Welcome to Gaia! ::

((**Edited, Again! I added a whole other section to this post just cause it fit right at the end.))
((Here's part one, Part two will be up when my mind can properly form words again. warning, this was only lightly proofread.))
((*Edit: Also, idk what the plan was for Mega evolution or Mega-stones. If this post throws a wrench into any laters plans for them, let me know and ill edit this.))
Lumiose City

'Psh, you wont tell people you don't know me, I'm too awesome' Levi mentally shouted as he darted through back allies and parkouring over over turned dumpsters. The back alleys of lumiose were as familiar to the youth as where the mechanics of a lock. With the Gotengo visited, Levi's last stop before heading towards Cyllage city was the police station on North Boulevard.

Turning a corner on Hibernal Ave. into the ally connecting it to Rouge plaza, Levi was brought up short. Infront of him was a gang of punks, one he was familiar with.

"Wel well well, look-y what we got here..." Sheva, with her short cropped pink hair cooed, sauntering closre to Levi's personal space. "If it aint the little rat who ratted us out to the police." Her eyes were slits now.

"Sorry, not my fault I caught you guys plundering a sporting goods store. I was just doing my civic duty by informing the police." He said with a shrug, a small smile threatening to pull at the corners of his lips. leaning to the left to get a better look at the group of punks situated throughout the ally behind Sheva, Levi said, "I though there were more of your guys, what happened, split up after that silver haired foreigner whopped you guys in a battle?" By now, Levi was sporting a full on cocky grin.

He already knew what happened, after he let Laura in on this group of punks previous hideout in an abandoned shop over on Bleu plaza, they've been searching for higher end Pokemon to sell to buy new diggs for a hideout. That was, until they were caught by the lumiose police force atop a commercial hotel. a little less than half the group where apprehended in the ensuing scuffle.

"Tch, yea, Trevor, 'burg, and a few others got taken down to booking. Not that its any of your business either way, so if you could be a doll and leave your Pokemon and valuables right there, we wouldn't want that pretty little youthful face of yours all scared up, would we?" Sheva drawled on with a sickening level of faux concern.

Levi's cocky smile vanished from his features, replaced with a calculating one. His eyes looking over each individual punk, calculating his odds of success. He was treating this like any other job, if his odds wernt at least 55% or higher, he'd pass. But turning and running would take just as much energy as continuing on his current course, and the way he figured it, he had at least a 60% winning odds with this venture.

"Yeaaaaaaa, im gonna have to pass. Thanks anyways."

faking a exasperated sigh, Sheva grinned and in one violent movement ripped two pokeball from her pockets before letting them loose towards Levi's direction. Levi wasn't far behind, two of his own pokeballs were flung into the space between himself and Sheva as well.

Levi's Frogaider, Jiraiya as well as his Noibat, Rhyme took to the field, facing off against Sheva's Sawk and Skorupi.

"Kids these days, just dont know how to shut up and get robbed. Sawk, Low sweep! Sko, Poison sting!" Sheva called, a crazed look in her eyes. a Few of the punks from behind her took out pokeballs as well, but backed off when Sheva whipped her head to the side to glare at them. "Stay the ******** back, this little s**t is mine!" She had a vendetta against Levi, see, she had this crazy theory that everything that's happened to them as of late stemmed from him. The loss of there base when the police showed up (that actually was caused by Levi,) all the way to when they got there asses handed to them by Zach, as well as the loss of a quarter of their members atop the commercial hotel after the extremely short battle against TK.

Needless to say, she was swoobat crazy.

Smirking, Levi called out his orders. "Jiraiya, Smoke screen! Rhyme, Gust!"

[Yes, Master!] Jiraiya responded, immidietly creating a Smoke screen around him, which was picked up by Rhymes gust and cast over the entirety of the squad of punks.

When the smoke cleared, Sheva's Sawk was standing where Levi and his two Pokemon had been just moments prior, having landed there at the end of his low sweep attack. The barrage of stingers launched by the Skorupi also having missed. But the youth as well as his Frogadier and Noibat where no where to be seen.

"Wha-...Where the he-" Sheva began, her blood still running hot from the incredibly brief Pokemon battle.

