Beginning Arc: Beautifly in the Tummy
The next morning, Jacky ate a marmelade sandwich. Her forehead had been bandaged. There was a knock at the door. "Yeah?" Jacky looked up. The door was opened. The first thing to come in was a white Pokémon who rushed up to Jacky and greeted her joyfully. "Absol!" Jacky exclaimed in surprise. It jumped over to her and she hugged it. The second thing to appear was Mari's smiling face. "Good morning!" Jacky waved her in.
"Hi. I wanted to see how you were doing! You look pretty in your bandages!" Mari stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
"Thanks." Jacky laughed and took a sip of tea. "I'm feeling much better, but my wound still need some time." Mari tossed her a magazine. "Here, the latest issuing of the magazine from the Pokémon Center you like to read. I bought it for you.",
"Great, thanks!" Jacky caught the magazine as Mari tossed it at her and looked out the window. "Today, the sun is shining so beautifully. There are Patrat cavorting around the edge of Aspertia when the weather is good."
Mari sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. "I made you a berry sandwich, too. With Oran Berries. It might help a little with your sores, too, and it's very tasty." Mari handed her a wrapped packet. "This is what Mom used to make me when I was sick." Jacky unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. "Mmm...!",
"Glad to make you happy." Mari smiled widely. Jacky wiped her mouth. "This is a life.",
"Do you like Cupcakes? I made a few, do you fancy some?" Mari held out a box of colorful almost artistic cupcakes to Jacky. "Just because I'm lying here doesn't mean you have to fatten me up." Jacky laughed softly and took the box. "But thank you very much, sweet stuff cures me just as well as laughter.",
"I do have a friend to take care of after all. By the way, I'm sorry about yesterday. Kirlia and me shouldn't have sent you out alone." Mari reached into the box and ate a chocolate cupcakes with cute little chocolates placed on top of the swirled cream.
"Let's forget about that. Do you have candies for the Pokémon, as well?",
"Sure, I have some Poffins left from yesterday. They're still good." She rummaged around iin her bag and took out another box, opened it and put it down on the bed. Jacky took one of the still delicious-looking Poffins and handed it to Absol, which ate it and lifted its chin in delight. "Are you still in pain, wrapped present?" Mari asked with a laugh.
"Not at the moment, but the doctor said I should take it easy." She ate a cupcake with white cream, decorative flowers attached to it, and some colorful crumble toppings.
"I see." Mari nodded. "You know, if the Hypno situation doesn't get better, we have a problem." She took out a bottle of lemonade and twisted off the cap, drinking two sips.
"We need to train and pay close attention", Jacky said, wiping crumbs off the bed. Then, she flipped open the magazine. Mari looked over Jacky's shoulder.
"Oh wow!" Jacky's eyes lit up excitedly and she showed Mari a picture of a large stadium and two people on the battlefield. "One of them is Blue, isn't he!",
"Hmm... Isn't he the grandson of that dude... Professor Oak?"
A bit dreamily, Jacky smiled. "Yes, Blue is Professor Oak's grandson and sooo strong! He studied in Kalos and I read through every article about him!",
"Someone's a fan of his, I guess." Mari giggled. "That other guy there, that's his rival, Red, right?",
"Yeah, right." Jacky nodded and continued to flip through the pages. Mari pointed to the next picture. "Oh, look, more pictures of Cynthia. She's really cool, I think. Many people fear her.",
"Cynthia is supposed to be super strong. Look, she's standing on the beach of Ondula with Caitlyn!",
"Caitlyn... She's from the elite four of Unova, isn't she? The one with the psychic-type Pokémon?",
"Yeah, that's right.",
"Huh... Flip to the news page. It's a new extra in the magazine."
Jacky turned the page and smoothed it out.
"Oh... listen to this. 'Many children of Mistralton City and the families living on Route 7 have disappeared for unknown reasons.'" Mari read aloud.
"Disappeared?" Jacky brushed back her honey blonde hair. "Just outta nowhere?",
"Look at the pictures of the missing kids... That boy there. Doesn't he look familiar?" Mari pointed to the picture of a boy with chocolate brown hair. Jacky shuddered briefly at the sight. "That's the boy from yesterday, isn't it? Or am I mistaken about that?",
"Yeah, it's him, no doubt about that."
