Thank you pokemonking0924 for your review on chapter 12, and thanks to The King of Emerald who is my Beta Reader. I kinda had to force myself to sit down and write this one, and thanks to The King of Emerald offering advice and assistance as I wrote it, it was finally able to be written and get out... now if only he liked YuGiOh, then he could help with the story that needs it the most...

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

Wes:

Nayru the Gardevoir (Friend Ball, shiny)

Faye the Cutiefly (Level Ball)

Zero the Type: Null (Luxury Ball)

Sakura the Milotic (Lure Ball)

Inigo the Torchic (Permier Ball, shiny)

Rose:

Shelgon (Great Ball)

Brionne (Poke Ball)

Rockruff (Fast Ball)

Maple the Pikachu (Love Ball)

Riolu (Ultra Ball)

Salandit (Luxury Ball)

Sunlight peered through the window of the luxurious hotel room, causing Em to stir and awaken from her slumber. The green haired girl yawned loudly, sitting up and stretching, the blue pajamas she was wearing ruffling a bit as her body stretched. She looked to her right, a confused look on her face, as Jason was not in the main room of the hotel room, but the water in the sink was running rapidly, occasionally sounding like it was getting displaced. Occasional muttering could be heard, as the bathroom door was cracked open slightly. Em walked over, her curiosity getting the better of her, and opened the door to find a shirtless Jason splashing water into his face, the counter around the sink soaked with puddles, indicating that he had been at it for a while.

"Are you ok?" Em asked.

"I am just trying to get all the sarcasm I can out now before class," Jason muttered angrily, clearly frustrated. "I don't want to say anything in front of the students."

"And how is that going?"

Jason slowly turned to look at her, beads of water dripping from his face as his eyes became half-lidded in an annoyed glare. "How do you think?"

"Obviously," Em muttered, indicating that her question wasn't genuine, but rather one of a sarcastic tone. "I'm shocked that we're the only ones that seem to know. I mean, it's-"

"Obvious, I know!" Jason finished for her, before dunking his head into the sink that was filled with water, bubbles coming from the basin, indicating he was screaming into the water. He finally lifted up his head, taking a large breath, more water going everywhere, and even now dripping onto the floor due to the overfill from Jason dunking his head into it.

"You can call off?" Em suggested, before giving him a suggestive look. "Stay with me all day, maybe we can go to the beach."

"Kukui would kill me," Jason sighed, finally turning off the water and grabbing a white towel that was hanging on the rack, beginning to clean up after his mess as the water in the sink began to drain. "He's got to 'go run errands' halfway through the lesson after all. He needs me to handle the rest of the 'lesson'."

Em pouted, "Poo. I was looking forward to the beach."

"Maybe another time," Jason stated, sighing as he wiped down his face, reached over to his shirt and pulled it on. "Now, get showered and dressed. We need to be downstairs in an hour to make sure that we can get there on time."

"Yeah, yeah," Em muttered, as Jason walked past her into the main room of the hotel, closing the door behind him. About 45 minutes later, the two more experienced trainers made their way downstairs in the elevator, walking out to see Kukui already having gathered the students, and was talking to them all about the lesson plan for the afternoon. The second Jason saw him, the urge to say something grew within him, but he managed to force it back with a sigh and took his place by the professor's side.

"I want you all to be on your best behavior at the Battle Royal Dome," Kukui was saying, eyeing each student carefully. "And don't expect any of you to partake in any of the matches. I don't think the Royale is going to be choosing just anyone to face him today."

Jason's eye twitched at that, before he blinked and nodded, "Yeah, so no complaining."

"I was fine with not partaking," Juan muttered in a matter of fact tone. "Battles aren't that much of my forte anyway."

"Me either," Lillie and Chloe both agreed, nodding.

Rose and Wes both looked a little sad at the news, but Rose simply shrugged after letting the news sink in for a moment. "It would be a shame not to experience it first hand, but just watching the more experienced trainers participate is probably going to be all we need to do the homework, right?"

Wes simply huffed in response, crossing his arms. "It still bites."

"To be fair, master, we'd get our butts handed to us on a silver platter," Nayru muttered.

"Still, it would've been fun to go head-to-head against the Battle Royale champion himself," Wes pouted.

Kukui waved his hand at that and smiled. "Now, now, Rose is right. All you are going to need is to witness the battles to do your short study assignment, and nothing more. Now, shall we go?"

