Issun's HeartGold Nuzlocke Adventure

[Grunt Issun]

[Spoiler=Chapter 1: The journey begins
]Fourteen Year Old Issun was sitting in his room, one Friday night, looking at piece of paper on his desk. “The rules are simple” he read, “One, you can only catch the first pokemon you see on any route. Two, if a pokemon faints, it is dead.”

Sitting up from his chair, he went downstairs, where his mother cornered him. “Issun! You’re awake!” she exclaimed, seeming elated. “Your friend Lyra was just here”

“She’s not my friend” Issun pointed out

“In fact, I think she was coming by again in a few minutes…”

“Well, it was good knowing you, I’ve got an adventure to do, Kaythanksbye!”

“Wait, honey! Your pokegear came back today!”

“Oh… that thing”

Issun slumped back over to his Mother, almost out the door, where she handed him his repaired Pokegear. “Do you remember how to use it, honey?”

“Of course I do” Issun sighed

“Well, when you register somebody’s num- Issun?” she said, suddenly not seeing Issun in the house.


As Issun exited the house, he was attacked by a Wild Marill! Except it wasn’t that. It was worse. It was a tamed Marill. And it was Lyra’s. And she was coming this way! But then she seemed to walk away. Issun was safe. For now.

Disregarding that terrifying encounter, Issun made his way to the laboratory of Professor Elm. The second he entered, Elm dragged him to the back of the room. “Hey, Issun! As you know, pokemon are carried inside Pokeballs” he began.

“Well holy shit”

“But before the Pokeball was invented, we just walked around with them”

“Tell that to the apricorn dude”

“Just like your friend Lyra does”

“Not my friend” Issun pointed out, again.

“Basically what I’m saying is, you’re going to take this pokemon, and walk around with it!”

Issun held his hands out, motioning for Elm to stop. “Wait wait wait wait! So you’re going to give a fourteen year old kid a pokemon, just because you want to do some experiment. A kid who, by all means, won’t do your experiment, and will just go vandalize everything he can WITH said pokemon. A kid who, by all means, could DIE because the pokemon got angry and decided to attack him”

Elm hesitated for a second, then grinned and nodded, “Yep!”

Suddenly, there was a beeping noise from behind Elm. Elm checked his computer, and after a moment, returned to Issun. “Oh by the way, I also need you to get something from my friend Mr. Pokemon for me”

“Wait, why should I do that?”

“Because you’re the protagonist”

“Bu-”

“Thank you so much, Issun!”


Issun grumbled, snatched a random ball off of the machine, and slumped out of the lab. Upon releasing it from its Pokeball, it was revealed to be a Totodile.

“… Yo” the Totodile yawned.

“A Totodile… I’ll name you Phillip!” Issun decided.

Suddenly, Issun heard steps from behind him. “Hey, Issun!” a familiar, annoying, female voice called out.

“Oh s***! Phillip! Attack!” Issun ordered, panicking. But it was too late. Lyra was already upon him.

“Oh, so you picked a Totodile!” she noticed, “It’s so cute, you should go show your mom. Seeya!” she said, talking very fast, then walked away.


Phillip blinked. “That… was weird”

Issun sighed, “Be glad we made it out of there with our I.Q. points intact”

With that, Issun placed his hands behind his head, and began walking out of town.

“Uh, hey. Aren’t you going to show me to your mom?”

“Nah. I never do things that Lyra tells me to”

“Oh… aight”

However, as soon as Issun crossed the boundry between wilderness and New Bark town, Elm burst out of his laboratory, and ran up to Issun.

“Wait up!” he called. He ripped Issun’s Pokegear out of his possession, and entered his number in, then handed it back. “There ya go!” he said, grinning.

Issun looked extremely offended. “You- I- Bu- it-” he muttered, starring at his Pokegear. “You son of a-”

“Well, I’ll call you if anything comes up. Or if I’m lonely. Or if I need somewhere to crash. Or if I’m bored. Seeya!” he called, already on the way back to his lab.


Now completely pissed, Issun trudged into the first pieces of grass on his journey. The second he walked in, a hoothoot jumped right in his face.

“f***. THIS. s***. PHILLIP. SCRATCH. NOW” he roared.

“Uh… right” Phillip yawned. Suddenly, he leaped at deafening speeds at the little owl pokemon and clawed at its face, until it lay mangled on the ground.

Issun starred at the little torn up corpse. “Huh” he muttered, surprised, “That was impressive, actually”

Making his way through the route with no further problems, he entered Cherrygrove City. Where he was instantly attacked by an old man.
“Hey rookie! You’ve never been here before have you?”

“Uh…”

“Well, follow me then!” he exclaimed, then dashed forward to the nearby pokemon center. “This is a thing called a ‘Pokemon center’. It’s a-”

“I know what a pokemon center is”

“Place where your pokemon can get healed. It’s like free healthcare!”

The old man went on a tour of the city for another minute, before stopping at the man’s house. “And this is my house. Now, as a gift for using my tour services, take these running shoes!” the old man said, happily, holding a pair of tennis shoes in front of him.
“Uh, thanks…” Issun said cautiously, accepting the running shoes.

“Hey, uh, Issun. Didn’t he say Mr. Pokemon’s house was up north?” Phillip asked

“Yeah. We should probably go that way, huh?” Issun shrugged, then began the journey northwards.

