Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Klarp Glornharm]

((Considering how Tyrant devastated his way through these pokemon before, and he's 52 now, I could maybe understand 40. 50 sounds less like raisins.))

Benedict wasn't a genius trainer, or even an amazing one. He was still new. Understandably, though, the giant gust made him think. What if they reversed it? Pull things into it, get them stuck in the vortex...

And then turn it into a giant firespin.

He pushed the thought down, there wasn't much chance he would use it in the future. Would be nice to have, though. There was a lot going on, too much, really. Far too much.

Ben pushed himself to his feet. He needed calm. Essence had raised her arm, aiming at one of the pokemon struggling through the whirlwind. Francis flapped his wings and tried to stay airborne in the eye of that storm. He wasn't sure what to do while it was up. He wasn't sure what to do when it went down, either. The trainer's eyes turned towards the man that seemed like he was going crazy. Manny sat still.

He needed everything to slow down. He needed to think straight. He needed calm.

Calm? The thought was not his. He knew this, and yet it was hard to distinguish. With it, came a wave of just that as Manny activated Calm Mind. Or, rather, he had already activated it, and was sharing the sensation it brought to Ben. Calm.

Solar beam fired at the Floatzel that struggled forward. It had a choice to be tossed or to be hit. And maybe be tossed, she wasn't at point blank this time though.

The link was not as abstract any longer, though he didn't have all of his pokemon's thoughts coming through. "Forward!" He shouted to the others, and started moving. The minds of others were more clear. "Something's behind us!" Use it again. Add them to this if they let you." Manny focused on becoming Calm, and Benedict reached down to lift him, pointedly avoiding the foliage where he could.

"Move forward, there's some under us!" He called, looking back at the clustered group. He needed them to know these things faster than he could yell it at them.

The second calm mind tamped down his horror at seeing a man killed by a... thing. He ignored that feeling. It couldn't stop them, though he still felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.

The link would stretch out, inviting the others, not forcing them, into the link. If they accepted it, it wouldn't be what it was for Ben. Just a faster way to communicate.

He wasn't running forward, but he moved. He couldn't afford to run until he knew how fast the others would move, if they would be attacked or slowed. Francis was prepared with a Heat Wave to strike at whatever opponent attacked them. Essence focused on the path in front, preparing to fire another solar beam to back the luxray up, not to fight on her own.

Ben had to rely on Roy, though. The man was more experienced, surely. Probably had tougher pokemon too. But he didn't share Benedict's conviction in this case.

((Ben wishes for them to charge forward, the pokemon behind gives a great excuse. Of course, any actions they can take with the info he's given is welcome.))  

[Jump Einatz]

Lumiose City - Gotengo

Not much had changed at Gotengo in the past hour. Youngsters Carter and Anais had graduated from Quacklin's school of stick fighting and had moved on to playing cards on the porch. Veillantif was shooting Octazookas lazily at Sal's Emolgas flying overhead in the courtyard.

And Mia was inside one of the shacks on the mighty tree branches, the one that served as her workshop. On the table were two discs containing the privacy software she and Sal used to make their calls private. Sal had asked for more copies to give to Zack and that allegedly handsome Ben guy. It had only taken Mia a few minutes to make copies. A short distraction from the foreboding sense of danger she had felt since the hotel incident.

She had returned to the Menger Sponge puzzle by now, thinking about Moze. He still hadn't called her back. Mia didn't ask for much in their relationship, even though their secret was something she never fully approved of. But now she needed him and he wasn't there. He said he loved her. Maybe he didn't. Or maybe he didn't know what that would mean to her.

Deep in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that she had completed the puzzle until the whole box opened up, revealing a speaker inside. "Ding ding ding!" Mia waited for more. That was it. An underwhelming prize to say the least. It was the journey that was supposed to be important, but now that the journey was over she didn't know what to do except for close the puzzle back up, reset it, and sigh,

"Uhhh, Mia?" Carter said at the doorway. "There are two ladies outside who wanna talk to you. I think they're nobles?"

"Nobles?" Mia looked out the window and saw their guests standing in the courtyard, immaculately dressed in fancy and slightly feminine suits that showed off the Leroux and Nostrad House colors. No doubt they were here because of what happened yesterday. Unless this was something about Salieri. Mia put out her spliff and whistled. Her Noibat, Bass, flew in from the crow's nest and perched on her shoulder. "Let's see if they took a wrong turn."

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

Asking around Hotel Richissime for Miriam Aviad's whereabouts wasn't particularly fruitful. The girl had been a temp that had only been working for a day, and a pretty negligent temp at that. Her contact information had led Juliet and Elizabeth to talk to Miriam's father, Gavin. His restaurant was quite busy at the time, which he used as an excuse to cut their questions short. The search for Miriam was proving difficult.

But as soon as the name Mia was mentioned, the servers at Restaurant Le Yeah all knew who they were asking about. "Ohhhh you meant Mia. She's probably in her treehouse."

Asking about the treehouse had led them to this spot, which to Juliet looked very illegal. She brushed a hand on the wall of the dilapidated building, pinching the dust that came off. "There's a lot of history in these walls," she mused, observing the patchwork marvel that was Gotengo. It was hard to believe this place was built by children, even if it was tailored to youths.

Mia came down the spiral staircase and then out of the mainroom, standing on the porch with her arms folded. In one hand was the Menger Sponge puzzle, and in the other was an ancient looking scrolled up paper. "If you're here to kick us out, I have the deed right here."

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

"Lunch time!"

Salieri and her team had found a soft patch of moss to sit on next to the beach as they ate sandwiches she had picked up from town. The whole party was present, relaxing and soaking in the sun. Even in the broad daylight they could see shooting stars streak the sky. Oberon was particularly focused on them with a sad look in her eyes. Sal felt kind of bad about it, but unless Mia knew how to build a spaceship there wasn't much she could do for the Cleffa except give her a sandwich, which the alien gladly took.

"So you're really done with that mode, Dune?" Sal asked her Pawniard excitedly. He nodded as he nibbled. His sandwich was supposed to be on rye, not wheat, but he wasn't going to complain. "That's so awesome," she cooed, tapping her feet excitedly. Sal recalled that Helena said Loki had a bag of one hundred and one tricks, yet the ones they used in their battle failed to do much. Sal would rather have a couple of tricks that actually worked. After all, if one of your tricks was good enough, it was all you'd need. A handful was less to sift through than a bag and she still got results. When all you had was a sword, you sharpened the hell out of it or dipped it in magic or something. Sal had forgotten the exact saying.

[Well I learned how to punch!] Biz bragged, flexing his bicep. He was still soaking wet from all the Hydro Pumps, even though he had managed to start punching them head on with Seed Bomb propelled fists. Nobody else looked impressed. [Well check this out!] Biz stuffed his whole sandwich in his mouth. [Shee? I'm ha bosh.]

"Biz, that's gross," Sal said through an open mouth full of food. "Rey, those Hydro Pumps were looking on point."

Reynard ignored her and pointed out at the water. [There's a lady drowning over there.]

Everybody looked to where Reynard was pointing. Sal made a visor with her hand, and made out the faint shape of a woman face down in the sea. She wasn't moving. Sal stood up to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. "Merde. Rey!"

Reynard was already on it, diving into the ocean and turning into water. Soon, the woman was dragged closer to the shore by the unseen force that was Sal's Vaporeon. Sal waded into the shallows and pulled the woman out while Rey became solid again. She put the woman on her back on the sand.

The athletic woman looked to be about thirty, dressed bizarrely even for Kalos. She work cork sandals, leather pants with fringes on the sides, a short orange cape wrapped around her waist, and a matching orange halter top. Loose black bangles hung on her wrists, and necklace of a very lifelike Chandelure hung on her neck. Lacking better words, Salieri thought she looked like she belonged to some sort of ancient tribe. What was most unnerving was that this woman shared Sal's skin tone and hair color, something Sal had rarely seen.

On the woman's waist was a holster. It was too wide for a gun. Instead, it had a book, which was strangely enough entirely dry.

Rey raised up a paw, and the water in the woman's lungs floated out of her mouth. She sputtered to life, eyes wide as she gasped for breath. Amber eyes, just like Salieri's, except that her slcera were light pink and not white. Biz, Dune and Sal sighed in relief. "Lady, are you okay?"

The woman gripped onto Sal's arm, still gasping. Salieri was very tough for her size, so it was saying something when she found that grip to be strong. "Thank you," she managed to choke out. "Thank you."

Salieri helped the woman to her feet and led her to the moss patch with all the lunch. She settled down, tapping her chest. "How'd you end up out there?"
"Fell off my horse," the woman said. She squinted and looked away, but Sal didn't know she was looking at. The woman nodded to herself. "Yes, I suppose...he's more of a zebra..."
"Oh-kay." Sal handed the woman a bottle of water, which she gladly downed. Sal turned to her Pokémon, who were watching with great interest. Except for Banksy, who didn't care and was taking a nap inside her shell. "You guys go play on the beach. Massage train, or something."

[Shot not the back of the train!] Biz shouted, running onto the beach while the other three followed. Dune enjoyed the massage train, mostly because he had to be in front by default. No one wanted him to massage them, a fact which had bugged him at first until he learned to embrace it. Soon, Sal's party was out of sight.

"Where'd you fall?" Sal asked, curious. Still drinking, the woman pointed up. "...Oh."
"Am I near Shalour City?" she asked, looking around.
"It's to the west, yeah."
"Good. Good. I thought I was getting lost." The woman laughed to herself. "This country is a circle."
"Kind of." Salieri didn't know what to say anymore. At this point she thought the woman's eyes would return to their normal color, but they hadn't. It wasn't the sea salt that turned them pink. Sal knew it was rude to ask, but... "What's with your eyes?"
"...Do you believe in magic?" the woman asked.
"Absolutely," said Salieri. She had seen too much not to believe.
"I'm a witch," the woman said, entirely serious. Her tone had remained somber but whimsical the entire time. "That's what they call me." She held up a finger to her mouth with a "Shh". That must've meant it was a secret.
"Uhh, I don't think I follow."
"You don't have to," the woman said as she placed the water bottle down and began humming to herself, a tune Sal was unfamiliar with. Now Salieri was plain uncomfortable.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm looking for a man. A pirate man. Have you seen a ship?" The pink eyed woman made a sweeping gesture out to the sea. "Out here, up there?"

Of all the places to find a lead on Skarada, Salieri never thought she'd find it with a potentially crazy woman in the ocean. "Seriously? I'm looking for a pirate too! His name is Skarada."
"Yes. That's his name."
"...so do you know anything about him? Do you know where to look?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me, Salieri."

Sal froze up. Her hand crept to her pocket where she kept her switchblade. "I never told you my name."

The whimsy faded away on the pink eyed woman's face. "Right. That's right. You didn't."

She planted her hand on Salieri's face, holding it tight. A pink mist came from her palm and went up Sal's nostrils. "Maybe I'll leave that search up to you, then," the pink eyed woman sighed while Sal struggled. "So I can see the sights." The trainer's eyes fluttered close, and then she fell asleep.

The pink eyed woman cracked her neck side to side. She took a pair of chopsticks out from her pocket and tied her hair up in a bun with them. "I appreciate the rescue. I really do," she mumbled to the sleeping Salieri as she took the rest of the girl's sandwich. "I mean it. I owe you one. I mean it."

The pink eyed woman woman walked away with a skip in her step while she hummed and left Sal to dream. She took the book out of its holster and flipped through the pages with one hand without looking. The pages were lined with etchings of a language long lost. The letters glowed, and then in a flash of light, the woman was gone.  

