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Route 10- Noisy vs Skarada

Keasbey didn’t know who would step into the Bubble Trap, but he hadn’t expected the Golett that was following Noisy around prior to be the one to trip it. The bubbles floated up from beneath Golett’s feet slowly. When one popped, it set off a chain reaction, popping the others well within the range of the two Pokémon. The Murkrow was flung up forcefully by the intense pressure release and slammed into a crook within a pillar, dazed and confused. He wasn’t sure how it would effect Golett, but since the automaton was part Ground type it’d probably hurt twice as bad.

Sergio stepped off of the Ghost she’d landed on, wiping her hands clean against each other. “Sergio, a little help here.” The Lopunny looked up.

When the Plant Trap’s trellis wrapped around Eurus, it also wrapped around Ska’s arm. Because the balloon had let go of him when he was attacked by Bounce, Ska was left dangling one the side of the pillar, gripping onto the vines that bound him. He was using one of his steel razor cards to saw through the plant, and it was working very slowly.

[Mmkay,] the Lopunny complied, jumping up and charring the vines apart with a single Fire Punch. Haze filled the arena below as they landed safely together.

“You see ‘em?” Skarada asked. Sergio shook her head. Ska stayed very still, wondering if Noisy had escaped or was just biding her time. She knew about the traps, so if she was escaping she was probably doing it with caution. That’d make her easy to catch up to. Ice crunched under his feet as he tread lightly. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Using his quick draw technique he flung three more traps out of his holster. The Plant Traps activated on the ground near him and unknowingly near Noisy. “Keasbey, break time is over,” he called out, unaware of where his Murkrow was. “Get rid of this filth.”

Keasbey, having had a few seconds to catch his breath, flapped out from the crook in the pillar and started up a Prankster accelerated Defog to flap away the Haze and reveal the locations of their targets.

Route 10 - Path to Bryony's Lab

The other members of the Fashion Patrol Squad gasped at Hank’s accusation. As if physically affected by Hank’s pose, Brynnjarin recoiled back, spun around and pointed with both fingers at Hank. “T-that’s a lie! I’d never step one foot into that faux pas! Everyone knows my casual summer footwear are cross laced cork sandals. Right guys, you know me?”

Murmurs spread amongst the team, and whispers of “Shoobie”, “She’s a Shoobie”, “A Shoobie walks amongst us” floated up from the crowd. Brynnjarin stomped a foot angrily. “Hank, now everyone’s going to talk smack about me on Twadder!”

Jeff took a few steps away from his teammates and tapped his earpiece to get a hold of Bryony.

Route 10 – Bryony’s Lab

“Goldberg,” Bryony mumbled, barely regarding the giant of a man as he stepped into the tent. She was too busy overseeing the lab breakdown went smoothly to care about his boast. The Scientist had requested two Flare Admins to oversee security on the Mega Stone extraction, and she was displeased with both of them. Skarada was a flighty smartass who cared not for authority. Goldberg wasn’t so rude, but he was also half as present.

“The last time we didn’t retreat, he killed Aliana. Or have you forgotten?” Bryony certainly hadn’t. She knew her grunts thought she was paranoid, setting up multiple security plans and enlisting a trap master. They must not have realized that a good assassin could be there at any time. And Ratio, he was the best. He’d slaughter them while they all felt secure. No, Bryony wouldn’t let herself fall into that pattern. She’d get to him first.

A transmission came through on her earpiece from Flare Grunt Jeff. “Bryony, we’re on the scene.”
“Did you find the Ditto?” she asked with urgency.
“No, but we found Hank and asked him about today’s pose. Brynnjarin said he got it wrong, but Hank said Brynnjarin wears sock with sandals, and I’ll be honest I think he might be right. I don’t know who to trust.”
“…What color are my eyes, Jeff?”

Bryony did not meet most of the Grunts assigned to the excavation until this morning, but Jeff was one of the few she had known beforehand. She had kept her visor on all day, and knew that he had seen her without it before. It was rumored that Ratio could read minds. Whether it was a psychic ability, or an Aura based one, or something with a Pokémon, she couldn’t be sure. But she did hypothesize that he couldn’t read minds over the phone. There was no research to support that any mind reader could.

“Brown. Why?”

