Casteel PKMN Center, Sinnoh
As Oliver and Sophie waited for Jacob's injuries dealt during when they were captured to be healed, they sat on one of the couches in the waiting room. Sophie occasionally glanced over to Oliver, who seemed to be looking at a framed picture of something.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Oh, it's just a picture of my parents." Oliver replied, "Sometimes I take it out to just look at, because I know one day I'll start getting homesick."
"You have a good point..."
The two sat in silence, avoiding the other's glances by looking anywhere else.
"Why did you take me along?"
"Huh?" The Oshawott's small ears perked up. "What?"
"I'm asking why you decided to take me with you." The Snivy looked down, "The gang I was living with might try to track us down again to find us."
"But that won't matter."
"Hm? Why not?"
"Because you're strong, Sophie." Oliver gave her a friendly smile. "So is Jacob. Even if they do find us again, we'll have a fighting chance against them. Especially if you and Jacob learn more about your powers."
The Snivy remained silent, thinking over the explanation Oliver had just given her.
"And we decided to bring you with us because you're kind of like us." The Oshawott continued, "You have a dream you're aspiring after too, right?"
"To uncover my history." Sophie nodded.
"Then what would be better to see that around Sinnoh?" Oliver asked, "What if your history goes beyond Casteel City?"
"I never thought about that..."
"Then think about it while you travel with us." The Oshawott put a paw on her shoulder. "Welcome to the insanity, Sophie."
The Snivy smiled faintly at his statement. "Thank you-"
Before Sophie could finish, she was interrupted by the Pokémon Center's chime, signaling that a Pokémon was healed. Soon after they heard the chime, a familiar Pikachu walked over, his body seeming completely healed.
"Hey, guys." Jacob walked over cheerfully, sitting down next to Oliver. "I'm finally healed from all of that stuff, we should get going."
"I don't know..." Oliver looked towards an electronic clock above the front desk. "It's nearly noon, so maybe we should rent a room here and wait until morning to head out."
"You have a good point, but there's just one problem..." Jacob smiled nervously.
"What?" Sophie looked over to the Pikachu.
"Unless Sophie has a secret supply of money on her, we're dead broke."
"Dang it... How are we going to get a decent supply of money then?" Oliver put a paw on his chin.
"Well the Basic Class supplies cash prizes as an incentive for batting early on." Sophie interjected nonchalantly.
"Wait, are there any Battle-Zones around this town?" Jacob asked, his eyes widening.
"Yes, there's one." The Snivy replied.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Oliver asked confusedly.
"I'll explain on the way." Sophie answered, "But for now, we need to get Jacob registered before we can go to one of the Battle-Zones."
"Okay. So where do I register?" The Pikachu looked around the Pokémon Center's interior.
"You just go back to the front desk to apply."
As soon as Sophie answered, Jacob seemed to disappear in a dash to the front desk. "Hello? Hello, I'd like to apply!"
"He's fast..."
Casteel City, Sinnoh
"Woah... This bracelet thing looks pretty cool." Jacob smiled, looking down at a metallic bracelet that had a similar look to an electronic watch.
While Jacob examined his newly gifted battle bracelet, Sophie and Oliver were walking behind him, the Snivy finishing up her explanation.
"Okay, so are you planning to go to the Master Class then?" The Oshawott asked.
"Nope, not really." Sophie replied, "I only joined it to get stronger and train my abilities. What about you? Why didn't you sign up?"
"I don't really feel like battling, especially after what just happened."
The Snivy nodded before Jacob turned back to face them.
"So where are these Battle-Zones anyway?" The Pikachu questioned, looking at Sophie.
"We're right by one." Sophie pointed forward and at a building that seemed to have no ceiling. "Welcome to the Casteel City Battle-Zone, boys."
Both Jacob and Oliver looked up at the building with wide eyes, gasping in awe.
"C'mon you two!" Jacob began to run over to the building, "Let's get us some prize money!"
