Chapter Four: Another One Bites the Dust
After my glorious victory over Grant, I stomped arrogantly back onto Route 10, feeling like the world was mine and nothing, no man nor Pokemon, would get in my way. I started defeating the Route 10 trainers one by one, taking no significant blows. A little damage here and there, but my Pokemon rocked the route.
And then, walking through a random patch of grass, a wild Sigilyph popped out. Now, I had been weary of Sigilyph ever since Route 10 opened up to me. They are strong, with good resistances, even at a young level. I really had hoped to catch one for myself, landing my Emopi instead. I approached the Sigilyph cautiously, well aware of its power.
Oracle was the first Pokemon in my party, and out it went, the both of us arrogant from our winning streak. Oracle had about 80 percent health left, so I was sure that it could either handle Sigilyph itself, or that I could switch out before things got too scary. How wrong I was.
Sigilyph moved first, hitting with a Psybeam. Oracle dropped from about 80 percent health to about 45 percent. Oracle countered with Water Pulse, which surprised me by dealing just over half damage to Sigilyph. I was confident that Oracle could absorb another Psybeam, since another Water Pulse would seal the deal for us and earn some great experience. I clicked "Water Pulse," and to this moment, as I type this, I still can't believe what happened next.
"The wild Sigilyph used Psywave." PSYWAVE. I've never been afraid of Psywave, never had a reason to. Until now. Because Sigilyph's Psywave brought unprecedented power, hitting from the high end of its potential spectrum, and I gasped as Oracle's health dropped to 0.
Oracle had become one of my favorite teammates. Water Pulse was powerful, and it had Return, Confusion, and Shadow Claw in its arsenal as well. I regret not being more cautious with him, and he was a heavy hit, a heavy loss, and left me with a heavy heart.
I don't even remember what I used next against Sigilyph; the loss of Oracle blinded me, and I wanted to kill that Sigilyph, kill it dead, any way, any how. And I accomplished that, even though I can't remember how.
I fought past the flimsy Team Flair members left on Route 10, and found myself in the town of Geosenge. There wasn't much there for my team or myself, and still reeling from the loss of my precious Psyduck, I healed quickly and I perused the Pokemon in my PC box, and wasn't happy. Nothing stood out to me. There were no Pokemon that I wanted to train. So instead, I headed to Route 11, where I knew another Pokemon awaited me.
I stumbled into the grass, hoping and wishing for something powerful. With a team of five, I desperately wanted something useful. After roaming a bit, a mighty 'mon popped out, and my wish was granted:
F&*! YES! Hariyama? I'll take that! It might not be stellar in competitive play, but in-game, this Pokemon packs a mighty punch, pun intended. I sent Maux out, who quadruple resisted potential Fighting-type attacks, and could launch Thunder Wave back to cripple Hariyama, which is the path I took. What followed broke my heart almost as much as losing Oracle.
"Maux used Thunder Wave! The wild Hariyama became paralyzed.
The wild Hariyama used Whirlwind!"
.....................well there goes that. A waste of a route. Through Nuzlocke rules, I have to catch the FIRST Pokemon I encounter in an area, and if that Pokemon is knocked out or removes me from battle, then that area is a loss. No Hariyama for me. What luck. What terrible luck.
Glum, let down, and feeling defeated, I continued my way through the route in a haze. I beat a couple trainers and wandered up a hill, where a brains and brawn couple waited for me. I felt relatively confident about this battle, knowing that my Kirlia and Panpour, with Confusion and Shadow Claw respectively, could handle whatever Fighting- and Psychic- or Ghost-types this couple shared.
I sent my Pokemon out; as did they. Machoke and Mr. Mime broke onto the scene, and my mood switched from hazy discontent to a twitchy panic. These were strong Pokemon, potentially stronger than anything my team could muster. Maux and Phelps were at full health, so I kept them in for a round. Mr. Mime moved first with Reflect, weakening Phelps's Shadow Claw, which only dealt 1/3 damage to the Psychic-Mon. Despite its 4x resistance to Fighting-type moves, Kirlia frail physical defense was hit hard by Machoke's Low Sweep, dealing well over half damage.
Seeing Kirlia get hit so hard snapped me back into reality; I was NOT going to lose this Pokemon. I was NOT going to lose my future Gallade. But what could take a hit? Gloom would lose to Psybeam from Mr. Mime, Quilladin only had 1/2 health, and Diggersby was weak to Machoke. I felt screwed, like no matter what, I would lose another precious Pokemon partner. So who was the weakest link? Who had the least potential? Who would help me least in the long run?
