Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Chapter 167

“I AM THE KING OF THE WORLDDDD!!!”

Nina was at the bow of the S.S. Anne, Brucey embracing her from behind with his wings and acting as her partner.

All around her, there were fellow passengers passing by, snickering at the silly girl. While Espy was watching at a distance, face under her paws and blushing in embarrassment at her human’s idiocy.

Besides the Espeon were Peppy the Happiny riding atop Lynxie the Shinx, their trainer was currently in their assigned cabin, being looked after by Polly the Poliwrath and guarded by Rocky the Geodude, suffering from seasickness. Quite ironic, given that Kerry was a nurse and all.

The capricious girl let out a contented sigh while stretching her body as she returned to her Pokemon companions, her face the picture of satisfaction. 

“I’ve always wanted to do that.” She said to the irate Espy. Nina never got to go on a cruise ship in her past life, so she finally got her wish. And on the iconic S.S. Anne no less!

Nina, Kerry and their Pokemon were on their way to Cinnabar Island. Their purpose was threefold. Firstly, Nina needed to visit Professor Oak in Pallet Town for an errand. 

Secondly, it was possible to catch passing fishing boats on the island headed back to Pallet Town. And after hearing about Charlie’s harrowing experience with an Alpha Tentacruel, Nina was secretly hoping to be met with a similar ordeal. “Not like I’ll be in trouble since Nitey could always fly us out of there.”

The reason why Nina opted not to use her Dragonite to just Fly everywhere was because she wanted a proper journey, not just a fast travel montage. This was the real world, not a video game and there were plenty of things to discover and interesting people and Pokemon to meet along the way.

And thirdly, Nina wanted to check on the Pokemon Mansion to find clues pertaining to her Mew Gem, if it was still even around. Nina tried to look the place up on the Pokenet, but came up empty. Cinnabar Island was a busy tourist destination and had limited space for real estate. So she wouldn’t be surprised if the rickety old mansion was torn down by this point.

Fortunately, they were going to visit the island paradise during the dead of winter. So it was unlikely that they would have to deal with too many tourists, mostly just the crowd visiting for the many hot springs around the volcano — basically, old people.

“C’mon guys, let’s go check out the ship’s lounge.” Nina said, in an attempt to distract Espy.

From the pictures that she saw online, the lounge of the old cruise ship had some serious Oriental Express vibes; plush carpets, crystal chandeliers, exquisite wainscoting, and expensive paintings framed in gold and silver, all in a space of red velvet and dark oak. Nina had a feeling that her discerning Espeon would greatly appreciate the lounge.

However, just as they were about to head inside, the ship's alarm sounded along with the intercom blaring to life.

“All passengers, this is a Code Blue. I repeat, this is a Code Blue. Please return indoors and await further instruction. The deck and all other open areas on the ship’s exterior are off limits until further notice.”

The voice on the intercom repeated themself again while Nina hummed in consideration. All around her were passengers who were squeezing to get back into the cabin.

“Hmm… Code Blue, that’s a Gyarados warning right?” The girl mused, trying to recall what she read on the little booklet that every passenger was provided with.

While all the other passengers were panicking, Nina calmly looked out towards the sea. And though she didn’t see any Gyarados, she did spot a patch of dark clouds in the distance. As a certified Gym Trainer under the Cerulean Gym’s employ, she was well trained in anti-Gyarados countermeasures, which mostly just involved beating the living daylights out of them before doing a force capture in special Pokeballs. Failing which, they were supposed to hold the Gyarados in place and call for backup.

The ladies of the Cerulean Gym were often asked to accompany Sea Rangers to subjugate errant Gyarados hordes too close to civilization or established shipping lanes. That said, Nina had never been allowed to join, since she was too young. She heard a lot of stories though and always wondered what it would be like.

So in a fit of whimsy, Nina decided to head to the S.S Anne’s bridge instead of joining the crowd. But before that, she returned Brucey and Espy to avoid exacerbating the traffic and picked up Lynxie and Peppy in her arms.

***

“Are you lost, little girl? This area is off limits to passengers, please return to the cabin as instructed.”

In response to the sailor barring her way, Nina just took out her Pokedex and showed her identification. “My name is Melina Jones, I’m a Gym Trainer with the Cerulean Gym. I was just wondering if you guys need any help with the Gyarados.”

The sailor squinted at Nina’s Pokedex while rubbing the back of his head, unsure about how to deal with the matter. Until a voice called out from behind him.

“Let ‘er in!” said the masculine voice, prompting the sailor to straighten with a salute before stepping aside.

“Hello, my name is Captain Okita,” The gruff looking seaman with a bushy white beard and a black eyepatch greeted the young girl before him. “You say you’re a mermaid?”

Nina nodded and let go of the two Pokemon in her embrace before responding with a casual salute. “Yup, Melina Jones of the Cerulean Gym, but you can just call me Nina.”

Captain Okita nodded and handed the ornate spyglass in his hands over to the girl, then gestured towards the dark clouds in the distance.

Nina thanked the captain and took a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship of the gem encrusted brass tube in her hand before extending it to have a look.

