The 7 trainers left as a group and headed for the Driftveil stadium. The place was packed to the risers with pokemon fans who were ready to cheer on their favorite trainers. They all made their way to the middle of the battle field along with over 200 other trainers as they waited for the opening ceremony to start. The announcer soon took over.

Welcome everyone to the pokemon world tournament. I'll start by explaining the rules. This is a knockout tournament consisting of 256 of the world's top trainers. All 256 trainers will be randomly matched up with their opponent. Lose 1 battle and you will be eliminated from the tournament.

"So that means there is no room for mistakes." Said Brock

"Yeah, a 1 loss elimination is a tough environment to compete in." added Max.

The winner will not only be recognised as the best trainer in the world, but will receive a cash prize of 1 million dollars and win this! The PWT trophy!

"That trophy has my name written all over it." Ash said to himself

And now, starting with round 1 all battles will be 3 on 3. The 1st round battles will be starting tomorrow. The 1st round will last for the next 16 days. Every day the morning of the tournament will start at by showing the 8 battles for that day. You will not know who you are battling until the day you are battling them, so the trainers skill will be tested.

"That means we will have very little time for preparation." Said Gary as he finally rejoined the group.

So the 1st round will commence tomorrow. So everyone better go back to the pokemon centre to get your rest.

As everyone arrived back at the pokemon centre, nurse Joy was explaining the nightly accommodations for the duration of the tournament.

"Well we better get some rest for tomorrow." Said Brock.

"You're right." replied Gary. "We need to be well rested if we're battling tomorrow."

The group split up to different rooms. Misty, May and Iris were sharing a room. Max and Brock were in the other room, leaving Ash, Gary and Tyler in their own room.

The 3 of them got settled into their beds and thought excitedly about the tournament ahead.

Gary tried to spark a conversation by asking them about their recent accomplishments. He asked Ash and Tyler about their recent league rankings.

"This year I competed in the Unova league and placed in the top 8. The year before in the Sinnoh league and I got the semifinals." Ash announced proudly. He then turned to Tyler and preceded to ask him the same question.

"Last year I was in the silver league conference and made it to the top 4. This year I did compete in the Unova league but lost in the quarterfinals." He said sadly, feeling depressed about going down in his league rank.

Ash spoke up again. "So we both receded in our performance this year. Let's make a comeback in this tournament."

"You just better hope that I don't get to ya first." Gary said cockily. "Either way, we should get some sleep for tomorrow."

With that the 3 of them said goodnight and went to sleep