Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Nina was soaking in a bathtub with her Dratini, whom she decided to name Tini, while looking at her Pokegear.

The little blue noodle had actually never encountered hot water before since there were no hot springs in the Safari Zone. It was kind of cute the way that the baby Dragon shivered like an old man when he went into the hot tub for the first time.

“This is great. Right, Tini?”

“Tiin~” he moaned.

“I’ll see if I can get dad to buy us one of those small portable tubs that can fold up flat. We only have a shower at home and I’m guessing you’ll want a little pool to soak in just to keep your body moist.”

The cost of said tub would be another thing to add to Nina’s growing pile of expenses. She was actually looking through Patrick’s bank statements to see how much leeway they have.

“At the moment we’re feeding you Gyarados’s high density Pokechow. Thanks to Kumiko’s generosity,” mused Nina. “Mr Masa said that it’d be fine for the short term, but once we get back we’ll have to get your own stuff since you can’t exactly eat Pikachu’s brand of Pokechow. That stuff is mostly for domestic Pokemon who don’t really battle…”

That said, it wasn’t like Tini could battle either, given that Nina was underaged. But she was planning to train the Dratini’s moves and that does take up quite a lot of energy and calories.

“Mr Masa gave us a list of recommended brands, but even the lower end options will pretty much cost me my entire savings for just a single packet. And if we supplement it with berries and other foodstuff, we can maybe stretch it out for a couple of weeks.”

Nina groaned, prompting Tini to go in for a boop. Except, Nina pranked her little partner earlier by forming a soap afro on the Dragon’s head, and now that same cloud of soap was shoved right into her eyes.

“Hey, stop that buddy… It stings!” Yelped Nina as she frantically splashed water onto her face.

Tini giggled then moved in to nuzzle against her some more.

Nina nuzzled her cute little Dragon back. “Who am I kidding, you have no notion of money huh?”

“Tiin?”

“If we don’t have money then we won’t have any food, Tini. So I’m guessing we’ll just have to figure out some way to make money when we get back.”

Finding a source of income was not going to be easy as a six year old. Since no one was legally allowed to work until they were ten at least. Which in Nina’s old world standards, would still be considered child labour. But Pokemon world values were different, so no point questioning it.

***

Tini’s first experience with flying was absolutely precious. The same goes with all the other new captures. The three new additions to their group were small enough that it wouldn’t strain Gyarados’s Fly Basket, so Kumiko had allowed them to join in on the flight.

“You can’t really see it cause it’s quite far away, but that’s where you came from, Tini.” Nina pointed towards the direction of the Safari Zone for Dratini’s benefit.

Nina had actually tried to ask if Masayuki would be willing to give just the two of them a personal flyby of the Safari Zone on their last day of stay, just so that Dratini could have a better look at his home, but her request was denied due to safety concerns.

“Come back when you’re an accomplished trainer and when that little noodle is strong enough to protect himself, then I’ll bend a few rules for you,” said the rugged old man. This was fine for Nina, it beats a straight out rejection.

Tini’s eyes glistened at the never before seen landscapes, yipping and yapping at every new thing he saw. There were a couple of times where the overenthusiastic Dragon extended too far and nearly fell off. Good thing he had his tail wrapped around Nina’s torso, not that it was easy to secure a solid hold of his slippery scales.

The return trip back to Cerulean was much the same as how it was the first time around, with frequent stops in between to redo the charge on the Fly Basket.

Nina had kept Tini out the entire time until they were above Cerulean City. Though there were times she regretted that decision with how hyperactive he was, chasing after every Caterpie and running off into every wild Berry bush he found. Good thing his new best buddy, Phanpy, was in much the same boat, so she and Stephen alternated looking after the two troublemakers.

“Tini!”

Nina giggled, pointing down at the Cerulean cityscape. “That’s going to be your new home, Tini. You’ve never seen buildings that tall before have you?”

“Tiin!” The Dratini’s beady black eyes were like two sparkling opals.

“We’ll have to get you back into your Pokeball before we land. But the next time you’re out, I’ll introduce you to Pikachu and my dad. They’re my family, just like Dragonair and the other Dratinis are your family.”

