Virbank Arc: An Entirely Normal Day

The next morning, Jacky was sitting at a table in the Pokémon Center's lobby, flipping through a magazine, when Mari staggered to her table sleepily. "Hi," she greeted her friend.
"Good morning. You look like a zombie," Jacky commented with a laugh. Mari sat down. "Mm... I guess that's what they call 'morning person syndrome'. If I have to be honest... I could have slept longer.",
"You look like that, too.",
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"
Jacky laughed. "Don't get upset. It's not good for you."
Mari just grumbled silently. Jacky shook her head in amusement. "Good grief... You're the grumpiest morning person I've ever met!",
"That would give me a unique position feature..." the black haired girl muttered yawning and then rubbed her eyes. "I'm hungry... We should probably take care of training today if we want to tackle the gym...",
"Mh. I agree. Maybe you should do something about that sourpuss face of yours before you go out, too.",
"Thanks a lot." Mari grumbled. "Can I at least eat something first?",
"Of course, before you get hangry. I've been waiting for you with breakfast.",
"You didn't make it yourself, I hope, did you...?",
"What? Why?",
"You're one of those people you'd better ban from the kitchen, because otherwise you'd risk not having a kitchen anymore after usage..."
Jacky laughed. "You're exaggerating. But no, I didn't make it myself. There's a buffet back there at the counter.",
"Ah... Good... Wouldn't wanna get poisoned...",
"Mariiiii...!"

After breakfast, they both left the Pokémon Center. "We battled yesterday... how about we train separately this time?" Jacky suggested.
"Separately...?" Mari repeated and Jacky nodded. "Yes. I'm sure there are plenty of places in the woods around the city where you can train undisturbed...",
"...and Pokémon", Mari yawned. "I'm not keen on getting into another fight like the one Gabite and Medicham got into the other day... On the other hand, maybe that's a chance...",
"See? You get my point."
Mari nodded curtly. "We'll meet up again at the Pokémon Center, okay?",
"Alright." Jacky nodded and they parted ways.

Mari entered the forest and strolled along under the trees, looking for a clearing she could use for training. However, after a short while, she heard a low growl. She flinched and her fatigue immediately evaporated. She looked around, "...?" She heard a rustle and then a crackle before an Ursaring emerged from the bushes. It looked at her and she stared back. The bear bared its teeth and charged at her. "That one must have been in a bad morning mood too, or it has it's breakfast denied... Kirlia, let's go!" Her Kirlia appeared in front of her and performed a pirouette before raising its arms. "Let's concentrate. Magical Leaf!" Kirlia sent a swarm of leaves at the onrushing bear. Ursaring stopped and shook itself before snarling and standing on its hind legs, making it even bigger. It swiped at Kirlia with its sharp claws. It teleported a bit to the side, however, and its claws sliced the air. "Dazzling Gleam!" Mari commanded. Kirlia closed her eyes and sent bright beams of light at the bear. The Pokémon growled and backed away before counterattacking even more furiously. With Fury Swipes, it went after Kirlia. "Dodge it!" Kirlia danced out of the way of its strikes, then sent more magical leaves at the wild Pokémon. Ursaring shook itself, but seemed unsure. "One more time!" Mari commanded. Kirlia nodded and teleported to the side before more leaves hit the Pokémon in the side. Ursaring toppled over. "Whew... That was unexpected." Kirlia turned to her trainer. "Well done, Kirlia." She smiled. Mari decided to move on before the bear came around. She didn't really want to see it get any angrier.

Three hours later, the girls met back in front of the center. Jacky had a few scratches on her face. "What got you mixed up with a cat scratching post?" Mari asked with a laugh. Jacky pulled a face. "Nothing at all. I wasn't paying attention and walked into a low-hanging branch.", "Seriously? Wow.",
"That's not funny", Jacky grumbled and Mari waved it off. "Okay, okay. Sorry. How did the training go?",
"The east part of the forest doesn't have a single stone left", Jacky reported.
"Why are you taking out your energy on stones? Those poor stones..."
Jacky had to laugh at her comment as well. "Better stones than trees. How about you?",
"I ran into an Ursaring", she explained. "Other than that, I spent my time shooting craters into the forest ground.",
"What did the ground do to you?" Jacky countered with a grin.
"Haha." Mari rolled her eyes. "Funny, really.",
"Sorry." The blonde-haired girl laughed. "But let's do something different. How about we sleep outside tonight?",
"Huh?" Mari raised her eyebrows. "Out in the open? Uh... Sure, why not?",
"Great. I'll go get us some stuff!",
"I could help you!",
"Oh, nah! I'll get it! See you in a bit!" And off she went. Mari stared after her, puzzled. "O...kay...?"

