Into the Unown Ch 96 & 97

Chapter 96

Beverly and Nina rushed into the dressing room to quickly get changed. It was a tight schedule since they had to redo the whole wedding ceremony in the main arena of the Cerulean Gym in skates. But luckily, they already had a makeup artist and other staff members on standby to expedite the matter.

Their performance was supposed to be a surprise gift for the newlyweds after the ceremony, but Nina was pretty sure that Misty was already well aware of what was about to happen. 

Regardless, the show must go on. Though Nina wouldn’t mind a sudden crisis to derail the entire thing right about now. Unfortunately, the Ace Trainers from the League were extremely competent in maintaining security, and everything has been quite smooth so far, security-wise.

Nina puffed her cheeks up at Beverly’s outfit. “No fair, I wanted to be the prince!”

Their theme was a prince and a princess, so Beverly was dressed up as a dashing prince charming, while Nina’s outfit looked like something she’d find in a reproduction of Swan Lake; a white leotard with a lacy skirt and various adornments.

Beverly snorted in response. “Heh, gotta grow a bit taller first, Nins.”

“We’re about the same height! You just wanted to be the prince cause you don’t have a figure.” Nina quipped. It really was a cruel twist of fate that the wannabe mermaid among the two of them was utterly flat like a board, while Nina had already begun developing curves despite her young age.

Beverly jumped at her cheeky junior to teach her a lesson, only to be held back by a staff member. “Hold still, Bev! You’re going to ruin the outfit!” The staff admonished. While Nina stuck out her tongue in defiance.

“Alright, you two. Get your shit together! We’re two minutes till go time and the show’s being streamed live. You don’t want them to make more memes of you, do you?” That last question was especially pointed towards Beverly, the reluctant meme queen.

“Fine.” The older girl grumbled as she forced herself to settle down.

Nina let out a smug grin at the small triumph, only for her face to completely fall apart when she began hearing the cheers of the audience members when the emcee announced their surprise performance.

“I don’t know if I can do this Bev. I never wanted to be a performer…” 

To her credit, Beverly acted like a proper senior and pulled Nina in for a reassuring hug instead of messing with her out of spite. “You’ll be fine, Nins. How’s this harder than taking down a whole den of Team Rocket bozos? ‘Sides, you’ll need to get used to this when you eventually compete in the conference right.”

Nina shook her head, the flowery tassels adorning her hair waving in the air as she did. “It’s not the same. This is different from battling!”

Beverly lightly shook the younger girl and looked her straight in the eye. “It is the same. You won’t be alone out there, you’ve got me, and Nairy, and Ryu, and Josephine and all the other supporting Pokemon. Two trainers and their Pokemon in an arena, surrounded by a crowd of busybodies, just like a conference battle. You’ll be fine, Nins. Believe in the me who believes in you.”

Nina chuckled, her friend’s oblivious regurgitation of Gurren Lagann helped to lighten her mood. “Fine, but if this goes tits up then you’re going down with me.”

“Heh. I already prepared myself for that when I saw how shit you were at everything.”

And with that, the two girls held on tight to each other’s hands as they skated out into the main arena.

***

Natsumi and her twin sister loudly cheered out alongside the crowd. She had seen first hand how hard her two seniors had worked for this moment and couldn’t help but shed a tear.

Beverly was born into the family so she had been training to become a mermaid all her life. From tireless ballet practices as a kid, to all the vocal lessons she secretly took, all of it led up to this moment, for her to finally debut to the world. 

Natsumi was told not to tell, but Beverly had actually deliberately delayed her debut because she wanted to do it alongside her best friend. Which Natsumi thought was just the sweetest thing ever. “I wonder if Fuyumi would do the same for me. Oh, who am I kidding, of course she would!” She and her sister were inseparable after all.

On the other hand, there was also Nina, without whom they wouldn’t have even gotten the opportunity of a lifetime to be apprenticed at the Gym. Their senior apprentice was always someone she and her sister looked up to greatly; with the way she just effortlessly got along with any Pokemon, and her cool lecturing tone whenever she gave them lessons on training and battle tactics. Aquarium Girl just seemed perfect in every way. Or so she thought…

Turns out, Nina was absolutely hopeless when it came to the performing arts, from stumbling on her own feet while dancing to screeching like a Murkrow when singing. All of it formed a gap to her usually intelligent and highly capable self, which just added even more to the girl’s charm. 

