Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Marsuru]

The Fishbone - Centre of the Ship

The Fishbone drenched in deep red, and Zack halted Helena from taking another step. He knew what this meant; the ship went into lockdown, the trap cards activated. He wracked his brain as he tried to recall Salieri's memories of where the traps might be located. Nothing.

'Watch your steps, kids!' Ska hollered, giving Zack just enough time to swear under his breath before the pirate launched his shuriken cards. Zack didn't dodge, but caught the shuriken with his sling's material, so that the razor tips only bit his arm. Ska wanted them to move, which meant that they were close to a trap. Real close.

Loki vanished, creating a jet of air pressure as he replaced himself with one of the pokémon from outside. Zack covered his face with his forearm as the rush of air and light cleared, and the corridor became blocked. Luckily, this prevented Seelie from becoming Sergio's target, as whichever pokémon Loki switched in would absorb her Return. Less luckily, Helena didn't yet know about the traps.

'Keep moving,' she said with utmost seriousness before immediately triggering Ska's Confusion Trap, which had been but a foot away. Zack rolled his eyes as his sister turned and charged directly towards danger, forcing him to catch her forearm and swing her the right way round. In the same motion, he ducked and scooped her onto his shoulder, where she would undoubtedly kick and squirm to be free.

That, however, proved to be just one of Zack's issues. The one positive outcome from Helena's triggering of the Confusion Trap was that Zack remembered the trick to this corridor; its alternating Flame and Confusion Traps, and more importantly the distance between them.

'Hold on tight, little sister,' Zack called, though Helena would likely hear it as 'Retsis elttil, thgit no dloh' until she snapped out of her confusion. With either Fatass or Tyrant filling up the corridor behind, Zack had time to escape, but he didn't count on it being long. Instinct made him take the left route, but before he did, he made sure Seelie sent a Hyper Voice down the right corridor. The sound blast triggered each trap in turn, causing the Confusion Traps to spark and crack while the Flame Traps sprayed fire and warped into black metal. Then he took the left route.

Seelie stuck by the trainer's side, leaping over the untouched traps in perfect synchronization. When Ska made it past the Ally pokémon, he would be confronted with two paths. Knowing that Ska didn't think much of him, Zack didn't expect the pirate captain to think that he would lay a false trail. Even if it didn't keep Ska off his back for long, the wild goose chase ought to buy the Redgraves some distance.

And when he reached the end of the corridor and the doors opened, Zack would follow the trail of defeated pirates towards the mess hall. Some of the unconscious pirates were lying on where the traps activated, triggering them immediately. It wasn't a pretty sight; smoke haze hovered over the floor, pirates were caught in a net of vines, fire blew out lights and dulled parts of the red to black. Remembering what he could, Zack would attempt to avoid the traps and reach the bridge.

The Fishbone - Above Deck

Malis had plenty of practice dodging, but dodging lightning? He bore his fangs, and utitlised an array of Flame Jets to dart around the sparking arcs of Bosstone's Discharge. Electric blue rained across the deck, tracing lines that left the floor scorched. Malis worked his way towards the floating electric battery, but as fast as he was, he couldn't dodge forever. One of the Discharge bolts whipped his side, dealing partial damage and jolting him to the floor beneath Bosstone.

The Charmeleon lay on his back, staring upwards at the levitating Eelektross. His chest swelled, his claws dug into the deck, his tailflame flared, and Malis unleashed a Fire Blast. The five-point flame would engulf Bosstone, cleave off around half of the pokémon's health, and likely finish it.

If that happened, Malis would lower his guard, and sigh a poof of smoke, having forgotten all about Stunky.

The Fishbone - Stern

Lethal frothed around the gills, wondered whether he could conjure up enough water to flood the entire hallway, decided he couldn't, and nodded. He aimed his cannon claw to where Salieri indicated, and clicked his joints into position. Either this would work really well or... Lethal frothed a little more, and charged.

A blast of water erupted from the rear valve on his cannon claw, causing the Clawitzer to surge forth on Aqua Jet, triggering each of the traps in the group's way. The traps exploded in sequence behind him, and the water type came to a sudden stop by almost blowing the next door off its hinges. He looked back and gave a thumbs up with his little claw, and tried to tell them the coast was clear, but all he had were bubbles.

The Fishbone - Cannon

[Kekeke, you mean the only one who'll survive is a ghost?] Hazard grinned at the irony, but even she knew that it was in poor taste. With Essence growing bigger and bigger, preparing to cut the tablet from the cannon, Hazard leaned over and offered her support. [You want me to just - kekeke - you know, just reach in and break it?]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Launching himself far enough backwards to avoid Shield-Ancile's Iron Head meant that Jean had to give up a considerable amount of ground. If he wanted to chase after Ratio, that also meant he'd forfeited time. And a little extra time was all Ancile needed to bar the aura master's path. Shield-Ancile changed size as it activated King's Shield, regaining its defences while returning Sword-Ancile's attack power. The shield clamped itself over the doorway that led to the hall, forming an impenetrable barrier, and leaving Jean trapped in Nostrad's study.

