Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Nina watched as a Corviknight descended from the skies. The Pokemon’s black steel feathers glistened under the sun in a sinister light.

Riding atop the steel raven Pokemon was a man who looked like he just came straight out of a World War 2 war film, with his bushy mustache, tanned jacket, aviator goggles and those flappy aviator hats that pilots of that period liked to wear. But questionable fashion sense aside, Alias Jones was a handsome man with a strong chin and a jaw that was as sharp as his Pokemon’s metallic feathers.

The moment that the robust looking middle aged man stepped down from his gallant sky steed, Nina rushed over and jumped into his embrace. “Uncle Ali!!!” She screamed, with the same enthusiasm as a child getting to meet her favorite uncle.

“Nina! Hohoho!” Laughed Alias Jones, as he twirled his niece around in a circle. “You’re all grown up now. How’s my favorite niece doing?”

Nina stuck out her tongue. “I’m your only niece, Uncle Ali. Just like how you’re my only uncle!”

In truth, Nina had another uncle on her mother’s side. But thanks to her grandmother’s spartan upbringing, the eldest Ashes boy did not want to have anything to do with his family.

“Oh ho? Does that mean I’m your favorite uncle then?” Asked Ali with a wink.

“You bet you are!” Responded Nina while throwing her arms up into the air.

Ali laughed out jovially and gave his niece an itchy kiss on her cheeks before setting her down to greet his brother and sister-in-law. “Patrick!” The man exclaimed, as he opened his arms wide for an embrace.

“Alias!” Reciprocated the younger brother. “As flashy as always with your entrance. You look well! Your travels have been kind to you?”

“As kind as the open roads can be,” chuckled Ali. “And you look much the same. This is good, you’re the only anchor that our family has. Arceus knows we’d all be scattered in the winds, with no hope of ever reuniting if you didn’t serve as our beacon.”

Patrick laughed somewhat self-deprecatingly. “That’s a very kind way of saying that I’m such a normie compared to the rest of you lot.”

Ali shook his brother in denial. “Nonsense! You are a remarkable man, Patrick. And my dearest brother. Let all who disagree face the wrath of my Pokemon!” After a few more pleasantries, the two brothers let go of each other and Ali turned his attention to Leanette.

“Leanette, my darling. Are you well?” He asked, his voice taking on a much more gentler tone.

The woman smiled amicably at her brother-in-law and pulled the man into a gentle hug. “I have a loving husband and a filial daughter, and I am as well as I can be, Ali,” she responded while kissing the man on the cheek.

“Good, good… When Patrick called and told me about what happened, I had the urge to fly over to you all right away. But alas, I was stuck in Paldea on urgent matters.”

Leanette chuckled. “It’s fine, Ali. It’s the thought that counts. Come, let’s get you warmed up inside, you must be freezing from your flight.”

Ali laughed at her concern and returned his Corviknight before being led inside. “Right you are, Martha is quite an excellent flier and does not hold back at all when it comes to her speed. I can hardly feel my fingers from holding on too tight!”

Nina had not seen her adventurous uncle for quite some time. “If I recall, the last time was about a year after the original Nina’s ‘accident’. He was really concerned back then and even vowed to wipe out all the native Spearow population.”

It was also Ali who reinforced Nina's desires to become an explorer. Ever since her ‘rebirth’, Nina had wanted to go out and explore this new and wondrous world. But dreaming was one thing, actually doing it was another. Uncle Ali to her was a trailblazer and proof that her dreams were not impossible.

When Ali regaled Nina with tales of his exciting adventures, she had truly felt like a wide eyed, innocent child again, and not some sort of soul devouring abomination who forcibly took over the body of a baby.

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“You’ve done quite well for yourself, Nina,” said Ali. “Even in all of my travels it is a rare privilege to come face to face with a Dragon as magnificent as your Dratini.”

Nina puffed her chest out in pride. “Yeap! This is Tini, we met in the Safari Zone. And this is Espy. She was gifted to me by Professor Bill, my sponsor.”

“As expected of my niece! To be such an accomplished Pokemon trainer at your age. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe how proud I am of you.”

Nina giggled at her uncle’s praise. “Enough about me! I want to hear all about your adventures. What’s Paldea like? Did you get a chance to explore the Crater?”

Ali grinned and reached into his pocket to produce an opaque looking Pokeball-like orb to show to Nina.

The little girl gasped in wonder. “Is that… A Tera Orb?”

“Yeap,” confirmed Ali. “The whole reason why I had to stay in Paldea for so long was because I was recruited to join the survey corp tasked with exploring the Crater. I can’t say too much unfortunately — I’m under an NDA. All I can say is that it is every bit as wondrous and mysterious as you imagine it to be.”

Ali described the Crater’s interior as an endless spiral down into the abyss with no end in sight. A treacherous place filled with all sorts of dangerous and never before seen Pokemon. Nina knew about Area Zero and Paradox Pokemon of course, but the depth of Area Zero as described by Ali seemed to be much deeper than how it was depicted in the games.

