OPENING NOTES:
Strap in, this one's gonna be a longform slice-of-life, slow-burn, romance/adventure/character study... thing!
Expect domestic cuteness, romance, fight scene action, socio-economic worldbuilding, class politics, Pokemon training philosophy, meta commentary...
And also a focus on NEMONA/PENNY as a romance, and Nemona/Scarlet as a damaged friendship seeking to be healed.
(I am remixing the PokeSpe manga character Scarlet Koito into the SV game's plot in the role of 'player character')
Nemona/Penny are the two leads here, with Nemona being the more focused 'protagonist' with the heaviest load of anyone in the story.
Planned recurring support characters who will get their own moments include Scarlet, Arven, and Rika (and potentially more).
Not applying archive warnings for the time being but this is going to be a 'young adult / new adult' story, mostly fitting a 'T' rating but some moments and scenes fitting an 'M' rating. I will leave chapter specific warnings for if/when more intense moments show up.
This fic's main story is after a 5 and a half year time skip after the events of Pokemon SV.
I will make heavy use of flashbacks, so I will make it clear at what point in time those take place when one starts.
I will also be breaking chapters/scenes into smaller, easier-to-digest posts, so most scenes will be split into two or three updates posted back-to-back.
Schedule: I will have 'active' periods where I will post a new chapter every week for a month or so, and then give myself time to write/edit more. I aim to post the first part of a new chapter on Mondays during an 'active' period, and will post the consecutive parts once per day after. In other words, if you check in during the weekend, an entire chapter for the week will already be live.
PLEASE NOTE: this fic is a DIRECT SEQUEL to my previous one, Super Effective on a Single Brick Brain. That fic is NOT REQUIRED to get into this one, but if you want the story of how this version of NemoPen happened, and setup for things this fic is going to explore, please read that one! (But note that it's tonally skewed younger and a bit more silly than this fic for the most part, as the characters are younger)
Lastly, you may be confused why a Nemona/Penny fic starts with a chapter like this, but it should make sense why I chose this as the story unfolds.
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(Author's note: the following scene is a flashback directly based on a scene from the book きみと雨上がりを['After the Rain With You'] by Ayano Takeda, remixed for the purposes of this narrative.)
(One month before the Area Zero Incident)
(Nemona's age: 17, Scarlet's age: 15 )
Prologue:
The Time in the Rain With You
The air was chilled by the falling rain, and Nemona's skin was clammy and damp. Her clothes were heavy, stuck to her skin—the added weight was making each step more difficult. Her waning strength was pitiable, and she was already out of breath after only a few minutes of wandering in the rainstorm, desperate to find her crestfallen friend... Her crestfallen future Rival, she hoped.
The visage from earlier that afternoon of Scarlet's face when they'd lost to Larry... it was affixed to the back of Nemona's vision. Seeing Scarlet so shaken, so disappointed, so frustrated... That image was even heavier on Nemona than all of this Arcdamn rainfall. It had been the first time Nemona had seen Scarlet actually lose. And they'd been so pumped to get their fifth Gym Badge, too... Nemona, in truth, hadn't lost against any of the Gym Leaders in her rise to the top. Not a one. She'd cared too much about looking cool to come to any of them unprepared. Maaybe-... Maybe this was her fault? Maybe she'd pushed Scarlet too quickly, made the Gym Challenge too pressing, rushed them to complete it... Nemona knew she could be a little reckless sometimes... Maybe her advice, her eagerness, was instilling a hasty nature in Scarlet?
And now, Scarlet wasn't answering Nemona's calls, wasn't texting back... even though they'd said they would after they'd fought Larry. It made Nemona's stomach sick—a literal possibility with how cold she was in this rain. Stupid, stupid... forgetting an umbrella on a trip across Paldea. But Nemona didn't think ahead if it wasn't a Pokémon battle; she only focused on the present. And right that moment, the very heavy, suffocating present was screaming at her like a flustered Noibat: 'Your friend is hurting, your friend is in pain, they need you, they're alone and cold and damp and probably really down on themself!'
So Nemona kept pushing on, despite her pounding heart, despite her aching feet, her burning thighs, her trembling hands, and the steadily crushing weight of the rain against her whole being... Her Pawmi had rounded a corner, meeting up with her after scanning a few blocks in the time it took her to cover one. She could tell the little guy was getting impatient and a bit confused by her gasping and whimpering in this rainfall. His ears were flopped downward, letting the rain roll off, and the tuft of fur on his head was soaked flat against his skull.
