Written Story Johto Mature An Arduous, Atoning, and Amazing Adventure

[QuietGuardian]

Good morning/afternoon/evening (depending on your time zone and time of reading this), fellow Nuzlockers! This is a story I've had in the works for a very long time, and I'm super excited to be finally bringing it to you!

A while back, the Alphabetlocke caught my attention, and I decided to try it on a playthrough of Crystal—you know, a grinding-heavy ruleset in one of the more grinding-unfriendly games. Perfect combination, right? I also got the idea to make a story out of it, but in the non-traditional manner of (mostly) journal entries written by the protagonist, inspired in no small part by one of my all-time favorite books, The Martian. My interest has waxed and waned in the past, and I'm the sort of person that frets about something being just right before putting it out, but I've finally gotten to the point where I can say that it's time to do this. And due to my love of preparation, I've written pretty far into the story (at least, rough draft-wise), so hopefully I'll be able to update pretty often—I'm currently thinking twice a week, but we'll see how that goes.

(The mature rating is mostly for strong language, but there are some themes that are worth noting as well, such as those around death and self-doubt. I'll put a heads-up before any updates that I think need it.)

That's all I need to say for now. On with the show!

Spoiler: Rules

1. I can only catch the first Pokémon I encounter in each area.
1a. Any duplicate encounters may be skipped.
1b. Shiny Pokémon may be caught but not used unless they were the first.
1c. Gift Pokémon may be received, but no more than one per source.
1d. I am not allowed to run from or purposely KO a valid encounter.
2. Any Pokémon that faints can no longer be used.
3. All Pokémon must be given nicknames, starting with a random letter.
4. I must at all times have a team structured alphabetically, by Pokémon name, category, or nickname. I start with Pokémon name, then rotate in that order whenever I enter a new city/town or defeat a Gym Leader.
4a. If I need an HM to progress and no one on the current team can learn it, I may swap out someone who can, or catch an HM slave, but only for the amount of time necessary to progress.
4b. I may not prevent an evolution or let a Pokémon die just to improve my team.
4c. Any changes must be made as soon as possible.
5. The run ends in success when I beat Red or in failure when I lose all available Pokémon.

Spoiler: Contents

April 29: this post
April 30
May 1
May 2-May 3 (1)
May 3 (2)-May 4
May 5

Spoiler: April 29, 9:56 a.m., New Bark Town

Well, this is a real interesting situation I’ve gotten myself into.

I suppose I should do an introduction, for anyone who reads this that isn’t Elm. My name is Adam Blakely, and as of the time of this entry, I’m a 17-year-old resident of New Bark Town, in Johto.

I’m also a thief, which is why I’m in this whole situation in the first place.

Yeah, yeah, go ahead and make your judgments. Oh, and it gets better. Think I’m a thief with a heart of gold who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, or that sort of thing? Nope. I stole from an underfunded professor and did it mostly so I could feel some sense of power. There, now feel free to laugh without guilt at whatever misfortunes I encounter as I do this whole whatever-it-is.

…Okay, fine. I did intend to sell most of the stuff I stole to get money for myself and my family. I mean, I didn’t, but I was definitely thinking about it. Not like I could’ve acted like a contributing member of society and done more work looking for a job, I guess. What was I supposed to do, find inspiration from people like my mom, a single mother who determinedly works multiple jobs to support her two kids—including a part-time job with the very professor I stole from? Because of course we didn’t need his support! Of course I had to resent—

Fuck it. I’m not here to whine, I’m here to record. Though I still have no idea what the hell I’ll be recording. All I know is that Professor Elm pulled some strings with the police and had the charges against me dropped in exchange for a service on my part. I can’t say I’m complaining, but does he really have to keep me in the dark for this long? He told me to meet him at ten, but then ten minutes before that, he sent over his assistant with this journal and a message that he’d be another hour.

So now I’ve got a journal that I’m supposed to write regular entries in. I figured I’d write something now to kill time. It’s the best method I’ve got right now; it’s basically either this or hang out with my half-brother Zane, and he’s boring as fuck. (Though I guess fucking isn’t really that boring.)

Uh…what else can I write about…?

Ah, to hell with it. I’m not going to spend all my time writing in this. It’s not taking up enough time, and I’m feeling too restless to keep sitting down. But I will go over to Elm’s at eleven, whether he wants me to or not.

Signing off.

Spoiler: April 29, 2:51 p.m., Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center

Okay…so a lot has happened since I wrote in this thing last. I got an assignment from Elm, and now I’m on my way to carry it out. And it requires travel—you’ll notice that I’ve marked this entry’s location as Cherrygrove City, which is several miles west of New Bark Town. It’s usually a little dangerous to go between towns with no protection against the wild Pokémon…but guess what? I’ve got protection, ‘cause I’ve got a Pokémon of my own!

…Fine, not really. He’s just on loan to me for the duration of my service. But still, I’ve never been able to command a Pokémon before.

Also, it’s a little weird that Elm loaned me a Pokémon after I stole a bunch of stuff from him. Hey, maybe I should try stealing some more of his things and see if he gives me his car, too.

(THAT WAS A JOKE, ELM; DON’T COME STORMING AFTER ME)

Anyway, the Pokémon I received is a Totodile, named Louis. First impressions are…a mix, really. He seems aggressive, but that does help him in battle—at least, from what I’ve seen against the wild Sentret and Pidgey on Route 29. He’s not really hostile towards humans, so I’m giving him some time out of his Poké Ball right now. So far, he hasn’t done anything, but he has been glaring at most of the people who walk near us. Maybe I should recall him so there’s no chance of him attacking someone and getting me into even more trouble.

Eh, I’ll just make the rest of this quick. I’ve been sent to visit a friend of Elm’s called Mr. Pokémon (first item on my agenda when I get there: ask him what his real name is), who apparently has an interesting discovery. Since Elm is short-staffed, I’m now functioning as his errand boy. Unfortunately, this Mr. Pokémon lives almost a day’s walk away from New Bark Town, meaning I’ll have to spend the night at his place.

He’d just better not be a raving lunatic.

Spoiler: April 29, 8:05 p.m., Mr. Pokémon's House on Route 30

Well, it’s not as bad as it could be. This “Mr. Pokémon” is a weirdo (and I still don’t know what his real name is), but he’s polite enough, and even got on Louis’s good side by offering him some special Pokémon food. Right now, my the Totodile is curled up sleeping in the corner of the guest room, where I’m writing this (admittedly, I am using writing here as an excuse to not spend a whole lot of time with my host—I got tired of him pretty quickly).

I do have some things to write about. When I got here, I was enthusiastically greeted by Mr. Po—you know what, writing out “Mr. Pokémon” over and over again just makes me feel stupid. I’m calling him “Mr. P” now.

So Mr. P welcomed me, saying that Elm had called ahead about my arrival. I barely had time to introduce myself before he ran off and came back with his discovery: an egg. He excitedly told me that that egg had been found by a couple who run a day-care service near Goldenrod City, but even they didn’t know how it got there. So he took it and, after some preliminary examinations of his own, decided that Professor Elm was the best person to take a look at it.

