ACT II

The world was darker and colder that day than usual. Everything seemed foggy, messy and grimy in her head and had it not been for the smooth claw nestled in her splayed palm, Nina Zoom would've thought she had passed on the night before. Forcing herself into a sitting position on her bed, she brushed long black bangs from her face and exhaled, giving off a smoky black trail from her lips.

"It's thicker today," she murmured, voice frighteningly-hoarse from extensive disuse. Beside her, the Gabite stirred and blinked the sleep from his yellow eyes, yawning and revealing his proud rows of knife-like fangs.

"Good morning, Master."

The words came from the Pokémon's own jaws yet the unperturbed girl merely nodded and fell back into the comfort of her pillow, eyes fluttering closed as the urge to sleep overwhelmed every other sense in her lean body.

"You need to wake up, master," Gabite advised, pulling the sheets off the girl as gently as his claws could manage without actually shredding the material. "You have an appointment with The Lady soon and you know how angry she gets when you're too groggy to pay her any attention."

"...Tell the hag to rot."

I would if I could, but she wouldn't understand me, Gabite deadpanned. "That won't do. You should know that she's needed to sign that acceptance letter, right? You won't be recognized as an official Sinnohvian trainer otherwise."

Nina rolled her sleepy eyes before waving him off and staggering to the bathroom on the other side. Nodding, he left the room, shut the door behind him and waited like a sentry for his trainer to get done, taking the time to reflect as sunlight seeped into the dark hallway.

To think she was only just discovering how to talk to Pokémon a year ago, he mused, closing his eyes as he heard a shower running. You'd think she had that ability from birth...oh wait, technically speaking, she did. Even so, her powers seem to be awakening much faster than expected. Just being around her makes my skin go raw and cold. Dawn's ring wasn't enough, I suppose. And now, that lady further complicates the matter.

His mouth curved downwards. Nina turns 14 today. I wonder if she still remembers that promise she made on that cursed day. I surely hope not. Her mentality is cloudy enough as it is. Damn it. Too bad I'm so attached to her. If she does turn around and veer off Ren's expectations, I'll have no choice but to follow like the faithful partner I chose to be.

The door creaked open and Gabite accepted the lifeless rub on his scaly head as his trainer walked past him. Following beside her, he set aside the tension in his heart to take in her physical appearance. 7 years did wonders to that tiny, frail girl he used to know. Nina Zoom looked rather tall now, maybe even taller for her age. The short messy mop of hair on her head had extended quite far down her back now and her figure was finally starting to even out, making her more of a woman than most fourteen-year-olds he saw nowadays.

All in all, she was pretty. In an odd way though, if you liked pale skin and blank eyes. In fact, that facial expression of hers was the only thing the dragon-type could recognize. Blank. Very blank. Smiles weren't often seen on the detached Nina's face, a bit of a dampener though Gabite didn't mind. He wasn't the jumpy sort either.

Not like Piff-

No, back-up. Thoughts like that were forbidden. Gabite reminded himself of that with a shake of the head though in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but be curious of the other twin's well-being. Yes, he might've given him the cold-shoulder and a snarl to boot back then but that was for the boy's own good. Nina probably would've killed him given her state of mind, anyway.

"Gabite, we're here."

The Pokémon stopped his thinking as they came to a large metal door. Nina placed her palm on the scanner and waited for the pale green light to run across it before withdrawing as the heavy door slid open.

She couldn't help but flinch as the area they stepped into flooded with bright lights. Murmuring to herself, the girl pulled up her hood and looked to the platform above. "You know I don't do well with all this light, woman."

"It was necessary to drive away any thoughts of sleep," came the curt reply as a magenta-haired woman leaned on the railing and peered down at the duo. Her poison-purple eyes glinted at Nina's look of annoyance. "Good morning, daughter. Did you sleep well?"

"Of course. Who wouldn't sleep well after being operated on for hours yesterday while being pumped with tankfuls of anaesthetic?" Nina replied sarcastically, pocketing her hands and tapping her foot impatiently against the tiled floor. "My healing system works just fine so I don't see the point in testing it for limits."

"Watch your tone, child," the Lady replied, her pet Skuntank glaring down at Gabite. "Seven years and you still don't show an ounce of gratitude to me for saving your ratty life."

Nina chose to keep silent, looking to the side and letting the woman believe she won, for now.

"You're fourteen today and as agreed, I've signed the letter of acceptance. You may go down to Sandgem Town to collect your starter."

