Into the Unown (Poke Chapter 52

Espy’s eyes glittered as she pawed her human’s head repeatedly, crying “Eee! Eee!” and pointing at the colorful jewel above her.

Nina smiled at her Eevee’s eagerness and set down the step stool she was carrying. The girl climbed onto the stool for so extra height and held Espy up, so that the Pokemon could reach out with her two little paws to pluck the Mago Berry that caught her eye.

While Espy was happily savoring the sweet and delectable flavor of her latest spoil, Nina looked around to see that Tini had coiled himself around a branch and was gorging himself on Pecha Berries.

“Tini, don’t be such a slob! Only two Berries per tree rember?” Nina admonished. The girl had set that rule because she didn’t want to be a nace and ruin all of lanie’s harvests.

Tini wilted at his trainer's scolding and promptly jumped off the tree. “Since when did he beco so good at climbing trees?” She mused.

Seeing how dejected Tini was, Nina couldn’t help but boop her gluttonous little Dragon on the snout, staining her own nose with Pecha juices. Tini giggled at the sight and assaulted his partner with more boops for fun.

Nina giggled and wrestled Tini into her embrace. “Alright Tini, that’s enough. You’re gonna get

all sticky. I see so Bluk Berries over there. Those are your faves right?”

“Tiin~”

As they made their way over to their next mark, Espy pawed at Nina again because she caught sight of so Nanab Berries she wanted to try. Only to be t with denial from her human.

“No can’t do, Espy. See how green they are? That ans they’re unripe. I don’t want you to get a tummy ache later.”

“Eee…” whined the cute little furball. But Nina stood firm. Instead, she promised Espy that she’ll ask lanie later to see if the brewery had any Nanabs in stock.

“Bulba~”

“Saur!”

Nina bent down to address the pair of Bulbasaurs that ran up to her. “Hey guys, do you want so Berries too?” She had developed a friendship with the two Grass Types after their little ga of tag the day before.

She also found out that the two Bulbasaurs actually belonged to lanie, and that they were largely in charge of looking after the lost Pokemon. Not that they were doing a very diligent job of it.

The pair of Pokemon cried out in affirmation and each pointed at different Berries that they wanted.

Nina nodded in understanding and asked Tini for his help while she set down her stool. “Tini, could you go get that Oran while I grab the Persim?”

Her partner nodded and set out into action. anwhile, Nina raised Espy up so that she could pluck a Persim from its tree, turning a blind eye at the cheeky little Eevee who grabbed an extra Berry for herself.

The little girl and her group of Pokemon continued their leisurely stroll through the fragrant rows of Berry trees and the fields of wildflowers. Occasionally stopping to pluck a few Berries that caught their eyes.

***

Nina watched on with interest as the workers in the brewery manually filled up bottles of Shuckle juice before passing them down a roller to the next station to be labeled.

lanie’s brewery was unlike anything that Nina had ever seen before. And she did quite enjoy visiting breweries in her past life, albeit it was beer breweries. Unlike the industrial, all-tal tanks and machinery of the breweries she was used to, lanie’s set up was much more rudintary.

There were wooden barrels, which she used to store the Shuckle juice, hanging from a high shelf, connected to tappers and tubes which flowed down to the filling station where humans and Pokemon alike filled glass bottles with the liquid.

Right next to the bottling section was a number of large wooden tubs which they used to blend different batches of Shuckle juice together. And right beside that were where they added yeasts into the Shuckle juice to fernt it into alcohol. Nina could see casks upon casks of Shuckle wine aging away until it was their ti to be bottled and sold.

“Your workers all look like they’re getting up there in age, lanie.” Nina observed.

The woman nodded in agreent. “So of them are from the nearby off-route village. So of them are retirees from the city who wanted a more scenic environnt to settle down in.”

lanie explained how she was just brewing as a hobby at the beginning. “I was living in a small wooden cabin by myself next to the pond and would feed all the lost Pokemon that ca my way. Then one day, a Parasect — who is now the Alpha of this area — rescued a Shuckle which he left in my care. I had Berries which I was growing in my backyard and I always have so leftovers so I thought, why not?”

“How did it snowball into becoming such a big business then? I saw quite a number of Shuckles in the cellar.”

lanie chuckled. “That’s quite a long story. For one, the Shuckle that Parasect found was female. I’m not entirely sure on the chanics of Pokemon breeding, but I’m pretty certain it was a stray Ditto that did the deed. There was also a little girl from the nearby village that found my cabin and kept coming back to play with all the Pokemon.”

She explained how her existence spread through word of mouth and eventually there were so villagers who would stop by to ask for her help in procuring supplies from the city.

“Money is always an issue with the villagers since they don’t really engage with the outside world much,” said lanie. “And there was only so much I could do to help them out of my own pocket. So eventually, we ca up with the idea of starting a Berry farm, which then spun off into a Shuckle juice brewery. So in that sense, the villagers are also shareholders, I suppose?”