In the hallway, Ira was about to learn what it meant to fight another aura master's pokémon. Celarsi itself was versed in aura detection, and sensed Basilic preparing its Aerial Ace from outside. Presented with Ratio as a target instead of Ira, the Scizor-Ditto slid to the ground as Basilic ripped through the window. The Garchomp wasn't angled correctly for a grounded opponent, and flew harmlessly past Celarsi and through the opposite wall. As Celarsi righted itself, it moved past where Ratio was held and Night Slashed at the Shadow Bind, which would release Ratio from Ira's grasp.

If Ira didn't move fast, Celarsi would maintain its assault and Night Slash the Dusknoir, putting an end to it.

Downstairs, Shepard and Fury were making short work of the guards as they attempted to reach the upper floors. Shepard floated on a conjured squall, bobbing like a buoy in a storm and capturing the Nostrad guards in sticky cotton spores that grew rapidly across their bodies like cocoons. Fury was more direct. He lifted a guard's Pinsir overhead and launched it into a group, roaring, seeing red, but refraining from spilling unnecessary blood.

Serapis's arrival caused the two to take pause. The guards were just about done, but this small rodent had appeared, and it buzzed with aura.

'Baby, just a little something to help me get to sleep.' Parabolic Charge lifted stray furniture and unconcious guards and blew them into the walls. Shepard and Fury took marginal damage, exchanged glances, and prepared to do battle.  

[Spinne Biss]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Trapped by Ancile, Jean surveyed the situation. Nostrad was still on the move, and Ratio had been temporarily held up. It meant that he had only that amount of time to regain the distance.

Flashing to life was a three bladed set of shuriken, each one connected to a jar with a miniature antenna. One of two things would happen from here as the three shuriken flew - assuming they hit or weren't otherwise countered - they would either slam into Ancile or phase partway through Ancile before Jean pressed the button on the small remote hidden in his hand.

Either way the jars would break and combust into fire to ignite the steel type. The liquid flame, like Greek Fire, would burn even on water, which meant that so long as Ancile ended up coated in the material, she would burn.

As the fight down below between Fury, Sheppard, Eris, and Serapis would begin, Ratio was released thanks to Celarsi's efforts.

Ira, meanwhile, wasn't stuck helpless during a bind. Instead she would use disable to block off Celarsi's use of the second Night Slash, and then she'd be ready to dodge whatever might be the replacement followup.

If there was nothing, and Celarsi managed to avoid the disable, she'd quickly move to create distance between them to avoid the technique.

Basilic, meanwhile, would take a large chunk of the wall that had been broken away by the force of his arrival, to Fling it at Celarsi from the side. A moment later he'd shoot off, to slam a Dragon Claw into Celarsi's stomach the moment the Pokemon went to dodge his technique.  

[Marsuru]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Shield-Ancile burst into flame. Despite the pain it did not falter, and remained upright while losing 1/8th of its health per turn. All Shield-Ancile had to do was maintain her position to succeed in keeping Jean out of the fight. Less favorably, Sword-Ancile suffered from the Attack reduction from Shield-Ancile's burn, an effect Ratio would notice immediately.

Still, as Celarsi cut Ratio free from Shadow Bind and had its second Night Slash disabled, Ratio would pick up the slack. At the same time Ira used Disable on Celarsi, the aura master would perform a Night Slash of his own. With Ancile's reduced attack power, this would only cleave away around a quarter of Ira's health, but ought to push the Dusknoir off balance. As a follow up, Ratio and Ancile would activate Shadow Sneak, vanishing from sight in a swathe of black before reappearing behind the ghost type with increased priority and slashing it across the back for another quarter of its health. Since his initial strike took place while Ira used Disable, and his second had increased priority over whatever Ira might attempt, both strikes should go through.

If he could, Ratio would maintain this series of cuts until the ghost type fell, putting an end to the suffocating Pressure that Ira placed on the Chateau.

On Celarsi's side of the battle, the Scizor-Ditto flipped sideways with Agility to avoid Basilic's Fling. Thanks to its increase in speed, it was ready to meet the Garchomp's Dragon Claw as it landed with a Bullet Punch, smacking the claw away without taking damage. With the two so close to each other, Celarsi would attempt Iron Head Basilic's head, and drop the dragon type to its knees in a spray of blood, scales, and teeth.

Meanwhile, Lord Nostrad would run into the courtyard below, a blob of cotton on his shoulder. His stride fell loose and lopsided as he hurried for his Rolls-Royce parked gleaming in the waning sun. Ratio would sense him through aura, his desperation, elation and fear. If Nostrad made it another 20 steps, even with his ruined arm he might be able to flee in his car, and Ratio would fail.  

[Spinne Biss]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Jean-Pierre smiled at Ancile's pain. The Pokemon before him burned, and as he swung the chain of his scythe ended weapon, he'd wait, quiet, confident, smiling.

Burned.

Ancile's bladed half cut through Ira. The second strike, however, Ira wouldn't let go easy. Ratio might have taken the priority with Ancile, but unless his cut was intended to be shallow, it would have to go into Ira. An act that would make it impossible for Ancile, and Ratio's hands and wrists, to avoid being caught up in the binding clothes that closed around from the sides.

