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Meanwhile, now that everyone had left the ruined dojo, Melty would totally set that s**t on fire and then dip out.

Another place burned to s**t, courtesy of that evil Absol.

[Flashback to about 20-30 minutes before]

Avan indeed did have a pen and paper. Since Pokemon weren't allowed in the tournament obviously, he had to keep them in his bag, in a locker. And after his first match, retrieved his bag, thus having the proper materials for an autograph. Although, he totally forgot about that.

The boy took out two pieces of paper from the small, note pad he had been writing Baku's dream list in and handed one to the green haired boy; then handed the pen and piece of paper to Gorm to sign.

Presumably, Gorm would sign that and then sign N's if all went according to Avan's "brilliant" plan.

"Thank you very much, Gorm." The boy replied to the signing. "I'm sure Munna will be ecstatic when he sees this."

Avan turned to the green haired boy. "So, you're a fan too?"n He asked, for whatever reason feeling the need to keep up the charade.

[/Flashback]


***


Meanwhile in the proper time, Avan met Bill for his fight, and when he did, "tripped" and fell to his back. Avan feigned pain and agony. Meanwhile the judge counted to ten. Just as quickly as it begun, it was over.

Zack cracked his neck, eyes closed as he felt around. Aura. When you were trained in the art, you could use it to sense the presence of those around you as well as spikes in Aura usage. For him, this meant that he could feel Gorm's Aura as it was used from across the city.

"Looks like I was right," he said to himself, heading down a deserted road, "That a*****e did cheat to win..."

Guttural chuckling caught his attention and Zack turned around. The narrow road was framed by warehouses painted with fancy, bright designs. Standing opposite him, a gang of street thugs.

"What the hell do you-" Zack cut himself off and sighed, closing his eyes, "...everywhere I go."


***

Moments later, the street was in ruins. The tarmac road turned like soil in a farmer's field, the warehouses broken, walls bent and snapped from waves of force. The gang had been split up; each one lay in a different direction, some weird contortions of pain, terror and unconsciousness on their faces.

Zack turned his back on them, flexing his fingers and putting his hand back into his pocket. If Gorm hadn't realised Zack's Aura potential in their tournament fight, he'd know it now.

[In the present]

Standing opposite of Salieri's corner in the ring was Blackbird, doing high knees in place as a stretch. The Battle Girl was feeling confident after the last fight. Especially now that her opponent was a slow looking old man.

"Sorry old man, but I won't lose to you," she snickered as she got into the same loose stance she used against Robert. Blackbird grinned underneath that cottony beard.

"I think I'll be a suitable test for your ability, then," he said with his arms folded. "Whenever you're ready."

He was giving her the first move? Salieri smiled. "Awesome."

And then she was in the air, swift as a bird taking off into the sky. Her body rotated on a horizontal axis, and one of her legs extended from this position towards Blackbird's shoulder. Mayer still hasn't come here with my nunchucks. What's taking him so-

She felt her kick getting caught. Salieri's absentminded thoughts were stopped instantly. She hadn't even seen Blackbird move, and now he had a hand wrapped around her ankle. "Wha-"

The musician spun on his heel and let go of Salieri, flinging her across the arena. In the air, the girl righted herself so that her feet would land against the Challenge Rock. This guy's not bad. Fast for an old timer, too.

Salieri's came to the Challenge Rock, and as soon as she made contact with it she jumped off to spring back at Blackbird undamaged. Now her leg swung down in an axe kick at Blackbird's shoulder once again.

"Your form is groovy," he told her happily while kicking off the ground to spring backwards. The ground cracked like fractured glass as Salieri's heel made contact with the earth. She didn't miss a beat as she darted forward with a right hook at Blackbird's face, now looking more serious. "Your kicks are pretty strong."

He's reading me like a book! Salieri grunted as she spun around with a backhand and then a dashing elbow, both of which were sidestepped easily. "Your rhythm has got a good flow to it, too." He was so nonchalant with his dodges, that Salieri practically growled in frustration.

"You gonna fight me, or what?" She shot a jab at his face. Blackbird ducked down and popped up behind Salieri like a Diglett, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"But you musn't let your spirit get the better of you."
Her eyes became intense the more annoyed that she got. "It's not me that my spirit is getting the better of!"

Her elbow rammed back at Blackbird, and it was blocked by a push from his hand. Salieri spun around to fully face him. The man had dodged all of her moves like it was nothing at all. And he hadn't thrown a single attack.

