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Route 7 – Riviére Walk: One Hour Ago

The map on Salieri’s Pokegear told her the Battle Chateau was on the edge of the sparkling river. This wouldn’t have been an issue if she hadn’t stumbled upon the mountainous Snorlax that decided sleeping on the bridge would be a good idea.

Other trainers before her attempted to climb up the Snorlax, only to be slapped off by it’s big paws. They had their pokemon band together in an attempt to roll Snorlax out of the way, but the beginner trainers didn’t have enough combined power to accomplish this. They also had no other way of getting across the bridge.

“Did anybody try waking it up?” Salieri asked the group, but they all shook their heads.

“This thing sleeps like a...a Snorlax,” a trainer chimed in. Other joined him.
“Nothing wakes it up!”
“He slept through my Machop’s Karate Chop!”

An elderly Painter stepped forward from the group. “The best way to wake up a sleeping Snorlax is with the song of the Pokeflute.” Salieri sighed.
“Really? I can’t just use a big burrito or something?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Sal scratched her head. This was going to be annoying. “Alright, where can I find a Pokeflute?”

The Painter pointed north at Route 6. “Beyond Palais Lane is the Parfum Palace. The Head Butler should have one on hand.”

Salieri raised her eyebrows. The Parfum Palace was the home of one of Kalos’ kings from olden days, built in honor of the war from 300 years ago. A national landmark, it now served as a museum filled with history and artifacts.

It was a good place to learn about the enemy. And an even better place to steal from the enemy.

“Yeah, I’ll get it.” Salieri clicked her skates and rolled off.

Route 6 – Palais Lane

The tree lined pathway to the Parfum Palace was a popular sight for tourists and travelers of all kinds. Mazes of grass taller than most men bordered either side, and the way the sun’s rays pierced through the canopy of the trees was very beloved for pictures and videos.

Salieri wasn’t here for the sights. At the far end of the path, she and Durendal were training. Under normal circumstances, she’d train her whole party simultaneously, but time was a factor and she wanted to focus all her efforts on her Pawniard for this mission.

“I noticed in our battle with Benedict that you have some limitations as a short range fighter. Your mobility is predictable outside of Fleché, you’re reliant on closing distance, and you don’t have defenses for status moves.”

Durendal nodded and blushed slightly, embarrassed as she listed off his faults in combat. Salieri grinned. “Cheer up, Dune. I’m going to remove one of those limitations right now.”

He perked up. “I’m going to teach you how to fly.”

~~~~

The idea behind Magnet Rise was simple. Every living being had a personal electro magnetic field. The faintness of it depended on the individual, but certain Pokemon –mostly Electric and Steel types- could control their field to fly through the air.

Durendal already had experience controlling electricity with his Fleché technique. That and the concentration he achieved through Inner Focus made learning Magnet Rise much easier. He had always been a fast learner because of this, but as Salieri watched him finally hover a few inches off the ground after a half an hour, she was surprised with his progress.

“Dune! You’re really good at this!” she told him a few claps. “Seriously, I didn’t expect you to learn that so quickly.”

Durendal dropped with a clunk and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He still felt shaky using the move, and orienting himself through the air was a clumsy process. But the praise was nice. “There’s another move I want to show you today, but that can wait til later. Now we have two jobs to do.”

Salieri pointed at the Parfum Palace in the distance. “First of all, we’re going to get the Pokeflute from the Butler in there. And then I’m gonna rob him.”

The Pawniard’s face fell flat. A sweatdrop appeared on his head. Did she say “rob him”?

In the maze behind Salieri and Durendal, the tall grass rustled. A pair of beady eyes shined from inside. Did she say “rob him”?

The Vine Whip did indeed strike Vivillon in the eye. She reeled back, squinting, and grabbed onto the vine while it was still extended. "Psybeam!"

Vivillon would pull Feather in while firing at the Fairy, trying to make up for reduced accuracy by pinning her down.

As Feather floated about trying to stay out of sight, Viola looked not at the arena but at the big screen broadcasting everything. Feather was trying to maneuver to a place where Viola could not see, but the screen had a bigger vantage point. Moving away from the camera's view would just put Feather back into Viola's sightline. As a photographer she knew sights and angles better than most. Blindness would not overcome her.

"Swerve!" Viola ordered, and Vivillon tilted herself to both smash her Psybeam into the incoming vine and to arc it towards the blind spot Feaher lingered at. Vivillon was on its last hit points and was half blinded, but it still had the will to fight.

Parfum Palace - Second Floor

It was Roy Hunter's second day as a palace guard. Kalos seemed nice and museum duty was a piece of cake, but he wasn't getting used to it any time soon. Guarding politicians and film stars was one thing, but this kind of prissy job just didn't suit. He stood alone in the palace's upper level, patrolling the red-carpeted corridor by the rear balcony. Security cameras on every corner did most of the job for him, but Roy still felt on edge. He'd been instructed to show the utmost respect to any of the museum pieces; that meant never touching them, breathing on them, or radiating heat in their vicinity. He just couldn't bring himself to revere a dead king's bath towel simply because it was older than his grandfather.

Still, a job was a job. The agency had hired him out on contract while the pokémon league was ongoing. It wasn't the best gig in the world, but places like Parfum Palace always needed a little more security, and Roy always needed a little more money.

"God, I hope nobody tries to rob the place."

"Fairy wind," Helena said and Feather complied with a blast of the fairy enchanted wind toward Beedrill, pushing herself higher into the air in the process.

((Same))

Beedrill's eyes locked onto Feather, tracking her up into the air. "Focus Energy."

The bee's mind became centered, boosting its willpower to score a critical hit. Beedrill darted up into the air after Feather, stinger at the ready. "Poison Sting!"

He jabbed one of his needle hands up at Feather once he got in close enough, tipping it with a poisonous acid.

"Lucky Chant and get away," Helena said and Feather began to chant. The chant would lock out the ability to land critical hits for a time.

Feather would then blast a fairy wind at Beedrill to launch herself further away from him and hopefully push him backwards, or at least slow his ascent.