Even though she was far away, there was no mistaking who Kumiko saw on stage: her childhood friend Aoi Saitou.
Stifling a noise of surprise, Kumiko's mind was set ablaze by this sudden revelation. The last time that she had seen Aoi was almost a year before she started her own Pokémon journey, when her oldest friend abruptly told her that she had to do something important, and so she wouldn't be able to see Kumiko.
During that time, Kumiko had tried to message Aoi on her whereabouts, but all she got were some painfully generic and short replies. After a while, she stopped asking altogether, though the feelings of tension and worry never truly disappeared from her heart.
Seeing Aoi again caused that anxiety to dissipate, but in its place sprang up confusion. Recalling her memories about Aoi, Kumiko remembered that her friend wasn't that spectacular at battling, so something had definitely changed between the time Aoi left and now.
Nudging Reina, Kumiko decided to ask her girl friend (not the other type of girlfriend, she reminded herself) if she knew what Aoi had been up to, as well as who the person standing beside her was. After all, Reina was clearly more knowledgeable about Octiva's A-list Trainers and musicians.
"Who are the two people standing on stage?" she whispered.
"You don't know them?" Reina whispered back with an incredulous look on her face. "They're both part of the Elite Four, and the one with the bob cut is Steel-type specialist Kaori Nakaseko, while the one with braids is Ghost-type specialist Aoi Saitou."
"Do you know how Ms. Saitou became an Elite Four member?" Kumiko was now diving into her main question, hoping that Reina would provide her with details about the events that transpired to cause her friend to become so powerful.
"I'm not sure." Reina answered. "Apparently, all details about her rise to power are kept highly confidential by the League for some reason, so nobody knows much about how strong she is as a result."
"-and that's all the rules for this tournament." Nakaseko concluded, causing Kumiko and Reina to realize that they had missed the announcement in its entirety during their conversation. "Please wait for an hour while the adjudicators create a bracket based on your group's combined achievements to ensure fair matchups."
"Well, at least we get some time to check the rules now." Kumiko panned.
While Reina went off to get a copy of the rules, Kumiko was left standing alone on one of the stadium's balconies as she looked outwards at Minant City's landscape, the highly urbanized environment staring back at her. Wondering when Reina was going to be back, Kumiko breathed out a sigh as she heard a rustle behind her.
Turning around, all that greeted her was a slight breeze whistling as it swept across the platform. Shaking her head and going back to her original position, a sudden clank on the ground made her heart skip a beat. All that Kumiko saw when she looked again was a trash can lid clattering on the ground, most likely knocked over by the gust of wind.
Quietly groaning about all those false alarms, Kumiko looked back at the scenery, only to be greeted face-first by a Banette staring directly at her.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Kumiko's mind entered a state of panic as the Banette simply laughed at her plight, its zippered mouth making metallic clicking noises as it did so. Unable to relax, Kumiko's thoughts were all scattered until she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Kumiko. It's OK now."
Looking behind her, Kumiko saw the familiar face of her childhood friend staring back, a warm smile greeting her as if she had never left. After confirming that Kumiko's breathing had returned to normal, Aoi turned to glance at her Banette, who promptly stopped laughing as its Trainer spoke.
"That was an excellent show you put on there, but maybe it was a little too scary for Kumiko?" she suggested, to which Banette sheepishly rubbed a hand behind its head in response.
'Gah! Aoi, your Banette really scared me back there!" Kumiko gawked. "Was that the same Shuppet that only did lame jumpscares a few years ago?"
Banette was not amused at that comment.
"What, no tears for your old friend?" Aoi teasingly asked. "Just kidding. It's great to see you again, Kumiko."
Kumiko and Aoi embraced each other in a hug, both girls missing each other dearly. After separating, though she was pleased that her friend had returned again, Kumiko was still confused about this entire state of affairs.
"Same here, but what I can't wrap my head around is how you managed to become an Elite Four member." Kumiko noted. "The last time I saw you, you just got your eighth Gym Badge, and you said that it was barely a victory at that point."
"True, but a lot can change in a year." Aoi responded. "It's quite a long story, but I think we should have enough time for it before the invitational starts. I'm sorry that I haven't contacted you much during that time, but I'll explain why that happened."
