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Lumiose City - Centrico Plaza

Kanto dollars? She's not from around here, not with that accent. Moze didn't know the exchange rate. He was prepared to hand over way more cash than was probably necessary, just to make amends, until he had a better idea. His smile advanced to his signature beam as he turned up the charm.

"How about I just buy it for you?" Moze said, already walking closer to, then past, Noisy en route to another pastry vendor. "I'm trying to place your accent but I can't figure it out, where are you from?"

Centrico Plaza was stuffed with people, and Moze saw people he knew everywhere. Kids he went to school with, kids from Gotengo, that guy from the Juice Shoppe. If someone saw him it'd spread like wildfire. Social camouflage was one of many ways to avoid that. And right now Moze didn't want to be alone anymore. He wanted to talk to someone, anyone.

Whatever he was feeling inside didn't show on the surface. On the surface was the confident and charismatic Moze that could raise Gotengo or earn 8 badges, tired as he may have looked. He needed that if he was going to make this work. Social camouflage just wasn't right without a normal conversation.

Lumiose City - South Boulevard

'Stop standing around and get in.'

The back door popped open, and Zack lingered on it for just a second. He turned to Esme and put his hands on her shoulders, speaking low so they couldn't be overheard.

'Wait for me at your place,' he said, 'I think I know what this is about.'

Esme nodded slowly, but when Zack turned, she snatched his hand.

'I'm going with you,' she whispered, a fierce look in her eye. A swarm of fiery butterflies blossomed in Zack's stomach and he flashed her a smile. Catching Elizabeth's eye, he noted her disapproval, but she didn't try to stop them. Zack opened the door and climbed into the car first.

'Here,' Elizabeth said, passing a note to the slack-jawed taxi driver. He bolted awake and took it. 'For your lost fare. Don't tell anyone that you've seen us.'

The interior of the car was snug yet spacious. Everything seemed new, from the leather on the seats to the wood lining its framework. Zack made eye contact with the driver, who glanced at him through the rear view mirror. He sat motionless, wearing a black chauffeur's hat over his blond-white hair.

Elizabeth got into the car last, sitting on a seat that faced the other two. As soon as she closed the door, the car began to move, doors locking with an audible click that summoned a flush of apprehension. Zack nodded towards the taxi driver, who was absentmindedly scratching his head as he watched the car roll out of view.

'You really expect that guy to keep his mouth shut?'
Elizabeth smiled. 'We'll hit the news sites in about 20 minutes. Hopefully this won't take that long.'

She looked between the two, and continued. 'My name's Elizabeth Leroux, I'm a noble.'
'I know who you are,' said Zack. 'I saw you take down Pangoro.'
Elizabeth's eyebrow twitched. 'And what did you think?'

Images of the noblewoman's rapier and Golurk crushing Pangoro flashed through Zack's mind. He smirked.

'Not a bad job. But you could've finished it sooner if you hadn't been showing off.'

The driver loudly cleared his throat, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him. She crossed her legs and leant forward.

'Alright then, down to business. Do you know why I want to talk to you?'
'Your father,' Esme said. 'Someone killed your father, and Zack saw it.' Zack noticed her knuckles were white in her lap. 'I imagine it's difficult to cover up a murder when there's a witness.'
'I'm sorry, you are?' Elizabeth didn't bother hiding her irritation. Esme blushed.
'Esmeralda Moreau.' At this, Elizabeth promptly ignored her.

'You're a witness, Zack. The police claimed my father's death was a result of natural causes, but someone filed a report with your name on it. If I could find out who you are, there'll be others. There are people who don't want the public to think someone's targetting nobles. It's bad for stability.'
'I'm not stupid enough to go mouthing off about what I know,' Zack replied, but immediately he remembered Salieri, Esme, Helena.
'That doesn't matter. These people, they don't take chances. It's how we nobles have ruled Kalos for centuries, and it's how we'll continue to rule long after we're all dead.'

Zack sat back in his seat and rubbed his neck. So he could be a target. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten into trouble.

