Author's Note:
It's a double chapter release today, so go back and read Chapter 159 if you accidentally skipped over it.
***
Fallen leaves crunched beneath Nina’s feet, every step invoking the distinct scent of autumn; that of decay, musk and the sickening sweetness of overripe fruit.
Nina took in a deep breath, savouring the earthy sll perating the air while throwing her head back to take in the golden orange canopy looming high above. A cooling breeze rustled her newly grown hair, just barely shoulder length and no longer bleached like it was until just a few months ago.
“So you gonna tell
where we are now?” Nina asked Hikari. The woman had previously offered to help Nina procure a Ghost Type Pokemon and Nina was here to cash in.
Hikari giggled and responded with an impish smile. “Why don’t you take a guess?”
Nina rolled her eyes with an exasperated groan. “Urgh. Mystics!” Instead of playing along with Hikari’s farce, Nina just pulled out her Pokedex and checked her map. Hikari had teleported them here without prior explanation, so Nina genuinely had no idea where they were.
“Wait…” Nina frowned. “We’re near the Hidden Valley Estate, lanie’s brewery. Are there even Ghost Pokemon here?”
Hikari pouted, the worldly beauty sohow managed to make even such a childish expression look subli. It’s a wonder why no one had murdered Bill in a jealous rage yet for keeping such a woman to himself.
“You’re no fun…” Hikari whined. “And to answer your question — yes, there is a Ghost Pokemon to be found here.”
Nina turned to stare at Hikari with a raised eyebrow. “A Ghost Pokemon? Singular?”
But instead of responding to the girl, Hikari just giggled once more, the tinkling of bell chis accompanying her delicate voice as she continued to lead the way.
They kept walking until the air shifted, transitioning to a subtly ominous atmosphere that sent chills down Nina’s spine, accentuated by a distinct change in the scenery — the trees adorning this new stretch of the forest seed unnaturally dried and withered. They weren’t dead husks per se, but there was a sickly shade to their barks, and the leaves were more barren than normal, even for the autumn season.
The girl frowned. “Sothing doesn’t feel right.” Yet at the sa ti, it was clearly a good sign for her purpose — this was an ideal environnt for a Ghost Type.
There were a thousand questions that Nina wanted to ask, but didn’t want to deal with the headache of Hikari’s cryptic ramblings. So she held her tongue and just followed along, until they reached an inordinately barren area, one without even a single blade of grass in sight. Beyond which was a cave, its dark gaping maw exuding a discomforting aura.
Nina took in her surroundings with a wary gaze, particularly at the dark patches on the ground, now washed and faded with ti. “lanie’s friend, the Alpha Parasect. This was her forr nest wasn’t it?” The girl asked, as she leveled an intense, no bullshit gaze at her companion.
Hikari nodded with a genial smile. “Indeed,” she responded, without any ambiguity for once. “You will find your new mber within the cave ahead. But you must venture forth alone, without the company of myself or your Pokemon. That child is a little shy, you see.”
Nina took in a weak breath and exhaled. What Hikari was telling her to do went against every conventional wisdom when it ca to dealing with wild Ghost Pokemon — never engage them alone and never within their lair.
On instinct, Nina grabbed hold of the w Gem dangling around her neck to reassure herself. For all intents and purposes, Hikari was w’s emissary. And so long as that gem remained on Nina’s person, it ant that the Mythical Pokemon still had use for her. Therefore, w wouldn’t allow Nina’s life to be forfeit just yet.
For all that Nina complained about Justin’s protagonist luck, she herself wasn’t that lacking either. “Unless w’s intention is to feed
to whatever scary Ghost lives within that cave.”
With another deep breath, Nina steeled her resolve and marched into the imposing darkness of the unsettling cavern.
***
Nina turned on her flashlight as she waded through the darkness of her surroundings. The space she was in was eerily empty, not even the common moss or fungi in sight, just bare rock face all around.
Just like the exterior grounds, there were also dark patches of earth sporadically dotting the cavern floors — the only reminder of the tragedy that had once befell its previous occupants.
“Gosh, it’s been a long ti since then huh? Maybe three or four years by this point?” Nina murmured out loud, mostly to ease her own nerves and offset the unnatural silence surrounding her. “A lotta stuff happened over the years. Can’t believe it’s been that long…”
The girl chuckled to herself. “I an, I suppose I did wish for a more exciting life than my last. But I mostly ant lots of travel and getting to et new and interesting Pokemon, not be graced by a mythical Pokemon and granted a fate-bending macguffin.” Her transmigration really did feel like a monkey’s paw at tis.
