A/N: Despite a hectic week and weekend, I've still managed to deliver this chapter in time, so that pleases me greatly. Yet the hecticness looks like it'll be lasting me the entire month, so the following chapters and such might be a little white. Still, I've got eighteen chapters of this story up so there's plenty to read and enjoy. Speaking of which, I hope you'll enjoy this last chapter of Act 6!
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 6 Continued… Even More Than Ever!
"Wow…" Nanka remarked with a giggle as she sat down in front of the computer, "I maaay need to sort this out first."
Nanka had woken up that morning with plans to take a walk with her travelling companions, as well as to get know and train her latest companion, Ferry the Lapras. A quick check of her inventory to sort out what to bring led her to seeing a screen filled with muddled assortments of TMs, stones, souvenirs and all sorts; nearing the point of overloading her allotted inventory space.
"Let's see…" Nanka mumbled to herself as she looked back and forth between her open bag and the computer screen, "I can give Melody those HP-Ups… do I still need escape ropes?"
Jolt meanwhile sat nearby, bored out of his mind. Unlike his 'bed-loving' trainer, he had already been awake for a couple hours, eager to get going.
"I really need to organise all these TMs." Nanka continued to mumble, giving Jolt little hope that they were going to continue adventuring anytime soon.
"Here you go, Melody." Nanka said cheerfully as she passed the HP-Up pill to her Jigglypuff. "Then after I sell a couple bits and pieces, we'll be heading out."
"Pikaaa…" Jolt grumbled as he lay on the floor; face down, boredom consuming his very soul.
Nanka chose to ignore her Pikachu's dramatics, looking instead to the Pokéball containing her new Lapras, pondering to herself, 'Where should we go to train you up? Rock Tunnel, perhaps?'
Nanka cycled up to the tunnel's dark gaping entrance with a feeling of apprehension; bitter memories fresh in her mind.
'Not to worry, I've got two water types with me now.' Nanka thought as she slowed to a stop. 'Although, Ion doesn't have any water moves… and I think Ferry only has Water Gun.'
Jolt happily hopped out of the bike basket as Nanka began to worry over these new realisations.
"I still have TM11 on me. Maybe I should teach Bubble Beam to one of my Pokémon?" Nanka asked herself as she pulled the TM box out of her bag. "I don't know how long it will be until Ion learns a water move of his own, whereas Ferry already has Water Gun, so…"
After a couple minutes more of consideration, Nanka sent out her Vaporeon. Opening both sides of the blue tinted TM, Nanka started to use the device she got from Cerulean Gym, teaching Ion Bubble Beam.
"Oh, I should probably get Ferry out as well; give him a chance to warm-up first." Nanka said as she threw out the recently gifted great ball. "Good afternoon, Ferry!"
Out from the ball emerged a big blue Pokémon with a large shell on his back and a long, smooth neck. The water type Pokémon blinked twice with his dazzling grey eyes, shaking his small horned head with slight but graceful motions. The cream bellied Pokémon flashed a handsome smile as he saw Nanka, a soothing purr of his name coming out in his greeting.
"Hello again to you too, Ferry." Nanka greeted her newest travelling companion, a member of the rare and intelligent species, Lapras. "Let's have fun training today."
"You can do it, Ferry!" Nanka cheered as her Lapras shot the opposing Zubat with a Water Gun. "Follow it up with another Water Gun!"
As the Zubat recovered from the attack, Ferry began to reel his head back, preparing another Water Gun. Ferry reeled his head back a little too much though, the long necked Pokémon losing his balance and falling back onto his shell. He still shot out his Water Gun though, just now facing the opposite direction… and blasting Jolt instead.
Dusty hovered in the air nervously, carrying out her task of lighting up the area as drops of water fell from her body. Jolt meanwhile shook his soaked body, shaking off many droplets of water after another recently misfired Water Gun.
Nanka held back a chuckle as she thought about her two drenched Pokémon behind her. The two had been frequent victims of accidental Water Guns fired from a tripping Ferry. Lapras were certainly smart Pokémon, but her Lapras was also very clumsy.
