The time for waiting is over, the League Tournament is about to begin!


Jack woke up in the room he was given for the tournament. He felt as though je would never get to sleep the might before but he managed to get up early, there was no way he would miss the opening ceremony. As he dressed himself he wondered if his friends would be there waiting for him or if they were just waking up as well.

Once he was ready he looked out the window of his room and into the sky above.

'Mom, Dad, I'm gonna win! Just watch me!' He thought to himself, a confident smile on his face.'


Once he was done getting ready, Jack headed over to the stadium, people were piling in to watch the opening ceremony... Or they were trainers who had collected all 8 badges...

"Jack!"

Jack was surprised when Julia hugged him, giving him his usual blush.

"H-hey!" Jack replied with a stutter.

"There you two are!" Renée called out, running over to the two and greeting them with a hug.

"Sis! You made it!" Julia said gleefully.

"Like I would miss this! So where's Diego?"

"I'm over here!" Diego called out to them. He ran over to them and he looked as though he had been running all over just to find them. "I've been looking for you guys for hours!"

"We've only been here for about twenty minutes..." Jack said flatly. Diego was about to respond but the master of ceremonies began the opening ceremony. The MC was a rather rotund man wearing a blue suit. Standing with him were a man and woman wearing very regal clothing, black hair, and a noticeable (but not overpowering) amount of makeup.

"Good morning to everyone here today and those watching at home! My name is Arlen Caine and I am the proprietor of the Indigo Plateau Colosseum. This Colosseum is one of many state of the art locations where trainers from all over the world may battle using the Pokemon they have carefully raised. Within this arena there are two different battle stations. Here today we have exactly one hundred and twenty eight trainers here to battle for the title of top trainer in the Kanto region and the opportunity to battle the Kanto's Elite Four and perhaps even our very own Champion and dethrone him!"

The sheer volume of the cheers and applause of everyone in the arena was deafening hut it died down when Arlen continued speaking.

"Now with me today are the royal family, who have been generous enough to grace us with their presence; King Finn Larose and Queen Charlotte Larose."

The applause arose again, though it was a bit quieter as it was uncommon for the royal family to appear publically, it went unheard but there were people murmuring about where the crowned princess was...


At the base of Mt. Moon, Bella watched the ceremony from her cottage, she sighed as she watched her parents and wished she could be with them. But she knew they didn't accept her as they held a disdain for Pokemon and saw them as beasts. Her father took the microphone to speak.


"First off I wish to thank Mr. Caine for inviting us to this ceremony and for the Kanto League Association for holding this tournament. This event allows for people all over the world to come together and bond over the live of Pokemon and competition. While you all may strive to win, you also strive to better yourselves. So let us continue this tradition and seek to better ourselves and the Kanto region through this Tournament. Thank you!" King Larose exclaimed, inciting another loud cheer from everyone.

Arlen took the mic again as the royal family stepped off the stage and out of the Arena.


As soon as they were out of sight they dropped the façade of their cheerful demeanor.

"Must we really come here?" The queen asked.

"It keeps us in a favorable position with the common folk and the political system. If we didn't come here we may lose out political power. If our child had not been so foolish we wouldn't have to worry like this." King Finn replied.

"I suppose you're right." Queen Charlotte sighed.


"Now, if you would all direct your attention to our monitors." Arlen stated. Pictures of all 128 trainers appeared on the monitors, the group looked at all of the faces, a few of which seemed to stick out to them:

"Hey, there's the boy that helped us out at the Power Plant!" Julia noticed. She was referring to Dakota, who's picture was the 35th in terms of numerical order.

"Yeah and there's Minh!" Renée added.

"Who?" Diego asked.

"The lady who won the Grand Festival, she and that boy, Harry, are in the tournament too." Renée answered.

"Hmph, bring 'em all on! I still plan on winning!" Diego boasted.

"I should've known he was here too." Jack said out of the blue. The others turned to him, he was looking at the screen with his eyes locked on one profile. The others looked and saw that he was looking at Alan's picture.

A fire burned within the two boys as one of their most brutal rival was now in the same tournament as them.

The group looked at other trainers to see if anyone caught their attention, and a few did. There was a girl that was completely pale, with white hair and red eyes, she wore white clothes which just made her eyes stick out more. If nobody knew any better they might mistake her for a ghost.

There was also a boy wearing a modified navy blue school uniform that was adorned with gold peace signs and other symbols such as the yen symbol and a star. He also had a neat pompadour that gave his black hair a nice gleam.

Diego, somehow not remembering Minh, did remember the male blonde trainer he saw in the training center a few days ago as he saw his picture.

The group wanted to look at the profiles a but more but the screen changed to Mr. Caine.

"Now, we'll randomize all the trainers and give them an opponent for the preliminary round. This round will end at sundown and by then the number of trainers will be cut down to half. So of the one hundred and twenty eight trainers here now, only sixty-four will remain in the tournament by nightfall. Now that should be everything that we needed to cover for the opening ceremony. Battles will begin in one hour and they will all be three on three battles, so plan accordingly trainers! The last battles of the day will be held at seven in the evening! Until then, let the Indigo League Tournament officially begin!"

After another round of cheering, everyone headed back to the admissions building to see who their opponents would be.


The admissions building was buzzing with trainers, there were several dozen staff members of the tournament working to randomize the data of every trainer there so that all of them would have an opponent and time that they would battle.

"So, a three on three battle, huh..." Diego said aloud in contemplation. To him, it didn't matter who he would face, where it would be or when the battle happened. He was going to win.

"I thought I saw you guys!"

The group turned and saw Shade and Celeste walking towards them. The group could feel how much they've grown in skill since the last time they were together.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Jack greeted, a warm smile on his face.