His journey to the fabled Mr. Pokemon’s house was plagued by wild Hoothoots and Rattatas, and some guy trying to give him an Apricorn Box, but he finally stuck through it, and Phillip even learned Water Gun and Rage on the way. Upon arrival at the house, he was attacked by more old men.
“Ah, you must be Issun!”

“…Yeah…”

“Terrific, that means you can get rid of this for me!” he handed over an egg, beaming. “No matter what I do, I can’t crack it. What am I supposed to have for breakfast?!”

Issun grabbed the egg and slowly backed out of the house. “Right. Well. Seeya.”

However, as soon as he exited the room, he was called by Professor Elm. “Issun! Come quick! It’s terrible! Horrible! Vile! Inconvi-” Issun clicked the phone off.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming” Issun yawned, “Well come on, Phillip. We’ve got to go now”

“I thought you didn’t like helping people”

Issun sighed wearily, “Yeah… But I don’t know. I haven’t gotten Pokeballs yet, which means that the first route is still fair game. May as well go check it out”

Issun and Phillip ventured on their uneventful way back to Cherrygrove. However, as they were about to leave, a Red-haired kid around Issun’s age bumped into them.
“Watch where you’re going, Jackass!”

“You’re a trainer, aren’t you?” he asked, peering at Phillip.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m a trainer too”

“Wow, good for you”

“You look weak. Let’s do battle” the weird redhead ordered, then grabbed a Pokeball at his waist. “GO! Chikorita!”

Issun stared at the little… plant… animal… Planimal… thing for a moment, then burst in to laughter. “CHIKORITA! HE PICKED CHIKORITA! WAHAHAHAH” he cried, tears in his eyes, rolling on the ground. “LOOK PHILLIP! IT’S A CHIKORITA! WHAT A CHALLENGE, AM I RIGHT?!”

“Uh… I don’t get it, Issun”

Issun picked himself up off the ground and wiped the tears from his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he wheezed, trying to catch his breathe from laughing so hard. “Ah… Phillip, use rage” Issun commanded casually. Totodile glowed red, then threw himself onto Chikorita, and began pulverizing it with its claws and teeth.

“OW!OW!OW!” The Chikorita screamed, “Get it off mee-ee-ee!” it cried.

“Damn it, Chikorita! Just use tackle!” The redhead ordered

The Chikorita responded, and shook free of Phillip, then bumped into him.
Phillip’s red glow grew brighter. He glanced at Chikorita, then grinned.

“Phillip. Rage” Issun yawned. Phillip once again went to work tearing Chikorita to pieces. The Chikorita now lay on the ground, covered in scratches, fainted.

The weird redhead called back his pokemon “Hmph. What a weakling” he muttered. He looked from side to side, then began running away, dropping his trainer card on the ground by accident as he went by.

Issun picked it up and read it. “Silver? What kind of parent names their kid SILVER?! What’s next, kids named after colors?!”

Silver, the redhead, ran back and snatched his trainer card back, “Hey, give it back, thief!” he ordered, then ran off again.

Issun sighed, “What a weirdo” he muttered. Again, he placed his hands behind his head and made his way through the easy path back to New Bark Town. He entered the laboratory, where there was a police officer waiting next to Elm. Issun walked up to them. “So, what’s going on here, then?” he asked.
“It’s terrible! A pokemon has been stolen!”

“Hm? Oh, you mean, like, a Chikorita?”

“Yes, exactly!”

“Some red-haired dude had one just a minute ago, he went through Cherrygrove just now” Issun explained. “Oh, and I’ve got this egg for you” he said, handing Elm the egg. “Seeya, losers” he called, leaving the lab. Once again leaving the town, he was stopped by the hideous beast known as Lyra.
“HEY ISSUN!” she called, “You don’t know how to catch pokemon do you?”

“Well actually-”

“Here, take these Pokeballs! You find pokemon, beat them up, then throw these at them” she explained, handing Issun five Pokeballs.

“Oh… aight” he muttered, then sprinted away from the monster and into the grass. Almost instantly another Hoothoot jumped out in front of him. It cocked it’s head, and therefore it’s entire body, at Issun, “Oh. Hello there” it muttered.

“Oh s***, Phillip, scratch!” Issun commanded. Jawn jumped at the Hoothoot and clawed at it’s face, leaving it panting and tired. “Now, I’ve got you!” Issun shouted, throwing a Pokeball at it. It shook once. Twice. Thrice. It dinged. “Hahaha!” Issun laughed, holding his Pokeball up high, “A new friend!” he exclaimed, “And I’ll call her… Riley” Issun decided. “Welcome to the team, Riley”
[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Chapter 2: Training and Towers]

“Alright, Riley, come out!” Issun commanded, throwing her Pokeball into the air. There was a flash of red, and a tiny round owl appeared in front of him.

“Oh, hello master” Riley greeted Issun calmly, smiling lightly at him.

“Uh, it’s just Issun, actually” Issun clarified.

“Very well then, Issun” she said. She looked into the sky. “It is morning. Good Morning, Issun”

Riley spoke the truth. The night had passed since Issun caught Riley, and he was now ready to begin his adventure towards the first gym. “Of course, we’ll have to bulk you up before then” Issun told her, as they began walking. He then spent a while making his way through the route, letting Phillip and Riley double team everything in the way, to train her up to prime fighting condition. On the way, he crossed through a gate, and in to a route he’d not been to on his first trek through the route.