Finally, Nina inwardly remarked, letting out a breath. "So does that mean you're done with me?"

As anticipated, The Lady laughed cruelly and narrowed her eyes. "I have conditions, you know. Nothing is ever that simple."

Douchebag, Gabite grumbled as Nina raised her head.

"I thought the conditions were clear already. I let you mess my body up for your experiments and in return, you sign that acceptance letter and let me be on my way. Forever," Nina stated, sensing a ploy.

"Too bad. The rule's changed, brat." The woman tapped the button beside her and the heavy door slammed shut as a big screen flashed to life on the wall beside them. Gabite went on high-alert as several intimidating Pokémon appeared around each railing, glaring down on the two targets below. Calm as ever, Nina let her gaze fall on the screen and took in the countless words and figures before her eyes.

They were values from the experiment. Values she understood all too well as they coagulated into one big word.

Red eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Do you see just how precious you are, Nina?" the woman barked, pacing the platform. "These experiments showed me just what I need to fulfill my destiny! And you are the key, child!"

A dark brow arched sarcastically. "Oh? And what is this dream of yours, Mother?"

The hiss after that last word went blissfully ignored as the Lady smiled. "To resurrect Team Galactic. And you, Nina, are that key."

Gabite cursed. "So in the end, that bitch had no intention of letting us go. More importantly..." His gaze flickered to Nina who, though seemingly-placid, felt rigid. A unanimous chill ran down every Pokémon's spine as she shifted her weight to one foot and stared up at the ceiling.

"Galactic, huh?" she murmured and grated her teeth. "That name…brings back so many memories."

Her Pokémon shot her an incredulous look which Nina returned with a light smirk and a flash of a hand.

Dawn's ring was on her pinkie. Shit. So she remembers!

"Hey, mom," Nina called, flicking the ring off and tossing it up and down. "Why'd you sign that letter if you weren't going to let me go?"

"I will let you go!" The woman laughed again. "But you'll merely gather Pokémon for Team Galactic's benefit. You'll be my weapon, dearest daughter. Aren't you proud?"

The ring fell back into Nina's palm and didn't rise. Another smoky exhalation from Nina had even her guardian scowling. It didn't take long for everyone there to realize that the girl was actually laughing.

"What's so funny?"

The ravenette's laughter devolved into giggles as she grabbed her sides. "It's...it's just so hilariously-sad, really. Here I was, wondering when I'd get started on that promise of my mine when the people I want to destroy virtually offer themselves on a platter."

The woman blinked. "Eh?"

I'll kill them. Every single one of 'em!

The giggling finally stopped and the enemies were met with a mad wide, red-eyed glare from the girl. "What I'm saying is-" The ring was raised and a toothy grin nearly split Nina's face into two. "You're dead, woman!"

A ring flicked from a finger doesn't normally go very far. However, The Lady watched wide-eyed as it blew Skuntank's brains out like a bullet, ricocheted off the wall and passed through several other Pokémon in the large hall. A few seconds later, the material was back in Nina's hand and she toyed with the item-turned-weapon with a detached look back on her face though Gabite knew that she was reveling in The Lady's shock.

"Y-You never told me you could do that!"

"I might've held my strength back a bit," Nina replied, spinning it around and flicking it again, letting it randomly zip across the hall and pierce through a Machoke's chest. The woman cursed and roared orders for the remaining Pokémon to seize her. Gabite leapt into action, unleashing his own moves against them. Their opponent was forced to watch as he used her own rigorous training against her, besting the Pokémon and coating the walls with layers of flesh and blood.

The Lady's expression worsened. "Y-you bitch! Aren't you the least bit grateful to me?! I took you in, scrawny trash that you were, and turned you into the weapon you are now! I honed your powers, Nina! Therefore, you are my possession! You cannot turn against me-"

Her rant was cut short as the screen on the wall beside her was flung into the platform, resulting in a massive crash and clouds of smoke. Luckily, The Lady was mostly unhurt. Unluckily, this turned out to be a lie as she couldn't feel anything from her waist down.

"I always wanted to have you below me. Looking up to you made my neck hurt," Nina's eerie tone whispered through the smoke and the woman would've moved had her body not been pinned by the weight of debris and the massive screen. "Did you honestly believe I'd blindly say yes to you?"

