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Court of Kings: Pages 01-10

~DAY 1

~Today marks the dawn of the summer’s Pokémon League competition in Kalos! A parade is set to occur in the evening in honor of this, with the royal family, heads of the noble court and Elite 4 to be present.

~On Route 4, Zack Redgrave, a cocky but brilliant trainer, is training his Gastly, Hazard. They beat some scrubs with ease until Zack plans on looking for his sister, Helena Redgrave. Before he can find her, he gets lost exploring Route 4 and encounters a swarm of Combee as wells as a Ralts. After a scuffle, he manages to capture one of the Combee and the Psychic type, who would later be dubbed Chrysallis and Serene.

~In Santalune Forest, Takamaru Takashi, a trainer hailing from Olivine City in Johto, takes on three trainers at once in defense of a timid Youngster. He makes short work of them with his Steel type Pokémon, gains his prize money, and heads to Santalune City a hero in the Youngster’s eyes.

~In Lumiose City, another Youngster is harassed by Antoine, a noble from the Court of Kings who lords his status over the common folk. The volatile and revenge obsessed Salieri Soledad intervenes, goading Antoine into a battle which she wins using her Horsea Veillantif. After insulting both Antoine and the Youngster, she goes on her way.

~Salieri enters Professor Sycamore’s lab in hopes of repairing his Pokédex’s AI, Ivan. Sycamore declares the problem out of his hands just as one of his Chespin swipes Sal’s bandanna and escapes into the Wonder Trade. Against all odds, Sal finds the same Chespin in the Wonder Trade, knocks it out herself, and is given the Pokémon by Sycamore. She nicknames him Biz Marquis.

~Helena is introduced alongside her mischievous Abra, Loki, on Route 3 checking out a nest of Fletchlings. The Fletchinder that is their mother chases Helena until Loki teleports her out of trouble. After some time Helena arrives in Santalune City, registers herself at the gym, and goes to train on Route 4 with a mysterious Pangoro following her.

~Zack wanders through Lumiose City and gets called out on his fashion sense. After healing himself with a Potion, he purchases a gaudy coat. Mistaken as a noble by Salieri, his notebook of trainer tips is stolen by her. Zack gives chase through the city. Their chase leads to Gotengo, a gigantic treehouse for derelicts in the slums. Zack gets his notebook back by putting Sal to sleep, and calls the cops on her. They take her away.

~TK talks to his sister on his Holocaster about financial matters and literally bumps into Helena in the process. Both of them apologetic, the two bond over being trainers in foreign countries that need the prize money for different reasons.

~Benedict Montgomery, a lady lover and betting man, punches out a bookie who stole his winnings from a bet on Route 4. TK, who has just arrived there himself, separates from Helena and spots the end of that chase. He tries to help Benedict follow through, but Benedict prefers to let business settle and leaves.

~Training, battling, and captures abound! Zack trains his new Pokémon against the Pangoro that had been stalking both him and his sister. Helena and TK battle on Route 4, a match that ends with TK as the victor, and Benedict captures a Budew named Essence.

~TK returns to Santalune City to challenge the Gym Leader, Viola! After a touch match, he manages to win and become one of the first trainers in this year’s league to win a badge! Mazeltov! Helena takes on Viola right afterwards. It does not end as well, and she is defeated. Better luck next time, Helena!

~Zack and a trainer named Ivan are minding their own business in one of Lumiose City’s many cafes when all of the sudden, a noble named Gabriel Leroux is thrown out of an apartment building, DOA. Zack sees a Strange Creature in the window where Gabriel fell out. The Creature disappears. Spooky!

~As TK walks through Santalune City with his first badge, he’s approached by an uppity woman who had looked down on him before for his lack of status. Now that he has a badge, the woman treats him with respect to earn his favor, an indication of the class issues present in Kalos.

~Helena leaves her gym match upset and calls her older brother Zack. They arrange to meet on Route 4.

~Salieri is driven home by a friend on the police force, where she is greeted by her Pawniard, Dune. She attempts to get her older brother’s Torkoal, Banksy, out of the house but the turtle declines. Sal ends up on Route 4 to train in preparation for fighting Viola.

Court of Kings: Pages 21-30

~On South Boulevard, Zack witnesses the Pangoro that had been following the Redgrave siblings around get into a fight with some gate guards. All of the sudden, a Golurk and a noble swordswoman show up and handily take down the Pangoro. Zack learns this woman is Elizabeth Leroux, daughter of the same Gabriel that was murdered the day prior. Pangoro is put into a cage, then shipped off to parts unknown.

~TK wakes up in Gotengo, looking for breakfast. He chats with Mia about the futility of fighting against growing up. Mia passes on a ‘Goodbye’ for Sal, and TK heads out to get money for breakfast. On his journey he runs into a Riolu being harassed by the same thugs Zack beat up the night before. Their leader, Trevor, is stopped by TK, who proceeds to battle circles around the three thugs before making an escape with their cash and the Riolu. Much of this is caught by a news helicopter.

~Salieri goes to the Santalune Gym, lying about her identity to Scott the Trainer Tips Guy in order to cut the line and get into her battle. She enters the gym and battles Viola. Veillantif struggles against Viola’s Vivillon and is ultimately defeated, but Biz Marquis manages to use a Needle Sword and defeat both Vivillon and Accelgor. Sal wins the badge!

~At a sporting goods store, Helena is denied the ability to buy camping gear by the aptly named owner, d**k, until she has a badge. Helena takes her team to Route 22 in order to train for the rematch. Sal happens to be eating lunch on that Route, and the two have a more civil discussion than their previous one about motivation and being a trainer. They exchange numbers, parting on good terms.

~On Route 5, Zack runs into a Sponsored Trainer with a Machamp. The trainer has three badges and challenges Zack to a battle. Zack uses Hazard, and with clever application of Typing and moves, manages to defeat the higher level Pokémon and evolve into a Haunter. After a quick stop to heal, Zack goes on towards Camphrier Town to train.

~Waiting for his gym match, Benedict trains on Route 4 to be better prepared. Salieri trades a Buneary she caught on Route 22 for a Hiker’s Farfetch’d named Quacklin’. The Farfetch’d becomes Biz’s teacher in the way of the sword, training him on Route 4 as well.

~Salieri flashes back to a fond memory of her older brother, Moze Soledad saving her from a fight with thugs. In present day she returns to Gotengo, only to see a home video of the treehouse being built by her brother. Uncomfortable with these unearthed memories, Sal and Mia leave to hang out before Sal checks out of Lumiose. The girls have a casual chill session one last time, then Sal goes west to Route 5.

~Benedict enters the Santalune Gym, and his battle with Viola begins! Francis the Pidgey pulls out a victory against Viola’s Joltik, but then falls to Viola’s Vivillon. Essence comes in to pick up the pace, evolves into Roselia, and takes the match. Ben wins the badge!

~After Biz Marquis evolves into the derpy looking Quilladin, Sal goes to Camphrier Town where she sees Zack at the Pokémon Center. They trash talk each other until Salieri questions him about the murder he witnessed. She attempts to bargain information by disclosing something personal, but Zack dismisses it and Teleports to meet his sister.

~Helena and Zack talk about future plans in Kalos. Helena’s concerned that if she loses her rematch, she’ll have no cash. Pepping herself up, she Teleports back to Santalune City. Her rematch with Viola begins!

~Zack wanders onto Route 7, where a sleeping Snorlax blocks the way west. An Elderly Man explains that he sent a trainer to retrieve the Pokéflute from Parfum Palace over an hour ago to wake Snorlax up, but she has not returned. Zack circumvents the issue by warping the Snorlax into a lake, capturing him and naming him Fatass. Right after, he realizes his precious notebook is missing.

Court of Kings: Pages 41-50

~On Route 9, the stampede of Glittering Cave’s inhabitants spills towards Ambrette Town. Roy, as well as many selfless trainers, fight back the stampede so the people of Ambrette Town can evacuate.

~Zack gets to Glittering Cave, where he is met by Jump, Hexum and Kiedis. Eager to find The Creature and the trigger of the Pokémon mob outside, Zack ventures on a mine cart with Jump and Hexum deep into the gorge. Hexum uses his Aura to sense that Zack was suspicious of Jump’s involvement with Team Flare, and knocks Zack to the floor. Jump and Hexum switch to a new cart and escape.