I was curious, though; Goldenrod City’s pretty far away, and unless you have a flying Pokémon or a car, it’s not easy to get there from this location. I did notice a car parked outside the house, but it didn’t look like it’d been used for a couple of weeks, at least. How did he get the egg to his house, then? Well, the answer came into the room just a couple of seconds later.

I didn’t recognize him, but when he first saw me, his eyes went wide and he stumbled a bit. When I (cautiously) introduced myself, though, he composed himself and said that it was a pleasure to meet me. He also apologized for his reaction, saying that I simply reminded him of someone he knew, and it took him aback. Odd.

But then he introduced himself, and I forgot about his reaction to seeing me for a minute. He was none other than Professor Oak, Kanto’s (and Johto’s, really) number one authority on Pokémon. He even has a radio show, Professor Oak’s Pokémon Talk —which, I’ll confess, I listened to a lot when I was younger. Hey, what young kid isn’t interested in Pokémon? But while I was taken aback to meet him, I wasn’t as starstruck as I would have been a few years ago.

Anyway, he explained that he was here on a brief visit, and when I asked, elaborated that it was he who had brought the egg to Mr. P, since he lives in Goldenrod most of the time he’s in Johto. I wasn’t able to talk with him very much more, since he was getting ready to head out, but before leaving, he handed me a rectangular package, wrapped in brown paper. He said that Professor Elm had wanted him to pass it on to me, but that I couldn’t open it until I got back to New Bark Town. When I muttered “great, more mysteries,” he gave me an…almost endearing smile.

I feel like there’s something I’m missing, here.

I didn’t ask, though, and he took his leave, going outside and flying away on his Pidgeot. (I’ll admit, I felt a little jealous, with him being able to travel with strong Pokémon like that.) So then it was just me and Mr. P. Again, he was polite—he invited me to dinner after showing me the guest room—but damn, could he talk your ear off. So after dinner, I excused myself to make a journal entry, and here I am.

Now I just need to drag this out a bit longer…

I guess I could write about my family. Whatever brainiacs that might be reading this besides Elm might want some more background on me, right? That is, if they haven’t already written me off for being a thief…but whatever.

My mom’s name is Miriam. She grew up in Kanto, and when she was in her early twenties, she had two flings with two men two years apart, resulting in me and Zane. She’s really put a lot of effort into making up for being a single parent, especially considering that she had a falling out with her own parents and hasn’t gotten much support from them. Fortunately, the residents of New Bark Town have given her plenty of their own. Unfortunately, her older son decided that he didn’t need anyone’s help, and

Fuck it; I’ve already been over that. And it’s fucking done. Not lingering.

Moving on to Zane. We’re not incredibly close, but then again, he’s not very close to anyone—except maybe whatever fellow nerds he communicates with online. He often hogs the family computer for, as far as I can tell, geeking out about various things having to do with Pokémon. He’d probably have creamed himself if he was the one to meet Professor Oak. I’ll have to be sure I rub it in his face just the right amount.

Crap, I need more things to write about…

Louis’s doing okay. He’s still pretty aggressive, but, like I mentioned, Mr. P pleased him with treats. Maybe I’ll see if I can get some to take with me, just in case I need to calm Louis down in the future. Of course, I may have to return him after I get back—but Elm did say that this was only the beginning of a larger assignment he had for me, so Louis will probably be on loan to me for longer.

Ugh, why don’t I know what I’m doing yet? All this keeping me in the dark is fucking annoying! You get that, Elm? This isn’t the best way to have someone help you! I mean…okay, maybe I shouldn’t be getting too broken up after what I did, but still! What’s wrong with just telling me?

Well, he’ll probably spill the beans once I get back tomorrow. So I only have to wait another whole day! Joy.

On the plus side, I think it’s late enough now that I can say I’m going to bed without it seeming weird. So good night, or whatever.

Spoiler: Current Team

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Totodile	Big Jaw	Louis

 

[Lumaeus]

I picked a good day to resume my presence on the forums! A QuietGuardian run in a game I know? Huzzah! You know my rule: I only read screenshot runs and runs by those who've won me there.

Adam is quite a negative fellow, but I suspect, and we shall see, he'll warm up quite a bit. Louis will as well, I betcha. But we shall see!

 

[SprungGeoduck]

So let me get this straight:

• A storylocke (of course, my bread and butter)
• An alphabetlocke (one of my favourite rulesets of all time)
• Based on the style of The Martian (never actually read the book but loved the movie and every snippet I've ever read)

Sign me up! I love the vibes so far! Interested to see where this goes - keep it up!

 

[Leon Yorunaki]

Oh boy, we're here for a good start already. Wondering here how much his thief background will be an important asset for his journey other than setting his background.
(and a Johto Alphabetlocke seems a bit too suffering to me)

 

[silvertongue]

I love your writing style. Your voice is so clear.

 

[QuietGuardian]

Spoiler: Replies

@Lumaeus Welcome; always good to have you!
Adam is a rather negative person, isn't he? Maybe a good ol' Pokémon journey will help with that warming up.

@SprungGeoduck Check, check, and check! (Disclaimer, though: being inspired by The Martian doesn't mean it'll be as good. Not that I don't intend to deliver a decent product, though.)

@Leon Yorunaki His background as a thief will definitely play into things, though you'll have to wait to find out how exactly (although it does factor in in this very update). And fair point about a Johto Alphabetlocke—like I said in the introduction, it does combine a grinding-heavy ruleset with a grinding-unfriendly game.

@silvertongue Thank you! Have some more!

Spoiler: April 30, 12:28 p.m., Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center

Shit, now I’m even more confused about everything.

Backing up a bit. I left Mr. P’s house pretty early this morning, mostly because I was feeling anxious to get this whole thing done. After a quick breakfast and making sure the egg was secured in my backpack, I set back out. Louis and I made pretty good time to Cherrygrove, and I was just getting ready to find a place to take a break and eat lunch when I saw a very familiar face. It was Zane, and he looked like he was in a hurry. And then, he flinched when I called out his name. I ran over to him and asked what he was doing in Cherrygrove looking so shifty.

Well, the little shit told me it was something I wouldn’t understand and dodged my questions after that. I got pissed off because not only was he now holding information from me, but he had this smug attitude while doing so, so I released Louis and said I’d march him back to New Bark Town and make him open his mouth if I had to. To my surprise, he responded with a Pokémon of his own, sending out a Chikorita. Louis, luckily, immediately recognized it as an opponent, so he wasn’t as taken aback as I was when Zane told it to attack. I then managed to get my head together and realize this was an actual Pokémon battle, so I had Louis strike back and kept the commands going. Chikorita may be a bulky Grass type, but Zane didn’t have it use any Grass moves (maybe it just didn’t know any), and Louis’s strength and ferocity were eventually enough to overpower it. Good thing he’d gotten some training from fighting wild Pokémon yesterday and today.

Of course, now I really didn’t know what the fuck was going on. My questions from before were still unanswered, and where the hell had Zane gotten a Chikorita? But once it was defeated, he recalled it quickly and ran off. I recalled Louis and tried to follow him, but he gave me the slip at some point, and I lost him. I went to the Pokémon Center to see if he was there to heal his Pokémon, but I saw no sign of him, and the nurse said they hadn’t seen anyone matching his description. And he tends to stand out in a crowd, based on his long red hair alone.

