Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Klarp Glornharm]

Ben did his best to comply with the police and paramedics. It was important that they did, their friends' lives depended on it. But theirs would depend on how they handled this...

When Juliet appeared, Ben was, of course, conflicted. On the one hand, she was pretty. On the other, she introduced herself as family of Jullien Nostrad, while pretty much sinking any hopes of not mentioning the oil rig. There could have, easily, been some old building with warp pads they weren't supposed to be around that they got hurt in.

That would have been better than bringing this person's attention.

"I'm Benedict Montgomery, and considering a building was exploding around us, I think I got off alright."

How much to say... "I'm not sure I feel comfortable with disclosing this to you, considering it's Jullien Nostrad's oil rig out there. His illegal oil rig." Jerath had been returned already, so it was a leap saying this to her.

Probably, none of the officers would bat an eyelash if they all just vanished. "Or is there a reason I should trust that you would look at this situation without any bias?"  

[Marsuru]

'Probably not,' said Roy, wondering why Ben had owned up to anything when he knew who this girl was. They'd be eating prison slop before nightfall.  

[Spinne Biss]

"Wow! You're pretty!" Bridgette said to Nostrad as she was lead toward the stairs. Once she was on them, unless someone objected, she'd be out of the scene.  

[Jump Einatz]

"Thank you," Juliet said as an absentminded reflex upon receiving Bridgette's compliment. She couldn't even pay attention to how the girl was missing a limb considering that what Benedict just said affected her personally.

"An oil rig," she repeated, pacing to the window to see the smoke. A few of the cops looked her way when they heard the name Nostrad, wondering what she and her father had to do with this. After a long pause, she looked back to Ben.

"Your friend is right, Mr. Montgomery. If this incident revolves around the Nostrads then my involvement wouldn't be fair, would it? Illegal or not." Juliet rose an eyebrow at the two remaining members of the travel party. "Though I'm certainly curious as to why you two would be trespassing on property that is no doubt private. Or what could have caused a fire so large in the first place."

"Lady Nostrad?" The lead officer approached her side, speaking quietly to her. "How do you wish to proceed?"
"However you deem appropriate, Captain. I won't be involving myself in this investigation any further. We all know a conflict of interest when we see one, and I'd rather not obstruct justice for my personal gain."

The Captain was a bit surprised that she would be so detached. If anything, she seemed to still be in her usual airy mood. "Most wise, Lady Nostrad. We'll take it from here." He nodded to his officers. "Take their statements."

The noblewoman released Zaida, her Rotom, which floated around the room looking for an electrical outlet. When it found one, Juliet walked to Zaida's side. "I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out," Juliet said to Ben and Roy. She gestured up to her face, around her nose. "And you both have a little dirt, right here."

Juliet grabbed one of Zaida's plasma arms, and was transformed into blue electricity. In an instant the two of them traveled through the socket and into the city's electrical grid, disappearing to parts unknown.

Two cops separated Benedict and Roy, and would ask each of them to give thorough statements regarding the off route incident.

((Which I'll leave up to you guys cause I'm not trying to clog this up with procedure forever))  

[Marsuru]

((Me either))

'I didn't even know why we were there until a minute ago,' Roy said to the officer. 'I got hired to do security. All I knew is we were going off route. The girl? No, I've no idea who she is, she just showed up. She seems a little unhinged if you ask me. You're not? Okay, uh. So we took all the necessary precautions, but even then we were attacked by a ton of pokémon. They chased us all the way to the oil field, and we thought we'd be safe. Then one of them must've attacked or something, cause the whole place blew up. We only just got to a warp tile in time.'

((So does Juliet just follow ambulances around in her spare time or did this one stop to give her a lift or...?))  

[Jump Einatz]

((She's just your average girl with a passion for detective work, carte blanche, and a lot of spare time. And her new show premieres on the CW this Fall season!))

Lumiose City

Eventually, Salieri and Zack found the closest door to Gotengo, and Salieri sent a snapshot of it to Zack. Moments later, Matheson opened up a door. "Come on in."

Hoenn Weather Institute

Salieri looked around the empty lobby of a pristine research facility, or at least what looked like one. There were white tiles beneath their feet and scientific awards and articles on the walls. Out the window it was raining, and she could see a river banked by luscious high grass. "Where are we?"

"Hoenn. I stopped by the Weather Institute, I wanna see if they can teach me how to locate roll clouds like the one Skarada's ship uses as cover. Nice people. Also the next town over? Treehouses!" Math gestured wide, imagining what it looked like. "Everywhere treehouses! I know where I'm spending my next vacation, that's for sure."

He put his hands in his pockets. "So what's up? Did you guys do the thing you needed to do?"  

[Klarp Glornharm]

"I heard about the oil rig from someone, figured it would be a good idea to gather proof. It was for some journalism, it seemed important enough for people to know." Benedict explained. "I gathered some people who might be able to help. Well, she had two arms when I saw her at first, but no. I didn't ask her to join us. Yeah, just kinda showed up. Well, ah, we did what we could but the pokemon overwhelmed us. A lot of our equipment was lost, and... Not everyone made it. No, no I'm fine. I am. When we got to the oil field, it seemed like the only safe way out. Figured that the person who owned it got people there somehow. And, I mean, proof. I know it's private property, but if something illegal is going on there and a noble owns it, how else do I get the story out? Yeah. I don't know if was worth it. Probably not, considering there's no proof with me."

Ben sighed. "When we were inside, something must have happened outside. Maybe a fire pokemon got past the repel field? Either way, they were gonna blow us up. Trust me, being inside a building that's about to blow up is not my idea of a sound plan for misdirecting people. I mean, who's even dumb enough to try that? Besides, our friends would have been fine without the explosions. We barely got to the warp pads before we were killed. Yeah. Hey, um... Keep me in the loop on their health, okay? It's my fault they were out there."  

[Jump Einatz]

Lumiose City - Cordoned Building

The police took down their statements and their contact information. They would later get the names of the others involved from Noel at the hospital. Because of the unique circumstances, and because they didn't have Juliet breathing down their back, the cops then decided they didn't have to detain Benedict and Roy at the station for further questioning. For now.

The Captain told them the precinct would be in touch with them soon, as this crime was far from solved. If there was no further fuss, the LCPD would escort Benedict and Roy downstairs and outside, past the perimeter where they were free to go.

"Your friends are at Lumiose General," said one officer. "The girls will be fine, but the boy is in critical condition. You were lucky to call when you did, or he wouldn't have made it there. Whatever happens next, just know that you've done your best." He returned to securing the perimeter, leaving the two men to their own devices.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Lumiose City - City Proper

Ben glanced at Roy briefly, and then sort of awkwardly waved. "I guess I'll see you around. Maybe."

And then he would move on., getting away from the perimeter. The police had gotten his contact information from his first x-transceiver, but the second, one he didn't really give out publicly usually, would work just as well if they'd decided to track what he sent. For now, he had two goals.

Reach Alexa, and have the curse removed. Meet with Sal.

Quickly, he sent a message out to Sal first. If he remembered right, she'd mentioned a friend that could help hide him from people that might monitor communications.

It's Ben. I'm in Lumiose, we need to talk.  

[Marsuru]

Lumiose City

'Yeah,' said Roy as Ben walked away. He wanted to say something, anything that might help him process just what the hell they'd been through. He'd been calm when the police spoke to him, but now he'd hit the streets and the pressure was off, he couldn't get his hands to stop shaking.

Hoenn Weather Institute

In a world where teleportation had become routine, Matheson's magic door was still a weird experience. Zack looked around the familiar lobby, and remembered ducking in here years ago to avoid the rain. A few more awards dotted the walls, but little else had changed. Half-listening to Matheson, he felt a strong pang of nostalgia at the sight of Route 119 beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Then he glanced at Math, and his eyes naturally traveled to the cut of his shoulders, where the muscle completed its sharp transition into the pectorals, to the tight yet comfortable way his shirt clung to his torso. He leaned toward Salieri, speaking through his teeth, 'We have to make this quick.'  