“Issun, there is tall grass here. Will we be making a new friend?” Riley asked.

“We’ll try, Riley” he responded simply.

The moment they stepped into the grass, a Rattata leaped at the two of them. “You’re already dead!” the Rattata screamed at them.

“Riley, hypnosis!” Issun called. Rings flowed from Riley’s eyes, and the Rattata fell to the ground mid-attack. After having Riley tackle it a few times, Issun threw a Pokeball. It shook thrice, and the Rattata was caught.

“I guess… I’ll call you Buck” Issun decided.

“I do not like Buck” Riley muttered, staring at his Pokeball.

“Well, that’s not exactly… well… um…” Issun began, trying to defend Buck, “Well, you haven’t even known him for long!”

“He seems annoying. I do not like his voice, nor his attitude”

“Well fine, Miss Negativity, have it your way”


They continued on their route, and passed Cherrygrove. On their way north, however, they were confronted with yet another pokemon. It was a Pidgey.

“Issun. It is another flying type” Riley pointed out.

“Yes, I realize. Now tackle it!” he commanded.

“…Very well” she sighed, then used the same strategy from before, weakening it and putting it to sleep.

Issun threw a Pokeball. It was a successful capture. “And now for you… You shall be named… Hawkeye” he decided.

“If I am being honest, I do not mind this Hawkeye. He is not as annoying as that Buck Character that you caught back there”

“Nice to hear that”
The group went back to the pokemon center. Issun had his pokemon healed, then headed back up through the route, where he was plagued by tons of Caterpie, which were little more than fodder for Riley. Along the way through her training, Riley learned peck, which made the groups of Caterpie even easier for her to destroy without issue.

Once again returning to the pokemon center, a young child spotted Issun and ran over to him. “Hey you! You look weak! Let’s fight!” he demanded. He sent out a Rattata.

“That’s all? Really?” Issun questioned. He sighed, “Fine. Riley, peck” he commanded. Riley flew over and began pecking the Rattatas eyes out. After a mere moment, the Rattata lay mangled on the ground.

“Woah… say, we should exchange numbers, so we can have a rematch, and talk about my super cool Rattata!”

“Y’know, the cool thing about that is- SOD OFF!” Issun shouted, shoving the kid out of his way. He quickly healed, then ran yet again through the route. Finally arriving at the gate to Violet City, Issun took a breather, and sent out all his pokemon.

“Alright guys. The first gym is up there. None of you guys are anywhere near ready, so we’ll be training for a while, but what do you guys think?”

“Eh… Shouldn’t be a prob for us” Phillip replied.

“When you are ready, Issun, I will be as well. I trust your judgment” Riley responded.

“Hah! Why should we wait!? I can take that dude on now!” Buck exclaimed excitedly.

Hawkeye remained completely silent, just staring at Issun.

“Well, that’s reassuring. Thanks, guys. Now let’s get moving. We’ve got a long way to go”


The group entered the gate, when suddenly, Issun heard someone call out to him. “Issun, it is you!” she called. “I can’t believe you got ahead of me like that!” she exclaimed. It was Lyra. She had stalked Issun all this way.

Issun leaned down to Riley. “If you see an opening, fire a Hypnosis, and we can get out of here unscathed” he whispered.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible at this moment”

Issun swore silently, then looked back to Lyra. “Well here’s a gift for surprising me!” she said, and handed him what seemed to be a useless video playing device. “Well, that’s all, SEEYA!” she called, running out of the tunnel.

“Issun?” Riley said, looking up at him

“Yeah?”

“We won’t have to deal with her much, right?”

“No. No we probably will”

“That is unfortunate. She is annoying”
“You’re telling me. I live next to her”

Riley thought for a minute. “You have my deepest condolences”



Issun looked up, now in the heart of Violet City, at the gym. According to the sign, it was a flying type gym. There was also a tower filled with Bellsprouts to the north, which would be perfect for Hawkeye and Riley. “So, I suppose that’s where we’ll go first?” Issun asked, looking down at Riley.

“That would be a rather good idea” Riley agreed.

“Well, let’s take a break first. We’ll do it soon”

“Very well. Rest would be nice. Call upon me when we resume”

Issun recalled Riley, then went to the Pokemon Center, and began resting.



Several hours later, the group was at the base of the tower. Upon entering, Issun noticed the giant swaying pillar, which, he thought, looked rather silly. Excusing it, he began his trek up the tower, which was interrupted by many monks, and even more ghosts and rats. However, he finally reached the top, after intense travels and training. Hawkeye had already evolved into a Pidgeotto and Riley was well on her way to Noctowl. At the top he saw Silver. He was being lectured about being nice to his pokemon, but he simply shrugged it off, then flew away using a rope.

Issun walked up to the Elder.

“Ah, hello. So nice of you to come. Surely you wish to fight me for my TM”

“Well, actually- Sure, whatever” Issun shrugged.

“Very well then. Bellsprout! Let us do battle!” he shouted, calling out a Bellsprout.

The following battle was little more than Riley pecking plants and another owl into pieces, leaving herself completely unscratched. As such, the Elder rewarded Issun with the TM for Flash.

“Flash? What am I supposed to do with this?!” he asked, staring at the disc. “Gah, screw this place, I’m out!” he groaned, and flew away, in the same manner that Silver did. “Now come on, gang, we’ve got more training to do”
[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Chapter 3: Face off with Falkner]

Standing over a freshly defeated Bellsprout, Riley’s body began to glow a bright white. From under her, a body and two large wings sprouted, as she evolved into a Noctowl. “Ahah! What do you think, Issun? Is my evolved form not magnificent?”

“Ah… sure is. Don’t get a swelled head, though” Issun warned.

She rotated her aforementioned head upside down, “Whatever do you mean by that?”

“I’m just saying that you don’t need to get cocky because you’re strong. That’s the kind of attitude that gets you killed”

Riley rotated her head right-side up again, “I suppose you are right. I apologize”

“Thank you. Now then…” Issun said, turning to Phillip who was napping under a tree, “I guess it’s your turn”

“Mmm… whuzah? What’d you say?” Phillip asked, just snapping out of a daze.

“It’s your turn to train, Phillip”

“Huh? Er… Nah. There’s plants in there. And lightning sheep. Too dangerous. Imma go back to napping”

Issun sighed, then walked over and picked Phillip up by the spikes. He then tossed him into the grass, where he was confronted by a Bellsprout.

“Hey, what’s the big idea, Is-”

“SCRATCH!”

“Oh, right” he remembered, then focused back on fighting the wild pokemon coming his way. After that, he forgot about napping, and cared only for the fighting that his training entailed.

Hours later, the sun was just dipping below the horizon. Phillip was facing a Mareep, staring intensely at it. Issun pointed at it, “Phillip. Bite” Issun commanded. Phillip dashed forward, and clamped onto the Mareep, biting through it’s wool and piercing it’s skin. Phillip shook it around in its jaw, then spat it out on the ground.

“Good work, Phillip. You’re getting good at this”

Phillip turned, smiling, “Ah… thanks, Issun” he thanked, then started to glow.

“Woah, Phillip, you’re…!”

Phillip’s body grew and contorted, transforming and evolving into a ferocious Croconaw. Phillip looked at his claws. “Huh… sick” he muttered, studying himself.

Issun scanned his team. Pidgeotto, Noctowl, and Croconaw. As well as some less powerful members, in Rattata and Bellsprout. “Alright, Hawkeye, Riley, Phillip, you guys will be more than sufficient to deal with Falkner. You guys ready?”

Phillip glanced up, “Uh… yeah, sure”

Hawkeye gave a silent nod.

Riley smiled lightly at Issun, “Of course, Issun!”

“Alright then, looks like it’s time”


Issun entered the gym, however, all he saw was a single wooden platform in a large room. “Uh… this is a bit odd” he muttered, he walked on to it, “Do I just step on he- HOLY MANKEY FEATHERS!” he shouted, as the platform rocketed into the air, putting him at a large, wood and glass structure, in the middle of the air, in the shape of an S. Or perhaps a dollar sign. Or maybe a five. It didn’t matter.

Taking only a few steps forward, a trainer ran at him. “This place sure is high up!” he shouted, “Let’s see if you’re ready to face Falkner!” he said before sending out his Spearow.

“Is this really safe? We don’t have much room up he-”

“Peck!” he called, and the Spearow charged at him.

“Oh crap! Hawkeye, gust!” he ordered. Hawkeye batted his wings, sending the Spearow flying through the air, and toppling off of the platform.

“Y-you threw my pokemon off of the bridge!”

“I told you this was dangerous!” Issun retorted. Issun walked off, slowly making his way carefully across the thin platform. Another trainer confronted him.

“Some kind of big shot, are you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, “I wonder what would happen if you were pushed around up here. You think you’d fall off?”

Riley looked up at Issun. “Issun, I think he is threatening you. May I dispose of him for you?”

“Sure thing, Riley” Issun shrugged.

The enemy’s Pidgey somehow kicked sand in Riley’s face despite them being on a wooden platform. Riley simply blinked, the sand falling out of her eyes, and opened her eyes wide, giving a piercing stare to the Pidgey.

“Alright, Riley, return with Peck!”

Riley flew forward with blinding speed, and jabbed her beak into Pidgey’s chest. There was a ching sound, as her beak pierced the Pidgey’s vital organs, and landed in critical areas of the body. The Pidgey stumbled and fell down, tumbling off of the platform. Another Pidgey was sent out, and Riley pecked it again, this time with a much lighter blow, which still managed to take it down with ease. Before the trainer could whine about Issun’s actions, Issun walked away, and towards the weird blue-haired kid at the front of the room.

“Yo! My name’s Falkner!” he introduced himself. “You know, they say you can clip a bird’s wings with lightning… And I won’t allow such insults to bird pokemon!”

“You… DO know they’re just talking about typing, right?”

“Whating? Anyway, allow me to show you how magnificent bird pokemon are!”

He sent out a Pidgey. Hawkeye glared at the Pidgey. Riley began to step forward, but Hawkeye pushed her aside with his wing. “I’ll do this” he said. The first words he had said in their company.

“Oh… Alright” Riley muttered, stepping back.

“Well… Okay then. Hawkeye, use Gust!” Issun ordered.

