Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“Nair, naiiir…”

Nina let out a wry smile and gently caressed her wimpy, oversized noodle who saw fit to hide behind her from Lilian’s intimidating Dragonair. Meanwhile, Sir Clodington was puffing his chest up and confronting the passionate Sapphire who was looking to get hold of her muse. In the mind of the devoted Wooper, Sapphire was an evil god out to harm the idol of his worship.

“Wooper! Wooper woop, wooper!” The little Wooper knight exclaimed valiantly, only to be casually batted aside with a tail swipe from Lilian’s Dragonair, freeing the way for Sapphire to advance upon Nairy.

“Nair! Dragonair!” Sapphire cried out passionately. But Nairy was unheeding of his admirer’s attention, instead he rushed over to Sir Clodington’s side to check on him.

After seeing that his friend was unharmed, Nairy turned towards Sapphire with a fuming look on his face. “Nair, nairy dragonair. Nair!” He exclaimed, admonishing Sapphire for her brutish behaviour.

Sapphire reeled back in shock and hurt, but as a proud Blackthorn Dragon, she refused to allow herself to be suppressed, and instinctively shot back with furrowed brows and biting cries of her own, prompting an intense argument to ensue between the two Dragonairs.

Nina looked towards Espy, hoping that her Espeon could help interpret for her so that she would know what to do. But Espy was uncaring of the drama and simply continued lounging on a comfy little cushion that she found, with Brucey gently massaging her back — the fussy Pokemon had learned to enjoy the sensation of her junior’s raking claws at some point. In fact, the Espeon even went so far as to form a barrier around her to tune out all the outside noise.

“Did you not say that you would explain Sapphire’s intentions to your Dragonair?” Lilian asked, being as unhelpful as ever when it came to the messy romance of their two Pokemon. The Blackthorn girl looked absolutely ridiculous as she had opted to wear her usual shoulder pauldrons and half cape over her elegant gold-trimmed yukata.

Nina frowned. She did indeed explain things to Nairy. Sort of. More precisely, she took advantage of Nairy's excellent visual learning capabilities and had a little movie night with him. She specifically picked out a Pokemon romance movie between two Herdiers called “101 Alsatians”, starring Diantha in the villainous role.

Lilian raised an eyebrow at her friend’s callousness. “So you didn’t explain things to him then.”

Nina was flabbergasted at Lilian’s accusatory tone. “I did too!” She exclaimed, saying that her partner was smart enough to pick up the hints on his own without her needing to spell it out for him. “What about you?” She argued. “Did you tell Sapphire to tone down her behavior? It’s clear that her pushiness is what’s driving Nairy away from her!”

“A Blackthorn Dragon does not shy away from conquest!” Lilian declared, in her usual cryptic nonsense.

“My Nairy is not a thing

Kerry sighed at the sight of her rowdy friends, deciding that she needed to step in before things came to blows, starting with the two Dragonairs who were now suffused with Electric sparks and Draconic aura respectively.

The young Joy approached with her Happiny in hand and reached out to gently caressed Nairy, whom she knew was the more reasonable of the two Dragonairs. “Nairy, it’s okay. Sir Clodington is unharmed.” She assured, as an apprentice nurse, she could tell that there was barely any force behind Sapphire’s strike. And not counting Nairy himself, the Wooper was probably the sturdiest of Nina’s Pokemon.

“Naiir~” Nairy easily let go of his anger and just as quickly switched to baby mode as he rubbed against Kerry for comfort, whining about how mean Sapphire was being all the while. Kerry chuckled in amusement and gently caressed the silly crybaby. Even Peppy was joining in with dainty little pats of her own.

The sight of Nairy being such a wuss must have triggered Sapphire, because the Dragonair’s sparks intensified with a furrowed brow. However, before she could cry out and drag Nairy back into an argument, she was silenced by a glare from Kerry. By this point, the girl had long understood that Dragons of the Blackthorn clan did not respond well to a meek presence. If she wanted her voice to be heard, then she needed to be stern.

“Sapphire, I think it’s wonderful that you have such strong feelings towards Nairy. However, love is a two way streak,” said Kerry. “You can’t just keep one-sidedly imposing yourself on Nairy when he’s not ready for you yet.” Sapphire jolted in surprise at how feisty the usually unassuming little girl was being.

Kerry then turned towards Nairy and forced the Dragonair to look her in the eye. “Nairy, I don’t believe for a second that you’re not aware of Sapphire’s feelings for you.” Nairy wilted and averted his gaze, only to be forced back by a strong jerk from Kerry. “Feigning ignorance, and hiding away everytime Sapphire is trying to engage with you is not only disrespectful, but deeply hurtful of your friend’s feelings!” She yelled, causing the Dragonair to almost tear up at the admonishment.

