Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Chapter 287

“I’m sorry guys…” Nina sniffled and buried her head into Rinny’s translucent ruffles.“Riiin…”

“This is going to be a tough journey, and there’re no guarantees that I can even make it back…” Her voice cracked, the thought of never seeing her friends and family again for the second time was like a chisel chipping away at her heart.

“Riiiin! Priiii! Riiiin!!” Rinny pleaded, begging his trainer to not leave him behind. Followed by an affirmative cry by the ever stalwart Sir Clodington who was never one to shy away from a tough journey.

“Cloooood! Clodsire!”

“Hehe… Thanks guys. I love you both.” Nina chuckled and returned to addressing Mewtwo. “Give me a sec, Mewtwo. I just have to go help the rest of my team and see what they think.”

The Legendary scoffed and averted his eyes with an indecipherable gaze.

“Hang on, Nina! I’m the one who should go!”

Nina frowned at the manchild who called out to her above a crumbling pile of debris. With Ariana incapacitated, her Pokemon were quickly neutralised. Same with the other battles going on all around her.

Team Rocket trained their Pokemon to be mindlessly obedient above all else. So, without explicit direction from their trainer, even Giovanni’s Elite Pokemon were beginning to falter under the relentless struggle of Nina’s team.

“You just got back from a nine year hiatus, Ash. You’ve suffered enough already.” Nina shook her head in admonishment. “This is my job and I’m seeing it through til the end.”

Ash scrambled and stumbled his way down to her before barring the girl’s path with his arms outstretched. “Nuh-uh! You’re not strong enough! What’re you even gonna do once you catch up to Giovanni?!"

Nina sighed. “You’ve already lost to him once, remember? And besides, I’ll have Mewtwo and my team with me… Those who want to go anyway.” 

She just regretted the fact that she wouldn’t be able to bring Rice Shower with her. “Will Ricey resent me?” The Rapidash would probably be forever left wondering, thinking that Nina had abandoned her.

“No!” Ash glowered and summoned the rest of his team to his side; Dragonite, Greninja, Lucario, Sceptile, Sirfetch’d, and Pikachu on his shoulder as usual — some of the protagonist’s all-star Pokemon, the heroes of Nina’s childhood whom she grew up watching.

“I am Ash Ketchum, Pokemon Master! And you! You’re just a kid, Nina… So if you wanna go then you’ll have to prove that you’re stronger than me!”

“Pika! Pikachu!” Electricity sparked off Pikachu’s glowing cheeks. It was clear that the iconic duo was in agreement and would stop her by whatever means necessary.

“Dammit, Ash!” Nina cried out in frustration, her distress inadvertently summoning the rest of her Pokemon to her side.

Nitey, looking haggard but resolute as he stood by his partner. Brucey glared at Ash in resentment as he wrapped his wings around Nina in a protective embrace. Espy, her fur bristling as she hissed at their opponents — the Espeon would never let her human dive headlong into danger without her. And Azzy, whose crimson red eyes shone in the shadows.

The only one who wasn’t with her was Dhelmise, who was too busy feeding on Giovanni’s fainted Pokemon.

Sweat dripped down Nina’s brow. This was not going to be an easy battle. Both trainers’ Pokemon were utterly exhausted. But comparatively speaking, Ash’s Pokemon were more experienced in their tenure.

The girl sighed once more. “Do you know why it is that I am the one who should go, Ash?”

“Err… Because of Mew? But you’ve already done your part—”

“No, Ash. It’s because I’m not from this world!”

“Huh?”

Nina clenched her teeth, bile rising from her stomach. “Nina… Melina Jones. The girl standing before you… She was supposed to have died when she was three years old, from an incident involving a wild Spearow.” The girl gasped, she had never said it out loud before. Not to a native of this world, anyway.

Nina quivered and looked Ash in the eyes with a tear-filled gaze. In that moment, she looked weak and vulnerable, nothing like the bright and sunny girl in a yellow jacket who rushed to Ash’s rescue at his most dire moment.

“Melina Jones drew her last breath at the age of three…” Nina hugged herself tight, fingers digging deep into her arms. “And when this body was resuscitated, what came back was not Nina’s soul but an interdimensional ghost — an interloper!”

