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((For the sake of getting this down before my awesome idea fades away assume this post takes place after Salieri leaves the stage - whether or not she's left the gym is up to Jump.))

Azucena was next, standing on that stage before the crowd. Elesa had traded out her pokeballs, not doubt weaker pokemon for the lesser trainer. Salieri was on par with Henrietta, and Azucena stood no chance against Henrietta's Pokemon when Henrietta wasn't even there - what Salieri had faced was a lot tougher than what Azucena would face.

"Three on three triple battle, how does that sound?" Elesa asked.

"Sounds good," Azucena said.

Emolga, Flaaffy and Zebstrika versus K-Rok the Krookodile, Ervin the Maractus and Melty the Lampent.

K-Rok looked out at the crowd, their cheering, and he got an idea. This is exactly what he needed.

[Ervin.] he said, turning his head to look at the Maractus, [can you drop a beat?]

[Yes, my friend, I can.] Ervin gestured to Azucena, those three little spikes taking a specific direction. Azucena knew the code, K-Rok was in for a surprise.

Releasing the item ball Ervin caught the guitar, plug and amp attached.

[Hey, I meant-

[Just let it flow,] Ervin interrupted K-Rok to assure him. It would be okay.

K-Rok grinned.

Yeah. I got it.

[Hit it.]

The electric guitar rocked to life, Elesa was immediately taken back. A mistake.

"Trap them, we gotta buy time for the song to start, Melty. Fire Spin."

Melty wasn't confused, he was amused. It was ridiculous, insane and stupid - and just like every single person he'd seen in this group.

Melty's fire spin encircled Elesa and her Pokemon before they could react and she shielded herself from the flames.

"Zeb, break through and switch with Emolga - Emolga Pursuit the Lampent."

The plan kicked into action, Flame Charge through the flames, it protected Zebstrika, who was switched using Volt Switch, and Emolga was free, Pursuit in action straight toward Melty.

[Back off, little fish
I'm servin' the main dish
You're a** is out
and b***h you better not pout!]

Snarl, K-Rok's variation, slammed into Emolga, throwing him back into the flames.

[That's right bitches I'm back!
K-Rok in the house to char ya black!
I want y'all off the stage
Before ya get trapped in the cage!]

The flames were blasted away, as was Elesa and her Pokemon, they tumbled onto the catwalk.

And Elesa had nobody to blame but herself. In trainer battles it was only a common courtesy to avoid the trainer, but without immediately designated safe spots you could not fault a person if you got injured.

Elesa, thus, didn't complain. Her eyes narrowed, she stared down K-Rok.

[Did he say K-Rok?] Emolga ******** if I care,] Zebstrika growled angrily.

The crowd was cheering, louder and louder.

It rose with K-Rok's spirits.

Zebstrika closed the distance, bypassing Melty who was given no order, Azucena hesitated - she didn't expect that. She needed to get into the game.

Flaaffy was headed right for him.

"Ember!"

The balls of fire missed as Flaaffy Volt Switched with Emolga, the fire ball passing beside the smaller Pokemon who crashed into Melty with a Pursuit and bounced off.

All three Pokemon were on top of K-Rok.

He spun around, slapping them all away with his tail, Earthquake coursing through it.

They hit the floor again.

[Tch! Fry this is getting annoying.]

K-Rok kept going.

[I'm surprised cause you had the beat
then you lost the beat
so kid you need to take a seat
and dont get back on your feet]

Snarl waves slammed them again, Azucena called for Melty to spin a flamethrower into a fire spin on Emolga.

The tiny Pokemon was trapped into flames that were clinging to him, the whirling fire? it was the end of him being a troubling enemy. He wasn't dead, but he'd need some serious healing.

[Cause I said!
That's right bitches I'm back!
K-Rok in the house to char ya black!
I want y'all off the stage
Before ya get trapped in the cage!]