"Thanks for the cash, see you later!" Levi called, tossing a wallet he nicked off one of the punks in his open palm. Looking up, the group of punks would see the preteen atop a building he had scaled while they were blinded by the smoke screen. Not only was he able to scale the residential building in that brief amount of time, he was also able to pickpocket a wallet of an unknowing punk.

Shaking with rage, Shave started screeching up towards the roof top, "You get your thieving little as-" Levi didn't hear the rest of her rant as he sped across the rooftops of lumiose towards North Boulevard.

[Well done master, quick as ever.] Jiraiya gushed, sprinting along side his trainer in a very ninja-esque fashion.

[did you see me?! did you see me!? I was all high-ya! before went all Air bender on them!] Ryhme screeched, flying right next to Levi's face.

"C'mon Rhyme, we talked about this, personal space." the preteen complained waving his hand to get the Noibat out of his personal space.
_________________________

Lumiose - Police Station - North Boulevard

"Welcome to Lumiose City Police sta- Oh, Its only you Levi." Deputy Tessa, a short mousy looking girl with curly brown hair greeted Levi as he entered the police station. She regarded him with a smile as he sauntered in, lowering his hood.

"Aw! Im offended, Tessa, what do you mean, Only me? Dont i make your day brighter just by entering your presence?!" Levi asked, mach offended.

"You wish," Deputy Tessa said with a smile, rolling her eyes. "And that's Deputy Tessa to you, sneak thief."

"Yea yea, And ill start calling you Deputy Tessa, then next week you'll complain that you don't like the way it sounds and tell me to just call you Tessa."

"Yea yea, you need me to let you in to see chief Laura?"

"Nah, I still have the key I nicked off Walter last week." Levi explained strolling deeper into the police station like it was his home. Although, it might as well have been, Laura put in redicoulus amount of hours so he usually ended up picking up take out and eating it in her office as she complained about baddies, officiously getting advice from he delinquent nephew.

"Laura, its me~!" Levi sang as we opened the door to the office, just barely ducking out of the way as a ceramic mug that was aimed for his head shattered against the wood of the door frame. "What the-Hell-" The pre-teen started to complain.

"Don't 'What the hell' me Idjit! Look at this!" His Aunt Laura, a woman of average height with a lean figure and long soft brain hair that was usually pulled into a pony tail shouted at him. shoving a manilla folder at Levi. Opening it the youth groaned, letting the folder flop open onto Laura's desk. Inside the folder was colored photograph of himself. But that wasnt all, it was of him pickpocketing the whiny trashy noble earlier that day.

"I seriously didn't think I got caught..." Levi mumbled, glancing at the pictures one last time before plopping down into his favorite of the two chairs that were situated in front of Laura's desk.

"Well, ya thought wrong. i thought eve someone as bone headed as you knew how good the camera's are at the gates separating the routes are!" Laura complained, sitting into her own chair behind her desk.

By now, the rest of the deputies and other office workers in the police department were used to loud arguments and objects breaking in Chief Laura's office when ever her nephew visited that no one even batted an eye or thought anything strange when the ceramic mug made a reverberating crashing sound, followed up by the loud ensuing argument.

"So?" Laura prompted.

"So what?" Levi responded casually.

"So what'd you do with the cash you nicked off that noble brat?" Laura asked, rolling her eyes. When Levi cast his gaze elsewhere, she sighed, already knowing the answer.

"Look, Levi, you gotta stop stealing for the Gotengo. I already let it fly under the radar and keep it out of the spot light, but if you keep doing this for it, I wont be able to. It'll be treated the same as those groups of punks cropping up every where." Laura was cool with the existence of the Gotengo. It kept the kids from doing to much stupid s**t out in the streets of Lumiose. She figured if the kids got what ever it was out of their systems now, then when they got older they wouldn't start getting all curious about this and that, when it would stain they're record permanently if they got caught.

"I don't see what the big deal is, if shes going to flaunt her wealth around, she shouldent get upset when it gets stolen from her." Levi argued.

