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Cyllage City Gym - The Arena

“Of course they won’t be,” Grant said, laughing for a little too long afterwards. “I’m obviously going to win next time. I’m hard to beat. Just like a rock! Here!”

He reached into his pocket and handed Ben the Cliff Badge and one TM 39, which taught the move Rock Tomb. He also handed Ben a set of multicolored hair gems, but that was an accident born from his breakdown. Not noticing his mistake, Grant turned to the camera. “You hear that! I’m hard to beat! Just like a rock! Everybody loses sometimes, I’m still strong! See, I can do a hundred push ups!”

And Grant got down to the floor and began doing push ups almost maniacally. Someone in the control room must have gotten embarrassed for the Gym Leader, because the display on the monitor switched to the news.

Lumiose City - The Moreau Library

Esme blinked awake, dragging herself from a dreamless sleep. Feeling heavy, she twisted over, stretching out the knots, then rolled onto her side, coming face to face with a set of purple eyes. They stared blindly, empty and unfocused, right at Esme's face. It would have been creepier had Esme not gotten used to it, but her Espurr always slept with its eyes open. Esme sat up in bed, stifling a yawn. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it had cleared her head. Where her mind once felt full, ready to burst in a flood of intangible thoughts, it was now cool and empty, if a little drained. Her Espurr twitched, sitting upright as if dragged by an invisible string. Then it stared at her and blinked once.

'Good afternoon, Chatite,' Esme said, yawning again and taking out her Holo Caster, slowly flicking through the display. The Espurr stood up, moving awkwardly like a clockwork doll. It doddered to the edge of the bed, hopped onto the carpet and sat down, staring at the wall.

The Holo Caster opened up the app for the PSS, the Pokémon trainer Search System. If a trainer opted in, then the PSS would track their location and whether or not they were willing to battle. It allowed savvy trainers a fast way of finding nearby opponents without approaching strangers in a crowd. It also let you call a Holo Caster you didn't have the number for. Esme finished her search, flicked the holographic display with her thumb a few times, and let the device dial.

When it finished, the screen flashed up and Esme said salut.

Route 4 - Lumiose Gatehouse

The battle raged, sounding tinny on the cheap TV. Most gym matches were over in a short but intense spurt of violence, but this fight dragged on. Helena had improved, Zack noticed, but she wasn't dominating. You needed more than just raw power to win a pokémon battle, especially against a skilled opponent. Zack would rather use weak pokémon that followed his orders over a powerful one that didn't, and Helena's Tyrantrum was firmly the latter. An untrained pokémon, no matter how clever it may be, was nothing more than a flailing beast. Hopefully this battle taught her that.

His Holo Caster beeped, snapping his attention from the fight. Zack frowned when he saw the caller. His thumb hovered over the holographic reject button, but in the end he relented, answering the call. His mind went back to the doors at Sycamore's lab, and how he had to swallow his embarrassment. Absolutely not, she'd said I am categorically not interested. By now Zack's embarrassment turned to irritation, and he wore it on his face when Esme's hologram beamed from the caster.

'What,' he asked flat.
'Salut, Zack,' Esme said in her lilty Kalosian accent, clear like a bell. If she noticed his tone, she ignored it and carried on. 'Did you see the Professor's interview?'
'Can't say I did,' Zack replied, glancing to the television to keep tabs on Helena's gym match. Emolga versus Tyrantrum, a battle for the ages.
'There was something strange about it,' Esme trailed off, and the call went silent while she thought. 'It just got me thinking. I need to talk to you about the cave, it's important.'

'Now's not the best time,' Zack said. 'I'm busy.'
'How busy? Come meet me.'

The trainer frowned. He looked to the television, to the long slog of a match without end. He looked to Malis, who had almost managed to pass out drunk and earn the mocking attention of some passing teenagers.

He sighed. 'Not very.'

Lumiose City - The Moreau Library

Esme left her room and locked the door with a clatter of keys, Chatite nipping at her heels. Or as close to nipping at it could manage without touching, or showing any interest in touching, her heels. It walked to her side, stood still, then looked at her expectantly, to see what would happen next. Esme patted herself down, making sure she hadn't left anything. Out was the track outfit and tied up hair, in was the oversized yellow v-neck, the short black leggings and sandals. Good and proper for someone who didn't plan on moving faster than a walk for the rest of the day. Satisfied, she went to unlock the gate, but barely managed a step.

There was a side table by the gate that locked Esme's room away from the library proper, and on the table was a tray. Esme's heart sank under a wave of guilt, and she glanced around for a clock. How long had she been sleeping exactly? The tea on the tray was cold, the last embers of warmth dying out. The sandwich had gone dry, edges curling. It had far too much butter plastered on the bread, but that was typical for Aunt Janvier. She was old, and could barely manage the gate, let alone the stairs all the way to the third floor. Esme winced at Chatite.