[Marsuru]

((Intimidate and what I assume is a hefty dosage of Max Repel (cause they're not dumb enough to go Off Route without that right?) keeps most of the sub-50 scrubs away. They made it this far without getting swarmed by the same kinds of pokémon Helena was able to beat, but that just means anything they do run into is gonna be stronger than them. And since there's no upper level limit to Off Route pokémon (kind of the whole point) things could get pretty bad pretty fast. On the plus side, anything they do manage to beat will give plenty of exp smile ))

Off Route 14

Roy realised he was being targetted by Confuse Ray with just enough time to do something about it. He grabbed his third and final pokéball and released his level 51 Feraligatr, which took the full brunt of the ray and broke down into a confused panic. It stomped and roared, terrified as it fought for clarity, tearing at its own skin as if it thought something was crawling around inside it. Then Roy returned the pokémon and clipped the ball back to his belt.

But since Ben hadn't done anything to negate the Confuse Ray flying his way, the younger trainer would get hit by it.

The rest of the expedition party were in fits of screams, one of them lay unmoving on the ground, the wild pokémon were finding ways around the Big Whirlwind. s**t s**t and s**t.

'This way!' Roy shouted to Alexa, who seemed like the only one still keeping her head. 'Grab them and get ready! I'm gonna drop the barrier!'

Luxray bounded up to its master's side, Fearow still flew in loops overhead, maintaining the Big Whirlwind but listening out for further commands. If need be, Roy would hook Benedict under the arm and lift him off his feet to carry the teenager to safety. If they massed near the edge of the barrier, away from where the wild pokémon were breaking through, they might have a chance to escape if they ran as soon as the winds fell. Once they were all ready, Roy would give the command to Fearow and they'd break into a run.  

[Marsuru]

Lumiose City - Gotengo

Elizabeth was rather impressed that something like Gotengo had been allowed to flourish in the middle of Lumiose City. Surely it stood against the city's every virtue; shabby and wild with no noble oversight, the thought of this place would make her father's skin crawl. She leant over to Juliet when the little boy went to fetch Miriam Aviad.

'Don't forget to wipe your feet on the way out,' she said under her breath, straightening up in time for Mia's arrival. Ha, she was sure a deed to a treehouse would hold up in court. She smiled, assuming Mia was joking.

'We're not here to chop your tree down,' Elizabeth said, holding up her hands. 'We want to talk to you about someone you met at work yesterday. Can we come in?'  

[Jump Einatz]

Off Route 14

Alexa thought about how she had promised to edit Guigsy’s footage of the Ambrette Town benefit later that night in exchange for him coming along on this journey. That deal wasn’t so cut and dry now. It was her fault that he had been here. Noel and Liam were her responsibilities too. She had to focus. She had to work with Roy to keep them alive. Guigsy would have to be left behind, at least for now. Alexa’s hopes that they could recover his body later weren’t very high.

One thing was for sure: it wasn’t a wild Pokémon that snapped Guigsy’s neck. No, it was something else, something with purpose. Alexa had the feeling that they were close to a truth that someone didn’t want them to know.

She, like Liam and Noel, felt Manny’s psychic link offering an invite, like a chatroom in her mind. But there was something else there as well. Ben had just been hit by a Confuse Ray, and so that link was compromised. She declined the invitation mentally. Liam and Noel did the same.

The Floatzel that Essence shot at was much faster than the Roselia and was able to sidestep the long range attack with ease, satisfied with itself for only a second before the lack of footing caused the weasel to get sent flying by the tornado barrier.

More enemies were coming. Alexa saw the signs of dirt being upturned behind them, no doubt the Arbok trying to burrow their way in. Sazerac took the opportunity to create a veil of Safeguard for the party, just in case.

The Gogoat, the twins on top of it, and Alexa all got front and center to the edge of the Big Whirlwind, ready to go. Or they would have been ready to go, if it wasn’t for the thing in front of them. Alexa didn’t want to believe it was there, but through the swirling dust and wind, she saw it. Saying it out loud felt wrong, too silly in front of a dead man’s body, but she had to.

“There’s a whale blocking our path!” she shouted over the roar of the wind to the others, before trying to wave through the wind barrier at Bridgette. What the girl was doing off Route, she had no clue. Didn’t matter, either. This was a life or death situation. “MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!”

Lumiose City – Gotengo

Juliet gave Elizabeth’s jest a wry smile. As impressive an engineering feat this was considering the engineers weren’t even old enough for degrees, there was an undeniable feeling of dirt and decadence.

Mia gave them each a once over, her eyes lingering on Juliet’s Shiny Ninetales for some time. “Hold on,” she said as she went back inside to hide the deed to the property (in a chest in a knot in the tree trunk. Security was lax in Gotengo). She came back to the porch. “Come on in.”

The huge base room of Gotengo with the tree’s base in its center was relatively clean today. No empty cans or torn up papers were on the floor. Mia had done a casual cleaning before out of boredom. She gestured to two bean bag chairs for the ladies to sit on. “Thank you, but I’ll stand,” Juliet declined.
“You want anything to drink? We have water.” Mia paused as if there would be more options. “That’s it.”
Juliet held up a hand to once again decline. “We were informed by Lumiose PD that you were the only witness to what occurred in Hotel Richissime last night.” As she spoke, her eyes landed on the puzzle in Mia’s hand. “What is that?”

Mia was surprised she’d asked, but like all of her emotions, she didn’t let it show. “A puzzle.”
“May I see it?” Juliet asked, holding out her hand as thought she knew Mia would say yes.
“Knock yourself out,” Mia said, placing the puzzle in the noblewoman’s hand. “So? What do you want to know exactly?”
“I’d like to know why you weren’t asleep like everyone else,” Juliet said, not looking up as she fiddled with the puzzle in her hands. “Start with that.”

