Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Marsuru]

Camphrier Town - Pokémon Center Garden

"Cool, meet me at the Center by Vernal Avenue in five minutes," Zack said, "I gotta handle something real quick."

Zack turned off the Xtransceiver without waiting for Helena's reply. His hearing hadn't deceived him; Salieri was hanging out of a window talking s**t. Fantastic.

"Do your parents know you're out here?" he asked, putting on a fake tone of concern.  

[Jump Einatz]

"They don't make big kids hand in permission slips, but I didn't expect you to know that." Salieri pursed her lips together, returning Zack's mock concern with her own brand. "Are you sure you're okay out there? It's dangerous for a badge-less trainer to go alone."

She couldn't be sure he had no badges, but Helena did mention that he wasn't challenging the league. It was a fair assumption.  

[Marsuru]

Zack couldn't help but grin as he glanced away, shaking his head.

"I'm not lowering myself to your level, One Shot. Last time something fell that hard it wiped out the dinosaurs."

He let her badge comment just bounce off. Zack wasn't planning on challenging the league, but if badges really were so important around Kalos, he might have to go nab a few to shut some people up. Maybe a challenge wasn't such a bad idea after all? If he won, Zack could give the winnings to Helena, but the last thing he wanted to do was go into the tournament and wind up facing his own sister. For now it was probably just best to keep supporting her so she could take on this task herself.

"But honestly, I'm surprised to see you a third time. Shouldn't you be fading into the background with the rest of the noise?"  

[Jump Einatz]

A vein twitched on Salieri's forehead at the sound of "One Shot". She really hated that nickname. It wasn't even a real shot... But she played it cool and kept her snarky grin up. "Background noise? Pssh. Maybe if you got your hearing aide checked since you watched what happened to the dinosaurs, you'd know I'm just getting started."

Durendal closed his eyes and faced away from the conversation. As loyal as he was to his trainer, her trash talk was embarrassing. I'm not here right now, not here right now.

Salieri vaulted through the window and landed in the garden outside. "Since I have a rare moment where you don't have your babysitter around, I-"

"Hey." A Nurse poked her head out of the cafeteria's doorway. "No jumping out of the windows, please." She pointed to a sign that said just as much.
"Oh. Uh, my bad."

The Nurse gave a stern nod and went back inside. Salieri cleared her throat. "Where was I? Babysitters? You're a baby? Whatever." She crossed her arms, going from schoolyard taunting mode to serous and demanding.

"Tell me more about what you saw yesterday. With Gabriel Leroux."  

[Marsuru]

"I don't have to tell you a god damn thing," Zack said, smiling sweetly.

Now that he knew he had something Salieri wanted, he'd dangle it in front of her, ever out of reach. It wasn't pettiness so much as good business; a chip he could barter with if he ever needed something from her.

"You need to brush up on your sales pitch. What I know doesn't come cheap." Maybe he was laying it on a bit thick? He couldn't actually think of anything that Salieri could give him. Eh, who gives a damn? "If you've got nothing else to say, I have actual people to talk to."

Zack gave Serene a nod, and unless Salieri said or did something to stop him, they'd teleport back to Lumiose City.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

The same act that would close off a frontal assault was likely to blind the Vivillion, and Essence made use of the remaining infestation that had been coming for her to cut off vision between herself and Viola as well before she moved along towards the back, where an attack was possible.

Another worry seed would sprout, and launch itself towards the Vivillion as she started forward to close the distance. The hope would be that the irritation from the seed would prevent an immediate response as she tried a poison sting, enhanced by the growths, on the bug.  

[Jump Einatz]

For a moment, Salieri thought of retracting her statement and calling Zack's knowledge as a bluff to get under his skin. But apparently he didn't want to play that game, and he had an escape card with a Teleporter. She wasn't sure if he knew anything of value or not, but Zack was still the only new source of information on mysterious events concerning nobles. I can't believe he's making me play my cards.

"You saw something kill a Court Noble," Salieri said, stepping forward before Serene could Teleport away. "But you don't know why. I can tell you why."  

[Marsuru]

Zack told Serene to stop with a slight wave of his hand. He stared at Salieri for a good couple of seconds without saying anything, then let out a long, defeated sigh. Fine, he thought, he'd bite.

"Okay, I'll humour you," he said, "What do you think you know?"  

[Jump Einatz]

Salieri put a foot up on a bench and leaned forward, taking a deep breath.

"The Kalos nobility runs like a machine, and every noble is a cog," she explained, whirling a finger around in a circle. "None of them know the full extent of what the others are doing, but they work together for the same goals. And one of the goals they have is a secret. Something they can't have anybody outside of their circle knowing...I know this because my father was a Court Noble once."

Her throat went a little drier and she looked down at the ground. "He didn't want a part in whatever their secret goal is, so he gave up his title to live away from it all. When I was ten, the past caught up to him. The nobles got paranoid that he was the doomed loose end." Sal paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "They made sure he had forgotten what he knew for good."