"All Pokémon within the vicinity, assemble!" the woman cried helplessly and received the body of her dead Skuntank in return, flung before her by the bloodstained Gabite. Someone blew a smoky breath from beside her and she yelped upon seeing Nina's blank eyes affixed to her shaky purple ones. "W-why? You weren't supposed to be this strong for another 2 years!"

"I guess I might've cheated a little," Nina replied, dusting her skirt. "See, I recently discovered that my breath poisons things. I can control the amount now but I can't suppress it for long. If I hold it in for too long and suddenly release it in one go, every living thing around me is guaranteed to be poisoned. Even Poison-types. Oh, but Gabite isn't affected because he's a ground-type. I was yet to test it on Steel-types but-" A dead Bronzor clattered to the ground behind her, bluish-black liquid trailing from its hollow eye sockets. "Oh well. I did tell you to invest in ground-types, mom."

"You little...Even if you leave now, Team Galactic will find you! I'm not the only revivalist so your sorry life will be a guaranteed hell, brat!"

Nina shrugged. "I'll just kill 'em all before it happens. But I have to get to Sandgem Town before that. In the meantime, I did say I'd get started on that promise of mine."

Her smile was terrifying and The Lady stiffened before putting up a defiant front. "You're making a big mistake, Nina. I wouldn't do this to my mother and I did care for you after all. I never mistreated you, did I? Hey, I'll even let you rule the world with me! How does that sound? We'll be the perfect mother-daughter comb-"

"I'd love to. Really, I would," Nina butted in, patting her guardian's cheek. "But I can't love someone who takes out my kidneys and expects me to grow out new ones. Or powders my ribs. Or puts me and my Dragon-type Pokémon in Route 217 and expects me to make my way back without any supplies. But more importantly-" The hand dug into her cheek, drawing blood as she slowly applied pressure. "You're not my mother. I can't love you at all, Jupiter, ex-commander of Team Galactic."

The woman named Jupiter swallowed hard. "You won't fit in, monster. You never will. Not with humans or Pokémon. Ever!"

Nina smiled. "I know."

And Gabite snapped Jupiter's neck with a well-placed Crunch, killing her instantly.

The second Jupiter's corpse landed flat on the ground, Nina held the ring to her partner. "In case you were wondering, I just received snippets of my memories a couple of days ago. I remember nicking this ring of my mother when she died. I also know I had a father and two brothers. Unfortunately, their faces and names are still a blank. You look like you know something, Gabite."

The Pokémon lowered his gaze. "It's best you really don't remember anything else."

"Why?"

"…"

Sighing, she inspected the ring once more. "Whatever. I figured it had something to do with my powers a long time ago." Her expression seemed to falter as she read the name engraved on the dull grey ring. "I can't believe I stole this from my dead mother. Now that I think about it, why did I take this? What kind of daughter dishonours her mother's dead body for a ring?"

Her fingers slowly wrapped around the item as the hard expression came back on her face. "Oh well. Let's move, Gabite."

"But what will you do about that letter?" Gabite asked, narrowing his eyes as his trainer walked over to the upturned cabinets and ripped one open. Hearing the riffle of paper, he hurriedly trotted over in time to see her pull out the designated letter and a pen. "Really, Nina? Really?"

"I doubt the Professor at Sandgem even knows The Lady's handwriting, much less recognise her handwriting. Besides, I would've forged it anyway."

"So…you planned on killing Jupiter either way."

"When you put it like that, I do sound evil," Nina said, lips curving a bit as she signed the letter. "We're good to go, Gabite. I've got my stuff packed in the closet so we won't have to worry about supplies."

"And what of this place?" he inquired, giving the dead Skuntank a parting glance. Nina followed his line of sight and simply shrugged.

"Burn it, I guess."

As Skuntank were virtually bags of meat and poisonously-explosive gas, it didn't take long for the warehouse on Jubilife's outskirts to be up in red and yellow flames. Standing outside and taking a breath of clean, fresh air, the girl and her Pokémon turned in the direction of the city with an air of purpose around them.

"Let's get our starter then."

Sandgem Town.

Nina stared at the shiny red and white sphere placed on her palm before giving her plastic smile to the dark-haired, and oddly-relieved, professor and bowing respectably. "Thank you very much for the Pokémon, sir."

"You're very welcome, Miss Nina," he waved off with a smile of his own. "I just excited to see how far you'll go with this Pokémon." And even happier someone took her off my hands.

Nodding, she headed for the door, pausing to give the brunette assistant a grateful glance before heading out. Once the lab was out of sight, she let out the breath she was holding and pumped a lazy fist into the air, mouthing "Yes!" to her relatively successful day.

