Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Marsuru]

'I was, actually.' He pissed off a lot of people at the academy, but they always liked to see him perform. Eventually, anyway. 'Okay, stop. Split the book down the middle. First half is general notes and movelists, second is for strategies. Cofagrigus is a ghost, and I've sorted the types alphabetically so it'll be about halfway through. There.'

After some searching, Salieri would find Cofagrigus's page. It had some cramped notes about its traits and abilities, as well as some scribbles about how to handle it in a battle written in a rush of inspiration. The movelist was on a separate sheet of folded paper that had been stapled to the page. Once unfolded, it would display all of the moves Zack had seen Cofagrigus use himself, or read about it using in a book, along with a note next to each one of either C, U, or R. Common, uncommon, rare.  

[Jump Einatz]

Salieri followed Zacks instructions -he wasn't rude this time- and eventually found the movelist she was looking for. Right away she ruled out most of the straight up attacking moves. They were much harder to customize into something non volatile, and this was definitely not an active attack.

"Mean Look traps people in place...could be some kind of Pain Split or Destiny Bond since we're sharing stuff." Sal narrowed her eyes. "But it feels like a Curse."  

[Marsuru]

'Probably some combination. Doubt it's Mean Look since I saw it use bandages to tie us together. Pain Split seems right but I've never known one to linger after causing damage. Destiny Bond's a good fit if you take it literally, and it can transfer pain sensation as well as knock ou--'

Zack paused, the sun shining overhead like a light bulb. 'That's it. Destiny Bond ends when you're knocked out!'  

[Jump Einatz]

"Great!" Sal echoed his 'Eureka!' feeling, only for it to wane when she realized the implication. "So, what? Should we just knock ourselves out?"

Reynard hopped up like a puppy, wagging her mermaid tail and panting excitedly. [DO IT!]

Sal was hesitant. "I mean, we could...I don't wanna punch myself in your d**k again. Should we just choke each other until we pass out?"
[Yessssss.]  

[Marsuru]

Zack glanced down at his sling. His other hand was tied up as well, and his choking abilities severely limited. Salieri was the only one of them capable of doing it, and he didn't trust her to get the job done with one hand anyway. 'Gonna have to vote no for that one.'

He spotted the way Reynard was acting and nodded his head towards her. 'The Vaporeon seems eager.'  

[Jump Einatz]

"Yeah she does," Salieri said cautiously, not too thrilled about her Pokémon's eagerness to do the task. She lined up next to Zack to make things easier for her one-Vaporeon firing squad. "Alright Rey, make it quick. Single shot, no drowning business. We're counting on you...to, uh, knock us out. Safely."

Reynard grinned wide. Salieri was about to voice her concerns when the Bubble Jet Pokémon shot at both of their foreheads with a split Water Gun. It was weak but with her level and the damage relay it would be enough to knock out the two humans.

And so Sal would fall over, unconscious. And if Zack stood there, so would he. Reynard licked her paws, satisfied. [Sometimes, life's simplest joys are the best.]

Two minutes later, which was a long time to be passed out in the middle of a street, Oberon would prod them both awake. And they'd discover their Bond was still intact.  

[Marsuru]

Zack had taken more than a puny little Water Gun to the head and stayed conscious before. It must have been Salieri's influence that made him black out. He awoke to Oberon prodding his cheek, and nose, and eventually his eye. He started, jerking his head back and wincing, then checked to see if he'd regained control of his hand. Sadly, when he lifted it, Salieri's arm lifted as well.

Swearing under his breath, Zack sat upright, checking the shadows on the nearby buildings to gauge how much time had passed. The shadows had barely shifted, which meant they hadn't been unconscious long and he'd gained a b***h of a headache for no reason.

'Heal Pulse,' he said to Oberon. 'Now.'  

[Jump Einatz]

Oberon didn't have the same kind of qualms about playing along with authority that Reynard had. She still had to play the part of naive, cuddly alien. Being the helpful cute baby they believed her to be, she washed them both over with another Heal Pulse.

"S'matter?" Sal asked, also sitting up. "Can't handle a little concussion?" When she looked at the Bond on their hands, she put her head to her knees. "Come on, God, why me..."

The clouds hadn't moved much since before the Water Gun. They must not have been out for long. Salieri got to her feet, providing leverage for Zack to hoist himself up in the process. Now she was entirely out of ideas, and even though this was the most pressing matter at hand, it wasn't the only one Salieri had to deal with today. She needed to find Prou. And she needed to get another badge.

"Got any more bright ideas? Cause I can't do this all day, I have places to go to, people to see."  

[Marsuru]

'Yeah, I was holding back all the real solutions cause I wanted to make you late for b***h school,' Zack said. So it wasn't a Destiny Bond. Or maybe it was, only different? The bird guy said he was the only one capable of breaking the bond, which meant they needed to find where he was and apply some hurt.

'We need to find that Chatot. Anything else is just wasting time.'  

[Jump Einatz]

"Matheson's a tracker, we can ask him when he's done with the cops." Salieri didn't have any Pokémon of her own with tracking skills, so she released the next best thing. Durendal materialized on the spot.

"Dune, can you look for that bird robot? It couldn't have gone far. Don't break it, we need it whole."

Her Pawniard nodded and without another second to lose, streaked off into the sky in search of Chatbot. "Do you have any Pokémon that can do a sweep?"  

[Marsuru]

Still needed that flier. Levitate was the next best thing.

'Hazard can,' Zack said. 'I could tell you which ball she's in, but someone didn't put them back properly.'  

[Jump Einatz]

"Someone didn't put them back properly," she repeated in a high pitched whiny tone. Sal looked at the Pokéballs on Zack's belt, tapping the buttons to make the red lenses translucent for preview mode.

"Which one is Hazard? The Charmeleon?"  

[Marsuru]

'No, that's Malis,' Zack said. 'Hazard's the Gengar. You should know her pretty well, One Shot.'  

[Jump Einatz]

"I thought that was Fatass," said Sal flatly. She found Hazard's ball and let her out.  

[Marsuru]

The Gengar materialised in a bright flash. When she saw Salieri, she tumbled about in mid air in a fit of giggles, flickering her eyes on and off with Hypnosis to show her recognition. Even though Hazard was looking at Salieri, Zack would feel himself going woozy from the brief hypnotic effect.

'Knock it off,' he said, his head clearing as soon as Hazard's eyes went from sky blue to blood red. 'Find that Chatot. It's a bird with bright feathers. Kill it and bring it back here in one piece. No Thunderbolt, I don't need it fried.'

Hazard squinted one eye at the weird order but shrugged and floated directly upwards. She shielded her eyes with her hand, looked this way and that, then floated off to look for a Chatot, whatever it was.