Chapter 63: Chapter 63

Pallet Town was the very definition of a sleepy seaside town. There were no bustling highrises or any commercial activity of note, save for the little dock housing several fishing vessels and the local fish market where the fishermen went to process their haul and ship it all across Kanto.

The town itself consisted of just rustic looking houses with a few shops interspersed between to meet the local needs. But what really caught Nina’s eyes was the singular vintage looking tram station that ran straight to Viridian City, operating only once every couple of hours during the day owing to the lack of demand.

Nina tapped at her uncle’s arm to get the pilot’s attention. “Uncle Ali, can we go check out that tram station please.”

Ali gave a boisterous laugh at the girl’s request. “As expected of my niece, impeccable taste as always.”

“Of course, trains are cool! Especially super old ones like that tram,” said Nina, earning a nod of approval from her like-minded uncle.

With a quick command, Martha pivoted and began gently descending near the tram station. Ali was careful in telling Martha to avoid stirring up the winds too much to avoid startling the locals.

As they got closer, Nina could see that there were also other decommissioned trams on display around the station. Their rusty, dilapidated exterior spoke of the locomotive’s age and history, really tugging at the boyish side of Nina who used to collect model trains in her past life.

Even Ali was feeling a childish urge to jump onto those antiques and just soak in the musty atmosphere contained within.

“Gosh, if I knew we could have taken a tram to Pallet town, I would’ve asked to fly to Viridian and commute here instead. Why didn’t you tell me there were trams here, Uncle Ali?” Lamented Nina.

Ali laughed. “My bad, my bad… I didn’t know that my niece was such a girl of culture. I knew you were my favorite niece for a reason.”

Nina rolled her eyes at their running gag. “I’m your only niece, Uncle Ali. But I wonder if the conductor will let us have a look inside the tram.” Nina glanced around but saw no one in the station, there was simply an empty ticketing booth, and a fairly redundant turnstill that leads into the platform itself where one can board the tram.

“Welp, one way to find out.” Ali returned his Corviknight and yelled out at the station. “EXCUSE ME, IS ANYBODY THERE?”

Nina covered her ears at Ali’s reckless behavior and glared at the man for not giving her a heads up. His call out did work though, as an elderly looking man wearing a train conductor’s hat stepped out of the station’s office.

“Oh my, are you passengers?” Asked the feeble looking old man. “Unfortunately the tram isn’t due to run for another hour or so. Perhaps you could have a look around and return later? We’re fairly lax here so no need to worry about missing your ride.”

Ali gave the man a bow and a bright smile. “Oh no, not at all. Truth is, my niece and I were flying in to visit, when we noticed your delightful little station. We were simply wondering if we could have a look inside the tram, maybe even admire some of the disused ones as well, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Ali even offered to pay the conductor for the privilege which the man simply turned down with a genial smile. “Ah, fellow railfans are we? It’s so rare to find someone who appreciates classic locomotion these days. Please, do come in. No need to be reserved.”

“Thanks, Mister!” Exclaimed the ecstatic Nina as she and Tini pushed through the turnstill. Her curious little Dragon had been on trains before, but he’s never seen one so small, with only its single compartment.

“A diesel engine eh?” Commented Ali. “You don’t see a lot of those these days, what’s with the environment and all.”

The conductor nodded. “Technically it’s an old school electric engine being powered by a diesel generator. It used to run off an overhead line, but they deemed it too expensive to maintain due to how frequently the poles were toppling over, and also how often Flying Pokemon got caught on the lines.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Does she have a name?” Asked Nina, who was currently wiggling her butt to get a feel of the broken and worn out leather cushions in the tram.

“This here is ol’ Denka,” responded the elderly man with a smile. “She’ll be 56 this year. And it’s likely that she’s the only one of her kind left that’s still running in the whole of Kanto.”

Nina smiled at the pun, ‘Denka’ meant her majesty, but it was also an abbreviation of electric car. A very fitting name for such a majestic vessel.

Afterwards, the conductor was even kind enough to let Nina play with the console of the inactive tram, something that Nina had never experienced before in all of her two lives. “Gosh, there’s just something super tactile and satisfying about pulling the lever back and forth like this.” Even Ali was begging for a turn with it.

“These three are all of the trams that we’ve had to decommission over the years. None of them had the same tenacity as ol’ Denka, unfortunately,” said their guide as the old man gestured towards the three rusty trams that were now being parked perpetually on some of the disused tracks.

“We used to have two trams running parallel to each other,” continued the conductor. “This was back during the war and soldiers often came and went.” He pointed towards two of the more ancient looking trams, now covered in overgrowth and filled with holes from being eaten away by rust over the years.

