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Pokémon Silly Human, Romance is for Nidoran~!

Venia Silente

For your ills, I prescribe a cat.
Location
At the 0-divisor point of the Riemann AU Earth
Pronouns
Él/Su
Partners
  1. nidorino
  2. blaziken
Hello everyone! Here's your virtual pen pal Venia Silente. You might remember me from works such as Overlord and Making the World Go 'Round. This time however, I'm in full cuteness mode general. This being Valentine's Day, I'm contractually allowed to cross-post my Valentine's story featuring Nidorans, the most lovable (and loving) fluffballs of all.

Less words, more words! Enjoy!





Some years ago, at the edge of the human city…

It had been a calm day so far, in the outskirts of the large city that rested beside the forest. Up by the edge of the flower shops district, some small stores were running their daily routine. Small buildings with automatic semitransparent doors that the inhabitants of the city handled without much issue to carry out their business.

The Nidorino, like many others in the wild, did not really have that much of a good relationship with the automatic doors. They were just... a thing, quite hard to handle, just like vanishing walls or mysterious artifacts of lore, not to mention the fact that hlessil – the strays and outcasts – weren't allowed inside these weird human burrows.

Not that this young specimen cared today. Barely over one year old, he was strolling around the store, listening, sniffing with interest, his clean, unbitten ears flickering every time one of the ithé – the weird non-Pokémon race that populated the cities and who called themselves "humans" – was about to emerge from weird structure, prompting the pinkish Pokémon to turn tail and run, horn down and muzzle open, to hide in the nearest safe place, usually a thicket or a hrududu – one of those small metal creatures the humans used to travel around the city.

All the better if he had to run. The Nidorino was happy to let himself run wildly every few minutes, trying the power of his new muscles and the toughness of his new paws, and each time he proudly stood before the store exposing his pale, unscarred flank, so silly of him to think that that was valuable but hey, that's the young for you.

Just like the other three or four Nidos roaming around the street, he was part of a small outcast troop that lived by the very edge of the forest. That didn't make them bottom percentage, no… it was a honour, if a tribulation as well, to live near the humans, the elders of the nearby forest colony said. But boy it was hard and annoying sometimes, the Nidorino thought as he went hide in a thicket. Every once in a while some annoying human kit would try and randomly throw Pokéballs at them, not even bothering (or perhaps not even knowing) with the ancient ritual. Other times the troop delved too deep inside the city, ate the wrong human's grass, and then they were chased back to the forest by angry Pokémon the colony called fuléarof, dogs of the dawn, but the Nidorino had heard the humans in blue clothes call Arcanine.

Silly dogs.


Outside​


There was the laughter of human kittens and the voice of their marli, the mother, fading away; the Nidorino peeked outside of the thicket, and saw them go away. Looking down the street one of the other Nidos of the troop was trying to attack some silly Pidgeys - that would keep him busy for a while. Even further beyond the Sun was diving away, to the eternal sea – the night was to come. The Nidorino turned his ears to the other side to check for any call from their troop leader. None come yet… that's great! He could have some more time to play, he thought.

Time to cautiously approach the human building again. Step after step, ears raised, the Nidorino moved slowly to face the mysterious disappearing wall that allowed the humans to come in and out…

And once he was very close, he decided to rub his muzzle against the lower part of the wall, just to confirm the reason why he had been so eager to spend the last half hour trying to figure out the intricacies of this wall the humans had placed.

Yes, he did confirm it as soon as his nostrils picked the scent. He raised his sight to try and distinguish anything inside the structure's hide, but for the most part he couldn't understand anything of what he was seeing, which was mostly blurry ghosts wandering around past the barrier. All he knew was that there was a Nidorina, somewhere inside. His eyes scanned a couple of times but got nothing, and this prompted the Nidorino to push his horn against the mysterious wall... softly at first, but harder when he felt the wall vibrating and pushing back in response to his strength.

Test your strength, get past the wall, that was the "message" that he could get. He had enjoyed himself so much since his evolution, just a couple of moons ago. He had found himself stronger, faster, smarter, if unfortunately larger enough that he had to dig himself a new burrow. So… strong and fast enough to take down this mysterious barrier, perhaps?

Face the wall, horn down, ears flattened. Focus his energy for a moment and... push!

Nothing. The wall wouldn't budge.

But of course! He was missing something!

So naïve of him to forget that he had to charge! Pointy end of horn goes inside the opponent, his instructor told the once little Nidoran. After a warning growl and a moment to shake his head, the specimen turned around and walked a short distance away, five or six steps from the wall, then turned around to face it again.

A rawr was issued, because the Nidorino was not going to back down, which he showcased by pointing end of horn at the blue-ish wall. Getting no response from the wall, the Nidorino buffed and followed with the customary and always useful Leer, his body stiffened to look as threatening as possible, his irises acquiring a blue-ish tint for a brief moment. A thump on the ground, legs well spread, and after a moment to take a breath, his charge. He was so going to win this one.

The eager Nidorino had barely had the time to aim his horn in his stint at attacking when his ears picked what seemed like a very sharp, brief cry coming from above. A slight tremor under his feet and the Nidorino was surprised to see the wall quickly move away somehow and… disappear?

Where did it go, the Nidorino asked to himself as he hastily braked, followed with a surprised "where am I now?" in a somewhat meeping mental tone.


Inside​


The Nidorino looked around, he was now in a different place that seemed to be the inside of the human structure, the floor and the walls were different here and there were weird trees lined up across the floor, with even weirder coloured leaves and objects hanging from them. The sounds and smells were all uniform, but off from what he knew, and were carried by a strange cool wind emerging from somewhere within the walls around him, forcing most scents off the wall he had come through.

He instinctively followed his ears and turned his head up to notice some sort of creature with a black eye making most of its body hanging from the ceiling, watching him. But as the creature did nothing but stare, the Nidorino returned his focus on the affair that had brought him here.

