Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 266

Author's note:Another double length chapter today.

***

With a snap, Patrick Jones swapped out the lens of his camera and adjusted its aperture to zoom in on the arena below, a silly grin plastered on his face.

The camera was an expensive gift from his beloved daughter when she got her first ever commercial paycheck. A gift that, admittedly, Nina was reluctant to oblige. But she relented in the end, which proved just how much she loved her dear old papa. 

Still, the thought that her daughter now earned more than he did in a month from a single photoshoot filled him with a wave of bittersweet melancholy. “They grow up so fast…” And speaking of the apple of his eye, the girl stared right into his camera with a disgruntled glare and a childish pout, lips protruding like a Magmar. “CUUUUUTE!”

A rapid barrage of shutter clicks fired off from the camera even as Nina resolutely turned her back against him, making for an even more endearing sight.

“Hehehe… I’d like a copy of those photos as well if you don’t mind, Mr Jones?”

“Of course, Beverly.” Patrick flashed a grin and a thumbs up at the girl sitting beside him. “And thanks for letting me know Nina was doing this today.” He had to call in sick to work just to attend, but it was worth it to see his precious daughter’s first stint as an interim Gym Leader.

Because as expected of his little genius, Nina had managed to negotiate with the Gym to fill the role for a day in order to give her Brionne more battle experience and, hopefully, Evolve him along the way.

It was an arrangement that was only made possible due to Misty’s absence and Nina would only be handling lower tier challengers, but still, the fact that his twelve year old girl could function as a Gym Leader at all was an achievement worth commemorating and Patrick wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“Of course, Mr Jones. Of course… We’re family after all… Kukuku…” The girl responded with an ominous cackle, rubbing her hands together in a sinister fashion, just like her cousin Violet.

Patrick smiled and fiddled with the tripod that he had set up to record video. He knew what Beverly intended to do with those pictures of course, being that this was Nina’s conference year. But he didn’t mind. Nina was mature enough to handle a bit of teasing and as far as he was concerned, the more people who knew of his daughter’s cuteness, the better.

They watched as the girl, wearing her signature Gym Trainer outfit of half a wetsuit over a pure white one-piece and her iconic yellow windbreaker, stepped onto a raised platform. The speakers blared to introduce their special stand-in for the day, much to the delight of the few audience members who immediately began snapping pictures for their socials. Due to how sudden the arrangement was, the Cerulean Gym hadn’t managed to get the word out in time. So no doubt, the seats were going to be filled to the brim as the day went on.

Beverly let out a low cackle. “Violet’s gonna be a very happy Meowth today…” She murmured, as one would expect of the blue-blooded Mizuhana girl.

After the emcee was done promoting Patrick’s daughter — not nearly enough, in his totally unbiased opinion — the man began hollering like a hyperactive Arcanine to cheer her on, much to Nina’s red-faced embarrassment. Made only worse when Patrick applied the same level of fervour in jeering her opponent the moment that he stepped into view, even before the emcee announced the boy’s presence — some stuck up firecracker no doubt.

“Dammit, DAD! If you wanna watch then settle down and do so quietly! Stop trying to haze every poor kid who steps in front of me will you!”

Beverly guffawed at Nina’s shame while Patrick shrunk back sheepishly at his daughter’s admonishment.

“She’s not wrong though.” Beverly added. “If that kid puts in a complaint that we sabotaged him, it’s not gonna look good on Nina’s record.”

Patrick nodded with a sigh. As a career bureaucrat working for the Pokemon League, he understood that better than anyone. “I hope Nina’s not gonna go easy on him at least…” It would be disheartening if his daughter had to throw her first ever match as a Gym Leader.

Beverly gave the man an assuring pat. “Don’t you worry. Those bit— I mean, the Sisters have already given Nina their full permission to let loose today. Not completely though,” she added. “Aside from her Brionne, Nina’s only allowed to choose from our Gym’s intermediate roster.” Because that was the tier that she was currently handling. 

