A/N: An thus begins the 2nd Act of Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure! It's a shame to see I've not garnered any new readers from the looks of things, but to be fair, I've been away from this site for a long time and never posted anything Pokémon related here. Gosh, I still need to sort out my profile, but these last couple weeks have been absolutely hectic.
This is the first chapter to feature 'The Story So Far' segments, which will be in bold and aligned to the centre to tell when they start and when the proper chapter begins. It probably doesn't serve much of a purpose on , but recapping the story was very convenient back when this was a Miiverse story. Likewise, certain words being capitalised when they shouldn't be and the like were likely done to make reading easier back on Miiverse and such. It will be a while before I have the spare time to edit things to be more... appropriate for this site.
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 2!
The Story So Far!
Nanka, a polite young girl from Pallet Town with a love of travelling and a tendency to worry, began her Pokémon adventure.
Things didn't start out so well for this new trainer, as the Pokémon meant for her was taken by her self-proclaimed rival; G-Man. She instead received a headstrong and rash Pikachu, whom she named Jolt. The two… didn't really get along.
Over the course of a few days, as they travelled through Viridian Forest and battled numerous trainers, Nanka and Jolt went from tolerating one to enjoying one another's company… most of the time at least.
Through this journey, Nanka gained two more travelling companions; an easily flustered Butterfree named Dusty and a persistent Nidoran Female named Venom. Together they bested Gym Leader Brock and won their first Gym badge.
Nanka enjoyed Pokémon battles, but she had no goals regarding it. She was content to just travel around the Kanto region, gain new travelling companions and peacefully enjoy her time spent wandering.
Life had other ideas about this.
"Thieves at Mt. Moon." Nanka read off the sign by Pewter City's exit. "I hope we don't bump into any of them, right Jolt?"
Nanka turned around as she addressed her Pikachu, only to notice that he had already started to run towards Mt. Moon.
Jolt was fed up.
When he had heard about the Pokémon Gym, he had gotten excited. He loved battling and the Gym seemed the perfect place to do it. Instead he had to sit and watch others fight for a whole day, all because the Rock Gym was filled with Electric immune Ground-types!
Well now the Gym battles were over, and on this brand new day, he was desperate for battle. He was going to take on as many as trainers as he possibly could.
Nanka caught up with Jolt, only to be immediately be caught up in the impulsive Pikachu's battle. Nanka found direct eye-contact with strangers uncomfortable at times, but they apparently counted as the primary invitation for trainers to battle one another.
Once the battle with the Lass and her Pidgey's was over, a battle that Jolt had started by himself, Jolt ran off to the next nearest trainer. Nanka had been trying to call him back before, but the moment he became poisoned, she became desperate.
Unfortunately, Jolt kept fighting until he fainted.
Jolt was niffed, but Nanka wasn't having any of it today.
"Now don't you ever run off like that again!" Nanka lectured the recently healed Pokémon with a trembling lip and wavering eyes. "If I ask you to return, then you come back to me and stop fighting!"
Jolt had turned his head away from his trainer, finding it hard to look at her sad expression, "You really had me worried there."
Jolt's lip trembled a little as he responded with a small nod and a tiny squeak, "C-chuuu…"
After the lecture, the two of them left for the PokéMart, to properly prepare for the journey. Given the recent poison scare, Nanka considered stocking up on lots of Antidotes, but reasoned that so long as she kept a good eye on Jolt then she'd have nothing to worry about.
As such, Nanka decided to purchase some Pokéballs instead for the trip to Mt. Moon. She felt she didn't have the greatest aim and some spare Pokéballs would help her gain more travelling companions for her adventure.
Another thing Nanka considered before heading out to Mt. Moon was whether or not to use the TM she had been given from Brock. The strange blocky contraption was apparently able to teach a Pokémon a new move, in TM34's case, Bide.
Remembering her battle against Brock's Onix and how ineffective its Bide move was against her Dusty, Nanka decided against it. Perhaps she'd find a better TM along the way.
"Oh, well, hello and uh… I like skirts?" Nanka replied in complete confusion.
