Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 261

“Have you been to our city before?” Mash asked.“Yup. Back when I was a little kid and Espy was just a furry little Eevee.” Nina crooned as she stepped out of the Teleport station and into the buzzing streets of Saffron. The city had a distinctly different atmosphere compared to the bustling Vermillion — both equally busy but Saffron felt more vibrant, less stifling. Even the people walking down the streets looked happier and more relaxed.

“Es, es…” Espy nodded in agreement, equally basking in the sense of nostalgia emanating from her human’s mind.

Nina giggled. “Do you remember, Espy? Meeting Sabrina for the first time and our quest for Mr Psychic?” Those were the days, a little girl struggling to scrounge together enough money to feed her growing Pokemon. So much so that she would even willingly accept a TM of unknown origin from a PDF looking deadbeat.

Now though, she knew better. Johnny had once told her about all the nasty little bugs that ne’er-do-wells liked to implant in bootleg TMs. Not that she would need to beg for freebies anymore. A simple little Calm Mind TM could barely scratch her bank account these days.

In consideration of his friends’ sentiments, Mash happily tagged along in their leisurely stroll towards Sabrina’s Gym. Even though he could just as easily have Mob Teleport them there in an instant. 

But with the expert guidance of a Saffron native-cum-Psychic, the duo of humans and their Pokemon effortlessly waded through the throngs of the crowded city, descended into a  subway station just in time to catch a passing train, and exited right as the transiting bus arrived.

“How come you can’t do all of that, Espy?” Nina mused, eliciting a defiant huff from the Espeon. She could already feel her competitive princess probing at the flow of Psychic Energy around Mash and Mob in an attempt to replicate the feat.

“Here we are!” Mash declared, right as they arrived near the vicinity of a sprawling campus of massive domed buildings and impressively abstract structures — one containing both the Saffron City Gym and Sabrina’s Psychic Institute in which Mash was currently enrolled. “Welcome to my abode.”

The boy chuckled. “The Institute is where I grew up.” He explained, upon seeing his friend’s confusion. “All members of the Summers Clan, be they from the main family or one of the branches, get sent to The Institute for training upon the awakening of their Gift. In my case, my connection with Mob meant that I was gifted since birth. So naturally, I’ve spent more time here than most.”

“My sympathies…?” Nina drawled, unable to get a read on the boy’s feelings.

“Oh no, you misunderstand.” Mash laughed. “But no worries, most people imagine The Institute as some sort of cold and detached prison where they contain all the… supernaturally inclined humans.” A byproduct of popular culture most likely. 

“But in reality, The Institute is a school like any other — a training ground to educate and nurture young Psychics with its own built in research facility. A lot of people don’t know that a good majority of the conveniences they enjoy in life are thanks to the fruits of our labour. Without the Gifted, Professor Bill’s transfer system, for example, wouldn’t have been possible.”

Nina followed along as they entered the building in question, the interior looking very clinical and sterile with its reflective marble tiles, rounded corners and pure white walls adorned with the occasional metal and wood fittings. It reminded Nina quite a fair bit of the Apple campus she saw in the smartphone ads of her past life actually.

Mash explained that the architecture was specifically designed by a fellow Psychic to “optimize the flow of the elements” which sounded suspiciously like feng shui to Nina’s otherworldly brain.

“Are we not going to the Gym instead?” Nina asked as they passed a couple of kids and a Wynaut attempting to bend a spoon with their mind. Similar sights could be seen all around the building; humans dressed in monochromatic uniforms sat in meditation, various household objects levitating in the air and myriad Pokemon milling about.

“No. The Gym is only used for battles against challenging trainers. The bulk of our training facilities are located within Institute grounds, including a number of secluded simulation rooms we can use for the day — it’s just more efficient that way. There’s also TM readers and printers we can borrow from the research team if it comes down to that.”

Nina nodded as they entered a fairly spacious and empty room — one similar to the training simulation rooms that she often used back in her student days at the Vermilion Flame. It seemed Mash was still not convinced that Espy could learn Miracle Eye on her own. “I guess we’ll just have to prove him wrong then…” A wave of affirmation from Espy followed after the girl’s musings.

“Right. I suppose we don’t need anything too ostentatious.” Mash said as he poked around on the console. “So without further ado, let’s begin with the demonstration shall we?”

“Zam.” Mob echoed as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his intricate silver spoon, summoning a surge of Psychic Type Energy.

The air stilled and took on a purple hue, but the room remained as empty as ever. However, before Nina could ask, she heard something wet moving above her, prompting the girl to look up and see two gigantic eyeballs staring down on the space, moist, bloodshot and surreal — like a scene out of a lovecraftian horror.

“Wow… Freaky! Are those Mob’s eyes?”

The Alakazam’s trainer nodded in response. “Miracle Eye in essence is a means of establishing a domain by projecting the user’s eyes over an established space. It’s also a very strenuous move that requires a lot of energy as you can see from Mob’s struggling countenance.”

And indeed, Nina could see the constipated look on the normally composed Psychic Pokemon, his silver spoons shaking in strain.

“Mob hasn’t fully mastered it yet, unfortunately. But once he does, he will be able to battle with it active over the arena and reveal all that is hidden within his domain.”

Nina whistled in amazement. “I can see now why they didn’t think to use it for screening before. It’s quite a flashy move isn’t it?” Any approaching bad guy would be able to see it from miles away, making it easily avoidable. But as a form of deterrent, it would be highly effective. “So what does it do exactly?”

“Miracle Eye will allow for an omniscient view of the battlefield which, once the user becomes accustomed to, will provide a strategic advantage. It also allows the user’s gaze to penetrate all facets of reality in the established space. So any Pokemon hiding underground, in darkness, in shadow and so on will be revealed to the user — there is no hiding from the Miracle Eye.”

