A/N:

Not much to say this time other than let's get right into it! And also thanks to Orthros.

"…" - Spoken dialogue

Italics - Character thoughts

'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue

. . . . . - Time skip

/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene

Chapter 7

— — — — —

Tristan

— — — — —

What a disappointment I must be! the luxray thought. The candidate of Team Retribution, and I go up there and blow it like that! The first debate had not gone accordingly to how he had planned at all. It wasn't as simple as going up there and speaking your mind about policy - no, you needed a detailed plan for how you would fix society, wrap it up in a bow, and hand it back to the people. The onlookers had pelted them with questions - questions that he had not seen coming. Questions that Kraven had known just how to answer.

The luxray made his way back to the beach with tears in his eyes. How could he let his team down like that? They had all poured their very hearts and souls into this effort, and he had gone and made a fool of himself when he needed to make a lasting impression. And not only had he let them down, but he had now put the entire wellbeing of the town at risk. How would he face the others after such a failure on his part? What if… what if they came to the conclusion that he wasn't suitable as a candidate and put in someone else? He would never get over the embarrassment.

Unfortunately for him, the beach came into sight. There was no running away from this confrontation. Already he could see them waiting in silence, taking notice of his presence. He slowly made his way towards the circle of people that he had brought shame to. All he could do was keep his gaze focused on the ground.

"Well… what happened out there?" Liam asked. Keep… keep yourself together…

"I… I d-don't know," he croaked. "I just…" Don't you fucking do it…

"…Tristan?" Flora said.

"Y…yes…" It was everything he had to hold it in.

"Look… we aren't mad at you… We just… I think you may have needed a bit more planning, that's all." He could feel the upset tone in her voice though, and he tried to act like he didn't feel the prying gazes directed at him. He had failed them all. "Listen… I'm sure that we will be able to work past this. We've still got you back though, right guys?" For a moment, they were silent. But eventually, Eleanor spoke up.

"We are not going to abandon our friend - especially when it is apparent that he needs our assistance. But Tristan… you have to meet us halfway. You are going to have to put in just as much effort as we are towards this campaign. Is that understood?"

"…It is…"

"Good. You go home and get some rest. Tomorrow we will start reviewing policies and viewpoints that you will need to cover in the next debate. You cannot take another hit like that." He voiced no opposition to that. Anything to get him away from here. He could hardly take standing amongst them right now.

"I… will see you t-tomorrow…" He turned around, his head still low from his shame. Soon… Soon he'd be back home, where he wouldn't have to worry about being judged when he inevitably let out his emotions.

— — — — —

Flora

— — — — —

"I'm sorry to say this Liam… I truly am. It hurts me to speak such words about our friend, but I do not feel that he is adequate for this position," Eleanor said. "Did you not see what happened on the debate stage?"

"…No…" Liam said. "I wasn't there at the time…"

"What?" She shook her head. "Well, I'll fill you in. He was made to look like a fool, Liam. In front of the entire town. He barely proposed any sort of budget plans to the audience, and Kraven managed to paint him in a negative manner. Now he looks like an inexperienced candidate that wants to take down the public sector completely."

"I am well aware of what happened," Liam snapped.

"Well then, what are going to do about it?" Eleanor finally asked. "This was all your idea, and I believe that you have planned things out… Or at least, I feel that you think you've got this all figured out…"

"I do," Liam said in irritation. "We can make this work with Tristan."

"And you are certain of that? After tonight… speaking of which, where were you exactly?" That was a good question - why had Liam not attended his own candidate's first debate? Flora certainly would like to hear the answer to that.

"I had some things that I needed to take care of," Liam muttered. "But none of that is any of your all's concern. All that matters is that Tristan is clearly not as prepared as we had thought, and that he needs help getting on track."

"I will take care of that," Eleanor said. "But this is the candidate that you selected, Liam. I expect you to be putting forth some form of effort as well."

"…You have no idea what I'm contributing to this campaign, Eleanor," Liam said. "So don't even suggest that I'm not pulling my weight."

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" asked Flora. Of course, they were expecting him to come up with some other way to avoid the question, just as he had done for the one before. What they had not expected, though, was for him to just ignore it. "Liam?"