He made a concerned chittering noise as Nemona trudged to him, wiping rain out of her eyebrows. A passersby – who had been smart enough to bring an umbrella – shot her a confused look, but she avoided eye contact, rushed past them. Her ponytail slapped against her back when she rolled to a stop, its water weight stretching at the skin on her scalp.
"Y-...You-... Oh, Arc..." She gasped, needing to take a second to catch her breath. Sniffing and wiping rain off her upper lip, she asked him between huffs, "You... see them... anywhere...?"
Her Pawmi shook his head, flinching when a heavy water drop plopped right onto his head from a roof above. He shivered, and Nemona sighed. Poor guy had run practically the whole length of the town by now, he'd done his part and then some.
"H-Here..." she croaked, her breath still short as she pulled out Pawmi's pokéball. "Take a break, I'm... I'm sure I'll find her, bud..." She wiped at her mouth with a groan, uttering out, "Thanks... for looking..."
Pawmi gaped at her with some concern. He could tell this situation was really getting to her. She lamented that she'd spent time brushing and tending to his fur just a half hour prior, only to have that work ruined by this storm. The same could be said for her own hair... But just because something got messed up over and over didn't mean you gave up on ever cleaning it. It was why you had to be vigilant in tending to things.
With Pawmi back safe in his pokéball, Nemona assessed her situation. Maybe... Scarlet had just left? But... they'd agreed to meet up for the fireworks that evening. So they had to still be around, right? They wouldn't just... ditch Nemona, would they? They were becoming best friends so quickly and everything, or so Nemona had thought... For the first time since she'd met Scarlet, Nemona found herself questioning if she was getting ahead of herself, fated to drive yet another potential friend away... It was an eerie and familiar fear that gripped at her heart, but she was eager to cast the doubt aside. No, it wasn't going to happen this time. She had a really good feeling! It would be the candle in her heart she kept protected through what had been an rough past school year. Here in mid-summer, between formal semesters while the Treaure Hunt was in full swing, she just knew she was going to find her 'Treasure' in what she'd found with Scarlet. She had to...
Nemona shook her doubts off for the time being and pressed on, advancing to the last few blocks of the town she presumed had yet to be explored. After a couple minutes of rain-drenched drudgery, she saw irregular movement out of the corner of her eye, coming from an alleyway. The spindly legs of a familiar Spidops were gesturing at her, sending her childhood born fight-or-flight response off... But she suppressed her instincts, as she often did when bug Pokémon appeared unexpectedly. The Spidops' other two legs were weaving at... some kind of net? Or-...?
Oh! It was Scarlet! Their Spidops was tending to a makeshift 'tarp' between two walls of the alleyway Scarlet was sitting at the edge of – an attempt to protect the trainer from the rain. Scarlet was pitched against the alleyway wall, barely visible from outside due to the setting sun. They looked... asleep? With a book in their lap... That suspicious red book they were so secretive about.
"Leh-... Letty!" Nemona coughed out, using the appointed nickname she'd given her weeks-old friend. She hustled to the alleyway and cautiously scooted herself beneath the cover Spidops was providing, making sure to not let it detect any semblance of fear from her. It seemed to recognize her presence despite her soaked state and welcomed her beneath its webbing, a bit of rainwater trickling off and nearly splashing into her.
The pocket of protection from the rain was dimly lit, with the sun in the process of setting, its scant rays blocked by the building the snoozing Scarlet's back was propped against. As expected in Paldea, however, for an alleyway, it was pretty clean. A tidy set of pristine metal bins aligned the wall behind Nemona, and a large green dumpster resided further into the alley past the pair of trainers. In its own odd way, it felt kind kind of cozy, at least with all of this rainfall going on.
"Letty," Nemona prodded again, her voice a bit lowered as she knelt above her no-doubt disappointed companion. "Hey..."
"Mmrgh..." Scarlet moaned, coming to fairly quick. Their sunken, dull eyes stared up at Nemona like piercing red daggers, rusted over by their loss that afternoon. "Nemona? The hell're you doing here...?"
"H-Hah, I could... I could ask you that!" Nemona chuckled nervously, suddenly self aware of her wet clothes stuck to her body, and her soaked bangs clinging to the side of her face. She probably looked extremely un-cool... Good thing Scarlet was the only Academy student around to see her like this...