Hawkeye batted his wings, and sent the Pidgey flying into the wall, cracking it. The Pidgey barely survived, and worked it’s way free of the wall. It kicked sand into Hawkeye’s face. He glared at Pidgey through the sand even harder than before.

“Quick attack, Hawkeye!”

Hawkeye dashed forward, just off the ground, leaving an afterimage, and slammed into the Pidgey, cracking the wall even further, and sending it flying through the wall, and crashing into the ground below. Falkner then sent out a Pidgeotto.

Riley glanced up at Issun again, “Issun. That is a Pidgeotto”

“I noticed”

“But it is significantly weaker than Hawkeye”

“So?”

“You have not trained Hawkeye since he evolved. How is it possible that there is a Pidgeotto that much weaker than him if he just evolved?”

“I… huh… you’re right. Oh well, Hawkeye, gust!” he ordered. The gust of wind, however, sailed right over Pidgeotto’s head. Pidgeotto responded with his own Gust, which slammed into Hawkeye with incredible force.

“Hang in there Hawkeye! Fire off another Gust!” he called. He did, and this one hit. Pidgeotto responded with a tackle, which narrowly missed. “Now! Follow him with Quick Attack!” Hawkeye slammed into Pidgeotto at blinding speeds, but it still wasn’t enough, and Pidgeotto responded with another tackle. “Another Quick Attack, come on!” he called, but this one missed. The Pidgeotto then perched on the platform, and began looking more healthy.

“Roost…. DAMN IT!” Issun swore. “Quick attack!” Issun ordered once again. This one landed, and sent the Pidgeotto flying into the air. The Pidgeotto responded by shooting a gust at Hawkeye, which he took little damage from. “Another Quick Attack! Finish it!” he called, but again it missed, and again, Pidgeotto used roost.

“If I may interject, you may want to use me, Issun” Riley suggested

“I guess you’re right” Issun admitted. He called back Hawkeye, and sent Riley out in his place. Meanwhile, Pidgeotto used roost once again.

“Riley, hypnosis!” he called. Rings flew from Riley’s wide open eyes, and Pidgeotto fell from the sky, into a sleep on the platform. “Now, barrage him with Peck!” he ordered. She got one peck off. Two. The Pidgeotto woke up and tackled her for minimal damage. “Finish him! Peck!” he commanded. The hit landed, and finally, Pidgeotto fell.

“For pity’s sake! My Dad’s cherished bird pokemon!”

“Wait wait wait! First off, we need to talk about this “Bird Pokemon” thing. They’re flying types. Not Bird types. Second, those weren’t even YOUR pokemon?! WHY ARE YOU A GYM LEADER?!” Issun demanded.

“…I inherited it” he offered, meekly.

“Oh… I didn’t realize your father was dead. I’m sorry”

“Hm… What? No he’s not dead”

“But you… I thought… What do you mean inherited?”

“My dad retired, so he couldn’t run the gym anymore. He gave me his pokemon and the gym as a gift”

“I… You can go to hell!” Issun shouted, swiping his badge out of Falkner’s hand, as well as a TM disk, and dashing out of the gym”
[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Chapter 4: SlowpokeTails]

Issun sat in the Violet City pokemon center, at a table. On the table was a TM disc, and an egg, the same egg he got from Mr. Pokemon. Across from him was Riley, Phillip, and Hawkeye. “So, what are they, Issun?” Riley asked.

“The TM is Roost, but I have no idea what this egg is all about. Could be anything. Elm sorta just told me to get it from the Pokemart, but didn’t give me any information” Issun explained, laying a hand on the egg.

“And then there was that weird girl in the Kimono” Phillip recalled. “She said it was important”

Issun looked over to Hawkeye, who he just noticed, looked irritated. “Uh, Hawkeye? Something wrong?”

Hawkeye glared at Issun, suddenly, “Why did you take me out? Why did you send in Riley instead!?” he demanded.

“You had sand in your eyes! You kept missing when it mattered most! You could have died if I didn’t switch you out like that!” Issun retorted.

“I could have taken him myself! I would have never lost to something like that!”

Phillip put a claw on his back, “Hey, settle down, dude. I didn’t fight at all in there, but I don’t mind”

Hawkeye shoved him away with his wing, “That’s not the point!” he shouted, “I was to be the one to win there! I was in the middle of battle and I was taken out!”

“Hawkeye, please, calm down” Issun pleaded, “Look, let’s just leave this town, alright? There’s no reason to stay here anyway, and maybe we can get your mind off this”

Hawkeye held his glare for a second, then looked away, “Fine. Let’s just go”


Making their way briskly south, the group arrived at Union cave. Once inside, the first pokemon Issun encountered was a Sandshrew. “Tackle, Riley!” Issun called, before the Sandshrew could react. Riley slammed into the little Sandshrew, which retaliated with a harmless scratch. Issun threw a Pokeball at it. It wiggled thrice, then dinged. Issun smiled, “Welcome to the team ‘Sam’”

“I like ground types” Riley admitted, “They can not hurt me”

“That’s good for you, sweetie”

Issun returned to the Pokemon Center, where he withdrew Sam in place of Buck. Stepping outside and once again returning to Union Cave, he realized it was getting dark already. “Well gang, what do you say we settle in for tonight?” Issun suggested, and was met with agreement. He set up a rather makeshift camp, which consisted of little more than a fire. The hours passed without issue. Issun put the fire out, then suggested the group went to bed.