A splash of water interrupted Nina’s musings. The cave was extrely damp, thanks to the autumn rain, resulting in droplets of water falling from the ceiling from ti to ti. The girl did a little hop to the side, to avoid stepping into a puddle of water on the ground. Based on her previous experience in the Safari Zone, Nina learned firsthand how deceptively deep those puddles may be.
As she landed with a quiet whoop, the flashlight in Nina’s hand shifted, its beams illuminating so markings on the wall by accident. The markings were located near the base of the wall, necessitating that Nina crouch down to examine them. Their position was so obscure that had Nina not made that little hop, she probably wouldn’t have ever noticed them.
The markings weren’t imdiately comprehensible, like childish graffiti carved into the rock wall with a sharp implent. From what Nina could tell, it seed to depict flowers and mushrooms, and a triangular stick figure with lines coming out of the base, looking suspiciously like a Parasect if Nina squinted hard enough.
Nina remained crouched for so ti, running a finger through the markings and revelling in the coarse texture of the rockface. She was very careful not to apply any force, not wanting to accidentally erase any vestiges of history.
The girl imagined a scene; A group of mischievous Paras huddled around this wall, their stubby little claws clumsily scratching at the surface, to illustrate the sights that they saw that day. Nina shut her eyes and heard the excited chittering of the juvenile Paras, a field of flowers adorning the now-barren cave exterior, and a matronly Alpha Parasect, ever imposing, watching over her brood.
A salty taste invaded Nina’s lips, from the stream of tears flowing down her face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t co sooner…” It wasn’t her fault of course, and Nina knew that. And yet, she couldn’t help but regret that she didn’t treat w’s Gem more seriously. “This entire ti, I’ve just been stubbornly evasive, not wanting to get involved in any trouble…”
Nina sniffled and took in a deep breath, the girl clasped her hand together and channeled all her grief and lant in the form of a sincere prayer. “Arceus or w or whoever is listening. I don’t know if there’s a heaven in this world. But for all the suffering and injustice that occurred under your watch, I hope that you at least grant these wayward souls happiness in the afterlife. And may the wrath of Giratina descend upon the villains who perpetrated such an atrocity!”
Nina remained in prayer for so ti, her shoulders trembling, not from grief, but from the mild muscle spasms threatening to overwhelm her, until she felt the touch of a chilling presence.
The girl forced a smile, sniffling one last ti before opening her eyes to peek to her side. “Hey there, buddy...”
The greyish purple ball of gas titled its head in intrigue and peered up at Nina with teary eyes, eliciting a warm look from Nina as she gently pulled the Gastly into her embrace.
The Ghost Pokemon was distinctly different from other Gastly that Nina had seen; grey flas, purple body and a perpetually sad frown on its face as opposed to the sinister grin that other Gastlys had.
“Must have been tough huh? Being all alone here, waiting for your family to return.”
Gastly lowered its gaze, its frown deepened as if trying desperately to recall so distant mory.
Nina smiled and nuzzled against the chilling ball of gas. The sensation of touching a Gastly was quite uncanny. The Gastly flas felt cold but scalding at the sa ti, almost like frostbite. While the actual body of the Ghost itself was incorporeal and weightless, with nothing for Nina to hold onto, just a persistent pressure that seed to repel the girl’s touch from that sphere of negative space.
“Can’t rember huh?” Nina continued, her tears threatening to spill out once more. “I’m the sa way — just a phantom body snatcher, a ghost from beyond the grave.” The girl chuckled in self deprecation. “Recently, I’ve been having trouble rembering what my parents looked like too — my original parents, Mile’s parents, not Nina’s.”
Nina laughed out at her own words. “Look at , I must be going crazy. Miles, Nina, who am I even? I don’t even know anymore.”
Gastly shifted, responding to Nina’s lant with an affectionate nuzzle. Or at least, Nina liked to think that it was affectionate. It was hard to tell since a disembodied ball of spectral gas didn’t have much in terms of body language.
“Say, are you a boy or a girl? I can’t tell?” Nina asked with her fist out, doing things the old school way since Espy wasn’t with her at the mont.
Gastly wavered, seemingly unsure of itself before hovering a little closer to Nina’s right hand, signifying that it might be female.
Nina giggled. “You’re not sure huh? No worries, it’s not that important anyway.” The girl then unfurled her fists and reached out to gently caress the Gastly. “Do you want to go see your mom by any chance? Maybe you’ll be able to rember sothing?”
