Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings Summary/Glossary Thread

[Artemis Wolfe]

Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

Summary Thread

Welcome to the Summary Thread! This is where we'll be maintaining a summary of the RP to make it easier for players to keep abreast of the story.
Each post will contain the synopsis for a block of 10 pages.

Click here to find the pages you're after:

Pages: 01-10
Pages: 11-20
Pages: 21-30
Pages: 31-40
Pages: 41-50
Pages: 51-60
Pages: 61-70
Pages: 71-80
Pages: 81-90

Glossary of Terms

Here are some definitions for RP-specific terms, and some general pokémon terms that have been Legendsified.
The longer Court of Kings gets, the more unique vocabulary we'll use, so check back here if you're ever left wondering how something works.

Aura
Very few people believe that Aura is more than a fairy tale, and fewer still have learned to control it. But those who master Aura are capable of great feats, able to meld their thoughts and feelings with others, and sense everything in their surroundings. An Aura Master in charge of a pokémon can unlock their full potential, becoming a force of nature.

Court of Kings
The name given to the four great noble houses who traditionally support the monarchy. The Court consists of houses Leroux, Taine, Nostrad, and Balibar. Their machinations control the destiny of Kalos.

Darkhorse Hunters
Unbeknownst to the public at large, the court uses a secret group of trainers to prevent commoners from winning the pokémon league and ascending to the rank of nobility. The hunters will buy off their targets, break their spirits or, rarely, kill them and make it look like an accident. Their operations are headed by someone using the codename Nicolette Nostrad, though their true identity is unknown.

Gabriel Leroux
A member of House Leroux, and the first to die in Ratio's war with Lord Nostrad. His death has been covered up as an accident.

Gotengo
In the slums of Lumiose City is an abandoned building that houses a large tree. Over a few years the tree was turned into a massive treehouse complex where kids can come and go as they please. Often used for parties and general fun, the Soledad Siblings (Moze and Salieri) are the founders of Gotengo. The current "leader" of Gotengo is Mia Aviad, who has installed a PC system.

Kalosian
The language of the people of Kalos. It's based on French, with just a hint of Google Translate.

Kalos Military
Controlled primarily by House Balibar, the Kalos Military is the country's sword and shield.

Monarchy
Since its founding, the royal family has been Kalos's backbone of tradition. The commoners support the nobility, the nobility support the monarchy, the monarch leads the country. In modern times, true political power is with the Court of Kings, but even figureheads like the Queen have a vital part to play in Kalos's stability.

National
The common tongue throughout the pokémon world. While each country has their own language, almost everyone speaks National.

Nobility
Kalos's ruling elite. The nobility are one with the government and at the head of every major Kalosian business. They maintain the country's social structure and, though not outright abusive, prevent commoners from rising any higher than, say, middle-management.

Off-Route Pokémon
Between cities there are routes. And between routes there are vast expanses of countryside, forest and jungle that no human can hope to inhabit. Here is where the wildest pokémon live, where nobody but the most powerful of trainers hope to can travel safely.

Pokémon League
The Kalos pokémon league is incredibly popular. Not just as an excuse to travel a country of such beauty, but because the winner of the league is granted a noble title and more money than they can reasonably manage. However, no commoner has managed to win the league and ascend to the ranks of nobility in over thirty years.

Potion Addiction
Though Potions are valuable medicine for pokémon, to humans they are toxic. A human who ingests Potion will heal minor wounds and get a high, but eventually cause their body to deteriorate. The highly addictive effects of Potion ingestion can be countered by an antidote if caught in its early stages, but if one takes Potion for too long, reversing the damage is next to impossible.

Queen Antoinette
Bubbly and endearing with a real can-do attitude, Queen Antoinette is the ruling monarch of Kalos and cares deeply for its citizens. Though she isn't capable of the complex political schemes of the court, she nonetheless does what she can to better the lives of her people. Collects pokémon cards.

Quillon
The highest ranking and most powerful pokémon in the Kalos Military, the Quillon strike fear in friend and foe alike. Rumoured to be genetically altered and always clad in steel armour, the Quillon are without a doubt the strongest pokémon the nobility have at their disposal. Quillon are highly intelligent and utterly ruthless, and granted autonomy to traverse Kalos and uphold the nobility's ideals.

Ratio
An Aura master and assassin with unknown goals. He has bloody history with Jullien Nostrad, and the two would stop at nothing to see the other's downfall. Since the start of the league, Ratio has butchered his way through Nostrad's pawns using his talents for disguise, subterfuge, and his own deadly skill. The pronunciation is "Rah-tee-oh".

Sponsored Trainers
Colloquially known as 'Sponses', these trainers have been hand-picked by major businesses to advertise their products. They'll typically appear in commercials or wear logos during their battles. Sponsored trainers are paid well and benefit from a host of other privileges, making them the envy of the training world's less charismatic have-nots.

Teleport Zones
In an effort to prevent trainers with teleporting pokémon from running amok in cities, these areas have been created as designated stations, and exist in pokémon centers all over Kalos. Out of battle, teleports should always be directed either to a route or a teleport zone. Trainers caught teleporting to other places will have points deducted from their trainer licence and their league challenge suspended.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 01-10

~DAY 1

~Today marks the dawn of the summer’s Pokémon League competition in Kalos! A parade is set to occur in the evening in honor of this, with the royal family, heads of the noble court and Elite 4 to be present.

~On Route 4, Zack Redgrave, a cocky but brilliant trainer, is training his Gastly, Hazard. They beat some scrubs with ease until Zack plans on looking for his sister, Helena Redgrave. Before he can find her, he gets lost exploring Route 4 and encounters a swarm of Combee as wells as a Ralts. After a scuffle, he manages to capture one of the Combee and the Psychic type, who would later be dubbed Chrysallis and Serene.

~In Santalune Forest, Takamaru Takashi, a trainer hailing from Olivine City in Johto, takes on three trainers at once in defense of a timid Youngster. He makes short work of them with his Steel type Pokémon, gains his prize money, and heads to Santalune City a hero in the Youngster’s eyes.

~In Lumiose City, another Youngster is harassed by Antoine, a noble from the Court of Kings who lords his status over the common folk. The volatile and revenge obsessed Salieri Soledad intervenes, goading Antoine into a battle which she wins using her Horsea Veillantif. After insulting both Antoine and the Youngster, she goes on her way.

~Salieri enters Professor Sycamore’s lab in hopes of repairing his Pokédex’s AI, Ivan. Sycamore declares the problem out of his hands just as one of his Chespin swipes Sal’s bandanna and escapes into the Wonder Trade. Against all odds, Sal finds the same Chespin in the Wonder Trade, knocks it out herself, and is given the Pokémon by Sycamore. She nicknames him Biz Marquis.

~Helena is introduced alongside her mischievous Abra, Loki, on Route 3 checking out a nest of Fletchlings. The Fletchinder that is their mother chases Helena until Loki teleports her out of trouble. After some time Helena arrives in Santalune City, registers herself at the gym, and goes to train on Route 4 with a mysterious Pangoro following her.

~Zack wanders through Lumiose City and gets called out on his fashion sense. After healing himself with a Potion, he purchases a gaudy coat. Mistaken as a noble by Salieri, his notebook of trainer tips is stolen by her. Zack gives chase through the city. Their chase leads to Gotengo, a gigantic treehouse for derelicts in the slums. Zack gets his notebook back by putting Sal to sleep, and calls the cops on her. They take her away.

~TK talks to his sister on his Holocaster about financial matters and literally bumps into Helena in the process. Both of them apologetic, the two bond over being trainers in foreign countries that need the prize money for different reasons.

~Benedict Montgomery, a lady lover and betting man, punches out a bookie who stole his winnings from a bet on Route 4. TK, who has just arrived there himself, separates from Helena and spots the end of that chase. He tries to help Benedict follow through, but Benedict prefers to let business settle and leaves.

~Training, battling, and captures abound! Zack trains his new Pokémon against the Pangoro that had been stalking both him and his sister. Helena and TK battle on Route 4, a match that ends with TK as the victor, and Benedict captures a Budew named Essence.

~TK returns to Santalune City to challenge the Gym Leader, Viola! After a touch match, he manages to win and become one of the first trainers in this year’s league to win a badge! Mazeltov! Helena takes on Viola right afterwards. It does not end as well, and she is defeated. Better luck next time, Helena!

~Zack and a trainer named Ivan are minding their own business in one of Lumiose City’s many cafes when all of the sudden, a noble named Gabriel Leroux is thrown out of an apartment building, DOA. Zack sees a Strange Creature in the window where Gabriel fell out. The Creature disappears. Spooky!

~As TK walks through Santalune City with his first badge, he’s approached by an uppity woman who had looked down on him before for his lack of status. Now that he has a badge, the woman treats him with respect to earn his favor, an indication of the class issues present in Kalos.

~Helena leaves her gym match upset and calls her older brother Zack. They arrange to meet on Route 4.

~Salieri is driven home by a friend on the police force, where she is greeted by her Pawniard, Dune. She attempts to get her older brother’s Torkoal, Banksy, out of the house but the turtle declines. Sal ends up on Route 4 to train in preparation for fighting Viola.  

[Marsuru]

Court of Kings: Pages 11-20

~Helena arrives on Route 4 and runs into Salieri. After the trainers introduce themselves, Loki teleports Salieri into the air and drops her on her butt. Zack turns up just after and greets Salieri with the nickname One Shot, and they start bickering. During all this, Helena reveals that the Redgraves aren't nobility, meaning the whole business with the notebook was all one big misunderstanding.

~Meanwhile on Route 3, Benedict plans out his strategy for beating bug leader Viola. Deciding that grass type Essence wouldn't stand much of a chance, he captures a nearby Pidgey and names it Francis. Then begins to train in preparation for a fight tomorrow.

~Back on Route 4, the argument's heating up. Helena decides to cool things off by having Loki teleport Salieri into the nearby fountain, cementing Salieri's dislike for the Abra. The conversation moves onto the murder of Gabriel Leroux, and Zack describes the creature he saw. Nobody knows what it is. Then Salieri teaches Charge Beam to Loki, on the condition that they battle when he gets stronger.

~Over in Santalune City, TK is calling his family about his victory against Viola. Anna sends his shinai over so that TK can continue practising Kendo while he's in Kalos. He moves on to Lumiose City, planning to defeat the electric leader, Clemont.

~Salieri leaves Route 4 and travels back to Lumiose City where youngsters Anais and Carter are discussing Salieri's brother Moze, and why people call him White Flag. It's because he quit the pokémon league. Sal heads home to visit her adoptive father, Arnaud, who is bedridden with his memories muddled. They talk until Arnaud forgets their conversation, and loops around to a greeting. On her way out, Salieri tries again to convince Banksy to leave the house, but has no success.

~ The Redgraves discuss Helena's loss to Viola, then teleport to Route 3 where Zack immediately kicks a Pikachu into the nearby lake. Pikachu struggles and fries some nearby water dwellers, including a pair of Corphish that Zack and Helena capture. Zack captures the Pikachu to save it from drowning. He offers to trade Pikachu for a Fletchinder that Helena catches by repeatedly teleporting it into the lake. Then they do practice battles for a while. Zack urges Helena to go past her limits, but is kind of a d**k about it. Their training ends when they realise that the parade has begun.

~The annual Gotengo-party-to-commemorate-the-start-of-the-pokémon-league party is in full swing. Since she's leaving on her journey, Salieri passes ownership of Gotengo to her best friend, Mia. They reminisce until they're interrupted by the dramatic arrival of Banksy, who has finally come out of her house. She will join Salieri on the condition that Sal prove herself by retagging the emblem on Banksy's shell, something that won't be easy since Banksy can fly and breathe fire. TK arrives during the ensuing battle and teams up with Sal. After a long fight involving a Skarmory, a fire tornado, the meaning of badassery, and the creative use of a Horsea, Banksy is finally beaten. Phew!

~Afterwards, Sal and TK talk. Salieri tells TK that the winners of the Kalos League don't just become champions, but nobility as well. She explains that there hasn't been a non-noble league winner for years, and that the current nobility will do anything to keep it that way. With TK thoroughly warned, the two decide to watch each other's backs. And go to the parade together.

~The parade itself takes place around Lumiose City's Northern and Southern Boulevards, encircling the city once before convening on Centrico Plaza. Zack arrives with Helena just in time to see the first of the floats headed by Elliot Leroux and his Elite, Malva. Then followed Madeline Taine with Siebold, Bertrand Balibar with Wikstrom, and Jullien Nostrad with Drasna, followed by his procession of dragons. These lords and ladies head the four great noble houses that comprise the Court of Kings.

~High above the parade, a man named Ratio darts from rooftop to rooftop, following the procession. Once near the Nostrad float, he uses Aura to psychically contact Lord Nostrad. Ratio reveals that he was responsible for the death of Gabriel Leroux, and that he has plans for Nostrad. Then he disappears, leaving Nostrad distressed and alone in the middle of a crowded city.

~Leaving the parade early, Zack goes to the Moreau Library off Estival Avenue. At first he plans to research Kalosian myths to find reference to the creature, but quickly becomes distracted when he spots Esme studying in the corner. Zack immediately develops a crush on her, but it only goes one way. He decides to impress Esme by beating up the thugs outside who are taking advantage of the parade by engaging in vandalism. Lucky timing. Though Zack wins the fight, blasting the thugs with Hazard until they run, he doesn't manage it before library is shut for the night. Poor Zack.

~DAY 2

~The second day of the Court of Kings begins. Helena wakes up and gets ready, then calls her brother. Meanwhile Zack is already awake and on Route 5 ready to train. Helena wants Zack to teach her how to camp. It's very exciting so far. They meet up at Café Soleil and discuss stuff, including Gabriel Leroux and how messed up it is to throw a parade that runs past a fresh murder scene. Afterwards they go do a practice battle.

~In Gotengo, Salieri chats with Mia over breakfast, then heads off to face Viola. TK wakes up a while later, and Mia passes on a message from Sal while he eats a breakfast bar and they talk for a while. Somewhere across town, Benedict is getting a shower after spending the night with some girl. He gathers his pokémon and travels to Route 4 to continue his training. What a guy.

~Little does Benedict realise, Salieri's already claimed Route 4 as is currently kicking some serious rookie butt. Her pokémon are learning new moves and all is well. Then Benedict shows up with some pick up lines, because his masculinity knows no bounds. Biz and Francis get to know each other and become bros. Sal and Ben's flirting goes back and forth until it inevitably erupts into a battle. Sal comes out on top, and they exchange numbers, deciding to become rivals.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 21-30

~On South Boulevard, Zack witnesses the Pangoro that had been following the Redgrave siblings around get into a fight with some gate guards. All of the sudden, a Golurk and a noble swordswoman show up and handily take down the Pangoro. Zack learns this woman is Elizabeth Leroux, daughter of the same Gabriel that was murdered the day prior. Pangoro is put into a cage, then shipped off to parts unknown.

~TK wakes up in Gotengo, looking for breakfast. He chats with Mia about the futility of fighting against growing up. Mia passes on a ‘Goodbye’ for Sal, and TK heads out to get money for breakfast. On his journey he runs into a Riolu being harassed by the same thugs Zack beat up the night before. Their leader, Trevor, is stopped by TK, who proceeds to battle circles around the three thugs before making an escape with their cash and the Riolu. Much of this is caught by a news helicopter.

~Salieri goes to the Santalune Gym, lying about her identity to Scott the Trainer Tips Guy in order to cut the line and get into her battle. She enters the gym and battles Viola. Veillantif struggles against Viola’s Vivillon and is ultimately defeated, but Biz Marquis manages to use a Needle Sword and defeat both Vivillon and Accelgor. Sal wins the badge!

~At a sporting goods store, Helena is denied the ability to buy camping gear by the aptly named owner, d**k, until she has a badge. Helena takes her team to Route 22 in order to train for the rematch. Sal happens to be eating lunch on that Route, and the two have a more civil discussion than their previous one about motivation and being a trainer. They exchange numbers, parting on good terms.

~On Route 5, Zack runs into a Sponsored Trainer with a Machamp. The trainer has three badges and challenges Zack to a battle. Zack uses Hazard, and with clever application of Typing and moves, manages to defeat the higher level Pokémon and evolve into a Haunter. After a quick stop to heal, Zack goes on towards Camphrier Town to train.

~Waiting for his gym match, Benedict trains on Route 4 to be better prepared. Salieri trades a Buneary she caught on Route 22 for a Hiker’s Farfetch’d named Quacklin’. The Farfetch’d becomes Biz’s teacher in the way of the sword, training him on Route 4 as well.

~Salieri flashes back to a fond memory of her older brother, Moze Soledad saving her from a fight with thugs. In present day she returns to Gotengo, only to see a home video of the treehouse being built by her brother. Uncomfortable with these unearthed memories, Sal and Mia leave to hang out before Sal checks out of Lumiose. The girls have a casual chill session one last time, then Sal goes west to Route 5.

~Benedict enters the Santalune Gym, and his battle with Viola begins! Francis the Pidgey pulls out a victory against Viola’s Joltik, but then falls to Viola’s Vivillon. Essence comes in to pick up the pace, evolves into Roselia, and takes the match. Ben wins the badge!

~After Biz Marquis evolves into the derpy looking Quilladin, Sal goes to Camphrier Town where she sees Zack at the Pokémon Center. They trash talk each other until Salieri questions him about the murder he witnessed. She attempts to bargain information by disclosing something personal, but Zack dismisses it and Teleports to meet his sister.

~Helena and Zack talk about future plans in Kalos. Helena’s concerned that if she loses her rematch, she’ll have no cash. Pepping herself up, she Teleports back to Santalune City. Her rematch with Viola begins!