Aoi was about to start talking again when Kumiko noticed Reina nearby with a sheet of paper in her hand. Kumiko waved her over, and as Reina approached, she got a good look of who Kumiko was sitting with and nearly dropped her paper from shock.
"Kumiko… don't tell me you somehow managed to charm another Elite Four member in an absurdly short period of time?" Reina's curiosity spiked up at just how ridiculous this entire situation seemed to her. "What sort of luck do you have?"
"Sorry, I lied to you earlier." Kumiko admitted. "Aoi and I are actually childhood friends, but I played dumb there just to see if you knew something about her disappearance for the past year, which I knew completely nothing about."
"It's OK." Reina's response seemed pleasant enough on the surface, but while Kumiko had only told a little white lie, Reina was the sort of person to despise anyone concealing the truth from her. However, she decided to make an exception for her special one.
"I was just about to tell Kumiko about why I went off the grid for almost a year," Aoi told Reina. "But seeing that you and her have quite the special bond, how about I tell my story to you both?"
"That would be most welcomed, Miss Saitou." Reina replied. "Being a battle enthusiast myself, I've always wondered why there was a certain part of your past that seemed to be concealed on all official records."
"Please, just call me Aoi. Any friend of Kumiko's is also a friend of mine." Aoi calmly responded. "Now, let's get on to the main point…"
1 year ago…
"Ms. Saitou, please consider our offer. You have nothing to lose here."
The voice of the Elite Four's Haruka Ogasawara rang through the dimly-lit room, even though she wasn't speaking loudly. As Aoi looked around the room nervously, the other two occupants stared at her, one perhaps too intently.
"Well~ Saitou-chan," Asuka Tanaka spoke up, clearly piqued by Aoi's disinterest in the whole matter. "Let's put it this way: it's just a simple infiltration and extermination mission, perfect for someone like you."
"But why me?" Aoi asked. "I'm just a regular Trainer on a Pokémon journey. Couldn't you find someone more competent to do it for you? Maybe a Gym Leader?"
"Ah, that's precisely why we want you." Tanaka smirked. "It's because you were placed on the League watchlist for potential Gym Leader replacements a while ago, so we've already determined you're competent enough. Plus, you're a virtual unknown to the enemy, seeing as you're an ordinary Trainer. If we sent an actual Gym Leader or an Elite Four member there, their cover would be blown quite easily."
"Adding on to Asuka's points, it's because you specialize in using Ghost-type Pokémon." Ogasawara continued on where Tanaka left off. "The region you'll be operating in has a high concentration of Niente gas deposits, which is harmless to humans but fatal to all organic Pokémon. However, since your team is entirely composed of Ghost-type Pokémon, none of them will be affected by the gas, so you'll be able to use your Pokémon normally outdoors."
"You still haven't told me where I'm going or who I'll be facing yet." Aoi retorted. "What if this is all out of my reach as a Trainer?"
"Don't worry. It should be manageable for you." Tanaka seemed confident in her analysis. "You'll be going to the Opéra region, a protectorate of Octiva. It's a region where Niente gas is harnessed and refined into an energy source, so it's of important strategic value. As for who you'll be facing, take a look at these files."
Handing over four manila folders to Aoi, she skimmed through them. "Death... Devil? Aren't they a speed metal band?"
"Yes, though all four members are noteworthy Trainers as well." Ogasawara answered. "We've received reports from informants that they're attacking and stealing shipments of Niente gas, but we can't publicly arrest them since they're celebrities. That's why we need you to take them down covertly and gather enough physical evidence to justify their crimes."
"How strong are they?" Aoi asked. "I mean, running a criminal enterprise with only four people? That must take a lot of power to do."
"Based on past records, we've confirmed that their leader 'Catherine' is the strongest, about on par with a Gym Leader." Ogasawara affirmed. "The other three are slightly below her in strength, so you should track them down first before confronting 'Catherine' to get a good feel for how strong they are."
"And if I do all this, you'll allow me to become a Gym Leader?" Aoi asked. Now that her end of the bargain was laid out in detail, it was time for the League to uphold their own.
"Precisely!" Tanaka exclaimated. "If you succeed, that is. There's a low chance of failure for someone as competent as you, but provided that you meet our demands, we'll waive all the other requirements for becoming a Gym Leader."
"...I'll have to consider it for now." Aoi concluded, then stood up and politely bowed. "Thank you two very much for having me here."
