Into the Unown SS: Charlie Part 1

Author's note:

Hi everyone, I finally finished writing this short story thanks to a bout of insomnia.

But before you dig in, I'd like to first provide some context surrounding this.

As I mentioned before in one of my notes on Royal Road, when I first conceived Into the Unown, Nina's starters were never meant to be a Dratini and an Eevee.

The original starters were never forgotten and will make an appearance at some point, but it did mean that I had to pivot the story considerably. Since the original was more of an underdog story as opposed to that of a child prodigy like Nina is treated right now.

In the original version of the story, Charlie was meant to play the role of a rival and a senior, much like Nemona from Scarlet and Violet.

But with Nina surpassing him so early on, I find myself at a loss on how to deal with Charlie as a character. Should I keep him as a casual side character or give him an advantage that might make him more prominent. Because I still wanted to keep the thread of visiting the Safari Zone, which heavily relied on Nina's connection with the boy. But at the same time, it didn't feel right to just leave him and his family as a one-off plot device.

So instead, I decided that I would keep him as a secondary MC of sorts through a series of short stories centered around him that I'm hoping to release monthly just for you guys, my most generous supporters.

In terms of what to expect;

This short story series will be a lot more concised, so lots of timeskips without dwelling too much on worldbuilding. That last part is because Charlie is native to this world and largely takes things for granted instead of sharing Nina's curiosity and wonderment.

It'll be a much more conventional badge collector, but from the perspective of an underdog normie as opposed to an OP isekai protagonist with meta knowledge. So it's likely that Charlie will fumble and make lots of mistakes along the way.

That said, this first chapter will be a bit slower since I wanted to establish a baseline before we zoom ahead too abrupty.

I'll try to keep the timeline consistent with Nina's story, but if there's any risk of confusion, I'll make sure to preface the release with an appropriate primer.

For example, this story takes place after the events of chapters 84-86.

So for those of you who haven't read chapter 84-86 yet, please do so before going into this side story.

For those of you who have read it, I made some edits and changes that better reflect the fact that Charlie has gotten over his feelings for Nina. And I changed my mind about having his first destination be Fuchsia City.

I recently came up with an idea that might allow me to write Charlie back into the main story and have him get involved with the climax of Book 1. But that idea is still nascent and I haven't developed it far enough to ascertain its viability. For now I just want to leave that possibility open.

Anyways, enough yapping from me. I hope you guys enjoy this side story. And do leave a comment if you have any corrections or suggestions on how you want Charlie's journey to go.

I'm much more open to the idea of tailoring this story to the whims of my Patrons since it wouldn't impact the main story too much.

***

Into the Unown SS: Charlie Part 1

Charlie awoke with a stretch, feeling more refreshed than he had ever been the past few years. 

“I’m home…” The boy thought.

When Charlie was a kid, home always felt like jail to him, and his parents the jailers. He yearned to go out and seek adventure, to become the Pokemon Master that he knew he was always meant to be. Boy, was he a fool…

Charlie sighed and took a moment to soak in the interior of his childhood room; the poster of Red and his Pokemon plastered on the wall, his messy desk covered in all sorts of knick knacks and figures that he never bothered to clean, a shelf housing a commemorative trophy from the Little League that he took part in way back when, and his well worn but comfy bed that feels smaller than he remembered. 

The trophy in particular made him feel a little melancholic, since he knew he only won that because his mom told him about the move that he now knew to be Rapid Spin. Without that little piece of knowledge, he probably would have just been spamming Tackle like all the other kids back then and flunked out at the early stages.

“Arf!” Sensing that her trainer was finally awake, Charlie’s Growlithe jumped up onto his bed and slobbered all over him, eliciting laughter from the boy. 

“Hey, girl. Let me guess? You’re hungry again?”

“Arf!”

Charlie chuckled and proceeded to rub at his Growlithes belly the way she liked it. He never did come around to naming her. Back when the puppy Pokemon was caught, Charlie was going through a phase where he wanted to imitate his idol, Red, who never named any of his Pokemon either. 

He thought that mimicking what the Legendary trainer did would help him find a way to victory somehow. It was all just an act of vanity, unfortunately.

“Would you like a name, girl? It’d be kind of unfair of me to leave you nameless.” Charlie asked, since he’d likely be naming all of his future Pokemon. But his Growlithe just kept panting with her tongue out as she stared at him with her big round eyes.