"Likewise!" Shade replied with a smile that was almost equal to Diego's in terms of excitement.

"So I guess the others are all here too?" Renée asked.

"I did see their profiles back on that screen so they should be here." Celeste responded.

"If they're here they're probably somewhere in the crowd." Julia said. An announcement began on the intercom.

"Attention trainers, the battle schedule has been completed and will be sent to your Pokedexes, PokeNav's and PokeGears."

Diego eagerly checked his PokeGear, looking for when his battle was and at what arena. His eager grin slowly became a disappointed frown as he scrolled through the list and didn't see his name until the very bottom of the list.

'7 p.m.: Diego vs. Neito

Location: Arena 2

Field Type: Mountain'

"Aww man, are you telling me I have the last battle of the day?!" Diego groaned. All of the time he spent waiting and now he would have to wait until the evening to finally battle.

"That's rough buddy..." Jack replied, trying to console his best friend.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I won't be battling until five." Julia stated, looking iver her schedule.

'5 p.m. Clemett vs. Julia

Location: Arena 2

Field Type: Indoors'

"What about you, Sis?" Julia asked.

"Hmm... It says here that my battle happens in two hours." Renée replied.

'11 a.m. Renée vs. Devin

Location: Arena 1

Field Type: Lake'

"So we have our matches at the same time then." Jack said.

'11 a.m. Jack vs. Revlon

Location: Arena 2

Field Type: Plains.'

"That's unlucky..." Shade said. "Oh crud! My match starts in an hour! I gotta get ready, see you guys later!"

Shade ran off with a mix of emotions spiraling within him; excitement, anxiety, even a bit of panic.

"Maybe I should go and get ready too." Celeste added. "My battle is at noon and i might need all the time I need to prepare."

With that, Celeste left the group alone.

"So I guess we'll meet up after our battles?" Jack asked.

"I suppose so, we can meet up for lunch and help you two get ready. I guess you'll be watching our battles?" Renée proposed.

"Of course!" Her sister replied, Diego gave the two a thumbs up.


From another corner of the room, Alan sat on a couch and found his battle on the schedule.

'12 p.m. Flynn vs. Alan

Location: Arena 1

Field Type: Factory'

"So you're my opponent?" A male voice asked Alan. He looked up and saw a boy with green hair and glasses standing over him. He was thin, and he wore a blue-green shirt with brown pants and green shoes with brown laces. He had a sneer on his face directed towards Alan.

"Look, you're probably just some noob who got lucky, well your luck ran out, alright? We're facing each other and I have to crush you. No hard feelings, it's just business."

Alan stood up and looked at his opponent, Fern.

"Kid, do me a favor, try to last more than five minutes against me." Alan retorted before walking away. Fern looked frustrated at Alan's response but regained his composure.

'Great, another smart guy I have to set straight."


Dakota headed over to Arena 2, his match was the first of the day and started in a half hour, most battles never lasted longer than that anyway, especially since these were only 3v3.

He knew that Team Dark Star was planning something big for the tournament but he had no idea what it was. Nobody ranking higher than him would tell, and everyone else was in the dark as well. He couldn't ask either since what happened in Celadon put the boss in a very foul mood. Needless to say, Dakota was stressed out. He knew he had to focus on his battle but he just couldn't get the plan out of his head.

He honestly wished Sandra and Max we're there to talk to him, they talked a bit when they were all in TDS together but after what happened he just felt alone...


"Inconceivable! They put me in the last battle of the day! Me!"

"Max, it was randomly generated."

"Well, Sandra, how would you feel if you were last?" Max asked in frustration.

"Well, I would use this free time to plan ahead, watch the other battles and get a scope of the other trainers in this tournament." Sandra replied.

The two were now out of their old uniforms and were wearing more casual clothes. Sandra had a green long sleeve button down shirt under a beige colored sweater with blue pants. Max wore a grey long sleeved shirt with black jeans and white/grey sneakers.

"I suppose you're right, but just don't be too upset when I am the one who overcomes this tournament!" Max boasted.

"Hey, I knew you'd make it here eventually!"

"Oh no..." Sandra sighed, recognizing the voice. A young man with hair as red as Sandra's jumped down to the duo from a Talonflame he was flying on. His hair was short and slicked back, his eyes were an emerald green which matched his pants. Aside from that he wore a white tank top and black sneakers.

"Sandra, who is this?" Max asked.

"This is my brother, Apollo. Speaking of, what are you even doing here?"

"What do you mean? I came to watch my little sister in her first league tournament!" Apollo replied. "By the way, my official title is Apollo; Fire-Type Master of the Edath region's Elite Four."

"Where's mom?" Sandra asked in embarrassment over her brother's sudden appearance. Max however looked shocked that his friend's brother was a member of a foreign Elite Four.

"She's around. You know that this sort of thing is common for her."

"Right. Well, I have to go prepare for my battle so if you don't mind, I would like to get moving." Sandra growled as she moved past her brother.

"When is your battle anyway?"

"Noon, and it's in Arena number two."

"Sandra wait for me!" Max called out, trying to catch up to his friend.


10:47 a.m.

"So I guess we'll meet up after our matches." Jack stated,

"Right, you two will be watching us, right?" Renée replied.

"Of course!" Julia responded.

"You two better not lose to anyone! If anyone us going to beat you, it has to be me!" Diego added.

"Right." Jack nodded. The two went their separate ways to the arenas.

"Are you ready, Sis? Mom and Aunt Cynthia are watching... S-sorry if I'm putting pressure on you!"