"The important thing is to help Tristan get his stuff together, and that's the end of that."

"…Alright then," Eleanor said. "As I said earlier, I will assist Tristan any way that I can…"

"Thank you," Liam responded. "As for the rest of you, get some sleep. I've got a feeling that we've all got a long week ahead of us…" It was anything but the closure that any of the others wanted, but they weren't getting anything else out of the lucario.

Once the meeting had concluded, they began to go their own ways. Eleanor held Selina back before she could head back home and was speaking with her quietly about something. Whatever it was did not concern Flora, and she didn't really want to know. Right now, something else was far more prominent on her mind. She backed up, sprinted forth, and propelled herself into the sky, transitioning into a soft glide over the dimly lit town.

Poor Tristan, she thought to herself. I know he could have done better… but surely he didn't deserve that… He must be crushed right now… His demeanor had been nothing short of brokenhearted among his friends, and the looks of disapproval that Liam and Eleanor had given him did anything but help. Not to mention the fact that he had been the polar opposite of concealing with his feelings…

But she also understood that Tristan did play a part in all this. The moment he had stepped up in front of all those other people, it was like his mind had gone blank - it seemed like he had not learned a single thing from day one. He stuttered, left questions unanswered, and was made to look inferior to that crooked thug. Kraven seemed to know very well how to speak in front of others, and how to appeal to them with his viewpoints. But only Retribution knew what his goals truly were.

Tristan needed that skillset, and he needed it soon. It wasn't exactly something that could fully be developed in the course of a few weeks, but they would have to make do. Not to mention that they had already made a huge push for Tristan's name among the citizens. Even if it wasn't too late to replace him as a candidate, doing so would surely be taken as a sign of weakness, seeing as to how poor a job they had done with their first candidate. Arceus… all this political stuff is so complicated… Not that she cared much for the whole scene, anyways. She hardly knew what any of them had been talking about - all those taxes, budget cuts, the public sector - as long as someone of good character won, then everything else would work itself out as far as she was concerned.

There we are, she thought as she began to descend. The small house was dim; if he was home, then it was likely that he was sleeping. But that didn't matter for the time being. He needed to hear what she had to say. Flora came to a soft landing right in front of the building of interest. She wasted no time before knocking on the door. Silence was her only response. Come on, answer. The shaymin knocked once again. "I know you're in there Tristan. I'm not going anywhere until you come out!" And she wouldn't; once Flora had set her mind to something, there was no convincing her otherwise. She was stubborn and unbudging; everyone on the team knew that, which was probably why, after a few minutes, shuffling could be heard from inside the house.

He opened the door slowly, refusing to make eye contact with her at all. Seeing him like this broke the shaymin's heart - he tried in vain to hide the dampened fur around his eyes. "Wh…what is it?" he quietly asked.

"Look at me," she said gently. He wouldn't. "Hey… we all mess up from time to time. It's okay…"

"No… it's not… I brought shame to the whole team today."

"You're only bringing shame to yourself - just look at you! Everyone has bad days. The only thing you can do is get back up, go out there again, and not make the same mistakes. And that's what we're here for. We will help you do this, but we need you to be confident in your own abilities. I've watched you take down dozens of the most dangerous outlaws in the contentment. This might be a different battle than all of us are used to, but it's one that I know you can and will win. So have some faith in yourself, okay?" He slowly nodded.

"O…okay. I'll do my best…"

"That's all we ask," Flora said. "Just don't beat yourself up over this, and get ready to win this thing, alright?" Seeing his lifted spirits made her happy, and for a moment, the shaymin contemplated whether or not she should do it. But eventually she stopped thinking it over altogether and simply acted. She gently pecked the luxray on the cheek. Flora blushed as the light jolt of electricity was sent through her body, feeling his immediate reaction to her gesture. As she pulled away, she saw the feline before her in a flustered state, averting his gaze in order to avoid her own. Figuring this would be the best time for her to leave so that she would not give in to nervousness, she backed away. "You go ahead and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"…Alright," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

— — — — —

Selina

— — — — —

The gentle breeze stirred the sleepy umbreon from her sleep, blowing across her face ever-so-slightly. She pulled the covers up to shield herself, but doing so left her hind paws exposed to the wind. As much as she tried, there seemed to be no resolving the issue without untangling the blanket. But… that requires getting up… she thought. However, there was no way that she could go on like this. Frustrated and just wanting to get back to sleep, Selina rolled herself out of bed and went about straightening the covers out.