The young joy then dragged the slippery Dragonair by the ear wing and placed him right in front of Sapphire, who quivered in surprise at the sudden close contact and swiftly averted her gaze. “The right thing for both of you to do right now is to talk to one another and set boundaries.” Kerry continued, as she turned to address Sapphire.

“Sapphire, as the initiator, you need to be clear about your feelings and clearly state your expectations. Pokemon love each other in many ways — for some, it is fleeting, a one time transaction…” Sapphire vigorously shook her head in denial. “Others might prefer a more long term arrangement. So convey your intentions properly and listen to what Nairy has to say.” Sapphire nodded in acknowledgement of the girl’s words, albeit begrudgingly.

“And Nairy,” Kerry turned, eliciting a desire to escape from the Dragonair. “Running away from your problems isn’t going to make them go away. I know you got that bad habit from Nina…”

“Hey!” exclaimed the girl in question. But Kerry simply ignored her and continued.

“However, when it comes to delicate matters like this, you need to deal with it properly, or else it’ll fester into other more unpleasant emotions. Do you understand?” Nairy nodded. “You like Sapphire and consider her as a friend right?” The Dragon nodded once more. “Do you want Sapphire to hate you?”

“Nairr…” The good natured Nairy cried with a vigorous shake of his head.

“Good, then listen to what she has to say and have a proper talk with her.” Kerry concluded, before turning around and glared at the two tactless humans who allowed the situation to reach this point, striking fear in the hearts of the cool Gym Trainer and the fearsome Dragon Tamer. When a Joy gets angry, none may escape her wrath.

***

“Miss Joy, I’m sorry to bother. But I believe it is time for us to begin making our way to join your fellows at the inn.” Alfred chimed, midway through Kerry’s lengthy lecture on love and romance. 

Both Nina and Lilian shot the elderly butler teary eyed looks filled with gratitude. In truth, Kerry’s lecture should have ended long ago, but the girl got too heated and started talking about irrelevant things mid way through. Nina valued her friend a lot but she could be very delusional at times, especially when she started hinting at some sort of secret romance between her and Lilian with wide sparkly eyes.

Kerry coughed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry Mr Alfred, I got too into it. Let me go tidy up and I’ll come right back.” She said, as she rushed upstairs into her room.

Nina sighed as she got up from the couch that had become her captor the last hour or so, relishing the stretch in her legs as she extended her whole body, the loose sleeves of her yukata falling to reveal her well toned arms. Looking around, she could see that Nairy and Sapphire were currently in a little corner by themselves. 

The two Dragonairs were in physical contact, but not in such an overbearingly intertwined manner as Sapphire usually was. Rather, the female Dragonair was just content to rest next to Nairy as the two engaged in quiet conversation. “Seems like Sapphire took Kerry’s words to heart.” The girl thought.

Nina groaned in ecstasy as she released her stretch, turning to look at Lilian who was staring up at her for some reason. I’m going to go to the bathroom and grab my stuff before heading out. Are we all going to be walking there?” That final question was directed towards Alfred, who shook his head in response.

“No, I shall have my Gallade teleport us there.” The elderly butler responded, eliciting a starry eyed gaze from Nina who was looking forward to interacting with the rare Pokemon again.

***

“Nina, Kerry, over here!” Matsuri called, the moment that she saw her two juniors walking into the banquet hall.

The banquet hall was a very large tatami room, the sort that could probably be segmented into smaller rooms, judging by the seams present on the floor and ceiling. Today’s dinner was going to be a joint event with all the other prestigious schools visiting for the meet, so even the lavish banquet hall was having trouble accommodating the hundred over students and teachers that were present.

Nina waved at Matsuri and headed over with Kerry and Lilian. Meanwhile, she was looking around at all the unfamiliar faces. Some of them were wearing jerseys in lieu of yukatas, same as Matsuri, and she could make out the emblems of Pewter City’s Military Academy and Saffron’s Psychic Institute among others.

“Big Sis Nina!” Nina grunted and laughed as a pair of blurry silhouettes crashed into her. Naturally, Nina’s juniors from the Cerulean Gym were here representing the Cerulean Gem as well. Or rather, only Fuyumi was selected as a rep while Natsumi was tagging along as a volunteer.

“Hey girls, it’s good to see you again.” Nina greeted the twins with a tight squeeze, as she led them to where she was sitting and introduced everyone. In particular, the twins stiffened their backs and gave Lilian a nervous bow when Nina got to her, eliciting an amused smirk from the Blackthorn scion.

“I believe we’ve already met during Lady Mizuhana’s wedding reception. All of us are here to touch shoulders today, so no need to linger on formalities,” said Lilian.

