Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“... devastation of the Indigo Village, believed to have been caused by Koga, the now former-member of the Elite Four. The Pokemon League is still refusing to comment on whether the incident is linked to the destruction of the Yamaguchi Group and the terrorist attack on Celadon Harbor just two days prior…”

Nina groaned as she felt the unpleasant sensation of something hard pressing against her nose, interrupting her focus on the TV. The girl pouted amidst the layer of bandages encasing her head and glared at the culprit. “Nitey, cut it out!” 

The mischievous perpetrator was indeed Nina's recently evolved partner, whose newest obsession seemed to be the act of poking at the immobile Nina's nose with his newly acquired hands. 

Nina sighed. “I guess it's my fault, since I always used to boop his snout like this when he was a Dratini.” Truly a “reap what you sow” moment.

“Espy…” Nina pleaded. “Can you make Nitey stop, please…?”

However, the Espeon was unresponsive, merely lounging around lazily as she indulged in the usual massage from Brucey. Nina’s princess was still mad at her for allowing herself to get so hurt. Even though she kept telling Espy that it was completely outside of her control.

“It’s not like I willingly allowed myself to be choked out by a middle-aged crime lord juiced up on Infinity Energy and be paralyzed by Stun Spore…” Nina mumbled. “And besides, even if I wasn’t paralyzed, I doubt I could have outrun that Fire Blast.”

Espy didn’t respond, but Nina knew that her Espeon had heard her, thoughts and all. The Espeon had maintained a perpetual link to Nina’s mind since their most recent ordeal, refusing to untether even when Nina was sleeping or when the nurses returned Espy to her Pokeball when they needed the space to examine their patient.

Nina could tell that Espy was feeling guilty for failing to shield her against the blast. Not that her tsundere princess would ever admit to it.

The girl let out another sigh. “This is the second time that I’ve been hospitalized in this life… Pretty sure the old me was only ever hospitalized once for appendicitis…” This round of hospitalization though, was definitely Nina’s worst one yet with burns across her entire body. Burns so severe that she required several rounds of intensive treatment just to stabilize.

Even now, her medical team was still diligently stopping by everyday to take Nina over to a rejuvenation tank to regenerate her skin. “Welp, I guess I can finally get rid of that stubborn tan I got.” Though she had no doubts that the melanin would return, since she didn’t plan to quit diving just yet. But this time, she would take the chance to adopt some proper skincare routine right from the beginning.

Also, Nina was bald now. Though her doctor assured her that there was no permanent damage to her follicles and that her hair would grow back in due time. They just needed to shave her to facilitate easy treatment. Her eyebrows were gonna take forever to regrow though. 

A series of knocks sounded from the door, interrupting Nina’s reverie. “Come in!” The girl responded. Nina was largely immobile these days, so visitors were always an exciting prospect, even if it was just a nurse stopping by to check on her vitals.

The door opened ever so slightly, revealing an uncharacteristically timid looking Lilian Blackthorn between the gaps. The girl had her lips pursed, eyes glued to the floor as she clung to the side of the door.

“Cuuute!” The gap between the proud Dragon Tamer’s current demeanor and her usual noble self was enough to send a jolt of electricity straight through Nina’s heart.

Nina smiled, not that Lilian could see from all the stuff covering her face. “Hey Lil, good to see you again. How have you been doing?”

Lilian took in a deep breath and shuffled her way into the room, but instead of sitting down on the chairs that were lined up next to Nina’s sick bed, the girl just bobbed her feet around awkwardly near the door.

“Hey uh… Lil, It’s kinda hard for me to bend my neck right now, with all this stuff in the way. Could you maybe come take a seat so that I can get a better look at you?”

Lilian jolted in surprise and blushed furiously, having just realized her blunder. “Apologies!” The girl exclaimed before hurriedly rushing over to Nina’s side, eliciting laughter from the injured girl.

“No worries, and I know I look scary right now, but I’m not gonna suddenly come to life and eat your brains or anything.”

Lilian frowned in confusion, apparently mummies and zombies weren’t really a trope in this world. An awkward silence engulfed the space as Nina patiently waited for Lilian to speak.

“I’m sorry…” Lilian muttered, eyes still glued to the floor. “I should have listened to you.”

Nina laughed. “It’s fine. I chased after you willingly. Not sure if you were told, but I was nearly killed when I left the villa that day.” Nina shifted, trying to look at Lilian’s face as best as she could. 

“Koga needed to be taken down, not for your benefit but for mine.” Nina did not want to spend the rest of her life constantly looking over her shoulder and jumping at every stray shadow that came her way.

