Welcome to Gaia! ::

Helena tightened her lips as she looked at Zack. "Apology accepted," she said after a moment and she took his hand and pulled herself up.

"We should try and get a good spot." Like a spot where she wouldn't have to stand around. Maybe on top of a building.

"Like on a roof."

Lumiose City – Gotengo

“She wants something she can fight to,” Youngster Carter told the DJ, Youngster Anais. Anais took off her headphones and tapped her lips.

“Something she can fight to…” Anais sifted through a box of vinyl records. What does that evenmean? But I still wanna dance, though…aha!

She flipped a record out of the box and onto the turntable. Anais gave Carter a thumbs up and he went back outside to the porch where most of the party were gathered to watch the tagging challenge.

The sun was down and the courtyard was dark. On Carter’s order, a Pansear used Embers to light the tiki torches that were set up around the courtyard’s perimeter, and the arena was partially illuminated. Salieri was half cast in shadow across the perimeter from Banksy, the coals in her shell glowing a warm orange.

In the crow’s nest, Mia leaned at its edge to survey below with Bass the Noibat perched atop her curly hair. As one of the oldest Gotengo-goer’s, she had vivid memories of the seeing Banksy in action. The thought of watching it again made her nostalgic.

Salieri tapped the pokedex in her armband, and it whirred to life. “Beep boop that’s a big ol’ Torkoal right there. Level 4…no, level 64…. beep boop eye level…sea level…level with me for a seco-”

And she tapped it again to turn it off. Ivan was useless as always. Salieri estimated Banksy’s level to be around 60, based on when Moze stopped training her. The three of her pokemon combined wouldn’t equal that much.

Mia watched as Salieri released her three pokemon and huddled up. From the crow’s nest, she could see Salieri give each one their strategies. Durendal stood arms crossed and focused. Biz puffed up his chest and pointed at himself proudly until Veillantif stated sucking on his helmet. Sal slapped her off of him, gave them one more order, and broke the huddle.

Now with her eyes off of her opponent, the focused Salieri pointed at the treehouse and snapped her fingers. “Hit it.”

Inside the big shack, Anais nodded and scratched the record. “Whikiwhikiwhaaaa,” she beatboxed before allowing the song to play.

As the drums rolled, Salieri paced slowly around Banksy. Her pokemon did the same in the opposite direction. A white smoke fumed from the turtle around the ground like a mist. Sal took a can of spray paint out of her belt bag and shook it up.

She pointed to Veil. “Get a move on.” The beat dropped.

Veillantif, the one at the farthest range, fired an Octazooka at Bansky. The turtle’s response was an Ember that collided with the ink blob midair, creating a steam-laden explosion. The force careened the small, airborne Horsea backwards towards the courtyard wall.

Sal clicked her heels, activating her roller blades, and sped up to catch her Horsea. She span around, grabbed Veil by the tail, and threw her back into the fray. Just an Ember attack? Banksy doesn’t need to use her full power to fight us at all. But if they can keep her distracted, I’ll have time to tag!

Durendal and Biz Marquis were already throwing out attacks as well. Biz slung a Vine Whip at Banksy’s head while Dune readied a Psycho Cutter. Banksy tilted her head back to dodge the whip, caught it in her teeth, and used Rapid Spin to swing Biz by the vine into Dune before the Pawniard could let loose the telekinetic blade.

Keeping his cool with Inner Focus, Dune shifted his attack at the last second, sending the telekinetic blade to cut the vine instead of Banksy. Biz was let loose early, flying over Dune and landing safely farther away. The Chespin growled at his folly, Defense Curled, and started to Rollout towards the courtyard entrance.

As soon as she stopped spinning Banksy set her sights on Biz Marquis until Salieri jumped on her back, spray paint ready. The trainer clung onto a groove on the shell with one hand while tagging with the other, a move that was met with claps from the audience. In one deep breath, the Torkoal expelled a burst of steam forcefully from her shell.

So hot! The heat was too much for Salieri to bear, so she jumped off and away mid-tag. The steam continued to expand outwards, enveloping them all in a thick cloud. Salieri could make Banksy out in the smoke by the glow of her shell. She coasted quietly on her skates around towards Banksy’s other side.