'I'm a horrible person,' she admitted, picking up the cup of tea. She necked it cold, a drop dribbling down her lip, and planted the empty cup back on its tray. Disgusting, Esme thought, but evidence well disposed of. She took the sandwich with her, and bit into it as she unlocked the gate.

---

'Nononononon! Ah, you cannot bring that in 'ere.' The shout came from downstairs, just at the door. Aunt Février hurried over with her bony fingers spread wide; a frail imitation of a barrier. The trainer stood still in the doorway, a Charmander hanging from his back with its head lolling about in a daze. 'This is a library. There is a sign!'

She pointed to the window, which had a black-lettered message attached to the glass, as well as a picture of a flame with a line through it. The trainer frowned. 'That sign's in Kalosian.'

'The rules apply to you too, Monsieur Zack,' Février said in her thick Kalosian drawl, the panic draining from her voice. 'Even if you do not speak, ah, even if you are not from Kalos.'
'Guess it is a bad idea,' Zack said to himself. He let the Charmander slide from his shoulders into a lump on the floor, then recalled it. 'Can I come in now?'

'Ah, oh yes, of course!' Février smiled, bunching up the wrinkles around her eyes and baring vaguely yellowed teeth. 'Come in, come in. Are you here for my Esme?'
'So the story goes,' Zack said stopping at the foot of the stairs when he spotted the girl in question. She stood on the bend at the top of the first staircase with her arms folded loosely, acting like she hadn't hurried down after hearing Aunt Février shout. Zack looked at her grumpily, and spread his arms. 'Here I am.'
'So you are,' Esme said, avoiding a smile. She started up the stairs, and paused at the railing. 'Are you coming or what?'

Route 8 Beachside

Only thirty minutes after asking her Pokémon to develop new techniques, Salieri had thrown them into battle again.

The northern part of Route 8’s beach was rapidly filling up with wild Pokémon. Bagons, Mienfoos and Drifloons came down from patches of tall grass on the cliffs, Claunchers and Cloysters crawled out of the ocean, and Binacles broke free from cracked boulders. They all convened around Durendal, Biz Marquis and Lupin, who were struggling to fight them off. Durendal’s Pressure had a secondary property that scared off weaker Pokémon while attracting stronger challengers. It essentially increased the chances of encountering higher level wild Pokémon by fifty percent, which made gaining experience a faster process as long as they could defeat their opponents.

The three Pokémon fought back to back, helping each other one up their tough yet untrained enemies. Salieri had gone over the basics of type effectiveness with them on a few occasions, which gave them an additional edge. If one of Sal’s Pokémon found their attacks weren’t working, another one would swap with them and try something new. It was learning experience and a slugfest rolled into one.

[Get somma this!] Biz yelled as he swung a Cloyster lassoed to a Vine Whip over his head like a mace into several incoming Pokémon. Clearly he was having a great time. Durendal was slightly embarrassed by Biz’s boisterous nature, watching as he struck his Metal Claws against a midair Binacle.

[At least one of us is having fun,] Lupin lazily groaned as he tied two Drifloons together without them noticing. Fighting was still not his forte, even moreso when it was multiple enemies, though he was getting the hang of it. He admired his handiwork as the two Drifloons tried to part ways, only to bump into each other again.

Salieri was far removed from the massive horde encounter, which from a distance looked like a dust cloud with limbs and attacks poking out of it almost comically. She was still sitting on the warm, smooth rock with Banksy, going over her Pokédex’s memory banks. Every now and then she looked up with the binoculars stolen from Faust to make sure her party was okay.

For Salieri, and most trainers worth their salt, training and studying were how they liked to have fun. It wasn’t just a career, it was a lifestyle. Watching a football game had been calming (except for when Matheson asked her out. Sal was trying not to think about it too much), and it had been just a brief detour from getting back to one of her life’s few true pleasures.

“Ivan, bring up the Hoenn Dex entries on Vaporeon again,” she asked her Pokédex, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. The Pokédex laying on the rock before her whirred with activity until a picture of the Bubble Jet Pokémon came up on the screen along with a plethora of info. She had witnessed Vaporeon’s ability to turn into water firsthand. It was the ability to freely control water that she was apprehensive about. Pokémon with the power to manipulate elements were difficult to predict so long as they were good. This Vaporeon clearly showed off a fine degree of control over her own watery form. Sal knew if she tried to engage in combat near the ocean, they’d be beat.

“We’ll have to lure her into the city after we track her…if we track her, assuming she isn’t part of the ocean already. Merde…” Salieri yawned and lay down, sprawling out her arms and looking to the sky. “The footprint scan is useless if she can turn to water. Ivan, do you have some kind of, I don’t know, water scan?”

