On the Wings of Death

What Horde Battles Really Are Like

Harry ended up staying in Lumiose for a week. It was a big place, and he constantly found new things to explore – there was a place that sold absolutely wonderful Oran sandwiches, for example, tucked away in Vernal Avenue – and the Poké he raked up from working at Hotel Richissime would help him along in his journey. It would definitely be embarrassing to stop travelling because he didn't have the money.

He decided to give his père a call before heading off to Versant Road. There were a few rings before his père picked up the Holo Caster. "Harry? Don't bother with the video call function, it's not working right now and I need to get it fixed again. I'm pretty sure Mew broke it when she was on a sugar rush – anyway, what's up on your side? Where are you right now?"

Harry mentally filed a note to never give Mew sugar, assuming he would ever have the honour of meeting her in the first place. Couldn't hurt to be careful.

"I'm still in Lumiose City, but I'm about to go off to Versant Road. I stayed here for the entire week – you got those photos, right?"

"Yes, they were beautiful. Especially with the way some of it was blurry since you didn't manage to hold the camera steady. I'm joking, mon fils, they were wonderful. It does give you a feel for how Flying Pokémon see the world, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it felt amazing being at the top of Prism Tower. The wind in your hair – is that what Flying Pokémon feel all the time?"

"Not quite – Flying Pokémon feel themselves cutting through the wind, and the wind going above and under them. It's a little like they're in a bubble – the wind parts around them, but they can still feel themselves cut through the air. It's an amazing feeling – ask your Fletchling about it. She'll know."

"Got it. Any advice for the road to Cyllage?"

There was silence for a moment before his père said, rather slowly, "Are you interested in spending a thousand Poké to gain entrance to a stupidly luxurious palace?"

"Uh, no? That's kind of more than I'd earn in a week doing on-the-road battling, unless I went to some fancy battle facility and challenged all the rich kids there."

"Oh, good, that means you can skip Parfum Palace. That's after Camphrier Town, by the way. And if you really wanted to go to Parfum Palace – sneak in via the gardens. If you keep your Honedge out, the wild Honedge won't bother you, and if you go all the way to the back there's a gate for the gardeners. Only the gardeners got a new fancy gate and use that now, so there won't be anybody using it at all. I don't think anyone even knows about the gate's existence anymore."

"So I should break in to Parfum Palace. Good to know." Harry attempted not to laugh at hispère's swift denials.

"Arceus, no! But in case you do need to get something from there – say, a Poké Flute – then you know how to get in without paying. Nobody checks whether or not you've paid anyways; if you're on the grounds they assume you've paid since there's only one entrance. Anything else... would you mind catching a Nincada on Palais Lane and then evolving it? There's been a lack of Shedinja lately in the Reverse World and I'm pretty sure Giratina is about two weeks away from just going out into Sinnoh and, ah, borrowing every Shedinja owned by a trainer. All you would need is a spare Poké Ball when Nincada evolves into Ninjask. Ninjask is a fairly good Pokémon to have – deadly fast – but considering you have a Fletchling on the team it might not be the best idea to keep them together. Oh, but the Berry Fields are on the way to Cyllage. You might want to spend an afternoon or so there, you can earn money by picking Berries for them and afterwards they even give you a portion of the Berries you picked."

"Sounds good," said Harry, hastily jotting down what his père was saying. "I don't suppose you know how to get past the Zubat Roost without going Zubatshit crazy?"