Charlie laughed, his Growlithe was a little too carefree for her own good. “I doubt she’ll ever want to evolve into an Arcanine. But that’s fine, I’m not gonna abandon her… Just like how she never abandoned me, even when I was being a complete shithead.”

The boy lowered his Growlithe onto the floor with a little pat and got out of bed to open the door for her. “Alright, off you go Growlithe. I’m gonna go to the bathroom before joining you downstairs. Pretty sure mom’s already got breakfast ready.”

“Arf!” Growlithe let out one final bark before excitedly running past Charlie to go look for food.

***

“Morning, mom.”

“Morning, Charlie.” Kumiko responded to her son with a bright smile and gestured towards the food she had laid out on the table. Breakfast today was bacon and eggs to go with rice and miso soup. Pretty standard for the Rockford household.

“Once you’re done eating, go and feed the Water Pokemon out in the pool.” Kumiko said, as she sat down to join her son at the table.

Charlie nodded in affirmation, feeling glad to be given chores for once. The boy had been starved of approval for way too long and he wanted to be of use to his loving family.

“Also, if you could go wake up Tiff, that’d be great.” The woman continued, eliciting a groan from her son. Not all chores were pleasant, some involved more resistance than others.

“Where’s dad?” Charlie asked, in an attempt to distract his mother.

“Your dad left for work long before you woke up. The project that he’s currently working on is running way behind schedule and they’re having to work double time just to make up for the delay.”

Stephen Rockford ran a small construction company in Cerulean City. They mostly handled smaller projects and renovation work, but they did get contracted to work on bigger stuff from time to time when one of the larger companies were short staffed, as was the case with the project that the man was currently working on.

“Aww… Dad said that he would help me train Typhoon today.”

Kumiko let out a wry smile at her son’s childishness, feeling glad that Charlie had regained a small portion of his previously sunny disposition. The week that she spent in Vermilion City was very eye opening. Never had the woman felt more like a failure in her life.

Kumiko chuckled. “I’ll be busy in the morning, but you can come by the outpost in the afternoon and we can get some training in during my downtime. You’ve never been to the Ranger training grounds before, right?”

Charlie lit up at the proposal. The training facilities used by the Rangers were highly advanced and very well equipped, second only to the Cerulean Gym in the city.

“Is it okay?” Charlie asked. “You have to study for the Ranger exams right?” It had been a long time coming, but Kumiko finally decided to stop being lazy and go for her Sea Ranger Qualifications. 

The woman had been doing Ranger duty for years, with the only difference being that she didn’t own a Pokedex, so they couldn’t assign her to some of their more involved operations.

“It’ll be fine. Now eat up and go wake your sister. She’s gonna be late for school at this rate.” Kumiko responded, as she took a sip of her miso soup.

***

Surprisingly, Tiffany didn’t lash out at Charlie like he expected, merely glaring at him when he barged into her room after he got fed up with knocking.

Charlie’s sister used to be so close to him, always begging to tag along whenever he went out to play with his friends. But at some point, she started becoming a lot colder and much more aloof as Charlie continued ignoring her, the way that older brothers tended to do.

According to their mom, Tiffany seemed to have turned over a new leaf after she got her Meowth and was much better behaved than she used to be. Not that Charlie could tell the difference.

After Tiffany finally decided to get her butt moving, Charlie went out to their pool to feed their family’s Water Pokemon. They had an auto-feeder installed, which all the Pokemon were smart enough to know how to use. But it was always important to have that personal interaction with the Pokemon, they’re not just pets afterall. Each one of them were considered part of the family — a point that the Rockfords were very particular about instilling in their children.

“Hey Typhoon, hope you had a good night.” Charlie greeted as he laid out Typhoon’s bowl for her. The chubby tadpole Pokemon cried out in acknowledgement as she sat down on the floor and began eating with her hands.

Charlie’s Poliwhirl was as impassive as ever, always just silently going along the whims of her trainer and whatever harebrained schemes he cooked up to “achieve victory” and make a “comeback”.

The boy might not be aware, but Typhoon’s indifference was a contributing factor to his stagnation, and was even a factor to the Poliwhirl’s own deteriorating health. 

Pokemon training was a two-way relationship. A Pokemon also needed to have a say in their own development, instead of leaving it entirely up to their trainer. Similarly, a trainer couldn’t just dictate their Pokemon’s development without taking into account their Pokemon’s feelings and thoughts on the matter.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been the best trainer to you.” Charlie apologized for the umpteenth time. He had been saying the same thing pretty much every single day since Nina and his mom revealed his negligence to him.

