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"Hide one of your pokemon and take Manny down with you." Ben replied smoothly. She clearly didn't like the idea of having the link, but Manny would be better with radius if he was with her.

Odds were higher that Ska's people would be spread out in one, and if Manny was on the opposite end of any of them, it would be harder to scout them.

"Wait, why do we need sunglasses?"

Benedict looked at the pier and then back to the Durendal... What would happen if an electric type and he teamed up and turned him into one of those shots? It would hurt him like heck, but in a desperate situation it could be pretty useful. Or, if he were fighting a steel type, a good weapon against his opponent's pokemon.

But Sal was also right, they needed to get the heck out of there. His pokemon were called back and he laughed. "I'll, uh, continue my training elsewhere. Good luck, by the way. See you when it's time to bake that plan."

And then Benedict was off away from the site of the property damage. Not running, of course, but sure as heck not sticking around.

Hopefully Sal didn't get them in trouble with the police before any of the things with Skar happened.

The Fishbone

“Hop to it, people!” Skarada called out, clapping his hands and sidestepping the various crewmates running in and out of open hatches through the halls. The Fishbone hadn’t properly been mobilized for a while, and their wares needed to be stored properly in case of an emergency. Ska knew his scheme would cause a backlash, but if he could control enough factors then no one unwanted would set foot on his ship.

“Your sentimentality has us behind schedule,” said a grumpy Erin, stepping out of the pantry and walking in line with the captain down the corridor. Ska twirled out of the way of a pirate carrying a crate past him.
“We set the pace, love. We had two shots to launch today and we still have the second.”
“The trade complicates things. It’s unnecessary.”
“It puts piece where we want them. Open your mind, Erin.”

Erin stopped in front of Ska, cutting him off. “We need 241 for this to work. Putting the whole op at risk, just to troll-“
“Come now, it’s not just a trolling. Call it…” Ska searched for the words. “Conditioning.”

He made to walk away, but Erin grabbed his arm. “We’ve come too close to blow it on a gamble.”
Ska turned to her, cupping her face with one hand. “Love, all we do is gamble. I don’t plan on losing now.”
He disarmed her. Erin tried to keep up her scowl, but she couldn’t as he put his other hand on her stomach to feel the baby. “You’re a scoundrel.”
“And you’re a menace.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket. “Finally. I’ll be right back for check in,”

They lingered on a kiss for a few rings, before Ska finally answered the call and peeled himself away. He kept walking. “And here I thought you dropped off the Earth.”
“Not before I get what’s mine,” said Salieri, all business. “Let’s make a deal.”
“You wait til the last minute to ring me? Tacky, Sal. You know what the deal is. Standard standoff. I’ll send in 241 with your Dex, you send whoever you want with the Stone. That Dex won’t shut up, by the way, it’s made Erin cranky.”
“Just turn off the volume.”
“Tried that. It’s rebootin’ something awful, Sal. Keeps asking to play games like that computer that tried killin’ everybody.”
“Don’t whine. It’ll be off your hands soon…just like Prou. Where’d you even get her, Ska?”

Ska smirked and took a few steps backwards to a door he just passed. He opened the hatch into a tight medical bay. The doctor of the ship was washing surgical instruments at the sink while on of the crew’s engineers was turning dials on the side of Prou’s helmet. The armored Gardevoir was sitting still and obediently on the table while the engineer made the helmet whole again. “When I teamed up with Flare, they gifted her to me. Apparently their mystery backer has a surplus of well trained, very illicit Pokémon. One guess as to who they are, mate.”

He gave the doctor and engineer a nod, acknowledging their presence while staring at himself in Prou’s visor. He could practically hear the gears spinning in Salieri’s head. “You’re saying it was the nobles.”
“Bingo. And imagine my surprise when I saw the Original Trainer data. Fate’s a funny thing.”
“Not when it’s bringing you and me together again.”
“Hehe. Well, that’s something we can agree on. You wanna talk to her?”

Ska held the phone up to Prou’s ear, still hearing Sal drone on from a distance. “Yeah, so let’s get this over with. I have a place in mind….hello? Ska, don’t ******** with me right now.” There was a pause, and then a timid, hopeful, “Prou?”

