Having recently concluded the first round in the tournament, Drystan found himself growing a little peckish. Deciding to skip out on a shower - skin still damp from the veritable downpour Kaze had generated - he found that one of the nearby underground caverns had been taken over by some entrepreneurial types exploiting the niche provided by all of the present attendants, officials and Avatars. Saying that, the prices were fair and the food did look tasty. 

Glancing down the menu, he ordered a Tauros steak with salad, alongside a flask of warming tea. Not forgetting about Deladriss, however, a plate of berries was also added to the tab - alongside a pokepuff for her sweet tooth, much to her delight. Paying the man, and collecting his food, Drystan found an empty table a few rows from the back of the room able to seat four, and set to relaxing. Ever-vigilant, the scizor stood watch over the table while leaning against the adjacent wall, stealing a berry from the piled plate every now and again. 

The trio - Drystan, Deladriss and Dialga - talked telepathically over the meal, discussing the events earlier, the events yesterday and the plan of action for dealing with the present threat of this so-called ‘Alliance of Justice’. Security around the tournament arena were clearly on edge, nervously scanning the crowd for any shifty characters, their loyal Arcanine’s waiting patiently for any commands. 

Naturally, that’s when a sound like a thunderclap split the air, reverberating around the underground storage room turned dining hall. The room was filled suddenly with the acrid reek of smouldered ozone, as though singed by plasma. Nearby the food stands, at the opposite end of the room, a large violet portal hovered where a section of the wall once did. Through it stood a female figure dressed in torn clothing, a shock of neon pink hair contrasting entirely against the bleary and unfocused look in her eyes. Blinking several times, she began to stumble - since it couldn’t be accurately called a walk - into the large room. At her side, a gorgeously vibrant Milotic surveyed the audience staring at them, before gracefully slithering after her owner.

Moving like a zombie, the girl drew some startled reactions from the various people in the eating hall as security tracked her with hooded eyes and slitted gazes, calling into their radios about a potential threat. The Milotic took a chair at the side of the table beside Deladriss. Drystan had just cut another succulent slice of steak as the figure collapsed into the seat opposite him and her head promptly slammed down onto the table amid a tangle of arms and hair. Freshly burnt air was replaced by a new but not entirely unpleasant smell - Prinap Brandy. 

It took all the self control Drystan had to not simply burst out laughing at the lump’s plight, so he settled for sarcastic witticisms instead. Chewing over the piece of steak recently departing his fork, he smirked, before swallowing. “[color=00aeef]Back to the land of the living? That’s certainly the question that springs to mind, although I get the impression the phrase not might apply here.[/color]”

A grunt was the only response from the pile of girl, who remained completely still. “[color=00aeef]Have you gone monosyllabic on me? Great Arceus, we need a half-gallon of black coffee, stat.[/color]” As if to underline the point, he took a swig from the flask of tea. “[color=00aeef]Seriously, my dear, at least try to stay on this side of the abyss. There are corpses more lively than you, and that is discounting Xerneas.[/color]” 

Her head swiveled a tad, a single piercing green eye glared out through the gap between her arm and the table, before she pushed herself up with several grumbles, finally settling upright by resting her cheek on a knuckle. By this point, another several security guards were present in various places around the room, several of whom began to approach the Avatars. Drystan raised an arm to dismiss them. “[color=00aeef]Relax, she’s with me,[/color]” he said, before lowering his voice. “[color=00aeef]Although if you could shut the portal again, it might make them more at ease.[/color]” 

Turning, she gave a snort, before clicking her fingers, and returning to her slump. As quickly as it had appeared, the portal snapped shut back into a solid wall. Security looked warily at each other before nodding and move back, remaining close enough to intervene should anything happen. Drystan simply sat, staring at her expectantly. “[color=00aeef]So… Need I ask?[/color]”

Palkia’s Avatar rubbed her eyes with her free hand, before speaking softly with a hoarse and breaking voice. “[color=pink]Couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to see what the city had to offer, maybe meet some people and get some leads of the Alliance.[/color]” 

This made her counterpart chuckle. “[color=00aeef]Oh, really? How did that go, then?[/color]” 

With a glare capable of turning men to stone, she allowed the silence to drag out longer than was comfortable. “[color=pink]Just so happens there is a nice bar - a [i]really[/i] nice bar - on the first floor. No leads, a pounding headache and a missed opportunity to join the tournament is all I have to show for it, outside a good time.[/color]” 

“[color=00aeef]I appreciate you letting me know in advance, so we didn’t hang around waiting on you.[/color]”

A small smile appeared for a brief moment on the girl’s lips. “[color=pink]My pleasure, after all, I know you’d do the same.[/color]” The two Avatar’s locked eyes. “[color=pink]Anyhow, stop stalling. Did you go to see him?[/color]”

Drystan gained those adorable, large puppy-dog eyes as he raised his arms in a “Who, me?” expression, unable to answer verbally due to eating. “[color=pink]Well, you’ve had plenty of time. Rumours are swirling round that you beat up a kid,[/color]” she replied, almost instantly.