"Damnit," Scarlet sighed, closing the book in their lap and pulling their RotomPhone out of their pocket. "Must've conked out," they grumbled with a "Tch," shaking their head. "Missed call from you. Sorry 'bout that. Didn't miss the fireworks, right?... Nah, 'nother half hour... What, uh-..." Now Scarlet was looking confused, having noticed the messy state their new Bestie was in. "Somethin' happen?"
Nemona's brows raised as she blinked dumbly. Scarlet... actually seemed less fazed than Nemona had anticipated. Part of her was actually a little disappointed—she couldn't be a shoulder to cry on if... no one was crying, after all. She realized in that moment how weird it was that she'd been looking forward to being a shoulder to cry on... and a tinge of guilt scratched at the inside of her rib cage as she acknowledged its presence.
"Wh-... I, uh-..." Nemona untied her ponytail, and the cascade of dripping jet blackness slid down her shoulders and back. She flicked her head a little, shoving it all behind her shoulders. That was something you were supposed to do in a situation like this, right? All wet, hair down... You showed that off a bit, tried to make it look, like, 'attractive', or whatever, instead of lame. Yeah? That was totally what her Big Sister would've advised she do... Her wet clothes were showing off her figure, too, and that was, like, a total thing people liked to see, yeah...?
Scarlet didn't seem impressed by the gesturing too much, though.
"You look like crap," they cited flatly, reaching for their pack.
"Heh, I feel like it, too," Nemona eked out, unsure if the remark was teasing or discouraging...
Scarlet pulled out a small towel and chucked it over without another word.
"Gosh, thanks," Nemona cooed, a nervous giggle spilling out.
Scarlet had made a kind gesture! For her! A smooth act of kindness! Ahhh~!
Nemona tried to contain herself as she dried her hair off. Before she could think of what to say, Scarlet explained what had happened—though it wasn't new info to Nemona.
"Oh, erh... Tried my luck against that doofy Gym Leader." Scarlet snorted a laugh. "Larry? Man. Just a... guy. Normal-Type: the human. Love it. Tch. Anyway-... " They ran a hand over their forehead, brushing some stray raindrop-laden bangs off their skin. "Got my ass handed to me, so..." Letty fluttered their lips in a disparaging sigh, gazing downward.
"A-Actually, I saw," Nemona revealed, her voice muffled a bit by towel. Shaking the tips of her ponytail off, she specified, "Isn't Larry great?" She recalled how Larry was actually a member of the Elite Four, on top of being a Gym Leader, but didn't want to spoil the surprise. "He's, um... He's tougher than he looks," she added cheekily, eyes squinting over a smirk. "I've got a sparring match with him tomorrow, jeje. You rolled up right after I'd sealed the deal, and so, well... I just had to spectate!"
"Ugh, you watched that match? Seriously?" Scarlet's gaze drifted sideways, flat and dull as usual as they hugged their knees. "Total shit show. Can't believe I lost..."
Nemona didn't know how to process Scarlet's phrasing. Swear words were so not her thing, too 'unbecoming' or whatever, like Big Sis would say.
Holding a rain-dampened towel in her hands, Nemona awkwardly offered, "I'll, um... get this washed, and return it to you!"
Scarlet's lower lip propped out as they shook their head indifferently, reaching an arm out for it.
"Nah, 's fine." They took the towel back and shoved into into a wrinkled up grocery bag inside their pack, tying it up tight. As they stuffed the tome they'd been reading into the bag, as well, they asked, "So... Why're you here? Anyway?"
"W-Well, I saw how badly you lost," Nemona spat out, instantly regretting her phrasing. ('Thank Palkia, they don't seem to mind...') Nemona began fiddling with her largest, green bang, its wet texture slick against her fingertip. "You, erh, looked pretty down on yourself when your left, and... and then you didn't return my call? So, I, umm...-"
"Thought I was upset, or somethin'?" Scarlet said, brow raised. "Tch. As if. Sure, got lil' pissed off when it happened, but, like-... Enh." They shrugged, glancing away from Nemona's intent staring. It made Nemona self-conscious that she was looking too hard... Scarlet went on, "Just needed to cool off. Not like I've never lost before..."
Nemona was perplexed. By her count, Letty hadn't lost a single time...
