A/N: I appear to have failed to obtain a more consistent works hour job this holiday season... which means more time to write up Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure. Gosh, does that take some of the stress off. I'm fairly financially secure so having less work hours right now kind of works out perfectly. Enough about my life events though, you're here to read the last NPMA chapter I've made during said life events so I won't keep you waiting any longer with my rambling.
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 9!
The Story So Far!
Returning home, Nanka and Jolt decided to take a short break. After a fun-filled day out at Cerulean City with her Mum, Nanka was gifted a Charmander named Razor.
Afterwards, Nanka and Jolt took on the Viridian Gym, where they discovered the mystery Gym Leader's shocking identity. After winning, G-Man challenged Nanka to a battle once again, ending also in victory for Nanka and Jolt. This didn't deter G-Man from making a bet with Nanka about becoming the Indigio League champion.
"There we go," Mrs Chandler said as she finished braiding her daughter's hair, "Now you go and have a fun trip through Victory Road."
Spinning around and giving her Mum a hug, Nanka replied, "I'm sure I will Mum."
"An Jolt…" Mrs Chandler said, looking over to the Pikachu and giving him a thumbs-up, "You have fun kicking some butt. 'kay!"
"Pikachu!" Jolt assured, smiling as he punched the air.
"Good morning Nanka, good morning Jolt." Daisy Oak greeted the neighbouring house-leaving duo with a sweet smile. "I suppose you're off after G-Man to the Indigo League then? Best of luck to you two!"
"Thank you very much, Daisy." Nanka replied, smiling back as she asked. "I guess G-Man's already ahead of me, huh?"
Daisy looked aside, a faint look of awkwardness within her chestnut eyes as she remarked, "Of course. He woke up eager as ever and you… probably were still asleep."
Nanka was soon the awkward girl as she felt Jolt's disapproving frown upon her; G-Man was once again ahead of them because she slept in.
"By the way…" Daisy began to say, shuffling on the spot in her figure hugging blue shirt, "did something happen last night?"
"Pardon?" Nanka repeated, unsure as to what her friend was referring to.
"Last night with my brother; he came home really excited and asked me if I could start making you some clothes." Daisy explained, the two girls now with matching puzzled expressions. "He… also came how without any trousers."
"N-no, no; nothing happened!" Nanka stuttered out, her face reddening more and more as Weedles popped up in her mind. "We just made a bet and there was an accident and an attack missed and clothes were ripped and I didn't see anything!"
"Ooooh, why did Daisy have to remind me of that?" Nanka complained with a slowly fading blush as she and Jolt arrived in Viridian City; the last stop before the Indigo League.
"P-pi?" Jolt said back, attempting to be in agreement with Nanka, but still fuzzy as to why the situation last night was such a big deal.
The two reached the turning off point for Route 22, which would lead them to their badge-earning goal, when a familiar voice caused them to stop in their tracks, "Arrrggghhh! This is unfair! Why the Gym Leader have to quit right before I got here!?"
"That is rotten luck, but hey, we can just go to Cinnabar instead." Another familiar voice chimed in calmly, with Nanka and Jolt spinning around to spot two dark haired siblings walking in their direction. "Maybe the Gym Leader will come back; I hear the guy leaves a lot because so few trainers ever get seven Gym Badges."
"Well I was going to have seven gym badges; hers or his was to be my seventh." The green dressed girl ranted as she stomped along the path, before finally smirking to herself and raising her head proudly. "I bet… I bet he quit ran away scared because he heard I was coming. Yeah, that must be-
"Naaannnnkaaaa!" The ranting girl shouted out upon noticing the paused trainer, her tone of anger turning to joy as she lunged at Nanka with open arms.
"Good morning Vickeeek!" Nanka screamed as her enthusiastic friend's colliding hug tackled her off her legs and onto the ground.
"Hey, hey; I got six badges Nanka and a super tough Onix who totally out-rocked Brock's Onix!" Vicky sung, her head bobbing side-to-side. "How 'bout you Nanka; cool battles, cool Pokémon, cool anything! Tell me?"
After Vicky got off of Nanka, an all too familiar situation for them, the three friends sat down on the nearest benches available to chat. Jolt was hesitant, conflicted by his enjoyment of Nanka's present company and his desire to get a move on already; it took him long enough to get Nanka out of bed as it was.
"So the Officer Jenny thought the prankster Squirtle might mellow out if he had a trainer." Ricky informed Nanka, casting a worried glance to his sister and her snickering, shades wearing Squirtle. "She made a terrible mistake; we had to run from Pewter City after the pranks they pulled at the museum."
"W-well… at least he has a friend now. An you're good at keeping your sister out of trouble, so I'm sure you can do the same with a Squirtle." Nanka commented, complimented, though this only caused the care-taking late teen to sigh tiredly.
"I was going to scout the gym, train up Squirty, then stride in with a Blastoise to wash out all those ground types." Vicky stated with absolute confidence, a tinge of annoyance growing in her tone. "But then the Gym Leader ups and quits after losing two matches. Mrgrgrgr!"
'So Giovanni really did quit. It's a shame for Vicky, but I'm really glad she doesn't have to face off against him.' Nanka couldn't help but think to herself with a relieved smile. "I guess I got my badge just in time."
"Eh?" Vicky chirped out as Nanka pulled out her badge case, presenting Vicky with her Earth badge… and all seven other badges she had obtained. "You've got all of them!"
"Wow, eight badges. They say it's been a while since-"
"That's super cool, Nanka! You're the best!" Vicky drowned out her brother's neat fact with a flourish of praise, clasping Nanka's hands and swinging them up into the air exuberantly. "Congratulations, Nanka!"
Nanka grinned back at her friend, keeping her arms in the air in cheer, "Why thank you-"
"You'll be champ before you know it! That's so cool!" Vicky continued to interrupt with passionate praise. "You'll be soon known as brave battler Nanka! Scholarly strategist Nanka! Luscious legs Nanka! Unstoppable ultra Nanka!"
After an overwhelming shower of compliments, followed by several cans of fruit drinks, Vicky was soon saying farewell to the departing Nanka and Jolt.
"Good luck, Nanka! I know you can do it!" Vicky cheered out after them. "I'll be sure to be your first challenger!"
"Best of luck, Nanka! Be careful on Victory Road!" Ricky joined in the loud voiced cheering, matching smiles of fond wishes on his and his sister's faces.
"Kachu, pi, pi, pi, piii!" Jolt called out as he hopped up and down with excitement… and a touch of impatience.
"Hold on, Jolt!" Nanka called back, as she turned around to read the league sign one last time. "Pokémon League Front Gate… I can't believe we're going through it."
To Nanka, it felt unbelievable that in less than a year she had travelled throughout Kanto and obtained all eight gym badges… thanks to her Pokémon companions of course.
Walking through the towering walled Indigo Plateau, as each blueberry uniformed guard asked to see her badges; Nanka couldn't help but reflect on her gym battles.
"It was amazing that Dusty managed to solo Brock's entire team; I never would have dreamed we would ever be able to do that against a Gym Leader, let alone our first." Nanka noted as she held up her first four badges. "An Aird managed to do the same against Lt. Surge."
"Pikaaa!" Jolt shouted out, pointing to himself.
"I'm not forgetting about you, Jolt." Nanka replied, her thoughts turning from her Butterfree and Sandslash's incredible victories to her Pikachu's early gym accomplishments. "You were the reason we beat Misty and Erika. That first one was scarily close and you did great turning around our bad luck against Erika's Tangela."
"I'm such a klutz!" Nanka berated herself as she stared down into the river water of the Indigo Plateau complex. "I can't believe I dropped my badge case."
Nanka had Jolt had continued their trip through the bizarre but lovely foundations of the Indigo Plateau; large rich blue walls were erected around a winding road consisting of rough rubble and flourishing foliage. Said road had many indigo garbed guards waiting to approve of Nanka's badges and check them for authenticity. When said road ended, turning into a shimmering clear river, the guards in turn took to the water in varying indigo swimsuits.
Nanka had to board Chu-Chu to show these swimming guards her Soul and Marsh badge, won by Chu-Chu and Licker respectively, when she ended up dropping her badge case into the water below.
"Ooooh; where did they go?" Nanka asked aloud, kneeling down on the small island upon the river, trying to spot her badges on the riverbed. "Any luck Chu-Chu?"
Hearing his princess call out to him, Chu-Chu poked his head out of the water, shaking his head solemnly.