If the trap was successful, Ancile would be Hexed. The Pokemon, who was hollow inside and out, wouldn't take more than the one blow to defeat Ancile - weak to ghost, and suffering from a burn its other half had received. If it managed to switch defenses in time with its other half, it would only double the amount of Hexes Ira would need to defeat Ancile. (Damage calculations taken from Pokemon damage calculators.)

If it was a matter of strength, then both the Scizor-Ditto, Celarsi, and Basilic the Garchomp were equal. His own Iron Head would collide, the crack that would resound between them would be a combination of bone and steel-flesh.

While Celarsi would take less damage from the confrontation, it would put their literally face against face with Basilic as his fangs engulfed in flames and he attempted to sink the fiery teeth into their face, to take a chunk of it away with him.  

[Marsuru]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Hexed, Ancile flew from Ratio's grasp and stabbed into the floor some distance away. At the same time, Jean would see the light fade from Shield-Ancile's eyes as it slouched sideways. It remained upright and blocked the door, but Jean would be met with no resistance should be approach. Ratio was face to face with Ira, but he still had a trick up his sleeve.

Though Celarsi and Basilic were matched for raw power, Celarsi's Steel hide gave it the edge in both attack and defence. When the Iron Heads met, Basilic would be pushed backwards briefly, which was all the time Celarsi needed. Its speed already enhanced with Agility, the Scizor-Ditto would launch itself away from Basilic and its attempted Fire Fang, and ride a squalling Tailwind towards its master. As Hex blew Sword-Ancile away, Celarsi crossed the gap and bundled Ratio into its arms before flying the pair of them out of the window.

Celarsi released Ratio halfway down and the pair landed on the courtyard, side by side in a rain of glass. Lord Nostrad had almost reached his car. Ratio removed another pokéball from his cloak, allowed Nostrad a few more steps before ending his life. Ferox materialised in a blast of fiery light, moving like the wind, her powerful musculature reading through her hide with each graceful bound. Then she vanished in a blur. Nostrad could be a mile away and it wouldn't make a difference to the Arcanine's Extremespeed.

Ratio had planned for a cleaner demise, but this would do. For his crimes against the people of Kalos, Lord Nostrad's throat would be ripped out, and his body burned to cinders.  

[Spinne Biss]

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago [link to next post]

If one surveyed the actual battle it would have been filled with lethal moves for pretty much any normal person. The gash down Jean's chest tingled pleasurably, the very nature of his pain altered by his aura. Launching himself toward the unconscious form of Ancile, he'd make to place a boot into the Pokemon. Without being conscious to brace itself, it was just a matter of dislodging the Pokemon from the doorway and overcoming the weight with raw strength.

Their knowledge was shared, a giant network of aural information. As Aura users there wasn't a lot that Ratio and Jean could hide from each other personally. Obscure, fake, sure. But flares in aura, intense emotions, it shined brightly in them. Jean would appear, the entirety of their conflict, as a beacon of excitement - especially now as he gave chase after the assassin.

Ira and Basilic would arrive at the window as their opponents landed. The fiery flash of light that was Ferox's arrival was blinding and magnificent. Jean felt Basilic's awe through their aura bond as he gave chase, what happened next wouldn't take a second for Ferox.

Prison de la Folie - Prison Of The Madness

Ira would later muse that Ferox must have been used to the sensation of the world standing still for her. With such incredible speed, it would be as if everything around her waited for the fiery Pokemon of Legend to react first.

Instead the Arcanine, if she used Extreme Speed, would find the Trick Room hidden within Ira's pressure. Inside of this room, priority moves would cause their user to freeze, as if frozen in time, for its duration.

From there, Ira would launch herself at the Ferox and, if she managed to reach her, the fire type would be engulfed in the bandage like body of Ira, where she would be subjected to Toxic and Hexes until she lost consciousness.

And if Celarsi moved to defend Ferox, they'd abandon Ratio, who aimed to slam one of them into the ground with Aerial Ace. Ratio primarily, but with the nature of Aerial Ace's maneuverability he gave himself room to change targets should the Scizor-Ditto interfere.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Benedict and Crew

"That... was the sound of our time running out I think. We're out of options. I can't wait any longer. If you can get a message to the others, tell them to get off the ship. And that I'm sorry." Ben took a deep breath, and Francis positioned himself, preparing to try and take control of the air in case the cannon exploded and threatened to coat them in the gas. Or, well, preparing a whirlwind should the gas start coming out.


The Fishbone - Cannon
Caboose took a deep breath. [You might set off a trap like that. If you can, get the round inside it far enough that it can't fire.]

He would remain still to act as a backup should their current plan fail.

If Hazard listened and did as asked, Essence would give them a moment before firing a Cut aiming to sever the wires that connected the tablet.  

[Jump Einatz]

The Fishbone - Center of the Ship

Skarada was expecting a retaliation. What he hadn't expected was the dinosaur from outside to suddenly be inside and in his face. In these close quarters, Tyrant was not just a threat to him, but a threat to the ship as well. The Despot Pokémon could damage something integral to the ship if he was left to rampage, and then they'd all be going down.