"Is he always like this...?" The Snivy looked over to Oliver.
"Pretty much, yes." The Oshawott smiled nervously, running forward as he grabbed Sophie's hand. "It's pretty much better when you just go with it."
Now inside the Battle-Zone of Casteel City, Oliver looked around and noticed some stands surrounding one standard Pokémon battlefield. "...So are the fights organized?"
"No." Sophie shook her head. "You put your battle bracelet on those hooks near the battlefield, and there will be a referee who puts in the results."
"What happens if you're knocked out of bounds?" The Oshawott asked.
"In the Ultra Class, it would be a problem." She answered, "But anywhere else, it's just treated as a show of strength."
"How do I battle?" Jacob looked around.
"Just hook your bracelet to one of the hooks, and it'll put you in a system. The ref will call you up after that. If you want to request a specific battle, just go to your bracelet and pick from the challenge menu."
"Okay then." The Pikachu excitedly walked over to the hooks, followed by Sophie and Oliver.
Meanwhile, a Buneary seemed to be watching the trio. "...New challengers today?" She thought, watching the three walk over to the hooks. "Wait... Just one." She noticed that the Pikachu was the only one with a battle bracelet.
Sophie felt a gaze landing on her, and her eye turned to look at the Buneary. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw the Buneary, something that Oliver noticed.
"Hey, Sophie?" The Oshawott looked back, "Are you okay?"
"Don't look, but there's a Buneary in the stands..." The Grass Snake Pokémon told him, a note of urgency in her voice.
"Okay?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Maybe they just want to battle here, what about them?"
"That Buneary... Doesn't have the best reputation." Sophie explained, "She's a great battler, but something about her is just off..."
"How do you know?"
"Because I battled her before."
As Jacob put his bracelet on the hook, getting himself registered for a few battles, the Buneary walked down the stands, her bracelet lighting up a blue color. This signaled that she was about to battle.
The Pikachu went to go sit in the stands, waiting for a match of his own, passing by the Buneary. The two exchanged a brief glance, the Buneary's glance seeming to be a bit sharper.
The three sat down on the edge of the stands, watching the battlefield as both the Buneary and a Turtonator walked onto it. The Buneary stood on the left, while the Turtonator stood on the right.
"Okay!" A referee, which was a Gallade, walked to the side of the battlefield. "I want a good, clean match out of both of you! Is that clear?"
"Yeah." The Turtonator spoke, preparing to fight.
"Clear." The Buneary nodded, revealing a feminine voice.
"Good, this will be a match between Basic Class participant Ivan..." The Gallade spoke, "And Normal Class participant Dawn."
"Normal Class?" Jacob asked confusedly, "She isn't in the Basic class like me?"
"Apparently not anymore." Sophie looked towards the battle. "She might've improved..."
"Battle, begin!"
The Buneary, which was now identified as Dawn, ran forward and towards The Turtonator. Ivan immediately turned around, preparing some attack.
"Shell Trap..." Oliver thought, his eyes narrowing. "...Her momentum is going to bring her close to Ivan's shell, but if she could maybe redirect her momentum...?"
Dawn didn't stop to move out of the way, however, she only slid in-between the Turtonator's legs. She then jumped up, using Double Kick on Ivan's chin.
"Between the legs?" The Oshawott's eyes widened.
The Turtonator stumbled back, a bit dazed from the initial attack. Meanwhile, Dawn didn't want to give him a second to breathe. She immediately charged up a Quick Attack, running towards Ivan.
Ivan managed to recover from Dawn's attack sooner than she had estimated, and he swung around to hit her with a Dragon Tail. The attack managed to hit, launching her back to the other side of the battlefield.
The Turtonator then charged up a Focus Blast as Dawn was flying back, planning to hit her as soon as she hit the ground.
The Buneary focused her gaze onto Ivan, trying to anticipate when he would launch his attack. Once she hit thr ground, she made sure to not slip outside of the battlefield before noticing an attack headed her way.
