7: Replacement Player
BZZZZZZ!
For a brief moment after the buzzer marking the end of the match rang out, Marl stared down at the battlefield in disbelief. It took only a moment for her senses to come flooding in and remind her that she wasn't dreaming. The roaring cheers from all around the arena, her own friends' hooting and hollering, and down on the field, the sight of Roy's unsteady gait as he looked down at his Tyranitar opponent lying slumped over on the ground.
They'd won. In spite of how grim their odds had looked not even two minutes ago, Roy and Calvin had turned things around and won! The turnabout clearly surprised those Unovan Pokémon, too, as Marl noticed Miyamoto and Fenris down the stands and murmuring after one another.
"¿El tal 'Calvin' amigo de Garrett de verdad se bajó de su viaje de liga? No lo habría adivinado después de ver los movimientos de su tortuga allá abajo.¹"
The Lucario briefly glanced at the Samurott as the Water-type pawed at his whiskers, before he too grunted and nodded in reply.
"Sí, ese truco de voltereta fue algo serio. Me pica curiosidad de lo que podrá hacer esa belleza en su equipo.²"
Marl wasn't sure what the conversation between those two was about, other than that Aoi seemed to pick up something from the foreign Lucario's remark that made her briefly flare her own feelers and sprout a noticeable grin. Before the Salamence could ask, there was a flash of red light on the battlefield as the Tyranitar's Roughneck trainer recalled the Rock-type to his Pokéball and slunk off in defeat, leaving Roy to have the field all to him and Calvin's self.
Roy didn't waste any time making the most of things. The Blastoise struck a pose and let out a triumphant cry and fired a pair of watery shots into the air, as Marl found herself getting swept up in the mood and had to catch herself before she too let out a bellowing roar of triumph. All the while, her heart fluttered and she found herself batting her wings wide by reflex.
She almost immediately regretted it and her eyes widened as a sharp pain shot through her left wing. Her cheers suddenly cut out and were replaced with a loud yelp and she stumbled, gritting her teeth and looking down panting and sucking in uneven breaths.
"Marl! Are you alright?"
She felt a short-furred limb patting at her and saw Aries patting at her and looking down worriedly. Garrett and Numa weren't far behind and slowed as they approached, while the rest of her teammates were also all gathering around her.
The cheering had died down, and Roy and Calvin weren't on the field anymore, not that it would've really helped her mood. Marl suddenly felt a lot smaller after her mind turned back to her wing, with those earlier, almost flying feelings crashing down to earth after seeing that ugly cast back in the corner of her vision.
"... I'm fine, Aries," she sighed. "I just got caught up in the moment and moved my wing too much."
The way she said that surely didn't sound convincing, and the askew look Aries gave her afterwards all but confirmed Marl's suspicions. She perked up after feeling human fingers stroke at her neck, and saw Garrett at her side and saying something in Unovan that she didn't follow but at least sounded comforting.
Marl hung her head and let out a tired sigh as Garrett tried to lift her mood. She knew that those Chansey and their trainers back at the Pokécenter had said it'd be 'about a week' until her left wing was healed… but couldn't things go any faster? She supposed her wing felt slightly better today, but she couldn't tell whether that was because she'd had that Potion dose applied earlier, or it was from her wing actually healing, or if everything was all in her head since she'd been having fun earlier…
"... Did you need to take a break? You could always go someplace a little quieter for a bit."
Marl reflexively stiffened up at the sound of a chittering voice and saw it was that Gliscor from the rental agency, giving a worried-looking tilt of his head. She sharply narrowed her eyes in reply. Was this 'mon seriously trying to push her away from the rest of her friends right now after he'd just gone and taken her place on the team? And what on earth with this whole acting like he'd been a teammate this entire time?
"I'm fine, thanks," Marl huffed. "I survived the last times I moved my wing like that. It's not like I need to go and lie down in a corner right now."
The Gliscor blinked a bit, but much to Marl's frustration, he didn't take the hint to buzz off. The Ground-type gave a puzzled blink of his head, before fidgeting his claws with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, no. I wasn't going to suggest doing that," he said. "I thought that maybe you'd feel better going with your friends to go cheer on Roy and your trainer in the onsite Pokécenter here. On the teams I've fought on in the past, friends coming to cheer them on in places like that always seemed to lift their mood whether or not they won or lost."
