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Margaret's Diamond Nuzlocke: Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: Back on Track

It seemed too soon before they called my name. I dragged myself up and clenched the edge of the counter. They couldn't have fixed her that soon... which meant. . .

"Aline is going to be just fine!"

"W-what?! Really?" I let out a sigh of relief and smiled as the nurse nodded, handing her pokeball back.

"Her wings took most of the damage, so she won't be able to fly for awhile. Other than that Aline is still fine to fight!"

"I'm just glad she's okay...!"

I sent Aline out of her Pokeball, making sure she was put on top of my shoulder.

"You feeling better? You really had me worried there!"

"Heh, I know, sorry. To be honest I didn't think I was gonna make it... But I knew it was the only way I could buy some time for Tyler so he could finish off that Onix."

"You really think giving up your life would've been worth me getting the badge?"

"Not just that, the others might've gotten hurt or worse trying to stall for Tyler. Andrea was already hurt, and Cole wouldn't have lasted very long either... I guess I just took a leap of faith."

"Well, I owe you our win because of that. What you did was really brave and selfless Aline! I'm proud of you. But no more of these nearly life-ending sacrifices, alright? At least not until you can fly."

"Alright, alright, I got it." Aline chuckled. "I'll try my best."

I smiled and turned around to face the rest of the team. "Alright guys, with all the time we spent training, Trevor's probably gotten way ahead of us. We don't want to fall behind too much, so let's get headed to the next town!"

"Now...?" Cole whined.

"Yes, now." I replied sternly, walking out of the Pokemon center. "Since Tyler has Rock Smash, he can clear off the rocks that used to block up the cave we found Aline in. To-"

"We have to go through ANOTHER cave??"

"Ignoring!" I said in a sing-songy tone. "Anyway, to get there we gotta pass through Jubilife again, so let's keep going."

We continued on our way to the city, with Cole literally dragging his feet as he followed behind us. All of a sudden I heard a high-pitched scream from an alleyway near us, so I ran over to check it out.

"What was that?!" Andrea asked, running alongside me.

"Sounded like a girl is in trouble... Let's be careful though, we don't know who we're dealing with."

I slowed down as I rounded the corner and crept through the darkening shadows of the alley. I followed the voices I heard to find two people, both with matching black and white suits and blue hair, cornering their victim. I got a little closer to get a better look at her, but then heard a familiar voice...

"M-Margaret! Thank goodness you're here!"

The two in the matching suits turned around to look at me, revealing Lucas against the wall.

I hung my head and muttered under my breath,"Oh man... You can't be serious."

The two thugs looked angrily at each other. "Great, now we have two brats to deal with..." the male glared at the other.

"Well it's not my fault! Besides, we've taken care of amateur trainers like this before."

The male sighed and turned back to us. "Look you two, if you just peacefully hand over that Pokedex of his, we'll leave without a problem!"

"What? Why do you even need Lucas' Dex?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell a nosy little brat like you that information. But trust me when I tell you it's all going to a good cause! Now just-"

"And why should I trust you? What good could come out of you just stealing something someone worked hard on?"

He sneered as he looked down at me. "Let's just say that we are doing certain... 'studies' that will better the future of both pokemon and humans. Now quit asking so many questions little girl, or there will be consequences."

I gave a cocky smile as I sneered straight back at him, our faces practically inches apart. "Who's 'we'? What consequences? Or are you just trying to scare me with an empty threat?"

He backed away from my face, standing tall and looking angrily at me.

"Why you pesky little-- Alright, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get! We'll show you the power of Team Galactic!" He turned toward the female, "C'mon, let's teach this brat a good lesson!"

"Woah woah wait a second, you guys are double-teaming me!? Isn't that like, illegal or something?!"

"Does it look like there's anyone around to stop us?"

I groaned, turning back to Lucas and asking,"You don't have any good pokemon with you, do you...?"

He nervously shook his head. "T-They already took out Turtwig..."

"Uhg, fine. I'll do this myself. Cole, Andrea, show 'em what you got!"

I sent them out of their pokeballs, waiting for what these Team Galactic goons had to oppose me. Expecting a tough fight, I stared at disbelief at the Wurmple and scrawny Zubat that came out.

I laughed at them, "These are your Pokemon?! Ooh, I must be in for one tough lesson! Did you need Lucas' Dex to find out where to get better teammates?"

I kept on teasing them as I called back Andrea, sending out Aline instead.

"C'mon Aline, you could use a little training. I don't think this should be a problem for you and Cole."

"Hey, we could easily destroy your wimpy Pokemon! Wurmple, Tackle!"

The tiny red caterpillar slowly tried attacking, but Cole easily took it out with Ember, leaving it charred grey. Meanwhile, Aline fought with the other Zubat. Despite it having the advantage of flight, Aline was much faster and could easily dodge a few incoming attacks. Before long, both the Zubat and Wurmple were down. The male goon's face was beet-red with fury now, but the other just hung her head in defeat.

"The boss has really gotta get us better pokemon..."

"I know, I know...! He won't be happy that we failed such an easy mission either." The male turned to us, still angry. "This isn't the last you'll see of Team Galactic!"

They both fled quickly, and since chasing them was pointless I turned back to Lucas.

"Is your Pokedex alright?"

"Y-yeah, everything's here, nothing got taken or erased... I'm glad you were around to save me though!"

"Yeah I know... If anything happened to that Dex I would have to wait even longer for you to finish! But I'm not gonna be around you all the time, nor do I want to. I know you said you weren't good with Pokemon, but you've gotta catch some stronger ones to defend the Dex!"

"You're right... Turtwig is gonna need some help in case we see those creepy guys again! I guess I gotta start training some of the pokemon I caught for the Dex. Maybe I could even earn a few badges...!"

"Whatever, just don't forget your real goal; finishing that Dex!"

"Yeah, then I can get my job back!"

"Sure sure, that too... Well I've wasted a good amount of time here, I'm gonna get going."

"W-wait!"

"WHAAAAAT?"

"What if they send more of those Galactic guys after me? I'm gonna need someone to protect me while I'm training my pokemon!"

"Oh for the love of..." My frustrated face suddenly turned to a smile as I had an idea. "Y'know what, I'd love to! In fact, I'm gonna go look around Jubilife for any more of those scary guys just to be safe! But you gotta stay here so they don't find you till I'm done, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"

"I know, I'm so smart aren't I? Now remember, whatever you do, stay here."

"You got it!"

I held the forced smile onto my face until I was out of sight. Then I just ran. Ran until I finally got to the entrance of the cave, out of breath.

"There... That should keep Lucas away for awhile..."

Cole snickered, "I can't believe the idiot actually fell for that!"

"Yeah I know... But Lucas is pretty gullible and naïve. I've known him for less than a week now and he seems to completely trust me. It's pretty damn annoying, but at least I can use that to my advantage..." I smirked as I walked into the tunnel, damp and dark like I remembered.

Aline smiled as she was perched on my shoulder. "Ahh... Home sweet home!"

Cole stuck his tongue out. "Not very sweet to me... Margaret, don't get into any battles you'll need me for, alright?"

"I'll do my best..." I answered sarcastically as he went back into his pokeball.

The wild pokemon were basically nothing to us after training for Roark, and because we could finally clear away the rocks blocking the path through, the trip went easily and smoothly. I outstretched my arms to the warm sunshine that greeted me outside.

"That didn't take very long, now did it? We'll be in the next town in no time! I wonder if there are any new pokemon out here on the other side of the cave?"

As if on que, a Budew carefully made it's way out of the grass. I had already seen a handful of those before, so I figured it would be good for a little training. I let Cole out again, who seemed irritated like always as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hey... I thought I told you I didn't want to come out...!"

"But we're out of the cave n-"

"Don't care." Cole walked out of the battle and back into his pokeball. I stood there for a moment, a blank expression on my face.

"Aaaalright then... Aline, you could use some training. You can handle that without flying, right?"

"That thing? No problem!"

She hopped off my shoulder, momentarily spreading her wings to break her fall. She winced for a second before closing in for an attack.

"Just keep using Leech Life and you should be fine!"

Aline nodded and speedily sunk her fangs into the Budew, draining its energy bit by bit. The small grass type didn't do well trying to hurt Aline, in fact it seemed to resist attacking. But after a few attacks, it fell to the ground, breathless and weak, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

"S-stop! Please... don't hurt me...!"

I sighed; I've seen that act countless times while training for Roark. Just when they're about to lose, they give me puppy-dog eyes and ask me to spare them. It was hard to do it the first few times, especially for the ones who were killed, but soon I got used to it. I always tried not to have accidents like this happen, but if any wild pokemon didn't make it, I would always make sure they weren't suffering, and that they went down peacefully. It was the least I could do for them... and now this Budew. I knelt down near it, a caring smile on my face as I gently held one of it's leaves. It just kept staring at me, forcing out words.

"I-I never wanted to hurt your Pokemon..."

I wanted to say something to her, but nothing would come out as my smile faded. It never even meant any harm and now I was just going to leave it to die... But by now it was too far from the pokemon center. I dug through my bag, but even potions didn't do anything for it. I still held onto it, forcing a smile back on my face.

"Hey... Everything's gonna be okay. Soon you won't hurt anymore... Just... close your-"

I felt something rub against my leg, and when I looked behind me I saw Andrea holding a pink and yellow colored pokeball in her mouth. I snatched it from her and used it on the Budew.

"A heal ball... This had better work."

Once it was successfully captured, I immediately sent it out, cautiously hopeful. I smiled big as I saw it good as new, although it looked back at me, confused.

"You... You saved me...?" It asked in a timid voice.

"Of course I did! I wasn't about to willingly let an innocent life end."

"Well, thank you for that... I suppose now I'm going to be sent off to the PC?"

"What? Why would I do that when there's still room on the team?"

"You mean... You saved my life and now you're going to train me? But don't you think I'm too weak?"

"Maybe you look weak, but that's why I'm training you! Even if you aren't the greatest fighter right now, who says you won't be once you evolve? Besides, helping to make you stronger is the least I could do after nearly killing you. But if you think you can't handle it, you don't have to train with us if you don't want to."

"No no, I'd love to stay! You're just a bit... different than most trainers I've seen. Hardly anyone comes along this way so they can get a Budew. Thank you."

I nodded, "...Welcome to the team... Gloria."
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Read from the start?


Sorry for another wait, I'll try keeping updates more consistent from here on out.
Anyway, Aline turned out okay, we add another teammate to the roster, and Cole is still a giant grump about absolutely everything, whoo!!
© 2016 - 2024 ambergem16
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