Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 268

“Stay safe alright, Nina? Don’t get into any trouble without me.”“Nevermind that, I’d rather you not get into any trouble at all young lady!”

Nina chuckled at her friend's worry and gave her mother a hug. “Don’t worry guys, I have my Pokemon with me.”

“You always say that! But that’s not an excuse to go around playing vigilante!”

Patrick joined in on the hug and gave his fuming wife assuring pats on her back. “It’s alright, Len. Our daughter’s mature enough to know when to seek help. Aren’t you, Nina?”

Nina groaned at the whole carrot and stick routine. “Yes, dad~ I promise I’ll call for help at the first sign of trouble.” She had already laid the appropriate groundwork with the Pokemon League anyway. The girl could only hope that Clair and her clan upheld their end of the bargain.

“Sure, we believe you.” Patrick said. But then, just as quickly, turned to Nina’s Pokemon for assurance. “Nitey, Espy. Help keep an eye on her alright?”

“Nite! Nite-nite!”

“Es.” The duo nodded with a synchronised huff, eliciting a childish pout from Nina.

“Alright, that’s enough! I gotta get going now if I wanna make it to Cinnabar before lunchtime. I’ll give you guys a call tonight once I get back from Blaine’s Gym.”

With another round of farewells, hugs and kisses, the isekai girl jumped up onto her Dragonite and grabbed hold of Nitey’s gleaming chrome collar. 

It was actually Nina’s idea to have indents carved into the chonky piece of metal to serve as handles, given her fussy partner was unwilling to wear a saddle. And the workshop in Olivine had been deft enough to oblige, even applying a layer of non-slip coating on the indents for a firmer grip while helping to reduce the weight of the collar without affecting its overall balance at the same time.

“Alright, Nitey. Let’s Fly. Full speed ahead to Cinnabar Island!”

“DRAGOOOO!!!” The Dragonite roared and rocketed into the skies with a powerful burst of wind.

***

“You ready, Nitey?”

“Niiite~”

“Heh. I have a feeling that Blaine’s already waiting for us in the volcano. So let’s just head straight there shall we?” The Mew Gem had been burning hot since this morning. No doubt eagerly awaiting the imminent fulfillment of its purpose.

“Nite. Dragonite” The orange Dragon slowed down to a leisurely glide, right as they were coming up on Cinnabar Island, the smoking caldera of its iconic volcano visible in the distance.

Children and adults alike cheered as the girl and her Dragonite found themselves hovering atop a luxurious cruise ship — tourists headed to the island for some recreation most likely. Nina smiled and waved, and so did Nitey. The showy Dragon even performed a few tricks in the air, much to their audience’s amusement.

And once Nitey had his fill of fun and attention, he surged ahead of the sluggish cruise ship and zoomed past the city, nearly getting distracted by an ice cream stand along the way. Nina made a promise to bring him out for ice cream later. “But for now, we gotta lock in for battle, buddy. There’ll be plenty of time for sightseeing later on.”

And sightsee they would. Nina had already booked them a room for the night and given that they had visited during a lull last time, the girl had wanted to at least spend the evening soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of Cinnabar City at its best.

“Nite~”

Not long after, they reached the smouldering lip of the volcano where Nitey directed Nina’s attention to an elderly, bald figure dressed up in flowery shorts, shirt, and a singed labcoat. “Blaine…”

***

“I have returned to confront your challenge, Master Blaine.” Nina dismounted from her Dragonite with a curtsy.

“Nite. Drago-nite!”

“So you wish to steal fire from the sun?”

Nina twitched a little at the hyperbole but managed to hold back her rebuke. “Yes. To prove myself worthy of journeying towards lilac and grief. Just as you ordained.”

“Heh. No need to be so dramatic, girl. It’s just a simple little Gym challenge.” Blaine responded with a mischievous smirk, eliciting an irate groan from Nina.

“Hehe. Come.” He beckoned, before Nina even had the time to respond. “It’s time for us to see if you truly are worthy of Mew’s trust.”

The descent down into the caldera was a precarious one. There was clearly a path as Nina clumsily followed behind Blaine, but it was a natural one. Which meant slippery slopes of gravel and razor thin ledges.

At some point, after realizing that Blaine was just messing with her again, Nina opted to climb aboard Nitey and slowly hovered their way down in tandem with Blaine’s leisurely pace — the old man was so spry on his little flip-flops that Mr Pokemon could only envy him. “I guess that rule about not messing with old, bald dudes in anime had it right all along.”

Soon, Nina found herself back in the same little area where she first encountered Blaine, a rebreather around her face to contend with the toxic fumes. The old Gym Leader, on the other hand, had gone back to aura farming in his usual spot — a jutting cliff edge hanging above the boiling cauldron of molten lava.

“So err… Master Blaine, I notice the lack of a formal arena. Where should I go to stand?”

“Wherever you wish, girl. The one you will be facing is the master of this volcano, not me.”

Nina nodded. Basically, this was a proper boss battle then. “Maybe I should have Rinny out and have him sing some epic boss music while Nitey and I are battling.” But the girl quickly dismissed those wayward thoughts as she found a little sheltered alcove where she could be as far away from the face melting lava of the Cinnabar Volcano as possible.

Nina had long gotten over her fear of fire during her recovery period, but she still had a bit of a phobia towards extreme heat, owing to her near death experience. And just in case, she also released Espy, with Blaine’s permission, to guard her if it came down to it.

“Alright, Nitey. Are you ready?”

“DRAGOOOOO!!!” The Dragonite howled a challenging cry and the volcano quaked.

A bright flare emerged from the caldera, liquid fire dripping from its scales. The flaming wings unfurled like a chrysanthemum in bloom, to unveil the ashen visage of an Alpha Volcarona, nearly three times the size of its lesser kin.

“Voooool!!!” A shrill cry answered the call, echoing throughout the cavern, its sapphire eyes gleaming a piercing cold hue amidst the caldera’s blazing glow.

Combined with the dark glint of Blaine’s sunglassed gaze, utterly impervious under the raining sun, Nina truly felt like she was facing the boss battle of her life.

With a forceful gulp, the girl met the eyes of her soulbound partner and shared a nod, their minds falling into sync in an instant. All those weeks of training — all those weeks of enduring pain and hardship from the Cerulean Sisters leading up to this one moment.

Then, Nina wrenched the glimmering Dragon Scale pendant out from her bosom and the girl and her Dragonite glowed — an iridescent light shining from the Key Stone on her chest and the Mega Stone from Nitey’s collar.

The colorful light growing and twisting and melding together until they formed a rainbow helix. And from its spiraling vortex emerged the majestic form of a Mega Dragonite, his angelic ear-wings exuding a radiant glow as divine feathers rained down upon the smouldering flames.

Blaine smirked and the Volcarona’s wings shook, scattering motes of fiery pollen all throughout the air as an oppressive wave of scalding hot air exploded from its insectoid form — Rage Powder and Heat Wave.

Nina scowled and Nitey roared, a gust of wind surged to form a violent Hurricane in the middle of the volcano, sucking in heat, pollen and lava — to form a heaven piercing vortex of doom that was visible even from the surrounding city.

Locals cried and tourists panicked, believing that the end times had come or that Cinnabar Volcano had erupted once more. Then, a Psychic wave permeated their minds as members of the Cinnabar City Gym went to work, while Officer Jennies and Pokemon Rangers ran amok, in an effort to quell the local population of humans and Pokemon.

Blaine had obviously informed his subordinates of the battle beforehand. It would be irresponsible of him not to. So they had already made preparations for crowd control. And the best way to do that? A livestream of the ongoing battle to distract the rabble — a proposal from some of his younger apprentices which he had vehemently opposed but was soundly overruled by the majority.

Unbeknownst to Nina, her latest battle had been turned into yet another spectacle and her name was trending on the Pokenet once more. The masterminds behind the livestream had just assumed the girl would be okay with it given her celebrity status. They would negotiate with the Cerulean Gym later on for a cut of the proceeds, but no doubt those famously gold-digging Meowths would relish at the profit as well.

Nitey flew and the pair danced — one high up in the sky and the other with her feet gliding across the ground. An imaginary dance across their transcendent bonds that kept them in sync even as they worked to compartmentalise their existence.

Nina could feel it, every movement of her Dragon Dance invoking a surge of Water and Dragon Type Energy to wash over her, trying to take root in her core but was circulated right back to Nitey instead — the fruits of their arduous training by the Lake of Ether. Because why waste all of that elemental goodness when they could just recycle it.

Nina couldn’t make use of Type Energy but Nitey could. And together, they made each other stronger. Together, they were whole.

The girl hummed and so did her Dragonite, a soothing lullaby permeating the minds of everyone on the island, calming their frenzy and pulling their attention towards the nearest screen where they fell into rapture at the mesmerising dance.

“Vooool~♪” The Alpha Volcarona joined in on the choir. Then, with a quiver of its ethereal wings, broke out into a Fiery Dance and Quiver Dance combo, gracefully riding the swirling vortex of lava and brimstone up into the sky to meet Nitey — as if accepting the pair’s invitation to join in on the dance.

The two pseudo-legendaries faced off under a celestial canopy of pristine blue, a tower of rapidly cooling obsidian standing between their gaze…

“DRAGOOOO!!!”

“VOOOOOL!!!!”

With resolute cries, their Auras flared and for the first, and only, time in their lives, the denizens of Cinnabar Island learned what it felt like to experience genuine awe.

***

Author's note:

Yeah, I know. Finally, amirite?

The plot will be moving towards the conclusion of Part Three from hereon.

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