Compounded all the more when Natsumi saw how hard she worked. Nina thought that nobody knew, but Natsumi and Fuyumi noticed her sneakily practicing her singing and dancing in the dressing room when she thought that it was empty.

There was even one time, where the girl was crying after practice because of how much she messed up that day. All of it just made the twins look up to Nina even more and spurred them to cheer for her even harder. 

The emcee gradually ramped up the hype as the two performers skated out into the arena, smiling and waving at the adoring crowd before settling down in the center with a slide.

Natsumi could barely stop her heart from pounding as soft piano music began playing from the speakers. The two girls eschewed a live band for the performance because they weren’t good enough to adapt to any spontaneous changes in rhythm just yet.

The audience quieted down as Prince Beverly and Princess Nina ‘sung’ to the prerecorded lyrics while they danced around each other. 

The movements were simple, yet elegant, with both performers gently raising and lowering their hands in subtle waves and circling around on their skates. Until the music began to ramp up, prompting the two dancers to match with more dynamic movements; leg raises, contorting body spins, and even a double axle from Beverly into Nina’s embrace where the older girl lifted her partner up with a flourish, eliciting claps and a scream from Natsumi.

Eventually though, the music died down and lights dimmed as a menacing serpentine figure took to the field. Princess Nina hid behind her partner in fear, while Prince Beverly puffed her chest up and bravely confronted the hissing Dragonair that had come to prey on them.

The make up lady had done an incredible job at making the usually friendly and jovial Nairy look menacing, with sharp eye shadows and various black ‘tattoos’ painted all over his body.

Nina jumped back with a twirl; a move that the girl practiced over and over again until blisters began forming on her feet. While Beverly moved forward to ‘spar’ with Nairy through a series of complex movements.

The Prince jumped and twirled all over the Dragon’s twisting body, barely ducking down against a fierce tail swipe from the villainous creature. The whole sequence was only about a minute long, but the entire audience was sitting at the edge of their seats at how tight the execution was at certain parts. All the while, Princess Nina’s frantic singing compounded the tension in everyone's hearts.

And just when it felt like Prince Beverly was about to lose, she ran. The older girl grabbed at Nina’s hand and pulled her along as they did a lap around the arena, with Nairy in close pursuit. All the while their lips kept moving to the lyrics, ‘singing’ about hopelessness and despair, until they found themselves trapped in the middle of the arena, with Nairy forming a perfect ring and circling around them, steadily closing the loop as he did.

In response, the two dancers locked hands and began spinning in the opposite direction, gradually tightening the spread of their skates until they formed a perfect V. All the while, Nairy kept circling in closer and closer until he was mere inches away from touching his prey. When suddenly, the ice cracked.

The rest of the audience might not have noticed it, but Natsumi and Fuyumi caught a thin sliver of Psychic aura enveloping dancers as the ice began breaking down all around them. Nairy’s encirclement faltered, wobbling under the uneven surface. 

But Nina and Beverly just kept spinning in the middle, completely unphased. Until a loud crash echoed, and the gaping maw of a Gyarados emerged from beneath the ice to push Nairy away and elevate the regal dancers into the air with his scarred face.

The two girls stopped spinning when they were assured of their safety and repositioned themselves on top of Ryu’s head. Prince Beverly held Princess Nina in a tight embrace as they looked down at the evil Dragon who dared to attack them. The embrace was an extra addition because Nina had trouble recovering from the intense spinning maneuver in time and needed Beverly to steady her.

The two serpentine Pokemon began dueling as they ‘swam’ around each other in the air. Nairy tried everything he could to reach the two humans, while Ryu dodged and swiped his tail around in an attempt to keep his passengers safe.

Meanwhile, Beverly led Nina into a waltz atop Ryu’s head, the Prince elegantly twirling her Princess around her. All the while, keeping their footing steady through the aid of Psychic Pokemon and began ‘singing’ again. This time it was about the misunderstood hero, Gyarados. “Fear not his fearsome looks, for underneath it all is a playful rook,” they intoned.

The pair calmly danced atop the fearsome Gyarados despite all the chaos that was waging all around them. Juxtaposed by the unnaturally serene music amidst the horrible clash, and framed by the divine lighting work — it all came together to form a very striking image.