Marl blinked a moment at the Gliscor's explanation, and already overheard murmuring among her teammates as they mulled the idea among themselves.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, honestly," Aries said. "For an onsite Pokécenter in a place that normally doesn't host Pokémon battles, the waiting room did seem a bit spacious."
"If you all need company, I'm sure that Garrett wouldn't mind coming either," Numa added. "It won't quite be like old times since the rest of the old gang's not here right now, but…"
The others joined in with their own agreements one after the other, as it became increasingly clear to Marl that they were bound for that trip over to cheer Calvin and Roy on. Aoi was the last to chime in, as she brushed her feelers, before casting a sidelong glance down the stands towards Garrett's friends and their other Pokémon.
I'm down with it," Aoi said. "I'll grab Fenris and see if any of the others want to come along, too."
She started to make her way down the stands, when a sharp yip cut through the air—from that Floatzel who'd snuck along. He scampered after the Lucario, eyes visibly widened, with his voice coming out in a flustered stammer.
"H-Hey! Aoi! Hold on just a minute there!"
Marl watched as the two darted off and her teammates started gathering around her, and Numa started getting Garrett's attention to try and explain to him what was going on. All the while, the Salamence couldn't help but let her attention drift towards that Gliscor who was there alongside Aries, chatting with him like they'd know each other for years.
Her face sagged afterwards. She wasn't against the Gliscor's suggestion, but did he really have to be the one to come up with it?
It didn't take long for Marl to make it along with everyone else to the stadium's onsite Pokécenter. In spite of it not being a proper Pokécenter with onsite lodging, and it being the first time Marl saw anything outside the room she was treated in, the waiting room felt weirdly familiar.
Lack of a second floor aside, it looked an awful lot like the lobby to the Pokécenter that Calvin had booked their room in back in the city. Or like one back in Hoenn, for that matter: even if her claws didn't clack against the floors like they did on the usually-tiled floors the Pokécenters in Hoenn had, this place had the same sort of counter and healing machines with slots for Pokéballs set up behind them, with lights that flashed the same way as the ones at home. A quick raise of her head revealed the same double doors to the backrooms which were there for Pokémon that needed further checkups afterwards or more intensive treatment. Even if this waiting room and Pokécenter was obviously smaller in scale, she still never had to stoop or pull her limbs in as she walked around the open room with its couches—even now as a Salamence. And there was still enough space to accommodate her teammates outside their Pokéballs. Why, off towards the right of her vision, there was even a PC and a wider-than-usual map of what she assumed was Johto on the wall like the Pokécenter they were rooming at!
Marl supposed that when she stopped and thought about it, there was some logic to how this place was so samey: Pokécenters no matter where they were, had the same duties for healing whatever Pokémon that were brought to them. Other human places like grocery stores or restaurants which were part of "chains" and shared the same signs as each other were also often strangely alike to each other, so it shouldn't have been surprising that there'd also be Pokécenters with similar layouts… even if the resemblance between the pink-haired receptionist behind the counter and the one back at the Pokécenter in Goldenrod was downright eerie.
"Talk about putting on a show, Roy! When'd you start getting so fleet-footed without me noticing, huh?"
Marl turned her gaze briefly as she caught Numa going up to her Blastoise teammate. The Swampert was all smiles, and gave a soft punch at Roy's shoulder, probably human mannerisms that he'd picked up from Garrett. Roy briefly stiffened up in response, before the Blastoise rubbed at the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, you know, just bouncing around from place to place," the turtle replied. "Going from Kanto to Hoenn might not be quite as big of a jump as what you did going to Unova with Garrett, but that doesn't mean I didn't also pick a few things up along the way!"
Marl wouldn't have thought that would've made much of a difference since Calvin and his family moved to Hoenn even before he started training her and her teammates aside from Aries. But she supposed it made for a good story. The rest of her teammates were quick to crowd around and pay their own respects and cheers, as Bushel did much the same, and even those Unovan Pokémon with Alberi and Garrett joined in with words of their own in that strange language they spoke that at least sounded like praises...
She made her way forward, when a chittering voice suddenly chimed in right in front of her.
"I knew you'd be able to turn things around!"
Marl's face sagged at hearing that obnoxiously cheery voice she'd only started hearing a couple days ago. Sure enough, the rental Gliscor was there too, making his way to Roy and batting out his claws with a playful wave.
"You did great out there!" Mathias said. "Guess all that advice you give your teammates came from somewhere, huh?"
