3: Opening Ceremony
Calvin and the rest of Marl's teammates lingered around her bedside in the Pokécenter for about an hour afterwards, before it came time for them to leave her behind with the doctors. The Chansey on-staff insisted that if push came to shove, that it would be easy for them to gather her companions since they were rooming elsewhere in the same building, but that it was best for everyone involved they gave her space for the evening. As they told it, she needed peace and quiet to get some rest and they needed much the same to do their jobs keeping an eye on her wing.
It would've been sensible advice… if Marl had been able to actually sleep well. With how much trouble she had just dozing off, Marl couldn't help but wonder if she would've been better off just ignoring the Chansey's advice and following Calvin and her teammates back to their room.
It wasn't even the Chansey and the doctors' fault for the most part. They came by later in the evening to check up on her wing and peel back the tape over the small holes punched into it—which Marl quickly discovered was there for them to apply Potions around the site of her wound. They waited a bit for the sting to die down and spray to dry off before leaving some food for her—bland, but not terrible as food in human hospitals supposedly was.
The real problem was that the anesthesia she'd gotten at that 'Pokéathlon Dome' had worn off well before she felt tired and the lingering aches and pains in her wing came creeping back. She couldn't even go back to her Pokéball to deal with it. Marl knew from past experience that a Pokémon with a broken bone had to stay outside of their Pokéball as much as possible until it healed—the bones wouldn't stitch themselves back together properly while in medical stasis, or so she'd been told. She didn't understand why stasis had to work that way, since it meant that dull pain in her left wing was always just a light jostle away from flaring up into sharp agony.
Perhaps she'd have had trouble falling asleep even without that lingering pain in her wing. Even with how soft the bedding was, she noticed some of the other Pokémon in the room would occasionally stare at her. They'd generally stop and quickly look away after she made it known that she noticed them with a sharp glare or low growl, but the moments still stuck with her. Worse still, every time she managed to get some little snatch of sleep, her mind would just turn to all the ways that things that had gone wrong in the past few days.
She found herself reliving those first two days as a Salamence as her initial joy and excitement crashed to earth and gave way to bitter tears in that now-too-cramped house back in Hoenn. About how awkward things had been in Johto having to go along like nothing had ever happened for this tournament that now she couldn't even be a part of. And then there was that Hydreigon swooping in and doing this to her over a few words the 'mon didn't even understand. It was all some stupid misunderstanding that they could've shrugged off, but no, she just went and flung her into a lightpole over it!
Even worse was the way that Hydreigon had left her reeling and put her on her back foot from the very start. Marl wanted to think that the reason why the Hydreigon hit her so hard was because of a dirty trick, that it'd been because she'd been caught unaware and that stranger had been hiding behind an old friend for a trainer… that once her wing was better, she could settle the score properly and give that three-headed harpy a taste of that same pain and humiliation she was going through right now.
Except Marl kept remembering the way that Numa tried to tell her that she couldn't win fighting her. Marl didn't think that Numa was the type to lie, but if he was right, it meant that she'd be waiting for a long time to grow strong enough to have a chance at revenge.
… Perhaps that chance would never come at all.
Gah, what on earth was she even supposed to do right now?! Could she even do anything…?
Marl tossed in her bedding again and immediately regretted it after feeling pain shoot through her left wing. She grimaced and cracked open heavy eyes, when she noticed that there was light coming through the window of the Pokécenter room—daylight.
She supposed that was one way to tell she wouldn't be getting any more sleep.
Marl just laid there as the sun came up. Before she knew it, the nurses started making the rounds through the room and tending to the few other Pokémon inside. She didn't look up as she heard footsteps nearing her bed and stared off vacantly, only for a familiar voice to prick her ears.
"... Calvin?"
She raised her head and saw the nurses were there holding a purple-and-white spray bottle—and sure enough, her trainer with his unplaceable face was also there. Things seemed to blur together afterwards, Marl wasn't sure how much of that was from sleep deprivation, and how much was just her mood weighing her down. The nurse walked Calvin through exposing the holes on her cast, applying a dose of Potion to her injured wing, and then waiting for it to dry out. A process which needed to be done periodically during the day to help speed up its recovery from what Marl could gather of her explanation. Then she was shuffling off her bedding and following after the two down pastel-colored hallways and double doors which all looked the same to her until one set suddenly took her back to the lobby of the Pokécenter.
