“Hehe…” Kerry held back her drool as she cooed over the Pokemon Egg in her arms. Which, surprisingly, was not in an incubator, just wrapped up in a fluffy blanket.
It was the next morning and Kerry was finally introduced to the newest member of her family, mainly because she ended up having to do a lot of socializing with her extended family yesterday and was too exhausted by the end of it.
“Hmm… Let’s see here, the lack of an incubator is a big clue — means that the species isn’t the fussy sort. Which is good…” Nina mused.
That said, there were a wide range of possibilities since a good majority of Pokemon Eggs didn’t really require special incubators. The bog standard white shell with green polka dot patterns of the Egg wasn’t very indicative either.
“So?” Nina chimed. “Are you finally gonna tell me what species of Egg that is?”
“Hehe… Take a guess!” The other girl quipped, with an insufferably smug grin on her face.
Nina groaned, her brain was too worn out for this game right now. “Fine, keep your secrets. Just don’t come crawling to me when you need a babysitter.”
Kerry stuck her tongue out with a pout. “You’re no fun! But I’ll give you a hint, it’s one of my favorite Pokemon.”
“Urgh. That hardly narrows it down!” But Nina still made a last ditch effort to humour her. “Let’s see here… You like cute Pokemon, obviously. But more specifically, you like furry little critters.”
Nina recalled the bliss on Kerry’s face when they stumbled upon a small family of Sentrets out in the wild, freshly woken from hibernation and starving for sustenance. So they had a great time pampering the little ones with Berries and having a little picnic by their tree.
“And I know you’ve been wanting a Fire Type…” Which made this all the more perplexing since most Fire Types needed to be incubated in a very high temperature environment to hatch properly. Nina recalled all the Fire Types that she could remember off the top of her head and eliminated all the fussier, non-furry options.
“The regional starters would be the most obvious answer but you could’ve asked for Cyndaquil from Professor Elm and he probably would have agreed… You already have Lynxie so there’s no need for a Rider.” That eliminated the possibility of either Growlithe or Ponyta. “So… a Vulpix?”
“Boo-boo!” Kerry crossed her arms and made a buzzer noise. “Nope! But you’re on the right track. The answer is… Eevee~!”
Nina laughed. She had forgotten how enamored Kerry was with Espy back when she was still an Eevee. It was all that she would talk to her about before they got to know each other better.
“Good choice — expensive choice as well.” Cheapskate Nina fully approved of her friend’s gold digging behavior. “But you do know that your Eevee might not want to Evolve into a Flareon right?”
Kerry shrugged. “I know, and it’s fine. I’m fully in support of whatever they want to become in the future. I just want some fluffy Eevee fur to bury my face into.”
Nina laughed. “It’d be funny if they choose to become a Jolteon in the future. Spiky Electric fur’s not exactly the cuddliest.”
“Don’t say that!” Kerry fumed. “And don’t let me catch you trying to lead my baby astray either, you evil Drifloon!”
***
Falkner’s Gym was located at the base of the little hill that housed the Sprout Tower, bordering a still and tranquil lake. A building that Nina could only describe as storied, solemn and dignified.
In fact, she gave into her instincts by giving a little bow at the threshold the moment that they entered the massive wooden dojo that functioned as the Gym building.
The inside though, was less austere. The entrance was lined with little lockers for visitors to store their shoes in and largely devoid of human presence, save for the girl in a lavish, Pokeball patterned kimono who came out to greet them.
“Makes sense, this basically confirms that Falkner’s Gym, unlike the games, is very beginner unfriendly.”
“Welcome to our humble Gym. My name is Zuki,” said the girl in the kimono. “Are the two of you looking to apply for a challenge?”
Nina returned the girl’s greeting with a genial smile. “Yes and no. We would like to challenge the Gym at some point, but not immediately. We’re actually here today to make some inquiries if you don’t mind.”
Zuki affirmed with an elegant bow and gestured for them to follow her. “Why of course. Please follow me to our reception desk, and if you would be so kind as to hand me your identification as well.”
The two girls nodded in agreement and handed their Pokedexes over to be examined.
“Oh my, an esteemed Lady Joy and…” Zuki’s eyes practically twinkled when she caught sight of Nina’s credentials. “A sister from the Cerulean Gym. How delightful!”
Nina tilted her head in confusion. “Are you a mermaid as well?”
“Oh, heavens no!” Zuki giggled. “I could never measure up to the talented ladies of your esteemed Gym. But I do dabble in the performance arts as well, hence my presumptuous remark. Have you heard of the traditional kimono dances before?”
