Pokemon Blue Nuzlocke Time! (Part 6)

[guardians_song]

Here we are, now in Cerulean City! :D

Off to get our Route 4 catch.


Duplicate clause triggered A LOT in this chunk of grass, to the point that I honestly wondered if Sandshrews were even IN there at one point.

Monarch gets yet another status move.
Wormtail: Do you spend ALL your time in your PokeBall fiddling with powders?
Monarch: My good fellow, refinement is essential to royal leisure activities.

FINALLY we get our first non-duplicate encounter!

Monarch paralyzes it.





Wormtail: Isn't this far from the desert? And the OPPOSITE of "an arid location far from water"?
Fremen Son: Maud'dib led us far from Arrakis. Some of us lost our taste for jihad in this strange land of water, and he left us here in disgust.
Syaoran: ...*nods slowly*


Syaoran: (I wondered who that man was, and why he seemed to be guarding an ordinary cave...)


Syaoran: ...*notes*


Syaoran enjoys the view.


Syaoran: By the way, about that -
Police: Yes, we saw your report about the Rockets in Mt. Moon and faxed it to the Pewter police. We're converging on them right now, but it's a bit hard when our forces are taxed just to keep order within our city... *mutter, mutter*


Syaoran enjoys the view some more, then catches sight of a suspicious man...

Syaoran: (I tried to tell the police about the man, but they snapped at me that an investigation was in progress and didn't have time for interruptions.)


Shaoron makes his appearance.


Syaoran: Let me guess, you've been binging on Homestar Runner again?
Shaoron: I'm NOT inviting you to my future cool retirement community for attractive geezers!


Syaoran: A bab heab-colb. *sneezes*


Syaoran: (Again, I had the sensation of darkness spiraling down upon me, and for an instant, I swore I saw a black aura surrounding Shaoron...)


Syaoran: (...But, if it existed, it vanished in the next moment.)


((I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN I SAW THAT. Seriously, I was afraid I'd mortally misremembered his party levels and he was going to wipe the floor with me. D:))

Petra: *throws up hands* You think YOU'RE annoyed I didn't learn that ten seconds ago?!


Syaoran: Ah, Shaoron, this isn't how you do switch-grind-
Shaoron: SILENCE!



Syaoran: Why didn't you evolve it yet?
Shaoron: Stop asking intelligent questions!









Syaoran: (Though his words were innocuous and I could complain of nothing about his manner, I felt the air grow lighter as he left..)


Syaoran: (He was defeated with relative ease.)
Syaoran: Everyone all right?
Petra: Next time we meet, I'll pay that Pidgeotto back double.


Replenishing supplies.


Syaoran: (I felt noticeably less blue as I departed the city for the bridge to the seaside.)


Syaoran: (I accepted, and the challenge began...)


Petra: Is that all you louts have?!
Monarch: *winces* I'm sorry, countrymen...


Petra: Anyone want pigeon?
Pidgey: Aaaawk! I'm not paid enough for this, lady!


Monarch: A noble performance, if I may say so myself.


Monarch: This is a baron's blow!
Syaoran: Aren't you a, you know, monarch?
Monarch: Yes, but The Song of Roland only has so many lines.


Syaoran: (Afterimages blazed behind my eyelids as Monarch dealt the final blow to its foe...)

Syaoran reaches the end of the bridge without breaking a sweat, thanks to Monarch and Petra's mad skills.


Syaoran: (I grinned at the man, beginning to thank him profusely, but the smile faded from my face with what he said next...)



Syaoran: (I stared at him with inexpressible disgust.)

Syaoran: Do you know what "consent' means?

Syaoran: No, and I'm not accepting any "fabulous free drinks" from you, either.

Syaoran: And I'm telling you that I know a few police officers who would be very interested to overhear you making that offer.

Syaoran: There's nothing you can do to convince me.

Syaoran: Watch me.

Syaoran: (The man's very presence gave me a feeling of oncoming darkness...)

Syaoran: OFFER REFUSED.


Syaoran: I'd rather die.


Finding TMs.


((Well, no Mew trick for me. :P Wouldn't have worked anyway, I don't have Teleport and I wouldn't be bothered to go back when I had Fly.))


Duplicate Clause REALLY starts activating like mad once you already have the common Pokemon...


Ah, so that's what it is. It's just the black screen before you enter battle. *nodnod*




Bell Tolls: ...
Syaoran: ...Pleasure to meet you?
Bell Tolls: ...We know much, we who live by the seaside, and we know...
Syaoran: ...What?
Bell Tolls: ...