“And speaking of which,” Nina continued. “I saw the news earlier about Indigo Village, but they were a little sparse on details. Mind filling me in?”

Lilian lifted her head and gave Nina a confident nod, still looking a little guilty around her as she promptly averted her gaze again. Lilian proceeded to narrate what had happened after Nina lost consciousness, from Bruno’s fight with the Mega Charizard, to the aftermath of the harbour’s destruction, to all the tedium and pointed questions leveled against her after the fact.

“After I met with Lance, I was asked to leave the room so I’m not entirely sure what happened either, just the sudden explosion that occurred afterwards and that Lance battled Koga near the vicinity of Indigo Village and the League headquarters.”

“Is he dead?” Nina chimed. “Koga, I mean?” 

Lilian shook her head in response, frowning all the while. “Lady Sabrina mentioned that Koga was severely weakened, likely a combination of using that heinous Evolution machine and injuries sustained from battle. But to date, they have yet to find a body.”

Nina joined in on her friend’s frowning, feeling an annoying itch on her nose. An itch that was abruptly scratched by Nitey poking at her with his claws once more, likely at the urging of Espy. Nina pouted, too stubborn to thank the Dragonite for fear of enabling his habit. Not that it mattered, Espy would probably commend the big orange oaf on her behalf just to mess with her.

“You need not worry,” assured Lilian. “Koga, or I suppose I should refer to him as Kyou from now on, will no longer have any reason to pursue you.” Nina’s persecution was tied to Brucey’s unsanctioned learning of Kage Bunshin, a Koga clan secret. But now that Kyou was no longer the head of the Koga clan, there should be very little reason for Nina to remain in his crosshairs.

“Kyou may be vindictive, but he is not petty.” Lilian added. “In his eyes, you are but a harmless babe, unworthy of his attention. If anything, I will have to be wary, but you need not concern yourself with my safety. While there has been some discourse, the clan’s elders have largely approved of my achievement.”

According to Lilian, she would now be afforded greater autonomy and access to most of the clan’s resources in assisting with her ascension. Funnily enough, it was actually Lance who stepped in and whipped their stubborn elders into line. The capricious Champion had become Lilian’s most ardent supporter in light of recent events, a fact that the girl couldn’t help but feel extremely mixed about.

Nina laughed at her friend’s convoluted expression. “Cheer up. At least you won’t have to deal with your uncle’s paperwork anymore. But speaking of clans, what about Janine? Surely she has thoughts about her father’s situation?” Nina didn’t want to escape from the parent, only to be marked by the child.

Lilian sighed. “Lady Janine, now Lady Koga, is a much more reasonable person than her father. So there’s no need to worry. For all his faults, Kyou was a very doting parent — maybe a consequence of losing his wife so early in the war. So he’s very adept at insulating his personal life.”

The girl explained that the current Koga was very much an advocate of peace. And while she does have mixed feelings about her father’s persecution, she has agreed to defer to the League’s discretion on the matter. “And in regards to the matter of us learning Kage Bunshin, Lady Koga has given us her blessing, with the caveat that we are not to spread the knowledge of our own accord.”

That latter fact was actually thanks to Purple Shadow who advocated on their behalf. Apparently, the ronin and Janine shared a past together back when he was still active in the clan.

“So is Shadow going back to the Koga clan then?” Nina asked. To which Lilian denied with another shake of her head. The man had decided to stick with Lilian until she became Champion to repay his debt, especially since Alfred was now crippled. The old butler had apparently rejected the use of a prosthesis for some inexplicable reason.

Nina hummed in consideration as the conversation came to a halt. Lilian looked more at ease now, but she still struggled to meet Nina’s eyes.

“Nina, I…” Lilian faltered before shaking her head and forcibly lifting her gaze to properly take in Nina’s visage, probably for the first time since she entered the room. The girl clenched her fist at the appalling state of her friend, covered in head to toe from bandages so thick that Nina could barely lift her arms.

It was also at this time that Nina’s muscle spasms decided to rear their ugly head, causing the girl to convulse in pain.

“Nina!” Lilian shouted as she frantically got up to reach for the call bell.

“It’s fine!” Nina hissed through clenched teeth. “Just… minor…” At this point a comforting Psychic aura washed over Nina, gently massaging the most affected areas of Nina’s body to soothe her condition. “Thanks Espy…” Nina moaned as she settled back into her bed. 

“Es.” The Espeon replied simply and triggered a machine by the bed which administered a dose of muscle relaxant and painkillers into her human. But Nina could feel the frustration in Espy’s mind, of not being able to catch the spasms before she got hurt by them, eliciting a chuckle from the girl.

