Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“Welcome to the Verdant Orchid, my name is Erika, chairwoman of this humble academy.”

The gathered students clapped at the introduction, some even yelled out fervently at the sight of their idol.

Erika was the very definition of a yamato nadeshiko, a traditional japanese beauty, wearing an intricate green and red kimono with golden floral accents, skin white as snow, glossy black hair tied up in a bundle held by luxurious looking hairpins to expose her delicate nape, and ruby red lips looking more supple than even the juiciest of apples.

“You are all here today because you are the best and the brightest that our proud region has to offer.” The Gym Leader continued, eliciting more cheers from the gathered audience. The total number of participants in the inter-school meet turned out to be much larger than Nina had anticipated. 

Outside of the seven major schools, a good number of smaller and lesser known trainer schools were also invited, a very recent development in an effort to stoke competition. It was simply that the less well-off schools were not able to secure accommodation in the luxurious inn that the established players were all staying in, so there was still an element of fraternity there.

Nina looked around and saw that Lilian was standing behind Erika, with a glaze over her eyes, eliciting a cheeky smile from the girl. Not that Nina could blame her, these sorts of speeches and opening ceremonies were boring no matter who was officiating it.

Kerry, though, was absolutely eating it up. The young Joy’s eyes had yet to stop sparkling since Erika took to the stage.

“Psst.” Matsuri hissed, with a light tap on Nina’s shoulder. The younger girl turned her head to see what she wanted. But right as she did, Nina could feel her knees buckling from pressure being applied on the underside.

Nina scowled as she righted herself. “Dammit! What are you? An elementary schooler?!” The childish senior laughed at her successful prank while Nina just ignored her and returned her attention to the front, not wanting to cause a commotion.

***

First day of the inter-school meet involved a healthy dose of bonding exercises. And what better way for a bunch of hyperactive trainer school kids to bond than through an obstacle course — a winding and strenuous path through the nature preserve attached to the Verdant Orchid.

“Keep at it Aqua Girl, not doing so great out of water huh?” Matsuri chimed, as she passed Nina by. The mischievous senior even ran backwards as she was addressing her junior.

“Dammit! Damn these stubby 11 year old legs!” Nina cursed as she pumped her legs to run as fast as she could, her competitive side having been provoked by the senior VF student. But despite her best efforts, all the older students from the other schools overtook her one by one. There was simply not much she could do to close the gap in physique.

Eventually, after a strenuous trek up a fairly steep hiking trail, the girl reached the top of a waterfall, pausing in apprehension in spite of herself. If the map she was given was correct, Nina would have to jump down the curtain of rapidly flowing water and into the small lake underneath it.

A fact that was soon verified by the other runners ahead of her when one of them resolutely jumped off the vertical cliff with a boisterous “Woohoooooo!!!”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Nina…” While Nina was still hesitating, a sweaty looking Kerry caught up to her at one point. 

Seeing the same apprehensive look on her friend’s face invoked a protective urge deep inside of Nina and helped to bolster her courage. Perhaps it was the inner adult inside of her, but Nina felt like she needed to put on a brave front and set an example for the young girl.

“I believe in you. You can do this Kerry — we can do this. Together.” Nina said, as she grabbed hold of Kerry’s hand with a tight squeeze and a resolute nod.

Kerry gulped in response, and returned the sentiment with a nervous nod of her own. And with that the two girls rushed towards the edge of the cliff, hand in hand, as they made a leap of faith amidst ear piercing shrieks.

The chilling impact of the water shook Nina to the core, but once she regained her wits, the girl blew some bubbles from her mouth to determine her bearings. She looked to the side and saw that Kerry was still holding tightly to her hand with closed eyes. With a quick shake of Kerry’s shoulders, Nina gestured at her to follow as they both swam to the surface and made their way to shore.

The next section was a lot more fun — a Pokemon race. There were a number of Ride Pokemon to choose from, but Nina ultimately tapped into her inner horse girl and chose a Rapidash. Not that she could utilize the horse Pokemon's speed to the fullest, since this was ultimately an obstacle course, and that meant needing to navigate through rugged forest terrain. Hence why others had opted for more cumbersome, but sturdy, Pokemon like Rhyhorn. 

Another option was Tauros, but a lot of students had also gone for a Gogoat, like Kerry, for their uncanny litheness. The Grass Type could surmount pretty much any terrain. 

