Chapter 36: The Preliminaries
Wednesday May 13th 2016, 10:12…
The Southwest Stadium was decidedly simple, and I appreciated it, especially when going into the qualifying rounds. The exterior of the complex was a standard, easily identifiable construction with pale yellow walls and windows looking out from all sides on the inside of the building. Concessions stands and merchandise stalls had been set up along the top of the stadium so that spectators could make their way up to the top for a quick snack, and vendors were roaming about the aisles selling their merchandise to the lazier folks for a premium. All that was on top of the actual brick and mortar stores on the walk through the building up to the exits into the stands.
The waiting room was decorated with simple items, a few couches and tables, and a PC in the corner. A large mirror adorned one of the walls, spanning the length of the buffet table where finger sandwiches, drinks and assorted breakfast breads with jams and butter had been placed for us. Tapping my foot impatiently, I looked on at the screen, watching the ongoing battle. We had been here since eight, but I had yet to have any of my battles for the preliminary round.
Walking over to the PC, I opened the schedule again, taking a look at it. C1 was battling in the Southwest Stadium from eight until two, and then from four until ten in the Northwest stadium, the Colosseum. My first battle was supposed to be at ten thirty, which meant I was to head down the tunnel at ten twenty. Sitting back down, my sewing machine leg took over again as I waited, eyes on the screen. The one benefit of not being the first to battle meant that I had been lucky enough to see the others' Pokemon before I went out.
Of the seven other people in the block, I had managed to catch battles for five of them, and given my first three opponents were all included in that group, I considered myself in good shape. There was at least one trend I had managed to catch, and it was an interesting one. Everybody seemed to be playing it slow. Each trainer kept trying to hold their cards close to their chest, using as few exotic moves as possible, and from what I could judge, using their weaker Pokemon right now to not show their hand. It meant I might actually be able to bring Nero out, for a battle or two. Likely against Kelly Brent. She had been forced to use a few of her Pokemon, and the trend was definitely avian, which boded well for Nero. Maybe Spalding and Leggièri. The others, I wasn't so sure about taking them on with Nero.
"Ethan Photon, please head to the field for your battle." A blue haired woman in pink sports coat and matching skirt gestured towards the exit, scribbling all over her clipboard.
"Thank you." I nodded and rose, walking to the door and pulling it open. The tunnel itself had the same dim lighting as last time I had walked through it, before the opening ceremony of the conference.
Footsteps echoed down the hall as I walked, drowned out by my quickening heartbeat. In the blinding sunlight of the morning barely anything was visible out the end of the tunnel. I reached the end of the tunnel, waiting there as I had been instructed, listening to the roar of the crowd. Noises of all varieties came through the walls, echoing and distorting in the walls of the tunnel as I put a hand against one for support.
'This is it.' I took a deep breath as the speaker's crackled to life and the announcer began speaking enthusiastically, her passionate words bringing the arena to life again.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Moving on to the next battle in the C1 Block of our preliminaries, let's meet our contestants. In the green corner is a familiar face. We've seen some of her battles today, and we'll see some more as the day progresses. From sunny Olivine City, it's Kelly Brent!"
The cheering continued in the stadium. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I caught a glimpse of the black-haired girl standing at the other end of the battleground, having emerged from the tunnel not a moment ago.
"Now in the red corner, we have a competitor who we haven't seen fight yet. This trainer comes from a small town in the south east of Johto. From New Bark Town, give a warm Johtan welcome to Ethan Photon!"
I stepped out of the tunnel, squinting for a moment as the sunlight hit, blinding me for a few seconds. Trying to hold in the Butterfree in my stomach, I waved blindly and smiled, slowly opening my eyes as I got used to the sun.
Up in the stands the crowd was cheering, looking to see who I was. I straightened my back a little and made sure to keep smiling, waving with both hands as I made my way to the red corner trainer's box, stepping into it. The white lines around the red square glimmered momentarily as the shields sprang to life, acknowledging my presence inside the box. The crowd had quietened down a little bit, but mostly it seemed as though they had shifted back to having their own conversations and watching as we readied ourselves for battle.
'Note to self, bring sunglasses next time.' I squinted again for a moment, smiling and waving as a few small kids in nearby seats waved and whistled.
"Competitors, ready your Pokemon and release on the whistle!" The announcer's voice rang out once more, and I grabbed Nero's pokeball, hoping I wouldn't regret my choice.
Getting ready, I focused on the battlefield, trying to drown out the noise from everyone else. The girl at the other end of the field was staring me down, uncertain of what to make of me. I grinned, casting one last glance at the crowd and waving before turning back to her with the same wide grin.
I hurled out my pokeball as a short, sharp sound blasted across the field from the referee's box. White light filled the field on both sides as the two Pokemon took their places. Across the field sat one Pokemon I most certainly recognized, flapping its brown wings in the air as it hovered. A dull yellow crest sat where its eyebrows should have been, rising up in a pointed U shape. Noctowl.
On my side of the field, Nero had taken the field in all his pale blue, spikiness. His red eyes focused on the avian Pokemon fluttering in the air ahead of him as he readied himself for the battle. The past few months had seen a lot of development, and it was going to be an interesting round.
"Nero, Dark Pulse!" I gestured towards the opposing Pokemon and he hurried into action, taking a second to generate a pulse of glimmering black energy and send it rushing towards Noctowl.
The flying type quickly avoided the attack, flying off to the side as Kelly Brent frowned from the other side of the field, eyes on Nero as she tried to work out her strategy. She seemed to be struggling to come up with something, and while I felt a little sorry for her, I was going to capitalize on the moment.
"Sandstorm!" The glimmering barriers all around the field shone for a moment, coming to life to contain the storm that Nero summoned with his Rock type energy. Dirt, dust and sand filled the arena, particulate matter of varying sizes flying about and clouding the air. Smooth grains of sand formed flowing clouds and gusts, buffeting Noctowl about, while small rock chips were torn apart and thrown around the air haphazardly as the flying type tried to avoid the onslaught of attacks that the Pupitar had set in motion.