"Why are you even here? Are you here to fight, or chat?" She crossed her arms and tapped her foot with impatience. Blackbird continued to grin with genuine cheerfulness.

"I'm here for this moment. It's music to my ears."
"What are you going on about? Are you sure you're in the right place right now?" The Battle Girl lifted up her hand, waving it back and forth in front of her eyes. "Earth to 'Blackbird Mcknight', do you need someone to walk you back to the nursing home? I'm no girl scout but I'm not going to leave you waltzing into something brutal like this."

The musician hunched over, clutching his stomach with one hand and covering his mouth with another. No...must...resist...laughter...

"Ze...zera...zeraaaaa~shashasha!" he laughed loudly, not able to contain himself. As he laughed, Salieri's expression changed. Her face became softer as something nostagic passed over her. She dropped her arms to the side and took a good look at Blackbird, who was finally beginning to reach the end of his laughter fit.

She rose an eyebrow. "Ze-ra-sha-sha?"

Blackbird didn't answer right away. A slight tension hung in the air as he thought of a response. "Uh...I mean...kuuuu-shu-shu-shu?"

Salieri reflexively took in a huge breath in excited anticipation. I know that laugh. Although so many thoughts were going head, she was left struggling for the words to say. Blackbird could see it as well. He stood at ease, smiling down warmly at Salieri.

"Well? Do you have what it takes to beat me?"

Salieri brought her wrists together and held them at her side, making her hands look more like claws while she got into a wider stance. Although the pose looked dynamic, her face was pure joy. She closed her eyes. "I'll show you now-"

And then she was upon him, flinging her body forward at a wicked speed in a dash that made some of her movements hard to follow. She closed in on Blackbird, and then rushed her hands forward in the same position she had just put them into. They closed in towards Blackbird's large potbelly. With the way that the light hit them, at the speed they were going, for a second her hands looked like the fangs of a dragon.

"-WHAT I'VE LEARNED!"

As her hands met the musicians robes, they pushed on what felt like a pillow. The large, rounded mass was being pushed in, and simultaneously, spores of cotton began to pour out of Blackbird's robes. Rivers of the white spores came from his sleeves and the top, engulfing the man's body altogether.

The floated around in the air, hanging on the wind like slow, floating snowflakes. And as more came out, the smaller the potbelly grew until it was no longer there. Now that there was nothing stretching out the robes, the hung loosely on the musician's body. Underneath the robes, his defined chest muscles were visible, his skin a light tan with a flawless, smooth complexion.

Finally, there was no more cotton under the robes, and Salieri's hands stopped dead in their tracks when they met with the man's stomach. She knew that underneath the man's robes there was flesh, but it felt as if she was hitting a tire when her palms hit his stomach.

He didn't budge, not in the slightest. He seemed entirely unphased as a wave of force blew over his body like a strong wind. His white beard and hair began to disperse, turning back into cotton spores that joined the rest of the ones in the air. They were surrounded by floating pieces of fluff that caught light from the sky, making the sparkle.

Underneath the cotton hair was a real head of hair. It was short, silky and black as night, falling in choppy yet ever so slightly spiky tufts over his head in a messy manner. The cotton beard had hid the face of a young man, with smooth skin and white teeth that reminded one of the pearly gates.

As Salieri looked up, frozen in her attacking position, the musician warm, amber eyes looked down on the Battle Girl's. With all of the cotton sparkling in a dazzling way all around them, the handsome young man almost looked like an angel. To the girl before him, he really was.

As he smiled, so did Salieri. She had waited a long for time this moment. Finally, like she had wanted, the musician broke the silence.

"Nice job, See-Sal. You just beat Blackbird Mcknight," said Moze Del Forrest.

((Goddamn it, Ren))

"Do you have to go today? Can't you stay leave tomorrow?"

Moze sat up and looked over to his sister. She was lying down on the cottony mass, staring up at the clouds in the sky just like he was doing a second ago. "It's gotta be tomorrow, See-Sal. I've already stayed here for too long."

Her arm came down over her eyes, covering them lazily as she sighed. "It's always a little less time with you." Her lips were turned down slightly into a frown. "When you leave, I never know if I'm going to see you again-ow!"

