“Wag!”

“Star!”

Nina was currently floating on the lake and watching a Poliwag and a Staryu argue over who between them were the strongest, while she had a Lotad in her embrace sighing in exasperation. This seemed to be a common occurrence with the trio.

The Lotad in her hands was one of the younger ones among the group that Nina had approached earlier. Having gotten attached to the human girl, he introduced Nina to his two other close friends. It was actually really cute how the three different species got along so well with each other.

Lotad’s two besties were wary at first, but opened up once Nina climbed a tree at their behest to pluck some apples for them. The trio quite liked the fruit, but due to their limited stature, could only wait for the occasional stray apple to drop before scrambling to get hold of it. And even then, they had to compete with the other landbound Pokemon like Pikachu.

“Say Lotad, do you happen to know if there are any Dratini in the area?”

The Lotad looked at Nina with his usual derpy expression. The pokemon wasn’t very expressive so it was a little hard to communicate with him.

“Let’s see… Dratinis are blue, just like you and Poliwag. They’re also very long,” Nina made a wavy gesture with her arm to symbolize Dratini’s serpentine appearance. “Also, they have these tiny wing-like things on their head,” she continued, while pressing the base of her palms against her temple to imitate Dratini’s signature appendage.

“Poli wag!” Surprisingly it was actually Poliwag who responded to Nina, having overheard their conversation.

“You know about the Dratini? Do you mind showing me where they are? I want to make friends with them as well.”

The swirly tadpole Pokemon gave a confident nod, puffing its belly up, before Staryu pushed him aside and gave a few flashes of his gem.

“Staryu star!”

Poliwag, angry at being pushed, struck back at Staryu and the two were now glaring at each other. Lotad once again sighed. From what Nina could tell, it seemed that Staryu also knew where the Dratini were and wanted to steal Poliwag’s glory.

“It’s cute that they’re rivals but this is getting kind of annoying.”

“Guys, guys!” Called Nina. “Cut it out. Instead of arguing, why don’t we make this into a competition? There’s no guarantee that the places you guys know are the same one. So how about we make it so that the first to lead me to a Dratini will be the winner?”

Poliwag and Staryu looked at each other, then looked back at Nina, tilting their bodies simultaneously.

Nina was a bit bewildered, but she had a faint idea of why the two reacted that way. “So I take it the two of you are thinking of the same place?”

The two pokemon nodded. For a pair of rivals who were constantly at each other’s tail, it was surprising how in sync they were.

“Alright, how about I go pluck some more apples for you guys and you can show me where?” All three pokemon splashed around in excitement at the mention of apples.

The location that Nina was guided to was a secluded pond within the forest. Nina was carrying Staryu in her arms while Lotad was sitting heavy on her head. Meanwhile Poliwag trotted along on its stubby legs, acting as their guide.

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Before this, Poliwag and Staryu actually got into an argument about which route to take. Poliwag thought the land route was faster while Staryu wanted to go by water since it couldn’t walk. In the end, Nina convinced the starfish pokemon by offering to carry it.

Looking at the pond now, Nina was glad about her choice. Because Staryu’s route likely involved going through convoluted underwater caverns which might be a bit too dangerous for a human.

“Okay, hang on a sec guys. Need to do an equipment check.” Nina rummaged through her little utility belt and the various pouches attached to it. It was a nifty bit of kit, albeit unfashionable. Tiffany actually scoffed at her when she first laid eyes on it.

“Berries, check. Rocks, check. Safari Balls, check. Rebreather, check.” The rebreather was something that Nina borrowed from Kumiko beforehand. As a Water Type specialist, she always kept a few handy. “Repel… Maybe not.” The substance might agitate stronger Pokemon.

Once everything was accounted for, she unclipped her Pokegear and sent a message to her two guardians, simply containing her current coordinates and explaining that she was just exploring a small pond that her new Pokemon friends liked to play at. Promising to ping them every fifteen minutes or so to let them know she was still alive.

The Pokegear was naturally waterproof, given that it was originally designed for heavy outdoor use.

