Pokémon Moon Nuzlocke Challenge: Chapter 9
By Neal Chandran

Lando's first new encounter in Brooklet Hill is a Poliwag! Yes! (I had a Poliwrath when I played Pokémon Crystal many years ago and it was ace.) This Poliwag battle is a bear, though. Not only does this Poliwag call for help twice, but its Double Slaps and Water Guns darn near take out Joey, Scotty, and Vampiris! Luckily, Vampiris is able to endure enough for Lando to capture this gentle (shyeah right) female Poliwag with Water Absorb. Because of the aggravating course of this battle, Lando names her Lucy VanPelt after Linus's crabby older sister in Charlie Brown.

In the Brooklet Hill Totem's Den, Lando fishes a Wishiwashi and immediately tosses a Dive Ball at it. It never breaks free. It's as if it wanted to be caught and be part of Lando's team. Anyway, this lonely male Wishiwashi with Schooling is given the name Sharkbait after much deliberation. WendyWhallop takes a shine to Sharkbait and decides to make him her Padawan. She knows that, with time (specifically level 20), his battle prowess will make itself known.

Pokemon Moon Nuzlocke Challenge - Wishiwashi

Lando's current battle team now consists of Lucy VanPelt, Sharkbait, Joey, Scotty, Joan Jett and Bam Bigelow. Vampiris has been swapped out because her Grass typing would be lousy in a Fire Trial, so she and WendyWhallop are hanging out in a box. Lando is not too worried about Lucy VanPelt, though he hopes she can keep her crabbiness in check long enough to be an effective battler. Sharkbait, on the other hand, needs more training and nurturing to become the badass WendyWhallop sees in him.

Lando makes his way to Route 6, but before he can find any tall grass to catch a new pokémon, he spies Team Skull attacking a young lady and her Mudsdale. Lando dispatches the miscreants and stops off in Royal Avenue town where there's a famous battle royale arena. "Let's have some fun," Lando thinks as he swaps out Joan Jett for WendyWhallop. After all, who better to enter a wrestling ring with?

In the arena, Lando sees "Masked Royal" (who looks suspiciously like Professor Kukui in kayfabe), Hau, and Gladion. Masked Royal invites the three of us to an exhibition match: his Rockruff, Hau's Dartrix, Gladion's Null, and WendyWhallop. Given that this is purely an exhibition match to advance the storyline, any loss doesn't count against Nuzlocke rules. No problem, though, because even though everyone's attacks halve WendyWhallop's HP, her Z-move takes out Null (the strongest in the ring) and the battle is over.

Unfortunately, Lando's elated victory is very short-lived. The first eligible pokémon for catching on Route 6 is a brave male Eevee with Adaptability...and he is an absolute bulldozer. His speed and moveset kill off Sharkbait before Lando can use a Super Potion, then it proceeds to call for help. WendyWhallop steps in to avenge her Padawan. Although she destroys the helper Eevee, she takes several hits due to her slow speed and her HP is drastically reduced. After the helper Eevee is destroyed, the first one uses Quick Attack which kills her before Lando can use a Super Potion! Are you freaking kidding right now?!?!?! WendyWhallop was, literally, Lando's strongest fighter. She started out bashful, but became increasingly confident to the point of even taking on a Padawan. And to lose that Padawan too, before his training even truly began?! Lando feels absolutely terrible about this. WendyWhallop and Sharkbait were poised to become like Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne, and both fell to an Eevee.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, this Eevee breaks free from seven Great Balls! No kidding! This random Eevee kills two of Lando's beloved pokémon and burns through seven balls! This nasty beast is given the name Redrum (murder spelled backwards since this Eevee was a straight up gangster).

Pokemon Moon Nuzlocke Challenge - Eevee

Lando recalls Anita's scornfully sung prologue to the "America" song in the film West Side Story: "Puerto Rico, my heart's devotion, let it sink back in the ocean!" Lando feels the same way about Akala Island. Let the damn place sink back in the ocean! This island has brought nothing but pain and heartache to Lando, and losing WendyWhallop is enough to make the otherwise unflappable guy want to throw in the towel and quit his Nuzlocke Island Trial.

Yes, Lando knows he must keep calm and carry on after this most recent crushing blow, but there are still two captains and a kahuna left to battle on Akala Island and Lando wonders if the odds will be in his favor. Yes, Melemele Island had its close calls that nearly ended his run, but Akala Island has, thus far, been more emotionally and psychologically draining. It's been one kick in the teeth after another, and Lando doesn't know how much more he can take before he cracks.

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