From outside the cloud, Veillantif could also make out Banksy. The Horsa Bounced high into the air by her spring tail and fired an Octazooka down at the turtle. The in blob entered the cloud, and without looking up Banksy shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Mia watch Veillantif land near the porch and rose an eyebrow. Banksy was well trained, but she shouldn’t have been able to detect the incoming attack from inside the cloud. Unless…

Durendal snuck up behind Banksy, ready to strike. From the crow’s nest, Mia saw Banksy tense up as Durendal approached from behind. But it was impossible for Banksy to see Dune at that angle.

She looked to Bass, recalling how Noibats made their way through dark caves with ultrasonic frequencies, and an epiphany flashed in her mind. Banksy can sense them through the smoke…hmmm, I could warn Sal but...nah, she likes to get things on her own.

Both Salieri and Dune must have realized this as well since they stopped in their tracks. Banksy revolved around to face Dune and with a mighty exhale, she spit out a Flame Burst.

“Fleché!” Salieri roared to Dune, who had already activated the technique. In an instant, the Pawniard dashed under the Flame Burst with speed too fast for the eye to fully follow, leaving behind a trail of red electrical sparks as the Flame Burst hit the ground. The explosion knocked the nearby Veillantif and Sal to the floor.

Banksy saw Durendal standing a few feet away out the corner of her eyes. “Fleché is Durendal’s secret technique,” Sal explained to the Torkoal as she stood up and dusted herself off. “It gives him superspeed. You would’ve known he could do that, if you ever got out of the house, stupid turtle.”

The Torkoal fell for Sal’s taunt, failing to notice that Biz Marquis was using Rollout in very tight circles near the courtyard entrance to build up power this whole time. “And you can sense what moves through your White Smoke, right? Like echolocation. I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about each other’s styles. For example-“

Biz turned and rocketed at Banksy like a cannonball with a full power Rollout. “-did you know Rollout’s power is doubled if you Defense Curl first?”

The White Smoke cloud was sucked back into Banksy’s shell without a trace of existence. She retracted her limbs inside, and smokey flames spurted out from the shell’s holes like a rocket launch. Banksy flew up in the air, and Biz rolled right under her, missing entirely.

The Chespin uncurled and skidded to a stop with the help of Sal, who caught him after he cancelled his attack. s**t, Banksy’s level is too high! That was our best chance to deal damage! Still hovering in the air, Banksy fired a Flame Burst at the two of them.

With Fleché, Durendal tackled Salieri and Biz out of the way. The Flame Burst exploded between the three, minimizing the damage but knocking them all down. Sal watched as the spray paint flew out of her hand. “The paint!”

Banksy’s smoke burst intensified and she flew at the can. Her movement with the White Jet technique was dependent on her Special Attack rather than her Speed, so her sudden acceleration through the air was met with much awe from the spectators. Mouth wide open, she chomped at the spray paint can-

-only for Veil to shoot at it first with a Bubble, forcing it slightly higher in the air. Using a shortened Rapid Spin, Banksy pulled a U-Turn with a Flying Type’s precision and went for a second try at getting the paint.

Biz shot a Vine Whip up at the can, catching it and yanking it down. But with a quick Ember, Banksy burned right through the vine, and the can clanked to the ground.

Durendal Fleché’d his way to the can, becoming a supersonic red blur, but just as he was about to grab it Banksy’s foot landed on top of his hand, pinning him to the ground. She opened her mouth wide, preparing to end the scuffle and the spray paint with one Flame Burst.

Salieri was already skating forwards, jumping over Veil and Biz to get to her Pawniard. She grabbed Dune and swung him away right before the Fire attack hit.

Mia narrowed her eyes, her chill demeanor becoming more serious. Sal had been knocked down by Flame Burst’s explosion twice so far and showed impressive endurance, but that had cut it way too close. If Salieri took a Flame Burst head on, she wouldn’t just lose Banksy’s challenge. She’d be too injured to start the league tomorrow.

BOOM! The little explosion was mixed with the fleeting red mist from the broken can. Banksy sighed and looked to Sal, waiting for the trainer’s surrender. After all, without the spray paint, she couldn’t make the tag. It was over. The trainer had given a valiant effort, but hadn’t earned her respect.

But Sal wasn’t there. She had circled back towards her Horsea, meeting the pokemon halfway. Holding onto Veillantif as if the Horsea was a pistol, she fired a thin red Octazooka at Banksy’s shell.

For the first time in the battle, she hit her mark. The tiny red ink blob fit in perfectly with the partially finished sun emblem. The tag was halfway finished.

Sal grinned tenaciously. “Quit underestimating me! I’m not gonna stop until that tag is finished or you knock me out!”