Her friends were waiting there for her near one of the couches, with Roy giving a wave that looked more forced and worried than cheerful. A pat and a few words from Calvin told her to go on ahead. That he needed a few minutes to check out for the day. She shuffled off as her trainer lingered at the counter, keeping her eyes trained towards the ground as a part of her felt so small right now. It occurred to her from a glance at a morning shadow on the floor that she was subconsciously pinning her good wing close to her body… which probably wasn't helping with that small feeling.
"... Marl? Are you feeling alright?"
Marl briefly felt a flash of heat at the back of her throat and narrowed her eyes with a low growl. She craned her head up, and saw the Blastoise's eyes briefly widen as the Water-type reflexively pulled his head partly into his shell.
"Gee, what do you think, Roy?"
There was a moment of silence, as Marl noticed her other teammates trading worried looks, aside from Jaki, who gave a muttering "What on earth were you expecting?" in the background that he didn't even try to hide under his breath. The Blastoise fumbled with his words briefly, before pulling his head back out a quiet sigh.
"I'll just take that as a 'no'," Roy said. "I suppose you already know the drill for how things work with injuries like these. If it's any consolation, the nurses said that they expect your injuries to heal after about a week, right around the time when the tournament will be going through its final rounds."
Of course. It wasn't even just missing one or two battles that would force her out of the tournament, she really was going to spend the entire time with this hideous white cast stuck on her left wing.
Marl briefly heard a couple voices trail off in the background and saw an Aipom staring at her. She glared off at the Aipom, who yelped and scurried off to a human child on the other side of the lobby, leaving her to turn her head away with a sullen grumble.
"So if I'm lucky, I'll be able to fly right around when the closing ceremony happens and everyone will get to see how pathetic I look until then. Fantastic."
There was a moment's silence, before Eira made her way over and quietly ran her free claw along her bony club.
"... Would you feel better if you just stayed in the room here at the Pokécenter and rested until we got back from the opening ceremony and initial orientations?" the Marowak suggested. "Or-?"
"No!"
Marl was a little surprised at how forcefully the word came out from her mouth and found herself standing up stiff and upright. Her breaths were tight and shallow, like they would be when she was scared.
Maybe a part of her was scared. Calvin said he wanted to spend more time with her to make up for missing her evolution, and now her own teammates were trying to be rid of her? Like this? A mere night after she'd gotten hurt? While she couldn't do anything other than just walk around and uselessly curl up on herself?
"Wh-Why would you suggest that?!" the Salamence cried. "Calvin drags all the way out here and you're seriously just suggesting that he should just dump me all off on my own the moment I'm not useful to him?!"
"Tch, well what are we supposed to do?" Jaki scoffed. "It's not like we're just going to go and forfeit the tournament because you're having problems."
Marl whirled around at the Honchkrow and let out a low growl, which he answered with a long, unmoved frown. They remained in their standoff for a moment, as the Honchkrow's remarks lingered in her head and her heart sank.
… She was part of a team, even without counting that Lucario or Floatzel, there were four others on it. So of course they wouldn't consider it fair if they were forced to pass up their chance to compete in the tournament just because she wasn't able to.
A sharp grunt snapped her to attention. She briefly noticed Jaki jump back and stiffen up, and saw Aries was now giving a piercing glare over at the Honchkrow.
"That's not your call to make, Jaki," the Ampharos harrumphed. "Calvin's the one who organized this, and if decides that it's better for us to pull out from the tournament, then that's that."
Marl briefly noticed the Lucario—right, Aoi—shifting awkwardly from the back of the group alongside that Floatzel she hung around with. The Lucario stepped forward and folded her arms, before giving a puzzled quirk of a brow over at the Ampharos.
"Eh? But I thought that he didn't want to pull out," she said. "Didn't those trainer friends of his say they found a way for him to make up for that missing spot on the team now that Salamence here isn't taking part?"
Marl's breath briefly caught in her throat. 'Missing spot on the team'? As in her? Were- Were they talking about replacing her?
Marl's breaths started to grow shallow and tense again, as her eyes drifted towards the floor. S-So Calvin really was just going to push her away now that she wasn't useful to him anymore! Then everything that he'd said about trying making up for things w-was all a—
Marl trailed off after hearing footsteps and felt fingers pat at her head crest. She looked up and saw the man with the unplaceable face looking down at her. His face looked uneasy, and his tone of voice sounded worried, as he asked a question in his tongue:
Was she okay?
"N-No… b-but what am I even supposed to do like this?" she asked.