Not long after, the fight was interrupted by another song breaking out. This one distinctly punctuated by soft howls and deep moans. Water began rising to the voice’s rhythm, encircling the two violent Pokemon to pull them apart before eventually enveloping the Prince and Princess in a sphere of water.

Then, like an ethereal water spirit, Josephine the Milotic rose up from the water’s depths and shot a Hydro Pump at Nairy, sinking him into the water. However, just when she was about to do the same with Ryu, the sphere of water containing the two girls drifted down in front of the Milotic to stop her.

The two broke out into an underwater dance in the sphere, circling each other while twisting and writhing their body in an elegant manner. 

Natsumi remembered that this was the part where neither Nina nor Beverly had any issues with, due to how much time they spent underwater. The trickiest bit was being careful enough to not fall out of the sphere, since it was hard to tell where the translucent boundary ended.

Seeing the two dancing girls, Ryu and Josephine joined in as well, enveloping the sphere with their own rendition of Dragon Dance, which was soon joined by Nairy, who was now ‘purified’ of the black marks on his body.

It culminated in quite the spectacle as the scales of the three serpents glowed with an iridescent sheen, giving the sphere of water they were encircling a disco ball-like effect. And as the music reached its peak, the three Dragon Dancers exploded in a burst of blinding light and disappeared from the scene. Leaving only Nina and Beverly in a sphere of water that was slowly being lowered down onto the arena’s central platform.

As a quiet calm took over the arena, the Prince and the Princess looked affectionately into each other’s eyes and slowly turned towards the audience to begin singing as an acapella duet. They declared their undying love for each other as they held up the other’s hands and broke out into another waltz.

There was no background music or applause as the audience simply appreciated the rawness of the young girls’ voices and the emotions contained within. This was also the only part where there was no lip syncing involved, further adding more texture to the chorus.

And in the end, the Prince pulled her Princess into a loving embrace as the lights faded and the audience clapped, signaling an end to Beverly and Nina’s debut performance.

Chapter 97

Nina tried her best to smile in order to hide the exhaustion that she felt permeating throughout her body.

There was still some time until evening where the wedding reception was going to take place. So Violet thought it’d be a waste not to make full use of the downtime by scheduling a meet and greet session with their Gym’s two star apprentices.

Unbeknownst to Nina, the profiteering woman had released a limited edition album containing all of the Cerulean Gym’s greatest hits and featuring the song that Beverly and Nina produced just for today’s performance. And any children who purchased the album were entitled to a ticket for a meet and greet with the two young Gym Trainers.

Apparently, this was part of her broader plans to rebrand the Gym by shifting some focus away from the Cerulean Sisters onto their newer talent. Which Nina wasn’t opposed to, but she wished that the conniving woman would show some consideration and allow her time to rest after such an intense show. Nina barely dried her soaking body and had all her makeup redone before she was dragged out of the dressing room.

On the other hand, Beverly looked more energetic than she had ever been, still riding off the high of her maiden show. That was until she saw the line that formed in front of her, which consisted mostly of boys and butch looking girls. While all the cute girlies and timid femboys formed up in front of Nina’s table and stared at her with admiring Growlithe eyes.

Nina covered her mouth to hold back her snicker at the quietly fuming Beverly. “I told you, that’s what you get for not letting me be the prince.” She quipped, eliciting an annoyed look from her friend.

The event commenced amidst excited chatter after a Gym staff recapped a few rules over a loudspeaker. Basically, every ticket holder was entitled to one minute with the talent, they could ask for photographs, autographs or just chat if they wanted, so long as they kept it within the time limit.

Nina noticed that most of the kids asked her to sign their CDs for them, while the parents who were escorting their children took pictures all the while. The whole process was very smooth with minimal lag. Though there had been some kids who got too excited and made a commotion or were reluctant to leave once their time expired.

It was a brand new experience for her. Never once in Nina’s two lives had she done anything like this before. She felt like she was one of those cutesy Japanese idols. And honestly, seeing all these kids look up to her as much as they did really warmed her heart, especially when it came to the next girl in the line.

“A-Aquarium Girl… Erm… I… T-thank…”

Nina smiled at the familiar looking girl in pigtails who nervously shuffled up to her with a CD case clutched tightly in front of her chest. It was the same lost girl who ended up leading Beverly and her to the Team Rocket den — the one they witnessed getting kidnapped.

