since a Fearow would be a really good thing to have for later. I name her pepper.
I entered Mt. Moon with Hatch, Pepper, Cumin and Poof. Quite Frankly I wasn't reall extatic about my team members at this point, but I knew they would become very usefull with training. Poof in particular was being terrific, since it had confusion to take out all those zubats. I manage to grind Pepper up to around level 15 against all the Bug trainers and Paras, and then Cumin is great for the ratatas that Team Rocket is so fond of. Why they all have such bad pokemon for the Mafia I'll never know, but I digress. Soon I get out of Mt.Moon and head to the Nugget Bridge.
But First I have to fight Gary.
Pidgeotto: Hatch Ember spams him to death.
Ratatta: Well this should be easy. Go Cumin.
Cumin Used Karate Chop
Ratatta used Hyperfang.
CRITICAL HIT
shit
CUMIN fainted

What the hell Cumin? You couldnt beat a Ratatta? Find, he's weak enough for Poof to take him out and level up.
Poof Used Confusion! Level up!
Poof learned Sleep Powder
Awwww Yeah.


Squirtle: Poof used Sleep Powder, then proceded to Confusion spam to death.
Abra: Go Pepper, Peck spam. Woo


On the bridge things are less eventfull, Confusion, Ember, and Peck spam are used.
BUT THEN
Pepper Vs. Ratatta!
Ratatta used HyperFang! Critical Hit!
what
Pepper Fainted.

You damn Ratattas! What the hell is your problem ehith all those Crits? Fuck! Fuck! Poof! Wreck their Shit!

Sleep Powder! Confusion! Nugget!

I've had it with this goddamn Route.

BUT THEN
WILD ABRA APPEARED!
yeah boy, poof! Sleep Powder!
Sleep Powder Missed!
what.jpeg.

BUT THEN!
NEXT ROUT ANOTHER ABRA APPERED!
SLEEP POWDER POKEBALL YEAH.

I CAUGHT HOUDINI!

Grinding, Bill, Evolution ensues.

Onward to Misty!

Vs. Staryu
Sleeppowder Confusion win
Vs. Stamie
Starmie used Waterpulse.
Criticle hit!
Fuck
Poof Used Sleep powder
Switch to Houdini.
Psybeam. Criticle Hit!
Starmie Woke Up! Swift! Critical Hit!
WHAT
Houdini's still alive, but he and Poof are both at red. Can't use Hatch, All I have left are my lvl. 2 ratatta and pidgy. Quite frankly I feel bad about sacraficing them to heeal, but its the only way. After they both die to give me time to heal Houdini. I use Psybeam then for the win.

Team:

...

---

Hatch the Charmeleon lvl.17: Ember, Scratch, Growl, Metal Claw.
Poof the Butterfree lvl.18: Tackle, Sleep Powder, Harden, Confusion
Houdini the Kadabra lvl. 17: Teleport, Confusion, Psybeam

Dead:

...

---

Cumin the manky: lvl 4 - lvl 15
Pepper the Spearow: lvl. 6 - lvl 14
Arty the Pidgy: lvl2 - lvl2
Nutmeg the Ratatta: lvl2-lvl2

[Rediamond]

Characterisation impossible in a Nuzlocke story? I beg to differ. Death normally elicits either a sense of victory or sadness in real life. You've simply got to make the character as real a possible. Then, death will be much more powerful. And sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy editing the last two chapters after I got a lot of advice elsewhere. I also realised I don't have time for two runs, so I'm going back to the other one, since no one here probably read the run it's a sequel to.

[Mr.L]

I'm doing a Nuzlocke Challenge on my HG (I did one a few months ago, but i never recorded it...I lost track of how my story progressed, so I restarted)

My Rules are as follows:
-One Pokemon per area, first pokemon i see. If it's a repeat, Too damn bad, i can't catch it nor get another chance.
-Trade evolution is available. This is mostly because I am already two parts in, and one of my pokemon needs trade evolve to fit their character.
-Nicknames are a must. Can't make a true character if they're not nicknamed.
-If the pokemon dies, put them in the GRAVE Box. It's a hard fact i must face, but it is also the reason they will prevail.
-No excessive Grinding. +5 levels of the next gym leader seems to be a reasonable level (Note: This is only against Wild Pokemon. Should a pokemon go past the +5 through a Trainer battle, it's not bad. Technically not grinding =P)
-I can grind for items, and will most likely omit the more useless parts in my stories.
-Only healing items I'm allowed to use are the ones i find on the road/Mom buys. No buying healing items.

I think that's it for my rules, will add more when i feel they're necessary. I planned on doing a 2-style Nuzlocke run, but considering my rage at my inexistant Drawing skills, I'ma stick to writing stories. I hope i can manage to capture the emotion I'm seeing in my mind into words on the computer screen =)

Writing part 1 as we speak, will update this post when it's done.

EDIT: First part's done. Thought I'd be able to fit all I did in one story, but this one's long as it is. Will work on second one now.

...

---

L's Nuzlocke

Part 1: the Beginning


*ringringringring*

"...cking alarm clock", L mumbled in his sleep as the alarm clock continues to buzz next to his bed. A shaky hand reaches out to hit the snooze button, desperate for a couple more minutes of

peaceful sleeping time. As his hand hits the snooze button, L breathes a sigh of relief and falls back asleep...

"Get your lazy behind out of bed before I come up there, young man. Do I need to remind you of what today is?" L's mom yelled out from downstairs.

L paused for a second, then immediately knew what his mom was talking about. "Registration!", L exclaimed as he was rushing out of bed, cursing at himself for forgetting. Today was the first day

new trainers could register and apply for a Trainer's permit. L had waited all summer for registration to start, to the point where he was up late at night preparing for his adventure around the

corner.

The second L's shoes were on his feet, he made a mad dash downstairs with hopes of making it to Cherrygrove for registration. Before L could make it out the door, his mom called out to him.

"L, sweety, Professor Elm just called. He asked if you could go help him with an errand." she said.

"Mom, registration's today! I can't be late , or they might run out of Licenses for this year!" L cried out to his mom.

"Now, now, remember, helping others comes before pleasing yourself. Go help Mr. Elm, or you're grounded," she said with a stern voice.

L wanted to continue, but he knew she was right. Mr. Elm had always dropped what he was doing when L needed help, and L always returns favors. "Alright, I'll go," L said with a hint of depression

in his voice.

L made his way to Professor Elm's office, which wasn't far. When he was walking in the door, in the corner of his eye, he noticed a bit of red sticking out of the tree next to the office. L went

over to the tree and quickly investigated it. After looking, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and entered the office.

"L, my boy, glad to see ya!" Elm shouted half-way across the office, which was more like a laboratory. Elm walked up to L, then started to speak. "I guess your mom told you I needed a favor? Well,

my aquaintance Mr. Pokemon has something he wants to show me, but I have important business to attend to here. Could you maybe go talk to Mr. Pokemon and see what he wants to show me?

"Mr. Elm, As much as I'd love to help you out," L said, "but if I don't make it to Cherrygrove fast, I'm going to miss out on registration!"

"Hmm..." Elm murmered. "How about if you help me, I'll ask Joy at Cherrygrove to hold off one application for you. I am an important person here in Johto, after all."

"You'd really do that for me, Mr. Elm?" L said with disbelief. "I'd be more than happy to help you out in that case."

"That's the L I know!" Elm said chuckling. "I also have another favor to ask. I'm currently researching if having a pokemon walk out of it's pokeball helps create a bond between the Pokemon and

their Trainer. So, I'll go ahead and give you one of my pokemon if you promise to let it walk alongside you on your trip to Mr. Pokemon's house."

"That doesn't sound like it'd be an issue, Mr. Elm. I'll do it," L said as his heart was racing. Not only will he be able to take his time getting an application, but he is getting a rare Pokemon

even before being licensed!

"Alright, go ahead to my storage machine over to my left and choose who you want."

L made his way to the machine, and started examining each Pokemon with surprising care. There was Cyndaquil, who was yawning as L was examining it. L concluded he'd be a good first pokemon, but as

he went to pet the Cyndaquil, the Pokemon backed off near instantly. "He's cute, but a tad timid," L told Elm. Next L examined Chikorita, who was messing around with its leaf. Spunky, active, the

Chikorita looked like it would prove to be a challenge to raise proficiently. "I think Chikorita should go to someone with more energy," L said. Then there was Totodile, sitting in the corner

messing with it's teeth. It seemed secluded from the other two, like it wanted more...

"I want Totodile" L said with affirmation. He picked up the Totodile, cradled it in his arms, and made his way back to Elm.

"That's a good choice, many people are fans of Totodiles," Elm said with a calm voice. "I found this particular Totodile in a dried-up Swamp somewhere near Pastoria in the Sinnoh reigon. He was

left behind by his family, so i brought him here to have another chance at a family."

L looked at the Totodile, then back at Elm. "I think I'll call him Charlie. He just strikes me as a Charlie."

Elm chuckled, then said "Well, now that that's settled, go see what Mr. Pokemon has to show me!"

L didn't have to be told twice. With his new partner at hand, L ran out of the office and made his way towards Cherrygrove. As he stepped out into Route 29, L remembered he needed to go tell his

mom he was leaving.

"...ok, that sounds dangerous, but I trust you." L's mom said with a worried look on her face. "I know you won't get into any trouble, especially with that adorable Totodile at your side. Good luck

sweety. Oh yeah, here's your Pokegear. It came back from the shop in the ten minutes you were gone"

After leaving the house, L made his way towards Cherrygrove City. Halfway across Route 29, L looked at Charlie and asked "Do you know the way to Mr. Pokemon's house? I forgot to ask."