Sniff left… Sniff right… where was the Nidorina?

The Nidorino hesitantly took a step forwards and looked around. He could hear some humans around but couldn't see them, they were spread somewhere amidst the weird trees, some Pokémon were also there if the scents he was picking were all right. He would have to start looking around and evade any humans that would-

Oh? The tremor again! The Nidorino quickly turned back to see the blue-ish wall slide in from nowhere, and within just a couple of seconds his view of the trees and the hrududu outside, as well as the soft wind, were nearly completely blocked by the mysterious wall. Nearly skipping a heartbeat the Nidorino poked the wall with a paw, then his horn… just like before, all he felt was a slight vibration and a strong resistance. He could see some Nidorino-like shadows moving outside, probably the rest of his troop, and his ears flared up.

<…Trapped? Rrrrr?>

He nervously turned around, examining his surroundings. There were some more noises that he didn't pay much attention to as he was busy scanning for any other possible exit, but he was fairly sure he had circled the building many times and never found another kind of disappearing wall for humans to cross in and out.

He swallowed. Next he tried to pick any wind or any vibration to no avail and then started turning forth and back, pawing the door a couple of times and trying to check for humans alternatively.

It was right after one of those turns that he suddenly noticed, something had made the recesses of his mind freeze; he found himself standing still, ears pointed back, and realized there was something out there (or, well, in there) to look for. Carefully he turned around and quickly glanced at the weird trees, and it was right by one of them that he saw her eyes, inquisitively examining him, the form of the Nidorina sat at a corner.

The Nidorino shaked for a moment and swallowed again, looked back. The female was somewhat larger than himself, and seemed to be fairly more aged as well. She was inside, she was a trained Pokémon after all and not a hlessi the male thought, picking some clues from her rough flank and her clean, slightly sharpened claws and her… possessive demeanour? As he did, he felt himself being examined as well, but beyond some blinks the Nidorina gave no indication whatsoever if she liked what she saw.

Come on, boy, he reminded himself, just like you practised. You got yourself this far.

<…H-hello?> he growled faintly while stepping forwards.

Not much of a response, the Nidorina simply shifted her ears a couple of times, probably checking for the same sounds he was, and then simply leaned on the weird tree, her chest moving slightly with her breathing. The male was not to give up though, he was young and confident in his top-percentageness.

<I'm Baluarkos and I'm very healthy!> he growled, louder this time. He moved in a couple of steps and presented his flank, turned around a couple of times to show he was (just a bit!) confident with his surroundings. <I beat that blue… wall… thing!>

That seemed to definitively trigger a reaction in the Nidorina. Baluarkos saw her move her head a bit, look at the door behind him for a moment and them at him again. For whatever reason, the female then leaned onwards and let her forepaws rest on the ground, her face drawing something similar to a smile, her fangs showing off, a telltale sign that she wanted to see more of... him?

He smiled back as well, felt his body tense. Circled around a couple of times, then looked back at the blue-ish wall and back at the female, who blinked. He had to show he was strong, he reminded himself that the female had probably missed him scaring the foul wall into letting him in.

So perhaps another display…

He assumed a threatening posture again as he turned at the door and aimed his horn at it. Just as before, no response, so he took a couple of steps back, buffing as malely as he could. His feet suddenly caught a minute difference in the texture of the ground that surprised him, he stopped and looked down, after a moment he heard the female giggling. Ears down and blushing he looked back at her and saw her sitting on her hindlegs this time, her pupils dilated, she replied coyly tilting her head and then pointing him to the wall.

<I'm great, I can do this~>, he said to himself tilting his head like the female did.

So after a moment he shaked himself and thumped at the ground, ready to challenge. Even though he could not see it he could feel the Nidorina staring at him with interest. He let out his Leer and roared at the door, with the already expected lack of response, he puffed his chest, he'd have to do this the hard way. Again. Females dig males who go the hard way, his troop leader said. So be it, ears down, legs well spread, focus on the door... a couple of thumps...

...and charge!



Outside​


The blue-ish wall was quick to met his strong charge with the tremor and the high-pitched sound, and in a moment Baluarkos saw the wall slide away into nothingness just in time for him to proudly cross to the outside. He stopped right on his track and found himself right where he was before entering, could see the thicket and the hrududu from before, with one of his troop buddies intently looking down the street from behind it. He could once again sense the faint sea breeze – though it was a bit colder this time.

He let out a very specific growl, which called the attention of his buddy, and then turned back to look at the Nidorina.

<…See? I'm strong! I have a good flow by a creek! A burrow of my own,> he added, pointing with his paw to the forests to the east.

The Nidorina giggled for a moment and leaned on the ground again, looking at him with prowling eyes and her claws dug on the ground, as if she was having a certain fun watching him. Baluarkos, not used to the feeling, blushed and shaked his body for a moment. The two Nidoran looked at each other for a moment, she moving her ears in apparently random directions while he was leaning left and right, not letting her out of his sight.

<You're funny…> she said suddenly, in a low enough tone that Baluarkos barely picked it. But that was all he needed. Her call was coy and gruff, her voice sounded even older than Baluarkos had presumed, didn't know what to do about that but with what followed he wouldn't care.

She waited for a moment and then made an inviting motion with her head, the Nidorino blinked and smugly growled at nowhere. He stood quiet for a moment, breathing calmly as if playing hard to get, then the female repeated the gesture.

<I'm Inka>, she growled then slid her claws by the ground besides her.

Baluarkos felt like top-percentage. He assumed a calm posture, then walked towards her.

Then he felt a tremor just like what he felt when the found the blue wall again and… no, no…

<…Nooo!>

Eyes wide open and claws ready, the Nidorino rushed at the open space trying to reach the female, but before getting any far he found his field of vision obstructed by the blue and felt a strong thud, having bumped on the closing door. He bounded back somewhat ungracefully and then roared at the blue-ish wall. It was there again, as if nothing had happened, blocking his way.
He was once again trapped outside, away from her.