A few hours into the night, Riley thought she heard something. She opened her eyes, being awake all this time, and hanging from a tree. She looked around. Issun and Phillip were asleep under her tree. Sam was curled up next to the mountain. Lily was huddled in some grass. Scanning the area, she found Hawkeye, very much awake, looking disgruntled. She turned her head upside down, making it appear right-side up. “Hawkeye?” she called, “Why are you awake? It is two in the morning”

Hawkeye turned to Riley. “Oh, it’s you” he grumbled. “I’m just awake. That’s all there is to it”

Riley fluttered down from her tree and landed next to Hawkeye. “Look, Hawkeye, I can tell you’re lying. Something is still up with you after what happened at Falkner’s gym” Riley said, not wanting to play games, and trying to get straight to the point. “I apologize for disrupting you, but it was for the good of the whole team. You know that”

“It’s not just that. I wanted the team to win. I know that Issun made the right decision. But that’s not the point! You wouldn’t understand”

Riley started to glare at Hawkeye. She slapped him across the face with her wing. “Stop being stupid!” she ordered, “Look! This is a team. Just because you feel a little bit upset that you can’t hog all the glory doesn’t mean you can act like this! We are family now, under Issun, and being sour like this isn’t helping anyone! You’re honestly acting stupid. Now, I suggest you don’t snap at Issun anymore. He seems quite forgiving, but he has a breaking limit like everyone else, so you’d better straighten out your act”

“I guess you’re right” Hawkeye admitted.

Riley sighed, “Good. Now don‘t act like an idiot anymore” she decided, then flew back to her upside down position in the tree.

“Riley. Thank you” Hawkeye said, suddenly.

“You are most welcome, Hawkeye”

“…Goodnight”

“Yes yes, goodnight, Hawkeye” she replied, impatience creeping into her voice.


The next morning, after Issun had woken up, along with everyone else, they cleaned up the camp, then started back through Union Cave, with no particular anomalies, besides Sam’s training, and therefore learning Poison Sting. They exited the cave, and began to walk into the next town. Azela town. However, they then saw a strange man in a black suit harassing some old dude. He said something about the well, but Issun couldn’t hear over the rain. The man ran off. The guy in the suit began guarding the well.

“Well that was strange” Riley noted.

Issun nodded, but gave no other response. They continued into the town, and healed up, but then immediately went to work training outside the town. By the afternoon Sam was looking much tougher than before, and had learned Rapid Spin and Sand Attack. “What do you think, Issun?” he asked.

“You’re getting good. Let’s train a bit more, then we’ll see about the gym leader.”

So more time passed, and Sam improved even more. He was looking a little worn out, “Alright, buddy, let’s get you to the Pokemon Center real quick” Issun suggested. After a moment they returned from the center, Sam perfectly healthy. However, just on the way back, Issun heard a strange sound. He realized it was the egg he had been carrying. He took out the egg, and watched as it cracked, and broke apart. Soon after, a little head popped out, looking identical to the cracked shell, except with a face. The little pokemon pulled itself out, and plopped down into Issun’s arms, as he was holding the egg out.

“Awww! It’s adorable!” Issun exclaimed, looking at the little baby pokemon. He started to think of what to name it, when he became distracted, and remembered something completely irrelevant. Going off that, he looked down at the egg pokemon, “I’ll name you Dubz!” Issun decided, looking down at it, eyes shining with delight.

“Um, excuse me, Issun?”

“Yeah, Sam?”

“Dubz is cute and all, but… My training?”

“Oh, right!”

Another long stretch of training later, Sam was tired out, and had learned Rollout. Issun took him to the Center for a rest, then looked at the group before him. “Alright guys, up next is a bug gym. That means that you’ll be the star player, Hawkeye”

Hawkeye showed the smallest hint of a smile, and nodded. “Sweet”

“So, let’s get going everyo-” he began, before he saw someone blocking the entrance to the gym. “Oh son of a-”

“If I may” Riley interrupted, “Perhaps we should go see this Kurt fellow that I heard the villagers talking about. Supposedly he can create Pokeballs out of Apricorns” she suggested.

“Alright, fine” Issun sighed. Once inside Kurt’s house, however, he instantly intercepted Issun, and began rambling.

“Do you know about Team Rocket? They’re an evil gang who use pokemon to do their dirty work!” he explained.

“Uh… okay?”

“Right now, they’re at the well cutting off SlowpokeTails for sale!”

“Was that one word?”

“I’m going to go teach them a lesson in pain!” he yelled, then dashed out the room.

“Well, I guess that’s one way to handle the guys in the black suits…” Issun muttered, assuming they were Team Rocket, and followed Kurt to the well. After climbing down, he noticed Kurt, and ran straight past the old man, not bothering to deal with him. Further into the cave, he was attacked by zubats, as well as Rocket Grunts. Both of which gave good experience to Dubz. Finally, he arrived at the head of the squad of grunts.

“You want us to stop taking SlowpokeTails?… Nah, buzz off, kid!”

“Again, one word? Anyway, tell you what, how about I kick your ass in Pokemon, and then you leave?” Issun suggested. “Hawkeye, QUICK ATTACK!” he ordered, causing Hawkeye to start attacking the man himself, driving him away.

