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Top of the Tower

Matheson. That was a name that hadn't crossed her mind for the last two hours. "Noooo, I don't wanna." Sal rubbed her face. The last they had spoken, it was on rocky ground. Ironing out those details was just one more object on her to-do list, and he'd want to know if she was okay as well. Now she wished she hadn't gotten drunk first. Gotta push that list back.

Zack opened the door and Sal shook her head. "Imma chill for a bit. Thanks fer the drinkin'." Quickly after saying this, she added, "I owe you one."

The Tower

Sal nodded slowly at what Zack was saying. "Mmmmkay," she told him with a click of her tongue and a thumbs up. As Zack went into his room, she paused in the stairwell, then went back to the roof. She had needed that talk just as much as Zack did, and it was better to commiserate than drink alone. But that was all still an act to take to help her through the next one.

On the roof, she paced back and forth for a few minutes, stumbling all the while, before releasing Banksy. The Torkoal stood in front of her trainer’s drunken sister, her eyes tracking Salieri’s sway.

Sal held up her arms in a shrug, and let them flop. “Whelp, that’s it. We found Prou and now she’s gone. So close.” Sal pinched her fingers together. “So close, but it’s not enough, so ******** me, right?”

She swiped a hand out to her side, vaguely up at the sky. “Made you a promise to find them but I’m, apparently, bad at that. Soooo go ahead.” Sal hiccupped. “You can go. You can quit now.”

Banksy stared at her sympathetically. “Don’t lookit me like that. I don’t need pity from a, a turtle.” Sal groaned, one hand to the side of her head. “You’re only here cuz I made you come, so leave if you wanna.” Sal closed her eyes as all of her headaches combined. “Go on. Get. Go.”

The Torkoal sat down and sighed a plume of smoke. Sal tilted to the side, and settled down into sitting and leaning against Banksy’s shell. “Good. I wanted you to stay.” She pat Banksy on top of the head. “Thaaaaank yooooou.”

Banksy nodded. “Imma cry a little bit, if that’s ok.” Banksy curled her head onto Sal’s shoulder, and Sal nestled closer, heaving a sobbing breath. The heat given off by the shell dried the tears as they came. “And you gotta hold back my hair for me soon cuz I’m gonna barf.”

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

A couple of hours later and Salieri was in laying in bed, decked out in her pajamas after a long shower. The dried blood was gone an her bandages had been redressed. She still felt like crap, with the beginnings of an early onset hangover coming on.

“Sorry I hung up on you.”

The blue hologram of Mia floating from the node on her Holocaster nodded sagely. “It’s fine. You were busy. You’re just lucky Ben was there.”
“Strategy, not luck. I asked him to be there.”

Mia sighed. Sal sensed that Mia might have held a similar opinion on teamwork to what Ben had, but didn’t feel like arguing. Sal didn’t feel like arguing either, so she didn’t prod. “Next time we can think up a better coordination system.”
“Yeah yeah.” Sal adjusted herself on her bed, laying on her back. “Why didn’t you tell me about Ivan?”

Mia cleared her throat an scratched her head, looking away sheepishly. “They’re my experiment and I needed you unaware.” Salieri didn’t say anything, so Mia went on. “I wanted to see if I could modify an AI to be a better Dex companion. There’s a similar experiment going on in Alola-”
“I was your guinea pig,” Sal sad flatly through narrowed eyes.
“You didn’t even notice,” Mia chimed defensively. “And outside the quirks they’ve helped you a lot, right?”
“That’s not the point.”

Salieri slid her Pokédex out of the cradle on her bicep. On the screen was a cartoonish emoji of her Porygon-Z sleeping. “I guess they’ve been ok…but it’s not cool of you to keep that a secret from me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Sal shrugged. “It’s fine, whatever. Just no more secrets, ok? I can’t take that from you of all people.”

Mia rubbed her chin, thinking. “Salieri, listen-”

A knock on the door interrupted their call. Sal sat up and straightened herself out, giving herself a quick glance in the mirror. Her face still had some scrapes and bruises, but it wasn’t a terrible mess. Good enough for her. “That must be Math, I gotta go.”
“Oh. Ok.” Mia sounded relieved for some reason. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Yep, see ya.”

Sal hung up, unable to shake the feeling that there was some unsaid tension now between herself and her soul sister as she walked to the door. With a deep breath, Sal opened it up and looked at Matheson. “Merde, what happened to you?”

The young noble’s grey funeral robes were tattered and stained with a combination of blood and dirt, the sleeves missing entirely. Matheson himself was covered with bruises and scrapes to rival Salieri’s, but he was still grinning softly. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah of course. ******** dude, take a seat.”

Matheson walked slowly, clearly sore, and took a seat on the bed. Sal sat next to him. “I have so many questions-“
“Can I say a few things before that? Cause I have a few things to say,” Math asked with puppy dog eyes. Sal couldn’t say no to that look. She nodded, apprehensive.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel like you’re ‘less than’ when I said I needed to keep up appearances as a noble, I didn’t think about how that would make you feel and I know you have issues with that stuff and I am so so sorry. Cause you know, I do like you, I’m pretty sure I made that clear, I just have a lot of other things going on and I know you do too and I won’t ask you to change your whole routine for me so I’ll try to-“
“Listen.” Sal stopped his rambling. All this social upkeep was exacerbating her headache. “I forgive you, I get it, we’ll talk it out, why are you so ******** up right now?”

Matheson groaned. It seemed her forgiveness caused a large weight to evaporate off his shoulders. “So there was this thing at the funeral procession…”

Riviére Walk - Outside The Battle Chateau

The cacophony of fighting alerted Moze to Ratio's scuffle further east. From atop his perch in a dense tree's branch, he could see the pink crystalline spires sprouting from the earth. That was as much of a signal as he would get. Deep breaths, he told himself. Deep breaths.

In his costume (Ratio refused to call it that), he looked like his master. His body didn't flow the same way, it was clear that behind his cloak he was a human being. It did not make him any less intimidating. Still, it wasn't the reason he wore it now. The jet black coloring would make him harder to spot. With any luck, he wouldn't have to intimidate at all.

He put on his headphones.

And then, one deep breath later, Moze disappeared.

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

Shepared Fairey could compress himself and Moze to the size of a tack and move with them both at blistering speeds. Decompressing somewhere else was quick enough to give off the impression of teleportation. The price of that mobility was the inability to breathe during the process. It made for short range bursts of nearly undetectable speed, and this would be their greatest asset for the prison break.