Everyone nodded, and began to follow Kukui, who lead them all out of the hotel and onto the path that lead out of the hotel gardens and onto Route 6. Instead of heading towards Route 7, like when they were doing the independent study at the volcano, Kukui instead guided them towards a small, town like area, where they could clearly see a Pokemon Center, a few warehouses, and finally a large, dome building. Kukui didn't react to it much, almost as if he had seen it a million times before. The students, much to the surprise of no one, all looked at the place wide-eyed and with awe, with even Em staring in shock at the fact that this region, very mellow everywhere else, would have a grand display such as this one. Jason, who was lagging at the back, looked bored, and was muttering to himself.

"And here we are!" Kukui announced, as they stepped into the small town like area, stopping in front of the Battle Royale Dome. "Royal Avenue! It mostly was just a major street on the way to Route 8, but it's become so much like a small city itself thanks to the Battle Royal Dome."

"I got a question," Rose asked, raising her hand. "Why are Battle Royals so popular in the first place?"

"An excellent question!" Kukui grinned, staring at the Battle Royal Dome with pride. "The Battle Royals began because of our four sacred guardians, who would partake in matches very similar to this one to see who was the strongest among them. We of Alola, to honor and to become stronger and closer to our Pokemon, decided to also take part in this tradition as well."

"How do Battle Royals work exactly?" Wes asked, looking a bit confused. "I get they are four trainers all battling at once, but how does one win a Battle Royal?"

"Well, all four trainers are battling one another at the same time," Kukui stated. "Attacks can be directed towards anyone, but much like a traditional battle, only one trainer can win. A Battle Royal ends when only one of the four trainers are still standing."

"That must get chaotic," Juan sighed.

"It also would be fair to assume that unlike in a traditional battle, it might not be the stronger trainer who would win," Lillie thought aloud. "Cause two or even all three of the other trainers could gang up on a single Pokemon to defeat it."

"That is a fair point, Lillie," Kukui nodded, turning. "And the Masked Royal often has to deal with that in his battles, yet he always seems to come out on top! That's why he is so famous, and a hero to all of us Battle Royal fans, including myself!"

Conceited much? Jason thought, gritting his teeth.

Kukui remained silent for a moment, before suddenly jumping a bit. Everyone's eyebrow raised in confusion, as he pulled out his phone, looking at it for a moment before answering it. "Yes, dear? I am in the middle of class." Everyone watched in a mixture of wonder and confusion, though Jason and Em looked more bored then anything else. A mixture of amusement was written on Em's face, while Jason looked like he was doing all he could to stay silent. Finally, Kukui said something into the phone, and put it back in his pocket with a defeated sigh, turning to his students. "Something has come up. Jason, I'm leaving you in charge of the class! Make sure everything goes according to my lesson plan, ok?"

"Will do, sir, have fun with your excu- emergency", Jason quickly corrected, his eye twitching as he forced a pleasant smile on his face. Nayru turned to him at that, looking at him strangely before turning back to Kukui, who merely gave a wave before running towards Route 8.

"What do you think that was about?" Wes asked.

"It might be important if he is just going to leave out of the blue like that," Rose muttered back, looking worried after their teacher.

"Well," Jason sighed, stretching his neck a bit before looking at the Battle Royal Dome with a bit of distaste. "Shall we go get our seats? Kukui managed to get us front row ones... wonder how he did that?"

"Jay, you're not doing a good job of not being sarcastic", Em muttered, although the bemused smirk on her face said she didn't care.

"He's not here anymore, I'm in charge of the lesson, I'll say what I damn well want", Jason responded, that forced grin still on his face as the two older trainers led the way.

"What is that about?" Juan asked, looking after them.

"I still wanna know how they're a couple," Lillie muttered, following after them, every other student muttering words of agreement as they followed her inside. Their seats weren't that hard to find, as many other people were already in the dome, sitting in anticipation for the match that was going to happen, leaving a large portion of the front row unoccupied, which was a clear sign that is where the students, along with Jason and Em, were meant to sit, the two older trainers in question already sitting down. Minutes passed, mummers of anticipation filling the air before finally the lights grew dark, and silence took over the stadium.

