As the interview has carried on, the various Pokémon in the surrounding go on with their lives. Still, some of them won't take their eyes off you, or the Nidoqueen in front of you. And she won't take her ears off the forest around her either.
It seems from previous questions and behaviour that, if anything, Inka's earned a certain amount of respect. You wonder... how far back does that go?
“It sounds like you were quite powerful and famous when you were accompanied by your trainer.”
Inka stares for some time and nods. "‘Famous’ is a strange word you humans use," she answers with a softened voice. "I still don't understand if it is someone you appreciate, or someone you despise. Because Trainer was both..."
She walks around for a moment, her features taking somewhat of a somber expression.
"Trainer fought a lot of things, and thus we fought as well. The Gyms, and the tournaments. The gangs that went around with their mischief... or the horrible days. I wonder if you were around here back then...?"
She trains her eyes on you for a moment, as if trying to pry something out of you. After a moment, she sighs.
"When evil humans were using and torturing your kind and mine. They tainted everything. And even if they were defeated by the efforts of trainers like mine, in exchange... those trainers became the hunted. So we had to grow powerful and ‘famous’, there was no other way."
"How did you come to be living in the wild, then? Would you go back to being a trained pokémon if you could?"
"I grew older, I guess. Everyone does, and the world kinda forgot about us? I never really understood." She shakes her head and moves away, taking a look at the forest around her. "After some time we realized that we were losing in our lives. I saw the wild male Nidos wandering about, having fun... and I wanted one of them. So I requested my release." She scratches a nearby tree, softly, and stares at her paws for a moment. "I guess I can go back if I want. A Starter never really leaves, you know? Our bond with Trainer is for life. But I am in no hurry for it, and I guess Trainer isn't either. Like I said, if a great battle comes... I'll stand ready, just in case."
"You seem quite proud of your water gem. What's the story behind it?"
Inka raises the arm where she holds the chain with the Water Gem, the small item casting a faint blue light around itself.
"It is not that special, I think, but I find it very useful," she answers as she swings the Gem around for you to notice. "Trainer and some friends back then, got the Gems from a tutor in their travels. I thought Trainer would pick a Poison one, but he thought it over and he picked the Water one. I think it was something... tactic? Strategic? Took me some time to learn those things."
She comes closer and smiles for a moment, then makes a gesture and from somewhere nearby a Spinarak wander in, standing besides Inka.
"Trainer taught us, we had to know how other people failed. So he gave me the Water Gem for me to work on my Water Pulses. And when I evolved, I noticed it," she claims as she inches closer. "Everyone thinks they can beat us with Water or Psychic power. This Gem... seems to discourage people from trying water. They try Psychic."
Inka then detaches the Gem and gives it to the Spinakar, who scurries uphill and disappears behind some rocks. Inka looks at the Spinarak go for a while, but quickly returns her attention to you. As you observe the Spinarak come and go, the next question comes to mind.
"The power of Psychic is It's a real pain, Psychic power," she adds with a scowl and a notorious harshening of her tone, "but better one pain than two. And Water Pulse ended up becoming one of my best battle assets."
You nod and proceed then with what you had in mind.
"What are your duties as a queen? What do you spend most of your time doing?
Inka tilts her head at the question, and her posture becomes relaxes for a moment. She then retreats some steps and seems to wonder for a moment before turning back to you.
"As a ruler, I don't rule the life of the Sovereignty," she mentions, making some gestures to try to make the point stand out. "The species still live by the mandates of their own elders. However," she continues, hardening her stance, "I took from them the union and the war they could not handle. I rule the defense and the fight against the outside. When the white wings or the poachers come, my roar is our response. The rest of the time..."
She idles around for a moment.
"I wander about, making sure Pokémon are prepared. Making sure they live for something. I keep an ear on things, in particular news from outside."
You have caught mention of the "white wings" and their melody of death" before, and while you might possibly have a grasp on what such threat might consist of, you decide it is better to seek official confirmation, now that you can.