To be fair, if a Youngster had run up to you and blurted out, "Hi! I like shorts! Their comfortable and easy to wear!" you'd be pretty confused as well. Then Nanka was challenged to a battle by this shorts loving Youngster… naturally.
Jolt was going to leap forward, but Nanka held him back, "Now, Jolt! You have to wait your turn."
Jolt begrudgingly agreed.
"Awww, it's adorable!" Nanka swooned as the pink balloon Pokémon appeared before her.
"I know right!" The Jigglypuff's trainer giggled as she hugged her Pokémon. "There used to be a lot of Jigglypuff's around here, but they seemed to have moved to other routes."
"Awww, I'd love to have one as well." Nanka said, with tones of both pleasantness and envy.
Jolt meanwhile was waiting for his battle against the Jigglypuff to start.
"Finally." The weary trainer gasped out as she made her way into the PokémonCenter.
Jolt on the other hand dashed into the Center with his near limitless energy. It was with good timing that they had arrived when they did, as the sun neared its setting.
As Nanka went to the desk to request to stay the night, a man approached her.
"Hello there," The stranger began to say enthusiastically, "have I got the perfect deal just for you!"
"O-oh, that's… nice to hear." Nanka replied to the unsettling grinning stranger.
"I'll let you have a swell Magikarp for just P500! The man said as he threw an arm across Nanka's shoulder, making her rather uncomfortable. "What do you say?"
"A-aren't Magikarp… very common and weak Pokémon?" Nanka asked, having seen them in waters of Pallet Town before.
"Not at all; that's a cruel rumour spread about them. They're actually the most magnificent of Pokémon!" The stranger bragged, grinning from ear to ear as he looked Nanka in the eye. "I'm telling you, I'm giving you a real bargain."
Nanka was uncomfortable and uncertain as she considered whether or not to purchase the Magikarp from the… eager salesman. She wanted to avoid spending too much money, but if this Magikarp was as magnificent as the salesman said, then she felt it could be worth it.
The unsure girl glanced over to her Pikachu, whose eyes were focused on the stranger, glaring at him with steely eyes. Jolt's stare wandered over to Nanka, an with a more concerned expression, shook his head.
Pulling herself away from the stranger and giving herself a second to compose herself, Nanka opted to reply in as polite a manner as possible, "I'm sorry to say that, whilst I most certainly appreciate the offer, that I must… decline."
"No?" The Salesman's fake smile began to twist into a scowl. "Are you sure? I'm only doing this as a favour to you."
"An whilst I am… most grateful for the favour, I shall insist on declining."
"Tch; suit yourself kid!" The Salesman replied, all pleasantness drained from his voice.
As the salesman strolled off to find a more gullible customer, Jolt stuck his tongue out at the guy, saying a few words that were likely rather rude.
"Now, Jolt, whilst he was a tad… pushy with his salesmanship, I'm sure he was just… eager to sell us a Magikarp." Nanka said as she petted her Pikachu.
"Mt… Moon?" Nanka struggled to read off the sign in her half-asleep state.
The morning sun shone brightly in the sky as a new day of Nanka's adventure awaited her. As per usual, she had not been keen to welcome this new day, leading to Jolt dragging her away from the bed.
One look away from the sign and up to the breath-taking mountain though had Nanka wide awake. "W-wooowww!"
To Nanka's surprise, the inner caverns of Mt. Moon were rather… illuminated. Perhaps it was simply due to her and Jolt being right by the entrance, but even from there, she could see gaps along the mountain walls were sunlight was slipping in.
A smile spread across her face as she took in the beauty of her surroundings and listened to the scurrying of hiding Pokémon.
"I saw them! I'm sure they're from Team Rocket!" The just defeated Bug Catcher warned the victor of the match.
"M-maybe you just imagined it." Nanka replied, primarily in an attempt to reassure herself. "I mean, what would Team Rocket want from here?"
"Maybe…" The Bug Catcher admitted, a brief moment of relief on his face before worry once again popped up, "…but who else has a big 'R' on their clothes?"
Nanka bit her lip; worries over the dreaded criminal organisation filling her head as well.
