So for those of you who weren’t around for last year and don’t want to go reread around 30(ish)k of fanfic (though really if you don’t, next month is going to be looooong for you), here’s your recap of Evangeline‘s journey so far. You can also find her rival Xavier‘s information, and the main page for the Nuzlocke posts is easily found in the tab.
The new girl in Vaniville, Evangeline and her great-aunt, Aya, arrived and immediately came into the attention of the Kalos region’s acclaimed professor, Professor Sycamore. Given her first Pokémon, the Froakie Kakashi, by her new friend Tierno, his friend Trevor gave her the Pokedex, a mechanical encyclopedia for the Kalos region. She also met another local, a girl named Shauna, who got her first Pokémon along with Evangeline and Xavier. Shauna immediately challenged Evangeline to their first Pokémon battle! (And lost miserably, Shauna needs a lot of help.) The last thing to do was take a letter back to Aunt Aya…and try not to die from embarrassment over the gushing and good-byes.
The first Gym was in Santalune City, but first she had to get there! Routes 2 and 3 stood between her and the city, along with Santalune Forest. Evangeline met up with the others again, and was forced to confront old childhood fears in the trees where Bug types roamed. Xavier also started to wear on her last good nerve, but she managed to be civil. Along the way, she met three new friends: Ella, Cho, and Henri. Exploring the side path off of Santalune City, Route 22, also brought Hiromi into the little group of friends, and before she took on the Gym, Evangeline had her first Pokémon evolution with Cho.
As if the Forest wasn’t bad enough, the Gym had to be Bug themed, including a web-type floor. (Evangeline was not thrilled.) Ella and Hiromi handled the waiting trainers on the way to the Gym Leader, Viola. Who took an immediate fascination with Evangeline and demanded to take her picture as the professional photographer that she was–Evangeline is still on the fence if this was a good thing or not, much less if Viola is a little crazy in her tastes. But she managed to wrangle a Gym Battle first, and between Henri and Hiromi, she came out on top and won the Bug Badge. Of course, Viola then held the badge case ransom until she got the promised pictures. Oye…
At least Viola’s sister, Alexa, was more help, pointing Evangeline in the direction of Lumiose City to check in with the professor there. Along the way, she found Haruka to add to the team, and then meets up with Sina and Dexio, two of Sycamore’s students who reveal there is a new type of Pokémon in Kalos–Fairy! They also confirm the professor wants to meet her, and show Evangeline the way into Lumiose proper. The city is overwhelming to Evangeline, so Sina shows the way to the professor’s lab. Sycamore is indeed waiting…and he knows who her parents are. None other than the Gym Leaders for Violet City and Fuschia City in the Kanto/Johto region, Falkner and Janine. Evangeline is not happy to have her plans to establish herself away from her parents’ legacies basically ruined, but before she can confront Sycamore, Xavier and Shauna catch up, and Sycamore challenges her to a Pokémon battle with Kanto starters!
Evangeline defeats the professor, to his amusement, and invites her to select one of the three Kanto starters for her own. She choses the mute and timid Felix for her own, and the others make their choices. Sycamore then tells them that the reason why they were selected was he hoped they would help him discover more about Mega Evolution, a mysterious process that he was interested in. (With clarifying comments that if that wasn’t a path they wanted to take, they were free to chose another.) Unsure of this change, Evangeline left the lab to contemplate and to introduce Felix to the others, but was caught by one Lynsandre. A mysterious man who claimed to know the professor, he was a little too interested in her potential for her comfort.
A power outage has most of the city blocked off, but Evangeline manages a little exploring. Her rivalry with Xavier is solidified when not only Lysandre, but the movie star Diantha ignores him in favor of her (it’s not like she’s doing it on purpose, boy-child!) and he wants the competition. She has barely left the city after that debacle, only to be confronted with another: a Lucario who has run away from his trainer, attracted by Evangeline’s owner. He belongs to no other than the Gym Leader Korrina, who promises a battle to Evangeline before she runs back to her training. Evangeline is just happy to return to normal, beginning with adding a new Pokémon to her team, Antoine.
What Camphier Town lacks in a Gym, it makes up with history, which the professor had hoped would give Shauna and Evangeline a clue. Unfortunately, almost everything at the nearby chateau has been sold. This becomes an even bigger problem when an annual menace returns–a wild Snorlax that uses the only bridge out of town as a napping spot! The only thing that can wake Snorlax up is a Pokeflute, which has been sold by the man who owns the Parfum Palace. Shauna volunteers them to fetch it before Evangeline can get a word in edgewise.
In the gaudy as all get out Parfum Palace, they manage to meet the owner via rescuing his Furfrou from running away. (It can be argued that they only prolonged the poor thing’s suffering, but gotta do what you gotta do.) Over a firework display, Shauna and Evangeline finally managed to bond and develop a real friendship. And get the Pokeflute to wake that blasted Snorlax! With the way clear, Evangeline continued on her journey. Tierno and Trevor introduced her to the Pokemon daycare, and Xavier stacked the odds of what was supposed to be a friendly double battle, earning Evangeline’s derision.
An accident leads to the death of Cho, devastating Evangeline with grief and guilt. Surprisingly, it’s Xavier who offers her a much needed distraction, visiting the Fossil Lab located in Ambrette Town, and at the suggestion of the assistant there, checking out the nearby abandoned mines and caves. Unfortunately, the distraction goes too far as they are confronted with the terrorist group, Team Flare. But it gives Evangeline the motivation she needs to finish her grieving, take some time with her team, and move on.
Pokémon So Far (Black and White Cards are deceased):
Rebecca M Horner 