Mia didn’t want to tell her it was pointless to try. That puzzle had taken her two hours. “I had on headphones. When I got into the lobby, everyone was asleep and there were cottonballs everywhere. I took off the headphones for a second, to see what was going on, and I heard this…sound.” It was like children screaming, but Mia didn’t elaborate on that. “It was coming from the cotton, making me woozy. So I put the headphones back on.” She folded her arms, tired of telling this story. Even if it was nobles knocking at her door, Mia was in no mood to chat with anyone. “What else?”

Juliet nodded to Elizabeth. She would’ve kept asking, but this puzzle was preoccupying her.  

[Spinne Biss]

Off Route 14

Wailord was pulled back into his ball in response to Alexa's shouting. Bridgette was a young girl, barely a teenager, staring down this group of people about to run for their lives, and the pieces of that were slowly coming together.

"Do you think they need help?" she asked Drifblim but he didn't respond. Instead she pursed her lips and shouted "hold on!" before rushing toward the man she'd blown off the path, and searched his pockets for her badges.

Once she'd obtained the two of them, she gestured for Drifblim to pick him up. It was only beginning to dawn on her that this wasn't a place you should leave people. With that she moved back toward the route, waving at the potentially approaching crew, "hey! do you neeed some help?!"

Cyllage City Hospital

Goldberg woke up with a sudden start. The first thing he realized was that he couldn't breathe. The second was the pain down his throat. He moved to lift his arms, but neither budged. The movement caused the stub of his right arm to throb, and his heartbeat, beating a million miles an hour, caused the rest of the pain in his body to radiate out. His chest, the stubs of his missing toes, various minor injuries from his body shutting down, from the muscles screaming at him, and the ache of struggling against bindings that had been placed to keep him from tearing the tube out of his throat.

The giant man grunted, and choked, his body looking more as if it were rapidly twitching than as if he were struggling. The machines around him began to beep more rapidly and a group of nurses came in.

They were telling him to relax, to calm down, trying to hold him still.

One nurse snapped near his ears, drawing his attention. "Let the machine breathe for you," she said.

Relaxing was a slow process. As it happened, Goldberg began to let the machine breathe for him, struggling against all urges from his brain to panic. His body remained tense, but he eventually complied.

"Do you know where you are?"

Goldberg shook his head.

"You're in Cyllage Hospital. Do you know your name?"

The Flare member nodded.

"Okay, great. Are you going to freak out if we undo your arms? You've torn that tube out a dozen times already."

Goldberg didn't remember any of this. He nodded again, and the nurses began to undo the straps. He could see the wear and tear on them, on the armrests of his bed. They had not been prepared to deal with him. Goldberg's heartrate monitor shot up again when he saw the stub of his arm. He remembered fighting Ratio. He remembered some brat stepping in the way.

"You had lost a lot of blood, but your injuries had received some treatment before your arrival. Originally, your toes had been re-attached by the trainer who brought you in, but you struggled a lot and it conflicted with the healing process. It's unlikely that you'll be able to walk again without some physical therapy."

Goldberg began to relax as he recalled more details about the battle.

"You have some people that are waiting to see you. They've requested that we transfer you to one of their facilities when you're able to be moved."

"Must be lucky," chimed in a male nurse who was replacing one of Goldberg's I.V. bags. "I wish I worked for an organization like that."

Team Flare. Goldberg tried to snort, but failed. He wondered what they'd say, what they'd want to talk about when he returned. His failure to stop Ratio? How had the operation ended? Goldberg hoped that Ska had done his job, that he had made sure nobody else got hurt - that it wasn't a failure. If not, he'd have some words for the Pirate King.

"I'll let them know you've woken up, okay?" Goldberg nodded and grunted against the sudden shift of his head and neck moving the tube in his throat. He resisted the urge to choke as the nurse frowned at him and then left the room.

"Nice butt on that one, huh?" said the male nurse and Goldberg looked at him, and then grinned, lifting his arm to give the man a thumb's up. When he looked at it, he saw only the stub. The giant's grin faded, he could have sworn he felt the hand, the fingers moving, every motion of making a thumb's up gesture.

This was not going to be an easy transition.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Off Route 14
Ben started struggling as someone tucked him under their arm. He felt dizzy, not in his right mind. Instead of words he communicated through grunting. The link was gone from his mind.

Manny had noticed something off when the youth had been struck by confusion, and in the moment that the attack came for his mind, he severed the link with all other pokemon. Still, it was too late for him, he was confused as well.

He started chasing Essence and flailing at her in his confusion, attempting to do damage. She ran with the others, staying close enough he would keep following, to keep him with the group.

Well, near the group. She wasn't crazy enough to try and keep him near them. He might try to hurt them.

Francis stayed in the air near the group, keeping an eye out for anything he might be needed for.  

[Marsuru]

Off Route 14

Dear lord, I am not getting paid enough for this.

'Feraligatr!' Roy shouted, tossing his pokéball with his free arm as he ran with Benedict heaped over his shoulder. The water type reemerged, now rid of confusion, stomping and roaring and ready for battle. Fearow dropped the Big Whirlwind, and the circular wall of pressure dropped into a breeze into nothing and Roy led the charge as the Wailord dissolved into light. Feraligatr would stay behind, rolling its shoulders and working itself up with Dragon Dance as the incoming pokémon came in.

'Ice Wall!' Roy threw the command behind him as he sprinted toward Bridgette. Feraligatr would then leap backwards and drag an Ice Beam across the forest path, sending a violent spray of ice spikes skyward after a second of glowing ground. Anything caught by the explosion would suffer 90 Power physical ice damage, while anything caught behind it would struggle to break through. When it next touched down, Feraligatr would launch into a run to keep up with the others. As Roy passed the teenaged trainer, he'd yell at her to, 'Get your brain in gear and get moving!'

It was a shouty sort of day.

Lumiose City - Gotengo

'The man I mentioned,' Elizabeth said. She had no time for toys, and there was a chase she'd like to cut to. 'I'd like to talk about him. If you saw anything that might indicate what he was after, I want to hear it. I'm sorry to say this isn't the first time an incident like this has happened, though we could make it the last.'

Elizabeth popped a small pouch on her belt and reached inside. It was usually reserved for item balls and other tools for use in pokémon training, but since her meeting with Zack she'd had it stocked with half a dozen cards containing her contact details. She slid a card into her palm, reading the loopy handwriting of her own name, and looked back up to Mia. 'I know it's hard, but you wouldn't be the first person who's willing to help. And frankly, I'm willing to pay. Tell me everything you can.'

Coumarine City

It had been a while since Zack rode a train. Last time was in Saffron City a couple years back, but it had been an altogether different experience. Instead of ripping through the city like a bullet, the Coumarine express took a winding route around the major landmarks, offering a view of the sea dashed by blurred buildings. He rode along the cliffside until reaching the lower city to the north, where the train stopped with a hiss.

Zack stepped out at the station, wafting away loose steam and looking for a way out. According to the maps inside the train car, it would be a fairly short walk to the harbour, which he had to pass through to reach Route 12. The ground here was level and open, with a chill breeze soaring over the sparkling ocean. Zack trod along beneath a row of trees as bobbing boats drew into sight.

His Holo Caster beeped. Since Zack was steadily adapting to life with one arm, he had thought to keep the device on a loop around his neck where he could quickly access it. Two New Messages. One was from yesterday, and judging from the time he had missed it while in hospital. Esme had said she'd seen him on the news and asked if he was okay, which made him smile. The second was a picture sent a few seconds ago of an Aunt Moreau special; a plate of sandwiches that Esme had annotated with 'I feel better already.'

'God damn, I wanna bang you,' said Zack under his breath as he beeped the holo caster off. He started walking again, but stopped before he made a second step. Something was staring at him in the trees with a pair of narrowed eyes. Its feathers were shiny and brightly coloured, its head in the shape of musical note. A Chatot. Zack frowned. 'What, you got a problem with that?'

Apparently it did. The bird spread its wings and screeched, then dived right at the trainer. Zack raised his one good arm in reflex as the pokémon's claws raked across his forearm. Shallow cuts drew blood as Zack swore in pain '********!' and the Chatot arced around, landing on another tree branch with enough force to bend it.

'Oh really?' Zack grabbed Hazard's ball, sparing a glance for the red lines trailing to his elbow. 'Really? Big mistake, pal. Now I'm gonna have to ******** you ********!' shouted the Chatot, flapping its wings like it was going to take off again. It sounded exactly like Zack. 'God damn, I wanna bang you. Now I'm gonna have to ******** you up!'

It dropped from the tree and shot towards the trainer again. Luckily Zack had his wits about him and dodged, catching himself on a tree trunk and lobbing Hazard's ball to the side. The Haunter materialised in a flash, casting a Thunderbolt at the flying type, who positioned a tree branch in the way. Wood exploded, the branch hit the trail, scattering with one end charred as the Chatot took to the skies and flew away going 'What, you got a problem with that? Big mistake, ******** it was a dot in the distance, Zack breathed out, his mouth hanging open as Hazard bobbed around his head, laughing. 'You've got to be kidding me.'

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

Not long after the Chatot Incident, Zack made it to Route 12. The harbour had been nice, but he was still fuming over the encounter and barely took it in. His cuts mended quickly thanks to Blissngale's Heal Pulse circulating his system, leaving a brown smear along his arm that would eventually flake off on its own.

'And you're saying I can hire it,' the trainer said, eying the Skiddo cautiously. It seemed a little small for him, but he was getting tired of walking. 'For how much exactly?'
'Oh, I'd say a couple hundred ought to do it. Cash preferably, but as I see you're one-a them trainer types, I suppose I can accept Trainer Card,' said the ranch owner, a middle-aged guy with a Unovan accent.
'This'll definitely get me to Shalour City. This thing?'
'Ain't nothing faster. Not unless you count Teleportation. Or flying, or riding a bike, or basically any other form of vehicle. But you're paying for the novelty, son. Novelty and convenience.'

Zack looked at the tiny grass type one last time before making up his mind. With a sigh, he took out his trainer card and blew some money he wasn't sure he had.

---

Turned out the Skiddo was stronger than it looked. After borrowing a length of rope, which Zack tied around its antlers, the trainer was able to stand on the pokémon's back and direct it with sharp twists. He had learned to ride pokémon standing up back at the academy, and it was a skill that never really left you. Besides which, if he was sat down he'd feel every bump and jump the thing made, which would divert directly to his arm. At least when he stood, his legs turned into shock absorbers.

Plus in his humble opinion, he looked pretty awesome.

'Whoa there,' said Zack as they approached a cliff. The sea bent around and reached far into the mainland. The opposite shore was quite a distance and would likely require another hire on Zack's part, which was annoying. Not least because it meant the ranch owner had goddamn lied. As he scanned the near shore for a boathouse, he spotted a dark object laid out on the sand. The trainer squinted, which didn't help much. Looked like a person.

Turning the rope, Zack drove the Skiddo along the cliff side, encouraging it over a jump or two until they reached the bottom. When they touched down on rock and sand, Zack dismounted and the Skiddo looked from him to the top of the cliff and back again. It seemed distressed.

'I don't know, figure something out,' Zack said, heading toward the shape he saw on the beach. As he drew closer, a smile played across his face. His frustration at the Chatot bubbled into the urge to be really mean, but he maintained his cool and merely stood beside Salieri's head and stroked his chin. First instinct would be to bury her up to her neck, but that wouldn't solve her major problem, which is that she'd still have her mouth.

Instead, he resisted the temptation and nudged the top of her head with his foot until she started to wake. He would greet her with a grin. 'Poor One Shot, she's all tuckered out.'  

