Steel and Summer Nuzlocke

Sikka and Katana's personal Nuzlocke runs!

[steelandsummerlocke]

This is the final session of our FireRed/LeafGreen run. To anyone that’s been reading along, thank you so much! We will be starting HeartGold/SoulSilver very soon, so look forward to more from us!

“I don’t really understand why Bill needed us to go with him to One Island. When we arrived he disappeared to work on some networking issue that the islands were having and asked us to deliver a meteorite to someone on another island. We got two Tri-Passes that would allow us to visit One, Two, and Three Island. We took a ferry to Two Island and went to the address given just to find out that the man we were meant to deliver the stone to had no idea where his daughter was, or if she had made it home safely. We offered to go check, because for some reason he wouldn’t. Shitty parents, right? So off we went to Three Island where we discovered that not only was the child not at home, but a biker gang had taken over the town. With the help of our teams we quickly beat them all and pushed them back towards the ferry to go home to Kanto. From there we started our search for the girl, who was in a forest. We had to fight off a Hypno that was preying on her mental energy, but that was easy for ZYNX. We took her home and went back to One Island where Bill was finished with his work. Apparently that was all he needed and decided to take us back to Cinnabar. It was a weird experience.

We left for Viridian the next day, where we knew the last gym to be. When we had been here before the doors were locked, but this time the gym was back open and trainers were inside. The team and I took out the trainers with ease before finally getting to the gym leader. As I walked into the arena I was greeted by no other than Giovanni, the monster behind Team Rocket! This fight meant more than just a badge to us, this man has caused terror across the region for years. In a quick and fierce battle Celeste and Gladiolus took out his entire team. I took the final badge from him before telling him to leave Kanto and never come back. I don’t know how serious he took the threat, but I suppose the team standing behind me helped. From what we heard he locked up the gym and left that night.

Katana was successful in getting her badge as well, and we rested for a couple days before heading off for Victory Road. We walked along the road, stopping at various checkpoints along the way to verify our badges, and eventually came to a massive cave built into the mountains. This was it, the final test of strength and endurance before getting to the Elite Four. I’m not sure how many days we actually were in the cave network, but as the team and I trained and defeated trainers, the stronger they got. We worked through the maze of tunnels and caverns before finally, sunlight. We made it. The Indigo League stood before us.

My nerves at this time were at an all time high. We had been working towards this moment for so long, we had lost a couple friends along the way, and it was time to prove to ourselves that we could do this. It was time. The morning of our challenge I gave Katana a kiss, both of knowing we wouldn’t be able to see each other until the challenge was over.

Lorelei was the first challenger, and her battle was a nightmare. The room was covered in ice and snow, I could barely stay on my feet for the fight! I constantly had to rotate and heal my team as she chipped away at their health, but I ultimately beat her with no losses.

Bruno was a stark opposite. His room was barren and plain, as simple as the pants he wore and the way he talked. ZYNX and Celeste plowed through his team like they weren’t even there.

When it came time to fight Agatha I was nervous. I had heard rumors of her Ghost team, and Ghost was not a type I had good coverage for. Thankfully she was more of a Poison trainer in reality and Celeste solo’d her team.

The last of the Four was Lance, the dragon master. Everything about the man screamed intimidation, from his outfit to the room he stood in. I looked to ZYNX and Celeste, the three of us understanding the challenge before us, and the battle began. Most of his team was easy to manage, the two of them trading blows with his Pokemon and coming out on top. Finally his Dragonite was summoned, and this was the moment ZYNX had been training for. As ice formed around ZYNX’s fist, ready to deal a deadly blow to the Dragonite. It opened its mouth and unleashed a devastating Hyper Beam. As the energy faded, only ZYNX’s lifeless body remained. I had failed her. Celeste was badly wounded, healing her would be a gamble, even though I knew his Dragonite was spent for a moment longer. I couldn’t risk losing another team member. Nasuada stepped forth, eager for a turn at Lance, and she unleashed a Fire Blast that scorched Dragonite pretty bad. He attempted to retaliate with another Hyper Beam, but before he had a chance Nasuada used her quick reflexes to unleash a second Fire Blast, finishing the fight.

I sat in the room just past Lance’s arena for some time, holding ZYNX’s dead body. I had been asked to wait here, that help would be here soon. What help could there be? There was no bringing her back from this. I remember someone coming and taking her from my arms, telling me I could get her back when I finished. Finished? Lance was the end. I tried to focus in as I was told there was one more combatant, a Champion who had defeated the Elite Four early that week and took the opportunity to change the rules and challenge anyone who beat Lance. I walked into the room, deflated, and there standing with his back to me was the last person I wanted to see. Blue.

He called out Pidgeot. Thunderbolt.

He called out Gyarados. Thunderbolt.

He called out Rhydon. Giga Drain.

He called out Exeggcutor. Fire Blast.

Then came Alakazam. ZYNX should have been here, but she wasn’t. I didn’t know if I could take many, if any, of his Psychic attacks. Celeste laid into the Alakazam with Dragon Claw after Dragon Claw before eventually it fell at her feet.

And at long last, Charizard. Part of me felt bad for Charizard. Blue was not a kind trainer, he didn’t bond with his team the way we had. That Charmander could have been mine if I had chosen differently, but I didn’t. Celeste pulled moisture from the air around herself before unleashing a Surf attack and took out the Charizard. That was it, I was the Champion now.

I was taken to the records room where my team and I were documented as champions of Kanto. Celeste, Nasuada, Hermes, Alice, and Gladiolus. ZYNX was not added to the record, despite my pleading. From there I was taken to another room, where I was read my rights and responsibilities as Champion. I declined the option to fight new challengers that came after me. Someone else could have that honor, I didn’t want it. I wanted to bury ZYNX, to see Katana, and to just go home to the ranch.

I went back to the lobby where I found a bench to sit and wait on Katana to come out. It seemed like ages passed, most of my time spent dissociating. And then I saw her with tears in her eyes…” - Sikká

“Nobody ever said being a Pokémon trainer was easy. We train hard, and fight harder, all for the sake of being the best there is.

Unfortunately, Ive learned that sometimes my best... Just isn't good enough.

I wont get ahead of myself though. You are here for the whole story.

This week, we challenged our final gym. I was worried about the ground-type gym, unsure whether or not my team was suited to face the final gym ahead of us. But I had faith in my Pokémon, and they did not let me down.

After defeating each trainer in succession, we were faced with the final gym leader. What I was not expecting, was to see Giovanni standing in front of me. He swore he was done with villainy, and would return to being a trainer, but I don't believe it...

Regardless of how I feel about Giovanni as a person, I would have beat him all the same, and doing so, received my final badge.

Sikká and I took a break for a while to recover from the battle and the sheer amount of adrenaline we had.

Knowing there was only Victory road and the Elite 4 ahead of us, there was no stopping the skipped heartbeats and sweaty palms.

We decided to spend the night resting before we headed out to victory road the next day. In the morning, we made sure all of our Pokémon were feeling happy and ready to keep moving forward, and pushed through our nerves to continue the last leg of our training journey.