Bryony sighed in relief. “Just checking.” She activated her radar visor again. The Ditto’s position on the radar matched where she asked Jeff’s squad to converge. “He’s either among you or he’s hiding nearby, I know it.”
“There’s nowhere to hide around here, it’s the middle of the field.”
“Then he’s hiding in your squad.”
There was a pause from Jeff’s side of the conversation. “I know what you’re saying right know but I can’t believe. Like, sure it’s weird that Brynnjarin might be a shoobie, but I trust her. And I trust Hank too, his name is too plain for him to be suspicious. And he brought, like, six Mega Stones for you.”

Six? Bryony recalled putting a fourth Mega Stone into the collection minutes ago after testing its purity for an hour. It had taken several squads several hours just to find four Mega Stones all over Route 10. There was no way she could believe one Grunt would show up with six at once. “They’re fake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Attack Brynnjarin and Hank at the same time.”
“You can’t be serious!” Jeff harshly whispered. “They’re part of Team Flare, just like you and me-”
“You and I. Jeff, if you let this Creature into your pack he will kill you all. This is an order. Attack them both, at the same time, right now.”
“Bryony-”
“That is an ORDER, do you understand?”
“…yes, copy that. Over and out.”

She ended the transmission and turned to Goldberg, who’s mountainous form barely fit under the tent. “There’s a high chance that there may be a fight at the south end of the field. Time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Route 10 - Path to Bryony's Lab

Jeff looked at the Pokéball in his hand, trembling. This wasn’t what he signed on for. He never signed up with Team Flare to attack the people he wished to call friends. But he didn’t sign up to die either. And something was definitely wrong. Bryony was paranoid but she wasn’t stupid, far from it. Hank, Brynnjarin, forgive me.

The Flare Grunt released his Electrike and with a point ordered a “Flame Burst!”. Loyal to his trainer despite reservations, the Electrike belched out a ball of fire that blew up between Brynnjarin and Hank. Jeff prayed he was making the right decision as the female Grunt was knocked down and lit on fire, screaming.

Route 10 - Noisy vs Skarada

Skarada could see the shape of Noisy the moment she could see him, standing besides the newcomer Banette. The Plant Traps were in between them. A good position. He shook his head at the girl, with a "Tsk tsk tsk. What're you even here for, ay? Do you even know what you're doing?"

Potpourri disappeared. Ska recognized that speed as identical to his Murkrow's. Shadow Sneak. "Eyes on the doll, she's in the shadows," he said up to Keasbey, who complied and flew up with watchful eyes. When Noisy commanded something from someone he could not see, Ska turned around. So did Sergio.

The Icy Wind came right after they turned, blowing them both back. They were a few feet away from the Plant Traps now. Sergio caught her trainer with a long fluffy ear and braced herself against the wind with her powerful legs, while Ska retrieved another three card from his deck of traps. Pellets of ice bombarded them both, drawing blood. Sergio protected her trainer with her long ears, taking the brunt of the assault.

Skarada was still smiling, with some blood trickling down his forehead, but now there was something more menacing behind it. He was in a battle heat. Behind the long tuft of hair covering Ska's eye was a faint lime green glow.

Sergio moved aside and Ska tossed out the Flame Trap Cards, cutting into the wind. Each one hit a chunk of ice, which was knocked off course into more ice, triggering the traps to blow up into flames. Whirling wildly in the air, the fire streams melted the ice as it came and protecting them from the rest of the attack.

"Those questions weren't rhetorical, mate!" he called over the last over the wind as the fire died away, sounding a bit more livid as he turned back to Noisy. The green glow behind his eye continued, shining brighter now. The cream colored orb on Sergio's neck bangle seemed to be reacting, glowing in the exact same way. "Said you were looking for mischief? I've got plenty. In fact I've got more, I'm gonna show you what all this fuss is about!"

The Lopunny stepped forward, then jumped into the air. The green glows from Ska's eye and Sergio's orb extended and intertwined. Suddenly they split, and Sergio was embraced in a cocoon of pink light. "Everyone's on Route 10 because they wanna do THIS!"

The cocoon shattered, and Sergio's old form had been replaced by the lithe, powerful body of a Mega Lopunny. With a ferocious growl she whipped around in a hurricane kick before touching the ground light as a feather, bouncing on her toes with her arms up and a savage smile on her face. With every bounce, the ground cracked. [Yeeeah, this is more like it,] she exclaimed in a Pokénese equivalent of an Orrean accent.

