Ash
The first day of the tournament hadn't gone the way I had wanted it to, but I knew that judging the final result just based off the first day wouldn't be right. The tournament had ended a few hours ago, and our entire team - including Zack, who was finally being more sociable - was gathered for dinner.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Serena asked
"It's probably about our placement in the tournament" Gary guessed. "Sure we're in third, but there's three teams tied for second place"
"At least we have points" Tierno pointed out. "Unova and Hoenn haven't gotten any yet, and Kanto is behind us with only two"
"That's because Calvin got beat by Gou pretty badly, and Drew lost again Paul" I said. "Not to mention, Kanto hasn't been able to use Leo and Victor yet"
"The twin masters" Anna mumbled. "They're supposedly the best tag-team in the world"
"We have serious competition in this tournament" Zack said. "Reinhart, Drax, Victor, Leo, and Gou will all be problems to face"
Out of everyone listed, he said Drax's name with a certain sense of hate; I could understand why, after all, he had lost the fight pretty badly, even after doing everything in his power and getting mocked in the process.
"Galar also has the flying-type master, Aero" Clemont said. "I haven't heard anything about him, but that's not to underestimate him"
"There's also Dawn too. Paul said that she was Sinnoh's strongest battler, and I don't doubt it based off the presence she gave off at the party" Serena added
"It makes me wonder what kind of training she went to go so strong so fast" I said
"She probably just went up to a mountain where it was snowing and did some intense stuff" Gary shrugged
The double-doors to the inn opened up, and Professor Sycamore, followed by Jason - this time around, he wore a fiery-red robe that was orange at the cutoff - walked in.
"Hello there everyone" Sycamore greeted. "I just wanted to let you all know, that tomorrow there will be the first tag-team battle, so we'll have to choose who's going"
"It's not only going to be about power, but teamwork too" Trevor said
Gary raised his hand. "Aren't we allowed three sub-ins from non-members? We could just get Jason and Anna for a tag-team, and get a guaranteed win"
"As much as I'd like to fight some powerful opponents, I don't have my power anymore" Jason revealed, shocking us all; he had said it so casually too
"What do you mean you don't have your power?" Sawyer inquired
"The truth is, ever since my last battle against Ash, I've been unable to use Hidden Arts" He admitted, shrugging nonchalantly
"How is that even possible?" Calem questioned. "As far as I know, you don't just suddenly stop being able to use them"
"I'm not sure myself, but if I had to guess, it would have to be some kind of divine punishment" He guessed. "Either way, I came here to talk to Ash about something important"
.
By now, the sun had fallen behind the hills, and the stars glittered in the night sky. Faint thunderclouds floated up above, threatening to zap any brave souls. Jason and I were on the roof of the inn, or in other words: on top of the room connected to the balcony where we reside in the tournament, watching the battles.
"So what's so important you needed me for?" I asked
"You've seen the mark on Serena's hand, right?"
"Yeah. Something about a fairy giving it to her" I recalled
"That mark is a one-way ticket to Fairy Spear, a Godly Art, and one of the seven sacred ones at that" He explained
"Now there's sacred ones?"
"There's seven Sacred Arts: God Sleeper, Fairy Spear, Stardust Breaker, Heaven's Ascent, Seal of God, Soul Punisher, and the Crimson Shield of Azazel"
"So Fairy Spear is one of them, huh?"
"Like I said, you've only got one shot at using it," Jason said, "so don't you think about using it during the tournament, because you'll need it later"
"I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions, but what do you mean by later?"
"X is alive, and he's the one behind the Gates of Purgatory" Jason informed, and I inhaled sharply at the thought. "You've already met two of the gates: Sabrina and Winchester. There's five other ones: fire, water, fairy, electric, and bug-type slayers. Usually when two Hidden Arts users battle, types are neutral, but they don't abide by those rules"
"One of the competitors from Galar, Gou, claimed to be a poison-type slayer who works with ground-types" I said
"Yes, I watched the battle and I could tell it's true. Type slayers are naturally more powerful, and are extremely deadly against the types they're made to counter"
"I thought type slayers were suppose to be evil though"
"For whatever reason, Sabrina's evil, which means that the poison-type slayers would be good"
"Oh, I get it now"
There was an indomitable silence as a shooting star passed by in the sky, sparkling brightly before fading away; the shooting star reminded me of all the fun times I had with Serena ever since I got to Kalos, and I knew that I would want her by my side, especially now.
"That's all I wanted to say for now" Jason said. "Get stronger through this tournament, Ash. Next time we meet, things won't be so good"
.
"Did you guys figure out our tag-team yet?" I walked down the stairs and entered the dining room again
"Not yet" Calem shook his head
"In that case, I have a pretty good suggestion" I said, gaining everyone's attention. "Serena and I can tag-team this one. I'd say we would make a pretty good team"
"But I can barely use Hidden Arts" Serena replied. "I would only hold you back. You and Gary should team up for this one"
"Nah. I have a feeling that you and Ash would make a pretty strong team. Sure, Ash and I have done a lot of tag-team battles, but it might not be enough" Gary said
"So what do you say, Serena? Would you mind teaming up with me?" I asked
"Of course not" She smiled back
"Well then it's settled" Sycamore said. "I'll tell the officials. For now, get some rest. I heard that tomorrow's mini-game will be real interesting for whoever is chosen"
"I hope we're not playing Pandemonium," Gary sighed, "I hate that game"
February 6th / Day 2
"Welcome back everyone, to the second day of the Grand Regional Tournament!" Mr. Simmons said, and the crowd cheered. "Today's mini-game will be Pandemonium! Each challenger will choose, from zero to one-hundred, how many Pokemon they want to challenge. Ten Pokemon defeated will be one points, and additionally, all Pokemon will be ghost-types
Our competitors go as follows: Victor from Kanto, Shaun from Johto, May from Hoenn, Clarisse from Sinnoh, Trip from Unova, Gary from Kalos, Mallow from Alola, and Aero from Galar"
It was also important to mention that Kalos's Champion Diantha and Malva, one of the elite four, would be commentating today.
