"There it is", I said to myself as I spotted our final destination. "Champion Island", I continued as I leaned against the railing of the boat. I along with a couple hundred other Pokemon Trainers had been selected to compete in an exclusive tournament in light of the upcoming World Battling Grand Prix (WBGP), an all-new tournament that promised to make any one of the individual Pokemon Leagues seem like child's play.
Since its announcement in the spring, Trainers from around the world have been rushing to register for this ultimate tournament. Rumor had it that it would take place over the course of several months, with each round of the tournament taking place in a different region. As for Champion Island, it was sort of a "golden ticket". According to the officials, even if a Trainer registers for the WBGP, they would have to go through several preliminary battles in order to even get the opportunity to compete. The more Trainers that registered, the more battles you had to survive, and since Trainers had been registering for months, they would all be in for battles of their lives long before the tournament even began, that's where Champion Island came in.
Champion Island was said to be a sort of summer camp that doubled as an elimination tournament. Trainers hand-selected by many of the best Pokemon Professors would compete against one another with the ultimate prize being a guaranteed spot on the WBGP. Not only would this save a Trainer the trouble of surviving countless preliminary rounds, it would also be a great warm-up for the tournament itself.
"It's go time", I said as I looked around me across the sea. The other ferries carrying the other trainers were headed towards the island also. I then pulled out the Love Ball belonging to my most trusted Pokemon and looked down at it. "Let's show them what we can do."
"Attention, Trainers", began the woman over the intercom, "we are now approaching Champion Island. Please prepare to disembark." As instructed I put the Love Ball back onto my belt and made my way back down below with the other Trainers. A few minutes later, we finally made it to the dock. Once there, the others immediately pushed and shoved their way off of the boat. I, the only one not in a hurry, was the last to leave the boat.
"Ah, Champion Island", I said as I stretched my arms and took a deep breath. "Let's go", I shout out loud as I ran ahead towards the colosseum. I couldn't wait for the tournament to start. Once I made it to the entrance, I immediately found myself lost in the crowd as the dozens of other Trainers were slowly making their way inside. It was then that I noticed a hologram of a woman up above repeating a few reminders to the Trainers, one of which I took immediate heed of.
"Welcome, Trainers, to Champion Island. We invite you to release your Pokemon from your Poke Balls, and join us inside the colosseum." Upon hearing her comment, I noticed a few Trainers flying into the stadium from above with their flying Pokemon.
"Now there's an idea", I said as I pulled out my partner's Love Ball again. "Let's ride, Charizard", I said as I through it into the air. The large, fire-type let out a roar as he extended his wings and hovered in the air. He then lowers himself to the ground and offers me his hand. He then lifts me onto his back as I grabbed it.
"Woohoo", I shouted as Charizard took off and headed for the stadium. I absolutely loved flying on his back. Flying into the stadium was easy. Finding a place to land was the difficult part. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Charizard groaned in agreement as we began darting around for a place to land. Charizard then growls and points upon finding a spot. "Good boy", I said to my friend as I patted his head. Charizard then makes a dive for the open space in an attempt to beat everyone else to it. Just when we thought we were going to make it, a large-built trainer with thick, brown hair, a green trench coat, a blue shirt, and blue pants, and his Swampert emerged from the crowd and got in the way. "Whoa! Look out", I shouted as Charizard struggled to brake. Without enough time to slow down we wind up crashing into them.
"Ow ow ow", I said to myself as I rubbed my head and picked myself up off of the ground. "Charizard, are you okay?" The big guy groaned in response. "That's good." It was then that the other Trainer grabbed me by the front of my black jacket and pulled me into his face. He wasn't very pleased with me.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, Loser?"
"Sorry about that", I chuckled. I didn't appreciate his "loser" comment, but I let it slide considering how I crashed into him.
"You will be when the tournament begins", he continues as he throws me to the ground.
"Hey, what's your problem", I asked now irritated with him.