[Jump Einatz]

Off Route 14

Alexa looked back at Guigsy’s body. He was slumped on the ground, and his head should have been facing them. With his neck snapped the way it was, it faced away. She didn’t know if she felt better off seeing his face or not. She decided it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Before she ran after Roy and her crew, she made sure to grab Guigsy’s videocamera. It was big but light. If she hadn’t felt it was absolutely necessary, she would’ve left it behind with its owner.

Alexa and Sazerac ran behind Roy and alongside the Gogoat. No wild Pokémon had been aware enough to make it past the Ice Wall before it formed. Over her shoulder, she saw the outlines of serpents and weasels bashing into the wall. It was forming cracks. Still, it had bought them time.

Ahead of them, the path was still well tread by Tyrant’s upheaval, until they got to a point were a twisting wall of fresh bramble blocked their progress ahead. Alexa knew that it was the right direction. Strangely, the torn up earth they had been following stopped right at the bramble wall, as if it was supposed to continue beyond. What kind of destruction stopped up until that point? It made no sense. To their right was a grassy path deeper into the woods. It wasn’t ideal, but it was their only way to go. “That way!”

As they ran, Alexa flipped the videocamera’s screen open and turned back the footage. She muted the sound, unable to bring herself to hear Guigsy’s voice only a minute after his passing. His passing. She couldn’t believe that was the thought she was having.

“You okay sis?” Liam asked Noel, who sat behind him on the Gogoat. She nodded, nursing a cut on her arm she had just gotten from an outstretched branch during their escape. The bleeding had already stopped.
“Just a scratch,” she answered, clearly shaken up. Alexa couldn’t blame her. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for what was happening.

“Is the kid okay?” Alexa asked Benedict, not looking up from Guigsy’s b-roll. Somewhere in this footage, she’d find the thing that murdered him.

If Manny was still able to detect surrounding Auras, he’d find that all the wild Pokémon that had been on their trail before had either been stalled by the Ice Wall or had lost their way completely. All but one of them, the massive Aura coming from behind.

Lumiose City – Gotengo

As Mia took Elizabeth’s card, she thought about the threat level Kalos considered Ratio to be at. The police were the response team, but the nobles themselves were the investigators. And not just random house nobles, either. The women before her were straight out of the court. Mia realized she had seen them on TV before, in fencing competitions that Moze liked to watch. Juliet Nostrad and Elizabeth Leroux.
Not the people in charge, but they were still in the top tier.

“Willing to pay?” Mia rose an eyebrow. This didn’t feel official. They hadn’t even introduced themselves yet. There was no reason to keep an investigation of this level so secretive when Ratio was still at large and a danger to the public. Unless the nobles were embarrassed. Or it was more personal than that. Or both.

“I already told the police everything I know,” Mia sighed as she flicked the card onto the nearby countertop, where it crashed into two empty beer cans. “You’re wasting your time, talking to me.” It was a brazen thing to say to two court nobles, but after last night, Mia was positive nothing they could do would be scarier than Ratio.
“I’ve read their report. It’s unsatisfactory,” Juliet said, not looking up from the Menger Sponge puzzle. She spun the cubes that comprised it with such speed that Mia thought for sure she was doing it randomly.
“How am I supposed to know what he was after?” Mia folded her arms. “He put everyone to sleep, he showed up, he rocked those guards and then he left-“
“Ding ding ding!”

The outer shell of the puzzle opened up, revealing the musical core inside. Juliet held it out on her palm with a tight smile. “Done.”

Mia’s normally stoic mouth dropped into a tiny ‘O’. She took off her glasses and put them back on, still staring at the completed puzzle. Her eyes did not deceive her. “What?” The same puzzle that had taken her an hour to complete took Juliet a minute. She took the puzzle back from Juliet and turned it over. “How did…how?”

“It’s easier when someone’s done it before me,” Juliet shrugged. “Deduction is a powerful tool, Miriam. And if we had every single detail worth mentioning about your encounter with that man, there’s no telling what kind of evidence we could find.”

The noblewoman looked around the room, and her eyes fell on the empty beer cans. After some hesitation, she slid a flask out of her pocket and took a sip, then she held it out for Mia. “If you need help greasing the wheels.”

Mia cautiously took the flask and gave it a whiff. Whiskey. First nobles showed up at Gotengo and now one was drinking here. It was all very surreal. She wondered what Salieri would say about this as she took a sip twice as long as Juliet’s. It was strong. “Call me Mia.”

Juliet held out her hand, not for the flask but for a handshake. “Call me Juliet.”
“I know who you are.”
“Even so, I didn’t introduce myself before.” They shook hands, and Juliet took back the flask. She sat down on one of the beanbag chairs. “Let’s start from the beginning. I want to know how he fought. None of the guards were killed.”

Mia took the beanbag opposite of Juliet. As she spoke, she mostly addressed Elizabeth, who was clearly more serious about this. “…This guy, he…he was playing with them. He even moonwalked at one point. It looked like he was just trying to show off.” As a gamer, she knew what it was like to read someone’s personality through how they conveyed themselves. “He was confident. Cocky.”

She held out her hand for the flask again. Juliet grinned, sipped, and passed it on. “What were his Pokémon?”
“A Talonflame, a Magnezone, and a Whimsicott." The same answer she gave the cops. "The Magnezone used an EMP. That’s why there’s nothing on the tapes.” Mia had actually tried getting the remnants of the security footage for herself, but they were completely wiped.
“…and what happened to your phone? When we asked your father how to reach you, he said you needed a new one after last night.”

Mia looked at her reflection in the steel flask. She was tired. “…he saw me calling 911. So he broke it…with a pencil.” Mia couldn’t help uttering one dry laugh at the idea. ‘A ******** pencil. Then he told me to leave, and then he went up the elevator.” She looked to Elizabeth. “I don’t know what he wanted but whatever it was, it wasn’t in the lobby.”