~Zack wanders onto Route 7, where a sleeping Snorlax blocks the way west. An Elderly Man explains that he sent a trainer to retrieve the Pokéflute from Parfum Palace over an hour ago to wake Snorlax up, but she has not returned. Zack circumvents the issue by warping the Snorlax into a lake, capturing him and naming him Fatass. Right after, he realizes his precious notebook is missing.  

[Marsuru]

Court of Kings: Pages 31-40

~The trainer that accepted the quest to retrieve the Pokéflute from Parfum Palace turns out to be Salieri, who also plans on robbing the noble owned mansion out of spite. Durendal, having a strong moral compass, takes no part in the act and splits off from her.

~Roy Hunter, all around guardsman for hire, dutifully looks after Parfum Palace. A sly Kecleon steals an invaluable plate behind his back, framing Salieri in the process and causing Roy to give chase. Salieri, who thinks Roy knows about the Amulet Coin she just nabbed, tries to battle Roy’s Luxray with just Quacklin’ in the courtyard’s hedge maze, but they’re soundly defeated and Sal gets Paralyzed.

~In Sarntalune Gym, Viola and Helena’s battle rages on. Lilt falls to one of Viola’s Vivvilon, but Feather picks up the slack and also manages to defeat Viola’s Beedrill by wearing the Bug type out. The match, and the badge, are now Helena’s!

~Zack is ready to turn Lumiose City inside out to reclaim his notebook, until he recalls that it’s in the Moreau Library where Esme literally lives. When Zack goes to look for it and runs into her, he asks her out on impulse. She turns him down, thoroughly mortifying Zack. Esme appreciates his moxie, and asks to borrow the book. Despite his notebook being the culmination of years of research, Zack allows it. Ding ding ding! Zack got Esme’s phone number!

~In Lumiose City, TK parts ways with the Riolu he just rescued and is ready to leave the city when he’s approach by a mysterious man. The man claims to represent the nobles, and bribes Takamaru with the money he needs to treat his sick sister as long as he quits the league. Though the choice weighs heavily on his heart and dignity, the silver haired startup decides to take the money and return to his family overseas, officially resigning from the Kalos League.

Stay gold, Takamaru Takashi.

~As one star falls, another is born. Introducing Levi “Daze” Uziel! A breezy wayward youth living in Lumiose City, Levi arrives at Gotengo to say goodbye to his friends before heading out to continue his Kalos League campaign. A thief who exclusively targeted nobility, Levi gifts Gotengo with some stolen petty cash. Mia shows him her new PC system which he can use to store his Pokémon, and wishes Levi good luck on his departure.

~Durendal sees his trainer in trouble and lands on scene to defend her regardless of her morality. Durendal vs Luxray begins! Dune sneaks off into the maze. Under his watchful x-ray vision, Luxray makes the maze his domain and gets the upperhand quickly. Barely able to move, Salieri kicks Ivan into the maze, hoping the Pokédex can help even the odds.

~Helena uses her new badge to buy the tent she was denied before at d**k’s Sporting Goods, leaving on goods terms with the titular d**k. On her way out she spots an abusive trainer torturing his Deino. Helena gets into a scuffle with the trainer, then blackmails him into giving her the Dragon by threatening to call rape. The trainer gets his just desserts, and Helena gets a new Pokémon, Metric.

~After evading a gang of punks and making them look like chumps, Levi makes a stop at the North Lumiose Police Station at the request of his aunt, Officer Laura. Laura produces a security photo catching Levi in the act of pickpocketing and admonishes him for it, letting him know she won’t cover for him anymore. Despite this she gives him a mysterious trinket and wishes him luck on his journey, reminding him to visit Sycamore’s lab before leaving Lumiose.

~A shocking conclusion! In Parfum Palace’s courtyard, Durendal is on his last legs against Luxray until Ivan informs him that Luxray can see through walls. Dune experiments with his Magnet Rise and invents a technique to redirect lightning, countering Luxray’s Thunder attack and finishing off his opponent. Durendal wins, but Roy’s backup is on the way…

~Zack runs into a bruised Helena. At first he’s ready to unleash big brother rage on whoever pummeled her before he simply tells her to pick her fights more carefully. The two of them break to Camphrier, where they see a news report detailing Team Flare’s blockade of Glittering Cave. Zack is mildly interested, but Helena couldn’t care less.

~In Kalos, there exist an organization of six royal knights called the Quillon, Pokémon so powerful they are assigned to no trainer. Guildenstern, a Blaziken and one of the Quillon, arrives on the scene at Parfum Palace in order to execute Sal and Dune. Before it can occur, the Head Butler shows up with the captured Kecleon, proving that Salieri did not steal the plate. Roy, not heartless enough to let Sal be executed for petty theft, covers for her stolen Amulet Coin at the cost of his own job. Salieri leaves the Parfum Palace with the Pokéflute she had been tasked to find, feeling guilty for almost getting Durendal killed over a simple trinket.

Finally, she brings the Pokéflute to Route 7 only to find out that Zack had woken up the Snorlax already. Needless to say, this greatly displeases Salieri.

~In Chateau Leroux, Elizabeth talks with her Uncle Elliot about getting justice and vengeance for the murder of her father. Much to her surprise, Elliot urges her to let go of the matter, and keeps vital information about the murder from her. Undeterred, Elizabeth doesn’t falter and warns Elliot not to get in the way of her investigation.

~Levi goes to Sycamore’s lab to touch base with the Professor, and asks him about Mega Evolution. Though the field is relatively unexplored in modern science, Sycamore urges Levi to find out more, and gives him a Bulbasaur for research which Levi nicknames Thorn.

~DAY 3

~Helena wakes up on Route 7 worse for wear after her first time camping out. After freshening up she sees two boys catching Spritzees to use their perfume as aphrodisiacs, so she drops one of them into a river with Loki. Helena 1, Pick Up Artists 0.

~Zack traverses Connecting Cave in order to get to the Team Flare blockade on Route 9. He runs into a mysterious man named Alexander, as well as his mighty Arcanine, Ferox. Ferox makes going through the cave a breeze, but when Alexander has Ferox murder a Haxorus just to catch one Axew from a litter, Zack decides the man went out of line and captures the rest of the litter just to save their tiny hides. Look, he really does have a heart!

~Jump Einatz, a famous Pokémon Coordinator from Hoenn, stands on the Route 8 cliffs handing out invites to his Cave Rave party. Hexum the Lucario and Kiedis the Teddiursa, his trusted confidantes, reluctantly help him even though they consider him to be utterly incompetent. When Jump invites Zack, he is completely oblivious to Zack’s indifference and proclaims them to be new friends before going south to Ambrette Town. Zack heads in that direction as well but takes the coastal route, catching a Clauncher in the process who will much later be dubbed Lethal.

~Durendal wakes up in the Camphrier Pokémon Center’s emergency room, sporting a scar on his armor courtesy of Guildenstern. Salieri tries to apologize for putting him in harm’s way for the sake of thievery, but cannot spit it out and instead opts to open her heart to her Pawniard and reveal her past. The tragic history of the Soledad family comes to light…

~Eight years ago, Salieri and her older brother Moze were the most notorious delinquents in their school. Resenting the lack of status or money her family had, Salieri grew bitter and thought of life as unfair. One day, her father Arnaud revealed to her that he was once part of House Nostrad, but gave up his title because he could not abide by their cruel culture. He told her that raising the Soledad siblings was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Salieri and Moze took a very different lesson away from his teachings, and rationalize that if one of them could become Champion than they could give their dear father his old plush lifestyle back while sticking it in the faces of the family that deserted him. The two of them vow to make it to the top, for Arnaud’s sake.

~Six years ago, Salieri and Moze were ready to ship out to Sinnoh for more training in order to take on the Kalos League in top form. Their dreams were shut down when Kyren Balibar, a former Kalos League Champion, attacked their father Arnaud with a Chanedlure and left him hospitalized. Arnaud was cursed by the Ghost’s flames, and as his life sapped out of him so did his memory. Now running on a clock, Salieri and Moze changed their vows: they would become Champions to find Kyren Balibar, bring the nobles to justice and return Arnaud to health. Though he knew he was unprepared, Salieri urged Moze to take on the Kalos League immediately for their father’s health, a decision she’d later come to regret.

~In the present, Salieri laments to Durendal that Moze was swiftly and systematically defeated by four sponsored trainers and disappeared shortly after. She promises that she won’t be the same, and pleads with Durendal to see things her way. Though Dune sympathizes with her deep pain, he cannot come to terms with the cruel way she goes about taking her revenge. Nevertheless, the trainer and her Pokémon end the talk on a good note.

~In Ambrette Town, Zack is disappointed to see the police have sectioned off Route 9 to deal with Team Flare themselves. To kill time, Zack calls Helena to touch base, then starts training. When he forgets how to tutor Shadow Ball to Hazard, he calls up Esme to get his notebook back. This turns into him asking her out in a friendship capacity (hint: not in his eyes), which she accepts. Zack is excited, but anxious about what to wear due to Jump’s naïve needling.

~On Route 7, Helena is packing up her camping supplies when one of the boys she tossed into a river knocks down her tent. Helena 1, Pick Up Artists 1. They relent after a half hearted apology, but her troubles don’t end there! Levi spots her and steals her wallet for fun in order to goad her into a Pokémon battle. What’s fun to him is stealing to everyone else, so Helena gladly accepts the challenge.

~Zack returns to Lumiose City for a new outfit out of desperation. At Boutique Couture he meets the modern legend Viro Von Silver, a world class fashionista who takes on restyling Zack as a personal project. A free new outfit? Let the runway show commence!

~Jace Nostrad, a cocky but otherwise unassuming sponsored trainer, is casually punched out by Salieri for talking smack about Moze. In a spontaneous move, she steals his Chateau Card Key and sponsorship jacket to pose as him and enter the Battle Chateau to do recon on enemies.

~Helena has Loki battle Levi’s Growlithe Zeke along the river, showing off a pragmatic urge to win that even the thief does not display. Salieri intervenes when she sees it getting heated, mediating between the two and getting Levi to return the wallet. Helena Teleports away and Sal asks Levi to run interference for her while she sneaks into the Chateau. Levi, always up for some mischief, accepts.

~Jullien Nostrad greets his guest, Siebold of the Elite Four, at the Battle Chateau. They make small talk until Jullien shows him the underground dungeon beneath the Chateau where prisoner Pokémon are kept to be used as future training tools, something which puts the Elite Four member on edge.

~Eager to find out who mugged him, Jace Nostrad calls his bubbly kindhearted friend Matheson Leroux to help investigate. Intrigued by the mystery surrounding the assault, Math volunteers to go after the one responsible himself, using his Klefki Metis’ Magic Door Key technique to travel between any two doorways with ease. Math forgets to take the medication for his Obsessive Impulsive Disorder before departing, causing Jace to worry.

~Levi spreads Moze’s graffiti tag all over Camphrier to throw people off Salieri’s trail. Math takes the bait and questions Levi about Salieri. The loyal Levi doesn’t give him anything and tries to use Math’s Magic Doors against him but Math non-violently stalls out the situation. The two of them talk out the misunderstanding, and Math promises he won’t go overboard getting Jace’s items back from Sal.

~On Route 9, Jump tunnels up into the middle of Team Flare Vs The Police with Hexum and Kiedis. He reveals that he is in fact a Team Flare Admin, and leaves the mighty Kiedis to deal with the police while he starts up Cave Rave party inside.

~Elizabeth meets with Jullien Nostrad, who expresses his condolences for the death of her father. He agrees to help her bring the murderer of Gabriel Leroux to justice as long as Elizabeth agrees to keep the alliance between the two nobles a secret. She accepts.

~In Glittering Cave, Flare Scientist Aliana scours the cave for signs of the Legendary Pokémon Diancie. Jump claims he’ll help after setting up his party, but his loudspeaker system ends up sending the hidden Diancie and the not so hidden other cave denizens into a frenzy. A stampede of Pokémon charge out of Glittering Cave and onto Route 9.

~Now clad in a Von Silver suit, Zack meets with Esme and the two go to a café in Ambrette Town. Before they can even order, they’re violently interrupted by a Unovan named Kelly who attacks Zack for a slight that took place long ago. The conflict is over as soon as it began, and Zack keeps Esme in the dark about this old rival. Esme gets over this awkward hump and leaves back to Lumiose thinking of Zack in a better light. A victory for our young lover?

~Victories never last long, as Zack sees The Creature that killed Gabriel Leroux over the stampede of Pokémon spilling onto Route 9. Zack gives chase and rides a Rhyhorn into the mouth of Glittering Cave, where Kiedis guides him inside.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 41-50

~On Route 9, the stampede of Glittering Cave’s inhabitants spills towards Ambrette Town. Roy, as well as many selfless trainers, fight back the stampede so the people of Ambrette Town can evacuate.

~Zack gets to Glittering Cave, where he is met by Jump, Hexum and Kiedis. Eager to find The Creature and the trigger of the Pokémon mob outside, Zack ventures on a mine cart with Jump and Hexum deep into the gorge. Hexum uses his Aura to sense that Zack was suspicious of Jump’s involvement with Team Flare, and knocks Zack to the floor. Jump and Hexum switch to a new cart and escape.

~In Lumiose City, the Pokétch Company sponsored trainer Grant takes on multiple challengers at once outside of the Gym, coordinating via earpiece to his Pikachu, Raijin. Helena joins the challenge using Loki, who evolves into a Kadabra while fighting. Go for Loki! When Helena sees Zack’s Rhyhorn ride at Route 9 on TV, she makes haste to Ambrette Town.

~Zack comes to and chases suit with Serene, using her Teleport to close the distance. Jump and Zack fight in one mine cart while Hexum and Serene battle in the other, racing at breakneck speeds over the mysterious gorge below.

~Using the ID and uniform of Jace the noble, Salieri enters the Battle Chateau, moving quickly and avoiding attention. She finds a PC to use Mia’s hacking program with Ivan the Pokédex. Upon searching for ‘Mozart Soledad’, she finds all files have been deleted. And upon searching for ‘Nicolette Nostrad’, she activates a loud alarm and accidentally shuts down Ivan.

~Helena and Grant use a Pokémon Center’s Teleporter to warp to Ambrette Town, arriving in the middle of the disaster. In the disarray a trainer loses a Pokéball, which Helena picks up. She uses Loki’s Teleport to enter Glittering Cave.

~Back in Camphrier Town, Levi tries to keep Matheson distracted so he doesn’t go after Salieri. He appeals to Math’s sense of reason and family, conveying what Sal had lost and why she was angry. Keeping it in mind, Math promises not to hurt Salieri, and uses his Magic Door Key to travel to the Battle Chateau.

~Helena walks in one Kiedis and a few Team Flare grunts lurking in the cave mouth. Since they won’t allow her into the tunnels to find her brother, Helena takes them on with her Pokémon and the one she just found, Écarlate the Scizor. Écarlate chooses to fight since he is promised that he will be returned to his real trainer. While Helena commands her Pokémon against the grunts, Kiedis takes on Écarlate.

~Roy continues to lead the defense of Ambrette Town, but the stampede is able to trickle into Ambrette Town. His Feraligatr gets swallowed by the crowd. Meanwhile at the Moreau Library, Esme watches the news coverage of Route 9 with her Twin Aunts, Janiver and Février..

~Kiedis, who Helena expected to be an easy opponent, turns out to have the advantage in fighting Écarlate. Helena scans him with her Pokédex, discovering that Kiedis is in fact an Ursaring. She has the Scizor cover her while she makes a successful break to the tunnels. Though Helena slips away, Kiedis has lost interest and only wishes to fight Écarlate. The Scizor, down but not out, retreats, leaving Kiedis to nap and wait for the next challenger.

~In the gorge, Zack and Serene continue their ferocious battle against Jump and Hexum, with neither side gaining an upper hand. When the tracks end, so does the battle, as all four of them fall towards the gorge. Serene lands on the entrance of another tunnel while the humans and Hexum plummet to the bottom. As he falls and wishes he had more time, Jump remembers when he accidentally discovered a fountain of youth that made him a few years younger and partially devolved his Ursaring, only to have forgotten it’s location. When he Zack and Hexum reach the bottom of the gorge and are pleased to still be alive, they soon discover they’re not alone…

~Salieri’s attempt to make a clean get away from the Battle Chateau is passively foiled by the nobility. Two cops wait for her outside the Chateau, with the impression that Jace Nostrad is a volunteer requiring an escort to Route 9. Realizing if she said no she’d blow her cover, Salieri is forced to play along and gets in a car to Ambrette Town.

~Deep in the gorge, Jump Zack and Hexum discover they’re surrounded by sleeping dinosaur Pokémon. A loose fart wakes them all up, and after all that sleep they’re very hungry. Jump and Zack put away their differences to escape from this danger, and Jump reluctantly Mega Evolves Hexum into a Mega Lucario. After transforming, Hexum enters a berserker frenzy, and the fight against the prehistoric Pokémon begins.

~Esme contacts Sina and Dexio Sycamore’s inseparable aides. She convinces them to take on the identity of their superhero personas, Defender Red and Defender Blue, The Defenders of Kalos. The Defenders arrive on the scene at Route 9 and enter the fray with their Ledian and Carracosta. Justice is never late!

~In another section of the cave, Flare Scientist Aliana engages Diancie in combat. Though Diancie has them outmatched, Aliana uses a Flare designed Pokéball that captures the Legendary Pokémon. Oh no!

~Jullien Nostrad takes Siebold on a wonderful tour through the heinous basement of the Battle Chateau, a dungeon that kept Pokémon for training and other purposes. In a special room cooled to below zero is Fury, the Pangoro that followed around the Redgrave Siblings. Jullien attests that Fury belongs to Ratio, and if Ratio is back then all the nobles are in danger.