The caves were a trifle exhausting, with plenty of convuluted pathing and genuinely challenging trainers to contend with around every turn. Nevetherless, we made it to the other side without any losses, and I felt like I could finally breathe again. Its truly no secret that being a Pokémon trainer is one of the most stressful paths a person can take. You must face the fear of losing your companions in order to achieve greatness. Somedays, it feels like every hit my beloved Pokémon takes reverberates through my bones like I was the one being struck.

Yet still, we push on.

After another night's sleep, we could no longer outrun our fate. I stood in front of the entrance to the Elite 4, an unassuming door that made my stomach turn. I wished more than anything that I could see Sikká before I went in, I needed someone to give me the courage to lay it all on the line one last time in the name of victory.

Slowly, I walked through the door into a frigid room that chilled me to the core. My breath came out in bursts of white fog, blurring my vision as I faced Lorelei, the ice trainer. I thought for sure I had the win on my side, laying down heavy attacks that hit the other Pokémon hard. I commanded Bagel Bite to use Thunder on Jynx, and before I knew it, he was gone before my eyes. Shaking, nauseous, I sent out my next companion who finished the battle with the ferocity of a 'mon committed to the win.

Lorelei let me by to pass into the next room, but my confidence was waining quickly.

I could feel my Pokémon encouraging me, even put away. I felt their excitement and confidence flow into me, so I had no choice but to keep going.

In the next room, a muscular man sat cross-legged on the rough floor. I felt rocks dig into the soles of my feet as I entered the room, and ignored the pain as I declared my challenge.

He simply laughed.

I didn't let this shake me, we only had one shot and I would follow through no matter what.

I let the power and love of my team propel me forward, as I sent out Hamhock to deal witth the first encounter, a Hitmonchan. While he was able to take down the Hitmonchan without much resistance, I could barely react before a Hitmonlee took its place and kicked Hamhock so hard, he never got back up. Refusing to look behind me, I sent out Butterbean to pick up the fight.

He didn't make it past one round.

None of them did.

The same chill I felt in Lorelei's cave seeped deeper into my bones than I knew possible.

It had been 30 minutes —maybe less? Time did not feel like my friend in this place— and my beloved team was gone. Their bodies were escorted out of my sight by a team of Pokémon tower employees.

Numb, my arms tingling and my ears ringing, I stepped out of the Elite 4 halls and back into the Pokémon center.

I spotted Sikká in the corner, being congratulated by local trainers impressed with their work, and building staff that considered it a treat to see a rare win amongst frequent failures. I saw that they were missing 1 member of their team, and my heart broke for them.

I left the building on shaking legs, barely making it down the steps before I collapsed and began to cry.

It didn't feel real. How could I let them down so terribly? Why didn't I train them more? Who was I to think I could take on the Elite 4, what did I think I needed to prove?

It has been a few weeks now, and I still see each of their faces in my sleep. I do not know yet how I will recover, I'm not sure I will, but tomorrow is another day...” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“Sabrina. I had heard rumors about how difficult her gym was since before we fought Erika. We were told she is brutal, that her Pokemon are ruthless, and that we’d leave her gym mentally shattered by her psychic powers. All of this meant that when I stood outside her gym with my team, I hesitated. Was this worth losing everyone? I didn’t have a good solution to her Pokemon like I had in the past. The only Pokemon I had with a Dark attack was Nasuada, but she was at a type disadvantage. The gym itself was a mess of teleportation circles and trainers. Celeste handled the trainers pretty well, only needing to heal a few times. And then there was Sabrina.

Celeste took out Slowbro with ease, Thunderbolt did its job. When she sent out Venomoth I knew Alice was up to the charge, and she managed to defeat not only that, but Mr. Mime as well. Alakazam, her last Pokemon, was what I was most concerned with. I sent Celeste back out, but Alakazam almost killed her in a single shot so I switched her with ZYNX, and after a few rounds of Ice Punch we won. Sweating and exhausted I happily took the badge and went to heal the team before taking a much needed rest.

Route 19 and 20 were pretty easy, just a few swimming trainers. Riding on Celeste we surfed across the ocean and eventually came to the Seafoam Islands and no way to continue other than through them. Nasuada and I, with her brawn and my brains, had to push some boulders around and stop some rapidly moving water so that we could safely navigate, and I even caught a Slowpoke there! Soon we were out of the cavern, across the ocean, and on Cinnabar Island.

I remembered that I had two fossils of ancient Pokemon that I was told could be revived here so I decided to take them there. Sure enough, they were eager to do so and I ended up with Sanada and Hermes. I had a difficult decision to make. Ever since losing Maus, Gale hadn’t been feeling so well. The two were close, and it just seemed that Gale wasn’t feeling like traveling much anymore. I took him and the team back to the ranch, and we said our goodbyes. Gale will be staying at the ranch with our other Pokemon, Sanada too, and Hermes is staying with us. He is strong enough to fly us around, but so far isn’t a great fighter. I know he has amazing potential though.

The gym on Cinnabar Island was closed, and some people said we should check the Pokemon Mansion, so that we did. We did indeed find a key there, presumably left by the gym leader? Sure enough once we got to the gym later we were told it was a test and we had passed. Blaine’s gym was the easiest so far. For all of Route 19, 20, and the Seafoam Islands Celeste had done all the battling. What that meant is that now she’s an absolute powerhouse. Every trainer lost to her as she one-shot their Pokemon. Even Blaine himself only managed a single hit from his Arcanine.

With the 7th badge we headed back to our rental for the night and talked about next steps. I taught Solarbeam to Gladiolus, even though he would learn it on his own eventually anyway.

The next morning we were approached by Bill! This was a bit odd, but he’s an odd fellow. He asked us to come with him on a trip, and we boarded a ship to an archipelago called the Sevii Islands. And that leads us to today, where was stand on One Island with no idea what to do.” - Sikká

“Our adventures today take us through some frustrating paths, I must admit.

Starting off with Sabrina, the psychic leader was just as confounding as you would think. Seemingly able to see into the future, even she could not have predicted how well my pokémon challenged her and her trainers. Butterbean, my Hypno, was more than able to take on the pokémon that came her way. She easily overpowered her fellow psychic ‘mon, and the gym badge was quickly ours.

We took a rest after this, enjoying the local cuisine in Saffron, the pokémon digging into a whole assortment of goodies that they surely earned. When you set out to be a pokémon trainer when you’re young, no one tells you how lucrative it can be, but beating rich people and gym leaders really does have its perks.

We then headed through local waters, fighting trainers and pokémon along the way to our next destination. Some people seemed as though they had been swimming in circles for hours, and I wonder if the heat hasn’t gotten to them,..

