Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)

Junia’s Tales of Misfits and Mimikyu: CH02

Junia gasped at the jet black Rapidash that bounded up their door, its coat glistening under the sun and dark cerulean flames dancing off its back, looking utterly majestic among the warm sandy plains, like a shadow given life.“Carl, Judy, Junia… Allow me to introduce you to Professor Melina Jones from Indigo,” said the sheriff, sounding a little more subdued than his usual flamboyant self, as he gestured towards the woman who dismounted from the Rapidash.

Junia gulped. If that black steed was the most beautiful Rapidash that she had ever seen, then the person who was riding it was probably the most beautiful woman she had ever met.

Velvety dark hair, just a touch sandy near the edges, big round almond eyes, her pupils shiny and bright, plump lips, radiant smile and flawless olive skin, not coarse nor sunburnt like Junia’s.

The woman was wearing loose brown khakis covered in pockets that somehow still managed to accentuate her buxom hips, a form fitting white button up that practically hugged against her wavy curves and a garishly yellow trenchcoat for some reason.

Atop her head lay a gaudy white stetson, which Junia recognised to be from the sheriff’s own private collection, looking a little out of place with the woman’s getup. Yet somehow, it did not detract from her allure in the slightest.

“Thank you, sheriff.” The Professor spoke, her voice clear and soft. “But there’s no need for formalities. Just call me Nina. And thank you all for having me, it’s an absolute pleasure to be here.”

The woman went and greeted Junia’s parents one by one, until she reached Junia herself and beamed at the girl with a gentle pat, dyeing Junia’s cheeks a healthy shade of red.

“Ahem.” Judy, Junia’s mother, coughed. “Welcome to our humble lil’ farm, Professor. Why don’t you come right in and take shelter from the sun. Junia here’ll help stable your Ride and get it settled. I also made us some fresh lemonade to cool down from the weather.”

The woman laughed — a whimsical and sonorous laugh. “Of course, ma’am. Can’t ever say no to a refreshing glass of lemonade.” The Professor, Nina, then handed her reins over to the timid Junia.

“Her name’s Rice Shower and she’s the friendliest Rapidash you’ll ever meet.” The woman cooed. “So no need to worry, just give her some water and allow her to roam. I’ll come check on Ricey myself later.”

“R-Rice Shower?”

“That’s right. It means a rain of fortune in ancient Kanto. All those who ride her are sure to be met with good fortune.”

Junia nodded and grabbed hold of the reins with an almost reverent gaze, prompting the gentle Rapidash to step forward and nuzzle affectionately against the girl.

“Hehehe…” Junia giggled and began leading the equine Pokemon over to the barn, all the while marveling at how silky smooth the Rapidash’s coat was. 

In actuality, she really wanted to climb up and ride her. But despite the young Professor’s assurance, Junia just wasn’t feeling confident enough to do so.

“One day though… One day, I’m gonna get a Ride of my own and they're gonna be just as strong and beautiful as Rice Shower.”

***

When Junia returned to the house, she found the Professor alone with her parents — the sheriff must’ve run off to deal with some other business.

“Junia, you’re back! Come on over and help serve our guest.” The girl’s mother beckoned.

“No need to trouble yourself, Judy. My sole purpose in coming here is to help out the community, not impose upon your hospitality.”

“Nonsense!” Judy retorted. “Ain't no guests gonna go hungry in my house!”

The woman laughed and simply resigned herself to be pampered by a deluge of good ol’ farmhouse cooking. Though she did make a point of saying that she abstained from Pokemon meat, which felt a little weird to Junia as a bonafide farm-raised country gal. “But I guess it makes sense…”

“Now then, how about you guys tell me a little more about this… Creaker of yours.” Professor Nina began, once everyone finally settled. The woman had actually insisted that they drop the honorific. But mama didn’t raise Junia to be no Krookodile, so the girl ended up settling on a weird little in-between in her head.

Carl groaned. “Yeah… The Creaker… That ain’t no creature of Arceus I tell ya what…” The man grumbled as he launched into a fairly heated retelling of the settlement’s woes, painting the Creaker as some sort of demonic spawn of Giratina fresh out of the depths of the Distortion Realm hungering for their souls.