Gastly perked up and gazed at Nina with big round eyes, eliciting another giggle from the girl. “Co on, let’s go. I’m sure I can get my friend to track down Parasect for us.”
***
As it turned out, Parasect hadn’t left the Sea Cottage yet. Bill’s researchers had wanted to conduct a few more studies with the Alpha and managed to convince it to stick around for a bit longer. In particular, they wanted to test if repeated shock exposure to an Alpha Pokemon’s distinct aura could unlock a dosticated Eevee’s dormant instincts.
Nina stood at a distance and watched in trepidation as Gastly hovered over to the Alpha Parasect.
Parasect was calm, having already been used to the comings and going of strangers in the Sea Cottage. But that in itself was also a bad sign. As Gastly approached, Parasect just looked on indifferently, no recognition in sight.
Gastly looked up at the Alpha Parasect with a timid gaze, unsure of what to do. While Parasect raised her claw and gently prodded at the little purple ball of gas in front of her in fascination. They remained that way for so ti until Parasect got bored and walked away elsewhere, leaving Gastly to drift back to Nina with the sa sad look that it always wore, brows deeply furrowed.
Nina bit her lip and pulled the Gastly into her embrace. “I’m sorry, maybe that was a bad idea…” She murmured, holding back her tears. It was evident that neither parent nor child recognized each other. But judging by the contemplative look on Gastly’s face, it seed that at least the Ghost had recognized a tenuous connection, however fleeting it may be.
Gastly licked at the single teardrop that spilled from the corner of Nina’s eye, leaving behind a slight tingling sensation as per the paralyzing nature of a Gastly’s tongue.
Nina smiled at Gastly’s awkward assurance. “Thanks, I really should be the one comforting you. Not the other way around.” She let out a feeble laugh and held the gas Pokemon away from her to look into the pair of droopy eyes adorning the purple void. “Would you be willing to join my family, Gastly? You and I, we may never be able to regain our past lives, but there’s nothing stopping us from moving forward and forming new bonds.”
The girl then proceeded to tell Gastly about the rest of her family; the silly and adventurous Nitey, the noble but awkward Espy, the mischievous but loving Brucey, and the stoic and ever faithful Sir Clodington. She even talked about her parents, the Joneses, and her Uncle Ali, as well as Misty, Beverly and the rest of the Cerulean Gym.
“Oh, and can’t forget Kerry as well. She’s an apprentice nurse, we’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future because we promised to go out on our journey together.” Although Nina had promised to set out after sumr, her injuries ant that their plans had to be delayed. Mostly because Leanette got a little anxious and refused to let Nina journey until she was sure that her daughter was fully recovered.
Kerry was very accommodating of the fact though. In fact, she even took Leanette's side in insisting that Nina rest for a little while longer. It all ant that the two girls agreed to set out in the new year instead, in keeping with a more typical schedule.
“So yeah,” Nina concluded. “If all of that sounds good to you, would you be willing to join my little family and go out to explore the world together?”
Gastly smiled for the first ti since they t, the Ghost Pokemon’s frown literally turned upside down in muted happiness, prompting Nina to cry out and pull Gastly in for another hug.
“Now then, what should we na you…” Nina stared at Gastly in contemplation, feeling at a loss since she wasn’t even sure about their gender. The girl humd. “Hmm… I think you’re a girl?”
“Gassy? Heck no. Pearly? Nah, Bev already has Pearl the Cloyster. Poil, maybe? Myrtle? Nope, too annoying.” As Nina continued to stare into Gastly’s beady pupils, her smile loosened, turning into a wry chuckle as she lightly shook her head.
“Nah, you know what? You can decide on your own na. This second life is yours, you have the right to decide how you want to live it. So one day, when you discover who you want to be, just let
know and that’s who I will address you as.” Until then, Nina will consider Gastly as a female and continue to call her by her species na, just for convenience.
Gastly bead a wide smile and nuzzled up against her new trainer once more, eliciting giggles from the girl, whose skin was already beginning to lose sensation from the chilling cold.
“Gastly is great, but I probably can’t cuddle her to sleep. That said, she’ll be great to hold during sumr ti, so long as I don’t overdo it.”
“Alright, let’s head back. I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.” Nina got up and walked back to the Sea Cottage with the newest addition to her team happily in tow.
***
Author's Note:
Before we move on to the Afterword, which most of you will most likely skip. I'd just like to provide so context to this chapter.