She looked up at Zack. "The elites of Kalos hold reputation as a top priority. They can be monsters, but they aren't savages. If they wanted to protect their image they'd do it under the radar...they could've easily killed my dad, but they didn't. If someone is killing nobles in public, there are two good reasons to do it."

Salieri held up two fingers. "One is that someone wants their secrets out in the open. Death exposes everything, that's why they don't go for assasinations. The second is that it was a frameup. Something flashy, something obvious to draw our attention away from something else."

It sounded like paranoid conspiracy theories, but she laid them all down with sincerity. Factual or not, she truly believed what she was saying. Her amber eyes got very intense as she leaned forward over her own knee. "So, Zack, what do you think you know?"  

[Marsuru]

Zack listened to everything Salieri had to say. Even though she sounded crazy, like she'd forgotten to bring her tinfoil hat and just hadn't noticed, the earnestness at which she told him everything almost made him believe it himself. His research into the Creature hadn't yielded much of anything, and he'd hoped that Salieri's information could have been useful there. No such luck. Not unless he wanted to throw himself headlong into the ramblings of the mentally unbalanced.

"Or maybe some psycho just had a problem with this Leroux guy threw him out of a window?" Zack replied, "What if you're so obsessed with there being some secret conspiracy that you immediately jump to the first assumption that fits with it?"

He stifled a disbelieving laugh. "Look, I mean, you've clearly got some issues here. And I was being a bit facetious before but seriously: does anyone know you're out here? Cause if you're crazy and need to go someplace safe before you hurt yourself? I can take you back to the city."  

[Jump Einatz]

Salieri stood up, her eyes becoming a little wider. For a moment, she looked hurt by his words. But that hardened over just as quickly as it appeared, and the spun away.

"Forget it. You're just another tourist after all..." She walked towards the Pokemon Center, speaking over her shoulder. "Have fun finding out the hard way."  

[Marsuru]

Zack frowned as Salieri walked away. He hoped she wasn't really insane. Of course, the alternative meant that she was trying to lure him into some elaborate prank that he'd managed to avoid, which would have annoyed him to no end. Then again, he supposed it would be preferable to Salieri actually being a lunatic. The other alternative was that she was right about everything, and the Kalosian nobility were... being secretive? Clandestine rich old families? Yeah, no s**t.

"What is wrong with the people here?" he muttered, turning to Serene. "You ready?"

They disappeared in a flash of light.

Lumiose City - Vernal Avenue Pokémon Center

And a second later, they reappeared. At first there was a thin slit of bright white, which burst into a sparkling flash. Zack and Serene were now in the Center's Teleport Zone, a small rooftop area designed to allow trainers a safe place to teleport into Lumiose. The nearby floor gave way at the touch of their weight, and slowly hovered downwards like a miniature elevator. It lead from the Teleport Zone to the second floor of the Pokémon Center, from which the rest of the specialist hospital could be seen.

"Over there looks good," Zack said to his pokémon, pointing to a set of chairs sat square to the main entrance. From there they'd be able to see anyone coming down the floating disc elevators to the Teleport Zone, or anyone coming in through the main doors. Perfect spot to wait for Helena, assuming she didn't drag her heels.  

[Spinne Biss]

Lumiose City - Vernal Avenue Pokémon Center

Helena's arrival didn't take long. After gathering up her Pokemon, she checked the time until her match - or at least the rough estimate they had for her, and headed for Lumiose City's pokemon center.

She'd step out of the teleport zone, ride the elevator and arrive inside of the center proper soon after that.

Once she caught sight of Zack she sighed audibly, slumped her shoulders, but she couldn't help the slight curl her lips held that made her look happy.

"The power of friendship is stupid," she announced as she approached her brother. She'd then go on to tell him about Loic and his dumb Riolu that evolved into a Lucario right as she was about to win the match.  

[Spinne Biss]

Santalune City - Pokemon Gym

"Finish it," Viola ordered. The direction of infestation had been an obvious ploy. Get Essence to a specific point in an opening they think gives them the most beneficial point of attack - and then cut them down completely.

Vivillon had brought the infestation down upon Essence at the critical moment of attack, dodging the worry seed enough in the obscured center of the infestation flooded arena that the pokemon would have no choice but to assume it did or did not work.

As Essence stepped forward with the poison sting, Vivillon would turn to face the grass type, releasing the power of gust.  

[Marsuru]

"You know, that's actually happened to me a few times," Zack said, standing up once Helena finished her story. "You wouldn't think it, but it can be a good thing. Whenever someone evolves during a match, they either think they're invincible or they're in total shock. Perfect time to blast them with everything you've got."

Helena still had to work her 'everything' being 'something of overwhelming power', but she'd get there eventually. For now, Zack held out his hand for Helena to take and said, "Come on, Camphrier Town awaits. I'm guessing that Route 7 will have stronger pokémon than the ones you've seen so far. That tends to be how it works. Plus there's a huge castle."

He didn't really want to talk about his encounter with Salieri. It had been pretty uncomfortable. So the best course was to think and talk about absolutely anything else until he pushed it out of his mind. With Serene stood waiting, once Helena was ready, she'd teleport the two siblings past Route 5 and into Camphrier Town's TZ.