A/N: Another timeskip! Kinda weird to write your story with only four challengers having beaten all eight gyms and then go right into a tournament with all the other best trainers in the league. Sooooooo yeah, everyone else in the league got their eight badges; our plucky heroes were just the first ones to do so. ALSO, I am changing how the tournament plays out from the game, because otherwise it'd be a bunch of single battles in a row and then the climax. Works for a video game, not quite as good for a fic. Hopefully I can make this big tournament arc a fun one without it getting TOO repetitive...guess there's only one way to find out! Enjoy the chapter!

"You ready for this, Gloria?" Marnie asked, eyebrow cocked.

It was two weeks after my battle with Raihan. Marnie and I stood side by side behind the door leading to the main hall of the Wyndon train station, with Hop and Victor right behind us. Each of us was lugging a suitcase with our challenger uniforms and a few changes of clothes stashed away in oversize bags. Behind Hop and Victor were some starry-eyed trainers and spectators who were more than happy during our long train ride to inform us what we already knew: after the dust settled on our battles with Raihan, the four of us were the top four trainers in the entire league. Marnie and I were neck and neck at first and second still, with Hop and Victor in a breakneck tie for third.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"You'll see," she said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe have Bewear on hand." Morpeko jumped up onto her shoulder and let loose a small volley of sparks, which just made the people waiting behind us "ooh" and "aah" even more. Marnie sighed and shoved the door open.

The bright flash of autumn sunlight as it filtered through the all-glass ceiling was disorienting, but it was nothing compared to the eruption of screams that soon followed. Behind a few hastily placed barricades, a crowd of nearly one hundred fifty had packed the street outside the train station for a chance to see us. I could see the tell-tale signage and flashes of bright pink hair of Team Yell members, but I could also see plenty of signs with crude drawings of Cinderace, Rillaboom, Urshifu, and Bewear, as well as about a dozen other catchy slogans written onto poster board in block letters with permanent marker. I tried to single out a few voices but couldn't make a single word out. All I could do in response was wave meekly, feeling my face flush in surprise. I felt a squeeze of my right arm and looked over to see Marnie guiding me into the chaos, her classic blank stare masking all emotion and excitement. Together, we pushed between the crowd, chatting idly, signing merchandise, and trying not to get too overwhelmed from all this attention.

"Alright, break it up, then, break it up!" Came a raspy voice as we finally started to get through the thickest bits of crowd. I glanced up from signing a copy of a trainers' card (how did they even get that photo of me?) to see two familiar faces grinning down at me with crooked teeth. It was Pink Pyroar and Mohawk Man in the flesh, and while they carried a massive banner with Marnie and Morpeko's face, they were both wearing white t-shirts with a Sneasel's face drawn on with paint marker.

"You like 'em?" asked Pink Pyroar, pulling the shirt down so it lay flat against her chest. "I spent a coupl'a hours on 'em and I think they turned out ace!"

"Does Marnie know you're jumping ship?" I snickered.

"Eh, you can have these two," Marnie said dryly, not paying either of them any more attention.

"Oh, we're cheerin' for both of you," Mohawk Man said. "'Course, if you go head-to-head in the tournament, we're oblige-gated to cheer for Marnie."

"I think I'll be okay," I said, turning back and seeing Victor still trying to pull himself out of the crowd. Hop was more than content to stay there; he was amicably chatting to a couple boys who looked like they'd march through the Darkest Day itself to be there next to him.

"Right, we should probably go register before we take in the sights," Marnie said. And with a little help from me and our friends in Team Yell, we managed to drag Victor and Hop along with us, up a flight of stairs leading to a city-wide bullet train station, leaving the fans to disperse at the station.

Registrations were being held at Wyndon Stadium, which was located across a long bridge near the city center. We clambered onto the tube and hid away near the back of one train, and no sooner had we sat down than the doors closed, and we sped across the city. The car was moving a bit faster than I knew Flygon could fly at full speed, but I couldn't really appreciate our speed until we turned a corner, and the train began to elevate. Soon the blackness of the underground was replaced by buildings old and new zipping past us in a blur. Soon we found ourselves a few stories up, looking at the city proper.