"Piiii-kachuuu!" Jolt cheered, Nanka and Chu-Chu swiftly turning to him and seeing him with the badge case dangling from his Super Rod… well, in the hands of a Poliwhirl dangling from his Super Rod.
Nanka had expected the Victory Road to be long, but even the path to Victory Road itself was lengthy. After showing the Volcano Badge that Beauty had won to the guard, Nanka sat down on the nearby boulders to have lunch.
Joining her for lunch were Popper, Dusty, Slothful, Chu-Chu, Amber and, of course, Jolt. She had no idea what HM techniques would be needed to traverse the perils of the famous Victory Road, so just to be safe; she brought with her a team that knew all five of them.
With the Earth badge that Popper had gained for her, Nanka passed by the last guard. Nanka and Jolt, Pallet Town girl and Viridian Forest Pikachu, reached the end of the path; the closed off Victory Road before them.
The only entrance, a large iron door with a single grated window, slowly opened with a rustic and ear-wrenching noise. With the opening of the door, a faint red light shone out of the cream-coloured building, accompanied by a cavernous echo and a wave of soot-scented heat.
"Jolt… we're here."
"Kachu… Pika!"
"I don't… I don't see a switch…" Nanka said as she stopped searching the rock coated wall and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, "Gosh, it's as hot as Cinnabar Island in here."
"C-Chuuu." Jolt agreed, shaking his body occasionally in an attempt to keep cool.
Nanka and Jolt made their way into the steel and brick clad building listed as Victory Road to somehow find themselves in a rocky cave consisting of russet terrain dimly illuminated by overhead lanterns and some unknown heat source. From the seems of things, as Nanka and Jolt found their path blocked by a metal wall disguised with rubble, the cream building had for whatever reason been built around a exceedingly hot cave.
"Just over here, Slothful." Nanka instructed as her Snorlax carried over a large boulder. "Yep, just on top of that red switch."
Slothful dropped the boulder on top of the stone switch, a switch easily missed amongst the reddish-brown hues of its surrounding domain, with the heavy weight pushing it down into the ground. In turn, the rock plated metal wall started to drop, lowering into the floor with an ear-piercing grinding sound.
"I hope there aren't more of these." Nanka grumbled as she removed her hands from over her ears, proceeding to follow her eager starter up the natural staircase and further down the rugged road.
Devilish ruby eyes bore into Nanka as the cruel Persian, purring with twisted pleasure, scraped her body against the trembling trainer. The Persian grinned with satisfaction as she tormented the quivering lipped Nanka, unable to flee after her legs gave way from fright.
"Awww, my Persian likes you." The Cooltrainer commented as her affectionate feline Pokémon mewed sweetly, gently brushing up against Nanka.
"I-I, uh, h-help"-Nanka was stuttering; only to then scream as the phobia-related Pokémon licked her.
Deciding she needed some time to recover after the dreaded Persian encounter, Nanka set off to find a quieter part of Victory Road to sit down for a bit. Finding herself the smoothest rock she could find, Nanka plopped down onto it, finding it comfortable if a bit warm given the already sweltering temperatures of the area.
Jolt was of course running alongside her to this quaint place, though as he searched for a similar kind of rock to nestle down on, something metallic and shiny caught his eye.
"Kachu, pika." Jolt called out to Nanka as he gently tossed the small metal box over to Nanka.
"A TM case?" Nanka said as she caught the box, looking it over and reading out its label. "TM43: Sky-Attack!?"
"Sky-Attack; the strongest flying type attack… ever!" Nanka mumbled to herself, gazing at the box in awe and happily noticing from a little glowing indicator that the TM hadn't been used up. "To think you found it just lying about, Jolt. This is amazing!"
"Pi, pi, pi." Jolt snickered to himself, happily taking in the praise of his rare find.
'I should definitely teach this to one of my Pokémon, but I'm sure Amber is the only one who can learn this.' Nanka thought to herself, thinking how well suited the powerful aerial move would be for such a powerhouse of a Pokémon. 'I guess I should decide whether Amber should forget Supersonic or Agility for it, huh.'
"How did you get the Professor to give you three starters!?" Nanka asked in sheer amazement, after her Dugtrio had managed to fend off the triple threat of an Ivysaur, Wartortle and Charmeleon in a row.