"I believe I know the way, L, but I'm not too sure," Charlie said while gnawing on his claws.

"Wait, hold up. Did you just...talk?" L collapsed at the voice of Charlie.

"You can understand me?" Charlie asked L. L faintly nodded. "I guess it's a special gift you have, let's just leave it at that. Like I said before, I think I know the way to Mr. Pokemon's house, so

come on."

Still shocked at understanding Charlie, L followed his partner on the path to Mr. Pokemon's house.

Charlie and L were walking through cherrygrove City when L suddenly heard "Hey little boy..."

"Charlie, Water Gun!" L called out, pointing in the direction he heard the voice. Charlie, who was just as spooked by the voice, let out a stream of water towards the voice source.

"Damn kids and their fancy-shmancy pokemon..." an old man grumbled walking towards L, soaking wet from Charlie's Water Gun. "Don't be scared, I just wanted to offer you a tour of the city."

"Oh, sorry mister, you just kinda scared me," L said, feeling bad he attacked an elderly. "And also, I'd love to take your tour, but I've been he-"

"Serendipity!" The old man exclaimed, grabbed L's wrist, and joyfully showed L around Cherrygrove.

After the tour of the city was over, the old man looked at L and said "Look, sonny, I know you didn't want to take the tour, but since you did, you've made my poor old heart so happy. Here, Take

these shoes from a random old guy as thanks. The old man held out a box of new shoes towards L.

"Thanks for the tour, but i ne-wait, are those the new Running Shoes? With the air-compression technology that lets you run faster?" L said, suddenly interested in the shoes.

"Of course," the old man said with a smile. L threw his new shoes off to the side and put the new shoes on.

"These are awesome, thanks!" L said with a smile. "But wait, how'd you have EXACTLY my size shoe?"

"See you later, my boy!" The old man said immediately and quickly closed the door on L's face.

"That was weird, 'ey Charlie?" L sneered.

After the sudden tour of Cherrygrove, L followed Charlie off to the north, when he heard another voice.

"*huffpuffhuffpuff* Sheesh, you run fast boy. I meant to give you this too!" The old man was wheezing in between words, but managed to hand L a Map Card. Before having to go through another

tutorial, L and Charlie ran north to get away from the old man.

After about 15 minutes of following Charlie, the two managed to arrive at Mr. Pokemon's house. L knocked on the door. L heard "Come on in" and did just that.

"Ahh, you must be Elm's little errand boy." Mr. Pokemon said to L. "Ahh, I see he gave you that Totodile. Poor guy's been trying to get rid of that little runt for months. Guess he found an unfortunate loser to get paired with that hopeless cause."

"Excuse me, but could you please stop insulting Charlie and I?" L said politely. "I'm just here to get whatever you wanted to show Mr. Elm."

"Oh heaven's no, I'm not letting a brat like you handle this valuable piece of Pokehistory." Mr. Pokemon sneered. "You might drop it."

"Now, Mr. Pokemon, what did I say about insulting little children? All it does is make you look like a jerk," a voice came from behind the bookshelf in the house.

"*grumble* Fine, Oak." Mr. Pokemon said reluctantly, then plastered a fake smile on his face as he turned to L. "Here's the object I want to show Elm. It's an egg of a rare pokemon."

"Thank you, Mr. Pokemon" L said with sarcasm littered in his voice. As he turned to get out of that hellhole, a hand fell upon his shoulder.

"Ahh, you must be L. Yes, Elm's told me a lot about you, but didn't tell me you got along with Pokemon." The man Mr. Pokemon called Oak said. He then picked up Charlie, examined him, and gave him back to L. "Your Totodile seems to be breaking out of its hurtful past. That's an incredible feat." Oak then fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a red device and handed it to L. "This is called a Pokedex. It's an electronic Encyclopedia of all things Pokemon. I think you'll make a great trainer someday, L." With this said, Oak went back to work on whatever he was working on before.

"Thanks Mr. Oak!" L said sheepishly, then proceeded to walk out the door. As soon as he walked out of the door, he recieved a phone call from Professor Elm.

"L, come quick...it's a disaster!" Elm was paniking on the other side of the phone.

"I'll be there as fast as possible, Mr. Elm," L said affirmatively as Charlie and he were running back to New Bark Town.

[JarardoMartino]

I am a bum

...

---

oh, and nice comics Little Battler!

[TM13IceBeam]

Damnit, I was hoping for a scene something like: "BATTLE THOSE IDIOTS NOW, BECAUSE I AM THE FUCKING CHAMPION"

[Wrave]

Doing it on HeartGold.

Rules are as follows:

1. Rules take effect after I receive the Poke Balls.
2. One Pokemon per area
3. 5 blackouts allowed. Penalty though is I must level them up one level each.
4. Each floor is counted as a separate area. When ever you see the location name appear.
5. I can grind for items
6. Only healing items I can use are road items or given out by an NPC (Moo-Moo milk)
7. Nicknames are a must
8. I can use Pokemon Centers
9. After each story arc, I can bring one Pokemon back from the dead however if that Pokemon dies again, it must be sent to the Limbo Box.
10. A 5 level grind is allowed
11. I can fish all I want
12. For Pokemon that have a low encounter rate in a specific place (Dunsparce) or have a place named after them (Slowpoke well) I am allowed to grind for them but the first one I see, I have to catch.

Will start this today and get part 1 up later.

...

---

I yawn as my mom calls me down stairs. I look at the clock on my wall and it says 2:30 am.

"Great," I say as I walk downstairs.

"Honey, Elm needs to talk to you," Mom says or at least I believe that is what she said. Its late and quite frankly I am tired.

I walk out the door only to see that rodent, Lyra's Marril scare me. She really needs to keep an eye on that thing. Lyra walks up and then they walk away.

I walk up the stairs and realize that I went through the wrong entrance. I apologize and leave the room. I walk back down the stairs and see a red haired man.

I walk up to him and after a little chatting, he pushes me away. Rude bastard.

Anyway, I walk into Elm's lab.

As he starts talking, he gets interrupted by an email. He says that I need to head to Mr. Pokemon's house and get something for him. He gives me a choice of three starters.

I choose a Calm but quick tempered Cyndaquil and name it Cinders. It stays outside of its ball, which doesn't bother me.

Elm points to a machine that I can use to heal it and sends me on my way. An aide gives me five potions as well.

On my way to Cherrygrove, I battle 3 Hoothoot and level up cinders to level 6 and it learns Smokescreen.

When I walk into Cherrygrove, I am stopped by an energetic old man. He shows me around the city, giving me a tutorial. I have a hard time keeping up with him because I cannot run. At the end of the walk, I receive not a thing except for Running Shoes.

I run up to the new route and that guide gives me a map app for my Poketech that I received from my mom before I left.

I look at the clock and it is getting later.

I wander up to Mr. Pokemon's house after meeting two guys battling, getting an Apricorn Box and battling 3 Spinarak to level up even further.

I meet Mr. Pokemon and Professor Oak. Mr. Pokemon gives me a Mystery Egg and Oak gives me a Pokedex after each talk to me for a good three minutes. Mr. Pokemon heals my Cinders and I walk outside.

Elm calls me and tells me the Lab was broken into.

I rush down the route and towards New Bark Town only to encounter the red haired boy. He battles me with a Totodile and I take it out with 3 Leers and 2 Tackles. It appears as though Cinders' Attack stat is horrible.

They boy gives me a lecture on how weak Pokemon suck and only strong are worthy. I get a look at his Trainers Card and nearly get hit.

I shrug the guy off and arrive in New Bark Town, taking as many shortcuts as I can get.

I walk into the lab and there is glass everywhere. I walk up to Elm and the officer who thinks I am the culprit. Lyra makes an appearance and says I had nothing to do with it.

Deep in my head, I feel as though I did as I saw the kid earlier.

I tell the officer that the kids name is Silver.

Elm notices that I have a Pokedex and says I should take the Pokemon Gym Challenge. I just go with it as I am tired and need to go to sleep.

I go home and talk to my mom. She says she would like to save my money and is nice.

I go up stairs and go to the bed where I fall asleep and get ready for my next part.

...

---

Team: Cinders the Cyndaquil Lvl 8.

EDIT: PART 1 ^ Here.

[DetroitLolcat]

The Nuzlocke challenge.

Possibly the toughest non-masochistic challenge run in Pokemon, and definitely the most dramatic. I originally joined this site specifically for the Nuzlocke Challenge on April tenth, two thousand and ten. Today, July twenty-eighth, two thousand and eleven, marks my one-thousandth post on Smogon. In the past year and thousand posts, I've failed to leave much of a mark on Smogon or its completely awesome Nuzlocke thread, but that's been changing in the recent past. Most, if not all, of my Nuzlockes have ended in an early defeat with a poor storyline and even worse writing. However, my current Nuzlocke is going rather well. Only three Pokemon have fallen; two of which were important to the team. To begin this thousandth post, I would like to extend a short memorial to Wartortle and Butterfree.



You will be missed. This challenge, and all future DetroitLolcat challenges, will not be in vain. My first challenge was on Leafgreen, my most recent on Firered. Seems fitting to return to Pokemon’s (enhanced) roots to celebrate this post, no? However, I'm not just making this post to undeservedly and rather arrogantly pat myself on the back, but to continue my Nuzlocke challenge with what I hope will be my best update yet. Thank you to Smogon for the great competitive community, thank you to the Stark Nuzlocke thread for bringing me to this site, thank you to the Scramble thread for being awesome in general, thank you to my cats for being pretty kitty cats, and thank you to the new Nuzlocke thread for more Nuzlocke action! But enough of this sappy 1k…

Let's play some damn Pokemon.

It's really long. Longer than the last few, at least.