Salieri’s Dream

Salieri’s dream was more fact than fiction. It was mostly her memory, skipping around time like a busted recording. It started with her walking through the cold steel corridors of Skarada’s airship, The Fishbone. She was about fifteen years old. Her two Pokéballs were ready at her hip, and she remembered never feeling safe on the ship without them.

She turned corner after corner, looking for something. A way out of this maze of hallways, maybe. A large framed pirate man whose face Salieri could not recall bumped into her in the hallway, knocking her over. “********’ Kalosian,” he muttered, and kept walking. That was something she remembered hearing a lot in Orre. They didn’t like Kalos very much.

Then she was walking again, and she opened a hatch, and she was in a tiny room where the pink eyed woman knelt on the ground inside a circle of dirt. She wore a headband with lit incense sticks poking out of it while she murmured an incantation. Then she met Salieri’s eyes.

“Wrong room,” said the pink eyed woman. She shooed Sal away with a flick of the wrist.

And suddenly Salieri was on the deck of the ship, illuminated by the pink desert sunset. Skarada stood before her, bouncing on his heels with blood trickling out the corner of his lips. “What’s that stance supposed to be?”

She was far bloodier and battered than he was. If this wasn’t a dream, she would’ve felt the pain. Her stance was fluid but proper, just like her teacher had taught her. “It’s an ancient technique,” she said, her fifteen year old voice cracking awkwardly. “Lost to the ages-“
“Must mean it’s not very good, is it?”

Salieri growled and charged at him. Skarada got inside her punch and dropped his elbow into her stomach. When she crumpled, he grabbed her hair and assisted her fall, slamming her to the ground. The jolt made her want to throw up. “You’re trying to do ten things at once. I know there’s a brawler in you, kid, let ‘er out again.” He tapped a finger to his forehead. “Take what works, and let the crap get lost to the ages.”

Now Salieri was at the bow of the ship, on a new day. Four faceless pirates lugged a gear encrusted antique cannon to the front of The Fishbone’s deck. Skarada came up to her wearing a pair of sunglasses. Next to her was a woman wearing a matching grey longcoat, only one sleeve hung limp where she was missing her arm. In the haze of the dream, Sal remembered her name. Erin Barrett. She was Ska’s fiancé.

“Ain’t she a beaut, kid?” Ska asked, referring to the cannon.
“Your toy’s collecting dust,” Sal snarked. “It’s archaic.”
“This thing’s a couple thousand years old, yeah, but it’s got a style, doesn’t it?” Erin caressed the cannon. “When people couldn’t rely on Pokémon, they used weapons like these to end wars.”
“So you’re toting it around as a trophy?” Sal asked.
Ska got more serious. “No. As a warning.”
"For who?"
He gave Erin a kiss on the cheek. "Anyone in our way."

Route 12 – Fourrage Road

Salieri stirred, the sensation of sunny reality dawning on her unpleasantly. Her sclera were pink, as though they were sun bleached. Except they had been closed the whole time she was asleep. Groggy, she sat up on the sand and saw Zack. Now she knew she must be awake, or he would’ve been a Stunfisk.

“Merde,” she groaned, both at the idea that she had taken a nap for no reason and that Zack was the one she woke up to. Already, the dream was escaping her, no matter if she tried to hold onto it. “What time is it?”  

[Marsuru]

Lumiose City – Gotengo

Moonwalked. Now Elizabeth had to squeeze what she could from Salieri and Zack, if only to cross reference. If Ratio had no business with any of the other guests at the hotel, then it was likely Horton was his only target. She made a mental note to see if anything else was reported stolen or missing during the attack, but somehow she doubted it would be the case.

'You're very lucky,' Elizabeth said, half attempting to sound genuine and concerned, but her mind was elsewhere. The picture Mia painted hardly resembled the one Elizabeth imagined, and on some level she felt disappointed. On another, it was terrifying. The man wasn't just a sadistic killer, from the sounds of things he was a lunatic as well. Power couldn't be entrusted to just anyone, after all.

'We'll have to ask you to keep our conversation here a secret, but I'm sure that goes without saying. You wouldn't want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself, would you?' Elizabeth forced a smile. 'If you think of anything, even if it doesn't seem significant, I'd like to hear about it.'

Elizabeth nodded towards the counter where her card rested between beer cans. 'After all, you know how to reach me.'

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

'Oh, I'd say around midday,' Zack said, squinting up at the sun. He held his one hand out for Sal to take, and if she did he'd drag her back to her feet. It wouldn't be very comfortable for him, but he'd manage.

'Funny place for a nap.' Zack frowned when he saw the whites of Salieri's eyes were now pink. 'Are you on something or what?'  

[Jump Einatz]

Lumiose City – Gotengo

"Sure," Mia said, not very interested in calling Elizabeth again. There was nothing else to say, and even if there was, Mia wanted to wash her hands of this mess. Salieri was the one who was supposed to do these kinds of things. Mia liked the safety of the sidelines.

It was clear Elizabeth was done with her questions. Juliet got up from her squishy seat, ready to join her colleague on the next stop. "Thanks for the drink," said Mia as she passed back the flask. Juliet gave her a nod and a tiny smile.

Then she saw Gotengo's PC sitting in the middle of the room at the base of the tree trunk. The screensaver popped up, showing a selfie that a trainer took of herself and her party on the beach. The trainer was Salieri.

"Elizabeth, do you mind continuing on without me?" Juliet asked, never dropping that tiny smile. "I have a few more things I'd like to discuss with Miriam."

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

Salieri looked at Zack's hand, hesitated, then grabbed it and got to her feet. "Am I...no, what are you talking about?" Sal dusted the sand off of herself. "I was just..."

Taking a nap? Sal didn't remember deciding to go to sleep. She barely remembered her dream. After yesterday's fiasco, the energy she spent must have caught up with her. Salieri twisted around, looking for her Pokémon, confused. She saw her stuff on a tree stump where she had been eating lunch. That's right, she had been eating lunch, when...