As big as Hammerlocke or Motostoke was, it was nowhere near the size of Wyndon. It was split up into multiple boroughs, each looking ever so slightly different as our train raced from stop to stop. Buildings from seemingly every era of Galar's history coexisted together, and often we would see brick and mortar high rises that were nearly a century old standing tall next to sleeker, modern glass and steel skyscrapers, but these old buildings soon began to be few and far between as we rode our way to the northernmost points of Wyndon. Victor had his eyes glued to the window, his nose pressed up against the glass, taking in each building he could. Hop was the same distance away, but I knew he was looking for one specific building: our destination, the Wyndon Stadium Complex. Marnie sat back with Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar; she had seen the sights plenty of times, Piers had often brough her when he qualified for the year-end tournament.

The closer we got to the city proper, the more one building in particular stood out. Wyndon had its fair share of skyscrapers. Sure, there was nothing quite as tall as the towers of Castelia City in the Unova Region, and I doubted most of the buildings came close to Lumiose Tower in Kalos, but if one of them did, it was certainly the one that was towering over the rest of the city here. It stood on the edge of the river, and it was easily twice the size of any building around it. Its construction would have been completely ordinary; it had the build of any other skyscraper that was about fifteen or twenty years old, but one part of it stood out – a long, winding stretch of green-tinted glass wrapped around the entire building like a snake, and every so often branched out like an emerald spike. My eyes followed the snake up all the way to the top, only to realize that it wasn't a snake at all. Where the head of the snake should have been was a massive observation platform that expanded across the top of the building like petals of a rose.

"Gosh, I wonder where Macro Cosmos headquarters are, or if they're even in Wyndon at all," I said dryly. Marnie snorted.

After we crossed the river into the financial district of Wyndon, the line we were on quickly turned to the east, and we never got too close to the giant tower, instead heading into another conglomeration of skyscrapers, and soon we were back underground. We came to a stop and the doors opened. "Wyndon Stadium Complex," announced a voice that was somehow both a woman's but not a human's, and Marnie hopped up from her seat and motioned us to follow.

The underground station was positively packed, and despite there being so many more people than there were to greet us on the ride in, most kept their heads down, focused on getting where they needed to go instead of seeing who was right there next to them. It was a little jarring and a little claustrophobic, but Marnie deftly weaved through everyone. I hung back with Victor, letting Pink Pyroar and Mohawk Man clear the way for us. When they were pushed out of the way, they would finally look up from their phones. A flash of recognition would go across their face but then we were well past them. Soon, Marnie found the exit and we all stormed up and out of the station.

I had naively hoped that it would be less busy, but it seemed like there were even more people above the ground, too. Here the people of Wyndon seemed to be weaving around us as we made our way to the stadium, in a canyon of steel, glass, and stone, dodging cars, Corviknight taxis, and bicycles all competing for space on the crowded street. Finally, we made a final left turn and the tall buildings cut off abruptly, instead replaced by a massive area full of grass, trees, small buildings and battle pitches, and at the other end of the field, Wyndon Stadium itself.

Much like the giant tower we saw on the train ride in, this building had Rose's marks all over it. The entire stadium was shaped like a massive rose, with ornate and organic-looking pink walls shooting up and in like petals, before folding back out upon themselves, exposing the stadium to the open air. I could just make out some metal beams with huge light fixtures arching over where the roof would be. Standing tall on the front wall near the main gate in were a plethora of screens with pictures of gym challengers, gym leaders, and stills taken from battles throughout the seasons. "Pokémon League Championships" flashed across the center screen brightly, before all the screens went black. Then, appearing larger than anything else I could describe as "larger than life" was Leon himself, wearing his black Champion's uniform and the thick red cape he only wore for battles, his image split across each screen. Charizard landed and roared behind him as he shot his hand in the air in his iconic Champion pose. Then Charizard breathed a massive blast of fire toward the cameras, coloring each screen in orange, then white, before it faded to black and started to play through the whole show again.

"That's really impressive," Hop gasped.

"Excessive, maybe," Marnie grunted.

"Just think, it could be one of us up there next," Victor said, equally in awe as Hop was.

"I'd rather die," Marnie sneered.

"Who said it would be you?" I sniggered, elbowing her in the ribs.

"It could be Gloria," Hop said, "or it would be me continuing the family dynasty."

"You'd look pretty dumb in that cape," Victor sniped.

"Yeah, well so does Lee," Hop shrugged. "C'mon, mates! Let's go!" he shouted, leading the way into the stadium, with the three of us in hot pursuit, with Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar jogging and wheezing behind us.