[Fry the amp!] Zebstrika roared at Flaaffy who jumped toward it as Zebstrika charged Melty. They couldn't save Emolga, besides he was recalled a moment later by Elesa.

"Melty, come here!" Azucena called and Melty flew sideways, narrowly avoiding Zebstrika.

"Can you bring the fireworks? And trick them onto it?"

[Lamp]

"I'm counting on you."

Flaaffy was smacked down by K-Rok who pinned the Pokemon under a massive claw.

"She shouldn't be this strong," Elesa muttered to herself. But it wasn't uncommon for this to happen. Trainers called it "overtraining", it was the process of training your a** off between gym badges. It tricked the system into thinking you were a weak trainer after your previous gym battle. There were plenty of trainers that did it to try and get easier fights at the gyms - almost all of them inevitably ran into the same issue, getting to face a gym leader's strongest by being too strong during a gym battle. That typically got them crushed. Hence the term overtraining.

[I'm done with the poser s**t
so why don't you just sit
cause I lay out you bitches
so hard, you're left in stitches!]

The Snarl at the zero distance rocked Flaaffy's ears, blood trickled with each ear as the Pokemon cried.

Melty had laid the traps, dodging and weaving around Zebstrika. Now it sat at one send, waiting for the enemy to attack.

The plan was two fold, this was a performance stage, he simply found where the fireworks already were by diving under the stage, super heated the fuse, and the rest was up to Azucena - who was missing.

Elesa noted this too late.

Azucena was behind the stage, working the tech to lift the closed ports of the fireworks.

Zebstrika at one end of the arena, Melty at the other.

Pursuit, to bring an end to the match. If Melty ran, he was a goner.

[That's right bitches I'm back!
K-Rok in the house to char ya black!
I want y'all off the stage
Before ya get trapped in the cage!]

The Snarl hit the same time Zebstrika charged, the same time the fire works went off.

It all happened at once, and the result was Zebstrika sliding across the catwalk in defeat.

Elesa stood there for a moment. The cheering crowd was going wild. Melty floated over to Azucena, Ervin entered a guitar solo, K-Rok shouted to the crowd.

"I win, right!?" Azucena shouted as she moved over to Elesa so the gym leader could hear her.

"Yeah. I hope I don't have it."

"Have what?"

"The bad luck bug."

"The what?"

Elesa looked over at Azucena. "Nothing."

The bad luck bug was what they'd taken to calling it. The Striaton trio had sent a message about a group of trainers beating them and running off with gym badges. Nacrene gave no such message, but Burgh had sent a similar one confirming it. Elesa was afraid she was in the middle of it now.

"Whatever." Azucena made her way over to K-Rok as the crowd began to die down.

"Nice song, new single?" K-Rok chuckled. "That's right everyone!" she shouted as she turned toward the crowd. "K-Rok's back! ******** that poser! We're on to a new style!" She grabbed his arm and rose it up in the air.

[Looks like ya found it,] Ervin said.

After putting the amp and guitar away, the four of them left the stage.

"Let's get some grub," Azucena said as they started back toward the house. Grinning, she looked to K-Rok. "And you, sir, are tomorrow's news. I can see it out." She brought up her hands, making a camera square with her fingers. "K-Rok rocks Nimbasa Gym!"

Takamaru

There it was, out on the table just like that. Plasma, and it was N who asked!

"Uhm, i dont.- Its complicated." He Began, sitting forward, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his palm. "I don't think there right, But on the other hand, there not wrong." he realized he was talking in circles.

"I mean, There was the incident at the dream yard. And The fire in pinwheel forest. But if i look at FLF's goals and plasma's, i would definitely side with Plasma." He paused for a second to brush his hand against his Poke balls. "I never thought about what it must feel like to be cramped up in pokeballs all the time until i encountered team plasma, that and the fact that FLF are using Pokemon as tools for terrorism makes me think Plasma might not have the wrong idea; about Pokemon Liberation." He finished with a sigh. It would be obvious to N that the kid had been putting a lot of thought into this.