Nina gasped. “Are you a Kimono Girl? I’m a huge fan! I’ve been dying to get tickets for your show in Ecruteak, but it’s almost impossible since you guys don’t do online bookings and all that.”
Zuki smiled. “Our venue is limited in capacity and it hardly seems fair to allow our work to benefit unscrupulous resellers. That aside, you mentioned you have an inquiry? Do tell, I would be more than happy to assist a kindred sister.”
“Yeah, I get you. Our Gym struggles with scalpers as well. And yes, I was just wondering, if I were to challenge Falkner to a Star battle and lose, would he be amenable enough to still grant me a lower tier badge if I did well enough?”
Zuki faltered slightly as she flashed the younger girl a guilty smile. “My brother, as his reputation suggests, is quite faithful to the rules imposed upon him as a Gym Leader. In particular, he feels a great sense of duty to bolster the standards of young Pokemon Trainers in our waning generation. Especially given recent revelations pertaining to the plot against the Ace Corp — an incident which I believe you are intimately familiar with, Lady Jones?”
Nina returned the girl’s sentiment with a warm smile. “No worries, I totally understand. I just wanted to ask beforehand to better prepare myself on what to expect. I’m sorry to have troubled you, Lady Zuki.”
“No, not at all.” The delicate tassels of her hairpin wavered gently in the air as Zuki shook her head in denial before reaching over to caress Nina’s hand. “How about this? If you would be so inclined, why don’t you join me for some tea? Meanwhile, I shall have one of our apprentices relay your question to my esteemed brother and seek a more assured response.
“Additionally, I would also be delighted if we could conduct an exchange on our differing approaches to the art of performance.” The girl added in the end with a sheepish look, eliciting a bright smile from Nina.
“Of course, Lady Zuki. I would love to! If you don’t mind that is, Kerry?”
The young nurse shook her head with an equally bright expression. “Nope, not at all. I’m a big fan of the Kimono Girls too. Wait til I snap a pic and send it to my cousins, they’re gonna be so jealous!”
Zuki chuckled. “Very well then…” She said before expanding a Pokeball and releasing a regal looking Umbreon, whose first act was to lower his head in a courteous bow towards the Espeon accompanying Nina and reach down to lightly kiss her front paw.
Espy, of course, acted impervious to the charms of the gentle Umbreon. But inwardly, Nina could sense a wave of approval and giddiness at the attention she was receiving. The girl suppressed her mirth. “Careful now, Bev. Vapey’s got some stiff competition.”
“Kazuki will escort you to our tea ceremony room while I make the necessary arrangements,” said Zuki, also smiling in amusement at her Umbreon’s conduct. “So please, follow after him and I shall join you momentarily.”
The two girls nodded and did as they were told while Zuki went off to relay instructions to her subordinates.
***
Nina silently watched as Zuki agitated the tea in her hand with a little straw brush, churning up bubbles and dissolving any stubborn lumps of powder still present. By all accounts, it should have been a very strenuous act. Yet, Zuki’s face looked utterly serene and her movement graceful as a Goldeen.
With an elegant bow, Zuki reached over and slid the finished cups of tea over to her guests, one each for Nina and Kerry.
Nina picked up the proffered tea cup with a quiet thanks, marvelling at the rough texture of the earth-toned pottery and all the associated patterns — as if someone had carved out the vessel using a piece of the land itself.
As she rotated the cup around on the palm of her hands, Nina could also see rivers of cracks and seams gleaming a radiant silver — Kintsugi, or in this case, more like Gintsugi since silver was used. It was a technique used to repair broken pottery using lacquer mixed with precious metals like gold, silver and platinum.
After thoroughly satisfying her sense of aesthetics and fully taking in the earthy herbaceous perfume of the steaming green liquid before her, Nina took a sip, the cloying bitterness made her instinctively reach to get a bite of the plate of wagashi laying on the tatami mat.
Zuki giggled. “Quite the potent taste is it not? A little milk will go a long way in tempering the tea’s harshness. Would you like me to go procure some? Though you will have to keep it a secret from the elders of course.” The girl winked in mischief.
Nina smiled. “No, I think it’s fine as it is. I just need some time for my taste buds to get used to it.” To her side, Kerry nodded as well. This wasn’t the young nurse’s first tea ceremony so she was already prepared for the acrid concoction.
“Very well then…” Zuki returned, with a smile of her own, followed by a bow towards Nina. “To begin, I would first like to convey my sincere apologies. It seems my esteemed brother is being quite headstrong as always.”
Nina chuckled. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting much anyways. I can see that Lord Falkner’s reputation is well deserved.”