Battle Chateau was no bastion of military, but it was heavily guarded all the same. The presence of patrol was noticeably neutered during the funeral procession down the road, now diverted to stopping Ratio from escaping capture. Outside the front gates were just two men, and inside the southern courtyard Moze only felt the presence of three more making rounds in the gardens.

Slipping between their lines of vision using Shepared Fairey became rhythmic for Moze as he momentarily aligned their Auras with his own, predicting where they'd turn before they did it. He darted between the first two guards, compressing back down right behind them to jump from tree to tree to clear the courtyard right afterwards. It felt easy, like a videogame.

From there, Moze followed Ratio's carefully laid out instructions, dodging security all the while while coiling through sudden secret passages, venturing over time from the opulent palatial hub of nobility on the surface to the cold uniform masonry of the dungeon below. Pokémon prisoners were kept here, secret from the world in rooms designed to make sure they couldn't leave.

Ratio's goal was singular. Moze had emphatically asked to go in order to pursue a goal of his own. If he could find what he was looking for, it'd be two birds with one stone.

Halfway through a set of labyrinthine corridors, he heard sudden noises. The sound of fighting. The security he had avoided was tangled up with something else. This wasn’t part of the plan. Moze’s Aura expanded, twisting through the halls to catch sight of this new factor.

He could feel a few unconscious people, but whatever had attacked them was moving too fast to stay in his short range of Aura sight. His curiosity was piqued. So was his caution. It was impossible to tell if this was a friend or foe. He had to stick to his task, and avoid detection if possible.

Ratio did not know exactly where Fury was being held, so his instructions stopped at one of the security hubs. It was a room containing cameras and computers, where the locations and designations of the prisoners were filed away. Two guards remained in the sealed off locked room, both on high alert. Their eyes darted from the door to the camera feed. From his position sidling the door outside, Moze could hardly see what was on the feed. It was a blur amongst a muted color scheme, moving too swiftly to be recognizable. Whatever it was, it was fast. Moze could only surmise that someone else was taking advantage of the distraction for a prison break of their own. If it didn’t make his job easier, things would go south fast. He had to act.

Shepard Fairey slipped through the crack under the door and into the room. Moze didn’t look, but he heard two surprised yelps and some shouting in Kalosian before he heard two heavy thuds. The door opened.

Moze stepped in and over the sleeping guards. Next to the computer and camera feeds were file cabinets. Some held actual files, others held the Pokéballs of imprisoned Pokémon. His Whimsicott watched the door while he scanned the database for what he needed. He was no hacker, not like his girlfriend. His tech savvy was average at best. It didn’t matter, because the guards had already been on the system and all he needed to do was locate two prisoners.

The first came up easy enough. A large, rough Pangoro being held in an ice box cell. That was Ratio’s target. Moze hesitated before his next search, trying to lower his expectations to temper his potential disappointment. Deep breath. His fingers hit the keys again, scanning for his own target.

And there, so quick it caught him off guard, was what he was looking for. A Greninja, jailed about four years ago.

Moze’s body nearly moved on its own as his mind went into shock, busting open the file cabinet inelegantly to grab the two required empty Pokéballs before rushing out the door.

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

The heavy iron doors to Fury’s cell creaked open as Moze heaved against them. Shepard pushed his back as an assist, though the fairy sheep’s puny physical strength didn’t help much. They were greeted by a rush of frosty wind, instantly nipping away at their faces. Moze felt the chill from behind his mask, under his armor. He blocked it with an arm, and looked beyond his fingers at Fury.

The Pangoro’s wrists and ankles were chained up in the center of the room, pulled taut against pillars to suspend him in the air. There was blood matted into the fur around the chains from where Fury tried to break his shackles off. Moze guessed that the cold had slowed the mighty bear down until he could no longer escape. He was unconscious, but still breathing. Moze wondered how long Fury had been fighting this for. Then he wondered what kind of cell his Greninja was in.

With no grandeur, Moze returned Fury to his Pokéball. The chains clattered to the floor with nothing to hold them up anymore. He turned to leave them room.

Now back in the hall, he could hear voices. Many of them, coming from different directions alongside pounding footsteps. His Aura curled outwards, feeling humans and Pokémon alike aggressively pulsating through the dungeon. The brief period of ease was at an end. The guards were fully mobilized again.

Moze made a sharp turn and a beeline towards where the next cell was located. Even with his headphones on, he could hear yelling at his back, and his Aura told him the truth: he was being chased now.

Ahead of him, he saw the passed out bodies of guards. They had been cut into, their wounds long across their chests through their light armor. The blood that had seeped from them onto the floor seemed diluted, watered down. Moze didn’t stop to think about how those wounds were caused, only caring about one thing.

At the end of a hall, at a dead end, he saw a few more beaten guards slumped against the walls outside of a cell. The cell’s doors were wide open, showing the environment inside. It was the opposite of Fury’s prison, a room emanating a dry heat that quickly parched Moze’s throat. More chains were lax at pillars in the center of the room.

The room was empty.

Moze stared ahead, looked at the guards, then stared again.

The other person causing chaos in the dungeon had to be Xavier.

The footfalls had caught up now. Moze turned around and saw a cadre of armored patrolmen bunched together, taking defensive positions near their Pokémon. Fangs, claws, and tails bared to stop Moze from getting out of the dead end. Shepard Fairey had shrunk down and slipped into his pocket, unseen.

They yelled for him to freeze with his hands up, on his knees, right now or they will fire. It was difficult to hear with the music, so he read their lips. It was more difficult to acquiesce their requests as his amber eyes blazed behind his mask, his fingers curled so tightly he thought he’d draw his own blood right through his gloves, because he knew if they slowed him down before he found Xavier he would tear them apart then and there.

Moze took two steps forward, right into a sudden flash of light that took all present parties by surprise. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, revealing its source to be Prou.

Without a word, she grabbed onto Moze’s shoulder, and they both were gone in a flash.

Lumiose City- Random Rooftop

Moze exited the Teleport backwards, stumbling against a guardrail and nearly falling off the roof as he found himself hyperventilating. The music he had been playing to focus had become a din against his own shock.

She was clad in a smooth metal armor, sporting scrapes and bruises across his face and arms, but he knew it was her. His Gardevoir regarded him with warm, sad eyes twinkling with welled up tears. “Voiiiiii.”

Moze regained his balance, or he thought he did. As soon as he took a step forward he almost tripped, as though he was acquiring sea legs on a boat. He pulled off his headphones and absentmindedly dropped them to the floor, where they conveniently landed on the Stop button.

He tapped at an earpiece that he had worn beneath the headphones, unsure if it would still reach Ratio from here. He would try anyway. “M-mission complete.”

