“Nice work out there, Jamal.”

“It’s Justin!” The boy exclaimed, boisterous as ever as he flashed an excited grin at his school friends.

Both Nina and Kerry laughed. The two girls would hate to admit it, but they missed the boy an awful lot. In fact, he was a frequent topic of conversation during the half a year that Nina spent idling, as they speculated about the progress of his journey.

Justin ran over and pulled the two girls into a tight hug and jumped around with the same enthusiasm as a Spoink. 

Nina chuckled and gave the boy a solid pat on the back. “We missed you too, J. That was a close one huh? You were down to only a single Pokemon there.”

Justin snorted and let go of his embrace. “Yeah, probably should have swapped Wigglytuff out for Sharpedo. But like, I didn’t want people to yell at me again, y’know?”

Nina shook her head. “You still did a swap for Blastoise in the end anyway. And besides, it’s only the mutual swapping at the first round that gets people riled up. And Sharpedo would have been a great choice if you just told him to keep a distance. Not that I would underestimate a Rhyperior’s range capabilities, they have those cannons in their arms for a reason. Something that I found out the hard way when I fought Forrest…”

Justin perked up at the mention of Forrest’s name. “Did you start getting badges already, Nina?”

The girl nodded with a wry smile. “Just the one, I bumped into Forrest by chance and he agreed to a Star battle with me.”

Justin whistled, his eyes glittering with excitement. “That’s nice! I have Star Badges too — two of ‘em! I wish I could’ve fought Forrest’s Star team. Maybe then I could’ve skipped through that stupid preliminary.” The boy sighed. “I know what you mean by firecrackers now… Those kids were a real chore to sweep through.”

Nina laughed. “Nah, pretty sure Forrest went easy on me. You can probably take his Expert team just fine though. But that would depend on how strict he wants to be. Which Star badges did you get?”

Justin sighed in dejection. “Victor, ‘cause duh.” Nina nodded, fully in agreement now that she’s met the man. “Then, surprisingly, I managed to beat Erika’s Star team too.” The boy continued. “She seemed… tired? And her Pokemon weren’t as strong as I thought.”

Nina nodded once more in understanding. Justin probably fought the Celadon Gym Leader after the whole fiasco with the Yamaguchi Group. She imagined dealing with the political fallout of the incident was quite draining. Not to mention, Erika had gotten herself involved as well during the raid on Yamaguchi HQ. 

In fact, according to Alfred, it was her interjection that allowed him to stay alive and buy enough time for the League forces to arrive. As a result, a lot of the Pokemon in her main team got heavily injured. 

It was truly naive of them to think that Noboru would have left his castle undefended. Or maybe Alfred knew, but opted not to say anything to ensure his mistress’s attention was fully focused on the task at hand. 

“Now that I think about it, we never did specify Purple Shadow’s role.” Nina had the same guilty thought over the past year, that maybe the ronin was supposed to have been Alfred’s backup.

“Anyways, do you guys mind if I catch up to you later? I wanna go check up on Lucy…” Justin said with a sheepish look on his face.

Kerry gave the boy a meaningful smile and a forceful pat on the back. “‘Course, gotta go check on your friend. Take all the time you need~ Don’t worry about us getting in the way or anything, just give us a call once you’re done. Or don’t. Whatever, you know. We get it.” The girl said with a wink, eliciting a helpless smile from Nina and a confused look from Justin.

“Err… Thanks?” Justin drawled. “I’ll get going then…” And with that, the boy ran off to the other end of the stadium to go find his childhood friend.

***

“So Nina,” Justin began. “You know how my Scyther wants to become a Kleavor but that Black August thing is stupid expensive?”

The group was currently in a restaurant to celebrate the boy’s victory, courtesy of his free meal privileges being in the top sixteen. And Justin had somehow managed to drag Lucy with him too. Although the girl had been silent since they met, looking all downtrodden.

Nina sighed. “It’s Black Augurite. But go on.”

Justin grinned. “So like, I met a guy right? During my journey. And you know how Kleavors have those axes as their hands.”

