Chapter 9: Chapter 9

“Do you have everything with you?”

Nina went through her backpack and a checklist. “Yeap, extra underwear, spare clothes, a swimsuit, Repel, water bottle, and more importantly, loads and loads of Berries!”

Nina’s father chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Don’t forget your Pokegear as well.”

The little girl excitedly held up a portable device that looked a little old and worn down. To her delight, Patrick had decided to lend Nina an old Pokegear he had lying around just so that his daughter would have a means of communication should anything happen.

It was an older model as evident by how chunky and scarred it was, but it did have Pokenet access, which was what Nina was most excited about. She had already downloaded a whole bunch of reading material to keep her occupied during the camping trip.

“Are you sure you’ll manage by yourself?” Nina was feeling a little guilty about ditching her father to deal with the mentally ill Leanette and her abusive mother all by his lonesome.

Patrick got on his knees and pulled his daughter in for a hug at her concern. “I’ll be fine.” he chuckled. “My little girl’s all grown up now, but there’s no need to worry about daddy just yet. I’ve still got plenty of hair on my scalp.”

Nina nodded at the man’s reassurance. “If grandma is giving you trouble, make sure to give me a call okay? I can get her to listen to me… mostly.”

Patrick gave Nina a series of headpats, ruffling his daughter’s meticulously combed hair, much to her displeasure. “Will do, captain!” He replied, with a mock salute.

“Pika!”

“Bye Pikachu, bye dad.”

Nina gave her dad a peck on the cheek before heading out to rendezvous with Charlie’s family. She would have to take the Sky Tram given that Charlie lived in a separate neighborhood.

Public transport was very developed in the Pokemon world because personal vehicles weren’t very popular. Large transport vehicles still exist for logistical purposes, but cars were mostly luxury goods.

Nina felt a little envious, seeing all the Pokemon that everyone had accompanying them. She had gotten used to Pikachu being a constant presence in her life. But unfortunately, her best friend would have to stay in a Pokeball within the Safari Zone. So she opted not to bring the electric mouse with her, knowing how much she hated being confined.

***

“Nina! Good to see you again.”

“Hello, Mrs Rockford.”

Charlie’s mother pulled her tiny guest in for a hug. “Oh please, we’re not strangers here. Just call me Kumiko.”

“Okay, Kumiko! Thanks for inviting me today,” said Nina, with the brightest smile she could muster.

One could see a lot of resemblance between Kumiko Rockford and her son, Charlie. They share the same sharp features and midnight blue hair, though hers were in a bob cut and showed obvious signs of bleaching. That combined with her lean athletic build betrayed the fact that she was a Water Type specialist.

“You’re very welcome, sweetie.” Kumiko then leaned in and whispered into Nina’s ear. “Charlie’s been really excited to spend the week with you.”

Nina returned with an awkward smile. “I’m sure we’re gonna have lots of fun together with his friends.”

Kumiko swooned. “How polite, if only Tiffany had half your manners.”

Behind the woman, Nina could hear a snort, revealing a haughty looking little girl wearing an extremely impractical looking frilly pink balloon dress with matching shoes. This was in stark contrast to Nina’s boots, khaki shorts, tank top and sturdy jacket

“Erm… Kumiko, are you sure it’s a good idea for Tiffany to traipse around the Safari Zone in that outfit?”

Kumiko rolled her eyes. “I tried Nina, I really did. One can only wonder where she got that attitude from. Cause it sure as Arceus isn’t from me or Stephen.”

Speaking of the devil, Stephen Rockford strutted out of his front door with a massive package over his shoulder. The thing was so massive that it could easily crush Nina. But having been a former Gym Trainer over at the Pewter City Gym, the heavy burden hardly phased the muscular man as he casually waved at Nina with his free hand.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Miki, help me out with this will ya?”

Kumiko left Nina and headed over to her husband’s side. Then the pair proceeded to unfold the package, revealing a bundle of cloth and flimsy looking rods.

Nina stood to the side, curiously observing the couple. “Is this supposed to be a tent?” She asked.

Stephen returned her query with a grin. “You’ll see. I’ll show you a magic trick that’ll knock your socks off.”

“Sure, just make sure not to get my socks wet,” quipped Nina, much to Stephen’s amusement.

The couple began slotting the rods into designated compartments on the cloth, much like how one would assemble a tent. Except, the end result wasn’t a solid construct like Nina had expected, but rather, it remained a messy bundle on the ground.

“Did they screw up somehow?” Just as Nina was about to make a comment about reading manuals, Stephen sent out an Electabuzz in a flash of light.

“Wait!” yelled a frantic voice.

Nina looked behind her to find Charlie running towards them with two other boys in tow. One of them looked like a Munchlax given human form with how tubby he was. While the other one seemed like a meek boy with glasses.

“Dammit, dad! I told you not to get started without me.”

Stephen laughed at his son’s tardiness. “You snooze, you lose, kid. That’s what you get for being such a Slowpoke.”

Charlie glared at his father in between him panting for breath.

“Hey Charlie,” greeted Nina, which immediately distracted the boy from his anger. “Don’t worry, Mr Rockford was just getting started. You haven’t missed… whatever it is we’re doing just yet.”

Charlie greeted Nina back with a blush, eliciting a snort from his sister. “Oh you guys haven’t met yet, but this is Bobby,” he said, gesturing towards the tubby boy. “And this is Nobita,” referring to the nerdy boy with glasses.

