Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Author: ZebraUnicorn
Chapter 212
“This is it right, Magneton?”
“Bzzt… Beep boop.”
“Hmm…” Nina hummed in contemplation then turned towards Espy who nodded in affirmation. She could sense the familiar Psychic signature ahead as well — that of the Unown.
“Right, I guess we’ve finally arrived then. Question is, how do we get in?”
The girl and her Pokemon companions were currently staring at a broken section of the tunnel. Whatever passage that led into the ruins beyond had long since collapsed into a pile of rubble and debris. Probably due to all the seismic activity nearby.
“I wonder if Onix’s colony was being repelled by the electromagnetic field inherent to the ruins?” That would explain the Rock Pokemon’s hesitant behaviour back in the caverns. “Though I suppose this does save me the heartache of needing to break in...” Nina mused as she addressed her Pokemon.
“Alright, Nitey, Clody, please work together to clear a path into the chamber.” The girl commanded. “Espy, keep an eye out on the cave’s integrity. If you sense a collapse coming, then try your best to hold everything up until Clody can intervene.”
Nina’s trio of ace Pokemon all cried out in affirmation as they got to work. Meanwhile, Nina pulled out her Pokedex and asked Lucy’s Magneton for some help.
“Magneton, do you think you can maybe straighten out some of this magnetic interference? The Unown are apparently transmitting radio waves from the ruins and I’d like to listen to what they’re saying.”
“Bzzzt…”
The triplet of magnet Pokemon did a jerky little spin and widened their eyes. Nina could feel the hair rising from her skin as sparks of electricity danced across Magneton’s metallic frame, from one magnetic appendage to the next.
All around her, Nina could see pieces of rock and debris wobbling and levitating in place while Magneton focused on establishing their electromagnetic domain. And before long, the inorganic triclops’ eyes all turned to look at Nina with a flash of yellow.
She had no idea what that look meant, but Nina decided to tune into her radio to relieve Magneton of their strain as soon as possible.
Silence and static, on and off, loud and low. It took some fiddling, but the rookie adventurer was finally able to find the frequency on which the Unown were broadcasting.
More static.
And on and on it went, repeating ad nauseum. The voice was mechanical, androgynous, sounding like the AI generated voices of Nina’s past life with not a shred of personality.
But more importantly, the voice was speaking English — the good old lingua franca that Nina had almost forgotten about at this point. In fact, it was uncanny to hear the Queen’s dialect after all this time. It had felt almost like an entire lifetime since, probably because it actually was.
To Nina’s disappointment though, those coordinates were of little use to her. Because a quick check on her map indicated that it was the approximate location where the Ruins of Alph were situated.
That said, she still harbored hope that perhaps that specific point contained some sort of hidden treasure or archive. So Nina made a note to double check once she got out, in addition to recording the radio broadcast for posterity.
A cacophony of thoughts and speculation roiled in Nina’s mind, of all the possibilities that the broadcast entailed. One thing was for sure though; the nomads that settled around this region were a splinter group. Some sort of advanced reconnaissance unit that lost contact with their command center maybe?
“Longinus…” Nina mused. “Is that the name of their base? A mothership, maybe?” She was reminded of the murals she saw in the caverns leading to the Moon Shrine and of the ancient Kantonian legend of visitors from the moon, be they humans or Pokemon.
“But then, what about the Unown? What the heck are they?” And more importantly, what relation does Longinus have to the Spear Pillar? Or was it all just one big coincidence?
The little excerpt that Nina read in Professor Elm’s archives came to mind.
“Bzzzt… beep… boop…” As Nina continued to stew in her own thoughts, Magneton cried out in strain. The magnet Pokemon could hold onto its domain no longer.
Nina jolted and turned to Magneton with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, buddy. You can let go now. I’ve already gotten everything I need.”
“Bzzzt.” With another cry, Magneton powered down, their magnet-shaped appendages wilting in exhaustion as Nina produced some juicy battery cells from her fanny pack to reward them with, courtesy of Lucy.
Not long after, Espy called out to Nina to inform her that the excavation was nearly done.
“Thanks guys, you’re all the best! Berries for everyone once we make it out of here.” Nina proclaimed.
Then, with a final strain, Nitey moved the final piece of debris blocking their way in a plume of dust, the microscopic particles shimmering silver under Nina’s headlight.
