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'That's what pokémon centers exist for,' Zack shrugged as Serene looked nervously between then, stared at the remaining chocolate in her hand, then carried on eating. 'Did you order drinks?'

Zack thought about it, but wasn't really too sure. He couldn't imagine his mood would improve if he visited a random stranger in the hospital, and it wasn't like people knew him for his bedside manner.

'Nah, I'm good,' Zack said. Not wanting to sound totally heartless, he continued. 'It's kind of you to take an interest in her though, I know mom would be proud. Just don't take too much time out of your training. Even without all the ******** going on in this country, competition's still tough.'

Zack glanced at Henrietta, and he didn't want to be rude but he couldn't stop his expression from saying "Really." Maybe she was one of those people who came alive during battles, but Zack's Trainer Senses didn't exactly tingle at the sight of her.

'Sure, whatever,' Zack said. He still wanted to catch up with Salieri today. He had a lot of unresolved feelings about Emily, and now an added layer of guilt for the way he'd used Serene. As he watched the Psychic lick her hands clean, Zack thought back to his mentor's teachings. Mariah had advocated for using pokémon like tools of war in battle. Plenty of trainers interpreted that differently; for Zack, he tended to give his team as much tough love as he could, while people like Robin tempered harsh training with plenty of affection and rewards.

He couldn't just turn on a dime and start being all lovey-lovey but, he thought as Emily's scream echoed in the back of his mind, he had found his upper limit for what he expected his pokémon to do.

'You'll find at the level you're at that it starts getting harder to gain raw power,' Zack said. Most trainers capped out at levels 40-50, hitting a wall that took real skill to surmount. 'I've got some s**t to take care of today, but if you want some real training, I say we organise a little day trip off route. Just us two. Uh, no offence, Henrietta.'

Robin felt a weird flutter when Salieri mentioned sleeping with Ben. There had been at least three other people in the bed when she'd slept with him, so Robin expected the guy to get around, but she guessed she was just traditional enough to feel put out by it. But then Salieri explained she was just crashing on his couch, and that left Robin feeling strangely vulnerable.

Didn't matter. Wasn't important. She swept the feeling aside and cleared her head.

'Um, it was only last night. He was trying to convince me that your government attacks commoners to keep them from winning a sporting competition - which I totally believe, by the way,' she added, remembering Moze. 'But it was all good. He said you're impulsive when people mess with the things you care about. And uh, that "this country loves nothing more than to ******** its own people, and it's ******** Salieri harder than most." which means he respects you, and ah... He said you're one of the strongest people he's ever met.'

-Zack is here with me. Helena text to Salieri as Zack spoke. It was informative, even if he was trying to seem super suave and 'I don't care' about everything.

Before she could speak Robby arrived. The suddeness of his presence caused Henrietta and jump and squeak. Tears welled in her eyes from surprise and Helena could tell her heart was probably hammering in her chest.

It was adorable.

"Robby," she said as she reached a hand out to squeeze the pink haired teens. Her whole face lit up again as she smiled, excitement carrying over into her tone as they were given a feast of Robby-made-food.

Henrietta didn't understand a word that Robby said, but Helena understood him perfectly.

"I definitely plan to train with zero complaints." The hardest part for her had been starting. Especially with her own physical training. Today was her first day not going for a morning jog and it was only because she hadn't actually gone to bed last night. She fully intended to get a lot more training in after breakfast.

Her eyes fell on Zack as she made her burger, adding the condiments and taking a portion of the fries for herself with a tray for dipping them in ketchup. She wanted to see his reaction to everything.

Henrietta's eyes lit up at it all, even the ice cream which she looked over at Serene once it was on the table, absolutely sure that the little Pokemon would be overcome with excitement. Could Pokemon get brain freeze? Cavities?

Zack was hit by Astonish, and for a moment he couldn't do anything except watch as Robby Tobb appeared out of nowhere, and gracefully populated their table with his favourite food. Zack's deepest bonds came from his time at the academy - Franklin and Robin were like a second family to him - but before that, it was Zack, Helena, and Robby Tobb.

He was intelligent, insightful, wise beyond his years, and about the only part of Helena's middle school band that wasn't total cringe. Helped that he made probably the best food Zack had eaten in all his years of travel.