"Heh, I got those three in trades." The Cooltrainer said smugly as he threw out another Pokéball. "This fella is my true starter!"
Out from the Pokéball emerged a large and well-muscled Charizard, flapping out his sunset orange wings. Popper the earthbound mole swore at the sight of said wings.
"I think… we'll get rid of Agility… for Sky…" Nanka said between pants, finally shouting out in frustration, "Why is it so hot in here!?"
"Kachu, kaaa…" Jolt groaned with a shake of his head, feeling a little dizzy from how intense the heat was as well.
Victory Road was truly a bizarre place; a fitting final adventure for trainers in a setting unlike any other. On the outside the place looked like an unassuming factory or even a sterile office complex, but the metal walls concealed and amalgamated inside with a winding cave. Intense heat and a dull orange glow led to said winding cave and its rough terrain of rock and metal mishaps feeling volcanic in nature; like when a villain in movies would make their lair inside a volcano.
"Strength may let Slothful move rocks," Nanka begun to say as the tossed Onix got back up, shrugging off the damage from the large Snorlax's mighty throw, "but it isn't very effective against rock types."
As Slothful slowly took down the Onix with her non-effective moves, Nanka began to think aloud, "With only normal moves, Slothful isn't effective against rock types… and she can't hit ghost types… I need to teach her something."
"You're Nanka, right?" The Juggler asked as he returned his frozen Hypno, bested by Slothful's recently taught Blizzard, Nanka's idea to give her normal type a move to take on rock and ghost types. "This G-Man kid who fought me earlier asked me to give you a message."
"Oh, G-Man's been through here all ready?" Nanka inquired.
"Yeah, asked me to tell you… 'Next time you see me, you'll be calling me champion', is what he said." The Juggler relayed, opting for as cocky a pose and voice as he could perform in his attempt to impersonate G-Man.
"Hehehe, that sounds like G-Man." Nanka giggled.
"Kachu, pika pi!" Jolt shouted out with gusto, eagerly jabbing forward further down Victory Road with a strong desire to catch up, "Pikachu!"
Jolt couldn't move. He struggled to breathe as he felt his body being crushed; squeaking in frustration at his powerlessness. It was the end for him. All he could do…
"Peeerrr." The trainer's Persian purred politely, causing a shivering Nanka to shriek in fright, hugging Jolt even tighter against herself.
…was hope Chu-Chu could beat this crafty yet friendly opposing Persian before Nanka hugged him until he fainted.
"It's… even hotter here." Nanka gasped, tugging on her soaked shirt as she continued to uncomfortably sweat from Victory Road's near burning levels of heat. "Is… is that an item over there?"
Nanka and Jolt wandered over to a glittering object in the distance, with a curious Nanka crouching down to look. Jolt was also inspecting the item, but his focus soon changed when he noticed a golden glow in the corner of his eye, spinning around to see what it was.
"Kachuuu…" Jolt called out to Nanka, tapping her leg.
"What is it Jolt?" Nanka asked, turning around with a Guard Spec item in hand. "Did you find-Moltres!?"
Standing before the duo, dazzling the cavernous road with each flap of its flashing wings, was the sun-coated yellow Moltres. The Legendary fire bird looked down at the duo, cawing quietly, continuing to flap as if in preparation.
Jolt hopped on in front on Nanka; paws raised and ready to rumble.
The Moltres screeched loudly, spreading its crooked feet apart and lowering its head, looking to them with an expression that seemed oddly familiar to Nanka. She looked to the blazing eyed Moltres, then down at her shadowboxing Pikachu, both their bodies abuzz with excitement.
"D-do you want to battle us… Moltres?" Nanka cautiously asked, receiving a firm nod from the still flapping Pokémon. 'We're being challenged by a Legendary!'
"If you want to have a battle…" Nanka said as she did an honourable bow before Moltres, "…then Jolt and I will accept."
Jolt looked back to his usually battle cautious friend, astonished.
Nanka smiled back to her dumbfounded pal, explaining, "He asked nicely."
Jolt squeaked out a laugh before turning to face the delighted Moltres, solar flares pulsing from the Legendary's shiny skinny body. The battle between a Viridian Forest Pikachu and a one-of-a-trio often thought mere Legend creature of volcanic flames was about to begin!