“Hi there… How have you been? I’m sorry I didn’t get to check on you after the police came that day. Things got really hectic.” Nina took the initiative to bend over and greeted the girl.

The girl lit up at being recognized by her idol. She looked up at her mom in excitement, who smiled encouragingly and urged her daughter to get a little closer.

“Erm, I… Thank you for saving me from those bad guys, Aquarium Girl. You were really pretty today!” The girl blurted hastily. “I really hope I get to be as strong as you one day and beat up bad guys just like Miracle Puffy!”

Nina had no idea who Miracle Puffy was, but based on the graphics on the little girl’s t-shirt, it might have been this world’s equivalent of a magical girl who fought monsters with her companion Slurpuff.

Nina held back her swoon and reached over the table to give the girl a gentle pat on the head. “So long as you love and care for your Pokemon just like Puffy does, I’m sure you’ll grow up to become a super strong trainer one day.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled at the acknowledgement, beaming a radiant smile at Nina. “Do you think I can become a mermaid like you and Miss Beverly and dress up all pretty on stage too?”

Nina didn’t have the heart to tell the girl to temper her expectations. So instead, she decided to give her some practical advice. “If you work hard and study hard, I’m sure you can achieve any dreams you set for yourself.” She then leaned in further and whispered to the girl in a conspiratory manner. “Ask your school to let you take part in our Little League and show to us how much you love and care for your Pokemon, I’m sure your efforts won’t go unnoticed.”

The little girl nodded enthusiastically at her idol, practically buzzing in happiness at the attention she was receiving.

“Now then,” Nina continued. “How about I sign that CD for you and we can get a picture together?”

“Okay!” The girl nervously handed her CD case over which Nina flipped open to mark with her signature. By this point, the movement was second nature to her as she wrote a stylized Nina, with an extended tail on the ‘a’ which looped around and crossed with the ‘Nina’ before curving back up again to end with a simple caricature of Nairy’s head.

Nina asked the little girl for her name, which turned out to be Melody. So she wrote a nice little message at the bottom of the cover sleeve to encourage Melody to never give up on her dreams.

The little girl grabbed hold of the CD case that was handed back to her and clutched it to her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.

In truth, Nina had felt a little iffy about profiting off children like this. But seeing Melody, she realized that for these kids, such dark and complicated thoughts never really entered their minds. At the end of the day, this moment would become a precious memory that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. So it would behoove her to act as the proper role model that they all expected her to be, so as not to disappoint their lofty expectations.

Behind Melody, her mother gave a deep bow to Nina and thanked her once again for saving her daughter from Team Rocket.

“No worries, ma’am. I was just doing what anyone else would have done.” Nina responded with a casual wave of her hand.

“But in the end, it was you and Miss Beverly that saved my little Melody. So we still wanted to thank you.” The woman shook her head and bowed once more with Melody awkwardly mirroring her mother’s movement and muttering a thank you of her own.

The woman then took out two business cards and handed them to Nina. “I run a little travel agency here in the city. So if you or Miss Beverly ever have any need for my services, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We will do our utmost to repay you for your bravery.”

Nina let out an awkward chuckle. The girl was not used to being shown this level of gratuity. “Like I said, we were just doing what we felt was right. But I’ll make sure to keep hold of this. Bev and I are planning to go to Hoenn at some point, so maybe you’ll be able to help with travel arrangements when the time comes.”

Melody looked up at Nina with sad droopy eyes. “Does that mean I won’t be able to see you again?” She whined. But Nina simply laughed and casually dismissed her concerns.

“Don’t worry, Melody. We won’t be leaving for another few years. And besides, it’s just a journey. Journeys aren’t meant to be permanent, and every journeyman has to come home to roost at some point.”

With that, they said their goodbyes and allowed the person next in line to come up. Nina had actually exceeded the time limit with Melody, but the staff had enough tact to overlook it.

***

“Thanks, Nina. I know you worked really hard for today’s show.” Ali said as he pulled his niece into a tight hug at the wedding reception.

“Yeah,” chimed Misty, joining in on the hug as well. “Your uncle was crying like a Whismur by the end of your performance. Good work out there, sweetie. I’m proud to have you as a niece.”

