Nina was currently fishing with Phanpy by her side.
The baby Pokemon was luxuriating in Nina’s touch. The girl figured out, after much experimentation, where on her belly the little blue elephant liked to be scratched the most. That combined with the fact that Nina was the one most willing to spoil her with Berries, made her Phanpy’s favorite human.
After all the excitement from the day before, the group decided they wanted to take the day off and check out the other amenities on offer in the Safari Zone.
The pond that Nina was fishing in right now wasn’t THE pond. Rather, it was located outside the bounds of the nature reserve, in an amusement park-like area called Safari Park that tourists can visit for more leisurely activities.
Fishing alongside Nina was Nobita, who was currently playing a game on his Pokegear whilst waiting for fish to bite. These were, surprisingly, regular fish and not fish pokemon, which you can catch and cook at your own time. Or pay an exorbitant fee and have the adjacent cafe cook it for you, likely to middling quality. Tourist traps were a fixture in every world it seems.
The other kids were currently at an interactive museum, the centerpiece of Safari Park. That said, the trivia one can learn in the place was rudimentary at best since it mostly caters to children. So Nina was not interested and opted out of it.
“So, Nobita. Have you decided on what Pokemon to catch?”
The boy in glasses paused his game, looked up briefly in contemplation before answering “Nidoran.”
Nina pretended not to be excited at the boy’s choice. “Oh. Is there a reason for that?”
“Nidokings are cool,” he replied simply, garnering a lot of respect from Nina for his excellent taste.
“I know right!” She exclaimed. “They just look so badass. People say that spikes are corny, but I beg to differ. Spikes. Are. Cool! And Nidoking has just the right amount of spikes without feeling too extra. Not to mention the purple. Purple is such a regal color don’t you think? Perfectly befitting a King. Nidokings are such well designed Pokemoooon… by Arceus, I mean. Arceus did an incredible job of designing Nidoking.”
Nina let out an awkward laugh at her minor slip up at the end, only for Nobita to look at her like she was a weirdo.
“Anyways,” continued Nina, in an attempt to divert the conversation. “Nidoran are fairly common and it shouldn’t be too much trouble to convince one to go with you. Heck we even saw a whole bunch yesterday. Looks like that one Ball limit won’t be an issue after all.”
Nobita let out a sigh. “Pokemon… don’t really like me.”
“Aww… Don’t say that.” Nina playfully smacked Nobita on the shoulder, causing the shy boy to blush in embarrassment from the physical contact. “Tell you what, I’ll help you catch a Nidoran when we get back into the Safari tomorrow. I’m sure we can find at least one that’s willing to become your friend.”
Nobita nodded in agreement and thanked Nina in a barely audible tone. This was when his fishing rod began shaking, and he hurriedly tried to grab hold of it, nearly dropping his pokegear into the water.
***
The next day, the group split up again. Stephen took Charlie and Bobby off to the sand dunes to verify the validity of some Trapinch sightings that Nina found online. While Kumiko, who did not want to deal with sand in her crevices, opted to go elsewhere.
So Nina suggested they go back to the outskirts of a different forest to catch a Nidoran for Nobita. And since Tiffany did not care, as usual, Kumiko agreed with the caveat that they only stayed in the outskirts, not wanting a repeat of Stephen’s misfortune.
Finding a Nidoran wasn’t hard at all. However, finding one that was willing to go with Nobita was trickier. The boy was fairly reserved, and purple Nidoran, being an entirely male species, was rather aggressive. Most of them took one look at him and simply turned away. Much to the boy’s dismay.
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Nina did however get to interact with a lot of purple and blue Nidoran. Were it not for Nobita supplying his own berries, she would have been genuinely worried about her own stock running out.
“Cheer up, man. I’m sure we’ll find one eventually,” assuaged Nina.
“Or perhaps you could get a blue Nidoran instead? They’re all sweethearts, and there were a few that seemed to be interested,” chimed Kumiko, rather insensitively.
The woman did not seem to understand the romance of having a Nidoking. A topic that Nina had liberally espoused upon during their time in the forest.
Nobita sighed. “Maybe you’re right… Nidoqueen share a similar moveset to their counterpart anyway.
“No!” Exclaimed Nina. “I will not let you settle. We will find you a purple Nidoran, no matter the cost.”
Her surge of enthusiasm seemed to have astonished her companions, except for Tiffany who just rolled her eyes.
Nina stomped off into the forest to look for more of the Poison Type Pokemon.
It took a lot of Berries, but Nina did eventually find a gossipy Nidorina who tipped her off on one of her rather reclusive kin. From the little bits that Nina managed to understand through her miming and Pokemon speech. This particular purple Nidoran was a bit of a coward and was often bullied by his peers.
