Beginning Arc: In Rage
As the two finished their breakfast, Jacky hung her bag around her and didn't seem so sleepy anymore. "Okay, we can go.",
"Good, Virbank is our destination, we should make it there by tonight", Mari said. "Foccesy is the closest town, it's not far from there to Virbank.",
"Alright, map on two legs. Let's go then!" Jacky shouted and ran out of the Pokémon Center. Mari laughed at that designation and followed her.
"Hah, this fresh air! Makes you feel better!" the blonde-haired girl exclaimed, pointing at passing white birds in the sky. "Beautiful, aren't they?",
"Those are Swanna," Mari explained.
"Let's see..." Jacky pulled out her Pokédex and scanned one of the beautiful creatures. "Swanna- The White Bird Pokémon. Despite their elegant appearance, they can flap their wings strongly and fly for thousands of miles", the Pokédex data stated.
"A Swanna would fit great into my team," Jacky concluded, putting her fingers to her chin thoughtfully. One of the Swanna landed briefly on the ground and lifted its right wing slightly. It plucked at its feathers before taking off again and soaring skyward over their heads. As it did so, a feather floated to the ground. Jacky jumped up and grabbed the long feather in the fall. "Here, I'll give you this," she smiled, handing it to Mari. "Thank you." Mari accepted it and put it in her hair. "So, does it look good on me?",
"It looks great", Jacky said.
"Thanks. Swanna's feathers are supposed to have magical powers. I think this one is a Health Feather feather.",
"A Health Feather? How cool. I wish you good health then!",
"Hah... thanks." Mari chuckled and then sent out her Pokémon. "Come on, you guys can romp about on the way!",
"You guys too." Jacky let her Pokémon out as well, and Zorua immediately attacked Shinx and bit his ear. Shinx startled and a small electric shock discharged on Zorua. Zorua's fur stood upright and it giggled. Kirlia walked beside Absol and the two seemed to have a conversation.",
"I wonder what they're talking about?" Jacky wondered. Mari shrugged cluelessly. "What route are we on?" her friend continued asking. "This is Route 19, it leads to Focessy. From there, we need to head across the Focessy Farm to Route 20 and straight to Virbank," Mari explained. "It's about a fifteen minute walk to Foccesy.",
"Hmm, then we don't have to hurry." Jacky folded her arms. "Maybe there are rare Pokémon running around here." Two Deerling flitted past them, and an Emolga scurried up a tree trunk, "Could be." Mari nodded and watched the Sky Squirrel Pokémon.
Suddenly, an angry roar ruptured the silent harmony of the forest around them. "What was that?" Jacky asked, looking in the direction. "Come on, let's go see!" She took off running before Mari could say anything, and her Pokémon jumped after her. Mari sighed and quickly followed her friend, with Zorua and Kirlia close on her heels. An explosion rang through the forest and the ground shook violently. Dust kicked up and Mari had to cough. Jacky backed away and held a hand to her eyes. "What was that?!" Again, a roar rang through the forest, making the trees around them shake. A Shadow Ball hit the ground next to the girls, followed by a Rock Tomb attack. The rocks narrowly missed the trainers. Jacky and Mari took cover behind a tree and waited for the dust to clear. Soon, they were able to catch a gimple on the battle taking place in the middle of the woods. Two Pokémon were facing each other off. One of them had the stature of a dragon with blue scales. Its belly scales were orange-red and its eyes sparkled with anger. A long, white claw adorned each of its two slender arms, on which sat something like a fin. But they couldn't see it for that long, as another attack kicked up more dust. "There are two Pokémon fighting!" Jacky shouted. She stepped out of cover and rushed forward. "Are you crazy?!" Mari screeched. Jacky stood between them with her arms outstretched. Absol and Shinx stood by her and growled menacingly. "Jacky!" Mari screamed in horror.
