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Clay rose an eyebrow at 'Mayor Brokeback' and immediately turned to Ska for an answer. The pirate captain shrugged unknowingly, then matched Wayne's cocky grin with one of his own. "No way I'm trippin', mate. Are you? Maybe you just don't know the difference between those no-hopers and a proper villain."

"Ska." Clay lifted up the brim of his hat. "You best stop tryin' to prove yerself to children and gimme a damn good reason why I ain't throwin' you out to sea now."

Ska put his beanie back and and gestured to Moze. "Found your Plasma Sage. I was gonna giftwrap him, tie on a bow, hand him to you as a prezzy. Too bad the secret's out."

"That's what you think I am?" Moze stepped forward. "You're mistaken. I'm not a part of Team Plasma, I'm just a traveler."

"Heh. I'd lie too if my crew was locked up. Last man standing's gotta survive. You look just as nutty as the rest of that lot anyway."

"Shut up!" Sal yelled. "Moze would never stoop so low that it'd be up to pirates to bring him to justice!"
Moze grinned. He reeled Salieri in with one arm to give her a light noogie. "Aw shucks, you're gonna make me blush lil' sis!"
"Moze, cut it out!" She pushed him off. "You're practically being tried, here."
"Shashasha, it's just good to have you around."

"I ain't quite sure he's a Team Plasma Sage." Clay gave Moze a good once over. "They may be lowlifes, but those folk are still brighter than this 'un."
Ska rubbed his chin. "You sure about that?"

"Depends." Clay glanced to Wayne. "You gonna vouch fer the tivs? Or is this matter none o' yer concern?"

Moze grin switched to a grimace at the mention of the word 'tiv'. Salieri just looked puzzled at her brother's reaction. What'd he just call us?

"Wow. You guys knew I was here? That's-"

Salieri elbowed Moze in the gut, winding him. Her brother's noble soul was going to get them in trouble if he didn't go along with the lie. "That's why we agreed to meet you here, remember?"
"Ooof, errr, oh yeeeeah." Moze nodded at Sal, then at Clay.

Ska sucked in his lips again, trying to hide his smile. He hadn't expected Wayne to try and turn things on their head. The Native Unovan boy was boringly pacifistic, and the Native Unovan girl was being too serious to be any fun.

Wayne had guile. That was entertainment. That was something Ska could respect.

Still, he couldn't let things fall out of his favor. He was treading on a thin line as it was. Ska scoffed and pointed. "Like you've got anything worth taking. My coat's worth more than the three of you put together." He pulled proudly on the edges of his longcoat and leaned close to the mayor. "You really gonna listen to a kid who hangs out with them?" Ska said quietly to Clay, tilting his head towards the Del Forrest siblings.

Clay stepped away, shooting a disgusted glare at Ska for getting so close. "Yer tellin' me that as if I trust ya."

He looked over the scene once more. All of the men Ska brought with him were down for the count. Asleep, not injured. Perhaps the trainer was telling the truth. Or perhaps he was being lied to on all sides. Still, no one was hurt. This didn't even count as a scuffle.

"Make another 'mistake' and ya won't just be gone," he told Ska sternly. "I'll make sure yer history."

What Ska wanted to say was that being a part of history would be aces. Now was not the time to give Clay more lip. "Wouldn't dream of it, mate."

Clay walked past Wayne over to Sal and Moze. "You haven't been in my city fer even a day and yer already stirrin' up trouble. Not that I was expectin' more from ya. Step outta line again and you'll be gettin' more than just partin' words."

"What's that supposed to mean? We didn't do anything wrong." Salieri didn't like the mayor's attitude. It was as if right off the bat he already had it out for them. Salieri noticed he wasn't giving Wayne the same warning.

"I'll lay it out plain." Clay stood up straight. "Name's Clay, mayor and Gym Leader of Driftveil City. What I say goes. And I'm sayin' if I see either o' you so much as throw a punch, you'll be outta town faster than you can blink."
"That's not fair. You're treating us like the pirates!"
"Are you talkin' back to me, girl?"

They locked eyes. Salieri glared up at Clay. "I'm not talking to anyone else, you-"

She felt Moze's hand on her shoulder. He gave her an authoritative look, the kind a big brother would have. "That's fine with us. Are we done here?"

"I'd like nuthin' better," Clay said. He turned around, gave Wayne a small nod, and left the scene with his Excadrill following.

Ska waited til Clay was out of sight to speak. He went over to one of his fallen pirates and slapped him awake. "Rise and shine." He helped the pirate to his feet. "Wake up the rest, get back to the ship. I'll see you there."

The pirate rubbed his head, now remembering that the chase hadn't been a dream. One glimpse at Moze and he started to feel bitter at his loss. He began waking up the other pirates, and one by one they started to leave.

"So, water under the bridge then?" Ska proposed to Sal Wayne and Moze. "I'm sure we can all be pals. Let's start this over."

He jabbed a thumb at his chest, inadvertently bringing his tattoo to attention. "The name's Ska. I don't go by anything else. Your turn."