~The man so beastly he could be called a creature, Ratio, arrives at Aliana’s capture site. Ratio and his Teleporting Arcanine Ferox kill the Flare Scientist and take Diancie for their own. Helena, who had been searching the tunnels for Zack, happens upon this event. Ratio, who knows her name, tells the terrified Helena that she has the guts to be a warrior, and that the nobles are the ones who control Team Flare. All of the sudden…

~DINOSAURS! Jump and Zack fight for their lives against an unknown number of fossil Pokémon, while Mega Hexum takes on their monarch, a massive Tyrantrum. The valiant king eventually buckles under the immense and uncontrollable power of Hexum’s Mega Evolution, and Hexum is dubbed the new Dinosaur King. Jump recalls Hexum before the Lucario accidentally destroys his allies, and flies out of the cave on Aaliyah the Altaria, leaving Zack to fend for himself against an enormous, ravenous Aerodactyl.

~Salieri rides Banksy into Ambrette town, where she joins Roy and Grant’s coordinated effort to fight off the horde. While Roy and Grant defend what’s left of the Pokémon Center from a Sandstorm, Banksy maintains a wall of Fire Spin to deter the stampede, and Sal descends with the rest of her party onto Route 9. The chaos rages on!

~Serene, still lost, ends up chased by another Tyrantrum into Helena and Ratio’s conversation. Ratio steps aside to watch Helena deal with it, but though she puts up a good try with Feather and Loki, the Tyrantrum is just too strong, and Serene is gravely injured in the fight. Ratio finally mixes it up and uses the newly acquired Diancie to easily capture the Tyrantrum. DING! He gives Tyrantrum to Helena, issuing a promise to return to her once she tamed the beast. Helena’s got a dinosaur!

~On Route 9, Salieri’s fight against the stampede is interrupted by one of the darkhorse hunters that took her brother Moze out of the league. Sal prepares to advance with Veillantif against this sponsored trainer she dubs The Sniper, but he beats her to the quick draw and shoots her out of the sky with his Octillery. Luckily, Matheson saves Sal, having arrived after tracking her down. With her Pokémon’s permission, Math takes Sal to parts unknown to give her medical help.

~It turns out Benedict has also been helping the defense and evacuation of Ambrette Town. Now exhausted with a newly caught Rhyhorn, Benedict notices the tides of battle have turned. The horde wears thin, and what’s left of Ambrette Town is safe for now with no announced casualties. The heroes of rubble prevail!

~Zack believes he’s finally evaded the giant Aerodactyl, only for it to chase him out of Glittering Cave and onto Route 9. Thanks to some quick tactics from his Clauncher and Fatass the Snorlax, Zack is able to lay the Smack Down on Aerodactyl and capture it for himself. Now both the Redgrave siblings have dinosaurs!

~Salieri wakes up in a safe house in Dendemille Town, where Matheson has treated her and Veillantif’s wounds. He tells her that The Sniper’s name is Faust Nostrad, and that he’ll stop at nothing to finish what he started. Though mistrusting at first, Sal listens to Math’s reasoning and decides to trust the kindhearted noble trainer. After punching each other in the face (long story) and eating a meal, Math drops Salieri off in Cyllage City and exchanges numbers with her. Is love in the air, or something else? Salieri’s reverie is cut short when she realizes she has to send the traumatized Veil home to Gotengo.

~Édouard Drumont, reporter, finds Benedict amongst the ruins of Ambrette Town and immediately launches into an interview. Despite having reservations about being interviewed on a brand new ground zero, Benedict is charming for the cameras and portrays himself as a true hero. Little does he know that his video will go viral.

~Helena makes it out of the cave with all of her Pokémon, Serene and Écarlate. She is met by Zack, who is busy meeting Sina and Dexio. Sycamore’s aides have questions for Zack about what happened in Glittering Cave, so they convince the Redgrave siblings to come with them back to Lumiose City.

~Salieri gives Mia the lowdown while sending Veil home to Gotengo with a somber goodbye. She tells Mia about Ivan’s reboot, but Mia tells her that it’s impossible. Ivan has a virus, and whoever gave it to him was prepared for Ivan specifically. All fingers point to Nicolette. Paranoid that The Sniper could be watching at any point, Salieri ducks through Cyllage City while calling Helena for her help.

~Now walking home to Cyllage City, the weary Benedict comes across a wild Mienfoo and Inkay. Using Jerath the Rhyhorn, Benedict captures them and continues on for home.

~The Redgrave Siblings arrive at Sycamore’s Research Lab, where they are properly introduced to the Professor himself. Zack is given a room to sleep in, and Helena receives Salieri’s message. She calls the Kalosian trainer back…

~…right at the time where Salieri is dealing with a robbery. The same Kecleon that interfered with her robbery of Parfum Palace returns to steal her item pouch. Sal wises up to this quickly, and with Dune and Biz, captures the Kecleon with little trouble. Sal and Helena reach each other, and Sal asks for Helena’s help in dealing with The Sniper. Helena, who’s recently learned the noble conspiracy does in fact exist, turns down Sal’s request in order to be with Zack.

~In a mysterious conference room known only as the Round Table, the four heads of the Court Houses meet with their Elite 4 champions, sans Siebold, to discuss the destruction of Ambrette Town. Amongst the many things discussed are the plans to acquire the Legendary Pokémon of Life and Death, as well as a mysterious key and a man named AZ. Concerned about Ratio, Jullien reveals his ace in the hole, an assassin named Jean-Pierre that will provide their defense. The meeting is adjourned and the plots thickens!

~Up on the eastern mountain range, Jump wraps up Aliana’s body and waits for an extractor. Another Flare Admin, the whimsical and sleazy pirate Skarada, comes to do that job, taking away the body while chiding Jump for failing to keep the situation under control. They part on sour terms.

~On Route 8’s beach, an injured Grant asks Salieri for help back into town. Sal doesn’t trust him at first because he’s a sponsored trainer, but eases up when she realizes he isn’t a noble. Together with Benedict, who’s also heading in the same direction, they fly on Banksy to Cyllage City.

~Helena is tasked to bring Serene to the Pokémon Center, where refugees from Ambrette Town have already started filling up the building. Serene is dropped off and Helena goes back to Sycamore to be at Zack’s side. Zack, who doesn’t like being babied while researching Mega Evolution, convinces Helena to go to sleep.

~In another part of Sycamore’s lab, Esme, who is also one of Sycamore’s aides, takes care of the baby Pokémon. Aren’t they just the cutest things?  

[Marsuru]

Court of Kings: Pages 51-60

~Still riding on Banksy's back, Sal, Benedict, and Grant talk about the Ambrette Town stampede and get to know each other. Since there's no room in the Center, Ben offers Salieri a room at his house. Grant leaves while Ben and Sal meet Mrs. Montgomery and get settled in for the night.

~While in her room, Salieri releases her new Kecleon, which she names Lupin and starts interrogating him. He demonstrates his ability to grow his camouflage scales around things, making them invisible. Salieri then gives instructions to each of her pokemon, telling them which new moves to focus on, and falls asleep while thinking about boys.

~Esme and Sina have just finished sterilising one of Professor Sycamore's labs, preparing to examine Zack's Aerodactyl the following day. When Sina leaves, Esme takes out three of the starters she's been caring for, and gives them a farewell, saying that she'll miss them.

~DAY 4

~Salieri wakes up feeling the aches and pains from yesterday's adventure. There's a prominent scar near her collarbone from where the Sniper shot her with Bullet Seeds. The radio warns people to be on the lookout for water types who may have escaped from the Ambrette Town aquarium during the fighting, and Sal writes out a Thank You note for Benedict and his parents before leaving for the Center.

~While at the Pokémon Center, Salieri is approached by a tall red-haired man over breakfast. He introduces himself as the Liason for Nicolette Nostrad, and offers Salieri a large bribe if she quits the league, and halts her investigation into the nobility. Sal doesn't take this very well, dismissing the Liason and reinforcing her thirst for revenge.

~Back at the lab, Esme arrives for work and checks in the on the starters, and breaks up a fight using her Espurr, Chatelle. She finds Zack in the gardens, halfway through washing centuries of grime off Aerodactyl, and keeping it in line with threatening gestures from his Clauncher. While Zack and Esme chat, the young Charmander tries to show off by sassing Aerodactyl, but Zack grabs it anyone gets eaten. Embarrassed, Charmander blasts Zack in the face with its Smokescreen and returns to the other pokémon victorious.

~In the training room at the Center, Salieri is checking her team's progress with the new moves she set them to learn. She uses TM 57 to teach Lupin Charge Beam, and has Durendal teach him Thunder Wave… the hard way. Afterwards, Salieri phones home to check on Arnaud, and talks to his nurse. The reminder of her father's pain and her revitalised anger at Nicolette Nostrad drives Salieri to her next goal, the Cyllage City Pokémon Gym.

~On Route 14, pokémon trainer Wayne Lee has just woken up from a night of camping to hear the forest alight with terrified screams. He goes to investigate with his Hitmonlee, Ronin, and finds an irate noble trainer cornering an Aipom with his Machamp. Sensing injustice, Wayne leaps in to save the day, and Ronin kicks the poor Machamp over the horizon. To Wayne's surprise, the Aipom has the ability to talk, and recruits Wayne to help him in his mission: find Zack Redgrave.

~Sal arrives at the gym and meets the trainer tips guy, Bert, in an oddly familiar encounter. He tells her that after the line cut she performed in Viola's gym, Salieri's been red flagged, and any more behaviour like that could land her in a large brown heap. Stuck at the back of the line, Salieri checks the news headlines, which are focused on the Ambrette Town reconstruction and the upcoming Strikers v Paladins game. She's approached by a Rising Star, who challenges her for her place in line, giving Sal the idea to crush her way up the queue until she reaches Gym Leader Grant.

~Professor Sycamore and his aides are gathered in the lab to prepare their research on Zack's giant Aerodactyl, which has been sedated. After some teasing from Dexio and Sina about his clothes, Zack gets annoyed and leaves to obtain a new outfit.

~Benedict wakes up beside a reasonably attractive stranger in a hotel room, and leaves after a shower. Checking his messages, he's surprised to see how many people tried contacting him since his interview following the Ambrette Town battle, and thinks his parents must've given away his number without telling him. Instead of confronting them, Benedict heads off to train his team before his gym match.

~Zack's outfit hunt hasn't been going too well. As soon as he returned to Boutique Couture, half the staff – including Viro – either fainted or screamed, and he was chased out by an angry mob. Deciding he wouldn't have much luck in any of the Lumiose City boutiques now that he's pissed off its premier stylist, he plans alternative methods for obtaining new clothes. Unfortunately for a random trainer, it involves winning them in a battle. After humiliating the trainer and getting almost-new clothes, Zack goes back to the lab.

~Elizabeth Leroux rides the clear Kalosian skies on her flying Gyarados, and lands it in the Battle Chateau courtyard. She claims to have an appointment with Lord Nostrad, and is ushered inside by greeters, then told to wait. She is approached by Juliet Nostrad, Lord Nostrad's only daughter, whom Elizabeth hasn't seen in years, and her Ninetails, Kallikrates. They talk, and the subject soon shifts to fencing, which both women are practised in, and they decide to have a friendly match while Elizabeth waits for Lord Nostrad.

~Helena has spent her night fretting over her situation, deciding who to tell what, and how best to keep her friends and family safe. She wakes up in a haze and takes time getting ready for the day. While descending to the lab, she notices the Wonder Trade machine and thinks to use it later.

~The fencing match begins after a short exchange where Juliet asks to examine Elizabeth's sword. They switch to fencing foils and suit up, then begin in the Battle Chateau's central courtyard. While they spar, Juliet begins asking Elizabeth questions, wanting to know why Elizabeth is meeting with her father. Elizabeth gives her excuses and, switching hands, Juliet begins her assault in earnest. To Elizabeth's surprise, this involves copying her every movement precisely. She doesn't even have time to consider how Juliet's mimicry is possible as she is kept on the defensive, and quickly worn down.

~Pokémon Trainer Grant (PTG) notices Salieri's rampage through the gym queue, and challenges her to a battle, the victor being one step closer to battling Gym Leader Grant (GLG). PTG sends out his newly evolved Raichu, Raijin against Salieri's Kecleon Lupin and his Trompe L'oeil ability, which grows Colour Change scales over anything he touches. Soon, the indoor cliffside they're battling on is rendered invisible.

~Having returned to Sycamore's Lab midway through the Lab Gang's inspection of Aerodactyl, Zack overhears a bored Sina talking to Esme through the door. Sina asks Esme if she's interested in Zack, but Esme says that she absolutely is not, and that she doesn't care if Sina pursues him herself. Crushed, but pretending he hadn't heard a thing, Zack enters the lab and, after Dexio and Sina ask, agrees to begin his story about the events of Glittering Cave.

~Raijin and Lupin are trading blows all over the place but, sensing defeat and not wishing to make herself a target to The Sniper, Salieri calls in PTG's favour and asks him to throw the match. While this happens, Benedict finishes battling his way up the line and reaches the other two trainers. After asking PTG if he knows Faust Nostrad and thanking Benedict for letting her stay over in person, Salieri moves up to the gym arena, ready to fight the gym leader, GLG!

~Helena gets downstairs in time for Zack to begin his story, but she isn't the only one. A new face, and the head of Lysandre Labs, Elisio Lysandre arrives and is treated to a brotherly hug from Sycamore via Dexio (because Sycamore is covered in Aerodactyl saliva). Lysandre is there to discuss the events at Ambrette Town with Professor Sycamore, but hearing that the Redgraves were at the epicentre of the event, he stays to hear their story.

~Wayne Lee continues his journey along Route 14, bickering with his new companion, the talking Aipom. They see Lumiose City ahead but before they can get there, they're challenged by a peppy but absent-minded young trainer named Bridgette. Despite Lumiose City being so close, Wayne is unable to resist a challenge, and pits his lazy Typhlosion, Demo, against Bridgette's Kabutops, Dicer. Wayne eventually wins, and Bridgette agrees to go to Lumiose City with him so they can take advantage of the Pokémon Center's Free Waffle Day.

~Salieri begins her match against GLG, who seems more concerned with selling his sponsored products to the crowd than taking her seriously. GLG leads with an Amaura while Salieri chooses Biz Marquis.

~Further below the arena, PTG challenges Benedict to a battle to pass the time, pitting his Raichu against Ben's Pidgeotto, Francis. PTG wins Round 1, which ends with Francis deflecting Raijin's Thunder with Mirror Move. Round 2 becomes a contest of who can out-cool the other, featuring electricity domes, Heat Waves, and super duper electric trooper Thunder attacks.

~While Zack recounts his story the best he can, Helena adds only that which she deems necessary. She keeps her encounter with Aliana and Diancie vague, and doesn't mention Ratio at all. Partway into their talk, a new trainer, Thad, arrives at the lab and Professor Sycamore goes out to greet him. Thad is a freelance pokémon research assistant who needs Sycamore's help identifying a mega stone. After telling Thad that his mega stone is a piece of Sceptilite, Sycamore points him towards the other authority on mega evolution, Gurkinn, and Thad resolves to travel to Shalour City.

~Meanwhile, the Lab Gang start to tidy the lab. Sina gives Zack his Aerodactyl back and Lysandre gifts the Redgraves a shiny new Holo Caster each. Helena decides to challenge the gym, while Zack intends to speak to Professor Sycamore about a certain Charmander.

~Sal's match with GLG is heating up, with Amaura proving more mobile than Salieri had anticipated. Biz is caught off guard when a ball of Acid Spray shoots him out of nowhere, opening him up to one of Amaura's attacks, knocking the grass type out of the fight. As the only one to notice the sneak attack, Salieri realises that The Sniper is targeting her during her gym battle. She sends out Dune, who manages to dispatch Amaura. Being something of a sore loser, GLG sends out his strongest available pokémon, Sudowoodo.

~In Lumiose City, Mia calls into Restaurant Le Yeah, which is managed and owned by her father, Gabriel Aviad. Though she only stops by for a shower and a change of clothes, Mia is treated to a quick lecture about not wasting her talents, then goes to the north pokémon center to make good on Free Waffle Day. It's there that she runs into Doctor Fennel, who knows Mia as the daughter of one of her colleagues, Gloria. Fennel offers Mia an opportunity to work alongside her, but Mia is reluctant to work with her mother and leaves, planning a party to make her feel better.

~A short distance away, Wayne and Aipom eavesdropped on Mia and Fennel's conversation, and found it really tense. They had somehow become separated from Bridgette, and had no luck in tracking down Zack. They were enjoying the free waffles though.

~Zack is training his new Charmander on Route 4. He decides to break it in by shooting weak Water Guns from his Clauncher, which Charmander could either dodge or get stung by. He gets called on his new Holo Caster by Professor Sycamore, who reminds Zack to help him uncover the true meaning of mega evolution, and Sina tries to ask if Zack wants to go for a drink later, but he hangs up on her. C'est la vie, Sina, c'est la vie.

~Elizabeth and Juliet's duel is still raging, and their argument grows more heated. Aware that she would soon be unable to keep up with Juliet, Elizabeth gambles everything on one, unskilled whack of her sword, which disarms Juliet both literally and figuratively. Before they can continue, Matheson Leroux arrives and is anxious to speak to Juliet in private… about their engagement. Juliet quickly becomes civil with Elizabeth, as if their verbal sparring hadn't just happened, and wishes her a good meeting with Lord Nostrad.