Nina imagined the adults wouldn’t be too happy with her wandering off, but hoped to soften the blow by being a responsible individual. She prayed to Arceus that the two of them wouldn’t suddenly rush over and intrude upon her exploration.

“Alright, all good now,” declared Nina, as she bit on her rebreather and dove into the water.

Staryu was kind enough to allow Nina to hold onto it as they dove, leaving Lotad on the surface since their friend didn’t do well in deep waters. That also explained why the lotus Pokemon had no knowledge of the Dratini.

Staryu seemed to enjoy dragging Nina around, intentionally speeding up and doing a whole bunch of underwater acrobatics, much to Nina’s consternation. The starfish was getting a kick out of seeing the cloud of bubbles that its passenger expelled everytime Nina tried to hold back a scream.

Eventually though, Nina let go, holding her head to signal to her mischievous companion that she was getting dizzy and couldn’t handle anymore. Thankfully, Staryu had enough decency to stop.

Poliwag swooshed its tail around, signaling for his friends to follow. And the little tadpole led them to a whole school of Feebas.

“Maybe school is the wrong word to use, there’s only about a handful of them around.”

But regardless, Nina’s eyes lit up at the ugly looking Pokemon. She was honestly tempted to catch them right then and there, but held herself back.

Feebas were hardy bottom feeders, able to survive on gunk and algae that pollute a water source. They were an incredibly useful pokemon and are often referred to as aquatic janitors by academics.

However their evolution, Milotic, was the exact opposite. The world’s most beautiful Pokemon was also equally sensitive. Polluted waters will weaken them rapidly, initially causing their scales to lose their signature luster, before eventually falling sick and withering away.

This was the reason why Milotic were so rare despite the abundance of Feebas swimming around. That and the fact that even the lowest quality Prism Scale will cost upwards of six figures. Combine that with the costly upkeep and Nina was liable to bankrupt her entire household with just a single Pokemon. Cerulean Sister she was not.

As Nina observed the fish Pokemon, she recalled reading an interesting research thesis on why the dichotomy between Feebas and Milotic’s constitution exists. The author posits that a Feebas’s ability to “clean” was part of the evolutionary process. That is to say, a Feebas will only evolve once it has prepared a perfectly suitable environment for its evolved self, by ensuring a pollution free water source.

That would also explain why most wild Milotic were often found in secluded bodies of water like the one that Nina was currently in. It was simply easier for a Feebas to clean and maintain. The author also wrote about how the cleanliness of a Feebas’s environment also contributed to the “beauty” factor that was a prerequisite for its evolution. But that’s not important right now.

“It made sense that Dratini would live near a pond like this. With this many Feebas swimming around, the water here is probably cleaner than anywhere else.” It was said that clean water was also important for the healthy growth of the Dragonite line.

After Nina fed some berries to the curious Feebas that approached her, they moved on to a little cavern that was hidden by the darkness.

Nina was a little nervous frankly, these types of underwater exploration tend to end quite badly. But she decided to trust the two companions she was with to double back if the path was too difficult. Staryu was also considerate enough to light up its gemstone so that its two friends could see where they were going.

Thankfully, the cavern was wide enough for Nina to pass through. In fact, she was quite lucky that she had the opportunity to come here as a child, because she definitely would not have fit as a teenager, or an adult.

“This also explains why no one has reported seeing Dratini here. An adult definitely would not be able to access this place, unless they were willing to brute force their way through. But then, why would they? Not unless they know something precious was hidden inside.” Nina doubled down on her vow to keep this place secret.

The tunnel connected to the cavern was pretty straightforward with no splits. It mostly led deeper inside before steadily sloping upwards to a large cavity somewhere.

Stalactites dripped water onto the little pool below as Nina surfaced. The girl swung her head around and pulled her hair back to clear her sight. Taking off her rebreather, she took in a breath of fresh air before checking her surroundings.

She turned, slowly taking in the sight of the space she found herself in before pausing, mouth agape as she caught sight of the Pokemon of her dreams.