"Gyaooo!" Moltres hollered out, emitting a series of small fireballs from it's body.
The fireballs flew off to the sides of the path, expanding outwards upon landing and hungrily clawing along the ground until each flame connected up with one another. Nanka and Jolt looked around them to see the growing and bending wall of fire; nay, a ring of fire that circled them like a demonic battle arena.
"Pikaaa!" Jolt yelled out in excitement, sparks flying from his cheeks much like the embers flinging from the fiery ring; his passion for battling nullifying any problems he might have had with the surrounding hot inferno.
Moltres flapped it's wings, it's flames flashing with light as the burning bright bird took to the air. It looked down to Jolt; prepared to strike.
Ignoring the blinding light, Nanka forced her eyes open, thinking of what to do against a Legendaries assault, 'S-should Jolt strike it first or go on the defensive? Thunder or Light Screen?'
Moltres had no intention of waiting around, the powerful phoenix swooping down with it's sharp beak thrusting forth like a lance, leading Nanka to decide hastily, "Thunder, Jolt! Try a Thunder!"
Mid-swoop, as storm clouds brewed above, Moltres reared back it's head. Gargling a vortex of fire, the Legendary bird prepared to entrap Jolt with a Fire Spin.
Moltres didn't expect Jolt's Thunder to come shooting down so soon; the speedy blast hammering down onto Moltres, forcing the charged fire down it's throat. Moltres shone like a thousand lightbulbs as it was forced to swallow the fire and lightning combo.
Then Moltres exploded!
Nanka coughed and spluttered, regaining her senses to dusty air, freezing chills and a vast darkness.
"J-Jolt!?" Nanka called out between coughs, stumbling to her feet. "Jooolllttt! Are you okay, Jolt?"
"Piiii... P-Pika, Pikaaaa…" Jolt groaned within the darkness, obscured from sight but not sound. "Kachu! Pika Pi, Kachu!"
Nanka heard Jolt cheerfully shout back in response to her, just as she also felt something tackle her to the ground. It could only have been Jolt, even if the tackler was then proceeding to hug up against her; close enough now to see her triumphant Pikachu grinning and giving her a rare happy hug.
Sending out Dusty, Nanka had her light up Victory Road to see the results of the explosion.
"J-Jolt-" Nanka giggled, laughing at her black Pikachu, covered in soot and ash. "You maaaay need a bath."
"Piii…" Jolt smirked as he pointed back at Nanka.
Nanka looked down to find herself in a similar predicament, her body covered in soot and her shirt torn here and there from the explosion induced tumble, "I guess we both need a bath."
"It's a good thing I always keep an extra pair of clothes on me." Nanka said in good spirits as she dropped her ripped attire to the ground and put on an identical blue shirt. "It's also handy that I buy these in bulk during the sales; cheap too."
As Nanka changed clothes, hidden away from any potential passer-by's gaze by Chu-Chu's large winding body around her, Jolt looked to-and-fro for his opponent. His eyes could only see soot and his nose could only smell soot; his ears heard nothing of the fiery fighter. Jolt was happy in his victory, a little disappointed it was over soon and a touch worried that he had just slayed a Legendary.
"Why did it get so dark and cold!?" The Cooltrainer screamed out as she and her Parasect shivered.
"I… d-don't know." Nanka stuttered back, now wearing the thick winter coat Mr and Mrs Phthalo got her to keep warm. 'I guess Moltres was the reason why this place was so bright and hot… I wonder if Moltres was also why this place had a locked-up building built around it?'
Many trainers had dressed lightly for Victory Road, aware of non-existent sunlight but blistering temperatures. What they didn't expect was for the temperatures to plummet.
"I think…" Nanka began to say as she looked around at her exhausted team, "…we should call it a day."
Victory Road was naturally tough; filled with many Pokémon and skilled trainers. Some had gained their badges only a couple years ago, some as many as ten years in the past, but remained in the road due to being unable to traverse it or in the midst of training for yet another attempt at the seemingly undefeatable Elite Four.
Nanka and her companions set up their tent, attempting to get some sleep as others carried on fighting and walking the treacherous road.