There, she thought, everything finally being to her liking. The blanket would shield her from any similar breezes and would allow for the umbreon to resume her rest uninterrupted. She just about hopped back up when she noticed something. Liam's bed was empty.

His own blankets lay strewn about - something he would never do. For as long as she had known the lucario, he had always made his bed up very neatly. What… where is he? Not only that, but something was missing. His sash. Curiously, she left the confines of their home. Selina's eyes darted around, scanning the darkness for any trace of her partner. Nothing. Alright, don't freak out, she thought to herself. There wasn't much to gain from doing so. But she did need to find her friend, and no matter how much she wanted to calm herself, the worry would not abide until she had done so.

Selina quickly paced through the town, scanning the countless buildings as she made her way to the main square. A few people were out and about, but being as early as it was, the majority of the town was still asleep. Still though, the dark-type asked everyone she came across if they had seen Liam, but nobody had. She refused to turn back, though, figuring that there were only so many places that he could have gone. It was doubtful that he would need to access the Guild this early, and they didn't even open their front entrance for another two or three hours. That hadn't stopped him in the past though… With no other leads, the umbreon made her way there.

As the large tent came into view, she was surprised to find the front gate to be already open. So then there's been some activity going on… Before Selina could enter the building, Chatot emerged, dragging a large bag behind him with his beak. "Umm… what are you doing?"

"Some of the food has spoiled," the bird said tiredly. "It needed to be taken out. I'm just about to head over to the field."

"Would you like me to take it for you?" she asked. She could accomplish the task a lot easier than he could.

"That would be great. Do you know where the compost pile is?" She nodded. As Chatot helped lift the bag onto her back, she reminded herself of her original mission.

"Has Liam come by today?" she asked.

"No. And I sealed up that stupid window that he always comes through. The rest of the Guild is still asleep, so he wouldn't have had any reason to come here anyways."

"Oh… dang…"

"I'm sure whatever he's up to, it's no good," Chatot murmured. "Oh well, I've got a few things I need to attend to. Thanks again for taking care of that."

"No problem." Selina turned around and carefully descended the steps, before making a left turn. The fields were about a five minute walk from here, but she was slowed down by the heavy bag on her back, and the last thing she needed to do was drop it where nobody could help her lift it again. So she took it slow and steady, and before too long her destination came into sight. The berry field stretched out to her left, but that wasn't where this bag was headed. Rather, the composting pile was stationed in the corner of the grain field, where the grass-types would soon spread it all throughout the soil, providing sustenance for the new plants. Eventually she approached the large heap, to which she dropped the bag. There, glad that's done. Now back to finding Liam…

There were only a few places that he might still be. Of course, there was the possibility that she had just been in the wrong places at the wrong times, and that he had already made his way back. But while she was here, she may as well check the last remaining areas. As she hit the four-way intersection once again, she took the southern route - towards the main entrance to the town. The wooden gate was getting closer and closer, and with it, the person she was looking he wasn't alone.

There were five others - three of which were from the sandile line, and two of whom were felines of a species that she was not familiar with. One thing was for certain, though: they were all dark-types. Liam had his sash on, armed and with a slightly aggressive stance, but he wasn't making a move. What is he doing? She hurriedly began to close the distance between them, ready to help her partner. But before she could get there, the krokorok snatched a small pouch from the ground, and the five of them took off into the night.

Liam turned around, then flinched upon seeing her right in front of him. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" she asked in a slightly hostile tone.

"I… how long were you watching?"

"Long enough. Now tell me, what were you doing out here? Who were those guys?" He remained silent, clearly not wanting to answer her question. "Liam… I'm not gonna drop this. You will tell me what you were doing just now…"

"I… I don't know what to say," he finally replied. "I didn't want you to get the wrong idea…"

"And what kind of idea do you think I have now, seeing you sneak around like this in such a dreadful hour of the morning? Now tell me."

