Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Author: ZebraUnicorn
Chapter 213
“Seriously, can’t the two of you go anywhere without causing trouble?”
“I don’t wanna hear that from you!” yelled Justin. “These guys are small fry compared to the group that you and Lilian picked a fight with!”
Nina chuckled and got a little closer to scrutinize the latest batch of Rocket goons that Justin and Lucy apprehended. In particular, she was intrigued by the oldest among them — a man wearing a set of goofy looking clothes akin to sheets of tinfoil.
“You… You’re Team Galactic aren’t you?” The girl questioned, only to receive an intense glare from the man, all bound and gagged. “Now what is a man of your ilk doing here, I wonder…”
In truth, Nina already knew the answer to that question. Lucy was gracious enough to fill her in on their encounter. Based on what she overheard, Nina had no doubts that the fanatic from Sinnoh was after the hidden segment of the Ruins of Alph contained within Union Cave.
Nina hummed in consideration as she maintained eye contact with the bastard.
According to her research on the Pokenet, Team Galactic started off as a rogue extremist faction within the Church of Origin. They came into prominence briefly for a short period of time before being ousted by the more moderate members of the church. And under Cyrus’s leadership, have since morphed into a wide reaching criminal organisation within the Sinnoh region, not too dissimilar to Team Rocket in a sense.
Which meant that their interest in the Unown and the Ruins of Alph were not entirely uncalled for.
“Have you contacted the authorities yet?”
After an inordinately long staring session, to the point where even the Galactic grunt was beginning to squirm and sweat, Nina finally broke the silence by addressing Lucy.
The other girl gestured towards the outpost. “Well… Kerry went and informed the Rangers. So we’re on guard duty until they can call in a Jenny from the city.” It seemed that the Rangers were treating this with minimal urgency since they saw that Justin and Lucy had everything under control.
Nina shook her head in exasperation. “Not good enough. We have an agent from Team Galactic on our hands — this is an interregional incident. I’ll make a call to my contact in the Ace Corp. Pretty sure they’ll want to intervene.”
“You have a contact from the Ace Corp?! That’s so cool!”
Nina ignored Justin’s astonishment and walked away from earshot to make the call on her Pokedex. It took a few minutes, but the call did go through eventually.
“You okay, kiddo? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Nina laughed. “Why is it that everyone always assumes the worst when I call?”
A low growl emanated from the speaker. “Stop messing around, kid! I gave you this number for emergencies, NOT for housecalls! So unless you’re captured or lying dead in a ditch somewhere, I don’t wanna hear it!”
Nina winced. The person that she called was Valerie, the friendly Ace Trainer whom she and Kerry met on Mount Silver. But it seemed like she might have caught her at a bad time.
“Miss Valerie, relax… Believe me, I wouldn’t have bothered you unless it was important.”
The sound of a long breath being exhaled could be heard as Valerie regained her composure. “Right, yeah, sorry about that. Kinda in the middle of something right now. So, what’s up?”
The girl chuckled. “Yeah, I figured as much. Anyways, the reason why I’m calling is because my friends caught a member of Team Galactic who was in cahoots with Team Rocket…”
Nina then proceeded to repeat what Lucy had told her about their encounter, before talking about the ruins that she found in Union Cave and some of her speculations. Without being too specific of course.
“......” A long silence was held until Valerie finally spoke again. “Who else knows about this? And do you have the coordinates for the ruins?”
“Among my companions, no one else but me understands what the Galactic grunt was after — pretty sure they didn’t even know he was Team Galactic until I told them. As for the coordinates… Yes, I do. But it’ll do you no good because the path to get there is super convoluted.”
Nina’s plans for if she needed to return to the ruin was to have Espy Teleport her. Which, incidentally, was also how she got out of there in the first place. Albeit, after they gained some distance away from the EMI field first, to avoid any unwanted accidents.
“Hmm… I can’t go there personally, but I can send a couple of my juniors over to handle things. You said you guys are at the Ranger outpost near Union Cave right? Mind sticking around until they show up to guide them? Oh, and if any Jenny shows up, tell them that the Ace Corp has authority over the case and that they should keep their grubby little paws to themselves.”
