Thread: Heart of Crystal

Aww, why thank you. It's a really good story, so I couldn't afford to not read it. :D

I loved that Cotton stood up for herself, and when Teddy protected her (Sensing a pairing maybe? ;P). You can also tell that special bond between Kris and Teddy. :D And Julia the Slowpoke! :3 I can't wait for the next chapter! :D

Wow! What a great chapter! Although, I can't say much, unfortunately - I only recently woke up, and I'm still brain-dead. I can say that the chapter was well worth the wait, though! Keep it up!

So much for the theory that shorter chapters would make for more frequent updates. Oh well - this one was a little more complex to write, and I hope everyone who reads enjoys it!

@Secretive Trainer Thank you! To be honest, I loved writing Cotton standing up for herself. She was too adorable :3

@Octy Mmmmmmaybe *shifty eyes*

@Awesome Hat Hope you're a little more awake this time I hope this chapter was worth the wait too!

Chapter 7


The midday sun filtered down between the green canopy of the Ilex Forest, making the ground below pleasantly cool. Winter was nearing its end, and the warmth of the coming spring promised a scalding summer in a few months time. For now, however, Kris was content to rest on the forest floor and eat a sandwich she had made for herself back in Azalea Town. It had been a good idea for her to stay one more night there, she decided. Teddy hadn’t appreciated the early start that morning, but he’d stopped grumbling now that they were nearly through the forest. He was curled up beside her, napping soundly and gripping the piece of charcoal that the owner of the kiln had given her as thanks for driving off Silver between his paws.

Kris smiled at him as he woke, giving a large yawn. He stretched and twisted his body to loosen up, and Kris patted his head. “Have a good nap?”

Teddy blinked slowly to bring his vision back into focus. “How long was I napping?”

“Not long.” Kris assured him, offering him the other half of her sandwich. “I had some lunch, and I saved some for you. It’s just ham and cheese.” Teddy’s eyes lit up and he sloppily tore into the sandwich. Kris grinned, leaning back against a tree and looking up at the leaves. She waited for Teddy to finish devouring her sandwich, then slowly asked, “So…when did you plan on telling me that you didn’t want to evolve?”

Teddy’s ears flattened against his head, and he laboriously swallowed his last bite of food. He crouched down, lowering his head, and nuzzled Kris’ leg. “I…I thought that, since I already did, it didn’t matter anymore.”

Kris gently put her hand on his head. “So why did you evolve the first time?”

“I had to get stronger.” Teddy quickly insisted. “I promised I’d protect you. But...” He paused, kneading the grass with his paws. “I was scared to. I always was.”

“How come?”

Teddy winced slightly. “Well…the professor gets his starter pokémon from a breeding facility. Flora and Toto and I were all born there. But not all of us are sent off to him, and they would evolve.” Teddy’s fur began to rise on end, and when he began to speak again, it was almost in a whisper. “They would get…mean. They would fight all the time, and the oldest ones – the ones who were fully grown up – would cause these huge explosions whenever they fought…”

Kris frowned and pulled him up into her lap, hugging him tightly. “And you were scared you’d end up like them when you evolved, weren’t you?” she asked softly. Teddy buried his head in her chest and nodded, and Kris leaned down to gently kiss the top of his head. “It’s all right, Teddy. I understand. You don’t have to evolve again if you don’t want to.”

“But I’m already…what if…”

“Teddy, I made a promise to you.” Kris reminded him, petting his head. “I promised I’d always be your partner. I intend to keep that promise, no matter what.” She grinned widely, gently guiding his head up so he could look at her. “We’ll get strong together. I promise.”

Teddy sniffed softly, but nodded, giving a tiny smile and putting one of his paws over her heart. “Thanks, Kris.”

Kris placed her hand over his paw, then lifted him down off her lap so she could haul herself to her feet. “I just realized – we haven’t introduced the Beedrill to the rest of the team yet. Let’s do that now!”

Teddy stretched again as Kris reached for the pokéballs at her belt. “I don’t know how Bugsy missed that tartan kilt he’s wearing…”

“Me either. Everyone say hello!” she called, releasing her team. “This is – “

“You there! Foul pebble!”

“Ach! One o’ you? How’d you get here?” Walter demanded. Immediately, he snatched a rock up from the ground and hurled it at the Beedrill, who buzzed aside and raised one of his arm stingers threateningly at Walter.

“Stop it!” Kris shrieked, rushing between them. “What’s going on, Walter? He’s our new teammate!”

“Bah!” Walter spat, grudgingly lowering another rock. “Ah ain’t workin’ with one o’ those overgrown gnats!”

“I am a warrior of clan McHairybug!” the Beedrill declared proudly. “You, on the other hand, are nothing more than a pitiful grain of sand!”

“Walter?” Teddy asked, stepping forward. “Do you know this Beedrill?”

“’Course I do.” Walter grumbled, cracking his knuckles. “Th’ MacMegatons and the McHairybugs’ve been feuding for generations.”

“Well, stop it!” Kris ordered, painfully aware of the uneasy glances her other pokémon were throwing at each other. “You two are on the same team now, so that means you’ve got to work together, understand?”

Beedrill buzzed angrily, and Walter looked tense. Both glared at each other, and Kris was afraid that she might have to break up a fight. However, it was Walter who finally spoke. “I won’t fight if th’ McHairybug won’t.”

“Well, look at that. A rock with something besides rocks in his brain.”

“Watch it, bee.” Walter growled. “Just cuz’ we’re callin’ a truce on account o’ Kris don’t mean I gotta be friendly all the time.”

“My word, all this fighting is so uncivilized!” Florence said, ruffling his feathers. “Most undignified! I, for one, would never be caught engaging in such horrid behavior. It suits only ruffians and scoundrels, and I think that – “

“Florence,” Cotton suddenly interrupted, “will you fly up and see how far we have to go until we’re out of the forest?”

“Hm? Oh, why certainly, my dear.” As Florence fluttered up above the canopy, Kris couldn’t help but give a tiny sigh of relief. The conflict between Walter and her new Beedrill had started to give her a headache, and she was grateful for a reason for it to go away.

“All right, guys,” she said, rubbing her head softly, “Bugsy said that Goldenrod City wasn’t that far once we got out of the forest. He said there was a gym there too, so we should probably train up a little more once we get out of the forest. Er…McHairybug…you haven’t been with the team as long, so you’re gonna have to work extra hard to catch up.”

