Moon Version, Part 4.5: Flashbacks
- Nintai3301
- Nov 30, 2016
- 5 min read
Note from Nintai: This part was mainly added because I began to realize I was building on a story that no one but myself had ever read. They were going to need a point to reference, especially since there was a good chance (or so I thought) that I was never going to convert my comic script from my Red Version Dexlocke into a full on story. This little touch of world-building really pulled a lot together in the long run, and created a stronger relationship between Nuztai and Hau.
The Pokémon Center had surprisingly few trainers in it this particular evening as people began to come inside seeking shelter and a place to sleep on their journeys. Nuztai had found a comfortable spot and was cleaning his pokeballs with a rag. It was in a Pokémon Center only a year or so ago that he had his fateful encounter that led him to begin Nuzlocking. Seeing the other trainers' excited faces as they used any Pokémon they wanted almost made him pine for the days before… Before that one stranger appeared.
“So what do you think?” asked a proud Nuztai, “He’s the one. I can feel in bones! Come on, Judge, spit it out!”
A young trainer in a blue blazer held the young charmander from under it’s arms up into the air, starring carefully at it. His eyes flitted over every detail of the Pokémon. He examined its eyes, felt the tone in its arm muscles, and checked the size of its tail flame. Finally, he held out the Pokémon for a good general overview.
“I think you’ve finally done it, Nuztai! It’s Outstanding, really! These stats just can’t be beat. I think you’ve finally bred a charmander with ideal potential!” Nuztai jumped for joy with the news! He’d worked so hard for it, after all.
“How pathetic” said a passerby from behind Nuztai.
“What did you just say?!” yelled Nuztai as he whipped around to see who dared to address him this way. It was a relatively short young man with a round face and lumpy white hair. He wore a grey headband with a familiar logo and a red t-shirt that didn’t really match.
“I said, ‘How pathetic’” repeated the stranger.
“And just WHAT is so pathetic about a perfect IV Charmander!? Do you have ANY idea how much time and energy…”
“YOU are pathetic” interrupted the stranger. “You rely heavily on facts and figures. Stats and details. You could never survive a real challenge. You could never handle… what I have…”
Nuztai’s temper was now raging hotter than that charmander’s tale. He wanted to go off on this guy and tell him exactly what he could have… but what did he mean ‘a real challenge’. Nuztai’s curiosity outweighed his anger just long enough.
“Go on…” grumbled Nuztai.
“You would never survive… a Nuzlocke.”
“NUZTAI!!” yelled a voice from the front of the Pokémon Center. Hau had just walked in, ready to call it a night from training. “Do you mind if I hang with you tonight?”
“I suppose not. I’ve been lost in my own thoughts anyway.” replied Nuztai with a smile.
“What’s had you so lost in thought?” asked Hau as he plopped down in an empty spot near Nuztai.
“I was reminiscing about when I first learned about Nuzlockes.”
“How DID you? I’m not sure I fully understand what that even means? You’re Pokémon are just willing to fight to the death?” inquired Hau
“Sort of. A Nuzlocke is an ancient traditional rite. How exactly it works varies a little from region to region and even trainer to trainer. Challengers and their Pokémon form an intense bond. But the risk… well… They’re putting their lives on the line for each other.”
“How is it even legal? Why would people be allowed to fight their Pokémon to the death?” Hau pushed further.
Nuztai took a deep breath, slowly letting it out before responding. “According to Professor Birch back in Hoenn, it has been challenged before, but it’s the Nuzlockers themselves and their Pokémon partners that fight to defend the rite. They say it’s brought them closer to their Pokémon than ever before, and I’m inclined to agree. But Birch said he only knew of about seven regions that still hadn’t outlawed it. I wonder if he knew about Alola.”
“You did a Nuzlocke challenge before, right? Was it in Kanto, where you moved from?”
“Yup. It was actually my third time challenging the Indigo League of Kanto. The first was when I first became a trainer. Then again a few years later, after I’d beaten the Johto League and was just itching to find more to do. I challenged and defeated four other Pokémon Leagues before learning about Nuzlockes, and decided to return to my hometown to start a Nuzlocke Challenge.”
“Did you have a Pokémon Prof guiding you? Like Professor Kukui?”
“I did. His name is Professor Oak. And he wasn’t exactly thrilled about me coming back to register a Nuzlocke Challenge. But he did find a way to make it WAY more interesting.”
“Registering? How’s that?” pressed Hau.
“Kind of like how you have your trainer passports here in Alola. Kanto has trainers register via a small device they carry around as ID. But Oak invented something sweet. It was an ID device that records the data of any Pokémon registered to the user. Oak challenged me to register every known Pokémon in Kanto and send one back to his lab so he could further his research and improve the lives of people and Pokémon everywhere. And I did it.”
“Wow, no foolin’? That’s incredible! So is that what you’re going to do here, as well?”
“That’s the plan. But it’s harder here. Kanto is oddly quarantined from the rest of the continent, thanks the the large mountain ranges and rivers. People don’t go there much, so there’s not a lot of Pokémon from other regions that have found their way in. Not like Alola, where people from other regions flock. There’s a lot of Pokémon here that aren’t native here, and I have to avoid catching because it’ll damage the data. But because I’ve been to so many regions before I started Nuzlocking, I tend to recognize them and the land they’re from.”
“Cool! What are the Pokémon like in Kanto? Are they…”
“Quiet time and lights out!” Announced Nurse Joy from behind the counter. “I don’t care how young or old you are! You’re here under my care, so it’s time to get some rest!”
Nuztai and Hau quickly put up their belongings and settled into their sleeping spots. Hau dozed off thinking of the strange Pokémon that must reside in a place like Kanto. Nuztai drifted away thinking of the Pokémon friends he’d left behind.
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