The glow ceased. "I'll give you a fair go and tell ya that Sergio here's got Scrappy now. She'll break your Ghosts like planks of wood...if I let her, anyway." Sergio's excitement level dropped and she pouted with her arms folded. Ska put a calming hand on her shoulder and gave Noisy a much more affable grin. "Your moxie ain't bad, kid. Tell me your name-"

The transmitter earpiece he had tucked under his beanie buzzed, causing him to wince. Skarada tapped it irritably. As he had gone dark because he didn't want to here constant Flare gossip on the airwaves, the transmitter had backed up anything that could be radioed to him as a message. One of them just arrived.

"Give me a sec, I gotta here this," he said to Noisy as he moved off to the side. "And don't try any funny business. Or take any steps to the left." There were no traps to her left. Ska just wanted to mess with her.

Route 10 - Noisy vs Skarada (Intermission)

The acclaimed hipster vampire let out a breath of relief when Skarada had chosen to take a quick break to listen to whatever it was that was in his ear. Honestly she was a bit surprised by this latest development. That thing around the Lopunny's neck hadn't caught her attention until it had begun glowing. And then when it transformed and Ska had let her know indirectly that Sergio could now hit her ghosts with whatever move she wanted. That's when Noisy had decided she really didn't want to do this anymore.

Why was she battling this guy, anyways? His questions that he'd made known he wanted answered echoed in her head. Her mind raced quickly to find an answer now that she had a few moments to rest. Why was she here? She was looking to play a prank in a secret laboratory. Or, wait. That wasn't why she had come here in the first place. It was to look at the really cool pillars. No, no, no. That wasn't right. She had come down because she was lost and she was looking for that woman with breast cancer, Ambrette! Noisy pounded a fist into an open palm triumphantly as she remembered why she was there. Maybe after Ska was done, she'd ask him if he knew her. She did seem quite important to have a benefit in the middle of a big city, after all. Well, that all was good and fine, assuming she actually was a human and not a place or thing.

But then again...

Noisy looked over to where Pneumatic was standing back on standby at the distance she had hopped to to avoid the flames, watching Ska carefully. She looked to Sergio, then to her left where Ska had told her traps had been placed. Those things were so. Cool. Not to mention the weird orb that the Lopunny was wearing around her neck that seemed to have made her transform into this ultra-rabbit babe. It seemed familiar to her somehow, and Ska's words made her think she was forgetting something useful about that. Anyways, she knew the reason she was here, but why was she fighting right now?

She knew Ska wouldn't be exactly satisfied if she made a break for it now, not that she could considering she had no idea where the traps were other than to her left. He seemed to enjoy their battle and was getting pretty pumped about it. And it wasn't like she had been losing up until this point, though she couldn't exactly say she was winning, either. And she could definitely say that other than the fact that she had been able to trick him once or twice, she was not enjoying this fight as much as he was. So, again, why was she fighting?

Noisy knew she wanted them. Ever since she'd seen the fire pillar that nearly blew her into ashes, she'd wanted one of those traps. Now she wanted all of them after seeing how they worked. And even though she didn't know what it was exactly she also wanted the orb that had been dangling around Sergio's neck. She didn't know how it worked, but maybe it could make her own Pokemon magically transform into rad babe versions of themselves. So maybe she didn't want to battle. Maybe she just wanted to swipe a couple of things and be on her merry way. Yeah, that was definitely it.

The conclusion to the problem was solved in Noisy's head in a matter of seconds, and she immediately began scheming up a plan to get at least a couple of cards out from Ska's holster since now she didn't want her Pokemon to engage the Lopunny. Her main issue would be escaping after all was said and done. She'd need a distraction. Like, a big distraction since she figured Ska'd be pissed after she stole his stuff. Assuming she could steal his stuff. She observed the direction Ska had walked in and where he was standing. Obviously no traps were there. Off to the side the Golett from before that she'd just now noticed was lying very still on its back.

Noisy then looked to Pneumatic who was gazing between the man on the phone and the Lopunny that was immune to her charms. She noted that she'd have to find a way to have the Froslass attract both sexes and moved her eyes to the shadows. Potpourri would be waiting for her to tell her to move, but that was kind of hard with the eye in the sky. She'd just have to take her chances with that.

