Given that Kanto and Johto of the Pokemon world was based on Japan’s Kanto and Kansai region. It stands to reason then that Mount Silver would look like Mount Fuji.

Nina looked out at the aesthetically symmetrical mountain with its snow frosted tip in awe. The view was further enhanced by the sea of luscious green trees adorned with the occasional pink of fading cherry blossoms.

“I can see why they call it Mount Silver,” commented Nina. And indeed, the dull silver colouration of the mountain’s body did seem like Arceus went and plopped down a titanic piece of silver to serve as the mountainous divide between the oft warring Kanto and Johto.

“It’s all granite,” explained Melina. “That’s why it looks like that. Though my own grandma often told me stories about how the mountain used to be full of silver until it was all mined away by the people. And that was how the war between Kanto and Johto started — greedy fools fighting over the scraps of silver that was leftover.”

Nina nodded, thinking there was some sense in that. “But in all the material I read about Mount Silver, nothing mentions the discovery of silver. If the metal did exist in the mountain’s bowels at some point, surely someone would have found small nuggets of it from time to time.” It's impossible to fully mine out every vein of ore afterall.

The old woman and her granddaughter were now having a pleasant picnic on top of a riverside hill overlooking an absolutely premium view of Mount Silver.

The flight from Cerulean to Pewter City only took a little over an hour, but Melina Ashes wanted to spend some quality time with her granddaughter and deliberately took a more scenic route, stopping by a few choice spots for some sightseeing.

“Did you serve in the war, grandma?” If there was one thing that Nina knew about old people, it was that they all loved telling war stories.

Melina snorted. “That I did, child. That I did. In fact, I used to be a drill sergeant back when Pewter was just a military complex. Back then, our parents would kick us out of the house at ten years old and we would have to go on our journey. Anyone who failed to complete the Gym circuit was considered too weak and would be sent off to Pewter to be whipped into shape.”

The old woman chuckled. “I still remember the look of fear those snot nosed brats used to give me. They called me the Gyarados lady for how terrifying I was.” Melina cackled. “Even thought about actually getting myself a Gyarados just to live up to the name. Haha!”

“Did you? Get a Gyarados I mean.”

“Nah,” scoffed Melina. “Gyarados were treated as weapons of mass destruction, child. For all that both sides hated each other there were some lines that must not be crossed. The moment that it was found out that a soldier from the Kantonian side owned a Gyarados, Johto would follow suit with their own. Imagine fighting in a war where there was a non-stop rain of those damnable monsters.”

Nina imagined Flying Type Pokemon dropping Pokeballs containing angry Gyarados onto her city and shivered. It was indeed not a pleasant thought. The sea serpents might as well be the equivalent of nuclear bombs with how indiscriminately destructive they can be.

***

Pewter City was completely unlike Cerulean City. The architecture was all blocky and rustic, and there were no high rises in sight. The tallest buildings were probably only around two to three storeys tall. This was due to the city being established so close to the mountain. Nina imagined the residents suffered their fair share of earthquakes and rockslides on the regular.

The most prominent building that Nina could spot was the Pewter City Gym. It was the largest building in the city and had a very airport hangar aesthetic in its boxy simplicity.

The entire city felt haphazard, like the residents decided to just build wherever they wanted without any regard for proper zoning and city planning. As a result, Nina would often see buildings that were completely cut off from any alleys or main roads due to being surrounded on all sides by other constructs. It was a civil engineer’s nightmare.

But there was a sort of organic beauty to the place. Nina can kind of pinpoint where the Pewter Military Complex used to be from the semblance of order that she could find in the city. Everything else looked like it just grew out from that one central point, like a tree’s roots.

Melina’s Pokemon daycare was located in the outskirts, besides a plot of forest land that had been cleared out for her use. Her Pidgeot landed with a squawk and a billowing gust of wind and dust, declaring their arrival.

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Nina had set off shortly after she left school on a Friday. So after accounting for all of their meandering, the Pewter City skyline was now stained by the fiery glow of twilight.

They were greeted by an unassuming middle aged lady in a green apron, one of Melina’s employees whom she entrusted to look after her daycare in her absence. “Welcome back, Melina,” she greeted. “And this cutie here must be the Nina I’ve heard so much about.”

“Hi, I’m Nina,” echoed the girl. “Thanks for taking care of grandma’s daycare while she was away,” said Nina, with a bow.

“Oh my, so polite. Must have gotten it from her father’s side,” said the woman with a smirk. “I’m Sekimori, but you can just call me Aunt Seki like everyone else.”

“Nice to meet you, Aunt Seki! I’ll be in your care over the weekend.”

“Tiin!”

“Pika!”

“And these are my friends, Pikachu and Tini. They said hi as well,” added Nina.

Sekimori swooned. “How adorably sweet! You’re definitely your father’s daughter. It’s hard to believe that old grump could pass down anything but salt and vinegar.”

Melina cleared her throat. “Enough! Seki, go settle Pidgeot. I want to show Nina to her room,” she instructed.

