Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“Sorry for the bother…” 

Nina laughed as she entered her dorm room. “You know you don't have to say that everytime you come to visit my place right?” 

Kerry blushed, her lips pouting. “It's only polite! And I feel bad for always coming by to bother you and eat your food and all.”

Nina smiled and told her friend not to worry about it. Kerry's mom was obviously a Nurse Joy, but her dad was also a doctor. Which meant that her parents had irregular working hours and were barely around. And even if they were, never both at the same time.

This was the reason why the nurse apprentice was so involved in extracurricular activities, and why she had taken to hanging out in Nina's place from time to time, just to stave off some of the loneliness she felt from returning to an empty house. 

“Besides if you're not around then I'll just end up eating at the cafeteria again.” Nina added. “This gives me an excuse to cook.” 

That said, the girls did acquire Pokemon bentos from the cafeteria before coming in, which Nina plopped down on her coffee table before releasing her Pokemon from their Pokeballs. Cooking the large amounts of food necessary to sustain three battle-ready Pokemon was a hassle and a half and Nina felt bad if she just fed them Pokechow everyday, so this was the most efficient solution. 

“Nair!” @@novelbin@@

“Kukuku…” 

Nairy and Brucey immediately rushed towards the bento boxes, with an eager look on their faces. Brucey, in particular, was especially famished after an intense training session. 

“Now, now, you two. Hold your Ponytas, we've got guests with us today, so let's wait until I'm done cooking dinner before we eat together, okay?” Nina chided, prompting both of her Pokemon to wilt slightly. 

Nina chuckled. “Espy could you look after the boys for me?” She asked, eliciting an eye roll and a mental pulse of affirmation from the Espeon. “Thanks, and make sure to keep an extra close eye on Brucey, okay?” The Golbat should be too exhausted to pull any pranks, but the perpetually mischievous glint in his eyes made Nina uncertain, so better safe than sorry. 

Kerry giggled at the sight of Nina and her Pokemon while releasing Polly and Peppy, her Poliwag and Happiny. “Must be nice to have such lively Pokemon.” She said as she bent down to caress her timid Poliwag. “Alright Polly, go and play with Nina’s Pokemon.”

“Wag…” However, Polly just quivered and rushed into Kerry’s arms instead when she saw the sinister looking Brucey.

Nina smiled warmly at the little tadpole Pokemon and approached to assuage her. “Don’t worry, Brucey’s friendly.” The girl said as she beckoned Nairy to come over. “Here, you know Nairy right? He’s the one who always takes you out for swimmies.”

“Nair~” cried the Dragonair as he went in for a friendly boop with the timid Poliwag. And after a few more assurances from Nina’s affable partner, Polly finally relented and followed him over to be introduced to Brucey, looking shy all the while.

“Gosh, your Poliwag is so cuuute.” Nina swooned. “Is she still not willing to battle yet?”

Kerry sighed and followed Nina to the kitchen. “Unfortunately no, she’s too scared to even spar with Peppy.”

Nina nodded and gave her friend a gentle pat on the back. “It’s alright, these things take time. Maybe we can have her spar with Espy at some point. Nairy’s too powerful and Brucey’s out of control, but Espy should be gentle enough to prod her into action without too much stress.”

Kerry nodded and thanked Nina for the offer as she rummaged through her fridge to figure out what was available to cook. 

“Let’s make gnocchi,” said Nina as she produced a few baked potatoes that she had for dinner last night. “Could you grab a bowl, cut these tatters in half and scoop out the flesh? Don’t throw the skin away though, we can bake them and get them all crispy. Which reminds me…” The girl then dove back into the fridge to grab a bowl of mash potatoes that she had left over from a few days ago.

Kerry did as she was told, but still tilted her head in confusion and asked; “What’s gnocchi?”

“Umm… Think of it as a type of pasta, but made primarily using potatoes instead of flour,” Nina replied, feeling a little taken aback by the fish out of water moment. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that stuff is different here in this world.” Especially given all the other similarities to her past life that the otherworlder had largely taken for granted by this point.

“Here, use this.” Nina passed a potato masher to Kerry. “I don’t exactly have a ricer, but the potatoes should be dry and crumbly enough that a simple mash will do. No need to get it too fine, we’re not looking to make a creamy mash or anything.” She said, in an attempt to distract her friend.

Kerry nodded and got to work. “But if you already have mashed up potatoes then why do we still need to make more?” The girl said, referring to the bowl of mashed potatoes that Nina was currently mixing with some cream cheese and chives.

“Nah, I already added cream and butter into this mix, so it’s not good for gnocchi. I’m gonna be piping this into the hollowed out potato skins and shoving them into the oven to make twice baked potatoes.” Which was what Nina did, before she grabbed a pair of scissors and headed out into the balcony.

In a similar vein to her past life, Nina took advantage of her balcony space to grow some edible plants. Plants which she procured from the gardening club in exchange for a few signed copies of her and Beverly’s CD. There were basil, chives, chili, rosemary, a few other staples, as well as a perilla plant. She wanted mushrooms as well, but the guy from the gardening club advised her against it since there was a high risk of cross contamination.