Sergio's Return kick was now on course to Tyrant's gaping jaws. Her foot would press down on the top of his snout, doing less damage to his Rocky skin but closing his mouth in the process. His Strong Jaws lowered closer to the ground while his charging foot would trip and activate a Flame Trap underneath him.

With this narrow space, Tyrant would have trouble turning around. A straight charge was his most viable option. Unfortunately for Skarada, that straight charge was coming at him. But Keasbey was able to act again, and whipped up a priority Tailwind with a flap of his wings.

With Tyrant’s mouth, and subsequently head, lowered towards the floor by Sergio’s kick, there was a big gap of space between him and the ceiling. Capitalizing on this moment, Ska and his party used their enhanced Speed to jump and fly atop and over the dinosaur’s back, dashing to the other side. Now they were behind Tyrant, facing the two corridors with no sign of the Redgraves.

Well, there was one sign. The traps in the corridor leading to the bottom deck had all been violently tripped.

Skarada had to make a choice now. For the Redgraves to have tripped every single trap in a hallway but not be in sight was unlikely. It still wasn’t something he could rule out. There was also the matter of the bloodthirsty dino behind them, but with its mobility limited by the narrow halls, it wasn’t as pressing as stopping the more nimble Redgraves.

The pirate captain released his last Pokémon, a weathered looking Samurott (42). He pointed down the right hand corridor. “Keasbey, Ferris, down that hall. Sergio, you’re with me.”

So they split up. Ferris ran on all fours with Keasbey flying at his side down the trapless hall towards the hangar to protect the cannon, while Ska and Sergio took the other path. If Erin was in danger, there was no chance he wouldn’t try to be there for her himself.

Knowing exactly where the traps were placed allowed Ska and Sergio to move without pause as they passed all their fallen comrades in the hall. When had they been defeated? Beforehand, by Salieri? Or right now by Zack and Helena? The sight made his stomach turn in knots. He couldn’t help imagining Erin laying face down on the floor. Their child…

That’s when Ska saw Zack down the hall, holding Helena over his shoulder next to Seelie. “ZACKARY!”

Sergio ripped the steel door next to her off its sliding track, holding it with her ears as Ska stuck two Fire Traps on it. She threw the slab of metal down the hall with a heavy Fling, and it whistled through the air as it careened for the siblings.

The Fishbone – Above Deck

Suddenly swapped with Tyrant, Loki would appear on the deck in his place, consequently taking the Discharge attack in his stead. Stunky now found herself hiding behind not a dinosaur, but a yellow Psychic.

Bosstone looked down at Malis below him, and formed a Thunderbolt in his hands. Another Discharge would help deter Loki too, but Malis was closer and therefore more threatening right now. The Eelektross thrust his hands in front of him and let loose the ball of electricity.

It clashed with the Fire Blast in the air between them, both attacks grinding against each other in a cacophony of heat. The Fire Blast expanded, growing five points and pushing through to make both attacks explode in Bosstone’s face.

Bosstone was flung away, plopping down on the deck and twitching.

Stunky gulped. She held her head low and grabbed her ears, terrified. [I surrender,] she squeaked with one eye open.

The Fishbone – Stern

“Nice,” Sal said to Lethal as she hobbled down the hall, offering the briefest of praises in this trying time. The door at the end of the hall was the one that led to the bridge.

She paused before it, and looked back at the Pokémon. “Hold your fire when we go in. I want to…talk to her.” Salieri couldn’t believe she was saying that out loud. She had always been the type to beat an understanding into her opponents. But not today. Not now.

Gotengo

One of the kids gathered around Mia put his face into the PC’s microphone before she could get another word in. “Hey! You can do it!”
“YEAH! GET’EM!” yelled another kid. “Ben! Ben! Ben!”

The kids started chanting his name, rallying themselves behind the hope his last chance offered. Mia flexed her fingers. “Good luck.”

Time Until Cannon Is Operational: 50 seconds  

[Spinne Biss]

The Fishbone - Center of the Ship

The intense feeling of vertigo overtook Helena. Nothing was right anymore, and she couldn't process the individual factors to try and understand what was happening. Zack lifted her up and a lot of her squirming would be trying to figure out the correct limb to use, but feeling too dizzy to fully process which one it was that she actually had moved.

As Zack raced down the halls with her in tow, the sound of flame being sucked into a singular point(like the opposite of an explosion), like a vent, sounded around her. She'd need time to recover.

And in the meantime...

Tyrant buried the talons of his left foot into the ground as he braced himself for Sergio's kick. His right foot would slam into the wall beside him as Ska and his crew raced off.

The vibrations of this action would rock the wall with Earthquake as Tyrant aimed to tear the whole wall out in order to turn himself around to go after the pirate. To that end, he would repeat this action again and again until either the wall caved, or he collapsed from his poison.


The Fishbone – Above Deck

Loki tingled with the electric sensations of Discharge, the feeling followed the pain he had felt from the attack upon his arrival.

[You're not Pan,] Loki said as he twisted around to look at Stunky. [Are they alright? Pan and Feather?]

Malis had taken care of the rest of their conflict. He was likely to race off after the Redgraves now. Loki knew what he was getting into when he switched places, but it was the better move. He was unlikely to be following after, not before it was too late.  