"Now I can start my mission," she murmured to herself, adjusting her bag and making to start off on her journey.

Too bad some idiot bumped into her, sending her into a tangle of limbs and her bag onto the floor. Choking on sand, she hurriedly got up, body instinctively tensed in anticipation.

"Hey! Watch it, will ya!" the boy on the ground grunted, also standing up and dusting his clothes. Raising his head and locking eyes with her, Nina actually felt taken aback by how strikingly similar he looked. Almost like a roughly-cut mirrored version of her.

"I'd say the same for you," she replied coldly, scouring the ground for her stuff. Frankly, she didn't want to stay too long and for some reason, this boy's face annoyed her. He was obviously miffed at her response and attitude but chose to say nothing, lifting a pink satchel off the ground instead and holding it out to her.

"Here. Sorry for bumping into you. I was in a hurry."

"I see." The bag was promptly snatched from his hands and placed in its rightful position across her shoulder. "Later."

"...I'm going to get a Pokémon today."

Oh great, he wanted to chat. Nina paused, grimacing before turning to him with a patient smile. "Good for you then. Have fun on your journey."

"Are you on a journey too?"

Yeah, to raise hell for a certain group responsible for ruining her life. "I suppose-"

"Cool!" he piped up, eyes gleaming. "We can be rivals! You'd better watch out because I'm gonna be the greatest water-type Pokémon Master ever!"

"...Okay?" Maybe he might need to know what type of Pokémon she had received earlier. Nah. His face was annoying enough already and she didn't want to meet him anytime soon. Inwardly, she wondered if he would be picky enough to wait till next year. "Rivals. Nice. I'll be expecting you then."

"Great!" he chirped and grinned. Nina's chest suddenly tightened. "The name's Coliot, but you can call me Piff!"

Now even his name sent her head in for a spin. Piff was a very, very stupid name yet it tugged harder at her heart strings, something she hadn't experienced since Jupiter had literally tugged on the arteries close to her heart on her first experimental experience.

Scratch that thought. It only made her gag whenever she remembered those disturbing events. Shaking the thought out of her head, she finally realised that a hand was held out to her and she apprehensively took it before growing surprised at how strong his grip was.

Or was it how safe yet utterly raw it made her feel for a moment.

"Are you okay?"

Nina raised her head, snapping out of her thoughts again. Since when did she start spacing out like this? She'd better start keeping some distance from this kid. "I'm fine. And I hope we meet again soon. Have fun on your journey, Piff."

Piff grinned and tugged on his headband. "You too, uh…"

"Nina."

"You too, Nina!" he finished, staring into her eyes. For a moment, he seemed puzzled and lost. As if struck by a sudden flashback. To Nina's relief, he smirked again. "You've got really pretty eyes. And you're strong too. We're gonna be great rivals."

She surely hoped not. And she made sure to blot his image out of her mind the second he was out of sight. Nina Zoom had no business with others as long as they weren't needed. Besides, he'd only get hurt if he was found near her at a crucial situation. One of which might be a possible attack from Team Galactic.

With that resolve in mind, she turned her mind in the direction of her next destination. Sandgem had one straight path to Jubilife City, surrounded on all sides by fresh country grass and sparse forests. Having memorised the Town Map she had nicked off Jupiter's office, the ravenette knew that Oreburg was her next stop. Nina wasn't particularly interested in the gym circuit, having gathered more than enough battle experience when her guardian literally shipped her off to Hoenn for brutal training.

"Speaking of training." Finally giving the constant rattling in her bag some attention, Nina dipped her hand into the pink satchel and pulled out a trembling red and white sphere before giving it a toss. Light filled her eyes for a second, eliciting a short hiss from her as she quickly shut them. Oh how she hated sealing things in Pokéballs. The light that accompanied their release was just too intense.

"And what, pray tell, are you squinting at?!" a high-pitched shriek rang in her ears. Nina peeled open a stinging eye and looked down, taking in the tiny penguin-shaped creature standing before her with her little hands on her hips. For a Piplup, she was bigger than the standard size (or maybe it was the head), had a much shinier coat and startling green eyes as opposed to the normal blue of regular Piplup. Nina didn't have time to continue inspecting the Pokémon as the latter suddenly deemed it fit to launch into a tirade.

