“NINA!!! Nina, Nina, Ninaaaaaa!”

  “What?! What’s going on?” The girl in question rushed to open her hotel room door to quell the frantic knocking.

  “K-Kerry, s-she—!” Justin sputtered, too out of breath to articulate anything. But based on his pale countenance, it likely wasn’t anything good, prompting Nina to charge out the door and rush over to her friend’s room.

  “Kerry, are you okay?! Talk to me, what’s going on?!”

  However, when Nina arrived at the girl’s door, what she found was a confused looking Kerry kneeling by her bedside and her Pokemon busily going about their own business.

  Peppy the Chansey had just set down a basin of steaming hot water, Polly the Poliwhirl had a stack of fluffy white towels in hand, Duo the Noctowl, despite the ruckus, was taking a nap as usual, Kaipo the Marowak and Lynxie the Luxio was standing guard by Kerry’s side, and Rocky the Graveler was doing pushups for whatever reason.

  “Nina? What’s wrong?” Kerry asked, before catching a glimpse of Justin stumbling behind the girl and coming to a realisation. “Oh. Right…” The nurse girl returned her gaze to the bed where a Pokemon Egg was trembling atop a nest of towels.

  Nina gasped. “Is it time? Is it finally time?!” She stepped into the room with an expectant gaze, only to receive a frown and a glare from her friend.

  “Nope! No way am I letting you two in the room while this happens! Knowing my luck, my baby’s gonna accidentally imprint on one of you somehow. Out!” Kerry shouted. “The two of you stay outside! I’ll call you when the Egg is hatched.”

  With a rough gesture, the nurse girl shooed her two protagonist-level friends out the door and shut it with a bang, leaving the pair of flabbergasted teens frozen in place.

  Nina let out a frustrated groan. “Dammit! I hate to admit it, but she’s right.” There really was a chance that the Eevee might imprint on the wrong person. “If it was me, I wouldn’t let Justin anywhere near the room either.”

  So, left with no choice, Nina resorted to pacing back and forth outside the hotel room like an expecting parent.

  “Dammit, this is nerve wracking! Is this how my dad felt when mom was giving birth to me?” In her past life, Nina had never gotten married before, let alone experienced childbirth. So this was a brand new form of anxiety for her. “It’s like there’s a Voltorb in my belly and a freaking Conkeldurr pounding away at my chest!”

  By the time that the door reopened a good half an hour later, Nina had shaved off a thin layer of the hotel’s carpet from her incessant pacing.

  “Polly! Is the baby okay? How’s Kerry doing? They’re not hurt are they?”

  The Poliwhirl reeled back at Nina’s assault, nearly falling over when Justin joined in as well. The commotion was followed by an amused chuckle from within the room.

  “Relax, Nina… You do realize that I’m not the one giving birth right?” Kerry whispered from behind her Poliwhirl, a precious bundle of brown fur in her embrace, eyes shut and vigorously suckling on a small bottle of Miltank milk. “Barring the presence of any genetic defects, very little can go wrong from the hatching of a Pokemon Egg.”

  Nina suppressed a squeal at the precocious sight. “Oh my gosh… So CUTE! Is it a boy or a girl?”

  Kerry chuckled. “A boy. Not sure how they would know, but the ranch that supplied the Egg never gives out any female Eevees for obvious reasons.”

  Nina nodded in understanding but Justin just tilted his head in confusion. “Really? Why?”

  The girls groaned. “Seriously, Jonas? Did you not pay attention at all in school? Pokemon inherit the species of the mother. So a female Eevee would allow someone to breed more Eevees.”

  The boy responded with a gaping mouth. “Oh yeah… I forgot about that. Haha…”

  Nina sighed and turned her attention back to Kerry’s new baby with a silly grin. “So? What are you going to name him, Kerr?”

  “I dunno… I have some ideas, but I think it might be best to wait until he decides what he wants to be first before settling on a name. Maybe Vivi as a nickname for now?”

  “The way he’s sucking at that bottle, I reckon he’s gonna be a fierce battler once he grows up.” Justin chimed.

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  Kerry smiled, feeling pleased by her friend’s comment. “Doesn’t matter if he wants to be a full-time battler or something else, I’ll love him no matter what.”

  “Larry. He looks like a Larry to me.” Nina teased, earning her a kick from Kerry.

  “Eevee… Eevee… Edgar? Ow!” Another kick from Kerry to Justin.

  And with that, the trio spent the remainder of the night cooing over the baby Eevee while throwing names around. But in the end, Kerry still stuck with her plan of waiting for the Eevee to grow a little before naming him. It would be awkward if she named him Flare and he ended up Evolving into a Glaceon or something.

  One thing that irked Nina to no end though, was her friend’s vehement refusal to let her nibble on Eevee’s dainty little ears. How cruel! How could she expect her to see such nibblelicious nubbins and not let her nibble on it?!

  ***

  “So, Lil? Are you gonna stick to Olivine for the time being?” Nina asked.

  Lilian jolted and reluctantly tore her gaze away from the baby Eevee. The trio had met up again with their friend the next morning. The other girl showed up looking tense and haggard, until she caught sight of Kerry’s new baby and instantly bloomed into an affectionate smile.

  “Hmm? Ah, yes. It appears that Lady Jasmine requires further inducement. I’m starting to consider the possibility that this might be an intentional ordeal that Master Chuck has set upon me.” Lilian sighed. “But what about yourself? Any plans to challenge the Gym?”

  Nina tilted her head in consideration and looked towards Kerry with a guilty smile. “No, I’m actually thinking about heading back to Cerulean City and spending some time in training.”

  “Wait, what?! What about our journey?” Kerry exclaimed, eyes glistening in despair.

