Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Marsuru]

'That's what pokémon centers exist for,' Zack shrugged as Serene looked nervously between then, stared at the remaining chocolate in her hand, then carried on eating. 'Did you order drinks?'  

[Spinne Biss]

"Yes." She hadn't, but Helena knew either the sight of Robby would make Zack forget about drinks, or Robby would bro up and bring them some drinks. It was better than admitting she forgot.

Looking down at her phone at Salieri's response after her holocaster buzzed she'd think for a minute before texting back.

-We're getting breakfast at Unovan Delights in Kalos. You should join us.

Looking back up at the table she'd smile. "Speaking of hospitals, I'm gonna visit Alice today before the dinner party." Turning to Zack she'd add, "She's Ecarlate's original trainer. You should come meet her, she was injured in the Pokemon stampede but she's almost made a full recovery. She's gonna get released on my birthday."  

[Marsuru]

Zack thought about it, but wasn't really too sure. He couldn't imagine his mood would improve if he visited a random stranger in the hospital, and it wasn't like people knew him for his bedside manner.

'Nah, I'm good,' Zack said. Not wanting to sound totally heartless, he continued. 'It's kind of you to take an interest in her though, I know mom would be proud. Just don't take too much time out of your training. Even without all the ******** going on in this country, competition's still tough.'  

[Spinne Biss]

"Speaking of training," Helena said as she could smell the delightful food from the restaurant. They were cooking some magical things in there. "we should do some joint training later. See if there's some stuff you can help me improve on." She looked to Henrietta and smiled.

"I've been training with Etta and Bridgette a lot but I don't think they have anything left to teach me," she said, her tone entirely serious.

"H-hey!" Henrietta looked flustered. "Y-you still can't beat me in a m-match."

Helena's expression broke as a smile played across her lips. "What do you say?"  

[Marsuru]

Zack glanced at Henrietta, and he didn't want to be rude but he couldn't stop his expression from saying "Really." Maybe she was one of those people who came alive during battles, but Zack's Trainer Senses didn't exactly tingle at the sight of her.

'Sure, whatever,' Zack said. He still wanted to catch up with Salieri today. He had a lot of unresolved feelings about Emily, and now an added layer of guilt for the way he'd used Serene. As he watched the Psychic lick her hands clean, Zack thought back to his mentor's teachings. Mariah had advocated for using pokémon like tools of war in battle. Plenty of trainers interpreted that differently; for Zack, he tended to give his team as much tough love as he could, while people like Robin tempered harsh training with plenty of affection and rewards.

He couldn't just turn on a dime and start being all lovey-lovey but, he thought as Emily's scream echoed in the back of his mind, he had found his upper limit for what he expected his pokémon to do.

'You'll find at the level you're at that it starts getting harder to gain raw power,' Zack said. Most trainers capped out at levels 40-50, hitting a wall that took real skill to surmount. 'I've got some s**t to take care of today, but if you want some real training, I say we organise a little day trip off route. Just us two. Uh, no offence, Henrietta.'  

[Jump Einatz]

From within the mist came a shrill yelp as electricity coursed through the cloud, followed by Reynard pouncing out and blowing wave of water from her mouth at Vigant. Salieri sighed at the display. Rey, you're embarrassing me in front of Robin. Her heart wasn't in the training today, but the more Rey acted on impulse, the more she realized they needed to get their s**t together. Most of their opponents wouldn't be as courteous as Vigant.

"No reason. He's a mutual friend, your date came up yesterday." Interesting. Interesting. Sal didn't know what to do with that information. She wasn't in the business of blowing up people's spots, so she decided that for now, she'd do nothing. "I don't know him too well but he's a standup guy. We slept together once, he was more polite than most grown-a** men."

She was of course referring to when Ben allowed Sal to crash at his home in Cyllage City. "Like, I was on his couch, I mean," she tacked on while scratching the back of her head, realizing what that sounded like. Mental note, check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Her Pokégear buzzed in her pocket, and Sal saw Helena's text. Unovan Delights was essentially a diner known for their burgers. How very Unovan of Helena to get breakfast there. Who's we? Salieri wasn't sure if she'd be walking into Helena's girl squad at this hour. She knew Robin far better than Robin thought she did, so talking to her was easy despite her emotional numbness. "Sorry," Sal apologized to Robin as she took a moment to answer her texts, resisting the urge to check social media and see just what Robin meant when she said everyone was talking about Sal.