Salieri darted up into a seating position, rubbing her nose from where Moze had just flicked it. "I thought I've told you before not to get all sentimental about this. I promise that I'll come back," Moze reassured with a grin. He stood up on the cotton cloud, holding his walking stick while stretching his arms over his head.

She twitched her nose. "It's different when I don't know whether or not you'll be dead." Her brother's grin disappeared. Moze put down the walking stick and put his hands onto Salieri's shoulders as the Battle Girl stood up.

"A promise is a promise. Don't be sad, Salieri. This is just something I gotta do. Remember, no crying until the end, alright?"

Salieri didn't answer. Instead she just nodded. That was enough for Moze, who just went back to grinning. "Good. Now, do you remember how to do this?"

Salieri leaned over the edge of the cotton cloud. Below them, flocks of Pidove flew in V-formations. Even farther below was Nuvema Town. She could barely make out her house from this high of an altitude. "Saiga is definitely ready to catch us, right?"

"Of course he is. I wouldn't trust him with your life otherwise."
"Well then I'm ready when you-damnit Moze!"

Her brother, while flashing her the peace sign, walked off the edge of the cloud. Salieri cursed to herself as she jumped off too, freefalling in the sky right after her brother. She could hear his signature laughter pass right by her, and she couldn't help but laugh to herself as well.

There was a sense of freedom here that she couldn't replicate any other way. She almost felt like she was flying.

The memory of one of Moze’s many visits back home faded away, and Salieri found herself back in the present. Standing in front of her was the real deal, Mozart Del Forrest. She didn’t have to cling to a memory anymore.

Now, in the next second, three things happened.

The first was that a huge weight fell upon Salieri’s arms, a direct consequence of using the technique she had just used. All of her muscles in her arms became tight and fatigued at once in a shocking pain. Salieri winced. It was painful, and it would be for the rest of the day. But it was better than the bloody alternative that she dreamed about in her memories the day before.

The second was that directly behind Moze, the Challenge Rock began to crack. It splintered, as if some powerful blow had been dealt to the massive boulder. The crack grew a bit wider, then stopped. Overall, it’s integrity was undamaged. But the large fracture was still evident. She hoped Moze had been paying attention to the noise, because she wasn’t going to be able to use this technique again today.

And the third thing was that Moze covered his mouth, his eyes wide in pain. “Turn away,” he commanded with a muffled voice.

Salieri knew that what was coming next was not a result of her attack. She removed her sore arms from his body to spin around the other direction. Salieri covered her ears and closed her eyes, but she could still hear his coughing and hacking and the splatter of blood on the ground. It sounds worse than before.

When the terrible noise was over, she tentatively turned around. Moze had taken a knee, and was leaning over the crimson liquid puddle before him. Salieri rushed to his side. “Moze!”

“I’m…I’m alright, See-Sal.” He looked up at her, his face clean of blood as he grinned anyway. Moze held up a hand for her to take. “Looks like you’re going to the next round.”

Salieri hadn’t realized that ten seconds had passed since Moze had taken a knee. With a heavy sigh, she took his hand and yanked him back onto his feet. “Why were you in that ridiculous disguise?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “Eh, lotsa reasons. I wanted to surprise you, of course. But also-“

“Is that…is that Mozart the Hurricane?!” called an incredulous voice from what remained of the audience. “Isn’t that one of the premier martial artists from Kanto?”

Murmurs and confirmations began to sound out in the crowd. His reputation was gathering attention. Suddenly, a very angry brunette stepped forward to point an accusing finger at the angelic man.

“Mozart, you’re dead! How dare you leave in the middle of the night!”

Moze gulped, holding up his hands to deflect her comment. “Uh, about that-“

A blonde stepped forward as well, looking even angrier than the other girl. “Is that why you left before I woke up without saying anything? Because of this skank?”

Now, another brunette appeared, this one looking even more pissed if that was possible. “Two other girls from the same town? You’re a despicable man!”

And the process repeated like this, until seven girls in all were in a rage in front of Moze. Salieri took a step back, giving him a malicious glare. “Care to explain?”
“Shashasha,” he chuckled nervously. “I, uh, thought seven was a lucky number?”

He knew what he had to do. Moze lifted up a hand and ran it through his silky sleek black hair. All of the jilted women felt weak at the knees from his sheer magnetic (and slightly effeminate) beauty, with only their anger keeping them standing. “Ladies, can’t we all just get along? A chorus is more hearty than a solo, after all.”