"I ain't got no problem, but you seem to seeing as how your pitiful Charizard can't even fly without crashing."
"What'd you say", I asked as I shot to my feet with my fist clenched. Charizard roared in response behind me.
"Swampert", said the water-type Pokemon as he got into Charizard's face. It seemed we found our first rivals of the tournament.
"Looks like Swampert's found itself a new playmate", teased the Trainer.
"Bring it on."
"Well well well, what have we here", asked another Trainer with a smug attitude from off to the side. The four of us all stopped to see where the voice was coming from. This Trainer also had long, brown hair, except it was neatly combed back. He wore a black shirt, black pants, and over his shirt he wore a light gray jacket. As for his partner, he was accompanied by a Scizor. "Only naïve children would waste their time fighting before a big tournament."
"Scizor-zor", nodded the bug-type Pokemon in agreement.
"What was that", asked the Swampert Trainer as he turned his attention to the new Trainer.
"Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy, Fellas", shouted a fourth Trainer as he stepped in between the other two. He had glasses, light brown hair, a green, striped shirt, light blue pants, a black vest over his shirt, and was accompanied by a Combusken.
"Who the heck are you", asked the Swampert Trainer.
"Yes, well, my name is—", he began before being interrupted.
"On second thought, I don't care. Come on, Swampert", said Green Trench Coat as he had apparently grown bored of the rest of us.
"Swampert", said his Pokemon as the two of them began walking away.
"Hmmph", huffed the other Trainer as he and his Scizor began walking away in another direction.
"What a bunch of jerks", I said in annoyance as I watched them walk away.
"Maybe, but they're not to be taken lightly", said the Combusken Trainer as he and his Pokemon approached us. "That was Jeffrey. He and his Swampert were the runner-ups in last year's Hoenn League. The other guy is Theo, the toughest Pokemon Trainer in all of Goldenrod City."
"And you?"
"Oh, yeah. My name is Rudy from Twinleaf Town."
"Busken", said Combusken as he nudged his Trainer.
"Oh, and this is Combusken."
"Com-busken", said the fire-type with a happy salute.
"Hey, Rudy. I'm Rojan from Pallet Town. And this is my partner, Charizard." Charizard groans in response as he shakes Combusken's hand.
"I see, so you chose a fire-type as your first Pokemon, too?"
"Of course, I did. Charizard's both the hottest, and the coolest." Upon hearing me compliment him, Charizard rubbed against the side of my face with his face. Me and Rudy laughed a little in response, only for our conversation to be interrupted by the stadium's lights turning off. It was then that a spotlight appeared on the platform-like stage towards the center of the stadium. There we saw the woman from the hologram greet us all. Having come to the island from the Unova region, I recognized her immediately.
"Greetings, Trainers. I'm Professor Juniper, the Master of Ceremonies during your visit here. And welcome to Champion Island." We Trainers all began to clap in response to Professor Juniper's introduction. "I'd imagine you're all very eager to get this show on the road, so please join me in welcoming some very important guests. First up, from New Bark Town, Professor Elm." As we all clapped, Professor Elm made his way onto the stage, carrying a Corsola in his arms as he did so. "Next, from Twinleaf Town, please welcome, the energetic Professor Birch."
"Hello, Everyone", shouted the professor as he ran on stage with a Mudkip at his heels. We all laughed when he stumbled for a moment after tripping in the process.
"Next, joining us all the way from Pallet Town, the one and only Professor Oak", continued Professor Juniper. Professor Oak then waved to the crowd as he made his way onto the stage. Upon seeing the professor Charizard shot a Flamethrower into the air. Professor Oak nodded to us upon seeing it. "And last but not least, please welcome your host, Professor Rowan." We Trainers continued to applaud as Professor Juniper stepped aside, giving Professor Rowan the spotlight.
