Discord's Nuzlocke Challenge

Valencia Island, Orange Archipelago

Valencia Island was a medium sized island, and the first that most trainers would land upon when travelling to the Orange Archipelago from Kanto by blimp or by cruise ship. All sorts of bird pokemon soared easily in the ocean breeze above the little island as six figures manifested on the sandy beach near the island’s pokemon center.

Gathered on the beach were: Tomoyo Daidouji, a 14 year old girl with grey eyes and long violet hair which she wore up in a ponytail held by a blue ribbon. Her dress was blue with white trim and she wore blue gloves, tan shoes and a tan handbag; Alphonse Elrick, a 15 year old boy with short, messy blond hair, and golden eyes. He wore a short sleeved black jersey, blue jean cutoffs and brown shoes; Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, an 18 year old girl with long black hair kept back in a ponytail and blue eyes. She wore a long sleeved purple cardigan with white capris and shoes; Fluttershy, a 16 year old girl with long wavy pink hair and blue eyes. She wore a white blouse with a flowing green skirt adorned with 3 butterflies. She also wore a white butterfly pin, spotted purple socks and long green boots with white bottoms; Belle, a young woman in her early twenties with wavy brown hair held back in a ponytail and brown eyes. She wore a simple dark blue dress with an outer layer that showed lighter blue polka dots of varying sizes, and the dress had a slim brown belt around the middle. On her feet were open toed, high heeled, mahogany shoes; and lastly Haruhi Suzumiya, a 16 year old girl with brown eyes and brown hair. She wears yellow ribbons in her hair and a white and blue high school outfit. For footwear she has comfortable looking, all-purpose, tennis shoes.

Tomoyo spent the first few moments on this new world checking her belongings idly to discover that she had her trusty video recorder on her person. ‘Well, at least this adventure won’t be a total loss without Sakura around.’ She thought. She whipped out the camera and pressed the record button, panning over the group. Alphonse seemed to be completely fascinated by himself, wiggling his fingers in front of his face and running his hands through his hair. He shouted for his brother, who was clearly not among the group members, and though he seemed a bit sad his brother was nowhere to be seen he was more than overjoyed. Isabella spent some time rifling through an old book that she pulled out of a pocket and then sighed. Fluttershy was an interesting girl, the only one among the group members with wings. Tomoyo wondered what that signified… if anything. Belle seemed to be a book lover like Isabella, as she too was holding a book in one hand as she looked around. Tomoyo considered the idea that her and Isabella would probably become terrific friends, even though none of them had even introduced themselves yet. Then, the last person took her completely by surprise as she found the end of her camera lens faces Haruhi.

Haruhi points directly at the camera and states loudly “LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!. She loved video projects, and knew just how to capture the spotlight with her ribbons. Tomoyo giggles at her antics and zooms in as Haruhi begins to narrate, “This is Haruhi Suzumiya live coming to you from this awesome on-site location! And now we’re going to use laser beams and swords to get rid of the evil villains! SOS club go!” Tomoyo had no idea what this SOS club was… but it sounded like Haruhi had a lot of fun!

The group spends some time introducing themselves to one another, and coming across interesting differences in what each of them considered to be common knowledge when each of their worlds were obviously vastly different. Eventually, Isabella is the first to comment on their surroundings.

“Well, we’re obviously on an island of some kind. Who’s up for finding a boat we can borrow to get out of here? I know enough about boating that it doesn’t really matter if it’s a sailboat or a motor boat.” She suggests brightly.

Belle looked thoughtful and suggested, “Maybe we should explore the island a little for a mermaid, or some magic beans so that we can go back to our own realms”?

Tomoyo listens curiously to the suggestions that are made, finding a boat seemed like a pretty good idea… except that she wasn’t sure which way they would head. She gave Belle a quizzical look at the suggestion of a mermaid. “Mermaid?” She mutters in confusion. “I’m not sure how searching for a creature of fantasy would be helpful… you don’t really believe in magic beans… do you?”

Isabella raises an eyebrow at Belle and decides to ignore her comment about the mermaids and beans, as those are clearly ridiculous ideas. “Actually, I was thinking we talk to some of the locals, ask them how to get out of here, and then ask them to borrow a boat.”