“Niiii!” Cried the Nidorina, as she flicked her nose towards a tree with a little burrow dug into its roots. They were actually a fair distance into the forest, much to Kumiko’s displeasure. The woman had her hand above Pidgeot’s Pokeball at all times.
“Thanks Nidorina, here are the Berries I promised you.” Nina rewarded the chatty Nidorina for her efforts and the Pokemon ran off elsewhere to enjoy her spoils, already bored of the humans’ company.
“Okay, Nobita. Good luck!” Nina pumped her fist in encouragement.
The boy looked a little nervous, but he still held out his berry pouch and steadily approached the little burrow. Judging by the size of the dwelling, this Nidoran must have been really tiny.
“You know, I had a cousin who was obsessed with Nidokings as well. I never got the appeal…” Said Kumiko, before shushing Nina when she recognised that the girl was about to start yapping again.
“Hmph! This is all stupid and pointless,” said Tiffany.
Usually Nina would just ignore the five year old, but since they were idly waiting on Nobita anyway, she decided to engage. “Do you not like Pokemon, Tiffany?”
The haughty girl simply scoffed in response.
Nina hummed. “Perhaps Psychic or Ghost Types? I noticed you really like watching Sabrina’s shows.”
The Psychic Type Gym Leader had quite the TV presence, as do most of the Gym Leaders in fact. Some of her most popular ones are the one where she threw hapless trainers into creepy environments and attempted to scare them, and another where she just did various forms of fortune telling in a little tent.
“That’s Madame Sabrina to you!” Exploded the little girl. “Madame Sabrina is the coolest, the pinnacle of elegance. A lame Psyduck like you can never compare!”
Nina had the feeling that Tiffany’s definition of Psyduck and her definition of Psyduck differed.
“Tiffany!” Scolded Kumiko, absolutely appalled by her daughter’s attitude.
“It’s okay, Kumiko. Psyducks might be lame but they evolved into Golduck, which are anything but lame,” said Nina, and she meant that as well because Golduck were among her favorite Water Pokemon.
It took a bit longer for Nobita to catch his Nidoran. Most of that time was spent trying to coax the little fella out of his hidey-hole for a conversation. However, once he was out, it was a pretty done deal.
The poor little guy was not used to anyone showing him affection, having been ostracized all his life for being a runt. It was actually quite touching to see Nidoran bawling out of happiness and Nobita looking flustered, not sure on how to comfort his new friend.
After everything was settled in the forest, the group rendezvoused next to the Safari’s largest body of water for a lakeside picnic. This was also close to the pond where Nina thinks she might be able to encounter Dratini.
***
In truth, even if Nina were to encounter a Dratini, she wasn’t sure if she would want to catch one. Back in her past life, Miles would catch boxes full of Dratini, some he kept as they were, while others he evolved into Dragonair. Dragonite were powerful, stat wise, but their design didn’t appeal to him, so he might only evolve one Dragonite for completeness sake.
In the very real Pokemon world that Nina now lived in however, such behavior would be extremely irresponsible. Pokemon have an inherent drive to become stronger and evolve. A Pokemon would have to be very eccentric to refuse evolution and remain in a juvenile form.
Preventing a Pokemon from evolving against their will was pretty much a form of abuse, though the laws regarding the subject were murky at best. Not to mention the other practical aspects of owning a Dragon. They weren’t exactly the easiest Pokemon to sustain.
Regardless, Nina still wanted to meet a Dratini. It was her favorite pokemon, and being able to boop their cute little snout would be a dream come true. In fact, she had made it her goal of this trip to interact with them when she found out that she was going to the Safari Zone.
Charlie ran off with a determined look in his eyes, Stephen in tow to look after his son.
“It seems that Charlie decided on who his starter is going to be. Good for him.”
Bobby was awkwardly flailing around in the water with a floatie, while Nobita was sitting under a tree, trying to get to know his new partner better. Tiffany was sulking as usual, and Kumiko was sunbathing with a bikini on.
Nina had also taken off her clothes to unveil her one piece swimsuit underneath. Well actually, it was a two piece, since the bottom half can be removed when she went to the bathroom. Nina never understood how girls peed in a real one piece swimsuit. “Do they just take the whole thing off and sit there fully naked or something?”
Regardless, she wanted to get into the water for one reason only; make friends with the local Water Type and coax them into telling her the location of the Dratini. Nina reckoned that if the Dragons were around, then the local pokemon might have some clue as to where they might be.
The first group of Pokemon that she aimed for was a gathering of Lotads that were just idly floating on the lake. Yes, the Safari had Lotad. As evident by the Paldean Tauros, the nature reserve had quite a selection of Pokemon not of the Kanto-Johto variety.
Lotads were amphibious, so there was a stronger likelihood that they might have a broader understanding of the surrounding area. Since not all the bodies of water in the area were connected. There were quite a few isolated ponds here and there that Nina was suspicious of.