Sighing, the man swallowed his mouthful of food, before smirking. “[color=00aeef]Claudia, darling,[/color]” he drawled, pronouncing the latter word with an additional ‘h’. “[color=00aeef]What I do with my time is most certainly my busine-[/color]”

“[color=pink]Don’t bullshit me Drystan. He is [i]dangerous[/i].[/color]”

Hand clenching the fork until it hurt, his voice rippled forth with a cold, quiet and directionless fury. “[color=00aeef]I am [i]perfectly[/i] capable of telling danger for myself. I was doing it long before you came along.[/color]”

[i]And I’ll be doing it long after you are gone.[/i] He hadn’t said it, but Claudia knew that it was implied. 

After cutting another piece of steak, Drystan stared at it on his fork for an overlong second, before dropping it to the plate and pushing the whole lot into the center of the table. “[color=00aeef]And suddenly, I’ve lost my appetite.[/color]” The girl’s eyes glanced repeatedly at the plate, several times in as many seconds, before she snatched it up, cutting the steak rapidly into tiny pieces with such ferocity one would assume she hadn’t eaten in weeks, before the entire plate of food began steadily disappearing. “[color=00aeef]Did you have breakfast this morning?[/color]”

Claudia’s head rapidly moved from side to side, the words “[color=pink]No time[/color]” struggling to appear through the food. Taking a £10 note from his wallet, Drystan folded it in half, then half again, carefully tearing along the folds. With a flare of cobalt blue light, each of the four torn quarters became a full £10 once more. One returned inside the wallet, and the other three were slid over to the ravenously hungry girl. “[color=00aeef]Here. Grab yourself something to eat. I, on the other hand, have a match to prepare for.[/color]” 

As Drystan glanced over to Deladriss - who had given some berries to the Milotic and fiercely wolfed down the Pokepuff - began to move in step with her master. Claudia looked up, giving her counterpart a thumbs up. “[color=pink]Awesome. Would root for you once I’ve finished eating, but I don’t plan to stick around.[/color]”

This comment caused Dialga’s Avatar to stop dead in his tracks. “[color=00aeef]Excuse me?[/color]” he said, in a voice that held a deeper meaning, an edge of anxiety. “[color=00aeef]And why not?[/color]”

She shrugged. “[color=pink]Stuff to do back home. Apparently a few Pokemon there have contracted the plague. I’m heading back to make sure the Alliance don’t try to kick them while they are down.[/color]” Smiling, she looked towards Drystan. “[color=pink]Besides, you are a big boy and i’m positive you’ll be fine on your own.[/color]”

He scanned her face for any hidden intent, but found nothing. Whether that meant it wasn’t there or was simply behind whatever mask she had donned today wasn’t clear. “[color=00aeef]Shame. I figured you’d want to pick over Mauville with a fine comb. Nevermind, I suppose.[/color]” Walking towards the door, he called back, “[color=00aeef]Best of luck.[/color]”

“[color=pink]You too.[/color]”

Departing the room, Drystan’s phone was in his hand within 10 seconds, the number already punched in and trying to connect. The reassuring click of success sounded, before a man on the other end of the line spoke. “Boss. What’s up?”

“[color=00aeef]Palkia’s returning home early. According to her, it’s nothing but a harmless visit - a preventative measure to put the Alliance off the scent, but i’m not convinced she doesn’t know more than she is letting on.[/color]”

The line was quiet for a moment. “How should I proceed?”

Drystan leaned against the wall to finish the call before entering the main area again. “[color=00aeef]Tone down the search and do [i]not[/i] let her find out what we have been doing.[/color]” 

“Got it, Boss,” the voice said, before a harsh laugh echoed down the line and it went dead. 

He was too far from Fuchsia to return, and doing so would alert Palkia to some kind of problem - and would undermine the work already ongoing in Mauville. The only option was to trust his men to handle the situation correctly. 

That didn’t fill him with a great deal of hope. 

With the next round not for a little while - and having a good amount of stress to work off when it came around - Drystan found the only thing which would calm the nerves was pacing. Several loops of the room later, he began to wonder if a striding Avatar looking like the personification of thunder might have been spooking the attendants, who gave him looks that didn’t worry so much for him but instead feared their own hides might bear the brunt of whatever upset him. 

Dialga slowly but surely talked his host around, and the two eventually settled down with a cigarette next to the medical tent with Deladriss close behind. A small distance away sat another Avatar, and curiosity was one of the reasons he allowed himself to be won round. Which Pokemon the man embodied wasn’t clear, and his own Legend didn’t have much idea, but the fact he was an Avatar was painfully obvious due to the rather… eclectic dress sense.

Noticing the rather battered pair of glasses on the man’s face, Drystan stretched out a hand towards him, palm upturned and flat. “[color=00aeef]I think glasses only work when they are in one piece. Give them here a second, and i’ll have them right as rain.[/color]” Smiling, he looked at the flowing robe once more. “[color=00aeef]Unless they are an accessory to compliment that very gothic-y look you have going on.[/color]”