“That’s wrong!” Junia exclaimed, partway through her pa’s spiel. “The Creaker’s never hurt nobody! Pokemon just get scared ‘cause of the noise they make! They ain’t out to get nobody’s soul — what happened to Grandma Williams was an accident! She just had a heart attack, is all! The doctors said so!”

“Junia! You’re embarrassing yourself!” Judy barked, causing her daughter to shrink back in fright.

Nina chuckled. “Now, now… No need to get all riled up. And Junia’s right. This Creaker isn’t some demonic spawn of Giratina — not that Giratina themselves are an entity of evil, mind you. But I digress. Point is, your daughter’s right. The Creaker is a Pokemon. A Ghost Type Pokemon, yes, but not the sort that feeds on living souls.”

“Meaning, you know what it is, Professor?” Judy asked

The woman smiled. “Of course, I came here explicitly to meet with them. The moment I heard the sheriff’s report, I knew right away that we had a Mimikyu in our hands.”

“A Mimikyu…?”

Nina smiled at the girl’s confusion and pulled out a little red device from her pocket. “A Pokedex!” Junia exclaimed, earning her a nod of affirmation. Junia remembered hearing that Pokedexes were only given out to the most important trainers in the world.

The Professor unfolded her Pokedex, to unveil a bigger screen inside, upon which displayed the graphic of a Porygon, surrounded by all sorts of fancy accessories, and shiny and glittery effects.

“Hey, Alexa. Can you pull up all the info we have on Mimikyus?”

A series of emojis flashed through the screen. Then, in a flourishing dance, the Porygon dove into a folder and brought back dockets of files that they then organised to fill the screen. 

The first thing that caught Junia’s attention right away was a picture of Tumbleweed, or at least, it was something that looked like Tumbleweed, with the same shoddy Pikachu costume and wooden tail, less raggedy but equally uncanny.

Nina sighed. “Sorry about Alexa, they have a flair for the dramatic — likes collecting all sorts of flashy accessories from gacha games too.” She added while gesturing towards all the fanciful effects surrounding the Porygon, who simply did a little dance in the corner of the screen, completely without any remorse.

“Anyways, to answer your question. This is a Mimikyu…” Nina rotated the screen around and slid it across to the middle of the table so that Junia’s parents could peer over and see as well.

“Ain’t that just a Pokedoll?” Judy frowned.

“Are you daft, woman?! That’s clearly a Pikachu!” Carl chimed, eliciting giggles from their guest.

“Neither of you are entirely wrong. Pokedolls do get discarded a lot of the time by panicking travellers who throw it as a distraction. Those Pokedolls are then liable to get picked up by wild Mimikyus who fashion disguises out of them. The choice of Pikachu is simply because it is the most universally beloved Pokemon in the world. Though interestingly, Mimikyus will still choose to disguise themselves as a Pikachu even in areas where the species are not known to exist. Curious, is it not?”

“But Professor, why would Tum— I mean, Mimikyus, need to disguise themselves?” Junia had tried peering underneath Tumbleweed’s little Pikachu sack before, but her friend always got very fussy about it. She had just thought that he was shy at the time. “Because Arceus knows I would get pissed off too if someone tried to look up my skirt.”

The woman sighed. “Again, no need for the formalities. But to answer your question Junia, it’s because all those who gaze upon Mimikyu’s true form will either be driven insane or suffer from instantaneous death.”

“Wha?!” The trio of farmers cried out in shock.

“Mimikyu is a hybrid Ghost and Fairy Type — the only one of its kind that we officially know of in the world. Fairy Types are often an embodiment of nature and concepts.” The beautiful scholar continued as she swiped through her Pokedex to showcase her material. But neither Junia nor her parents were smart enough to understand the dizzying text.

“For a Mimikyu to exist, a Fairy Type Pokemon had to have died. But while Pokemon may die, concepts are eternal. So what happens then when something so abstract is twisted and brought back as a Ghost?” The woman paused, her tone eerie and sedate. 