Nina nodded in understanding, most Berry varieties were commodities despite their magical properties. In her past life, there would have been no end to the number of pharmaceutical companies willing to pay a fortune to get their hands on a sample. But here in the Pokemon world, they were treated just as regular fruits and hold similar value. Adding value in the form of Shuckle juice just made sense, given how rare the Pokemon were.

“That Alpha Parasect, are you still on friendly terms with it? I’ve never heard of an Alpha that’s friendly towards humans before.”

“Of course,” confird lanie. “Parasect stops by for treats from ti to ti, with her family. We’ve known each other since she was a Paras. And it’s not entirely unheard of. Alphas are really smart and most of them have cordial relationships with their local Rangers. They understand that sotis, they might need help from humans. It’s foreign intruders that they take issue with.”

Nina stopped short of asking if she could et with Parasect. She was no longer as helpless as she used to be since she now had Tini and Esper, but they weren’t strong enough to go toe to toe with an Alpha just yet.

“What about the Beedrills then?” She asked. “It’s rare for wild Beedrill to be so… well behaved around humans.”

“Ah, that’s simple actually. Their queen used to be a lost Pokemon as well. I took care of her after she found

and she’s since gone independent and started her own hive.” lanie smiled wistfully at the fond mories. “It’s always a happy occasion whenever I see Pokemon under my care find the strength to move on…”

“It’s no wonder the Pokemon in this area love her so much,” thought Nina. “This woman might as well be a saint with how pure her heart is.”

lanie continued on with the tour and answered whatever questions Nina may have when suddenly, the sound of an explosion could be heard from outside.

lanie and her workers jolted in fear and looked around in panic. While Nancy pulled Bobby into a protective embrace.

“What’s going on?” Nina asked.

“I-I don’t know…” said lanie, when another explosion rang out and the whole mansion shook.

“Stay here,” said Nina. “I’ll go have a look.” She then turned towards Espy and asked her Eevee to return to her Pokeball since she’s not battle ready just yet. “Tini, are you ready buddy?”

“Tiin!” cried the determined Dratini.

“No, this is my house. I’m coming with you!” lanie protested. She couldn’t just cower in fear behind a child in a potential ergency. After yelling out to her workers and telling them to take shelter, lanie raced out of the mansion with Nina and Tini.

***

The first thing Nina saw when she got out of the mansion was the back of her Uncle Ali. The man was shouting orders to his Gardevoir and Drapion, which he had released at so point.

“Elizabeth, keep up the barrier! Don’t let a single one of these thugs get through!” He yelled at the Gardevoir. He then imdiately turned towards ‘Keith’, his Drapion, and ordered the Pokemon to shoot out Toxic balls at his opponents.

Up in the sky, Nina could also see Martha the Corviknight, battling against a group of Flying Types all by herself.

“Uncle Ali!” She called. “What’s going on?”

“Nina! Get back inside, it’s not safe out here!”

“I can help!” She argued. Nina could tell that the Pokemon her uncle was facing was not particularly well cared for. She was sure that Tini could take them if it ca down to it.

“It’s just a bunch of poachers and thugs,” said Ali. “They’re after the Shuckles. Get back inside, call for help, and reinforce the doors. I saw a group of them circle around to the back earlier.”

Just as Ali said, Nina could see a bunch of dark clothed individuals standing behind the opposing Pokemon. Each of them sporting a flashy red ‘R’ symbol sowhere on their person, signifying their allegiance.

“What the heck is Team Rocket doing here?!”

“Where’s Misty?!” As a Gym Leader, the orange haired woman was the most competent battler of them all. Not to ntion her abundant experience when it ca to dealing with Team Rocket.

Ali winced. “She passed out in the living room. Go wake her if you can!”

Nina nodded and rushed back inside. “lanie! Leave this place to Uncle Ali, we gotta secure the inside!”

The woman nodded, but Nina caught her looking anxiously at the various lost Pokemon who were trapped in nets. No doubt, the work of Team Rocket.

“Those nets are specifically designed to contain Pokemon. We can free them after taking them all down. Now, co on! I need you to call the authorities while I go get Misty!”

lanie shook her head to get herself together and follow Nina inside, just in ti to see a bunch of Team Rocket goons being assaulted by the Pokemon loitering inside the house.

“lanie, the Pokemon here all listen to you — keep them organized and buy

so ti. I’m gonna go look for Misty.” Nina instructed. She was tempted to send Tini instead, but she wasn’t sure if there were any more goons lurking around.

“Wait, before you go,” lanie showed Nina her Pokegear screen, gesturing at the top where it showed there was no connection to the network.

“Shit!” The girl cursed. “That ans they either have so sort of device or a powerful Dark Type Pokemon jamming our communications.” Since the Pokenet was run by Psychic Pokemon and Porygons, only the opposing Type Energy could cause enough interference to disrupt it.

Nina shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, stick to the plan for now. I’ll go looking for the jamr once I wake Misty.”

lanie gave a determined nod and ran towards the group of Rocket thugs while shouting out orders to the various lost Pokemon.