Nina covered her face and did her best to fight back her cough and hold her breath. The air in the cavern was stale and musky, making the girl wonder how long it had been since anyone was last here. Even the Pokemon were scrunching their nose in displeasure.
But none of that mattered, because Nina’s mind was soon distracted by the view of the ancient stone chamber that opened up before her; of Unown etched into the walls and a crude statue of Mew adorning the center.
“Espy, do you mind?” And with that, the dark expanse of the enigmatic chamber was soon illuminated by a ball of artificial sunlight conjured by the Espeon. Curiously though, there was not a single live Unown in sight, only the inert ones carved into the wall.
The room was functionally empty, save for the statue in the middle. And she knew for a fact that the puzzles were a thing since she had already seen one previously.
However, as Nina began to approach said statue, she felt a sudden warmth suffuse her — a pristine divine aura that cleansed away the stagnant air surrounding them.
“W-wha…?”
“Es.”
At Espy’s urging, Nina looked down at the searing light leaking from her fanny pack. And rummaging through it, she procured the burning shell of the GS Ball, its golden top half emitting a radiant light.
Driven by instinct, Nina approached the statue with the golden light in her hand. And as she did, the statue gradually shifted, revealing a hidden passage underneath.
As the base of the statue grinded to a halt, so too did the light of the GS Ball dim, leaving only the residual warmth of the sun on Nina’s palm. “Curious…” Even more so since only the top half of the enigmatic Pokeball lit up. “I remember one of the puzzles being in the likeness of Ho-Oh…”
And sure enough, as Nina and her Pokemon gingerly made their way down the stairs, they found massive stone slabs laid atop an indent on the floor, each depicting disjointed lines and complex patterns.
“These slabs… they’re too heavy to be lifted by humans.” Nina mused as she peered over one of the puzzle pieces. “Which means it was intended to be solved with the help of Pokemon.” Quite appropriate really.
“Es.” Nina’s thoughts were interrupted by Espy’s paw.
“Oh? Do you want to have a go at it, Espy?” It seemed that the archaic artwork had piqued the Espeon’s artistic sensibilities.
Espy nodded and strutted forth confidently while Nina exchanged an amused glance with Nitey and stepped back to watch.
“Let us know if you need any help, okay?”
“Niiite~”
But Espy dismissed her companion’s concerns and began shuffling the stone slabs around by levitating one and shifting another in its place, rotating the pieces as appropriate.
Nina could tell how heavy the pieces were just from seeing the sweat dripping from Espy’s brow. The chamber gradually dimmed the more that Espy concentrated as she diverted energy away from her Sunny Day to her Psychic prowess, necessitating that Magneton take over with Flash — Nitey’s weather moves were way too potent for such a tiny space.
It also didn’t help that the puzzle room was completely sealed off with very little air circulation. So the girl asked her Dragonite to circulate some Flying and Ice Type Energy for their comfort.
“Remember Espy, we’re looking to construct a mural of Ho-Oh.” Nina chimed helpfully, only to receive a mental pulse of annoyance in return.
The girl giggled and continued to observe. It seemed that Espy was having trouble figuring out the center pieces — specifically, the correct orientation and position of the head. Nina nodded in solidarity, she remembered having the exact same problem as well back when she used to play the games.
“Es. Espeon!” After what felt like ages, Espy finally slotted the last piece in place and declared her success with a triumphant cry.
“Great work, Espy!” Nina cheered. But before she could reach down to pamper her little genius, the entire chamber began to rumble and Nina’s mind was assaulted with discordant images.
Visions of a massive metallic construct trapped in a turbulent storm of energy; colorful plasma, roiling black clouds and spinning debris — some sort of vessel, a space ship maybe? Followed by the terrifying sound of metal torn asunder, frantic yells and explosions. But like a broken record, the vision shattered, as abruptly as it came.
The experience would have left a hyperventilating Nina reeling on the ground, were it not for Espy who caught her in time.
As the quake began to subside, the Unown sigils etched into the far wall flashed a golden light. The mysterious alphabet Pokemon came to life and rearranged themselves to form coherent sentences.
WE HUMANS MUST LEARN TO WALK IN HARMONY WITH THEM
WE DEPART FOR THEIR SAKES
And with another flash, the newly arranged words merged into the wall in place of the previous gibberish.