Belle thought the conversation had officially diluted from the point except where Isabella stated that her plan of action included talking to locals. “Okay I’ll follow along with you guys in finding out what we can from the people who live here, I think that’s a great idea. I’m sorry if you guys have never seen a mermaid before, maybe they don’t exist in the realms you are from.”

Tomoyo also agrees that talking to the locals is probably the best idea. She returns to recording and pans over the island, looking to see if she spots anyone. Exiting from a large red and white building labeled ‘Poke Center’ is a sleepy eyed woman with medium-length purple hair, who is wearing a labcoat and a bathing suit. She points her out to the others. “Hey… there’s someone over there.” she offers helpfully.

Isabella followed Tomoyo’s finger and beamed a smile at her. “There we go. Come on everyone, let’s go talk to that pharmacist.” She says with a wave of her hand, striding ahead across the sand towards the woman.

Fluttershy thought that Isabella’s beaming smile reminded her of Twilight, her friend, so very much, she looked in the direction and fluttered along with the group. “What kind of building is that?” her inflection seemed more of wonder, rather than a question directed at someone in particular. She seemed the least likely candidate to talk to the woman.

Belle thought the woman looked somewhat like a scientist that had forgotten what it was like to be a true lady. She looked like she could find true beauty within, if she put on a nice dress or two. Unaware that the garb was not simply underwear, since not one person in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest ever went around town in their undergarments, Belle secretly hoped she could teach this woman a thing or two about fashion. Other than her thoughts and eyes wandering for an alternative local, she remained silent while following the group.

,

Haruhi’s face grew to a grin when she jotted in her memory the sex appeal of the outfit she was looking at. She mentally fixated on how she might recreate the look on Fluttershy. Her other objective was to first get everything she possibly could out of the person, maybe she would join the club! “Hi! I’m Haruhi Suzumiya! and we’re the SOS Club! Nice to meet you miss!. Out of nowhere, A flyer which seemed to have mysteriously come into existence in her pocket seconds before reaching for it, was taken out and handed to the woman, who now took a look at the group in front of her.

Professor Ivy glanced up from the pile of papers in her arms to see a group of six approaching her. One of them a clearly excitable young trainer handing her a flier. She glanced at it briefly, confused for a moment, then laughed at Haruhi and smiled. “While that all sounds like fun... as you can see, I’m a bit busy at the moment.” She peered at the myriad of looks she was getting from the others and sensed that there was more to this than a random trainer inviting her to go off galavanting in some club. “Is there something I can help you with?” Tomoyo follows along behind with camera in hand, zooming in on the Professor’s tired smile.

Alphonse follows as the group approaches someone who obviously seems knowledgeable. Feeling a bit more at ease with an adult who can give them directions present, he smiles brightly and shuffles forward. “Oh! Um… well we were just wondering if you could help us find our way home…” Isabella interrupts as Alphonse is trying to explain their situation and with the air of someone who has done this a thousand times before says, “Excuse me, but could you tell us where we are and where we might find the nearest boat off of this island?”

Fluttershy is listening to the group members as they asserted themselves in the beautiful ladies face. she thought that they weren’t exactly being kind. she thought a bit before saying “Well, I know none of us know exactly where it is we are, but the lady said she was busy… we shouldn’t take up her time.”

Belle thought the group was beating around the bush, but she thought it was a good idea to get to know the lady better, so that they could become more accustomed to whatever realm they happened to be in, as chances were, that they would have to find some seriously powerful magic to get back to where they came from… “Well, pleasure meeting you miss, I’m Belle, we can wait to find out where exactly to go until you’re done, might you need help with what you’re doing?”

Haruhi had a field day imagining what exactly the lady was actually doing, maybe she was investigating paranormal activity, or aliens, or ghosts, or any other kind of extraordinary beings. she didn’t respond because she was in hyperactive imagination mode.