"Well, are you gonna call me crazy and tell me that both side's are evil and need to be brought to justice?" The silver haired youth asked with a hint of sarcasm. Now that he got a god chunk of his worries off his chest he was starting to worry a little more, what if N thought badly of him now that he know's his thought on the situation?

Hiba

It had been Three days since he arrived in Dirftveil and met up with Mai. Over the course of those day's he was told by Mai, in detail, about Aura.

Turns out the Stay at home Mom was a registered Aura user with the world government. So just like Wayne with Tess, Hiba was subject to a harsh a** kicking via Pokemon battle. It was obvious Mia had fun demonstrating the use of Aura flares in a practicable battle.

Not only that but the Muscular Boxer began incorporating his super human strength into his fighting style. It took the majority of the three day's but he could now hold a glass of water with out crushing the glass to a fine powder.

"So, don't you see how dangerous this whole situation is for Tk now?" Mai asked. Her, Hiba and Kari were walking around the down market area.

"Not really no." He shrugged. "He's a Trainer. a damn good one at that, Sorry" he appolgized for cussing when Mai shot him the 'Not in front of the baby look.' HIba picked up where he left off, "And besides, by the end of the day Tk will be here and ill keep him safe."

Mai was silent. She wanted Tk to experience and enjoy the feel of traveling with Pokemon, collecting badges and getting into trouble. But at the same time she wanted to hold him tight and shelter him from the dangerous world.

With a Sigh she said "Hiba, there are even some thing's you cant protect him from." Bending down to inspect a variety of vegetable's one of the stand's in the market had to offer.

Hiba opened his mouth to make some cocky retort but was cut off by wolf whistle from across the way.

"Man, look at that a**!" A built Holagin looking man said, eyeing Mai up and down like something to eat. This was one of the pirates that made port here not too long ago.

Mai Stood up straight and walked over to the man.

"Please don't use that type of language in front of my daughter". She simply stated before turning to walk away.

Before she got out of reach the Pirate grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around. "Where ya' goin' so fast sweet thing. Were not done with you yet." he growled, licking his lips. Jus then two other pirate's made there presence known.

"Yea, you gotta show us gust some of that southern hospitality." one of the new arrivals said, edging closer to Mai.

She turned her attention back to the Pirate who was still holding her wrist. "Please release me."

"How about n AGHHH! ******** s**t s**t s**t! What the hell!" He screamed holding his wrist as he fell to his knee's, still screaming profanities in pain.

Hiba had made his way over, grabbed the pirates wrist and snapped it like a brittle twig. "keep your filthy hands to yourself punk." the muscled youth spat, his usual smile replaced with a scowl.

"You little s**t!" one of the other pirate roared, lunging at Hiba with a knife.
"we'll teach you!" the second yellowed, Following The firsts lead.

With out missing a beat Hiba grabbed the wrist of the first assailent and Knife's blade of the second. The first thing that happened was the knifesblade being shattered. The next, Hiba's Foot collided with the First Attacking pirates gut, effectively knocking him out due to an overdose of pain. The second got a punch to the shoulder, shattering all the bones in his upper arm.Though nothing older technology couldn't fix.

"Thank's but i could of handled it." Mai said before walking away from the KO'd pirates, scooping up Kari who was busy playing with a Pokedall she plucked from one if the stalls. "Do you like that?" the mom said in her flowery plesent voice, kneeling down to scoop up her daughter and the Swiped Poke doll, walking over to the stand it was taken from.

"Here you go, sorry about her, she gets sticky finger's when im not looking" she said to the clerk behind the counter, Handing her the money for the Piplup doll.

The clerk glared at Mia while taking her money.

"Im sorry, is there a problem?" Mai asked with concern.

"Yea, tell that boy of yours to keep his hands to himself. Those poor boys where just tlaking to ya' and he went and put em in the hospital." The clerk Spat.

