Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

“What a beauty…” Nina cooed as she rubbed her face against Lapras’s glistening blue hide. “Smooth shell with blunt spikes, slender nape and rounded features… Yeap, she’s female alright. And a gorgeous one at that.”
“Priii~”
“Is she healthy, you think?” Lucy asked, eliciting laughter from Nina. Lapras had already undergone a full physical at the PokeCenter, but the blonde girl was still looking for Nina's assurance nonetheless.
“Relax, she’s fine. Lapras is a good size for her age, no signs of malnourishment or developmental complications. Well, except for her eyes that is.” Lucy’s Lapras currently had a very thin layer of cloth wrapped around her eyes to protect from the sun. An unfortunate circumstance of her isolated upbringing in the darkness of Union Cave.
Lucy nodded. “The nurses said it’ll take a bit more time for her eyes to adjust. But there should still be enough light passing through the cloth for her to see.”
Nina mimicked her friend’s nod and nuzzled against her Lapras with gentle words of encouragement and kisses. “You’ll do just fine Lapras. Nothing to worry about at all.” She whispered, before addressing Lucy again. “What about swimmies? Have you taken her out for a swim yet?”
Lucy sighed. “That’s another thing as well. I released her at sea yesterday ‘cause I thought she might wanna stretch her fins a little, you know? But then she got all scared and panicky.” The Lapras that Lucy saw yesterday looked very much like the Lapras that she first met, when she was cowering in fear from Manectric’s Thunderbolt.
Nina gasped in understanding. “Ahh… I see. Lapras did spend her entire life up until now in that cramped little cavern after all. So some mild agoraphobia is to be expected.”
“What should I do then?” Lucy pleaded, her big round Growlithe eyes glistening under the sun.
Nina held back her urge to hug the girl — they weren’t close enough for such casual intimacy just yet. “This sort of thing takes time. In fact, this happens a lot on Pokemon raised in confinement. You just gotta take it slow and give her time to adjust. And I forgot to ask, who in your team did you swap out for Lapras?”
“Pidgeot,” answered the girl. “Because I figured she wouldn’t give Professor Oak much trouble.” Ideally, Lucy would have swapped Magneton out for Lapras, but they were away with Nina at the time.
“I see… I know you might be reluctant to part with her so soon. But I would suggest that you leave Lapras in Professor Oak’s care for the time being.”
“B-but why?!”
Nina reached out and gently caressed her friend’s shoulder in assurance. “Because Professor Oak is actually an expert on Lapras conservation.” In fact, he was one of the founders of the movement.
“And, there’s a fairly large pond in his ranch that I think would be a good little training space for Lapras to stay in until she gets more used to the outside world. There’s no better hands, really.”
Lucy wilted, looking like she wanted to protest but was unable to muster a good enough argument.
Nina chuckled. “It’s okay, Luce. Take your time to think things through. I’ll be here to support you no matter what. I will add though, we’re heading into Azalea Town next, which is some distance away from any large bodies of water. Except for the Slowpoke Well, which is located underground. So probably not the best idea if you want Lapras to acclimate. Of course, you could always just commute to the ocean on your Charizard. But it’s up to you.”
Lucy nodded and thanked Nina for the advice, saying that she’ll take some time to consider things. “We’re not leaving so soon right?”
“Nope. I want to Fly off for a bit today to check on some stuff.” More specifically, Nina wanted to check on the coordinates she got from the radio, not that she harbored much hope. “So I’m thinking we stay here for one extra day before moving on.”
“Alright, I’ll let you know by then.”
***
“Are you sure about this Lucy?”
The girl smiled and gave her dejected childhood friend a playful punch on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I’ve already called Professor Oak and he said he’ll help me out with Lapras. So I’m gonna go hang in Pallet Town for a bit until she’s fully adjusted.”
Lucy’s smile turned wry. “And besides, I barely caught a break before you dragged me off on this new journey — mom and dad’s been all naggy. Also, you said you wanted to go on that big expedition of yours right?”
Justin nodded.
“Then someone needs to do the planning, and I sure as heck know you ain’t gonna be up to it. So with the Profs help, I’ll try making some calls, gather some sponsors and maybe put a team together.” Lucy then turned towards Nina for affirmation. “Once I have somewhat of a plan, I’ll give you guys a call.”
The other girl stepped forward and gave Lucy a little squeeze on her shoulder. “Thanks Lucy, I really appreciate it.” Especially since Nina knew that the work would fall onto her if they kept procrastinating like this. “Gimme a call if you need any help. Just remember that we’ll be entering Ilex Forest soon, so don’t be alarmed if you can’t reach us.”
“Sure thing.” Lucy affirmed as she awkwardly pulled Nina into a hug of her own accord, prompting Kerry to join in as well.
“Don’t be too much of a bother to Nina and Kerry okay, Jester?”