~In Lumiose City, the Pokétch Company sponsored trainer Grant takes on multiple challengers at once outside of the Gym, coordinating via earpiece to his Pikachu, Raijin. Helena joins the challenge using Loki, who evolves into a Kadabra while fighting. Go for Loki! When Helena sees Zack’s Rhyhorn ride at Route 9 on TV, she makes haste to Ambrette Town.

~Zack comes to and chases suit with Serene, using her Teleport to close the distance. Jump and Zack fight in one mine cart while Hexum and Serene battle in the other, racing at breakneck speeds over the mysterious gorge below.

~Using the ID and uniform of Jace the noble, Salieri enters the Battle Chateau, moving quickly and avoiding attention. She finds a PC to use Mia’s hacking program with Ivan the Pokédex. Upon searching for ‘Mozart Soledad’, she finds all files have been deleted. And upon searching for ‘Nicolette Nostrad’, she activates a loud alarm and accidentally shuts down Ivan.

~Helena and Grant use a Pokémon Center’s Teleporter to warp to Ambrette Town, arriving in the middle of the disaster. In the disarray a trainer loses a Pokéball, which Helena picks up. She uses Loki’s Teleport to enter Glittering Cave.

~Back in Camphrier Town, Levi tries to keep Matheson distracted so he doesn’t go after Salieri. He appeals to Math’s sense of reason and family, conveying what Sal had lost and why she was angry. Keeping it in mind, Math promises not to hurt Salieri, and uses his Magic Door Key to travel to the Battle Chateau.

~Helena walks in one Kiedis and a few Team Flare grunts lurking in the cave mouth. Since they won’t allow her into the tunnels to find her brother, Helena takes them on with her Pokémon and the one she just found, Écarlate the Scizor. Écarlate chooses to fight since he is promised that he will be returned to his real trainer. While Helena commands her Pokémon against the grunts, Kiedis takes on Écarlate.

~Roy continues to lead the defense of Ambrette Town, but the stampede is able to trickle into Ambrette Town. His Feraligatr gets swallowed by the crowd. Meanwhile at the Moreau Library, Esme watches the news coverage of Route 9 with her Twin Aunts, Janiver and Février..

~Kiedis, who Helena expected to be an easy opponent, turns out to have the advantage in fighting Écarlate. Helena scans him with her Pokédex, discovering that Kiedis is in fact an Ursaring. She has the Scizor cover her while she makes a successful break to the tunnels. Though Helena slips away, Kiedis has lost interest and only wishes to fight Écarlate. The Scizor, down but not out, retreats, leaving Kiedis to nap and wait for the next challenger.

~In the gorge, Zack and Serene continue their ferocious battle against Jump and Hexum, with neither side gaining an upper hand. When the tracks end, so does the battle, as all four of them fall towards the gorge. Serene lands on the entrance of another tunnel while the humans and Hexum plummet to the bottom. As he falls and wishes he had more time, Jump remembers when he accidentally discovered a fountain of youth that made him a few years younger and partially devolved his Ursaring, only to have forgotten it’s location. When he Zack and Hexum reach the bottom of the gorge and are pleased to still be alive, they soon discover they’re not alone…

~Salieri’s attempt to make a clean get away from the Battle Chateau is passively foiled by the nobility. Two cops wait for her outside the Chateau, with the impression that Jace Nostrad is a volunteer requiring an escort to Route 9. Realizing if she said no she’d blow her cover, Salieri is forced to play along and gets in a car to Ambrette Town.

~Deep in the gorge, Jump Zack and Hexum discover they’re surrounded by sleeping dinosaur Pokémon. A loose fart wakes them all up, and after all that sleep they’re very hungry. Jump and Zack put away their differences to escape from this danger, and Jump reluctantly Mega Evolves Hexum into a Mega Lucario. After transforming, Hexum enters a berserker frenzy, and the fight against the prehistoric Pokémon begins.

~Esme contacts Sina and Dexio Sycamore’s inseparable aides. She convinces them to take on the identity of their superhero personas, Defender Red and Defender Blue, The Defenders of Kalos. The Defenders arrive on the scene at Route 9 and enter the fray with their Ledian and Carracosta. Justice is never late!

~In another section of the cave, Flare Scientist Aliana engages Diancie in combat. Though Diancie has them outmatched, Aliana uses a Flare designed Pokéball that captures the Legendary Pokémon. Oh no!

~Jullien Nostrad takes Siebold on a wonderful tour through the heinous basement of the Battle Chateau, a dungeon that kept Pokémon for training and other purposes. In a special room cooled to below zero is Fury, the Pangoro that followed around the Redgrave Siblings. Jullien attests that Fury belongs to Ratio, and if Ratio is back then all the nobles are in danger.

~The man so beastly he could be called a creature, Ratio, arrives at Aliana’s capture site. Ratio and his Teleporting Arcanine Ferox kill the Flare Scientist and take Diancie for their own. Helena, who had been searching the tunnels for Zack, happens upon this event. Ratio, who knows her name, tells the terrified Helena that she has the guts to be a warrior, and that the nobles are the ones who control Team Flare. All of the sudden…

~DINOSAURS! Jump and Zack fight for their lives against an unknown number of fossil Pokémon, while Mega Hexum takes on their monarch, a massive Tyrantrum. The valiant king eventually buckles under the immense and uncontrollable power of Hexum’s Mega Evolution, and Hexum is dubbed the new Dinosaur King. Jump recalls Hexum before the Lucario accidentally destroys his allies, and flies out of the cave on Aaliyah the Altaria, leaving Zack to fend for himself against an enormous, ravenous Aerodactyl.

~Salieri rides Banksy into Ambrette town, where she joins Roy and Grant’s coordinated effort to fight off the horde. While Roy and Grant defend what’s left of the Pokémon Center from a Sandstorm, Banksy maintains a wall of Fire Spin to deter the stampede, and Sal descends with the rest of her party onto Route 9. The chaos rages on!

~Serene, still lost, ends up chased by another Tyrantrum into Helena and Ratio’s conversation. Ratio steps aside to watch Helena deal with it, but though she puts up a good try with Feather and Loki, the Tyrantrum is just too strong, and Serene is gravely injured in the fight. Ratio finally mixes it up and uses the newly acquired Diancie to easily capture the Tyrantrum. DING! He gives Tyrantrum to Helena, issuing a promise to return to her once she tamed the beast. Helena’s got a dinosaur!

~On Route 9, Salieri’s fight against the stampede is interrupted by one of the darkhorse hunters that took her brother Moze out of the league. Sal prepares to advance with Veillantif against this sponsored trainer she dubs The Sniper, but he beats her to the quick draw and shoots her out of the sky with his Octillery. Luckily, Matheson saves Sal, having arrived after tracking her down. With her Pokémon’s permission, Math takes Sal to parts unknown to give her medical help.

~It turns out Benedict has also been helping the defense and evacuation of Ambrette Town. Now exhausted with a newly caught Rhyhorn, Benedict notices the tides of battle have turned. The horde wears thin, and what’s left of Ambrette Town is safe for now with no announced casualties. The heroes of rubble prevail!

~Zack believes he’s finally evaded the giant Aerodactyl, only for it to chase him out of Glittering Cave and onto Route 9. Thanks to some quick tactics from his Clauncher and Fatass the Snorlax, Zack is able to lay the Smack Down on Aerodactyl and capture it for himself. Now both the Redgrave siblings have dinosaurs!

~Salieri wakes up in a safe house in Dendemille Town, where Matheson has treated her and Veillantif’s wounds. He tells her that The Sniper’s name is Faust Nostrad, and that he’ll stop at nothing to finish what he started. Though mistrusting at first, Sal listens to Math’s reasoning and decides to trust the kindhearted noble trainer. After punching each other in the face (long story) and eating a meal, Math drops Salieri off in Cyllage City and exchanges numbers with her. Is love in the air, or something else? Salieri’s reverie is cut short when she realizes she has to send the traumatized Veil home to Gotengo.

~Édouard Drumont, reporter, finds Benedict amongst the ruins of Ambrette Town and immediately launches into an interview. Despite having reservations about being interviewed on a brand new ground zero, Benedict is charming for the cameras and portrays himself as a true hero. Little does he know that his video will go viral.

~Helena makes it out of the cave with all of her Pokémon, Serene and Écarlate. She is met by Zack, who is busy meeting Sina and Dexio. Sycamore’s aides have questions for Zack about what happened in Glittering Cave, so they convince the Redgrave siblings to come with them back to Lumiose City.