Nina nodded as Justin pulled out his Pokedex, displaying a picture of a Kleavor, and leaned over the table in a conspiratory manner to begin whispering, even though there was barely anyone around them. The boy pointed at the axe hands in question. “Pure. Augurite.” He said simply.

Nina froze, eyes widening like a Goldeen. This was one bit of Pokemon knowledge that she was completely ignorant of. And it was coming from Justin of all people!

“W-wait. A-Are you sure? How reliable is this intel? And who was the guy who gave it to you? For what reason?”

Justin shrugged. “I dunno. The guy was a bit of a jerk at first, but he was quite nice once he warmed up. Real smart too, smarter than you probably.” The boy added with a smirk. “Said his name was Gary or something.”

Nina slammed her palms on the table and leaned right over into Justin’s face. “Gary? Did you just say Gary?! As in Gary Oak? You met Gary freaking Oak?!”

Justin leaned back in fright. This was the first time that he had ever seen his level headed friend be this agitated. “Y-yeah…” He stuttered. “Why? Is he a big deal or something?”

Nina crashed back into her seat, face full of astonishment. “Unbelievable… How could someone be this lucky and dumb at the same time… Is this just a protagonist thing…”

While Nina was murmuring incoherent ramblings under her breath, Kerry chimed in. “So erm… I get that this knowledge is valuable and all. But so what? It’s not like we know anyone with a Kleavor who would just willingly carve off a piece of their body just to give to you.”

Justin tutted at the young nurse with a smug grin. “Hehe... That’s where you’re wrong. My guy also told me about this ancient forest way up north. Apparently it was being guarded by a Noble Kleavor or something? He said that if Scyther and I managed to impress it, then it might be willing to give me a little piece.”

“Noble?” This time it was Lucy who chimed in with a scoff. “What makes this Pokemon more noble than the others?”

Justin let out another haughty smirk as he wagged his finger at his friend. “Lucy, oh Lucy. My poor Lucy. See, this is why you lost to me.” He said, eliciting a glare from the girl. “You see, a Noble Pokemon is… well actually, I don’t know.”

All three girls groaned and rolled their eyes in tandem before sharing a mutual look — a silent pact to punish the boy later for his transgressions.

“Do you know, Nina?” Kerry asked. To which the girl nodded in return.

In Legends: Arceus, Noble Pokemon referred to guardian Pokemons who had received the blessings of Arceus. But in the modern day, such blessings had long faded, or at least if they still existed, no one knew about them.

So these days, the term Noble Pokemon referred to Alpha Pokemon who served as both guardians of people and Pokemon, who received their worship and veneration in return. In a way, they possessed the same prestige as Legendary Pokemon despite their species being of the mundane variety.

In fact, when Nina first learned about Alpha Pokemon, she had mistook them for being Noble Pokemon at first. So the girl gave a stripped down explanation, merely saying that they were legendary Alphas who served as guardians for both people and Pokemon.

“So? You said this forest was up north.” Nina continued. “Where exactly? If you don’t mind telling.”

Justin shrugged. “Nah, I don’t mind. Rather, I’m telling you ‘cause I wanted to ask if you wanna come with. Since you’re super smart and you wanna become an explorer and all.” The boy then poked at his Pokedex and produced a map, not of the region, but of the continent. 

“Gary said that the forest was somewhere around here.” The boy pointed at a portion of the map that was completely blacked out with not a single marking in sight, aside from a little pin amidst the sea of black.

Nina frowned and cross referenced it with her own map with the same result. “Justin, I hope you understand that this place is a Black Zone.”

“Wazzat?” asked the ignorant boy, eliciting sighs from the table.

“You idiot!” Lucy chided. “Black Zones are bad news. They’re unexplored areas that the Pokemon League thinks are too dangerous for humans. That’s usually where they dump Pokemon that’s way too dangerous to be in the region once they capture them.”

Nina chuckled. “Lucy’s mostly right. What makes a Black Zone is simply the unexplored part and it isn’t necessary that they’re too dangerous for habitation — it could also be due to factors like practical concerns. For example, the terrain might not be very convenient to develop, or it’s too far away from other civilizations, or simply because the area is just absent of any valuable resources worth exploiting.” All regions were Black Zones at some point until humans moved in.