"Alright, Battle Royal Fans, are you ready for a match!?" the announcer screamed into the microphone, his voice booming across the room. Loud screaming from the fans followed this, which caused Chole to cover her ears in pain. "Alright! In the red corner, our champion, our hero, the man with the plan... THE MASKED ROYAL!"

The Masked Royal walked out of the giant Charizard head, a multi-colored horned mask donning his head, wearing black pants, white knee high boots, and missing a shirt. As the fans roared in excitement, Jason signed, the urge to just scream how obvious it was that Kukui was the man standing on stage growing by the second. He turned to look at his students, who all were either yelling along with the crowd, or in Chole's case covering their ears due to the noise. It was at this moment that he noticed Nayru's eyes grew wide as she stared at The Masked Royal, suddenly seeming to realize something. That caused Jason to suddenly sprout a wide, glee filled smile.

"What's with the smirk?" Em asked, as the roar of the crowd died down and she could finally talk.

"Well, Kukui once told me that in order to protect his identity, he trained his mind against the probing of Psychic pokemon," Jason informed her.

"And?"

"Well, I think a certain shiny friend of ours has grown too powerful for Kukui's own good," Jason laughed, turning back to the stage as other challengers came out.

Nayru blinked as she continued to look at the 'Royal', before leaning over and poking Wes on the shoulder. "Uh, master?"

"Not not, Nayru," Wes muttered to her. "Battle battle battle."

"And he's back to being ten," Nayru sighed, shaking her head and shrugging. Nayru looked over at Jason, noting the smile on his face. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?"

"And I thank you for being powerful enough to read his mind and realize it," Jason thought back to her. The battle began right before their eyes at that moment, and true to the word of Kukui, the other three challengers had instantly gunned for him. Despite the exciting match that followed, the victor was a suprise to no one, though everyone cheered all the same. Kukui, in his guise, stepped onto the main battling stage after his victory, his Midday Form Lycanroc by his side, who howled in victory.

"No one can beat the Royal!" he announced, pumping his fist into the air, the crowd going wild at the sight. "Tell ya what? I'll take any three challengers on that think they have the guts to face me! Come on! Who wants to battle!?" Everyone in the crowd, especially Wes, jumped up, waving wildly at the Royal and trying to catch his attention, who was scanning the crowd as though looking for who to challenge.

"No one, huh?" Nayru thought telepathically to Jason. "Why don't you go down there and beat him?"

At that, Jason's smile faded, "Oh, believe me, I'd love to, but one, I got banned from the Battle Royal since I'm technically the strongest trainer in Kalos, and since no other champions are here, it wouldn't be a 'fair battle'", he thought bitterly. "And two... well, why else do you think he's staring up towards the class with that intense gaze towards your master and Rose?"

Nayru blinked at that, before muttering to herself, "Oh no."

"You there!" Kukui pointed directly towards Wes, grinning. "Why don't you come down here with your girlfriend? You two look like you can hold your own."

Different reactions came from this. Wes, on one hand, completely ignored the girlfriend comment, and practically squirmed through the rope barrier so quickly Jason could've sworn that he temporarily became a ghost type. Rose, on the other hand, blushed madly and stood up, screaming something about not being Wes's boyfriend, following after Wes with a glare towards Kukui. Nayru and Maple elected to stay behind, grinning at the comment that Kukui made.

"Now, for our fourth challenger..." Kukui muttered, but suddenly blanked. He did not plan this far ahead.

"I'll take you on!" a voice said, a voice that cut through the noise like a hot knife through butter. All eyes suddenly seemed drawn towards the upper balcony, where Gladion stood, glaring down at Kukui, fury in his eyes. Upon seeing him, everyone had reactions, though Lillie let out an audible gasp, wide-eyed as she stared at him, her lips looking like words were about to form, but were lost. He leapt down from the stands, walking up to the arena, looking from Kukui, to Rose, and finally to Wes, the fury in his eyes increasing. "Me and Null, we got to become stronger... and I also need to confirm something with you, weakling."

"Who are you calling a weakling?" Wes shot back, glaring.

"Alright, alright," Kukui sighed, stepping between them. "Don't talk with your words, talk with your Pokemon. If you want to confirm that Wes is worthy of Null, then he can show you in battle."

Gadion looked at Kukui, shocked. "Wait... how did you know about that?"

Kukui only smirked at that, "Please, I know Kukui very well. I know about all his students."

Yeah you do, both Jason and Nayru thought.