"Dark Pulse!" Nero followed up the blast again, and with the sandstorm occupying Noctowl and preventing it from moving as freely as it wanted to, the attack made contact, hurling it backwards.
Trying to regain its bearings as rapidly as it could, the brown avian took advantage of the fact that the sandstorm gave it a little bit of camouflage, taking the opportunity to dive and attack. Picking up speed as it fell, the normal type's body began to glow with white energy as it turned at the last possible moment, flying straight towards me and Nero.
I winced for a moment as I recognized the strategy. Giga Impact seemed to be Noctowl's ace in the hole, at least against a Pokemon like Nero. It was a gamble on Kelly's part, and hopefully one that wouldn't pay out big time.
"Rock Slide!"
With an airborne Pokemon like Noctowl, dodging wasn't exactly an option. They had enough maneuverability in the air to change direction fairly quickly and still land a hit on an opponent trying to doge to either side. So, we would fight back as hard as we could.
Nero rocketed forward, the earth ripping itself apart beneath his levitating body as rocks began to accumulate in front of him, almost like an armor, or a Pupitar shaped battering ram.
Instinctively, I shielded my eyes as the two attacks connected, the arena and trainer box barriers absorbing the worst of the explosive sounds and damping them so that my ears could live to hear another day. The sandstorm had mixed with the smoke from the collision, and a hazy grey and brown cloud lifted into the air, revealing boulders strewn across the field and both Pokemon fatigued on their sides.
The important difference in this case was that while Nero had taken a beating and exerted himself attacking, Noctowl would be incredibly fatigued from using every muscle in its body to generate the force necessary for Giga Impact, and its movement would be severely impaired for a few moments while it recovered and its body flushed away the lactic acid buildup in its muscles.
"Rock Slide!" hearing the command, Nero started moving, building up speed and a reservoir of rocks to slam into Noctowl with as the avian simply sat there, accepting understanding that it couldn't move in time to avoid the attack, but still trying on some level.
"The green corner is at a severe disadvantage in this matchup folks. Not only has the toll from Giga Impact stopped Noctowl from moving right now, the majority of its learn set is ineffective against Pupitar. The green corner has a very limited number of moves that would even damage Pupitar given its typing and high defense!"
'Sounds about right.' I folded my arms as Nero slammed into the Noctowl, hurling it back against the barriers. "Finish this with Dark Pulse!"
Nero charged up one remaining attack, wincing momentarily as the damage from Giga Impact was felt, before blasting his attack straight at Noctowl. A glimmering pulse of blackish energy slammed into the bird, pressing it against the barriers for a second before it collapsed to the ground, out cold.
I winced for a second myself as a sharp whistle sounded blasted across the field, from the referee's box. Turning my head, I looked to see him holding up his red flag in my direction, the green down by his side.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Noctowl is unable to fight! The winner of this preliminary matchup in group C1, standing in the Red Corner, is Ethan Photon with his Pupitar! Please give them a round of applause!"
Nero floated over to me slowly, letting me give him a brief hug before returning him and handing him over to the nearby nurse for a quick healing and inspection before he would be returned to me in the waiting room. I looked around, smiling a bit as the cheers and clapping emanated from the stands, celebrating what was one of countless fast paced matchups they had come to see today. The preliminaries may not have been the most insane battles. They weren't full matchups, or even three on three. There was less strategy involved, less involvement, and typically as we had seen, people tried to play it down and keep their strongest Pokemon back unless they didn't think they would make it to the next round. But they were intense, and fast paced. Spectators paid for their tickets to get access to lightning fast rounds, with new characters, new competitors, and enough happening to keep them interested until the next rounds where the big battles would start happening.
I looked around and waved with both hands and grinning before I started to walk back down to the tunnel. The announcer's voice picked up in the background, announcing the details of the next matchup as I walked. Footsteps echoed through the tunnel from both ends as I crossed another trainer making his way down to the stadium. Giving him a brief nod, I continued down to the end and opened the door to the waiting room, squinting for a moment as the light level changed yet again.
Entering, I walked over and sat down on one of the couches by a TV showing the current group tables for the entire tournament. Around half of the preliminaries had happened by now, give or take a few. Silver had gone through as the first seed in his group, B4, with five wins, a draw and a loss. Michelina had gone through C2 yesterday on top with five wins and two draws. Klaus had gone on top of A1 with five wins, as well as a draw and a loss apiece.
Anita and Lexa were battling in other stadiums while I was sitting in the Southwest Stadium. From the looks of it, Lexa was off to a clean start with two wins under her belt. Anita had fared a little bit worse, with a win and a loss to start her day off. Calahan and Pierre had their blocks on other days, as did the foreigner, Jack Haight. He was still out most of the time, never around when we were hanging out in the house except to go to bed at night and then leave again in the morning.
I relaxed and stretched out on the couch, knowing there was at least another half hour until my next battle. Around ten minutes in, a nurse walked in and looked around, holding a pokeball and a clipboard.
"Ethan Photon?" I raised my hand as she spoke, scrambling to get to my feet as she came over and placed the pokeball in my palm. "Your Pupitar is all healed up and cleared to battle again today."
"Thank you so much." I accepted the pokeball with a smile and clipped it to my belt, turning my eyes back to the screen, passing the time watching the preliminaries. Two other trainers sat in different parts of the lounge, minding their own business and planning for their own battles.
"Ethan Photon, please report to the battlefield for your next matchup." I turned to see the blue haired woman from earlier looking at me expectantly again. Standing up lazily, I walked over to the tunnel and waited as she scratched off another line on her clipboard, gesturing for me to walk down the tunnel again. Making my way to the end again, I stopped and waited, eyes closed as the announcer began speaking again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in the Green Corner, hailing from Ecruteak City, is Sam Spalding!" The announcer stretched out the syllables of his name dramatically, carrying on like a singer for a few moments as applause rang out around the stadium.
"Returning to the field with one win to his name from one battle, in the red corner, it's the challenger from New Bark Town, Ethan Photon!" I stepped out of the tunnel, grinning and waving again as I stepped into my box, looking across the field to see the guy I was fighting.
He looked kind of like Brock. Hard cut face, narrow eyes, lean but not skinny, wearing an orange sweater and jeans. His skin was tanned, and his hair had mostly been shaved off in a buzz cut.
"Competitors, ready your Pokemon and release on the referee's mark!"
Maximizing Nero's pokeball, I looked out onto the field. The grassy surface had been somewhat restored, but scars in the terrain from previous rounds were still visible, including one of Nero's Rock Slide attacks carving across the field. Looking up to the crowds I caught a glimpse of Blake sitting in the Indigo League box with Clara, Steven absent for the moment. I smiled and waved, turning to look at the box where my family had been sitting during the opening ceremony.
My mother and both my sisters sat there watching from above and clapping a little bit as I turned back to the field with a smile, ready to get the battle going. They had made the effort to come here, and I wasn't going to drop out in the preliminaries. If I had my way, we'd be here the full month.
A sharp whistle blasted outwards from the referee's box and I hurled Nero's pokeball forward again, watching the white light coalesce into the heavy rock type's form, levitating in the air in front of me.
"And in the red corner, Photon is going for a repeat with his Pupitar taking the field again. Last time around we saw him leverage a heavy advantage and turn it into a neat win, can he do it again this time without the advantage? Over in the green corner, Spalding has released a Pokemon we haven't seen before today, his Golem!"
'He's looking more and more like a clone of Brock.' I shook my head clear, looking at the field again and making a call on how to attack immediately.
"Dark Pulse!" Nero's body vibrated for a second, the blue stone cocoon trembling as a familiar blob of dark type energy charged up and fired across the field.
Golem retracted its head and arms quickly, rolling out of the way and right onto the offensive as it charged towards us, rollout in full effect as it made its way towards us.
"Nero move!" the Pupitar moved to the side but Golem veered to the left, changing direction and clipping him on the side with the rollout attack. Staying curled up, Golem continued rolling around the arena, waiting for another moment to land a more decisive strike.
"Nero, Sandstorm!" I pointed outwards, watching as the ground and rock type whipped up a storm similar to earlier, filling the arena with flying sand and dirt as blades of grass were ripped up into the air, mixing into it.
"Just what is Ethan trying to do here? As a rock type, Golem is immune to the abrasive effects of sandstorms and will not have its energy sapped by the effort of moving about in the air like Noctowl did earlier."
"Just you wait and see." I murmured under my breath, looking out at Golem with watchful eyes as it continued to roll around.
"Dark Pulse, again!" Nero blasted forth another attack, scything through the airborne sand as it made directly for Golem and hurled the rock type backwards. Still curled up in a defensive ball, the opposing Pokemon rolled around with uncertainty, trying to gauge us.
"Alpha two!" Nero tilted his entire body and veered to the left, moving in an arc so until he had covered maybe thirty feet before he fired another dark pulse, continuing on in his circular trajectory immediately after and following with another attack.
Both attacks impacted Golem, perhaps not as squarely as they could have, but they hit their target nonetheless as the announcer began to cotton on to what was going on.
"It looks like the red corner's sandstorm attack was meant to reduce visibility! Like most ground types, Golem is capable of sensing vibrations through the ground and determining where its opponents are in low visibility situations, but Pupitar's levitation nullifies that strategy! Ethan has boxed Golem in and given himself a good chance to barrage the green corner with attacks!"
"Well thanks for giving it away." I frowned momentarily, focusing on the battle again. "Nero, Stone Edge!"
Shards of rock separated from some of the nearby boulders, other rising out of the earth and flying across the field to slam into Golem as the opposing rock type stayed withdrawn in its shell to defend itself better.
All of a sudden, a boulder blasted out from the sandstorm where Golem was waiting, narrowly missing Nero's body and flying into the barrier. My eyes widened as two more followed, one slamming into the Pupitar and sending it into the barriers.
"Nero, Earthquake!" Taking a second to regain its bearings, the floating Pokemon reacted as quickly as it could, sending a rapid shockwave through the ground and upsetting Golem. "And again!"
It looked like the same trick wouldn't fool the rock type twice as it slammed its own feet into the ground, countering Nero's Earthquake with one of its own and halting the progression of the attack.
"Dark Pulse!" The glowing black orb shot through the sand one more time, slicing apart the particulate streams in the air and slamming into Golem.
The rock type had finally come out of its shell for the earthquake attack, and through the gaps in its rocky armor, I could see a glowing orange energy beginning to build.
"Nero run!" I called out, sending the Pupitar scrambling as the pent-up energy exploded outwards from within Golem, dispelling the sandstorm and knocking out the bipedal rock type in the process.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Golem's Explosion attack failed to take out Pupitar, and therefore, as Golem is now unable to battle, the red corner wins!"
I grinned and waved to the crowd, looking over Nero as he floated over. Inspecting the burns and marks across his shell, I quickly recalled him and handed him to the nurse again.
'Probably only one more battle for him.' I thought to myself as I looked up to the crowd, waving at my mother and throwing Lily a double thumbs up and a wide grin before searching for Blake. I locked eyes with her as I walked towards the tunnel, taking my phone out of my pocket so that I could call her once I was out of the tunnel.
Back in the lounge, I quickly pulled up the schedule, glancing at it and making a mental note of when my battles were. it was around eleven fifty, I had one more battle for the morning at one, and then I would be taking care of my remaining four in the afternoon and the evening in the Northwest Stadium. Dialing on my phone, I put the small device to my ear, waiting for the ringing tone to go through and disappear.
"Hey Blake, how are you enjoying the Silver Conference so far?" I smiled, leaning against a wall in the lounge and trying to keep my voice down.
"It's been fun. Those two battles were great! You've been training Nero up haven't you!"
"Yeah, we've been putting some time in. I'm quite happy with how he's doing so far today."
"So when will I see you. Lunch?"
"Well, I'm going to have lunch with my family, but I'm all yours after the evening matches. I'll stop their place for half an hour and then we can hang out as long as you want."