And then he took that off as well, allowing it to drop as he walked closer to Prou. Prou’s shoulders slumped and she shied away, nervous. But she did not move back. Slackjawed, he opened his mouth to speak but words weren’t coming. They were taking too long to say.

His Gardevoir could empathically feel the bundle of tight emotions in his chest releasing in a steady stream, but it was just as obviously written on his face. Twisted grief becoming shocked relief, unbridled joy, the fear of being okay. He didn’t know what to do, and as he continued to try and talk, words dryly came out.

“I was supposed to come save you.”

Prou shook her head, unable to contain herself any longer as he pulled her trainer into a tight embrace. He was taller than she remembered. With his head on her shoulder, he hugged her back as he sobbed and apologized over and over.

Chateau Nostrad - Fourteen Years Ago

Activate the Catalyst.

An unspoken order. One felt by the person it belonged to. In a flash of light it would appear. He would appear, alongside his handler.

A green haired girl clad in a black dress, stocking, and shoes. Her eyes, grey emotionless orbs, settled on the approaching Ratio. If one looked at her closely they would see scars all along her body. Some with a surgical precision, others carved haphazardly.

And the Alakazam that stood between Nostrad and Ratio was at the ready. Always prepared, always intending to protect and to destroy. The hum of psionic energy was a show of power. Heightened to its maximum, even before their arrival, the psycho cuts blade sparked to life with psionic energy creating a pink blade that extended from the tip of Alakazam's spoons. Two blades. One, with an immense and telekinetically backed strength, would swing from the side to parry the blade sideways and completely offset Ratio.

The second would swing down, and If it hit and if Ratio's arms were knocked sideways it would start on the collar bone of his left arm, through the muscle of his raised lower forearm, down his chest - through the bone of ribs and his lungs, down past his waist - freeing his pokebelt - and finally finishing at the top of Ratio's thigh.

All of this would be a delaying tactic and, if Ratio was hit, his very next experience would be the blade of Jean's kusarigama aiming to hook into his right shoulder and yanking him back toward the bodyguard and away from Nostrad.

***

Helena stepped into her room completely and utterly exhausted. She had found each of her Pokemon, including Tyrant. As the teen stepped into her room it would be to the sight of an unfamiliar woman.

Brunette hair. Blue eyes. The woman had a knife in her hand in an instant, and one more instant later she had Helena pinned to the wall - knife to her throat.

"You were not supposd to be back yet," Emily said, looking equal parts terrified and annoyed.

Helena felt a wave of adrenaline course through her body and she'd bring her knee up, right into Emily's crotch.

"Arceus ********," Emily stumbled back and Helena would close the distance immediately to strike her across the face.

This only caused the brunette haired woman to take an additional step back before she brought her foot up and down into Helena's inner thigh as she approached, knocking the teen to the floor.

Emily wasted no time straddling Helena's hips and pinning her arms down with her knees. "Stop. Fighting!"

Helena didn't, instead she'd shoot her legs up to catch Emily's head between her feet and then she'd swing the woman to the ground and quickly scramble to climb on top of her. However, before she could lay down even a single blow a tentacle would wrap around her wrist.

Turning her head to see the uncloacking Tentacruel Helena would gasp as she was thrown across the room with a resounding crash. As she sank to the floor it would only time one more strike to the head from the beast to knock her unconscious.

Emily stood up, rubbing both her cheek and the back of her head. "Alright, I've decided. I'm killing Zack Redgrave first."

The Procession of Riviére Walk - Hours Ago

The earth quaked beneath the charge. A mass of noble trainers rushed through the gap in the crystal wall, pink shards of debris scattered like tombstones at its base. Elizabeth regarded Ratio's hand, outstretched for hers, then batted it away in disgust. The man who murdered her father presumed too much. She brought herself to her feet, and watched the incoming tide of noble pokémon, which flashed to life as balls flew across the limousine wasteland. The pokémon rushed ahead at speed, their trainers issuing a cacophonous rave of commands.

'Explain quickly,' Elizabeth said in sharp Kalosian, 'What are the other nobles planning?'
Ratio outstretched his arms and walked backwards as the low rumble caused surrounding debris to bounce. 'Perhaps another time is best. I will find you.'

'ZUUUUH' The rumbling, guttural growl echoed through the battlefield, sending a shiver down Elizabeth's spine. She couldn't discern its direction; it seemed to come from every direction. She caught Ratio's eye, and he moved.

Elizabeth had no time to shout for him to stop. Ratio leapt back onto the tip of a 12 foot crystal spike as a Hyper Beam gouged a semi-cylinder clean out of the earth where he stood. A distant Hydreigon screeched, falling behind the surging line of pokémon as it recharged.

'WAAAAM' Pale faces peeked out from nearby wreckage, and Elizabeth recognised them as the group of nobles she'd dismissed earlier. A family huddled together, exposed. A little girl crying in her father's arms, head buried under his own. She recognised them now; the father was Benoit Laffitte, a minor vintner from Anistar City. She traced her eyes from the Laffittes, to the sky above, and the hurtling projectile careening towards them. It blew up bright white, and exploded into flame, throwing Elizabeth backwards, her scream drowned by the thunder.

'No,' she gasped, scrambling to her feet. The flames curled into a smoking haze over the wreckage. They ebbed and cleared, first revealing the silhouette, then the full form of Ratio, standing tall against the blast with shield in hand. The Laffittes crawled from the wreckage beneath him, staring at the black-clad man in awe.

'PEERRT' A tank of sheet metal panels crashed into the earth, pulled back its arms and roared to the sky. Another Quillon. It swung its arms, grabbed a stretch limousine, and slung it at Ratio, following up by unhinging its maw to unload a blast of black water. Ratio swung his blade down vertical, casting forth a wave of energy that split the limo into halves that flew skyward behind him. He raised his shield to guard against the black water, and it lifted him from his feet, shooting backwards into the field of abandoned cars. The Quillon thumped its chest, pounded the ground and roared before chasing after him, its every movement married to a heavy thud.

Dardanius the Savage. Rumour had it that whatever process that allowed it to be a permanently evolved Mega Swampert had stripped it of complex thought, rendering it a mindless beast. Bertrand Balibar sent it into battlefields when he didn't care to take prisoners. Elizabeth's heart raced. More volleys of pokémon attacks pocked the battlefield. Elizabeth had to fight her way over to the Laffittes, dodging the indiscriminate assault of Fire Blasts, Ice Beams, Energy Balls as they sailed past and blew up the ground around her.

'Lady Elizabeth,' Benoit Laffitte gasped, soaked to the bone by Dardanius's Muddy Water, 'Please. My family.'
'Please help us.'
'Please, Lady Elizabeth.'
'You have to help us.'
'Eliza- Lady Elizabeth.'

'Stop, all of you,' Elizabeth said, pushing them away as they swarmed, but Benoit Laffitte snatched her by the hand. She paused at the desperation in his eyes, and buckled slightly as the ground gave way underfoot. Looking down, she saw that the previously solid earth was melting. It bubbled and broke apart before it sank into itself. Anywhere Dardanius's water touched turned to sinking mud. She looked back to the terrified family, to the little girl that could have been her twenty years ago. 'Follow me. Quickly, and stay together.'

---

Ratio plunged Ancile's blade into a crystal spike, and used it to swing a corner as Dardanius crashed past him. Powerful, dangerous, even before Balibar clad it in thick sheeted armour that eliminated its weaknesses. After fighting two Quillon already, he wasn't certain that Dardanius was an obstacle he could overcome alone. The beast roared and lunged, and Ratio leapt onto Ancile's shield, riding it into the sky like a hoverboard. Dardanius fell to the ground, built up its strength, and shot skyward after him. Ratio kicked off the shield, and aimed to meet the monster mid-air.

Ancile's blade sparked against Dardanius's armour, looking for weak points between the segments. Catching flesh, it bit deep and freed blood, enraging Dardanius further as it twisted around. The skyline was a blur now, Riviére Walk a toy town of cars entombed in a crystal dome. Ratio perched on Dardanius's back, put both hands on Ancile's hilt, then plunged the blade in deeper, digging around for a vital organ. The Mega Swampert was surprisingly quick in its response. Its reached behind itself with one bulky hand and grabbed Ratio around the torso. He grunted, but there was nothing he could do to avoid being yanked around to be put face to face with the stinking brute.

They landed atop a car, its sides bursting with glass before flattening under Dardanius's weight. Ratio's arms were pinned at his sides, but they might as well have been welded. He tapped his Aura link with Ancile, and attempted to summon the Aegislash's blade, but it was jammed in good and, though it strained, couldn't find a way out. Dardanius brought Ratio closer, its orange eyes staring back from the darkness of it armour-plate. In a moment, it could bite his head clean off, but it decided on something more cruel. Like a child playing with a fly, it gripped Ratio by the arm and pulled.

A normal man would have lost his mind to the pain. Blood flew wild as the arm went airborne, landing far away with a metal clunk. Dardanius's grip on Ratio's torso tightened, crushing his chest. He grit his teeth, scrunched his eyes and urged Ancile onwards. The blade vibrated, shimmering with the same destructive power it unleashed during its attacks, and shot through Dardanius. The Mega Swampert's chest bulged but for a moment before Ancile burst through, gouging a bloody path out and shattering the front of Dardanius's armour. Ratio caught it with his remaining hand, and it yanked him backwards, but not out of Dardanius's grasp. It had the wherewithal to keep its grip, but a moment later, Ancile's shield cracked against the base of its skull and weakened it just enough for Ratio to come free.

He rolled as he hit the floor, caught a leg underneath himself, and slid on his feet. Ancile's shield attached itself to Ratio's back while he held the blade at his side. He walked forwards slowly as sunlight shone through the crystal above, causing Ancile's blade to glow with solar power, bright like glass catching the sun. Dardanius seethed with rage, ripping off the remains of its chest plate as Ratio charged. He leapt forward, holding Ancile aloft as it burst with Solar Blade, bringing it down on Dardanius as the monster swung wildly with a Hammer Arm. The attacks met, and exploded on impact, shoving Dardanius's fist into the earth while causing Ancile to rebound away from its target.

Ratio landed on the Mega Swampert's shoulder, gripping his sword tight, then tapped another Aura link. Footpads thundered on the dry earth, twisting at lightning speed between cars before racing towards Dardanius and up its grounded arm. Ferox sank its three-inch teeth into the gaps of armour around Dardanius's neck as Ratio jumped into the air, and dragged the monster towards the ground. Not strong enough to completely floor it, Dardanius caught Ferox's momentum, dragging and wailing at the Arcanine's body with its fists.

As Ratio rose into the air, a shot whizzed past. Then another, and another. The noble pokémon were nearly there, almost in range to hit reliably. Even with all his skill and power, numbers were numbers. Ancile's shield unlatched itself from his back and he landed on it. Below, Ferox was getting pummelled while its maw burned with Psychic Fangs. Dardanius raised its hands, then brought them down. At the same time, the nearby river bubbled and drained, the earth below turning dark before rupturing like a geyser. Ratio swerved one of the water jets, and watched as it turned into a crashing wave that washed across the battlefield swamping Dardanius and Ferox from behind.

Battered and nearly broken, Ferox used one last trick; it yanked Dardanius forwards, placed its paws on the monster's gut and launched it before being consumed by the wave. The Reversal held enough power to send Dardanius crashing through a line of limousines, shattering more chunks of its armour. Ratio let go of Ancile's blade, which hung in the air, and shot a recall beam at the defeated Ferox before clipping its ball on his belt and taking his sword back to hand. Now there was a new problem; the battlefield had started to melt.

---

Elizabeth dragged the Laffitte family through the maze of cars, desperate. There couldn't be enough space between them and the onslaught of noble pokémon who were trying to apprehend Ratio. Did they not realise there were innocents trapped this side of the barrier? Or were they motivated by something other than noble duty? A part of her, ashamed to admit, understood being so single-minded that you didn't care who was caught in the crossfire. Her money, however, was on Bertrand Balibar threatening anyone who didn't comply with the assault.

As they travelled, Elizabeth heard new shouts and cries. There were more nobles, hiding amongst the cars, corralled around a single figure standing besides a white limousine. She was dressed in a black, somewhat too-frilly dress.

'My queen,' Elizabeth said, scraping to a halt. 'Arceus, you're trapped here too.'
'Elizabeth!' Queen Antoinette looked surprised but glad. 'Oh my god, you're still here! I don't have to figure this out on my own!'
'I'm afraid I won't be of help,' Elizabeth said. 'As I said, we're all trapped.'

There were probably two dozen nobles surrounding the pair. Anxious, to be expected, but looking increasingly fearful of the approaching wave of pokémon. It seemed some of them were starting to get restless, and the last thing Elizabeth wanted here was panic. She watched as the Laffittes collapsed to the ground, hugging one another, temporarily out of harm's way. To her surprise, she saw another face, one who she had once thought was friendly.

'My lady Elizabeth,' Cédric said when their eyes met. 'I'm pleased to see you safe.'