Predictably, the brainwashed Pokémon didn’t react. “Yeeeeah, that’s not her name anymore,” said Ska, taking the phone back and stepping out of the room. “241. That’s the number they gave her.”
“How do I know she’s okay?”
“The girl’s half vegetable, she’s far from okay. But I’ve kept her whole, no sickness or nothing. You’ll see when we meet.”

Skarada followed the corridor down to a hatch that led to the deck. Currently, The Fishbone was sailing over international waters at 30,000 feet, coasting through clouds. Ska snapped a few of the buttons on his coat closed, pacing slowly across the cold, wet deck.

“Now tell me where and when.”
“There’s a cove connected to a sandbar leading to the Tower of Mastery in Shalour City. Do you know it?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t see me there yesterday, mate. I know you were watching me.”
“…there’s a hill up from the cove at the northern part of the city. That cross street, before sunset.”
“Can’t do sunset. All I’ve got is three hours from now.”
“You just said that I set the terms-”
“Let’s not twist it, I said I’d hear you out. The ball’s in my court. I make the rules. Three o’ clock or nothing.”
“…you’re such a connard.”
“Let’s keep your fancy Kalosian cussing out of my deals.”
“Why are you doing this, Ska? You hate Kalos. Go rob somewhere else.”

A flock of Wingulls soared in line with the side of the ship. Skarada scowled. “You know why. Of all people, you know why. Three o’ clock. I’ll be there.”

Shalour City Pier

Salieri ended her call with Skarada and switched to the call she had waiting. “Did you get all of that?”
“Do you even have to ask?” answered Mia.

Sal tucked the phone to her ear and looked over her shoulder. Shards from where Durendal leveled a railgun round at the pier swirled in midair, returning to their original positions thanks to Oberon’s Recycle. Most of it had been vaporized entirely, and so a full repair was out of the question. Still, the dockmaster was grateful. “Thank you for the help, mademoiselle!” the dockmaster cheered to Salieri, who just returned the thanks with a thumbs up and went back to her call.

“So? Where’s the ship?”
“He didn’t stay on long enough to get a full trace. Buuuuut Ivan pieced together the rest of it…oh. Yep. He’s in the middle of the ocean, if this is accurate…”
“Ivan? Ivan helped you?”
“Yeeeeeah.” Mia lingered on the word. A clear case of when she neglected to say the whole story. “So, the thing is, Ivan detached itself from the Dex to roam cyberspace. She’s been helping me piece together what’s going on from her end-”
“The AI from my Pokédex detached itself?” Salieri tried wrapping her head around the consequence of that statement. “The ********? That’s a thing that can happen?”
“Not really. Not for other Pokédexes. Ivan is an independent AI that I programmed to be your companion.”
“Can you put this into simple terms for me?”
Mia sighed. “The Dex you wanted me to rebuild was mostly scrapped. I took the base of another AI that got sent to me by the Kid’s Grid, added onto that with the AI fragments that were still in the Dex, and bam. Ivan was born.”
Salieri pinched her brow. “…what does that even mean?”
“Don’t worry about it. The upgrade I sent you a few days ago was supposed to patch the final problems, but instead Ivan evolved.”
“Evolved, like, how a Pokémon evolves?”
“Yeah. Exactly like that, actually.”
“So what is it now?” Salieri had read enough science fiction to know that artificial intelligence was a dangerous thing. “On a scale of friendly to Skynet, how dangerous is Ivan on the loose?”
“Not dangerous at all. To you. Mostly. Not quite on the level of the three laws of robotics. But for you, it’s close.”

Salieri stopped looking off at the ocean in time to see a familiar face approaching. Matheson was coming down the pier waving at her with a nervous expression. He was wearing a grey suit with trimmings befitting a noble. Very unlike his usual casual outfits.

She groaned. After last night’s call she wasn’t sure how to go about dealing with him, especially with the other more pressing events going on in her life. “Can you send me what Ivan got for you? I have to go. Math is here.”
“No problem. Bye.”

Sal hung up and Matheson stopped in front of her. “How’d you find me here?” Sal asked. She remembered that he had a literal degree in tracking, so she backpedaled. “Actually, nevermind. What do you want, Math?”
He rose his eyebrows, not expecting hostility right off the bat. Sal watched him recompose himself, going into a less happy-go-lucky expression. “I’m, uh, sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t really…uh. I wasn’t really expressing myself right.”
“Damn straight.” Salieri looked around at the people walking past them on the pier, around the giant hole Oberon was half repairing. “You sure you want people to see us here? In public?”
“Sal, please. That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s exactly what you meant.”
“I’m part of a super uptight society and I’m already stepping on eggshells everyday. I don’t want to make it worse, but I still want to see where you and I are going.”

Salieri folded her arms. She really didn’t want to have this kind of talk. Not with other people watching, and not on top of the other things she had to deal with. Relationship drama was not her department. “You’re not the only one stepping on eggshells. If you wanna have it all, you have to compromise, and if you’re scared of that then I dunno what to tell you.” She stepped past him. “We can talk about this later, Math. I have to deal with pirates.”

Math stepped in front of her again. “That’s also why I’m here. The pirates. I think I can help.”
“I’ve got it taken care of.” Salieri didn’t want Matheson to get himself involved further, and not because of their rough patch. Now she was negotiating to what amounted to terrorists, and she was concerned his loyalty to the nobility would undermine that. Or worse, Ska would find out what Math meant to her, and then she’d have one more weakness to consider.

“Yeah, well, it’s not up to you.” Math gulped when he saw her agitation with him rise. “Sorry. But also not sorry. They’re my responsibility too. And I have a new source for intel on his crew.”
“Yeah? What can you tell me that I don’t already know?”
“Not me. Her.”

Salieri had a feeling she knew who it was when Math gestured to someone behind her. Her suspicions were confirmed when she turned around. Wearing a grey suit much like Matheson’s was Juliet, face to face to Salieri with her hands clasped behind her back. Straight faced, she bowed her head. “Salieri.”
“…oh come on.”

Sycamore Pokémon Lab

The lab was trashed. Esme led Zack back through Garchomp's trail of destruction and reached the rear laboratory. The gardens shone through the windows, peaceful and perfect. Zack caught Serene wandering around the flowerbeds, and recalled the way their surroundings had shifted during the battle with Bonding. Kirlia had the power to create mirages, and one of those mirages was of Serene's home on Route 4. She must have missed it.

'Our little Kirlia seems like a new mon,' Esme said, following Zack's gaze. 'Are you glad you did not give up on her?'
'She saved my life,' Zack said. He realised he still had hold of the keystone bangle and passed it back to Esme. 'It's like you said, her powers are changing. She seems better now.'
'But you still wanted me to take a look at her?'

Zack nodded. Serene seemed okay now, but if she was still changing then she had become unpredictable. And he couldn't have that. He put his fingers to his temple and thought, very loudly, 'Serene. Get over here.'

And the Kirlia stopped frolicking, stared at Zack through the window, and Teleported right in front of him. She bowed as she touched the ground, and pirouetted to face Esme.

'Was that Telepathy?' Esme asked, impressed. She knelt down to Serene's level and smiled. 'I do not have long, little Kirlia, but let me take a look at you.'

---

'And you say you used your Kirlia's Telepathy to effectively jerry-rig a bond between you and Garchomp, and that's how you made it mega evolve.'

'Yeah, that's literally what I just said,' Zack replied. They were sat on the pile of rubble outside the rear lab while Esme gave Serene her check up. Sina was dialing up Professor Sycamore to let him know there had been another lab accident while Dexio grilled Zack for information.

'This is fascinating,' Dexio bit the end of his pen for a second. 'To think that you of all people could produce a bond with a pokémon you had never met.'
'Bonds are in my wheelhouse now,' Zack said. 'Guessing Esme didn't fill you in on my situation yesterday.'
'Aaaand the Professor said it's totally okay,' Sina said, hopping on the rubble pile next to Zack. 'He'll call the usual guy, we just need to clear this mess up. He did say something about our bursaries but I'm sure it was nothing important.' She grinned. 'See, Zack, these are just the kind of wacky shenanigans we get up to on a daily basis.'