"Hello, Trainers. I'm Professor Rowan. Allow me to explain why you are here. Each of you were selected by Professors like myself and my colleagues to compete for the chance to enter the upcoming WBGP. You were selected not only for your individual large collections of Pokemon, but also for your outstanding skills in battle. Each of you has an equal chance of becoming the island's champion and claiming the grand prize."
"Aw yeah, I am totally stoked", I said as I flexed my muscles. Charizard growled as he was also excited.
"The rules of combat are quite simple", continued the professor. "Each of you were asked to come to the island carrying only one Pokemon. That is because you all will be battling with what we professors like to call the Shuffle Rule. While this rule is in effect, you will be forced to constantly alternate your Pokemon before each battle, and just to make sure of that, we will be monitoring each of your battles. Once this opening ceremony is complete and the tournament begins, each of you will be given access to the Transfer Machines scattered throughout the camp grounds, and you will each regain the opportunity to carry up to six Pokemon. However, once a Pokemon has been used in a battle, you must immediately switch it with another, as you will no longer be allowed to use it for the remainder of the competition. The only exception to this rule is the single Pokemon you brought with you today."
Good, I wouldn't have it any other way, I thought to myself as I would never dream of parting ways with my beloved Charizard.
"Now that we all understand the rules", continued the professor, "let me explain how this tournament will work. Each of you will take part in three 3-on-3 battles against proctors made up of some of our students. Any and all Trainers that successfully manage to win all three of their battles, will then proceed to compete against each other for the island's championship."
"Now that's how you hold a tournament", I said feeling absolutely pumped.
"Yeah, I'll say", added Rudy.
"Now, Trainers", began Professor Rowan, "please make your way to one of the island's Pokemon Centers and get your Pokemon registered for the competition. After that, make your way to your dorm rooms and await further instruction."
As the professor had instructed, once the opening ceremonies had ended, we all made our way to the nearest Pokemon Center and completed registration. After that, we all made our way to our assigned dorms. The dorm I was assigned to was in the forest by the southeast coast of the island.
"Looks like this is it, Rudy", I said as the four of us walked to our new living quarters. It was a sort of cabin-like dorm with a stable, a small pond, and a garden, not to mention an awesome view of the ocean as there was a bit of a cliff several yards away.
When we got to the front door and went inside, we noticed that our dorm consisted of a lobby-like living room with a built-in kitchen off to our right. We also noticed that the lobby had three doors spread out across the room, each leading to an individual bedroom.
"Guess there's gonna be three Trainers living here", began Rudy. "Wonder who it'll be."
"Let's just hope it's not Theo or Jeffrey."
"No kidding. Maybe we'll get lucky and end up with a really nice Trainer. Maybe it'll be someone—", he continued before I cut him off.
"Someone with a Bayleef", I asked as I pointed to the Bayleef that had walked into the lobby from the bedroom on the far end of the room. The grass-type Pokemon stared back at us for a moment in silence, and then turned back into the room and called for her Trainer.
"Bay! Bay!"
"Oh, hello there", said a girl with long, black hair that she had tied in a ponytail, and pretty, brown eyes. She also wore a red, sleeveless shirt, black shorts, and a red baseball cap backwards on her head.
"Hey there, Neighbor", began Rudy in a friendly voice. "I'm Rudy."
"Busken, Combusken." Rudy then elbows me when he noticed I wasn't saying anything. I blushed a little as I immediately tried to play off the fact that I was gawking at our new roommate.
"Oh, and my name's Rojan." Charizard groaned as he introduced himself.
"Rudy, and Rojan", began the female Trainer. "I'm Crystal, and this is Bayleef", she continued as she motioned to her Pokemon partner.
"Bay."
"Nice to meet you", I said back to her.
"So, it looks like we're all roommates", said Rudy.
"It would appear so", added Crystal.
"Where are you from", asked Rudy.
"Me and Bayleef come from New Bark Town.
"No way, what are the odds? I come from Twinleaf, and Rojan, here is from Pallet."
"That is quite the coincidence", I said. "So, what happens now?"
"I guess we better start assembling our first team of Pokemon", suggested Rudy.
"Well you boys are in luck. Each of our rooms is equipped with a Transport System."
"Really? That's great! Let's go, Combusken", said Rudy as he ran towards one of the two empty rooms.
"Bus-ken", replied his Pokemon as it ran behind him. Rudy closed the door behind him as he ran into his new room. Crystal chuckled in response before speaking again.
"Guess we'd better do the same", she said to her Pokemon.
"Bayleef", it responded as it followed her into her room. As the door closed behind her, Charizard snuck up behind me and nudged me with his nose. I then turned around to see him leering at me, implying that I had a crush on Crystal.
"Cut it out", I said to him defensively as I pushed his face away. The large fire-type merely chuckled in response as I began to blush. It was then that I heard a phone ringing.
"Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call, phone call", repeated the phone from my room over and over again. Curious as to who could be calling me, I instinctively sit at the desk in my room and answer it. Charizard closed the bedroom door behind us as we went inside. The person who called us was Tracey, a Pokemon Watcher from back home.
"Rojan, there you are."
"Hey, Tracey. What's up?"
"Well since you and the professor are both on Champion Island, I figured you'd probably want me to send you some of your Pokemon for your upcoming battles."
"You read my mind."
"Do you have any ideas on what Pokemon you'd like me to send? They're all poised and ready for battle."
"Do you still have the list of my All-Star Pokemon?"
"All-Star Pokemon? Oh, you mean the list of your best ones? Like Torterra, Zangoose, and Nidoking?"
"That's the one."
"Sure. They're all ready, too."
"Good, then send me any Pokemon other than those select few."
"Any Pokemon? You don't want to pick which ones?"
"Uh-uh, I want to save my All-Stars for the WBGP. And since, my opponents can't know what Pokemon I'll be battling with thanks to Professor Rowan's shuffle rule, I figured it'd be a great way to train if I didn't know either. Just send me the Pokemon you think are in need of some battle practice. Surprise me."
"I must say, that's an interesting strategy. But, if that's what you wanna do, then do it. Standby while I begin the transfer", said Tracey as he walked away from the screen, returning with two Poke Balls, a Quick Ball, a Net Ball, and a Great Ball. "I think you'll be very pleased with this batch of Pokemon", he continued as he began the transfer. Moments later, one by one, the five Poke Balls made their way to me.
"Awesome. They're all here, Tracey", I said to him as I showed him the Quick Ball he sent me.
"Excellent. I'll be watching from the professor's internet link. Good luck."
"No doubt", I responded to him just before I hung up. I then scooped up the new Poke Balls and turned back around to Charizard. He then groaned at me in response as he was eager to see which of his teammates would be the first to join us in the competition, as was I. "Come on out, Everyone", I said as I threw them all up into the air. Each of my new Pokemon exclaimed in excitement as they emerged from their Poke Balls.
"Roggenrola!"
"Drilbur!"
"Frillish!"
"Venipede!"
"Deerling!"
"Hey, Guys. How's it going", I asked. The Pokemon all responded simultaneously with much enthusiasm in their voices. "Awesome. I'm counting on you all. Let's get out there and show them all how to really battle."
"Roggen! Roggen, Roggen", said Roggenrola excitedly as he hopped around a bit. The Venipede and Frillish chuckled at its enthusiasm.
"Dril. Bur! Drilbur", said Drilbur as he jumped into my lap. Deerling, currently in its summer colors, accompanied him as it rubbed up against my leg.
"Yeah, I missed you guys, too", I responded as I petted Deerling's head. I spent the next few minutes hanging out with all of my Pokemon in my room. It was the best way I could think of to spend my time. It was some time after that that Crystal's Bayleef knocked on my door.
"Bay! Bayleef!"
"Frillish", asked Frillish as she looked at the door after hearing it being knocked. "Frillish, Frill", she continued back to me as she pointed at it.
