Unmei Force Gaiden: Spectators of PLT Finals
Chapter 1: Opening Shots
In the broadcast room of the GFS Ryujin...
Richard was tapping his foot impatiently, as he has been waiting for a while for the people that he called to meet with him in this room, which was a large room that seemed to be more fitting in a comfy home than a military base, as there was a fine red velvet carpet on the ground, lots of sofas around the edge, and several drink and food dispensers to sate the thirst and hunger of binge-watchers. The main attraction of the large room was a ceiling-mounted projector, connected to various broadcasting devices, where it would show up on a large screen.
After a few moments of waiting, much to Richard's annoyance, Gus, Reimu, Sanae, Elma, Erika, in a fairly small holo-projector in Elma's hands, made of blue wavy light particles, and Nitori arrived in the room, as they seemed to have changed into a more casual uniform. Gus was wearing a large red polo shirt with a orange flame on it, Reimu was dressed up in her original red-and-white shrine maiden robe, Sanae was dressed up a short pink dress with a white coat over her shoulders and arms, as well as having blue dyed shorts and long white socks inside of her black shoes. Elma was dressed up with a purple short dress, which had crimson devil-wing emblems just above her stomach, and long black boots with a fluffy coat around the top. Erika was dressed up much like she was back when she was in Hudie. Only Nitori was dressed up in her formal outfit, as she seemed to have several tools packed inside the large green backpack she was carrying on her back.
Richard himself was wearing a short black T-shirt, with the words 'Life is Realistic Fanfiction' in big white letters on the front, black jeans, and dark grey runners on his feet.
"About time you all got here." Richard huffed with a unamused look on his face. "I did tell you guys beforehand to meet me here. What took you all so long? Dressing from your 'combat' outfits, into our casual stuff?"
"Hey, be more respectful of how women take their time dressing them up, Richard!" Sanae cried back with outrage. "It's not our fault that we don't want to look like a mess in front of the others!"
"Fine, fine. That gives you and Reimu a valid reason for being late." Richard responded back with a half-hearted hand-wave. "I can't blame Elma, since this is the first time she's wearing our kind of clothing, so I won't blame her for taking her time dressing properly, and picking the right clothing for the occasion. You do seem to get the hang of it, Elma. I'm glad that you made up your mind on dressing like this. It's actually quite nice."
"T-Thank you, dear Brother..." Elma stuttered, as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Alright, now you, Gus." Richard turned to his best friend with a glare. "Explain yourself. I expected you would not be one for tardiness. You're usually more prepared for this. So spill it, what caused things to change?"
"I have to admit that I wasn't prepared, Richard. Because I didn't expect that you would have us meet here in casual wear, after spending so long wearing standard gear." Gus admitted with a sheepish rub on the back of his head. "I guess that some part of the Richard we knew is still there, I guess.
"Yeah... I guess so." Richard answered back with a thin smile, before he then walked over and karate-chopped Gus on the front of his head gently. "Just don't let yourself be off-guard. I'm still the same as I was in the past. I may have responsibilities as a leader, and a army commander, but that doesn't mean I can't tell you guys to take it easy and relax. Besides, we need some time before we make our next sortie, right? And you know how long they possibly could get."
"Fair point." Reimu remarked with a gentle nod. "I've been waiting a long time to just relax and enjoy whatever you have in store for us."
"Anyway, Richard. What's in store for us?" Erika asked, placing a finger on her lips in a curious manner. "Why have you brought us here?"
"I just wanted to spend some time with you guys, and I have something that we have to do here." Richard shrugged. "The guys and girls from the FE universe aren't used to modern technology enough yet, although Corrin is showing signs of acceptance early on, and she's only getting more and more familiar. Meiling wouldn't care, since we all know she loves practising her martial arts during our rest periods, and taking long naps of course. Reisen is busy trying to train her men better. I mean, she does care for her men, you know. After what the noghri did to her personally-trained spec op teams, it's fair reason to whip them to better shape, so more of them can survive threats that are as potent as them, or even stronger ones. And Marisa... She's in the brig with Velouria for theft of property. And here I thought their kleptomanic tendencies have finally been reined in. Link is lecturing them, and Fox is keeping guard to make sure that they don't try anything funny."