"It's fine, I need all the motivation I can get!" Renée said. The two sisters entered the arena through their respective entrance for spectators and competitors. Using the few minutes she had left to prepare, Renée was confident in her team, the items they held and the moves they were taught. This was her time now...

The battle field was about what Renée had expected, a grassy field with a large body of water in the center, two platforms jutted out of the lake and moved slightly in the water. Two raised stands were colored red and green, towering at opposite ends of the arena.

From above the arena in the stands higher above the audience was a duo of announcers. One of them was a slender looking woman wearing a light blue dress that shared the same color as her eyes, this contrasted her red hair and lipstick. Sitting beside her was a rather tall and lanky man with neatly combed brown hair wearing a blue suit with a purple tie.

"It's only just the beginning of the Indigo League Tournament and we've already seen suvh incredible battles!" The man announced. "For those of you just tuning in, my name is Dallas Vermeer."

"And I'm Juanita Alvaro!" The woman added. "Up next we have what I think is sure to be an interesting match! In the red corner we have the teenage heartthrob and master gambler, Devin!"

Devin was about as tall as Aiden or Ray but shorter than Simon. His hair was black and spiky and his eyes were an icy blue. He had dice earrings and wore a red jacket over a black shirt, torn grey jeans and black sneakers. As soon as he took his place at his stand the criwd erupted into cheers, especially from the women that admired his appearance.

"That's right Juanita! This match could just end up being match of the day! Now, introducing opponent; Renée!"

Renée took her position to the sound of more cheering. She couldn't help but look around at the audience, hoping to see her sister but she had no such luck. Large video screens on both sides of the arena and on the side of the field had images of the two trainers and the three pokemon they were going to use. But since the battle didn't start yet, the pokemon's images were instead replaced with pokeball.

"So, you're my unlucky opponent today." Devin said, he was speaking into a small microphone on his stand that connected to a speaker on Renée's stand. "I'm not just another pretty boy y'know, I'm also extremely lucky as well! So let's see who the winds of luck favor today, you or me?"

The battle begun as the two sent out their first pokemon; Renée sent out her Riolu while Devin sent out a shiny Seaking.

"Seaking, use Horn Drill!" Devin ordered. The goldfish pokemon charged towards the platform Riolu stood on.

"Oh! And the battle begins with Devin already trying to use a One hit knock out move!" Dallas announced.

"No way!" Renée responded. "Riolu dodge it and use Aura Sphere!"

Riolu jumped off of the platform and onto dry land, avoiding the deadly attack.

"Smart move." Devin commented. "But not smart enough. Seaking, Drill Run!"

Seaking dug into the ground with its drill, the water receeded a bit as it dug and there was nothing Riolu and Renée could do to find their foe.

"Now!"

Seaking rose up from underneath the ground, striking Riolu from directly underneath it and knocking it back into the lake.

"Now use Horn Drill!"

Seaking tried its OHKO move again, with Riolu having the mobility disadvantage, there was no way it could avoid the attack. Renée struggled to think of what she could do until she got an idea.

"Riolu! If you can hear me, use Aura Storm!" She commanded. Riolu sent out a beam of concentrated aura at the bottom of the lake, send Riolu upwards out of the water and into the air.

"That won't help you. Drill Run again!"

Renée allowed Seaking to hit the attack again, causing heavy damage to Riolu and leaving it freefalling to the ground.

"Actually it helped quite a bit! Riolu, use Counter." Renée announced. Riolu regwined control and sent itself towards the ground at a faster speed than Seaking. Riolu then landed safely on the ground and charged forwards, it's fist glowing red until it smashed Seaking's face and sent it back into the water where the goldfish pokemon floated back up, knocked out from the attack.

"Wow! What an incredible Counter blow! Renée takes the lead!" Juanita announced. Seaking's image on the screen faded to greyscale.

"Not bad, but you just got lucky!" Devin said with a smirk as he sent out his next Pokemon, a shiny Walrein.

'Walrein, so is he a water type specialist?' Renée thought to herself.

"Blizzard!" Devin ordered. The Ice Break pokemon exhaled an icy wind that began to freeze the lake completely solid.

"Riolu, use High Jump Kick to avoid it!"

Just as the ice was about to freeze Riolu solid, the Emanation pokemon leaped high into the air before heading right for Walrein with a diving kick.

"Figures you'd try that. Walrein, use Sheer Cold!"

Walrein's body began to glow stark white as a gust of indescribably cold air burst out of Walrein, coating the field in a glowing mist. From this mist, a spire of glowing ice burst upwards and struck Riolu, freezing it solid in midair. The ice then cracked and eventually shattered, sending Riolu to the frozen lake below, down for the count.

"And with an absolutely stunning OHKO move, Devin evens it up! That's just cold!" Dallas exclaimed.

'This ice makes it pretty much impossible for most of my pokemon to move around... It might be a bad move to do this but I don't have much of a choice right now.'

Renée sent out her second Pokemon, her own shiny, Volcarona.

"Hmph, you might have a bit of luck after all!" Devin remarked. "But it doesn't mean anything! Walrein, Sheer Cold!"

"Not so fast; Volcarona, use Fiery Dance!"

Walrein tried charging up another Sheer Cold, but Volcarona enflamed itself and spun at an incredible speed, spreading flames that seemed to move around as though they had minds of their own, dancing in an enchanting rhythm.

The flames melted the ice, causing Walrein to fall into the now steaming water.

"Now end it with Fire Blast!"

Volcarona followed up it's attack with a blast of fire that stuck Walrein dead on and generated a ton of steam from the battlefield that simply would not dissipate. The stadium had to turn on mechanical fans and send out sone bird pokemon to clear the steam.

Once it had been cleared, the lake was revealed to be evaporated, leaving a dry lakebed and Walrein, knocked out.