Elizabeth looked her attendant up and down. The last time she saw him, he wasn't him, but Ratio in disguise. She knew that Ratio had some power to see into people's souls, to temporarily merge them with his own, and when posing as Cédric, Ratio had told her one thing. Cédric was secretly a member of Team Flare, and had been spying on her since she met. She felt sick just to think of it.

'Safe is relative,' she replied, wishing to say nothing more. She turned her attention to Ratio, and his battle with Dardanius.

'He's the one who trapped us,' Elizabeth said, pointing Ratio out to Antoinette. 'I'm going to make him let us out.'
'Can you really do that?' asked the Queen.
'Yes, I can do anything,' Elizabeth said, gently placing her hand on Antoinette's shoulder and leaning in. She spoke in a hush, 'I won't be long. Everyone is looking to you for guidance, try to keep them calm.'
'Oh geez, this is a test isn't it? Tests are like my least favourite things to do under pressure.'

In the distance, river water surged skyward, then sloshed onto the ground, dying it a deep black. The initial geyser of water died down, but continued to empty the river onto Riviére Walk. Within seconds, inches of water overran the earth at their feet, and with each second another load pumped towards them.

'Get on top of the cars, right now,' Elizabeth commanded. The nobles were too busy panicking to listen, and Elizabeth had no patience for it. 'I said right now!'

She threw her pokéball to the ground, and it exploded in a brilliant white. Her Metagross stood in place of the light, thundering its front arms onto the ground. The spectacle was enough to elicit both shocked screams and compliance. Sure enough, within seconds, the soil beneath them began to dissolve. Elizabeth waded through the mud and, with Cédric's unwanted help, lifted Antoinette onto the hood of her white limousine, which was now stained with black.

'Hurry back!' shouted the Queen of Kalos as Elizabeth headed into battle, leaving behind the panicked screams of the nobility.

---

Ratio took another shot to the chest, and flew backwards. Ancile swooped, catching him with its shield then skirting between black cars to use them as cover. The noble pokémon had arrived, and the assault was punishing. Dozens of fliers, and even more grounded pokémon surrounded him, layering on thick barrages of attacks that took his utmost to avoid. He had to hold out, but how much longer that was possible, he did not know.

'ZUUUUH' Dardanius's low roar sounded across the battlefield. It was getting its second wind, stalking him as the others peppered their attacks. Was it really smart enough to let them tire him out before striking? Ratio was almost impressed. He soared directly upwards, trailed by a line of flying pokémon, then turned on a dime, skewered Ancile into the first three and caused the others to disperse.

He somersaulted backwards, landing in a three point crouch in a muddy clearing. To his surprise, he panted for breath, his Aura senses flaring as the noble pokémon drew in closer. As they neared, he sensed another power nearby. A powerful Aura.

The noble pokémon were hit with a white rupture of energy that scattered them in droves. Ratio heard another attack whistle towards them, and another batch of pokémon blew up. He wasn't often surprised, and didn't necessarily enjoy the sensation, but this was pleasant.

Elizabeth Leroux stood atop the armless head of a Metagross, flying at full speed towards the battle. Above her, its arms floated independently in a firing line, aimed at the masses of noble pokémon. She lifted her hand, and Ratio felt the wave of pokémon shudder in dread. Then she dropped it, signalling the bombardment. Each Metagross arm exploded from holes between their claws, issuing a volley of powerful blasts that scattered across the battlefield. What began as cannon fire evolved into a rapid sequence of strikes that rumbled across the landscape, lighting it up with blossoming explosions.

Their reprieve, however, was short-lived. Ratio felt more than sensed Dardanius on the move. From the light and dust of the bombardment, it launched itself towards Elizabeth. Ratio slung Ancile with his remaining might, catching the goliath, knocking it just enough off balance to career into the Metagross, rather than its trainer. Elizabeth was sent flying while the Metagross swerved for balance, and fell backwards into the deepest part of the mud, where it was only slightly thicker than liquid. She shot her hand up to latch onto something, anything, before sinking below its depths.

---

Ratio fought Dardanius with increasingly ragged breaths. Ancile was at its limit, first every other strike either parried or deflected, then the majority, and now every single blow was met with failure. Dardanius heaved for breath, its exposed flesh now dripping with blood but still active, taut strings of muscle visible through its skin. Ratio extended his Aura towards the spot where Elizabeth fell, searching for life, but he couldn't distract himself for long when battling the brute.

The Mega Swampert took a Solar Blade to the chest, backlit by explosions as Elizabeth's Metagross blasted any noble pokémon foolish enough to get close. Dardanius staggered, weakened by the blow. Ratio walked towards him, charging the blade for a final shot.

'Dardanius the Savage,' he said, holding Ancile towards the pokémon with his single arm, 'A fitting title for a mindless drone. It will do well when marking your grave.'

Something else moved nearby. Another Aura, fighting for its life. For a second, Ratio was distracted, and that second was all Dardanius needed. It lunged towards the assassin, not caring for its own wellbeing, only that it reached its target. Ratio raised his shield, but it shattered against the force of Dardanius's Take Down. Ratio was driven backwards into the dirt, and had to use Ancile's blade to steady himself. But, with the shield defeated, the blade fell silent, becoming little more than a heavy metal stick.

Dardanius pulled itself from the dirt, closing in on Ratio with thick footsteps. Charged with sudden speed, pinning Ratio in the mud with all its weight. 'ZUUUUH...'

A fist crunched against its skull, staggering it. Then another, another, another. It fell away from Ratio as the Golurk advanced, keeping Dardanius off guard. Elizabeth, head to toe covered in dirt, grabbed the assassin by the front of his armour, and dragged him to his feet.

'You're surprisingly light,' she said, grunting slightly as Ratio found his footing.
'Yes, I am missing one of my arms,' Ratio replied. 'You survived.'

Elizabeth's Golurk continued its assault, its torso rotating at the hips at a machine-like pace to deliver blow after blow. Dardanius's armour crumbled, its blood staining Golurk's fists as its chest became a dark blue mess of meat. It caught one of Golurk's punches, but another sent it flailing backwards into a news van. Golurk stood over it, battering away with a desperate volley, using up everything it had to put the Quillon down for good.

When it was over, the sentinel pokémon stood rigid, its joints hissing with steam. Dardanius was unconscious, dead, or soon to be, but remained motionless all the same.

'You need to destroy that crystal wall,' Elizabeth said, grabbing Ratio by his cloak.
'I cannot,' Ratio replied, 'Not yet.'