"About those “white wings”... How did you begin fighting against them? Have they only started attacking recently, or are you joining a conflict that's been going on for a long time already?"
Inka sighs and returns to her somber tone from before.
"When I joined the wild, the white wings were already a threat. Have been, for many generations of my kin, even if that is short in human years. To be fair," she looks up to the canopy blocking view of most of the sky, "they were maybe always there, but they weren't a threat before. They just flew over us, going from one home to the next."
She starts pacing around, not really paying you attention.
"I heard one day they landed and stopped travelling though... and since then they have grown in number over the years, thanks to preying upon the mons of these forests."
Now she turns to you and looks you up and down for a moment.
"When I arrived here, for my kin it was as if these creatures had always been there. Just death, singing from above. But I remembered the days back with my Trainer and the teachings I got from him. When I got my mate and my first litters, I knew we had to fight or we wouldn't live to get the food for the day." She shakes her head sternly. "The chieftains of the forest species were weak and inexperienced, so I took the war from them. No one else was going to."
"And how do you fight against them?"
"We teach. That is the first step. Like I said, Trainer taught us to understand how Pokémon work. I understood the hunting patterns, the “melody of death”, and realized that was the pathway for the white wings to prey upon us. And we stand ready to attack. We make hard and unforgiving for them to come here to grab their breakfast. I take advantage of the techniques Trainer taught me and the endurance he gave me, and with my power I am able to stand up to them and best them."
The Nidoqueen then inches closer again, retaining a regal posture while exposing some small scars across her body...
"That only works against the small white wings however. As the elders of their own kin migrated in also and ravaged this land, I prepared our forces to go to the offensive. We've fought them back, over time, and at one point I managed to lead a charge to breach into their own nests."
As she recounts the tale, her eyes narrow and she inspects with her ears the canopy above her a couple of times.
"That day, it was their turn to learn. I taught them what the death of one's warriors feels like. How the loss of offspring numbs your heart. And when their eldest and most powerful one complained..." She stands back. "Those who carried his body away insulted me, gave me a name in their own tongue. Dov volkaal or something. And since then..."
Now she lets out a more feral growls and motions for you to notice around.
"Like I said, you are able to interview me today."
You finish taking your notes, consulting your handy thesaurus on Pokémon dialects and find a couple of entries for Draconic Pokémon, which allows you to translate the expression "Dov Volkaal" into something like "dragonkind's chief horror". That might explain a couple of things... and maybe open even more questions.
For now though, you have only one more that comes to mind.
"Changing the subject a little, I'd like to also ask... What do you hate the most?"
The emotional traction from the previous questions seems to help the Nidoqueen to think of an answer, as she quickly answers back, with a somewhat rasp voice.
"I guess the pain from Psychic powers. It lingers within your body and your mind, tearing at your desire to sleep and rest. And there is so little you can do to help yourself. To me, it is like becoming powerless, after all I have had to fought." She lowers her head and seems to fumble with her own words a little. "There's also being persecuted, or fearing for the welfare of your Trainer, but at least those are things a Pokémon can punch."
Given the time of the day (presumably) you now decide to give the Nidoqueen some time for herself, or otherwise to end the interview. We shall see.
She decides to offer a couple of questions.
"I see this creature Loki, branding itself the Wyrm of Order." She shakes her head. "So unlike the one we have heard of, so you better not be an imposter, for even our deities have deities of their own and they won't take it lightly. Still... if you 'are' the real thing..." She thinks for a moment. "You speak of humans and breaking the natural order, yet I've seen most humans merely try to survive their every day just as Pokémon do. What did humans do, in your view of things, that changed the world for the worse this much? Can they reverse the damage you say they cause?"
After that she thinks for a moment and asks another question.
"And for this Scrumples... Hey there... was wondering how does it feel to be 'transferred'? Was it like you have to move around, or was it like the world suddenly changed around you? Or something else?"