“The result is something unfathomable — an anomalous being. One whose existence is so perplexing, so impossible, that our brains are literally incapable of perceiving it. And that is why Mimikyu’s visage kills, because the mind of those who try to behold its true form become broken beyond measure, inducing shock, aneurysms and death.”

Nina chuckled, bringing levity back into the room. “There is a very special designation for Mimikyu as a species in the League’s database — that of Category Black. It’s quite prestigious really, especially considering Mimikyu is the only ‘mundane’ Pokemon to be listed among the likes of Darkrai and Spectrier.”

“Y-You gotta do something, Professor!” Carl exclaimed. “Can’t just be lettin’ something so dangerous loose around the settlement!”

The woman returned with a mirthful smile. “Oh don’t you worry, Carl. I was just messing with y’all. In truth, Mimikyus are some of the sweetest and gentlest Pokemon you’ll ever meet. There’s a reason why they go through so much trouble to disguise themselves, you know…”

At this point, Junia had long stopped paying attention, her ears ringing and breathing ragged. “Category Black…” She had no idea her friend was so feared. Junia had only ever known Tumbleweed as that sweet little thing who just wanted to make friends — she still remembered how hard Tumbleweed had cried when Junia first asked to be his friend. 

“There has to be a mistake somewhere!” Either from the League or the Professor. “I can’t let her get to him… But what do I do?!”

Junia shook her head, knocking herself out of her self-induced reverie to find her parents in the throes of an argument and Professor Nina staring at her with an intense gaze.

“Are you alright, Junia?” She asked, causing the girl to jolt up in fright.

“Err… Yeah! I just, you know? Got the cramps, is all.”

The older woman gasped. “Ahhh… Is it that time of the month for you? I suppose you are at that age, huh? I still remember my teenage years. Honestly, what would I have done without Kerry… I suppose that is one thing that I never really got used to…” 

Nina began muttering to herself and Junia took that as an opportunity to exit from the conversation as she excused herself to go to the bathroom, not noticing that the enigmatic Professor was still intently watching her back as she departed, rushing up the stairs to hole up in her room.

“What do I do? What do I do?!” Junia slammed her door shut and began pacing in her room.

The girl’s room was a whole hodge podge of furniture and paraphanelia; pictures of her and her parents framed along the wall, in and amongst various posters that she had collected over the years — a subconscious manifestation of her yearning for the outside world.

She actually had no idea who most of the people on the posters were, the precocious farmgirl had just gotten them because they looked pretty. But on this day, as her eyes were frantically darting around, one of them really caught her eyes for some reason — a very artsy picture of a girl underwater and intertwined with a Primarina, their foreheads pressed against one another with affectionate smiles on their faces.

“Now why does this girl look so familiar all of a sudden…?” Tanned skin, hazel eyes, the caption ‘Aquarium Girl’ framing the bottom in cursive text. The girl looked to be around Junia’s age, maybe slightly younger. Though it was hard to tell with all the filters that were applied.

“Must be nice, to be paid just to look all pretty and take pictures with Pokemon.” She wondered what a girl would even need to do to land such a fancy gig. “Probably a Legacy or some rich kid. How else could she have gotten a Primarina as a starter…” Junia recalled that line of Pokemon being one of the iconic regional starters.

Junia shuddered, her gloomy face coming to life with a sudden realisation. “Wait a minute… A starter Pokemon… I can just catch Tumbleweed and claim him as my starter!” 

The girl whipped her head around and pounced on her dresser, to retrieve a spoon that she had hidden near the back. With that in hand, she then crawled underneath her bed and began using the tableware to pry at one of the floorboards — one that was loose and chipped at the edge — to unveil the dusty red top of a Pokeball hidden underneath.

“There you are…” Junia held back an urge to sneeze as she removed the Pokeball from its hidey hole and blew at it to remove the dust.

The item was an impulse buy on Junia’s part. Every now and again, the Pokemon League would send an official over to their settlement to administer the Trainer License Exam — a service they provided for all of the off-route settlements to keep an accurate census of the region’s population.

Junia wasn’t exactly the smartest kid around, but the exam was easy enough that she had no troubles passing — a formality more than anything else. But on the day that she finally got her hands on her very own Trainer License, she was as ecstatic as the rest of them, feeling like she had finally become her own person. It was all a delusion, of course.