She screamed. “Don’t you get it, Ash! I’m not the real Nina! I was a thirty year old man who got hit by a truck and woke up here in this world of Pokemon! I’m an invader! A parasite! I don’t belong here!”

The body snatcher choked, tears streaming down her cheeks. “All I ever wanted was to travel the world and meet Pokemon… But this is enough.” The otherworlder, Miles, Nina or whoever she was, forced a feeble smile on her face. 

“I met Nitey and Espy and Brucey and Clody and Azzy and Rinny and Ricey… This is enough…” Her shoulders slumped in resignation. “And hey, crossing dimensions… That’s better than travelling the world, right? A bigger, grander adventure…”

Nina swallowed her grief and, with a sharp breath, walked past Ash’s shoulder. “So I’m going, Ash. Not because I am being forced to by that stupid pink cat. But because I want to. Because Giovanni’s an asshole and somebody needs to stop him!”

The girl trudged, every step she made towards the portal feeling heavier than the last, the faces of all her loved ones flitting through her mind. But, just before she took that final step, a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder and, with a violent pull, yanked her onto the floor.

“Mewtwo, tie Nina down for me, will ya?”

“Dammit, Ash! What are you doing?!”

The protagonist smiled down on her with an insufferably cocky grin. “You’re not jumping over me, Nina. I’ve already travelled the world and became the best that ever was. So it only makes sense that I should be the one to go beyond this world and see what else this universe has to offer.”

“Ash, no! Think about your family! Your mom! What will she do without you?!”

A shadow fell over his eyes as Ash knelt down by Nina’s side.

“Tell my mom…”

“Ash, no… Please. This doesn’t make any sense!”

“Tell her that I’ll be back soon. And this time, I won’t be needing anyone to come save me.”

With a determined grin, Ash took off his iconic baller cap and grabbed hold of Nina’s own hat. Then, in one swift motion, made a seamless switch between the two.

He beamed. “Just something to remember me by. That way I know how to find my way back home…” Ash moved to stand but froze midway in sudden recollection. “Oh, and take care of Bayleef for me, will ya? She gets awfully lonely and I hate that I’m going to have to leave her behind again.”

“Ash, no! Take care of her yourself, you dumbass!” Nina sobbed, vehemently shaking her head in denial.

“Goodbye… and take it easy, Nina. You’ve only had a few years in this world. There’s still so much more to see, so much to discover! Trust me, I would know!” With a silly grin, Ash Ketchum, the hero of Nina’s childhood, turned his back on her for what might be the last time ever.

But before he could go any further, the darkness writhed and a figure cloaked in rags emerged from the shadows while throwing a disheveled looking old man in a ruined lab coat onto the ground — Dr Namba, Team rocket’s head of science, if Nina’s memory held.

“W-Wha?! Who’s there?!”

Ash and Nina both tensed as the figure shifted and shuffled closer to the former, his gait looking a little stiff and mechanical.

“No. Neither of you will be going into that portal…” The mystery man rasped, his voice broken and hoarse.

Ash sneered. “Oh yeah? And who are you to stop me?!”

The man scoffed, then threw his cloak back to reveal the scarred and wrinkled visage of Kyou, streaks of grey running through his spiky black hair and metal glinting from his purple-clad sleeves.

“Koga!” Nina exclaimed. “You’re still alive!” The girl forced herself onto her feet in alarm and signalled for her Pokemon to ready for battle. “Is this where you’ve been? Working with Team Rocket all along to prolong your miserable life?!”

“At ease, girl… The title of Koga now belongs to Janine, and the man known as Kyou is long dead.” The ronin folded his arms. “I am but a nameless revenant in search of absolution. The burden of pursuing Giovanni shall be borne by mine own hands.” With a resolute gaze, he added; “Thus, It is not necessary for either of you to sacrifice your lives for the cause.”

Nina’s eyes narrowed. “And I’m supposed to just take your word for it? After all you’ve done?!”

“He speaks the truth.” Mewtwo chimed as he settled next to Kyou’s side.

“But Mewtwo—”

The Psychic raised a hand to silence the girl. “I am reasonably assured that this wretch will devote whatever remains of his paltry life to Giovanni’s demise, and so I will be taking him with me as fodder to that end.”