“Shame that she won’t be able to use Splashy, he’s been really looking forward to battling with Nina again.” The Seaking that served as Nina’s partner during the Little League way back when had now been promoted into their Gym’s expert tier roster. And in fact, spent more time as part of Beverly’s Gym lineup these days, upon Nina’s request that her gorgeous, undisputed, number one sister-role-model-and-best-friend took good care of him.

The referee announced the start of the battle and, as per convention, Nina went first by releasing her Brionne onto the pool’s central platform.

“Hmmm… Looks like she’s planning to ace this chump.” Beverly remarked.

“Isn’t that a bad idea?” Patrick asked, even as he was fervently snapping pictures of his daughter’s dashing visage. “Won’t Brinny get too tired for the rest of the day?” It was simply an unfortunate fact that the salaryman never had much talent as a Pokemon Trainer, unlike Ali and Nina.

Beverly scoffed as Nina’s opponent summoned an Oddish onto the platform — rookie mistake, as evident by the frown on the boy’s face when Nina’s Brionne dove into the water.

“She’ll be fine~ For this match at least. The kid she’s facing is a two badger from Viridian.” Thumbing through her Pokedex, the young Gym Trainer accessed the Gym’s database to check on the challenger’s profile. “Did a year in Silver Glory before running off. From what I can see, his whole strategy is to just stuff his team with whatever Pokemon has a Type Advantage to the Gym he’s challenging — freshly caught no less.” Another scoff. “What an amateur mindset. Not that it’s going to work in our Gym.”

“Why’s that?”

The girl pointed at the arena and the reason was quite self-evident. While Brinny was safely submerged in the waters, the Oddish helplessly stood by as a freezing mist descended upon the platform under its feet. Not quite Icy Wind, likely some sort of hybrid move that Beverly’s fellow apprentice came up with. “Nina did a Nina again…” She muttered.

For an intermediate match, the girl’s Pokemon wasn’t technically allowed to establish any domains. But such a light coverage could easily be categorised under wide-area status moves.

And as that was going on, Brinny would playfully jump out of the water, over the Oddish, to swipe at his opponent with a combination of Pound and Acrobatics.

“Don’t give up! Use Razor Leaf, Oddish!” The challenger called, to no avail as the single sheaf of razor sharp leaf was too slow to reach Brinny before he dove back into the water.

Beverly sighed. “See, this is why you don’t go and challenge a Gym with barely trained Pokemon. If that idiot had spent a bit more time with his Oddish, maybe it would have learned Leaf Storm for a bit of defense at the very least.” 

Leaf Storm was technically just an upgraded version of Razor Leaf and fairly easy to learn once its mechanics were understood. Or maybe that was just Beverly’s Gym trainer sensibilities talking.

Nina whistled and the assault continued as the surrounding mist caused a layer of frost to begin forming atop the Oddish’s vegetal body, the poor Grass Type shivering from cold.

“Return, Oddish!” The challenger finally called, unwilling to let his Pokemon faint so early. Following which, he sent out a Voltorb as a replacement. “Thunder Shock!” Then, predictably, began blasting the pool with Electric Type Energy without even bothering to set up any buffs first.

“Honestly, what are they even teaching these morons in trainer school these days? What’s the point of even going?” Beverly fumed.

Patrick swallowed a bitter wince. He was much the same as that kid back when he was younger, not knowing any better than to just recite the move list that he so painstakingly memorised.

“Pika, pikachu…” Sensing her trainer’s mood, Patrick’s Pikachu climbed up his shoulder and nuzzled affectionately against his cheeks.

“Thanks Pikachu… It’s been ages since we last battled huh?” Maybe he should invite Nina to one later on, for a bit of father-daughter bonding. “I mean Pikachu should at least be able to take on Ra-Ra, right?” It’d be quite embarrassing if they lost to a literal hatchling.

Predictably, just as Beverly said, Nina ended up sweeping all four of the challenger’s Pokemon with just her Brionne before retreating into her dressing room for a quick break.

