Written Story Kalos Critique Lv.4 Teen Mon Revive

[pinkshellos]

Hey, guess who's finally posting content on nuzlockeforums.com?

So, this run has been my baby for a while. I finished the gameplay in December 2020 and it’s kind of been an on-and-off WIP ever since. I think I rewrote the first three chapters something like two times over a year and a half?
I saw a lot of runs on the forums that were really able to make the settings of the pokemon games feel alive, and give the characters a lot of personality and depth, and I decided I wanted to do that with a gen 6 game because I have a soft spot for XY. (Out of all of the runs that were an inspiration to me, Brick by Boring Brick by glancesherlock is the first that comes to mind, go read all of glance's stuff if you haven't already.)

Ok, so without further ado, I welcome you to:

​

Vienna was a Kalos League fanatic - until her one shot at taking on the gyms went awry shortly before a region-wide shortage of revive crystals forced the League to close its doors for three years. An unexpected second chance leads her to begin traveling with Shauna, an outgoing girl living in the shadow of her sister, and Calem, an experienced trainer with a Fletchinder named Twig as his partner. However, their travels also bring them into contact with some of Kalos’ most powerful individuals, each determined to permanently change the future of the region. What do you do when your childhood dream meets some unexpected complications? Can you build new bridges while repairing old ones?​ ⠀

Spoiler: Rules

1. Only catch the first pokemon you encounter in a route/distinct area
2. If a pokemon faints, it goes in the dead box
3. Everyone gets a nickname
4. I can catch a maximum of two new pokemon before each gym

Spoiler: Table of contents

Chapter 1: A Deep Breath ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 2: A Path ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 3: A Spark ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 4: A Battle (and an Unexpected Meeting) ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 5: A Gift ♢ ao3 mirror
Extra 1: Sycamore & Lysandre ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 6: A Rival ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 7: An Encounter ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 8: A Shock ♢ ao3 mirror
Chapter 9: A Rumble ♢ ao3 mirror

Chapter 10: A Glimmer ♢ ao3 mirror
Extra 2: Calem ♢ ao3 mirror

♢ Chapter 1: A Deep Breath Spoiler: Part 1 The thing about Aquacorde is that it’s big enough to be considered a suburb of Lumiose, but small enough for the mailman to recognize you through a store window. So when there’s a piece of mail headed your way that’s going to send your life into orbit, it gets delivered to you personally. I’m sitting behind the counter of the potion shop, tapping a pen on the counter, when the mail truck pulls up and idles in front of the store. The bell attached to the door chimes as the mailman and his Ledian enter the store; he fishes out a thick envelope from his bag, asks about my parents (they’re doing just fine), and hands me the mail. I make sure to say hello to the Ledian and scratch behind its antennae before they leave. I lean down behind the desk and slide the envelope into my bag at first, but after a few minutes when no customers approach the store (it’s a slow afternoon) I take it out again. There’s a wax seal on the back – who still uses those? I flip it over and nearly fall off of the stool when I get my answer. The return address says Lumiose Pokémon Labs. Why in the world would Kalos’ largest and best funded pokémon research facility be sending me a letter? It’s addressed to me, that’s for sure – the name Vienna Abarquez is written in startlingly neat calligraphy across the front – but what the hell is it? The rest of my shift absolutely drags. I take the envelope out of my bag again as I’m walking home. The road between Aquacorde and Vaniville (which are considered two separate towns, but really shouldn’t be because they’re so tiny) is lined with old trees; the light filtering down through the leaves glints off of the gold-trimmed stamp. I pass through a neighborhood of nearly identical houses before reaching my front gate. As I unlatch it, Ferdie - my Mom’s Oddish - hops out of the front window and runs across the yard to meet me. I scoop him up in my arms and push open the front door. “Mom, stop leaving the windows open, or Ferdie is going to mess up the flower beds again! Also, I’ve got mail from Lumiose!” The Oddish wiggles out of my arms and runs into the kitchen, and I follow close behind. Setting my bag down on the table, I finally take a letter opener to the envelope. Before it’s entirely open, I’m distracted by Ferdie jumping on to the table and attempting to stick his face into my glass of water. After shooing him away, I finally look inside the envelope. Dear Ms. Abarquez, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected for special participation in this year’s Kalos Pokémon League through the Lumiose Pokémon Labs Trainer Sponsorship Program. Three of Kalos’ most promising trainers were chosen for this opportunity. My eyes are so wide I think they’re in danger of falling out of my skull. “I didn’t – did you two sign me up for this? The Pokémon League?” I wave the letter at my parents as they walk in. Sure, three years ago I was convinced that I would travel around the region and take the League by storm with my closest friends, but things were different now. They knew that. My mom and dad look as confused as I am, so I keep reading. I hear Ferdie jump up onto the table again, but I’m too preoccupied to shoo him away. I am very pleased that the doors to Kalos’ gyms will be reopening this year. I applaud you for your ambition and I look forward to watching your performance during this year’s League season, as well as that of your peers. The Kalos Pokémon League will begin on April 5th, with a belated commencement ceremony held in Lumiose City on April 9th. Should you accept this opportunity, you and the two other selected trainers will receive a starter pokémon, an official Trainer ID, and a Version VI Pokédex. In the next few pages, the specifications of the sponsorship are laid out: besides the pokémon and the newest model of the pokédex, housing accommodations would be provided in every city along the League circuit after the commencement ceremony. I gasp. That’s huge - Pokémon Centres can only fit so many trainers and hotels are expensive, especially in the touristy cities like Cyllage and Coumarine. My parents had spent years saving up a League fund for me… money that instead went towards online university classes after I refused to leave Vaniville three years ago. I still think that there’s no way in hell this could be real until my eyes wander to the bottom of the page. There’s a loopy signature that I wouldn’t have been able to decipher if not for the name listed in print below it, a name that’s familiar to almost everyone in Kalos: Augustine R. Sycamore, PhD. I look up and finally snatch my water away from Ferdie, who’s been attempting to stuff his little blue Oddish face into the glass the whole time. --- ♢ ---​ I spend weeks agonizing over the letter. Three years ago when I stayed in Vaniville instead of registering for the League, I spent a month moping around, totally desolate, until I made a new plan: get a degree in computer science, move out to a trendy city like Anistar or Cyllage, and spend the rest of my young life sitting in tiny cafés, tapping away at a laptop. Focusing on that goal is getting increasingly more difficult. It’s like the letter has a magnetic pull, and it doesn’t help that my parents are also encouraging me to accept the sponsorship. I even go through my closet to find my old stash of League merch, hidden all the way in the back behind a stack of boxes - my “Welcome to the Blazing Chamber” t-shirt still fits. I also spot a pokémon bed with tufts of gray and brown fur still stuck to it. I can’t just drop everything to do this, right? It’s irresponsible at best, and unsafe at worst – the League was closed for a reason. Pokémon got hurt and the Centres couldn’t heal them effectively without a supply of revive crystals. What makes this year any different? There’s an email address listed under Dr. Sycamore’s signature. All I need to do is open up my laptop and write to him, saying “hi, I don’t want the sponsorship, you can give it to someone else.” I end up staring at a blank screen for twenty minutes, somehow unable to muster up the nerve to give up what I’ve been offered. When I finally send the email, it reads: ​ Hello Dr. Sycamore, I have some questions about the Pokémon League sponsorship. First of all, why is the League reopening this year? How is it safer than last year? Also, while challenging the League sounds great, I have a job and online classes. I just don’t think I could walk away from those to go traveling around the region being a pokémon trainer. If you have any advice, I’d appreciate it. - Vienna Abarquez I take a deep breath and hit the “send” button. It only takes about an hour for the response to arrive, the majority of which I spend pacing around my room in between attempts at finishing a reading for one of my classes. ​ It’s wonderful to hear from you, Vienna! I can understand your hesitance. While it’s great that the League is opening up again, it’s true that there are some real reasons to be cautious. I’ve attached a copy of the Pokémon League Rules and Regulations for this upcoming season. The League legally has to publish an official, publicly available copy before each season. There are a number of updated and newly created rules put in place to keep trainers and their pokémon safer this year. You can read through the whole document at your leisure, but I’ll direct you to regulations 8a-8c, 10a, and 13a. 13a is the most important – during all official League battles, if a pokémon falls unconscious, the battle will immediately be declared forfeit in order to get the pokémon medical attention as soon as possible. 10a is also worth mentioning: Mega Evolution is now forbidden in all official League battles unless the battle is between two trainers that both have the ability to Mega Evolve one of their pokémon, with the Champion being the only exception. As for your other concerns, you sound like a very responsible and level-headed person. Fortunately, it’s fairly commonplace for young people to take a few months’ leave of absence from their jobs for the League season, especially if it’s part-time work. You could ask your employer what their policy is. Take all the time you need to think these over thoroughly and let me know what you think. Best, Professor A. Sycamore P.S. - I’ve attached a video you may want to see. From my experience, trainers always want to see the pokémon. ​ And he’s right. I do want to see the pokémon. The video is taken in a large room with an indoor garden. Gathered around the edge of a tiny pond, across from the person holding the camera, are a Fennekin, Chespin, and Froakie. The Fennekin leans forward and sniffs the surface of the water, and the Froakie next to it slides into the pond and blinks slowly. The person taking the video bends down, closer to eye level with the tiny pokémon, and the Chespin looks straight at the camera and chirps happily. It barrels straight through the pond towards the camera, splashing water everywhere — which causes the Fennekin to yap loudly and the Froakie to disappear under the pond’s surface. The camera shakes as the person behind it laughs, and the video ends. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for a video of pokémon that are barely a foot tall, and that I’ve never even seen in person. It’s at that moment I realize that my dreams of being a pokémon trainer are alive and well. ​ Professor Sycamore, I’ll gladly accept the sponsorship. - Vienna Abarquez Three years ago, my plans to challenge the League with my two closest friends fell apart – but now I’m running down the stairs and scooping Ferdie up in my arms, celebrating the fact that I just agreed to a second chance. Spoiler: Part 2 April 3rd – the morning I leave to go meet the other two trainers selected for the sponsorship – comes sooner than I thought it would, through a blur of stocking up on supplies and researching important topics for trainers like team composition and training strategies. We’re meeting in Aquacorde’s Plaza Centrale, which came as a surprise for me, since it’s about an hour away from Lumiose by train and taxi but only a fifteen minute walk from my house. (On a video call, Sycamore explained to me that one of the other trainers lives in Lumiose, and the other traveled to the city with time to spare before the season to do some training – since he already has a pokémon of his own – and neither would mind a day trip out to a different town. Plus it would be good socialization for the Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie.) On the way, I pass the same tree-lined street that I had walked every other day to get to work just a few months ago. When I look up, I see a small flock of Fletching hopping between the branches. The plaza comes into view, all yellow brick that matches the surrounding buildings with their deep blue roofs. The fountain in the center is finally back on now that the weather is starting to warm up again. Sitting at a table near the fountain are two people who look to be about my age – one of them, a brunette with pigtails and a blue varsity jacket, is waving at me with both arms. The other has a Fletchinder perched on his shoulder. There’s a cylindrical briefcase on the table between them. I wave back and hurry over to the table. “Hi!” The brunette beams at me. “Are you Vienna?” “Yeah,” I say, pulling out a chair, “you can call me Vee. Are you Shauna and Calem?” Calem – who’s wearing a red shirt and a black cord necklace with a small white stone as the pendant – nods and motions to the Fletchinder. “And this is Twig.” Twig lets me scratch underneath her beak, and I am overjoyed. We get the small talk out of the way first – it turns out Shauna is the one who lives in Lumiose, and Calem is from Kiloude, which is so far south that he had to take the EXT into Lumiose. “Have you ever taken the ExtremeSpeed Train before? I’ve only been on one once, and it was for a vacation to Coumarine when I was younger.” I ask Calem. He nods. “My family travels a lot – my parents are retired trainers.” “Oh!” Shauna chimes in. “I’ve heard that a lot of the top trainers – like, gym leader level – move to Kilode when they retire. Were they ace trainers? Do we have a prodigy on our hands?” She asks playfully. (It’s true – I read somewhere recently that Kilode is the hotspot for training and battling facilities that aren’t League gyms.) Calem crosses his arms. “Yes, they were ace trainers. I’m not doing this because of them, though.” After chatting for a few more minutes, mostly about the upcoming League season, we exchange phone numbers. Or, rather – Calem and I have phones, but Shauna has a bright purple holo caster. “Isn’t that the newest model?” I raise my eyebrows. My parents had considered getting me one before I left, so we’d spent a lot of time looking at listings online. Shauna blushes and holds the device closer to her chest. “No, they released another newer model last month.” This gets a snicker out of both Calem and I, and Shauna seems so mortified by this that she grabs the briefcase and pushes it across the table towards us. “We should let the pokémon out soon! We just have to do some paperwork, and then we can pick our partners.” The paperwork is a slog – we have to read through several registration forms and the League Rules and Regulations. I had skimmed them when Professor Sycamore sent them to me, paying more attention to the rules he had specifically mentioned in the email, but trying to read them in detail when the pokémon that’s going to be my new partner is on the table right in front of me is… difficult. “So all of this year’s challengers have been split up into three groups, and each group has to challenge the gyms in a certain order, right?” I ask after my eyes glaze over in the middle of a particularly long paragraph. Calem nods. “Yep, to make sure none of the gym leaders get too overwhelmed with challengers. The League doesn’t want ‘em to get sloppy.” “And we’re Group X, starting with the Santalune City Gym,” adds Shauna. “It’s good that they put all the new safety precautions in place, all things considered,” Calem says. He finished reading and signing all the forms first, and has been eyeing the briefcase for the past five minutes. I nod. “I wouldn’t challenge the League this season if they hadn’t.” “You guys have wondered how in the world something like that could happen, with the revive crystals, right?” Shauna asks, looking up from behind her copy of the paperwork. “I mean, they’re rocks. Can’t they just… dig more?” “It’s weird, yeah. All the Pokémon Centres ran out so suddenly, and that one huge mine went bankrupt, right?” I say, frowning. Calem clicks the pen in his hand. “I’ve heard some scientists are theorizing that because they’re slightly radioactive, and the Xerneas legend suggests that they were all created at roughly the same time, the crystals still in the ground may have degraded to the point that there’s not enough mass to work with.” “That’s depressing,” deadpans Shauna, reaching out and unlatching the briefcase. Seeing three shiny pokéballs sitting in the case immediately distracts us all from the conversation. I grab my updated Trainer ID and new pokédex from a separate compartment, turning the sleek red metal over in my hands. From across the table, I hear Shauna snort. “My ID number has 420 in it.” I glance at my own ID number — 61666 — and turn it around to show her. She cackles. We high-five and Calem rolls his eyes. After giving Twig a few scratches along the back of her neck, he reaches for one of the pokéballs. “Do y’all mind if I pick Fennekin?” Shauna shakes her head. “Nope, I’m so psyched to be getting a pokémon that I don’t care which of these little ones I end up with. I love them all.” It dawns on me that I hadn’t put any thought into which of the pokémon I would want. I guess I had expected to have one of the three assigned to me – but, thinking back to the video Sycamore had sent me, I think I know. “No problem, Calem. I think I want Chespin.” “Ok, on three.” Shauna says after we’ve both grabbed a pokéball of our own. She counts down, and there’s a flash of light as all three of us release our new pokémon at once. On the ground in front of me is the cutest little bundle of brown fur and green spines (and a tiny pink nose) that I’ve ever seen. Resisting the urge to squeal — although I do hear Shauna cooing loudly at her new Froakie — I squat down and offer my hand for my new companion to sniff. “Hi,” I breathe, suddenly worried that anything louder than a whisper would blow the little pokémon away. In response, the Chespin leans forward and bites my finger. With a sound of surprise, I jerk my hand away before I realize that the bite didn’t hurt. The spiny pokémon just stands there and chirps at me, an expression on its face that could only be interpreted as mischievous. This Chespin is perfect. A quick scan from the pokédex reveals that he's a male. I lean in to scoop him up in a hug, but he worms his way out of my reach with an indignant squeak. “Personal space?” I cross my legs and settle down on the ground, putting an arm’s length of distance between us. “I can roll with that. I think I need to give you a name first anyways.” I glance over at the other two pokémon and their new trainers. Calem’s Fennekin is standing on its hind legs, sniffing Twig, who’s looking down from on top of the table. Shauna’s Froakie is clinging to her arm, a bit bug-eyed; otherwise, things seem to be going well. "I think I’m going to name him Ram,” I announce, gently poking one of the large spines on the top of the Chespin’s head. He pokes my arm in return. Shauna peers across the table. “Aww! I love him!” She glances down at her new partner, who’s still adhered to her arm. “Froabble here seems a bit shy, but I think she’s gonna be great.” Calem looks quizzical. “Froabble?” “It’s cute!” Shauna protests, shooting a glare in his direction. “How about yours, then?” I point my pokédex at the Fennekin, who’s also a boy. Calem is scratching behind his ears and I swear I hear purring. “I’m gonna go with Hugo, I think.” I nod. “Sounds elegant — really fitting for a Delphox.” We let the pokémon roam around close to the table and interact for about an hour. Froabble eventually climbs down and sits on the table, and Hugo jumps up to cautiously sniff her. Ram is content to walk around and examine the nearby flower pots for a few minutes, but eventually finds a way to climb up my chair and onto the table, approaching the Froakie and Fennekin with a loud squeak. Twig looks on from the back of Calem’s chair, giving an unimpressed shake of her feathers at the smaller pokémon. “So, the League starts in two days – what’s our game plan?” I ask, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table. Ram turns around, and I attempt to pet his head, but he bends down to avoid my hand and quickly jumps off the table. “I want to challenge the gym in Santalune – it’s the first one in the order, plus it’s close by. I was thinking we could all take a taxi into the city tomorrow,” Calem offers. Santalune is the closest city, so it would be a short ride away – but a thought strikes me and I sit upright in my chair. “You guys drove past a forest on your way here, right? It’s a big regional park, and there are trails that go straight through it to Santalune.” “Oh, hiking! That sounds a lot better than a taxi ride,” Shauna says. Her legs are crossed, and Froabble is sitting in her lap, eyes half closed. “How long will it take us to get there?” “I haven’t hiked all the way through before. Maybe a few hours? We could leave tomorrow morning and get there before the afternoon ends, I think.” “Let’s do it – it would give us all an opportunity to train. I’m sure there are a ton of wild pokémon in the forest,” Calem offers, tucking Hugo’s pokéball into his bag and standing up. “Shauna and I will probably spend the day seeing the rest of the town. Sycamore got us both a hotel room.” I nod. “I’ll meet you both back here tomorrow morning, then. I’d like to introduce Ram to my parents and their Oddish before we leave, anyway.” With that, we go our separate ways. Before I turn the corner onto the street that leads back to Vaniville, I look over my shoulder and see Shauna walking backwards and waving at me. She very narrowly avoids tripping over a potted plant before turning back around. “I’m excited to travel with them. They seem cool,” I comment absentmindedly to Ram. I had considered returning him to his pokéball for the walk, but he seems content to trot along a few feet away from me as long as I don’t try to pick him up. (As expected, my new Chespin gets along exceptionally well with Ferdie. They chase each other around the house until nearly midnight.) Spoiler: Current teams + notes Spoiler: Author's notes It's here! It's up! I'm finally showing my favorite idiots and their pokemon shenanagins to the world! I have very few notes about this first chapter, though. The EXT/ExtremeSpeed Train is obviously a nod to the move, but is also based off the fact that France’s major intra-city train system is called the TGV or Train à Grande Vitesse or literally “high speed train.” I’m not aiming to make Kalos super heavily French coded, but finding little worldbuilding tidbits I could slip in has been fun. So, I’m going to be including this section at the end of every chapter because there are going to be a lot of pokemon as the story goes on, and I know I struggle with keeping tons of names straight in my head. So this convenient little box goes here so that hopefully no one gets lost. And also because I think the little menu sprites are cute. ​ Vienna Shauna Calem Ram ♂​ Froabble ♀​ Twig ♀​ Hugo ♂​ ​

 

[SprungGeoduck]

Spoiler: oh god this got long

SHELL

i read literally the first line of this and decided i HAD to liveblog it

(also, inspired by BbBB and glance's work? here for it)

The thing about Aquacorde is that it’s big enough to be considered a suburb of Lumiose, but small enough for the mailman to recognize you through a store window. So when there’s a piece of mail headed your way that’s going to send your life into orbit, it gets delivered to you personally.

This? This is a banger opening. I wish I could do openings this good. It establishes tone and setting and the protagonist's voice and UGH it's so good

I make sure to say hello to the Ledian and scratch behind its antennae before they leave.

This Ledian is my favourite character :p

I flip it over and nearly fall off of the stool when I get my answer. The return address says Lumiose Pokémon Labs. Why in the world would Kalos’ largest and best funded pokémon research facility be sending me a letter? It’s addressed to me, that’s for sure – the name Vienna Abarquez is written in startlingly neat calligraphy across the front – but what the hell is it?

The rest of my shift absolutely drags.

I LOVE SCENES WITH THIS FEELING (guilty of a few of them myself), also I am already obsessed with Vienna as a protagonist.

The Oddish wiggles out of my arms and runs into the kitchen, and I follow close behind. Setting my bag down on the table, I finally take a letter opener to the envelope. Before it’s entirely open, I’m distracted by Ferdie jumping on to the table and attempting to stick his face into my glass of water.

Okay, you've NAILED Pokemon demeanour and vibes, they feel so real and part of the world rather than just fighting sticks.

I can’t just drop everything to do this, right? It’s irresponsible at best, and unsafe at worst – the League was closed for a reason. Pokémon got hurt and the Centres couldn’t heal them effectively without a supply of revive crystals. What makes this year any different?

So this story obviously wears its real-world inspiration on its sleeve, and I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that, but I think here it just links me to the protagonist really well. I've spent the past two years playing it as safe as I can (unlike some people in my family) and even now I'm anxious about my plans to leave home for Europe this summer. So, yeah, I get it.

You can read through the whole document at your leisure, but I’ll direct you to regulations 8a-8c, 10a, and 13a. 13a is the most important – during all official League battles, if a pokémon falls unconscious, the battle will immediately be declared forfeit in order to get the pokémon medical attention as soon as possible. 10a is also worth mentioning: Mega Evolution is now forbidden in all official League battles unless the battle is between two trainers that both have the ability to Mega Evolve one of their pokémon, with the Champion being the only exception.

In-universe explanations of game rules that aren't cringe? Here for it. I'm also eagerly awaiting some Mega Evolution stuff, and Vienna's first meeting with Sycamore!

The video is taken in a large room with an indoor garden. Gathered around the edge of a tiny pond, across from the person holding the camera, are a Fennekin, Chespin, and Froakie. The Fennekin leans forward and sniffs the surface of the water, and the Froakie next to it slides into the pond and blinks slowly.

The person taking the video bends down, closer to eye level with the tiny pokémon, and the Chespin looks straight at the camera and chirps happily. It barrels straight through the pond towards the camera, splashing water everywhere — which causes the Fennekin to yap loudly and the Froakie to disappear under the pond’s surface. The camera shakes as the person behind it laughs, and the video ends.

I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for a video of pokémon that are barely a foot tall, and that I’ve never even seen in person. It’s at that moment I realize that my dreams of being a pokémon trainer are alive and well.

The Gen 8 starter intro cutscene was one of my favourite little things about SwSh, and seeing it adapted to the Gen 6 trio for story purposes? Absolutely brilliant. I love the little details.

The plaza comes into view, all yellow brick that matches the surrounding buildings with their deep blue roofs. The fountain in the center is finally back on now that the weather is starting to warm up again.

I really like this description. Simple, but effective!

(It’s true – I read somewhere recently that Kilode is the hotspot for training and battling facilities that aren’t League gyms.)

DETAILS. I love when post-game stuff like Kiloude is incorporated into main-game stories (also, didn't quote it, but ExtremeSpeed Train made me crack up)

Shauna blushes and holds the device closer to her chest. “No, they released another newer model last month.”

Lysandre Labs clearly hails from the Apple school of product release cycles.

“And we’re Group X, starting with the Santalune City Gym,” adds Shauna.

Let me guess, the other groups are Y and Z? Also, what a clever little worldbuilding tidbit, splitting up trainer paths to reduce strain on the Gyms as they recover from the revive crisis.

Calem clicks the pen in his hand. “I’ve heard some scientists are theorizing that because they’re slightly radioactive, and the Xerneas legend suggests that they were all created at the same time, they may have all hit their half-lives and degraded into something different.”

I don't think this is how half-lives work, but I understand where you're coming from and I'm always here for weird Pokemon lore, especially concerning Xerneas.

From across the table, I hear Shauna snort. “My ID number has 420 in it.”

I glance at my own ID number — 61666 — and turn it around to show her. She cackles.

YESSSSS. FUNNI NUMBER JOKES

On the ground in front of me is the cutest little bundle of brown fur and green spines (and a tiny pink nose) that I’ve ever seen. Resisting the urge to squeal — although I do hear Shauna cooing loudly at her new Froakie — I squat down and offer my hand for my new companion to sniff.

“Hi,” I breathe, suddenly worried that anything louder than a whisper would blow the little pokémon away. In response, the Chespin leans forward and bites my finger.

With a sound of surprise, I jerk my hand away before I realize that the bite didn’t hurt. The spiny pokémon just stands there and chirps at me, an expression on its face that could only be interpreted as mischievous.

This Chespin is perfect.

HE IS THE BEST (also, yet more excellent Pokemon mannerisms)

Shauna peers across the table. “Aww! I love him!” She glances down at her new partner, who’s still adhered to her arm. “Froabble here seems a bit shy, but I think she’s gonna be great.”

Calem looks quizzical. “Froabble?”

“It’s cute!” Shauna protests, shooting a glare in his direction.

Shauna's terrible taste in Pokemon names is canon, I can't believe it.

Okay, all done. This is a great start! I can't wait to see more of our protagonist, her Pokemon and this world! Keep it up!

 

[Arowana]

OMG the premise is so good!!! I am in love with friends-traveling-together and yes, XY deserved so much better!!! So glad you're doing it justice although I feel sorry for Tierno and Trevor and so far I'm loving your prose! Vienna's such a great narrator, love her wit, and it seems that Calem and Shauna are just as likable 💗 can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[SayleeK]

Oh shit this is adorable and I love it so much ❤️ I'm immediately intrigued by the problem with the Revive crystals--that's a great premise and a great way to shift the Pokemon League into suddenly being a fatal risk, along with exploring an item that gets ignored in a lot of nuzlockes. Vee is great, too, I love her dynamic with Ram and her enthusiasm for the journey! This is so fuuuuuuuuuun 😁

 

[bhelryss]

CUTE. OH MY GOODNESS HOW CUTE!!!!!!

IM SO EXCITED

AND SO INTRIGUED!!!!! all the revive crystals being radioactive...the xerneas legend.......OOOOOOOO

man i love fantasy science, i hope we get more little bits like that in the future

ty for sharing with us! i'll look forward to the next part

 

[crashcrashcrash]

new run new run new run new run!! Congrats on getting it up, seems like this has been a long time coming! 🎉

And aaaa XY yessss Kalos deserves so much more love than it gets, I'm here for it :D Not to mention the premise? The intrigue? Vienna's backstory already looks like something to watch out for, in addition to the mystery of the revive situation, and what the league hopes to gain by reopening this year. And how Vienna was even chosen in the first place, considering not even her parents seemed to know it was a thing? Hmmm somethings fishy

Also, ART?? Art you say?? Yes??? im hooked

Good luck going forward! So excited to get on this train at the first station, it looks to be a wild ride ^^

 

[Uberle]

'Tis very cute
Characters, human and Pokemon, are very endearing and I'm interested in seeing how they progress through the League

Also 'revive crystals' are a very clever element to include and I'm am very curious about where that plot thread is going to lead
Gonna guess Flare has something to do with it
Or maybe it was a natural thing
Guess I'll have to wait to figure that out

 

[Leon Yorunaki]

New run! 👀 All aboard the hype train!

The first line is already a banger, but you manage to go further than that, with those questions about how Vienna decided (or was forced into the decision) not to join the league back then. And I feel those three will get along very nicely, with that nice characterization and the small details like Shauna giggling at their ID numbers...
But then, you also drop the big questions around. What happened last time? What's with the Revive Crystals? Where's Tierno and Trevor? disregard the last one, they aren't missed at all 😜

Glad I hopped in just in time so I can procrastinate it like the others disregard the last part, that wasn't important at all 😜

 

[JavierE64]

This run looks amazing, and is already off to a good start. I'm a sucker for XY runs, and I can't wait to see how the story of Vienna and company might unfold.

 

[Vivace]

i see that ‘i just want the gen 6 cast to have personalities’ tag xD

The thing about Aquacorde is that it’s big enough to be considered a suburb of Lumiose, but small enough for the mailman to recognize you through a store window. So when there’s a piece of mail headed your way that’s going to send your life into orbit, it gets delivered to you personally.

This opening is a banger

give ferdie some water :(

This reads like a journal, especially now that the 2nd part started with a date! I'm wondering if Vienna will be sharing everything, or if there'll be some gaps in the narration when things get complicated (as they're apt to do in gen 6)

That’s some excellent worldbuilding with the Revive crystals!

headcanon: calem had ’69’ in his ID number but didn’t want to share that info

 

[pinkshellos]

Oh my gosh you guys. I did not expect this much engagement on this run right off the bat from the very first chapter. Tysm to everyone who read and enjoyed chapter 1!!

Spoiler: Replies

Spoiler: oh god this also got long

SPRUUUUUUUUNG your play by play of reactions to the entire chapter made me so happy
Hearing about where the strengths of the story are so far is really helpful. I am actually aware the tidbit about the half-life thing isn't accurate but there are actually story reasons for that... that I can't get into without spoilers lmao
Also I get to engage in a little bit of pseudoscience as a treat

This? This is a banger opening. I wish I could do openings this good. It establishes tone and setting and the protagonist's voice and UGH it's so good

That first line was one of the only things that stayed constant between all 3 versions of this first chapter I ended up writing cuz I liked it a lot as well -- I'm glad to hear that, thanks a bunch :D

Okay, you've NAILED Pokemon demeanour and vibes, they feel so real and part of the world rather than just fighting sticks.

Pokemon are so fun to write. Especially hyperactive little ones. Plus some of my favorite parts of the runs that inspired this one are pokemon personalities/mannerisms as well - anything that makes them seem more real!

YESSSSS. FUNNI NUMBER JOKES

imo the funniest part is that this (or at least Vienna's ID number) is entirely canon to the gameplay. I actually got 61666 as my/Vee's trainer ID.

@Arowana: Thank you so much!! I'm glad you like all 3 of the main characters, I love this trio a lot. As for Tierno and Trevor, I ended up cutting them to focus more on giving Shauna and Calem solid character arcs/detail/more story relevance (plus the canon gives you even less to work with when it comes to those two than Shauna and Calem imo)

@SayleeK: oh my gosh reading your comment made me so happy. I'm glad the premise is engaging/intriguing! Funnily enough it was something I came up with a long time ago, before I had even played through a single nuzlocke, and I'm having fun finally incorporating it into a story.

@bhelryss: I'm glad you're excited and intrigued!! I hope the story stays exciting and intriguing!!

@crashcrashcrash: thank you!! It has totally been a long time coming, and I'm super psyched to finally be sharing it. I'm glad you've liked it so far!!

@Uberle: thank you! as for team flare... 👀... they will be showing up eventually, although a fair bit different than the base game/canon.

@Leon Yorunaki: I'm glad you liked the details and characterization! I love the main 3 so much and I wanted to give them as much personality as possible. I wasn't sure how smooth the introduction of those big questions(tm) was, so your comment was wonderful to see :D

@JavierE64: Thank you so much!! I'm also a sucker for XY runs. That is literally me @ The Adventures of Fiona and Team Gale Wings.

@Vivace: heacanon accepted because that is entirely accurate oml. Glad you liked the worldbuilding! And Ferdie gets plenty of water. I imagine him like a cat who begs for food even when they're not hungry.

♢ Chapter 2: A Path ("I'm going to break up all the chapters into parts," I say, immediately posting a chapter that can't be broken up into even parts and is short enough to post as one part anyway) Spoiler: Chapter within The canopy of the forest is so thick that I can feel the temperature change when I step under it. I’m hanging by the treeline, waiting for Shauna and Calem, who stopped to take pictures on the tan brick bridge that spans the canal. That bridge used to be one of the places my friends and I would meet after school. It’s been so long since I talked to either of them – we stopped talking when they left to challenge the League. I realize now that’s kind of my fault. I decide not to dwell on it; the novelty of having a partner pokémon hasn’t worn off yet and I don’t want to ruin my good mood. Soon after we met up again in the plaza, I recalled Ram into his pokéball because he seemed to be having trouble keeping up with us with his stubby little legs - either that or he kept getting distracted by every door, window, or flowerpot that we passed. I let him back out, because now we’re on the outskirts of town with lots of open space and far less pedestrians. Ram appears with a flash and squeaks at me. I offer him my hand to sniff and he lets me rub his head for a moment, right between the spines. Only a minute and a half goes by until he’s barreling through the nearby bushes and almost gets attacked by a Pidgey. I run over as fast as I can when I hear its angry squawking. “Hey! Hey! Let’s not pick a fight with a flying type! I don’t want you to get hurt.” I warn my new Chespin, who chatters in response. He slips out of my arms again when I try to pick him up. (I had a hunch that he would be friendly, at least, from the video Dr. Sycamore had sent me months ago, but this is more than I bargained for. He’s spirited, I’ll give him that.) Calem and Shauna catch up to me, and we find a nearby signpost with a map of all the trails leading through the forest. “The blue one gets us straight through to Santalune. That’s easy,” Calem says, jabbing the sign with one finger. “Ok, let’s go!” Shauna peers through the trees. “I’m excited! I’ve never been hiking before.” Calem raises his eyebrows. “Never? You have hiking shoes, right?” “Maybe?” She looks down at her shoes, as do I. They look like sneakers, but the flat-soled, decorative kind. I laugh and start walking down the path. “It’ll be fine.” And it does end up being fine, because all the trails are wide, with gravel strewn over them and wooden steps leading up and down every hill. “It’s very… suburban,” says Calem, who apparently goes hiking - real hiking - with his parents all the time back in Kilode. I catch Shauna rolling her eyes. It’s not the wilderness, but it’s definitely still a forest - the trunks of the trees are thick, and they tower over us. Sunlight filters in through a canopy of fresh spring leaves. There’s birdsong - probably Pidgey and Fletchling - coming from every direction. We walk for about an hour before Calem sends Twig out to battle a few wild pokémon off to the side of the trail. The Fletchinder is fast, and I’d bet money that he’s won a few junior tournaments in the past. I look down at Ram as Twig dive-bombs a Zigzagoon. “Do you want to do that?” He chirps. I take that as a yes, so I walk over to the nearest bush and push the leaves apart, revealing a small clearing just off the trail. I spot a small red shape poking at the ground, with fluffy ears and a long tail — a Pansear. Ram growls loudly and immediately runs toward it. “Hey! Hold on!” I shout, running after him. He doesn’t get far, though, because the Pansear, markedly faster, runs up the nearest tree and glares down at him. Ram circles the base of the trunk, squeaking loudly. The Pansear returns the sentiment almost tauntingly. “Come on, little dude, we can find someone else for you to fight,” I plead, holding out my arms and tapping the ground in front of me. “I don’t want that monkey to roast you like an almond. Just come here.” He’s stubborn, but not even the vines that somehow miraculously grow out of his shoulders can reach high enough — even when his opponent wraps its tail around the branch and dangles upside-down above Ram’s head. Eventually the Pansear seems to get bored and disappears higher up in the leaves. Ram chatters bitterly, but I soon manage to coax him back onto the trail. Shauna ends up being the one who helps us find wild pokémon to battle. “You see where there are gaps in the trees and the sunlight is coming through? That’s where you’re gonna find the feisty ones,” she explains, pointing out a nearby sunny patch. “The timid ones that are scared of being spotted from above and snatched up by bird pokémon are gonna stay under the leaves.” “Woah, you’re pretty sharp,” I say as Ram spots a Scatterbug and runs after it. “I knew that!” Calem calls back towards us from further up the trail. Shauna laughs. “Of course you did! I bet you’ve been running around in the woods hunting down pokémon since you could walk.” “Something like that,” Calem mumbles, picking up Hugo and scratching underneath the Fennekin’s chin. Twig dives out of a nearby tree to land on the top of his head. “You do look like the spitting image of a veteran trainer’s kid,” I snicker. “Going after the champion’s title?” “No one’s challenged her in years,” Shauna adds. I turn to her. “Really? Not even last season?” She looks at me like I just asked her what color the sky is. “Nope. There were a few finalists, including one who managed to beat the Elite Four — she forfeit before her battle with Diantha, though.” Calem nods. “She had a whole team of psychic types. It was all over the news.” I nod, even though none of this rings a bell at all. The league was the last thing I wanted to hear about during the previous season. I’d even disappeared off social media for good to avoid it. Maybe I should download Chatter again… “Oh, I actually could’ve challenged the league that year.” I mention. Shauna perks up. “Wait, how old are you then? Last season I was only fourteen, and I’m seventeen now.” “I’m nineteen.” “I turned eighteen in January,” Calem chimes in. “Aw, you’re kidding!” Shauna says, exasperated. “I’m the shortest and the youngest?” I feel bad for laughing, but soon all three of us are. --- ♢ ---​ Santalune City is artsy – there’s a mural painted on the side of at least one building on every street, and I spot several storefronts that look unmistakably like hipster cafés, the kind that serve matcha lattes with oat milk. We stop for a few minutes by a fountain shaped like a Roselia, flanked by rose bushes, where Calem takes pictures from several different angles. People pass by on rollerskates, and Shauna informs me that it’s a trend that was started by Shalour City’s new gym leader recently. We head to the Pokémon Centre to snag some of the free trainers’ rooms. The lobby is an open room with chairs, tables, and a long couch on either side of the automatic sliding doors. In the center is a sleek red desk with a large TV screen hanging above it. Just to the right of the desk is a doorway that, if my memory serves me correctly, leads back to the medical wing. Two arch-shaped openings in the back wall reveal a small shop on the right and some changing rooms (as well as the ramp that leads up to the trainers’ rooms on the second floor) to the left. After the nurse at the front desk scans our Trainer IDs, Shauna and I are given the key card to a room with a bunk bed in it. She beats me inside, drops her bag on the floor, and collapses onto the bottom bunk. “My feet… are so sore…” She groans. Froabble hops up next to her and gently places her small frog hands on her trainer’s shoulder. “Calem tried to warn you!” I say, half laughing. Ram trots in behind me and immediately spots the plush-looking pokémon bed in the corner. “Yeah, yeah,” Shauna grumbles, sounding defeated. We lay around for a little while. Shauna brushes her hair; I call my parents and tell them about how the hike went. They put me on speakerphone and Ferdie warbles loudly when he hears my voice. I miss that dorky Oddish already. Ram and Froabble both nap, winded from what I can only imagine was a thrilling adventure for pokémon as young as them. I watch my Chespin, who’s curled up into a small brown and green ball in the corner. His nose twitches in his sleep and I can’t fight back a grin. He did surprisingly well battling some of the wild pokémon back in the forest - at one point a Zigzagoon rammed into him from behind, which almost made my heart stop, but he jumped back onto his feet like it was nothing. After searching on her phone for about ten minutes, Shauna exclaims that she’s found the perfect restaurant for us to order dinner from, so we meet up with Calem — whose room is right across the hall — and walk a few blocks to get there. Over soup and sandwiches, we discuss our plans for the next few days. “Dr. Sycamore said that he wants to see us before the League opening ceremony on the 9th,” Calem explains. “And the gym will open up tomorrow, so we can take the train into Lumiose the day after that.” “I wonder why the opening ceremony is always a few days after the season starts,” I say. Shauna blows on a spoonful of soup and turns to me. “It’s so people have time to travel into the city. They always try to get the biggest crowd possible. Hey, Calem, you’re still planning on challenging the gym? Most people wait until after the opening ceremony.” He nods. “Both my pokémon have a type advantage. It would be a convenient head start.” Right, Santalune’s gym leader is Viola, a bug-type specialist. I search my brain for everything I know about her – both from recent research and relics of gym leader trivia I had memorized when I was younger. She’s really famous in the art world for her photography, so her gym doubles as a gallery… I sigh. “Ram has a type disadvantage. I think I’ll pass for now.” “Hey now. They're bug types.” Calem says, almost teasingly. “Plus, she’ll go easy on us anyways ’cuz we don’t have any badges.” Shauna raises her eyebrows. “Don’t say that! The bugs will hear you, and they’ll come eat you in your sleep,” she says with a snicker. Calem rolls his eyes. “Remember the Ariados we saw back at the lab in Lumiose? That’s a bug type that’ll eat you in your sleep.” They launch into an animated discussion of the sights and sounds of the lab, which continues the way out of the restaurant and to the Pokémon Centre, where we stop by the small shop in the back to buy our pokémon their own dinner. I’m half-listening (this isn’t a conversation I have anything to contribute to anyway, but I’m looking forward to seeing the lab for myself) as I skim the information provided by my pokédex about a Chespin’s typical diet. I settle on a small bag of sunflower seeds. Apparently, Calem had visited the lab and met Professor Sycamore when he flew into Lumiose; Shauna has apparently known him all her life. “He’s a family friend,” she explains to us as we walk up the hallway towards our rooms. “Platonic nepotism,” Calem quips, and Shauna kicks him in the leg. “No way! I applied and wrote all those essays fair and square. I’ve been studying pokémon battling and stuff all my life.” Application. Essays. I stop in the middle of the hallway. “You guys wrote essays?” They both whip their heads around to face me. “You didn’t?” Calem says, raising one eyebrow. “I- no,” I stammer, “the letter just showed up at my house.” I pull the envelope out of my bag and hold it up to them for good measure. Shauna blinks at it a few times, unlocks the door to our room, and motions for all three of us to step inside. “Someone must have applied for me, but I don’t know who. I mean, I got the letter. It had my name and address on it,” I explain as I offer Ram a handful of sunflower seeds. He’s a messy eater, but he seems to like them. “The professor said himself we were goin’ to meet you - by name - so it couldn’t be a mistake.” Calem is leaning against the door. “And it wasn’t your parents?” Shauna asks, sitting cross-legged on the bottom bunk with Froabble pressed up against her leg. “I don’t think they’d do something that important behind my back. They know I’m really cautious about pokémon since… you know.” Shauna nods thoughtfully. “So if it wasn’t you, or your parents, who could it be?” Calem asks. “If someone wanted to get you into this program, they’d have to be really close to you. Enough to know your address and even your phone number.” Shauna offers. “And my past experience with pokémon, because I’m sure this application process was mega competitive,” I point out. At that comment, Calem looks over at me, but doesn’t say anything more. “You know what?” Shauna says, leaning forward. “It would be even easier to get you this sponsorship if they were already close to Sycamore.” I frown. “You’re right, but I don’t know anyone who’s got any ties to the Lumiose Pokémon Lab.” Shauna frowns as well. “Sycamore has two assistants that are around your age, but— there’s gotta be someone. I swear, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this.” I laugh. “Thanks, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, especially since it seems like the professor knows exactly what’s going on. You don’t need to help me figure it o–” “We are totally helping you figure this out,” Shauna says, looking over at Calem expectantly. Calem looks back at Shauna, sighs, and then looks over to me. “There’s got to be an easy answer. Someone you’re overlooking or forgot about. It’s late, though, and I have to go feed Twig and Hugo.” An hour goes by; the sun goes down and the light from a streetlamp outside glints through the window. I spend at least half of that time trying to dissuade Ram from climbing up the room’s small dresser or figuring out how to open the door by jumping up and pulling down on the handle. In almost perfect contrast, Froabble stays curled up next to Shauna on her pillow the whole time. Finally, Ram decides he’s tired again and returns to the corner he was snoozing in earlier, and I’m free to finally go to bed. I’m right about to fall asleep when I hear blankets shift below me. “Vee? Are you still awake?” Shauna whispers into the dark. I lean out from the top bunk. “Yeah?” Shauna peers out from the bottom bunk. “You’re going to challenge the gym while we’re here, right? I know you weren’t too keen on the idea earlier, but if someone out there wanted you to participate in the League that bad, you’ll probably be able to win.” I look over at Ram, a barely visible blob in the dark corner of the room. “Maybe?” “You could catch a second pokémon.” “I could. With how much of a handful my first one has been, though, that might be disastrous,” I say, which gets a laugh from Shauna in return. I sleep much better than expected that night. Spoiler: Preview of Ch. 3 What started out as a nightly news special covering the inner workings of the Pokémon League ended up becoming the region’s most watched TV series as she got closer and closer to challenging Diantha. I was thirteen at the time, and I tuned in every single night without fail. I even invited my closest friends — who were equally avid fans — over for a slumber party the night that Malva finally battled the champion. Spoiler: Author's notes No current teams section because there were no new pokemon introduced... yet. I like this chapter. This chapter makes me happy. It took me a few attempts to nail down the character interactions but I'm pretty satisfied with it! Managed to write in the guaranteed Route 1 Pidgey encounter in a way I thought was really fun. I didn't end up catching anything on Route 1 because I'm not a big fan of forced route 1 encounters. Also not getting a lot of encounters was kind of a trend in the gameplay of this run, lol.

 

[Leon Yorunaki]

Such a sweet chapter... but as the previous, with new mysteries to solve.
Vienna is surely for a ride, and while I have my educated guess on who applied for her, I think it's better to keep for myself and not spoil the fun...

Onto the notes, I tend not to consider forced encounters as encounters for the sake of nuzlocke. I just run of that first Pidgey battle and then I go for the first random encounter... same thing in (ultra) Sun/Moon

 

[KitkatKK2]

“at the end of every chapter”
*forgets to put team summary for chapter 2*

on a more serious note, I love this already! The gag with the ID numbers was really funny, and I’m adopting the headcanon that Calem had 69 and just didn’t want to tell anybody

 

[SayleeK]

Ayyy, Vienna has backup for figuring out who got her into the new League! (Oy Vee don't talk shit about matcha lattes, I miss that shit every day 😭 )

 

[bhelryss]

OH RAM IS SO CUTE AND RAMBUNCTIOUS!!!!!!!!!

"they're bugs lol" ;o; and they're doing their best

viola actually mains my favorite bug ever, vivillon represent!!!!

 

[Black Viper]

This run is the cutest, most heart-warming thing I've read on here. Honestly. It's so sweet I think I need to brush my teeth.

The characters, including their Pokémon are all nicely defined with their own personalities, and they're all plugging together to just go and have a fun journey. It's nice to see a run that's a bit wholesome, with trainers setting off to see the world, have some fun and just enjoy themselves. It reminds me of what Pokémon games were like for me when I was first playing them.

Vienna's a good narrator, she's got a clear "voice" and I look forwards to seeing more of them all!

 

[Vivace]

No Tierno and Trevor? Noooooooo!

Calem is now my favourite. He might be a little tiny bit elitist, but he seems like he’d be a great hiking partner!

also Ram wants an express ticket to Grass-type Valhalla, it seems

I’m really invested in Vienna here, what happened in her past, who sent the letter (I have my suspicions already), and how far all three of them get in the league challenge.

 

[JavierE64]

This was a nice chapter, with great interactions between the three protagonists.
Also, I can't wait to see who's Vienna's secret benefactor. Now that's gonna be a mystery.

 

[bumblebee]

I remember you mentioning this story previously and I'm so excited to see chapters coming out!! 🤩 The writing style is giving me HUGE nostalgia vibes of the old Pokemon cartoon, there's so much heart and attention in it, it just makes my heart melt. Ram is an absolute CUTIE and I love him.

I'm super curious about who submitted Vienna's application, I have a guess as to who it was, but I can't wait to see what happens next! 👀

 

[pinkshellos]

Back at it again with my silly little pokemon fanfiction

Spoiler: replies

Such a sweet chapter... but as the previous, with new mysteries to solve.
Vienna is surely for a ride, and while I have my educated guess on who applied for her, I think it's better to keep for myself and not spoil the fun...

Onto the notes, I tend not to consider forced encounters as encounters for the sake of nuzlocke. I just run of that first Pidgey battle and then I go for the first random encounter... same thing in (ultra) Sun/Moon

Oooooooo I wonder who your educated guess is >:) I'm glad the mysteries so far have been engaging!!

“at the end of every chapter”
*forgets to put team summary for chapter 2*

on a more serious note, I love this already! The gag with the ID numbers was really funny, and I’m adopting the headcanon that Calem had 69 and just didn’t want to tell anybody

I actually didn't put the team summary that time because the teams hadn't changed at all since the first chapter and I didn't want it to be repetitive but I'll put it in just for you XD thank you so much!! Calem having 69 in his ID number is canon now I have made it so

OH RAM IS SO CUTE AND RAMBUNCTIOUS!!!!!!!!!

"they're bugs lol" ;o; and they're doing their best

viola actually mains my favorite bug ever, vivillon represent!!!!

I'M GLAD YOU LOVE RAM AS MUCH AS I LOVE RAM
I love bug types too (vivillon represent!!) so having to write Calem being dismissive of them was like sacrilege to me

This run is the cutest, most heart-warming thing I've read on here. Honestly. It's so sweet I think I need to brush my teeth.

The characters, including their Pokémon are all nicely defined with their own personalities, and they're all plugging together to just go and have a fun journey. It's nice to see a run that's a bit wholesome, with trainers setting off to see the world, have some fun and just enjoy themselves. It reminds me of what Pokémon games were like for me when I was first playing them.

Vienna's a good narrator, she's got a clear "voice" and I look forwards to seeing more of them all!

Thank you so much!! I'm so glad you like it!! I was very much going for the Nostalgia Pokemon Feel(TM), especially the anime. Also Vienna's voice/personality was something I was worried may be on the weak side so it's great to hear that she comes off clearly!

No Tierno and Trevor? Noooooooo!

Calem is now my favourite. He might be a little tiny bit elitist, but he seems like he’d be a great hiking partner!

also Ram wants an express ticket to Grass-type Valhalla, it seems

I’m really invested in Vienna here, what happened in her past, who sent the letter (I have my suspicions already), and how far all three of them get in the league challenge.

Tierno and Trevor? Who are those guys? /jk
Calem has... a very strong personality, writing him is fun lol. I'm glad you're interested in the mysteries surrounding Vienna!! There will definitely be more on that in the next few chapters!!

This was a nice chapter, with great interactions between the three protagonists.
Also, I can't wait to see who's Vienna's secret benefactor. Now that's gonna be a mystery.

The interactions between the characters imo are the backbone of the story and I love writing them ! Also a mystery indeed 👀

I remember you mentioning this story previously and I'm so excited to see chapters coming out!! 🤩 The writing style is giving me HUGE nostalgia vibes of the old Pokemon cartoon, there's so much heart and attention in it, it just makes my heart melt. Ram is an absolute CUTIE and I love him.