Nevertheless, we made it to the seafoam islands, which housed a very annoying and tedious rock conundrum for us. While pushing boulders through many levels of holes to block off certain water paths, Blueberry gave a small cry and headbutt me to look deeper into the cavern. What I saw, well, it’s difficult to describe, but I shall try; Azure wings, with feathers tipped in blade-sharp cuttings of ice was the first thing I noticed. The figure, tall, at least 6 feet, looked like no bird I have ever encountered in Kanto. Its tail feathers were long and resplendent, trailing behind it like cirrus clouds, creating a blur that mesmerized the team as we tried to parse out what we were seeing. With a quick turn of its head, the being spotted us, and stilled. It stayed motionless, like a statue, waiting for us to make the next move. Though I was confident in my team, this being seemed to be on another level, and I didn’t dare challenge it right now, so I hopped on Blueberry and fled.

With that mystical and bewildering encounter behind us, the team quickly moved on to Cinnabar island. The gym was closed here, strange, but we heard talk of clues that we may uncover in the pokémon mansion, so Síkka and I took our teams through the ruins.

To say the mansion was odd is an understatement: It was full of items, seemingly scattered with no thought, statues of a strange creature I didn’t recognize that housed curious buttons, and a few trainers that seemed utterly lost.

Oh well, moving onto Blaine, I was a bit worried that Blueberry wasn’t leveled enough yet, but we pushed through regardless. We acquired yet another badge before heading back to our rental for the night.

It seems like no time passed at all before we were approached by Bill, who brought us all to a mysterious Island we had never heard of, One island… What is this now?” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“It’s been very weird without Maus around lately. There’s always a bit of an emptiness at camp. Alas we travel on and try not to dragged down in grief and despair. Having Katana and our teams there for support helps a lot. We watched a couple of matches Koga held with other trainers and decided we didn’t feel ready yet. We backtracked to Celadon and headed towards Route 16, where we encountered another Snorlax blocking the road. We also met some child who taught Gale and I how to fly together, and since he is strong enough now we decided this would be a much more efficient form of long distance transportation.

Route 16 and 17 were crawling with members of some motorcycle “gang.” They weren’t very tough though and we sent them packing. Hopefully they won’t harass anyone else. By the time we hit Fuschia again my entire team had reached level 40. I felt a lot more confident at the challenge ahead, but I still wasn’t ready so Katana brought up the great idea of us going to the Safari Zone. We learned the rules, paid our fees, and headed inside. I had heard about some guy losing gold teeth in here, and rumors of items hidden about so I was intent on finding those. What I wasn’t planning to find, but I was oh so happy to find was a Nidorina. I named her Nasuada and she joined the team. We did end up finding a lot of the hidden items and the man’s gold teeth. We also learned how to ride a Pokemon in the water and Celeste seemed excited at the idea of that. We gave the old man his teeth back after leaving the Safari Zone and he told us that if I came back with a Pokemon strong enough, he would teach them a technique for pushing massive boulders. Outside I had a chat with Nasuada and we decided to go ahead and evolve her with the Moon Stone I found months ago. As a Nidoqueen she was more than up to the task and learned Strength.

It was time. I walked into the gym, ready to accept our fate. Koga had made a maze of glass panes, so I could see the trainers ahead but navigating the safe was difficult. The team took down the trainers and when we arrived before Koga ZYNX took him out with ease. I waited for Katana and her team to gain their badge and when she did we flew to Saffron City.

In the city we immediately noticed it had been overrun by Team Rocket. Roads were barricaded off, people rushed from building to building. I think had we not flown here we never could have gotten in. The dojo in town offered to let us stay there, and while we did we could challenge the students and master. I let Nasuada, Gale, and ZYNX handle things, and eventually we beat the master who gifted me a Hitmonchan named “Uncle”. He was sent to the ranch where he honestly might just stay.

The next morning we got up, walked to Silph Co, and decided we had had enough of Team Rocket. It took us two days to clear the building of those dastardly jerks, but in the end every last Rocket grunt was pushed out. Only Giovanni remained, and the two of us took him on together. Between Gladiolus, Celeste, and Nasuada on my side he stood no chance. With a flash he vanished, leaving only us and the CEO of Silph Co. the CEO was very grateful and handed us each a Pokeball he said would catch any Pokemon. I have no idea what I’ll use it on, but I’m glad to have it!

Anyway, now that the city has calmed down we are going to rest a bit before challenging Sabrina. I’m a little worried about this one…” -Sikká

“This week’s adventure was a doozy.

Starting off strong, we trained up our pokémon against some bikers on a few different routes. I also really wanted to see the safari zone, eager on meeting a new pokémon, Though I didn’t exactly get who I wanted, I did meet a Goldeen named Hasu, who will be a great addition to my team at the pokeranch (where my mons in the PC are hanging out). After we felt a little more confident in our leveling, we challenged Koga, whose head was almost as big as his biceps. Defeating his ninjas easily, I could see that smug attitude deflate just enough to be satisfying. We earned another badge!

Moving on, we needed to head back to Saffron to heal and to look around the city. It was a bit hard finding a place to land, but a kind Dojo let us stay there for the day. We met a few people training that took their practice very seriously. It was low-key giving try-hard, but they were cool enough to let us stay, so I wasn’t going to mention it. Once we beat all the trainers, they gave me a Hitmonlee as appreciation of my team’s hard work. He said he wanted a nickname, so we called him Bo’Jangle, after one of the best fried chicken restaurants in Kanto. Feeling refreshed, we walked around the city to get to know the people some, but found that these team rocket fools were practically taking over the streets! Someone let us know that the Silph Co tower was teeming with the rocket bullies(they aren’t really villains if 10 of them can’t beat a single trainer)

This place was such a nightmare.

Entering Silph co tower and beating team rocket and their corrupt scientists was a piece of cake, but I thought these teleporters were going to make me lose my mind! Did you know you can get airplane nausea from being teleported throughout a corporate tower for hours? Well, you can.

No matter though, I slept in some convenient corporate nap time beds and went onward. We made our way through the bad guys and even rescued some people that had been held hostage, Silph co employees who were not in on the Rocket shenanigans.

And then a single guy ruined my whole day.

You guessed it.

soup.

Being a shithead little prick as usual, soup tried to provoke me into losing my cool, but I made him lose the battle instead. After he ran off, probably to go cry to his mommy, Sikká and I spoke to a Silph employee who offered us a Lapras. Sikká said I could have it, as I needed a water member of my team, and he was named Blueberry, on account of his blueness. Blueberry was trained up by a few of the remaining encounters, before one teleported in particular sent us up to a strange, walled off room. Giovanni was there, cocky and brutish as usual, but we showed him the true strength of our teams and he disappeared to wherever it is he hides at.

The Silph CEO thanked Sikká and I, giving us each a powerful new poke ball that is said to have a 100% catch rate.

I bet I could get a really good Rattata with that.” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“Writing this is hard, it’s been a hard week. Before I break the news, I’ll need to tell the story leading up to that event, so let’s go back to the beginning of the week.