"Thats not the point and you know it. Just... just cut it out with the pickpocketing okay, your almost of age, and if it keeps up while your out traveling, I wont be able to keep you out of trouble in another city that's outta my jurisdiction." She was hard on Levi, but she really cared for the kid.

Levi opened his mouth to argue some more, but Laura held up her palms, "Look, I don't wanna argue alright, just knock it off and focus on kicking a** in the Pokemon league, okay? Once you make us nobles you can do what ever you want and get off scott free." She said jokingly, shooting Levi the same cocky grin that he inherited from her.

"Okay okay, what ever you say. So, whats up with that message you sent me? You said you had a surprise for me?" Levi liked Lumiose and all, but he was itching to get out and really experience the Kalos region.

"Thats right, but its two fold," The chief of police said, a sparkle in her eye as she rolled her chair back a little bit to pull open a drawer of her desk. Pulling a solid wooden box that look older than dirt, but still in good condition. "This belonged to my brother, your dad, and our grandfather before that, and so on. Its been nothing more than a trinket for years now." Laura explained, reaching across her desk to hand the box to Levi.

Opening the box, Levi saw a thin chained necklace with a what looked like a small blade shaped ornament at the end. Towards the hilt of the blade ornament was a small weird colored Gem with an equally wired symbol imprinted on it. Two bands of silver criss-crossed over the set gem to form an X shape over it. inscribed on one of the crossing bands was he name 'Uzeil'

"Wh-what is it?" Levi questioned, not looking up from the necklace, mesmerized by its regality.

"That, my nephew, is phase two of this gift. You get the privilege of find out! Your supposed to stop by Professor sycamores lab on your way to route 5!" Laura grinned.

Looking up at his Aunt, mouth agape with an incrdilous look on his face. "Wait, so this is it, a trinket. that's what you made me come all the way over here to N.blvd for?!" the preteen complained, frowning.

"Well, if you don't want it, give it back." Laura simply said, still smiling wickedly.

That brought Levi up short. All of a sudden, he realized he did want it. He really didn't want to give this necklace back. For what ever reason, he just couldn't bear to part with it and he had no idea why. "...N-No, since i came all this way, I think ill keep it...for now." Levi mumbled, un-clipping the necklaces latch before re-clipping the hook when it was securely around his neck, letting the small ornate blade shaped trinket hang at the center of his chest.

The weight of the ornament felt...right. It was a new level of weird, like it just belonged there.

The window in Laura's office was thrown wide open, letting a soft breeze fall through and into the office. Laura and Levi sat on opposite sides of the chiefs desk, talking about this and that, nothing of any real import, just talking. reaching over for her mug of coffee, Laura burshed a few documents onto the floor, revealing an opened manilla folder underneath.

"Dammit..." She cursed, leaning down to pick the fallen documents. Taking the oppritunity, Levi snatched up the manilla folder, having recognized the person in the picture that was on the front.

"H-hey, Laura, who is this kid exactly, ive seen him everywhere lately..." Levi tossed the picture onto the desk with out bothering to look up from the file he was reading.

Sighing, both at the case itself, as well as Levi;s blatant disregard for sensitive documents. "Takamaru Takashi, He's from the Johto region. Won his first badge on the opening day of the league and was a league favorite based on his skill, as well as his naturally fashionable colored hair."

"...I saw him on the news...Twice in the last twenty four hours. whats up with him, the first, he was taking down a group of punks -Who by the way are squatting on the ally connecting Hibernal ave and Rouge plaza- and then the next, he's all cryptic sounding as he announces his retirement from the league." Levi explains, Still with his noes buried into the file.

Shurgging, Laura casualy goes into her explanation. "First off, I don't wanna know why you know where that group of punks are hold up, Second, a far as the law's concerned, nothings up with him, other than the fact that his retirement reeks of foul play. Look at the second page of the document I pulled on him, look at how much cash was wired to his account just after he announced his retirement." Taking a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Id bet my badge he was paid outta the league. I did some more research and found out that he has a younger sister, Tia Takashi who's sickly in the hospital. So im sure he was paid off."

"Hmmmm, any leads as to who?" Levi questioned further, closing the manilla folder before tossing it onto the desk.