((Part 2 of 2 is up next))

Lumiose City – Gotengo

Mentally, Mia recapped the encounter between Team Salieri and Banksy. The goal was to reapply Moze’s sun tag to the Torkoal’s shell. The sun aspect was complete, but the tricky part, the face inside, had yet to be started. Banksy hadn’t taken any damage during the challenge, but Sal’s team wasn’t holding up as easily. Stray fire attacks had struck all of them at one point or the other, especially Salieri. She was covered in scratches and small burns, and hit her head badly enough that she was wincing with one eye, which made her look a little crazy. She was quite the durable human being, but even she had limits.

“Hey,” Mia called down to Sal as she opened her second beer, “You wanna give it a rest?”

Everyone -Salieri, her teammates, Banksy, the spectators- all looked up as Mia took a long sip. “If you use Veillantif to tag, your offense is cut. Durendal and Biz Marquis are weak to Fire. You’d have to finish the hardest part of the tag with that handicap. Besides, Banksy’s at too high of a level to obey you anyway. I don’t-“

She paused. Telling Salieri the hard truth was always difficult because the delinquent girl was so stubborn, but somebody had to do it. She can always try again. Mia adjusted her glasses. “I don’t think you can win anymore. You were on the wrong end of two explosions within a minute. And don’t get me started on your aim-“

The beer can burst out of her hand, struck by an Octazooka. Salieri lowered Veil, who had a light black mist pouring out of his mouth like the barrel of a smoking gun. “My aim is just fine. Wanna see what else you’re wrong about?”

Mia frowned, picked up her half spilled beer, and shut up. From inside the treehouse, Youngster DJ Anais scratched the record and started the interrupted song up again.

Salieri focused back on Banksy, with Dune and Biz flanking her. “Ready?” The Torkoal nodded. “Then it’s your move.”

Not missing a beat, Banksy fired a Flame Burst at the foursome. Sal, still holding Veil like a hand cannon, split away with her rollerblades. Dune swung his arm, launching a pink blade of telekinetic energy. The Psycho Cutter blew the Flame Burst apart from a distance.

Biz Defense Curled and entered Rollout, spinning directly at Banksy. From the Torkoal’s other side, Salieri aimed Veil and shot another thin red Octazooka at the tag.

Retracting into her shell, Banksy used Rapid Spin low to the ground to both sidestep the Rollout and dodge underneath the Octazooka. When she poked her head out, Durendal was in her face ready to swipe with an Aerial Ace.

In order to prove its futility, Banksy took the attack head on. Literally. Dune’s bladed hands barely scratched the skin on her skull. The mighty defense of the Torkoal dwarfed his current attack power, but he was undettered. Valiantly, Dune jumped up with another Psycho Cutter, ready to chop at the same spot.

Banksy pushed herself backwards with a spurt of steam to dodge the slice, and fired a quick Ember at the Pawniard. Durendal dodged to the side with Fleché, leaving red sparks crackling all over his armor and in his wake. She fired another Ember, and another, and another. He continued to dodge the rapid-fire fire, his reflexes keeping up just fine with the miniature flame spurts.

Suddenly, he dashed away entirely, and it didn’t even take a moment for Banksy to realize why: Biz was coming around again with another Rollout. This time, Banksy opted to counter with a Flame Burst.

From her position skating around the perimeter, Sal saw the Torkoal charging up the explosion, and acted first. With a nimble spin, Sal pointed Veil at the Chespin and fired a Bubble. “Get up, Biz!”

Biz bounced up and the Bubble popped underneath him, propelling him above the Flame Burst that blew up into the ground behind him. He landed at Banksy’s side, and rolled away.

Banksy noted that Biz didn’t build up as much speed as usual, but before she could take advantage of it Salieri was shooting another Octazooka with Veil as Durendal was firing another Psycho Cutter. She let loose a Fire Spin around her body, which blocked the collisions on both sides with explosions.

With the Fire Spin cancelled, Banksy emitted her White Smoke once more, clouding the center of the arena and Salieri’s vision. This time, Salieri grinned with triumph and skated towards the treehouse. At this rate, I can’t touch her if she expands her White Smoke. But she can’t use it if she’s using White Jet! I’ll force you into the air, Banksy!

The Torkoal slowly turned as Biz Marquis rolled in a wide circle around the edge of her smoke, waiting to move in. Suddenly he turned, and charged up his spin for a powerful acceleration. The moment he let loose, she would know where to strike.

Salieri clicked off her skates when she got to the porch and ran up a post to get to its roof. Some of the braver children left the safety of the porch to get a better looking angle. “Dune, clear it away!”