[Marsuru]

The Fishbone - Center of the Ship

Zack's eye twitched when Ska called out to him, but it gave him enough warning to throw caution to the wind. It was a good thing he did. The Flame Trapped panel collided with the end of the corridor just as Zack rounded the corner, and erupted in a blast of flame and steel. Hot air surged across Zack's back, fire whipping his shoulder as he dropped Helena to the floor in front of him, and shielded her with his body. The metal panel warped from the impact force, sounding a junkyard avalanche as the wall buckled and sagged as a mess of steel and cables. The corridor had damn near collapsed behind them, but Zack knew it wouldn't slow Ska for long. The pirate captain still had a way to go through the horrorscape of his ship, precious seconds draining through the glass.

'Helena,' Zack whispered, helping his sister up the best he could with one arm. Seelie padded a nervous half circle, his fur bristling as Ska and Sergio drew nearer. 'Helena. Snap out of it, little sister. It's on you now.'

If the flung panel hadn't brought Helena out of her Confusion, nothing would. Another long corridor stretched ahead of them, leading to the Mess Hall doors. Small signs dotted along walls would guide Helena the rest of the way to the bridge, Zack could still picture them. It was an odd feeling, knowing a foreign place so intimately, but he didn't have time to muse. Heart pounding, breathless from the chase, Zack turned back.

'Might've judged that better if you still had depth perception,' Zack shouted around the corner. 'You lame, pirate piece of s**t.'

Sparing his sister one last look, Zack winked and rounded the corner. On Zack's mental command, Seelie blew Fairy Wind through the wrecked wall, and collapsed the rest of it behind the trainer. Smoke and sparks flew in a thunderfall of sound, transforming the area behind Zack into a backdrop of black and lightning. Ska never missed an opportunity to grandstand, and Zack wouldn't go down with his back turned. He could slow the pirate down better this way. It was for the best. Zack took an empty pokéball from his belt. All he had left.

Seelie would stick with Helena, singing his Disarming Voice to trigger any traps before they reached them. It would be better for the pokémon to go with Helena; Écarlate and Seelie needed to play bodyguard given what lay ahead. Zack could take care of himself. Sweat trickled slick down his face, and he exhaled through his nose. Time to get in character.

'Like what we've done with the place?' Zack shouted to his opponent, his glare fixed, his grin s**t-eating.

The Fishbone - Above Deck

Malis bolted upright at the sound of Stunky's surrender. Oh. Yeah. It was there, wasn't it? The Charmeleon lumbered to his feet, eying the Alakazam with suspicion. Hadn't there been a big, dumb dinosaur there a second ago? Whatever.

[Nice moustache, a*****e,] Malis called up to Loki. [We done fighting or what?]

The Fishbone - Cannon

Hazard did as asked, allowing Essence to cut the tablet from its wires, which hopefully wouldn't turn out to be trapped either. Cause it wouldn't just blow up in their faces, it'd blow up in her face specifically. Plus a whole lotta people would probably die.

The Fishbone - Stern

The pokémon all held their fire emotion_dowant  

[Jump Einatz]

The Fishbone - Center of the Ship

The end of the corridor was now blocked off to Zack and Ska by a barrier of ceiling and wall tiles. Sparks from the stray wires lit up, illuminating the shadows behind Zack with fleeting flashes of flame. Helena, Seelie and Ecarlate would be left to their own devices on their way to the mess hall and the bridge.

The new obstacle gave Skarada pause, something Sergio picked up on. Eager to keep fighting, the Mega Lopunny bounced on her heels excitedly in an effort to keep herself focused while the captain went through calculations.

If the Pokémon in the vault room had indeed belonged to Zack’s sister, that meant the Scizor was her last one. It meant Helena would be heading to the bridge with two Pokémon, where Erin would be waiting for her armed to the teeth with higher numbers. The odds were in his wife’s favor for a fight. But so long as she and their baby were even remotely in danger, Skarada became anxious over any odds that weren’t absolute.

Then he counted up Zack’s Pokémon. The Clawitzer and Kirilia had been spotted on the deck earlier. The Charmeleon and Snorlax were on the deck now. And the Sylveon was with Helena now. That left Zack’s Gengar unaccounted for. His last Pokémon against Ska’s last Pokémon.

Ska wasn’t worried about losing this fight, as long as Sergio remained Scrappy. He was more concerned with Erin, until he recalled that time was on their side. It was the meddling kids who were fighting the clock to stop the cannon. Ska felt uneasy putting his faith in the odds that Erin would take care of any problems on her end without him, although until he got to the bridge he had no choice. The unease brought on feelings of wounded pride. He had never been worried about Erin in a combat zone before. This must have been the curse of being a father. Nothing would be safe enough anymore, not for his baby girl.

“Didn’t ask for renovations, mate,” Skarada chimed back, taking a few steps forward. Not all the traps in the hallway had been sprung. Zack had somehow avoided tripping any himself, considering he wasn’t swaying in Confusion or on fire. How the boy avoided his security system, he had no idea, but he couldn’t rely on it here.