Jacky narrowed her eyes and Absol looked back and forth between Mari and Jacky. "So his name is Samuel Bennet." Mari continued to read aloud. "'The kids were all playing in the woods between Mistralton City and Route 7 and disappeared shortly after. Only one of the children returned. It seemed to have suffered mental damage for unknown reasons. It claimed that a Pokémon was watching them. The boy has since been afflicted with panic attacks more often. Police continue to investigate the cause of the disappearance of the children. So far, a total of 10 children have disappeared, and as of yesterday, three new cases have been reported. Wendy Lawrence(7), Abigail Lloyd (6) and Sean Miller (10) disappeared. No one knows what happened to the children or where they are currently'. That's really bad..." Mari looked at the list of children that had disappeared already and stopped at one name for a moment. Maki Tohsaka. Her blood ran cold for a moment, but not from shock. From rage. "Hypno...?" Jacky blinked slightly.
"I'll bet all my money that this Pokémon is behind it. There's no other solution", the black-haired growled. Jacky folded the magazine shut and finished her cup.
"Maybe we should tell the police what we know," Mari suggested.
"Let's not talk about that." Jacky closed her eyes for a moment. Mari looked at her with raised eyebrows. "...?",
"That beast is going to pay for what it did to the kids and me..." Her friend put the cup down and felt along her bandages.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You should focus on the gym today." Mari took out her first gym badge and showed it to Jacky.
"That's Cheren's badge." Jacky looked at it and then outside. "Today, I'll haunt the school, he can be sure of that.",
"You wanted this one too, right? If you hurry, we might make it to Virbank City by tonight. We can spend the night at the Pokémon Center there. We'll have to take Route 17 to Foccesy Town.",
"Then let's not waste any time." Jacky slowly got up and stood there in a white nightgown. When Mari saw the shirt, she burst out laughing. "Hahaha! A nightgown with a Pikachu on it! How silly!",
"Greaaaat." Jacky giggled with her and opened the closet. "What do we have here..."
Mari took an appraising look at the closet. "They don't seem to have much of a clothing repertoire here." She immediately snorted when she saw a t-shirt with a Tepig that looked rather misshapen.
"Oh god." Jacky covered her eyes for a moment.
"I wonder who the illustrator was?" Mari gasped in her laughing fit.
"Probably my little sister," Jacky said.
"You don't even have a sister, do you?" Mari giggled. She turned away and held her stomach. "That's the joke.",
"Forget about that garbage. I've taken care of everything, of course.",
"Oh, really?" Jacky held a sweater with a Servine on it in her hand.
"Sure. I stopped by your mom's house and grabbed stuff from your closet. I didn't tell her you were in treatment, just that you spent the night at the Pokémon Center with a cold because your clothes got soaked yesterday. I didn't want to cause her any unnecessary worry. Here." Mari handed her a plastic bag. Inside was a white T-shirt, black sweatpants, and a matching black and white striped cardigan with a hood. "That's more my style." Jacky chuckled and took the clothes out. "Then, I'm almost partnered with Absol." Mari took one look at the sweater Jacky hung back in the closet and almost had to start laughing again. "You're the best, thanks." Jacky winked at her and disappeared into the bathroom.
After a while, Jacky stepped out of the bathroom, changed. "Looks neat." Mari nodded. "Does neat mean 'ready for school'?" Jacky pulled her cardigan into place.
"Sure thing. You'll beat the stuffing out of Cheren with those matching clothes of yours." She raised a thumb and winked with a smile. "But you better not get them dirty, I didn't bring a second pair. Otherwise, you'll have to put on that Tepig t-shirt, so be warned~",
"Hehe..." Jacky giggled and threw her bag over her shoulder. "I won't.",
"Let's go then. Don't forget the magazine, you can flip through it all later." Jacky nodded, picked it up and slid it into her bag. "I'm ready.",
"Let's go to battle!" Mari laughed softly.
"On we go!" Jacky pulled out a Poké Ball. "Get ready for an exciting battle, Absol!" She withdrew her dark-type Pokémon and stepped out into the fresh air. "Aah!" She took a deep breath and stretched her arms out briefly. "Okay. I'm pumped!" The two of them walked towards the school.