"I came down to show off to girls." The defeated trainer stated, before winking at Nanka. "So… how'd I do?"
"Pardon?" Nanka replied innocently, taking a minute to realise that she was a girl that the Youngster was showing off too. "O-oh, y-you um… your Rattata was strong and uh…"
"I know, right!" The Youngster bragged, holding his head up so high that his blue cap fell off. "By the way, these mountains are pretty dangerous. Would you like a bodyguard?"
"N-not… you see, I…" Nanka stuttered as she stepped back from the flirtatious trainer, completely unsure how to respond.
"Kachu! Pika!" Jolt yelled out as he ran on ahead; further into the mountain.
"Jolt! Wait up!" Nanka called out as she ran after her Pikachu, giving a simple wave to the Youngster as she left him behind.
As Nanka caught up with her Pikachu, her face still blushing as her uncomfortable expressions shifted to a small smile, "Thank you for getting me out of that, Jolt."
Jolt pretended to have no clue to what his trainer was talking about.
Eager to explore every nook and cranny of the glorious location, Nanka had descended into a lower section of the mountain. Previous explorers and trainers passing through the area had been kind enough to secure ladders for the deeper sections, leading Nanka to find herself in an almost basement like area of the mountain.
"Hey, you! Little girl!" Someone yelled out as Nanka descended down into an even deeper area of the cave, still just about illuminated from the light above peeking through.
Having just entered the area, Nanka assumed that it was her who being referred to as 'little girl.' She wasn't pleased to be referred to as 'little', as truthful as it was, nor the tone of voice but turned around to see who had called out to her regardless.
"Yes?"
Nanka froze! A man clad in black, a red R emblazoned on his shirt, was approaching her. The sneering man bore an infamous uniform, the outfit of notorious Pokémon gangsters; Team Rocket.
"Now… how about handin' over your Pokémon an fossils?"
"P-pardon?" Nanka replied to the Rocket's order, taking one small step backwards.
"Ah said, little girl, that you should han' over any Pokémon or fossils ya have on ya." The Rocket smirked as he sent out a Sandshrew. "Else I'll have to jus' take 'em off ya by force."
Terrified as she was, the thought of parting from her Pokémon led to Nanka saying, "S-sorry, but n-no… no!"
Jolt had been most eager to give this Rocket member a well-deserved beating, but of course the first Pokémon sent out just had to be a Ground type. The fight loving Pikachu had to wait his turn, after both Dusty and Venom had dealt with some of the gangster's more resistant Pokémon, in order to shock both the Rocket and his remaining Zubat.
As the Rocket fell down unconscious, Nanka took a deep breath of relief.
Sure, Nanka had won her encounter with a member of Team Rocket, but that did not stop her legging it towards the nearest exit the moment the battle was over.
As the fading sunlight gleamed through her prior entranceway, Nanka spotted a Pokémon rolling along her running path. Slowing down to a halt, the Sandshrew uncurled itself before her; sharp claws up in the air like a threatening… hug?
Venom only managed to get a couple hits in on the sandy-yellow shrew before sand in her eyes made it too frustrating to land any more attacks, but those couple strong blows were enough. With one toss of a Pokéball, the weakened Sandshrew was caught.
"It's body is dry. When it gets cold at night, its hide is said to become coated with a fine dew." Nanka read aloud from the Pokédex, with the combination of 'sand' and 'dry' leading her to decide upon a name, "How about I call hiiimmm… Arid!
"Pi." Jolt said with a slight shrug; thinking the name good enough.
A new Pokémon to travel with and a lovely mountain to trek through were usually the sort of things that would have Nanka excited for the next day. Instead she lay in the centre's bed, weighing options in her head.
'Well… it is a big mountain; I might not bump into any of them.' Nanka thought. 'But it's Team Rocket! Bumping into even just one of them is dangerous!'
Nanka continued to lay in bed and worry throughout the night.
"Come on…" Nanka grumbled, as in her drowsy state from an 'early' morning wake up, she set about braiding her dark green hair.