Ska jingled the burlap sack of Mega Stones and jewels over his shoulder, loud enough for Zack to hear the clanging of precious metals and ores. “No doubt I can pay for it, though. Rich man walking here. Or I will be, soon as we leave.”

He tossed the sack into the open room next to him where Sergio had ripped off the door. “My mistake was assuming you’d wise up, keep your head down. But you just had to join the fight, didn’tcha? Zackary, I gotta know, what’s in it for you?

A rumbling shook the ship. It could’ve been turbulence, but it came again and again rhythmically until there was no doubt it was something else. The captain surmised it was probably the big angry dinosaur he had left behind. Ska did his best to ignore it, and drew three more cards from the holster on his belt, pinching them between his fingers. “Whatever the reason is, it’s wrong. And liable to hurt you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rumblings that shook the ship had been coming from Tyrant’s Earthquakes as he writhed to tear himself free from the confines of the hallway. Each tremor did more damage to the inner workings of his occupied sector. The walls bulged outwards from his position until they caved into other rooms, warping and ripping off to give Tyrant just enough move to pull a 180 with his huge frame.

Tyrant would make it down to the split in the hallway, with the left and right hall options presented to him. But he would not make it very long along either of them before the Toxic poison and remaining Traps wore him down.

The Fishbone – Above Deck

Pan and Feather? Stunky didn’t know what the Alakazam meant, but he was probably talking about the furry and flowery ones back at the vault. Sergio had roundhoused them both through the wall and out of sight, as far as Stunky knew.

She hated the Kalosians and their allies as much as any of the other pirates, but she had already got her a** kicked once in the past ten minutes. There wasn’t any good she could do now except for the personal good of self preservation.

[C-cap’n beat ‘em up real bad,] Stunky whimpered. She pointed off the airship, down at the island. [They’re down there. Now leave me alone!]

The Fishbone – Stern

Salieri gulped and stepped into the double doorway. The doors slid open. She walked in.

The Fishbone – The Bridge

There was no one in the bridge room except for Erin and her Pokémon. Her Bronzong was spinning behind her in the center of the room, humming with extra dimensional energy. The first mate herself sat in the swivel chair in front of the main control console, leaning back with her one hand on her very pregnant stomach. In her sleek, rubber and steel prosthetic hand was a detonator. Her thumb hovered over the button as she stared at Salieri.

She was tinted red, because surrounding her and that main console was a dome of crimson crystal. Standing next to her was her Sableye, Hawkins. Salieri noticed there was something different about him. His sapphire eyes were ruby now, and he was a little bigger. The Keystone embedded into Erin’s prosthetic arm was glowing. Hawkins had Mega Evolved, and the crystal shield he was supposed to carry had been fashioned into a protective barrier around his trainer.

Even if she wanted to fight, Salieri and her Pokémon allies would have had to get past these protections. It was meant to stall, waste time by defending. But Salieri also saw that Skarada wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted the perfect baby shower gift for his daughter. A Mega Sableye could protect that baby reliably.

“You’re crazy pregnant,” Salieri noted bluntly, after a few seconds of the former crewmates staring at each other in silence.
“I hadn’t noticed,” Erin said back with lived in sarcasm, the volume of her voice muted slightly by the crystal dome. Her tone was commanding, but not volatile. Erin wasn’t looking for a fight either, and for good reason.
“Boy or girl?”
Erin rubbed her belly. Some warmth leaked past her hardened veneer. “Girl.”
“When’s she due?”
“In a month.”

The two women had expected to be up in arms the moment they saw each other, given their history. The dearth of combat tension between them gave way to social tension, and what could have ended up a messy, brutal affair was instead a serious yet awkward, melancholy reunion.

“Take a seat, Salieri,” Erin told her in a way that was nearly an order. She was retaining control of the situation, even if Salieri’s calm came instead of a storm.

Durendal hovered in the air next to his trainer, just as thrown off by this confrontation as the humans were. Yet Salieri held up a hand for him to stand down. His feet touched the ground again, but he still kept up Balestra a la Mode, filling the room with a cool breeze and keeping himself coated in a scarf of red dust and wind just in case things went south.

Salieri obliged Erin’s request, pulling up a stool and taking a seat on the other side of the crystal. Sitting was a welcome luxury. Her poorly mended joints and bones creaked.

“I’d congratulate you, but you’re trying to wipe away a town full of people. Again.”
Erin sat back in her seat, getting comfy. “And here you are, getting in my way. Again.” She nodded at Salieri’s arm. “See you got that back.”
“Jealous?”
Erin didn’t let up at that snipe. “How did you do it?”

Salieri looked away for a second, debating whether to say it or not. Straight faced, she said to Erin, “Time travel.”

Erin studied Salieri’s face. Getting irritated, she flicked at a curly lock of blonde hair. “Fine. I don’t wanna know.”
“What do you want, Erin? The Sablenite’s not good enough, you want to kill these people too?”
“Sablenite’s half the deal. “ Erin rubbed her stomach. She could feel the baby kicking. “Gotta have the best and only the best from this godforsaken planet for my baby…but did you really think this was the only one? Getting it in Kalos kills two birds with one stone.”