“Figures that a Gym Leader and environmentalist like Erika had no problems importing foreign Pokemon into our borders.” If anything, Nina was disappointed there wasn’t a more diverse selection. She would have loved to ride a Cyclizar

“Nina, can I warm up near your Rapidash?” Kerry said, as she approached with her Gogoat in hand. Nina laughed and asked her Rapidash to flare up the temperature a bit. The two girls were still wet from their earlier dip in the lake. 

By this point, Nina had given up on overtaking her seniors. But she’d be damned if she allowed herself to lose to the other kids around her age. So after a quick dry session from Rapidash, which Kerry’s Gogoat was none too pleased by, Nina mounted the bare back of the Fire horse Pokemon — the students weren’t given a saddle, nor were they afforded a harness, so Nina had to be careful here.

“Alright, giddy up Rapidash! We’ll keep to a reasonable speed to avoid any accidents, but maintain a Flame Wheel and be ready to Flame Charge — we’re gonna blaze a path forward!”

In response to Nina’s command, Rapidash bucked his forelegs and cried out with an enthusiastic whinny, eliciting excited laughter from the girl.

“Let’s ride, Rapidash!” And with that, the girl and her fire horse exploded into a burst of fiery momentum. Nina made sure to hunker down and keep her arms firmly wrapped around Rapidash’s thick muscular neck to avoid getting thrown off and left behind.

“Woohooo!” Nina couldn’t help but cry out at the thrill of the ride as she savoured the warm gust of winds that rushed through her whole body. The world around her faded into a blur from how fast Rapidash was going, and yet this was barely even a fraction of the Pokemon’s speed. It was crazy to think that this hyperbike in Pokemon form was capable of going so much faster if given a clear path.

And speaking of which, they were soon met with their first set of obstructions as they neared the edge of the grassy knolls and approached a dense wooded forest.

“Like we discussed, Rapidash.” Nina called, her voice barely audible from Rapidash’s fierce gallop and powerful heartbeat. “Fire Blast through the bushes, Flame Charge our way through and Firewheel throughout to preserve as much momentum as possible.”

Rapidash whinnied with an aggressive huff and did as he was told, leaving flaming carnage in his wake. His flames were hot to the point that any vegetation that was within a five meter radius of the full grown Fire stead burst into flames and disintegrated at his approach. Even Nina could feel the heat rising on the back of the Rapidash. Yet, despite the slight discomfort, she was entirely unharmed thanks to her mount’s impeccable control over Fire Type Energy.

The only real issue was the trees in their path, which forced Rapidash to slow down his charge and prance around the stubborn, unyielding trunks. Some of the younger sapling combusted easily enough and allowed the sturdy Fire Type to force his way through, but the more ancient trees were barely tickled by the flames and nigh unyielding in their eternal vigil.

But the thrill of the ride was there all the same, as Nina steadily raised her posture and took in her surroundings with a silly grin on her face.

In her immediate vicinity, she could see a Rhyhorn toppling trees with utter indifference, an excited rider above her jumping through the forest canopy from branch to branch on the back of a Gogoat, and behind her a fiery trail of destruction paved by her Rapidash.

Nina laughed, hoping that Erika wouldn’t mind the defacing of her precious land. “Oh who am I kidding, a quick sweep with a squad of powerful Grass Types and this place will be as good as new.” Pokemon were magical that way. 

And speaking of Pokemon, the local wildlife were probably used to the semi-recurrence of this reckless marathon, considering there had yet to be any accidents so far. Nina wouldn’t be surprised if there were some nosy Pachirisu hiding atop the branches with nuts and Berries in hand to watch the show, an image that brought an amused smirk to her face.

“Alright, time to speed up again, Rapidash.” Nina said with a firm pat, once she saw that the vegetation had cleared up somewhat in front of them, probably thanks to the work of some bulldozing Rhyhorn.

Rapidash let out another whinny and burst into flames once more, the girl on his back hollering excitedly at the rapid acceleration with a deformed face.

***

“Ahh… that’s the stuff…” Nina moaned as she lowered herself into the spacious wooden bathtub, allowing her legs to stretch out as the healing properties of the hot spring water seeped into her bones and relaxed her muscles.

After their friendly little race, Nina had dismounted from Rapidash feeling utterly rejuvenated and sweaty at the same time. The girl made sure to thank the Rapidash for his hardwork and thoroughly pampered the Pokemon with Berries as a reward.