~Dune vs Sudowoodo intensifies with neither pokémon letting up for a second, culminating in Dune unlocking his Pressure Ability. All the while, Salieri anticipates another attack from The Sniper, sure that his shot came from behind the nearby indoor waterfall. Sudowoodo manages to pin Dune and attempts to self destruct, but Salieri thinks fast and has Dune use Fleché to fly them both into the waterfall, diffusing Sudowoodo with an improvised Damp. Sudowoodo faints but doesn't explode, and Salieri wins her badge.

~Helena attempts to train the Tyrantrum Ratio captured, but things quickly spiral out of control. It crushes its own pokéball and systematically shreds her team, and likely would've finished her off if not for the intervention of a nearby pack of Pangoro. While they put up a valiant effort, they too succumb to the king of dinosaurs.

~After her battle, Salieri heals her pokémon in the gym and hurries after The Sniper, tracking him from his spot behind the waterfall. Salieri tracks The Sniper to Route 10, immediately coming under fire from a barrage of long range Octazooka attacks. She sends her pokémon to disassemble The Sniper's team while she cloaks herself in Lupin's Trompe L'oeil scales and advances through the woods. On the route proper, Salieri is forced to dodge Octazooka shots and some bystanders are caught in the crossfire. A Vaporeon appears and helps Salieri out, and teams up to defeat The Sniper, who had disturbed Vaporeon's nap. In the end, Team Salieri get their moments of badassery and win their fights while Sal zeroes in on The Sniper and, with a can of spray paint, takes him out of the picture.

~Zack steps up his training of Charmander, whom he has named Malis, throwing the pokémon into a constant stream of battles and threatening to shoot him with Clauncher if he slows down. To Zack's pleasant surprise, Malis takes well to the training, enjoying his dominance over the weaklings of Route 4. Towards the end of the training, Mia arrives and starts to talk to Zack.

~The Lab Gang are watching the news coverage of the disaster at Ambrette Town when Professor Sycamore appears on television in an interview with Elite Four member and newscaster Malva. They're surprised that, despite all he knows from the interview with the Redgraves, Sycamore suggests that Team Flare aren't to be blamed for the rampage, and that they might have been trying to prevent it from occurring in the first place. While Sina and Dexio are incredulous, they don't react as badly as Esme, who seems to take Sycamore's cover up personally. She leaves the lab early and goes home, feeling betrayed and miserable.

~In the Battle Chateau's courtyard, Juliet and Matheson discuss their arranged marriage and the futility of trying to avoid it. Matheson confides his feelings about Salieri to Juliet but doesn't tell her Salieri's name.

~Back in the Cyllage City Gym, Gym Leader Grant has finished convincing himself that he had to let Salieri to win because it's his job, and that he's not inadequate at all. Next to challenge him is Benedict, who isn't feeling confident but puts on a good show of it regardless. Ben chooses Essence the Roselia while Grant picks his Tyrunt.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 61-70

~Zack and Mia talk by the fountain, with Mia sort-of-but-not-really-except-actually-really inviting Zack to a party at Gotengo. They casually interrogate each other about what makes them tick until Mia decides to leave, passing Zack a beer as payback for Sal stealing his notebook. Disinterested in drinking during the day, Zack gives the beer to Malis, who quickly gets drunk. The Charmander winds up belching, and learns Flamethrower in the process.

~Back with Helena, a wild Pancham prepares to fight the feasting Tyrantrum while the remaining panda tribesmen flee. He is saved from a grisly demise by his father, Papagoro, an exiled alpha male who fights Tyrant to the death, and gives Helena the opening she needs to recapture the dinosaur. Putting the carnage behind her, Helena returns to the city for healing, but little does she know Pancham is now hot on her trail and seeking revenge.

~After the battle, Sal ties The Sniper, Faust Nostrad, to a tree. While he sits unconscious, she invites the Vaporeon who fought alongside her to join Team Salieri, but the pokémon refuses, making Sal vow to get her one day. Faust wakes up to discover that Salieri had blinded him and, entirely at her mercy, is forced to answer her questions. He explains that he gave Moze's pokémon to The Liason Salieri had met earlier, and that Nicolette Nostrad hands all the Darkhorse Hunters their assignments, and is the only one who knows each of their identities. Faust does know one other hunter, a noble named Alanza Taine AKA The Gambler, who is another one of the hunters that attacked Moze, putting her on Salieri's revenge list. Salieri reveals that she recorded their conversation on her pokégear, and leaves Faust to the forest.

~Benedict's gym match is halfway done when Essence overcomes Tyrunt. Despite trading brutal blows, the Roselia is still standing, albeit weakened, thanks to quick strategy on Benedict's part and a couple doses of Mega Drain. Grumbling about 'beginner's luck', Grant sends out his Lunatone and begins round 2.

~Helena heads for her gym match against Gym Leader Clemont despite half her team being in intensive care after the ordeal with Tyrant. Her only viable options are Loki, Feather, and the dino king himself. She uses Loki against Clemont's Magneton, and thus begins a long, difficult battle with neither side willing to back down.

~Wayne and Aipom are lost in Lumiose City. They spot Helena's name on the electric sign outside the gym and realise she could help get Aipom to Zack. They sneak in and start watching the battle.

~Dune wakes up after his battle with Faust's pokémon, finding the rest of Team Salieri in a forest clearing. They've managed to steal Faust's gear and are in the middle of patching themselves up when Salieri arrives. Quacklin' gives her a package from Mia; a disc marked with the letters 'D.D.' that Sal inserts into her pokédex. Ivan reboots itself, and has replaced its crass male voice with a sarcastic female one, though Salieri will still refer to it as Ivan. They realise that Ivan had been infected with a virus back at the Battle Chateau, which allowed the Darkhorse Hunters to track Salieri. Before anything can go wrong, they hightail it out of the forest.

~Helena realises that Clemont isn't the pushover she hoped for. Despite the earlier, disastrous attempt to train Tyrant, Helena decides that the time to tame him is during her gym match and swaps him for Loki. Tyrant Roars and Clemont switches for his Emolga, whose combat expertise counters Tyrant's overwhelming physical might.

~Meanwhile, Zack is using a drunk Malis to destroy a Gardener's Crawdaunt as a final test for the Charmander's training. Victorious, Malis slumps over and starts sleeping off his first encounter with alcohol. Zack spots Helena's gym match on TV and sees the pokémon she's decided to use, thinking it's a bad idea.

~Lunatone reveals that it isn't just a sentient psychic rock in the shape of the moon; it's a sentient psychic rock in the shape of the moon with gravity manipulation powers. Essence uses them to her advantage in attaching a Worry Seed, which strips the meteorite pokémon of its levitation. Down but not out, Lunatone pins Essence to the floor with a circle of gravity while pushing itself aloft with a circle of reverse gravity. Barely dodging Lunatone's finishers, Essence pushes herself out of the gravity circle and nails Lunatone with a Giga Drain, ending the battle and winning the badge.

~Now back in Cyllage City, Salieri gets a call from Matheson, inviting her to watch the Strikers v Paladins game. Despite being exhausted from the day's events, Sal agrees and, after a quick trip to the pokémon center, Math picks her up with his Klefki's Magic Door superpower. They arrive at a hotel suite in Courmarine City where Matheson's friends Silas, Doran, and Jace are watching the game. Jace does not respond well to Salieri's presence but Math calms him down, though he's still mad when Sal fails to properly apologise for beating him up and robbing him. Since she's all mucky and gross from her battle with Faust, Salieri opts to get a shower.

~Once again, Tyrant uses Roar, which forces Clemont to use Magneton while Helena switches back to Loki. The battle continues, with Magneton setting up Magnet Bombs to act as mines while Loki shoots them out of the sky with his Charge Beam, maximising his special attack. Before Helena can get too happy about her advantage, however, Magneton uses Psych Up to copy Loki's stat changes. Then, fed up with Loki Teleporting out of the way each time he attacks, Clemont orders a Shock Wave, which fills the arena. Loki renders himself as crisp but manages to Teleport Magneton out of the arena for a ring out, reducing both battlers to one pokémon each: Emolga vs Tyrant yet again.

~Grant has a break down, his ultra-competitive nature clashing with a three loss streak. Benedict consoles him and collects his badge and TM39, as well as Grant's hair gems, which Essence trades for a wreath of leaves. Ben leaves, relieved that he won his match and with a single pokémon to boot.

~Esme wakes up at home to find her Espurr, Chatite staring at her face. Feeling energised after an afternoon nap, she decides to call Zack and ask him more about the events at Glittering Cave. Zack answers, and is still upset that Esme told Sina she wasn't interested in him at all, but agrees to meet her at the library. Esme's Aunt Février gets into a panic when Zack tries to bring the unconscious Malis in on his back, and makes him put the pokémon back in his ball. Afterwards, however, she greets him enthusiastically. Esme invites Zack upstairs for a very serious talk.

~At a high rise office tower in Lumiose City, Madame Marie-Claire Courbet has an unexpected visitor. She meets Sébastien Lussier in her office and sends her secretary, Élise, away as Lussier claims to be on Court business and requires privacy. He locks the door, picks up Courbet's briefcase, scares her by listing off her personal information, and reveals he knows Gabriel Leroux set her a task: to find two legendary pokémon for the Court of Kings. To Courbet's horror, Lussier begins to melt. His face falls away, his clothes dissolve, and in seconds all she's left looking at is the Creature, who swiftly moves in for the kill.

~While Salieri gets cleaned up, Matheson and the nobles talk about her and debate whether Math is losing it for wanting to date a potential terrorist. Though Math defends Sal, he has to admit to himself that he doesn't really know how far her animosity will take her. Salieri finishes her shower and Math's Vespiquen Rhea mends her wounds while she gets settled in. To Salieri's surprise, she actually ends up having fun with the nobles, but they leave to make good on the free nachos downstairs, and Sal and Math wind up alone. As he stitches one of Salieri's cuts, Math asks Sal what happened between her and Faust, and she tells him everything, including how she blinded Faust. Matheson is shocked, but accepts that Sal had her reasons, and even admits that he likes her. Math asks Sal out on a date, and they make a time for the next day then, neither really sure what just happened, watch the rest of the game together.

~Zack inspects Esme's bedroom while she sets up her computer. He spots a picture of Esme with her boyfriend, Allard, and feels put out, but hides it. Esme asks Zack to confirm what he saw in Glittering Cave, that Team Flare were definitely the bad guys. She explains that Sycamore covered for them, but Zack remains cynical that he's up to anything. To further explain her suspicions, Esme shows Zack information she uncovered years ago regarding the nobility rigging the pokémon league, and the disappearances of non-nobles who came too close to winning. The media ignore or reframe anything that makes the nobility look bad, and while Esme believes this is proof of cover-ups, Zack thinks she's making connections that just aren't there… until he sees a headline claiming that Gabriel Leroux died from natural causes, which he knows isn't true.

~Helena's battle finally comes to a close. In Tyrant's growing fury, he rips apart Clemont's arena and weaponises the debris, but it all comes to nothing. He's brought down when Emolga slings a powerful Electro Ball at his balls, saving future generations from having to deal with this jerk's lineage. Helena loses the match and doesn't get her badge.

~Matheson drops Sal back off at Cyllage City, and she goes to get her dinner. Whle she eats, she packs Quacklin's bag with Faust's tablet device and Scope Lens and sends him off to Mia. Afterwards, Sal takes her team for some beachside training. There she discovers an old tag left by Moze, and reflects that despite all the work she's done to avenge him, she still hasn't heard from her brother in years. Then she takes a team selfie next to the tag. Afterwards, her team gets to work decimating the pokémon of Route 8 and Salieri calls Mia.

~Mia's Gotengo party isn't yet underway. She answers Sal's call, and lets Veillantif get in on it so Sal can tell her how she beat The Sniper. Despite this, Veil doesn't want to rejoin the team, and elects to remain at Gotengo. Sal makes Mia promise to keep her battle with Faust a secret from the Gotengoers, then finishes the call. Once the party gets going, Mia dance-flirts with some of the guys until she gets a text from Preppy Showoff, who invites her to his place at Hotel Richissime for some linguini. Just in time, Quacklin arrives with Sal's package and Mia takes Faust's tablet with her to Preppy Showoff's hotel room.

~The more he thinks on what he's been told, the more Zack believes in Esme's conspiracy theories. To be safe, and since Helena might be in danger from people attacking league hopefuls, he arranges to meet with his sister at the south pokémon center. Esme splits off from him, heading back to the lab to confront Sycamore about his lies while Zack meets with Helena.

~Helena had evidently been talking to Bridgette about an upcoming party, but leaves her to talk to Zack. He tells her that he's doing further investigation on Glittering Cave on behalf of the Professor, and asks if there is anything she didn't mention during the debrief. Though she doesn't mention Ratio's part in the event, Helena relays the assassin's message that Flare are working for the nobles.

~Alarmed, Zack tells Helena to hold off on her league challenge for a while, but she wants to know how her gym challenge is connected to Flare and the nobles. Zack decides he shouldn't keep her in the dark about the potential dangers and explains that non-noble trainers have been disappearing in Kalos, and that he wants her to lay low until he can get to the bottom of it. Helena is sceptical that Zack can do anything, and her doubt that he can stay safe while not doing anything leads them into an argument, and Helena storms out.

~Before she can get very far, however, Aipom dives onto her head, having finally caught up with her after her gym match. Zack unhooks the pokémon, whose name turns out to be Gremlin, and Wayne appears. The younger trainer tries to introduce himself to Helena when Zack leaves with Gremlin, but she doesn't care and ditches him. Poor Wayne.

~Mia runs into Dr. Fennel at Hotel Richissime and tells her she accepts her earlier job offer. Then she heads up to Preppy Showoff's hotel room and he turns out to be none other than… Moze?! Whaaaat? Turns out that they're totally doing it, and my god what's Sal going to do when she finds out, she's going to freaaaaa-- Ahem. They have dinner together and Mia presents Moze with Faust's tablet. Mia assures Moze that Salieri is fine, but he gets defensive when she suggests he go see her himself. Before they can argue for real, Moze suddenly freezes then lobs a knife between some potted plants, but instead of crazy assassins or whatever, it turns out to be a pair of Fletchling. Though suspicious of Moze's knife-throwing outburst, Mia agrees to keep him a secret from Sal for a little while longer. Then they bang and Moze tells Mia he loves her and holy s**t Sal is going to lose her miiiiiii--

~At the lab, Dexio and Sina have already tried to speak to Professor Sycamore, who got annoyed with them for asking about the interview. They've been made to sort through an old store cupboard, and inside they find a box of old holo tapes, which they start watching. They find their time capsule tapes, containing messages from their younger selves and their hopes for the future. The tapes reveal that Dexio is a huge dork, and Sina has a crush on Sycamore and his granite-like abdominal muscles. The last tape is of the loved-up Esme and Allard, who are all hands, smiles, and kisses as they announce their dreams for their future selves. Sina is mortified to find that the present day Esme is at the back of the room and caught them watching her tape. Esme pretends like nothing is wrong even though it clearly is, and they go off to find Sycamore.

~Zack takes Gremlin with him to Gotengo, where he introduces Salieri's unwanted 'One Shot' nickname to the Gotengoers. Mia, who has just gotten back from Moze's place, shows up and Zack explains he needs to talk to Salieri because he's changed his mind about her being crazy. Mia gets Sal on the phone, but she isn't very nice to Zack, which he kind of deserves but then again she really did start it by stealing his notebook. So they try again, and this time Salieri tells Zack to meet her near Cyllage City so she can hear him out. He calls on his Aerodactyl, now named Antiq, and they fly really fast to the meeting point atop a mountain plateau.

~Meanwhile, Benedict finishes celebrating his victory with another pretty lady, then goes off to train his pokémon. He rewards Essence's soloing of the gym with time off, and she uses it to sunbathe. The rest of the team is set to work practising, and Benedict plans to rustle up some wild pokémon for them to beat.

~At their meeting, Salieri explains to Zack about the noble system in greater detail, specifically about Nicolette Nostrad, the Darkhorse Hunters, and the attack on her family. Zack tells her that he went to Glittering Cave to chase after Gabriel Leroux's murderer, only to find Team Flare were there, and they had been searching for Diancie. He tells her of Sycamore's theory that Flare had caused the stampede that destroyed Ambrette Town, which Sycamore then denied on television.

~Still angry, Helena meets up with Bridgette and they head to the party in a mansion at a place called Leisure Lane, which sounds nice. Inside there are a ton of people, and Helena runs into pokémon trainer Grant and a girl called Henrietta. Another girl called Azucena stops Helena from drinking a drugged drink, and calls attention to the guy who did it, who is then kicked out. By way of apology, the party's hosts, Absolon and the wheelchair-bound Brigadier Aldric Stripeson, invite Helena's group to sit with them in the back yard. They talk about how many badges they have and stuff, then the party breaks up and Helena leaves having had a good time.

~Salieri has no idea who Team Flare are somehow, making her the envy of all Kalos. She almost shows Zack the recorded conversation she had with Faust, but decides against it because it makes her look mean. She remembers Alanza Taine and tells him about her too. Zack enquires about Salieri's plan, but she gets defensive and they wind up arguing again.  

[Marsuru]

Court of Kings: Pages 71-80

~Talks between Salieri and Zack deteriorate rapidly into trash talking until they both fly away, convinced the other one is incompetent. Salieri leaves Helena a voicemail to make sure she’s alright, then goes to the Pokémon Center in preparation to watch the meteor shower.

~Esme, Sina and Dexio find and confront Professor Sycamore about why he lied on TV about Team Flare’s likely involvement with the Ambrette Town incident. Sycamore admits that he covered for Team Flare because his former protégé, Lysandre, is a member and didn’t want the media to tear apart the organization over a ‘few bad eggs’. The Professor’s aides do not approve of his lies.

