The following morning Ash found Hilda with her Eelektrik.
"So, we're making final preparations for the Tournament?" Ash asked, to which Hilda replied "Yep. I think it's time for Eelektrik to become an Eelektross, it's something he wants"
"Cool. Rufflet's nearly ready to evolve into Braviary, so we're probably doing that soon" Ash replied, to which Hilda responded "Cool".
Rufflet planted himself on Ash's shoulder, then spotted Maximus and his Vullaby.
Rufflet and Vullaby lock eyes, they've been rivals since they first met.
"Hey Maximus, part of the Unova League Tourlanet as well?" Ash asked, to which Maximus nodded and replied "Yep, this one I'm going to win"
"You'll have to get past me to do that" Ash replied, to which Maximus nodded, and responded "We'll see. Now come Vullaby, we've got a bit of training to do", and both of them turned away as Maximus headed off.
"Calm down Rufflet, you don't need to worry about that Vullaby, OK?" Ash asked, gently patting the Eaglet Pokémon, which chirped.
"Why are those two so aggressive towards each other?" Hilda asked, to which Ash replied "Don't know. But we'd better go and find a Thunder Stone for your Eelektrik"
"Right" Hilda replied, and they headed out.
Ash and Hilda run into Drayden just outside the trainer hotel.
"Hey, Drayden, Hilda's heading out to get a Thunder Stone for her Eelektrik," Ash said, to which Drayden replied "You know, you don't need to go out to do that. All you need to do is ask me nicely. I've already given one of the other trainers a Sun Stone to evolve their Cottonee, and another one the same to evolve their Petilil into Lilligant"
"Cool" Ash replied, then Hilda looked to Drayden, and asked "Mr Drayden, can I please have a Thunder Stone for my Eelektrik?"
Drayden thought about this for a few moments, then said "Sure, here you go Hilda", and he gets out a Thunder Stone, and gives it to her.
"Thank you Drayden" Hilda replied, smiling. She then added "Eelektrik, let's show them what we can do" and Eelektrik materialised.
"Here you go Eelektrik, a Thunder Stone," Hilda said, smiling, and she gave it to Eelektrik. When he took it, he glowed and grew significantly. the Pokémon gained arms, the little fin on top of the head grows into a fin, and the teeth inside the mouth grow outward. Once the glowing stopped, the new Pokémon called "Eelektross!"
"Awesome, Eelektrik evolved into Eelektross," Ash said, and both he and Hilda got out their Pokédexes and scanned Eelektross.
"Eelektross, the EleFish Pokémon. Eelektross's mouth locks onto its opponents, whereupon it delivers an electric shock." both of their Pokédexes said.
"Cool," Hilda said, and she patted her EleFish Pokémon affectionately, who gave her a big hug.
"Whoa! Hehe, thanks Eelektross" Hilda said. Ash smiled and said "Great to see your Eelektross likes you" before adding to the hug himself.
"Hehe, the bond between a Pokémon and its trainer, truly a special sight. And between two close friends. Reminds me of when I was young" Drayden said, smiling happily.
Once they broke apart, Hilda said "Looks like we're going to have to change your held item" to which Eelektross nodded. Ash added "I was thinking an Expert Belt, maybe?", but when Hilda scanned Eelektross with her Pokédex and checked the moveset, she shook her head.
"Actually, I don't think he needs a held item. Acrobatics does double damage when the user doesn't have a held item. Cool" Hilda said, and Eelektross gave Hilda his Eviolite.
"Awesome, so I now have my team for the Tournament," Hilda said, to which Ash replied "Congratulations, I'm almost ready to go. It seems like Rufflet doesn't want to evolve quite yet, I'm not sure why"
"Maybe because he wants to be in a battle during the Tournament?" Drayden asked, and when Rufflet chirped, Ash nodded, and said "Alright, guess you were right on that"
"Good. Now, I will be setting up the initial outline for the Tournament in an hour, so meet me at the Stadium with the rest of the trainers, alright?"
"Alright" Ash and Hilda both replied, then Hilda asked, "Are the Elite 4 and Champion going to be watching?"