“I am designed to scan the biological data of Pokémon,” the A.I. pleasantly chimed. “If you’d like a water scan, may I suggest you check the weather?”
“Useless.” Salieri slapped a hand out blindly to hit the Pokédex. She missed. “What good is a Pokédex if you can’t find me a Pokémon?”
“I did not say that. I can scan for a Vaporeon.”
“You just said you couldn’t.”
“I cannot scan for signs of water. I can scan for a sentient body of water molecules linked together by neurological-”
“Stop, stop. So what, I have to get specific with you all of the sudden?”
“Beepboop yes.”

Salieri groaned. The trolling nature of her Pokédex was a sign to take a break. Being a trainer was fun, but it was also work. Now she felt like relaxing again. Lumiose City may have become relatively boring the older she got, yet it was still good for taking a breather. For the first time since she left, she was starting to miss Gotengo.

Some cosmic force must have sensed as much, because in the next few seconds she got a call from Mia. With a smile, Sal answered it on her Pokégear. “Did you get my message?”

Lumiose City - Gotengo

Mia’s party had not yet started. Getting a day party together on such short notice wasn’t immediately fruitful. While she waited on future drinking partners to arrive, the teens in the treehouse were shifting around the furniture to make an open space and setting up the sound system. Mia herself shuffled through a box of vinyl records, conversing with Sal in a videochat from the PC. The PC was fully set up but old, so the reception constantly tuned in and out.

“I made your selfie the PC’s wallpaper,” Mia assured Sal while tossing an album into a pile for whoever decided to DJ that night. “Your team is looking tougher. Everyone here thinks you’re doing great.”
“Great,” Sal sighed unenthusiastically. “That was supposed to be for you and Veil.”
“Then you’re in luck.”

On cue, Veillantif hopped over. She wasn’t as chipper as she used to be, but when she bounced into the screen’s view, she smiled at Salieri with her eyes. On screen, Sal was surprised. “Veil!”
“Pipipi,” the Horsea cooed, resting on the PC’s frame. Mia scooched away, raising her eyebrows.
“I’ll let you two have your moment.”

Salieri was smiling bigger than she had all day. “Veil, we beat him. I ruined that guy, you would’ve loved it.”
Veil leaned forward and put a fin on the screen, trying to touch her trainer. “Piii!”
“Do you want to rejoin the team?”
The Horsea looked past Sal, unfocused. She shook her head, then nodded at everything Sal could see from her side of the screen, at the birth of a new party. “You want to stay at Gotengo?”
“Pipi.”
Sal exhaled a deep breath. For a second she looked disappointed, but she smiled again. “As long as it’s what you want to do. Veil, can you get Mia back over here?”

Mia, who was only a few feet away, came back to the PC with a bundle of albums tucked under her arm. She straightened her glasses. “You’re speaking to her.”
Salieri became serious. “Mia, no one can know what happened with The Sniper. I don’t want the kids to get hurt because of me.”
“You think he’ll look for you again.”
“No. Definitely not him. But someone else, for sure.” Sal steeled her gaze. “Mia, you have to promise me-”
“Okay, Mom. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“I’d punch you if I could. Oh, Quacklin’s on his way back, I gave him a tablet Faust had on him. So if you could take a look at that-”
“Tablet, like computer tablet? I’m on it.”
“Cool. And, uh…”
Mia rose an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Nothing. Hey, I gotta go. My Pokémon are getting beaten up. I’ll talk to you later!”
“Kay. Peace out.”

Mia flicked off the call and the PC’s screen went black. There was definitely something else that Salieri had meant to say. She had known the Bandanna Girl long enough to sense that, but she wouldn’t prod. Secrets were important, and everyone had them.

Besides, any minute now a party would be underway. When it came to Gotengo, Mia tried to leave the drama out the door.

Lumiose City - Hotel Richissime

Hotel Richissime was the largest luxury hotel in all of Kalos, spanning fifty white and blue marble tile floors to the sky. A popular place for commuters to stay, sometimes even long term, the Hotel was always hiring new part-time employees to deal with the constant stream of guests. At this late afternoon hour, guests were coming and going in droves. Many of them were sitting in the air conditioned foyer, reading magazines or chatting on the couches.

Mia pushed through the revolving door and spotted Dr. Fennel amongst those on the couches. She was as animated and cutesy as ever, having a videochat on her laptop from the looks of things. Mia stood straight and adjusted her glasses. Despite being tipsy, she was the kind of drinker that could mask just how intoxicated she was. Now she channeled that alcohol level into swag, and made her way to the doctor.

“Hi, Dr. Fennel.”
“Mia!” Fennel squeaked in surprise.
“Am I interrupting-“ Mia asked as she sat on the couch opposite of the doctor.
“No no, just a sec!” Fennel looked to the screen. Mia couldn’t see their, but the caller didn’t seem to mind. “Sorry, let me call you right back.” She closed the laptop and gave Mia her full attention. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry if I sounded rude in the Pokémon Center. I wasn’t in the best mood.” Mia said, getting straight to the point. She was straight faced but spoke confidently. “I am interested in working with you. I don’t have a resumé, but I’m good with computers. I’m really ******** good. I made an A.I. for fun once. I can prove I’m that good if you want.”