Serene's jaw dropped at the sight of so much ice cream, but she startled when Zack suddenly scraped out his chair and started towards Robby before he could sit down.

'Robby!' Zack said, dragging the Iron Chef in for a bro hug, 'You son of a b***h!'
'H'w y'do'n' Zack?'
'I'm good, man,' Zack said as he let Robby go sit down. It was weird, but he actually felt it. It was as if all his stresses had just melted away, and for the first time since Zack arrived in Kalos, he felt like he was home. 'You're looking great.'

Zack sat down and jammed a burger in his mouth, then noticed Serene sitting up in her seat with both hands outstretched towards the ice cream, her fingers flexing for it. Zack reached over and dished some out for her. The Kirlia sat back in her chair, bowl on lap, and began to psychically raise ice cream into the air and float it into her open mouth.

''ow 'ong 'av' 'ou 'een 'n' 'alos?' Zack asked Robby through a mouthful of burger. From the tenderness of the patty, the fresh cut of salad, and the perfect blend of herbs and sauces, it was heaven.

---

'Noted,' Robin said, not really sure of how much she wanted to share about her plans with someone she only just met. Even if Zack vouched for Salieri, and she seemed cool anyway, it was personal. But even so, Salieri might still be able to help. 'I don't plan on sticking around in Kalos too much longer. After tonight...'

She pushed off the trainer box. While getting ready that morning, Robin let her holo caster play through some videos of Sal's battle the night before. Aside from the contests themselves, there was one clip that grabbed her attention. It was zoomed so the image had been all grainy, but from what Robin could tell it showed Alanza Taine and Salieri sign a contract, chains of light burrowing into their chests the moment their pen left the page.

'Those contracts you signed with Alanza Taine,' Robin said, watching their pokémon battle one another. Reynard versus Vigant. David versus Goliath. 'Those were binding weren't they? I mean, literally binding. You couldn't wrangle out of them?'

Robby was pulled into the bro hug, taking it smoothly and in stride as Zack took in the surprise Tobb. He was glad to have both of the Redgraves back around. Zack was usually good for a laugh and a story. Helena was like a little sister. Good to tease, and with enough snark to make it fun.

" 'Sg'd H'l'na G'tt' d'wh't's r'ght, n't eas'." Robby said, and turned his attention back to Zack as the Redgrave asked how long he'd been in Kalos. " 'M'nth'r so?" Robby tapped his chin. This was where the league was going on, so it made sense to open ahead of time, and working the kitchens had made sure that the trainers and others who ate here came back. "Y'kn'w Ah had t'do th'op'n'n' r'gh'. 'Sn't 'sy t'd't if ya d'n't do 't r'ght."

Robby took a bite of his burger. That was made right, he hoped he got the rest done proper too. "Ya g't c'ght'p'n th'p'r'te stuff, yeah? Glad y'two're 'kay."

Zack was enjoying himself. Listening to everyone talk and have a good time almost let him forget the horrors of the past few days. Of the decision he had to make. It was almost as if he was cheating karma. Surely somebody who did what he'd done didn't get to sit down and eat burgers like nothing had happened.

His mind started to wander as the others talked. Mariah had taught him to control his thoughts, to keep his focus on whatever task he had to hand. But there was no task, and Zack had finally let himself relax.

Commuters were starting to go about their day, and the traffic picked up pace. What started as a quiet street metamorphosed into a busy one. Across the way, Zack thought he saw somebody staring at him. A brunette girl about his age. Lines of commuters passed in front, but she didn't break her line of sight. She looked angry. Zack felt a chill.

'I was serious before, by the way,' Zack said to Helena. 'We should go off route and see what we can see, you're definitely ready. I used to find all kinds of s**t like that back in the day.'

Zack glanced back across the street, but the girl was gone.

---

A Klefki. Made sense, Robin supposed, she'd heard of some Klefki being able to imbue their magic into objects but it was rare.

'I gotta make sure a certain noble doesn't go back on his word,' Robin replied with sad smile. 'Any chance you could help me get a hold of that Klefki by tonight? I'd owe you big.'