Author's note:
Double release today to celebrate 200 chapters and 2 million views on RR.
Yay!!!
***
Nina breathed in the fragrant spring air as Nairy glided through the twilight skies. Her partner was going at a sedate pace owing to the fact that he was holding onto Collin in a Fly Basket below.
The girl had asked the hiker man if he would like to go back to the city with them at the end of the day. And although reluctant at first, Collin was ultimately unable to resist the call of civilization and agreed to come along. Especially when Nina promised to buy him a hearty meal as thanks for all of his help that day.
“Ramen. I would like a big bowl of ramen.” The man had said, eliciting laughter from Nina. She loved her noodles as well, though she hadn’t had much ramen since her transmigration — most places only had meat-based broths.
“Pretty sure we passed by a place the other day that sold seafood ramen… Where was it again?”
“Es.”
Nina’s musings were interrupted when Espy poked at her mind and directed her attention towards the eastern entrance of Violet City, where she could see a Charizard touching down. The Fire Pokemon was being ridden by a pair of humans and clutching a black bundle in his claws.
“Is that…?”
Espy nodded, affirming Nina’s thoughts.
“Heh. They’re finally here. Nitey, let’s head over and check on those two tardy rascals.”
“Niite~”
The Dragonite shifted his wings and changed course towards the eastern end of Violet City where, presumably, Justin and Lucy were registering their entry into the city.
“Jerry, Lucy! ‘Bout time the two of you showed up!” Nina called, but halted in her steps once she got a better look at her friends; surrounded on all sides by police officers and handing over a group of tied up Rocket grunts — the black bundle that Lucy’s Charizard was carrying.
Justin jolted and lit up when he saw Nina, running over to greet her despite Officer Jenny’s protest.
“Nina, hey! You won’t be able to guess what we just did!” The boy began, with an insufferably smug grin.
Nina sighed and pointed towards the black clad individuals being apprehended by the group of officers. “I have eyes, you know? Good work, by the way. But where did you find this lot? I thought these assholes would be laying low after what happened to the Yamaguchi Group.”
Justin scoffed. “Yeah, thanks for inviting me — not! Why didn’t you guys call me?! I wanted to kick some Rocket ass too!”
The girl responded with another sigh. “I nearly got killed, Justin. It was a foolish endeavor and I regretted every second of it. And besides, you weren’t around back then.”
However, before the boy could respond, the Officer Jenny that he was speaking to earlier chimed in with an irate scowl.
“Mr Mayo, please don’t just run off during the middle of our interview. And who is this? An acquaintance? Were you present during the incident as well?”
Nina shook her head in response and pulled up her Trainer ID on her Pokedex. “No ma’am, I’m just a friend. I saw Justin on my way back to the city and came here to welcome him. I didn’t expect that he was busy speaking to you, my apologies.”
The girl then turned towards the capricious boy. “I’ll leave you to your business first. You and Lucy can come find us once you’re done here and we can chat then.”
“Aww… Do I have to? I’m starving…”
Both Nina and the Jenny sighed in exasperation. “It won’t take too long Mr Mayo, so long as you focus up and cooperate with us. You’ve done us a service today and we won’t mistreat you for it. I’ll see if any of my colleagues have a chocolate bar you can snack on in the meantime.”
Nina made a mental note to research this and maybe send a message to Professor Samson to ask.
“Yeah, so we kicked their asses, tied them up and dragged them over to the police. Hehe… Not bad right? Whatever you and Lilian can do, I can do too!”
Nina chuckled and chose not to comment any further. No doubt that series of events was caused by the boy’s intense desires and his protagonist luck. “Good, I can use a bit of that bullshit plot armor when we venture into Ilex Forest later.”
“Anyways, where’s Kerry? I don’t see her around.” Justin asked. The restless boy jerked his head around to try and spot their mutual friend.
“Kerry’s back in the compound resting. She just spent the whole day trying to get her Flying License, so she’s all spent for the day.”
“Aww…”
“But speaking of which, where are you guys planning to stay? I don’t think it’d be right to suddenly spring you guys on Kerry’s family without prior notice and it’s getting kinda late now.” Nina looked out the window at the darkened sky.
Justin and Lucy looked at each other with a helpless expression until Collin chimed in. “Haha! There’s a little hostel in the city that I always stay in. The owner’s great and it’s cheap and cheerful. You two kiddos can tag along if ya want. I’m sure we can get a couple of beds for ya.”
“Thanks mister!” Justin exclaimed, before Lucy even had a chance to say anything.
“Urgh.” Nina groaned, feeling immense sympathy for the girl. “Lucy, you can come with me if you want. The room we have at the Joy compound is massive. I’m sure we can fit another futon in there.”
However, to her surprise, Lucy responded with a fervent headshake, saying that she was fine going to the hostel with Justin.