"That should be enough training for one day." Nanka said, smiling as she exited Rock Tunnel.
She was followed by a sheepish Lapras… and a gang of annoyed, drenched Pokémon.
Nanka was surprisingly lucky for once, having avoided every clumsy Water Gun from Ferry. The rest of her Pokémon were not.
Really, Ion shouldn't have been concerned about getting wet, but it seemed he hadn't quite adjusted to his lack of fur yet.
Nanka and her travelling companions spent the night in Lavender Town, it being the nearest location after a day of training, as well as due to how Nanka found the ghostly whispering from Pokémon Tower soothing. Jolt on the other… paw, didn't get a wink of sleep through the night, only finally sinking off into the dreamland as a glimpse of sunlight peeked out from around Pokémon Tower and its surrounding caves.
As a result of all this, Nanka awoke from a blissful slumber at around eight o' clock, an early hour for Nanka and a late one for Jolt.
'Jolt did get the brunt of those Water Guns; maybe they tuckered him out.' Nanka thought, looking down to her snoozing Pikachu as she quietly rose from her bed. 'It's quite nice to not be pushed out of bed for once.'
Having woken up earlier than usual and with her adventure encouraging starter sound asleep, Nanka was left in an unusual position; with plenty of free but quiet time on her hands.
'I suppose I should sort out more of my TMs, free up space in my bag.' Nanka thought to herself as she finished dressing herself by gently placing her white hat atop her head. 'I still have that TM that Mr Psychic gave me, the one that contains… Psychic.'
Briefly considering her options between Ferry the Lapras, Dusty the Butterfree, and Slothful the Snorlax, Nanka soon retrieved TM29 from her bag and sent out her first caught Pokémon; Dusty. Quietly, Nanka used the TM box to teach her special stat focused Bug type the all-mighty psychic move; Psychic.
Despite his lack of sleep, Jolt's body clock refused to let him slumber for much of the morning, so he and Nanka were soon heading off for Silence Bridge. Once at the lengthy wooden bridge, Nanka sent out her team of Pokémon, allowing them to enjoy themselves and the fresh and only slightly chilly air.
"We'll be doing a little more training today, Ferry." Nanka addressed her Lapras, the latter looking about the area, puzzled. "But I thought you might not like doing all your training in a dark tunnel, so we'll be doing the rest here. You should probably relax and go for a swim first; have a bit of fun-time before we begin."
Ferry hesitantly nodded, then looked over towards the vast river.
Ferry looked towards the river… for a good half hour, the other Pokémon running about or relaxing around their motionless new friend. Slowly though, after much staring, the transport Pokémon started to lower himself down into the river.
"I'm glad Ferry is finally beginning to enjoy himself." Nanka noted as she turned around to see her Lapras had finally gone into the water. "He's splashing about with such joy… and now he's diving under the water."
Ferry had been submerged under the water for several minutes before Nanka began to worry, "F-Ferry? You can come on up now, okay?"
Ferry sat on the bridge, head hung in shame, as water dripped from his soaked body. Nanka, Chu-Chu and Jolt avoided eye-contact with the dual water and ice type, uncertain as to what to say to comfort their companion.
'Ferry… can't swim.' Nanka repeated in her head the absurd but somehow real fact, having just had to have Chu-Chu fish her newly acquired Lapras out from the bottom of the river. 'I… I just assumed all water types were born knowing how to swim.'
With Ferry…'struggling' to swim out and fight opponents, Nanka was tasked with luring the wild Pokémon to Ferry instead. That soon became Jolt's job as he snatched the super rod away from the less-than-adept fisherwoman.
"Please, Jolt. Let me try one more time." Nanka asked as she wrung out her hat. "I only hooked my hat by mistake once… thrice."
Jolt ignored her requests, focused solely on his fishing hobby, and soon luring in a Seadra for Ferry to fight against.
After much nagging, Jolt gave the super rod back to Nanka, allowing her a second chance at fishing for the day. He kept a steady eye on her as she prepared the lure, making sure she didn't get tangled up… again.