So now I myself am in the Center, writing this as Louis gets healed. And once he does, we are getting the fuck back to New Bark Town, and I will have my goddamn questions answered. I’m sick of being in the dark.

Spoiler: April 30, 4:52 p.m., New Bark Town

Okay, I’m a bit calmer now. While I still don’t know absolutely everything, I do know most things, and that’s better than before.

When I first got back here, I went straight to Elm’s lab and found a policeman there. I should probably note that New Bark Town doesn’t actually have a police force; we fall under the jurisdiction of Cherrygrove. So it was the Cherrygrove police that caught me, just as it was the Cherrygrove police that was at Elm’s now.

And just my luck! It was my good friend Officer Dickless.

Yeah, his real name is Officer Douglas. But he’s the guy who arrested me, and he was a huge asshole about it the whole time. So I renamed him; it’s much more fitting.

Think I’m being too harsh? Well, as soon as he laid eyes on me, the good officer marched over, grabbed me by the arm, and claimed that he had his culprit. I barely had time to protest before he started dragging me away—not even bothering with placing me under arrest or telling me what I was being charged with.

So yeah, I think Officer Dickless is a pretty appropriate name. And if Elm doesn’t like me using it, well, tough shit, he’s the one who asked me to make journal entries for him.

Fortunately, Elm came to my rescue, saying that I had been out doing an errand for him since yesterday morning, and I couldn’t have committed “the theft.” Dickless snorted and started to say some bullshit about me sneaking back before Elm offered proof: Mr. P had contacted him saying that I had arrived yesterday evening and left this morning. There was no way someone without a method of transportation besides walking could have returned to New Bark Town while keeping to that schedule. So Dickless begrudgingly let me go and left, but not before warning that he’d be keeping an eye on me.

Of course, I had to find out what was going on. Fortunately, Elm didn’t keep it from me: he told me that, earlier today, someone had broken into his lab and stolen a Pokémon, a Chikorita. And given that I’d just fought a suspicious-looking Zane coming from New Bark Town who’d had a mysterious Chikorita, I was pretty sure I knew who the culprit was…but I didn’t tell Elm. A part of me definitely wanted to, but another part of me already hated being labeled as a thief, and I was hesitant to inflict that on Zane, as well. Maybe I’d be able to run into him again and get him to return the Chikorita?

But that’s a stupid idea, now that I think about it. Zane was determined to do something, and it’s not easy to talk him out of something once he decides on it. Plus, Elm will probably figure it out on his own once he becomes aware of Zane’s disappearance.

Oh, well. Onto more positive news: I finally know what Elm plans to have me do! (Though when I asked why it took so long to tell me, he said he just thought I could use an exercise in patience. Prick.)

It’s not gonna be easy, though. Due to his low funding, he hasn’t had much opportunity to extensively study the Pokémon of the Johto region. But now that he has my free help, he’s going to have me go around the entire region and collect data on a whole lot of Pokémon. When I asked him how the hell I’m supposed to do that, he asked if I had received a package from Professor Oak while I was at Mr. Pokémon’s house. I brought it out and opened it to reveal a red rectangular device. Elm explained that this was an invention of Professor Oak’s called a Pokédex that could automatically record data on any Pokémon I caught. He told me I had to use it to get data on Pokémon all throughout Johto.

I was a little daunted at the prospect of going around and catching dozens of Pokémon, but Elm further explained that I couldn’t catch every Pokémon that I saw, since it could disrupt the balance of the wildlife. Instead, I can only catch the first wild Pokémon I saw in each area, an “area” being a route, cave, town, etc. I can also skip over any Pokémon I already had, since there’s no need to get data on a Pokémon I already had data for.

Now I was thinking that this wouldn’t be too bad. But Elm still wasn’t done. He said that he was interested not only in the data that the Pokédex had to offer, but also in noting Pokémon’s behavior and getting them to evolve. So he wanted me to raise a fair number of the ones I caught…and he had “just the plan” for doing so. He seemed pretty proud of himself for coming up with it.

First, I have to nickname every Pokémon I get, but to nickname them, I have to use a random letter generator that’s installed on the Pokédex. The name must then begin with that letter. Furthermore, I have to perform rotations on my current Pokémon team, based on alphabetical order. I’ll start out with the Pokémon I have that have the highest alphabetical priority in terms of their Pokémon name (like “Totodile”). Next, I’ll move on to ordering them by category name, and after that, nickname. Then I cycle back to the Pokémon names and keep going. Apparently, this way I should end up training a variety of Pokémon throughout my trek. These rotations will take place every time I enter a different city or town.

At this point, I was pretty lost, so Elm had to explain it a couple more times. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it now, though.

He also said that, as this is technically punishment for my misdeeds, I won’t be able to keep most of what I get on this journey—meaning that, once I’m done, I’ll have to turn over all my Pokémon and most of my items to him. I’m also going to have to transfer a portion of all the money I earn to him. The only things I’ll be able to keep are my new trainer’s license (which I suppose is nice) and some of my money for various expenses. So basically, I’ll be doing something that most people dream of doing, but without the prestige, riches, ability to choose most of my actions, or set of inseparable friends.

Can’t fucking wait.

Spoiler: Current Team

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Totodile	Big Jaw	Louis

 

[silvertongue]

And we’re off! Officer Dickless made me chuckle. I really like the idea of a Nuzlocke being used for ecological reasons. That’s really clever. Best of luck to you and Louis!

 

[Electro]

So basically, I’ll be doing something that most people dream of doing, but without the prestige, riches, ability to choose most of my actions, or set of inseparable friends.

That's actually really sad. Hope things get better for Adam!

 

[Lumaeus]

You've made the Nuzlocke restrictions an explicit part of the story! That's fun. I look forward to seeing how the poor boy actually gets along with his coming squad.

Of course it was Zane. Of course.

All Cops Are Blakelyphobes

 

[QuietGuardian]

Spoiler: Replies

@silvertongue I may have borrowed the idea of catching only the first Pokémon in an area for ecological reasons from other runs, but thanks! Off we go!

@Electro Adam has some negative emotions that he tries to mask with sarcasm, but things do slip through. His journey's just beginning, though, so there are opportunities for things to get better.

@Lumaeus Well, I've made one of the Nuzlocke restrictions a part of the story. You'll have to wait and see if/how the other one is portrayed. as for how "the poor boy" gets along with his squad, you'll see here that that's not a completely inaccurate characterization of him…
I had to have the rival in an Alphabetlocke have a Z name to contrast the protagonist's A name, didn't I?
I dunno about all cops, but at least one of them certainly fits that bill.

Spoiler: May 1, 11:50 a.m., Route 29

All right, things aren’t too bad! I packed up all my stuff last night, then this morning, I set off with a bunch of food from my mom and a handful of Poké Balls from Elm. I also have a bit of cash that I’ve saved up, so I can buy things right away if I need to. But so far, I’ve basically been doing two things: training Louis a bit more and catching Pokémon for Elm. Louis is still pretty aggressive, but he at least recognizes my authority as his trainer. The other two Pokémon I’ve caught are a little different.

