Max cocked his head. "Red, who's Michael?"
Aurian smiled. "He's an old friend of Red and I's. We met in Orre."
Ash waved a hand over his head, letting the red-headed boy see their location. He ambled over to their table, pulled up a chair, and plopped down in it, resting his arms on the back.
"Hey, Michael," Aurian greeted. "Not to be rude, but shouldn't you still be in Orre?"
The newcomer shrugged. "Nah, I gained clearance to leave. Jovi is back with Mom, helping run the HQ Lab. After the XD001 incident, Lab security is off the charts. The Professor sent me to the different regions in search of any other Shadow Pokémon, but I haven't seen any so far. Apparently, Mr. Goodshow heard of my crazy adventure, and sent me an entry letter."
He held up a parchment letter with the blue League seal, confirming his last statement.
Maddy's curiosity got the better of her. "What's the XD001 thingy you mentioned earlier?"
Ash answered before anyone else. "A criminal syndicate named Cipher was closing the doors to Pokémon's hearts. Michael, Blue, and I helped in shutting them down for good."
Max frowned, his eyes narrowing behind his black-framed glasses. "It's not that simple, is it?"
"Yes, you're right. There's a lot that's still considered classified League information," Ash replied hastily. The two rookies looked rather confused, but accepted the older trainer's tale with a little suspicion. Max made an internal promise to get to a computer database as soon as possible to look up news articles about the media-deemed 'Orre Crisis'.
Aurian smiled. "Anyways, do you have a rookie trainer to mentor?"
"Yeah, but he's not here yet. I picked up his P*DA number, and gave him a ring. He'll be here on the first day of competition. Red, could you walk with me, please?"
The older trainer nodded, and followed Michael outside to a quiet area of the surrounding arena.
"Lance wanted me to give you this," Michael replied, passing over a small data chip and an envelope. "Check this out, then give me a ring if you see anything strange. I'll be running covert operations and background checks whenever I'm not battling. One question, before I go... why are you using your code names?"
Ash sighed. "Look, it's a long story, but my old traveling partners are here, and I'm not quite comfortable with coming out of hiding yet. So Aurian and I decided to stay low."
Michael snorted. "Until you blow everyone out of the water during the Prelims. It'll start getting challenging for you two around the top 40."
"Hopefully."
"See you later, Ash, I've got to go register," Michael said, clapping the black-haired trainer on the Pikachu-unoccupied shoulder. "If we're lucky, we won't run into each other in the battle bracket until the end of the tournament."
The seafoam green eyed trainer walked off into the shadows. Ash wasn't surprised that Michael had been given an invitation. He specialized in double battles, since that was Orre's custom and standard, but he could adjust easily to single, triple, or rotation battles, as he had already proven back on their escapade. If the two ended up facing each other, things could definitely get rather interesting.
He returned to his table, took his seat, and finished off his third sandwich. "So, Max, I take it that you'd like to challenge the gyms?"
The younger boy nodded. "Yeah! Since my dad is a gym leader, I've grown up in the gym enviornment. I couldn't see myself chasing any different dream."
Maddy frowned. "Blue, where'd Michael go, and what was that thing on his arm?"
"Michael had to go sign in at the Center, since he hasn't officially registered for the Tournament yet. As for the device on his arm- it's called a Snag Machine. It can steal a Shadow Pokémon's pokéball from whoever turned the poor creature's heart from pure to locked. Michael also has an aura reader disguised in his headband, which helps him spot Shadow Pokemon."
"From what I've read," interjected Max, "Shadow Pokémon look just like any others of their species."
"That's true, but their aura is a dark purple or black," Ash responded, crossing his arms. Pikachu nodded, confirming what his trainer said. "The Aura Reader lets one who can't naturally see auras observe them. It's a rather neat device, and I've had the pleasure of testing a beta model when Blue and I were in Orre."
Ash felt a tap on his back, and whipped around, nearly throwing an extremely disgruntled Pikachu off his shoulder. Behind him was a slim girl in her mid teens, her hair tied in a spiky ponytail and her green eyes gleaming with confusion.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone that I knew," she commented, embarassed. "I'll leave now..."
"Hey, Misty, wait!" Max yelled. Misty smiled when she saw the rookie trainer, and traded a high five with him.
"It's so good to see you, Max! Who are your friends?"
Ash noticed that she was still wearing the same outfit that she was when he last video called her- a red sleeveless leotard under a pale yellow no-sleeve shirt with a big blue button on the front, along with yellow shorts and orange boots. Her Spheal backpack hung, lopsided, off of one shoulder.
"This is Red, my mentor for the duration of the Tournament," Ash dipped his head in Misty's direction, "Maddy," the blond girl waved in a friendly manner, "and Blue, Maddy's mentor." The curly-haired girl smiled. "Both of them are amazing teachers! Are you competing?"
Misty nodded, showing a neatly folded letter that she pulled from a small pocket in her backpack. "Yeah. I called Brock before I left, and he said that he might be able to make it. He won't be competing though, but Forrest, his brother, earned an invitation."
"Where's Azurill?" Max asked. "I've never seen you without her."