She stomped to her stuff, rapidly going through the pouches of her belt bag. "b***h took my sandwich!" Sal clasped the belt back around her waist and whistled loudly to summon her Pokémon. When she looked at Zack again, her eyes were back to normal. "Did you see a lady walk by here, dressed in, uh, ethnic stuff with pink eyes?"  

[Marsuru]

Lumiose City - Gotengo

'I don't mind. It's just a shame we didn't find out more,' Elizabeth said, unclipping a pokéball from her belt. The Aviad route had lead her nowhere. Elliot was still an untapped source of information; he had to know something, he was the head of a Court house and likely one of Ratio's biggest targets. Not to mention how evasive he had been lately. She would return home.

'It's been a pleasure, Miriam. Juliet, we'll be in touch,' said Elizabeth, tossing the ball skyward. She reached out and grasped a bundle of light as it materialised into her Gyarados' scale and it dragged her into the air. She kicked another scale and landed on the serpant's back as it twisted its way around Gotengo and shot into the Lumiose skyline.

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

'Sure you're not still dreaming, One Shot?' Zack said, noting her eye colour change but not really thinking much of it. He glanced up and down the beach. Empty except for the two of them and some native Dwebble digging around the sand. 'Anyway, I need to get to Shalour City. Tell me how you made it over the water.'  

[Jump Einatz]

Lumiose City - Gotengo

Mia tried her hardest not to look impressed by Elizabeth's serpentine ride from her spot on the porch as it took off. Juliet had seen it before, but she wasn't tired of watching it happen.

"So what else did you want to ask me?" Mia leaned against the wooden railing for the porch. Juliet sighed and put her flask back into her pocket.
"I would like to ask you how you came about this..." She ran a finger along the railing, collecting dust as though it would give her an answer. "Facility."
"I'd have to ask how that pertains to your investigation, Ms. Nostrad."
"Call me Juliet, please. I can tell you're not a fan of formalities."
"...no, I'm not. So you can call me Mia."
"I have a preference for Miriam, to be honest. It rolls off my tongue so nicely."

Mia pinched her brow. She preferred her nickname, but she wasn't going to make a big deal about it like Salieri would. Blowing up over little things wasn't cool. "Whatever. My question still stands."
"It has nothing to do with my investigation. I'm simply curious." Juliet peered out into the courtyard, where Sal's Emolga flew freely in playful circles. "This is not something I would expect to find in Lumiose City."
"Oh." Mia was a little surprised. The more Juliet spoke, the less she seemed like any noble Mia had seen before. A noble that shared whiskey, did brainteasers and sat on bean bag chairs. "We built it. I made the designs."
"Who's we?"
"My friends and I."
"Really?" Juliet looked Mia over, and the bespectacled girl straightened up in response. "And how old were you and your friends?"
"Eleven to fifteen years old. There were a lot of us. And Pokémon." Mia adjusted her glasses. "And we're just that good."
"I'll say. Most impressive." Juliet cleared her throat. "So what exactly do you do around here?"

Youngsters Carter and Anais poked their heads out the window of a shack from an upper branch, waving down at Mia. "Miiiiiiiia, people are coming here from Santalune City in thirty miiiiiinutes!"

Mia didn't feel like being a host of any kind today, but Gotengo was open to all. If she wanted to stay, she didn't have much of a choice. She looked to Juliet. "You'll find out in thirty minutes."

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

Salieri cringed when Zack once again called her 'One Shot'. She loathed that title and the smugness that came whenever he said it. Her Pokémon were coming down the beach, returning from their massage train relaxation. She gathered up her things and reattached her belt bag.

"I swam," Salieri teased and lied. It wasn't such a wide passage of water that it was improbable, but it was much easier to just coast over it on top of Banksy. "You should try-ohhhh wait. You can't."

While she realigned her belt, she held out a hand for Zack to give her something. "Pay me for the dinner you walked out on and I'll give you a ride."  

[Marsuru]

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

Zack grinned. 'You want me to ride you while you swim us over? I didn't think you were into that kind of thing, One Shot.'

There had to be a boat house somewhere, or maybe the passage was crossable at low tide. If he still had Antiq, this wouldn't be a goddamn problem. As advanced as their society had become, for some reason main routes between cities were still really shittily designed. How oh how did non-trainers manage? He'd just have to use his pokémon to get by. Maybe he could hammer in how to Surf while he was at it.

'No, I think I'll manage on my own but thanks for the offer.' Zack reached for Lethal's ball. It was a little more awkward than he'd really like on account of it being on the opposite hip to his good arm, but after a second he had it. Heading towards the water's edge, Zack would pop the ball and have Lethal materialise amidst the waves.  

[Jump Einatz]

Route 12 - Fourrage Road

Salieri wondered if the Clawitzer would make for a good water ride. It looked like Zack had never tried it out before. With only one arm for balance on top of that Pokémon's shape, it seemed awkward. So it was something Sal might find enjoyable to watch. "You still owe us cash," she said as her Pokémon returned.

[It's all about the chopping thing,] Biz explained to Oberon, who was sitting on his shoulder listening intently. The Chesnaught made small karate chop motions. [Like this, atatatata. Up and down their back, really loosens the muscles-]
[Oh no. Not these two,] Reynard moaned, referring to the pairing of Salieri and Zack. [I hate these two. I'm out.] She turned tail to walk back the way she came.

Salieri returned them all except for Oberon and Banksy. The Cleffa hopped up into her trainer's outstretched arm and Sal put a foot onto Banksy's shell. The Torkoal retracted her limbs, keeping her head out just enough to see, and hovered in place while Sal hopped on.

"So did you find out something about the Mega Stone or what?" Sal asked, lounging back on the warm tortoise shell. Banksy would keep pace next to Zack on the way over. Oberon had been staring at Zack's broken arm but was now staring at Zack's bag, as if she sensed the contents inside.