~Salieri gives Mia the lowdown while sending Veil home to Gotengo with a somber goodbye. She tells Mia about Ivan’s reboot, but Mia tells her that it’s impossible. Ivan has a virus, and whoever gave it to him was prepared for Ivan specifically. All fingers point to Nicolette. Paranoid that The Sniper could be watching at any point, Salieri ducks through Cyllage City while calling Helena for her help.

~Now walking home to Cyllage City, the weary Benedict comes across a wild Mienfoo and Inkay. Using Jerath the Rhyhorn, Benedict captures them and continues on for home.

~The Redgrave Siblings arrive at Sycamore’s Research Lab, where they are properly introduced to the Professor himself. Zack is given a room to sleep in, and Helena receives Salieri’s message. She calls the Kalosian trainer back…

~…right at the time where Salieri is dealing with a robbery. The same Kecleon that interfered with her robbery of Parfum Palace returns to steal her item pouch. Sal wises up to this quickly, and with Dune and Biz, captures the Kecleon with little trouble. Sal and Helena reach each other, and Sal asks for Helena’s help in dealing with The Sniper. Helena, who’s recently learned the noble conspiracy does in fact exist, turns down Sal’s request in order to be with Zack.

~In a mysterious conference room known only as the Round Table, the four heads of the Court Houses meet with their Elite 4 champions, sans Siebold, to discuss the destruction of Ambrette Town. Amongst the many things discussed are the plans to acquire the Legendary Pokémon of Life and Death, as well as a mysterious key and a man named AZ. Concerned about Ratio, Jullien reveals his ace in the hole, an assassin named Jean-Pierre that will provide their defense. The meeting is adjourned and the plots thickens!

~Up on the eastern mountain range, Jump wraps up Aliana’s body and waits for an extractor. Another Flare Admin, the whimsical and sleazy pirate Skarada, comes to do that job, taking away the body while chiding Jump for failing to keep the situation under control. They part on sour terms.

~On Route 8’s beach, an injured Grant asks Salieri for help back into town. Sal doesn’t trust him at first because he’s a sponsored trainer, but eases up when she realizes he isn’t a noble. Together with Benedict, who’s also heading in the same direction, they fly on Banksy to Cyllage City.

~Helena is tasked to bring Serene to the Pokémon Center, where refugees from Ambrette Town have already started filling up the building. Serene is dropped off and Helena goes back to Sycamore to be at Zack’s side. Zack, who doesn’t like being babied while researching Mega Evolution, convinces Helena to go to sleep.

~In another part of Sycamore’s lab, Esme, who is also one of Sycamore’s aides, takes care of the baby Pokémon. Aren’t they just the cutest things?

Court of Kings: Pages 61-70

~Zack and Mia talk by the fountain, with Mia sort-of-but-not-really-except-actually-really inviting Zack to a party at Gotengo. They casually interrogate each other about what makes them tick until Mia decides to leave, passing Zack a beer as payback for Sal stealing his notebook. Disinterested in drinking during the day, Zack gives the beer to Malis, who quickly gets drunk. The Charmander winds up belching, and learns Flamethrower in the process.

~Back with Helena, a wild Pancham prepares to fight the feasting Tyrantrum while the remaining panda tribesmen flee. He is saved from a grisly demise by his father, Papagoro, an exiled alpha male who fights Tyrant to the death, and gives Helena the opening she needs to recapture the dinosaur. Putting the carnage behind her, Helena returns to the city for healing, but little does she know Pancham is now hot on her trail and seeking revenge.

~After the battle, Sal ties The Sniper, Faust Nostrad, to a tree. While he sits unconscious, she invites the Vaporeon who fought alongside her to join Team Salieri, but the pokémon refuses, making Sal vow to get her one day. Faust wakes up to discover that Salieri had blinded him and, entirely at her mercy, is forced to answer her questions. He explains that he gave Moze's pokémon to The Liason Salieri had met earlier, and that Nicolette Nostrad hands all the Darkhorse Hunters their assignments, and is the only one who knows each of their identities. Faust does know one other hunter, a noble named Alanza Taine AKA The Gambler, who is another one of the hunters that attacked Moze, putting her on Salieri's revenge list. Salieri reveals that she recorded their conversation on her pokégear, and leaves Faust to the forest.

~Benedict's gym match is halfway done when Essence overcomes Tyrunt. Despite trading brutal blows, the Roselia is still standing, albeit weakened, thanks to quick strategy on Benedict's part and a couple doses of Mega Drain. Grumbling about 'beginner's luck', Grant sends out his Lunatone and begins round 2.

~Helena heads for her gym match against Gym Leader Clemont despite half her team being in intensive care after the ordeal with Tyrant. Her only viable options are Loki, Feather, and the dino king himself. She uses Loki against Clemont's Magneton, and thus begins a long, difficult battle with neither side willing to back down.

~Wayne and Aipom are lost in Lumiose City. They spot Helena's name on the electric sign outside the gym and realise she could help get Aipom to Zack. They sneak in and start watching the battle.

~Dune wakes up after his battle with Faust's pokémon, finding the rest of Team Salieri in a forest clearing. They've managed to steal Faust's gear and are in the middle of patching themselves up when Salieri arrives. Quacklin' gives her a package from Mia; a disc marked with the letters 'D.D.' that Sal inserts into her pokédex. Ivan reboots itself, and has replaced its crass male voice with a sarcastic female one, though Salieri will still refer to it as Ivan. They realise that Ivan had been infected with a virus back at the Battle Chateau, which allowed the Darkhorse Hunters to track Salieri. Before anything can go wrong, they hightail it out of the forest.

~Helena realises that Clemont isn't the pushover she hoped for. Despite the earlier, disastrous attempt to train Tyrant, Helena decides that the time to tame him is during her gym match and swaps him for Loki. Tyrant Roars and Clemont switches for his Emolga, whose combat expertise counters Tyrant's overwhelming physical might.

~Meanwhile, Zack is using a drunk Malis to destroy a Gardener's Crawdaunt as a final test for the Charmander's training. Victorious, Malis slumps over and starts sleeping off his first encounter with alcohol. Zack spots Helena's gym match on TV and sees the pokémon she's decided to use, thinking it's a bad idea.

~Lunatone reveals that it isn't just a sentient psychic rock in the shape of the moon; it's a sentient psychic rock in the shape of the moon with gravity manipulation powers. Essence uses them to her advantage in attaching a Worry Seed, which strips the meteorite pokémon of its levitation. Down but not out, Lunatone pins Essence to the floor with a circle of gravity while pushing itself aloft with a circle of reverse gravity. Barely dodging Lunatone's finishers, Essence pushes herself out of the gravity circle and nails Lunatone with a Giga Drain, ending the battle and winning the badge.

~Now back in Cyllage City, Salieri gets a call from Matheson, inviting her to watch the Strikers v Paladins game. Despite being exhausted from the day's events, Sal agrees and, after a quick trip to the pokémon center, Math picks her up with his Klefki's Magic Door superpower. They arrive at a hotel suite in Courmarine City where Matheson's friends Silas, Doran, and Jace are watching the game. Jace does not respond well to Salieri's presence but Math calms him down, though he's still mad when Sal fails to properly apologise for beating him up and robbing him. Since she's all mucky and gross from her battle with Faust, Salieri opts to get a shower.

~Once again, Tyrant uses Roar, which forces Clemont to use Magneton while Helena switches back to Loki. The battle continues, with Magneton setting up Magnet Bombs to act as mines while Loki shoots them out of the sky with his Charge Beam, maximising his special attack. Before Helena can get too happy about her advantage, however, Magneton uses Psych Up to copy Loki's stat changes. Then, fed up with Loki Teleporting out of the way each time he attacks, Clemont orders a Shock Wave, which fills the arena. Loki renders himself as crisp but manages to Teleport Magneton out of the arena for a ring out, reducing both battlers to one pokémon each: Emolga vs Tyrant yet again.

~Grant has a break down, his ultra-competitive nature clashing with a three loss streak. Benedict consoles him and collects his badge and TM39, as well as Grant's hair gems, which Essence trades for a wreath of leaves. Ben leaves, relieved that he won his match and with a single pokémon to boot.

~Esme wakes up at home to find her Espurr, Chatite staring at her face. Feeling energised after an afternoon nap, she decides to call Zack and ask him more about the events at Glittering Cave. Zack answers, and is still upset that Esme told Sina she wasn't interested in him at all, but agrees to meet her at the library. Esme's Aunt Février gets into a panic when Zack tries to bring the unconscious Malis in on his back, and makes him put the pokémon back in his ball. Afterwards, however, she greets him enthusiastically. Esme invites Zack upstairs for a very serious talk.