"That sounds good."
"Yeah, I think we'll do a dinner with my family in a few days, maybe after the next round or during one of the off days I've got. That way we can sit and catch up and I can introduce you to my mom and sisters."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Alright, I've got to go and think some more about the next few battles, but I'll see you at night. Bye."
Hanging up the phone, I quickly dialed another number, and waited, standing a little bit straighter when the call picked up from the other side.
"Hey Lucy, how are you guys enjoying the battles so far?"
"Well Lily is finding them very amazing and you're doing well, but if that's the best you've got, I'd be concerned." She replied dryly.
"Thank you very much." I let just as much sarcasm drip from my voice before I switched topics. "So I've got to run to the trainer village to grab something, but why don't you three pick up lunch and I'll meet you at your place before we head to the Northwest Stadium for the rest of today's battles?"
"Sounds like a plan. You remember the address, right?"
"Yeah, its thirty-one Embassy Row, right?"
"Yes, we'll see you in a while. When will you head out?"
"Immediately after my next battle, which is soon. Catch you later." I shut the phone and slipped it into my pocket. Twenty minutes passed before a nurse came in with Nero's pokeball again, handing him to me before going over to one of the other trainers in the room. I zoned out for a bit, watching the battles mindlessly and going back down to the tunnel when my name was called again for my last battle before lunch.
Stepping out into the sunlight, I waved again. It was oddly energizing and fatiguing at the same time, putting on a (small) show for the crowd. One the one hand it got old, one the other hand I had won twice and it was looking as though I had built up a bit of traction and the crowd seemed to like me enough.
"Alright folks, in the green corner, in the green corner from all the way in Cianwood City, please welcome Narcissa Leggièri! The green corner has taken a loss and a draw so far today, so can they collect a win and make it a full set? We're all here to find out!"
"In the red corner, looking to make it three from three is the man from New Bark Town, Ethan Photon! Will his winning streak hold up or has his luck dried up?"
Looking across the grassy field with its countless marks, burns and gashes in the earth, I spotted the girl at the opposite end. Her blonde hair had black highlights, all brushed aside or to the back to reveal her pale face and grim expression.
I hurled out Nero's pokeball on the whistle, ready to take on the whatever came out in the green corner, for better or for worse. Light filled the arena for a moment and I nodded absentmindedly as an Espeon took the field, standing poised on its petite paws. The gem in its forehead gleamed in the sunlight as it flicked its tail back and forth, taking in the scene.
"It looks like it's advantage red, but I wouldn't call anything just yet folks. We've seen some fierce fighting from Leggièri today, and I wouldn't be surprised if that Espeon manages to give Photon some trouble. It looks like she might have been betting on him picking a different Pokemon for the third battle, but the red corner has made their choice to stick with their winning ways!"
"Nero, Dark Pulse!" I flicked a finger towards Espeon, focusing on the battle. In line with the commentator's thoughts, there was something about this round that wasn't going to be easy.
Espeon bounded out of the way of the attack easily, and that was where I got my first, incredibly frustrating clue as to just what was going to be tricky about this. Psychic communication. It really sucked when it was your opponent using it. It meant no lip reading, no hearing the commands shouted across the battlefield.
"Nero run!" The Pupitar couldn't react in time as a dazzling white beam of energy slammed into him, hurling him backwards and leaving a scorch mark on his chest. On the other side of the field, Espeon sat calmly on its haunches, watching the dark type with lazy interest.
"That was the Dazzling Gleam attack, of the Fairy type variety native to far off Kalos!" The commentator's remarks were giving me little nuggets of information, and I made sure to tuck it away and remember it for later, just as she had given away my strategy last time out with reducing visibility with sandstorm.
"Earthquake!" stopping for a moment to regain his balance, Nero focused on the ground, eyes glowing as tremors spread throughout the field, ripping up the grass and earth.
Espeon bounded around the arena, trying to get away from the spreading cracks, fissures and shockwaves with some success as the prolonged attack courses through the battleground. With a casual flick of her tail a tangle of vines and long blades of grass knotted themselves together, slamming into the bottom of Nero's shell.
"Earthquake again!" Getting back up from the grass knot and trying to maintain his balance, the ground type focused once more, sending another prolonged set of shockwaves through the battleground and tearing it to shreds.
Turf was ripped up, grass was unrooted, soil was spilt all over. Cracks ran throughout the ground with larger fissures in a few spots. Across the arena, I could see one good sign, for us at least. It looked as though Espeon hadn't managed to avoid this earthquake as easily, taking some injuries, possibly even a sprain.
"Dark Pulses!" I shouted, pointing at Espeon even though Nero couldn't see me. Hearing me though, was one thing he could do. Dark type energy built up in front of him as he hurled the first of many blasts at Espeon, watching as the psychic type countered and ripped the attack to shreds with Dazzling Gleam.
Following it up as I had instructed, Nero prepped and fired two smaller blasts in quick succession, the first being destroyed by yet another fairy type move. As the latter blob of inky black energy made contact, the explosive force hurled Espeon back into the barrier, giving me a moment to regroup and make my next choice.
"Stone Edge!"
Jagged rocks of varying sizes shot across the field, slicing through the air and making for Espeon. With a glowing forehead, the psychic type caught the attack and dispelled the stones to the side, eyes opening wide as Nero picked up on my next instruction and got moving.
"Rock Slide"! A pileup of boulders and stones accumulated in front of the rock type as it hurtled across the field, slamming into the vulnerable Espeon and smashing it against the psychic barriers. "Retreat!"
Nero hurried back across the field, making his way to our side of the battleground and watching carefully as Espeon carefully got to its feet, wincing with every movement. Being rammed head on by a charging Pupitar wasn't something I would wish on anybody.
"Dark pulses!" The noise in the arena seemed to die down as inky energy formed in front of the floating Pokemon, blasting towards the psychic type enemy.