"I mean, we can't do anything about that wing," a rumbling voice said. "But why don't you come along with us today?"
Marl turned and saw that Roy had made his way up beside their trainer and pawed at his shoulder. Calvin hesitated briefly, before backing aside for the Blastoise to step forward and meet Marl face-to-face.
"Whatever happens with our spot in the tournament, we'll at least be there to see the opening ceremony," he suggested. "It can't possibly hurt to help to get your mind off your wing, right?"
Marl paused and subconsciously batted her good wing. Going out to that arena? With all those humans and Pokémon there who'd see her like this? Marl knew that her teammates would have to spend time there each day if Calvin didn't pull out of the tournament as long as they were still in the running, but…
"... I- I don't know…"
She looked away and hung her head, when she saw Roy stoop down and meet her eyes. There was a moment's pause between them, before the Blastoise cracked a reassuring smile.
"You won't be alone out there, alright? Most of a tournament's just time waiting for your turn, and there will be others with you for those times when we can't be together," he insisted. "Just speak up if things aren't working out for you, and we'll try something different."
Marl wasn't sure whether or not she believed Roy's words or not. At the very least, she supposed that it didn't hurt to come along to the tournament at least once...
It wasn't as if she had anything to lose by doing so.
The bus trip over to the Pokéathlon Dome was much more disorienting than it had been just the day before. Entering medical stasis meant that Marl couldn't see or sense anything from outside her Pokéball like she normally could. One moment, Calvin was holding it up and pointing it at her in the lobby of the Pokécenter, and the next, she was coming out from it in front of the entrance of the blue-domed arena, where Garrett, Alberi, and Sessen were already waiting there along with their Pokémon.
… Well, along with some of their Pokémon, anyways. Garrett thankfully just had Numa with him, Marl was sure that his partners from Unova were mostly fine, but she wasn't sure how eager she was to see them right now… especially not that Hydreigon. Sessen had Bushel out with him, while Alberi was accompanied by a Nidorino, along with an Espeon Marl didn't remember him letting out before the fight the day before and everything afterwards. Much to her disappointment, the Psychic-type also spoke in that strange language from Unova, so it was hard to make sense of anything she said that couldn't be gleaned from the Espeon's body language; in fact, Marl could've sworn the Espeon just from her tone of voice sounded as dispassionate as that one Chansey from the other day.
After a brief exchange of words with Calvin, Alberi and Sessen prompted her trainer to let that 'Rako' Floatzel out of his Pokéball before leading everyone along. They went down a set of hallways deeper inside the arena with sleek black flooring. The whole time, Marl kept noticing others, both humans and Pokémon alike, staring at her left wing. The white cast wasn't exactly easy to miss against her red scales, and just from the way she felt it throb as she walked, it surely looked swollen, and the way her cast kept it stiff and unmoving surely just made it stand out even worse…
They made a brief stop by an elevator with a set of double doors wide enough to let them all on at once that took them a couple floors down into the ground. When it opened, they emerged and made their way down more drab hallways that were only different from the lobby and rooms on the ground floor from the lighter color of the walls and the diamond tiling on the floors.
How on earth did their trainers know where they were going in a place like this? And where were they going anyways?
"Numa, why did we go down?" she asked. "The arena's not underground, is it?"
"It's where the locker rooms are," the Swampert explained. "The entrants to the tournament are supposed to gather in them to take part in the opening ceremony."
Locker rooms? Like the ones around Calvin's high school or in the sports facilities at his college? This giant 'Pokéathlon Dome' had them, too?
They reached a set of double doors that seemed to be built in mind for bigger creatures passing through much like the elevator, and entered into an open chamber. Sure enough, there really were lockers along the walls, but there were also benches, and training equipment such as a punching bag that had been set out. Cube-like monitors were set up on stands along the wall, with smaller ones dangling from mounts on the ceiling.
This was certainly was very different from what Marl had been expecting, even if it looked crowded enough to be a locker room. The place was already packed with other trainers and their Pokémon: some human dweeb in a Charizard suit was giving his matching Pokémon a pep talk—probably one of those 'Poké Maniacs'. A little further off there was a Hitmonchan idly punching into the air, while others like a Persian and a Houndoom's trainers talked with each other even their Pokémon glared daggers at each other…
And without fail, every one of them stopped and stared at her wing as she passed. As if the lingering ache under her cast wasn't already making it impossible to get her mind off of it.