They all growled. Nope, that wasn’t going to work, even if his eyes were that luscious, deep golden amber. It was so sweet, like the taste of honey put into the sense of sight. And his voice was so melodic, smooth and deep like the bellowing winds of the ocean. Oh god-

All of the ladies suddenly swooned, and all of their previously angry eyes transformed into hearts. Moze grabbed Salieri’s hand and yanked her away. “Come on, we won’t have much time before they come to their senses.”

And the two Del Forrests ran away back into Nacrene City until the next round.

****

[In the past]

"N," the green haired trainer introduced himself. What Avan said about his Munna intrigued N. He had never heard of a pokemon with such qualities or interests before.

"You sound like you're humanizing your pokemon. Did you get Baku into these sorts of things? Or did this Munna find them out on it's own?"

((Guys, you all need to go get your helmets, because you're about to crash into multiple walls of texts. I've got a lot of these planned out and I'm going to be posting them over the next few days. So please bear with me.))

"Blackbird Mcknight? What kind of name is Blackbird Mcknight?"
"He's this guitarist...ah, you wouldn't really care. I thought it had a nice ring to it."

Salieri sighed and fell onto her back, looking up at the sky from the grassy clearing in the beginning of the Pinwheel Forest. "I can deal with you wearing those sage robes, but do you have to keep talking in music metaphors? They're ridiculous."

Moze leaned against his walking stick, looking off at a creek with a smile. "Sorry See-Sal, no can do. They're far too catchy of a hook." He pointed down at her pokebelt. "I see you've added another voice to your choir. Can I meet your pokemon?"

"Oh, of course." She stood up and released them all at once, lined up next to each other. "You already know Chen Zhen and Liuye Dao."

[Moze!] the Pansage yelped as he jumped up to give Sal's brother a hug. Moze happily caught the monkey by the hands, spinning him around before settling him onto the ground.

"Liuye Dao, you're looking sharp as ever I see."

The Pawniard gave Moze a full bow. "Zeraaa~shashasha, and just as polite too! And you!" he said while hoisting up Sal's Eevee under the Normal's types forelegs. "I haven't seen you in a while. Is my sister treating you alright?"
"Vee vee!" she cooed.
"Her name is Salem now. And this one here is Wukong."

The Monferno folded his arms, and then gave Moze and upwards nod of approval. [Sup.]

Moze smiled. "A Fighting type? You're really building quite a crew here."
"You betcha. Tomorrow, we're going to challenge the Nacrene Gym. Liuye and Wukong as a team together!" She clenched her fist proudly in front of her. "It's a match made for the heavens."

The Pawniard and Monferno looked at each other. [Us a team? So long as I'm the leader,] the Monferno said cockily. Liuye shrugged.

"I like your spirit, See-Sal. You're really pumped today."
Sal chuckled as she returned her pokemon. "It's not everyday that I'm graced with the presence of 'Mozart the Hurricane.' And besides, you just got me into the next round of the tournament."

Moze smiled softly and watched as Basculin jumped in and out of the creek's water. "Still always fighting, I see. You don't have to go so hard, you know."
"Are you kidding? Winning this will be great publicity. With the title, I can start gaining a reputation in this country. People will be begging to be taught by me."
He rose an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

She furrowed her brow. "What're you trying to say here?"
"Your next opponent is a sickly looking girl dressed up as a superhero. After that, it could be a fashionista or somebody no one has ever heard of. Are these really opponents that will help gather you a reputation?"

Before she could respond, Moze continued. "Most of the news feeds were destroyed back at the dojo. The ones that remained only got the fight between Zack and Gorm. I'm sorry See-Sal, but you weren't getting covered in the first place. You won your fight too quickly."

Salieri pouted and folded her arms, upturning her nose at her brother. "You don't have to be such a killjoy, you know."
"Zeraaa~shasha! I'm only being realistic. You've already proven yourself to me. I know that your name will be sung through this country one day."

She softened up, and looked back to her brother. "You really think so?"
"I know so," he assured her while opening up his violin case and pulling out Aphrodite. "Do you still have your flute?"

She nodded, hesitantly pulling out the pokeflute in her bag. "I'm still not very good. I need to practice more-"
"It's always about training with you, See-Sal. You always work yourself to the bone. This isn't about trying to sound good." He grinned at her. "It's about sounding happy. You and I will make magic together, if you're willing to play."

