Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Side Story: Sleepover

“Nina… Stop feeding him. Lynxie just had dinner, he’s gonna get all fat at this rate.”

“Nonsense. My Lynxie is a big strong boy. All this extra food is just going to turn into muscle. Isn’t that right, Lynxie? Who’s the big strong lion? You are~” Nina cooed and continued to pamper the blue and black lion cub in her arms, feeding him Berries and tickling his furry belly.

The Shinx giggled and kicked his legs out in the air, his little star tail lighting up with Electricity all the while, like a flickering lightbulb.

One of the most distinctive traits of the Luxray line was their ability to convert kinetic energy to Electric Type Energy. So really, Nina was just doing Kerry a favor by helping Lynxie bulk up. That way, the Shinx could develop more muscles and become stronger down the line.

Kerry sighed at her friend’s shenanigans and instead, turned to Lilian who was looking around her room in fascination. “Sorry, my place might be a little cramped for you, Lil. But feel free to make yourself at home.”

The three girls were currently in Kerry’s apartment for a sleepover — something that Kerry had been planning and looking forward to for a very long time. “A sleepover with friends. How exciting!” The sheltered girl had long since dreamed about this moment, and now that dream was finally being fulfilled.

Lilian shook her head to dismiss Kerry’s concern. “You need not worry. I find your home to be very… quaint. There’s a certain comfort to be felt, one that mine lacks.”

“Aww…” Kerry pulled Lilian in for a gentle hug. “You’re welcome to visit anytime, Lil.”

The Blackthorn girl chuckled. “The prospect of being able to partake in your mother’s home cooking might just be tempting enough for me to return.” She replied, and reciprocated the hug in her usual awkward demeanor. 

Lilian was still a little stiff, but Kerry could tell that she was slowly getting used to the exchange of physical affection.

“So, Kerry… Anne…”

Kerry chuckled. The nurse apprentice had insisted that her friend drop the formalities and call her by her first name, just like she did with Nina. But old habits die hard, and until Kerry did something that truly earned the Blackthorn’s acknowledgement as kin, it was likely that she would continue to struggle with the request.

“What does one do in a ‘sleepover’?” Lilian continued to ask, eliciting a genial smile from young Joy.

“Well, Lilian…” Kerry began as she dragged the socially awkward girl over to her bed for a seat. “We do girl stuff, like braid each other’s hair, play games, talk about the people we like… You know? Girl stuff.”

In truth, Kerry had no idea either. She never had a sleepover with friends before, so her knowledge was limited to just what she watched on TV and movies. But she still fantasized about having one regardless and so she made sure to do her homework and prepared a bunch of activities beforehand.

Lilian gave an apprehensive nod and looked towards Nina, whose hair had just started to grow back to a healthy fuzz, but was still a far cry from how she was before. “Perhaps… hair braiding is ill advised. And conversing about the people we like is a little…” Lilian averted her gaze, a gesture that tugged violently at Kerry’s heartstrings.

“Aww… she’s embarrassed about exposing herself in front of her crush! Do not fret, love meister Kerry’s got your back!”

The delusional girl suppressed her swoon and pulled Lilian in for another hug. “Don’t worry Lil, let’s start off simple and play some games first. I got a whole bunch of stuff for us tonight — board games, party games, you name it!” Kerry then called out to Nina and told her to leave Lynxie alone and come join them instead, much to the lion cubs disappointment.

“Oohh… games. Video games or board games?” Nina asked as she sauntered over, Lynxie still in her arms gorging on Berries.

Kerry sighed. “Board games!” She exclaimed. As if she would waste her sleepover just staring at a screen.

“Cool, do you have Economy?”

Economy was basically the Pokemon world’s version of Monopoly but with more complex rules outside of just buying real estate and turning your opponents into indentured rent slaves.

Kerry groaned. Because of course Nina would pick the most boring game to play. Unfortunately, she was alone in her opposition because Lilian lit up as well and seconded that proposal. “I forget, these two aren’t normal…” 

The young nurse girl sighed once more as she got up to go get her box of Economy, regretting the fact that she didn’t take the initiative to propose something she liked instead. “I mean who plays Economy in a girly sleepover!?”

As they were setting up, Nina and Lilian got into an argument about who got to be the bank. Something about central monetary authority, soft influence and all that. “You two do realize that the bank in this game is just supposed to look after the money and do all the trades and stuff right? They’re supposed to just be a referee.” Kerry chimed.

“That’s what you think!” The other two girls exclaimed as Nina went further and tutted at her naive friend

“Tsk, tsk tsk… Kerry, Kerry, Kerry… You see the bank isn’t just a neutral figure —-”

“I don’t care!” Kerry yelled. “Just do rock, paper, scissors and be done with it already! And don’t let me catch one of you cheating by abusing the bank, or else!”