"Kachu!" Jolt called out to his trainer, perfectly lively at his 'late' morning wake up, an presenting to Nanka a boxed TM. "Pika, Pika, Chuuu!
Nanka turned around to her Pikachu, a yawn escaping her lips before she replied, "TM…01? Maybe later, Jolt… I think you're perfectly strong enough without Mega Punch."
Jolt had mixed opinions on this; whether to be niffed at not being taught the move or proud about the praise he'd received. Regardless, he put the TM back in his trainer's bag as they readied themselves for their 8AM start of the day.
Arid the Sandshrew was fairly strong when caught, so it had not taken Nanka long to prepare him for their long journey through Mt. Moon.
Nanka was finding Arid to be an odd Pokémon though; eager to play but slow to go anywhere. He was certainly a young Pokémon brimming with child-like spirit, but the biology of a Sandshrew kept his body slow-paced. He was often spending his time playing around and knocking sand about, which admittedly did lead to some good fortune.
"Is that…?" Nanka said to herself as she bent down to look at a familiar rock. "A Moon Stone! Gosh… it looks just like the one in the Pewter Museum."
Things had been going well for Nanka and her Pokémon. They had encountered very few Team Rocket members and those they had encountered were bested with surprising ease.
As such, she had made decent progress through the mountain, with night-time still quite a ways off. Thanks to Arid, she had even managed to find an additional Moon Stone, whom Venom seemed very enthralled by. So overall; everything was going great.
"Hey, stop!"
Nanka and Jolt both froze, stopping with their feet in the air, hovering over fossils they had no clue were there. A slim, spectacled man then ran up to them and shoved the duo away from the fossils.
"Eeek!" Nanka yelped, as with one foot already in the air, she lost her balance and fell over backwards.
Jolt also begun to fall, but turned it into a quick flip, landing on all fours with a snarl on his face, "Piiiikachu! Pika!"
"I found both these fossils! They're both mine!" The spectacled man fumed.
Nanka didn't have time to even consider whether she should apologise for almost stepping on the fossil or criticise the man for his rudeness, as the very moment she had gotten to her feet, he had sent out one of his Pokémon.
Venom was usually calm, but one hit was all it took for her to persistently rush down her opponent until the end. Despite many injuries from Screeching, Tackling and Smog, Venom leapt up and struck down the opposing Koffing; the last of the fossil-claiming man's Pokémon. Her reward for her persistence was a flash of light enveloping her body.
"Venom, you're…" Nanka began to say as her Nidoran Female took on the shape of the larger, harder Nidorina, "…you've evolved!"
"S-sorry about that." The spectacled man said to Nanka, whom was currently kneeling down and hugging her recently evolved Nidorina. "I thought you were a Rocket, after my fossils."
"Uh-huh, it's okay." Nanka remarked, her attention focused on hugging Venom, who seemed rather relaxed and content despite her injuries.
"No, really, I should make it up to you. Go ahead and take one of my fossils, whichever one you'd like." The Super Nerd classed trainer offered.
Nanka decided to take the Super Nerd up on his offer, and after much switching back and forth between one fossil or the other, she settled on the dome shaped fossil.
Carefully picking up the Dome Fossil, Nanka noted, "I should really get this stored away as soon as possible."
Lucky for her, the exit to Mt. Moon was close by; so after saying tidings to the Helix Fossil owning man, Nanka and Jolt marched onward to the exit.
The red light of the evening sun shone through the exit, the sight alone increasing the pace of Nanka and Jolt's steps.
"Stop right there!" Two voices echoed throughout the mountain, grinding the trainer and her Pikachu to a halt.
Looking behind her, Nanka noticed two people and a Pokémon approaching her; a lady with gravity defying red hair, a man with blue hair just short of his shoulders, an a Meowth standing upright with excellent poise.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!" The lady with the red hair sang.
"James!" The man with the blue hair sung along.
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Wooowww! You three are amazing!" Nanka applauded, only to then notice the two R's on the human's shirts. "Wait! Team Rocket! You're with Team Rocket!"
"You bet we are!" The Meowth replied back. "Now hand over that fossil!"
