Quicker update! Hooray!
To be honest, I didn't like this chapter that much. I almost had to force myself to write, with my goal being to finish it and the next chapter to get through Ecruteak. In a way, it's like a filler chapter.

Enjoy! (If you can. I didn't.) Meanwhile, I'll plan out the next chapter…It's a battle chapter, so it'll be heck to write, so wish me luck!

Chapter 36
Training in a Kimono

"Stay still now."

Marina outstretched her arms as she felt the soft cloth stroke against her skin. Delicately grasping the cool fabric, she pulled it up her shoulders and afterward obeyed Naoko's request. But her eyes were restless as they ran down to gaze at the violet kimono's dainty flower patterns that snaked around her sleeves. It was simple but charming, and Marina found herself smiling; amusingly, the bandana on her head somewhat matched the kimono in color.

From behind her, Naoko patiently waited as her sisters handed her assorted sashes and strings. Eventually, she said, "I'm going to put on the obi sashes on now, like how I'd earlier told you."

With the same amount of tolerance, the girl nodded. Before she could utter a verbal reply, she winced as her torso was tightened by the cloth belts that Naoko wrapped around her.

"Is—Is it really supposed to be so tight?" Marina asked, short of breath for a moment.

Naoko smiled sweetly. "It is, but I can loosen it a little. I'm sorry if you find it difficult to breathe."

"Breathing's overrated!" the Kimono girl in golden-yellow exclaimed as she brushed her Jolteon's course fur nearby.

Giggling, Marina closed her eyes as she endured another soft squeeze, but sighed as it loosened. "But do I need to wear the kimono? Prince is the one training to get his agility up."

"Of course," Naoko replied, "You will be dancing with us someday, too; you need practice."

"Ah," Marina nodded, "That's right."

After the Kimono Girls had seen Marina's Espeon, they took her to the room behind the stage, where they were now. Naoko had explained that they were looking for a girl with an Espeon for recitals, even if for just a couple of nights. Marina had been resistant at first; she enjoyed dressing up, but that wasn't enough to convince her to leap into something completely new and possibly stressful. Naoko had reassured that the dancing would aid in Prince's nimbleness, and compromised that Marina would not have to participate in a real recital until she had enough training.

At this, Marina's interest persuaded her to give in and agree to the terms. She would stay in Ecruteak until the end of the week, if she was able to defeat Morty on Saturday. If not, then she would continue working in the theater and have to participate in their next recital.

This made Marina unsettled, however. For some uncertain reason, Marina felt skittish and eager to leave the city as soon as she could.

"Done," Naoko said, moving away and smiling in satisfaction. "That suits you well."

"Here," the azure Kimono Girl chirped as she put down a pair of wooden sandals at Marina's feet. "These sandals aren't the ones we wear, but you need to practice in these first."

Marina's face fell in disagreement as she looked at the sandals. I remember these kinds of shoes. I hated walking around in them, too!

"…Do I really have to wear them?" she finally asked.

"Yes," Naoko responded, nodding firmly. Arguing was out of the question.

Sighing inwardly, Marina slid them on. Just as she had clearly remembered, the firmness of the wooden flip-flops was somewhat uncomfortable to her, and she stumbled at the very first step she took.

Some of the girls giggled. "You'll get used to them eventually," one suggested.

"Your hair's next," the sister in the black kimono said. She walked over to them with an intricately-decorated box that resembled a bento box.

"Oh, but…" Marina began.

"Stop complaining already, apprentice," the golden-yellow Kimono Girl ordered. "Maintain your elegance and show them trust. They know what they're doing."

"I know, sorry," Marina laughed. Gently, she reached for the bandana on her head and touched it with her fingertips. She hesitated as she pulled it off, her excess bangs falling and brushing against her cheeks as the girls worked to undo her pigtails.

When nighttime dwelled comfortably close to midnight, Marina walked from the bathroom of her room at the Pokémon Center. A calm fatigue evident in her eyes, she looked at Amber, who slept soundly on her pillow. The girl reached her bed and rested carelessly beside the little Pokémon, being sure not to disturb her roommate sleeping deeply on the other side of the room.

"I'm exhausted," she murmured to herself and petted Amber's fuzzy head. Her body was depleted of energy, but her mind was restless as ever. It was already well past her usual bedtime, but Marina instead took pleasure in the current peace around her. The night was quiet, the shower she took was nice and hot, her dinner was delicious, and—most importantly—she could rest her feet.

The practices at the dance theater were rigorous. Lectures and dances were nonstop until lunch or a break, and Naoko constantly corrected her posture. But it was proven obvious that she was in dire need of training if she was to behave like a true Kimono Girl; she was still clumsy trying to walk, and it was difficult moving simultaneously with the other girls. Naoko was constantly correcting the postures of her and her Pokémon. Complex dance routines were jammed into her head, and Prince the Espeon was struggling to concentrate the whole way through.

Then, when she had arrived at the Center that evening with full intentions on going straight to her room, Jackson spotted her and, of course, wanted to chat. For two whole hours he kept her, babbling on and on. It was a miracle that he never ran out of things to talk about, and that Marina could keep up with it in her current condition. When he finally noticed just how exhausted she was, he allowed her to go. After that, she had done nothing but rest in her bed, write in her diary, and watch whatever was on TV.

She didn't know how long it would take her to reach the cities of Olivine and Cianwood from Ecruteak, nor how many times it would take to defeat the Gym Leaders there, but eventually she would return to Ecruteak. She encouraged herself that the practices now would pay off then.

Marina found herself dozing off once more. She frowned a little at any unpleasant thoughts that attempted to plague her, but the thought of them flowed out of her mind as she slipped asleep.

At the sound of the alarm, it felt as though she had merely closed her eyes than slept the whole night—if not for the morning sunlight convincing her otherwise. The girl Trainer readied herself and took Amber in her arms as she left her room. The Kimono Girls expected her at 11 in the morning that day, before lunch but with enough time for practice; the more the better, they had said. It was already 10:50AM, but it was such a short walk to the Theater that it wouldn't have mattered even if she were running late.

I'll be in for another long day, the girl thought, stretching as she walked down the hallway. I hope Prince can focus today. He's itching for the fighting than the dancing and balancing decorations on his head. Maybe I should ask Naoko for more battle training today.

Quite a few people lingered in the Center's lobby, a couple glancing at her before returning to her business. Just as she walked through the automatic sliding doors, a hand quickly grasped her shoulder. She flinched and looked over her shoulder, but sighed.

"Gooood morning, Marina!" Jackson greeted, bearing a wide grin as usual.

Marina smiled a little. "Hi, Jackson."

I need to stop being so jumpy, she thought.

"Good to see you're awake now. I was beginning to wonder if you woke up super early, but I'm shocked! You never sleep in," he said as they left the building together. "Let's go to the theater place you were talking about yesterday!"

"Oh…yeah."

"Unless you want to go somewhere else. I'll follow you wherever you go, Marina!"

"Well, I do have something I have to do there," she said vaguely. Geez, I forgot to tell him a lot of things about the theater. I was so exhausted last night.

"Really? What is it?" Jackson was beaming even more as he stared at her. He sure was peppier than usual today, and he failed to notice the Ecruteak Theater even as they made a beeline for it.

"You'll find out soon," she replied, making an attempt at playfulness. She yawned as she looked away, her gaze set on the grand structure of the theater.

The boy Trainer looked at her with caring eyes, still keeping a light hold on her shoulder. With a sly grin, he laughed briefly. "You know, like this we're almost like a—."

"Marina!" one of the Kimono Girls called from the theater's entrance. The cyan sleeves of her kimono whipped and flapped helplessly as she waved.

Smiling, Marina waved back. "Hi! Am I early?"

"You're just on time! Hurry up so we can start!"

"Okay!" She glanced at Jackson for a second before walking ahead, slipping out of his grip. "You can tell me later, okay?"

As he watched the girl's back, Jackson stood frozen. He made another smile, one that twitched and hid his irritation of being interrupted. "S-Sure, later."

"Once again."

A paper fan in her fingers, Marina waved it over her head, rushing to take an elegant stance. She mentally sighed but kept her face serene, letting her arm come down slow yet swift despite her struggles to walk her wooden sandals. At her feet, Prince made a disgruntled huff. Hindered by the small, yet heavy, indigo and silver ornament on his head, he slowly took steps with caution.

"Shoulders relaxed, chin up. A little faster now," softly Naoko told them. "You, too, Prince."

The pair tried as she said and whirled, still maintaining a steady posture and smooth movements like step-by-step practices had taught them to do. Marina's eyes barely pinpointed the moment that one of the Kimono Girls tossed a second fan, which she clumsily caught. She simpered and flicked her wrist to open the oriental fan in one movement, turning in unison with her Espeon.

Wow, this is turning out to be pretty good, she thought with a widening smile. But as she bowed her head, a loud bang smacked beside her. She froze on instinct.

"Not again," she heard one of the Kimono Girls, definitely not Naoko, say.

"That was going so well," said another.

Marina gazed down at Prince, who sat and appeared frustrated and unhappy. The oriental decoration had slipped off, and he looked at his Trainer with uncertainty. Smiling slightly, Marina knelt and stroked his head softly.

"It's okay; you did a lot better than last time."

Prince still looked dissatisfied, his ears drooping.

The girl gave him a small hug and patted him again. She fixed the ornament back onto his head. "I know; you want to battle Morty. It won't be long, Prince."

"Eif," the fox responded, rubbing his cheek against her hand.

Clapping erupted from below, and Marina let out a somewhat embarrassed laugh. Jackson and most of Marina's Pokémon cheered from one of the tables closest to the stage. A couple visitors were present, all of which had watching eyes on the young apprentice as well.

"Beautiful as always, Marina!" Jackson called.

"You did well, but there is certainly more room for you and your Espeon to improve," the golden-yellow Kimono Girl added from among the group of her sisters on the stage. The way she changed her speech from rough to elegant while in public was impressive.

Naoko shifted a few steps in front of the girls. "Next you will practice with all of us. If Prince misjudges again, fix it and we will repeat until we get it right," Naoko told her.

Marina nodded and pet Prince once more before standing. "We'll do our best, Naoko."

"Good luck, Marina!" Jackson smiled as he watched the Kimono Girls, including Marina, line up and struck the first pose along with their elemental foxes.

Beside him, Marina's Pokémon settled their eyes on the stage as well; the only one who was missing was Lapras, who Marina decided not to hide from Jackson's eyes at the moment. King the Quilava teased Amber, especially as the little Pikachu look-alike attempted to walk on her hind legs. At one point, the two glared and shared a childish verbal argument, which escalated when they resulted to smacking each other's paws as quickly as they could. Phany the

Phanpy seemed not bothered by their harmless slap fight, smiling merrily at them and at Marina. He looked up and waved his stubby trunk at the ghost Pokémon hovering in the air.

Misdreavus watched them from afar and responded to Phany with just a nod. Her yellow and crimson eyes darted to Prince and Marina, focusing on the purple fox that moved with determination hidden in his own eyes. But the Espeon's intricate headpiece tipped over again, causing another small bang to echo through the spacious theater.

"Muu," she snorted softly and looked away. But inevitably, her eyes moved back. She gazed at Marina, who again comforted Prince with a gentle and encouraging smile. Misdreavus's stern expression waned while she watched the Trainer and Pokémon exchange assuring grins.

"Muu…"