"Alright, alright," he relented. "But back at our place, okay?"

"Fine, but when we get there—."

"I told you I'd tell you, and I intend to do that. But not out here in the open."

The walk back was more than a little awkward, and she fought the urge to glare at him a time or two. Just what on earth was he doing, sneaking around like that? If it was something important, why was she not included? So many questions flooded her thoughts that she barely noticed Liam open the trapdoor into their place. Alright, time for some answers.

"Start talking Liam," she said once they had sat down. The lucario surely knew that there was no way out of this one, so he began to speak.

"Kraven is trying to rig the election, just as we thought." Great…

"How so? And can we prove it?"

"Proof? Well… obviously he's not gonna admit to doing it. But he's been paying off a bunch of thugs to register as part of the city so that they can vote for him. He knows that he can't tamper with the votes with Officer Magnezone and the other police watching over the polls, so he's trying to bribe enough people to take the election. Those guys you saw were some of them."

"What? How do you know?"

"I noticed when the traffic picked up. I snuck into the guild and saw the census. All this time, over three quarters of the people immigrating into the town are dark-types. I found one of them and got him to spill." Selina looked down, annoyed by the entire situation. This wretched person was doing everything in his power to take over this town, resorting to such a dirty trick.

"And why were you there?" she finally asked.

"Well if it's money they came for, then it's money they would be willing to leave for, right?"

"Liam…" She hated to hear that he had been trying to deal with this on his own, and immediately her anger vanished. "How many?"

"It's been around a hundred-eighty so far."

"What?! And you didn't think to tell me about this?!"

"Look, I didn't want you to get the wrong idea of me, okay? They're almost all dark-types, and… I didn't want you to think that I was trying to keep that kind of demographic out of the city. If Kraven hadn't paid them to do this, then I wouldn't have a problem with them coming."

"I know you're not like that," she said. "That's not who you are. You would never do such a thing."

"Yeah," he replied, "but there are definitely those out there that would."

And he was completely right. There was a stigmatization attached to being a dark-type. For Selina, it was a little different: she had chosen to become this, and being in the eevee line, didn't exactly fit the bill for the 'innately troublesome' characteristic that was often considered to be just a part of the average dark-type. But for most of the others, it wasn't uncommon to receive suspicious glares from surrounding people.

It wasn't as if a large portion of dark-types were exactly helping these stereotypes, either. It was no secret that this particular type committed by far the most crimes as evident by their own arrests alone. For such a small part of the population, they were a majority of Retribution's incarcerations. It hurt her to see this, too: obviously not all dark-types were like this, but all those that were simply gave the whole typing a bad name, making further stigmatization so much easier. At least Liam gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Glad he's the way he is.

"So you aren't upset anymore?" Liam eventually asked, snapping her back into reality.

"No, I'm still upset. You should have told me what you were doing. I would have helped," she countered.

"I didn't want to bother you with it. It's something I can do on my own. Don't want to drag you into it, seeing as to how you're a dark-type too. They might have harassed you about it… calling you a traitor to your own kind or something…" And that was not uncommon in their experiences; over the course of their exploits, sometimes the outlaws would give Selina trouble, calling her a sellout to her own type.

"I have no loyalty to any type - only individuals. I don't care what they say, I'm going to uphold justice as we've always done. And if that makes them mad, then I couldn't care less." Despite the situation at hand, the lucario smiled.

"You know, you're awfully adorable when you put your foot down."

"And you're awfully stubborn when you put yours down!" she responded.

"Fair point." Liam headed back over to his bed, jumping back onto it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"What's it look like? It's like four hours till sunrise," he said matter-of-factly.

"Fine. But I want your word that you won't be doing stuff like this without letting me know. We've always been a team, so I expect you to act like it."

"Alright, alright," he said, pulling the covers over himself. She rolled her eyes, but ended up following suit. True, her species may thrive in the dark, but she was tired - especially after her recent search. "Look… I'm sorry again…" he said.

"Oh… you know I can't stay mad at you. Now just be a good boy and don't do it again," she teased. Wait… that came out the wrong way, she thought. It was probably for the best that he went to sleep shortly after, leaving her to her own thoughts.