Marl narrowed her eyes and shuffled back, stealing glances as the Gliscor started yukking it up with Roy and the others. She let her gaze drift towards the floor with a sullen huff. Why on earth was he here with them anyways? Rental Pokémon were supposed to join teams to fight and none of the battles today had needed him to take part in it!
"Something wrong, Marl?"
The Salamence felt something smooth and hard prodding at her leg, and craned her head back to see Eira giving a poke with her bone and shooting her a puzzled frown. Marl let out a sour huff and turned her head away from her trainer and the others off by the counter.
"Aren't you all done with battles for today?" she pressed. "Isn't 'Mathias' or whatever his name is supposed to go back to the rental agency right now?"
"Done with the qualifiers, yes. There's still others that need to happen later, which is why Mathias has been hanging around with us," the Marowak corrected. "Calvin wanted to get in a bit more practice tonight after the qualifying rounds settled down a bit. After all, tomorrow is when we'll start doing proper matchups with full teams."
Marl didn't know how that was going to go when the qualifiers had already been hard-won victories. While she wasn't disappointed Calvin and the others weren't knocked out, it didn't occur to her until just now that Calvin and her teammates wouldn't have as much time for moments like this once practice resumed,
And it meant that Calvin would probably spend half his time with the rental Pokémon again because he was still "unfamiliar". Marl knew that that was how things generally worked with new Pokémon joining trainers' teams, but did it really have to be with a Pokémon whose job was specifically to replace her?
"... Just when is practice supposed to start?" Marl asked.
"It depends on how long we all having fun watching the matches, I guess," the Marowak replied. "But the grounds are open the entire time that the tournament's going, so we could potentially be practicing a bit late tonight."
Marl stared back and had to fight to keep back a growl in her throat. She briefly glimpsed back at the Gliscor there with her trainer, and then back at her teammate with a sharp huff.
"... Do I have to be there for it?" the Salamence asked. "I've been having fun watching matches with everyone, but that doesn't mean that I want to be up until the middle of the night just sitting on the bleachers."
Eira must've noticed that something was wrong since the Marowak didn't say anything back for a moment and shot her an askew look. Marl quickly figured out why as she saw her trainer coming over at giving a worried pat at her neck… with that Gliscor following right behind him and giving a puzzled tilt of his head.
"... We'll try and let Calvin know you don't want to be out for too late," Eira sighed. "Roy and Aries will probably also be sitting out from practice today anyways since they're a bit worn down from their battles. So Garrett or one of his friends can bring you all back together."
"Yeah, don't feel bad if you need to take a rest," the Gliscor chimed in. "I can help fill in for you while you let your wing heal."
Marl felt her facial features fall, before averting her eyes with a grumbling huff.
"Gee, thanks."
The rest of the day's matches went by smoothly enough, even if Marl just couldn't find herself getting as invested in them as she'd been before Calvin and Roy's battle. Maybe it had something to do with how there weren't as many standout faces to root for since Garrett didn't have a third qualifier since he'd won his first two. Maybe the hassle of having to get her evening dose of Potion and growing restless from being stuck on the ground all day had dampened her enthusiasm…
Whatever it was, the way that that Gliscor had been there the entire time yukking it up with her teammates definitely didn't help. Nor did the blissfully ignorant wave goodbye he gave them when it came time for Calvin to pass her, Roy, and Aries along to Sessen to bring them back to rest at the Pokécenter while he got to stay and practice with her trainer…
And here she was now the next morning, back on the sideline of the practice fields alongside that Alberi human. He had his Espeon out with him today staring at the field… which Marl was dutifully trying to ignore.
"Hup!"
Not least of all since that stupid rental Pokémon was cartwheeling around in the air and being the center of Calvin's attention. Again.
Marl tried to tell herself that things were better today. The trip to the stadium hadn't been as awkward as it'd been the first two days, even if she still blacked out during the bus ride over. Calvin applied the morning dose of Potion today after reaching the practice fields, which was definitely less cramped and awkward than getting it applied in the Pokécenter room. Why, aside from a moment where she thought she saw that Feraligatr from the other day passing in the background, the only others who'd been around to see her had been Calvin, her teammates aside from Jaki who'd all but disappeared about fifteen minutes ago, along with Alberi and that 'Esquiza' Espeon of his…
"Heh! You sure pick things up fast!" a bleating voice said.
"Well, it helps that your human's patient at walking through those strategies he wants to try. You're really lucky to have him, you know."