We burst into the stadium to see that the inside was just as big as the outside. We found ourselves in a massive, futuristic looking lobby, with even more screens and adverts plastered across the walls. Each of these TVs were on their own programming loop, and many featured footage of gym battles throughout the year. As we followed signage for tournament registration, I kept an eye on the screens and saw some familiar sights: Scorbunny evolving into Raboot in a clutch moment, allowing him and me to defeat Milo months ago, Hop using his Pinball Wooloo strategy to incredible effect, Marnie easily besting Raihan's dragons by turning the weather against him with her Liepard of all Pokémon before sealing the deal with some terrifying combos with her Grimmsnarl.

"I have been wondering if you four would show up today!" came a cheery voice from a crowd of trainers that had crowded around the registration booth. I pulled my eyes away from a screen showing Bewear throwing himself at Bea's Gigantamax Machamp, and as I did, an older man with short grey hair and a Centiskorch draped around his shoulders like a scarf emerged from the crowd.

"Kabu!" Hop cried.

"Here you are indeed. It's been so long since I've seen some of you," he said warmly. Centiskorch perked its head up and stared intently at Victor, who grinned sheepishly. "Looks like Centiskorch remembers our last battle a little too well," he added with a laugh.

"It's good to see you again," I said, holding out my hand to shake. He took it in his firm grip and shook excitedly. "Are you also here to register?"

"Me?" he asked with a laugh. "I haven't had to register in years. Gym leaders in the top eight automatically qualify. Each of us leads a heat and the top two trainers in each heat go to the top sixteen. Perhaps I'll see one of you in mine?"

"Wait, shouldn't you be at the gym in Motostoke?" Victor asked.

"All the gym challengers still competing for their badges have beaten me," he said with a shrug. "You four led the charge on the eighth badge, and now there are only a few finishing up the circuit now. But I don't mind. It gives my team and me more time to train. You four will have a much harder time battling me next time around."

"Looking forward to it, then," Hop said. But don't count us out, either!"

"I never said I had," he said simply. "Now I think I've taken up enough of your time. Enjoy the city. I'll see you again at the opening ceremony this weekend." He nodded curtly to us and jogged out to the entrance of the stadium. A trail of fans followed him, likely to get a peek at his training regimen, but most of them had now fully turned their attention to us. We chose to turn back to the table, where a pair of league officials stood waiting.

"Ah, the Dixons," the first one, a man in his thirties, with slowly receding black hair said. "Good to see you. Here for the registration, no doubt?"

"Yes," Victor and I both said.

"You are welcome to register up to nine Pokémon. Battle rules will change the further along you go in the tournament, but you are allowed to switch out of your primary six Pokémon," he said.

I looked to Victor, who shrugged back at me. "I never even considered having reserves," I admitted. "I always figured my team would be enough."

"Lee never registered more than his core six for tournaments, and neither will I!" Hop announced brazenly.

"Confident," the man said, making no effort to hide his sarcasm. "Fill out these forms and we will process them within the hour. All competitors will be staying for free at the Rose of the Rondelands Hotel. We will provide your voucher once everything is processed, so please stick around and be patient." He handed us four packets of paper and a handful of pens, and the four of us wandered over to a table to fill out the forms in question.

"He's really got his name on everything in this city, doesn't he?" I muttered to Hop.

"Well, when you've got enough money…" Hop said, trailing off and looking up with a gulp. I followed his gaze and there, on a walkway thirty feet up, standing in her trademark long white jacket, blood red blouse, thin grey skirt on top of black leggings and pumps that you could see yourself in the reflection of was Oleana, staring dagger into the lot of us. I mustered up my best scowl, and when she looked me in the eye, she tilted her head and slowly walked across the platform she was on, not paying us any more attention.

"You think Rose is gonna pull something while we're here?" Hop muttered to me.

"Raihan said that the tournament would keep him busy," I said uneasily. "But there's been so many people who've been wrong about him before."

"We still haven't the foggiest where that sword and shield could be," Hop added. I felt a brief tension in my heartstrings. He had a point; we were no closer to figuring out where this shield and sword were than we were when we talked to Zacian and Zamazenta. To make matters worse, they had not spoken with either of us since our trip to the Weald. Part of me was hoping they'd just dropped it, but I knew I wouldn't rely on that being the case.

"Maybe we could ask Sonia if she's found anything?" I asked.

"You could ask me," Victor butted in. "You know, we're part of this too, Gloria."

"Speak for yourself," Marnie muttered. "I'll support you guys if need be but I ain't goin' up against Eternatus if I don't have to."

"Thank you for your support," I sneered, sticking my tongue out at her.

"You're welcome to join me in the land of no-world-saving-responsibilities," she added with a shrug. "These two dogs of yours ain't forcin' you into this."

