Welcome to Gaia! ::

By now, Juliet had started walking. In order to keep up the conversation, Helena would have to be following. Kallikrates trotted right behind Helena.

Juliet was used to watching other detectives stretch their assumptions into hypotheses. It was a strategy she didn't favor, as it propagated investigations based on biases. In Helena's case, she had gone from being a quivering wreck into investigation mode within seconds. Even if she was making assumptions, she still had the wherewithal to connect dots together. It was decent deduction, considering the circumstances. Juliet would've complimented her on it, if it wasn't more accusations about her friend. Then again, her friend was in the wrong here.

"The Taine name hardly applies to Alanza. Her family's never liked her much." Juliet spoke with her back to Helena, as she was walking ahead. She gestured through the marble hall they walked through, past a sauna and a garage, and pointed to a family portrait. A dressed up blonde woman sat next to a standing, grey haired man. Between them was a small blonde boy. No blonde girl. No Alanza.

"This villa used to belong to her mother. At the peak of their tension, they dueled each other for the home. The family is full of game enthusiasts...anyway, Alanza won. That's the last time they spoke, I believe."

The two of them had exited the hallway into a ironwood kitchen, more densely packed than the foyer. Snacks and potato salad littered the dining table, having been sloppily ejected from their bowls. Through the glass doors that led to the pool outside, Juliet could see a Chesnaught doing a keg stand, being egged on by a Horsea and Sal's friend Mia.

"Alanza gambles like she has nothing to lose because she doesn't. She's been waiting for someone to give her a real challenge. It's not about winning to Aly, it's about the game. It's all she has. Does that sound fraudulent to you?"

As one song came to an end and before another started Azucena's voice would come onto the mic. "I would just like to dedicate this next song to someone we should all be grateful for. Salieri Soledad, you kicked those pirates asses and saved a lot of peoples lives. Everyone make sure to pass along your thanks when you see her."

***

Helena followed along Juliet. She wasn't perfectly in-step due to her alcohol consumption but following the woman wasn't an issue.

As Helena was given an impromptu tour of the villa, she'd make sure to take in the sights. The pool was the most inviting thing about this place, not that the teen had brought a swimsuit.

Alanza's story was also a sad one and it brought another thought to Helena's mind. If the woman was a hunter maybe it had been similar people who took advantage of Alanza that wanted to do the same to Helena. Preying on a poor vulnerable girl.

"No," Helena answered softly. "It sounds sad. I'm glad she has a friend like you.

When Azucena's voice came temporarily over the speakers a moment later Helena would find herself cut-off but it did give her an out.

"That's Azzy, she's a friend of mine. I should probably go find her, I'm sorry I took up so much of your time."

If Alanza really wanted to lose, and Juliet wanted to keep the girl from being a hunter, then everything was already set on a good path. A painful one, but good nonetheless.

"Do you want my number so we can find each other again, or did you still wanna come to the dinner and just meet up again there?" Helena didn't suspect that Juliet would keep herself out of the Jean-Pierre issue.

Helena couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face when Juliet handed her the card. "No no, it's definitely sophisticated." Looking up at the noble woman, she would add. "It adds to the whole elegant demeanor thing you have going on."

"I can call you, yeah." She said as her eyes dropped to the card and, not having much in the way of pockets, she'd make sure to save Juliet's number now just in case she lost the card.

"Honestly," Helena said as the smile left her eyes, even as it remained on her lips. "I'm still hoping you decide that you don't want to help me. It's just easier if I'm the only person in danger." And then, as it was easy enough to do, she'd wave and step backwards into the crowd - disappearing toward the stage.

Helena was the next on-stage after the four of them had left.

"Hels!" Azucena said as she approached her group of friends. She'd already handed Bridgette her phone.

"Azzy," Helena said and she looked at the three of them.

"Take Bridgette, put her on your shoulders and go livestream everything that's about to happen."

Helena looked at Bridgette and then at Azzy. "I'm a little drunk."

"Here." She'd move to her bag and retrieve both a bottle of water and a bagel. "Eat and drink it quick, and go." She nudged Helena along after putting the items into her hands.

Helena looked back as she was rushed off, Bridgette excitedly sticking to her side, to see Azucena kiss Henrietta and this time she did feel a little jealous.

Liberty Garden, Unova – Eight Years Ago

“I saw it go this way, c’mon!”

A preteen Alanza Taine, hair dyed black in defiance of her family, whispered harshly at her friends over her shoulder. Preteen Juliet with a short brown bob and preteen Matheson with chubby cheeks warily caught up in the empty hallway of the lighthouse.

“H-h-hum, if my dad finds out I ditched the class trip he’ll kill me,” Matheson fretted. Juliet gave the blonde boy, shorter than her at this time, a pat on the head.
“It’s ok, Math. At least he won’t throw you in a dungeon.” She frowned at her rebellious friend. “This better be good, Aly, I was having fun on the tour.”
“Two hundred years ago an ultra rich family bought this island. That’s, like, all you need to know.” Alanza was already moving again, forcing her friends to fast-walk and follow. “It said so on the sign outside.”
“But there’s other stuff too! I wanna know the history,” Juliet pouted.
“We’ll find it at the gift shop, nerd! C’mon, you have to meet this guy!”

Alanza opened a door labeled ‘No Unauthorized Entry’ that led to a basement. Juliet gulped, and when Matheson stood pigeon toed unsure of what to do, she grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.

At the bottom of the stairs was another closed door. Alanza put a finger in front of her mouth to shush the other nobles, then opened the door. It led into a furnished, colorful bedroom. There wasn’t much to say about it at a glance, except that it looked like it belonged to a child and it lacked personality.

Alanza squatted down and looked to the dresser. Over the top of it, Juliet could see the orange tips of Pokémon ears quivering in hiding. “Heyyyy, it’s ok, it’s me! I brought my friends!”

The Pokémon came out of hiding, cautiously approaching the three. Juliet had never seen anything like it before. It was small and rabbit like, save for its huge V shaped ears. “Tee?” it cooed. Alanza held out her hand, and in it were three dice. At the sight of them, the Pokémon got excited. She handed them over and he dropped them after a roll. The numbers came up four, five, six.
“Amazing!” Alaanza squeed. “I saw this guy watching us when the boat landed, so I followed them here-“
“So that’s where you went,” Math noted.
“-and they were real shy, so I told them how I have these dice for cee-lo but no one would play with me-“
“Cause you never win. They feel bad taking your money,” Juliet said bluntly.
“ANYWAY, this guy likes games, and we played for like ten minutes straight and they won! Every time, like right away! Look!”

The Pokémon rolled the dice again, and again, and again. Each time, they came up four, five, six. The winning numbers. “Huh. Ok. Do you know rock paper scissors?” Matheson asked the Pokémon. He leaned towards Juliet’s ear and whispered, “The trick is to show what you choose right after they do so it’s always right, hehehe.”
“If it’s not the same time, it’s cheating,” Juliet told him.
Math shrugged. “That’s not what Jace told me.”
“That’s cause Jace cheats at rock paper scissors,” Juliet informed him with that know-it-all tone.