After Aoi left the room, Tanaka smiled. "She'll be back. I'm sure of it."
"How do you know, Asuka?" Ogasawara was reticent. "Don't tell me it's because of your intuition again."
"Any Trainer worth their salt can't turn down an offer as lucrative as this." Tanaka replied. "Besides, who doesn't love a good challenge?"
2 months later…
Aoi was struggling to catch her breath. After nearly a month and a half of scouring the Opéra region, she had finally managed to corner all four members of Death Devil in a warehouse near the largest city's outskirts containing the stolen barrels of liquified Niente gas. Managing to defeat all of them by the skin of her teeth, she was relieved that her journey was finally over.
However, as she looked over at the leaders of the disgraced rock band, Aoi could see that their leader 'Catherine' was smiling evilly at her.
"Heh heh heh, young miss." the leader laughed. "If you're here on behalf of the Pokémon League to retrieve the barrels of Niente gas, then you've come to the wrong place."
"Then explain those barrels over there!" Aoi demanded.
"Those were just the surplus we had left after transferring the rest to different points for pickup." the leader explained. "But seeing as you've exposed us, then we've now got no choice but to rely on our contingency. Ta ta!"
Before Aoi could ask further, a machine connected to the barrels of Niente gas started whirring, and the four members of Death Devil were Teleported away to parts unknown. Gnashing her teeth at what happened, Aoi was about to storm out of the warehouse when all the lights inside went out.
Running outside to see what had happened. Aoi could see that the area around her had gone completely dark, with the only natural light being the moon and stars. About to return to her hotel to report on her failure, she then noticed the sky above her starting to get brighter.
Looking up, Aoi saw massive wormholes appear all over the region's sky, including one over the city she was in right now. As she became transfixed by their illumination, objects began falling from them. Upon closer observation, Aoi realized that it wasn't some junk crashing down, but hordes of Ultra Beasts descending onto the region.
From a news report she had seen a few years back, Aoi remembered that a similar incident had occurred in Alola, where the supposedly benevolent Aether Foundation had caused the extradimensional Ultra Beasts to appear from wormholes and terrorize the entire region, which was thankfully stopped after a short while.
However, Opéra wasn't Alola. The lethal Niente gas had prevented any sort of Pokémon habitation on or near the region, which meant that there were no natural wild Pokémon, and none of the local population were comprised of Pokémon Trainers. With no way to contact the outside world thanks to the power outage, Aoi was starting to realize how desperate the situation was, and what Death Devil's contingency consisted of.
As the first explosions started to ring in her ears, Aoi could only say two words. "Oh, fu-"
12 hours later…
All six of her Pokémon completely exhausted, Aoi looked on at the three Nihilego they had just managed to beat with brute force. After evacuating the nearby residents to a hotel, Aoi confronted the Nihilego destroying the area with their acid in a gruelling nine-hour battle that left the surrounding blocks completely wrecked.
Knowing that the Nihilego would eventually get back up and resume their havoc, Aoi needed a way to completely restrain them. Seeing as there were no Pokémon in the region, buying Pokéballs was not an option. However, Aoi recalled something she had seen in the warehouse that could provide the solution.
Running back there with what little remained of her stamina, she looked around the room to confirm her suspicions. Going over to a cardboard box marked with the Aether Foundation's logo, she tore the top open to reveal that the entire box was filled to the brim with Beast Balls.
Knowing that they were designed for the sole purpose for capturing Ultra Beasts, Aoi was relieved that at least Death Devil weren't complete idiots with such a destructive contingency plan. Taking three, she went back to where the defeated Nihilego lay, and tapped them with one Beast Ball each, safely capturing them.
Going to the hotel where she had told the nearby residents to go to, Aoi went to the hall where most people were assembled, huddling on the floor as they looked up to her for information on what happened.
"Everyone, I have good and bad news." Aoi announced. "Though the three Ultra Beasts in this area destroyed nearly everything, they were eventually subdued and captured."
Presenting the three Beast Balls she had on hand to the crowd, they all felt glad that the situation was over for now, even when the fate of their homes was uncertain. As Aoi smiled, she felt her legs giving out, and the last thing she saw before everything went black was people rushing to her side.
Once Aoi regained consciousness, she saw that all of her Pokémon were out of their Pokéballs and being tended to by the townsfolk, and that they were currently in what looked like the hotel's presidential suite.
"How… how long was I out?" Aoi asked one of the people nearby, who was currently massaging her Banette.
"You were out for an entire day." the person answered. "During that time, we were attacked 4 times by Ultra Beasts, but the Nihilego you captured managed to repel them from this hotel successfully, so everyone's still safe."
"That's a relief." Aoi replied, taking an energy bar the person handed her and ate it. "But still, I only managed to save this area. I don't know how many more people are scared out of their minds after what happened in the rest of this city, not to mention the entire region."
"We've tried to contact the Pokémon League for help, but for some reason all communication systems are down, and those that tried to leave the region via boat have reported that there's some sort of Psychic barrier preventing them from doing so." The person sighed. "Please, Miss Pokémon Trainer. You're our only hope now."
Aoi stood up from her bed, knowing that she was the only one that could stand a chance. "I'm not the most qualified Trainer to do this, but I'll try my best to make sure that everyone can go back to their normal lives here. You have my word."
2 months later…
Taking a look outside, Aoi took some deep breaths to calm herself. With this successful capture, all of the Ultra Beasts in this city would be subdued at last. Hoping that nothing would go wrong after so many trials and errors, Aoi signalled to her Dhelmise, who used Anchor Shot to hook itself to a building opposite where Aoi was in.
Once that was done, her Runerigus layered two rounds of Toxic Spikes on the floor in front of Dhelmise, while her Dusknoir used Future Sight above that area. Next to Aoi, her Gengar floated alongside her, waiting for its opportunity to strike, and her Drifblim hovered over everything going on, ready to notify everyone present of further developments.
Scanning the area, Drifblim noticed that five Stakataka were coming their way, all of them pursuing Banette, who was dodging in and out of the ground with Phantom Force, taunting the group of Ultra Beasts as it did so.
Confirming that those were the last remaining Ultra Beasts, Drifblim floated down to where Aoi was and flashed its eyes blue. Understanding the signal, she immediately recalled all of her Pokémon present except for Gengar and Dhelmise, who still had roles to play.
As all five Stakataka charged right ahead, Gengar spat out Will-O-Wisp at them right as they tripped over Dhelmise's Anchor Shot, confining them to this area. Falling onto the Toxic Spikes, the Ultra Beasts were burned and badly Poisoned right as Dusknoir's Future Sight hit them.
The circumstances had now turned into a battle of endurance that she would easily win, Aoi withdrew her last two Pokémon and prepared five Beast Balls. Waiting for the Stakataka to faint from all the damage she had inflicted in that short moment, Aoi breathed a sigh of relief.
Hearing a crashing sound, Aoi looked outside and saw that the first Stakataka had collapsed, followed by the other four a short while later. Running outside, she immediately threw the Beast Balls she had on hand at them, successfully capturing the last remaining Ultra Beasts.
Returning back to the borders she had designated for the police to guard during her counterattack, Aoi presented the five Beast Balls she had on hand to the anticipating crowd, who had gathered once they stopped hearing the commotion outside of their homes.
"Everyone, I only have good news to announce." Aoi said with a smile on her face. "After one month of fear, I am pleased to say that all the rampaging Ultra Beasts in this city have been successfully subdued and captured. You are all now free again."
As the crowd broke into cheers of joy, Aoi slipped away in the darkness, knowing that this was only the first step in freeing the entire Opéra region from the clutches of the Ultra Beasts.
3 months later…
"Help me! Someone, please help!"
A mother hugged her young child on the floor as a Pheromosa stared over them, intrigued by this sudden action. As the people in the Opéra region had only associated Ultra Beasts with destruction and little else in the four months since they descended down onto the region, they could only respond in fear when they saw one in front of them, not knowing that they meant no harm.
"Dusknoir, Trick Room!" a voice called out. A sphere of Psychic energy extended out towards the Pheromosa as a pair of ghostly arms scooped up the mother and child, then deposited them outside the strange bubble.
Before the Pheromosa could comprehend what had just happened, it was blitzed by a grey blur zipping around the Trick Room, attacking it relentlessly with Phantom Force from all angles. The Ultra Beast tried to react, but quickly found that even performing the slightest action was now akin to doing it in resin, unable to move freely.