"See, Jolt! That went fiiine." Nanka pointed out as she cast the lure, almost immediately hooking onto something as it plopped into the water. "I've even got a bite already."
With a strong tug, Nanka's fished up catch flew up high in the sky, the illuminating sun revealing it to be… a bucket?
It was a rusty old bucket that promptly landed on Jolt's head.
Nanka was banned from fishing.
After a second day of training Ferry, with Jolt happily fishing for most of it, Nanka felt her Lapras now had enough experience to keep up with the rest of the team. Thus, she started discussing with Jolt their plans to take on the 'real' Saffron gym.
That said, after another lovely night's sleep in the haunted Lavender Town, Nanka took a brief detour towards Celadon City; more specifically the Celadon Department Store. She needed to restock on healing items and, given her friend Vicky's advice, decided to take advantage of the bargain sales of fresh water bottles.
'TM26 contains Earthquake; that would be a good move to teach someone, but who?' Nanka asked herself as she made her way through Saffron City and towards Saffron Gym, already seeing the building in the distance. 'I think my best choices would be Keraton and-'
"Heeeyyyy, Naaankaaa!" Nanka heard someone call out, turning around only for whoever was calling her to leap into her with open arms, effectively tacking her to the ground.
Dazed from the fall, it took Nanka a bit of time for her to recognise the younger dark haired girl who was now on top of her, "V-Vicky!?"
"Yep! That's me alright!" Vicky said with a large grin. "You here to nab a marsh badge as well, right?"
"Y-yeah, but Vicky could-"
"Awesome! We'll both trash the Gym Leader before she can even think of an attack to declare!" Vicky interrupted, punching the air.
"Pikaaa!" Jolt joined in with a punch aimed at the sky, sharing the same enthusiasm for battle as their peppy picnicker friend.
"That's nice Vicky, but-"
"I caught an epic Pokémon at the Safari Zone. Did you catch anything there? Bet it wasn't as cool as mine; what was it though?" Vicky continued talking and asking questions, speaking faster and faster with each word.
"Viiickkkyyy!" Nanka exclaimed. "Could you please get off of me first?"
"Oh yeah, I probably should do that." Vicky noted, hopping off of her friend and helping her up onto her feet. "But anyway, how ya doin' Nanka?"
With Vicky no longer on top of her, Nanka was able to better appreciate seeing her energetic friend once again; giggling as she replied, "I'm doing quite well, Vicky."
Vicky raised a brow as she leaned around to stare at Nanka's bandaged right arm, "Except your arm, that doesn't look quite well at all."
"Hehe, y-yep, except that…" Nanka replied with a forced chuckle. 'The way Vicky just speaks her mind… kind of reminds me of G-Man.'
"Viiickyyy!" Vicky's tall, lanky and, judging from his expression, irritated older brother called out as he ran over to her and Nanka. "Don't just go running off in a big city, especially one that had criminals thriving in it mere days ago!"
Rather than look apologetic to such shouts of her approaching brother, Vicky's eyes instead lit up, "But then the Swimsuit Vigilante appeared and kicked Rocket butt! Just like the greatest heroine always does!"
"Yeah she, um, sure did…" Nanka added as she waved hello to Ricky, all whilst Vicky began raving about Nanka's… 'Alter-ego.'
"You caught a Rhyhorn? That's awesome!" Vicky complimented as a long and slippery blue creature slithered around her. "Though not as awesome as my super rare Whippy here."
"My Keraton is plenty awesome, buuuttt…" Nanka started to say, as she looked towards the large headed Dragon, "…your Drantini is definitely adorable. How did you catch such a rare Pokémon?"
With hands on her hips and pushing out her chest, Vicky replied, "Because amongst all my many talents, fishing is also something I'm a pro at. I found a nice spot and caught my Whippy with plenty of minutes spare."
"Too bad humility isn't one of those talents." Ricky muttered under his breath.
The three friends and their Pokémon continued to chat for a good hour, exchanging tales of where they had been and what they had done. It seemed Vicky had been going in a similar direction to Nanka, having headed towards Fuschia City and taken on Koga; along with her mentioned trip to the Safari Zone.