Colors flared in my eyes and I shielded them with one arm as Nero fired a second dark pulse and a dazzling gleam of bright rainbow colors shredded through one attack, heading straight for Nero. White light filled the arena and I crouched momentarily, opening my eyes hesitantly after a second.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the type disadvantage, it looks as though the green corner has forced a double knock out! This match is a draw, with one point going to each of the trainers competing! Give them a round of applause!"
I quickly recalled Nero, nodding in acknowledgement at the girl at the other end of the stadium. A fierce grin was plastered across her face, highlighting a ruthlessness I hadn't perceived earlier. Then again, the commentator had mentioned how she had been fighting hard, so I couldn't be too surprised. Walking up to the nurse in the red corner, I took Nero's pokeball and handed it to her, swiping my ID card along the way.
"He's actually done battling for today even if he's in okay shape, so I'll authorize a PC deposit if that's convenient."
"That works just fine Mr. Photon. It didn't look like there was anything too bad out there, but nonetheless it's a good idea to give him some rest now." She accepted the pokeball and turned to her station, leaving me free to walk down the tunnel and out of the lounge.
The competitor's side of the stadium was fairly empty, and I managed to make my way out the door and into the bright sunlight quickly. Tourists were milling about the city, making the cobbled streets and welcoming plazas their own all around. I hurried down through the streets of the city, making my way to the east where the trainer village was. Stopping at an arched passageway to scan my ID bracelet, I entered the much quieter area. Four blocks of trainers were in their preliminaries, and the others were Arceus knows where.
'There's probably quite a few people watching the preliminaries from trainer boxes to gather intel like we were earlier.' I made my way down to fourteen and opened the door, letting out a gust of hot air trapped inside the courtyard. Blinking rapidly, I entered and closed the main doors, running up to my room to collect my sunglasses and a water bottle to carry around.
Walking back out into the lounge, I stopped to look and see if anyone was around. For the most part it looked empty. Walking over to the fridge, I started filling up my water bottle, staring out the window blankly. Behind me, the door opened with a heavy creaking sound and I jumped with a start, turning around. Jack walked through the door, a sweater tied just above the waist of his red t-shirt. His pale skin had reddened a bit in the sun while he had been out.
"Hey." I nodded to him and picked up my water bottle, screwing the cap back in.
"How are your battles going?" He asked politely, stopping by the stairs.
"They're going well. Yours are on a different day, right?" I asked in return, sticking my water bottle in my backpack and pulling out my black and gold cap.
"Yes, I think I'm in the last group to go." He responded, slowly starting up the stairs. "Well, good luck anyway."
"You too." I waved and made for the door, getting out and onto the street quickly.
'That is the single longest conversation I've had with him.' I thought to myself as I walked out to the main road heading west.
Making my way down the street, I could see trainers in restaurants and in stores, exploring during the lunch break in the battles when there was nothing to be gained by hanging around a stadium and watching. Moving quickly, I made it to the Indigo Stadium and walked around it to the other side, heading directly west. The surroundings became nicer the further I went; the greenery was more vibrant, ivy creeping up the sides of old brick chateaus and flowers blooming along the paths to front doors. Floor to ceiling windows and artistic designs of all sorts were visible in some of the more chic, modern houses.
Embassy Row held a quiet reverence. Houses lined it all the way down, varying in style just as much as I had witnessed earlier. This was where ambassadors from foreign regions lived year-round. As much as Indigo City was quieter when there weren't major tournaments going on, it was still a city with its own people. Down at the far end of the road I could see what looked like a fancy farmhouse, with large wooden porch out front and statuettes by the steps.
Thirty-one Embassy Row was arguably one of the smaller houses on the street, but that wasn't really saying much. A narrow path led through a tunnel of flowers and vines with rose bushes surrounding he edges of the small garden out front. The brick front of the building was warm and welcoming, with vines creeping up around the walls and framing the small balconies jutting out beyond the windows on all three floors.
Walking up the path and onto the small porch, I rang the doorbell, taking a second to look around. A small fountain sat in the middle of the garden to the right of the path, with a few lawn chairs strewn around it. Footsteps hurried towards the door and I watched the handle twist open as my mother unlocked the door.
"Ethan, come in! We've just got lunch on the table." She smiled and stepped aside so that I could walk in gesturing through the house. Stairs went up into the higher levels of the house dead ahead, and the small corridor had a doorway to the right, leading into a cozy lounge with a fireplace and windows looking onto the lawn.
"This place is really nice." I looked around, taking in the sight of the comfortable furniture and small coffee table by the hearth.
"It is! It's been a nice stay so far." She smiled and gestured through the wide doorway into the dining room. I stepped through and followed her through yet another door into the kitchen, where a smaller table was set up with a classic checkered table cloth. The brick walls gave the room an enclosed but comfortable feeling, complemented by the gargantuan structure built into one of the corners of the room.
"Is that?"
"It is. A genuine brick oven for pizzas." Lucy grinned leaning against the kitchen counter and gesturing towards it with one hand.
"Wow, you guys have it really good out here." I grinned, giving her a one-armed hug.
"Let me just go get Lily." Our mother stepped out of the room as I pulled a chair out at the round table and sat down, looking over at my older sister.
"Yeah. You should stay here a night or two. We've got rooms up on the second floor and the third floor is a lounge. It's a kind of wintery place, but it works for the summer too." She shrugged, sitting down.
"So how are things going in Nimbasa, with your new agency and all that."
"Things are moving. It probably helped that I was friends with a lot of girls and managed to bring them over when I started up. The landscape of the game is entirely different for me now."
"Well, I'll have to come to Unova and see how you're doing over there, miss Managing Director." I grinned, leaning back in my seat as Lily rushed into the kitchen, followed by our mother.
"Hey Lily, you like the battles?" I gave her a high five as she sat down, looking up at me with wide eyes.
"It was awesome! Your Pokemon are strong!" She smiled, revealing a missing milk tooth.
"How many teeth have you lost now?"
"Seven!" She held up the same number of fingers, smiling even wider.
"Has the tooth Clefairy come yet?"
"Yep!"
"That's good kiddo!" I reached over and patted her on the back. "And if you liked those battles, then just you wait. That was just the tip of the iceberg. We've only just gotten started."