Erin looked up, and shifted to cold bitterness. “Remember how you described Kalos to us when we took you in, Sal? A cesspool. That really stuck, seemed like the perfect term. They say Kalos is beautiful. I grew up in a desert. Why should the same people who invaded our country, bombed our homes, live in a paradise when we were left with nothing? This is a tipping of the scales. Justice, Sal, is what we want. Simple and plain. I wanna see their fear. I thought you of all people would get that.”

Salieri took a long, hard look at Erin. She put her hands on her knees and sat up straight, processing her thoughts on Erin and Ska. This was when she figured out why they weren’t at each other’s throats.

It was because, even though Erin had cut off Salieri’s arm, Salieri had it back now. Even though Salieri had stopped the cannon the first time, Ska and Erin kept on flying. Prou was gone, and Erin couldn’t change that. Sal tore up the ship, but Erin knew that would happen. With so much else that was important to both of them, it was more exhausting to hold an extra grudge than to let it go.

And yet, Erin had her finger on the trigger. Shalour City wasn’t Salieri’s problem. But it was wrong to walk away.

“That is so stupid.”
“Wow. You don’t like the plan the second time around,” Erin said with flat sarcasm. “Shocker.”
“You get nothing out of this but a pile of bodies. That’s not justice.”
Erin didn’t give off any smug grins. She kept her same serious expression. “Worth it. They deserve-“
“Who cares about what they deserve? Did you even think this through? What are you gonna do when this is over?”
“We’ll get rich off of Kalosian treasure and live as free folk.” Erin was getting indignant now that she was being challenged. Her tone was rising to match Salieri’s. “Don’t tell me you’ve taken their side, girl. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in line.”
“They won’t let you go. This is a country built on ego, they will find you wherever you are and make you pay. You won’t be free, Erin. You’ll run forever.”

Erin’s lips curled into a small pout. “Yeah, well. What else is new?”
“Pirate Junior is new. You’ve been carrying a fresh start for months. You really want her to be a part of this saga?” Now Salieri was getting just as indignant, though she tried to calm herself. The fact that Erin could not see the blindspots in her own plan was pissing Sal off. Criminals weren’t known for robust forethought, but getting trapped in a cycle of revenge against a powerful, petty nation was a bad call. Maybe Erin couldn’t see it because she was too close to the problem. That just frustrated Sal even more. What kind of fool couldn’t see that their quest was hollow?

“What I want is for Kalos to feel my pain. I told you that already.”
“If you really wanted that, you wouldn’t have let me sit down. You would’ve hit me soon as those doors opened.”
“What, and skip getting coached by the hypocrite pro?” Erin’s pout turned into a scowl. “I see what you’re trying to do. Take advantage of the future mommy’s sentimentality. I’m pregnant, not soft.”

Salieri didn’t understand what Erin meant when she said ‘hypocrite’. She looked past it. “No, Erin. Not your sentimentality. Your pragmatism.” She scooched her stool closer to the crystal dome, until she could put one pleading hand on its smooth surface. “You said you wanted what’s best for the baby. You push that trigger, and that kid will never know peace. She’s gonna inherit your crappy life, and your enemies that she’s never even seen. And then when she grows up, she’ll be the next one to point that stupid cannon at some stupid town, because all she’s gonna know is how to fight and how to hate, and that’ll be on you.”

Erin didn’t have a response for that. She looked away, avoiding Salieri’s eyes and glancing out the window at the Shalour City skyline. “Don’t give this kid a never ending grudge. That’s no legacy-“

Salieri paused. Her eyes glossed over for a second as she came to another realization. Softly, she added on, “Don’t let her end up like me.”

Erin’s fingers curled and uncurled around the detonator. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

“You can still put it down, Erin.”

The Fishbone - Cannon

The room was still as Essence Cut the wires while Hazard pushed the payload inside the barrel. The tablet sparked once, then fizzled.

The cannonball rolled out of the barrel of the cannon at Hazard's behest and plopped to the ground, inert without a firing mechanism. The loading bar on the display froze. Then a blinking 'ERROR' message filled the screen.

Time Until Cannon Is Operational: N/A  

[Spinne Biss]

The Fishbone - Center of the Ship

Helena's fall shook her from confusion. Still groggy, she looked up at Zack. He was about to play hero again. She couldn't stop him, but she could protect him. If Écarlate wasn't free of his ball, he would be now. ((I can't remember))

"Go," she said, retrieving the Scizorite from her bag as Zack walked down the hall to meet Ska. The Sage had explained it to her, the stone, the power, just before the pirates attacked. "Protect him, please." she said.

Écarlate trapped the stone inside of his claw and, with a nod, turned to follow after. The corridor came down as he did, which left Écarlate to emerge from the smoke that obscured the debris of the collapsed hall.

[If you can use it,] Écarlate said as he produced the Scizorite, first opening his claw to let it drop toward the front, and then pinching it between the lips of the claw so that Zack could grab it. [Use it.] His eyes remained on their opponents.

***

Helena looked to Seelie once the smoke and dirt from the debris had billowed past them. She got to her feet, "we gotta keep moving." Seelie knew that, Helena thought. The teen would continue down the hall, hoping to make her way toward the ship, stopping only when Seelie would destroy the traps ahead of them.