"... This was a mistake," she murmured.
Marl turned and went over towards Calvin's side. She craned her head out to try and reach for her Pokéball and just go back into stasis, only to be cut off with a flash of blue in front of her face—Numa blocking the way with a hand.
"Whoa, easy there, Marl," the Water-type insisted. "You don't want to coop yourself up in medical stasis any more than you have to in your current state."
"Gee, thanks for the concern, Numa. Since you've done such a good job looking out for me lately."
The snarl left her throat before she even realized it. She briefly saw Numa jerk back with his eyes widened, when she noticed that her claws were dug into the floor, and the fangs in her mouth were exposed.
"¡Hey! ¡¿Qué problema te traes?!¹"
She saw that that 'Miyamoto' Samurott was out of his Pokéball, and had a paw on the hilt of one of his seamitars. Garrett hurriedly ran in and pulled him aside as Calvin and Roy did much the same to her when she noticed the locker room had gone quiet beyond some idle chatter coming from the televisions.
Everyone was staring at her. Again. Except this time they looked visibly tense much like Numa. Her eyes widened as she realized that she'd snarled at Numa, not even a day after they'd met up again after being apart for literal years.
"Wait, Numa. Th-That's not what I…"
She trailed off and hung her head. Great, so she was breaking limbs and friendships at this rate. She heard plodding footsteps and chewed the inside of her mouth as she saw Roy hardened his expression and frown down at her.
"... Marl, I know that you're going through a lot right now, but don't-"
"It's alright, Roy. I kinda walked right into that one."
Roy paused as Numa waved for a stop, before walking up in front of Marl. The Swampert hesitated briefly, before shaking his head with a low sigh.
"Look, I'm sorry for the way things got out of hand yesterday," he explained. "It really wasn't how I was hoping to see you again after so long. I just wanted to do what I could to help you out until you got back on your feet… if you want me to, anyways."
Marl pulled her head back and looked aside with a low mutter. Numa surely meant well by intervening then, but it didn't really help her mood. It was frankly hard to want anything more right now and just find some dark cave to hide herself in. It was good enough for Shelgon waiting to evolve in the wilds, wasn't it?
… That wasn't right either, since when she was a Shelgon, she wasn't worried about being stared at like some weird failure.
She felt Calvin pat at her before stepping away and heading for the door. Roy followed along, and then Garrett and that Samurott did as well. Marl briefly stiffened up and reflexively started after them, only for Roy to notice her and motion for her to stop.
"We actually need to step out for a little bit, Marl," Roy said. "Could you wait here for us?"
She blinked, before giving a worried tilt of her head.
"Stepping out? For what?"
"We… actually didn't work out our spot in the tournament yet," the Blastoise explained. "We needed to square that away as soon as we can since the opening ceremony's in less than half an hour. It should only take a few minutes, so we'll be right back."
She hesitated before looking at the others with her. Numa aside, she didn't really know anyone here all that well, but at least they'd been nice so far…
"If you're sure that it won't be long…"
"So… uh… why am I not with the rest of the team again?"
It'd been about five minutes since Calvin and Garrett left and the locker room was back to its normal hubbub when they first entered. All her other teammates had gone with Calvin by virtue of them still being in their Pokéballs when he left… except for that stupid Floatzel who was still pouting and whining about not getting his big break to compete in the tournament.
As if Marl needed more things to make her feel pathetic and useless right now. She didn't bother turning to bare her teeth at the otter, and from the very corner of her vision, saw Sessen's Tropius stepping forward and leaning in on him with a piercing glare.
"Because you're not joining, Floatzel," she said. "Your trainer specifically needed a flier to fill in for your teammate. So unless you're suddenly going to sprout wings, you might as well do your part trying to help her out on the sidelines."
"But we've known each other for less than-!"
The Tropius fanned her wings out with sharp huff that made Rako abruptly stiffen up and shut his trap, thank gods. Not that it did much to make Marl feel any better. The Salamence pricked her ears when she heard plodding footsteps coming to a stop in front of her. A glance up, and there was Sessen's Tropius, looking down at her with a smile and wave of her wingtips.
"Hi, it's 'Bushel'. I know that our introduction got cut short yesterday, but our trainers are friends with each other. Your trainer asked Sessen and the rest of us to help keep an eye on you and your wing whenever the tournament kept him busy, so we'll be watching the opening ceremony together from the stands. Sessen even got some spare seats for you and your teammates, so there will be plenty of space to go around in between their matches!"