'So what happens now?' Zack asked. He had the impression Elizabeth wanted to help him. He wasn't wrong.
'Take this, memorise it, destroy it,' Elizabeth passed Zack a slip of paper. 'It's my private number. If you think you're in trouble, call me. I won't answer, but I will meet you somewhere safe. Glittering Cave's been abandoned, so how about that?'
Zack smirked. 'Wouldn't exactly be my first choice, but alright.'

The car rumbled along. As far as Zack could tell, they were circling the city's outer ring. He glanced at Esme. She'd spent the majority of the conversation staring out the window. Minutes ago, he had her in tears, on the verge of telling him everything, but now she seemed stoic, as emotional as a wall. All except the slight tremble in her hands. He had the sudden urge to put his arm around her.

'I'm surprised,' Elizabeth said, 'I expected you to act more concerned. Though I suppose I am talking to the man who surfed a Rhyhorn into a stampede.'
'You know about that, huh.'
'My tailor didn't stop shrieking about it,' Elizabeth smiled.
'It's because I saw him,' Zack said, frowning.
'You charged into a stampede because you saw my tailor? I'll admit he's a little odd but-'

'No. I saw the creature. The thing who killed your dad,' Zack looked Elizabeth in the eye. She tensed up.
'He was at Route 9?'

Zack nodded. 'For a while, I guess. I lost track of him. Figured I could catch a killer, show up a few cops.'
'Did he see you? Did he know you were there?'
'No idea, but if I see him again I'll let you know.'

'I'll pay you,' Elizabeth said. She leaned forward so Zack could see nothing but her eyes, feeling the heat of her breath and the fury in her voice. 'However much you want. If you help me catch him, I'll make you rich.'

Lumiose City - CP

Noisy had still no idea where she was when he mentioned the City they seemed to be in. Though for some reason it sounded familiar, but she just couldn't place where she had been hearing all of these names before. She observed as the guy buying her food leaned comfortably on the vendor's stall and began speaking rapidly yet casually in some strange language.

Only with his next set of questions did things clear up for the girl. Kalos. She was somehow all the way in Kalos. Not that she knew exactly how far that was from Hoenn since she didn't pay attention much during her father's attempted homeschooling sessions. But apparently this place was pretty interesting.

"No, a ship brought me." She answered in a sort of deadpan joke, lifting her eyes to meet the young man's yellow ones as he looked at her. Hm, she'd never seen eyes of that color before, "But the Kalos League sounds interesting. What is it exactly?" Sure she'd heard of a League tournament before, but the rules and regulations were different for each Region, and she didn't know much about any of them anyways.

Lumiose City - CP

Noisy only half noticed his expression changing as the food buying guy spoke, as she had a momentary thought about when the food was going to be ready. She still paid attention to his words though, and they had her humming in thought. Surely being poor for as long as she had and still managing to survive, riches only seemed slightly tempting. And she had no clue about the 'nobles' he kept mentioning, though it seemed as if they had quite the significant part to play in this country's culture. But still, the League was something she'd never tried before and it seemed like she might be able to have some fun with it.

"Yes, I am." She said as she pat Eurus' ribbon arm and he obliged her by waving kindly at the young man with a free arm. She hadn't thought much of it before, but the Drifblim did look an awful lot like some of the prizes one could win at the various carnival game booths. Oh well. She tried to get his joke about floating boats, but it just wouldn't quite comprehend in her brain. She blamed it on the lack of food. It was fine anyways since she'd rather not mention her less than legal ride on the boat that brought her here. "I may give it a go. I'll be in Kalos for a long while, so why not?"

Cyllage City - Pokémon Center

The door to the supply closet creaked open, scaring the custodian half to death as Matheson and Salieri walked out mid conversation with Casteliacones. The custodian saw that they were coming from what appeared to be the harbor of Castelia City, which was impossible considering that was across the ocean and this door was a supply closet. Why the ******** does this keep happening?

“I tried to join the Book Club, but they wouldn’t let me in. They didn’t think I was serious. The administration didn’t want me ‘sullying their reputation’ either. Hmph, buncha nerds is what they are.” Sal nodded to Math. “What were your extracurriculars? Your friend Silas said you met at the same club.”