"Of course, they've always been watching these tournaments" Drayden replied, to which Hilda replied "Booyah"
"Heh, cool" Ash replied. They then bid Drayden farewell and headed for a training spot.
The dedicated training spot was actually revealed to be Route 23, and it also turned out that Victory Road wasn't quite ready for release. The trainers who went to train had to take a gondola lift up and down the pathway to Victory Road.
"This is going to be a very interesting Victory Road when it's done," Hilda said, to which Ash replied "Yeah after the old one apparently caved in, they had to make a new one"
"Yeah, from what I've heard, once the Victory Road is finished, it'll replace Route 23 at the future challenges for aspiring Unova League Tournament trainers" came another voice from around them. A look around revealed N.
"N? What are you doing here?" both Ash and Hilda asked, to which N replied, "I thought I'd quickly catch up with you two before your Tournament, to thank you guys for your help against Ghetsis"
"Oh, well thanks" Hilda replied, while Ash asked, "How do you know this Victory Road is going to be the new challenge?"
"Because the caved in Victory Road was the previous challenge for the Unova League Tournament, as you should know Hilda" N replied, to which Hida nodded, and said "I remember Hilbert mentioning a challenge but he never really described what it entailed, I think he wanted to let me experience it for myself"
"That sounds like Hilbert" N replied, and both Ash and Hilda nodded.
When they reached the bottom, N got up, and said "Good Luck" and they departed.
When they arrived at Route 23, they found training getting in last-minute training, including Nate, Rosa and Hugh.
"Hey guys," Hilda said as she spotted the Aspertia Trio, and they turned around and waved back.
"Hey, Ash, Hey Hilda, how are you?" Rosa asked, to which Ash replied "We're doing well. Did you three get through the Route 23 Challenge?"
"Yeah, it was close though" Nate replied, to which both Ash and Hilda nodded.
"Getting in last-minute training?" Nate asked, to which both Ash and Hilda nodded, and said "Just a little, before Drayden's Pre-Tournament announcements"
"Sounds good, we're doing just that" Rosa responded. She then added, "Did you hear the rumours?"
'About what?" Ash and Hilda both asked, to which Rosa replied "I've heard that the trainer who go a long way in the Unova League Tournament, may be eligible for the Pokémon World Tournament"
"Really? That would be amazing if true" Hilda replied, nodding. Ash smiled, then responded "Well that would be amazing, but we don't have any evidence of that being true or not"
"True, but it would be special. The best trainers in the world gather there, from what I've heard" Hilda replied.
"Yeah. I'd love to participate in that one day" Hilda replied. Ash then added "Yeah. So, it's been a lovely chat, but, we have to get to training"
"Oh, yeah, we should too. Nice to talk to you" Rosa replied, and the group head to training.
Once Ash and Hilda finished their training, they joined the other trainers getting into Gondola's back towards the Unova Pokémon League.
"Wonder what the structure of the Tournament will be," Hilda said, to which Ash responded "if it's like the League Tournaments of the other regions, then the Tournament will start with a group stage, which will be a Round Robin format, followed by a knockout stage from the Final 32 down"
"Of course, you've had experience with other Leagues, so you'd know" Hilda replied, smiling, which Ash returned.
After ten minutes, they reached the top and headed for the arena where the battles would take place.
"Well, it's time to find out what Drayden's got planned," Hilda said, to which Ash replied "Agreed, let's go" and they headed back.
With Hilda
Hilda encountered a Golduck and turned to it.
"A Golduck?" Hilda asked herself, grabbing her Pokédex and scanning it.
"Golduck, the Duck Pokémon. When its forehead shines mysteriously, Golduck can use the full extent of its power." Hilda's Pokédex said.
"Oh cool. OK, Eelektross, let's show them what we can do" Hilda called, and Eelektross materialised.
Battle: Golduck VS Eelektross
The Golduck cloaked its tail with water, and whacked Golduck with an Aqua Tail, dealing Minor damage.
"Eelektross, strike back with Wild Charge" Hilda called, and Eelektross cloaked itself with powerful electricity and crashed into Golduck, KO'ing it in one how while taking Minor recoil.
Conclusion: Eelektross wins
"Wow, you're a lot stronger as an Eelektross, that's awesome," Hilda said, and Eelektross cheered happily as she healed him up.