She hated the idea of Liam trying to fight off Kraven's corruption all on his own. Eighty individuals so far? She didn't know what he had paid each of them, but it all must have amounted to quite a sum of money. And he would be totally content with paying it, too. The lucario wouldn't even consider his own finances in something like this. Such a selfless person, she thought. But she wouldn't allow him to try and tackle this problem alone. What kind of friend would she be if she did?

Well there was nothing for her to do for the time being. Except, of course, to go back to bed. It wasn't long before she too began to drift off.

— — — — —

Tristan

— — — — —

The torches illuminated the countless faces within the town, bathing the whole atmosphere in a bright orange light. Of the handful of hopeful candidates that had started out, only two remained now, and their banners lined the streets. Kraven's was black and red, the image of a well-detailed feather being the most prominent feature. Tristan's consisted of a light blue and black background with a yellow star in the center - the very signature star on his species' tails. It was almost time for the second debate.

Tristan had tackled the endeavor with a renewed vigor since that night, and if he wasn't out campaigning in person, then he was reviewing policy and strengthening the team's positions with the others. Eleanor had helped him the most in this regard, and Liam had taken care of most of the funding issues. He was nervous, especially after last time. But he felt prepared too.

From the eastern road the opposition could be seen. No, he wasn't just opposition; he was an enemy. And when all of this was said and done, Retribution would make it very clear what kind of a person Kraven was. They would stop at nothing to have him locked up, and the day that sentence was carried out, the world would be a safer place. But they would have to win this in order for that to happen. If they didn't, then those visions of Liam's would be a reality.

When the time came for the debate to start, both of the candidates stepped into the center of the main square. Everyone gathered around, including the rest of Team Retribution. As the honchkrow stepped onto the stage, Eleanor nodded towards him. Tristan needed to maintain the image of politeness towards Kraven just until the debate had concluded, and after that… then it would be on. But they would need to maintain the professional facade until then. Hopefully he'd be able to do that, even though he hated being in this close of presence to such a vile person.

Before he knew it, the two of them were standing within a few yards from one another, facing what seemed like the entirety of the town. Alright, calm yourself, he thought. This is what Eleanor and I have prepared for. He still had a crippling fear of this whole public speaking thing, but he had to get over it for the sake of everyone in Treasure Town. All of their futures were at stake, so he couldn't let them down.

The line was formed; people with questions ranging from various topics would ask the two candidates, receiving an answer from the both of them. The first one was none other than Kangaskhan from the storage facility. Tristan was relieved that the first questioner was one who was strongly aligned with their cause. The lowly murmurs amongst the crowd fell silent, signaling the start of the debate.

"Good evening, you two," Kangaskhan started. "My question is pretty short and to the point. I have a friend from Capim Town that has gotten things in order to move over here. Unfortunately, though, we're running out of places for expanding the settlements. What do you two think would be an option?" Good, Tristan thought, we covered housing in detail the other day.

"I feel as though the shoreline would be a great option for the construction of additional houses," Kraven said. "If the town continues to spread at this rate, then we will need to expand there anyways." Retribution obviously didn't like this idea - the beach was their meeting place. Of course, they'd be willing to find another spot if such an action was absolutely necessary - but it wasn't, and it would come at a cost.

"That's not the best solution by far," Tristan countered. "Plenty of non-assimilated individuals already inhabit those areas. Krabbies, for instance, along with several other species of water-types live there. But the forests within the southwestern quarter are unoccupied and could provide most of the resources needed for construction. That and the fact that clearing these parts would not result in the displacement of other people."

"That is a good point. I hadn't thought about that," Damian said. "I'd thought that creating a line of beach house would be desirable, but we certainly wouldn't want to force the others away. The forest sounds like a better option." Of course he'd lie about such a thing. Wouldn't want everyone seeing his true face, would he? But musing to himself would do him no good; he needed to focus. Kangaskhan seemed content with this answer, thanked the two of them, and headed back into the crowd, making way for the next person in line: a bayleef.

