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Nimbasa City: Salieri



After sending this text to TK, Salieri went back to Henrietta's house as fast as she could to plan for her date. Halfway there, she realized she had no idea what she was doing because she had never trained her dating skills and stopped freak ********>

Salieri spun in place trying to figure out what direction to go. Finally she called up Moze.

"Heeeeey little sista. What's up-"
"Moze, I have fifty six minutes to learn how to go on a date and I need your help!"
"....Zeraaa~shashasha!" His laugh rang loudly in her ear, making her more intense.
"MOZE!" she shrieked, voice cracking. "You have to train me like right now!"
"Shashasha, take it easy See-Sal. You can't train for a date, just be yourself. Go with the flow, follow the beat of your own drum. And if it's good, your beats will mashup and it'll be awesome."

Salieri facepalmed. "I have no idea what that means!"
"Wait, you have a date? Nice! Who's the stud?"
"I don't have time for this!"
"C'mon, tell me! Come oooooon."
"It's N!"
"The talking to pokemon guy? Sounds sweet, I approve."
"Fifty five minutes, Moze, I am freaking out here!"

There was a long sigh on the other end of the line. "Okay, okay, listen. Be honest, pay attention to him, if he tries to pay the check don't just say yes right away, bounce back and forth a little and then say yes, be courteous but not like whoa this girl is way too polite. Are you writing this down?"

"Yeah," Sal stated. She actually was writing it down, in her journal.
"Literally?"
"Yeah, keep going."
"Those are just pointers. Seriously, See-Sal, you'll do fine. Just be yourself."
"Again with that?"
"It's the most important part."
"Okay, okay."

She stood up and took a deep breath. Fifty four minutes. "Thanks Moze, I'll tell you how it goes."
"Shashasha, of course. Good luck sis."

They hung up. Salieri now ran towards Henrietta's house, reciting all of what Moze told her in her head. When she finally arrived, she saw Fried standing outside and the window to Henrietta's bathroom open. Perfect shortcut.

"Hey Fried," she blurted out, jumping onto the fence and then off of the gigantic Combusken's shoulder. "Bye Fried."

The Battle Girl landed on the roof and made her way into Henriett'as bathroom. Now came the hard part:

Self makeover.

Nimbasa City: N

N froze up when he heard Robby's voice. The way that the boy just ate what he wanted made N's stomach churn. It wasn't that everyone else didn't eat pokemon based products. It was that he absorbed them like a black hole.

Up until now, he had been able to avoid being caught in a position where he was alone with Robby. Now, the lad sought his attention, and he couldn't very well pretend he didn't hear him at this point. They were looking right at each other.

"Hello," he said quietly, narrowing his eyes at Robby and trying to contain his venom. His gaze shifted to the large bags Robby and his pokemon were carrying. "What are you carrying in those bags?"

N should have known better to ask when he already knew the answer. He covered his mouth, gagged, and tried to pass it off as a cough. "That's very-glurkuhha-sorry, that's very foresightful of you. To pack previsions, because I, uh, didn't do that yet."

I must get E to wipe this memory from my mind. He nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "I met my sister at the Gear Station earlier, and I'm on my way to meet Zero. We'll be leaving for Driftveil later today-"

There would never be a chance for N to interact with Robby the same way after this conversation. N was going to reveal his identity to the world today, and it would change his value in the equation of society forever. So he had to know:

"Robby, why did you join the Legends Crew?"

Luckily the PokéLand car park was still empty. Not far away, the ground was
still frozen over from the battle between Wartortle and Daphne.

The flames ignited around the Hitmonlee's foot, which stayed at their core like
a black jewel, unharmed by the fire licking at its flesh. Ronin kept his leg on
the ground, where it caused the floor to melt and smoke lightly. He'd learned
to master his Blaze Kick while training with Salieri's Infernape, Wukong.
Holding the fire in place while his trainer talked to the woman was child's play.

"Try it again," Tess said. Ronin had heard that tone of voice before. It had
come from exasperated instructors, ones who kept trying to push their students
to learn martial arts. Students who just couldn't work out how to please them.

