Journal Of A Fifteen Year Old (Or, a Pokemon Black Liveblog)

Nova

I'm not quite sure why I'm writing this.

I guess, I'm nervous. And maybe a bit scared. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and there's a fair chance I'm not going to survive it.

I just... want to leave behind something, if I do die. Something that says I was here, to show I did something, to show I existed, so I'm not forgotten.

My journey began over a year ago now. On my fourteenth birthday, Professor Juniper gave me my first Pokemon. Nobody would have guessed what repercussions this act would have.

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Blah. So, anyway, as you can probably tell from the title, this is a Pokemon Black liveblog, of sorts. It's not a proper liveblog, I guess, because I'm not taking suggestions and I'm not quite chronicling the events of the game.

Instead, I'm telling a story that's based on my current playthrough of Pokemon Black. I'm not exactly deviating from canon (yet >_>), but I'm not exactly sticking closely to it, either. Little scenes will be added that aren't in the game proper, things will be mentioned that might present more plausible takes on some of the weirder aspects of the game (or may be even weirder, who knows?) and so on, so forth.

Also, as you can probably tell, it's in a pseudo-journal format. The basic premise is that Ness, the protagonist of the game, is writing down her recollection of her journey so far, just before she takes on the Elite Four. Reasons for everything will be explained later, I promise :c

There are two extra restrictions I'm placing on myself, just to make things a bit more interesting. These are-

- No buying Pokeballs. Ones Trainers give me are fine, as are ones I find on the ground, but I may not buy any at any point in the story.

- If a Pokemon faints, it's dead, and I must release it at the first opportunity. I may not use it again once it has fainted.

Well, with that out of the way, let's go.

Nova

Ten years old is the traditional age for a Trainer to start their journey. There are reasons behind this- children usually graduate Trainer School before they turn ten, it's a journey to toughen them up for the realities of adulthood in this world, it's easier for children to form bonds with most Pokemon- but it's still a pretty bad practice. A few years ago, though, after the Galactic incident all the way over in Sinnoh and the resurgence of Rocket in Johto, that changed in Unova. We started to wait until people were at least in their teens before sending them off on their journeys.

I was fourteen before I started my journey, one of the oldest Trainers to set out to date.

Cheren and Bianca awere two of my closest friends. Cheren and Bianca had known each other practically all their lives, and when I had moved here when I was eight, they accepted me pretty much straight away.

Thus, when Professor Juniper offered me a Pokemon, Cheren and Bianca were offered one too.

I chose Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokemon. He was ridiculously cute, really. There was no way I could resist his puppy dog eyes.

That was the first time Cheren, Bianca and I fought. It was still friendly, back then.

I won those battles. Bianca was tougher than Cheren, always was. She left Sam on just a sliver of health before her Tepig went down. Cheren's Snivy went down a lot easier, strangely enough.

There was the usual ritual, with Juniper asking us if we would take the Pokedex and record data on the Pokemon for her. This ritual dated back nearly a decade, now, back to when Oak first asked Red to take the Pokedex for him in Kanto.

We accepted, and Juniper took us out to show us how to catch Pokemon. Cheren, of course, already knew, but Bianca and I paid close attention. When all was done, Juniper headed up towards Accumula Town and told us to meet her there. Bianca (I think? Must remember to ask her if I see her) had a great idea, though- to catch as many Pokemon as we could before heading to Accumula.

That's where I met dear Lilliana, a Lillipup, I believe. She was the first Pokemon I encountered on the way to Accumula. I used a single Pokeball on her, and she was mine.

When I got to Accumula, we met Juniper at the Pokemon Centre. She ran us through the basics, then took her leave.

That was where the first thing happened, where everything began to snowball. When I went to the Pokemart, I asked for some Pokeballs.

The clerk informed me, rather regretfully I think, that their entire stock of Pokeballs had gone missing overnight. Pokeballs, Great Balls, Ultra Balls- thousands of the things were gone, literally millions of credits gone down the drain.

When I left the Centre, that was when I first caught sight of Ghetsis. Oh, that man was a sight to behold that day. Everything had been carefully prepared- he had chosen the highest point in town to make his speech from, the Plasma goons with him were disciplined and organized, and his presentation, dear God.

That's something you have to understand about Ghetsis. His very presence is powerful. It rather reminds me of the legendary Pressure- it's almost an aura of command. He's very charismatic.

He was lecturing about Pokemon Liberation that day. The crowd beneath was enthralled, almost afraid to look away. His gestures, his choice of words, how short his speech was, it was all designed to emphasize the underlying message of liberation- and it was effective, if anything was.

N approached me after that, I remember.

N is another curious fellow. He is almost as charismatic as his father, but in a very different way.

Where Ghetsis has a powerful presence, one that almost demands you look at him, listen to him, do what he says, N is very earnest. He's convinced that he's doing what is best for Pokemon, and this conviction shines through any time he talks about it. It's enough to almost make a person want to help him. In its' way, it's a more powerful tool than his father's charisma.

I can't quite remember what he was talking about, that day. What I do remember is him deciding to 'test' me. Out came... a Pokemon, and out went one of mine. I won, obviously enough, and he left to do... something. That was a long time ago now, and I'm fuzzy on the fine details.

With that all over, we headed up to Striaton. If I recall correctly, Bianca challenged me there.

That was also the time I caught Pete. A Patrat, Pete is.

I immediately moved towards the Gym, only to be turned away, as the Gym Leader wasn't there.

Gym Leaders are... odd creatures. They are like a government themselves, a government governing the battling of Pokemon. They act as the police of Unova, tackling the tough threats that the police aren't capable of taking on. They regularly visit trainer schools, and pass their knowledge on to the next generation. And their most important job is their testing of trainers.

I met Cheren in the Trainer's School, of course. He challenged me to a battle, that I won, again, before informing me that Cilan had headed back to the Gym before I got there.

I headed back to the Gym. Cilan was just heading in when I caught him.

This Gym has a unique gimmick. There are actually three Gym Leaders, a Water-type trainer, a Fire-type trainer, and a Grass-type trainer. The Leaders there are supposed to teach you about type strategizing.  He suggested I go train in the Dreamyard, or whatever it's called, before facing him, so I could prepare.

That... was actually where I met Vaughan, a Pansear. A delightful young lady there handed him to me, in order to help me against any Grass types I might encounter. It was a poignant moment, really- I was being entrusted with the care of a Pokemon I knew nothing about.

With Vaughan newly at my side, I took on the Gym. The Gym had another gimmick besides the treble Leaders; the  Gym itself was also a cafe, the profits being used to fund the Gym. Most Gyms have a gimmick like this, that they use to get funding, as the government refuses to give them any.

Cilan determined to battle me, as his Pansage would have a type advantage over Sam, my Oshawott.

Cilan's Lillipup proved to be the better fighter of the two. He nearly killed Sam in two hits, forcing me to send out Lillian, who just barely overcame him herself. This left me with Pete, who was still at a very low level back then, and Vaughan, to face the Pansage. Luckily, Vaughan's type advantage, his ability to paralyze with Lick and his ability to burn away Pansage's Oran Bery with Incinerate proved critical, and I was able to win without any fatalities.

I was awarded with my first Badge.

When I left the Gym, I was accosted by Fennel. That was the first time I was cornered with the realities of adult life, and the trigger for the dying of my innocence.