Nina responded with nervous laughter. “I thought you guys would be happy to have some help, given how busy and understaffed the Ace Corp is.”
Valerie scoffed. “Hah! If we leave it up to those blue haired Growlithes, I can almost guarantee you that we’ll be dealing with a prison break in a couple months tops! And guess who’s gonna be the ones who’ll have to chase them down and wipe their asses? Better to do things right from the start.”
Having personally experienced the politics surrounding law enforcement back in Cerulean City, Nina wisely decided to bite back her response and proceeded to hammer out a few more details with Valerie before ending the call.
***
“Greetings! My name is Gwen, and this is my colleague, Nick.”
“Sup.”
Nina smiled and greeted the pair of Ace Trainers who came up to her in their signature red and black uniform. Meanwhile, Justin and Lucy were mouth agape and absolutely starstruck by the encounter — Ace Trainers were considered the League’s cream of the crop after all.
Gwen was a girl in her early twenties who had her jet black hair tied up in a little bun. While Nick, the belligerent looking man, also had black, unkempt hair and looked equally as young. Nine could see some mild perspiration seeping from their brows along with small but noticeable circles around their eyes — the two had likely rushed to get here in time.
“Hi, I’m Nina and these are my companions; Justin, Lucy and Kerry. You’re here just in time. The Jennies arrived a while ago and they’re all starting to look a little antsy.”
The mention of Jennies elicited a sneer from Nick. “Heh. So what? Those prudes can go suc— Ow!”
Whatever the guy had wanted to say, the world would never know, because Gwen intervened with a hard elbow to his flank, causing him to fold over like a Shellder.
“What my colleague had been trying to say was… Don’t worry about the police — Nick and I will handle it. In the meantime, why don’t you guys go get some rest. I’m sure it’s been an exhausting day, so we’ll take over for now and come find you once we’re ready.”
Nina and Lucy giggled at the sight of the struggling Ace Trainer and thanked Gwen for her consideration. “Here’s our room number, we’re probably gonna go cook some dinner now, so feel free to come by and join in. We’ll make enough for the two of you.”
“Sure thing, see ya later!” And with that, Gwen dragged her companion with her to go liaise with the blue haired policewomen while Nina and her friends got some much needed rest.
***
“Incredible… and you’re the only one who's been here recently, Nina?”
“As far as I can tell, yeah. This place hasn’t been disturbed in a long time until I stumbled upon it.” The girl replied as she gently caressed the limp pile of Espeon in her embrace.
Trying to Teleport once was already a strain on Espy, and trying to Teleport three humans simultaneously was even more so. Fortunately, she wouldn’t be responsible for the return trip since Nick had his own Psychic.
“Eh, it’s all just a pile of rocks and Unown. The fuck are those weirdoes so obssessed with?” Nick chimed, clearly not erudite enough to appreciate the splendor of the ruins before him.
Gwen responded with a wry smile. “No idea, but whatever it is that Team Galactic is after, I doubt it’s anything decent. So good job on you and your friends for pulling a fast one on them.”
The younger girl shrugged. “Eh, I just stumbled upon the ruins by chance. It’s Justin and Lucy who captured them. And speaking of… any idea why those Rocket goons were working with a foreigner?”
“Who knows… Nick and I tried interrogating them, but the Galactic guy wouldn’t talk. And as far as we can tell, the Rocket members were all just bottom tier grunts blindly following orders. We’ll have to bring them in to one of our specialists, maybe even involve Lady Sabrina.”
Nina nodded and chose not to press any further. She doubted that the two Ace Trainers were as ignorant as they claimed. But she also understood that a civilian like her had no business being too nosy about the matter, lest she invite suspicion upon herself.
Just as Nina surmised, the unregistered Beast Ball containing her Unown did not transfer to Storage — an act that was very much considered a misdemeanor under the eyes of the law. So for fear of getting in trouble, Nina had hid the contraband in her backpack and omitted it from her statement.