"I am trying!" Wayne snapped. He was trying to get angry. Desperate. Like
he had been during the fight against Tess' Wartortle. "Wait, I have an idea!"

Ronin watched him carefully. The trainer had briefed him on what he'd learned
from Tess regarding Aura and Aura flaring. The boy's special ability was
proving to be useful. It meant that Ronin didn't have to listen to his blather so
often.

At first sharing in someone else's experiences had felt intrusive. It wasn't
just watching someone else's memories; a lot of the time actual memories
had nothing to do with the process. It was more like a feeling. That he had
done something before, perhaps countless times. He knew it was false, but
at the same time it felt so convincing that he had to force himself to separate
truth from the fantasy.

He now knew how to read, although he couldn't remember ever being sat
down and taught how letters formed words. He suspected that humans didn't
recall learning how to read whenever they did so either. They just knew how.
Although Ronin was reluctant to call the boy his master, he had to admit that
the Aura ability had some frightening potential.

"Wayne, stop screaming," Tess said calmly over the din, "Wayne, stop. It's
not how it works. Wayne. God dammit, Wayne!"

The trainer ran out of breath and his hands dropped to his knees as he folded
over. The woman held her palm to the bridge of her nose, a single finger
tapping on her head.

"Flaring Aura isn't just a matter of getting angry. It responds to a need, and
until you learn how to flare at will, you're going to have to remember what
triggered your last flaring."

"But screaming works in the cartoons..." Wayne said pathetically, then
hopped back up so that he was stood straight, "So what do I need to do?
Can't I just read how you do it and copy that?"

"Pfft. No," Tess seemed to be fighting the urge to smirk, "The way I control
my flaring will be inherently different to the way you'll eventually control yours.
Similar, but different. As unique to you or I as our respective Aura abilities.
What was it you were feeling during our last battle? Fear? Elation?"

"I... I don't know," Wayne said, "I was just worried about Daphne. I mean she
got totally frozen by that huge Ice Beam. That was way over the top, by the
way. Like if you were a dude I'd have to accuse you of compensating. Sorry."

"I see," Tess said. The next thing he knew, Ronin was bolting back to avoid
a powerful hooked slash, Blaze Kick extinguishing as he dashed away. The
attack was a Crush Claw, but one that had been augmented by large sickles
of ice that encased each claw.

If he hadn't noticed the flash of the pokéball opening, Ronin doubted that he'd
have managed to evade in time. His opponent was fast. And they weren't
letting up.

Ice Shards sliced into the Fight type's side as the enemy pokémon rushed
around him. He heard the boy call out his name. The nickname he'd given
to the Hitmonlee days ago. It still felt strange.

Blood sprayed as the shards slashed through flesh, dissolving on the air
moments later. Ronin concentrated and used Foresight.

Learning that technique had proven essential in dealing with the obnoxious
Frillish that the girl kept despite her own protests. It also let him pick out his
attacker from the blur of movement that surrounded him.

A Weavile. This one's name was Frost, he knew. Ronin didn't envy him.

More Ice Shard, but Ronin was prepared to deal with it, activating Double
Team at the moment of impact to mitigate damage. Generating the clone
pushed the original Ronin away from the attack.

While the clone dissolved almost immediately, it did prevent the Hitmonlee
from taking the full brunt of Ice Shard's damage. The boy said it should
supplement Ronin's otherwise weak physical defence.

"Tess, what the hell!" Wayne yelled, throwing his arm in the direction of the
fight. Tess ignored him. "That used to be my dad's pokémon! There's no way
Ronin can handle it yet!"

The woman glanced at the trainer and he hesitated. She shook her head, and
Wayne grit his teeth, looking back to the fight. To Ronin, who whipped out a
leg to try and connect a blow with the fast-moving Ice type.

But Frost evaded. Ronin's legs were fast; he didn't think that the Weavile
would be quick enough to attack one before it could retract. If it wasn't for his
instinctual control over his own kicks, Ronin doubted he'd even be able to
coordinate such speed.

The problem was that the enemy pokémon was experienced enough to read
his movements and dodge accordingly. Frost may not have been able to
attack Ronin's leg as it whipped at him, but he was fast enough to close the
distance between the two before the fight type could ready another attack.