~At a high rise office tower in Lumiose City, Madame Marie-Claire Courbet has an unexpected visitor. She meets Sébastien Lussier in her office and sends her secretary, Élise, away as Lussier claims to be on Court business and requires privacy. He locks the door, picks up Courbet's briefcase, scares her by listing off her personal information, and reveals he knows Gabriel Leroux set her a task: to find two legendary pokémon for the Court of Kings. To Courbet's horror, Lussier begins to melt. His face falls away, his clothes dissolve, and in seconds all she's left looking at is the Creature, who swiftly moves in for the kill.

~While Salieri gets cleaned up, Matheson and the nobles talk about her and debate whether Math is losing it for wanting to date a potential terrorist. Though Math defends Sal, he has to admit to himself that he doesn't really know how far her animosity will take her. Salieri finishes her shower and Math's Vespiquen Rhea mends her wounds while she gets settled in. To Salieri's surprise, she actually ends up having fun with the nobles, but they leave to make good on the free nachos downstairs, and Sal and Math wind up alone. As he stitches one of Salieri's cuts, Math asks Sal what happened between her and Faust, and she tells him everything, including how she blinded Faust. Matheson is shocked, but accepts that Sal had her reasons, and even admits that he likes her. Math asks Sal out on a date, and they make a time for the next day then, neither really sure what just happened, watch the rest of the game together.

~Zack inspects Esme's bedroom while she sets up her computer. He spots a picture of Esme with her boyfriend, Allard, and feels put out, but hides it. Esme asks Zack to confirm what he saw in Glittering Cave, that Team Flare were definitely the bad guys. She explains that Sycamore covered for them, but Zack remains cynical that he's up to anything. To further explain her suspicions, Esme shows Zack information she uncovered years ago regarding the nobility rigging the pokémon league, and the disappearances of non-nobles who came too close to winning. The media ignore or reframe anything that makes the nobility look bad, and while Esme believes this is proof of cover-ups, Zack thinks she's making connections that just aren't there… until he sees a headline claiming that Gabriel Leroux died from natural causes, which he knows isn't true.

~Helena's battle finally comes to a close. In Tyrant's growing fury, he rips apart Clemont's arena and weaponises the debris, but it all comes to nothing. He's brought down when Emolga slings a powerful Electro Ball at his balls, saving future generations from having to deal with this jerk's lineage. Helena loses the match and doesn't get her badge.

~Matheson drops Sal back off at Cyllage City, and she goes to get her dinner. Whle she eats, she packs Quacklin's bag with Faust's tablet device and Scope Lens and sends him off to Mia. Afterwards, Sal takes her team for some beachside training. There she discovers an old tag left by Moze, and reflects that despite all the work she's done to avenge him, she still hasn't heard from her brother in years. Then she takes a team selfie next to the tag. Afterwards, her team gets to work decimating the pokémon of Route 8 and Salieri calls Mia.

~Mia's Gotengo party isn't yet underway. She answers Sal's call, and lets Veillantif get in on it so Sal can tell her how she beat The Sniper. Despite this, Veil doesn't want to rejoin the team, and elects to remain at Gotengo. Sal makes Mia promise to keep her battle with Faust a secret from the Gotengoers, then finishes the call. Once the party gets going, Mia dance-flirts with some of the guys until she gets a text from Preppy Showoff, who invites her to his place at Hotel Richissime for some linguini. Just in time, Quacklin arrives with Sal's package and Mia takes Faust's tablet with her to Preppy Showoff's hotel room.

~The more he thinks on what he's been told, the more Zack believes in Esme's conspiracy theories. To be safe, and since Helena might be in danger from people attacking league hopefuls, he arranges to meet with his sister at the south pokémon center. Esme splits off from him, heading back to the lab to confront Sycamore about his lies while Zack meets with Helena.

~Helena had evidently been talking to Bridgette about an upcoming party, but leaves her to talk to Zack. He tells her that he's doing further investigation on Glittering Cave on behalf of the Professor, and asks if there is anything she didn't mention during the debrief. Though she doesn't mention Ratio's part in the event, Helena relays the assassin's message that Flare are working for the nobles.

~Alarmed, Zack tells Helena to hold off on her league challenge for a while, but she wants to know how her gym challenge is connected to Flare and the nobles. Zack decides he shouldn't keep her in the dark about the potential dangers and explains that non-noble trainers have been disappearing in Kalos, and that he wants her to lay low until he can get to the bottom of it. Helena is sceptical that Zack can do anything, and her doubt that he can stay safe while not doing anything leads them into an argument, and Helena storms out.

~Before she can get very far, however, Aipom dives onto her head, having finally caught up with her after her gym match. Zack unhooks the pokémon, whose name turns out to be Gremlin, and Wayne appears. The younger trainer tries to introduce himself to Helena when Zack leaves with Gremlin, but she doesn't care and ditches him. Poor Wayne.

~Mia runs into Dr. Fennel at Hotel Richissime and tells her she accepts her earlier job offer. Then she heads up to Preppy Showoff's hotel room and he turns out to be none other than… Moze?! Whaaaat? Turns out that they're totally doing it, and my god what's Sal going to do when she finds out, she's going to freaaaaa-- Ahem. They have dinner together and Mia presents Moze with Faust's tablet. Mia assures Moze that Salieri is fine, but he gets defensive when she suggests he go see her himself. Before they can argue for real, Moze suddenly freezes then lobs a knife between some potted plants, but instead of crazy assassins or whatever, it turns out to be a pair of Fletchling. Though suspicious of Moze's knife-throwing outburst, Mia agrees to keep him a secret from Sal for a little while longer. Then they bang and Moze tells Mia he loves her and holy s**t Sal is going to lose her miiiiiii--

~At the lab, Dexio and Sina have already tried to speak to Professor Sycamore, who got annoyed with them for asking about the interview. They've been made to sort through an old store cupboard, and inside they find a box of old holo tapes, which they start watching. They find their time capsule tapes, containing messages from their younger selves and their hopes for the future. The tapes reveal that Dexio is a huge dork, and Sina has a crush on Sycamore and his granite-like abdominal muscles. The last tape is of the loved-up Esme and Allard, who are all hands, smiles, and kisses as they announce their dreams for their future selves. Sina is mortified to find that the present day Esme is at the back of the room and caught them watching her tape. Esme pretends like nothing is wrong even though it clearly is, and they go off to find Sycamore.

~Zack takes Gremlin with him to Gotengo, where he introduces Salieri's unwanted 'One Shot' nickname to the Gotengoers. Mia, who has just gotten back from Moze's place, shows up and Zack explains he needs to talk to Salieri because he's changed his mind about her being crazy. Mia gets Sal on the phone, but she isn't very nice to Zack, which he kind of deserves but then again she really did start it by stealing his notebook. So they try again, and this time Salieri tells Zack to meet her near Cyllage City so she can hear him out. He calls on his Aerodactyl, now named Antiq, and they fly really fast to the meeting point atop a mountain plateau.

~Meanwhile, Benedict finishes celebrating his victory with another pretty lady, then goes off to train his pokémon. He rewards Essence's soloing of the gym with time off, and she uses it to sunbathe. The rest of the team is set to work practising, and Benedict plans to rustle up some wild pokémon for them to beat.

~At their meeting, Salieri explains to Zack about the noble system in greater detail, specifically about Nicolette Nostrad, the Darkhorse Hunters, and the attack on her family. Zack tells her that he went to Glittering Cave to chase after Gabriel Leroux's murderer, only to find Team Flare were there, and they had been searching for Diancie. He tells her of Sycamore's theory that Flare had caused the stampede that destroyed Ambrette Town, which Sycamore then denied on television.

~Still angry, Helena meets up with Bridgette and they head to the party in a mansion at a place called Leisure Lane, which sounds nice. Inside there are a ton of people, and Helena runs into pokémon trainer Grant and a girl called Henrietta. Another girl called Azucena stops Helena from drinking a drugged drink, and calls attention to the guy who did it, who is then kicked out. By way of apology, the party's hosts, Absolon and the wheelchair-bound Brigadier Aldric Stripeson, invite Helena's group to sit with them in the back yard. They talk about how many badges they have and stuff, then the party breaks up and Helena leaves having had a good time.

