Pokemon Quest

With everything good and peaceful in the world again, Nathan, Dana and Jason were almost at Excel City. It was just another day now. This was where the Ultimate Pokemon challenge would be held, and with no more gym battles to fight, there were no more distractions.

"I still can't get over it," Jason said, looking at Dana who had Victini out, the legend rubbing its cheek up against hers, "Seriously, Jack catching a Zorua is weird enough, but a legendary Pokemon just letting you catch it? It boggles the mind!"

Dana giggled and replied, "Somebody's jealous," as Nathan shrugged, replying, "He does have a point. Victini must REALLY like you to let him be his master."

Victini simply curled up against Dana's cheek some more as the girl giggled more, pretty much ignoring what the boys were saying now. Either way, things had certainly turned out for the best. Team Shadow was finally done for, the Unova Core was restored, the legendary dragons were free and everything was as it should be.

While Nathan and his friends continued their travels, David walked over to Sabrina's cell, the woman looking up and asking, "What is it?" David letting out a sigh and replying, "Alright, the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge is coming up, and as you know, all of us gym leaders have to attend this. I was wondering if you'd like to come," Sabrina's eyes sparkling as she said, "Yes, I'd love that," David nodding before opening up her cell and handcuffing her to him saying, "I trust you to behave yourself, but I gotta take special precautions or else it'll cost me my second job. Despite our high statuses, gym leaders don't make much."

Sabrina nodded in understanding as David smiled, walking her down the halls before sending Hydreigon out, hopping aboard and taking off. Sabrina did her best to hang on, clinging to David for support as the man rolled his eyes, smiling all the while.

Yae was also packing to go as she was to be one of the announcers. Much like in the Celtia region, she was going to be doing this with one of the nurses. It was this rule that allowed Professor Moro to meet his darling wife, Nurse Boredom.

Jack had actually managed to beat Nathan and the others to Excel City, a first for him. As he walked through town, his Samurott by his side, he grinned happily, knowing now was his chance to publicly humiliate Nathan. Despite turning over a new leaf, he hadn't quite let that go.

That night, Nathan and his friends camped out under the stars, Jason preparing dinner as he set down a bowl of noodles in front of Carmen and Mighty, having them both sit at a stump across from each other while the boy sang, "Love is in the air tonight, everything just seems so right," winking at the two as Nathan and Dana rolled their eyes.

"Love is everything, you see, to be together is what everyone should be..." he added before snapping his fingers and winking at the monkeys and taking his leave, the two chuckling a bit before eating their noodles.

Dana looked rather nervous while eating as Nathan patted her on the shoulder saying, "You'll be fine, okay?" Queen all the while rubbing the girl's shoulders as she said, "I'm mostly nervous about having to go up against you."

Nathan then gave the girl a stern look and replied, "Dana, it's a competition, okay? It's best not to think about friendship at a time like that. I'm not going to hate you if you end up beating me, okay?" Dana breathing a sigh of relief saying, "That's good."

After finishing dinner, Dana smiled warmly at Nathan, her cheeks turning pink. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about him, how he'd mostly opened up to her, the way he cared so much about beauty... she was starting to see Nathan differently from how she did before, but she didn't know how to describe it. She figured it was probably nothing while she finished off her dinner, wishing everyone goodnight and heading off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in a hotel within Excel City, Jacob was on the phone as his Pokemon were out enjoying dinner, Floatzel all the while harassing the room service woman, Izy pulling on her ear and dragging her back toward her food. Jacob was on the line with his mother back in Redwood.

"I'm fine, mother," he said, rolling his eyes, "I'm in one piece," the woman sighing and replying, "I know, son, but I just wish you'd stop going out and fighting dragons," Jacob remarking, "That's only happened twice, mother."

"Still, that beast Giratina killed your father," the woman replied, "I don't want the same happening to you, sweetie. I'm just worried, it's a mother's job," Jacob nodding and saying, "I know, mom."

After a little more conversation, Jacob wished his mother a good night before hanging up, then returned to join the others. Naturally, he was going to be an audience member for the Pokemon Challenge.

The following morning, Nathan and his friends finally arrived in Excel city, their eyes going wide and sparkling at the sight of it. This was hands-down the nicest place they had been to. The buildings were brightly coloured as opposed to being mostly grey or white and there were three different theatres just for Pokemon to act. There were also two for humans and one for movies.

Along with that was the biggest mall the group had ever seen. It was seven stories high and three times the width of the last one the teens had been to. There were also all kinds of shops and restaurants and all sorts of things. They even had an amusement park of all things, something Nathan had only heard about but never actually seen.

But the one thing Nathan and Dana cared most about was the big stadium in the centre of Excel City, an enormous building with a sunroof over the battle area, which was also quite big.