"Coming", I said as I rose to my feet. Drilbur was still in my arms. I opened the door to see both Bayleef and Combusken on the other side waiting for us.
"Hey, Rojan", called Rudy from the living room. "You might wanna come see this." Without question I made my way to the living room to join him and Crystal. The Pokemon all instinctively followed me there as well. "Glad you could make it", continued Rudy as he turned around in his seat on the couch to face me. "Wow, those are some pretty cool Pokemon you got there."
"Pede, Venipede", said Venipede proudly as he struck a heroic pose.
"Yeah, I'd like to think so", I responded jokingly as I petted Drilbur's head.
"Shhh, listen up", said Crystal as she drew our attention to the t.v.. Professor Rowan was making another announcement.
"Attention, Trainers. Now that registration has been successfully completed, the time has come for you all to participate in your first battles. During your registration process, you were all assigned dorm rooms and roommates. You and your roommates will be living in these dorms for the duration of the competition, and you will be receiving your mail daily at your individual dorms. Further instruction regarding your first battles are currently making its way to you. Once you have them, prepare for battle. And of course, good luck Trainers", he ended just before the program cut off. It was then that there was a knock on our door.
"That must be our instructions", said Crystal.
"Go check it out, Combusken", said Rudy.
"Busken." Combusken then opens up the door and lets in our new guest, which we discovered was a Delibird.
"Deli Deli", said Delibird as it reached into its bag and pulled out three envelopes, each one with our names on it." I then placed Drilbur on the ground and received the envelopes from the ice-type Pokemon.
"Thanks."
"Deli", it said just before walking back out the door. Combusken closed the door behind him as I handed my roommates their envelopes.
"Let's see here", began Rudy as he opened his envelope. "Looks like my first battle is up north by the volcano."
"Knowing this place you'll wind up running into Blaine when you get there", I said jokingly.
"Mine's on the western coast of the island", said Crystal upon opening hers. "Where's yours, Rojan?"
"My battle's on the southern coast. I guess the tournament has officially begun."
"Well then we'd better get a move on", said Rudy as he rose to his feet and began running in place. "Catch you guys later. Come on, Combusken", he continued as he rushed out the door. The fire-type Pokemon obediently ran behind him as the two of them headed towards the northern end of the island. Crystal and I laughed at our spazzy roommate for a moment before speaking again.
"Guess we'd better get going, too. We wouldn't want to be eliminated on the first day now would we?"
"Do you need a ride", I asked her in reference to the fact that I was planning on riding on Charizard's back to get to my battle. Crystal then rises to her feet and returns Bayleef to its Poke Ball before answering.
"That won't be necessary", she says as she pulls out another Poke Ball. She then opens it, releasing the dragon-type Pokemon inside.
"Gar", shouted Garchomp as she spread its wings. I noticed that she had a pink bow on the top of her head.
"Good luck, Rojan", said Crystal as she and Garchomp ran out the door.
"Wow", I said to myself as I was impressed with the fact that she trained a Garchomp, which I knew from experience took a lot of skill. I knew I was zoning off a bit too long when I came to and noticed all of my Pokemon leering at me, once again implying the fact that I was crushing on Crystal. "Would you guys knock it off", I asked defensively. The Pokemon simply chuckled in response as they weren't buying my reaction at all. "Oh, never mind", I said sounding defeated as I pulled out their Poke Balls. "Return, Everyone", I continued as I returned Deerling and Roggenrola to their Poke Balls, followed by Frillish and Venipede.
"Bur-Bur. Drilbur", said Drilbur as I pulled out his Poke Ball.
"Sure, you can ride with us", I reassured him as I shrunk his Poke Ball down and put it away.
"Drilbur", replied the ground-type happily as he leapt into my arms again.
"Let's get going", I said as I looked over at Charizard. The three of us then made our way outside. Once there, Drilbur and I climbed onto Charizard's back as he took to the air. "Round 1, here we come."