The next thing in her mind to get all the puzzle pieces in place was to find out where exactly the already activated traps were. Noisy slowly bent down against the pillar and picked up some halfway melted ice chunks in her hand. She took an example from Skarada and chucked the ice where he had said the traps to her left were so that she could activate them and they would be out of the way. Hopefully they weren't going to hurt much since she was apparently so close to where they were. Oddly though, nothing happened. She slowly realized that she had been lied to. She had no idea why she had trusted the guy to tell her the truth in the first place, but it kind of made her lose what little hope in humanity she had left. But it was still good to know that she had a definite escape route. She really didn't trust herself to go around walking in just any direction. Now that she knew where was clear, that made things a whole lot easier.

Now all she had to do was figure out the details and wait patiently against the pillar for Ska to finish up his call. Hopefully all went well because before, on more than one occasion, her greed in similar situations had come back to bite her in the a**. Either way she was probably not going to get out of this unscathed so she may as well try to get something out of it.

Lumiose City - Zack's Holocaster

Wherever Zack was in Lumiose City, his Holocaster would alert him to an incoming call. Mia didn't have a Holocaster of her own, so she was using Gotengo's PC for the call. Thus, the caller ID would show up as 'Gotengo'.

If he answered the call, a hologram of Mia from the torso up wearing her tasteful but still embarrassing maid outfit for her temp job at Hotel Richissime would form from blue pixels, saying "Hey, it's me. How'd your playdate with Salieri end up?"

Cyllage City

Salieri’s team was enjoying their well earned rest on the terrace in front of a cafe, sitting at a table and eating a quality blend of Pokéchow. The only member of her team not sitting with the rest was the newest, Reynard the Vaporeon.

[Not a chance,] Reynard said, turning her nose away from the full bowl Salieri held out to her. [I’ll catch something to eat myself.]
“Suit yourself, Reynard,” Salieri replied, catching onto what Reynard said through her gestures. The Vaporeon clearly hated the name, because steam rose from her watery skin at the sound of it. “You lost, get over it. Quit grumping and eat.”
[‘S really good,] Biz grunted, pausing just long enough from inhaling the brown pellets. Reynard peered at them from the corner of her eye. Her stomach grumbled. Reluctantly she snatched the bowl from Salieri and ate with her back turned to the group.

Sal looked at Matheson further down the sidewalk, having a long conversation with someone on his Holocaster. From the way he spoke tersely, Sal assumed it was a parent, most likely the less than stellar father she kept hearing about. As he spoke words that she couldn’t hear from where she sat, Sal thought he looked more anxious. She didn’t like seeing him worry. It was like seeing a Lilipup whimper. Sal’s gaze wandered to his abs through his shirt, and she absentmindedly stirred the smoothie she was drinking with the straw.

Math hung up his call and Sal stirred from her reverie. “What’s up?”
“That was my father,” Matheson said, and in her mind Sal knew she nailed it. “I forgot there’s this stupid charity ball I have to go to tonight. Not that charity is stupid, I mean its stupid that I have to go, cause I do not do well at these kinds of events and I’d way rather hang out with you.”
Salieri felt a pang of disappointment. The date had gone far beyond her initially low expectations. “You have to go?”
“No, no, not for a few hours.”
“Cool cause there’s still all that art in my room if you want to see that,” Salieri stammered out a little too quickly. Math nodded with just as much vigor.
“I do if you want to.”

Salieri looked at her team, all lying back full of food and socializing with each other save for Banksy and Reynard. Yep, they looked ready to go. She returned them all to their Pokéballs without warning and turned back to Matheson. “Right now is good, is that good for you?”
“Right now is perfect for me.”

It was all formality at this point. The two of them knew what was going to happen. There wasn’t much keeping it from happening now. There wasn’t anything, really. Once again, they were very close together. He hunched over slightly and Sal got onto her tiptoes. Their eyes were closed.

A loud BOOM echoed out from the north. Matheson was brought out of his reverie and saw smoke rise from the heart of Route 10. Salieri ignored it, eyes still closed and waiting for the kiss. “Did you hear that?”
“Mmhmm, it’s just an explosion. Math-“
“It looks serious.” Salieri huffed in annoyance and looked to where Math pointed. The size of the smokestack was huge. Salieri couldn’t remember seeing any wild Pokémon on Route 10 that could do that. Admittedly, it did look serious.
“There’s a police blockade up there, right? It could have something to do with that.”
“Maybe,” Matheson replied, not really listening. He took his Klefki out of his pocket. “Metis, Magic Closet Key please.”