"A talking Meowth!" Nanka yelled out in surprise.
"A talking Meowth!" Nanka repeated but with a tone of glee, as she ran over and knelt by the Pokémon. "H-how can you talk? That's amazing, you're amazing!"
"It's just one of my many talents." Meowth bragged.
"Hey! Don't just ignore our demand! Give us that fossil already!" Jessie snapped.
"My fossil?" Nanka murmured as she thought about her souvenir, before turning around to address Jessie. "If that's all you want, then I don't see why not."
"Wait… r-really?" James added, taken aback by Nanka's willingness.
Nanka turned and nodded at James, "Yep, really. I don't want any trouble after all."
As Nanka retrieved the Dome Fossil from her bag, ready to hand it over to James, the two of them heard a shriek of pain. Nanka and James turned around to see Meowth, Jessie and her purple Ekans laying down in defeat. Atop them was a triumphant Jolt; cheeks still sizzling from his recent Thunder Shocks.
James screamed, before angrily accusing Nanka, "I see! So this was all a ploy to catch us off guard."
"No! It wasn't!"
"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light!" The Team Rocket members announced as they sped off at an admittedly amazing speed.
Jolt stood proud, having bested all three of the Rocket's Pokémon by himself. He gave a thumbs-up to his trainer, before strolling on ahead.
Nanka stood sadden, glumly looking down at the floor as she sighed, "We… we could have solved that peacefully."
Night approached earlier than expected, it's dark blue hue blanketing the world, pushed back only by Cerulean City's street lamps. A November chill blew by on a gentle but noisy breeze, Autumn transitioning to Winter, as Nanka and Jolt headed for the Pokécentre.
Nanka couldn't help but grin as she realised that by end of this day, it had been just a little over a week since she started her Pokémon adventure.
"Eeeyaaahhh!" Nanka screamed out, as she awoke to the sensation of her falling out of her bed, crashing down to the wooden floor.
Groaning as she got up, she looked up to her bed to see Jolt atop it, impatiently shouting to her, "Kachuuuu! Pika, Pikaaa!"
"Jolt, don't push me out of the bed." Nanka whined as she looked over to the clock on the wall, "It's not even 8 o'clock."
"Pi." Jolt chipped in with a nod as he placed his trainer's hat atop her head, eager to get on with their adventure.
"That should keep it safe and sound." Nanka thought aloud as she placed the Dome Fossil in her PC.
How she was able to send a physical item to another location via a PC, she did not know, but it was convenient. She also decided to store away the TMs she had on her, having no use for them at the moment.
Having finished sorting things out; Nanka decided to head for Cerulean City's Nugget Bridge.
Nanka skipped along to Cerulean City's Nugget Bridge; a long wooden bridge that remained firm and steady in the face of vandalism, weather and time. Lost in her own little world, she was snapped out of it by a familiar voice addressing her.
"Yo! Nanka!" Nanka shook herself out of her thoughts in order to spot G-Man, his gold music note shaped pendent shining from the sunlight, approaching her from Nugget Bridge.
"Hello, G-Man." Nanka greeted with a smile.
Smirking, G-Man asked, "You're still struggling along back here?"
"O-oh, well, I kind of ran into a bit of trouble." Nanka replied slowly, as she then thought to herself, 'Even when he tries to be polite, he manages to sound rude.'
G-Man didn't notice his rude tone as he continued to smirk with pride and joy, "I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon."
Jolt perked up at the mention of strong Pokémon, sparks buzzing off his cheeks. Nanka meanwhile chose to clap, happy to hear her neighbour was doing well.
"Here, let me see what you caught, Nanka!" G-Man declared.
"Sure, let me just get them out..." Nanka began to say, reaching for her Pokéballs, before noticing G-Man pulling out his own Pokéball. "Y-you mean in a battle, don't you?"
"Obviously." G-Man said plainly, as Nanka sighed at the predictable turn of events.
"Speeeaaarrr!" G-Man's Spearow screeched as he flew out into battle, his angry stare seemingly ever present on his face.