With his tongue to the side, Math played the Pokémon in rock paper scissors. The rabbit thing chose paper, and a split second later, Math chose rock. “Huh?”

Again, he tried to delay his response, but he kept picking the wrong one. “Let me try,” Juliet said, pushing Matheson aside to challenge the Pokémon at rock paper scissors. The result was continuously the same. A perfect record. “…that is pretty cool.”
“I know!” Alanza gushed. She rocked back and forth in her seated position excitedly. “Hey, you got a name?”

The Pokémon clapped at Alanza’s excitement. “Tini! Victini!”
“Victini? Is that it? That’s what I’ll call ya! It fits.” Alanza leaned to Victini, who leaned in as well. “My whooole family loves playing games…except they won’t play with me. And they’re not very nice, they won’t let me have a Pokémon…Oh! Do you wanna be my Pokémon?” Victini tilted their head. “You could come with me! We could play more!”

Juliet looked out the door and up the stairs. “Hey, did you hear that? The teacher is calling us.”
“Dang!” Math clapped his hands to his face. “We’re gonna get in trouble!”
“Relax Math, we’ll be fine!” Alanza stood up, beaming down at Victini. “I have to go, but I’ll be back later, ok? Think about it!”

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

The class trip to Castelia City was supposed to be for three days. In all of the spare time she had, Alanza visited the Liberty Garden to play with Victini. She brought playing cards, crossword puzzles, even a DS. Every time she snuck back to the rest of the class, she’d tell Juliet and Matheson about all the fun she had, even though Victini never lost a game.

On the last day, Juliet and Matheson went with Alanza back to Victory Garden to see Victini again. This time, Alanza had brought a Pokéball, still hoping they’d become her first Pokémon. The island had limited visiting hours on this day, due to construction. Trucks and car loaded with equipment for restoration projects zoomed back and forth along the single road network on the small landmass.

“I told Victini I was coming today, we were gonna meet here,” Alanza explained to them at the pier. It was raining heavily today. Juliet had an umbrella they were all sheltered under.
“Victini doesn’t have a watch.” Math shrugged. “Maybe they don’t know what time it is.”
“I hope so…” Alanza said quietly. Juliet bit her lip.
“…hey if Victini doesn’t want to come, we can find you another Pokémon, ok?”
“Don’t say that! Victini will be here! We’re friends!”
“I know! I’m sorry.”
Seconds later, Alanza jumped pointing across the street. “Look! Right there!”

Balancing precariously on a stone ledge next to the road was Victini, bopping their head to a song they sang made up of their own name. Alanza bolted out from under the umbrella, took a few steps, then slipped on a puddle. The Pokéball rolled out of her hands and onto the street. “Oof!”

The sound brought Victini to attention. They looked to Alanza on the ground, and then the ball. Curious, Victini ventured out onto the street to grab it. A mist from the sea followed them, and they must not have seen the car hydroplaning down the road, because they paid it no mind as the machine headed on a collision course right towards them.

“HEY!” Matheson yelled, not hesitating to jump into the road. Juliet put a hand in front of him, stopping the boy before he could run into traffic while cursing herself for not being faster. She was too far to stop Alanza, who was running full speed into the street.
“ALANZA!”

The Taine didn’t stop. She dove and Victini looked up. It felt like slow motion as Juliet watched her friend reach out for Victini and wrap her body around the small Pokémon. The two of them became enveloped in the beams of the headlights.

And then there was a crash.

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

Alanza laid quietly on her back in the hospital bed, contemplating something and staring at the ceiling. Her teacher, her classmates, and doctors had been in and out of the room constantly. Juliet hadn’t left the girl’s side, sitting next to the bed were tear stained eyes.

It was a miracle she was alive. She had sustained serious bruising and multiple fractures in several places. The most damage had been done to her back, where the car hit her head on. It had cracked and dislodged several discs in her spine. She couldn’t feel her legs. The doctors had told her there was a chance she could walk again, with extensive physical therapy.

All the talk about her condition sounded like dull noise to her. The only thing she had heard crystal clear was that when she was being recovered, Victini had disappeared.

“Don’t cry,” she said to Juliet after a long period of silence. Juliet looked up, shocked to see Alanza smiling at no one in particular. “It’s gonna be ok.”
“I don’t know how you can say that,” Juliet sniffled, choking back a sob in confusion. “It’s my fault.”
“Nah. It’s not. And I think…I might be better for it.” She reached up at the ceiling. “Can you see the lines, Jules?”

Juliet stood up, looking to where Alanza gestured. Nothing. “…does you head hurt too? Should I get-“
“No! No, don’t tell anyone. Listen, when Victini touched me, I felt something. They gave me something. There are these lines…I see orange and red, everytime I think of a choice to make.”
“Aly, you’re freaking me out-“
“Can you get my dice? They should be in my pocket.”

Juliet got the dice from Alanza’s pants that were draped on a table, and Alanza propped herself up. She cooked the dice in her hand, and before she dropped them, she shook her head. “No, not there,” she muttered. She turned slightly, and dropped them on the flat part of the bed.

Four, five, six.
Four, five, six.
Four, five, six.
Ad nauseum.

Juliet took a step back, looking breathless. “How are you doing that?”
“I’m telling you Jules, I’m following the lines. Orange and red. Victini is helping me.” She winced in pain as she sat up straighter, but it didn’t dull her smile. “I’m not gonna waste this. I’m gonna get better, and when they find out how good I got at games, we’ll find each other again! This is our thing now! Maybe I’ll even win next time!”

Juliet looked over her shoulder, making sure no one overheard. She looked back to her friend, her heart warm with relief. “Superpowers, huh?”
“You know it!”

Taine Villa – Present Day

“That was the beginning of Aly’s win streak. The recovery was a miracle, no doubt helped along by that energy. We did the research later, and we figured out what Victini was. They can give some of their limitless potential to another being. She thinks if she wins enough games, she’ll impress Victini and they’ll find her again. I can’t believe their gift has lasted this long, and yet…”

Juliet trailed off. Nostalgia was a powerful thing. She shook off the thoughts of simpler times and turned back to Salieri, a new face and a reminder that change wasn’t always pleasant. “So you see why you can’t beat her. That power is insurmountable. Everything Alanza tries at, she succeeds.”

Salieri had been standing with her arms folded, patiently soaking in the story. She allowed for a few seconds of silence, before giving a disaffected shrug. “So…what? Am I supposed to feel bad for her? This changes nothing.”
“Are-you can’t be saying that seriously right now, unless you weren’t listening to me at all. Which would track.” Juliet was frustrated, perplexed, and at the end of her rope. Most of her talks with Salieri had that in common.
Salieri shook her head, clearly mirroring feelings Juliet had at the same time. “You know what your problem is? You think everyone else is stupid, I’m not stupid. Victini might be unbeatable but she’s not. My strat can still work.”
“If you know what I’m saying is true then why does that change nothing? It should change everything!”
“Because ten hours ago, I punched Alanza Taine in the face.” Salieri tapped her cheek to demonstrate where that punch landed. “With that kind of power, she should’ve been able to dodge it. Warp reality, probability, however it works., whatever. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. I don’t know how she’s run on that blessing for so long, but her time’s up.”