"Really?" Nemona murmured, folding her arms under her chest curiously. "From where I'm standing, it looks like you've had a pretty clean streak until now..."
"Enh, you ain't watched literally every fight I've been in," Scarlet dismissed with a nonchalant flick of their hand. "Anyway. A loss is still a win, long as ya learn somethin'." They looked back at Nemona, crossing their legs and crossing their arms. "Now? I've got info on what team he uses. I'll come prepared next time."
The pair of them shared a knowing smirk for a fleeting moment.
Nemona's heart soared at their conclusion. And they'd arrived at it all on their own! Yes, yes! This was exactly the kind of mentality she'd been looking for in a prospective Rival!
Clasping her hands together abreast, Nemona nodded, bobbing up and down once on her toes.
"Totally~! You so get it! Aw, man, just-... Yes. I could-! I could help, y'know? I'm fighting him tomorrow! Haven't had a match with him in like a year or so, but I could analyze his strategy when we battle, and-... and I could so put together a list of ideas to counter him. We could meet up for dinner, maybe? Go over my findings? Put together a plan of attack and stuff!" She pumped her fists. "Augh, Arceus, I'll make sure you destroy him the next time you battle!" She shadowboxed a little in her anticipation. "Like, just, wipe the floor with him!"
By the time Nemona let her over-excited ass come back up for air, she noticed Scarlet was staring, slack-jawed a bit, eyes narrow as ever. She couldn't tell if Scarlet was... interested in this plan, or not...
'Shoot! I'm doing it again, huh...?'
"Tomorrow?" Scarlet replied after a silence that made Nemona feel queasy. "'Mona, we're hanging out today. Met up yesterday, too, for ice cream? I got... things to do, y'know? Besides the Gym Challenge. Gotta make cash to pay my way n' stuff. Tomorrow, meetin' up with Arven. Gotta help him hunt down the next Titan Pokémon."
"O-Oh, sure." Nemona tapped at her cheek, gazing sideways as she made a sheepish offer, desperate to come off as casual. "Tsh, yeah, y'know, I wouldn't mind lending a hand, if you think-"
"Nah, we're good. Got it handled."
Oof. Had been worth a shot, anyway...
"Hah. That's my Champion-In-The-Making, for ya." Nemona swiped a hook at thin air. "Takin' on giant, crazed Pokémon like it's... no big deal."
"It's kinda not. You'd think it would be, but... Engh," Scarlet shrugged, trailing off. "And, erh. Between all this Gym training crap, it's... kinda nice to just... spend some time in nature. And whatever."
"Oh, for sure! Paldea's got so much to offer, doesn't it?" Nemona pumped her elbows down to her hips, trying to keep the mood up.
"It-..." Scarlet blinked off to the side, then back to Nemona. "I mean. 'S got a lotta... hiking trails, I guess... Not even well kept ones, to be honest. With how much money rolls through some o' these towns, you'd think they could at least keep the damn roads functional..." At Scarlet's blunt critique, Nemona felt herself shrink a little bit. She supposed it was easier to see the flaws when you hadn't grown up here. Scarlet kept ranting, "Big surprise, there, not like I couldn't find miles of hiking trails where I came from... Tons of open space, sure, but... nothing much to do in Paldea, huh?" They grumbled under their breath, £Roll around a giant... fuckin' olive... Psh..."
Nemona was feeling dragged down by Scarlet's mood, here, and opted to keep maintaining the optimistic approach.
"Wh-?! Sure, there's stuff to do here! You can battle to your heart's content, for a start!"
"Rrrright. Pick fights with strangers just moping around in the middle of nowhere? I'll pass. Mainly, though, just need to keep finding as much treasure as I can. Don't really care where it comes from. But the stronger my team is, the easier it'll be to find more. So. Yeah." Scarlet bobbed their head sideways and pinched some water drops from the little tuft of bangs they had.
"Of course!" Nemona encouraged. "So you can graduate some day—fulfill the Treasure Hunt and everything?"
"Uh... Sure." Something about the way they'd said it made Nemona suspect something else was up. When it came to the Treasure Hunt, they'd get real cagey, though Nemona couldn't figure out what kind of secret they had to hide about it. She knew better than to pry—she'd hate it if Letty was prying into her personal life, after all...