"Nothing solid, and really, no reason to keep looking. No actual law breaking took place. Some a** hat gave him a big sum of post tax dollars -I checked- and he retired from the Pokemon league. Nothing low breaking about either of those things." Laura explained, picking up Tk's file and filing it away in on of her many cabinets behind her desk.

"But if you had to venture a guess, who do you think it was who paid him off...?" Levi asked, already knowing full well the answer to his own question, but needing the confirmation.

"...Most likely one of the noble houses." Laura said, disliking the bad taste the sentence brought with it.

"Right," Levi nodded. The two spent a few moments in silence before Levi hopped out of his seat, "Well, i better get going, that leagues not gonna win itself."

Laura stood as well, walking around the desk the grab her nephew in a bone crushing hug. After releasing each other, Levi started towards the door, stopping just shy of it. "Hey, any news on who offed that noble earlier?" Turning halfway to face his Aunt.

Frowning slightly, Laura shook her head, "Nothing that'd help us figure out and catch who did it."

Nodding, Levi filed this info away for later. "Well, im off " Giving his Aunt his youthful grin, Levi took off at sprint, out of her office and through the police station towards the exit. Laura leaning against her offices door frame to watch him go, a bittersweet feeling settling in her chest, right next to the swelling pride she was also feeling.

Smiling, Laura brought her mug of coffee to her lips, 'Kick some a**, Kid.'

Parfum Palace - Courtyard Maze

In the country of Kalos, there existed an elite squad of six Pokémon that achieved the title of Knight on their own merits, with no trainer pulling their strings in battle. The Quillon set a benchmark that many trained Pokémon tried to reach. The Pokémon of the Royal army that Durendal was once a part of aspired to become them.

Right now, alongside that awe, all Dune could feel was numb with instinctive terror. The Quillon seemed larger than life. He barely had time to contemplate his achievement before Guildenstern closed the distance, and lost consciousness as soon as he was hit.

Dune was punted right through a wall, taking most of a hedge with him from the strike's consuming power as he throttled out of the maze, past Salieri and Roy, and straight into the Zekrom statue at the center of the courtyard. The visage of the dragon shattered around him, leaving him pinned inside the rubble with a web of cracks in his armor.

Salieri crooked her head back to see what had hit her Pokémon with such ferocity. When she saw it wasn't Luxray coming closer, she gulped. On the ground at Roy's feet, Ivan's screen became static.

Guildenstern walked out the hole in the maze, Blaze Katar at the ready. With every step, his armor rang subtly against the ground, and Sal's eyes grew wider. It took a lot to make the world weary, prideful Kalosian visibly nervous, but facing something like this was more than enough to make it happen. What's one of The Quillon doing here? I never expected to see one so early on the road!! I though this couldn't have gotten worse, but this is unreal.

Once The Quillon walked past her and to her unconscious Pokémon, Salieri understood his intention. It wasn't just a knock out. It was an execution. Suddenly, the quivering, doubtful ember inside of Salieri started to rise. I'm not losing anybody else anymore.

Her face shifted from shocked and scared to unbridled fury. Jaw clenched, teeth bared, eyes reflecting the fire of the Blaze Katar in more ways than one. The muscles in her body tensed, adrenaline and willpower pushing the boundaries of her paralyzing restraint. Salieri leaned forward, and growled to Guildenstern, "I don't care...who you are...If you touch him...I'll kill you."

The speakers on her Pokédex hummed to life, a farcry from Ivan's usual crackle. "EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ENGAGED. UNLOCK CODE INITIATING 84F7IJ45D22LXQ9--"

"Ahem. Sir Guildenstern, please stand down. This punishment is not necessary. I have apprehended the real thief."

The arrival of yet another party took Salieri's attention away from her dex's bizarre program. The Head Butler stood under an umbrella with a Dandy Trim Furfrou at his side. The Furfrou was seated, wagging its tail and holding a bound and gagged Kecleon in its jaw by the back of the lizard's binds.

The Head Butler produced the stolen plate from behind his back. "Is this the stolen ceremonial, Mr. Hunter?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

At Roy's feet, Ivan's string of numbers and letters suddenly came to a halt. The static on the screen changed back to it's usual white glow, and in its normal voice, the Pokédex said, "Um, nevermind beep boop beep."

Salieri's eyes went up to Roy. The guard had the coin in his pocket. He knew she had stolen the coin. So why didn't he give her up? Was it pity? I don't need you to feel sorry for me...Merde, this is so embarrassing.

The Head Butler looked to his Furfrou for confirmation. The poodle shook its head no. "We did not find a coin on the Kecleon, but I've already checked the room where the robbery was committed. There were no Amulet Coins previously on display."

He walked over to Salieri, took a Paralyze Heal from out his pocket, and sprayed the bottle all around her body. She was double bound in cuffs, and even if she could run, he doubted she would with a Quillon at his beck and call. The stiffness in her muscles faded away entirely, and suddenly Salieri regained all feeling.

“I’d like to put my faith in my employee. If he’s told me there’s something missing, I’ll believe him. Did you take anything from the palace?”

A sweatdrop formed on Salieri’s forehead. She looked up at Roy briefly, then back at the Head Butler before hanging her head low. “…No, I didn’t.”

The Head Butler nodded and stood up. “I apologize for the hassle. If there’s a way we can make it up to you, I’ll see to it that you are taken care of.” The raindrops thinned out and the clouds gave way, revealing the last of the sunset over the Parfum Palace. He closed his umbrella. “Mr. Hunter, you may remove her handcuffs.”

Salieri’s throat felt dry, but she tried to bring back her confident front. “I came here to get the Pokéflute. There’s a Snorlax blocking Route 7 and trainers can’t get past it.”

The butler nodded once more. “Meet me at the entrance and I’ll give you the item. Once again, on behalf of the Parfum Palace, I apologize.” He gave Roy a quick glare before turning away, Furfrou in tow. Kecleon squirmed in his binds, looking back at Salieri with envy.

Once the Head Butler was gone, Salieri looked back to Roy. “Why did you cover for me?” she demanded to know.

Salieri rubbed her wrists and watched Roy walk away. His words echoed in her head as she recalled Dune from out of the rubble. The original intent behind taking on the responsibility of retrieving the flute was to give the nobles a hard time and to take a piece of what was their's. Looking around the ruined maze, she felt like she had accomplished that in some fashion.

"You nearly got your pokémon killed today."

She held up Durendal's ball, looking through the opaque red half. He was breathing slowly, eyes closed with cracks all over his armor. Out the corner of the her eye, she saw something blue and shiny underneath one of the hedges.

Sal looked around to make sure no one was watching, and bent down to get a closer look. "...oh..."

~~~~~

"Here you are," The Head Butler said to Salieri as he presented the Pokéflute to her at the palace entrance. She pocketed the item immediately. "I'm terribly sorry about-"

"Don't." Salieri weakly smiled and held up a hand for him to stop. "Just, don't." The trainer walked away, hands in her pockets as she headed down Route 6.

The Head Butler watched her go, then walked back inside to his office. On the floor, his Dandy Trim Furfrou lay on the ground, eyes spinning and tongue out to one side. A broken vase lay next to his head, and the Kecleon was gone. The bindings that once held the lizard tightly rested on the floor.

With a heavy sigh, the Head Butler knelt down and used a Potion on his fallen Pokémon. Someone was definitely getting fired today.

~~~~

Route 7 - Riviere Walk

On her way south, Salieri had given a Potion to Durendal, which would help heal him a little before the got to the Pokémon Center. The bridge on Route 7 was just a slight detour away from Camphrier Town.

She took a deep breath, flicked some stray hairs away from her forehead, and marched over to the bridge. "Alright people," she announced to the trainers present. "I got the Pokéflute, it's time to wake up this...uh...wha?"

Snorlax was gone. She spun around, half expecting the behemoth to pop up out of nowhere. "The hell?"

"Oh, it's you." The elderly Painter that sent her on the fetch quest stood at the side of the bridge next to his easel. "Somebody already came by and woke up the Snorlax. Caught it as well."