Patrick had technically already met Tini. After their little talk, Masayuki advised Nina to hurriedly change the Dratini’s Pokeball. Then they made a video call to Patrick together, getting his permission to register her new partner with him. There was also the option to transfer him back to Cerulean right away, but Nina did not want that.

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“I’ve seen greed blind even the best of men, girlie. Best not to take any chances with Noodles here.” Masayuki did not name any names, but Nina knew he was worried about the Rockfords getting any twisted ideas. Not that she thought they would. But as Masayuki likes to say, “Life’s unpredictable, kiddo.”

***

“We need to go fishing, Tini!” Declared Nina one day.

“Tiin?” Replied the Dragon absentmindedly. Tini was currently engaged with his new favorite thing — Television.

The little blue noodle had pretty much spent most of his spare time with his eyes glued to the screen, watching anything and everything that came up, be it trashy reality TV or even documentaries. Though travel shows were his favorite.

Tini, Nina noticed, had a bit of an obsessive personality. It was difficult to pry him away from the TV at times.

“For your food, Tini! For your food! We’re taking you hunting for fish, and while we’re at it, we can even practice some of your moves. You can already — sorta — use Twister, I want to see you channeling that Dragon Type Energy into learning Dragon Breath and maybe Dragon Tail. We can practice on the fishies. It’ll be two Pidgeys with one Geodude.”

It had been a week since Nina returned home from the Safari Zone. They spent the first few days back acclimating her Dratini to the new environment; observing him around the apartment to see if there was anything he needed and occasionally going out with Patrick and Pikachu to walk around the City.

It took some light electric shocks from Pikachu and a few blunders on her end , but Nina managed to warn Tini off of being too friendly to strangers. However, the little Dragon still liked waving at people and their Pokemon with his stubby little tail. Which Nina thought was the cutest thing, so she overlooked it.

She spent the past couple of days commuting back and forth to the Cerulean Public Library to do research on the Dragonite line, hoping that old written documents would be more reliable information than unverifiable hearsay on Pokenet forums.

Her latest epiphany came from a collection of old folklore from people who lived near the mysterious Dragonite island. It told tales of Dragonites rescuing sailors and fishermen from violent storms.

But more importantly, it also had some tales about how fishermen would sometimes accidentally catch a Dratini in their net, which they would then promptly release, but not before despairing at the fact that the Dratini had chomped on half their catch.

“Of course, Nina! Dratinis eat fish. No duh! Why else would they live near water?”

Nina then researched some of the components that go into Dratini specific Pokechow. A lot of the brands are quite protective of their recipes as one would expect, but the higher end “organic” ones were fairly transparent. One thing she did notice was how all of them involved some form of fish protein in their blend.

With this they’ll be able to further supplement Dratini’s meals with fresh fish and Berries, maybe with some other sources of Vitamins and Iron as well, and that’ll save the cost of purely relying on Pokechow.

The next day, Nina took Pikachu and Tini to look for Kumiko over at the Rockford residence to see if she would be able to realize her idea.

“A spot where Dratini can go to catch fish?” Repeated the bewildered woman?

“Yeap! You work for the Sea Rangers right, Kumiko? Surely you have some idea on what the coastlines of Cerulean are like.”

Kumiko did indeed work for the Cerulean branch of Sea Rangers. Not as a Ranger herself, since she never underwent the training. But her job was of a similar scope, just more confined to be within the immediate vicinity of the City. In truth, Nina did not know what the distinction was either.

“I can think of a couple spots off the top of my head. But Nina, going out to sea all by yourself is extremely dangerous.”

Despite Kumiko’s caution, the bit of sea that’s connected to Cerulean City was more of an inlet than anything. It was extremely safe and well patrolled.

“I know. I’m not trying to do anything reckless. Just release Tini and have him catch enough fish to supplement his meals. It’ll go a long way in helping to ease our finances.” This was partially a lie since Nina needed to be able to see Tini to oversee his move training.

“Does Patrick know you’re doing this?”