In fact, she didn’t even tell her friends about it to avoid the risk of one of them — Justin — accidentally blabbing on her. It wouldn’t be too big of a hassle though. From what Nina could tell, Zed didn’t really require any sustenance. In fact, the Unown didn’t even possess any sort of mouth or discernible organs aside from their massive eyeball.
some
“We’ll just leave it to the higher ups to decide on how to handle this place.” Gwen declared, bringing Nina out of her reverie. “More than likely they’ll cordon the place off and keep it secret from the boffins. This image of Ho-Oh is especially concerning. Definitely not something we can trust just anyone with…”
Gwen gave Nina a meaningful glance which she returned by miming a zipping motion over her mouth. Nina knew better than to be a Loudred, especially now that she knew that Team Galactic was explicitly after the ruins.
***
Author's note:
The answer to the coordinates from the previous chapter is Asuka, a village located in the Nara prefecture containing quite a number of historical ruins. In particular the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus, the Ishibutai Tumulus and the Kitora Tumulus.
Why are they significant? Because these are the real life inspirations for the Ruins of Alph in the games. I think I also read something about the ruins' murals being the inspiration for the Indigo Legendaries as well, though I can't be too sure about that.
Anyways, it's just a fun little easter egg that I put in, nothing too plot relevant to this story.
But speaking of, I know some of you are probably anxious to learn more about Zed the Unown. But unfortunately, during the time of writing these chapters, I wasn't able to find a good spot to slot that in without disrupting the overall flow of the story. (My mind was too preoccupied with rushing Nina to Ilex Forest as soon as possible)
So for now, that thread will be deferred until much later. And just to give some context, I aim to wrap up the plotline regarding the Mew Gem by the end of Part Three. And Mew's machinations have nothing to do with Nina's pursuit of the Unown -- that is something that she's doing for her own sake to unravel the mysteries of her origin. That is not to say they aren't entirely unrelated, in the sense that all myths and legends are interconnected in some way.
I say all that because I realised I might not have done the best job of protraying all of that in writing. So I'm sorry if there's any confusion. There'll be a bonus Nina's Journal Chapter coming out tomorrow as well which has some of Nina's thoughts written.
“I don’t wanna hear that from you!” yelled Justin. “These guys are small fry compared to the group that you and Lilian picked a fight with!”
Nina chuckled and got a little closer to scrutinize the latest batch of Rocket goons that Justin and Lucy apprehended. In particular, she was intrigued by the oldest among them — a man wearing a set of goofy looking clothes akin to sheets of tinfoil.
“You… You’re Team Galactic aren’t you?” The girl questioned, only to receive an intense glare from the man, all bound and gagged. “Now what is a man of your ilk doing here, I wonder…”
In truth, Nina already knew the answer to that question. Lucy was gracious enough to fill her in on their encounter. Based on what she overheard, Nina had no doubts that the fanatic from Sinnoh was after the hidden segment of the Ruins of Alph contained within Union Cave.
Nina hummed in consideration as she maintained eye contact with the bastard.
According to her research on the Pokenet, Team Galactic started off as a rogue extremist faction within the Church of Origin. They came into prominence briefly for a short period of time before being ousted by the more moderate members of the church. And under Cyrus’s leadership, have since morphed into a wide reaching criminal organisation within the Sinnoh region, not too dissimilar to Team Rocket in a sense.
Which meant that their interest in the Unown and the Ruins of Alph were not entirely uncalled for.
“Have you contacted the authorities yet?”
After an inordinately long staring session, to the point where even the Galactic grunt was beginning to squirm and sweat, Nina finally broke the silence by addressing Lucy.
The other girl gestured towards the outpost. “Well… Kerry went and informed the Rangers. So we’re on guard duty until they can call in a Jenny from the city.” It seemed that the Rangers were treating this with minimal urgency since they saw that Justin and Lucy had everything under control.
Nina shook her head in exasperation. “Not good enough. We have an agent from Team Galactic on our hands — this is an interregional incident. I’ll make a call to my contact in the Ace Corp. Pretty sure they’ll want to intervene.”
“You have a contact from the Ace Corp?! That’s so cool!”