“Don’t let that bag of raisins fool you, child. She’s as devious as they come,” warned Melina, once they were out of earshot from her employee.

“If she’s so bad then why did you hire her?” Argued Nina.

Melina clicked her tongue. “Cause she has the shrewdness of a Meowth, and sometimes that’s what you need in a business.”

According to her grandmother, the room that Nina will be staying in used to belong to her mother. The interior was cozy if a bit spartan, containing only a bed, desk, and a wardrobe. Nina was unsure if the place was cleaned out after its previous occupant left or if this was just how Leanette Ashes was raised.

“Go ahead and settle in,” said Melina. “I’m gonna go and get the ingredients ready for tonight’s barbecue.”

“Okay~ Can I go out and play with the Pokemon?”

Melina hummed. “Sure, but just so you know most of our customers have been picked up already so all that’s left is our own Pokemon and the few who’s trainers have gone on vacation. Besides, you’ll end up seeing most of them during dinner anyway.”

That was fine with Nina, some Pokemon were better than no Pokemon. But she did want to settle down a bit after riding bareback on a Pidgeot for so long.

***

“Nina, dinner time!”

Nina moved away from the Oddish and Bellsprout she was playing with. She had tried to trim the Pokemons’ leaves but wasn’t very good at it. Luckily the Grass Types weren’t too offended.

“Sorry guys, wanna come have dinner with us?” Asked Nina. But the wild Pokemon in question did not respond and simply buried themselves in the ground, content to just absorb nutrients from the soil.

Nina shrugged and went over to the outdoor dining area that Melina had set up, smelling the delectable smell of smoke and barbecue as she came close.

To her surprise, the food she saw were all things she could eat. There was a colorful assortment of vegetables, either grilled or in a salad, as well as various fish dishes as the main.

Seeing her granddaughter’s sparkling eyes, Melina gave a smug smile. “Heh. I had Ol’ Tanky go and catch fish for you in the river this morning,” she said, referring to her late husband’s Blastoise.

Nina cheered and ran over to the old Blastoise who was just laying there on the ground. “Thanks, Tanky!” said the girl as she gently rubbed against the old turtle’s callused head.

“Blassst…” moaned the lethargic Pokemon.

The Blastoise was really getting up there in age. Nina could tell from his moss covered shell and the Pokemon’s scarred and weathered complexion, so she knew how straining it was to have him do anything. Their species tends to slow down with age. In addition, Nina knew that her grandfather’s Blastoise also suffered from a bad knee that killed the duo’s battling career.

“Grandma, is it okay to leave Tanky’s shell like that? I think I see a sapling growing on it.” Plants were ridiculously tenacious and Nina was worried that the roots of any seeds that had taken growth would burrow their way through the tough carapace and harm Tanky’s internals.

Melina just shrugged. “So long as the moss doesn’t get into any of the crevices, it should be fine. Besides, if that old turtle senses anything wrong, he’ll come crying for help or just rub himself against a boulder.”

“Is it okay if I help clean Tanky’s shell tomorrow?” Asked Nina. “I want to thank him for the fish.”

Nina’s grandmother scratched her chin. “Sure, if you do it early in the morning. I’ll get the tools out for you later. Now enough about that lazy old thing, c’mere and have a taste of grandma’s cooking.”

Nina did as she was told and dug into the food, making sure to heap tons of compliments onto Melina. The old woman was being uncharacteristically considerate by catering to Nina’s dietary preferences and Nina wanted to ensure that she felt recognised for her efforts.

“This fish is delicious. The skin is crispy and salted to perfection while maintaining a soft and succulent flesh. Right, Tini?”

“Tiin~” echoed the Dragon as he too gorged himself on Melina’s cooking.

“It’s nice to eat freshwater fish for a change.” Nina and Tini were used to the brininess of saltwater fish, so the earthy undertones of what they were eating was a nice change of pace.

Melina laughed. “Well make sure to eat up cause I’ve still got plenty left over and the coals are still hot.”

“So what sort of plans do we have tomorrow?” Asked Nina, in between bites of her food.

“”Well… after you're done cleaning Tanky, you can come help out in the daycare. See what it’s like if you ever want to come work for your beloved grandma. After that, we can go out for lunch in the city. And who knows, I might even have a surprise for you.” Melina said the last part with a smirk. But Nina instantly lit up at the mention of a surprise.

“Are we going to the Gym tomorrow?” She exclaimed. Nina did ask beforehand if it was possible to get a tour of the Pewter City Gym, but her grandmother didn’t give her any definitive answers.

In truth, if Nina wanted to, she could easily get a message through to Brock. Not only was Misty the man’s former travel companion, Nina was also acquainted with Stephen who used to be one of the City’s Gym Trainers. In fact, she had already planned on making a couple of calls if her grandmother failed to pull through.

Melina clicked her tongue, annoyed that her surprise was ruined. “Of course. As if that brat could refuse a request from me.”

Turns out, Nina’s grandmother was more well connected than she realized. It made sense given her past history in the military. She probably commanded a lot of respect and trauma from the high population of veterans in the city.