I recalled Maux, and reluctantly swapped in Bender. Diggersby, who had grown on me, was great in the moment, the right here and right now; it HAD just helped me win against Grant's Tyrunt, afterall. But I thought about things to come, and how frail and weak Diggersby was. Compared to what could come in the future with Gallade, Chesnaught, Vileplume, or Bellossom, I was most comfortable with losing Diggersby.
Here is what happened next.
"Maux, great job! Come back.
Diggersby, go!
Mr. Mime used Light Screen! The opponent's special defense rose.
Phelps used Shadow Claw. Critical hit! The opponent's Mr. Mime fainted.
The opponent's Machoke used Low Sweep.
It's super effective!
Diggersby fainted."
And that was it. Another Pokemon casualty. Another teammate, lost and gone forever. Thanks for all of your hard work, Bender. You will be missed.
Despite Bender's death, I still had a Machoke to defeat. With Mr. Mime gone, I could send in Gloom with little worry, and a combination of Scald from Phelps and Venoshock from Oddium took the battle for me. The victory was little consolation for the fact that I had just lost Bender. Down to four Pokemon on my party, I headed back to the Pokemon Center, reluctantly ready to add two more Pokemon to my team.
Taking a look in my box, and remembering who was at the daycare center, these were my options:
Nothing excited me. Nothing stood out. Volbeat and Luvdisc certainly were not going to happen, and neither was Hippopotas, thanks to its nasty Sand Stream ability. Thinking about the upcoming Fighting-type gym in Shalour City, I narrowed my focus to Flabebe, Lunatone, and Emolga. Despite having a type advantage, I knew that Flabebe's physical frailty would still be a hindrance in Korrina's gym, and so I withdrew Lunatone and Emolga, whose Psychic-type and Flying-type attacks, respectively, could help secure victory against Korrina.
I headed to the Battle Chateau to train my new teammates, and quickly fell in love with them. Sure, they aren't the most impressive Pokemon on paper. Their stats are mediocre, but I learned quickly that, at this point in the game, their movepools were impressive. I befriended them to the max in PokemonAmie, and headed back to Route 11 and Reflection Cave.
Reflection Cave was my chance to make a comeback with my team. I was satisfied with my newest additions, but Reflection Cave is home to gems such as Mr. Mime, Solosis, Carbink, and Sableye. I walked into the cave, and quickly (and with frustration) came across my new Pokemon:
A. Mother. Freaking. ROGGENROLA. Now, Roggenrola is legit, evolving into Gigalith eventually, who has a lot of potential in-game. So why the frustration?
9. Gift Pokemon cannot be caught or used, and I cannot trade Pokemon or use Pokemon Bank.
Thanks to my predetermined Nuzlocke challenge rule, I would NEVER have my precious Gigalith, who only evolves through trades. I told myself that, upon taking on this challenge, I would
NEVER break the rules I had set. So into the box Roggenrola went, with yet ANOTHER area providing me with a useless Pokemon.
I fought and fought and fought some more in Reflection Cave, training my team up, and thoroughly impressed with my new additions in Orbit and Emopi, who were quickly becoming powerhouses on my team, learning Psychic, Rock Slide, ElectroBall, and Acrobatics.
I made it through the cave and into Shalour City, but beelined to the grass on Route 12. I knew that Route 12 would NOT let me down; I would have been happy to raise EVERY SINGLE Pokemon on that route. In the grass I went, and out popped:
Here was my big break. Tauros is an absolute BEAST in-game, and this one came packed with Intimidate, an ever-useful ability. Phelps had gone out to start the fight. I used Return, reluctant to use Scald, since Tauros is difficult to catch, and I didn't a burn to take it out. Tauros hit back hard, and I was worried that Phelp and his frail defenses couldn't handle Tauros' power. I quickly switched to Emolga, who could hit it with a Thunder Wave and take at least one hit. Emolga went out, and Tauros used Rest, recovering its health. Okay, not how I expected things to go, but it's asleep, and that's good. I had to choose between Acrobatics and Electro Ball; both were powerful enough to do a lot of damage, but I didn't expect either to hit with a OHKO.
I selected Acrobatics, and yelped with disgust as a critical hit landed, knocking Tauros to zero health, killing it in one shot. My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe this awful luck. PokemonAmie backfired on me, and Emopi killed what could have been an excellent teammate.
My head hung low, I walked back to Shalour City, and healed my Pokemon up. This was a rough run; I saved my game happy with my team, but the feeling was definitely unbalanced, as my frustrations overwhelmed any happy feelings. Hopefully the next chapter holds happier stories and stronger Pokemon. I'll need them. Powerful gyms lie ahead of us, and we'll need all the help we can get.
Current Team:
Casualties: