Welcome to Gaia! ::

Court of Kings: Pages 131 – 140

~Ben wakes up on the later side to a slew of concerned texts from Salieri. He assures her that he’s fine and did not take the Curse. He agrees to meet Sal at the Shalour Pokémon Center.

~After training with her original team and a particularly motivated Banksy, Sal gets interviewed by Reporters Gabby and Ty for a short piece on rising trainer stars. Sal takes the opportunity to give her nickname, One Shot, a more positive connotation following her Gym Battle with Korrina.

~After training some more, Zack has a meeting with Gurkinn to ask for the Sablenite back. Gurkinn agrees with no hesitation, wishing for Ska to get what he wants so he leaves Kalos alone. Gurkinn admits that Sal and Zack are not the only guests at the Tower, and shows Zack the prisoner they have, a lone pirate scout caught the night before.

~Ben and Salieri touch base and catch each other up on what happened with the Stalker and Skarada. Salieri asks if Ben wants to get in on the plan to trap Skarada and get Prou back. Skeptical of Salieri’s bare bones plan, Ben joins in anyway, more renewed than before to protect Kalos. As their Pokémon train, Dune accidentally blows a hole in the nearby pier. Before anyone figures out that it was her fault, Sal and her team haul a** out of there, and Ben also splits.

~During his downtime, Zack Teleports back to Lumiose City looking for Esme. He appears in Sycamore’s Lab in the midst of a small crisis: a Garchomp is rampaging through the lab. Zack tricks the Garchomp into Mega Evolving using Serene as a conduit for a bond, and the Mega Garchomp Crunches a fire extinguisher, which knocks him out before he does too much damage.

~Skarada and Erin prep their crew for a mission on the airship. Ska gets the call he predicted from Sal, and the former companions agree on the terms for the trade.

~Said phone call ends up getting recorded by Mia, who has Ivan’s help with tracing Ska’s call to the middle of the ocean. Mia reveals Ivan is actually an independent AI she programmed who was occupying the Pokédex until detaching recently. Sal’s still confused, and Mia tells her not to worry about it.

~Their call is interrupted by Matheson, who shows up at the pier Sal is repairing. He tries to apologize, but Sal isn’t sure he’d compromise his nobility for their relationship. Putting that aside, Math also insists that defending Kalos from the pirates is his responsibility too, and to that end he enlisted Juliet’s help. Juliet shows up with a dossier filled with details on Ska, his crew, and his ship. The nobles depart for Gabriel Leroux’s funeral, leaving that gift for Sal and company.

~Esme checks out Serene and discovers the Kirilia not only recovered from her head trauma, but unlocked her Telepathy as well. On the sly, Dexio and Sina ask Zack not to rope Esme into more Darkhorse Hunter talk, especially when today is the anniversary of her boyfriend’s death. Zack and Esme talk a short walk, where Zack reminds Esme that she can get closure and he can help.

~Zack and Benedict arrive at the Tower of Mastery, waiting for Salieri. They’re early. She’s late. And they don’t know each other very well. So they make awkward small talk. You know how it is.

~Helena wakes up screaming from a nightmare, still reeling from Jean Pierre torturing her with Aura. She gets it together on the outside enough to appear normal in front of her new girl friends, and has a battle with Bridgette as her partner against Henrietta.

~That battle ends up interrupting Salieri and Banksy’s walk to the Tower of Mastery island along the sandbar path via almost dropping a whale on her head. Bridgette apologizes, Sal chastises her for her aim, and does her best to keep moving and ignore Helena. However…

~Helena splits from her friends to catch up to Sal and to say sorry for going off the day before. Sal accepts it but remains cold as Helena tries to build the courage to tell Sal about her own issues. Right before she gives up, Sal lets her better angels take over and asks Helena what’s wrong. Helena breaks down crying explaining everything about Jean Pierre (notably leaving out everything with Ratio and Moze). Still cautious, but feeling sympathetic, Sal invites Helena to meet Zack at the Tower.

~The girls meet the boys at the Tower. Helena hastily tells her story to Zack and Ben, who also feel sympathy but have to put the situation on the back burner in order to deal with Ska. Sal, Ben and Zack, for the first time in their alliance, get their s**t together as a unit and come up with a plan: Salieri will meet Ska for the trade, Zack will position himself to snipe the Pirate King, and Ben will act as the intermediary scout and communicator using Manny.

~Before they get into gear, Zack pulls Sal aside for a private chat. He tells Sal about the pirate scout in the basement, who they leave off the table of the trade. Sal tells Zack she still doesn’t trust Helena although she’s their only lead to Ratio, and Zack suggests leaving Helena in Gurkinn’s care so he can pick her mind with his Aura.

~At Mia’s house, Moze sneaks in to give her a visit. They cuddle, and after spitballing ideas about the masked man who attacked the hotel the other day, Mia provides an ultimatum to Moze: if he doesn’t see Salieri by her birthday, Mia will tell Sal that Moze is around. Moze agrees to come clean.

~Helena tries to relax in one of the Tower’s guest rooms when Seelie the Sylveon enters, prompting Helena to follow him. Seelie leads Helena to Gurkinn, where he tells her about Aura and Mega Evolution to ground her nerves.

~Sal, Zack and Ben get into their positions for the tradeoff in Shalour City, and wait for Ska to appear. He does, and they begin their trade, sending 241 and Durendal as their liasons with Ivan and the Sablenite respectively. However…

~Inside the apartment Zack commandeered for a vantage point, Pachi emerges from the bathroom, having also commandeered the apartment for a vantage point. Hazard tries to put her to sleep but she proves immune to the effect. Meaning no harm to Zack, Pachi transforms her book into a sniper rifle and trains it on...Ska? Zack isn’t welcoming of this intrusion, and prepares for an unexpected confrontation.

~The trade goes sideways when Prou refuses to give up her own Pokéball, her brainwashing too strong. Negotiations break down, and Sal tells Zack to take his shot.

~Pachi backs off when she sees that she and Zack share targets, telling him not to miss. Zack takes his shot, and Teleports to the street to continue his assault. Skarada counters the ambush, and stalls the fight to explain his true purposes.

~Ska’s ship, the Fishbone, appears in the Shalour Skyline out of a portal with a cannon trained on the city. Erin calls up the local police and explains the situation: the cannon is loaded with Kalos’ own Miasma poison gas weapon, and if she or her people are harmed while the ship is in the sky, they’ll fire on the city. The pirates descend from the ship to the Tower of Mastery using wingsuits, beginning their raid on the Tower for all its treasures.

~Shalour City goes into evacuation mode while Ska explains the hostage situation to the crew. Prou splits off to fly the Sablenite back to the ship while Ska runs away. Not hesitating to follow Prou, Salieri takes to the skies immediately, leaving behind Zack and Ben. Zack takes his own route to go defend the Tower island, while Ben chases down Skarada. The fight for Shalour City begins!

~Salieri, Banksy, Durendal, Serene and Lethal heads to the ship, with Hazard and Caboose trailing stealthily behind. Ivan reactivates, explaining he’s stalled the Fishbone’s cannon digitally for the next ten minutes, giving them a window of time to counter the pirates. In the sky, Salieri arrives first atop Banksy, breaking through enemy lines to land on the deck.

~Ben flies after Skarada atop Francis with Essence and Manny, chasing the pirate captain down and trying to keep him as a hostage in the city. With a timely sniping assist from Pachi, Ben catches up to Skarada, but Ska calls for Erin to activate a portal on the beach. They all fall in and land through another portal on the island, sans Francis who misses the chance.

~Zack crafts a makeshift motorboat with Malis’ help and arrives at the island, witnessing the pirates terrorize the acolytes and break into the Tower. Armed with only Malis and Fatass, Zack boldly challenges the pirates in front of the Tower to a fight.

~Meanwhile, at Gabriel’s funeral procession on the Riviére Walk, travel is halted as security is bolstered due to the attack on Shalour City being breaking news. Having stopped, various nobles take the time to mentally regroup. Elliot Leroux comforts Elizabeth over her father’s death, promising to answer all her questions in the near future. Jullien Nostrad talks shop with Jean Pierre about knocking trainers out of the league while watching the news. And Matheson and Juliet leave their limousine to go help the crew at Shalour City while Balibar sends Gogandantes the Sceptile Quillon to take care of the pirates.

~At Gotengo, Ivan patches Mia into the group call, and Mia tries hacking into the Fishbone’s network to help stall the cannon while the Gotengo kids keep an eye on the news.

~From the airship’s bridge, Erin chips away at Ivan’s digital roadblock. 241 arrives, and delivers the Sablenite. Erin orders 241 to prowl the ship and take care of unwanted guests.

~Ben’s Front: After stumbling from the beach to the Tower Canteen, Ben overhears Ska communicating with Erin. Erin indeed tried firing the cannon, knowing Ska’s immunity to the poison would keep him safe. Having to abandon his previous strategy, Ben engages Ska in a Pokémon battle.

~Helena shows Gurkinn the Scizorite she found. She also tells him not to read her mind after he reveals he knows Écarlate's name.

~Pachi calls into Flare HQ that she's found Ska but hasn't found the stones yet. When she gets berated for this she threatens the person on the other line with a nightmare. Musing to Catori the Smeagle, Pachi states that Shalour City may fall today.

~Azucena gets Écarlate for Helena. Loki retrieves the Pokemon so that she can use him to fight the pirates at the pinnacle of the Tower of Mastery.

~Malis abandons Zack as the fighting starts. After being shot by a dark pulse, Seelie Gurkinn's Sylveon arrives to assist him in the coming battle. Loki arrives soon after to help Zack take on the pirates as well.

~Hazard and Caboose infiltrate Ska's airship from one location while Serene, Dune, and Lethal infiltrate from another location. Dune manages to catch up to Salieri on the deck of the airship and activates his new ability Balestra a la Mode to help his allies face the pirates. Ivan provides assistance for Salieri, turning into a psy-arm so she can punch people with psyshock. Mia tells Salieri where the cannon is and Sal has Ivan hang up on her so they can go rescue Prou.

~Manny sends out a psychic message that lets everyone know there's only ten minutes until the cannon fires.

~Helena catches Nowell and his crew trying to break into the Tower's vault. Ecarlate and his Muk begin battling as his crew faces off with the rest of Helena's pokemon.

~Thanks to Manny's efforts Shalour City evacuations manage to happen more peacefully but quickly. No looting or rioting occurs.

~Unable to see her target anymore, Pachi departs.

~Matheson tells Elliot that he and Juliet have to leave to stop the airship. Juliet snaps at Jullien that she has to leave and he states that he will make an excuse for her but her actions will be discussed.

~Salieri sends Reynard and Biz Marquis to help Caboose and Hazard stop the cannon. Continuing to look for Prou, Salieri runs into another pirate - Eileen.

~Loki battles briefly at Zack's side alongside Seelie until he returns to the Tower to help Helena. Malis returns around now to help Zack finish off the pirates, his attack stat now Maximum.

~Benedict's battle against Ska continues as Essence cuts through his cards and the hero tries to defeat the pirates.

~Secret Agent Mouse and The Shadow stealthily take out guards while looking for the cannon.

~Elliot advises Matheson against facing off against pirates. Elizabeth had left before his arrival to speak to the Queen Antoinette.

~Elizabeth meets with Queen Antoinette and asks for the funeral to continue. Under the Queen's orders, it does so. Elizabeth recalls helping babysit the princess when she was younger, and Antoinette recalls her own fathers death before offering Elizabeth a shoulder to cry on.

~Salieri manages to defeat Eileen and tries to interrogate Prou's information from her. Instead Prou shows up by themselves to face Sal.

~Fourteen years ago Ratio arrives at Chateau Nostrad to kill Jullien when Jean-Pierre arrives to stop him.

~With the return of Loki, Helena manages to defeat Nowell and his crew - possibly killing the pirate in the process.

~Utilizing his trap cards, Ska would manage to escape via portal

~Helena takes herself and Zack to the top of the airship deck in pursuit of Ska and to stop the cannon.

~With Francis flying, Ben takes off toward the cannon.