Every word he said made her heart feel a little bit bigger. "I...I'm not really sure what I'm going to do," she told him while raising the flute to her lips.
"Just follow my lead. I'll be your guide today, Salieri."

And after a few notes, they began to get into the groove of things and played some real music. Salieri could see Moze’s passion through his music, and wondered what he was thinking of at that moment when he was in so in the zone. For Salieri, just being around her brother was bringing her into a different world. The world of the past…

****

Recess was busy with activity as kids played about, some on the basketball court and others on the jungle gym. The elementary school had one solitary tree in it’s field, and under it on the grass sat a lone girl reading a book old enough that the pages were stained with age. She readjusted her glasses to move her long, dark wavy hair out of her face. She wore black sweatpants and a white t-shirt along with a red vest. The outfit was more fit for a boy at her age.

The girl looked up and saw three of her classmates walking up to her, two boys and a girl. The girl with glasses quickly looked away, burying her nose back into her book. She just wanted them to go away.

“Well if it isn’t the little library mole!” announced one of the boys to his friends, who laughed to his friends at his own joke. He was the shortest out of the three, and had on a backwards baseball cap. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a new book, there. Devin, check out what’s she’s got.”

“Heyhey, whatcha readin’ today?” asked the other boy, who loomed in a hulkish way over the other children. Devin snatched the book out of the girl’s hand. She didn’t respond immediately, instead just sighing as if this was routine.

“Cut it out, Devin,” she told him in a tired, monotonous voice. She was definitely not in the mood for this again today. The girl snickered, her braces showing in her devious grin.

“Oh, little Sal-ee-air-ee can talk? I thought all she could do was study,” the girl teased. “No one ever sees you doing anything else, other than that weird dancing stuff your family does.” Devin began flipped through the pages of Salieri’s book as she stood up to retrieve it.

“What is pil-os-o-pi, Victor?” Devin asked the short boy while tossing him the book, who laughed obnoxiously again.

“Is that another of your ‘kung fu’ things, Salieri? You’re such a weirdo,” Victor chuckled, sticking his tongue out at Salieri. She sighed.

“It’s philosophy, dumbass,” Salieri answered flatly, unamused. “Give me the book, Devin. Now.”
“Or what, pipsqueak?”

Once again, Salieri sighed as she took off her glasses and slipped them into her shirt pocket. The bullies all feigned shock and fear before cracking up once more. “She’s trying to get tough now! Hey Cass, you scared?”
“Scared?” the girl with braces snorted in reply. “Please, Salieri won’t hurt a fly.”

“Haha, yeah,” Devin laughed. “That kung fu stuff is a load of crap. You and your family are just a bunch of freaks!” he taunted. The brute then pushed his arm forward to lightly shove Salieri’s shoulder.

Her amber eye’s flashed in the sun for a second. And then Salieri darted up, pulling along Devin’s arm as she jumped. It resulted in Devin’s face closing in on the floor while Salieri was above him.

The dark haired girl pressed her legs down and jumped off of Devin’s back with a loud thud, finishing the deed and slamming the hulkish child into the ground. Flipping over in midair, Salieri’s knee crashed into Victor’s chest. The little child gasped for breath as he landed on the ground, curling up into a fetal position. He still hadn’t grasped what she had just done to Devin.

Cass gulped as her eyes met Salieri’s. The kung fu girl’s amber eyes were so intense that Cass felt them drilling through her own. She was terrified, too scared to move. Salieri stood glaring at Cass for a few seconds, but to the other girl it felt like she was staring down a demon for an hour. And then Salieri lifted up her leg.

Cass immediately spun around and ran screaming for the teacher, leaving Salieri by herself. She looked down at Victor, who couldn’t get up from pain. Then she looked back to Devin, who probably could get up but was playing dead. Satisfied, she smirked as she leaned down to pick up her book and put it into her backpack.

When she looked up, she realized that no one was playing on the playground anymore. It wasn’t because recess was over. It was because they were all still, looking over at Salieri and what she had just done. The playground was silent.

The breeze swept right through Salieri, but their stares were something she could feel. The looks they gave her told her that she didn’t belong there. That she really was a freak. All looks of rejection. It was better off that she was alone under that tree, reading that book.

Salieri turned around and started walking for the school’s exit, her eyes watering up as she stormed out without looking back. “Idiots,” she growled to herself as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.