Elizabeth almost lost it, shoving Ratio up against a car, itching to grab him by the throat. 'Yes you can. Right this second.'
Ratio stared through her. In his tired state, even his Aura powers were sluggish, but then he realised why Elizabeth was so angry. 'Queen Antoinette is in danger.'

In that moment, Ratio's earpiece sparked to life. The signal was weak, but it was the message he had waited to hear, the cue to end this diversion and escape. Moze's voice. ['M-mission complete']

---

The crystal wall collapsed in shards, raining down heavy blocks of debris that feathered apart on descent. They broke and dissolved as they fell, and by the time they reached the ground they were nothing more than a thin haze of pink, sparkling dust.

Elizabeth and Ratio found the nobles where Elizabeth left them, the cars they used as life rafts half-sunk into the dirt, which had dried up considerably following Dardanius's defeat. Elizabeth looked through the group eagerly at first, then with worry, before finally her heart dropped in realisation.

'Where is Queen Antoinette?' she asked, eyes scanning the crowd of nobles. She turned to Ratio, who seemed pensive. Of course, with his powers, he probably already knew. So she turned her anger to him. 'Tell me where she is, Ratio!'
'She's gone,' said a mousy voice from the gaggle of nobles. It was Benoit Laffitte; a slight man with a pencil moustache. 'Lady Elizabeth, I am sorry. We couldn't- Queen Antoinette. She has been taken.'

[End of Act 1]

Lumiose City – South Boulevard

Around 10:30 AM, a loud whistle coming from Mia’s balcony window rang shrill into the sky. Moments later, the brown shell of a Torkoal flew through the air around the corner, coasting on jets of thin White Smoke. Salieri, fully clothed and freshly showered, leapt off the balcony to land on her ride and flew off down the street.

“Hey, girl,” Sal said tenderly, leaning down to pat Banky’s head, which was the only part of the old tortoise not retracted into her shell. Banksy snorted a plume of vaguely heart shaped smoke in return, and Sal stood back up in stable surfing position. She looked down at the streets of her city, and the people below looked up at her flying by. Some waved, some hollered her name. Being an upstart trainer and part time savior of Kalos brought recognition, which brought some fans.

Salieri wasn’t used to having fans over the age of 12. She found herself reflexively waving back at them out of courtesy. What am I doing? Matheson must be rubbing off on me. For years, she had tried hard not to care what people thought of her and her place in the world. Yet she couldn’t deny that it was nice having people look up at her instead of down on her for a change. It was something she could get used to.

Even so…

There was a void inside her, present since Arnaud was attacked six years ago, that gnawed at her with each passing day. People could cheer. Mia could preach. Adoration and love alone acted as a mere counterbalance. Even rescuing Prou from the clutches of Nicolette’s brainwashing didn’t shrink the void. Her family was still missing, or hurt.

The road to the championship was supposed to help her find what she was looking for, and that scope had expanded beyond family. It was about justice. Fairness.

Vengeance.

Salieri blinked away the thoughts of seeing red. There was no need to get angry at that time, it wasn’t even noon. She tried to do what Math had suggested, and turned that roiling into focus. Ramos was another obstacle. None of her Gym matches had been particularly easy, but she needed those badges. She hungered for them.

And as her stomach rumbled, she hungered for breakfast too.

Lumiose City – Centrico Plaza

One trip to a café later, and Sal had a picnic’s worth of food and drinks rolled out for herself and her Pokémon under a tree near the Prism Tower.

Biz Marquis and Reynard, having obliterated their shares as fast as possible, laid out on their backs in the sun with the itis. Salieri had spent the first week of the league honing techniques and teaching moves for a toolbox of versatility. The training agenda over the caesura had been far less of that. Instead, she had mostly focused on reevaluating their stats and training their effort values. It was tedious work that left her party exhausted, and so her Chesnaught and Vaporeon were especially rapacious when it came to getting their food.

Sal sat leaning against the side of Banksy’s shell, flanked by Durendal and Oberon. Over the caesura, her little Cleffa had evolved into a Clefairy. Oberon was still as quiet and observant as ever, and Sal noticed she only turned on the charm when she wanted something. Sal had spent a great deal of time catching the former baby Pokémon up to the team, and though she still had a bit to go, Sal felt like Oberon was hiding her real potential.

“It’s good?” Sal asked Dune, who was using his hands to cut a croissant egg sandwich in half. True to his nature, Dune never complained or fell behind when it came to training. When it came to the caesura’s parties, however, he was usually in a corner acting shy. Sal tried to get him involved, but she could still tell her Pawniard was scared he’d hurt someone if he let loose and danced even a little.

Dune nodded and munched. Despite being all business these days, he was still there for her when she needed it. He even held her hair back the night before during her five minute vomit stream, without accidentally cutting any off. Sal didn’t have many constants in her life, but for the past six months, Dune had been one of the best ones she had.

She looked fondly up at the Prism Tower. At its base was the Lumiose City Gym. She was saving that challenge for a later time, despite being so close to home. She wanted to prove herself around the country first.

“Salieri Soledad?”

Sal looked up from her late breakfast and saw a man in a purple suit and long brown coat standing a few feet away. A Pikachu wearing a deerstalker cap stood at his side, nursing a thermos of what Sal presumed to be coffee and regarding her with a narrow, suspicious gaze. She could only imagine that the man was giving her the same look from behind his sunglasses.

This guy was a cop.

“I don’t know what anyone told you,” Sal started, getting up and brushing the crumbs off her lap. “But I paid for all this.”
“I’m-“
“And these were free,” Sal continued, reaching into her pockets. She pulled out two fistfuls of ketchup packets. “No limit on these. So what do you want from me?”
“The ketchup packets…why so many?”
“I’m the one asking the questions here!” Sal’s voice rose, and Dune tugged on her pants leg as a reminder that she was probably talking to a cop. “Uh, except for your first question. I’m Salieri, who wants to know?”

The man took off his sunglasses, revealing a tired set of eyes as he reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out a badge with an emblem Salieri didn’t quite recognize. “I’m with the International Police. Looker, that is my code name. This Pikachu is my partner.”

This guy was a mega cop. After the Fishbone incident, Interpol had intervened and took the investigation of the crime scene away from the nobility. Apparently, they had been off coast and tracking the movements of the Fishbone for quite some time, according to the dossier Juliet had given Sal. Since that day, Interpol had been a light presence in Kalos, and their reach had spread beyond Shalour City.

Her mind flashed back to her attempting to rob the Parfum Palace, trespassing at the Battle Chateau, spray painting Faust’s eyeballs, tagging several locations with Moze’s signature graffiti, assaulting Math’s noble friend, destroying property in several locations, actually pickpocketing that sandwich for Dune out of habit, and general debauchery. These were recent offenses.