~Salieri has no idea who Team Flare are somehow, making her the envy of all Kalos. She almost shows Zack the recorded conversation she had with Faust, but decides against it because it makes her look mean. She remembers Alanza Taine and tells him about her too. Zack enquires about Salieri's plan, but she gets defensive and they wind up arguing again.

Court of Kings: Pages 81-90

~And the battle continues! Zack and Salieri try a strength-in-numbers approach, but struggle against Ratio's superior skill. It's Team Zack and Team Salieri versus Ratio's Aegislash, Ancile. Things take a turn for the worse when Ratio knocks Salieri out with her own stun baton after informing her that he knows her brother.

~Ska uses the battle as a distraction and steals the Mega Stones Ratio had originally stolen from Team Flare. Buuuut since the container holding the stones had been smashed open and the stones scattered, there's a chance he missed one… hmm…

~Ratio takes down Pokémon left and right. When Dune gets taken down with another armor-shattering attack, Zack bets it all on a combination of Malis and Lethal, wielding them along his arms for a Flamethrower/Water Gun punch. It doesn't go his way. Ratio blocks the attack with his bare hand, which suddenly feels like it's made of steel. Since there was no follow-through, Zack winds up breaking his own arm.

~Ratio seizes this opportunity to mock Zack, alluding to plans he has for Helena while Zack writhes on the ground. Antiq returns with Ferox hot on her tail. The Aerodactyl finally collapses, and Ferox turns her attention to Zack, savaging him with a Fire Fang and ending the battle.

~Salieri wakes up at Cyllage City hospital a little worse for wear. After chastising herself for letting Dune get scarred again, she seeks out Matheson's hospital room and runs into Juliet Nostrad. The two get off to a bad start but before any blood can be shed, Matheson wakes up and steals all the attention. Juliet and Salieri get a proper introduction, and Juliet reveals she didn't come alone.

~Lord Jullien Nostrad arrives in Matheson's hospital room. Even though Salieri hates nobody more, she is strong-armed into telling him what happened on Route 10. After Lord Nostrad leaves, Salieri lets Juliet and Matheson have some alone time so she can get her thoughts in order.

~Across the country, Wayne finds himself working off his debt to Chef Wario. It's essentially slave labour but Wayne doesn't have the sense to leave. Plus he's no match for the Hariyama Brothers. At the same time, Sina and Dexio arrive to compete with Chef Wario's food stall in cook-off, but this doesn't go anywhere.

~Moze and Shepard Fairey are on the trail of Horton Balibar, a philanthropist who might also be shitting up the Lumiose slums to drive prices down and inflate his profits when he renovates and sells them on. It's all very nefarious stuff, and is essentially confirmed when Moze has Shepard trap a drug dealer in a pipe to squeeze out who has been supplying the slums with Potion Extract. Turns out it's none other than Horton Balibar, and Moze knows what needs to be done.

~Salieri texts Helena to tell her that Zack's in the hospital, then gets to work reflecting on her encounter with Ratio. After divvying up the blame and deciding it's nearly all Zack's fault, she comes to grips with her own culpability. She checks on her Pokémon and apologizes to Dune for his injuries, which shocks everyone in her team except Reynard. Luckily, Dune forgives her.

~Helena gets Salieri's text in Anistar City and is distraught to hear that Zack is hurt. Before she visits her brother, she meets up with Écarlate's original trainer, Alice, and flashes back to her battles off-route. She managed to overcome multiple, vastly higher-level Pokémon by fighting really hard, then the flashback ends before we can find out how she managed to survive. In the present day, Écarlate and Alice and reuniting, so Helena calls Salieri to find out more about Zack's status.

~Salieri reflects on the cover story, which claims that everything on Route 10 was the result of a gas leak, and begins thinking about her next move. Then she encounters Juliet and the two speak about Salieri's relationship to Matheson. Juliet threatens Salieri should she ever hurt him. And purely because Juliet is Matheson's friend, n-not because she likes him or anything. Then Juliet calls out her Rotom, Zaida, who beams them both through a telephone pole so Juliet can check out Route 10, and it's really cool. Then Sal's phone goes off and she speaks to Helena. Helena wants to know how Zack is, so Sal fills her in on the basics and says they should meet face to face to discuss any more.

~Meanwhile, Zack wakes up in the ICU and is being cared for by Nurse Berthe and Blissngale, a Blissey who is mending his arm and the Fire Fang wound suffered across the chest. Since both procedures are complicated and relatively lengthy, Zack shouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

~Elizabeth Leroux arrives with her butler, Cédric and makes Nurse Berthe leave so she can interrogate Zack. She wants to know everything he has to tell her about Route 10, and even offers to waive the deal they'd made earlier, in exchange for simply paying him for information. Zack declines on the grounds that Elizabeth could get herself killed chasing after Ratio, and he doesn't need that on his conscience. Before Elizabeth leaves, Zack warns her that he thinks Ratio is a psychic since that doesn't count as dangerous information apparently.

~Sal has a decision to make. Does she go see Matheson or Zack? Since alone time with Matheson is way more appealing, she goes back to his room. The two have a lengthy chat and get their feelings out in the open. Math tells Salieri about a romantic fantasy he had involving cherry blossoms from Ecruteak City and how he'd use them to woo her and it'd work perfectly. So Sal steals his Magic Door Key and nips to Ecruteak City to get some petals, then scatters them around the room. Then they make out a lot. Afterwards, Sal goes to Zack's room to discuss Ratio and all that stuff.

~Their talk gets off to a great start as the two immediately blame one another for the way the fight turned out. Things get slightly more on track when Salieri notices a book on human psychics at Zack's bedside and correctly guesses that he thinks Ratio may be a psychic. Salieri suggests that Ratio could be an Aura user, and Zack suggests that Ratio could be wearing a Ditto as part of his armor, to account for his immunity to Dune's Thunder Wave, his cloak's shape-shifting, and his sudden steel hand. The idea that Ratio could disguise himself as anyone is unsettling to them both, and they move on to discussing the container he was stealing.

~Zack tells Salieri that the container contained Mega Stones, which were mostly collected by Ska, except for the one he managed to keep. Salieri isn't happy that Ska is involved on top of everything else, and tells Zack that if they're going to get anything done, they need to do it right by avoiding drawing attention to themselves any more than they already have. Then Salieri leaves and Zack gets to copying out sections of the psychic book into his notebook.

~Ska has returned to his airship, The Fishbone, and to his lovely and very pregnant wife, Erin. He fills her in on his adventures and presents the Mega Stones he stole to her Sableye, Hawkins. When Hawkins can't find the Sablenite they were looking for, Ska gets really, really pissed. He realizes that any one of Ratio, Salieri or Zack could have the Sablenite, and decides to press on with the final phase of his plan.

~At Lysandre Café, Flare Scientists Mable and Celosia are bemoaning Bryony's fate as a kidnappee and hoping they aren't the next ones on the chopping block.

~In Flashback Land, Helena is flashbacking to her conversation with Absolon who was talking about how great soldiers were, possibly while in a flashback himself. In the flashback version of the present day, which is of course in the past, she is facing off against more off-route pokémon and it looks like she's about to lose, but she's saved by Alexander and his Arcanine. The Arcanine's name is Ferox. And this is the same Alexander who saved Zack a couple days ago. !!!

~Sal is in a call with Mia, and fills her in on the Route 10 stuff, and that Ratio mentioned Moze. Then they get into the important stuff, namely Salieri's relationship with Matheson. Mia is happy that Sal found someone, and Sal can't understand why Mia is still single when she's so cool. Then the call ends and Sal goes to meet Math once again.

~While Juliet is detectiving around Route 10 with the police (feat. Police Captain Farnell), they are attacked by a Wild Meteor! Juliet orders the police to stay in position, even though the meteor would kill them all on impact, then sends her Scizor, Parkosa, skyward to intercept the giant rock. Parkosa demolishes the meteor with projectile shockwaves and a powered up Metal Claw, which is super effective, and saves the day. Juliet tells the police to give her everything they have on the Route 10 incident and pin the blame for the fake gas leak on some poor shmuck (exact words).

~Benedict doesn't believe in the gas leak story one bit. In fact, he disbelieves it so much, he travels to the Cyllage City hospital to speak to the rumoured Surviving Trainers AKA Salieri and Zack, who gained a small degree of notoriety when Sal was spotted dragging Zack into the hospital after riding back to town on Banksy's back. He confronts Salieri and asks for the truth.

