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"All preperations have been made," Kero said as he stood aboard the jet. A stealth air ship run on jet engines, the 'cargo' area served as a preparation area. Benches to sit on, equipment lining the walls. "For battle."

***

"Live a little more," Goldberg said as he started for the stairs to ascend to the deck. "People aren't so bad, if ya play 'em right."

The sandstorm whipped around, growing steadily stronger as Frate slowly added to it. His training was ongoing, as was the training of the rest of her Pokemon save Melty.

She needed a more extensive arsenal. Her Pokemon could cover a lot of base but her match against Wayne had taught her that she needed more coverage then that. They needed to be prepared for everything.

She herself wasn't really in the condition to be doing physical training, and the training she was doing seemed fruitless.

"Take a break," she said as she stood up and went for a walk.

Castelia felt like several months, even if it had only been a day or two. She'd be glad to leave, which was soon. A bit of training in an ideal harsh environment like the desert and she'd be setting out for Nimbasa.

The previous week had been a terrible one. But that had been gone over a million times. A trillion times. It was time to move forward, Henrietta thought. With a serious as things had gotten this seemed like the last chance she'd have to drop out of it all. Walk away, go home, find something else.

But she couldn't stop. After everything she'd learned and seen. She couldn't stop now.

During her walk Henrietta spotted a figure in the distance, instantly recognizing it to be Wayne. Her face, painted with bruises and cuts covered by bandaids, lit up and she began to run. "Wayne!" she called.

And when she reached him she'd hug him, because he was safe. Because it meant that Reid hadn't gotten his hands on him.

((It's what I do cool ))

"D'yargh!" Wayne leapt up, almost out of his skin but certainly from Henrietta's grasp. He span on his foot, staggering back in alarm until he recognised her. With all the crap that had happened, it took a few seconds.

"Henrietta? Dude, what happened to your face? You look like you lost an argument with a sledgehammer."

Wayne raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah? Totally. You need to tell me what happened to you."

He decided not to add 'this time'.

Wayne's eyes flickered for a second. But then a smile drew across his lips.

"I think that sledgehammer hit you a little too hard on the head there. Look, a lot's happened recently, you're probably just tired or something," he went to put his hand on her head, "Go home and rest. Forget about crazed stalkers or whatever."

Fire flared.

"Well then are you stupid?! Someone threatens you not to cross them and you go do just that? If you wanted to stay safe you should just keep quiet. Seriously! Do what you're told and nobody gets hurt? Sounds like a no-freakin'-brainer to me!"

Salieri

So Salieri went to the pokemon center, and waited for her pokemon to be healed in the lobby. As she waited she found herself laying down on the lobby's couch and looking up at the ceiling in thought, as usual.

There was nobody to prove anything to anymore. Her grandfather was long gone. Koichi, Sophie and her brother were proud of her accomplishments. Sal wanted to battle the gyms and earn her own someday because it was what she loved. The sheer thrill that came with a gym battle. For her, that was the rush she wanted.

So she would do what Moze asked her to. She would try to live her life how she wanted. But it was hard to do that when she wanted to live her life with Moze in the picture and Moze didn't plan on staying around much longer.

Not searching for a cure? What did that even mean? Sal wondered if Moze simply thought the illness would pass. Or maybe he had learned that it was incurable. But to just give up and allow the sickness to take it's toll...no, Moze would never just surrender. If he truly cared, then he would stick around. He would watch her become successful, so she could share her happiness with him.

How am I supposed to just stand by and be okay with this, Moze? I did what you said to do, but...it's not enough.

"Salieri? Salieri Del Forrest?"

Sal sat up and looked to the cheerful nurse at the counter. "Your pokemon are fully healed. We hope to see you again!"

****

Sal walked to the desert, with Liuye Dao at her side. With the chance that Team Plasma could be watching her, Sal decided to entrust her most vigilant pokemon with bodyguard duty. It always paid to have a second set of eyes. Plus, the stoic Pawniard was the most likely to remain level headed at the prospect of being stalked.

She wasn't surprised to see Henrietta with Wayne. Nor was she surprised to see that Henrietta had been battered somehow agan. It must have been a normal occurrence. Sal almost bit her lip and decided not to point it out, but it had to be done.

"Damn girl, what happened to you? Lose a fight with a Sandile?" she scoffed. And after, she took another moment to look over her shoulder and into the sandstorm. Just in case there was someone watching.

****

Jump

Battle? Jump rose an eyebrow. He hadn't seen real action in a long time. Truth be told, he only had one good fight in this country. The Interpol Agent was eager to see what else Unova could muster.

And if Kero was entrusting him to be a part of this, there must have been a good reason. Maybe he needed Jump's speed.

"Alright, where you at? I'll wait for you there," he told Kero. Jump figured it would be faster for him to run there himself. As he always assumed.

****

Goldberg's Boat

The boy watched as Goldberg left the cabin. He looked over the room once again, to check for anything amiss (you never know when the government is watching you these days), then followed the hulking man outside.

"I don't care for this country's people," he blandly told Goldberg as he stroked a gloved hand on the guardrail of the ship. "They're too easily manipulated. More of a hinderance than an advantage for now."