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Caboose. If Mia recalled correctly, that was Benedict's Pikachu. Very cute. She wasn't sure what Benedict meant by contingencies, but then again she wasn't a trainer. After Moze got a Torkoal to fly, she was convinced a good trainer was limited by their imagination, so Benedict's contingencies could be almost anything. The scientist in her was intrigued. "I'll keep an eye out for him. And yeah, I'll get her."

Mia unlocked her door and started going down the spiral stairs that wrapped around the massive tree. One of the steps creaked more than she would've liked. She made a mental note to fix that one soon. "Hey, great party by the way. You had a good time?"

Throughout the party, Mia had intermittently snuck away to text with Moze. She hadn't heard from him for days. He told her he was camping. She didn't believe it for a second. Playing secret keeper for him over the last few months was exhausting enough. She didn't want to worry about the secrets he kept from her on top of that.

Moze had only come back into her life recently. Their relationship was just 3 months old, but the history they shared made it feel like her lifetime. If she could pick anything in her life to be normal again, she wanted it to be him.

"For sure. Soon as I nabbed the aux cord from that Casey chick it was a real party. Hope she's not raw about it. I'll send you the photos after this." Sounds like he got laid. "Sounds like you got laid."

"If you were all giving oral in a circle it's called a pentaslam," Mia said matter-of-factly without missing a beat. "Sounds like a fun time." She hit the last stair and saw Salieri and Matheson in front of Gotengo's PC, huddled together over the screen. They were pouring over Esme's file on Alanza Taine, which was notably larger than most of the other profiles Esme had compiled. Probably because she was the only hunter that was "public". According to the dull shock on Matheson's face, a lot of the information on screen was new to him too.

"How long have you known her for?"
"Almost ten years." Math rubbed his cheeks, focusing unflinchingly. "I had no idea she was up to this-"
"So you didn't know she gambled?"
"I did but I never realized it was so systematic. Every one of these games is with a league trainer."
"She ever tell you how she wins every time? Cause unless Esme is missing some people, this record is perfect."
"She's always said she's the luckiest girl alive. And I believed it, but, y'know, this is ridiculous."
Sal frowned. "Luckiest girl alive. That's the worst thing you could've told me about her."

"Honesty's the best policy, but don't quote me on that," Mia went on. "I don't think I'm the best at communication in my relationship."
"Relationship?" Sal's ears twitched and she pulled herself away from the PC. "You're in a relationship?"
"I said ships. Past tense. Ben's on the phone for you."

Salieri stood up and took the phone from Mia. She paced a few feet away. "Go for Sal."

"The sponsorship," Salieri repeated, almost like she had forgotten. Because she had. Alanza Taine was in Kalos again, after all. She shut her eyes and pinched her brow, wishing she'd gotten to talk to Ben about the sponsorship before talking to Helena. It would've made that chat less hair-pulling. Still, it gave her much needed perspective. This was a trap Ben and Helena could hardly avoid. They might as well make the most of it.

"Yeah, wanted to get your take on it cause I'm pissed off. Not at you, at those connards. It's a foul move. You got a game plan? Cause if you wanna get back at these guys with what they give you, you know I'm in."

She looked over her shoulder. Now Mia was manning the PC, going way faster than Sal had. Matheson had a notepad now and was jotting down whatever Mia was rattling off.

"Starting tomorrow. I need to get ready for one more party," Sal nearly growled. "Actually, you wanna roll through? I feel like Mia is about to give some exposition, if you wanna hear it."

Route 12 Baa de Mer Ranch

'Your dumbass assistant is up on the hill,' Emily said, breaking into a fit of painful coughs. They were in one of the fields outside of the farmhouse, the centuries-old building quietly crumbling as it succumbed to the flames. A plume of smoke jettisoned into the sky.

'Awfully quick to be helpful, aren't you?' Zack said, giving Serene a nod. The Kirlia, her energy restored by Lethal's Heal Pulse but still looking the worse for wear, had her eyes glow blue. Emily would feel a sudden crushing Psychic pressure across her entire body, pushing her into the grass. Hard to breathe, harder to move. Zack wouldn't give this b***h an inch.

He knelt down so that Emily could look him in the eye. 'Who the ********> are you?'

Unknown Cave

Moze's anger almost outweighed his skill. Such a powerful trainer who had been so profoundly hurt by the nobility had been the perfect recruit for his cause. That Moze had a natural gift for Aura had only been a bonus. Here was that rage again, the mirror of his sister's, and a powerful motivator.

'I understand, Moze,' Ratio said, tapping Moze's Aura to encourage calm, as they walked through the connecting passage. Helena's battle had drawn to a close and they had left the Television Chamber. Bioluminescent rocks lit their path, supported by the occasional lightbulb. These caverns were the remains of an ancient digsite - the first Mega Stones were found in this region, and the Kalosians had dug and dug until the well had eventually dried.

'The nobility are a blight as a collective. A bloated social class that has become a tumour to society,' Ratio entered the next chamber first. It was wide, and relatively brightly lit. Ratio had managed to salvage some decent lighting and computer systems to create this makeshift lab. A leather cot sat in the corner, along with a collection of personal items for their guest. 'Isn't that correct, Scientist Bryony?'

'Oh, you're still on about that?' Bryony said, not looking up from her monitor. In the recent days, her fear of Ratio had become far less pronounced. It was in part due to her familiarity; he hadn't been an incomprehensibly unstoppable malevolent force in a few days. It was also because he had consistently manipulated her Aura to force the Team Flare Scientist to become compliant.

'Our guest,' Ratio said to Moze, 'Was once a component of such a tumour. And you see now, she is a valued addition to our cause.'

Bryony shook her head as she kept up her work. Before her, the Legendary Pokémon Diancie slept in a glass chamber, part of a machine that she'd requested. Ratio had stolen it from a pokémon center in Lumiose City easily enough. When you could shapeshift and use Aura to prevent anyone from being suspicious, such a theft was child's play. He did still owe money on the Rent-A-Van though.

It was Bryony's work on the Mega Stones they had collected from Route 10, coupled with Diancie's power that had allowed Ratio to create the enormous crystal wall that aided them at the Procession. Each crystal 'seed' he had planted was once a mega stone, transformed through Diancie's power and Bryony's research.

Zack smirked and stood up. He walked a semi-circle around Emily so that she would have to strain to turn her head if she wanted to keep track of him.

'Tell me, why did Jean-Pierre send you?' he asked. Gurkinn had told Zack a little about the Aura master. Zack knew he had been a player in the court nobility for decades, the kind that operated out of the limelight. That made him all the more dangerous, in Zack's opinion. The old ******** had attacked his sister, now this b***h came along professing to work for said ******** could feel his anger rising, and did his best to keep a lid on it. Even in the midst of the fight against Emily, he had never truly gotten mad, just aggressive. Lose your cool, lose the game, as his mentor had said.

Serene intensified her Psychic hold over Emily as Zack reached into her pocket and took out the list. As his eyes trailed down each name, he felt his anger start to boil. His stomach went sick at the very last name. His mother. This evil b***h wanted to kill his mother. Zack shook, carefully folding the list and putting it in his pocket.

'You didn't kill Grant Mei,' he said. According to Audrey, that was someone called Gaston Bacque. 'But you know he's dead. If you're not a hunter, you work with them.'

Zack tensed his fist, and Serene tightened her hold, pushing another wave of painful pressure into the woman at Zack's feet. 'Tell me where Gaston Bacque is.'