~Back in Flashback Village, Alexander warns Helena of the tyranny of the nobles, which Helena takes more seriously when he shows her a hidden oil field in the middle of the off-route area owned by one of Jullien Nostrad’s shell companies. Alexander offers her a lift to Anistar City, Teleporting them there via Ferox.

~In the present, Helena goes back to Alice, and declares Écarlate officially returned. Alice wants her Scizor to see all of Kalos and participate in the League, and asks Helena to take the Pokémon with her. Of course, Helena is super down to take a rad a** Scizor with her, and says yes. She warps to Cyllage City afterwards.

~At the hospital, Salieri gives Benedict an abridged summary of her involvement in Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings up to page 83. Imbued with the truth, Benedict decides to help Salieri take down the evil in his country any way her can. Zack, out of his room despite his doctor’s suggestions, joins the conversation and declares to also fight the good fight, for his own reasons. Before this team is fully cohesive, Helena enters and offers advice on why they shouldn’t do any of that. They move the talk to the roof.

~On the roof, Helena derides Zack and Salieri for their decision to battle Ratio, something Sal cannot just pin on Zack now, and tells them Ratio asked her to join him. She doesn’t want to, but thinks it’s the only way to keep Zack safe if he decides to pursue his interests, and commands all of them to stop their hunt. Zack of course does not agree, and would rather Helena go home to Unova if she is so frightened. The siblings sadly cannot come to an understanding, and a rift is formed.

~Salieri exacerbates the situation when Helena calls her crazy by challenging Helena’s conviction, to which Helena threatens to kill her if she keeps Zack involved in the conspiracy, causing Zack of all people to become the voice of reason for the two of them. See, he’s growing up. Helena sets Sal off, and Sal offers to leave Zack alone forever as long as she can get her promised battle with Loki. Helena refuses to battle on the grounds that she isn’t playing around, and before she departs, gives Zack Sal and Ben a precious tidbit concerning Jullien’s oil field even though she doesn’t want them to go. Helena leaves.

~In a move that displays pure wisdom, Benedict keeps his mouth shut the entire time.

~Not heeding Helena’s warnings at all, Ben Zack and Sal go to a nearby bistro to discuss their next move over dinner. Each of them are given an assignment: Ben will look into the oil field, Zack will look into the Sablenite, and Sal will look into Skarada and Team Flare. Zack skips out on the bill, reminding Sal why she doesn’t like him, and the dinner is soon over.

~In her library, Esme sees Zack on the news report about Route 10. Worried, she tries to call him about it, but he’s far too hospitalized to answer. As she decides she can’t ignore what’s happening in Kalos anymore, she gets a surprise call from Salieri.

~Because they hadn’t talked since Esme left the conspiracy game years ago, Salieri feels awkward but asks Esme for the contact information of Alexa Horvath, an investigative reporter who can help Benedict find the oil field. Esme says she back in the conspiracy game, something Sal likes to hear. Reunited, and it feels so good.

~In Lumiose City, Wayne escapes his forced job to watch one Robin Carella have an exhibition battle with sponsored trainer Omer Massé, the noble with the Machamp that keeps losing to everybody. Despite having zero badges, Robin the underdog’s Goodra, Vigant, takes down three of Omer’s Pokémon in a row, clinching her victory. Better luck next time, Omer.

~The Hariyama Brothers catch up to Wayne while he’s watching the match, prompting him and Gremlin to escape. They escape to the arena stage, which is just so so stupid, but Robin offers them a lift out on her Noivern. As they fly through the sky Wayne namedrops Zack Redgrave, someone who Robin apparently knows.

~In his hospital room, Zack saw all of Robin’s battle. “s**t,” he says. Gotta wonder what happened there.

~Matheson’s friends visit him in his hospital room, and he regales them with tales of his makeout session with Sal. The boys try to give Math advice on kissing, all sounding hyper incompetent in the process. They make their exit so they’re not late to the nobility charity ball, but before he leaves Jace warns Math to think smart and not with his d**k. Math says he will, and as soon Jace leaves Math immediately gives his p***s a pep talk.

~At the charity ball hosted in the Kalos League Castle, Juliet reluctantly mingles with the other guests to bolster her reputation, and discusses Ratio’s latest attack with them. She provides a few nobles hope in the wake of the tragedy, then steps aside to answer a phone call from Police Captain Farnell. They talk business and then Farnell lays into Juliet, telling her that destroying the meteor was up to chance and she had no right commanding people into danger with their lives on the line. Juliet pulls rank, demands he ceases his accusations, and ends the call. Her Ninetales Kallikrates teases her for not being queenly, and a very bothered Juliet stands at the party all alone.

~In Hotel Richissime, Horton Balibar rudely accepts room service and ruthlessly makes fun of the poor hotel attendant. Little does he know that Moze has snuck something onto the delivery tray. From across the street, Moze and Shepard Fairey finally make their move, and Moze puts on the outfit in his backpack. It’s the same one as Ratio’s! !!!

~Still on duty in the hotel, Mia finds everyone asleep in the lobby, spared the nap by the music in her headphones. Horton Balibar’s security team come downstairs to apprehend the mystery threat and Moze, disguised as Ratio’s Creature, enters the building. What happens next is a quick and brutal fight, ending with Moze flawlessly wiping the floor with his opposition with no casualties. He sees Mia terrified behind the reception desk, stops her from calling the police, and tells her to leave while he takes the elevator upstairs, feeling shame that Mia does not know it is him behind the mask.

~Moze enters Horton’s penthouse, where his Goodra Zephyr has taken care of apprehending the rest of security. Before the police arrive, Moze takes Horton and whisks him away.

~On Route 5, Robin and Wayne set up camp. Wayne proves to be bad at it, Robin proves to be the opposite thanks to her tutelage at the Cerulean Pokémon Academy. She’s curious about Wayne’s drive as a trainer and suggests he needs discipline but Wayne is already Pokémon Master so it’s totally cool and whatever.

~Back the charity ball, Severin reflects on how pathetic the nobility is, what with their desperate social scramble and such. Sadly, he is a waiter at this event, meaning he is forced to interact with kindness. He slips up and almost gets in trouble with his boss until Siebold Taine intervenes to handle Severin personally. Turns out he’s on Severin’s side and is chill on the down low, and takes Severin to a private meeting to talk strategy.

~Elizabeth arrives at the ball and is instantly set on by people giving her support after her father’s passing. She is super over their bullshit but entertains it as much as she has to as she searches for Lord Elliot Leroux. His wife, Mariette, informs Elizabeth that he’s busy, and commands her to sit with the rest of House Leroux.

~In Matheson’s hospital room, Sal vents her frustrations about the conversation she had with Helena. Math puts himself in Helena’s shoes and says that she’s freaked out, in a foreign country and her one familiar face is on Sal’s side. The topic changes when Math blames himself for the Redgrave debacle, saying they wouldn’t be fighting if Math didn’t need saving and lamenting the weakness brought on by his pacifism. Before Sal can comfort him, she gets a call from Mia…

~Benedict waits in Connecting Cave on Salieri to send him Alexa’s contact info, and decides to train his new Meditite Manny in the meantime. Ben wants to work on Manny’s Telepathy, and starts teaching him how to cheat at games by reading minds to hone that skill.

~In Prism Tower’s hidden attic, Moze has Horton bound and gagged and mentally prepares to kill him for all the injustices he’s delivered, but is having difficulty doing the deed. Shepard Fairey’s cottonballs cause Moze to hallucinate his sister, his girlfriend, and Nicolette Nostrad, and with enough goading he finally kills Horton.

~Cops scope out Hotel Richissime, but cannot give out a real story to the news by orders of Horton’s security, who are still looking for their charge. Mia is picked up by her dad, very shaken by what she watched the Creature do.

~Back at the ball, Juliet inadvertently embarrasses her father Jullien when she announces her intention of becoming Champion this year without her consent. Jullien admonishes her for not taking politics seriously enough, then spots Elizabeth. He wants to apologize to Elizabeth for breaking their private alliance in the interest of the court, and orders Juliet to deliver the apology for him since he’s above that kind of stuff. What a jackass.

~Getting tipsy as a way of coping with her life, Juliet approaches Elizabeth and delivers the apology, making no pretense that her father isn’t a jackass. Elizabeth empathizes, as her father was a jackass too. Juliet offers to help Elizabeth take down Ratio, and Elizabeth enters another alliance with a Nostrad.