“Quite,” said Zuki, with a stiff smile on her face. “But if you would be amenable, I would love to make your acquaintance regardless. It was not in jest when I expressed my admiration for your work earlier.”
“Sure,” Nina replied. “Though I have to warn you, I may not be as uh… devoted to the life of a mermaid like my colleagues are.”
“Of course, we all have our passions outside of the arts. I myself am quite partial to battles as well, as embarrassing as it is to admit. What about yourself, Lady Jones?”
Nina laughed. “I can hardly qualify as a lady. But well… I’m into travel, exploration and history. And speaking of which…” The girl looked towards her gracious host with a sheepish glance. “If you don’t mind me asking, I have some questions regarding your family’s storied domain…”
Zuki lightly shook her head. “Not at all. My brother is quite an avid historian as well so I suspect the two of you will get along quite well in that regard. Please, ask away and I shall do my best to answer.”
Nina nodded. “I was actually wondering about the Bellsprout population. I find it fascinating how the city is so intertwined with the species. And yet, there seem to also be a relative lack of their evolved forms hanging around in comparison. Why is that?”
The older girl chuckled. “Indeed. Though there’s no definitive answer for that question I’m afraid. As far as our ancestors could remember, Bellsprouts have always been an integral part of Violet City. One could speculate, of course.” The girl pointed towards the Sprout Tower in the distance.
“One theory is that the Bellsprouts were attracted to the Sprout Tower, which they mistook as one of their own.” Zuki continued. “As you are likely aware, Johto is a region with an abundance of seismic activity, blessing us with a wealth of hot springs while simultaneously plaguing the region with, oftentimes, disastrous earthquakes.”
The Sprout Tower, aside from being a prototype to the much more prominent Brass and Bell Towers in Ecruteak, was originally designed with these earthquakes in mind.
The end result was a construct that wobbled and danced during these seismic vibrations akin to that of a Bellsprouts wavy gait. Hence, attracting to the vicinity a healthy population of the Grass Types who came to worship the tower as a deity of sorts, lending the tower its name as well as forming the legend surrounding its creation — that the tower was built with a giant Bellsprout as its core.
“Although most would say that it’s the other way around, that it was the Bellsprouts that inspired the design of the tower.” Zuki took a dainty sip of her tea. “Bellsprouts, you see, are deeply connected to the earth through their roots, and thus are capable of predicting even the slightest shift in seismic activity. It is often said that our ancestors bred them for the explicit purpose of detecting earthquakes, until their population bloomed out of control.”
Nina hummed, committing everything she heard to memory to be written down later. “Is that also why the denizens of Violet City aren’t partial to Evolving them?”
Zuki chuckled. “Not at all, that has more to do with the martial pursuit of the Tower’s sages.”
Apparently, the monks of Sprout Tower were of the martial variety, much like the shaolin monks of Nina’s past life. In fact, they pursued a brand of martial arts reminiscent of tai chi that were derived from a Bellsprout’s unique movements.
“You’ll find that despite being only in the initial phase of their Evolution, the Bellsprouts of Violet City are extremely fearsome battlers. One could only assume that the little sprouts abstain from Evolution for the sake of achieving martial enlightenment and for fear of losing their limbs.”
“I see…” Nina murmured as they moved on to other topics. Zuki’s words reminded her of the Pokemon anime when a Bellsprout was first introduced. She remembered how difficult it was for Ash and his team to take down the Bellsprout that was featured at the time, its flexible limbs capable of absorbing any impact and its extensive roots serving to ground any Electric Type moves that were thrown at it.
***
Author's note:
There is a special place in hell reserved for whoever designed Hunter's March, likely the same person who did the Path of Pain. I like to imagine it's filled with buzzsaws and thorns. And once they reach the end of the road, redemption in sight, the pixelated souls of dead Hollow Knights and Hornets would manifest and send them back to the beginning.
That aside, I am thoroughly burnt out on Into the Unown. I squeezed my creative well for all its worth and now I have nothing left to give. But at least I now have a healthy backlog of chapters.
So I'm gonna switch tracks and work on writing GESTALT for now. I should have all the rewrites done and another 5 chapters by the end of this month, hopefully.
Additionally, does anyone know if a Mega Pokemon is given any new moves in this games? I can't for the life of me remember.
This definitely doesn't have anything to do with a certain tubby, ice cream loving Dragonite or anything. Nope, definitely not. Although... if there're any secret Nintendo informants around, I wouldn't exactly be opposed to taking a sneak peak at a Mega Dragonite's stat sheet.