As part of their commendation for taking down the Yamaguchi Group and Team Rocket, Lilian and her crew were allowed to make any one request from the Pokemon League and they would do their best to fulfill it. Even auxiliary members like Kerry.

Although, after consulting with the matriarchs of her clan, the nurse apprentice had actually abstained from any rewards and commendation. In fact, the Joy clan even asked that the involvement of their member not be publicized to maintain their facade of political neutrality.

Lilian, on the other hand, went all out and requested for a Key Stone. And honestly, Nina fully approved. In fact, she regretted not asking for one herself. Though she doubted they would have granted it to her as easily. 

Mega Stones were rare but perfectly possible to attain. Key Stones, however, could only be produced and issued to League sanctioned individuals to prevent misuse. And after personally experiencing the devastation that Mega Pokemon could cause, Nina fully understood why.

That said, with the Pokemon League’s guarantee, the sky’s the limit and Nina decided to use her reward to obtain a Pokemon that would otherwise be beyond her means. Not that she could be unreasonable of course, beyond the skies was outer space after all. 

Legendary Pokemon were obviously impossible and even rare Pokemon were subject to availability, such as Nina’s first choice — a Tirtouga, which she chose due to their incredible ability to dive up to a thousand meters in depth.

The ancient turtle Pokemon, said to be the ancestor of all turtles, was long extinct and might as well be a Legendary in terms of rarity in the modern day. Trying to find a Tirtouga fossil that was perfectly intact was nigh impossible and most of the ones that the League could source for her would be subject to the same lifespan issues that most imperfectly revived fossils suffered from. 

And Nina did not want to bring a Pokemon to life only to curse them to death after a few years. Ethics aside, She had a feeling that the loss would likely cause irreparable damage to her psyche.

Clones were an option but due to some missing link in their genetic chain, even those had issues, unless spliced with the genetics of modern day turtle Pokemon. However, ever since the chimera fossils fiasco involving the likes of Dracovish, Arctozolt and Dracozolt, this aspect of gene splicing had long been banned all over the world.

This was an issue that would soon be solved, thanks to the item that Professor Samson Oak recently acquired, but it wouldn’t be soon enough for Nina’s liking. So she had no choice but to give up on the Tirtouga and pick something else. Which led to her second choice.

Nina shuffled nervously in front of the transfer machine. She never did get to pick a starter like in the games, so the girl couldn’t help but feel a little giddy over the momentous occasion.

“Was it difficult to secure permission for this?” Nina asked, to which the Professor simply shook his head with a wry smile.

“Not at all. In fact, Samson and Kukui were very eager to confer this Pokemon to you for some reason. The paperwork did take quite some time though, since you’re not a citizen of Alola.”

Nina nodded, she had no idea why the two Alolan Professors were so eager, but it was true that she wasn’t a denizen of Alola. Matter of fact, she had never even been there before. Not even on vacation.

Nina approached the Pokeball with a reverent gait, but jolted in the last minute and turned back around. “Wait, is it okay if I release my team here, Professor? I would like everyone to be present for this.”

Professor Oak chuckled and readily agreed to the girl’s request.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s give a warm welcome to the newest member of our family!” And with consecutive flashes of light, Nina’s Pokeballs popped open one by one, except for Gastly who emerged from Nina’s shadow with a curious gaze.

Then, with a sharp inhale, Nina approached the transfer machine once more and picked up the Pokeball nestled atop it — one with a little teardrop sticker on top, indicating that it contained a Water Type Pokemon.

“Alright, here goes… I choose you, Popplio!”

“Po!!!”

And with a melodic cry, a cute little sea lion, with a squishy pink nose, coming to about knee height of Nina, emerged from the light.

“Po-po-po!” The Popplio barked as he clapped his forefins and looked around the room with a giddy smile, excited to see so many new faces surrounding him.

That’s right, Nina chose a Popplio — a regional starter that she would not normally be able to acquire unless she was a citizen of Alola, like Professor Oak mentioned previously. 

Nina didn’t just pick the adorable sea lion because he was sinfully cute, though she’d be lying if she said that wasn’t a big factor. She also picked a Popplio because they were basically like hounds underwater.

The Primarina line couldn’t dive as deep as a Tirtouga, though they weren’t too bad either. Mostly, they were useful for underwater treasure hunting. In fact, from what Nina read, owning one of the Primarina line was a must for the spear fishers and treasure hunters of Alola. 

The species was highly adept at corralling fish underwater, and their habit of collecting pretty trinkets and shells in the ocean meant that they had incredible instincts for seeking out sunken valuables.

“Hey, Popplio…” Nina knelt down and greeted the Pokemon with Berries in hand.

“Po-po!”

The girl giggled and gently caressed the Popplio, marvelling at the sleekness of his rubbery blue hide and the lightness of his translucent ruff.

“My name is Nina, and my dream is to go out and explore the world, meet new people and play with all sorts of interesting Pokemon. Would you be willing to join my family and accompany us on our journey?”

“Po-po~ Popplio!” Popplio barked as he slid around in a circle, before standing straight on his back fins and broke out into rapturous applause.

“Hehe… You’re quite the performer arentcha?” Nina cooed and booped her nose against the squishy round nub adorning the tip of his snout.

“Pop-pop!” Popplio launched into the air, did a full backflip onto Nina’s lap, and then reached up to nuzzle his little whiskers against her, eliciting more laughter from the girl.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Nina, before she beckoned for the rest of her team to come close. “And since you’re so sunny, I’ll name you Poppy, like the flower. How does that sound?”

“Po-po~ Poppy!”