Juliet had thought of Alanza as invincible for so long, that she hadn’t considered that punch to be a factor. “You’re basing your strategy on the assumption that your opponent’s stamina gives out. That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? She’s not a Legendary. She’s human just like us. Everything ends eventually.”
“I don’t think you really have a plan at all. It sounds like your plan is nothing more than hopes and dreams.”
“Juliet, why would I give a s**t about what you think of my plan?”
“I’m trying to give you a second chance!” Juliet pleaded angrily.
“Why do you even care if I win or lose?!” Sal spat back.

Her words blew away on the wind. Juliet ran a hand through her hair and looked out at the ocean. The horizon never seemed to end. “I take you for someone who has never been satisfied.”
Salieri tightened her folded arms. “So now you’re hitting on me?”
“No, Sal.” Juliet’s eyes wandered to the spray of seafoam on the beach. “You’re like me. I’ve never been satisfied.”
That struck a chord in Sal. She saw Juliet’s eyes more clearly than before. They were a deep well of grief. Her guard dropped, and she let loose the feeling she’d had all day. Longer, even. Maybe forever. “Is that right?”
“…I’ve never been satisfied…”

That constant knawing at her insides, fueled by her rage, was something Salieri had always kept to herself. Nothing she had done relieved that hunger. It always reared its head sooner or later. Salieri knew, as a gut reaction, that people wouldn’t understand. Until now, of all places, with Juliet, of all people. Salieri could tell Juliet had the same void.

“The funny thing about ambition, Salieri, is that it comes from something you love. Your passion. It starts to define you. That can become energy for anything you could ever want, anything you need. And the greater you become, the more you struggle to top it. We climb higher, and higher, and eventually we lose control. And then we’re left with nothing, except for the ember that lit the fuse in the first place.”

Juliet gestured to the dark, dirt driveway that led back to Anistar City. “You don’t have to burn up here. You can still walk away. Seek your greatness somewhere else.”

It was so close. She almost had her. Salieri had genuinely felt a connection to what Juliet was saying, until the end ruined it all. “…I cannot be-lieve you’d go through the trouble of telling me Alanza’s backstory, telling me we’re the same, and almost hitting the nail on the head, just to tell me to walk away. You audacious b***h. I’m not burning up here. This sidebar is over.”

Salieri spun before Juliet could get the next words out of her mouth. The thread between them snapped as Salieri walked away. Juliet knew her chance was over. She let Sal create more distance between them, and she followed.

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

Alanza removed the pen from the page.

As soon as she did, Salieri watched as her signature glowed pink. The light jumped off the page, warping and extending into a chain that jumped into Alanza’s chest. She braced herself, wincing until it was over. She stood up and rotated her shoulder. “See? My heart is bound to the page. Now if I break the contract, the Fairy Lock will know. It keeps us honest.”

She held out the pen. Salieri grabbed it and scrawled her name down. The signature turned into a chain once more, and Salieri could feel a strange strain when it jumped inside her. There was something not quite solid, but very present, wrapped around her heart. It didn’t hurt, but it was impossible to ignore.

Several people nearby, including Mia, jumped at the sound of two pairs of torches outside the gazebo flaring to life. The fire roared higher than it should have before settling into gentler flames.

“Two flames, two lives. Best two out of three starting now.” Alanza spun the Magic Pen Key cockily. “Try not to disappoint me.”

Salieri cracked her neck. Her smile was nearly a predatory snarl. “Let the games begin.”

Lumiose City - South Boulevard Pokémon Center - Afternoon

An hour after his call with Robin, Zack and Serene appeared in a flash of light. They left the Teleport Zone booth as it flashed from Red to Green, and made their way down the stairs to the center lobby. In his short time in Kalos, Zack found he preferred this pokémon center; it was further from the gym and packed with fewer trainers. Now that it was the second week, and plenty of league hopefuls had either dropped out or filtered across the country, the South Boulevard Center was practically dead.

'Hi there, welcome to the Pokémon Center.' The receptionist stood up straight from the counter and got into character for the first trainer she'd seen in a good while. 'May I see your pokémon? Oh?'

She cocked her head at Serene, at the anxious expression on the creature's face. Zack felt her eyes flick back up to him.

'Here,' he said, recalling the psychic type and passing all of his pokéballs to the nurse. Better to rush this through. Besides, his team really needed the rest; Heal Pulses only went so far, and even they ran out after a while. 'Your canteen still open?'
'Um, certainly,' the nurse said, pointing through the open doors to Zack's right as he swiped his trainer card across the scanner. 'The last orders are at five, but afterwards you can buy prepackaged meals from the vending machine.'
'Delicious. Later,' Zack said, tapping the counter with his palm as he made his way off.

Center food was okay. Back in Unova, Zack had been both breadwinner and head chef for his little family, and he had gotten pretty good at it. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but whenever he brought anyone back home they were impressed. He ordered in tofu doused in a barbecue marinade, with a side of rice and vegetables then found some seats. First time he'd stopped since the Tower, when Dexio-

Zack shook his head. Forget about all that. He'd made a decision, and it was the best one to make. When his Aunt Mariah had been mentoring at the academy, she drilled into her students the importance of mastering your own feelings. Hard to shake a trainer who was truly, utterly focused on their objective, able to disregard distractions and noise. Some took to that training better than others. Most quit and chose a different mentor. Zack hadn't been allowed that particular option.

He drummed his hands on the table as he waited. Robin should arrive any time now. Zack was anxious to fill her in with everything that had happened. He remembered his scepticism when Salieri had first tried to convince him of the Darkhorse Hunters, and knew that pragmatist like Robin would need to be told by somebody she trusted before she believed anything so outlandish. Not that trust between them was so readily available. Zack had seen to that. When he left Franklin to die to save himself, he sacrificed one friendship. When he found comfort with somebody who wasn't his girlfriend, he lost another. Maybe the most important one.

'Shiiiiittt,' Zack sighed, pinching his brow. He glanced over at the kitchens, and saw it was just one cook and an Audino on duty today. Nobody else was in the cafeteria, so they probably had to fire everything up just for Zack. Good thing he was only slightly starving.

He took out his Holo Caster and was about to flick through the news, but stopped at the first headline: | FIRE AT BAA DE MER RANCH - INCENDIE AU RANCH CABRIOLAINE |

Cold sweat broke across Zack's brow as his insides turned to liquid. He fought the urge to turn the caster off right there, but after a moment to let his panic subside, he carried on reading.