[Jump Einatz]

Hoenn Weather Institute

"Mia made us a tracker," Salieri told Matheson, holding up the shoddy looking remote. "Now we just need to use it. Can you take us back to Shalour City?"
"Sure." Matheson put the key back into the door, visualizing his target in his head. "Did you guys know you were trending online?"

Sal looked at Zack, then back at Math, red faced. "I can explain...wait, actually, you already know-"
"Don't worry, it's pretty buried now. Less than fifteen minutes of fame. No one really cares about a male model and a league rookie dating that much. No offense. Skitty videos are back on the front page of the internet again, those are always cute."
"We aren't either of those things!" Sal stammered. "I'm no rookie."
"In the technical sense, I mean. Badge wise." Math grinned.
"Your FACE is in a technical sense..." she muttered while checking the text she just received.

It was Benedict. Salieri had been so caught up in today's events that she had almost forgotten that Ben had gone on a field trip to the oil rig. She wanted to know how that went. Specifically, if he got any dirt on the Nostrads. Once she was through the door, she'd read the text and answer him.

Matheson opened the door, and now instead of leading to the women's bathroom in the Weather Institute, it led out into the streets of Shalour City, where one of the cars that Sergio kicked earlier was being towed. "Your metaphorical chariot awaits."
"Thanks. Hey, listen, that picture isn't gonna affect you and me-"
"No no no, it's totally fine." Math scratched the back of his head. "It actually helps, kind of. Politics, you know?"

That wasn't something Sal expected to hear. "Um, no? I don't."
"I'll explain later when you guys aren't attached so we can speak privately." Math looked at Zack. "Nothing personal, but I just met you and I think you wouldn't want to hear it anyway. Hey, are you attracted to me again? There's something I need to know." He tugged at the silk fabric of his shirt. "Does this shirt make me look fat? I feel like it's too tight, I feel fat in this shirt."  

[Marsuru]

'Matheson, you look incr-' Zack pursed his lips. 'Look, now is not the best time to get an unbiased opinion from me. And I hope you're not asking because you think I'm a male model because I swear to god.'  

[Jump Einatz]

Math tilted his head to the side. "You're not? No, I mean, uh, I thought you were a maaaaaaaAAAAaaa-" he drawled, trying to think of another word. "-aaaale model. Wait, I did that wrong-"

"OH-kay," Sal blurted out, shoving herself and Zack through the door. She was feeling Zack's annoyance ebb and flow through her. Just what did Matheson mean by politics? How could being seen with someone else be good for them? "I'll talk to you later thank bye!"

Shalour City

Salieri closed the door behind them, and the last thing they saw of Hoenn was Matheson waving at them.

"Politics? What does he mean, politics?" Salieri scoffed and whipped out her Pokégear, texting with her free hand. "Not that I care or whatever. Just stupid." Salieri saw that Ben said he needed to talk. It sounded like the beginning of a conversation to her, or a scene switch.

Go for it. Is this a new number? Did you find the thing?

Sal sent the text. She was slightly wary of the chance that it wasn't Benedict because the number was unfamiliar, so she left out her keywords. If her calls or texts were being monitored, Mia's software would drop either and deliver a Trojan on the perpetrator, but if the person on the other end of the line was some kind of spy there was nothing the software could do about that.

"Mia said we only get one real shot with this thing," Salieri said, looking at the tracker. In the north she saw the Tower of Mastery. Another high tide meant the sandbar path was open again. "You said they might be able to help us over there? We should do that first, cover our bases to make this shot count."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Ben sighed in relief when she messaged him back. He didn't want to risk Alexa until he was sure he could have whatever defense against spying there was.

Different one, but old. I remember you mentioned you had a friend that could help with my phone, the other one isn't looking so good.  

[Marsuru]

'"Politics" is just how you say people are being assholes, politically,' said Zack, still not sure how gay he felt now they were back in Shalour. Part of him still wanted to be in Hoenn and hang around with Matheson, but the real part of him knew they were running out of time to break the bond. He thought back to his training, on how they were drilled to filter out distractions during battle.

He refocused.

'We've no guarantee the bird man's gonna stick around,' Zack said, looking away from the tower. 'I say we hit him sooner rather than later, and if that fails the tower's our Plan B.'