“Man, Ride Pokemon are so fun!” She thought at the time, regretting the fact that she opted not to catch that Ponyta back in the Safari Zone. The Rapidash line was great because they had a very clear Evolution criteria.

According to the information that Nina scrounged up from the Pokemon League’s database, Ponytas get faster with age. And much like how juvenile Dragons evolved from the first successful completion of a Dragon Dance. A Ponyta’s evolution was triggered when they finally reached a certain speed threshold and were able to keep up with their Rapidash elders — at around 200 kmph.

It was an absolutely mind boggling speed, faster than most supercars from Nina’s old world. But it was important to note that adult Rapidashes could go anywhere up to 240-250 kmph, so 200 kmph was actually the bare minimum for a Ponyta to be considered an adult and achieve Evolution.

Just the thought of running through the entire region with her personal speedster made Nina giddy with excitement. “But oh well… Maybe next time.”

“Nair~” Speaking of Nairy, the pampered Dragonair cozied up to Nina to make up for the lack of physical affection throughout the day. The fact that there was still room in the bathtub even with her oversized Dragon in it just goes to show how big it was. 

After racing through the nature preserve, Nina had sneakily asked Alfred if he could teleport her back to the villa to soak in the hot spring instead of using the school’s shower facilities. Kerry wanted to join as well, but she was waylaid by her cousins from the other trainer schools. Probably for the better, since Nina was not sure how her unstable hormones would react to seeing her friend’s bare body. Though in Kerry’s case, the mousey girl still retained a very childlike physique so there were probably no problems there.

As Nina revelled in the bliss of having the entire bath to herself, she was startled by the crackling sound of someone opening the sliding door behind her. The girl ran a heated palm through her face to wake herself from her stupor and gather her spirits.

“Is that you, Kerry? Did you manage to get away from your cousins?” Nina asked as she turned around to greet the newcomer, only to see the frozen figure of Lilian Blackthorn standing, towel in hand, at the doorway instead.

“Oh, hey Lilian.” Nina greeted with an awkward smile. “Feel free to uh… join in.” The girl muttered as she resisted the urge to smack herself in the face. “You idiot, this is her family's villa. As if she needs permission from you, you fool!”

However, Lilian did not reply and just continued to stand by the threshold, a look of surprise frozen on her face. Nina lightly waved at the girl in caution, wondering if she had maybe said something wrong. “Hey uh… Lil? You okay there? If you’re not comfortable bathing with me, I can head to the outside bath…” She offered. That way Lilian could be by herself in the indoor bath.

But instead of responding to the question, Lilian’s face simply flushed red as she hurriedly slammed the door shut, with a frantic “Sorry!”

Nina was left by herself in the bath, looking absolutely bewildered as she considered what just happened. “Is she…” The girl muttered, but quickly shook her head to dismiss the rogue thoughts invading her head.

“Lilian’s a girl of noble birth, so she’s probably just not used to the idea of a communal bath.” Nina mused. The girl remembered being much the same way when she first made a hot spring visit in her past life. 

The idea of communal bathing was a very uncomfortable one for most people in the world if they weren’t raised with the appropriate set of values. For most cultures, bath time was a private and intimate moment where one laid themself bare and cleansed their bodies.

“Yup, that’s probably it.” Nina concluded. She had already misunderstood her friend once before and will not allow herself to fall into the same trap.

That said, she felt bad about hogging someone else’s bath like this, so she quickly concluded her time there and exited, much to Nairy and Espy’s disappointment.

“Lilian, I’m done with my bath. You can go in now!” Nina shouted, but the Blackthorn girl was nowhere to be seen in any of the common areas.

***

Author's note:

I'm so creatively drained right now that I'm in dire need of reading material. Anyone has any recommendations?

I don't need anything serious or introspective. Just casual and mindless would do. No litrpgs though.

In fact, I've been trying to read korean manhwa during my downtime. But they're all the same; edgy male protagonist aura farming with a gaggle of women vying to blow them. Anyways, needless to say, I gave up on most of them barely 10 chapters in.

I think I came a across a thread once in the forums ranting about how korean NovelBins and webtoons these days are ostensibly just fanfiction. And you know what? They're right. It's all just Solo Leveling in a slightly different flavor.

It's kind of like pizza; everyone has their own little twist and recipes. But at the end of the day, it's still just pizza. Having it once every couple of weeks or every month is fine. But you can't just eat it every day. It's not healthy for you.