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And by the end of the explanation, Robby had a bit more of an understanding of that thing he apparently had that had startled him when it pinged.

And then there was a presence. One he hadn't felt since... "Lawrence." The obese lad replied, glare fixed on his face as Goldberg approached.

And then there came a question, one that caused the obese lad to glance at Henrietta. Well, it was rude to say, but... "She's not my type, you know?" He stated, shrugging off such a ridiculous idea. "Whaddayawant?"

Didn't the Lillipup Girl owe him a meal? But then, this was Lawrence, the ultimate opponent. And there was no way the lad could simply back down.

"You're on." He stated, already preparing a back-up plan in case he lost. There was no underestimating this guy. "When you lose, no cryin' bout bein' broke." After all, the Tobbster was also broke.

((So I figure that with the C-Room, if people could just delete the top block of text whenever they make a new post, everything remains nice and clear while still giving the impression of a chat room. That means that we'll have 6 blocks of text each time someone posts, with the 6th being the newest and the 5 above it coming from older posts))

Wayne

Boom!

Not again, Wayne frowned, Duosion still couldn't even take the first step in this training. And for once, it had nothing to do with his lack of legs. The trainer went over; the others didn't really need his supervision, not with Deerling on the case. Lilligant had progressed into making perfect spheres of ice as she drew on her Hidden Power, and Hitmonlee was able to make his ball more quickly and on a larger scale than before.

"Hey dude," Wayne sat down next to the psychic, "how's the exploding going?"

[Not funny!] Duosion both said and their energy spiked, creating a light blue flash that burst outwards. Wayne jumped back, catching himself.
"Whoa. That was... different."
[I did it!]
[Am I kidding?! That was a failure!]

"Can you do it again?" Wayne tilted his head to look over at the pokémon, "practice does make perfect, after all. Well, maybe not perfect, but it does make stuff pretty good if you practice enough."

[What would you know?]
[You never had to do any of this junk!]

"Yeah, totally can't understand you," Wayne said with a grin. "I guess if I could then I'd just be a Nutjob Norbert. Like Norbert! Though I guess Jump can talk to pokémon too, and he's not craz-- well, he's not like Norbert at any rate."

Duosion frowned, then blasted a bolt of psychic power at Wayne's head that made him fall onto his back. The others stopped their training and looked over; Lilligant looked worried, Hitmonlee narrowed his eyes, and Deerling seemed amused. Wayne sat back up slowly, rubbing his head, which was tingling like crazy.

[How about now?]
[lol]

Wayne started to scream. Loud, clownish yells that each lasted for a second or two, took a breath then started again. Like skipping record stuck on a partial loop of horror.

[What...] Hitmonlee said carefully, [did you do to him?]
[Wayne's gone crazy!] Lilligant squealed, leaves to her face in shock.
[Psychic link,] Duosion said coolly, [I could do it as a Solosis]
[I just couldn't be bothered!] Duosion finished, sounding like he was boasting.

"Argh, holy fudgemuckits!" Wayne yelled, "I can talk to pokémon! Quick, Lilligant, say something!"
[Umm-]
"Hitmonlee!"
[Die in a ditch.]
"I didn't understand any of that!" A panicked Wayne looked back to Duosion, "what gives?"

[Well, I guess most of it has to do with the fact that I'M A PSYCHIC. THEY'RE NOT!]
[Yeah!]
Wayne flinched like somebody just shouted down his ear. This was a weird sensation, like his mental voice had a mind of its own and was dosed up on helium. And was shouting in his ear, "Ow. Okay, I get it. This is still pretty cool though. Just as long as you didn't make me insane, I guess."
[Oh, you're definitely not fully sane anymore.]
[Not in the normal sense. But it's not all bad!]
[Just as long as you don't piss me off, you won't end up a gibbering vegetable.]

"You... said that last bit a little too brightly. Err. Can we turn this off, please? I'm kinda, sorta, really terrified."
[Pfft! Suit-] there was a small 'pop' sound. Psychic energy dissipating.
[Yourself.]

"Well, that was an experience. At least I know you guys can completely understand me. Ha." Wayne got to his feet, "Probably best we don't tell anyone about this. Not sure I want a pokémon prof prodding at my brain. Or your brains either, I guess."

---

It was getting late now. Most trainers judged their time by sunlight; training in the wilds was a lot more dangerous at night, so it was usually best to get up with the sun, go to bed with the sun. Just not literally, because there's not a bed that big. Plus the sun's pretty hot.

"Here we are! Home away from home! The pokémon center. A place of rest, relaxation and free food. That last bit's the most important."

[Whatever,] Hitmonlee muttered, folding his arms. Wayne sensed the indifference in his tone and turned around, walking backwards.
"Aw, don't be like that! Tonight is good night! For tonight we dine inside!"
[That's the same as every n--] Wayne was already running indoors to find the canteen, [--ugh... get back here!]

The other pokémon were back in their balls, while Hitmonlee was allowed to stretch his legs. And boy, could he stretch his legs. Wayne ordered some food at the counter and moved down the line, grabbing extra drinks and snacks, until he had to recruit Hitmonlee in carrying a tray. They found a free table, which had a glass wall nearby so they could look out on the city. Even now, there was still a lot going on. If Castelia was the city that never sleeps, then Nimbasa was suffering from light-induced insomnia.

"Wonder what the others are doing?" Wayne muttered, chomping on a pokéburger. He glanced down at Hitmonlee, who'd finished his meal already. Wayne narrowed his eyes, accidentally squeezing some sauce out of his meal. Just how did Hitmonlee eat anyway? Where's his mouth? Probably in his butt, Wayne smirked.

"Oh yeah! I can just ask what they're up to!" Wayne set his sandwich down and pulled back his sleeve. The C-Room was reading one more member. "Do I know that guy?" Wayne thought back, then shrugged.

---

N and Reid

"Are you sure this location is secure?"

N looked left and right. They were in a crowded parking lot behind a fast food joint near Route 5. There were a lot of people still around, hanging out near their cars and eating, but N still had a vantage point that let him know who was approaching. Besides, Zero was out on watch. "Of course. We wouldn't want you to get compromised again."

Reid nodded, adjusting the top of his gakuran to make it straighter. He hadn't anticipated Henrietta to get to Nimbasa when he did. Since she knew what he looked like, his efficiency as a spy was severely diminished. Reid had planned on her being hospitalized, not up and about walking.

"It won't matter by tomorrow. Bronius had us reassigned to Zinzolin in Driftveil City." N couldn't help but notice a tinge of irritation in Reid's voice as he said this. "He said he got all the info he needed on these trainers, and that Zinzolin needed our skills." When Reid said that last part, he sounded a bit more prideful. N surmised that Bronius must have told him that to reassure him that he wasn't just getting discarded.

N also surmised that the chances Reid's team was just getting passed off to Zinzolin were very high. That's they way Plasma worked sometimes. It seemed Reid's team had gotten attached to having Bronius as their handler. Which was sentimental, but naive.

This was why N worked alone. Because getting attached meant he'd be less effective.

"We only had enough supplies to get through the desert. Once we restock, we can leave tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Reid paused, then looked down. "...I'd like to continue keeping tabs on these trainers until I leave."

N rose an eyebrow and folded his arms, leaning against the parked. Rangermobile. "Is that wise? If Henrietta sees you again, I predict at least a 50% chance she'll try to engage you."

Reid wrinkled his nose, then walked around N to the passenger's side of the jeep. "That's the thing. She'll try. You really think she could beat us?"

The green haired trainer shrugged, looking off into space. "...you're primarily a scouting ops team. Direct combat isn't your strong suit, right? Besides...don't underestimate her."

"Ha!" The psychic scoffed, running a hand through his untamed blue spiky hair. "I think you're the one underestimating us, N. You and Bronius both." He hopped into the shotgun seat, next to Crofton who was sitting behind the wheel. "We didn't come this far just to be one the sidelines."

"I know. I just don't want you to get caught." As much as he disliked Reid -which the psychic probably knew by now due to his constant invasion of people's mental privacy- they were still on the same side.

Reid took a deep breath, then nodded. Crofton started the engine, preparing to drive away. "Once we leave, you're on your own in this city. Troops will be here by tomorrow night at the earliest, but until then you won't have protection, Lord N."

The brim of N's hat shadowed over his eyes, making them impossible to see. A very subtle smile crossed his lips.

"Now I believe it is you who is underestimating me, Reid."

beep boop!



Everyone seemed to be enjoying the use of the chatroom. As she stared at it, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of strange conversations could come out of it.

Most of them were probably going to be started by Wayne.

Salieri

Now that she knew the current conversation in the C-Room was just about food, Salieri decided to ignore the next few messages for now. She returned her pokemon and started walking out of the stadium and towards the pokemon center with Takamaru.

From the way he described himself, Takamaru sounded relatively normal. And he had been raised only a region away from Kanto. It was unfortunate to hear about his father, but in a way Salieri could relate to the preteen. "Both of my parents ditched me. But the guy who took me and my big brother in, my new dad, he's awesome. He taught us kung fu. And he used to have his own pokemon gym slash dojo combination in Saffron City."

She took a sip from her water bottle for a brief pause as she looked straight ahead. "...we lost it, so we moved from Kanto to Unova to live with my new mom." Sal neglected to mention that it was her fault the dojo was gone. There were a lot of parts she was leaving out of her backstory, but the abridged version was easier for her to talk about.

"Working in that dojo was a lot of fun. I'm going to run my own gym someday. It'll be the greatest gym in Uno- no, in the world." She took another sip of water, then nodded in confirmation to herself. "Yeah, the world. No reason to think small. Big things are coming my way, I know it."

Sal looked back at the silver haired youth. "Well, that's only if Team Plasma decides to do the smart thing and just leave me alone. If Team Plasma really does get what they want, and they separate pokemon and humans, then there won't be a pokemon league and I won't be able to do what I want with my life. So there's just no way I'm letting that happen to me. Not again."

((Summary courtesy of approval from Nio))

And it was the greatest battle ever. The food disappeared in moments, but who had won?

Their appetite seemed the same but... toward the end? Robby had gained the lead. He'd.... won?

"Aura," Goldberg said.

And about twenty minutes later..

Goldberg was calling Odin.

"Hey, Odin? Can you come down and spot me a couple thousand pokedollars? Kinda in a bind." Goldberg didn't sound that way, he sounded as friendly as usual. Totally legit.