The Ultimate Tournament starts tomorrow, Marth thought.

He had already gotten ready for the day and was walking down the stairs into the kitchen. The first round of the Ultimate Tournament started the very next day. Marth's fight was still a ways off, but he worried who his opponent would be. He had trained extensively, but he didn't want to wind up fighting a foe that could crush him in seconds.

He turned into the kitchen and found most of the fighters sitting at tables. Marth grabbed an apple and a glass of water and sat down at Roy's table.

"Are you okay, Roy?" Marth asked.

The teenager looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. Clearly, he hadn't slept a wink. "Oh, man," he said, rubbing a hand over his eyes, "I don't even remember half of what happened to me yesterday."

"So, no more coffee?"

"Heck no," he said, glaring at Marth. "The stuff is too good to give up. But I'm not drinking twelve cups next time."

"Let's just stick to one," he said, nodding.

As breakfast went on, the rest of the fighters came downstairs. Roy had decided to get a cup of coffee, but he drank it cautiously. Marth was ready for the hyper-lunatic Roy that he had seen yesterday, but fortunately, Roy drank it in moderation, just like Samus suggested, and retained his sanity.

The Meeting Signal started flashing and beeping. Groans and grumbles came from some of the fighters, who hadn't even had time to dig into their food, but everybody got up and wandered over to the Meeting Room. This was, no doubt, about the tournament.

"Is everybody here?" Master Hand asked rhetorically again. "As I'm sure you know, the Ultimate Tournament starts tomorrow. There's a bit of information regarding this. First of all, a clarification on the rules: One life, no items, and your arena will be selected at random. As there are twenty-four fighters in this tournament, the second round will have twelve, then six, and the last round will have a three-way battle between the three semifinalists. The one who comes out on top then wins a million Smash Coins." Everybody knew that already. "Secondly, there should be no battles today. I know you all would like to prepare for the tournament, but we can't afford somebody getting themselves hurt by accident and kicked out of the tournament." A few people groaned. "And finally, you all should probably like to know who you'll be going up against."

A mechanical arm extended out of a wall. It was holding several dozen sheets of paper. Master Hand told them all to take them, then open them up and look at them. Marth opened his up and saw the names of all twenty-four fighters split into twelve groups. What looked like a blocky, lopsided C connected one fighter to another. A line extended from this, went up, and connected to a network of lines. So, whoever won the battle would move up that line and battle whoever came out on top in the next battle. The order of the battles went like this:

Battle #1: Yoshi/Pichu

Battle #2: Ganon/Jigglypuff

Battle #3: Peach/Ice Climbers

Battle #4: Zelda/Donkey Kong

Battle #5: Young Link/Mewtwo

Battle #6: Roy/Pikachu

Battle #7: Captain Falcon/Link

Battle #8: Mr. Game and Watch/Mario

Battle #9: Marth/Falco

Battle #10: Luigi/Bowser

Battle #11: Fox/Ness

Battle #12: Samus/Kirby

"The order of the fighters' battles and who they were paired with were selected randomly," Master Hand said after a few seconds. "So if you wound up with a fighter you didn't want to battle, then, as they say, tough. You are all dismissed now. When the first round of the tournament is over, you will be given second sheets that show you the progress and who you will be facing then."

Marth read and re-read the list several times. He laughed, cringed, and felt twinges of irony at some of the pairings. The great, evil king Ganondorf was squaring off with a balloon. Zelda, he cringed at; she was facing Donkey Kong? He glanced over at Link, who seemed to be rather concerned about the same thing. Link had mentioned that Donkey Kong was probably going to make it high up there, and there was Zelda fighting him in the first round. And the twinge of irony he felt when he saw Luigi and Bowser fighting each other. It wasn't as ironic as, say, Mario and Bowser or Peach and Bowser, but it was still a little strange.