Meanwhile with Ash
Ash encountered a Boufflalant waiting for him, rather annoyed.
"Uh oh. Alright, let's see how tough you are. Emboar, I choose you" Ash said, and Emboar materialised.
Battle: Emboar VS Bouffalant
"Alright Emboar, use Brick Break" Ash called, and Emboar generated a blade of orange energy and struck Bouffalant, dealing Significant damage.
The Bouffalant suddenly cloaked its head in white energy and charged at Emboar with Head Charge.
"Whoa, Emboar, quick, use Substitute, use Brick Break" Ash called, and Emboar barely avoided the charging Bouffalant, using a quarter of its health to put a doll in, which was immediately pulverised, Boufflant taking Slight recoil.
"Now Emboar, end this with Brick Break" Ash called, and Emboar once again cloaked its hand with a blade of orange energy and struck, KO'ing Bouffalant.
Conclusion: Emboar wins
"Alright, that was well done Emboar" Ash called, and Emboar cheered happily. Ash then healed Emboar up.
After a little while, Ash and Hilda met up.
"The Wild Pokémon are definitely good for practising techniques," Hilda said, to which Ash nodded, and responded "Yeah. Emboar and Jellicent both were able to practice their Counter Shield techniques"
"Awesome, Samurott's working on that too" Hilda replied, to which Ash nodded, and said "Great to hear. It'll be something that'll be hard to counter"
"Agreed" Hilda replied.
Ash then added "You know, it's only about fifteen minutes until Drayden's Pre-Tournament meetup"
"Oh right, it is" Hilda replied, and they headed back towards the Gondola, along with the other trainers who had decided to take the hour to do some last-minute training.
Ash and Hilda were joined in their Gondola by Trip, Maximus, Nate, Rosa and Hugh.
The tension between Trip and Maximus was still there, it was evident the dislike between them was still there.
"Why is there so much tension between Trip and Maximus?" Nate asked, to which Maximus replied "Because I don't like Trip's methods of dealing with Neo Team Plasma. Attacking trainers, even lowlifes like Neo Team Plasma, is not moral. We should not reduce ourselves to their level"
"We must do whatever it takes to take them down. And that doesn't just apply to Plasma Scum, but to those Rocket scumbags I've seen around"
This talk made Rosa a bit uncomfortable since she was a former member of Team Plasma. Wrapping a comforting arm around her, Hugh said "N's faction of Team Plasma just want to help Pokémon, they have little except name to do with the Neo Plasma Grunts we fought", but this just got a "hmph" from Trip.
Soon, they all reached the top, and Rosa and Hugh were among the first off.
"What's up with Rosa?" Trip asked, to which Maximus replied "I'm not sure. But I'll show you that stooping to the bad guys' level, makes you no better than them" and he departed, while Ash and Hilda left, and they all headed for the Stadium.
Soon Ash and Hilda were seated in the stands, while Drayden was waiting for everyone.
"Is this where we're going to find out the structure of the Tournament?" Ash asked, to which Hilda replied "I hope so", and once everyone was seated, Drayden started.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Unova League Tournament" and everyone clapped and cheered.
Drayden continued with "You're here because you passed the Route 23 challenge. First off, I must tell you the structure of the Tournament"
"Since there are 84 trainers, you will be split up into 14, 6 person groups for a Round-Robin format, where each trainer will battle each other trainer in your group in either 1-on-1 single battle, 2-on-2 double battle, or 3-on-3 triple or rotation battles. This is designed to test everyone in a variety of formats"
"Is this like in other Tournaments you've been in Ash?" Hilda asked, to which Ash replied "Yeah, but not to that degree, usually it was either single or double battles, but that's it".
Meanwhile, the screen behind Drayden showed off the initial rounds of the tournament.
"The top 2 from each group will go through to the knockout stage, as well as the next four best trainers from any of the fourteen groups"
"So even if we finish 3rd, if we do good enough, we may still get through," Ash said, interested.
"The final 32 will be a traditional knockout tournament until a winner is crowned. That winner will get the opportunity to take on the Elite 4 of the Unova region. But, there's also another bonus for the top 4 of the Unova League Tournament" Drayden said, and suddenly, the attention was absolute.