No, that wasn't just regular speed. Ronin made to use Double Team before
Wayne could command him. Frost's Aerial Ace struck the clone first, but
its attack wasn't over. It sped up. The Weavile shot forth with extra power,
even more than it had when it started its assault.

The woman had flared her Aura. The enhanced Aerial Ace struck Ronin
across the chest. Claws met flesh, and Frost slashed diagonally downwards,
rushing past. Ronin could hear the boy's screams as some distant echo,
fading away. It was too late now.

He crashed to his knees. Frost skidded to a halt, the air itself seeming to
chill at his passing. Ronin collapsed as blood spilled from his wounds,
pooling on the car park.

"You didn't manage to flare your Aura that time, either," Tess said with a
steady voice. She could have been commenting on the weather. She looked
at Wayne, "Perhaps you didn't think the threat was genuine enough."

The sound of her cheekbone cracking under the force of Wayne's punch was
sickening. Tess was thrown off her feet, crashing into the floor, sliding to a
slow stop. Ronin watched as Wayne hung his head, teeth grit, and everything
went black.

---

The recall beam whipped around the pokéball as Ronin was pulled back in.
His blood was still pooled on the floor. Wayne felt sick. Tess was already
climbing back to her feet. Her face had a dark mark where Wayne had hit it.
He felt a pang of guilt, but refused to let it show.

"And yet," Tess said, clearly flustered but trying to stay in control, "you still
didn't manage to flare."

She recalled Frost and put the ball to her belt. Wayne put Ronin's back in his
pocket. The ball should stay the wound for now, but he'd have to get to a
hospital soon. Hadn't Henrietta been working on getting the pokémon center
fixed?

"I'm sorry," Wayne said quietly. He swallowed. "But that attack right now
was well out of line! What the hell were you thinking, Tessandra?"

The dark mark on Tess's face slowly popped back. Like the bruise on a piece
of fruit disappearing at sudden intervals. She was healing. It looked like Alder
had come through. Wayne felt a wave of relief wash over him, but he didn't
let it interfere with his anger. After a few seconds, the mark would be replaced
with a more normal red colour.

"The last time you flared, you did so out of concern for your pokémon," she
said, "You think I've forgotten how much they mean to you?"

"So you try to kill one," Wayne tilted his head slightly, frowning.

"Hm. You didn't believe that I'd really hurt your Hitmonlee," Tess ran her
fingers through her hair. "Better luck next time, I suppose."

"There won't be a next time," Wayne said, "If learning to flare Aura or
whatever means I've gotta do training like this, then you can go get ******** eyes flashed. "Listen to me, you ungrateful little s**t. You got yourself
mixed up with the wrong sort of people. They can and will kill you if given half
the chance. I'm trying to help you here. Tell me, what would you do if you
couldn't get medical attention for your Hitmonlee?"

Wayne stayed quiet. He'd always travelled light, which meant he didn't have
more than a couple of potions on him at any one time. He doubted one or two
would be enough to stop Ronin from bleeding to death.

"Preparing now will save your life, and the lives of your pokémon. This isn't a
game, not any more. If you knew how to Aura flare at will, then Hitmonlee
could have avoided any one of those attacks. This is your fault for refusing to
take things seriously."

She was wrong. Wayne's fist tightened and the skin stretched white. He did
take this seriously. Shery was dead through no fault of her own. She'd just
been there; a friend of his in the wrong place, wrong time. He had to bear that
guilt. He had to keep his doubts and fears bottled up. Any one of his friends
or pokémon could be next.

No.

Wayne looked Tess in the eye. It wasn't a look of anger or even sadness. It
was a look of resignation.

"Alright then," he said, "I'll do whatever training you have in mind."

As Wayne spoke, Tess glowed with a look of satisfaction. And so he added:
"But first, I totally gotta pee."

Robby had a feeling that those weren't coughs. In fact, he was pretty sure that they weren't, but the lad didn't laugh or pursue it. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed Norbert's vegitarianism, so he could guess why.