"Why am I here then, Richard?" Nitori asked, as the kappa genius pointed at herself. "I don't have time to relax with you all. We still have so much research and projects to do, especially with those 'Cross Stones'."
"You're not here to relax, you're here to ensure nothing goes wrong." Richard assured Nitori. "I have use for you, my little friendly kappa savant. But I guess you should know what the purpose is. Anyway, let's get down to business. Take a seat, everyone."
Reimu and Sanae took one of the front sofas, sitting together side by side, while Richard and Gus took another one of the sofas, as Richard leaned himself against the armrest, and Elma placed Erika beside her on their sofa, as Nitori sat down at the far end, before pulling out a electronic tablet that whirred into activity.
"Now then, as I have told you in the messages I have sent you all..." Richard responded back. "We are merely here to take a look at a program that Barry Flux, our latest acquaintance has recommended to us. He states that it is the 'Perfect Link Tournament'. I may be getting on the wrong foot here, but I expect something as brilliant as the likes of the Pokken Tournament to occur. Epic pokemon battling goodness is the name of the game here."
"Yeah! I really can't wait to see what this tournament is about! I wonder if the dream battles between the most powerful of Pokemon are about to occur in this tournament!" Sanae exclaimed, as she wriggled in her seat with extreme anticipation on her face, and starry eyes. "Just thinking about me makes my otaku senses tingle with joy!"
Reimu was a little annoyed at Sanae's irritating lap-dance, as she grumbled before ignoring the over-excited rival shrine maiden.
"Pokken Tournament?" Elma asked curiously. "Pokemon? What are those? Are they some kind of creature?"
"You'll see what I mean, Elma, my dear little demoness." Richard told Elma with a whimsical tone. "But trust me, you won't regret coming to watch this. Just think of this like the tournaments that the Underworld broadcasted through all those Devil Projectors, except there are different competitors and a whole new setting for it."
"I see..." Elma responded back, as she smiled a little. "I wonder what it would be like... The tournaments were a little too gruesome for me... But they make me excited regardless... I just want to hope that this tournament is more gentler with its competitors."
"Pokemon vs Pokemon. This should be interesting." Erika chuckled. "I wonder if they'll have battles far more epic than that shown in their anime series."
"Alright, now that you have made your comments, it's time to tune in and watch." Richard stated, as the projector flickered on. He then turned to Nitori. "Nitori, just to make final checks. Is your signal disguised as a normal generic signal? Are all countermeasures of being traced and located placed at the ready? Is there a counter-trace ready, in the case we need it as a last resort?"
"All there." Nitori responded back, as she worked on the handheld tablet in her hand. "You're clear to watch, without any risk of information disclosure."
"Good, good." Richard smiled back, before the screen began to show on the wall, as it was connecting to the signal. "I have to thank Barry Flux for leaving a list of channel signals for us to tune into, in case we want to observe other channels for information gathering, or just plain entertainment. In fact, I might actually have the reserve members in the future, as well as some of the officers watch and cheer us, should we enter a public entertainment event ourselves. Anyway, the PLT finals are beginning, and I bet that it would be a most fitting climax for this tournament."
The screen showed a large bright city, inside of a large coliseum where the entirety of the seats were filled by people from so many different universes. Right in view of the screen was a young girl with short hair, a magenta music note hair-clip on one side of her hair, and dressed in a smooth magenta idol dress.
"Hello, and welcome one and all to the magnificent Akihabara Stadium! Live with you all is your favourite commentator..." The idol girl stated, before she then posed spectacularly with a wink. "Magenta Voice!"
The audience in the arena cheered, as the group could hear the various cries of men showering her with their affectionate cries of worship and adoration to the young idol commentator.