“T-That… What was that.” Nina was shaking, her mind in chaos at what she just saw.
“Nite… Dragonite…” Nitey, sensing the distress of his partner, pulled Nina into a hug to placate her. The Dragonite’s familiar grasp did wonders to help settle the raging storm savaging her mind.
“Thanks, Nitey… You’re the best.” Nina gave her partner a loving kiss and breathed in deep to organize her thoughts, her exhale sounding raspy and unsteady.
Nina raised her head and really took in vestiges of history surrounding her, now shrouded in dust.
Nina knew. Or at least she had a working suspicion on the function of these ancient ruins.
“Memories… The Ruins of Alph is one big database, made to pass down knowledge to future generations. Knowledge of how humans came to be…” All made possible through the Unown — primitive, yet highly advanced at the same time.
No, the Unown Report — it was too raw, too informal. And no signs of redaction.
While the girl and her Pokemon were still processing the events that transpired, the Unown on the side walls gradually came to life and floated into view. One of them in particular really caught Nina’s eye.
The Unown in question was the “Z” that was missing from the Unown report. But it seemed unstable, constantly phasing in and out in a mess of pixels and noise while jerkily drifting in the air. Almost like… “MissingNo.?”
MissingNo. referred to the glitch Pokemon in the original first gen games — the result of a programming error and happenstance rather than anything intentional. The glitch took on the form of a mess of broken pixels, presumably of some corrupted Pokemon sprite.
But in the case of the Unown, Nina could still make out the “Z”, just that it would occasionally break apart into visual noise before merging back again. The Unown itself did not seem to be suffering, not that she knew if the species was even capable of pain.
As Nina was looking around the cavern to see if she could spot another Z Unown, Nitey groaned. Continuous observation of the anomaly seemed to be giving him a headache as Espy shielded their minds with her Psychic aura. Meanwhile, Haunter left Nina’s shadow and hovered in front of her human as a shield, earning her a kiss from Nina.
“Do you want to return to your Pokeball, Nitey?”
“Nite-nite!” Nitey shook his head in denial and opted to avert his gaze instead. He wanted to be on standby in case anything dangerous were to happen.
The girl sighed, feeling relieved that Nitey was okay. But equally, Nina was also feeling a little anxious. She felt that she needed to make a decision soon, on what to do with the Z Unown.
“I don’t see any other Zs around. Do you, Espy?” The response was a mental wave of denial.
Not that Nina was all that familiar, she never really cared much for breaking the games like some people did. So naturally, her memory was filled with more holes than a Shuckle.
The girl let out another sigh and took out her Beast Ball, feeling a little reluctant all the while. “Didn’t think I’d find use for this so soon… Let’s hope this won’t be a waste.”
Nina also desperately prayed that Maizie would come through with her research on recreating the Beast Ball, and that the Z Unown would be stabilized after being captured. Thus, with much apprehension, Nina approached the glitchy Unown with Haunter and Espy in tow.
“Hey there, little guy… My name is Nina and these are my family. Do you mind if I captured you? I want to see if this Beast Ball here can help fix whatever problems you’re having.”
The Unown turned to regard Nina at her call before glitching out again, but otherwise remained unresponsive. Even Espy shook her head in ignorance, not sensing any sort of Psychic response from the sentient alphabet.
“Welp… Can’t be helped then.” With no other recourse, Nina waited for the Unown to stabilize before pressing the Beast Ball against it. The webbed pattern of the Ball coming to life with a pulsating blue light as it sucked the Unown into its confine.
Interestingly enough, the Beat Ball did not open, the Unown simply morphed into incandescent light before siphoning into the button. Then, with a brilliant yellow flash from the cross fins and an electronic beep, the Beast Ball dimmed and turned inert with nary a whimper.
“So err… did we do it?” Nina turned to look at Espy, who responded with an indolent shrug.
“Welp, I guess there’s only one way to find out… I choose you, Zed!”
Once it hit the ground, the Beast Ball came to life again in a carnival of lights. The midnight blue sphere exploded in a flash and expelled Zed the Unown back into the cavern. Only this time, the Z Unown looked a lot livelier, without any telltale signs of the glitches that plagued it prior.
Zed looked around in confusion; left, right, down and up, before doing a little twirl and blinking its eye in astonishment. It then jolted and turned to look at the human waving at it.