~A meteor shower starts up above the entire country of Kalos, and many take part in watching the spectacle that is predicted to last for days, including Benedict who has decided to call it a night after training. A few meteors make unexpected landings in the ocean and on Route 10.

~Zack returns to Lumiose City to touch base with Esme. They swap information about the nobles and Team Flare until Esme’s aunts invite Zack to dinner. Zack becomes embarrassed at the table when the old women start singing him praises. After dinner, Sina arrives in tears because Sycamore has become irritable and snappy. Esme pleads with Zack not to get involved in Kalos’ problems further, as it’s not his country and his sister isn’t a prime target. Zack takes that as an insult to Helena and leaves on the spot.

~Holed up in her bedroom to avoid a meteor shower party in the Battle Chateau, Juliet Nostrad gets her hair trimmed by her Scizor, Parkosa. Kallikrates the Ninetales comes in. Able to speak with humans, she and Juliet discuss how Juliet was reckless in her duel and questioning of Elizabeth. Juliet resolves to be better in the future, and Kallikrates promises to do whatever she can to make Juliet the Queen of Kalos.

~In Aquacorde Town, Moze meets up with an unsettling Whimsicott named Shepard Fairey who delivers a mission assignment from a mysterious employer. Moze destroys the document and readies himself for the mission tomorrow, returning to Lumiose yet again.

~DAY 5

~On Route 16, Gremlin wakes up alone in Zack’s backpack. He searches for any of his teammates and finds Malis and Hazard training against wild Pokémon. A horde comes after the three of them, prompting a tactical retreat until Zack shows up with Lethal, who evolves mid fight. With quick thinking and the right tactics, Zack’s team overcomes the horde and continues their training to learn new moves.

~After training, Zack goes to the Pokémon Center to finally retrieve Serene. The Kirilia is worse for war, suffering from some kind of brain damage from the battle in Glittering Cave’s gorge. Feeling guilty that his fight led to Serene’s weakened state, Zack checks her out and leaves for more training.

~Salieri starts her day off hunting down Vaporeon, cornering the wild Pokémon in Cyllage City’s supermarket. Vaporeon displays mastery of her hydrokinesis in this environment, running circles around Sal’s team before escaping. Sal buys cornstarch to combat her water form and leaves the supermarket in disarray.

~Salieri returns to her room in the Pokémon Center and gets a call from Mia, who is going to send back Faust’s computer tablet to be used as a portable PC. When she asks how Sal’s meeting with Zack went, it reminds the Bandanna Girl that she has a date coming up soon. Woefully unprepared and inexperienced in dating matters, Salieri sends her team off on their own to catch Vaporeon with Ivan, and remains with Banksy to get to her date.

~Moze has flashbacks throughout the day of the time period when he returned to Lumiose City after quitting the league. Five years ago, he had woken up with few memories of his league challenge other than glimpses of the Darkhorse Hunters that put him out of commission. When he came back to Gotengo, Salieri was beside herself with rage and went out of her way to search for Moze’s missing Greninja and Gardevoir. Unable to cope normally, Moze turned to Potion usage to soften his pain, but it only drove him to anger. After beating up a scummy guy who had taken Sal’s virginity under her vulnerable circumstances, Moze ran away and met a Whimsicott who comforted him with thoughts of vengeance. Sometime after that, Moze left his sister behind for a second time.

~In the present, Moze wakes up in the Prism Tower’s hidden room and stalks around Lumiose City undercover. He encounters a Youngster from Gotengo who has his hands on Potion Extract, and questions the Youngster about it violently without his face being seen. Moze then watches a sleazy noble politician, Horton Balibar, check into Hotel Richissime, taking note of his behavior while avoiding letting anyone he knows, especially Mia, see him. Depressed over this lonely lifestyle, Moze sneaks into his own apartment to visit his father. In a rare moment of lucidity Arnaud comforts his son, only to forget who he is within seconds.

~Benedict wakes up, ready to finally take on his unruly Dragonite Ricard. He rents out a room in the Cyllage City Gym, needing the durable enclosed space, and sends out his entire team to face the Dragon down. His Pokémon launch a well coordinated assault, slowing down Ricard while dealing chip damage. He proves to be as tough as they say, and one by one he takes down Benedict’s Pokémon until only Francis remains. Leech Seed damage does Ricard in, and Benedict wisely realizes that they’ll need more than that to truly tame him.

~Helena wakes up hungover, having shared a room with Grant in a platonic sense. She pieces together her memories from the night before, and remembers watching the meteor shower with her new friends. Bridgette showed her that with the right tactics and teamwork, high level Pokémon can be taken down, proving it by showing Helena’s Tyrantrum what for. Today, Helena showers and checks social media, seeing much commentary made against her skills as her trainer. She thanks Grant for the room, recalls that they kissed, and has the door shut in her face. Not the best hangover cure.

~Zack tries to find trainers to battle on Route 14 but fails, so he heads to the Badlands instead and finds an opponent in Luthar Bullion for a two on two match. Luthar’s Gabite goes up against Malis, who puts up a fight but falls in the end. Lethal comes in and nabs the KO with an Ice Beam, only to fight Luthar’s Umbreon right after. The Umbreon uses classic stall tactics and forces a forfeit out of a very frustrated Zack. He continues his training afterwards, getting both Lethal and Serene to learn Heal Pulse.

~Salieri and Math show up to their date overdressed and uncomfortable, and call an audible to change and start over. When they meet up again, Salieri has covered her scar up with splotchy makeup, and Math assures her it never mattered anyway. They call a second audible so she can clean up. Salieri shows up early, and an Artist hands her a half finished portrait of their first two first dates, telling her their chances together are slim. On the third try, Matheson comes clean about his engagement so they can start this date in honesty, withholding only Juliet’s name. Salieri is angry, but decides they’ve come to far and need to get this date started. Using the Magic Door Key, they hop across the world for a romantic getaway.

~On Route 14, Helena begins her journey to find Ecarlate’s real trainer in Anistar City. On the way she decides it’s time for her Pokémon to learn how to work as a team, Tyrant included. This leads to them running away from and battling powerful Pokémon deep in the Route. Their escape leads them to Route 16, and with some luck and teamwork they fight back the horde long enough to make a real escape.

~In an unknown graveyard, Jullien Nostrad digs up the coffin of Ratio. Sure enough there’s a body in there, but it’s an identical fake with a strange gooey substance. Jullien’s suspicions that Ratio is alive are confirmed.

~A portion of Team Flare have disguised themselves as police officers, forming a blockade to section off Route 10. On Route 10 itself, squads of Flare Grunts scour the pillar field for Mega Stones that fell with the previous night’s meteors. The excavation is led by Flare Scientist Bryony, and her primary form of security is Flare Admin Skarada. Skarada, a man from Orre who weaponizes Sinnoh Underground Traps in the form of Trap Cards, has booby trapped the entirety of the pillar field with a system of traps against intruders. He and his Murkrow Keasbey prowl the field, taking a Mega Stones from an intruder who fell victim to his trap.

~Salieri and Matheson eat lunch in Canalave City and visit the library. Their date is going well, and Sal learns more about Matheson’s Obsessive Impulsive Disorder. Now it is her turn to choose the next spot on their date with the Magic Door Key.

~In Cyllage City, Salieri’s team capture twelve Emolga in frustration, yet are still no closer to capturing Vaporeon. Ivan narrows down the Vaporeon’s location and finds that she has brought a horde from Route 10 along with her. While Lupin and Biz Marquis fight the horde, Dune and Ivan chase down Vaporeon.

~Zack returns to Lumiose City to heal his Pokémon and run into Esme at the Center. Unable to bring himself to admit he was wrong the night before, Zack instead tells Esme that he knows why she doesn’t want him to be involved in the noble conspiracy, and asks about her former boyfriend Allard.

~A festive benefit is held in Lumiose City’s Centrico Plaza, complete with fair food and a rollercoaster. Wayne, his team and Gremlin frolic around and generally enjoy themselves until Demo the Typhlosion unknowingly steals food from a vendor, leading to a battle with the might Hariyama Brothers. Ronin the Hitmonlee cuts his rollercoaster date with Florish the Lilligant short and swoops in to save Demo and Kibbit the Politoed, but the brothers are just too strong. Wayne catches up with them and they run past the outskirts of the fair together.

~Juliet Nostrad watches the reconstruction of Ambrette Town, where Queen Antoinette herself has volunteered her services. The construction workers don’t wish to see her overexert herself but the Queen insists that her duty is with her people, and with Rosencrantz, a Gallade and one of the six Royal Quillon by her side, she’s never in any real danger. Juliet scoffs at the Queen’s naïve approach to Kallikrates before heading out.

~Moze must return to the secret room in Prism Tower to retrieve his bag, but when he gets there, Salieri and Math have arrived as well for their date. Moze sneaks through the tiny room behind them to get his bag, all while Salieri tells Matheson the story of how she got her scar. Moze was the one who gave it to her accidentally when they fought over his lapse of judgement and Potion addiction. Sal and Math leave without ever knowing Moze was there, leaving Moze to wallow in shame alone.

~Roy Hunter, former guard at the Parfum Palace and hero of Ambrette Town, tries to get a job as security for Lysandre Labs with the help of his agent, Oz. Negotiations fail, leaving Roy jobless yet again.

~Njorthrbiartr, aka Noisy of Hoenn, arrives in Kalos and flies over Lumiose City with her Drifblim Eurus. Not knowing where they are or what country they’re in, they land in Centrico Plaza and run into Moze. Moze uses Noisy as social camouflage to hide from people who may know him and Noisy uses Moze to gauge where she is. Through Moze, Noisy discovers she is in Kalos and that the League competition has just begun days ago, but that no trainer who isn’t a noble has won the League in years due to mysterious factors. Moze departs without telling Noisy his name, and Noisy tries to get her bearings down more.

~Esme, scared of confronting her past, tries to leave Zack in the dust when he questions her about Allard, but he refuses to back down. Esme’s attempt to grab a cab are interrupted by Elizabeth Leroux, who pulls up in her own private car telling both of them to get in. Elizabeth, having heard that Zack witnessed her father’s murder, enlists him to help capture Ratio to the tune of many, many dollars. Ka-ching! The three of them swap information on Ratio and the Darkhorse Hunters, though Esme dislikes Elizabeth due to her being a noble and wants nothing to do with this. Elizabeth drops them off at the Moreau Library and drives away.

~Salieri and Matheson return to Cyllage City after their date, feeling very good about it. Sal invites him to her room to “look at art”, but remembers about her team and decides to check on them. She and Matheson follow the trail of battles to find that Dune and Lupin have cornered Vaporeon in an alleyway with no drains or external water sources. Five against one, they capture Vaporeon swiftly and Sal dubs her Reynard. Capture success!

~Noisy drifts through the sky on Eurus and the wind carries them all the way to Route 10. Curious, she sneaks around, almost getting incinerated by a Fire Trap. A friendly Golett helps them navigate around, and they overhear Flare Grunts discussing their plans. Noisy decides to steal a map and find out what all the fuss about, but when she wanders off on her own she trigger a Plant Trap and gets stuck. Skarada arrives to pick off his prey with Keasbey and his Lopunny, Sergio, but gives her the option of either running away or entertaining him with a fight. Noisy chooses to entertain.

~One of Bryony’s safeguards to alert her of certain high level threats is tripped and she sends the whole operation into evacuation mode. Trying to find out who could’ve triggered her alarm, Bryony sends Flare Grunt Jeff and his Fashion Patrol Squad to intercept Flare Grunt Hank. Though Hank does his best to prove he is really one of them, Bryony’s paranoia persists and she has Jeff fire on Hank. This forces Hank’s hand, and Hank reveals himself to be Ratio, killing the entire Fashion Patrol Squad using Ferox and marching for Bryony’s lab.

~Noisy does battle with Skarada, releasing her Froslass Pneumatic and her Banette Potpourri to join them. Ska begins with the upperhand, using his Murkrow’s pseudo time stopping ability and Trap Cards to pin Noisy, but Noisy navigates the obstacles successfully to give Ska trouble. Ska decides to Mega Evolve Sergio into a Mega Lopunny, but before he can keep the battle going he receives Bryony’s distress call. Ska activates Area-7, a secondary set of traps all over the pillar field, and leaves Mega Sergio behind to battle Noisy by Teleporting away with his Armored Gardevoir, 241. Sergio only has three minutes before she reverts to a regular Lopunny, and Noisy decides she wants to claim Ska’s trap cards for herself.

~Bryony sends a second Admin, Flare Admin Goldberg, to intercept and kill Ratio. Goldberg fights with a rifle that shoots Pokéballs to release big Pokémon at bullet speeds. Ratio covers the distance with his Aegislash Ancile and duels Goldberg and his Haxorus in a close range brawl. Right after Ferox has ripped off Goldberg’s rifle arm, of course.

~Salieri and Matheson’s first kiss is interrupted by the distant explosions on Route 10. Feeling a sense of duty to be a protectorate to the people, Matheson takes off to see what’s wrong, disappointed that Salieri can be brave to take revenge but can’t muster up the courage to do the same. She deliberates it for a few minutes before she goes as well.

~Goldberg flashes back to his life as a gladiator as Ratio maintains the upper hand in their fight. Before he can die a warrior’s death, Matheson interrupts, having been tossed across Route 10 by a Hurl Trap. He has Rhea carry Goldberg off to safety and tries to talk Ratio out of continuing his bloody campaign. Ratio declines and laves Ferox behind to stop Matheson. Math tries to keep Ratio pinned non violently, but has no success and is knocked out by Ferox. Ratio leaves.

~Mia calls up Zack while he’s at the Moreau Library, demanding that he and Salieri put aside their differences and work together. Esme overhears and reconnects with Mia, revealing that they used to discuss and try to unravel noble conspiracies with Salieri. Zack agrees to give the team up a shot as long as Salieri can be civil.

~After kicking the asses of three Flare Grunts in hand to hand combat, Sal gets a text from Mia urging her to give Zack a shot. Sal stumbles upon Ferox pinning Matheson and sees Ratio getting away. She decides to give Zack a shot by sending him a video of what’s going on. Sal rushes to save Matheson.

~Wayne and Gremlin track down Zack by throwing rocks at Esme’s window, earning her resentment. They need Zack’s help beating the Hariyama Brothers. Zack gets Salieri’s video and is so excited to go fight Ratio that he jumps out a window. He interrupts his team’s days at the spa and teleports them all to Cyllage City.

~Ferox plays keep away with Matheson at the center, keeping Salieri and her team at bay with powerful attacks. Lupin is knocked out taking an attack for Salieri, and Biz Marquis is also knocked out after evolving into a Chesnaught to save her life, not without wounding Ferox first. Zack comes just in time to save them from Ferox’s retaliation, flying them away on his Aerodactyl. Matheson’s Vespiquen returns to take him to the hospital, but before he goes he tells them to be wary of Ratio. Zack is eager to find Ratio, confident that he can beat the mystery man and get the reward money. Salieri is reluctant to lend Zack a hand in hunting the assassin, but decides to do so in order to keep him alive. With Antiq distracting Ferox, Zack and Sal are free to search for Ratio.

~Ratio catches up to Bryony and murders her guards. Her last Flare Grunt runs away, leaving her with the Mega Stones. Ratio spares her life, knocks her out and takes her captive. With Bryony and the Mega Stones in his possession, Ratio clears the traps out of a patch of Route 10 and waits for Ferox to return. Nearby, Skarada hides and waits for an opportunity to steal the Mega Stones for himself.

~In Lumiose City, Queen Antoinette graces the Ambrette Town benefit with her presence but demands to be treated as a normal citizen. Lysandre approaches her and offers up the help and resrouces of Lysandre Labs to catch the Team Flare members responsible for the Route 9 Stampede.

~Back at Route 10, Zack and Salieri find Ratio. Zack ambushes the assassin, and the battle begins!  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 81-90

~And the battle continues! Zack and Salieri try a strength-in-numbers approach, but struggle against Ratio's superior skill. It's Team Zack and Team Salieri versus Ratio's Aegislash, Ancile. Things take a turn for the worse when Ratio knocks Salieri out with her own stun baton after informing her that he knows her brother.

~Ska uses the battle as a distraction and steals the Mega Stones Ratio had originally stolen from Team Flare. Buuuut since the container holding the stones had been smashed open and the stones scattered, there's a chance he missed one… hmm…

~Ratio takes down Pokémon left and right. When Dune gets taken down with another armor-shattering attack, Zack bets it all on a combination of Malis and Lethal, wielding them along his arms for a Flamethrower/Water Gun punch. It doesn't go his way. Ratio blocks the attack with his bare hand, which suddenly feels like it's made of steel. Since there was no follow-through, Zack winds up breaking his own arm.

~Ratio seizes this opportunity to mock Zack, alluding to plans he has for Helena while Zack writhes on the ground. Antiq returns with Ferox hot on her tail. The Aerodactyl finally collapses, and Ferox turns her attention to Zack, savaging him with a Fire Fang and ending the battle.

~Salieri wakes up at Cyllage City hospital a little worse for wear. After chastising herself for letting Dune get scarred again, she seeks out Matheson's hospital room and runs into Juliet Nostrad. The two get off to a bad start but before any blood can be shed, Matheson wakes up and steals all the attention. Juliet and Salieri get a proper introduction, and Juliet reveals she didn't come alone.

~Lord Jullien Nostrad arrives in Matheson's hospital room. Even though Salieri hates nobody more, she is strong-armed into telling him what happened on Route 10. After Lord Nostrad leaves, Salieri lets Juliet and Matheson have some alone time so she can get her thoughts in order.

~Across the country, Wayne finds himself working off his debt to Chef Wario. It's essentially slave labour but Wayne doesn't have the sense to leave. Plus he's no match for the Hariyama Brothers. At the same time, Sina and Dexio arrive to compete with Chef Wario's food stall in cook-off, but this doesn't go anywhere.