The question came up as if from nowhere, really. Why had he joined? Well, that was simple. "Leader Girl offered food if I helped." He replied, recalling the meeting. That had been near the arena battle.

After a moment, Robby returned the question. "Why'd you join?"

Nimbasa City: N

Food. I should have known that was the reason. Despite that being the predictable answer, N was surprised when Robby turned the question back at him.

"Because-"

Why did I join?

Time after time, N had witnessed the suffering of pokemon at the hands of duration of the journey through Pokemon League almost unbearable. But the candidates he met along the way helped him through it. Trainers and pokemon who genuinely cared for each other in this savage world was a foreign concept to N until he had gotten to know the Legends Crew.

It wasn't something he could quite understand yet. Before now, N was beginning to lose faith that there could be another chosen one like himself. Now, in his travels, he regained the hope that the stories of two heroes may have been fully accurate after all.

"Wayne asked me to come, and I thought it would be...fun."

It was strange how his time during lockdown, forced to live in a city in a society that he sought to change entirely, he enjoyed himself the most. So far, being stuck with the Legends Crew was the only time he enjoyed being a trainer.

And Robby was there too. The iron chef had made food for everybody, everyday. And he worked with pokemon to do it. Something that N almost thought was some surreal dream when he saw it firsthand.

"And it was." N took a deep breath, prepared to integrate. "Robby...I enjoyed all of the vegetarian options you made for us over the past few days. Thank you."

Route 4

"Dude, you are preaching to the Quagsire."

Jump knew that Redgraves and really unfortunate life problems were stuck together more often than peanut butter and jelly. He had been right there beside them in the Sinnoh War, when bodies started to drop. And he had seen what Jackie was like back then.

This wasn't the same. Now, she was giving off a different kind of vibe. There were a lot of levels when it came to dealing with the bad stuff in their line of work. Jump felt like her level shifted that day.

"I'm gonna check up on her after this," he told Zack while typing into his x-transceiver. He searched for Jackie in his contacts before remembering he put her in under a different name.



He wasn't sure if Jackie would actually be down to chill, so he had to warp his pretense for trying to see her. He would just have to come up with some super secret news to tell her on the way.

"Bam. Now I just have to come up with some super secret n-hey, hold up."

Jump stood and spun around once, to make sure they were alone. It was hard to sneak up on the ninja trained Interpol Agent, but he still wanted to make sure. Do NOT want s**t poppin' off when I am trying to talk about classified stuff!

"Since we're alone, I wanna talk about some real s**t." He finished off the rest of his energy drink and turned the bottle over to signify it's end. "About what we found in the lab at Route 18."

Nimbasa City: Salieri



That was the second time she had told somebody, and it felt good each time. I should stop telling everybody. I need to be cool right now. But it’s only two people! That’s not bad. TK’s three people actually, so…yeah, I gotta play it cool.

She rummaged through Henrietta’s bathroom, opening every nook and cranny to find the makeup. Moze would play it cool…errr, but Moze gets with way too many girls! That's not me, he's like a man slut or something. I don’t even know if he likes all of them. What’s so fun about that-oh, here it is.

Sal took out a small makeup kit full of different cosmetic products. Gently, she picked up an unfamiliar gold tube and slowly pulled off what she believed was a cap. Some sort of shiny red gel stick with a slightly slanted end…