He scoffed, waving one of his stingers. “I assure you, I am more than capable of dealing with any opponent.”

“It’s just to be safe…” Julia said quietly.

“Goodness, he doesn’t sound anything like Water.” Cotton muttered in her ear. “I wonder how they can be from the same place?”

Fortunately, Florence came fluttering back at that moment. “We are nearly out of the forest.” he reported, extending one of his wings to point in the direction they needed to go. “Beyond that, the route to the city should take no more than an hour to traverse.”

“Thanks Florence. All right, everyone,” she announced, pulling their balls back out. “I’ll let you out again once we get to the city.”

“You didn’t have to be so rude to them.” Teddy remarked to McHairybug after Kris had recalled the rest of her team.

“Did you not hear when that irritable stone informed you all of our blood feud?”

“Well, you’re not feuding as long as you’re on this team.” Kris snapped. “Come on, let’s get going. Can you cut through that underbrush ahead of us?”

Teddy looked glum as he followed Kris and McHairybug through the trees and Kris bit her lip, unsure of how to cheer him up. His expression brightened when McHairybug finally slashed through the last bit of undergrowth, but fell again as he looked out upon the road that led to Goldenrod City. “That’s…a lot of trainers.”

“Fear not, my smoldering comrade – I shall smite them all!” McHairybug boasted. With a loud cry, he buzzed forward to meet the first trainer, who was already quickly approaching them.

Kris could hear Teddy sigh behind her as they entered their first battle. “Cotton was right. He’s nothing like Walter.”

Trainer after trainer approached them, and, one by one, they fell to McHairybug’s stingers. Kris had to admit, she was impressed with the arrogant bee. Though it felt weird to call him by his last name instead of his first, she couldn’t help but smile at this strong new member of her team. Bugsy’s training had really paid off, and McHairybug was proof that he knew what he was doing when it came to bug types. “Hey, look! A daycare center! It looks like we’re almost at the city, guys!”

“That’ll be a relief.” Teddy remarked dryly. “It’ll be nice to be able to have more than a sandwich to eat.”

“Bah! True warriors do not need such luxuries.” McHairybug scoffed. “We McHairybugs subsist only on the honor of battle!”

“Well then I’m glad I’m not a McHairybug.” Teddy snapped back.

“Guys, guys, stop fighting, please.” Kris grumbled. Every step towards Goldenrod was making her headache more pronounced, and she wondered irritably if this wasn’t the beginning of a migraine. “Come on, there’s one more guy approaching us. Let’s battle him and get into the city already.”

“Ha! You think it’ll be that easy to beat me?” the kid said, grabbing his pokéball. “Psyduck and I will stomp you flat!”

Kris sighed softly. “Like I haven’t heard that one before. McHairybug, sit this one out, you haven’t healed in a while. Cotton –“

“Have at you, foul feathered fiend!” McHairybug charged for the Psyduck the boy had released, stingers outstretched.

“Psyduck, use Scratch!”

“Fine, then. McHairybug, use Fury Attack!”

Teddy bristled as he watched the battle. “Kris…something isn’t right.” he muttered as McHairybug jabbed at his opponent. “There’s this weird…ringing sound in the air, and that Psyduck…”

“Use another Scratch, Psyduck!”

“Fury Attack one more time!”

“I shall smite you down!” McHairybug buzzed in close to his opponent, preparing his stingers for the final blow. The Psyduck, undaunted, raised its small, sharp claws. It began to glow, as though it were about to evolve, but its eyes were tinted red as it swiped, and it let out a cry of pain.

There was a snap. A spray of blood.

Kris shrieked as she watched the top two thirds of McHairybug’s body collapse onto the ground. His wings were buzzing frantically and he flopped around on the ground, spilling greenish blood onto the grass. The other trainer stood still, staring at his Psyduck and looking as though he were about to vomit.

“McHairybug!” Kris screamed, rushing over to her pokémon. Teddy stood still, frozen in terror and trembling at the sight before him. McHairybug’s buzzing was getting weaker, and more erratic. His abdomen fell over limply about a foot away from him, and his bright, compound eyes began to dim. “I…have failed…”

“No, no, no, we’ll get you to a Pokémon Center, they’ll fix you right up, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, oh god please don’t – “

“I have died…a death…fit for a warrior…of clan McHairybug…”

“No!”

Kris fell to her knees tears streaming freely down her face as she clutched at the grass. Her whole body trembled. Gone. She had barely known him, and now he was gone. Dead. She’d killed him, oh god, the professor had warned her, but now McHairybug was really…

Something moved in the grass behind her. Julia had escaped from her ball, and she had delivered one last tackle to the Psyduck. Neither trainer nor pokémon seemed to notice, though the Psyduck’s small quacks of pain ceased. One by one, she let Kris’ other pokémon out of their balls, and the boy recalled his Psyduck. He hurriedly dropped Kris’ prize money on the ground and dashed off, sobs of guilt echoing along the route.

Kris shook her head, barely able to see straight. Cotton was trembling terribly, her face buried into Teddy as he curled around her, and Florence and Julia had their heads lowered in respect. “If…if he…any of you could…!”

“Kris, lass…” Walter said gently, putting a hand on her arm. “Ah didn’ like th’ – ah didn’ like ‘im, but…”

“Excuse me, miss…”

Kris sniffed and stopped blubbering enough to look up. An old man stood above her, his face wrinkled with concern as much as age. “I…I saw what happened.” he said awkwardly, offering her a hand. Kris didn’t take it. “I am very sorry for your loss.”

“I barely knew him…”

“Please, come with me, miss.” the man said again. “My wife and I run the daycare center down the road. You may recover there, and have a cup of tea, and we can perform rites for your Beedrill.”

Kris sniffed again, then slowly reached up and took the man’s hand, wiping her face with her other arm. “Thank you…”

“Please, make no mention of it.” The old man gently scooped up both halves of McHairybug’s body, then began to walk back down the road to the daycare center. Kris followed slowly, all of her pokémon clustered around her feet with Florence and Cotton perched on each of her shoulders.

Somehow, she ended up sitting at a table, clutching a small cup of herbal tea between her hands. A small mound of earth behind the house was all that remained of the proud Beedrill warrior.

“Would you like some more tea, dearie?” an old lady, presumably the wife of the old man who had initially approached her, asked gently.

