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Margaret's Diamond Nuzlocke: Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: A Flaming Hatred

I sat bored in front of my TV, watching some shiny-hunting show my friend told me about. Even though I've told him thousands of times that I didn't like these kinds of shows, he wouldn't stop bugging me about it until I saw it. When it was finally over, I was honestly surprised I hadn't fallen asleep by then.

"Margaret!" My mom called me from downstairs. "Your friend Trevor is here!"

I groaned, knowing that he was here to talk on and on about how cool today's episode was, even though to me it was just a bunch of people aimlessly wandering around a swamp for a mis-colored Gyarados.

"Coming..." I dragged myself down the stairs.

"You'd better hurry, he said it was an emergency this time." she said with a sarcastic tone.

I rolled my eyes and headed for the door, where Trevor joyfully waited for me. The split second I opened it up, to my surprise, he started talking all about that TV show.

"Maggie!!You saw the episode, didn't you?Wasn't it so, so cool?!Remember that one part where the red Gyarados leaped out of the water and made a huge splash to knock their boat over??I wish I could be one of the Shiny Chasers like them!And then--"

"Arceus Christ Trevor, slow down! I know you like this show but I can hardly understand a word you're-"

"Ohmygosh, I just got the best idea! What if there was a Gyarados like the one on the show in Verity Lake?? We could go over there and look for one ourselves!! Cmon, let's get over there right now!!" He excitedly clutched my wrist and turned to go to the lake before I slipped out.

"Woah woah woah, slow down! First of all, what have I said about grabbing my hand against my will? Second of all, do you have any idea how rare these shinies are? We could be out there for days and find nothing. Even if we do find the Gyarados, we don't have any pokemon to fight it!"

Trevor exhaled and slumped his shoulders.

"We're not gonna fight it, duh! I just wanna get out there to see it! Now let's go!!"

He took my wrist again, with a firm grip this time. Struggling to break free, I yelled for help. "MOM!!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice honey. Don't go in the tall grass!" She ignored me as I was literally dragged out the door.

"Trevor, I won't run away if you just let me go, okay?!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at me.

"Promise?"

"Promise..."

He gleefully dropped my hand as I got back on my feet. I rubbed my wrist and seriously considered sneaking off, but a promise was a promise. Hopefully Trevor would give up after his short patience wore thin, and I would be able to go back home soon. Once we got to Lake Verity, I looked out and hardly saw a single splash.

"Trevor, honestly, this old Lake is ridden with Magikarp. We'll be lucky if we find even one Gyarados. What makes you think a red one will show up?"

He nudged me playfully. "C'mon, quit being a pessimist. Sure the chances are slim, but just the fact that the chance is there is enough to at least stay for a bit. Pleeeeease?" He got down on his knees and even did those stupidly adorable puppy eyes to keep me here. Not even I could say no to that face, even if he was annoying.

"Fine...! I'll keep looking with you, okay?"

He wrapped me in a giant hug, "Yay!!"

"Hey, get off!!" I quickly shoved him, separating us.

"I thought I've told you I am not a hugger!"

Trevor sprang back up with a silly grin on his face. "That doesn't mean I can't force you to be!"

I groaned and made sure to keep my distance between him during our search.

"Hmm... If I could get past this grass I could get a better view of the other side..." Trevor said as he wandered over near the edge of the tall grass.

I tried keeping him away. "No way, you and I both know that Pokemon could attack you in there, and we don't have any pokemon of our own to defend ourselves."

"Don't worry, I won't go too far. I won't be in there long enough for a pokemon to get me either! ..Huh...?" He looked down at something in the grass, and I cautiously went in after him.

"Careful in there Trevor! What did you find?"

"It's a suitcase... Someone must have left it here. Look, it says 'ROWAN' in the corner.. Oh, I bet this is Professor Rowan's! I think he lives in Sandgem town, we should go return it to him!"

As much as I didn't want to go give an old guy his suitcase back, if it meant leaving the lake, I was in. But before I had a chance to even say another word, a few Starly flew in and looked like they were about to attack. Trevor immediately started panicking, and I swear he nearly broke down in tears.

