Into the Unown Ch 214 + 214.5 (Coffee tier)

Chapter 214

“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. “Besides, I have a whole theme going on here, no point breaking the streak.”

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.

Chapter 214.5: Nina’s Journal

Year 9 AT, March 11th.

Gah, my head hurts! My head hurts so bad. Arceus, Jesus or whoever, make it stop!

Stupid Unown! Stupid ruins!

I should consult Kerry about this migraine before bed…

***

Year 9 AT, March 12th.

I’m tired. Today’s been very stressful.

Dealing with death is never easy… Poor Kaipo. I hope Kerry can help unravel her baggage.

That Marowak’s really battle crazy, though. Challenged me and Nitey to a battle right away after everything got settled with the Jennies.

I wonder if it has something to do with that memory fragment she shared with Espy?

Be the very best, like no one ever was, huh?

But still, this might be good. Kaipo’s a veteran Ghost Type, even if she is more biased towards Fire from what I can see. I might be able to convince her to help with Haunter’s training.

***

Year 9 AT, March 13th.

Training log.

Espy:

My beautiful Espeon princess is a genius as usual. She might not be able to mix Type Energy as deftly as Nitey. But she has succeeded in coating her barriers with a layer of Fairy Type Energy. Hopefully, that should make them more resilient towards Dark Types.

Teleport still needs a lot of work. To date, her limit is only a single one way Teleport. After that, she practically melts into a puddle of fuzzy wuzzy. It’s super cute actually.

Ouch! Espy gave me a mental jab at that. What’s wrong with me calling my princess cute? Cute Espy is cute! 

Anyways, I’ve put a stop to Teleport training for now. Don’t want to risk any accidents when we have a Gym Battle scheduled so soon.

Nitey:

Ice Type training is stagnant. So for a change of pace I had him spar with Justin’s Pokemon today.

The lack of qualified sparring partners has been an issue with Nitey and Espy all this while. And with the guidance of Blastoise, we might finally be able to make some progress with Blizzard as well.

Nitey has always been more of a visual learner. But visual learning has its limits. Being able to actually feel the freeze of a fully developed Blizzard should go a long way in helping his understanding of the element.

In exchange, I’ve agreed to help with the training of Justin’s Wigglytuff. Not that I wouldn’t have done so otherwise. I have a full page of notes from Misty on the bugger and fully intend to make good on them.

Needless to say, none of Justin’s Pokemon were able to contend with my tubby orange Barney. But Blastoise held up for an inordinately long time. That turtle’s gonna become an invincible tank in due time. Not that his offensive capabilities were lacking in any way. Which makes him all the more fearsome.

Sir Clodington:

Not much to say here really. Clody’s always been very diligent and stubborn to a fault. His Water Absorb is coming along very nicely. I estimate a 70% efficiency through direct contact and a 40% efficiency through ambient moisture. 

Not bad but not perfect. It should help him last a lot longer and work better with Nitey’s Water domain at least.

The only remaining point of concern is his insistence on keeping up with the torture training to his mind. Espy doesn’t see anything wrong with it and I trust her to hold back enough to avoid causing any permanent damage. But the fact remains that it’s very unhealthy.

The cause seems to stem from our encounter with that fake Mega Charizard last year. Despite his apparent tenacity at the time, it’s clear that Clody didn’t come out of that encounter without some baggage of his own.

Poppy:

He’s so cute. Why is my baby seal so gosh darn CUTE?!!

Poppy was the most excited to have so many new faces join the crew. Went around introducing himself and showing off his tricks to impress his new friends. Not everyone was receptive, especially considering how edgy some of Justin and Lucy’s Pokemon are. But he was quite persistent and managed to endear everyone to him in the end.

I mostly let him do whatever he wanted today, which ended up being training with Blastoise and Sharpedo. There are certain things that can only be imparted through other Water Types after all.

Note to self: I should endeavor to give Poppy more battle experience.

He did pretty well in the Sprout Tower despite the Type disadvantage. Poppy’s instincts and reflexes in particular are quite exceptional. Likely due to his penchant for acrobatics. This is good, but we’ll need frequent, practical battles to further hone his talent.

Haunter:

Will-O-Wisp is coming together steadily. Getting Kaipo to help with Haunter’s training was quite the boon. And Espy’s empathic abilities are a cheat as always. The obstacle this time around seems to be their difference in biology which necessitates a lot of creative interpretation on Haunter’s end.

That said, Haunter’s being quite impatient with it and kept faltering. I told her to channel her frustrations into the flames, but she’s always been a bit lacking when it comes to emotional control.

No matter, she’ll figure it out in due time. I have the utmost confidence in her.

Brucey:

Poor Brucey… He was really hard on himself today. Kept picking fights with Justin and Lucy’s Pokemon. Espy and I had to step in a few times.

He was quite reluctant to do his usual emoji exercises as well.

Oh Brucey… My silly little Golbat. What am I going to do with you?

***

Year 9 AT, March 14th.

He did it! Brucey finally evolved!

Oh Brucey, I’m so proud of you.

As his reward, Brucey asked for a 2 hour long cuddle session with me and Espy.

Gosh, he’s just so cute! Why are all my Pokemon so cute?!

Naturally, we obliged. We would have done it even if it wasn’t a reward. Which then leaves the need for a more practical gift. Something I should consult Espy with later on.

Knowing Brucey, he would prefer it to be a surprise. So let’s keep it hush-hush for now.

That aside, some observations on my cool new Crobat. 

According to Espy, Brucey’s a lot more sedate now. Calmer. But he still maintained a degree of naivete and playfulness.

In particular, he still kept that disturbing laugh of his. Likely a habit at this point. But at least he’s mostly communicating with Pokespeak now.

There are still some concepts and ideas that he remains oblivious too, resulting in a healthy irreverence towards social norms. This I take to be a good sign. It means his personality hasn’t been unduly warped from his newly gained sapience and Evolution process.

My silly Brucey still remains my silly Brucey. Albeit with less of an appetite for pranks. Which may or may not be a good thing.

Actually, never mind. I’ll consider it a good thing. Nothing wrong with teaching him how to battle normally. And whatever losses in wiliness can be compensated with a blanket increase in every other aspect.

There’s only so far we can push pure harassment strats anyway. This is a truth that I’ve come to accept after our battle with Falkner. So time to crank up Brucey’s power training.

***

Year 9 AT, March 17th.

We’ve finally departed from Violet City. Not gonna lie, I'll miss that place. It’s probably the most beautiful city I’ve been to in all of my two lives.

But speaking of beauty, Route 32 is equally as aesthetic. A sea of cherry blossoms to my right and pristine blue waters to my left. This is the life!

The others agreed to take our time for this stretch of the road. After all, a journey should be enjoyable, relaxing at times. Not just a mad dash across the region in pursuit of Gym badges and battles.

Kerry even proposed a full on beach day tomorrow which everyone heartily agreed to.

Maybe I should go diving? It has been a long, long time since I last dove in a proper ocean. Cinnabar Island was too cold when Kerry and I went last time. And it’ll be the first time that I go on a proper dive with Poppy as well. I wonder if we’ll be able to find some hidden treasures?

It’s funny, really. I was never much of an oceanophile in my past life. But now, I’m probably the most relaxed while swimming in water. Guess I really have become a bit of a mermaid after all.

***

Year 9 AT, March 18th.

I caught a new Pokemon today… Dhelmise.

It’s… I shudder to even think about it. I don’t… I just…

***

Year 9 AT, March 19th.

I tried to delve into Dhelmise’s mind again today. It was a mistake. Never again. I don’t think I can survive another peek into that eldritch abomination.

How could something be so… hungry?

***

Year 9 AT, March 20th.

I cried today.

Kerry and Peppy were so nice. Absolute angels. What would I do without them?

Peppy in particular was so warm, so soft, so fragrant. Chanseys are a gift unto this world and must be protected at all cost!

Dhelmise, though… I’ll keep trying. I can’t give up.

***

Year 9 AT, March 21st.

I miss Clody… Wonder how he’s doing? I should call back to the Gym and ask.

***

Year 9 AT, March 24th.

I’m so tired.

It’s 2 AM now and we just got back from dealing with the local Tentacool bloom. Stupid jellyfish! Always such nuisances both in real life and in the games.

Honestly, if ever there was a Pokemon that deserves to go extinct.

Dammit! Calm down Nina, all Pokemon are beautiful and magical creatures. Except Tentacools, maybe.

Urgh, I’m being unhinged. This past week has been real sucky. I need sleep.

Tomorrow, I plan on delving into Union Cave to look for that hidden segment of the Ruins of Alph.

Or should I postpone it by another day? Get some rest first?

Whatever, I’ll think about it tomorrow.

***

Year 9 AT, March 27th.

I am currently writing this entry within the bowels of Union Cave, right in front of the Ho-Oh mural.

Man, cave diving was miserable. All those Youtube videos I used to watch don’t do justice to exactly how miserable it is. I figured I’d try it at least once, but now I’m thinking I should be smarter about it next time.

It was all worth it in the end though. This is a discovery that will be talked about for years to come. And Zed… The Z Unown.

I read the Unown Report. So I had known that the Z Unown was missing from the lineup. But to find Zed in that state…

What happened to this world? What caused Zed to glitch out like that. And more importantly what sort of ripples has it caused?

In the games, the player would have been the one to discover this section of the ruins. But this isn’t a game, despite the existence of Red. 

Besides, I wouldn’t exactly want this world to operate on game logic. I still remember how disappointed I was to collect all variations of the Unown only to receive nothing in return. But clearly, that isn’t the case here…

That vision I saw. It was fragmented, broken. I have a feeling that it has something to do with my transmigration and the origins of this world.

And Zed… The final piece. The words that Red left behind echo in my mind.

As I write this entry, my hand unconsciously rubs at the Mew Gem around my neck. Sometimes I wonder if my fascination with the Unown has anything to do with Mew’s machinations.

But no, this I know for certain. The pursuit of the Unown is mine and mine alone. 

I wish to know the mysteries surrounding my existence. Not because I wish to go home, it would be foolish to give up what I have now. No, it’s because I wish to see my parents one last time. To apologize and say my farewells.

I wish for closure.

And to that end, I will keep pulling at this thread. In hopes of obtaining the clarity that I seek one day.

Note to self:

- Check on Zed’s needs

- Find a way to more effectively communicate. Can’t rely on Lucy’s Magneton forever.

***

Author's notes:

In hindsight, I think it would be better to have the journal entries attached to Chapter 213 instead of 214.

To avoid overshadowing Azzy's moment

Then, I should also move the Lucy bonus chapter back to 212 to avoid consecutive bonus chapters.

I might just do that for the regular tier release.

Because there's another bonus chapter attached to Ch 216 as well. Yeah, it's going to be a bit messy for a while. Sorry guys.