Sal's eyes twitched slightly. Her hands curled into fists. She narrowly avoided an execution to get the flute, and even though that part was her fault, she attributed it to the same mission. All that work for just a flute? "Who did it?"
"I believe he said his name was Zack...er, Redgrave? Oh miss, are you okay? You look like you're about to explode--"
"WHAT THE FUUUUUUU--"

((Marsuru said to timeskip, so timeskip I shall do))

Route 7 - Rivière Line

There were significant and immediate differences between camping and staying at a center. It wasn't cramped like a center would be, but it was a lot grosser. Helena woke up with the taste of dirt in her mouth and sat up in her sleeping bag to spy curious Pokemon poking around her tent.

Groggily, Helena wiggled out of her sleeping bag and stepped out of the tent. It hadn't taken her too long to figure out how to pitch one, she thought. While she may be wrong about that, she still felt good about herself.

It was everything else that felt awful. She was sore all over, her hair and face felt like dirt colonies, and it was way too early to be awake. There was little light outside, with the sun peaking somewhere. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there because of the color of the sky - a greyish sort of blue and growing lighter.

Helena stood for a moment in the cool morning air as she thought about what to do first. It took some time, but eventually her find managed to sort itself out from the fog that slowed her thoughts.

Bag in hand, she made her way down to the river and scooped some water into her hands to splash her face. It was terrible, but it helped wake her up. Next she went about brushing her teeth, spitting the swished toothpaste water into the grass beside her and then rinsing her mouth out and spitting that into the grass as well.

"Should probably warm up," Helena said. She intended to get another badge today and then make some progress on the route. Loki and Zack both made travel easier but Helena had a feeling that she'd have to do some of the traveling herself today.

***

"Will this really work?" Tyler asked his younger friend, though they were technically the same age Jacob had been born a few months later.

"Yeah, man, my friend said it's how he got his first girlfriend." In Jacob's hand was the pokeball containing their new Spritzee. "He said he'll text me the ingredients, and then we'll mix it with Spritzee's perfume and zip-bang-boom: love potion."

Tyler flushed as he grinned. He couldn't help it, it wasn't every day you found an easy way to a woman's heart.

"I tell ya, Tyler, once we're back in Kanto we're gonna be swimming in..."

Tyler looked at Jacob who was looking at something behind him. He turned his head to follow his friend's gaze. "What's" there, at the top of the incline leading to the river just above them, squated a girl dressed in pajama pants and a tank top, arms in front of her as her elbows rested on her knees and her hands on her chin. "up?"

"Swimming in what?" Helena asked.

"Love and affection," Tyler said quickly.

"Yeah, love and affection," Jacob said.

"Those really make you smell good?" Helena asked as she pointed at Spritzee's ball.

"If you keep them with you, yeah," Jacob said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Helena said and she rose to her feet.

Tyler and Jacob looked at each other and then back to Helena who looked back with a tired looking expression.

After a moment she let out a deep breath and said, "Loki."

Before Tyler could work out what she had even said, he found himself suspended over the river and then, just as suddenly, he was falling.

((Well this took way longer than it should have done sweatdrop ))

Route 7 - Connecting Cave

A wall of rain fell past the cave mouth. Zack paused with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, then took another swig of Potion. The morning hadn't been kind, even before the rain, and he woke up in his Center room feeling worse than he had at any point yesterday. With splitting headaches married to fatigue and nausea, he had to force himself to face consciousness and not roll back to uneasy sleep. Now knowing what his problem was, Zack remedied himself with a Potion and his sickness subsided for a time, but left him feeling drained and breathless. He sighed, adjusting his bag strap and looking around the cave. It smelled dank, and the walls shimmered with moisture. He couldn't see far ahead as the tunnel was shrouded in darkness, but he knew that this cave split off to two destinations; Route 8 and Cyllage City. Route 8 lead along the coast, and just so happened to be the direction one would take were they looking for Team Flare.