First is Mara, the Pidgey, whom I caught here on Route 29. (Actually, when I came up with an M for her name, I considered naming her after my mom, but I thought it’d be weird to command someone with the same name as the woman who raised me.) She’s pretty agreeable, which is great—but I’m not sure how much I’ll be seeing of her, thanks to Elm’s alphabetical rules. Her three letters are P for Pidgey, T for Tiny Bird, and M for Mara. Her nickname won’t change, and her Pokémon name won’t change much when she evolves. Though there is some hope in category—if Pidgey is the Tiny Bird Pokémon, could Pidgeotto and Pidgeot be something like the Big Bird Pokémon, or even just the Bird Pokémon? And while I would need to evolve her for that, her other two letters might be good enough for her to see action on the other two teams—especially considering the other Pokémon I caught today.

I got him on Route 46, which is just north of 29. It’s a mountainous route, but there are some Pokémon that make their home at the bottom of the slope. The one I got was a Spearow, and when I got a random letter from my Pokédex, it came up with Z. Bottom of the alphabet, almost right away. I named him Zachary, but he might not stick around for long; his letters are S for Spearow, T for Tiny Bird, and, of course, Z. That’s way worse than Mara. If he makes it to Fearow, he’ll have a better chance, but that’s a ways away, and it’s not promising with his letters. But he’s a grouch anyway, so it won’t be a huge loss if/when I can’t use him anymore.

Anyway, Elm wants me to raise all my catches so that they’re approximately on an even level with each other, and Louis is currently way ahead of Mara and Zachary, so we need to do some training. But first, I’m going to Cherrygrove to heal everyone at the Pokémon Center and eat lunch.

Spoiler: May 1, 1:23 p.m., Cherrygrove City

I just realized: entering Cherrygrove City puts me on a new cycle for my team. So while I started out with the Pokémon who had the highest-alphabetically Pokémon names, I’m now supposed to have those with the highest-alphabetically categories.

Of course, it doesn’t make any damn difference with only three Pokémon.

Better get started on that training.

Spoiler: May 1, 2:52 p.m., Route 29

Elm also wants me to record my observations on the Pokémon I have, so I’m making another entry.

Training is going okay for the most part. Mara has been happy to be trained in whatever way necessary, including having Louis help her out. I’m not sure if Louis is thrilled that he’s having to fight battles for her, but at least he seems to be taking his frustration out on the wild Pokémon and not his teammate.

Wait, that’s not fucking true. He gets along fine (or at least neutrally) with Mara, but he and Zachary are butting heads a lot—sometimes literally. To start with, Zachary is a lot more troublesome than my other bird Pokémon; he doesn’t like Louis finishing his battles for him, so whenever I try to get Louis to help him, he tries to shove Louis out of the way, and then, unsurprisingly, Louis shoves back. So then I have to start yelling at them to concentrate on fighting the wild Pokémon—but by that time, it’s probably run off, leaving Zachary and Louis to snipe at each other some more. Sometimes, Mara tries to intervene and calm them down, but they usually brush her off. A couple of times, she’s actually been attacked (albeit in a minor way), in which case I recall both of them, make sure Mara’s okay, then let them back out after a little while. And then I find another wild Pokémon, and the whole fucking process starts over again.

Remember when I said things weren’t too bad, earlier today? I think I’ve changed my mind.

Spoiler: May 1, 4:19 p.m., Route 29

Why do Sentret have those white rings on their chests? It makes them look like targets.

…Look, I’ve seen a lot of Sentret today, okay? When you’re inundated with something, your thoughts can go in weird directions.

Anyway, I’ve finally gotten Zachary to the point where he can handle most of the wild Pokémon around here on his own, so he and Louis won’t be trying to kill each other every five fucking minutes anymore. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I’m completely in the clear: Elm told me that one other thing he’d like me to do is keep my Pokémon outside of their Poké Balls as much as possible, so as to better observe their behavior. Which means that Louis and Zachary have only taken a step down from fighting each other frequently—now they just glare at each other all the time, which is actually almost worse because I keep getting stressed out waiting for them to go at it again.

Mara’s still on my good side, though. Actually, she’s been pretty helpful keeping the other two in check, by either positioning herself in between them or doing something to divert their attention. I do hope I get to keep her on the team a lot more.

On that note, though, she’s looking a little tired, so I probably don’t want to drag out this training for much longer. (I’m pretty sure Louis and Zachary are tired, too, but they won’t show it as easily.)

Spoiler: May 1, 4:55 p.m., Route 29

Yeah, we’re done with training for the day. Pretty much the whole team’s worn out, and at this point in the day, it doesn’t make much sense to take a couple hours of rest, then get back into things. I’m also guessing that the low level of my Pokémon contributes to their lower stamina. So Elm (and I, for that matter) will probably have to be content with slower training in the first several days.

I’ll get back to Cherrygrove for some rest and dinner, then maybe write one more entry to finish off the day.

Spoiler: May 1, 7:43 p.m., Cherrygrove City

Son of a bitch, why can’t I actually have things go without a hitch around here?

Guess who got into another fight over dinner? If you guessed Louis and Zachary, then you’re right! Give yourself a pat on the back. Soon after we started dinner, they got into a competition to see who could finish his food the fastest. Because I’m an idiot, I didn’t step in until after Zachary started choking on his food.

Have you ever given the Heimlich maneuver to a Spearow? Or, even worse, a panicking Spearow? I got my fair share of scratches on my hands and arms.

To make matters worse, Louis started laughing at Zachary, so the Spearow flew at him in a rage, and the two of them nearly destroyed the table I was at. I had to recall them both, then take them to separate rooms and give them their food there. While I did so, I made it clear to them that the next time something like this happened, they could consider their next meal forfeited. They’d damn well better listen.

At least I had a nice dinner with Mara. She even nuzzled me a bit when I came back from dealing with the other two. (Might be a little sweeter than I’m comfortable with at the moment, but I guess I can still appreciate the sentiment.)

I’m back at the Pokémon Center right now for a bit of relaxation time before going to bed. I say “relaxation” loosely because Louis and Zachary are outside of their Poké Balls, glaring at each other again, and I keep glancing over at them, waiting for something to happen.

Actually, you know what? Fuck it. They’re going back in their balls for the night. If they bitch about it, I just have to remind them who’s the trainer around here.

And I don’t have much more to say, so I’m gonna peace out. Let’s hope I can actually get some relaxation in before turning in for the night. This’ll actually be the first time I’ve stayed the night in a Pokémon Center, now that I think about it. Good thing they’ve got accommodations for traveling trainers. Till next time. I should call my mom and check in with her…

Spoiler: Current Team

Cycle: Category

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Totodile	Big Jaw	Louis
Pidgey	Tiny Bird	Mara
Spearow	Tiny Bird	Zachary

 

[Leon Yorunaki]

We're off with a good rivalry start between those two...
Had a chuckle with Officer Dickless, and another with you doing a Heimlich maneuver to a bird. This is surely going wild.
Shame for Zach though, I like to use Fearow the most compared to most other normal/flying early birds (except rookidee, but that's an exception on its own)
Enjoy peace while you can, because once you get enough catches...

 

[Lumaeus]

I do not envy other guests at the Pokemon Center. I can't imagine this tumultuous squad is a fun gang to hang around.