“Mewtwo, wait!”

“I will brook no further arguments, Melina Jones.” Mewtwo declared sternly, stopping Nina in her tracks. “Because that is who you are, regardless of whatever memories have tainted your ego. So cease in your self-repudiation.”

“Err… Wha?” She was not expecting such a response and was left stunned in place.

Mewtwo scoffed and began levitating Kyou and himself towards the Ultra Wormhole.

“Wait!”

“Do not test my patience, human!” Mewtwo admonished with a mental pulse of irritation.

“No, that’s not it.” Nina floundered and reached into her backpack, to produce a neatly wrapped bundle from within its dimensional hold. “Here, a present for you. I didn’t get a chance to give it to you earlier because of how brash you were.”

Mewtwo furrowed his brows and lowered himself to accept the gift.

“Espy and I picked it out before we showed up at the diner. It’s a selection of coffee beans from that shop you guys went to. Do you still have your coffee brewing kit with you?”

The Psychic nodded and demonstrated by tearing a hole in the air and extracting a kettle from within.

Nina smiled. “Great! I don’t know what those other realities are gonna be like and whether or not you’ll even be able to get a stable supply of beans there. So best to just keep some in stock for your daily brew.”

“I… thank you for the gesture…” Mewtwo replied stiffly, his face all twisted as if unsure of how to express himself.

Nina held back her mirth at the flustered Pokemon and reached out to grab hold of his hand with Espy by her side.

“Es. Espeon-es.”

“Take care of yourself, okay, Mewtwo? And remember, there’s more to life than just revenge. So please, promise me that you’ll take a break every once in a while. Even if it’s just to sit down with a cup of coffee in hand.”

Mewtwo shuttered his shapely eyes, stored away her gift, and nodded with a breathy sigh. “Very well… Then, to reciprocate. I would like you to have this in exchange.” With a flash of light, he produced a gleaming iridescent gem in his palm.

“This… This is your Mega Stone, Mewtwo! How are you supposed to defend yourself without it?!”

The Pokemon scoffed. “It is merely a shell. I do not need it to call upon that one’s powers. For they already reside within me. Keep it.” He insisted as he pressed the stone into Nina’s hands. “Go to the Moon Shrine, for there is where they lay, broken and spent. Return that piece and it should partially aid in their recovery.”

Nina just stared down at the swirling purple helix before her, trying to understand the implication of Mewtwo’s words.

“And…” The Legendary added with much reluctance. “By having the stone firmly entrenched within this reality, it may serve as a guidepost — to help us find our way home. Whenever or wherever we may be.”

Nina shuddered, breathed, then closed her eyes and responded with a resolute nod. “I’ll keep it safe. And if at some point, you still haven’t returned… Then, I’ll grab Mew by the scruff and go looking for you!” The girl beamed a defiant grin. “Don’t forget. We still have an agreement in place!”

Mewtwo scoffed. “ It is regrettable, but it seems our agreement must be suspended in absentia. Farewell, Melina Jones.” 

With nary a backwards glance, Mewtwo floated back up to Kyou’s side and unceremoniously disappeared into the Ultra Wormhole.

“Do you think they’re gonna be okay?” Ash chimed.

“I hope so. I really do…” 

“We failed…” He added.

Nina shook her head. “We did and we didn’t… Giovanni was supposed to start his invasion with a full suite of executives, his Elite-tier Pokemon, an army of grunts and whatever backend logistics was set up to support his interdimensional conquest.” She gestured towards the catatonic Gliscor being devoured by her Dhelmise. “Now, he is alone, possibly injured and being actively hunted by a Legendary-tier Psychic and Kanto’s former head of intelligence.”

The crime lord was done for. And even if he did manage to elude Mewtwo and Kyou, it was doubtless that the scale of his ambitions would be clipped by their dogged pursuit.

Ash chortled. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that he got away, I suppose…” The girl murmured, brows furrowed in self-deprecation. “Regardless, let’s get out of here and go help with the clean up.” Nina said, in an attempt to distract herself from the impending guilt. 

However, right as she was about to take a step away from the wormhole, she staggered, feet wobbling, vision blurred and mind fading to black.