But in response, Typhoon merely shrugged, patted Charlie on the arm before continuing to eat her breakfast of Pokechow and Berries.

“I’m going to work harder, but in the right way this time. I’ll ask mom and dad for advice on training you. I'm going to expand our team, and we’ll go and collect all the badges before taking on the Pokemon League.” Charlie said, mostly to reaffirm his own resolve than for Typhoon’s benefit.

“I don’t know how far we can go. But we’ll try our hardest to get past the preliminaries and make it into the top sixteen at least.” Charlie recalled what Nina once said to him during their time in Vermilion City; set realistic goals and take it one step at a time.

One of his goals at the moment was to try and clear the Gym circuit at the intermediate difficulty. He had always dreamed about taking on a Gym Leader’s Star team and being featured in the League’s annual highlights. But he was well aware that such a dream was an impossibility for him at the moment.

“Anyways, I’m hoping we can do some light training in the morning.” The boy continued. “After that, I promised to have lunch with Bobby today.” It had been a long time since he got in touch with his friend, and Charlie couldn’t help but feel a little nervous at the prospect. Given how drastically Nina had changed, he was bracing himself for a similar shock to occur during his reunion with Bobby.

“Next, we’ll head over to mom’s workplace for more training.” Charlie only planned to stay home for a week before he properly set out on his journey, and he wanted to make the most of his time here to make up for all the years he languished in the Vermilion Flame.

***

“Hey Bobby…” Charlie gave an awkward wave at his friend, which Bobby returned with an equally awkward wave and a meek greeting of his own.

The two boys stood facing each other, shuffling their feet for some time before Bobby took the initiative to extend a fist towards Charlie.

Charlie smirked and put out his own fist to meet Bobby’s, then transitioned seamlessly into a secret handshake that they used to do back when they were smaller. The flow of their movement was a little stiff from lack of practice, but the fact that they even remembered the handshake at all was enough to reassure the boys that their relationship had remained unchanged despite Charlie’s prolonged absence.

They pulled each other in for a shoulder bump, and Bobby proceeded to drag Charlie into a newly opened restaurant that he had been keen to try out for some time now.

“This place serves Hoennese barbecue, the owners are first gen immigrants so you know it’s gonna be authentic.” Bobby explained as he went through the menu and began filling out their order sheet. Charlie’s friend explained that the place was all you can eat for 90 minutes, so they had to be strategic if they wanted to try everything.

In the center of the table was a recessed gas stove that was burning charcoal, which Charlie found to be a little redundant — why have charcoal when they were going to burn gas anyway?

Bobby tutted at his friend and said in a pompous voice: “It’s for the flavor, Charles — there’s a distinct smokiness that can only be obtained through the use of high quality charcoal.”

Charlie laughed. “You’re really into this whole foodie thing huh? And I remember you used to say that any food was good food so long as it filled your belly.”

“Mmhmm.” Bobby nodded. “I finally decided that I want to become a chef when I grow up, maybe do a bit of brewing on the side. I really enjoy it — brewing. But I don’t think I can do it as well as the other pros, you know?”

Charlie smiled, thinking that it must be nice to have such concrete aspirations. The boy couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of envy at the clarity of his friend’s desires.

“What about you?” Bobby continued. “You mentioned in your message that you’re going on a journey right? Must be nice, us normies don’t get sabbaticals like you jocks do.”

Charlie’s smile faltered briefly, but thank goodness Bobby wasn’t perceptive enough to notice. “It’s not… Well, I dunno If I want to go back to trainer school. For now, I just wanna venture out a little. It’s a shame you can’t take any time off, it would have been great to travel together. That way I don’t have to worry about not getting a good meal and all.”

Bobby laughed. “Nah, I’ll have to wait until I graduate. ‘Sides, I think you’ll be bored travelling with me.” The lanky boy outlined the plans he made for his eventual journey, which mostly involved going around to visit the region’s foodie hotspots; farms, restaurants, breweries, obscure little villages, and so on.

“I’ll still try my luck at the Gyms.” Bobby added. “Cause it’s tradition and stuff, but if I can’t make it then no skin off my back, y’know?”

Charlie nodded. Not every kid cared to complete the Gym circuit and that was fine, but most of them will try to get at least a couple of badges under their belt, just to show that they could and that they just chose not to.