"Sorry, Nanka, we gotta run off." Vicky spoke up after said good hour, casting star struck eyes towards Silph Co. "I want to know more about the Swimsuit Vigilante and her kickass adventures! I hear some boy saw enough of her to say what she looked like and everything now; so jealous!"
"You… you go do that, Vicky." Nanka encouraged with a stutter, finding it rather awkward whenever the conversation fell onto the topic of the Swimsuit Vigilante, a.k.a. herself.
"It's nice chatting with you, Nanka." Ricky said a small and tired smile on his face as he added quietly. "Thanks for talking with my little sister. She's so hasty and headstrong that I'm always tuckered out chasing after her."
"I was more than happy to, Ricky." Nanka said before giggling, covering her wide grin with her hand, 'An now Vicky's sounding like Jolt.'
"Oh, Nanka, quick thing!" Vicky called out, having already sprinted quite a ways towards the Silph Co building before stopping and turning around to address Nanka. "Sabrina's a super cool and strong psychic type user, so don't use fighting types; they'll get creamed!"
"Don't use fighting types, they'll get creamed…" Nanka repeated Vicky's advice as she and Jolt entered the sterile walled gym. "Sabrina uses psychic types… so I definitely cannot use Stretchy and I'll need something good against psychic types."
"Pikachu!" Jolt shouted out, pointing to himself.
"Weeellll… electric isn't bad against psychics…" Nanka noted, placing a finger to her chin and humming as she thought. "If their psychic types then they probably have really good special stats, but probably not very good physical ones."
"Pika Pi, Kachu!" Jolt shouted out again, flexing one of his stubby arms.
Nanka smiled at her Pikachu, "Oh, you're plenty strong enough Jolt. Sometimes your Body Slam seems far more effective than your Thunderbolt, so I'm sure you'll do just fine here."
Saffron Gym, the gym of psychics, wasn't at all what Nanka was expecting. Her hopes for a vivid and mystical gym were far off from the lab-like Saffron Gym. Plain white walls, bland plastic panelled floors, and of course, an abundance of teleporters made up the building's interior design.
"Uuugh…" Nanka moaned as she stepped unsteadily out of the teleporter, and unknowingly into a gym match. "I will never get used to them."
"It's your turn, Slothful!" Nanka declared as she sent out her Snorlax, who came out of the Pokéball lying down.
Slothful opened an eye, looking at a similarly lazy Slowbro, and then sighed. Slothful and her shell-tailed pink opponent both clambered to their feet with much… disinterest. Standing up, the two combatants then dragged themselves lethargically over to the other.
'This is going to take a while.' Both trainers thought.
"I don't believe this!" The Psychic cried out as Licker finished off her remaining portion of the Kadabra's dreams.
"You did wonderfully, Licker!" Nanka praised her Haunter, who was satisfied at having gobbled up every joyous night's sleep her opponent could of ever had. "I thought you would do well, but it certainly is true that ghosts and bugs are the best choice against psychic types."
"Psychic Pokémon fear only bugs!" The Psychic remarked, leaning against the wall in a 'cool guy' manner.
"Oh, you mean like Dusty here." Nanka said as she pointed up to her Butterfree flying by her shoulder.
"Y-yes! That thing!" The Psychic screamed, scooting along the wall and far away from Nanka and her bug type Pokémon.
Looking to Dusty, Nanka giggled, "It seems the psychic trainers themselves also fear you."
"That seems to be the last trainer; great job everyone." Nanka said, looking to each of the Pokéballs within her bag and then to Jolt. "Let's head back to the centre for a well-earned break."
"Pi." Jolt agreed with a quick nod, as they both looked to the two teleporting panels in front of them.
"That said…" Nanka began to say as she looked to the two panels, and then placed a finger to her chin in thought. "…do you remember which teleporters we used to get here?"
Jolt started humming, tapping the floor in thought, only to eventually shake his head.
"Then I think getting back to the Pokécentre might take a while…" Nanka commented with a nervous laugh.