“Lacrosse Team,” Math said, licking the sides of his ice cream so it didn’t drip to the floor. “I played lacrosse. We weren’t very good but it was a lot of fun. Then my father said I needed something more fitting of a noble. So I chose something that fit that criteria that he’d hate.”
“You, the rebellious child?” Salieri was intrigued. She leaned in. “What was it?”
“I’m going to tell you, I just need a second. It’s embarrassing.”
“Now I need to know.”
“It’s a secret. C’mere.”

Math motioned for Sal to come closer, and he whispered in her ear. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth turned into an ‘o’ as he drew away. “ACAPELLA GROUP!?”
“I just said it was a secret, Sal!” Math groaned, flushed with red. He twisted to see who had heard. Only the custodian did, and he was too busy trying to figure out how these teens were capable of folding space to travel like they did to care about acapella.
“But why? Acapella, dude?”
“I thought he’d hate it. He did, I just didn’t think it’d be so…ugh.”
“You’re friends with those guys, though.”
“Oh yeah the guys are great, they’re true bros.” Math scratched the back of his head. “I don’t like being on stage.”
“Can you sing?”
“Not really.” Math went redder than before. “I mostly beatboxed.”
“Wowwww.” Sal punched him on the arm. He’d gotten used to that by now. “Serenade me.”
“Never.”
“Sing us a song, Piano Man.”
“I have made a huge mistake.”

Salieri laughed put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m just messing with you.” Matheson looked at her hand, which lingered a little longer than what would be considered platonic. She took her hand back and cleared her throat. They both felt the need to look away from each other out of nervousness, but didn’t.

“You’re a lot of fun, Math. This is the most…normal day I’ve had in a long time.”
“Most girls I ask out think the Magic Door Key is way far from normal.” He beamed. “I think you’re a lot of fun too.”
“Oh? Do you ask out a lot of girls, then?” she asked in a teasing way.
“Haha, no, I meant…you’re actually the first girl I’ve gone on a real date with.”

Salieri’s heart fluttered in pleasant surprise. She ate the last of her cone and threw her napkin into the trash behind her. “You know, there’s one more place I wanna show you. If you still-“
“Yeah, I still. I very still.” He held the Magic Door Key out to her.
“We don’t need the key. It’s actually, uh.” She pointed upstairs, dropping the whimsy and becoming softer. “It’s upstairs. The bedrooms here, they’re really cool. They have, uh, art in them. Art on the walls, they have art.”
Math nodded slowly. He matched her tone. “I like art. Art is great.”
“Do you…” She motioned for them to go up the stairs with both hands. “Do you want to see the art, in my room? There is art in my room, so, there is a reason to go there. To my room.”
They were very close now. “Yes, let’s go see art.”

Once again, all tension shattered between them, this time because Salieri laughed and facepalmed. “Wait, no. I can’t right now. I forgot about my team. So stupid…”
Matheson took a step away. “Yep. Yeah, your team. You’re a Pokémon trainer.”
“I am.”
“It’s cool, I get it-“
“No, no, do you think…no, I still want to…show you all that great art. I just need to make sure my team’s alright.” Thinking fast, she added, “Do you want to come with me?”
“Yes!” he said, a little too fast and a little too loud. “I mean, yeah, that’s cool. Let’s go find your team.”

The two of them were so absorbed in their conversation walking out of the Pokémon Center that they didn’t register the many wild Pokémon limping back away and dragging their unconscious allies back towards Route 10. “Ouf, I really don’t know if they caught that Vaporeon or not. I got a message saying twelve Emolga were deposited into my PC.”
“Twelve? That’s nuts.”
“Is that a squirrel joke?”
“Uh, it wasn’t, but now it is.” A shadow from the sky loomed over them. “Well at least they caught something, right?”
“Anybody with a good punch and a Pokéball can catch something.” Salieri tapped a finger to her lip. “Oh well, if all else fails, back to square one. C’est la vie-“

Matheson tackled Salieri to the ground as a Golurk flew way too close for comfort, crashing down the street with Biz Marquis standing on top of it. Two of his Needle Swords were plunged into the automaton’s shoulders, which he used as makeshift steering. The Golurk struggled to get up, as Biz thwacked it with a Needle Arm punch. [Who’s your daddy?! I don’t know why people say that but I know it’s supposed to sound badass!]

