In a word, classes at the elementary level were boring.

Most of what Nina and her peers were learning at this stage in their life were just general knowledge; basic math, language, sciences, wilderness survival, geography, and some history. All in all, the syllabus was far beneath the capabilities of Nina’s adult mind. Though she did enjoy being introduced to the history and geography of this new world.

“Ms Roxy, how much of the world’s land mass remains uncharted?” Asked Nina, after she had raised her hand and was given permission to speak. Ms Roxy was her class’s homeroom teacher who was also in charge of teaching history and geography.

Nina’s teacher reciprocated with a warm smile. “A very good question, Nina… It’s hard to quantify, but the archaeological wing of the Pokemon League estimates that about forty percent of our beautiful world remains unknown to them. And that’s not even including some of the more reclusive States not a part of the League’s influence.”

Nina’s eyes sparkled at the prospect of exploring unknown lands, much to her teacher’s amusement.

“If you think that’s impressive. Wait till I tell you that we’ve only really explored about twenty percent of our oceans. Which means that the vast majority of our ocean’s depth remains beyond our grasps… One can only wonder what sort of new and interesting pokemon can still be found out there.”

As expected of a city housing a Water type gym, Ms Roxy’s fun fact elicited oohs and ahhs from the rest of the class.

Nina raised her hand again to ask a follow up question. “What’s stopping people from exploring these unexplored places? I understand the difficulties of deep sea exploration, but there’s nothing stopping someone with a powerful team of pokemon to explore the dark spots above ground.”

Roxy blinked at the surprisingly eloquent five year old before her. “That’s a very loaded question, Nina. And way beyond the scope of our syllabus, but it’s good to have an inquisitive mind.” The elementary school teacher rubbed at her chin in contemplation.

“Simply put, politics and pokemon. Some areas are jealously guarded by certain parties with their own vested interests. While others have pokemons and environmental hazards so daunting that even a Regional Champion might feel challenged. Not to mention, places like Mirage Island that are shrouded by unknown phenomena which continue to elude our scientists to this day,” she finally replied.

Nina nodded in acknowledgement, while she scribbled in her notebook. “I understand this is beyond the scope of our class, but are there any additional resources or reading material you can recommend to further delve into the topic?”

Roxy was briefly stunned by Nina’s academic fervor. After an awkward moment of silence, she cleared her throat and promised Nina that she would do some research and get back to her with more information.

Nina thanked Ms Roxy with a bright smile, but deep down, she was bashing herself over the head for standing out too much. “I’m an idiot. She’s an elementary school teacher. Of course she wouldn’t be able to answer a question like that!”

***

“So how was school?” asked Patrick.

Nina silently prodded at her plate with a fork, eating all the veggies and berries but setting the meat aside. Even after all this time, she still could not bring herself to eat pokemon. It just seemed wrong to consume beings with intelligence and self awareness that are equal, and sometimes even surpassing, that of humans.

“It was alright. Kind of boring honestly,” she replied.

Patrick chuckled. “Well you’ve always been smarter than all the other kids your age. Did you make any friends at least?”

Nina sighed. “Not really, everybody already knew each other. So it feels kind of awkward to insert myself into their clique.”

Patrick frowned and glared at his wife. “See what you’ve done? I told you to loosen up.”

But Leanette simply scoffed at her husband’s admonishment. “So what? Better this than let my baby get hurt!”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“It’s been two years, Leanette! Nina is five years old now, she can take care of herself. And how is letting our daughter be ostracized in any way good for her? You need to learn to let go!”

“The last time I let go, she got hurt!” Yelled the hysterical woman. She then proceeded to point an accusatory finger at Patrick. “And don’t think I don’t know what you did behind my back. You let my daughter get her hands on DANGEROUS WEAPONS!”

Patrick visibly rolled his eyes. “She’s OUR daughter, and they’re just stationery, Leanette. How in Arceus do you expect her to go to school with only a box of crayons?”

“Pika…”

Nina smiled at Pikachu’s concern and brought her in for cuddles, trying her best to endure the war that was being waged by her two parents. Such arguments have become a semi-regular occurrence in the Jones household at this point.

“And don’t even get me started on that monster you let live in our house!”

Pikachu wilted, and Nina looked up at her mother in shock.

Patrick could scarcely believe the words that came out of his wife’s mouth. “Did you just call Pikachu a monster?”

Silence ensued as Leanette looked back and forth between her husband and daughter with eyes full of mania. “I… I didn’t…”

Before Leanette could justify herself, Patrick bent down and swooped up both Nina and Pikachu in his arms. “Let’s go, you two. I think your mother needs some time to cool down,” he whispered gently into Nina’s ears, his voice barely able to contain the hurt he felt from his wife’s outburst.

“No, please no… don’t leave. Don’t take my baby…” Pleaded Leanette. But her words fell on deaf ears as neither Patrick nor Nina bothered to even spare her a glance.

Right as Patrick stepped out the door with Nina’s shoes in hand, the trio could hear an inhuman shriek coming from within the house, causing each of them to wince involuntarily.

***

“I think mom needs therapy. Any chance we can get her to seek professional help?” Began Nina, as she happily munched down on her mushroom burger.

The place that Patrick chose to take shelter in was Munchies, the Pokemon world’s equivalent of a McDonalds, well known for being a fast food joint that caters equally to both humans and pokemon.

The establishment was named after the founder’s Snorlax, which was ironic considering there were very obvious signs in place with the silhouette of a Snorlax crossed out stating: “Pokemon above the medium category not allowed, violators will be asked to leave.”

It made sense, the restaurant was spacious, but it definitely did not have the capacity to host a Snorlax, or even enough food in stock to feed one for that matter.

Nina was quite happy because she almost never got to go to Munchies, her mother was too paranoid about the “chemicals” they put into their food. But as far as Nina could tell, the Pokemon world at large was pretty good about maintaining a high bar of food quality. Given how powerful the noses of certain pokemon were. Any funny business gets shut down pretty quickly.

Patrick sighed. “I tried Nina, I really did… But she wouldn’t agree to it. Said that all psychiatrists were Hypnos in disguise and that they would brainwash her into becoming a Pokemon or something.”

Nina rolled her eyes. “How does that even make sense?”

“Pika pi,” agreed Pikachu in between noisy slurps of her Aspear smoothie.

“It doesn’t, hon… It doesn’t make any sense at all. But your mother is sick, she’s been sick for a long time now…” Patrick sounded dejected, unsure what he could do to help remedy the situation.

The conversation paused. Nina had noted that her father wasn’t touching his food at all, despite having ordered as well.

“Can you tell me what happened that day? I have no memories of the incident whatsoever. I only remember waking up in the hospital and Chansey putting me back to sleep again.”

Patrick gave his daughter a hesitant look. It was clear that he was reluctant to reopen his daughter’s past trauma, completely oblivious to the fact that the child in front of him was not even the same one he gave birth to. The current Nina Jones only became self aware after that incident, so there was no trauma to speak of.

“Please?” Pleaded Nina. “I want to help mom. But I can’t do anything if I don’t even know what was wrong to begin with.”

Patrick sighed, ultimately relenting to his daughter’s demands. “You need to understand that your mother was never the best when it came to handling pokemon. It wasn’t a phobia or anything, she was just… timid, I suppose. It was one of the things that we bonded over when we first met.”

Nina cocked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t grandma run a Pokemon Daycare?” By grandma, Nina meant the grandmother on her mother’s side.

“Well… let’s just say there’s a reason why she’s here in Cerulean, rather than over at Pewter helping your grandma with her daycare,” chuckled Patrick.

“Anyways, that day we left the city for a picnic. Your mom had been going a little stir crazy from staying at home taking care of you all day long. So I thought it’d be a good idea.” Patrick let out another sigh. “What happened instead, was that when we weren’t looking, you got abducted by a Spearow.”

A realization dawned on Nina. “So that’s what she meant earlier about ‘letting go’...”

Patrick nodded. “Yeap. Thankfully Pikachu was with us so she gave chase. But truth be told…” The distraught man looked at his daughter with guilt riddled eyes.

“I failed you Nina. Unlike your Uncle Ali, I was never the most competent pokemon trainer. I shied away from battles because I disliked the senseless violence. I should have trained Pikachu better, or given better instructions that day.” Nina’s father lowered his head in shame.

“We couldn’t knock the Spearow out of the air, for fear of hurting you as well. But during its escape, the Spearow got into a fight with a Pidgeotto. And during the chaos of it all, that deplorable bird dropped you.” The last part was spoken with so much venom that Nina was taken aback.

“Pikachu tried her best to catch you during your fall… But in the end, she was only able to cushion you towards the very last bit, barely doing much to dissipate the momentum… That said, every little bit counts, and I still like to believe that Pikachu was the reason why there was any hope of reviving you in the first place. To think that your mother would say something so cruel…”

Nina rubbed her cheek against Pikachu. “Thanks for saving my life, Pikachu.”

“Pika!” Responded Pikachu, as she nuzzled Nina back.

Nina then left her seat and made her way over to her father, causing the man to look at her in confusion. She proceeded to climb onto Patrick’s lap with Pikachu in her arms and pulled her father into a hug.

“You didn’t fail me dad, you did your best. Rather, thank you for protecting me from mom’s insanity over the past couple of years.”

Patrick held his daughter tight, and Nina could feel a bit of wetness at the top of her head. It took a lot to make Patrick Jones cry, but it seems that the burdens he’d been carrying the past two years had finally toppled over.