First is Mara, the Pidgey, whom I caught here on Route 29.

Adam uses "whom" properly? I think we've got a secret nerd here.

 

[QuietGuardian]

Spoiler: Replies

@Leon Yorunaki Glad you're getting a few chuckles out of this, as that's definitely something I'm shooting for! It's not all Adam's incessant complaining.
Fearow is pretty good for an earlygame bird—especially in this game, where its competition is pretty slim—but I am bound by the Alphabetlocke rules to only use Zachary for a certain amount of time. Well, unless he does make it to Fearow and gets much better letters…

@Lumaeus Adam's trying his best to control them, at least.
My headcanon is that language was one of Adam's strong subjects in school. Definitely not me just trying to justify my own particularity for proper grammar

Spoiler: May 2, 9:50 a.m., Cherrygrove City

Louis and Zachary seemed to have mellowed out a bit; maybe they just needed a good night’s rest. That, or the warnings that I’ve given them have finally sunk in.

I made a quick trip up to Route 30 this morning to catch another Pokémon…and got a bit of a surprise. The first Pokémon I saw was a Caterpie, and the first I saw of it was it launching itself at Mara, seemingly intent on beating the shit out of her. Fortunately, Mara was strong enough to fight back, and I caught the Caterpie, hoping that no longer being wild would reduce that desire to attack.

Also, I named her Una—the random letter was a U, and I couldn’t think of any good female “U” names. Heck, is “Una” even a name? Screw it, it is now.

Unfortunately, when I released her, she continued to act hostile towards Mara. She didn’t flat-out attack her again, but she made growling noises (as much as a Caterpie can, anyway), and tensed up, as if she was getting ready to either strike or leap out of the way. I tried explaining to her that Mara was not going to harm her, that the two of them were on the same team now, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

So now I’m back at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, waiting for the nurse to pass judgment on what might be going on with Una. I’m really fucking hoping I don’t end up with a team that’s 75% hostile towards each other.

Dammit, Elm. Did you know this would be this much work?

Spoiler: May 2, 10:33 a.m., Cherrygrove City

Well, the report’s in. After giving Una a brief physical and psychological examination, the nurse has theorized that, since Pidgey frequently prey on Caterpie, Una’s probably had one or more run-ins that gave her a combination of fear and hatred for Pidgey. Also, due to the several scars on Una’s body, it’s likely she’s fought some off in the past. So she’s dealing with being afraid of a potentially life-threatening attack all the time, which makes her very tense, but since she has combat experience, she’s more than ready to launch herself at any potential threat—i.e., any Pidgey. And the most agreeable member of my team just happens to be one!

I wonder if I could catch another Caterpie on Route 30, and Elm wouldn’t know the difference.

…Eh, he might. Besides, even if I, like, released her and caught a new one, I’d have to deal with the guilt of turning her back to the unforgiving wild, with all those Pidgey that want to eat her. Even I have my standards, after all.

Guess I’d better get to training, then…

Spoiler: May 2, 8:47 p.m., Violet City

Shit, I forgot to write in this thing all day! I was so focused on training and making it to Violet City that it slipped my mind. I mean, to be fair, there’s not a whole lot of significant stuff that happened. I did fight some other trainers on the way to Violet, though. One of them had a Pidgey that gave Una a chance to vent her anger at the species at someone besides Mara, thank the gods. She got pretty banged up in doing so, but she seemed satisfied. She’s calmed down somewhat towards Mara, but she’s definitely not at ease around her. I think it makes Mara feel bad, that she causes Una to freak out just with her presence. I’d be pissed at Una for causing Mara to feel this way except for the whole trauma thing.

Eventually, I got tired of retreating to the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center and decided to just strike out for Violet and try to get there today. Ran into another couple of trainers on the way. One of them, a guy named Wade, was pretty nice; he offered me some Berries he’d picked. I also ran into another wild Pokémon after crossing onto Route 31, which meant I had to catch it. It was a Bellsprout—not bad, but since chance likes to fuck with me, it gave me another really late letter for his name, W. So he’s Wilson. He’s at least pretty chill, which means I don’t have to worry about yet another one of my Pokémon trying to murder a teammate.

Boy, I can’t wait for that to stop being something to be relieved about.

Anyway, I made it to Violet City this afternoon and rested up a bit before heading back to Route 31 for more training. Wilson does all right for himself, as it turns out: even when he’s at a natural disadvantage, like against a Caterpie or Pidgey, he can use his vines to ensnare them and hurl them at the ground or a tree. I wonder if he’s had to come up with techniques like that, living in the wild with other Pokémon who could threaten him.

Una’s a different story, unfortunately. She’s still too weak to do much battling by herself, as a Caterpie, so I have to get the others’ help, which seems to frustrate her. Though at least she hasn’t been really hostile, since I haven’t been dumb enough to try to make Mara help her. I mean, I wish I could, but I’m really not in the mood to test my Pokémon’s tolerance of each other, after yesterday.

Speaking of which, Louis and Zachary have shown a marked improvement in their behavior, but it’s still far from perfect. They haven’t started any fights, but they’re definitely still tense around each other. Sometimes I even wonder if they’re looking for an excuse to fight again, but they hold back because they’re wary of how I would react. Well, I damn well hope the second part at least is true. They’ve already used up about all of my patience for dealing with their bullshit.

I probably shouldn’t reflect on that too much now, though. The whole team’s in their balls for the night, and I get some time to relax before going to sleep myself. Well, relax and write in this journal. You’re welcome, Elm. (I say after forgetting to make entries for most of the rest of the day…)

We’ll probably check out Sprout Tower tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a good place for training.

Spoiler: May 3, 11:35 a.m., Violet City

I slept in a bit today, which was nice. I figured I couldn’t be too lazy, though, so I went over to Sprout Tower shortly after waking up to check it out. It’s an…interesting place. There are a bunch of monks there, whose job is just I guess to hang out and help people train. It’s a pretty nice arrangement, actually, since they’re good at it; I even got Una to evolve into Metapod after fighting one of them! Sure, she’s kind of useless now, but anyone who knows anything about Caterpie knows that Metapod is a necessary waiting period before Butterfree. Annoying, but necessary.

I also found a wild Rattata there. I wasn’t sure at first if it was wild or if it had wandered away from another trainer, but one of the monks confirmed the former, saying that a number of them made their home in the tower, and trainers were free to capture them. I had to name him something starting with a “V”—which is making me wonder if this random letter generator only uses the second half of the alphabet—so he’s Victor now. Might not stick around for too long with his letters, but…well, he seemed like he could use the company. He looked really scraggy when I first got him, and he acts timid. He’s kind of on the small side, so maybe he had a hard time competing for resources against other wild Rattata. But the Center’s getting him fixed up now, so hopefully he’ll be feeling better and up for some training soon.

Spoiler: Current Team

Cycle: Nickname

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Totodile	Big Jaw	Louis
Pidgey	Tiny Bird	Mara
Metapod	Cocoon	Una
Rattata	Mouse	Victor
Bellsprout	Flower	Wilson
Spearow	Tiny Bird	Zachary

Spoiler: Author's Comments

Since Adam will have more to say on some days and less to say on others, I won't be following the "one day per update" pattern I used for the first three updates. It's more important to me that I format posts based on length and grouping their content, rather than closely following a set structure. (That being said, let me know if you think the format of the updates could be improved upon.)