But that did little to stop the younger Junia from making a trip all the way to Route 16’s rest stop to buy herself a Pokeball. She even distinctly remembered the amused look on Gwen’s face when she had made the request.

In all of her excitement, Junia began practicing her Pokeball throwing skills in her room, bouncing it against the wall and causing enough of a ruckus that her parents raised a fuss. 

Worried that her parents might confiscate her secret purchase, Junia had hidden the Pokeball and claimed that she had been practicing her throwing skills using a rock, hence the dents on the wall. She was grounded for a week after that and made to do extra chores. But that was fine, her Pokeball wasn’t confiscated and now, it was finally about to pay off.

“If I catch Tumbleweed then there’s no way they’ll be able to take him from me, right?” Or so she hoped. Junia had no way of knowing for sure so she tried searching for answers on the Pokenet, only to get mixed results.

Junia smack herself on the face. “Get it together, Junia!” She chided, resolving herself to take action. Because in her mind, it was either that or she stood by and watched as her friend was stolen from her. “Professor Nina’ll have to get to Tumbleweed over my cold dead body… Ain’t nobody hurting my friends under my watch!”

***

The sun set and Junia snuck out once more, having to face a lot less annoyances this time around. Apparently, Professor Nina had asked the residents to ease off on their nightly patrols. “The Creaker won’t show up if you guys keep scaring them off like this.” She had said, laughing.

“Heh. Jokes on her! That just makes it easier for me to get to Tumbleweed first.”

With the deftness of an Ekans, Junia swiftly maneuvered her way through the luscious fields and to the vicinity of her friend’s hideout.

“Tumbleweed… Tumbleweeeed!”

“Ḱ̸͔̲̹̀̍͋y̸̪̦̑̇̒͝ǘ̸̧̡̱̣̌ů̵̯̱̌͘u̸̡̟͋͊ͅu̴̢͒͂̊͠u̵̙̺̅̒͆ų̷̩͇͍̓”

A familiar creaking noise sounded as the grass parted.

“Hehehe… Hey buddy, Lookin’ good~ I see you fixed up your costume. Did you use the sack I gave you the other day? Hehe… Crafty one, ain’tcha?” That was how the two had first met, when Junia found Tumbleweed rustling around in her family’s barn looking for materials for his outfit.

“M̶̧͛̈̌̓i̴̠̳̮͊m̴̞̲̽͐͝͝ȋ̸̤̱̉̏͘.̵̛̭͋̑.̶̼̻̍̀̀̂ͅ.̶̬̭͉̼̿̾ ̷̤̗̣͎͐k̶̤̦͉̜̃̋̈́y̵̡͕̎̆̋͝ư̷̻̻̖ǘ̸̧̱̟̇u̵̫͍͒̃͂͝ͅǘ̶̯̯̼̭ů̷̡̘͍͖̾͠u̸̱͘̕”

Sinister claws of darkness emerged then latched onto Junia as the Mimikyu launched himself into the girl’s embrace.

Junia giggled. “Hehe. Missed you too, Tumbleweed. But we don’t have much time today. Remember that expert I told you about the other day. Well, turns out, she’s a Pokemon Professor. And a darn looker too — some people just have all the luck in the world, huh?” The girl sighed.

“Anyways, she was real polite and all but she started talking about how dangerous you were — Category Black or something and how you can kill a man just by looking at you. And I figured, it has to be a mistake, you know? ‘Cause you’ve always been so sweet. But right now, Professor Nina’s out to get you and she seems to have all sorts of fancy Pokemon with her, and I reckon it won’t take much long—”