First and foremost Nina's Gastly is a shiny, if it isn't obvious enough. This is a homage to the first ever shiny Pokemon that I once caught many moons ago.
And yes, I am well aware that Nina's team is now disporportionately skewed towards Poison Types. This was just an unfortunate accident and an oversight from my part. The choice of Gastly was mainly because of how iconic it is as a first gen Ghost Type.
Rest assured that Nina will catch more than six Pokemon (her sixth will be a Water Type).
In fact, I plan to treat Kerry's team as a secondary team of sorts for Nina in Part Three. And recently, I just wrote a chapter where the gang welcod a new mber into their roster; a Ghost Type which I think most of you will agree is a more interesting pick than a Gastly.
But you will have to wait to find out which Pokemon it is.
I've also ntioned several tis now of the fact that the original concept of this story did not involve Nina catching a Dratini as a starter.
I already revealed that Golbat was originally ant to be a second capture. So then who was the original starter?
The answer is Gastly.
There's a long story behind this choice, which I will elaborate in the Afterword.
If you don't care for it then no worries. Thank you for sticking with
up until this point and feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comnts down below. I'll try to answer all of them when I see them.
***
Afterword
And that's it, that's the end of Into the Unown: Part Two.
I keep racking my brain to think of sothing profound to say in this segnt.
But let's just be honest here, none of you are interested in reading my sap. So instead, I thought I would make this interesting for you guys with so fun facts regarding this story.
Fun fact #1
I ntioned before that Gastly was originally ant to be Nina's starter in the tiline that she didn't catch a Dratini. This was due to sentintal reasons that I will elaborate on in Fun fact # 4, but also because of practical concerns.
The idea was that Ghost Pokemon don't require much in terms of material sustenance. So a Gastly would be cheap to maintain. Not to ntion, they could also hide in Nina's shadow, aning she could sneakily keep them around without the need for a Pokeball and without her parents knowing about it.
In the original Safari Zone trip, Nina and the three boys would have gone on a little test of courage out in the forest as night, which was where Nina would have had an encounter with Gastly.
The original Gastly wasn't a shiny of course, but they did have a similarly timid personality which made them not as troubleso to handle as your typically mischievous and/or malicious Ghost Type.
And of course, in this tiline, Nina wouldn't have joined the Cerulean Gym. Though that option was open for consideration since she did do well in the Little League after all.
Honestly, I wouldn't know since I pivoted before I even got that far.
One thing is for sure was that Nina would have caught a Golbat at so point. Though that Golbat would have been more aggresive and combative compared to the quirky little prankster in the form of Brucey that we have now.
Why a Golbat? Because that's the first Pokemon that I thought of when it ca to cave exploration. And also Golbats are common enough that they're just easy to acquire in this setting that's so hyper-fixated on practicalities.
Fun fact # 2
So now that you know a bit more about the original idea I had. I'd like to draw your attention to the character of Purple Shadow/Hattori.
A girl with a Gastly and a Golbat as her starter ets a disgraced ninja.
So in lieu of being a rmaid, can you guess what my original intent for Nina was?
Nin-nin!
This is of course, no longer the case. But I still wanted to involve Hattori in the story in so way. Though in hindsight, my execution was incredibly lacking so he ended up being in a weird position where he felt more important as a character than he actually was.
Fun fact # 3
As I ntioned before, I originally had envisioned a much more fulfilling school life for Nina.
We would have undergone a massive ti skip after the intial Safari arc and straight to the start of Part Two.
So that lengthy prologue that I got so much complaint about? That was originally intended to be shorter. About 20-30 chapters at most with Nina's trip to the Shuckle juice brewery taking place during her first year's sumr break.
This then resulted in the current Part Two suffering from a lack of content. Hence why it felt so winding and unfocused.
Honestly, if I had the choice, I would be tempted to pull back Part Two entirely and do a complete rewrite. But knowing how lazy I am, I'd likely not follow through with it.
The current Part One did undergo a lot of revisions though, about 2-3 rewrites if mory serves
right. But I was consud with an irrational fervor back then, a fervor that I have since lost.
Fun fact # 4
Did you know? Into the Unown wasn't the first Pokemon fanfic that I conceived.
The first Pokemon fanfic idea I ever ca up with was an untitled one. Because I never released it and never really wrote it either.
You can click on the spoiler tab below to read a summary of it. Though it is unlikely that I will ever go back to writing it. It also has to do with why Agatha is dead in this story since they take place in the sa world.