Kris shook her head. Her tears had subsided, but she still couldn’t get the image of McHairybug’s body out of her mind, or his last, frantic spasms of movement…

The old man cleared his throat. “Death is just a part of life,” he said, sipping his own tea, “but that does not mean we should not mourn those who die while we go on living.”

“I…I hardly even knew him.” Kris said softly. “I’d only just caught him…if he can die…what if my other pokémon do? What if I lose Teddy?”

Teddy clenched Kris’ clothes as the old woman shook her head. “We must hope that does not happen.” she said. “But you know…my husband and I have run this daycare for a long time. We’ve seen more trainers than we can remember pass by, bright-eyed with hope for their adventures ahead. Eventually, time takes us all, but that does not make it any less sad.”

“As a trainer, you must find many kinds of strength.” the man said, rising with a creak from his chair. “The strength to protect those you care for, but also the strength to realize that you must move past their sacrifices so that they might not be in vain.”

Kris took a deep, shaky breath as Teddy nuzzled into her side, and sipped her tea. “It’s just…none of my pokémon have ever died before. When I started my journey, the professor warned me it might happen…”

“But you didn’t quite believe him, did you?”

Kris shook her head. “It seemed impossible…”

The old woman smiled sadly. “Thomas, dear,” she said, turning to her husband, “I think it would be a good idea to give her –“

“Oh! Yes, that’s an excellent idea, Martha.” The man rushed out into the small yard behind the house where McHairybug was buried, and where a few small pokémon loitered about.

“You see, dearie,” Martha explained, “trainers leave their pokémon with us all the time. We care for them and help raise them when the trainers can’t do it themselves. Sometimes, when we’re caring for the pokémon, we find eggs.”

“Eggs?”

“Yes. Of course, such things are bound to happen when you have groups of pokémon together like this. But you see, sometimes the trainers don’t want the eggs. It’s a shame, but we must keep them.”

“It may not make up for your loss,” Thomas said, reappearing with a small, pale pink egg cradled gently in his arms, “but we would like you to have this egg.”

Teddy stared curiously at the egg as Kris slowly accepted it. “For…me?”

“Yes, dearie.” Martha said, smiling kindly. “Perhaps that egg will help to heal your heart of sorrow, and bring new light to your eyes.”

Kris stared down at the egg in her arms. It looked very different from the Togepi egg she had gotten from Mr. Pokémon, and it seemed to radiate warmth. Kris guessed that it must be fairly close to hatching. “Don’t worry,” she muttered, half to the old couple and half to the egg in her arms, “I promise I’ll take good care of you.”

*sniflles, wipes tear from eye* And so it begins... the Nuzlocke has truly begun...

Aww! Poor Weedle McHairyBug (I know he wasn't a weedle but I couldn't resist). D: Hopefully we don't lose anymore Pokemon anytime soon. :( It was a good chapter though. ^^

What a pleasant surprise, to find this is a Nuzlocke fic. That's great, should make for good tragedy, assuming you're competent, which you seem to be pretty much immediately. Well controlled style, consistently, which is promising. The dialogue also feels natural, which is something I find in short supply in much fanfiction. I'm also pleased to find this is HGSS, but that's just my personal preference, no~?

I'm not a fan of the wakeup scene found in what seems like all fanfics eve, but this is a Nuzlocke, so I'll ignore it. It's executed well, at least. I appreciate the small joke about the pokégear needing explanation, and the mention of a marill in intensive care is a nice touch. One grammatical error has popped up by now, but it's minor: ["Dialogue." Said character.] should be ["Dialogue," said character.] Not a big problem though. Also, more subjectively, there's a lack of much description. Not too glaring, and it may just be me loving descriptionfests, but it's something to consider.

Teddy's blunt pragmatism actually got a chuckle out of me, I like him instantly. Reserving judgment on either Kris or Teddy until I've read more than twoscore words of dialogue from them. I'm hoping that the comment about investigating Kris' ability to communicate with Teddy is a sign that she's fairly intelligent. The chapter is rather short though, and with dialogue drawn largely from game text, so there's not much to say, but its enjoyable enough, and with sufficient a hook, to encourage reading further. All in all, looking fairly good so far.

Poor Beedrill! Anyway, great chapter as always!

Augh, this took forever! I'm so sorry to everyone who's been waiting for this - I hope you enjoy it!

@Chimchar98; Yes it really has. A good wake-up call for Kris (and anyone who thought this was an ordinary journey fic instead of a nuzlocke), don't you think?
@Octy; That was the pun, actually! I was hoping someone would catch it. I named him in-game without really thinking about it, then when it came time to write this I went "damn, how can I make this not sound ridiculous?" I couldn't think of anything, so I instead made him as ridiculous as possible to make up for it
@unrepentantAuthor; Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! The capitalization thing is probably my auto-format screwing with me. I try to catch it every time it does something like that, but I'm bound to miss a few. Oh, and it's actually not HGSS - it's Crystal. That's why Falkner gave out Mud Slap instead of Roost, and why Proton will end up with a different team than his HGSS counterpart later down the line. At best, this fic pays lip service to HGSS (in terms of the rival boy having a Marill, Teddy following Kris around, and the names of the admins), but it's mainly because I thought it'd be really odd in a story setting to have four completely unnamed Rocket admins running amok in Johto. Hope that doesn't change anything for you and you continue to enjoy it.
@Secretive Trainer; He was a true bro, going through Ilex Forest like nobody's business. Honestly before that Psyduck crit him I thought he was going to make it to the Elite Four.

Chapter 8

Kris sat in her room in the Pokémon Center of Goldenrod city, clutching her newly obtained egg in her arms. Around her, the other members of her team noisily ate their dinners. Kris’ sat untouched on the bedside table, the pasta quickly growing cold. She couldn’t eat; her headache had returned with a vengeance after arriving in the city, and it had forced her appetite aside. Kris assumed it was from being so worn out after what happened.

“Kris?”

Kris jumped – she hadn’t noticed Teddy jump up on the bed beside her. “Y-yeah, Teddy?”

Teddy shifted his weight on his paws, and Kris noticed that the rest of the team was looking at him expectantly. “Well…we’re still gonna train for the gym tomorrow, right?”

Kris glanced over at her team, who had now all trained their eyes up at her. “You all still want to do that?” she asked dully. “After…what happened?”

