Chapter 3

The sun slowly started to shine through her hotel window as her eyes opened to first the rays of sunlight. She let out a soft groan and rolled over to face the darker part of her room. She had gotten in late that night with her friends after an eventful night out in Saffron City, the eyes of the strange Aaron still dancing in her head. She felt herself slowly begin to drift back to sleep before she noticed a faint sound out in the hallway. It was beautiful yet horrifying at the same time. The sound emanated from what seemed to be a flute. She slowly began to rise as she came to a sitting position before noticing that one of the beds next to hers was empty. She sighed and chuckled as she thought about Bonnie running around doing who knows what. Probably out doing some early morning training with Max again.

She was curious where the music was coming from. She rose from her bed and slowly made her way into the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not wake either May or Dawn. She opened the door and the music began to get louder. She looked across the hall to the door on the opposite side.

With her curiosity peaked she made her way to the door and was about to knock until the music stopped. She let out a little gasp as she heard footsteps begin to walk towards the door. She ran back into her room and closed the door. She began to breathe slowly again before she heard the opposite door begin to open. She couldn't take it; she had to know who it was. She slowly opened the door and peaked her head out and saw the same mysterious trainer walking down the hallway with his back turned to her and two pokémon accompanying him. This guy keeps getting stranger and stranger. I have to talk to him again.

"Um Serena, what are you doing?"

While Serena was deep in thought she hadn't noticed Bonnie walking down the opposite end of the hall to their door. She squeaked and turned to her friend. "Oh who me?" she gave a nervous laugh. "I was gonna head out and grab something to eat is all."

"Oh ok cool. Max and I were gonna wake you girls up pretty soon anyways to see if you wanted breakfast also," she stated with a smile. "Although I suggest changing as media members are already down stairs wanting to interview tournament participants."

Serena nodded before entering the room again and taking a shower and changing. She walked out of the bathroom dressed to see Bonnie doing everything in her power to get the two coordinators out of bed, but they weren't budging.

Serena laughed and looked at Bonnie, "Come on you're wasting your time. Let them sleep in and get some rest."

The two girls exited the room and walked down the hall to meet up with Max and Clemont.

•••••

Lucario woke to a very familiar sound. It was his master playing a song on a flute like instrument he had been given during their time on Shamouti Island. Ash only played it when he was nervous or his pokémon couldn't sleep. He looked the trainer up and down and noticed Pikachu asleep on his lap.

"Master, was Pikachu unable to sleep?" he asked with a puzzled look.

"No Lucario, the song was for me this time," Ash spoke in a soft tone. "Just something to get my day started right. You know before things get chaotic out there during the tournament."

He continued to play the song. It wasn't as sad as it had been in the past when Ash played it for himself. The song had a certain mood change to it. The melody carried no pain or anxiety, but rather power and bravado. Lucario smiled as the song came to end.

"Beautiful master. I have never heard you play the song like that ever in my life," he complimented his trainer.

"Thank you Lucario. Now how about we wake Pikachu up and head out to get some food in us?' the thought of food made Ash's stomach begin to growl.

They woke up the slumbering pokémon and left the room heading towards the food court that was at the top of the hotel with a view of all of Silph Village and the surrounding area.

•••••

The rest of the day had gone off without anything else exciting going on. Serena had eaten her breakfast in one of the cafés on the outskirts of town and had done a good job of avoiding the media. She had returned to find May and Dawn talking with two more of her friends, Misty and Brock.

Misty was one of the strongest gym leaders in all of Kanto, boasting the highest win rate of gym leaders thanks in large part to her Gyrados. Brock was a Pokémon Doctor straight out of med school. He had gotten a job to work the tournament and was thankful for the opportunity to once again see his old traveling partners.

They talked and walked around before going to a press conference for both Max and Bonnie. The press conferences were rather short, as the media didn't have many questions for them since their battles weren't for two more days. The biggest lines were in front of Tyson and Iris as they were preparing to face the two wild card entries that had won their way into the tournament a little over a month ago at Mt. Silver and Mt. Coronet. Serena noticed Aaron didn't show up for his press conference and neither did the other wild card winner. She sighed, but at least she would see him battle later tonight.

They finally arrived to the opening ceremonies and watched all the contestants entering the stadium save for the four that would battle tonight as part of the prize the two wild card winners had received for their victories. The ceremony went by quickly and Bonnie and Max were up in the stands shortly with the group.

"Isn't this exciting?" May squealed in excitement. "Iris will be battling shortly and after that Tyson will be up!"

"Yeah I am interested in seeing their battle strategies," Max said with a look of excitement on his face. "After all they are some of the favorites to win the tournament. Tyson in particular."

"Yeah a dragon master will be tough to beat in this tournament," a deep voice from behind them said. The group whipped around to see a man with short, curly brown hair and a tropical shirt that covered a rather large midsection. Sunglasses covered his eyes but a wide smile covered his face.

"Hey Scott how have you been?" Brock asked the talent scout.

"I have been good. The Battle Frontiers have been keeping me busy. And how are the two tournament participants fairing?" He asked turning to Bonnie and Max. "I hope the accommodations are to your liking."

"They're awesome Scott," Max said enthusiastically. "Silph has really pulled out all the stops for this one! I even heard that all the Champions from the various regions were invited to watch!"