"Impressive, Renée brought back her lead!" Juanita announced.

"Wow! It's now a 2-on-1 battle! Can Devin bounce back or will Renée take the victory!" Dallas added.

"Alright, you pushed me to my luckiest pokemon." Devin sighed, he shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

'Ok, this is it. Is he a water trainer or is he going to send out something that has another OHKO move...'

Devin sent out his last pokemon; a shiny Clefable.

"Three shiny pokemon! This boy is just made of luck!" Juanita praised.

"And my luck ain't stoppin' now! Clefable, use Spell Room!"

Clefable began to glow blue and red. This glowing aura then expanded around the arena in a box shape, with blue and red squared glowing at various spots.

"And Devin warps the battlefield! Can Renée adapt to how the battle is warped? Or will Devin take this victory?!" Dallas exclaimed, Juanita gave him an annoyed glance at his overenthusiasm.

'Spell Room... I heard about that move but I've never seen it before. Let's hope I didn't mix it up with Magic Room again...'

"Volcarona, use Fire Blast!"

Volcarona let out its attack again, but Devin simply let it hit.

"Hah! That won't work! Volcarona's physical attack power is hot buns compared to its special attack! Clefable, use Metronome!"

Clefable wiggled it's index fingers in rhythm for a few seconds until they began to glow white. The white glow popped and Clefable's head began to glow brown and it charged at Volcarona, smashing it dead on with its head.

"Oh! Metronome turned into Head Smash! Does Devin's luck have no limit?!"

"It just might!" Renée said. Despite the switch in physical and special attacks, Head Smash still made contact and activated Volcarona's Flame Body ability.

"Oh no you don't! Use Metronome again!" Devin commanded. Clefable wiggled its fingers again, this time activating a move similar to Spell Room, however it was red and orange rather than red and blue.

"What?! Not that!" Devin said in horror.

"That must be Jinx Room! This is my chance! Volcarona, end this with Fire Blast!" Renée proclaimed.

Volcarona flew towards Clefable and blasted it with an intense bursting flame, sending it flying towards Devin's stand, knocked out from the attack.

"Devin has no pokemon left to battle, the winner is Renée!"

The crowd cheered as both trainers recalled their pokemon.

"Looks like my luck finally ran out. I guess at least now I have someone to root for. Good luck to you, you'll need it." Devin said, giving Renée a thumbs up.


Meanwhile, in the other arena, Jack was still battling his opponent; Revlon. Revlon was a muscular man wearing a black karate uniform and a gold belt. Revlon was down to his last pokemon, a Poliwrath, he had a Hariyama and Machamp that had fallen. Jack had his Venusaur sent out, but it had heen put to sleep with Poliwrath's Hypnosis. Jack's Banette had already been knocked out but he had one more pokemon.

"Come on Venusaur, you have to wake up!" Jack pleaded.

"Poliwrath, use Ice Punch!" Revlon commanded.

Poliwrath charged at Venusaur with its fist coated in an icy aura, but Venusaur snapped itself awake!

"Finally! Now Venusaur, use Spring Buds!"

Venusaur launched a barrage of small seeds that resembled Leech Seed out of the flower on its back. The seeds coiled around Poliwrath while also slamming into it with force.

Poliwrath was able to stand after the attack, but some of the seeds sprouted into roots that drained the last bit of strength it had.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! Venusaur wins, this match goes to Jack!" The announcer called out. The audience roared in apause of both trainers. Diego looked like he knew the result from the start.

"You battle with a fierce fire in your heart. This fire shall continue to burn, I know it. I wish you the best in this tournament." Revlon said, bowing to Jack in respect.

In the locker room of the arena, Diego met up with Jack, the two celebrating the latter's victory.

"Ayy! The first of many victories for the both of us!" Diego cheered.

"You know it! Come on, let's meet up with the twins."

"Let's hope Renée won. I want all of us to win our battles today!"

The two left the arena and found the twins right outside waiting for them.

"There you two are! Did you win?" Julia asked.

"Of course he did! That guy was a pushover!" Diego boasted.

"That's not true, he was tough, but, yeah I won!" Jack added.

"Well that's the two of us down, two to go." Renée sighed. "Gonna be a long day."

"Argh, I don't want to keep waiting!" Diego groaned.

"Well for now why don't we get something to eat and watch the other battles?" Jack proposed.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" Julia replied, the other teens were quick to agree.

As the four trainers went on they missed Alan heading into the Arena for his battle. Alan however did not miss them.

'Just you wait, Jack... I plan on us battling again and I'll be the one who wins! But first I have to get rid of this trash.'


The group got their lunch and settled down to eat, the line was rather long simply due to the intermissions between battles so by the time they had their food the battles at noon were already well underway.

"Man, i knew the lines would be long but that was ridiculous!" Jack groaned.

"Hey, at least we got food!" Diego replied.

"Hey, are you seeing this?! That Alan guy is completely sweeping Flynn!" A passerby exclaimed.

"Huh, did he just say Alan?" Renée asked.

The four of them looked at the nearest screen to watch Alan's battle and sure enough Alan was completely wiping the floor with his opponent. Flynn had used a Krookodile and a Roserade, both of which were fainted. Alan was still using his first pokemon; a Gengar. Flynn's last remaining pokemon was a Decidueye, Flynn himself looked to be on the verge of having a nervous breakdown or going on a roaring rampage of anger.

"Decidueye, Spirit Shackle!" Flynn commanded, his voice cracking.

"Shadow Ball." Alan said flatly.

Gengar sent off a dark orb of energy towards Decidueye, striking it head on before Decidueye could even ready one if its arrows, bringing the grass pokemon down for the count.