Connecting Cave was devoid of other trainers at this time in the morning. Zack stumbled over a rock hidden by the darkness and a shiver went down his spine. Thousands of squeaky voices teemed overhead, echoing in the cave tunnel, which made it sound like they were coming from every direction. It was a sound most trainers could recognise, and all of them hated for what followed. Zack hit the deck as the screeching cloud of Zubat rushed through the cave, filling it like water in a pipe. He covered his head with his arms, but still felt the sharp nips of Zubat fangs as they passed. Zack grit his teeth. One was squirming its way under his collar; he could feel its mangy fur and fleshy wings scrape and claw at his skin. Taking a sharp breath, he twisted to the side and reached under his shirt to grab the writhing bat. It sunk its teeth into his hand and drew blood. A pair of Zubat turned on him, leaving the cloud and attacking Zack's face while the rest swarmed past on jerkily flapping wings.

Zack's temper reached boiling point as he received a gash across his cheek, not daring to open his eyes even a fraction. He squeezed the Zubat in his hand tighter, its tiny bones compressing under his grip. Then Zack's skin began to sting, another familiar sensation, as the surging roar began. Forcing himself flat, Zack took a deep breath while the air above him burst into flame, its heat a pressure on his scrunched face, a thousand jabbing needles. The squeaking screeches stopped bar a few, who flew maladroitly to safety, and the rain of bats started to fall. Charred and inert, the swarm of Zubat hit the floor with soft patters, one after the other, until the cave was covered in a carpet of burned black fur and mangled wings.

When the last Zubat fell, Zack turned over and held himself up with his elbows, bits of burnt bat debris sliding off his shirt.

"Don't worry," the man said, patting his Arcanine on the head, the rain and the mist and the cavemouth daylight casting him in silhouette, "Ferox is harmless."

Looking around the cave, at the dozens of cremated bodies and small fires, which stank of burned flesh, Zack cracked a weak grin. "Sure. Unless you happen to be a Zubat."

Camphrier Town – Pokémon Center

It was still early in the morning, and most of the cafeteria was filled with trainers waking up and complaining about the quality of the free food. Dune’s injuries in his fight against Luxray had been serious enough that he had to stay in a recovery room all night, so Salieri pulled a spare cot into that room to sleep next to him. It was a tough mattress, and her sleep hadn’t been all that great.

It had been a long time since Sal had gotten one of her Pokémon so hurt before. The experience left her tired. Sal had fed the rest of her team earlier and released them into the garden to train and relax while she ate cereal.

As she lazily spooned the food into her mouth, her eyes shifted up to a TV on the wall showing a rerun form the day before.

"Mr. Takashi. Please tell us why, why are you retiring from the league after such a stunning performance yesterday during your gym match?"
“I have a family back home in Johto, they need me over there, not running around all the way over here, in this beautiful region.”
“I'm sorry to hear that, your an inspiration to us all, putting your family first. true beautify lay within the hearts of our loved ones…Is there anything you'd like to say to your rivals out there? words of encouragement or the like?”

“Yes, actually there is.” TK looked up at the camera, and for that moment Sal could have sworn he was looking at her. “You were right.”

The spoon dropped out of Sal’s fingers as she stared at the TV screen. The interview shifted back to the normal news anchorman. “Of course, this kind of retirement isn’t unheard of in the Kalos league. Just four years ago, another noticeable contestant dropped out of the league after an impressive showing.”

A candid photo of Salieri’s brother Moze at the tender age of sixteen appeared on screen. “Mozart Soledad, considered a favored darkhorse to win the league that year, quit under mysterious circumstances and hasn’t been heard from since. It’s been theorized that the pressure to win is enough to get many trainers to quit before the tournament proper.”

“Or maybe he’s just a big p***y.”

The hairs on the back of Sal’s neck stood up immediately at the sound of a teenage male voice coming from the table behind her. It was joined by a quiet chorus of chuckles. Sal lifted up her spoon and looked into its reflection to see who had dared to utter that insult in her presence.

She could tell her was a sponsored trainer because he wore a jacket sporting a Lysandre Labs logo on the arm, patterned off the usual design for sponsored trainer paraphernalia. He must have been about fourteen years old, with slicked back brown hair and a smug smirk Salieri couldn’t wait to wipe off.

“Jace, dude,” one of his friends chimed in, “He’d wipe the floor with you.”
“As if.” Jace waved the comment away. “He’d only quit if he wasn’t any good. I got my first badge on my first day, and I’ll stick around for the other seven.”
“I heard he had a flying Torkoal.”
“So he made a turtle fly, big deal. He didn’t make it win, and he probably had enough of losing, so he pussed out. They don’t call him the White Flag for nothing.”