With that, the two headed toward the stadium for registry as a young woman looked at their badges and said, "Excellent, you two are approved. Come back tonight and I'll give you your room numbers. The competition officially starts tomorrow."

Jason then grinned and rested his hands on his friends's shoulders before saying, "Well, everyone, you heard the lady. We still have all day until we can worry about the tournament," Dana giggling and replying, "Yeah, let's go have fun!"

Just as the trio took their leave, Jack was wandering around and passing by the place, already having registered and noticed them. He simply grinned wickedly, glad to see Nathan had arrived. There was no way he'd enjoy this tournament without a chance to show his rival up.

For the rest of the day, everyone simply had fun. They went to the mall for a bit, checking out all the stores, Dana looking over a bunch of things before ultimately buying one of the cheapest things there, a rubber band just so she could put her hair in a ponytail. Nathan and Jason dared not question this as they were just glad she hadn't gone too far with her spending.

Nathan, on the other hand, bought a few things for his Pokemon. He bought Sammy a cool golden wrist band, but it wasn't made from real gold. Those were too expensive. For Hanzo, he purchased a fighter's headband, the bug really wanting it, figuring it would look intimidating. For Celeste, he bought a flower for her head feathers, and also got Wilbur a spiked collar. Zelda already had her shining stone, so he got nothing for her, and Toby didn't want anything.

After the mall, the group went out for lunch then to the amusement park. While there, Jason insisted that Carmen and Mighty go down the tunnel of love as Steve smacked his forehead, rolling his eyes. This was starting to get embarrassing.

Nathan, meanwhile, got on a roller coaster with Dana and looked at it saying, "This looks interesting..." Dana giggling and saying, "If you get scared, you can hold onto me," the two getting on.

As much as Nathan tried to hide it, he really was scared the minute the coaster starting speeding down the tracks. He then found himself holding on tight as Dana squealed excitedly, loving the momentum. As soon as the ride stopped, Nathan was trembling, his eyes wide open as Dana giggled at this, sitting next to him on a bench.

After the amusement park, Nathan figured he may as well reveal his love of musical theatre, inviting the others to watch his Pokemon perform in the musical. Dana decided to have hers audition as well, Jason rolling his eyes and refusing to let his monkeys join, despite Mighty and Carmen actually wanting to be a part of this.

By the end of the play, Jason had tears in his eyes as he clapped the hardest. It seemed this play had made him appreciate musicals more.

With that, the trio returned to the stadium before Nathan noticed Jacob and Izy nearby, waving as the two waved back, walking over as Jacob asked, "So, you join the tournament yet?" Nathan nodding and asking, "Are you participating too?" Izy shaking her head and replying, "Oh no, we're just spectating."

"That's awesome!" Dana squeaked as Jacob said, "We'll be cheering for you guys," before Jason asked, "So... where are your lesbian friends?" Izy shrugging and replying, "Knowing Anna, she's probably off buying flowers or something."

Lucario was examining someone else's Venus fly trap all the while, the owner currently too distracted to notice as the fly trap bit Lucario's nose, the dog force-palming it into submission before strangling it. Seeing this, Jacob sighed and whistled, the dog running over as the owner of the fly trap turned around, gasping at its condition.

"Well, good luck, you guys," Jacob said as Nathan and Dana headed toward the stadium saying, "Thanks," before Dana squealed, "Jinx! You owe me a soda," Nathan rolling his eyes as Jason joined them.

With that, the teens were given their rooms save for Jason. Since he was just a guest and not one of the participants, he had to choose a place to sleep outside of the rooms. He was okay with it, so it wasn't an issue or anything.

Another big shocker came up when Jacob and Izy were just about to enter their hotel room when they noticed a certain blond-headed woman there tucking a baby in, Jacob narrowing his eyelids asking, "Roxanne, what are you doing here?" Roxanne looking up and smiling before squealing, "JACOB!" hugging the man as Izy scowled, snapping, "Back off, he's mine!" Roxanne letting go and laughing, "Oh, Izy, you're so funny," Izy blinking in confusion. It wasn't as if she was joking when she said that... completely.

Roxanne then proceeded to explain how Anna had told her all about their vacation and how the next Pokemon Challenge was coming up. Since Roxanne had missed all but the final round of the last one she'd been to, it only seemed necessary.

"I'd be pissed off right now, but honestly, I'd much rather have Rachel in my care right now, so thank you," Jacob said, bowing his head as Roxanne smiled, standing there silently until Jacob narrowed his eyelids, pointing toward the door and saying, "Now get out and rent your own suite," Roxanne then winking and saying, "Oh, I getcha," exiting the room as Jacob slapped his forehead, Lucario clinging to his leg all the while. No matter how many times he saw that woman, she still scared him.