"Hi there, my name's Cecilia," she said happily. "The others and I were just making our final preparations for the planting of the grain, but we've been having an issue with the growing population as well. See, these past few years have been pretty great for Treasure Town, and our numbers have just about doubled. But the amount of resources that we have been provided with hasn't grown by such an amount. We've only got so many people, and time has to be spent wisely - like deciding whether or not to clear more trees for farmland, or investing more effort into crops on already cleared land in hopes of higher yields. I was hoping that one of you two may be able to change that. What could you do to help ensure that we're able to feed the whole town?" Fortunately this was Kraven's turn to go first, which would give Tristan some time to formulate the best response. And he needed time; though agriculture was one of the most important processes for the town, it also happened to be something that he knew very little about.

"Well that's something that is of utmost importance, obviously," the honchkrow said. "Clearly a town without a reliable source of food will not last long. But who says that we need to grow all of our own food? We already import some - why not increase that amount? Doing so would offer greater culinary diversity to the town and would ensure that nobody would risk going hungry. We have a substantial amount of funding, so the costs of doing so wouldn't be a problem. Not to mention it would allow for you and the other farmers to take more time off." As much as the luxray had hated it, Kraven had actually put forth a good response. But that by now, he had some points that he had formed on his own.

"Yes, that's definitely an option," Tristan began, "but I'd hardly call it a solution. Instead of solving the problem, doing something like that would only be a temporary fix. You said it yourself: the population here is growing rapidly. As well off as we are, we can only import so much food. We need to be as independent as possible. I think it would be better to focus much more on the work that you all do here rather than trying to just solve the issue with spending. Making our farms more productive would be a much better option for Treasure Town in the long run. That means increasing all of your all's funding and subsidizing individuals who decide to go into agriculture." The bayleef smiled upon hearing his response, and his confidence grew tenfold. Wow… I just managed to say all that on the spot! By the sound of the crowd, he had done a great job.

"Thank you," she said, before merging in with the rest of the crowd.

Question after question had been asked in such a manner. Some Tristan answered better, while others had been more favorable for Kraven. In the end, it had seemed like the two had just done just as well as one another. That is, until that one fateful question had been asked. The typhlosion stood up tall and asked the question that made the whole debate.

"I moved here about four months ago," he began. "Before that, I lived in Obsidian City. I worked as a financial advisor of sorts. One thing that surprised me is that most people in this town are doing fairly well. Until the shortage of new homes, most people could get one at a reasonable cost. Food isn't exactly expensive, and the public sector here is pretty well set up. But all of that can go downhill in a matter of months - especially when it comes to transitions of power. So how are each of you going to make sure that the town continues to thrive?" There we are. It had been the topic he'd been waiting for: economics. Out in the crowd, Liam looked at him and nodded. Tristan had this.

"I can guarantee that nothing will change under my watch," Kraven answered. "The last thing anyone here wants is for the town to suffer. The current economic model has been very effective for the growth of Treasure Town, and it will continue to be effective as long as I can help it." Ha, acting like he cares about the town's money. All he'd like to do is get his claws on it, Tristan thought. But unlike the evil person next to him, the luxray did care, and this time, he knew what to say.

"Let me ask you this," Tristan began, speaking to the typhlosion, "do you know how our economic system works? Where the funding comes from?" The typhlosion thought it over for a moment, but eventually shook his head.

"No, I can't say that I do," he admitted.

"Well you're not alone. In fact, I can bet the vast majority of the town has absolutely no clue. The system needs to be changed, because it's about to lead to the end of this entire town." The crowd began to murmur as people became concerned. He had them right where he wanted them. "I'll fill y'all in on what's going on. As you all know, I'm a member of Team Retribution. Just like every other team associated with the Guild, we paid our dues. Our 'fair share' to help this town.

"Except it was anything but a fair share. The Guild intimidates all teams associated with it into paying ninety percent of everything we earn. We go out there, take care of the worst people in society to make it a better place… and then we get taxed nearly to death for doing so. I would get to go out and fight murderers all day, come home, and try to make things work so I'd be able to eat. How is that fair at all? There's no justification for it, which is what leads to the problems. Teams are leaving. People are moving here, but the very groups that this entire town is completely dependent upon are heading out. Nothing is stopping us from going private - there are no laws against it. And that way, we'd get to keep all of our earnings.