“It’s Justin!” The boy exclaimed, eyes looking a little moist. “Don’t you dare join in on this too!”
The girls giggled and exchanged another round of farewells with Lucy before she flew off into the skies with her Charizard.
***
Azalea Town, a town where people and Pokemon live together in simple harmony — or at least that’s what was written in their marketing material.
In reality, it was just a rural town like any other. Where the only thing of note was the Gym it housed. The statement itself was a bit of an oxymoron as well since this was the Pokemon World, it was a given that humans and Pokemon lived in peaceful coexistence, as was the case everywhere else.
Things were different in the past though, when Kurt was still active and living in Azalea, prompting visitors to Fly in from all over to seek the expertise of the master craftsman. Now though, Kurt had long retired his hammer and moved away to some remote backwaters. So the town’s heyday had since faded, relying solely upon the income flowing in from the seasonal Gym challengers.
Nina did not care about all that. In her eyes, Azalea Town was only good for three things; derpy little Slowpokes, Ilex Forest, and the field of wild azaleas from which the town was named after. That last one was especially appealing to Nina’s beloved Ghost girl. So good thing they arrived in spring, at the peak of the flower’s bloom.
“Haunt! Haunter!” The Ghost Pokemon cheered in delight as she frollicked amidst the sea of wildflowers, the fragrant pink blossoms undulating in her wake and eliciting giggles from Nina as she chased after her.
Ever since Haunter’s Evolution, she gained greater control over her presence and could be as material or immaterial as she so desired. For most Pokemon, that meant an expansion of their battle repertoire. But for Haunter, it meant that she could now touch flowers without them immediately wilting — a great cause for celebration in her and Nina’s eyes.
“Haunt! Haunter!”
After doing a little twirl in the storm of petals, Haunter came up to Nina and gestured excitedly at the flowers while miming a plucking motion.
“Hmm? You want to pick some of the flowers? Sure, make sure to leave the roots and cut them at the stalk. You can do that right? Just sharpen your claws.”
“Haunt-haunt.” Haunter nodded and did as she was told under Nina’s supervision. And before long, the peppy Ghost girl had a little bouquet of azaleas in her hand.
“You look so cuuute!” Nina squealed. “Here, let’s take a picture of you and your flowers.”
“Haunt…” Haunter averted her gaze and flared up a little in embarrassment, which made the resulting picture all the more endearing.
“Actually, now that you can finally touch flowers, let’s teach you how to make a flower crown.”
“Haunt! Haunter!” The Ghost girl nodded fervently with a bright smile as Nina grabbed a small handful of flowers and showed Haunter how to tie them together.
“Here. I’m not as good as Espy, but that’s the general gist of it.”
“Haunt!”
The pair of human and mon settled down on the ground and spent some quality time weaving flower crowns together. And when Haunter was finally done, she showed off her masterpiece to Nina with a face full of pride before gesturing at the girl’s head.
“Oh, for me?”
Haunter nodded with a sheepish smile, the warm gesture tickled at Nina’s eyes as she lowered her head for the crown to be placed and pulled her adorable Ghost in for hugs and kisses.
“Thank you Haunter, I love it.”
“Haunter. Haunt!”
But Haunter wasn’t done yet. Because next, she began gesturing at herself then at the flowers.
“Hmm? You want a crown too?” Nina asked, but only received another cry and headshakes in response.
“Haunt. Haunter, haunt.” Haunter gestured towards herself with both hands and did a little twirl before pointing at a flower and back to herself again.
Nina tilted her head in consideration, trying to make sense of Haunter’s pantomime. “Are you saying… you want to be named after the flowers?”
“Haunt-haunt!” Haunter pointed excitedly at Nina and nodded in affirmation, eliciting a warm smile from the girl as she pulled her Pokemon into another hug.
“Azalea, the flower of love, remembrance and melancholy. Azzy… That’s a great name…”
In truth, Lea probably would have been a better nickname. But that reminded Nina too much of her mother, Leanette. So for the sake of her own sanity, Azzy would do just fine.
Azalea nuzzled affectionately against Nina’s embrace. The Haunter could feel a pleasant warmth suffuse her, thawing the frigid void deep within her soul as ghastly tears poured out and dissipated in the air. And with this new identity, Azalea finally felt like she belonged in this world, her form becoming more tangible than ever before.
***
Author's note:
Nearly neglected to schedule this chapter.
I stayed up too late playing through the finale of Amphoreus. Incredible ending, almost completely overwrote my complaint about that story being too meandering, bloated and confused.
Further proof that a story is only as good as its ending. And the music! Damn if the music isn't divine. How could a gacha game have better music than most mainstream medie these days?
Unfortunately, I don't have enough pulls for Cyrene (need to save for Dahlia) and I refuse to spend money on gacha. So good luck to anyone trying to pull for her.