~While the Ambrette Town Benefit is being cleaned up, Helena battles and girls it up with Henrietta and Azucena. Grant shows up cause Azucena called him, playing matchmaker. Not cool, Azucena. Grant really wants to know what’s up with Helena, and Helena starts crying from all the stress. Grant soothes her and asks for her to talk.

~Benedict finally receives Alexa’s number and sends her a message requesting a meeting. Alexa is used to being pranked on account of her conspiracy beliefs, but nevertheless cautiously accepts a meeting for tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow…

~DAY 6

~On her way to Shalour City, Salieri grinds levels against wild Pokémon in Connecting Cave. Her training is interrupted when a stray meteor busts through the roof of the cave. Team Sal checks it out and find out the meteor was carrying alien life: a Cleffa. Thinking of the potential asset a Clefable could be, and unwilling to leave a scared alien baby in a cave, Sal takes Cleffa and names her Oberon.

~Zack finally faces his Fire Fang wounds, which is actually not terrible thanks to Nurse Blissingale. His doctor tells him that he’ll have to wear a cast while the continuous Heal Pulse mends him, something which Zack hates. Zack gets discharged and heads to Shalour City, a trip he’ll have to make without flying because Antiq is still injured.

~Esme wakes up with a wine hangover, one of the worst categories of hangover there is. She gets a call from Professor Sycamore, who lets her take the day off but warns her not to make a habit of it. I pulled the same trick in college once.

~Benedict shows up at the Lumiose Press to meet with Alexa the reporter, tipping her off about Jullien’s oil field. The low key paranoid Alexa is skeptical, but chooses to mount an investigation of the off-route area with a search team, one which Benedict is on. Sounds like a fun trip!

~Juliet and the police process the crime scene at Hotel Richissime from the night before. Elizabeth shows up to help, and the two of them determine what Pokémon might be involved. The next step is to talk to the only civilian witness, Mia Aviad.

Court of Kings: Pages 101 – 110

~Helena is greeted by Ratio inside his lair, who informs her that her attacker is an Aura master in the employ of House Nostrad named Jean Pierre trying to use Helena as bait to fight Ratio. He heals her and promises to teach Helena how to defend herself properly, but in exchange she has to help him save Kalos and the rest of the world from the Court’s scheme.

~Back in the woods, Benedict and company finally make it to the oil field with no further casualties or Curses. The entire facility is abandoned yet still operating, with nasty leaks spilling out in the forest. Alexa snaps the pictures she needs, but they aren’t out of danger just yet. The Stalker reveals a physical body for the first time: a massive titan made of trees that challenges the exploration team (and Bridgette) to a straight fight if they choose to stay. They choose to stay.

~Salieri relaxes at a beachside café after losing track of Skarada when she is approached by Grant. Sal asks if Grant and Helena are an item, which he denies. They both voice concerns about Helena’s mental state, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by Grant. Grant asks Salieri for a battle, which she accepts. It’s Reynard and Oberon against Grant’s Mandibuzz and Audino on the beach!

~Helena comes across Moze’s private room in Ratio’s lair, where the elder Soledad sibling meditates by playing piano to help him contemplate his murder of Horton Balibar. Moze introduces himself and they realize they have Salieri in common. After finding out how Sal is doing from Helena, Moze welcomes Helena into Ratio’s team, telling her that the reason she’s there is because deep down, she can be a killer.

~At the oil field, Bridgette flashes back to her childhood. As a kid, Bridgette grew up with limb cancer and her father constantly created prosthetics for her to use. Slowly she accrued a team of Pokémon that became her best friends, and when her parents died in a car crash accidentally caused by her Drifloon, they became her family. They devised in jokes and strategies they’d only use if they were called by their ‘true names’.

~In the present, Bridgette mounts a personal assault on The Stalker’s titan, calling out the true names of her Pokémon to push them to their limits. Unfortunately she bites off more than she can chew on her own, and is almost killed for her efforts. Luckily, her Wailord swallows her whole like the legend of Jonah, keeping her safe in his mouth as he passes out from an Earthquake.

~The same Earthquake almost kills the twins, but their Gogoat bravely sacrifices its life to save them. The twins are rescued by Ben and Roy, and the battle against The Stalker continues.

~Sal and Grant begin their rematch. Reynard immediately disregards Salieri’s authority camps in the ocean, making her mostly untouchable but also making it difficult to attack. Princess Atomicka holds up her ‘Oberon’ persona and battles as cutely as possible, but doesn’t get very far. Tired of waiting around, Rey launches a Surf that damages her opponents but knocks out Oberon in the process. Sal does not approve.

~At the Tower of Mastery, Gurkinn temporarily equips Zack with a Keystone for Mega Evolution training, and evolves Hazard into a Gengar. Mega Hazard then does battle against Mega Jinn, Gurkinn’s Medicham. Gurkinn uses his Aura link and the strong bond between him and his Pokémon to maintain an advantage and eventually defeats Hazard. Zack is told that he must learn about the bonds between trainer and Pokémon if he wants to learn about Aura to defeat Ratio.

~Zack goes back into town to heal Hazard, having a run in with the annoying Chatot on the way. Before he can go back to the Tower for more training, he is stopped by Ska, who wants the Sablenite Zack took from Route 10. He voices his intention to give it to his unborn child as a birthright, and that he won’t take no for an answer. Ska searches through Zack’s bag, not finding the Mega Stone since Zack dropped it off with Gurkinn. At close range, Zack turns Ska into a hostage and Ska summons more pirates as reinforcements. The standoff quickly explodes into battle, Zack vs Skarada!

~Matheson shows up at the beach to meet Salieri, and her battle with Grant is interrupted when they see signs of fighting in the city proper. Wondering if that battle is something involving Ska, Sal and Math rush back into town.

~The Gardevoir under Ska’s control, 241, proves to be a powerhouse that manages to take Hazard out of the fight after the Ghost shatters helmet. Durendal arrives to help fight the lesser pirates while Zack does battle with the captain himself, until the Pirate King uses a Plant Trap to bind the trainer. Malis refuses to help Zack out, instead considering the opportunity to roast his trainer alive, and Keasbey’s sensory altering Quash takes Lethal by surprise.

~Just when Ska starts taking control of the match, Salieri and Matheson arrive. Sal draws Ska’s attention with an uncomfortable reunion while Math frees Zack from his binds. Sal tries to appeal to Ska’s better side, but Ska won’t listen to the girl who stabbed out his eye. Before the three of them can team up against Skarada, and before Ska can Mega Evolve Sergio the Lopunny, a portal appears in the sky and the pirates use it to escape. 241 is ordered to take out one of Salieri’s eyes, but can’t bring herself to do it. Sal recognizes the Gardevoir, and Ska reveals the truth: this Gardevoir, loaned to him by Team Flare, belonged to none other than Sal’s brother Moze! Ska and the pirates escape through the portal.

~Salieri and Zack, both pissed about the encounter, start arguing about their approaches to the situation. Math, though perturbed about Salieri having stabbed out a man’s eye in the past, uses his Magic Door to whisk the trainers away to the Pokémon Center before the police arrive to ask questions.

~Sal tries to catch Zack up to speed on the abilities of Skarada’s Pokémon while Zack tells her about the Tower of Mastery. They don’t get far before the Chatot returns, distracting the trainers long enough for a Cofagrigus to sneak up behind them and bind their hands together with an unseen Destiny Bond…

~A prissy, taunting voice comes through the revealed to be robotic Chatot, telling Zack and Sal that they’ll be bound together until their ‘punishment’ is over or one of them dies. The trainers try to take out the Chatbot and the Ghost, but get almost nowhere while the perpetrators escape.

~Mortified at having to be stuck together, Sal and Zack test the limits of their bond. It turns out that not only do they share pain and injuries, but emotions as well. They decide that priority number one has become getting separated, but not before they spend some time beating each other up and sharing genital pain. It’s not a long story, it’s just something you need to see for yourself.

~Through more testing, the two discover they cannot force their own separation, nor will it be undone if they get knocked out. Worried that touching someone else could result in them joining the bond, they decide to remain hands off with everyone else. Durendal and Hazard are sent out to search for the Chatbot, and while they wait, Sal decides to drag Zack to her Gym Match.

Court of Kings: Pages 121-130

~Benedict and company call for an ambulance to save the direly wounded twins. Ben tries to convince Alexa to pass the Curse to him so she’ll be safe to write the article. She refuses to put someone else through the Cure, and Roy lends her his Fearow for an escape. Alexa leaves as the paramedics arrive.