~Training rn. Might catch you later. Gotta see your bro first tho

Sal wanted to get at least twenty more minutes joint training with a trainer who was actually worth their salt before leaving. Her other Pokémon were getting experience on the sidelines sparring with Robin's, and she wasn't about to cut that short. "Ohhhh you must've been at his birthday too. I got there late, no wonder I didn't see you then."

As she watched Reynard slowly get her a** kicked, Sal rewound back to a couple of minutes ago. "Wait, so, what did Zack tell you about me? Cause depending on when you guys talked, it was either a lot of bad or only some bad."  

[Marsuru]

Robin felt a weird flutter when Salieri mentioned sleeping with Ben. There had been at least three other people in the bed when she'd slept with him, so Robin expected the guy to get around, but she guessed she was just traditional enough to feel put out by it. But then Salieri explained she was just crashing on his couch, and that left Robin feeling strangely vulnerable.

Didn't matter. Wasn't important. She swept the feeling aside and cleared her head.

'Um, it was only last night. He was trying to convince me that your government attacks commoners to keep them from winning a sporting competition - which I totally believe, by the way,' she added, remembering Moze. 'But it was all good. He said you're impulsive when people mess with the things you care about. And uh, that "this country loves nothing more than to ******** its own people, and it's ******** Salieri harder than most." which means he respects you, and ah... He said you're one of the strongest people he's ever met.'  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Robby Tobb was there, silently appearing as he usually did in these situations. If it had been a sitcom, it would be like he stepped in from just off-camera at the perfect time. But really if anyone had been watching the doors, they'd have seen him coming. He had multiple platters in hand. The first was the burgers, large and placed on the table to fill it. It had some fries for everyone as well, of course, shared in the center for the table, and they could spin it to pick the one they wanted. As was proper, condiments and other fixings were in the center. Robby burgers came with cheese normally, but there was a spare hamburger as well. Just in case the stranger was lactose intolerant. And an extra one with cheese for Robby. He would join them too.

"Mos'f 'm c'mplain 'stead 'f trainin'." Robby said, commenting on the raw power thing. 'Slike w'n ya need uh rec'pe p'rf'ct'd. Ya got the 'ngr'd'nts, ya g't th' steps. Th'n y'gotta do th'w'rk." The second platter came down, presumably everyone would have grabbed their condiments and other fixings in the time it took him to say all that. An icecream platter was in the center. Helena hadn't specified, so there were about a dozen scoops of different flavored ice-cream on the platter with cones, sugar and waffle, and a couple stacked bowls. It had walls up and he put a lid on top. Inside the lid was a compartment of dry ice to keep the icecream cool and it was insulated to keep heat out. But the scoops were separated enough they wouldnt get too mixed. The showing of them was more for presentation. For his last trick, Robby knew which drinks the Redgraves liked, and slid those to them. Helena hadn't said drink, but three burgers meant a guest, and he found plenty enough people liked Pink Lemonade with his more greasy food, so that slid over to Henrietta.

"P'rf'ct'n' food's n't too easy. G't t'ded'c'te y'rself. Yeah?" Robby slid a chair in that supported him easily and sat next to Selene. "H'w y'do'n' Zack?"  

[Spinne Biss]

-Zack is here with me. Helena text to Salieri as Zack spoke. It was informative, even if he was trying to seem super suave and 'I don't care' about everything.

Before she could speak Robby arrived. The suddeness of his presence caused Henrietta and jump and squeak. Tears welled in her eyes from surprise and Helena could tell her heart was probably hammering in her chest.

It was adorable.

"Robby," she said as she reached a hand out to squeeze the pink haired teens. Her whole face lit up again as she smiled, excitement carrying over into her tone as they were given a feast of Robby-made-food.

Henrietta didn't understand a word that Robby said, but Helena understood him perfectly.

