Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Side Story: Time and Forgiveness

Author's note:

Double release today because I'm cognizant of the fact that these two side stories are a bit on the heavier side. So might as well get them out of the way in one go.

Besides, we have 7 in total which is an odd number anyway.

***

Leanette felt a gnawing sensation in her bones as they came up to the Silver Mountain Daycare, her shoulders stiffening in spite of herself.

“When was the last time that I came back, I wonder…” Leanette’s childhood home looked much like she remembered. Except for the daycare’s signboard. Her mother must have replaced it at some point.

As she unknowingly halted in her steps, Leanette felt a light pressure on her hand.

“Are you okay, mom? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Leanette looked down with a little jolt, to meet eyes with her concerned daughter whose gaze were possessed of an assuring quality to their steadiness, like the looming figure of Mount Silver in the distance — the girl had always possessed a maturity beyond her age.

The woman let out a brittle smile and responded with a gentle pat on her daughter’s head. “I’m fine, Nina. I…” Leanette shook her head to dismiss her words. “I’m fine… You miss your grandma right? Let’s go in.”

In fact, the only reason why they were here in Pewter City was because they caught Nina sneaking out on her Dragonite to come visit. Leanette, ever worried, was furious when she found out, despite the girl’s assurances.

“I wasn’t going to visit grandma or anything. I was just going on a stroll with Nitey ‘cause I was feeling bored. You guys are too paranoid, it wasn’t like I was gonna get hurt or anything.” Nina had said at the time.

“But what if your spasms flared up, Nina!” Leanette argued.

Ever since she saw her daughter’s appalling state in the hospital, she could feel her anxiety roiling away, bursting at the seams to get out and possess her once more. Memories once locked away by months of arduous Hypnosis treatment began to surface like sediment beneath murky waters. 

“Mom!”

Leanette jolted at the tug of her hand, loosening the grip that she had unknowingly tightened.

“Hmm… What is it sweetie?” Leanette replied, opting to feign ignorance. “Come, let’s go in. I’m sure your grandma’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Nina looked towards her dad for assistance, who just wrapped an arm around his wife and assuaged his daughter with his usual, genial smile.

“It’s okay, Nina. I’ll keep an eye on your mom for us,” said Patrick, reliable as ever.

Leanette gently caressed her husband’s belly and leaned in for a kiss, eliciting an eyeroll from Nina who decisively stomped through the front door.

“Grandma~! We’re heeere!” The girl called, summoning an excited looking Melina Ashes from the back.

“Nina! My precious little Togepi!” The woman rushed over, scooping her granddaughter up into her arms and spun her around like she usually did.

“Mom!” Leanette scowled. “Stop it, Nina still isn’t fully recovered yet. You’re gonna get her hurt!”

Melina came to a stop at her daughter’s admonishment, waving away Leanette’s concern with that same callous look she always wore. “Oh pish, my granddaughter’s a regional hero. As if she’s gonna get hurt this easily. Ain’t that right, Nina? Can’t wrangle a Dragonite if you can’t deal with a bit of jostling!” The woman exclaimed, referring to the girl wobbling unsteadily on her feet.

“It’s okay, dear…” Patrick chimed, giving his wife a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. “I’m sure Espy will take care of Nina if something were to happen. Isn’t that right, Espy?”

“Es.” Nina’s dignified Espeon let out a reassuring wave of affirmation and wrapped a purple aura around Nina to support her.

Leanette stiffened, feeling a sense of doubt creeping up her mind. “That’s a Pokemon, how could a Pokemon be trusted?!” She wanted to scream, but quickly suppressed that thought. 

At this point, she was well aware of how irrational and unjustified such a notion was and had made big strides in reconciling with her trauma. The thought of her family’s happy smiles everytime she was friendly with their Pokemon empowered her. 

Leanette still remembered how enthusiastic Nina was when she first went to visit her at the Gym. The girl had spent an entire sleepless night planning out the perfect tour for her.

“But they nearly killed your baby! They couldn’t get to her at the beginning, so they tried to burn her alive!” 

“Len.”

“Mom!”

“Huh? Oh.” Leanette chuckled, reassuring her family with a tight hug. “I’m fine, I’m fine… Probably just feeling a little dizzy from the flight over. I ah… I just need some air. That’s all…”

And so, under her family’s concerned gaze, she broke away and excused herself.

***

Leanette, unknowingly, found herself in her old childhood room — it seemed that some habits die hard.

The place looked as barren as ever, upon her mother’s insistence. She remembered trying to decorate the space, but was admonished by Melina at every turn. And what her mother wanted, her mother got.

Melina Anabeth Jones. Even her daughter’s given name wasn’t entirely in her control, because the old woman was feeling left out after Patrick decided to name their daughter after his own mother. Hence why she took to calling her Nina. Partly out of spite, and also because it felt weird to refer to her daughter by her mother’s name.

That said, this was her only sanctuary growing up — Melina, for all her faults, respected Leanette’s privacy most of the time. Didn’t stop her from barging in on occasion to drag Leanette out for surprise training drills though.

Leanette found a smile on her face in spite of herself. Without some of the more traumatic memories getting in the way, she couldn’t help but feel a melancholic sense of nostalgia towards her childhood room. Not that they were actually gone though, just hidden away like a Muk lurking in the sewers — her therapists were very thorough. Perhaps too thorough, much to Patrick's fury at the time.