"Sounds familiar, eh?" Richard quipped with a smirk at Sanae, who was astonished.
"Yeah... She reminds me of the time that I occasionally became a idol for the Moriya Shrine in the annual festivals." Sanae replied back. "She does seem to wear mostly the same dress I do, and the hair-clip is just too nice to have on her, much like the frog and snake hairbands that I wear in respect of Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako."
"Heh." Richard chuckled. "So this is what this reality is capable of, when it comes to making such earth-shattering events, eh? I got to see how this goes."
"Oh...Well...it's about time we got this party pumping as we introduce our final 80 competitors! Let's get the party started!" she said as the spotlights focused on the gates as the first ten came out. "First...we have David Ishihara of the Standard Universe and his Links, Froslass and Kyogre! Next, we have Hope the Victor, real name Hope Ginova of the Standard Universe and his Link Lunala! Next we have Jexi the Hunter of the Standard Universe and his Link Eevee! Then we have Katsuki Bakugo of the Hero Universe and his Link Quilava! Then we have Mayumi Kirishima of the Standard Universe and her Links Salazzle and Necrozma! Then we have Indigo Zapp of the Equestria Universe and her Link Incineroar. Next, we have Twilight Sparkle of the Equestria Universe and her Link Decidueye. Then comes Starlight Glimmer also from the Equestria Universe and her Link Raichu of Alola! Then we have Fluttershy also from the Equestria Universe and her Link Venusaur. Finally from our first ten, we have Wiccana of the Standard Universe and her Link Gengar!"
The audience cheered for the first 10 finalists, as signs were lifted, indicating their adoration of the respective competitors.
The group saw the mentioned 10 come up, as they did various gestures towards the audience. Bakugo's expression and actions accentuated his reckless attitude, while the humanised Fluttershy waved at the crowd with a meek smile, patting her Venusaur with care. David was right there with both of his Perfect Links, as Kyogre soared over his head, regarding the beings around them with a careful look in its eyes. He then noticed the brown-haired and blue-eyed boy that he met before in the events of the EDEN incident, who had the dazzling Lunala by his side, allowing the group to identify the boy as Hope or Jonah. Elma had her eyes on Wicana, who seemed to be dressed like a witch, who seems to give her a uneasy feeling, while Richard's eyes were focused solely on the brown-haired boy with short brown hair and golden eyes, with the Eevee. When Richard regarded Jexi, the boy in question, he immediately sat up and gazed closely at Jexi.
"...Richard?" Gus asked back.
"Something... Something about this 'Jexi the Hunter'..." Richard responded back with a serious tone. "Something about him... seems to trigger a strange feeling in me. I don't know what it is... But somehow I feel something when I look at him... Something... I can't describe..."
Gus noticed how absorbed that Richard was about Jexi, as he immediately racked his mind for something to distract Richard, before his friend could fall too deep into his own thoughts. After managing to find something of interest, he immediately told Richard it. "By the way, don't you find it weird...?"
"What is weird?" Richard asked back simply, turning his head to Gus, snapping out of his daze.
"Aren't Perfect Links supposed to be one per person? I thought that it's a unique form of bond that can only be found once in the life of a person and a Pokemon..." Gus pondered. "Isn't that what I remember from what you and Sanae kept on talking about? Then how did David and Mayumi get two? And they're only the first 10 out of the 80 competitors... How many of these strange occurrences will there be?"
"What are you talking about?" Richard grumbled at his friend's opinion. "You haven't been reading much on Pokemon canon, have you? You need to brush up, especially on Pokemon Conquest. Nagamasa from there actually has the Perfects Links with Eevee, all of its evolutions, and Arceus itself. That's 10, not counting the new evolution of Eevee. 2 or 3 is nothing to be surprised about, even if all of them are here at the same time. A Perfect Link is like the red thread of fate that Remilia prattled about. Some pokemon and people are destined to be together, as eternal and loyal companions of each other. That is a Perfect Link, Gus, and don't forget about it."