Dr. Fennel clasped her hands together and leaned forward, suddenly becoming more professional and not so cutesy looking. “Well, I appreciate the apology. Don’t worry about that. What made you change your mind?”

Mia leaned back in her seat. It was a combination of things. Seeing that Salieri could defeat a Darkhorse Hunter. Talking with Zack. Talking with her father. Talking with TK the other day. Realizing that just because she didn’t want an action packed adventure meant she should let her life slip away.

“Does it matter?”
“The types of projects I want your kind of help with are huge. I don’t just need to know that you’re as good as your mom says you are, Mia. I need to know that, no offense, that you can be depended on.”

Mia clenched her teeth tightly. If she didn’t seem driven before, she certainly was now. “Whatever she tells you, I’m twice as good as that. And more dependable than my lineage would suggest. I mean, you can actually depend on me, for a change.”
Dr. Fennel nodded, mulling it over. Mia kept her poker face, secretly nervous that the doctor would turn her down. Luckily, Fennel smiled and said, “If you make a resumé and send it to the email on my card, I’m sure all of that will check out.”

Mia nodded in response. “Thanks for the second chance, doctor. Anyway, I’ve got to go.” She stood up. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Sure thing! Bye, Mia.”

Fennel gave Mia a cutsey wave as the girl left, stretching her facial muscles when she was out of the doctor’s sight. Can’t believe that worked. How sobering.

~~~~~

Mia approached the front desk and waited patiently for somebody to assist. Only a minute later, one of the part-time employees asked her, “How may I help you?”
“I’m here to visit one Kade Williams.”
“Is he expecting you?”
The attendant pointed to the elevators. “Fourty ninth floor, penthouse number three. Have a nice day.”

Mia rose her eyebrows at the word ‘penthouse’. I wonder how he swung that. She entered the elevator and rode alone towards the top. Elevators made her uncomfortable, giving her a claustrophobic feel and making her a little motion sick. On top of that, she was beginning to get Butterfrees in her stomach.

“Chill,” she told herself, checking out her reflection on the elevator’s mirrored walls. She was sweaty and sticky, but so was everyone else that went outside that day. Mia pushed her long curly brown hair behind her ears and was satisfied with her look.

The elevator opened. Mia stepped out, the one person in the hallway, and searched for penthouse number three. It was at the end of the hall, with no neighboring room. Mia closed her eyes. There was a big part of her that didn’t want to go in, that felt dirty thinking about it. The bigger part of her wanted to go in more than anything else.

She knocked on the door. “Come in~!” called a happy, relaxed male voice from the other side. Mia opened the door.

The penthouse was the size of an apartment, and better furnished than any apartment Mia had been in before. Expensive yet generic white furniture filled the living room. Its walls were thick glass windows, including a sliding door that led to a flowery balcony. “Room service,” Mia called back. She slipped off her sandals, sliding her feet across the smooth wood floor to the balcony. From here she could see the whole Lumiose City skyline. It was a breathtaking view. The table on the balcony was fully set with silverware and drinks, only missing the food.

“Is it just you?” came the voice from the kitchen area. Mia could smell pasta being made.
“Of course…What kind of name is Kade Williams?”
“Hey, I thought it sounded noble.”
“It sounded lame.”
“Well what would you call me?”

Mia folded her arms and turned around. “If I could, I’d just call you Moze.”

Moze Soledad stepped out from the kitchen into the living room. He resembled his sister greatly, sharing the same skin tone, eye and hair colors. Unlike Salieri, Moze was tall and his hair fell just past his ears, choppy in a charming bed head way. He had a warm smile on most of the time, which wasn’t strange until one noticed how tired his eyes seemed. Currently, Moze was wearing his unbuttoned prep school uniform.

“You can call me Moze here…”

He trailed off as soon as he met her eyes, and Mia was similarly lost. It had been half a year since they saw each other last but it felt much longer. “You okay?” Moze asked.
“Yeah. Are you?”
He flashed her his signature charming smile. “Now that you’re here, yeah.”

Mia slid her way over to Moze slowly, not losing track of his eyes for a second. When she was close enough, he reached to touch one of her curly locks. “Your hair is getting long.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“A comment. But I like it all the same.”
She got closer and reached up to his school jacket, feeling the buttons. “Is this a roleplay thing, or…?”
He grinned. “I thought I’d try to blend in. City youth look.”
“It’s too small on you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s been a while.”
“Is that new?” she asked, pointing to a tiny curved scar on his neck. He brought his hand up to it quickly, hiding it with a laugh.
“It’s nothing. I just got it from a training accident.”

The two of them were very close now, finding themselves breathing heavily. “I missed you.” Either one of them could have said that, and neither of them could hold out any longer, and it wasn’t clear who kissed who first, but it was clear that linguini wasn’t really on either of their minds. The pair became lip locked, uncaring of everything happening outside the penthouse in that moment.