Once the pleasantries were over with, Stephen clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright kiddos! Make sure not to blink, or else you’ll miss the show. Electabuzz, Discharge!”

The Electabuzz walked up to the mess of fabric on the ground and started discharging a weak stream of electricity.

The once flimsy rods began stiffening, pulling the fabric taut and causing the whole thing to rise up from the ground to form a large square basket of sorts. And once the basket has mostly taken form, Electabuzz lets out a final, stronger burst of electricity to solidify the whole construct, including the previously soft fabric.

Nina unknowingly shuffled closer to the newly formed construct. The girl was absolutely fascinated by what she just witnessed, having no idea as to what the underlying principles are.

“”Is it safe to touch?” She asked, cautiously.

Stephen Rockford nodded in response.

The most interesting thing about the basket was how solid the fabric was, it almost had a metallic rigidity to it. Nina had assumed that the electricity would only affect the mysterious rods, using them as frames to hold the fabric together. But it seemed that even the beige cloth also shared similar properties.

“Do you like it?” Asked Kumiko. “The Fly Basket is made out of a smart material that changes composition when electricity is applied. It was originally designed so that trainers with smaller Flying Types could still use their pokemon for travel, but you don’t see ones this big very often. I had to reach out to the company to have one custom made.”

“How do you turn it back?” Asked Nina. “If it activates using electricity then wouldn’t this be dangerous during stormy weather or when Electric pokemon are around?”

“Nah, if that was the case then I doubt they’d even be able to sell a single unit. People aren’t that dumb.” Kumiko chuckled. “To answer your question, it automatically reverts after a certain time period has passed. So it’s not permanent. There’s an alarm built in that’ll start making noise when the time limit is near. This also helps to encourage frequent breaks which is good.”

Nina nodded. It made sense to her, if such miracle material was capable of permanent change then the potential applications were limitless. As it is, there should also be other flaws that Kumiko did not mention. For example, the permeability of the fabric might be a boon when traveling in rainy weather, but it’d be a nightmare if you try to use it as a tent.

“The Basket is impressive and all, but do we have a Pokemon that’s strong enough to carry this thing?”

Kumiko gave Nina a smirk, before taking out a Pokeball and unleashing…

“A freaking Gyarados!” Thought Nina.

The little girl gazed up at the majestic sea serpent in awe, while both of Charlie’s friends shrunk back in fear. She held up both her hands at the cerulean scaled Pokemon, face full of desire to pet the creature known for sinking ships in bouts of rage-filled tantrums.

Kumiko looked up to her Gyarados and gave it a nod, consenting for it to come near the fragile little girl under her care.

Gyarados puffed out a bit of steam from its nostrils as it approached, eliciting giggles from Nina. She leaned in a bit closer and began caressing the scales around its face.

The first thing she noticed after touching the cerulean scales was how rough they felt. The surface of the scales had a sort of plasticky finish to them. But when she tried to scratch it, Nina was reminded of those decorative geodes that people liked to collect in her past life with how coarse it was.

The coarseness added texture to the scales, the uneven surface captured the light in unique ways to create a gleam on its surface. Nina could only imagine how beautiful the Pokemon would look when freshly emerged from water.

“He’s beautiful…” whispered Nina.

“Indeed he is. I’ve had him since he was a Magikarp. The two of us have been through thick and thin together.” Kumiko gave the girl a wide smile, happy that someone was appreciating her friend as opposed to pissing their pants in terror for once.

“People often misunderstand Gyarados, saying that they’re all angry, dangerous pokemon. But what they don’t seem to understand is that a Gyrados’s anger is reflective of how well they were treated during their Magikarp phase,” explained Kumiko.

“Magikarps might not seem very bright, but they do remember, you know? Their evolution is an emotional process. Some scientists even hypothesize that a Magikarp will see its life flash before its eyes during evolution, and those memories go on to form the foundation of its personality as a Gyarados.”

“I suppose I’ll have to be nice to every Magikarp I see from now on,” joked Nina. “Not that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Gyrados is one of my favorite pokemon.”

Gyrados, seeming pleased by Nina’s affection, leaned in to rub against the girl, taking care not to accidentally harm her. When Bobby and Nobita saw how friendly the infamous Pokemon was, they too found the courage to come closer and touch his scales.

“Alright kiddos, as much fun as Gary is, we really need to get going if we want to make it to Fuchsia before sundown,” announced Stephen. “Charlie, get the boys to help load in the luggage while your mom and I work on Gary’s harness.”

“Wait, is the Gyarados gonna be the one flying us there?!” Exclaimed Bobby.

Nina looked at the bewildered boy with a deadpan expression. “Gyrados are part Flying Type, didn’t you know that?”

“But how, though? It doesn’t even have wings!”

“Guess you’ll just have to find out,” teased Charlie.

In truth, Nina did not know the specifics of how Gyarados flew either. From what she remembered reading on the topic, it had something to do with their weather manipulation abilities and how it could be used to control the atmospheric pressure around them to enable flight.

Eventually all the luggage was loaded in and everyone climbed into the oversized Flying Basket using a rope ladder that the Rockfords were prescient enough to prepare for the little squirts among them.

“Alright, is everyone loaded in? Good. Time for lift off, Gary. To infinity and beyond!”

The uncanny Flying type let out an enthusiastic roar, dragging the Basket underneath it for a distance before slithering up into the skies.

Bobby yelled out in horror, shaking and clutching at Stephen’s thighs. While everyone else let out excited cheers at the thrilling experience.