Nanka lay awkwardly in her tent, struggling to sleep as she found little comfort from the bumpy ground and little warmth in the now frigid cave, along with the worries in her mind. 'There are so many amazing trainers here, so many of them training so hard and yet none have been able to beat the Elite Four in over three years. Do we… do we even have a chance?'
Nanka's worries had been offset by her last battle, a truly tough one that now had Amber resting in her Pokéball whilst Jolt and Popper were left nursing injuries. It was only the satisfied and dauntless smiles on their faces that relieved Nanka; their hardships in battle always seemed to please these… warrior companions of hers.
"I don't believe it!" The whip wielder cried as his Blastoise collapsed. "We were the chosen ones! How can three water elementals be slain by a Dugtrio!?"
"Weeelllll, my trio of soldiers here train hard and fight hard." Nanka replied, smiling.
Meanwhile, Popper was berating the lacklustre efforts of the Kingler, Tentacruel and Blastoise he had just defeated. Within minutes, he had them up and marching, barking out instructions like a gruff drill sergeant.
"Don't you just love the softness of their leaves?" The pencil skirted teen asked as she showed off her Victreebell.
Nanka put a finger to her chin as she thought back to Devourer, "Now that you mention it, my Weepinbell's leaves are quite"-
"The ticklish feeling as their vines run up your legs." The rosy faced girl added with a dreamy gaze and a giggle.
"P-pardon? W-well, he's wrapped around my arm before but I don't think"-
"How their drooling acids slowly melt your clothes off." The late teen squeaked euphorically, pressing her whole body up against her Victreebell and drooling at the very thought.
"Uh, ummm…" Nanka was at a loss for words, blushing brightly at the very idea of her clothes melting away, and soon dragged away from the perverse stranger by a protective Jolt.
Nanka was silent as she stepped foot outside of the walled off Victory Road, closing the cooling metal door gently behind her. She merely smiled at the stars in the night sky, at the journey behind her, and at the sleeping Pikachu in her arms.
'It's hard to think a cute little Pokémon like you could do so much, even beat a Legendary.' Nanka thought as she looked down at the still somewhat sooty Jolt, brushing his head softly. 'We both certainly need that bath though.'
"To think, we're almost,"-a yawn leapt out from Nanka's mouth, the rugged girl rubbing her tired eyes as she made it to the grand yet simple building of the Kanto Pokémon League.-"We are there."
The electronic doors whizzed open for her, although the drained trainer took a while to recognise this, standing at the doorway for a while as thought to herself, 'I still need… to pick a team. Jolt's in of course, but who… I'll pick later; I need bath and sleepy.'
A nightgown garbed Nanka flopped down onto the bed face-first, her long unbraided hair still damp.
Nanka was shattered.
After arriving at Indigo Plateau under starlight, a lengthy wash to rid herself of the ash ensued. Now into the early hours of the morning, Nanka had only just arrived at her bed.
"I'm sure Jolt must be a water type." The dozing off girl mumbled, drifting off to the faint sounds of her electric type still splashing about in his tiny Pokémon tub.
Sapped from the trials of the treacherous journey to the Pokémon League, it was not until mid-day that Nanka opened her eyes, an longer still before she could lift her body up to take on the day. Jolt allowed this lay-in for once, his strained body also urging him to take a small rest; overworking could be unhealthy after all.
'So let's see, Amber would be furious with me if I left her out…' Nanka thought to herself as she finally begun clambering out of bed, less so out of her desire to do so and more so out of a need to use the ladies room, 'Venom and Chu-Chu have always been reliable, so I'm sure I can count on them. That's four… maybe Razor as well; she is strong.'
As Nanka wandered around the Indigo Plateau reception, pondering whether Ferry or Devourer should be her sixth member for the battle against the Pokémon League, she came across a hallway of portraits. It was more specifically a hall of honour displaying portraits of past Pokémon champions, often with at least one of their Pokémon painted alongside them.
"Hmmm," Nanka hummed as she found herself concentrating on the portrait of the present champion, something she didn't even know Kanto had, gazing intently at the fair faced young lady with a glaring Fearow standing protectively by her side, "Why does the previous champion look so familiar? I must have caught a glimpse of her somewhere before."
"Hey, give us back our…" Nanka stared at the rice rolled food item in the Mankey's hands, "ummm, supposedly… jelly-filled doughnuts."
