A Brilliant Diamond Story

Chapter 1: Rules and Reg, and Starting the Journey

Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokémon! I'm The Doomiest Guy, though some people just call me a Pokémon Trainer! Today, with the release of the brand-new Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl games, the Sinnoh remakes we have been begging Nintendo for years, I thought it would be a lovely idea to try and attempt the most famous challenge anyone in these games can undergo; the Trial of the Nuzlocke.

Now, as a certified Pokémon Trainer from Real School University, I know a thing or two about the Nuzklocke Trial. But, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the Nuzlocke Trial is a challenge developed by a psychopath who decided he wasn't experiencing enough pain in his game made for kids. This trial grew popular with other psychopaths, and eventually, enough of us were masochistic enough to decide to make it a popular trial to undergo. At this point, it's almost a rite of passage into the hardcore Pokémon world. The rules are simple:

1.) Any Pokémon that faints is considered dead, and must be released or put in the Pokémon Storage System permanently. If I run out of Pokémon in my party, it's Game Over.

2.) I can only catch the first wild Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first wild Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances. If the first encounter in the area is a double battle, I'm free to choose which of the two wild Pokémon I want, but can only catch one of them. This restriction does not apply to Pokémon able to be captured during static encounters.

3.) I must nickname all of my Pokémon, for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds. As if I wouldn't anyway, we care about our 'Mons here!

4.) The player may only use Pokémon they have captured themselves, meaning Pokémon acquired through trading, Mystery Gifts, etc., are prohibited. We solo mode, baby!

5.) I can't voluntarily reset and reload the game whenever things go wrong. Obviously.

So, with those rules out of the way, it's time to begin our adventure. Strap yourselves in, for we are bound now to a tale of time and space, love and loss, and grinding. So. Much. Grinding. But without any further ado...let us begin.

This is, the Brilliant Diamond Nuzlocke.

So, after naming my character accordingly, I met Barry the Psycho, bouncing around the town like a hyperactive Shih Tzu, rambling about wanting to spot a rare Pokémon in Lake Verity (which, honestly, had to give him credit for foresight). He didn't exactly give me a lot of time to adjust to the cutesy new artstyle before he dragged me there like they were about to break my kneecaps for not paying my debts, and there we met Professor Rowan, and his assistant, Dawn. Rowan was...rough, but Dawn was pretty nice, though they both apparently had the object permanence of an infant, because they both managed to forget a whole briefcase on the lakeside.

And it was at this moment, as I write of my adventures, after such a fast-paced introduction, that I was given control of my character, and I paused to take in the truly nostalgic moment. I felt like a child again. The scene looked exactly how you would imagine it as a child, through all the pixels. Like I was seeing a projection of my own childhood in front of me. It felt...whole. Like nothing was missing. Like...like the world was gonna be okay—

Aaaaand we got ambushed by a pair of Starly, and panicked to grab a Pokemon from the briefcase, even though I was certain that, given its size, I could crush a Starly in my bare hands. Nevertheless, I grabbed my starter, the same one I had picked the first time I had picked up Diamond, so many years ago...Turtwig. And after absorbing the battle music, I knew...I was home.

I stomped the Starly, was weirdly examined by Rowan, found out my mom was very nonchalant about her child getting assaulted by an insane feral bird, didn't even get checked for injuries, and eventually made my way to Rowan's lab. Barry dashed off like a lunatic again, and Rowan gifted me the Turtwig that I named Leaf, got a Pokedex and some Pokeballs, and we have officially begun the run!

Of course, I had a plan to build the party fast. I caught my first Pokemon, Beav the Bidoof, on Route 202, and then dashed back to Route 201, where we hadn't encountered a Pokemon yet, and caught Flock the Starly. Now with three Pokemon in my belt, I set off, grinding up the team as I went, and we approached the city of Jubilife.

I could only wonder what awaited me there, after so many years...