Patrick, naturally, cheered ecstatically for his daughter’s first win with an arsenal of glowsticks he bought from the aquarium gift shop — all Aquarium Girl themed, of course.

***

“You did great in that match, Brinny!”

“Bri! Brionne!” The adorable seal Pokemon did a little flip to celebrate, still as energetic as ever.

Nina giggled as she nuzzled against his squishy nose. If there was one thing Brinny had above the rest of his family, it was an unyielding endurance. Not to mention, after all that time spent in the Lake of Ether, the Brionne was practically bursting with a dense reserve of Type Energy just waiting to be unleashed.

“And great work on keeping Icy Haze active for the entire match as well.” As the name implied, Brinny’s new custom move was a combination of Icy Wind and Haze, developed in collaboration with Azzy since Brinny couldn’t learn Haze outright.

Nina was hoping to combine Icy Haze with Blizzard at some point for wider coverage and maybe even modify the final result enough that they could teach it to Aurora, her Amaura.

“Bri! Bri!” Brinny revelled in his human’s praise and gave Nina a squishy boop to the nose, eliciting more giggles from the girl.

“Right, let’s get you all healed up and go meet our next challenger.” Who ended up being a bit of a chump as well.

Not surprising, really. Mizuho said that she had arranged today’s matches in escalating difficulty. And by Arceus, Nina was NOT planning to give out a single Gym Badge until her Brionne evolved. After which, she would soundly trounce the contributing trainer — because no way would she allow her newly evolved Pokemon to suffer a loss — then throw the next match with her Gym Pokemon and call it a day.

That moment finally happened on the sixth match, when Nina was forced to open, not with her Brionne, but a loaner Starmie from the Gym when faced with a relatively senior alumni from Kage no Niwa, Fuchsia’s premier trainer school.

“Poison and possibility of either Ghost or Dark. This is gonna be a pain.” She wondered why the older teen was even screened for the intermediate tier when she had enough credentials, on paper, for the expert tier. “Probably just trying to train up a new battle roster.” It happened quite often when a veteran trainer caught a new batch of Pokemon — they were called a Pokemon ‘Gym’ for a reason.

The probably-secretly-a-ninja-girl started with a Weezing who began spewing toxic smog the moment that the battle commenced. But even if she was a ninja, Nina couldn’t tell, because the girl was dressed in vibrant techwear over a sensual crop top, her hair — swooping sidebangs over a close cropped undercut — dyed a bright purple.

Nina whistled and Starmie levitated with a Rapid Spin, the Psychic starfish spinning like a table fan to blow away Weezing’s Smog. In response, the Weezing belched and a wave of Sludge came spewing out onto the arena.

Nina frowned and whistled for a Hydro Pump. It was clear to her that her opponent was looking to pollute the pool water. But that was pretty standard tactics against their Gym, nothing to do except persevere.

The Hydro Pump washed away the muck and crashed into the Weezing, further polluting the pool. 

The rest of the match was Nina keeping Starmie at range and hiding behind their Light Screen while Weezing just continued spewing Poison and attempting, in vain, to get close enough for an Explosion. Not that it mattered very much since the deformed Poison Pokemon had snuck in a Destiny Bond at some point, Nina’s Starmie too inexperienced to detect it.

So, the moment that Starmie fainted Weezing with a final Psybeam, the curse of binding triggered and Nina’s Pokemon fainted alongside their opponent. The girl sighed and returned her Starmie right as the referee declared a draw. “Yup, this is gonna be a pain alright…” Because she had figured out her opponent’s angle. “The girl’s a smurf…”

More specifically, the senior trainer was likely sweeping up Gym badges using an auxiliary team while plotting to keep her main team secret until the year-end conference. It was a tedious, if valid, strategy to obscure one’s true capabilities from public scrutiny. “The problem being that she won't be beneath using less than glamorous means to secure the win.”

As Nina was contemplating throwing the match just to save herself the hassle, her opponent, the girl who simply went by Valerie (no surname), sent out her next Pokemon — a Qwilfish.