He paid particular interest, naturally, to his battle with Falco. He glanced up at Falco, who was looking back at him. The bird pointed two fingers/feathers to his own eyes, then to Marth's. Falco was a formidable opponent. He was quick, had these strange things called guns, and was excellent at melee attacks. He was also a little surly and outspoken, so arguments occasionally brewed. Fortunately, his battle was still one of the last battles in the first round, so he had plenty of time to prepare.

--

The day passed very quickly, and soon, the Ultimate Tournament began. Yoshi and Pichu were up first, fighting on the stage Fountain of Dreams from Kirby's dimension. All the fighters watched the battle with amusement, cheering on who they wanted to win. Nobody was all that surprised when Yoshi came out on top; Pichu wasn't one of the academy's best fighters. Its own electric attacks damaged itself and drained its energy. Yoshi was cheered on, declared the winner, and would move onto round two.

The second battle was between Ganondorf and Jigglypuff on the stage Yoshi's Story. Although relatively slow and very lightweight, Marth had learned not to underestimate Jigglypuff just because of those factors. She had many tricks up her sleeve (at least, Marth assumed it was a she, as it sometimes wore large ribbons), and one of her moves was known to KO an opponent in one smooth hit. She could also inflate her body and float similarly to Kirby, so she wasn't knocked off as easily as most fighters presumed. Even so, Marth still wasn't overly surprised when Jigglypuff lost and Ganondorf won. He had fought Ganondorf on occasion, who was definitely a powerful foe.

The third round was between the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Ice Climbers. Marth still wasn't sure if allowing two people to fight as one wasn't cheating, but they couldn't be separated from one another. This battle took place on Dreamland, again from Kirby's dimension; apparently, this stage had once been featured in the First Generation. Peach seemed to pull an unimaginable number of things from nowhere; a golf club, a tennis racket, a frying pan...even her guardian named Toad. None of this was enough to defeat the two Ice Climbers, who triumphed over her and would go onto round two.

The fourth battle with Zelda and Donkey Kong, Link had considered sitting out on. He came and watched nonetheless. The fight was on Princess Peach's Castle. Zelda got some good moves in, like her devastating Lightning Kick, but DK's heavy body, amazing strength, and longer-than-average limbs won him the match. When the match was over, Link went down to talk to Zelda.

The fifth battle came and went. Roy was particularly antsy during this battle because he knew his match was next. One of the members of the Four Swordsmen, Young Link, was squaring off against Mewtwo on the stage Corneria from Fox's dimension. Mewtwo was incredibly powerful; he rarely used his body to attack and instead relied on his psychic power. Mewtwo won easily.

And then it was Roy's turn.

His opponent was Pikachu--no Donkey Kong, no Mewtwo, but still no cakewalk. They had battled on occasion and considered each other to be merely average fighters. The fact that Pikachu could constantly attack from afar and run around at lightning speed--no pun intended--made Pikachu a dangerous enemy.

Their fight was on Pokemon Stadium, ironically enough. Roy warped onto the field, Pikachu on the opposite side, while the other fighters watched from floating stands. Roy turned to look at Marth uncertainly. Marth gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. Roy returned the gesture and turned his focus back to Pikachu.

"Okay, fighters," Master Hand announced in a booming voice, "This is the sixth battle of the first round of the Ultimate Tournament! Whoever wins this match moves onto round two and gets a step closer to that one million Smash Coins and a trophy to be proud of! Cheer on who you want to win, and let the battle begin! Three...two...one...go!!

Pikachu wasted no time rushing up to greet Roy, who wasn't prepared for the sudden movement. The rodent smashed into his legs, causing him to tumble forward. He was then attacked by a stream of electricity from Pikachu's cheek pouches. Now angry, Roy rolled back up and jump-attacked Pikachu, who saw the move coming a mile away and used a Quick Attack to hit him in midair and knock the wind out of him.

Pikachu uses speed to his advantage, Marth thought. If only Roy could realize that sooner...he needs to start feinting and countering with his sword!