"How long did you plan on keeping me there, cur?! I'll have you know that I'm claustrophobic and as such, cannot stand being sealed in that…that prison for more than 5 minutes! If you had half the sense you humans claim to possess, you'd realise just how utterly cramped us Pokémon can be-"

It took Nina 0.5 seconds to realise that her chosen starter was a snob. She also wondered if the Piplup was contemplating the futility of her rants given that most humans wouldn't have understood anything she said.

"And furthermore, I have rights! I can have you sued!"

"Oh."

"Oh? OH?! Is that all you have to say?! You don't say "Oh" to me! I AM ATRIA GILGAMESH III, PRINCESS OF THE ROYAL EMPOLEON EMPIRE, HEIRESS TO THE SEAS! AND-"

The Pokémon was swiftly returned back to her confine faster than she even realised it and Nina stared from ball to Pokédex with an inquisitive scowl set on her features.

"Piplup have a large sense of self-pride. Because of this, a Piplup has a hard time accepting food from humans, and don't like it when someone tries to help them. Piplup is a poor walker, and often falls down. Its pride, however, makes it puff up its chest without a care. It is a skilled swimmer, diving for over ten minutes to hunt," the pink machine beeped informatively.

"Makes sense," she hummed, staring at the Pokéball again. "You must have given the Professor a really hard time. No wonder he looked so happy when I picked you."

The item in her hand merely trembled angrily in response. A second later, Nina tossed the ball again and out popped a visibly-pissed Piplup, so pissed that her face was turning a light shade of red.

"What. The hell. WAS THAT?!" she screamed, stamping her golden foot on the ground. "HOW DARE YOU, A MERE TWO-LEGGED MEATBAG, STOP ME IN THE MIDDLE OF MY LECTURE?! WERE YOU LISTENING TO ME WHEN I TOLD YOU WHO I WAS? ATRIA GILGAMESH THE THIRD-"

And she was back in her ball again.

Nina gave the object a dull stare once more, tapping a hand against her chin in thought. "Atria Gilgamesh, eh? Odd name for a Pokémon though I've heard far worse. Too bad she's so talkative and seems like the overly-proud type. That might be a big problem in the long run…Should she be returned?"

Almost immediately, the ball gave a mighty heave and nearly popped out of Nina's hand, startling her a bit. Well, that certainly answered the question. Making up her mind, the girl tossed the ball once more and patiently waited for the light to fade.

She had to make a quick step to the left in order to avoid the torrent of water fired at her.

"Bitch!" Atria screeched, leaping up and firing another round. "First you stop me in the middle of my speech and then you plan to return me to that lifeless dungeon you call a lab? Over my dead body!"

Nina ducked under the next round and rolled away from an oncoming peck before extending a hand and grabbing the penguin by the head mid-tackle. A resounding crack echoed throughout the path as the bones in her hand were literally shattered by the sheer force of Atria's head colliding with her palm. To the latter's surprise, however, the girl didn't stumble backwards. If anything, she had successfully stopped Atria in her tracks and was now holding her to her blank, crimson eyes.

"Put me down, cretin!" Atria snapped, struggling to get out of her vice-like grip. Unfortunately, she realised that not only was Nina not going to let go anytime soon, but also that she was beginning to look ridiculous flailing about like a Magikarp caught on a hook. With an angry sigh, she ceased her futile resistance and chose to hang aimlessly, glaring daggers at her holder.

"Calmed down?" Nina asked, inwardly shocking Atria with the hoarseness of her voice. Coupled with her dead expression and bleeding hand, the Pokémon was starting to get just the least bit creeped out.

"I'd say a lot more if you could understand me properly," she huffed, crossing her stubby arms.

"I heard that."

Atria's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I said, I heard that," Nina replied, giving her a small shake. "And you're pretty foul for a supposedly royal Pokémon."

Atria stuttered for a bit before turning up her beak. "Well when you spend seven years in some cramped lab with peasant Pokémon, you pick up a few things. Now if you can hear me, put me down!"

"…'Kay."

And Atria promptly suffered a five-foot-and-four-inch drop, landing hard on her rear. Highly certain that she had broken her hip, the Pokémon rounded on Nina with another slew of insults, only to come face to face with a Pokéball.

"I see you hate this," the ravenette remarked, observing the way Atria's beak tightened. "Good. Now listen to me. I'm Nina, your trainer. Let me be the first to tell you that I really don't care about your status or what happens to your well-being."

That…was phenomenally different from what the Piplup expected. "What?!"