~~~~~

“How is it?” Moze asked Mia from across the balcony’s table. A fresh breeze constantly traveled through, not enough to disrupt the set up but enough to cool things down. At this altitude, Mia wasn’t so hot anymore.

She swallowed some linguini. It was kind of bland, though Mia didn’t care much about how food tasted right now. “I don’t think linguini is your strong suit.”
“Damn. Thought I could be an iron chef.”
“Not in a million years. Soledads are terrible cooks.”
“Yeah? So Sal didn’t get the touch yet?”
“Again, not in a million years.” She gestured inside with her fork, swirling it in the air. “How can you afford this?”
“I can’t. I have a mysterious backer who can.”
“Yeah? Tell me about them.”
He shook his head, and told her through a bite of pasta, “Not my place to tell.”
Mia sucked her lips together. “That’s your answer for everything.”
“I know. Doesn’t make it less true.”
“Are they prettier than me?”
“Psssh. Giiiiiirl, please…oi, you said you had a surprise for me?”

Mia nodded, having forgotten. “Just a sec.” She got up and went to her purse in the living room. Mia pulled out Faust’s tablet, and stopped in hesitation. It was given to her by Salieri. Her best friend. His sister. If Sal knew who she was showing it to now, or if Sal knew what Mia was doing in general…Mia closed her eyes and pinched her nose. This is so ******** up.

She returned to thebalcony, losing some of the skip in her step. Moze must have noticed, as he asked with some concern. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s, uh…” She held up the tablet. “Salieri found the Sniper that stole Xavier and Prou from you. She beat him, for you.”

Moze’s eyes widened. His perpetual smile disappeared. Mia kept going. “This is a tablet she found on him. Sal gave it to me to look at, and I thought you’d want to see it for yourself.”

She held out the tablet. Moze touched it carefully, as if to check if it really existed. He spun it in his hands. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Just some scrapes and bruises.”

Moze put down the tablet and got up, running his hands through his hair and looking out at the Lumiose skyline. “How could you let her do that, Mia? I told you so many times, you should all stop looking for trouble with the noblility. It’s going to get her killed.”
“I didn’t do anything,” she said, tightening her brow. “Sal is her own woman. If you want to keep her safe then you should go back to being your sister’s keeper.”
“You know I can’t.”
“But I don’t know why. You never tell me why.” Mia’s voice was still level but she was getting louder. “And I don’t know why I have to lie to my best friend about where you are-“
“Because I’m trying to keep you both safe. I don’t want to sound cliché, but the less you know the better.”
“Wow. Telling me that makes me feel soooo safe.”
“Do you think it’s easy for me to leave all of you here? Everyone I know but you thinks I’m a ghost.”
“It’s easy to say that when you don’t have to explain anything-“

Moze punched the table and looked at her, amber eyes ablaze. Now he resembled his sister even more, though when he was angry he made Salieri’s intimidation look like child’s play. “You have no idea what I’ve been through, Mia. Not at all. So get off your high horse for a second, because you’re a liar too-”

A rustling sound came from the far end of the balcony, where huge flower pots stuffed with tall plants grew. Mia was about to speak but Moze held up a finger to stop her. He was in a trance, going into a predatory mode like his sister was prone to doing.

Quietly, he grabbed a knife off the table and chucked it between the pots. It stuck into the wall with a solid thud, startling Mia. The rusting started up again, and a pair of Fletchling flew out from behind the pots.

“What the ********?” Mia asked flatly. Moze came back from his hunting trance and looked at her with some shame.
“I thought…I thought someone could’ve been watching us. Sorry. I’m sorry.” Moze sighed in regret and softened up, sitting back down. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“I know your life’s been tough but mine isn’t easy either. Especially with this.” She gestured between the two of them.
“You’re right, I know. You’re the only friend I have right now, Mia. You know how to keep your cool, and you know how to keep a secret. I can’t trust anyone but you.”
“If anyone deserves your trust, it’s her.”

Moze looked away and nodded in agreement. “I know that too. I’m a lousy brother. But from everything you and Revok tell me about Sal, I just don’t think she’s ready to know what I’m up to. She’s too…loose cannon. If she makes a mistake she’s done for. I made a mess of things, and I’m going to fix it, and I’m going to put my family back together. And I need your help. It isn’t fair of me to ask, but I need you to keep lying to her. You can’t let her know where I am.”