“I have no idea what to do with this.”

~~~~

[-and that’s why Sal will never eat bean sprouts again.] Chen Zhen laid back in the spinning chair and spun himself around. Wukong was still leaning forward in his seat, soaking in the epic story.

[Wow. I gotta say Chen Zhen, that was actually pretty cool,] Wukong stated with a sage nod as he sat up. Salem purred in approval, causing Chen Zhen to blush.

Haizhe hadn’t looked like he was paying attention. The Frillish was bloated, still digesting all the ink he absorbed off a news stand earlier. Practically spherical, he jus lay on his side and moaned. Salem stuck out her tongue with a grin.

[That’s what you get for eating too much,] she taunted, raising up a paw. Wukong snickered.

CRASH!
“NUUUUUUOOOOO!!”

Sal’s pokemon jumped to attention, save for Haizhe, and bolted upstairs. The door to the bathroom was open, and a cloud of powder emerged with Salieri.

The Battle Girl had lipstick on her eyelids and brows, eyeliner on her lips and blush on her nose. When she opened her mouth to speak, she first coughed up some powder.

“Yuck. Ughhh, this is so hard!”

Her monkey pokemon covered their mouths to stifle their laughter. Wukong was less successful, and had to quietly leave so he could laugh somewhere else. Salem’s mouth hung open in disbelief that someone so clueless could exist.

Haizhe floated up slowly behind them all, bobbing heavily in the air. [What…is…this fuss-oh my!]

His eye bubbled and his Scope Lens emerged, attached like a monocle. [This is abhorrent! Obscene! Filthy graffiti! Musn’t allow it!]

Before Salieri could protest, the Frillish floated to her face quicker than his bloated frame would lead you to believe, and sloshed a tentacle onto her face. The makeup was absorbed from her face into his body, leaving her squeaky clean if a little wet.

“Wha-“ Haizhe pushed her back into the bathroom and put her in front of the mirror. He rubbed his chin with a tentacle, then nodded with satisfaction.

[Much better. You read much better this way,] he told her, dropping a tentacle to grip onto her shoulder. Salieri reached up to touch her cheek, looking over her reflection all the while. It was clear what he was getting at.

“Yeah…yeah, okay, I’ve got this. Who needs makeup when you’re already pretty?” She put a hand on Haizhe’s tentacle. “That’s what you mean, right? Thanks Haizhe,” There was a tint of surprise in her comment. “I can’t believe you’re the one to tell me that.”

He burped in her face, causing her to leave and make a face like she ate a whole lemon. “Right, I think I should change though.” She tugged at her athletic shirt. Very rarely, she felt like dressing up not as a Battle Girl, but as a normal girl. This was one of those times.

I’ll just see what Henrietta’s got. I’m sure she won’t mind if I borrow something. Even so, as she stared into Henrietta’s closet at all of her outfits, she felt compelled to at least let the girl know that she was taking her clothes.

Robby gave a grin at the compliment of his food. "Course. Cook fer who's eatin'. That's how you do it." The lad crossed his arms for a moment, considering other questions to ask. The two hadn't spoken much, really. Not alone. Now he was finding himself at a loss.

He shrugged. "I dunno how much fun it's gonna be though. She wants to be a hero, yeah? Means somethin' different to different people. Them Fluff people probly don't think we're heroes."

Robby wasn't blind. He had noticed that the woman had outclassed them physically. And she hadn't just killed them. Or broken them. Sally's pokemon was the only one hurt. They weren't the good guys, but there was more. Still, he chose not to think further on it, and said nothing about it.

"Y'know, you should make some preparations. Y'ain't gonna find the different stuff I served out there, it'll be deficient in some areas, and too much of other things. Just cause some of the stuff grows on trees, doesn't mean just berries are good enough. 'Specially when they're mostly the same."

He'd decided to purposely try to shift away from the serious stuff. Serious stuff wasn't Robby Tobb. That was why he just took orders or cooked. Other people could think about the hard stuff.

"Make sure you get variety before you head out. Never know if you'll get stuck on the road fer a while."

Nimbasa City: N

Just like Takamaru and Salieri before him, Robby also thought that the FLF were not one dimensional villains. He was also looking at the other side as well: that perhaps the Legends Crew weren't heroes to everybody.

N knew what it took to be a hero. As far as he was concerned, he might be the only hero who sought the truth behind what makes a perfect world. It was an unfortunate thought, and he didn't mean to be cynical, but he also hoped that people would eventually see it his way. The right way.

Robby had another good point when it came to food. Before the lockdown, N had been eating among the wild pokemon, so his meals definitely fluctuated in quality and portion size. Stocking up on previsions might be necessary for the next few days. Proper nutrition was an understated but important factor in the equation for his success.

"Do you think there will sufficient vegetarian ingredients for meals in Driftveil City?" As much as he knew Robby was right, he wanted to get out of Nimbasa City as soon as possible. He had enough food to last him and Zero the rest of the day. If the port marketplace was recently restocked, N might be in luck. If not, he'd have to heed Robby's wisdom.

Nimbasa City: Salieri

Salieri spun around in front of the mirror in Henrietta's room. Fortunately for her, finding clothing that fit was simple. A pair of faded jeans and a light pink t-shirt traded places with her usual outfit, save for her yin-yang necklace and sandals.

"Outfit. Check." Figuring out what she wanted to look like was hard enough. But now the harder part began: what was going to happen on their date?

She paced back and forth, walking all over the place to help her think. There was plenty to do in an amusement park, but how did she know if it was going well? N was so hard to read. One slip up could cost her. And what if it went well? What was she supposed to do.

I can't ask Moze about this, that'd be weird. None of the guys either. Henrietta isn't here...wow, I cannot believe I'm about to do this.

"SAAALEEEEM!"

A few seconds later, her Espeon trotted into the room. "Pi?"

Salieri coughed. "Uh, would it be weird to for us to Synchronize so I can ask you about dating and, um..." She blushed. "Romance and stuff?"
Salem shrugged hesitantly, then nodded yes. "Pi pi."
"Can we do it anyway?"
Salem chuckled and nodded again. "Nyanya, pi pi."
"Thanks."

The red jewel on the Espeon's forehead glowed. Both of their eyes turned a blank white, and in perfect synchronization they sat on the floor. They went still as their minds went somewhere else.

