Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“ESSS! ESSSS!!!”

Lillian hurriedly returned Sapphire to her Pokeball as she rushed to press down on Nina’s Espeon who was crying in distress.

“If you go in right now, you’re going to get hurt!” The girl exclaimed as she dragged the Espeon closer to Mash Hinatsu’s Alakazam, who was desperately trying to shield them from the fallout of Mega Charizard’s blast with all his remaining might. His barrier flickered in and out, occasionally letting in heat, dust and debris into their sanctuary.

“Nina…” Lilian prayed to the stars, desperately hoping that her friend was alright. “This is all my fault, I should have listened to her!” Lilian wouldn’t know what to do with herself if something bad were to happen to the one she had sought to protect.

“ESSS!!! ESSS!!!” Meanwhile Espy continued to struggle against Lilian’s hold, tears streaming down her cheeks all the while.

“Calm down, Espy! You need to help Mob. Nina will be fine, I saw Nairy jumping into the water just now  — there’s also your Clodsire friend as well!” It was all just empty platitudes of course. A fact that Espy knew all too well as she was unheeding of Lilian’s words, even threatening to hurt the girl with waves of aggression in her mind if she didn’t let go, if not for Mob the Alakazam chiming in and placating the Espeon.

Images flashed through both Lilian and Espy’s mind of a Dragonair with a determined look on his face, diving into the water. His scales, burned, bloodied and scarred, glowing a brilliant iridescence before being engulfed by the Light of Evolution.

Nairy’s body shifted, curling up as the clear orbs adorning his body cracked, unleashing a powerful burst of stormy Type Energy that crystallized and encompassed the coiled up Dragonair in a chrysalis. The waters churned, electricity crackling as the crystal cocoon glowed a deep purple and exuded a steaming heat.

The sky roiled, water droplets falling from thundering clouds to extinguish the burning hellscape surrounding Lilian and her companions. And with one last thundering strike in the vicinity of the chrysalis, the crystal cracked, revealing a newly evolved Dragonite glowing a golden white in residual power.

With his newly acquired arms, Nairy the Dragonite shot through the water and gently pulled the burnt visage of an unconscious Nina into his embrace before bursting out into the skies.

“W-where’s he going?” Lilian sputtered as she helplessly watched the orange silhouette streak across the night sky, flying towards the city.

“Es.” It was Nina’s Espeon who replied with an image of Kerry-Anne Joy in Lilian’s villa, eliciting a nod from the girl.

“Yes of course, Nina’s wellbeing takes precedence.” And Kerry-Anne Joy was the healthcare provider that Nairy was most familiar with, so of course she was the first to come to mind.

“Question is, what do we do now…?”

The Mega Charizard was still active in the skies, going on an indiscriminate tirade as he continuously swooped down onto the surface and burned everything in sight, including all the incapacitated Yamaguchi Group subordinates who were screaming and floundering around in desperation.

“Blast! What about the other team? Are they alright?!” Lilian turned towards Mob the Alakazam, hoping that the Psychic was still tethered to his trainer. 

Mob gave the girl a reassuring nod and responded with an image of Mash Hinatsu and his Drowzee shielding the other two girls with a Psychic barrier against the encroaching flames, while enemy gangsters were burning all around them. The warehouse they were in seemed to be on the verge of collapse as metal beams fell from the ceiling, crushing people and Pokemon alike.

Lilian frowned and slammed a fist down onto the rough concrete, causing the skin of her knuckles to split and gush blood. The girl bit down on her lip and relished in the stinging pain that overtook her, a momentary distraction from the stifling sense of self-loathing propagating within her heart.

“I believe it is still too early to give up, milady,” came a sudden, familiar voice from behind Lilian, prompting the girl to jolt up in surprise.

“Alfred!” Lilian exclaimed, a look of relief and joy evident on her face, only for it to fall apart when she caught sight of her butler’s appalling state; the man’s previously immaculate hairdo was now dirtied and disheveled, his bespoke suit, secretly lined with Dragon Scales, was in tatters. But most concerning of all was the bloodied stump in place of what used to be his left arm.

“Alfred! What happened?!”

The butler chuckled. “The opposition was fiercer than anticipated. But not to worry, with some timely aid from Lady Erika, I was able to complete the mission.”

Lilian wanted to admonish the man and tell him to forget about the mission, but just as she was about to speak up, a powerful Aura descended upon the devastated harbour.

“And that would be Master Bruno of the Elite Four.” Alfred continued, with a reassuring smile on his face.

“ABOMINATION!!! Come and face me in battle!” A powerful voice boomed, commanding the attention of anyone still alive to hear it.

“GRAAAH!!!” Mega Charizard roared at the challenge, turning to face the cretin who dared to intrude upon its domain.

In the distance, standing amidst flame and rubble was a muscular, feral looking giant of a man with a mane of jet black hair and wearing only the lower half of a tattered gi. In front of him was a Lucario, already in its Mega Evolved form, the cream-colored fur on its torso glowed a dazzlingly golden light. A silver Aura so potent and dense as to be visible to the naked eye surrounded the Mega Lucario, almost like a layer of armor encompassing its bipedal form.

The pair of Elites stood undaunted, patiently waiting for the rabid Mega Charizard to finish charging up another Fire Blast, one which it unleashed specifically towards them, disintegrating everything in its path.

“Lu.”

Even in face of the encroaching destruction, Lucario remained calm, simply taking up a karate stance with its legs spread wide and arms to the side. 

“Hah!” And with a forceful thrust, the Mega Lucario met the imposing blast of Fire with a Force Palm, parting the flames in half as they streamed past Bruno, still looking stoic as ever even as the edge of his hair singed and caught on fire.

With a casual swipe to smother the embers engulfing his person, Bruno let out a vicious grin, one filled with joy at finally encountering a worthy opponent. A look that Lance often wore and that Lilian was all too familiar with thanks to the nature of her clan.

“Time to have some fun…” Bruno growled, prompting his Mega Lucario to vanish in Extreme Speed, before abruptly appearing next to the Mega Charizard and slamming an empowered kick to the side of its head.

“GRAAAHHH!!!” For the first time since the start of this whole ordeal, the Mega Charizard cried out in pain as it was sent crashing unceremoniously towards the ground.

“Hah! Sturdy little bugger aren’t ya! Let’s see how many hits you can take!” And with a spirited cry, Lucario vanished once more and appeared on top of the prone Charizard, its palms pressed together and poised to the side. A ball of pure Steel Type Energy condensed between Lucario’s paws, the silver orb crackling and wobbling as it steadily expanded.

“Lu… Luu… Luca… Luca-RIO!!!!”

Mega Lucario pressed the base of its palms together and thrusted the supercharged orb of Meteor Mash against the Mega Charizard’s waning body, causing a powerful explosion to erupt with the two Mega Pokemon in the center.

“Zam…” Mob the Alakazam groaned as he was once again forced to put up another barrier, this time with Espy’s help since the Espeon was now better assured of her trainer’s safety. As much as Espy resented Lilian right now for dragging them into this mess, she knew for a fact that Nina would be very sad if she were to allow the conceited girl to be killed.

Lilian crouched down, minimizing the space that the two Psychics needed to cover to reduce their strain. The girl looked on in awe at the power being displayed before her. Noboru’s bastard of a Mega Charizard was powerful, yes, but it was still just a pale imitation when compared to the real deal.

And in truth, a Fighting and Steel Type hybrid like Lucario should have been at an absolute disadvantage when faced against the Fire and Flying Mega Charizard — an inherent double Type handicap that was hard to overcome even for an Elite Pokemon.

However, Noboru Yamaguchi was already down, which meant that the already tenuous Mega Evolution became even more unstable. Not to mention, the process was forced to begin with, going against the very nature of Pokemon Evolution itself. And the fact that the Mega Charizard had largely expended itself during its indiscriminate rampage.

All of that meant that when the light of Lucario’s destructive attack diminished, what was left was the lifeless corpse of Noboru Yamaguchi’s pitiful Charizard, still in its Mega form. Further highlighting just how blasphemous the Yamaguchi Group’s actions were in creating the technology that allowed for such an abominable existence. Because normally, a Mega Evolution was supposed to be transient, not the permanent body modification exhibited by the deceased Charizard.

“Deplorable! Absolutely deplorable! It’s like they’re treating Pokemon as disposable tools!” Lilian had no basis for her conjecture, but she was certain that even if Noboru Yamaguchi had prevailed, that Charizard wouldn’t have been able to revert back to normal. The poor creature was doomed to burn out its life in service of its captor’s malice.

“Milady, I believe it is safe to stand now.”

Lilian nodded and grabbed hold of the hand that was offered to her. “Alfred, I will become Champion.” The girl vowed, all so that she may never experience such helplessness again. “And when I do, people like the Yamaguchi Group, Team Rocket and the conservative faction will rue the day that they were born into this world.”

Alfred smiled and pulled her mistress up from the ground. “I am certain that you will, milady. I have nothing but the utmost confidence in your resolve.”

After Lilian regained her muster, the girl went about helping Espy track down the Pokemon that Nina left behind. Alfred’s Haunter was rattled and Sir Clodington was singed but unharmed, Clodsires were very sturdy Pokemon after all. Hattori’s Venomoth, though, was in a very critical state, necessitating urgent medical care.

It was a good thing then that emergency services arrived soon after Bruno concluded his battle. Firefighters with Water Pokemon rushed to extinguish the nearby forest fires to prevent them from spreading any further. Paramedics running around like headless Torchics trying to save as many lives as they could, as deplorable as those lives may be.

Sirens flashed and sounded throughout the night, both in Celadon Harbor and in the city where an intense conflict took place around the Yamaguchi Group headquarters.

Lilian sighed. The whole thing was a disaster and it was undoubtedly her fault. “I need to do better. Nina’s right, I’m not Red, nor am I my uncle.” What their two regions needed was not another battle crazed warlord as Champion, but rather a level headed peace-maker. 

“I need to be my own person, find my own path. A Champion isn’t just one who is strong, but one who is wise.” Myriad scenes flashed through Lilian’s mind; of conniving men and women in suits with their crooked smiles, the disgusting sights she saw with Nina in Vermilion City’s underworld, the cackling figure of the Noboru Yamaguchi and his wretched Charizard, and the imposing back of Lance Blackthorn, the one she sought to surpass.

“Rich girl!”

Lilian turned around, her reverie interrupted by a boisterous voice. A smile bloomed naturally on the girl’s face at the haggard sight of her other three companions. Mash Hinatsu was being supported on the shoulders of his two female companions, but otherwise looked unharmed. Even Cole Harrison had gotten up at some point and was shivering by their side.

“Thank goodness… Thank the stars…” Lilian murmured with teary eyes as she rushed towards the three teens and pulled them into a hug.

***

Author's note:

This arc isn't over just yet, there's still a couple of chapters to go before we move into the epilogue. 

I had originally envisioned this arc going differently before I involved Charlie in the plot. The original intention was actually to have Nobita be a brainwashed member of the Ace Trainer program that the conservatives were trying to cultivate.

It would have involved a lot more espionage and infiltration on Nina and Lilian's behalf, and more a gauntlet of battles as opposed to this big mess of a melee we got.

But after a few iterations, this was the version that I settled with. It's not perfect and neither is the entirety of Part Two for that matter. I mentioned this to my Patreons previously. But if this had remained a private project then it was likely that I would have scrapped Part Two and rewritten it midway through.

However, what's done is done and I have no choice but to commit. I'll elaborate more when we get to the Afterword following Chapter 160, but Part Three will be better and more considered. I'm also trying something new and condensing the pacing a bit more just to fit in all the content I want to include. And so far, the results have been satisfactory.