After buying some snacks from the Indigo Plateau official café, including some incorrectly labelled rice balls, Nanka and Jolt made their way to Route 23. It seemed a pleasant place to have a picnic… and with the many thieving Mankeys Jolt was Body Slamming, a good place to train.
"Aeeerrrooo!" Amber roared as her glowing body hurtled into the brutish Primeape, flinging the fighting type far away.
"Great job, Amber!" Nanka congratulated her victorious Aerodactyl with a round of applause, before casting her eye over to Jolt. "I'd say you two are fully prepared for the league now."
Amber and Jolt nodded confidently after their two days of training on the quiet but geographically diverse route. It had been a fairly peaceful time as a result, with plenty of snack breaks, though these were often interrupted by swinging down Mankeys from the trees and rocks.
Chu-Chu was in the midst of training within the previously proceeded perilous road so he could yet better serve his role as a knight, when his fair princess of his allegiance approached him gracefully.
"Sir Chu-Chu, might I have a word?" Princess Nanka asked as priestess Dusty's warm glow illuminated her gentle yet fiery eyes. "I feel it'd suit you well to learn the spell of Reflect."
Chu-Chu was unsure, but his princess soon smiled as she added, "After all, you've always done a most wonderful job protecting me."
He was not worthy of such a smile.
With a Nidoqueen and a Charizard sat down in front of her, and TM17 resting in her hands, Nanka contemplated which of her Pokémon to teach Submission to.
"Doooossss!" A familiar voice cried out from within the Power Plant.
"Oh no! Zapdos, please"-Nanka had begun to say as the Zapdos pounced upon her from the sky-"No tickle-heeeheee-Nooo!"
Flying off to train in the Power Plant was good for many of her Pokémon, either due to it being to take down their unwitting sparring opponents with super effective moves or from learning how to better utilise special attacks and defends from the cunning electric types. For the girl and Pikachu laughing uncontrollably, pinned to the floor by a tickling Legendary, it was not such a good place.
With strong fighting skills, Razor flung herself at the floating Magneton, grabbing hold of it and diving the three eyed Pokémon down into the floor. A twinkle of a tear dripped from Razor's eyes, wincing slightly from the recoil of her powerful move.
"T-that's won-wonderful…" Nanka gasped out as she lay on the floor, tickled breathless. "Ice… ice types and r-rock types aaare no m-match… now."
"P-Pika…" Jolt cheered in agreement from the floor, also tickled breathless.
"I wonder…" Nanka begun to muse as she looked around the gloomy and chilly Victory Road, a far cry from its previous deadly hot state, "What did happen to Moltres?"
Jolt shrugged in response, having attempted to search for his defeated opponent but with little avail, though he did not allow his uncertainty to Moltres' fate after exploding to dwell on his mind too much.
"It's a Legendary, so I'm sure it will rise from the ashes. If Electrodes and Gravelers can after blowing themselves up, I'm sure Moltres can." Nanka said in reassurance of herself, though she felt sure on this idea. "In any case, it looks like you're all trained up Venom."
Venom nodded, smiled at having accomplished a long period of training in both the Power Plant and Victory Road, and then dropped straight down onto the rocky ground to slumber.
Chu-Chu washed away his last foe with a relieved but weary smile; his lengthy training regime complete. Chu-Chu turned around to where his Princess Nanka and Captain Jolt sat alongside his companions, congratulatory smiles on their faces.
It was then that a stumbling Ferry crashed into him.
Chu-Chu groaned; the wizard's training was left to do, though Chu-Chu was sure Ferry was actually a jester for the group.
As Jolt set about fishing up Tentacruels for Ferry to fight, Nanka scrawled in the Seafoam Island snow with a stick, deep in thought.
"Ummm, first up is L'oreal, who I think uses Water types..." Nanka mumbled, recalling vague memories from a year or so ago. "I think I saw her on the cover of a swimsuit magazine... or did I see her in a film? I think she writes books too... lectures and documentaries... charities... I think she might do a lot of things."
As a canon-load of water rocketed from Ferry's mouth, knocking out a Tentacruel, Nanka continued to plan ahead.
"Then there's... Bluto?" Nanka struggled to recall. "I remember seeing him on TV, standing in front of an Onix... It must have been his!"
