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"My father's house--" Zack snapped his phone shut and reattached it to the wristband, "--exploded. It wasn't me."

Jacqueline landed, using Aura to speed over; to a normal person it would've been like she appeared out of thin air. To Jump, she was probably moving in slow motion.

"Einatz," she said, standing up straight, "We have a job for you."

She went on to explain about Plasma and how they thought Victini was the cause of yesterday's shockwave. How Wayne told Zack that Plasma threatened him and his friend was murdered. That Katelyn was almost killed in the explosion at Kero's house. And that they were looking to build a team in order to take action.

"This has gone on too long already. A lot of people have been hurt," Jackie said.
Zack looked Jump in the eye, "So, you in?"

"She's... not injured," Zack said, "but she's still not woken up. The shockwave Victini released, I think it did something to her."

He paused, realisating dawning: "Maybe did something to all of us..."

"Now's probably not the time to talk about that," Jacqueline cut in, "Zack, you said you had a couple of people in mind for recruitment," she pointed at Jump, "he's one. The other...?"

"Artemis," Zack replied, "I thought that was pretty obvious."

Jacqueline swallowed and flashed a look back to Jump. "Erm. That might be a problem." She went over to him, speaking quietly, "Didn't you say you were taking her out? What did you do with her body?"

((Yay! Richy! biggrin ))

Jump rubbed his chin he looked over the vehicles. "Hmmm..." The Interpol Agent walked over to the flower patterned van. "Hmmm..."

Looks pretty spacious. If Artemis WAS part of this team, and if we hit it off, then this van would be perfect...but I don't want to see her get hurt because of the Sages again. She doesn't need to be a part of something this dangerous.

He tilted his head to the side, focusing on the driver's door. Tinted windows made it difficult to see inside. Well, just cause she doesn't have to be a part of this doesn't mean I can't ask Jackie if I can borrow this van later... Jump grabbed the door handle and turned it.

A slot opened up on the side of the van, revealing a small turret. With a quiet "Pop!", it fired a steel wire net at Jump, wrapping up his whole body below his neck. Balance lost, he fell onto his side.

Jump rolled over to face Zack and Jacqueline. "Interpol won't let me drive their vehicles anymore. But I got Nana to fix up my car. It's got some cool gadgets...but has poor gas mileage..." He sighed. "We could always go on foot. Kick it old school."

When Salieri arrived at the Castelia City Gym, the receptionist told her there was already a challenger battling Burgh. So Sal decided to wait outside on the bench across the street.

Waiting was easier said than done. Sal wasn't very nervous about the match. It was what she saw in the hotel that got her anxious. She had suspected there was something up with her waiter two nights ago, since he had on such a random cheesy disguise. But she had expected that it was just a dumb kid's game, not that he was familiar with that girl from Team Plasma.

It couldn't have been a coincidence that they knew each other, that Sal had met them both, and that they were in the hotel room right next to an Interpol Agent's. Did they track down Jump there? Was it really him they wanted? But that wouldn't explain seeing that crimson haired boy at the Italian Restaurant...

She realized that she was developing a habit of looking over her shoulder every couple of minutes. "Tch, this is no good."

Salieri stood up from the bench and planted her hands on her hips. "I suppose it's time to go shopping."

****

Fifteen minutes later, Salieri walked out of a mall further down Gym Street, wearing a brand new outfit. She felt it was appropriate, given her change in hairstyle. A change in outfits was refreshing. Plus, ever since hurting her foot kicking Bill's armor in the Dreamyard, she meant to buy some sturdy sneakers. Devon Corp. Running Shoes were a huge improvement in protection compared to her open toed sandals from before.

Who knew shopping could be so stress relieving?

Jackie

"Jump has a car," Zack said calling to Jackie while idling pointing at the downed Interpol Agent. Jacqueline rummaged in a back room; it was set up like an office at a garage, with a glass panel and a door separating the lock-up from an ancient-looking computer and a filing cabinet.

But Jackie had opened a secret hatch, which led to a small basement filled with gear. Unlike the vehicles up top, this stuff looked the part for secret agents. Jacqueline picked up a knife, looking it over and it reflected blue in her eyes. Satisfied, she turned it around and a miniature sheath extended from the handle, trapping the sharp edge and holding onto it tightly.

The knife was thrown into a black holdall along with all kinds of other gear: explosives, wires, smoke bombs, surveillance equipment, communications equipment and a programmable passport, of which Jackie picked up three. She locked the trapdoor, which blended into the ground perfectly and came out to throw the bag to Zack.

"Okay then," she said, glancing at Jump with a short smirk, "we'll take the car. But before we do anything, we need to get Zack's skills up to speed. The way he is now, he's liable to get us killed. Jump, any training spots in mind? It'd be a good idea for us to find out exactly what each other can do. Or not do, in Zack's case."

10 years off the job, and Zack couldn't argue. He still managed a quiet insult disguised as a growl.

---

Wayne

Duosion circled his foe, only managing to catch glimpses every now and then. He'd taken to the air, using Self-Telekinesis to mimic flight. Crustle's speed was at its maximum and it didn't even have its boulder weighing it down. Burgh was making sure that the monster kept moving and it didn't seem to be anywhere close to tiring out.

"Ow, ow, ow," Wayne cried as he twinged his neck trying to follow the bug type, "Freakin' hurts... okay, screw this! Let's get in close and end this thing!"

Burgh raised his eyebrow. According to the data, Wayne Lee was more comfortable playing it safe, not engaging an opponent directly if he could help it. He was the sort of trainer who preferred to set up extensively before moving in for the kill. Burgh had chosen to do the same in this match, to test the teen's ability to adapt.

He smiled.

"Now that's something I didn't expect! What a buzz!" he shouted, half-serious, half-mocking.

But Duosion followed orders, racing down to be level with Crustle. He span quickly, to spot his opponent before an attack came his way. It did, and Duosion had to send out a wave of "Telekinesis!" to deflect a "Rock Slide!"

But it was a feint; with Rock Slide taking the brunt of the telekinetic wave, Crustle was free to move in, hiding behind his rocks until the last second. He crashed into Duosion with "X-Scissor!" and that was the end of it.

Duosion attempted to pull back and "Recover!" but Crustle kept up the assault, striking again and finishing the psychic off. He fell, unconscious, his opponent the victor.

"Aww maaan," Wayne fell to his knees, "I can't believe it..."
"You still have one pokémon left," Burgh said, a hand on his hip, a smiling coyly.
"Nah, this is over," Wayne recalled Duosion, "wow, Crustle isn't actually as lame as I thought it was."

The pokémon clicked angrily, but was soon recalled by the gym leader. Burgh nodded at Wayne's decision, but still looked a little disappointed.

"I think," Wayne stood up, "I'll be back later. Thanks for the battle."

Burgh didn't stop him and Wayne hurried to the foyer. He held Hitmonlee and Duosion's pokéballs in his hands and frowned. He wasn't exactly interested in the league championship; he still planned on entering, but that wasn't why he collected these badges. He'd failed at a gym again; this time it wasn't due to a disobedient pokémon, it was all on him.

How could he get his pokémon back from Plasma if he couldn't even beat a gym leader? A guy who wasn't even using lethal force? He thought of Yana pointing a sword in his face; he thought of Shery, dying, scared and alone; he thought of Katelyn, trapped in a blaze with nobody to help her...

Tears dripped off his nose, landing on the pokéballs. Frustration. He wiped dry and put the balls back into his pockets. "Okay," he breathed deeply, "one problem at a time."

after a long rest, kenta finaly made the trip back down the mountain, entering nimbasa city and limping to the pokemon center before collapsing against the wall next to the centers door, unable to move on. from blood loss and the wear down on his body from his aura, even that last little bit was too much for him to handle. sasha was asleep in his arms durring the whole last part of the trip.