~In Gotengo, Esme recognizes the symptoms of Salieri and Zack’s bond, and shows them what information she has on who she believes to be a Darkhorse Hunter. Past records of the Kalos League reveal trainers who took the same damage as their Pokémon. The bond became so tight that some trainers believed they became those Pokémon.

~At risk of losing their sense of personal identity forever, Sal and Zack want to get a move on. Mia hands them a radar that can track down Mr. Bonding. However, once it’s active, Mr. Bonding will know, so it’s a one shot deal. Armed with new knowledge, Sal contacts Math for a door back to Shalour City.

~Paramedics and police arrive to help Benedict’s party, along with noble detective/part time ambulance chaser Juliet Nostrad. Before Juliet can get to questioning them about their connection to the off route explosion, Ben warns her that the explosion came from Jullien Nostrad’s oil rig. For the sake of impartiality, Juliet immediately removes herself from the budding case and leaves it to the police.

~Matheson warps Sal and Zack to the Weather Institute in Hoenn, where he’s been researching how and where Skarada’s ship could be hiding. Salieri tries to explain why she and Zack now have a small shipping fanbase online, but Matheson waves it off since it actually provides good optics for his life politically, an offhanded comment that worries Sal. Math opens another door and sends Sal and Zack back to Shalour.

~Benedict, Roy and Bridgette give their stories to the police, and then part ways unceremoniously. Ben texts Sal asking for Mia’s help to become untraceable. Sal responds and points him to Gotengo’s direction.

~Mr. Bonding, hiding out in Coumarine City’s Pokémon Center, sends his Chatbots to deter Sal and Zack from finding him. Riding to Coumarine City atop of Banksy, Sal and Zack use Zack’s Pokémon and some fancy flying to take out the Chatbots scouting them out. The radar points them to the Pokémon Center, before it gives out.

~The bonded duo arrive at the Coumarine Pokémon Center, where Mr. Bonding has shattered his equipment and attempts to make his escape. Durendal and Serene try to track the man they’ve never met, and find him before he can leave. The fight breaks out in the Center, Zack and Sal vs. Mr. Bonding!

~Meanwhile, Ben arrives in Gotengo, where Mia and Esme are still hard at work. Because Salieri did not tell Mia that Ben was coming, and because Ben isn’t forthcoming about his circumstances, Mia needs to be persuaded to help this stranger. Eventually she obliges, and works to make one of his xtransceivers trace proof.

~While he’s waiting, Esme offers up their records on Ben’s Stalker, who turns out to be a Darkhorse Hunter. Ben comes up with a plan to take Alexa’s Curse and weaponize it against their enemies, something that mortifies Mia and Esme. Mia doctors the xtransceiver and tells Ben not to take on the Curse, or he won’t be welcome back to Gotengo. Disappointed but not deterred, Ben leaves.

~Ben contacts and meets up with Alexa at the Coumarine City train station. Ben pleads with Alexa to let him use the Curse to their advantage, but Alexa declines. Gracious to Ben for his heroism off route, Alexa tells him she wouldn’t wish this Curse on her enemies. Ben shifts gears and asks Alexa to leave the country, just to be safe, which Alexa agrees to do.

~Downtrodden but relieved Alexa is okay, Ben drops her at the airport and then leaves. Alexa waits, and then goes back on her word, too deep in the scoop of her lifetime to leave Kalos while it’s just beginning. She decides to write her article on the run.

~In the Coumarine Pokémon Center, the Bonded duo engage with Mr. Bonding and his Cofagrigus. Serene is released, but she only stands dazed in the corner. Although Durendal takes Mr. Bonding hostage, Cofagrigus escapes to the upper levels of the building, forcing Dune to follow.

~Cofagrigus tricks Dune to escape and gets back downstairs. The bond get stronger, crippling Sal and Zack with overwhelming memories and emotions while Mr. Bonding stalls and prepares to let the merge play out.

~Inside each other’s minds, Salieri and Zack relive the other’s memories. Salieri experiences Zack’s intense falling out with his former girlfriend Robin, leaving Kelly for dead in a volcano, and his melancholy home life afterwards. Zack lives through Sal’s quiet but harsh tutelage from a giant man named AZ in Orre, her life aboard Skarada’s ship, the loss of her virginity, and the loss of her arm.

~Before Salieri and Zack’s minds fully merge, Serene snaps out of her funk and guides them through their unity, culminating in her taking on both of their mental powers. Serene unleashes her potential and pulverizes both Cofagrigus and Bonding. Dune gets downstairs before Cofagrigus can backstab the exhausted Serene with his last stand, and the threat of the two Pokémon causes Cofagrigus to break the bond. Salieri and Zack are free!

~Oberon heals the mentally readjusting trainers. Salieri calls the police, pretending she was sexually assaulted at Mr. Bonding’s previously stained hands to get him arrested. She interrogates him, but he doesn’t know anything they don’t. As the police come, Serene Teleports them to the Tower of Mastery.

~At the Tower, Zack and Salieri seek out Gurkinn to give them a diagnosis. Gurkinn declares them to be separated, with short term after effects. He invites them to stay on the island for as long as they like, which they take him up on. Newly appreciative of each other but feeling awkward about the way it happened, Sal and Zack part for the night on good terms for the first time.

~At the Battle Chateau, Jullien Nostrad catches wind of the fire at the oil field from Nicolette Nostrad’s mysterious liason. With the Stalker and Mr. Bonding defeated, Nicolette has lost two Darkhorse Hunters in one day. Jullien orders the Liason to squash the news story and get the uprising trainers under control.

~Moze, still distraught after having killed Horton Balibar, finally calls back Mia. He tries to comfort her about the attack on the hotel while keeping it secret that he was the perpetrator, but it’s too little, too late. Mia ends their call on edge.

~Elizabeth demands a meeting with Elliot at Chateau Leroux, which his guards refuse. Behind the closed doors of Elliot’s study, Elliot touches base with Ratio. They desire a conclusion to their black operations sooner than later. Elizabeth bursts in, having defeated the guards, and demands Elliot’s cooperation with getting justice for her father Gabriel. Ratio, taking on a disguise as ‘Kero’, is a fly on the wall as Elliot politely declines Elizabeth’s request. She leaves, bitter and unaware that her father’s killer, Ratio, is standing beside her.

~Back at the Tower, Zack cleans up. Serene is in much higher and more lucid spirits since the mind merge in the afternoon, but cannot yet tap into the potential she showed fighting Cofagrigus. Reflecting on Salieri’s memories, Zack is driven to check in on his own family, and gives his mother Kaitlyn Redgrave a call.

~In her room at the Tower, Salieri also decompresses by relaxing with her Pokémon and making necessary calls to friends. She asks Benedict to meet her in Shalour in the morning. During a call with Mia, Mia tells her a second hand account of Ben’s encounter with the Stalker. After that, Sal calls Matheson, wondering why he was okay with the internet thinking ‘Zackieri’ was a real couple. Math explains that the less people who know he and Sal are an item, the easier it is for him to operate as a betrothed noble. The secrecy does not sit well with Sal, but before they can truly hash it out, Sal receives another call. It’s from Skarada, who proposes a trade to his former crewmate: Prou and her stolen Pokédex for the Sablenite he wants so badly.

~DAY 7

~Zack trains his Pokémon at the Tower of Mastery by pitting them against each other in sparring sessions. An off duty Korrina (‘Successor Korrina’ when she’s at the Tower) observes, reminding him not to waste his potential. Zack returns the favor by warning her not to underestimate Salieri during their Gym rematch.

~Said rematch begins later on at Shalour City Gym. It’s Reynard vs. Hawlucha, Round 2! Salieri starts by having Reynard bust the fire sprinkler system, giving Rey ample water to control and a large field advantage. Hawlucha evens the odds by raising his speed to overwhelming levels. When Hawlucha prepares to neutralize Rey with Entrainment, Sal turns the move against him by reflecting it in a mirror made of water. Distracted by himself, Hawlucha is taken out in one shot by Rey’s Hydro Pump. The victory goes to the challenger!

~Salieri returns to the Tower, and tells Zack about Ben’s day yesterday and Skarada’s offer. Zack defers to her judgment on whether or not they should do the trade, and they both agree that the best way to go about it is by setting a trap of their own. The plan? Salieri meets Skarada for the trade, and Zack snipes him from afar at the right time with Lethal. With that in mind, the two split up to prepare.