Dexio didn't take his eyes off Zack all the time Sina spoke. 'What do you mean "your situation"?'
'With the darkhorse hun...ters...,' Zack caught the look Dexio and Sina were exchanging. 'Never mind.'
'Esme has told you about Darkhorse Hunters?' Dexio asked.
'Oh boy,' Sina said.

'Getting my hand glued to someone told me about Darkhorse Hunters,' Zack said. 'Esme just saw me afterwards.'
'Zack, we try to elicit a friendly, somewhat mischievous atmosphere around the lab, but now we are being serious.'
'Super serious.'
'You cannot let Esme start delving into this darkhorse business again. It is very unhealthy for her.'

Zack looked along the ruined hallway to where Esme knelt down with Serene, checking the Kirlia's temperature. If Esme was doing the same check up as yesterday, they were almost finished.

'You do know what today is, don't you?' Sina asked, her hair flopping into her face as she leaned over. He didn't. Zack thought about it, about today's date and what relevance it might have. Then it hit him, he'd seen it before, on a specific news article.

'It's two years today that Esme's boyfriend, Allard, died,' Dexio said in low tones. 'You didn't see what it did to her. She blamed it on these darkhorse hunters, and went to a very dark place. It took us over a year to pull her back. Please don't let her go down that path again.'
'Seriously, Zack. Esme might act like a total ice queen, but she gets stupid emotional when Allard's involved. If you give even half a s**t about her, you'll keep her well away from that conspiracy stuff.'

---

South Boulevard wasn't too busy today. A breeze shook the trees lining the pavement, scattering leaves loose. Esme hopped down the stairs that joined the lab's doors to the street while Zack followed her out with Serene. He thought about what Dexio and Sina had said, but there was something else rattling around his head.

'You and Salieri used to be friends,' he said. Esme paused and looked over her shoulder.
'Did she tell you that?'
'Lived it thanks to that bond,' Zack said, rubbing his neck. 'It's not as vivid as before, but I can still remember. She used to come to your library a lot. She looked up to you.'
'Ah. That is quite weird. Do you, ah, recall anything specific?'

'Just the way you were before,' Zack said. Esme blushed. 'Dexio and Sina think they helped you by pulling you away from the darkhorse hunters.'
'And what do you think?'
'I think grief changes people. I think all they did was put you in a limbo where you can't do what you need to do to move on.' Zack walked down the steps, looked Esme right in the eye. 'They don't know how it feels to have someone taken from you by these assholes. You can get closure from this, Esme. It won't be the same, but you can claw that happiness back.'

Esme bit her lip, then exhaled nervously. 'Do you have a plan?'
'Yeah.' Zack remembered Autumnal Avenue, remembered how he felt when Arnaud was Hexed and had his life taken from him. Those weren't his memories, but the feelings were raw. 'We're going to draw this ******** out, and I'm going to crush him.'

The Tower of Mastery

Zack arrived at the foot of the tower in a flash of light, in the middle of the township's main street. People scattered and backed off in surprise, leaving Zack and Serene in the centre of a circle devoid of people. Now where was Salieri?

Helena woke up screaming. Vivid nightmares of being trapped in a place where she couldn't do anything, she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even feel - not without his permission. Even if she couldn't remember it clearly, the memories of her body going from agony to bliss were etched into her head.

Sweaty, crying, and a mess, Helena stared up at the cieling through the blurred vision of her tear covered eyes. Her body wasn't her body anymore.

Except it is, Helena told herself. She moved her hand up, reaching toward the cieling, and used her other hand to wipe her eyes. This was her moving. She could feel the bed underneath her, her clothing as it rested on her skin. She was more aware of every sensation in her entire body, from head to toe, than she ever had been before.

Despite that, and as she got out of bed to take a shower, Helena doubted that she was in control. It was easy to say it, easy to move, easy to defy the thin air. But what if he came back? Then he'd been just as in control. The thought caused her heart to hammer in her chest, and Helena sucked in a sharp breath.

There was that little bell of anxiety that she had spent the night fighting off, brought into a full ceremonious concert after her nightmares. Helena stepped into the shower and tried to calm herself. She couldn't rely on Zack, he'd just push her further away. Salieri wanted nothing to do with her. The friends she'd made? Even Grant? They were all just normal people.