Nina frowned. “Dad is… a little distracted lately. I think the weekly joint therapy sessions he’s having to attend with mom are taking their toll on him. I keep telling him that I can come and help out as well but he won’t let me. Says it’s for my own good and that he can manage.”

Nina used Pity, it was super effective.

“Oh sweetie…” Kumiko pulled Nina in for a hug.

Kumiko always had a soft spot for Nina. The girl, despite only being a year older than her Tiffany, was mature beyond her age. Hearing about her family circumstances only made her want to love Nina more. Kumiko thought that the girl was clearly pushing herself too far to make it easier on her father.

“Alright, but if you’re doing this then you have to promise me that you’ll stay safe, okay? Think about how devastated your dad will be when he learns that something bad happened to you. Are you really going to let him deal with your mom all by himself?”

Nina gave a solemn nod.

“Good. Now if you’re going to stay safe then you’ll need some basic equipment.” Kumiko then pulled Nina with her into her bedroom.

The woman rummaged around a few drawers before finally pulling out an older looking rebreather. It looked chunkier than the one that Nina borrowed back in the Safari Zone, but it seemed functional enough.

Kumiko then took one look at the rebreather, frowned, and continued rummaging. “I swear I have a spare somewhere… Aha!” She then twisted off the worn down mouthpiece of the chunky rebreather and replaced it with the spare one she had just found.

“This here’s an old companion of mine. It’s what I kept for personal use outside of work. That said, I’ve since upgraded to a better one,” explained Kumiko. “That’s not to say this one isn’t usable though, I specifically bought this model because it was known for its durability, and I was being frugal at the time.”

Nina took hold of the device that was handed to her, noting that the oxygen charge on it was almost depleted. “Where can I refill it?”

“Good question. You can head on over to any dive joint, though that’ll cost ya. But between you and me. You can also head over to the Sea Ranger outpost and have them refill it. They’re usually quite willing to do it for free. If not, just tell them I sent you. I doubt they’ll be able to resist those cute Growlithe eyes of yours.”

“Thanks, Kumiko!” Exclaimed Nina, with the same puppy dog eyes that she was praised for.

Kumiko sighed. “You’re very good at that, huh? But don’t thank me just yet. We still need to get you a wetsuit and an inflatable life jacket.”

She beckoned at Nina. “Come on, I bought a set for that bratty daughter of mine, hoping for some mother-daughter bonding, but she never even bothered to put them on. They should fit you just fine and I’d hate to see them go to waste when Tiff eventually outgrows them.”

Nina giddily went along. She had not expected to receive so many freebies when she decided to come by today.

“Tiff, sweetie… Do you remember where you put the diving equipment I bought you last time.” Kumiko did a quick knock on her daughter’s door then promptly opened it before the girl even had a chance to respond.

“I told you to knock before coming in, mom!” Yelled a childish voice from the other side.

“I already did sweetie, did you not hear me? Now where did you put that wetsuit…”

“Dammit, mom! Stop going through my stuff without permission! Why do you care where that junk is anyway?”

“First off, mind your language young lady! And to answer the question, I want to give it away to Nina. She needs it more than you do.”

Tiffany glared at Nina who she just noticed was standing a couple steps away from the door, having known that this disaster would ensue. “Is it a common thing among mothers to be inconsiderate like this?” Nina recalled that Leanette, and Miles’s mother were the same way.

“It’s mine, mom! You can’t just give my stuff away without permission!”

“Oh shush, you never use it anyway. Besides, if you ever want to take me up on diving then I’ll just buy you a new set. You’re going to outgrow this old one soon enough anyway.”

“Never!” Yelled Tiffany. “Sea water is all icky and sticky, and sand is coarse and rough and it gets everywhere!”

“Well there you have it then,” concluded Kumiko as she finally found what she was looking for. “Since you’re never going to use this anyway, I don’t want it to go to waste,” she said before promptly exiting the room with her spoils.

Nina could hear a muffled yell from inside Tiffany’s room as they were stepping away.

“Patrick is so lucky to have a daughter like you, Nina…” Kumiko sighed and Nina kept silent, not wanting to comment too much on the train wreck she just witnessed.