Having cleared the gym trainer challenge of Saffron Gym, Nanka began making plans for her upcoming match against Sabrina. By the time she awoke the following morning, Nanka had decided upon her team; Jolt, Dusty and Licker. With that said, further training needed to be done, so she grabbed her Silph Scope and took her Butterfree to Pokémon Tower.
The two curious girls loved their time there. Dusty was fascinated by the graves, her curiosity high, whilst Nanka delighted in her surroundings and the ghostly encounters.
Jolt clung to Nanka's leg throughout their Pokémon Tower training.
After a day spent training (and touring) in Pokémon Tower, Nanka opted to spend the next day training Dusty in an area Jolt would be more comfortable at, preferably not clinging to her leg the entire time. That place being a small patch of grass by Silence Bridge, so Jolt could go off and fish whilst Nanka focused on training Dusty in an open and sweet scented area.
In the midst of instructing Dusty to take down Glooms and Weepinbells with powerful blasts of Psychic, Nanka would glance over to her fishing Pikachu, who seemed more… excited than usual.
As Nanka continued to train Dusty, a loud rumbling sound caught their attention. Looking up to the sky, neither human nor Pokémon could spot a dark cloud in the sky, so instead they looked towards the fishing electric type.
At that very moment, Jolt had hooked a Seadra, the blue seahorse rather niffed and firing out fast blasts of Water Gun.
"Oh, it was just Jolt fighting. Good luck, Jolt!" Nanka cheered, as the unusual rumbling sounds continued to be heard.
A slight shadow started to quickly form above Jolt and the sound of roaring thunder was heard. With one mighty boom, lightning rained down upon Jolt, a mighty field of electricity surrounding his small yellow body. With a roar akin to thunder, Jolt blasted forth an explosive force of electricity, blitzing the Seadra foe into ensured unconsciousness.
The immense force of Jolt's electric attack blew Nanka off her feet, causing her to briefly tumble along the bridge. Having fallen down, the stunned girl remained on her back until a frazzled Dusty helped her up, wherein they bore witness to the thunderous results.
A chunk of the bridge was missing, nearby trees were singed, and river dwelling Pokémon were fleeing. Just before the blasted away bridge edge stood Jolt, beaming with pride that he had at long last learned his strongest attack; Thunder.
"Great job, Licker! That should certainly be enough practice for now." Nanka congratulated her Haunter as said ghost type struck the Fearow with a Night Shade. "Your ghost attack will be of great help against Sabrina's psychic types."
Since Jolt blew up part of Silence Bridge, and scared of how much trouble she might have ended up for her Pikachu's spontaneous decision to try out his new move, Nanka left for Cycling Road to finish up training. This was for the best anyway; she had finished training Dusty and Licker had an easy-going time from practising against foes that struggled to harm her.
'I think I will have Licker lead.' Nanka thought, beginning to plan out tactics for her upcoming gym battle. 'If I have her start out with Hypnosis, I can switch out to Jolt and Dusty safely, if I ever need to do so.'
The next day, with preparations all taken care of, Nanka and Jolt headed towards Saffron Gym with a good deal of confidence. Confidence to take on the gym leader that was, they were less confident about handling the teleporters yet again, particularly Nanka.
After numerous directionally confused teleports, Nanka landed into the centre most room of the building, stepping away from the warping panel with her usual wobbly steps. Seconds later, Jolt materialised into the room, shaking his groggy head only once before he got his usual eager grin on his face.
Looking to her Pikachu and returning said eager grin with a confident smirk, Nanka then spun around to inspect the room, immediately noticing a long-haired lady sitting in a fancy chair.
'Her eyes are… pretty.' Nanka couldn't help but think as she looked to the stoic-expression woman, admiring her sparkling red eyes. 'She's got green hair too… lovely green hair.'
Shock briefly flashed up on the lady's face, before quickly returning to her composed look as she remarked, "Thank you for the compliment. Most people find my gaze… intimidating."
"Eeep!" Nanka squeaked. "D-d-did I just say that out loud!?"