Ivy blinked as practically everyone in the group started talking to her one after another and she held up her hands to quiet them… promptly dropping the pile of papers in her arms. Immediately she looked a bit chagrined and sweatdropped as they slid this way and that across the beach. “All of my research…” She leaned down to pick up the ones that had fallen closest to her feet while still looking up at the group. “Ok… um, where should I start… are you lost? This is Valencia Island, if that helps you get your bearings. As for getting a boat, there is a ferry that comes and goes every now and again, but you’d get moving faster if you had a water pokemon with you. There are plenty in the bay if none of you owns one.” She gestured to the pages that had scattered around and shrugged. “If you want, you all can help me to pick these up.” \

Tomoyo powered off her camcorder and frowned at the lady in confusion. “What’s a… ‘water pokemon’?” She asked thoughtfully.

Alphonse looked dejected as the lady started saying things he didn’t understand. So much for finding an easy way home. He sighed.

Isabella blinked at the answer she received. What kind of island only had one boat going off and on… and only once in a while. Perhaps people normally came here to stay here… she sighed. She echoed Tomoyo’s question. “Water Pokemon, what’s that?”

Fluttershy immediately started to go after and clean up the pieces of paper flying along towards the water as they looked quite important, like a message Queen Celestia might have sent. She noticed one heading towards the waves and it was at this time when she could have swore, except swearing is very bad, that there must have been a very scary looking dragon surfing along in the bay at quite a distance away. She let out her classically muted moan of terror as she accidently flustered with some of the papers she picked up. She was not at all paying attention, by the time the Professor actually asked the group to help pick them up, and she didn’t hear what was said.

Haruhi realizes that she must have accidently caused the lady to drop her papers, and states exuberantly “Alright! our first mission as the SOS club!” she goes off to pick up papers.

Ivy can't help but smirk as the group splits off to help her collect her pages. She finds it somewhat odd that these strangers are asking her about pokemon... (how could anyone not know what a pokemon was?) but she decides that she finds the opportunity to teach more compelling, and so when she has gathered up those pages at her feet, she stands up and takes a laid back stance. "Hmm, you must not be from around here. I didn't think it was that common for people your age to have no idea what a pokemon is!" She laughs, then turns her head towards the ocean, spying Fluttershy fluttering about picking up the pages that had gotten scattered beside the waves. She stops mid-thought and stares open-mouthed at this. There were wings... coming out of the girl's back! "Flying... without a pokemon." She stammered in shock. Ivy then gets ahold of herself and heads cautiously over to the pink haired girl. She observes her curiously and pulls a pen from a pocket, jotting down this strange discovery. ~New findings: a pokemon evolved to appear like a human, with the ability to speak. More on this discovery as I continue to study the specimen.~

Tomoyo did her part to help pick up the pages, lifting her head only after it seemed the lady's train of thought had suddenly changed tracks. She stood with the few pages she'd managed to collect in hand, wondering why the woman was staring at Fluttershy and scribbling frantically on the pages in her own hands.

Alphonse picked up pages, wishing he could just deconstruct them and reconstruct them back into their original pile... even though that wasn't really how alchemy worked.

Isabella swept up a number of pages with swift efficiency, then turned her attention back to the woman in time to watch her start taking notes on Fluttershy. She immediately understood the situation and empathized with the professor. "Hey, look... I know we all seem weird to you right now, and I'd love to try to explain, but we're kind of on a mission here... So if you could help us get off of this island, we'd really appreciate it." She beams a smile.

Fluttershy barely managed to pick up papers and hand them over to the other paper gatherers. She heard the tail end of Isabella's request. "Well I'm not so sure that I would call this a mission... It just seems like a wonderful opportunity to make some new friends." Fluttershy was glowing while she was talking about friends, and she seemed unconcerned while she moved. She finally got around to asking Professor Ivy a question, completely unaware that she was the subject of Ivy's frantic writing. "Am I right? Aren't there any cute furry creatures around here? There's plenty of grass for bunnies to eat... trees for butterflies and birds..."

Belle started to chuckle a bit as Fluttershy went off into animal land but she kept her composure. She thought she would wait for the writer to explain the answers to the mountain of questions she was getting.

Haruhi finished picking up the research, but skimmed over it before she handed it back. It was like the Professor was writing in another language... "What exactly is this research about?"