“Of course!” Florence said, ruffling his feathers. “As my dear brother-in-law Archibald once told his sixth cousin Gertrude during – “

“What th’ featherbrain means, lass,” Walter interrupted, earning a furious glare from Florence, “is, no matter what, we’re all safer fightin’ wi’ you than we would be in th’ wild.”

“It’s true.” Julia added quietly. “Bad things happen, but you’ll protect us.”

Kris curled around the egg in her lap a little more tightly. Her gaze dropped to the floor, away from her team. “I couldn’t –“

“Kris, I know exactly what you’re about to say, and you’re wrong.” Teddy insisted, forcing his head between Kris’ and the egg and looking her square in the eye. “McHairybug was an idiot. He rushed into battle even though you told him not to, and he was tired and hadn’t been healed.”

“Goodness, Kris, please don’t fret over him.” Cotton pleaded, settling on her head and giving her a comforting pat. “It’s sad, goodness yes, but you know, I think he went out exactly the way he wanted to.”

“Somehow I doubt being torn in half by a Psyduck was his ideal way to die.”

“There was something odd about that Psyduck.” Julia muttered suddenly. “It was like the Zubat in the well.”

“Heavens, my good woman,” Florence squawked, “you mean that you’ve encountered other pokémon that act in such a brutal manner?”

Kris tilted her head slightly. “This is the first I’ve heard of that…”

Julia lowered her head slightly and rocked slowly from side to side, thinking. “When the rockets came, they brought that noise.” she finally said. “It made the Zubat hurt. They fought each other. Some would try and evolve, even though it was not their time yet. It was just like the Psyduck”

“Noise?” Walter asked. “I dinnae hear no noise.”

“That would be because you don’t have ears.” Florence grumbled sourly.

“’ey! You don’t got no ears either!”

“Gracious, I thought mine were just ringing.” Cotton admitted sheepishly. “Goodness knows I had no idea anyone else could hear it.”

“I could.” Teddy said, shaking his head. “In fact, I’m not entirely sure I can’t still hear it. But I know it got louder right before that Psyduck killed – “

“The kid had a radio on him!” Kris blurted out, startled that Teddy would mention the death of another pokémon so casually, especially a teammate. “He probably just left it on or something!”

“And the noise in the well?” Julia asked.

“One of the Rockets must have had one too.” Kris grumbled. “Zubats hate loud noise.”

Julia frowned, not entirely convinced, but Walter put a hand on her back gently. “In any case, lass,” he said, “th’ bes’ way t’prevent somethin’ like that from happenin’ agin is fer us all t’train up a mite.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, Walter has a point.” Florence conceded. “If we persevere now, in our time of greatest darkness, we need never fear Psyducks ever again.”

“Or anything else, for that matter.” Teddy quickly added. He turned his gaze once more to Kris’, eyes shining with hope. “Please, Kris? The gym will be fun! No one’s going to get hurt, I promise.”

Kris held Teddy’s gaze for a moment, then sighed again and stood up. “Fine,” she said, “we’ll challenge the gym. But!” she added over the joyful cheers of her team, “I heard some trainers downstairs; apparently, this gym has a really tough reputation. So we’re all going to need to train extra hard, understand?”

Teddy’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “We understand. We’ll all work extra hard for you!”

----------

“Cotton, come back! Florence, use Wing Attack!”

Florence smoothly flew into battle, taking Cotton’s place as she was recalled. He collided gracefully with the Bulbasaur, knocking it back and tipping it over.

“Bulby!” the girl, a camper whom Kris had challenged to a rematch, called out. She pouted, recalling her Bulbasaur, but then smiled. “I guess I’m still no match for you. But let’s battle again sometime!”

“We should.” Kris agreed, returning the smile.

“Uh…Kris?” Teddy said, poking her leg insistently as the girl started for the city to heal her Bulbasaur. “You might want to look back here!”

Kris turned around quickly, stumbling over her feet before she caught herself and realized that nothing was wrong. Cotton had suddenly begun to glow with a bright white light, and Kris beamed just as brightly when she realized what was happening. “Cotton! You’ve evolved!”

The light faded and Cotton – now almost twice as big and significantly greener – ruffled her new flower sheepishly. “Goodness, it seems I have.” she said, blushing as Teddy happily bounded over to her. “Oh goodness, I think I’m too big to fit on your head anymore, Teddy.”

“That’s okay!” Teddy said, standing on his hind legs and grinning. “Your flower is really pretty!”

Kris bit back a chuckle as Cotton blushed so much that she was nearly the same pink color she had been previously. She jumped, however, when something in her bag began to move. “What in the world…?” She quickly dug through her bag, carefully pulling out the egg. With a horrified gasp, she realized that it had cracks all over it. “Oh no! The egg! It’s broken!”

Florence hopped up beside Kris curiously. “Why, of course it’s broken.” he said, tilting his head. “How else is it supposed to hatch?”

“Hatch? You mean – “

“Quite. Now here, set it down in this grass. Quickly, before the bottom of the shell breaks and you can’t hold it!” Florence hurriedly bent down some grass, forming a haphazard nest in which Kris placed the egg. It was quivering more significantly now, and Teddy and Cotton peered in curiously. Florence, however, shooed them back. “Give it room! My word, haven’t any of you ever been at a hatching?”

“Er…no.” Teddy admitted, ducking his head.

Florence clucked dismissively. “Good heavens, it’s a wonder that you mammals can hatch yourselves.”

“Um…I’m not a mammal.” Cotton said quietly. “I’m a plant…I think? Oh goodness, Teddy!” she exclaimed, floating down in front of him and wringing her hands worriedly, “I don’t know if I’m a plant or an animal!”

“It’s hatching!” Kris exclaimed, biting her lip as a bit of egg finally fell off. The baby was struggling inside to break out, and Kris looked desperately at Florence. “It can’t get out!”

Florence hopped back closer to the egg, tilting his head and examining it closely. Gently, he reached in and picked off a piece of shell, helping to break it apart. Kris could see now pale pink fur and hear the baby’s cries as it tried to get out. Hurriedly, she reached out her hand and helped Florence remove the larger pieces of shell.

Finally, the eggshell collapsed, and Kris stared in wonder at the baby. It looked like a plush toy; its fur was impossibly soft and pale pink, so bright that it shone in the fading sunlight. Its body was almost impossibly round, save for its limbs and a tuft of fur on its head. A light green swirl marked the center of its forehead, and as it blinked its eyes open and looked on the world for the first time, Kris could see that its eyes were a pale jade green. “Mama?”