"Whether you were a princess or the freaking queen of Sinnoh, I couldn't give a damn," Nina elaborated and crouched to Atria's level. "All you need to know is that you must be at optimum health and disposition to serve me should you be needed. So to put it in human terms, we are not friends."

Atria blinked dumbly before feeling her face go red with annoyance. "You…you worm! Whatever happened to all the "let's be friends" and "let's get along!" bullshit you trainers always say?! If what you're saying is true then you've got to be the worst trainer I've ever met!"

"Deal with it," Nina replied with a shrug, looking at her broken hand. Once again, Atria was surprised to see the bruises slowly clearing and she could almost hear the bones resetting in her trainer's hand.

Freaky, she inwardly gasped. J-just who is this girl?

"That doesn't mean I hate you or anything," Nina continued in a small voice and held out the Pokéball to Atria. "If we can come to some sort of agreement, I'll do my best to respect as many of your wishes as I possibly can."

"O…kay," Atria said warily and crossed her arms. "And what makes you so sure I would agree to anything you say? I wouldn't even give lowlifes like you a hearing, let alone an agreement."

Nina rolled her eyes. "Because if I so wished, I could tear you to shreds with my bare hands."

"Oh, so it's the intimidation route you're taking, eh?" Atria scoffed. "Well just so you know, I'm at a much higher level than those weaklings given to starting trainers. I can certainly hold my own against a human…even if you're a freak-"

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Because it's true-"

Her retort was silenced by sharp flick on the head from Nina. In a matter of seconds, Atria found herself flying back a great deal and colliding with the ground. Head threatening to split, the Piplup staggered to her feet and glared at the three Ninas staring back at her…with amusement in their eyes!

"Abuse!" she screeched, readying a tackle. "I have a right mind to report you to the Pokémon League for maltreatment!"

Nina didn't need to reply. The upward twitch in the corners of her mouth already made Atria realise the stupidity of her outburst. After all, it's not like they could understand her. Gritting her teeth, she trotted back to Nina and plopped down, finally giving in.

"So? What kind of agreement do you have in mind?" she snapped.

"One that should benefit us both, greatly," Nina replied, also taking a seat on the soft grass. "There's a certain organisation that I want to take down. And I'll need as much help as I can get. If you can help me out, I'll do something for you in return. Till then, we can maintain a somewhat tolerable relationship."

"Oh?" Atria quirked an invisible brow. "Why do you want to take this organisation down?"

Nina looked down at the ring on her hand. "Let's just say that we've got some bad blood between us."

"Revenge, maybe?"

The girl scratched her cheek. "You're quite intuitive. I need that."

"Hmph! Flattery will get you nowhere!" Atria scoffed and kept her eyes glued on the ring. "So…if I help you take down this organisation then I get whatever I want?"

Nina nodded and waited as the Piplup gazed ahead in thought.

Gradually, a small smile came to her beak. "I'm only agreeing because you and I have the same goal."

A dark brow arched. "As in?"

Atria's expression suddenly turned dark. "There is a certain Pokémon…that I wish to kill. He did something unforgivable and it is my duty as a Princess to execute him."

Nina tilted her head before opening her mouth to speak.

"I will not elaborate!" Atria barked, shutting Nina up. "Our relationship is merely built on an agreement, nothing more and nothing less. As such, respect my privacy and I will respect yours."

Silence.

Atria opened her eyes and found two red eyes shimmering with just the slightest bit of admiration. "Too close."

"You're much better than I expected," Nina whispered, peering closer into Atria's startled eyes. "I knew I made the right choice." The girl drew back and stuck out Atria's Pokéball once more. "So do we have a deal, Atria?"

"Normally, I prefer to be addressed by the full name of Atria Gilgamesh III...but Princess Atria will do just fine. We have a deal, human. I look forward to seeing just how far your cold-bloodedness will take us both."

The ball was ceremoniously tossed down the adjoining river and Atria hopped aboard Nina's hooded head. As they turned to the road ahead, both silently contemplated as to what this path of vengeance had in store for them. Neither were very sure if they could actually make it. Hell, Atria was even planning at the back of her mind to ditch Nina should she prove incapable of fulfilling her end of the deal.

But both were sure of one thing though. Nina didn't trust Atria and the Piplup definitely didn't trust her shady trainer. That was why their agreement was definitely going to last, even if it took them a lifetime.

And in a dark corner of Nina's bag, a dismayed Gabite shook his head.