Marl turned her attention over to the field again, wheres Aries was alongside Calvin giving a cheery smile at that Gliscor from the rental agency. And then the Gliscor wrapping his claws around her trainer.
Marl's jaw dropped in dumb shock. Was… that Gliscor hugging Calvin?
"Y yo que pensaba que los Pokémon en mi tierra eran dados a muestras de afecto en público. ¿No deberías estar tú atento a tu propio Pokémon de préstamo, Alberi?³"
Marl briefly caught a glimpse of Esquiza giving a sidelong look at her trainer, who looked around briefly, before getting up from the stands in a hurry. She briefly followed the trainer from the faraway land with her eyes, only to hear contented chitters from the battlefield. The Salamence looked back, and immediately felt a sharp spike in pressure in her head and a flash of heat in her throat when she saw Calvin petting the Gliscor from the rental agency.
Marl decided that she'd had enough. She stomped forward as Calvin and the Gliscor separated as Calvin made his way back to his bag on the sidelines. What her trainer was up to, she frankly didn't care about, as Marl craned her head forward towards the man with the unplaceable face with an impatient growl.
"You."
Calvin stiffened up and started to turn around, when she pushed forward with her snout and shoved him down into taking a seat on the bleachers. Her trainer let out a brief yelp, as Marl brought her head down and plopped it into the young man's lap and scowled up at his face.
"If you've got all that time and affection to spare, you can give some to your actual Pokémon, too!"
Marl briefly chewed her tongue after realizing that Calvin was looking at her wide-eyed. Probably because her words had come out a bit more forcefully than she'd intended. Everyone else was staring at her right now, both from the sidelines like Roy, and from the field like Aries. Even Alberi and Esquiza were staring at her right now, along with that Lucario and Floatzel from Calvin's Field Biology course…
"... What on earth is she doing?" Aoi whispered.
"I think that she's captured her trainer," Rako replied. "Since he's sure not going anywhere fast like that..."
Marl raised her head slightly from Calvin's and narrowed her eyes, as the Floatzel quickly shut up and pretended to look away. Meanwhile, her trainer hesitated, before giving an uneasy pat at her crest and top of her head. She stood there and closed her eyes, basking in the feeling of the young man's fingers brushing her scales. It felt good, if a bit weird to feel this much from someone pawing at her head like this. She could hardly complain, and for a moment, those frustrations inside her started ebbing away…
And then her trainer stopped and began to try and pull himself from under her chin. She let out a low growl, and then pressed her head back down onto her trainer's lap, firmly enough to make Calvin give a soft cry in surprise.
"I didn't say stop!" Marl snapped. "You said you were going to spend time with me!"
"Boy, I knew that you weren't taking your wing being broken well. But I wasn't expecting you to also go and devolve back into a little chick emotionally, Marl."
Marl felt fire at the back of her throat as the cawing taunt hung in the air and turned her eyes towards the sound of wingbeats coming to a stop just ahead. Sure enough, there was Jaki coming to a stop and settling on the bleachers just in front of her, preening his feathers as if nothing had ever happened. Her other teammates traded puzzled stares with each other, as Eira went up and gave an accusing point of her club at the Honchkrow.
"Just where have you been all this time, Jaki?"
"Taking a scenic flight, of course. It wasn't my turn for practice, so what was I supposed to do?" the Honchkrow replied, as he idly fanned his plumage out to inspect his flight feathers. "Something wrong with a 'mon having a moment to go and stretch his wings?"
Marl let out a sharp snarl in reply and lifted her head ever so slightly, entering a poised crouch. Jaki had to be doing this on purpose. Because of all the times for him to kick her while she was down, of course he'd-
"Both of you, knock it off."
Marl felt paws sharply tugging at her shoulder as she whirled around, fangs bared, only to falter after seeing Aries leveling a piercing glare of his own at her and visibly sparking.
"Marl, you know why Calvin's spending time with the newer Pokémon on the team right now," the Ampharos said. "We only have so much time before the next match starts and this is the chance to prepare as much as we can."
She looked around and saw that everyone was staring at her, with nobody really looking all that pleased with her. The Salamence faltered a moment, before turning away with a sour huff and going back to her resting place. She briefly caught a flash of red light as Alberi recalled a Pokémon from further up the bleachers, but Marl didn't bother to look as she settled onto the ground with a sullen grumble.
"Is something going on, Marl?"