Sal gulped. She said nothing in response. “You’re not going to explain the ketchup?”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, not with me. I’m here to ask you a few questions.”
Tension turned to apprehension and curiosity. Sal folded her arms. “About what?”
“This question, I do hate to ask. Can you explain the circumstances behind your brother’s disappearance for me?”

A horrible shiver ran through Salieri’s being. She was caught off guard, and it showed on her face. “He dropped out of the League five years ago. I…haven’t seen him since.”
“My condolences. His behavior, was it out of the ordinary during the league? Or after?”

After being systematically stripped of his badges and Pokémon by Nicolette Nostrad’s squadron of Darkhorse Hunters, Moze had returned to Lumiose City a shell of his former, incredible self. Sal could recall his Potion addiction and the fight that led to her face getting scarred as clear as day. It was the last memory she had of her brother.

“He was upset. Anyone would be.”
“Where are his Pokémon?”
Sal fingernails dug into her skin. “I don’t know,” she said through grit teeth. “That Torkoal is the last one left.”
“Did he tell you anything that might have caused him to drop out of the League? Anything at all?”
“Why are you asking me this?” Sal was growing hot with emotion. The void gnawed again.

The Pikachu threw his thermos to the ground dramatically and pointed at Salieri. “Cut to the chase, kid! Trainers are going missing in the Kalos League every year! What do you know!?”

Salieri gave the Pikachu a long blank stare, as did her Pokémon. Biz Marquis propped himself up on his elbows long enough to drop his jaw.

“…you’re not here to investigate the Fishbone, are you? You’re in Kalos to investigate the nobility.”

The Pikachu blinked, startled. “H-hey! How’d you know I could talk?”
“What? I didn’t.”
“But…that reaction…”
“I had a talking Lucario once. You’re not that weird.”
The Pikachu looked aghast, and Salieri sighed. She placed her palms on her cheeks with little enthusiasm. “Oh my god. A talking Pokémon. How could it be. My heart, my heart.”
“I don’t need your pity, lady!” The Pikachu picked up his thermos, and threw it down again just as dramatically. “This is an investigation!”
Looker cleared his throat. “I told you we weren’t doing good cop bad cop, Detective.”
“This ain’t routine!” Detective jumped onto a nearby birdbath so he could be closer to eye level with Salieri. When he pointed at her this time, sparks flew from his red cheeks. “I just don’t like the cut of her jib.”
Sal grit her teeth. “Eat my boogers, dude.”
“YOU EAT MY BOOGERS!”

Looker interceded himself between the two. “Detective, remain professional! Salieri Soledad, I cannot say much now, but that assumption is correct. Our purpose here is to investigate the shadows of your country.”

Salieri looked around. No one had stopped to listen in, or at least it didn’t look like it. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because from our understanding, you have been investigating the same thing on your own. As a vigilante.”
“Citizen.”
“In this case, you are regarded as both. And we would like to cooperate with you and a few others. Our reach is limited and we do not know Kalos as well as her people do. And due to circumstances, we cannot ask the nobility or the police under their service for help. Which leads us here.”

A knot was forming in Salieri’s stomach, and it wasn’t the hangover rearing its ugly head. “And if I say no?”
Looker gulped, looking slightly ashamed. “…we have records of everyone who served on the Fishbone…”

Now it was Salieri who dropped her jaw. So it was blackmail. They were going to hold her crimes over her head to get her to cooperate. “You can’t be serious.”
“We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t serious.”
She spat on the ground, as close to his boots as she could. “So what now?”

Looker took a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Sal. She snatched it angrily and read his information. “We’re setting up a temporary base. Once we’re done gathering resources, our investigation will be fully underway. But we do not have time to delay. The nobility want us out, and we can’t let them know why we’re really here.”
“So call us when you’re ready to tell us more.” Detective nodded at the card.
“…you’re just letting me go?”
“We’re not in the business of taking prisoners,” Detective said pointedly. “Besides, we’ll know where to find you. No matter what.”
“Consider this an introductory courtesy,” Looker told her, softening his tone. “We just want to help.”

Sal stuffed the card into her pocket. “Pack up!” she roared at her team. “Time to move!”

Her Pokémon, confused by this encounter and completely whipped by her tone, got to work throwing out the garbage and cleaning up their picnic. “If you really wanted to help, you would’ve been here years ago.”
Looker closed his eyes and bowed his head. “It’s a shame on my record as an Interpol officer that I could not come sooner. I’m sorry about your brother.”
“We’re here to rectify the situation, lady.” Detective puffed up his chest proudly.

Salieri had been in and out of the drunk tank in Lumiose City enough times to recognize the traits of cops. Looker was earnest, and it sounded like he had genuine regret. Pokémon personalities were usually simpler to comprehend, and it seemed like Detective was the real deal as well. She didn’t hate them on reflex, like she did with nearly all cops. But she didn’t trust them either.

“You’ll be in touch, I’m sure.” When her Pokémon finished tidying up the lawn, she returned them all except for Banksy, and hopped onto the turtle’s back. “Until then, don’t get in my way.”
“That’s a bold thing to say to Interpol officers, lady!” Detective growled at her.
“You’re a rat in cosplay.”

The rush of Banksy’s White Jet drowned out the noise around her, and Salieri took off into the skies in the direction of Coumarine City. Detective let loose a small spark of electricity from his cheeks and screamed into the sky. “I’M A MOUSE, DAMMIT!”

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

High in the sky, Salieri screamed and cursed freely, where no one but Banksy was listening. It didn't matter how kind Looker tried to be. She was, essentially, beholden to Interpol now. Thoughts of escape ran through her head. If she refused to work with them, and they did go through with the blackmail, she could maybe get off with a light tap for past transgressions since she was a minor. But that was a big maybe, and that case could tie her down for months. She'd miss the league and have no autonomy.

And now they would be watching her? Watching her how? Was it an empty threat? Sal shook her head. They had found her in the plaza, after all. They were Interpol. International. Everywhere.

She wondered what could come from her working with Interpol. How long would they blackmail her for? Could she use them, before they used her? If they found nothing, would it make it harder for her to go after the nobles on her own?

It was too many questions, and she had zero answers. All she knew was that Looker mentioned 'others'. No doubt her friends, new and old. Salieri lifted up her wrist and checked her contact list. She'd give them the heads up before Looker and the Detective found them, assuming they hadn't already.

First up was Zack. The Redgrave siblings weren't citizens of Kalos. If it came down to it, she had no doubt Interpol would threaten them with deportation. So she dialed his number and hoped he'd pick up.

