Sinnoh Arc II: His Return
"Oh, what the hell..." Mari grunted when she saw no other than... Jayden walking in the door. "No way." Jacky's jaw dropped so low she could taste the floor before she laughed. "Jayden! I never expected to see you here!"
With a lollipop in his mouth, the red-haired boy eyed them and waved. "Hello there! Of course I'm here. I'm not going to miss the opportunity to see you two basking in all the sweet praise you're getting. And... well..." He shrugged with a smile. "I wanted to check in on you. See if you're okay and everything. Y'know, fighting deities like Dialga and Palkia ain't so harmless. I don't know, might sound silly and stupid.",
"So, you took that long way upon you because you were worried?" Jacky sounded even more surprised. "Aw... that's so sweet of you.",
"Oh, really?" Mari leaned back and crossed her arms. "Well, we're just fine, thank you.",
"Why so cold?" Jayden eyed her with an amused smile. "I thought we got along just fine last time we met.",
"Hmph. Did we? Can't remember. Anyway... I heard you went on a journey. How was it?",
"I'm not anywhere near the end yet", he replied, taking a metal box from his bag and opening it. Two badges sparkled inside. "... Hold up. What?!" Mari stared at him, flabbergasted. "You're a Pokémon Trainer now?!",
"Surpriiiiise~" He nodded with a grin. "Yes, indeed. I've thought about what you said to me and came to the conclusion that you were right and I gotta get my bored butt out of those monastery walls for once. So... yeah, I just went with the flow. The gyms were anything but a walk in the park", he admitted, tossing the empty lollipop grip into the nearest trash can. "But... I managed to get through, it seems, even though I had no idea what I was doing. So I guess was doing alright.",
"What Pokémon do you have?",
"...A Kirlia and a Lanturn", he replied.
"A Lanturn?" she repeated. "...Is it the same Lanturn you told us about?",
"Yes, it is... I took a stroll along the beach one more time before I departed... and as if the world had wanted me to finally leave and explore the world beyond the walls, my old friend came to me. It seemed to have recognized me from all that time ago. At that moment... well, at that moment I knew it was time for me to leave.",
"Seems the two of you had a meaningful reunion. Sounds like a happy ending.",
"Oh, it definitely was...",
"I'm happy for you then.",
"Oh? Why so friendly all of a sudden?" He tilted his head slightly. "I've gone to great lengths to mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to my head before I walked in the door.",
"Well... so far, you haven't done anything wrong. Yet.",
"That's a relief. By the way, I'm up to date now." Jayden pulled up his sleeve to reveal an Xtranceiver hanging around his wrist.
"Wow, your first date with technology!" Mari clapped.
"It was very enlightening. I'm starting to like it a lot", he said. "Although those things are really expensive... My pocket money wasn't anywhere near enough to pay for that. I'm happy Sister Irina volunteered to help me out.",
"Oh!" Jacky suddenly remembered something and rummaged around in her bag before taking out the gold pendant. "Here, this used to be yours, right?"
Jayden's eyes grew as big as footballs and he almost choked on the candy he had thrown into his mouth. "Wait a minute, where did you get that?",
"From a girl. What was her name again?" Jacky threw a hopeful glance at Mari.
"Koko", her friend helped her out. "We met her in Jubilife.",
"From her?" The boy took the pendant and looked at it. "Huh... It's been a while... Didn't know she still had it...",
"She told us you gave it to her to protect her and her Pokémon from harm", Jacky explained. "That's really sweet!",
"Uh..." He turned his head away with a shy smile. "Didn't know I'd be showered in so many compliments to day, I barely know what to say.",
"What a rare occurrence", Mari commented. "I vividly remember you had a hard time to shut up last time we met.",
"Ah, that's how I know you." He seemed unbothered by her comment. "Cold as ice.",
"I wouldn't want to risk you not recognizing me in the end.",
"Hah... I'd always recognize you, don't worry, cutiepie."
Mari let out an annoyed sigh. "You never learn, do you?",
"Why don't you teach me what I don't know, cutiepie?",
"Jayden, I swear to god-" Mari got up, but Jacky put a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, whoa, if you want to murder him, at least don't do it in public." ,
"Grrr..." She glared at him. "Stop calling me that, it's not funny!",
"I just can't help it. Forgive me", he replied casually.
"What...?!",
"What?",
"What's that supposed to- Ugh, stop being so flirty with me, I am NOT interested to engage into this!"
"Anyway..." He put the pendant into the pockets of his pants and ignored what she said. "I didn't expect to get it back.",
"Well, Koko gave it to us so we would be protected by it", Jacky explained. "But... well, since it's yours... we opted for returning it to you.",
"Hm... Thanks." He nodded. "It's appreciated.",
"So, what are you up to now? Going back to Unova again soon?",
"Yeah, tomorrow." He nodded. "This was a short... well, detour, you could say. I could fly back with you guys, that would at least be a relief to my wallet",
"If that's what you want..." Mari shrugged. "Your next stop will be Castelia, right?",
"What makes you think that?" he asked sarcastically, smiling. "Yeah, that's where the next badge wants to be collected. I know it's only getting harder, so we'll see where this ends.",
"I can hardly believe you even made it to the second badge," Mari commented. "With no background knowledge and all... Didn't you say you don't like Pokémon battles?",
"Well... When you do it with your own Pokémon, it's a little different... I still have to get used to it, but... it's not bad.",
"You seem like a natural if you could pull that off." Jacky smiled at him encouragingly.
"Ah, thank you. It all happens instinctively, sort of, at least. What I'm doing seems to be working somehow, after all.",
"That's actually pretty cool, I have to admit. We went to trainer school and for us, the gyms were pretty hard. I wonder what it's like for someone with no basic knowledge.",
"It sucks", Jayden replied with a shrug. "But it's doable? Maybe they went a little easier on me, who knows.",
"You're welcome to fly back with us tomorrow." The girl smiled and received a warning sideways glance from Mari. "Jacky-!",
"It would be really mean if you came all the way to check out the situation and had to pay for the whole trip yourself!",
"Thanks", Jayden said with a smile. "Well, you seem very tired. I'll leave you to it then. See you tomorrow.",
"See you tomorrow!" Jacky waved after him as he disappeared.
Mari sighed. "I didn't expect him to just show up like that.",
"Neither did I, to be honest, but you have to admit it's cute of him, right? That he wants to check up on you?",
"On me? Why me? What do I have to do with it?",
"Mari, don't play dumb. He has a crush on you.",
"Sucks for him. I didn't ask him to.",
"Don't be mean to him for no reason, Mari!",
"I have a reason, and that reason is: I don't like him. Would you like to be around someone who keeps walking all over your boundaries?" With that, she turned and marched upstairs.
"Sheesh..." Jacky shook her head and followed her.