Chapter 56: Chapter 56

“Hey, Melanie… It’s Nina. Are you awake?”

Nina gently knocked on Melanie’s door, but received no response. However, she did hear the rustling of bed sheets. So it was clear to her that the woman was still awake.

“It’s about Parasect… I might know someone who can help, but I don’t know enough to know for sure.”

There was more rustling and a thump, followed by heavy footsteps to the door, opening to reveal the disheveled looking Melanie staring at Nina with glassy eyes. Her room was completely dark with only a faint sliver of moonlight peeking in from an open window.

The woman had clearly been crying with her eyes all swollen and red. Her clothes were disheveled and dirtied from being outdoors, fingers soiled and bloodied, but probably not from her own blood. It was evident that the woman had not even bothered to clean herself after coming back from her prior excursion.

“Hey Melanie, sorry to bother you. But I figured the thing with Parasect was urgent enough to warrant it. Is it okay for me to come in?” Asked Nina, only to receive a listless nod as Melanie trudged back to her bed.

Nina followed suit, gently closing the door on her way in. She sat next to Melanie who collapsed onto the bed the moment she reached it.

“So… I heard about what the Rangers wanted to do with your friend. And to be honest, I kind of understand where they’re coming from. Doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad though…” Began Nina, awkwardly.

“The thing is… I know someone who can talk to Pokemon. Not like charades or anything. But like, she can actually speak to Pokemon where she understands Pokespeak and they can understand her in return.”

Melanie seemed to stir a bit at Nina’s words. The woman shuffled her body in the bed and languidly propped herself up to look at Nina.

“I can give her a call if you want, it’ll be an alternative solution to just… You know? Ending Parasect. But I don’t know enough about your friend to know if it’ll be a good idea or not,” said Nina. “What happened to her was tragic. And if something like that happened to me, I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue on any longer. So I can’t help but think that maybe the Rangers’ proposal is a mercy?”

Nina shifted and looked Melanie straight in her bloodshot eyes. “So what do you think? I’ve not even met Parasect before. But you’ve known her for a very long time right? And you consider her your friend. So do you think she even wants the help? Will my actions just aggravate her wounds and cause unnecessary pain? I don’t know, I really don't…”

Melanie seemed to fall deep in thought as she dropped her head, the woman’s loose hair shielding her expression from Nina’s gaze.

The girl waited patiently for Melanie’s response, quietly meditating on what she just said and trying to prevent herself from falling asleep. Her Uncle Ali was right, it really was way past Nina’s bedtime. Especially after all the energy she expended that day.

Despite it being her Pokemon that were battling, there was a certain mental strain that trainers experience during a Pokemon battle. Some trainers were even known to faint after losing an especially intense battle. It was a strange phenomenon that wasn’t very well studied. Most simply attribute it to second hand stress and fatigue.

“I…” Croaked Melanie, after what felt like an eternity of silence. “I think that… to live is to hope… So long as we’re all alive, there’s always the hope that we can be happy,” she said, her voice hoarse from the strain of crying.

Melanie lifted her head and looked towards Nina with tear filled eyes. “Is it selfish of me to want Parasect to continue living… So that she may find happiness again one day?”

Nina lightly shook her head. “No. Not at all. In fact, I think that makes you a very kind person.” The girl teared up a bit as well at Melanie’s heartfelt plea. She couldn’t help but think that maybe this was what Mew intended for her to do — to lessen the impact of this tragedy.

“I’ll make the call tomorrow morning, It’s late now and I doubt anyone will pick up. Can I count on you to speak to the Rangers and convince them to hold off on their… decision for just a while longer?”

Melanie gave a resolute nod to Nina, her eyes looking more alive than they had been just moments ago.

***

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The call with Bill went as well as it could go. In fact, the Professor was so outraged by Nina’s retelling of the events that he vowed to personally petition the League to ensure that the perpetrators never see the light of day ever again.

Hikari was much more subdued, but Nina could tell that the stiff smile she wore during the entire duration of their video call was being used to hide the blazing inferno raging within her.

“Give me a couple of hours to prepare and I will be right there with you, dear.” Hikari said to Nina. She then turned towards her husband and asked him to give a call to the Pokemon Rangers and request that they defer their careless execution of an innocent life. Special emphasis on ‘execution’ and ‘innocent’, with an added sprinkle of disdain on the word ‘careless’.

Which was how Nina now found herself in Saffron City. Hikari had asked Melanie and Nina to accompany her in visiting the Alpha Parasect, who was now being kept in a medical bay.

Ali wanted to come along as well just to keep an eye on Nina, but Melanie was concerned that her Estate would be attacked again and pleaded for the man to stay behind. Misty backed her up as well since she did not want to go anywhere near the authorities at the moment. So Nina’s uncle ended up giving her temporary custody of Elizabeth the Gardevoir as a compromise.

However, Nina wasn’t with the adults at the moment. Rather, she was sitting in Saffron PD’s cafeteria, waiting on her companions who were roped into a meeting to discuss the handling of the Alpha Parasect. Nina slipped out using the excuse of boredom, and it wasn’t like her opinion as a child would have been taken seriously anyway.