Sal helped Matheson to his feet. “Thanks.” She dusted herself off and marched to Biz. “I owe you again.”
“Don’t mention it,” Math assured as he followed her. By the time they got to the Golurk it was knocked out, and Biz was standing with his usual foot-on-top-of-fallen-opponent pose, flexing.
“Biz! What’s going on?” Salieri barked sharply. Biz came to attention and hopped off, proud of his work.
[We tried catching Vaporeon but we fought a bunch of wild Pokémon instead and caught like ten squirrels, so we had to run away and heal ourselves and then the Pokédex said ‘Beepboop Vaporeon’s here’ and I was like ‘How does Ivan know what I’m saying’ but no one answered me, so we ran outside and Vaporeon was there with all these Pokémon from near that place where I beat up that deer-]

Salieri obviously had no idea what Biz Marquis was saying, but through his excited gesticulating she got the idea. “Slow down, Biz. Where did Dune and Lupin go?” All Biz could do was shrug.

“Lupin’s a Kecleon, right?” Matheson was squatting down, picking a shimmering Kecleon scale off the ground and pointing down the street. “He went that way.”

Salieri counted herself lucky that her date happened to be an expert tracker. The scales weren’t something she thought she’d notice herself, at least not as quickly as he did. “Awesome, let’s get a move on.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Vaporeon took a moment to look over her shoulder as she slithered in her watery form down the sidewalk, the Kecleon Durendal had been dragging around was gone. There was no way the Pawniard was still holding onto it. At this speed, his extra scales would flake off and Vaporeon would’ve spotted the stripe on his stomach by now. Dune must have ditched the lizard somewhere, but it didn’t matter to her.

They went in a loop around a small plaza in the center of town. Whenever Dune zigged to strike her, she zagged, and vice versa. She could see he was getting tired. She was too, but it’d be easier for her to escape if she could just find a drain.

Her path was abruptly cut off by Lupin, who had been standing a ways down the road, invisible. He fired a high power Charge Beam her way, and thinking fast she ducked into an alley between two buildings.

The alley didn’t have another exit. At its end was just a brick wall. She turned solid and looked behind her. Durendal and Lupin were blocking her way. [Clever,] she mused, licking her lips.
[Yeah, no drains here.] Lupin folded his arms. [Spare us the fight so we can go get lunch already.]
[Why? You haven’t won yet-]

A sound like tape being unrolled came from above them. Vaporeon looked up. A Klefki was floating high above them, spreading caution tape made of pink light out from on of his keys that wrapped around the top of the alley. With Fairy Lock there was no escaping up the walls.

“Hi!” Matheson and Salieri popped up behind Durendal and Lupin. “I’m Matheson! I hope you’re okay with five on one, because that’s how it is. Not that that’s usually my thing, I like to keep it even, but in this case it works out and let’s be honest, you can turn into water and we can’t so-“
“Math, you’re rambling,” Salieri said sweetly, placing a hand on his shoulder and moving past him. She took her belt and dex back from her Pawniard and regarded Vaporeon with confidence. “You! Reynard! Time to give it up!”

[Reynard? That’s what you wanna call me! HA!] Vaporeon snarled and dove at them, turning into a Scald. [Not gonna happen!]

Lupin stepped up and shot a Charge Beam at Vaporeon. She swerved out of the way, right into the waiting Dune, who kicked her with a roundhouse Slash. Vaporeon was battered away and before she could follow up, Dune dashed into her with an elbow strike Aerial Ace.

[Seriously?] Vaporeon growled, struggling to reconstitute herself with all the damage she accumulated. Panting on her last legs, she was still defiant. How could this team of misfits take her down by wearing her out? She never thought it would happen like this, trapped in a corner with nowhere to go.

“Now, Sal!” Math yelled. Salieri took out a Pokéball and lobbed it at the Vaporeon, enveloping the Pokémon in red light. The ball shook. Once. Twice…

Vaporoen broke free of the ball, shattering it with pride. [I told you, you’re ten years too early to catch me-]

Still standing right there, Dune slapped her with another Aerial Ace, and Salieri threw the last Pokéball. One shake, two shakes, three…Ding! “Beepboop, capture successful!”