Kris’ smile was so wide her cheeks were beginning to hurt. She gently took the small pokémon in her arms, cradling and rocking it gently. “Look at you.” she cooed softly. “You’re so beautiful.”

“It’s a girl!” Florence said happily, hopping onto Kris’ shoulder. Teddy and Cotton craned to look at the new baby, their eyes twinkling happily. Cotton glanced down at Teddy almost longingly, but Kris only saw it out of the corner of her eye.

Gently, she patted the baby Igglybuff on the head. “Welcome to the world, Lucy.” she said softly. “This is your family – your uncle Florence and your uncle Teddy and your auntie Cotton.”

Lucy closed her eyes happily and waved her arms. “Mama!”

Cotton blushed furiously and Teddy cautiously stepped forward to get a better look at her. Florence slid down Kris’ arm, feathers puffed out with happiness. Kris detected more than a little pride in his eyes, and wondered fleetingly if he felt himself a father to her. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear.” he said, gently preening her fur with his beak.

Lucy trilled happily and reached for Florence. “Unca Flory!”

Teddy and Cotton chuckled to themselves at Florence’s new nickname, and Kris rose to her feet. “Let’s get back to the pokémon center.” she said to her team. “We can introduce her to the others there.” Still cradling Lucy in her arms, she began to walk back toward the city. Teddy skipped happily around her feet and Cotton floated all around her, but Florence remained perched firmly on her shoulder, enthralled by the new baby.

Not three steps back into the city, Kris heard someone call out behind her. “Ah! It’s you!”

Kris turned curiously, seeing a girl a little older than her rushing up to her. Her face immediately flushed bright red – who was this?”

The girl stopped in front of her, panting heavily. “I’m so glad I caught up to you!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on her knees. “You’re Kris, right? It’s me, Rose! Eddy’s sister! You know, the boy you helped get to the Union Cave pokémon center?”

Something clicked in Kris’ mind, and her eyes widened. “The boy with the Rattata?”

“That’s right!” Rose smiled widely, straightening up as she caught her breath. “I’m surprised you remembered me that quickly.”

“Ah…”

“Aww, who’s this?” Rose asked suddenly, leaning over Kris and looking into her arms at Lucy. “She’s adorable. How long ago did she hatch?”

Lucy squeaked happily at Rose’s sudden appearance, but Kris instinctively drew her back. “Um…j-just now.”

Rose smiled and tickled Lucy’s stomach lightly, making her squeal happily. Florence, however, threw her a small glare and fluffed up his feathers. Rose didn’t seem to notice. “Her fur is so pale! I thought Igglybuff usually had red eyes and a pink swirl, though?”

Kris looked down at Lucy, who was still giggling from being tickled. “Do they? Maybe I should go call Professor Elm…”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Rose said. She fished around in her pocket for a moment, then let out a small cry of success. “Here,” she said, holding out a small radio to Kris, “take this. Consider it my further thanks for helping out Eddy.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Kris stammered. She looked down at Lucy, wondering how to shift her so that she could keep a firm grip while freeing one of her hands, but before she could figure it out, Teddy bounded forward and stood on his hind legs. He gently took the radio from Rose, who beamed.

“He’s so smart!”

Teddy smiled widely around the radio while Kris felt her face get hot again. Rose, however, was already digging around in her pack for something else. Cotton floated forward, ready to accept it, and was already holding her arms out when Rose pulled out a small watering can shaped like a Squirtle. She jumped in surprise, but smiled and handed it to Cotton. “I want you to have that Squirtbottle, too. If you’re collecting badges, you’re going to have to go north to Ecruteak City, but there’s this weird tree blocking the way. It seems to react when someone pours water on it, but otherwise, it’s completely blocking the path. Maybe it’ll be of some use to you.”

Kris watched as Cotton floated back towards her and shrugged. “Maybe. Listen, thanks for all this, but I really do need to get back to the pokémon center…”

“Oh! Of course!” Rose exclaimed, putting a hand up to her mouth. “How rude of me!” Her mouth once more split into a grin, and she hurried past Kris, waving. “Gook luck at Whitney’s! If you want a better spot to train, there are always a lot of trainers north of here on Route 35!”

“Thank you!” Kris called back, waving awkwardly. “I’ll be sure to check it out!”

“She talks entirely too much.” Florence muttered disapprovingly as Rose disappeared with one last wave. “Look, she’s worn poor Lucy completely out.”

It was true – Lucy had fallen asleep cradled in Kris’ arms. Kris gently stroked the small pokémon’s fur, then turned to Teddy and Cotton. “Come on, it’s getting dark. We can call Professor Elm and tell him about Lucy tomorrow morning.” Teddy dropped back on all fours to follow her, and Cotton floated silently behind Kris’ shoulder as she began to walk. The whole way back to the pokémon center, Florence was cooing a gentle lullaby for Lucy.

Great chapter as always! I loved Cotton's um, identity crisis. And shiny Igglybuff. :3

Shiny Igglybuff! How cute. :3 I love how Florence is acting like a protective daddy to Lucy. It's so adorable. and yay for Cotton evolving! :D

Here's that Review Exchange.

Chapter 1

Not bad, not bad at all. I've never read a nuzlocke fic, but you've done a nice job establishing some of the character's personality early on, specifically Kris since she seems like a bit of a lazy couch potato type. Naming her Cyndaquil Teddy was nice, it was a good name indeed. I'm assuming the guy spying on Elm was Silver, the rival. The dialogue felt natural for the most part and flowed nicely, it felt like something you could actually see people in real life saying. In an interesting twist chapter ending it turns out Kris can understand what Teddy says.

“All right, Professor.” Kris said, handing him her pokegear. As the professor entered in his number, she turned back to her new Cyndaquil and pet his head.

"petted".

Chapter 2
I really like your description when describing the egg, you make it feel like a living being since it is a living being, even when encased in that shell. There were the occasional "speech tag" mistake, you made this a few times throughout the chapter, didn't really bother me but, it is something to point out. I liked the battle between Silver's Totodile and Kris, the dialogue was great especially with Teddy and Totodile, you really get the feeling of a raw situation Teddy is in, and Silver does seem a tad jerkish.

A tall elderly man opened the door and started at her for a moment, then smiled and opened it wider.

