Margaret's Pokémon Diamond Nuzlocke

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 ya. 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 caaaave??"

"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 eachother.

"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.