Nimbasa Festival Arc: Together
He stroked a strand behind her ear and instead of slapping her, he gave her a short kiss on her cheek. Mari stared at him. "Wh- Th-That was not what we agreed upon!",
"Oh, pardon me." He smiled. "Do you want me to try again? Well, no offense, but you can't do anything that would hurt me enough I would even consider hitting you.",
"... Uh...",
"I wanted to get you to talk to me, at least one last time...",
"Well, that's why I even entered the store in the first place... I wanted to apologize.",
"And I'm glad you did.",
"B-But... ugh, don't stray from the topic!" She blushed madly. "You... you just kissed me!",
"That was just a little kiss on the cheek, no need to be dramatic", he said with a smile so bright it could've easily been seen all the way over in Hoenn. "But, uh... don't slap me, please?",
"..." She covered her face with her hands and recollected her composure, before she looked at him again. "W-well...",
"I know I probably should've been honest with you from the start. But, uh... well, rather now than never...",
"I... I still have my reservations... but... I have to rely on the fact that I've changed...",
"Reservations about what? Me kissing you? Come on, that's not too big of a deal now, right...? ...right? There's no need to... uhm, consider anything.",
"I... I don't think now is the appropriate time to tell you. ...On the other hand, when would the appropriate time be... Might be better to tell you right now... So... I've been bullied at school.",
"...bullied? Really?",
"Yeah... I was an ace student. You know, the diligent type. Best at everything. When the others learned about that... they decided to use me as their personal cheat sheet. Especially the dudes in my class tried to... exploit me. They tried to get closer to me, just... the way you did in the beginning... only to use me to pass their exams. They copied off of me all the time, and threatened me if I wouldn't let them... A few hits weren't rare, either. So... I've grown very... well, defensive when a boy would try to approach me in this way... It left me with huge trust issues. I thought they were my friends, but they were just pretending. Mocking and teasing me. They wanted me to do their homework for them, or hand them my notes... Back then, I was... too much of a doormat to stand up for myself because there were just so many of them. But I swore to myself that... I would not fall for stuff like this ever again.",
"... Oh." He was at a loss for words and took a few steps back. "I... I see. I didn't know that.",
"I know, there is no way you could've. It's okay...",
"I'm... I'm sorry if... I went overboard. I didn't want to remind you of your bullies." He looked... utterly devastated. "But I meant everything I said, really! Now that I know why you've acted like this, I feel like an absolute jerk. I feel so bad about it, I'm sorry! I really am!",
"I could've told you earlier, so... don't. It's fine... I... choose to trust you, so... better don't make me regret it.",
"I would never, I swear! I mean, it's true that I probably know next to nothing, but... I'd say I'm pretty good dealing with that on my own, so I won't try to take advantage of you.",
"...That's good to know... Thanks..." She pulled up her shoulders. "Uhm... are you still set on leaving early? Be... cause if not, you... could, uh... join us at the festival after all...",
"I thought guys were usually supposed to ask that question." He smiled again, and this time, it was an absolutely adorable and heartwarming smile. Mari gritted her teeth. "Ugh... listen, I have to go now. My friends are waiting...",
"Okay. I won't stop you ", he said, but before she could leave, he took her hand. "You got me convinced... I will come to the festival, even though it's not my thing. But not just for the buffet, although that is also a very tempting factor. It's YOUR invitation, so... who am I to decline. Although... I don't own any clothing appropriate for such an event...",
"It's... uh... fine, as long as you don't show up in jeans.",
"I'll see what I can do.",
"Okay..." She smiled slightly before stepping forward and hugging him. "Thanks, Jayden."
He just smiled and returned the hug. "No problem... I will try my utmost for you."
She laughed softly and let go of him. "Goodbye, okay? I'll see you tonight then.",
"Count on me, Mari." He hadn't forgotten to address her normally and waved with a smile. She turned around to join her friends again.
"Sorry it took so long", Mari apologized to her friends. Everyone had already finished their cotton candy. "No problem!" Soleil chuckled. Jacky gave Mari her cotton candy stick. "Now that that's finally settled, we can go.",
"Yes. Off we go!"
They rode plenty of roller coasters, watched Soleil one-shotting the can knockdown booth and winning oversized plush Rapidash. Yuna especially had fun at the mirror maze, and Jacky and Mari rode the Ferris wheel together while Soleil dragged Yuna to a photographer. Jacky declined Mari's suggestion to ride bumper cars because she knew round steering wheels didn't get along with her black-haired friend. As they exited the Ferris wheel, Soleil excitedly showed them a boatload of photos and enthusiastically jumped around Yuna while commenting on each one of them with her typical euphoric verses. The pictures had really turned out great, because Yuna was amazingly photogenic. Afterwards, they made a detour to the river and Soleil would have loved to jump right back out of the water because it was too cold for her, but Mari splashed her wet and her scream could be heard all the way to Humilau. After that, the four of them had a water fight of the finest kind. No one got away unscathed, to Soleil's dismay.
After that, they decided to pay a visit to Join Avenue. They were so hungry that they were afraid their stomachs would eat them from the inside out. Soleil had never eaten at the restaurant at Join Avenue and was, once again, full of euphoria. Yuna liked the food very much, even if it was her first time trying it. Their conversation led to the festival. "My heart is doing somersaults at the thought of seeing the other regions' bigwigs for real!" Soleil said, her eyes sparkling as she bit into a slice of pizza. "Imagine if we could even talk to Diantha! Her grace is incomparable and I've never seen such a noble character!",
"You a fan of hers?" Mari asked.
"Of course! She is the personification of beauty and elegance!",
"Tell me, Soleil, where are you from?" Jacky asked. Soleil smiled widely and took a sip from her glass. "I'm from Johto. Oh, you must have been there once... The ancient flair, the mystique that lies over the cities like a translucent veil... Keiw- I mean, Ecruteak City is my home!",
"How late is it?" Mari asked while eating a sandwich.
"Eight o'clock", Jacky replied. "That means we still have two hours left until the festival's opening.",
"We should make use of that time to get ready", Yuna suggested. "I want to write a letter to the village first.",
"And I wanna go somewhere, too", Jacky added.
"Okay, so our girl's time out concludes here, my friends." Mari clapped her hands.
"It was really fun with you guys!" Soleil said. "I'm sure the ball will be a new highlight."
They paid for the food. While Yuna, Soleil, and Mari went back to the Pokémon Center, Jacky stayed behind in Join Avenue.
She returned at half past nine, but disappeared into the bathroom with her dress so quickly that Mari couldn't see her. "What's she in a hurry about...?" Mari wondered and smoothed out the folds of her kimono before she put on her necklace and earrings. The only thing missing was her hair- and that posed a problem. She sucked at braiding her own hair.
"There, done!" Jacky shouted from the bathroom. She came back out wearing her midnight blue dress- However, her hair was now dyed blue and her keystone had been moved into the crescent moon necklace she had bought. "Oh, holy Basculin!" Mari gasped. Jacky performed an elegant spin. "Ta-daa! What do you think?",
"You look fabulous." Mari smiled. "I still have to get used to the hair, though. You really dedicated yourself to your outfit, mh?",
"Pretty much, yeah.",
"Hah, nice! Um... could you maybe... help me with my hair?",
"Sure, leave it to me." Jacky joined her and Mari handed her the blue ribbons. "Hold still," the now blue-haired girl said. Then, she began to expertly braid the ribbons into Mari's night black hair.
When she was finished, Jacky looked at her work with satisfaction. "There... you're done." Mari looked in the mirror. "Thank you, my super hairdresser!",
"It looks insanely good on you." Jacky giggled. "Question though, have you thought about how you're going to take your Pokémon with you? You can't tie your belt around your waist. That won't look good.",
"Uh... Nope, I have not. Uhm... How are you going to take them with you?"
Jacky pulled her dress to the side a bit and showed her her belt, which she now had strapped around her leg. Her dress covered it, making it practically invisible.
"Wow, that's... pretty clever. Um... maybe I can hide them in the sleeves of my kimono...? They're pretty wide, aren't they?",
"Good idea. But I don't think the belt will fit around your arm, we've gotta come up with something different.",
"I... have no idea.",
"Mhm... Ah! I know. We're gonna use one of your ribbons and pin them to it. Wait, let me..." She tied one of Mari's ribbons around her arm and pinned the Pokéballs to it carefully. "Theeere we go. All done! Alright then, are you ready?",
"Yes!" Her friend nodded. "Thanks, let's go!"
They walked over to the gym. Its entrance was lit with spotlights. They entered and the first thing they noticed was the GIGANTIC chandelier hanging from the ceiling, breaking the light inside the hall with its thousand crystals. A carpet now covered the floor. Many people were already there, talking to each other in hushed voices. "Woooow..." it escaped Jacky. "That's amazing!",
"Yeah, I know, right... I wonder when Elesa re-decorated her entire gym like that! That must've taken ages!" She peeked over at the buffet. They got EVERYTHING there. Cold drinks, fruit platters, cakes, puddings and other desserts, salads, you name it. A figure was standing by the candy section, just taking a glazed grape. Mari smirked. "Oh well... everything else would've surprised me."