“Are you sure? It wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
“Positive, thank you for the offer Aqu— I mean, Nina… We’ll meet up with you and Miss Joy tomorrow. I’ll make sure that Justin doesn’t oversleep.”
Nina tilted her head in confusion but chose not to press further. She knew that Lucy was a fan of her celebrity work, so maybe the girl was just feeling awkward?
“Alright, if you’re sure I guess…”
***
“No, we are not letting Justin lead the way.” Nina declared, eliciting nods of approval from both Kerry and Lucy.
“Aww…” The boy whined, but his companions were not having any of it.
“We’ve already received coordinates and detailed instructions from Mr Collin. Just stick to it and we’ll be able to get to the Marowak grave without issue.”
The four teens had met up again the next day and after a round of discussion, they came to the conclusion that all of them really wanted to go and check out the Marowak grave on Route 31.
So in lieu of Pokemon training, which was what Nina and Kerry had intended originally, they decided to just extend their stay in Violet City for some sightseeing. And besides, now that she had rendezvoused with Justin and Lucy, Nina now had proper sparring partners she could train with.
“What’s a Marowak grave anyway?” Justin asked as they were trudging through the wilderness to find the entrance to the cave that they needed to delve into.
All three girls turned to him with a flabbergasted look.
“Seriously, kid? Please don’t tell me you were seeking it out without knowing what it was?” Nina asked, eliciting a sheepish grin from the boy.
“I mean, it kinda sounds cool right? Is it supposed to be like a graveyard for Marowaks or something?”
A collective sigh permeated the forest.
“You’re not entirely wrong.” Nina replied. “So have you heard the story about Cubones wearing their mother’s skull before?”
Justin nodded. “Yup. That’s kinda… It’s kinda messed up isn’t it?”
Nina chuckled. “Well it’s not exactly true. The Cubone line is often called the lonely Pokemon, not because all their mothers end up dead or anything — that would be ridiculous. But because their parents abandon them at birth.”
Kerry nodded with a melancholic gaze. “It’s sad, but baby Cubones are expected to learn how to defend themselves the moment that they hatch, hence wild Cubones have an abnormally high mortality rate. It’s gotten better in recent years though, thanks to preservation efforts from the Pokemon Rangers.”
“Yup, but the interesting thing about Cubones is actually their ability to sense the presence of nearby Marowak graves, which serves as a guidepost of sorts for them.”
A Cubone, once hatched, would instinctively know to make their way to a Marowak grave to procure bones to use as weapon and armor. In fact, the Cubone line was part of the minority of Pokemon species known to be reliant on tools.
“If there are no mass graves in their vicinity, then a Cubone will simply seek out the resting place of any Marowak or Cubone nearby and dig out their remains. Failing which, they will settle for the bones of any old Pokemon that would fit them, Raticates and Nidorina are the most common substitutes.”
Kerry nodded. “In the Pokemon Center, if we hatch a Cubone egg then we’ll make sure to prepare bones for them in advance. Most of the time, we’d be able to call on a Ranger to help get Marowak bones but not always.”
“That is all to say, Marowak graves are a big deal for the species — a cornerstone of their ecology,” continued Nina. “And are highly protected by an area’s Pokemon Rangers.”
In fact, when a Marowak sensed that it was approaching its natural end. They would begin the journey of congregating in a Marowak grave to leave their remains behind for the next generation of Cubones, however lengthy that journey may be.
“Everytime that we get a new Cubone trainer in the Pokecenter, we always make sure to educate them about the species’s customs and encourage them to return their Pokemon’s remains to a Marowak grave or hand it over to a Pokemon Ranger in the event that they were met with an early demise.” Kerry added, her tone quite somber at this point.
“Doesn’t stop people from selfishly memorializing their remains for their own sentiment though.” Nina was reminded of the ghostly Marowak haunting the Pokemon Tower in the games. “But honestly, I can’t blame them. I would be reluctant as well…”
Justin thanked the girls for their enlightenment and continued on his silent trek, looking uncharacteristically subdued. Underneath all of that capriciousness was a heart of gold with a genuine love of Pokemon after all.
***
Author's note:
Thank you to everyone for sticking with me up until this point. 200 chapters is... a lot.
Especially to those of you who have been kind enough to leave comments and engage with the story all this while. Your kindness is what keeps me committed to Nina's journey even during the worst of times. And believe me there have been times where I felt the urge to just pull this story away from the public eye.
I initially wrote Into the Unown for my own enjoyment. But there had been a few times where I had almost forgotten that fact. Hence why I don't engage much in the comments these days for the sake of my mental health.
No matter, I have decided to see things through. I might decide to take an extended break somewhere down the line, but it won't be anytime soon so no worries for now.