"But you already didn't win a match!" She pouted and crossed her arms.
"Well Lily, I was taking it seriously, but I didn't need to win that one. At least I think I didn't." I grinned in response, putting both hands on the table. "I'm playing some mind games with everyone."
"So that's what you meant." Lucy put a plate down in front of me, pulling up a chair for mom. "Please do elaborate a little. I want to hear what your reasoning for ruining your perfect record is."
"Well, for starters, I don't have a perfect record. I lost to Jasmine the first time I fought her, and I've had my fair share of under the table battles in Hoenn." I began, correcting her first. "Secondly, Nero's not fighting any more battles. I'm trying not to let on where I really stand."
"So you're hiding the rest of your team?"
"Mostly. I'll probably bring out Electabuzz and Rhydon for the remaining preliminaries, but the other six yes." I shrugged and smiled. "If they think that my team is on the level of Nero, they'll be in for a shock. The others have gone a lot farther."
"That makes sense I suppose. Aren't you walking a fine line though? You might not get first seed in your block." Mom picked at her food with a fork, looking across the table.
"Well, I don't need first seed from the block. I just need to get through, and that should be enough." I frowned, sitting back. "I should probably check what's going on with the other blocks."
"How is living in the trainer village? Are you eating enough?"
"Yes mom, I'm eating enough." I chuckled, looking over at her with a smile. "It's quite nice. It's not this kind of a house, but its set up pretty well. It's a large unit with eight people in it actually, in three parts. I've made some new friends over there which is nice."
"That's nice dear."
"I was thinking, how about we have Blake over for dinner in two days? Before I'm caught up with the next round of the tournament."
"Who's Blake again?" My mother frowned, looking across the table blankly.
"My girlfriend… mom… I've been talking about this for weeks…"
"I'm just pulling your leg. Of course we can. How about we fire up the oven and make some pizzas?" She smiled kindly and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh no, I don't want you to have to put in that much work."
"Oh it's alright dear. Besides, Lily and Lucy will help me."
"I'll come over early and help as well."
"That sounds lovely."
"Well, I've got to run and check in at the next stadium for my upcoming battles! See you from the battleground."
"Alright Ethan. Be careful!"
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
Watching the battle going on, I closed my eyes and though back to my first battle in the Northwest Stadium for the afternoon. It looked like the other trainer, Oliver Daniels, had wholly expected me to continue using Nero and had planned accordingly. His Starmie hadn't fared particularly well against Electabuzz. I kind of pitied the poor guy's face when he watched me toss out Electabuzz's pokeball, but that was the game. It meant that I was sitting pretty on three wins and a draw.
Pulling open the tournament table on my phone, I scrolled until I found the current scores for Block C. The way it looked right now, I was sitting third in the table, but it was tight. I was almost guaranteed to make it through, but I couldn't let my guard down, not now.
"Ethan Photon, please report to the stadium." I stood up and opened my eyes, walking down to the tunnel door and making my way almost to the exit. The walls and ceiling were all tiled with old sandstone and illuminated with older lighting fixtures. Walking almost to the exit, I stopped, waiting for my cue.
"Alright, let's keep on rolling with these preliminaries folks! Out in the red corner, currently sitting joint first in Block C1, is Corey Weaver! In the green corner, third in the table, Ethan Photon!"
I stepped out into the floodlights, looking around and waving to the spectators with a smile. The colosseum stood tall and proud with all its old-style arches and stands. Amenities had been built into the older design, but the heritage was visible. Massive arches rose up behind the Spectators, framing the outside of the arena, and from what I understood, an active aqueduct was housed atop them, running water around.
The battleground itself was incredible. The old chambers beneath were just barely visible as the edges of the field fell away before they reached the stands. The battleground itself hovered in the middle of stadium, the supports barely visible from the inside of the arena, and the trainers' boxes were only connected to the tunnels.
Looking across the field, I spotted the lean brown-haired trainer, nodding in acknowledgement and readying myself. From what I had seen of his battles, his team was varied in typing, even if he had kept it restricted only to a few Pokemon for the preliminaries.
"Ariados!" I heard his shout all the way across the stadium as I tossed up Electabuzz's pokeball again, confident with my choice as both Pokemon took the field. On my side, the bipedal electric type's antennae were sparking brightly. Ariados's red abdomen and head were clearly visible against the dull earthen battlefield, its purple and yellow legs twitching as it watched us.
"Dodge it!" I shouted, watching Electabuzz leap out of the way of an incoming blob of silk. "Shock Wave!"
The blast fired across the arena quicker than Ariados could react, making contact almost immediately as electricity arced around the Bug Type's body, leaving scorch marks all over its exoskeleton.
"Pin Missile!" I winced at the volume of Weaver's voice.
"Dodge, again!" Electabuzz leaped aside once more, avoiding most of the tiny projectiles which the bug type had produced rapidly. "Electro Ball!"
A crackling orb of electric type energy blasted towards Ariados, but the bug leaped out of the way with incredible speed. This was going to be a tricky trait to counter.
"Poison Jab!" Ariados dashed forwards, hurrying towards Electabuzz and leaving me less than a second to think on how to parry.
"Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz lashed out, slamming a crackling fist into Ariados's extended leg. The exchange of blows flashed with colors as sparkling yellow met a sickly purple, the two Pokemon trading blows while neither succeeded in landing a proper hit.
"Discharge!" electricity flooded out of Electabuzz's body in a singular outward wave, catching Ariados and carrying it backwards while electrocuting it. The injured bug fell to the ground thirty feet away, scuttling backwards and assessing the damage to its body.
"Thunderbolt!" The arc of electricity lashed out like a whip from Electabuzz's hand, a loud sizzling sound emanating from the other side of the arena where a nasty burn mark was clearly visible on Ariados's abdomen.
"This is shaping up to be an interesting battle folks! Neither side has an explicit advantage so I wouldn't bet either way without giving it some serious thought!"
