Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 11

“Alright, listen up! Because I don’t like repeating myself.”

Masayuki was currently giving the group a rundown on the rules of the Safari Zone. First off, there were no personal Pokemon allowed to avoid inflicting harm on the Safari’s Pokemon. After all, abandoning a fainted Pokemon in the wild was very dangerous. 

It was an unfortunate fact that not all visitors were responsible enough to call in a Ranger when they faint a Pokemon. Nor are there enough Rangers on staff to run around as field medics either.

However, Berries and rocks were allowed. Berries to attract Pokemon who were friendly and willing enough to engage humans, and rocks as a distraction to make a quick getaway if you accidentally piss off a Pokemon. It might seem cruel to throw rocks at Pokemon, but it’s important to note that these are sturdy beings that can take a full on laser beam to the face if it comes down to it.

Then there were rules regarding capture. Only Safari Balls were allowed within the confines of the Safari Zone. These were specially designed Pokeballs that allow for a Pokemon to easily break out should they wish. Again, this was to protect any Pokemon from being captured against their will. 

Visitors would be able to swap out the Safari Balls for normal Pokeballs upon their departure. In fact, it was encouraged that they do, since Safari Balls aren’t rated for day to day use. They’re fundamentally flimsier than the norm. However, it was also fine to keep the Safari Balls as souvenirs which people often do.

“Another thing, since we’ve got underaged children with us. Any Pokemon that they catch will need to be registered with the adults. League rules and all that.” Masayuki added.

He began distributing maps to each of his guests. Then with a swoosh, pulled down a larger version of the Safari map that they were given. 

The next part of the lecture was about the different areas of the nature preserve. He didn’t elaborate much on what Pokemon they can expect to see as “exploring is half the fun,” he said. Mostly, the old Ranger spoke about certain danger zones that they were strongly discouraged from approaching.

“We’ve had a number of Alpha Pokemon emerge over the years. We have specialists that observe them and keep them in check, but well… it’s impossible to predict everything in life. So just be on guard if you find yourself anywhere near these red zones.”

Everyone gave a grave nod in response, but Nina’s eyes couldn’t help twinkling at the mention of Alpha Pokemon. She had thought that it was purely a video game concept, or at the very least, something specific to the Sinnoh region. She wrote a reminder down in her notebook to do some re

Nina understood what Kumiko was getting at. It would be irresponsible of her to catch a Pokemon who was battle ready and eager to explore the wider world, only for them to languish and have to wait another four years for their trainer to come of age. 

"And I know that your family's had it rough recently. So consider who will need to take care of any Pokemon you capture in the meanwhile. I'm sure you're a very responsible girl, Nina. However, there'll be times where you need Patrick's help but he'll be busy at work, or dealing with… issues."

It seems that the Rockfords were well aware of Nina's family circumstances, which was surprising because she did not expect her father to share such a sensitive matter with outsiders. Friends or otherwise. 

Tiffany, Charlie's sister and Nina's self-proclaimed love rival, looked like she was about to say something rude, but one look from her mother was enough to shut her up. Just to note, the youngest Rockford was a year younger than Nina, and her parents had already made it clear she wasn't allowed to capture anything. 

Nina nodded. "I get it, I'll think about this some more. In the meantime, may I help Charlie with his starter? I did a whole bunch of research on the Pokemon one can reasonably find here in the Safari Zone," said Nina, as she flipped through her notebook, pretending like she wasn't bothered. When in fact, her mind was in turmoil. 

"Of course, sweetie…" Kumiko agreed, but Nina did not miss the sad look she gave her husband. 

"Alright, Charlie. Come on over." Nina beckoned. Charlie was reluctant, feeling guilty at her misfortune. But a single glare from the girl was all it took to make him compliant. 

Nina spread out her own map and began writing. "Alright, so… Beware that what I'm about to say is purely based on my research of publicly available information online. It may or may not be accurate, but given how vague Mr Masayuki was earlier, it's better than nothing."

The six year old girl then began listing out some of the common Kantonian species of Pokemon that can be found in each biome; Kangaskhan and Growlithes in the plains, Butterfrees and Beedrills in the forests, etcetera. 

