Virbank Arc: Hunt in the Forest
Just when Jacky and Mari were beginning to think that the day was going to end without any trouble for once, they were bitterly disappointed. As the stars shone brightly in the sky and the two were about to fall asleep, they heard a panicked scream. Both boltet upright. "What on earth was that?" Mari questioned. A shadow swept over them as the Skarmory returned. It landed awkwardly on the ground. "The Skarmory again... What's it doing here?" Jacky asked, almost annoyed, as she noticed the odd angle Panzaeron was holding its left wing from its body. It was injured. "Do you see that?" she asked Mari. Mari nodded. "Yes... Its wing is wounded..." She stood up and slowly walked towards the Pokémon. It didn't back away, but lowered its head threateningly. When she got to it, she crouched down in front of it. "What happened to you?" She activated her Xtranceiver's screen for more light and looked at the Pokémon's wing. "...I think it's a burn wound", she stated. "A burn wound?" Jacky raised her eyebrows. "From where...?",
"I don't know."
Skarmory screeched and turned around. It glanced over its shoulder briefly before spreading its wings again and flying away. However, it swayed violently in the air. The injured wing was wreaking havoc on it, and it sure hurt, as well. "We should follow it!" Mari suggested. "Being injured like that, it might fall and hurt itself even more!"
Jacky nodded in agreement and whistled to her Pokémon before running into the forest with Mari. The Skarmory was slow, so they were able to keep up with it well. Their Pokémon followed behind them. The bird seemed to be barely able to hold itself in the air, and then, what Mari had feared happened. It screamed in fright as it lost height and fell. It crashed through the trees and hit the ground. "Oh shoot!" Mari ran to it. The bird widened its eyes in panic and screeched, but she put a hand on its beak reassuringly. "Shhhht... We're not going to hurt you. Take it easy. Jacky, we need to get it to the Pokémon Center." Jacky stopped beside her. "I agree. If it really does have a burn wound, it might never be able to fly again without cure. Nurse Joy should fix that somehow."
Mari checked Skarmory over. It's body had sustained some scratches from falling through the trees and it's other wing was angled really weirdly as it was buried under the bird's body. "...It's left wing might be broken, as well..." Kirlia approached the Skarmory and it tried to snap at it as both of its wings were hurting now, but it did no good. '... There are Pokémon poachers in this forest...' Kirlia informed them. 'They're after its feathers.',
"Poachers?" Jacky looked around, "That doesn't sound good... So Kuraiko was right after all and I wasn't mistaken earlier, either...",
"Excuse me?" Mari looked at Jacky.
"Before we encountered the Seedot, I heard something. At first, it sounded like a distant rustling, but it was the sound of boots on wilted leaves. They must have been chasing Skarmory for quite a long time. That's why it was so upset when we first met it. It thought we were one of them." She was interrupted.
Footsteps came in their direction. "...There are several of them, from the sound of it..." Jacky muttered. She narrowed her eyes as three adults entered her field of vision. They all had rifles in their hands. When they spotted the injured Skarmory, one of them grinned. "There's our prey. Well, well, well, you didn't get that far after all, after my dearest Arcanine's Will-o-Wisp hit you." Then, he noticed the girls. "Get out of the way or it's going to get ugly for you." Jacky stayed where she was. "We've been hunting this Pokémon for days. Don't give us any unnecessary trouble and hand it over", threatened another. Skarmory shrieked in panic and tried to get back on its feet, but to no avail. A big Pokémon stepped up next to one of the hunters. Its eyes glowed dangerously in the dark, it's fur was orange with black stripes. It was the afore mentioned Arcanine. Absol, Shinx and Medicham, however, stepped in front of the girls. Mari knelt by the bird and motioned for her Pokémon to do the same. Kirlia and Zorua jumped next to their partners. Gabite just growled and glared at the strange Pokémon. "Leave it alone." Mari said. "Says who?" All three hunters laughed and one spat on the ground. "Save your energy, snotty." Jacky became angry. "What gives you the right to hunt Pokémon?!" she asked.
"The right of the strongest, smart-aleck. And money", one of the guys replied spitefully.