In the end, Nina won the right to be both banker and player, much to the chagrin of the competitive Blackthorn girl. From Kerry’s perspective, this was great since it meant she had another set of eyes on Nina to stop her from cheating. 

The nurse apprentice wasn’t so naive as to think that she could outsmart the two children prodigies, so better to set them against each other. In the meanwhile… “I’m going to steer the conversation to girly topics, no matter what!”

***

“So… Lilian, what’s Champion Lance like?” Kerry asked after they were done with a particularly intense two hour long Economy session. With her two friends nearly coming to blows near the end. Good thing both their Dragons were off on a date tonight.

Lilian groaned. “Urgh… Don’t let his dignified demeanor fool you. He is naught but an incorrigible cretin whose head is filled only with thoughts of battle.”

Nina laughed as she helped collect all the fake Pokedollars they used. “That’s what you get for basing a system of governance on who’s the strongest Pokemon battler in the region. I’m surprised that the Pokemon League can get anything done at all.”

“That’s because there are other more level-headed individuals who are holding up the rear — the ones who are actually doing the work.”

“So… spill the tea. I’m sure your uncle must have some secrets he doesn’t want the world to know about right?” Kerry chimed.

Lilian hummed in consideration as she neatly organized all the pieces in the box they came in, before her face twisted into a smirk. “Well, for one, he wears shoulder pads.”

Kerry just tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the point. Nina, though, was bawling in laughter, nearly knocking the board over. “Seriously?! Insecure much? Looks like Lance needs to work out more.”

Lilian chuckled along. “Indeed. His excuse is that it helps to prop up his cape, makes it billow in a much more pleasant manner. But we all know the true reason.”

“Hmmm…” Nina hummed with a grin as she intentionally brushed past one of the pieces that Lilian was meticulously organizing, causing the other girl to scowl in displeasure. “Maybe he should consider wearing shoulder pauldrons, like you, Lil.”

Lilian growled. “I sense sarcasm in your words. But I’ll have you know that shoulder pauldrons are the pinnacle of grace and elegance. All noble ladies of the Blackthorn clan wear them. Even Aunt Clair. So your words only serve to expose you as an ignorant philistine.”

Nina scoffed. “Sure, milady… How many capes do you even own anyway? They all kinda look the same to me.” 

Her words seemed to have gotten on Lilian’s nerves as the Blackthorn girl scowled at Nina. “Truly an ignoramus. A cape is like a well tailored dress suit — subtle and refined. Not that you would know anything of the sort.”

The two uncanny young teens glared at each other as Kerry sighed. Sensing that the temperature was rising rapidly, she quickly chimed in to divert their attention. “So Lilian… I know you’re a busy girl and all. But surely you have some free time. What do you like to do for fun?”

Lilian averted her gaze at the question. “Cleaning my capes…” She muttered, her voice barely audible.

“Hmm? Whazzat?”

“Cleaning my capes!” The girl exclaimed. “And watching TV with my Pokemon as I do.” Her words caused Nina to burst out laughing.

However, Kerry just responded with a genial smile at the adorable girl and pulled her in for a hug. “Aww… That’s nice. That sounds like a very relaxing time.”

“The maintenance of Dragon Scale capes is very important…” Lilian explained, completely unprompted. “Machine washing them will result in the scales losing luster over time, so they need to be cleaned and oiled by hand. Alfred and the servants usually do it for me, but I like getting involved as well, so they always keep a few capes in reserve for me to clean…”

Kerry giggled and gave the girl another squeeze. “So then what sort of shows do you watch while you clean?” She always imagined that Lilian was into historical dramas or more action oriented stuff based on her usual demeanor. However, the girl’s answer completely took her by surprise.

“I like romance dramas…” Lilian murmured, face flushed red like a Magmar as she did.

Kerry squealed in excitement at finally finding a kindred soul. “Really?! What kind? What’s your favorite?” She asked, with overwhelming fervour.

Lilian sputtered. “Erm. Well… My favorite has always been Snowy Sonata. I really like that reunion scene at the end.”

Kerry nodded with passion. “I know right! The fact that he knew who she was even though he could no longer see! That whole scene was just kyaaa!!!”

Nina watched on in ignorance as her two friends slowly descended into a fervour, driven by talks of all the romantic fantasies they had previously consumed. At some point, Kerry went through her stuff to dig out her copy of Snowy Sonata before putting it on her TV to do a rewatch with Lilian.

Nina tried to follow along, but romance was never her schtick, so she just shared a glance with the equally impervious Shinx in her arms and went off to a corner to play with the Pokemon, eventually falling asleep in a pile of fluffy Flaaffy wool while the other two spent the entire night watching romantic dramas and trading gossips — half of which, Nina was sure, was about her. Not that she cared very much.