Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Chapter 161

Nina shut her eyes and allowed the misty rain to wash over her, revelling in the sound of the whistling winds.

“Kukuku…” To her side, Brucey laughed in a strained manner, desperately flapping his wings in an effort to keep up with the leisurely gliding Nitey.

Nina laughed. “C’mere, Brucey,” she beckoned. Golbats weren’t supposed to fly at such high altitudes so it was normal for Brucey to be struggling.

“Kukuku…” With a great deal of reluctance, Brucey conceded and landed behind Nina to wrap his wings around the girl. He would have loved to be at the front and be cuddled, but that spot was taken by Espy who warned him off with a mental pulse of denial.

Nina giggled and gently caressed Brucey before giving Nitey a pat on his scaly back. “Alright Nitey, no need to hold back anymore. Time to soar beyond the clouds!”

“Dragooo!!!” With a mighty bellow, Nitey flapped his wings and pierced through the veil of clouds obstructing the sky, prompting Nina to laugh out in exuberance and opened her mouth wide to taste the fluffy white mist. 

She had always wondered if clouds tasted like cotton candy, and now she knew — it was all just water. Cool, refreshing water vapours, but water nonetheless.

The girl chuckled. “No duh! What did you expect, you silly Psyduck.”

Nina felt a thrilling rush deep within her the higher she ascended. And the moment that they pierced through to the vast blue emptiness above, she hollered.

“WOOHOOOOO!!!”

Before her was an endless sea of clouds, mottled grey and tinged red and purple in the horizon. And peeking out from the ethereal canopy was the tip of Mount Silver, its peak holding aloft a majestic ball of fire, like a golden beacon illuminating the lands below.

Hatsuhinode — the first sunrise of the new year. Nina had always wanted to go witness the occasion in her past life. But now, that wish was finally fulfilled, and in the best way possible.

“Thanks for the suggestion, Nitey. This is your best idea yet!”

“Niiite~” Nitey hovered in the air with a proud look in his reptilian eyes. He could have come at any time with his newly acquired wings, but he held off because he wanted to share the occasion with his loved ones.

“It’s a shame that Clody couldn’t be out here to experience this too.” 

The Clodsire’s pseudo-Safari Ball was currently hanging around Nina’s neck in transparency mode. He couldn’t be out with them because his Poisonous exterior was a risk to the flying Nitey. Otherwise, the Dragonite could have just carried the brown blob in his arms.

Nina and her team of Pokemon hovered in the air to bask in the first light of the new year. Espy, in particular, due to her species’s affinity with the sun, was especially ecstatic, eyes glistening in awe. Even her forehead jewel was shining a brighter red than usual.

Gastly peeked out from Nina’s shadow as well, to admire the scenic view despite her aversion to sunlight.

They stayed there for some time, watching the sun rise higher and higher, completely breaking free from the imposing silhouette of Mount Silver.

Nina let out a sigh of content. But just before she could tell Nitey to move on, she saw a rainbow trail arcing across Mount Silver’s snow-covered peak.

“Is that… Ho-Oh!” Nina exclaimed.

“Hooooo!!!” 

And as if responding to her call, a majestic screech echoed throughout the region, signalling the start of the new year.

Nina was practically buzzing with excitement. The Legendary Rainbow Pokemon was not an uncommon sight in Kanto-Johto, but Nina had never seen it in person before. To think that she could witness both Ho-Oh and hatsuhinode at the same time. She once again thanked Arceus for allowing her to be reborn in this magical world.

***

Nina and her team landed on a relatively flat surface of Mount Moon. The motley crew didn’t just fly out today to see the sunrise, but also to have a little picnic as well. And what better spot to enjoy an outdoor breakfast than on Mount Moon while facing the majestic view of Mount Silver.

It was still drizzling a little on this cold winter morning. But luckily, they had Espy who shielded them with a barrier to block out both the rain and the chilling winds.

Nina then released Sir Clodington from his Pokeball, who manipulated the ground to create a dry and solid platform for them to set up on.

“Alright, Nitey. Could you use those big strong arms of yours to help me out?”

But instead of obliging, Nitey just sat down with a thump with his legs splayed out like a deadbeat waiting to be fed, eliciting an annoyed twitch from Nina.

“Cheeky bastard’s been getting really full of himself lately.” Nitey wasn’t being belligerent or anything. It was just that the Dragonite’s advantage over his trainer had given him a big head, and he had taken to teasing Nina at every opportunity now.

Luckily, Espy helped out with an exasperated sigh, grabbing the food that Nina extracted from her backpack with her Psychic grasp and laying them on a blanket. There were sandwiches and rice balls to share, as well as a big pot of stew for the big eating Nitey — feeding a full grown Dragon was no easy task. “Thank goodness for all my sponsors.” 

The stew itself wouldn’t be enough of course, so Nina also opened up a bag of high density Pokechow for her Dragonite. At the moment, Nitey was going through a bag of the stuff every single day. It was the sort of expenditure that would have long crippled the finances of an average trainer.

Once everything was set up, Nina jumped and fell into the embrace of Nitey’s tubby belly. The Dragonite gave his partner a playful shake, like the girl was a human sized teddy bear, before settling her down between his legs on the picnic blanket.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s dig in!” Nina declared, eliciting cheers from her Pokemon.