After the whole ordeal with Giovanni and the Rockets we investigated a bit further and found out that the Silph Scope is an experimental device to help determine the shape of gaseous Ghost Pokemon. This led us to back to Lavender Town and to the supposedly haunted Pokemon Tower. Being inside was rather ominous to say the least. Death is a complex topic, but this massive tower of graves felt so eerie and somewhat sinister. For some reason Blue was there on the second floor, and when he saw us he demanded we battle him. Despite my objections that doing so in this place would be disrespectful, he pushed and pushed until we fought him. For my go at the battle it was an easy sweep. My team has formed a strong bond and trained hard, so the battle was far easier than either of us expected to be honest. With that, Katana fought him and won, and we moved on.

It wasn’t long before we found out how the Silph Scope worked. The tower is indeed haunted, filled to the brim with Ghastly and Haunter alike, plus trainers that can Channel them somehow. It was very different from your normal battle. As I fought my way up the tower, eager to find out why the Scope was necessary I encountered a Haunter that seemed very familiar with me. It eagerly followed me around and went into a Great Ball with no resistance. I don’t know if this actually is her, but I named the Haunter “Renee” in honor of our fallen Diglett.

Further up the Tower I found it, the ghost of an angry and vengeful Marowak. She lashed out at us and we had to fight back before she eventually calmed and faded away. It was on the floor above that we learned more. We mercilessly defeated Rocket Grunt after Rocket Grunt, and we met an old man that had been held here against his will, Mr. Fuji. He told us that the Rockets had killed many Cubone, and even the Marowak we encountered, who was their mother. He thanked us for helping her move on and we escorted him back to his house where he handed us a PokeFlute, which apparently will wake up Pokemon who are in a deep slumber. Interesting.

With that we moved on, down Route 12 where we fought a series of fisherman and Gale evolved into a Pidgeot! I’m so proud of how strong he’s gotten. It was shortly after this when we found that this PokeFlute would be useful after all. A massive Pokemon blocked the entire route, snoring loudly. Katana played a tune and the Pokémon woke up, a large and angry Snorlax. It actually took the two of us to take it down, and in the end when Katana tried to catch it it seemed to be just too large to fit in a Ball so it wandered away to sleep elsewhere I suppose.

We ate some lunch and I talked over a plan I had been cooking up. My team is great, and I’m proud of each of them, but the Gyms ahead will be a challenge for our composition. Poison, Psychic, Fire all pose a great threat to us so I needed a solution. I remembered that when we were in Cerulean an old man offered to trade my his Jynx if I ever had a Poliwhirl. At the time I didn’t, but we had just got a couple of Super Rods and I knew where to find a Poliwag. I told Katana my plan, she agreed that it was good, so we split for a few days. I went to Route 6 to get a Poliwag, trained it up to evolve, and then went to trade the old man and that’s how I got ZYNX. What a name.

We met back up with Katana and her team and started to train more in Route 12. That’s when disaster struck. A trainer had pulled out a Voltorb, and with Maus knowing Dig I pulled him into the fight to handle this. Voltorb outsped Maus, started glowing white at a command, and then in a burst of light and sound I was thrown onto my back. When I started to get up my ears were ringing, my vision was white and spotty. I tried and tried to find balance, to make sure Maus got underground in time for whatever that was, and when my vision finally started to come back I saw him. He lay lifeless on the floor, broken and bloody and surrounded by shards of red and white metal. This trainer has killed his own Voltorb and in the process had killed Maus. I don’t know what Pokemon he used next, and honestly I don’t know what happened next because I just let out my team, scooped up Maus, and walked away while they dealt with the trainer.

Maus had been with us from early on, he was an integral part of the team. He helped us win two badges, had saved us from countless enemies, and beyond his fighting prowess he was a friend. Now he was gone. We found a forest nearby, one not too dissimilar from the Viridian Forest and that’s where we buried him. There was no way I would put him in that Pokemon tower, he deserved better. So we rest here and grieved for a couple days before I was encouraged to push ahead in his honor.

I knew that in order to finish our journey I needed to carry on, and in order to win our goal I needed another electric Pokemon. Would I get Electibuzz somewhere? Perhaps I’d hunt down the Legendary Zapdos, if I could. No, both of those needed too many detours and I didn’t want to backtrack so much. Instead when I was cleaning out my backpack I found a bunch of the tokens from the Game Center where I had won big. I knew what I had to do. We pedaled hard and fast and made it to Celadon around noon where I walked into the casino and adopted a Dratini, Celeste. She was the key. She’s no replacement for Maus, there never could be one, but the family welcomed her in anyway.

The rest of the week was pushing on towards Fuschia Town. Route 12, Route 13, Route 14. Countless trainers all, brutal battles, and in the end we made it triumphant and without further loss. Instead the new teammates ended up catching up to the original crew, and Celeste even evolved into a beautiful Dragonaire. I’m going to rest now, and spend some time grieving. Until next time.” - Sikká

“Today, we say goodbye to a friend, and hello to others, starting in the pokemon tower in Lavender Town.

It was sad times entering the pokemon tower, with the heavy scent of incense following every grieving trainer we passed up through the levels. Every step was laden with the melancholy of pokemon past that were buried under the soft dirt here. Of course my dumbass rival soup had to ruin everything.

He called me a stinker like the loser he is, so of course I smoked him. But he also caught a Cubone, which is my favorite pokemon and *I* wanted to catch, so I am very mad.

I did catch a Gastly named Volley at the top of the tower, after scaring team Rocket away from bullying an old man. Said old man gifted Sikká and I a magical pokeflute, and we were able to challenge a Snorlax on the dock who was way too big to fit into pokeballs OR great balls. Sad.

After battling leagues of trainers down a dock that seemed to never end, we were also gifted super rods by a guy waiting for his brother. What a lucky day for gifts!

I went ahead and fished for a pokemon at this lake, catching an adorable Horsea named Nori, who will likely get trained up for the team and taken to later gyms.

Continuing on through the onslaught of hikers and bikers, the team leveled up fast from all the trainer experience. Bagel bite was given a moonstone(which he was confused about at first and tried to eat) and evolved into a Nidoking! Now 3 of our team is fully evolved, which is very exciting.

I did warn that we lost a friend at the beginning of this story, and sadly, Maus, Sikká's Pikachu, was lost to battle. It will be sad going forward without our furry friend, but we have gyms to battle and a team of bad guys to uncover and defeat, so we fight on in his memory...” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“Our time in Lavender Town was short lived. We stayed a single night before heading off for Route 8, where there were trainers galore! We spent quite some time here training, battling, snacking on food we picked up in Lavender before we left, and I even caught Alice the Vulpix. I was so very excited to have her on the team. A fire Pokemon was a much needed addition to the team composition, and the others welcomed her happily. Disaster nearly struck as we fought one particular Nerd. Apparently Route 8 is known for trainers utilizing Poison Pokemon, and I found out firsthand how difficult that would be. This trainers Grimer was a nightmare. It would Poison one of my Pokemon and spam Minimize to make it impossible to hit. If I hit it, then the trainer would use Disable. This went on for ages, and with my entire team Poisoned and in single digit HP, I thought all hope was lost. In a last second Hail Mary, Maus managed to knock out the Grimer and win the match. We stopped and healed up immediately before I jumped on my bike to return to Lavender Town’s PokeCenter.