Marl looked up and at the Tropius' still-waving wings. Her eyes glazed over briefly, before she turned her attention off to her own in that ugly white cast. She hung her head with a low murmur, and from the corner of her eyes, Marl saw Bushel hesitate a moment, before stiffening up and giving a quiet sigh.
"... Right, sorry. I probably should've greeted you some other way which wouldn't have reminded you of your injury," the Tropius said.
"It would've been nice…" Marl said. A lingering silence followed, before the Tropius sidled up and craned her head down with a wavering expression.
"I know that flying means a lot to Salamence like you, and that you're probably not feeling very well right now… but if there's anything you need, just tell us, alright?"
She briefly turned her head over towards that Alberi human and the Nidorino and Espeon with him as they briefly looked at her before turning to each other.
"¿Crees que debamos traer a otro miembro del equipo a darle ánimo? Se le ve algo decaída.²"
"¿Traer? ¿A quién?³" answered the Nidorino, then emphasizing with a huff. "Esquiza, sólo tenemos a esa bola de escamas que Alberi sacó de Préstamos ayer. Desde entonces que salió de su Pokébola se ha dedicado a meter sus narices donde no debe y molestar a todo el mundo.⁴"
For a response, the Espeon stuck her tongue out at the Nidorino. "Pues mira quién habla.⁵"
Marl didn't know what on earth those two were talking about, but she already could tell that it was about her.
… Maybe she should've just gone home last night. Even if she'd be lonely with just Calvin's parents for company in that cramped house, at least she wouldn't have to worry about the whole world having to see her like this…
"Hey, what's that?"
Rako turned and pointed a paw up towards the ceiling as Bushel turned her head to follow. Marl did so herself and saw they were looking up at one of those boxy televisions that had been mounted to the ceiling. The way it'd been set up was kinda like those televisions that had surveillance videos on them which were sometimes in stores, except the pictures on it had glyphs and logos from some human "sports channel". There were a pair of humans on it, seated in front of large windows overlooking an arena field and crowded stands.
… Which from the blue rooftop and trio of golden spires tipped with flames, was the same very same Pokéathlon Dome they were in right now.
"Oh, it's something that humans call a 'pre-show'," Bushel explained. "Most of it's just a bunch of talking heads that goes over my head, but humans that are really into tournaments like these often like watching them."
Was that really what a pre-show was? It looked a lot more boring than Marl would have expected from the way that humans would start watching tournaments and other sporting events on televisions early to see them. The humans on the screen were going on about the tournament and some 'opening ceremony' that was supposed to start shortly, which prompted Rako to tilt his head at the sight.
"Sounds like Calvin's cutting it a bit close right now," Rako said to himself. "Whelp, if he didn't find anyone to fill that sixth spot, guess that means that it'll be up to me to save the da-"
"Hey! We're back!"
That was Roy's voice. Marl craned her head back and looked in the direction of the entrance into the locker room from the stadium, where there was the Blastoise along with Calvin hurrying up, with Garrett doing much the same with Miyamoto at his side. Calvin was still putting Roy's Pokéball back onto his belt—a sign that he'd been running fast enough that the Blastoise hadn't been able to keep up—and quickly turned his attention to another Pokéball from his bag. A blue-and-white one with red ridges that she hadn't seen before.
"Oh, so that Rental Pokémon stand Alberi said he visited yesterday did still have someone to fill that sixth slot," Numa said. "That's great news! I was starting to get a little worried that you guys were going to have to drop out before the preliminar-!"
"Numa."
Marl's face sagged as Roy grimaced and moved the flat of his claw over his throat, prompting the Swampert to blink, before turning over to her. Numa abruptly bit his tongue and after a brief hem and haw, awkwardly swallowed the rest of his words. A loud groan turned her attention rightward, where Rako looked visibly annoyed, as the Floatzel folded his arms and turned his snout up with a low grumble.
"A Rental Pokémon? Seriously? There's no way that I couldn't have-!"
There was a flash of red as Calvin let a Pokémon out from inside the Great Ball, but before Marl could see what the Pokémon was, a purple blur shot forward towards Rako. It knocked him over with a yelp, and as the blur settled, she saw the Floatzel flat on his back and staring up wide-eyed with his flotation sac puffed up from shock. On top of him, there was a Gliscor crouched and pinning him down with a toothy grin full of sharp fangs.