"And you're not surprised that most of them secured Legendaries and Mythical Pokemons?" Gus deadpanned.
"Like I said. This reality doesn't exactly run on the same ruling concepts as our own, and we have no idea what caused the legendaries and mythical Pokemon to find a Perfect Link in all of them." Richard responded back with a annoyed click of his tongue. "Context is always important, Gus. Except in a very few rare cases. Speaking of them... I wonder what my own Perfect Link is..."
"No clue." Gus shrugged. "We can't exactly know our Perfect Links unless we truly and well encountered them."
"Well, I'd say that I have several pseudo-Perfect Links myself." Richard bragged with a smile. "I mean, my own team of Pokemon have been through hell and back with me, and we've lived through an entire journey with each other. There is no way that a bond forged between us could be much more solid, especially when getting to know them was the very reason that a true bond was made."
"Pseudo-Perfect Links?" Gus asked, unable to understand what Richard was talking about, before he then remembered something about Richard. "Ah... I see what you mean. Yeah, that's fair enough. I mean, any Trainer who went through whatever hell you dived into, will come out with Pokemon more powerful than what can be thought before. After all, that world wasn't quite-"
"Alright, enough reminiscing of the past." Richard sternly cut off Gus, before pointing at the screen. "We should be listening to this."
"Now...let's welcome...batch number two!" Magenta said as lightning struck the background as the next set came out. "Leading them out is Spectra Phantom of the Future Universe and his Links Zekrom and Hydreigon. Following him we have royalty, Night Dark of the Darkness Universe and her Link Darkrai! Then we have Leia Rolando of the Magic Universe and her Links Reshiram and Lurantis. Then another powerhouse. Volt Luster of the Future Universe and his Link Hoopa! Now from the Hero Universe, we have Weather Girl and her Link Castform. Then following them comes Flower Power of the Magical Girl Universe and her Link Comfey. Then, we have Naomi Kirifumi of the Standard Universe and her Swanna. Then we have from the Hero Universe, Denki Kaminari and his partner Jolteon. Then, fresh from the high seas we have two veteran pirates! Captain Sharkfang and Sharpedo as well as Bluefin and Vaporeon. Siblings from the Ocean Universe!"
The group watched the next batch of competitors come out, as Richard noticed Hoopa amongst the competitors.
"Interesting... Hoopa is caught, and in the hands of someone worthy of him." Richard remarked, with a hand on his chin. "Well, I wonder what kind of shenanigans that this Hoopa will be after. Maybe he might look for me, because he's attracted to my spatial powers that I have gained... But I wonder if that attention is deserved."
Sanae gasped with surprise, when she saw Lurantis come out, looking absolutely dazzling.
"Eeeee! It's Lurantis!" Sanae squealed with joy. "One of the Pokemon on my top 10 list of most naturally beautiful Pokemon!"
"Future Universe... Hero Universe... Magical Girl Universe..." Reimu muttered with a annoyed tone. "I'm sorry, but what the fuck is up with those names? I wonder if the names actually had some effort put into them."
"Hell if I know. This is a multiverse as well, remember that, Reimu." Richard responded back, before he then took a sip from his beverage glass. "So of course they have to find a way to name every universe they find."
Reimu then watched the arguing between the peppy Bluefin and the grouchy Sharkfang, as she gave a amused look at the event. "Hm. That actually reminds of the first few years that I had a rivalry with Sanae. Except it was less shouting, and more spraying danmaku right at each other's heads." She remarked. "Sort of mellowed out when you acted as mediator with several other neutral parties, to the point that we stayed out of each other's businesses and just accepted each other as colleagues."
"Aw, Reimu... I like you too." Sanae swooned with a drowsy smile on her face, as she rolled over to hug Reimu. Reimu merely shoved the other shrine maiden off her.
"Sanae. Off." Reimu told Sanae, who immediately pouted back and rolled back to her seat.
