Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 267

“Nina, dear… Will you be leaving us so soon?”The girl responded with a wry chuckle. “It’s been well over three weeks, grandmother. And I’ve mostly achieved what I set out to do on this trip. So it’s high time for Kerry and I to get going again.”

Kerry chimed in with a warm smile of her own and gently grabbed hold of the old woman’s hand. “Don’t worry, Annabeth. Nina and I still have one more day tomorrow before we officially set off.”

Annabeth Jones sighed wistfully. “I think I’ll miss you the most, Kerry. That ointment you prescribed has done wonders for Percy’s joints. But I hear the two of you girls won’t be journeying together this time around? Now why is that?” She added with concern.

Kerry stole a guilty little glance at Nina. “Ohm— my friend, managed to convince my parents to take some time off for a little holiday in the Johto Safari Zone. So I’ll be taking the chance to join them as well.” And oh how excited she was when she found out. All that time spent with the Joneses had only intensified her longing for some wholesome family time of her own.

Nina nodded in support of her friend. “I heard Justin and Lucy are still hanging around that place chasing rumours of a Riolu sighting. So you’ll at least be in good company. And besides,” the girl returned to addressing her grandmother, “I have my own little quest to attend to.”

Annabeth laughed, the mere mention of a quest sent her Galarian blood into a frenzy. “Yes, quests are indeed important, my dear. But there’s no harm in bringing a party along in your endeavours.”

“Heh. This is a quest that I must face on my own, unfortunately.” Nina said as she took a little sip of her Shuckle Juice. “But don’t you worry, grandmother… I won’t be alone. Not truly. Because I’ll have my Pokemon by my side.”

***

The bells tinkled as Nina and Kerry stepped into the bounds of the gaudy esoterica.

“Ah, Miss Jones. I see you’re finally back. Are you here for the necklace?”

Nina smiled. “Madame Opal! Yup, is it ready yet?”

The mystic woman waved at the glass counter in lieu of a reply, to produce an elaborately carved wooden box out of thin air. “It’s been ready for many days now, just waiting for your retrieval.”

Nina approached with an almost reverent gait. She could feel something stirring within the box. Not quite Aura, but a pulse — something strange yet familiar. “May I?” She gestured.

“By all means…”

With a delicate touch, Nina caressed the wooden box and gingerly flipped it open. To unveil an iridescent sheen dancing beneath the light.

“As requested, strips of Dratini shedding twisted and bound into a single unyielding cord,” said Madame Opal, the pride of a craftwoman oozing out of her every breath. “Unlike metal, this necklace is infinitely more malleable, more resistant to the elements and softer on the nape.”

“It’s so pretty…” Kerry gasped, in place of Nina who was stunned silent in awe at the holographic rainbow shimmering along the braided cord.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Madame Opal…” Nina mused after running her fingers through the soft and scaly texture of her commission.

“Heh. The credit is all yours, Miss Jones, as is the idea. I have to say… It was quite the pleasure to be afforded the privilege of working with such an abundance of precious material. And as agreed, the excess is mine to keep?” The shopkeeper added with a glint.

Nina chuckled. The idea was actually suggested by the forewoman back in Olivine City when the girl consulted her about choice materials for a necklace. But no matter… “Yes, of course. As agreed.” Nina replied. She still had half a chest’s worth of Tini’s sheddings. And if she really needed more, Nina was fairly certain she could ask a favor from Lilian anyway.

The woman beamed, her golden grills — a new addition from the last time she met Nina — shone bright under the fluorescent light. “Excellent! Then the commission is free as per our agreement. I’ve also prepared the appropriate cages based on the measurements I took of your gemstones last time.” Madame Opal extended her hands with a graceful bow. “If you wouldn’t mind entrusting them to me so that I may put on the finishing touches?”

“Of course.” Nina reached behind her neck and unclasped the placeholder necklace she had been wearing all this while, the Mew Gem and her Key Stone dangling from the chain.

“The cage I prepared allows for both gems to be conjoined, thereby eliminating any unsightly rattles.” Opal explained as she deftly removed the gemstones from their former, makeshift housing. Before securing them into a nest of delicate crystal strands woven into a single piece of Dragonite Scale — the woman had assured Nina at the beginning that such an arrangement would prove more durable than conventional metal.

The result was an iridescent teardrop-shaped pendant with its gemstones aligned vertically and strung onto the holographic cord of Dratini sheddings — the oval Mew Gem on top and spherical Key Stone at the bottom for geometric conformity.

“What do you think, Kerr?” Nina asked as she looped her brand new necklace around her neck, earning her two thumbs up from the envious Joy girl.

“There’s a simple little knot at the back which you may pull at to adjust the sizing.” Madame Opal added. “No clasps involved, as per your request, just one single continuous piece. And as usual, do come back if you encounter any inadequacies with the wear — I’ll adjust it for free within the first year.”

“Thanks, Madame Opal. Will do!”

***

“Are you ready, Azzy?”

“Haunter, haunt!”

“Hehehe… Rocky’s ready too. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

“Gra… Graveler!” The Graveler pounded at his rocky shell with barely contained excitement. He had been ready for this moment for weeks now. It was only his promise to Azzy that held him back.