The view was a little distorted. As novel as the spyglass was, it could hardly compare to modern binoculars. But she could make out the figure of three rampaging Gyarados, currently engaged in a fight with one another — most likely a turf war. The sea serpents bit at each other, writhing violently amidst churning seas and roaring thunderclouds. And worst of all, the S.S. Anne was on course to pass straight through them.

The young Gym Trainer hummed. “Yup, those are Gyarados alright. Angry ones too. Do you need my Pokemon to go over there and subdue them?”

The captain sighed. “If you’re able to. Otherwise, we’ll have to take a very long detour and delay our schedule.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. But do you have any Red Balls on board? Or we could use regular Pokeballs and put them into stasis.” 

The Red Balls that Nina referred to were special Pokeballs with a built in locking mechanism. Meaning, Pokemon, once captured, were unable to forcefully break out of confinement. And as the name suggested, Red Balls were the opposite of Premier balls in that both top and bottom shells were red.

In response, Captain Okita whistled and told his adjutant to go grab the items from his office. “As you well know, Red Balls are highly regulated so I have them under lock and key in my desk.”

Nina nodded in understanding and patiently waited for the sailor to return before asking if she could use their balcony.

“Be my guest,” said Captain Okita as he followed the girl outside. Only to widen his eyes in awe when Nina released a Dragonite onto the ship.

“Hey buddy, wanna try catching some Pokemon?” Nina asked, eliciting an excited cheer from her partner. Ever since Nitey evolved and grew arms, he had been dying to try his hand at throwing a Pokeball, like he often saw his partner and the people on TV do.

Nina laughed, beckoned her oversized Dragon to bend down and gave him a kiss on his snout. “Alright, Nitey.” She continued as she snapped open the briefcase containing the Red Balls, which she then attached to a spare belt before tying it around her partner’s muscular arm.

“I’ve already expanded the Pokeballs for you. So once you faint the Gyarados, just toss it at them like you see on TV. And if you’re afraid of missing, then just get close and press the button against them, okay?”

“Niiite~” Nitey kissed Nina in return and eagerly flew off towards the Gyarados.

“Will your Dragonite be fine on his own?” Captain Okita asked, voice tinged with doubt.

Nina dismissed the man’s concerns with a wave. “Nitey is my starter and spent years training in the Cerulean Gym. He knows what to do. But that aside, do you have a spare spyglass I could borrow? I wanna watch the battle.”

Captain Okita handed a pair of binoculars to Nina, which she pressed against her eyes to observe the proceedings. Nina could see that her partner started off by dispelling the anomalous weather, before bombarding the trio of Gyarados at range with a barrage of Double Pulses. 

The sudden interruption prompted the three sea serpents to put aside their differences and band against Nitey with joint Hyperbeams, which the Dragonite just casually danced around. A Gyarados’s Hyperbeam might be powerful, but it meant nothing if it couldn’t hit.

Nina nodded in approval and cheered loudly for her partner. Nitey was probably abstaining from melee because he didn’t want to risk accidentally dropping the Red Balls he was carrying. “I really should get his Ice moves up to par…” 

One would think that Nitey’s fondness of ice cream made it easier for him to develop the element. But as he was right now, there was too much of a wind up before release, making it impractical in battle. It was basically the same issue he had with Electric Type Energy previously.

And speaking of Electricity, it was a good thing that Gyarados were weak to Electric. Because the battle soon ended with Nitey bombarding the Gyarados with a storm of Thunder that he learned from Sapphire, his girlfriend.

After confirming that his opponents were thoroughly unconscious, Nitey did a happy little dance in the air and waved at Nina from the distance, his legs jiggling all the while. Nina laughed. Despite being all grown up, her partner was still a little goofball on the inside.

Nitey then started throwing his Pokeballs, missing once and needing to go pick up the item in embarrassment before trying again. When Nitey caught one of the Gyarados, he would hold the Red Ball in the air with a wide stance, like the protagonist of the show he liked to watch.

“Niiite!” Not long after, the jovial Dragon returned to pick Nina up and spun her around in celebration.

Nina giggled. “Nitey~ Stop… you’re making me dizzy.”

Once Nitey had his fill of playing with his human plushie, Nina took the Red Balls from him and handed them over to Captain Okita. “I trust that you’ll be entrusting them to the Sea Rangers?” She asked.

Standard operating procedure after the capture of a rampaging Gyarados was to hand them over to the authorities for potential rehabilitation and resettlement. Failing which, they would be taken far away, to an uninhabited Black Zone to be released.

Captain Okita nodded and accepted the three Gyarados with boisterous laughter. “Haha! Great work, missie. I’ll make sure to hand these rascals over to the Sea Rangers once we make land on Cinnabar. In the meantime, I’ll tell the kitchen cook up whatever you want, free of charge. As thanks for the work.”

“But can Nitey join in too? Pretty sure he’s over the size limit for Pokemon permissible on the ship.”

“Haha! Of course, I’ll tell them to make an exception. So make sure to treat him to a nice meal for me.”

Both Nina and Nitey cheered. The girl was looking forward to enjoying a luxurious high tea session in the lounge. “I wonder if Kerry is feeling better. It’d be a shame if she missed out.”