"I guess…" I said, though I wasn't convinced that saying no to Zacian was as much of an option as Marnie would like to think.

Marnie sighed and set her pen down on the table. "You are far too noble for your own good," she chuckled, snaking an arm around my side and kissing me on the cheek."

"You're more noble than you think," I countered.

Marnie smiled. "I wouldn't put money on that," she said with a wink, before reaching down and pinching my arse. I jumped half a foot in the air, and she laughed, grabbing her paperwork. "Come on then," she said. "If we're stayin' at the fanciest Hotel on Rose's dime, the least we can do is get too much room service."

After another long ride in the underground, we found ourselves climbing out of a station on the other side of the city. As it was much further out from the heart of the city, there was much less pedestrian traffic, although everyone still moved so much faster than what I was used to back in Postwick. I glanced around at my surroundings and saw a massive hotel on just the other side of the street, with a red brick façade that looked to be older than most of the other buildings around by about half a century. At its front doors was another crowd of people, eagerly awaiting our arrival.

"How are they so quick at this?" Victor moaned.

"I may have some pull with this crowd actually," Marnie said, rolling her eyes. As she spoke, Piers pushed himself forward and out of the group, his long Skuntank-like hair swinging loosely from side to side as he sauntered over to us.

"Would you believe the hotel's booked up already?" he growled. "Where's my posse gonna sleep? "Sup, Gloria, thanks for not killin' my sister back in Hammerlocke."

"Er, thanks," I replied.

"Wasn't expectin' you to show up at all," Marnie said.

"I am a 'gym leader,' and as such, it is my 'obligation,' or whatever rubbish," Piers scoffed, making exaggerated quotation marks with his fingers as he spoke. "Besides, I got my eye on one of you to win the league, can't miss that. You ready to battle the unbeatable champ himself…Gloria?"

"Funny," Marnie sneered, knocking him in the shoulder. "Thanks for your support, big bro."

"Let me take the piss with you, right?" he snickered, rubbing his shoulder over his crisp leather jacket. "You know you're my first choice, and Team Yell's first choice."

"Gloria's a close second though!" someone yelled behind him.

Piers laughed again. "Listen, we only stopped by to say hullo, maybe take the lot of you for some food once you're all checked in up there. But I gotta go find rooms for the cavalry, right? Ring me later if you all want some grub. I can't promise it'll be expensive, but it'll be good." And with that he walked along, beckoning the sea of punks and delinquents to follow him.

"I could get used to all this fancy treatment," Hop said with a grin as we all watched him go. "Lee always told me that since he won the league, it's like this every time he goes to Wyndon. Talk about star treatment, eh?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Marnie shot back. "Lee won the tournament. You're good, but you've still got me to deal with."

"And me," I butted in.

"Give it a rest, will you?" Victor said. "C'mon, my pack is digging so deep into my arm it's exposing my bones, we can Trubbish Talk once we're checked in." And with that, he stalked off toward the hotel, and the three of us followed him in.

Inside, the hotel was just as ornate, with reflective marble floors and pillars and hand-carved wooden paneling on the walls. A massive golden chandelier hung from a high ceiling, lighting up the entire room in a soft glow. It was as if we walked into a sunset, despite it only being the early afternoon. Almost right away, a tall and muscled man blocked our path, but upon recognizing us, he smiled and stepped to the side.

"Sorry, everyone," he grunted. "gotta keep a tight security on here. Registered League Challengers and Gym Leaders only."

"Right," Victor said with a gulp, squeezing past him and speeding towards the front desk.

Check-in was a simple matter; each challenger was given their own room and access to a large, state of the art training base, similar to the one I remember training on at the Budew Drop Inn in Motostoke. Hop and I quickly made eye contact; we had been sparring almost daily since defeating Raihan, and it looked like it would continue until the opening ceremony in three days' time.

Our rooms were unfortunately not very close to each other at all. Victor's and mine were both on the second floor, just down the hall from each other, but Hop was given a spot on the fifth floor at the furthest end of the hall. Marnie had a room in the middle of the third floor, so we agreed to meet up there once we were all unpacked. We headed off to an elevator, and as we crowded in, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"D-d'you mind if I ride up with you?" a timid voice asked.

I turned around and saw myself face-to-face with a familiar looking boy in a ghostly white mask. "Er, Allister, right?" I asked. "Good to see you again!"

"G-good to see you too, Gloria," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Didn't realize you knew each other," Marnie said, raising an eyebrow. Realizing that she was right next to him made Allister jump in fright, and he leaned in a bit closer to me.