"Hm..." Oliver took notice how Dawn made an effort to stay in the battlefield, despite there being no particular penalty for not doing so. "She stayed in..."
"Within the World Cup, there are a few unspoken agreements between the battlers." Sophie spoke, still looking at the battle. "One of them are that allowing yourself to get pushed out of bounds is a show of respect for the other."
"So, Dawn doesn't respect him..." The Oshawott lowered an eyebrow.
"It's because she's confident in her abilities, and often thinks that she's the best of them."
"Then why is she still in the Normal Class, then?"
"She doesn't battle as much."
As Sophie finished her statement, Ivan was pushed out of bounds, fainting while he hit the ground.
"Ivan is unable to continue!" The referee shouted, "That makes Normal Class participant Dawn the winner of this match!"
"Wow... She's pretty strong." Jacob gasped, his eyes widening.
"Next up are participant Patrick and participant Jacob!" The referee continued. "You have five minutes to prepare and be on the battlefield, or you're disqualified!"
Dawn walked away from the battlefield, going back to sit on the stands. "A few more battles, then I'll go home. Beating the crap out of others is getting tiring."
"Good luck with the match, Jacob." Oliver smiled as he watched Jacob walk off. Sophie waved, non-verbally wishing him luck as well.
The Buneary noticed that the cheerful Pikachu from earlier would be battling. She put a paw on her chin, curious to see how he would fare against his opponent.
Jacob walked to the right side of the battlefield, while his opponent, a Luxio, stood on the left.
After going through the formalities, similar to the match before them, the referee raised his hand. "Ready... Battle begin!"
The Luxio began the battle by immediately running towards Jacob, his sharp teeth bared at him. His teeth began to glow red for a moment before they ignited into small flames.
Jacob quickly avoided the attack before clenching his paw and swinging it at the Luxio's side. The Pikachu smiled, thinking he had the upper hand, but he felt something hit his chest, sending him flying in the other direction.
Jacob slid to a stop, clenching his stomach. "What happened?" The Pikachu's eyes darted around the Luxio's body, looking to find what he was hit with. His eyes finally settled on the Luxio's tail, which seemed to be coated in a metallic substance.
"Iron tail!" Jacob's eyes widened, "I should've known..."
The Pikachu shook himself off, charging at the Luxio. He clenched his paw once again, it becoming a glowing white color for a moment.
"Dynamic... Punch!" He went to jump on the Luxio with the attack, but it was avoided, making the attack hit the ground. The attack made a faint cloud of smoke surround the two.
"What type of battler is this?" Dawn raised an eyebrow, a bit confused. "His attacks are so obvious to avoid, no wonder he's a rookie, he's kind of trash."
Suddenly, the Luxio came flying out of the dissipating dust cloud, hitting the ground with a cry of pain. The Pikachu walked over to the Luxio, panting quietly.
"Hm... I see." Sophie nodded.
"What do you see?" Oliver looked over at her.
"After Jacob's attack hit the ground, he carried the momentum over to change it into an uppercut."
"But doesn't Dynamic Punch end as soon as the attack hits anything?"
"He must've dragged his paw through the battlefield on the way back up as a loophole."
The smoke completely cleared, revealing that Sophie's assumption turned out to be correct. There was a line where the battlefield was kicked up, from Jacob's initial impact, to when he dragged his paw.
The Pikachu reeled his paw back, it glowing white for a moment before he decked the Luxio in his face, but the Luxio only swung back with his claws bared, and Jacob was barely able to avoid it, jumping back.
Jacob quickly hit the ground, but was only met by the Luxio, which was quickly in front of him. He seemed to be surrounded with electricity as he rammed his head into the Pikachu's chest. Jacob let out a stifled groan, flying back.
The Pikachu then stabilized himself midair, quickly slapping the red sacks on his cheeks. This jump started a quick Thunderbolt, that the Luxio was unable to avoid because of the recoil of his previous attack.