When Jacky returned, they made their way into the forest. "I saw a clearing near here earlier," Jacky said. "We could make ourselves comfortable there.",
"Nothing wrong with that... As long as I don't have to sleep on a stick..."
Jacky stopped. "...?" Mari almost ran into her and stopped just in time. "Hey! ...Warn me next time before you stop!"
Jacky looked around. "Sorry...",
"What's wrong with you anyway? Doesn't the forest air agree with you?",
"Don't be silly. But... I could have sworn... I thought I heard something. Must have just been a Sewaddle or something.",
"Huh..." Mari looked around, "I didn't hear anything. Let's keep going." She went ahead and, in the next moment, tripped over a protruding tree root. She slammed lengthwise into the dirt and cursed. "Goddamnit!",
"You okay?" Jacky asked. Mari nodded, got back up and kicked the tree. "You stupid tree! Keep your roots the fuck underground!" At that moment, something rustled above her and something brown fell on her head. "OW!" Mari screeched, holding her head. "What the freak was that?" Something stood in front of her, jumping up and down angrily. "Uh...?" Mari looked confused at the small Pokémon in front of her. "It's a Seedot", Jacky stated. "It must have been sleeping in that tree. I guess that's what I heard.",
"Why does it have to jump or fall on my head?" Mari grumbled, grimacing. Jacky laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, Seedot. Mari's temper is shorter than her legs.",
"Excuse me?!" Mari hissed. Jacky just laughed and went past the little Pokémon bouncing up the branches again.

That evening, as dusk fell, they had made themselves comfortable in sleeping bags in a clearing in the forest. Mari lay on her back and stared up at the sky. "We haven't had any trouble with Hypno since we arrived in Virbank. Considering Hypno never left us alone for that long, it really is suspicious.",
"It's probably causing trouble somewhere else." Jacky sighed and let her Pokémon out. Mari did the same and the first thing Gabite did when it caught sight of Medicham was to let out a low growl. Medicham studiously ignored it. Kirlia and Absol shook their heads in equal annoyance, and Shinx and Zorua scuffled under a tree. "Say, Mari... do you already know what you're going to do when our journey is over?",
"Excuse me, what?" Mari looked irritatedly at Jacky. "Our journey has just started and you're already worrying about that? You're an odd one."
Jacky laughed. "Huh... Yeah, right?",
"You can think about that long enough after we've gotten all the badges. We're still miles away from that though, so...",
"Yeah yeah..." Jacky waved it off. "You're right." She gazed over at the Pokémon. Shinx bit Zorua's ear and Zorua pushed his paws into his face. It looked so funny, she almost had to laugh. "Shht!" Mari shushed her suddenly. "I hear something...",
"Huh?" Jacky looked around and became abruptly silent. She could hear it now, too. It sounded like wings flapping. Shortly after, a Pokémon landed in the clearing. Its body was armored with steel. "What is that?" Jacky asked. Mari narrowed her eyes. "A Skarmory... It must be the Skarmory Kuraiko mentioned yesterday." The other Pokémon looked intently at the stranger, which croaked softly and spread its wings threateningly.
"What's wrong with it?" Jacky asked in wonder. "I don't know..." Mari shrugged, but they didn't have to worry about it for too long, because the bird screeched loudly and then took off again. "Strange..." She said, a little perplexed. "What did it want? Checking out what we're doing here?",
"Could be. I don't know." Jacky shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't matter anyway... It's gone. I think it's better off leaving anyway according to what Kuraiko said about the poachers... Besides, the sun is setting.",
"Mmmh..." Mari looked up. "It'll be dark soon then, huh?",
"That's what a sunset does, genius.",
"Thanks. I know I'm intelligent." Mari grinned triumphantly at Jacky, who just laughed to herself.