"No, you did not." The lady replied, maintaining her stoic gaze, though brief glimmers of emotion would shine through in eyes or twitching of her lips. "I can read minds… all too well, I'm afraid; apologies for the intrusion into your privacy."
"You can read minds!" Nanka squealed in awe, her eyes sparkling like stars.
"Y-yes, I can." The lady stuttered as she turned her head away from Nanka, the glimmer of shock returning to her in the form of widened eyes. "I-I must say, I've never met anyone who has been so… enthusiastic, about my psychic powers."
"Why wouldn't they be? I think it's amazing." Nanka complimented the psychic woman, shaking from side-to-side with energy. "There are so many questions I could ask you, but I don't even need to say them because you can them in my head. That's so amazing!"
"Y-yes, I… I'm a little too strong of a psychic, so it is difficult to stop myself from mind-reading." The lady replied as she turned to face the excited Nanka, struggling to hold back a smile as she was bombarded with questions, compliments and happy thoughts. "R-regardless, I am Sabrina; Gym Leader of Saffron!"
'Chuuu! Pika, Pika, Piii, Pikaaaachuuuu!' Introducing herself caused Sabrina to be overwhelmed by even more thoughts, this time from the enthusiastic girl's companion, a Pikachu whose eagerness boomed loudly in his head.
"C-calm down…" Sabrina squeaked out, once again turning away from curious girl and eager Pikachu, struggling to not smile at all the positive energy directed at her. 'Usually… usually folks are scared of me, or at least intimidated, but this… I must compose myself.'
As Sabrina took many a deep breath, Nanka and Jolt stood silently, but their thoughts were loud with curiosity and passion.
"B-before we begin our gym battle…" Sabrina said as she began to turn around, her long dark green hair whipping from to one shoulder to the other, "…would you… like to ask some questions before our battle?"
Nanka's face lit up with a wide smile, "Yes, please!"
Despite her resolve to act her usual part as the serious and dedicated Gym Leader, Sabrina's lip trembled with joy, the slightest of blushes gracing her beautiful fair face, "I-I-I will be happy too, though please calm your thoughts."
Seeing the elegant red-dressed gym leader, a woman of seeming constant seriousness and composure, act timid before her inevitably led Nanka to think, 'She's… surprisingly adorable.'
"I first used my psychic powers to bend spoons, my hair is a natural green but I've considered dying it a shade of blue and the whip…" Sabrina reeled off her answers rapidly before staring down at the whip in her hand, faintly blushing, "I… I simply like whips, though many less innocent minded people have had 'specific' thoughts as to why I own one. Now before any more questions, I believe we should have our gym battle."
Nanka smiled, gratefully replying, "T-thank you very much for answering all my questions."
"Pikaaa!" Jolt cheered, having patiently sat through the Q&A session, getting more and more hyped for the battle the longer he waited.
"It was my pleasure." Sabrina replied, thankful to hear the many questions dwindled away and the happy energy surrounding Nanka and Jolt to have calmed to a more manageable level. "Although…"
Nanka looked to Sabrina, the beautiful lady's face void of most expression, though her red eyes glowered ever so slightly with a pink tint. "Although..?"
'She's already trusting of me'-Sabrina paused her thoughts as her eyes moved up and down, studying each part of Nanka, the slight pink glow in her eyes glowing brighter-'and she's the right size; I'm sure I have plenty to fit her.'
A smirk appeared on Sabrina's otherwise stoic face, the pink glow of her red eyes dimming down, just as the gym leader sent out her Abra, "Well for answering so many questions, I would like to ask of a… payment from you, provided I win and you lose of course."
"Payment?" Nanka replied as she sent out Licker, the Haunter snickering at the sight of her mere Abra opponent. "What kind of payment, miss Sabrina?"
"If I win, I would like you to be…" Sabrina paused, a brief flash of pink in her eyes before completely returning to their usual shade of red, "…my doll for the day."
"Your… doll?" Nanka repeated, unsure as to what the beautiful psychic before her meant, yet feeling a hint of worry as to what the pleasant Sabrina meant. "Sure, I guess. It's only if I lose, and I don't think my Pokémon plan on letting that happen."