---

DetroitLolcat's Firered Nuzlocke Challenge
Part Eight: Game Corner Royale

Lolcat slowly descended the ornate steps in Pokemon Tower, bowing his head and paying respects to the countless fallen Pokemon buried here. It's true what is said about Lavender Town: it's the religious center of Kanto. Surprisingly, despite its relatively small area it's the third largest city in Kanto. Lolcat treads out of the Pokemon Tower and through the quiet streets until a billboard catches his eye:

"New Silph Scope illuminates the invisible! Examine the ghosts of Pokemon Tower for only 9999 Pokedollars, coming to a Pokemart near you in only six more months!"

Lolcat ponders a little bit about Silph Co. It's the second-largest corporation in Kanto next to Pokemon Center Kanto. They recently bought Kanto Pokemon Marts from the failing Pokemart International, and their headquarters lie in Saffron City. After a few minutes of walking and thinking, Lolcat arrives in the Pokemon Center to heal his team after his bout with Blue.

However, outside the Pokemon Center there was a surprising scene. A few people wearing Cubone costumes are standing outside the Pokemon Center doors, chanting,

"Down with Team Rocket! Down with Team Rocket!” The scene is rather peculiar, so Lolcat walks up to one of the protesters and asks him why everyone is dressed so oddly. The angered citizen replies,

"Haven't you heard? Last week Team Rocket attacked Pokemon Tower! Since nearly the entire Kanto Police Force is battling them in Saffron, the rest of Kanto is at Team Rocket's mercy. Last week, about ten or fifteen Rocket goons invaded Pokemon Tower with guns blazing. The Channelers foresaw the attack and guided many Lavender residents to safety, but the guardian of Pokemon Tower, the Marowak, stood and defended everybody from the Rockets. He was swiftly murdered, and that's why we're protesting. That Marowak has been an icon of Lavender Town for years, and the Rockets killed it like it was a common Weedle. The Marowak was a new mother, too. Her lone child wears Marowak's skull as a symbol of remembrance..."

Lolcat was taken aback at the man's speech. What Team Rocket did to Lavender Town was unforgivable, and Lolcat decided that Team Rocket will pay for their crimes. However, at the moment there's no way into Saffron City where Team Rocket is performing their takeover, but there is a way into the Team Rocket capital of Kanto: Celadon City. Celadon is the largest city in Kanto, dwarfing even Saffron in terms of population. However, a recent KNN (Kanto News Network) documentary stated that one in eight people in Celadon City is affiliated with Team Rocket and that the Rocket Game Corner is the source of their revenue. Though it's common knowledge that Team Rocket performs illicit activities often, they legally own the Game Corner.

After speaking to the kind protesters, Lolcat decided to forego exploring Lavender Town and focus solely on reaching Celadon City. Unfurling the Town Map, Lolcat sees that the quickest route to Celadon is through the Route 7-8 Underground Path. Since the day is young, Lolcat walks west of Lavender Town and into Route 8. The Route is much like any other Route: a grassy field with dusty trails running across it with numerous Trainers dueling on the grass. Following standard new Route protocol, Lolcat makes a beeline for the nearest grass patch and the next new Pokemon, but his advance is stopped by an old Gambler and his pair of Fire-type Pokemon. Graveler's Magnitude dispatched them both.

Route 8 is different than the other Routes Lolcat's seen in the recent past, however, in that the wild Pokemon are contained in a fence. However, Lolcat used Cut on a small tree to enter the fenced off area and encounter a wild Pokemon. Lolcat pulled up Route 8's info on his Pokedex and sees that four different species of Pokemon inhabit the Route: Pidgey, Ekans, Meowth, and Growlithe. Pidgey and Meowth aren't very powerful and Ekans is just plain useless, but a Growlithe could be a valuable addition to the Nuzlocke team. Delving into the grass, Lolcat encountered a small Meowth in the grass, but decided that it's only use for the team is using Cut and Pickup.

After making a short trip back to Lavender's Pokemon Center to deposit Farfetch'd, Lolcat continued down Route 8 and entered the sight of a Super Nerd and his Poison-type team. Graveler is still at a lower level than the rest of the team, so Lolcat trained the rock beast against the two Grimer and one Muk. The road twisted a little further, and after five more minutes of strolling down the dusty path Lolcat encountered a set of twins. Deciding that he should practice his 2v2 skills, Lolcat challenges the two Trainers to a quick doubles match. The twins possessed a Jigglypuff and Clefairy that just couldn't stand up to Fearow's Aerial Ace or Graveler's Magnitude.

After a few minutes more of traversing the Route, Lolcat saw a Super Nerd in the distance. However, this Super Nerd seems to be different than other Super Nerds that Lolcat has seen in the past, as this Nerd is being escorted by a trio of Lasses. The man also wears a black fedora with an ornate feather on it, which most Super Nerds don't wear. Lolcat approaches the Nerd and asks him about his outfit:

"So, your Trainer class is Super Nerd... You really don't look the part here!"

"Yo dawg, cool da nerd talk in fronna da ladies, ya hear? I wazza SN back in da day, but I be reformed, dawg? Imma gotta posse of lay-dees now and dey call me da Big Money Cashmasta on dis side of Saffron. So, ya wanna rent one of my women faw a couple thowsand Pokey-dollars aw what?"

"Uh, I think I'll pass"

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS... ... ...Sawwy, dawg, dat was the SN inside me tawkin'. Well, I be a lil' bored now, so why dontcha battle a cupple ladies, no? Yo, Megz, get you fine ass ovah here and show this trick how to battle some Pokey-mans!"

The scantily dressed lady possessed five Pokemon, more than any Trainer Lolcat's seen before. However, three of them had a type weakness to Rock or Ground, and the other two were a Rattata and Meowth; not really defensive behemoths. Five one-hit-KOs later, the lady was defeated and the pimp Super Nerd continued speaking.

"Damn, foo' Well, dawg, wanna try your Pokey-mans 'ganst my bottom bitch? Andrea, git ovah here and show dis' trick da powah of dis pimp!"

The female possessed three Meowth, and though Lolcat is a professed cat lover, what has to be done has to be done. Graveler made short work of them. Lolcat's Meowth's Pickup procured him a Nugget, too. After the girl's embarrassing defeat, the Super Nerd decides to speak to Lolcat once again:

"Dawg, why you be treatin' my ladies so bad? Foo', you respect my women, and if you mess with da bitches, you mess with me!"

The Super Pimp released a single Pokemon: a Koffing. Graveler started off the battle with a Rock Throw, but the smog ball was able to dodge it and retaliate with a Smokescreen. Angry, Lolcat ordered Graveler to perform a second Rock Throw, but the attack failed again. The Koffing unleashed a Smog attack which landed a critical hit for two whopping points of damage. After recovering from the assault, Lolcat ordered a third Rock Throw from Graveler, dealing about 45% damage. The Pimp declares,

"Koffing, Show dat foo' some sssssludge!"

The ball-like Pokemon shoots a poison wave at Graveler, who falls to the ground in pain. Lolcat becomes worried, as Graveler should have taken that attack without trouble.

"Graveler! Come on, you resist that attack by four times! Shake it off!"

The Pokemon stood up, but coughing and hacking.

Graveler is hurt by poison!

Lolcat knew he has to act fast. It was obvious that that Koffing needs to die quickly, but it probably knows Selfdestruct, too. Smog and Sludge both have a chance to poison, and letting a second Pokemon succumb to poison is out of the question. The choice is easy: Gloom. Gloom has the second-highest Defense on the team and a poison immunity, so it's the logical choice. Lolcat gives the order,

"Graveler, return! Go, Gloom!!"

Gloom walks onto the battlefield as Koffing lets loose another Sludge attack. She (Gloom is female) fires off a Sleep Powder, but the attack misses and Koffing retaliates with a Smokescreen. Another Sleep Powder misses and Koffing shoots out a Smokescreen. Sleep Powder's accuracy is down to a meager 45%, so Gloom is fighting an uphill battle. The probability of losing a Pokemon in this battle starts increasing drastically. Gloom needs to regain her eyesight, but Koffing's threat of Self-destruction prevents a safe switch. However, Fearow might be able to knock out the Koffing if he rolls high damage. Graveler's Rock Throw did about 45%, so maybe Fearow's Aerial Ace can do the last 55%, as Graveler's and Fearow's Attack power only differ by a single point.

Lolcat recalls Gloom and throws out his Flying-type Pokemon, Fearow. Koffing begins with a Smokescreen, but "Fearow's Keen Eye prevents Accuracy loss!"

Fearow counters with an Aerial Ace, and Koffing's HP starts dropping into the yellow, then the red. Fearow's life depends on if Koffing can take the hit, as it will undoubtedly counterattack with Selfdestruct. The last red sliver of Koffing's HP disappears, and the Super Pimp admits defeat.

Lolcat doesn't stick around to hear the man's speech, as he's not out of the woods yet. Graveler still has only thirty HP and poison, and Celadon City is still miles away. Therefore, the smarter move is to return to Lavender Pokemon Center and pray Graveler can hold out. It looks hopeful, as Lavender Town is not a long ways away. To be safe, Lolcat still runs quickly to the town, hoping that Graveler can endure the pain for a few minutes more.

After about ten or fifteen minutes more, Lolcat enters the city limits and then the Pokemon Center. He politely but hurriedly asks the Nurse to heal his Pokemon, and the Nurse agrees. The Pokeballs are placed into the white healing machine, and Lolcat waits a few seconds for the Pokemon to be good as new.