The Nidorino scratched the door a couple of times to no effect, then stepped back and looked it up.

<…Rrrrr... No! I'm hers! I'll have you for this!> he yelled at the door.


Inside​


Still resting on the corner of Aisle 3 (skin cleaning products), Inka continued to giggle as she watched the young male through the semitransparent door panel. She ran her claws on the empty ground besides her and amused herself watching the obviously recently evolved Nidorino bump on the door a couple of times, lean on it with both forelegs, poke it with his horn and apparently call it various names – even the strongest name, Ela, reserved for the most lethal enemies of Nidoran, predators such as Skarmory.

Inka found it fun to play games with the various Pokémon from the forest who came down to the city to try their luck – in particular if they were Nidoran, male, and proactive. Some of them were actually smart, but all of them fell easily in the trap of the automatic door and reacted in convoluted and funny ways.

The Nidorino outside stepped back a couple of steps and charged at the door. Inka sat and blinked as she saw the male crash against the door, his horn leaving a notorious dent on the panel. Her ears had stiffened at the crash, the sound screaming into her instincts that the male had just somehow found some sort of vulnerability in the door.

<…That's going to call some attention> she told herself, then retreating a couple of steps to hide.

She had to admit, this one was at least a bit smarter, or a bit more eager, or perhaps just a bit luckier than the others. He had gotten inside the store by his own means. Teasing him had been very fun, in particular the face the poor boy put in the microsecond he realized that the door was going to close again.

Then she heard angry footsteps coming from the aisle behind her and she moved away in time to see one of the human clerks, carrying a box. The human turned at the door and as soon as he saw the dent on the panel let out a scream followed with the usual human rant about the stray Pokémon. Inka saw the human quickly trade the box for an iron shovel and head to the door, which opened right after the Nidorino had tried to Double Kick it in his rage.

Inka felt something coming from the outside, peeked from behind her corner to see the stunned male quickly scan the store, not noticing Inka, then look up at the human who was about to shoo him. And she sensed the scent of an Arcanine in the distance.

<…Hray, yen u!> she hissed, instructing him to run. Just run.

He picked her voice, his ear turned to her direction for a brief moment, but before he could do anything else he was smacked in the head by the iron shovel and was forced to turn tail and run away, beyond the thicket, to reach his troop as the clerk followed for a couple of meters, swinging his shovel as threateningly as a common store clerk could.

And while Inka could not see, she could listen, and she sighed as she realized the Nidorino's troop was quickly rushing away as a police cart with a couple of officers and likely a couple of Arcanines pulled by next street.

Inka frowned at the human past the door. She decided to return to her Trainer before he figured out anything had happened, to spare themselves any trouble. If she was any lucky, with him busy buying various human-food groceries, he wouldn't have even noticed she was gone to have fun~



Outside​


A couple of minutes later, the five males that comprised the troop were running across a deserted street uphill, trying to reach a creek that led to the edge of the forest. One or two streets behind two female Arcanine were chasing, firing a couple of Flamethrowers, Roaring at them and quickly catching up.

<Oh, she wants me…> Baluarkos yelled, in between excited gasps for air. <I know she wants me.>

For the young boy the mad rush towards the forest fell like a smug stroll that day.


THE BEGINNING



Wiki Link (info about loving, lovable characters and more!)
 
Last edited:

K_S

Unrepentent Giovanni and Rocket fan
Welcome back and with another tale to boot. Nice.

I'm definitely getting a "Watership" vibe off of these Nido's. The terminology reminds me of lapin, as do the concerns. Though the city's got a problem if the police are regularly employed with arcanine to deal with rampaging... scavenging... unwanted visiting nidos. Laughs, and of course the male Nido's main foe.. a sliding glass door. An advisory he beat, once, sorta kinda as long as no one was watching the cameras to see how it really went down. Though if Inka has met/trolled the wild 'rans before this I'm surprised they haven't talked amongst themselves about her and she isn't something somewhat known. Granted our 'ran of the hour, isn't exactly the smartest... but still... You have to love how she classily leads her ah.. suitor... to the door, gently nudges him out, closes it behind him, and goes on her merry way.
 

Equitial

Ace Trainer
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. inkay
  3. woobat
  4. ralts
Quick thoughts:

I immediately noticed this fic's title in the forum list, and the title was a big reason I decided to click and read. The title gave me expectations of a light, light-hearted, and humorous story from a Pokemon's POV, which this story delivered. The POV of a wild-living Pokemon was very cutely done. I liked the way the Nidorino saw the unfamiliar human world, and there were plenty of expressions and details that suggested there is a lot of world-building propping up this story. I smiled and laughed a lot while reading this story--I feel like it has a good balance between portraying actual Pokemon characters and being very silly. So in conclusion, I really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing!
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Hi! I’ve seen your works around before (I believe you commented on a one-shot of mine a while ago) but I haven’t given myself the chance to check them out until now. And this is definitely my cup of tea.

Stories featuring Pokemon perspectives are quite rare outside of PMD, so it was nice to explore the lives of these two Nidoran, if only for a brief moment. You manage to squeeze a lot of worldbuilding in a short word count: how wild Pokemon are perceived, what languages, cultures and unique courting rituals Nidoran have, among other things. And all told from the POV of one Nidorino trying (and failing) to woo his mate.

Despite his overeagerness and his lack of understanding about a lot of things (drat, foiled by a door!), he was an endearing protagonist. Plus, he is in the top percentile, so that also gives him points. And even though it feels like a bit of a shaggy dog story for him where he’s chased away by the Arcanine while it turns out the Nidorina was teasing him, it doesn’t feel too mean. Well, except for the shovel part, though I guess you have to be forceful facing up against a wild poisonous bunny.