Misty grinned. "She's evolved all the way into an Azumarill! She's a cornerstone on my team, and she'll be seeing a lot of battles here, hopefully." She looked towards Maddy and Blue, who looked confused, and hastily added that she was the Cerulean Gym Leader, who specialized in Water-types.
"Since you specialize in Water-types, could you take a look at one of my Pokémon?" asked Aurian. "I'd like to have a great trainer- such as yourself- give me a few good training ideas."
Misty looked a little taken aback, but nodded. "Yes, of course. May I see it?"
"Here goes- Empoleon, come on out!"
The Emperor Pokémon appeared, and let loose a proud caw. She tapped her chest and gave a little bow towards Misty.
"Wow, I'm impressed. This is a fine water-type! Her coat looks very clean and shiny, and her trident-horns look to be in very good shape. What moves does she know?"
Aurian frowned. "I've had to teach her a few moves to combat her weaknesses, since she's part Steel, but she knows Hydro Cannon, Earthquake, Brick Break, and Ice Beam."
"You should really consider teaching her how to use Surf. Not only is it a great offensive move, but it can be used in close quarters to fight off approaching enemies, since I know that some Empoleon have difficulty maximizing their speed stats," Misty suggested. "Also, you could try teaching her Aqua Ring, if that's possible. Most Empoleons that I've seen are like tanks in the fact that they can take hits extremely well. Having something restore health during battle might be an added bonus."
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Aurian replied. "Would you like to join us? I can go grab an extra chair."
"No no, that's okay," the redhead responded, "I was just about to find a nice spot to train. I suppose I'll see you two at the tournament's opening ceremonies."
As she moved to walk off, she asked a question that she knew she'd regret asking.
"Red, are you related to someone named Ash Ketchum?"
The crimson eyed boy- that was where his name came from!- shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't say that I am."
"I'll see you around, then," she responded, briskly walking off through a door towards where a lake was located.
The group of four watched the doors close behind the gym leader's retreating form, and then cleaned their table and left themselves.
Ash, Aurian, Maddy, and Max sat under a large tree, observing trainers and occasional battles that were happening around the arena. Several officials, clad in neon yellow and orange shirts, were helping people navigate the large island. Ferries came and went from the one port on the landmass, bringing groups of people to and from the competition. A few television crews were interviewing trainers and spectators.
"Red, is this level of craziness normal for tournaments like this?" Max asked.
The trainer nodded. "Yep. When I competed in the Silver Conference in Johto, the stadium held over fifty-thousand people for my last battle. I'd say that the island is at about three-fifths capacity in spectators right now. Blue, could you look up how many people this tournament can seat?"
Aurian pulled a PokéNav from her back pocket, booted up the search function, and inputed the question. "Sixty-five thousand, four hundred twenty seven," she responded, flipping the device closed.
Their attention was drawn to a faceoff towards the docks, where a teenager stood, his face reddening, in front of another boy roughly his age. Ash watched as both hands started moving towards their belts, and he was over in a flash, standing inbetween the two boys.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but battling right now wouldn't be a good idea. The tournament starts in three days- why would you even consider putting your teammates at risk of serious injury before they even have a chance to prove themselves?"
The first boy, his hair a darkish purple, shot Ash a look of loathing. "What are you doing here? This isn't your fight."
Ash sighed. "I'm trying to save you a lot of trouble."
The other boy, his hair a spiky sandy brown and face a bright red, rolled his eyes. "He said I wasn't worthy of the tournament, when I've kicked his sorry butt all the way to Kanto and back!"
"Let the tournament decide who is the better trainer," Ash pondered, his feigned crimson eyes darkening. "Violence is a last resort. What would all these people think of you if you suddenly started brawling in public?"
Two pairs of eyes widened, then dimmed.
"Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? We should be fighting him instead!" the purple haired trainer exclaimed. The brown-haired boy pulled a Pokéball from his belt, releasing a Skarmory. The other boy wordlessly called for a Weavile.
Ash frowned. "Well, this is troubling. Pikachu, you ready to battle?"
"Pika!" the little yellow rodent exclaimed, jumping off of his trainer's shoulder. The distinctive sound of another Pokéball opening revealed a Mienshao, courtesy of Aurian, who aimed a salute towards Ash.
"Ready when you are!" she announced, tensing.
"We never said that you could call a friend!" the purple haired trainer remarked, frustrated.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Neither did you."
The atmosphere was tense as a pulled wire as silence fell over the four trainers. No one made the first move- attacking first would be a sign of aggression.
Maddy grabbed Max's hand and squeezed it tight. "Max, I'm worried."
"I am too."
The silence continued- Aurian's gaze never left the medium brown eyes of the spiky-haired opposing trainer, who was caught a little off guard by the intensity of her glare. Ash, however, regarded the purple-haired trainer with a cool look while fiddling with the edge of his shirt, which agitated his target even fur. Finally, the purple haired trainer cracked.
"Weavile, use Metal Claw."
So much for staying out of trouble, Ash pondered.
(A/N): Review response time! Thanks so much for reading up to this point!
partner555: Yes, Rebecca is a coordinator, and she and Aurian go way back, unfortunately...
PL, signing off!