“Espy, you silly cupcake… I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think you’d be able to do anything even if you could predict one of my flare ups.”

“Es!” Espy huffed in defiance, vowing to prove Nina wrong and figure out a solution to the problem.

Meanwhile Lilian was just hovering anxiously over Nina, ready to push down on the button to call a nurse at a moment’s notice, eliciting another chuckle from the girl.

“Relax, Lil. I’m fine. The doctors said that the muscle spasms are from residual nerve damage.” It was inevitable that Nina would suffer some side effects from such severe burns. It was an issue that was especially pronounced during moments of stillness like when Nina was sleeping, meditating, or laying still like she was right now.

“They said it’ll fade over time. Just some stubborn phantoms that I gotta put up with in the short term.”

Lilian bit her lip in frustration as she awkwardly reached out to caress Nina’s hand, being careful not to agitate her wounds in any way. “I’m sorry…” She muttered once more, tears welling in her eyes.

Nina chuckled in response. “Silly Psyduck, you already said that at the start. A mighty Dragon doesn’t lower their head or something right?” The girl let out a feeble laugh at her poor attempt at Lilian-speak.

“No.” Lilian shook her head vigorously and looked into Nina’s eyes with an intense gaze. “No more of that nonsense. People have no need for a Dragon lording over them. What they need is a Champion. Not some detached tyrant like my uncle, but a proper Champion, of the people, for both regions, so that we may one day be truly united as one.”

While Lilian’s words about uniting both their regions sounded dangerously close to the rhetoric espoused by her misguided ancestors. Nina could tell that the girl meant to take a path of harmony rather than conquest, in an effort to end the unending cycle of hatred that had gripped their people.

Nina smiled, if she could give the girl headpats and hugs right now, she would. “I’m proud of you Lilian, I hope to witness your success one day.”

“I will…” Lilian swore. “I will definitely succeed.” The girl then averted her gaze again. “And when I do, I hope to have you by my side…”

Nina jolted, the girl’s words sounded an awful lot like a confession. As oblivious as Nina was, she hadn’t failed to pick up on Lilian’s feelings towards her. But for someone who secretly harbored the mind of an adult, reciprocating the delicate feelings of a teenage girl didn’t feel right to her. 

Not that Lilian was an average teen, the girl had always been a prodigy, possessing a much more developed mind than others her age. The only thing she lacked was emotional maturity, an aspect that Nina suspected had taken a massive leap forward after recent events. “Besides, this could just be a passing interest.” 

The two remained silent for some time, neither of whom knew what to say to one another until Nina forcefully diverted the conversation to other topics, mainly pertaining to Nitey’s recent Evolution. And the first response that Nina got from Lilian was a jab at her terrible naming sense.

“Couldn’t you come up with a more… elegant name? One befitting a Dragonite’s stature?” said the Blackthorn girl, referring to the ‘elegant’ Dragonite who was currently experimenting with the act of picking his nose like the humans he saw on TV.

Nina pouted. “I don’t wanna hear that from the rich girl who names all her Pokemon after expensive gemstones!”

***

Author's note:

After Chapter 160, that is to say, the end of Part Two, we'll be taking a little break and slowing down somewhat.

But this doesn't mean that there won't be any chapter releases. 

I have seven side stories written which I will release in between the interval of Part Two and Part Three at the rate of two chapters a week.

It will be a mixture of Pokemon POVs and character drama to tie up some loose ends. You can click on the spoilers below to check the titles if you would like.

Spoiler

SS 1: Espy's Day Off (Espy)

SS 2: Under the Silver Moon (Hattori/Purple Shadow POV)

SS 3: Time and Forgiveness (Leanette - Nina's mom)

SS 4: Sleepover (Nina)

SS 5: A Dance with Dragons (Nitey)

SS 6: Flowers and Reverie

SS 7: Homecoming (Nina and Nitey)

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Basically, it means you guys will have to wait a month for the release of Chapter 161.

Additionally, the release schedule will be changed to 3 chapters a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturday, per a vote from my Patreon.

Also a quick reminder that my Patreon exist and that you guys can read ahead into Part Three right now if you wish. $10 tier gets 15 advanced chapters while $5 tier gets 10 chapters.

Now I know that I put up that poll last time asking about interest in a $2 tier. But that's not looking very likely with some of the changes that Patreon made recently. Makes it too difficult to manage. But I did implement an annual discount for yearly subscriptions which brings the price of the $5 tier down a little.

But as usual, no worries if it isn't for you. My little tip jar is purely optional. Public releases will still go on so long as I still have a story to tell.