Absolon had said it at the party, and Grant had echoed the sentiment, it doesn't matter how good of a trainer you are, a soldier will still kill you.

In the end, the only person whom Helena could think of to calm herself enough to even take a shower was Ratio. No, there was one other. It helped that Moze was there, it helped to know she wouldn't be alone if she agreed to work with him.

After all, it was Ratio who had taken away Jean's influence and let her feel like a person again, a person with agency and consciousness and sentience. Moze had helped her feel like Helena again.

As she exited the shower, clad in two towels, one around her body and the other holding her hair, twisted above her head, Helena glanced at Tyrant's ball. Tame him, make him kneel, and Ratio would accept her. Even if he rescued her, even if he was there for her, she still needed to do that.

Because how else could she prove she was useful to him? Helena frowned once she realized she was smiling.

"Wait," she said the word outloud, meekly, to the void, to herself. Why did she smile? Ratio was going to turn her into a murderer. It wasn't a good thing.

That's when her holocaster beeped, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Answering the holocall, Helena came face to face with Azucena, or at least they came face to face with holographic projections of one another.

"Nice outfit," Azucena said and Helena blushed.

"It's modest enough," she said, having forgotten that she was wearing just a towel.

"Not for what we have planned. Where are you at?"

"Shalour city."

"Great! We'll meet you there. I'll text you the address."

Helena wanted to decline the offer, but Azucena had already hung up.

After Helena left, the scales on Emily's body dispersed. She frowned as she looked around the room. "I could have sword that Grant guy would have been here." She looked out at the empty space of the room as Kecleon's yellow mouth formed, and then he grinned, showing his teeth.

"Yeah, let's follow her."

***

Thirty minutes later Helena Redgrave, dressed in shorts and a tank top - because they were easy to throw on - met Azucena and Henrietta at a cafe.

"Hey!" Azucena said when she saw the approaching teen. She waved Helena over, and her other hand was busy stroking Henrietta's head, the blonde and pink streaks of it covering the other Unovan girl's face as she laid her head on the table.

"Why's she so glum?" Helena asked, hoping she didn't look half as miserable. "Tired?"

"No. Melty, her Chandelure, killed some dude. We handed him over to Absolon so they could take him to the proper authorities, hopefully without killing him. If a Pokemon isn't considered dangerous of becoming a 'serial killer' they release them to areas between routes. Helps to spread that Pokemon's environment, so the environmentalists love it."

Helena had cocked a brow as she rested her hand on Henrietta's, the timid girl gently wrapped her fingers around Helena's in respose. "Pokemon can be serial killers?"

"With a taste for human blood, yeah. Like Ursarings that start eating humans cause they think they're tasty."

"And Melty might have that?"

"He did eat a dude's soul."

"What?"

"Yeah, apparently Chandelure's fire doesn't work you physically. It lights your soul on fire. Imagine getting that burn, dude. I think if you lose your soul that's it. You stop existing."

"Azzzzyyyyyyy," Henrietta whined through her hair.

"Yeah, anyways, my girl here feels so bad, but it's gonna be okay." She knelt down to be face level with Henrietta. "Hey."

Henrietta picked her head up, her hair still in her face, sticking to her lips. "Ngggh"

"It's gonna be okay. Okay?" Henrietta pressed her lips together and tried to pout. Azucena kissed her, just a peck, and then hopped up to her feet. "Cause we're moving."

"Where!" Bridgette's voice squeaked into the conversation. The young trainer had somehow managed to get right next to the group of girls. Helena mused that it would be easy, since Bridgette made Salieri look average height.

"Ettie's got a TV deal, so we're headed back to Unova tonight. She's gonna be a super hero or something."

"Like the Pokevengers?"

"No, more like super sentai."

Bridgette frowned. "That's no fun."

"Don't say that."

"But I don't want you to leave! You guys are my friends!"

"I'm not leaving," Helena said as she brought her hand up. "I still have to win the league."

Bridgette looked up at Helena and smiled. "Awesome!"

"We'll get you a backstage pass to make up for it, okay?" Azucena said and Bridgette grinned at her.

"Promise?"