The rest of the week was better. We passed through the underground bike path and into Route 7 where I trained up Alice until she learned Flamethrower. Once in the city we immediately booked out accommodations so we could shower, and then went out to see the city. We shopped, ate, saw things the city had to offer, and even popped into the gym to just check things out. I bought a Fire Stone from the department store and used that to evolve Alice. With my team ready I walked into Erika’s gym around lunch one day and… I sweeped the entire gym. Every trainer, every Pokemon, Erika’s Pokemon. Not a single hit landed on Alice, just OHKO after OHKO. Honestly, it was brutal and I felt a little bad about it, but Erika assured me everything was fine and handed me the Rainbow Badge.

The next day Katana mentioned that there had been rumors of Team Rocket stealing Pokemon in the city and that the cops had been unable to stop the crime spree. We poked around asking people about the incident, we had stronger Pokemon than most after all. We ended up finding out that they had set up base in the Game Center, a casino in the heart of the city. The two of us made our way in, broke into the basement, and through a series of battles and puzzles took out all of the Grunts in the hideout. We encountered Giovanni, the man who claimed to be the head of the organization. With an Onix, Rhyhorn, and even a Kangaskhan it was clear his tactic is intimidation, but with Gladiolus handling the Rock Pokemon and Maus taking down the Kangaskhan with a series of Brick Breaks, we defeated him. We tried to apprehend him, but he managed to escape through trickery and some smoke devices hidden in the room. When the smoke cleared he was no where to be found but we did find an item on the ground, some sort of headset with lenses on it that just had the words “Silph Co” on it. I suppose we’ll have to look into this more.” - Sikká

“This week has truly taught me what it means to be a friend, a foe, and a trainer.

But of course, a trainer needs her badges, and it was time to fight Erika.

Butterbean did swimmingly against the grass type trainers, only occasionally switching out to let Pesto the Pidgeotto take the lead. Butterbean even evolved, a full-fledged Hypno now! When we were faced with the final 3 trainers…

I chose wrong.

How was I supposed to know Erika was in the middle? I thought she would be by herself! I accidentally fought the gym leader and missed out on 2 trainer battles 😦 Oh well.

The battle was quick and victorious on our end, landing us the Rainbow badge just in time for pride month. The team was super proud of themselves, and we celebrated with ice cream and a good night’s rest.

The next day was spent traversing the next 2 routes, where we acquired 2 new pokémon! Donnie the Meowth, and Raddie the Oddish were added to the team, though sent to the boxes since we are a full roster of 6 at the moment.

Moving on, it was time to brave beautiful Celadon city, and there was so much to see! People told me to go to the mansion first and have some of the hot tea there. I also found a secret entrance around back that led me to a strange character on the roof. He wanted to give me something and, well, I’m not one to look a gift ponyta in the mouth. It turns out, it was an Eevee! A beautiful eevee asleep in its ball, I named him “Reese” after the candy, and we were on our way.

Celadon is full of charm, but Sikká and I could sense something nefarious working its way through the city. We heard whispers of stolen pokémon, rumors of a local team called rocket, and all of this hiding behind the guise of the glamorous Game Center.

Of course, while it’s not wise to meddle in the affairs of random jerks exploiting the local economy, there were pokémon involved.

So this was serious.

Thanks to some faulty glue, we found a button hidden behind a poster and made our way quietly into Team Rocket’s hideout. There were henchman everywhere, and weird puzzles that left me dizzy and sick, but nothing my brilliant team couldn’t handle! We quickly made our way through the basement levels until we met a greasy old fart who smelled like fridge pepperoni named Giovanni.

We kicked his ass.

So maybe this is the start of mine and Sikká’s hero arc? Stay tuned to find out!” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“It’s been a long few days. We left the ocean side towns of Vermillion and Cerulean behind and headed east down Route 9. There were lots of great trainers here, and the team did their best to show off. If only I had known that the day would turn so dark so fast. While fighting a Geodude, Renee the Diglett fell victim to a Magnitude 7. It was shocking, and I had felt like as a Ground Pokemon the match was fine, but I was wrong and now she’s gone. We did our best to give her a proper burial, and took a day off to grieve. We had only known her a few days but the loss of life still hurts.

With a heavy heart we continued on, marking Route 9 as nothing caught and Route 10 I missed my shot at a Spearow. We rested at the Pokemon Center, where I made sure that Ella knew both Cut and Flash. Everyone got a strong rest in, and we headed into the Rock Tunnel. With my Ella and Katana’s Babybell, a Voltorb, we had no issues navigating the dark cave. The team and I took no chances in the tunnel. Each and every trainer we encountered was on the receiving end of my teams full might, resulting in a lot of OHKOs. While wandering through the cave we did meet and catch Kal the Machop.

After a full day of pushing through the cave we came out on the other side of the Rock Tunnel into Route 10, and we took care of the last few trainers there. Gladiolus had been feeling like as the leader he needed to show the team what he was capable of, and it was here that he evolved into a Venusaur! Funnily enough, his brother Hamhock evolved very shortly after. We made our way into Lavender town and stopped by the Pokemon Center before heading to our rental, and sat in the irony that we are grieving Renee in an actual city of the dead. Tomorrow we will continue our journey, but for now we’re heading to bed. It’s been a long few days.” - Sikká

“I think if I never saw another cave again, I would be a happy trainer.

Today was jam-packed full of battles against other trainers, and my legs are killing me. Starting off with route 10, I knew this was a chance to add a member to my team that could be a huge help against later gyms and, Arceus forbid, the Elite 4!

I did manage to convince a Voltorb to join the team, and it happily took on the name "Babybell"! Sikká seems to think I have a food theme going with this particular team, I have no idea what they mean...

Anyway, since Babybell was only level 15, I knew we had to do some serious training to make sure the whole team was up to par with each other.

Then we fought Gamblers...

And Picknickers...

And Hikers...

And whew, that was exhausting. Surely this next path would be a reprieve, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

The cave seemed to go on forever: Fight, go up. Fight, go down. Fight, pokemon encounter, go up. Fight, fight, another fight, go down.

Though the coldness of the cave seemed endless, and my potions were dwindling quickly, we made it out with everyone in one piece, all I can ask for. Everyone got a good sip of water in the blinding light of the late-day sun, and we made it to a new Pokémon center for a total refresh. Then, surprise! Hamhock evolved and showed off his stunning new flower. Now I have a big, beautiful Venasaur! But so does Sikká... Coincidence?

Bottom line: No more caves. Seriously.” - Katana

[ink-ghoul]

If brands don't want to commit to corporate pride anymore I will

[Support your local independent gay bakery today]

First datapack to feature yuri in their showcase video real and true

[steelandsummerlocke]

Welcome back, we’re back on our bullshit grind! Also just a note; Bagel Bite and Pesto both evolved quite a while back but their sprites were not updated on the images.