Metis unhooked a pink key from her clasp and Matheson twisted it in air, unlocking an invisible door and opening up a small pink portal in front of them. Matheson reached in blindly, rummaging for something. “What are you doing?”
“Oh this? It’s my Magic Closet. Yeah, I store all my stuff in here. Nothing works while it’s in there, cause it’s based on a Wonder Room. It’s pretty fascinating actually-“
“I mean what are you doing now, are you going to Route 10?”
“Of course I am, look at that smoke!” Matheson was surprised she’d even ask. He pulled out his rusty orange Devon Co. jacket from the portal. It closed and he draped the jacket across his shoulders like a cape. “Aren’t you?”
“Um, no? Not my explosion, not my problem. The police can handle this.” As a maturing juvenile delinquent Sal never thought she’d say that last part. “You don’t have to go play hero.”
“I’m not ‘playing hero’. I’m a noble from House Leroux, this is kind of my job.”
Salieri couldn’t comprehend that. “What?”
Math sensed that lack of understanding in her voice. “The nobility is supposed to work for this country. If someone’s in trouble, than I need to go help them if I can. It’s my duty as a noble.”
“Pssh.” Salieri scoffed and crossed her arms. “First time I’ve heard that one.”
“…Actually, you know what? No, it’s my duty as a person.” For the first time since Sal had met him, he was sounding annoyed with her. “Honestly, you would go if you knew it was one of the people on your revenge list, wouldn’t you?”
Salieri couldn’t respond to that right away. She struggled for the words before settling on a bitter, “It’s not the same thing.”
“No, it really isn’t. Look, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to, I just expected...I just know you can, I guess.” He didn’t sound so annoyed anymore, just kind of disappointed. And Salieri suddenly felt like she was making a mistake. He began to jog away, Pokéball in hand and Metis floating next to him.

“Matheson.” He looked over his shoulder. Salieri didn’t know what she should have said there, but she knew she didn’t want him to leave.
“I’ll call you later, Salieri,” he told her, and then he was off.

Salieri was left alone on the sidewalk. Arms folded, face bright pink. “Such an idiot!” she grumbled, kicking her chair before sitting in it, steaming. Her pout put passerbys out of ease as they walked hastily by her table. “He’s such an idiot.”

A minute passed by. Then another three minutes. Her foot tapped impatiently all the while. Finally, Salieri got up and walked with a hustle towards Route 10. “Goddamnit.”

Route 10 – Pillar Field

By the time Matheson got to Route 10, the police blockade was gone. Their blue uniforms laid on the path, torn off. Eerie quiet overcame the field. Not even the wild Pokémon approached. “Well if that isn’t suspicious I don’t know what is. We need to tread lightly. Rhea!”

He released his Vespiquen, who curtsied at him upon arrival. “I have a bad feeling about this. Use your drones to search the area, please.”

Small, single faced Combee grubs swarmed out from beneath her honeycomb dress and spread out to Route 10 ahead of them, going far until Matheson could see them no longer. Rhea saw through their eyes, seeing the giant grid of mystery pillars for the first time. It was as if it were a forest of stone, but no forest would ever grow this way.

Several of her grubs were destroyed before she could see anything suspicious. When they landed on the sides of the pillars or on the ground they were either burnt to crisps, or shred apart or crushed by plants. Rhea could not feel their pain, fortunately, but the unknown causes of their quick demises made her feel something ominous. Finally, one of her grubs spotted a squadron of Team Flare grunts running for the center of Route 10.

Rhea pointed in the general direction with urgency. “Is it bad?” Matheson asked. Rhea wasn’t sure. She shrugged, then nodded her head. “Hmm, this is probably a bad idea. I’m gonna do it anyway, but this is probably a bad idea…”

He waded into the tall grass past the first humungous pillar. Something below him clicked as he stepped on it. Before he knew it, Matheson was being blown by a Hurl Trap deeper through a lane of pillars at Rapidash speeds, disappearing on the spot.

[Lord Matheson, nooooo!] Rhea and Metis panicked, flying in after their master.

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

A few minutes later, Salieri came across the same entrance into Route 10’s pillar field. As she went forward she got lucky, walking through one of the few gaps in the trap perimeter at the field’s edge. She too had a bad feeling about this place. While fighting The Sniper the day prior, Sal didn’t have the luxury of taking in the sights. Looking up through the lanes of pillars reminded her of Lumiose City’s streets, the way the buildings stretched into the sky around her. They were uniform just like skyscrapers too, spaced out evenly in columns and rows before her. Salieri wondered who made these structures, how, and why, because they certainly weren’t natural.