“Oh wow, what’s it like being a rich girl?” Matsuri blurted, eliciting a smack on the head from Thomas, an incredulous look from the noble girl and boisterous laughter from the rest.

The banquet proceeded in a similarly raucous manner, as one would expect from a horde of hyperactive trainer school kids. It took everything the teachers had to get everyone to settle down when dinner arrived — a traditional three course Kantonian cuisine which Nina thoroughly enjoyed since they were considerate enough to cater to her Pokemon-free dietary preferences.

“I sense a strong presence on your person.”

After dinner, the students were free to mingle around, and Nina was approached by a creepy looking boy with a neat bowl-cut and wearing the signature high collared black uniform of the Psychic Institute. 

“Why’s he wearing his uniform? Isn’t that super uncomfortable. Even his schoolmates are in jerseys or Yukatas.” Nina mused, feeling a little relieved that the boy did not immediately respond to her thoughts, but she still reinforced her mental defenses just in case. It mostly involved putting herself in a semi-meditative state where any surface thoughts were either empty or filled with nonsense. Nina’s method just involved humming Nairy’s lullaby continuously to mask her thoughts, something she’d gotten very good at over the years.

“I have an Espeon on me.” Nina explained, but refrained from releasing Espy to prove her point. There wasn’t enough space in the room to accommodate Pokemon, so everyone would likely have to feed their team separately later on.

“Sabrina once told me that my Espy is one of the most Gifted Eevees she had ever seen. And she has only evolved and gotten stronger since then.” Nina continued, in an attempt to gauge the boy’s reaction.

The boy nodded with eyes full of intrigue. “I see, I look forward to meeting an Espeon who gained the attention of Lady Sabrina. My name is Mash, it is nice to meet you.” The boy known as Mash extended his hand, which Nina ignored in favor of a courteous nod. Some Psychics were able to bypass mental defenses and infiltrate the mind through physical contact.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Nina, a second year student from the Vermilion Flame.” She greeted, eliciting a smirk from the boy named Mash. As a highly competent Psychic, Mash was not offended by Nina’s snub. Rather, his respect for the girl only increased from her act of caution.

“It’s a shame,” said Mash. “I’m only in my first year, so my Alakazam will have to wait until the free-for-all to cross spoons with your Espeon.”

Nina frowned in confusion. “You have an Alakazam in your first year?” She asked, thinking that it was only the middle of the school year. “Surely this kid knows better than to rush the development of his Pokemon.”

Mash nodded in acknowledgement, not needing to read Nina’s mind to know what she was thinking. “You need not worry, I’ve had Mob with me since I was but a mere babe, and he an Abra. We grew up together and see each other as brothers.”

Nina was intrigued and asked a few more questions about Mash’s unique upbringing. The boy was a little evasive and cryptic as all Psychics tend to be, so she gave up and moved on to other topics instead. Other students from various schools joined in at some point as well, since it wasn’t always that one got to interact with a bona fide Psychic. Not to mention that everyone at least knew of Nina thanks to her work in the Cerulean Gym.

She had the most enjoyable time speaking with a final year student from Silver Glory, Viridian City’s trainer school, which was actually founded by Giovanni, but had since lost its lustre thanks to the purge its faculty was subjected to after the Gym Leader was ousted.

“So your research subject involves trying to rejuvenate the no-man’s land bordering Viridian City?” She asked.

The boy, who looked to be in his late teens nodded. “I wouldn’t exactly call it research at this stage, but it is a subject that I’m keen on studying in university, yes.” He explained that the reason why nothing grew in that barren land was because of Type Energy pollution, the remnant Type Energy that were left behind from battles of yore were constantly in conflict with one another, making it hard for any life to thrive under those circumstances.

“My idea right now is that Dragon Type Energy may be key to solving this problem.” The boy continued. “Dragon Type Energy has powerful, commanding properties that can bring all the other elements to heel, sans Ice and Fairy. Hence why Dragon Pokemon are so versatile…”

The idea he proposed was to use Dragons to dominate the chaotic ambient Type Energy pervading the land and cleanse them somehow. There was some rationale there, but it was clear that the idea was still half-baked.

“Do you mind sparing me some time with your Dragonair at some point, to run a few tests? I have some ideas I want to verify.” The boy asked, to which Nina simply replied in ambivalence and said that she would ask Nairy about it.

The rest of the proceedings were much the same, as Nina got to know the eclectic mix of young Pokemon Trainers that had been gathered for the meet. There were a few times, like with the guy from Silver Glory, where she was reminded that trainer schools weren't just for battle obsessed muscle heads. A fact that was easy to overlook thanks to the unique culture of the Vermilion Flame.

***

Author's Note:

The daily chapter rush on Patreon has begun. We're doing daily chapter releases over there until we hit Chapter 160 for anyone that wants to join in.