"Oh, so you're on that team I'm joining!" the Gliscor cheered. "Hey there! My name's Mathias, and-!"
"Eyaaah! Get him off! Get him off!"
The Floatzel let out a loud, squealing noise that Marl swore sounded not too different from a stuck Spoink from how loud and shrill it was. The Gliscor flinched from the racket and stumbled back as Rako wrenched himself free and beelined behind Roy's shell with his tails pinned tight against his body. The Floatzel warily peeked out before from behind, as the Gliscor looked back with a sour frown.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" the Gliscor protested. "Being affectionate and putting a smile on for the teams I partner up with is part of my job, you know!
"That doesn't work when you shove a mouth full of razor fangs right up in my face!" the Floatzel snapped.
Gods, Marl could already tell that being around that Floatzel in the stands was going to get old…
"Rako actually won't be fighting on the team," Roy explained, rolling his eyes. "He's playing an observing role along with our friends. Since… we kinda needed to keep an eye on our normal flier until she got better."
The Blastoise pointed her out as Marl's breathing grew uneven and her head began to feel faint. Calvin was actually replacing her! W-Why on earth would he just rub it in like this? She grit her teeth and turned to give them a piece of her mind… except but much to her surprise, the Gliscor's face didn't look satisfied at all. The Ground-type played briefly with his claws, before looking aside with an uneasy murmur.
"Oh… I'm really sorry to hear that," he said. "But don't worry! I'm plenty good at battling! I can hold my weight for you until you get bette-!"
"Just leave me alone."
Marl turned away with a low growl and looked away, blinking her eyes long and hard. She ought to have roared at Calvin, to have bared her fangs and flashed her claws back and loudly demanded him to explain why he thought leaving her behind again was a good idea. But she just couldn't muster the urge beyond a defeated-sounding whine.
What good was a Salamence that couldn't fly for a tournament? Or for anything, really?
There was an awkward silence as her trainer came up to her and tried to scratch at her chin, but between the pain in her wing and knowing how he was just pushing her out of the way for this stranger, it just fell flat. She pulled herself away, letting her eyes drift towards the floor.
Something came over the other humans and Pokémon in the locker room started getting up. Marl looked over and saw Numa doing much the same as that 'Miyamoto' Samurott tugged at Garrett's shoulder and said something that she missed. Numa looked over towards her and Rako, and awkwardly pawed at the back of his head.
"It's unfortunately time for Calvin and Garrett to get going. The opening ceremony's about to start and they're clearing out the visitors," the Swampert said. "I don't know why the humans here are so hung up about it, but it's apparently policy. Though Garrett booked a seat along with all our other trainers, I'll help the others show you where it's at."
Calvin let go and stepped away as Marl looked on blankly. She felt a nudge at her side, and saw Bushel nudging her along with her wings.
"Sessen's place in the stands isn't that far away, will you be alright going there outside your Pokéball, Marl?"
"I'll be fine."
The words didn't sound convincing even to her own ears as Marl felt a sinking feeling in the pit in her stomach. Calvin passed a Pokéball over to Sessen, who used it to recall Rako, before doing much the same to Numa with one spotted to him by Garrett. It just left Marl and Bushel,, as she followed the Tropius' trainer out of the locker room.
Marl's lip visibly quivered. She didn't see whether or not anyone was staring at her again. She decided that she didn't want to know
Marl didn't pay much attention to her surroundings on the way over to Alberi and Sessen's seats in the stands. The stares that she noticed the times when she did pay attention just made her feel worse and a part of her die up inside. Their seats were near the top of the stands, right next to the open areas where bigger Pokémon would have the space to sit or stand so they could watch things down on the field. Marl supposed that it also made it easier for Alberi or Sessen or one of the other Pokémon to come up and check up on her like they had when it was time to apply the next Potion for her wing…
"I'm honestly surprised they were able to put on this much of a show in a multipurpose arena," Bushel's voice mused. "I wouldn't have expected a place that normally hosts Hurdle Dashes to be able to support such a big spectacle."
Marl raised her head from lying on the ground and saw Sessen's Tropius looking over the shoulder of her trainer towards the field when it dawned on her that there was a booming human voice in the air. On the field, there was a stand set up with large screens set up, as an announcer was there giving a speech that would surely go forgotten in a week after this tournament ended.