"I also know about you as well, Gladion," Kukui said, looking at the emo looking boy with piercing eyes. "Perhaps this match might teach you a thing or two. I'll inform the announcer of all your names, so we can get started straight away.

"Well, it looks like we got ourselves a match, folks!" the announcer shouted, the crowd once again cheering as Wes, Rose, Gladion and Kukui took their places on the stands outside of the arena, facing one another. Wes and Rose locked eyes for a moment, as if knowing what the other was thinking just then. Gladion was most likely going to gun straight for Wes, and Kukui was most likely going to gun for Gladion to teach him a 'lesson'. A plan was formed between them without a single word, a nod in conformation coming from them both.

"In the red conor, we have The Masked Royal!" the announcer shouted, "Who will be battling with his Lycanroc! In the blue corner, we have Rose! What will she choose?"

"Go, Brionne!" Rose commanded, throwing her Poke Ball into the air. Out from the ball popped the Pop Star Pokemon, who struck a pose with both of her flippers in the air.

"And Rose chooses her Brionne!" the announcer shouted. "In the green corner is Wes, who is holding a Lure Ball, so we might see another water type here folks!"

"Go, Sakura!" Wes yelled, throwing the Lure Ball into the air. Sakura appeared in a sea of sparkles, glistening in the lights that shined on the arena before landing gracefully on the floor. Several girls squealed at this, the beauty of Sakura capturing their hearts instantly.

"And Wes chooses a milotic named Sakura!" the announcer screamed out, trying to get his voice over the crowds cheers and the girly squeals. "And finally, we have Gladion in the yellow corner."

"Null, come forth!" Gladion huffed, throwing the Permire Ball. Out came the beastly creature,who looked mildly annoyed at the many eyes upon him.

"I-I've never seen that Pokemon before!" the announcer gasped. "But Gladion seemed to have called it Null, folks! Now, let the Battle Royal begin!"

"Null, attack that milotic with Tackle!" Gladion commanded.

I thought so, Wes thought to himself. "Sakura, Protect!" A green light barrier surrounded Sakura, which Null slammed into, barely cracking the barrier.

"Brionne, use Scald on Null!" Rose ordered. Brionne took a deep breath before exhaling a torrent of scorching hot water, which slammed into Null, sending the creature flying backwards.

"Don't forget about me," Kukui stated suddenly, pointing towards Sakura. "Use Taunt on Sakura!" Lycanroc howled what sounded like an insult, which Sakura immediately reacted to, glaring at Lycanroc in fury.

"Taunt?" Wes asked, looking confused.

"Taunt makes it so that your Pokemon can't use any moves that aren't an attacking move," Rose informed him. "Meaning that Sakura can't use Protect anymore!"

Wes grit his teeth, "Well fine... I wasn't going to defend again anyway! Sakura, use Scald on Null!" Sakura inhaled, letting out another torrent of water, which slammed into Null. The creature shook it off, before wincing in pain, a large red mark on his neck.

"Ooo, that Scald seems to have burned Null!" the announcer stated, the crowd going wild at the action. "That means that Null will take damage every few seconds, and his attack power is cut in half!"

Gladion glared in anger at this. "Null, use Crush Claw on Sakura!"

"Brionne, Aqua Jet!" Rose commanded. Before Null could charge, Brionne slammed into it, covered entirely in a stream of water. Null was taken aback by this, but still changed, his powerful claws slamming into Sakura.

"What is this?" the announcer exclaimed, looking back and forth between Wes and Rose. "I've never seen two trainers this in sync with one another!"

Kukui blinked at this, looking at the fight before him. "Well, guess we're going to have to remind them we are here! Lycanroc, use Stone Edge... on Null!" Lycanroc roared out, slamming his front paws into the ground, causing blue bolders to jet up from the ground before they slammed into Null, sending it flying into the air before he landed on the ground, knocked out.

"I would've won if you two hadn't ganged up on me," Gladion muttered.

"Keep telling yourself that," Rose snapped at him, glaring for a moment before turning to Kukui, then back to Wes. "Well, now we gotta deal with The Masked Royal."

"But we got double advantage," Wes stated, looking at the field. "We both have a water type compared to his rock type. I think we got this."

"Don't be too sure," Rose stated, looking worried. "He doesn't look worried at all... and don't forget you can't use Protect OR Recover for awhile!"