“Ah! Ah! Damn bird!” he yelled, running away and shielding himself.

Kurt approached Issun then, after the man was driven off. “Thank you, boy. Here, I’d like to reward you with something, back at my place.


Arriving back at Kurt’s house, Kurt handed Issun a Pokeball unlike what he had seen before. “This is a-”

“Don’t care. Gym” Issun cut him off, snatching the ball away. Issun left the house and went towards Bugsy’s gym. “Here it is, friends. Our second gym challenge awaits”
[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=Chapter 5: Never Forget]

Issun suddenly woke up. He didn’t even realize that he had fallen asleep. He was directly in front of Bugsy’s gym. All his pokemon were asleep too. He woke them. “Alright guys, don’t know why we were napping, but we should really get- Where’s Dubz?” Issun realized. “Dubz? Duuuubz?!” Issun called, searching for him.

“Ah, can it, pops!” A voice Issun had never heard before called from a tree. Issun followed the voice to find none other than Dubz sitting there.

“Dubz?! You can speak already?”

“Look at this! Issun, Master Detective, right here!” Dubz called sarcastically, and began clapping.

“Wow… you’re being kind of a jerk” Issun muttered.

“Ya don’t say! I didn’t even notice”

“Look, Dubz, just get over here, we have a gym to battle”

Dubz grumbled, “Ah, fine”. He jumped down from the tree.


The group entered the building, and instantly, Issun glared. “Oh great. A puzzle. Not like they can just accept my challenge or anything” he grumbled. Issun stepped on one of the spider looking things that were lain out before him. The spider slowly began moving him along the web, and deposited him in front of a trainer.

“Hey, allow me to show you the charms of Bug Type pokemon!”

“Um, ew…” Issun muttered. He quickly had Hawkeye dispatch the bugs of the trainer with a Gust.

He tried to go through a different Spider, and it brought him to the right spot. He fought another person, with the same basic strategy. Finally, he went on a few more spiders, had Riley and Hawkeye take out some Twins. Finally, after much aggravation and puzzles, he reached Bugsy. “Oh, hey there! I suppose you’re here for a gym battle, huh?” he asked.

“Woah! You’re a dude!” Issun screamed in surprise. He could have sworn that this Bugsy person was a woman, just looking at him, but his voice was unmistakably male. Bugsy seemed to get furious at that moment.

“YES! I’M A BOY! WHY DOES EVERYBODY MAKE THAT MISTAKE?!” he demanded.

“Uh, sorry, dude, it’s just that-”

“Whatever! Let’s just battle! Sycther, go!” he called, throwing his Pokeball. A large, menacing, green thing with scythes for arms appeared.

“Well, alright then. Dubz, go…and now come back! Go, Riley!”

“Scyther U-turn!” he ordered. The weird sycthe-bug thing dashed at Riley, and hit her for minimum damage, then instantly flew into it’s Pokeball. Out from a different one popped a Meatpod.

“Riley, peck!” Issun called. Riley flew at the Metapod, and pecked it right between the eyes, for an easy KO. Bugsy sent out a Kakuna, but it was the same story. Finally he sent out Scyther again. “Alright Riley, peck!” he commanded. Riley again launched herself at Scyther, and began pecking at it. Scyther shook her off.

“Okay, Scyther! Focus Energy!” Bugsy ordered. Scyther crossed his Scythes, and took a solid stance. He appeared to be deep in though.

“That all you’ve got? Hah! Riley, Peck!” Issun ordered.

“Too slow! Quick attack, Scyther!” Bugsy commanded, and dash at lightning speeds towards Riley before she had barely moved, slicing a Scythe right along her. Riley dropped to the ground. The attack had landed with extreme power. Riley was not looking good. She was not going to survive.

She frowned at Issun, “I am sorry, Issun” she muttered, “I can no longer serve you on your journey” she said. She tried leaning up, but fell down again. “Hawkeye… Phillip, Sam, Dubz… You four… need to make sure that Issun makes it on his way. I don’t want any of you to end up dying before… we win. Okay?” They all nodded. “Thank… you” she said. Her eyes closed. She passed away.

Issun glared at the ground. His hands were in tight fists. “Hawkeye. It’s all you” he muttered, having little to no emotion in his voice. Hawkeye silently stepped forward. “Hawkeye. Use Gust” he commanded. Hawkeye flew up, and with extreme force, batted his wings against the air, sending a current against Scyther, causing him to fly backwards, and be instantly knocked out.

“Wow, you beat me!” Bugsy exclaimed, “I’m impressed. My Scyther is pretty to- Hey what are you doing?!” he exclaimed, suddenly realizing that Issun was holding him up by his shirt collar.

“Just give me the badge, and shut your mouth, got it?”

“O-okay! Here, take it!” he slipped the badge into Issun’s free hand.

“Good” Issun barked, then threw Bugsy on the ground, and left the gym, his pokemon trailing behind, carrying Riley in his arms.

The group came to rest at the edge of town, near Kurt’s house. Sam had just finished digging a hole at the base of a tree. Issun slowly lowered Riley in, and they buried her. There was a moment of silence, after which Sam and Issun began to quietly sob. After another second, Phillip began to bawl. Hawkeye shed a few silent tears as well. Even Dubz found it too out of place to be rude and obnoxious in this situation, though he didn’t cry, having not known Riley for more than a few hours.