Saffron City was a much older city than Cerulean, and it showed. While Cerulean City’s architecture was all futuristic, artsy and slick, Saffron City was a much more conventional looking metropolis, with its blocky buildings and glass skyscrapers.

The city’s population was quite dense though, much more so than Cerulean. Mainly because Saffron City used to be Kanto’s most populous city until that title was usurped by Vermilion City. Thanks to all the trade that now went through the harbors there.

Wartime might be good for profiteering, but when it came to overall economic development, peace was the best lubricant. The increased trade between Kanto-Johto and the rest of the world, had really done a lot in enabling rapid development of the two regions which the rest of the world had previously considered to be savage and backwards.

“That’s a very interesting child you have there,” said a husky female voice, jolting Nina from her focused observation of Espy’s adorable eating habits.

The girl looked up, surprised to find that someone had unknowingly slipped into the seat opposite of hers at some point.

In response to his trainer’s shock, Tini tense up his body and hissed at the strange woman. Espy, however, was undisturbed and even went as far as to saunter across the table to the mysterious woman and nuzzle up against her.

Both Tini and Nina were taken aback. Their companion was usually very hostile towards strangers.

Taking a better look at the sudden intruder, Nina could see that she was around the same age as Misty, maybe a bit older; with jet black hair, sharp but beautiful asian features, and wearing stylish form fitting clothes that fully accentuated her exquisite pear shaped figure.

The woman was none other than Sabrina Summers, Kanto’s preeminent Psychic Type Master, Leader of the Saffron City Gym, and member of the Indigo League’s Elite Four.

Sabrina merely smiled sensually at Nina’s surprise, casually reaching out with her hand to stroke Espy on her nape, exactly where the Eevee liked it.

“S-Sabrina, hello… Erm, Hi? My name is Nina, this here is Tini and that there is… Well she’s Espy but I’m guessing you’re already acquainted?” That was the only explanation that Nina could think of for Espy’s inexplicable stranger friendliness.

“No, not at all. I came here because I detected an anomaly. This delightful child was just a surprising find.”

Nina sighed, holding herself back from reaching for her necklace on instinct. “D-do you mind elaborating a little on this ‘anomaly’ you sensed?”

Sabrina gave an elegant laugh in response. “No need to worry, child. It was merely an interesting Psychic signature, one that shields your mind from any unwelcome intruders. Most Psychic practitioners will probably brush it off as the work of an exceedingly skilled Dark or Psychic Type Pokemon.”

“Ahh… That might be my uncle’s Gardevoir then. Elizabeth is a very experienced Psychic who has been all over the world with him,” Nina lied. But based on the sharp gaze that Sabrina directed towards the girl, it was clear that the Gym Leader knew more than she let on.

“I really need to look into some resources on how to deal with Psychics and their nonsense. Maybe Uncle Ali will have some tips for me?”

“I can give you a list of reading material that might help,” chimed Sabrina, not even attempting to hide the fact that she had just read Nina’s mind. “I’ll also refer you to some resources that would be helpful in developing Espy’s ‘Gift’. This child is very eager to expand her mind. The inability to have a meaningful conversation with others is frustrating her to no end.”

Nina winced a bit at the last part, feeling guilty about not being able to meet her Pokemon’s needs. “I’m sorry, Espy… I didn’t know.”

But instead of admonishing her human, Espy moved away from Sabrina and buried her head in Nina’s neck instead, sniffing and nuzzling her all the while.

Sabrina smiled affectionately. “You need not worry, Nina. The bonds you share with your Pokemon are strong. Just continue loving them as you are and it’ll only be a matter of time until your Eevee evolves into a marvelous Espeon. One of the stronger ones I’ve ever encountered, in fact. If she continues to grow at this rate.”

“Thank you, Espy and I will make good use of the resources that you’ve so graciously shared with us. But I have to ask, earlier you said that the anomaly prevents unwelcome intruders into my mind. So how were you able to read my thoughts then?” Asked Nina, somewhat accusingly.

Sabrina chuckled. “The keyword there is ‘unwelcomed’. Which should tell you all you need to know about my intentions and assuage your worries. That said, competent Psychics at my level are more than capable of picking up surface level thoughts even amidst all of the distortion. So it’s not a bad idea to add a few extra layers of protection, just in case.”

“I see…” murmured Nina. “So did you come here just out of curiosity?”

Sabrina let out another amused chuckle. “Correct. I was in the station to listen in on the meeting pertaining to the incident your group was involved in. They wanted my opinion on the possibility of Psychic therapy, which you need not worry about. I was quite clear in expressing my hesitance. The mind of an Alpha is a maze that not even the most elder of Metagross dare navigate.”

Nina breathed a sigh of relief. “Makes sense, of course the local Gym Leader would be privy to any news of terrorist activity.”

“So does that mean they’re letting Hikari go and do her thing?” She asked.

“Yes,” answered Sabrina simply. “And on that note, it seems that your companions have arrived. It was nice chatting with you Nina.”

And before Nina could get a single word in, the woman vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace of her existence behind. There was not even a flash or a sound, demonstrating her mastery over Teleport which surpasses even the likes of Misty’s Slowking.

Nina and Tini looked at each other in bewilderment, whereas Espy just had a determined look on her face, eager to achieve the same heights of Psychic mastery as Sabrina.