"Promise. Speaking of league, I got an idea to cheer you up, Ettie."

Henrietta perked her head up again. "Hum?"

"One last battle. These scrubs," she pointed at Bridgette and Helena, earning a "hey!" from Bridgette, "against you, the Sponsored Trainer."

"Being sponsored for underwear doesn't count," Henrietta groaned.

"It's active wear, sweetie. Durable too." She looked at the other two girls. "Like armor. Well, not like steel, but if someone smacks your boob? Nothing." Azucena said, as if speaking from personal experience.

"Now come on, get up, I'm sure these girls have gym matches to win." Azucena dragged Henrietta to her feet and off the four of them went, to find a secluded place to battle.

Shalour City - Above Sal

The great crack boomed through the city, sounding as if the sky had just split open. It might as well have, because seconds later Wailord would cast its massive shadow over Salieri's location, coming down toward her fast like it had been punched at her on purpose.

A second later, three figures flashed to life just below it. Loki had one hand on each of their backs, Helena and Bridgette materializing just below the falling Wailord.

In a flash of red light, the Water type was recalled. Loki brought the trio safely to the ground with telekinesis.

"Who tries to punch a Darmanitan with a Wailord!"

"It worked yesterday!"

The two of them had apparently not noticed Salieri. Loki, the Alakazam, however, had. He looked at Salieri, and then back to the battle. He was covered in little burns, patching his skin black.

The path infront of them was shimmering with heat as Henrietta approached, her white dress trimmed pink, and her expression timid and apologetic. Darmanitan was at one side of her, the cause for the heat, and Galvantula at the other, crackling with electricity.

Azucena trailed behind. "I returned all your other Pokemon for you!" she called reassuringly. If Salieri counted Loki, the Wailord, and all the pokeballs that Azucena struggled to keep in her arms she'd be able to note that Henrietta's two had taken down a total of eight Pokemon so far.

"You fought her yesterday?"

"No!"

"Hum!" Henrietta said, trying to catch their attention. Helena looked at the timid trainer.

"I forfeit."

"No, behind you," Henrietta pointed at Salieri. "You almost hit her."

Helena looked at Salieri. "Oh."

"Sorry!" Bridgette shouted.

I definitely don't have to say sorry if she did, right?

"Hey."

"I threw him at a giant tree monster, thank you very much," Bridgette said to Salieri as she stuck her tongue out. "And a dragon, and several times at a weird naked image of my father. It killed a guy named Dennis."

Henrietta and Helena were both staring at Bridgette as she spoke calmly about what had happened.

"Anyways, I guess punching Wailord at strong people doesn't work, but I sure kicked that dragon's a**."

There was a buzz in her ears. Azucena had made a joke about punching naked people, and Bridgette went over to retrieve her Pokemon.

Salieri walked past Henrietta and Azucena, the timid one apologizing, and the feisty dark skinned girl sticking her tongue out at Salieri as she left.

"We're gonna head to the Pokemon center and then the gym, right? Before you guys leave tonight?" Bridgette asked. They'd made plans. Get Helena and Bridgette their fourth badges, then see the two girls off. It was set up to be a cute day, with nothing bad happening.

Helena watched Salieri walk. A knot grew in her stomach. If she let her go now, she'd have no other choice. Join Ratio, fight Jean, fight the nobility.

Or go after the karate girl, who hates her, to try and fight Jean, fight the nobility. At least with Salieri, she wouldn't be expected to kill anyone.

But with Sal, Zack would just try to send her home.

"Guys, I'll catch up." She'd run after Salieri then.

"Hey! Wait, please! Salieri!"

"Can you wait, please?" Helena felt like she wanted to cry. If Salieri walked away now, it was over. There was an endless void of everything she'd have to face, alone. The fear of that shook her.

Henrietta and Azucena were leaving, and Bridgette was a child. Grant was helpful, but he was also going to be a target. Nobody could help her like Salieri could. Nobody but Ratio.

I know what the nobility are planning. The words caught in her throat.

I saw your brother.

I was attacked by somebody. His name is Jean-Pierre, and he's a lot scarier than Ratio.

I miss my brother.

I need your help.

Please.

"I'm sorry. Is Zack okay?"