Nimbasa Arc: Karma
Mari pulled out her Pokédex. "...These are Lampent." One of the ghost Pokémon sent a Will-o'-Wisp at Zorua. The little Pokémon dodged it. "Shadow Ball!"
Zorua threw off the ghost with a dark sphere and dodged the Will-o'-Wisp of the second Lampenz. "Feint Attack!" Zorua feinted nimbly, then rammed into the Pokémon. It backed away. "Send a Shadow Ball after it!" Another attack followed and the Lampent disappeared. The first one had recovered and attacked with Shadow Ball itself. Zorua dodged with the help of another Feint Attack and threw itself against its opponent before it finished it off with a Shadow Ball from close range. "Well done, Zorua!" Mari praised it. Zorua chuckled, then jumped back onto the altar. It pressed the switch again with its paw and the wall in front of them slid aside. "Good boy." Mari smiled and then walked into the hallway that had opened up in front of her.
Jacky reached out for the a door handle after she had survived the mirror maze with Luxio's help. But as soon as she put her hand on the handle, something from behind put its hand around her wrist. She shrieked and withdrew from the cold grip. She spun around and stared into the face of a Haunter. The Pokémon grinned and swung at her with Shadow Punch. Jacky ducked and shouted a command at Luxio. "Thunder Fang, quick!"
Luxio snapped at Haunter's hand and the opponent backed off. "Discharge!" Luxio discharged a shockwave and forced the Pokémon even further back. "Now let's get out!" Jacky was about to run for the door when another Haunter appeared in front of her, blocking her exit. Jacky looked around. Several doors led in different directions, and a Haunter hovered in front of each one. She backed away. "What are we supposed to do now?!" All the Haunter came at her at the same time with Shadow Punch, when Jacky noticed something. All but one were unusually pale. "It's a Double Team effect!" she shouted. Luxio growled. "Quick, attack the Haunter from before with Bite!" Luxio growled and attacked the first Haunter. Its illusions fizzled out. Jacky quickly yanked open the middle door and fled with Luxio into the next room. "Whew... this place is like a chamber of horrors..." Then, she looked around. "Where are we now? Looks like a church... Hmm..." She walked around the room and discovered four more doors, all going in a different direction. On an altar in front of her was a letter. She picked it up and opened it. "Hmm... '2+3-4+1-2+3. Go south. That's some math problem... Let's see. Uh... Three." She looked back to the doors and spotted one with a three written on it. "Go south..." Jacky paused in front of the door and looked around, "...so this is the wrong door...?",
"Grrr." Luxio looked at the altar.
"What's wrong?" Jacky followed its gaze and spotted an inconspicuous button on the side of the altar. "Hmm..." She pressed it and a hidden compartment opened. Inside was a compass. "Ah..." She took it out and went back to the door with the number three. "Go south..." She looked to the right. "... So two is right." She put the compass back and stepped through the second door. She ended up at the exit. "Whew... that took way too long... I wonder if Mari made it through yet..."
Mari and Zorua arrived in a room that looked a bit like a ritual room. A pentagram had been drawn on the stone floor. "Is there a riddle here again?" She looked around but other than this sign and a few torches on the wall, there was nothing here. However, she spotted a door at the far end. It was black and had a sign on it that said in blood red ink, 'Only those who see through the shadows can see the light'.
"Jeez, way to be dramatic. Okay, I bet it's locked." She walked up to the door and shook it, but nothing happened. "Yepp... Definitely a riddle. Let's see. Uh..." She looked around again. "I need a key, so... Maybe I'll need to do something at the pentagram. It's not there for nothing." She walked up to it and crouched down on it, when suddenly, she heard soft laughter and found herself surrounded by several Shuppet. Zorua hissed. "More ghosts? Zorua, Shadow Ball!" Zorua fired off a Shadow Ball as dark mist filled the room. "That's Night Shade..." Mari looked around, "... Only those who see through the shadows can see the light. Shadows... I guess that's what it means..." She could still make out the pale light of the torches. "... I see." She grinned and walked up to one of them and took it from the wall. "Zorua!" Zorua heard her and came to her. Mari raised the torch and its light allowed her to spot a Shuppet attacking. "Feint Attack! Hide in the shade!" Zorua nodded and hid in the dark mist before attacking the Shuppet from somewhere. The Pokémon screeched and disappeared. "Zorua, use your illusions." Mari advised it. Zorua closed its eyes in concentration and two illusions flickered to its right and left. Two Shuppet darted through the mist. "Shadow Ball!" All three Zorua attacked simultaneously, getting the ghosts to dodge. Zorua used the distraction to tear them down with Shadow Claw. When she could also spot the fourth and fifth, Zorua sent them flying with its attacks. The fog cleared and Mari saw a key on the pentagram. "Hmm... There's our key." She put the torch back in its holder on the wall, picked up the key and unlocked the black door. It was an exit. "We've done it, Zorua! We're through!"
She stepped outside where Jacky was already waiting for her. "There you are!" the blonde-haired girl called out, waving.
"Hey, long time no see!" Mari grinned. "Did you have to wait long?",
"No, not at all!",
"That's good then." She and Zorua closed in on her. "Where are we going now?",
"How about the water ride?",
"No objections."
They marched to the white water ride and bought cheap tickets for one of the boats. They had them form of Swanna. "Let's go then!" The boat jerked briefly before being pulled up a ramp. "This should be fun!" Mari said with a grin. When the boat was at the top of the ramp, it was released and raced down the huge slide. "Wheeeee!" Mari screamed excitedly, but squealed when the water hit her from all sides. "IEEEK! That's freaking COLD!",
"Pfft!" Jacky snorted as she looked to Mari. "You look hilarious!"
Mari scowled at her as a wall of water rolled over them both, drenching them completely. Jacky coughed and tugged at her wet hair. "Great... Thanks, karma.",
"You're welcome", Mari quipped, coughing. "You look hilarious." Jacky just stuck her tongue out at her.
After the water ride, they suddenly heard a loudspeaker announcement. "Gym leader Elesa's fashion show will begin in a few moments!",
"Fashion show?" Jacky asked. "Woah... We really need to go see that!",
"Do we?",
"Yes! Come on, I wanna see her!"
Mari agreed with her, though her enthusiasm was clearly limited. "But what are we going to do about our clothes?",
"We're not the only ones who went white water rafting. Come on now and don't dawdle!" They walked to the large building and entered it.