"Saaannn!" Arid cheerfully yelled out, arms open wide for a hug.
"S-Spearow?" G-Man's Spearow took a step back, bewildered by Arid's friendly demeanour. "S-Speeeaaarrr!"
"Enough intimidating, let's get fighting Spearow!" G-Man snapped, finally getting the battle to properly begin.
"We both have Sandshrews, isn't that nice." Nanka commented as G-Man sent out a silent Sandshrew after the defeat of his hot-tempered Spearow.
"Yeah, real nice." G-Man said bitterly, "But my Sandshrew is the superior Sandshrew!"
To prove his point, G-Man's Sandshrew out sped Arid, throwing sand into his face with honed precision. The two Sandshrew engaged in a Scratching battle, but weakened by both Leers and Sand Attacks, Arid lost.
"So, you got anymore new Pokémon for my amazing team to take down?" G-Man asked, brimming with confidence.
"Not really, but..." Nanka began to say as she sent out Venom, "My Nidoran evolved."
'Aw nuts." G-Man thought, as the evolved Nidorina proceeded to take down both his Sanshrew and Rattata.
Even G-Man's Eevee fared poorly against Venom's Double Kicks.
Venom prepared a second round of Double Kick's, and as the first kick hit, G-Man's Eevee was dazed.
"Hey! Take it easy!" G-Man shouted, seeing Venom's second Double Kick about to strike, "You won already!"
G-Man dashed forth, grabbing his Eevee and getting in way of the oncoming attack.
"Venom; stop! Stop!" Nanka called out in shock, her Pokémon stopping short of hitting G-Man.
It should have been an uncomfortable silence.
Nanka sat with her Pokémon praising them for their hard work. G-Man sat close-by, cradling his Eevee, and reassuring him that they'd do better next time.
It should have been an uncomfortable silence, but as she glanced over to G-Man, witnessing the affection and pride her childhood friend gave his Pokémon; Nanka felt the silence was actually pleasant and soothing.
"Hey, guess what?" G-Man asked, breaking the silence between them, "I went to Bill's and got him to show me his rare Pokémon."
Looking up from her relaxing Nidorina, Nanka asked, "Whose Bill?"
A playful smirk of joy and pride returned to G-Man's face, "The world famous Pokémaniac, duh. Bill; the man who invented the Pokémon Storage system on PC!"
"O-oh." Nanka mumbled, turning away; embarrassed.
"Yeesh, you can list off every landmark in Kanto but you're still clueless when it comes to people, eh." G-Man said with a sly snicker.
Nanka merely pouted, unable to think of a retort to the admittedly true statement of G-Man's.
"Anyway, since you're using Bill's system, you should go thank him." G-Man suggested as he rose to his feet, "Though I bet you're more interested in seeing his Sea Cottage than him."
"Bill lives in the Sea Cottage?" Nanka asked with sparkles in her eyes, only hiding her enthusiasm as she saw G-Man smirk at her, his point proven.
"Heh, well I better get rolling." G-Man proclaimed as he begun to walk past Nanka and towards Cerulean City. "Smell ya later!"
"Goodbye, G-Man. It was nice seeing you." Nanka called out to G-Man.
As G-Man disappeared off into the city, Nanka turned towards her Pikachu and asked, "Jolt... I-I don't smell funny, do I?"
A/N: Here marks the end of the first half of Act 2. I hope you all enjoyed it! Writing out the Team Rocket motto took up quite a bit of comment post space at the time, but it needed to be done; I could have the Rocket trio feature without their motto!
It was also with this part of the game that I begun to realise, that despite all the jokes and portrayal of him in the fandom... your rival in red/blue/yellow is a fairly nice guy. He's snarky and rude, but he does give you advice, expresses concern for his Pokémon, and is far nicer than you might remember him. As such, when I got to this point of the game, I started to solidify G-Man's character and role within the story; as well as his relationship with Nanka. I guess this is also where I begun to diverge his character a little from Blue/Gary, fleshing out elements that makes G-Man... well, G-Man (though still based on the former two of course). I hope you'll continue to enjoy NPMA and thank you for reading.