EARLIER today, a fire broke out at Baa de Mer Ranch on Route 12 in northern Kalos. Also known as Fourrage Road,
the idyllic route is popular among trainers for its rolling countryside and farmland situated close to our sapphire
Kalosian waters. At midday today, several trainers raised the alarm to an apparent arson at the Baa de Mer Ranch,
which famously allows trainers to traverse the nearby grasslands atop their specially trained Skiddo. As of yet, there
are no leads that point towards any individual or group as the culprit behind the arson attack. Tragically, owners
Audrey and Adrian Ramos - cousin of the Coumarine City gym leader - were found dead nearby from smoke
inhalation. The Shalour City Police are now treating this as a murder case.

Zack dropped his holo caster with a clatter that drew the cook's attention for just a moment. He had to get his breathing under control, he thought, closing his eyes. Dead? They were dead? He brought his hands together either side of his nose and listened to his breath going in and out. Easy. Calm. He hadn't started the fire - this wasn't his fault.

But if he hadn't been there in the first place-

The trainer shook the thought loose like Mariah had taught him, and picked the holo caster back up. He read to the end, and found no mention of either him or Emily. Once the article finished, it repeated in Kalosian and Zack put his caster away. This was fine. It was like the pirates; some had died when Zack and the crew launched their assault on the Fishbone, but it wasn't like any of them were about to win the Oak Peace Prize. That old couple were in bed with the Darkhorse Hunters. They had blood on their hands. Helena's blood, if they had the chance.

His logic eased his anxiety but not his nausea. Zack thought back to the encounter with Emily as a cold chill washed over him. She had a list, still crumpled up in Zack's pocket. His mother's name had been on there. They knew about his mother.

Zack swiped through his contacts, keeping an eye out for Robin entering the cafeteria, and dialled. It took a few rings, but Katelyn Redgrave's phone was set to dial out longer before hanging up. Sometimes it took her a while to reach it. She was, after all, completely blind.

'Hey there, stranger,' Katelyn Redgrave said as the call went through. Even though the hologram dyed everything blue, Zack could still picture the red-brown of her hair, same as his and Helena's, the glassy pale to her skin, and the deep scars around her eyes. 'Long time, no see.'
'Hey, mom,' Zack said, voice catching in his throat. 'Thought I'd call you up.'
'Wow, I'm honoured,' Katelyn said with a smirk almost exactly like Zack's own. 'My firstborn deems fit to grace me with his presence.'

One pregnant pause later, Katelyn laughed.

'Seriously, I'm happy you called. I get some updates from Helena, and I follow the news, but I miss hearing from you. It's not like you're in the papers when you don't get any badges.'
'I'm sorry. I've been busy.'
'Oh, I can believe that. That girl Emma, the one from the PokéMart? She came calling a couple of days ago. I had to tell her you'd left the country.'
Zack felt himself settle a bit. He grinned. 'Yeaaah, she's part of the reason I did.'
'This is the boy I dragged up,' Katelyn sighed, rolling her eyes. They were both dull, damaged from where glass had splintered into them in the crash. 'You better apologise when you get home, you're not turning into a deadbeat like your dad.'

'Right, right,' Zack said. His mother knew full well she could get Zack to do anything by warning him he might turn out like his father. Except pokémon training, he guessed. 'You getting by okay?'
'Neighbours call round every day to check I haven't fallen down, or walked into a wall or- Oh, and thanks for that batch cook. I gave some out to the granny two floors up. Her son's off training too. Hope you don't mind?'
'It's fine,' Zack said, allowing a melancholy smile to pass his face. As isolating as home felt, he wished nothing more than to be back there in that moment.

'Hey, isn't it amazing your sister got sponsored?'
'She what?'
'Hasn't she told you? Some guy, uh, Lord Ballywatsit-'
'Balibar.'
'Yeah, he took an interest in her and now she's got a sponsorship gig. Do you know how much those things pay? Not that I'm excited about the money, but you know...'

'Usually well,' Zack replied, still trying to process what he'd just heard. Balibar sponsored his sister, and this was the first he was hearing about it. Everything he knew about Kalosian politics whirled in his head. Why offer it to her? Why the hell did she accept it? 'Lord Balibar's what you call a Court Noble. They're a bunch of huge jackasses who run the country.'
'Yessss,' Katelyn grinned. 'Zack, Helena's made it. She doesn't even need to win the league now, just ride this sponsorship deal to the end.'

Awful lot of money to sink into a rookie trainer. Not that Helena was bad, but before last week she had nothing, no reputation to her name or any weight to her persona. Zack had spent years actively avoiding a high profile and he still would have more name recognition than Helena until just a few days ago. This wasn't a straightforward deal, and Zack didn't need to be Sherlock to figure out why Helena hadn't told him herself. She knew exactly what he'd say.

'Yeah,' he said. 'That's great.'
'I know? Now you can just relax, stop being so serious all the time. Whatever help you gave her must have worked.'
'Nope,' Zack said. 'That's all Helena.'

'Redgrave!' the chef called out with Zack's order. Zack raised his hand and the kitchen Audino made its way over with a cart.
'Mom, I gotta go. Food's here.'
'Fine, fine. It was nice catching up, Zack. Same time next week?
'Didn't I apologise?'
'Hm, few more times would be nice. Don't be a stranger, Zack. I love you.'
'Love you too.'

The call ended as the Audino wheeled its cart up to Zack's table and he grabbed his food. Not five minutes later, Robin walked into the cafeteria with Dexio and Sina, and Zack swore under his breath.

Taine Villa

Mia winced and looked away while Salieri threw up in the toilet. Oberon was standing on the edge of the bathtub, patting her trainer on the back. She was using Aromatherapy to help the poison out of Sal’s system. Much vomiting ensued. “So no matter what she chose, you wanted her to tell you who Nicolette Nostrad is.”
“You can dare someone to tell the Truth if they choose Dare. She didn’t have a choice.” Sal gagged.
“How’d you know she was lying?”
“Didn’t really. It was a gamble. Strong hunch.” Sal burped. “She’s not like the others. Probably has special privilege if she can go public. Of course she’d lie about it, she’s probably more scared of Nicolette than me. For now. Oh god BLEEEECCCH.”

Her head went back into the toilet. “Lightweight,” Mia said, sipping on another beer. “So the whole plan was to play Truth or Dare?”
“Just part. Big thing was to choose two games.”
“…you chose one game.”
Sal moved to the sink to rinse out her mouth and look for mouthwash. “I made her choose my game. I wanted her to want to fight me.”

The pieces clicked together. As easily as that, Mia understood why Salieri wanted to build hype, take the crowd morale, and poke at Alanza all night. She knew now why the first game didn’t matter. If anything, it only helped. In hindsight, it was obvious. Quite the Salieri thing to do. “If she always make the winning choice, won’t that be the same for a fight?”

Sal spat gargled mouthwash into the sink. “Maybe. She’s still human, though. So I’m sure I’ll still win.”
“This is hardly a plan at all. You just threw up for five minutes.”
“Mia, I’ve never lost a fight at a party in my life and I don’t intend to.”
Mia mulled it over, bobbing her head in bemusement. “I mean that sounded cool at least. I don’t get why you couldn’t tell me.”
“I needed to see more of what she could do first. And I didn’t know how she won until Juliet told me. Depending on the method, she could’ve used you knowing for an advantage. Like if she read minds or something.”
“Ah. Fine. You’re forgiven.” Mia looked out the door. “Wait what’s upstairs?”

Sal looked like she was just remembering that she asked Mia to keep the party downstairs. “Oh yeah. That’s like, a backup. Just in case I'm getting my a** kicked. I’ll tell you after just don’t go up there.”
“You can’t just tell me now?”
“Nah.”
“Because.”

Sal flashed her a grin. “Trollin'.”

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

“Anyone wanna play ping pong?”

Alanza looked around. The crowd had dispersed during the downtime, waiting to reform when the last round would begin. She stood at the table with two paddles and a ball. A few people from the pool and the lawn looked over, trying to find ways to get out of it. “I mean, you’re probably gonna win anyway, right?” said a girl floating on a tube.
“You don’t know unless you try. C’mon.”
“Mmm, I’m not really a gambling kind of girl.”
“We don’t have to play for anything. Just volley for fun.”
“…think I’ll pass, sorry!” The girl kicked herself off from the side of the pool and floated away.

Alanza looked at the paddles in her hand with a dark expression. “…I didn’t wanna play anyway,” she said to herself, tossing the tools aside and plopping down on a chair while waiting for Salieri by herself. When she saw Matheson and Juliet walking out of the house, she waved them over. “You good?” she asked Juliet, feeling bubbly again when her best friend walked out. She was even glad to see Matheson.

Juliet nodded slowly, nursing more water. “Just a little dizzy,” she answered quietly.
“Take a seat, Jules. I won’t ask you for anything else. You can sit back and watch, it’ll be cathartic.” She eyed Matheson, and pointedly added, “You can watch too, traitor.”

Math didn’t bother responding to her barb. He was tired of trying to reason with her. Instead he sat beside Juliet on a bench. Alanza could practically feel Math judging her, so she folded her arms defiantly. “Got something you wanna say to me?”

Her looked up at her, wearily. “Good luck, Aly. I mean it.”

One Shot vs The Duelist – Final Round

The subcontract for the fight declared that each combatant would be allowed to use one Pokémon to help them, with no substitutions. Help from an outside source was forbidden and would result in forfeiture. If a fighter was incapacitated for more than 15 seconds, they would lose. Finally, after some nagging from Matheson and Mia, Sal and Alanza added a ‘No Killing’ clause. It left them with some violent wiggle room.

Mia sat next to Juliet and Matheson on the log bench in the midst of the reformed crowd, watching Salieri and Alanza prepare to square off in the light of the last two torches. She attempted to pass her blunt to Juliet and Math, who both declined. “…do you guys not-“
“My dad would kill me,” Math told her.
“My father would literally lock me into a dungeon,” Juliet answered.
“Arceus.” Mia briefly daydreamed about getting all the nobles high. It was a nice daydream.

“Ivan.” Salieri’s tapped the Pokédex in her arm cradle. “I choose you. Let’s put Conversion into practice.”
“Beep boop, as you wish Master.”
“Cut the genie s**t and get out here.”

Red and blue pixels flew out of the glowing screen of the dex, forming into Sal’s Porygon-Z. Alanza reached into her pocket and took out her cream colored Klefki, spinning him on her finger. “Cute. My choice is Baccara.”

Salieri had watched League footage of Alanza’s matches. She hadn’t seen the Klefki in action. It was a support type Pokémon, which meant Alanza would probably be using hers to boost a melee fighting style in the same way Sal would use Ivan. Given that she and Math were friends, Sal wondered what kind of techniques they’d have in common.

The song that was playing inside was coming to an end. “When the song starts, you can make your prep moves. When the beat drops, that’s the cue to fight,” Alanza explained venemously. “Agreed?”
“Sure thing.” Salieri cracked her knuckles. “It’ll be your last dance of the night.”

The song began. Alanza gripped Baccara tight in her hand and whispered a command. A pink whip of energy came from the key shaped tip of Baccara, condensing and reforming into a humming, key shaped extension of Baccara. Alanza held her Psyshocking Klefki like it was a baseball bat, taking on a hunched stance with the key ready to swing. “A key shaped sword,” Mia noted, adjusting her glasses. So Alanza…is really….a weeb!

Alanza took another key off of Baccara, and spun it around so it was facing her. She put it to her own chest and turned. Suddenly, the key was gone, and the Taine’s eyes were glowing. Sal could faintly make out the patterns of keyholes on her eyes. The hell is that?

Salieri held out her hands. Ivan became a cloud of pixels again, splitting into two groups that flew to her arms. They coalesced around her outstretched hands into blue and red glove shapes, extending to her elbows. Each of Ivan’s eyes were on the palms of Sal’s hands. She swiveled a foot back, holding her palms up so they were facing her enemy.

Lights from phones and recording devices lit up the crowd. They were ready to record. Everyone grew silent with anticipation.

The beat dropped.

Salieri dashed at Alanza, who swiped at the other girl with the Psy-Key. Sal got low and slid under it like a baseball player, making sure her bandanna was still in place with one hand and scrambling to run at Alanza again.

Alanza unleashed a series of swipes with the Psy-Key, using the weapon’s longer reach to keep Salieri at bay as the rebel parried the battering attacks with her protected hands, emanating tiny Discharges from her palms before contact every time. The two of them were a flurry of attacks and blocks, evenly suppressing each other’s assaults until Salieri ducked a horizontal swipe. Curling her fingers into a fist, she rocketed upwards and uppercut Alanza under the chin with a Psyshock enhanced punch.

Alanza was flipped off her feet, and stretched her leg to land a kick on Sal’s face as she was blown backwards. Sal was knocked over too, and the two of them had to get back up to find their bearings.

Sal wiped blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. Strong. Stronger than when she punched me before. Probably what that chest key did. ******** these esoteric superpowers, man. She leapt up and with a heavy spin, hurled a plastic chair at the rising Alanza.

A Fairy Wind blasted from the tip of the Psy-Key at the chair before it made contact, blasting it back in Salieri’s direction. Salieri batted it away into the pool, shattering it to pieces with a Psybeam left hook, which left her open for Alanza. With a scream, Alanza slammed the key into Salieri’s gut. The wind was knocked out of the rebel, and when Alanza followed through with the swing, Salieri was sent flying across the pool.

In midair, Sal grit her teeth and aimed her palms at Alanza. Wires made of electricity spat from Ivan’s eyes on her palm at the noble duelist. She held up the key to block the move, but the Electroweb tethered itself to Alanza’s arms and legs. Salieri yanked, pulling Alanza off the ground with her. She heaved as she skidded painfully on her back into the lawn, and Alanza was snapped off the webs and through a window into the house with a loud crash. Sal growled, kipped up to her feet, and jumped in through the broken window.