“YES!” Salieri cheered. Lupin pat himself and Dune on the back and Salieri dove into Matheson’s chest with a hug. “******** YES!” She backed away and lowered her enthusiasm, but still gave him a proud smile. Math returned it.
“Congrats. Looks like she’s a pretty tough Pokémon.”
“She is.” Metis undid her Fairy Lock and floated back down to Matheson. “C’mon guys, let’s get you healed up. How’s lunch sound?”

Lumiose City - Central Plaza

The two of them had reached the edge of the benefit, where the crowd thinned and there were no more vendors. This was the direction of Rogue Plaza, and where Moze intended to part ways with the girl. Noisy. One of those ironic names. He had intended to use the girl to get from point A to B. Instead, he was glad he could deliver a warning to a potential target of the nobility. It was something he wished someone would have done for him.

Moze stopped walking and slowly exhaled. She didn't talk much, but Noisy was the only piece of normality in his day. He was almost sad he couldn't tell her. "I don't have a name, not anymore." He gave her his best smile. It came across as tired. "You see...I'm one of the trainers that had to disappear."

It wasn't the sentence he wanted to depart on, so he paused to think of another. As he walked away, he said over his shoulder, "Don't challenge the league. Have fun in Kalos, Noisy." And unless she wanted to keep talking, Moze would drift away.

Route 10 - Pillar Feild

Perhaps it was the insanely strong current that Eurus had found while flying, but Noisy thought that they were flying awfully fast. Not that she cared. She was really enjoying herself, arms and legs dangling towards the Earth that was far below as her Drifblim transport held her torso with his ribbonesque arms. It made her wonder how many people had died doing the same thing she was doing at the moment, plummeting to their deaths at an accelerated rate. She tried to imagine how it may feel once one realizes their Pokemon's grasp on them had slackened due to harsh winds and that they were going to end up as a splatter on the ground. Obviously it wouldn't be a good feeling, but it was kind of exciting to imagine the free fall. There had been many occurrences of flying type specialists in her hometown who had experienced such a fate.

[You're letting out creepy vibes again.] Eurus said in a tired manner as he regarded his trainer's aura. Noisy had no idea what was being said, but the tone let her know she was being scolded. She looked up with her emerald gaze at Eurus. Then she focused back on the task at hand. Finding Ambrette. Or something. Really, she didn't know what she was looking for. For all she knew Ambrette could be one of those noble's Sweets mentioned and the benefit could have been for her breast cancer or something. A town came into view below them, mostly covered by a low hanging cloud that kept it out of sight. Then Noisy saw something interesting.

Not many main routes had random, giant boulders throughout it. She could see the rock formations from way up in the sky. Maybe an hour or two had passed since they had been with Sweets at the benefit, so she thought this may be as good a place as any to stop and find out where she was. Well, that was a lie. It just looked cool so she wanted to go. Noisy gave Eurus' arm a pat and pointed down. The effect, like before, was immediate as the Drifblim began to deflate and pull away from the current.

They soon were in calmer airs and had a peaceful descent to what they didn't know was Route 10. As Eurus neared the surface, he aimed for a clear spot and was nearly to the tips of the strange rock formations when Noisy grunted and shook her head, pointing at the nearest pillar.

[What, are you a kid? Use your words, Noisy!] Noisy recognized but did not acknowledge her Pokemon's protest as he reluctantly flew to the top of the very tall pillar, allowing his trainer to grip onto the tip of it and pull away from him. Eurus very carefully and very slowly let go of Noisy, making sure to have his arms extended in case she fell. She didn't, however, and just simply hauled herself onto the top of the rock and perched in a fashion similar to a Greninja would sit on top of the monument. A small smile met her lips as she surveyed the surroundings and a familiar feeling overcame her.

"Don't you think it feels a bit like home?" she mused, thinking not of Fortree City, but Mt. Pyre. That place was more home to her than her true little shack of a home in the trees. Eurus just huffed and kept a careful eye on the seemingly fearless girl. There was indeed a ghostly presence about the place, and it gave both of them comfortably familiar chills through their systems. Noisy's smile only grew as she surveyed the land and was able to spot what looked to be a little stone statue of some sort far below her, made to look like it was looking up right at the top of the pillar she was on.

She decided to just sit and enjoy the ominous vibes she was getting from the place from her makeshift watchtower for the time being.