They continued chatting even as the food arrived, which Bobby took charge to grill for them. It was honestly quite impressive to see how confident the boy was when plying his craft. Charlie had never seen this side of his friend before.

The Bobby in Charlie’s memory was the clumsy little fatty who always begged to copy his homework, and the boy who pissed his pants at the sight of his family’s Gyarados. Not that Bobby would ever admit to the latter.

“Did you catch any new Pokemon? You’ll need at least a couple of battlers if you want to journey. Unless your Shuckle got a power up or something.” Charlie said that last part in jest, he was not convinced that the mold Pokemon was good for anything other than brewing Shuckle juice.

Bobby snorted as he put a piece of meat on Charlie’s plate, telling him to try it with some salt and sesame oil first before going for the more intense dips. “I’ll have you know that Shuckles can battle if you specifically train them to. At least, according to Nina. She told me about setting up for a Body Press combo or something?” Bobby still had the note that the girl left for him, but he wasn’t really that into battling anymore so he never bothered.

“But yeah, I do have a Pidgeotto that I traded some Shuckle juice for.” Bobby answered. “She’s a fairly good battler, but she’s still not evolving for some reason. It’d be good if I can get her to become a Pidgeot before I leave on my journey, that way I can get around a lot easier.”

“A Flyer is nice,” said Charlie in return. “I might go and catch a Spearow before I leave.”

Listening to Bobby talk about his journey roadmap got Charlie to ponder about his own plans. It was something that he hadn’t given much thought about, but that he realized he probably should. “I’ll ask mom and dad about it when I get back home.” One thing he did know was that he did not want his first Gym to be the Cerulean Gym.

***

“Alright Typhoon, why don’t you do about a dozen laps around the pool first while I talk to Charlie.”

“Whirl.” Typhoon nodded at Kumiko before diving into the water to do as she was told. Meanwhile, the woman watched the Poliwhirl swim for a bit before turning to address her son.

“She’s using Water Type Energy to aid in her swimming, we’ll have to address that later. But for now it’s fine, since she’s just warming up.”

Charlie tilted his head in confusion at his mother. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“In a battle, yes. But during training, it’s best to have Typhoon rely on her physique to swim. We’ll have to be careful not to confuse her of course, make it clear that this is only during training. We don’t want to slow her down in a battle.”

Charlie nodded and committed his mother’s advice to memory. “Hmm… Maybe I should get a notebook and start writing stuff down like Nina.” He mused.

“Anyways,” Kumiko continued. “I just want to confirm the route that you and Typhoon want to take. Are you guys still looking to evolve into a Poliwrath or does Typhoon want to turn into a Politoed?”

Charlie hummed in consideration. “I don’t really know. I think Typhoon doesn’t care, but isn’t a King’s Rock expensive?”

Kumiko shook her head in response. “You should sit down and have a talk with Typhoon then. It’s always important to gather the opinion of your Pokemon before locking in an Evolution. And King’s Rocks aren’t that rare these days, some boffins somewhere have figured out how to fabricate them. They’re still a little pricey but nothing you can’t afford with a little hard work.”

Charlie nodded and added another item on his mental to-do list. “I think for now, I just want Typhoon to be the strongest Poliwhirl that she can be. There’s nothing wrong with having a stronger Pokemon to evolve from right?”

The boy’s mother chuckled and reached out to ruffle his hair. “No worries, let’s just stick with a balanced regiment for now. Typhoon still has some time before she’s ready so there’s no need to rush. And I noticed that she hasn’t fully mastered Water Absorb yet, that simply won’t do.

The pair of mother and son then proceeded to hash out a few more details while they waited for Typhoon to finish her warm up.

***

“Hey err… son, do you have a minute?” Stephen Rockford approached Charlie after dinner, looking more meek than usual.

Charlie did not fail to notice the look that his mother gave the man before this. All that time working in customer service did wonders in boosting the boy’s perception. He nodded in response to his father’s query and stood up to follow him out into the yard.

Charlie hadn’t spoken to his father much since he just returned home yesterday. This was in addition to Stephen’s busy work schedule, though Charlie was beginning to suspect that might have been intentional on his father’s part.

Stephen awkwardly placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and gave him a little squeeze. “I erm…” The man sighed, looking more vulnerable and weak than Charlie had ever seen him.