"I definitely plan to train with zero complaints." The hardest part for her had been starting. Especially with her own physical training. Today was her first day not going for a morning jog and it was only because she hadn't actually gone to bed last night. She fully intended to get a lot more training in after breakfast.

Her eyes fell on Zack as she made her burger, adding the condiments and taking a portion of the fries for herself with a tray for dipping them in ketchup. She wanted to see his reaction to everything.

Henrietta's eyes lit up at it all, even the ice cream which she looked over at Serene once it was on the table, absolutely sure that the little Pokemon would be overcome with excitement. Could Pokemon get brain freeze? Cavities?  

[Jump Einatz]

"Oh," Salieri quietly reacted, abruptly flustered by the second-hand praise. Things were different with Zack now, but it still felt weird to hear that he thought that highly of her. Even though her eyes were hidden by shades, she couldn't help looking away for a second. You're not so bad yourself, Zack.

She covered it quickly with a haughty grin. "Hehehe, the real conspiracy is you making my ego so big it explodes."

In a way, she felt like she was cosmically cheating by speaking with Robin. Salieri had seen defining, intimate, and personal moments in this woman's life as though she was there. Yet Robin thought they were strangers with mutual friends. It was surreal, shortcutting through getting to know her. And it meant that Salieri knew that Robin knew just how corrupt the Kalosian government could be. Wait why is she going to their dinner party?

...Bertrand Balibar's dinner party...

"Listen, the stuff about my government? It's all true. If it sounds crazy, it is. Still real though. And if you're gonna challenge the league, and you're gonna go to that party, watch your back, ok?"

The screen lit up on her Pokégear again. New text. Although it was delivered as casual advice because she could hardly muster the energy to really spiel, Salieri was preoccupied with trying to reach Robin and warn her that she could be in danger before Robin inevitably found out that Salieri was kind of a d**k.  

[Marsuru]

Zack was hit by Astonish, and for a moment he couldn't do anything except watch as Robby Tobb appeared out of nowhere, and gracefully populated their table with his favourite food. Zack's deepest bonds came from his time at the academy - Franklin and Robin were like a second family to him - but before that, it was Zack, Helena, and Robby Tobb.

He was intelligent, insightful, wise beyond his years, and about the only part of Helena's middle school band that wasn't total cringe. Helped that he made probably the best food Zack had eaten in all his years of travel.

Serene's jaw dropped at the sight of so much ice cream, but she startled when Zack suddenly scraped out his chair and started towards Robby before he could sit down.

'Robby!' Zack said, dragging the Iron Chef in for a bro hug, 'You son of a b***h!'
'H'w y'do'n' Zack?'
'I'm good, man,' Zack said as he let Robby go sit down. It was weird, but he actually felt it. It was as if all his stresses had just melted away, and for the first time since Zack arrived in Kalos, he felt like he was home. 'You're looking great.'

Zack sat down and jammed a burger in his mouth, then noticed Serene sitting up in her seat with both hands outstretched towards the ice cream, her fingers flexing for it. Zack reached over and dished some out for her. The Kirlia sat back in her chair, bowl on lap, and began to psychically raise ice cream into the air and float it into her open mouth.

''ow 'ong 'av' 'ou 'een 'n' 'alos?' Zack asked Robby through a mouthful of burger. From the tenderness of the patty, the fresh cut of salad, and the perfect blend of herbs and sauces, it was heaven.

---

'Noted,' Robin said, not really sure of how much she wanted to share about her plans with someone she only just met. Even if Zack vouched for Salieri, and she seemed cool anyway, it was personal. But even so, Salieri might still be able to help. 'I don't plan on sticking around in Kalos too much longer. After tonight...'

She pushed off the trainer box. While getting ready that morning, Robin let her holo caster play through some videos of Sal's battle the night before. Aside from the contests themselves, there was one clip that grabbed her attention. It was zoomed so the image had been all grainy, but from what Robin could tell it showed Alanza Taine and Salieri sign a contract, chains of light burrowing into their chests the moment their pen left the page.

'Those contracts you signed with Alanza Taine,' Robin said, watching their pokémon battle one another. Reynard versus Vigant. David versus Goliath. 'Those were binding weren't they? I mean, literally binding. You couldn't wrangle out of them?'  

[Jump Einatz]

After tonight, what? What happens tonight Robin, what are you trying to pull? She wanted to know, but if she prodded too much she could scare Robin away.

Sal's eyes followed Robin's back to the battle, where David zipped around the battlefield recklessly shooting water and ice for an opening against Goliath. Sometimes, she wondered what Reynard had to prove. Or who she was proving it to.

"Yeah, it's something her Klefki could make happen. We had as much wiggle room as the contracts allowed, but if we broke them -or even thought about breaking them- those chains really started to squeeze." Salieri put a hand to her chest, remembering her attempt to resist Alanza's dare without conceding. If she had gone on any longer, she might have entered cardiac arrest. "Why, you trying to make higher stakes for poker nights?"

Now Sal checked her message. Helena again. So Zack was part of the "we". That did make things convenient. Salieri thought about the quickest way to Unovan Delights from the South Center, but she couldn't take it because it passed by Restaurant Le Yeah, which Mia's dad owned and the Aviads lived above, and she really didn't want to run into Mia. She recalculated her route, a human GPS for the city of Lumiose.

~I'll be there in 30ish  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Robby was pulled into the bro hug, taking it smoothly and in stride as Zack took in the surprise Tobb. He was glad to have both of the Redgraves back around. Zack was usually good for a laugh and a story. Helena was like a little sister. Good to tease, and with enough snark to make it fun.

" 'Sg'd H'l'na G'tt' d'wh't's r'ght, n't eas'." Robby said, and turned his attention back to Zack as the Redgrave asked how long he'd been in Kalos. " 'M'nth'r so?" Robby tapped his chin. This was where the league was going on, so it made sense to open ahead of time, and working the kitchens had made sure that the trainers and others who ate here came back. "Y'kn'w Ah had t'do th'op'n'n' r'gh'. 'Sn't 'sy t'd't if ya d'n't do 't r'ght."

Robby took a bite of his burger. That was made right, he hoped he got the rest done proper too. "Ya g't c'ght'p'n th'p'r'te stuff, yeah? Glad y'two're 'kay."  

[Spinne Biss]

To Salieri

-Looking forward to it.

The burger was heaven. The moment it hit her tongue Helena let out a groan of absolute enjoyment. Kalosian food was good, but nothing beat greasy Unovan food in taste. Maybe it wasn't healthy, but it was so delicious!

The flavorings, the seasoning, they all mixed beautifully with the meat, enchanting every inch of it. The condiments, the pickles, the lettuce only added to that factor. The juicy burger felt as if it might melt in her mouth, the taste of wine not overpowering but doing wonders to also enchant the burgers taste.

Juice soaked into the bun as she bit into the burger, seasoning it instead of making it gross. Every part of this experience was enjoyable and Helena barely listened to what Zack and Robby were saying.

Henrietta tried, but she had no idea what Robby was saying herself. She might have been Unovan, but the thick drawl of Robby's voice threw her for a loop.  

[Marsuru]

Zack was enjoying himself. Listening to everyone talk and have a good time almost let him forget the horrors of the past few days. Of the decision he had to make. It was almost as if he was cheating karma. Surely somebody who did what he'd done didn't get to sit down and eat burgers like nothing had happened.

His mind started to wander as the others talked. Mariah had taught him to control his thoughts, to keep his focus on whatever task he had to hand. But there was no task, and Zack had finally let himself relax.

Commuters were starting to go about their day, and the traffic picked up pace. What started as a quiet street metamorphosed into a busy one. Across the way, Zack thought he saw somebody staring at him. A brunette girl about his age. Lines of commuters passed in front, but she didn't break her line of sight. She looked angry. Zack felt a chill.

'I was serious before, by the way,' Zack said to Helena. 'We should go off route and see what we can see, you're definitely ready. I used to find all kinds of s**t like that back in the day.'

Zack glanced back across the street, but the girl was gone.

---

A Klefki. Made sense, Robin supposed, she'd heard of some Klefki being able to imbue their magic into objects but it was rare.

'I gotta make sure a certain noble doesn't go back on his word,' Robin replied with sad smile. 'Any chance you could help me get a hold of that Klefki by tonight? I'd owe you big.'