"Unbelievable! A clean sweep! The winner is Alan!"

"R-ridiculous!" Flynn growled. "To think that I would be done in this early!"

"I came here to do two things." Alan said. "I came to prove that I am the strongest trainer of them all! The other thing; to take down one trainer that i can honestly call a rival. You, you're nowhere near that level, and you never will be."

"Good to see he hasn't changed at all." Julia huffed.

"Knowing him, he's bound to be one of the toughest trainers here." Jack noted.

"Oh yeah? Well we've all gotten stronger, we can take him!" Diego responded with pride.

"Let's just worry about winning our battles for now." Renée sighed.


2:41 p.m.

Pandora had just returned to her room and was talking to someone via video chat.

"You did very well Pandora, I'm sure you'll go far!"

"Thank you Uncle Sydney. So... did my parents say anything..." Pandora replied. She looked very nervous about asking how her parents felt.

"Well, they were definitely surprised when I told them you were going to be in this tournament. But let's not worry about how they feel right now. I just want you to know that I'm very proud of you." Sydney said, Pandora's smiled harder than her uncle had ever seen before.

"But you know it's only going to get tougher from here..."

"I know, but after everything I've been through tk get here i can't just give up!"

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. So, that boy, Diego, he's in this tournament too, isn't he?"

"Y-yeah..." Pandora answered, noticeably blushing.

"Well, now might be a good time to tell him how you feel. Who knows where you two will go after this tournament is over. I don't mean to sound negative, just being realistic."

"I know, and there's the possibility we might end up battling each other too. I'll tell him, Uncle, i swear I will!" Pandora assured.

"Good. Now I have to go, there's a challenger coming by later, apparently he just beat Zinnia and wants to hold off on battling me until later tonight due to medical reasons. So I'll talk to you later, kid!"

"Talk to you later, Uncle." Pandora said, smiling at her uncle as the call ended.


4:55 p.m.

"It's ok. Sis, you've been waiting for this since we first left the academy, you can do this!" Renée assured her sister.

"She's right, and we'll be right here to support you!" Jack added.

"Alright." Julia said, taking a deep breath. "This is it."

Julia headed into the locker room to make her last minute preparations while the others headed into the audience to watch the battle. Soon she headed onto the battlefield which looked rather plain as it had a regular linoleum floor that was colored red on one side and green on the other.

Julia's opponent was a rather short and stocky young man. His hair was covered by a bronze construction hat. He wore a purple t-shirt and beige pants. The announcers began to commentate before the battle began. These two were different from Dallas and Juanita. Both of them were men, one was husky and wore a black suit and a white tie. His hair was chocolate brown and neatly combed. The other had a shaved head and a tattoo on the side of his face.

"Namaste!" The tattoed man greeted. "I'm Mauro Graves."

"And I'm Corey Ronallo back again for the next battle of the Preliminary Round. Right now we have our next two trainers begin their battle."

Just as the announcers said, Julia and her opponent, Clemett, sent out their first two pokemon; Walrein and Alolan Golem respectively.

"Is that supposed to be a Golem?" Diego asked from the stands.

"It must be an Alolan form." Renée replied. Diego scanned the Alolan pokemon with his pokedex.

'Golem; the Megaton Pokemon: It's grumpy and stubborn. If you upset it, it discharges electricity from the surface of its body and growls with a voice like thunder.'

"Hmm... Weird." Diego remarked.

"Oh and already we see both sides have a type advantage over the other!" Mauro stated.

"I think I'll be siding with Clemett in this match." Corey replied. "Having two different type advantages is sure to give Clemett an early advantage."

"We have to be impartial, you know that right?"

"Right... My bad."

"Golem, use Stone Edge!"

"Use Surf, Walrein!"

Golem fired a stone from the railgun-like appendage on its head, the stone then cracked and shattered into tiny fragments that all headed towards Walrein.

To counter the attack, Walrein sent out an orb of water from its mouth that created a large wave of water that Walrein rode on top of. The wave headed straight towards Golem...

"Wild Charge!"

Golem became engulfed in electricity as it charged for the wave of water and smashed right through it. However, it had still taken damage from some if the water and the recoil it took from the Wild Charge harmed it enough to the point where it didn't make a difference.

"We gotta go all out!" Clemett called out. "Golem, hit em' with Rock Wrecker!"

Golem reloaded another rock into its cannon and fired it with much greater force than before, the rock was glowing with an orange color and leaving a trail of orange light in its wake like a fireball.

Julia scrambled to find an idea of what she could do until she relied on her instinct.

"Use Ice Beam!"

Walrein took a deep breath and sent out the beam of frozen energy. The beam collided with the rock, which pushed the Ice Beam back slightly before it eventually slowed down and started getting pushed.

The Ice Beam and Rock Wrecker were sent back to the Alolan Golem, blasting it with both attacks and knocking it out. Setting the score 3-2 in Julia's favor.

"Now aside from just the professional reasons why bias is bad as an announcer, this is also why you shouldn't take sides, Corey." Mauro stated.

"Alright, you made your point. Regardless, the battle isn't over, Clemett still has two pokemon left.

Just as they said, Clemett sent out his 2nd pokemon, a Magmortar.

"A fire type?" Julia asked. "Well that makes it easy then! Walrein, use Surf!"

Walrein sent another wave at the Blast pokemon, Clemett was quick to call for a counterattack.

"Not so fast! Magmortar, Fire Blast!"

Magmortar's right arm shifted into its cannon mode as it exhumed an intense burst of fire from it, evaporating the wave and turning it into a cloud of steam. Walrein was left falling towards the floor in front of Magmortar.