“Hey there, how’re you feeling? No more glitches?” The girl asked. “My name is Nina, in case you didn’t hear it the first time. Sorry about the force capture, but I couldn’t think of any other way to fix you. Hope you don’t mind.”
Zed did a little tilt and scanned the girl from top to bottom, as if assessing her. It then hovered close and nuzzled against Nina's hand with one of its protruding appendages in a sign of friendliness.
“Hehe…” Nina giggled and returned the gesture with a gentle handshake. “I’ll take that as a yes then. Oh, and let me introduce you to my family… This beautiful princess right here is Espy and this is Haunter — she’s the sweetest Ghost you’ll ever meet.”
Nina released Poppy and Brucey, and one by one, she gestured towards her team and introduced each of them to Zed. It was a good thing that the EMI surrounding the ruins prevented the transfer of her newest capture. Though she wasn’t sure if this would continue even after she left, given that the Beast Ball wasn’t officially registered to her.
“And lastly, this is Magneton. They’re actually on loan from a friend of mine, Lucy.”
Zed floated up to Magneton, their beady pupils and pure white sclera meeting with the Triclops’ in a staring contest.
“Beep. Bzzzt… Boop.”
And as if achieving some sort of acknowledgement, Magneton did a little spin, which Zed imitated before moving away from the magnet Pokemon.
“The heck?” Nina turned to Espy for an explanation, only to receive another shrug in return. The Espeon was equally confused by the exchange.
Nina would have to experiment a bit further later on to find out.
“Anyways… So yeah, we’re just a motley crew out exploring the world and looking for adventure.” Nina continued with a sheepish smile. “I know I kind of captured you without permission and all, but I was wondering if you'd be up for joining us in our little journey?”
Zed stared at Nina once more and did a little spin, which Magneton helped to interpret by flashing green in approval.
“Heck yeah! Welcome to the family, Zed!” Nina cheered, prompting the rest of her Pokemon to follow suit.
***
Author's note:
Those coordinates actually exist in real life. Feel free to look it up if anyone wants to partake in a simple ARG.
Though I kinda messed up a little and took the centroid of the area instead of the specific place. Oh well, take it as a test of your deduction skills.
“Bzzt… Beep boop.”
“Hmm…” Nina hummed in contemplation then turned towards Espy who nodded in affirmation. She could sense the familiar Psychic signature ahead as well — that of the Unown.
“Right, I guess we’ve finally arrived then. Question is, how do we get in?”
The girl and her Pokemon companions were currently staring at a broken section of the tunnel. Whatever passage that led into the ruins beyond had long since collapsed into a pile of rubble and debris. Probably due to all the seismic activity nearby.
“I wonder if Onix’s colony was being repelled by the electromagnetic field inherent to the ruins?” That would explain the Rock Pokemon’s hesitant behaviour back in the caverns. “Though I suppose this does save me the heartache of needing to break in...” Nina mused as she addressed her Pokemon.
“Alright, Nitey, Clody, please work together to clear a path into the chamber.” The girl commanded. “Espy, keep an eye out on the cave’s integrity. If you sense a collapse coming, then try your best to hold everything up until Clody can intervene.”
Nina’s trio of ace Pokemon all cried out in affirmation as they got to work. Meanwhile, Nina pulled out her Pokedex and asked Lucy’s Magneton for some help.
“Magneton, do you think you can maybe straighten out some of this magnetic interference? The Unown are apparently transmitting radio waves from the ruins and I’d like to listen to what they’re saying.”
“Bzzzt…”
The triplet of magnet Pokemon did a jerky little spin and widened their eyes. Nina could feel the hair rising from her skin as sparks of electricity danced across Magneton’s metallic frame, from one magnetic appendage to the next.
All around her, Nina could see pieces of rock and debris wobbling and levitating in place while Magneton focused on establishing their electromagnetic domain. And before long, the inorganic triclops’ eyes all turned to look at Nina with a flash of yellow.
She had no idea what that look meant, but Nina decided to tune into her radio to relieve Magneton of their strain as soon as possible.
Silence and static, on and off, loud and low. It took some fiddling, but the rookie adventurer was finally able to find the frequency on which the Unown were broadcasting.
More static.
And on and on it went, repeating ad nauseum. The voice was mechanical, androgynous, sounding like the AI generated voices of Nina’s past life with not a shred of personality.