Spoiler
The story revolved around a girl who got lost in a forest and accidentally crossed boundaries to find herself in the unfamiliar world of Pokemon, in a sort of Ghibli-esque spirited away style.
This was a girl who only had passing exposure to Pokemon in the form of her brother's obsession. So to her ignorant mind, Pokemon were like scary monsters that prompted her to run around in a panic.
Until she ca across a little wooden hut in the dark and gloomy forest, one constructed right next to an ominous looking graveyard.
This was the hut of a retired Agatha, who had renounced herself from the world and hid away in a far off region away from the hassles of civilization.
Coming ho one day to find that a scared little girl had barged into her sanctuary, Agatha would, after so persuasion, agree to take on the girl as an indentured servant, exchanging food and accommodation for nial labour.
During the girl's ti with Agatha, she would slowly co to terms with the world of Pokemon and make friends with the Ghost Pokemon surrounding the old woman's ho. In particular, Terry, a young, mischievous, Haunter that Agatha took in at so point, and Grumpy the Gengar, the old trainer's original starter.
The girl would live her life in a hectic pace, with Agatha intentionally overworking her to distract the girl from hosickness and depression.
Ocassionally, Agatha bring her in to a nearby village comprised mostly of a community of genial old folks where the youngsters had migrated to the nearby city for work. Thus, the old people of the village would dote on her and pamper her in a way that the awkward Agatha could never.
As ti passed, the girl slowly got used to her new life and even found happiness in her routine. That was, until Agatha abruptly collapsed one day.
Unsure of what to do, the girl used the little red device that was gathering dust on the shelf and called for help, which ca in the form of paradics that rushed over and air lifted the incapacitated Agatha to the nearest city for treatnt.
Agatha would pass away peacefully in the hospital.
Left alone with no one to rely on in this foreign world, the girl wallowed in grief in the hospital lobby, until a man in a suit approached her, claiming to be the late Agatha's lawyer, here to discuss the woman's last will and testant with the girl.
The man explained to her Agatha's illustrious background, which the girl was previously ignorant of and that she was still unsure about, since she didn't fully understand the hiearchy of the Pokemon League.
The man told her that Agatha had sensed her end approaching and made acommodations for the otherworldy girl that accompanied her in her final monts, reading to her a touching ssage that moved the girl to tears.
"Agatha's final wishes, should you choose to accept, was for you to bring her ashes back to her ancestral ho in Kanto and scatter it to the wind."
In exchange, the girl could pick any Pokemon of her choosing among Agatha's retinue as a chaperon, except for her starter Gengar. Since Pokemon of the Elite tier were to dangerous for an untested trainer to handle.
And once she was done with the mission, the girl would be rewarded with the deed to Agatha's little hut and the surrounding plot of land. But should she refuse, they would move her to the off route village and entrust her to one of the elders there.
Thus after much consideration,
the girl set off on her journey, in accordance with Agatha's wishes, with Terry the Haunter in tow, and Grumpy the Gengar stalking her in the background, to ensure the girl's safety. A seasoned Elite Pokemon like Grumpy could hardly be chained down by the Pokemon League after all.
[collapse]
This was a very unconventional story that follows the MC eting various different characters thoughout the journey in the form of an anthology of sorts. One that explores the the of loss and grief across all these different side characters. All the while, also serving as a dium for the girl to process the sadness she felt from the prospect of never being able to go back to her world and the loss of her only guardian.
Ultimately, I didn't write this story on paper, despite already having an ending for it.
The reason being, depression was sothing that I've long struggled with throughout my entire life. And I recognized that, had I delved deep into this story, I would have been thrown into an endless spiral of negativity that I would struggle to recover from.
Hence why I shelved it. Though remnants of this story still remained in the form of Nina's Gastly.
***
Anyways, a big thanks to everyone who made it through all my ramblings.
If you have any questions about the story, feel free to leave a comnt down below.
But first, make sure to check that your fellow comnters had not already asked the sa thing already. To prevent duplicate questions.
If any question pertains to spoilers, then I'll try my best to answer without giving anything away.
That is it for Part Two. There will be another release this Sunday June 8th showing a sneak peak of Chapter 161 and also to unveil the new cover for Part Three.
Also, if you liked my work so far and wanted to show your appreciation in a more tangible way, you can send
a little tip in my Patreon in exchange for advanced chapters. If not, no worries. There won't be any chapter releases in the upcoming week, but I will start releasing the first of the Side Stories on the week of June 16th.
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