Ivy blinked at Isabella as the young woman pulled her attention away from her writings.  She considered the girl's words and decided she could answer questions at the same time as writing her notes about Fluttershy. Pointing hastily towards the Gyarados in the bay that Fluttershy had noticed, she began to explain, "That is a water pokemon, there are many varieties of them... indeed many varieties of pokemon in many types. There are certainly bunny or rabbit varieties... such as the Nidoran family, and several different butterfly and bird types. I mentioned water pokemon specifically, because they have the best shot at getting you off this island sooner. I gather, however, that none of you actually have any pokemon... as a Professor of pokemon, I do tend to have a few extra lying around for beginners." She casts a glance at the group, pausing in her scribbling for a moment, "I suppose I could give some to you, since you can't get anywhere without one. Come with me back to my lab, and I'll see what I can do." She invites them, at the same time as scribbling furiously about what type of pokemon she thought Fluttershy might be, and what typing she might have. ~I would classify this new species as some kind of fairy type... fairy/flying...~ she corrects after a moment’s thought.

Tomoyo thought about this new information with interest. She would be given a pet? The way the professor talked about these pokemon, they sounded rather similar to the Clow Cards. She was terribly curious. "I vote for following this nice Professor."

Alphonse looked perplexed at the idea that this Professor lady thought that he needed a pet. That was kind of an odd thing to say, wasn’t it? "I don't know, if there were some spare wood or metal lying around I could just make us a boat. How about it? Are there any spare parts lying around?"

Isabella blinked curiously at the Professor, then considers what Al has to say, casting her eyes for anything close by. "I can build a boat too... but I don't see any materials just lying around, I say we go with... " she blanches and realizes the woman never introduced herself. "Um, what was your name again?"

Fluttershy was aware of Princess Twilight's laboratory, where she worked on potions and such for her studies in the art of magical science in Equestria. She immediately thought that pokemon were also somehow involved in the lab, maybe they were assistants like Spike! , as why else would they hang out in a stuffy place like that, when it's so pretty outside! Fluttershy was absolutely for the idea of making a new friend, especially if it was cute! She started talking to Ivy and fluttering along as they went toward the lab.

Belle wasn't too sure what exactly was she was supposed to do with an animal that could swim in the water... but since it seemed to the lady to be an appropriate response to their situation... she might as well try it out.

Haruhi followed along completely ready for this completely out of left field lady to show her why "you can't get anywhere without a Pokemon". They must be fantastically awesome, she secretly wondered if any of the creatures in the oceans here could read minds, or time travel, or if they were aliens from another planet...

"It's Ivy. Professor Ivy." She introduces in response to Isabella’s question, then leads the group to her laboratory, keeping to a clearly defined sidewalk. As they go, she points out grassy areas commenting how wild pokemon might pop out of it and attack if a person were to try going through it (instead if around, like they were doing) and that the only way to pass would be to have a pokemon of their own to defend them. When she finishes her explanation they have arrived in her laboratory, which turns out to be quite an disorganized mess. "Hmm, now where did I leave those pokeballs..."

Tomoyo follows along, taking in the sights with her camcorder. Every now and again she spots a strange looking animal peering out at their little group from the grass. Panning up, there are more strange looking animals flying overhead, she wonders why these aren't attacking them as the Professor explains but doesn't get a real answer as they enter the disaster zone that is the Professor’s laboratory. She lowers her camcorder and places a hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh my..."

Isabella listened intently to the Professor's explanations, having already done and seen enough in her life to believe pretty much anything. If the Professor thought they needed a pet, then they needed a pet. When they reached her lab, she cast her eyes about for a broom, didn’t see one, and immediately started just picking up clothes and setting them in two piles - clean and dirty.

Fluttershy was following Professor Ivy making sure she checked up on every animal she came across to see if they were happily fed and then moved along only due to randomly noticing the group leaving her behind and thinking that following along along meant a pet of her very own like her little Angel. When entering the building she said, "Oh my" at the same time as Tomoyo.