Nina asked if anyone knew what formed the Crater, only for Ali to answer that he didn’t know, nor did he know anyone else who did. “This is part of the mysteries we have yet to uncover. Even after years of work, we’re still struggling to reach the bottom.” Ali’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he recalled his time in Area Zero. “It’s maddening, you know? The isolation and the tension of constantly being on edge…”

“So does that mean you resigned from the survey corp?”

Ali gave a boisterous laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood. “What can I say? I miss my darling little niece too much. All I could think about during those lonely nights in the Crater was whether or not my cute little Nina was peeing her bed from nightmares and screaming for her Uncle Ali.”

Nina’s cheeks flushed red as she yelled out at her uncle indignantly. “That was just one time, Uncle Ali!” There were certain physiological quirks of a child’s body that was simply inevitable.

“Nina, come help me set the table,” called Leanette. “There’ll be plenty enough time to chat with your uncle later on.”

Nina wilted at the order. The girl still had many questions she wanted to ask. But she did comply in the end as she listlessly trudged over to the kitchen.

“So does that mean you’ll finally be settling down then?” Patrick asked Ali.

Ali chuckled at the very notion of ‘settling down’. “For the short term, I just want some mundanity. Who knows, I might get the itch to go out again at some point. Just not right now.”

Patrick popped open a can of beer to toast his brother. “Then welcome home brother. We’ll be here for you for however long you decide to stay.”

Ali laughed. “Cheers, brother. It’s good to be back with family again!”

***

“So this is where you work? Been awhile since I’ve visited the Cerulean City Gym. I’ve gotta say, this place has changed quite a bit.”

Nina gestured at all the attractions surrounding the Gym and gave her uncle a rundown of the place. “Yeap, the Cerulean Sisters are quite diligent when it comes to expanding their enterprise. I’ll introduce you later if they’re not too busy.”

Ali hummed at the grandiose sight of the supermassive glass dome. “You know, back when I went on my journey, this place was just a boxy old boring building. If all this stuff was around back then, I probably would have wasted my time just playing around instead of challenging the Gym.”

Nina went up to the woman sitting behind the reception desk after they stepped into the Gym area. “Hey Mizuho, are the Sisters busy right now?”

“Hello, Nina. Oh my… and who is this dashing gentleman accompanying you today.” Mizuho’s tone, for whatever reason, sent chills down Nina’s spine.

“Erm… Well this is my Uncle Ali. Uncle Ali, this is…” The girl turned around only to find that her companion was missing. Looking around, she spotted her uncle walking towards the familiar figure of Misty.

“I have to say, milady. In all of my travels, I don’t believe I have ever encountered a beauty as radiant as you.” Ali did an elegant bow in greeting, before kissing the Gym Leader on the back of her hand. “Alias Jones, at your service.”

Misty returned the courtesy with a playful smile and introduced herself. “Misty Mizuhana, Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today, Mr Jones?”

“Ah. Beautiful and accomplished. It is true that Arceus does indeed have favorites,” said Ali, eliciting exquisite laughter from the orange haired woman.

Nina sensed an impending disaster with this particular pairing and hurried over to interject herself into their conversation. “Misty! I see you’ve met my Uncle Ali. I brought him here for a tour of my workplace, if you’re okay with it?”

“Oh my, is this your uncle, Nina? I can see now where you got your good looks and eloquence from.”

Ali chuckled at Misty’s insinuation. “Please, as if a tongue-tied Feebas like myself can take credit for Arceus’s blessings on my niece. On the other hand, blessing or not, I’m sure your children must be as splendid as their mother, Lady Mizuhana.”

Misty chuckled. “Just Misty is fine. And as a matter of fact, you’ll find that I’m quite single at the moment, Mr Jones. Though I have been imploring Nina to let me adopt her all this while.”

Ali beamed a radiant smile at the beauty in front of him. “Well, well… It seems that the men of Cerulean City are either blind or entirely lacking in sophistication. It just so happens that I’m quite single as well. Unless of course, you are possessed of different predilections. In which case, I do apologize for any presumptions.”

“Not at all, Mr Jones. In fact you’ll find that my tastes are quite in line with your expectations. You’re here for a tour of our Gym, correct? Perhaps I can take over for our dearest Nina. She has her own duties to attend to and it just so happens that I’m free at the moment.” Misty suggested as she held out a hand to her new guest.

Ali gingerly held Misty by her proffered hand and moved next to her in an escort position. “I would be delighted to accept your generosity. And please, I must insist that you call me Ali. No need for such distance between us.”

And as if she had chosen to interpret the man’s words literally, Misty took a step closer to Ali, almost to the point of touching shoulders with him. The pair then went off on their own, chatting and laughing all the while.

Meanwhile, Nina just stood there, forgotten and mouth agape at the interaction that just took place. “What the heck just happened?” She murmured.