I don’t even know where you are most of the time. Her heart was heavy, which is how it felt every time she snuck off to meet Moze in private. Moze had always been there for Mia. He stopped bullies from teasing her when she was a kid. He taught her how to drink well. He caught Bass the Noibat for her. He was her first kiss, and if everything between them worked out, he’d be her only kiss. And now he was all alone, with only her to turn to. She would do whatever she could for Moze. She just wished it wasn’t behind Salieri’s back.

“Chill, I’m still with you. Can we drop the drama? I don’t want our time together to turn into a soap.”
Moze leaned back and held up his hands. “Drama dropped…so, how did Sal beat this Faust guy?”
“You just said-“
“Just cause she’s doing something stupid doesn’t mean I’m not proud of my sis. How’d she do it? I hope it was humiliating.”

Asking about the man who shot him in cold blood and stole two of his Pokémon seemed like a drama magnet, but Moze was chipper about it. The Soledads are so weird. “He was looking for her since yesterday. Shot her down once, but she recovered and chased him down today. I’m not going into the details-“
“C’mon, I’m all about the details-“
“But she tore apart Route 10 to hunt him down. While he was shooting at her. Not the best plan, but somehow it worked. She questioned him afterwards but didn’t get anything useful except for a name. Do you know who Alanza Taine is?”
Moze’s ears perked up. He rubbed his chin trying to recall where he had heard that name. “No. I have no clue.”

A Gambler was one of the four Darkhorse Hunters Moze had first mentioned right after he quit the league and got his memories wiped by Nicolette Nostrad. Mia hypothesized that Alanza was probably the second of the four that battled Moze, but she didn’t raise the theory in front of him. “Oh well. Back to the drawing board.”
“Oh hey, tangent, but speaking of family members, how is Arnaud doing?”

The two of them were barely keeping the drama at bay, but they had a lot to discuss, and not a lot of time. It was just the nature of their meeting. The more Mia thought about how these secret meetings went, the more she resented their secrecy. “Yeah, he’s doing about the same.”
“That’s good, I guess. He’s tough as nails. If he knew Sal was dueling with snipers he’d destroy her.”
The end of Mia’s mouth curved up to subtly grin at the thought. “How did Arnaud end up with not one, but two sadistic crazy children? The man is a saint.”
“Hehe. The best laid plans of mice and men…”
“He stills thinks you’re around, sometimes.”

Moze stared off into the distance, his smile looking half empty while he daydreamed of days long past. “Does he now…”

Mia sighed and shifted him back so she could sit on his lap. “Mozart Soledad. Look at me.” He looked at her. “Even if you can’t tell me what’s going on with you, I still have your back, okay?” She gulped, physically swallowing her pride as she allowed herself enough emotion to say, “I need you too.”

“Whaaaaa? The holier-than-thou whiz kid prodigy needs meeeee~?” Moze rolled over, holding himself up above her. “I’m touched.”
“Don’t push it,” Mia started, but she was interrupted by a tickle. Incredibly susceptible to being tickled, Mia practically screamed with laughter, struggling to break free from the giggly torture. Moze stopped and let her catch her breath. “If you do that again, I might kill you.”
“You can try.”