Nina responded with a warm smile and a quiet thanks, feeling a surge of heat welling in her chest. It felt good to receive validation from her loved ones, especially after all the hard work she put in for the sake of the newlyweds. “I’m glad you guys enjoyed it…”

Patrick and Leanette expressed their own words of endearment as well. Leanette, in particular, was especially animated as she complimented her daughter on her stellar performance. Even going so far as to praise Nairy. “Your partner was great! For a few moments there, I really thought Nairy was going to crash into Beverly, but it all went well in the end.”

The fact that her mother used Nairy's name and the word “partner” to describe him meant the world to Nina. “Thanks mom…” Nina muttered as she pulled the woman in for a kiss and a hug, a little teardrop escaping the corner of her eye. The girl was glad that her performance contributed to an improvement in Leanette’s trauma. Frankly, just that alone made all the sweat and tears she had shed over the past month all worth it.

Patrick then followed up with a heated rambling of how cute his daughter was and went around showing off all the pictures and videos he took of the performance, eliciting a fiery blush from the girl and prompting Nina to sneak away to the buffet table to save herself the cringe. That and the fact that she was starving, having only had a single protein bar the entire day.

“Nina! You were great out there!”

Nina’s knees buckled at the weight of Kerry who tackled her out of the blue. “Hey there, Kerr… Glad you enjoyed it…” Nina responded, listlessly.

Kerry pulled away from her friend and looked at her with concern. “Are you okay, Nina? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m fine, just…” Nina yawned. “Just exhausted…”

In response, Kerry picked up her Happiny from the ground and held her up in front of Nina. “Do you want one of Peppy’s eggs? It’ll help you feel better.”

“Happiny!”

Nina gratefully accepted the nascent Soft-Boiled egg that was offered to her and reciprocated Kerry's hug. “Thanks Kerr, I really don’t know how I managed to survive so long without you.”

“Aww… you’re welcome, Nina. It’s the least I can do after you invited me to such a wonderful wedding,” said the young Joy. But their heartfelt reunion was interrupted by a very pronounced cough to the side.

“Ahem!” Beverly exclaimed, before inserting herself into the conversation. “My name’s Beverly. Nina’s best friend. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

Kerry gave Nina a look and giggled at Beverly’s insecurities. “Hi there, I’m Kerry. I saw your performance just now. It was quite impressive…”

Nina tuned out the two posturing girls and shoved the egg she received into her mouth in its entirety. A huge mistake on her part since she started choking when she attempted to swallow the load.

Thankfully, someone handed a drink to her after seeing the unseemly idiot banging desperately on her chest.

“Thanks…” Nina choked and coughed. “Thanks for the save… Oh, hey Lilian. Didn’t see you there.”

Nina’s savior was indeed Lilian Blackthorn, who was wearing a stunning red party dress that matched perfectly with her fiery red mane of hair.

“Hello there, Melina Jones. I commend you on your performance today. That final act with the synchronized Dragon Dance was quite a sight to behold.”

Nina chuckled. Of course the Dragon obsessed Blackthorn girl would hone in on the Dragon Dance sequence. “Thank you, Lilian. I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer so far?”

“Indeed,” the noble girl nodded. “I made a trip to the Safari Zone to pick up a Mareep upon your recommendation. I was expecting to have to wait until Topaz’s evolution to Ampharos before reaping any benefits, but it seems that her expertise in Electric Type Energy has done much in aiding Sapphire’s development as well.”

Nina nodded. “That’s good to know. Looks like your summer’s been very productive. I can’t wait to bury my head in Mareep’s wool next time.”

Lilian chuckled in amusement. “Not as productive as yours. I read about your exploits in foiling Team Rocket’s machinations. As expected of the one I acknowledged, you do not disappoint. I simply regret that I was not with you in subduing those scoundrels.”

“It wasn’t that impressive, we had a lot of help from the police. And I’m sure that if you were with us, things would have gone a lot smoother.”

Lilian lightly shook her head. “Such humility. Perhaps we can join hands next time. It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak, and eradicate such incorrigible scum with the utmost prejudice!” The Blackthorn declared, as she clutched her fist in unwavering determination.

Nina almost reeled back from the sheer heat being emanated from the girl’s fiery passion. The peace loving Nina wanted to say that she would rather not have to deal with another Rocket encounter ever again, but held her tongue, knowing that Lilian wouldn’t listen anyway.