Nina giggled and gave the energetic sea lion another nuzzle. “Alright Poppy, let’s meet your new family!” Nina exclaimed as she went about introducing her Pokemon one by one.

“This here is Nitey, your big brother, literally and figuratively — Nitey was my starter. And I have a feeling the two of you will get along especially well.”

“Nite~” Nitey lowered his bulbous head and gave Poppy’s squishy little nose a boop, just like with Nina when they first met.

“Po-po!” Poppy cried out in excitement and reached up to return a boop of his own.

Next up was Espy, who approached and placed a paw onto the Popplio’s head for a little pat. Nina’s princess was being awkward around strangers as always, but she was confident that the Espeon would warm up in due time.

Gastly floated over and engaged in a little staring contest with Poppy, with the curious little sea lion tilting his head left and right to mirror Gastly’s movement. Then with a little lick, Gastly greeted the newcomer and went back into Nina’s shadow, leaving behind a very confused Popplio, much to their trainer’s amusement.

“Cloood~” Sir Clodington kept at a distance and just cried out a greeting. Nina wasn’t sure if the Clodsire was being awkward or if he was just being mindful about not wanting to accidentally Poison their newest addition with his toxic skin.

Brucey though, was definitely shy as he gingerly approached from behind and peeked over Nina’s shoulder with gleaming eyes.

“This is Brucey. He might seem a little mean but he’s actually just a big ol’ dork.” Nina said before turning to address the Golbat. “And Brucey, be nice to Poppy ok? He’s not used to your shenanigans, so no pranks on him until you guys get to know each other better. You don’t want Poppy to hate you right?”

“Kukuku… Gol…” Brucey responded with his usual laughter. Although, he had been mixing in some Pokespeak lately, a big improvement from how he was at the beginning. But just in case, Nina still told Espy to relay her words and keep a close watch over the mischievous Golbat. 

Brucey’s emotional development had been progressing, but he still got confused from time to time. Especially when it came to scenarios that he was never exposed to.

“And that’s pretty much it. Welcome to the family, Poppy!”

“Po!!!”

***

“Hehe… I knew that a Popplio would be a good match for Aquarium Girl.”

Nina tilted her head in confusion at Samson Oak, who was currently manning a grill at his cousin’s backyard. The younger Oak had boasted about how every Alolan was an expert pitmaster and offered to showcase his barbecue skills for dinner that day. Nina’s favorite was his grilled watermelon, which looked uncannily like meat but was actually quite sweet.

“Professor Oak mentioned something similar. But why though?” The girl asked. “What does a Popplio have to do with my Aquarium Girl brand?”

“Because you’re Aquarium Girl of course!” The man exclaimed, further deepening Nina’s confusion. That was, until the Alolan Pokemon Professor took out his Pokedex — which had a different design from her Kantonian one — and pulled up a picture to show Nina, causing all the color to drain from her face.

“T-t-that’s… Where did you get that picture from?!”

The picture in question was of a much younger Nina, back when she was just six-years old, in a Popplio costume, complete with a stupid red clown nose adorning her face. To the side was just some random kid, with a big smile on her face, presumably the same person who paid for this picture.

“Nite-nite! Dragonite!” Nitey pointed excitedly at the image, feeling nostalgic at the sight as he placed a heavy paw onto Nina’s head for headpats.

“Haha! The year after your debut, we got so many kids asking for Popplios that we barely had enough to go around. So when Sam called in saying that Aquarium Girl was looking to obtain a Popplio, I knew I had to make it happen. Do you still have that costume by the way? I should get a picture of you and Poppy together. That would be perfect!”

Nina groaned, despairing at the fact that she had unintentionally fallen into her own stereotype. “I’ve forgotten about that… I forgot and accidentally became the meme! No wonder Bev had that insufferable smirk on her face when I told her I requested for a Popplio!”

Nina sighed and looked over to the Popplio being pampered in Kerry’s embrace. The girl had declared that since Nina had stolen her Shinx’s affection away, she would do the same with the impressionable Poppy.

“Oh well… Can’t be helped…” It’s not like Nina could request for a change, not that she would even if she could. It wouldn’t be fair to Poppy otherwise. The Popplio was already part of the family and Nina was mature enough to endure a bit of teasing from her peers. The only thing she needed to care about at this moment was ensuring the happiness and healthy development of her newest member.

***

Author's note:

Now, now... Did you all honestly think that I would let Nina journey out without a regional starter?

Tsk. Tsk. *shakes finger *

As for why I chose a Popplio for her. Well, Nina already explained it. They're sinfully cute and it fits perfectly with her Aquarium Girl brand.

Also, now that Nitey is all grown up, she needs someone new to dive with, no? Plus, for the more meta-oriented of you, Primarina are part Fairy.

Additionally, Prof Oak's offer to provide Nina with a regional starter still stands. But as Nina herself mentioned way back then, she'll try to make the most out of that offer somewhere down the line.

There were other candidates for this slot of course, but Popplio was ultimately the one I settled with. As many of you have already commented, it just feels wrong for her to not have as Water Type after so long.

And yes, Nina will get a Grass and Fire Type at some point. In fact at my current point of writing, I already had her capture a fairly troublesome Grass Type on a whim. But those chapters have not been released yet, not even on Patreon.

Anyways, on a side note. I'm working on a new original story right now. Not sure when I'll release it publicly but I'll make another note when the time comes. So look forward to it.

I'll likely write at least 50 chapters before doing anything though. I don't like to commit to something I can't finish and there's enough abandoned projects on this website already. I'm also trying out a more dialogue driven style with this new story and it's been... an interesting experience. Oh well, I'll have to consult my Patreons for feedback to see if it works.