~Moze and Shepard Fairey are on the trail of Horton Balibar, a philanthropist who might also be shitting up the Lumiose slums to drive prices down and inflate his profits when he renovates and sells them on. It's all very nefarious stuff, and is essentially confirmed when Moze has Shepard trap a drug dealer in a pipe to squeeze out who has been supplying the slums with Potion Extract. Turns out it's none other than Horton Balibar, and Moze knows what needs to be done.

~Salieri texts Helena to tell her that Zack's in the hospital, then gets to work reflecting on her encounter with Ratio. After divvying up the blame and deciding it's nearly all Zack's fault, she comes to grips with her own culpability. She checks on her Pokémon and apologizes to Dune for his injuries, which shocks everyone in her team except Reynard. Luckily, Dune forgives her.

~Helena gets Salieri's text in Anistar City and is distraught to hear that Zack is hurt. Before she visits her brother, she meets up with Écarlate's original trainer, Alice, and flashes back to her battles off-route. She managed to overcome multiple, vastly higher-level Pokémon by fighting really hard, then the flashback ends before we can find out how she managed to survive. In the present day, Écarlate and Alice and reuniting, so Helena calls Salieri to find out more about Zack's status.

~Salieri reflects on the cover story, which claims that everything on Route 10 was the result of a gas leak, and begins thinking about her next move. Then she encounters Juliet and the two speak about Salieri's relationship to Matheson. Juliet threatens Salieri should she ever hurt him. And purely because Juliet is Matheson's friend, n-not because she likes him or anything. Then Juliet calls out her Rotom, Zaida, who beams them both through a telephone pole so Juliet can check out Route 10, and it's really cool. Then Sal's phone goes off and she speaks to Helena. Helena wants to know how Zack is, so Sal fills her in on the basics and says they should meet face to face to discuss any more.

~Meanwhile, Zack wakes up in the ICU and is being cared for by Nurse Berthe and Blissngale, a Blissey who is mending his arm and the Fire Fang wound suffered across the chest. Since both procedures are complicated and relatively lengthy, Zack shouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

~Elizabeth Leroux arrives with her butler, Cédric and makes Nurse Berthe leave so she can interrogate Zack. She wants to know everything he has to tell her about Route 10, and even offers to waive the deal they'd made earlier, in exchange for simply paying him for information. Zack declines on the grounds that Elizabeth could get herself killed chasing after Ratio, and he doesn't need that on his conscience. Before Elizabeth leaves, Zack warns her that he thinks Ratio is a psychic since that doesn't count as dangerous information apparently.

~Sal has a decision to make. Does she go see Matheson or Zack? Since alone time with Matheson is way more appealing, she goes back to his room. The two have a lengthy chat and get their feelings out in the open. Math tells Salieri about a romantic fantasy he had involving cherry blossoms from Ecruteak City and how he'd use them to woo her and it'd work perfectly. So Sal steals his Magic Door Key and nips to Ecruteak City to get some petals, then scatters them around the room. Then they make out a lot. Afterwards, Sal goes to Zack's room to discuss Ratio and all that stuff.

~Their talk gets off to a great start as the two immediately blame one another for the way the fight turned out. Things get slightly more on track when Salieri notices a book on human psychics at Zack's bedside and correctly guesses that he thinks Ratio may be a psychic. Salieri suggests that Ratio could be an Aura user, and Zack suggests that Ratio could be wearing a Ditto as part of his armor, to account for his immunity to Dune's Thunder Wave, his cloak's shape-shifting, and his sudden steel hand. The idea that Ratio could disguise himself as anyone is unsettling to them both, and they move on to discussing the container he was stealing.

~Zack tells Salieri that the container contained Mega Stones, which were mostly collected by Ska, except for the one he managed to keep. Salieri isn't happy that Ska is involved on top of everything else, and tells Zack that if they're going to get anything done, they need to do it right by avoiding drawing attention to themselves any more than they already have. Then Salieri leaves and Zack gets to copying out sections of the psychic book into his notebook.

~Ska has returned to his airship, The Fishbone, and to his lovely and very pregnant wife, Erin. He fills her in on his adventures and presents the Mega Stones he stole to her Sableye, Hawkins. When Hawkins can't find the Sablenite they were looking for, Ska gets really, really pissed. He realizes that any one of Ratio, Salieri or Zack could have the Sablenite, and decides to press on with the final phase of his plan.

~At Lysandre Café, Flare Scientists Mable and Celosia are bemoaning Bryony's fate as a kidnappee and hoping they aren't the next ones on the chopping block.

~In Flashback Land, Helena is flashbacking to her conversation with Absolon who was talking about how great soldiers were, possibly while in a flashback himself. In the flashback version of the present day, which is of course in the past, she is facing off against more off-route pokémon and it looks like she's about to lose, but she's saved by Alexander and his Arcanine. The Arcanine's name is Ferox. And this is the same Alexander who saved Zack a couple days ago. !!!

~Sal is in a call with Mia, and fills her in on the Route 10 stuff, and that Ratio mentioned Moze. Then they get into the important stuff, namely Salieri's relationship with Matheson. Mia is happy that Sal found someone, and Sal can't understand why Mia is still single when she's so cool. Then the call ends and Sal goes to meet Math once again.

~While Juliet is detectiving around Route 10 with the police (feat. Police Captain Farnell), they are attacked by a Wild Meteor! Juliet orders the police to stay in position, even though the meteor would kill them all on impact, then sends her Scizor, Parkosa, skyward to intercept the giant rock. Parkosa demolishes the meteor with projectile shockwaves and a powered up Metal Claw, which is super effective, and saves the day. Juliet tells the police to give her everything they have on the Route 10 incident and pin the blame for the fake gas leak on some poor shmuck (exact words).

~Benedict doesn't believe in the gas leak story one bit. In fact, he disbelieves it so much, he travels to the Cyllage City hospital to speak to the rumoured Surviving Trainers AKA Salieri and Zack, who gained a small degree of notoriety when Sal was spotted dragging Zack into the hospital after riding back to town on Banksy's back. He confronts Salieri and asks for the truth.

~Back in Flashback Village, Alexander warns Helena of the tyranny of the nobles, which Helena takes more seriously when he shows her a hidden oil field in the middle of the off-route area owned by one of Jullien Nostrad’s shell companies. Alexander offers her a lift to Anistar City, Teleporting them there via Ferox.

~In the present, Helena goes back to Alice, and declares Écarlate officially returned. Alice wants her Scizor to see all of Kalos and participate in the League, and asks Helena to take the Pokémon with her. Of course, Helena is super down to take a rad a** Scizor with her, and says yes. She warps to Cyllage City afterwards.

~At the hospital, Salieri gives Benedict an abridged summary of her involvement in Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings up to page 83. Imbued with the truth, Benedict decides to help Salieri take down the evil in his country any way her can. Zack, out of his room despite his doctor’s suggestions, joins the conversation and declares to also fight the good fight, for his own reasons. Before this team is fully cohesive, Helena enters and offers advice on why they shouldn’t do any of that. They move the talk to the roof.

~On the roof, Helena derides Zack and Salieri for their decision to battle Ratio, something Sal cannot just pin on Zack now, and tells them Ratio asked her to join him. She doesn’t want to, but thinks it’s the only way to keep Zack safe if he decides to pursue his interests, and commands all of them to stop their hunt. Zack of course does not agree, and would rather Helena go home to Unova if she is so frightened. The siblings sadly cannot come to an understanding, and a rift is formed.

~Salieri exacerbates the situation when Helena calls her crazy by challenging Helena’s conviction, to which Helena threatens to kill her if she keeps Zack involved in the conspiracy, causing Zack of all people to become the voice of reason for the two of them. See, he’s growing up. Helena sets Sal off, and Sal offers to leave Zack alone forever as long as she can get her promised battle with Loki. Helena refuses to battle on the grounds that she isn’t playing around, and before she departs, gives Zack Sal and Ben a precious tidbit concerning Jullien’s oil field even though she doesn’t want them to go. Helena leaves.

~In a move that displays pure wisdom, Benedict keeps his mouth shut the entire time.

~Not heeding Helena’s warnings at all, Ben Zack and Sal go to a nearby bistro to discuss their next move over dinner. Each of them are given an assignment: Ben will look into the oil field, Zack will look into the Sablenite, and Sal will look into Skarada and Team Flare. Zack skips out on the bill, reminding Sal why she doesn’t like him, and the dinner is soon over.

~In her library, Esme sees Zack on the news report about Route 10. Worried, she tries to call him about it, but he’s far too hospitalized to answer. As she decides she can’t ignore what’s happening in Kalos anymore, she gets a surprise call from Salieri.

~Because they hadn’t talked since Esme left the conspiracy game years ago, Salieri feels awkward but asks Esme for the contact information of Alexa Horvath, an investigative reporter who can help Benedict find the oil field. Esme says she back in the conspiracy game, something Sal likes to hear. Reunited, and it feels so good.

~In Lumiose City, Wayne escapes his forced job to watch one Robin Carella have an exhibition battle with sponsored trainer Omer Massé, the noble with the Machamp that keeps losing to everybody. Despite having zero badges, Robin the underdog’s Goodra, Vigant, takes down three of Omer’s Pokémon in a row, clinching her victory. Better luck next time, Omer.

~The Hariyama Brothers catch up to Wayne while he’s watching the match, prompting him and Gremlin to escape. They escape to the arena stage, which is just so so stupid, but Robin offers them a lift out on her Noivern. As they fly through the sky Wayne namedrops Zack Redgrave, someone who Robin apparently knows.

~In his hospital room, Zack saw all of Robin’s battle. “s**t,” he says. Gotta wonder what happened there.

~Matheson’s friends visit him in his hospital room, and he regales them with tales of his makeout session with Sal. The boys try to give Math advice on kissing, all sounding hyper incompetent in the process. They make their exit so they’re not late to the nobility charity ball, but before he leaves Jace warns Math to think smart and not with his d**k. Math says he will, and as soon Jace leaves Math immediately gives his p***s a pep talk.

~At the charity ball hosted in the Kalos League Castle, Juliet reluctantly mingles with the other guests to bolster her reputation, and discusses Ratio’s latest attack with them. She provides a few nobles hope in the wake of the tragedy, then steps aside to answer a phone call from Police Captain Farnell. They talk business and then Farnell lays into Juliet, telling her that destroying the meteor was up to chance and she had no right commanding people into danger with their lives on the line. Juliet pulls rank, demands he ceases his accusations, and ends the call. Her Ninetales Kallikrates teases her for not being queenly, and a very bothered Juliet stands at the party all alone.

~In Hotel Richissime, Horton Balibar rudely accepts room service and ruthlessly makes fun of the poor hotel attendant. Little does he know that Moze has snuck something onto the delivery tray. From across the street, Moze and Shepard Fairey finally make their move, and Moze puts on the outfit in his backpack. It’s the same one as Ratio’s! !!!

~Still on duty in the hotel, Mia finds everyone asleep in the lobby, spared the nap by the music in her headphones. Horton Balibar’s security team come downstairs to apprehend the mystery threat and Moze, disguised as Ratio’s Creature, enters the building. What happens next is a quick and brutal fight, ending with Moze flawlessly wiping the floor with his opposition with no casualties. He sees Mia terrified behind the reception desk, stops her from calling the police, and tells her to leave while he takes the elevator upstairs, feeling shame that Mia does not know it is him behind the mask.

~Moze enters Horton’s penthouse, where his Goodra Zephyr has taken care of apprehending the rest of security. Before the police arrive, Moze takes Horton and whisks him away.

~On Route 5, Robin and Wayne set up camp. Wayne proves to be bad at it, Robin proves to be the opposite thanks to her tutelage at the Cerulean Pokémon Academy. She’s curious about Wayne’s drive as a trainer and suggests he needs discipline but Wayne is already Pokémon Master so it’s totally cool and whatever.

~Back the charity ball, Severin reflects on how pathetic the nobility is, what with their desperate social scramble and such. Sadly, he is a waiter at this event, meaning he is forced to interact with kindness. He slips up and almost gets in trouble with his boss until Siebold Taine intervenes to handle Severin personally. Turns out he’s on Severin’s side and is chill on the down low, and takes Severin to a private meeting to talk strategy.

~Elizabeth arrives at the ball and is instantly set on by people giving her support after her father’s passing. She is super over their bullshit but entertains it as much as she has to as she searches for Lord Elliot Leroux. His wife, Mariette, informs Elizabeth that he’s busy, and commands her to sit with the rest of House Leroux.

~In Matheson’s hospital room, Sal vents her frustrations about the conversation she had with Helena. Math puts himself in Helena’s shoes and says that she’s freaked out, in a foreign country and her one familiar face is on Sal’s side. The topic changes when Math blames himself for the Redgrave debacle, saying they wouldn’t be fighting if Math didn’t need saving and lamenting the weakness brought on by his pacifism. Before Sal can comfort him, she gets a call from Mia…

~Benedict waits in Connecting Cave on Salieri to send him Alexa’s contact info, and decides to train his new Meditite Manny in the meantime. Ben wants to work on Manny’s Telepathy, and starts teaching him how to cheat at games by reading minds to hone that skill.

~In Prism Tower’s hidden attic, Moze has Horton bound and gagged and mentally prepares to kill him for all the injustices he’s delivered, but is having difficulty doing the deed. Shepard Fairey’s cottonballs cause Moze to hallucinate his sister, his girlfriend, and Nicolette Nostrad, and with enough goading he finally kills Horton.

~Cops scope out Hotel Richissime, but cannot give out a real story to the news by orders of Horton’s security, who are still looking for their charge. Mia is picked up by her dad, very shaken by what she watched the Creature do.

~Back at the ball, Juliet inadvertently embarrasses her father Jullien when she announces her intention of becoming Champion this year without her consent. Jullien admonishes her for not taking politics seriously enough, then spots Elizabeth. He wants to apologize to Elizabeth for breaking their private alliance in the interest of the court, and orders Juliet to deliver the apology for him since he’s above that kind of stuff. What a jackass.

~Getting tipsy as a way of coping with her life, Juliet approaches Elizabeth and delivers the apology, making no pretense that her father isn’t a jackass. Elizabeth empathizes, as her father was a jackass too. Juliet offers to help Elizabeth take down Ratio, and Elizabeth enters another alliance with a Nostrad.

~While the Ambrette Town Benefit is being cleaned up, Helena battles and girls it up with Henrietta and Azucena. Grant shows up cause Azucena called him, playing matchmaker. Not cool, Azucena. Grant really wants to know what’s up with Helena, and Helena starts crying from all the stress. Grant soothes her and asks for her to talk.

~Benedict finally receives Alexa’s number and sends her a message requesting a meeting. Alexa is used to being pranked on account of her conspiracy beliefs, but nevertheless cautiously accepts a meeting for tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow…

~DAY 6

~On her way to Shalour City, Salieri grinds levels against wild Pokémon in Connecting Cave. Her training is interrupted when a stray meteor busts through the roof of the cave. Team Sal checks it out and find out the meteor was carrying alien life: a Cleffa. Thinking of the potential asset a Clefable could be, and unwilling to leave a scared alien baby in a cave, Sal takes Cleffa and names her Oberon.

~Zack finally faces his Fire Fang wounds, which is actually not terrible thanks to Nurse Blissingale. His doctor tells him that he’ll have to wear a cast while the continuous Heal Pulse mends him, something which Zack hates. Zack gets discharged and heads to Shalour City, a trip he’ll have to make without flying because Antiq is still injured.

~Esme wakes up with a wine hangover, one of the worst categories of hangover there is. She gets a call from Professor Sycamore, who lets her take the day off but warns her not to make a habit of it. I pulled the same trick in college once.

~Benedict shows up at the Lumiose Press to meet with Alexa the reporter, tipping her off about Jullien’s oil field. The low key paranoid Alexa is skeptical, but chooses to mount an investigation of the off-route area with a search team, one which Benedict is on. Sounds like a fun trip!

~Juliet and the police process the crime scene at Hotel Richissime from the night before. Elizabeth shows up to help, and the two of them determine what Pokémon might be involved. The next step is to talk to the only civilian witness, Mia Aviad.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 91-100

~Salieri heads to the Shalour City Farmer's Market to figure out what kind of food Oberon eats. Turns out the cute little alien eats just about anything. After filling her up on a carrot, Salieri decides to make Oberon an official member of Team Salieri, but as soon as the capture goes through, Lupin's ball is sent back to the PC. Perplexed since she only has five pokémon, Sal consults Ivan who insists that her team is full. Weird.

~At the Jaune Plaza Mall, Mia is shopping for a replacement phone. She settles on an original model Pokégear, but the feeling of the device in her hand flashes her back to her encounter with Ratio. Feeling rattled but maintaining her cool exterior, she buys the phone and picks up a Menger Sponge on a whim.

~Helena and Grant have been battling all night long. Helena is exhausted but she learned a lot, and finally scored a victory. Grant congratulates her and states that Helena's Pokémon are now more in sync with her, which is nice. Then Helena states that she needs a nap.

~Jean-Pierre pays a visit to Hotel Richissime to investigate the crime scene first hand. Since he's an aura master, he can use his aura senses to sense the aura in the area. In his professional opinion, the Ratio last night wasn't the real Ratio at all. Then he tells one of the police investigators that he, Jean, has a son. Hmmmm.

