Virbank Arc: Gym Number Two!
"We showed them." Jacky smiled with satisfaction.
"Yes, indeed." Mari leaned toward Skarmory again. "They're gone, so you don't have to be afraid anymore... We'll take you to someone who can help you. Okay?" She stuck out her hand and Skarmory quietly rubbed his head against it. "It likes you", Jacky commented behind her. "I guess it understood that you just wanted to help...",
"Let's take it to the Pokémon Center at once. Who knows if it might have done something worse to itself. Will you help me?",
"Sure." Jacky nodded. The two of them picked up the Pokémon and carried it through the dark forest to Virbank's Pokémon Center. A nurse immediately tended to the Pokémon and took it to a treatment room. An Audino followed her. "I'm sure it'll be better soon." Jacky said, and Mari sighed. "I hope so. Are we going back to the clearing?"
Jacky nodded. "Yep. Maybe we'll get our sleep tonight.",
"At least I hope so, otherwise I'll be in an even worse mood tomorrow than I was this morning.", "For Arceus' sake, I don't want to see that happen."
They went back to the clearing with their Pokémon in toe and crawled back into their sleeping bags. There, they finally managed to get their well-deserved sleep, which they had been brutally kept from all this time.
The next morning, they rolled up their sleeping bags again and headed to the Pokémon Center to check on Skarmory. The Pokémon had been treated with Burn Heals. Along with Audino's Healing Pulse, its injuries had healed well. "I'm glad to see it is doing well," Mari commented to the nurse.
"Of course. Taking care of Pokémon is my job and my passion. Its steel armor prevented major injuries to its ribs and neck vertebrae upon impact. Its wings are healthy again. It can be released back into the wild." The steel bird pecked at a few grains sitting in a bowl on the floor. "That's good." Mari smiled at her, then walked over to the Pokémon. "I'm glad you're feeling better. You can go back out into the wild." Skarmory raised his head. "Kraah?",
"No one will be chasing you anymore, so... you're safe." She reached out and Skarmory touched her with its beak. It looked Mari in the eye and then tilted its head. "Kyaaah! Kraah!",
"Huh?" Mari raised her eyebrows questioningly as Skarmory nudged her with its beak.
"I don't think it wants to leave," Jacky thought. "I think it wants to stay with you because you saved it.",
"WE saved it.", Mari corrected her and withdrew her hand. "Is that right, Skarmory? Do you want to stay with me?"
It nodded. "Hmmm... Okay. Then I'll take care of you and watch over you." She smiled, then pulled out an empty Poké Ball. "All the better... That means no one can chase you anymore. Thanks for wanting to help me, too." The pressed the white button on the Pokéball and caught the bird. The ball didn't move and she picked it up,putting it away. "...That's settled then... I'd be ready for some training today!",
"Me too." Jacky nodded. "The badge of Virbank isn't going to fall into our badge boxes by itself.", "Totally agree! Let's go!" They went into the forest and trained together until they were exhausted.
The next day, Mari looked at Jacky during breakfast. "You know, I was thinking about giving it a try and tackling the gym today.",
"Are you sure about that?" Jacky asked in surprise. "Isn't it too early?",
"We've been training and grinding non-stop for three days... So... I feel like I'm ready. How about you?",
"I don't know... I think I'm still in need of some training... I'm in no hurry about that. I'd rather figure out some tactics first before I run into a gym rashly...",
"Rashly? I'm not running into the gym rashly!",
"Do you have any kind of plan then?",
"...No...",
"See?",
"But still, no risk, no fun."
Jacky sighed in annoyance. "Jeez... Do what you want. You might benefit from having another Seedot dropped on your head, then maybe you'll get a little smarter.",
"Excuse me?" Mari asked indignantly. "Do you think I'm stupid?!",
"You haven't even thought about how you're going to take on the gym! You need to get along better with your Pokémon and train with them! Of course that's stupid!",
"...I'll show you!" Mari growled and rushed out of the building. Jacky wanted to yell after her, but she didn't bother. Mari would realize soon enough where this was going. She could be so impulsive and stubborn sometimes that it got on her nerves.
Mari ran directly to the gym. It wasn't easy finding it, however, because she thought a gym was a rather conspicuous building. She was all the more surprised when she found the gym symbol, a Poké Ball fused with a white triangle, on a rather small and inconspicuous gate. She went through it and followed the stairs down, when she burst right into a huge, underground concert hall. "Oh..." Wide-eyed, she looked around. "... I really didn't expect this..." The hall was empty, except for the stage. There, the gym leader Roxie was rehearsing with her band. That in itself was beastly loud. "Excuse me?" she asked timidly.
"Too quiet, man!" Roxie shouted angrily at her sound engineer. "Turn it up a bit, you can barely hear anything!" Mari didn't want her ears to fly off, so she took a deep breath and then yelled at the top of her lungs: "EXCUSE ME?",
"Hmm?" Roxie seemed to have heard her, because a hand gesture on her part immediately quieted the whole band. "What's up, kiddo? The concert isn't until tonight." Mari would have liked to strangle Roxie for this name, but she controlled herself. "Are you Roxie?" she asked, though she could have answered the question herself. The white-haired girl nodded. "Yes, I'm Roxie." She pointed a thumb at herself. "Blunt and real. And you are?",
"Mari Sentaku", Mari replied.
"Hello, Mari. What can I do for you?",
"I... I'm here because I want to challenge you.",
"Somebody's got some big guts for a squirt," the drummer sneered. "Do you even know who you're messing with?"
Mari gave him a disapproving look. Was this guy making fun of her?! What was he thinking? She unceremoniously pulled out her badge box and held up the Basic Badge. "Here. This is the proof that I defeated Cheren!",
"Cheren? The nerdy gym leader from Aspertia?" the bassist giggled. "Real cute. Listen, sweetie, you'd best think real hard about what you actually want." The fact that they were making fun of her really went against Mari's grain. Was she a joke in their eyes, or a little kid or something?! She frowned and pulled a face. "I already have!" she said firmly. Roxie sighed and put her guitar away. "You've got some balls, or maybe you're just tired of living. You want to prove yourself and take me on, huh? Then let's see what you've got!"
Mari nodded. "With pleasure.",
"Get the mood going!" the gym leader called over her shoulder and the members of her band started playing again.