"So what will you all do then? If these oppressive policies continue on, then you will witness the complete collapse of this town. No public work at all - no money. Farms will shut down and people will go hungry. And when that happens, those that made all of this possible will have long since left." He looked at the typhlosion once again. "See, I've been doing some research, and I think the tax rate in Obsidian City is a much more appealing number. Ten percent - that's all I even got to keep most of the time I was here. In fact, I think that Team Retribution would do very well for themselves by moving over there. And if you crunch the numbers, our team alone provides over a third of all public funding in this entire town. That's a hard hit for an economy to take, and that's just us. Don't you understand? We leave, and no more houses are being built. And all it would take is for a couple of other higher-earning teams to follow suit… and then the food shortages would occur. Houses are the least of everyone's concern once people start starving."

"Well then… what do you propose?" someone else asked in the audience. He could tell by the quietness in her voice that he had struck a chord within the spectators. He told them what needed to be said, and it was terrifying to them.

"It's simple really," he said. "Everyone needs to pay a true fair share. We will pay, you all will pay - everyone will equally contribute. I can promise you that as much as Team Retribution has earned, the citizens of this town hold a lot more wealth. If everyone paid just a small portion of their earnings… then all these problems that we've talked about tonight would cease to exist. This town will grow unlike anything you can possibly imagine. But we cannot succeed - no; we cannot survive - if we don't make a change. So the options are actually pretty simple: either we as a group can keep things the way they are, maybe receiving another two years at best, or we can be responsible and provide for ourselves, rather than depending upon the funding of a few select individuals." The spectators started hurriedly talking to each other, and everyone present knew exactly who had won this round.

— — — — —

Liam

— — — — —

The following morning brought about cloudy weather and sporadic bursts of rain. As such, most people decided against staying outdoors for too long. But for Team Retribution, the climate did anything but shut down their excitement. The entire team was celebrating Tristan's tremendous success with the debate in Spinda's Café. He had done even better than what everyone had expected, and throughout the morning, they continued to hear people speak about the debate. Once he had managed to get over his fear, the luxray had actually made for a very impressive public speaker. Eleanor had even admitted that she was wrong in initially thinking that the luxray wasn't the right choice as a candidate.

They had all repeatedly reminded him how proud they were, too. He was shy in accepting their praise, but likely glad to receive it nonetheless. Surely it was a hell of a lot better than the disappointed looks he had received after the first debate. Liam was glad the heat had been taken off of his friend's back, but things weren't quite finished yet. There was still one final debate.

The lucario downed the rest of his drink, before noticing someone towards the doorway. He stealthily glanced towards the others, seeing them to be caught up in their laughter. The way that Kraven had looked after the debate - that sheer level of frustration - had been something for them to cherish. It was just the distraction he needed. Liam nodded to the individual, who quickly headed outside before anyone else saw him. He leaned over to whisper something to Selina. "Hey, I need to head back to the bank. I don't know if I'll have enough to cover the bill," he laughed.

"You do know that we can cover our own, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know. But I wanted to treat the team for such a great job on this joint effort."

"Oh, alright," she said with a smile. "I guess I'll let you buy my food." He patted her on the back gently, then got out of his seat, quickly leaving the confines of the restaurant. Looking around, it didn't take Liam long to find who he was looking for.

"Thanks for keeping low about everything, Aidan," Liam said.

"No problem. Probably would have voted for your guy anyways. Wasn't going to turn the money down, though," he chuckled.

"Glad to hear it." Liam counted out the coins - Ᵽ1500 in total. He checked once again to make sure that no one was looking before handing the other person the money. He wasn't breaking the rules… not technically… but it wouldn't look good at all for their cause if he was seen. Not to mention after Selina discovering his whereabouts last week, he'd surely never hear the end of it if the umbreon caught him this time. As for this particular individual, he had seen Aidan around a few times, and the aura that he released felt both positive and trustworthy to Liam. There wouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Alright, that sums that up," Aidan said. "Thanks again."

"No, thank you," Liam said. He turned around, heading back towards the café and leaving the typhlosion to himself.