~Atomicka, warrior princess of the planet Glacknor, also known as Salieri's cutie-wutie Cleffa, Oberon, is hanging out at the Shalour City gym while Sal trains Biz. Since evolving, he still hadn't quite used to his new type, so Sal is pitting him against some trained Fight types until he gets the hang of it. Korrina arrives, and the two trainers strike up a rivalry before Salieri vows to fight another day. She heads back to the pokémon center for heals and recruits Matheson to help her track down Ska, a task he takes to like a Ducklett to water.

~Over in Snowbelle City, Helena is running on caffeine and showers. She talks to Grant about her feud with Salieri before calling her up and explaining nicely that she'll win the league in case Sal can't. This breaks into a mild argument and they arrange to battle each other: Loki vs Dune.

~Helena arrives with Grant at Shalour City's northern cove to meet Salieri for the battle. Trying to negotiate using the Matheson method, Sal pulls Helena aside so they can have a discussion, which rapidly devolves into a heated debate on their characters. As they do, the Pawniard and the Kadabra begin to fight.

~Durendal demonstrates the ability to sense and predetermine Loki's Teleports as the two Pokémon lay down the pressure with their attacks. While they warm up, Helena pointedly informs Salieri how she's worried about her own survival, and wants to kill Ratio in order to simplify things. She accuses Sal of manipulating people and putting their lives in danger. Sal asserts that Zack and Ben can make their own choices, and that she isn't using those choices for herself as long as she's honest about it. Salieri gives Helena her best advice on survival: leave Kalos behind, and challenge the League in a safer country.

~Meanwhile, Benedict decides to Wonder Trade Cal for a Pikachu named Caboose (formerly Helena's), which is a name he seems happy with. Which is good. traded Pokémon cannot be renamed.

~Zack returns to Lumiose City on his way to Shalour and finds Esme at Bleu Plaza. Esme is still feeling like hungover s**t, and is using her alone time to cry out her sadness when Zack walks in. He decides against leaving her alone and tries to comfort her by giving her the sandwiches Esme's aunt had given him after seeing his arm. Esme cheers up a little at Zack's goofiness and explains that she's compiling everything she can remember about Allard's murder to use as a starting point for her investigation. Zack reads the notes and finds out the horrible way Allard's body was left, and they discuss why the nobility hunt darkhorses anyway. Then Zack asks Esme to take a look at Serene.

~Esme gives Serene a check up using her pokémon breeder powers. She concludes that whatever is up with Serene, it's altered her powers in some way. Zack decides that this means he needs a new pokémon, which annoys Esme. Zack deflects by saying he needs a pokémon he can count on, and explains a little about what happened on Route 10. Esme convinces him not to give up on Serene without first trying every possibility, and they spend some more time together.

~At the cove the battle rages on. Loki, unable to overcome Durendal's assaults, powers up and escapes to the sky. However, Dune powers up in kind and flies up to give chase. Despite his determination to win for the sake of Salieri, he knows her heart isn't in the battle anymore, because-

~Sal and Helena continue to argue. Helena tells Salieri she's selfish and exists to feed her own ego. She cites this match as an example, saying Sal went too far in preparation while Helena didn't prepare at all because it was supposed to be for fun. Salieri not only admits to her own selfishness, but equates it to the driving force behind everyone's ambitions, Helena's included. Helena claims she also embraces her selfishness, and despite calling out Sal for preparing for this, cites that her advantage is that she thinks several steps ahead of Sal.

~Loki, conveniently experiencing serendipity, unlocks Inner Focus, Kinesis, and Miracle Eye simultaneously. He obscures Dune's vision with Kinesis...which plays into Dune's hand, activating Defiant. Despite, the sudden power up, Loki's plan backfires, and despite Helena's strategy of foresight, Durendal wins unscathed, thanks to Salieri's foresight.

~Dune fishes Loki out of the lake they crashed into. Helena claims esoteric victory because she meant to do that all of that. Salieri is unfazed by an esoteric victory she doesn't understand, relishing her own victory. Helena, positive that Salieri should be upset, goes back on the start of the match and decides she doesn't want to work with Sal at all because of everything Sal stands for. This is something Salieri is completely fine with after receiving such a tirade, and she leaves the beach in a foul mood.

~On Route 14, Benedict is getting to know Caboose. He wants to teach the Pikachu how to read and intercept radio signals while they wait for Alexa. Manny is in the middle of training, and Ben asks Caboose to help him finish off the wild scrubs before the Off Route Party show up.

~Finally, on Route 14, the Off Route Party comes together and makes their introductions. In addition to Benedict and Alexa, there's Roy from before, Guigsy, Liam and Noel. Together, they embark on a perilous quest to locate an illegal oil field and take pictures of the very same illegal oil field, then come home. Everything will go according to plan.

~Zack gets Esme to eat one of his favourite greasy meals, a Full Sinnoh, which helps her hangover almost as much as painkillers and sleep. They chat some more, and Zack's ex-friend Kelly gets brought up. Zack finally answers why Kelly punched him in the face during their chance encounter at the Ambrette Beach, and speaks very matter-of-factly about it all*. He's crying on the inside. (*In their academy days, Zack was forced to leave Kelly behind in an erupting volcano and the two of them feel bad about this decision)

~In Gotengo, Mia is fiddling with her Menger Sponge and trying to call Moze, but she keeps hitting the brick wall known as voicemail. Then she calls Salieri, who is very anxious to speak to her friend about her encounter with Ratio. Mia describes what happened and Sal has a million questions but Mia isn't in the mood to discuss a traumatic event much further. Salieri segues as smoothly as whiplash into introducing Oberon and tells Mia about her dex claiming that she had a full party of five. Mia pretends that her dad's calling and ends the call quickly, then her phone starts to buzz for real. Her mother's calling. Mia ignores her.

~Matheson is discharged from hospital and meets Salieri on the Shalour pokémon center rooftop. She introduces him to Oberon and he coos over her like nobody's business. Then Math and Sal make out for a while, make Dune feel uncomfortable, then stop making out and talk about Ska. Math is of course super impressed when he finds out that Salieri used to be a pirate and agrees to call her if he finds Ska's ship. Then they make out some more. Oberon spots Math's Klefki, Metis, during all this and thinks it can help her get back to her people. When Math and Metis leave, she is most upset. Then Sal decides to kick their training up twelve notches before their battle with Korrina.

~Zack is in the Lumiose Badlands doing some notch kicking of his own. To train Malis, he climbs up a rock face to locate a Gible nest and drops the poor Charmander inside. Malis fights his way out of the nest, tired and injured, then has to contend with the nest's protector, a Gabite. The dragon type gains the upper hand, but Malis narrowly gains a win when he evolves to Charmeleon and uses his new Dragon Pulse and Fire Punch attacks to overwhelm Gabite. Before he can rest, the fire type is sent back into the nest to finish what he started. Dark.

~Benedict leads the Off Route Party through the forest, scoping out signs that Helena had passed through so they could follow her tracks to the oil field. They eventually come across the path ripped through the forest by Tyrant, and stay on it. Through a combination of Max Repel and Roy's Luxray's Intimidate, the lower level off route pokémon are avoiding the humans, but the deeper they progress, the more likely that is to change. In fact, they're under assault by wave after wave of high level pokémon right now!

~On Route 12, Salieri is using Reynard to teach Biz how to use Seed Bomb to give his punches and explosive boost in speed. Reynard practices her Hydro Pump and Biz is meant to punch it apart. It doesn't go so well, but that's what training is for.

~The Off Route Party are able to defend themselves against the assault, but it's tiring work. Manny uses his psychic powers to detect where the attackers are coming from, and finds out that more pokémon are on their way, including a singular high level thing. The party mount a retreat, but something is wrong with Guigsy. He starts acting strange, and hallucinates seeing his son in the middle of the forest. When he embraces his not-real child, he gets strangled, dark hand-shape patches appearing on his throat that soon snap his neck. What.

~Zack battles another trainer on Route 13. He's made things harder by pissing off the local wildlife, and just about scrapes a victory when the other trainer proves better than he thought. His victory is short lived when the wild pokémon converge on his location. He tries to Teleport away with Serene, but she zones out in the face of so many pokémon. After giving her a swift kick, which wakes Serene up, Zack manages to escape. He arrives at Coumarine City, encountering Mr. Bonding, a very strange man who is acting very creepily towards a small child. Zack punches Mr. Bonding out, then visits the pokémon center to get his team healed.

~Helena rematches Clemont and wins with Écarlate, gaining another gym badge.

~Bridgette appears miles off route, chasing a badge thief who ought to know better. Luckily she encounters the Off Route Party and assists them with her Wailord, who fights by getting thrown at stuff. Meanwhile Benedict and Manny figure out how to link up the party's minds telepathically. It doesn't last very long, since Ben is hit by a Confuse Ray and Manny is forced to limit the link to prevent everyone from being confused.

~Salieri and her party take a break to have lunch, when Reynard spots a mysterious woman drowning. They save the woman's life, something she is grateful for. The woman claims she fell out of the sky, she's a witch, and she's looking for a pirate as well. Sal realizes the woman isn't all there, and when the woman accidentally slips that she knows Salieri's name, she quickly puts Salieri to sleep with a strange pink mist coming from her hand. The woman apologizes, steals Sal's sandwich, and leaves.

~Juliet and Elizabeth show up at Gotengo to question Mia about the Ratio attack. Elizabeth is putt off by the decadence of the treehouse, but Juliet makes herself at home and, much to Mia's surprise, casually finishes the Menger Sponge puzzle. That, and Juliet's offer of a strong drink, causes them to mutually respect one another.

~Goldberg wakes up in the Cyllage City hospital, his bill footed by Team Flare, who also requested to move him to their private facilities. The fight with Ratio left him without an arm, and in need of physical therapy if he is ever to walk again.

~In Coumarine City, Zack gets off the train and is soon attacked by a weird Chatot that mimics his speech before flying away. What a d**k. Zack continues onto Route 12, rides a Skiddo across the farmland, and finds Salieri sleeping on the ground. Despite his instincts telling him to mess with her, he wakes her up.

~The Off Route party manages to lose the wild Pokémon by going deeper in the forest, with Noel having suffered a scratch from a branch. They're granted a reprieve from the attacks, and Alexa reviews Guigsy's footage but can't find what killed him.

~Salieri dreams of the mysterious woman, as well as her tenure on Ska's ship and the pirate captain's prized cannon. She wakes up, annoyed that it's to Zack. The two of them compare notes, and discover that neither of them have made much progress.

~The debriefing of Mia doesn't lead to anything substantial, and so Elizabeth decides to leave. Juliet, curious as to what Gotengo has to offer, elects to stay, and Mia invites her to wait for a party to inevitably happen. Ain't no party like a Gotengo party cause a Gotengo party don't stop.

~At the Coumarine Harbor, Matheson finds some evidence that informs him what kind of airship Skarada operates, as well as where it could be.

~Zack and Salieri depart separately for Shalour City, bickering in the process. From far away Skarada observes them, having previously stolen Sal's Pokédex while Sal was asleep. He saw the witch woman, Pachi, as well. Pachi is well known in the criminal underworld as a lunatic terrorist, and so he does his best to avoid her.

~On Route 5, Robin trains Wayne and kicks his butt. Gremlin, sick of the action, actually wants to go back to Zack. Robin obliges and takes them all to the Moreau Library, where she borrows the phone to call Zack. Esme watches them talk and sees they have a close, albeit tense, history. They agree to meet.

~Zack tries to teach Lethal how to fly using water propulsion. They need practice, but they manage to get to the Tower of Mastery while avoiding drowning.

~Salieri sees Skarada in Shalour City, and follows him from afar. However, Skarada knows he's being tailed, but isn't worried about it. He waits at the beach for Zack to return to shore while Salieri perches up high to shoot him.

~The Off Route party realizes that the forest is being controlled by something, and that a scratch from a branch summons the Curse that stalks the target until death. Determined to make it through the forest and outrun the Curse, the Off Route party is spurred into gear again by the arrival of Cobalion, guardian of the forest. Cobalion, the forest, and the Off Route party engage in a chase.

~Roy's Feraligatr distracts Cobalion long enough for the Off Route party to get away. Cobalion insists he is after the menace controlling the forest, but Feraligatr is having none of that. They fight, and while they do, the forest keeps trying to stalk down and kill the Off Route party, with Bridgette catching a Curse herself.

~The Off Route party stops, and accidentally discover that the Curse can be transferred with a scratch when Noel passes it to Alexa. They experiment by trying to destroy the Curse, but Bridgette's Wailord has no effect. Undeterred, they continue towards the oil field.

~Milo, the guard for the Tower of Mastery, denies Zack access to the township. Zack implores Milo to reconsider by beating the other guards. Milo complies on the condition that Zack relinquishes possession of his Pokémon for the duration of his visit. They settle on allowing Zack to keep Hazard.

~Zack is led through the peaceful township of acolytes to the sauna dome where he encounters resident Aura Master Gurkinn. Zack wants immediate answers regarding Mega Stones, but Gurkinn would rather talk to Zack about the nature of Aura and his bonds with his Pokémon.

~Manny tries to reach out to Feraligatr and Cobalion, to recruit them for the confrontation in the oil field against the physical body of their Stalker. Cobalion considers the invitation, and the distraction is all that Feraligatr needs to win. The forest parts a winding path for Feraligatr to get lost in, and the Pokémon travels the path with Cobalion on his shoulders.

~At Shalour City's pier, Helena is recovering from an offscreen loss to Korrina. She gets a call from her mom, who doesn't approve of Grant but is otherwise happy. Helena then gets into a battle with a gambler. First she wins a badge, and then she wins a Mega Stone. This gambler sucks, and Helena walks away with the spoilers. However...

~Her victory is short lived when Jean Pierre ambushes her. Taken by surprise, Helena is helpless as he cuts her neck and uses an Aura technique to make her slide between bliss and pain at his whim. Jean interrogates her for information on Ratio, displaying his obsession with the assassin and his urge to kill anyone else involved in that. He leaves Helena dying on the beach, and she tries to call Zack for help.

~Zack ignores the call, too wrapped up in his business with Gurkinn. Gurkinn explains how Mega Evolution and Aura are related to bonds, then offers Zack the Gengarite to use for a demonstration battle. Shortly after, he uses his Aura to trigger an evolution in Hazard, bringing her to her final form.

~Helena, spurned by Zack's ignorant rejection of her call, is approached by Ferox, who silently offers to take her to Ratio. She agrees, pledging to never feel so weak again. They disappear.

~Salieri recalls training in Orre with her homeless mentor, surviving in the desert. She was tired of his patient approach, and decided to leave in order to attain the promise of power at a quicker rate that Ska offered.

~In the present, Salieri is distracted from her stalking of Skarada by a scream (which she doesn't know is Helena's). Sal tries to ignore it, but her conscience gets the better of her. She investigates it, but by that time Helena is gone, and when she goes back to the beach, Ska is gone too.

~The Off Route party comes across another wave of wild Pokémon, this time trying to rush past them as quickly as possible. Bridgette passes her Curse on to Dennis, the badge thief who finally receives a name and immediately dies. The Off Route party get past a perimeter of Repels that keep the wild Pokémon out of the oil field, and finally arrive at their destination.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 101 – 110

~Helena is greeted by Ratio inside his lair, who informs her that her attacker is an Aura master in the employ of House Nostrad named Jean Pierre trying to use Helena as bait to fight Ratio. He heals her and promises to teach Helena how to defend herself properly, but in exchange she has to help him save Kalos and the rest of the world from the Court’s scheme.

~Back in the woods, Benedict and company finally make it to the oil field with no further casualties or Curses. The entire facility is abandoned yet still operating, with nasty leaks spilling out in the forest. Alexa snaps the pictures she needs, but they aren’t out of danger just yet. The Stalker reveals a physical body for the first time: a massive titan made of trees that challenges the exploration team (and Bridgette) to a straight fight if they choose to stay. They choose to stay.

~Salieri relaxes at a beachside café after losing track of Skarada when she is approached by Grant. Sal asks if Grant and Helena are an item, which he denies. They both voice concerns about Helena’s mental state, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by Grant. Grant asks Salieri for a battle, which she accepts. It’s Reynard and Oberon against Grant’s Mandibuzz and Audino on the beach!

~Helena comes across Moze’s private room in Ratio’s lair, where the elder Soledad sibling meditates by playing piano to help him contemplate his murder of Horton Balibar. Moze introduces himself and they realize they have Salieri in common. After finding out how Sal is doing from Helena, Moze welcomes Helena into Ratio’s team, telling her that the reason she’s there is because deep down, she can be a killer.

~At the oil field, Bridgette flashes back to her childhood. As a kid, Bridgette grew up with limb cancer and her father constantly created prosthetics for her to use. Slowly she accrued a team of Pokémon that became her best friends, and when her parents died in a car crash accidentally caused by her Drifloon, they became her family. They devised in jokes and strategies they’d only use if they were called by their ‘true names’.

~In the present, Bridgette mounts a personal assault on The Stalker’s titan, calling out the true names of her Pokémon to push them to their limits. Unfortunately she bites off more than she can chew on her own, and is almost killed for her efforts. Luckily, her Wailord swallows her whole like the legend of Jonah, keeping her safe in his mouth as he passes out from an Earthquake.

~The same Earthquake almost kills the twins, but their Gogoat bravely sacrifices its life to save them. The twins are rescued by Ben and Roy, and the battle against The Stalker continues.

~Sal and Grant begin their rematch. Reynard immediately disregards Salieri’s authority camps in the ocean, making her mostly untouchable but also making it difficult to attack. Princess Atomicka holds up her ‘Oberon’ persona and battles as cutely as possible, but doesn’t get very far. Tired of waiting around, Rey launches a Surf that damages her opponents but knocks out Oberon in the process. Sal does not approve.