“K̴̢̬̱̘͔̰̜͓͚̬̠͒̊̇̐͜y̸̨̧̬̭̩̮̳͚̣̻̼͛̈̐̑͗͆̋̾̍̇̔͐̾̚̚̕ư̷̙̣̯̳̹̠̳̓̀̍̊͌̈u̶̮̬̳͔̪͍̰̽̀̈́̊̈́͂̆͊͑u̶̬̳̙̱̲̲̳̩͚͗͑̂ṵ̷̫̲͚̪̰̜̤̒̐̐̾̍͌͆̂̿͝ű̸͔̠̙͘͜ṷ̶̊̽̐̊͊̅̂ų̶̛̯͎͕̟̜̪̼͚̪̜̠͇͉̜̓́͗̃̔̀̄̽́̐͒̓͠ủ̵̥̻̉̉͗̽͒̈́͝ų̷͑̍̾͆̊͛̉̀͑̅͑͘̚ų̷̯̺̥̮̜̳̱̱͇͉͇̺̟̏͂̾́͛̍́͌̃̀̈́͋̌̈́̂͘͜!̴̜̣̗̮̬̲͓͖͙̖͚̼̝̰̊̋̑͌̆̏̈́̉̐̇̈́̓̑́̍͜͜”

An ear piercing screech exploded from Tumbleweed as he suddenly bristled and surrounded Junia with a nest of shadows. His shambling form frantically darted left and right, creaking aggressively all the while, like he was looking for something dangerous and unseen.

“W-Wha?! What’s going on, Tumbleweed?!”

A familiar laughter filled the air — clear and sonorous. “Heh. Told you he’d sense us. You’re getting a little rusty, Azzy~”

“Gen Gengar!”

The night darkened and the shadows came to life. And as they did, the protective nest surrounding Junia crumbled to reveal the elegant form of a woman in a yellow trenchcoat, her radiant smile like a ray of light in the dark. Though, in Junia’s eyes, Nina’s visage came across as more a triumphant and sinister grin.

“Es…” 

By the woman’s side was an ominous looking Gengar, its demonic features glowing scarlet in the shadows, along with the regal lilac figure of a haughty looking Espeon, her piercing silver eyes shining like moonlight in a starless night sky.

“K̴͉̍̂̍̚y̸̩̦̎͗̾̆͛̚u̴͖̩̳̅͋͌͒͊̍͜!̴͐́̂̌̈́͜” 

Tumbleweed cried out in a panic, not understanding how his control over the shadows had been usurped.

The Professor’s smile deepened, sending chills down Junia’s spine. “Tumbleweed, was it? No need to fret. We mean you no harm.” Her voice was soft and smooth, like butter in Junia’s ears — utterly discomforting.

“She knows his name! She knows his name!” That meant Junia had been followed since the very beginning! How?! She made sure to check and double check her surroundings before leaving the farm.

In her panic, Junia shared a glance with Tumbleweed, scooped him up and tossed him out into the grassy plains before turning to face Nina with her arms outstretched.

“Go, Tumbleweed! Run for your life! I’ll hold them back!” The girl yelled and glared at the interloper. “If you want him, you’ll have to go through me first, ya ugly old hag!”

“H-Hag?!” Nina sputtered, completely taken off guard by Junia’s defiance. “Now hold on for a sec, Junia. I think you’re misunderstanding something here—”

“AHHHHHHH!!! Run Tumbleweed, run!” But before the woman could explain, the feisty little farmgirl charged at her, crashing into Nina’s, unexpectedly, rock-hard abdomen and bit down on her arm.

“Ow! Hey! Quit it!”

“Tumbleweed is my friend!” Another bite, Junia’s teeth digging into Nina’s supple skin. “Ain’t. Nobody. Hurtin’. My. Friend!”

“Ow, damn it! Stop laughing and help out already, Espy!”

“Es…” The Espeon, shoulders still trembling, shined and Junia suddenly found herself surrounded by a glowing pink light and completely immobilized.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Tumbleweed’s escape was cut off by an infallible Gengar, who simply encased the Mimikyu in a cage of shadows, casually picked him up and made her way back to them.

“No… No…! Tumbleweed! Tumbleweeeeed!” Junia wailed, tears and snot streaming down her face in despair. She had failed — she failed to protect her precious friend!

“Urgh. Finally.” Nina groaned while rubbing at the bitemarks on her aching arm.

“Es.”

“I know… I know…” With a sigh, Nina schooled her expression and bent down to meet Junia’s gaze. “Junia? Hey, Junia…?”

“Waaaaa! Tumbleweed! Tumbleweeeed! You evil Krookodile! Why d’ya gotta hurt him! He did nuthin’ wrong! Tumbleweed just wanted to make friends!”

The ‘evil Krookodile’ groaned and massaged her tired eyes. “Could you please stop crying and just listen already!” Nina reached out and smoosh down on Junia’s cheeks. “I’m not gonna take Tumbleweed away from you, Junia!”

Junia sniffled, tears stemming as the woman’s words finally registered in her mind. “Hick— You’re… You’re not?”

With a nod at Espy, the girl was gently let down onto the ground as Azzy dissolved her cage and plopped Tumbleweed into Junia’s arms. “No, I am not.” Nina affirmed. “So can we please just have a civilised conversation without resorting to any form of biting, please?”

“S-Sorry…” The teen nodded sheepishly.

The exasperated scholar breathed in a sigh of relief and sat down to join Junia on the ground. “Like I was saying this afternoon, the League may consider Mimikyus as dangerous entities but I myself consider them to be some of the kindest and most genial Pokemon around — one of my all time favorites, in fact.”

“R-Really? But weren’t you sent here to catch him?”

“I was sent to resolve the settlement’s ‘Creaker’ problem. Because regardless of whether Tumbleweed intended to or not, he is causing a stir in the community and your neighbours are right to worry about their livelihoods.”

Junia sat up to protest. But before she could, she was silenced by a stern look and curt gesture from Nina.

“However, if giving Tumbleweed a home — a permanent home — and helping the farmers understand his true nature can help to alleviate these issues, then I see no reason not to.” Nina face softened as she pulled out a piece of cloth to wipe down the mess that was Junia’s face.

“I was never going to hurt your friend, Junia. Heck, even if he wasn’t lucky enough to have you and he was just a typical wild Mimikyu, I still wouldn’t have hurt him. Instead, I would have relocated him somewhere safe, to a place where he could make some proper friends and not be discriminated against.” The woman chuckled. “Heh. Might’ve even claimed him as my own if you hadn’t gotten to him first.”

Junia pouted and tightly squished down on the Mimikyu in her arms, the burlap effigy creaking out from strain. “Tumbleweed’s my friend, you can’t have him.”

“I know, dear… I know. But Mimikyus are sanctioned Pokemon, so if you really want to keep him, you have to obtain a permit and follow some very strict rules.” Nina’s face hardened once more. “Otherwise, the Pokemon League can and will take him away from you.”

Junia’s face paled. “B-But they can’t do that! Permit?! What permit?! I ain’t got no dang permit!”

Nina reached over and gave both the girl and her Mimikyu friend gentle pats on their head. “Oh Junia… Regardless of how well-meaning Tumbleweed is, it doesn’t change the fact that just a single glimpse of his true form is liable to cause a lot of harm. So, for the sake of everyone’s wellbeing, the Pokemon League has instituted some rules to govern their ownership.”

Junia felt a set of long and slender fingers gently caressing her cheeks as Nina gently lifted the girl’s head to meet her gaze. “You need to understand, Junia. To be the trainer of a Mimikyu is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege. If you want to be Tumbleweed’s trainer then you have to prove to the wider world that you’re competent enough to prevent any unfortunate accidents from happening around him.”

Not to mention, the special training that a referee would have to undergo in order to fairly judge a Mimikyu’s performance in battle. It was hard to tell if a Mimikyu was fainted or injured beyond what was reasonable if one could not directly observe them. 

In addition to the fact that said referee would also have to keep a close eye on the state of a Mimikyu’s costume and disqualify them if it was determined that they risked exposure. 

“But more often than not, you just won’t have a League sanctioned referee on hand, such as in the event of an impromptu challenge. In which case, it is then up to you, the trainer of the Mimikyu, to do all those things.”

Junia groaned, her head was swirling at this point from all that exposition. “Urgh… Sounds complicated… I didn’t know you gotta be so smart to be a Pokemon Trainer…” She then looked down at Tumbleweed, tears starting to well again.

“I’m sorry, Tumbleweed— Hick! — I’m not good enough to protect you— Hick! Shoulda listened to the pastor and spent more time reading. Uuuu…”

“Ǩ̶̢̍y̸̢̝̋̕u̸̻̜͑́!̶̙̋ ̷̬̿M̴͈̈́̌i̷͉̅͛m̵̼̻͋͌i̴̥͚̅͂k̴̬͍̾͌ŷ̶̘͇u̷̱̙̍u̴͍̇̓u̸̪̓!̴̡̈͆”

Tumbleweed joined in on the wails, his sobs sounding like the suffocating cries of a drowning Graveler.

Nina sighed. “Silly girl… Rules can be learned so long as you have the will to do so. What’s most important is your heart — your love towards Tumbleweed. Because what a Mimikyu needs first and foremost is love and friendship. And that, that is something that cannot be feigned, and something that some people are simply incapable of.” 

The woman smiled. “So as far as I’m concerned, you’re already more than qualified to be Tumbleweed’s partner. The rest is just a formality. Question is, are thetwo of you ready to take that next step? You did come here to propose to him, right?”

“Propose…?”

“That’s right.” Nina affirmed, gesturing towards the Pokeball in the girl’s pocket. “The word ‘capture’ is a little rough, don’t you think? And I doubt you’d insist if Tumbleweed said no. After all, Pokemon have their own thoughts and feelings too.”

“Pokemon have their own thoughts and feelings too…” Junia echoed as she looked down on the Mimikyu in her embrace, her chest suddenly filled with the sound of heart-pounding anxiety.

“K̸̨̺̺̺̎̍͐y̴͈̙̖͒ǔ̶̜̳̤̅͜ṷ̴͌͂̍̀u̷̡̟̝̎̽͝ų̸̣̗̰̎̆̕̚ǘ̴̻̞̇ͅ.̵̱̒͛̾.̷͇̱͔̮̄͗̅͝.̷͉̥̹͙̚” 

Tumbleweed threw his Pikachu head back with a sharp creak, and through his eye slits, met Junia’s gaze. The soul-snaring abyss hidden underneath the Mimikyu’s disguise swirling in anticipation.

The girl gulped, and with trembling hands, reached into her pocket to produce the mundane red and white shell of a Pokeball.

“T-Tumbleweed?”

“K̴͉̍̂̍̚y̸̩̦̎͗̾̆͛̚u̴͖̩̳̅͋͌͒͊̍͜!̴͐́̂̌̈́͜” 

“I-I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed… A-And I can be real stubborn about things.”

“M̵̡͎̞̺̏͠ì̵̼̇͠ḿ̴̛̲̘̐̑̎î̸̟͔̟.̶̜̣̤̒̓͒͗.̷͈̾̊̍.̶͈́̈̄̓̾ ̸̱͔̹͚̒̇͜Ḵ̵̪̅̈́̔͒ỳ̵̟̝͎̟͉́̓u̷̲̐̃u̸̺͙͛͗̔̈.̵̥͎̺̖̉̍ͅ.̴̠̣͕͝.̶̤̝̩̾́̾̌”

Junia breathed in deep to recompose herself. “It’s okay. Tumbleweed is my friend and we’ll still be friends even if he says no — nothing in the world is ever going to change that…”

She thought back on her life in the settlement, the smell of manure, the sweetness of freshly squeezed Miltank milk, those endless sand dunes and pillars of corn. Her friends, her family… And that restless yearning — the urge to reach out further and beyond.

“Bonnie’s always askin’ me; ‘Why don’t I got a starter?’ I mean, she’s got that prissy Purrloin of hers and Clyde’s got Bouffalant.” Junia chuckled. “But that’s just it, ain’t it? Everybody here in Sett-16, they either pick a Pokemon from their farm or just go out into the forest to catch an Emolga or sumthin’.”

The girl squeezed down on Tumbleweed and returned his gaze. “But I don’t want any of that. ‘Cause that’ll mean I ain’t no better than they are — that I might go out and then come crawlin’ back again once I lose to the very first city-slicker I battle or when my coffers run dry.”