Nina chuckled and expanded Azzy’s Dream Ball — they had gone to a Pokemart before Azzy’s official capture and the Gastly, at the time, had fallen in love with the Dream Ball’s psychedelic patterns at first sight. Not that it mattered much since Azzy barely spent any time in her Pokeball anyway.

“Hehe…” Kerry did the same with Rocky’s Heavy Ball and together, the two girls returned their respective Pokemon in a flash of light.

The duo exchanged yet another giddy smile as Kerry stepped towards the trade machine to double check its settings. The two of them had gone to a Pokemon Center for the occasion.

“Right, everything looks good. Ready when you are, Nins!”

“Ready!” Nina declared as she placed Azzy’s Dream Ball on the glowing pedestal. Kerry did the same on her end, their hearts pounding nervously all the while.

The young Joy girl poked at the trade machine and soon after, Nina received a prompt on her screen asking her to agree to a trade. So naturally, she tapped yes. And after another round of confirmation, the machine stirred and both Pokeballs were sucked into the funnel dangling above the pedestal.

The screen shifted, showing the icon of two Pokeballs with blinking arrows pointing across from each other — a quaint little loading screen of sorts. Then, all of a sudden, the trade paused and another prompt emerged on the screen.

[Exchange of Psychic Signature complete. 

Pokemon Evolution in progress. Please hold…]

The two girls squealed, jumping up and down in glee.

A flash of light and the screen shifted once more, to show an internal view of the suspended Pokeballs — a Haunter and a Graveler cocooned in light. 

The Light of Evolution twisted and swirled, becoming brighter and brighter until the whole machine began to glow. Then, darkness as the screen turned off and restarted again, back to the previous loading screen of a trade in progress.

Nina’s smile twisted into a concerned frown. “Did the Trade Evolution fail maybe? Rocky’s been excited to Evolve all this time so maybe Azzy just isn’t ready yet?” 

As the girl’s thoughts spiraled further into negativity, the trade machine beeped and a Heavy Ball plopped right back out onto her pedestal.

Nina picked the ball up with wary apprehension, but peeking over at Kerry’s side helped to temper her dread ever so slightly. “Kerry’s still smiling so I guess it’s fine…” As a Nurse Joy, she likely would have been the first one to raise the alarm had something gone wrong.

“Gosh, I just can’t wait! Are you ready, Nins?!”

The girl in question suppressed her doubts and forced a smile back on her face. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Nina nervously thumbed the nubbins adorning the top of the Heavy Ball, feeling the sheer weighty heft of Maizie’s handiwork. She had commissioned Heavy Balls of her own but it never ceased to amaze her how there were just subtle little differences on the surface of the specially crafted Apricorn Balls.

With a deep breath, Nina locked eyes with Kerry. Then, with a nod, the two of them tossed out their respective Pokeballs in tandem.

“Gooolem!”

“Gen! Gengaaaar!”

The two newly evolved final-stage Pokemon cried out in celebration, completely dispelling the knot in Nina’s stomach.

“You did it, Azzy! You’re fully evolved now!”

“You too, Rocky! I’m so proud of you!”

The two girls threw themselves into the powerful embrace of their beloved Pokemon and really took in all that had changed.

Azzy was more solid now — more corporeal, almost alive in how warm she was… There was also a distinctly grey colouration to the shiny Gengar, as usual, so subtle that one would have to squint to notice it amidst her shadowy cloak. The exterior of the Gengar was so dim that light seemed to almost vanish on contact, like the species was the very phenomenon of shadow given form.

“Gengar!” Azzy bounced around cheerfully on her rotund body, seemingly appreciating the novelty of having legs for a change, before picking Nina up and spinning her around in celebration.

“Hahaha! I’m so happy for you, Azzy!”

Meanwhile, Rocky felt much the same — solid and unyielding. And likely denser than before. Though Kerry would have to weigh him later on to be sure. Good thing they were in a Pokemon Center and her clan had special equipment for Rock Pokemon like Rocky.

“Golem, go!” With a casual flex of his now-organic muscles — a fascinating change that Kerry would also have to examine further later on — he picked up the dainty little nurse girl with his reptilian arms and proceeded to raise her up and down into the air like a toddler.

“Hehehe… Rocky~ Quit it~”

The two girls spent an inordinate amount of time celebrating, until their revelry was interrupted by one of Kerry’s cousins who came in to check on them.

“Kerry, are you done here? We’ve got other customers looking to use the trade machine.”

“Oh shoot! Sorry, Amy! We’re almost done, just gotta do the return trade.”

The older Nurse Joy responded with a wry chuckle. “Just make sure to reset everything once you’re done. And if you hurry it up, I’m pretty sure room 13 is vacant right now.”

Kerry thanked her cousin once more as she and Nina repeated their trade, then made their way over to the empty examination room to conduct a full physical of their newly evolved Pokemon.

***

Authors' note:

My brain: Hey, you should probably get your taxes done early this year instead of leaving it to the last minute like you always do.

Also my brain: But you know... It's been a while since you did a proper clean of the house hasn't it? I mean, oof! Look at the state of that bathroom!

Brain cackling in the distance: Remember those edits you wanted to make to ItU and all those new chapter ideas? Here's a brand new original story, complete with all the details taking up all your brain space. Wouldn't you rather be working on this instead?

ARGHHHHH!!!!