"Uh oh... Walrein quick! Use Ice Beam to make a slide!" Julia called out. Walrein blew out its attack, which froze the moisture in the air generated from the steam. Walrein landed on the ice and used its new momentum to keep the ice slide it was riding on moving all over the arena, including directly over Magmortar.

"Whatever you're planning won't work!" Clemett taunted. "Magmortar, keep using Fire Blast!"

Magmortar blasted as many parts of the ice as it could, missing Walrein every time. Eventually it fired at the ice that was right above it, melting the ice and splashing itself.

"Now, hit it with Ice Beam!"

Walrein blasted the now damp Magmortar with the frozen attack. It wouldn't damage Magmortar too much normally, but with the Blast pokemon already being soaked, the attack did more damage with the moisture on it freezing solid.

"Now finish it with Surf!"

With one last wave of water slamming into Magmortar, the fire type could take no more and fell to the attack.

"Amazing! Julia widened the lead she had against Clemett!" Corey commented.

"Well that could be partially attributed to the fact that Clemett has only used pokemon that had a disadvantage against Julia's Walrein." Mauro replied. "Regardless the battle isn't over yet and Clemett still has one pokemon left."

"And it'll win me this battle!" Clemett said, his vouce sounding assured and confident. He sent out his pokemon; a Blastoise.

'This one might be tougher than the other two especially since-' Julia thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by Clemett's action.

"Blastoise! Mega Evolve and use Aura Sphere!"

Clemett's became cloaked in a glowing purple cocoon and emerged in its Mega Evolved form. It was already charging a large light blue sphere of concentrated energy in the cannon on its back. Once it was ready, Blastoise fired the sphere at Walrein. The attack moved at an incredible speed that was much too fast for Walrein or Julia to see and react to. The attack connected, knocking Walrein out.

"Oh, what's this? Do I see a comeback?" Corey asked in a bit of a mocking tone.

"Oh shut up Corey." Mauro replied.

Julia sent out her second pokemon; Dragonair.

"Dragonair, use Dragon Thunder!"

"Water Pulse!"

Dragonair's horn and gems began to blow white as a beam of light deacended from the sky and was headed straight for Mega Blastoise, who raised its arm cannons to the sky and tried to stop the attack with its own attack, which was amplified by its Mega Launcher ability.

Deapite the boost in power the atrack had, the Dragon Thunder overpowered it and struck Blastoise, bombarding it with draconic energy. Once the energy faded, Blastoise was revealed to be paralyzed from the attack.

"Ok, it's slowed down, now follow up with Dragon Rush!" Julia commanded.

"Dark Pulse!"

Once Dragonair drew near, Blastoise let out a pulse of dark energy from its body that acted like a sort of shield that knocked Dragonair back just enough to give Blastoise a bit of space.

"Now finish it with Dragon Pulse!" Clemett ordered. Blastoise charged up a purple energy from its back cannon and fired it as a beam at Dragonair. With the attack being powered up from Mega Launcher, it was more than enough to knock Dragonair out. Making the score even at one pokemon left for both trainers.

"Astounding! Its not often that a trainer can turn around such a wide lead!" Mauro exclaimed.

"And that's why Clemett was my pick, it wasn't favoritism it was just calling things as I see them!" Corey added.

"Whatever, can Julia's last pokemon win the match for her? Or is this the ens of her run?"

'Ok, it's all up to you...' Julia thought to herself as she sent out her last pokemon; Gardevoir.

"Too easy." Clemett said calmly. "Blastoise, Flash Cannon."

"Gardevoir, Mega Evolve and use Moonblast!" Julia responded, activating her Key Stone.

The two attacks were flung at each other, colliding and exploding into a burst of light that blinded everyone temporarily.

"Gardevoir, use Psychic!" Julia called out.

"Water Pulse!"

Blastoise, still blinded from the explosion, tried attacking, but the attack missed completely. After which, Gardevoir, who recovered from the blast, created an orb of Psychic power from its hands and flung it at Blastoise. The attack wasn't enough to get the K.O., but it did do a bit of damage.

"Argh, alright, it's time to end this!" Clemett growled. "Blastoise! Hydro Cannon!"

Blastoise used its back and hand cannons to generate an extremely powerful blast of water at Gardevoir.

"Use Psychic to dodge it!" Julia called out. Gardevoir used its power to create a platform that rose upwards, allowing it to avoid the Hydro Cannon, which hit the wall of Arena, creating a hole that revealed a part of the locker room.

"Now use Focus Blast!"

Gardevoir used as much power as it had to create a large ball of yellow energy with a purple aura. Once the attack was ready, she threw the attack at Blastoise, who had difficulty moving due to the paralysis. The attack landed perfectly, exploding as it made contact.

The smoke cleared and revealed Blastoise...back in its original form. Blastoise then collapsed, knocked out from the blow.

"Incredible! Even when pushed to the absolute limits both competitors gave it their all!" Mauro exclaimed.

"I think this battle showed the versatility and how the strategies both trainers had proved useful. Even if only one of them could win." Corey added.

"Oh, now you want to act professionally." Mauro sneered.

"Hey, I'm always professional! Anyway, we'll be going to commercials so don't change that channel!"

"We've still got a few more battles coming up this evening, so stay tuned!" Mauro signed off as the camera crew went to the commercial break.

Julia met up with the others outside of the locker room. Jumping with complete bliss at her first victory of the tournament.

"Eeek! I did it!" Julia cheered.

"So that makes three!" Jack said.

"And it's gonna be four when I win later!" Diego added. "Ugh, I hate waiting."

"Hey, its just a little over an hour. You'll live." Renée teased.


Ray walked back into the hotel everyone was staying at. He had jist finished his battle with a clean 2-0 victory in his favor.