  Nina pulled her friend in for a hug, being very careful not to squish the fragile Eevee in her embrace. “I’m sorry, Kerr… But there’s a lot of urgent stuff I need to do.”

  “You promised…”

  “I know… Which is why I was thinking, do you wanna come back with me?”

  Kerry sniffled and peered into Nina’s eyes, their nose brushing ever so slightly against each other. “What’s the point? I thought you said you wanted to go and explore new places with me?”

  “Aww…” Nina cooed and pressed her cheek against Kerry’s. “It won’t be for nothing. Remember how I promised you that I’d get you involved in a mermaid show?” Kerry instantly lit up at her friend’s words. “I was really looking forward to seeing you sing and dance on stage. And I feel really bad about Team Rocket ruining all your hardwork.”

  “Aww… It’s not your fault, Nins.” Kerry returned the nuzzle. “B-But, are you sure it’ll be alright? I mean, the stuff that your Gym does — swimming and dancing in water and all that — it looks super complicated.”

  Nina giggled and gave the girl a reassuring pat. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” No way was she leaving her innocent little cinnamon bun at the mercy of those Cerulean women.

  “Will Brinny be joining us?” Kerry asked, her voice brimming with excitement.

  “Of course.” Nina’s Brionne was a huge fan of their monthly shows and had been extremely eager to get involved.

  “Oh, oh! Do you think we can train Polly to join in too? She’s too shy to admit it but she’s always been a big fan of Nitey’s performances.”

  Nina chuckled. “Sure, anything you want, Kerr. And besides, we’ve got lots of Poliwhirls in the Gym. It wouldn’t be much trouble to have one of them show Polly the ropes.”

  Kerry squealed in delight, already looking forward to her debut as a mermaid.

  Turning back to the rest of her friends, Nina could see that Justin seemed conflicted while Lilian was looking a little dazed, her lips pursed tight for some reason. “Poor Lil, she’s probably super stressed about Jasmine…”

  Deciding that it was best not to interrupt the Blackthorn girl’s musings, Nina spoke to Justin first. “What about you, J? Lucy said she was about to rejoin you right?”

  Justin’s childhood friend had called in at some point to tell them that she had successfully found a major sponsor who was interested in their Black Zone expedition. Matter of fact, it was someone that Nina was familiar with, at least in passing — Professor Cerise from Vermilion City, who even offered to help with the organisation of the expedition.

  The boy nodded. “Yeah… Lucy wants to continue journeying with you and Kerry specifically.” There was a hint of dejection in his tone.

  Nina laughed and gave her a friend a hearty smack on the back. “Cheer up, Jimothy. Lucy’s just being all tsun-tsun. I’m sure she’s looking forward to reuniting with you as well.”

  Justin frowned and bit back with the usual correction of his name. “What’s tsun-tsun mean?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Point is, Lucy wouldn’t mind going back to travelling as a duo with you. But if you’d like to tag along with me and Kerr, I’d be happy to show you guys around when I’m free.”

  Justin shrugged. “Nah… We’ve already been to Cerulean City — there’s not much to do there. I’ll give her a call and see what Lucy thinks.”

  Nina nodded, proud of the boy for being so considerate of his friend. Until her attention was stolen by Lilian.

  “Nina, what would it take for you to show me your Mega Dragonite?” The girl’s tone was severe, her eyes steely. This was not Nina’s friend who had a cute little crush on her. No, this was Lilian Blackthorn, Lance Blackthorn’s nominal successor and scion to one of the most prominent Dragon clans in the world. So naturally, Nina treated her as such.

  “I want access to the Dragon’s Den in return.” She offered.

  Lilian frowned. “Why?”

  “There are Unown etched in the vicinity of the shrine is there not?” Nina smirked. “My interest is purely academic as you well know. I’m not even asking for permanent access. Just a couple of hours for me to conduct a study, maybe snap a few pics and we’re good.”

  With a shake of her head, the other girl sighed. “I have no idea how an outsider like you would know of the shrine’s existence, but no, absolutely no photography of any kind — this is a rule imposed upon all who visit. No exceptions. As for the actual request itself, I will have to make a call to Aunt Clair. Though she might ask to be present during the demonstration.”

  Lilian groaned then looked towards her friend with an almost pleading gaze. “I need you to understand, Nina. Yours is the FIRST Mega Dragonite ever discovered. There will be long-lasting ramifications to revealing its existence. And who knows what those old fossils will attempt to do… Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Nina hummed in consideration. She had no idea it was that big of a deal. Though to be fair, she hadn’t exactly discussed the matter with anyone of note just yet. “I know that Mega Dragonite didn’t exist back in the games of my original world, but to think that it was a brand new discovery here as well.”

  She could already feel a migraine coming. Given how prominent each of the individual Dragon clans were in this world, Nina could easily see this painting a massive target on her back. The memory of how obsessive Lance was in chasing after Red’s trail sent a shudder down her spine. This was exactly the sort of edge he would need to contend with Red’s Alpha Charizard.

  “But it’s not like we can keep hiding it forever either. So that leaves me with only one option really…” Nina would have to establish some sort of agreement with the Blackthorns. Maybe allow the fabrication of her Dragoninite under strict conditions in return for protection.

  “Realistically, I’ll need to get the League involved if I can even hope to hold them accountable. The Mizuhanas too, definitely. Maybe even give a call to Uncle Ali and see if we can’t rope Interpol into this.” Power corrupts, honor is fickle but ink is binding. Better safe than sorry.

  With a deep breath, Nina awoke from her musings and finally responded to Lilian. “Let me make a few calls first. I’ll get back to you with a more definitive answer. And Lil…” She pulled her into a tight hug, causing the uptight girl to tense up at the sudden intimacy. “Thank you.”

  Lilian quivered, then loosened into Nina’s embrace. “You’re welcome…”