“Yesterday was a blast, but it’s time to lock in and focus on the task at hand, beating Lt. Surge. Unlike Katana I don’t have a ground Pokemon, so I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here. You know what I do have? A big Maus that can Dig real good. So Maus and I had a pep talk, Gladiolus was informed he was the backup, and Gale was told to stay outside until we were done.

Katana actually beat me to the gym and they had a weird rule about only one trainer at a time, no spectators. So she went in and I went to sit on the quay outside. About half an hour passed before I was told I could go inside. Upon entering the gym I was a weird arrangement of trash and a few trainers milling about. Maus and I made quick work of their Pokemon with Dig and Quick Attack, and after beating all three one told me there was a series of levers inside the trash cans making a puzzle. Try as I might, and even following the instructions of the other trainers, we just could not get the HIGHLY ELECTRIFIED DOOR to unlock. Eventually I took matters into my own hands. I walked outside, found the buildings breaker box, and just turned off the power.

Lt. Surge, now at the other end of my annoyance, was fairly easy for us. Maus took out his Voltorb and Pikachu, and even did most of the damage to his Raichu, but Gladiolus got the final hit when Maus got paralyzed. That’s another badge in my box, and a new TM to boot. Oh, and Maus learned Thunderbolt on his own!

After lunch and a conversation about how the gym went for us, Katana and I spent a couple days out in the fields around Route 11 beating a bunch of trainers and wild Pokemon. This is also where I met Maverick, a Sandshrew. There was a pretty close call with a Rattata using Hyper Fang, so Maverick now lives back on the farm with the other Pokemon. We also ventured into the Diglett Cave, which is an odd but apt name, and I caught Renee in there. We didn’t realize how long of a walk it would be because we came out the other side and were near Pewter town. Here we learned out to make Pokemon use the move Flash, and got backstage passes to the Museum were we both got handed some Old Amber. Eventually though we made our way back through the Diglett Cave and back to our little cottage in Vermillion City that we had rented. I’m very excited to see where our story goes next!” - Sikká

“Today's adventure was electrifying, exhilirating, and *expensive* !!!

Starting off with the electric type gym, I decided to take off ALPHAB!TCH from my team, as we were worried about her getting hurt trying to keep up with the rest of the crew. With Dishwasher being a powerhouse of rock, gym leader Lt. Surge could barely comprehend the "magnitude" of our power! Needless to say, badge 3 acquired!

It was after the gym where things get a little dicey.

It started out with making a new friend on Route 11, Butterbean the Drowzee, and adding her to the team immediately. She will be a crucial asset in the long run.

We fought well against a slew of trainers, and butterbean was catching up quick to her teammates, so we had no idea the cave ahead would be so troublesome...

In the Diglett cave, we moved past the first Diglett with ease, picking up Diana for the team box. However, our next opponent was a rare Dugtrio, a full 8 levels higher than Butterbean who was up first in the pack...

Thinking quick, I moved to switch her out for a pokemon better suited for this high level battle, when I realized, Dugtrio's Arena Trap wouldn't let me switch!

Shit.

So, with a pocketful of pricey super potions and the determination and patience only a careful pokemon trainer can have, we played the long game. The amount of "Dig"s used felt endless, and the sleep from Butterbean's "Hypnosis" never lasted long enough! I was constantly teetering between healing her and telling her to land another hit.

At 3 hp, all hope felt lost, and guilt wracked me to my core at the thought of losing Butterbean so soon. How could I be so careless?

But she is a fighter, and the battle was won by the skin of our sneef. I was so relieved.

I very quickly switched to Hamhock for the rest of the cave, then made it over to the musuem in Pewter to receive a strange looking amber of unknown origin. Who am I to question the gift of free fossils?

I can't lie, I used a repel on my trip back through the cave. The fear was still too fresh to fight that many Digletts all over again. But we thankfully all got back in one piece, and settled down to an exhausted and cozy sleep for the night." - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

It’s been a long time since we’ve updated our little Nuzlocke story here, but here’s what happened the last time we played;

“Our time on the SS Anne was so much fun! The team and I battled so many fellow trainers on board, and thankfully taking some naps in a room that we were provided helped keep everyone in top shape. Having Gladiolus, Gale, Maus, and Ella by my side that day was so enjoyable. We did have the misfortune of running into Blue, or as Katana calls him “soup”. He had been training as well, and his team put up a good fight but in the end we were victorious. After a long day of battling, Katana and I did some dancing, hung out on the top deck for a while, and attended the dinner party where the Captain actually taught me how to teach one of my Pokemon how to Cut thick branches and shrubs. After that night we headed back to Vermillion to rest and plan our next moves.” - Sikka

"The S.S. Anne was nothing short of exhausting.

Advertised as a luxury experience full of challenging characters, the ship lived up to its luxe reputation and more. It was quite the workout just to explore the multiple floors of the interior, but finding new and tough opponents as we went along truly tested the limits of the teams capacity. We certainly utilized the services of the on-board healer, there was no way around it. And as they say, enjoy the decadence while its free.

Bagel Bite the Nidoran and Dishwasher the Geodude pulled their weight heavily in this sequence of battles, and they were rewarded with seats at the table for that night's dinner party. We enjoyed the top-notch food, then, dessert-filled and battle weary, we headed back to Vermillion to rest up for another big day tomorrow" -Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

"There's something about the fresh smell of the sea that's so comforting to me. I woke up with a vigor and readiness for the day. Today is the day I defeat Misty. With just Gladiolus, Gale, and Maus I made my way to the gym. There was a swimmer named Luis, but his Horsea and Shellder stood no chance against Gladiolus. The next trainer was Diana and her Goldeen. I knew Peck might be an issue so I sent Maus out to deal with her and a Thunder Shock later Misty was in sight. Staryu and Starmie, an easy duo with the power of Electric and Grass attacks. I made short work of Misty, got the Cascade Badge, and waited for Katana to fight her way through the gym. We knew Route 5 was our next stop, and we found a shortcut through this destroyed house. It was an odd situation, but we made it work. Inside a man handed me a TM for Dig, which I taught to Maus. Out back we had another encounter with Team Rocket, this time a man with a Drowzee. Route 5 was short, and it's here I met Ella, the Meowth! I think she'll be staying with us for a while. She's pretty Timid, so she doesn't get on well with the rest of the team just yet. For some reason the person working the toll from Route 5 to Saffron wouldn't let us pass because they were "very thirsty." Seems like a weird excuse. We reported them to the Department of Transportation and ended up taking an underground path down to Route 6. Route 6 I knew would be all repeat encounters unless we used a Good Rod, which we don't have, so nothing has been caught here yet. I saw plenty of trainers there though, so it might be a great spot to train. We booked a room in an inn in Vermillion City for the night, but tomorrow we head out for a day on the SS Anne, and a dinner party afterwards!" - Sikka