Since fighters in the stands were forbidden from shouting advice to the fighters below, Marth could only hope that Roy had mysteriously developed telepathy and could read his mind. Roy was still down, having been hit hard in the chest, but he found the strength to smash Pikachu with his sword as he jumped at him. He flipped back up and began furiously using his Double-Edged Dance, which hit Pikachu repeatedly and sent him soaring away.

"That's it!" Marth shouted.

Pikachu got back to his feet, then rushed towards Roy, rolled around him, and head butted him in the back. When Pikachu tried to jump on him again, Roy kicked him away with his foot and stood back up. He stood in a ready stance, which told Marth that he had some strategy in mind and was wising up to Pikachu's tactics. He ran towards Pikachu, then stopped quickly as the electric mouse dashed at him again. He protected himself with his sword, which Pikachu jumped into without thinking, and countered by swinging his sword. Roy's counter was more powerful than Marth's because of the Sword of Seal's fiery capabilities, but Roy didn't quite know how to use it as well and sometimes failed in his counter.

Obviously, this time, it worked. Pikachu was sent flying and felt off the edge of the stage. He used a Quick Attack to zoom back on and was ready for more. Roy ran towards Pikachu another time, but instead of stopping, he jumped into the air and countered again. Pikachu fell for it a second time and was knocked further off the stage. Pikachu managed to grab onto the edge of the stage. If Roy could knock Pikachu down here, the match would be over quickly. Unfortunately, he didn't reach his enemy in time, and Pikachu got back on with a jump kick and knocked Roy backwards. Before he could react, Pikachu used his Thunder move and rained lightning on himself, zapping Roy, who was nearby, and knocking him off the stage. Roy wasn't quite as good at recovering as Pikachu.

"Come on, Roy!" Marth encouraged. "You can do it!" He didn't want to see his friend lose in the first round. Roy would be crushed.

Roy used his Blazer move and did a fiery uppercut with his sword to propel himself into the air and grab onto the edge of the stage. Pikachu was already there, ready to send Roy crashing to his doom. Roy rolled back on, dodged Pikachu's move, and slammed Pikachu with his sword as hard as he could. Pikachu went flying off the edge of the stage, close to the boundaries that would KO it and make Roy win. He prepared to use another Quick Attack, but Roy saw it coming and leaped off the stage after it.

What he was doing was a risky move. If Roy missed Pikachu, he may very well KO himself, and Pikachu would win. If he succeeded in attacking Pikachu, his enemy would be KO'd before he did, making him the winner. Marth held his breath.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Roy raised his sword above his head, coming closer to Pikach. Marth hoped he understood that Pikachu would manage to use his Quick Attack before Roy reached him. Pikachu launched forward. Roy brought his sword down and crashed it onto Pikachu, who flew farther away and out of the stage's boundaries. Roy tumbled down and technically lost his one life, but he was still declared the winner.

"And the winner is..." Master Hand boomed, "Roy! As soon as Roy warps back in here from his risky move, we will go through the official transition, and he will move onto the second round."

Roy appeared on a floating platform back down onto the stage. Marth could see the relief written on his face.

"Congratulations, Roy," Master Hand said, "you are the winner of this match. You will move onto the second round and have your battle another three days from now. The next match will be between Captain Falcon and Link!"

--

"That was amazing!" Marth congratulated. "Risky and a little stupid, I'll admit, but I didn't know you'd have the timing right for hitting Pikachu in the middle of his Quick Attack."

"Thanks," said Roy.

Pikachu wandered up to Roy, barely coming above his knee. He extended his tiny hand for a handshake. Marth and Roy were wary, because sometimes when Pikachu was angry, he would offer a handshake, then shock the other guy's socks off. Roy accepted it anyway and was relieved when Pikachu left him alone.

"I'll wish you luck on your match," Roy said. "Especially because it's just a few hours away."