Mash gestured towards Nina’s shadow. “So for example, Mob tells me that you have a Haunter in your shadow and that she is currently in the throes of folding a piece of pape— and now that we have noticed her, the Haunter is now on high alert and has taken up a battle-ready posture.”

Nina giggled and called out to her hidden bodyguard. “Don’t worry, Azzy, Mash is a friend. There’s no need to be on guard.” She then turned her attention back to Mash. “So what’s this about Miracle Eye being able to nullify a Dark Type’s Psychic immunity then?”

“Simple,” The boy continued with his lecturing monotone. “Psychic Type Energy deals damage by affecting the mind. Dark Type Energy naturally shrouds a Pokemon’s existence in a veil of Darkness. Hence, for all intents and purposes, a Dark Pokemon’s mind or the mind of a subject shielded by them are all but invisible to our mind’s eye.” And in the case of a physical move like Psycho Cut, only the material aspects of the move would land while the Psychic Energy just phases right through.

“Miracle Eye pierces through that veil and allows us to ‘see’ them. Thus, enabling Psychic moves to also affect them to a certain degree — note the prudence in my tone. There still exists anti-synergy between Dark and Psychic Type Energy. So regrettably, you will find that the efficacy of said move will still be limited to an extent.”

Nina looked up at the gigantic eyeball and hummed in consideration. “Hmm… How about it, Espy? Think you can replicate the move?”

“Essspeon…” The adorable pink feline swished her twin tails around as she contemplated everything she’d seen of the move. From Mash’s words, it seemed that the biggest barrier preventing lesser Psychic species from using Miracle Eye was simply Type Energy capacity, as evidenced by Mob’s struggle. The Alakazam had always been Espy’s better in terms of raw Psychic prowess, which didn’t bode well for the Espeon’s prospects.

“Y’know, Espy… It seems to me like the pure unadulterated version of Miracle Eye might be trying to do too much at the same time. You don’t really need an all encompassing view of the arena, do you?”

“Es?” The Espeon tilted her head in confusion and probed into Nina’s mind to sync up with her human’s thought process. “Es. Espeon!” Espy nodded, once she had a better idea of what the girl was trying to convey.

The idea was a simple one. Just pare down the function of the move and thereby reduce Type Energy consumption. Realistically, Espy would only really need Miracle Eye to contend with Dark Types anyway. 

“And who’s to say that we even need two eyeballs in the sky? One seems plenty. Unless, of course, there’re complications with skimping out. I should ask Mash about this.” And so she did, eliciting a headshake from the boy.

“You’ll notice that Mob has his eyes closed the entire time that Miracle Eye is active. Trying to see both from the perspective of the move’s omniscience and from the first person is certain to cause all sorts of unpleasantries; headache, nausea, vertigo… all detrimental to a Pokemon’s function.”

“Yeah, but do you need two eyes to be omniscient?” Nina mused. “I mean, that’s not very… omniscient-like innit?” Espy could simply have both eyes closed but still project only one Miracle Eye.

“I— That’s—” When faced with the brutally simplistic logic of the girl, the prodigal Psychic specialist was rendered completely speechless.

Nina giggled. “I suppose there’s only one way to find out.” She said while urging Espy to give it a try.

The first attempt, as expected, did not go very well. Try as she might, Espy simply could not project her eyes the way that Mob could, let alone be able to replicate Miracle Eye’s functions, only managing to flare up her Aura and establish a Psychic Terrain per her usual domain. 

So, Nina’s sulky princess did what she did best and demanded that Mob demonstrate the move to her again and again until she was satisfied, only stopping when the Alakazam was left in a state of rasp panting and Espy herself collapsed into a pile from Type Energy exhaustion.

Nina chuckled as she gently caressed her limp furball. “Yeah, I don’t think Espy’ll be able to get it by today and it’s getting late so it’s about time we head back home. We’ll try again on our own tomorrow, but do you mind if we call in for some advice or another demonstration?”

Mash replied with an amicable smile. “Sure thing. Why don’t you swing by for lunch next time? It’ll be our treat. And maybe I’ll take you on a proper tour of the Gym as well?”

“That sounds great. Thanks again, Mash!”

“You’re welcome… Oh, and I should also give you a card for the Teleport station, it’ll allow for access at a hefty discount. Ideally, I’d like to give you the one that completely waives the charges but unfortunately, it’s exclusive to members of the clan.”

Every single Teleport station in the region was run by Sabrina’s clan, and travel by way of Teleport was a very expensive affair — Psychic Pokemon were rare and trained Psychics that could reliably Teleport passengers were even more so. Hence why most people prefer to Fly around. It was the equivalent of flying on a private jet in Nina’s old world. But the convenience was undeniable.

Obviously one could Teleport on their own if their Pokemon were capable of it, like Espy. But not knowing the exact coordinates of the destination posed a certain degree of risk. One might accidentally crash into an obstruction or the middle of traffic for example. The existence of Teleport stations helped mitigate such risk since the relevant personnel would liaise with their colleagues in the target location and coordinate the shift. 

And of course, if one was without a Teleporter of their own, the station had their own stable of Psychics who would be willing to be of service. So Mash’s gift was indeed a generous one, even though she suspected the price would still remain an extravagant expense with the rebate.

Incidentally, their Teleport from Vermillion to Saffron was completely free thanks to Mash’s status as a member of the Summers Clan — Sabrina’s nominal successor no less.

“Thanks Mash! I’ll put the card to good use!” Nina beamed as they proceeded to bid each other farewell.

***

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