If Tk admired anything about Robby other than his mad cooking and free running skills. it was his ability to use less words to convey meaning.

"Exactly. so long we stick together we'll get through anything. nothing we've done has been easy so far, but were all alive still so we must be doin' something right!" Tk said, flipping so that he was walking on his hands. he really wanted Henrietta to cheer up.

Something that Tk had been working over the course of the 4 day lock down was something he learned from Wayne. Be cool all the time, don't get stressed by the little things.

"Were not stupid Hen," He began, using his own nickname for Henrietta.

"We'll rise to the occasion next time we have too. Like Hiba Says, 'Dont go around worrying if the bridge your eventually going to cross is going to collapse or not until your on it.' " he used a false bar-atone voice for the last part.

It was reasonable in any other context but Henrietta felt their words held empty in the air. Hollow and naive compared to what they were facing. She had already said her piece, however. They could die if you were too impulsive, if they didn't work together, if there wasn't something to keep them together.

Henrietta opted to remain quiet for the journey to her house, whether or not the other two talked was up to them.

Eventually they would reach said house, possibly after Takamaru and Robby talked, or not, it wasn't that important to her - but that was the stress talking and it sounded pretty rational at the moment.

Azucena had decided not to follow, Henrietta observed. She sat outside of the house with the rest of the Pokemon, bag full of Henrietta's things off to the side.

"How did it go?" Azucena asked as she lifted her head up to look over at the approaching trainers.

"N's gone," Henrietta said.

"So it's true?"

Henrietta nodded as she took her bag and looked toward the city exit. This was another problem they were going to face. Henrietta removed the crystals on her weapons and placed them into item balls. A scabbard, while more traditional, was too telling, two item balls hanging on her belt with the six pokeballs wasn't so much.

So, Henrietta recalled her Pokemon and turned toward the rest of the group.

"Is there anything else you guys need to do before we set out?"

((Oh he will, just gotta find the opportune moment =] ))

Tk as well opted to keep quite. it was obvious nothing productive was going to be verbally said.

"Nope. Im all set!" He called, pushing off the ground and landing back right side up before sliding his slim jacket out of his sling pack and pulling it on. The later it got the cooler the temp became

"lets roll." he clicked his heels and popped out his roller blades, gliding along the pavement in a big circle leisurely, popping a piece of candy in his mouth while doing so. The one thing about having fans and being a kid, was that the fans always assumed you loved getting candy as a gift. which was completely true in Tk's case.

((Hiba: Dont go around worrying if the bridge your eventually going to cross is going to collapse or not until your on it. But if you're on the drawbridge, you better get the ******** off before they open it.))

"Oh. No drinks please." Moze rubbed the back of his head. "I've already had my one for the year, shashasha."

Salieri, who still felt sour about Clay, snapped to face Moze. "You had a drink? When?" she asked cautiously. Moze put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to ease.

"With your friends Emi and Henrietta in Nacrene City," Moze answered quietly. He spun her so they faced each other. "Salieri, it's just one drink. Don't worry about it."

She bit her bottom lip. Sal wasn't sure what it took to push someone down the slippery slope. A drink once a year didn't sound too threatening, but Moze had problems before, and with his current health situation being what it was, she had every right to worry. His words didn't reassure her all that much.

Until he pulled her in for a hug. "It's good to see you again, did I already say that? I think I did."
Sal relented with a sigh and embraced the hug in full. "It's good to see you too."

"Hate to interrupt the family reunion, but I think I'll be tryin' this your way now." Ska looked to Moze and gave him a nod. "Oy, mate. Lets cut to the chase. You wanna help me out?"

Moze let go of Sal and stepped back. "Help you with what?" Ska's grin disappeared. Thought he still looked confident, he had become one hundred percent serious.

"Help me steal ancient weapons of mass destruction."

There was a silence, mostly because what Ska proposed was incredulous. Yet the pirate captain was being genuine, or at least more genuine than he had been before. "You'll get all the riches you want, of course. I don't skimp out on my mates."

"Are you being serious?" Moze asked slowly. Ska nodded. The sage musician shook his head. "No."

Ska shrugged. The grin returned. "And that's why I do it my way, mate. I don't have to face the sting of rejection." He nodded to Sal. "What about you, girly? Whaddya say?"

Salieri crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. She opted for silence, though her expression said much more. Ska sighed and turned back to Wayne with his hands in his pockets. "Don't suppose you could talk them into it, could ya? There'd be riches in it for you too, yanno."

"Gimme a sec," Wayne said, messing with his Xtransceiver again. It beeped,
signalling that it was ready. "Okay, can you say that again? Into the micro-
phone, please. Clearly."

The way Wayne saw it, he'd have to risk his life a whole lot less if he got these
crazies incriminating themselves on tape. Pokémon adventures were supposed
to be fun; he was already getting into a lot more trouble than he wanted to be in
by targeting Plasma. Not to mention battling the FLF.

No way was he adding pirates to the list.