And again, I have to mention the worldbuilding because I love your take on Pokemon. They feel like their own characters with lore behind their species while still being noticeably non-human, with the way they perceive the world around them and whose motivations are primitive.

So anyway, good stuff, hopefully I’ll catch some of your other fics at some point.
 

HelloYellow17

Gym Leader
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. suicune
  2. umbreon
  3. mew
Howdy hey! I am LONG overdue to review this fic to begin with, and it certainly was a treat!

First of all, I love the title—it gives a very accurate depiction of what kind of story this is. And second, this was a really really lovely little bit of xenofiction! From my own writing experience, xenofic is not easy to pin down—swing too far one direction, and it can be hard for readers to follow. Swing too hard the other way, and it will feel less xeno and too humanized.

You strike a lovely balance right down the middle—these Pokémon are creatures with their own cultures and societies and ways of life, but they’re still extremely animalistic in the ways they interact, their body language, and the way they approach problems. I really liked the emphasis on body language in particular—that was a highlight for me, and it sold the whole experience.

I don’t have any criticism for the story itself—it’s a simple short story of a Nidorino and Nidorina fooling around, and that’s all it needs to be. Very cute, fun, low stakes, and full of personality from Nidorino’s POV.

Probably my biggest obstacle is that there were a good number of grammar errors, and sometimes I had to reread a sentence to grasp what it was saying. It was also sometimes difficult for me to picture exactly *where* Nidorino was, especially once he got inside the store, and how close Inka was in relation to him. I suffered a little bit from “blank room syndrome”, I think. Sprinkling in extra details about his surroundings could help with that!

As for grammar, usually I’ll quote a couple lines to point out the errors, but the forums freaking are all my quotes 😭 but I’d rather have the review be more about the story than grammar and spelling, anyhow. If you have questions, though, please do not hesitate to reach out to me! I am happy to proofread this with a fine-tooth comb if you’d ever like me to!

All in all, this was super enjoyable, and just the lighthearted bit of content I needed. I wonder if we will ever get more content of these two? They’re a hilarious pair, especially Inka with the way she strings Baurkalos along. I’d love to see more of them someday.
 

Venia Silente

For your ills, I prescribe a cat.
Location
At the 0-divisor point of the Riemann AU Earth
Pronouns
Él/Su
Partners
  1. nidorino
  2. blaziken
Welcome back and with another tale to boot. Nice.

I'm definitely getting a "Watership" vibe off of these Nido's. The terminology reminds me of lapin, as do the concerns.
You'd be not wrong, the language used is actual lapine o3o Watership was half the inspiration for how I process my Nido worldbuilding, admittedly. Though with less death, unless aerial raids are involved.

Though if Inka has met/trolled the wild 'rans before this I'm surprised they haven't talked amongst themselves about her and she isn't something somewhat known. Granted our 'ran of the hour, isn't exactly the smartest... but still... You have to love how she classily leads her ah.. suitor... to the door, gently nudges him out, closes it behind him, and goes on her merry way.
Yeah I mean, Baluarkos being one of many hlessi (outcasts) it's likely he'd be ironically not that good at catching wind of various news. Not helped by the fact that "where to find female today" is not the kind of information that would attain persistence in a societal system like theirs, not without the help of eg.: a writing system.

As for Inka, Baluarkos does mention she's kinda old. Perhaps there's not much interest in passing info about cougars so to speak, among the little gangsta rascals. But glad that you liked how she behaves that way!


The title gave me expectations of a light, light-hearted, and humorous story from a Pokemon's POV, which this story delivered. The POV of a wild-living Pokemon was very cutely done. I liked the way the Nidorino saw the unfamiliar human world, and there were plenty of expressions and details that suggested there is a lot of world-building propping up this story.
I did what I could and as I mentioned above, yeah this is in good part propped up with some Watership Down scaffolding with less blood. That and admittedly a bit of adaptation to how things were like back when our chiefest cat was alive and she basically ran the local cat mafia.

I smiled and laughed a lot while reading this story--I feel like it has a good balance between portraying actual Pokemon characters and being very silly. So in conclusion, I really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks much for giving this the time and good to hear you enjoyed it! Sorry for taking long to answer on that tho.


Stories featuring Pokemon perspectives are quite rare outside of PMD, so it was nice to explore the lives of these two Nidoran, if only for a brief moment. You manage to squeeze a lot of worldbuilding in a short word count: how wild Pokemon are perceived, what languages, cultures and unique courting rituals Nidoran have, among other things.
Yeah this was a bit of a challenge in that this story style specifically required me to expose as much as possible of their lifestyle as possible while - at the same time - both Pokémon are actually out of home. Glad to hear it worked!

And all told from the POV of one Nidorino trying (and failing) to woo his mate.
Don't worry he'll get better. o3o

And even though it feels like a bit of a shaggy dog story for him where he’s chased away by the Arcanine while it turns out the Nidorina was teasing him, it doesn’t feel too mean. Well, except for the shovel part, though I guess you have to be forceful facing up against a wild poisonous bunny.
Pokémon can be quite hard *and* hardheaded and that goes extra when they're basically freshly evolved and quite not afraid to try new things so yeah, a shovel or two can be handy.
(Original draft, when I first wrote this back in like 2015 so Forever Internet Years ago, had a mere broom for this scene. I thought that just didn't make its point well enough)

And again, I have to mention the worldbuilding because I love your take on Pokemon. They feel like their own characters with lore behind their species while still being noticeably non-human, with the way they perceive the world around them and whose motivations are primitive.
Danke. If you happen to go around some of my other, newer stories, I hope that aspect is not lost as they are somewhat more "humans involved" stories.