As the mother and child watched on, the Pheromosa was effortly demolished by the mysterious Pokémon, now lying on the floor in a crumpled heap as a Beast Ball went flying towards it, swiftly capturing the Ultra Beast. The Trick Room dissipated as the wraith-like Pokémon revealed itself to be a Banette.
"Everyone, good job!" Aoi congratulated her Pokémon as she looked at the mother and child, who were being guarded by her Runerigus. "Are you alright?" she asked them.
"Yes," the mother nodded. "Thank you very much! You saved us both back there!"
"It's nothing," Aoi replied. Over the past three months, she had went to different cities across the Opéra region, neutralizing and capturing the Ultra Beasts terrorizing the area while gaining the trust of the townsfolk. Slowly but surely, she had made her way around half of the region, creating a 'safe zone' of sorts where life was returning to normal. However, there was still a long way to go before that could be said for the entire region.
Getting the mother and child to safety, Aoi thanked the region's technological advancements for making sure that people could still survive even in this state of emergency. The automated greenhouses and cloning laboratories in each city provided a stable source of food that was directly delivered to people's homes through drones, while the computerized power plants kept most places electrified.
Even in a crisis like this, human resilience always found a way.
Once Aoi confirmed that there were no other Ultra Beasts in the area, she went back to the hotel she was staying in. Tired after defeating a large swath of Ultra Beasts in this city, she just wanted to rest before continuing with what she needed to do. She was still human, after all.
Entering the hotel lobby, Aoi was greeted not by a receptionist, but by someone sitting on the sofa wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit.
Not knowing what to do or think, Aoi was left standing there until the person inside the Tuba-kun suit began to speak. "Ms. Saitou, good to see that you have safely returned."
"Who-who are you?" Aoi asked. Even though she had only told several people in each city her name, there was no one here that asked for it, and travel between cities was near-impossible barring heavy protection.
"I have been watching you." 'Tuba-kun' answered. "Your deeds in this region will not go unnoticed. That is, if you still survive after everything is said and done."
Placing three objects on the table in front of the sofa, 'Tuba-kun' gestured at them. "These are a Key Stone, Gengarite, and Bannetite. While I regret that I was not able to give them to you earlier, I hope that you use them to their fullest potential for what is yet to come."
Before Aoi could ask anything else, 'Tuba-kun' suddenly stood up. "Farewell, Ms. Saitou. All the best towards you."
With that, 'Tuba-kun' stood up and headed towards the lift lobby and entered an elevator, leaving Aoi dumbfounded at what happened. Picking up the three stones to see if it was all just an illusion, Aoi confirmed that everything that just happened was real as she felt the stones' smooth texture as she swished them around in her palm, then looked at them and confirmed that they were indeed real Mega Stones.
Not knowing what else to do with them, she put the Key Stone in her pocket and sent out her Gengar and Banette, presenting Tuba-kun's gifts to them. "So, basically I just got these Mega Stones from a mysterious person wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit. I don't know where they got them from, but I do know they're real, so we should use them to save this region, right?"
Seeing her Pokémon nod at her suggestion, Aoi was relieved. "Well then, let's get some rest. We've still got more people to save."
2 months later…
Aoi stared at the power plant in front of her. According to the sensor she had in her hand, this was the source of the Psychic barrier that had prevented communications between Opéra and the outside world, turning this region into a sealed bubble for nine months.
After managing to defeat the last of the Ultra Beasts two weeks ago, Aoi had discovered that contact with the outside world had not yet been reestablished, since the Psychic shield was still up.
Consulting with the region's experts, Aoi concluded that this barrier must have been established by either an extremely powerful machine or a Pokémon. Borrowing a Psychic energy sensor from one of the scientists, she scanned the entire region until she found the origin of this immense power.
Not knowing what lay inside, Aoi opened the door and stepped in, the ominous creaking noise making her feel uneasy. She trudged through the corridors and followed the sensor's pinging, the machine's noise being the only sound in the cold, dark, and empty rooms.
As she turned a corner, Aoi consulted a map of the power plant on the wall and realized that she was nearing the main reactor room. Hearing the pinging get more rapid, she took some deep breaths to steel herself and gingerly opened the door to the reactor.
Upon entering, all that welcomed her was a behemoth of pitch black.