Nina flushed red in embarrassment. As a representative of the Gym, she was supposed to go first. But it seemed that she had taken too long. So she hastily dragged her fingers through the Pokeballs on her belt and chose a Tentacruel to contend with the polluted waters.

“Cruel…”

“Right, time to clean up, Tentacruel…” Nina whistled a command for her Tentacruel to inhale and absorb the surrounding Poison while consolidating the excess in a layer of Acid Armor. “Because, surprise! Qwilfish can learn Destiny Bond too! So no point in tryharding.”

A vortex formed in front of Tentacruel’s beak as the pool’s water was absorbed and filtered through his Poisonous glands, the pair of ‘jewels’ on the jellyfish Pokemon’s cap swollen and gleaming bright red in the aftermath while a layer of gelatinous purple armor coated his exterior.

The waters gradually cleared and Valerie frowned once she realized Nina’s intent, then signalled for her Qwilfish to release a storm of thin, nigh invisible needles into the pool — Toxic Spikes.

Nina whistled for a Whirlpool, drawing all the needles and the Qwilfish towards the mess of tentacles writhing and ready to Wrap all around the pufferfish.

Valerie’s frown deepened and with a few curt hand gestures, which Nina now recognized to be Shadow Signs, signalled for her Qwilfish to prematurely Spit Up the Stockpile they had accumulated since the start of the match.

“Crueeel!!!”

The Qwilfish bulged violently, its sharp spikes extending and stabbed into Tentacruel’s gelatinous exterior, eliciting a dramatic cry from the jellyfish. But the tentacles held strong, persisting in their Wrap despite the pain.

Nina chuckled. She knew her Tentacruel was just being hyperbolic. The tentacles of a Tentacruel were almost disposable in how often they were replaced. Between that and Acid Armor, the damage would have been minimal.

“Welp, no point dragging this out…” Nina whistled and Tentacruel countered with a point blank Ice Beam, utterly freezing and fainting the pufferfish Pokemon. But, just as she expected, a Destiny Bond had been set up and Tentacruel joined his opponent in their fate.

The audience hollered as the emcee declared yet another draw, eliciting a confused mix of jeers and cheers at the underwhelming conclusion.

Nina was unfazed, merely sighing as she returned her Tentacruel. “Destiny Bond, oh Destiny Bond… What other Pokemon is there that can learn Destiny Bond…?” There was no point in her consideration, only a Ghost or a Psychic could detect the presence of the accursed move and hope to dismantle it. And except for her fainted Starmie, who wasn’t expert enough to counter the move, she had none left in her current roster.

At a loss on what to do, Nina sent out a Dewgong to tide things over until she could come to a decision. But to her surprise, her opponent responded with a Venusaur — a Pokemon incapable of learning Destiny Bond.

“Hooo… Finally decided to take me seriously, huh? But a Venusaur seems like the perfect Pokemon to Evolve Brinny with…” The girl smirked and whistled for her Dewgong to set the stage for her adorable little idol.

***

“Briii-onneeee~♪”

Brinny sang and splooshed into the slushy ice water upon his arrival. And the moment that he did, he could see stabby little needles attempting to stab him, only to be blocked by the ice fragments floating around him. Thank you Gym-friend! 

Above, a bright sunny ball blazed, making the air warm but the water cool, just the way Brinny liked it — if only the water wasn’t so dirty with leaves and icky-purple that was. But that was fine, Brinny was used to cuddling with Clody and Clody’s skin was more tingly than this.

A whistle pierced through the water and Brinny locked in for battle. He could hardly wait, the big swooshy ocean contained within him had been wanting to burst out for days now, even after all the battles he’d been through today. And now, Nina was telling him that he no longer needed to hold back.

“Briiii~♪” Brinny splooshed out of the water with a fancy flip — he loved doing fancy flips — and saw the big-stinky-flower he was facing.

The audience cheered at the peppy little seal while the vibrant red rafflesia atop Venusaur’s back steadily glowed a radiant light.