"Stared"?

“But I’ll get back to Mr. Pokemon myse – Kris, what’s that?” he suddenly asked, pointing at Kris’ bag.

Myself

Chapter 3

Grammar wise, a few speech tag errors but nothing really major. I liked Teddy's characterization as being protective of his new trainer, Kris as well as being a bit jealous of the new member of the group, Cotton, especially when Teddy is so young it seems normal. The parts flowed together pretty nicely and your pacing was pretty exceptional too. It seems Team Rocket are making ready to get their plans in action, I haven't really played a Gen 2 game so I'm assuming those big bads are TR not to mention the Slowpoke stuff. Two Pidgey and a Geodude are the new members? I liked the Spanish speaking one, it was pretty funny.

She kneeled down beside Teddy and pet his head.

petted or patted

Kris scooped Teddy up in her arms and pat his head. “It’s all right, Teddy,” she cooed, “I was just startled. I’m not hurt.”

patted

Chapter 4

Nice to see you diving a tad deeper into Teddy's personality and the fact he wants to get stronger, earn Kris her badge, and doesn't want to be babied anymore. I thought some events where he was actually seen to be babied leading up to this event would have made it feel less sudden, but it's no complaint. I just feel like Kris hasn't really been babying Teddy aside from carrying him around at times and promising they would be okay, not to mention not being used at Sprout Tower, I actual think it feels less sudden when you think of it that way. I didn't expect Pidgeotto to go down so quickly, but that's nothing to worry about. I liked seeing Teddy evolve since that explains his strive to get stronger that's he's evolving. I liked his interactions with Flora, I'm not sure how a Chikorita and Quilava would be in a relationship though, if it was implied. Either way I like how you've got the personality chips in your Pokemon cranked up to 100. Nice job on the dialogue too. No doubt in my mind the egg is going to be a healthy Togepi soon.

Chapter 5

It seems like a lot of people mistake Bugsy for a girl in the manga, friends, and other places, so that didn't really surprise me. Wow, that's brutal cutting off the tail with a knife? The Slowpoke didn't seem too torn up by it, but it still sounded pretty horrifying. People actually eat the Slowpoke tails? That's surprising, I had no idea whatsoever the tails were used for and so cherished for nice job. I liked how the Ratata claimed Teddy's & Cotton's minds have been rotted by being around humans. They rode Noctowl? That seems really weird, Noctowl is too small a Pokemon to support one human let alone two. Nice characterization for Kurt, he's usually a straight up grumpy old man. The fact he makes Poke Balls via actually hand and hard work rather then those mass produced companies is nice. I like how you actually refer to TR as "gangsters" since that makes them feel more vicious in a way, excellent description during the well scenes. Teddy's protective nature of Kris is very endearing, needless to say Kris was in need off it given her very terrified state of mind. I like how Kris is terrified of Teddy and Teddy had no idea he could do such things that Kris considered monstrous, which is a nice throw back to the Ratata's actions at the beginning of the chapter, I wonder if perhaps it was Blaze? Bugsy called Pokemon "wild animals" which seemed a tad weird, "wild creatures" would have made more sense in my opinion. That was a very touching ending.

All right, so I have to say that chapter 6 was my biggest obstacle. The reason for this is mainly its size, that can really intimidate.

First of all I want to remind you that I had already read up to chapter 5the last time I read the fic so I only had three chapters to read. Chapter 6 was good, but like I sadi because of its size I was taken away by the fic at some points.

However, the fight between Silver's Pokemon as well as Crystal's was pretty well done and had a lot of emotion mixed into it, then there's the fact that Teddy has started to show more of his fears and insecurities towards Evolution.

I pretty much guessed Hairybug was going to be the first one to go xD, considering his personality trait and all that hinting, there's not much i can say about chapter 7 aside from the fact that it was good to see someone go, sadly I'm starting to think that it'll be Cotton next or maybe Florence.

Chapter 8 was pretty good, it gave us a little about Teddy's past as well as revealing what was in that egg, I was honestly confused at first xD I couldn't tell that it was an Igglypuff. So far I'm more worried about the battle against Whitney, with her Miltank I'm sure that there's going to be another loss.

Your grammar and description are good, you've got a good balance between description and letting the readers mind do the rest, and the flow of your story is perfect as well.

Originally Posted by Stellar Haze

Your grammar and description are good, you've got a good balance between description and letting the readers mind do the rest, and the flow of your story is perfect as well.

Yeah, I wish I could write as well as Feliciano, Lightning Topaz, and Legacy. Pacing is my worst enemy!

Okey dokey Dr. Feli. I said I'd review award winners and here it is:

PLOT: It's a Nuzlocke, so it's hard to judge the story given that it's taken almost entirely from the games. Your pacing is good, skimming over things that don't matter and detailing things that do. The brutality portrayed by Proton really was surprising given the naivety of Kris. I expected a much more peaceful fic (even if it was a Nuzlocke). The bit of a sidestory we get with all the different characters and Kris's ability to talk to Pokemon also really add to my enjoyment. You've done a good job of making this all seem believable, but like I said, I can't comment on much given that it's just the game's plot.

CHARACTERS: Absolutely spectacular. I especially love all the distinct personalities you've given the different Pokemon. Making the reader feel close with the Pokemon is particularly important in a Nuzlocke fic where they are prone to... being bumped off. I like Kris's character as well, a good point of view for the brutality of a Nuzlocke. Silver and Proton, as I mentioned, were both enjoyable in their own way, as were all the smaller characters, gym leaders, etc.

WRITING:I think I've said this in every single review of mine: I like LOTS of description. Although I can put up with description below the Tolkein level (which I consider to be a suitable amount), it feels like your fic is still lacking. Emotions and thoughts, important as they are, get a good amount of attention, which is great, but what about the environment? I come across this so often in game-canon fics. Just because a majority of your readers are intimately familiar with the geography of Johto doesn't mean that you don't have to talk about it as much as an OT or AU fic. It's off putting to me when you mention Florence flying through the canopy when you've barely even mentioned the trees overhead. I do, however, like how you describe the weather. It's vital to setting up a scene and too often ignored. Your dialogue, on the other hand, is exquisite. I thought I would be underwhelmed by the copypasta of game lines, but I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a cornucopia of different voices and prose all too fitting to their respective characters, and entertaining back and forth discourses. The voices of the Pokemon especially were very entertaining. I found myself reading their lines out loud with different accents (Florence is particularly fun).