The kindness fell from Mai's features. "Im sorry, but if you were paying attention those Boys had other things in mind that just talking." she replied back before walkng back over to Hiba who was answering an officer's questions. In the back ground the three pirates where being loaded into an ambulance.

'They got here fast...' The mom thought, surprised.

"Is that all?" the officer asked, looking in a good mood.
"Yup" Hiba said looking equally pleased.
"well, thanks for you cooperation... Among other things" the female officer said, giggling, walking off.

"How come they didnt take you into custody? You put three men in the hospital?" Mai asked.

"Hehe, turns out these 'Pirates' Have been nothing but a pain in there asses ever since they got here. To them i did a public service. For some reason or another the towns people are in love with these white collar criminals, making it hard for the police to do anything about them themselves." Hiba explained, taking Kari from Mai's arms and placing the giggling child on his shoulder, the same place Tk usually sits.

With a sigh, Mai hiked up her shopping bag on her shoulder, "alright then, lets head back to the hotel."

"You go ahead, im gonna run over to the Pokemon Center to pick up my Pokemon. Ill take Kari with me to keep her out of your hair for a bit."

"Right, thanks" the mom said with a sigh of relief. "Be good for Hiba ok."

"Ottay Mommy" the toddler giggled.

Driftveil City

Hiba had just finished at the Pokemon Center and was walking away from said center when Sak Called his name.

"Huh?" He turned to see who it was. It was obvious this was the captain, the smell of alcohol was strong even from where Ska was standing.

"Those where your boys?" Hiba Asked Sizing him up. "Sorry bout the medial bills, you got em covered though right? they are your crew after all" Hiba said with a smirk.

Hiba was either annoyed by pirates complete disregard for the law, or Jealous of their freedom. He wasn't sure yet.

"Lewsers! Lewsers!" Kari called from Hiba's Shoulder.

"Thats Right Kari, good call!" Hiba praised the 3 year old.

"Aint she precious?" He asked Ska.

Nimbasa City

To say he was suprised by N's response would have been an under statement. It took the youth a second to recover and continue.

"Dude, how do you label burning down and entire Pokemon ecosystem and slaughtering a whole slew of Munna as a Misunderstanding?"

"If nothing else, That Gorm Idiot should be locked up for ever!" Tk argued back.

"And i already said i agree with there proposal, but there execution leaves much to be desired. i Mean, c'mon man if you have to murder hundreds of Pokemon and say your doing it for there Liberation, your kinda collapsing your whole organization right there!" Tk took a breath.

"Ok, not YOUR organisation, Plasma's. But c'mon man, help me understand why your standing up for there action's"

Having said that, TK leaned back to observe the people and Pokemon walk by. However, thinking about it in a completely different way than N.

Nimbasa City: N

N knew about the tragic mishap in the Dreamyard. He had seen the fire in the Pinwheel Forest from Castelia's wharf. If he could have done anything to prevent that loss of life he would have, but there were factors at play he could not control. Namely, other trainers interfering. Specifically the Legends Crew itself.

"If no one had opposed them, then those pokemon who lost their lives in the Dreamyard and the fire would still be alive. It isn't Team Plasma that hurts these pokemon. It's the trainers that fight against them that start the violence they're trying to prevent."

While his voice usually remained flat, there was a tinge of passion to it when he got to talking about pokemon. "If you and the rest of the Legends Crew hadn't battled Team Plasma in the Pinwheel Forest...don't you think the forest would have been fine?"

He hadn't changed his tone, but he also didn't realize he was shouldering the blame for Team Plasma's past exploits on Takamaru and the others. If TK really felt that Team Plasma was not going about their goals in the right way, then how would he feel if he knew N was the leader of it all? Would he want N locked up too?

Nimbasa City: Salieri

"Well alright! It's about time."

Salieri was giving Wukong a piggyback ride. The Infernape leaned against her back, his swirly eyes indicating exhaustion.