She took the time to observe the points where they would ignite when Seelie did, continuing forward after explosions. It would help her to know their location just in case Seelie couldn't blow them up anymore.

***

Tyrant spun around in a 180, taking in a deep breath as he did. The scents of his next meals filled his nose. As the dinosaur began to run, his poison would cycle through his system and one of Tyrant's legs would give. Dropped to a knee, Tyrant snarled to himself.

But he remained still. Letting the poison cycle without making it worse, Tyrant would wait. If the Pirate and his men wanted to get rid of him, they'd have to come back. That's when he would strike.

The Fishbone – Above Deck

Loki listened to both Malis and the Stunky. [Leave,] he told the Stunky before he looked back toward the corridor with Tyrant. [We can't move forward until he collapses.] So, with nothing else to do, Loki began looting the unconscious bodies of the pirates.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

The Fishbone - Outside the Cannon
Ben felt like he was holding his breath forever when the team disarmed the cannon, and unloaded it just in case. He was pretty sure that wouldn't help if it went off, but there wasn't really much else to do. There were kids cheering his name, hopefully from a safe distance. Into his phone. Oh.

Other people knew about it.

When they didn't all die quite suddenly, he realized that the moment of waiting had passed. "Cannon didn't fire."

The Fishbone - Paperweight
[Well. That looks like good news.] Caboose said, staring at the error message. The image of that, and the round being removed, and frankly everything not going terriblty, was transmitted to Ben. [Do we need to hold this room? That seems like a weird thing to do, but maybe we want to?]

Essence was panting in a bit of relief once she realized not everyone was going to die. [I dunno, why would we?]

Both of them glanced to Hazard, as if to take her vote.

Fishbone - Benedict
"It's down. Not sure what you can do next with that, but we need to capitalize on it. I'm going inside to help the others."

Ben led Francis to the path that Caboose had taken to get inside the ship. Overall, the window was a tight squeeze, but both he and Manny could get through, then return Francis to the pokeball. Once he'd managed to get inside, Manny started trying to pick out familiar minds to send a telepathic message to.the rest of the Crew.

It would be the image of the cannon, its ammo removed, and the tablet with the error message. Along with something more language-based to the effects of We shut it down, let's finish this.

That done, Ben would choose a random direction to run in to try and find his way to the others to help. Wherever they were.  

[Marsuru]

Center of the Ship

Écarlate stepped from the black mass while Ska spoke. Zack would have preferred the Scizor to stay with Helena, but the corridor had sealed shut by way of debris. Besides, he could use the support. Zack might have beaten a Mega Garchomp with a pokéball throw, but unless Sergio started munching on an explosive, he doubted he could repeat the feat. Écarlate tossed him a Scizorite, which chimed as it bounced on the floor. Without a key stone, a mega stone was useless, and Zack's only hand already held his empty pokéball. He wouldn't give away his bluff just yet.

'Whatever the reason is,' Ska said, 'it’s wrong. And liable to hurt you.'
Zack looked himself over. From the muck and dirt, the sweat and his strapped up arm, he was a wreck. Better him than anyone else. 'Do I look like I care about getting hurt?'

The rumbling Zack took as turbulence quaked through the ship, reminding him with each thrash of the impending cannon blast. Zack assumed it would be obvious when the cannon fired. A thunderous shudder through the ship, maybe the lights would go out, and thousands of people would die. Since that hadn't happened, Zack chose to be optimistic. They weren't dead yet.

'That's just how it is, Skarada. Ain't nothing in it for me except the satisfaction of seeing you fail.' Zack grinned. This was it. 'So tell me something. You gonna cry when we take your daughter away?' He took the first step forward. 'She'll grow up speaking Kalosian, Ska, I'll make sure of it.'

The Fishbone - Paperweight

[Because,] Hazard said sagely, [it's what you were born to do. Kekekeke! Woooooooooooo~!]

And she flew off through the ship.  

[Spinne Biss]

Tower of Mastery - Loser Pile

Pan struggled to sit up through the pain. The enemy had taken them out pretty much immediately after Helena had left.

[There's something in the window.] Feather had woken up before him. Figures, Pan thought, she was stronger than him.

[What?] He moved to stand next to her and he looked over at the window, where an armored being stood perched.

The Fishbone - Above Deck

Loki paid Malis no mind as he took what he could from the defeated pirates. The only thing that took him from his goal was the sudden light and heat that emanated from it that rose from below deck to high above them.

[That can't be good.]

Tower of Mastery - The Highest Point

Gogandantes landed on the roof a moment later, standing atop the tallest pillar. His armor gauntlet covered hand rose, the intricate design decorating it, architecture specific to Kalos, but furthermore, a style of armor decoration reserved solely for the Quillon.

One finger pointed at the one of the propellers of The Fishbone. With Sunny Day, Gogandantes didn't need to charge the attack. Instead, a green spark curled around his pointed index finger. When it reached the tip immediately it would expand to several times the circumference of Gogandantes - tail included. The emerald Solar Beam fired, not just with Gogandantes' own base power, but with a Special Attack stat that he maxed out on his journey to the city.