The blue dragon hissed and its right claw lit up blue. It roared and then lunged at the troublemakers with Dragon Claw. "Watch out! That's a dragon type, they're hard to tame!" Mari shouted in warning. The other Pokémon, which had not yet come under the eyes of the two, leapt forward, shielding Jacky and her partners with a green shield. The dragon's claw bounced against it ineffectively, and it grew even angrier. Frenzied with rage, it let loose a Rock Tomb attack on the opponent, which also bounced off the shield. But then, the shield shattered. The dragon's mouth filled with blue flames and it spat a Dragon Rage attack at the other Pokémon. It countered with a Shadow Ball, which was torched by the flames and caused another explosion. The resulting shock wave nearly swept Jacky away. The Dragon Pokémon attacked again, spitting more flames at its opponent in parallel while its claws severed the air. Now, Mari dropped her guard as well. "Stop!" she yelled, but she was too late. The other Pokémon, however, put up its shield again and repelled the attacks. "Mari, you have to help me stop that Pokémon!" Jacky yelled. Mari nodded and looked at her Pokédex. "It's a Gabite..."
Gabite roared and bared his pointed fangs. Mari thought of the dragon-fairy relationship. "Kirlia, you take over!" Kirlia nodded and stood in front of her. Gabite seemed to visibly hesitate for a moment before unleashing a Dragon Rage attack on Kirlia and it disappeared in a sea of blue flames. But then the flames parted and Kirlia stood there with its eyes shining and her arms raised. The attack hadn't even left a burn mark. "Dragon has no effect on Fairy", Mari muttered to herself. "Alright then! Time for a Dazzling Gleam!" Kirlia made a beautiful pirouette and launched many beams of light at Gabite, but the latter created more rocks with Rock Tomb and slammed them on the ground in front of it, forming a barrier and blocking the beams for it. "Razor Wind, Absol!" Jacky commanded. Absol dashed forward and shot blades at the dragon's stone wall, shattering it. Some of the light blades hit Gabite and it backed away, snarling. But that did not last long. Its claw lit up again and it went after Absol with Dragon Claw. Absol blocked the attack with his blade and Gabite took a few steps back before once again making stones appear in the air and unleashing them on all Pokémon. "Zorua, Shadow Claw! Konfusion, Kirlia" Mari shouted. Zorua jumped forward and destroyed many of the stones with Shadow Claw, while Kirlia used telekinetic blows to diverge them. "Use Spark, Shinx!" While Absol dodged the stones and the other Pokémon deflected them, Shinx jumped against Gabite, but the Dragon Pokémon didn't seem impressed at all. It lashed out and knocked Shinx away with Slash. "It had no effect at all?!" Jacky looked at Shinx and then at Absol.
"Yeah, it's a ground-type as well!" Mari informed her. Jacky grinded her teeth. "Protect Shinx, Gabite is too strong for it!",
"Magical Leaf, Kirlia!" Kirlia let loose a storm of leaves on Gabite, bruising its scales. Gabite shook itself and growled. Mari didn't know how to stop Gabite. It was far too enraged. Only one option came to her mind. "Okay, here goes... That's the only chance we have to get it under control!" She threw a Pokéball at Gabite, which sucked it in and landed on the ground. But the ball began to shake violently and then was blasted apart. Gabite threw its head around as it burst out of it. "What?! Dammit, it's not enough!" Gabite began to violently use one Dragon Rage attack after the other and Mari threw herself to the ground to escape the fire. Jacky stumbled and slammed down into the dirt, saving her from the beam that incinerated a bush behind her moments later. "Absol, stop it!" Absol growled in rage and began to pummel Gabite with scratches. Gabite hissed and deflected some of Absol's blows with his Dragon Claw. Then, suddenly, the other Pokémon leapt forward and struck with Brick Break. The edge of its hand hit Gabite on the flank. It howled and staggered back. Mari took the opportunity to throw another Poké Ball. This time, Gabite couldn't break free. The ball remained still on the ground.
"Whew..." Mari exhaled and straightened up. "You did it!" Jacky stood back up with a few bruises on her arms and smiled. "Congratulations."
Mari picked up the ball. "Yeah, except now I've got this Pokémon on my back." she said, "I don't know if I can tame it. It's going to be tough.",
"Gabite is insanely strong..." Jacky smoothed out her blouse, then looked to the other Pokémon that had been involved in the battle. "Mari, what Pokémon is this?",
"Let's see..." Mari held her Pokédex on it to scan. "This is a Medicham. A psychic/fighting-type Pokémon.",
"Medicham- The Meditate Pokémon. Evolution of Meditite. Through crushingly harsh yoga training, it gained the power to foretell its foe's actions. It battles with elegant, dance-like movement", the automatic voice in the Pokédex informed them.
"Sounds pretty interesting."