OVERALL: This fic is absolutely adorable. I could tell that much in Chapter 3 when Kris bumped into an apologetic ball of cuteness floating on the wind on her way out of New Bark Town. The plot is acceptable and well executed, if not entirely original. Your characters and dialogue are both superb, though your description leaves something to be desired. I quite like it and will probably follow it in the future.

I apologize that this is a little shorter than my usual reviews, but... *grabs into bag of random excuses* I'm hungry. Yes, that's it.

Right, just finished reading this. Here is my review for the Review Exchange!


Chapter 1

The scene with the Rocket bosses. An interesting teaser/mini-prologue. What I gather of Archer is that he’s excessively formal, and, interestingly, that he actually ‘cares’ for Proton, Petrel and Ariana. Honestly, it would have been nice if this scene could have been a touch longer – to perhaps properly introduce the characters of Petrel and Ariana. I understand you didn’t want to give anything away, but I think you could have drawn a little more out of it, taken a little time with them arriving, and such. Anyway, it still stood as a great intro to the story. A lot of stories, journey fics in particular, suffer from a bit of a slow start, what with the new trainer having to learn stuff and be shit for a while. Although Kris still seems to go through the boring phase, the Rocket scene reminds the reader that stuff is actually going on, so that’s good, I like that.

Kris receiving her first Pokémon isn’t particularly original – the invention of Mr. Lowe working as Elm’s Aide and the conversation between the people of the town gave it more of an organic feel than usual – made it feel more like a believable small town than most journey fics do. Still, there’s only so much you can do with the beginning of a journey fic, particularly if it’s based on a Nuzlocke.

...I suddenly take that back as Teddy talks and sees it as a completely normal thing. That’s brilliant and a really new way to approach a Nuzlocke. I suppose the idea of a Nuzlocke is to give your Pokémon a greater personality and humanity, and you’ve done just that. I really enjoyed that. “She decided just to keep it secret” is a bit of an oversimplification. It seems a little too convenient. This is something that always annoys me about fantasy and sci-fi that is based in a normal world – they always “have” to keep everything a secret, often with very poor reasons for why they have to do so. This is not a great reason. Still, I suppose not an excessively important part of the story. I wonder if all the Pokémon will talk...

Chapter 2

At the very beginning of the chapter, Kris’ confusion isn’t exactly clear. I just about grasped the sentiment that you were trying to express, but it felt like you rushed through it a bit. This is a mistake that I often make too. You’re somewhat aware that that stuff isn’t the exciting stuff, so you want to get it out of the way and get on to the good stuff, but one thing that’s important about writing a story is making every little bit interesting. Giving flavour to the boring things. The first tiny paragraph of this chapter could easily be a good 1000 words and I honestly think the chapter would be better if it were. It feels like that’s brushed over. If you’re going to brush over it, why include that she went the wrong way? Speaking of which, what Pokémon did she encounter on the way? I would have loved to see how a talking Pokémon battles, and we’ve missed out his first battle. Don’t forget that, to the reader, the ‘boring’ stuff can be pretty interesting because, unlike you, they don’t know all the awesome things that are coming up. Never underestimate the little moments.

Another instance of this – Kris seems amazed that she is being given a Pokédex, but I didn’t feel there was enough description of why she was so excited. You don’t really address the significance of having a Pokédex. This is something that would have been interesting to explore. Still, the whole scene is interesting. It gets the job done, and you don’t have an enormous amount to work with, I suppose.

Also, I know even in the Gen II games we’re told that the trainer forges a relationship with the Pokémon especially quickly, but given that Teddy is shown to be intelligent and capable of talking, it feels a little like they trust each other too quickly – they seem to have the feel of really devoted partners from a very early stage.

The apology for Teddy having to battle comes off as a little strange (obviously it is good character development for both Kris and Silver though) as surely Teddy would have had to battle on the way to Mr. Pokémon’s house?

The personalities of the Pokémon reflecting their trainers is really interesting. I also really like that your Pokémon characters are unusually developed. This is something I’ve been trying to work on myself. In my earlier stuff they’re more like weapons than actual living beings.

The battle was also really well done. I felt like you combined the excitement and activity of a battle while the realness of your Pokémon characters. Good job!

Kris’ motivation for wanting to leave Newbark is also really original. It’s a bit different from the typical desire for glory and recognition – wanting to get out of a small town, it’s a common feeling, used well!

Chapter 3

So we’re being brought back to the idea of the wild Pokémon being unusually vicious. Interesting. I wonder how it will fit into the overall plot. My guess is that it has something to do with Team Rocket’s forced evolution contraption. You also give a reasonably sound explanation of why Kris has to follow Nuzlocke rules... Not sure it’s entirely sound, but it’s close enough to sustain the story, and the whole catch one Pokémon per area thing can be hard to explain, so that’s fine. I like how you make a good effort to explain everything in a really original way. A little strange that Elm talks about “stealing family and friends” – it almost feels like he knows what Pokémon are thinking more than is realistic. Like the relationship with Teddy and Kris, Kris’ mum seems to have gained a liking for Teddy much faster than I find at all realistic... I’m sure she would be infinitely more worried about Kris than she would about Teddy.

The scene of Teddy being jealous of Cotton is quite cute. I can see the Pokémon are going to be very important characters in this.

The issue with the Team Rocket scene in this chapter is that it’s a bit too narrative. It doesn’t feel natural that Archer should think in detail about the position that Ariana held in the old Team Rocket. I think you could have made it feel more natural and gotten the same point across by saying something like “In the past, Ariana had answered to no one but Giovanni”. The equal-but-not-equal arrangement is a bit of a convoluted explanation, and the mention of Giovanni throwing everything away over one child also seems a bit unnecessary.

YOU SKIPPED YOUNGSTER JOEY!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?! That Rattata is in the top percentile of Rattata! This is the worst fic ever!

In all seriousness, I’m a little disappointed that the other newly captured Pokémon don’t even get debuted and that they’re just captured off screen. Here it feels like you might be rushing a little too much again. I know this would probably be unnecessary later on when they get sent straight to the box, but early on in the game, it would be nice to meet the new Pokémon and see their personalities since you’ve set the precedent that Kris can talk to every Pokémon and garner their personality with Teddy and Cotton. Of course, it is nice to see the Pidgey and Geodude’s personalities in this battle. Your representation of a Rock Throw is really interesting – I’ve always imagined the Pokémon just generate rocks – Geodude actually pulling a bit of its head off is a really interesting way of looking at it.

