Icirrus Arc: Injured

Mari had turned from white as a sheet to red like a radish and slapped her hands in front of her face. "I-I didn't see anything!",
"What in the world are you doing in my room?!" Jayden asked while hectically trying to reach for the towel around his neck and save face for himself by covering up his naked glory and wrapping it around his waist.
"I-I... Why the HECK would YOU leave your DOOR WIDE OPEN for EVERYONE to LOOK INSIDE when you SHOWER?!" she screeched back. Jayden looked at his open door, cussed under his breath and frantically closed it while trying to keep the towel around his waist from sliding down again. Then, he grabbed his bag and dragged it into the bathroom before closing its door. Mari wanted to sink into the floor before she turned on her heels and slunk out of the room deeply embarrassed and mentally scarred for life.

She fled into her room and hid under her blanket, burying her face in her hands. "T-That was so embarrassing, oh my god...! This will live rent-free in my head until the day I die...!",
"What happened to you?" Jacky's asked in confusion while brushing her hair.
"... I-I'm all good...",
"...You sure?" She obviously didn't buy it.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah. I'm just, uh... I... uh... I'm just a little out of breath, that's all!",
"Why?",
"Uh, I saw one of my old school mates at the store and wanted to get outta there quickly.",
"..." Jacky suspiciously raised her eyebrow at that.

Mari managed to get up and finally make breakfast for the both of them- omelette and cocoa. "So..." Jacky asked after taking a calm sip of her cocoa. "What really happened?",
"Exactly what I said!" she almost screamed and Jacky almost choked on her drink. "Woah... Okay, okay! Sorry. You're not eating anything, though.",
"Not hungry..." she replied. The horrors she saw today definitely evaporated her appitite. "Let's go when you're done.",
"...Alright." Her friend finally gave up.

They ventured downstairs after Jacky had finished eating and they had cleaned up together, and left the the Pokémon Center. "Well then, off to Dragon Spiral Tower we go", Mari determined, desperately trying to hold on to the last bits and pieces of her shattered and decimated composure, yet they were greeted by a battle that had taken place in front of the building. She recognized the girl in the wheelchair from earlier, Dawn, withdrawing her defeated Heracross, while Jayden stood across from her proudly carressing the scales of his Lanturn. "Very nice. That was a piece of cake."
As soon as Mari spotted him, she went into hiding. There was no way in hell she was in any mental capacity to face him again so shortly after what happened earlier.
"Hey, isn't that Jayden?" Jacky asked and was surprised she got no response. "...Mari?" She looked around and spotted her friend behind a bush. "What in the world are you doing?",
"Let's just get a move on, okay...?",
"Uh... Don't you wanna say hello to him?",
"I already did. We passed each other earlier. Come ooon, let's gooo...", she whined. Jacky gave her a puzzled look. "Why are you hiding from him? Isn't he your boyfriend?",
"Let's just leave, please...",
"...Uh, okay..." Jacky agreed in confusion and they moved onto Dragon Spiral Tower in the north of Icirrus.

They entered the imposing ruin. Fallen columns and a trace of mysticism revealed itself to them. "Woah..." Mari looked around in amazement. "This place looks really ancient.",
"Awesome! Look at that!" Jacky pointed at runes carved into the pillars. "Those look mega old. I bet you could decipher them, given the voluntary course on ancient language you've attended at school...",
"Yeah, but no guarantee I actually remember all of them without a reference... Let's try to get to the top.",
"Jeez, give me some time to look around first!" her friend objected in annoyance. "What's the matter with you? You're acting like someone's after you!",
"S-sorry...",
"Why don't you talk to me instead of trying to hide it?",
"Uh..." Mari immediately turned bright red.
"I'd talk to you about everything, as well. So please do me the favor, okay?",
"O-okay... Okay, fine!" Mari took a deep breath and spilled the beans at least. "Well... after I came back from the store, I caught Jayden in an... uh... unfavorable moment, let's put it that way.",
"An unfavorable moment?" Jacky asked before the cogwheels in her head put the pieces together. "Wait. You saw him without any clothes on?",
"Y-Yeah... Exactly... It was an accident!",
"Of course it was an accident!" Jacky burst out into a fit of laughter. She had tears in her eyes and struggled for breath. "Oh... Oh my! That's why... Haha... That's why you were avoiding him like the plague! Oh jeez, that's gotta be embarrassing as hell!",
"Yeah..." Mari responded meekly.
"So? Did he look good?",
"Wh- JACKY!",
"Sorry!" She held her hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.
"Hey! This is NOT funny!" Mari protested.
"I know... That must have been really awkward. Now I get why you looked like you were dying to fall off the face of the earth just now. But Jayden didn't look like he'd be mad at you for that.",
"I don't give a crap, that was a traumatic event and I better let some time pass before facing him again after that! Can we stop talking about it now and go?",
"...Alright, okay." Jacky nodded at her and wiped the tears from her eyes. "So... question. How do we get up there?"

"Hm..." Mari scanned the surroundings and then pointed at one of the pillars that had fallen conveniently enough for them to be able to reach the upper level. "We could try climbing this pillar and walk.",
"Mhm... I just hope we don't slide off." Jacky nodded at her and they made their way up. Some big wreckage was blocking the staircase. "We should try to destroy them, but we have to be careful", Jacky warned Mari. "I don't want the entire building to descend on us if we hit the wrong spot.",
"Got you." Mari took out a Pokéball and sent out her Gabite. "Gabite, would you mind? But be cautious." Gabite growled and smashed the huge chunks with Dragon Claw.
"Help out, Noivern. Iron Tail!" Jacky sent out her Pokémon as well and together, they cleared their way up.

"Well done, you two", Mari complimented them and then, the girls embarked on their quest to ascend the endless spiral staircase. They heard noises coming from the ceiling. "What was that?" Jacky asked, freezing in her movement. She slowly looked up and noticed two figures above them. Their large wings were folded close to their bodies and they seemed to be asleep. At least, they didn't move. "Looks like Pokémon, but I can't tell you what kind", Mari answered. "We should keep it down so we don't wake them up by accident.",
"Yeah... Noivern, you heard her. Shhht..." Noivern did its best trying not to make any sounds, awkwardly trying to climb the stairs on all four of its limbs.
"Come on, keep moving..." Mari murmured, quietly moving upwards.

Suddenly, Noivern raised its head and discovered the other Pokémon. It let out a screech.
"No!" Mari cursed and froze on the spot. Noivern's screech woke the other Pokémon up immediately and they ascended into the air, glaring down at them. It was a pair of other Noivern. They roared loudly and swooped down on the girls.
"RUN!" Mari screamed at Jacky, turned around and ran down the stairs. Gabite followed her with a dark snarl.
"Aaaah! Let's get out of here!" Jacky stormed after her immediately and the two of them ran for their lives. The Noivern pursued them swift as the wind, aiming at them with their sharp claws. Briefly, Jacky had a vision where she saw herself getting swiped hard, causing her to fall down the stairs brutally. She managed to duck away, but had no time left to warn Mari. Her friend stumbled as an attack hit her shoulder.

She let out a surprised gasp before she lost her balance and fell down the stairs. "MARI!" Jacky screamed in horror. Gabite reacted in an instand and shot down, managing to get ahold of its trainer and stopping her from plummeting down any further. Mari's shoulder was heavily bleeding as she caught her breath and managed to lean herself against the wall with her back aching, holding her wound. She was lucky she hadn't broken her neck. "Th-Thanks... G-Gabite...", she stammered, her adrenaline-filled body shaking from the shock. Gabite nudged her with its nose and then turned around with a loud roar, facing the two attacking Noivern fearlessly.