"Piiii, Kachu!" Jolt cheered in agreement.
"I'm pleased to hear that." Sabrina said, her smirk fading away for her usual calm and composed expression to appear once more on her face. "Abra."
With just the mention of his name, Sabrina's Abra began to teleport, swiftly appearing all over the room, "Licker, we have to stop that Abra from moving about so much. Try use Hypnosis on it."
Licker agreed, and after many attempts, the Haunter managed to send the yellow bodied creature to sleep. As the Abra slumbered in the air, still remaining afloat thanks to his psychic energy, Licker flicked a Thunderbolt at her sleeping foe.
"Fantastic job, Licker! The plans working perfectly!" Nanka cheered for her Haunter, whom grinned smugly.
"Effective." Sabrina noted as she sent out a large tailed and large moustached Kadabra. "But risky; Hypnosis is inaccurate. It will not always"-Sabrina stopped talking as she noticed her Kadabra had already fallen asleep, hypnotised by Licker.
"Hauuunt!" Licker sneered at the Gym Leader as she proceeded to blast the sleeping Kadabra with Night Shade.
The dozing Kadabra was struck a couple times by the black and purple lightning-like energy of Night Shade before the pain of the attacks awoke her, snapping her small black eyes open to the battlefield. Realising what had happened and where she was, Kadabra wasted no time in raising her spoon, pink psychic energy swirling around it… and was promptly blasted unconscious by a Night Shade before she could do anything.
"Go, Licker, go!" Nanka cheered, jumping up and down with joy at their second victory.
"Pi, Pi, Pika!" Jolt joined in, cheerful at first, though then added with a disappointed tone that arose from waiting for his turn in the fight. "Chhh."
Sabrina remained silent and expressionless as she threw out her last Ultra Ball with telekinetic powers. Emerging from the ball was a Pokémon much like Kadabra, except he was taller, lacking a tail, and most importantly of all, held two spoons in his hands.
"Alakazam!" The Pokémon announced, psychic waves visibly flowing from his thin body.
Nanka flinched, a pit of worry building in her stomach, "L-Licker! Be careful."
'This should be easy enough now.' Sabrina noted, though she wasn't without her worries, casting a nervous glance towards the pumped-up Pikachu. 'But after her Haunter falls… that Pikachu will be next. I'll have to begin preparing for his physical attacks.'
With that thought in mind, Sabrina took out an X-Defend spray bottle from her belt.
"H-huh…" Nanka mumbled, as her worries proved unfounded when the hypnotised-to-sleep Alakazam fainted from repeated Night Shades, "…he seemed so strong as well."
Sabrina closed her eyes, quietly reprimanding herself, "I prepared for what I envisioned to come with X-Defends, and yet defeat instead came to my Pokémon in a way far simpler than I expected."
Sabrina opened her and looked over to the cheering young girl before her, unable to stop herself from smiling.
"Chuuu…" Jolt moped; his head hung low in sadness over having not fought even once.
"I'm sorry, Jolt. I'll have you lead for our next gym battle, okay?" Nanka said her to Pikachu, leaning down and petting him on the back.
Sabrina walked over to them, holding out a badge as she said, "It appears my Pokémon and I did not work hard enough to win. Nanka, you and your Haunter have earned this Marsh badge!"
"Please take this TM with you as well." Sabrina said, passing TM46 to Nanka, a sigh soon escaping her lips as she added. "I was looking forward to having you as my doll for the day, but a loss is a loss."
Still unsure as to what Sabrina meant, Nanka tilted her head as she inquired. "What do you mean by having me as a doll?"
Sabrina averted her gaze, the faintest of blushes cropping up on her face as she replied, "I-it's a secret."
'So cute!' Nanka couldn't help but squeal in her head, quickly blushing as she realised that the psychic before her most likely heard that, and stuttering out, "If... if it's only for a day then I, um, I guess I wouldn't mind."
"I wish to be an actress!" Sabrina blurted out, and with it, a wave of psychic energy shook the room and caused the lights to flicker.