Now that the fight had moved inside, people were scrambling to keep taking videos and follow the action. Matheson and Mia were already on the move. He pulled Juliet along so the groggy Nostrad could keep up. She’s Unlocked her Potential, Math thought as he rushed to watch the fight. It was a Klefki move they had created together a long time ago. Using the key on yourself would allow you to reach your peak of power, but that wasn’t something the body could withstand. The longer Alanza kept Unlock Potential on, the quicker she’d wear herself out. Or worse.

They got to the doorway in time to witness Salieri in the long hallway, shooting Ice Beams from her hands at Alanza. Alanza whipped side to side, jumping from one narrow wall to another to dodge the stray crackling bolts of blue leaving swaths of ice in their wake before leveling a flying kick at Sal.

Sal held up her Ivan Gloves to help absorb the blow and was forced to continue backwards, dodging continuous spins of Baccara’s Psy-Key saber and high kicks from Alanza. Every missed swipe of Alanza’s sparkling weapon carved into the walls, tearing up tapestries and paintings. Priceless to some. Worthless to the owner. Sal was backed up into the kitchen, where the partygoers left inside were either running to a safer place or sidled up against the wall to watch the action.

Sal grabbed a frying pan off a rack to club at Alanza’s wrist, parrying an attack and getting inside her enemy’s range. As Alanza tried to take a step back and regain her stance, Sal swung the frying pan at her head.

Alanza reached with her free hand into a bowl of fruit and grabbed an orange. Suddenly, Sal found herself holding the orange, and Alanza had the frying pan. She barely had time to register the Switcheroo before receiving the loud clang of a frying pan to the side of her head for her troubles, sending her reeling over a couch in the next room. Alanza kept up the chase and jumped over the couch to plant the Psy-Key end first into Sal’s chest.

Sal rolled over, barely dodging the blow. As Alanza was crouched, Sal got to her feet, and let another Electroweb loose from Ivan at close range. This time, the shorter electric ropes tagged onto Alanza’s free hand, binding the two girls together by the hands.

As Alanza reflexively tried to pull herself free from Salieri, Sal wasted no time letting loose a sequence of Psyshock infused rabbit punches at Alanza’s spine with her other hand, all hitting in the same place. Alanza’s eyes bulged in immense pain and she spun to ram her skull into Sal’s face, creating an opening that lasted long enough for her to get the room to swing at Sal with the Psy-Key. With enough windup, the sparkling weeb weapon battered Sal’s chest, sending her flying into a chair and severing the Electroweb binding.

Alanza got to her feet and doubled over, spitting blood onto her carpet. She could see that Salieri, her face a bloody mess, was already getting up. From across the room, Ivan blasted another Ice Beam from Sal’s palm. Alanza scurried to the side, avoiding as Sal swiveled the shot to track Alanza’s position. She swung the Psy-Key to fire off another Fairy Wind, disrupting Sal’s attack by forcing her to duck to dodge.

Alanza was running up on Sal now, who was ducking into the next room. As soon as Alanza stepped into the foyer, Sal threw an errant Zap Cannon down from her position at the top of the stairs. Alanza dashed under the wild electric attack that burst behind her as she ran up to the stairs after Sal. The orange and red lines guiding her to victory or defeat were overloading her senses, switching up with every attack Salieri threw out. It wasn’t something she could turn off. Salieri’s blows weren’t as strong as hers with Unlocked Potential, but the ability to perceive her odds didn’t help if her opponent could keep up with her speed.

As the song changed again, Salieri had again ducked out of sight, further into the empty upstairs wing. When Alanza got to the top of the stairs, she slowed down, letting the light of the Psy-Key glow through the dark hallway. Salieri was nowhere in sight. There was an orange line leading to the gameroom. “You have to know that I know you’re in there,” Alanza taunted loudly, slowly walking to the ajar door. Beyond the door was a mixed of red and orange, and Alanza couldn’t see much of the inside through the crack in the doorway. Not knowing what it could mean, but knowing she was the gambling type of gal, Alanza kicked the door open.

A bucket fell from the top of the doorway, falling down and unloading a mass of sticky black ink. Alanza stepped back to let it splash on the ground, and as it did, Salieri dropped next, planting an axe kick with a THWACK on Alanza’s skull. Alanza bowed over, but did not fall. She looked up, the keyholes in her eyes shining bright, and with two hands she jabbed the Psy-Key into Sal’s stomach as the girl landed. Salieri flipped onto her feet and Alanza entered the room properly.

The contents of the game room were gone. All the arcade cabinets, the foosball table, the billiards, even the board games. Gone. The walls and ceiling were coated with the same black ink that was in the bucket. Now Alanza recognized it as the same type of ink Mia had blasted her with during pong. That was Veillantif’s Octazooka. “You can’t use a second Pokémon! That’s cheating!” she yelled harshly, her throat thick with blood she’d swallowed.

She expected Salieri to start wheezing with a heart attack, clutching at her chest. Instead, Salieri formed a bubble of psychic energy in her palm using Ivan. “I didn’t cheat!” she yelled back, popping the bubbles and letting the stream of psychic energy loose as a Psybeam.

Alanza scanned the room, thinking of her dodge. Random spots in the empty room flashed red, seemingly for no reason. She couldn’t understand it, but she did her best to avoid it as she used a Fairy Wind to push herself off to the side. As she ran down the length of the room, so did Sal. And then, mid run, Sal seemed to disappear.

Alanza stopped in her tracks. There was a dull orange line running from her to the spot where Salieri was supposed to be. But there was nothing there. The consequences of the Unlock Potential Key were beginning to take their toll. With little time to act, Alanza fired a Mirror Shot from the tip of the key in the direction of the orange line.

The Steel laser collided with and broke the screen of an arcade cabinet, which Alanza could now see. It was only partially there, as if it had been edited into existence, and she could only see where she had shot it. The Taine could make out tiny shapes coming off the cabinet as it came back into view. The tiny shapes, which were black like ink, became green as they fell to the ground. Scales? From a Pokémon?

Salieri leapt out from behind the cabinet, jumping off it and flying at Alanza with a superman punch. Alanza lifted up the key and the two clashed. Salieri’s fist struggled against the Psy-Key as the two girls were again face to face.

“I booby trapped this house before the contract! To ******** with you! That’s not cheating!” she yelled right back at Alanza. The pain of a broken rib or two reverberated heavily throughout Salieri, echoing the sentiment of her other numberous injuries. She ignored them all. She’d allow herself to stop and feel when the game was done. “You’re the one who chose this fight, Alanza! Don’t start what you can’t finish!” Salieri retracted her fist to try again. Alanza, feeling herself slowing down, thrust the key at Sal as hard she could. Sal spun around it, whirling to Alanza’s back, and she let loose another sequence of Psyshock rabbit punches. These ones rattled up and down against Alanza’s spine, raining damage down on the Taine.