Jacob knew that his Thunderbolt wouldn't do much, but he at least knew that it would at least paralyze him for a moment. And a moment was all he needed.
He quickly landed on the ground, just inside of the battlefield, before quickly running towards the Luxio on all fours. Once Jacob reached him, he went in for a finishing blow, but realized that the Luxio was able to charge up an Electro Ball in his mouth, which was now right in front of Jacob.
The attack managed to hit the Pikachu, kicking up a lot of dust and smoke from the attack.
Oliver clenched his teeth together, wincing in second-hand pain.
Suddenly, a pair of orange eyes could be seen appearing from the Luxio's left side. His glowing eyes soon flickered and vanished before the Pikachu reeled his paw forward, punching the Luxio's face with his glowing paw.
"Dynamic Punch!"
He sent the Luxio flying out of the side of the battlefield, soon visibly fainting.
"Patrick is unable to continue!" The referee announced, "The winner of this match is Basic Class participant, Jacob!"
"Yes!" The Pikachu pumped his right paw into the air excitedly.
Oliver clapped his paws together, happy for his friend. Sophie also clapped silently, gaining a bit of respect for those impromptu stunts Jacob pulled. She wondered how far he would really be able to go with that reckless fighting style of his.
She then noticed that Jacob's left arm was quickly bruising. She immediately deduced that he might've completely given up on avoiding the attack, using his non-dominant arm to take the full attack instead.
But how he was able to recover so quickly and get to Patrick was beyond her.
"Hm..." Dawn hummed, looking down at Jacob's cheerful celebration. Her expression seemed to sharpen. "That attack hit him head-on... Why did that not knock him out right there?"
After losing his second match, and winning his third, Jacob managed to collect a sum of 100 Poke, more than enough to book a room for him, Oliver, and Sophie. In between Jacob's matches, Sophie noticed that Dawn was doing better than she did the last time they met.
"Back to the center?" Sophie asked as Jacob walked over to her and Oliver.
"Yeah, we have enough to book a room for a few nights." The Pikachu nodded in response. "Let's get going."
The three began to walk out, but suddenly, Jacob's battle bracelet beeped loudly three times.
"What the...?" Jacob's brows lowered in confusion.
"Wait... I know that sound." The Snivy looked at Pikachu. "You've been challenged."
"Challenged?" The Pikachu asked loudly, "But who would want to challenge..."
Jacob was cut off when he heard the referee begin to speak.
"Basic Class participant Jacob, you've been challenged to a one-on-one battle against Normal Class participant Dawn."
The trio's eyes widened, looking back to the stands.
A familiar Buneary was looking back at them from the stands, her paw freshly removed from a small red button on her bracelet. Her expression remained unchanged, staring down all three Pokémon, especially Jacob.
The Pikachu could only stare back, confused as to why a strong battler like her would want to challenge him among everyone else.
Sophie sucked her teeth in an agitated manner. She had tried to get Jacob out of there before Dawn pulled anything, but she was too late. She hadn't known Jacob for long, but what she did know was that Jacob loved to take risks.
"Jacob, do you accept?" The ref asked, witnessing the staredown going on between both parties.
A small beep could be heard from Jacob's bracelet, all three of them looking down at it. It was a small notification, showing them that Jacob had, in fact, been challenged. She even put stakes on the battle.
It was an all in.
This meant that she would challenge him for all of the money he had won that day, and if she lost, she would give him all of hers. Jacob seemed on the fence about this decision. He knew it would be a big inconvenience if he lost that battle, leading to them having to stay and have Jacob battle more, or them sleeping on the streets for the night.
The Pikachu looked between his two friends, giving them an unsure expression. Oliver nodded with a smile, believing in his friend, while Sophie shrugged, not really caring how things went.
Jacob nodded, looking back to his bracelet's tiny screen. He hovered a paw above the screen, just centimeters away from it. He sighed before tapping his paw on the screen.
"I accept!"