In this darkness, the being's crystalline body did not reflect any light. Its head had a large protrusion jutting out, with three large spikes on its top. Disproportionately massive hands with three claws each stretched out from its body on twig-thin arms, and its three-toed feet were resting on the ground, clearly exhausted from something.
Knowing that the only way out was either by dying or defeating this monster, Aoi wisely chose the latter option, sending out all six of her Pokémon at once. As they faced the Ultra Beast, its eye suddenly glowed a multitude of colors before it rose up from the ground and roared, sending shockwaves across the entire room.
Bracing herself with her arms, Aoi faced the Ultra Beast and began to give out orders to her Pokémon. "Dhelmise, Anchor Shot!"
Dhelmise shot up and swung its chains around the Ultra Beast's legs before anchoring itself into a nearby wall, severely hindering its mobility. Now that her Pokémon could attack the Ultra Beast directly, Aoi executed the next step of her plan. "Runerigus, Power Split and Guard Split!"
Levitating to where the Ultra Beast was chained, Runerigus cackled as it lashed out its spectral arms around the Ultra Beast, Psychic energy being transferred between them as their overall power was averaged out.
Even as its strength was sapped, the Ultra Beast cried with rage as it shot out laser beams from its eyes, impacting the floor with such force that it even ripped apart the earth beneath it. Her Runerigus barely managing to float down in time to block a shot heading in her direction, Aoi recalled it as she glanced at her Dusknoir. "Curse, now!"
As Dusknoir summoned a stake and impaled itself with it, a similar stake slammed itself into the Ultra Beast, who cried out in pain as its health began to slowly drain. Plunging to the ground, its hands clawed at the puddles of liquified Niente gas as it began to seep into its body.
The back of the Ultra Beast's head glowing a blinding white, Aoi knew that something extremely bad was going to happen if she did not defeat it quickly. Calling her Gengar and Banette to her side, Aoi took her Key Stone out of her pocket and gripped it, sending her thoughts and feelings directly to her Pokémon.
Similar to the Ultra Beast, Banette and Gengar flashed white before Mega Evolving, their strengthened forms gracing the ground with their ethereal presence. Behind them, Aoi felt weak at the knees, the strain of Mega Evolving two Pokémon at once getting to her.
Feeling her strength being drained, Aoi remembered that the reason League rules only permitted Mega Evolving one Pokémon per battle was because of the sheer willpower required of both Trainer and Pokémon to perform Mega Evolution. If the Trainer split their concentration between two Pokémon, their stamina would decrease twice as quickly.
Even so, Aoi knew that she had no other choice other than to perform this extremely risky maneuver. Time was slowly ticking on the clock, and she didn't want to run out of it first. Starting to keel from the intense pressure, Aoi still managed to move her mouth enough to give out commands. "Gengar, Shadow Ball! Banette, Phantom Force!"
As her two attackers swept the Ultra Beast with their powerful attacks, Aoi looked at her Drifblim, who was busy shielding her Dhelmise with its body to prevent the Ultra Beast from defeating it and fleeing the power plant. Knowing that it was getting exhausted from being continuously on defense, Aoi gave it one last order. "Destiny Bond!"
The last of the liquified Niente gas entered the Ultra Beast's body, causing it to illuminate the room with the same white light from the back of its head. Scattering lasers across the room as it expelled excess energy, a stray shot hitting Drifblim as a ghostly energy swirled between them. Finally defeated after standing on guard for so long, Drifblim tumbled to the ground, but its sacrifice was not in vain.
Just as the Ultra Beast seemed to gain control of its light, its body suddenly went dark again as it collapsed, brought down by Drifblim's final move. With one last burst of strength, Aoi flung a Beast Ball at the defeated Ultra Beast. While the ball soared through the air, she recalled all of her remaining Pokémon as she finally fainted, completely exhausted from the battle's strain.
Aoi blinked. The ceiling in front of her was unfamiliar, as with the room's smell. Realizing that she was in a hospital bed, she immediately rose up, but was stopped by a hand in front of her face.
"Uh-uh, Aoi-chan. You've been out for two days now, so you still need to rest." the voice of Asuka Tanaka teased her. "Mega Evolving two Pokémon at once? I'm surprised you still managed to survive after that."
"Ms. Tanaka? Why are you here?" Aoi asked. "Did the Psychic barrier around the region disappear? Are the people safe?"