He kissed her. She kissed him back. They made out. You know how it goes.

~~~~~

And one hour later, the door to the penthouse creaked open. Mia slipped out, back in all of her clothes with disheveled hair she tried to adjust as she walked. Moze, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist poked his head out of the door. “I’ll hit you up soon, okay?” he whispered loudly.
“You’d better,” Mia threatened flatly.
“Mia. Pssst, Mia.”

She turned to face him. “You wanted to know why I trust you. It’s a whole bunch of reasons. But mostly, it’s because I love you.” He paused, in case she was going to say it back. She didn’t say anything. “You don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know.”

With a wink and a wave, he shut the door, leaving Mia with a Deerling in the headlights expression alone in the fancy white marble hallway. The elevator opened as soon as she touched the button, and with no one but her inside as it went down, she slunk down to the floor and rubbed her face into her hands on the verge of tears. “Mia Mia Mia,” she groaned to herself, “What’re you doing with your life?”

And when the elevator door opened at the lobby, Mia was poised as her usual stoic sardonic self, ready to return to a party that had no meaning. Until the next time she saw her boyfriend, she'd keep going through the motions, trying to keep Salieri from getting herself killed while working on oddjobs for Moze without any details. People would see a girl they couldn't faze, and she'd keep that up as long as she had to. Because now, she was leaving him behind with a song stuck in her head.

He loves you, ye~ah y~ah ye~ah...

The Moreau Library - Esme's Room

Chatite stood on guard, or at least that's how it looked. Every time Zack went left, Chatite tottered that way and cut him off. When he went right, same thing, with the Espurr always staring past him, eyes on nothing. The trainer frowned, wondering if he could just kick it out of the way, but he doubted Esme would like that. She'd already gone in, but it seemed that Chatite had other ideas when it came to Zack.

'Just get out the way,' said Zack as he tried stepping over the psychic type, but Chatite doddered backwards to cut him off. 'Seriously?'
'Chatite, let him in,' Esme called without looking. She was sat at the desk that spanned the length of one wall, near her bedroom window, clicking at her computer to make it start up.

The Espurr turned her head on the spot, reminding Zack of the Exorcist for a second. It looked horrified, or as horrified as it could look while showing zero emotion. With one last silent glance at Zack, Chatite wandered into the room and slumped onto its side at the foot of the bed like a dead doll. Zack went in and looked around for the first time.

The first thing he noticed was scent of Esme's perfume hanging heavy in the air, thick but somehow warm and enticing. The second was the double bed that took up about a third of the room, dressed in layers and layers of multicoloured blankets, over which was an arch of bookshelves. Esme's collection rivalled his own assortment of beaten up paperbacks at home, if one discounted the library, of course. Zack spotted a photograph on Esme's bedside table. It showed her arm in arm with a guy, a huge pink, star-like gem set in the background. The guy looked skinny, with dark hair hanging past his face, and a wide, toothy grin. Zack's stomach turned over.

'That your boy?' he asked. Esme glanced at where Zack was pointing, but only for a second.
'Ahuh,' she said, pulling out a chair from the long desk that spanned the length of the far wall, underneath the window. 'Allard.'
'Allard,' Zack repeated. He glanced about for another seat, but there didn't seem to be any. Rather than claiming Esme's bed, he chose to stand.

'Gonna tell me what this's about?' Zack asked.
'Yep,' Esme said with a brief smile. She leant forward and wrung her hands, going quiet for a moment, ordering her words. 'Okay. So you definitely saw Team Flare in the cave, didn't you?' Zack nodded. 'And they were trying to capture Diancie?'
Zack sighed. 'Yeah. Diancie is real, by the way.'
'So the thing is, the Professor went on TV today and said he didn't think Team Flare were to blame for all those pokémon going haywire on Route 9. He actually defended them. Suggested they were trying to prevent the outbreak. But if they didn't cause it, who did? Nobody else was around, so it had to be them, right?'

Or the creature, Zack thought. But somehow he doubted it. He frowned. 'You think the Professor's hiding something.'
'Oh, I know he's hiding something. I just don't know why.'
'Maybe he just didn't want to go on national television and let potential terrorists know he was on to them.'

'No, it's not that.' Esme looked thoughtful. 'You've not been in Kalos very long, so you might not have realised...' She trailed off, wrestling with something. 'But there's something wrong with this country.'
Zack nearly laughed. 'Really?'

Esme ran her hand through her hair and sighed deep. 'Have a look at this.'

She shifted away from her monitor to let Zack see the windows she had open. He leant in to get a better look, clicking through each box. Esme had collected headlines and news reports. Some were pokémon or league related, others were to do with business and finance. She'd even made a chart of major businessmen, nobles and Kalosian public figures, each represented with a little picture and a line summarising their relationship. Zack was suddenly reminded of Salieri, albeit a much more organised version.

'That's all a little out of date, but you get the idea, don't you?' Esme said. Zack didn't say anything. He was too afraid that something sarcastic or insulting might slip out. Just his luck that the girl turned out to be a conspiracy theorist. Esme sighed impatiently, and pointed at the screen where she'd compiled a list of previous winners of the pokémon league.

'Every time we host the pokémon league, a noble wins.' said Esme, moving to another list. 'Anyone who's not a noble either drops out of the competition or loses in the opening rounds.' When Zack didn't say anything, she carried on. 'Everyone else just shrugs and accepts it, like it's natural. Some big name sponsored trainers have failed their league challenge while demonstrably less skilled nobility have won.'

'That is strange,' Zack admitted. He'd faced his share of noble trainers by now, and besides a generally poncey attitude, they were on par with common trainers. 'Suggests the league is rigged, but it doesn't prove anything.'