Durendal favored using Fleché in short bursts. Prolonged use put a tax on his body, and because his Inner Focus was the catalyst, if he was struck while using the technique he would feel immense pain. He knew using it to clear the smoke would put him at risk, but if this would finish the battle then he would do it for his trainer.

Becoming a steel projectile, he used Fleché to run in a tight circle around the smoke, holding out a Psycho Cutter blade in the process. He sliced right through the cloud, momentarily dispersing it in an instant.

Salieri hadn’t stopped running, vaulting up the rail of the staircase to get to the top branches. She saw Dune fall to one knee, cramping up in wake of using Fleché for so long. Thanks buddy, we needed that.

And Mia saw Sal seeing Dune. “She’s lost it,” Mia muttered in mild amusement to her Noibat, smirking with defeat until she narrowed her eyes at tiny specks on the ground. “Huh.”

In the next instant, the smoke cloud started reforming. But that time was all Biz needed to charge forward. Banksy had no choice but to fly up. She retracted her limbs into her shell and her White Smoke disappeared, reappearing in a pressurized burst from her shell. She flew up, and looked down in surprise that the Chespin had faked his sudden speed. Her eyebrows rose when she realized why.

Thorny green caltrops were scattered all over ground of the courtyard. “That’s three layers of Spikes, and they’re no ordinary Spikes either!” Salieri shouted from her precarious perch atop the roof of a small shack on the edge of an outstretched branch, just above where Banksy floated. “A Chespin’s quills are strong enough to pierce rock! Even you would take a dent from those!”

If you weren’t so distracted with not getting tagged, you would’ve noticed Biz slowed his Rollout so he could set up the Spikes. And you must’ve thought they were just debris if you felt them in your White Smoke. You could have spun them away, but you’re rusty, and you underestimated us! Have I proved myself yet, you shut-in?

She pounced from the branch onto the hovering Banksy, earning a wave of “Oooh’s” from the audience. Once again holding onto Banksy with one hand and tagging with Veillantif in the other, Salieri went to work on the sun emblem. “This time it’s over, stupid turtle!”

A sudden whistling sound from above distracted Mia from the challenge. TK came down hot, diving at such a pace that it was impossible not to notice. The entire scene went on pause as all eyes went to Takamaru. Sal and Mia broke free of this phenomenon to look at each other.

In a series of expressions, they had a full unspoken conversation. Do you know that guy? Nah, do you you? Not at all. Well then who the ******** is he?

“Who the <********> are you?” they shouted at TK in unison.

It was an interesting interruption. But being the one with a girl and her Horsea spraying graffiti on her back while she flew in the air, Banksy had other priorities. One Rapid Spin was all it took to knock the unfocused Sal from the turtle shell right before the tag was finished.

“Merde!” she raged as she fell down. The delinquent whirled through the air and before she could land, Biz threw out a Vine Whip to pull her to a tiny Spike free patch. That was my chance!

Banksy couldn’t land safely with all those Spikes, but she could fly for quite a while. With her head half tucked in, she resembled a floating fortress firing its cannon as she launched a few Flame Bursts at the ground.

With great dexterity Salieri clicked her heels and skated away from the bursts, gritting her teeth. She squeezed Veil tightly in absentminded frustration, causing the dopey Horsea to squeak. She’s too high up now! DAMNIT! I had it! I just needed to finish the smile! I can’t lose here! At Gotengo, twice in one day, for such stupid reasons! Who the ******** even is this connard-

An epiphany changed her mental and physical direction as she beelined towards TK. “Hey!” she yelled at him, pointing to the silver haired trainer. His hair was a silver as brilliant as the prosthetic hand of King Nuada, with a sheen that would make Charlie jealous. “You have to take me up there! Right now!”

The kids in and around the treehouse murmured amongst themselves. Up until now, they had been mostly reverent of the challenge, save for the occasional cheers and hollering of encouragements or trashtalk for either side. Newcomers usually didn't gather much attention. This scenario was a major exception. He also stuck out like a Pancham at a Teddiursa party.

He wants to draw me? The Pawniard blushed slightly at the idea, flattered that someone thought he was interesting. Unfortunately, he still needed a moment to stand after a prolonged Fleché, so he was stuck balancing on one knee. This pose is embarrassing...

Mia slumped back as events played out, dully exasperated. This ‘Taka’ was clearly an out-of-towner, and a foreigner too from the sound of his accent. He seemed harmless enough as well. “So why is he here?” she muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair. Silver hair…you don’t see that every day.