After thanking the Nurse, Lolcat exited the eerie town and walked back to his previous location by the Super Pimp and trudged south towards a small gang of Bikers. One of the motorists approached Lolcat and declared,

"Hey! Kid with the red hat! You lost or something, as this half of Route 8 belongs to the Kanto Biker Federation! Anyone who doesn't want their Pokemon to get tied in a knot knows to stay away from this side of Celadon! Show him, Grimer!"

The man had two Grimers. Lolcat had one Graveler. Guess who won.

The motorist rides off in anger, and Lolcat continues down the twisty trail called Route 8. More Bikers lie ahead, but that's to be expected as the previous Biker stated that he was part of a Federation. Soon enough, a second Biker challenged Lolcat to a battle. This Biker also possesses a Koffing, but this Koffing was of a lower level and couldn't stand up to Graveler's Rock Throw. Graveler learned Rollout, too, but Rollout is a very risky move for the Nuzlocke Challenge. The Biker continued with another Koffing, but the second Koffing met a similar fate. Grimer died too.

After that uneventful match, Lolcat proceeds north where two buildings stand in front of him, each having a sign to notify pedestrians where they lead.

The building to the left is the entrance to Saffron City. A Police blockade closed down that path as Rockets were pouring into Lavender Town last week. The other building to the north is guarded by a lone Super Nerd, so Lolcat gives it a try. The Nerd, as most Trainers do, challenged Lolcat to a battle. His four Pokemon were strong, but a Level 29 Graveler slew them in one hit each, rising to Level 30 in the process. Now that Graveler is on par with the rest of the team, Lolcat decided to continue training the rest of his team, sending Gloom to the front of the party and entering the Underground Path.

This Underground Path is much like the one connecting Cerulean and Vermilion: it runs under Saffron City, but doesn't allow access into the beleaguered city. Physically, it's a dark, wooden tunnel that could have had subways inside in the past. Lolcat dashes through the tunnel, but it must have taken half an hour before Lolcat saw light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel ended in Route 7, the shortest Route in the Kanto region connecting the blocked-off Saffron City and the bustling Celadon City. Since this area qualifies as a new Route, Lolcat searches through the grass for a new member of the Nuzlocke Team.

Another Meowth. Can you say Double Pickup Slaves? I wanted a Growlithe though :(

Celadon City is a minute's walk from the Underground Path, so Lolcat quickly ran into the metropolis and checked into the Pokemon Center. It's already late in the afternoon, so Lolcat decides to rest early and explore Celadon City tomorrow. However, sleep didn't come easy to Lolcat, and once he started sleeping that recurring dream appeared.

This dream is unlike the previous ones. No voices appear immediately, no pictures. Lolcat stands in the middle of a seemingly infinite white space. He begins to turn in a circle, surveying his surroundings and walking in an arbitrary direction. After about five or ten minutes of this aimless floating through this void, a small black ball appears in the distance. The ball is pitch-black and floats at about five and a half feet high, or about Lolcat's eye level. Lolcat raises his right hand and extends it toward the ball, and as soon as he touches it, a dark pulse emanates from the ball and propels Lolcat back a few feet. Then, the ball floats up to Lolcat and a voice starts speaking to him, the same voice that has appeared in countless dreams before this.

You have defied me by continuing this foolish quest. Obviously, you cannot be convinced of your destiny to fail. I know you, Lolcat. I know you better than you know yourself. You think just because you trained your Pokemon hard and won a few badges that you stand a chance at the Championship. I wish to shatter that delusion, but it seems you will not listen. It's not even possible to get into the Pokemon League without getting slaughtered by Team Rocket, anyway. If you don't remember, they own Saffron, and they'll probably own Celadon soon, too. Once those two dominoes fall the rest of Kanto will fall even faster. And there's a Gym in Saffron City that you're not going to get into anytime soon! And even if you won the Kanto Championship, you have no idea what the rest of the world is like. And trust me, if you think Team Rocket is evil, you have no idea what organized crime is like in other regions. Pack up, Lolcat. There's just no room in this big, bad, world for a stupid little go-getter like you.

The black ball exploded, cloaking the white space in darkness and waking Lolcat up. Twelve hours had passed, but they felt like a second. Lolcat though about that dream and concluded that it was a load of empty threats. However, it's peculiar that whoever's causing those dreams would go to such great lengths to stop one kid from conquering the Pokemon League. Regardless, today's goal is to explore Celadon City and draw up battle plans for the fourth Badge.

Celadon Pokemon Center is on the east side of town, right next to the entrance. Lolcat exited that red building and traveled westward, seeing numerous houses. At the end of the street is the Celadon Mansion, a luxury, four story building owned by Game Freak, a game company that apparently enjoys breaking the fourth wall. The owners allow visitors to enter and tour the Mansion, so Lolcat decided to hop in and explore the building.

The first floor is rather small. A few Game Freak employees run up and down the stairs for meetings and discussions, and a side room is occupied by an elderly woman. Lolcat decides to converse with the woman who begins speaking:

"Oh, hello. This suite belongs to the area manager of Game Freak Inc., who is me. So you're Lolcat, right? I've heard about you; I think I watch you trounce Lt. Surge a few weeks ago. You want to finish the Pokemon League challenge, no? Well, you know you'll need to go through Saffron City to get a Badge, and it'll be pretty hard to do so with all the rioting and firefights. However, I can help if you wish. You see, I have in my possession a cup of Hot Tea. In the Pokemon games, you can bribe Policemen with it. However, in this freaky Nuzlocke mode, you have to throw the Tea in a Policeman's face and then run like hell into Saffron City. Do you understand, son? This Tea is like four hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and it'll temporarily blind the cops. However, it'll take me about a month to finish brewing. So remember me in a month, Lolcat!"

Hmm...ass kicking grannies? Cool. After writhing in fear of what that senior citizen could do with all her money and tea, Lolcat proceeds up the stairs to the second floor. This floor contained a meeting room, but it's currently not in use so Lolcat simply walked up the stairs to the penultimate floor. This floor is a bit more lively; a large group of people discussing their most recent game. Lolcat, a big fan of video games, asks for a moment of their time.

One rather stout man acknowledges Lolcat, stating that "I'm on the team for this game called Pokemon! It'll be a huge hit! It's about this guy who travels this land called Kanto to collect Bedges and win a beast fighting tournament!"

Lolcat replied, "Can't we already do that in real life?"

The next member of the team declares that "I programmed all the areas! There's a place called Mt. Moon, Diglett's Cave, even a place based off of Celadon City! It's called Celadon City!"

Lolcat replied again, "Uh, again, all those places already exist in real life, why do we need a game to do exactly what we do normally?"

"Uh, I don't really know! But this interview is over, I need to finish designing this place called Celadon Mansion!"

Lolcat decides to leave those...eccentric gentlemen... alone for a while and check out the top floor. The top floor is simply a rooftop with a small shack on top. The sign on the shack read "I KNOW EVERYTHING" in capital letters. Intrigued at the inhabitant's bold claim, Lolcat decided to enter the shack. The inside is a single room with a blackboard detailing the finer points of trading Pokemon, and a Pokeball containing an Eevee. Lolcat began to question the man:

"So, sir, could you please detail how to trade Pokemon with others?"

The man replied, "Oh, sure. So, you take a Pokemon and give it to someone else. Then you get one from that person. Done. Want my Eevee?"

"Uh...I'll think about it." replied Lolcat.

Deciding that the excursion to Celadon Mansion is over, Lolcat treks down the stairs and south to the Rocket Game Corner. The casino is smack-dab in the middle of town and consists of two buildings: the casino itself and a building where one can redeem Coins for prizes. Since the redemption center is closest to the entrance, Lolcat decides to see what prizes the Game Corner has to offer. The shelves are stocked with Technical Machines, Pokeballs with prize Pokemon inside, and hold items. The prize Pokemon are Abra, Clefairy, Dratini, Scyther, and Porygon, but only Abra and Clefairy are usable really
and come at levels 6 and 13, respectively. Therefore, Lolcat chooses to go back and take up that Eevee fellow on his offer. Back at Celadon Mansion...

"Can I have the Eevee?"

"Yeah. Go evolve it at the Dept. Store."

Lolcat walked for a few minutes down the paved roads of Celadon City until he came to a skyscraper labeled Celadon Dept. Store. The purple building is massive, dwarfing even the Pokemon Mansion. Lolcat slid through the automatic glass doors and found a directory leading him to the fourth floor: Wise Man Gifts, where there was a sale on Evolution Stones. The stones are rather expensive at 2100 Pokedollars each, but Lolcat has amassed almost seventy thousand in the past few months so he makes the purchase.

Gloom and Eevee are released from their Pokeballs. A Leaf Stone is removed from the Bag, and Gloom starts feeling a bit dizzy. The flower Pokemon starts to morph into a similar beast, but the evolved form contains five large petals on top of its head. The final-stage beast then lets out a roar of "VILE...PLUME!!" and retreats back into its Pokeball.

Eevee is the next Pokemon. Lolcat says a quick prayer, "Wartortle...This friend shall carry on your legacy." and exposes the little dog to a Water Stone. The evolved beast is blue and rubbery on the outside, and yells it's new name: "Va...por....eON!" However, Lolcat isn't finished with his new teammate. Since Vaporeon only knows Normal-type moves from Eevee, Lolcat withdrew a Water Pulse TM from his bag and placed it on Vaporeon, teaching him (Vaporeon is male) a strong Water attack.

Lolcat then descends the stairs to the second floor where TMs are sold, picking up a Secret Power TM at the stand. Fearow needs a better Normal attack than Fury Attack. The excursion to the Department store is complete, so Lolcat decides to finish his trip to the Game Corner. Back inside the casino, Lolcat spies a new face in the area, and not one that he wants to see. A Team Rocket operative, cloaked in black, is lifting a poster and installing a switch behind the poster. With a revitalized hatred for Team Rocket, Lolcat boldly steps up to the man and says,

"Hey, Rocket goon! I don't want you in Celadon, so why don't you get lost?!"

The Rocket grunt replied in a chilling, deep voice.

"Oh, you're here at last, Mr. Lolcat? I don't like to be kept waiting. You have made an enemy of Team Rocket, and likewise Team Rocket has made an enemy of you ever since we suffered that...setback...in Mt. Moon. Now, Team Rocket shall not be leaving Celadon, as it's the largest Team Rocket-controlled area in Kanto. Did you know that over one-eighth of Celadon is affiliated with us? Look on the streets. You find us. Look in the houses. You find us. Now, if you wish to meet with our leader, you must defeat me. Name your game."

Lolcat thought hard about this challenge, and picked the one game he couldn't lose at:

"The game...is Pokemon."

Lolcat sent forth the team's newcomer: Vaporeon. The Rocket Grunt sent out a Raticate to meet a watery grave. Vaporeon kills with Water Pulse. Zubat also dies to Water Pulse. GG, Rocket dude.

"Hmm...your Vaporeon is powerful indeed. Fine, you have the right to enter the Rocket Hideout, but I shall give you no more guidance than that. If you are worthy of meeting our leader, you will find him yourself. Fail, and you won't be escaping the Rocket Hideout anytime soon....heh."

The switch behind the poster revealed a flight of stairs leading under the Game Corner. The area underneath the Corner, however, was unlike anything Lolcat has ever seen before. The floors are coated in metal and produce considerable noise when stepped on, so Lolcat makes sure only to tiptoe across the building. The stairs back to the Game Corner immediately receded in order to conceal the Rocket Hideout from the denizens of Celadon.

The entire complex is located underground, of course. Lolcat stands between two flights of stairs: One leading back to the surface which Lolcat can activate at any time, the other leading further down. The first floor also branched in three other directions, so there are four possible courses of action. Since the stairs leading to the second underground level are the closest, Lolcat descends further into the Rocket lair.

The second underground floor is similar to the first. The stairs deposit Lolcat on the eastern side of the floor, and to the right is a lone Rocket guard watching over this side of the floor. Deciding that he could probably take him in a Pokemon battle, Lolcat releases Vaporeon and challenges this Grunt to a duel.

Both Trainers possessed five Pokemon, but the Grunt's Pokemon are much weaker at only Level 17. Vaporeon one-shotted the team of five with five Water Pulses, growing a level in the process. Lolcat sent Vileplume to use Sleep Powder on the defeated guard so that he couldn't notify his cronies of Lolcat's presence. The path split into two: to the north was another staircase leading further underground, and to the west is a maze of walls, tiles, and Rocket Grunts. The north passage looks much safer, so Lolcat decides to venture further down into the Rocket Hideout.

The third floor is much like the previous two. Lolcat tread lightly on the metal floors up to a door leading south. Fearing that it could be a trap, he opened the door only an inch, but a Rocket Grunt immediately saw him and sent out a Machop. In an instant, Lolcat countered with his Vaporeon and sent the little fighter packing with a single Water Pulse.The Grunt sent out another Machop, but Vaporeon was too strong for the Grunt and the second Machop was felled with a single attack. However, instead of storming off, the Rocket Grunt stares straight at Lolcat, piercing him with his emotionless face. Then, a grin appeared on the defeated criminal's face. He began to speak with a booming, almost joyous tone which frightened Lolcat:

"Ha! Hahaha! Oh, noooo! I've been defeated in a little Pokemon fight! Lolcat, do you really think you can get through the Rocket Warehouse alive? Your stealth failed you! That guy guarding the poster sent a message to our master, who notified us all that you're coming! Now, every step you take, every door you open, every noise you hear might just be a trap the Rockets set just for you! And you'll need a Lift Key to get to the boss anyway, and good luck finding a Grunt who has one of those! Heh, you're as good as dead! See ya, Lolcat!"

Stealth wouldn't help Lolcat anymore now, so Lolcat quit tiptoeing and started dashing wherever he went. First, Lolcat continued following the snaking path behind the Grunt he just defeated, and sadly enough it's a dead end, so Lolcat simply returned to the staircase and ran down the other hall. The path turned south, and Lolcat passed by countless machines with flashing lights. Alarms.

Just great.

The path did not branch until Lolcat arrived at another maze filled with green movement tiles. Movement tiles are tiles with arrows on it that propel whoever steps on them in a certain direction. This Hideout is filled with them in order to slow down intruders. Lolcat realizes that the best way to finish these mazes is through trial and error, so he runs into the maze and is propelled south into a dead end. Obviously, that was the wrong way.

The maze is rather small, so Lolcat could see the entire maze without having to arrive in many dead ends. The other tile leads to the west, and then south. Lolcat eventually circles the entire area until the last tile deposits him on the other side of the floor.

Right in front of a Rocket guard.

Vaporeon leads off in the inevitable battle, and the Grunt counters with a frightening Rattata, who is dispatched by a Water Pulse. Second, a Raticate emerges from the Grunt's Pokeball, but is taken down by a Water Pulse-Quick Attack combo. Third on the man's team is a Drowzee. Water Pulse does not KO and the annoying Psychic attacks Vaporeon with Hypnosis. Vaporeon endured four attacks as he slept, which Lolcat deemed to be bs hax.

The rest of the area is devoid of Rocket Grunts and only contains two significant features: a movement tile back to the beginning of the third floor, and a staircase that leads to the bottom (fourth) floor of the lair. Deciding to explore further, Lolcat moves down the stairs and onto the bottom floor.

This part of the fourth floor is only one room with only one Rocket Grunt inside. Lolcat charged up to the man with Vaporeon and demanded a battle. The Grunt possessed two Pokemon, a Koffing and a Zubat. Neither Pokemon can survive a Water Pulse from Lolcat's Vaporeon, and Lolcat won the battle quickly.

The Grunt is backed into a dead end, and begins to speak.

"Uh...please...don't hurt me! He-here, t-t-take my Lift Key, it'll let you get to the B-Boss..."

Lolcat snatches the Key from the frightened Grunt and runs up two flights of stairs back to the second floor of the complex, as the third floor has already been explored completely by Lolcat. Back on the second floor, Lolcat knows it's time to face the maze, and this maze is much larger than the one on the third floor. Lolcat steps onto the first movement tile and is immediately propelled west until he runs into another one, moving him south, then east, then north, then west. The tiles restricted Lolcat's movement greatly; all he can do is step on a tile and hope that the tiles lead him to the elevator.

Apparently, the maze is not a maze at all. The tiles keep jetting Lolcat in all different directions, and once a stop tile is reached Lolcat finds himself staring down a stairway to the floor directly underneath the Game Corner.

The room Lolcat is in now is an office populated by a lone pair of Rocket guards. The two guards fail to notice Lolcat, giving the Trainer ample time to survey the area. On the other side of the office is a staircase leading back to the second floor and probably to the elevator. However, the two guards are standing directly in front of the staircase, so Lolcat simply walks by the tables and computers and challenges the black-cloaked Grunts to a battle each.

Vaporeon spams Water Pulse. Now he's out of PP. Aww...

Lolcat's hunch about the elevator was correct. After moving the Water Pulse-less Vaporeon out of the lead slot, Lolcat turns the Lift Key and enters the elevator to the Hideout's inner sanctum on the bottom floor. This room is rather small. Two armed Rocket guards stand in front of a large brass door, and Lolcat's only option is to power his way through the gate. The first Rocket Grunt begins to speak to Lolcat before the battle:

"So, Lolcat. I'm impressed you got this far. As you might suspect, the Boss's office lies right behind this here door. However, this door can only activate if you defeat both of us guards. Your team is undoubtedly quite worn out from your journey through this metallic maze, and I'm sorry to say your journey ends here. Go, Sandshrew!"

A small sand mole emerges from the Pokeball, and Vileplume quickly takes it down with a Bullet Seed. Ekans is the man's second Pokemon, but it too falls before Sleep Powder and nine Bullet Seed strikes. Sandslash cannot withstand the force behind the vile flower's seeds either, and the battle is quickly won.

The second guard offers a few words before the battle too.

"Lolcat, Team Rocket is a gigantic criminal team. And with master Giovanni behind it, you cannot hope to end us. Look at the great works we have performed in Saffron or Lavender. One kid, even a great Trainer, cannot stop us alone. Even if I fall in our battle, GIOVANNI WILL DEFEAT YOU! Ekans, go!"

Ekans emerges, and Graveler steps forward to counterattack. Though Ekans Intimidates Graveler, the rock beast still strikes it down with a Magnitude 8. Sandshrew is defeated by two Magnitude 7's, and the last Arbok cannot stand up to a Magnitude 5 followed by a 7, though the cobra successfully landed two one-damage Poison Sting attacks during the battle. Graveler was not poisoned.

The brass door lifted, and a lone man, surrounded by machines and ornate plants, is seen typing on his computer. Hearing the door opening, he sets down the computer and waits for Lolcat to challenge him. Lolcat, hoarse with rage at Team Rocket, starts delivering a pre-battle invective at the criminal:

"You...you utter MONSTER! How dare you send your legion of criminals to do what they did?! You single-handedly caused the death of thousands of innocent citizens of Saffron and wracked the Pokemon Tower! And for what? A little cash? A little power? You're a sick man, Giovanni, and I'm about to do to you what you did to those innocent people. Go, Graveler!"

Giovanni did not have the chance to speak, but instead threw out a single Pokeball containing an Onix. The rock snake began the battle by hardening its exterior enough to survive Graveler's Magnitude 5. The snake then took the offensive with a pitiful Rage attack, but a Magnitude 10 put the Pokemon out of its misery. Giovanni spoke.