A wave of cheers ran along the stands, as Marl lowered her head and curled up on herself, staring blankly at the back of the seats in front of her. She just couldn't get into things since she came here, with a sharp twinge of pain as she shifted her right wing reminding her why. She knew that it wasn't as if she'd be allowed to fly as she pleased indoors if her wing wasn't hurt, but she'd at least be there with her teammates and watching things together from where things were actually happening… not stuck up here with only one Pokémon that she really knew!
She let out a deflated mumble and rested her head against her foreclaws as the announcer's voice continued droning in the background. She made out a few words in the human language about the tournament, and 'Goldenrod Open', and 'contestants'... maybe she'd have picked out more if she was paying attention more closely.
"... Marl, are you doing okay?"
Marl's face fell after hearing the voice coming from her left and she craned her head over. It was Numa, visibly stiffening up with a start, while Rako was inching behind him with a quiet hiss.
"I told you this was a bad idea!"
She honestly wasn't sure whether or not she'd have felt better if Numa had followed the Floatzel's advice. The Swampert chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, before awkwardly pawing at his shoulder.
"I suppose I should've already known you weren't," he said. "But I just wanted to say that the competitors are about to take the field. I figured that it was something that you wouldn't want to miss."
Marl stared and narrowed her eyes in response.
"Numa, I'm injured," she harrumphed. "I'm supposed to be resting a lot right now."
"Well, yes, but you don't have to lie down the entire time you're resting, right? Didn't you want to see Calvin come out with whoever he picked to go along with him?" the Swampert insisted. "I mean, I assumed that he'd pick Roy for the occasion since they seemed like they'd be closest to each other, but I'm sure that there's bound to be some surprises from the other trainers."
Marl turned her body away and flopped down, when she heard footsteps coming up beside her. She looked up and saw Numa stooping down beside her with what looked like an almost pleading expression.
"Marl, I know that things yesterday could've gone… better, to say the least. But sometimes even little things can make a difference in bad moments," the Swampert insisted. "Maybe try holding out for the trainers to come out? If you're genuinely not feeling well afterwards, you can always lie back down if you feel it'd help you rest better."
Marl hesitated. She didn't see how this would really help, but she supposed that just staring at the back of some stadium seats the entire time and knowing that she'd missed the entire opening ceremony wouldn't make her feel better about not being able to take part in the tournament. She got up onto her feet, and turned her gaze out towards the field, trying to crane it up to get a better view past other spectators further down the stands.
"I guess I can try," she said. "But just how long is-?"
Almost immediately, she was answered by another wave of cheers in the stands as she started to see figures entering out onto the field. Some were faces that looked like they were right at home in Johto like a scruffy-looking Roughneck with a Tyranitar or a blue-haired young man followed by a Feraligatr, while others like an older woman with what looked like a ghostly floating sword and shield with purple tassels and a more athletic man with a pink creature lugging along what looked like a bulky metal hammer looked like they were quite far from home.
She perked up after hearing Numa join in the cheers as she looked down and saw a Volcarona flying along as Garett led the way. Huh? Garrett didn't bring Miyamoto from his team to accompany him?
Maybe there was some sort of backstory to that, or else Garett had just wanted to give one of his other partners a bit more time in the spotlight. Marl supposed that it could've been worse, at least he hadn't chosen that Hydreigon to go out onto the field with him-
"Oh! Oh! There's your trainer!"
Marl looked out onto the field, where she saw Roy lumbering along after her trainer and his unplaceable face. The pair carried on seemingly without a care in the world, as Roy looked around and seemed to soak in the surrounding cheers and excitement from the crowd.
Those cheers and excitement that should have been for her, but now she'd never get them. Even if the tournament's organizers would've let her still enter, it was hard to imagine cheers for a broken wing visible for the whole world to see.
After all this time, she was too weak, too pathetic to measure up to what a Salamence was supposed to be. To what she was supposed to be…
Marl's attention began to glaze over as the others started to grow wrapped up with the opening ceremony, their voices blending in with the cheers of the broader crowd around them. She crouched down against the concrete and curled up on herself, turning her head away from the back of the stands as the roar of the stands lingered in the air.
Everything blurred together after that, aside from the tears welling up in her eyes.
Author's Notes:
1. "Hey! What is your problem?!"
2. "... Do you think we should bring out anyone else from the team to try and cheer her up? She seems a bit down."
3. "Bring in? Who?"
4. "All we have is that scale ball that Alberi got from the Rental Agency yesterday, and since he was allowed out of his ball all he's done is nose about and pester everyone."
5. "Well, look who's speaking."