Nina ignored Justin’s astonishment and walked away from earshot to make the call on her Pokedex. It took a few minutes, but the call did go through eventually.
“You okay, kiddo? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Nina laughed. “Why is it that everyone always assumes the worst when I call?”
A low growl emanated from the speaker. “Stop messing around, kid! I gave you this number for emergencies, NOT for housecalls! So unless you’re captured or lying dead in a ditch somewhere, I don’t wanna hear it!”
Nina winced. The person that she called was Valerie, the friendly Ace Trainer whom she and Kerry met on Mount Silver. But it seemed like she might have caught her at a bad time.
“Miss Valerie, relax… Believe me, I wouldn’t have bothered you unless it was important.”
The sound of a long breath being exhaled could be heard as Valerie regained her composure. “Right, yeah, sorry about that. Kinda in the middle of something right now. So, what’s up?”
The girl chuckled. “Yeah, I figured as much. Anyways, the reason why I’m calling is because my friends caught a member of Team Galactic who was in cahoots with Team Rocket…”
Nina then proceeded to repeat what Lucy had told her about their encounter, before talking about the ruins that she found in Union Cave and some of her speculations. Without being too specific of course.
“......” A long silence was held until Valerie finally spoke again. “Who else knows about this? And do you have the coordinates for the ruins?”
“Among my companions, no one else but me understands what the Galactic grunt was after — pretty sure they didn’t even know he was Team Galactic until I told them. As for the coordinates… Yes, I do. But it’ll do you no good because the path to get there is super convoluted.”
Nina’s plans for if she needed to return to the ruin was to have Espy Teleport her. Which, incidentally, was also how she got out of there in the first place. Albeit, after they gained some distance away from the EMI field first, to avoid any unwanted accidents.
“Hmm… I can’t go there personally, but I can send a couple of my juniors over to handle things. You said you guys are at the Ranger outpost near Union Cave right? Mind sticking around until they show up to guide them? Oh, and if any Jenny shows up, tell them that the Ace Corp has authority over the case and that they should keep their grubby little paws to themselves.”
Nina responded with nervous laughter. “I thought you guys would be happy to have some help, given how busy and understaffed the Ace Corp is.”
Valerie scoffed. “Hah! If we leave it up to those blue haired Growlithes, I can almost guarantee you that we’ll be dealing with a prison break in a couple months tops! And guess who’s gonna be the ones who’ll have to chase them down and wipe their asses? Better to do things right from the start.”
Having personally experienced the politics surrounding law enforcement back in Cerulean City, Nina wisely decided to bite back her response and proceeded to hammer out a few more details with Valerie before ending the call.
***
“Greetings! My name is Gwen, and this is my colleague, Nick.”
“Sup.”
Nina smiled and greeted the pair of Ace Trainers who came up to her in their signature red and black uniform. Meanwhile, Justin and Lucy were mouth agape and absolutely starstruck by the encounter — Ace Trainers were considered the League’s cream of the crop after all.
Gwen was a girl in her early twenties who had her jet black hair tied up in a little bun. While Nick, the belligerent looking man, also had black, unkempt hair and looked equally as young. Nine could see some mild perspiration seeping from their brows along with small but noticeable circles around their eyes — the two had likely rushed to get here in time.
“Hi, I’m Nina and these are my companions; Justin, Lucy and Kerry. You’re here just in time. The Jennies arrived a while ago and they’re all starting to look a little antsy.”
The mention of Jennies elicited a sneer from Nick. “Heh. So what? Those prudes can go suc— Ow!”
Whatever the guy had wanted to say, the world would never know, because Gwen intervened with a hard elbow to his flank, causing him to fold over like a Shellder.
“What my colleague had been trying to say was… Don’t worry about the police — Nick and I will handle it. In the meantime, why don’t you guys go get some rest. I’m sure it’s been an exhausting day, so we’ll take over for now and come find you once we’re ready.”
Nina and Lucy giggled at the sight of the struggling Ace Trainer and thanked Gwen for her consideration. “Here’s our room number, we’re probably gonna go cook some dinner now, so feel free to come by and join in. We’ll make enough for the two of you.”
