It still confused Diana how she had left Cherrygrove with both a new Pokemon and Pokedex. Meeting Professor Oak had been shameful and embarrassing. She’d been sure she might just throw up all over the poor old man’s shoes. It was Professor Oak who had given Diana her very first Pokemon; the Bulbasaur that had died as soon as she walked outside of Pallet Town. Though he had counseled her over the phone and assured her that she wasn’t to blame, Diana had thought those were just pretty words meant to get rid of her.
But instead, her trembling and teary eyed self had held it together. And in return, the old professor gave her a Pokedex and recommendation for Professor Elm. As he walked away, Diana thought that maybe he really was a nice man and that she had misjudged him.
Twenty-four hours later, Diana’s pitiable Pokedex held entries for only 4 Pokemon. Her Chikorita, her Geodude, her Gastly, and her Hoppip. They were exhausted from training, which Diana had to plan very carefully. Unable to use the Pokemon Center, her Pokemon tired out and lost the energy that allowed them to use their moves. There weren’t any healing items in this town that restored their “power,” so she had to very careful only to engage in battles that they could wrap up quickly.
“That means that we can’t train much before the gym...” She worried quietly. The act of training and gaining experience required the use of their power in battle. If she used up all of their power training then they’d have nothing for the gym battle. “James and Janette are at a type disadvantage for this gym too... and all Jenny can use to hit Falkner-sensei’s Pokemon is her hypnosis...”
“It’s going to be all up to Jeremy...”
Her Geodude stopped in his tracks and turned his heavy body to look at her. His moveset included two damaging attacks and two self-support attacks. Fortunately, his rock throw had a type advantage in the gym and his had only used it once. His power was at its peak with that move. His tackle, on the other hand, had been used frequently. She didn’t know how many more times he could use it before his body tired out.
“Well, I guess whiners aren’t winners so...”
She swallowed hard, holding her hand out to take Jeremy’s rocky one.
Diana had decided to be serious. The years she’d spent at this academy were just a waste if she didn’t do anything with them, after all! The little pinkette had logged onto her school account that night and filled out the application for a Specialization Request. She wanted to specialize in Pokemon Healing, with a special interest in nursing. Nuzlocke or not...
No, maybe it was entirely because of her Nuzlocke that Diana wanted to defy her killer fate and be the kind of person she wanted for herself!
It only took a day to process her request. Because of the nature of her school and the very high end education of the Nursing School, she couldn’t just get accepted over pretty words on a computer screen. All of the applicants had to take a series of tests to prove their qualification, and would then have their entire education given to them on a scholarship.
The first test was easy. It was taken in a building and bubbled into a scantron. Diana was actually very good with the pre-nursing bookwork. She aced that test with flying colours, even surprising the teachers with how much knowledge she’d retained.
But it was the second and third tests where Diana hit a block. First off, she needed gym badges. In order to command Pokemon in a healing environment without incident, a nurse needed Pokemon badges for that region. It proved to the Pokemon that they were someone to listen to and to the trainers that they had experience handling Pokemon. This second test required she have at least one league’s worth of badges in order to hold a training nurse position.
Diana only had five badges, spread across two regions. Her four Kanto badges and one Hoenn badge.
Thirdly, she had to take on a special Pokemon journey. One where she did not make use of a Pokemon Center, not even to switch Pokemon from the PC. The combined needs of the second and third barrier were what sent Diana packing her bags and catching a plane to Johto.