Nanka had never expected to one day be taking on the Pokémon League, so in the past, had paid little attention to information about the Elite Four. That said, she also wasn't too terrific at remembering people in general, particularly if she had never met them in person.
As Ferry gulped down some soothing PP Up pellets, Nanka hummed, carrying on with preparations.
"Of course, there is Agatha." Nanka practically squealed with a growing smile. "Master of Ghosts and controller of all Pokémon of true terror!"
Nanka soon calmed down, plainly asking herself with an apathetic tone, "Am I forgetting someone... oh, there's also Chance? Prance? Some 4th person or other I think."
"Woooowwww!" Nanka said in amazement at Ferry's progress, noticing immediately his growth. "Jolt, your training schedule must be amazing. I was right to trust you with Ferry's training after all."
"Pi-ka-chuuuu." Jolt nodded as he hid various Rare Candy wrappers behind his back.
"It may have taken us a week of training..." Nanka noted with a growing smile as she punched the air, "but we're ready!"
Despite saying that, Nanka wasn't quite ready yet, as she had one last thing of preparation to take care of.
"That should be enough items!" Nanka said as she looked down at her crammed bag; brimming with full heals, hyper potions, ethers and the like. "An I've got the dress Mum got me ready to wear, so we should be set to take on the league tomorrow, Jolt."
"Pikaaa!" Jolt cheered as he jumped onto the Ingido Plateau's accommodated bed, eager to rest for the challenge tomorrow
"Thinking about it, we haven't seen G-Man arrive yet." Nanka noted as she took her bag off the bed and then clambered in beneath the bed covers. "Does that mean we're going to win the bet?"
"Pi." Jolt said quietly as he curled up onto Nanka's lap.
"Hmmm, I still haven't decided what I'd have him do..." Nanka noted, with a hum. "Anything for a day... maybe... yeah, I think I have just the idea."
A/N: An so ends Nanka's preperation for the Elite Four in this 24th chapter of Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure. Find out how Nanka's challenge of the Elite Four goes with the next couple exciting chapters of Act 9... when I get around to uploading them. The next chapter is actually done already but I'm keeping to the schedule.
Let's start off discussion of this chapter with a smaller detail; vocabulary. Due to not having to create many scenes for these later acts, I have been able to spend some time using certain sites and my thesaurus to improve the vocabulary and language of NPMA. I have tried to use some words less often, using alternatives, and have in particular tried to spice up how I describe certain colours (blueberry uniformed guards for instance). I hope these minor adjustments make for a more enjoyable reading experience.
Now onto an admission on my part; I find Kanto boring. Not the journey through it, but the region itself. I find it's locales rather dull and very little stands-out. I think that Lavender Town might be the only truly distinct place in the region, setting itself apart well from the others, even with their own versions of cemetery towers. So when I got to Victory Road and saw that the cavernous route was enclosed by giant building in the games, I decided to have fun with it and be a bit creative. I now absolutely love Victory Road; this strange combination of metal and rock, a cave sealed within a building and lighted up by the fierce heat of a Legendary inside. In the games, I find Fire Red and Leaf Green's removal of Moltres from Victory Road an appropriate and approved decision, yet Moltres' presence in Victory Road allowed me to further make a forgettable area a memorable experience for me. I had an absolute blast with describing the locale of Victory Road, particularly with this Director's Cut allowing me to expand on my descriptions so much.
I guess the final thing I will comment on is team selection. I ended Act 8 with a large question asking my readers to decide Nanka's team for the Elite Four. Chu-Chu was voted through by all but one of my seven readers, whilst Amber also proved a popular choice. Razor was voted for quite a bit, much to my surprise, whilst I recall Venom narrowly getting in. It's a little hard to remember and I didn't save everyone's answers from the old, closed site. As you might be able to tell though from the story, the sixth member wasn't nearly as easy to settle on, with it eventually being narrowed down in votes between Ferry and Devourer. The scene with the Victreebel was actually included so Nanka could learn of Leaf Stones evolving Weepinbell, so in the case that Devourer was chosen for the team, I could come up with a story thread to have him evolved before the final challenge. Of course, Ferry managed to get the deciding vote and got put on the team instead.
As always, I hope you had an enjoyable time reading Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure and I hope you'll forward to Nanka's Elite Four matches starting next weekend. Thank you for reading!