"There are times for running, times for fishing… And there are times for winning. Today, my team and I were a ruthless machine facing Leader Misty’s gym. The punches were punctual, the blows blew me out of the water, and the kicks were so kicky. Suffice to say, we beat Misty, and acquired our second gym badge! Moving on from the gym, we really wanted to get into Saffron city, the enticing smell of spice and butter from local food stalls drawing us ever closer. We could hear people just beyond the wall laughing and playing, and we wanted to be there too! But the guard was thirsty… So we went underground instead. The trip was a little chilly in the underground tunnels, but it was well lit and surprisingly well maintained. Although it was disappointing not to get to Saffron just yet, Sikká and I had acquired some cruise tickets for a local boat tour, and I’m eager for new adventures. I did attempt to catch another friend for the boxes, an Oddish with a weirdish dance, but he sadly danced his way right into a brutal Double Kick from Bagel Bite, so no new friends this entry. We finally made it to Vermillion city, where a jolly man welcomed us into his home for some tea (that I think he brewed with salt water, unique) and gave us an old fishing rod. He told us that fishing is a lifestyle, and blessed our first catch, so who knows! Maybe I’ll reel in something special, though nothing beats the day that Sikká caught my heart…" - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

“Waking up to the waves crashing outside is a great feeling. I rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast with Katana and the team before we headed out for the day. We heard about the Nugget Bridge even that was going on so we headed up that way. Of course this annoying guy from our home town, Blue, decided he wanted to fight me so we had a quick battle. Only his Rattata gave me a little scare, but overall it was a decent battle. With a quick rest we healed up and started the "challenge." The team and I blasted through all 5 trainers on the bridge and just as we reached I was handed a Gold Nugget! Unfortunately I was also propositioned to join a criminal organization, and the guy wasn't keen on being denied. Gladiolus made quick work of him and his Pokemon and we stopped in a field nearby to eat lunch and wait on Katana. While waiting on Route 25 a Caterpie crawled onto my leg and that's how we added Gloria to the team. When Katana and I met back up we each headed down to Route 24 and I met a pretty calm Bellsprout, which was pretty nice since I've heard they have be pretty aggressive. A Quick Attack and Pokeball later and Lena is along for the ride as well. As the afternoon waned into evening the two of us headed back to our rented cottage to have a bite of dinner and discuss the day. I made the decision that Lena and Gloria would be staying behind with my sibling (put in the PC)." - Sikka "The morning found us training up my pokémon in preparation for facing our greatest foe so far: soup. That is, soup is the name of my rival, the devil sworn to spite me, the boy I’ve pledged to put in his place any time he makes fun of me, soup is my greatest antagonist and I will defeat him at any cost. With that, like any good woman facing her greatest obstacle, I did what any forerunner would: I crushed his dreams with the might of my superior pokémon. We aren’t here to talk about soup, though. Immediately following this encounter, I made my way through a bridge of trainers who wouldn’t let me take more than two steps before making me precariously summon my pokémon on the narrow walkway. I defeated them in turn, encountering someone who insisted heavily that I join a “Team Rocket”, but the concept of space scares me, so I kindly declined (until they made me fight them, and after defeating them, I more unkindly declined their offer) I’ve decided to hold off on getting my route 24 pokémon until I unlock great balls (manifesting an Abra, please oh please) but I did look in the route 25 grass for a new edition to the team! Unfortunately, Bagel Bite was too strong a match, and traded a deadly blow with the Oddish we met, making this our first miss. Not deterred, we went ahead and set up a picnic with herbal tea for lunch to wait for Sikká as the pokémon and I traded stories about our encounters so far." - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

*Katana and I both have COVID, and I have bronchitis as well, so please forgive any typos or missed points 😂 We are on the mend thankfully*

“I spent the night in the cave with the team; Gladiolus, Gale, Angela, and Willem. I hoped Katana was okay, but she had her Pokemon with her so I knew she would be when we met up. I actually stayed in the cave for quite a long time. I battled all the trainers on the ground floor, then proceeded down some of the ladders around and eventually ended up fighting several Team Rocket members, and a nerd. I took the Dome Fossil and eventually made my way out of Mt. Moon. It was at this moment that I realized that Angela was acquired on Route 4, not Route 3. Out of game Katana and I talked a little about how we would handle the “gift” Pokemon in game and decided that since the tracking app we use counts them separately we will as well. Back on Route 4 I was being hassled by a couple martial arts guys trying to pedal their lessons in Mega Punch and Mega Kick when Katana caught up to me and we managed to get away from them. In the grass I encountered a Mankey, the second Mankey I’ve come across as a legal catch option, and the second I missed by killing it in one shot. So another route busted. We made it to Cerulean City, healed our Pokemon and I spent the rest of the day training up the team and making some switches. Willem was sent back to my sibling’s house (PC) and Maus is back on the team. We had a nice dinner in a seaside restaurant and went to bed ready to train even harder the next day.” - Sikká

“I don’t like caves.

The random drops into levels you can’t see, the pokémon jump-scaring me every 10 steps, a strange quantity of bug catching children just hiding in the dark…

Eugh.

I don’t like caves.

Thankfully, the team and I managed to encounter, and beat, every trainer and make it out the other end, but honestly, we got pretty beat up along the way. By the time I beat a selfish archaeologist with the vibe of someone who wanted to crack open my Geodude to see if he was hiding any ammonites or amethyst, I wanted to never step foot into that dark, cold, damp place ever again.

And then,

Light.

Blessedly, we made it out of the cave system without losing any friends. The babies got to level up quite a bit, and we were all beyond relieved to see Sikká waiting for us outside, deep in conversation with two martial artists who were very…. Passionate, about their fighting moves.

Giving Sikká a kiss and moving right along, the team got healed up, Dishwasher smelled fresh air for the first time, and we got to finally encounter a new friend!

Introducing: Ekacnap the Ekans.

I’ll give you a second to process that one.

After an appropriate few hours of rest, we trained up some more against some wild encounters to level up for our next gym. Eventually, we sat down to a delicious dinner as a full team with both Sikká and I’s pokémon, and I went to bed one pokémon richer, dreaming of next day’s gym battle.” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

Another night, another attempt at the Nuzlocke!