She wondered more about where Matheson had gone off to, because the silence around the large field coupled with the looming shadows of pillars and the faint mist on the ground was spooky. If something happened to him, was it her fault? She could have gone with him. Salieri really didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. She just also wanted to make sure it didn’t happen to her either.

On Salieri’s next step something clicked under her foot. A familiar sound, one she hadn’t heard in a long time. Her face was muddled as she tried to remember what that sound was. When she figured it out, her face settled on shock and rage. “Is this…Skarada?”

The Hurl Trap flung her through the air as Salieri flashed back to her years spent training in Orre, where she had encountered the ever smiling pirate captain and his crew multiple times. The hell is he doing here? I can't believe I stepped on another one of these things, I'm gonna deck that pirate to the floor! Salieri spun around as she careened past pillars, preparing to land right side up when she could find footing.

A four man squadron of Flare Grunts dashed out from behind a pillar, on their way to Bryony’s former lab per her instructions. Sal took them by surprise as she crash landed into one of them, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The poor grunt had broken her fall at the cost of his own consciousness, posing his arms in a box formation as he passed out.

“Whoa, my bad,” Salieri said as she dusted herself off and took note of their ridiculously tight matching outfits. “Have you guys seen a sponse walk through here? Tall, blond, total babe slash dork?”
“Oh my GOD she killed Chuck!” cried one of the grunts, crouching down to his body in grief. The second cried to the sky and the third dropped to his knees.
“What? No I didn’t. That guy’s just concussed. Trust me, been there done that. He’ll be up in a few minutes tops.”
“Oh. Well, in that case-“

The three grunts came together, taking on different angular sentai poses that made them perfectly symmetrical as a unit. “Grieving period is over! You’re trespassing on Team Flare’s worksite, so you better scram!”
“Or you’ll end up on the cutting room floor!”
“In the reject pile!”

Salieri burst out laughing once she got a good look at their poses. “It-it’s not funny!” one of the grunts asserted, yet Salieri laughed even harder, clutching her gut and bending a knee. She wiped a tear from her eye, choking on chuckles. “Why is she laughing?”

“Cutting room floor? WHAT? W-wait, wait,” Salieri said as she caught her breath, holding out her hands. “Stop, don’t say anything, please.” She didn’t want them to make her laugh again. “Did you say Team Flair? Are you Team Flair?”

“That’s exactly what we said. I feel like you’re saying it wrong…” They all took Pokéballs off their belts, releasing a Houndour, a Croagunk and a Golbat. “So if you know who we are, beat it!”
“Oh-kay. Suuuure.” Salieri had no idea why Zack would consider these people responsible for anything other than the downfall of fashion itself. The fact that he considered them important made it even more hysterical to the delinquent. Casually, she released Durendal and Reynard. “Guys, make it quick, I have to find Matheson.”

Flare’s Pokémon rushed at Salieri’s. Reynard cracked her neck, still grumpy about being captured but glad at the prospect of having something to take her frustrations out on. [They’re mine,] she barked at Dune, melting into her Seine Form and tackling the Golbat as a mass of water. The bat flopped in the air, unable to fly with Reynard circling him so erratically so fast. Not one to be shown up, Dune used Parade on Houndour’s incoming Flame Burst. The electromagnetic parry along the Pawniard’s arm clashed with the Fire attack, red waving sparks on red fire, and Dune backhanded the attack at Croagunk, hitting the frog’s Dry Skin for super effective damage.

It was easy to tell that this battle would be over shortly. Salieri walked up to the Flare Grunts. “I have another question for you,” she asked as thought there wasn’t a Pokémon battle going on next to her. “Is there a pirate from Orre around here, setting up traps? Is he with you?”
“She’s talking about Mister Skarada, isn’t she?” the second grunt whispered to the third. The third punched him in the arm.
“Shut up! Of course she is!” The third regarded Salieri. “What do you think you know?”
“I know that if you’re working with this guy, you’re all on the road to a betrayal. Not that I care, I’m just looking for my date. Step aside, dweebs.”
“You’re forgetting this is three against one,” the first grunt said with confidence. The three Flare Grunts encircled Salieri, getting closer. “The odds are against you.”

Salieri exhaled a breath of annoyance. These clowns were persistent if anything. She wasn’t sure what they were doing on Route 10 or if they caused that explosion Matheson had seen. But she did know one thing. “There are no odds, if there were then you’d have a chance.” She gestured for them to come at her with her signature hunting grin, showing off her pointy canines. “So somebody throw a punch already, you’re wasting my time.”