Marl craned her head back at Roy's rumbling voice, and looked back to see the Blastoise and her trainer together there behind her. Neither of them looked particularly happy with her, but there was something about the Blastoise's expression that seemed softer than she'd been expecting.
"I'm fine, Roy."
"That's what you said the other day as well when something was going on, too," the Blastoise said. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about?"
Marl hesitated a moment as her trainer came up alongside her. He patted her for a moment and said a few things in his tongue that she understood to be a rough echo of Roy's own words. She faltered briefly, before shaking her head up in reply.
"I just… can't you spend more time with me than this, Calvin?" the Salamence asked. "Here we are waking up bright and early in the morning, and I'm just sitting here with my wing like this while you've got plenty of time for Pokémon that aren't even on our team normally..."
The man with the unplaceable face stared back at her for a moment. From that blank expression, Marl guessed that things had gone right over his head, as Pokémon's words had a way of doing with humans. He must've still picked up that something was wrong, since his expression looked much like humans' normally did when they were nervous or worried…
"I'm sure Calvin will spend time with you today. Just don't take things too personally if scheduling gets in the way a bit," Roy insisted. "I'll do my part to make sure that he doesn't forget. Just… if there's anything that you decide you need to talk about, don't keep it to yourself, alright?"
The pair turned their heads at the sound of a cry from the field as they saw Mathias waving as Eira took the field expectantly. Marl stared after for a long while, before hanging her head with a low grumble.
"... I'll try…"
Practice came and went, and before she knew it, it was time for Marl to return to the arena again—under Alberi's tow that day. Back to another day where the closest Pokémon that she knew were Numa and Rako. Again.
Marl supposed that that wasn't completely fair to those newer Pokémon. She'd managed to hold some conversations with Bushel and the rest of Sessen's partners, and everyone else seemed to have gotten the message about her wing from the way that even Alberi and his Pokémon would come to try and shield her broken wing from view.
Marl just couldn't get excited by the matches for some reason today, and there was always one or another little thing that would mar the experience. The pain in her wing would come back whenever she moved it too much. There were the matches where Garrett would join in to sit in alongside them with Numa… and no one else from his team was out. She'd wound up missing out on much of Garrett's battle in the tournament after Alberi pulled her aside to apply a dose of Potion to her wing that came suspiciously early and took suspiciously long to finish.
By the time she made it back, Garrett's battle had wound up getting to that Volcarona on his team picking off a Machamp for a swift victory. It dawned on Marl that the strange-speaking human must've brought her away from the match on purpose to keep her from seeing 'Hydreigon' on the battlefield. She wasn't sure whether or not she preferred things that way or not.
And then it came time for Calvin's match in the round, which started off her teammates on the back foot almost from the jump when her trainer had wound up sending $CALVINMON_1 out against a $OPPONENTMON and almost immediately fell behind. Half the battle afterwards was just digging out of that early hole, and by the end, things came down to the wire with a matchup against an Exploud who much to her astonishment had apparently been taught to use Ice Beam of all things by her trainer.
Marl could've still found things exciting to watch, especially with the way that her teammates started coming back…
"Yah!"
But it was that Rental Pokémon who was out there as the last Pokémon standing from Calvin's team. The Gliscor weaved around an icy beam which sailed up towards the stands that Marl was overlooking. A sudden flash of light and translucent barrier formed, abruptly stopping it and leaving some clumped-up ice to fall to the ground—a Protect cast by Pokémon somewhere down there on the sidelines, if this stadium's tournament was run anything like the ones the battling clubs in Calvin's college hosted.
Back out on the field, the Gliscor zipped past the Exploud so effortlessly, like he was at one with the air. Wheeling and whirling about the way she should've been doing right now. A shout she didn't quite make out came from Calvin's end of the battlefield, as the Gliscor dropped down and hit the ground driving his claws into the ground.
Marl felt the tremor even from up in the stands. Back down in the arena, she watched as the Exploud lost her footing and fell over. The Normal-type didn't get up as the seconds passed, and then the buzzer sounded.
And then once again, the stands all around her broke into roaring cheers. Even the others in the stands with her were getting in on it, both the humans the Pokémon alike.
Everyone but her, apparently.
The Salamence briefly saw the Gliscor pop up into the air and wheel around triumphantly before she decided that she'd seen enough. She lowered herself against the ground and turned her head aside with a sour huff.