Nina planned on making a pesto sauce, so she grabbed a bunch of basil, making sure to leave enough of the stalks for them to regrow.

“Dammit.” Nina cursed as she took stock of her gathered ingredients.

“What’s up?” asked the concerned Kerry.

“Nothing, just realized I ran out of hard cheese.” Pesto was typically made with parmesan, but any hard cheese would do really. Except, Nina didn’t have anything on hand at the moment.

The girl hummed in consideration of her options. “Oh screw it. It’s not like there’s any Italians around to crucify me for this.” In a fit of inspiration, Nina approached Peppy to ask for a Soft-Boiled egg, which the Happiny happily obliged by focusing some Type Energy on her little belly pouch to produce an egg roughly the same size as a chicken’s

The Happiny line, when they were born, would find a nice piece of stone to fill their pouch while they developed Soft-Boiled, the move. Once they were able to form a nascent egg, they then discarded the placeholder stone which then transformed into an Everstone, a peculiar item that prevents a Pokemon from Evolving when held. 

Nina wasn’t sure about the science behind it, but according to Kerry, it had something to do with the unique Type Energy signature that a Happiny imbues the stone with during their possession of it — a sort of maternal aura that tethers a Pokemon to their infantile instincts. Depending on who was asked, the ethics behind the use of an Everstone may be debatable, since it could be considered a means of stunting a Pokemon’s mental development.

And in a similar vein to Dratinis and Dragon Dance, once Soft-Boiled as a move was fully developed and the Happiny was able to create a full-sized egg, that was when they would Evolve into a Chansey.

Incidentally, chicken eggs were a rarity in the Pokemon world, so Nina’s gnocchi recipe involved just the use of flour to create a fluffier and more pillowy pasta. One which she actually preferred over conventional gnocchi in fact.

Once Nina had procured one of Peppy’s eggs, she then grated it into her blender which she had already loaded up with basil, olive oil, Sitrus Berries, and whatever mixed nuts she had available in the drawer. “Italians, if you take issue with this then feel free to dial the isekai hotline at 1800-imaweeb to file a complaint with truck-kun.”

A quick whirl of the blender later and the knock off green pesto sauce thing that Nina made was ready to taste. “Hmm… Needs a bit more salt, maybe a crack of pepper as well.” The concoction was actually really tasty but tasted nothing like the pesto that Nina was used to, having been imbued with a lot more complexity from the Soft-Boiled egg. That said, it wasn’t lacking in umami from the omission of cheese which was the most important part.

“What’s next?” Kerry asked, eyes twinkling after experiencing a rush of flavors she had never tasted before.

“Next we just boil the gnocchi in water, fry it in some butter, before tossing together with the sauce.” And right on cue, the oven chimed as well, indicating that the twice baked potatoes were also ready.

The two girls then proceeded to have a lovely dinner with all their Pokemon before watching a movie on Nina’s TV. Nina preferred documentaries usually, being the nerd that she was, but Kerry could never get through them without falling asleep. So they met in the middle and found a movie about a group of characters who were invited to a park filled with prehistoric Pokemon. 

The scene where the Tyrantrum was first revealed in its full glory with an earth shaking roar was especially intense — both Nina and Kerry felt as if they were actually there in person, being stared down by those cruel, ravenous eyes.

“Thanks again for hanging out with me today.” Kerry pulled Nina in for a tight hug at the entrance of the dorm.

“No worries,” Nina reciprocated with a tight squeeze of her own. “Feel free to stop by anytime.” She said while escorting Kerry out to where her dad was waiting with a Pidgeot.

Kerry almost seemed a little wistful for leaving as she waved at Nina from the edge of the Fly Basket.

“See you tomorrow!” Nina yelled, before shuddering at the sudden chill that took over her, prompting the girl to hurry back into the warmth of VF’s dormitory. “Man, winter’s really coming huh? Crazy how quickly time flies…” Nina muttered, to no one in particular.

“Phew…” Nina sighed as she returned to her room, only to wilt when she saw the pile of dishes in her sink. For a brief moment, Nina considered leaving the task for the next day, only to receive a judgemental gaze from Espy, eliciting another sigh from the girl as she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

***

Author's note:

Is it just me or does Monster Hunter Wilds feel too easy?

I didn't really notice during the beta since my character was undergeared, but I haven't really carted at all.

I like that they've made it so that the other weapons are equally as viable instead of just endlessly buffing Long Sword, but at the same time, they've also overcompensated by making LS completely broken.

I actually made a conscious decision to forgo LS this time around because I wanted to actually play the game rather than rush through it.

Focus mode is great though, being able to reorientate your character really makes the combat feel less clunky, especially with less wieldy weapons.

Also, hot take; I don't mind the talking Palico. I was annoyed at first, but after forgetting to turn off that setting during character creation I got used to it and now I find them endearing.