The grunts were thrown off by her attitude. After some hesitation, the first of them got in close and threw the first punch. Salieri tapped it off course to the side and grabbed the grunt’s face with the same hand. With that one arm and one leg behind his to trip him, she slammed him to the ground by his head. Hard.

The second and third grunt converged on her, but Salieri tripped them both up with a sweep kick and sent them falling backwards. The first got up again, and so did Salieri. She rose with an uppercut, crunching her fist into his gut and kneeing him in the face as he bent over. “You guys are no Hariyama Brothers, that’s for sure.”

Instinct told her an attack was coming from behind. She thrust out a back kick, catching the second grunt in the shoulder. With the same momentum she rotated, rapping the back of her fist into the second grunt’s face and spinning him away.

The third came at her with a flurry of punches. Salieri faced them head on, bobbing and weaving backwards between each blow. She wasn’t touched by a single one. “Stop trying to hit me and hit me!” she taunted.

“Who the hell is this girl?” the first grunt spat, helped to his feet by the second. “She’s a shrimp but she hits as hard as Bruno!”
“I ate my fruits and veggies. I had a very good teacher,” Salieri chimed in. As if to prove her strength comparable to a Fighting type master, Sal grabbed the grunt attacking her by the shirt, lifted her off the ground without much strain, and tossed her into the other two. They toppled to the grass like bowling pins. “And you’re all amateurs.”

Two of the grunts were too pained to stand up straight. The last one was still standing, but barely. Salieri almost admired his valor. Almost. “For Team Flare!” he yelled as he charged at her, rearing a punch back. Salieri adopted a fighting stance, bouncing lightly on her heels with her arms up and prepared. When he threw his fast yet predictable jab, Salieri ducked it easily with her small frame and pressed the tips of her fingers into the center of his chest.

“One Inch Punch!”

Her finishing attack came as she announced it, and the fingers touching the grunt’s chest curled into a fist, launching a tight rotating punch from exactly an inch away. It crunched into his ribs and the grunt lurched, coughing up blood as the back of his outfit shred open violently, leaving a fist shaped hole where the fabric used to be.

Salieri slid back and he dropped to his knees, then to his face. She couldn't help wincing as she rotated the shoulder of her punching arm. It had been a long time since she last used her teacher's special move. It'd be at least another three minutes before she could throw a punch like that again.

She looked to her Pokémon to see them sitting on a rock waiting for her next to the knocked out shapes of their former enemies. [Mmm, not bad. You fight well for a puny human,] Reynard conceded. Dune pointed to something sticking out of the last grunt’s back pocket. Sal took out the scrolled up paper. It was a map of Route 10’s Pillar Field, with spots marked to show where the traps were hidden.

“Not such a waste of time after all.” She returned her Pokémon and condescendingly patted the grunt on the head as he squirmed on the ground in pain. “If anyone asks, tell them you got your asses handed to you by a shrimpy girl.” With a wave she departed, following the map to avoid the traps and venturing deeper into Route 10.

Route 10 - Path to Bryony's Lab

Between Ratio and Byrony was Goldberg. Smoke rose to the sky as the dark figure past through, and Goldberg stood, lining up his shot. It didn't need to be exact, not for what he intended.

"Let's see how good you really are," Goldberg muttered to the air, but also to Ratio.

The moment he caught a glimpse of the assassin, he pulled the trigger. The pokebullet launched, accelerated at bullet speeds, and midway through its launch it opened to release the Golem.

If Ratio did nothing, the Golem would engulf him in Explosion, turning the land where he stood into a crater.

Lumiose City - Gotengo

Mia's ears perked up. "Esme?" Her voice lifted up slightly from the usual flatness. "Are you with Esme right now? Zack, move your hand."

((Shiiit, not a Steelix. I gotta think on this one...))

Lumiose City - Moreau Library

For a second, Zack and Esme shared a look that so obviously read as: You know her?

Zack slowly lifted his hand away, and Mia's hologram came back into view. Along with her french maid outfit. Zack felt his stomach lurch, as if glasses weren't enough.

'Mia,' Esme said, her voice sounding higher and friendlier than it had when she'd been discussing Allard. It was like a different person speaking, Zack thought. 'Wow, I didn't know you two... you look, ah, different.'

((bbl guys))