"Hey, Ray! Long time no see!"

Shade and Aiden had called out to him. The three boys had come across each other often throughout their journeys, but hadn't all been together for a while.

"Nice going out there! That was an awesome battle!" Aiden said.

"Thanks, but that was nothing, the real battles start tomorrow. You guys better hope I'm not your opponent."

"We could say the same!" Shade noted.

"Excuse me, boys." A girl's voice said. Whoever she was, she had a voice that sent a chill down the spines of all three boys. They turned to see who she was and were even more unsettled by her appearance. Her skin was pale, which contrasted with her jet black hair that looked a little disheveled as it hung over her right eye. Her eyes were red with bags under them due to what appeared to be lack of sleep. She wore a purple and black dress with purple sneakers.

She looked a bit like a Hex Maniac but noticeably different, none of the boys could explain how though.

"Um... Can we help you?" Ray asked, creeped out by this girl.

"I noticed you three watching that battle earlier between Jack and Revlon. I wanted to meet Jack and a little Pidgey told me you know him. So I'd like to ask if you know where he is." The girl asked.

"Sorry, we don't know where he is." Shade answered.

"Really? Shame. Thanks anyway, I guess I'll see you boys in the next round. My name is Oma by the way."

Oma walked away, allowing the boys to breathe a sigh of relief.

Oma walked into the lobby of the hotel to watch the next battle. Before it came on she checked the list of trainers currently in the tournament on her PokeGear, scrolling to Alan and Jack.

'I can't explain it, but you two... Your raw strength and determination you exhume when you battle... It's made me fall for you!' Oma thought to herself as a blush formed on her face.


After much impatience on his part, the time for Diego's battle finally arrived. He didn't hesitate to dash into the arena.

"'Alright, here we go.' Diego thought to himself. 'First, this guy. Then I just work my way up to the Elite Four!'

Diego headed to the battlefield, which had a perimeter of rocks of all shapes and sizes.

Diego's opponent, Neito, was a rather well-dressed young man. He had blond hair that was neatly combed in a medium and smooth cut. He wore a checkered jacket with a wine red buttoned down shirt, black dress pants and brown dress shoes.

"Hmph, is this the type of trainer they pit me up against? Shame. Then again I shouldn't ne surprised, one must go through the trash to reach the treasure." Neito snorted.

That was it. That was all that was needed to be said for Diego to know he didn't like this guy and wanted to take him down.

The two sent out their first pokemon, Diego sent out Golduck while Neito used a Sudowoodo.

"You say I'm trash but you're the one that just sent out a rock type against a water type." Diego teased.

"Don't you act smart with me, you whelp!" Neito growled. "Sudowoodo, get rid of this fool with Head Smash!"

Sudowood lunged forward with its head tucked down.

"Scald!" Diego responded.

Once Sudowoodo was close enough, Golduck splashed it with boiling hot water, sending it back over to its trainer with it now burned from the attack.

"How dare you! Sudowoodo, use Wood Hammer!"

"Woah, don't get so hot and heavy about this! Golduck, help him chill with Ice Beam!"

Sudowoodo's arm began to glow with a green light as it charged at Golduck, however the attack was quickly stipped by Golduck's Ice Beam, which put the flames out and brought Sudowoodo down for the count.

"You... You charlatan!" Neito shouted.

"Oh just get on with it!" Diego groaned. Neito obliged by send out a Wobbuffet.

"A Wobbuffet? Whatever, it can't even attack!" Diego laughed. "Golduck, use Scale!"

Golduck sprayed another round of superheated water at the Patient pokemon rather forcefully, to which the target merely stood still despite the damage and even the ensuing burn.

"And now the tides will turn! Wobbuffet, Mirror Coat!"

Wobbuffet finally made a motion; exclaiming its name and saluting with its left arm. It then began to glow pink until the glow forcefully fired itself at Golduck at a speed that was impossibke for anybody in the battle or arena to see. The counterattack brought Golduck down with a single blow, and brought Diego down to two pokemon.

"What the heck?!" Diego said in shock.

"Hahahahaha! You actually went down to a Wobbuffet, pathetic!" Neito taunted.

"Argh, just shut up!" Diego replied. He sent out his Schedule just to get his opponent to be quiet. "Now let's start with Swords Dance!"

Sceptile clashed its arm blades together, causing them to glow white ever so slightly and extend.

"Do you think that'll work? Then by all means, continue." Neito sneered. "In fact, let me use a move with the name of something you will probably never hear otherwise. Wobbuffet, use Encore!"

Wobbuffet said its name again and hopped in place while clapping its hands. As it did this, its hands began to glow white. Sceptile Also began to glow white as it then began to continue using Swords Dance for several minutes, no matter how much Diego called out for him to stop or use another attack. Even when Swords Dance no longer powered Sceptile up, it kept trying to use it.

All the while, Wobbuffet was quickly succumbing to the damage the burn was inflicting. Some of the audience were beginning to grow bored from the lack of action, but this unrest faltered when Wobbuffet finally fell from the burn that was inflicted on it, releasing the Encore placed on Sceptile.

"Well that was a whole lot of nothing." Diego groaned. "Just send out your last pokemon so i can blow it away."

"Such blind arrogance. But you failed to realize that a proper trainer never uses his strongest pokemon first!" Neito scoffed, sending out his last pokemon. Diego looked rather underwhelmed when he saw that it was just a Ditto...and it was wearing sone kind of blue scarf.

Ditto's Imposter ability activated, allowing it to transform into Sceptile, all while its scarf was still on and even grew to fit Ditto's new shape. Neito scanned his Ditto with Poketch and grinned.

"I see... If that's the case then surely now, if you're so confident you'll make the first move?"

"Duh! Sceptile, use Aerial Ace!"

"X-Scissor!" Neito ordered with glee.

Sceptile charged at Ditto, speeding through the rocky terrain. It almost looked like a green knife gliding through the air. However, it paled in comparison to Ditto's speed. Ditto was almost twice as fast as Sceptile, stopping in front of the Forest pokemon and getting grazed by its attack a little before slashing it with its copied blades that glimmered in a bright yellow light.

Sceptile fell instantaneously while Ditto looked just a bit shaken up.

"What?!" Diego shouted in shock. Neito simply laughed.

"Oh you must be an idiot if you don't know that Ditto's imposter ability copies stat changes as well, and thay Choice Scarf it's wearing makes sure that there's nothing you have that's faster!"

Externally, Diego was seething with rage, but internally he felt stuck... Until he remembered the move that Ditto used. This gave Diego all the reason he had to relax.

"You pretty much handed me this win." Diego said calmly, enraging his opponent. Just as Neito was about to verbally go on the offensive again, Diego sent out his shiny Crobat.

"S-so what! My Ditto's strength has been increased to its limit!" Neito stuttered. "Go, Ditto!"

"Crobat, use Cross Poison!"

Sceptile far outsped Crobat, but even with its high attack power, Crobat heavily resisted the bug type attack. In retaliation, Crobat slashed at Ditto with its wings, grazing it again as it's speed was too high for it to be hit directly.

"Now, use Acrobatics!"

"Attack!"

The two trainers called out for their attacks. Using Acrobatics, Crobat was just barely able to keep up with Ditto. With the two looking like green and pink blurs zipping around the rocky terrain. Every few seconds the twk would clash, allowing the two pokemon to be seen a bit more clearly flr a split second before becoming blurs again.

If one didn't know any better, they would think an Accelgor suddenly learned Extremespeed. At least that was the thought some mombers of the audience had. Eventually, Ditto had taken too much damage, changing into Sceptile also meant changing its type, and the damage it was taking slowed it down just enough for Crobat to land one full force attack on Ditto, slashing right through it with Acrobatics.

Ditto returned to its real appearance, knocked out from the assault.

"What?! How could I lose to such common trash!" Neito whined.

"You were unlucky enough to have to battle someone that put you in your place!" Diego responded. "Now what was that you said about having to go through the trash to get to the treasure!"

Diego recalled his pokemon and headed back to the locker room to meet up with his friends. He tried to remember a time where he felt more proud than he did now, but he couldn't and he knew that this was only the beginning...


"Boss, everything is ready to go! We move on your mark!"

Typhoon was currently notifying Singularity on the current conditions of their plans. The latter seemed to be looking at the current standings for the Indigo Tournament.

"Good. But for the time being we should wait. Our mole just won the first battle in the tournament. If he somehow wins it all and becomes Champion then we can simply take over."

"And if he loses, sir?" Typhoon asked.

"Then we make our move. Simple." Singularity replied casually. The twk left Singularity's office and went to go see their machines. Typhoon took out a remote and pressed one of the buttons, activating a set of lights on one of the machines that towered above the two men. The lights looked like a set of ominous eyes that were as bright as a truck's headlights.

"Good." Singularity said ominously. "Very good..."


"Ahh, man what a day!" Diego yawned, the gang had just finished dinner and were about to head to their seperate rooms for the night. "We all won our battles and now we're gonna get to the real good stuff!"

"Hey! You guys!"

The gang saw Blanche, Candela, and Spark heading over to them, eith Spark leading the way.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Julia greeted.

"Did you guys come to watch the tournament?" Renée asked.

"Of course!" Candela answered. "Nothing is more exciting than watching heated battles!"

"Personally I believe there are other ways to find the true potential of Pokemon. But an old friend of Professor Willow believes that battling is the best way to find the answer to that question, I want to test if that belief is true."

"So you'll be staying here for the whole tournament?" Jack asked.

"You bet!" Spark replied eagerly. "I just hope I don't spend too much in snacks!"

Candela and Blanche facepalmed at their rather immature partner but smiled nonetheless.

"Well, I think I'll head to bed early. Goodnight." Julia said as she walked to her room. Just as she closed the door however, a face suddenly appeared on the wall with a shrieking sound, startling Julia.

The face revealed itself to be a Misdreavus, one that Julia seemed to recognize.

"Hey, aren't you the same Misdreavus from Lavender Town?"

The Misdreavus nodded with a wink, its tongue also sticking out in an admittedly cute way.

"Well you don't seem like you mean to cause any problems, but you should probably go, I don't want you getting into any trouble." Julia said kindly. Misdreavus disappeared into the walls, allowing Julia to finally get some rest.


Well, it took longer than I would have hoped but the preliminary round is complete. Sorry if this chapter was a bit lacking in a few places. I'm trying to adjust the battles in a way that makes them entertaining to read while not being overly long. Anyway, if you sent in a character in the beginning of the story, this will be your last chance to let me know what your character's ideal pokemon team is since they will be featured in a number of battles going forward.

Anyway, i hope you enjoyed the Preliminary Round of the Indigo League. Coming up next is Round One, and this us where things get serious!

New Moves:

Spell Room

Psychic Type

- Power

- Accuracy

The user twists the dimensions in a way that switches the physical or special quality of an attack.

Jinx Room

Psychic Type

- Power

- Accuracy

The user twists the dimensions, switching every pokemon's physical and special attack power.

Spring Buds

70 Power

90 Accuracy

The user sends a barrage of seeds at the foe. There is a 30% chance the seeds may latch on and drain the foe's energy.