"Now its time to introduce batch number 3! Leading them in is veteran Sky Battler Rainbow Dash of the Equestria Universe and her Links Talonflame and Sylveon! Then we have Hive of the Standard Universe and his Scizor. Next comes Shadow Prove of the Future Universe and Aegislash! Then we have Lync of the Future Universe and his little buddy Shaymin. Then comes Hydron of the Future Universe and his partner Mew. Finally one of our two competitors with three Links...its Mylene of the Future Universe and her links Mimikyu, Roserade, and Gallade! Next we have Sunny Flare of the Equestria Universe and her partner Bayleef. Following is Pinkie Pie of the Equestria Universe with her Croconaw. Then we have Aria Blaze of the Equestria Universe and her partners in crime Espeon and Umbreon. Finally bringing up the end we have Azura of the Magic Universe and her partner Suicune." Magenta Voice continued as the audience cheered once more.
Richard just gave a simple look at the new competitors, before he shook his head gently. "No comment." He stated simply.
"What do you mean!?" Sanae cried offended, pointing a stiff finger at Mew. "That's our pink baby Mew there! And then there's the cool and adorable Shaymin! And then there's the other Azura with a Suicine! I bet you that Suicine is supposed to represent the dragon within her Corrin or Kamui, whatever name they took!"
"So...? Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Agatha." Richard spoke with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Sanae immediately shut up when she heard Richard's response, before she then noticed that Shadow Prove is bragging recklessly, as she lightened up.
"Hey, you know, Richard. That guy Shadow Prove is really confident that he can get the win by the look on his face, eh?" Sanae asked Richard.
"So? The higher the pedestal of pride, the more painful the graceless fall." Richard answered back. "His Aegislash better be able to withstand Legendaries and Mythicals, or I predict that his ass is getting roasted in first rounds. It would be a miracle if he survives a few more rounds, let alone reach the grand finale. Speaking of which, I think Link might be able to find a Perfect Link in Aegislash... Skilled Defence and Attack... skill to flow between both forms of power..."
"Okay. Now let's bring out group number four! Leading it, we have someone who recently fought on the Kanto Campaign...we have Simon Neptune of the Sky Universe and his Links Absol and Eevee. Next, we have Shanoa of the Undead Universe with her Link Houndoom. Following her is Atro of the Magic Universe and his Link Raikou! Then comes in Mari the Dimensional Researcher of the Magic Universe and her Link Meltan! Next comes Sugarcoat of the Equestria Universe and her Link Medicham. We then have a newcomer. Francisca of the Magic Universe and her Articuno! Then we have a former queen. Lady Sectonia of the Magic Universe and her Links Vespiquen and Groudon! Then we have Dan Kuso of the Beast Universe and his partner Charizard! Next we have the Ultimate Cosplayer Tsumugi Shirogane of the Standard Universe and her Links Cosplay Pikachu and Butterfree! Then to finish off the group, we have Lemon Zest of the Equestria Universe and her Pikachu!" Magneta Voice continued, as the group stepped up to face the audience surrounding them.
Gus immediately recognised Sectionia, as he recalls what happened during their battle on Endor. He is more surprised on the fact that Sectonia had Groudon as one of her Perfect Links. He then noticed Francisca, who he might have seen for a brief moment, but not long enough to truly recognise her from the group.
"Sectonia..." Gus muttered, as a smile appeared on his face. "So you managed to make to the finals of this tournament... I'll be rooting for you."
Richard, however, did not have as much of a warm-hearted response, as his face was contorted in barely-controlled hostility, as his eyes were locked right onto Tsumugi Shirogane, while the beverage cup was strained under the increasing pressure in his hands.
"What. the. Fuck. is. this." Richard venomously muttered. "Tsumugi Shirogane... The mastermind of the 53th game of Danganronpa... Right here in the finals...!?"
"Richard!" Sanae shouted. "She doesn't look like that she's the same one as the one that we witnessed before. She seems to be much more... controlled? And without the Despair-orgasm on her face?"