“Our night started out with 20 minutes of training before we both went to fight in the Pewter City Gym. Training went well, Gladiolus learned Vine Whip and got up to level 13. The timer went off, we walked into the gym. The trainer named Liam was first, with a Geodude and a Sandshrew. Geodude went down in a single hit from Gladiolus, and the Sandshrew was down in two. After a quick healing from a Potion it was time for Brock. Like with Liam, Gladiolus and I made quick work of his Geodude and Onix, defeating each of them with a single Vine Whip. A badge and the Rock Tomb TM in hand, we dropped off Maus and Ricardo in the PC for safe keeping as I didn’t think they fit the team very well, and we headed for Route 3. Here Gladiolus and Gale fought valiantly against the many trainers and it was eventually time for the Route 3 encounter. A wild Spearow appeared! Unfortunately for me, a single tackle from the now evolved Gladiolus took it out and that makes a second Route that we failed (but maybe not 😏). Gale also evolved after a bit of training, and the three of us headed into the Pokemon Center on Route 3 right before Mt. Moon. I had forgot! There is a man who would sell us a very expensive Magikarp, but buying Pokemon is allowed in our rules as long as we hadn’t caught anything in that location, so I added Angela the Magikarp to the team! (She’s a nightmare to train). With confidence I next headed into Mt. Moon, excited to catch a Geodude and… it was a Zubat… Now listen, Crobat is a favorite of mine but for this run I was really hoping for that Rock type Pokemon. Oh well, welcome Willem, you’re also hard to train. The five of us cleared the ground floor of Mt. Moon together before we set up camp to wait for Katana. That’s it for tonight!” - Sikká

“Today’s adventure was packed full of surprises, excitement, and unfortunately, sadness, as we bid one of our battling friends goodbye…

Starting out in Pewter town, Sikká and I decided we would give ourselves a set amount of time to train up our pokémon before facing our first gym leader, Brock of the rock type gym! Thankfully, Hamhock fearlessly leading the team with a grassy advantage, Brock was the one between a rock and a hard place. The team got our first badge, and headed out to face a veritable army of bug-catching, shorts-wearing elementary school trainers.

Though the team was not quite ready level-wise for most of these trainer battles, we made sure to take time to heal in-between when we could. Unfortunately, this did not stop tragedy from striking, as the last trainer we faced had a Spearow just 1 level higher than Spacob. He wanted to accept the challenge, but in the end, the enemy Spearow was too fast and we lost our good feathered friend…

But Spacob would want us to carry on.

With a light under our tushies and a fowl-shaped hole in our hearts, we moved on to route 3 to meet a new friend, a Nidoran by the name of Bagel bite, and let me tell you, that bagel can bite. He was a quick train, eagerly taking the lead to train up to his friends’ level and really making a space for himself on the team. Taking a rest at the Poké center to do some journaling with a jelly donut snack, we eventually moved on into our first caves, the eerie Mt. Moon.

For the final catch of the day, we made contact with a local Geodude named Dishwasher, a dandy fellow with a charming smile. Eager to waste no time, Dishwasher showed us to a local spot in the cave no one would find us, and we rested for the night.” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

It’s time for a new Nuzlocke! This time we will be playing a Genlocke run. We are starting with FireRed/LeafGreen, Katana is playing FireRed and myself LeafGreen. Tonight we made it to Pewter Town before saving and logging off.

“I started with grabbing myself a Bulbasaur that I’ve decided to name Gladiolus after growing them in our garden last year and loving them. He’s a good boy. In Route 1 I managed to catch Gale the Pidgey, who came in clutch through the Viridian Forest later on. When we got to Viridian City I popped over to Route 22 and encountered a Mankey, but unfortunately Gale was a little too feisty in his approach and the Mankey was knocked out. Next I fought Blue on Route 22, and boy howdy that was scary. I was underleveled for the fight, but I pulled it off with no losses. Thankfully I spent all my money at the PokeMart right before going out there. The team and I spent some time training before heading to Route 2 where we met Ricardo the Rattata. He was a little guy, and it was a long process getting him caught up with the team, but once he hit level 7 and the other two were level 8 we made our first steps into the Viridian Forest. About 20 minutes earlier I made a joke to Katana that knowing her luck she’d encounter a Pikachu in the Forest after she realized she wanted a Caterpie, but it was actually me who got the Pikachu! Welcome to the team, Maus! We spent some time in the Forest battling trainers and wild Pokemon before eventually making our way into Pewter Town to close out the night.” - Sikká

“I’ll be honest, I’m not a great strategist when it comes to picking my starter. Whoever calls to me, I just have to bring them on the adventure! And when I saw that sweet Bulbasaur in the lab, I knew Hamhock had to be mine. (if the weird names confuse you: it’s all a part of the plan, and I promise they get weirder :)) On Route 1, I caught Pesto the Pidgey, somehow matching Sikká with my first two pokemon. We made our way over to route 22 next, and the birds must be calling for me, because a Spearow practically leaped into my arms! His name is Spacob, and I can barely keep him from gobbling up every Caterpie he sees. Speaking of bug pokemon, my Viridian forest catch was a Weedle with a larger-than-life personality, so ALPHAB1TCH she is. Spacob was intergral in gobbling up the creepies and crawlies along the Viridian Forest so we could move on. Hamhock also made it to level 10 somewhere amongst battling the bug catchers, and we had to throw a little party in the entrance to Pewter Town! Finally on Route 2, we met a shy Rattata named CASHDRAWER. I think he wants to be a banker one day.” - Katana

[steelandsummerlocke]

Another Nuzlocke Night!!

Hey there! We did another night of CoupleLocke for ORAS. Let’s start with Calamity

After a quick stop to talk to dad, she headed out to Route 104 and ran into Ferg13 the Taillow. The two became fast friends, mostly because Ferg13 knew no offensive attacks and desperately needed help. Next up was the Petalburg Woods, where Ms Bingbong joined the team. A fine and DEEPLY needed addition to the team as they prepare for the fight against Roxanne, Calamity was excited to finally have something strong against Rock. Skibbles was a last minute addition to the team. Much like real life cicadas, she kinda just stuck to Calamity’s clothes and asked to join. With a long day of team building and leveling up, Calamity called it a night and is ready to pick up with a fight against the Rustboro Gym. On to Prideceratops!!

Oh poor Prideceratops... Upon arriving to Route 104, Pride decided to take on a fight with Youngster Billy. Danny, still a Silcoon at the time had put in some major damage on Billy’s Seedot, but due to Bide it was likely he’d be taken down the next turn. In a last ditch effort to try and tank the damage, Pride switched to Terrance and hoped Terrance’s high defense would be enough to withstand the attack. Billy CRIT, releasing all of the stored up energy into Terrance... killing him. Distraught from the loss, Pride continued to level up their Pokemon, and unfortunately lost their next encounter with a Wingull in Route 104.  Once in Petalburg Woods, they ran upon a Cascoon who joined the team under the name Cassandra. Not knowing any moves besides Harden, Danny took her under his tutorship and helped train her up. As the team was leaving the Petalburg Woods, both Danny and Cassandra evolved, creating the powerful duo the two had grown to become. Shortly after, Elliot took inspiration from the two and evolved as well.  After a quick rest in Rustboro, hoping to find another addition to the team, Pride rushed off to Route 116 and encountered a Skitty. Elliot however, was far too eager to fight as he hates to lose, and knocked the Skitty out, leaving Pride with just a team of three in the face of the upcoming fight against Roxanne. How will the couple fair against the rock hard will of Roxanne? Find out next time!

[steelandsummerlocke]

We Started a Nuzlocke Challenge Together!

We’re Prideceratops and Queen of Calamity, and we recently just started an ORAS Nuzlocke challenge together. Prideceratops is playing Omega Ruby, under the name Sikka, and Calamity is playing Alpha Sapphire under the name Tana. We just wrapped up our first night, and wanted to just show where we are so far!