But more importantly, the voice was speaking English — the good old lingua franca that Nina had almost forgotten about at this point. In fact, it was uncanny to hear the Queen’s dialect after all this time. It had felt almost like an entire lifetime since, probably because it actually was.
To Nina’s disappointment though, those coordinates were of little use to her. Because a quick check on her map indicated that it was the approximate location where the Ruins of Alph were situated.
That said, she still harbored hope that perhaps that specific point contained some sort of hidden treasure or archive. So Nina made a note to double check once she got out, in addition to recording the radio broadcast for posterity.
A cacophony of thoughts and speculation roiled in Nina’s mind, of all the possibilities that the broadcast entailed. One thing was for sure though; the nomads that settled around this region were a splinter group. Some sort of advanced reconnaissance unit that lost contact with their command center maybe?
“Longinus…” Nina mused. “Is that the name of their base? A mothership, maybe?” She was reminded of the murals she saw in the caverns leading to the Moon Shrine and of the ancient Kantonian legend of visitors from the moon, be they humans or Pokemon.
“But then, what about the Unown? What the heck are they?” And more importantly, what relation does Longinus have to the Spear Pillar? Or was it all just one big coincidence?
The little excerpt that Nina read in Professor Elm’s archives came to mind.
“Bzzzt… beep… boop…” As Nina continued to stew in her own thoughts, Magneton cried out in strain. The magnet Pokemon could hold onto its domain no longer.
Nina jolted and turned to Magneton with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, buddy. You can let go now. I’ve already gotten everything I need.”
“Bzzzt.” With another cry, Magneton powered down, their magnet-shaped appendages wilting in exhaustion as Nina produced some juicy battery cells from her fanny pack to reward them with, courtesy of Lucy.
Not long after, Espy called out to Nina to inform her that the excavation was nearly done.
“Thanks guys, you’re all the best! Berries for everyone once we make it out of here.” Nina proclaimed.
Then, with a final strain, Nitey moved the final piece of debris blocking their way in a plume of dust, the microscopic particles shimmering silver under Nina’s headlight.
Nina covered her face and did her best to fight back her cough and hold her breath. The air in the cavern was stale and musky, making the girl wonder how long it had been since anyone was last here. Even the Pokemon were scrunching their nose in displeasure.
But none of that mattered, because Nina’s mind was soon distracted by the view of the ancient stone chamber that opened up before her; of Unown etched into the walls and a crude statue of Mew adorning the center.
“Espy, do you mind?” And with that, the dark expanse of the enigmatic chamber was soon illuminated by a ball of artificial sunlight conjured by the Espeon. Curiously though, there was not a single live Unown in sight, only the inert ones carved into the wall.
The room was functionally empty, save for the statue in the middle. And she knew for a fact that the puzzles were a thing since she had already seen one previously.
However, as Nina began to approach said statue, she felt a sudden warmth suffuse her — a pristine divine aura that cleansed away the stagnant air surrounding them.
“W-wha…?”
“Es.”
At Espy’s urging, Nina looked down at the searing light leaking from her fanny pack. And rummaging through it, she procured the burning shell of the GS Ball, its golden top half emitting a radiant light.
Driven by instinct, Nina approached the statue with the golden light in her hand. And as she did, the statue gradually shifted, revealing a hidden passage underneath.
As the base of the statue grinded to a halt, so too did the light of the GS Ball dim, leaving only the residual warmth of the sun on Nina’s palm. “Curious…” Even more so since only the top half of the enigmatic Pokeball lit up. “I remember one of the puzzles being in the likeness of Ho-Oh…”
And sure enough, as Nina and her Pokemon gingerly made their way down the stairs, they found massive stone slabs laid atop an indent on the floor, each depicting disjointed lines and complex patterns.
“These slabs… they’re too heavy to be lifted by humans.” Nina mused as she peered over one of the puzzle pieces. “Which means it was intended to be solved with the help of Pokemon.” Quite appropriate really.
“Es.” Nina’s thoughts were interrupted by Espy’s paw.
“Oh? Do you want to have a go at it, Espy?” It seemed that the archaic artwork had piqued the Espeon’s artistic sensibilities.
Espy nodded and strutted forth confidently while Nina exchanged an amused glance with Nitey and stepped back to watch.