"Wow, you've only been awake for thirty seconds and I get all these questions hurled at me." Tanaka dryly remarked. "Let's start from the beginning."
"After you defeated and captured the Ultra Beast in the power plant, which was a Necrozma, the Psychic barrier suddenly disintegrated, pinpointing the cause on Necrozma." Tanaka answered. "Immediately after communications were restored, teams of rescuers began Teleporting into the island, only to find that there were almost no casualties from the Ultra Beasts during the entire nine months."
"Asking around, we found out that you were responsible for pacifying the entire region over this course of time, and by triangulating where the Psychic energy was coming from, we were able to locate and rescue you before you died from a lack of brain activity." she continued.
Seeing Aoi's worried reaction, Tanaka laughed. "Don't worry. Your Pokémon are all fine, but due to fighting the Ultra Beasts so much, they seemed to have absorbed some of their extradimensional energy according to our scanners, making them permanently stronger than normal."
"Which brings me to my main point." Tanaka concluded. "One of the Elite Four resigned a few weeks ago to further his career as a percussionist. In recognition of saving the entire Opéra region from the wrath of the Ultra Beasts and defeating Necrozma, you, Aoi Saitou, are eligible to be an Elite Four member without further consideration. Do you accept this offer?"
Hearing that last part, Aoi fainted again for the second time in two days.
"Oh dear, I may have overdone it." Tanaka sighed.
"And then what happened?" Kumiko asked.
Aoi laughed. "Well, obviously I said yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here, but for the next three months after that I was busy with the Elite Four induction and training stuff, so that's why I couldn't contact you even after I left Opéra."
"I may already have said it for the second time, but welcome back, Aoi." Knowing the real reason behind her friend's disappearance and the sacrifice behind it, Kumiko was glad to have her friend back.
The two friends hugged each other, but Reina interrupted them after a while. "I hate to break up this reunion, but the matchmaking results are going to be announced soon, so we'd better get going."
Slightly embarrassed about forgetting her duties, Aoi abruptly broke off her hug with Kumiko. "Oh, that's right! I lost track of time there! Sorry about that!"
Waving to the two girls as they left, Aoi called out to both of them "Good luck in your battles!"
Assembling at the stadium's pitch, Kumiko and Reina looked at the gigantic display in front of them, where the results of the personalized matchmaking were going to be displayed. As the timer ticked down in front of them, Nakaseko stepped up with a microphone in hand.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting!" she announced. "And the first opponents you'll be facing are-"
Gesturing above her towards the display, Kumiko saw her own name and Reina's paired together, and made a face of both disgust and shock when she noticed who they were up against.
"Geh. Shuichi?"
A/N: With this chapter, I think I'm the first Hibike writer to publish a fic (or at least a 5000-word chapter of a multi-chapter fic) about Aoi. Originally, Aoi's backstory was going to be a throwaway line said by Reina to Kumiko as a justification for how Aoi became so strong (which some of you might also be wondering about), then the tournament would begin. However, the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became, so I decided to expand her backstory into a full-length chapter.
Funnily enough, Aoi is also the first character to have a Pokémon from the eighth generation/Sword and Shield, in the form of Runerigus. Originally, I had planned for her to have a Cofagrigus, but after seeing what Runerigus looked like, I thought that it had a better design, so I swapped it out with minimal issues. Besides, the Ground-type allows for more interesting battle strategies.
Now on to the bad/good news. I will be taking a one-week break (again), but this time because I am going on a trip to Japan with my family starting tomorrow. More specifically, the places I will be going to include Kyoto and Uji, so I will (obviously) be doing a Hibike pilgrimage. If you want to follow my journey to Uji, you can check my Twitter ( tekketsu08) during the next week.
Assuming that everything goes as planned, the next chapter will release on December 26th (Boxing Day), though I am aware that it will be Asuka's birthday (and Christmas) the previous day, so if there is high enough demand, I will post a special Asuka chapter, just like the one for Nozomi previously.
Anyways, now that I'm finished with all my notes and announcements, here's three lines from the next chapter to keep you hooked.
Seeing the predicament they were in, Reina forcefully stomped on Shuichi's foot after she sat down.
"You fell for it, fool! Thunder Cross Split Attack!"
"A Thunder Stone?" Reina questioned.
Stay tuned!