Virbank Arc: A Mistake
"Let's go, Kirlia!" Mari shouted, sending out her Psychic Pokémon. It landed gracefully on the ground. "Seviper, rock with me!" Roxie threw her Poké Ball, and the snake Pokémon with the menacing-looking tail hissed and reared up in front of Kirlia. It was much bigger than Kirlia, and its venomous teeth were almost as long as Kirlia's arm. Mari stretched out her arm. "Magical Leaf!" Kirlia raised her arm and sent sharp leaves at the snake. Seviper was hit, but the attack barely left a scratch and it hissed derisively. Mari narrowed her eyes. "Now Confusion!",
"Screech!" Roxie shouted. Before Kirlia could get to the attack, Seviper let out a piercing scream that made Kirlia flinch. Mari knew what that meant. Kirlia's defenses had just been weakened. But she decided not to let it faze her. Perhaps it was naive, but she had to make the best of it. "Dazzling Gleam!" she shouted, and Kirlia shot bright beams at Seviper. However, it dodged them. "Glare!" Seviper' eyes glowed and Kirlia could barely move in the next moment. "Stay strong, Kirlia!" Mari shouted to her Pokémon. "Hang in there!" Kirlia teleported behind Seviper. "Confusion again!" But before Kirlia could get to the attack, Roxie extended her arm. "Cross Poison!" It lashed out with its tail at Kirlia, and the blade struck the Pokémon with force. It was smashed against the wall of the hall. Kirlia cried out. "Kirlia! Are you all right?!",
"Very courageous, impressive." Roxie applauded briefly as Kirlia sank to the ground. "But not strong enough, I'm afraid." A single attack from Seviper had been enough to bring Kirlia to her knees. How was that possible? Slowly, Mari began to think that perhaps it had been a mistake to act so rashly after all. She withdrew Kirlia back without a word. Doubts came up in her mind. "What do you think? Can you still fight?" Roxie asked, bracing one arm on her hip. Mari clenched one hand into a fist. She would not give up. She had almost done it once already, and she couldn't allow herself to do that. She was afraid of losing. She was afraid of being weak. For too long she had been seen as weak. That was over now. She had let her classmates take advantage of her long enough. She had been top of the class, but that had not made her the most popular person in the class. She had been picked on and she had never fought back. She had been relentlessly abused as a cheat sheet and she had never had the courage to stand up against her bullies. She had been weak. She had had enough of it. Enough of everyone looking down on her. Determined, the pulled out the next Poké Ball. "Skarmory! I need you now!" Skarmory landed on the ground in front of her and croaked. "Ah, a steel-type Pokémon." Roxie recognized, nodding appreciatively. "A good choice, but will it be enough?",
"We'll see. Skarmory, stay strong!" Her new partner nodded and spread its wings. Its injury no longer hindered it as it soared into the air. "Come on, I'm waiting!" Roxie said.
"Agility!" Mari commanded. Skarmory's body glowed. "Glare!" Seviper took aim at his new opponent and paralyzed it. Skarmory screeched, but took advantage of a steep glide to attack. "Aerial Ace!" Mari shouted. Skarmory swooped down on the snake, striking at it with the claws of its feet and ripping them across the snake's scaled body before turning and soaring higher into the air with a flap of its wings. "Agility once more!" Mari shouted decisively. "And then attack again!" Skarmory screamed, lunging at Seviper after its body lit up once more. "Wrap!" Roxie urged to her Pokémon. As Skarmory got closer, it reared up and wrapped its body around the bird. Skarmory shrieked and furiously dragged its claws across the dry scales to free itself. Seviper hissed in pain. "Squeeze harder!" Despite this, the snake did not let up and gradually squeezed the air out of Skarmory's lungs. The bird squirmed desperately before slamming a wing , which it could still move, against Seviper's head. The snake screeched and finally let go. Skarmory was free and rose back into the air despite being paralyzed. "You have freed yourselves. Respect." Roxie said with a smile. Skarmory extended his claws again and attacked with Aerial Ace when Seviper used Screech again. Its ghastly screech made the steel Pokémon back away. Mari narrowed her eyes. "Don't let up! Attack!" Skarmory folded its wings and, after a moment's hesitation, lunged at the snake. "Up you go!" Roxie said. Seviper pushed itself off the ground- which Mari had absolutely not expected- and landed its heavy body on Skarmory. It screamed as the weight pressed it down and it hit the ground. "Wrap again!" This time, Seviper didn't give Skarmory another chance. Its body tightened around the bird's. "And that's it!" The rock music in the background died away as Seviper let go of Skarmory. The bird lay defeated on the ground. "Skarmory..." Mari looked at her struggling partner. "...",
"Nice performance, I had goosebumps every now and then!" Roxie commented, applauding. "Come back anytime again!" Mari withdrew Skarmory. She had lost... "...I'll be back. You can count on it. And then, I'll defeat you." she said.
"Right attitude!" Roxie gave her a raised thumb and then turned away. Mari walked out of the gym. Nothing had changed. Absolutely nothing. She was still weak. Why couldn't she be as strong as Jacky? What was she doing wrong? Maybe her friend had been right after all and it had been stupid to try now. But still... this wasn't fair... With her head down, she entered the Pokémon Center. Jacky was no longer there, so she assumed she had retreated to the forest for training. She gave her defeated Pokémon to the nurse for treatment. She was discouraged. The fire that had burned within her moments ago was extinguished. Sighing, she flopped backwards onto a bed in their room.
Jacky was training with Medicham in an open area. Or, to put it more precisely: She was trying not to let her Pokémon beat her up. "Try again!" the trainer shouted, and Medicham struck at her with Brick Break. Jacky narrowly dodged, but didn't get much out of it. The Psychic-type Pokémon kicked her legs away and she crashed to the ground. "Whew!" Medicham reached out for her and Jacky gratefully pulled herself back to her feet. "That was awesome! Let's do it again!" She had fun training, even if she ended up on the floor more often than she would have liked. Medicham was a fighting-type Pokémon, so it had a natural talent for fighting. Jacky was able to dodge its blows less and less. Two seconds later, a kick hit her hip and Jacky groaned. "Argh!" She rubbed the sore spot and briefly screwed up her face. "That hurt... But you're getting better, Medicham." Her Pokémon looked at her worriedly, but its trainer put a hand on its shoulder. "We can do this together! And don't worry about it... it hardly hurts anymore."