Mistralton Arc: A Day Ruined
"Maybe, Skarmory and Noivern can help hatch the egg," Mari suggested.
"Not a bad idea." Jacky nodded and they went upstairs to a room for which the nurse had given them the key. It was a large room. "Skarmory, come out." Mari sent her Pokémon out. There was no space for Noivern in this room by any stretch of imagination, despite its considerable size. Jacky placed the egg on the bed. "Skarmory, can you help Jacky hatch this egg?" Mari asked.
"Kraah!" Skarmory looked at the egg and then nodded. It fluttered onto the bed and carefully placed a wing over the it. "Metal is a good conductor of warmth. That's some good stuff right there", Mari opined.
"Noivern will take over after you, okay?" Jacky promised. "In about an hour.",
"Kyaaah." Skarmory nodded in agreement.
"Very nice." Jacky patted Skarmory's wing. "Take good care of it, okay?"
Skarmory croaked.
"Good, I trust you." Then, she looked at Mari. "So what are we going to do in the meantime?",
"Train, I guess. I'll check in on Combusken every now and then, I kind of feel responsible for it until a new trainer is found. I hope it ends up with a good one."
Jacky looked at her and crossed her arms, smiling. "If it were up to me, a good trainer is already in front of me. A very good one, in fact.",
"What?" Mari returned her gaze and blushed slightly. "Uh... You mean... I should train Combusken?",
"I can tell you'd like nothing more than to take it under your wing. And that's a good thing." Jacky nodded. "If anyone can do it, you can. I'll help you with it, of course."
Mari had to grin. "You're totally right! I can handle that for sure!",
"That's right! Let's take care of our training for now, then. Come on!"
Jacky decided to leave Noivern in the room after all. However, it had to make itself quite small and watch out with its wings so that it didn't break anything. The two went downstairs and trained with Zoroark and Luxray. While they were at it, they decided to go to the airport, since there were a lot of flying-type Pokémon there. It would help their training and preparations for the upcoming gym a lot. Jacky walked ahead with Luxray, and Mari followed her. The Mistralton airport was vast and impressive. The airport was also made available as a training field for Pokémon trainers, as long as they didn't hinder the planes and ventures onto their takeoff and landing runways. Many flying-type Pokémon were hanging around. A Tranquil swung over them.
It used Air Cutter and sent wind blades at the girls. The two of them dove to the side. "Night Daze, Zoroark!" Zoroark sent waves of shadows at the wild Pokémon. It dodged the attack elegantly. Then, it quick-attacked them and threw itself against Zoroark, who backed away snarling. "Wild Charge, Luxray!" Jacky shouted, and Luxray leapt forward. Its body was enveloped in an electric aura before it threw itself against their foe. Tranquil shrieked in hurt and swung higher into the air again. "They must be taking this training area thing very seriously around here," Mari noted. Feathers began to dance around Tranquil and its wounds healed. "Zoroark, use Night Daze again!" Zoroark growled and attacked yet again. Tranquil was hit and took off screeching.
"But this is good practice," Jacky said. "It's the best way to prepare.",
"I agree." Mari nodded. A swarm of Pidove attacked them and Zoroark and Luxray fought them together. They weren't much of a problem until a Swellow appeared and attacked them with Brave Bird. "Dodge it, Luxray!" Luxray growled and jumped to the side. "Come on, Zoroark, use Night Daze!" Zoroark sent a shadow wave crashing into their opponent. "Swift!" Jacky shouted, and Luxray leapt into the air. It somersaulted, flinging stars from its tail at the wild Swellow. It screeched. "Now use Wild Charge!" Luxray attacked again, but Swellow was able to soar higher into the air and dodge the attack. It spread its wings and very strong sound waves suddenly rolled over them. Zoroark and Luxray hissed in equal displeasure. "What was that?" Jacky asked.
"Echoed Voice," Mari replied. "Zoroark, Shadow Ball!" She knew the attack would have no effect on the opponent, but she hoped to lure it down. The flying-type Pokémon dodged out of reflex. "Go, Jacky!" she shouted out. The latter nodded. "Thunder Fang, Luxray!" Luxray jumped off and dug its teeth into Swellow's wing. The bird screeched and crashed into the asphalt. Luxray let go of it and landed on his paws, while the paralysis Luxray's attack had inflicted took over Swellow's body. Swellow was able to get up and healed itself with Roost. Then, it screeched again and attacked with Air Slash. Zoroark blocked the attack with Shadow Claw. "What a tragedy," someone behind them suddenly sneered as the bird Pokémon was hit by a massive Dragon Pulse and got hurled away.
Both trainers turned around. "...And already, this day is ruined", Mari sighed as she recognized the guy who had interrupted them. "Hello, Dino. Did you lose something, or what are you looking for here?",
"I'm not looking for anything", the boy with the cold, dark eyes replied. "I'm merely watching you struggle with a wild Swellow." A dismissive hand gesture on his part followed and his Hydreigon appeared beside him. "Unlike you, I have more important things to do than waste my time on unnecessary training. This year, Unova's Pokémon League is waiting for me, and I'm going to win it.",
"The league isn't until December", Jacky remarked with a sigh. "It's April now. Have fun waiting.",
"And you won't win, either", Mari added.
"Please, you almost sound incredulous." Dino smirked and crossed his arms. "Who says that, anyway? A blowhard who's proud of winning the Junior Cup tournament? Bravo, what a performance." He clapped ironically. "Cheers for the winner of the small-timers."
Mari would have liked to strangle this snotty idiot. "Could you please shut up? I dislike you so much that I get nausea just listening to you and my ears are starting to bleed. Come on, Zoroark. We have better things to do than waste our time with HIM." Zoroark growled and Mari turned around. "This is my cup of care. Oh, look, it's empty. I think I accidentally spilled it into the dirt.",
"Oh, talking all sassy now, yeah?" Dino raised an eyebrow derisively and leaned against his Hydreigon. "You're really cute, Maki. Ah, forgive me. Mari, of course. Your cousin's name was Maki, right?" Mari stopped as if rooted to the spot. "How... how do you know about her?!",
"It was displayed all over the news the past days. How much her cousin Mari and her aunt Lyra must be suffering, oh dear. There was quite a bit of tearjerking going on." Slowly, Mari turned to look him in the eye. Her face had taken on a new expression. It was as if petrified. Only her green eyes flashed as if they would shoot out deadly laser beams at any moment. "Don't you dare make fun of it.",
"That's enough, Dino", Jacky interfered. "You're opening up old wounds and none of us have any patience for your games right now.",
"Pffft, that's what the loser says", he scoffed. "Not even making it to the semifinals, and that in a tournament for a bunch of rookies, but talking big right away. Typical." Now, Mari wished Chris were here and had his Tyranitar break all the ribs inside this pompous idiot's body. She was ready to physically attack him. Jacky apparently saw it in her face. "Don't you dare, Mari. He's not worth it." Mari looked to her and sighed. "Right you are. We'd better go and let this scum rot over here." With those words, she walked away. Jacky followed her and whistled for the Pokémon to come to her. Together, they walked back to the Pokémon Center. "I've never wished Chris to be here so much before," Mari said. Jacky nodded. "Mm, I'm sure his Tyranitar could have pretty well smacked him in the face.",
"That's exactly what I was thinking. Next time I see him, I'm going to kill Dino, I'm telling you."