“Those two are ol’ Denka’s predecessors who served all throughout the war with Johto. The old gals have probably seen more tears and laughter throughout their life than everyone in Pallet town combined,” he said, somewhat wistfully.

He then gestured towards the less dilapidated tram of the trio and explained that it was ol’ Denka’s partner who gave up long before she did. “She ran into a stray Rhyhorn and completely totaled the engine, even took the conductor with her,” said the old man as he led Ali and Nina towards the crumpled front of the tram.

“Must’ve been one tough Rhyhorn,” mused Nina, while admiring the outline of said Pokemon forever pressed into the metallic carriage.

The elderly conductor laughed at the girl’s comment. “Ha! You should have seen that bastard. Didn’t even stick around after it got hit, just shrugged it off and kept walking like nothing happened.”

Unfortunately, Ali and Nina were not able to get inside the disused trams because their doors had long since rusted over and were now impossible to open. It was fine though, their curiosity and adventurous spirit had been fully sated.

The two thanked the kindly old conductor and made their way to their primary destination — Professor Oak’s laboratory, in order to retrieve Nina’s Pokedex.

***

Nina could have just waited in Cerulean City for her Pokedex to be shipped to her. Which was how Beverly got hers. But she had always wanted to visit Pallet Town, the birthplace of Samuel Oak, Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, Red, Yellow, Silver, and all these other famed Pokemon Trainers.

This small, unassuming town was basically like the Austria of Pokemon Trainers with how many big names were associated with it. “Or maybe it’s just thanks to the presence of Professor Oak…”

After seeing that she had no plans for this year’s summer break, Nina took a chance and emailed Professor Oak to see if he’d be okay with her visiting and grabbing her Pokedex early. The reply came back a little late, but the Pokemon Professor did ultimately agree to her request. The man even sounded quite enthusiastic about it.

So she worked out an arrangement with her Uncle Ali, who was also looking forward to meeting the famed Professor and scheduled an appropriate date for the trip.

The roads of Pallet town shimmered from the summer heat as the girl walked alongside her uncle, having already returned her Pokemon to the comfort of their Pokeballs. In the distance, a beautifully glittering seascape could be seen, lining the horizon and framing the quaint little townscape surrounding the two visitors.

Professor Oak’s lab was right by the edge of town, where he also had vast swathes of verdant land reserved as a ranch for all of his sponsored trainers. “I do wonder where the man keeps the more delicate Ice Types in an environment like this,” Nina mused.

Compared to Bill’s Sea Cottage, Oak’s Laboratory looked even more unassuming. In fact, if Nina hadn’t been actively searching for it on her map, she would have just dismissed it as just another suburban farmhouse. It really was impressive how Samuel Oak had managed to achieve so much with so little.

They were greeted at the door by a Mr Mime who was busy sweeping a broom around, even though the place looked pretty clean to Nina. “Wait, is this Ash’s mom’s Mr Mime?” Her brain immediately recalled all the memes about Oak banging the lonely housewife while her son was away.

The mime Pokemon held out a finger and asked the visitors to wait as he performed a gesture of calling out to the house, despite not making a single sound.

Nina looked towards her uncle in confusion, to which Ali simply shrugged in return. But surprisingly, after a brief wait, Professor Oak did eventually show up.

The Pokemon Professor opened his door with a bright smile and gave his two visitors an enthusiastic welcome. “Ah, Nina! Welcome, welcome. It’s so good to see you again,” he said to the little girl. “And this must be the famed Alias Jones, I’ve heard quite a fair bit about you from Professor Sycamore. I should have made the familial connection sooner. Nina’s incredible talent with Pokemon makes so much more sense now.”

Ali chuckled and stepped forward to shake the Professor’s hand. “Please, Nina’s talent is her own. I was so busy traveling that I contributed little to her childhood. But I have to say, it is such an honor to meet you Professor. I regret not being talented enough during my youth to catch your attention. The stories of your rise to the Champion’s seat and your altruism in pursuit of knowledge for the betterment of our world has always been an inspiration to me and many others.”

Professor Oak smiled at the man’s kind words. “Please, I was just being true to my desires and pursuing my interests. Not unlike what you’ve been doing over the years. If anything, your bravery has done much in furthering our academic knowledge and for that I thank you as well.”

Their hosts then gestured for them to come inside and get away from the heat. “Mr Mime, could you be a dear and go prepare some refreshments for our guests. I’m sure they must be parched from the long trip here. How was the trip, by the way? I hope it was uneventful.”

“It was very pleasant,” answered Nina. “In fact, we spotted the town’s tram station from the air and the conductor was kind enough to give us a tour…”