Beginning Arc: First Battle
They took the path to a meadow that bordered the forest. When they arrived there, Mari put Ralts down carefully. Then, she sat down on the grass next to it.
"Hey, Mari..." Jacky stopped in front of her. "Can I maybe ask you a favor?",
"Depends on the favor. But sure, go ahead." Mari nodded. "What is it?",
"Could you battle with me?" Jacky looked briefly at Absol, which sniffed at the grass and paid no attention to her.
"With Ralts? I don't know..." She considered. "Might be a bit heavy for a start..." But then, she sighed. "Alright. We should approach this carefully, though... We don't know if Absol will listen to you." Mari stood up and looked at Ralts promptly. "Ralts, would you like to go for a little get-to-know-you session?" Ralts looked at Mari and then at Jacky. It seemed to instantly know what they planned to do and lowered its head. "...",
"I promise I'll be careful, okay? We don't wanna go all out just yet... just wanna test you a little bit.",
"And I think a battle might change Absol's mind. Maybe..." Jacky was visibly worried. "...Maybe it's not happy with me. And if it isn't, I have to prove myself as a trainer." She clenched a hand into a fist.
"Okay." Mari looked at her sternly. "But be careful with Ralts. We don't wanna straight-out traumatize it..."
Jacky nodded and smiled encouragingly. "Our first battle... You would help me a lot.",
"No problem. That's always been my job. I'll get started then, to get Absol's attention."
Jacky nodded again, with a pounding heart. Mari pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Ralts to retrieve its data and info. It was female, and its ability was Trace. "Alright, Ralts... Are you ready?" The tiny Pokémon gave her a hesitant nod. She smiled at it.
"Let's go then. Ralts, Magical Leaf!" Ralts raised its arms, and shot leaves surrounded by a magical aura at the Disaster Pokémon. The attack did not miss its target. Absol startled. Then, it growled and glared at Ralts.
"So, Absol, we're going to battle them." Jacky knelt down to it. "We can do this, are you ready?" Absol just nodded and showed its teeth menacingly. "All right, then! Use Bite!" Absol ran forward and snapped at Ralts with glowing teeth. But it dissolved into thin air right in front of it and reappeared at another place of the meadow. Mari looked at it. "Did you just teleport?" Ralts nodded with a first hint of a sassy smile. Jacky took a step forward in disbelief. "Careful, Absol...",
"That's cool." Mari smiled at Ralts. "And with Trace, you also copied Absol's ability, right?" Ralts winked at her with a tiny giggle. "Okay, Magical Leaf again!"
Ralts raised its arms again and let loose another bunch of leaves on Absol. "Fight them off with Scratch!" Jacky commanded. Absol swept through the air with its paws and tore the leaves apart. Ralts, however, suddenly teleported again and appeared right behind Absol. "Repeat!" Mari shouted. It seemed to her that Ralts was trying to support Mari as best it could in her first battle. It nodded and hit Absol surprisingly hard with the next swarm of leaves- a critical hit. Absol fell to the ground and then straightened up again, growling with a few scrapes. "Jump behind Ralts and then, use Scratch!" Absol set to jump, but as it lunged for Ralts, it disappeared again and reappeared in front of Mari. "Not so bad, is it? Absol listens to you." Mari said, smiling. "We can't really hurt you guys right now, tho... Psychic is inaffective on dark types, so we'll just keep spamming the same move! Use Growl, Ralts!" Ralts let out a high-pitched sound that lowered Absol's attack power, but it wouldn't let that deter it. "Bite!" Jacky shouted. Absol jumped forward and grabbed the much smaller Ralts with its teeth. It then hurled the Psychic-type Pokémon to the ground. "Guys, don't be so brutal!" Mari knelt down to her partner."Are you okay, Ralts?"
It stood up again and nodded bravely, its little body already covered with the first bruises.
"Can you continue?"
It nodded again.
"Okay then... Magical Leaf!"
Ralts prepared itself , and when Absol launched its next attack on Jacky's command, it raised its arms and hurled the leaves against Absol's chest. It backed away, growling, and shook itself. "Attack with Bite, hurry up!" Jacky shouted and Absol got hold of Ralts again. "Now finish it with Scratch!" Absol threw Ralts into the air. Before it could teleport to dodge the ensuing attack, Absol raised its paw and swept it to the ground with Scratch. "Look out!" Mari yelled. Ralts caught its fall floating and landed on its feet. Then it struck back with Magical Leaf. Absol dodged to the side, but gasped softly because of the wounds from the injuries Ralts had inflicted on it earlier. "Ralts, how are you holding up?" Mari asked. Ralts was gasping and shaking as if it was about to collapse, but stubbornly decided to go on fighting. "Good... Try to teleport behind Absol." Ralts instantly disappeared. Briefly, silhouettes flickered up around Absol as it Double Teamed. Ralts reappeared and disappeared again at various points in split seconds, but briefly seemed confused.
"Hold it in check, Absol!" Jacky mustered new courage and Absol ran forward.
"Watch out! Attack!" Mari shouted. Ralts let loose more leaves on Absol. It yelped briefly, but shortly after, it double-teamed again and Ralts was surrounded. It looked up startled and tried to get out of the dicey situation with a new Magical Leaf attack, but the leaves hit one of Absol's silhouettes. "Now finish it off with Scratch!"
All the silhouettes charged forward and the real Absol landed a direct hit with his paw. Ralts shrieked and went down. And there, it remained. "Oh no! Ralts!" Mari yelled.
"Did we win?" Jacky froze in astonishment, then jumped in the air with joy. "We won, Absol!" Absol's silhouettes dissolved and Mari rushed to Ralts' side. It looked at her, exhausted. "It's all right, Ralts. These things happen... We didn't stand a chance." She patted Ralts gently and lifted it onto her arms before straightening up. "Congratulations on victory, Jacky." Jacky knelt down and smiled at Absol, but didn't dare pet it. "You were great. Thanks, Absol.",
"I'm not upset about losing. On the contrary, I'm happy for you, Jacky." She smiled at her friend and went to her. Jacky stood up and took her backpack off her back. Then, she started rummaging around in it. "Look, Mari, you can give this to Ralts." She handed the black-haired girl an Oran Berry. "And thank you...",
"No, we have to thank you." Mari accepted the Oran Berry and gave it to Ralts. The Psychic-type Pokémon took it into its shakings and ate it. Its wounds started to heal and it recovered. "So, Jacky? Does Absol trust you more now, what do you think?" Mari inquired then.
"I think the battle helped us both a little." Jacky looked at Absol, which nodded briefly. "At least something." She raised her shoulders with a smile.
"That's good, isn't it? Why don't you try petting Absol now?" She smiled encouragingly at Jacky, and Jacky reached out after a moment's hesitation. Briefly, she was able to stroke Absol's soft, white fur before the Pokémon backed away again. "At least it's not snapping at you anymore..." Mari muttered. Jacky just nodded and slipped her bag back on. "So, how did you feel about this battle?" The black-haired girl wanted to know, letting Ralts back onto the ground very carefully.
"The battle was fun! It was a very close call, you can't be underestimated.",
"Really?" Mari didn't seem all too convinced from that statement.
"Yes, your Ralts seems to trust you more than Absol trusts me. I could learn something from you."
"..." She laughed quietly. "I wish I could believe you, but we didn't stand a heck of a chance. We wanted to start slow, but you guys went through the wall. Like a storm, or something like that. You did pretty well for your first real battle, don't you think so too, Ralts?" Ralts nodded vigorously.
"We should take a little break first. Eat something or whatever, you know?" Jacky suggested. Mari looked to Ralts, which agreed with her. "Alright, agreed. How about a rematch tomorrow, then?",
"You're all fired up, huh? Why not? By the way, your Ralts is really cute, Mari.",
"You think so?",
"Yeah, sure!" Jacky reached out a hand to Ralts, but it hid behind Mari's leg. She smiled. "I think so, too. But I think Absol is a very cool Pokémon."
Jacky sat down on the grass and unwrapped some sandwiches. "Absol have had a hard life in the past. But they're still trying to warn people, even after everything. It's really strange how a creature can be misunderstood so much." She bit into a loaf of bread. "You're lucky though, Mari. Ralts is a super rare Pokémon and has two different forms of final evolution, both of which are very strong. It depends on whether it's male or female." Jacky tapped on her Pokédex. "Look here. This is Gardevoir..." She showed Mari the left picture and then pointed to the right one. "...And that's Gallade.",
"They're both very cool. My Ralts is female, so it will be evolving into a Gardevoir. I like that thought.",
"Personally, I think Gallade is cooler", Jacky muttered with a shrug.
"I think that's a matter of taste..." Mari replied dryly and glanced at her own Pokédex. "Absol has no evolution. It will stay like this."
Jacky crossed her arms and looked away. "So what? Just because it can't evolve doesn't mean it's weak! You saw it for yourself!",
"Did I say that?" Mari asked with raised eyebrows, surprised by her sudden defensiveness and loud voice.
"Well... no. Besides, Absol won't be my only Pokémon, you know.",
"Yeah. We'll probably meet and catch a lot of new Pokémon.",
"I want to travel through different regions later and get stronger." Jacky dropped down in the grass. "And you?",
"I want to challenge the gyms. There's even one here in Aspertia.",
"At school, right?" Jacky sighed with a smile. "The gym leader Cheren was our teacher a few times last year. I'm done with school, but I still need to go back there..."
Mari laughed. "The sports field is part of the gym. But I have no idea what Pokémon Cheren will use. As far as I remember, he was quite fond of normal-type Pokémon.",
"No matter what he throws at us, Absol and I will grab the first gym badge, that's for sure!" Jacky turned to Absol, who was sitting behind the two girls. Mari said nothing to that and instead looked at the sky. "We should go back home. It's already getting dark and sometimes, there are Purrloin sneaking around here stealing from people.",
"Yep... I don't really want to cede my bag to a wild Purrloin." Jacky stood up and smiled at Absol. It looked back at her, and when Jacky reached out, it let itself be petted briefly.
"I'll meet you tomorrow on Route 19, okay? At eleven o'clock." Mari suggested.
"Agreed." Jacky nodded and put a hand on her stomach as she heard her stomach growl. "Oops...",
"Seriously? You just ate!" Mari said in surprise.
"That was just a sandwich!" Jacky frowned for a moment. "My mom told me my stomach is bigger than the moon.",
"Would it fit inside you then?" Mari asked, laughing.
"Very funny..." Her friend looked away.
"Sorry." Mari tried to get her laughter under control.
"It's okay, I admit it." Jacky waved it off. "At least I'm not gaining weight so fast, or I would have rolled over everyone by now.",
"That would be your personal Rollout attack. I'm going home now, I want to make some Poffins for Ralts.",
"Yeah, Absol must be hungry, too.",
"We better get going. See you tomorrow!" Mari turned and gave Jacky another wave before running off with Ralts and disappearing into her house. Jacky nodded at Absol and they, too, started moving. She unlocked the door to her house and shut it behind her.