“Let us know if you need any help, okay?”
“Niiite~”
But Espy dismissed her companion’s concerns and began shuffling the stone slabs around by levitating one and shifting another in its place, rotating the pieces as appropriate.
Nina could tell how heavy the pieces were just from seeing the sweat dripping from Espy’s brow. The chamber gradually dimmed the more that Espy concentrated as she diverted energy away from her Sunny Day to her Psychic prowess, necessitating that Magneton take over with Flash — Nitey’s weather moves were way too potent for such a tiny space.
It also didn’t help that the puzzle room was completely sealed off with very little air circulation. So the girl asked her Dragonite to circulate some Flying and Ice Type Energy for their comfort.
“Remember Espy, we’re looking to construct a mural of Ho-Oh.” Nina chimed helpfully, only to receive a mental pulse of annoyance in return.
The girl giggled and continued to observe. It seemed that Espy was having trouble figuring out the center pieces — specifically, the correct orientation and position of the head. Nina nodded in solidarity, she remembered having the exact same problem as well back when she used to play the games.
“Es. Espeon!” After what felt like ages, Espy finally slotted the last piece in place and declared her success with a triumphant cry.
“Great work, Espy!” Nina cheered. But before she could reach down to pamper her little genius, the entire chamber began to rumble and Nina’s mind was assaulted with discordant images.
Visions of a massive metallic construct trapped in a turbulent storm of energy; colorful plasma, roiling black clouds and spinning debris — some sort of vessel, a space ship maybe? Followed by the terrifying sound of metal torn asunder, frantic yells and explosions. But like a broken record, the vision shattered, as abruptly as it came.
The experience would have left a hyperventilating Nina reeling on the ground, were it not for Espy who caught her in time.
As the quake began to subside, the Unown sigils etched into the far wall flashed a golden light. The mysterious alphabet Pokemon came to life and rearranged themselves to form coherent sentences.
WE HUMANS MUST LEARN TO WALK IN HARMONY WITH THEM
WE DEPART FOR THEIR SAKES
And with another flash, the newly arranged words merged into the wall in place of the previous gibberish.
“T-That… What was that.” Nina was shaking, her mind in chaos at what she just saw.
“Nite… Dragonite…” Nitey, sensing the distress of his partner, pulled Nina into a hug to placate her. The Dragonite’s familiar grasp did wonders to help settle the raging storm savaging her mind.
“Thanks, Nitey… You’re the best.” Nina gave her partner a loving kiss and breathed in deep to organize her thoughts, her exhale sounding raspy and unsteady.
Nina raised her head and really took in vestiges of history surrounding her, now shrouded in dust.
Nina knew. Or at least she had a working suspicion on the function of these ancient ruins.
“Memories… The Ruins of Alph is one big database, made to pass down knowledge to future generations. Knowledge of how humans came to be…” All made possible through the Unown — primitive, yet highly advanced at the same time.
No, the Unown Report — it was too raw, too informal. And no signs of redaction.
While the girl and her Pokemon were still processing the events that transpired, the Unown on the side walls gradually came to life and floated into view. One of them in particular really caught Nina’s eye.
The Unown in question was the “Z” that was missing from the Unown report. But it seemed unstable, constantly phasing in and out in a mess of pixels and noise while jerkily drifting in the air. Almost like… “MissingNo.?”
MissingNo. referred to the glitch Pokemon in the original first gen games — the result of a programming error and happenstance rather than anything intentional. The glitch took on the form of a mess of broken pixels, presumably of some corrupted Pokemon sprite.
But in the case of the Unown, Nina could still make out the “Z”, just that it would occasionally break apart into visual noise before merging back again. The Unown itself did not seem to be suffering, not that she knew if the species was even capable of pain.
As Nina was looking around the cavern to see if she could spot another Z Unown, Nitey groaned. Continuous observation of the anomaly seemed to be giving him a headache as Espy shielded their minds with her Psychic aura. Meanwhile, Haunter left Nina’s shadow and hovered in front of her human as a shield, earning her a kiss from Nina.
“Do you want to return to your Pokeball, Nitey?”
“Nite-nite!” Nitey shook his head in denial and opted to avert his gaze instead. He wanted to be on standby in case anything dangerous were to happen.