"GAHHH!! Maggie, we're DOOOOMED!! Tell my children I love them!!"

"Trevor, you don't have any children and we're not gonna die!! Quit panicking, I'll figure this out!"

It was hard to think while I was trying to swat away those Starly, but I decided to go see what was in the suitcase. I opened it up, conveniently finding three Pokeballs in there. Without thinking, I threw one at Trevor and took one for myself.

"Here, use this to fight, Trevor!"

"Owww...! Why'd you have to throw so hard?"

"Just battle the stupid bird already!! Now let's see what I have..."

I sent out the pokemon, and a Chimchar came out. He scowled at me before realizing he was up against a Starly. I expected him to take care of it on his own, but instead he looked back at me angrily.

"Are you just gonna stand there or tell me to attack this thing??"

"Oh, uh... Scratch..?"

"There ya go kid..."

I had learned about battling, but never actually been in one, so I was a bit uneasy being thrown into my first attack. Chimchar did as he was told, but the Starly stayed and used Tackle. I could tell he didn't take much damage, so I hesitantly told him to use Scratch again, and this time the bird was gone for good. It quickly fled, leaving me some space to finally breathe for a second. Then Trevor was back.

"Woah, my Piplup was so strong against that Starly! I mean, it could've killed me!! Maggie, your quick thinking totally saved my life!"

"Heh... The worst those Starly could've done was a few bad scratches Trev, I didn't save your life. I guess we should go back and return these pokemon though."

As if on que, some worried kid came running up to us. He saw the open suitcase and how the two pokemon were out, and got in a bit of a panic.

"You two... You used those Pokemon?? Oh man, how am I supposed to explain this to Rowan?!"

He grabbed the suitcase and ran off in a hurry without even taking the pokemon back.

"Well that was... Odd," I said.

"As much as I already like this cute Piplup, I guess we have to go back to Sandgem Town to give these to the professor. I'm sure he won't mind if we use them in the tall grass to get there, right?"

"Well how else are we supposed to defend ourselves against pokemon like those Starly?"

"Right, let's get going Maggie!"

Trevor jumped ahead of me, while I took my sweet time admiring the road I was never allowed to go down as a kid.

"Man, I've only dreamed of going down here...!"

Out of almost nowhere, another Starly jumped at me from the grass. "GAH!!"

I yelled and covered my face with my arms, forgetting that I had that Chimchar until he groaned at me.

"You really are a pathetic trainer aren't you...? I'll deal with this thing myself..."

The Starly flew off quickly after an attack, but I scowled at the Chimchar.

"Hey, I'm not a trainer at all, so don't expect me to be an expert at this kind of thing! I'm just returning you to Professor Rowan and going back to my somewhat normal life again!"

"Man, what a relief... For a second there I thought Rowan had me hooked with you for good."

"Okay, what's your deal? I'm forced to use you in a battle in order to defend myself from some crazy Starly, and you act like a total jerk to me for no reason!"

"You wanna know what my deal is?! First off, I never even asked to be stuck as a stupid starting pokemon for beginner trainers. Second, the last thing I want is to get assigned to a trainer that has next to no clue what they're doing! Thankfully I'll be back to the lab soon..."

"Yeah, then I won't have to deal with you any- AHH!!" As I got close to Sandgem town, something hit me like a train, knocking me straight to the ground.

"Maggie!! What took you so long??I've been waiting around here for like a million hours for you!And-and--"

Trevor kept babbling on, while I was still recovering from the shock and possible concussion he gave me. I slowly stood up, trying to tune his talking out, but I stopped him mid-sentence anyway.

"Alright well, I'm gonna go give this Chimchar back to the professor now. Then he'll finally be outta my hair...!"

"What did you say..?"

"Uh, nothing!" I said innocently.

As I walked in the lab, I saw the kid from the lake nervously standing near the professor. He stood back and watched as the professor walked up to me, nearly towering over me.

"So, you must be the girl who used my pokemon, eh...? Now, what did you say your name was?"

"The name's Margaret." I pointed to the kid in the back. "Who exactly is he?"

"Ah yes, that's Lucas, my... assistant. And I, of course, am Professor Rowan! But enough names, I would like to have my pokemon returned, please!"

I immediately sent out Chimchar and tossed his pokeball at the Professor.

"Yep he's all yours now, safe and sound! Now I'll just be off to--"

"Hold on a second!" I cringed as my back was turned in my attempt to leave. "Now that I look at him... Chimchar seems awfully attached to you. Margaret, perhaps you should keep him!"

"WHAT?!?" Chimchar and I both yelled simultaneously.

"Woah woah woah, you can't just force me to go out on this journey!" I tried arguing.

"Of course I can! You're still lucky I haven't called the police for taking my Pokemon, you know! What you did was practically theft! But since I'm so kind, I'll call it even if you raise Chimchar and do me a certain favor...!"

"What favor...?" I said, disgruntled.

"Well, as a professor, my job has always been to study every single pokemon in this region. But I'm too old for adventuring nowadays."

"Just tell me what you want me to do!"

"Hmph. Here, take this Pokedex, it will fill in information on every kind of pokemon you catch and evolve. I want you to complete it for me!"
All of a sudden, Lucas came out of his quiet corner and shoved me to the side.

"Hold on professor, I-I thought that was my job!!"

"Oh yeah... Lucas, you're fired."

"Wait a sec, you don't have to fire him! If you think I'm actually gonna catch every single pokemon in the region, you-"

"Then it looks like someone is going to be in very big trouble for stealing my pokemon!"

As much as I didn't want to do this, it sounded better than being reported to the cops. The one problem was Chimchar...

"Well... can I at least do it with another pokemon?"

"Why? It seems like you two get along perfectly!"

"No we--"

"Good! Oh! You're gonna need some Pokeballs to get you started; here! And one last thing... Would you like to nickname Chimchar? He is your new partner after all!"

I groaned and picked up Chimchar, looking over him. He scowled at me.

"Put. Me. Down. NOW."

"Hmm... I think I'll name him Flamebutt!!" I said with an evil grin.

"NO!!" Flamebutt tried clawing at me, but I held him away.

"Ooh, Flamebutt sure is a feisty one..!"

"Do not call me Flamebutt!! My name is Cole!"

"Eh... I still like Flamebutt, but I suppose Cole will work too. Now let's go."

I walked out, but Lucas stayed behind with Professor Rowan, on his knees.

"P-please let me stay Professor, I'll work harder I promise! Just let me stay I'm begging you!! This job is all I have!"

"Oh, you're still here... Lucas, just leave before I force you out."

Lucas got up, literally crying. He sulked as he walked out, and angrily leapt at me from behind once he got sight of me.

"HOLY SHIFTRY LUCAS WHAT ARE YOU--"

"You!! Because of you, I just lost my dream job!!! That job was the best thing that ever happened to me and you-- you RUNIED it!!"

I struggled to get him off of me, and eventually I threw him to the side. "Alright, listen. I never asked to do this! Do you really think I want to catch all the pokemon out there, let alone raise this little pain in my ass??!" I pointed down to Cole, then looked back up at Lucas and exhaled. "Obviously there's a big problem for both of us... Maybe I can fix it."

Lucas crossed his arms. "How?"

"Okay, so, I don't wanna fill the Pokedex, and you want your precious job back, right? If you take care of the Pokedex and I show it to Rowan, I could tell him that I won't give it up unless he hires you back."

"And what about the Chimchar? Raising him was part of the deal. I can fill the Dex, but I'm not great with pokemon..."

"Hm... I guess while you're busy I could take on the league with Flamebutt over here."

"MY NAME IS COLE!! And I am not, N-O-T gonna be raised by the likes of you!"

I knelt down to Cole, glaring at him intensely. "I think you're forgetting who the one with the pokeball is...!" I gave an evil smirk as I tossed his Pokeball up and down in my hand.

I got back up and turned to Lucas. "So, do we have a deal?" I said as I extended my hand.

"Deal."

Right then and there, I officially started a life changing journey, without even knowing.
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