Syaoran: Well, non-talkative or not, we think you'll be a help against Misty. Do you mind being on the team?
Bell Tolls: ...Misty is not the danger...
Syaoran: ?

((Petra has left the team due to Misty being supereffective against her. She'll return for the Vermillion City segment.))


Wormtail: Losers have the strangest excuses.
Geodude: Watch it, Normal-type. I still have enough strength left in my body to strangle YOU!


((*grimaces* These two battles went well. However, you see that guy to the far right?

Guess what happened when I tapped the wrong direction when I tried to Speed-Button my way to the Pokecenter?))

Syaoran: (Unfortunately, another boy approached me before I could make it back to safe havens and shelter...)

Syaoran: Reservoir! Hold on!
Reservoir: Head... spinning...


Monarch: Whoof! It may be an uncivilized, unintelligent creature, but its psychic powers are not to be underestimated...


Monarch: ...Fortunately, even if the heart is oblivious, the body collapses.


((LITERALLY... WAS WITHIN A FEW TURNS... OF LOSING SOMEONE...))

((Welcome to Nuzlocke territory!))


Syaoran: My reserves exhausted, I restored my supply of medicines.




Wormtail: Next time a boy approaches us when we're already exhausted... all in favor of ignoring the League rules and running for dear life?
Other Pokemon: *raise hands*


Reservoir: Ma'am, let ME tell you about bad condition -
Monarch: Now, now. Mustn't be rude to the young.
Reservoir: Syaoran is her age!
Wormtail: And how old are you in HUMAN years, again?
Monarch: ...You never ask a royal his age.



Syaoran: (Life was distinctly more pleasant with no level 17 Slowpokes coming out of nowhere.)



Bell Tolls: ...Do not interfere, creature of the sand.




Syaoran: (I looked for Bill, but he appeared to be out. I only saw a rather malformed-looking Pokemon crouching in the corner.

Curiously, I examined the strange machinery, but couldn't understand anything about its function. I did notice "Made in Guardia" inscriptions on the tanks, however, and noted that it seemed to be made by an "Ashtear Co." I assumed that to be some sort of foreign equivalent of the Silph Corporation.

As I left, hoping to come back later and meet Bill whenever he reappeared, the malformed Pokemon approached me, stumbling oddly on its disturbingly human-like limbs...)


Syaoran: (That wasn't a "skeptical look". I thought the poor thing was mentally as well as physically malformed, and was trying to think of how to knock it out without harming it if some minor misstep sent it into an explosive rage.)


Syaoran: (It was horribly plausible, so I consented... privately planning to flee to the Pokecenter and bring back medical personnel if the procedure turned out to harm the creature more than it helped. I had become quite skilled at running to and fro Pokecenters, so I didn't doubt my abilities to get there in time if needed.)


Syaoran: (Thankfully, all turned out to go as the creature had predicted.)


Syaoran: (He rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a slip of laminated paper, strangely covered with matted fur and unknown fluids. At my expression, he immediately cleaned it off and handed it to me with a sheepish grin.)
Bill: Uh, sorry about that. I suppose it didn't take to the fusion too well...


Syaoran: (Incredulous, I accepted gratefully, but Bill wanted one more thing...)


Syaoran: (...He didn't really give me a choice.)


Bill: That's Eevee and its known evolutions. Crazy little guys have wildly unstable DNA, so they react powerfully to radiation from most elemental stones. Ever since they were discovered, science's been absolutely crazy about them. Give 'em a few more years, and I bet we'll discover even more evolutions!


Syaoran: (It's silly, but going back to the city after that seaside stroll made me feel blue...)

The police officer has moved, so Syaoran investigates the situation for himself.


Syaoran: "Basic Movesets, 1st Edition", published by Smogon University Press...


Syaoran: Yes, you.

Syaoran: I can see that Rocket uniform under your trenchcoat.
Rocket: Why you - I'll shut you up!


Syaoran: (His Pokemon were powerful.)


Syaoran: (Mine were more so.)

Syaoran: (His Drowsee used a Confusion attack with the last of its power, and when my vision returned and my head cleared, he was gone...)

Syaoran: Sir, I didn't catch the criminal, but your TM -

Syaoran: ...I can keep it?
Man: Ah, why not? You've earned it, kid! More useful than these dang excuses for police officers we've got in this city...


Syaoran: *replenishes supplies*


Syaoran: Hmm... anyone here able to cut down trees?
Pokemon: Not yet, we aren't.


Syaoran: (I wondered what was wrong with Cerulean. It definitely wasn't my imagination any more. What was that feeling of blue depression hanging over that city?)


Syaoran: Closed?
Guard: ...Closed, kid. ...Don't ask me what's going on. I've been here for days without having my shift relieved, and I've been living off of stale supplies in the back. Something's not... But it's not for me to question orders, anyway. I'm no counterculture brainiac. They don't ask you to think in this job, just do.


Syaoran: (Another guard on another road leading to Saffron said almost exactly the same thing...)


Syaoran: (Fortunately, there was an underground path to Vermilion, so not all travel was closed. Still... shutting down a major city like that? Was there a natural disaster? Surely, someone should have mentioned...)


Duplicate Clause...


((Behold, the Poison screenflash! :D From Monarch, this time. Can't remember from what. L16 Bellsprout got in a Poisonpowder, I think.))


Syaoran: (A woman told me people often lost items in the Underground. She wasn't joking.)




Wormtail: Stop singing to yourself in your Pokeball! It's driving us all to distraction!
Monarch: All right, all right...


Duplicate Clause was REALLY frequent. D| Kanto has a horrible rat and pigeon infestation.

And now, for our first ORIGINAL encounter...


Monarch: Another capture thanks to Yours Truly! And to think you used to let that wretched pigeon mock me!



Xerxes: Hmph. Wander out to conquer the underground, get stuck in a garishly-colored ball. Humans...
Syaoran: Sor-
Xerxes: *is obliviously batting at its Pokeball*
Wormtail: I hate to preach ~species essentialism~ or whatever, but...


Syaoran: He's always ahead of me. :\


Syaoran: You mean, with the Pikachu I don't have?
Aide: Uh... Oh, yeah...



Bell Tolls: ...Those of the water are as nothing to me.


Syaoran: Eh? ...Uh, I'm not interested in a date right now! D:

Jr. Trainer: Okay, maybe I'm not good enough for you...

TRAAAAAAAINING MONTAAAAAAGE








Syaoran: Hurrah, friend! Congratulations on your success!
Queen Aria: Rr, yes...



Queen Aria: ...

Syaoran: Eh? Queen Aria, why are you sniffing around -






Syaoran: !!!
Queen Aria: *flexes newfound arms and stomps about on legs* ...Hello, Syaoran.
Syaoran: ...I see. This is why you knew about the Pokemon who evolve with the touch of the Moon Stone.
Queen Aria: Yes. We... once were a great race, according to legend. But when we came to this world, we lost all that we were and became helpless rabbits, fit only for the weakest to fight, and even those of us who grew to great power were nothing but a faint echo of what we were... Until the tales of our origins became nothing more but a ridiculous creation myth...
Syaoran: ...And this is what your people used to be?
Queen Aria: Yes. I'd heard in legends of those who attained this form, but none of my fellow Nidorans had ever seen any. I... yes, I can feel that this is what I was meant to be...
Syaoran: I take it you were the leader of your group?
Queen Aria: Yes, the Queen of the Route 22 Clan, child of the previous leaders. They didn't... die... Years ago, they just... vanished. And none of us had any idea of where they went.
Syaoran: Captured, do you think?
Queen Aria: ...We don't know.
Syaoran: ...I see. *hefts remaining Moon Stone* Do you know who the other races are who might need this?
Queen Aria: Honestly? No. I suspect the Jigglypuffs of Route 3 and the Clefairies of Mt. Moon are the other races, but we picked up no companions from those areas. I can't be sure.
Syaoran: *puts it back into his pack* Can you tell me anything of the place from which your people came? If you're aliens, then...
Queen Aria: The legends carry no record of our true homeland - it's been too long. I think, trying to make sense of symbolism in the legends, that we were at war with a "Fabletough Alliance". Somehow, our battle brought us to this earth, and, robbed of our power, there we stayed. And I know nothing beyond that.
Syaoran: *takes notes...*






Wormtail: RAWR!



Syaoran: Everyone's g-growing up so fast... *scrubs away tears from eyes and sniffles*

((Ending THIS update early, in case I need to go somewhere imminently. Next part will contain the rest of the training montage screenshots.))

Comments

[sarajayechan]

Bill: That's Eevee and its known evolutions. Crazy little guys have wildly unstable DNA, so they react powerfully to radiation from most elemental stones. Ever since they were discovered, science's been absolutely crazy about them. Give 'em a few more years, and I bet we'll discover even more evolutions!

Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Leafeon and Sylveon: *collective sneeze*

YAY MEOWTH. :D

Nice backstory for Queen Aria there!