Beginning Arc: Here to Protect You!
Suddenly, Absol and Ralts came running to them. Only slight cuts could be seen, otherwise, their injuries were not visible. Ralts hovered into Mari's arms. "Ralts! Nurse Joy must have released them from treatment already...",
"Absol, you're better!" Jacky hugged it tightly and stroked its fur.
"You two are getting along much better now," Mari remarked.
"Huh?" Jacky eased away from Absol. "Yeah, that's right." She smiled, then placed a bowl of food at its feet. "Here, you must be hungry!" Absol nodded and immediately went for the food. Mari giggled and rummaged around in her bag until she found some of the Poffins she had made yesterday. She opened the box and gave Ralts one. "Here, I made these for you, Ralts." Ralts happily nibbled on the treats. Jacky grabbed a magazine and started flipping through it. Mari peered curiously at the pages. "What are you reading?",
"Oh, just the magazine that comes out every week..." She turned to a new page.
"Uh-huh..." Mari nodded and gave Ralts another Poffin when it was done with its first. She had figured out Ralts loved the sweet and slightly dry ones. "Driftveil City is hosting the Champion Tournament again. Look!" Jacky pushed the magazine over the table so Mari could see it too and tapped the picture on the page.
"Champion Tournament? You mean in the PWT?" She looked curiously at the picture. Jacky nodded. "Yeah, exactly. The Champion Tournament is one of the few ones hosted so the champions of different Regions can test and battle each other.",
"Hm..." Mari propped her chin on her hand. "Yeah, I know... It's a master class tournament that is held the beginning of spring each year and it's broadcasted worldwide by the international channel IPS. Always claims the highest audience ratings... It's sometimes hosted by the PWT, sometimes by the Colosseum Orre and sometimes by Wyndon City in Galar... I loved to watch it on TV, I am a huge fan of Cynthia.",
"Hey!" Jacky tapped on another picture. "That's Elesa, right? The top model from Nimbasa? She's super cool!",
"Huh... There are junior class tournaments in the Pokémon World Tournament, as well", Mari remembered. "It would be awesome to be able to participate in one of those, wouldn't it...",
"We'll have to get far enough for that first." Jacky smiled and pointed at another picture. "Isn't that Lance?",
"Yes, it is. The redhead from the Kanto League, right?"
Jacky nodded and then looked at Elesa's picture again. "Hmm... I went to a fashion show in Nimbasa once," she recalled, giggling dreamily. "I guess no one is as pretty as her...",
"That's not quite correct. Hey, next to her is Skyla, the bird tamer", Mari noticed.
"Skyla is the gym leader of Mistralton, isn't she?",
"That's correct. She and Elesa are both very strong gym leaders of Unova... Skyla also partly controls Mistralton's air port. She's a pilot and travels a lot.",
"Well, I like the new gym leader, Marlon." Jacky pointed at his picture.
"Yeah? I like Roxie from Virbank. She plays rock and metal music, that's totally my taste.",
"It just gives me a headache," Jacky said.
"Only because the music might be a little too loud for you, hihi." Then, a picture caught her eye. She pointed at a portrait of a woman in a pretty pink kimono. "That's Valerie from the Kalos Region, right? I like her kimonos, they look gorgeous on her. She rivals Elesa in her looks.",
"Yeah, I wish I could be as pretty as she is... The sleeves of her kimono look like wings!"
Mari suddenly lifted her gaze and looked outside. "Hey, it's starting to rain... And there are storm clouds coming up back there, you can already hear the thunder." She sipped her Oran Juice. Ralts looked around nervously. "Ralts?" The black-haired girl looked at her Pokémon. "Is something wrong?",
"It's probably afraid of thunderstorms," Jacky guessed. Ralts suddenly raised its arms. "Um...",
"Huh?" Jacky put the magazine aside as she noticed Ralts's strange behavior. Mari looked outside again and saw a silhouette standing in the rain. It swung something in its hand back and forth a bit. As a flash of lightning illuminated the ashen surroundings, the yellow color of the shadow briefly became visible. He was swinging a pendulum. "Jacky!" She pointed outside. "Th-there! There's Hypno!" She stood up and almost threw Ralts off her lap if she hadn't held it in time.
"Let's go then, this is our chance! Come on, Absol!" Without hesitation, Jacky stormed out of the Pokémon Center. Mari put Ralts on the ground and rushed after her. "Hey, don't rush!" Ralts floated nimbly after her. Absol ran ahead and Jacky followed right behind, but suddenly, the dark-type Pokémon stopped. Mari collided with Jacky and almost landed on the wet asphalt of the road butt-first. "For Arceus' sake! Why did you halt?"
All light drained from Absol's red eyes as it glared hostilely at Hypno. Jacky gasped softly and held her forehead. "Mari...",
"What, what's wrong?" Jacky turned to Absol and noticed its colorless eyes. Then, she looked back to Hypno, who was slowly walking towards her with the pendulum in his hand. "You...!",
"Don't look!" Mari shouted. Jacky immediately looked away and put herself between Absol and Hypno. "Wake up, Absol!" Jacky looked to Mari for help as Absol growled softly and bristled his fur. "Help us, don't let Hypno control Absol!"
Mari nodded and gritted her teeth. "Understood! Ralts...!" Ralts stood in front of Mari and suddenly began to glow. "What...?" Mari took a step backwards. 'You're in danger...' Ralts's voice echoed in Mari's head. Its form began to change. When the light faded away, Ralts looked different and turned to Mari. "What the...?" Jacky exclaimed.