 

[Spectacles]

Ah I’m so glad this is officially up now!! Loving Adam as a main character. His intro about his thieving past and how he’s not like Robin Hood but not exactly all bad either hooked me right away. I love this journal entry style; it made it really manageable to read which was a big relief to me as I was nervous I was going to have so much to catch up on! But I breezed through this. It’s a ton of fun and I will of course be following closely from here on out :)

 

[QuietGuardian]

Spoiler: Reply

@Spectacles Thanks for coming! Glad you like Adam, especially since he's kind of the opposite of your main character—thinks of himself not highly enough instead of too highly.

Sorry for the delay on this, but with the story now started up and things getting busier irl, I think I'm going to cut back on the posting schedule and do once a week going forward. But, in correlation with that, updates will be a little longer. So enjoy this chunk of the story for the next seven days! (Really, do enjoy it; this is one of my favorite parts in the early story.)

Spoiler: May 3 (2)-May 4

Spoiler: May 3, 1:51 p.m., Route 31

I went back to Route 31 to train my team some more, since it has way more wild Pokémon than Sprout Tower does and there are only so many monks I can battle. And, believe it or not, it’s actually going pretty well. Mara finally learned Gust, which makes her much better at taking down the common Bug and Grass Pokémon in the area. Una didn’t actually witness it, so she didn’t have whatever reaction she’d have had if she did. I guess Wilson could’ve been bothered, too, but not much seems to bother him at all.

Victor’s actually starting to get into the groove, too. He’s still kind of on the timid side, but he’s able to at least be around the rest of the team. Their attitudes towards him range from mostly indifferent to welcoming, which is good. They’ve been helpful in getting his training started, since he wasn’t that strong when I caught him. He’s making progress, so hopefully he’ll be able to hold his own before long.

Not much else to report. I’ll probably make another entry later this afternoon. Hopefully things will still be going well.

Spoiler: May 3, 3:07 p.m., Sprout Tower

Nope! Fuck this day, and fuck my life!

In fact, fuck a lot of things! Fuck overly aggressive wild Pokémon! Fuck Poké Ball technology that doesn’t let you recall Pokémon if they’re dead! But most of all, FUCK THAT FUCKING ASSHOLE OFFICER FUCKING DICKLESS!!!!!

And while I’m at it, fuck the monks here, too, because I’m pretty sure they’re about thirty seconds from throwing me out of the tower.

Why did I have to be enough of a dumbfuck to get myself into this?

Spoiler: May 3, 4:48 p.m., Sprout Tower

Okay, I take back what I said last time about the monks. They’re cool. They helped me be not as fucked as I would’ve been otherwise.

…And I should probably explain, because when Elm reads that last entry, he’s gonna be curious as hell. I don’t really want to, but…well, the monks did say it could help.

Victor died earlier today. I was training him, and he was getting worn out, so I was heading back to Violet City to heal up…and some asshole Pidgey decided to take advantage of the situation and swooped down on him. He tried to run, but it was faster and got him in the back of the neck, which must’ve snapped his spine. Una was also there, and her hatred of Pidgey actually came in handy, since she was able to chase it off. Too late to save Victor, though. But at least I didn’t have to watch him be carried off to be torn apart by—you know what, I don’t need to continue that line of thought.

I did have to carry him back to the Pokémon Center, though, which was kind of weird; I haven’t been too touchy-feely with my Pokémon, but even if I had, it’d still feel different carrying one that’s dead. But I was close to the city, so I figured I could get it done quickly.

Well, I got to the Center, and that’s when the shit really hit the fan.

I went up to the desk to ask the nurse about procedures for trainer Pokémon that had died. She was sympathetic, but I’d barely been up there for sixty seconds before someone walked right up to me and gleefully exclaimed that he’d caught me in the act. I turn to face him, and what do you know, it’s Dickless himself. Apparently he’d fucking stalked me to Violet City because he was determined to catch me when I made the slightest slip-up, so he could satisfy his raging boner for putting me in jail.

You may be thinking, “But wait, it’s not illegal to have a Pokémon that dies while training, is it?” No, it fucking isn’t, but that didn’t stop Dickless. He starts going on about how Victor’s death is evidence that I’ve been mistreating my Pokémon, since one, he was dead, and two, he looked malnourished. I tried to protest, saying I’d just caught him earlier that day, that there’d been an accident while training, and besides, how could I have starved a Pokémon enough to make that much of a difference in its appearance in just a couple of days? But, being the bang-up officer that he is, he didn’t listen to shit.

And that’s when he got out the handcuffs. And I kind of freaked out. I told him to get away from me, because, well, I was fucking pissed, but he came right at me, spouting some horseshit about how I shouldn’t resist arrest. So I snapped, told him to fuck off, and bolted out of there. Dickless gave chase, of course, and we ran through Violet City for several minutes before I headed for Sprout Tower, hoping I’d be able to get some sort of sanctuary there.

We both burst through the door, and after a few seconds of more running around and causing a scene, the monks stepped in. Several of them stood between the two of us and asked what was going on. We both gave our explanations—neither of which was done so calmly, but I guess the monks eventually got enough information, because they stepped back (except for one who kept an eye on us) to talk about what to do. That’s when I wrote my last entry, when I was still really agitated and afraid that things weren’t going to go my way.

Turns out I didn’t have to be so afraid. The monks came back to us and confirmed that I had been there earlier today and caught a Rattata, and yes, there were a number of wild Rattata around, some of which were better off than others. They said that it sounded like any evidence of my wrongdoing was circumstantial at best, and that officers of the law shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst in people.

Then it got even better. Dickless tried to say that he was already familiar with my character, since I stole valuable items in New Bark Town, and the monks got on his case, saying that if he was an officer from Cherrygrove, Violet City was out of his jurisdiction. Unless his help had been requested by the Violet City Police Department, they said it sounded like he had no business following me to Violet City and trying to get me arrested. Ha, I hope I never forget the look on that fucker’s face! Then when the monks said they’d be happy to contact the police in Violet and Cherrygrove to get things sorted out, he turned them down, saying that he could work things out on his own. The monks responded by basically saying “Great! Why don’t you head back to Cherrygrove to do that?”

So he’s gone! And by gods, I hope that’s the last I’ll see of him for a very long time.

Though the monks did say they’d keep me in Sprout Tower overnight to help put Dickless’s mind at ease. It’s not too bad of a setup; they have guest rooms and they’ve offered to provide dinner and breakfast. I might even be able to get in some more training with some of them!

So yeah, not fuck the monks here.

Spoiler: May 3, 9:05 p.m., Sprout Tower

This visit has been an interesting experience. I did do some more training with the monks this afternoon before 7:00, when Pokémon battles and tourist visits are over for the day. After that was dinner, and the monks took a lot more interest in me than I was expecting. They asked me all sorts of questions: who I was, where I was from, why I was there…but they seemed to put a lot of importance on the question of what I wanted to do. I told them I was just doing what’s basically community service work for Elm, but they pressed deeper, like, asking what I wanted to get out of the experience or what I wanted to do when it was over. It was a little uncomfortable; I didn’t have any really good answers, although they didn’t make me feel guilty about it.