"Venoshock!" I furrowed my brow, not recognizing the name of the attack. Ariados lowered the front of its body, shooting webs out onto the barriers and swinging itself up into the air. As it surveyed the field from mid-jump, a spray of clear purple liquid exited its mouth, splattering all over Electabuzz and over the barriers.
The electric type yowled, reaching for the burning wounds across its furry body. Snarling, it turned towards Ariados with an eye for vengeance. Casting a glance at the state of Ariados's body, I made my next call.
"Shockwave!" Electabuzz blasted yet another ultra-fast pulse of electricity directly at the opposing Pokemon. Ariados flipped into the air, taking the impact from the attack and using the momentum to attach itself to a barrier with webbing again.
"Ariados, Cross Poison!"
"Focus Blast!" Electabuzz froze in position, charging up a glowing rust colored sphere of energy as Ariados swung itself from the barriers, leaping high into the air as its front legs began to glow purple with a menacing light.
"Come on, come on." I murmured to myself as Ariados seemed to descend from the sky in slow motion, aiming directly for Electabuzz's chest. The electric type had been learning from Typhlosion, but he wasn't nearly as fast to charge up the attack yet. In this instance, that might have helped though.
Ariados picked up speed, sinking through the air faster and faster as it dropped from forty feet above to thirty, then twenty. Just as the bug type hit ten feet, barely above Electabuzz, the yellow biped released Focus Blast into the bug's abdomen, hurtling it backwards and into the barriers.
"Finish it with Shockwave!" Taking my instructions in stride, Electabuzz blasted one last electric pulse at Ariados, sending the bug's body into spasms as it collapsed on the stadium floor, its legs still twitching slightly.
"With brilliant timing, Electabuzz takes out Ariados! The red corner is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ethan Photon in the green corner! Ladies and gentlemen, give him a round of applause because that moves Ethan up into second in the table for Block C1!" The announcer called out, instigating applause as I smiled and waved, recalling Electabuzz quickly and handing him over to a nearby nurse for a checkup.
Walking into the tunnel, I took of my cap and ran a hand through my hair. Hurrying back to the waiting room, I picked up a glass of water a finger sandwich, sitting down by the TV to watch the next couple of matches. It looked like the standings had settled down for the most part, and with the exception of minor upsets the four going through may have already been decided. Checking the table and the record for the day, I tried to do the math in my head to make sense of what was going to happen.
Spalding was out, he had lost six matches already. Kelly Brent was also out, with just one win to her name. Narcissa and Oliver were both out of the top four, but stood a chance of making it in, however slim. Herb Sheppard was leading, I was second, Corey Weaver was in third, and Lilliana Stark was fourth as it stood. I was almost certainly through. One more win and it was guaranteed. Right now, it wasn't a hundred percent set in stone, but it was very likely.
Sighing and running both hands through my hair, I settled in for a long wait, texting Blake all the while. It looked like it was going to be a long afternoon. It was only six, and the from what I could make of the schedule, I had another battle at seven thirty, and then I had the last battle of the day, provisionally scheduled for eight thirty, but it could start as late as nine thirty if the battles before mine stretched on for too long.
Flipping back to the main tournament webpage, I pulled out the other group schedules, looking over them to see how the others were doing. Lexa looked like she was almost done for the day, sitting pretty with four wins, a draw and a loss. She was through, and almost certainly in either the first seed or the second for her group, depending on her last battle. Anita had managed to build up some momentum, going all the way up to five wins and single loss, ruling over her own group as it was.
'It looks like everyone from 14 who's battled so far has gone through. That's good.' I smiled, slipping my phone into my pocket and watching my next opponent battle. Lilliana Stark was a short, fiery girl with black hair and a balanced battling style from what I could make out. Neither overly offensive, nor particularly focused on the defense. She was at risk of elimination, and if she was going to be sensible about our battle, it was unlikely she would use any of her prior chosen avian Pokemon to battle me, more likely choosing something I hadn't seen.
I closed my eyes once more and reached up to massage my forehead, thinking ahead to try and plan for the battle while I had the chance. I had no idea what I was walking into, but what I did know was that it was almost certainly going to be higher stakes than the fight against Herb Sheppard.
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
"Let's get this party started!"
The referee blasted his whistle and I hurled out Electabuzz's pokeball once more, hoping I had made the right choice again. Across the field, a yellow and brown quadruped Pokemon formed, kicking and braying for a minute as it surveyed the arena. Its long yellow neck was dotted with mottled brown patches, and two short, white horns sat atop its head. The brown blended into the yellow and became dominant towards the back of its body and up its… second head? No. That was a false head on its tail.
"It's been a while since I've seen a Girafarig in a conference team folks, but the red corner seems confident with their choice! Out in the green corner, we've got the now familiar sight of Electabuzz, who beat the last two challengers down with tactics and high voltage! But this was how Ethan Photon's Pupitar fell, on the third battle! Will his Electabuzz meet the same fate?"
"Well, the goal is for him not to!" I cupped my hands and shouted out to the commentator with a grin, one eye on the field. "Electabuzz, thunderbolt!"
A glimmering beam of rainbow energy met the thunderbolt in the middle of the arena, and immediately the match picked up steam, lights and flashes center stage as the two moves struggled against each other, trying to get past and break free.
Girafarig made the next move, breaking the Psybeam and charging around to the side in an effort to avoid the thunderbolt attack. The arcs of electricity followed its path, much to its dismay, making contact as it crossed the halfway line of the arena. Forcing itself to keep moving through the attack, Girafarig continued on with its head beginning to glow a whitish pink color right.
"Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz lashed out with both fists, slamming them into Girafarig's body and trying to hold the psychic type back as it rammed its head into him. Dust flowed up into the air and away from the two Pokemon as the force of the impact sent them both skidding backwards a dozen feet.
Eyeing the quadruped warily, Electabuzz tested the waters by blasting a weakly charged Electro Ball at Girafarig. The Pokemon with a false head bounded out of the way, letting the shock sail harmlessly into the barriers and be absorbed by them.