She reached behind her and spun, guided by an orange line to grab Salieri by the throat and toss the rebel over her shoulder. Salieri flipped through the air and landed in a pushup position seemingly in midair. Another invisible object. Salieri reached down and threw a cluster of unseen objects at Alanza, who allowed them to hit her thanks to her color based threat assessent. Maybe dice? Harmless either way. Salieri still took the opportunity to jump off the invisible foosball table, grab the chandelier, and launch herself in another axe kick at Alanza. Her kicked crushed into the floor instead, splintering the wood as Alanza dodged and swung again. Once again they were a whirlwind together. Alanza would manage to get a powerful punch or elbow in at any opportunity she could, while Salieri kept trying to get behind her opponent to blast off more punches at Alanza’s back.

The exchange was becoming a dangerous game of attrition, as they had sacrificed dodging maneuvers for more blows. Both girls separated for a moment to reset, and Alanza brought the Psy-Key down hard to crush into Sal’s skull.

Sal shifted her body to the side, nearly dodging the whole strike. It clipped her shoulder, and she could feel something crack, but she resisted the urge to scream and instead used the chance to plant her palm on Alanza’s chest. She pushed.

Alanza became transparent as Salieri’s used Ivan’s Alternate. She phased through the wall, and once she was in the hallway again, snapped painfully back to this plane of existence. She landed on the long running rug going through the hallway, and it was too late for her to act on the red line warning signals below her. The carpet, laid over a bed of ink, slipped out from under her feet, and she fell to her back. Salieri burst from out the gameroom door. Alanza scrambled to her feet, and before she could brace herself, Salieri tackled her into the next room. Her old bedroom.

As soon as they fell into the room, a set of strings attached to the door snapped at once, releasing a cascade of balloons filled with Smokescreen to the ground. Alanza felt Sal get off of her, and the other girl became lost in the smoke. Alanza coughed as she got up, spinning with the cloud and holding her Psy-Key close.

“Running out of steam, Alanza?” Sal whispered through the smokescreen. Alanza saw an orange line and swung, hitting nothing but her dresser as Salieri evaded in the Smokescreen, landing some quick pot shots punches on Alanza from behind. “You sound tired.”
“Real smug for someone who fights dirty,” Alanza said, doing her best to keep her voice level. She heard a creak behind her, and slashed at the source. Her Psy-Key ripped the drapes off her window, opening it up in the process. Smoke leaked out into the night air.
“Dirty, sure. Dirty and effective. You haven’t had to fight this hard in a long time, huh Alanza?”

With enough smoke cleared, Alanza could make out Salieri next to the doorway. She had Electrowebs coming out from both hands, stretching to their limit on the walls next to Alanza. It looked like Salieri had created a slingshot, with herself as the ammo.

“Who’s the darkhorse now?”

Salieri released, allowing the stretched weblines to propel her at Alanza with a full force drill kick. Alanza held up the Psy-Key to block, and the two girls went straight out the window.

In midair, the girls grabbed each other, pummeling with punches and headbutts before falling with a massive splash into the pool below. Their former spectators, who didn’t want to pursue too closely from inside the house in order to keep a safe distance, heard the noise and started to head back outside.

As displaced pool water rained down, Alanza and Salieri emerged from underwater, pulling themselves up and out of the pool. The water in the pool was streaked with red flowing from their battered bodies. As soon as Salieri got out, she planted one hand on the ground, and twisted. Her short cry echoed through the night as she popped her shoulder back into place. Alanza was getting up, with Baccara in hand, clawing frantically at her chest until the Unlock Potential Key came out, clattering onto the ground. She blinked once, and her eyes returned to their normal icy blue. She spat water onto the ground as Sal stumbled at her, coming in with a wide hook.

The punch connected and Alanza dropped, but not before grabbing Sal’s ponytail and taking her down too. They hit the ground hard, painfully, and brushed each other off to get up again. Now on her feet once more, Alanza brought down the Psy-Key like an executioner’s axe. Sal spun with a breakdancing flare, sweeping her legs to knock back the key and keep Alanza away. The girls were on the lawn now, out of breath and struggling to continue. With one more mutual tackle, they tangled together, rolling down the hill towards the tree line that led to the beach.

Back at the house, the crowd had finally made it outside just in time to see Salieri and Alanza rolling away at a distance. The torches and light from the house didn’t reach the tree line. All they could see were brief flashes of blue and pink light flying back and forth, getting farther and farther away. There was an unsaid agreement between all the spectators that things had turned dangerous. After seeing how the girls had demolished so much of the house within minutes, no one wanted to take an accidental stray shot. At the same time, they were dying to know what would happen.

Only one person broke out from the crowd. It was Juliet, running full speed around the pool to catch up to the girls. “JULES!” Matheson yelled, but his cry fell on deaf ears. He hesitated, then turned back to the extremely tense crowd. Juliet was a better trainer than him. She could take care of herself. “Listen guys, we’ll probably be fine if we go up ******** that,” Mia said, running after Juliet as fast as she could. Which was to say, not very. Bass flew after her, and soon the two of them disappeared into the night like the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The girls ran separately through the forest, shooting Ice Beams and Mirror Shots at each other from a distance and failing to hit a target through the trees. Finally, they ended up on the beach. The orange and red lines were flickering and merging in Alanza’s vision. Too many blows to the head had rattled her brain. She didn’t know what to trust, but she did know Salieri was walking up to her.

“It’s just you and me out here.” Salieri maintained a slow, grim walk as Alanza huffed through the pain. “I didn’t want an audience for this anyway. The darkhorse hunts are over, Alanza.”

The Psy-Key was flickering in and out of existence. The Ivan Gloves were destabilizing, trying to maintain form and not turn back to pixels. Both Pokémon had sustained a lot of the damage throughout the fight. They were nearly as exhausted as their trainers were.

Alanza swung the key, but Salieri ducked it, coming up behind Alanza and chopping at her spine. Alanza spun but so did Sal, keeping behind the noble. She grabbed Alanza’s shoulder and used the leverage to bring her knee up to Alanza’s back, sending Alanza toppling forward. The noble reared around with a backhand that struck Sal square across the face. Sal went with the motion after taking the hit, planting a hand on the ground for a spinning cartwheel and kicking Alanza from behind. Again, Alanza’s balance became wobbly.

Sal used the opportunity to hack up drying blood from her throat, spitting it into the beach. Her insides roiled. This had been one of the most grueling fights of her life. In another life, she would’ve commended Alanza. She could’ve even respected her tenacity.

Alanza was struggling to keep standing. Salieri, feeling the same, limped over. The pixels forming her gloves dissolved into a cloud that flew back inside of her Pokédex. “Beep boop, low battery battery batteryyyyy,” Ivan chirped with a renewed voice, making a frowny face Porygon-Z emoji on screen before displaying 0 HP. The Psy-Key faded into dying sparkles, and Baccara’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. She was KO’d, returned in a flash of light to a Pokéball on Alanza’s belt. The Taine held up her fists, rocking on her heels.

“I can do this all day,” she growled, desperate and seething.

Salieri shook her head. Now she could see what Juliet saw: a girl stuck in the past, searching in all the wrong places for something she may never find. Oh god…you’re me. From another place. From another time.