…Now that I think about it, what do I want to do? Just pay off my debt to Elm? Find Zane? Figure out some way to turn over a new leaf?

Well, I guess they got me thinking about it…

Spoiler: May 4, 10:26 a.m., Violet City

I’m not sure exactly what to think about Sprout Tower and its monks. They’re all friendly and willing to help people, but they’ve got this cryptic feel to them…

I say this (or write this, I suppose) because at breakfast this morning, I got a visit from the abbot, who’s basically the head monk at Sprout Tower. When he said he wanted to talk about Victor, I got anxious, but he actually thanked me for what I’d done. For a second, I wondered what kind of fucked-up community of monks saw Pokémon dying as a good thing: was he about to say something about Victor being “in a better place”? Did they just have a huge pest problem with Rattata and wanted them wiped off the earth? But things made sense a second later when the abbot explained that, even though my time with Victor had been short, I had done him a kindness by giving him a home and a group of companions. I had made the last hours of his life comfortable, so that when his death did come, he at least had gotten to experience a new kind of happiness.

Dammit I barely knew this Rattata why am I cry

He also said he’d be interested in battling me, if I was willing. I kinda felt that it was something I shouldn’t turn down, so I accepted, assuming he wasn’t going to throw a Champion-level team at me or anything. Which he didn’t. He had two Bellsprout and a Hoothoot; Mara and Zachary beat the Bellsprout pretty easily, but Louis had some trouble with the Hoothoot. It kept flying out of range and hitting him quickly, and it would hold back from attacking whenever he tried to use Rage to boost his power when he got hit. I mean, he won eventually, since Totodile are generally stronger than Hoothoot, but it took longer than either of us wanted.

…Which the abbot noticed. He said that I had the makings of a good trainer, but I could learn to relax more and put more faith in the Pokémon that fight for me. Not that I know exactly how to do that, but maybe it’s just a thing that will come with time, and I guess something to keep in mind.

He did give me another suggestion, and that was to go to the gym. Apparently, it’s a good place to train, even if you’re not gunning for the badge. I suppose it’s worth checking out before I move on.

Spoiler: May 4, 2:10 p.m., Violet City

You know, I’ve been thinking. Elm didn’t actually say I couldn’t try to win any badges during this whole thing. And if I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling and training, even if it’s as punishment, why couldn’t I get something out of it? Badges are technically registered to a trainer’s ID, and I do have one of my own. Sure, I wouldn’t get to keep the Pokémon that helped me earn them, but they’d give me a certain status.

And the Pokémon that I have for now are doing pretty well! I fought a couple of trainers at the gym earlier today, people that are paid to help visitors train, and Mara and Zachary hardly had any problems taking them out. Even Una helped, and she’s still a Metapod!

Shit, this might actually work! ‘Course, I’ll have to train some more if I want to actually challenge the Gym Leader. Let’s give that a try.

Spoiler: May 4, 7:51 p.m., Violet City

Oh, yeah. The Violet Gym is going the fuck down.

I trained some more on Route 31 this afternoon, and I finally got Una to evolve into Butterfree! She’s got some mild psychic powers, which is a little concerning, but she’s mostly directed them at wild Pidgey. Still hasn’t gotten over that hatred—but at least she doesn’t seem to view Mara as an enemy anymore. Her personality is more haughty, like she’s confident she’d blast Mara away if she tried attacking her.

Well, let’s hope that confidence comes in handy when we fight Falkner. She can handle wild Pidgey just fine, but he’s going to be a step up, of course. Fortunately, the other four Pokémon I’ve got are doing well themselves. Louis and Zachary are still pretty fierce, and while Mara and Wilson are less so, they definitely know what they’re doing.

I guess I’ll find out exactly how good they are tomorrow!

Spoiler: Current Team

Cycle: Nickname

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Totodile	Big Jaw	Louis
Pidgey	Tiny Bird	Mara
Butterfree	Butterfly	Una
Bellsprout	Flower	Wilson
Spearow	Tiny Bird	Zachary

Spoiler: Author's Comments

Didn't take too long to get to the first death of the run, did it? Victor died when I got lazy while grinding him. He was in the low yellow against a wild Pidgey, and I didn't want to switch or use one of my Potions since I was close to Violet City, so I had him fight, knowing he'd be safe as long as the Pidgey's attack didn't crit. Cue one dead Rattata.

The battle against Sage Li (here represented by the abbot) went similarly to how it did in-story; I just left out switch-grinding Una against the two Bellsprout. Don't expect that trend to necessarily continue, though.

 

[QuietGuardian]

Happy Thanksgiving to the other Americans reading this! (For the rest of you, happy normal day!)

Spoiler: May 5

Spoiler: May 5, 10:43 a.m., Violet City

Folks, this journal is now being written by an official badge-holder! And I don’t think Elm will get too mad because it helped me see what these Pokémon can do!

I scheduled the match with Falkner early this morning for about an hour later. When it started, everyone who was training in the gym got to take a break to watch. Fortunately, there weren’t that many people, so I didn’t feel too put on the spot. Falkner himself didn’t spend too much time on small talk; he just asked me what level I was fighting at, and I told him I didn’t have any

Uh-oh. Elm’s calling me.

Spoiler: May 5, 11:05 a.m., Violet City

Okay, I’m not fucked. Elm was calling because he had found out I’d won the Zephyr Badge, but he wasn’t accusatory. I did get him to accept my actions by saying that it was another way to get information on the Pokémon I was training…and admitting that I was just thinking I could win a few badges so I’d get something really tangible out of this. He asked me to go over the battle I’d had and describe what useful information I’d acquired, so I did, and that seemed to satisfy him.

He also asked me to describe it in my journal so there’d be a record of it, so here we go.

Since it was a first-badge battle, Falkner started with just a Pidgey. I decided to try using Una’s natural disposition in my favor and sent her out. I think that caught him by surprise; he wasn’t used to challengers using a Bug type against him. I think his Pidgey was surprised, too; it didn’t seem to expect to fight a Butterfree, and not one that quickly proved herself to be more powerful than it was. She started out quickly, blasting Pidgey with a Confusion, and it didn’t really get a chance to respond before she finished it off with another couple of attacks.

Falkner was more confident when he sent out his Pidgeotto, though. I didn’t think it was a great idea for Una to go up against too strong a Flying type, so I recalled her (she didn’t seem thrilled, but she’ll have to get over it) and sent out Mara, hoping that her being able to fly would rob the Pidgeotto of an advantage. Turns out it pretty much did the opposite; that thing is a beast in aerial combat! Mara only got in a couple of attacks before she was too wounded to continue, and I had to recall her.

After seeing what that Pidgeotto could do to other flying opponents, I decided to send out Louis against it next, since only he and Wilson wouldn’t have to meet it in the air and Wilson had a disadvantage. Well, the Pidgeotto was trained to handle ground-based foes as well, and it swooped down to attack him, quickly flying away when he retaliated—he scratched it a bit, but not much more. I was wondering if he’d even be able to attack, especially once it started attacking from a distance with Gust.