~~~~

Salieri and Salem laid on their backs in a field of flowers that went on for as long as they eye could see, under a yellow sky with pink clouds floating around in all sizes.

"How did you figure out Chen Zhen liked you?"
Salem smiled wide. "I always had a feeling, but I didn't really know until he told me I'm beautiful. That kinda summed it up."
"Didn't you guys Synchronize too?"
"Oh yeah! Nyahaha, that helped."

Salieri sighed. These circumstances weren't really the same at all. "I wish it was that easy."
"It is! You could always tell him how you feel, Sal."
"No I can't. I'm not sure if he likes me back. I don't want to make a move if it's not right."
Salem stuck out her tongue. "Nyaaa! Scaredy-cat! That's not like you at all!"
"Knock it off! Salem, what if he doesn't like me?"

Salem rolled on her side to face her trainer. "So what? You'd be sad, and then you'd be fine. That's growing up! He's your first date, not the end of the world."

Salieri sat up straight and pushed one of the flowers in front of her gently. "Yeah. I'm just...I've never done this before."
"It comes to you."
"You sure?"
Salem rolled onto her back again, batting at flower petals flowing in the breeze. "Well I mean, it's different for pokemon and humans-"
"I don't want to think about that-"
"I mean, even though it's different, it'll still come to you. Don't worry about it. It's like that kung fu thing you keep telling me. You gotta be like water!"

The Battle Girl grinned. "You have to flow?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

Salieri's x-transceiver went off. She looked at Henrietta's message. It was time to go. "Thanks, Salem."
"Don't mention it." The Espeon stuck out her tongue again. "Seriously."

~~~~

They opened their eyes and were back in Henrietta's room, as if waking from a dream. Salieri was still looking down at her x-transceiver before adjusting to being unsynchronized like normal.

"Salem, can you find Bastion and Ervin?"
"Pi pi!" Salem complied, exiting with her radar-esque air current detection as her guide.

Salieri took one last look at the mirror. She nodded at her reflection, grinned, and pounded a fist into her palm before exiting the room.

And she'd wait outside the house for Salem while the Espeon got Henrietta and Azucena's pokemon.

Route 4

"Seriously, I know we've all been busy in the past few days. But the lockdown's over, and things are starting to go down. We were looking for clues before this, and dude, we got the perfect one."

He pointed his x-transceiver out at his side. It projected a hologram screen in the air, showing a still screenshot of footage Jump had transferred from his camera to his x-transceiver before it got wiped and fried.

The picture was of a large computer monitor in a broken, cavernous lab. On the monitor was a schematic for a massive structure. It looked like a series of castle towers. It also looked like the top half of the blueprints.

"Half of a castle fortress's blueprints. That means there's another half that we gotta find."