"Heh, heh, hi M-Marnie," he whimpered. "Are you all registered, too?"

"Sure am, you got a ghost that can take me on this time?"

"I've been d-doing a lot of training…" he said, looking down at his belt of Pokéballs.

"Can't wait," Marnie said flatly, pressing the button to close the doors in on us. There was a brief moment of silence as the elevator slowly moved up. "What floor?" Marnie asked.

"Er," Allister said, looking at the control panel, where Marnie's finger was hovering. "The, er…"

There was a soft ding and the doors slid open. "This is me and Vic," I said. "See you 'round, Allister. If you want to do any sparring before the tournament begins…"

"Actually, t-this is m-me, too," he said, stepping off after Victor. Marnie shrugged and pressed the button again and the doors slid shut. She caught my eye and smiled as the doors clicked shut between us.

"I'm right here. Wicked!" Victor said, pointing to a door just a few yards down the hall.

"Lucky," I groaned. "I'll stop by in a bit before we head back up."

"Take your time," Victor said. "I need a shower. Bad."

"Glad you finally noticed," I joked with a wink. "You comin' this way too, Allister?"

"Er, yeah," he said slowly, and as Victor unlocked his door, Allister and I slowly ambled down the hall.

"So, you're in the league this year, too, eh?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered. "H-hey Gloria?"

"What's up?"

"D-did you really see Eternatus?" he asked.

I paused and looked him over. Underneath the mask I could see his blue eyes, bright and cold as the ocean in winter, and wide with worry. "Er, yeah," I said. "I dunno how much Rose may have told you, but…"

"That's not good," he said shakily. "The spirits have been more unsettled as of late. I…I don't know what to do with them…"

"The spirits…?"

"You met them!" he reminded me. "Back in the old ruins?"

"Oh, them," I said with a gulp. "They…they know about all this?"

"A lot of them died because of the Darkest Day," he said. "They tell me they can feel it in the air again. They keep saying that Rose is like the Hero, though. But I don't get it, when they say it, it's like they're…they're…"

"Afraid?" I finished. Allister nodded hastily. I sighed. "There's more to it than you'd think."

"I was afraid of that," he muttered. "The spirits have told me so many things. I didn't want to believe them, but everything they've been saying has been true so far and—and—" he brought his hands together, squeezing his fingers between themselves nervously. "I've never been afraid of death, bein' around so many ghost Pokémon and spirits all the time, but the way they just…I dunno …"

"I'm scared about it all, too," I admitted.

"They said they liked you," he said quietly. "You and…and Hop. They said they felt safe when you were there. They thought you were the sword and shield of Galar and Soan…? What did they mean by that?"

"Er…" I said. "This is my door. But, er, trust me when I say that Rose isn't getting away with any bullshit while I'm here." I swiped my key card at the door. There was a click as the door unlocked.

"Right," he said. "I heard about all you've done in Hammerlocke with those storms. I…I wish I was brave like you."

"Allister…"

"M-maybe I can get a chance to prove myself?" he asked, looking up at me hopefully.

"Honestly, I hope it doesn't come to that," I said, "but I'm sure it all goes to pot, you'll find your bravery."

"Th—thanks, Gloria. I hope I get to battle you in the tournament."

"Hop says you're good on the pitch," I said with a smile.

"I can usually find a good spot to sneak in a hit," he said. "Be sure to thank Gengar," he said, pointing behind me.

"Thank Gengar for wha-what?" I twisted around just in time to see Allister's Gengar swing the door open wide, beckoning inside and bowing deeply like he was a butler. I could see all of my luggage placed neatly on the bed, ready for me to unpack. Gengar looked up from his bow, his brilliant red eyes piercing me. "You're a nightmare on the battlefield, I can already tell," I said with a gulp.

Gengar snickered and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

A/N: Admittedly, I didn't have much planned for this chapter; all I felt I needed to do was establish how the league was going to work and make sure Piers said hello (we still need him for plot reasons!), so I hope you'll excuse a chapter that is a bit heavy on filler. But I did also want to give Allister another chance because despite kicking him from the challenge for Bea, he's honestly one of my favorite Gym Leaders in Galar and I really want to try and have a crazy battle with a lot of Ghost types, it seems like such a fun thing to write. All the other gym leaders are going to pop up here again before I wrap this fic so if you were really hoping to see one again, you're in luck! Some of them are even going to be flexing their battle chops again, but you'll just have to wait and see who I pick...

NEXT WEEK: THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS!