You Shouldn't Have Nuzlocked That

You Shouldn't Have Nuzlocked That is a fan fiction written by Yuki-Onna. It combines the story of the Haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge ARG with elements of her own Nuzlocke challenge in Pokemon Red Version. It can be read where it was originally posted here.

Author's Note
Okay, this is going to take a while to explain. What is this? A crossover of a Pokemon Red Nuzlocke, and YSHDT. Sound strange? Think of how strange it is for me to be writting/explaining this.

Read this, learn of Nuzlocke.

For those that don't want to read link:

Nuzlocke Rules: 1) Faint = Dead (Permabox ingame, burial instory.) 2) Only the first Pokemon of a Route can be caught 2b) Duplicate rule in effect. Only one pokemon can be captured, including those of an evolutionary line. (Meaning, if I kill a Pidgey, I can't capture a Pidgiotto.) 3) All pokemon must be given nicknames. 3b) If I feel there are too many canon characters in use, I MIGHT pull some names of users on here. 4) No capturing Legendaries. No exceptions.

Main Goal: Defeat Mewtwo.

Prologue Chapter 1 - Kelbris the Bulbasaur (Wayward Soul) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Entry 0 (Prologue)
So this was it.

BEN would fall.

He would die by the hands of the very Players he had tormented, in the names of all those he destroyed. Alex, Jadusable, Rosa, Ryukaki, and all the Moon Children... Trapped souls, suffering endlessly.

He would pay. How long had it been? More than half a year, now, since they had heard the trials of Jad, a year since BEN had reared his ugly mug. So many had come and go, but few stayed strong. He was one of the first. Stuck through the Videos, the shit with the Moon Children, and all through what had happened with Ryukaki... A player like him, pulled straight into the happenings of it all. He didn't envy him, not one bit, but shit had turned real the moment they had realised BEN could affect the players, as well... The Pause had driven off many of his friends. But there were many that stayed, and he supposed they were the ones that mattered, the ones that counted.

There was always the paranoia that he had gotten to them too, but... He couldn't think about that now. Victory was in sight. All that was left now would be to enter the game. Join BEN on his field. The pops of the Chatango rooms sounded endlessly in his headphones. Five, six different tabs of different things, the Youtube, the forums, the Stabl, translators, and so much more... Those in the chats were scrambling to understand what was going on. He? He was calm, eerily so. He didn't understand why well enough, but... That didn't matter. Never did.

He scrolled over to the command, download. It would take no more than a click to jump straight in. The air seemed heavy, perhaps with anticipation, perhaps simply with the weight of that one moment in time. So much rested on him. So much depended on his actions. So he clicked...

...and the entire apartment went dead. He paniced for a moment, what had happened? Did he get tricked? Was this a fluke?

Wait. Calm down, it's just an outage. The others can take care of it while it's being worked on... This was unconnected, he was alright. But his hands still went cold, his palms, sweaty. He strained his eyes, unable to see in front of him... Closing the blinds in all nighters like that one were a common practice for him, and he regretted it.

...no sound, either. Family should be up still, why were they not? Damn, he reached for where his phone should be. Call the electric company, see what was up. Try to get power back before anything significant happened. BEN was not one to wait for one Player. His hand closed around open air. What? He reached out again, looking for the edge of his desk... To find that was not there, either. What in the name of God was happening...?

Cold. Inexplanibly cold, suddenly. His skin errupted in goosebumps, hands numbing to that sensation... The air was heavier, now. What the shit? Panic began a slow campaign to overtake his mind. He had to get a grip on himself, he was not thinking rationally...

...he couldn't feel his arms. It was spring, why the hell was it so damned cold?

...heheheh...

...what? Laughter?

...Hahaha!

...who's there?

HAHAHA! A dim one, you are!

What the shit? He tried to stand, to get away from whatever was doing this, a shiver of fear running down his spine. But he couldn't even feel the floor below him, nor his chair, or anything, for that matter.

Your name, please~

What?

YOUR NAME.

H-Hubris! He quickly gave his username, out of habit.

Well, Hubris, welcome to the game~

The darkness was infinite.

The silence, all consuming.

He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't get just what the fuck was going on. BEN, must have been him, must have...

...

BZZZZT. BZZZZT. BZZZZT.

"HUBRIS! Hurry UP!" ...what? Hubris? The darkness dissapeared into the cracked and peeling ceiling of his bedroom. The alarm droned in the background, and the flickering screen of his TV lit up the room... Quickly, the boy quickly rolled over, straight onto the floor. Was that his mom? What had he fallen asleep at the desk, or something?

Was that... Just a dream?

...this was not his room. He quickly looked around. Four walls, an ancient looking computer, and an old TV with SNES. His stomach twisted, fear rekindling in his chest, as he scrambled to his feet. This was not his room. This was not his apartment. He looked down to his hands, feet, blinking as a strand of brown hair floated in front of his eyes...

Panic set in quickly, as he ran over to the computer, using it as an impromptue mirror.

This was not even his BODY!

The alarm droned on. He slammed the button down to silence it, wincing as lain lanced up his arm... Pain? This wasn't a dream? Quickly he thought back to the "dream"...

Was this BEN's doing? Once more, he looked around, spotting what looked like a map on his wall. Rushing over, he looked it over-

Entry 1
...Kanto. The map said Kanto. That was... That was the pokemon world, wasn't it? For a moment, he felt cold again, and all he could manage was a choking noise from the back of his throat, as he stumbling away from the map. This had to be a dream. An illusion. BEN couldn't have pulled him into Pokemon, of all things. God, he would have expected Ocarina of Time, or even Wind Waker, but Pokemon Red?! That...

...that didn't even make sense.

The sound of someone climbing the stairs interrupted his thought process. Looking down, all he realised he had on was a pair of jeans, old and worn with use, and no shirt.

"D-Don't come in!" He stuttered with all the linguistic grace of a babbling baby. The steps on the stairs paused, old wood creaking under the weight of the person... Likely the main character's mother, he quickly recalled.

"It's nearly noon. Professor Oak wanted to speak to you today, why are you still in bed?" Yes, definatly the main character's mother. Turning away from the stairs, Hubris moved to find a shirt that didn't look like it had spent the last three years at the bottom of a mudslide... Finally, he found a black shirt, and pulled it on.

"S-Sorry Mom... Late night." This voice wasn't even his. It was younger sounding. He shook his head, it felt weird to be calling this woman 'mom'... Almost felt like a betrayal to his real mom.

...oh God, just what the hell was happening.

"Well you had better hurry... The Professor's grandson isn't a patient boy, you know that." Grandson. Gary. Right, he remembered that Rival, he was a douche and a half. It wasn't too long before he found a red vest (kinda looked cool on him) and a hat (which he ditched instantly). Slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing the backpack, he was mostly ready...

When his eyes landed on the computer.

"...right. Don't want to be unprepared." Backtracking, he turned on the ancient thing, quickly withdrawing the single Potion, before heading downstairs.

Ten minutes and an awkward conversation later, the boy found himself outside of 'his' house. The town was as small as it seemed in the game, or from what he remembered, it was small. Three buildings on a large empty lot, facing the ocean. Dried crabgrass grew where it could, between cracked concrete and between the cement pillars that seperated the town from the forest. It was almost eerie, how quiet it was...

Only the distant sounds of wild pokemon filled the silent sky. His town... It was pathetic, really. It was no wonder that the protagonist left this little blip on the map.

It was still strange to call anything of this world his. It was hard to believe he was even experiencing this at all, fucking pokemon of all things.

But...

...Ryukaki had been pulled in. So had Jad, or so was believed. He still couldn't believe it was happening to HIM. Of all people.

So, now what? Go along with the game? See where it led? What if he completed it, and it led nowhere? What was he going to do, spend eternity trapped in a cartridge of Pokemon Red, just like how BEN was trapped in Majora's Mask?

...somehow, the idea didn't appeal to him. But what else could he do? Sit there, with his thumb up his ass? Act like a pathetic victim? ...no, he decided. He was not a victim, he was a survivor. Might as well look around, see where this went.

Slowly, he started walking towards the edge of the tall grass, spine straight, shoulders back, hoping for all of the world that he looked more brave than he felt.

"STOP! It's dangerous out there!" A voice much older than his own called out to him, making the boy freeze in his tracks. When the hell had anyone so much as step foot outside--

Never mind, it wasn't worth it.

"Sorry--"

"You should know better, there are wild pokemon in the tall grass!" Slowly, Hubris turned to look up at the taller man... Snow white hair above a pair of heavy brows, and calculating black eyes. The man had a commanding presence about him, but the soft look in his face spoke only of concern.

Most certainly not the creeper most of the Nuzlocking community made Oak out to be.

"...I'm sorry, Professor. I was looking for you." He tried again, this time putting an effort to actually look apologetic. The older man heaved a heavy sigh, pulling one hand through short white spikes. Nodding, he glanced back at the largest of the three buildings--his lab.

"Well, it was an honest mistake, Hubris. My grandson is waiting in the lab... We best not keep him waiting." So he had been expecting him. The old man set off for that large building, the younger at his heels... He was not looking forward to seeing Gary. That was not going to be a fun experience, if he was anything like how he remembered from the games.

With every step closer to the large building, a strange feeling built up behind his eyes. A pressure, cold an alien, not unlike what he had endured just a short half hour ago when he had woken up there...

"GRAMPS!" The old Professor winced visibly, turning the knob of the door and letting himself in. The younger boy quickly followed, keeping his eyes straight ahead...

It felt almost like someone had sucker punched him, short of breath, queasy, and slightly dizzy... It was a good thing the lab went in a straight line. Otherwise, Hubris would have easily walked into something...

"Finally." ...he really was not feeling well. The dialogue between Oak and his grandson went without much notice from the third party, until the name was mentioned--Ben. He froze, having to support himself on the table.

It had to be a coincidence. Or a cruel joke.

But with this, he could not tell.

"...you'll be picking your pokemon first, Hubris." He looked to the side, momentarily distracted. Three red and white balls sat quietly on the table, with cards set in front of them, information on each pokemon printed cleanly on each. One hand still on the table, he looked them all over...

A Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur.

He remembered how he always went with the fire types, as a kid. Flashier, cooler, they were generally the best when it came to everything. His other hand instinctively inched towards the warmth of the ball with the Charmander, but paused upon passing the Squirtle.

Pain. Loneliness. Loss, madness, and most of all, a name.

Jadusable...?

...y-you can hear me?

What the fuck! He pulled back as if electrocuted.

Wait! You know my name, you're from the outside!

...I...yeah. I am... How...

Who do you think?

...funny thing, me too. Or at least, I think.

...then it looks like Kayd wasn't able to get the message out.

Kayd? Is he here too?

In this game? Somewhere, I suppose.

What about the others?

...I don't know.

"...so did you want that Squirtle, Hubris?" His hand had come to rest on the smooth red of the pokeball, and he snapped back to attention. Slowly, numbly, he nodded, picking it up from the table. It had a good, solid weight.

"...y-yeah. I'll call him Jadusable." Oak flashed a grin, but the other boy quickly brushed past him to reach for the pokeball containing the Bulbasaur. With a bright red light, the small green dinosaur-looking creature was out of it's home, glaring up at the foe trainer something fierce.

"I'll call him Kelbris." He was a mean looking thing, with small, beedy looking eyes that caught the light like two pieces of silver. However low a level he was, he looked old, with deep creases over his eyes and cheeks. Hubris repressed another shiver--the nickname was well chosen, reminded him of--

YOU DON'T BELONG HERE.

Once more, his hand tightened on the edge of the table. Oh god, that thing was... Instead of replying, he looked to the trainer. Ben. Or was that BEN? If Kelbris and Jad were in the game, who was to say...

"...you look a little ill. Why don't we test out our pokemon, and I can send you home on a stretcher?" The words were spoken with more than a bit of anger, hatred, but also a childish tease. If the threat itself didn't catch him off guard, the tone certainly did.

"Maybe..." Oak looked between the young boys, confusion in his eyes. They had never acted this way in his memory... Especially not Ben. "Maybe you should head home, Hubris. You can start your adventure tomorrow--"

"--no, I'll be alright." Another flash of red, and the young Squirtle was standing by his trainer. Unlike the Bulbasaur, this one was not creepy, or old looking, but had an intelligence in his eyes that few non-psychic types displayed.

"Kelbris, use Tackle!" The strange-looking pokemon snapped to attention, charging forward at the young turtle-like pokemon. Though not given orders, Jad did his best to get out of the way of the other, though it was far too close.

Hey! This is no time to be spacing out!

"U-Uh, counter with a tackle, Jad!" Looking relieved, the Squirtle spun on his heels leaping forward to throw the Bulbasaur off his feet with the thickest part of his skull. The green creature growled, a low sound, and quickly got it it's feet.

"Go at it again, Kelbris!" Once more, he charged, murder in his oddly glowing eyes. This was not natural for a pokemon, not one bit...

"Jad, grab it and toss it, Goron style!" The order came quickly that time, though Hubris was still trying to cope with the strange sick feeling... He hoped the student-turned-pokemon understood what he had said.

Got it!

The blue turtle stood his ground, feet widely spaced, two hands held in front of him. The thick skull of the grass-type collided with the hard shell of the water type with a loud crack, but Jadusable stood his ground... Straining, he pushed against the other, before side-stepping and throwing him to the ground.

Kelbris didn't move. The rival trainer, Ben, didn't move. Hubris looked up to his counterpart's eyes, meeting the anger-filled glare with his own hastily determined one... For a moment, the sick feeling got worse, and he felt himself ready to hurl, but it stopped when the other looked away.

"Return." The KO'd grasstype disappeared in a thin beam of red light, and the trainer stalked towards the exit. "I picked the wrong pokemon. Smell you later, Gramps."

Entry 2
The next few hours passed in a flash. When Ben had left, his ill feeling had as well, though he still felt like shit afterwards. Going up to Viridian City, Jad trained mostly by himself, managing to gain two levels while they walked. The route was silent save for the crunch of dried grass underfoot, and the calls of trainers as they tried to gain some experiance off of the weak pokemon in the area.

How was it that Oak considered those weaklings to be any sort of threat?

Bah, whatever.

Viridian City seemed eerily quiet. First stop was to a Poke'center, get Jad healed up, then to the Poke'mart to stock up on potions and Antidotes. Cashier wanted him to deliver a package back to Oak, wouldn't sell him pokeballs until then.

God damnit.

With his mood slowly spiralling downward, he took his purchases and the package, and left back for Pallet Town.

...so what do you intend to do from here...Hubris, right?

Yeah, that's right. There isn't much we can do.

So, what? We're just going to do the playthrough?

As I said. There isn't much we CAN do. And I'd rather have some illusion of control, even if it's only meager...

The other was silent for a long moment as Pallet Town came into view. It was still the same dusty little hole in the earth, same three buildings, same crabgrass and cracks.

...so I'm assuming things went to shit once Kayd was taken.

...yeah. BEN was silent for a good long time... Only recently became active again.

That's what I was afraid of.

...what you you mean?

Hubris looked down to the small pokemon, one brow raised. However, he didn't answer, only following the trainer into the lab...

After a relatively short conversation with Oak and a brief return of Ben (thankfully, without the sickness this time), it took another few hours to get back up to Viridian City. The old man had moved, but the two-man team chose instead to scope out the grasses in Route 22... See if they couldn't at least get some more muscle on their side.

After all, things would only become much more difficult after the first two gyms.

...hold up.

For the first time in what felt like days, Jad spoke up, putting one clawed hand on the leg of his... Friend? Trainer? It was odd to think of it that way. Ahead, the taller grass shook, before falling silent.

Just as the brunette was about to pull out the pokedex to see just what was in there, a purple flash darted from the undergrowth, tacking the turtle pokemon onto his shell.

Stay the HELL away! You AND your demon!

"D-Demon?! Wait wait!" Before the trainer could move, Jad had pushed the spiney purple thing off of him, before returning the tackle with a sharp headbutt. The thing rolled once, twice, before coming to a stop...

A male Nidoran.

"Can ALL the pokemon in this world communicate?!" Quickly, he reached for one of the pokeballs he had been given, and tossed it. With a bright flash of red light, the Nidoran dissapeared, into the ball.

It shook once.

Twice.

Three times, and pinged.

Slowly, Hubris walked to pick it up, clicking on the circular button to release it. Hopefully, it would have calmed down, at least a little bit...

But that hope was shattered when it charged straight for him, sharp horns gleaming with poison. The brown-haired trainer quickly backstepped, but found no need to dodge when Jad simply tackled the wild pokemon to the ground, pinning it down.

What is your PROBLEM!

You... You can understand me. Like he could.

He?

"He?" Both pokemon and trainer repeated, at once. Hubris could feel a faint buzzing at the back of his skull, reminicant of the sick feeling that had overcome him before, and the cold feeling he had gotten much earlier that morning.

He who has our brother's name... Ben.

Brother? Then who're you?

I won't tell an outsider!

With a growl, the Squirtle pressed the smaller male's snout into the dirt, obviously not pleased. And after being dicked around with for so long, he really couldn't blame him...

TELL ME. Or else I'll break off your horn, next!

D-Duskworld! They call me Duskworld!

Jad and Hubris exchanged a look. That was one of the names of the Moon Children... Not someone to fool around with, but why was he in here too? Had something happened to him, like it had with Rosa and Ifrit?

"...why are you here?" Hesitantly, he strode towards the two, kneeling next to them to get a better look.

...trapped.

...well, we can't leave him here, man.

"I know... Duskworld, we're trapped here too. We're trying to find a way out..." Did he really want to help this Moon Child? It was obvious from what they had seen of the MC site that they were not exactly stable... But then again, having an eventual Nidoking on the team would really help them through this area.

...and you've been captured anyway, you don't have much a choice, bro. Want to help us out?

...

It took a moment for the younger pokemon to answer, shrugging off the water-type's hold before looking up to his new 'trainer'.

Fine, I will help you.

"Right, sweet... I'm Hubris, and this is Jadusable." He allowed a brief grin to flash on his face, before pulling a potion from his pack and offering to heal the younger up some.

...don't expect me to be your friend. I just want to find my real family.

The young Nidoran looked away, but allowed the other to spray him. This was going to be a strange relationship to say the least, but a potentially good one... He just had to figure out what to do from there.

---

Three hours later found the three back in Route 2. While he had not expected anything big from the local pokemon, he at least wanted a third to back up Jad, in case anything happened in Brock's gym.

One could only imagine his surprise when the Pidgey that Duskworld was about to kill managed a stuttering

W-Wait, I can't die here!!

"...what." Quickly, he called off the Moon Child, but before he was able to pull out a spare pokeball, Jad burst out of his own--stepping in front of the wounded Pidgey.

Hold up! Tyler?

...Matt?

Tyler, how the shit are you in here, man?!

I-I don't know! You went missing, and I... I was looking for you.

"...the old man." Hubris looked to the side, distain in his gaze. The sky was quickly getting darker, and it would soon be night... There was no way they could continue that night. They would have to stop in the local Pokecenter.

...alright Tyler, you're coming with us.

...Matt... Alright. Who's this?

The smaller bird-type gestured to both the Nidoran, and the trainer.

The human is a kid that got pulled in, Hubris. The other's Duskworld, another victim.

"...come on, we can explain better at the Center." Holding out the empty ball, he tossed it up to capture Jad's friend.

The night would be a long one, that was for sure.

Entry 3
...I'm so sorry, Tyler. I should... I should have warned you. Left you a clue, done SOMETHING.

The Squirtle's tone conveyed nothing but guilt, alone in the mostly empty Pokemon Center. It was hard for Hubris to turn away from the conversation, hard for him to even sleep. It wasn't like he could simply flatten his backpack (which doubled as his pillow) over his ears, for he couldn't really even hear the words.

No, it was not that simple. He sensed them.

It had been going on like that for a good thirty minutes, since the strange-looking Nurse Joy had left them in darkness. The time alone had allowed the new Trainer time to think... Think about how different this was from an actual pokemon game. Think about how difficult this was going to be, if... If the laws of the game didn't apply to the strange reality he found himself in.

Like deaths. Like pain. Like a possibility of him actually loosing someone. What would happen if he was wiped, and Whited Out?

Would that be game over?

...the thought scared Hubris a lot more than he would have liked to admit. The Center finally fell silent. Slowly, the young trainer fell into an uneasy sleep, uncomfortable on the cold tiles.

-

When the noon sun found the team, they were well into Viridian Forest, hacking and slashing their ways through the thick underbrush. Like before, they had encountered another cursed kid--a guy named Thomas, who appeared as a Weedle. Jad had not looked too pleased ith this development... He had been Kayd's friend, and mostly, unrelated to the events of BEN's war.

Either way, he was mostly silent, giving short, clipped answers when spoken to.

Somehow, not a single member had been poisoned yet. Mostly, he had limited himself to using Duskworld, who was thankfully a Poison type. But it was surprising that he hadn't had to use a single Antidote, when grinding the others.

Not that he ever complained. He was being careful with these guys, unnaturally so.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the last of the Bug Catchers fell to the poion-tipped horn of the Moon Child. Ahead, the sun was bright, cutting through the leaves in splotches of shadow, and the faint promise of a breeze floated on the air.

Salvation!

Dusk was the first to shout, racing ahead to the edge of the grass. Jad quickly followed, cursing quietly about short legs. Hubris lagged back, his hand touching the pokeballs containing the other two.

Brock's Gym would be a breeze for Jad, even though he was only about... Level ten? It was hard to gauge by eye, but he had learned enough water-based moves to easily take down Brock and his rock-types. But in case something happened, he would need to train someone up that could take a hit... After all, criticals happened.

So would it be Tyler, or Thomas?

...it felt horrible to be thinking of sending living, breathing people into battle. How the hell did normal Trainers deal with that? Or, military people?

Before he knew it, the brunette found himself walking through the sliding doors to the local Center. It looked virtually the same as the one in Viridian, save for different people. Even the NURSE looked the same...

...so the anime wasn't lying.

With two flashes of light, the Pidgey and the Weedle joined the other two on the floor.

"Alright, guys." He quickly adressed his... His? Hell, he was already slipping into that mindset. He adressed the assembled pokemon, drawing a few odd stares from the people in the Center.

"I'm sure all of you remember that Brock's Gym is the first one. Rock type, if memory serves." He quickly made a sweep of the four assembled. Tyler stood closer to Jad than the others, and Duskworld was standing apart from the other three. Thomas took up some strange space inbetween.

R-Right, a Geodude and an Onix.

Tyler supplied, switching from foot to foot nervously. His type was weak to rock moves, and didn't hit hard enough to keep up with the opponent.

"Obviously, Jad's going to take the helm," The Squirtle stood just a bit taller, looking proud.

For once, I'm GLAD I'm this starter.

"But incase something happens, I'm going to grind all of you up to speed." That was directed specifically to Thomas. Bug types were especially bad, and Weedles didn't evolve until at least level Seven. Not again until ten.

He was met with various agreements, and a silent nod from the Nidoran. Quickly, he returned each one to their respective ball, before striding to the Nurse's Desk.

"We'll heal your pokemon to full health." They would need it, too.

---

The young Junior Trainer yawned, leaning back on the craggy wall of the Gym as he watched his two Geodude battle against eachother. Though he needed to get stronger, Brock rarely let him outside of the building, unless it was for food or something else. What he wouldn't give to be able to train his pokemon on other trainers his level, unlike the overpowered people that came and went for one thing.

The Boulderbadge.

Brock managed to turn away many of his opponents, but they were always weakened by the fight his own Geodude put up beforehand. But he always lost, and his two rock types never got any stronger...

A sudden slam echoed through the Gym. For a moment, the young Trainer was blinded by the light, before a silloette passed through the doors and shut them just as suddenly.

He blinked once, twice. A Trainer, followed by the flying forms of a Beedrill and a Pidgey, and a small Nidoran.

Did he seriously expect to get past him with a Flying Type, a Bug/Flying, and a Poison alone?

"You're lightyears away from defeating Brock!" He snapped out to the newcomer, a playful grin on his face. Quickly, he ran to stand behind his pokemon, confident that he'd be able to defeat this guy.

"Really now?" Twin shots rang out, and his two Geodude slumped to the ground, perfectly round holes in their foreheads. From behind the Trainer, a small blue form stepped--

A Squirtle, bearing a pair of triangular shaped sunglasses.

"...shit." He looked from the water-type to his two prized pokemon, and fell to his knees.

"Lightyears measures distance, not time." The foe Trainer scoffed, brushing past the young kid, and into the Gym Leader's room.

"...how..." Was all the young boy could manage.

"BROCK! I'm here to challenge you!"

Entry 4
For a long moment, the Gym was silent, save the echoes of the Challenger's voice reverberating around hard rock. It was dark in the cave-like building, and the ground rough, but Hubris didn't care. His eyes were alight with the fires of battle, with an excitement that seemed too intense to come from a showdown that could end so badly.

...careful, man. I got a bad feeling.

From the gloom, the Leader stepped forward. Brock commanded a presence, an aura of strength that just couldn't be argued with. More than half a foot taller than the trainer before him, beady black eyes glared down from under a mop of unruley black spikes. Unlike the Junior Trainer, he was barefoot on the rocky ground, and bare-chested.

Dark-skinned, well-toned, tough looking, he simply embodied the Rock Type. Damned shame he was the first Gym, otherwise Hubris would be much more concerned...

"You challenge me? Well then, I suppose I'll have to accept." Pulled from seemingly nowhere, the Gym Leader tossed a pokeball, releasing a burlier looking Geodude from its prison. The rock pokemon growled, pulling itself forward with its two arms, and glaring daggers at the challenger and his team.

"Let's sweep this place, Jad. Water gun, aim to kill!" The Squirtle stepped forward, light glinting off triangular shades.

"Dodge it, Geodude!" For a moment, a glare was swapped between the two opponents, before the high-pressure shot of water burst from the mouth of the first. The heavier one grabbed at the rocky ground, trying to move out of the way of the shit, but found itself clipped in the side--pain overtook it's expression as it tumbled to the ground, unconscious.

"One hit, one kill." And so far, so good, for the Hubris team. The trained nodded to the student-turned-pokemon, as the second red flash told him that Brock was calling out his big guns. Jad almost instantly recoiled at the sight of the large rock snake--it was easily longer than the building, with each boulder the size of a small car.

"Onix, quick! Whip it into the wall!" The Rock Snake moved a hell of a lot faster than it's bulk would suggest, bringing that massive tail of its around to swing at the small turtle.

But Jad moved quickly, diving out of the way and darting into his shell, sliding across the floor on a thin sheet of water. The onix's tail continued on it's path to crash into the wall, creating a horrible din, before moving up to get ready for another attack.

"Water gun!" The water-type popped from his shell, aiming a burst of water for the snake's eye. Both trainer and pokemon grinned as it hit its mark, the thing recoiling and letting out a roar of pain...

But it was not doing nearly enough damage to count. The tail wavered in the air before coming down, and Hubris cried out in alarm as a majority of the field was covered in a thick smoke.

"Shit! Jad! Jad, where the hell are you?!" The Onix rose from the dust, warily looking from side to side, grinding the two stones that passed for a lower jaw against the upper. Even as the dust began to settle, there was no sign of the tiny blue pokemon...

Then, like lightning, a volley of water shots cut through the dust to collide with the stony underside of the rock snake's neck. It roared in pain even as large chunks of it's exoskelleton were chipped away, before one final shot drilled straight through.

The crash as it hit the floor was thunderous.

A relatively tiny blue dot scrambled up the tailstones of the felled beast to stand upon it's head, crowing and jeering out his victory... The only injury Jad had to his name was a shallow cut leading up to a scrape on his lower shell, and a crack in the lenses of his shades.

"Good job, Jad! Return!" With a grin, the turtle leapt off just as the other trainer recalled his pokemon.

Matt, man, that was amazing!

Dude!!

...I've seen better, but that was rather.... Impressive. For a turtle, anyway.

Hubris and the rest of the team easily welcomed him back into the fold, though a half-glare was passed between the Squirtle and the Nidoran. It was as close to a compliment that he was going to get from this kid, however...

"Congradulations, Trainer. With my defeat, Official Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, I officially present you with the Boulderbadge and a complimentary TM." The voice of his former opponent drew the brunette's attention, looking up at the buff man before quickly standing. He accepted both graciously... First victory in the League, and first step to finding out what he could do to get back.

"Thanks... It was a good battle! I didn't expect your Onix to be that big!" The two shook hands, a sign of no hard feelings. Rock types were tough, his pokemon would survive.

"Indeed it was. Your Squirtle is intelligent... Reminds me of the last trainer who came in here, a kid with a Bulbasaur and a Pidgey." Suddenly, the good mood in the room had been zapped from the air. Hubris frowned, pinning the badge to the inside of his vest, brows drawn together.

"Wouldn't have happened to have been a kid named Ben, right?" For all of a moment, the world itself... Well, the only word that could describe it would be glitched. The walls shifted as if they were not solid, lights dimmed, and the air became... Snowy. But as soon as it was there, that was gone.

"I believe that was. Most trainers from Pallet come through here with a Charmander... Kind of glad you two went a different way. It'll be more interesting." Tyler landed on the trainer's shoulder, gesturing towards the door.

Dusk and Thomas are taking Jad back to the pokecenter. They'll meet up with us there.

"Yeah... Different. Well, I got to go get my bros looked at, we're going to try to make it to Mount Moon before sunfall." With a flash of a grin, Hubris turned to make an exit, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Just be careful out there. Not just about the Trainers out there, there are rumors of Team Rocket crawling through Mount Moon..." Though a bit concerned on HOW Brock attained that information, he nodded, walking past the two statues of the ancient, god-like Legendaries. Below were the scribbled names of all the trainers who had managed to defeat Brock; pausing only a moment, he quickly added his name below the last before continuing on.

BEN [lvl 10 Bulbasaur "Kelbris"]

HUBRIS [lvl 10 Squirtle "Jadusable"]

---

The sun was dipping low in the west by the time the small group came to rest at a patch of grass near the foot of Mount Moon. They had been battling all for hours, what felt like dozens of trainers. All FREAKS.

Shorts. I swear, if I hear ANYTHING about shorts ever again...

"Cool it, Tyler, you and Thomas get to take a break in the Box."

--what?

"...your both part flying types. I can't say I remember if there are any rock types that you should be worrying about..." Leaning on the Route sign, the trainer stripped himself of his vest to try and cool down. Damn, too many layers...

...fine, fine. Just promise you won't be keeping me in there.

Don't worry, Tyler. You're one of the best Flying Types, or soon will be.

...thanks Matt...

A rustle in the grasses caught the attention of the single poison-type, standing a little ways from the group. He didn't really belong with the rest of these people, they were outsiders... But if he could find the rest of the Moon Children, he wouldn't need them.

He stepped forward to check out the noise. From the bushes flew something brown and light red, and the young Nidoran dashed forward to tackle it to the ground, growling.

Intruder! State your name!

Wh-what kind of shrooms are you on, man?!

"Huh?" The rest of the Team seemed to have noticed them. The purple pokemon pushed down a bit harder on the Spearow's wing, before letting him up... No use getting into an argument about the state of some kid, with Hubris. That would be much more trouble than it was worth.

"Who's this, Dusk?"

That's Duskworld, to you. And I have not the faintest.

...Sorgrim. You guys can--

"Understand you? Yeah." The rest of the team finally peered around their fearless leader, drawing a snort from the poison-type. He missed the glare shot at him by Thomas.

Then you were pulled in too?

"Yeah... Were you on the chats? I'm Hubris." The Spearow finally rose to his feet, dusting himself off with the ends of his wings. Another flying type. Lovely. And another of these 'chat' kids...

Hubris? The others were talking about you just randomly up and leaving... Now I know where you went, though. I'm Sorgrim, there.

"Well, a pleasure... Mind tagging along?" Friendship, kindness, bleh. Just another false mask they could wear to try and hide their fears.

No, I don't mind at all... Get any hints as to what we're supposed to do, yet?

None of us know anything just yet. We were figuring to do a playthrough, see where it leads us.

And who're you?

Jadusable.

--wha--what. You're...

Duskworld just nearly facepalmed. And would have, had he had an actual palm. Instead, he just started walking towards the less than distant mountain.

We're loosing sunlight. Talk while you walk.

"Uhh... He's right. I'll explain on the way." Hubris cut into the conversation, looking after the sultry teen... He was what, sixteen? Not a good age, and a bit younger than most of them...

...oh well. Let the ass be an ass. This is Tyler, my bro, and that guy is Thomas...

This would likely be a long trip, at least to the male Nidoran.

Entry 0
I really don't know what do make of this. It's a Poke'mon Red Nuzlocke Run, but also a YSHDT fanfic. Probably going to clean it up later, too lazy to do so now.

Entry 1
I wanted to include a lot more in this chapter, but... Meh. It was getting to be long anyway. So we meet Jad, who has been trapped in the form of a Squirtle, and Kelbris, who is a Bulbasaur. Is Rival Ben really BEN? Is Hubris just going crazy?! Tune in next time to find out.

Entry 2
Eesh, 2 in one day. Be lucky I love you guys so much.

Entry 3
Yeah, Jad's a BAMF. Those sunglasses were just too much a temptation to pass up.

Entry 4
If you are all wondering why it took me so long to get this chapter out, I was sick for five days. High fever, swollen tonsils and stuff... If you want to read the whole story on that, go to my dA journal (D-Hatcher is the username).

This chapter was actually rather fun to write after I started to get better. Was listening to a cool new band called Get Scared, and they fit the style rather well. They remind me of a younger P!atD.