~At the Tower of Mastery, Gurkinn temporarily equips Zack with a Keystone for Mega Evolution training, and evolves Hazard into a Gengar. Mega Hazard then does battle against Mega Jinn, Gurkinn’s Medicham. Gurkinn uses his Aura link and the strong bond between him and his Pokémon to maintain an advantage and eventually defeats Hazard. Zack is told that he must learn about the bonds between trainer and Pokémon if he wants to learn about Aura to defeat Ratio.

~Zack goes back into town to heal Hazard, having a run in with the annoying Chatot on the way. Before he can go back to the Tower for more training, he is stopped by Ska, who wants the Sablenite Zack took from Route 10. He voices his intention to give it to his unborn child as a birthright, and that he won’t take no for an answer. Ska searches through Zack’s bag, not finding the Mega Stone since Zack dropped it off with Gurkinn. At close range, Zack turns Ska into a hostage and Ska summons more pirates as reinforcements. The standoff quickly explodes into battle, Zack vs Skarada!

~Matheson shows up at the beach to meet Salieri, and her battle with Grant is interrupted when they see signs of fighting in the city proper. Wondering if that battle is something involving Ska, Sal and Math rush back into town.

~The Gardevoir under Ska’s control, 241, proves to be a powerhouse that manages to take Hazard out of the fight after the Ghost shatters helmet. Durendal arrives to help fight the lesser pirates while Zack does battle with the captain himself, until the Pirate King uses a Plant Trap to bind the trainer. Malis refuses to help Zack out, instead considering the opportunity to roast his trainer alive, and Keasbey’s sensory altering Quash takes Lethal by surprise.

~Just when Ska starts taking control of the match, Salieri and Matheson arrive. Sal draws Ska’s attention with an uncomfortable reunion while Math frees Zack from his binds. Sal tries to appeal to Ska’s better side, but Ska won’t listen to the girl who stabbed out his eye. Before the three of them can team up against Skarada, and before Ska can Mega Evolve Sergio the Lopunny, a portal appears in the sky and the pirates use it to escape. 241 is ordered to take out one of Salieri’s eyes, but can’t bring herself to do it. Sal recognizes the Gardevoir, and Ska reveals the truth: this Gardevoir, loaned to him by Team Flare, belonged to none other than Sal’s brother Moze! Ska and the pirates escape through the portal.

~Salieri and Zack, both pissed about the encounter, start arguing about their approaches to the situation. Math, though perturbed about Salieri having stabbed out a man’s eye in the past, uses his Magic Door to whisk the trainers away to the Pokémon Center before the police arrive to ask questions.

~Sal tries to catch Zack up to speed on the abilities of Skarada’s Pokémon while Zack tells her about the Tower of Mastery. They don’t get far before the Chatot returns, distracting the trainers long enough for a Cofagrigus to sneak up behind them and bind their hands together with an unseen Destiny Bond…

~A prissy, taunting voice comes through the revealed to be robotic Chatot, telling Zack and Sal that they’ll be bound together until their ‘punishment’ is over or one of them dies. The trainers try to take out the Chatbot and the Ghost, but get almost nowhere while the perpetrators escape.

~Mortified at having to be stuck together, Sal and Zack test the limits of their bond. It turns out that not only do they share pain and injuries, but emotions as well. They decide that priority number one has become getting separated, but not before they spend some time beating each other up and sharing genital pain. It’s not a long story, it’s just something you need to see for yourself.

~Through more testing, the two discover they cannot force their own separation, nor will it be undone if they get knocked out. Worried that touching someone else could result in them joining the bond, they decide to remain hands off with everyone else. Durendal and Hazard are sent out to search for the Chatbot, and while they wait, Sal decides to drag Zack to her Gym Match.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 111-120

~Salieri throws down with Korrina at the Shalour City Gym, with Zack as a forced spectator. Reynard vs Korrina's Hawlucha commences! Hawlucha stalls with Encore and Attract while setting up, compromising the hotheaded Vaporeon's ability to fight. Unable to properly control Rey and distracted by Zack's backseat training, Salieri loses the match.

~Outside, Dune and Hazard return with a busted Chatbot. Lacking tech savvy, the bonded trainers decide to take the robot to Mia. Matheson finds them, and before Salieri can explain their hand holding situation, Math immediately guesses that they're jinxed. Good guess. Because they're sharing feelings, Zack echoes Sal's attraction to Math. Math shares his theory that the reason Ska's ship is so difficult to track is because he's using a Bronzong to move it with portals. He then makes a portal of his own with the Magic Door Key to give Sal and Zack a quick passage to Lumiose.

~The trainers end up in the Soledad apartment, where Zack listens to Sal check in on her ailing father from outside the room. Zack chides her for being upset the moment she has to deal with her father, something Sal slaps him for. He tells her she doesn't have to blame herself, but she insists that the only one who can take care of Arnaud is her.

~At Gotengo, Mia and the kids are sharing jokes. She prods Juliet, quietly out of place in the corner, to join in, and Juliet gives them a riddle instead: I start off light and easy to bear, but the more you carry me, the heavier a burden I am. What am I? While the kids think about it, Mia receives a call from...Ivan? The AI of Sal's Pokédex tells Mia they are now autonomous, but are still bound by rules of their coding, and need help fulfilling a task.

~Sal and Zack are surprised to see Juliet in Gotengo. Juliet cannot resist being haughty in the face of Zack’s snark, resulting in another hostile relationship. Sal gives Juliet the boot, but Mia invites Juliet to stay anyway. Regardless, Juliet still feels unwelcome, and leaves. Mia tells the Gotengo kids the answer to Juliet’s riddle: it’s a guilty conscience. Pretty lame.

~Zack is annoyed that no one told him about the hotel attack, and he and Sal alike are both perturbed by Mia’s budding relationship with Juliet, who they deem untrustworthy. Mia agrees to keep their business discreet, then switches subjects back to the Chatbot. She says it’ll take her a few hours to salvage the GPS, measures Sal and Zack’s vitals for science, and sends them on their way.

~Local goons Trevor and Iceburg come across Sal and Zack wandering Lumiose, and recognize Zack from an embarrassing fashion poster Viro von Silver made of him days ago. Sal ******** loves this poster, but hates that Iceburg uploads a snapshot of Sal and Zack holding hands onto social media. This results in a fist fight, where Sal and Zack discover the bond is growing stronger after they beat up the goons. Uh-oh.

~Oberon heals the two of them up while they share small talk. The topic? Worst injuries. Zack shares that he once broke a leg during an avalanche and had to claw up through the snow with hypothermia. Yowch. Sal shares that she defied Ska’s orders to fire a poison gas cannon in Orre, so she captain cut off her arm. Yowch.

~The Off Route party continues their battle with the Stalker. Benedict’s Pokémon force a hole into the titan plant mecha, revealing the real body of the Trevenant underneath. The Stalker tries to Curse Roy in a last ditch effort to gain some ground, but he fails and is defeated by the combined efforts of many Pokémon after a long, grueling match.

~Helena and Grant see the picture of Sal and Zack on social media, and she dubs their ship name ‘Zackieri’. It trends for maybe two minutes. She sends a message to Zack.

~Sal is about to tell Zack about Helena’s tantrum earlier in the day when they receive Helena’s message. Sal hides out of view, a fly on the wall while the Redgraves talk. Helena hides her fear and manages to sound okay, even telling Zack about Grant. Zack does not approve. She expresses the desire to apologize to Sal as well. All in all, it’s a pleasant talk.

~After the call, Helena and Grant train together. Then they make out a little. I hope they weren’t doing it next to the Pokémon. After that, Helena goes to Shalour City and cries herself to sleep. Rough day.

~The Off Route party tries to process everything that’s just happened to them. Except for Bridgette, whose upbeat attitude turns off the others. Manny attempts to read the Stalker’s mind, but comes across a mental roadblock set up by none other than Nicolette herself. With no one else guarding the dilapidated oil field, the travelers venture inside to see what was so important.

~In Snowbelle City, a peppy girl named Emily takes care of a withered woman named Sintre. Turns out Emily works for Jean Pierre, who gives her a list of people he wants her to kill tomorrow. Our heroes are on that list. That’s what I call a busy Saturday, amirite?

~Grant, alone on Route 12, is approached by a trainer named Bacque and his Seismitoad Gren. Bacque’s a pretty chill guy, he throws barbeques during the summer. He also says he has a soul for most of the year, just not now, and Gren proceeds to vibrate Grant into goo. Oh-kay, not so chill. R.I.P Grant, we hardly knew you.

~While the Off Route party explores the oil field facility, Rosencrantz the Gallade Quillon shows up to inspect the scene. He finds the Stalker’s body, and lights the oil field on fire to destroy the evidence. The place goes up in flames.

~The Off Route Party discovers the oil field was not only unmanned, but still running despite it, and was recording information about something called Z-cells. However, their exploration is cut short by two things: the fire threatening to blow them all away, and the reveal that the Stalker’s Curse still persists on Alexa. Finding Teleportation pads that lead to an abandoned building in Lumiose City, the Off Route party escapes, with Liam and Noel seriously injured.

~Sal and Zack return to Gotengo, where Esme and Mia are digitizing Esme’s archives on potential Darkhorse Hunters. When Salieri realizes she’s hitting on Esme, she figures out that Zack’s got a crush.  

[Jump Einatz]

Court of Kings: Pages 121-130

~Benedict and company call for an ambulance to save the direly wounded twins. Ben tries to convince Alexa to pass the Curse to him so she’ll be safe to write the article. She refuses to put someone else through the Cure, and Roy lends her his Fearow for an escape. Alexa leaves as the paramedics arrive.

~In Gotengo, Esme recognizes the symptoms of Salieri and Zack’s bond, and shows them what information she has on who she believes to be a Darkhorse Hunter. Past records of the Kalos League reveal trainers who took the same damage as their Pokémon. The bond became so tight that some trainers believed they became those Pokémon.

~At risk of losing their sense of personal identity forever, Sal and Zack want to get a move on. Mia hands them a radar that can track down Mr. Bonding. However, once it’s active, Mr. Bonding will know, so it’s a one shot deal. Armed with new knowledge, Sal contacts Math for a door back to Shalour City.

~Paramedics and police arrive to help Benedict’s party, along with noble detective/part time ambulance chaser Juliet Nostrad. Before Juliet can get to questioning them about their connection to the off route explosion, Ben warns her that the explosion came from Jullien Nostrad’s oil rig. For the sake of impartiality, Juliet immediately removes herself from the budding case and leaves it to the police.

~Matheson warps Sal and Zack to the Weather Institute in Hoenn, where he’s been researching how and where Skarada’s ship could be hiding. Salieri tries to explain why she and Zack now have a small shipping fanbase online, but Matheson waves it off since it actually provides good optics for his life politically, an offhanded comment that worries Sal. Math opens another door and sends Sal and Zack back to Shalour.

~Benedict, Roy and Bridgette give their stories to the police, and then part ways unceremoniously. Ben texts Sal asking for Mia’s help to become untraceable. Sal responds and points him to Gotengo’s direction.

~Mr. Bonding, hiding out in Coumarine City’s Pokémon Center, sends his Chatbots to deter Sal and Zack from finding him. Riding to Coumarine City atop of Banksy, Sal and Zack use Zack’s Pokémon and some fancy flying to take out the Chatbots scouting them out. The radar points them to the Pokémon Center, before it gives out.

~The bonded duo arrive at the Coumarine Pokémon Center, where Mr. Bonding has shattered his equipment and attempts to make his escape. Durendal and Serene try to track the man they’ve never met, and find him before he can leave. The fight breaks out in the Center, Zack and Sal vs. Mr. Bonding!

~Meanwhile, Ben arrives in Gotengo, where Mia and Esme are still hard at work. Because Salieri did not tell Mia that Ben was coming, and because Ben isn’t forthcoming about his circumstances, Mia needs to be persuaded to help this stranger. Eventually she obliges, and works to make one of his xtransceivers trace proof.

~While he’s waiting, Esme offers up their records on Ben’s Stalker, who turns out to be a Darkhorse Hunter. Ben comes up with a plan to take Alexa’s Curse and weaponize it against their enemies, something that mortifies Mia and Esme. Mia doctors the xtransceiver and tells Ben not to take on the Curse, or he won’t be welcome back to Gotengo. Disappointed but not deterred, Ben leaves.

~Ben contacts and meets up with Alexa at the Coumarine City train station. Ben pleads with Alexa to let him use the Curse to their advantage, but Alexa declines. Gracious to Ben for his heroism off route, Alexa tells him she wouldn’t wish this Curse on her enemies. Ben shifts gears and asks Alexa to leave the country, just to be safe, which Alexa agrees to do.

~Downtrodden but relieved Alexa is okay, Ben drops her at the airport and then leaves. Alexa waits, and then goes back on her word, too deep in the scoop of her lifetime to leave Kalos while it’s just beginning. She decides to write her article on the run.

~In the Coumarine Pokémon Center, the Bonded duo engage with Mr. Bonding and his Cofagrigus. Serene is released, but she only stands dazed in the corner. Although Durendal takes Mr. Bonding hostage, Cofagrigus escapes to the upper levels of the building, forcing Dune to follow.

~Cofagrigus tricks Dune to escape and gets back downstairs. The bond get stronger, crippling Sal and Zack with overwhelming memories and emotions while Mr. Bonding stalls and prepares to let the merge play out.

~Inside each other’s minds, Salieri and Zack relive the other’s memories. Salieri experiences Zack’s intense falling out with his former girlfriend Robin, leaving Kelly for dead in a volcano, and his melancholy home life afterwards. Zack lives through Sal’s quiet but harsh tutelage from a giant man named AZ in Orre, her life aboard Skarada’s ship, the loss of her virginity, and the loss of her arm.

~Before Salieri and Zack’s minds fully merge, Serene snaps out of her funk and guides them through their unity, culminating in her taking on both of their mental powers. Serene unleashes her potential and pulverizes both Cofagrigus and Bonding. Dune gets downstairs before Cofagrigus can backstab the exhausted Serene with his last stand, and the threat of the two Pokémon causes Cofagrigus to break the bond. Salieri and Zack are free!

~Oberon heals the mentally readjusting trainers. Salieri calls the police, pretending she was sexually assaulted at Mr. Bonding’s previously stained hands to get him arrested. She interrogates him, but he doesn’t know anything they don’t. As the police come, Serene Teleports them to the Tower of Mastery.

~At the Tower, Zack and Salieri seek out Gurkinn to give them a diagnosis. Gurkinn declares them to be separated, with short term after effects. He invites them to stay on the island for as long as they like, which they take him up on. Newly appreciative of each other but feeling awkward about the way it happened, Sal and Zack part for the night on good terms for the first time.

~At the Battle Chateau, Jullien Nostrad catches wind of the fire at the oil field from Nicolette Nostrad’s mysterious liason. With the Stalker and Mr. Bonding defeated, Nicolette has lost two Darkhorse Hunters in one day. Jullien orders the Liason to squash the news story and get the uprising trainers under control.

~Moze, still distraught after having killed Horton Balibar, finally calls back Mia. He tries to comfort her about the attack on the hotel while keeping it secret that he was the perpetrator, but it’s too little, too late. Mia ends their call on edge.

~Elizabeth demands a meeting with Elliot at Chateau Leroux, which his guards refuse. Behind the closed doors of Elliot’s study, Elliot touches base with Ratio. They desire a conclusion to their black operations sooner than later. Elizabeth bursts in, having defeated the guards, and demands Elliot’s cooperation with getting justice for her father Gabriel. Ratio, taking on a disguise as ‘Kero’, is a fly on the wall as Elliot politely declines Elizabeth’s request. She leaves, bitter and unaware that her father’s killer, Ratio, is standing beside her.

~Back at the Tower, Zack cleans up. Serene is in much higher and more lucid spirits since the mind merge in the afternoon, but cannot yet tap into the potential she showed fighting Cofagrigus. Reflecting on Salieri’s memories, Zack is driven to check in on his own family, and gives his mother Kaitlyn Redgrave a call.

~In her room at the Tower, Salieri also decompresses by relaxing with her Pokémon and making necessary calls to friends. She asks Benedict to meet her in Shalour in the morning. During a call with Mia, Mia tells her a second hand account of Ben’s encounter with the Stalker. After that, Sal calls Matheson, wondering why he was okay with the internet thinking ‘Zackieri’ was a real couple. Math explains that the less people who know he and Sal are an item, the easier it is for him to operate as a betrothed noble. The secrecy does not sit well with Sal, but before they can truly hash it out, Sal receives another call. It’s from Skarada, who proposes a trade to his former crewmate: Prou and her stolen Pokédex for the Sablenite he wants so badly.

~DAY 7

~Zack trains his Pokémon at the Tower of Mastery by pitting them against each other in sparring sessions. An off duty Korrina (‘Successor Korrina’ when she’s at the Tower) observes, reminding him not to waste his potential. Zack returns the favor by warning her not to underestimate Salieri during their Gym rematch.

~Said rematch begins later on at Shalour City Gym. It’s Reynard vs. Hawlucha, Round 2! Salieri starts by having Reynard bust the fire sprinkler system, giving Rey ample water to control and a large field advantage. Hawlucha evens the odds by raising his speed to overwhelming levels. When Hawlucha prepares to neutralize Rey with Entrainment, Sal turns the move against him by reflecting it in a mirror made of water. Distracted by himself, Hawlucha is taken out in one shot by Rey’s Hydro Pump. The victory goes to the challenger!

~Salieri returns to the Tower, and tells Zack about Ben’s day yesterday and Skarada’s offer. Zack defers to her judgment on whether or not they should do the trade, and they both agree that the best way to go about it is by setting a trap of their own. The plan? Salieri meets Skarada for the trade, and Zack snipes him from afar at the right time with Lethal. With that in mind, the two split up to prepare.