Richard took the words in silence, before his rage slowly cooled down and faded away, while he loosened the grip on his beverage cup, which his threw away, since it was close to breaking apart, a miracle that it hasn't already from the force he was using against it earlier.
"I guess so." Richard stated back. "Sins of the past rarely matter in this universe, if there are such things as truly reformed villains to heroes here. But I'm going to make a promise: She tries to become Junko Enoshima the 53th, she better pray that I don't catch her, because she's going to get the worst kind of denial play that she'll ever go through, when I get her."
"What's denial play?" Elma asked Richard, who immediately did a spit-take when he realised that Elma heard it.
"Ah, no, it's nothing, Elma! It's just a form of punishment for really serious criminals." Richard hastily explained. "It's much too cruel to be described, so let's stop it there, I don't want you to agonise about this kind of horrible things!"
Richard then noticed how Tsumugi was holding a conversation with the nervous Francisca, in order to calm her down with a assuring speech, which caused Richard's deep hate for the canonical Tsumugi to fade away, since this Tsumugi was definitely different, or completely cured of her despair obsession.
"Well, I did wonder what Tsumugi would be like, without Danganronpa." Richard muttered to himself. "I guess I get to understand it."
Richard watched as the next two groups were announced, as everyone was completely silent, although Richard did note Flamberge, as he never forgot the time when she and he met, and her fiery temper showed to him, when he literally pushed past her group to get past the ZAXON hacker. Other than that, there was nothing to note from the other contestants, who Richard did not pay much attention to. The seventh group, however...
"Okay ladies and germs! Let's welcome in group seven! Leading them we have yet another couple! Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers of the Standard Universe and their Links Nidoking and Nidoqueen! Then we have Kendo of the Hero Universe and her Hitmonchan! Then we have Captain...Parkerer? Oh well. From the Standard Universe and his Link Hitmonlee! Then hailing from the Demon Universe is Satana and his Machamp! Now...here's one of the four you all have been excited for! From our universe...the bolt himself! Yellow Shocker and Zeraora! Then from the Magical Girl Universe...we have Dreamer and her Link Snorlax! Then...another of the ones you've been asking for! Blue Splasher and Magikarp! Then...from the newly discovered Psychic Universe...Esp and Beheeyem! Following up the pack, another one you've been asking for! Red Heat and Flareon!" Magenta Voice announced.
Richard immediately tuned himself in, as he noticed that Captain Parkour was indeed one of the competitors in the finals, noticing the distressed hero complaining about the naming mistake, as he smiled a little.
"Barry Flux..." Richard muttered. "You must have wanted me to see Captain Parkour fight in the finals, huh...? Maybe not, but I'd be interested to see how this hero will stand against the competition."
"Who's dark and broody?" Erika asked about Satana, speaking for the first time during the broadcast, which shocked Elma slightly, as the demoness yelped. "Ah, sorry, Elma. I was just watching so quietly, until I finally see something that actually makes me want to question what is going on."
"You're not questioning about the other people?" Reimu asked Erika.
"I seen Digimon, and I'm one myself. Not much there to weird me out, and this guy actually makes me want to criticise how dark he looks." Erika answered back.
"Demon Universe!?" Elma cried back. "Does that mean that the people from that place are demons like me? I'm sure that not all demons are like him, right?"
"Of course not. You have your Overlord relatives, and your real Dear Brother." Richard assured Elma with a smile.
"Right... Thank you, Dear brother Richard..." Elma thanked Richard gently.
The group watched as the last group finished their introductions, as they stepped off, leaving Magenta Voice alone on the pedestral.
"And now...without further ado...to give the speech for our fine competitors...Head of Talent Corp...Linc!" Magenta Voice exclaimed, as a young male, dressed up in formal wear, stepped up with the applause of the audience to greet him onto the podium.