"That should've been me out there…" she muttered.
She looked away, before hearing leafy wingbeats and turning up to see that 'Bushel' Tropius from Sessen's team was looking down at her….
"Look on the bright side, at least your team's advancing to the next round, right?" the Tropius insisted. "If your trainer's made it through the first round it means that he's made it past half of the other trainers that entered!"
That didn't make her feel better. Marl opted to hold her tongue and not say so outright, but judging from the Tropius' hesitation, she supposed the Grass-type had gotten the message across well enough.
"Are you feeling well enough to walk, Marl?" the Tropius asked.
"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Your trainer should be coming off the field right about now," Bushel explained. "Did you want to go and congratulate him?"
Marl supposed that she ought to, and a part of her was happy that Calvin had ultimately pulled through in the end, even if she wished that literally anyone other than that 'Mathias' Gliscor had clinched the win. Sure it was petty and jealous of her, but he wasn't the one who was being forced to watch some stranger just swoop in and suddenly take his place on a team of his friends…
Marl got up with a low sigh as Sessen recalled his other Pokémon and walked past her. Garrett and Numa followed afterwards, and then Rako came scampering along. Marl grumbled and started to head along when she turned towards the stands, and noticed that weirdly enough, that that Alberi human and neither his Nidorino nor his Espeon were anywhere to be seen.
"Aren't Alberi and his partners coming along for this?" the Salamence asked. "He was here with us just a couple matches ago."
"He's been busy trying to track down an observation subject of his that snuck off," Bushel explained.
… 'Observation subject'? Was that why Alberi was rooting around the stands earlier during practice? Though just what on earth was there to observe for Pokémon outside the battlefield in the middle of a tournament?
"I'm sure Alberi will catch up later after he finds him," the Tropius insisted. "Though did you want to already start heading for the Pokécenter now?"
The Tropius looked at her expectantly. Marl hesitated, before letting out a low sigh and turning after the others already ahead of her.
"Fine, let's just get this over with."
The journey back to the onsite Pokécenter seemed to go by faster than it had the day before. Marl didn't know whether that was because Sessen and Alberi had been making more trips to it than Calvin and her teammates had and were more familiar with the way over, or if she just hadn't noticed the time passing as that smoldering frustration kept filling the back of her mind.
Before she knew it, they were walking through the automatic doors into the Pokécenter's waiting room, and found Calvin almost immediately after walking in.
And almost as quickly, Marl stiffened up at the sight she and the others walked in on. Roy was at her trainer's side in front of the main desk, looking on with a tired smile as Calvin patted the head of that Gliscor. All the while, the rental Pokémon lett out a happy churr like as if he'd been a teammate all this time and hadn't come from a rental agency not even two days ago.
"Hey! Good job out there, Gliscor! I'll admit, for a moment, I didn't think you were going to pull it off!"
Marl grit her teeth as Bushel made her way forward to congratulate the Gliscor, with Numa and even Miyamoto following afterwards as their trainers went to pay their congratulations to Calvin. The whole time, Marl had to fight the urge to let out an angry bellow over how everyone was just happy about this bug taking her place on the team. Her trainer's time and affection while she was just stuck watching, grounded and trying not to move her wing too much lest it hurt again or make others stare at her and see how weak and pathetic she was right now..
"Heh! I told you that I'd do well out there!"
And then the bug came up to her, happily waving a claw like he'd pushed her out was the most normal thing in the world.
"Hope the show helped cheer you up!" the Gliscor said. "Your teammates are really tough! I wouldn't have been able to make it to the end without them!"
Something snapped inside Marl. She felt heat at the back of her throat, and without thinking, she crouched, her voice coming out in a low, piercing snarl.
"Are you done? Or are you going to rub it in some more about how you're stealing my trainer from me?"
The waiting room abruptly fell quiet as Marl noticed that everyone, Pokémon and human alike, was staring at her. And among them, two faces in particular made her suck in a quiet breath and set her teeth on edge.
Roy's and her trainer's, both of which had hardened into particularly sharp frowns in front of her very eyes.
Author's Notes:
1. "Did that 'Calvin' friend of Garrett's really drop out of his league challenge? I wouldn't have guessed it after seeing his turtle's movements down there."
2. "Yeah, that spinning trick earlier was something else. I'm curious what that babe on his team can do."
3. "And here I thought the Pokémon in my land were publicly affectionate. Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on your own rental Pokémon, Alberi?"