"Hm. You're good. But check this beast out."

A Kangaskhan emerged from the Pokeball. Kangaskhan began the round with a Fake Out, and Graveler couldn't recuperate from the blow, giving the giant enough time to unleash a Bite attack. Lolcat then ordered the Graveler to shake the ground again, but the Magnitude 5 barely scratched the Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan continued the duel with another Bite attack, but Graveler didn't even flinch at the move and unleashed a Magnitude 4. Continuing the strategy, Kangaskhan raises its mouth and chomps down on the Rock type Pokemon, scoring a critical hit and flinching her at the same time.

"Bs Hax", announces Lolcat.

Lolcat sees the critical Bite scored twenty-four points of damage and Graveler still has twenty-seven hit points left, so Lolcat decided it was safe to land another Magnitude. Kangaskhan used Mega Punch which did only eleven points, and Magnitude 8 took Kangaskhan's health to about one-third. However, Graveler began to get a bit dizzy and let out a weak cry of "Grrr.....avvv", so Lolcat withdrew the rock beast.

"You did great, Graveler! Time to send in the relief! Go, Fearow!"

The Parent Pokemon unleashed another Bite attack on Fearow, but Fearow barely noticed it as she countered with Secret Power, fully paralyzing Kangaskhan. Lolcat almost felt bad for the hax but remembered those Magnitude 4's and the critical hits.

"Hmm...Even my Kangaskhan? Very well then, meet your demise, Lolcat! Go, Rhyhorn!"

"Ugh, a Rhyhorn?” thought Lolcat "Perfect time for Vaporeon to come in if Water Pulse wasn't out of PP..."

Lolcat called Fearow back and unleashed Vileplume, enduring a Tail Whip on the switch.

"This is going to feel SO good..." spoke Lolcat, as he ordered a Bullet Seed to stop the beast in its tracks. This battle is over.

The defeated Rocket Boss spoke with his head down and tears streaming down his face. "Lolcat, you might have won Celadon from us...but this is NOT THE END OF TEAM ROCKET! You will rue the day you messed with the greatest crime syndicate in Kanto!"

Lolcat, not missing a beat, spoke just two simple words.

"Vileplume, kill."

Vileplume readied her Bullet Seeds, but before she could fire off an attack, Giovanni pressed a red button on the table in front of him and a trapdoor opened underneath him. Giovanni then fell down the hatch, far out of Vileplume's range.

Lolcat had won the battle, but Team Rocket is winning the war.


END OF PART EIGHT

Team:

Alive

---

Graveler, Lv. 31, Careful
-Rollout
-Magnitude
-Rock Throw
-Defense Curl

Graveler has been doing pretty well this challenge. He needed a bit of grinding at first but his Physical walling and sweeping capabilities secure him a solid spot on this team

Vileplume, Lv. 31, Naive
-Sleep Powder
-Absorb
-Bullet Seed
-Acid

Vileplume, thanks to Sleep Powder, is probably the team's MVP. Though her moves are weak, they're good enough to get by at this point in the game and once she gets Giga Drain...

Dugtrio, Level 32, Careful
-Dig
-Mud-slap
-Sand Tomb
-Fury Swipes

Didn't see any action this update because he doesn't need much training, but once I'm done grinding this guy will be a real leader for the team

Fearow, Lv.31, Jolly
-Secret Power
-Aerial Ace
-Fury Attack
-Leer

Great as always, though I wish he hit a bit harder. Fearow only saw a little action this update as the main focus was training Graveler and Vaporeon. Speaking of which,

Vaporeon, Lv. 28, Serious
-Water Pulse
-Sand-attack
-Quick Attack
-Growl

Terrible moveset apart from Water Pulse, but it'll get Bite soon, and after that it gets Surf. Currently the lowest level because it was obtained at Lv. 25 when the rest of the team was higher.

Boxed

---

Assorted weak Pokemon and Meowth Pickup slaves. Meowths are pretty kitty cats and I like cats meow meow nyan meow!

Dead

---

Wartortle, Lv. 21
Butterfree, Lv. 19
Butterfree, Lv. 13

Well, Smogon. Thanks again for the last year and 1000 posts. And thanks again Nuzlocke Thread, here's a ~6500 word present for you! I hope it's not terrible!

[ginganinja]

haha love the update Lolcat well done

also

FLAMESTRIKE WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU

Right chaps its been a while but im back down. To make up for my shocking absence you have a massive update to enjoy with not 1, not 3 but THREE Gym battles. This took me fucking ages to type up so I hope you like it!

Gardenia

---

With a strong team, all of which had good matchups against Gardenia, I was ready to take on the second Gym. Fighting through here trainers was downright easy and provided a wonderful way of strengthening my team as well as teaching my ways to overcome Grass pokemon. In moments I had made it to Gardenia when the battle for my second badge began!

Gardenia led with her Turtwig while I led with my powerful starter Vulcan. Pretty confident, I ordered a powerful Flame Wheel. Vulcan spun into a ball and rocketed toward Turtwig. Full credit to Gardenia, she moved fast, “Turtwig Reflect now!”, Turtwig flashed up a screen of energy which took the brunt of the Flame Wheel. The recoil from the attack send Turtwig spinning into the air however it landed lightly on its feet, slightly hurt, but not crippled like I had hoped for. With my physical attacks halved for a short period of time, I needed a new plan to take this thing, fortunately, I had came prepared. “Vulcan use Ember!” I cried. A stream of flame blasted out from Vulcan speeding toward Turtwig. Again, despite facing a powerful super effective attack Gardenia seemed unconcerned. Turtwig simply dodged the fiery blast before it began to glow with light. Suddenly there was a blaze of light and a massive heat wave rolled across the gym. I realised Gardenia had unleashed Sunny Day although I was at a loss as to how it help her in this situation. As I prepared myself for a second attempt at Ember Turtwig glowed again, the scent of flowers filling the air. I silently swore to myself. Scent of flowers… well I knew what that meant; she had something with Flower Gift on her team and it was now boosting Turtwig’s Attack and Special Defence stat. Everything clicked into place and I realised this was Gardenia’s plan all along, shrug off hits and then make use of Turtwig’s boosted attacks while I failed to dent it. To make things worse Turtwig was damn fast which meant I had an uphill battle.

Gardenia, having carried out her strategy, was hardly going to give me time to think my way out of this one, ordering a powerful Razor Leaf. Vulcan dodged quickly before unleashing a second Ember which Turtwig again, easily dodged. While this was going on my brain was flashing through all the possibilities for me to get out of this. There was no way Gardenia could realistically beat Vulcan 1 on 1, Vulcan was too fast and powerful, eventually it would win. What Gardenia was trying to do however, was tire out and weaken Vulcan enough for the rest of her team to beat it. Well if that’s what she wanted that was what she was going to get. With a plan set I ordered a Mach Punch, Gardenia watched in confusion as Vulcan shot forward with a lightning fast jab. It slammed into Turtwig which did not even flinch thanks to Reflect. It took advantage of the close proximity to slam it with a Razor Leaf. With the pokemon now close together, I unleashed an Ember, again to my frustration Turtwig easily dodged and slammed Vulcan with a second Razor Leaf, this one stronger than the others, a critical hit!

Gardenia gave a smirk as she saw the pounding Vulcan was taking. Vulcan struggled back up and I gave Gardenia a smirk of my own. Vulcan flashed once, and a burst of flame erupted from its body, Even standing a few meters away, I had to avert my eyes and take a few steps back such was the intensity of the inferno. Vulcan had taken hit after hit and now my secret weapon, Blaze, had activated. As a bonus, Sunny Day was still active as well, boosting the power even more. Gardenia paused in her assault, trying to figure out how to counter this. It took her a few seconds to find out there wasn’t one. Rolling into a ball again Vulcan slammed into Turtwig with all the power it could muster into a Flame Wheel. Even through Reflect Turtwig gave a scream of pain as the flames scoured its body. It bounced a few times along the ground, having fainted the moment the attack connected.

By my calculations Sunny Day was still active for one more turn while Reflect had gone which meant one more turn of destruction. Giving a sigh Gardenia sent out Cherrim which Vulcan promptly smashed into the ground with a second Flame Wheel. With that final attack, the blaze of sunlight faded, Vulcans powerful fire attacks losing there boost. Gardenia was visibly upset at the ease of which Vulcan had smashed through her plan but like a true Gym Leader, she controlled herself sending out Roserade as her final pokemon. I glanced at the fighting flower and could tell it was pretty fast. It looked strong too and while I could likely destroy it with a Flame Wheel, If it was faster it might be able to take me out before I could hit it. Giving a shrug I recalled Vulcan, its work done.

I threw a ball and Vespa appeared at my side. With a massive resistance to Grass attacks as well as being exceptionally bulky, I knew there was nothing Gardenia could do. Roserade blasted Vespa with a flurry of Poison Stings; however Vespa ducked in close, administering a sharp Bug Bite and stealing Roserades Berry. Roserade launched a flurry of leaves at Vespa but again, the attack was shrugged off and Vespa hit back with a powerful Gust, picking up Roserade and throwing it several feet. A second Gust put it out of its misery, the badge was mine.

Heartbreak

---

I was still on a high after winning my battle so decided to cruise over to the Galactic hideout. There I met Jupiter, a rather nasty woman who insisted on stealing pokemon. I had no time for people like her as Swift and Vespa combined to devastate her team. With Team Galactic eradicated from that part of town I readied myself to depart the City. However, before leaving I encountered a beautiful blonde lady who gave me a egg to hatch. Well I just love new team members so I carried it along, as well as Chaos the Magikarp who I planned on evolving.