“Sure thing, see ya later!” And with that, Gwen dragged her companion with her to go liaise with the blue haired policewomen while Nina and her friends got some much needed rest.
***
“Incredible… and you’re the only one who's been here recently, Nina?”
“As far as I can tell, yeah. This place hasn’t been disturbed in a long time until I stumbled upon it.” The girl replied as she gently caressed the limp pile of Espeon in her embrace.
Trying to Teleport once was already a strain on Espy, and trying to Teleport three humans simultaneously was even more so. Fortunately, she wouldn’t be responsible for the return trip since Nick had his own Psychic.
“Eh, it’s all just a pile of rocks and Unown. The fuck are those weirdoes so obssessed with?” Nick chimed, clearly not erudite enough to appreciate the splendor of the ruins before him.
Gwen responded with a wry smile. “No idea, but whatever it is that Team Galactic is after, I doubt it’s anything decent. So good job on you and your friends for pulling a fast one on them.”
The younger girl shrugged. “Eh, I just stumbled upon the ruins by chance. It’s Justin and Lucy who captured them. And speaking of… any idea why those Rocket goons were working with a foreigner?”
“Who knows… Nick and I tried interrogating them, but the Galactic guy wouldn’t talk. And as far as we can tell, the Rocket members were all just bottom tier grunts blindly following orders. We’ll have to bring them in to one of our specialists, maybe even involve Lady Sabrina.”
Nina nodded and chose not to press any further. She doubted that the two Ace Trainers were as ignorant as they claimed. But she also understood that a civilian like her had no business being too nosy about the matter, lest she invite suspicion upon herself.
Just as Nina surmised, the unregistered Beast Ball containing her Unown did not transfer to Storage — an act that was very much considered a misdemeanor under the eyes of the law. So for fear of getting in trouble, Nina had hid the contraband in her backpack and omitted it from her statement.
In fact, she didn’t even tell her friends about it to avoid the risk of one of them — Justin — accidentally blabbing on her. It wouldn’t be too big of a hassle though. From what Nina could tell, Zed didn’t really require any sustenance. In fact, the Unown didn’t even possess any sort of mouth or discernible organs aside from their massive eyeball.
some
“We’ll just leave it to the higher ups to decide on how to handle this place.” Gwen declared, bringing Nina out of her reverie. “More than likely they’ll cordon the place off and keep it secret from the boffins. This image of Ho-Oh is especially concerning. Definitely not something we can trust just anyone with…”
Gwen gave Nina a meaningful glance which she returned by miming a zipping motion over her mouth. Nina knew better than to be a Loudred, especially now that she knew that Team Galactic was explicitly after the ruins.
***
Author's note:
The answer to the coordinates from the previous chapter is Asuka, a village located in the Nara prefecture containing quite a number of historical ruins. In particular the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus, the Ishibutai Tumulus and the Kitora Tumulus.
Why are they significant? Because these are the real life inspirations for the Ruins of Alph in the games. I think I also read something about the ruins' murals being the inspiration for the Indigo Legendaries as well, though I can't be too sure about that.
Anyways, it's just a fun little easter egg that I put in, nothing too plot relevant to this story.
But speaking of, I know some of you are probably anxious to learn more about Zed the Unown. But unfortunately, during the time of writing these chapters, I wasn't able to find a good spot to slot that in without disrupting the overall flow of the story. (My mind was too preoccupied with rushing Nina to Ilex Forest as soon as possible)
So for now, that thread will be deferred until much later. And just to give some context, I aim to wrap up the plotline regarding the Mew Gem by the end of Part Three. And Mew's machinations have nothing to do with Nina's pursuit of the Unown -- that is something that she's doing for her own sake to unravel the mysteries of her origin. That is not to say they aren't entirely unrelated, in the sense that all myths and legends are interconnected in some way.
I say all that because I realised I might not have done the best job of protraying all of that in writing. So I'm sorry if there's any confusion. There'll be a bonus Nina's Journal Chapter coming out tomorrow as well which has some of Nina's thoughts written.