I'm super curious about who submitted Vienna's application, I have a guess as to who it was, but I can't wait to see what happens next! 👀

Ahhh thank you so much! I was definitely aiming for the vibes of the pokemon cartoon/anime I'm so glad it comes off well!! This story is so dear to me cuz it taps into everything about pokemon that makes me happy tbh also writing Ram is a BLAST

​

♢ Chapter 3: A Spark Spoiler: Chapter within The next morning I wake up to the soft thunk sound of something hitting a window, which is probably the last noise you want to hear when you’re staying in an unfamiliar room. Thunk. “What was that?” I hear Shauna mumble from the bottom bunk as I sit up. Thunk. I stumble over, still in my pajamas and hair bonnet, and pull up the blinds. Sitting right outside the window, perched on a tree branch, is a Pansear holding a handful of pebbles. It has one arm raised in preparation to throw another. Not the first thing I expected to see this morning, definitely. “What in the world?” Shauna says, peering over my shoulder. The Pansear, seeing the two of us, perks up and jumps forward on the branch. The pebbles tumble to the ground below. “That can’t be the same one that we saw yesterday, right?” Shauna steps past me and knocks gently on the window. “Maybe — what do you think it wants? Should we let it in?” I just woke up, so I see no other logical option besides opening the window. The Pansear climbs cautiously forward on the branch before jumping onto the windowsill. It looks at me, then around the room — until its eyes lock on something and it leaps right past us. I whirl around just in time to watch as the Pansear pulls my bag open and sticks its head inside. Shauna glances between me and the bag, looking about as dumbfounded as I am. “Uh, hey,” I take a step forward and crouch down. “What’s up, little guy? What are you doing with my stuff?” The Pansear seems to ignore me; instead it yelps triumphantly, pulls a pokéball out of my bag, and waves it around. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ram stretch and realize that I have about two seconds until he wakes up and turns the room into a tiny pokémon war zone. So, I do the very first thing that comes to mind: snatch the pokéball away from the Pansear and press it to the crest of fluff on top of the tiny interloper’s head. As soon as it disappears into the ball I position myself in front of Ram, who’s staring blearily around the room. After a moment that seems to last forever, the pokéball clicks and I let out a sigh of relief. “Well,” Shauna says, holding Froabble in her arms, “guess you’ve got your second pokémon.” --- ♢ ---​ Calem is just as surprised with my first catch as I am. “So you’re telling me he just jumped into your room and started rummaging around in your bag?” I nod. We’re gathered around one of the tables in the Pokémon Center lobby, where I’m hoping to get a better look at my new teammate. (One perk of the newer models of pokédex is you can scan a pokémon while it’s still in a pokéball – the Pansear is a boy, and a bit on the younger end, but not a baby. Notably, he’s old enough to spit fire.) “Have you named him?” Shauna asks. “I’m thinking Chili,” I shrug and let him out of his pokéball. The Pansear appears on the ground in front of me and stares around the room, eyes bright. “Hi,” I start, kneeling down and holding out my hand. Chili stares at me for a moment, then raises his small brown paws to gently clasp my fingers. My heart swells. How sweet! I start to think that maybe I’ve found a pokémon that I can cuddle with, given Ram’s distaste for physical affection – but my dreams are dashed again when he jumps over me and onto the table. By the time I stand up and turn around, he’s swinging from the nearest light fixture. “Hey! I know you’re pretty much still wild, but come on, we’re in a building!” I hold my arms out and, seeing the dirty look we’re getting from the nurse running the desk at the back of the lobby, give Chili the sternest look I can muster. “I’ll take you outside and you can climb some trees or something.” I’m not sure if he understands what I said, but he drops down into my arms and climbs onto my shoulder, so I consider myself successful. I look back at Shauna and Calem, who both look like they’re holding back laughter. I’m about to open my mouth to tell them to save it, you try dealing with a wild pokémon that wakes you up in the morning and barges into your room, when Shauna’s holo caster pings. “Oh, guys, look!” She pushes it towards the middle of the table, and a hologram springs to life. It’s Malva, the region’s most popular newscaster. Although her original claim to fame was being the first reporter to grace the hologram screen, which earned her the title “star of the holo caster”, she managed to work her way into the Elite Four as well. What started out as a nightly news special covering the inner workings of the Pokémon League ended up becoming the region’s most watched TV series as she got closer and closer to challenging Diantha. I was thirteen at the time, and I tuned in every single night without fail. I even invited my closest friends — who were equally avid fans — over for a slumber party the night that Malva finally battled the champion. She didn’t win, of course, but Diantha was so impressed that she offered Malva one of the highest seats in the entire league — one typically reserved for gym leaders. She’s stayed an A-list celebrity ever since. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that she was my idol for years. I glance over at the TV at the back of the lobby and, sure enough, the same broadcast is playing there too. Malva is wearing her signature black blouse, her arms folded elegantly as she leans ever-so-slightly towards the camera. “Good morning, Kalos! And to all the trainers out there, happy first day of the Kalos League! My, has it been a long time since I’ve been able to say that.” A few trainers sitting on the other side of the lobby cheer. I don’t recognize them, so they must have arrived just this morning. “Today, gyms will officially open to challengers. Gyms will only host so many matches per day, so register as soon as possible! Additionally, the Kalos League opening ceremony will be held in front of Prism Tower in Lumiose City on April 9th. All of Kalos’ gym leaders will be making an appearance, as well as the Elite Four and Champion Diantha. All are welcome, not just trainers.” The hologram blinks out and, on the TV, Malva continues with other news. Calem stands up and slings his bag over his shoulder. “Well, that was good timing. I was about to go to the gym and sign up to battle Viola anyways.” --- ♢ ---​ The Santalune Gym is hard to miss. With its green domed ceiling and giant windows, it sticks out from the other buildings nearby. There’s a small handful of trainers at the registration desk when Calem pushes the front doors open and the three of us file in. The front hallway is art-gallery-chic, with white walls and high ceilings. Hanging along the walls are giant prints of photographs, mostly featuring bug pokémon — a Butterfree hovering over a field of yellow flowers, a pair of Spewpa hidden among a clump of ferns. Past the front desk, the hallway widens into a proper room, likely the beginning of Viola’s gallery. Shauna and I hang back as Calem approaches the desk. The receptionist scans his trainer ID and consults a computer screen behind the desk. “Viola is only taking one more challenger for today, but I could also get you signed up for tomorrow if you’d like.” Calem shakes his head. “I’d like to register for today, please.” After some typing and a few clicks, the receptionist gives him a thumbs up. “Alright! You’re registered to challenge Viola at 5 o’clock today. Mandatory preliminary matches are exactly an hour and a half before. They’ll take about forty-five minutes.” The receptionist looks over Calem’s shoulder at Shauna and I. “I can get the two of you signed up for tomorrow, if you’d like.” I hesitate. There’s a second pokéball in my bag now, but challenging a gym leader with two pokémon you’ve only had for less than a week sounds like an easy recipe for defeat. And yet, for some reason, I feel myself stepping forward. I had let Chili out to walk beside us on the way to the gym – he was energetic like Ram, climbing up lamp posts as we passed them, but he would climb back down and return to my side when I called him. Maybe I could make this work; being a trainer is about facing challenges head-on, right? “I guess if you’re signing up, I should too,” I hear Shauna laugh from behind me. That’s how all three of us end up walking down the front steps with a gym battle on our minds – or, rather, two of us walk down the front steps. Shauna stops in her tracks halfway down. “Oh! I’m gonna head back into the gym and see the gallery, actually.” Calem looks up from his phone, where he currently has a map of the city pulled up. “Alright. I was planning on heading off on my own and doing some training before my gym battle.” “Yep, we can meet up later! I’ll text you!” Shauna calls down as she runs back up the steps. --- ♢ ---​ I find myself back at the same Roselia fountain that we stopped at yesterday – there’s a little park tucked away behind the nearby buildings. Ram is sitting next to me, and I look down at him with Chili’s pokéball in my hand. “You have to promise me that you’re not gonna chase Chili all the way down the street if I let him out. I know you don’t know it yet, but he’s your teammate and you two have to get along.” I warn the Chespin. He blinks at me. “Okay, here we go.” I cross my fingers and let my newest pokémon out of his ball. Ram stares at Chili for a long moment and lets out a squeak of what I can only assume is disbelief. Chili tilts his head to one side and chirps back. Then Ram launches off the bench and they start chasing each other in circles around the fountain. “Ram! I warned you!” I spring out of my seat and run over. It’s not hard to catch up to the two of them with their stubby little legs, and this time I actually manage to get ahold of Ram. He wiggles in my arms, still waving his vines at Chili. The Pansear blows a small puff of fire at him in response. “Listen,” I say, trying to sound as serious as possible, “you guys can chase each other around as much as you want as long as I’m sure that neither of you are going to get hurt.” With that, I set Ram back down on the ground. Surprisingly enough, it’s smoother sailing from there. They wrestle a bit, but as far as I can tell, they seem to have figured out that I’m willing and able to interfere if they start fighting for real. The next order of business: the gym battle. I quickly figure out that if I throw a twig or pebble into the air, Chili will shoot a small burst of fire at it. As soon as Ram sees this, he runs over and slaps the next twig out of the air with his vines, which makes me snicker. It quickly turns into a very intense game of vertical fetch — or, more accurately, target practice. When we first arrived in the city I assumed that the pokémon battling scene wasn’t as big as the roller skating scene, but after a little while, a trainer with a Pikachu spots us from across the park. It catches me off guard, but I agree to a battle. I send out Chili first (much to Ram’s chagrin) because I suspect that, having been wild, he has some experience battling. The Pikachu is faster, but not by much – they tear across the grass towards each other, trading jolts of electricity and bursts of fire. I call Chili back to the sidelines when he starts slowing down after a particularly bright shock. “You’re up, Ram!” My Chespin barrels towards the Pikachu with an elated squeak. It zaps him once, and for a second I worry that I might’ve been too hasty. But to my surprise, Ram wins us the battle by curling up into a ball, rolling across the grass, and slamming right into the Pikachu with surprising force. I’m in the middle of congratulating my tiny team — and applying a potion to their scrapes and bruises, of course — when I get a text from Shauna. meet me at the gym!!!! tjis is super important!!!!! Then, a few seconds later, another. *this In my peripheral vision, I see Ram and Chili wrestling again; somehow almost an entire hour of training barely diminished their energy. I walk over and crouch in front of them. “Ok, guys. I think we’re gonna wrap things up for today.” Chili jumps up on the edge of the fountain, which seems to put an end to their brawl. It’s not for lack of trying, though — Ram attempts to make the jump as well, but he’s not quite as agile. He settles on squeaking loudly at the Pansear from the ground instead, which makes me grin. I reach over and scratch Chili behind one ear (he’s warm to the touch, like a heated blanket.) Seeing this, Ram trots up next to me and chirps expectantly. I rub the top of his head. “You two did great today. Do you think we’re ready to battle for real tomorrow?” Both of them look up at me, and the spines on top of Ram’s head twitch. I take that as a yes. --- ♢ ---​ Shauna is waiting for me under a tree in front of the gym with a small pink bundle in her arms. “Vee! Look!” She closes the distance between us, and the Skitty in her arms looks up at me with squinted eyes. “She’s a stray! Well, not anymore. I found her by one of the gym’s back exits, near the trash bins. Meet Sugar Cube – Sugar for short.” “Oh, wow.” I reach out and gently pet Sugar in between her ears. She purrs softly and headbutts my hand. “Aww, she’s so sweet — jeez, Shauna, you’ve been having amazing luck with pokémon so far.” She laughs. “I know! She and Froabble are already getting along well, too. From what I can tell, Sugar’s got a bit of a playful side. She might be able to bring Froabble out of her shell a little bit.” I glance down at my bag, where my pokéballs are stowed away. “I wish I could say the same thing about Ram and Chili. They’re not trying to actually hurt each other anymore, at least.” “Hey, that’s progress!” There’s still about a half an hour until Calem’s match, so Shauna takes me on a quick tour of the gallery at the back of the gym and points out all of her favorite photographs. To my surprise, not all of them are of pokémon — there’s an entire room and a half dedicated to photos of trainers mid-battle. They’re strikingly different from the photos of bug pokémon and nature, but given the building that they’re hanging in it feels thematically appropriate. When we finally enter the main arena, I slow down to take it all in. I’ve seen gym battlefields before, on TV, but never in person. Other regions have their giant stadiums or reality-TV-like challenges for trainers, but Kalos is more… lowkey. What the Kalos League is known for is the interior design of the gyms, painstakingly planned and frequently renovated in between seasons for an optimal viewing experience. Special effects and overdone performances are mostly reserved for Pokémon Showcases, the only competing pokémon semi-sport. Santalune Gym’s main arena is long and oval-shaped, with the highest ceiling in the entire building. It’s held up by white metal beams that form a pattern reminiscent of a spiderweb. Hanging down from the beams are giant banners displaying what I assume to be Viola’s best photographs — I recognize the Butterfree picture from the lobby. Light pours in through the giant windows that seem to stretch up the walls. In the center of the room is the battlefield, also spiderweb patterned and flanked on both sides by bleachers for the audience. On the far side of the field is a wooden platform that I assume is a place of honor for the gym leader. Behind the platform, by the far wall, two lush-looking trees flank a wide doorway. There’s only a few small groups of people in the bleachers (gym battles doesn’t really get popular until later in the season) so Shauna and I have no trouble finding a spot that looks right down at the center of the battlefield. We watch as a referee appears through a side door. Calem and Viola take the field – Viola walks in and waves to the audience, one hand on the camera hanging around her neck. Her Vivillon, flaunting its orange wings tipped with green, yellow, and red stripes, practically glides through the air behind her. Calem approaches his side of the battlefield with Twig perched on his shoulder, looking confident. The referee signals the beginning of the battle. Viola, eyeing Calem’s Fletchinder, sends out a Yanma. Its wings hum as it takes to the air. Twig launches off of Calem’s shoulder and the two pokémon chase each other around the field, both trying to outpace the other. The match is quick and decisive. Although the Yanma makes a thrumming noise that distorts the air around it and throws Twig off of her course for a moment, she delivers a blow with her beak that sends her opponent back to Viola. Next is Vivillon, who had spent the beginning of the battle perched on the edge of the wooden platform idly fluttering its wings. As it soars toward its opponent, it scatters a cloud of green dust that makes Twig squawk and beat her wings in an attempt to shake off the attack. Calem calls the Fletchinder back to his side and releases Hugo, who runs out onto the battlefield and sends a puff of fire towards Vivillon as it swoops towards him. It misses its mark, but thankfully fizzles out before reaching the banners hanging from the ceiling. The Vivillon is agile and stirs up more clouds of dust with its wings, but Hugo manages to land a well-timed ember and Viola concedes. The victorious Fennekin shakes off a coat of dust from his coat, looking pleased. Shauna and I cheer as Calem and Viola meet in the center of the battlefield and shake hands. It makes perfect sense now why Calem was so eager to challenge the gym. He and his team were more than ready for that battle, even with Hugo’s relative inexperience. “That’s going to be a tough act to follow,” I say to Shauna. She raises her eyebrows and nods. “I hope she doesn’t send out that Yanma when I battle her. Did you see how big it was? It’ll be a monster when it evolves.” The audience files out of the arena and I end up waiting for Calem in the lobby. Shauna is frantically scrolling through her phone trying to find somewhere we can go to celebrate his first victory. Chili is sitting on a nearby windowsill watching the passers-by; Ram is still in his pokéball because if I let him out he’d probably run straight out the front doors. Calem appears out of a side hallway, flipping open a sleek-looking badge case and pointing at the spot now filled by the beetle-shaped Santalune gym badge. “One down, seven to go.” Shauna perks up. “You did amazing!” I nod. “You’ve battled before, haven’t you?” His expression shifts — he almost looks defensive for a moment before his posture loosens up again and he shrugs. “A few local junior tournaments, yeah. I’ve had Twig for a long time.” Despite Shauna’s protests otherwise, Calem declines getting pastries to celebrate until tomorrow when we’ve all had our shot at battling Viola. We make our way back to the Centre instead, where I’m finally able to let Ram out. Thankfully, my Chespin is able to run across the lobby without any second glances from the small handful of other trainers sitting nearby — in fact, some of them have rowdy young pokémon as well. I watch from nearby as Ram chases an Azurill around a table (playfully, of course.) Chili jumps off the top shelf of a nearby bookcase and joins them. The rest of the day goes by in a blur. It’s strange — if things had gone differently three years ago, if I had registered for the Kalos League at sixteen like my old friends, I would be bouncing off the walls with excitement right now. Well, I am excited, but it’s slightly different than I thought it would be. More… relaxed. I used to think that participating in the Kalos League was my life’s calling. Even if things went sideways back then, I’m still looking forward to standing on one of the battlefields I’ve seen a hundred times on TV and seeing how my pokémon do. It feels like barely a minute passes before I’m taking a deep breath and pushing open the doors to the gym the next morning. Spoiler: Current teams + notes Vienna Shauna Calem Ram ♂​ Froabble ♀​ Twig ♀​ Chili ♂​ Sugar Cube ♀​ Hugo ♂​ Spoiler: Author's notes This chapter has a lot! Vee's and Shauna's first catches! The first gym battle (but not from the gameplay... yet) Vienna catching Chili is one of my favorite scenes I wrote in these first few chapters. I cannot wait to introduce her next team member because the first trio are really iconic imo, although writing Ram and Chili interacting on their own is an absolute blast Unrelated, but updates are going to be slower from here on out so I can keep a decent backlog. Turns out I can't write as fast as I post XD