"The right of the strongest? That sounds totally stupid." Mari commented furiously. She stroked the Skarmory's neck soothingly. "We'll protect you, don't worry..." Then, she straightened up again.
"Don't make it hard for us," the first guy barked. "Otherwise, we'll have to take the birdie by force, and you kids don't want that." Jacky angrily clenched one hand into a fist. "That's enough!" she yelled, beside herself. Absol cowered on the ground, knowing that, in the next five seconds she would command it to attack. "You bastards don't deserve it any other way! Absol, attack with Slash!" Absol leapt forward with claws glowing and lunged at the Arcanine. "Slash?" Mari stood next to Jacky.
"The training paid off," Jacky said. Mari just grinned before extending her arm. "Now that's something for you, Gabite! Rock Tomb!" The dragon roared, shooting rocks at the foe as it dodged Absol's claws. A rock crashed against its shoulder. The Fire Pokémon growled and Absol attacked again. Both began to strike and snap at each other. Absol kept prancing back as two more Pokémon appeared next to the Arcanine. A Mightyena and a Liepard. Both lunged at Absol, but Kirlia intervened. It appeared next to Absol and released a Dazzling Gleam at them. Mightyena growled with its ears laid back and Liepard backed away as Gabite shot forward and lashed out at Mightyena with Dragon, its claw hitting it in the side. The wolf roared angrily. "Shinx, Spark!" Jacky commanded next, and the small Electric Pokémon joined the fray. It aimed an attack at Liepard. "Help it, Zorua! Dig!" Mari shouted. Zorua dug into the ground and shot out again as the majestic cat dodged Shinx' attack. It threw itself against it and it hissed. Arcanine's teeth began to blaze and it attacked Absol with Fire Fang as Medicham rushed to its side and distracted it with Brick Break. Liepard twitched its tail and pawed sand into Zorua's face. The little fox growled and yowled before the cat shot off, lunging at the unprotected Shinx with Shadow Claw. It was hit hard. Sparks flew uncontrollably from the little Pokémon's fur. "Shinx? What's wrong?" Jacky asked, but Shinx did not react. Liepard hissed and lunged at it again as Kirlia got in its way and held it at bay with Magical Leaf. "Shinx!" Jacky shouted again, but the Pokémon only shook itself. More sparks sprayed from its fur as bright light suddenly blinded them. Jacky put a hand to her face. "What's happening?!" The light was so glaringly bright that it hurt her eyes, but then, it suddenly faded again. In Shinx' place, another Pokémon now stood and twitched its tail, growling. "That happened to Ralts too, remember?" Mari asked. "It evolved!" Jacky pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon. "A Luxio..." she identified the freshly evolved Pokémon. Luxio growled in confirmation as Liepard dared to attack again.
Luxio lowered its head and its teeth were surrounded by lightning as it launched a new attack at it, biting into its opponent's paw. Liepard yelped. "Thunder Fang!" Jacky recognized. Electricity transferred to Liepard and it shook up as it was seized by a violent paralysis. Zorua, which had been rubbing the sand off its face with its paws, took advantage of it and attacked with Feint Attack from the side. It forced Liepard to the ground, where it stayed. Mightyena snapped at Gabite with Crunch, but the dragon tore its claws across its snout. The wolf backed away and sent out a Shadow Ball, which Gabite smashed with another Dragon Claw before throwing rocks at its opponent. Mightyena dodged them as Medicham's hand edge hit it in the side of the head, sending it to the ground. Gabite growled in offense, but Medicham didn't care. It attacked Arcanine again, which was busy torching a swarm of Absol blades. One kick was enough and even the last opponent landed on the ground. "Psychic, Medicham", Jacky ordered, and moments later, the three guys were floating in the air. They couldn't move and were cursing like sailors, hurling insults at the girls. Neither of them paid any attention to them. While Mari turned back to Skarmory, Jacky informed the police. She told them their exact location and what was going on. It wasn't long before a troup of police officers showed up in the forest and arrested the three poachers. "I'm arresting you for illegally poaching wild Pokémon," a young officer said as she and the others handcuffed them. "Poaching and hunting Pokémon has been illegal for more than eighty years." Then, she turned to the girls. "We thank you, girls. We'll take it from here." She gave them a curt nod before the three offenders were led away.