"Shockwave!" The rapid pulse that never failed held up to its reputation, sailing towards Girafarig in an arc faster than the opposing Pokemon could react and scorching its body with high current electricity.
Girafarig reared, raising its hind legs and braying as its horn began to glow and an invisible force launched Electabuzz backwards. The shimmering golden barriers came to life in the spot where Electabuzz made contact, breaking his fall and letting him drop to the ground. Struggling to stand up, Electabuzz dusted off his fur and snarled, looking across the field.
"Light Screen!" I called out in advance, watching as Girafarig charged an attack again. Without fail, a shimmering rainbow beam of energy struck the glimmering yellow shield in front of Electabuzz. Straining to hold it in place, Electabuzz took the opportunity to shuffle aside before letting the Reflect collapse as Girafarig broke through, its Psybeam stymied. "Thunder Punch!"
Electabuzz broke out into a run for as long as its short legs could sustain it, slamming a fist into Girafarig's side, electricity sparking all around its knuckles. As Girafarig brayed in pain, its tail-head reached around to what extent it could move and bit Electabuzz's arm, diverting the electric type's attention. Lashing out in anger, Electabuzz beat the smaller false head with another Thunder Punch, sending Girafarig skidding from the imbalanced forces on its body.
Rearing again, Girafarig slammed its front legs into the ground, sending shockwaves around the battlefield as the earth tore itself up and Electabuzz fell victim to the attack, falling to the ground in pain.
"Thunderbolt!" Electabuzz attacked without standing up, the electric attack generated from the antennae atop its head. I watched it arc through the air, wincing only a little bit at the brightness of the electricity coursing through Girafarig's body. With a violent twitch the thunderbolt exploded, sending plumes of smoke into the sky all around Girafarig while Electabuzz took the opportunity to stand back up, watching carefully.
"Girafarig is unable to battle! Victory goes to Ethan Photon and Electabuzz!" I grinned at the sound of the commentator's voice, watching the smoke clear slowly to reveal a collapsed Girafarig.
Following my usual order of operations, I recalled Electabuzz and handed his pokeball over to the nurse at the edge of the tunnel for a checkup. Once I had Electabuzz taken care off along with the Nurse's assurance that none of it looked particularly bad, I turned back towards the crowd, waving and grinning for a moment.
Looking out at the entire battlefield, I gave the crowd one final wave before returning to the tunnel and walking all the way down to the waiting room lounge. The plainly decorated room was welcoming after the effort of the last battle and I gladly sank into a couch, watching the remaining battles and checking the scores for the other groups. Lexa had gone through on top of the table for D3, and it looked like Anita had gone on to steamroll the rest of group D2 and take first as well.
Minutes turned into hours as I watched the battles happening out on the field on the TV and the waiting room slowly emptied out behind me. I only had one battle left, and it seemed like the one person I was fighting was also only waiting for me, nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.
The table for our group stabilized with some spectacular struggles from trainers looking to make it into the top four, and just like that I was assured of my place in the next round. Which seed I would go through, now that was uncertain.
Corey Weaver had finished third, and Lilliana Stark, my last opponent, had settled down into fourth by the skin of her teeth. She had been tied on seven points with Oliver Daniels, but between the two of them she had won, resulting in her going through. Daniels, Narcissa Leggièri, Kelly Brent and Samuel Spalding had all been eliminated, the latter by miles.
"Ethan Photon, please report to the tunnel for your battle." A woman with brown hair wearing a forest green coat and a pale khaki skirt walked up to me, holding a clipboard and a pen. Nodding quietly, I stood up and walked to the tunnel, collecting Electabuzz's pokeball from a nurse along the way. It was time.
The tunnel seemed quieter this time around, the chatter of the audience had died out somewhat. I could see the stadium lights illuminating the battlefield from where I stood. Night had settled in, and all the fixtures atop the stadium edges had been turned on to illuminate the battleground and show the crowd what they came here to see.
"In the red corner, currently leading this group, is Herb Sheppard! This man hasn't taken a loss so far! Will he be able to keep that streak up? Or will it come to spectacular end right here?" The commentator's bellowing voice sounded over the speakers with just a little bit of feedback.
"In the green corner, with an almost perfect record, only one draw to go with his five wins, its Ethan Photon! Will he be the one to take down Sheppard and put an end to his winning streak, or will he be dealt a loss today?"
I walked out onto the battleground and waved at the audience, my eyes roving across the boxes. With all the lights focused on the battleground, the stands had almost entirely fallen into shadows. Dim yellow lighting illuminated them just enough for me to make out the faces sitting all around me, the people to whom the voices shouting and cheering belonged.
My mother sat with her fingers laced together, watching the battleground nervously. Catching her eye, I smiled and waved, looking over to Lily and Lucy in turn. My eldest sibling simply nodded with a small smile, looking down towards me from the comfortable seats in the box. Nodding in return, I continued to look at the audience until I found the Indigo League Box, my eyes falling upon Blake. Giving her a wide smile and a wave, I looked to her left. Steven wasn't there, though her older sister was. Truth be told, I hadn't expected him to be around for the preliminaries. While he hadn't said it, much like Drake, I imaged I was expected to make it a little bit further before he came over. After all, he was the Hoenn Champion. He was kind of busy.
Turning my attention back to the field, I looked over at my opponent. Standing a good few inches taller than me, Herb Sheppard looked like a giant of sorts. Short brown hair and stubble, tanned skinned, broad shoulders. Raising my chin slightly, I met his gaze, giving him a nod before placing a hand on my belt.
'Is this going to be the right choice?' I gritted my teeth silently, fingers lingering over two separate pokeballs. Looking over at Sheppard one final time, I picked my pokeball and maximized it, readying myself for battle.
"Contestants, please release your Pokemon on the referee's mark!" The commentator announced the procedures as though we hadn't already done it six times today, looking around the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, because this battle determines who goes out on top of this group!"
A short, sharp whistle sounded and I hurled my pokeball out, eyes still fixed on Herb as the commentator sprang right back into the action.
"And it looks like it's Heracross for the red corner, and Electabuzz for the green corner! Let the battle begin!"