"I'll be fine!" Wes smirked, staring at Kukui. "You just keep up the pressure and I'll do what I can as well! Sakura, Ice Beam!" Sakura let out a beam of ice, which slammed into Lycanroc. Normally, an ice type move would've done massive damage against a Rock type, but Lycanroc seemed to shrug it off like it was nothing more then a mild gust of winter chill.

"Brionne, you use Ice Beam as well!" Rose commanded. Once again, a blast of ice slammed into Lycanroc again, but once again the wolf Pokemon shrugged it off. Rose grit her teeth at this, "Blast! I thought for sure one of us would freeze it."

"I see that you are attempting to disable my movements," Kukui pointed out, smirking. "Very clever of you two, to go for immobilizing me instead of taking me out with just pure power... however, it all ends in these next few rounds! Lycanroc, Thunder Fang!" Lycanroc's mouth opened, his teeth sparking with electrical current, before he dashed forward with incredible speed, chomping onto Brionne's tail. The sea lion Pokemon's eyes widened, a cry of pain escaping her, before she fell over knocked out.

"Brionne, return!" Rose stated, recalling her Pokemon. "Wes, go for it."

Wes nodded at her, looking down at Sakura, who still seemed to be fuming a bit. "Guess I still can't use Recover... Alright, Sakura use Scald!" Another torrent of boiling water flew out and slammed into Lycanroc, who yelped a bit but stood his ground, shaking it off.

"Lycanroc, Thunder Fang!" Kukui ordered, the wolf Pokemon racing forward again and chomping onto Sakura. For a moment, it looked like it was over, but Sakura suddenly opened her eyes, throwing off Lycanroc. "What!?" Kukui gasped in shock, before looking down at his Pokemon, and noticing the large red mark on his back, which caused him to smirk. "I see... you are lucky, Wes. The only reason you survived that last attack was cause of that burn that you inflicted on my Pokemon... however, you will not survive another round with your Pokemon that worn out!"

"I'll take my chance!" Wes shouted. "Sakura, Recover!"

"Accelerock!" Kukui commanded. It looked like the Taunt had worn off, and Sakura was about to heal herself, but the sudden speed that came from Lycanroc was the deciding factor. Lycanroc slammed into Sakura, sending her falling to the ground, her eyes closed and unable to continue battling.

"And it is over!" the announcer bellowed, the crowd once again erupting into a frenzy of cheers and roars. "Despite coming close, Wes fell in the end and The Masked Royal wins again! What a champion!"

Wes sighed, recalling Sakura, but a smile was etched onto his face. "Thank you, Sakura. You did very well!" Rose walked up to Wes, a smile on her face as well, however Gladion simply huffed, turning and walking away before anyone could stop him from leaving.

"You two did very well," Kukui said, grinning at them and nodding in approval. "Not even some of my usual opponents did as well and gave me this kind of battle. As much as I would like you two to battle me everyday, I know that isn't possible."

"I wish I could to, but duty calls, ya know," Wes grinned. Rose stayed silent, however, looking curiously at the Masked Royal, who only nodded at them before ushering them out of the ring. Since battles were over for the day, they began to leave the arena, with Wes and Rose hanging back a bit, walking near Jason.

"Hey, Wes?" Rose asked, looking over at him. "Did something about The Masked Royal seem... familiar to you?" Jason perked up at this, watching Wes and Rose with anticipation.

"What do you mean?" Wes asked her, looking confused.

"I mean, like we've known him for a while," Rose suggested, looking back at the arena. "I just feel like he's someone we know under that mask."

Looks like Rose has figured it out... now, let's see if Wes can pick up on it, Jason thought, glancing at the boy.

Wes thought about it for a moment, before shrugging in dismissal. "I really don't know what you are getting at."

... I am disappointed, but not terribly surprised...

"Anyway, we shouldn't worry about a silly thing like come conspiracy theory on who the Royal is," Wes grinned, looking at the sky as they stepped outside of the Battle Royal Dome. "We got tomorrow's trial to worry about, and I don't intend on failing it! Come on, Rose! Let's go do some training when we get back."

"Guess it can't be helped," Rose sighed, but smirked all the same. "All right then, let's go!"

In front of them, however, Lillie was walking with her eyes looking over her shoulder, staring right at Wes and Rose in confusion, only one thought was on her mind; How do they know my brother?