I was im pretty high spirits when I left, I had captured a few new pokemon, my team was strong, and I had 2 Badges. However suddenly, tragedy struck. I was battling a trainer on Cycling Road when my beloved Swift died to a critical hit from a Ponyta. Utterly devastated with the loss of a powerful friend I carried onwards regardless, catching Jazz the Gible and Scorpius the Gliscor to patch up some holes in the team. Again however, I was to be cursed with both of them falling to critical hit Self Destructs from wild Geodude as I was training them up.

I was furious with myself, after a flawless journey through Johto I had gotten overconfident and now my friends had paid the price as well as perhaps my chances at winning. I threw myself back into training when Chaos finally evolved into the monster he was destined to be. As if to provide me with some small hope, my precious egg hatched into a Togepi. I had managed to get one back in Johto but never used it. I decided to put it to good use this time and began to train it up. To my delight, it evolved into a cute Togetic which gave me a new flying type to replace Swift. I also managed to get an Eevee from Hearthome City which I also put in my party as a pokemon that could replace a fallen member. With my team members appropriately trained up to a respectable level, I prepared myself for the chilling Hearthome Gym.

Fantina

---

Put simply. Hearthome Gym was a nightmare. With 2 normal pokemon in my party as well as Vulcan the fighting type I knew that I would be in a massive disadvantage going into this fight. Fantina led off with the powerful ghost type Duskull while I started off with my faithful friend and powerhouse, the mighty Vulcan. I glanced at the sceptre across from me and could tell that it had a bulky build. Knowing that smashing it with powerful attacks was the only way I ordered a Flame Wheel. Vulcan tucked itself into a ball but was then smashed into out of nowhere from Duskull. I was shocked and confused, for Duskulls attack had been lightning quick and taken me by surprise. Duskull vanished again but this time Vulcan was ready for it. Instead of rolling forwards Vulcan rolled backwards, smacking Duskull with a Flame Wheel as it tried to sneak up behind!

Duskull went rolling through the air taken completely by surprise from the attack. Before it could recover, Vulcan hit it again with a second Flame Wheel, and then a third. Duskull was slow to recover nevertheless struggled back lashing out with its fish to discourage Vulcan from getting too close.

Personally I was fine with this as Vulcan blasted Duskull with an Ember, Duskull vanished again and I knew it was going to try a Shadow Sneak. Thinking quickly I quickly gave an order. Vulcan spun like a top, launching his Ember in all directions when there was a muffled noise and Duskull was struck again. Weakened, I ordered one last Flame Wheel which struck Duskull directly in the chest knocking it out.

With a lead in this gym battle I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Fantina sent out a Haunter to take down Vulcan. Under the poor lighting in the gym Haunter then promptly vanished from sight and I gave a small groan of frustration. Vulcan would be a pretty easy target in the dark, if only I could see that blasted Haunter. I took a glance at Vulcans health level before coming to a sudden decision. Vulcan prepared itself for a Flame Wheel as I searched the gym for any sign of Haunter. I figured we had one shot at this and needed to make it count.

Suddenly Haunter appeared from behind Vulcan, raking its back with a fist of shadow. Vulcan gave a screech of pain before flames erupted from its body. As before in Eterna City, Blaze had activated. The flames speared from Vulcans body. Lighting up the gym, turning it from light, to dark. Haunter gave a cry of pain and Vulcan, upon seeing Haunter, struck hard with a Blaze boosted Flame Wheel. The sheer power of the attack proving to much for the rather frail ghost leaving Fantina with one remaining pokemon.

Fantina sent out her final pokemon, a Mismagius. At a glance I could tell it was fast and powerful. Despite having a massive power increase I feared for Vulcans safety and so sent him back to his ball, before sending out my teams strongest member, the mighty Chaos.

With a Roar Chaos entered the battlefield. Chaos had a long memory and was still furious over the deaths of my past team members. Right now, it looked like it was planning to take its frustrations out on Mismagius just as hoped.

Mismagius acted first due to its superior speed. Fantina ordered its most strongest attack, a powerful Shadow Ball. The ball of energy smashed into Chaos which reeled before, to both myself and Fantina’s smazement, shrugged off the blow and blasted Mismagius with a golden ball of energy, a powerful Dragon Rage, the attack crippling Mismagius. Horror-struck, Fantina tried a second Shadow Ball but again, Chaos took the attack like it was nothing striking back hard with its jaws crushing the fight out of Mismagius winning me the Cobble Badge.

The victory over Fantina was very significant. Firstly and most importantly, it meant that the sacrifice of Swift, Scorpius, and Jazz had not been in vain. The victory also brought closer to that part of my journey as I felt able to move on. Secondly the win also cemented Chaos as the teams powerhouse.

Maylene

---

I continued on, catching pokemon but not adding to my team, until I captured a Ralts (Blade) and Duskull (Alec). Those two pokemon had potential and so I decided that they could be of good use. Blade soon evolved into a Kirlia which was pretty cool. It turns out that it was just as well I trained my party up to decent levels. It was a bitch just getting to Veilstone facing trainer after trainer while the double battle right at the end was just brutal. Utterly exhausted I finally entered Veilstone City.

Veilstone was a pretty large city and I wasted no time in buying the TM for Fire Blast as a gift to Vulcan for all its hard work. The next Gym was in this town but I ignored it for now, continuing onwards into Pastoria City catching pokemon while training up my current team. When I reached Pastoria City I played a Safari game before returning to Veilstone. It was time to get this gym badge.

Maylene had some strong underlings I reflected as Blade swept through them. It was frustrating as I had to return to the pokemon centre a few times to heal but eventually I stood firm before Maylene. A Fighting type gym leader I knew that Blade was my best bet against this Gym Leader, with Chaos and Vulcan excellent back ups. Squaring my shoulders I stepped forward and issued my challenge.

Maylene led with a powerful Meditite, a pokemon I knew had the ability Huge Power giving it massive power. Trying to give of an aura of confidence I threw my ball, and Blade appeared at my side. Like much of my team, Blade had gotten very strong, so strong that it evolved at dawn at Pastoria City. Instead of a lithe dancer Blade had 2 powerful Sword arms and had developed fighting type characteristics. Striking first Maylene ordered a powerful Fake Out, Meditite leaped forwards, catching Blade on the back foot and hitting it with a powerful blow causing it to flinch backwards. Suddenly Blade flashed once and rallied as its Steadfast kicked in. It stood tall, still hurt but now a bit faster in battle. “Meditite Rock Tomb” Maylene called as boulders began flying into the air towards Blade. “Blade, Swords Dance now!” I ordered. Blade strode forwards before sinking into a meditative pose. The rocks were only bar seconds before impact when Gallade began to move. Its swords flashed around slicing into the rocks moving toward it. It dodged and whirled and the air began to hum around it. Faster and faster it whirled around almost as if it was in a trance and when the rocks finally stopped Blade was unhurt, surrounded on all sides by rubble.

Maylene looked on in amazement. Her attack had been rendered useless, and now Blade was even stronger. Blade looked completely calm before suddenly leaping forward its blades flashing, slamming into Meditite and knocking it out. For a long while Maylene stated at her fallen Meditite completely stunned at Blades power. She threw a ball and a Machoke appeared. Maylene screamed an order but Blade was too quick, too fast and the blades were moving again slamming into Machoke, the Psycho Cut proving too strong.

Maylene now looked utterly lost. She had no idea what to do against Blade, she had no plan, no strategy no nothing. Lucario was her last, with a word it considered Blade standing across from it, before leaping forward and lashing out with a Metallic strike. A flash of movement, the strike blocked while Blade calmly stared Lucario. Letting out a small snarl, Lucario struck again, and again, launching into a flurry of strikes designed to cripple Blade. The series of blows was so ferocious Blade began to give ground, its arms flashing to intercept every blow. Lucario hurled everything he had at Blade driving it against the Gym wall, preventing it from retreating. For a brief second the two pokemon were almost standing toe to toe, both launching lightning fast strikes and counter strikes. Sweat began to pour from Lucario while Blade looked as cool as ever.

Exhausted, Lucario lashed out with a quick punch, it was weak, poorly directed and Blade punished the error, dodging the blow and nailing Lucario with a stunning blow sending it skidding across the ground. Painfully, Lucario got to its feet and it stared long and hard at Blade. In response Blade abruptly shifted its stance ever so slightly. Whereas before Blade had been all about defence it was clear to both Maylene and I that Blade was now standing in an offensive stance, ready to finish this fight. Lucario snarled again and charged forward, Blade doing the same as the two pokemon rushed each other. There was a thunderous crash as they collided, Lucario lashing out with lightning fast jabs, each strike capable of crippling Blade. However, when Lucario was lightning fast, Blade was invisible. None of those strikes connected and suddenly it was Lucario on the defensive however it had no chance. In a matter of seconds Blade overwhelmed Lucarios defence, it deflected a loose punch skywards before slashing out with both its blades in a horizontal motion, the strikes catching Lucario just under the chest picking it up and throwing it through the air to land on its back, knocking it out. Blade watched Lucarios still form for a moment more, then inclined its head slightly before bowing at the waist. As it returned to its ball with a flash of red light I could only marvel at Blades prowess. Maylene had been defeated, and Wake was next…

Team

---

Alec the Dusclops (Male)
Lv 33
Naughty
-Pursuit
-Shadow Sneak
-Will-o-wisp
-Curse

Alec is the teams defensive backbone. Alec takes many a hit and has access to many excellent utility moves such as Curse and, just recently, Will-o-Wisp. Despite being one of the highest levelled pokemon in my party Alec is rather shy and constantly underrats himself. I am intending to give him practise in a high intensity situation by using him my gym battle with Wake and hopefully he will gain in confidence. With a bit of luck he might evolve soon too.