Nina whistled again and Brinny dove back into the water just in time to dodge a scathing Solar Beam directed his way. The slushy pool water melted from the heat while Brinny swam circles around the central platform, summoning Icy Wind and a pseudo-Haze to envelop his vegetal opponent. 

Not only that, but dark clouds began forming overhead as well as the dancing Brionne called for a Rain Dance and Blizzard combo, steadily obscuring her opponent’s Sunny Day as Venusaur’s Solar Beam thinned and sputtered.

“Sauuur!” Venusaur roared, and upon his trainer’s signal, unleashed an explosion of colorful powders into the air and Leech Seeds into the pool.

“Briiii!” Brinny, startled by the writhing sprouts blanketing the pool, dove in deeper to avoid their vampiric clutches and away from the encroaching pollen seeping in from the rain.

Another whistle sounded and Brinny knew to conjure a Whirlpool to gather up the pollutants and freeze them all with a sweeping Ice Beam. 

Meanwhile, the stormy weather high above continued to rage and pelt at the Venusaur’s delicate flora. Try as he might, he was unable to wrestle back control with a Sunny Day. Because compared to Brinny’s older siblings, the big-stinky-flower’s domain might as well be like a Krabby playing with sand.

“Briii-onneeee~♪” Nina blew out a long whistle and, like a majestic Milotic, her Brionne surged out from the water with a glittering Waterfall, then further ascended higher with an ostentatious Triple Axel and, at the apex of his rise, fell back down again like a shining comet. 

Ice Crash — a combination move of Ice Spinner, Icy Wind and Aqua Jet. Though, in this case, the Icy Wind was further bolstered by the ongoing Blizzard, the falling hail storm making for an even grander sight, much to the audience’s excitement.

“Don’t hold back, Venusaur! Face it head on!” Valerie yelled out in a panic, her husky voice speaking for the first time since the battle began.

“Sauuuur! Venusaur!!!” The Kantonian icon cried as he unleashed a hurricane of Petal Blizzard, Leaf Storm, Power Whip and Frenzy Plant to defend against the falling comet of ice and frost.

“Briii~♪ Brii~oooone~♪ Br-iii-~♪”

“Hahaha! That’s right, Brinny! Let it all out! Let the world bask in your beautiful voice and become the shining star that you were always meant to be!”

Nina laughed with unbridled joy, and amidst the chaos, a melody suffused the air, reaching deep into the core of every soul present. A pink, iridescent light glimmered from within the clashing storms, invoking an irrational sense of glee and happiness from all who laid eyes upon it. 

The audience smiled and laughed, even the stoic Valerie and the sobbing Patrick. Each of them reminiscing about the happiest moments of their life. For Valerie, it was the moment she succeeded in feigning her own death and achieving true freedom, while Patrick reminisced about the birth of his one and only daughter — his pride and joy.

It was an odd sight, an uncanny air of serenity in spite of the violent conflict of Type Energies unfurling before their eyes. And the source of the phenomenon? A jolly little Brionne encased in light.

That dense pool of Type Energy that Brinny had been hoarding over the past few weeks could no longer be contained. So he simply chose not to, letting it spill all out as per Nina’s call, the wave of power churning and shining all around his delicate form, just like the surrounding storm.

Brinny thought back to his birth, those carefree days of diving in the seas of Alola with his cousins and siblings, fishing, hunting and scavenging for treasure. Then came the day he was chosen, the anxiety of leaving his home and the subsequent joy of an expectant Nina meeting him for the first time, followed by the warm and welcoming cries of all the Pokemon surrounding her — his new family.

As his body lengthened and his flippers grew, he thought about his singing lessons with Nitey and learning how to read, count and draw with Espy…

“Priiimaaa~♪” His voice echoed, harmonizing with the deep sense of love and pride emanating from beyond the bonds he shared with each of his family. “Riiinaaa~♪” The Primarina’s crown grew into an elegant tiara, his hide thickening alongside his majestic tail. 

Those nights spent playing with Azzy in her dream world, those moments spent sneaking sweets away from Nitey’s secret stash with Brucey. The thrill of running atop Ricey’s fiery back and every moment spent cuddling with Ra-Ra, his precious junior. Memories of happiness and joy filled his mind, all those days spent with his newfound family, those days of adventure…

“Rinny.” The familiar voice of Nina sounded within his mind. That was his name now — his new name. 

Rinny focused on that voice and on the warmth roiling within his core, the deep and profound love shared between him and Nina, using the ropes of that bond to reel the surrounding energy back into himself to form a bigger and larger ocean within his magnificent form. And as he did, the Primarina’s form solidified and lustrous strands of seafoam green extended from his scalp, each length of hair representing the memories he shared and the memories to come.

Then, a cacophonous crash, and silence descended upon the arena once more. The audience gasped, as if suddenly awakened from a long and beautiful dream.

“Primaaaa~ Rinaaa~♪” A melodic tune reverberated, the hazy mist surrounding the arena dispelled in a blink, to unveil the majestic form of a Primarina sitting atop a throne formed of a frozen Venusaur, the rafflesia toad’s vibrant red bud perfectly accentuating the beautiful blue visage of the songstress Pokemon.

“Riiiin~♪”

Then, in a swirl of fragrant pink mist and iridescent bubbles, Rinny jumped into the air, did a quadruple back flip and landed right beside Nina for an elegant bow.

Silence, then “““WOOOOO!!!””” The audience jolted onto their feet to applaud the spectacular performance, the rapid clicks of a camera shutter accompanying Patrick’s fervour.

“Hehehe! Great work, Rinny!”

“Priiii~♪” Rinny nuzzled affectionately against Nina as the pair continued to bow and wave at their fervent audience, before Nina loudly declared Rinny’s withdrawal from battle, much to their collective disappointment.

“Don’t you worry, folks! Aquarium Girl and her stunning Primarina will be returning for a special show in the Gym this weekend.” The emcee announced, taking full advantage of the opportunity to promote their upcoming monthly exhibit. “So make sure to snag tickets on your way out while they still last! Sales-of-tickets-limited-to-only-one-per-adult-and-two-per-children.” 

Nina chuckled at that hasty disclaimer, having been reminded of the adverts of her past life, then threw out her next pick into the frozen arena. The girl had changed her mind and decided to just lose the match and give out her first ever Gym Badge. “Not like I have much of a choice anyway…” Not with the risk of yet another Destiny Bond threatening to ruin Rinny’s proud moment.

Valerie followed suit just a half step behind, still a little rattled by her opponent’s flashy victory. And, when the probably-a-ninja-girl’s Haunter eventually trounced through the rest of Nina’s Gym lineup, the opposing platforms extended and the two trainers came out to meet in the middle.

“Congratulations on that incredible showing, Miss Valerie! You’ve earned yourself a Cascade Badge.” Nina beamed as she proudly pinned a teardrop-shaped badge onto her challenger’s jacket. “Kinda funny how I gave away a Cascade Badge before earning one of my own.” The girl mused with barely contained mirth.

The older girl seemed to smirk a little in disbelief at the age difference between her and her precocious opponent. “Gee… thanks. Nina, right? You planning to join the conference this year?”

The interim Gym Leader responded with a smirk of her own. “Pretty much. I’m already qualified though — three Star badges. So don’t expect to bump into me in the preliminaries.”

“Heh.” The Poison Type Specialist extended a hand to Nina. “Oh, don’t you worry. I’ll be seeing you in the finals.”

Nina starred into the girl’s eyes with a challenging glint and grabbed hold of her gloved hand with a hearty smack, eliciting fervent cheers from the audience — nothing like a good old fashioned rivalry between two young Pokemon Trainers to hype things up. Especially when they had yet to see the full extent of what the two were truly capable of.

***

Author's note:

Reminder that if this story gets removed from SH, you can always find me on Royal Road.