Her husband didn’t get angry very often, but when he did, he looked quite enticing if she may say so herself.

Leanette jolted, her musing interrupted by a knock on the door.

She turned around, to find the imposing sight of her mother who walked wordlessly into the room before she had a chance to say anything. How typical.

“You guys can stay the night here, if you want…” Melina began. “Your brother, he… Well, it’s not like he’s ever coming back. So there’s plenty of room, and it’ll be better than staying at some dingy hotel.”

Leanette hesitated, unsure of what to say as a stifling silence filled the air. “It’s uh… It’s fine, mom. Nina found us a hotel with a built-in bathhouse. She was quite excited to go actually and er… I read online that warm baths are good for her pain…”

That last part was just a flimsy excuse that Leanette made up on the spot. It seemed that she was more reluctant than she thought.

Melina nodded. “That’s… That’s fine. But at least stay for dinner. Ol’ Tanky went out fishing this morning when he heard that Nina was coming by. Pretty sure the bastard just wants the girl to pamper him with a shell cleaning again. But oh well…”

Leanette laughed. Her daughter’s affinity with Pokemon was the girl’s most endearing trait. Really, Arceus was quite cruel to skip their generation and concentrated all of their family’s best traits in Nina.

“I’m sure Nina would be happy to help clean Tanky’s shell.” Leanette responded, eliciting another nod from Melina as silence once again settled between them, the air feeling a lot less stifling this time.

“Have you…” Melina sputtered. “Have you been in contact with your brother by any chance?”

Leanette sighed. Her brother, who renounced their family and ran away from home, was a sore subject for her mother. She was only seven at the time and her brother had just come of age.

In fact, her strongest memory of the boy was the image of him all dressed up in travel gear and the ultimatum that he gave at his Coming of Age celebration. Worse of all, it was the communal celebration, so the fallout was quite a public one for her prideful mother.

The woman was so stunned at the time that Leanette’s brother was able to waltz out of the venue with no opposition whatsoever.

“I haven’t spoken to him. Not since that night, when he told me about his plans.”

Melina scowled and leveled a glare at her daughter. “You knew?! All this time… You knew and you didn’t tell me?!”

Leanette scoffed, feeling a mild sense of sadistic pleasure at her mother’s anger. “Of course I did. I even helped him pack and made a little good luck charm for him.”

In fact, Leanette had lied when she said that they hadn’t spoken earlier. Her brother would call her on occasion during the start of his journey. Though those calls became more and more infrequent after she lashed out at him that one time, until she stopped picking them up entirely.

Melina’s treatment of her remaining daughter had only worsened in the absence of her son. As if she was trying to make up for her own perceived shortcomings by doubling down on her flaws, unwilling to accept that it was that exact behavior that drove her son away.

Leanette had actually thought about reaching out to her estranged brother after her time in the hospital, but was unable to find his contact. She could probably find something in the League’s public directory, but she wasn’t good enough with technology to look it up on her own, and she was too embarrassed to ask her husband or daughter for help.

“You could have told me!” Melina exclaimed. “If you told me then maybe I could’ve stopped him… Maybe I could’ve apologized…”

That last part was said in a barely audible murmur, but sound travelled easily in such a vacant space, and Leanette caught on to her mother’s anguish.

Leanette clenched her fist in anger, feeling a complicated mix of emotions warring within her. “So all this time, she had been living with regret… But what about me?”

“What about me then?!” Leanette burst out without meaning too, tears welling in her eyes. “What about my apology?! All this time, I had been by your side, suffering through the worst of it. But never once have you thought to apologize! Not even a hug or a word of sorry! Do I not matter?! Huh?! What about me…”

Leanette cried, choking on her tears as she turned her back against Melina. The mere sight of the uncharacteristically feeble look on the woman’s face risked upsetting her even more.

As Leanette was sobbing by the corner, she felt a pair of thick, muscular arms wrap around her, her mother’s calloused hands gripping her arms tight. 

“I’m sorry…” Melina croaked. “I… I’m sorry…”

Memories of Leanette’s childhood resurfaced, of a time when her mother’s powerful grip was a source of comfort and assurance, back when her father was still alive and all was well.

The two women stayed embraced for some time, until Leanette found the courage to take in a deep breath and break the silence.

“Let’s get Nina to help look up Toby's contact — she’s really good at using her Pokedex for that sort of thing. If not, then maybe Patrick could call in a few favors from his coworkers in the League.” It was time to move on, and Leanette could only hope that her brother felt the same after so many years.

Melina nodded wordlessly, feeling much lighter for the first time in decades.

***

Author's note:

I know some of the earlier readers, who probably aren't even around anymore, had asked for a more definite resolution to this particular character arc. So there you have it.

Truthfully, this wasn't ideal. The original idea was supposed to take place after Nina gets her first badge and was written in the perspective of Melina, her grandma. But I found my ability to accurately protray the perspective of such an extreme character like her to be lacking.

So instead of doing a half-ass job at it. I decided to pivot and wrote this little side story instead. Hopefully this provides some closure for those of you who were wondering.

Also, fun fact. The character of Nina's grandma was spliced from the personalities of people that I actually know in life.

I received a lot of hate towards her early on because people said that her character was too extreme and unrealistic. But I never bothered responding to those criticism because they are objectively wrong. People like Melina do exist, especially among the older generation. If you disagree then I can only say that you lack life experience.

People, once they reach a certain age, become set in their ways and even start to regress. Life is just circular that way.

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