A/N: Nuzlocke fic anyone? I heard about these online, and I wanted to do one for myself. Of course, the comic is half the fun, but since I can't draw, I decided to do a fanfiction instead. =3 I know I have other stuff I could be writing. Like Escape. But, well, I've hit a major writer's block with that (obviously), and I'm mostly writing this to get myself to write again. Just as a warning, I'm not taking this entirely seriously. Meaning, it's not the best quality writing. It's not terrible, but it's not great. And the plot is pretty much made up on the spot. So, yeah. Enjoy?

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)

Prologue

I awoke with a start.

I'm still not entirely sure exactly what made me jolt awake. Maybe it was the feeling of impending doom closing in on my unsuspecting, sleeping mind. Regardless of how or why, I woke up.

It was pitch black.

Disoriented, I reached for my lamp, wondering what happened to wake me up in the middle of the night, but I didn't feel anything there. Nothing at all. That was... odd.

A bright light flashed before my eyes, and I blinked drearily. Suddenly, the whole world around me was white—no floor, no walls, no ceiling, just an endless void of white. Nothing there but me.

By that time, I was thoroughly confused. My first thought was that I was in some kind of weird dream, but when I went to pinch myself, I noticed something odd.

I was wearing gloves. Fingerless gloves, but gloves nonetheless. This was an odd occurrence, since I didn't usually wear gloves to bed. Weirder still, they were red, fingerless, and... what the heck was with this cuff thing? I reached up to scratch my head, only to find my hair was... fluffier? And I was wearing a headband. I took it off, curiously, and could only stare at it for a few moments. It was black, with a red, Pokeball-like mark on it. Wasn't that the headband that Brendan wore...?

"Yes, rather shocking, isn't it?" The sudden sound of another voice made me panic slightly, and I whirled around. Standing only a few feet away was a rather familiar face, an old man with graying hair, wearing a white doctor's coat and with a Pokeball in his hand.

"Pro-professor Oak?" I asked, more than a little incredulous. "What the heck is going on?" He just smirked at me.

"Don't act like you have no idea," he replied, rather more sarcastically than I would have expected from the esteemed Pokémon Professor. "You want to go on a journey with Pokémon, don't you?" I blinked.

"... What?" Professor Oak just shook his head.

"Poor rookie. I thought you would have figured it out by now." Then, he turned back to me, his face suddenly very serious again. "You're about to play a game. A very real game, unlike anything you've ever experienced before. However, there are some rules that you're going to have to play by in this game." I blinked, but I listened. I had gathered by this point that, some how, I was actually in one of my Pokémon games. Ruby, maybe? In any case, my only choice at the time was to go with the flow.

"Rules? Okay. What kind of rules?" I asked.

"Rule number one—" At this, Oak lifted the hand not holding a Pokeball and held up his index finger, I assumed for emphasis. "The only Pokémon you are allowed to catch is the very first one you see upon entering any route, cave, etc. The rest are all for grinding. If you don't catch it, too bad, your loss." I frowned a bit at that. This sounded kinda familiar. "And," he went on, holding up his middle finger as well, "rule number two—any Pokémon that faint, you are to consider dead. You take them out of your party and release them. Or, actually, in this case, since you are living the game, they will actually die." My jaw instantly dropped. Die? What the hell kinda messed up game was this?

"What if I don't wanna play?" I asked in return. "Do I just go back home or something?" I didn't find the sadistic grin on Oak's face very heartening.

"You thought you had a choice? Your only way back home is to win the game. Become the champion. That's all. If you fail—well. You'll find that out when it happens." That smile was starting to really creep me out.

"Right then. Okay." It looked like I didn't have much choice. I had no idea what I had done to get myself in this predicament, but the only way I could get out was to win the game. I had to train my Pokémon to the best of my ability and win. I'd always been a careful trainer anyway—surely it wouldn't be too hard, right? "Uh, one last question though. Why the heck am I dressed like Brendan?" Oak gave me a look that seemed to say that the answer was the most obvious one in the world.

"To set the mood. Of course." I frowned.

"But I'm a girl."

"Think of your alternative." I did think. And then I nodded.

"Okay, point taken."

"Alright," Oak went on. "Any more questions? No? Good. And your name is?" He paused, looking at me expectantly.

"Oh. Right. Ryuki." He raised one eyebrow.

"Really? You don't look Japanese." I glared at him. What right did he have to criticize me?

"It's a freaking game. I can call myself whatever I want, alright?" Oak just shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Before I even knew what was happening, a bright light was beginning to envelop me from below. I had another second to look at Oak, and he flashed me that odd, homicidal grin once more. "See you in the Hall of Fame. If you make it, that is."

I was enveloped by black once more.