"But what is most interesting," continued Nina. "Is that in recent years, the League has started introducing some Johton Pokemon in the Safari as well." This new fact garnered the attention of everyone in the room. 

This was actually one of the Pokemon League's plans to foster long-lasting peace between the two regions. They were using the Safari Zone as a sandbox to observe the ecological effects that introducing large numbers of foreign Pokemon may have before releasing them out into the wider region. 

By cross integrating the Kanto-Johto exclusive species, the League hopes to remove any friction that may occur due to Pokemon envy. Further removing a potential seed of conflict. 

Nina pointed to the plains. "For example, Mareep, which are extremely common. But Ampharos, their final evolution, are incredibly powerful and equally rare for whatever reason." Probably because the herbivores are too passive and lack the required evolutionary drive. They're often kept as livestock afterall.

Nina recalled a research paper warning about the possibility of Ampharos' extinction if Mareep continues to be treated the way that they do. But most dismissed it as fear mongering, and said that Evolution was biologically hardcoded and that it was impossible for a Pokemon to lose an entire stage of Evolution that easily. Though the academic community at large was in agreement that there was a possibility that a weaker variant of Ampharos might occur among the livestock Mareeps.

"Also, they can Mega Evolve into a hybrid Dragon Type if you ever get lucky enough to find the species's Mega Stone," the girl added. The mention of Dragons got all the boys excited. 

"If you're looking for something more conventional, there's Houndour as well. They've also recently introduced a herd of Phanpy and Donphan in the forests. And, there should also be Heracross around if you're interested in bug types." Stephen got really excited about Donphan for some reason. 

“Now as far as Water Pokemon goes…” Nina pointed a decisive finger at the image of a lake. It was one of the locations that Nina spent the most time in during her past life playing the games. And while it looked very different, Nina just knew that this was the right spot.

“Kanto and Johto share most of the same Water Type species. And whatever exclusives Johto has aren’t particularly worth it in my opinion.”

Nina’s assessment seemed to have gotten a nod of approval from Kumiko, their resident Water Type specialist. “She’s right. Also most of Johto’s rare Water Types are primarily based in salt water environments. I doubt we’d find any here in the Safari.”

“However,” Nina continued. “I have reason to believe that we might be able to find Dratini here.”

An awkward silence descended upon the room as everyone gaped at the girl’s claim.

Nina recalled her past life as Miles and how his initial encounter with Pokemon was actually an emulator loaded with the original Pokemon Yellow on his cousin’s PC, the one where the cover for the game was a deformed Pikachu.

It was the one thing Miles looked forward to the most whenever they visited that relative. And when Miles got his first PC at twelve years old, he immediately went and figured out how to install an emulator of his own.

One of the things he would often do during his many playthroughs of Pokemon Yellow was spend hours in that single pond in the Safari Zone, trying to fish for Dratini. It was his favorite Pokemon, and he was very obsessive as a kid. It also did not help that the encounter rate for Dratinis were super low, and their tendency to escape only after a few turns. Relying only on Safari Balls and Berries to catch the elusive baby wyrm was an exercise in patience.

“Are you sure, sweetie? Wild Dratinis have not been sighted in years.”

Kumiko was right, the Dragonite line wasn’t a protected species for nothing. Being some of the friendliest and most aesthetic Dragon Types around, they were naturally heavily exploited by bad actors, leading to a very precarious situation. 

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but it’s worth looking around. I mean, I assume we’ll visit all the major landmarks in the Safari at some point, right?” Nina replied.

There was still some lingering skepticism, but everyone accepted Nina’s reasoning and moved on. She was right in that there was no harm in doing a thorough check. After all, they had four whole days of Safari Zone ahead of them.

After a brief discussion, Charlie decided that he wanted to see the Pokemon in action before making any decisions that might affect the rest of his life. In many ways, the choice of a starter was equally as important as a lifelong marriage or the birth of one’s child in the Pokemon world. It was not something to be taken lightly.

So after wrapping everything up, the group finally set out on their grand Safari adventure.