"So May's here, huh?" I said under my breath
"Do you know her?" Serena asked
"I travelled with her, Brock, and her little brother in Hoenn" I answered
"This is just my luck!" Gary exclaimed. "I should have kept my mouth shut last night, and now, whatever forces compel this tournament have damned me to play this game"
"What? Are you afraid of ghosts are something?" Zack replied
"I am not!" Gary retorted. "I-It's just... just... ok, so what if I am?"
"What's with all the noise?"
From the hallway connected to the balcony, Professor Sycamore entered, followed by Shauna, Miette, and Aria, the Kalos Queen.
"You're here, Aria?" Serena said
"That's right. I thought I would come and support my region after all" She replied
"Someone doesn't want to play Pandemonium" Zack told Miette, who had asked
"If only substitutions were allowed for the mini-games" Gary muttered miserably
"I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, what's the worst that could happen?" Shauna pointed out
"Don't tell me you're going to wuss out and choose only ten ghost-types to battle" Miette taunted
Gary exhaled nervously. "Fine. I'm going to challenge eighty of them, and earn of us eight points"
"That's more like it" Shauna smiled
"Isn't that kind of impossible?" Serena said
"Unbelievable! Both Victor and Aero will be challenging one-hundred ghost-types!" Mr. Simmons announced, and the crowd exploded into cheers
"Oh come on. Fate really hates me, doesn't it?" Gary complained
"Well, Victor's the ghost-type masters, so I didn't expect anything less" Sawyer said. "Aero on the other hand, he's the flying-type master, which means he must be really good with omnidirectional attacks"
After each competitors announced how many they would be challenging, the games began, with Victor, Kanto's ghost-type master - and one of the twins - starting off first; he wore a grey robe, with a darker shade of the color cape.
"You can release all one-hundred at once, that's fine by me" Victor said
"A-Are you sure?" Mr. Simmons. "They would hardly fit in the arena all at once, despite its size"
Victor nodded, releasing his Pokemon: one that I had never seen before. Using the Pokedex, I scanned it. "Dragapult, the Stealth Pokemon. When it isn't battling, it keeps Dreepy, its first stage evolution, in the holes on its horns. Once a fight starts, it launches them out like supersonic missiles"
"Strange. That's a Pokemon from Galar" Sawyer said
"In that case, let the match begin!"
From the lower walls of the battlefield, holes opened up, and a massive crowd of ghost-type Pokemon began to pour in like crazy.
"I'll finish this with one move" Victor said, sounding bored. "Secret Art: Take Over!"
The ground began to shake heavily as Dragapult flew up into the sky, its eyes glowing a bright shade of gray. In an instant, all of the ghost-type Pokemon began to faint, dropping down like flies.
"In one single attack, all of the Pokemon have fainted!" Mr. Simmons announced in shock; the crowd didn't even cheer, as they were also too surprise to say anything
"No, it looks like one lonely Pokemon survived" Victor narrowed his eyes at the Gengar in the center of the battlefield, standing in the middle of ninety-nine other fainted Pokemon. "Dragapult, Ghostly Roar"
Grey, almost transparent, particles charged up around Dragapult, who fired a column of gray energy that hit the Gengar, crashing him against the wall and taking him out in one hit.
"Victor has taken out one-hundred ghost-type Pokemon, earning Kanto ten points!" Mr. Simmons said, and the crowd cheered loudly
"I'm going to head to the cafeteria, I'm still hungry" I said
"Okay then. I'll come and get you before Gary goes up" Serena replied
"Sounds good to me. I can't miss out on that, can I?"
"It'll be quite the show" She agreed, leaning in to give me a quick kiss on the lips before I headed out
"Hey! No PDA!" Gary said
"Shut it Gary" Shauna and Miette replied in sync
Down in the cafeteria, I could still hear the announcements, and Shaun from Johto was going up against forty Pokemon - If you failed to defeat all of the Pokemon you chose to challenge, you would get zero points.
"Hey, Ash!" Koharu called out, walking over
"Oh, hey Koharu. Nice to see you again" I said
"Likewise. What are you doing out here though?"
"I was just hungry. What about you? I guess I could ask the same thing"
"Well, the truth is that I saw you leave the balcony, so I thought I would come and say hi" She explained. "But I've been meaning to ask: what's that transformation of yours with Greninja?"
"It's called Bond Phenomenon. There isn't that much known about it, but it's apparently the seventh stage of evolution" I answered
"I'm aware that there was six, but I had no idea there was seven" Koharu said. "My dad's the top professor in Galar, and even I've never heard of that"
"It was my first time hearing about it too. To be honest, I have no idea how I activated such a rare ability" I replied
"Obviously, it has something to do with you being the water-type master," Koharu pointed out, "but then, how come they all can't do that"
We stayed talking for only Arceus knows how long, until I heard the announcement that Trip - he had been my rival in Unova - had defeated thirty Pokemon, earning Unova three points, which meant that Gary would be next, and that Serena would be coming to get me soon.
"I should get going now. Gary's about to go and face his fears, and I can't miss out on that" I said
"Oh, right"
I stood up from the table we had been sitting and started to head back, when she called out my name again.
"Before you go, I feel like I should tell you something"
"Alright. What is it?"
"I don't really know how to put into words though..." She blushed
"Uh, I think I'm totally lost"
And then, she kissed me, right on the lips.