In Charlie’s eyes, his father was like Mount Silver, strong, reliable, and steady. A constant fixture in his life that never faltered, and nigh impossible to surmount for the average person. Seeing the feeble look in the man’s eyes made Charlie nervous, like the world was about to be shattered into a million pieces — if there was something that could unnerve even Stephen Rockford, then what hope does a wimp like Charlie have?

“I’m sorry, son… about everything…” Stephen choked. “About your Aunt Vanessa, about the Vermillion Flame, and all that you had to go through.” Charlie’s dad gave him one more squeeze as he took in a sharp breath and averted his gaze. “When I said that I wanted you to surpass us, I didn’t mean for…”

Stephen let go of his son and stepped away from him. The man had his back turned against Charlie, but the boy could still hear his subdued sobbing.

Charlie was unsure of what to do. So he just stood there awkwardly, feeling a little bad about himself for causing his usually composed father to break down like this.

“We’ll always be there for you, son. I want you to know that.” Stephen continued, after a lengthy moment of silence, as he finally turned around to face Charlie again. But this time, his gaze was steady and reassuring just like the one that Charlie grew up with.

“Thanks dad… I erm…” Charlie stuttered, unsure of what to say in response. “Thank you, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t stronger. I should have opened up sooner, but I just… I didn’t want to let you and mom down…” Now it was the boy’s turn to cry as his father pulled him in for a hug.

They stayed in each other’s embrace for some time until Charlie calmed down, and Stephen pulled away to ruffle his son’s hair with a chuckle. “You really are a silly Psyduck. We’ll never be disappointed in you, Charlie. So long as you stay happy and live a proper and righteous life that is — wouldn’t want you to run off and join Team Rocket or something.”

Charlie sniffled as he laughed. There was no way that he would allow himself to fall that low. He’d seen enough of society’s dregs during his various work experiences to develop an aversion towards them.

“Anyway, that isn’t all that I wanted to talk to you about.” Stephen continued. He gestured for Charlie to follow as they walked towards the little hut that he had built for their family’s Donphan. “Would you be willing to take Murph with you on your journey?”

Murphy Jr was the name that Stephen had given to the Phanpy that they caught in the Safari Zone all those years ago. It was in commemoration of their memorable encounter with the herd’s Alpha. Both Stephen and Nina thought that it was hilarious at the time, a sentiment that Kumiko did not share as she dragged her husband through the ringer for his sick sense of humour.

Charlie gawked at his father’s proposal. “That’s… Dad, are you sure? Don’t you need Murph for your construction work?”

Stephen nodded and gave his son a reassuring pat on the back. “Yeap, Murph’s always been a little restless and I can’t take her out on walks as often as I should.” He also added that the scenery around Cerulean City has become quite stale for the Donphan, and that they could always just use machinery in her place.

“Anyways, I’ve talked to Murph about this and she’s quite eager to venture out. Not to mention, your mother and I would feel a lot better if you had an experienced Pokemon in your team.” By all accounts, Charlie should have nurtured an equivalently strong Pokemon by this point. The fact that he hadn’t just goes to show how much the boy had been allowed to languish over the years.

Charlie’s knee jerk reaction was to reject the offer, not liking the idea of being coddled. But the still rational part of his brain held him back. Deep down, he knew that he needed all the help he could get if he wanted to catch up to his peers. And if that meant taking on the crutch that was a legacy Pokemon then so be it. “Besides, it’s not like they can make fun of me anymore than they already are.”

The boy decided that he would not allow himself to be beholden to the petty scrutiny of others any longer. “What’s important is my own goals and what I want. Ichi and his lackeys can jeer at me all they like, but I won’t care anymore.”

Charlie took a deep breath and looked his father in the eye. “Thanks dad, I’ll make sure to take good care of Murphy Jr.”

And with that, Charlie added another member into his budding team. He was still serious about wanting to catch a Spearow, but that can come later when he finds the right Pokemon. The boy won’t allow himself to repeat the same mistake he made with his Butterfree. 

“One step at a time, Charlie. One step at a time…”

***

Author's note:

I thought it might also be helpful to clarify that the reason why I treated Charlie so poorly in the main story is because I wanted to give him a shot of maturity.

I've never been a huge fan of your traditional Naruto-esque shonen protagonist types. And had everything gone smoothly with Charlie then that's what he would have become. Which is fine for a side character, but as a main character, I find myself lacking the appetite to stuff my face with such copious amounts of cheese.

Hence why I felt the need to inject the boy with a healthy dose of reality before setting him off on his journey. I understand that some people might take issue with this but that was ultimately the choice that I went with.