"Welcome one and all to our finals location. When we started, we have over 100000 competitors...but from that large number, we've come down to our eighty mighty champions. And it is here on this final stage that we will see their true worth. Now... the battle format. To decide which would best decide who is truly the best, we asked people from several universes what would be the best format. And it has been decided. The final tournament shall be...a Battle Royale!" Linc declared, as the audience roared with cheers and cries.
Richard raised an eyebrow. "A Battle Royale...? This should be interesting." Richard stated. "If this takes inspiration from the forebears of the genre, I cannot imagine what will happen when the chaos that is the free-for-all, begins few seconds after the starting call."
"Woah... Pokemon, and Battle Royale... together?" Sanae asked with a amazed look on her face. "This should be really interesting to watch!"
"Now before everyone goes and loses their heads...let me explain the rules. Each of you was given a device. That is your life gauge. It measures the hit points shared by you and your links. Once the gauge hits zero, you will be warped to the stands and eliminated. This stage shall be your battleground. It has been loaded with a number of different battlefields. It is programmed to change the locale with every eight competitors eliminated. Absolutely no killing is allowed. Summons are also forbidden as well. The winner will be crowned when either only one person remains or whoever has the most hit points remaining within the ring. Now while there is only room with one champion, there is no rule against teaming up with a partner. Now...there is talk of these sorts of battles being disorganised bloodbaths. This however will not be the case. We've taken every measure possible to make sure things go well and with no chance of brutality. Now...this next rule applies to those of you who are trainers. The use of pokemon are allowed but they are not to be treated as links. The only ones you can use them against are other trainers. Now...without further ado...let's begin by selecting the first location."
"Wait, hold up..." Reimu stated. "I thought that Pokemon Battles are strictly fought between Pokemon to Pokemon. This tournament will pit Pokemon against actual others. Isn't that supposed to be wrong?"
"Well, this tournament has its own reasons for this." Richard replied back. "I'd be happy to punch out a Lucario with my own hand, and stare down Giratina right in the eyes in a all-out no-holds-barred , I'd enjoy a battle against Arceus, regardless of what the outcome will be. Besides, look at the finalists. They're not weak enough to be brushed aside by Pokemon that easily, not even if they're Legendary or Mythical."
The group watched at the first battlefield was decided, as the 80 contestants disappeared from the arena, as the feed to the arena cut off at that moment, with a sign saying 'Please wait, we're connecting to the on-field cameras...'.
"Well... Alright, let's make imaginary bets." Richard stated. "Who do you think is going to win?"
"I think that David got this in the bag." Gus stated his guess for the champion. "He's pretty good, as I seen for myself the first time. And recall that in Under Zero, he and his team did as much work clearing Eaters as we did."
"I call Leia Rolando." Sanae commented with a prideful smirk. "With a Reshiram and Lurantis, she can't go wrong. Even if she won't win, she'll go far, I know it!"
"Seriously? I don't know enough about Pokemon to know how to root for... But I think half the effort is to be put from the people with the Perfect Links." Reimu answered back. "Mayumi Kirishima. She seemed to be quite powerful enough to hold her own, by the looks of it. So she possibly might be able to win against the others in a straight-up fight, except some of them. Hope they'll be defeated before she has to face them at all."
"I... I pick Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers... They seem to quite powerful together... And they... they kind of remind me of Dear Brother Zeabolos, as well the time we spent together in the past..." Elma meekly suggested.
"Picking Hope the Victor. His Lunala should be quite powerful, and he doesn't seem to be weak enough to suffer elimination in the early rounds." Erika guessed. "So I want to see how he does."
"What about you, Richard?" Sanae asked.
"Me? I pick Jexi the Hunter. Eevee have quite high potential out of all of the Pokemon, and I can feel that this Eevee is trained to fight like a real champ." Richard responded back. "And that Jexi... I have a feeling that he's going to knocking people out of the game left and right. Anyway... Bets are placed, although there is no real wager at risk or at gain. Let's see who's right and who's wrong!"
The screen-feed is still connecting, until the feed went through... showing the first chaotic minutes of the battle royale between Perfect Links and their partners.