Nemona tried to push things onward, this was giving her such a bad vibe... She felt like something was off but was too scared to draw attention to it. It stung a little, knowing that Scarlet, brand new to Paldea, was already making all these friends and stuff, going off on trips and whatever? Meanwhile, Nemona was so wrapped up with keeping up her grades, maintaining her reputation, handling Student Council business, and training up her multiple teams... She just didn't have, like... people? Individual, specific people, that she wanted to spend time with? Or even could if did want to...
Why and how did Scarlet become this exception to the rule? They seemed so... innately good at stuff, a real natural. Nemona had needed to work hard to gain her skillset, and found herself a little envious when she reflected on how easily it seemed to come to Letty. Heck, even having this insane motorcycle dinosaur, to boot? So cool... How could one person be so dang cool?!
Nemona just needed to keep spending time with them, regardless. That was all that mattered, really. She wouldn't bother putting much thought into it until she needed to. The excitement, the buzz, that was all she could focus on for now.
"What about the day after tomorrow?" Nemona offered. "To meet up and dish Larry strats. I mean."
Scarlet's eyes did a weird, uncertain thing, looking at Nemona as if some unspoken rule had been broken somehow – a feeling Nemona knew well. Then Letty shrugged, glancing out at the dissipating rainstorm, not making eye contact.
"Uh, look, Nemona, I'm not sure how long this trek with Arven's gonna take, so... Why don't I just... call you?" They finally looked back with a small smirk. "When I'm ready to rethink Operation: Kick Larry's Normal Ass?"
Nemona burst out a giddy giggle. She loved Scarlet's little 'operation: etc.' bit. Sounded like they'd picked it up from this Cassiopeia person—who Nemona was still way suspicious of... She wished she could insert herself into that mess, help bring Team Star down, and make sure Scarlet didn't get in over their head... But, then again, their loss to Larry besides, Letty was holding their own super well, here, all things considered. Which, naturally, was all the more promising regarding their prospects as a future Rival.
"Sounds, uh, sounds good!" Nemona complied, ready to re-tie her hair into a ponytail. Pumping her fists with resolution, she assured, "I'll write up a detailed plan for us to go over when you're ready!"
"Cool," Scarlet said with a simple nod. Nice! Yes! Nemona was so looking forward to it. People never wanted to dish detailed plans or strats with her...! UGH, this was just the best. Oh, yeah, and the fireworks were about to happen soon! That was a total bonding moment opportunity!
"Can't wait," Nemona put out there, unable to contain herself. Fluffing out her still drying hair, she wondered, "So, uh... Any word on the fireworks show? You think it's still on?"
"Oh. Good question." Scarlet checked their RotomPhone. Nemona was in suspense for a few moments. She desperately wanted to experience fireworks together with Letty. It was something special she'd never gotten to share with anyone outside of her family... Letty replied casually, "Huh. Yep, still on."
"Nice!" Nemona cheered quietly. "It's gonna be awesome, just you wait~"
As Nemona bobbed on her toes with anticipation, Scarlet tucked their phone back away and gazed up at Nemona with a slightly amused, quizzical look. Nemona soaked that expression in like a warm cup of tea after... well, a cold and rainy afternoon such as this.
"You sure seem hyped," Letty remarked dryly, but that soft glow remained in their eyes.
"Heck yeah, I am!" Nemona confirmed, not letting her anticipation be subdued a single centimeter.
"Well... Gettin' hungry," Scarlet said, rubbing their stomach a little. Strapping their pack back on while still sitting, they summoned their Spidops back into its ball. "Gonna go grab something. Uh... Wanna come with?"
"I'd love to," Nemona belted out, having hoped they'd offer. "I know you're strapped for cash, so let me cover you!"
"Enh, but you did yesterday when we had lunch..."
"It's so not a problem, seriously. 'Sides, you had a rough battle, you deserve a treat to cheer you up!"
Nemona knelt over and extended a hand down to Scarlet.
"Heh..." Scarlet smirked in this timid way at Nemona, a way that Nemona had only ever seen reserved for her. A softness, a vulnerability, was briefly revealed from beneath those rusted shields for irises. Their eye contact lasted just long enough to make them both flustered, until Scarlet at last replied, "Yeah, all right..."
Scarlet reached up and gripped Nemona's arm bracer tightly, and Nemona pulled Scarlet up, beaming with giddy warmth.
"C'mon, Letty. Let's go!"
"Guh-...! Slow... Slow the hell down...!"