Lumiose City

The last three days had been full of two things. Training to face the coming traumas and trials, and partying to forget the ones that she had already endured. Her phone was full of unread emails, some from sponsors, some spam, some from her mother. There were missed texts, missed phone calls. A pletheora of notifications that Helena had a habit of simply swiping away.

As the teen opened her eyes to be greeted by the dark pre-morning sky, it was with a certain closeness and warmth - and a far too familiar and sweet smell. Henrietta's pink hair close to her face as the other teens head rested on her shoulder. Her soft expression and tiny breaths enough to make the Redgrave teen regret having to wake up. As she shifted to try and pull herself from underneath the Unovan girl, Henrietta would stir and drape one arm over her, hand clinging to the frabric of her t-shirt.

"no," Henrietta squeaked defiantly.

"It's time for my morning jog," Helena whispered and Henrietta pouted - both physically and audibly.

"no."

Helena looked over to see a darker skinned woman approaching, still dressed in the shorts and tank top she wore to bed. "yes," Azucena said as she gripped Henrietta's sides causing the girl to squeal and shoot up into a sitting position.

"heythatsnotfai" Azuena placed the tip of her index finger on Henrietta's lips and she went immediately quietly. "Coffee is on and Bridgette is already watching tv. I'm just gonna get changed and deal with this," she pointed to her bed head with both hands "and I'll be ready to go."

Henrietta, still pouting, turned her attention from Azucena to Helena. "can I go in after you?"

Helena, already getting up to for the bathroom, smiled at the exhausted looking girl. "yeah."

Without another word Henrietta flopped back onto the bed to get a few more minutes of sleep.

***

It didn't take long for the four of them to start the morning jog. The least reluctant of all of them had insisted on going in her Drifloon onsie and Helena could barely keep herself from laughing as she watched Bridgette run, each of the yellow hearts of the hoods dangly decorations held in one of her hands.

Alongside the four women were their Pokemon, the street toward the cafe completely empty this early in the morning. At first Helena hadn't thought she could jog quite so much but after her three days of training it had become a lot easier - notably because she had learned to pace herself.

This had become Helena's morning routine, except that after her morning jog at the usual cafe the four of them would find themselves at after a few miles she would head to Gurkinn's for her daily training regime with Salieri.

Instead they sat down for breakfast today to plan out a day the four of them would be spending together. The league was back in business which meant no partying - all competition.

"Hey everyone," Azucena spoke into her phone that livestreamed her beauty in the light of the rising sun, "it's your girl Azzy bringing you todays agenda with my babes," she panned the camera over so that Helena, Henrietta, and Bridgette were all caught in the cameras view. Helena made note of how many emoticons were pouring in from her users.

"Say heeyyyy," Helena snorted and Henrietta, beat red, hid her face behind both her hands and her hair. Only Bridgette loudly shouted "heyyyyy" and waved at the camera.

"As you know," Azucena started as she brought the camera back around to face herself, photogenic and enthusiastic, "the gym challenge is back on. That means more updates throughout the day about my girls and how they're doing and don't you worry everyone, we still plan to bring you the sweetest tunes live to all the best parties in Kalos." She panned again, this time to K-Rok who was flanked by a Seismitoad that had joined her band. Sound vibrated from the spots along her body, producing an almost dubstep like sound that had been Azucena's entire motivation behind bringing him into her group.

"So keep a lookout, tell your friends, and I'll let you know where we'll be tonight." She'd smile, wink, and end the livestream.

Then the charming air all but faded from her a second later as she set down her phone. "what are we doing today, anyways?"

Helena set her menu down as Bridgette waved enthusiastically to try and catch the waitresses attention. "I have a re-match with Korrina. I scheduled it at midnight so it'll be first thing this morning in," she checked her own phone, sliding the new notification windows aside, "eighty minutes?"

"Ettsy?" Azucena turned her attention to the pink haired girl to her left.

"Oh, I was uhm.. kind of wondering if we could all just do Helena's match today. That way we would all be caught up with each other."

"No," Bridgette shouted, poutiness bleeding into her voice as she frowned, "I wanna beat up like all five gym leaders today."

"H-hum."

Azucena watched Henrietta deflate and a mischievous smile played across her lips as she pinked Henrietta side causing the woman to squeal loudly. The waitress would look over at their table to see Bridgette waving as Helena snorted again and Azucena laughed softly.

"How about this, we do Helena's match, then Bridgette, then you cause you're nervous - and so cute when you are - and then if there's time we do Helena again and we'll all be caught up. Yeah?"

"Yes!" Bridgette shouted loudly, both of her arms shooting up into the air.

"I'm good with that," Helena would say as she opened her phone to finally look through her text messages. It was all childhood friends telling her that they had seen her on tv. Nothing from Grant.

Nothing from Zack.

"Ettsy?"

"Y-yes."

"Great." Azucena would look to the approaching waitress. "Hey."

***

When the four of them returned to the hotel, this time with a quick teleport, it was to create a scene of sudden and flowing productivity. Helena would witness almost none of it.

"Hel," Azucena said, pulling her aside and kissing her cheek. "good luck. You're up first, we'll catch up as we get ready to cheer you on but bonus points if you beat Korrina first."

Helena smiled, the sensation of Azucena's soft lips lingering on her cheek. "I'm taking that as a challenge."

"You better." Azucena winked and then stepped aside. "Bridgette, big girl clothes."

"Name one thing about this that isn't big girl." Bridgette was still in her onsie.

***

Shalour City Gym

By 8:30am Helena stood before the opening doors of the gym. The app she had used didn't gaurantee her a spot at the front of the line, but so long as nobody was present to challenge the young woman to a match her spot was basically sacred. The league challenge had died down a lot compared to the first day, and even the first week, as trainers left for home or stopped to enjoy Kalos and the competition itself. It wasn't difficult to just battle enough and make enough money to keep yourself afloat so some trainers did that. Helena had learned that a lot of people came to Kalos specifically for the four weeks of partying.

Helena made her way through the gym, the railing and battle gimmick something the return challenger made short work of. Her target today was Korrina and Helena had worked hard to make it back to this point.

So as she stepped onto the platform for their combat, it was dressed in running shoes, yoga pants, and a loose t-shirt over a sports bra - hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Looking across to the gym leader, she'd smile.

I'm ready.

"Did Interpol approach you about anything not pirate related?" Salieri asked Zack, speaking loudly into her Pokégear. Partially to overcome the noise of the wind whooshing around her and Banksy mid flight, and partially because she was still angry.

"Cause they talked to me this morning, about Darkhorse Hunters. Pretty sure they're looking for you too."