Crimson Galaxy: Pokemon Ruby: Nuzlocke Challenge

DAY 3: Tropical Trek
Well, after resting up in the Dewford Pokemon Center, I explored town a little. I introduced the "Hot Girl" fad to the populace, and many lulz were had. Yes, old man, there IS a TV show about Hot Girl. Many, in fact. There were books apparently trying to find the link between Hot Girl and Pokemon (why must Pokemon be involved with everything?). However, what I find funny is that that young boy was collecting all of that Hot Girl merchandise. We all know what he's going to grow up into...

Anyway, with all that done, I headed north to Route 106, and fought the Fishermen waiting there. I entered inside Granite Cave, where a hiker told me that I'd need Flash to continue further in the cave, before giving me the HM for said move. Unfortunately, I needed the Dewford Gym Badge to use it.

Well, with this new cave came a new opportunity to expand my team. I ended up meeting......Abra. Not bad. Despite having only Teleport, I could grind it until it evolves into a nice Kadabra, and then Brawly, the Dewford Gym Leader, would be a breeze.

Unfortunately, it popped out of the Great Ball I threw, and--as Abra are prone to do--Teleported away. Yep, there would be no captures from Granite Cave. Which was a shame... I saw all of those Pokemon (Makuhita, Geodude, Zubat, Aron, and even a Mawile later on), and they would have all made good additions to the team had Abra not shown up.

After training Hotblazer and Hanna, I left the cave and took on the Dewford Gym. With Hotblazer's Peck and Hanna's Gust, the gym was no challenge at all. After defeating Brawly, he gave me the TM for Bulk Up along with the badge.

Now that I can use Flash, I headed back for the cave. Unfortunately, my choices of who to teach Flash to were limited--only between Hanna and Todd. I settled with Hanna, and explored the rest of the cave. Eventually I found Steven, and delivered Mr. Stone's letter to him. Steven gave me Steel Wing as a thank you present. ...If I had a Taillow, I could have made use of it, but for now, it will sit in my bag.

With my business in Dewford done, I went back to Mr. Briney and we set sail for Slateport, to deliver the Devon Goods to Captain Stern. We arrived at the beach, but rather than enjoy the sun and the sea, I battled each of the trainers there, and inside of the Beach House (which got me 6 Soda Pops as a prize).

Heading north a short distance, I arrived in Slateport, the bustling harbor town not unlike Kanto's Vermilion City. I healed up and took a tour of the city. No gym, but there was a museum... which had a big line of Magma grunts outside. ...Hmm... I wonder what that's all about. Anyway, I went to the shipyard, only to find that Stern was not in.

I left, and found the museum unblocked. I went inside, and after paying the entry fee, looked around. Magma grunts were all over the place. I know they're up to something. This is just too suspicious...

I went upstairs and found Stern, but then we were ambushed by two Magma grunts, who wanted the Devon Goods and decided to battle me for them. I beat them both easily. Then, the leader Maxie walked in. Turns out, since most of life flourish on the land, they want to expand the world's landmass. ...What a stupid goal... Maxie gave me a warning to not get in their way again, before he and the rest of Team Magma left the museum. I delivered the Devon Goods to Stern, and with that whole thing behind me, I left town through the north.

Route 110... This route is connected to Route 103, but I had already seen a Pokemon there, so no new Pokemon from that route. This area is also known to have some Electric-types, something my team needed. I stepped into the grass and found...

...Gulpin. Ahh... Darn.

Caught it and named it "Gluttony." Would have been better with such a name if it was male, though. ...But Gluttony isn't that bad at all, and once it learned Sludge, it started to kick some ass. Plus, it had higher defense than the rest of the team, so it was more reliable in battle.

I soon found May on the route, who challenged me to a battle. Gluttony tore through her Shroomish, and Todd demolished her Marshtomp. Her Numel proved to be a problem for Ziggy once it used Ember, so I switched to Hotblazer and took it down. After battle, May gave me the Itemfinder. ...After HeartGold's Dowsing Machine, I don't think I can go back to using this primitive machine.

Battled through the trainers on the route, and even found a Psychic, which would have been troublesome with Gluttony as my lead. Fortunately, he had an Abra that knew Hidden Power, and I let Sounder take care of it. ...Turns out, the Hidden Power was a Fighting-type. ...But Sounder was able to beat it, thanks to Astonish (and a Potion once its HP got too low).

We arrived in Mauville City, home of the Electric Gym. Sadly, I don't have anything to deal with Electric-types. Todd is my best bet, since it's resistant to Electric moves. After healing up and restocking on items, I went to the Bike Shop and got the Mach Bike. Then, I found Wally and his uncle standing outside of the gym. Wally wanted to prove that he had gotten better, and challenged me to a battle. I used Sounder against his Ralts. ...Which kept spamming Double Team before using Confusion to the point that Sounder nearly fell. Thanks to my Super Potion and a few lucky shots, Sounder was able to come through for me. Humbled, Wally and his uncle left town and headed back to Verdanturf. As per his uncle's suggestion, I followed after them.

This new route, Route 117, would provide me with a new Pokemon, perhaps something to help with my team's foreseen trouble with Electric-types. I stepped into the grass, hoping for a Grass-type, and found...

...A damn Illumise. Dammit.

Illia was sent straight to the box, since my team was full. Perhaps one day I would have need of it. Until then, that's where it'll stay.

I battled the trainers on the route to get my team prepped. Once again, Sounder found itself having trouble against one of the trainers' Doduo. ...I'm starting to see the grievances that the "Nuzlocke" author had with his Whismur at first. Hopefully it'll get better when it evolves.

I arrived at the mountainside town of Verdanturf, where I decided to rest for the time-being.

Current Team: