Castelia Arc: Butting Heads
Curious, Jacky leaned forward. "Look, something's glowing." She pointed her finger at a few moving lights in the water, sometimes faster and sometimes slower. "Are those Pokémon?", "Chinchou and/or Lanturn, I'd say", Mari replied, pulling out her Pokédex to check. "...Yepp, that's right. They usually move in deeper waters. I've heard of some, extremely rare aquatic Pokémon that inhabit the area around Undella and Humilau in particular. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll see some of them in the Marine Tube between the two towns if we ever make it there.", "I'm looking forward to seeing them.",
"It's out in the sticks though.",
"It doesn't matter, we have to go there anyway, right?",
"Well, yeah." Mari nodded.
"See? Caitlyn from our elite four has a mansion in Undella. Isn't that cool?",
"I even heard that Sinnoh champion Cynthia sometimes stays there in spring and summer.",
"Yepp, that's right." Jacky nodded. "It was in a magazine." The screeching of Wingull, Pelipper, and Swanna filled the air. Suddenly, Jacky screamed out as a Frillish jumped out of the water and splashed her wet with Water Gun. Mari burst out laughing.
"Hey!" Jacky screamed, her hair dripping wet. "Was that necessary?",
"You better not say anything or it will come back." Mari bent over laughing and held her stomach. All of a sudden, a Jellicent emerged from the waves. "Uh oh..." Jacky stared at the Pokémon.
"I guess the river doesn't like you. You better take cover", Mari recommended her.
"It's alright, I didn't mean to...!" Jacky tried to calm the Pokémon down, but didn't get far. The Jellicent fired off a Hydro Pump and Jacky fell over. She got back up completely soaked and grimaced. "Great...",
"I told you to take cover." Mari was still laughing and then handed Jacky a towel. The Jellicent disappeared back into the water. Jacky threw the towel around herself and sniffled. "One of t-the most s-stupid days of m-my life...",
"Probably your unlucky day, huh?" Mari asked with a hint of glee. Jacky sat down on the floor next to her, dripping. Her hair was stuck to her face.
"Need a hair dryer?" Mari said with a grin.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny, Mari.",
"Anytime, anytime!"
Jacky grumbled softly as she noticed a small shadow in the sky, fluttering back and forth indecisively. "Huh, what's that? Do you see that?",
"Seems like a Pokémon." Mari leaned against the railing and looked up. "Looks pretty disoriented, that little one...",
"It's pretty far away..." Jacky muttered, standing up again. "Maybe it needs help.",
"Wait, we'll have that in a minute." Mari whistled and Skarmory landed next to her on the railing of the boat. "Hey, Skarmory, do you see that Pokémon over there? Be a good boy and bring it over here to us. Maybe it needs help." Skarmory nodded, croaking, and pushed off. It flew towards the shadow, which seemed to be scared of it and sent a sonic wave towards it. Skarmory dodged and then gently grabbed it with its claws. The strange Pokémon squirmed desperately and wailed as Skarmory described an arc and flew back to the ferry. There, it released the Pokémon and then landed on the deck. Jacky looked at the petite creature, which had similarities to a bat. "Have you seen this one before?" she asked, addressing Mari.
"No," her friend replied.
"Neither have I..." Jacky knelt down to the Pokémon. "Hello, I'm Jacky. And this is Mari. Why are you alone? Do you need help?" The Pokémon looked at them both with wide eyes. "Nooooi?" it asked in amazement, jumping up and down. Mari pulled out her Pokédex. "This is a Noibat", she informed Jacky. "It's home in the Kalos Region, usually." Noibat jumped forward curiously and lightly tapped Jacky's leg with its nose. The young trainer had to laugh. "If only we knew why it's alone...",
"Maybe Kirlia can answer that question for you. Wait a minute..." Mari waved her starter over. Kirlia seemed to know what they wanted it to do, because it turned to the little bat instantly.
"What are you doing here, all by yourself?",
"Mom and Dad were going to wait for me..." It cringed in exasperation. "We had looked for a cave to spend the night, quite cozy... But then they weren't there when the sun rose. Just gone...",
"Were they caught by anyone?" Kirlia continued.