More chuckling occurred, then Jace stood up. “I’ll catch you guys later. Gotta clean up my room and stop by the Chateau before I get badge number two.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at them as he exited.

Sal looked at the room key dangling out of his pocket, memorizing its number for future purposes. She dumped the rest of her breakfast in the trash and left the cafeteria.

~~~~

The morning rush of trainers exiting the building still had yet to hit the sleepy medical facility. A few early birds trickled out, but Durendal couldn’t see them go from his cot in one of the emergency rooms. His window’s view led to the garden in the back, where he could see Biz Marquis sparring with Quacklin’, needle sword against leek sword.

A few blows were exchanged before Biz parried the leek out of the duck’s hands and forced a surrender. Quacklin’s mouth moved rapidly, probably so he could claim that he was merely testing his apprentice’s reflexes and that he wasn’t truly caught off guard.

“I think I need to send him home.”

Dune looked at the doorway, where Sal leaned against the wall. She nodded at her Farfetch’d. “He was great for teaching Biz the basics, but I think Biz is better than him now. Maybe he’ll get along with Mia…I need to tell her not to let him get eaten… How are you feeling?”

The Pawniard nodded halfheartedly. She squinted at him more closely. On the outside, he was back to full health except for a small web of cracks in his armor near his shoulder. The organic steel had mended over it, leaving a small “scar”. Still, Salieri got the feeling her stoic Pokémon wasn’t back to normal just yet.

The trainer sat down on the cot next to Dune’s and looked out the window. “…are you mad at me?”
Dune hesitated, then shook his head. “It’s okay to be mad. If you’re mad and you don’t get it out, it isn’t good for you.” She clutched at her cargo capris around her knees. “…if you didn’t show up in the maze, I would’ve…yeah. Thanks for that. I didn’t think there would be a guard with such a high level Pokémon…or a freakin’ Quillon. You got hurt, and I’m sahhhhh.”

Dune raised an eyebrow as Sal became tongue tied. She cleared her throat to try again. “I’m sor-ech…I’m sahh-ah…I’m sssss ugh forget it. You know what I mean. It’s my bad.”

She blushed a little at her inability to apologize. It wasn’t easy for her to admit her mistakes. It was even harder for her to talk about why she made them. But that was the least that she owed her savior. “I know you don’t like it when I steal from nobles. I know you don’t like how much I don’t like them…but you have no idea…the things they’ve done…if I tell you, will you promise not to laugh at me?”

The Pawniard was almost surprised at the turn of her question. He shook his head, listening attentively. Sal looked at the ground.

“…Arnaud…you’ve only known him for a year or so. He wasn’t always like…this. When I was a kid, he was really cool…”

Route 8

“Oh! OHHHHH! You’re not from around these parts, are you?”

Jump stood high up on a boulder, looking down at Zack as he exited Connecting Cave. Hexum stood on the grass below the boulders, and Kiedis sat against the Cliffside pouting. “I can tell, cause you’re wearing an outfit that was fashionable in Unova like, eight years ago. Ten or four if you’re a hipster. That ensemble screams nostalgia. You want some home away from home, man? Come tooooo-“

The coordinator folded a flyer into a paper airplane, and let it fly against the wind towards Zack. “The Cave Rave! It’s a rave, in a cave, and it’s gonna blow everyone’s ******** SOCKS OFF!”

The flyer airplane whizzed past Zack and into the ocean far below. Kiedis snickered, and Jump stood frozen in his throwing position, blinking at his failure. “…that’s how somebody who doesn’t go to Cave Raves would throw a paper airplane! Like a b***h! You don’t wanna be that guy, do you? Hexum, give him a flyer.”

Hexum sighed and approached Zack, holding out a fresh flyer for the rave. “We’ve adjusted our budget so one hundred percent of it is for music.” The Lucario adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “For, uh, ‘maximum coolness.’ Please come, if no one comes he’ll make me dance.”

((Fyi, Jump's current appearance is my current avatar))