Beginning Arc: Battle in the Woods
A Pokémon staggered out of the bushes. It was black and looked like a fox. Its tail was bushy and its collar fur was fluffy. "That's another Pokémon." Jacky stared at the Pokémon, puzzled. Leaves and branches had become tangled in its fur.
"Whew... And here I thought..." Mari took a deep breath. But at that moment, the wild Pokémon attacked. Mari backed away as the black Pokémon charged at her with bared teeth. Ralts raised its arms and hurled leaves at it. "We'll help them!" Jacky shouted. "Bite, Absol!" Absol leapt forward, snarling, and snapped at the strange Pokémon that was about to charge at Ralts. It backed away, growling.
"J-Jacky! Look into its eyes!" Mari yelled. The Pokémon's eyes seemed cold and empty. All light had left them. Absol eased away from the Pokémon. "That look..." Jacky looked at Absol and yelled, "This Pokémon is controlled by Hypno, watch out!",
"Ralts!" Mari stretched her arm out to the side. "Lure it away! Use Teleport!" Ralts nodded and disappeared, appearing five meters away and drawing its opponent's attention. Mari, meanwhile, pulled out her Pokédex. "A Zorua..." Zorua hissed, ruffling up its fur and charging at Ralts. "Use Scratch, over and over again!" Jacky commanded. Absol chased after it, swiping at the Pokémon with his claws and driving it back. Suddenly, Mari screeched, "Jacky, watch out!" Jacky noticed the shadow too late, which shot out of the bushes. It discharged a huge electric shock that hit Absol and Jacky alike. Jacky buckled for a moment and let out a surprised scream. "Jacky!" Mari over ran to her and propped her up before she fell over. "Are you okay?" Jacky gasped softly, then nodded. "I'm fine... Absol, how are you?" She looked at her partner. It nodded with a few scrapes on its body. "Holy Arceus... Thank you, Mari."
Mari let go of Jacky and she pulled out her Pokédex. "A Shinx..."
Jacky looked into the little one's eyes and noticed that they were clear. "Shinx isn't hypnotized... is it trying to protect Zorua...?" Zorua snapped at Ralts, but it floated back and escaped the dark-type Pokémon's sharp teeth. Zorua growled, but then it came back to Shinx, bristling its fur and its gaze seeming even wilder, even more untamed. "I don't have the feeling this Zorua is awake," Mari said. Ralts appeared beside her. "I have more of a dim suspicion that it's controlled from within... by a nightmare, or whatever. Maybe, this is remote-controlled sleepwalking or something like that.",
"It is possible. This Shinx probably thinks we are responsible for that..." Jacky replied.
"But why? We didn't do anything. We should try talking to it.",
"I'll try..." The blonde-haired girl nodded and slowly walked over to Shinx.
"You need to stay calm..." Mari advised her.
"Easier said than done." Jacky tried to smile and knelt down to Shinx. Zorua growled threateningly, but Shinx stood in front of it. "Don't lean forward too far!" Mari warned her. "Be careful."
Jacky exhaled, grateful for Mari's guidance, and slowly touched the Electric Pokémon's forehead. "Hello, little one." Shinx flinched back, discharging sparks from its fur. Jacky winced and gritted her teeth. She was a little paralyzed, but she kept her hand on it. "Listen, we're not the ones controlling your friend! We're here to help you. If you would help us stop Hypno, I would be very grateful, Shinx..." Shinx, who had prepared to electrocute her again while she talking, paused and sniffed at Jacky's hand, insecurely. Then, it relaxed a little. Jacky smiled with relief and looked to Mari. "I think I've got it. Now, we have to take care of Zorua." Zorua behind Shinx hissed and backed away a little.
"Got it. Ralts?" Trasla beside her nodded with a determined "Ra!" and raised its arms ready to fight. Jacky looked at Absol. "Absol and I will fight until this Hypno can do no more harm!",
"We must find Hypno and defeat it, no matter the cost", Mari agreed.
Jacky turned around and widened her eyes. "Mari, watch out!",
"Huh?" Zorua had enveloped itself with a pink aura and leapt towards Mari with Feint Attack. When Mari noticed it, she froze in place. At that moment, Ralts threw itself in front of her and took all the damage from the attack. It screamed and then went down. And there it remained lying. "Ralts...?!" Mari stared at her Pokémon, frightened, and then knelt down to it. She shook it gently. "Ralts? Ralts?! Are you all right?!"
Zorua growled and launched into another attack. "This is our fight now, Absol! Attack with Scratch!" Jacky stood next to Mari and clenched her hand into a fist. Absol shot forward. Its powerful paw hit Zorua and catapulted it against a tree. "You should go back to the Pokémon- Center. Now." Jacky looked to Mari. "Absol and I will handle this." Absol was already going after Zorua again, which reared up and dodged Absol's claws, causing them to leave thick welts in the bark of the tree. "Jacky..." Mari looked at her, then nodded. "Thanks for covering me." She lifted Ralts up.
"You can thank me later." Jacky nodded bravely. Absol hit Zorua with another Scratch and jumped back again.
"But... I don't want to just stand by, you know? Do you have Oran Berries left?",
"The ones earlier were the last ones I had." She shook her head. "Don't let Zorua out of your sight, Absol!" Absol's fur bristled as Zorua stood back up. It had nasty scrapes on its body, but the more damage it took, the more aggressive its look became. Ralts in Mari's arms trembled. "Ralts..." Mari looked down at it. Ralts raised its head and looked at its trainer with dull eyes. 'I will... not give up! Not now!'
Mari's eyes widened. "What... what was that just now? Was that telepathy?" Ralts nodded. "Absol!" Jacky ran forward as the dark-type Pokémon didn't see Zorua's next move coming and was hit by its Feint Attack. It collapsed on the ground. "Get back up, please...!" Jacky touched Absol's blade.
'The situation is getting worse...' Mari thought and clenched her teeth. At that moment, Ralts floated out of her arms and landed on the ground, staggering. "Ralts...!" Ralts started gathering light in front of it. 'Mari... Trust me...'
Absol straightened up trembling and gritted its teeth, but it did not retreat. "We can do this, Absol..." Jacky smiled. Suddenly Absol's horn began to glow brightly. Jacky jerked back, startled. Ralts suddenly used tremendous energy and shot several small beams of light at Zorua. Absol roared, jumped up and fired radiant blades from his blade. Both attacks hit Zorua simultaneously, while Shinx took cover behind a tree. Jacky put his hand over her eyes as the attacks that hit the Pokémon briefly whirled up sand and wilted leaves. When the dust settled, Zorua was lying on the ground. Its eyes were closed and it had nasty injuries all over its body. Shinx slowly dared to come out from behind the tree trunk. Jacky bent down to it and carefully picked it up. Mari looked at her Pokédex. "Dazzling Gleam, huh..." She looked at Ralts. It smiled and then tilted its head. "Ra!" Mari put the Pokédex away and picked it up.
"It's badly injured, too... Everyone needs to be taken to the Pokémon Center!" Jacky decided. "That's right." Mari withdrew Ralts and then picked up Zorua, careful not to hurt it more. "We haven't found Hypno, unfortunately, but it must still be here somewhere..."
Jacky looked at her. "Yeah, but we saved two Pokémon, so that's a big step. We shouldn't be that disappointed. Every freed Pokémon brings us closer to Hypno. Besides..." She glanced at Zorua. "...Maybe Zorua and Shinx could show us the way to Hypno."
Mari looked at Zorua in her arms and was silent for a moment. Then, she nodded. "Probably... Hey, what was that attack Absol used just now?",
"I guess that was Razor Wind... I'm not entirely sure though." the blonde haired girl replied. "Come on, we should get going." She withdrew Absol and ran off with Shinx in her arms. Mari followed her hastily.
Later at the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy walked up to the two. "Your Pokémons' conditions are gradually stabilizing.",
"That's nice. Thank you." Mari smiled.
"Whew..." Jacky took a breath and nodded. "Thank you, Nurse Joy.",
"No problem, kids." She bowed politely for a moment. "It's my duty to help injured Pokémon. By the way, Ralts and Absol have almost recovered from the damage of the battle.",
"That's great news!" Jacky nodded and rubbed her wrist. "They both had to take a lot of hits... Nurse Joy?" She looked at the nurse suddenly. "Can you sign up for the Unova League here?"
The question was unexpected. "Huh?" The nurse shook her head. "No. You can't sign up for the Unova League until you've passed the trials that have to be taken on Victory Road. And these always take place at the end of the year, starting in October. You have two months to try and pass them. Given you've claimed all the eight gym badges, of course.",
"Oh, I see..." Jacky nodded. "In autumn, then...",
"That's right." The nurse nodded. "The Unova League Tournament itself starts at the beginning of December.",
"Got it. I plan to challenge the gym leader of Aspertia first. And then, I'll participate in the league tournament when I'm stronger!" She clenched her hand into a fist.
"That sounds like a great goal to pursue." The nurse smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I have some other Pokémon to take care of. You can stop by this afternoon and pick up your friends and they'll be fine."
Jacky nodded and joined Mari at a table. "You're going to compeed in the league tournament?" Mari looked at her.
"Yes. We're going to challenge gyms and train a lot to win!" Jacky sipped a cup of tea.
"Is that right?" Mari smiled tentatively.
"Yeah... But when I'm strong enough, I'd like to travel to other regions sometime, as well. Regions like Kalos or Hoenn... That would be great..." But then, she put her hands on the table. "But now, let's change the subject... You said earlier that Hypno was able to control people too, right? If that's the case, then we have a much bigger problem...",
"We need to watch where we're going."
Jacky nodded and lightly tapped her fingers on the tabletop. "But I suspect Hypno would never dare go into the cities.",
"Certainly not big cities like Nimbasa or Castelia." Mari nodded thoughtfully. "But in cities where there's a lot of forest, maybe. Like Icirrus or Mistralton, for example. This city isn't that big either. Maybe, Hypno doesn't even really need to go into town, but lures the kids away from there or lurks in the woods.",
"There's no point in panicking now. We should let the police know." Jacky determined. Mari nodded and sipped her orange juice silently. "Yeah... probably, that's the smartest solution..."