Belle wandered along making observations about this new cursed land she gotten herself stranded, overall this was scoring about a one out of ten on the dangerous scale. Everything seemed so peaceful, there was no witch turning people into flying monkeys, remembering Zelena's horrible fits of jealousy. She didn't see herself finding a good library to read up on this land's history anytime soon though. She thought the birds looked interesting and took a mental note of what they looked like for Snow. She wondered where she might find magic in this island. Not that she entirely trusted magic, always coming on and rearing it's ugly head through Storybrooke. She became interested in seeing what she could learn from the professor's lab, when she saw the mess. "Well this just won't do!" she started organizing a corner of the lab that no one else was working on.

Haruhi figured that she would let Ivy be Kyon's replacement, she seemed to be the perfect recruit for the SOS club... She wondered what Ivy might do as a vice president, sponsor club events or what have you. Something told her she would be more of the teacher role though. She was amusing herself thinking along completely nonlinear segments of thought. She wondered where the nearest school was, and how many people here lived exciting lives. Upon walking into the laboratory she went into Haruhi cleaning mode, cleaning about as fast as Isabella. "You can't have a mess and be productive and fun at the same time!" She took a break at some point and offered to make food.

Ivy sweatdropped and smiled broadly as the group began to clean up. Isabella and Haruhi had more or less the whole place straightened up between the two of them. When Haruhi offered food, the room was done being cleaned (and put back together) and Ivy gladly ate with the rest. When lunch was over, she headed to her computer terminal and pulled six pokemon from her collection. The balls magically appeared on a round table fitted with strange indents (much like the one Professor Oak has) as she withdrew them. “Here we are, these should be compatible with you all, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble handling them.” She released each one for the benefit of her crowd, then waited for their decision. An Igglybuff, a Tyrogue, a Cleffa, a Togepi, a Smoochum, and a Ditto all appeared in flashes of red light and stared at the strangers.

Tomoyo watched with interest as Ivy made six completely different creatures appear out of thin air. Seeing strange creatures appear as if by magic wasn’t all that unusual for her, and she was smart enough to realize that these must be the ‘pokemon’ the professor had been telling them about on the way to the lab. She immediately wanted to pick all of the cute ones, but knew the Professor had meant for each of them to choose one. “I like those ones the best.” She said gesturing to Igglybuff, Cleffa, Togepi and Smoochum.

Alphonse took one look at all the adorable creatures and made a face. He was about to ask if this was really necessary (for the fifth time) when Tyrogue caught his eye. Well… that one at least looked less like it was going to get the crap beaten out of it constantly. “I want that one.” He said with finality.

Isabella blinked at the appearance of six creatures that she had never seen before. Well… if she was home she’d certainly be earning her ‘Discovering something that doesn’t exist’ patch right about now. Still some of them were pretty cute. She agreed with Tomoyo on which ones she wanted to choose.

Fluttershy took one look at the pokemon and was completely in awe of Ivy's adorable assistants. Her only question was why they were in those uncomfortable looking red balls. How could those even fit in there??? She looked at them and was especially fond of the one that looked like an eggshell (Togepi) the fluffy ball with eyes that were so cute (Igglybuff) and the adorable thing with wings (Cleffa). Instead of saying she wanted one, She went up to each one and asked it how it was doing and if it had a good nap in those ugly balls.

Belle was hesitating at the sight in front of her. She took one look at the animals and said "I'll go with the one you guys don't pick".

Haruhi's eyes literally burst with excitement when animals came strange pocket sized balls. She loved them all but she thought the blob was the most out there, pointed at it and said "You're mine" she smiled intensely at the Ditto.

Ivy watched with amusement at the general reaction to the pokemon she’d revealed. She introduced them to the strangers and explained their species and types, most of which went over the heads of those present, as Ivy had a tendency to talk like she was a dictionary and didn’t really pause much to explain anything she had said. Eventually, the pokemon she had chosen for the group had been sorted out. Tomoyo took Igglybuff, Alphonse nabbed Tyrogue, Isabella got Cleffa, Fluttershy got along best with Togepi, Belle uncertainly selected Smoochum, and Haruhi paired with Ditto. After some brief discussion, it became apparent that the six had nowhere to spend the night, and Ivy gladly let them stay with her for the night (as they had been so kind as to help her clean up the place).