Awww, I feel really sorry for Teddy at the end of this chapter! Train the poor thing!

Chapter 4

Once again, I really like the Pokémon character development. Blah, blah, blah.

In Chapter 4, this awkward sentence –

Her headache certainly wasn’t helping matters, and she needed to concentrate on her gym battle to concentrate on after she left.

The relationship between Morty and Elder Li is interesting, and the phone call also explains why Morty sees the trainer as the last person he has to defeat to become worthy of the legendary Pokémon and why they’re so important to him. (Or some such sentiment, I can’t remember exactly, it’s been a while.) Glad to see there’s more than just the Team Rocket plot going on behind the scenes – that’s always a relief to find out.

Wow. The battle between Teddy and Pidgeotto wasn’t terribly exciting, but it had me on the edge of my seat. Does that make sense? What I mean to say is that if I had read that battle outside of the context of the rest of the story, it would have been a pretty vanilla battle, but within the characterisation and back story that I’ve received so far – you made it amazing!

Okay, Falkner discussing Kris’ goals is interesting too. This comes back to what I was saying about her having an unusual motivation.

One teeny, tiny error in what Falkner says. I would’ve thought he would mention the Sudowoodo blocking the way to Goldenrod. If Sudowoodo wasn’t there (and one would assume it usually isn’t) it would be much easier to go to Goldenrod, then go through Ilex Forest, tackle Bugsy, back through Ilex Forest which you’ve already figured out than it would to go through Union Cave THEN Ilex Forest. Even if the latter is quicker, Goldenrod is certainly the easier to reach Gym. At any rate, this isn’t all that important, just a little thing I noticed.

Flora and Teddy’s conversation is interesting... I wonder what Teddy’s “reason” is and why Flora is so surprised to see him having evolved. I’m also curious to see whether Flora will continue to play a role in the story. (It’s certainly interesting that the three starters know each other very well – makes sense, but surprisingly is not something that people always go for.)

Chapter 5

The Rocket scene in this chapter is incredible. Fucking androgynous Bugsy. Proton is also characterised beautifully. Although it was your boyfriend who originally made me fall in love with the character, so perhaps that is to be expected?

By this time, the Slowpoke had realized what was going on, and was struggling to try and get away.

This sentence is a little awkward. Struggling to try? Surely struggling is trying?

The scene of him eating the Slowpoke Tail is also deliciously gruesome. Eurgh, I can’t imagine eating something that has come off an animal that is still living and sitting in front of me.

I found the scene with the evil Rattata oddly hilarious. I imagined its voice something like the Jabberwocky in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which is a complete mismatch from the concept of a Rattata. =P Not really a big problem, though. All I can suggest to fight that (if that wasn’t what you were going for) is to make it bizarrely large rather than just slightly large. WOAH. I can’t believe she caught the psycho Rattata! I really want her to use it now to see what it’s like! Will its personality change?

The skipping of Union Cave is much the same as what I said about some of the things you’ve skipped earlier. I felt like you could have at least made a paragraph of it, explaining a couple of the battles, maybe the people that they met, maybe the Lapras’ roar, maybe just some character development. It feels oddly skipped over. As I think I’ve said, this is something I’ve been guilty of myself in the past, so I understand how tempting it is, but the story comes off a lot better if you take your time with each little part.

Two men were standing outside the gym, one of them yelling furiously at yet another man dressed in all black.

If you what you mean to say is that there’s two men outside the gym, Kurt and the Rocket, then this is an unclear way of saying that. When I first read this I thought there were two men and the Rocket outside the Gym.

Oh my God, you do a fantastic job of making Proton creepy as hell. This is probably the most psychopathic imagining of the character that I’ve ever seen or heard of.

What happens with Teddy here is also interesting... I’m guessing it has something to do with the wild Pokémon becoming more ferocious too. Interesting also that it happened within the proximity of Team Rocket. I’m also glad that Bugsy had a go at Kurt, I’ve always thought that what he does is really uncool. (Convenient that he hurts his back in time to not have to do anything, but miraculously recovers just quickly enough to be around for the party afterwards.)

Chapter 6

Honestly, I found skipping the Bugsy battle a bit disappointing. I know the battle was in reality probably just Teddy spamming Ember, but it would have still been nice to see it. I’m sure you could have done something with it.

Also, I still don’t really get why Kris thinks it’s so important to keep her ability secret. Though it was funny that just about everyone already knows.

Life before, Zubat was too slow to attack Cotton before she could be recalled.

Typo.

The battle with Silver is engaging. Kris’ use of Cotton and Silver’s reaction to it is great. The scene between Toto, Flora and Teddy is great too. I really like the idea of a Pokémon having a rival Pokémon, and obviously Silver’s starter being that rival makes perfect sense.

You do a really good job throughout of bringing a new life to the existing game dialogue, I really enjoyed it!

Chapter 7

Teddy is such a sweetheart. The breeding facility thing and the stuff about the evolved Pokémon is really interesting too, nice back story – you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into the pasts of the starters.

“Goodness, he doesn’t sound anything like Water.”

Typo.

Again, good Pokémon characterisation, but I don’t need to harp on about that...

Beedrill’s death... Handled interestingly because while I (and I imagine most readers) hadn’t formed any kind of an emotional attachment to Beedrill by that point, and even thought he was a bit of a jerk, it kind of brought the idea of death into the fray and showed that it was something that could happen here. It was actually a very good way to introduce the concept of a Pokémon dying and show that people

Chapter 8

The further development of the crazed Pokémon plot is interesting. As I suspected, it’s as a result of Team Rocket’s devices. I’ll be interested to see how it plays out further.

Not much else to say about this chapter except OMFG YOU GOT A SHINY IGGLYBUFF!?!?

Anyway, all in all a great fic, I imagine I’ll continue to read it.
To sum up what I’ve said: I really enjoy the plot and your adding of flavour to the basic GSCHGSS plot. I really like your characterisation, particularly of the Pokémon.
Work on pacing. There’s no need to rush through everything. Some of the things you skip, I feel like based on what I’ve seen of your writing you could make a really enjoyable scene out of. It’d also be a good opportunity for better character development (which I think is your strength) between major events.