"What's he talking about?" Hilda asked, and her question was answered when Drayden continued.
"For I am extremely proud to announce, that the top 4 trainers from this Tournament, will get automatic entry into the Pokémon World Tournament, being held in Unova near the end of next yeat" Drayden continued, and the reaction was instantaneous.
"Whoa! I didn't expect that, how awesome was that" Ash said loudly, shocked at the powerful revelation. Hilda smiled, and said "I've only seen the Pokémon World Tournament once on TV, and it's insane how good the best trainers in the world are"
"Agreed" Ash replied. Drayden smiled, and once the reaction calmed down, he said "I hope everyone here puts on a show for the fans, and for the audiences watching on TV. Remember, the Elite 4 and Champion will be watching, as well as other powerful trainers from around the Unova Region. Finally, I also wish you all good luck" and with that, the trainer's dispersed. Ash and Hilda got up and made their way back towards the entrance.
"Automatic entry into the Pokémon World Tournament, how amazing would that be?" Hilda asked as they exited the stadium, evidently extremely excited. A voice chuckled from behind them, and Hilbert approached.
"Calm down sis, you've got to get to the final 4 first. I know you're super excited about it, but you've gotta focus on getting that far first" Hilbert said, smiling at his extremely excited sister.
"I know, but it's so exciting, such an honour, to have participated in that tournament" Hilda replied. Hilbert smiled, then responded "Remember, even if you get that far in this Tournament, you've got a long way to go to take it to the people who compete in the Pokémon World Tournament"
"Why is that? What type of trainers are in the Tournament?" Ash asked, to which Hilbert replied "Gym Leaders, Elite 4 members, Champions, other powerful trainers from across the world. Name the powerful trainer, and they're probably a regular at the Tournament"
"Wow, I've challenged multiple members of the Elite 4 before, so I know how powerful they are" Ash replied, to which Hilbert asked "Oh? And how did you go against them?"
"Lost every single battle I had, though I did hold my own against Agatha and Bertha in 1-on-1 combat" Ash replied, to which Hilda replied "Wow"
"Have you entered the Pokémon World Tournament Hilbert?" Ash asked, to which Hilbert replied "Yeah, the most recent one actually"
"Cool. How did you go?" Ash asked, to which Hilbert replied, with a slight chuckle, "Finished 3rd in the Group stage, but did well enough to get to the Final 64, but I got a taste of the power of the best when I got 6-0'ed by Alder, just before his retirement"
"He retired?" Hilda asked, to which Hilbert replied "Yeah, he's almost 60, that shouldn't be a surprise"
"You were 6-0ed by him. Wow, Alder must be insanely strong" Ash replied, astonished, to which Hilbert responded "Yeah. And he's not the most powerful. The current World #1 is a lady named Cynthia, I don't know if you know her"
"Cynthia's most powerful trainer in the world?" Ash asked, even more astonished. After a bit, he said "Yeah, I actually know her quite well. I knew she was really strong, but world #1? That's awesome"
"Yeah. So, you two gonna make a few final preparations for the Tournament?" Hilbert asked, to which Hilda and Ash both replied "We're ready to go"
"Cool. I'll see you all around" Hilbert replied, and after giving his sister a big hug, he departed.
After they had done a bit more training, Ash and Hilda returned to the trainer hotel.
They were the last to arrive, and they handed over their Pokénon to Nurse Joy.
"Well, this is it. The Tournament starts tomorrow, I assume the groups will be determined then, so we'd better get a good night's sleep, so we're at the top of our game" Ash said, to which Hilda nodded, and replied "Of course. I hope we're not going to be in the same seed"
"Considering the top 2 go through to the knockout stage, I wouldn't be worried about it" Ash replied, embracing Hilda, which she returned.
"Yeah, you're right. I've never been in such an event before, not of this scale, so I'm a bit nervous" Hilda replied, to which Ash added, "It's OK to be nervous. Just, push it out of your mind tonight, it'll affect your sleep otherwise".
Hilda nodded, and once they broke apart, they headed for their separate rooms.