First of all, I love the title—it gives a very accurate depiction of what kind of story this is. And second, this was a really really lovely little bit of xenofiction! From my own writing experience, xenofic is not easy to pin down—swing too far one direction, and it can be hard for readers to follow. Swing too hard the other way, and it will feel less xeno and too humanized.
Xeno is a difficult beast, I've seen quite good discussion in this community on why and how to tackle it and I like that most discussion acknowledges the facet that you mention that it's not just what makes a xeno xeno a hard thing, but also the how to settle on it. I guess this goes further for long-running stories, I was lucky I picked a oneshot!

(Don't worry tho, there's more rabbits in love content coming up)

Probably my biggest obstacle is that there were a good number of grammar errors, and sometimes I had to reread a sentence to grasp what it was saying. It was also sometimes difficult for me to picture exactly *where* Nidorino was, especially once he got inside the store, and how close Inka was in relation to him. I suffered a little bit from “blank room syndrome”, I think. Sprinkling in extra details about his surroundings could help with that!
I should consider that for a rewrite, considering the store does have a clear floor plan... in the drafts lol. More of what made the store, and how it helped position the characters, would have helped definitively it seems.
One aspect that didn't make it in here, for example, and that I see now would have made understanding some parts of the story easier, is that the aisles in this store are *parallel* to the door, just in different "lanes" (kinda like in eg.: HG/SS compared to G/S), so when Inka shows up and Baluarkos tries to approach her, she's also drawing him away from the counter.

As for grammar, usually I’ll quote a couple lines to point out the errors, but the forums freaking are all my quotes 😭 but I’d rather have the review be more about the story than grammar and spelling, anyhow. If you have questions, though, please do not hesitate to reach out to me! I am happy to proofread this with a fine-tooth comb if you’d ever like me to!
I'll consider that for if/when a rewrite comes. Currently not in the plans, since I'm working on crossposting another story featuring the same characters, but once that's out of the way, sure, why not! It's about time another story gets its 10th Anniversary rewrite as well :p

All in all, this was super enjoyable, and just the lighthearted bit of content I needed. I wonder if we will ever get more content of these two? They’re a hilarious pair, especially Inka with the way she strings Baurkalos along. I’d love to see more of them someday.
As I've mentioned above: There's more about them incoming, yes. Because really this silly pairing could not just, end here.

All in all thanks for the various input! I'll try to note down what I can for a rewrite plan, since this story could use a bit of a modernizing. And remember, fellow writers: fence your plot Nidos properly or they'll scram all about your mindspace!
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. quilava-fobbie
  5. sneasel-kate
Heya, was working my way down a few authors from my target list this Review Blitz and I realized that all this time, I never did actually review this story in spite of it being one of your cuter and more memorable ones.

Whelp, no time better than now to fix it, so let’s just jump right in:

Some years ago, at the edge of the human city…

It had been a calm day so far, in the outskirts of the large city that rested beside the forest. Up by the edge of the flower shops district, some small stores were running their daily routine. Small buildings with automatic semi-transparent doors that the inhabitants of the city handled without much issue to carry out their business.

The Nidorino, like many others like him in the wild, did not really have that much of a good relationship with the automatic doors. They were just... a thing that was quite hard to handle, just like vanishing walls or mysterious artifacts of lore, not to mention the fact that hlessil – the strays and outcasts – weren't allowed inside these weird human burrows.

Made some minor wording tweak suggestions. Though ohai, there Baluarkos. Though the xenofiction angle you took here was fun. Like it’s interesting to take something that we as humans wouldn’t think twice about and then imagine how it might be mysterious or disorienting from a non-human perspective.

Not that this young specimen cared today. Barely over one year old, he was strolling around the store, listening, sniffing with interest, his clean, unbitten ears flickering every time one of the ithé – the weird non-Pokémon race that populated the cities and who called themselves "humans" – was about to emerge from weird structure, prompting the pinkish Pokémon to turn tail and run, horn down and muzzle open, to hide in the nearest safe place, usually a thicket or a hrududu – one of those small metal creatures the humans used to travel around the city.

Huh, Bal sure evolved fast in this continuity to already be a ‘rino at one, unless the idea is that he’s been a Nidorino for all of a year. I suppose that Pokémon pack on the levels fast if they make it past their first year.

All the better if he had to run. The Nidorino was happy to let himself run wildly every few minutes, trying the power of his new muscles and the toughness of his new paws, and each time he proudly stood before the store exposing his pale, unscarred flank, so silly of him to think that that was valuable but hey, that's the young was youth for you.

Just like the other three or four Nidos roaming around the street, he was part of a small outcast troop that lived by the very edge of the forest. That didn't make them bottom percentage, no… it was an honour, if a tribulation as well, to live near the humans, the elders of the nearby forest colony said. But boy it was hard and annoying sometimes, the Nidorino thought as he went hide in a thicket. Every once in a while some annoying human kit would try and randomly throw Pokéballs at them, not even bothering with (or perhaps not even knowing) with the ancient ritual. Other times the troop delved too deep inside the city, ate the wrong human's grass, and then they were chased back to the forest by angry Pokémon the colony called fuléarof, dogs of the dawn, but the Nidorino had heard the humans in blue clothes call Arcanine.

Silly dogs.

I think the aside about the ‘if a tribulation’ is a bit redundant since Bal talks a bit about some of the annoyances of life in close proximity to humans in the very next sentence. Though I like how Bal and the gang are just:

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About getting into trouble with local law enforcement’s Pokémon beyond it being a little bit of a hassle to mount a temporary tactical retreat. I wonder if they wound up making a game of it after sufficient repetitions.

Outside​


There was the laughter of human kittens and the voice of their marli their mother fading away; the Nidorino peeked outside of the thicket, and saw them go away head off. Looking down the street one of the other Nidos of the troop was trying to attack some silly Pidgeys - that would keep him busy for a while. Even further beyond the Sun was diving away, to the eternal sea – the night was to come. The Nidorino turned his ears to the other side to check for any call from their troop leader. None came yet… that was great! He could have some more time to play, he thought.