The following day, the stadium was now packed to the brim with citizens. As a reward for helping in the battle against the legendary dragons, Jacob, Izy, Janette, Anna and Jason were given front-row seats. The battle area was quite big as well, a green field with spray paint forming a Pokeball shape on the ground. Here, the trainers participating, in which there were more than one hundred, were standing in wait for the big announcement.

Professor Yae proceeded to approach the podium, standing behind it and tapping the mic as it released an annoying high-pitched sound, everyone shutting up and covering their ears as Yae smiled with pride saying, "Now that I have your attention, I, Professor Yae, have a few things to say."

The people then uncovered their ears as Yae cleared her throat before saying, "Welcome, everyone, to the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge! You have all come a long way and fought many battles, and after all that, your efforts are finally going to pay off! In this challenge, all of these fine trainers will be competing to see which trainer is the best this region has to offer!"

"That'll be me," Jack mumbled to himself with a grin as Yae continued, "Now, unlike most tournaments, this one will be a bit different. Rather than just having a bunch of straight battles, we will instead be narrowing down our numbers with a series of different events," the crowd now really interested.

All the while, Moro watched this on his TV at his lab while eating chips and asking, "Now why didn't I get this much attention when I made this announcement?" Boredom rolling her eyes and replying, "It's because you don't have these, that's why," pointing at her chest as Moro scowled at his wife.

Yae then continued, "We will start things off with sporting events that the Pokemon will do. We will continue to do this until the number of participants left is twelve."

"Twelve?" Nathan asked, another trainer stating, "But that's not divisible by eight. That won't make the numbers any easier to work with."

A bunch of others started talking about as even the audience was discussing it, Yae rolling her eyes and tapping the microphone again, everyone stopping at the sound of that annoying screech as the professor whistled before putting on an innocent smile and continuing, "Once there are twelve trainers left, we will begin the battles segment. But before we move onto any of these events, allow me to introduce my special guests."

With that, a nurse carrying pom-poms and sporting pretty pink hair danced up to the podium before shouting, "THIS TOURNAMENT'S GONNA ROCK YOUR WORLD!" the crowd not even sure how to respond to this as Yae chuckled, saying, "This is my co-announcer, Nurse Pep."

She then proceeded to clear her throat once more before exclaiming, "And now, introducing this region's gym leaders!" the crowd now going wild, Nathan and Dana waving as the leaders all entered. Pamela and Rocky were holding hands while Eric had a nervous look on his face, noticing his wife and daughter were going to be sitting right behind him, the two still not knowing about him joining Team Shadow. Tammy had a nice smile on her face while, Chelsea smiled brightly, waving at the adoring fans. Amanda looked a little nervous, though, as she wasn't used to big crowd of people. However, what intrigued everyone the most was David entering with Sabrina cuffed to him. They could tell by the cuffs she was a criminal, but why would a criminal be with a gym leader for a big event like this?

Max then saw the Elite Four a row back and waved at Melissa, the girl smiling and waving her fingers back as Pamela was the first to go up to the podium as she stated, "Well, you all worked hard getting here! Now go in there and have fun!" the crowd shrugging, mildly clapping just for the sake of common courtesy. This was something people often heard announcers say before track and field in schools, so this was nothing new to them.

Eric then went up and cleared his throat before saying, "Now, my only advice is that you all play fair. No one likes a cheater," the audience once again not caring much for this speech for a similar reason, Rocky going up and exclaiming, "Now remember, hitting your opponent fast and hard isn't all it takes to win! You also need strategy and most of all teamwork and respect for your partners!" some members of the crowd really liking this advice while a small minority considered it absolute nonsense.

Tammy then stood up and sighed, "Well, there is one thing I learned after my sister tragically left this world. It's that if you lose something, you shouldn't spend your whole life dwelling on it. So if you lose a fight in this tournament or don't even make it to the battle portion, don't forget how many you were going up against. Just learn to deal with it and move on."

Most members of the crowd had tears in their eyes listening to this while a small percentage of the crowd found her speech to be the most boring. Either way, Tammy was glad to have said that as she gave her spot to Chelsea.

The girl smiled and waved before saying, "Remember to stay positive no matter how hard things get," getting off as most were just relieved by how short her speech was, Amanda standing up, about to say something but instead wussed out before saying, "Sorry, I've got nothing to add," walking away from the podium while burying her face in her hands, David walking up and saying, "To those wondering about the criminal, don't worry, she's learned her lesson," Sabrina waving while grinning nervously before David added, "Look, even if you don't win, don't forget that you made it this far. That's at least something, right?"

With that, everyone applauded and cheered, the speeches finally over as the first event was just about to be announced. This was a big moment for everyone.