The two of them stood before the now active pokemon center. The Battle Institute had been congested with trainers healing their pokemon for half a week. Finally, Salieri wouldn't have to wait in an hour long line to get her pokemon back in action.

The Battle Girl nodded over to Henrietta. "Good job," she told the other girl.

Driftveil City

Ska walked up to Hiba with confident swagger. It sure looked like this guy could crush a knife with one hand. Aura was probably the case here. But Ska wasn't nervous. More like intrigued.

"No worries, apology accepted," he said with a casual wave of his hand and a smirk. "Townsfolk have been real good to us lately, but when it comes to licks and scrapes we take care of our own." The ship's doctor, and the medical facility on board, was top notch.

He stood in front of Hiba and folded his arms. Despite the scent of alcohol on his breath, he gave off an air of lawless authority. A king among thieves. His one visible eye turned up to Kari, looking the girl over.

"Hehe, is that so, girly? You really are precious. You know what? Here."

The captain reached into his pocket and pulled out a toy eyepatch, throwing it up to Kari. "Go ahead and keep that." He had taken to carrying around these toy eyepatches and handing them out to the kids around town.

Why? So they could play pirate, of course. It was all the rage in Driftveil these days. And it didn't hurt to have more people romanticizing a pirate's lifestyle.

"I wouldn't call 'em losers, though," he told Hiba, turning his attention back to the muscle bound trainer. "I don't take in losers. But I do take in mongrels, and I turn 'em into men. And when a mongrel can't dial down their savagery then they gotta learn how to the hard way if you catch my drift. Think of it as pirate's honor."

Ska sighed and shook his head. "My crew, my responsibility. You did my job for me. So what's your name, mate?"

Nimbasa City: N

"There is no balance in that equation," N answered quickly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. If Takamaru looked at N's eyes long enough, he'd realize that N wasn't looking at him, but past him. A clear sign of N being deep in thought.

Takamaru's point had crossed his mind long ago. He had run it through several formulas, and they never equaled out.

No matter what he saw, pokemon battles just led to ruin. Even though he had met good people along the way, he had come to find that a pokemon in the hands of any human was still a weapon. There would be no end to the fighting unless they were separated.

"True liberation...it doesn't work that way. Pokemon will never achieve their true potential if these values mix and become...become..."

His eyes narrowed. "Grey," N concluded, sadly. "Either we separate and move on to a better future, or we all fall together. Black and white must be made distinct."

Driftveil City

"Hiba?" He took a step back, made a square with his fingers, and framed Hiba's face inside. "You look like a Hiba."

This punk could be worth something after all. Way more valuable than the three he just cost me. Netting him as heavy hitter might be aces. But that's best case scenario. Can't jump the gun, let's see how this goes.

Ska gestured widely in front of himself, reestablishing his presence like he just welcomed Hiba to the show. "The world knows me as Ska the Ocean's Phantasm. Shorten it however you like, mate."

He put his hands into his pockets. Once again, he had opted not to wear a shirt under his coat. The appropriately placed heart and banner tattoo read "PALE ALE" in black letters.

"Heard my crew didn't give you much of a fight. You really as strong as they say? If that's the truth, it'd be a real shame is all you were was just a trainer."

((Turns out making up plans after 35 hours of being awake is a bad idea.))

"Thank you," Henrietta said as she turned toward Salieri. She turned and look at the center as well, it didn't look special or unique or anything but it sort of felt like it now that she'd helped repair it. "I don't think we're coordinating the travel to Driftveil. I would consider it, if Nimbasa was at risk of being attacked again but I don't think anyone in their right mind would attack so soon. With all the sweeps the last few days for those terrorists it should be safe."

Henrietta look at Salieri again, that tired half smile still paved on her face, like it was too much work to do something else with her face. "Just something to keep in mind for the future. If one of us is halfway to another city when someone sees an attack there's no fast way back."

Unless they all carried Pokemon that knew teleport.

"I'm not saying we need to hold hands, just be prepared to fight by yourself. Not to win, just to hold out until you get back up."