'Not on its own, but look here.' Esme opened up her browser. It immediately opened on a video of baby Growlithe crawling over each other in a crate, none of them quite able to stand up yet.
'Yeah, I think I'm starting to see it now,' said Zack with a sideways smirk. Esme's cheeks blossomed pink.
'So I like cute s**t,' she grumbled, clicking off the tab and onto a news site written in National.

There was a section on league news, which was understandably filled with new updates and hot topics. Gym challenge results were posted, with new ones coming in every few minutes. Zack spotted Helena's name on there, but that wasn't what Esme wanted to show him. She went to a day old article titled "Rookie Favourite Takashi Quits League" with a photo of a teenager who had silver hair. He had apparently been well regarded for his performance against Viola, but suddenly quit the league and returned to Johto. It was a short story, just one of many similar, buried by more popular articles. Promising trainers who gave up before they could get too big.

'These are the lucky ones,' Esme said. 'Sometimes people go missing. Sometimes they turn up dead. The best they get is an article like these or a mention on the news. We're told to feel sad about such horrible accidents, but that's it. Life goes on.'

There was an unmistakable tinge of bitterness to her lovely Kalosian voice. Sycamore's interview had set something off in Esme, some anger she normally kept well hidden. Zack didn't like it. He much preferred the cute girl he found huddled over a stack of books, the one who almost made him want to beg for her time of day. He cursed himself for such naivety. He nearly asked why all this was so important to her when a headline caught his eye.

It was a small block of text down the side of the screen, linking to the full story. Esme nearly scrolled past, but Zack caught her hand and guided it back up. His mouth going dry, he clicked and opened the story.




'Huh,' Zack said, after a few seconds. 'So that's bullshit.'
'You don't believe them?'
'I probably would've done, but I saw Gabriel Leroux die. And unless heart attacks take the form of psychopaths in halloween costumes, this article's full of s**t.'
'It's not the only one,' said Esme.

Zack finally sat down, clasping his hands together as he landed on the corner of the bed. The real reason behind Gabriel Leroux's death was being covered up. If this was true, then was the rest? He met Esme's eye, feeling ashamed for doubting her. He remembered Salieri, how she'd warned him about how the nobility operated, but instead he'd laughed in her face.

'It's ******** up, isn't it?' Esme said, trying to coax a smile out of Zack with her own, but neither of them properly managed one. 'I try to ignore it. It's hard, but I've learned. Sina would be pissed if she knew I was showing you this; she thinks it's crazy. And you know, maybe she nearly had me convinced it was too. But I can't just ignore what I saw with the Professor. It's too personal.'
'You think that's related to this? To the trainers and the pokémon league?'
Esme nodded quietly. 'Yeah, I do. The same people who do this want Team Flare out of the spotlight. It could be the nobles, it could be someone else. I really don't know.'

That wasn't the worst of it, Zack thought. Right now, his little sister was on a league challenge. What would happen to her if she became too successful? Would she be one of those trainers who suddenly goes missing, or would it be worse? What would happen to him if the nobles decided to eliminate witnesses to Gabriel Leroux's murder? He swallowed.

'Why did you show me this?' he asked. 'Why me? Specifically.'
Esme's mouth hung open. She hadn't been expecting that. She caught herself quickly, and started to frown. 'There's no reason specifically. I can't tell Sina or she'd blow, and Dexio can't keep secrets at all. I thought you'd understand.'

Zack nodded, though he wasn't entirely satisfied. There was something wrong with Kalos, and it was more than mysterious assassins and dickheads in silly outfits. It was something more sinister, bubbling under the surface. He tried to reason his way out of it, but his gut told him that Esme was right, and it wasn't something he could ignore either.

'Alright. I believe you,' he said, looking Esme in the eye. 'God knows I wish I didn't, but there it is. I do.'

Lumiose City - Pokemon Center

Helena's match had ended in her loss. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, was currently surrounded in totally-not-related-to-just-woke-up-groggy-writers-block-mystery.

She did, however, respond to Zack with "the south boulevard Pokemon center." She may or may not have had pancakes.

And Bridgette, across from her whose squeaky voice sounded with "whose that?"

Lumiose City - Pokemon Center

"Hi," Helena said back.

Once the call ended, Helena looked over to Bridgette who had several pancakes stuffed in her mouth. They didn't all fit, and the majority of them hung from her lips, held on by her teeth.

Bridgette looked back with a look that said, 'you're weird for staring.'

"You know, I'll think about your offer, and get back to you." Helena got up to retrieve her Pokemon while Bridgette said, through a mouth full of food, "obey, hadf un!"

Zack arrived soon after Helena got her Pokemon. She gave him a small wave as she approached. "What's up?"

Helena didn't immediately adjust to the change in mood. One second she was recovering from her loss and eating pancakes, now Zack was asking about something far above them. It brought her back to what had sat in her mind all day - sometimes pushed closer to the back of her mind, other times it was in the forefront.

Helena caught herself staring at Zack, looking a combination of bewildered and absent minded. "Um," she turned her head away from him for a moment, her eyes cast to the side. After a second she looked back to him.

"They were after Diancie." She hoped Zack wasn't still upset about being embarrassed infront of everyone. "They had this whole plan. They did a lot of talking too." Despite Zack's words, Helena still felt hesitant to tell him about Ratio. As she spoke, she was already constructing the lie in her head.

"I didn't catch everything, but they talked about Diancie, and they talked about the nobility. They tried to capture Diancie too, but they..." Helena recalled the horrible, bloody event. "failed. They couldn't do it. They said something else, too." Helena constructed the false dialogue in her head as she spoke. She couldn't remember names of noble families off the top of her head, but she skipped over that part. "I'm pretty sure they're working for the nobles."