“K̸̨̺̺̺̎̍͐y̴͈̙̖͒ǔ̶̜̳̤̅͜ṷ̴͌͂̍̀u̷̡̟̝̎̽͝ų̸̣̗̰̎̆̕̚ǘ̴̻̞̇ͅ.̵̱̒͛̾.̷͇̱͔̮̄͗̅͝.̷͉̥̹͙̚” 

“But you’re different, Tumbleweed. Because just like me, you don’t belong here in this dusty ol’ town.” Junia smiled and nuzzled against her creaky friend. “You and I, we belong out there, under the dazzling lights of the city, under that infinite blue sky and beyond those salty waters.”

“K̷̼̇͆͠͠y̵͇̽̈́u̷̙̥̮͖͂̊!̶͈̖̉̾̐ ̴̘̫̩̫̃͑̓̕M̷͎̻͖̊i̷̝̮̒͘̕m̶̤̖͙͛̔͂͠i̸̧͉̮̿̓k̸̺͚̦͂͠ͅy̷̪͂͂̍u̷̟͚͈̺͗͠!̷͈͕̔͆”

“That’s right, Tumbleweed! We might not have what it takes to be the very best. But that ain’t gonna stop us from tryin’! To go out there, see the world and make a ton of friends!”

“K̴͉̍̂̍̚y̸̩̦̎͗̾̆͛̚u̴͖̩̳̅͋͌͒͊̍͜!̴͐́̂̌̈́͜” 

“So, Tumbleweed… Would you be willin’ to journey out with me? To get into this Pokeball and see the world together?”

“M̴̟͓̟̝̹̰̊̀̊Ȋ̷͇͇̟͙͇̻͍̳̫̩̜̫͇̔͂Į̸̤͎͎͖̠̣͇̟̝̝̖̞̦͎̜̽̅̊̽͑̓̌̌́̕̕͜͠Í̷̧̡͔̞̖̜͇͇͖̟̿̒̅̏́͗͊I̸̟͙͈̙͓͈̟͙̋̔I̸͎̟͙̞̾͆I̶̢̝̹̮̫̜̣̽̌́͋̃̑̅̒́̉̆̈́͜I̴̖̠̫̠͛̔̐̒̈́̀͐͘͜ͅÌ̸͍̀͛͆̽̆́͘̕͜I̸͚̪͙̻̳͈͊͝Ǐ̴̜̻̪̤̯̩̜̗̫̭̿̚͠!̷̦̠͇͚̘̊͆̕͝!̸̨̨̯̯̫͎͕̙͕̘̯̩̈́͋́̊͜͜ͅ!̸͎̥̫̜̹͎̮̼̪̣̗̩̔̀̉̓́͋ͅͅ!̶̠̦̰̈́͑̽̎͋͊͗̃͊̎̕͘!̵̨͚̰̻̫͙̣̤̭̞͔͕̈̈́̅̓̅͒̆̒̎͆͛̏̍̀̿̽͌!̸̛̛͖̠̣̫͕̤̬͕͐̀͗̋͌̈́͌͗̇͛̊͘͝!̷̡̧̧̮̖̠̾̔̏̃͌͝!̴͚̰͖̥̊̈͋̒̀!̵̧̡̲͍̣̱̺̬͔͍̯̮̩̪͉̼̈́̀̍̍̀͆̎̽̀̔͑̚͠͠ͅ!̶̡̰̝̬̩̞̓̄͜!̴̡̡̰̩͈̝̗͍̱̺̲̥͚́͆̏͂̐̆̃̀̐͌ͅ”

The response was overwhelming as an ear piercing screech resonated all throughout Settlement 16, waking residents from their sleep and sending hair raising shivers down their cores.

Tumbleweed lunged towards the Pokeball in a violent frenzy, practically tackling himself against the device’s button before disappearing in a flash of light.

Thunk!

The Pokeball did not shake, it simply blinked, shuddered once and settled into a calm. The complete lack of struggle a surefire sign that Tumbleweed’s union with Junia was long overdue and that there was no coercion involved on either side.

And in response, the girl just sat there, mouth agape and staring down at her Pokeball in a quiet daze. Until she was interrupted by an amused giggle from the woman by her side.

“Congratulations, Junia. You are now a fully fledged Pokemon Trainer ready to go out on your journey.”