Lucy blushed and averted her gaze — a very different reaction from what Nina had expected. In fact, she expected to be yelled at for correcting the girl.

“But it is true that their untamed nature makes them very dangerous. Not to mention, the logistical concerns associated with an expedition into their depths.” Nina continued. “My question now is, how could an Alpha possibly be considered a Noble if they exist within an uninhabited Black Zone?” 

Unless Gary’s definition was a little skewed somehow? But Nina doubted that was the case. The man could be considered a wandering researcher and wouldn’t make such a mistake.

Justin shrugged in ignorance yet again, eliciting a strong urge from Nina to slap the careless boy.

Nina sighed as she studied the areas surrounding the Black Zone. “This place is way up north, closer to Sinnoh than it is to Kanto, which explains where the Noble Kleavor came from.” The girl tilted her head in consideration. “That said, Sinnoh is still at least a two day flight away. In fact, the nearest point of civilization is… Huh? Am I seeing this right? Is this Kitakami?”

A surge of excitement overtook Nina’s being as her mind raced with all sorts of considerations. Mainly how she could fit such a lengthy adventure into her hectic journey year. “Kitakami is about a day long flight at regular speed, and if we set off from Johto. Even faster if I go full speed on Nitey, which won’t be possible with a Fly Basket.” 

Nina measured the distance between Kitakami and the borders of the Black Zone. “We could pack light and do regular resupplies over at the town, if they’re even welcoming of us of course.” Nina did not forget Stephen’s warning to her all those years ago. People who lived in off route settlements were either highly eccentric or batshit insane. Either way, they were strong enough to defend themselves in the wild.

Overall, if they were being quick and efficient about it, the whole expedition would last two months at the very most, regardless of if they succeed or fail.

“Who else were you planning on inviting to the team?” Nina asked, once she was done ruminating.

“Err… You and Kerry, if she wants to come. And Lucy?” Justin turned to face his childhood friend, who responded with a begrudging groan in return.

“Only if the nurse girl and N-Nina come along too…”  Lucy said, her voice tapering off in the end.

Justin smirked and leaned over to whisper at Nina in a not so subtle way. “Ever since you kicked her ass, Lucy’s been a big Aquarium Girl fan. Bought all your merch and everything.”

However, before Justin could continue on, the girl in question dragged him back to his seat and began violently choking the boy as she laid into him and started yelling out all his embarrassing secrets. The commotion nearly got them kicked out of the restaurant as a server came by to give them a warning.

Nina laughed. “Four kids in a Black Zone guarded by a legendary Alpha Pokemon. What could possibly go wrong?”

“I would prefer it if there were more people accompanying us. Maybe an older trainer, someone more knowledgeable than just a bunch of kids,” said Nina, causing Justin to wilt in disappointment.

Nina chuckled. “Don’t worry Jeremiah, this isn’t a rejection. In fact, I’d love to explore this Black Zone with you. Come back to me once you’re done with the Indigo Conference. In the meantime, I’d like you to ask around to see if anyone else wants to join this expedition. Getting a few sponsors on board wouldn’t hurt either.” 

She also suggested that she consult Professor Oak on the idea and see what his thoughts on the matter was. “You’re planning to head back to Viridian City and Pallet Town after the conference right?” Both Justin and Lucy nodded in affirmation.

“Great, so let’s do that — consult the adults to see if they have more information on the area and any useful suggestions. Besides, Kerry and I can’t go with you right now anyway, since we need to complete a mission in Johto.” Also, Nina would like to get at least one more Star badge before leaving the region for an extended period, just in case she couldn’t make it back in time for the end of the Gym season.

And with that, their expedition plans were put on hold while Nina and Kerry left Indigo Village the very next day to scale the summit of Mount Silver.

***

Author's note:

The expedition will be taking place in the second half of Part Three if all goes according to plan.

I had originally wanted for it to be later down the line, but people have been asking for Nina to go on a proper exploration, which is quite valid. So I brought it forward.