"P-pardon?" Nanka replied, surprised at Sabrina's sudden emotive outburst.
"M-my apologies about that, um, outburst." The Gym Leader said as she turned to face Nanka, a shaky smile and faint blush breaking her composed look as she continued, "I've always had strong psychic powers; very strong ones. I often have to keep my emotions in check but I… I wish to be an actress."
"O-okay, that's a very nice dream miss Sabrina, but…" Nanka said, tapping a finger to her chin, "what does that have to with dolls or acting?"
"W-well, I've always admired the range of emotions that actors and actresses display, at their own choosing." Sabrina began to explain with a quieter and more timid voice. "I don't often do a good job of expressing myself, so to be able to act and feel like another… I wish to do so."
Nanka nodded her head in understanding, though still had a confused frown upon her face.
"I also love dressing up for roles, and so…" Sabrina said as every wall in the room slid open via psychic force, revealing a massive assortment of clothes, "…I've purchased many wonderful outfits over the years."
"So by wanting me as a doll..." A blushing Nanka started to realise as her hair ribbon was untied and removed by Sabrina's telekinesis, "Y-you meant you wanted to dress me up like a doll."
"That is correct; I've grown out of many of these clothes and it would be a waste if no one were to wear them." Sabrina replied, nodding as several outfits floated over to her, "It's not like I was going to turn you into a doll; that would be absurd."
"Ummm, J-Jolt…" Nanka addressed her Pikachu, looking over to him with a nervous expression, "…I think we might be a while-," Nanka yelped as she felt her leg raise, her boot and sock being quickly removed by Sabrina's telekinetic grasp.
"Now..." Sabrina said as her eyes glistened pink, a similar glow running up and down Nanka's body, quickly prying off each piece of clothing on her. "What outfit should we try on you first?"
A/N: Here marks the last chapter of Act 6. Following this, I have plans to create a bonus chapter... which might not be made available to read here due to how it's emphasised and based around artwork. If I do upload said bonus chapter on this site, then you'll see a new chapter around the 25th-26th of August. If not, then Act 7 will be beginning on the 8th September... which is quite the wait. Very sorry about that; I do still plan on sticking with goal of uploading all the NPMA chapters by the end of the year though.
I guess the first thing to comment on with this chapter is Ferry the Lapras. In future, when I do the follow up with NPMA, I don't plan on allowing Nanka to have so many Pokémon because it really starts to get difficult to give them each a distinct personality. In the case of Ferry, I was also stuck because I didn't want him to be the typical hyper intelligent or graceful Lapras... but I didn't want to do the opposite and make an idiot. In the end, I kept him as a smart Pokémon raised in a lab, but one that is a huge klutz and cannot swim due to living life in a lab (that, and I didn't teach him Surf).
This chapter also marks the return of Vicky, which was originally a much smaller scene due to content restraints. In this director's cut though I can include the original scene as mostly intended, although the name of her Dratini has somehow changed in the process (I forgot the original name I gave it). Much like with G-Man, I particularly enjoy writing the interaction scenes between Vicky and Nanka; giving Nanka a human friend to chat with. I made an early decision to not have Nanka able to understand her Pokémon's language or anything like that and I feel it's been a blessing to the story; it's made me more creative in writing how Nanka interacts with her Pokémon and emphasises the difference when there are scenes involving Nanka talking with human friends.
Finally, there is Sabrina, whose character is... different from what others might picture her as. Not only is she different, but she's also one of the most entertaining characters to write for. I wanted Sabrina to retain the stoic expression and presentation she has in her design and games, but also indicate more of her gentle in-game character and her future as an actress. I feel this might have made her a little weird, with her interactions with Nanka getting a little... out-there (the whole forceful dress up sequence), but it was fun to write and people enjoyed it a lot over on the original site this story was uploaded to. Besides, at least this version of Sabrina isn't turning people into dolls and holding them prisoner.
As mentioned, it'll be a while before the next proper chapter but I hope you've all enjoyed reading this chapter along with all seventeen previous ones.