“I can’t.”

A wave crashed into the beach as Alanza came at her one last time, throttling a spiral jab straight for Salieri’s face. Sal swayed, tripping on the sand and accidentally dodging the punch. She pushed forward, taking long steps and ending up behind Alanza. She looked back, remembered Moze, and aimed one last chop at Alanza’s spine.

The twisted rage drained from Alanza’s face as she gasped. Something inside her shifted to where it wasn’t supposed to be. And suddenly she was a little girl again, sitting on her hospital bed in Castelia City. She looked around for a familiar face. Juliet. Matheson. Even her family. Some kind of comfort to cut the loneliness.

“Hi Alanza!”

She was scared to turn, in fear that the voice wasn’t there. But she did, and when she saw Victini at the foot of her bed, tears welled in her eyes. “…Victini?”
“Mm-hmm!” The tiny rabbit spread their arms out wide. “You got really big! It’s been a long time! I missed you!”

Alanza was her current age now, in her current clothes. The tears remained. “Is that really you?” she asked, trembling.
“Of course! Who else would it be?” They beamed at her.
“I-I-I looked everywhere for you,” she sniffled, trying and failing to just smile and not cry. “I missed you too.”
“I never got to thank you, for saving me. So I left you with something to help you along!” Victini pointed to her heart. She looked down, and could see it glowing a warm orange. “You didn’t see me, but I never really left you, Alanza!”
“Does this mean you…s-still wanna be my friend?”

they grew melancholy. “Of course! But Alanza…you’ve been playing mean games. When we played together, you made me happy! What happened?”
“…I didn’t…I’m sorry…” She hung her head low. “I didn’t wanna be a loser anymore. I thought you’d come back if I was…more like you.”
“I like you when you’re you!” They scratched their head and smiled again. “It wasn’t about the games!”

Victini began to fade, turning into orange and red motes of light slowly. Alanza sat up, panicked. “Wait. No, Victini, please, I can be me! I can do better! Don’t go!”
“I know you can. I believe in you Alanza.” A tear rolled down their face as they held up a peace sign. “I’ll find you when you play nice, ok?”
Alanza tried to get up, but her legs wouldn’t move. “No, no, please, Victini, don’t leave me again! VICTINI!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Salieri looked back and saw Alanza drop to her knees, reaching out for something that wasn’t there. A pink chain unfurled out of her heat, and gently broke into nothingness. Her eyes went blank, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sal felt the binds on her heart dissolve, but stood staring at Alanza on the beach, breathing deep. Five seconds. Ten seconds.

She leaned back and bellowed a purely primal scream into the sky for as long as her breath would allow. Salieri dropped to her knees and gripped the sand, letting it fall through her fingers. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. She put a hand on her bandanna, still intact despite everything, and gripped it tight, wishing the owner was here to help her stand. Sal pushed herself to her feet and turned back to the treeline.

And there was Juliet, standing alone on the beach, panting from her sprint. She looked to Salieri, then to Alanza on the ground. Sal watched as Juliet’s mouth formed a small O, before her eyes focused on Salieri’s. Their stares locked. Her gaze tightened, pupils growing intense. Fingers curled into balled fists.

Her ire became a mirror for Salieri to see herself. She didn’t have to look at her reflection to know what she was becoming. All day, people had been telling her what she was. A badass b***h. A vigilante. A hero. A lover. Amazing. Savage. A connard. A moron. True or not, none of those things were what she was right now, on the beach. In the forest with Faust. On the streets of Lumiose with Kyren. Few people had ever seen this side of her. Now Juliet was one of them.

And her hand was moving towards the Pokéballs on her belt.

Salieri’s muscles tensed. Slowly, she did the same thing.

Until suddenly, in her other hand, was a leather bag, bound closed at the top with rope. Inside were tiny, clattering things, and they were struggling to be free. Sal looked to Juliet, who seemed just as surprised as her. Salieri opened the bag.

Dozens of Badges floated into the night sky, glowing and shining like tiny stars. Salieri and Juliet looked up as they zipped like rain in reverse, scattering over the horizon. Several slowed overhead, floating from the beach towards the villa. Each one trailed brilliant sparkling light behind them. The lost dreams of trainers from around the world flew as comets back to where they came from.

Juliet began walking forward, and Salieri limped towards her. They stopped short ten feet away from each other, breathless. Juliet exhaled a pent up breath, and walked right past Sal to Alanza. Salieri didn’t look back, going slowly on her way back to the villa.

She heard the unmistakable sound of a Pokéball. There was a deep, snarling roar and a sudden rush of wind. Now she looked back.

With her back to Salieri and Alanza’s body cradled in her arms, Juliet was facing her Salamence, a massive sleek beast standing tall and proud. His wings were spread wide, and with a mighty flap he roared again. With a dragon in front of her, Salieri had never seen Juliet look more like the Nostrads of old.

She looked over at shoulder at Sal. All Sal could see was one eye piercing right through her. She stepped onto her dragon, and with another flap, she and Alanza flew away towards Anistar City.

“Salieri!” Mia cried, emerging from the treeline with Bass in tow. She put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “Sal, oh my god, I need to work out, you did it. That was…oh my god.” Mia plopped onto the ground, then flopped to her back, panting and looking at the sky. The badges were still flying away. “They’re beautiful.”

Salieri limped over and sat on the beach a few feet away. She looked up. Moze could be anywhere on this planet. Or maybe even beyond. She wondered if his badges would reach him, and if he’d know why. Would he think it was her? Would he come home now?

“Yeah. They really are.”

Route 18: Under a Tree

Ben watched the livestream of Sal's fight when the time finally came. He recognized those looks on those faces. He felt Manny's realization in his skull as he watched it. The first match, cocky and unbeatable. Even when close to loss. Sal was the same.

The second, Sal confident but angry. Alanza frustrated and defeated. Whatever she could have done, Sal had controlled the field...

It was before the fight he was sure what those looks reminded him of. Now and again, someone came into a gambling den certain that they had to do what they were doing. There was no other way, or they had nothing to lose, or would if they couldn't do what they were doing here. It wasn't the look of the truly desperate. When the first image of the two releasing their pokemon appeared, he immediately stood up.

Someone was going to be hurt. And if he knew Salieri, it was going to include her .When they were pushed into the building, he found himself releasing Francis, and the two flew off towards Taine Villa once Manny was returned.

Taine Villa? A Beach anyway
Francis was fast, but they hadn't been immediately close. By the time Ben was arriving, there were lights shooting from the beach to the sky, and Ben flew in that direction on instinct instead. "Look for Salieri." He said, and the two would come down to land once Francis spotted her.

And there she was, once they landed. Bloodied. A dragon had flown off from that direction earlier. He looked at Mia and Sal, and then back at the manor.

"I'm taking her to the hospital." He didn't know how badly she'd been hurt. But she needed it, he was sure. "Mia." If Salieri and Mia didn't object, he would wait for the fighter to be put onto the bird, and they'd take off to get her looked at.