“She was so sweet. And so intelligent. Why did she have to go like this?” Issun sobbed.

Hawkeye fluttered over to Issun. “Issun. I know how you must be feeling right now. But you know as well as I do that she wouldn’t want us to stand here weeping over her grave. She would want us to go on with our journey. She would want us to make sure we go and win. She said it herself”

Sam stopped crying, and went to grab on to Issun’s shoulder. “Hawkeye is right. We’re not honoring her like we should be just sitting around.

Issun wiped his eyes and stood straight up, “Thanks. You guys are right. Besides, I knew what I was getting into when I started this journey” Issun decided, “We’ll be leaving this town in a bit. However, perhaps we should get some rest in. We can leave later, in the night, then we’ll… say goodbye” he muttered, nearly choking on the last part.


Hours later, upon nightfall, the team silently got out of their resting area in the Pokemon Center, and moved outside, towards the gate. Suddenly, though, Issun heard a shout in his direction and turned around. Silver was walking towards him. Dubz laughed as he approached, “Get a load of redhead over here! What’s with that hair, anyway? Isn’t it a bit long for a dude?”

Silver glared at Dubz, and Dubz shut up. He looked at Issun. “Tell me. Is it true that Team Rocket has reformed?”

“Um… Yeah, I suppose, but I beat them. Do you mind? This isn’t really the time…” Issun replied slowly.

“You beat them? Hah! Stop lying!… Wait, you’re serious? Fine, then let’s see how good you really are!”

“Dude, seriously, I’m not in the mood”

“Oh? Too weak, are you?”

Issun clenched a fist, “Weak? Oh, you’re going to WISH I was weak in a few minutes! Alright, Phillip, let’s do this!” Phillip nodded, and jumped forward.

“Hmph. Well, allow me to show you my new Pokemon! Gastly, go!” he called, throwing his Pokeball into the air, which released the gaseous blob that is Gastly.

“Phillip, don’t give him a chance to move! Bite!” Issun called. Phillip dashed forward, and bit through the gas, and into Gastly’s core. It’s gas quickly dissipated, and it fell to the ground.

Silver growled, and recalled Gastly. “Fine, go, Bayleef!” he called, sending out the aforementioned Pokemon. At the same time, Issun recalled Phillip, and sent out Hawkeye in his place.

“You called?” he asked, glancing towards Issun.

Bayleef looked back at Silver for a moment. “SIIIIILVEEEER!!!” she whined. “That’s the meanie who beat me up BEFOOOORE! And now he has a FLYING TYYYYYPE! Why are you using MEEEEEE?!”

“Shut up and fight! PoisonPowder!” he called. She released a purple powder from her leaves, which spread over Hawkeye, poisoning him.

“Hawkeye, return with a gust!” Issun commanded.

“Roger!” he replied quickly. He sent out a gust of wind from his wings that landed a nice, direct hit on Bayleef, though she managed to hang on.

“Bayleef, use reflect!” Silver ordered.

“O-okay!” she said. Her head leaf glowed, and a purple, seethrough screen appeared in front of her.

“Hawkeye, finish her off with another Gust!”

“Yessir!” he fired off another gust, which penetrated the Physical Blocking reflect like it was nothing, and slammed into Bayleef, taking her down deftly.

“Ah, god damn it, Bayleef!” Silver swore, calling her back. “Go, Zubat!” he called, sending out the Bat Creature.

“Hawkeye, return! Go, Sam!” Issun called, returning Hawkeye, and sending out the Sandshrew in his place. “Sandshrew, rollout!” Issun commanded. He spun around, and launched himself at the airborne Zubat, landing a clean hit.

“Super Sonic, Zubat!” Silver ordered. Zubat let out an annoying screech, which got through to Sam, and caused him to start stumbling around.

“Fight it, Sam!”

“I- ag- bf- me- huh?” Sam muttered, suddenly snapping out of it. Again, he curled into a ball, and hurled himself at Zubat, knocking it out of the sky.

Silver growled again, and withdrew Zubat.

“Gah, I hate the weak” he muttered. “Pokemon, trainers, it doesn’t matter who! I hate them all, hanging around like they’re so tough. Team Rocket especially!”

“Well, I don’t like Team Rocket either, we COULD work toge-”

“YOU stay out of my way, got it? You’re not an exception!” and with that, he stormed off.

Issun just stared as he stomped away. “He has issues” he muttered.

Dubz nodded, “No kidding”
[/spoiler]

[Randomflyingobjects]

The first four chapters were great. The way everybody was playing according to the script, and Issun was wondering why the heck everybody was being so weird was a great touch. The fifth chapter was good, up until the end, when Riley died... strange... isn't it? ...He does realize he could have walked over to a pokemon center, right? I mean, she wasn't OLD or anything. ....Yeah, that was a bit lame. So easily resolved... preserve her in a Pokeball and go heal her. If you decided to get rid of her, you could've had him trade for something else, but get ripped off... or a Team Rocket grunt could've popped out of nowhere, sacked the pokemon, and retreated in a puff of smoke. That way, he could try to get her back, and she'd appear in later episodes.

[Grunt Issun]

Well, that's how a nuzlocke works. If a pokemon faints, it's dead.
As well as that, this is written mostly from experience.