"Ralts evolved... into a Kirlia", Mari said and took out her Pokédex to scan it.
"Mari!" Jacky shouted to attract her attention. Kirlia immediately turned to the blonde-haired girl and suddenly teleported. It reappeared behind Hypno and discharged a Dazzling Gleam. Hypno whirled around and lost concentration as it blocked Kirlia's attack. "Wake up, Absol!" Jacky shook its shoulder and Absol's eyes cleared up. "You're awake!" Jacky hugged it, not caring about its wet fur. "...Sol." Absol rubbed his head against her shoulder. Kirlia teleported back to Mari. "Ralts evolved as we were in danger... That's interesting", the girl muttered. Jacky straightened up. "Strange..." Then, she looked to Absol. "Let's finish this together!",
"That's how I know you." Mari nodded in satisfaction.
"Attack it with Razor Wind!" Jacky positioned herself next to Mari and Absol dashed towards Hypno, blade glowing. Kirlia kept teleporting somewhere else, partly to keep Hypno's attention on it, but also to not give Hypno a chance to focus on its Hypnosis towards either of them. The storm of blades hit Hypno from behind and it staggered back angrily. "Kirlia, come back." Kirlia was standing next to Mari two seconds later. "We can't let up! Use Scratch over and over again!" Jacky ordered. Absol growled and went after Hypno. "Magical Leaf, Kirlia!" Mari commanded. Kirlia raised its arms and magic leaves accompanied Absol. The leaves hit the psychic-type Pokémon before Absol pushed it farther and farther back with its paw swipes. "Now hold it with a Bite!" Jacky shouted. Absol grabbed Hypno and pressed it to the ground, growling. Hypno tried to break free, but then went limp, unable to fight. "We have won. There you go." Mari smiled. Absol let go of Hypno.
Suddenly though, Hypno got back up and disappeared. "What?! No!" Jacky ran to Absol and stared dumbfounded at the empty space.
"Dammit, it escaped... " Mari and Kirlia joined them and they stood in the rain for a moment. "You know, something about this appears odd to me.",
"What exactly?" Jacky looked at her.
"Well... It's just a feeling I have, but this Hypno is targetting us for the second time already. Like... us, specifically. We weren't the only people in the Pokémon Center, but it was targetting us. Why?",
"I don't know... Now that you mention it, it IS strange." Jacky shook her head. "But I can't think of an explanation for this.",
"...I bet we will find out somehow..." Mari looked at the sky and then back at her. "We should go again."
Jacky withdrew her drenched Absol and shivered. "A hot shower would be something for us right now...",
"Yeah, indeed." Mari wiped her wet hair from her face and withdrew Kirlia, as well. "That was great of you, Kirlia. Thanks.",
"So, it evolved." Jacky smiled and patted Mari on the shoulder. "It seems to like you a lot.", "Yeah... Kirlia is an emotional Pokémon. It detected your despair... It evolved when we were in danger, like our emotions were the trigger."
Jacky nodded, then gestured to their houses, which weren't far from the Pokémon Center. "Let's go." She walked through the rain toward her house
"Yes." Mari followed her.
Jacky stood in the shower in her bathroom at home and came out with jogging clothes and a towel on her head. She stood by the window. "Hey, Absol... do you think we are ready for the gym...?"
Absol nodded resolutely and sat down next to her. Jacky let her eyes wander over the streets when she suddenly saw something. "Hey, aren't those...?" She recognized the two Pokémon that were wandering the street. It were those they rescued from the forest earlier today. She also saw Mari coming out of her house. Jacky ran out of her room into the cold outside and knelt down to the two of them regardless of the rain- and the towel on her head. "Hey, what are you doing here?",
"Nurse Joy must have released them with the intention of letting them back into the wild." Mari squatted down to Zorua. "Hey, how are you doing? Are you feeling better?" Zorua smiled and nodded.
"Shinx, who or what are you looking for?" Jacky asked. Shinx jumped at her and sniffed over her face. Zorua stepped closer to Mari and gently stroked around her legs. "Huh..." Mari stroked it gently. "Are you guys here for us?" Zorua nodded. "Huh... Probably to thank us, huh? No problem." She scratched its head lightly and Zorua chuckled.
"Shinx, do you want to join me?" Jacky asked in surprise. Shinx nodded vigorously and Jacky smiled. Mari looked over at them. "They came here to offer their help to us? How cute of them..." Suddenly, Kirlia appeared next to Mari. 'Shinx and Zorua thank you very much. Shinx told Zorua what happened. They want to stand by you because they realized your strength during the battle. They owe you', it said via telepathy. Jacky looked at Kirlia for a moment, puzzled. "Telepathy?",
"Yes." Mari nodded. "Earlier, in the forest, it spoke to me, too." Then, she straightened up. "We don't have any Poké Balls. We should go to the Pokémon Center and get some at the sales counter there."
Jacky nodded. "Yeah." The two of them walked back to the Pokémon Center, Shinx, Zorua, and Kirlia following them. "Girl, don't you, like, wanna take your towel of? You're getting stared at.",
"Whuh?" She took the towel from her head. "Oh, darn! I totally forgot about that!" She turned red and hid her face in the towel. "Couldn't you have said something earlier?!",
"I figured you'd notice it yourself. But you disappointed me." Mari grinned at her over her shoulder. "I'll make that up to you, don't worry. Your Poké Balls come on my dime.",
"Thanks." Jacky smiled back, utterly embarrassed.