"No, certainly not... That would be cruel, wouldn't it?" His googly eyes filled with tears. "We were going to a place called the Dragon Spiral Tower. Supposed to be pretty awesome there, yeah?",
"Dragon Spiral Tower, huh?" Kirlia didn't seem to be able to do much with that, but she crossed her arms. "You know what, I have an idea. Mari and Jacky are traveling through Unova... I'm sure the place is somewhere in this region. I bet they'll reach that tower at some point. Why don't you join us? Then, we can take you there. Besides, we can help you get stronger until we find your parents.",
"Really?" Noibat rubbed his eyes. "You guys would do that for me? Then nothing can happen, right?",
"Not really." Kirlia shook her head. "What do you say?",
"Gladly, gladly!" Noibat nodded excitedly. Kirlia smiled and then turned to Jacky to tell her via telepathy what it had learned. "Thank you, Kirlia!" Jacky patted the fairy with a smile and told Mari. "I should probably introduce Noibat to the other Pokémon first... Huh?" Jacky noticed a figure standing further back. "Tch..." The boy had black hair and equally black eyes that almost seemed like black holes. His hair was short and messy and his face looked like the dark scowl he wore on it was actually engraved in it. He pushed himself off and went towards them. "Do you really think you're going to make that?",
"What exactly?" Mari asked, not missing the slightly mocking undertone that resonated in the stranger's almost icy voice.
"Escorting the little bat to where ever it has to be." He folded his arms. "That's a Herculean task for two weaklings like you.",
"Excuse me? Weaklings?" Mari's jaw dropped so low she could actually taste the floor.
"That's right." The boy lifted his chin. "How many badges do you have?",
"Two and one." Mari growled. "Why is that any of your damn concern?",
"Uh-huh. See?" He ignored her question.
"How many do you have?" she asked, having to control herself not to dig a fist into this spiteful jerk's face.
"You're still asking that?" He pulled out his badge box and presented all eight badges. "You're amazed, aren't you?",
"Show-off", the black-haired girl hissed. "Why don't you just fall headfirst into the water and be done with it? What goshdarn business is it of yours what we're up to? Stay in your own fricking lane.",
"Tch. Did I surprise you with my strength, or why are you so steep?" He put the box back. "At that, you should know me. Before you stands the one true league contender and tournament veteran, Dino.",
"Stupid name." Mari retorted. "I would remember a name like that if I'd heard it before.",
"Probably some low-level rapscallion..." Jacky muttered to her.
"Probably.",
"What exactly do you want?" she then asked, turning to Dino.
"Are you really that stupid or are you just pretending?" he asked. "I want that Noibat, of course.",
"And why are you so eager to have it?",
"This Pokémon is originally from Kalos.",
"Oh, really.",
"It's a perfect specimen for my collection.",
" N?" Mari asked in dismay. "Pokémon are not like trading cards! Listen, big mouth, we'll keep Noibat, end of message!",
"I agree." Jacky pointed at the boy. "You may have all the gym badges, but I'm still not letting you keep Noibat. Think about your principles for a minute.",
"Totally agree. Now buzz off", Mari hissed. Dino narrowed his eyes. It all seemed to be getting too annoying for him. "You know what? Keep it. Getting my hands dirty over that weak heap of misery isn't worth it to me. But be careful." They both saw something flash on his wrist. "I'm capable of more than you think.",
"Just shut your big mouth and stop pestering us!" Mari shouted at him before Dino trailed off.
"Did you see that just now? That thing on his wrist? The colorful stone in his bracelet? I've never seen one like that before..." Jacky asked.
"I don't care if he has a colorful stone on his bracelet. If I see his face again, I'll punch it, I swear," Mari growled in a bad mood. The fact she was still super hungry didn't really help with her temper, either.
"Huh... Weird..." Jacky shrugged. "Maybe he really does just have a big mouth with nothing behind it, he seemed too confident for that though.",
"I don't give a damn!",
"Geez... he's gone, so calm down. Noibat is safe with us and no league contender or anyone else can take it away from us. And besides, have you ever thought about anti-aggression therapy?", "I'm not aggressive, I'm passive-aggressive!",
"Comes out to about the same thing.",
"Not true at all!",
"Calm down.",
"I AM CALM!",
"No, you're not.",
"Okay, okay." Mari sighed. Jacky patted the little bat on the head before taking out an empty Poké Ball. "How about it, Noibat? Let's travel together until you're back with your family." It nodded happily. Jacky caught it and smiled widely.
"Cheers to you two!" Mari said, applauding.
"Hehehe... Thanks."