Chaos the Gyarados (Male)
Lv 29
Relaxed
-Bite
-Tackle
-Twister
-Dragon Rage

Chaos is the teams powerhouse. Destroying Fantina's Mismagous, the pokemon I had been fearing the most was exceptionally important. Intimidate lets him also work offensivly and defensivly, helping cushion hits for the rest of the team to switch in. Chaos also packs immeasurable power either OHKOing or 2KOing everything and as such I rely on him a lot. He evolved soon after Swift perished and as such knows the feeling of loss. He works hard and I might play a key part in a battle against Wake

Blade the Gallade (Male)
Lv 33
Careful
-Confusion
-Swords Dance
-Psycho Cut
-Magical Leaf

Blade might not be a full powerhouse yet (needs a bit more physical attacks first) but he has potential and really destroyed Maylene by himself. Swords Dance makes him exceptionally threatening from the start of the battle while his excellent special bulk is just what this team needs. Blade is a very polite individual, a master of courtesy. To this end he does not speak much and gets slightly irritated by Vulcans antics sometimes. Blade has earned the role of co-leader as he is calm enough to make excellent decisions. Selfless and Loyal Blade is one member of my team that I can always rely on in the heat of battle to stand up and fight like a man.

Vulcan the Monferno (Male)
Lv 30
Hardy
-Fire Blast
-Flame Wheel
-Mach Punch
-Scratch

Vulcan is the team leader and has matured during his time on the team. My first team member Vulcan time and time again overpowers his opponents no matter what the situation. Destroying 2/3s of Fantinas team was magical as well as his control of the powerful Blaze ability. Recently he became unhappy at his slight lack of power compared to Blade and Chaos and so he learnt Fire Blast to pack more of a punch. Not far off from evolving Vulcan is still set to continue destroying things with his powerful fire attacks for some time yet.

Cyro

---

Mark the Psyduck (Lv 6)
NightWing the Zubat (Lv 4)
Shelly the Shellos (Lv 9)
Dash the Ponyta (Lv 7)
Ron the Geodude (Lv 5)
Worm the Wurmple (Lv 5)
Zeke the Buizel (Lv 10)
Alex the Bronzor (Lv 14)
Dew the Budew (Lv 12)
Bruce the Machop (Lv 14)
Kirk the Gastly (Lv 15)
Nip the Bibarel (Lv 20)
Rose the Roselia (Lv 21)
Zips the Yanma (Lv 27)
Azu the Marill (Lv 20)
Jade the Hippopotas (Lv 22)
Vespa the Vespiquen (Lv 27)
Toxin the Croagunk (Lv 29)
Celeste the Togetic (Lv 31)
Frost the Eevee (Lv 28)

Dead

---

Swift the Staravia (Lv 23)
Jazz the Gible (Lv 20)
Scorpius the Gligar (Lv 22)

[Flamestrike]

Posting to prevent ginga from double-posting and to say that I'm grinding for the second gym and am hoping to get my next update done soon. Mainly because ginga will likely kill me if I don't get it done soon ;_;

[Quagsires]

<Flamestrike> i'm grinding

At least he's somewhere...

[ginganinja]

I stood outside the Pastoria City Gym and spared a moment for reflection. If I won here, I would have my 5th badge. Unfortuatly, my team was severely underleveled compared with the levels a 5th badge Gym Leader would likely have, in addition, my Vulcan, such a key member of the party, would be unusable in this battle. As much as I wanted things to be “fair” I knew that I needed at least a one pokemon advantage over Wake if I could have a chance of winning. I checked out my pokemon sitting in Cryo and remembered Vespa who was always there for me when I needed it most. Hoping Vespa would bring me good luck I withdrew it and entered the Gym.

Wakes Gym had a lot of Trainers but it was good experience for my team as we sought to gain as much experience before the battle with Wake. All too soon however, the trainers were defeated and I stood before Wake. Unlike in most of my Gym battles, I actually had a plan of sorts going into this battle and I hoped to hell it would work.

I issued my challenge and thew a ball, Vespaquin appeared at my side looking apprehensively at me. Wake gave a great booming laugh before throwing a ball, a flash of light and my worst nightmare, a Gyarados appeared. I swallowed hard. Owning a Gyarados myself I knew just how powerful they could be and Vespa was a horrific 6 levels below it. I tried to keep clam. I have a plan I told myself and most of it relied heavily on putting absolute trust in Vespa. I let out a deep breath… and Gyarados struck.

Gyarados blasted forward, smashing into Vespa with a watery tackle. Vespa spun in the air, the attack doing massive damage but she pulled through before lashing out with an attack of her own. A Toxic had struck slamming into Gyarados which would slowly cripple it over time.

With Gyarados crippled I rewarded Vespa with a small smile. Wake, furious at the status now afflicting his sea serpent, ordered a powerful Waterfall. A flash of light, Vespa was gone and in its place appeared Chaos, my own Gyarados joining the fray. The attack bounced off harmlessly and Wake gave a grunt of annoyance. His own Gyarados jumped out of the water, its Fangs bared. Another flash of light, and Vespa appeared again surviving the Bite attack barely holding on. Confused, Wake ordered a Brine and again I withdrew Vespa, bringing Chaos back out.

By now the confusion on Wakes face was gone, he had realised my plan. By intimidate switching I was decreasing the attack power of his Gyarados while Toxic slowly weakened it. I watched Wake carefully, Phase 1 of the plan was complete and Phase 2 would only work if Wake thought he knew my plan. If he switched out it was all over. Wake himself considered the two Gyarados growling at each other. He knew that I only had 2 pokemon to call on and that Vespa was weakened. He thought some more then gave a shrug, if I was happy to weaken my team on his first pokemon then this battle was as good as over.

Wake ordered an attack and Gyarados charged forward, a flash of light and as expected Chaos disappeared. However instead of Vespa taking the blow a new player entered the battlefield, the mighty Blade who shrugged off the attack like it was nothing. Wake looked bored, he fully expected me to bring back in Chaos like I had before and reacted accordingly, ordering a Waterfall. His Gyarados charged forward however this time there was no withdrawal and Gyarados smashed into Blade hard. Blade faltered, before rallying and flashed its swords threateningly. In a flash Wake understood my full plan. He had initially assumed I was simply Toxic stalling whereas in reality I was simply weakening Gyarados for Blade to go on a rampage. Gyarados charged again but this time Blade was waiting for it, leaping high and easily dodging the attack before flashing his swords again. Horror struck Wake was helpless against a mighty +4 Blade. A flash of swords, and Gyarados was crushed into oblivion. With nothing else to call on Wake sent out his strongest pokemon, the extremely fast Floatzel. I ran a quick calculation and realised that this was literally my best shot at winning this battle, a damaged +4 Blade vs Floatzel winner take all.

The two pokemon watched each other before acting. Floatzel charged forwards, covered in Water and jetting toward Blade at incredible speed. It slammed into Blade, blasting him off his feet. Blade landed hard, gritting his teeth against the pain before trying a wild slash as he rolled away from Floatzel. Fast as Floatzel was, Blade was too close for it to dodge, the powerful Psycho Cut connecting, instantly knocking it out. Blade had gone head to head with Wakes strongest pokemon and still survived.

Wake still had one pokemon left and a Quagsire appeared at his side. Blade was utterly crippled after battling with Floatzel and Gyarados so I withdrew him, chosing Alec to do battle. Wake ordered a Water Pulse whioch connected, slamming Alec against the gym wall. Alec appeared slightly stunned at the sheer power of the blow before shaking himself slightly and blasting Quagsire with powerful Flames, burning it. The successful Will-o-wisp was the final nail in the coffin for Wake and I allowed myself to relax for the first time. My plan had, against all odds, worked out and I sent in Chaos to finsh the job. Quagsire managed to nail a few glancing Rock Tombs on Chaos before it was blasted with a few Dragon Rages, the 5th Badge, mine.

[Wrave]

I decide to wait until night to continue my journey. This time I am not tired. Lyra wants to see me.

I head outside, Cinders by my side.

"Wrave, I am going to show you how to catch a Pokemon," Lyra says as we walk into the grass.

She catches a Rattata and hands me five Pokeball's.

After a small walk I run into a Hoothoot. It is level 2 and so I decide to catch it. I immediately put it in the front of my team to train it. Since it is weak, I have to switch out to train.

I eventually get it up to level 4 after a couple of close calls. Next, I head north to catch a Rattata. It is level 2 again.

I remember there were Spinarak near Mr. Pokemon's house so I head there to catch one. Guess what, you can call me the level 2 trainer as it is level 2.

I realize its late and go back home, Rodent by my side.

TEAM: Cinders lvl 8, Owl lvl 4, Rodent lvl 2 and Lady Arak lvl2.

[Smaug]

I'm doing a Yellow Nuzlocke! Wish me luck!

spoiler tag

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just seeing if this works...

Edit: after completely failing to find my Yellow cartridge, I have decided to Nuzlocke through FireRed instead.

[Smaug]

First update

Intro

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Locke always was a timid boy. From a young age, he demonstrated extreme introversion, preferring to stay inside and play video games or read comic books than go outside. To make matters even worse, the only neighboring boy his age, Gary, seemed to have some deep-seated hatred of him. This hatred manifested itself in the form of not only verbal abuse, but occasional physical beatings as well. No one believed that a boy as "good-natured" as Gary could behave as cruelly as Locke reported. Gary's older sister, Daisy, was kind to Locke, but aside from that, he was essentially ignored or forgotten. Eventually, his only friends were comic book heroes.