***

With a subdued gust of wind, Nina descended onto a little hidden grove on Mount Moon. Before her was a familiar looking torii gate, or spirit gate as they were called in the Pokemon world.

“It’s been a long time huh, Nitey?” 

“Nite~”

The last time that Nina was here, she was only seven years old. “It’s been five years at this point. Time sure flies…”

The girl then asked her Dragonite to fly closer to the bright red spirit gate, so that she could examine the wooden plaque adorning the top of the arch.

“S-O-L… Pretty sure the last time we were here, it read L-O-S.” The letters were arranged vertically.

This actually wasn’t Nina’s first time returning to the Moon Shrine. During the past few months that she spent idle in recovery, the restless girl had snuck out at one point to visit as well. 

“The letters have swapped around. So that confirms it then — the Unown scripts decorating the plaque are alive. Espy, Gastly, could the two of you examine the plaque for me? See if you sense anything.” The girl implored, prompting her two Pokemon into action.

The results though, were disappointing. Despite furrowing her brow in frustration, Espy couldn’t detect any sentient thoughts or Psychic energy from the Unown. And Gastly just shook her head with a sad frown after phasing through every single corner of the wooden structure.

Nina sighed. She had half anticipated this. Based on what she could recall from her spotty meta-knowledge, the Unown were extra-dimensional beings. Which meant that the etchings on the plaque probably only came to life when the alphabet Pokemon came into their dimension.

Nina hummed in consideration. “So does that mean that the Unown scripts are interdimensional gates? What happens if I replicate the script in a different surface, would that create or summon an Unown to me as well? And is this where I come from, I wonder?” Maybe beyond the Unown was Nina’s old world — the one without Pokemon that she was so familiar with. 

“Come to think of it, Miles did have that keychain with him when he died didn’t he? The one where he had a string of Unowns spelling out his name that he bought from that convention he went to that one time.”

However, Nina was jolted from her ponderings by a stern voice that called out to her.

“You there! Are you a Blackthorn? What are you doing up there?!”

Nina turned around to look at the ground below her, to see a familiar looking man with slit-for-eyes, tanned skin and spiky dark hair.

“Brock… No.” Nina lightly shook her head, the man looked a little too young to be the retired Gym Leader. “Are you Mr Forrest by any chance?” She asked, eliciting a grunt of affirmation from the guy.

“So you know who I am. But who are you? And how do you know about this place?” asked Forrest Harrison, the current Leader of the Pewter City Gym.

Nina smiled to disarm the Gym Leader’s wariness and asked Nitey to land. “It’s nice to meet you Mr Forrest. My name is Melina Jones, but you can just call me Nina.” The girl greeted as she extended a hand to Forrest. “You may know my grandma, Melina Ashes, and I’m also a Gym Trainer at the Cerulean Gym.”

“Ahhh…” Forrest gaped in realisation as his expression softened and reciprocated the girl’s handshake. “I see, so you’re the one… I heard about what you did with that Blackthorn girl. Are you still in contact with Cole by any chance? How is he?”

Nina lightly shook her head with a wry smile. “Unfortunately, I’m not in direct contact with him. But I do keep in touch with Charlie, Cole’s traveling companion. Last I heard, the two of them were fine. Still going around trying to meet as many new Pokemon as they can. Though I think they’re mostly focused on earning money now, to save up for a trip to Johto.”

Forrest smiled and let out a quiet sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. That boy can be very stubborn so it’s hard to get a hold of him. Are you here to visit Elder Melina? I think I saw her in the city earlier, running some errands.”

Nina shifted and followed Forrest through the spirit gate with her Pokemon in tow. “No, I'm mainly here to check on Futaba. Though I might go see my grandma later. How is she, by the way? Still unconscious?”

Forrest sighed. “Elder Futaba is stable. My brother and Elder Melina have been taking turns to look after her. But she isn’t showing any signs of waking up soon and none of the medical professionals we enlisted are harboring much hope either — ‘the woman is over ninety years old now, so it’s just a matter of time,’ they said.”

Nina thanked the man for the update as a melancholic silence fell between them. The caverns leading to the Moon Shrine were the same as ever, still dark with mysterious paintings on the wall. The last time that Nina was here, she made sure to take pictures of the primitive drawings to be studied in her own time.

The vicinity of the Moon Shrine though, was very different from what she remembered. Aside from the Clefable line, there were now a myriad of different Pokemon roaming the space; Water Types in the water, Sandshrews rolling around, Geodudes wrestling each other and many more. There were even a few regional starters around; Squirtles, Bulbasaurs and Charmanders.

Forrest laughed at Nina’s wonderment. “Ever since he retired, Brock’s been devoting himself to Pokemon breeding and nutrition. Just so happens, there’s plenty of space here and the Moon Priestess is in no shape to scold him. So that guy went and appropriated the place for his own purposes.”

Nina nodded. Futaba might take issue with it, but it was none of her business so Nina could hardly judge.

“Forrest! Hey! Good of you to visit. And is that Nina I see?” And speaking of the devil, Brock called out to them from a distance, waving enthusiastically as he approached.

***

Author's Note:

Personally I've always pronounced it Ar-key-us. I played through Diamond and Pearl at a time where I stopped watching the anime.