Then I got an idea. It was being pretty aggressive, so maybe we could use that to our advantage. I had Louis use Rage, so the more he got hit, the stronger he got. Eventually, he was actually able to fight through Pidgeotto’s Gust and hurl himself at it, and with his boosted strength, he finished things in close-quarters combat!

Falkner actually complimented me on my battling skills, too! That was cool.

So now I’ve got the Zephyr Badge, and it’s registered to my trainer ID. In other words, I did it! I got something out of this whole thing!

I do have to stay in Violet City for a little while, though; during my conversation with Elm, he mentioned that he was going to send his lab aide to drive up here to meet me for something. He assured me it was nothing bad; I just hope he’s telling the truth.

…Let’s be real, he probably is.

Spoiler: May 5, 1:04 p.m., Violet City

Welp, I’ve gone from badgewinner to babysitter in just a couple of journal entries. Funny the unexpected twists that life can throw at you.

I mean, this isn’t that groundbreaking. Elm just wanted me to take the egg that Mr. Pokémon ferried over to him via me. When the egg hatches, it can be one of the Pokémon that I train, whatever it turns out to be.

He also passed along some information regarding gym battles. Basically, he doesn’t want me doing too many—which I wasn’t expecting to be able to do anyway—but he also decided to make things more complicated, just for shits and giggles. (Okay, probably not.) He said that if I’m going to be challenging gyms, I should make sure to give my Pokémon some rest afterward, and to that end, I have to make a team rotation every time I get a badge. I’d honestly almost forgotten about those rotations, since I still haven’t caught more than six Pokémon. Luckily, his aide told me where I am with those: I started on Pokémon name, then moved on to category when I hit Cherrygrove, then nickname when I came to Violet, and now that I’ve defeated Falkner, I’m back to Pokémon name, as I will be until I reach the next town.

Speaking of the next town, the aide also told me that Elm recommended I go south to Azalea Town instead of west to Ecruteak City right now, since if I take the Azalea/Goldenrod loop in the south of the region, I’ll wind up right back in this area and will have covered more of the region that way, thereby allowing me to have caught and trained more Pokémon. Though he said the choice was ultimately up to me, and I wouldn’t have to let them know what I decided to do, since they can track the location of my Pokédex to find out where I am.

…Now that I think about it, was that the aide’s way of telling me that they were watching me? He was a little stiff with me, after all. ‘Course, I guess you can’t blame him too much for not wanting to be all chummy with the punk kid that stole from his boss. And I guess I shouldn’t have expected to be able to go all over the region totally unsupervised. Yeah, Elm knew that I won the Zephyr Badge, but that’s probably because badge winners are publicly posted online. He could’ve easily looked it up there.

Anyway, I’d better get going soon. I do think I’ll follow Elm’s advice and head south to Azalea Town next. Sure, it’ll be more work for me…but it’ll also put me in the path of two more gyms, so it could turn out pretty well…

Spoiler: May 5, 2:05 p.m., Violet City

Hey, that team rotation thing is actually playing a part now! I went out to Route 32 and the first Pokémon I encountered was a Rattata. I actually caught it before remembering that Elm had said I could skip past Pokémon I’d already caught, since the Pokédex would have recorded data on them. But, on the other hand, I’d barely gotten any time to make any notes about Victor of my own, and this new Rattata could evolve into a Raticate, which I did not have data on.

And the letter generator on my Pokédex actually gave me a good letter for her nickname, meaning she’s more likely to stick around! I got a D, so I named her Deborah.

What I wasn’t expecting was for her Poké Ball to vanish after I’d caught her. I knew that trainers could use the PC storage system to store Pokémon when they had more than six, but I didn’t think I qualified: I only had Louis, Mara, Zachary, Una, Wilson, and now Deborah. I went back to Violet City and called Elm to try to figure this out, and I found out that apparently the egg counts as a Pokémon in my party. That’s annoying, since I can’t use it for anything, but Elm told me to keep it with me until it hatches and we know what kind of Pokémon it is.

But that meant that I had to make sure my team satisfied the alphabetic requirements. Not counting the egg, my Pokémon were a Totodile, a Pidgey, a Spearow, a Butterfree, a Bellsprout, and a Rattata. Of those, Totodile is the last alphabetically, which meant I had to deposit Louis. A little strange to deposit my first Pokémon (I mean, not “mine” technically, but you know what I mean). I’m sure I’ll have him back before long, though; his category is Big Jaw, so he’ll definitely return for the next rotation.

Elm also promised me he’d take care of Louis in the meantime; apparently, my storage account is linked to his lab, so he can study the Pokémon I catch when I’m not using them.

For now, I need to train Deborah so she’s not lagging behind the others so much.

Spoiler: May 5, 4:36 p.m., Route 32

Deborah’s coming along well. She seems on the older side, and maybe that’s why she’s more calm. She’s definitely capable of fighting, though, sort of like the tough old woman archetype. Hey, I can get behind that.

I did some training in the northern section of Route 32, sticking close to Violet City, then I decided to just head down it. It’s a little late in the day, but there’s supposed to be a Pokémon Center just before Union Cave, so I’ll probably spend the night there. Right now, we’re taking a short break.

Also, can I just say how nice it is to not have to worry about my team members fighting each other anymore? I mean, Una’s gotten over her aversion to Mara (at least, mostly), and Louis isn’t around anymore for Zachary to antagonize. They’re actually getting along fairly well. Y’know, like an actual team.

Okay, let’s see what else this route has to throw at us.

Spoiler: May 5, 7:29 p.m., Route 32

In response to my last entry, creepy guys selling things, apparently! I’d almost reached the Pokémon Center when some guy accosted me, asking if I wanted to buy a Slowpoketail. I’ve heard of those; they’re supposed to be pretty exotic, and given the dude’s asking price, that’s an accurate assessment. When I said I didn’t want it, he turned sour and dismissed me—even though he was the one who approached me! Weird fuck.

On the positive side, there were more trainers and wild Pokémon on the route, too. Deborah’s still making good progress. Everyone’s helped her out a bit, with attitudes ranging from Mara’s eagerness to Zachary’s “whatever, sure.”

Wilson’s also been doing well, which is good, because I expect I’ll need his help against all the Rock Pokémon in Union Cave tomorrow. If Louis was still on the team, I’d have more than one Pokémon with a type advantage, but Grass Pokémon have enough of a leg up that I’ll probably be fine.

Anyway, the cave comes tomorrow. For tonight, it’s dinner, another call to my mom, and then chilling out before going to sleep.

Spoiler: Current Team

Cycle: Pokémon name

Pokémon name	Category	Nickname
Bellsprout	Flower	Wilson
Butterfree	Butterfly	Una
Pidgey	Tiny Bird	Mara
Rattata	Mouse	Deborah
Spearow	Tiny Bird	Zachary
[Egg]	???	???

Spoiler: Author's Comments

Similar to the Sage Li battle, the Falkner battle in-game went similarly to how it went in the story. Una easily took out the Pidgey thanks to her level advantage, Confusion, and Pidgey only being able to hurt her with Tackle. Mara only got in a Sand-Attack and Gust against Pidgeotto before I had to switch her out, and I brought in Louis, who took some fair damage but used Rage's increasing power to win.