"That is true Max. I am actually sitting with them up in a box," Scott said pointing to a large suite located up from where the group was sitting. "I saw you guys down here and decided to pop by and say hi. Hey would you want to come by and watch the first two matches with us? There is plenty of room."

The group agreed and eagerly got up and headed towards the box.

•••••

Up in the presidential box stood five champions towards the back while two figures in lab coats sat near the railing anxiously waiting for the first battle.

"So what region do you think will take home the trophy," a man with red hair and black cape asked. Lance was the champion of both the Johto and Kanto regions and was world renowned for his dragons and his work with the G-men.

"Who knows, we have to wait and see the drama unfold before us," a beautiful women in a white jacket with a white shirt and shorts underneath state. She was Diantha, famous actress and champion of Kalos.

The champions of the regions saw the tournament as a way to one up each other. To have a trainer defeat the best the other regions had to offer would certainly make the champion from that region look good. They all pondered their top choices they had hand picked. Alder sought out the newly minted dragon master Iris, he had confidence her fierce dragons would be no match for anyone else in the tournament. Diantha looked to the young Bonnie as her top pick. While it was true the coordinator/trainer did not have as much experience as others in the tournament few had the strategy the young girl possessed and that would aid her in the later rounds when there was little time between matches. Cynthia felt as if she had a plethora of choices but her thoughts came to rest on Paul and Tobias. Both trainers had won the Lily of the Valley Conference and had only gotten stronger; they were now able to actually stand up against the Sinnoh Elite Four. Wallace didn't have to think to hard about his selection. Tyson and Max Maple were easy choices. Tyson had won multiple Conferences and Frontiers and seemed to be the tournament favorite as he had the most experience in the competition and Max was proving his strategies couldn't easily be beaten. Finally it was Lance who found a wide range from which to choose. He could go with either Ritchie, who had surged to the top of the charts in the last two years, or Jon Dickson who always pushed the Johto Elite Four and him to the limit each battle.

The five champions were deep in thought when they heard a door open and saw the final "champion" walk in. He was a champion by title, but they all looked down their noses at the leader of the Orange Crew, Drake. The calm man walked in with a black, sleeveless jacket unzipped to show off his pokeball necklace. His black hair was spiked every which way. The rest of the champions looked on with smirks across their faces.

"Well well well nice of the great Drake of the Orange Islands to finally bless us with his company," Wallace sarcastically said while gesturing with a wide sweeping bow to Drake as he passed him.

"Can it Wallace I am just here to watch the trainer from my region battle," he said while keeping his eyes on the arena below, ignoring the stares he was getting from the rest of the group.

"You are lucky to even be here," Cynthia commented. "Initially no one from the Orange Islands even made the first cut to be chosen for the tournament. You should be glad one of the trainers from your region even made it through the wild card tournament."

"Lucky me," Drake said dryly. He knew they were right. The Orange Islands were more of a tourist destination than a region to train for battle. He and the Orange Crew had worked hard to promote pokémon training on the islands, but when it came time for challenges they found most of them came from people passing through on their way to one of the six major regions. Still he had held his spot longer than anyone else in the room only losing to one challenger.

"If I remember correctly haven't you also lost before to a challenger? That in itself should prove that you don't belong here," Lance pointed out. The comment made Drake shiver and tense up. He gritted his teeth as he chose his next words carefully.

"You are right, I did lose to a worthy challenger," he slowly spat out. But with a smug look on his face he finished his thoughts. "One mister Ash Ketchum."

At the mention of the name the group fell silent. Each felt a tinge of regret for pushing the champion as far as they did. Each one of them reflected on their own experiences with the young man and the many adventures they had with him.

Cynthia finally spoke up, ending the silence. "He would have made a great champion."

"Indeed," said Wallace as he looked toward Drake. "One of us at least would not be standing here today if it wasn't for that tragedy 5 years ago. Of this I am certain."

"You're right Ash had some guts didn't he?" Alder said with his eyes to the ground.

"Yeah that Ash always had a plan up his sleeve," this was followed by a laugh from the doorway. The group turned to see Scott accompanied by Ash's past traveling companions.

"Ah Scott good to see you!" the voice came from the older of the two figures in lab coats from the seats in front of the champions towards the arena. The voice came from the great Professor Samuel Oak with his grandson Gary sitting next to him. "Please come in. The first battle is about to begin."

The mass of people that had culminated in the presidential box ran over to their seats as they looked towards the field as the announcer began to speak across the speakers.

"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE POKEMON MASTER'S CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT," the crowd roared with excitement. "AND NOW INTRODUCING THE FIRST COMPETITORS. . . ."

•••••

The sound of music could be heard throughout the halls of the lower section of the stadium. The assistant ran to where the music was coming from. Once he arrived at the door he gave a tentative knock. "Aaron Tajiri, your battle is about to begin," as the man said this he noticed the music didn't stop. He continued, "Please the higher ups would not be happy if the first battle were to start late. It is already dark out."

Inside sat Ash with his two pokémon. He paid no attention to the knocks, he knew what they were about, but he continued to play the song. Once done he slowly rose. He felt a burning fire in his gut that slowly spread to the rest of his body, he was ready. Without saying a word he stepped out of the room and towards the platform that would take him up to the arena above.

He took a look around and lowered his head as the platform began to rise.