The girl sighed, feeling relieved that Nitey was okay. But equally, Nina was also feeling a little anxious. She felt that she needed to make a decision soon, on what to do with the Z Unown.
“I don’t see any other Zs around. Do you, Espy?” The response was a mental wave of denial.
Not that Nina was all that familiar, she never really cared much for breaking the games like some people did. So naturally, her memory was filled with more holes than a Shuckle.
The girl let out another sigh and took out her Beast Ball, feeling a little reluctant all the while. “Didn’t think I’d find use for this so soon… Let’s hope this won’t be a waste.”
Nina also desperately prayed that Maizie would come through with her research on recreating the Beast Ball, and that the Z Unown would be stabilized after being captured. Thus, with much apprehension, Nina approached the glitchy Unown with Haunter and Espy in tow.
“Hey there, little guy… My name is Nina and these are my family. Do you mind if I captured you? I want to see if this Beast Ball here can help fix whatever problems you’re having.”
The Unown turned to regard Nina at her call before glitching out again, but otherwise remained unresponsive. Even Espy shook her head in ignorance, not sensing any sort of Psychic response from the sentient alphabet.
“Welp… Can’t be helped then.” With no other recourse, Nina waited for the Unown to stabilize before pressing the Beast Ball against it. The webbed pattern of the Ball coming to life with a pulsating blue light as it sucked the Unown into its confine.
Interestingly enough, the Beat Ball did not open, the Unown simply morphed into incandescent light before siphoning into the button. Then, with a brilliant yellow flash from the cross fins and an electronic beep, the Beast Ball dimmed and turned inert with nary a whimper.
“So err… did we do it?” Nina turned to look at Espy, who responded with an indolent shrug.
“Welp, I guess there’s only one way to find out… I choose you, Zed!”
Once it hit the ground, the Beast Ball came to life again in a carnival of lights. The midnight blue sphere exploded in a flash and expelled Zed the Unown back into the cavern. Only this time, the Z Unown looked a lot livelier, without any telltale signs of the glitches that plagued it prior.
Zed looked around in confusion; left, right, down and up, before doing a little twirl and blinking its eye in astonishment. It then jolted and turned to look at the human waving at it.
“Hey there, how’re you feeling? No more glitches?” The girl asked. “My name is Nina, in case you didn’t hear it the first time. Sorry about the force capture, but I couldn’t think of any other way to fix you. Hope you don’t mind.”
Zed did a little tilt and scanned the girl from top to bottom, as if assessing her. It then hovered close and nuzzled against Nina's hand with one of its protruding appendages in a sign of friendliness.
“Hehe…” Nina giggled and returned the gesture with a gentle handshake. “I’ll take that as a yes then. Oh, and let me introduce you to my family… This beautiful princess right here is Espy and this is Haunter — she’s the sweetest Ghost you’ll ever meet.”
Nina released Poppy and Brucey, and one by one, she gestured towards her team and introduced each of them to Zed. It was a good thing that the EMI surrounding the ruins prevented the transfer of her newest capture. Though she wasn’t sure if this would continue even after she left, given that the Beast Ball wasn’t officially registered to her.
“And lastly, this is Magneton. They’re actually on loan from a friend of mine, Lucy.”
Zed floated up to Magneton, their beady pupils and pure white sclera meeting with the Triclops’ in a staring contest.
“Beep. Bzzzt… Boop.”
And as if achieving some sort of acknowledgement, Magneton did a little spin, which Zed imitated before moving away from the magnet Pokemon.
“The heck?” Nina turned to Espy for an explanation, only to receive another shrug in return. The Espeon was equally confused by the exchange.
Nina would have to experiment a bit further later on to find out.
“Anyways… So yeah, we’re just a motley crew out exploring the world and looking for adventure.” Nina continued with a sheepish smile. “I know I kind of captured you without permission and all, but I was wondering if you'd be up for joining us in our little journey?”
Zed stared at Nina once more and did a little spin, which Magneton helped to interpret by flashing green in approval.
“Heck yeah! Welcome to the family, Zed!” Nina cheered, prompting the rest of her Pokemon to follow suit.
***
Author's note:
Those coordinates actually exist in real life. Feel free to look it up if anyone wants to partake in a simple ARG.
Though I kinda messed up a little and took the centroid of the area instead of the specific place. Oh well, take it as a test of your deduction skills.