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Marli’ assuming that you’re cribbing it wholesale from Watership Down is technically more generally a doe rabbit with it meaning ‘mother’ depending on context of usage. I won’t sweat it too hard, but if the more generalized version of ‘marli’ is indeed used later on, the definition provided here might make it read a bit strangely.

Also, I noticed that you were dipping in and out of different verb tenses a bit there in your narration. Remember to keep them consistent in one or the other tense.

Also:

>silly Pidgeys

Ah yes, that term stirs up some nostalgic memories right now. :V

It was time to cautiously approach the human building again. Step after step, ears raised, the Nidorino moved slowly to face the mysterious disappearing wall that allowed the humans to come in and out…

And once he was very close, he decided to rub his muzzle against the lower part of the wall, just to confirm the reason why he had been so eager to spend the last half hour trying to figure out the intricacies of this wall the humans had placed.

Huh, I’m actually a bit surprised that Bal isn’t sufficiently large to trip the automatic doors on his own, assuming that this is the same set as from the prior scene.

Yes, he did confirm it as soon as his nostrils picked up the scent. He raised his sight to try and distinguish anything inside the structure's hide, but for the most part he couldn't understand anything of what he was seeing, which was mostly blurry ghosts wandering around past the barrier. All he knew was that there was a Nidorina, somewhere inside. His eyes scanned a couple of times but got nothing, and this prompted the Nidorino to push his horn against the mysterious wall... softly at first, but harder when he felt the wall vibrating and pushing back in response to his strength.

I’ve heard of ‘love at first sight’, but ‘love at first sniff’ is definitely a new one. :V

Test your strength, get past the wall, that was the "message" that he could get. He had enjoyed himself so much since his evolution, just a couple of moons ago. He had found himself stronger, faster, smarter, if unfortunately larger enough that he had to dig himself a new burrow. So… strong and fast enough to take down this mysterious barrier, perhaps?

I kinda wonder if for Bal’s internal thoughts, if they’d make more sense to set apart somehow such as with italic text or something, especially if they’re formatted more as inner dialogue. It’s a bit tricky, since some of his thoughts up to this point have been indirect thoughts, while others like here feel pretty direct.

Face the wall, horn down, ears flattened. Focus his energy for a moment and... push!

Nothing. The wall wouldn't budge.

But of course! He was missing something!

Ohhhh boy, I can already tell this is going to be quite something.
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So naïve of him to forget that he had to charge! Pointy end of horn goes inside the opponent, his instructor told the once little Nidoran. After a warning growl and a moment to shake his head, the specimen turned around and walked a short distance away, five or six steps from the wall, then turned around to face it again.

A rawr was issued, because the Nidorino was not going to back down, which he showcased by pointing the end of his horn at the blue-ish wall. Getting no response from the wall, the Nidorino buffed and followed with the customary and always useful Leer, his body stiffened to look as threatening as possible, his irises acquiring a blue-ish tint for a brief moment. A thump on the ground, legs well spread, and after a moment to take a breath, his charge. He was so going to win this one.

I can already see Inka on the other end just giving an
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face through the glass.

The eager Nidorino had barely had the time to aim his horn in his stint at attacking when his ears picked what seemed like a very sharp, brief cry coming from above. A slight tremor under his feet and the Nidorino was surprised to see the wall quickly move away somehow and… disappear?

Where did it go, the Nidorino asked to himself as he hastily braked, followed with a surprised "where am I now?" in a somewhat meeping mental tone.

Baluarkos: “Oh well, if it worked, it worked. Time to go and find that marli who’s chilling around in here.” ^^

Inside​


The Nidorino looked around, he was now in a different place that seemed to be the inside of the human structure, the floor and the walls were different here and there were weird trees lined up across the floor, with even weirder coloured leaves and objects hanging from them. The sounds and smells were all uniform, but off from what he knew, and were carried by a strange cool wind emerging from somewhere within the walls around him, forcing most scents off the wall he had come through.

That’s called a ‘convenience store’, hon. Though it’s fascinating to see how things like card stands come off as these alien artifacts through Bal’s eyes here.

He instinctively followed his ears and turned his head up to notice some sort of creature with a black eye making most of its body hanging from the ceiling, watching him. But as the creature did nothing but stare, the Nidorino returned his focus on the affair that had brought him here.

Oh, so Bal’s escapades are being recorded. Boy this will be fun for the guy on shift to discover after reviewing the tapes. :V

Sniff left… Sniff right… where was the Nidorina?

The Nidorino hesitantly took a step forward and looked around. He could hear some humans around but couldn't see them, they were spread somewhere amidst the weird trees, some Pokémon were also there if the scents he was picking were all right. He would have to start looking around and evade any humans that would-

Oh? The tremor again! The Nidorino quickly turned back to see the blue-ish wall slide in from nowhere, and within just a couple of seconds his view of the trees and the hrududu outside, as well as the soft wind, were nearly completely blocked by the mysterious wall. Nearly skipping a heartbeat, the Nidorino poked the wall with a paw, then his horn… just like before, all he felt was a slight vibration and a strong resistance. He could see some Nidorino-like shadows moving outside, probably the rest of his troop, and his ears flared up.

<…Trapped? Rrrrr?>

Ah yes, a wild Nidorino in a shop full of customers right now. What could possibly go wrong? o<o

He nervously turned around, examining his surroundings. There were some more noises that he didn't pay much attention to as he was busy scanning for any other possible exit, but he was fairly sure he had circled the building many times and never found another kind of disappearing wall for humans to cross in and out.

He swallowed. Next he tried to pick any wind or any vibration to no avail and then started turning forth and back, alternating between pawing the door a couple of times and trying to check for humans alternatively.

It was right after one of those turns that he suddenly noticed, something had made the recesses of his mind freeze; he found himself standing still, ears pointed back, and realized there was something out there (or, well, in there) to look for. Carefully he turned around and quickly glanced at the weird trees, and it was right by one of them that he saw her eyes, inquisitively examining him, the form of the Nidorina sitting at a corner.

Ah yes, so Baluarkos is having this sort of mood right now, huh?

The Nidorino shook for a moment and swallowed again, before looking back. The female was somewhat larger than himself, and seemed to be fairly more aged as well. She was inside, she was a trained Pokémon after all and not a hlessi the male thought, picking some clues from her rough flank and her clean, slightly sharpened claws and her… possessive demeanour? As he did, he felt himself being examined as well, but beyond some blinks the Nidorina gave no indication whatsoever if she liked what she saw.

Come on, boy, he reminded himself, just like you practised. You got yourself this far.

<…H-hello?> he growled faintly while stepping forwards.

Baluarkos: “(Dammit, that came out a lot more self-assured in my mind.)” >.<

Not much of a response, the Nidorina simply shifted her ears a couple of times, probably checking for the same sounds he was, and then simply leaned on the weird tree, her chest moving slightly with her breathing. The male was about not to give up though, he was young and confident in his top-percentageness.

This actually makes me wonder if trained Pokémon regularly get hit on by their wild counterparts in your setting, since I suppose that they would potentially get pretty impressive between being regularly groomed and being statistically more likely to be stronger in battle.

<I'm Baluarkos and I'm very healthy!> he growled, louder this time. He moved in a couple of steps and presented his flank, turned around a couple of times to show he was (just a bit!) confident with his surroundings. <I beat that blue… wall… thing!>

And there’s our namedrop for Bal there.

Baluarkos: “(Horn up, big smile… just wait for the attention to come rolling in.)” ^^;

That definitely seemed to definitively trigger a reaction in the Nidorina. Baluarkos saw her move her head a bit, look at the door behind him for a moment and then at him again. For whatever reason, the female then leaned forwards and let her forepaws rest on the ground, her face drawing something similar to a smile, her fangs showing off, a telltale sign that she wanted to see more of... him?

Baluarkos: “(Wait that worked? Time to press my advantage!)”

He smiled back as well, felt his body tense. He circled around a couple of times, then looked back at the blue-ish wall and back at the female, who blinked. He had to show he was strong, he reminded himself that the female had probably missed him scaring the foul wall into letting him in.

So perhaps another display…

Oh, right this is the moment where he has the epic fail with the automatic door, huh? :P

He assumed a threatening posture again as he turned at the door and aimed his horn at it. Just as before, no response, so he took a couple of steps back, buffing as malely as he could. His feet suddenly caught a minute difference in the texture of the ground that surprised him, he stopped and looked down, after a moment he heard the female giggling. Ears down and blushing he looked back at her and saw her sitting on her hindlegs this time, her pupils dilated, she replied coyly tilting her head and then pointing him to the wall.

<I'm great, I can do this~>, he said to himself tilting his head like the female did.

Inka

Sticker, smuglandit,

“Mm-hmm. I’m sure you can, there.”

So after a moment he shook himself and thumped at the ground, ready to challenge. Even though he could not see it he could feel the Nidorina staring at him with interest. He let out his Leer and roared at the door, with the already expected lack of response, he puffed his chest, he'd have to do this the hard way. Again. Females dig males who go the hard way, his troop leader said. So be it, ears down, legs well spread, focus on the door... a couple of thumps...

...and charge!

Time for the embarrassing faceplant in 3… 2…

Outside​


The blue-ish wall was quick to met his strong charge with the tremor and the high-pitched sound, and in a moment Baluarkos saw the wall slide away into nothingness just in time for him to proudly cross to the outside. He stopped right on his track and found himself right where he was before entering, could see the thicket and the hrududu from before, with one of his troop buddies intently looking down the street from behind it. He could once again sense the faint sea breeze – though it was a bit colder this time.

Baluarkos: “Tah-dah! Pretty impressive, huh?” ^^

He let out a very specific growl, which called the attention of his buddy, and then turned back to look at the Nidorina.

<…See? I'm strong! I have a good flow by a creek! A burrow of my own,> he added, pointing with his paw to the forests to the east.

Cue Inka just casually tripping the automatic door on her own right after this.

The Nidorina giggled for a moment and leaned on the ground again, looking at him with prowling eyes and her claws dug on the ground, as if she was having a certain fun watching him. Baluarkos, not used to the feeling, blushed and shook his body for a moment. The two Nidoran looked at each other for a moment, she moving her ears in apparently random directions while he was leaning left and right, not letting her out of his sight.

<You're funny…> she said suddenly, in a low enough tone that Baluarkos barely picked it. But that was all he needed. Her call was coy and gruff, her voice sounded even older than Baluarkos had presumed, didn't know what to do about that but with what followed he wouldn't care.

Baluarkos: “H-Huh?! F-Funny?! (Th-That wasn’t what I was going for at all there!)”
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She waited for a moment and then made an inviting motion with her head, the Nidorino blinked and smugly growled at nowhere. He stood quiet for a moment, breathing calmly as if playing hard to get, then the female repeated the gesture.

<I'm Inka>, she growled then slid her claws by the ground beside her.

And there’s the other namedrop I’ve been waiting for. You really do need to do more with these two, you know that?

Baluarkos felt like he was top-percentage. He assumed a calm posture, then walked towards her.

Then he felt a tremor just like what he felt when the found the blue wall again and… no, no…

<…Nooo!>

Ah yes, let’s check in on our Baluarkos-cam right now:
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Eyes wide open and claws ready, the Nidorino rushed at the open space trying to reach the female, but before getting any far he found his field of vision obstructed by the blue and felt a strong thud, having bumped on the closing door. He bounded back somewhat ungracefully and then roared at the blue-ish wall. It was there again, as if nothing had happened, blocking his way.

He was once again trapped outside, away from her.

The Nidorino scratched the door a couple of times to no effect, then stepped back and looked it up.

<…Rrrrr... No! I'm hers! I'll have you for this!> he yelled at the door.

Inka: “So… do you want me to give you a hint, or…?”
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Baluarkos: “No! No! I’ll figure a way out to get you out from there! I’m strong! Just… give me a little bit to work with here!”
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Inside​


Still resting on the corner of Aisle 3 (skin cleaning products), Inka continued to giggle as she watched the young male through the semi-transparent door panel. She ran her claws on the empty ground besides her and amused herself watching the obviously recently evolved Nidorino bump on the door a couple of times, lean on it with both forelegs, poke it with his horn and apparently call it various names – even the strongest name, Ela, reserved for the most lethal enemies of Nidoran, predators such as Skarmory.

Inka:
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“You know, I can just tell you the trick to opening it if you want…”
Baluarkos: “I-I’m almost there through it! Don’t worry!” ^^;

Inka found it fun to play games with the various Pokémon from the forest who came down to the city to try their luck – in particular if they were Nidoran, male, and proactive. Some of them were actually smart, but all of them fell easily in the trap of the automatic door and reacted in convoluted and funny ways.

Oh right, Inka really does basically have a trolly popcorn-munching reaction to these moments, huh?
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The Nidorino outside stepped back a couple of steps and charged at the door. Inka sat and blinked as she saw the male crash against the door, his horn leaving a notorious dent on the panel. Her ears had stiffened at the crash, the sound screaming into her instincts that the male had just somehow found some sort of vulnerability in the door.

<…That's going to call some attention> she told herself, then retreating a couple of steps to hide.

Baluarkos: “Hey wait! Come back! I’m almost through here!” O_O;

She had to admit, this one was at least a bit smarter, or a bit more eager, or perhaps just a bit luckier than the others. He had gotten inside the store by his own means. Teasing him had been very fun, in particular the face the poor buck put in the microsecond he realized that the door was going to close again.

If playing up the ‘rabbit-ness’ of Inka’s thought process there, ‘boy’ probably would work better as ‘buck’ if emphasizing Bal’s maleness, or else ‘hlessi’ if emphasizing her parsing him as a drifter.

Then she heard angry footsteps coming from the aisle behind her and she moved away in time to see one of the human clerks, carrying a box. The human turned at the door and as soon as he saw the dent on the panel let out a scream followed by the usual human rant about the stray Pokémon. Inka saw the human quickly trade the box for an iron shovel and head to the door, which opened right after the Nidorino had tried to Double Kick it in his rage.

Wait, they just have shovels lying around in convenience stores like this instead of brooms?
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Baluarkos: “... Uh-oh.” O.O;

Inka felt something coming from the outside, peeked from behind her corner to see the stunned male quickly scan the store, not noticing Inka, then look up at the human who was about to shoo him. And she sensed the scent of an Arcanine in the distance.

<…Hray, yen u!> she hissed, instructing him to run. Just run.

Actually, what does that line mean? Since I don’t recall ever seeing those terms in Watership Down unless if it showed up in the pseudosequel.

He picked her voice, his ear turned to her direction for a brief moment, but before he could do anything else he was smacked in the head by the iron shovel and was forced to turn tail and run away, beyond the thicket, to reach his troop as the clerk followed for a couple of meters, swinging his shovel as threateningly as a common store clerk could.

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Though yeah, this would be another argument to swap the shovel with a broom, since getting clocked in the head with a shovel is significantly less trivial of an experience than a broom.

And while Inka could not see, she could listen, and she sighed as she realized the Nidorino's troop was quickly rushing away as a police cart with a couple of officers and likely a couple of Arcanines pulled by the next street.

Inka frowned at the human past the door. She decided to return to her Trainer before he figured out anything had happened, to spare themselves any trouble. If she was any lucky, with him busy buying various human-food groceries, he wouldn't have even noticed she was gone to have fun~

Ah yes, wuv is in the air~ <3

Outside​


A couple of minutes later, the five males that comprised the troop were running across a deserted street uphill, trying to reach a creek that led to the edge of the forest. One or two streets behind, two female Arcanine were chasing, firing a couple of Flamethrowers, Roaring at them and quickly catching up.

Nidorino #1: “Seriously, Bal?! How did you even get into this situation?!” >_>;

<Oh, she wants me…> Baluarkos yelled, in between excited gasps for air. <I know she wants me.>

For the young boy the mad rush towards the forest fell like a smug stroll that day.

THE BEGINNING

Somebody certainly had his priorities in order that day. :P

Well, that was a fun ride, and a nice glimpse into the life of two of your characters that feature more prominently in your writings. The star of the show is the xenofiction angle, especially with how alien you manage to make little things like the automatic doors and interior of a convenience store through the eyes of a Nido, along with the little mannerisms here and there that remind us that we’re dealing with big poisonous bunnies, and in a way that’s at once believable while still not getting in the way of us as readers to be able to relate and empathize with the characters. The little bits of Lapine worked in are also a nice touch for fans of Watership Down as a nice bonus for those who know what they’re looking at.

I don’t have too much to complain about this one-shot other than that there were some small wording and phrasing choices throughout that felt a bit iffy to me. Ditto on the formatting of Baluarkos’ more direct thoughts on narration. But ultimately, those were small issues and the core of the prose is actually really well-done in terms of a mixture of dialogue and description of both surroundings and the characters’ thought process.

Hope the feedback is helpful for you, @Venia Silente , and I’ll be looking forward to reading more of your fare sometime in the future. Hopefully with your Nidos making a reprise in another piece or two along the way. ^^
 
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