Still hovering in place, Banksy decided to allow Salieri the time to converse with the newcomer. It seemed wrong to continue the challenge while they spoke since he had been a surprise factor.

If he didn’t stop her, Salieri would grab TK by the neck of his shirt and yank him back for two reasons. The first was so he didn’t step into the many layers of Spikes that littered the field. The second was so she could spin him around to grab him by the collar with one hand and yell in his face. Either way, she would still yell at him.

“I have to finish tagging that Torkoal to win this match, and you made me miss my chance!” She gestured up at Banksy with her Horsea holding hand. The turtle was too high up for her to jump on from the treehouse, and trying to board using Biz’s Vine Whips was too risky. Salieri leaned a little closer, her eyes became intense, and she quietly growled, “Now you have to make it up to me.”

I already lost here today, I’m not losing here twice! Not when I’m so close!

The bandanna girl would let go of TK if she still had his collar. She took a step back and pointed to Shuriken. “Fly me up to that turtle so I can get back on and finish what I started.”

Veillantif hung at her side, finding all of this very amusing. Then she giggled, tickled by Sal’s shifting trigger finger. “Or I won’t forgive you. And I’ll have to finish what you started.”

Sal watched TK mount Shuriken, then used her parkour experience to mimic his movement and sit right behind him without trouble. She wrapped an arm around his waist to secure herself, not caring if the kids at Gotengo would write a fanfiction about her and 'Taka' later for it. "No feet on wings, got it. Let's go!"

Durendal narrowed his eyes, feeling very protective as Sal got on the Skarmory. Was she really going to trust and use this stranger just to win? It was much more dangerous in the skies. He wanted to be there with her in case she got hurt, but he'd only slow them down. Be careful, Salieri.

Her Chespin had the opposite reaction. Big hearts replaced his eyes while he watched Salieri with admiration. She didn't even flinch when Shuriken was poised to strike her, though Biz didn't know that Salieri was relying on her pokemon to bail her out if the Skarmory had attacked. [My trainer is so badassss!] he cooed like a giddy schoolgirl.

Banksy rose higher into the air, gaining speed. "She's getting away!" Salieri yelled. "C'mon!"

Biz Marquis rose an eyebrow. Salieri's tough attitude was what made him want to join her back at Sycamore's lab, and he hadn't really analyzed it since. Was she rude because she was badass? Or was she badass because she was rude? [What's the difference?] the Chespin called up to the Skarmory with sincerity, who may have been too far to hear. Dune just closed his eyes and shook his head at his teammate's question.

At the sight of the incoming Skarmory, Banksy flew up higher. White Jet ran on her Special Attack and her Speed, so she was more than twice as fast while flying. Once she was higher than the walls surrounding Gotengo, Banksy fired a Flame Burst down at the Skarmory. The steel bird may have been many levels higher than the pokemon on Sal's team, but her level was even higher than that. She was confident that the match was hers.

“How fast can you go?” Salieri asked TK loudly over the wind whipping at their ears while the ball of compressed fire zoomed in their direction. She didn’t want to order TK to dodge the projectile: she assumed he had the common sense to do it himself.

Biz furrowed his brow at the comment. Not because of what Shuriken said, but because he could only make out one word, which he didn't understand. [What does 'regal' mean?] he asked Dune. Dune bowed his head down, slightly embarrassed by both of his teammates.

With two Agility boosts, the Skarmory was faster than the Torkoal. As the Flame Bursts exploded in the air behind them like fireworks, which is what people looking up in the city probably thought they were, Salieri realized it'd be impossible to shoot the rest of the tag onto Banksy with the wind in her eyes. She'd have to do it fast, and she'd have to board to do it.

She had also forgotten how much fun it was to fly around on a pokemon. It's been way too long... Veillantif was having a grand old time, cooing to herself as she was yanked through the air. She'd never been flying before, and it. Was. Awesome.

Once Shuriken got close, Banksy spun in the air, releasing a Fire Spin that expanded out around her like a barrier, preventing them from getting closer safely. "Get to the top!" Sal told TK, pointing to the top of the fire funnel. "I'll drop from there!"

Banksy must have somehow heard that comment, because in the next moment a Flamethrower pierced out from the center of the Fire Spin barrier like a needle, blasting towards Shuriken and his baggage. It would track and follow the steel bird's movement as far as Banksy could shift her neck to make it happen.